Crash Risk (CR) prediction is essential for Intelligent Transport Systems(ITS), particularly for vehicular users' safety. The rapid development in multivariate deep learning techniques and the emergence of Vehicle to Everything (V2X) communication make it possible to predict CR in smart cities more quickly and precisely. Currently, CRs are predicted using Time-To-Collide, which depends on various interaction data of two conflicting entities. We inspect several factors affecting the CR, like speed, acceleration, Deceleration Rate to Avoid Crashes (DRAC), and Post Encroachment Time (PET). We develop a multivariate LSTM and RNN-ATT model to predict crashes that may occur within the next three seconds based on the past seven seconds of vehicle data. It is simulated on high-density roads of the Ahmedabad city map generated using the Open Street Map. The proposed framework coupling SUMO as traffic simulator and NS-3 as network simulator results in an optimal prediction horizon of 3s with a Root Mean Squared Error of 0.0611. The finding of this paper indicates the promising performance of the proposed framework and LSTM model with an accuracy of 88.20% to deploy in the Indian ITS for real-time crash prevention.


In this study, minced vannamie shrimp meat (S) was added to minced farm-raised silver carp fish (F) with four different ratios: 0% (F100), 25% (F75:S25), 50% (F50:S50) and 75% (F25:S75) and then some chemical properties (proximate composition, myoglobin and cholesterol content), electrophoretic pattern as well as sensory parameters were performed. F25:S75 had the highest protein (21.68%) and the lowest fat content (0.91%) compared to other treatments ( P <0.05). The highest and the lowest amounts of myoglobin were observed in F100 (6.05 mg/g) and F25:S75 (1.11 mg/g), respectively ( P <0.05). Moreover, F25:S75 had the highest (84.36 mg/100 g) and F100 (42.22 mg/100 g) had the lowest cholesterol content among all treatments ( P <0.05). The results of SDS-PAGE analysis showed that the most detected number of the bands belonged to F100 (16 bands) and the lowest number of the bands was observed in F25:S75 (14 bands). The highest amounts of α-actinin (5.9%) and β-thropomyosin (15.19%) were observed in F75:S25 ( P <0.05). The sensory quality demonstrated that the control group (F100) reached the lowest score in terms of texture, smell, taste, and overall acceptance among all treatments ( P <0.05). The results of this study showed that increasing in shrimp meat proportion in the fish burger would increase the amount of crude protein and sensory scores and also decreased myoglobin content, while the highest cholesterol levels was observed in F25:S75 treatment.


Background and Aim: Solubility is among the negative characteristics of dental ma- terials leading to structural degradation of cements and decreased longevity of resto- rations. The present study sought to assess the water sorption and solubility of FujiCem resin-modified glass ionomer (RMGI) and G-Cem self-adhesive resin ce- ment in water and acid. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 5 discs were fabricated from each understudy cement for solubility testing in lactic acid and 5 other disc-shaped specimens were made for evaluation of water sorption and solubility. Specimens were immersed in distilled water for 7 days and immediately weighed afterwards (M2). Discs were then transferred to a desiccator again to reach a constant weight of M3. Water sorption and solubility were calculated using the respective equations. For acid solubility testing, specimens were immersed in lactic acid for 24h. Independent t-test was applied for statistical analysis of results. Results: Solubility in distilled water was 0.0000139±0.0001µg/m 3 for FujiCem and 0.0000016±0.000005µg/m 3 for G-Cem (P=0.480). Water sorption was 0.0000197±0.000234 for FujiCem and 0.0000025±0.00004 for G-Cem (P<0.001). Acid solubility was 0.0059414±0.0016 for FujiCem and 0.0039115±0.0016µg/m 3 for G-Cem (P=0.348). Conclusion: The two understudy cements had no significant difference in water or acid solubility but FujiCem RMGI showed greater water sorption than G-Cem self- adhesive resin cement.


The term hypertension or Zightul-Dam-Qavi has not been mentioned in any of the classical Unani literature. But most of the Unani scholars were familiar to manifestation of hypertension, as they have described most of its symptoms such as headache, palpitation, vertigo and epistaxis, due to imtala (repletion). The present study was novel step towards finding a safe cost effective treatment for raised blood Pressure and to validate Unani drugs scientifically following a standardised protocol. The study designed was an open and randomized clinical trial with standard control. The 60 patients were taken and divided equally to both test as well as control groups. The duration of protocol was 90 days and assessment either subjective or objective, made at every 30th day. Test drug formulation Qurs-ePudina as well as control drug atorvastatin both showed statistically significant improvement, with a little better improvement by test drug. The test drug formulation produced significant blood pressure lowering effect without any side/ adverse effect, and it is proposed to study the same formulation for a longer period to get better results to declare it as antihypertensive formulation.


der argon atmosphere and subsequently heat treated at 1100 °C for 24 h in a high temperature furnace with argon as a protective gas (HTM Reetz GmbH, Lora 1800). Finally, the sample was slowly cooled down to ambient temperature (5 K/min). Due to the sensitivity of the sample against air and moisture all handlings were done in a glove box. Metallographic investigations in combination with EDXS and X-ray powder diffraction reveal the presence of traces of TaC (< 1 vol. %). Single crystals with prismatic shape and metallic dark gray lustre were obtained from a crushed sample.


This paper summarizes an analysis of salt marsh shoreline erosion, wind velocities and wave energy in Corte Madera Bay during an abnormally calm period in 1989. Winds during the study period of June through December ranged from 40-100% of the long-term mean monthly values. The shoreline at the salt marsh has been retreating at a rate of 0.76 meters annually since 1853. During the study period wind generated waves accounted for about 80 percent of the erosive energy with vessel waves accounting for the remaining energy. Storms were the principal source of erosive wind wave energy, but only one storm occurred during the initial portion of the study. The study will continue through 1991-1992 and the results presented are preliminary.


Goal of this paper is evaluation of the near electric field radiated from the Yagi-Uda antenna in the presence of the conductive half-space. Electric field is evaluated from the Pocklington equation for the lossy half-space using the previously calculated results for the current distribution along the antenna. The influence of the lossy medium is taken into account through the Fresnel reflection coefficient (RC) appearing in the integral equation kernel. Electric field is numerically calculated using the weak formulation of the boundary element method (BEM). In order to avoid the quasi-singularity of the Green function, the integral equation kernel has been treated with the finite difference algorithm.


Square wave adsorptive stripping voltammetry (SWAdSV) of nickel and cobalt at wall-jet electrodes in a continuous flow system has been evaluated. Characteristics and advantages relative to differential pulse adsorptive stripping voltammetry (DPAdSV) in continuous flow systems are explored. Under optimized experimental conditions, sensitivity is approximately a factor of ten higher than DPAdSV, and onenanomolar detection limits are achieved. Solution deoxygenation is unnecessary and sample throughput is increased.


This research was aimed to evaluate substitution of commercial rations with rations contains bean sprout waste on production and physical omega 3 egg quality. Bean sprouts are a waste of green beans the remainder of beans sprout production consisting of green bean skin and shredded bean sprout. The use of bean sprout in layer diet is very limited because the bean sprouts are low palatability and high crude fiber. This experiment used eighty female birds strain of Lohman Brown were in a Completely Randomized Design allocated to five dietary treatments in four replicates. The treatment diets were R0:100 % commercial feed, R1:75 commercial feed + 25 % experiment feed, R2 : 50 % commercial feed + 50 % experiment feed, R3: 25 % commercial feed + 75 % experiment feed, R4:100 % Experiment feed, respectively variable observed were egg production, feed consumption, feed conversion, Hen Day, IOFC, layer mortality, egg weight, egg mass, weight percentage of albumen, yolk, and shell, shell thickness, yolk color, egg, albumen and yolk index, and Haugh unit. The results showed there is no effect on all cumulative production (except on hen day and ration conversion) and physical quality of omega-3 eggs (except eggshell thickness). The highest IOFC value and the highest egg production were obtained at 50% substitution of commercial rations and 50% of research rations containing 2.5% of bean sprouts waste.


ABSTRACT Treating seafood with carbon monoxide (CO) and various filtered wood smokes (FS) containing carbon monoxide has become a common practice in the industry, particularly for seafood intended for the frozen market. Tuna is one of the most common fish species treated with this process. Various quality improvement claims have been made for these treatments, which require investigation. Yellowfin tuna steaks were subjected to various CO treatments (4% CO, 18% CO and 100% CO) and FS treatment (which contained 18% CO) for 48 h, followed by 30 days of freezing and subsequent cold storage (4°C) after thawing. Muscle quality was evaluated after treatment. The FS, 18% CO and 100% CO treatments led to reductions in formation of secondary lipid oxidation products (TBARS) during freezing and subsequent cold storage, possibly due to increased stability of heme proteins. Textural studies using Instron compression tests on tuna steaks did not indicate significant differences (p > 0.05) between the CO or FS treatments compared with untreated controls. Water-holding studies (expressible moisture and drip loss) also did not show significant differences (p > 0.05) between CO- or FS-treated tuna compared with untreated controls. Freezing and thawing and subsequent cold storage did however lead to significant (p < 0.01) losses of water for all treatments. Muscle protein solubility tests, on the other hand, indicated that FS, 18% CO, and 100% CO-treated tuna steaks had proteins with higher salt solubility compared with untreated controls. This suggests that such treatments may stabilize muscle proteins, which was not apparent from textural and water-holding capacity studies.


Foetal echocardiography is the ultrasonic evaluation of the human foetal cardiovascular system. Improved operator skill amongst physicians performing general antepartum obstetrical ultrasound, in combination with increased sensitivity of present day ultrasound systems, has resulted in improved detection of foetal cardiovascular abnormalities and increased requirements for more detailed evaluation.


The formation of a supramolecular complex of bis(18-crown-6)stilbene ( 1 ) and 4,4'-bipyridine with two ammoniopropyl N -substituents ( 3 ) and the substitution reaction between 1•3 and alkali and alkaline-earth metal perchlorates have been studied using absorption, steady-state fluorescence, and femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. The formation of 1 •(M^ n ^+)_2 complexes in acetonitrile was demonstrated. The weak long-wavelength charge-transfer absorption band of 1•3 completely vanishes upon complexation with metal cations because of disruption of the pseudocyclic structure. The spectroscopic and luminescence parameters, stability and substitution constants were calculated. The relaxation scheme of the 1-3 singlet state excited by a 25 fs laser pulse was proposed. It includes very fast vibrational relaxation and direct (τ_CT-d = 0.32 ps) and back (τ_CT-b = 0.51 ps) electron transfer resulting in complete fluorescence quenching. The quantum-chemistry calculations revealed the species taking part in the ET process and elucidated the mechanism of relaxation of the excited complex.


Poly(benzobisthiazole)s containing an o-tetramethyl substituted biphenyl moiety were synthesized based on 2,5-diamino-1,4-benzenedithiol dihydrochloride and 2,2',6,6'-tetramethylbiphenyl-4,4'-dicarbonyl chloride. Homopolymerization of the two monomers and copolycondensation of the two monomers with terephthaloyl chloride were carried out in poly(phosphoric acid) (PPA). The interfacial polymerization technique was used to enhance the formation of a homogeneous liquid crystalline polymer solution suitable for fiber spinning. Copolymers of tetramethylbiphenyl PBZT/PBZT (25/75) were successfully spun into fibers from liquid crystalline solutions in PPA. Fibers were thermally cross-linked between 500 and 550 °C. The thermal cross-linking reaction was studied by thermogravimeteric analysis and by 13C solid-state NMR spectroscopy. Fiber morphology and properties are also reported and discussed.


Aimed at some features of the collimator command control console,that is,this kind of command control console makes use of CAN bus to communicate with other equipment of the collimator system,and the magnitude of communication data information was great,the requirement of real time was high,thus,in the process of design,the embedded system based on ARM7 kernel was used,and the system adopted 32 bit LPC2119 micro-controller.The system mainly makes use of CAN controller of the built-in microchip and IC BC7281 to realize man-machine data exchange functions of the LED display,keyboard connection,CAN bus communication,display and setting.Hardware circuit of the system is simple,its reliability is high,and its maintenance is convenient.Software of the system adopted real time operating system as exploitation platform,and multitask mode was used to optimize system software.This method improves stability and real time characteristics of the system.


The observation of enhanced Tc in calcium free Tl compounds Tl2Ba2Cu1Ox (2201) with varying concentration of Tl and Cu has been reported. Three different starting compositions (2201, 1201 and 2202) were studied extensively with varying conditions of preparation. Under the optimised conditions: sintering temperature 970°C and duration 3–10 minutes the highest Tc (onset) ∼115 K and Tc (zero) ∼95 K was found. The XRD studies showed the transformation of all the three nominal compositions into 2201 phase with different Tcs.


The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of acute exercise on respiratory functions, heart-beats, blood pressure, total antioxidative capacity (TAC), oxidative stres index (OSI), lipid hydro-peroxide (LOOHs) and Paraoxonase (PON) in school boys. A sample of 18 male amateur wrestlers are selected for this study. The particpiants perform exercise regularly at least four times a week and two hours a day. They  participated in this study on voluntary basis. Respiratory frequency (RF), force expiralory volume (FEV1), Peak expiratory flow (PEF), heart-beats, (HB) systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressures (DBP) measures and blood samples were taken from the wrestlers before and right after the acute exercise prograrme. Their respiratory frequency, fev1, pef, heart-beats, sistolic and diastolic blood pressure, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), oxidative stress index (OSI), Lipid Hydro-peroxide (LOOHs) and Paraoxonase (PON) levels were measured and assessed. It was found that wrestlers displayed significant increase in respiratory frequency, heart-beats (p<0.01) and sistolic blood pressure, TAC, OSI values (p<0.05), after the acute exercise compared to the pre-exercise levels. No significant change was observed in peak expiratory flow (PEF), force expiralory volume (FEV1), diastolic blood pressure, lipid hydro-peroxide (LOOHs) and paraoxonase (PON) levels. In this study, it was found that the balance shifted towards oxidative stress due to increased oxidants after the acute exercise prograrme. In order to reduce such a high oxidative stress and to prevent athletes from its adverse effects, it is necessary to have an antioxidant rich diet before any exercise or to get antioxidant supplements.

 Key words: School boys, wrestling, curcuit explosive power training, respiratory functions, blood pressure, oxidant, antioxidant


The present research is basically a qualitative study using also quantitative methods which involve the role of culture in English language teaching (ELT) mainly focusing on Pakistani context. The research makes hypothesis that the Pakistani learners of English (especially from religious and rural cultural background) are de-motivated to learn English because the textbooks developed for them by foreign textbook writers are culturally irrelevant. The study involved evaluation of "Oxford Progressive English" (OPE) textbook series for cultural relevance. For evaluation the data was collected from "Oxford Progressive English" series designed especially for Pakistani learners of English. An evaluation model was developed for the content analysis of the OPE textbooks for cultural relevance from Adaskou, Britten and Fashi (1990) and the data has been analyzed to explore in the textbook series the cultural gaps between the target culture and the learner's culture in the aspect of aesthetic sense culture. Various instances regarding cultural contrast in these textbooks have been highlighted and their irrelevance to Pakistani culture has been explored. The findings of the research show that the OPE textbooks by the foreign authors mainly focus on the target culture with little knowledge and information of the indigenous or learner culture. Moreover, the learner culture is presented as negative stereotypes. The OPE textbooks are culturally biased and based on hidden curriculum to impart Western values among the young learners to westernize them. Key words: ELT, Aesthetic sense culture or high culture, colonialism, hidden curriculum, motivation, textbook evaluation,


Submitted for the DFD10 Meeting of The American Physical Society Real-time turbulent plume estimation with mobile sensors THOMAS BEWLEY, CHRISTOPHER COLBURN, DAVID ZHANG, UC San Diego, JOSEPH CESSNA, SAIC, NICHOLAS MOROZOVSKY, ANDREW CAVENDER, CHRISTOPHER SCHMIDT-WETEKAM, UC San Diego — Ensemble methods for estimating turbulent fluid systems are efficient methods for quantifying uncertainties in nonlinear, high-dimensional systems. Many real-time estimation algorithms for large-scale fluid systems have been tested and validated by the weather/oceanic forecasting communities, but (generally speaking) these methods have not been used for short time-scale and short length-scale models. We present estimation results for a contaminant plume release experiment. In this experiment, a passive scaler is released at a known location in a small domain and a turbulent environment. Mobile robots are deployed to measure wind velocity and plume concentration. Measurements are assimilated to estimate the wind field and quantify the uncertainty in the estimate, which is then used to plan waypoints for future measurements. Thomas Bewley UC San Diego Date submitted: 06 Aug 2010 Electronic form version 1.4


Preface.Acknowledgments.About the Authors.Commonly Used Symbols.Abbreviations and Acronyms.Chapter 1. From Art to Engineering in Finance.Chapter 2. Overview of Financial Markets, Financial Assets, and Market Participants.Chapter 3. Milestones in Financial Modeling and Investment Management.Chapter 4. Principles of Calculus.Chapter 5. Matrix Algebra.Chapter 6. Concepts of Probability.Chapter 7. Optimization.Chapter 8. Stochastic Integrals.Chapter 9. Differential Equations and Difference Equations.Chapter 10. Stochastic Differential Equations.Chapter 11. Financial Econometrics: Time Series.Chapter 12. Financial Econometrics: Model Selection, Estimation, and Testing.Chapter 13. Fat Trails, Scaling, and Stable Laws.Chapter 14. Arbitrage Pricing: Finite-State Models.Chapter 15. Arbitrage Pricing: Continuous-State, Continuous-Time Models.Chapter 16. Portfolio Selection using Mean-Variance Analysis.Chapter 17. Capital Asset pricing Model.Chapter 18. Multifactor Models and Common Trends for Common Stocks.Chapter 19. Equity Portfolio Management.Chapter 20. Term Structure Modeling and Valuation of Bonds and Bond Optics.Chapter 21. Bond Portfolio Management.Chapter 22. Credit Risk Modeling and Credit Default Swaps.Chapter 23. Risk Management.Index.


The purpose of this article is to provide a deeper understanding of successful event networks and offer a conceptual framework which can be used to analyze their impact on local development. We address two research questions. First, how does network structure affect the success of the event and its outcomes on local development, other than in economic terms? Second, which main capabilities does the "network orchestrator" need in order to promote the effectiveness of the event network? By analyzing three different Italian cultural festivals this article sheds light on: (a) the features of successful event networks, (b) the dynamics linking network structure and the social outcomes generated, and (c) the typical bundle of relational capabilities that network orchestrators need. In particular, two different archetypes of event networks - namely, "Community-driven events" versus "Market-driven events" - emerge, which are related to different outcomes on local development.We draw some implications for management and offer some remarks to stimulate further research in the field of special events.


AbstractIn this paper, the authors have modified a traditional transpiration formula using a soil-gas stress response function of the soil water content to appropriately depict the leaf water head. This allowed identification of the soil waterlogging (gas deficit) stress status. The authors then analyzed the status of soil moisture in an irrigated pecan field in El Paso, Texas, using a drainage equation and a modified transpiration formula. In the formula, four soil moisture statuses were identified: waterlogging stress (gas deficit), favorable water uptake, tolerable moisture deficit, and intolerable moisture deficit. Among these, the water uptake favorable and tolerable moisture deficit statuses are the two favorable for healthy pecan growth and good production. Waterlogging (gas deficit) and intolerable moisture deficit statuses are detrimental for pecan growth. The results also showed that soil moisture status is significantly different during the four growing stages of irrigated pecans: budbreak, ear...


Successful treatment of stenotic coronary arteries by percutaneous coronary interventions is limited by the occurrences of acute vessel occlusion and late restenosis. The process of restenosis is associated with the healing response to the arterial injury. Systemic pharmacological approaches to reduce restenosis aiming at prevention of thrombus formation, vascular recoil and remodeling, and of inflammation and cell proliferation have failed. The recognition of the inability to achieve adequate drug levels at the angioplasty site has lead to the development of drugeluting stents. We hypothesized that macrophages play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of restenosis. We further hypothesized that systemic depletion of monocytes would decrease macrophage recruitment in the arterial wall, and consequently may attenuate neointimal formation. Monocyte depletion can be achieved with systemic injection of liposomes containing bisphosphonatets (BPs). Van Rooijen et al. have shown that monocyte & macrophage depletion of the liver, spleen & bone marrow can be achieved by liposomal BPs (clodronate). The BPs, bone-seeking agents, are a family of drugs which inhibit bone resorption via osteoclast inactivation and are used clinically in several calcium-related disorders such as tumor osteolysis and osteoporosis. Osteoclasts and macrophages share a common haematopoietic progenitor cell in the bone marrow. BPs have poor cell membrane permeability. It is a well known that liposomes are readily taken up by cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS, formerly known as RES), macrophages in particular, and to some extent neutrophils, by the process of phagocytosis. Encapsulation of BPs (such as clodronate and alendronate) in liposomes results in increased magnitudes of potency. Thus, a cell-specific delivery system of BPs which is capable of depleting macrophages may be beneficial for both the underlying atherosclerotic and restenotic processes while proving minimally toxic to non-phagocytic cells.


This study aims to develop a mathematics learning for social arithmetic material and see student responses to the mathematics learning web for social arithmetic material. The research method used is and Development (R & D) which starts from determining potential problems, data collection, product design, design validation, design revisions, product trials, and product revisions. The subjects in this study were VII grade students at MTs Muhammadiyah 1 Malang and 6 selected students with categories 2 high, 2 medium, and 2 low from the results of social arithmetic tests that had been done. The results showed that: 1) the learning web that had been developed gets a score of 3.55 which means the learning web is valid; 2) student responses to the learning web gained a score 3.65 (high).


This report aims to describe the perioperative management of a high-risk cardiovascular patient proposed for urgent total knee replacement revision. We discuss the use of peripheral nerve blocks and its impact on haemodynamic stability and clinical outcomes, including major cardiovascular adverse events and myocardial injury after non-cardiac surgery.


Most of breast cancers are diagnosed in females over 50 years of age, however it is found that about 30% of the disease diagnosed with women above 70 years. Generally speaking, those patients is treated with a smaller range of treatment which usually offered to the younger group of patients. Despite the presence of many comorbidities, however the patient may still have a good physiological reserve, which make offering a radical surgery of the cancer very possible. Age should not be a determinant for quality of care in breast cancer. In this paper, we looked to 143 breast cancer patients with age >70 years had been operated. The oldest was 86. ASA assessment tool used Pre‑operatively. Mastectomy done in 70% where 30% underwent Breast Conservation Surgery. Axillary surgery done in 94% of cases (52% Sentinel lymph node biopsy and 42% axillary clearance). The histology of the removed cancers showed invasive ductal carcinoma in 76% of cases, invasive lobular carcinoma in 11%, with DCIS in 06%. After surgery, every patient has been offered the individual suitable adjuvant treatment as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, Herceptin or hormonal manipulation. As those patients can stand the radical surgery and live with a good life quality after treatment, we advise to extend the screening program beyond the current recommended age. Also we recommend further research to understand more about the biology of the breast cancer in the older age group and disseminate geriatric assessment tool as Adult Co‑morbidity Evaluation (ACE-27) to provide a proper evaluation of the patient status prior to final management decision.


: The phenomenon of the hidden economy is a threat to the economy in most countries because it represents high rates of GDP . The hidden economy is represent by All activities which are carried out by individuals or establishments, with officially registered neither included in national income accounts and not a subject to the administrative and judicial system . This leads to further misleading information and statistics, and does not explain the real economic potential of the country, which negatively affects the distribution of economic resources and national output. The study points out that the border testing of joint integration indicates a long-term equilibrium relationship between the size of the hidden economy and GDP at current prices.The calculated F is greater than the periodic F at a significant level (1%, 5%, 10%). The error correction model indicates that the size of the hidden economy is increasing by one unit which leads to an increase in GDP by 0.52 units, The error correction coefficient was negative and significant (-0.422088) and this confirms a short-term relationship between the two variables, And that the direction of long-term equilibrium relationship is the size of the hidden economy – < GDP, which means the


In the case of imaging optics for imaging cellular phones, special attention has to be paid on the cost of the lens system. The number of lens elements has to be minimized, but the image quality has to be maximized. It is important that optimum quality/cost - ratio is found. The image sensor characteristics and human visual system preferences have to be taken into consideration as well for the design. In this paper, we present our new image quality metric. The performance of the metric is investigated using subjective tests on different lens designs and compared with MTF metric. We show that our metric has a good correlation with human observer and performs better than MTF metric. Finally, we give some examples of optimization based on our metric.


The 17th National Congress of CPC has brought forward significant strat4egic arrangement of exploring greater departments system and deepening the reform of administrative systems.The institutional reform of the State Council after this year's two meetings(the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference) formally starts this reform.It is a great move of transforming the government's function,which has far-reaching significance to the implementation of the Scientific Outlook on Development,the improvement of administrative efficiency,and the deepening of reform as a whole.On the basis of thoroughly studying and comprehending the spirit of the 17th CPC National Congress,governments at all levels should carry out investigations and studies earnestly while combining local realities to advance and deepen the reform of greater departments system gradually and methodically.In the meantime,we must give attention to the need of overstepping sectional interests and setting up a comprehensive coordinating mechanism of supervision,thus gradually pushing forward the political reform measures at a more extensive and broader level from above to below.


Abstract Not Available – First paragraph follows:
Anyone who has spent a summer in the San Joaquin Valley hoeing johnson grass, bermudagrass, or nutsedge (nutgrass) out of a young orchard or has labored on a hot summer afternoon trying to pull perennial bindweed out of a young vineyard or a cotton field will be much interested in Roundup (glyphosate). This new herbicide showed promise in earlier studies (California Agriculture, February 1973) and has since proved to be an outstanding product against most annual and perennial weeds.


A quantum computing approach is presented for implementing a quantum version of a Hopfield Neural Network which is then used for solving the Minimum Vertex Cover (MVC) problem. A bijection maps the Minimum Vertex Cover of a graph to a stable pattern of the Quantum Hopfield Neural Network. The proposed algorithm reached a 100% accuracy in finding the minimum vertex cover for a testing dataset of graphs. The use of the Quantum HNN and quantum principles such as superposition enables the usage of potentially exponential power and speed up in solving NP-complete graph problems such as the MVC.


We describe the use of immobilized deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in a silica matrix as a biorecognition agent for the detection of albendazole sulfoxide (ASU), the primary metabolite of albendazole and a suspected teratogenic and embryotoxic agent. The biomaterial (DNA-containing gel) was synthesized by physical entrapment of salmon sperm in an inorganic silicate matrix by the sol-gel method. Functionality of the DNA-containing gel was evaluated by comparative offline frontal chromatography followed by HPLC analysis of ASU and caffeine (CAF, control) using DNA-containing gel and DNA-free gel. The DNA-containing gel showed relatively high specific retention for ASU, while CAF showed no retention using frontal analysis. We anticipate that the DNA-containing gel can be implemented to identify the interactions of DNA with other active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and their metabolites in a readily available, sensitive and selective frontal chromatography experiment.


Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty was performed on 10 patients with unilateral renovascular hypertension (7 with atheromatous and 3 with fibro muscular stenoses) who were then followed for an average of 42 months (range, 24 to 67 months). Dilatation of the stenosis was initially successful in all patients except one who had severe atheromatous stenosis. Among patients with ather omatous disease, normotension was attained for 40, 25 and 24 months in 3 patients given no antihypertensive medication and for 67 and 55 months in 2 patients given only nicardipine. The remaining one patient had a recurrent stenosis 3 months after angioplasty. All patients with fibromuscular dysplasia have been normotensive without any hypotensive medication for more than 4 years. Plasma renin activity declined within one week after angioplasty and remained unchanged thereafter in all patients except the one case suffering from a recurrent stenosis. Renal blood flow and glomerular filtration rate re mained increased after angioplasty. These results suggest that hypertension can be controlled and renal dysfunction in patients with renal artery stenosis caused by atheroma or fibromuscular dysplasia improved for long periods by percuta neous transluminal angioplasty. The antihypertensive effect obtained by this procedure was more valuable for the patients with fibromuscular dysplasia than in those with atheromatous disease.


Intelligence has never been more important in world politics than it is now at the opening of the twenty-first century. The terrorist attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001, along with the politics and diplomacy of the Second Gulf War, have brought intelligence issues to the forefront of both official and popular discourse on security and international affairs. The need for better understanding of both the nature of the intelligence process and its importance to national and international security has never been more apparent. The aim of this collection is to enhance our understanding of the subject by drawing on a range of perspectives, from academic experts to journalists to former members of the British and American intelligence communities.


Human welder's experiences and skills are critical for producing quality welds in manual gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) process. For batch welding of the same workpiece, and the welding experience accumulated in same welding track, the welding process has a very high-degree reduplication. In this article, an open-closed-loop iterative learning control algorithm is constructed and implemented as an intelligent controller in automated GTAW process to reach the desired trajectory well. During the welding process, there will encounter external interference, such as random changes in voltage, resulting in pool surface fluctuations. Therefore, we introduce a self-adjustive factor based on ILC algorithm. The self-adjustive factor can adjust the input of the controller according to the error and error rate of change of the system, so that the system body has self-adaptation to improve the ability of anti-interference of the system. The simulation shows that a new proposed ILC control is an effective method for weld penetration in GTAW.


Although the majority of cases of hereditary chorea correspond accurately to the classical pattern described by Huntington (1872), a number of atypical forms have been recorded in children and adults which are characterized by rigidity rather than by hyperkinesia. Most of these have been reported in the continental literature and we thought it was of interest to draw attention to two atypical juvenile cases occurring in an English family. From Reisner's (1944) review of these juvenile cases the fact emerges that although the majority present with typical choreiform movements, two atypical variants also occur: one in which the clinical picture is that of progressive extrapyramidal rigidity without involuntary movements, the other in which the disease starts as a hyperkinetic syndrome and gradually changes into a hypokinetic one with progressive rigidity. These two syndromes are commoner in the juvenile group, though occasional similar cases have been recorded in adults, in some instances affecting entire families, like that of Schob (1927), in which rigidity followed a preliminary stage of chorea, and that of Hallervorden (1957), in which rigidity was the predominant symptom throughout the course of the illness. Finally, there is the unusual case briefly recorded by Westphal (1905). This patient came from a family with seven other members affected by Huntington's chorea. Choreic movements in this patient developed late in the course of the disease, mental abnormality having been observed for 12 years, and Parkinsonian rigidity and intention tremor having been present for seven years before the onset of typical hyperkinesia. No post-mortem findings were described. Clinical accounts of these atypical variants, both juvenile and adult, are fairly numerous (see Hallervorden, 1957) but detailed pathological studies are rare. The classical description of juvenile cases which never exhibited choreiform movements is that of Spielmeyer (1920, 1926) who described two cases recorded clinically (as instances of Wilson's disease) by Kraepelin (1921) and shown by the genetic study of Entres (1925) to belong to a typical Huntington family. More recent contributions are those of Rotter (1932), Hempel (1938), and Lindenberg (1960). Bielschowsky (1922) gave a detailed account of the pathological findings in a patient who was choreic at the age of 6 years and from the age of 9 gradually developed Parkinsonian rigidity. Our own juvenile case is remarkable in


The article deals with the conceptual basis of effective educational activities in nanotechnologies. The multifactorness of nanotechnics makes it a specific field of interdisciplinary scientific and engineering knowledge. We suggest using a scheme in which the realisation of effective education activity is based on a network of scientific-research institutions, universities, and innovative companies


The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between physical activity levels and life quality of Amasya University students. The universe of the study consists of university students studying in 6 faculties of the University of Amasya during the 2018-2019 academic year and the sample is composed of 331 (162 female, 169 male) university students. As data collection tools, in order to determine the level of physical activity (Craig, et al., 2003) by the improved validity and reliability study in Turkey (Öztürk, 2005) in order to determine the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. For the deremination of life quality, Fidaner's (1999) "World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale Short Form" was used. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods, independent sample t-test and single factor variance analysis (One-Way ANOVA). As a result of the analyses; 262 students attending the research stated that the physical activity areas of the faculties were insufficient and 69 students stated that they were sufficient. When the body mass indexes of the participants were examined, it was found that the majority of 76.4 % of the participants had normal BMI (Global Database on BMI, WHO, 2004) classification. A significant difference was found in the psychological and environmental dimensions of students' life quality in goodness of the students habiting at home. When it is classified according to physical activity score, it is seen that 65 students studying at the Faculty of Education have a high Met level, while 33 students studying at the Faculty of Medicine have low Met level. It was concluded that students with high levels of MET have higher total life quality scores than students at other levels of MET.


This article develops a single-manufacturer single-retailer production-inventory model in which the manufacturer delivers the retailer's ordered quantity in unequal shipments. The manufacturer's production process is imperfect and it may produce some defective items during a production run. The retailer performs a screening process immediately after receiving the order from the manufacturer. The expected average total cost of the integrated production-inventory system is derived using renewal theory and a solution procedure is suggested to determine the optimal production and shipment policy. An extensive numerical study based on different sets of parameter values is conducted and the optimal results so obtained are analysed to examine the relative performance of the models under equal and unequal shipment policies.


The purpose of this research is to study the impact of safety and health towards construction workforce productivity among G3 contractor in Kuantan, Pahang. Previous research found that poor performance of time and budget, wastage in site and low productivity are mainly caused by the safety and health issues happen in construction industry. The lack of safety concern based on insufficient safety compliance and poor attitude towards safety. While poor safety measure on working environment and material storage causes injuries and accident that affect works in site. Lack of health concern base on physical health issue we discuss about respiratory illness and mental health issue about stress and burnout has found affect the most among construction workers. Quantitative research is used to collect data and analyse by using PLS-SEM model. The data has applied to test the hypothesis based on the research objective. This research has collected 152 responses from G3 contractor workers in Kuantan, Pahang. Hence, the result of this survey is slightly limited but it could be used as a reference for future study base on safety and health topic.


Due to modern lifestyle, the rate of developing overweight in children is also increasing tremendously. It is a proved fact that exercise and diet restriction of specially sweet and fatty foodstuffs help to reduce weight, maintain fitness and can have the direct effect to prevent systemic illness. In overweight individuals, there will be increased hunger and thirst which again facilitates weight gain. In Rasatantrasaara and Siddhaprayoga Sangraha, it has been mentioned that Apamarga seeds (Achyranthus aspera Linn.) are useful in Bhasmaka Vyadhi (Voracious appetite). The action of Apamarga seeds was considered to be hard to digest creates sense of fullness and enables to cope with overweight. The study aims at evaluating the efficacy of Bhasmaknashak yoga in overweight children as compare to exercise and diet restrictions. Total 30 patients of age 8–15 years were divided into 3 groups of each 10. Subjects of Group A were put on exercise and diet restriction, Group B was administered with trial drug and Group C received both. It shows that the statistical effect on clinical features in group C was highly significant than group A and B (P valuesBMI <0.0005, Abdominal circumference <0.0005, climbing time <0.0001). The study revealed that awareness of overweight problems and adaptation of change in lifestyle along with remedies are much important in treating overweight as compare to remedy or regimen alone.


A significant part of the electricity production in Hungary is provided by 4 units of VVER 440 nuclear reactors at the Paks Nuclear Power Plant. Interim dry storage of the spent fuel assemblies that are generated during the operation of the reactors is provided in a Modular Vault Dry Storage (MVDS) facility that is located in the immediate vicinity of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant. The storage capacity of the MVDS is being continuously extended in accordance with spent the fuel production rate from the four reactors. An accident occurred at unit 2 of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant in 2003, when thirty irradiated fuel assemblies were damaged during a cleaning process. The fuel assemblies were not inside the reactor at the time of the accident, but in a separate tank within the adjacent fuel decay pool. As a result of this accident, contamination from the badly damaged fuel assemblies spread to the decay pool water and also became deposited onto the surface of (hermetic) spent fuel assemblies within the decay pool. Therefore, it was necessary to review the design basis of the MVDS and assess the effects of taking the surface contaminated spent fuel assemblies into dry storage. Themore » contaminated hermetic assemblies were transferred from the unit 2 pool to the interim storage facility in the period between 2005 and 2007. Continuous inspection and measurement was carried out during the transfer of these fuel assemblies. On the basis of the design assessments and measurement of the results during the fuel transfer, it was shown that radiological activity values increased due to the consequences of the accident but that these levels did not compromise the release and radiation dose limits for the storage facility. The aim of this paper is to show the effect on the operation of the MVDS interim storage facility as a result of the increased activity values due to the accident that occurred in 2003, as well as to describe the measurements that were taken, and their results and experience gained. In summary: On the basis of the design assessments and measurement of the results during the fuel transfer operations, it was shown that radiological activity values increased due to the consequences of the 2003 accident but that these levels did not compromise the release and dose limits for the fuel storage facility. In the environment there was no measurable radioactivity as a result of the operation of the Paks ISFSI. The exposure of the surrounding population was calculated on measured releases and meteorological data. The calculations show negligible doses until 2004. Due to the increased surface contamination on the spent fuel assemblies the dose rate increased almost 5 times compared to the least annual value, but still less then 0.01 percent of the allowed dose restriction. (authors)« less


Finding of the step of numerical integration has radical impact on the accuracy of numerical solution of ordinary differential equations (ODEs). This paper suggests a procedure for determination of its maximal length ensuring that the numerical solution will satisfy the "important features" of the analytically unknown solution of ODEs. Thus, the goal of this paper is to find conditions for stability of the numerical solution (that keeps its error in a reasonable range), and for geometrical convergence of results guaranteeing good accordance of the numerical solution with physical reality.


An erbium-doped fiber amplifier and a wavelength division multiplexing optical transmission system equipped with the same are disclosed. The wavelength division multiplexing optical transmission system includes a transmission stage having a first C/L fiber amplifier for amplifying combined C and L-band optical signals, an optical repeater having at least one second C/L fiber amplifier for amplifying the optical signals transmitted from a single mode fiber of a predetermined length, and a dispersion compensating fiber of a predetermined length for compensating dispersions of the amplified optical signals. The system also includes a reception stage having a third C/L fiber amplifier for amplifying the optical signals transmitted from a single mode fiber of a predetermined length, and a receiver for separating the amplified optical signals from the third C/L fiber amplifier into C-band optical signals and L-band optical signals band by band and de-multiplexing the separated amplified optical signals.


Acetanilides (I), (VI), and (VIII) can be deacetylated and diazotized in situ, and subsequently used in Pd-catalyzed coupling reactions without isolation of the diazonium intermediate.


This paper is a study of a variety of algebras that arise in the investigation of the truth value algebra of type-2 fuzzy sets. The variety generated by the truth value algebra of type-2 fuzzy sets with only its two semilattice operations in its type is generated by a four-element algebra that has a particularly simple form, which we call a bichain. Our initial goal is to understand the equational properties of this particular bichain, and thus of the truth value algebra of type-2 fuzzy sets. We outline the progress on this goal, and then concentrate on some results on our study of bichains in general.


Methodological difficulties in researching unanticipated consequences of purposive action are exposed, while focusing on deviations from rationality of social action.


This paper studies amino acid separation using a H2O-CH2Cl2-H2O liquid membrane system. A CH2Cl2 layer is modified and 1-butylalcohol and toluene act as carriers. The solubility of amino acids to CH2Cl2. and Polyaniline is also introduced to examine the ability of 1-butlacohol and toluene as carriers. From an amino acid mixture containing GLy, LEu, ILe, VAl, CYs, PHe, HIs, ALa, GLn we successfully separated ALa, LEu, ILe, VAl. This result indicates that this optimized analytical condition obtained could be successfully applied to the qualitative analysis of the amino acids in human blood, urine, and other tissue samples using this liquid membrane system.


Passive power filters are indispensable for grid-connected inverters (GCIs) to eliminate current harmonics. However, typical filters require large inductance, which not only increases the filter dimension and costs but also leads to slower current response and a high voltage drop across the filter. This article proposes a novel filter called LCTCL filter, which effectively attenuates harmonics with small inductance. In addition, this article presents a controller synthesis to the GCI with LCTCL filter without an additional resistor. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed LCTCL filter through comparative analysis with typical filters via simulations and experiments. We clarify that the proposed LCTCL filter has excellent features in terms of filter dimension, frequency characteristics, robustness for parameter variations, harmonic suppression, and total harmonic distortion.


To make fracturing flowback fluid reach the standard of reuse and discharge,an experimental study of treatment technology for the fluid was conducted. The fluid adopted the combined treatment technology which was characterized by the primary technology of physicochemical treatment and advanced oxidation treatment and the secondary technology of chemical treatment. In chemical treatment,the PAC was selected as the flocculant and the adding concentration was 100 mg / L. The activated silicic acid was selected as the coagulant aid and the adding concentration was 5 mg / L. The sodium hypochlorite was selected as the oxidizer,the adding concentration was 60 mg / L and the overall reaction time was about 30 min. In electric flocculation treatment,the PAC was selected as the catalyst,the adding concentration was 20 mg / L and the reaction time was 20 min. In ozone catalytic oxidation,the MnO2was selected as the catalyst,the adding concentration was 60 mg / L and the reaction time was 40 min. The fluid reached the requirement of reuse and discharge after the technological treatment.


In this work shows some results of studying the microstructure of HP-56 beryllium after plasma irradiation. The experiments revealed a change in the microstructure of beryllium after irradiation with hydrogen, deuterium and helium atoms. The pore diameter and their bulk density increase depending on the plasma parameters.


In order to achieve a sustainable development of tourism and natural resources,cost weighted distance method was used to quantitatively estimate regional accessibility and spatial distribution of tourist attractions in Sichuan Province,southwest China.Because in ecological transition zone between Chengdu Plain and Western Sichuan Plateau,the relative elevation was high,the accessibility was low and it could less affected by human.Tourist attractions,lying in there area were much greater than those in other areas,mainly natural preservation zone and natural scenery.In light of the spatial patterns of tourist attractions,some suggestions were proposed to promote transport accessibility and tourism planning in terms of sustainable development of tourism in Sichuan.


R-binder is one of three specific vitamin B12 (cobalamin) binding proteins and is immunologically, structurally, and functionally distinct from the other two binding proteins, i.e., intrinsic factor and transcobalamin II. Although R-binder is a family of immunologically identical glycoproteins found in human serum, many blood cells, and various body fluids, the functional role of R-binder still remains unclear. The localization of R-binder has been investigated in the salivary gland [1] as well as in the digestive tract [2] and in general human tissues [3]. In this immunohistochemical study, we examined the localization of R-binder in normal and tumorous human skin tissues with special focus on tumors of eccrine glands, because R-binder was found to be present in eccrine glands of normal skin. A possible role of R-binder in the local defense mechanism is discussed.


The rhizome is an infinite, dynamic root network without a main branch. It is not just a scientific term that describes the growth of fungi; the image of the rhizome also reflects today's interconnectedness of society driven by globalisation and digitisation. This article explores how rhizomatic structures are currently mirrored in criminal law (scholarship). First a distinction is drawn between the rhizomatic perspective and existing theoretical concepts for the description of global dependencies, such as the "world (risk) society". Second the article analyses how new criminal norms are needed to address newly created vulnerabilities. Such novel global vulnerabilities include e.g., computer crimes. Further, it is explained how a world-wide interconnectedness of vulnerabilities may lead to a convergence of criminal law standards. The paper concludes by advocating for an interconnected criminal law scholarship.


Spatial characterization of high harmonics (HH) and XUV coherent radiation is of paramount importance, along with its temporal characterization. For many applications it will be necessary to accurately measure the beam properties, just as it is important to know the beam characteristics for many laser experiments. For example, high harmonics and attosecond pulses are being proposed as a front-end for the next generation X-ray free electron lasers. This oscillator-amplifier-like arrangement will require well characterized high harmonic sources. On the other hand, the electromagnetic radiation carries the combined signature of underlying quantum physical processes at the molecular level and of the cooperative phase matching. For example, accurate reconstruction of the high harmonic spatial wavefront, along with its temporal profile, gives us a complete range of tools to apply to the fundamental quantum properties and dynamics associated with high harmonic generation. We present a new concept of frequency resolved wavefront characterization that is particularly suitable for characterizing XUV radiation. In keeping with tradition in the area we give it an acronym - SWORD (Spectral Wavefront Optical Reconstruction by Diffraction). Our approach is based on an analysis of the diffraction pattern of a slit situated in front of a flat-field spectrometer. As the slit is scanned, the spectrally resolved diffraction pattern is recorded. Analyzing the measured diffractogram, we can reconstruct the wavefront. The technique can be easily extended beyond the XUV spectral region. When combined with temporal characterization techniques all information about the beam can be measured.


Kim, Joohwan Ph.D., Purdue University, May 2010. Improving Performance of Wireless Networks Using Anycast. Major Professors: Ness B. Shroff and Xiaojun Lin. The wireless medium is characterized by a highly variable and unreliable environment that could lead to performance degradation in wireless systems, such as large delays, high energy consumption, and low throughput. In this thesis, we are interested in exploiting the broadcast nature of the wireless medium to mitigate the performance degradation caused by the wireless channel. The class of control solutions that exploit the resulting multi-receiver diversity gain are called "anycast." Essentially, with anycast, if the originally intended receiver is unavailable to relay the packet, the sending node can let another candidate node that successfully overhears the packet forward the packet. This opportunistic behavior can potentially lead to lower delay, higher throughput, and lower energy consumption. These performance gains, however, can be achieved only when the anycast policy is carefully designed. Otherwise, the dynamic routing choices made by the anycast policy could route packets to undesirable paths, resulting in deterioration of network performance. Furthermore, in a decentralized wireless network, the anycast policy must be designed such that every node determines its forwarding policy independently based only on limited local information. In this dissertation, we develop distributed anycast policies for various wireless applications that meet the above requirements. We first study how to design anycast policies for delay-sensitive event-driven wireless sensor networks, where events occur rarely. However, once an event occurs, event information needs to be reported to the command center as soon as possible. We jointly optimize the anycast policy with the sleep-wake scheduling policy to reduce the event reporting delays and to


Phlebitis is the most frequent complication due to OC (oral contraception) followed by cerebrovascular accidents. The frequency of cerebrovascular accidints is 4-5 times higher when it is of the ischemic type. Other complications are less frequently reported in the published literature often because their patogenicity is still unclear and the systemic metabolic changes induced by OC are not yet well known. Migraine is a serious contraindication to OC treatment or at least a good reason for terminating it. It seems that estrogens play a very important part in the production of other side effects such as cerebral venous occlusion neurophtalmological accidents and other neurological disorders. OCs are often uneffective when taken in combination with barbiturates and antiepileptic medications. Minidose pills seem to diminish the risk of all cerebrovascular and neurological side effects. (Summary in ENG)


With the development of optical links for space-ground communications (FSO) 11 comes the need to mitigate the effects of the atmospheric turbulence to guarantee a lossless 12 connection. By having a network of addressable ground stations, we want to guarantee to always 13 target a point where the link is available. Assuming atmospheric transmission is managed thanks 14 to site diversity, we focus only on the influence of atmospheric turbulence. In this paper, we 15 propose to use a Gaussian process metamodel to assess the statistics of the received optical 16 power after an adaptive optics correction. Taking as input only four integrated parameters of the 17 turbulence profile and associated wind profile, which can be measured with simple instruments, 18 the estimation error on the value of the 1% quantile of the received optical power is inferior to 19 0.7 dB. We also demonstrate the possibility to estimate the half correlation time of the received 20 optical power using the same integrated parameters. 21 © 2022 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement 22


Introduction Attraction of a Private Practice Is It Right For You? Selecting Options in Private Practice Setting Up Your Business Clinical Record Keeping and Paperwork Taxes Fee Setting, Collections and Bookkeeping Legal Aspects of a Private Practice Safety Issues Marketing Ethical Aspects of a Private Practice Retirement Planning Employees Hiring, Maintaining, Firing Additional Avenues of Private Practice Taking Care of Yourself


There is described an apparatus (1) and a method to facilitate a hydrostatic pressure increase in a fluid flowing in a first pipe (22), where the hydrostatic pressure increase is provided by means of a pumping device (3) being supplied with energy, the apparatus including: - an energy harvester (5) arranged to be able to draw a portion of an energy carried by a fluid flowing in a second pipe (28); and - a mechanical or hydraulic energy transfer device (9, 60) arranged to be able to transfer a portion of the energy absorbed by the energy harvester (5) to the pumping device (3).


A logistic-exponential model for analyzing response-time data involving regressor variables is modified to allow for non-consrarey of the hazard function. For the discrete observation case illustrated the logit of the probability of responding in a time interval cf arbitrary length is taken as the sum of a function of resressor variables and a function of the time variable. The particular functions chosen in the two medical examples analyzed are linear in the parameters involved. A polynomial function of time is employed in the absence of knowledge as to a more appropriate form. Various issues arising in the analysis made are discussed.


• Despite their similar sizes in 1960, Austin is now five times larger than Corpus Christi as a result of an average of 3% higher annual population growth rate. • In Austin, human capital development through education and skill training has played a key role in attracting capital investments, which in turn have promoted job and income growth. • Instead of expanding the hi-tech sector in Austin, Corpus Christi has relied on investments in heavy manufacturing and energy-related industries. Their exposure to different economic sectors was the most likely driver for their diverging growth paths in the last 60 years. A Tale of Two Cities (Redux) https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/2aed596dd7a34819b0f37675e88787...


This work aims to provide an experimental investigation into metal removal and micro-hardness through the Magnetic Abrasive Finishing process (MAF) and study the impact of some process parameters (feed rate, coil current, and spindle speed) on these responses with (1008-AISI) workpieces and spherical electromagnetic tool based on Taguchi design of the experiment using Minitab 17 software. The results show that metal removal was strongly affected by the feed rate, while the strongly influential variable on micro-hardness was the coil current. The highest value of metal removal rate is achievable at conditions 10 mm/min, 2.5 A, and 700 RPM for feed rate, coil current, and spindle speed respectively.


With the privilege of using mobile devices it is crucial to protect Smartphones by authenticating legitimate users, while blocking attacker's access. Biometric authentication consists of physiological and behavioural authentication. Behavioural authentication system on smartphones is based on creating a regular behavioural model using adaptive machine learning classifiers. This paper aims to establish a normal-behavioural model and comparing it with the existing established model. This paper also proposes a hybrid authentication scheme comprises of continuous authentication (CA) and implicit authentication (IA) based on touch gestures. Particularly, the 14 gestures were extracted from touch-based gesture data that was collected from users' interaction with Android smartphones. The first evaluation results on a set of dataset prove that a neural network classifier is better fit to authenticate different users. Next, the Practical Swarm Optimisation (PSO) Radial Basis Function Network (RBFN) classifier was used on the same datasets, which produced better results. Finally, users' data collected (actual dataset) was used to train and test all 6 classifiers including PSO-RBFN. The result of PSO-RBFN is the average error rate of 1.9%, which is encouraging. Moreover, combining the proposed CA scheme with an IA scheme, which is a pattern based will dramatically reduce the error rate to nearly 0. © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Peer-review under responsibility of organizing committee of the International Conference on Eco-friendly Computing and Communication Systems (ICECCS 2015).


Objective:To investigate the methylation status of thrombospondin 1 (TSP1) gene and protein expression of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) in gastric cardia adenocarcinoma (GCA). Methods:Methylation-specific PCR (MSP) was used to detect the methylation status of TSP-1 gene,RT-PCR and Western blotting were used to determine the mRNA and protein expression of TSP1 in cardia adenocarcinoa tissues and pericancerous tissues,respectively. Immunohistochemistry method was used to detect the protein expression of TGF-β1 in GCA tissues and corresponding normal tissues. Results:TSP1 gene was methylated in 34/96 (35.4%) GCA specimens,which was significantly higher than that in corresponding normal tissues(P0.001). The methylation frequencies of stage Ⅲ and Ⅳ GCA tissues were significantly higher than those in stageⅠandⅡ GCA tissues(P0.05). TSP1 mRNA and protein expressions in GCA tissues were significantly lower than those in corresponding normal tissues (P0.05) and were correlated with the methylation status.TGF-β1 protein expression was significantly increased in GCA tissues,fifty out of ninty six (52.1%) gastric cardia adenocarcinoma tisssues demonstrated positive immunostaining of TGF-β1 and the frequency of positive protein expression of TGF-β1 was significantly higher than that in corresponding normal tissues(P0.001). The protein expression of TGF-β1 was significantly increased with the increase in the TNM staging and decrease in the differentiation degree of GCA (P0.05). Hypermethylation of TSP1 was correlated with the protein expression of TGF-β1 in GCA tissues(P0.05).Conclusion:Promoter hypermethylation of TSP1 gene and overexpression of TGF-β1 protein are involved in the initiation and progression of gastric cardia adenocarcinoma. Gene silence induced by hypermethylation in the promoter region of TSP1 gene may be one of the mechanisms for oncogenesis of gastric cardia adenoma.


A 15-question questionnaire concerning EFL reading habits was administered to both freshmen and first-year graduate students who were taking English courses in the 1996-97 academic year at the Chinese Culture University. These 15 questions consist of basic conceptions of reading, the physical behaviors such as mouth, eye and hand movement or placement, and the habit of using reading skills such as previewing, skimming and scanning. Theories of the above questions derived from EFL experts and writers are taken as ideal or effective reading habits. These ideal or effective reading habits are compared with students' responses to the questionnaire questions to detect how the latter deviate from the former. In addition, comparison is made regarding undergraduate and graduate students' responses to the above questions. Finally, implications and guidelines for improvement of EFL reading instruction are drawn from the questionnaire findings.


To improve the lightning protection of large floating roof oil tank, the process of floating roof tanks stroked by lightning is analyzed, and relevant tests have been developed according to the standards. Test results indicate that the major role of conductive film is to release lightning current rapidly, but the presence of conductive films has their counter-effect. As long as conductive film exists, it will generate electric sparks when the floating roof tanks stroked by lightning. So the paper was proposed to abolish the conductive film on the second seal floating roof top edge and adopt scalable grounding device(SGD) as lightning protection measures. Empirical formula has been used to calculate the transient voltage drop when the 100000 m3 tank was stroked by lightning. The results show that the floating tank is safe when there are 20 SGDs uniformly connected with floating roof and tank wall.


Autophagy and the Keap1–Nrf2 system are major cellular defense mechanisms against metabolic and oxidative stress. These two systems are linked via phosphorylation of the ubiquitin binding autophagy receptor protein p62/SQSTM1 in the p62–Keap1–Nrf2 pathway. The p62–Keap1–Nrf2 pathway plays a protective role in normal cells; however, recent studies indicate that this pathway induces tumorigenesis of pre-malignant cells, and promotes the growth and drug resistance of tumor cells via metabolic reprogramming mediated by Nrf2 activation. These findings suggest that impairment of autophagy is involved in the acquisition of malignancy and maintenance of tumors, and furthermore, that p62/SQSTM1 could be a potential target for chemotherapy in cancers that harbor excess p62.


This paper reports a participatory case study of a locally based digital technology center, a FabLab in Bohol, Philippines. A FabLab offers a range of digital fabrication technologies to the local public, which potentially can be used for creating tools for work, prototyping and manufacturing products for sale, and a wide range of other purposes. The technologies typically include 3D printer, laser cutter, CNC milling machine, and others. A FabLab abide by its Charter, including the principle of openness to the public at least some of its operating hours. One of the authors were involved in the launch of the place, and the process of help locals to take advantage of the technological capacities for improving their living conditions. The paper argues that keys to the success are not simply technological capabilities. The facility needs active users who are willing to connect technological capabilities, locally available skills and resources, and market opportunities or local problems causing less-than desirable living conditions. The chance of such matching to occur is not necessarily high for localities in general. In Bohol, it was not a process that happens easily. There were a group of people interested in improving quality of local life and local economy who actively explored matching possibilities to arrive at some working combinations. In addition, it is pointed out that the existence of inter-local connections, specifically the organizational proximity with another FabLab located in Indonesia served as a crucial catalyst for bringing about the development of local craft product. In a more abstract terms, the case in authors' view points to the possibility that successful ICT-enabled development occur not just because of technological capabilities, but because of active body taking charge of matching process and inter-local network serving to complement otherwise scarce human resources and skills and ideas embedded in them. In order to connect this case more with existing body of scholarship on ICTs for development, this paper compares the nature of FabLab with telecenters, more prevalent form of locally based community technology centers. Limitations of telecenters in terms of contributing to development seem to exist with two types of passivity. First, the users may remain passive users of information services provided online. Second, the facility may be a passive provider of capabilities waiting for users. This is close to a local library open to the general public, although telecenters are not bound to be a passive institution. FabLab Bohol seems to be active in the sense that users are not just consumers of service, but creators of things that they use or sell. It is also active in that the core members running the Lab are active match-makers.


A photograph of Mr. William Field, photographed by A.L. Lehnkering, no. 158 East Main St., Rochester, New York. The photograph reads "conductor" on back.


From mid 7th century to mid 9th century,Tubo invaded into the western district and the Hexi Aisle in China,fighting with forces of Tang Dynasty for the Four Towns in Anxi area,and Dunhuang and so on.At that time they'd got so close touches with people from Sute,in Nanjiang、Hexi and even mid Asia in which they'd taken frequent activities,that even immigrants from Sute in Shanshan and Dunhuang districts became Tubo's inhabitants.What's more,people in Tubo and Sute had various communications in cultures for substance and sprit which took positive influences on the progress on mutual social economy.


This paper demonstrates how a genetic algorithm can be used to evolve a perfect tic-tactoe strategy, which never loses a game it plays.


Understanding factors that contribute to students' self-concept in science is an important task in boosting the number of students studying science and retaining students in science fields. A questionnaire was administered to science students at the University of Auckland in New Zealand (N = 693) to test a theoretical model of science self-concept tied to the work of Pierre Bourdieu. In this model, a student's social capital (i.e., relationships with parents, teachers and peers) and cultural capital (i.e., science related resources) are seen as key determinants of a student's belief that science is a domain in which they can succeed. Results from a Structural Equation Model (SEM) show that, of the factors included in the model, exposure to passionate science teachers during high school was the main predictor of science self-concept for our sample of university science students, while having peers who value science was also found to be important. Interestingly, science-related resources and parents' value of science were not significant predictors of science self-concept, but the number of university generations in the family did have a positive association. Students who self-identified as male had higher levels of science self-concept, even after accounting for social and cultural factors in our theoretical model. Implications of these findings are discussed in the context of the field of science education and Bourdieu's sociological theory.


This study assesses the outcomes of a process of planned change undertaken in a health care hospital environment in Lesotho in terms of service quality. A sample of 143 clinical and non-clinical employees from three of the largest regional hospitals within the Ministry of Health in Lesotho was drawn using cluster sampling. Data was collected using an adapted version of SERVQUAL whose psychometric properties were statistically determined. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results indicate that the process of transformation significantly contributed to all the sub-dimensions of service quality (tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy) except the process before restructuring which did not contribute to responsiveness, assurance and empathy respectively. Furthermore, all the sub-dimensions of the process of transformation significantly impact on the different sub-dimensions of service quality, although not optimally.


The article reviews and analysis the novel 'The Edge of the Alphabet' by New Zealand author, Janet Frame. Her novels are theoretical in their context rather than simply in their referencing or in their philosophical subject matter.


The utility model provides a windshield windshield wiper subassembly, include: have the scalable rain brushhead portion of first portion and second portion, the first portion is fixed to the pivot drive shaft, and the second portion can remove between stretching position and retracted position for the first portion, fixed guide track, fixed guide track and second portion joint are and guide the second portion between stretching position and retracted position, and the windshield wiper windshield wiper blade that carries on the second portion. Another kind of windshield windshield wiper subassembly is still provided. The utility model discloses a windshield windshield wiper subassembly simple structure, low in manufacturing cost are and advantageously provide the regional B windshield wiper coverage of increase.


The abstract should summarize the content of the paper. Try to keep the abstract below 200 words. Its uses are growing up day by day. There are different sectors which use hand held barcode scanning system. Instead of that we are going to implement automatic barcode scanner with billing system using Arduino. In our project we are performing multiple operations which are used for Scanning the barcodes, splitting the products one by one and it sending to the scanning sensor. We use the elevator for moving the Products from conveyor to the Scanning sensor block. For controlling the elevator function we are using the servomotor. The LCD Display is used to display the Total Number of Products that is Scanned or Billed.


AIM To investigate the potential neuroprotective effect of haloperidol on oxygen/glucose deprivation (OGD)- and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-induced injuries on rat hippocampal slices in vitro and hippocampal neurons in primary culture, and the possible mechanism. METHODS OGD was performed in glucose-free artificial cerebrospinal fluid bubbled with 95% N 2 + 5% CO 2 in rat hippocampal slices. The viability of the slices was determined by measuring TTC formazan product. Hippocampal slices and primary neurons were also used to determine the toxic effect of NMDA and the protective effect of haloperidol. RESULTS OGD for 1 h significantly decreased the TTC staining of hippocampal slices. Haloperidol at 1 and 10 μmol·L -1 significantly inhibited OGD-induced decrease by 17.7% and 25% respectively, but domperidone, a D 2 dopamine receptor antagonist, did not show this effect. Dopamine did not affect the viability of normal hippocampal slices. Like OGD insult, NMDA challenge significantly decreased both the viabilities of hippocampal slices and cultured primary neurons, which were prevented by haloperidol co-treatment. CONCLUSION Haloperidol exhibited protective effect on OGD-induced injury of rat hippocampal slices and NMDA-induced injuries on both hippocampal slices and primary neurons. Its effect on OGD insult may be via mechanisms beyond dopamine-receptor blockade, but probably related to NMDA-receptor inhibition.


Pyrus ×myloslavensis is a hybrid with intermediate characteristics of leaves and fruits inherited from its parental species P. salicifolia and P. communis. The aim of this study was to determine whether these intermediate nature of this taxon would be visible in the pollen and seed anatomy and morphology. In addition, the authors evaluated self-compatibility and crossability based on the observation of pollen tube growth. The investigations were carried out using light, fluorescence and electron microscopies and flow cytometer. Based on pollen and seed morphology the current study confirmed a hybrid origin of the investigated taxon. Especially, pollen grains had most features similar to both parental species. In respect to epidermal micromorphology, the seeds of P. ×myloslaviensis were like P. salicifolia, but anatomical structure of the seed coat of the hybrid was more consistent with P. communis. The data obtained from the current experiment showed that P. ×myloslavensis was self-incompatible and cross-compatible only with one of four tested P. communis cultivars ('Conference') and with P. salicifolia. In turn, the average genome size of the hybrid was smaller than putative parents.


The invention discloses wormwood cake. Cake stuffing of the wormwood cake comprises the following ingredients in parts by mass: 10 to 25 parts of wormwood powder, 20 to 45 parts of sticky rice powder, 5 to 20 parts of denucleated red dates, 5 to 15 parts of peanuts, 5 to 10 parts of sesame, 10 to 20 parts of mung bean, 2 to 5 parts of sweetening agents and 1 to 5 parts of corn oil, and cake wrappers comprises the following ingredients in parts by mass: 2 to 15 parts of wormwood powder, 10 to 35 parts of flour, 5 to 10 parts of sweetening agents, 3 to 20 parts of corn oil, 0.1 to 1 part of edible alkali and 0.01 to 0.04 parts of preservatives. The wormwood cake obtained and manufactured according to the manufacture method disclosed by the invention has the characteristics that the wormwood cake is soft but not sticky, the wormwood cake cannot crack after being stored for a long time, the flavor is fragrant, the color is attractive, and the nutrition is rich. The nutrition health care ingredients are improved, and the varieties of the cake are enriched. Meanwhile, the wormwood cake has the medical effects of relieving asthma and cough, protecting the liver and promoting the bile secretion. The wormwood cake meets the eating requirements of people, and also meets the people oriented and health consumption concepts in the modern society.


The aim of this study was determine the current levels of major and a trace element in vegetables was grown in Baghdad city, two region check in this study (Al-Taji, north of Baghdad and Al-Rashid south of Baghdad). Qualitative X-ray fluorescence analysis was used as technique for analysis of samples. Six different samples of plant are selected to study, which was tubers, leafy and fruiting. Samples checking was Lettuce, Bean, Apples, Potato, Cabbage and pear. Elements analysis as major elements were (Ca, K and Mn) and trace elements were (Fe, Cu, Pb, Sr and Zn). Results showed that concentrations of elements are in relative agree with the concentrations in neighbor countries and the standards of IAEU.


We propose a fast sequential algorithm for the fundamental problem of estimating frequencies and amplitudes of a noisy mixture of sinusoids. The algorithm is a natural generalization of Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (OMP) to the continuum using Newton refinements, and hence is termed Newtonized OMP (NOMP). Each iteration consists of two phases: detection of a new sinusoid, and sequential Newton refinements of the parameters of already detected sinusoids. The refinements play a critical role in two ways: 1) sidestepping the potential basis mismatch from discretizing a continuous parameter space and 2) providing feedback for locally refining parameters estimated in previous iterations. We characterize convergence and provide a constant false alarm rate (CFAR) based termination criterion. By benchmarking against the Cramér-Rao Bound, we show that NOMP achieves near-optimal performance under a variety of conditions. We compare the performance of NOMP with classical algorithms such as MUSIC and more recent Atomic norm Soft Thresholding (AST) and Lasso algorithms, both in terms of frequency estimation accuracy and run time.


Abstract. The ability of the liver to regenerate after parenchymal damage is usually accomplished by the ephemeral entry of normally proliferatively quiescent (G0) hepatocytes into the cell cycle. However, when hepatocyte regeneration is defective, arborizing ductules which are continuous with the biliary tree, proliferate and migrate into the surrounding parenchyma. In man these biliary cells have variously been referred to as ductular structures, neoductules and neocholangioles, and have been observed in many forms of chronic liver disease, including cancer. In experimental animals similar ductal cells are usually called oval cells, and their association with defective regeneration has led to the belief that these cells represent a progenitor cell population. Oval cells are thought to take over the burden of regenerative growth after substantial hepatocyte loss, suggesting that they are the progeny of facultative stem cells. The liver is not, however, generally considered as a stem cellfed hierarchy, although this is disputed by others. Despite this, the subject of oval cells has aroused intense interest as these cells may represent a target population for hepatic carcinogens, and they may be useful vehicles for ex vivo gene therapy.


The results of the scientific project developed in the Phoenician settlement of Cabezo Pequeno del Estano from 2014 onwards are offered in this paper. The main finding is a circular building with exceptional furniture and architectural features occupying a prominent spot within the urban framework. The furniture and objects brought to light by excavations have allowed knowing its function: silver metallurgy. The relevance of this activity underlines the prestige of the workshop itself and the artisans who worked on it along the 7 th century B.C.


Objective To study the influence of Huatan Quyu decoction on hyper-sensitive C-reactive protein( hs-CRP) and matrix metalloproteinase-9( MMP-9) in patients with acute ischemia stroke. Methods Seventy-nine patients of acute ischemia stroke with phlegm and blood stasis obstructing meridian were included and randomly divided into a treatment group( 40 cases) and a control group( 39 cases). Regular treatment was given in the control group,while based on the treatment in the control group,the Huatan Quyu decoction was additionally used in the treatment group. The level of hs-CPR and MMP-9 were measured before the treatment and 6 days into treatment; the TCM syndrome score and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale( NIHSS) were evaluated before the treatment and 12 days into treatment. Results Six days into the treatment,the levels of hs-CPR and MMP-9 were reduced in the treatment group,which was significant compared with that in the control group( P 0. 05); 12 days into the treatment,the TCM phlegm score was reduced in the treatment group,which was significant compared with that in the control group( P 0. 05). However,there were no significant differences of TCM blood stasis score and NIHSS between the two groups( P 0. 05). Conclusion The Huatan Quyu decoction could reduce the level of hs-CPR and MMP-9 in patients of acute ischemia stroke with phlegm and blood stasis obstructing meridian,which achieves the treatment effects by relieving inflammatory injury after cerebral ischemia.


The role of external beam radiotherapy (RT) in the management of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the oral cavity is well established. The local control for early tumours (T1 and T2 lesions), when managed with RT is comparable with surgery although a direct comparison in a randomized setting is lacking. Multimodality treatment using surgical resection, RT and chemotherapy are usually required for more advanced lesions. However, with recent refinement and advancement in reconstructive techniques, surgery has gained popularity in many centres, as functional impairment from modern free flap techniques is considerably less than older surgical techniques. Nevertheless, for small volume oral cavity tumours, radiotherapy still offers excellent local control and functional results. Some patients are often too frail or unwilling to undergo radical surgery. Therefore, radiotherapy remains an effective alternative to surgery. One of the potential disadvantages of RT for oral cavity cancer is osteoradionecrosis (ORN) of the mandible. This late effect of RT may contribute to continuing morbidity in patients that are otherwise cured of their cancers and should be prevented where possible. Numerous clinical and physical factors have been reported [1] to be associated with ORN; these factors are summarized in Table 1. However, the underlying cause of ORN is often speculative as most studies are retrospective and heterogeneous. The effect of radiotherapy field size or irradiated volume, as a treatment-related factor for ORN is not comprehensively established in the literature. We previously reported the relationship between normal tissue late effects and RT treatment volume in a cohort of 333 patients with SCC of the oral cavity treated with radical radiotherapy [2]. There was no grade 3 or 4 late morbidity seen at radiation doses of 50 Gy and 52.5 Gy in 3 weeks for volumes less than 700 cm 3 and 300 cm 3 , respectively.


There is generating a high-strength and / or complex welding (weld deposit) for a high impact toughness (impact toughness) to reduce the potential for hydrogen cracking welding electrode compositions are disclosed. In addition, a variety of high-strength and / or composition of the high impact toughness to reduce the possibility of hydrogen cracking is disclosed. FIG arc welding method involved using such a welding rod is also disclosed.


The interest for social economy makes us reflect on the form of social evolution. The development of society can no longer be conceived in a simplistic manner, as a strictly linear process in which all that has been done in the past has been exceeded, either by final incorporation in new solutions, or removed as history errors. Development runs, rather, on a zigzag course. Some experiments are unfairly and simplistically rejected, only to be resumed later within a new context. This is just the case of the subject theme of this book. Is social economy a completely new concept? Yes and no. Its substance is a restart of the tradition of cooperativism. We have to learn from history. After the Revolution, by a, hard to understand, extremism, the cooperativist tradition, both under the forms disturbed by the Romanian socialism, and under the traditional forms, both Romanian and foreign, was violently rejected; this may only be catalogued as detrimental misunderstanding. And, as any error, we still have to bear its effects. Actually, the whole Europe, except the post-revolutionary extremism in Romania, rather tolerated cooperativism as an oddity. We are beginning to use the plurality of the non-standard economic patterns as important resources, which we have to resume and amplify within the new context. Maybe just to mark this thing, there was a need to look for a new term. IQLR, in the spirit of its mission, allocated part of its resources to promote the plurality of social economy models.


Zebra is publicly available free routing software that is distributed under GNU General Public License. It supports the following IP routing protocols: BGP-4, RIPv1, RIPv2 and OSPFv2. Zebra is unique in its design because it has a process for each protocol that runs on a multithreaded UNIX kernel. Zebra software offers true modularity since each protocol module can be upgraded or configured independently of the others. Zebra support exists for Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD and SUN Solaris. This document covers the results of a study conducted for interoperability and functional testing of Zebra protocol modules with Cisco routers. Both systems are compared for their usability, functionality, and supported features.


The state patronage of "the Russian style" during Alexander's III reign can be explained by the Tsar's idea of reforming the institution of the Russian monarchy and imparting more national flavor to it that was typical of Peter's I time. The 17 th century style of the first Romanovs dominated in major architectural orders (Cathedral of Resurrection, monument to Alexander II in Moscow Kremlin, St. Peter and Paul's Cathedral in Peterghof, etc.). The highest power's order had a great impact on further development of 'historism' in art and elaboration of its creative method.


The paper defines the basic requirements regarding the contents of speeches that may be made by the participants in debates of the parties to judicial sessions.


Maria Roth-Lauret is Reader in American Studies (Literature) at the University of Sussex. She is the author of Liberating Literature: Feminist Fiction in America; Modern Novelists: Alice Walker (now in its second edition); and co-author of Beginning Ethnic American Literatures. She has recently been writing about Michelle Obama, and the work presented today is part of her forthcoming book Wander Words: Language Migration in American Literature, to be published by New York University Press.


Introduction was made to a type of automobile relay control system with CAN bus control module. The hardware and software design were discussed in detail. The control core based on PIC18F2480 microcontroller and CAN bus transceiver was built with an optimized hybrid control plan. The relay could switch high-current circuit with non-arc to realize the functions of intelligent control and real-time guard.


Proteasomes are large multisubunit protein complexes that have the main function to degrade unneeded or damaged proteins. A large fraction of the proteosomal proteins have been shown to have testis-specific isoforms in Drosophila melanogaster. In this issue of Fly, Sorourian and Betrán studied one of these isoforms —a young retroduplicate copy of Pros28.1 called Pros28.1A— and found that it also shows testis-specific transcription in all D. melanogaster subgroup species. This observation suggests that the testis-specific function of the Pros28.1A isoform is evolutionary conserved. Due to this conserved pattern of expression, the authors analyzed whether there is a common regulatory region that drives transcription of this isoform in different Drosophila species harboring this insertion. Surprisingly, their results revealed significantly different transcription start sites among the analyzed species, suggesting the possibility that different species evolved diverse regulatory sequences for the same pattern of expression.


Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective treatment for a variety of brain disorders, including Parkinson's disease, depression and chronic pain. However, there is no reliable method to non-invasively image electric current flow generated by a DBS. In this study, we demonstrate 4D current source density imaging based on the acoustoelectric (AE) effect, which integrates an ultrasound beam with electrical recording, to map current flow produced by a clinical DBS device. AE imaging was able to accurately determine the polarity, magnitude and location of the current densities near the DBS device placed in physiologic saline with a signal-to-noise ratio of 17.1 dB using stimulation parameters similar to what are used on patients. Pulse echo (PE) ultrasound was acquired simultaneously to provide additional information regarding the spatial coordinates and structure of the DBS without need of additional techniques. These results suggest that AE imaging combined with PE ultrasound may provide valuable feedback during and after implantation of a DBS device.


Several outcome studies have ruled out acute pulmonary embolism (PE) by normal computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA). We performed a meta-analysis in order to determine the safety of this strategy in a specific group of patients with a strict indication for CTPA, i.e. 'likely' or 'high' clinical probability for PE, an elevated D-dimer concentration, or both. Methods Studies that ruled out PE in patients with a strict indication for CTPA by normal CTPA were searched for in Medline, EMBASE, Web of Science and the Cochrane dataset. Primary endpoint was the occurrence of (fatal) thromboembolic events (VTE) in a three months follow-up period. Three studies were identified that excluded PE by CTPA alone (2020 patients) and three studies that performed additional bilateral compression ultrasonography (CUS) of the legs after normal CTPA (1069 patients). The pooled incidence of VTE at three months was 1.2% (95% CI 0.8-1.8%) based on a normal CTPA as a sole test and 1.1% (95% CI 0.6-2.0%) based on normal CTPA and negative CUS, resulting in NPVs of 98.8% (95% CI 98.2-99.2%) and 98.9% (95% CI 98.0-99.4%) respectively. Risk of fatal PE did not differ between both diagnostic strategies (0.6% vs. 0.5%). A normal CTPA alone safely excludes PE in all patients in whom CTPA is required to rule out this disease. There is no need for additional ultrasonography to rule out VTE in these patients.


The effect of incubation time with lymphokines on macrophage activities was studied by use of the phorbol myristate acetate-induced luminol-dependent chemiluminescence method and cytotoxicity test. When thioglycollate-elicited ICR mouse peritoneal macrophages were incubated with lymphokines, their ability to generate chemiluminescence increased biphasically during incubation. That is, within one day, it reached a maximal level at about 4 h (early response), and then progressively decreased to the control level. However, when the incubation time was further prolonged, it began to increase again, and reached about 2-fold the control level after 3 d (late response). The increase in the chemiluminescence of lymphokine-treated macrophages with increasing incubation time is not due to the increase in the macrophage cell numbers. In contrast to the clear biphasic increase in chemiluminescence, there was no clear biphasic increase in cytotoxicity in lymphokine-treated macrophages. The activities in the lymphokine supernatants to induce the early and the late chemiluminescent response in macrophages disappeared together with the activity to induce cytotoxicity, on dialysis at pH 2 for 24 h or on heating at 80°C for 30 min, but not at 56°C for 30 min. Although the lymphokines increasing macrophage chemiluminescence were separated into two fractions in Sephadex G-100 gel filtration, each fraction had both activities to induce the early and the late chemiluminescent response, and the major fraction largely corresponded to that of the activity to induce cytotoxicity. These results suggested that there is a lymphokine which alters macrophage chemiluminescence biphasically by itself, and it may be interferon-γ.