Requirements of scientific advancement in understanding of processes regulating carbon (C) balance in terrestrial/semi-aquatic ecosystems, and the roles of the ecosystems in exchange of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) between atmosphere and terrestrial biosphere are well recognized. However, only limited studies have been conducted to assess the roles and potentials of wetlands, semi-aquatic ecosystems, in C sequestration. Out of 7% of world's land is wetland. Thus, the study of C sequestration and the factors regulating it in a wetland will not only provide most needed knowledge for global C budgets, but also assess the possible integration of C sequestration in the objectives of creation and restoration of wetlands. The determination of stability of organic matter and assessment of roles of biotic and abiotic factors in regulating C exchanges between wetland ecosystems and the atmosphere may not only enhance the understanding of fundamental biogeochemical and eco-physical processes regulating C transformation in aquatic and terrestrial systems, but also help in the endeavors of reduction of anthropogenic CO 2 in the atmosphere with long-term parity, and enhance the accuracy of global C budgets.


To cope with today's urban motorway congestions and the inability to increase motorway capacity in urban environments requires the implementation of


Non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFBr) characterized by parenchymal destruction and ventilation/perfusion mismatch may cause hypoxia. Hypoxia strongly stimulates osteoclast-mediated bone resorption. We examined whether desaturation during 6 minute walk test (6MWT) was associated with increased osteoporosis and hospitalization in NCFBr. We enrolled 49 NCFBr and measured FEV 1 , 6MWT, and oxygen saturation by pulse oximetry (SpO 2 ) during 6MWT at baseline and every 3-6 moths for 5 years. Desaturation group was defined as a fall in SpO 2 ≥10% or NCFBr with desaturation group (n=34) had higher CT scores, lower FEV 1 and less walking distance. T score was significantly decreased in desaturation group (-3.7±1.1) compared to non-desaturation group (-2.2±0.7, p 2 (r= 0.46; p Non-cystic bronchiectasis patients with desaturation during 6MWT, who had lower FEV 1 and higher disease severity, were associated with accelerated osteoporosis and increased frequency of hospitalization.


Social Security faces an uncertain future. The combination of the baby boom's coming retirement and increasing life expectancy promises to drive the ratio of workers to retirees down to 2 to 1 some 30 years hence, half of what it was some thirty years ago. The system can maintain benefits for the next several decades at current tax rates by drawing down the reserves it is now able to accumulate during an era of demographic calm (although this will complicate other governmaent obligations because the return on the reserves finances other parts of the budget. But Social Security cannot make good on its benefits promises in the longer run without significantly higher payroll taxes or without adding to the returns on reserves. The imbalance Social Security faces is just over 2 percent of taxable payroll if it is addressed now. But the cost will mount as time passes.


The present invention relates to a method for separating and distilling the hydrocarbon-containing feed stream comprising olefin monomer by, comonomers and hydrocarbon diluent. The present invention further relates to a distillation system for implementing the method of the present invention the distillation column.


AIM: To study the expression of PKC β1 and PKC β2 in carcinoma tissue, dysplasia and intestinal metaplasia of early gastric carcinoma. METHODS: Forty two cases of early gastric carcinoma were randomly selected from the file of PUMH during 1998-2001. The expression of PKC β1 and PKC β2 was investigated by immunohistochemistry method. The staining pattern of PKC β1 and PKC β2 was compared among carcinoma,dysplasia, intestinal metaplasia,and normal gastric tissue. RESULTS: In normal gastric mucosa, PKC β1 dnd PKC β2 were strongly positive in fundic glandular epithelium, but negative in pyloric and entire surface of mucine-secretion epithelial cells. PKC β1 showed positive staining not only in the glandular cells at the neck region and but also in the follicular center cells of lymphoid tissue. However, PKC β2 was negative in those areas. Most importantly, PKC β1 demonstrated much stronger staining in carcinoma, dysplasia and intestinal metaplasia, especially in intestinal carcinoma, compared to normal gastric mucosa. There was no sig- niffcant difference of PKC β1 positivity between intramucosa carcinoma and submucosa carcinoma. CONCLUSION: The expression of PKC β1 may be related to the proliferation of gastric epithelium. Our findings strongly indicate that elevated expression of PKC β1 may be an early event in the pathway of gastric carcinogenesis.


Army aeromedical evacuation procedures in Vietnam provide service so that no soldier is more than 35 minutes away from a medical facility capable of giving definite, resuscitative life-saving treatment. The use of the helicopter as a life-saving vehicle has not yet reached its full potential. The experiences that the Army Medical Service has gained in utilization of helicopter ambulances can and should be translated to comparable civilian emergency health programs.


: The stability of a 1000 mm/1435 mm dual-gauge track is lower than that of a single-gauge track. One of the important factors that affects the stability of the track is the lateral resistance of the track bed. We have established a discrete element simulation model of the dual-gauge sleeper-track bed in PFC to analyse the characteristics of the lateral resistance of the 1000 mm/1435 mm dual-gauge sleeper. With China Type IIIc sleepers as the control group, we carried out the lateral resistance test for the full-scale sleeper model under the same conditions. The research results indicate that the most effective way to increase the lateral resistance of the dual-gauge track bed is to increase the end surface area and bottom area of the sleeper. The application of adjacent sleepers is an effective way to increase the lateral resistance of the track bed further. The research results gained from this study can be used to guide the design of dual-gauge sleepers.


The invention discloses a display method, system and device for conducting dynamic adjustment according to positions of the two eyes. The method includes the steps of firstly, calibrating two cameras which are installed on a front face plate of the display device; secondly, collecting eye position images through the two cameras; thirdly, processing the eye position images to obtain spatial position data of the two eyes; fourthly, automatically conducting dynamic adjustment on a display interface according to the spatial position data of the two eyes. By collecting the eye position images of the two eyes of a user through the two cameras which are installed on the front face plate of the display device, processing the eye position images to obtain three-dimensional spatial coordinates of the two eyes, judging data such as the distance between the eyes and the display device, and rotation and inclination of the head of the user, generating corresponding adjustment control instruments according to the data, and automatically conducting dynamic adjustment on display content and display settings, the display device is more intelligent and has better interaction performance.


pigment formation,1-2 s5-' wound healing,lO-ll and immunity.12 Exchange autografts were performed in man to study ~itiligo, '~-'~ amyloidosis,16 m~rphea , '~ s~leroderma,'~ acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans,15 allergic eczematous dermatitis:' fixed drug eruptions,18-n and hyperidrosis? The effects of autografts have been observed following plastic repairs for lupus erythematosus.24 Autografts to the eyebrow, hand, scalp, and other areas a t times have shown not only the hair growth desired on such grafts but also, occasionally, the development of unwanted


A selective call communication system (10) has a scanner (14), for retrieving the file from the source (26) information. The source file (26) comprises a region of interest in at least two formats format zone (50,52,54) in (42). The format of the at least two regions (50,52,54) comprises a first format region (50, 52) assigned to the first type information and second type assigned to the second format information zone (54). The scanner (14) further comprises an encoder (708) for encoding and compressing the information, and a modem (710), connected to the encoder (708) for forwarding the information to the selective call terminal (28) . The selective call terminal (28) has a receiver (202) for receiving information; and a processor (20), connected to the receiver (202), for processing the information. The processor (20) further comprises a first encoder (214), according to a first coding and compression techniques compress a first type of information and coding; and in accordance with a second coding and compression encoded and compressed second type of information. Information of at least one selective call receiver (30) connected to the transmitting processor (20) of a transmitter to be processed (40).


purpose: To observe the effect of ultrasound-guided intrafascial heat on ankle dorsiflexion of chronic gastrocnemius muscle injury contracture. Methods: 90 patients with chronic gastrocnemius muscle injury contracture were selected and these
 patients were randomized to three random groups (n=30): Static stretching therapy (group C), ultrasound-guided intrafascial hot needle release therapy (group R1), static stretching combined with ultrasound-guided intrafascial hot needle release therapy (group R2). Ankle dorsiflexion Angle
 (ADA) was measured before treatment, one week one month and three Months after treatment. Quantitative ultrasonography was used to evaluate the fascicle length (FL), pinnate Angle (PA) and muscle thickness (MT) of the medial gastrocnemic muscle, and the adverse reactions were recorded.
 Results: After treatment, ADA and FL increased, while PA and MT decreased in the 3 groups. In R2 group, ADA and FL increased and PA and MT decreased at one week, one month and three Months after treatment, which were better than those in R1 group and C group (P < 0.05);
 ADA, FL, PA and MT in group R1 at one week after treatment had no statistical significance compared with group C (P > 0.05), but the ADA, FL and PA and MT were higher than patients in group C (P < 0.05), and no serious complications occurred during the treatment. Conclusion:
 Ultrasound-guided intrafascial thermal needle release combined with static stretching can significantly improve the ankle dorsiflexion angle and restore muscle function in patients with chronic gastrocnemius muscle injury contracture, with definite efficacy and few adverse reactions,
 which is worthy of clinical promotion.


To improve the electric conductivity of wollastonite, the surface modification of wollastonite particles was studied. Taking wollastonite powders as raw materials, the tin chloride pentahydrate and antimony chloride as coating modifiers, the nano-sized antimony-doped tin oxide wollastonite composite particles were obtained by the method of chemical deposition. The effect of different processing parameters on preparing composite powders was investigated. The composite was characterized by transmission electron microscope, EDX, whiteness apparatus, grain size analyzer, and surface area analyzer. The results show that the whiteness of wollastonite particles reduces from 91.7% to 90.5%. The particle size increases from 10.81 to 11.46 μm. The specific surface area is increased from 1.406 8 to 3.653 2 m2/g. The resistivity declines from 3.36 ×1010to0.85×105Ω·cm.


Charge transport in disordered materials, such as organic and amorphous inorganic semiconductors, is often modeled in a stochastic framework. The microstructure of the disordered material is interpreted as a realization of a stochastic model and, given a realization of this model, the charge transport process itself is treated as a random process. In this paper, we give an introduction to this combined stochastic modeling approach. We first describe the basic physics underlying charge transport in disordered materials. Then, we discuss stochastic models of the material and the charge transport process. In organic semiconductors, charge transport is modeled either by a continuous-time random walk in a random environment or an interacting particle system in a random environment. In amorphous inorganic semiconductors, charge transport is modeled by a continuous-time random walk in a deterministic environment. In the organic semiconductor case, the resulting stochastic models need to be solved using numerical methods. As such, we discuss Monte Carlo methods for estimating charge transport properties. In particular, we discuss a recently developed method, Aggregate Monte Carlo, which can be used to significantly speed up Monte Carlo simulations. Finally, we discuss the problem of modeling recombination in organic semiconductors.


The present invention provides an apparatus and method for attachment between intersecting stent members and a covering or graft. The attachment fixes the covering relative to selected intersections of the stent members and prevents the covering from wrinkling, crimping, or sliding during radial expansion of the stent. In a preferred embodiment, the attachment comprises a continuous filament passing through the stent covering and looping around stent members between selected intersections and knotted around the intersecting stent members at selected intersections.


ZnO nanowire arrays parallel to the substrate are directly deposited by magnetron sputtering on the top of nanometric silicon line patterns prepared as a template. This method of synthesis is very simple and avoids the complicated steps of ZnO lithography. The nanoline template patterns are created by laser interference lithography combined with deep reactive ion etching. The assembly and the alignment of the nanowires after the deposition process are studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The dimensions of the nanowires are regulated by those of the nanoline template patterns. The nanowires of 150 nm in width, 90 nm in height, 20 mm in length are fabricated especially for the study of their microstructure and photoluminescence effects. The microstructure is explored by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high-resolution (HR) transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The nanowires show well-crystallized ZnO nanograins in the hexagonal wurtzite structure with a (002) preferential orientation on the (100) silicon surface. The nanowires exhibit a typical photoluminescence spectrum of ZnO.


According to the papers included in the database of CAJD(China Academic Journal Network Publishing Database),the published papers of Beijing Forestry University from 1952 to 2008 are statistically analyzed based on the number of papers included,distribution of discipline,publication of different kinds,citation frequency,cooperative organizations etc.By adopting the methods such as document calculation,numerical comparison and grouping statistic analysis,this paper provides the reference basis for evaluating the performance and efficiency of scientific research,the level of discipline development and the future developing trends of Beijing Forestry University.The authors put forward suggestions of laying great emphasis on teachers' papers of SCI,and inspiring their publication of papers in higher level Chiense journals.


Background: The traditional crop varieties and modern cultivars grown by farmers are important source for food security and support the livelihoods of the majority in Africa. Sorghum improvement can be achieved by the utilization of the wide range of diversity existing in sorghum, which can lead to improvement of people's sustainable livelihoods, agricultural productivity and economic development. Methodology: The performance of 19 grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) genotypes was assessed under water stress conditions using agro morphological and Inter Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSRs) markers. Two field experiments were executed during the summers of 2012 and 2013 at Shambat Experimental Farm, Sudan. A split-plot design with three replications were used to layout the field experiment. The sorghum genotypes were evaluated in the field under normal irrigation and water stress conditions. Data was collected to determine genotypic variability among the grain sorghum genotypes and to estimate the phenotypic correlation coefficients between different traits. In addition, the genetic diversity of the genotypes was determined by ISSRs. Results: The results showed that, drought stress caused significant reduction in most of the studied characters. Significant differences among the genotypes were found for all characters studied. The sorghum genotypes showed differential yield response to drought stress. High grain yield (t haG1) was exhibited by genotypes HSD7511 and HSD8849 which gave 2.3 and 3.7 t haG1, respectively. Grain yield (t haG1) was significantly and positively correlated with grain yield per plant and other yield components. However, it had no significance and negative association with plant height and days to maturity. Based on DNA markers analysis (ISSR), high level of polymorphism was detected among the 19 sorghum genotypes. Conclusion: From the 19 grain sorghum, accessions HSD7511 and HSD8849 gave the highest yield under drought stress. Drought stress affected significantly yield and yield components than the vegetative growth. The ISSR technique was efficient in determining the genetic diversity among the 19 sorghum genotypes and thus can be exploited further to establish consistent heterotic group between sorghum genotypes.


In order to operate in human environments, a robot's semantic perception has to overcome open-world challenges such as novel objects and domain gaps. Autonomous deployment to such environments therefore requires robots to update their knowledge and learn without supervision. We investigate how a robot can autonomously discover novel semantic classes and improve accuracy on known classes when exploring an unknown environment. To this end, we develop a general framework for mapping and clustering that we then use to generate a self-supervised learning signal to update a semantic segmentation model. In particular, we show how clustering parameters can be optimized during deployment and that fusion of multiple observation modalities improves novel object discovery compared to prior work. Models, data, and implementations can be found at https://github.com/hermannsblum/scim


In this paper, an integrated noise source realized with silicon Schottky diodes is presented. To this aim, dedicated test structures have been designed and characterized; the corresponding Schottky diodes feature an avalanche breakdown voltage close to −6 V. When biased around this breakdown voltage (their anode is grounded), an adjustable Excess Noise Ratio, ranging between 4 dB to 20 dB, was achieved in D-band. Hence, because of its ability to be integrated within a Si process, one can strongly expect the use of this solid state noise source for high frequency in-situ noise characterization of advanced Si CMOS or BiCMOS technologies, with the aim to target millimeter-wave applications.


During the period of "Twelfth Five-Year Plan", China's energy structure is dominated by coal. Due to a few reasons in our country, such as uneven distribution of coal resources, the bottlenecks of railway transportation, the problems of coal resources integration as well as the bad weather and other factors, China's coal supply presents the characteristics of fluctuation and uncertainty which make it difficult to meet the demand for coal. To ensure the stable supply of national energy, there is need to determine a reasonable coal inventory level. This has a vital significance with regard to China's security of energy supply during the period of "Twelfth Five-Year Plan". Based on the previous research on safety stock, the article establishes a new model of safety coal inventory, aiming at coal production, coal demand uncertainty, the customer service level and other specific circumstances .The article offers a new train of thought for early warning in coal industry and has provided the basis for forecasting coal safety inventory during the period of "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" .In 2011, the actual data basically coincide with the predicted model data, establishing a preliminary evidence that the model is basically reasonable and effective.


Measurements of the surface energy balance, the structure and evolution of the convective atmospheric reef layer (CARL), and local meteorology and hydrodynamics were made during June 2009 and February 2010 at Heron Reef, Australia, to establish the relative partitioning of heating within the water and atmosphere. Horizontal advection was shown to moderate temperature in the CARL and the water, having a cooling influence on the atmosphere, and providing an additional source or sink of energy to the water overlying the reef, depending on tide. The key driver of atmospheric heating was surface sensible heat flux, while heating of the reef water was primarily due to solar radiation, and thermal conduction and convection from the reef substrate. Heating and cooling processes were more defined during winter due to higher sensible and latent heat fluxes and strong diurnal evolution of the CARL. Sudden increases in water temperature were associated with inundation of warmer oceanic water during the flood tide, particularly in winter due to enhanced nocturnal cooling of water overlying the reef. Similarly, cooling of the water over the reef occurred during the ebb tide as heat was transported off the reef to the surrounding ocean. While these results are the first to shed light on the heat budget of a coral reef and overlying CARL, longer‐term, systematic measurements of reef thermal budgets are needed under a range of meteorological and hydrodynamic conditions, and across various reef types to elucidate the influence on larger‐scale oceanic and atmospheric processes. This is essential for understanding the role of coral reefs in tropical and sub‐tropical meteorology; the physical processes that take place during coral bleaching events, and coral and algal community dynamics on coral reefs.


Questions of inclusivity and transformation are central in higher education. In South Africa, these imperatives have the additional weight of post-apartheid redress. Attempts to address these questions seldom contemplate how transformation will be achieved. Efforts to achieve transformation often don't attend to the critical question of how to nurture relationships among academics. We argue that building trust and a sense of belonging expands notions of academic development and transformation. In this article we discuss the Next Generation Professoriate (NGP), a mid-career academic development initiative at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Building human connections was an intentional part of this initiative's transformative process. The programme emphasized global South location as a commonality as it sought to encourage new forms of knowledge production and collaboration. Keywords: university transformation, academic promotion, career development and support, mentoring, trust, collegiality, southern theory


Bi is a pollution-free low-melting-point metallic element, and it is highly promising as a solid lubricant in sintered alloy sliding materials. Using a rotary wear tester, we investigated wear characteristics under current collecting conditions of Cu-based sintered alloy pantograph contact strips added Bi of 2 to 3%. The Bi-added alloys have exhibited a huge drop of wear rate of both contact strip and simulated contact wire. However, the wear rate of Bi-added alloys was large under arc-discharging conditions. It is conceivable that the difference of temperature dependency on the wear properties of the alloys is a major cause. In addition, the distribution of a low-melting-point element affects the temperature dependence of the wear characteristics. We therefore carried out tests under running-vehicle conditions at a distance exceeding 10,000 km to examine their performance. The wear rate of Bi-doped alloys of the vehicle was equivalent to the level of current materials.


Consensus regarding compression following treatment of varicose veins has yet to be reached. This systematic review aims to establish the optimal compression regimen after venous treatment.


Adequate oxygen supply to granulating tissue and its surroundings is considered as an elementary factor to render an optimum condition for proper wound healing. This paper focused on comparing the quantitative mean of transcutaneous oxygen saturation (StO2) between acute superficial wounds and chronic diabetic wounds in a randomized clinical study. A multispectral imaging system was employed for in-vivo measurement of wound StO2 across a visible wavelength range of  nm. Processed StO2 maps of wounds using a reconstructed mathematical model revealed a mean StO2 of  and , respectively, in acute and chronic wounds. The statistical test on the difference in the values between these two groups of wounds was shown to be statistically significant (). These crucial findings contribute to the existing knowledge on the StO2 range and its variation in different wound conditions. In conclusion, the proposed multispectral imaging system is able to produce clinical information of wound oxygenation level for a better understanding of the obligatory role of oxygen as a key determinant in healing outcomes.


—, Oct. 10, 1906. To the Editor: —One would infer from recent protests on the subject of fees for life-insurance examinations that the casus belli is of recent origin, and yet with a few notable exceptions the companies that now pay less than a minimum fee of $5 have had a graded fee bill for many years. The only companies which I now recall that have recently adopted a graded fee bill are the Equitable, Mutual Life, Home Life, Germania, Security Mutual and Phoenix Mutual. In my opinion, a graded fee bill is wholly wrong, unequitable and untenable, both in principle and practice, and if you will allow me space I will endeavor to show the logic of my position. We are told that the medical fee should be in reasonable proportion to the premium received, and again that the policy holder can afford to pay but a small medical


To the Editor: Hereditary stomatocytosis is a rare autosomal dominant disorder that presents with various degrees of hemolytic anemia and abnormal red blood cell (RBC) morphologies.1 Among hereditary stomatocytoses, hereditary dehydrated stomatocytosis (DHSt) is osmotically resistant with elevated mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration.2 DHSt can be misdiagnosed as myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) because of hypercellular bone marrow (BM) with erythroid hyperplasia and dysmegakaryopoiesis.3 A 23-year-old man had been initially diagnosed with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and showed no response to steroid treatment or intravenous immunoglobulin. The laboratory findings at the time of admission to our hospital were summarized in Supplementary Table S1. A minor proportion of RBCs appeared as stomatocytes on peripheral blood (PB) smear (Figure 1A). BM showed hypercellularity with less than 1% blasts. Erythroid precursors revealed profound megaloblastoid maturation pattern and multiple Howell–Jolly bodies (Figure 1B). Mitotic cells were frequently found (Figures 1C and 1D). The presumptive BM morphologic diagnosis was MDS with multilineage dysplasia. We performed targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) to exclude the underlying genetic cause of the conspicuous "stomatocytosis", even though various poikilocytoses of RBCsmay be seen in case of MDS.3 Molecular analysis using a custom capture/NGS gene panel of 199 known BM failure syndromes/hemolytic anemias including the PIEZO1 gene was performed in the proband. The study was approved by the institutional review board of The Catholic University of Korea. Massively parallel sequencingwas performedonHiSeq 2000 Sequencing System (Illumina, Inc., San Diego, CA). Single nucleotide variants and small insertions/deletionswere identified by theGATKHaplotypeCaller and annotated with SnpEff v4.2. An intronic mutation c.465+1G > T of PIEZO1 was identified (RefSeq ID: NM_001142864.2). Its variant frequency was reported as 0.000804 in the Korean Reference Genome Database (http://18.104.22.168/KRGDB/menuPages/intro.jsp), but not in any public sequence databases. Sanger sequencing was performed in the proband and his family members and the presence of splice site mutation was confirmed only in the proband (Figure 1E). Cloning of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction products revealed two clones: a wild-type allele (gt of c.465+1_c.465+2) and a pathogenic allele with alternative weak donor site gc of intron 5 (gc of c.465+7_c.465+8) (Figure 1F). Based on these results, the patient was diagnosed as DHSt with PIEZO1mutation. The two major findings of DHSt are unexplained nonimmune hemolytic anemia and abnormal stomatocytes ranging from 40% to 60%on the PB smear.4 Identification ofmutations in PIEZO1 as the primary cause of DHSt has led to both an increased awareness of the disease and an increased importance of genetic diagnosis in unexplained anemia.5 In this study, it was possible to diagnose the patient with DHSt through genetic testing because he did not present the findings relevant to MDS. The potential role of PIEZO1 in RBC physiology is most clearly demonstrated by numerous gain-of-function mutations in PIEZO1 that have been identified in DHSt.6,7 The mutations in PIEZO1 lead to increased activity of the channel due to delayed channel inactivation and increased cation transport.6 Several PIEZO1mutations may exhibit an altered response to osmotic stress and impaired membrane trafficking, with some possibly resulting in increased erythrocyte dehydration.8 This report describes DHSt caused by a novel intronic PIEZO1mutation.


As one of the busiest international airports, Hong Kong International Airport has to handle a large number of flights every day. It is essential for air traffic controllers to assign flight schedules within a short period of time. Under extreme weather, especially when tropical cyclones edge close to Hong Kong, it is of great importance to arrange the flights to perform appropriate actions such that aviation safety could be guaranteed. Thus, an accurate weather forecast is paramount under such circumstances. SARIMA model is adopted in this paper to predict wind speed for flights. A network model has also been constructed using the prediction of wind speed from the SARIMA model to minimise the time required for the flights to be landed on the runway.


Objective
 To evaluate toxicity of varying doses of Infliximab injecting intravitreally in rabbits. Infliximab, an FDA approved anti-inflammatory drug for Rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease. It has been reported as an alternative or adjunct drug to chronic recurrent uveitis especially Behcet's disease, Diabetic retinopathy and PVR

Materials and Methods
Twenty New Zeland albino rabbits were used for this study and divided into five groups (n=4 each). ARVO guidelines were followed in treatment of animals. The rabbits were injected intravitreally with, 0.125mg 0.250mg, 0.500mg, 1.25mg or 2.5mg Infliximab in 0.1 ml in one eye and 0.1 ml saline solution was used in the contralateral eye. All the animals were examined using indirect ophthalmoscopy and slit-lamp biomicroscopic examination before intravitreal injection and at days 1,7 and 14. An ERG was performed before any treatment and at day 14. On day 14 the animals were euthanized. Histological preparations of the enucleated eyes were examined for retinal toxicity.

Results
We found no retinal toxicity up to 1.25mg groups according to ERG results and Histological signs. 1of 4 eyes in the 2.5mg group had some significant decrease in Electroretinogram and histological toxicity signs.

Conclusions
Infliximab injection up to 1.25 mg is nontoxic to the rabbit's retina. Intravitreal injected Infliximab may be a useful treatment for Uveitis especially Behcet's disease, Diabetic retinopathy, Age Related Macular Degeneration and Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy.


Transient ischemic attack (TIA) carries a substantial short-term risk for stroke, which is a leading cause of disability and death in the United States. Despite the existing evidence-based guidelines for secondary prevention of stroke, variability in the assessment, diagnostic testing, and treatment of patients with TIA in actual clinical practice remains. Identification of stroke etiology via radiological examination is of paramount importance for the appropriate treatment of patients after TIA or stroke. Management of ischemic stroke or TIA includes lifestyle modifications, reduction of modifiable risk factors (eg, hypertension, diabetes, and elevated cholesterol), and appropriate therapeutic treatments. Antiplatelet therapy is the cornerstone of secondary prevention of stroke; guidelines for its use for noncardioembolic cases have been developed from a solid evidence base. Additional therapeutic approaches include HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins), antihypertensives, and anticoagulants. The results of ongoing large trials will further clarify the role of specific antiplatelet agents for the secondary prevention of stroke in patients with noncardioembolic ischemic stroke


This study examines whether a computer-based knowledge repository can enhance organizational memory in learning from failure. Although it is generally believed that a computer-based knowledge repository enhances organizational memory, some previous studies have found a paradoxical effect. That is, some have argued that since knowledge information is stored in a computer-based repository, a member of the organization does not need to memorize the information, and thus it may not enhance organizational memory. We conducted a questionnaire survey in a company that has successfully implemented organizational learning from failure while using a computer-based knowledge repository daily. The results showed that (1) the computer repository does not enhance organizational memory directly, but rather (2) mediated through augmentation of both soft and hard memory such as brain memory and documents respectively and that (3) the soft and hard memories augment the organizational memory. Then, based on the results of the analysis, we argued that a computer does not directly enhance organizational memory, but that the organizational routine of utilizing a computer may enhance organizational memory.


The characterization and understanding of carbon flows in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems are topics of paramount importance for several disciplines, such as ecology, biogeochemistry, oceanography, and climatology. Scientists have been studying such flows in many diverse ecosystems for decades, and sufficient information is now available to investigate whether any patterns are evident in how carbon flows in ecosystems and to determine the factors responsible for those patterns. In particular, a wealth of information exists on the movement of carbon through the activity of herbivores and consumers of detritus (i.e., decomposers and detritivores), two of the major agents of carbon flows in ecosystems. This chapter analyzes the transference of carbon through herbivory and decomposition in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, documents the nature and implications of salient patterns, and explains why those patterns emerge.


In 2020, more than 33 million people in Vietnam, over 50% of whom are women, join the middle class, living in large cities. Tourism, especially outbound tourism, is one of the 3 main spending needs of middle-class women. The female traveler market in Vietnam is gradually increasing in scale and considered to be a unique segment. In this research, based on the theory of planned behavior and diagram analyzing the process of visiting destinations, the author classified 4 groups of behaviors including destination selection, destination activities, destination spending, and reference information from 270 Vietnamese women on outbound trips by using descriptive statistics methods. The result showed that they share the common desires of culinary discoveries, the prevalence of self-sufficiency, technology proficiency, and the need to expand the geographical scope of destinations outside of Asia. From that, the research assisted international tour operator groups in Vietnam to formulate tour programs, PR and marketing strategy development proficiently, to offer the female travelers segment an excellent traveling experience.


The CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) program has become a crucial issue for corporate sustainability in recent years. The new CSR approach has included the introduction of characteristics of sustainability adopted from ISO 26000. Integration of CSR with business operations is an essential factor but rarely implemented by oil & gas companies, even though they have a strong commitment to conduct CSR programs as part of their business process. Furthermore, many CSR programs actually do not have a direct relationship with the actual oil & gas operations, and are executed on a spending basis only. In fact, particularly in developing countries, companies still face problems with their local communities, even when th ey have spent a lot of money on their CSR programs. Community or city gas is a CSR program which can be implemented in the oil & gas industry. It follows the operation-integration paradigm and will deliver natural gas from the field operated by the company to the surrounding community. The community will therefore directly gain benefits from the company's operations, while the company can convey its CSR program and maintain its profitability at the same time. The "city gas" program implemented by Medco can be further enhanced, and similar programs in other fields can be established. This program shows that the company can therefore run an operation-based CSR effectively by integrating CSR within the company operation. The program is part of the company's efforts to implement the principles of triple-bottom-line economic, social and environmental considerations to cover all business activities and ensure their sustainability in the future. * MEDCO E&P Indonesia INTRODUCTION Corporate Social Responsibility The term CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) generally refers to the commitment of business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while taking into account people, communities, society at large and the environment (Gustafson, 2006). In practical terms, CSR, also known as corporate citizenship or corporate conscience, is a form of corporate responsibility for the community. There are two contrasting views on CSR activities. One view argues that the principal task of a company is to produce economically in accordance with the demands of the investors who have invested funds in their company. Therefore the argument is that companies which undertake CSR are unethical because they are not fulfilling the main aim of the investors, which is, of course, to make a profit. The second view argues that companies should implement CSR for the reason that a company is a living entity doing business within the community and therefore has an obligation to that community in effect the company has a social contract w ith the local community. However, this contract might conflict with the expectations of the company shareholders. As corporate organizations develop awareness of CSR, organizations will typically go through a fivestage learning curve (Zadek, 2004), as shown in Table 1, i.e. defensive, compliant, managerial, strategic, and civil.


Recent studies support an important role of epigenetic variations in linking early nutritional involvement to adult susceptibility to disease. The details of molecular pathways associated with this susceptibility later in life are not clear. Current applications of epigenomics tools, such as chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-based approaches, in the studies of both DNA-binding factors and histone modifications have produced comprehensive and intriguing results. This rapid development of ChIP-based technologies makes it possible to examine diet-related epigenetic alterations on a genome-wide scale.

From both human epidemiologic data and mouse models, increasing evidence shows a strong relationship between early nutritional stimuli and chronic diseases in adulthood, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and cancer.1–3 Early nutritional perturbation can influence the epigenetic status of the genome and lead to later changes in phenotype.4,5 Therefore, epigenetic variations, which might be modified by differential dietary intake, comprise the potential mechanistic link between early nutritional perturbation and adult susceptibility to certain diseases.

The word "epigenetics" was originally coined to categorize those phenomena that could not be explained by genetic principles.6 Currently, epigenetics is defined as the study of those phenomena that can change gene expression and cell phenotype without altering the genotype, i.e., the DNA sequence.7,8 The link between epigenetics and nutrition may become clearer if epigenetics is viewed in the context of the three layers of regulatory networks (Figure 1). In this model, the core layer is the DNA sequence, which contains protein-coding genes, regulatory units, and even some non-coding elements of unknown functions. The genetic information in all cells of one organism is the same, and therefore the differential expression of cells has to be based on more adjustable systems. The outer layer of the regulatory network includes various signal transduction pathways and other metabolic …


We present results from simultaneous observations of the high-mass X-ray binary system Cygnus X-1 / HDE 226868 with Suzaku, Chandra-HETGS, XMM-Newton, RXTE, INTEGRAL, and Swift in 2008 April. Performed shortly after orbital phase 0, when our line of sight to the black hole passes through the densest part of the O-star's wind, these obervations show common transient absorption dips in the soft X-ray band. For the first time, however, we detect a simultaneous scattering trough in the hard X-ray light curves. The more neutral clump is thus only the core of a larger ionized blob, which contains a significant fraction of the total wind mass. The diluted wind outside of these clumps is almost completely photoionized.


..................................................................................I LIST OF PUBLICATIONS ARISING FROM THE THESIS ............................... IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................. VII TABLE OF CONTENT ...................................................................................... VIII LIST OF TABLES.................................................................................................. XI LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................. XIII LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................... XV LIST OF SYMBOLS ....................................................................................... XVIII CHAPTER


Gene therapy may be described as the use of genes as medicines to treat disease, or, more precisely, as the delivery of nucleic acids by means of vectors to patients for some therapeutic purpose (Thanou, M. et al., 2007). The major goal of gene therapy is to introduce a functional gene into a target cell and restore protein production that is absent or deficient due to a genetic disorder (Neeltje, A. et al., 2003). This approach is a potentially powerful method for the treatment of diseases for which classical pharmacotherapy is unavailable or not easily applicable. Gene therapy is a therapeutic modality with enormous promise, which is also considered to have failed to deliver much of therapeutic significance in spite of all the apparent clinical interest. Clinical trial activity in gene therapy began in 1989, peaked in 1999, and is now currently declining (Thanou, M. et al., 2007). This decline was marked by some clinical trial problems, including a death from toxic liver shock during an adenovirus-based clinical trial in 1999 (Marshall, E., 2000), the anomalous appearance of a transgene in the gonads during adeno-associated virus-based preclinical trials in 2001 (Arruda, V. R. et al., 2001), signs of hypertension in lipofection clinical trials in 2005 (Pro-1) (MacLachlan, I. et al., 1999), and the development of leukemia in retrovirus-based clinical trials for ex vivo treatment of X-linked severe combined immunedeficiency (X-linked SCID) (Cavazzana-Calvo, M. et al., 2004; Gaspar, H. B., & Thrasher, A. J., 2005). Lessons from those frustrated results suggest that more basic research is required in gene therapy study, including mechanism of diseases and features of viral vectors. In order to modify a specific cell type or tissue, the therapeutic gene must be efficiently delivered to the cell, so that it will express at the appropriate level for a sufficient duration. Thus, identifying the ideal means of carriage for viral gene therapy is the key rate-limiting step in the development of most promising gene therapy strategies. In spite of long-term and extensive efforts to develop in vivo gene delivery systems, little achievements have been reported, especially as far as clinical applications are concerned. Apparently, the development of gene delivery systems will be one of the most critical issues for the success of in vivo gene therapy. Over the years, two broad approaches have been used to deliver therapeutic genes to cells, viral vectors and non-viral vectors. These two kinds of vectors are different as regard to


Knowing that microbial transformations of compounds play vital roles in the preparation of new derivatives with biological activities, risperidone and its chiral metabolites were determined by capillary electrophoresis and hollow fiber liquid‐phase microextraction after a fungal biotransformation study in liquid culture medium. The analytes were extracted from 1 mL liquid culture medium into 1‐octanol impregnated in the pores of the hollow fiber, and into an acid acceptor solution inside the polypropylene hollow fiber. The electrophoretic separations were carried out in 100 mmol/L sodium phosphate buffer pH 3.0 containing 2.0% w/v sulfated‐α‐CD and carboxymethyl‐β‐CD 0.5% w/v with a constant voltage of −10 kV. The method was linear over the concentration range of 100–5000 ng/mL for risperidone and 50–5000 ng/mL for each metabolite enantiomer. Within‐day and between‐day assay precisions and accuracies for all the analytes were studied at three concentration levels, and the values of relative standard deviation and relative error were lower than 15%. The developed method was applied in a pilot biotransformation study employing risperidone as the substrate and the filamentous fungus Mucor rouxii. This study showed that the filamentous fungus was able to metabolize risperidone enantioselectively into its chiral active metabolite, (−)‐9‐hydroxyrisperidone.


In 1989 the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued a policy requiring all states to have a Pavement Management System (PMS) that would cover principal arterials under state jurisdiction. The scope of federal and state involvement in pavement management expanded when Congress passed the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) and required all states to have a PMS that covers all Federal-aid highways. This article reviews FHWA PMS requirements under ISTEA, points out the advantages of having a PMS, and gives an item-by-item perspective on current practices, future trends, and common hurdles of the PMS. Concluding remarks concern the future implementation of the PMS.


Simultaneous deficiency of Vitamin B12 and iron induces that the bone marrow erythroid megaloblastosis and peripheral blood macroovalocytosis are masked because of countervailing the tendency of iron deficiency to produce hypochromic microcytic erythrocytes. We report two cases of Vitamin B12 deficiency anemia with low mean corpuscular volume (MCV) due to combined iron deficiency anemia with review of literature.


The study explores gender differences and the role of the ideological background in portraying the roles of the males and the females. Socio-economic statuses affect the description of gender differences and this is proclaimed within the analysis of a recent phenomenon of poor quality street songs. The study represents a detailed description of male and female relationship, so as to spot the light on the literary and societal implications of this newly propagated genre. The study analyses two common songs spreading among commoners distorting the woman's image predefined in the Egyptian culture. Negative cultural and societal conceptions are explicitly mentioned about the relation between males and females. Keywords: gender, media representation, discourse analysis


Objective: To reveal the processing principleg of preparation of Radix Aconiti by electrospray ionization trap mass spectrometry.Methods: The three reference standars were made MSn analysis and elucidating the fragmentation pathways.The rapid analysis by HPLC-ESI-MS had been used for identification of contituents in Radix Aconiti.Results:The comparison of mass spectra and liquid chromatographic information revealed the differences of Radix Aconiti and its process product.Conclusion: It is necessary to make quality control of process product of traditional Chinese herbal medicines by HPLC-ESI-MS.


A simple derivation is presented for the classical skin effect approximation in a good conductor of general shape. The requirements for the validity of the approximation are clearly presented. While two of these requirements are often stated, the third, which is a restriction on the variation of field along the surface of the conductor, is seldom mentioned in intermediate level textbooks on electromagnetism. The requirements are illustrated with a few simple examples.


ABSTRACT A socioeconomic status (SES)-related achievement gap in mathematics emerges prior to school entry, and increases in elementary school. This gap makes implementation of demanding mathematics standards (e.g., the Common Core State Standards) an ongoing challenge. Early educational intervention is a strategy for addressing this challenge. A randomised controlled trial was conducted in public American preschools to (1) replicate the efficacy of an intervention, Pre-K Mathematics, for low-SES children, and (2) test the combined impact of this intervention and a Common-Core-aligned kindergarten intervention, Early Learning in Mathematics. Forty-one clusters of pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classrooms, containing a sample of 389 low-SES children from an agricultural region, were randomly assigned to treatment and control conditions. The original impact findings were replicated: Child mathematics outcomes in pre-kindergarten were positive and significant. Gains were maintained in kindergarten. Thus, the gap can be reduced and gains maintained by sustained early intervention.


Objectives: The folk use of Doliocarpus dentatus for pain and inflammatory conditions led our group to evaluate the anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive, and antiarthritic effects of its ethanol extract from the leaves (EEDd) on mouse models. Results: Oral treatments with EEDd (100–300 mg/kg) significantly inhibited the formalin-induced nociceptive and cold sensitivity, prevented acetic acid-induced nociceptive behavior, and prevented articular inflammation (including knee edema, leukocyte infiltration, and mechanical hyperalgesia) induced by zymosan. In the peritonitis model, betulinic acid (BA, 0.3–30 mg/kg) and EEDd (300 mg/kg) significantly inhibited zymosan-induced leukocyte infiltration. In the complete Freund adjuvant (CFA) model, oral treatments with EEDd (100–300 mg/kg) for 21 days significantly inhibited mechanical hyperalgesia, cold response, and edema. In the MTT viability assay, EEDd (3–90 μg/mL) did not induce leukocytes cytotoxicity. cytotoxicity. Most models employed male and female Swiss mice or, for the CFA test, C57BL/6 mice. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that EEDd exhibited antinociceptive, antihyperalgesic, and antiarthritic potential in mice and BA contribute for the EEDd observed activities.


Vector magnetograph and morphological observations have shown that the solar magnetic field tends to have negative (positive) helicity in the northern (southern) hemisphere, although only ∼60%–70% of active regions appear to obey this "hemispheric rule." In contrast, at least ∼80% of quiescent filaments and filament channels that form during the decay of active regions follow the rule. We attribute this discrepancy to the difficulty in determining the helicity sign of newly emerged active regions, which are dominated by their current-free component; as the transverse field is canceled at the polarity inversion lines, however, the axial component becomes dominant there, allowing a more reliable determination of the original active-region chirality. We thus deduce that the hemispheric rule is far stronger than generally assumed, and cannot be explained by stochastic processes. Earlier studies have shown that the twist associated with the axial tilt of active regions is too small to account for the observed helicity; here, both tilt and twist are induced by the Coriolis force acting on the diverging flow in the emerging flux tube. However, in addition to this east–west expansion about the apex of the loop, each of its legs must expand continually in cross section during its rise through the convection zone, thereby acquiring a further twist through the Coriolis force. Since this transverse pressure effect is not limited by drag or tension forces, the final twist depends mainly on the rise time, and may be large enough to explain the observed active-region helicity.


Wavefront solutions of scalar reaction-diffusion equations have been intensively studied for many years. There are two basic cases, typified by quadratic and cubic kinetics. An intermediate case is considered in this paper ; namely, u, = u xx + u 2 (1 - u). It is shown that there is a unique travelling-wave solution, with a speed 1/√2, for which the decay to zero ahead of the wave is exponential with x. Moreover, numerical evidence is presented which suggests that initial conditions with such exponential decay evolve to this travelling-wave solution, independently of the half-life of the initial decay. It is then shown that for all speeds greater than 1/√2 there is also a travelling-wave solution, but that these faster waves decay to zero algebraically, in proportion to 1/x. The numerical evidence suggests that initial conditions with such a decay rate evolve to one of these faster waves ; the particular speed depends in a simple way on the details of the initial condition. Finally, initial conditions decaying algebraically for a power Jaw other than 1/x are considered. It is shown numerically that such initial conditions evolve either to an algebraically decaying travelling wave, or in some cases to a wavefront whose shape and speed vary as a function of time. This variation is monotonic and can be quite pronounced, and the speed is a function of u as well as of time. Using a simple linearization argument, an approximate formula is derived for the wave speed which compares extremely well with the numerical results. Finally, the extension of the results to the more general case of u, = u xx + u m (1 - u), with m > 1, is discussed.


We implement a personal recommendation system on the Yelp academic dataset using a novel algorithm proposed by [Li and Chen., 2012]. By constructing a bipartite userbusiness graph where positive reviews are edges between nodes, we pose the recommendation problem as link prediction. More specifically, we construct a kernel which combines the information from both the node features and local graph structure. This kernel is then put into a one-class support vector machine, which generates an ordering of likely user-business links. We downsample the graph and tune the parameters of our algorithm (via cross validation). In what follows we provide a summary of the Yelp data, describe the recommendation algorithm in detail, and present the results of our implementation.


The aggregate claim model can be used to determine the amount of premium charged to the insured by the insurance company. This model consists of two mutually independent random variables, namely the number of claims that occur per period and the amount of claim for each event. In this study, the number of claims is Poisson distributed, and the amount of claim is distributed by generalized extreme value (GEV). The Bayes method is used to estimate the parameters of each distribution. Parameter estimation results are used to calculate the expectations and variances of the aggregate claim model which are then used to calculate insurance premiums. Based on the estimation results, the amount of premium charged to the insured ranges from IDR 3,831,480 to IDR 6,443,860.


Early warning information system of pregnancy risk can be used to pregnant women and health care provider detection.  Early warning information system of pregnancy risk is useful to assist the health care provider an effort to enhance objectiveness early conclusion/diagnosis obtained. In addition, this information is useful for pregnant women and families to detect early pregnancy and risk factors can also be used to prepare for childbirth and safe motherhood. The objective of this public service is introducing application of early warning information system of pregnancy risk based of web to the public (pregnant women) at Menanggal Village - City of Surabaya. The method with lectures, demonstrations and practical. Results achieved increased knowledge of pregnant women about application of early warning information system of pregnancy risk. Evaluation of pregnant women obtained that features the application  of interesting, easy to understand, easy to use and responsive to complaints of pregnant women because there is room on the menu consultation. Dissemination and use of such application must be sustainability.Key Word : Dissemination, Information System, Early Warning, Pregnancy Risk.


First Report of Leaf Blight of Bakul (Mimusops Elengi Linn) Caused by Pestalotiopsis Clavispora (G.F. Atk.) Steyaert in India
Pestalotiopsis clavispora (G.F. Atk.) Steyaert was recorded for the first time on Mimusops elengi trees in the University of Mysore campus during 2015-2016. The fungus was isolated from the wilted plant parts and subsequent re-inoculation of the same to healthy plants and its pathogenicity confirmed. Pathogenicity tests showed that Pestalotiopsis clavispora could infect M. elengi, which developed the same symptoms under artificial inoculation conditions to that observed in the field. The fungus was identified based on morphological and culture characteristics as Pestalotiopsis clavispora. Identifications were confirmed using comparisons of DNA sequences of internal transcribed spacers (ITS) regions 1 and 4. This is the first report of Mimusops elengi leaf blight disease caused by P. clavispora.


The purpose of this research is to determine about the influence independent variables as of audit committee independence, audit committee size, public ownership, institutional ownership, managerial ownership, firm size, and board of directors size to earnings management as dependent variable. This research used 143 companies listed in non-financial sectors in Indonesia Stock Exchange since 2016 until 2018 selected by purposive sampling method. The research uses multiple linear regressions method for data analysis. The result shows that audit committee independence has influence to earnings management. The result of this study indicate that the companies with a high number of audit committee independence are more likely to do earning management practices, while other independent variables such as audit committee size, public ownership, institutional ownership, managerial ownership, firm size, and board of directors size have no influence to earnings management practice in the company.


Range analysis is an important step in determining integer bit-widths for arithmetic DSP circuits. Disadvantages of conventional methods, such as long calculation time and coarse results, limit their applicability. In this paper, we propose a new method based on affine arithmetic and Arithmetic Transform to perform range analysis, which can efficiently and tightly calculate the range and allocate bit-widths. The experiments show that tight ranges and small circuit areas can be obtained in short running time.


The article deals with the sociolinguistic situation of the minority languages in Europe and the linguistic policies for their revitalization.


Space debris of size less than 10 cm in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) present a growing collision threat to operational space craft due to their high speed of travel (up to 8 km/s). Collision avoidance manoeuvres are currently being performed as a prevention measure. Such manoeuvres are expensive and requires prior knowledge of the incoming debris. There are some instrumemnts that have performed small space debris detection and tracking, however most of the information obtained is from space debris models. The use of available radio telescope receivers in a radar system that performs space debris detection and monitoring is becoming popular. Most radio telescopes have large apertures (high gain) and low noise temperature, so have the potential to be sensitive radar receivers. In this paper, we discuss the feasibility test results of one of the Square Kilometre Array precursors, KAT-7 for space debris detection. Using the SIMO radar equation, the L-band KAT-7 radar system is able to detect debris with a radar cross section (RCS) of 10.5 dBsm up to a maximum range of 800 km with a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of approximately 35 dB and a range resolution of approximately 0.6 m.


potential limitation of this study is that it has only a small number of BCS patients enrolled prospectively during a 6-month period, which might require external validity. Certainly, it is often difficult to obtain a larger sample size from a single center during a relatively short period, given the rarity of this disease. Ideally, a nationwide epidemiological study should be carried out to evaluate the prevalence of thrombotic risk factors in Chinese BCS patients.


Basis on the analysis of the plate flatness detection, some problems of the traditional flatness measuring method is pointed out and the 3D reconstruction method of flatness is proposed. The digital flatness measuring instrument is designed, and the measured plane information is entered into the computer, then the data processing is completed by software, which solves the problem of amounts of data, complicated calculation and low accuracy of traditional measurement method. The 3D reconstruction of surface morphology is completed by OpenGL and BCB, to make the information of flatness more sufficient and intuitive. To verify the validity of the measurement, use the flatness function module of dual-frequency laser interferometer to evaluate the instrument accuracy, the results show that it reaches the expected precision index.


A satellite RNA was found to be naturally associated with bamboo mosaic virus (BaMV-V) isolated from infected Bambusa vulgaris McClure. Nucleotide sequence revealed that this satellite RNA genome contains 836 nucleotides and encodes a 20 kDa protein. Infectious transcripts have been generated from full length cDNA downstream T7 RNA polymerase promoter. Precise replacement of open reading frame (ORF) of cDNA of satellite RNA with sequence encoding bacterial CAT (chloramphenicol acetyltransferase) resulted in high level expression of CAT in infected dicoty ledon plants, Chenopodium quinoa and tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana) in the presence of baMV genomic RNA. Thus, this Satellite System is potentially useful as a Satellite based plant expression vector.


One solution to the integration of additional characteristics, e.g. time and scale, into geographic information system (GIS) datasets is to model them as extra geometric dimensions perpendicular to the spatial ones, creating a higher-dimensional model. Previous work has been mostly limited to higher-dimensional rasters and hierarchies of trees, which grow exponentially with the dimension. As representations with limited topological relationships quickly become intractable in higher dimensions, a topological vector approach seems most suitable for this purpose, requiring the use of higher-dimensional topological data structures. We therefore present in this paper an evaluation and classification of the possible data structures for an nD GIS, including how they can be implemented to support real-world data aspects, such as holes, disconnected components and attributes, as well as practical issues that affect their feasibility, like the availability of algorithms, libraries and software.


Many believe that voluntary associations are legitimate outlets for beliefs and activities that do not accord with public ideals, while others believe that a greater congruence should be encouraged between private beliefs and public ideals. Corey Brettschneider argues that although freedom of expressive association should not be interfered with, the government itself should not be neutral, but should persuade and transform illiberal groups to conform more closely to the ideals of free and equal citizenship. Moreover, he believes that tax exemptions should be removed from associations whose core expressions conflict with these ideals. I argue that sometimes governments may advocate for the "wrong" ideals, that fine-grained decisions on tax exemptions accord too much power to government, and that groups may change on their own due to the pressures of the larger culture.


Objectives: Ageing of population in the society has brought people increasing survival pressure. To promote the development of the harmonious society, people must implement the normal transformation of ageing of population, and improve the physical and mental health of the elderly
 through a variety of means. Methods: In the paper, the impact of shadowboxing on the physical and mental health of the elderly was analyzed, and explored through related experiments. 100 experimental samples were selected as the research object. The experimental group and control group
 were set up for further analysis. Experiments were conducted with special method. Results: In the actual research, other conditions were consistent except the shadowboxing and conventional teaching mode. Conclusion: Finally, it was found that shadnwhnxing played positive roles
 in promoting the mental health of middle-aged and eldeMy people.


Poor interprofessional communication and teamwork are now well recognised as significant contributors to adverse events in healthcare (Kohn, Corrigan, & Donaldson, 2000). These 'non-technical skills' (Fletcher et al., 2003) are particularly pertinent in high-hazard areas such as obstetric settings, operating rooms, emergency departments and intensive care units (Guise & Segel, 2008; Manser, 2009). Recognition of the magnitude of these teamwork issues has led to calls for improved interprofessional training in many areas of healthcare (Kohn et al., 2000), which has resulted in an increase of a range of team-based simulation activities over the past few years (Reeves, Lewin, Espin, & Zwarenstein, 2010). As four authors – two of us anaesthesia clinicians (SS, SB) both working in interprofessional teams and developing interprofessional simulated learning activities, and two of us academics (SK, SR) with expertise in interprofessional education and practice – we have been discussing the uses, and abuses, of interprofessional simulated learning. In this editorial, we examine some of the current limitations of this learning modality. We also suggest the use of a sociological approach to help enhance the quality of this form of learning and improve its transferability to interprofessional practice. Simulation is a technique that allows the imitation of various aspects of patient care, and includes human simulation, mannequin-based simulation, and virtual reality (Gaba, Howard, Fish, Smith, & Sowb, 2001). Its use in medicine has been steadily expanding over the past 10 years, often forming part of the CRM (Crisis Resource Management) model, based on principles originally developed in the aviation industry (Gaba, 2010). Most of the current simulated training programs involve experiential learning (Kolb, 1981) and rely on a clinical scenario which normally involves a high stress critical incident. Learners work together to manage the scenario in the most appropriate fashion. Such training aims to enhance 'non-technical' skills such as teamwork and interprofessional communication – both of which have been identified as significant contributors to error in healthcare (Kohn et al., 2000; Lewis, 2007). Simulation aims to allow learners the opportunity to manage critical incidents in a 'realistic' environment without the compromise of patient safety (Khan, Pattison, & Sherwood, 2011). The notion of simulation fidelity is considered to be the degree to which the simulated learning activity replicates 'reality' (Beaubien & Baker, 2004), and is routinely linked to a prevailing assumption that the more 'high-fidelity' the simulation, the more 'effective' the learning experience (Beaubien & Baker, 2004; Crofts et al., 2008). The notion of high-fidelity is however problematic for a number of reasons. For example, several studies using the same simulation approaches may refer to its fidelity differently depending on the context in which the learning takes place, and the skills being taught (Friedman, You-Ten, Bould, & Naik, 2008; John, Suri, Hillermann, & Mendonca, 2007). Moreover, it has been argued that equating the level of fidelity (high or low) with the technical characteristics of the simulator technology used ''perpetuates the myth that simulation fidelity is a unidimensional concept'' (Beaubien & Baker, 2004). At present, there is a particular stress on the importance of the notion of psychological fidelity (the degree to which the learner perceives the simulation to be believable) as the most essential requirement for effective interprofessional learning. It is argued that psychological fidelity can reproduce increased levels of individual stress (Beaubien & Baker, 2004) and improve recall of information and its contextual application (Khan et al., 2011). Although manipulation of psychological fidelity, by for example, the introduction of additional emotional 'stressors' into a simulation, may create more 'realistic' simulation scenarios (DeMaria Jr et al., 2010), the simulation literature continues to overlook the importance of sociological factors such as hierarchy, power relations, interprofessional conflict and professional identity, which are now well-known to affect interprofessional communication, collaboration and teamwork (Kitto, Gruen, & Smith, 2009; Lingard, Reznick, Espin, Regehr, & DeVito, 2002; Reeves et al., 2010). Indeed, the use of interprofessional simulation based on psychological conceptions of non-technical skills, tends also to emphasise the individual as the site of the ''problem'' and ''solution'' to communication and collaboration issues. As a result, there appears to be a disconnect between the theoretical and methodological approach underpinning simulation – that emphasises individual skill acquisition – without adequately acknowledging the subsequent complex clinical context in which individual practitioners must perform their newly acquired collaborative skills. One could also posit that current interprofessional simulated learning brings the notion of interprofessionalism back to an issue of ''correcting'' the individual to become more ''team'' oriented and ''collaborative'', thereby exacerbating culturally held, highly valued and behaviorally expressed notions of individualism which can exist within some professions (e.g. Kitto et al., 2009). This would seem fundamentally in Journal of Interprofessional Care, 2011, 25: 81–83 2011 Informa UK, Ltd. ISSN 1356-1820 print/1469-9567 online DOI: 10.3109/13561820.2011.556514


Literary realism traditionally seems painterly to the degree that it features museums, galleries, and specific works or to the degree that its descriptive qualities parallel the interest of nineteenth-century artists in observed subjects. This chapter, however, connects realist literature and painting less through decorative or observational features than through certain practices of sociocultural critique. The first section, "Visuality," focuses on a series of shared formal strategies used by writers and painters to depict unconventional women in conventional society, to orient the eye to sociological critique, and to challenge post–Civil War tendencies to sentimentalize unity and harmony. The second section, "Temporality," focuses on different relations to time in the two mediums: painters tended to minimize narrative sequence even as writers depended on it. Close readings of Henry James's "A Landscape-Painter" and Edith Wharton's "The Portrait," however, reveal that the "instantaneity" of contemporary painting served writers as a point of reference for critically interrogating the sociocultural orientation of realism itself.


The instrument, devised for bacteriological use, had to be cheap and moderately robust. It consists of a long horizontal fibre joining the lower ends of two vertical beams, each pivoted very little above its centre of mass. A small weight acting at the middle of the fibre thus causes a considerable depression. This is read off by arranging a slider on a vertical millimetre scale about 2 ft. in front, so that the middle of the fibre and a second short fibre placed just behind it are in line with a "peephole" on the slider. Adjustment is provided for quickly and largely altering the sensitiveness. The deflections are converted to masses by the use of calibrating weights. The apparatus is built up from a "Meccano" set.


Pharmaceutical botany teaching has the characteristics of strong intuition.Though long-term outdoor teaching practice in the field of pharmaceutical botany,we tried to have some teaching reform from the aspects of practice based construction,teaching content system,practice teachers and practice time,so as to adapt to the "Ability Standard"and field practice of Pharmaceutical Botany.At the same time,we tried to improve the combination effect of theory teaching and experiment teaching as well as field exercitation.As a result,to figure out a new way that has great teaching effect and can apply to social demand.


under fascism) during this period. His analysis and characterization of these works of art holds true as a violent and traumatic extension of embodiment itself. This is a superb book that offers a host of new insights and new layers of interpretation for works by well-known fi gures in the art establishment. Winther-Tamaki's clear prose, even when addressing complex theoretical issues, is admirably accessible without losing any subtlety or sophistication.


I. If you want to see Jeff swallow a keening bell and portend death among the whippoorwills turn to page 52. (Don't worry. He meets a blacksmith's daughter. She turns his innards into a forge and he returns to his normal self. And yet, still sometimes he shouts to his neighbor, Tonight is your night, you sour-bellied old goat! But the old goat isn't familiar with this idiom so he starts collecting these nights in an old, red Folgers can. Soon he becomes the last historian on earth. Most people are happy with his version of the past, how he festoons the synapse hallway with plastic barrel monkeys and other childhood fictions. How much remembering is simply the snake swallowing itself.)


The article presents the results of a pilot study of teen media practices. The study was conducted using focused interviews (with video recording) with 11 graders in three Siberian cities in March — April 2018. The survey project shows how the viewing is transformed as a sociocultural practice and why the YouTube videohosting fundamentally influences this process. The problem is connected with generational (digital) gap and non-fulfillment of the natural loss of the audience of television channels by young viewers. Not only university departments and academic centers, but also the research services of consulting companies and corporations are studying this media consumerism problem today, since the request for such research is formulated throughout the media industry. An analysis of the data from a focused interview shows that the media activity of school students is not fully comprehended by them: adolescents cannot yet appreciate time and control it. Television viewing has become largely ritual in nature and serves to strengthen emotional ties with the family. Without personal involvement in the media process, adolescents' interest in watching or reading is quickly fading. For teens, the privacy of their lives in social networks and the ability to comment on any web content is of great importance. The author assumes in a discussion key the possibilities of integrating social media and television, justifying the forecast for the development of this sector of the media market. Patterns of adolescent media activity will undoubtedly influence in the future the behavior of adults in the media environment. This research project was undertaken to respond to an industrial query: how management should change media platforms and content policies to captivate the younger generation and win their loyalty.


The congener-specific analysis of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) by high resolution gas chromatography on a 50 m × 0.25 mm fused silica column coated with a 0.26 μm film of 5% diphenyl polydimethylsiloxane (CPSil-8) has been significantly improved by series coupling with a 25 m × 0.22 mm column coated with a 0.10 μm film of 1,2-dicarba-closo-dodecarborane polydimethylsiloxane (HT-5). Using helium as carrier gas, a total of 64 congeners in technical PCB mixtures could be analyzed as resolved peaks by ECD (86 by MS) with the CPSil-8 column, and 84 by ECD (108 by MS) with the combination. The high upper temperature limit for these stationary phases (>300°C) enabled fast temperature programming and rapid analysis (60 min).


The digital Phase Lock Loop(DPLL) has always been adopted in a digital system as a general method of frequency pickingup,timing recovery etc.Along with the space technology′s boom there appears some problems that the first and second order DPLL can not match spacecraft's large range acceleration.The third order PLL fulfills these requirements,but its loop parameters are too complex to calculate and put into practice.This paper outlines a new method to find right loop parameters for the third order DPLL,and gives the block diagram of loop filter.Simulation result shows that the designed third order DPLL satisfies the requirement and has stable performance.


Abstract The Western Nilotic languages exhibit considerable variation as to their number of vowel phonemes, this number ranging from 15 in Dholuo to at least 59 in Dinka, while Pari has 24 vowel phonemes. Most of the variation is due to differences with respect to vowel length. Thus, while Dholuo has no length contrast, Pari has a binary contrast, and Dinka has a ternary contrast. It is demonstrated that the binary length contrast in Pari is relatively old, that this contrast has been neutralized in Dholuo, and that the ternary length contrast in Dinka has resulted from compensatory lengthening.


The Indonesian legal system encountered several challenges due to corruption, inherited colonial compendiums/codifications, ineffective and inefficient arrangements, and a complex bureaucratic structure that occasionally contradicted the Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution, and common legal requirements. Majapahit's success story demonstrates that reforming Hindu law following legal requirements and conditions or society's demands effectively strengthens their national resilience. The purpose of this paper is to identify and reintroduce the successful history of Majapahit and their national resilience as a result of Hindu law, as well as its connections to the current Indonesian legal system, in the context of national law reform as a component of national resilience. Based on the normative legal research conducted for this paper, a concept was proposed to reintroduce and implement Hindu values into the national legal system consistent with Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution's Preamble, and current legal needs. It should be created based on a shared belief that national resilience can be defended if Indonesia's legal system is reformed; this can be accomplished if lawmakers consider the values of Hindu and other religions, adat law, and diverse conditions that are still compatible with Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution.


The ordering and interactions of charge carriers play a critical role in many physicochemical properties. It is, therefore, interesting to study how a magnetic field affects these physicochemical processes and the consequent behavior of the charge carriers. Here, we report the observation of positive magnetoresistance and its memory effect in methylimidazolium-type iron-containing ionic liquids (ILs). Both the electrical transport and magnetic properties of ILs were measured to understand the mechanism of magnetoresistance behavior and its memory effect. The magnetoresistance effect of [BMIM][FeCl4] was found to increase with increasing applied currents. This observed memory effect can be ascribed to the slow order and disorder processes in these ILs due to the large viscosity caused by the interactions among ions.


As the deepen of our country's economic transformation,economic globalization and the influence from the information network,people's thoughts has become diversify,and there is a increase in otherness and boltropes.College students' thoughts which are radical and leading has become complicated and diversify.Ideological and political education to nowadays' college students is important in helping them to understand well and master correct world view,philosophy and sense of worth.On the other hand,as time goes by,ideological and political education to nowadays' college students needs innovation in various aspects to adapt for the changing situation.Based on the present situation of nowadays' college students' ideological and political education,this article argues on the ways of innovation on their education from the idea,pattern and mechanism of education,in the hope that it may help from theory to ideological and political education to nowadays' college students.


In the last years increasing requirements occured fur monitoring the cathment areas of the water works. It is shown, that Geographic Informations Systems are useful tools to deal with large and increasing collections of data. Using these systems, the necessary informations can be received and displayed in a quick and easy manner. As meanwhile affordable and easy-to-use software ist available, the application of GIS ist recommended even to smaller water supply enterprises.


There is a need for a quantitative MRI method for iron concentration magnetic resonance imaging suitable for measuring the delivery of targeted superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) to tumors.


A mature nation has itself special culture form and culture characters. As a borderland big province, Heilongjiang developing and popularizing its special culture is connected to region and even connected to country and people. So it has important significance to build borderland culture big province and to research the strategies in construction.


The purpose of this study is to understand differences of walking strategies in elderly gait from the viewpoint of motion criterion and muscle activity pattern. In the context of forward dynamic gait simulation, we evaluated muscle activations and muscle tension forces using 2-D neuro-musculo-skeletal model with muscle weakness in elder subject. Examined criteria are the minimum specific power criterion and the minimum energy consumption rate. Under the former criterion, the muscular activation is elevated to increase the muscle tension and computationally generate an almost same joint motion as in walking of normal subject. Under the latter criterion, the muscle activity level is kept lower than that under the former criterion and the joint motion generated computationally corresponds to that observed in the clinical gait analysis of elderly. Therefore, the muscle activations and tensions of aged gait with muscle weakness largely depend on the motion criterion, and the results suggest that the muscle activation pattern different from young adult may cause the characteristic kinematics of the elderly gait.


The article describes software that calculates the quantitative characteristics of texts in the Azerbaijani language and determines the readability of texts based on the Flesch reading-ease formula and Flesch-Kincaid grade-level formula adapted for these texts. The problems and ways to solve them, related to the calculation of certain parameters of texts explain by the examples.


The above-threshold detachment of F − ions induced by a linearly polarized few-cycle laser pulse is investigated theoretically using the strong-field approximation model without considering the rescattering mechanism. We first derive an analytical form of transition amplitude for describing the strong-field photodetachment of F − ions. The integration over time in transition amplitude can be performed using the numerical integration method or the saddle-point (SP) method of Shearer et al. [Phys. Rev. A 88 (2013) 033415]. The validity of the SP method is carefully examined by comparing the energy spectra and photoelectron angular distributions (PADs) with those obtained from the numerical integration method. By considering the volume effect of a focused laser beam, both the energy spectra and the low-energy PADs calculated by the numerical integration method agree very well with the experimental results.


For a long time, in oncology dominated the stochastic theory of onset and progression of tumors, which postulated that any cell malignant tumor has tumorogenesis properties. However, currently there are more data indicating that the malignant tumors like normal tissues consist of several subpopulations of cells of various degree of differentiation, including stem. Thus, the alternative stochastic theory became a hierarchical theory of carcinogenesis. Like normal stem cells, cancer stem cells have natural resistance to radiation and systemic drug therapy, and may become the reason of occurrence of relapses and metastases. In this review analysed data regarding the clinical significance of breast cancer stem cells.


The present invention relates to a locking device (10), in particular for locking and unlocking the charging cord (22) for a vehicle charging cable, having at least one movable jack on the charging stop mechanism (15 ), especially in the form of a stop pin which forms said movable stop means for the charging cord (22) with the charging jack mechanically locked, said stop means (15) having at least one lock position (II) and the unlocking position (the I), in the locked position, said charging cord (22) through said stopper means (15) is locked, in the unlocked position, said charging cable the plug (22) through said stopper means (15) is released; and electro-mechanical driver (13) which drives the detent mechanism (15), whereby in a locked position can be generated (II) and an unlocked position switching between (I). According to the present invention, the at least one overload mechanism disposed between said charge plug (22) and the charging cable socket, whereby the locking position (II), the charge under the action of strong cord (22 ) can be separated from the charging cord receptacle.


Important areas of California's family tort and marital property law as well as aspects of its divorce and annulment law have been shaped by Justice Peters' incisive pen. Perhaps his most dramatic contribution is the judicial pronouncement that a major part of California's quasi-community property legislation is constitutional. This article first discusses this significant development, as well as Justice Peters' holdings concerning the revival of community property. It then analyzes his important decisions on interspousal tort immunity. Finally, it reviews a number of significant opinions by the Justice on damages for loss of consortium, child support, and decisions relating to public policy and the termination of marriage.


Knowledge of the positron affinity ${A}_{+},$ a basic bulk characteristic of materials, is important to the understanding of positron trapping at interfaces and at precipitates. Theoretical calculations of ${A}_{+}$ for 3C, 4H, and 6H polytypes of SiC, based on various approaches to electron-positron correlations within the local-density approximation and the generalized gradient approximation for positrons, are compared with experimental values obtained via work-function measurements. The disagreement between theoretical and experimental values of ${A}_{+}$ is discussed in terms of difficulties in the precise measurement of the positron work function and the possible inadequacy of contemporary approaches to electron-positron correlation in semiconductors.


The Royal Research Ship Discovery II left London for her second commission in Antarctic waters on October 3, 1931 and returned on May 5, 1933. A note on her work in the Falkland sector of the Antarctic in the summer season of 1931–32 appeared in The Polar Record , No. 4, and a short account of her cruises in the winter of 1932 was published in The Polar Record , No. 5. The whole commission is summarised in this article.


Today's world is demanding high data volume communication without any major interruption in the channel. To fulfill the user's requirements Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology seems promising which enhance the capacity of the channel. A channel is a medium through which signal travels. MIMO sends data on multiple paths using multiple antennas. At up-link receiver end of the MIMO system, to restore data special algorithms are used. Space and Time complexity of those algorithms play an important role in these systems to increase the performance. Time Complexity plays an important role when both variations give the same Bit Error Rate (BER). This paper will discuss the Time and Space complexity of Differential Evolutionary (DE) based CE-UD MIMO system with Channel Estimation and User Detection. These analyses are verified mathematically as well as on simulations using MatLab 2017.


In this paper, we have designed MIMO system using F-OFDM modulation. And then, we have evaluated and analyzed synchronization performance of the system. In this paper we have considered Schmidl's method, Minn's method, and Park's method. As simulation results, Schmidl's method has wide plateau of timing metric and Park's method has impulse-shape timing metric. Also, we can confirm that timing metric characteristic of synchronization estimator can be degraded by adjusting filter length of F-OFDM system. Especially, we can confirm that timing metric of synchronization estimator is shifted according to filter length of MIMO system using F-OFDM modulation and this timing metric movement can be compensated by using designed filter length.


The assets of higher vocational institutes grow year after year.As the main parts of assets,the investment scale and the increasing speed of the fixed assets are unprecedented.Being the material basis and the condition of running the school,the effective management and protection of the fixed assets have the direct bearing on the steady development of the education enterprise of the institutes.The scientific development view should be established to strengthen the management of the fixed assets.


We show that fourth-quarter macroeconomic growth rates strongly predict the returns of the aggregate market, smalland large-cap stocks, portfolios sorted on book-to-market and dividend yields, bond returns, and international stock returns, whereas growth rates during the other quarters do not predict returns. Fourth-quarter economic growth rates contain considerably more information about expected returns than standard variables used in the literature, are robust to the choice of macro variable, and work in-sample, out-of-sample, and in subsamples. To help explain these results, we show that economic growth and growth in consumer confidence are correlated during the fourth quarter, but not during the other quarters: When economic growth is low during the fourth quarter, confidence in the economy is also low such that investors require higher future returns. We discuss rational and behavioral reasons why fourth-quarter economic growth, growth in consumer confidence, and expected returns are related.


The crosslinking and pyrolysis of hydrogencontaining polysiloxane(PSO) and divinylbenzene(DVB) were investigated in this paper. It was found that only catalyzed with H2PtCl6 could DVB/PSO cure completely. The mass ratio of DVB/PSO had a great effect on ceramic yield. The ceramic yield was the highest of 76 % when the mass ratio of DVB/PSO was 0.5. The content of Si, O, C in the product pyrolyzed at 1000 ℃ was 38.3 wt%, 27.4 wt%, and 34.3 wt%, respectively. Threedimensional carbon fiber reinforced silicon oxycarbide composites (3DB Cf/SiOC) were fabricated via precursor infiltration and pyrolysis using DVB/PSO as a precursor. The results indicated that the mechanical properties of 3DB Cf/SiOC could be increased markedly if the first pyrolysis cycle was assisted by hotpressing. The flexural strength and the fracture toughness of the composite, which was hotpressed at 1600 ℃ for 5 min with a pressure of 10 MPa in the first pyrolysis cycle and treated subsequently with six cycles of vacuum infiltration and pyrolysis with a pressure of 1 atm, were 502 MPa and 23.7 MPa·m1/2, respectively. The high properties were mainly attributed to the ideal interface microstructures.


Jurellana tithonia n. sp. is the earliest known Porcellanidae, from the Tithonian Ernstbrunn Limestone, Austria. Porcellanids are well-known from the fossil record, already having been described from Cretaceous, Eocene, and Neogene rocks. Their occurrence in the Jurassic is not surprising, because the Infraorder Anomura, to which they belong, is the sister to the Brachyura, well known from Jurassic occurrences.


The fast-growing human population on our planet and the need for improved quality of life leads to a growing
demand in food and feed production. This is the main challenge facing the world agriculture. Furthermore,
this increase should be gained from the constantly decreasing land areas subject to environmental changes.
Since crops are fundamental to the food pyramid, they must be able to realize their potential even under
unfavorable environmental conditions and particularly under drought.
Sources of drought tolerance in many important crops are more or less limited or widely exploited. In
this respect, the so called 'resurrection plants" represent a very useful model of desiccation tolerance. Their
vegetative parts are able to withstand long periods of almost complete water loss and to recover fast upon
rewatering.
The Mediterranean region – one of the biodiversity "hot spots" in the world – is the only area where the
several species of resurrection plants in Europe have their habitats. All of them – Haberlea rhodopensis,
Ramonda serbica, R. nathaliae, and R. myconi – belong to one and the same botanical family of Gesneriaceae.
The present review is focused on the common and specific traits of these interesting species, with an
emphasis on the potential use and potential risk for their biodiversity


An industrial experiment was carried out to study the evolution of billet surface porosity in hot rolling of round steel.Holes were drilled at the head of a billet. Linear cracks were spot at the surface of rolled round steel in parallel. Slight decarburization appears around these cracks,which can be seen from the metallograph. Crack measurement results show that the crack depth is mainly influenced by the hole depth. When the hole depth exceeds 4 mm,serious cracks will be generated on the round steel. The crack length is mainly dependent on the hole diameter. When the hole diameter ranges from 1 to 2. 5 mm,the crack length limits to 2 to 8 cm.


The current research investigated a phenomenon that has so far received little attention: the stigmatization of students who are characterized by strong academic orientation. The research question was whether certain personality traits – beyond academic achievement – are typical of students who are labeled "Streber" (a nerd with respect to academic achievement; German origin) and of those who tend to label their peers Streber. Apart from individual characteristics, we also examined the impact of the classroom context. In the first study (N = 317), eighth grade students nominated classmates whom they perceived to be a prototypical Streber and provided self-ratings on how often they had labeled others Streber. In the second study (N = 358), using a round robin design, we had eighth grade students rating each of their classmates to what extent they perceive them as Streber. Results showed that being labeled was associated with high academic achievement, but also with introversion and conscientiousness even when controlling for academic achievement. Labeling others was connected to extraversion, low conscientiousness, and low agreeableness. Furthermore, we found that the stigmatization was stronger in high-achieving than in low-achieving classes. Additionally, average classroom achievement moderated the relationship between individual factors and stigmatization in a way that the relationships were particularly strong in highachieving classes. Results are discussed with respect to personality traits as potential risk factors of peer stigmatization and the impact of the classroom context.