We theoretically predict that a dielectric nanofilm subjected to a normally incident strong but ultrashort (a few optical oscillations) laser pulse exhibits deeply nonlinear (nonperturbative) optical responses which are essentially reversible and driven by the instantaneous optical field. Among them is a high optical polarization and a significant population of the conduction band, which develop at the peak of the pulse and almost disappear after its end. There is also a correspondingly large increase of the pulse reflectivity. These phenomena are related to Wannier-Stark localization and anticrossings between the Wannier-Stark ladders originating from the valence and conduction bands leading to optical ``softening'' of the dielectric. Theory is developed by solving self-consistently the Maxwell equations and the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation. The results point out to a fundamental possibility of optical-field effect devices with the bandwidth on the order of optical frequency.


Wheels are one of the most critical components in Automotive Engineering, As Fatigue prediction has been important issue in the design of aluminum alloy wheel. This work discuss the finite element techniques for simulation of functionality tests of aluminum alloy wheel and its Optimization of weight as well as stresses developed in the wheel. In this wheel is designed following the automobile standards for wheels and with required fatigue cycles, keeping in mind to reduce the mass of wheel optimally. To achieve this, different design iterations are modeled and analyzed to achieve a design with higher life cycles, strength and low mass. The modeling is made using unigraphics, and analysis is carried out in ansys work bench.


Regardless of the question of whether colour perception is universal or not –whether it transcends culture or whether perception itself is influenced by naming as advocated by linguistic relativity hypotheses– colour and culture cannot be disentangled from one another. The internal representation of a ray of light entering the eye is not only categorized linguistically but culturally as well. Typological evidence seems to suggest that not all categories have universally determined foci, and that the shape of categories, and hence exactly where their boundaries are, certainly varies between languages (Dowman 2001 : 3). Therefore, the lexicographic treatment of word meaning is to account for both prototypical and peripheral facets of the inherently fuzzy semantics of a category, cultural insights included. Colour is emotionally loaded, emotion is a cultural construction and the emotional intensions of colour terms differ from culture to culture just as the understanding and interpretation of colour does. This is why sorrow is black in Spanish and why, although the English language does have speakers in a black mood, no speaker of Spanish will ever feel blue : in Spanish, azul and its many shades (añil, celeste, marino, turquesa, ultramar, zafirino...) are lexicographically linked to the sea, cloudless skies or gemstones, but never to melancholic scenarios. As a matter of fact, the OED (1994) reveals that speakers of English did not experience blueness as in feeling blue until as late as the sixteenth century. Not surprisingly, the experience is non-translatable, neither across languages nor over time : blueness, the colour of a bright sky in the daytime, has little to do with sadness, just as envy is not necessarily a green eyed monster, nor are lies white (at least, not necessarily in other cultures nor in earlier stages of the language). A diachronic insight into the English expression feeling blue seems to reveal a maritime lineage which dates back to a time when flying blue flags and a blue band painted along the hull of a deepwater sailing ship returning home used to be a witness to the death of the captain during the voyage (US Navy). The fact that this custom did not trespass the boundaries of the British navy accounts for the non-translatability of the expression, while at the same time, the mournful origin of the expression explains why


This study proposes a plate cam fabrication method that combining instant center method and custom macro functions. The instantaneous center method was used to analyze and design the profile of plate cam and the custom macro functions is used to program the parametric numerical control (NC) program for plate cam machining. Practical examples are introduced to validate the cutting work of CNC machine center with regard to plate cam machining. To analyze the accuracy of cam profiles, the coordination measurement machine (CMM) is used to measure the cam profiles. After practical examples test, this study successfully demonstrated that the proposed method, that of performing plate cam with macro function and parametric CNC program, was practical and advantageous in its simplicity, flexibility, and high efficiency. In addition to the substantial time in design computation that can be saved, the proposed method is believed to be an important step in cam manufacturing technology.


With the tightening maintenance budget, ageing assets and increasing traffic volumes and community expectation, it is becoming crucial for the road authority to understand the assets performance and make investment decisions to maximise benefits to the community. In VicRoads, the pavement maintenance program is mainly focused to address surface defects to ensure waterproofing of the pavement to provide a safe environment for road users. A study was carried out to develop pavement deterioration models using the visual surface inspection rating (SIR) data collected since 2005. Probabilistic approaches are applied to predict future network condition and assist in long term planning. dTims is used to set up the pavement network model to analyse the performance of the network condition under different budget scenarios to assist the decision-making of budget allocation.


Gas hydrates are clathrate compounds where hydrogen-bonded water cages include a guest gas molecule. Methane hydrate is one of famous gas hydrates because it is naturally found in deep-sea and permafrost sediments on the Earth. Gas hydrates would exist in icy bodies as well. One of the candidates is Pluto where the presence of subsurface ocean is suggested. Gas hydrates may exist between the ice shell and subsurface ocean, and play an important role as insulator to keep warm inside. If granular gas hydrates exist in the upper part of the subsurface ocean, heat can be transferred by not only thermal conduction but also convection. This means that icy bodies may be cooled faster. To elucidate how gas hydrates form in the subsurface ocean in icy bodies, we developed the in-situ observation system of gas hydrate formation and dissociation under high pressure as a simulation of the bottom of the ice crust. The observation system was filled with water and set in thermostatic cooling bath. In this study, CF4 gas was supplied to the cell up to 7 MPa to form CF4 hydrate. The reason why we chose CF4 instead of methane (CH4) is that CF4 hydrate is heavier than water and should sink in the water cell even if the hydrate forms in the water. Long period observation revealed that 1) at first, tiny hydrate particles formed in the water and drifted in the water after shaking the cell, 2) then, a few mm size of hydrate crystals formed and stuck on the ice sheet, 3) hydrate particles were embedded in the ice if formation rate of ice was faster than that of the hydrate. These suggest that 1) gas hydrate layer beneath the ice sheet in icy bodies may form after the growth of the ice sheet becomes slow and 2) ice and gas hydrate


In the thoracal surgical department of the Primorskiy regional antituberculosis hospital in Vladivostok viseothorax operations on thoracic part of the spinal column for tubercular lesion was worked out in 2009-2010. The goal of the work was improvement of an operation technique. The patent for the invention was granted. Application of endoscopic techniques is a current and perspective method not only in thoracic and abdominal but also in spinal surgery.


The learning system that is very intensively carried out at this time is learning using electronic-based media, where the use of information technology in this era continues to advance and develop rapidly, requiring educators to be able to take advantage of it. Through these developments, besides being able to be used for learning, it can also be applied in an evaluation, in this case the popular platform used is Google Form. Which has the aim of knowing how to use and manufacture online media based on Google Forms in learning evaluation. This study uses an evaluative method with a qualitative approach, which produces data in the form of how to apply or apply Google Form in the evaluation of Arabic learning and how to make it.


H-1009; This publication is designed to help the reader identify weeds and focus attention on many of the common and troublesome weeds found in lawns. This circular also provides cultural and chemical control recommendations.


419 Background: 2-(18F) fluoro-2 deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) PET/CT is used infrequently in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) based on modest sensitivity in patients with clear cell kidney cancer. We evaluated the ability of FDG PET/CT to identify metastatic kidney cancer in patients with the second most common variant, papillary RCC. Materials and Methods: Patients with papillary RCC who underwent FDG PET/CT in conjunction with anatomic imaging were identified in a review of our clinical database. The ability of FDG PET/CT to detect malignant lesions (categorized by radiographic criteria) was evaluated. Results: Imaging studies from 42 patients with metastatic papillary RCC were reviewed. A total of 215 lesions were characterized as metastatic based on radiologic features. The median lesion size and lesions per patient were 2.0 cm and 5, respectively. Of these, 200 lesions were correctly classified as malignant by PET/CT (sensitivity, 93.0%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 88.8-95.7%). Of histologically confirmed lesion...


Recent advances in both lightweight models and edge computing make it possible for inference tasks to be executed concurrently on resource-constrained edge devices. However, our preliminary experiments show that the execution of different lightweight models on edge devices may lead to a performance downgrade. In this paper, we propose a Learning-Based Scheduling Framework---ECSRL, to optimize the latency and power consumption for those inference tasks running in heterogeneous Edge-Cloud systems.


Bitumen-related production sites are facing increasing difficulties with nearby residents due to odor emissions. This parameter is still not regulated for these plants and little is known about the emissions that these plants have put into the atmosphere with the technologies available today. In this study, emission data from 47 Italian production plants were collected and analyzed to assess which values could describe the current situation in Italy. The results of the analysis showed that emissions are very variable, with odor concentration values between 200 to 37,000 ouE/m3, but data have a normal distribution. The mean value of the stack odor concentration was found to be 2424 ouE/m3. It was also possible to calculate emission factors of the plants, such as odor emission rate (OER), which represents the quantity of odor emitted per unit of time, and is expressed in odor units per second (ouE∙s−1) and odor emission factor (OEF) per ton of product, expressed in ouE/t. The values obtained were 7.1 × 104 ouE/s and 1.4 × 106 ouE/t. respectively. These data could provide a starting point for the definition of shared values among various stakeholders for the definition of regional guidelines for the emissions of these plants, in order to adjust available technologies towards emission parameters that are protective of the surrounding environment.


To the Editor.— The recent article by Weitekamp and Aber (1983;249:69) called our attention to a patient who we recently saw with spontaneous lower gastrointestinal (GI) tract bleeding while he was receiving moxalactam disodium therapy. Report of a Case.— A 72-year-old man (four weeks after aortocoronary bypass surgery) experienced a spontaneous, massive lower GI tract hemorrhage on the 20th day of moxalactam disodium therapy (1 g every 12 hours) for Acinetobacter calcoaceticus var anitratus pneumonia. Sigmoidoscopy and angiography showed no focus of hemorrhage. Laboratory studies at this time disclosed the following values: prothrombin time, 10 s (reference range, 23 to 26 s); platelet count, 836,000/ cu mm (reference range, 150,000 to 400,000/cu mm); bleeding time, longer than 20 minutes (reference range, 2.5 to 9 minutes); and creatinine, 3 mg/dL (reference range, 0.8 to 1.5 mg/dL). Platelet aggregation studies demonstrated an absent second-phase wave with both 2×10 -6 M adenosine diphosphate


The digital image processing technique was applied to analyze and evaluate the internal structure properties of asphalt mixes.The properties of different asphalt mixes specimens made with Marshall compaction,vibration compaction,gyratory compaction,and roller compaction methods were evaluated and compared with real asphalt pavement.It is found that the internal structure properties with different compaction method have great differences.The results indicate that the digital image processing technique is an effective way in evaluating the internal structure properties of asphalt mixes.The feasibility and importance of the digital image processing technique to enhance the asphalt mix design and improve the practical techniques are pointed out.Predictions are made on the development of this technique.


The theme of exile characterises most of Haitian diaspora literature, especially from the 1960's onwards, a period coinciding with the rise to power of Duvalier and later of his son, who was to keep the flame burning. This thesis aims to illustrate how the concept of exile has changed through three generations of diaspora writers, how the characters from the novels analysed display a gradual evolution from a sort of imposed exile – often unbearably painful – to the will to come to terms with their condition, rise above it, reject the scourge of exile and ultimately make a treasure of it, by virtue of their contact with the foreign land or elsewhere in general. The word exile inevitably conjures up an idea of space, which is the nucleus of our reflections. Where there is no change of space – whether this be real or imaginary – there can be no exile. The choice of places, their identification, their description, as well as their function, are all vital factors that provide a textual dimension to this exile. This work is articulated in three parts. The first is dedicated to urban space, not only in Haiti but also elsewhere, in the four authors we are concerned with (Jacques Stephen Alexis, Emile Ollivier, Dany Laferriere et Louis-Philippe Dalembert). The second focuses on Haiti and its natural physiognomy, as reflected in the texts where the natural elements play a crucial role, especially for the first-generation writers, but also on other ways of representing the island, given that the portrayal of nature tends to fade from one generation to the next. The third part narrows down the viewpoint hitherto adopted and analyses the closed spaces both in Haiti and elsewhere.


This paper investigates the physical layer security of a two-way cooperative relay system, where two sources communicate with each other directly as well as via an intermediate decode-and-forward (DF) relay. This paper proposes to incorporate modulation diversity into the two-way cooperative relay system to improve its secrecy performance. In this paper, the physical layer security of the two-way cooperative relay system with modulation diversity is explored in detail over Rayleigh fading channels using mathematical analysis and computer simulations. When the modulation diversity is integrated into two sources and the intermediate DF relay, both source and relay cooperatively transmit different symbols, thus increasing the spectral efficiency of the system by exchanging four symbols in three time slots compared to the conventional two-way cooperative relay system which exchanges two symbols in three time slots. Hence, the mutual information of the proposed system is higher than the conventional system that makes the analysis of the proposed system is entirely different than the conventional system. This paper presents the mathematical analysis for the secrecy outage probability, the probability of non-zero secrecy capacity, and the intercept probability of the proposed system. Moreover, it carries out comprehensive computer simulations to validate the mathematical framework. Finally, the results confirm the significant improvement of the two-way cooperative relay system's secrecy performance by incorporating the proposed scheme compared to the conventional system.


Spherical traveling type ultrasonic motor can move at spherical traces.But until now its design only depends on experience and its mechanics can't be explained clearly.The principle and basic structure of three degree-of-freedom traveling type ultrasonic motor are presented in this paper.Then through coordinate conversion the distribution of the force on the contact area can be got when the rotor rotates.So the motor's driving and friction force can be calculated on the contact area of stator and rotor.Also the driving and frictional torque can be derived at the contact point of stator and rotor.By solving the equation of rotation force balance and torque balance and axis force balance of stator when the rotor stabilize the motor's math model can be got.Finally through simulation the motor's structure parameter and stator velocity are analyzed and the model can be verified preliminarily.


Significance Most common diseases (e.g., cancer, inflammatory disorders, diabetes) are driven by not one, but multiple cell surface receptors that trigger and sustain a pathologic signaling network. The largest fraction of therapeutic agents that target individual receptors/pathways often eventually fail due to the emergence of compensatory mechanisms. Recently, we identified GIV protein as a central platform for receptor cross-talk which integrates signals downstream of a myriad of upstream receptors, and modulates several key pathways within downstream signaling network, all via activation of trimeric G proteins. Here we provide the proof-of-concept that nongenetic exogenous modulation of the GIV-Gi signaling interface using cell-penetrable GIV-derived peptides is an effective strategy to reset pathologic signaling networks downstream of multiple receptors in a diverse array of pathophysiologic conditions. In eukaryotes, receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) and trimeric G proteins are two major signaling hubs. Signal transduction via trimeric G proteins has long been believed to be triggered exclusively by G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). This paradigm has recently been challenged by several studies on a multimodular signal transducer, Gα-Interacting Vesicle associated protein (GIV/Girdin). We recently demonstrated that GIV's C terminus (CT) serves as a platform for dynamic association of ligand-activated RTKs with Gαi, and for noncanonical transactivation of G proteins. However, exogenous manipulation of this platform has remained beyond reach. Here we developed cell-permeable GIV-CT peptides by fusing a TAT-peptide transduction domain (TAT-PTD) to the minimal modular elements of GIV that are necessary and sufficient for activation of Gi downstream of RTKs, and used them to engineer signaling networks and alter cell behavior. In the presence of an intact GEF motif, TAT-GIV-CT peptides enhanced diverse processes in which GIV's GEF function has previously been implicated, e.g., 2D cell migration after scratch-wounding, invasion of cancer cells, and finally, myofibroblast activation and collagen production. Furthermore, topical application of TAT-GIV-CT peptides enhanced the complex, multireceptor-driven process of wound repair in mice in a GEF-dependent manner. Thus, TAT-GIV peptides provide a novel and versatile tool to manipulate Gαi activation downstream of growth factors in a diverse array of pathophysiologic conditions.


Abstract This study explores how the dual-segmented sports labour market and gender inequality intersect. It also defines the complex patterns of discrimination experienced by non-regular female instructors using the concept of intersectionality. Nine non-regular female instructors of school athletic teams with more than three years' experience were recruited, and data were collected through a literature review and in-depth interviews. The results can be summarized as follows. First, non-regular female instructors of school athletic teams were positioned as 'care worker' and 'livelihood assistant' because of women's social identity. Second, they experienced employment, status/power, and opportunity inequalities. This suggests that non-regular women worker are marginalized in the sports labour market, and educational and policy measures are required to mitigate inequality.


Descriptions of four new species of the genus Philanthaxia Deyrolle, 1864: P. depressifrons sp. nov. (Vietnam), P.granum sp. nov., P. hanloni sp. nov. and P. purpureifrons sp. nov (all from The Philippines). All described species are illustrated and compared with the similar or sympatric congeners.


Anyone who has studied the case law of Israel in the 1990s and the recent Bill on the issue of plea-bargaining, will have found it difficult not to have detected signs of the following phenomenon, that has started to take root: the growing readiness to permit the prosecution to dictate to the court the exact sentence. Does this not deviate from the accepted and appropriate division of roles between the court and the prosecution? It would also appear, that at present, there are not many who support the idea that the victim of the crime should be informed of the pleabargain that is being negotiated and that his reaction to it should be heard before the court decides whether or not to adopt it. Is this the appropriate level of consideration that should be paid to the victim, according to Israeli law, particularly in our age of emphasizing the constitutional nature of human rights?


We propose a production-cost smoothing model with Knightian uncertainty and ambiguity aversion to study the joint behavior of production, inventories, and sales. Our model can explain four facts that previous studies find difficult to account for simultaneously: (i) the high volatility of production relative to sales, (ii) the low ratio of inventory-investment volatility to sales volatility, (iii) the positive correlation between sales and inventories, and (iv) the negative correlation between the inventory-to- sales ratio and sales. We find that the stock-out avoidance


$^{1}$. D. Korff and R. P. Leavitt, Phys, Lett. A 53, 351(1975): D. Robert and J. Bonamy. J. Phys. (Paris) 40, 923(1979); R. P. Leavitt and D. Korpf, J. Chem. Phys. 74, 2180(1981). $^{2}$. P. W. Anderson, Phys. Rev. 76, 647-661(1949); 80, 511-513(1950); C. J. Tsao and B. Curnutte, J. Quant Spectresc. Radiat. Transfer 2, 41-91(1962). $^{3}$. R. R. Gamache and R. W. Davies, J. Mol. Spectrosc. 109, 283-299(1985). This work has been supported by the Aif Force Office of Scientific Research through AFGL task 2310G1. Address of Gamache: University of Lowell Center for Atmospheric Research. 450 Aiken Street, Lowell, MA 01854. Address of Rothman: Optics Division. Air Force Geophysics Laboratory, Hanscom AFB, MA 01731.


SUMMARY A simple, conventional TLC method has been established for separation of clopidogrel and its hydrolytic product SR 26334, the main impurity in clopidogrel. Use of aluminium foil-backed silica gel 60F254 plates with n-heptane–tetrahydrofuran, 1:1 (v/v), as mobile phase, enabled successful separation of clopidogrel in high excess from the impurity. The separated compounds were detected at 230 nm. Regression coefficients (r ≥ 0.999), recovery (94.5–107.1%), and limit of quantification (0.047 mg mL −1 ) were evaluated and found to be satisfactory. The method is convenient for quantitative analysis and purity control of clopidogrel both in raw material and in dosage forms.


Objective:Patients with diabetes were examined with susceptibility weighted imaging(SWI)of the brain to find whether cerebral microbleeds(CMBs)occur frequently and to explore the correlation of the cerebral microbleeds with blood glucose level,acute stroke and leukoaraiosis degree.Methods:61 cases of diabetes were examined by SWI.21 cases had only diabetes,and 40 cases had diabetes with hypertension.All patients underwent MR scan including conventional brain MR sequences(T2 WI,T1 WI,DWI)and ESWAN sequences.The CMBs occurrence rate,the number and distribution were recorded,and the correlation of CMBs with other clinical materials and imaging findings was analyzed.Results:CMBs were detected in 15 cases(24.6%),all occurring in the group of diabetic patients with hypertension,it was not found in the simply diabetic group.Diabetes with acute stroke were 33 cases,among which 13 cases had CMBs(39.4%).15 cases of CMBs group and 46 cases of non-CMBs group were compared with t-test including glucose levels(maximum value,minimum value,the control value),age and course of the disease.It was found that the lowest fasting blood glucose value in the CMBs group was lower than that in the group without CMBs,and the difference was statistically significant(P0.05). The 61 patients were divided into 4 groups according to leukoaraiosis extent,it was found,by using Fisher′s Exact Test,that different degrees of leukoaraiosis had different incidences of CMBs,and the difference was statistically significant(P 0.05).Conclusion:SWI can clearly show CMBs in diabetes.CMBs are less prone to occur in patients with simply diabetes,CMBs incidence are significantly increased in patients with diabetes accompanied by hypertension.CMBs are found more often in diabetic patients with acute stroke or leukoaraiosis.


The problem of development of domestic system of space monitoring of emergencies with a focus on its core issues: relevance, recourses requirements, realization potential.


Abstract The optical, electrical conductivity, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements on [M(H2DAG)(HDAG)]TCNQ (M=Ni,Pd,Pt, H2DAG=diamino-glyoxime) have been made. The results show unusual behavior around 250 K. The optical and transport properties are discussed.


AbstractKeeping the key individuals in a post merger and acquisition situation is vital to preserve the value of the investment. Yet it is not uncommon, in relation to mergers and acquisitions, tha ...


Embryos and alevins from three strains of Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, and one strain of rainbow trout, S. gairdneri, were tested for low pH tolerances following exposures at several pH values. Acclimation to low pH, judged by resistance adaptation, did not occur. Alevins had 10 000 min LL50's for pH of about 4.3 for all strains and were less tolerant than embryos.Key words: pH, acclimation, Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout, embryo, alevin


A new limonoid of biogenetic interest, salannal, was isolated along with salannin and nimbolinin B from the root of M. azedarach L. and the structure was elucidated by spectroscopic means.


Abstract Introduction: The desired goal of the neurological rehabilitation is the restoration of neurological deficit. Some compensatory means including assistive devices and orthoses improve client's activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental ADLs (IADLs). In the rehabilitation for malignant central nervous system (CNS) tumor clients, providing their caregivers with assistive techniques sometimes seems effective in order to bring good quality of life (QOL). Authors report the experiences of the rehabilitation for malignant CNS tumor clients. CASE 1: Female; 62Y.O. She had undergone the surgery and radiotherapy 16 years before in a cancer center hospital owing to the right breast cancer. Hormone therapy was being continued. Magnetic resonance (MR) image showed a tumor in the right parietal area. This was assessed as the metastatic tumor. She underwent the cerebral tumor resection since she had fallen a lot of times. Her ADLs became worse owing to the left hemiparesis. Even after the hemiparesis improved by the rehabilitation in our hospital, she fell a few times due to stereoagnosis. An assistive device improved her ADLs and IADLs in home. Her participation in social activities was achieved with her husband's assistive techniques. CASE 2: Male; 64Y.O. He had undergone several times of surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy because of anaplastic astrocytoma in the left parietal area during 12 years at a university hospital. Right hemiparesis and memory disturbance deteriorated his ADLs after the last surgery. Histological examination showed glioblastoma. The rehabilitation in our hospital enabled him to walk with an ankle foot orthosis in 2 weeks. His wife's assistive techniques were also helpful in the return to his domestic situation. Meningeal dissemination was found in MR image 6 weeks after the beginning of the rehabilitation. He underwent chemotherapy at the former hospital and died several weeks after the transition to home. DISCUSSION AND conclusions: The rehabilitation for malignant CNS tumor patients may have had little importance in the treatment owing to the rapid exacerbation of their diseases. While many patients survive by the developed treatment of malignant CNS tumors, the neurological deficits require the rehabilitation. The rehabilitation needs to aim not only to recover ADLs and IADLs, but also to aid the preparation for the client's good QOL. Every rehabilitation staff needs to consider how the client will act in home and participate in the community. This view of consideration possibly benefits the client's QOL. Assistive techniques can be useful for the client's QOL even when the independent ADLs or IADLs are not expected during the inpatient rehabilitation.


With a case study of geochemistry specialty construction, the author explained the importance and necessity of three correspondences in specialty construction from the perspective of three correspondences in evaluating on the undergraduate teaching in common college. It is suggested that specialty construction, in particular the new major construction, only by an accurately grasp of the three correspondences of training objectives match up to the social demand,conditions of running college match up to the teaching objectives, operating effects match up to the teaching objectives, the specialty setting and construction is reasonable and scientific.


Antiphase boundaries (APBs) in iron oxide nanoparticles are studied by means of simulations. A strong influence on the spin structure is determined with Monte Carlo simulations, while hkl-dependent peak broadening useful for identifying APBs in real samples is found from Debye scattering equation simulations.


Inositol monophosphatase (EC 188.8.131.52), the putative molecular site of action of lithium therapy for manic-depressive illness, plays a key role in the phosphatidylinositol signaling pathway by catalyzing the hydrolysis of inositol monophosphates. To provide a structural basis from which to design better therapeutic agents for manic-depressive illness, the structure of human inositol monophosphatase has been determined to 2.1-A resolution by using x-ray crystallography. The enzyme exists as a dimer of identical subunits, each folded into a five-layered sandwich of three pairs of alpha-helices and two beta-sheets. Sulfate and an inhibitory lanthanide cation (Gd3+) are bound at identical sites on each subunit and establish the positions of the active sites. Each site is located in a large hydrophilic cavern that is at the base of the two central helices where several segments of secondary structure intersect. Comparison of the phosphatase aligned sequences of several diverse genes with the phosphatase structure suggests that the products of these genes and the phosphatase form a structural family with a conserved metal binding site.


Presented here a list of questions and suggestions for all those concerned with young children, pertaining to the child's preparedness to function in his school situation. These questions deal with factors other than the "3 Rs": specifically, comfort, nutrition, clothing, sense of time, etc.


Title:Phenethyl isothiocyanate upregulates death receptors 4 and 5, sensitizes TRAIL-induced apoptosis, and inhibits proliferation in human cancer stem-like cells Authors: We greatly appreciate the helpful comments from the two reviewers. We have carefully reviewed their comments and your suggestions and incorporated them into the current revised manuscript submission. We hope that the revised version will be suitable for publication in BMC Cancer. For your ready reference, we have detailed our response below to the individual reviewer comments within the context of their critiques. Please also note that text modifications in response to reviewers' comments are tracked and highlighted in the revised manuscript. 1. The authors used only one specific cell line, HeLa. They need to use another Cancer cell line to generalize their conclusion. Response: We share this concern by Reviewers# 1 and 2. According to data reported by Gu et al (Reference #5), HeLa is one of the two cervical cancer cell lines forming spheres among four tested cell lines (HeLa, CaSki, SiHa and C33A). Compared to the other cell line (SiHa), spheres derived from the HeLa cells have cancer stem cell-like nature (ability to differentiate, resistance to cisplatin and doxorubicin, CD44High/CD24Low). As such we do not have access to another known cervical cancer stem cell system to validate our current findings. In addition, Phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) has been


To improve performance of the brake,with background of a certain mode fighter,the model of the electric brake of aircraft was analyzed.A kind of control rule was designed.It is simulated by the Matlab/Simulink and theresult indicates that the control rule is correct and reasonable.


C hronic kidney disease (CKD) is a global public health problem. 1 The burden of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is substantial in many industrialized countries, despite the widespread use of interventions that might slow the progression of CKD, including control of blood pressure (BP) and the use of antihypertensive drugs that inhibit the renin-angiotensin system. 2 The limitations of these 2 treatment strategies were recently described among blacks with hypertension-related CKD who participated in the trial and cohort phases of the African American Study of Kidney (AASK) Disease. In these long-term studies, a majority of participants experienced a doubling of serum creatinine, ESRD, or death, despite good office BP control and use of renin-angiotensin system block-ers. 3 This finding suggests that there are other risk factors that influence loss of kidney function. One potential risk factor that has received increasing attention is the lack of diurnal variation in level of BP often observed in people with CKD. 6 Among AASK cohort Study participants, 80% either did not show a nocturnal decline in BP (nondipper) or had a higher BP at night than during the day (reverse dipper). 7 Previous observational studies have found an association between elevated nocturnal BP and hard outcomes, such as death and cardiovascular disease among people with high BP in the general population. Studies of the effect of nocturnal BP among people with CKD, although less common and smaller in size, have also shown a direct relationship with progression to ESRD. These findings suggest that lowering nocturnal BP may reduce morbidity and mortality. An important issue that must be addressed before embarking on a major trial of nocturnal BP reduction on Abstract—The objective of our study was to determine the effects of 2 antihypertensive drug dose schedules (PM dose and add-on dose) on nocturnal blood pressure (BP) in comparison with usual therapy (AM dose) in blacks with hypertensive chronic kidney disease and controlled office BP. In a 3-period, crossover trial, former participants of the African American Study of Kidney Disease were assigned to receive the following 3 regimens, each lasting 6 weeks, presented in random order: AM dose (once-daily antihypertensive medications taken in the morning), PM dose (once-daily antihypertensives taken at bedtime), and add-on dose (once-daily antihypertensives taken in the morning and an additional antihypertensive medication before bedtime [diltiazem 60–120 mg, hydralazine 25 mg, or additional ramipril 5 mg]). Ambulatory BP monitoring was performed at the …


used as nonpolar components in the mixture. I t seems that in the case of acrylonitrile + cyclohexane binary liquid mixtures, the forces between unlike molecules are far less as compared to the forces between like molecules and that is why the mixture is more fluid, Le., less viscous. This is quite likely in view of the known associating tendency of acrylonitrile. However, acrylonitrile + aromatic solvent mixtures of a certain composition become less fluid, i.e., more viscous, due to enhanced intermolecular forces between unlike molecules. This enhancement coukl be due to dipole-induced dipole interaction which is proportional to the polarizability of the aromatic molecule. The values of the polarizability of p -xylene and mesitylene are higher than that for benzene; the greater interaction of acrylonitrile with the former two aromatic solvents to dipole-induced dipole interaction. Positive d values for the mixtures with p -xylene and mesitylene seem to be due to enhanced dipole-induced dipole interaction on account of higher polarizability of the methyl-substituted benzenes.


MRI‐guided thermal ablations require reliable monitoring methods to ensure complete destruction of the diseased tissue while avoiding damage to the surrounding healthy tissue. Based on the fact that thermal ablations result in substantial changes in biomechanical properties, interventional MR elastography (MRE) dedicated to the monitoring of MR‐guided thermal therapies is proposed here.


Twenty-three hydroquinone and quinone derivatives were assayed for antimicrobial effects and brine shrimp and fish lethalities, to establish relevant structure-activity relationships (SAR). Linear 2-prenyl-1,4-hydroquinones used for bioassay were obtained either by isolation from the sponge Ircinia spinosula or by synthesis. Corresponding quinones, as well as hydroquinones possessing saturated side-chains composed of one to eight isopentane units, were also synthesized and biologically evaluated. Terpenoid 1,4-benzoquinones displayed moderate antimicrobial activity against three microorganisms, SAR studies indicate the optimum length of the side-chain is in the range of five to fifteen carbon atoms.


Objective: To observe the clinical therapeutic effect and safety of dose-respanse atorvastatin on acute coronary syndrome.Methods: A total of 84 cases of acute coronary syndrome were randomly divided into two groups.They were treated with atorvastatin.Atorvastatin administered subgroup were treated with atorvastatin(80 mg/d qN po) for 2 weeks,and then they were treated with atorvastatin(20 mg/d qN po).At the same time,patients in observation group were treated with atorvastatin(20 mg/d,qN po).After 3 months we compare level of blood lipid,cardiac events and safety of atorvastatin.Results: After 3 months tota1 cholestero1(TC),low density 1ipoprotein cholestero1(LDL-C) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein(hs-CRP) were significantly reduced in two groups.But the administered subgroup is more efficacious than observation group.Conclusion: Intensive lipid lowering is safe and effective in pantients of acute coronary syndrome.


Two new predatory mite species of the Parasitinae OUDEMANS out of greenhouse-soils (Acarina, Parasitiformes)

Out of greenhouse-soils two new predatory mite species are described and documented by differentialdiagnoses and figures. The species belong to the genera Anadenosternum Athias-Henriot and Neogamasus Tichomirov.


The relationship between topographical and non-topographical cognitive measures was studied for 25 elderly participants. The topographical measures were the Camden Topographical Recognition Memory Test (CTRMT), a Topographical Mental Rotation Test (TMRT), and a Virtual Pond Maze (VPM). The non-topographical tests were the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), the Trail-Making Test-B (TMT-B), and a matching-to-sample Visual Short-Term Memory Test (VSMT). Only the correlation (0.48) between the TMT-B and the TMRT attained significance; the bivariate correlations among the three topographical measures were modest, ranging from 29 to 33, although they did correlate highly with a topographic composite score (0.69-0.78). A factor analysis yielded a further distinction between the topographical and non-topographical measures. Loadings for the three topographical measures on a presumed "topographical" factor ranged from 0.62 to 0.71 but only from 0.17 to 0.23 for the second factor. The MoCA and TMT-B loaded on both factors, while the VSMT measure loaded poorly (-0.03) on the topographical factor but highly (0.89) on the second factor. The results suggest that standard measures of cognitive function may not be optimal for specific assessment of topographical abilities, the best predictor of impending Alzheimer's dementia.


OBJECTIVE: To better understand the risk of fatal toxic shock caused by Clostridium sordellii in women who had a recent medical abortion with mifepristone and misoprostol. METHODS: We performed active and passive surveillance for cases of toxic shock associated with medical or spontaneous abortion. To identify the cause of toxic shock, immunohistochemical assays for multiple bacteria were performed on formalin-fixed surgical and autopsy tissues. We extracted DNA from tissues, performed Clostridium species–specific polymerase chain reaction assays, and sequenced amplified products for confirmation of Clostridium species. RESULTS: We report four patients with toxic shock associated with Clostridium species infection after medical or spontaneous abortion. Two women had fatal Clostridium perfringens infections after medically induced abortions: one with laminaria and misoprostol and one with the regimen of mifepristone and misoprostol. One woman had a nonfatal Clostridium sordellii infection after spontaneous abortion. Another woman had a fatal C sordellii infection after abortion with mifepristone and misoprostol. All four patients had a rapidly progressive illness with necrotizing endomyometritis. CONCLUSION: Toxic shock after abortion can be caused by C perfringens as well as C sordellii, can be nonfatal, and can occur after spontaneous abortion and abortion induced by medical regimens other than mifepristone and misoprostol. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III


This paper makes two complementary contributions to event retrieval in large collections of videos. First, we propose hyper-pooling strategies that encode the frame descriptors into a representation of the video sequence in a stable manner. Our best choices compare favorably with regular pooling techniques based on k-means quantization. Second, we introduce a technique to improve the ranking. It can be interpreted either as a query expansion method or as a similarity adaptation based on the local context of the query video descriptor. Experiments on public benchmarks show that our methods are complementary and improve event retrieval results, without sacrificing efficiency.


Objective:The mouse mammary cancer cell line IL-23/MA-891 expressing IL-23 protein was set up and the effect of IL-23 on growth and other biological character of the cells was studied.Methods:The IL-23 gene was sequencely transfected into two packing cell lines (ecotropic ψ2 and amphotropic PA317) by a retrovirus vector (LXSN),and the positive cellular clones were screened by G418.After infection to MA-891 cells with the culture supernatant of IL-23/PA317 cells and selected with G418,the IL-23/MA-891 cells to express IL-23 mRNA and protein was detected with RT-PCR,ELISA and immunocytochemical stairing,respectively.The expression of H-2Kb(MHCⅠ),I-Ab(MHC Ⅱ),CD80,CD86 and FAS was examined with flow cytometry.The ability to secrete IFN-γ by mouse splenocytes stimulated with the culture supernatant of IL-23/MA-891 cells was detected with ELISA.The proliferation of MA-891,LXSN/MA-891 and IL-23/MA-891 cells was detected by MTT colorimetry and flow cytometry in vitro.Results:IL-23/MA-891 cells express IL-23 stably in mRNA and protein level.The expressing of H-2Kb(MHCⅠ),I-Ab( MHCⅡ),CD80,CD86 and FAS protein by flow cytometry were showing no difference in three kinds of cells.The proliferation rate of IL-23/MA-891 cells were showing little decresed,but statistically showing no difference with parental cells.The culture supernatant of IL-23/MA-891 cells induced secretion of IFN-γ by mouse splenocytes were increased compared to parental cells.Conclusion:The cellular clone IL-23/MA-891 with high level expression of IL-23 was produced.


This paper reports the improved radar wind data quality control and analysis techniques in the radar wind analysis system (RWAS) developed for monitoring hazardous wind conditions at high spatial (2-5 km) and temporal (5-10 min) resolutions.


The reaction of 1-(alk-1-ynyl)-1-halocyclopropanes with alcohols or phenol in KOH/DMSO at 80–100 °C leads to the corresponding alkynylalkoxy- and alkynylphenoxycyclopropanes in up to 80% yield. These reactions proceed through the intermediate formation of conjugated alkynylcyclopropenes capable of the in situ addition of alcohols at the double bond of the cyclopropene fragment. Regio- and stereoselectivity of the process is defined by the nature of substituents in the starting cyclopropanes and the structure of alcohols used.


1. Introduction Part 1: The Islamic Law of Qital and the Law of Armed Conflict 2. The Islamic Law of Qital 3. The Islamic Law of Qital among Muslims 4. The Islamic Law of Qital and the Law of Armed Conflict Part 2: The Armed Conflict in Pakistan 5. Fighting the Taliban: A Legal Perspective 6. War Crimes in the Armed Conflict in Pakistan Part 3: Concluding Remarks 7. Concluding Remarks


In literary critic Hiram Pérez's estimation, queer studies, as an academic intervention predicated on the disavowal of normativity and desire for nonexclusionary politics, has largely failed to recognize race. In the aptly named A Taste for Brown Bodies: Gay Modernity and Cosmopolitan Desire, Pérez clarifies how the brown body—a primitive, exotic Other—is central to the formation of gay cultural production from the 1890s into the near contemporarymoment, including the form and function of majoritarian queer theory. He traces the construction of gay modernity through three case studies: the sailor, the soldier, and the cowboy, underscoring how these heralded icons of masculinity—and the brownness they mobilize—are linked to the accruement of capital and the development of whiteness in homoerotic nationalism. His work strives not to outline a history of interracial gay desire but instead to underscore how gaymodernity is animated through racialized homoerotics, desire as facilitated by the repetition of a real and imagined brown body. In doing so, Pérez argues that the gay cosmopolitan, a "white, urban, leisure-class gay male whose desire is cast materially onto the globe at the close of the nineteenth century" is not a secondary figure but instead central to the national projects of war, colonialism, and neoliberalism, a key interlocutor for the imperial project into the 21st century through its centrality in propagating Western discourse (p. 4). Cosmopolitan desire, mediated through the three cultural figures, is buttressed by the longing for brown bodies. In other words, Pérez argues that the entire production of gay modernity is wrought through the fetishization of a racial Other. A Taste for Brown Bodies is required reading for anyone interested in queer studies (especially queer of color critique), critical race studies, literary studies, and Latina/o studies. Moreover, its accessible prose and wide-ranging critique of gay culture makes it a useful read for all academics who center sexuality studies at the core of their intellectual work. Important in Pérez's work is the work undergone by the brown body, and of the analytical capacities of brownness more broadly. He characterizes the brownness of his study as a protean category, recognizing both the perception of brown bodies in a literal sense, as well as the fetishized imaginings of exotic brown bodies by modern gay subjects (p. 14). A Taste for Brown Bodies embraces the racial ambiguity of certain bodies as they exist within the erotic economies of empire, similar but also distinct from the formation of blackness. Although not explicitly mentioned, Pérez's usage of brown coincides with the work of queer critic José Muñoz, who in his later writings characterizes brownness as "a mode of affective particularity that a subject feels in herself or recognizes in other," the owning of a negative identity propagated by a racist Anglo-American public sphere to forge a supportive community (Muñoz, 2007, pp. 444–445). Pérez's conceptualization of brownness, in conjunction with Muñoz, signals a shift in critical discourse to attend to the opacity of race and queerness as it changes over time, analytical frames that allow for a subject's obscured racial identity structure theories of sexuality. Each of the book's chapters integrates close readings of primary sources with incisive critiques of majoritarian queer theory's failure to account for race, attentive to the work of the brown body in the formation of gay cosmopolitanism. These pairings affirm how the modern gay subject has, in Pérez's repeated purview, become central to national agendas of colonialism and neocolonialism. Although he takes to task a number of queer JOURNAL OF HOMOSEXUALITY 2017, VOL. 64, NO. 12, 1752–1754 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2016.1253398


In the mitotically active vascular cambium of conifers and broadleaved trees there is tension across the radial middle lamellae. This tension seems to be important for intrusive growth of fusiform cells. In the vascular cambium of Fraxinus and Robinia there is tension across the tangential middle lamellae also, which makes possible the increase in diameter of differentiating vessel members.


The following article is the result of a research conducted in the archives of the Organization of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) aiming to determin the origin of what is considered to be Intangible Cultural Heritage. In order to achieve this, I considered intangible heritage as a transnational power dispositive, following the faucouldian sense of the term. Consequently, I based my study on the works of a selection of notorious French anthropologists. Intangible heritage is a complex cultural phenomenon and when applied to a policy of global range, it results in a juxtaposition of local, national and transnational interests. Its failed emergence as a part of international copyright norms revealed its inconsistency with the postulate of the Occidental liberal doctrine. However, its recent adoption as a new asset notion seems to create a new range of possibilities for the interpretation of its value and its multiple political applications.


At the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic the use of NSAIDS was avoided. This was because the previous studies suggesting that NSAIDs may be linked to an increased risk of lower respiratory tract infection consequences. Later on studies involved the patients who used NSAIDs for some chronic conditions and showed no additional harm among these patients. Then many studied assessed the benefit of using NSAIDs in COVID-19 patients for management of pain and fever and showed no additional risk among these patients.
Key words:
Citation: Mahrous R, Abdelnasser A, Fouda R, Morsy MAM, Ibrahim MA, Mandour O. NSAIDs in COVID-19, friend or foe? Anaesth. pain intensive care 2022;26(4):427-429; DOI: 10.35975/apic.v26i4.1942
Received: May 29, 2022; Reviewed:  June 06, 2022, 2022; Accepted:  June 06, 2022


Honeybees are threatened by numerous different pathogens. Some of the economically most important parasites and pathogens include Varroa mites, the Deformed Wing Virus or the microsporidians Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae (Klee et al., 2007). Honeybees have a quite large range of immune defence mechanisms to defend pathogens. Propolis is a natural substance collected by bees from plant sources, which is used to seal holes and repair many structures in the hive. Human has used propolis since ancient times for its pharmaceutical properties. Today, propolis is still used as a popular remedy in folk medicine, but recently a lot of pharmaceutical product uses propolis as a main ingredient, due to its antimicrobial and antibacterial properties. Previously, we have studied the behavior of the honeybee according to the health status and we used an experimental design to prove that they act differently dependent to how large is the infection and what's the food source. Here we try to prove that propolis has no effect on the microsporidian Nosema ceranae .


A Deadly novelcoronavirus named '2019-nCoV' or '2019 Deadly novelcoronavirus' or 'COVID-19' by the World Health Organization (WHO) is in charge of the current outbreak of pneumonia that Starts at the beginning of December 2019 near in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. COVID-19 is a pathogenic virus. From the phylogenetic analysis carried out with obtainable full genome sequences, bats occur to be the COVID- 19 virus reservoir, but the intermediate host(s) has not been detected till now as two years passed.


The method of representing numbers by means of place-value notations that differ in their radix or base, sucb as binary (base 2), octal (base 8), decimal (base 10), and so on, is nowadays widely familiar. We remind ourselves that the numeral "123" interpreted in base b means 1x/T + 2xb + 3 xbo, the case b= 10 then yielding 1 x 10 + 2 X 10 + 3 x 100 = 100 + 20 + 3 = 123, or one bundred twenty-three in our conventional decimal notation. In each case the total number of distinct symbols or digits called for is simply the same as the base indicated: two symbols for binary, eight for octal, etc. Standard practice is to use the required number of decimal digits (0-9) for all bases up to ten and to supplement these with letters of the alphabet for higber bases. Thus, in addition to 0-9, hexadecimal (base 16) employs A for 10, B for 11, etc., up to F for 16, to complete its sixteen digits , a hexadecimal numeral such as AB9F then indicating lOx 16 + 11 X 16 + 9x 16 + 16x 16° (= 43936 in decimal). This recurrent use of the familiar decimal digits is a convenience for us decimal-oriented users, yet inessential. Our choice of what sym bols to use as digits in hexadecimal or in any other system is entirely free. Sixteen runes (ranked in an agreed order) would serve equally. Or the first sixteen letters of the alphabet, say. From the standpoint of logology bowever, to neglect the remaining ten letters would seem a job half done.


This paper is the introduction to a Howard Law Journal symposium on collateral consequences. To set the stage for the symposium, the paper examines the strengths and weaknesses of the analogy drawn between "collateral damage" in armed warfare and "collateral consequences" in the war on crime. The paper argues that these similarities and differences - which turn on concepts of certainty, particularity, and reciprocity of the harm - highlight the moral need to reform the law's treatment of collateral consequences. The paper concludes by summarizing the symposium articles and placing them into a framework that supports and illustrates the paper's main conclusions.


It $d-$pends. Wigner's symmetry theorem implies that transformations that preserve transition probabilities of pure quantum states are linear maps on the level of density operators. We investigate the stability of this implication. On the one hand, we show that any transformation that preserves transition probabilities up to an additive $\varepsilon$ in a separable Hilbert space admits a weak linear approximation, i.e. one relative to any fixed observable. This implies the existence of a linear approximation that is $4\sqrt{\varepsilon} d$-close in Hilbert-Schmidt norm, with $d$ the Hilbert space dimension. On the other hand, we prove that a linear approximation that is close in norm and independent of $d$ does not exist in general. To this end, we provide a lower bound that depends logarithmically on $d$.


Conductivity correlated flow rate logging tool is mainly for measuring watercuts and flow rates of oil/water two-phase fluids. The tool uses one same conductive sensor to measure the watercuts and flow rates, i.e., to obtain the watercuts from the ratio between conductivity of oil/water miscible fluids and that of the water-phase fluids flowing through the sensor; and to figure out the flow rates from correlation calculations of transit time of flow noise signals travelling through the upper and lower sensors. Introduced are the sensors structure, specifications and operating principles, as well as the surface data acquisition processing hardware and software of the flow measuring part in this tool. Given are the results of indoor dynamic experiments and field log applications. This tool has a wide range of flow measurements and is able to measure watercuts in the flowing state,but its sensor works only under the condition of continuous water-phase. Therefore, the tool′s watercut measuring range is limited within 50% to 100%. This tool has become a useful tool without movable parts but with one same sensor measuring the flow rates and watercuts.


Chinese Criminal Law has preliminarily constructed a frame for Criminal Time Limitation of Prosecution.Amendment eighth of Criminal Law regulated that chased driving and drunk driving is a crime,which put existing Time Limitation of Prosecution into a difficult spot: to prosecute such behavior,we have no legal foundation;not to,we will endanger the inevitability of punishment and the authority of Criminal Law.Based on the system about Time Limitation of Prosecution in other countries,our counterpart should cover with all kinds of penalties,give priority to term of imprisonment and consider elements of penalties in setting up the judgment criterion,strengthen and increase the classes of the term of imprisonment.


The authors have observed that media with different orientations show different behaviors with respect to the nonlinear transition shift at different linear densities. They have also observed the effect of zig-zag domain walls in the nonlinear transition shift. >


The high fidelity and fraudulence of deceptive jamming can severely mislead synthetic aperture radar (SAR), which poses a big challenge in SAR imaging. In this letter, an imagery domain target reconstruction approach is proposed to suppress deceptive jamming for single-channel SAR. Specifically, the distinction between the echo signals of true targets and deceptive jamming in the azimuth phase is ascertained first. Then, the imaging process encountering deceptive jamming is formulated as a linear model, and the target reconstruction problem is converted to a linear inverse problem with the dictionary containing the explored phase characteristics. Finally, considering the sparsity of man-made targets, the imageries of the true and false targets can be reconstructed simultaneously through solving this sparse signal recovery problem. Theoretical analysis and experimental results showcase the superiority of the proposed method.


In bridge team tournaments there often is not enough time for each team to compete against every other. Nevertheless, in order to obtain a final ranking order we modify a procedure proposed by Zermelo (1929) for chess tournaments. This algorithm can easily be implemented on any computer. Previous tests have proved that the differences of the so-called International Match Points (IMPs) occuring during rank computation are normally distributed with constant variance, whereas their expectations depend on the corresponding pair of teams competing against each other. We propose an algorithm to estimate this expectation from the known differences of the IMPs, including those for teams which have not met during the tournament.


- Thirteen species of foraminifers of the family Involutinidae Biitschli are described; seven of these are new, belonging to the genera Aulotortus, Lamelliconus, Triadodiscus, and Prorakusia. The latter genus is proposed here as new. The studied association comes from some Triassic outcrops in the Eastern Dolomites. These outcrops are stratigraphically situated at the boundary between S.Cassiano and Diirrenstein Formations (Austriacum Zone). The specimens are preserved in aragonite, and usually poorly affected by diagenesis. These are perforated foramini- fers, with a wall architecture, made up of second order laminae not in phase chronologically and consisting of first order laminae. The laminar form of the test wall shows two main constructive models that, together with the enroll- ing modalities, are taken as the basis of the involutinid classification at genus level. The Triadodiscus model characterizes species of the genera Triadodiscus, Lamelliconus and Prorakusia that show planispiral enrolling, trochoidal en- rolling and two stage ordering (planispiral + streptospiral) respectively. The Aulotortus model characterizes the genus Awlotortus, that is represented here by the species A. s¢#uosus with enrolling that varies from planispiral to high- ly oscillating. The umbilical thickenings, hardly perforated, consist of the superposition of both the second order laminae in the Awlotortus; whereas, in the Triadodiscus, they are made up of only the superpositon of the outer lamina's various whorls that show the tendency to form bosses in correspondence to the umbilicus. The group's phylogene-sis, based on the features of lamination, enrolling and umbilical structures, can be summarized in two parallel lines of evolution. One starting from the early Triassic form Triadodiscus eomesozoicus, from which a group of forms radi-ates during the Carnian, with a characteristic Triadodiscus structural model. From this group, the Involutina species and their successive Norian radiation then originates. Aulotortus sinuosus is the initial form of a slower, but larger ranging, evolutionary line, that during the Norian is represented, in addition to Aulotortus, by genera such as Auloc- onus and Angulodiscus.


Occlusion is a difficult problem to be solved in the process of target tracking. In order to solve the problem of occlusion, a new tracking method combined with trajectory prediction and multi-block matching is presented and studied,and a mathematical model of trajectory prediction of moving target is established in polar coordinates and verified through some experiments. The experimental results show that the new tracking method can be better to trace and forecast the moving target under occlusion.


This study examined the relations of perceived teacher discrimination, school bonding, and family support to academic achievement among 1,122 urban Caribbean Black and African American adolescents. Results revealed that teacher discrimination was negatively related to academic achievement for urban Caribbean Black and African American adolescents with school bonding and emotional family support mediating the relationship. School bonding was a protective factor for both adolescent groups, but emotional family support for urban Caribbean Black adolescents only. Implications for school counselors and educators are discussed.


Introduction In the last ten to fifteen years, it has become common for researchers to collect both quantitative (Sue & Ritter, 2012) and qualitative data (Jowett, Peel, & Shaw, 2011) online. The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the importance of this process and accelerated it in many disciplines (Torrentira, 2022). In addition to convenience, recent work suggests that online data collection may be more valid than face-to-face data collection for some populations. This would mean that online data collection may be the most valid and effective for this age group (Barratt, 2012). Objectives Adolescents with an eating disorder tend to be more open about their symptoms via impersonal online data collection than they are in a face-to-face conversation. Symptom underrating has been documented in face-to-face interviews, because "of feelings of shame elicited by the loss of anonymity during face to-face interviews" leading to face-to-face denial, whereas a self-report questionnaire allows for more privacy and hence honesty while answering questions (Berg et al. 2011). This is especially key in the diagnosis of Anorexia Nervosa (AN), as AN patients minimize, deny, and/or fail to recognize their symptoms (Passi, Bryson and Lock 2003). Given the benefits of collecting data online for both researchers and participants, it is important to determine the quality of the data collected online to guide its use and interpretation. More evidence is needed to confirm the equivalence of online and face-to-face interview data. The current study examines the equivalence of semi-structured interview data collected online versus original face-to-face interviews. Methods The Eating Disorder Examination (EDE), assessing psychopathology of eating disorders, was administered to 49 adolescents meeting ICD 10 criteria for anorexia nervosa or atypical anorexia nervosa. The same diagnostic interview was administered twice, once via face-to-face and once as an online version, within a week. Method order was counterbalanced among participants and temporal stability was controlled. The Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2) was used as a control variable. Results Both the equivalence test and the null hypothesis test were significant for the sum score of the EDE. Measures of psychopathology in eating disorders demonstrated equivalence across face-to-face and online format of the EDE. Conclusions The aim was to examine the equivalence of face-to-face and online methodologies, controlling for temporal change in the variable under investigation over one week and order of administration. Results demonstrate equivalence across face-to-face and online format of the EDE. These findings suggest that data obtained using EDE online can be interpreted in comparison with normative data obtained in the face-to-face Interview and that corrections trough transformations are not necessary. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


The IEC 61850 standard originally was developed for the substation automation. During the last years it was adapted for the integration of distributed energy resources into communication networks. There are however specific requirements in this new field of application. Many small and midsize manufacturers are using as controllers a big variety of different microprocessors with limited performances. Such controllers need an interface for IEC 61850 communication networks with a basic functionality which can be implemented with limited costs. Based on the experiences the authors made during the realization of an IEC 61850 communication stack, proposals are made to support these requirements.


In 1725 the English Captain George Roberts wrote a description of the Cabo Verde islands off the coast of West Africa (hereafter, Cabo Verde). He offered a glimpse of the former "glories" of this archipelago, which had been at the heart of the Atlantic world when that world was in the process of its tortured formation. In the late sixteenth century, Roberts wrote, there was "great Trade at St. Jago [the largest and most populous island, today called Santiago], Fuego [Fogo], Mayo, Bona Vista [Boavista], Sal and Brava … especially in Negros. They had Store of Sugar, Salt, Rice, Cotton, Wool, Ambergrease, Civet, Elephants' Teeth, Brimstone, Pumice-Stone, Spunge, and some Gold". A close reading of Roberts's text reveals the source of such riches, for, he wrote, "Saint Jago formerly was the great Market for Negro Slaves, which were sent from thence immediately to the West Indies". Just four years before Roberts's book was published, an English surgeon, John Atkins, travelled between the peninsula of Cape Verde (where present-day Dakar is located; hereafter, the Cape Verde peninsula) and Whydah (present-day Benin). He described how " panyarring is a Term for Man-stealing along the whole Coast". The headmen he met in the region of present-day Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia were called caboceers . The term panyarring derived from the Portuguese apanhar , meaning to "catch" or "seize", and may also have been related to the term penhorar , to "pledge". Its use, along with caboceer – derived from the Portuguese cabeca , meaning "head" – showed how important the Portuguese role had been in procuring slaves and negotiating with African authorities. Research has indeed shown how slaves in Atlantic West Africa were usually either seized in warfare, offered for ransom after a raid, or pledged as security for credit and then sold into the Atlantic trade if the credit was not repaid. Atkins's definition of panyarring suggests that by the eighteenth century the emphasis was increasingly on violence. As Atkins's compatriot Roberts implied, this process had begun on the African coast adjacent to Cabo Verde.


Expert conclusions in various bureaus of Ukraine are written differently, medical personnel actions are interpreted differently. Moreover, these conclusions often contradict each other. The court has the right to take into account and use as the procedural sources of evidence (Part 2, Art. 84 of CCP) any expert conclusion, regardless of the expert institution level (local, regional, The Main Bureau of Forensic Medicine). The objective of this research was to analyze the commission forensic medical examinations performed at the commission department of Kyiv City Clinical Bureau of Forensic Medical Examinations (KCCBFME) during 2008-2015 with regard to cases concerning the quality of medical care. The data were subjected to statistical processing according to the standard methods of descriptive statistics. During a more detailed analysis of the examinations conducted at the commission department of KCCBFME the following features were discovered: the expert commission included only forensic experts, and only they put their signatures; doctors of other specialties were not included to the expert commission; in cases of appropriate questions, defects in medical care were classified as action and lack of action and was estimated according to the degree of act. Article 139 and Article 140 of the Criminal Code emphasize that no injury or pathological condition, but the defect of medical care should cause the serious consequences.


UFRJ/FERLAGOS/UNIGRANRIO History has always provided us with numerous examples of great men who managed to reach an outstanding position due to their admirable achievements in the scope of science. Among many of these "natural philosophers" (the title by which scientists were commonly referred to from the Renaissance on), some worth mentioning are: Copernicus (1473-1543); Paracelsus (1493-1541); Galilee (1564-1642); Luigi Galvani (1737-1798); Charles Darwin (1809-1882); and William Crookes(1832-1919). Curiously, the majority of them had to face a great deal of opposition to their ideas and theories. Galilee, for instance, despite having invented the first thermometer, and the first telescope, witnessed his reputation (and even his own life) be threatened by the Inquisition, due to the simple fact that he supported Copernicus's De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium. In such a work, Copernicus had denied the old classical principle that the Earth was the fixed center of the universe, around which the Sun and the planets known at the time were believed to move. To escape death, Galilee had to deny that it is the Earth that moves around the Sun before the inquisitors. But it is said that immediately after doing so, he whispered to himself: "But in fact it moves".


The purpose of this research is to develop an electric injection control system for a single cylinder engine with active control. To the essence of HONDA 25CC four-stroke single cylinder engine, it has been converted into an electric injection engine. The intake manifold with addition of TPS sensors is replaced by the fuel injection system. We installed several sensors in the engine for the purpose of monitoring and feedback control. The closed loop control has been achieved by fed back the signal from LSU. Then the fuel injection controller was fine tuned according to the standard of vehicular pollution. The approach of this research is to use 8051chips as fuel injection system ECU. To the essence of HONDA GX-25 OHC, we modified the intake system and designed a special-purpose computer to control the fuel supply to the engine. Based on the sensed values of engine RPM, TPS Sensor and wide range O2 sensor which are the control parameters, e designed and fabricated engine ECU in order to improve and to increase horsepower and torsion of the engine. Based on a pre-planned driving schedule, we constructed an optimum fuel injection control map for the best power performance as well as the most effective air-fuel ratio.Also,we build database by optimizing injection block, fuel injection advancing angle, and ignition advancing angle. The signals of bent axle and camshaft are used to find the corresponding compression and TDC values. Finally,we program the active engine control system using C language. Based on the pre-planned driving schedule, the optimization fuel injection advancing angle, fuel injection block, and ignition advancing angle are calculated. Then fuel is injected into the engine and ignited according to intake and TDC conditions. By feedback of engine rpm and TPS, the injection block and advancing angle are determined from the database. The mechanism for air pollution control is that the LSU signal is fed back to fine turn the block of the fuel injection, and it was also the last measure to reduce air pollution. The purpose is to improve the deficiency of the commercial motorcycles of which the air-fuel ratio can not be determined. We made the special-purpose EFI computer to support fuel, and built injection control with optimization horsepower and effective air-fuel ratio. By using ECU active control and dynamical system testing machine, our experimental result can reach the environmental protection standard.


In order to assess the ability of various serologic assays to correlate with lupus nephritis, we analysed sera obtained from 60 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Patients were categorized as having active nephritis (group 1), active lupus without nephritis (group 2), inactive lupus with prior nephritis (group 3), or inactive lupus without prior nephritis (group 4), Three parameters were assessed including anti‐dsDNA antibodies (Farr assay), immune complexes (C1q binding), and anti‐C1q antibodies (salt‐stable C1q binding). Additionally, glomerular binding activity (GBA) was measured using a new solid‐phase immunoassay that detects immune elements by their ability to bind glomerular tissue. We found that patients with nephritis (group 1) exhibited higher mean values for each assay than patients in each of the other three groups (P= 0·001,0·009, 0·14, and 0·23 in the GBA, C1q, anti‐dsDNA, and anti‐C1q assays, respectively). The only assay which distinguished patients with nephritis (group 1) from patients having active disease without nephritis (group 2) was the GBA (mean 0·48 ± 0·09 versus 0·15 ± 0·04, (P 0·05), In terms of utility, all tests were specific for diagnosing nephritis among patients with lupus; however, only the GBA was reasonably sensitive. The information provided by the anti‐dsDNA and C1q assays were not correlated with one another, nor additive to the GBA, Patients with false negative GBA tended to have received more intensive immunosuppression. The qualitative characteristics of GBA varied among patients with nephritis. These data suggest the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis is complex, and may be mediated by an array of immune elements. Moreover, the data indicate the potential utility for a broad tissue‐based approach to detection of pathogenic immune elements over other, specific immunologic markers.


The invention relates to a vehicle collision warning system based on optical communication, which comprises optical indicators and optical detectors and is used for the safety monitoring and the information interaction among running vehicles. The optical indicators are distributed around or on the top of a vehicle and can transmit modulated optical signals in different directions, wherein the optical signals carry the angle indication information, mounting position information and other information of the vehicle which are corresponding to the optical signals, thereby forming optical antennae. The optical detectors mounted on another vehicle can detect optical pulse signals transmitted by a certain light emitting diode (LED) of the optical indicators and then extract the carried indication angle information, mounting position information and the like; and a processing unit of the optical detector analyzes and processes the information, estimates whether an abnormal running state exists based on the change rate of light indication angle, the change rate of light intensity and the like, and outputs the result to other systems of the vehicle by a controller.


A descriptive marketed study was undertaken that aimed to examine the established of Feed Mill in Southeast Sulawesi Province based on the potential marketed and effectively demand condition. The research conducted at Kendari City, Buton, Konawe and Konawe Selatan District from April until September 2010. Research method consisted of preparation, pre-survey, survey, effectively demand analysis and competitively product analysis. The result of this research showed that established of feed mill on Southeast Sulawesi was a suitable location. There were support factors as effectively demand was an increase (33.800.350), and big potential marketed because the commercial feed was supplied from outside on Southeast Sulawesi (South Sulawesi and East Java)


One of the most important provisions of the international financial market to reduce the presence of information asymmetry is the sovereign risk rating. It is a key-piece to determine the conditions of the credit markets, fundamental, especially for the development of emerging countries. The main goal of this work was study the determinants of the sovereign ratings classification performed by rating agencies, measuring the effects of each explanatory variable. In order to do it, we start with the main macroeconomic fundamentals of the countries that somehow are related to characteristics of solvency, liquidity, and the development and economic stability and estimated a panel data model, being careful with the ordinal nature of ratings. The main results obtained with fixed effects model pointed that not all explanatory variables seemed to be statistically significant and, besides that, the parameter estimated to exports increasing was contra intuitive. The estimations obtained using the random effects model differ from those with the fixed effects model because another variables became statistically significant. They are the total debt service (% of exports of goods and services) (SD/EXP) and the level of economic openness (GAE). Key-words: Sovereign risk ratings, macroeconomics foundations, panel data Classificação JEL: G15, E44, D82


The bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is currently classified as threatened in the lower 48 United States. In Massachusetts, only 12 active nesting sites presently exist, and the majority of breeding birds originated from a population of eaglets imported from Nova Scotia in the 1980s. Previous work using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique demonstrated a genetic diversity among Massachusetts's eagles of only 22 percent. RAPD, while useful for genetic analysis of blood samples, proved to be inappropriate for analysis of feather samples from the same birds. To address this, our current work aimed at determining whether microsatellites would yield identical information for blood and feather samples from the same animal. Utilizing GenBank sequences, a total of 24 microsatellite primer sets representing 18 loci were designed and tested for allele polymorphism using DNA from eight blood samples and a single annealing temperature in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Thirteen microsatellites (54%) representing 11 loci were polymorphic, and three of these were selected to compare allele sizes in blood and feather DNA from the same eaglet. Preliminary results using microsatellite AJ620425 showed that 18 out of 44 blood/feather pairs amplified alleles of similar sizes. Feather DNA of the other 26 blood/feather pairs tested did not amplify any alleles. Data suggest that microsatellite alleles from blood and feather of the same bird may be consistent, and the microsatellite technique could be useful for non–invasive conservation genetics studies. However, multiple repetitions of the experiment are needed in order to determine optimum DNA concentration for feather samples. Additionally, refinements to the protocol will be necessary to obtain greater amplification of feather DNA which tended to give somewhat weak signals.


The reduction of vessel crew counts and increased automation have been observed in marine and river vessels for several decades. These processes are based, firstly, on the development of modern technology and, secondly, on the urge to reduce the so-called human factor, which is recognized today as one of the key causes of water transport emergencies. It is expected that unmanned navigation will help reduce operational costs, increase the carrying capacity of vessels, and reduce the impact of the human factor on the safety of navigation. This, in its turn, requires the development of a reliable and safe automated control system for unmanned vessels. This article aims to assess the development prospects of unmanned navigation based on the structural analysis of such systems. In the first part of this article, the authors review the classification of control systems depending on the degree of vessel autonomy and the generalized structure of the unmanned vessel control system. In the second part, the authors review the control system structure for a remote-control unmanned vessel and that for an autonomous unmanned vessel.


In the 21st century, further contribution to solving social problems is required for academic professionals. Therefore, we set our research question as "Can engineering contribute more to solving social problems?" We consider that the answer is positive, and proposed the ethical design sciences which is a new interdisciplinary field including engineering. The ethical design sciences will contribute to systematically solving social problems through re-defining representations in design such as perspectives and description methods, positioning creative activity support tools also as experimental devices and demonstrating the effects through user studies etc. In this paper, after describing practical examples, we derived a positive answer to the question.


Abstract Abstract High speed machining implies both high production and product quality, where surface roughness is an important performance index. A proposal for a supervisory control system is presented that predict the cutting parameters in peripheral milling process based on monitoring the surface roughness and the cutting tool condition. The novel framework consists of four modules: data acquisition system, cutting tool monitoring, surface roughness prediction and intelligent planning. Given its relevance, the surface roughness prediction module is presented in detail. A general model is introduced that considers several aluminum alloys, cutting parameters, geometries, and cutting tools. Early results validate the potential benefits of the cost-effective supervisory control system.


An evidence-based HIV prevention intervention was adapted for Botswana youth with qualitative interviews, input from an adolescent panel, and social validation. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 40 boys and girls ages 13-19. An adolescent panel then drafted scenarios reflecting social situations described in the interviews that posed risk for HIV. A social validation sample (N = 65) then indicated the prevalence and difficulty of each situation. Youth described informational needs, pressures to use alcohol and drugs, peer pressure for unprotected sex, and intergenerational sex initiations as risk-priming situations. From 17% to 57% of the social validation sample had personally experienced the situations drafted by the adolescent panel. There were no differences in the ratings of boys versus girls, but youth over age 16 more often reported that they had experienced these risky situations. The results were embedded into the intervention. Major changes to the intervention resulted from this three-phase process.


The development of tourism was so fast at the last decade, but it was lacked attention for the environment, culture and the welfare of the society, so that the alternative tourism accurred as a new concept in the development of tourism.The concept was quite different from the concept of the conventional tourism. This new concept was very wellknown as a modern tourism that put the natural and the cultural conventional as the priority and to increase the economy of local society or the local people, and finally this concept is known as the term "Ecotourism". The result of the seminar at the National Ecotorism in Bali that was held on August 25 until August 26, 2006 produced 9 principles of the ecotourism which could give the recomendations in relation to the Sustainable Tourism. The evaluation result of the principles and criteria of ecotourism at the natural tourist object Ijen Creater in Taman Sari Village, Banyuwangi in some cases it had the similarities with the principles and criteria of the formulation of the seminar and the course of ecotourism in 2006, which was used as the reference to measure the standard of the ecoturism which was legalized nationally that refered to the Green Globe 21 agreed and trusted internationally.


Abstract Informed by labour geography's thrust to situate workers as active subjects of analysis, this article examines lived experiences of restructuring at Australia's single largest industrial workplace. Drawing on extended ethnographic research, the article traverses three restructuring outcomes faced by workers and their families: (1) job retention; (2) redundancy; and (3) re ‐ employment. Amid the turbulence and uncertainty of a major workplace restructuring episode, workers' different lived experiences illuminate uneven intra ‐ labour power relations. As capitalist workplaces are re ‐ organised and labour processes redefined, more conflictual and divisive relationships often develop among groups of workers differentially positioned within the hierarchical labour markets of large firms. Emphasising restructuring episodes as generative contexts for grounded labour geographies research, the article develops intra ‐ labour agency as a critical analytical frame to explore more deeply the agency implications of workplace structures, co ‐ worker relationships, and social life matters that shape workers' capacities for action inside and beyond workplaces. Abstract Informed by labour geography's thrust to situate workers as active subjects of analysis, this articles examines lived experiences of restructuring at Australia's single largest industrial workplace. Drawing on extended ethnographic research, the article traverses three restructuring outcomes faced by workers and their families: 1) job retention 2) redundancy, and 3) re-employment. Amid the turbulence and uncertainty of a major workplace restructuring episode, worker's different lived experiences illuminate uneven intra-labour power relations. As capitalist workplaces are re-organised and labour processes redefined more conflictual and divisive relationships often develop among groups of workers differentially positioned within the hierarchical labour markets of large firms. Emphasising restructuring episodes as generative contexts for grounded labour geographies research, the article develops intra-labour agency as a critical analytical frame to explore more deeply the agency implications of workplace structures, co-worker relationships, and social life matters that shape worker's capacities for action inside and beyond workplaces. a relational analytical category to behind' causality, as a frame for institutional, regulatory and policy changes choreographed by private enterprise, states, and labour unions in reforming accumulation strategies. the labour geography 'moment' feminist geographers in charting new directions for labour-related inquiry. both inside paid labour where achieved greater access to service sector and connected spheres of social reproduction on which capitalism depends and do of built a project for centring labour's in analysis. several were by against to the and with disciplinary action if caught doing so. A draft was shown to participants for used and 'retrenchment' interchangeably.


The modeling of satellite multi-body dynamic is quite complicate process. In developing satellite simulator, it's proper to use multi-body dynamics in modeling satellite attitude dynamics. We will introduce the attitude dynamic module that is able to cover various satellites and operational phases. This approach may improve portability of satellite modeling. The generalization of multi-body attitude dynamics model can be used to analyze orbit and attitude dynamic of satellite. It is very useful for various satellites system and applying to other system with several parameters change.


The invention relates to an intelligent PID control system and control method for the spin-coating amount of lithium-ion battery separator paste. The intelligent PID control system is characterized by comprising a flow sensor, a PID controller, an adjustable rotating speed pump driver and an adjustable rotating speed pump, wherein a pipe outlet of the battery separator paste is connected with the flow sensor; an output end of the flow sensor is also connected with an input end of the PID controller; the output end of the PID controller is connected with the input end of the adjustable rotating speed pump driver; the output end of the adjustable rotating speed pump driver is connected with an inlet of the adjustable rotating speed pump; and an outlet of the adjustable rotating speed pump is connected with the input end of the flow sensor. PID control is introduced into the control system for the spin-coating amount of the lithium-ion battery separator paste, so that the accuracy and the stability of the control system are improved; a constant output value of the spin-coating amount of the lithium-ion battery separator paste is ensured; and a lithium-ion battery separator has relatively uniformity.


In the global context of weather change, investigating the effect of weather change on human health has become a problem of increasing concern for the departments of health, meteorology, and environmental protection. Studies have suggested that weather change is one of the inducements of cerebrovascular diseases. This article reviews the relationship between weather change and cerebrovascular diseases, and their possible mechanisms.

Key words:
weather;  cerebrovascttlar disorders


Introduction A study, examined creativity and aggression in individuals suffering from mental disorders, will present. Objectives Five groups: individuals suffering from mental disorders – with or without a history of aggression; creative individuals; aggressive individuals; and a control group Methods Different personality questionnaires: anxiety, absorption, schizotypy and humor and the microgenetic method – a projection technique, using visual stimulation by means of a computerized experiment. The stimuli that were presented in this study were two artworks. They were presented in a blurry manner that became clearer and the exposure time became longer. Results An emotional process aroused, when exposed to the stimuli. The stimuli had an influence on the subject's internal world, which was reflected back in the verbal reports, especially the aspects of creativity and aggression. Secondly, the pathological groups were the lowest in the expression of creativity. However, they expressed more aggressive expression than expected while exposed to the stimuli. Moreover, these groups were ranked high, in traits related to creativity, such as schizotypy, absorption and the P dimension. Conclusions The Microgenetic-method gave a better perspective of the participant's personality and can be used as a diagnostic-tool. In addition, the research demonstrates that creativity and aggression are multi-dimensional traits and are noticeably present in the pathological groups. Therefore, a person coping with psychopathology should get assistance with controlling the expression of his urges. They should be directed towards a creative expression of their inner-world, allowing a full range of expression of his strengths and pains. This will sublimate the feelings of aggression. Disclosure No significant relationships.


To reduce acquisition time in magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, compressive sensing and sparse representation techniques have been developed to reconstruct MR images with partially acquired data. Although this has been a hot research topic in the field, it has not been used clinically due to three inherent problems of its current framework: potential loss of fine structures, difficulty to predefine model parameters, and long reconstruction time. The aim of this work is to tackle these problems. We propose to minimize the total variation of the underlying image, together with the `1 norm of the coefficients in its representation using a trained dictionary, as well as a fidelity term. Using a trained dictionary can take the advantage of prior knowledge and hence improve accuracy in reconstruction. Our data fidelity constraint is derived from the likelihood estimator of the recovering error in partial k-space to improve the robustness of the model to parameter selection. Moreover, a simple and efficient numerical scheme is provided to solve this model faster. The consequent experiments on both synthetic and in vivo data indicate the improvement of the proposed model in preserving fine structure, reducing computational cost, and flexibility of parameter decision.


After the wars came to an end following Yugoslavia's dissolution, the Western Balkans (WB) embarked upon a path of transition and reform which for various political, security, economic and other reasons is still continuing today. Based on a broader analysis of the security framework in the region, this paper identifies the main transformative processes and analyses their elements and implications, which constitute the complex security in the WB. We assess the situation at the level of individual countries and extrapolate the findings for the whole region and Europe. With a view to evaluating the region's dynamics and underlying issues that correlate with and mutually impact on each other, we divide the transformation period into three processes: stabilisation with state-building, democratisation with institution-building, and Euro-Atlantic integration. Western Balkans security has been becoming ever more complex in the past 25 years due to these unfinished processes together with unresolved past issues arising from inter-related and mutually reinforcing political, socio-economic and ethno-national elements. Moreover, new-old security challenges have emerged that are further complicating the state of security. Instead of making progress with the democratic transition and the integration path, the various elements' interaction seems to place the region at risk of destabilisation and stalled progress coupled with the fact that not all requirements for stability have so far been met. The analysis concludes that the security framework is becoming increasingly complex and aggravated, in turn affecting the whole region's functioning and development and thus the entire Continent's stability and prosperity.


This study aimed at finding out the level of organizational inconsistency prevailing in Jordanian private universities in the capital Amman governorate and its relation to productivity. The descriptive correlational methodology was used in this study. The study sample consisted of (224) members of the administrative and teaching staff. They were chosen by using a random method, from the Jordanian private universities in Amman. The questionnaire was used as a tool to collect the study data. The study reached the following results: (a) The level of organizational inconsistency prevailing in Jordanian private universities in the capital Amman governorate was low, (b) The level of productivity in Jordanian private universities in the capital Amman governorate was high, (c) There was a positive significant relationship at (α = 0.05) between the level of organizational inconsistency and the level of productivity in Jordanian private universities in the capital Amman governorate. In light of the results, the researcher recommended the following: (1) The need to examine the reasons that lead to the occurrence of organizational inconsistency between university employees and find appropriate solutions to manage it, (2) The need for Jordanian private universities to pay attention to the level of job satisfaction among employees through achieving justice, transparency, self – respect and establishing trust among employees.


III. The dominant politicians, corporate officers, and investors who believed this proposition did not acknowledge that the prosperity was limited to a tiny percent of the world's people, and to an ever smaller number of people even in the United States; that it was founded upon the oppressive labor of poor people all over the world; and that its ecological costs increasingly threatened all life, including the lives of the supposedly prosperous.