A method is proposed for estimating direction-of-arrival (DOA) and power spectral density (PSD) of stationary point source signals using a single, rotating, directional microphone. By considering different microphone orientations for different time frames, the DOA is estimated by locating the maxima in an estimated PSD vector obtained by solving a group-sparsity constrained optimization problem using a dictionary composed of the known microphone response sampled on an angular grid. The estimated DOAs are then used for obtaining an overdetermined least squares problem with a nonnegativity constraint for re-estimating the PSD of the point source signals. The DOA estimation performance is compared between cases of different frequency-dependent microphone directivity patterns, as well as with the MUSIC algorithm for 6-element uniform linear and circular microphone arrays. The proposed stationary point source PSD estimation using DOA information is compared with traditional single-channel methods for PSD estimation employing minimum statistics and MMSE-based approaches for a rotating microphone setup, one speech source and one stationary interfering point source.


Methods of compressing HDTV (high-definition television) image sequences are investigated. Best results are achieved by a new combination of median adaptive intraframe prediction and arithmetic coding of the resultant prediction error. Fully reversible compression with low computational complexity is possible. The method has been used to compress the simulated progressive scan HDTV image sequence 'Kiel Harbor' to a rate less than that of an (uncompressed) interlace source. Interlaced HDTV images have been compressed to approximately 55% of their original rate. Intended applications are image storage and full-quality data exchange.<<ETX>>


ABSTRACT This interview provides insights into the products and services offered by Elsevier Science, a leading publisher of science, technical, and medical content, and the roles and responsibilities of Tony McSeán, Elsevier Science's Director of Library Relations. Products and services discussed include Scirus, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and PDxMD; retraction of scientific content; pricing models; future trends; and predictions.


The 4.431 MeV nuclear excitation in /sup 23/Na was observed by measuring the electron energy spectrum resulting from inelastic scattering of 58.5 MeV primary electrons through an angle of 180 degrees. It is shown that this excitation is most likely due to a magnetic dipole transition. The integrated inelastic electron scattering cross section for this level was found to be (0.48 = 0.05) x 10/sup -32/ cm/sup 2//sr.


Ho hoI Santa Claus stopped In lut iii'" l1li wish us a erry Christmu and ~neraJ.. • Iy brighten an otherwise bluk uy, but a member of the crick campus SecurIty force walked In aDd ed him to move his sleigh, which was parked oa the grass outside. Rumor bas It that wasn't the only grl.S3 Santa Claus was usiB& lISt nlghl as be left us with a rather spaced-out weather predletlol1 of • 110 change." That's right. Temperatures in the 305, with snow nurnes emMI this afternoon. Ho Ho Ro.


Enterovirus and adenovirus infections have been linked to the development of celiac disease. We evaluated this association in children who developed biopsy-proven celiac disease (N = 41) during prospective observation starting from birth, and in control children (N = 53) matched for the calendar time of birth, sex, and HLA-DQ genotype. Enterovirus and adenovirus infections were diagnosed by seroconversions in virus antibodies in longitudinally collected sera using EIA. Enterovirus infections were more frequent in case children before the appearance of celiac disease-associated tissue transglutaminase autoantibodies compared to the corresponding period in control children (OR 6.3, 95% CI 1.8–22.3; p = 0.005). No difference was observed in the frequency of adenovirus infections. The findings suggest that enterovirus infections may contribute to the process leading to celiac disease.


We present distance determinations for two Local Group dwarf spheroidal galaxies, Carina and Fornax, based on the near-infrared magnitudes of the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB). For Carina we derive true distance moduli of 20.09 and 20.13 mag in the J and K bands, respectively, while for Fornax the same distance modulus of 20.84 mag was derived in both filters. The statistical errors of these determinations are of the order of 0.03–0.04 mag, whereas the systematic uncertainties on the distances are 0.12 mag in the J band and 0.14 mag in the K band. The distances obtained from the near-infrared TRGB method in this paper agree very well with those obtained for these two galaxies from optical calibrations of the TRGB method, their horizontal branches, RR Lyrae variables, and the near-infrared magnitudes of their red clumps.


WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) has the potential to impact all forms of telecommunications. In a fixed wireless communication, WiMAX can replace the telephone company's copper wire networks, the cable TV's coaxial cable infrastructure while offering Internet Service Provider services. In its mobile variant, WiMAX has the potential to replace cellular networks. However, it still facing real challenge for low complexity and efficient system implementation. It supports NLOS environment with high data rate transmission and high mobility up to 125km/hr. In this paper, two main issues are discussed. The first one presents models for simulating OFDM WiMAX system in Simulink including channel estimation and equalization subsystems in MATLAB functions. Next, the effect of channel estimation error on the performance of MIMO VBLAST receivers in uncorrelated Rayleigh flat fading channels is investigated,


CJUE, 2EME Chbre, 16 janvier 2014, Nnamdi Onuekwere / Secretary of State for the Home Department, Aff. C-378/12CJUE, 2EME Chbre, 16 janvier 2014, Secretary of State for the Home Department c. M. G., Aff. C-400/12


This paper establishes a bilevel planning model with one master and multiple slaves to solve traffic evacuation problems. The minimum evacuation network saturation and shortest evacuation time are used as the objective functions for the upper- and lower-level models, respectively. The optimizing conditions of this model are also analyzed. An improved particle swarm optimization (PSO) method is proposed by introducing an electromagnetism-like mechanism to solve the bilevel model and enhance its convergence efficiency. A case study is carried out using the Nanjing Olympic Sports Center. The results indicate that, for large-scale activities, the average evacuation time of the classic model is shorter but the road saturation distribution is more uneven. Thus, the overall evacuation efficiency of the network is not high. For induced emergencies, the evacuation time of the bilevel planning model is shortened. When the audience arrival rate is increased from 50% to 100%, the evacuation time is shortened from 22% to 35%, indicating that the optimization effect of the bilevel planning model is more effective compared to the classic model. Therefore, the model and algorithm presented in this paper can provide a theoretical basis for the traffic-induced evacuation decision making of large-scale activities.


Agricultural entrepreneurs in developing countries have begun to look toward value-added (VA) production as the next key strategy for economic growth. Increasing competition due to the globalization of production and trade has led a growing number of developing countries to encourage exports as important part of improving international competitiveness. This strategy is consistent with the current consensus in the literature. The strategy further suggests targeting nontraditional exports (NTEs) to diversify the economy. VA production is a way to increase the amount of price control over NTEs, and improve the income potential for developing countries. For this reason, this research explores why some Ghanaian agricultural firms have succeeded at VA exports and others have not. In addition, it looks at what conclusions can we draw about what firms, business associations, and the government can do in developing countries to stimulate and encourage VA production. The argument of this research paper is that in successful cases, the achievement of viable VA production was the result of a sequence of steps. These steps form the three themes that this paper will discuss within the context of Ghana. The first, leverage of resources through organizational arrangements and mergers, helps firms to capitalize on the assets of other organizations through vertical and horizontal linkages. The second, interfirm knowledge transfer, occurs between buyers, industry cohorts and entrepreneurial partners. It allows firms to experiment with new procedures, and compare their results with other firms'. The third, novel combination of information and inputs, enables firms to take advantage of their flexibility and creativity to quickly identify alternative courses of action, thus avoiding failure. The implication of these findings for firms is that those who exhibit the three characteristics above are more likely to be successful at shifting to VA production than those who do not. The implications for business associations is that they must play a key role by keeping the necessary information flowing through a network that has vertical and horizontal exchanges. The implication for the state is a role of economic stabilization and sustenance of a legal and business environment supportive of private enterprise, as well as working with local firms to help them gain entry into market networks.


In this paper we consider some problems that arise when a nation attempts to implement a strategy of stable deterrence over time. The problems arise when a nation's planners make strategic inferences based on an adversary's ambiguous signals of intent and action. A necessary condition for inferring an opponent's strategic objectives is good technical intelligence. We explore some alternative intelligence models and their effect on national response. It appears that even small improvements in the content and timing of intelligence information received by a nation pursuing stable deterrence would help constrain a noncooperative adversary and open new channels of communication.


This paper develops a filtering-based framework of non-parametric estimation of parameters of a diffusion process from the conditional moments of discrete observations of the process. This method is implemented for interest rate data in the Eurodollar and long term bond markets. The resulting estimates are then used to form non-parametric univariate and bivariate interest rate models and compute prices for the short term Eurodollar interest rate futures options and long term discount bonds. The bivariate model produces prices substantially closer to the market prices.


Besides the life-as-it-could-be driver of artificial life research there is also the concept of extending natural life by creating hybrids or mixed societies that are built from natural and artificial components. In this paper we motivate and present the research program of the project flora robotica. Our objective is to develop and to investigate closely linked symbiotic relationships between robots and natural plants and to explore the potentials of a plant-robot society able to produce architectural artifacts and living spaces. These robot-plant bio-hybrids create synergies that allow for new functions of plants and robots. They also create novel design opportunities for an architecture that fuses the design and construction phase. The bio-hybrid is an example of mixed societies between 'hard' artificial and 'wet' natural life, which enables an interaction between natural and artificial ecologies. They form an embodied, self-organizing, and distributed cognitive system which is supposed to grow and develop over long periods of time resulting in the creation of meaningful architectural structures. A key idea is to assign equal roles to robots and plants in order to create a highly integrated, symbiotic system. Besides the gain of knowledge, this project has the objective to create a bio-hybrid system with a defined function and application -- growing architectural artifacts.


A number of evidences indicate that inflammation and deranged innate immunity intervene in the pathobiology of PMF. In this study we aimed to analyze the inflammatory components of PMF by measuring hs-CRP in a vast population of patients. hs-CRP can detect minimal variations of serum CRP levels even in the range of normal limits, and thus is a sensitive marker of low grade systemic inflammation. We included PMF patients from the data base of the Center for the Study of Myelofibrosis in Pavia with available archived plasma. We excluded patients who had been treated with disease-modifying agents at any time before or on the date of base-cohort entry (hydroxyurea, interferon, ruxolitinib, corticosteroids) and patients with acute inflammatory or autoimmune disease, malignancy, severe liver or renal dysfunction. In this study we report the results on the determinants of levels of circulating hs-CRP in PMF in an analysis in which we used parameters that could be hypothesized with a biological plausibility to influence the level of hs-CRP. Selected predictors were: age, sex, the five different genotypes reflecting the presence or absence of the driver mutations (JAK2V617F with low allele burden ( 1 mg/L). The mean age of the patients was 54.4 years. Increasing age was correlated with increasing hs-CRP (R=0.45;P Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


In 2010, Leicester City Primary Care Trust commissioned an Intermediate Care Diabetes Service. One aspect of the service plan was to work with the local ambulance trust to gather data around patients using ambulance services for hypoglycaemia, and to provide an advisory service for individuals post ambulance call‐out.


Electrochemically stimulated adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) release from poly(pyrrole adenosine 5'-triphosphate) (PP-ATP) was investigated using cyclic voltammetry. Two separate redox processes at E1/2 = −0.4 and 0.0 V were clearly elucidated by switching the film in polyelectrolyte solutions and found to correlate with cation and anion dominant transport, respectively. This voltammetric method allows the dominant mobile ionic species to be determined as redox processes associated with the movement of the polyelectrolyte counterion through the film are observed, while redox processes associated with transport of ions having the same charge as the polyelectrolyte are repressed. As such, the more anodic redox process results in ATP release. Spontaneous ATP exchange in a supporting electrolyte was examined at open circuit, revealing that less than 10% of the electrochemically releasable ATP is spontaneously released after 10 days. The ATP release concept was extended to bilayers consisting of PP-ATP as inne...


Recent changes to guidelines on lowering blood pressure in patients with type 2 diabetes should be reconsidered to reinstate the lower target level, researchers have said in JAMA after carrying out a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.1

They concluded that people with diabetes who reached a systolic blood pressure below 130 mm Hg had a 25% lower risk of stroke than those with higher blood pressure levels and also had a lower risk of retinopathy and albuminuria.

Until recently most guidelines recommended that people with type 2 diabetes should have …


LetR be a ring with involution ∗. We denote by R the set of symmetric elements of R; namely, R = {r ∈ R|r∗ = r} . A general problem of interest is to decide if crucial information on the algebraic structure of R can be deduced from properties of R. For instance, in this direction, a celebrated result of Amitsur states that if R satisfies a polynomial identity, then so does R. Let FG be the group ring of a group G over a field F of characteristic p 6= 2. If ∗ : G −→ G is an involution, then it can be extended linearly to an involution on FG, also denoted by ∗. In this case, (FG) is the set of linear combinations of terms of the form g + g∗, g ∈ G. If g∗ = g for all g ∈ G, then the induced involution on FG is called the classical involution. Over the past two decades, a lot of attention has been devoted to determining if Lie identities satisfied by (FG) are also satisfied by the whole group ring. Along this line, Giambruno and Sehgal [2] showed that if (FG) is Lie nilpotent, and G has no 2-elements, then so is FG. Lee proved a similar result for the bounded Lie Engel property in [4], and Lee, Sehgal and Spinelli [6] investigated the question of when (FG) is Lie solvable, under suitable restrictions on the orders of the elements of G. Results for arbitrary groups have been proved as well, and we refer the reader to [[5], Chapter 3] for an overview. More recently, a considerable amount of work involving other involutions on G has appeared. In this setting, Jespers and Ruiz Marn ([3]) determined when (FG) is commutative. Subsequently, in Giambruno, Polcino Milies and Sehgal [1] and Lee, Sehgal and Spinelli [7], the conditions under which (FG) is Lie nilpotent or bounded Lie Engel were established. In particular, if G has no elements of order 2, then the same result holds as for the classical involution. On any ring R, let [x1, x2] = x1x2 − x2x1. We say that a subset S of R is Lie metabelian if [[s1, s2], [s3.s4]] = 0 for all si ∈ S. The purpose of this paper is to examine the conditions under which the set of symmetric elements (with respect to the linear extension of an arbitrary group involution) of FG is Lie metabelian, where G is a torsion group without 2-elements. Our main task is to prove the following result.


Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of electroacupuncture incorporate with acupuncture point injection in treating cervical spondylotic radiculopathy.Methods 103 cases from Chen Jia Qiao Community Health Service Centre and other community centers during February 2011 to November 2012 were collected and randomly allocated into three group:a electroacupuncture group of 34 cases; an acupuncture point injection of another 34 cases and an observation group of 35 cases treated with electroacupuncture which incorporated with traction therapy.After the treatment,the therapeutic effects among three groups were compared.Results ① clinical efficacy comparing:total efficacy rate of observation group was 91.4% (32/35),the electroacupuncture group was 73.5% (24/34),the group treated with acupuncture point injection was 70.6% (25/34).There were statistically significant differences between the observation group and the other two groups (Z=1.721,P<0.05),while there's no statistically significant of comparison between the group treated with electroacupuncture and the group treated with acupuncture point injection (Z=2.473,P>0.05).② NDI score comparing:NDI score of these three groups before and after treatment.Before treatment,the score of observation group was (12.32 ± 5.03) ; the electroacupuncture group was (12.96± 6.10) ; the acupuncture point injection group was (12.79±5.07),after treatment,the separate sore was (7.40±4.12),(6.08±3.60) and (6.08 ± 3.60) sequentially.There were statistically significant differences of NDI score of the three groups before and after treatment (P<0.05).After treatment,the efficacy of observation group was better than the group treated with electroacupuncture and the group treated with acupuncture point injection(P<0.05).③ signs or symptoms comparing:After treatment,there were statistically significant differences between the observation group and the other two groups on the aspect of relieving pain of neck and arm,numbness of arm and hand,and alleviating soreness when doing spurling test on cervical intervertebral foramen (Z-score is 2.603,2.862,2.307,P<0.05).There's no statistically significant of comparison among three groups on the aspects of neck functional activities and segmental tenderness of cervical spondylosis (Z-score is 1.414,1.572,P>0.05).Conclusion In treating cervical spondylotic radiculopathy,the total efficacy rate of electroacupuncture incorporate with acupuncture point injection was higher than only treat with electroacupuncture or acupuncture point injection.

Key words:
Acupuncture point injection;  Electroacupuncture;  Cervical spondylosis


When it was initially proposed, at the October 1979 annual meeting of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, that a Committee on Accreditation of Fellowship Programs in Forensic Psychiatry be created, it was not immediately clear that the project would be carried through to completion. The first two persons who were approached with the suggestion that the topic be presented at either the meeting of the Executive Committee or the Business meeting of the membership of AAPL declined to do so. In fact, the original authorization was to explore the feasibility of developing and implementing standards for postresidency training programs. That the initial stage of the work of the Committee has been successful is, thus, both gratifying and somewhat surprising. Part of the problem was the fact that the members ofthe Committee were spread across a large geographic area, so that face-to-face communication would be restricted to the October and May formal meetings of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. Another difficulty, at least at the start of the project, was that the Committee had no funds for a secretary, for' typing or duplicating materials, and no money to pay for postage or telephone calls. Among the lesser problems was enlisting theacth'l' cooperation of forensic psychiatrists who were experienced educators and who had a wide range of other commitments that restricted their time. By May 1980, a Committee of fourteen members had been created and held an organizational meeting in San Francisco. It was determined that seven sub-committees would be formed to work on the substance of the standards to be developed. Dr. James Cavanaugh, Jr. would chair the SUb-committee on Law School liaison and legal education. Dr. J. Richard Ciccone would chair the sub-committee on supervised clinical experiences. Dr. Park E. Dietz would chair the sub-committee on training in research. Dr. Jonas Rappeport and Dr. Park Dietz would co-chair the sub-committee on library resources. Dr. Richard Rosner would chair the sub-committee on the process of accreditation and would function as coordinator of the activities of the Committee as a whole. Dr. Robert Sadoff and Dr. Phillip Resnick would co-chair the sub-committee on faculty for fellowship programs in forensic psychiatry. At a later date, two additional sub-committees Were created. One, chaired by Dr. David Barry, was directed to training fellows to be educators. The other, co-chaired by Dr. Selwyn Smith and Dr.


The problems faced are the use of inorganic fertilizers that damage the level of soil organic matter decreases, soil structure is damaged, and environmental pollution. This research utilizes liquid organic fertilizer, kirinyu because it has N elements which are high enough to provide yield of ground water spinach plants and soil physical properties.
                     This study aims to determine the effect of nitrogen fertilizer efficiency on soil physical properties and the effect of nitrogen fertilizer efficiency on land kale yield. The study was arranged based on 2 factors: the outcome variable using a randomized block design (RBD) and the variable saving of Soil Physical Properties.
               The results of statistical analysis show that the efficiency of nitrogen fertilization on the yield of ground water spinach plants has a very significant influence on yield variables which include fresh weight of land spinach tan-1 (g) and fresh weight of water spinach ha-1 (ton). The efficiency of nitrogen fertilization on the yield of ground water spinach plants has a very significant effect with an average increase in each treatment for fresh water spinach per plant by 27.97% and the fresh weight of water spinach per hekatar by 27.97%. The efficiency of nitrogen fertilization on the physical properties of the soil in kangkung cultivation in Lokoboko village has sandy clay soil texture, has a density value of contents ranging from 1.33 g / cm - 1.37 g / cm and soil porosity 45.46% - 50.22 %. The soil color is dominated by 10 YR 2/1 Black and 10 YR 2/2 Very Dark Brown, having soil temperatures ranging from 25,250C - 26,750C.


By means of literature review and logical analysis,the author has studied the developing period from early 20th century until the 70's of the modern times of international sports events and noted that this period should be the peak time for the formation and development of various international sports events.However,with the passage of time,only very few of many international sports events have survived in their developing process.The reasons are mainly due to the Industrial Revolution,Reformation,the two world wars and the differences in cultures.It is therefore pointed out that the problems plaguing the development of international sports events can be solved by conforming to the trend of the times,paying attention to cultural integration and dealing properly with the relationship between sports and politics.


Pneumocystis jiroveci is an opportunistic fungal organism that causes Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) in humans with HIV-AIDS or other immunocompromised individuals. Pneumocystis can replicate in the alveoli where it disrupts gas exchange and promotes inflammation in the lung. Although Pneumocystis association is with T cell immunodeficiency, recent evidence shows that B cells play a key role as APCs in the lung to prime fungal T cell responses. We hypothesized that B cells are recruited and undergo tissue specific CSR during PCP infection and that these cells are critical to the priming of PCP specific T cells. To test this hypothesis we inoculated 4 to 6wk old male and female C57Bl/6 mice with Pneumocystis murina by oral pharyngeal aspiration. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that IgG+ and IgA+ B cells were at higher abundance in infected lung tissue at days 14 and 24. Single cell BCR-sequencing revealed an increase in class switched B cell clonotypes (both IgG and IgA) at day 14 compared to spleen. Our lab has previously shown that germ encoded IgM has specificity to PC antigens. To understand the role of germline encoded IgM and class-switched antibody responses, 4 to 6 wk old Aicda, Ighm −/− or C57Bl/6 mice were inoculated with P. murina for 14 days. We found at day 14 that fungal burden loads were slightly higher in the Aicda,Ighm −/− mice than C57Bl/6 mice, but H&E staining showed that Aicda,Ighm −/− mice possessed high levels of immunopathology. Bulk RNA sequencing revealed a lack of Type II immune responses, which have been shown to control Pneumocystis lung burden. Our data suggests that both germline encoded IgM and class switched antibody responses are critical in controlling pneumocystis infection.


Introduction: Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum. Syphilis in pregnancy is often asymptomatic, so early detection of syphilis is needed to prevent a poor pregnancy outcome and transmission of infection to the baby.Case: A 25-year-old woman, pregnant with her second child at 24 weeks of gestation, came without any health complaint for a routine prenatal check-up. On syphilis screening, reactive TPHA and RPR titer of 1:2 were found. The patient was diagnosed with syphilis infection in pregnancy. The patient has been treated with Benzathine Benzylpenicillin 2.4 million IU intramuscular injection once a week for 3 consecutive weeks.Conclusion: Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection that infects pregnant women. Treponemal transmission in pregnant women was detected early in the ninth week of pregnancy. The diagnosis of syphilis was made by dark-field microscopy, treponemal antibody tests (TPHA, FTA-ABS), and non-treponemal antibody tests (VDRL, RPR). Penicillin is the gold standard therapy for syphilis in pregnant women.


A series of numerical simulations of land subsidence due to dewatering were performed based on the soilwater coupled finite deformation analysis using the SYS Cam-Clay model under plane-strain conditions. The simulations showed that after land subsidence, the ground may be fragile in the event of additional loading due to disturbance of the soil structure. Ground settlement occurs with cyclic variation in ground water level, assumed to be seasonal, due to a history of water level change from extraction. Such behavior is the result of soil disturbance that occurs due to decay of the soil structure, resulting in the softening of soils through plastic volume compression.


During the last 2 decades, technical improvements in biomaterials have enabled minimally invasive treatment of most vascular diseases. Endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) is now a large part of vascular surgeons' daily practice. Initially reserved for high-risk patients and expert centers, EVAR is now commonly performed as the first-line treatment in most hospitals. However, these procedures require x-ray guidance, which is associated with biological risks for both physicians and patients. Potential consequences range from skin burns to the development of solid cancers and leukemia. When following good practices, it is possible to achieve excellent clinical outcomes with a simple workflow and a low x-ray exposure level.1 This article suggests various strategies—from room setup to good radiological practices—to reduce radiation dose during endovascular aortic procedures.


Hi-Can is an "Beds with Canopy Design" designed by Italian artist Edoardo Carlino. The actual Hi-Can excessive faithfulness canopy attributes wonderfully made tools in which allows you to browse the web, check out videos, enjoy online games, along with...


Radical polymers (i.e., macromolecules composed of a nonconjugated polymer backbone and with stable radical sites present on the side chains of the repeat units) can transport charge in the solid state through oxidation–reduction (redox) reactions that occur between the electronically localized open-shell pendant groups. As such, pristine (i.e., not doped) thin films of these functional macromolecules have electrical conductivity values on the same order of magnitude as some common electronically active conjugated polymers. However, unlike the heavily evaluated regime of conjugated polymer semiconductors, the impact of molecular dopants on the optical, electrochemical, and solid-state electronic properties of radical polymers has not been established. Here, we combine a model radical polymer, poly(2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyloxy methacrylate) (PTMA), with a small molecule redox-active salt, 4-acetamido-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-oxopiperidinium tetrafluoroborate (TEMPOnium), in order to elucidate the effect ...


Photograph of Barbara Jordan and Lyndon B. Johnson surrounded by guests at a fundraiser at the Rice Hotel in Houston, Texas. Jordan stands next to a podium with a microphone and a sign that reads "the RICE hotel" on the front. An enlarged picture of Jordan is visible in the background.


THE dccision of the Commonwealth Arbitration Commission of 29th June, 196F revealed a sharp and basic division of opinion between the members of the Bench, and it marked a radical departure from the recent practice of the Commission in basic wage and margins cases. The decision of the majority (Gallagher, Sweeney and Nimmo JJ.) that margins should be increased by 14% of the sum of the basic wage for the Six Capital Cities and the appropriate margin (for the fitter, this would mean an increase of 6s. per week), and that there should be simultaneous, annual reviews of the basic wage and margins, reversed the course of the two previous decisions (1961 and 1964) that annual reviews of the basic wage should be confined to consideration of the prima facie application of price changes to the basic wage and that full-scale reviews of the basic wage should be held at less frequent intervals. The President (Kirby C.J.) and Moore J. would have applied the former practice, at lcast on this occasion, but they, like the majority, were influenced by prevailing adverse economic conditions, and they would have limited the increase in the basic wage for pricc movements to 8s. as against the 12s. indicated by the Consumer Price Index. All members of the Commission were of the opinion that the employers' claim for a "total wage" approach should once again be rejected.


We have measured the electron-tunneling characteristics of a dilute indium-manganese alloy. Well-defined structure was observed, corresponding to a band of local excited states within the energy gap. The measurements were made on two samples, and were quantitatively compared with the theory of Shiba and of Rusinov. We obtained good agreement of the tunneling data with the theory by taking into account only s-wave scattering of conduction electrons from the magnetic-impurity atoms. Even better agreement was obtained by including p- and d-wave scattering. Only by including these higher partial waves could we account for the magnitude of the observed depression of the transition temperature. The phase shifts used are in good agreement with band-theory values calculated recently.


Objective To understand the prevalence of anti-nuclear antibody( ANA),extractable nuclear antigen( ENA) antibodies in healthy elderly population in Tianjin region. Methods Indirect immunofluorescence( IIF) was used to detect ANA in serum samples of 286 healthy veteran cadres,then the titers and karyotype of these antibodies were determined. Strip enzyme immunoassay was used to detect the ENA antibody in ANA-positive specimens. Results In 286 healthy veteran cadres,59 cases were ANA positive,and the positive rate was 20. 63%,including homogeneous type( 47. 46%),nuclear slurry particle type( 33. 90%); In the ANA positive cases,18 cases were ENA positive,the positive rate 30. 51%,mainly SSA /52kd and SSB / L. Conclusion Antinuclear antibodies were highly prevalent in the healthy elderly population,most were low-titer( 1∶ 160) positive,and the diagnosis should be in conjunction with the comprehensive analysis of the clinical symptoms. Age was an important index for evaluating ANA.


Mutant 3‐hydroxy‐3‐methylglutaryl‐coenzyme A (HMG‐CoA) reductases of the halophilic archaeon Haloferax volcanii were constructed to test the proposed mechanism that phosphorylation downregulates the activity of higher eukarya HMG‐CoA reductases via charge‐charge interaction with the active site histidine. To first verify the sequence‐based inference that His 398 is the catalytic histidine of the H. volcanii enzyme, enzyme H398Q was constructed, purified, and assayed for catalysis of three reactions: [1] reductive deacylation of HMG‐CoA, [2] reduction of mevaldehyde, and [3] oxidative acylation of mevaldehyde. Enzyme H398Q had low activity for catalysis of reaction [1] or [3], but readily catalyzed mevaldehyde reduction. By analogy to hamster HMG‐CoA reductase, we conclude that His 398 is the active site histidine. Mutant forms of the 403‐residue H. volcanii enzyme were constructed to model phosphorylation and infer whether attenuated activity involved interaction with His 398. Chimeric H. volcanii‐hamster enzymes constructed in an effort to create an active, phosphorylatable chimeric enzyme were inactive or not phosphorylated. We therefore added Asp at position 404 to mimic the introduction of negative charge that would accompany phosphorylation. Enzyme 404D/H398Q was inactive for reaction [1] or [3], but catalyzed reaction [2] at 35% the wild‐type rate. These observations are consistent with the model that attenuation of catalytic activity results from an ionic interaction between the imidazolium cation of His 398 and the carboxylate anion of Asp 404.


We describe a garbage collector for C++ implemented as a user-level library, which does not require a cooperative compiler but makes use of a custom garbage-collection-friendly heap implementation. We claim our garbage collector to be precise, i.e. capable to precisely identify all pointers to all managed objects, tolerant to the conventional C++ manual memory management, and safe in the sense that it does not affect the semantics of the program as long as a simple conventions, encouraged by library interface, are followed. We also discuss a performance penalties imposed by the usage of our library on an end-user program.


This paper examines consumerism in public health policy and focuses on a specific strategy to make Irish hospital services more consumer-oriented, namely, patients' charters. The first part of the paper examines different conceptualisations of the 'new consumerism' in the social policy literature and locates its emergence within the broader context of the 'marketisation' of the welfare state. A brief review of the literature on the merits and limitations of public sector consumerism is then presented. The second part of the paper concentrates on the emergence of the new consumerism in Irish public health policy, and the results of a study that examined the implementation of the Charter of Rights for Hospital Patients are presented. A key finding of the study was that none of the hospitals in the study area had fully implemented the provisions of the Charter. Furthermore, only 26 per cent of a sample of one hundred hospital patients had heard of the Charter and only 10 per cent could recall any of the rights that it conferred on patients. The paper concludes by suggesting that the Charter of Rights for Hospital Patients is less concerned with empowering patients than it is with other agendas, such as creating a semblance of closeness to the users of health services and counterbalancing medical authority.


In this paper we study the simplest deformation on a sequence of orthogonal polynomials. This in turn induces a deformation on the moment matrix of the polynomials and associated Hankel determinant. We replace the original (or reference) weight w0(x) (supported on or subsets of ) by w0(x) e−tx. It is a well-known fact that under such a deformation the recurrence coefficients denoted as αn and βn evolve in t according to the Toda equations, giving rise to the time-dependent orthogonal polynomials and time-dependent determinants, using Sogo's terminology. If w0 is the normal density , or the gamma density xα e−x, , α > −1, then the initial value problem of the Toda equations can be trivially solved. This is because under elementary scaling and translation the orthogonality relations reduce to the original ones. However, if w0 is the beta density (1 − x)α(1 + x)β, x ∊ [ − 1, 1], α, β > −1, the resulting 'time-dependent' Jacobi polynomials will again satisfy a linear second-order ode, but no longer in the Sturm–Liouville form, which is to be expected. This deformation induces an irregular singular point at infinity in addition to three regular singular points of the hypergeometric equation satisfied by the Jacobi polynomials. We will show that the coefficients of this ode, as well as the Hankel determinant, are intimately related to a particular Painlevé V. In particular we show that , where is the coefficient of zn−1 of the monic orthogonal polynomials associated with the 'time-dependent' Jacobi weight, satisfies, up to a translation in t, the Jimbo–Miwa σ-form of the same PV; while a recurrence coefficient αn(t) is up to a translation in t and a linear fractional transformation PV(α2/2, − β2/2, 2n + 1 + α + β, − 1/2). These results are found from combining a pair of nonlinear difference equations and a pair of Toda equations. This will in turn allow us to show that a certain Fredholm determinant related to a class of Toeplitz plus Hankel operators has a connection to a Painlevé equation. The case with α = β = −1/2 arose from a certain integrable system and this was brought to our attention by A P Veselov.


mance of 21.1% in subjects with MS and 9.6% in healthy controls, suggesting 'cognitive fatigue' in both groups (paired t-test, P < 0.001 and P = 0.049, respectively). Similar to the results of the study of Schwid et al. , direct comparison between individuals with MS and controls did not show a significant difference in the cognitive fatigue. The ROC curve (Figure 1) shows that the decline in performance could not accurately distinguish between groups. No correlations of cognitive fatigue with selfreported fatigue (Fatigue Severity Scale and total score and cognitive subscale of the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale) were found.


This article responds to J. Aaron Simmons' concerns that James K.A. Smith's methodology for confessional pentecostal philosophy prohibits philosophical dialogue with the confessional Other. Its responses specifically address Simmons' proposed personal methodology and his two main concerns about Smith's methodology: (1) confessional philosophy allows an encroachment of theology into philosophy that threatens the autonomy of philosophy; and (2) confessional philosophy discourages philosophical dialogue with the confessional Other, and promotes insularity and defensiveness by utilizing theologically determinate evidence that act as incommensurable authority structures. The first section of this paper exposits Simmons' other works that illumine the reasons for his concern. Specifically, it identifies Simmons' Thomistic view of reason and new phenomenology's commitment to the hypothetical status of God-talk as the reasons for Simmons' opposition to Smith's confessional philosophical method. After clarifying Simmons' own position, the second section addresses Simmons' concerns that confessional philosophy promotes epistemic arrogance, defensiveness, and dialogical insularity. Moreover, it provides five responses to Simmons' concern that confessional philosophy utilizes incommensurate authority structures and that it threatens philosophy's autonomy through the incursion of theology. The paper concludes with a reflection on the current state and future of pentecostal philosophy


A study o n the s tigmaeid and p seudocheylid mite fauna i n northwestern provinces of Iran was carried out during 2012 – 2014. In this survey, 24 and 4 s pecies of Stigmaeid ae ( belonging to 7 genera ) and Pseudocheylidae (belonging to 1 gen us ) were collected and identified , respectively. In this paper , the male of Me diolata belfieldi Momen, 1987 is described and the female is re - described . Key w ords: Anystoidea ; Mediolata ; Pseudocheylidae ; Raphignathoidea; Stigmaeidae ; Trombidiformes .


Context: Detecting and evaluating semantically similar entities in measurement projects is a key asset for real-time decision making because allows reusing their knowledge and previous experiences. Objective: The goal of this work is to map the thematic area of data stream processing to identify the topics that have been investigated in the detection of semantically similar entities. Method: A systematic mapping study was conducted obtaining 1998 articles. Thus, 106 were kept refining the search strategy, and 38 were considered once the filters were applied jointly with the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Conclusion: After reading the 38 documents, just 4 were pertinent and allowed answering the research questions aligned with the research objective. The semantic similarity applied to entities under monitoring in the measurement and evaluation projects is a challenge. The real-time decision making depends on the obtained measures, the monitored entity and the context in which it is immersed.


Internet penetration is a critical factor in determining the adoption of an internet-based electronic voting system. In Nigeria for instance, the electoral bill which is to provide the legal backing for the transmission of voting data from polling units across the federation had witnessed huge setbacks hinged on lack of internet infrastructure in Nigeria's remote places. Arguments have been made for and against the possibility of disenfrenching citizens if electronic transmission was allowed in the electoral laws. In this article, we propose an electronic voting system model that allows the secured continuation of voting exercise in offline mode and the transmission of cast votes upon the restoration of internet connectivity using the infrastructures permissible with the blockchain technology. The model is adaptable in any national election, specifically, Nigeria's national elections.


This investigation will address the actions of the state council in reference to the development of repetition processes, determining the circumstances that lead to the ineffectiveness of the process in reference to the responsibility of public officials and employees responsible for the harmful event, which had to repair the state through economic compensation, generating a patrimonial damage to the public treasury, which from the norm is intended to repair the economic damage generated by the employee or public official. The legislator for this purpose develops the law 678 of 2001 by means of which regulates the process of repetition and the call in guarantee with the purpose of reducing the impact of the damage suffered to the public treasury, but the great sentences that the state has paid without being able to repair the damage by this mechanism, it shows a flaw in it, where those responsible for the unlawful act are evading responsibility, being fundamental to determine the circumstances where the official or public servant can actually avoid his responsibility in the reparation process.


The invention discloses a locking device used for a foldable container. The foldable container comprises a base and multiple side plates, and the side plates are installed on the base and are foldable relative to the base. The locking device comprises a locking piece and a drive piece, and the drive piece is installed on one of the side plates and can rotate or move vertically relative to the corresponding side plate to drive the locking piece. A part of the locking piece is contained in the side plate where the drive piece is installed; when the side plate and two adjacent side plate are mutually locked, parts of the two ends of the locking piece extend into the two adjacent side plates respectively and accordingly the side plate where the drive piece is installed is locked to the two adjacent side plates; when the drive piece is driven to rotate or vertically move relative to the side plate where the drive piece is installed, the drive piece drives the two ends of the locking piece to withdraw from the two adjacent side plates simultaneously and accordingly unlocking is achieved. Due to the fact that the locking device is unlocked through rotating or moving of the drive piece, and accordingly unlocking and locking of the side plates are very quick and convenient.


The automated information and control complex designed to prevent accidents, related to aerological situation in the underground workings, accounting of the received and handed over individual devices, transmission and display of measurement data, and the formation of preemptive solutions is considered. Examples for the automated workplace of an airgas control operator by individual means are given. The statistical characteristics of field data characterizing the aerological situation in the mine are obtained. The conducted studies of statistical characteristics confirm the feasibility of creating a subsystem of controlled gas distribution with an adaptive arrangement of points for gas control. The adaptive (multivariant) algorithm for processing measuring information of continuous multidimensional quantities and influencing factors has been developed.


We present a novel angular fingerprinting algorithm for detecting changes in the direction of rotation of a target with a monostatic, stationary sonar platform. Unlike other approaches, we assume that the target's centroid is stationary, and exploit doppler multipath signals to resolve the otherwise unavoidable ambiguities that arise. Since the algorithm is based on an underlying differential topological theory, it is highly robust to distortions in the collected data. We demonstrate performance of this algorithm experimentally, by exhibiting a pulsed doppler sonar collection system that runs on a smartphone. The performance of this system is sufficiently good to both detect changes in target rotation direction using angular fingerprints, and also to form high-resolution inverse synthetic aperature images of the target.


Social welfare schemes and public infrastructure services often face implementation and last mile delivery challenges. Governments in India have set up phone helplines for beneficiaries to report irregularities but we find that it remains challenging for beneficiaries to realise positive outcomes through these helplines; without a personal follow-up with the concerned local government officials by experienced members from the civil society, the redressals done are often inadequate. To combine the scalability of centralised helplines with the effectiveness of decentralised mediation by civil society groups, we set up an IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system where beneficiaries can record their grievances, which are then delegated to a network of civil society volunteers who do the required local follow-ups for resolution of these grievances. Through this pilot, we analysed over 200 cases of redressal and document how volunteer networks operate and can plug accountability gaps in government services. We advocate for formalisation of this civil-society mediated and technology assisted model into the design of public welfare schemes to enable citizens to engage with government departments in productive ways.


Power system transient stability status prediction (TSSP)has class imbalanced characteristic, including the imbalance of sample size and class importance. Therefore, a new feature selection method is proposed for TSSP. On the basis of analyzing the imbalanced characteristic of TSSP., the basic criteria of feature selection are put forward., and then the index of class weighted accuracy is proposed as the evaluation index. Under the guidance of the new evaluation index., the wrapper method combing sequential forward search and extreme learning machine is utilized for TSSP feature selection. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified on Northeast Power Coordinated Council (NPCC)48-machine 140-bus system.


Sir, Across the world, veterinarians and associated workers are the key players in animal and human health and welfare.[1] However, as a consequence of their occupation they are exposed to a range of skin irritants and allergens and are prone to developing occupational dermatoses.[2,3] Despite posing a health hazard, little is known about their pattern, prevalence and distribution within veterinarians and related workers of this part of the world. Therefore, this study was done by the department of dermatology, Government Medical College, Srinagar on a cross-section of veterinarians and veterinary workers working in various veterinary hospitals and animal farms of the State Agricultural University and departments of animal and sheep husbandry. A total of 400 veterinarians and para-veterinarians were screened. Among the workers, the majority were found to be men (376 out of 400, 94%) while women formed only a small group (24 out of 400, 6%). The workers belonged to various age groups ranging from 20 to 58 years with the mean age of 38.03 years. Cattle were found to be the most frequent animal group maintained and handled (273), followed by rabbits (57), sheep (52) and poultry (18). Most of the workers in the veterinary hospitals worked for 6–8 h daily. However, those working at higher altitudes were found to remain in animal contact for more than 8 h daily.


The invention relates to a piston-type natural gas pipeline feeding machine comprising a feeding container which is communicated with a natural gas pipeline, a first piston cylinder and a second piston cylinder. The first piston cylinder is communicated with a charging pipeline. The first piston cylinder and the second piston cylinder are coaxially arranged on two sides of the feeding container, and are identical in inner diameter. A first piston and a second piston are respectively arranged in the first piston cylinder and the second piston cylinder, and can move synchronously; and the second piston can move into the first piston cylinder. Sealing connections are respectively formed between the first piston and the first piston cylinder as well as the second piston and the second piston cylinder so as to form sealing between the piston cylinders and the natural gas pipeline. With the structure of the piston-type natural gas pipeline feeding machine, natural gas in the natural gas pipeline during a feeding process and a charging process is guaranteed not to leak to the atmosphere, safe production is guaranteed, and pollution on environments is avoided.


Abstract The study objective was to examine the temporal macrocultural changes in Olympic sports in the United Kingdom and what regulates these changes. We carried out this study integrating grounded theory and action research in a 16-month longitudinal design. We collected data from eighteen interviews with participants from governing sports organisations (n = 6; GSOs) and NGBs (n = 3). Supplementary data came from ethnography with one national governing body; ten focus-groups with athletes, coaches, parents, and NGB personnel; and eight interviews with stakeholders. We found that political will had shielded Olympic sports from societal changes. However, macrocultural changes to social standards and the power of athletes highlighted that the organisational culture was increasingly deficient and required radical changes. GSOs used their systemic power to dictate appropriate avenues for change. Athletes used their reinforced position by speaking out about aspects that challenged the welfare of athletes and others working in Olympic sports.


SUMMARY During the last decade, the Ministry of Transport (Morocco) has deployed efforts to realize a major road infrastructure to provide transport fluidity, comfort and safety. However, roads constructions still have real problems of organization, management and a lack of documentation structuring the terms of the different collaborators. Knowing that the final quality of a road project requires the involvement of different actors in a quality policy, and due to the importance of surveying in the success of this type of projects, the surveyor must also adopt a quality process of its interventions in the execution of a road project. Our study proposes a guide to organize the surveyor operations and to implement a quality approach in surveying services related to road projects in moroccan context. We adopted the following steps : (1) Review and projection of the quality standards to surveyor tasks in Moroccan road works; (2) Establishment of a guidebook detailing the different procedures for monitoring and checking surveying operations and (3) Conception of sheets to organize documentation and monitoring on the field and recording the history of the various operations carried out.


Lossless nonuniform microstrip tapers are useful for the design of matching networks, filters, etc. In this paper these tapers have been analysed. Reflection coefficient and complex impedance results are presented for exponential, parabolic and cosine squared tapers. The paper also presents typical design data for such tapers on 0.635 mm. thick alumina substrate.


To provide a method and system for fabricating a three-dimensional (3D) structure having a mechanism of submicron or micron. The method comprises the steps of providing a continuously formed relief structures with materials, the relief structure with materials, a first containing the material having the first relief structure pattern formed on the surface comprising the step of having a layer. Its structure with material comprises a second layer comprising a photosensitive material disposed on the first layer. Radiation was irradiated through the relief structure with the material for the first layer, in which the first relief structure pattern formed on the surface of the first layer, the three-dimensional of the radiation incident on the second layer to produce a light intensity pattern. Developing the exposed material, is the developer material comprises a plurality of 3D structures having features of submicron or micron.


This paper presents a comparisonof themotionproducedby a  ight simulatorusing conventionalwashout Ž lters and a novel robust controller. Both approaches are implemented in an off-line MATLABTM/Simulink simulation that includes amodel of an electrically driven synergisticmotion-base  ight simulator. To evaluatethe performance of these motion-base control approaches, the authors simulated the Boeing 747 airliner using a nonlinearmodel of its dynamics. The motion experienced by the aircraft pilot is compared to that experienced by the simulator pilot, using both control approaches. Additionally, the model used for the simulatormotion base is adjusted to represent two different scenarios: a highand a low-Ž delity motion system. It is shown that the two control approaches reasonably track themotion of the aircraft, within the limitationsof the motion base, but that the robust controller is able to compensate for variations in the Ž delity of the motion system.


Introduction Silicon can be accommodated by 22 lithium atoms per 5 silicon atoms (Li22Si5) according to the equilibrium phase diagram. The theoretical specific capacities of silicon are 4200 mAh/g-Si. However the high specific capacity of silicon could not be adapted yet as anode materials for the commercial lithium secondary batteries. It is the reason that the lithium secondary battery adapting silicon as the anode material has poor cycle performances due to the micro-cracking of particle. The crystal strain induced by the large volumetric changes during the lithium insertion and desertion to the silicon host caused the microcracking of particle. Li22Si5 as a lithium intercalated compounds has the volume of ~400 % compared to that of silicon. Li intercalation reversibility were studied by Yoshio 1 , Obrovac 2 , Grey 3 , Weydanz 4 , Recently, Dahn et al. 5 performed the first principles calculations on the lithiation of amorphous silicon using Abinit program with the PAW data. The structure of amorphous silicon was obtained through the full structural relaxation of a silicon structure of F-43m(216) eliminating several Si atoms. Lithium was filled the appropriate sites in the level of 0~4 for x in LixSi in steps of one Li atom. The lithiation to silicon has a fixed increase of 14.7 A in volume for every lithium atom. The reaction potentials to form LixSi for x=0~4 were calculated as 0.6 ~ 0.1 V(Li/Li). In this presentation the structures and the reaction potentials of the lithiated silicides were considered using the first principles calculations of VASP. The reaction potentials of lithium silicides were calculated and found that Li22Si5 can also be formed above of 0 mV. Computational experiment The crystallographic data were obtained from the inorganic materials database and the published papers. The total energy calculations of LixSi have been performed using the ab-initio total-energy and molecular dynamics program VASP (Vienna ab-initio simulation program, version 5.2.2) developed at the University at Wien by full relaxation. For the VASP calculations of the lithium silicides ENCUT was 500 eV. For INCAR ISIF was 3 for full relaxation and ISMEAR was -5 for tetrahedron method with Bl ohl corretions. KPOINTS was selected appropriately considering the size of unit cell. The reaction potentials were calculated from the total energies of reactants and products using Eq. (1). V(x) = -(μLi(x)μLi(x))/nF -------(1) Results and Discussion Silicon has the sp hybrid atomic orbital, the space group of Fd-3m(227) and the short Si-Si distance of 2.3541 A. Silicon react lithium to form lithium silicides. Nine compositions and six structures of the lithium silicides were known. The short Si-Si bond lengths were below 2.4 A between the compositions of Si and Li7Si2 indicating the existence of the direct Si-Si bonding. The short Si-Si bond length of Li22Si5 was 4.556 A indicating the absence of the direct Si-Si bonding. The short Si-Li bond length of LixSi intermetallic compounds were ~2.6 A which was longer


The influences of oxidation treatment on the microstructure and strength retention of a Mo5Si3 particle reinforced Si3N4 composite with a crystallized grain boundary phase of Yb2Si2O7 were studied. When the Mo5Si3-Yb2Si2O7-Si3N4 composite was oxidized at 1400°C, an oxide layer containing cristobalite and Yb2Si2O7 was created on the surface. The thickness of the oxide layer increased with oxidation time, but was only 1.8 μm when oxidized at 1400°C for 100 h. The formation of the oxide layer caused the weight gain of the composite, and a parabolic weight gain with respect to oxidation time was observed. After 100 h of oxidation at 1400°C in air, the weight gain of the Mo5Si3-Yb2Si2O7-Si3N4 composite was 0.07 mg/cm2, is considerably less than that of other Si3N4-based materials. The crystallization of the grain boundary phase and the incorporation of the submicrometer Mo5Si3 particles into the grain boundaries decreased the driving force for the diffusion of oxygen and the additive cation, and contributed to the high oxidation resistance of Si3N4.


In this paper, an improved algorithm of node credibility for lightweight Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is proposed based on the LTMBE algorithm. In WSN, data transmission error or failure can be caused by the nodes which are expired or attacked by virus. In order to insure their reliability and avoid the unnecessary energy loss, our algorithm determine the trust value of a sensor node by rewarding or punishing the node according to its data quality. In addition, whether the node is credible or not can be judged by the weight of its direct and indirect credibility values. Simulation results show that the improved algorithm enhances the accuracy and increase the speed of the judgment.


Abstract The recently published paper 'Diesel engine indicated and load torque estimation using a non-linear observer' claims that stability of the observer has been proved. This note shows that this is not the case.


OBJECTIVE To evaluate the change in acoustic features of speech after adenotonsillectomy in children and to establish reasonable methods of management and rational therapeutic approach. METHODS Before and after operation,acoustic analysis with Multi-Dimensional Voice Program (MDVP,Kay Elemetrics)was examined in 20 children,aged between 4 and 14 years old,with enlarged palatine tonsils and hypetrophic adenoids. The following parameters were estimated:average of fundamental frequency(F0),Jitt,Shim,noise to harmonics ratio (NHR),voice turbulence index (VTI),soft phonation index(SPI),degree of voiceless(DUV)and degree of voice breaks(DVB). RESULTS All the data of the parameters were improved after the operation,especially in F0,NHR and VTI. CONCLUSION The results provided by MDVP showed that the adenotonsillectomy change the structure of resonance cavity and affect the quality of voice consequently.


The application of blowing over a thick elliptical airfoil is considered for the purpose of identifying the hierarchy of
additional parameters affecting the flow, such as slot width, its location, and orientation, in addition to the mass and
momentum flow that were considered as being significant in the past. When a single jet emanates from a narrow slot
at a prescribed location, the incremental lift coefficient scales mostly with the momentum coefficient (C_µ). For wider
slots, the slot width has to be considered as an independent parameter even when the jet velocity is much higher than
the freestream. The lift increment depends strongly on the slot location when the latter is near the natural separation
location of the flow, but it is independent of Reynolds number. Deleterious effects of steady blowing on C_L were
observed for low momentum inputs. For wider slots located upstream of the natural separation location, the drag is
sensitive to Reynolds number and it is not solely affected by C_µ. Flowfield measurements are used to explain some of
the observations made.


Abstract. The microbial community composition in subsoils remains understudied and it is largely unknown whether subsoil microorganisms show a similar response to global warming as do microorganisms at the soil surface. Since microorganisms are key drivers of soil organic carbon decomposition, this knowledge gap causes uncertainty in predictions of future carbon cycling in the subsoil carbon pool (>50 % of the soil organic carbon stocks are below 30 cm soil depth). In the Blodgett forest field warming experiment (California, USA) we investigated how +4 °C warming the whole soil profile to 100 cm soil depth for 4.5 years has affected the abundance and community structure of microorganisms. We used proxies for bulk microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and functional microbial groups based on lipid biomarkers, such as phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) and branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs). Microbial biomass decreased and community composition changed with depth. Our results show that the concentration of PLFAs decreased with warming in the subsoil (below 30 cm) by 28 % but was not affected in the topsoil. Phospholipid fatty acid concentrations changed in concert with soil organic carbon. The microbial community response to warming was depth dependent. The relative abundance of actinobacteria increased in subsoil, and gram+ bacteria in subsoils adapted their cell-membrane structure to warming induced stress as indicated by the ratio of anteiso to iso PLFAs. Our results show for the first time that subsoil microorganisms can be more affected by warming as compared to topsoil microorganisms. These microbial responses could be explained by the observed decrease in subsoil organic carbon concentration in the warmed plots. A decrease in microbial abundance in warmed subsoils might reduce the magnitude of the respiration response over time. The shift in the subsoil microbial community towards more actinobacteria might disproportionately enhance degradation of previously stable subsoil carbon, as this group is able to metabolize complex carbon sources.


The theoretical and practical analysis of development of payment tools of the monetary and credit market in Ukraine is presented in article, which allowed to reveal the main problems of state regulation of payment systems. The article presents the description of the main forms of payment tools provided in Ukraine, advantages and shortcomings of using these tools, in particular: the essence of electronic money as economic category is investigated; features of use of Visa PayWave and MasterCard PayPass are opened; the Ukrainian system of electronic payments of NSMEP is considered, Internet banking services from positions of granting by their largest Ukrainian banks are estimated. The above-mentioned points will allow a banking system to come to new level and to save funds for the press of banknotes.


Traditionally, tourism was placed second as a priority in the agenda of investors, policy makers, and academics. Nowadays, a significant reappraisal of its role in socioeconomic development is taking place, which values tourism as a source for earning export revenues, generating large numbers of jobs, promoting economic growth and a more services-oriented economy not only in developing but also in developed countries (UNCTAD, 2007). According to World Tourism Organization (WTO), the European Union (EU) numbered six Member States among the top 10 countries in the world welcoming the largest number of international tourist arrivals. Within the EU, receipts from international tourism in 2008 were highest in Spain, France, and Italy, followed by Greece and Portugal. Previous studies have attempted to explain destination and/or firm strategic positions by focusing on (mostly demand and supply side factors) prices, exchange rates, qualitative and other institutional factors. The unique memorable experiences provided to customers directly determine a business's and ultimately destination's competitiveness. However, the extant tourism literature has provided limited explanation of the factors that characterize these memorable tourism experiences. Why Experience? ● Because a trip is very high in experiential & hedonic characteristics ● Pine & Gilmore (1999) argued the emerging of an "experience economy" in which: companies personally engage consumers through staged events, experiences become offerings in the marketplace; and consumers' hearts are captured by the memorability of the experience Subject of Research ● Differences in Competitiveness of Regional Destination ● A business's competitiveness is directly determined by the unique memorable experiences provided to customers.


Croatia is currently in the process of upgrading its Land Administration system from combination of analog and digital to purely digital technology. The system's attribute data has been in digital form for many years now and is technologically well organized. On the other hand its spatial data is increasingly turning to digital technology but currently without a clear vision of its future technological orientation. Large amount of cadastral data produced in different historical periods poses on one hand a wealth and on the other a hindrance to the development. This data is usually not standardized and not available to users. In this paper and following internationally adopted standards, this data is classified and described presenting a fundamental condition for its efficient usage within data model and meta-database service. Can a nationwide cadastral meta-database service help and improve process of transition? Some important technological and organizational aspects of a centralized database with a distributed Web access in support of cadastral system's transition are discovered here.


The invention discloses a printed Yagi antenna of vibrator loading type balance microstrip line feed, relating to a printed Yagi antenna, in particular to a printed Yagi antenna of vibrator loading type balance microstrip line feed. The invention aims to solve the problem that the existing printed Yagi antenna feed structure has a very large size. In the invention, a first symmetric vibrator and a second symmetric vibrator are printed between a director and a reflector in a straight manner; the reflector is connected with a feed part in the middle of the lower edge of a dielectric slab; one side of the first symmetric vibrator close to the second symmetric vibrator is connected with the reflector through a feeder; a dead-end feeder load is printed on the back of the dielectric slab and connected with the feed part printed in the middle of the lower edge of the dielectric slab through a feeder; the second symmetric vibrator is connected with the feed through a metalized feed via hole by a balance microstrip line on the back of the dielectric slab; and the diameter of the metalized feed via hole is 1mm. The printed Yagi antenna disclosed by the invention is applied to the field of radio technology.


Background: In western Mexico, the Magnolia pacifica complex includes three morphologically defined, endemic and, endangered species, distributed along a 215 km continentality and moisture gradient: Magnolia pugana, M. pacifica s.s., and M. vallartensis.
Hypothesis: Genetic evidence supports the taxonomical classification of the M. pacifica complex.
Study site and dates: Western Mexico, samples were collected in 2012-2015.
Methods: Six Inter-Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSR) primers amplified 76 clear and reproducible fragments in 278 individuals from 10 localities representative of the M. pacifica complex. ISSR dataset was analyzed using STRUCTURE 2.3.4, UPGMA clustering, Barrier 2.2, and AMOVA. Genetic diversity parameters were also estimated.
Results: Genetic analyses revealed two main groups: M. pugana and M. pacifica s.s.–M. vallartensis. Two subpopulations within each group were evidenced, particularly M. pacifica s.s. was separated from M. vallartensis. Geographical barriers to gene flow were identified. AMOVA revealed a similar and significant proportion of variation between and within groups. M. pugana has lower genetic diversity and higher differentiation than the M. pacifica s.s-M. vallartensis group.
Conclusions: Our results support the recognition of M. pugana as a genetically distinct lineage from M. pacifica s.s and M. vallartensis, but did not reveal a clear species boundary between the last two taxa. Geographical barriers and distance isolation might explain the genetic structure and differentiation pattern within the M. pacifica s.s. species complex. All main groups and subgroups defined in this study should be considered as separate conservation units, and concerted efforts are needed to protect them.


A detailed investgation of the landslide occurring at the mouth of Shidaoshan Tunnel is made. It is confirmed that this slide is a forced slide and there is a weak intercalated layer in it,that is the third soil layer. As the landslide took place along the weak intercalated layer of the slope,the stability of the slope is analyzed and calculated by using the theory of plane slip. The calculation results are analyzed and compared with the actual situation. The obtained results provide a reliable theoretic basis for the designs of corresponding protection works and anti-slide measures,and the results are also helpful for the construction of the protection works.


A Framework For Secure Applications With QoS by Ajay Kanagala Dr Ajoy K Datta, Examination Committee Chair Professor o f Computer Science University o f Nevada, Las \ egas In this thesis we propose a solution to support Quality o f Service (QoS) network communication transactions modeled on differentiated services and economic principles We propose an enhanced user-level negotiation protocol where transactions are accomplished in a secure mode and where resource allocations are simple and fair With the availability o f inexpensive network monitoring hardware, any issue dealing with network security becomes a priority Current networks must support multiple levels o f service over a single network connection Differentiated levels o f service create new resource management problems for network middleware Just as a first class passenger is willing to pay the premium for superior service, today's customers are ready to pay extra for preferential treatment o f their network traffic We cannot have a separate airplane for each first class passenger, similarly we cannot have a separate network connection for each o f our customers Therefore, the bulk o f network traffic must flow through shared lines Resource management is a fundamental concept in the design o f operating systems


What are the justifications and constraints on the use of force in self-defense? In his book The Morality of Defensive Force, Jonathan Quong presents the moral status account to address this and other fundamental questions. According to the moral status account, moral liability to defensive harm is triggered by treating others with less respect than they are due. At the same time, Quong rejects the relevance of culpability to the morality of defensive harming. In this article I argue that this rejection of culpability is unfounded and that Quong fails to establish his account as superior to the culpability account of liability to defensive harm.


This book examines a decade of crucial importance in American economic history by studying its significant developments: the dampening of the business cycle, the uneven pace of economic growth, technological breakthroughs and their impact on investment, shifts in the U. S. balance of payments, and the phenomenon of an abundant society plauged with pockets of poverty.


Heterogeneities within clinoforms, which can be in the form of variations in internal geometry and/or change in sediment distribution, may act as fluid flow barriers or conduits for hydrocarbon or freshwater reservoirs. These heterogeneities can lead to considerable uncertainty in estimating pore-fluid recovery factors by up to 35%. And yet, variations in sediment petrophysical characteristics within clinoforms have been poorly documented. Understanding the rock physics of clinoform heterogeneities along continental margins is a key to reducing the uncertainties in predicting the dynamics and the volume of recoverable pore fluids within these structures.


DiFonzo and Bordia observe that we have a core social motive to understand and to act effectively in any context and that culturally defined categories routinely help us do so. However, when events do not fit well together or fail to convey meaning that makes sense to us, we refer to the groups of which are a part to gain understanding and to guide our actions, by engaging in group thinking through rumor discussion. (p. 13)


Prolamins and glutelins, synthesized in the ER, are compartmentalized into individual protein bodies (PB), the ER‐derived PB‐I and the vacuolar PB‐II in wild‐type rice, respectively. Six 57H mutants with high amounts of 57 kD glutelin precursor were isolated by screening 3000 N‐methyl‐N‐nitrosourea‐induced mutants of the rice cultivar TC65. SDS‐PAGE and immunoblot analyses of storage proteins showed that some of the mutants contained not only the high amount of glutelin precursor and the corresponding low amounts of mature glutelin subunits but also the low amounts of the b species of 13 kD prolamins in comparison with the TC65 cultivar. The protein alterations in each mutant were found to result from a recessive mutation of a single gene in each. One mutation among them was identified to be a novel gene, glup6, nonallelic to the reported 57H mutant genes. EM observation showed the existence of the ER‐derived mutant PB and the vacuolar PB‐II in endosperm cells of glup6. The PB mutant was stained to a different degree in its core and the peripheral region, and it was decreased in size compared with the wild‐type PB‐I. Immunocytochemical analysis showed that the glutelin precursor was deposited with 13b kD prolamin in the peripheral region of the PB mutant. These results indicate that the glup6 inhibits sorting of the glutelin precursor polypeptide and the prolamin polypeptide within the ER. The analysis results of the glup6esp2 mutant showed that the effect of glup6 is hypostatic to the esp2 mutation in the compartmentation of glutelins and prolamins.


A procedure for the fabrication of aluminum-coated reflective PDMS thin films having a low surface roughness and high reflectance is presented. Elastomer films are prepared by spin-coating on a sacrificial layer that permits subsequent release from the substrate. Appropriate surface treatments are established for the deposition of a thin, highly reflective metal coating. The composite membranes are deposited on an ethylene glycol based ferrofluid to fabricate a new ferrofluidic deformable mirror. Surface deformations of a few micrometers can be produced with low strength magnetic fields. The reflective elastomer membranes do not alter the rheological behavior of the ferrofluid in magnetic fields and thus offer new perspectives for the use of ferrofluidic mirrors in adaptive optics. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 44542.


Electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are two commonly used non-invasive techniques for measuring brain activity in neuroscience and brain- computer interfaces (BCI). While EEG has high temporal resolution and low spatial resolution, fMRI has high spatial resolution and low temporal resolution. In this review, we focus on the use of EEG and fMRI in neurofeedback (NF) and discuss the challenges of combining the two modalities in order to improve understanding of brain activity and achieve more effective clinical outcomes. Advanced technologies have been developed to simultaneously record EEG and fMRI signals in order to provide a better understanding of the relationship between the two modalities. However, the complexity of brain processes and the heterogeneous nature of EEG and fMRI present challenges in extracting useful information from the combined data. We will survey existing EEG-fMRI combinations and recent studies that exploit EEG-fMRI in NF, highlighting the experimental and technical challenges. We will also identify some of the remaining challenges in this field.


Abstract. Accurate assessment of standing pasture biomass in livestock production systems is a major factor for improving feed planning. Several tools are available to achieve this, including the GrassMaster II capacitance meter. This tool relies on an electrical signal, which is modified by the surrounding pasture. There is limited knowledge on how this capacitance meter performs in Mediterranean pastures. Therefore, we evaluated the GrassMaster II under Mediterranean conditions to determine (i) the effect of pasture moisture content (PMC) on the meter's ability to estimate pasture green matter (GM) and dry matter (DM) yields, and (ii) the spatial variability and temporal stability of corrected meter readings (CMR) and DM in a bio-diverse pasture. Field tests were carried out with typical pastures of the southern region of Portugal (grasses, legumes, mixture and volunteer annual species) and at different phenological stages (and different PMC). There were significant positive linear relations between CMR and GM (r2 = 0.60, P < 0.01) and CMR and DM (r2 = 0.35, P < 0.05) for all locations (n = 347). Weak relationships were found for PMC (%) v. slope and coefficient of determination for both GM and DM. A significant linear relation existed for CMR v. GM and DM for PMC >80% (r2 = 0.57, P < 0.01, RMSE = 2856.7 kg ha–1, CVRMSE = 17.1% to GM; and r2 = 0.51, P < 0.01, RMSE = 353.7 kg ha–1, CVRMSE = 14.3% to DM). Therefore, under the conditions of this current study there exists an optimum PMC (%) for estimating both GM and DM with the GrassMaster II. Repeated-measurements taken at the same location on different dates and conditions in a bio-diverse pasture showed similar and stable patterns between CMR and DM (r2 = 0.67, P < 0.01, RMSE = 136.1 kg ha–1, CVRMSE = 6.5%). The results indicate that the GrassMaster II in-situ technique could play a crucial role in assessing pasture mass to improve feed planning under Mediterranean conditions.


Objective To summarize the elderly experience of clinical diagnosis and treatment of vertigo,dizziness facilitate further improve the elderly's correct diagnosis and treatment effects. Methods A retrospective analysis of 110 cases of elderly patients with vertigo clinical data. Results 110 cases of elderly patients with vertigo in a vertigo as the first symptom of disease and cerebrovascular diseases such as vertebrobasilar insufficiency most common,followed by Meniere's disease. After proper treatment 90% of the patients could have been alleviated. Conclusion The vertigo is a common clinical disease,can be found in a single disease,can also be found in a variety of diseases,the correct diagnosis of the elderly should be encouraged to vertigo disciplines necessary consultation to avoid misdiagnosis. In the acute phase exclude central vertigo after first symptomatic treatment,to be confirmed after treatment for cause.


This paper among a kind of adaptive control law with adaptived parameters for a class of nonlinearity systems which parameters are time varying and uncertain, to ensure the stability of i/o and the linearity of system. The system contains three following parts: first, a stable closed loop state predictor; second, the adaptive law which is used to estimate the uncertain parameters in the controlled device, and the error between controlled device and closed loop state predictor are proved to be stable under the Lyapunov stability; third, the control law which is varying with the estimated parameter, ensure the stability and linearity of system input to state predictor's output.


The use of IRT to investigate the relationships between the g factor and cognitive tasks. Many authors have looked for the relations between the g factor and cognitive tasks in order to find out the nurture of the g factor (Jensen, 1998). Nevertheless, some methodological problems must be solved to understand if the individual differences in g are differences in cognitive processes. One of them is the low reliability of the scores in this kind of tasks. On the grounds of the standard error of the ability level estimation, we hypothesized that the correlations between the g factor and a working memory task would be larger in the group of the subjects better measured (less standard error). The results support this hypothesis.


Hu FB., Cho EY., Rexrode KM., Albert CM., et al. Fish and long-chain omega-3 fatty acid intake and risk of coronary heart disease and total mortality in diabetic women Circulation 2003, 107:1852–1857. Vendrell J., FernandezReal JM., Gutierrez C., Zamora A., et al. A polymorphism in the promoter of the tumor necrosis factor-alpha gene (-308) is associated with coronary heart disease in type 2 diabetic patients Atherosclerosis 2003, 167:257–264.


PURPOSE
To compare the use of mental representations (heuristics) in diagnostic reasoning of expert (> or = 5 years' experience) and novice (< 5 years' experience) emergency nurses.

METHODS
Clinical simulations were completed by a nationwide randomly selected sample of 173 experienced and 46 less-experienced emergency nurses (N = 219).

FINDINGS
Experienced nurses used the heuristic, Judging by Causal Systems (diagnostic inferences deduced from systems of causal factors) significantly more did than less-experienced nurses.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS
Standardized nursing diagnoses may cut short the time needed to develop representational thinking and spare cognitive reserves for reasoning needed for complex patients. Faculty need to promote student's cognitive development through strategies that promote active, reflective, and integrative learning.


On the basis of probe into the architecture of J2ME and the developing process with MIDP, this paper summarizes the basic process and method of MIDP application development, and compares the alternate developing tools. As a typical JAVA IDE developing tool, Jbuilder, combined with JBuilder MobileSet 2.0, provides a powerful tool for MIDP developing. Based on the study of methods for MIDP developing, the paper summarizes the character and key of JBuilder as a MIDP developing tool.


In conventional superconductors, Cooper pairing occurs between electrons of opposite spin. We observe spin-polarized superconductivity in Bernal bilayer graphene when doped to a saddle-point van Hove singularity generated by a large applied perpendicular electric field. We observe a cascade of electrostatic gate-tuned transitions between electronic phases distinguished by their polarization within the isospin space defined by the combination of the spin and momentum-space valley degrees of freedom. Although all of these phases are metallic at zero magnetic field, we observe a transition to a superconducting state at finite magnetic field B‖ ≈ 150 milliteslas applied parallel to the two-dimensional sheet. Superconductivity occurs near a symmetry-breaking transition and exists exclusively above the B‖ limit expected of a paramagnetic superconductor with the observed transition critical temperature TC ≈ 30 millikelvins, consistent with a spin-triplet order parameter. Description Hiding in plain sight Superconductivity observed in "twisted" bilayers of the two-dimensional (2D) material graphene requires the layers to be carefully stacked on top of each other at a very precise angle. Zhou et al. found superconductivity in the most common form of bilayer graphene, called Bernal, which does not require such precise manipulation (see the Perspective by Heikkilä). The researchers subjected the samples to an external electric field, but superconductivity emerged only after they also turned on an in-plane magnetic field. This unusual effect of a magnetic field, which normally acts to suppress superconductivity, is suggestive of exotic, spin-triplet pairing in Bernal-stacked bilayer graphene. —JS Superconductivity emerges in a stable form of bilayer graphene upon the application of an in-plane magnetic field.


Chocolate bar is one of secondary product of cocoa beans which are ready to consume. The aim of this research is to know the effect of shredded copra addition as a filler of chocolate bar. The method of this research started from the processing of beans into fats and cocoa powder, the making of shredded copra as a filler, and the making of chocolate bar. The evaluation done based on carbohydrate content, moisture content, ash content, fat content, fat blooming, and organoleptic in terms of color, odor, taste, and texture. The design of research used was completely randomized design in 3 repetition. Sample used is shredded copra (A1 = 6%, A2 = 9%, and A3 = 12%). The results shows that addition of shredded copra is significant at the 5% level of ash content and fat content. While organoleptic test shows that A1 (addition of 6% shredded copra) is most preferred by panellist in terms of color and texture, while A3 (addition of 12% shredded copra) is most preferred by panellist in terms of aroma and taste parameter.


The prediction of the absolute configuration of β-chiral primary alcohols from the 1H NMR spectra of their esters with (R)- and (S)-9-anthrylmethoxyacetic acids (9-AMA, 3) is discussed. Low-temperature NMR experiments, MM, semiempirical, ab initio, and aromatic shielding effect calculations allowed the identification of the main conformers and showed that, in all alcohols for which the calculated ΔEag (CVff) is in the range of 0.7−1.5 kcal/mol, conformer a/a is the most stable. A simple model for the assignment of the absolute configuration from NMR data is presented and its reliability corroborated with alcohols (8−20) of known configuration. Nevertheless, cyclic alcohols 21−23 have much higher ΔEag values (2.2−3.1 kcal/mol) due to their different conformational composition, and their absolute configuration cannot be reliably predicted by this method.


Based on the analysis of karst water environment,present situation,and existing problems of karst water resources development,some typical cases of successful or unsuccessful utilization and management of karst water were analyzed.Utilization manners and methods for karst water resources were summarized,such as the construction of karst depression reservoirs by blocking up the outlets of streams,water diversion for irrigation,and exploitation of hydropower.Experiences in integrated utilization and treatment of surface water and groundwater were also presented,which would supply scientific foundations for reconstruction and rehabilitation of ecological environment and for control of rocky desertification in West Hunan.


Analyzing the effects of genes and environmental factors on the development of complex diseases is a great challenge from both the statistical and computational perspectives. Several data mining methods have been proposed for interaction analysis, among them, the Multifactor Dimensionality Reduction method, MDR, (Ritchie et al. 2001) that has recently achieved a great popularity. MDR strategy is to reduce the multi-factor dimension to one by pooling multilocus genotypes into two groups of risk: high and low. Although MDR has proven its usefulness it suffers from some major drawbacks including that important interactions could be missed due to pooling too many cells together and that it cannot adjust for main effects and for confounding factors. In this paper we illustrate the limitations of MDR strategy and nonparametric approaches and demonstrate the value of using a model-based approach for analyzing interactions in case-control studies where adjustment for confounding variables and for main effects is required. We propose a new approach, a model based version of MDR, which we refer as Model-Based Multifactor Dimensionality Reduction (MBMDR). The proposed modelling approach is aimed to identify specific multi-locus genotypes that are associated with disease susceptibility and allows adjusting for marginal effects and confounders. The new methodology is illustrated with data from the Spanish Bladder Cancer Study.


3D integrate model of roadbed and terrain is used to build railway 3D scene. The 3D roadbed is constructed with a method called transect-based model. This model is based on the roadbed transect which linked the same character points on border upon transects and make the triangle partition to generate roadbed. How to calculate transect character points based on the roadbed center line and DEM is discussed. Terrain model is TIN (triangular irregular network) model. To integrate these two models seamlessly, a method based on CDT( constrained delaunay triangulation) is used. It deletes the points within outline of roadbed from terrain vertex set and triangles affected by roadbed from triangle set firstly. Then it constructed roadbed model using roadbed vertex set. Finally, merges roadbed and terrain model in a whole. A method of building a railway roadbed and terrain integration model has been presented. It can be applied as an assistant tool for engineering design of railway and science research.


We have previously published a proposed "standard" probability density hnction (PDF) for dermal soil adherence that we believe is applicable to probabilistic risk assessments?') We have maintained that the dermal soil adherence factor lends itself to derivation of a standard PDF because numerous investigators, employing a variety of different measurement techniques and exposure settings, have reported soil adherence rates that typically fall within a fairly narrow range: approximately 0.1 1 .O mg/cm2-skin. Indeed, Kissel's most recent study@) reported that geometric mean hand loadings of approximately 0.01 1 .O mg soiUcm2-skin were measured in fourteen scenarios ranging from "farmers" to "rugby players." Kisselc3) states that we ''selectively" cited his work because we didn't specifically note that two of the sixteen scenarios, children playing in a muddy lakeshore, fell above this range. We do not believe that citing fourteen of sixteen data points is selective, particularly when the issue at hand is dermal contact with soil, and not mud or sediments. Also, as noted in Finley et a/.,(*) there appears to be sufficient evidence to indicate the degree of chemical transfer from soil to skin is limited to the soil monolayer that is in direct contact with skin. Hence, the relevance of "mud loading" is questionable. Kissel also claims that the data sets we used to construct the PDF utilized only a "limited set of activities" when in fact the data sets covered a wide range of age and sex groups exposed to soil under a variety of field and laboratory conditions. Kissel's primary assertion is that the median values of our "standard" PDF should have increased considerably when we excluded or corrected the Que Hee et ~1.") data set. Contained within his assertion are several observations and accusations that we need to address. First, he suggests that we embraced Que Hee et a1.(4) when we thought it gave low values, and tried to reject it when we discovered it gave higher values. This is clearly incorrect, since the very data he reproduced from our letter (Table I1 in his letter) contains corrected Que Hee et a1.(4) values. Also, it should be noted that the 95% did increase upon exclusion of Que Hee et although Kissel does not mention this. Finally, Kissel asserts that we were wrong to claim that the misinterpreted Que Hee et a1.(4) data fell "well within" the distribution of the overall PDF. While our intent was to indicate that the data were not clustered at an extreme end of the PDF (e.g., at the 0.01% or 0.001%), we agree this observation is too subjective. The mean of the (misinterpreted) Que Hee et a1.(4) data fell at approximately the 10% of the overall PDF. We agree that the lack of an increase at the 50% when Que Hee et ~ 1 . ( ~ ) was excluded is counter-intuitive. We do not have a compelling explanation as to why this occurred except that it is possible that the five discrete Que Hee et a1.(4) values were "under-sampled'' during the analysis. As a result, manipulation of the Que Hee et ~ l . ( ~ ) data set (removal or correction) may have had little effect on the overall PDF. Since publication of our paper four years ago, we have been using the Crystal Ball'" program (whose random number generator has been independently evaluated and verified in the past two years)(') rather than the @Risk program. Because of this and the fact that the @Risk program is not compatible with our existing Windows software, we have not attempted to recreate our work here simply to rebut Kissel. Instead, we will use this opportunity to test the hypothesis that the existing data are sufficiently robust such that a different approach to analyzing the raw data still yields a PDF very similar to the one we originally proposed. In addition to using Crystal Ball'" software, we have made two other minor refinements. In the original paper, we created the overall PDFs by bootstrapping the


The norpenicillin N (1b) and the isomeric cepham (2) have been isolated from a Streptomyces species and identified from 1H n.m.r. spectroscopy and detection of D-α-aminoadipic acid following acid hydrolysis.


A 42-year-old man experiencing nonischemic cardiomyopathy with severely reduced left ventricular function and advanced heart failure met the criteria for primary prophylactic implantation of an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). A subcutaneous ICD (S-ICD; EMBLEM; Boston Scientific, Marlborough, MA) was implanted at a secondary center in November 2015 with the lead (3401; Boston Scientific) tunnelled in left parasternal position. Before implantation, surface ECG screening was performed following the manufacturer's instructions.

A few weeks later, the patient was transferred to Hannover Medical School because of heart failure deterioration (New York Heart Association class IV). After careful evaluation, a continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (LVAD; HeartMate 3; Thoratec, Pleasanton, CA) was implanted using conventional sternotomy.1 Approximately 1 hour after LVAD implantation, the patient received 31 S-ICD shocks. The device was immediately deactivated. Interrogation of the S-ICD revealed normal sinus rhythm during the shocks. However, R waves were diminished and superimposed by electric …