Human beings during their lives take a wide almost infinite variety of drugs into their bodies which are necessary for their well-being and these drugs undergo metabolism.Metabolism or biotransformation is defined as the structural or chemical alteration of a drug by enzymatic systems. Hence understanding of drug metabolism plays an important role in the development of new drug entities. Drug metabolism studies have relied on the use of model systems to produce the expected human metabolites of drugs. A microbial model is one of the in vitro model which constitute an alternative to the use of animal model and other in vitro models. The fungal biotransformation of a substrate of CYP1A2 [Zolmitriptan] was performed using six fungi in the present study. The screening studies were performed by selected fungi using their respective broth media. Fermentation was carried out for each organism by maintaining two controls and one sample to find the ability of fungi to biotransform the selected drug using HPLC method. Among all these organisms Cunninghamella elegans had shown an extra peak at 6.5min in HPLC when compared with its controls indicated the formation of its metabolite. The metabolite thus formed was identified, isolated and structure was confirmed by mass spectroscopy and NMR. Based upon the results obtained it was concluded that Zolmitriptan was biotransformed to its microbial metabolite i.e the sulphate conjugate of hydroxy indole acetic acid derivative of zolmitriptan by desmethylation, hydroxylation and sulphation of Zolmitriptan by Cunninghamella elegans. Further metabolism inhibition and induction studies were performed for the confirmation of enzyme CYP1A2 involved in biotransformation of Zolmitriptan by Cunninghamella elegans. There was no change in % of metabolite formed in presence of both inducer and inhibitor used. It indicated that Cunninghamella elegans converting the zolmitriptan to its metabolite not like by human CYP1A2 enzyme. Hence, the present study revealed that Cunninghamella elegans can be used as a suitable microbial model to study the biotransformation of drugs by different reactions to a new metabolite.


Being able to identify the essential features of financial systems is an important precondition to carrying out any sound assessment of whether the financial systems of different countries are truly different, have become more similar in recent years, or are likely to converge in the future. For this purpose, it is necessary to recognise that financial systems are indeed systems and must be discussed as such, but without lapsing into scientifically meaningless Systemgeschwafel (or systems waffle, as D. Schneider has called it). We have found the concept of complementarity to be very helpful in this respect. Two elements of a given system are considered complementary if there is potential for a higher value of one element to increase the marginal value contribution of the other element. If this potential is fully exploited, a system is called coherent. An important implication of this concept is that there can be more tha n one coherent system comprising the same set of complementary elements, but with clearly distinct values of these elements. After presenting the concepts of complementarity and coherence, and the specific indicators used to quantify them, the paper moves on to apply these concepts by analysing real-world financial systems. For the specific purposes of this paper, financial systems are construed as consisting of three subsystems. They are: enterprise financing, including relevant aspects of the financial sector; corporate governance; and corporate strategy. The paper demonstrates that, in financial systems in general, each of the three subsystems is composed of complementary elements, and that in the German, the Japanese, the British and the US financial systems, the subsystems are largely coherent. It is then shown that the three subsystems are also complementary to one another and, in the case of the four countries in question, that they also form coherent overall systems. The paper concludes by demonstrating that the concept of complementarity has far-reaching implications for all efforts to shape, and possibly improve, the structure of financial systems, and even more important implications for how financial systems function. If complementarity is strong, there is a real possibility that the convergence of real-world financial systems, which many practitioners and scholars currently believe will take place, is a convergence towards an inefficient system.


Operating system memory managers fail to consider the population of read versus write pages in the buffer pool and the outstanding I/O requests when writing dirty pages to disk or network file systems. This leads to bursty I/O patterns, which stall processes reading data and reduce the efficiency of disk and file systems. We address these limitations by adaptively allocating memory between write buffering and read caching and by writing dirty pages to disk opportunistically before the operating system submits them for writeback. We implement and evaluate our methods within the Linux operating system and show performance gains of more than 30% for mixed read/write workloads.


There is a shortage of neutron sources available to US scientists, and while the SNS will help, demand is expected to eventually outstrip even that facility.


Agings is commonly assumed to be associated with the adoption of increasingly conservative social and political attitudes. Empirical tests of this assumption have provided little support, but most analyses have focused on attitude domains where public opinion was shifting in a liberal direction. Using three items about law and order, a domain marked by conservative trends, this paper evaluates the aging-conservatism hypothesis with data drawn from 18 national surveys covering the period 1959-85. Attitude changes in four cohorts are analyzed with Taylor's hierarchical goodness-of-fit procedures for evaluating trends in public opinion. The findings show that each of the cohorts has participated in the shift toward more conservative opinions on law and order issues, and that either constant or zero differences characterize the trends in percentage differences between the oldest and the other cohorts. In the absence of differential rates of change, we conclude that older cohorts are no more likely than younger cohorts to adopt conservative law and order attitudes and that period effects are influencing each of the cohorts equally. Language: en


The patient presented in Emergency with Pain right iliac fossa for last 24 hours. It was sudden in onset, mild in intensity, non-radiating to any site, and was associated with mild fever. About 5-6 episodes of vomiting occurred in that period. Her menstrual history was normal. She was taking medication for Rheumatoid Arthritis fort last three months. With Alvarado Score of 6 a clinical diagnosis of Acute Appendicitis was made. X-ray Abdomen did not reveal any abnormality, Blood C/E, Urine C/E, Blood sugar blood urea and serum electrolytes. After preparation, patient was taken to the theatre. Rutherford Morrison incision was made. Her appendix was difficult to locate but was normal. Strangely a toothpick was seen in the mesentery of appendix and there was a pinpoint perforation in terminal ileum about two inches proximal to ileocaecal junction Fig 1. Margins were fresh and it did not give a look of old perforation. There were adhesions between loops of small intestine, which were also adherent to under surface of liver. After adhesionolysis, margins of perforation were trimmed and it was repaired in two layers (Inner vicryl 2/0 continuous and outer with prolene 4/0 interrupted. Appendicectomy was also performed. After washing abdominal cavity with 0.9 normal saline wound was closed in layers. Patient was given postoperative antibiotics and an analgesic, kept NPO for 24 hours, and was discharged successfully after 3 days. Later on patient was asked and she admitted taking a burger three days earlier but she did not remember any toothpick.


Developments in the treatment of diabetes in the past decade, many of them initiated in Britain, have encouraged the introduction by the British Diabetic Association of a new journal-Diabetic Medicine. Appropriately, its first issue includes a symposium on continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion, first described at Guy's Hospital in 1978.' Continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion now has an established place in the treatment of diabetes. By providing continuous basal insulin infusion with preprandial boosts it aims at mimicking the physiological patterns of plasma insulin concentration more closely than those obtained with intermittent insulin injections. Administration of insulin by intraperitoneal infusion is theoretically even more physiological, since at least some of the insulin is delivered intraportally, but this technique is still experimental. The chief benefit of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion is the considerable improvement in lifestyle enjoyed by some patients. Blood glucose control is generally improved at the same time.2 There is only slender evidence that continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion has any beneficial effect on diabetic complications and no clear proof of harmful effects. Its disadvantages include the relative bulkiness of the apparatus, the risk of mechanical failures, obvious difficulties with vigorous physical activities, rapid development of ketoacidosis, some tendency to gain weight, and in some people problems from skin infection.3 4 Continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion does not provide a general solution for "brittle" diabetes5 and is not suitable for emotionally or psychiatrically disturbed patients. It has obvious limitations, too, in very young diabetics.6 The technique is also very expensive. But for some patients the improved quality of lifestyle may be very striking. Continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion allows considerable flexibility, especially with regard to timing of meals, with obvious advantages. Sometimes the rise in the early morning blood glucose concentration (the "dawn phenomenon") is diminished with an improved sense of wellbeing.7 Problems from severe hypoglycaemia may decrease, but the overall incidence of such episodes is similar to that with conventional treatment.3 8 Even exercise induced hypoglycaemia may cause fewer problems, though reduction of insulin infusion rate may still be needed.3 The control of the blood glucose concentration-and so that of haemoglobin Al-is generally improved by continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion, and good control may be maintained for several years with remarkably constant insulin infusion rates.3 Similar degrees of control may also be


This article examines the transgressive function of some Japanese women's magazines in the 1970s. It traces changes in the lives of Japanese women by focusing on the emergence of three new magazines that targeted young women from the late teens to the early 20s. It examines the contents of two magazines, An'an and Non'no, launched at the beginning of the 1970s, which showed their readers how to get independent time and space away from the surveillance of parents. In 1977 another magazine, More, was launched, targeting readers in their 20s and 30s who were brought up reading An'an and Non'no. More shows the strong influence of feminism, and encouraged its readers to escape from the traditional women's life which was centred on marriage, husband and children. This article argues that the three magazines reflected the changes of Japanese women and reinforced those changes by providing knowledge, support for new identities and an imaginary community for readers. In this respect it breaks with earlier feminist readings of girls' magazines which focused on their ideological function of reproducing patriarchy.


The utility model discloses an improved radiotherapy tongue fixing device. The device comprises a cylinder, a circular opening, a perspective window and a handle, wherein the perspective window is formed on one side of the cylinder; and one end of the cylinder is provided with the circular opening, and the other end of the cylinder is provided with the handle. The device is safely used; the tongue of a patient can be fixed after being extended into the circular opening on the front end surface of the cylinder; and the patient can feel comfortable in the fixing process, and convenience is brought to medical staff.


Mechanisms of translational regulation are poorly understood in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and committed progenitors (MP). In order to investigate the impact of translational regulation on early mouse hematopoietic development, we characterized the translatome using a combination of polysome profiling, RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) of polysome-associated and total cellular mRNA, and whole proteome evaluation. Comparison of RNA-seq data from HSC-enriched LSK (Lin-Sca-1+c-Kit+) and MP (Lin-Sca-1-c-Kit+) cells showed more differentially expressed mRNAs in polysomal RNA than total RNA (412 vs 280 mRNAs, respectively) among ~15,000 mRNAs analyzed. In addition, polysomal mRNAs were enriched for a unique set of functional pathways (e.g. inflammatory response, apoptosis and p53) compared to total RNA in both LSK and MP cells. Interestingly, although LSK cells showed ~20% lower global translation than MPs as demonstrated by polysome profiling (Figure 1A), they exhibited significantly higher translational efficiency (TE = polysome RNA abundance/total RNA abundance) for mRNAs that support HSC maintenance (e.g. glycolysis, fatty acid metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation, mTOR signalling). Integration of proteomic and RNA-seq data demonstrated that 605 out of 784 (77.2%) differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between LSK and MP cells identified based on total RNA-seq data (Groups I & III; Fig 1B) also showed a corresponding change in protein expression, while remaining 179 DEGs (22.8%; Groups II & IV; Fig. 1B) showed an anti-correlation. Remarkably, in the latter group, expression of 129 proteins (72.1% of all differentially expressed proteins in LSKs vs MPs) correlated with their TEs (Figure 1C). While gene set enrichment analysis of published HSC regulators showed an enrichment in LSKs in total RNA-seq data, such an enrichment was not observed when evaluating mRNAs with differential TEs. However, mRNAs with high TE confirmed a surprising enrichment in mTOR-responsive genes independent of their total RNA expression in LSKs, but not in MP cells (Figure 1D). To investigate the biochemical basis of this observation, we performed western blot analysis of LSK and MP cells and observed decreased mTOR protein expression and signaling in purified MP cells, despite their higher global levels of translation. In addition, despite abundant expression of mTOR protein in LSK cells, 4E-BP1, a known target of mTOR, was only phosphorylated at the priming residues Thr-37/46 but not at the downstream Ser-65, a residue that initiates cap-dependent translation. In contrast, MP cells phosphorylated Ser-65, consistent with its increased translation despite the absence of mTOR signalling. mTOR inhibition with Torin-1 did not alter 4E-BP Ser-65 phosphorylation or translation in MPs ex vivo. The presence of mTOR-independent translation in MPs was corroborated by in vivo rapamycin treatment studies, which induced increased colony formation by LSKs, but not MPs. Decreased mTOR activity in MPs was due to degradation of mTOR protein mediated by the proteasome since mTOR protein expression was restored following treatment with the proteasome inhibitors bortezomib and MG132, as well as deletion of the E3 ubiquitin ligase, c-Cbl. Indeed, LSKs and MPs exhibit differential dependencies on mTOR signaling for translation, as mTOR protein is post-translationally downregulated in MPs by a previously undescribed mechanism for mTOR proteosomal degradation mediated by c-Cbl. These findings establish the presence of developmental stage-specific mechanisms of translational regulation in early hematopoiesis.
 Figure legend. (A) Representative polysome profiles from LSK (Lin-Sca-1+c-Kit+) and MP (Lin-Sca-1-c-Kit+) cells. Polysome/subpolysome ratios (poly/subpoly) were calculated by dividing total RNA abundance from polysomes (fractions 5-10) by subpolysomes (fractions 1-4) (n=3, p < 0.05). (B) Comparison of total RNA versus protein expression in LSK versus MP cells. Four groups of mRNAs were identified based on comparisons of their total mRNA and protein expression. Percentage of total analyzed mRNAs is indicated in each quadrant. (C) Comparison of TEs versus protein expression in LSK/MP cells (D) Enrichment plots comparing total RNA and TE in LSK and MP cells, using previously validated mTOR gene sets.

 No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Abstract We consider the problem of asynchronous execution of parallel programs. We assume that the original program is designed for a synchronous system, whereas the actual system may be asynchronous. We seek an automatic execution scheme , which allows the asynchronous system to execute the synchronous program. Previous execution schemes provide solutions only for the case where the original program is deterministic. Here, we provide the first solution for the more general case where the original program can be nondeterministic (e.g., randomized). Our scheme is based on a novel agreement protocol for the asynchronous parallel setting. Our protocol allows n asynchronous processors to agree on n word-sized values in O ( n  log  n  log log  n ) total work , assuming an oblivious adversary scheduler. Total work is defined to be the summation of the number of steps performed by all processors (including steps from busy waiting).


This article describes the new framework developed for sharing environmental data among Asian countries, representing the first real steps of an intergovernmental organization called the Asiuan-Pacific Network for Global Change Research. The network si the youngest of a trio of intergovernmental, research organizations: InterAmerican Institute for Global Change Research and the European Network for Research in Global Change are the others.


There is a great deal of activity in the area of research into teaching and learning in Art, Design and Communication, and the Proceedings of last year's inaugural international conference of the Centre for Learning and Teaching in Art and Design (CLTAD) offers an encouraging snapshot of recent and continuing work. Enhancing Curricula sets out to correct the perception that such work is thin on the ground and, at just short of 600 pages, this doorstop of a publication certainly answers criticisms that teachers of these subjects are not interested in pedagogy. The 32 articles cover a range of subject areas and concerns; central to many is the place of the 'ordinary' student in what we do. Too many art and design courses focus on final shows and national competitions, looking for rare 'star' quality, to the detriment of the majority of our students. In a discipline where the word 'average' might as well have four letters, reading considered investigations of how the vast range of our students' skills and motivations can be addressed makes one feel optimistic. Ken Friedman puts the challenge succinctly in his Foreword ('Design Curriculum Challenges for Today's University'): art, design and communications courses have moved on from the vocational training that once served so few so well, and now fulfil far wider functions. As Frances Corner asks in her analysis of fine art degrees ('What to Teach? Qualitative Research into Fine Art Undergraduate Programmes'), are we educating students 'in' our subject, or 'through' our subject? There is a clear difference. With the numbers of students on our courses far exceeding the number of directly linked jobs, and no hope that every graphic design or fine art graduate will become what they have so narrowly been trained to be, teachers who cling to the notion that 'the visual' is the only thing that matters are failing the majority of those they teach. It is not without justification that some of our courses are called 'Mickey Mouse' but on the evidence here,many (most?) can lay solid claim to being academic programmes of equal standing with other, more traditional, subjects. Stephen Farthing, from the New York Academy of Art in 'What an Artist Needs to Know', calls for a curriculum that does not so much train aspirant artists in the technical skills of their discipline as offers much broader uses for creativity, which would make the study of Art and Design the grounding for a life in any, or many, vocations. For him, the idea that universities should focus on training artists is a purely postgraduate concept – entirely sensible, yet bound to meet resistance. It is almost impossible these days to have a conversation with some people without them name-dropping the odd superstar who passed through their doors. Everybody


We apply the contingent valuation method to estimate how much a specific group of society, which is relatively prone to falling victim to crime, is willing to pay to reduce the likelihood of being the victim of violent crime. Based on responses from 1122 students, we found that younger and female students revealed that they are more inclined to pay so as to avoid violent crime. Students' field of study, cautious behavior and a strong opinion about policies and payment vehicles with potential to reduce the risk of crime are key determinants of the willingness to pay.


Plutonium dioxide is of high technological importance in nuclear fuel cycle and is particularly crucial in long-term storage of Pu-based radioactive waste. Using first-principles density-functional theory, in this paper we systematically study the structural, electronic, mechanical, thermodynamic properties, and pressure induced structural transition of PuO$_{2}$. To properly describe the strong correlation in the Pu $5f$ electrons, the local density approximation$+U$ and the generalized gradient approximation$+U$ theoretical formalisms have been employed. We optimize the $U$ parameter in calculating the total energy, lattice parameters, and bulk modulus at the nonmagnetic, ferromagnetic, and antiferromagnetic configurations for both ground state fluorite structure and high pressure cotunnite structure. The best agreement with experiments is obtained by tuning the effective Hubbard parameter $U$ at around 4 eV within the LDA$+U$ approach. After carefully testing the validity of the ground state, we further investigate the bonding nature, elastic constants, various moduli, Debye temperature, hardness, ideal tensile strength, and phonon dispersion for fluorite PuO$_{2}$. Some thermodynamic properties, e.g., the Gibbs free energy, volume thermal expansion, and specific heat, are also calculated. As for cotunnite phase, besides the elastic constants, various moduli, and Debye temperature at 0 GPa, we have further presented our calculated electronic, structural, and magnetic properties for PuO$_{2}$ under pressure up to 280 GPa. A metallic transition at around 133 GPa and an isostructural transition in pressure range of 75-133 GPa are predicted.


A review of Betty Hart and Todd Risley, Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children. Baltimore: Brookes. 1995. 268 pp. ISBM 1-55766-197-9. Hardcover; $22.00. Travis Thompson is Director of the John F. Kennedy Center. This manuscript was prepared in part with funds provided by P30 HD15052 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to Vanderbilt University. The author expresses his gratitude to Ford Ebner, Director of the Institute of Developmental Neuroscience and Averill King of the Susan Gray School for Children of the John F. Kennedy Center, as well as Ann M. Neely, Assistant Provost and Professor of Education, Vanderbilt University, and David Lubinski, Co-Director of the Center for Gifted Youth, Iowa State University, for their thoughtful suggestions and comments.


Geometric uncertainties are inevitable in radiotherapy. These uncertainties in tumour position are classi�fied as systematic (�) and random (�) errors. To account for these uncertainties, a margin is added to the clinical target volume (CTV) to create the planning target volume (PTV). The size of the PTV is critical for obtaining an optimal treatment plan. Dose-based (i.e., physical) margin recipes as a function of systematic and random errors based on coverage probability of a certain level of dose (90% or 95% of the prescription dose) have been published and widely used. However, with a TCP-based margin it is possible to consider fractionation and the radiobiological characteristics, especially the dose-response slope (50) of the tumour. Studies have shown that the density of the clonogens decrease from the boundary of the gross tumour volume (GTV). In such a scenario, dose that is lower than in the GTV should be suffi�cient to eradicate these clonogens. Thus a smaller PTV margin with a gradual dose fall off� can be used if the clonogen density in the GTV-CTV region is found to be lower than in GTV. Studies have reported tiny tumour islets outside the CTV region. These tiny tumour islets can be eradicated in some cases by the incidental dose outside the PTV due to the nature of the photon beam irradiation, but if they are not in the
beam path the treatment outcome is compromised. In this thesis, a Monte Carlo approach is used to simulate the e�ect of geometric uncertainties, number of fractions and dose-response slope (gamma50) using the `enhanced Marsden' TCP model on the treatment outcome. Systematic and random errors were drawn from a pseudo-random number generator.The dose variations caused by tumour displacements due to geometric uncertainties in the CTV are accumulated each fraction on a voxel-by-voxel basis. Required margins for � 1% mean population TCP (TCPpop) for four-�field (4F) brick and a highly conformal spherical dose distribution for varying
number of fractions, di�fferent 50 and di�fferent combinations of � and � are investigated. It is found that TCP-based margins are considerably smaller than dose-based recipes in most cases except for tumours with a steep dose-response slope (high 50) and a small number of fractions for both 4F and spherical dose distributions. For smaller geometric uncertainties (systematic,random� = �=1 mm) margins can be close to zero for the 4F technique due to high incidental dose outside the PTV. It is evident from the analyses that margins depend on the number of fractions, 50, the degree of dose conformality in addition to � and �. Ideally margins should be anisotropic and individualized, taking into account 50, number of fractions, and the dose distribution, as well as estimates of � and �. No single \recipe" can adequately account for all these variables.Using an exponential clonogen distribution in the GTV-CTV region, possible PTV margin reduction is demonstrated. Moreover, the e�ect of extra-CTV tumour islets is studied using a prostate IMRT plan. The islets were randomly distributed around the CTV with in a radius of 3 cm to represent di�erent patients. The doses were rescaled up to 102 Gy to obtain the dose-response curve (DRC). Interestingly, the obtained DRC showed a biphasic response where 100% TCP could not be achieved just by escalating the dose.
Another potential problem encountered in intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT)
is the problems caused by the `interplay' e�ect between the respiration-induced tumour motion and the multileaf collimator (MLC) leaves movement during treatment. Several dosimetric studies in the literature have shown that `interplay' eff�ects blur the dose distribution by producing `hot' and `cold' dose inside the tumour. Most of these studies were done in a phantom with ion chambers or �lms, which provide only 1D or 2D dose information. If 3D dose information is available, a TCP based analysis would provide a direct estimate of interplay on the clinical outcome. In this thesis, an in-house developed dose model enabled us to calculate the 3D time-resolved dose contribution to each voxel in the target volume considering the change in segment shapes and position of the target volume. Using the model, delivered dose is accumulated in a voxel-by-voxel basis inclusive of tumour motion over the course of treatment. The eff�ect of interplay on dose and TCP is studied for conventionally and hypofractionated treatments using DICOM datasets. Moreover, the e�ect of dose rate on interplay is also studied for single-fraction treatments. Simulations were repeated several times to obtain mean population TCP (TCPpop) for each plan. The average variation observed in mean dose to the target volumes were 􀀀0:76 � 0:36% for the 20 fraction treatment and 􀀀0:26�0:68%, 􀀀1:05�0:98% for the 3- and single-fraction treatments respectively.For the 20-fraction treatment, the drop in TCPpop was 􀀀1:05�0:39%, whereas for the 3 and single fraction treatments it was 􀀀2:8 � 1:68% and 􀀀4:0 � 2:84% respectively.By reducing the dose rate from 600 to 300 MU/min for the single-fraction treatments; the drop in TCPpop was reduced by � 1:5%. In summary, the e�ect of interplay on treatment outcome is negligible for conventionally fractionated treatments, whereas a considerable drop in TCP is observed for the 3- and single-fraction treatments. Where no motion management techniques such as tracking or gating are available for hypo-
fractionated treatments, reduced dose rate could be used to reduce the interplay eff�ect.


Ignition process of H2-O2(N2) mixture in an airtight system are simulated by using detailed chemistry, and ignition limits at different conditions of heat loss and ratio of fuel to oxidation are obtained. At the some molar ratio of H2 to O2, the ignition limits are similar for different heat loss conditions, and they can be considered as a curve slip through the extend second limits. The P - T relation of the second limits can be expressed as 2k1 = ks[Ms]. The influence of heat loss on the ignition limits is related to the ignition delay time. On the second limits the ignition delay time is smallest, which weaken the influence of the heat loss and results that the ignition limits are similar.


The main contents of standard "Nighttime Photometric Performance and Test Methods of Retro-reflective Pedestrian Markings",are the test principium,points and steps of the retro-reflective markings.The pedestrian retro-reflective markings will be widely focused and used based on this standard wide application.


Rational politicians are interested in judicial independence (JI) in order to make their promises credible. But if politicians' preferences deviate from the dicta of the judiciary, they also have incentives to renege on judicial independence. These two conflicting aspects are measured by two indicators: (i) de iure JI focusing on its legal foundations and (ii) a de facto JI focusing on countries' actually experience. Whether JI affects economic growth is tested for a cross section of 57 countries. While de iure JI does not have an impact on real GDP growth per capita growth, de facto JI positively influences it. JEL Code: H11, K40, O40, P51.


Social reviews discuss the social phenomena,problems,and thinking trends in social life based on social reality with the purpose of clarifying facts and promoting social advance.At present,its purpose of clarifying facts have transformed into the functions of introduction,discussion,explanation,praise and criticism.Its distinct interdiscipline characteristics Lie in the unity of political attributes and practical value,the unity of promptness and warning,the unity of common people and politics.


The present invention relates to a method for preparing high purity barium carbonate of large particle size and specific for the purified water were prepared at room temperature by a certain concentration of ammonium bicarbonate solution and barium chloride solution; adding a certain volume in a stirred reactor in the enamel pure water or a compound liquor in slow stirring formulated two liquids simultaneously at a certain flow rate into a reactor, the compound liquor pH control within a certain range, the compounds have a large diameter high-purity barium carbonate. After completion of the reaction compounds, separated from the mother liquor and slurry barium, barium pulp washing, filtration, drying, large diameter high-purity barium carbonate products. Part compound liquor to fight back the kettle for the next recombination reactions. Product of high purity barium carbonate compound average particle diameter significantly increased, narrow particle size distribution, thereby improving the powder flowability of the finished barium carbonate. The process reaction at ambient temperature, energy saving, low cost, and the reaction equipment for temperature and pressure equipment, simple equipment, less investment.


Despite the large number of antimicrobials available for use in dermatoses and superficial infections, we are continually seeking new agents with a higher therapeutic index. To a large extent antibiotics have replaced many of the older medicaments in dermatological practice. However, the increasing incidence of allergic contact reactions to topical antibiotics makes the use of some undesirable.' There is almost universal agreement that antibiotics that have value in systemic infections should not be used t0pically.2-~ Increased organism resistance and sensitivity reactions following topical use may preclude subsequent administration of a particular antibiotic when serious systemic infections occur. Staphylococcus, for example, almost always present in moderate to severe infected eczema,6 has shown resistance to a variety of antibiotics with particular frequency.6 Since pyogenic infections of either primary or secondary types are often open lesions, there is always the possibility of disseminating resistant organisms. There is also evidence that the widespread systemic use of antibiotics may result in cutaneous infections caused by antibiotic-resistant organisms.2 This may explain why so many skin infections fail to respond to antibiotic therapy. Chemotherapeutic agents, on the other hand, in general act as effectively as topical antibiotics without posing the above problems. With these considerations in mind, a study was undertaken with a recently reported78 broad-spectrum topical microbicide, triclobisonium chloride. This new synthetic compound appeared to have particular value since it is a bisquaternary agent, not an antibiotic, sulfonamide, or nitrofuran. In view of the increasing number of antibiotic-resistant strains, particularly penicillin-fast staphylococci, the usefulness of this agent should be significantly increased. Moreover, from a cosmetic point of view it seemed excellent for topical use. Triburon* has a marked activity against most of the common skin pathogens in oitro and in viso. It is highly active against staphylococci and streptococci regardless of their resistance to antibiotics. Robinson and Harmon' found that in pyodermas that responded to Triburon, Staphylococcus aureus, Staph. albus, and Streptococcus pyogenes were the organisms most frequently found. Attempts to develop Triburon-resistant strains by serial-passage methods produced comparatively little change in organism sensitivity. With regard to adverse symptomatology, Edelson el aZ.8 found that "no evidence of irritation or sensitization was encountered during the clinical trial, and less than 2 per cent allergic response was obtained by the closed-patch technique in 209 individuals. . . ." It has been pointed outg that combinations of corticosteroids and antimicrobials may cause a contact dermatitis that is an allergic reaction to the antimicrobial component. Because of the minimal incidence of sensitization reported with Triburon, we decided to investigate also the combination of


Copyright © Polskie Towarzystwo Kardiologiczne It was with great interest that we read the recent article by Praus et al. [1] entitled 'Echocardiographic changes after cardiac resynchronisation therapy' published in the December issue of 'Kardiologia Polska'. The authors aimed to evaluate echocardiographic changes in clinical responders and nonresponders after three and 15 months of cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT). They showed significant improvement of systolic function and also significant remodelling of both ventricles in the group of responders 15 months after CRT implantation. We believe that these findings will enlighten further studies about echocardiographic findings after CRT. Thanks to the authors for their valuable contribution. Dyssynchrony may occur during ventricular contraction (systolic dyssynchrony) or during relaxation (diastolic dyssynchrony) [2]. However, systolic dyssynchrony has been more widely investigated than diastolic dyssynchrony. Systolic dyssynchrony has been investigated largely in patients with heart failure in recent years, after development of the pacing therapy known as CRT [3]. Systolic dyssynchrony has also been shown in several cardiac disease models. Echocardiography is the most commonly used imaging method for this purpose. The current study [1] assessed intraand interventricular systolic dyssynchrony, but not diastolic dyssynchrony. On the other hand, they only evaluated left and right ventricular systolic functions in the group of responders and nonresponders. In the responders' group, they found a significant improvement of right ventricular systolic function evaluated by tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion and a decrease in the size of the right ventricle only after 15 months. However, they showed significant improvement of left ventricular systolic function and remodelling after only three months. Further studies should be conducted to assess diastolic dyssynchrony, and right and left ventricular diastolic functions in patients with CRT.


There has been an increasing dispersion in earnings observed in many OECD countries over the last two decades along with shedding of low skill workers and increased demand for skilled workers. This has been attributed to a number of diffent causes including skill-biased technological change. In this paper the attributes of different occupations are used to obtain measures of three distinct skill dimensions- motor skills, interactive skills and cognitive skills- plus education. The paper presents an analysis of skill change for each of the skill dimensions over the period 1986 to 1996. Further analysis is carried out using regression modelling to determine whether the IT intensity of an industry has had any influence on the extent of skill change over the period being analysed. The main finding is that industries that spend a relatively high proportion of capital expenditure on IT equipment, after controlling for other factors, also have experienced a decrease in the average interactive skill level of the workforce. Other measures of IT intensity are positively related with most skill dimensions, the main exception being motor skills.


The effect of screw holes on reducing the flexural rigidity of long bones was confirmed and quantified in 6 intact canine femora. Each femur was first tested in its intact state by multidirectional nondestructive 4 point bending. Six bicortical screw holes were drilled and tapped into the anterolateral aspect of each bone, and all 6 bones were retested in the drilled state. The results from each pair of tests was used to calculate a minimum normalized flexural rigidity for each bone. The mean for all 6 bones was 0.82 (SEM /spl plusmn/0.01), and the direction of this minimum value was observed to coincide with the direction of the screw holes. Drilling the screw holes had a significant effect of reducing the flexural rigidity of the femora. Therefore, the researcher wishing to measure the strength of long bones in bending need only test in the direction of the screw holes to be certain that the weakest direction has been chosen.


The ability of changes in money supply to influence business activity is realized through the transfer mechanism of monetary policy. The purpose of the study is to reveal the theoretical foundations of the transmission mechanism of monetary regulation and the key channels for its implementation to ensure economic growth. The effect of the interest rate channel is that the change in monetary policy, primarily through the official discount rate, directly affects the short-term rates on the financial market, and through the yield curve – the long-term rates. The credit channel reflects the impact of the central bank's monetary policy on the availability of resources on the credit markets, primarily because of the volatility of the free reserves of the banking system. The action of the currency channel is that, in the event of a decrease in domestic interest rates resulting from an increase in money supply, the demand for the national currency decreases, which leads to a decrease of the national currency, and as a result, to the growth of net exports and aggregate demand. The action of the money channel is characterized by the direct influence of the money supply on the money market and the level of prices in the economy. The channel of expectations characterizes the impact of monetary policy changes on the expectations of economic agents concerning future prices and the macroeconomic situation and, accordingly, their decisions on volumes of consumption, savings and investments. The perspective direction in the field of improving the functioning of the transmission mechanism in Ukraine may be the further orientation towards the mode of inflation targeting, rebooting the banking system.


In this paper, a new evaluation model for node importance in container supply chain is proposed. In this evaluation model, there are two important evaluation factors - the strength of node itself and the importance contribution from other nodes. Then, a case of global top 100 ports by container throughput in 2012 from Lloyd's list intelligence is investigated. The empirical research indicates that the distribution of node strength follows a power-law distribution, and the distribution of node degree follows an exponential distribution. We find that different method leads to a different ranking, because each method only reflects one aspect of features of nodes in the network. However, our evaluation method based on the node strength and the influence of neighbour nodes can reflects a more comprehensive evaluation result.


The number of HIV infected patients in Indonesia around 190,000 to 400,00 in 2016. Opportunistic infection usually attend in late stadium of HIV infected patients and in Indonesia, majority infection with Tuberculosis and the prevalence about 5%. The aim of study is to describe the clinical condition of HIV infection patient in clinic voluntary counselling and testing (VCT). This is the retrospective study. The Population is all HIV infected patients with opportunistic infection in clinic VCT in Medan. The sample is HIV patients with OI in clinic VCT with the period of 2016-2017. Data collection from medical records at clinic VCT. Analysis descriptive data was used and showed in table distribution and frequency. Total 59 respondents were studied. Mean age is 36.3 years (SD 9.7 ), Male (83.1%), Bataknese (62.7%), with more than 9 years attainment of respondent's education (79.7%). There are (68.8%) of respondent have employment (78%). They come to clinic with CD4 less than 350 u/dl (67.8%), body mass index less than 23 (81.4%), Haemoglobin less than 11 (64.4%), in stadium 4 (72.9%) and receiving antiretroviral therapy not routine (52.5%). The respondent who have opportunistic infection with Tuberculosis (54.2%) and 71.2% of patients still alive.


Electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy also known as electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) provides the ability to detect unpaired electrons. Mostly, polymers do not possess unpaired electrons and their study using ESR requires the incorporation of paramagnetic centers in the samples. The most frequently used carriers of paramagnetic centers that are used to study polymers are nitroxyl radicals. Two approaches are known: (i) radicals can be covalently attached to a polymer chains or (ii) they can be introduced mechanically (by diffusion) into a polymer matrix. The former is named spin labeling and the latter spin probe method. A short overview of these two methods will be given. The use of spin probe method will be illustrated through recent studies of natural rubber (NR) doped with nanoparticles of silica and organically modified clay (montmorillonite). The results of influence of type and amount of nanofiller and coupling agent on motional behavior of polyisoprene chains will be presented. The effect of matrix composition, structure, crosslink density and molecular weight of semi-interpenetrating polymer networks (semi-IPNs) composed of poly(isoprene) and poly(methyl methacrylate) on dynamic behavior of chain segments will be discussed. ESR spectra of spin probe diffusing in a lamellar phase of polystyrene-polydimethylsiloxane observed in a wide temperature range will be shown and analyzed.


A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling approach based on detailed packing geometry for packed columns equipped with structured packings is presented. Simulations have been carried out by commercial CFD package FLUENT. Complex packing geometries were implemented by generating fine meshes for flow domains inside packed columns. Turbulence was modeled by the standard k-ϵ model with FLUENT's enhanced wall treatment. Experiments on single-phase pressure drop through Flexipac 3Y structured packing have been carried out in a 0.3-m ID packed column with air flow to validate the modeling approach. A circular column and a rectangular column have been simulated with three different structured packings—BX packing with corrugation angles of 45° and 30° and Flexipac 3Y. One-component single-phase flow and two-component single-phase flow with species dispersion (mass transfer) have been simulated. Predicted pressure drop are in good agreement with the experimental data and data from literatures. The simulation results also demonstrated the ability of the CFD approach to capture the anisotropic characteristic of flow in structured packings. Copyright © 2007 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Objective To investigate the effect of rubber nipple on breastfeeding in puerpera with crater nipple.Methods 54 cases with crater nipple in our hospital from January 2007 to December 2010 were divided into the experimental group(30 cases) and control group(24 cases),the control group were received routine nursing,the invaginated nipple and areolathe were given rubber nipple in experimental group in order to make the baby to suck the rubber nipple.Results The breastfeeding rate in the control group(8.3%) was lower than in experimental group(86.7%),the difference was sta tistically significant(P 0.01).Conclusion The rubber nipple on breastfeeding in puerpera with crater nipple has the ad vantages of simple operation,safety,economy,high successful rate of breastfeeding,no pain and is worthy of clinical appli cation.


The increasing penetration of offshore wind power generation promotes the revolution of wind turbine toward high-power application. The development of high-power wind turbine undoubtedly poses new technical challenges. This article presents a comprehensive overview for high-power wind energy conversion system (WECS) from key technique aspects, including topologies, stability, reliability, and ancillary service capability, and further investigates the key challenges and potential solutions. The various topologies of power converter applied in high-power wind turbine are first reviewed and discussed. The different semiconductor technology, including recent wide bandgap devices, and their potential contributions for offshore high-power converters are discussed. Furthermore, the potential stability issues of high-power WECS are investigated and reviewed. Also, the stabilization control strategies are discussed. Further, the reliability issue and enhancement strategies of high-power WECS are discussed, including condition monitoring, active thermal control strategy, and fault-tolerant operation method. In addition, the ancillary service capability of high-power WECS, including frequency-active power control capability and voltage-reactive power control capability, is reviewed. Finally, the future trends and potential solutions are discussed in this article.


Brassinosteroids (BRs) are hormones that control many aspects of plant growth and development, acting at the cell level to promote division and expansion. BR regulation of plant and plant cell function occurs through altered expression of many genes. Transcriptional reprogramming downstream from cell perception of this hormone is currently known to be mediated by a phosphorylation/dephosphorylation ('phosphorelay') cascade that alters stability of two master transcription regulators. Here we provide evidence that BR perception by their receptor also causes an elevation in cytosolic Ca 2+ , initiating a Ca 2+ signaling cascade in the plant (Arabidopsis) cell cytosol. BR-dependent increases in the expression of some genes ((INDOLE3-ACETIC ACID-INDUCIBLE 1 ) IAA1 and PHYB ACTIVATION TAGGED SUPPRESSOR 1 (BAS1) ) were impaired in wild type (WT) plants by a Ca 2+ channel blocker and also in the "defense-no-death" (dnd1) mutant, which lacks a functional cyclic guanosine 3':5'monophosphate (cGMP)-activated cell membrane Ca 2+ -conducting channel. Alternatively, mutations that impair the BR phosphorelay cascade did not much affect BR-dependent expression of these genes. Similar effects of the Ca 2+ channel blocker and dnd1 mutation were observed on a BR plant growth phenotype, de-etiolation of the seedling hypocotyl. Further evidence presented in this report suggests that a BR and BR receptor-dependent elevation in cGMP may be involved in the Ca 2+ signaling cascade initiated by this hormone. Work presented


Chapter Two outlines the three major traditional philosophies: Idealism (Plato), Realism (Aristotle), and Neo-Scholasticism (ancient and medieval precedents and origins of schooling). Each is briefly sketched, then critiqued for its ill-effects when serving as a contemporary basis of music curriculum as aesthetic education (MEAE). While perhaps suited to the schools of the past, those of nobles and aristocrats before the rise of "public" (or "common") schools for all children, the strong legacy of each is often ill-suited to contemporary life, students, and music. These three traditional philosophies share a usually abstract, "merely academic," and detached approach to schooling. For all three, questions about reality, truth, and beauty are not questions at all! They are eternal and unchanging claims that exist independently of and, therefore, logically prior to the experiences, needs, and musical interests of particular students.


Purpose : This study was designed to investigate the usefulness of lateral approach for accurate reduction and rigid internal fixation in comminuted intra-articular fractures of calcaneus. Material and Method : Twenty patients(21 cases) who had intra-articular fracture of calcaneus and underwent an open reduction and internal fixation using lateral approach were enrolled. Using Essex-Lopresti classification, all cases were intra-articular fracture, which joint depression type was 17 cases and 4 of severe comminuted tongue type. We compared the preoperative and postoperative change of B o h l e r ' s angle and clinical results were analyzed using Paley and Halls evaluation protocol and scoring system. Results : The average B ohler' s angle was restored from 2.8 to 25.1 after operations and clinical results classified 4 well, 12 good, 4 fair, 1 poor cases. Postoperative complications were 2 cases of wound dehiscence, 1 of infection and one had sural nerve injury. Late complications included 3 cases of limitation of motion of ankle that disturb usual activity, 3 of sustained pain and 2 of traumatic arthritis and 2 cases had 2 complications at the same patients. Conclusion : The lateral approach is valuable for the comminuted intra-articular fractures of calcaneus that enables accurate anatomical reduction and rigid internal fixation by providing direct exposure of subtalar joint, and also with little morbidity of neurovascular injury. Abstract .. ..


We present a numerical calculation of the velocity field of an off-axis vortex within a harmonic trapping potential. We consider a condensate with a large number of particles which, in spite of being in the ThomasFermi regime, possesses a non-totally-negligible vortex core size. Via a simple, yet realistic, modeling of the vortex-state density, we derive, by treating the equation of continuity outside and inside the vortex core, respective equations for the velocity field and the vortex precession velocity. We find that the vortex precession velocity is given by two contributions: the background velocity field evaluated around the border of the core and another term which depends on the core shape. Our findings concerning the velocity field outside the vortex core are in good agreement with previous theoretical predictions in a narrow region around it, while far away from the vortex we observe a field with a large asymmetry with respect to the vortex position. We show that a better approximation may be obtained by adding the velocity field produced by an antivortex located outside the condensate.


A dissertation submitted to department of accounting and finance in Partial
Fulfillment of the Requirements for the award of the Degree of Masters of Science
in Accounting and Finance of Mzumbe University.


Accurate determination of constitutive modeling constants used in high value components, especially in electric power generation equipment, is vital for related design activities. Parts under creep are replaced after extensive deformation is reached, so models, such as the Norton-Bailey power law, support service life prediction and repair/replacement decisions. For high fidelity calculations, experimentally acquired creep data must be accurately regressed over a variety of temperature, stress, and time combinations. If these constants are not precise, then engineers could be potentially replacing components with lives that have been fractionally exhausted, or conversely, allowing components to operate that have already been exhausted. By manipulating the Norton-Bailey law and utilizing bivariate power-law statistical regression, a novel method is introduced to precisely calculate creep constants over a variety of sets of data. The limits of the approach are explored numerically and analytically.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


Purpose: Delays and motor deficiencies in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are extremely common and often announce the appearance of widespread atypical development. However, they are not properly emphasized in the diagnostic or assessment criteria for ASD. Thus, our paper provides a literature review on the motor evaluation of stereotyped movements of ASD individuals in relation to early diagnosis, treatment and possible interventions.
Methodology: Computerized searches (Pubmed) and manual searches were performed to identify the most relevant studies. We used the following keywords and search terms: autism spectrum disorder, autism, ASD, motor skills, motor disorders, stereotyped movement, assessment, evaluation, measurement, diagnosis, detection. Identified studies were screened by abstracts and conclusions for relevance. The criteria for the inclusion in the review were as follows: peer-reviewed studies; published after 2010; English-language. The following exclusion criteria were applied: published before 2010; participants diagnosed with other developmental disorders than ASD; studies focusing on participants with ASD that did not evaluate motor skills and development.
Findings: Early diagnosis of ASD is essential to develop effective interventions and mitigate the ASD main symptoms. Our results show that objective and quantitative measures of motor function should be considered as a priority for future research on the subject.
Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: Specific motor and movement deviations such as stereotyped movements must be evaluated using high technology devices to promote the early diagnosis of children with ASD. Thus, motor deficits should be considered to effectively diagnose ASD. We highly recommend evaluating movement using quantitative methods to assess significant gaps in motor function of ASD individuals.


Secured provision of energy is vital for the sustainable development in all aspects. In this regard, smart grids are considered as a solution towards the sustainable energy provision as they enable efficient and reliable production, distribution, transmission, and consumption of electricity. However, smart electricity grid system is a complex system of
systems that requires sophisticated collaboration tools and intelligent techniques along with active participations from all its connected users. Dynamic role and proactive participation of consumers through the integration of distributed renewable energy resources are highly anticipated for the long-term sustenance of these grids.
By understanding the value and the necessity of consumers' active participations, this research work focuses on the demand-supply collaboration among proactive participants for effectively managing the energy demands. The main goal of this research study is to analyze the impacts of integrating the various renewable energy resources in the
collaborative network. Along with this goal, the main objective is to explore the role of different participants in the collaborative network under the domestic/residential environment. A quantitative research methodology is adopted to demonstrate and numerically explain the impact of consumers' engagements and their demand flexibility towards energy demand management.
The key results highlight that consumers should be induced to change their consumption patterns in conjunction with the dimensions of smart energy demand. In addition to this, they should be provided with properly designed collaboration platforms that can yield mutual benefits (financial, personal, behavioral), and provision of such platforms would assist them to create higher demand flexibility. Accordingly, active participation of prosumers and consumers would create a positive impact on locally managing the energy supply and demand. This active participation would also allow them to exchange or sell their demand flexibility among the connected members in the energy networks.


___________________________________ Abstract - with the increasing concern on occupational safety, people pay more and more attention to mechanical protection. At present, the focus of relevant researches is on the mechanical protection performance of high performance and high strength. The influences that mechanical properties have on the mechanical protective performance of material are discussed in this paper. Using material is made on the grapheme, SWNT and al layers. This model is created in the PRO E software. When the material is used for the defense purpose and for the safety purpose at the time of the war enclosure the problem facing here is when the impact is applied at a point the material deformation occurs and a particular point and the deflection will be very high so that the human who is wearing the material as the body proof experience a heavy pain in that, concluded is we are introducing the new composite material for the design( i.e. Attach aluminum layer at the front and back) which will convert a point in to a uniformly distributed load across the material hence by reducing the point deformation. In this paper validation of experimental and a numerical result of impact tests of composite laminate (al layers, graphene, SWNT) has been carried out using ANSYS. The mechanical response and energy absorption characteristics of material under high speed projectile impact are dependent up on intrinsic constitutive relations, construction parameters such as material type and construction


Abstract A high performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the kinetic investigation on the acidic hydrolysis of lorazepam in 0.01, 0.1, and 1.0 M hydrochloric acid solutions. In this study, the simultaneous determination of lorazepam and its main degradation product was performed on a reversed phase BDS C-8 column. The mobile phase consisted of a mixture of methanol: acetonitrile: buffer solution containing 0.005 M KH


Abstract We prove a Lipschitz regularity result for minimizers of functionals of the calculus of variations of the form ∫Ωf(Du(x))dx, where f is a continuous convex function from R n into [0, + ∞), not necessarily depending on the modulus of Du.


Research and development of memristor‐based neuromorphic networks has entered the stage of large‐scale application. However, the understanding of the adopted memristors is still vague, meaning a thorough study of their local activity is urgently necessary. Here, an electrode tip is created to focus the electrical field on the active locality, where the NbO quantum dot (QD) self‐assembles in the middle of the Nb‐doped AlNO film. The QD size can fluctuate under an appropriately controlled electron beam or electrical field, suggesting reversible nucleation behavior. The QD system periodically pulses when the input is enhanced to a co‐tunneling threshold or to one that activates the oscillation of the QD size. These two mechanisms are attributed to the local activity accounting for the information‐energy conversion of the QD system. This study presents a more precise and low energy‐consumption approach for neuromorphic computing by manipulating the local activity.


Time delay estimation (TDE) between signals received at two microphones has been proven to be a useful parameter for many applications. Speech enhancement, speaker localization, speech and speaker recognition and meeting activity detection are some examples of applications based on TDE. Five different time delay estimation methods are described in this paper and implemented using MATLAB. These methods are cross-correlation (CC), phase transform (PHAT), maximum likelihood estimator (ML), adaptive least mean square filter (LMS) and average square difference function (ASDF). Their simulation results are compared in terms of computation complexity, hardware implementation, precision, and accuracy. Since the performances of the TDE methods are considerably degraded by the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) level, this factor has been taken as a prime factor in benchmarking the different methods.


In this paper, we study the community detection problem in the dynamic stochastic blockmodel and dynamic stochastic co-blockmodel with node covariates. Covariate-assisted spectral clustering methods for estimating group membership in dynamic directed and undirected graphs are developed respectively. Weak consistency property is proved and degree correction is studied as well. Simulation shows that our new method outperforms existing spectral clustering methods for studying dynamic networks.


In this paper, we report a morphological study of the crystals and spores of different shapes synthesized by seven different strains of Bacillus thuringiensis. Crystals and spores were separated after 48 h of culture on T3 agar medium and imaged under a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Sizes of the crystals and spores were determined using Image J software. The results showed that crystal and spore sizes were normally distributed. In addition, the volumes and aspect ratios of the crystals and spores were calculated. The statistical analysis of the data showed the variability of the size distribution and morphological data of the crystals produced by the analyzed strains. Furthermore, variations in spore size and shape within the same serovar were observed, indicating that, perhaps, there are still some unexplored differences between strains of this serovar, making them less identical than what was believed so far.


We present the state of the art of our development of a unique high average power mid-infrared (IR) optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) source. The system delivers passively carrier-envelope phase (CEP)-stable optical pulses with 20 μJ of energy at 3.05 μm center wavelength and a duration of 55 fs (5.4 optical cycles). Implementing an all-solid-state self-compression scheme, we produce 38 fs (3.7 optical cycles) duration pulses at 13 μJ energy and 32 fs (2.9 optical cycles) duration pulses at 2 μJ energy. In addition, an intrinsically synchronized near-IR output delivering optical pulses with 15 μJ energy, 96 fs duration at 1.62 μm center wavelength is derived from the system—this additional output can be used for multi-color experiments or impulsive alignment. The excellent long-term stability of less than 1% root mean square (rms) power fluctuations over 12.5 h at 160 kHz makes this source an ideal driver for nonlinear optics experiments, in particular mid-IR-driven strong-field physics and attoscience.


There is optimism that government use of "big data" will improve the outcomes of public policies. Despite such optimism, however, little evidence exits on the role big data can play in improving government service. In this study, we undertake one of the first quantitative studies showing the potential utility and limitations of "big data-based policymaking." We explore the recent use of big data in the policymaking of the Seoul Metropolitan Government. In 2013, the government introduced the "Owl Bus"—a late night bus system—whose routes were selected based on government analyses of big data relating to citizens' late night taxi and mobile phone use. The findings suggest that the average number of passengers on the Owl Bus routes was significantly greater than on other daytime bus routes with comparable characteristics. That said, we also present the potential limitations of evidence-based policymaking in general, especially when politics and equity considerations are factored into the policymaking.


A case of human complete C6 deficiency is reported. The patient, a 31 year old white male, was seen on the occasion of an isolated episode of meningococcal meningitis. Serum complement hemolytic and bactericidal activities were lacking and could be restored to normal by addition of appropriate amounts of purified C6. No hemostatic abnormalities were observed.


We present an initial investigation of the ferromagnetic properties of a novel type of magnetic composite, viz., permalloy‐coated submicron diameter hollow cylinders or tubules. The tubules form spontaneously from an organic material, a diacetylenic phosopholipid, and were used as templates on which the ferromagnetic material was deposited by electroless deposition. The permalloy‐coated tubules were dispersed in an epoxy matrix to measure the magnetization and ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) properties of individual tubules. The nature of the magnetic anisotropy and the FMR spectra observed confirmed that the tubules are well aligned by a magnetic field during the epoxy curing. The FMR spectra are interpreted in terms of a powder pattern distribution of thin‐film spectra consistent with the large diameter‐to‐thickness ratio.


Abstract Facilitating meaningful discussions in a blended, inquiry-based course is a challenge for instructors and learners alike. Little is known about the discussion process in blended courses, and learners often have difficulty adapting to inquiry-based instruction. One way to maximize learning through discussion in such a course is by using the Community of Inquiry framework, which assumes learning occurs through the interaction of teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence. Introduction Blended learning is transforming higher education (Dziuban, Moskal, & Hartman, 2005). Characterized as a "sleeping giant," blended learning is a largely unrecognized trend with major implications for pedagogical practices and research (Mayadas, Bourne, & Moore, 2005, p. 1; Garrison & Kanuka, 2004). Blended courses typically combine face-to-face meetings with online discussions (Allen & Seaman, 2003), which can facilitate connections among students in learning communities or communities of inquiry (Aspden & Helm, 2004). Sutman (2000) defines inquiry as the process of asking relevant questions about issues for which there are no predetermined answers, and he regards discussion as a natural part of the inquiry process. The discussion technique is often used to help learners become critically informed about a topic or issue (Brookfield & Preskill, 1999). Much has been written about the discussion method in face-to-face environments (Ge & Land, 2003; Redfield & Rousseau, 1981). There is far less empirical research about discussion in online higher education environments (Bonk, & King, 1998; Kanuka & Anderson, 1998), particularly in blended courses (Heckman & Annabi, 2002; Schweizer, Paechter, & Weidenmann, 2003). Despite the advantages of discussion in facilitating critical thinking and knowledge construction, inquiry approaches are not widely practiced (Duffey & Kirkley, 2004). Reasons range from the increased time it takes for instructors to facilitate discussions appropriately to the difficulty learners have in adapting to inquiry-based learning (Madill, Amort-Larson, Wilson, Brintnell, Taylor, & Esmail, 2001; Plowright & Watkins, 2004). If learners have difficulty adapting, why do instructors risk disengagement by using discussion postings and commentary as a primary instructional strategy; and how can discussions in a blended environment maximize the learning that takes place? For the past four years, we have talked to learners about their experiences in a blended course about the philosophical and historical roots of adult education in America. Focus group interviews and end-of-term questionnaires were the primary means of gathering information about learners' perceptions. In this article, we will share learner insights as well as our research findings and recommendations about how to help learners adapt to a blended, inquiry-based environment and to help make their discussions more meaningful. An Adult Education Experience The learners participating in a series of studies since 2003 were enrolled in a required graduate-level course on adult learning in society. The course provides a philosophical and historical view of the role of adult education in a changing American educational landscape. To reduce travel time for the learners--many of whom are part-time students and fully employed--the instructor moved the course from a weekly face-toface format to one that combined three face-to-face classroom meetings with weekly small-group discussions throughout the 10-week quarter. After the groups were formed (some years at random and other years according to learner preference), members decided whether to meet each week online or face to face. Each week a different group member served as the moderator, whose responsibility included posting the results of the discussion to the rest of the class. Requirements for successful completion of the course included weekly small-group discussions, subsequent discussion postings to the class, responses to other groups' postings, and regularly scheduled course time in the instructor's chat room. …


It is easy to add a search box to any Web page. These can be customized for a specific database or catalog. Adding Multi-Search Public Search Boxes


ADO.NET is a data accessing method for application programs based on .NET framework. ADO.NET is an improved and perfected version of ADO, which creates a new era for distributed application programs in accessing database. Many new features of ADO.NET make it more fit to network applications.Here introduces briefly the development of ADO firstly, then gives emphasis to ADO.NET and its data accessing model, and compares it with ADO. Finally it gives out in detail an example of ADO.NET application.


3i (Investors in Industry, and formerly the Industrial and Commercial Finance Corporation, etc.) is Britain's leading venture capital company. Founded in 1945 as a result of a combination of pressures and counter-pressures from political parties, Whitehall, the Bank of England, and the clearing banks, the organization has played a significant role in post-war investment banking and industrial development. The first part of the book traces its history from the early years of post-war reconstruction and the role played by Piercy and Kinross, through the years of consolidation, to the higher-profile years of the change of name and style and the 1994 flotation. The second part offers an inside view of the workings of this unique institution - the controllers, 3i's role in developing MBOs, methods of assessing risk and return, its relationship with capital markets, etc. During its first 50 years 3i has invested in numerous well known and successful companies - many of these are detailed in the text (British Caledonian, Oxford Instruments, Laura Ashley, etc.). The book is also elegantly and innovatively designed, making good use of the well known 3i cartoons.


A perfect cuboid is a rectangular parallelepiped with integer edges, integer face diagonals, and integer space diagonal. Such cuboids have not yet been found, but nor has their existence been disproved. Perfect cuboids are described by a certain system of Diophantine equations possessing an intrinsic $S_3$ symmetry. Recently these equations were factorized with respect to this $S_3$ symmetry and the factor equations were transformed into $E$-form. As appears, the transformed factor equations are explicitly solvable. Based on this solution, polynomial inverse problems are formulated in the present paper.


Moirés have been increasingly applied to create novel security features typically implemented by means of printing techniques, which achieve a resolution up to 2000 dpi. However, this resolution is not sufficient to effectively prevent counterfeits by desktop scanners and printers. In this paper we propose and demonstrate the design and cost-efficient fabrication of moiré-based security features with a new record resolution of 9754 dpi by means of micro-fabrication techniques. The moirés presented in our work are designed to exhibit macroscopic visible distortions for small deviations (~1 μm in period) from the ideal design, increasing drastically the difficulty to counterfeit them.


Serious games often employ pre-scripted dialogues and interactions with a player; in contrast to free user input that enables deeper immersion. In this paper we explore possibilities for interactive natural language dialogue in a serious game by combining Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques with dialogue management. Our game learning environment has a communication scenario editor in which a domain expert develops a structured, scripted scenario as a sequence of potential interactions. A communication scenario is context-specific and often follows a protocol - for instance, delivering bad news to a patient. Currently, a player navigates through a simulation and converses with a virtual character by choosing a statement option from one of the prescripted player statements, at each step in the simulation. We develop a scenario-specific corpus method (SSCM) to process open responses (i.e. natural language inputs) in our learning environment. We conduct an experiment to collect data for comparing SSCM against multiple NLP methods, and another experiment to investigate if framing can improve processing open-text input using SSCM in a communication simulation.


In Everyday Music Listening: Absorption, Dissociation and Trancing, Ruth Herbert is making the case that absorption, dissociation and trancing are essential elements of music listening, that they i...


(Continued on page 126.) 1. Harry L. Davis, "Decision Making within the Household," Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 2 (March 1976), pp. 241-260. 2. For example, Harry L. Davis, "Dimensions of Marital Roles in Consumer Decision Making," Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 7 (May 1970), pp. 168-177; Donald J.Hempel, "A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Husband-Wife Roles in House Purchase Decisions," Proceedings, Association for Consumer Research, 1972, M. Venkatesan, ed., pp. 816-829; Harry L. Davis and Benny P. Rigaux, "Perception of Marital Roles in Decision Processes," Journal of decision-making styles of each of the family members. A second problem is the potential response bias associated with knowledge that one's conversations are being recorded. Although this might affect interactions initially, it is not likely to be a continuing problem-a short conditioning period should suffice to eliminate this bias, or at least reduce it to significantly below that associated with the survey and observational methodologies currently in use. Finally, the proposed method is extremely intrusive, raising the question of its acceptability on ethical grounds. Legitimate concern has often been voiced with respect to studies which violate rights to privacy (for example, studies in which a family member "unobtrusively observes" the activities of another family member, and reports the results to a third party). Since this type of research would be conducted only with the expressed consent of each and every family member, it does not appear to be an invasion of privacy. In an earlier article, Davis advocates the use of multiple measures to increase the understanding and application of family decision-making.s Relying neither on post-hoc self-reports nor on observation of artificial situations, the method proposed here would be a valuable addition to the research tools currently employed in this area of consumer behavior research. In fact, its application may extend well beyond family decision-making to areas such as the study of industrial purchasing behavior or even door-to-door selling. 2.


The article analyzes two reflexive workshops developed with youth groups from Bogota, linked to a study about political participation. The first workshop was developed around the biographical narratives regarding the integration process of the youngsters to their group. The second one dialed with the group processes of expression and communication, starting from the screening of a video recorded by the research team. Simultaneously, the analysis shows the contingency of reflexivity in the target group and in the researchers. Finally, some aspects to debate the relationship between the tackled issues and the significance of this proposal to the reflexive qualitative research were introduced.


In this paper, two different types of natural gas liquefaction process are simulated and designed for secure a competitiveness in the industry of natural gas liquefaction plant. These processes are based on basic cascade process, and one of these is improved with two staged intercooler and the other is modified two staged intercooler. These processes are compared characteristics of performance with basic process. COP of cascade process with two staged intercooler and modified two staged intercooler showed about 13.74% and 21.64% higher than basic process, and yield efficiency of modified process improved comparing with the basic process by 25.93% lower specific power, respectively.


Neutral AlmCn clusters are investigated both experimentally and theoretically for the first time. Single photon ionization through 193 nm, and 46.9 nm lasers is used to detected neutral cluster distributions. AlmCn clusters are generated through laser ablation of a mixture of Al and C powders pressed into a disk. An oscillation of the VIEs of AlmCn clusters is observed in the experiments. The ionization energies of AlmCn clusters change as a function of the numbers of Al and C atoms in the clusters. Theoretical density functional theory and ab initio calculations are carried out to explore the structures, ionization energies, and molecular orbitals of the AlmCn clusters. C=C bonds are favored for the lowest energy structures for AlmCn clusters. Based on calculations of HOMOs (highest occupied molecular orbitals) of AlmCn clusters we find that the ionization energies of these clusters do not simply depend on open or closed shell valence electron configurations, but also depend on the electronic structure details of the clusters. The calculational results provide good and consistent explanations of the experimental observations, and are consistent with them.


In the article "insurable interest" as one of the fundamental categories of insurance contract is analysed.It is noticed that this is main prerequisite both life and non-life insurance contracts. As an object of insurance contract "insurable interest" must be legal, lawful, subjective and material.


The development of fault-tolerant distributed systems that can tolerate Byzantine behavior has traditionally been focused on consensus protocols, which support fully-replicated designs. For the development of more sophisticated high-performance Byzantine distributed systems, more specialized fault-tolerant communication primitives are necessary, however.
In this brief announcement, we identify the cluster-sending problem - the problem of sending a message from one Byzantine cluster to another Byzantine cluster in a reliable manner - as such an essential communication primitive. We not only formalize this fundamental problem, but also establish lower bounds on the complexity of this problem under crash failures and Byzantine failures. Furthermore, we develop practical cluster-sending protocols that meet these lower bounds and, hence, have optimal complexity. As such, our work provides a strong foundation for the further exploration of novel designs that address challenges encountered in fault-tolerant distributed systems.


A magnetic field is said to possess an energy density which is analogous to the thermal energy density of a gas. When a region of magnetic field is compressed or distorted, its energy content is raised. A magnetic field of 1 megagauss has an energy density of 40 x 10/sup 3/ ergs, or 1000 cal per cc, which is comparable to the chemical energy density of high explosives. The achievement of very high magnetic fields has obvious uses in pure and applied research. In high energy physics, the most common use is that of guiding energetic particles along paths that are more or less strongly curved, depending on the field strength and panticle momentum. An analogy of the magnetic field is given as a "two-dimensional gas" in which the flux lines take the place of gas molecules. This analogy becomes exact for systems that are infinite and uniform along the direction of the field. The technological avenues being followed to produce high magnetic fields are reduction of input current requirement by means of a tubular coil wound of insulated wire, use of motional effects in solid tube design with a straight or helical slit, use of motional effects in solidmore » but nonrigid tubes, use of conductive fluids, and reduction of magnetic forces by means of forcefree geometric designs. (B.O.G.)« less


A new method was developed for measuring the refractive index based on total reflection.Compared with the single-source system whose result was restricted by the receiving area,the multi-sources could improve the range and the sensitivity of the measurement without changing the receiving image sensor.Range was divided into several parts that were decided by switching the sources.The parameters of the optical structure were given by analyzing the optical pathway diagram based on formulas of refraction and reflection.The calculation and experiment showed that the range and the sensitivity of three-source system were about three times as the single-source one.


This paper analyses the external and internal environment of tidal power station's development. It suggests the accelerative development for tidal power station according to the actual situation of China.


Multipatterning technology used in 7-nm technology and beyond imposes more and more complex design rules on the layout of cells. The often nonlocal nature of these new design rules is a great challenge not only for human designers but also for existing algorithms. We present a new flow for automatic cell layout generation that is able to deal with these challenges by globally optimizing several design objectives simultaneously. Our transistor placement algorithm not only minimizes the total cell area but at the same time guarantees the routability of the cell and finds a best arrangement and folding of the transistors. Our routing engine computes a detailed routing of all nets simultaneously. It computes a netlength optimal routing using a mixed-integer programming formulation. Additional DFM constraints are added to this model to improve yield and reduce chip manufacturing costs. We present experimental results on current 7-nm designs. Our approach allows to compute optimized layouts within a few minutes, even for large complex cells. The algorithms are used for the design of logic cells compatible with a published 7-nm technology from a leading chip manufacturer where they meet manufacturability requirements and significantly reduced design turn around times.


In this paper, we study the antisymmetry breaking of discrete dipole soliton induced by a phase-slip one-dimensional discrete lattice, which contains on-site self-repulsive nonlinearity. This system can be realized in waveguide arrays system in optics or Bose–Einstein condensate in optical lattice. Different from the symmetry breaking occurring in the ground-state, antisymmetry breaking occurs in the first excited state, which contains antisymmetry. For this system, stable antisymmetric dipole soliton and anti-asymmetric are found, the symmetry transition between them is supercritical type. It is found that, increasing the total norm of the soliton or decreasing the coupled strength of the defect waveguide can lead to the antisymmetry breaking. Such kind of symmetry breaking can lead to the change of the tendency of some characters of the soliton.


Three large mass-transport deposits occur on the upper to middle Amazon Cone. These slump/debris-flow complexes have been mapped from 3.5-kHz echograms and cover approximately 75,000 sq km or about 10% of the cone. The debris flows traveled down slopes with gradients as low as 1:90 to 1:165 (0.3 to 0.6°) for distances up to 300 km. These deposits average 10 to 50 m in thickness and the total amount of sediments displaced may exceed 3,800 cu km. The upslope parts of these complexes generally consist of hummocky slump or slide deposits which are commonly bounded by scarps of varying relief. Downslope from this zone of removal the deposits consist of thin ( The occurrence of such widespread mass movements on the Amazon Cone indicates that mass transport is probably an important sedimentation process on deep-sea fans. However, most studies and models of modern deep-sea fans have minimized or ignored the potential importance of mass-transport processes in fan development. We suggest that, in the future, both ancient and modern deep-sea fans be more closely examined for mass-transport deposits so that the importance of this process to overall fan development can be more accurately assessed.


times, and systems new and that are to the at hand, new to demonstrate that they are safe and and studies on how best to interact with swarms as part of the


The analysis of the legal base of activity EMERCOM of Russia in the field of ensuring protection of critical objects under threats of natural, technological and terrorist nature. Established deficiencies (gaps) analyzed base formulated proposals for its improvement.


This paper proposes a electrical energy consumption forecasting algorithm using multiple regression analysis method that takes into GDP, population and monthly converted weekdays. In order to consider the uncertainty of the future temperature, forecasting monthly electrical energy consumption is applied the temperature sensitivity of the energy on the average temperature of the past 30 years based on multiple regression analysis algorithm. The proposed prediction model is generated based on the past five years' load data. Test results show that the accuracy of the proposed algorithm is 97.64% and the maximum error is 4.25% through 2010 to 2014.


Using tight-binding model with nearest neighbour interactions, the optical properties of carbon nanotubes under the influence of an external magnetic field are analyzed. First, dipole matrix elements for two cases of light polarized parallel as well as perpendicular to the nanotube axis are analyzed. A close form analytic expression for dipole matrix is obtained for carbon nanotubes with arbitrary chirality in the case of light polarized parallel to the nanotube axis. Then the diagonal and off-diagonal elements of the frequency-dependent susceptibility in the presence of an axial magnetic field are investigated. The off-diagonal elements are applied to calculate the interband Faraday rotation and the Verdet constant. These effects should be clearly detectable under realistic conditions using weak magnetic fields.


This research investigates the role non-macroeconomic factors have played in subduing inflationary pressures in Japan. We investigate the hypothesis that the under-recognized presence of goods with high foreign produced content (FPC) in the consumer market basket has coincided with reduced price-level increases over the time period 1991-2004. An empirical examination and descriptive comparison of CPI market basket items and import data categories suggest the negative relationship between FPC and the CPI inflation rate over this time period is significant. Our conclusions suggest the extent to which measures of inflation are considered to be an accurate gauge of macroeconomic conditions or monetary policy effectiveness is overstated.


Down syndrome (DS) is a genetic condition caused by the triplication of chromosome 21. First described by John Langdon Down in 1866, DS is one of the most commonly diagnosed genetic conditions. There are ≈210 000 persons with DS living in the United States with a prevalence of 8.27 persons per 10 000. Persons with DS are at risk for many comorbid medical problems including congenital heart defects, frequent infections, hypothyroidism, sleep disordered breathing, and metabolic dysregulation including obesity, asthma, moyamoya syndrome (MMS), psychiatric conditions, and intellectual disability. Blood pressure (BP) is integral to the diagnosis, monitoring, and management of these diseases. Further, BP can serve as an inexpensive and easy to use biomarker of disease activity or response to therapy and can be used to monitor for vascular side effects of pharmacological interventions, such as hypertension. In some diseases, such as MMS, BP trends can be used to predict impending neurological insult, such as cerebrovascular accident, up to 18 months before disease activity. In spite of DS being one of the most well described genetic disorders, little is known about BP in this unique population. Historical reports suggest that BP in adults with DS may be lower, although these studies are limited by small sample size, heterogeneous population, and reliance on institutionalized individuals in an era of limited medical intervention. A recent study evaluated BP profiles in children with DS reported baseline BPs to be 12 percentile points lower on average compared with age-matched controls. However, this study was limited by its inclusion of persons with DS with no comorbid medical issues and was regionally restricted, making population-based extrapolations difficult. This study sought to assess BP profiles in children with DS using a multicenter retrospective chart review with the goal of establishing a groundwork for population-based metrics in this population for use in the pediatric medical home.


To enhance the in vivo antitumor activity of adoptively transferred, CD19-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)–redirected cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), we studied the effect of restimulating CAR (cid:1) CTLs through their endogenous virus-specific T-cell antigen receptor (TcR) by the cotransfer ofengineeredT-cellantigen–presentingcells (T-APCs). Using influenzaAmatrix protein 1 (MP1) as a model antigen, we show that ex vivo–expanded CD4 (cid:1) and CD8 (cid:1) T-APCs ex-pressingahygromycinphosphotransferase- MP1 fusion protein (HyMP1) process and present MP1 to autologous human leuko-cyte antigen (HLA)–restricted, MP1-specific CD4 (cid:1) and CD8 (cid:1) CTL precursors. The MP1-specific CTLs are amenable to subsequent genetic modification to express a CD19-specific CAR, designated CD19R, and ac-quire HLA-unrestricted reactivity toward CD19 (cid:1) leukemia and lymphoma tumor targets while maintaining HLA-restricted MP1 specificity. The restimulation of MP1 (cid:2) CD19 dual-specific CTLs in vivo by the adoptive transfer of irradiated HyMP1 (cid:1) T-APCs resulted in the enhanced antilymphoma potency of bispecific effector cells, as measured by elimination of the biophotonic signal of established firefly luciferase–ex-pressing Burkitt lymphoma xenografts in nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficiency (NOD/ scid ) animals compared with control groups restimulated by Hy (cid:1) MP1 neg T-APCs. Engineered T-APCs are a novel and versatile antigen-delivery system for generating antigen-specific T cells in vitro and enhancing the in vivo effector functioning of CAR-redirected antitumor ef-fectorcells.(Blood.2005;105:1622-1631)


Purpose
The circular economy (CE) is an evolving subject transitioning from conceptualization to empirical testing. Over the past decade, researchers have done an exhaustive study to understand the concept of CE and its realized values both financially and environmentally on organizations that have traditional business models based on linear consumption. For understanding the transitional phenomena completely, the paper aims to review the current and emerging research trends in CE to ascertain future direction.

Design/methodology/approach
The research was conducted on 91 articles published in the study area during the past decade (2016–2021) in renowned peer-reviewed journals. The criteria set to review literature are based on the following assortment: CE drivers, CE barriers, definitions by different authors, yearly distribution of the publication, research publisher and journals, google citation and methodology used in the selected research articles.

Findings
The study suggests that researchers from the selected years are keen to understand the transition and its critical factors by bringing forward frameworks and incorporating CE with digital technologies. The digital technology implied are Industrial Technology (IR) 4.0, Big Data, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and Data Analytics to increase organizational and environmental performance. CE researchers need to use empirical testing in different sectors to understand and bring forward more improvised business models and practices according to the dynamics of the industry.

Originality/value
The literature review suggests gaps exist to integrate the micro, meso and macro levels to get CE implementation's system-wide benefits. The study has also identified that many CE frameworks available in the literature for implementation must be empirically tested to yield performance results.


in the movement no longer promised to bring them any gain, or when their vindictiveness had spent itself, people simply &dquo;exited&dquo; and joined the ranks of the so-called xiaoyaopai (pp. 167, 272-73). At times, Wang reduces this dynamic to a simple binary as when he writes, &dquo;The enthusiastic involvement of Chinese in the Cultural Revolution thus was not the manifestation of a blind faith in Mao, but rather the results [sic] of a careful weighing of the risks and costs by millions of participants&dquo; (p. 269). That people used violent means to pursue selfish ends is apparent from almost any Red Guard memoir. What Wang has done in this book is to show that extremely cruel or violent behavior done in the name of revolutionary action but in fact perpetrated for personal aggrandizement happened on an extremely wide scale. But it is difficult to agree with him that this was &dquo;rational&dquo; behavior. Is Wang correct to say that &dquo;the only behavior that might be construed as irrational is random behavior&dquo; (p. 4)? Surely this narrow definition of rationality cannot stand: the genocide of the Holocaust, since it was not random but carefully planned, would by this standard also qualify as &dquo;rational&dquo; behavior. The absence of a moral calculus from Wang's understanding of rationality, which does not do justice to his otherwise very finely argued account, emerges also in the beginning of Chapter 6, when he asserts that &dquo;in the absence of coercion, no one would voluntarily refrain from doing things that threatened social order&dquo; (p. 112). This is, of course, not true. Only the most convinced Hobbesian could believe that all people immediately lose all ethical convictions once the police disappear from the scene. Despite this shortcoming, Wang Shaoguang's study of Wuhan makes an impor-


Objective To study the misdiagnosis reasons of the cornual pregnancy by ultrasound for improving diagnostic accuracy rate of cornual pregnancy by ultrasound.Methods The data from 21 cases of cornual pregnancy confirmed by surgery and pathology while misdiagnosed as other diseases by ultrasound January 2001 to January 2011 were analyzed retrospectively.Results Among these 21 cases,3 cases were misdiagnosed as degeneration of the subserosal fibroids,5 cases were misdiagnosed as interstitial tubal pregnancy,7 cases were misdiagnosed as uterogestation in one side of incomplete mediastinum uterus,3 cases were misdiagnosed as gestational trophoblastic diseases and the rest 3 cases were misdiagnosed as inflammatory package block.Conclusion It is easy to confuse the cornual pregnancy for other diseases just in the unusual location of pregnancy.The clinical case history combined with sonographic characters could improve the diagnostic accuracy rate of cornual pregnancy by ultrasound.