SUMMARY Tests of randomness of directions in three-dimensional space or equivalently tests of uniform distribution of points on the unit sphere are treated. One test is against alternatives which concentrate probability density near an equator, and the other is against alternatives which concentrate probability density near opposite poles; in each case the poles are unspecified. The tests are based on the latent roots of the matrix of sums of squares and cross-products of the co-ordinates of the observed points on the unit sphere. Against equatorial alternatives the null hypothesis is rejected if the smallest root is less than the appropriate significance point, and against bimodal alternatives the null hypothesis is rejected if the largest root is greater than the appropriate significance point. Tables of significance points are given, based on Monte-Carlo studies and the asymptotic distributions which are derived. The two-dimensional problem is also discussed.


AIMS AND METHOD

To study the presentation, assessment and management of all patients attending St Thomas' accident and emergency (A&E) department with overt mental health problems. The method included a pragmatic definition of ' overt mental health problems' and a range of strategies to maximise case ascertainment.

RESULTS

The department saw 565 presentations in a 3-month period. Patients were predominantly young, male, single, unemployed, housed outside the area served by the local primary care group and presented outside normal working hours.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

This study confirms that A&E departments may be the most frequently used setting for urgent mental health assessments in central London. The patients attending differ from those using community mental health teams. It is argued that mental health liaison services based in inner-city A&E departments should be developed.


Efficient syntheses, X-ray structures and spectroscopic properties of s-indacene-1,3,5,7(2H,6H)-tetraone (1) and 1,3-dioxo-5,6-indanedicarboxylic acid (2), their precursors and derivatives, are described for the first time.


We report magnetoresistance and spin-filtering efficiency of DNA-sandwiched ferromagnetic nanostructures. Commercially available FeCo target was sputtered over a gold-coated silicon wafer coated with mercaptosuccinic acid and DNA. This was made to contact with another FeCo sputtered gold-coated silicon wafer coated with mercaptosuccinic acid forming FM/DNA/FM based magnetic junction. DNA forms a covalent bonding with FeCo nanoparticles through mercaptosuccinic acid. Magnetoresistance for this was measured in the room temperature and was found to be 18%. Spin-filtering efficiency was calculated as 30%, which is half the value of experimental observation of spin-filtering of electron on pure gold surface coated with DNA.


Let G be a connected graph with n vertices. Then the class of connected graphs having n vertices is denoted by Gn. The subclass of connected graphs with 5 cycles are denoted by Gn5. The classification of graph G∈Gn5 depends on the number of edges and the sum of the degrees of the vertices of the graph. Any graph in Gn5 contains five linearly independent cycles having at least n+3 edges and the sum of degrees of vertices of 5-cyclic must be equal to twice of n+4. In this paper, minimum degree distance of class of five cyclic connected graph is investigated. To find minimum degree distance of a graph some transformations T have been defined. These transformation have been applied on the graph G∈Gn5 in such a way that the resultant graph belongs to Gn5 and also degree distance of T(G) is always must be less than G. For n=5, the five 5-cyclic graph has minimum degree distance 78 and the minimum degree distance of 5-cyclic graphs having six vertices is 124. In case of n greater than 6, a general formula for minimum degree distance is investigated. In this paper, we proved that the minimum degree distance of connected 5 cyclic graphs is 3n2+13n-62 by using transformations, for n≥7.


Cloud computing resources change is dynamic and stochastic,traditional method is difficult to obtain more satisfactory prediction result,in order to improve the prediction accuracy of cloud computing resources,this paper presents a cloud computing resources prediction model based on data mining.Firstly,cloud computing resource data are collected and normalized,and then the training samples of cloud computing resources are input to support vector machine to learning which the optimal parameters are chosen by improved ant colony algorithm and build the optimal cloud computing resources prediction model,finally,the performance of model is test by using specific instance.The results show that,the proposed model not only improves the prediction accuracy of cloud computing resources,but also reduce the modeling computation complexity and improve the modeling efficiency,so it provides a new modeling method for large-scale cloud computing resources prediction.


Objective:To study the effect of Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor (bFGF) on the expression of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) in cultured human dental follicle cells. Method: Human dental follicle cells in good status were incubated with 10ng/ml bFGF for different periods of time. The effect of bFGF on VEGFmRNA and VEGF protein secretion were determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and enzyme linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) respectively. Result: The amount of VEGFmRNA increased significantly after 1 or more hours of incubation as compared with 0-h treatment (P0.01). 6 h of incubation caused maximal expression of VEGFmRNA. VEGF protein secretion was time-dependently increased, but VEGF protein levels in bFGF treatment groups were significantly higher than the corresponding control (P0.01). Conclusion: bFGF can up-regulate the expression of VEGF in cultured human dental follicle cells.


Recently, people's increasing interest in business has encouraged them to try their luck in it. The more similar businesses are established, the tighter competition in, especially for similar businesses. Company leaders must not be careless and need to continue to strive to keep the company remain superior and compete with other companies. To win the competition, the company must have a competitive advantage to continue to survive. One effort is focusing on the consumers by providing the experience that is felt from these contacts. Companies must be able to influence consumers by creating products or services that win over their heart. They will have unforgettable good memories; in exchange they will come back or make repeat purchases.


Shanxi Province was found abundantly in tourism resources in China,so it was the trend that it promoted the development of county economy through the focus on the development of tourism industry rich in obviously comparative advantages.But the isolation at the processes of tourism,industry and agricultural development at present was the bottle-neck of the development of county economy.How to realize the interactive development between tourism industry and county economy under the background of a comprehensive tourism development had very important theoretical and practical significance.This paper,through analysis of the tourism industrial contribution ability for county economy of Huayin County in 2002—2009 years,through practically considering Huayin County′s main problems of county economy development currently,from the perspective of the tourism industry,summed up the development model of county economy of the regions rich in tourism resources in Shanxi,in order to provide countermeasures and suggestions for the county′s economic development in Shanxi.


Abstract : U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) are experiencing their most extensive use and greatest transformation of the modern SOF era. In playing direct and leading roles in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as in the broader U.S. effort to defeat al Qaeda and violent extremism across the globe, these forces have become more operationally adept, endowed with more resources and organizational capacity, and are encountering greater demands for their leadership and expertise than ever before. SOF are in the midst of a resurgence, with their core capabilities aligning with the irregular and potentially catastrophic security threats of today's geostrategic environment.


Abstract : The histologic technic for preparing primate retina described in this report includes intravascular perfusion with a glutaraldehyde-paraformaldehyde mixture followed by osmium postfixation and Epon embedding. The technic routinely yields histologic preparations of good quality which are suitable for both light and electron microscopy. The Paragon stain used for light microscopy gave excellent differentiation of receptor cell parts and made it easy to distinguish normal from degenerating receptor cells. The intravascular perfusion of fixative prevented artifactual rectinal detachment, thus making this technic useful in studying retinal photic injury. (Author)


A woman with several husbands is like a blooming flower : The decline of polyandry as an indicator of social change in Ladakh


The regeneration of the intestine in the sea cucumber H. glaberrima represents an excellent model to dissect and characterize the organogenetic events during the formation of this organ. Our laboratory has been using this model system to identify the genes required for intestinal regeneration that are thought to be conserved during evolution. cDNA libraries were constructed from the gastrointestinal tract of H. glaberrima. The libraries correspond to the intestine of non‐regenerating, and 3day and 7day regenerating animals. Random sequencing of clones generated a total of 5660 ESTs forming 1996 gene clusters. Up to 72% of the clones have inserts longer than 100 bp and high chromatograms quality. Using BlastX tool, we found that 1939 ESTs (34.25%) shared significant homology with known sequences in the protein database of NCBI. The ESTs with significant homology represent proteins involved in: transcription, metabolism, cell proliferation, storage and transport of macromolecules, immune response, and apoptosis among others. Further studies of these ESTs will be helpful to elucidate the genetic composition of H. glaberrima regenerating gastrointestinal tract and to understand the function of these molecules during organogenesis.


The noises produced by the movement of gas and fluids during peristalsis are bowel sounds or borborygmi. We all have them to a greater or lesser extent. When the bowel is obstructed they become high pitched or tinkling as fluid drips from one distended and tympanic loop of bowel into another. In the presence of peritonitis, classically in association with a perforation, the abdomen becomes silent reflecting an absence of peristaltic activity, so called paralytic ileus. Not surprisingly, therefore, auscultation for bowel sounds is considered an essential part of the assessment of the acute abdomen and it remains common practice to listen to bowel sounds as a determinant of the presence or absence of gut function. But what is the evidence? Is listening to bowel sounds an outdated practice now superseded by readily available abdominal imaging or is they still a useful clinical observation which is easily obtained with minimal discomfort to the patient.


Abstract
 Rearings from mines in leaves of the perennial terrestrial vine trailing arbutus, Epigaea repens L., in Maryland, Michigan, and New England yielded specimens of the genus Brachys Dejean. Species of this genus in the eastern United States are previously known only as miners in shrubs and trees. Our study describes Brachys howdeni Hespenheide, new species, as well as its mines and biology.


Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have exacerbations characterized by increased dyspnea, accompanied by increases in coughing, sputum production and purulence, and wheezing. Although most of these episodes are self-limited, they are associated with substantial decrements in the quality of life1 and account for a large fraction of expenditures for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, since exacerbations are the most common cause of hospitalization among patients with this disease. The precise nature of these episodes is not well understood; their characteristics suggest that they are acute infections of the intrapulmonary airways, but this is extremely difficult to demonstrate . . .


Dear Editor, Giovanni Monteleone and Sandro Ardizzone recently analysed the risk of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 [SARS-CoV-2], the virus causing coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19], in inflammatory bowel disease [IBD].1 Through an elegant analysis, they suggested that the overall IBD population would not have an increased risk of developing SARS-CoV-2 infection. Of course, we have two main variables. The first is that older individuals could be equally at higher risk, at least in Italy. Mazza et al. recently reported a case of a 80-yearold female with ulcerative colitis [UC] who died after an hospitalacquired SARS-CoV-2 infection.2 In such individuals, surveillance for COVID-19 should be mandatory due to their higher risk. The second variable is the risk of developing COVID-19 in patients under immunosuppressive therapies. Many patients are under treatment with biologics in order to obtain and maintain remission in IBD not responsive to standard treatments. In particular, most are under treatment with anti-tumour necrosis factor [TNF] α antibodies. SARS-CoV-2 enters cells after binding to its functional receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 [ACE2], and causes enhanced TNFα-production and TNFα-converting enzyme [TACE]-dependent shedding of the ectodomain of ACE2, which facilitates viral entry.3 Because this process seems to be strictly coupled to TNFα production, we can postulate that the use of anti-TNFα antibodies may be effectively used in IBD patients without a significant risk of IBD recurrence. This is exemplified in a recent case, in which a 30-year-old male with ileal Crohn's disease [CD] in remission under treatment with adalimumab was infected by SARS-CoV-2. He developed only mild pneumonia, with fast resolution of symptoms and prompt hospital discharge [Figure 1].4 In particular, no sign of CD recurrence was recorded during the COVID-19 hospital stay [no diarrhoea was recorded and faecal calprotectin was normal], and also the pulmonary disease recovered very quickly [within 5 days]. The question is: does the clinical picture of the pneumonia in CD recover despite adalimumab or thanks to adalimumab? Of course, the young age of our patient could explain this favourable course. However, an intriguing hypothesis is that adalimumab could inhibit the basic mechanisms of COVID-19,3 and could be potentially useful in managing/preventing COVID-driven pneumonia. As a result, a study evaluating adalimumab injection in COVID-19 patients with severe pneumonia has recently been registered.5 Thus, the risk of COVID-19 in IBD patients should be evaluated according to age and comorbidities. Moreover, adalimumab could be useful not only in maintaining IBD remission during COVID-19, but could also be potentially useful in managing/preventing COVIDdriven pneumonia.


Negative electrode foil and positive electrode foil having an oxide coating layer formed on the surface thereof with a separator, the separator containing a binder constituted of a compound having a vinyl group, interposed therebetween are wound up to thereby form a capacitor element. The content of binder in the separator is adjusted to 10-20% based on the total weight of separator before subjecting the capacitor element to restoration and chemical conversion. After the restoration and chemical conversion, the capacitor element is immersed in a liquid mixture prepared by mixing a polymerizable monomer, an oxidizer and a given solvent together so that polymerization reaction of conductive polymer is effected in the capacitor element to thereby form a solid electrolyte layer. The thus obtained capacitor element is inserted in a sheath case, and its opening end is fitted with sealing rubber. Sealing is accomplished by fastening operation, and aging is performed. Thus, a solid electrolytic capacitor is obtained.


Untreated opiate use remains a significant problem in most jurisdictions. As a precursor to developing appropriate treatments and to encouraging these individuals to seek treatment, it is essential that the characteristics of this population be understood. The present study was designed to serve a number of purposes, one of which was to describe the characteristics of a sample of opiate users in Toronto, Canada who were not currently in treatment. One hundred fourteen users using opiates regularly who were not in treatment and who were not actively seeking treatment were recruited through a variety of techniques and then interviewed. The study reports on the demographic characteristics of this sample (age, gender, housing, income and income sources), as well as their drug use patterns, health status, previous treatment history and other lifestyle issues. The results suggest that the sample is relatively healthy, that most of them are users of injectable and prescription opiates as well as other controlled...


formation of intracluster gas, and afterwards it decreases to the present value. Nextly, we examine the observability of these young luminous X-ray clusters in con sideration of the cosmic expansion. These young clusters will be detectable by the Einstein satellite, 10'~ 10' sec exposure in such pictures that the angular size is 0.1 ~ 1.0 arc minutes, the photon flux at 3 keV is ;:c;10-' photons s- 1 cm- 2 keV- 1 and the expected number of objects is 0.1 ~ 1 clusters per one field of view. Some discussions on the dilfuse X-ray background will also be given.


The utility model discloses an electric larceny preventing intelligent remote check device, which comprises a user electric larceny preventing mechanism and a master station, wherein the user electric larceny preventing mechanism comprises a data acquirer, a magnetic sensor, a central processing unit which processes and judges the data acquirer, a communication module which gives an alarm to the master station and an intelligent meter box; and the master station is a remote monitoring center or a mobile phone virtual master station. The utility model provides pertinent electric larceny preventing measures and solutions for novel electric larceny modes such as radio interference electric larceny, high-frequency and high-voltage electric larceny and strong electric larceny and the conventional electric larceny modes such as illegal opening of a meter box door, damage to a meter and a metering current transformer, secondary current loss under-voltage and errors in wiring. Functions of prevention and alarming of various electric larceny modes, deenergization and evidence obtaining are realized.


Teachers' receptivity and concerns are two important affecting factors in the curriculum reform in the mainland of China. Based on the survey on PE teachers of 80 secondary schools from 4 cities in Anhui province, the results indicate: the difference between the receptivity of the secondary PE teachers of different backgrounds to the new curriculum reform is not significant; the concerns of PE teachers are focusing on "information/person", "consequence/collaboration" and "refocusing", and the curriculum reform; teachers with various receptivity of curriculum reform vary in different concern stages.


In contrast to conventional generic drugs, in Europe biosimilars have to be approved by the EMA which makes Phase III studies in the target population as well as follow-up investigation necessary. Only under special conditions, extrapolation on further indications as well as Phase I rather than Phase III studies may be allowed. This centralized procedure has meanwhile resulted in disapproval (e. g. interferon alfa 2a) and limited indications. In conclusion, uncritical aut-idem substitution of an original drug by a biosimilar should not be enforced based on the need for transparent pharmacovigilance.


Background The plaintiff operates a local radio station in Hamburg. The defendant, the Ligaverband, holds the marketing rights for all football matches of the Bundesliga, the German football…


A new color‐gradient lattice Boltzmann model is developed to simulate spontaneous imbibition in a porous media micromodel, which needs only two‐dimensional computational cost but considers essential three‐dimensional effects. A modified periodic boundary condition is introduced to deal with inlet and outlet boundaries with great ease and effectiveness. This model is first validated against analytical solutions and micromodel experiment. It is then used to study the spontaneous imbibition process in a homogeneous micromodel for varying viscosity ratios and contact angles. Depending on the viscosity ratio (λ) of wetting to nonwetting fluids, three different imbibition patterns are observed, namely unstable displacement (UD), stable displacement (SD), and crossover from UD to SD, which occur at λ≤0.1 , λ≥10 , and 0.1


(2008), is an excellent and important book, one that should be read by anyone with even the slightest interest in the theory and practice of contemporary history education—academics, graduate students, and practitioners alike. It works as a superb complement to their other recent contributions to the field, including, among others, Teaching History for the Common Good (Barton & Levstik, 2004) and Doing History: Investigating with Children in Elementary and Middle Schools (Levstik & Barton, 2005). Over the past several years, few, if any, scholars have offered as many insights into history education, particularly children's historical understandings, as have Barton, a


The authors discuss options that could be considered in the World Trade Organization (WTO) to provide more favorable treatment-so-called special and differential treatment (SDT)-to small and low-income countries. They argue that there is a need both for differentiation across WTO members and for steps that would benefit all developing countries. The authors suggest the following to make the Doha Round more supportive of development: 1) A binding commitment by industrial countries to abolish export subsidies and nontariff barriers (tariff quotas) and to reduce most-favored-nation tariffs on labor-intensive products of export interest to developing countries to no more than 5 percent in 2010, and to no more than 10 percent for agricultural products. All tariffs on manufactures should go to zero by 2015, the target date for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Liberalization should also be undertaken by developing countries on the basis of a formula approach. 2) A binding commitment by industrial countries on services to expand temporary access for service providers by a specific amount-for example, equal to an additional 1 percent of the workforce-and not to restrict cross-border trade (for example, by telecom channels). 3) Unilateral action by all industrial countries to extend preferential market access for less developed countries, and to simplify eligibility criteria, especially rules of origin. 4) Affirmation by the WTO that core disciplines relating to the use of trade policy apply equally to all WTO members. 5) Acceptance of the principle that for small and low-income countries"one size does not fit all"when it comes to domestic regulation and to WTO agreements requiring substantial investment of resources. 6) Recognition that some WTO agreements need to be adapted to make them moresupportive of development, and a consequent willingness by industrial countries to modify them. 7) Expansion of development assistance to bolster trade capacity in poor countries and strengthening of the links between trade-related technical assistance and the mechanisms through which aid priorities are determined in developing countries. In practice, calls for specific types of SDT often appear to be motivated by a perception that a certain WTO rule is"anti-development"and that therefore developing countries should be exempted from the rule in question. The authors suggest that the appropriate solution to such problems is to change the rules rather than seek an opt-out. What should be up front changes in rules and what should be part of the negotiating agenda is a major issue which needs to be addressed at the Cancun Ministerial meeting. The suggestion that SDT should focus primarily on WTO rules and be limited to those countries that need it most-very small and poor economies-implies that criteria should be adopted to differentiate between countries. Leaving this to self-declaration-the current approach-is not feasible, while reliance on case-by-case, agreement-specific negotiation can generate excessive costs, discretion, and associated uncertainty. While the authors'preference is for a simple rule-of-thumb approach to determine eligibility, this is an issue that requires much more thought and discussion. They suggest that WTO members establish a high-level group to consider criteria that could be used for differentiation purposes and to determine the set of agreements to which differentiation will apply.


In this paper the problem of electromagnetic wave scattering from rough surface has been studied. Theoretical models are based on methods of solving the problem of scattering by a statistically rough surface. Time integral equation method permits to determine the scattering intensity from soil without vegetation at great values of roughness mean square (rms) height. In the models of rough surface scattering the normalised RCS of surface characterising the intensity of scattered field is a product of two functions. The first function called dielectric function, characterizes the dielectric properties of the scattering medium and depends on polarization, the angle of incidence and dielectric constant. The second function takes into account the surface roughness influence on normalised RCS. Drawbacks of theoretical models cause the development of empirical models based on experimental results. Empirical model analysis of Oh has shown that for comparitively smooth surfaces, sufficiently fast growth of polarization ratios is observed. There exist best coincidence calculations for the empirical model and experimental values of the normalised RCS. Here, for comparing, the results of the normalised RCS calculations are shown by perturbation and integral equation methods.


Large modern computer programs were used to teach lens design. The effectiveness of large centralized computing facilities were compared with small desk calculators. The large programs were found to be powerful but extremely unfriendly. The input and output procedures were designed by computer people and aimed to meet the needs of a wide variety of users. Close supervision is required to reduce the volume of useless computing. To provide guide lines, a set of fundamental lens types are provided. The series of lenses are, a single lens, telescope objectives, curved field Petzval lens, telephoto, flat field triplets, four element derivative of the triplet and the double Gauss. It is suggested computers be designed to require a written review of the problem, with previous results, and reasons for additional computing.


AbstractSalmonid ecology and conservation projects often necessitate distinguishing the offspring from anadromous or nonanadromous mothers, but the forms are often physically and genetically similar. We reared Oncorhynchus mykiss fry produced by anadromous mothers on one of two diets: one rich in and the other depleted in marine nutrients. We then sampled and analyzed fin and muscle tissues from fish fed both diets for nitrogen stable isotopes over time. Tissue nitrogen values from fish on the marine-nutrient-depleted diet indicated the size and time cutoffs at which offspring of anadromous O. mykiss no longer reflected a marine origin (muscle tissue cutoff: 0.81 g, 50.8 mm, and 29.4 d postfeeding; fin tissue cutoff: 0.65 g, 45.9 mm, and 35.3 d). Salmonids smaller than 50 mm cannot provide a sufficiently large fin sample for isotopic analysis without significant risk of mortality. Therefore, our experiment did not reveal a period when fish were large enough to provide a nonlethal fin clip but still mainta...


The total effective emissivity in the thermal infrared radiation region has been measured by different methods; 1) using radiometers, 2) calculating from the data obtained by spectral reflection measurements, 3) measuring the intensities of polarized lights, and 4) measuring the heat losses. The methods 1) and 2) are most popular ones, but they need a reference surface, of which the emissivity must be precisely known, and over which the temperature uniformity must be maintained since it affects the precision of measurement. The method 3) cannot be applied to any surface (successful only for an ideally radiating surface). The method 4) is a fundamental one. But until now it has been unpopular, because it is timeconsuming and it needs physical values, such as the specific heat and the radiating area of the surface. However, the present demand for the tem-


In this paper, we consider the problem of securing mobile-cloud storage services. We design and develop a novel and secure searchable encryption scheme for mobile devices. In the proposed algorithm, a content based index is constructed and a locality sensitive hashing is used to allow the user to store his files on the cloud in a secure way and then perform a secure query and a fuzzy search. Moreover, the scheme allows to rank the results while maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of the user and to save storage space and computation resources of his mobile phone. To quantify the performance of the proposed scheme, a range of tests are performed and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed system is suitable for a secure, fast and searchable storage mobile-cloud system.


type="main"> The typical analysis on the effectiveness of soda taxes relies on price elasticity estimates from static demand models, which ignores consumers' inventory behaviors and their persistent tastes. This article provides estimates of the relevant price elasticities based on a dynamic demand model that better addresses potential intertemporal substitution and unobservable persistent heterogeneous tastes. It finds that static analyses overestimate the long-run own-price elasticity of regular soda by 60.8%, leading to overestimated consumption reduction of sugar-sweetened soft drinks by up to 57.9% in some cases. Results indicate that soda taxes will raise revenue but are unlikely to substantially impact soda consumption.


The group velocity of whistler wave packets was measured in an overdense cylindrical plasma. The phase velocity was measured using c.w. excitation. The waves are excited and received by small antennae which excite and detect an oscillating B field in the plasma. The dispersion relation for whistler waves in a cylindrical plasma is calculated. It is seen that for omega < omega ce/2, it is necessary to include collisions to account for the experimental results for the real part of the dispersion relation. In the limit of large collisions the dispersion relation goes to the plane wave result. It is found that there exists a range of plasma parameters for which two modes of the whistler waves are excited. It is also shown that whistler waves can be used in an interferometer system to measure plasma density.


| The history of the Meiji Restoration has been studied primarily from a Eurocentric and modernist perspective that stresses the 'Western impact.' Yet a closer inspection of Japan during the early and mid-19th century illuminates a different and significant trend, namely the growing influence of Confucianism. This trend suggests a necessity to reconsider the political history of Bakumatsu (late Tokugawa Shogunate) Japan and the Meiji Restoration. From the late 18th century to the early 19th century, Japanese society witnessed the rapid increase of schools, study groups, and private academies that heightened the fever for Confucian education among samurai. Lowerand middle-class samurai, who had hardly been involved with politics, became interested and participated in it. I call this phenomenon as samurai's 'assumption of the role of Confucian literati (shika)' in the sense that ordinary samurai became similar to the Confucian literati (shidafu) of China and Chosŏn. Samurai's political participation coincided with the proliferation of the practice of writing appeal letters to the ruler and the growth of academic networks and factions. These phenomena were characteristics of what I conceptualized as the 'political culture of Confucian literati (shitaifuteki seiji bunka)' that emerged in Song China and prevailed in Ming China and Chosŏn. The unexpected rise of this culture in 19th-century Japan politicized ordinary samurai, who used to be merely the warriors and functionaries of the garrison state, thereby shaking the Tokugawa system. Samurai's 'assumption of the role of Confucian literati' and their activities based on the 'political culture of Confucian literati' provoked the Meiji Restoration. Despite the rapid Westernization after the Meiji Restoration, they left indelible traces and an enduring legacy.


Preface Introduction: A Rising Scale in Relative Minor Chapter 1. Early Lessons in Globalization Voices Chapter 2. The Roots and Routes of Asian Music Chapter 3. Playing Gender Chapter 4. Class Notes Voices Chapter 5. A Voice of One's Own Conclusion: Musicians First Acknowledgements Notes Selected Biography Index About the Author


Abstract : Canadian newspapers are a principal source of information on refugees claiming asylum in Canada on the basis of persecution for their sexual orientation. Many articles rely on culturally racist and classist stereotypes of sexual minorities to demonstrate claimants' legitimacy. Refugees' stories are further deployed as "mediating agents" to confirm Canada's "superiority" over other regions, particularly those identified as Islamic. To determine what thematic constructions are most prevalent among Canadian news sources, the authors conducted a critical discourse analysis (CDA) and secondary textual analysis of articles culled from five Canadian English-language newspapers, employing critical race and queer theories as framing devices. Resume : La presse canadienne est une source importante d'informations sur les refugies cherchant asile au Canada parce qu'ils ont subi des persecutions pour leur orientation sexuelle dans leurs pays d'origine. Cependant, de nombreux articles, en voulant demontrer la legitimite des demandes d'asile provenant de minorites sexuelles, ont recours a des stereotypes de race et de classe. Les histoires de tels refugies servent en outre d'agents mediateurs pour confirmer la superiorite du Canada par rapport a d'autres regions, particulierement celles qualifiees d'islamiques. Afin d'identifier les constructions thematiques predominantes portant sur les refugies appartenant a des minorites sexuelles, les auteurs ont mene une analyse de discours critique et une analyse textuelle secondaire sur des articles provenant de cinq quotidiens canadiens de langue anglaise, avec comme cadre analytique des theories sur la race et sur l'orientation sexuelle.


A phenylselenenyl chloride (PhSeCl)-mediated allylic oxidation to give allylically rearranged alcohol has been developed. A possible mechanism for the present reaction is generation of allylic selenide from prenyl moiety via [1,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement, followed by oxidation and [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement to afford 3-isopenten-2-ol.


As more people work from home or during travel, new opportunities and challenges arise around mobile office work. On one hand, people may work at flexible hours, independent of traffic limitations, but on the other hand, they may need to work at makeshift spaces, with less than optimal working conditions and decoupled from co-workers. Virtual Reality (VR) has the potential to change the way information workers work: it enables personal bespoke working environments even on the go and allows new collaboration approaches that can help mitigate the effects of physical distance. In this paper, we investigate opportunities and challenges for realizing a mobile VR offices environments and discuss implications from recent findings of mixing standard off-the-shelf equipment, such as tablets, laptops or desktops, with VR to enable effective, efficient, ergonomic, and rewarding mobile knowledge work. Further, we investigate the role of conceptual and physical spaces in a mobile VR office.


The present invention relates to a line measuring about cells, in particular device for online measurement of soluble analytes or dissolved gas in the sample in the sample space (measuring device). An object of the present invention is to conventional avoid the problems of technology is to provide an apparatus for microfluidic system can be integrated with, living elucidating cell metabolism and on-line measurement for monitoring. To solve this problem, the device of the present invention is the substrate (1), at least one sensor (2), a space (4) and the membrane (5), the substrate (1) the sensor (2) and membrane (5), and held such that a space (4) is formed between the sensor (2) and film (5), film (5) is biocompatible, capable of binding to the cell culture space (7) , and the sensor (2) is electrochemical sensors, subsequent by space (4) can fill the transfer medium, and can be integrated with a fluid system, the sensor (2) is to be connected to the hydraulic circuit (8) has become can be attached to electronic devices that can be connected to. .FIELD 1


The last 10 years has seen a phenomenal growth in the internet which is currently used by over 200 million people around the world, including 12.5 million in the UK ([NUA, 2000][1]). This rapid growth is set to continue and by the end of the year most of Britain's 24 million mobile phone users will


The benthic invertebrate fauna and the stomach contents of Catfish in a section of the Kshipra River were sampled regularly from September 1995 to August 1996. The ranges of food organisms utilized by the four species viz. Mystus seenghala, Mystus bleekeri, Ompok bimaculatus and Heteropneustes fossilis were very similar as were the proportions of the different food categories. Kendall rank correlation coefficients indicated that the diets of the two fishes were similar on all except the June and July sampling data. Due to apparent differences in Habitat preferences this similarity in diet may be due to indirect competition of food.


This paper presents new techniques under development for monitoring the health and vibration of the active components in nuclear power plants, The purpose of this study is to develop an automated system for condition classification of a check valve one of the components being used extensively in a safety system of a nuclear power plant. Acoustic emission testing for a check valve under controlled flow loop conditions was performed to detect and evaluate disc movement for valve failure such as wear and leakage due to foreign object interference in a check valve, It is clearly demonstrated that the evaluation of different types of failure types such as disc wear and check valve leakage were successful by systematically analyzing the characteristics of various AE parameters, It is also shown that the leak size can be determined with an artificial neural network.


Abstract The clinical applications of transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) conversion therapy combined with hepatectomy have been severely restricted by ill‐defined tumoral boundaries and miniscule hidden lesions. Fluorescent surgical navigation is a promising method for overcoming these barriers. However, sufficient delivery of the fluorescent probe into the tumor region after long‐term TAE is challenging due to blockade of the tumor‐supplying artery. Here, a super‐stable homogeneous intermix formulating technology (SHIFT) to physically mix lipiodol and indocyanine green (ICG) formulation (SHIFT and ICG) for fluorescent surgical navigation after long‐term TAE conversion therapy is provided. Through the retrospective study of 45 clinical liver cancer patients, it is found that SHIFT and ICG formulation have excellent tumor deposition effect and safety. During surgical resection after long‐term TAE conversion therapy, SHIFT and ICG could clearly identify in real time the full tumor regions and boundaries and had a high signal‐to‐normal tissues ratio—even the indistinguishable satellite lesions could be identified with a strong fluorescence intensity. Meanwhile, SHIFT and ICG could improve operative, anesthetic, and postoperative variables associated with postoperative complications. This simple and effective SHIFT could provide precise fluorescent navigation for surgical resection following long‐term embolization therapy in clinical practice and has great potential for a translational pipeline.


The COSMOS 2044 spaceflight was the ninth Soviet-International joint mission dedicated to space biomedicine and the seventh in which the United States has participated. The unmanned Vostok vehicle carried 10 rats and two rhesus monkeys on its 14-day voyage. This spaceflight yielded an unprecedented bounty of data on physiological responses to the microgravity environment. The tissues studied and the numbers and types of studies performed by members of the international science community constituted a new record. Many of the results obtained by the approximately 80 American scientists who participated are reported in the series of COSMOS 2044 papers in this issue. Descriptions of the spaceflight and animal procedures are detailed elsewhere. The broad goals of the space biomedical program are threefold. The first is to characterize qualitatively and quantitatively the biological responses to the microgravity environment, be they adaptive or pathological. The second goal is to clarify the physiological-biochemical mechanisms mediating the responses to microgravity. The third goal of this program is to use the space environment as a tool to better understand adaptive and disease processes in terrestrial organisms.


In this paper, we consider the problem of modelling the yield curve using Nelson-Siegel model classes.
Nelson-Siegel model classes discussed here are NS model, BL model, NSS model, RF model, and our
proposed NSSE models. NSSE model is a model which extends the standard NS model as Nelson-Siegel
model class by adding some linear and non-linear parameters in which form the fourth hump of the model
class. The purpose of adding the hump is to accommodate the possibility of having the following cases: the
first, the condition when the short term and the medium term yields are higher than the long term yield. The
second, the condition when the upper-value short term yields are higher than both the short term yields on
average and the long term yields. The third, the case when the upper-value medium term yields are higher
than both the medium term yields on average and the long term yields. These considered cases make the
yield curve more likely to have minimum locals and therefore, the Nelson-Siegel model classes become
more difficult to be estimated. To overcome this problem, in this paper we estimate the model using the
hybrid-genetic algorithm approach and compare it with the standard estimation based on NLS method. We
provide an empirical study using Indonesian Government-Bond Yield Curve (IGYC) data, and found that
the best model for IGYC is 6-factors model.


Objective: The association between type 2 diabetes mellitus and certain endocrine
disorders has the paucity of information and limited data in the province of
Meisan (southern of Iraq). Hence, in the present study, an attempt was made to
investigate the levels of plasma HbA1c, serum insulin resistance and levels of
serum sex hormones in men and women of control and type 2 diabetic patients. Also,
the present study aimed to explored the correlation coefficient (r) between
insulin resistance and level of HbA1c, FSH, LH, Tt, progesterone and estradiol
in men and women patients with NIDDM. Methods: One hundred Iraqi
volunteers with abdominal obesity were selected in the present study. Fifty
diabetic patients with NIDDM (26 men, and 24 women) aged between (37) and (65)
years and 50 healthy individuals (25 men, and 25 women) aged between (36) and
(65) years considered as control group. Complete medical history was taken from
each subject and complete clinical examinations were performed for all
volunteers. Then, the two groups were matched for their fasting blood sugar,
BMI, insulin hormone; c-peptide, HbA1c, sex hormones and insulin resistance
parameters (HOMA2-IR, HOMA%B and HOMA%S) were calculated using HOMA2 calculator
software. Results: We found that insulin resistance demonstrated
negative correlations (p 0.05) with levels of serum follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing
hormone (LH), total testosterone, progesterone and estradiol. While, there was
a positive and significant correlation (p 0.01) with value of HbA1c in men and women NIDDM
patients. Conclusion: We conclude that an increase in the level
of insulin resistance is associated with increased level of blood HbA1c
and decreased in level of serum sex hormones (FSH, LH, Tt, E2 and progesterone)
in men and women of diabetic group. These behaviors might suggest that insulin
resistance can be used as a potential biomarker for predicting dysfunction of
sex hygiene in NIDDM patients in addition to glycemic control.


In recent years, we have witnessed successful application of machine learning techniques to a wide range of information retrieval problems, including Web search engines, recommendation systems, online advertising, etc. It is thus critical for researchers in the information retrieval community to understand the core machine learning techniques. In order to accommodate audiences with different levels of understanding of machine learning, we divide this tutorial into two sessions: the first session will focus on basic machine learning concepts and tools; in the second session, we will introduce more advanced topics in machine learning, and will present recent developments in machine learning and its application to information retrieval. Each season is self-contained. Session 1: Core Learning Technologies for Information Retrieval. This session of the tutorial will cover the core machine learning methods, basic optimization techniques and key information retrieval applications. In particular, it includes: 1). Core concepts in machine learning, such as supervised learning/unsupervised learning, bias and variance trade off, and probabilistic models; 2). Useful concepts and algorithms in optimization including the first and second order gradient methods, and Expectation and Maximization; 3). The application of machine learning methods to key information retrieval problems including text classification, collaborative filtering, clustering and learning to rank; Session 2: Emerging Learning Technologies for Information Retrieval. This session will cover more advanced machine learning techniques that have started to be utilized in information retrieval applications. In particular, it will cover: 1). Advanced Optimization Techniques including stochastic optimization and smooth minimization; 2). Emerging Learning Techniques such as Multiple-Instance Learning, Active Learning and Semi-supervised Learning. The tutorial will benefit a large body of audience in the information retrieval community, ranging from students who are new to machine learning to the seasoned researchers who would like to understand the recent advance in machine learning for information retrieval research. This tutorial will also benefit the practitioners who apply learning techniques to real-world information retrieval systems.


Parliaments possess huge amounts of valuable knowledge on public policies which concerns social needs, problems, and interventions for addressing them. This knowledge is highly useful to other parliaments and also to government agencies of various layers. However, this valuable knowledge is hidden in numerous text documents so that it cannot be efficiently exchanged and exploited. In this regard, it is highly important to extend the concept of interoperability among information systems (IS) of Parliaments and Government Agencies so that it covers not only the 'operational level', but also the 'knowledge level'. This paper presents a methodology for achieving higher level interoperability among IS of parliaments and government agencies with respect to the exchange of public policy related knowledge. It is based on the use of the complex problems representation ontology provided by the 'Issue-Based Information Systems' (IBIS) framework for codifying public policy related knowledge. An application of the proposed methodology is presented for the case of the law on the 'Contracts of Voluntary Cohabitation', which has been recently passed by the Greek Parliament. The evaluation of this application gave encouraging conclusions as to the usefulness of this methodology and resulted in the development of a refinement of the IBIS ontology.


The purpose of this study was to determine the process of developing block resin media in the Magnoliopsida class Chrysanthemum plant and also the level of feasibility of the resin media as a biology learning media using development methods based on Borg & Gall combined with Dick & Carey learning in 5 stages, namely: (1) Stage of needs analysis, formulating instructional objectives, product validation, product trials, and revisions. Analysis of data in the form of a Likert scale to determine the feasibility of the media analyzed by qualitative descriptive. The results showed that the block resin media ware suitable to be used as a learning medium based on the results of validation tests from material experts (79.1%), media experts (84.1%) and trials on lecturers and Peer Reviewers (84.05%), and product trials in individual trials (81.6%), small group trials (83%), limited field group trials (79.5%). Through this media, it is hoped that it can improve the effectiveness and motivation of students in the Biology departmentat the Faculty of Science and Technology of the State Islamic University of North Sumatra.


Supply elasticity measures how much supply will increase when the price rises. In the housing literature, it is well known that supply elasticity is determined by geographic constraints, land-use regulations, and current land use status. Interestingly, we find that all these determinants are not sufficient to explain the neighborhood supply elasticity in Hong Kong during 2003 and 2018 using the two well-established approaches in the literature. Instead, we find that the ownership constraints (the degree of land title fragmentation) have significantly determined the supply elasticity at this very micro level. This finding can be explained by the tragedy of the anticommons, in which the title fragmentation can lead to sub-optimal use of land and decrease supply elasticity. As a continuation of Baum-Snow and Han (2019), we confirm their empirical findings that neighborhoods close to the CBD have lower supply elasticity, and we propose two underlying reasons. Our evidence rejects the homevoter hypothesis but points to again the ownership constraints. This paper contributes to the housing supply at the microgeographic level, paving the way for the growing literature of within-city heterogeneity, including the price movements and many others.


Spatial augmented reality (SAR) can extend desktop computing out of the monitor and into our surroundings, but extending the standard style of mouse input is challenging due to real-world geometry irregularity, gaps, and occlusion. We identify two general approaches for controlling a mouse cursor in SAR: perspective-based approaches based on raycasting, such as Nacenta et. al's Perspective Cursor, and geometry-based approaches that closely associate cursor movement with surface topology. For the latter, we introduce Everywhere Cursor, a geometry-based approach for indirect mouse cursor control for complex 3D surface geometry in SAR. A controlled experiment compares approaches. Results show the geometry-based Everywhere Cursor improves accuracy and precision by 29% to 60% on average in a tracing task, but when traversing long distances, the perspective-based Perspective Cursor and Raycasting techniques are 22% to 49% faster, albeit with 4% to 10% higher error rates.


M. Ashok et al., presents a method for hardware Trojan detection in integrated circuits. Unsupervised deep learning is used to clas-sify wide field-of-view (4 × 4 mm 2 ), high spatial resolution magnetic field images taken using a Quantum Diamond Microscope (QDM) . QDM magnetic imaging is enhanced using quantum control techniques and improved diamond material to increase magnetic field sensitivity by a factor of 4 and measurement speed by a factor of 16 over previous demonstrations. Unsupervised convolutional neural networks and clustering are used to infer Trojan presence from unlabeled data sets of 600 × 600 pixel magnetic field images without human bias.


Basel II is an emerging regulatory regime for financial institutions. It stipulates that banks must quantify the capital they need to offset operational losses, such as fraud, computer viruses or transaction processing errors. One statistical approach is to assume that risk can be described in terms of a distribution of possible outcomes, over some time horizon, such as one year. The capital charge for operational losses is then based on the difference between the 99.9 percentile and the mean of this distribution. The distribution of aggregated portfolio losses is a compound distribution, combining loss event frequencies and severities. A key assumption is that historic operational events contain some information about future potential operational risk exposure. So frequency and severity distributions are independently parameterised using this historic data. Then Monte Carlo simulation is used to convolute the distributions. All calculations are implemented in R. In this paper, the frequency distribution is a negative binomial and the severity distribution is semi-parametric, combining the empirical distribution, for losses below some high threshold, with a generalized Pareto distribution, for excesses above that threshold. 1 Quantitative Risk Models and Statistics, UBS Investment Bank, 100 Liverpool St., London, EC2M 2RH. U.K.


In January 2006, the Stardust sample return capsule returned to Earth bearing the first solid samples from a primitive solar system body, Comet 81P/Wild2, and a collector dedicated to the capture and return of contemporary interstellar dust. Both collectors were approximately 0.1m(exp 2) in area and were composed of aerogel tiles (85% of the collecting area) and aluminum foils. The Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector (SIDC) was exposed to the interstellar dust stream for a total exposure factor of 20 m(exp 2) day. The Stardust Interstellar Preliminary Examination (ISPE) is a three-year effort to characterize the collection using nondestructive techniques.


Iron is critical for physiological and mental function. The purpose of this study was to characterize iron status in 1,043 Italians >65 yr in the InCHIANTI study. Complete blood count (CBC) measures, transferrin receptor and ferritin were considered. The high prevalence of suggestive inflammation (>60%) in InCHIANTI, combined with literature supporting a higher ferritin cutoff for older people, provided a compelling case to use a ferritin cutoff of 45 μg/L rather a traditional cutoff of 15 μg/L as a criterion for iron deficiency. This cutoff and/or other iron and CBC cutoffs were used to characterize four stages of iron status: 1) iron deficiency anemia; 2) non‐anemic iron deficiency; 3) iron sufficiency; and 4) iron overload. The prevalence of individuals in each stage was 4.2%, 5.7%, 34.5% and 12.0%, respectively, while 43.6% of the population's iron status was not clearly definable according to strict cutoffs. These results suggested both a concerning prevalence of iron overload and iron deficiency in this Italian cohort. Using the traditional ferritin cutoff of 15 μg/L reduced the number of people classified as iron deficient by 47.6%, potentially misclassifying those individuals. The accurate characterization of iron status in the elderly is necessary to properly identify those who could benefit from treatment.


Haemangioma is a relatively common benign proliferation of blood vessels that primarily develops during childhood. Two main forms of haemangiomas are recognized: capillary and cavernous. The capillary form presents as a flat area consisting of numerous small capillaries. Cavernous hemangiomas appear as an elevated lesion of a deep red colour, and consist of large dilated sinuses filled with blood. The purpose of the study was to report the case of a haemangioma on the palate and to describe the successful treatment of this case.


Renormalized transmission spectroscopic ellipsometry (RTSE) is used to evaluate the device parameters of liquid crystal display (LCD). To determine the reduced dielectric and elastic constants, threshold voltage, pretilt angle, cell gap, and surface polar anchoring energy coefficient, symmetrically oblique incidence transmission ellipsometry (SOITE) was applied to vertical-alignment (VA) LCD. It is suggested that the rubbing process on the alignment films for VA LCD does not disturb the measurement of the genuine surface polar anchoring energy coefficient. RTSE is also applicable to the determination of the total twist angle of the cholesteric film.


The present invention is applicable to the field of communications card, a mobile radio communication card and a mobile terminal, a mobile radio communication card, comprising: a control module; interface module connected to the electrical control module, the user identity module, a communication module and a radio frequency intelligent module; further comprising electrically connected to the control module, start the radio frequency communication module for identifying the acceleration and converts the acceleration into an electric signal, and reads the predetermined acceleration converted into an electric signal in the control gesture recognition module module. After the present invention is a mobile communication card and a mobile radio terminal, by connecting to the electrical control module for identifying the acceleration and converts the acceleration into an electric signal, to convert and read the predetermined acceleration into an electric signal in the control module activating the RF communication module gesture recognition module, can easily turn the RF communication module according to need, easy to operate.


Giving is a quintessentially relational activity. Giving time and money to meet the needs of persons other than oneself fosters interpersonal trust, social cohesion and collaboration; relational factors that are foundational to productivity and life-satisfaction. Citizenship Survey data from the UK is used to provide empirical evidence for the link between this 'social capital' and giving, and giving and welfare outcomes. Welfare is measured in private terms (life-satisfaction and income) as well as in communal terms (trust, crime and deprivation). We find that giving levels interact with all expressions of welfare on a similar scale to big social issues like unemployment, race, education, ill-health and low incomes. People who give only when constrained to do so by social pressures have less association with positive welfare outcomes than those who give freely. We propose that giving flows link social capital stocks to welfare outcomes, and that positive welfare outcomes also incentivize time and money investments back into the relational (social) capital stock. Understanding social capital and its benefits through the prism of giving flows clarifies how one might invest in the relational stock. It also bypasses many measurement complexities by targeting the flow to and from the stock rather than the stock itself.


In the spring of 1905 in his Irvington, Indiana, home, a small time printer and writer of numerous articles on Hoosier history for area newspapers set type for a new publication. This job was differ ent from tasks the printer had performed in the past for paying cus tomers because the periodical he printed on a Gordon press featured his name on the masthead as editor. Although he later told an Indi anapolis Star reporter that it had been "folly to undertake such a thing" as he had insufficient capital to embark on such a financial ly risky venture, the periodical George S. Cottman started more than ninety years ago?the Indiana Magazine of History?survives today as a quarterly magazine devoted to informing and instructing those interested in the nineteenth state's past.1 The printer, who vowed that his creation would contain mat ter of real value to students of history and no "cheap padding," seems, at first glance, to be poorly fitted for administering such an enter prise. Cottman's education went no further than that provided by the Beech Grove district schools. He had no formal training as an historian or editor. Cottman learned about the printing trade as an apprentice with the Indianapolis Sentinel; and he admitted, "I am at best but part historian, for there are in that field areas many and extensive that are to me drearily arid; for example, that hypotheti cal unraveling of long-buried questions, that must always remain hypothetical, and which, if once accepted really interest nobody." The part of history that interested Cottman was the "picturesque ele


Introduction. Chylothorax is a rare condition that results from abnormal accumulation of lymphatic fluid in the chest and one of the most common causes of pleural effusion in newborns. The aim of our study is to present our own experience of chemical pleurodesis using povidone-iodine in newborns with chylothorax.
Materials and methods. In the present study, we studied data from 10 patients with chylothorax who, over the past years, starting in 2016, underwent chemical pleurodesis using the drug povidone-iodine. Congenital accumulation of lymph in the pleural cavity was recorded in 2 patients, acquired in 8 patients. The indications for this procedure were the absence of response to total parenteral nutrition for at least 10 days and the appointment of octreotide at the maximum dosage. Pleurodesis consisted in the introduction into the pleural cavity of a 4% solution of povidone-iodine with a calculated dose of 1 ml/kg. The povidone-iodine solution was kept inside the pleural cavity for the next 4 hours.
Results. Chemical pleurodesis was successfully applied in all 10 patients. In 8 patients, a single prescription of the drug was sufficient, and in 2 remaining patients, the pleurodesis session was repeated. After the procedure of chemical pleurodesis, 2 patients developed respiratory distress syndrome caused by massive atelectasis of the homolateral lung, which was confirmed by X-ray examination. These patients required mechanical ventilation for 24 and 48 hours. The average time for the disappearance of chylothorax was 4 days. In the long-term follow-up, 1 patient died from progressive deterioration of pulmonary function against the background of lung hypoplasia.
Conclusions. Our data demonstrate that povidone iodine pleurodesis is a effective treatment for chylothorax in newborns.


Ovarian cancer is the 5th leading cause of cancer deaths in women due to late stage diagnosis and limited treatment options. Exosomes are nanometer‐sized vesicles produced in multi‐vesicular bodies (MVBs) and released into the extracellular environment. Exosomes play a role in the progression of ovarian cancer by encapsulating and transferring DNA, RNA (including microRNAs), proteins, and lipids between cells and modifying the tumor microenvironment. Data from our laboratory shows that a novel drug binds to proteins involved in exosome secretion, transport, and content loading, including microRNA binding proteins. The goal of this research is to determine whether this novel drug, called tumor exosome inhibitor (TEXi), can prevent secretion and/or content loading of ovarian cancer exosomes. Using an exosome secretion assay (CD63‐nanoluciferase), nanoparticle tracking analysis, and western blot we found that TEXi inhibits exosome secretion in ovarian cancer cells. Ovarian cancer cells expressing CD63 tagged with GFP allowed for visualization of exosome production and co‐staining for lysosomes and mitochondria allowed for the visualization of the relationship between exosome production in MVBs and these other organelles. Treatment with TEXi followed by live and fixed‐cell imaging demonstrated that TEXi inhibits the secretion by promoting fusion of MVBs with the lysosome. Exosome microRNA secretion, measured by qRT‐PCR, was also reduced by TEXi treatment. In conclusion, TEXi can block exosome and microRNA release by promoting MVB lysosomal degradation. This study has identified a potential new strategy for the treatment of ovarian cancer by blocking the effect of exosomes on the tumor microenvironment.


The Corona Virus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) has put the world in great worry, confusion and pressure. From its prevailing patterns in past few days, we can estimate the stress which the health care systems and societies are bearing globally. This dreadful COVID-19 pandemic [1] is infecting uncontrolled number of individuals every single hour. Therefore, the major concern of the present hour is to prevent the further global spread of this pandemic as it has already involved more than 200 countries around the globe. According to the latest WHO reports upto 6 April, there are 12,10,956 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 and approximately 67,594 people have lost their lives all over the world [2]. Corona virus (CoV) transmits readily through respiratory droplets and person to person contact, therefore presence at mass gathering event [3] is a major risk for transmission of this infection. The historical data clears the picture that various mass gathering events like sports, religious, musical and political are the major source of the spread of such fatal diseases [4]. Although, on 22 January 2011; 130 Executive Board Decision declined such health issues caused during the mass gatherings because of advancements in public health measures, collaborative health planning, enhancements in health infrastructures and execution of all the preventive measures to manifest the spread of such infectious ailments at International scale [5]. After this, many mega events with huge mass gatherings were organized successfully even at the times when WHO has declared public health emergencies such as Vancouver Olympics in 2010 & FIFA World Cup in South Africa during H1N1 influenza epidemic, 2015 Africa Football Cup during Ebola infection and Rio Olympics in 2016 during Zika virus disease [6, 7]. But the sudden emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in China from December 2019 onwards has again recreated the problem of the spread of this respiratory pathogen through mass gathering public events which has now led to a pandemic [1]. Therefore, several countries have put a stoppage on cultural, religious, sports and


LDL oxidation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of CVD and carotenoids could be related to decreased susceptibility of this oxidation.Several authors have suggested that Lycopene supplementation may have beneficial effects on LDL oxidation.This study evaluates the association between Lycopene addition and mean of lag time oxidation through a meta‐analysis of 3 intervention trials


When called by parents over the telephone from their home, and asked to visit the patient, I would often hear the child's stridor through the telephone from the neighbouring room. The parents were then told to carry the child in their arms until the doctor arrived. On my arrival after about 10 minutes, stridor was so modest that in three cases the parents apologized for calling a doctor for no apparent reason. When respiration again became normal, the child was put back to bed in an elevated position, either by lifting the front wheels of the perambulator or by placing the head of the bed on wooden blocks, or by supporting the child with blankets and pillows into a sitting position, but not so high that the child would fall out when he went to sleep. After thus instructing the parents I returned home and asked to be called if anything happened. In the ten cases where I was consulted I heard no more from the parents. On this basis I presume that the effect also of the after-treatment was satisfactory. Considering that croup sets in after the child has stayed in bed for some time (in a horizontal position) and that oedema of a catarrhal mucous membrane probably is the most important pathogenetic factor, it seems natural to try what may be achieved by elevation treatment.-I am, etc., Bekkestua, Norway. TORGILS AANELAND.


This paper presents a study on the dual-coupling characteristics between elastic plate and acoustic cavity. Modal superposition method was employed to analyze sound transmission in the plate-cavity-plate system and cavity-plate-cavity system. Impedance and mobility methods were also adopted which were easy to investigate the characteristics between the structural and acoustic systems. The expression of sound transmission between plate-cavity-plate system and cavity-plate-cavity system were given.


We have established human γδ T cell lines specific for Streptococcus sanguis (S. sanguis) KTH‐1 present in normal oral cavity flora. The CD4−CD8− CD3+Vγ9+Vδ1−CD45RO+ CD25+ T cell lines showed a proliferative response to the streptococcal antigen (Ag) in the presence of autologous antigen‐presenting cells without apparent evidence of HLA restriction. The proliferative response of the γδ T cell lines was completely blocked by anti‐TcRγδ monoclonal antibody (mAb) and anti‐HLA class I mAb (W6/32), whereas anti‐HLA classical class Ia mAb (B‐H9; anti‐HLA‐A,B,C), anti‐HLA class II mAb (anti‐DR, anti‐DQ, and anti‐DP) and anti‐CD4 mAb did not have any inhibitory effects. Surprisingly, the γδ T cell lines showed the proliferative response against the original bacterial Ag KTH‐1 exclusively, and exhibited no cross‐reactivity with nominal Ag such as purified protein derivative of tuberculin, tetanus toxoid and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, or the same species but different strain of S. sanguis, American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) standard strain (10556), or even with the same strain but different serotype of S. sanguis, KTH‐3. Moreover, cytokine production of the γδ T cell lines was similar to the Th1 pattern [interferon‐γ, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α and TNF‐β]. They also produced interleukin‐8 that functions as one of chemoattractants for polymorphonuclear cells. Using direct sequencing technique of the polymerase chain reaction products, we found that junctional diversity of the T cell receptor (TcR) used by the parental KTH‐1 specific γδ T cell line and its subclones is rather limited. It is suggested that γδ T cells with canonical TcR could preferentially respond to KTH‐1 Ag. Thus, in addition to a broad or cross‐reactivity of γδ T cells against phylogenetically conserved stress/heat‐shock protein, which is well characterized by others, some peripheral blood γδ T cells could recognize and kill exogenous agents with fine antigenic specificity to protect the body against them.


In order to establish planning and definition processes to realize products that inspire high perception and favorableness in purchasing agents, we have developed a template for product planning and definition processes, which includes a strategic analysis, focus on the target client, needs analysis, quality function deployment, and base/option part optimization. We also attempted to apply the template to product planning and definition for the elevator business. We have ensured that the following effective activities can be realized by the proposed method. (1) Hypothesis planning, such as a purchase decision factor based on competitiveness analysis and customer value chain (business domain/stakeholders structure) analysis. (2) Hypothesis verification of newly arising needs based on voice of customers (VOC), analysis, including text-data mining. (3) Optimization of base/option part and variety based on the results of VOC analysis and evaluation of the cost.


In 2006 a research program was launched at Delft University of Technology aiming for the development of a new class of materials, i.e. materials with an inbuilt healing mechanism. The idea is that these novel materials can self repair damage resulting in substantially decreased maintenance and repair costs and increased service life. Several research projects focus on cement-based materials such as concrete and asphalt. One project that will be discussed here concerns bacterial-based concrete. The bacteria which are added to the concrete mixture are able to produce calcium carbonate-based minerals, a process that can result in sealing and water tightening of cracks. These and more examples show that novel materials and constructions which are designed to control damage rather than prevent damage by featuring an inbuilt healing mechanism could be more economical than traditional ones.


The 13C N.M.R. spectra of the cytokinins (1)-(3) and cytokinin glycosides (4)-(11) are reported and complete assignments made by correlation with related compounds and with the aid of deuterium labelling. The results show that previously derived 13C N.M.R. correlations on simpler purine derivatives can be extended to the cytokinin glucosides for the determination of the substitution positions on the adenine ring. As well, the structure of the substituents and the stereochemistry of the N-glu-cosyl linkages can be confirmed from 13C chemical shift values.


Humanoid robots are multibody systems with appearance of humans, with two legs, two arms and a head. There are different applications where humanoid robots can be used, as in domestic's activities, rescue of victims in natural disasters and to support the human rehabilitation. The kinematic model of humanoid robots has been extensively studied and there are different approaches to solve it. The interest is to obtain such models that represent the humanoid gait as similar as possible to the human gait. Despite the solutions presented in the literature, the robots still walking with behavior different of human's, even on flat surfaces and without external disturbances. Possible reasons for these differences are the limitations of the inverse kinematics model used for the robot design. In general, the motions are split on two independent planes, keeping constant the torso and feet orientation, that does not give a general solution to describe a spatial trajectory of the humanoid robot. A common approach to obtain these models applies the conventional geometric methods to model the inverse kinematics, with matrix transformation and trigonometric expressions, where the multibody orientation is, in general, given by Euler angles. This approach presents parametrization singularities given by Gimbal Lock problem. The complexity to interpolate the motion described by Euler angles is another problem. Then, the objective of this work is to present a new method to solve the humanoid robot's inverse kinematics maintaining its dynamic equilibrium. The method is based on algebraic geometry and dual quaternions approach to obtain the inverse kinematics model, which is able to describe the spatial motion of humanoid robots without restrictions of orientation and required displacement. The proposed methodology enable to interpolate the joint angles, velocities and accelerations, resulting in polynomial functions, allowing to obtain the acceleration of the center of mass. The dynamic stability analysis is done to the proposed motion, by computational simulations and experimental tests, based on the method of Zero Moment Point (ZMP). The influence of dynamic effects is also evaluated by the variation of the robot center of mass acceleration. The method was applied to design the gait of two robots of different sizes. The tests have shown the dynamic stability of the proposed trajectory and validated the methodology to design and simulate the humanoid robot gait.


Abstract
The number of individuals with autism attending college has grown with the increase of autism diagnosis. College students with autism graduate at a lower rate than their typically developed peers. Few studies have examined the


The thermodynamic properties of impurity components in silicon solutions play an important role in the chemical removal process to the metallurgical route. In this paper, the component activity coefficients and interaction parameters of dilute silicon solutions were estimated by the molecular interaction volume model (MIVM). The activity coefficients ( ) of component i in dilute binary Si-i and ternary Si-i-j solutions at 1687-1873 K were firstly calculated. The concentration dependences of the interaction parameter and activity coefficient were also obtained. The self-interaction parameters ( ) for Si-i system were obtained as , , and . At the same time, the interaction parameters among components B, Al, and Fe in dilute ternary Sii-j solutions were also derived as , and . Most important of all, the temperature dependences of the interaction parameters and activity coefficients in dilute Si-i and Si-i-j solutions with a certain i or j concentration were deduced. The results show that the predicted self-interaction parameters of B, Al, Fe, and P in binary silicon solutions reasonably agree with the experimental data. This further shows that MIVM is of reliability and can be expanded to a multi-component dilute silicon solution.


Our goal was to ascertain whether fish yield differences (0.2–43 kg ha –1 yr –1 ) among 166 Northern Finnish lakes could be attributed to level and variability of 14 limnological variables. Water quality variables were assessed at shallow and deep water in winter and summer. For most of them, the greatest share of the variation (65%) was due to the season, while that of the water depth averaged 28%. Fish yield tends to increase with increasing levels of oxygen saturation, conductivity, Na and K concentrations. A decreasing fish yield was observed with an increasing chemical oxygen demand of lake water and with increasing N. Intermediate levels of water colour were associated with the highest fish yield. A variable variability accounted for a fair proportion of the total variance in the fish yield together with a variable level only in the chemical oxygen demand of the lake water. For most of the variables examined for variability, no clear covariation with the fish yield could be shown. We selected 25 lakes with the lowest fish yield (mean 0.4 kg), and 25 lakes with the highest yield (20 kg). The 14 variables were compared in the two groups of lakes. We found that the oxygen saturation, conductivity and pH were significantly higher in the high-yield lakes than in the low-yield lakes, whilst Fe levels were much lower in the high-yield lakes. We conclude that water quality affects the lake-specific fish yield. The relationship in Finnish lakes is, however, too weak to enable the usage of water quality as a lake-specific fish yield prediction tool.


A display device and a method for driving the same are disclosed. The display device includes a display panel including a common electrode commonly connected to pixels, a display driving circuit for applying a data voltage to the pixels for the vertical active time, and a sensor driving circuit which applies a gesture sensing driving signal to the common electrode for the vertical blank time and senses a gesture input.


Acquired tracheoesophageal fistulae are uncommon in burn patients but can occur as a complication of inhalation injury. We report a case of a 30-year-old male patient presenting after suffering from inhalation and 25% total body surface area burns. On post burns day 14 he developed a massive tracheoesophageal fistula causing refractory acute respiratory failure. Veno-venous extracorporeal membrane (VV ECMO) oxygenation was initiated without systemic anticoagulation via bi-femoral cannulation under transthoracic echocardiography guidance. He underwent successful 5-hour apnoeic ventilation-assisted surgical repair of the fistula via a right posterolateral thoracotomy. ECMO was discontinued after 36 hours, and he was discharged to the ward after 33 days in the intensive care unit. Inhalation burn injury can cause a delayed life-threatening tracheoesophageal fistula. Surgical repair can be successfully performed for this condition. VV- ECMO can be used to facilitate prolonged apnoeic surgery and to manage refractory respiratory failure due to this condition.


STEPHEN THOMAS NEWMYER: The Silvae ofStatius: Structure and Theme. (Mnemosyne Supplement, 53.) Pp. ix + 136. Leiden: Brill, 1979. Paper, fl. 40. N.'s contribution to Statian studies is based on a doctoral dissertation submitted at the University of North Carolina in 1976; a fact particularly evident in his earlier chapters where some reasonably familiar material is covered at a length more suitable for its original purpose than for a separate publication. He summarizes his aim as to provide 'a detailed examination of structure and theme in the Silvae' in the belief that 'analysis of all the poems should provide an understanding of what general principles underlie the collection and of what themes most interested Statius the poet' (p. 1). (In fact, not all the poems are submitted to the same degree of minute analysis, and it is for this reason that it might have been advisable to omit or shorten some of the introductory material.) N.'s principal concern lies with structure: of the books themselves, of individual poems and of the smaller units from which Statius constructed them.


The effects of a delayed bedtime on school children were examined. Among 204 primary school children, 34 children (17%) went to bed after 23.00 hours. In comparison with those who went to bed before 23.00 hours, the sleep time of the former group was more than 1 h shorter, their mood after awakening was worse, and they dozed off more frequently during the daytime. These children more frequently attended cram school and studied at home 1 h later each night. It would be appropriate to reconsider their life style and not to delay the development of good life habits.


Background: Chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) tends to occur more commonly in elderly patients, usually develops after mild head trauma and the common treatment is surgical. Objective: To evaluate the effect of treatment with atorvastatin compared to surgical intervention in elderly people with CSDH. Design and setting: we performed an integrative review of studies available in four databases from 2010 to 2020. Methods: Studies were considered eligible for this review if they were randomized controlled trials comparing the use of atorvastatin treatment to surgical treatment associated with drainage trepanation in elderly patients diagnosed with CSDH. Results: titles and abstracts were screened and 20 articles of those were selected to be fully read, of which 4 remained. To Sheng Qui et al (2017) and Chan et al (2016), the use of atorvastatin may be beneficial in the management of CSDH, so that the volume of the hematoma reduced from 48.70 ± 20.38 to 16.64 ± 14.28mL with a sample size of 22 in the first month of oral atorvastatin. Min Xu et al. (2016) and Wang et al. (2013), with a sample of 22, found improvements in 85.7% and 95.7% of patients with CSDH in terms of volume and neurological deficits presented. Conclusion: The treatment with atorvastatin appears to be safe and effective for CSDH compared to surgical intervention in the elderly. However, further studies are necessary to validate the results and, thus, to put the evidence into practice.


Roll-over shapes of the human foot/ankle complex are shown for three subjects walking at five different self-selected walking speeds (very slow, slow, normal, fast, very fast). The results indicate that the roll-over shape of the foot does not change dramatically from heel contact to opposite heel contact at these different speeds and that the foot/ankle complex could be approximated using a passive structure during this period of the gait cycle. Both of these aspects seem promising for the future development of prosthetic feet. A prosthetic foot that deforms to a proper roll-over shape may perform similarly to the human foot/ankle complex for any walking speed. The findings of this work may also be useful in other areas of prosthetics and orthotics research and rehabilitation.


Ulrich Beck argues here that globalization has transformed the old categories of political action away from the national state. This transformation is possible because the multinational corporation has recaptured the power it lost in the development of democratic capitalism and the welfare state. This is made possible by its ability to withhold material resources from the state. Thus, they can change not only the economy of a nation but society itself. Globalization policies, he argues, are intended to sever the power of both trade unions and the state itself. The "final aim" of such policies is to dismantle the state to achieve the "market utopia" of the minimal state, which is the implementation of the ideology of neoliberalism. The power to achieve the above is created by the transnational corporations' (TNCs) ability to export jobs from uncooperative states, to develop a global division of labor, and to play countries off against one another. This leads to the development of "subpolitics" in which the TNC has power beyond established political systems. Thus, in the new modernity, politics recedes before the expansion of the economic realm. Globalization undermines the nation-state because its effects cut across traditional boundaries. Ironically, as politicians court the TNC with incentives, they undermine their own political authority and the public good. Rather than enhancing social justice as the rhetoric of globalization suggests, globalization increases injustice even further. The framework for balancing the conflicts between rich and poor no longer exist at the time when the gulf between them is widening at alarming rates. Thus, Beck concludes that neoliberals who present themselves as the reformers of the West are ultimately its destroyers. Beck distinguishes between globalism, globality, and globalization. Globalism is the ideology of neoliberalism, which demands rule by the world market. It effectively negates the political, resulting in complete economic reductionism. Globality suggests a world society in which closed spaces of the past have become illusory. Rather, social relationships are not determined by national state politics. Its essence is "multiplicity without unity." Finally, globalization denotes the processes by which the nation-state is undermined by transnational actors. He argues within this framework that globality in the new modernity is irreversible for a number of reasons. Among these are density of international trade, the revolution in information technology, the global culture industry, and growing power of transnational actors to name a few. Unlike global homogenization theorists, world society is conceived here as multiplicity and nonintegration. It also means no world state or world society without a world state or world government. Globalization thus leads to "globally disorganized capitalism" unconstrained by external control. Noting that the discourse of globalization is fuzzy at best, Beck argues that there are multiple dimensions of globalization that need to be considered. These include information, ecological, economic, production, and cultural globalization. Within these contexts, the fundamental premise of modernity has been that the various contours of society coincide with national borders. It is within the context of globality that the identification of society with the state is becoming less meaningful. It is thus a negation of the "container theory of society" that has informed social theory to date and made the nation-state the unit of analysis. How this has played out in various theories is demonstrated by an examination of several prevalent approaches to globalization. The progress of globalization is characterized as a somewhat dialectical process between the nation-state and the transnational corporation. In consideration of transnational civil society, Beck suggests that new transnational spaces open for transnational actors who have no legitimate power. Several theorists are examined. These range from Wallerstein's (1979) world system that suggests that the global logic of capitalism dominates the process, to Gilpin and Gilpin (2000), who argue that the development of transnational social spaces requires a permissive political structure making globalization contingent. Beck then offers his own "world risk society" based on global ecological risks that know no boundaries. He sees a new cosmopolitan consciousness predicated on the notion that global threats create global society. Here the TNC is not a direct agent of change as it is in other approaches. It is tied indirectly, however, in the consequences of its actions caused by both affluence and poverty. Such global risks bring involuntary politicization. The cultural transformations of globalization that might be summed in the "McDonaldization" thesis are disputed because they suggest a one-dimensional process. Globalization actually gives new meaning to the idea of the local as narrowly geographic because, for example, there can be no global production but only multiple local productions. He refers to this process as translocal or occurring in several places at one time. Within the translocal view, he refers to different types of distinction as exclusive or inclusive. In the former, one is a member of one group or another depending on the side of the


In this paper, we consider the problem of blind source separation of 2D images under a Bayesian formulation (Bayes-BSS). We transport the problem to the wavelet domain to be able to define appropriate prior distributions for the wavelet coefficients of the unobservable sources: an independent Gaussians mixture (IGM) model, a hidden Markov tree (HMT) model and contextual hidden Markov field (CHMF) model. Indeed, we consider a limiting case of the aforementioned prior models to propose a simple procedure for joint source separation and denoising. This procedure shows to be efficient, especially for highly noisy observations. Simulation examples and comparisons with standard classical methods are presented to show the performances of the proposed approach.


The last few years have seen a paradigm change in scanning transmission electron microscopy, STEM, with unprecedented improvements in both spatial and spectroscopic resolution being realized by aberration correctors, cold-field emission guns and monochromators. The successful correction of lens aberrations has greatly advanced the ability of the STEM to provide direct, real space imaging at atomic resolution. Very complementary to reciprocal space methods, this is especially advantageous for aperiodic systems, nanostructures, interfaces and point defects. Aberration-correction has also enabled the development of new imaging techniques, such as incoherent annular bright field (ABF) imaging, which enables the direct visualization of light atoms, such as hydrogen or lithium. While these instrumentation developments have brought notable successes in materials analysis, in particular for hetero-interfaces, catalysis and thin-film studies, they have also challenged the established experimental protocols and our fundamental understanding of both imaging and spectroscopy in the STEM. Aberration correction also allows increased flexibility in choosing the appropriate electron energy to minimize beam induced damage while maintaining atomic-resolution (e.g. 60 keV electrons for studying graphene with 1.3 Å resolution).[1]


In this article I offer a reconstruction of the early Stoics' account of why human beings become bad, which they referred to as the doctrine of «double perversion», and place this doctrine in its Hellenistic context. I do so on the basis of the extant sources, going beyond the standard collections of evidence on the Stoics, and with particular emphasis on Calcidius' account, which I suggest is somewhat longer than often assumed. The two causes the early Stoics identified are each first set out within Stoic thought itself and subsequently placed against the background of the debate about human conduct among the different schools of thought that emerged in the Hellenistic period. With regard to the first cause, persuasiveness of external matters, I maintain that the early Stoics in fact attacked the Epicureans, arguing that humans should not be misled by the pleasurable nature of some things. With regard to the second cause, verbal influence by others, the early Stoics actually followed Socrates and the Cynics in emphasizing the importance of thinking against common opinion.


Summary Forty-two patients with neuropathologically confinned Alzheimer's disease, who had been examined pro spectively, had a significant decrease ofneuron numbers in the locus coeruleus, substantia nigra, and basal nuc1eus of Mey nert compared to 10 age-matched, non-demented controls. A subgroup of 12 demented patients with a history ofdepression had significantly lower neuron numbers in the locus coeruleus and slightly higher neuronal density in the basal nuc1eus of Meynert. We hypothesize that a noradrenergic/cholinergic im balance may promote the development of depressive features in patients with Alzheimer's disease.


I n this paper I would like to reexamine some of the traditional dichotomies between language and gesture. In order to do so, it will be necessary to consider a three-way contrast—spoken languages, signed languages, and gesture. Without this three-way comparison, we risk collapsing contrasts between visual and auditory media with contrasts between linguistic structure and co-linguistic gestural structure. Such a comparison clearly belongs in this volume because Dan Slobin's work on thinking for Speaking has provided a crucial impetus to the research which feeds my new evaluation—both his own work on spoken and signed language, and the new perspectives on co-speech gesture which have been inspired by that work, not to mention his general intellectual influence on my work for the last 30 years. Dan has never been never afraid to cross boundaries between modalities—or to be skeptical about accepted dichotomies. So I hope readers will see this paper as being in his tradition. returning to our topic: what kinds of contrasts are there between language and gesture? First of all, many researchers agree that language is conventional, while spontaneous co-speech gesture is non-conventional and flexible (though "quotable gestures" are conventional). In gesturing about a tree, for example, a gesturer might trace the fat tube of the trunk with two "C" hands forming a circle, while another gesturer might hold up a forearm as trunk with fingers as branches. Neither would be "wrong," and indeed they might successfully highlight different aspects of the tree's structure. However, Hong Kong Sign Language conventionally and lexically represents trEE in the first way, while the American Sign Language lexical sign for trEE is based on the second strategy. Neither language's word for trEE is correct in the other language. Similarly, there seems some consensus that language is compositional, discrete, and analytic, while gesture is global and synthetic. Further, as McNeill (1992, 2005) and others have documented, language is a more consciously monitored channel relative to gesture. Speakers are often unaware of gesturing at all, while non-sleeping language-users are aware at least of whether they are producing linguistic forms, even if they cannot be conscious of each lexical and morphological choice involved in production. Overall there are also general feelings that language is somehow abstract,


The effect of boric diglyceride palmitic acid ester that performs as lubricate on the mechanical properties of PVC-rice hull powder composite materials was studied.Experiments with 30%,40%,50% and 60% addition of rice hull were conducted.The results showed that the extrusion rate,impact strength,tensile strength and bending strength of the wood-plastic composite all increased as the addition of boric diglyceride palmitic acid ester increased.Averagely,the extrusion rate,impact strength,tensile strength and bending strength of PVC-rice hull powder wood-plastic composite increased 3.98%,2.36%,0.82% and 0.55% respectively while the lubricant were only boric diglyceride palmitic acid ester.Meanwhile,the most water absorption rate increased to 0.21%.


The crystal structure of Hgso 4 .H2 o was refined using three-dimensional x~ray diffraction data obtained by direct counting. The space


Lawrence, Massachusetts is one of many "forgotten cities" characterized by high vacancy and crime rates as well as the outsourcing of the manufacturing industry. Yet with the recent redevelopment plans for a number of underutilized mills clustered in the downtown, stakeholders in the community believe Lawrence is on the brink of an urban renaissance. This thesis is intended to assist a coalition of property owners who are in the process of forming a business improvement district (BID) to enhance their investments in the mill district. However, these stakeholders face a dilemma: they must form a partnership with a city government that lacks capacity and rely on faulty BID enabling legislation in order to collectively leverage district improvements. Through case study analysis of BIDs, this thesis identifies key barriers to BID formation and provides recommendations on how best to overcome them. It also recommends that the Massachusetts BID enabling legislation be changed by removing the opt-out clause. Targeted at stakeholders in Lawrence and other forgotten cities in Massachusetts with an interest in forming a BID, two primary conclusions are drawn. First, a public-private balance of power shaped by way of a legal contract that outlines the city's and BID's role in forgotten cities is essential. Second, BID planners in Massachusetts, because of the opt-out clause in the enabling legislation, need to conduct additional outreach to property owners in the district. Thesis Advisor: Lorlene Hoyt Title: Assistant Professor, Department of Urban Studies and Planning