The development of clean technology (cleantech) is necessary in order to address many
prominent environmental challenges. However, financing can be a hurdle for the development
of cleantech companies. Venture capital (VC) plays an important role in cleantech
development. While the four large Nordic countries are regarded as performing well in terms
of cleantech innovation there are signs that VC investments are not performing well in the
Nordic region. Therefore, this thesis explored whether the private Nordic VC funds are
performing well or not and why they perform successfully or unsuccessfully. The results from
the performance review and the interviews do not support the initial information that the
Nordic funds are not performing well. Only one of the interviewed funds does not have
companies with a trend of growing in its portfolio. The remaining five interviewed Nordic
funds have some companies in their portfolio with a growing trend. On the other hand, it is
not certain that these funds are performing well as only historical trends of companies that are
still in the portfolios are considered, while the actual performance of funds finally depends on
the exits of the portfolio companies. Several factors that differ between the poorly performing
Nordic fund and regarded successful European funds, including the fund size, specialization
in investments, management of portfolio companies and the background of the fund. When
comparing the other Nordic funds to the European funds, some differences could be
identified too. For example, the funds from other European countries review more proposals
than the Nordic ones in general. The European funds are also more open to initial public
offerings (IPO) as an option for exiting portfolio companies.


The invention relates to an O-shaped sealing ring. An O-shaped sealing ring for sealing a water path comprises an O-shaped sealing ring body, wherein an annular water storage tank is formed in the inner side of the O-shaped sealing ring body in the radial direction; the depth of the annular water storage tank is 60-70% of the line diameter of the O-shaped sealing ring body; the width of the annular water storage tank is 30-40% of the line diameter of the O-shaped sealing ring body; and a water inlet notch which is communicated with the annular water storage tank is formed in an axial compression inner end face of the O-shaped sealing ring body. The O-shaped sealing ring for sealing the water path disclosed by the invention has the advantages of novel structure, long service life and good sealing performance.


This paper identifies the role of road management systems in supporting the management of roads in countries with developing or emerging economies. It draws on past practical experience of implementing such systems, which have often failed to produce sustainable solutions. The reasons for past problems with implementation are discussed under the headings of the socio-political context in which an organization is required to operate, the institutional arrangements put in place to effect its management, and the technical capability of the organization. The different types of management systems are described in terms of 'information systems' and 'decision-support' systems. A classification of systems is also proposed that groups systems according to their function in terms of planning, programming, preparation and operation. A structured approach to specifying and selecting systems is recommended which recognizes the need for commitment to make things work, and the need to set management systems within the policy framework adopted by an organization for managing its functions. Considerable emphasis is given to identifying the potential users of systems and identifying their needs in terms of output reports. On the basis of this, appropriate models and data requirements can be identified. Finally, computer requirements can be specified to support these requirements. It is noted that this approach is the opposite to that adopted for the implementation of many road management systems in the past: approaches have tended to specify computer requirements first, and then focused on data requirements before addressing real user needs.


This paper describes DUTNLP Lab's submission to the WMT22 General MT Task on four translation directions: English to/from Chinese and English to/from Japanese under the constrained condition.Our primary system are built on several Transformer variants which employ wider FFN layer or deeper encoder layer. The bilingual data are filtered by detailed data pre-processing strategies and four data augmentation methods are combined to enlarge the training data with the provided monolingual data.Several common methods are also employed to further improve the model performance, such as fine-tuning, model ensemble and post-editing.As a result, our constrained systems achieve 29.01, 63.87, 41.84, and 24.82 BLEU scores on Chinese-to-English, English-to-Chinese, English-to-Japanese, and Japanese-to-English, respectively.


Systematic Literature Reviews (SLRs) play an important role in the Evidence-Based Software Engineering scenario. With the advance of the computer science field and the growth of research publications, new evidence continuously arises. This fact impacts directly on the purpose of keeping SLRs up-to-date which could lead researchers to obsolete conclusions or decisions about a research problem or investigation. Creating and maintaining SLRs up-to-date demand a significant effort due to several reasons such as the rapid increase in the amount of evidence, limitation of available databases and lack of detailed protocol documentation and data availability. Conventionally, in software engineering SLRs are not updated or updated intermittently leaving gaps between updates during which time the SLR may be missing important new research. In order to address these issues, we propose the concept, process and tooling support of Continuous Systematic Literature Review (CSLR) in SE aiming to keep SLRs constantly updated with the promotion of open science practices. This positional paper summarizes our proposal and approach under development.


The Hubble Space Telescope/NICMOS transmission spectrum measurements of HD 189733b that suggest the detection of methane (CH4) in an exoplanet atmosphere have been a source of significant controversy. With what is probably the best analyzed exoplanet spectroscopy data set to date, different teams, using different methods, have claimed evidence both contradicting and supporting the original findings. Here, we report results from a uniform spectral retrieval analysis of the three independent published spectra together with null hypothesis testing. Based on Bayesian model comparison, we find that two of the three spectra show strong evidence (⩾3.6σ) for the detection of molecular features mainly due to water and methane while the third is consistent with a weak molecular detection at the 2.2σ level. We interpret the agreement in the spectral modulation established by previous authors and the atmospheric retrieval results presented here, as a confirmation of the original detection of molecular absorbers in the atmosphere of HD 189733b.


McPhail traps loaded with various attractant solutions (ammonium sulphate, Entomela 75%, Entomela 50%, Dacus bait 100, sexual pheromone of olive fruit fly Bactrocera oleae) combined also with registered plant protection products (lambda-cyhalothrin, alpha-cypermethrin as well as dimethoate) were tested for their attractiveness which was indicated as captures of flies in McPhail traps during three summer year periods. All the tested proteins were significantly more attractive than ammonium salts which are broadly used in Greece for monitoring of pest population while the sex pheromone did not seem to have any impact. The mean number of captured adults of B. oleae recorded at McPhail traps which were filled with attractant solution, were at least two times fold higher than when an insecticide was added to it. Thus the application of such attractant combinations in the management of the pest, is discussed.


Old age, chronic continuous smoking, alcohol intake, high blood pressure, sedentary life style, high serum lipid levels are well known risk factors for atherogenesis leading to morbidity and mortality due to myocardial infarction. The research study was planned to observe effects of Nicotinic acid (niacin) and psyllium husk on blood pressure, body weight, LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides and HDL-cholesterol. It was single blind placebo controlled research study, which was conducted at Lahore Journal Hospital, from April 2010 to December 2010. One hundred and ninety-five male and female hyperlipidemic patients were included in the research study, among which 65 were on placebo as control group, 65 were on tablet Niacin, 2.25 grams daily, in divided doses for the period of three months and 65 patients on combined drug therapy; i.e. Niacin 2.25 grams + Psyllium husk 10 grams in divided doses for the period of three months. Diabetes Mellitus, Peptic Ulcer, Renal Disease, Hepatic Disease, Hypothyroidism and Alcoholism were exclusion criteria for all participants in this research work. Body weight and blood pressure of patients were recorded at fortnightly visit. All parameters of Lipid Profile were estimated at day-0 (at start of research work) and at day-90 (at the end of the research work). LDL-Cholesterol was calculated by Friedwald formula (LDL=TC(TG/5+HDL-C). Serum HDLcholesterol was determined by direct method. Serum cholesterol and triglycerides were estimated by the enzymatic calorimetric method. Data regarding results were expressed as the mean ± SD and "t" test was applied to determine statistical significance of results. A probability value of <0.05 was the limit of significance. Two patients were dropped from drug-1 group of the research work due to their personal reasons. In three months of treatment with 2.25 grams of niacin HDL-cholesterol increased 16.8 %, LDL-C decreased 22.7 %, triglycerides 15.3%, systolic blood pressure 2.2 %, diastolic blood pressure 1.4%, and body weight decreased 1.9 %. With combination therapy by Niacin + Psyllium, HDL-C increased 17.5%, LDL-C decreased 25.6%, triglycerides 18.9%, systolic blood pressure 2.3%, diastolic blood pressure 3.3%, and body weight reduced 2.9%, when compared with placebo group. We concluded from the research study that niacin alone and in combination with Psyllium husk decreases blood pressure, body weight, triglycerides, LDL-Cholesterol and increases HDL-Cholesterol in primary hyperlipidemic patients, which can be a statistical significance of hypolipidemic agents to decrease risk of myocardial infarction, so the decrease in morbidity/ mortality rate due to this condition.


We describe a novel modified intranasal approach to minimize the complications of the impacted mesiodens surgical extraction. Also, it can be performed under local anesthesia with proper preoperative workup.


The design and performance of detector arrays for optical interconnect are reported. These arrays consist of an InGaAs/InP heterostructure planar pin photodiode with optical access through the substrate. A selfaligned flipchip solder bond assembly process has been used to provide mechanical attachment and direct electrical connection to an electrical backplane or silicon integrated circuit. Arrays with up to 64 elements have been fabricated with mean dark current densities of 500 nA cm−2, with assembly yields in excess of 99.85% and submicrometre alignment accuracy.


Using the self-homodyne detection scheme, it is possible to compensate for the nonlinear phase distortion that, if left uncompensated, would distort the received constellation diagram. The suggested compensation method is evaluated using numerical simulations and validated in an experiment.


Introduction In recent years, a surge of interest in what David Herman has called the "nexus of narrative and mind" has swept through narratology and its related disciplines (Basic Elements of Narrative 137-60). Alan Palmer and Lisa Zunshine have published two important monographs (respectively Fictional Minds and Why We Read Fiction), which Herman himself lists under the heading of "Issues of Consciousness Representation" in the entry "Cognitive Narratology" for the de Gruyter Handbook of Narratology. On a broad understanding of the word "consciousness," Herman's label is perfectly fitting. However, if we run a quick search for the word "representation" in Palmer's and Zunshine's books, we find out that it is almost never used in tandem with "consciousness." What Palmer and Zunshine focus on is the reader's attribution of mental states to the characters; they do not seem to devote special attention to consciousness proper. To clarify, l would like to introduce David Chalmers's distinction between "two concepts of mind." One may want to explore the mind's role in influencing behavior, and admit the existence of mental states only in so much as they can cause people's actions. Alternatively, one may focus on the subjective quality of our experience. One who takes the former approach is a devotee of functionalism, and his or her object of study is what Chalmers calls "the psychological mind." The latter is interested in "the conscious mind" or, simply put, in consciousness or subjective experience (I will use these terms interchangeably). My feeling is that both Palmer and Zunshine devote most of their books to the psychological mind (Palmer, in Fictional Minds 87-91, for instance, openly declares his allegiance to functionalism), leaving the issue of fictional consciousnesses unsolved. In John Searle's words, consciousness is "an inner, first-person, qualitative phenomenon"; it "refers to those states of sentience and awareness that typically begin when we awake from a dreamless sleep and continue until we go to sleep again, or fall into a coma or die or otherwise become 'unconscious'" (5). Philosophers of mind love to talk about zombies--beings identical to us from a functionalist viewpoint, but which (unlike us) have no subjective experience. Just as functionalism has led to important scientific discoveries, defining fictional characters in functionalist terms has yielded deep insights, well exemplified by Palmer's and Zunshine's books. And yet, it is important to remind ourselves that readers do not just attribute mental states to fictional characters--they attribute to them mental states with a qualitative aspect. In short, they attribute to them a consciousness. This is the angle from which I will approach fictional characters in this article. Although I will not address the issue of focalization directly, I intend my article to have a bearing on the widespread belief that, in internal focalization, readers experience the fictional world through the consciousness of a character. I will argue that we should not view characters' consciousnesses as "things in the text." Readers can enact a fictional consciousness, they can perform it on the basis of textual cues--but this phenomenon, which I will call consciousness-enactment, cannot be simply identified with internal focalization. Not all internally localized texts induce the reader to enact the character's consciousness. What does it mean that we should not view characters' consciousnesses as "things in the text"? It means that a consciousness (be it fictional or not) cannot be represented--and this is my chief complaint against Herman's section heading ("Issues of Consciousness Representation"). Drawing on the work of philosophers of the "enactivist" stripe such as Kevin O'Regan, Alva Noe, and (in particular) Daniel D. Hutto, I would like to show that consciousness and subjective experience resist capture in representationalist terms. This will be my task in section I. …


A liquid ejection device includes a plurality of deep nozzle lines each having a plurality of nozzles in a predetermined direction, for ejecting a first liquid, and a smaller number of light nozzle lines than the number of the deep nozzle lines, each having a plurality of nozzles in the predetermined direction, for ejecting a second liquid having a lighter color depth than the first liquid. A controller forms deep dots on pixels on a medium using the plurality of deep nozzle lines, and forms light dots on a smaller number of pixels than the number of the pixels on which the deep dots are formed using the smaller number of light nozzle lines.


Author(s): Hummel, Michelle Ann | Advisor(s): Stacey, Mark | Abstract: Sea-level rise (SLR) threatens coastal communities by increasing flood exposure for people, homes, businesses, and critical infrastructure. In order to protect residents and the infrastructure systems on which they rely, coastal communities will need to plan for and adapt to higher sea levels and increased flood hazards. This dissertation contributes to the understanding of SLR impacts on human, engineered, and natural systems. More specifically, the text addresses three important aspects of SLR adaptation: the need for data-driven methods to inform regional SLR adaptation networks, the impacts of SLR on critical infrastructure and service disruptions, and the influence of coupled SLR, precipitation, and storm surge on coastal groundwater aquifers and flooding.Many collaborative networks aimed at promoting SLR adaptation at the global, national, or regional scale are primarily based on geographic proximity or voluntary participation and are not grounded in any quantitative assessment of shared vulnerability. The first part of this dissertation presents a method to group communities based on similar SLR exposure variables using statistical cluster analysis. The method is applied to cities and counties in the San Francisco Bay Area to demonstrate the usefulness for developing regional SLR adaptation networks.In coastal communities, critical infrastructure assets, such as wastewater treatment plants, are susceptible to flooding due to SLR. However, the extent and progression of this exposure and the impacts on service disruptions are poorly understood. The second part of this work presents a geospatial analysis of wastewater exposure to SLR-induced marine flooding at the national scale and a similar analysis of SLR-induced groundwater flooding at the regional scale in the San Francisco Bay Area. Overall, hundreds of wastewater treatment plants could face flood disruptions due to SLR, which could lead to a loss of wastewater services for millions of residents. In some cases, groundwater is more of a threat than marine flooding.To understand the potential impacts of SLR on coastal groundwater aquifers and flooding, most previous studies have used steady-state methods and have focused on SLR and other climate factors, such as precipitation, separately. However, the strong coupling between precipitation and other weather variables that influence coastal water levels suggests a need for multivariate approaches. The final part of this dissertation describes the use of a copula approach to correlate precipitation with wind speed and atmospheric pressure. These variables are then used to determine changes in water levels due to wind setup and pressure-driven surge under current and future climate scenarios. Forcing a groundwater model with this data provides insight into the potential for a narrower unsaturated zone and groundwater emergence.Together, these chapters explore the local disruptions and regional impacts of SLR, as well as the coupled processes that lead to flooding.


The Slow Axonal Transport of the Microtubule-Associated Protein Tau and the Transport Rates of Different Isoforms and Mutants in Neurons Herpes simplex virus-mediated expression of the axonal protein tau in human model neurons (NT2-N cells). Sorting mechanisms of tau and MAP2 in neurons: suppressed axonal transit of MAP2 and locally regulated microtubule binding. Subcellular localization of tau mRNA in differentiating neuronal cell culture: Implications for neuronal polarity High molecular weight tau proteins and acquisition of neuronal polarity in peripheral nervous system Abstract Somatodendritic missorting of the axonal protein TAU is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease and related tauopathies. Cultured rodent primary neurons and iPSC-derived neurons are used for studying mechanisms of neuronal polarity, including TAU trafficking. However, these models are expensive, time-consuming and/or require the sacrification of animals. In this study, we evaluated four differentiation procedures to generate mature neuron cultures from human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells, in comparison to mouse primary neurons, and tested their TAU sorting capacity. We show that SH-SY5Y-derived neurons, differentiated with sequential RA/BDNF treatment, are suitable for investigating axonal TAU sorting. These human neurons show pronounced neuronal polarity, axodendritic outgrowth, expression of the neuronal maturation markers TAU and MAP2, and, importantly, efficient axonal sorting of endogenous and transfected human wild type TAU, similar to primary neurons. We demonstrate that axonal TAU enrichment requires the presence of the C-terminal half, as a C-terminus-lacking construct (N-term-TAU HA ) is not axonally enriched in both neuronal cell models. Moreover, SH-SY5Y-derived neurons do not show formation of a classical axon initial segment (AIS), indicated by the lack of Ankyrin G (ANKG) and tripartite motif-containing protein 46 (TRIM46) at the proximal axon, which suggests that successful axonal TAU sorting is independent of classical AIS formation. Taken together, our results suggest i) that SH-SY5Y-derived neurons are a valuable human neuronal cell model for studying TAU sorting, which is readily accessible at low cost and without animal need, and that ii) the mechanisms of axonal TAU targeting require the TAU C-terminal half but are independent of ANKG or TRIM46 enrichment at the proximal axon.


The article considers the nonclassical quaternions and pentanions of helf-rotations of solidbody and their application in problems of control and orientation of moving objects. In contrast to classicalrationed Hamiltonian quaternions of complete rotations the nonclassical quaternions of helf-rotations maybe null, they have variable rates, depending on the angle of Euler finite rotation


172 Objectives Nuclear scintigraphy using Technetium 99m-pyrophosphate (TcPYP) is used as a diagnostic and prognostic tool in transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis (ATTR). Echocardiography has identified a pattern of decreased longitudinal strain in basal segments leading to a gradient of improved strain from basal to apical segments. The etiology of decreased basal segment longitudinal strain is unclear. We sought to examine the relative segmental uptake of TcPYP in patients with ATTR. Methods We identified 35 consecutive patients with ATTR from 2011-2015 who underwent TcPYP scintigraphy. Attenuation correction single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) images were analyzed using 4DM software (Seimens) after manual image reformatting. Tracer uptake counts were determined for each of the 17 segments and average counts in the 6 basal, 6 mid and 5 apical segments were calculated. Right ventricular uptake was scored in the basal, mid and apical segments with a visual semiquantitative score (0=absent cardiac uptake, 1=mild uptake less than bone, 2=moderate uptake equal to bone, 3=high uptake greater than bone). Echocardiographic strain was assessed using velocity vector imaging. Results In our cohort (age 79 ± 11 years, 69% male, 66% Caucasian, 34% hereditary ATTR), 13 deaths occurred over a median follow up of 295 days. TcPYP scintigraphy demonstrated increased LV uptake in basal and mid segments as compared to basal segments which mimicked the apical sparing longitudinal strain pattern in echocardiography (Figure 1). RV uptake similarly showed a greater degree and intensity of uptake in the basal segments (97% basal, 49% basal+mid, 17% basal+mid+apical uptake). Conclusions There is a gradient of decreasing TcPYP uptake when progressing apically in the left ventricle, mimicking the corresponding improvement in regional echocardiographic strain. This pattern is also present in the right ventricle.


Health Education England's Better Training, Better Care programme is offering £100 000 to fund trainee led projects that aim to improve education and training of junior doctors.

The programme's "Inspire Improvement" project is seeking ideas that will help the NHS meet the recommendations set out in John Temple's 2010 report Time for Training . …


ABSTRACT Access to an adequate level of uninterrupted, high quality, affordable, sufficient and useful energy services varies dramatically across countries. While some nations still experience energy poverty and struggle to fulfil basic needs, others consume well over what is considered sufficient to sustain wellbeing and human flourishing. These imbalances represent fundamental injustices that must be urgently addressed and resolved. Given current inequalities, this paper asks, in general, whether it is possible to establish a human right to energy and, more specifically, whether the Capabilities Approach (CA) can provide a solid theoretical foundation for the claim to a human right to access energy services. We argue, on the one hand, that it is possible to identify concrete ranges of individual energy consumption that, if "translated" into useful energy services, constitute the adequate (not just minimal) preconditions for achieving core capabilities in different geographical contexts. On the other hand, we use the CA as a normative framework to argue for a capability-based human right to access necessary energy services such as nutrition, cooking fuel and electricity. We support these claims in two main ways. First, by looking at how individual energy consumption impacts human development and wellbeing. Second, we offer a comparison between access to specific energy services and the Human Development Index (HDI). The human right to access necessary energy services should be understood in both moral and legal terms. It should be integrated within both the international United Nations human rights framework and international energy law.


Local Acts in England and Wales can give rise to a number of difficulties when it comes to approving large storage buildings. Andy Nicholson explains.


The paper is aimed at examining the effects of standard costing on the profitability of MTN telecommunication companies to discovering if the application of standard costing techniques have any effect on profitability, to explore the relationship between standard costing and the profitability of telecommunication companies and determining whether standard costing techniques and principles are being adopted and practiced by Nigerian MTN telecommunication company. The design of this paper is descriptive survey method and the paper was conducted at MTN company, kano which is the case study of this paper work. The instrument of data collection was analyzed using the chi-square method. The following were discovered findings shows that  accounting records are kept and are significantly necessary in the management of the company. That the company employs standard costing in their product and decisions are made with the standard costing information obtained in the company. That accounting reports are prepared and presented to the company's management and that actions are taken promptly on the information given in the report. That effective application of standard costing has effect on the profitability of the company. That the company benefit in a significant way through the use of standard costing especially in the improvement of profit. We came to a conclusion that standard costing is widely used in Nigerian telecommunication companies and that standard costing enhances adequate planning, control and decision making processes in the company. That standard costing aids telecommunication companies in the elimination of unprofitable products, provision of costing information and cost control. Keywords : telecommunication, standard costing, profitability, cost control, accounting


Benzothiazole nucleus is considered to be biologically most important, as its derivatives find wide pharmacological applications. The synthesis and evaluation of various biological activities of benzothiazoles with heterocyclic substitution at various positions were reported earlier.Substituted benzothiazoles are a major class of anti-infectives with significant potential for continuous development. In our present work 2-substituted benzothiazoles were synthesized and evaluated for their antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger. Sulphadiazine and ketaconazole were used as standards for antibacterial and antifungal activity, respectively.


The teacher is an essential component of learning. Learning that is often focused by the government is learning in urban schools. Even though rural schools also have the same right to consider. Longer distances and access to schools that are more difficult to reach causes a lack of attention in rural areas schools. Learning in rural areas also requires attention to improve the quality of teaching. Knowing learning activities in rural schools is very important because it will understand what learning needs to be improved. The purpose of the research is to find out how teaching science in rural schools. This research uses mixed methods with the Taxonomy Development Model research design.  The phase of QUAL  is carried out to identify important variables. The development of a taxonomy or classification system, the development of theories that are not yet stable, and supporting it is a test in the phase of QUAN to obtain more thorough study results. The findings of this study illustrate that learning begins with answering questions, so students are enthusiastic. The next learning activity showing films about the reproduction of students was very excited about learning. The obstacle found in learning is the lack of preparation in the learning that is done so that time is wasted to condition the video playback.


To overcome the shortcoming of the traditional adaptive boundary element method which needs different error estimation formulae for different problems,a new method of error estimation is proposed by expert experience and fuzzy logic system.Based on H-R adaptive boundary element method,FORTRAN is used to develop a program to solve two classical plane elastostatics problems.The analysis indicates that the method can effectively estimate the error of boundary element solutions.


The central paradigm of today's successful Internet is to keep the network core simple and move complexity towards the network end points. Unfortunately, this very paradigm limits network management and control capabilities, and creates opportunities for attacks such as worms, viruses, and spam that often seriously disrupt and degrade Internet and user performance. The thrust of this paper is that such problems cannot be effectively solved unless a paradigm shift is adopted. Towards a more secure and manageable Internet, we propose "virtualization" of the Internet, by carefully balancing its scalability and programmability properties. Our objective is to provide a programmable virtual Internet to users and to let them manage, control, and optimize it based on their individual needs.


The Bootable Cluster CD (BCCD) is an established, well maint ained, cluster toolkit used nationally and internationally within several levels of the academic system. During the Education Programs of Supercomputing conferences 2002, 20 03, and 2004, the BCCD image was used to support instruction of issues related to paralle l computing education. It has been used in the undergraduate curriculum to illustrate princip les of parallelism and distributed computing and widely used to facilitate graduate research in pa rallel environments. The standard BCCD image is packaged in the 3", mini-CD format, easily fitti ng inside most wallets and purses. Variations include PXE-bootable (network-bootab le) and USB-stick bootable images. All software components are pre-configured to work together making the time required to go from boot-up to functional cluster less than five minutes. A t ypical Windows or Macintosh lab can be temporarily converted into a working GNU/Linux-base d computational cluster without modification to original disk or operating system. Students can immediately use this computational cluster framework to run a variety of real scientific m odels conveniently located on the BCCD and downloadable into any running BCCD environment. Th is paper discusses building, configuring, modifying, and deploying aspects of the Bootab le Cluster CD. 1 A Brief History of the Bootable Cluster CD The original impetus for a self-contained, pre-configured, cluster image that could leverage an ever-increasing number of networked computer laborator ies in support of high performance computing education began with the 2001 Supercomputi ng conference Education Program in Dallas, Texas. The amount of effort involved in co ordinating the installation and configuration of software and services on hardware that was t o be provided sight-unseen was enormous. Earlier in the year 2000, a company called LinuxCa re put out a small, businesscard-sized recovery CD that provided a very resilient and po werful bootable GNU/Linux operating system in a small 50MB image. Following Supercomp uting 2001, the Bootable Cluster CD[9] project began as Dr. Gray joined with the Linux Care developers that had forked off the "LNX-BBC1" [10] project and the Bootable Cluster CD project began. By the summer of 2002 a fully-functional BCCD image was avail able. At Supercomputing 2002 in Baltimore Maryland, the Bootable Cluster CD w as mature enough to host a drop-in clustering environment and to support the paralle l computing education sessions held during the SC02 Education Program. Since that time, the Bootable Cluster CD has hosted numerous workshops, ranging from National Computat ion l Science Institute workshops on Clusters and Parallel Programming to supporting wo rksh ps hosted by the National Center of Excellence for HPC Technology (NCEHPCT). The educational impact of the Bootable Cluster CD is far from trite. It is reflected in the ability to take a completely unconfigured lab of networke d workstations and, within ⋆ Work supported in part by a grant from the National Computati onal Science Institute (NCSI) 1 As of November, 2005, Dr. Gray has taken the role of project le ader for the LNX-BBC project. 2 P. Gray, J. Chapin and T. McNulty a few minutes, create a fully-functioning computational cl uster complete with application profiling support through perfctr[17] and PAPI[6], MPI supp ort with MPICH[11] or LAMMPI[3], PVFS2[16] filesystem support, and applications lik e Gromacs[13] and gmxbench[12] at the ready. The advantages of the BCCD approach include: – There is no required formatting of the hard disk – There is no required operating system installation. – The system can run completely in RAM and the CDROM image. No po rtion of the computer's disk is modified. – Students have the same environment in and outside of class, a s well as in a production environment. – Educators can focus on curricular issues rather than cluste r administration issues. – Production servers with minimized administration and main tenance can be created, reducing cost, and allowing seamless migration of skills from an educational environment to a real world one. 2 Description of the Bootable Cluster CD The goal of the Bootable Cluster CD is to lend support to stude nts, educators and researchers as they gain insight into configuration, utilization, troub leshooting, debugging, and administration issues uniquely associated with parallel computin g. As the name implies, the BCCD provides a full, cohesive clustering environment running G NU/Linux when booted from the CDROM drives of networked workstations. The BCCD is unique a mong bootable clustering approaches in its ability to provide a complete clustering e vironment with pre-configured clustering applications and examples from a full repertoir e f development tools. An open lab of networked workstations, which also includes e nvironments using laptops connected over a wireless network (as was used at Superc omputing 03's Education program), or practically any situation where networked wor kstations are available serves as a suitable environment for explorations in clustering en viro ments. Two areas where the BCCD has excelled in HPC education include training student s in clustering administration (instead of opening up the production systems) and for s upporting educator training workshops sponsored by the National Computational Science Institute (NCSI). Over the past three years, NCSI has leveraged the BCCD as a mea ns to support HPCE workshops at Washington University, St. Louis (June 2003), the OU Supercomputing Center for Education and Research (OSCER) (Sept. 23-26, 2003, Aug. 8-15, 2004, and July 1Aug.6, 2005), at Contra Costa College (June 7-9, 2004), at Be thun -Cookman College, and Wofford College (Nov. 2004). At the Contra Costa worksho p, the BCCD was used to bootstrap and sustain computational simulations across a 6 0-node BCCD cluster. During these workshops educators from research institutio ns, primarily-undergraduate institutions and community colleges gather to learn, discu s , and develop curricular topics drawn from HPC and parallel computing. Workshop session top ics have included – traditional message-passing-based programming environm ents (MPICH, LAM-MPI and PVM) – Pragma-based and evolving environments such as OpenMP, thr eads, openMosix and JavaSpaces Building of a GNU/Linux-based BCCD 3 – pedagogical issues, classroom activities and curricular i ssues relating to HPC – debugging, tracing, and visualization of distributed prog rams – building clusters from scratch, from distribution-based s olutions (NPACI ROCKS and OSCAR) and through non-destructive approaches such as the B CCD – setup, configuration, and maintenance of clustering enviro ments and more. The wide breadth of pre-configured clustering applications available on the BCCD includes openMosix and openmosixview; PVFS2; PVM[8]; XPVM; M PICH; LAM-MPI; C3tools[7]; GNU compiler suite; torque[4]; and Gromacs. These applications are available without requiring configu ration, installation, or administration by the end user(s). They have been provided on the B CCD image so that the focus can be on how to "use" a cluster instead of how to setup, administrate, and configure the clustering environment. This approach also allows the BCCD to be used in in an educational setting where the cost of a traditional cluster would prove p rohibitive due to administrative overhead. A full suite of development tools is available for supportin g writing, debugging, and profiling distributed programs. Applications include a wid e range of compilers, debugging libraries, visualization and debugging programs for distr ibu ed applications, linear algebra programs and libraries, and over 1400 additional applicati ons. Support for hot-loadable software packages allows the BCCD to introduce new software and capabilities that were not included when the software wa s burned to the CD. Through hot-loadable software packages, users can dynamically add features to their runtime systems (e.g. Maui support or Ganglia monitoring) and tailor th e runtime system to their local environments. 3 Building the Bootable Cluster CD The approach taken to build the Bootable Cluster CD provides it with a unique customizable framework for the end user. This flexibility is being leverag ed to expand and customize the features of the standard BCCD in support of cutting-edge top ics in distributed computing which will be discussed in the following section. The current version of BCCD has the following characteristi cs: – The BCCD uses the LNX-BBC mechanism to build the operating sy stem into a compressed CD image. The BCCD contains over 500 megabytes of ope rating system and applications compressed to a 180 megabyte mini-CD. – The ability to boot from virtually any x86 (PC) and the abilit y to boot from several PowerPC (Macintosh) versions. – Ethernet drivers are provided for many network interface ca rds (NICs) including the latest Gigabit Ethernet drivers. – The ability to build specialized ISO images, the file represe ntation from which a CD image can be pressed (with some human interaction). – The BCCD automatically configures networking properties, p opulates forwardand reverse-dns lookup tables, and dynamically sets up distrib uted ssh key-based authentication required for the MPI and PVM parallel environments . 4 P. Gray, J. Chapin and T. McNulty – It is by default completely non invasive, i.e. the hard drive is never accessed; only computer memory is used, thus no lasting effects after rebootin g, however accessing the hard drive for storage and other purposes is currently avail able, while an installation system is in the works. – A BCCD system boots in minutes using only 9 presses of the ente r key in most cases. – On systems with a reasonable amount of system RAM, the image c n be loaded from the CD image completely into system RAM. This allows one CD to be used to bootstr


Ion rectification is the asymmetrical conduction of ions through a system under different polarities of applied potentials. In this article we report the finding of a novel form of ion rectification in graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) films which act as an ensemble array of nanochannels. Rectification is imparted by introducing geometric asymmetry in fluidic inlets to the counter-ion selective nanochannels of GO/RGO which creates asymmetry in the enrichment/depletion effects at the macro-/nano-interface. The devices are made simply by cutting a GO or RGO film into a trapezoid and sealing the film within a Polydimethylsiloxane block so that fluid may only enter through one of two inlets. These devices exhibit rectification ratios larger than 20 (in 1 mM NaCl) while operating at modest voltages [−1 V, +1 V].


A broadband coplanar waveguide (CPW) fed bow-tie slot antenna is proposed. By using a linear tapered transition, a 37% impedance bandwidth at -10 dB return loss is achieved. The antenna structure is very simple and the radiation patterns of the antenna in the whole bandwidth remain stable; moreover, the cross-polarization level is lower. An antenna model is fabricated on a high dielectric constant substrate. Experiments show that the simulated results agree well with the measured ones.


Unsuitable effect of clayey soils cannot be ignored in most civil engineering projects. In the present research, undesirability of geotechnical and engineering characteristics of clayey soils and their improvement were investigated. Different approaches have already been proposed to improve these types of soils as using additives. In this study, hydraulic binders as lime and cement were used to ameliorate engineering properties of clayey soil (CL type) which were extracted from Urmia industrial town in west Azarbayjan province in Iran. Land subsidence is a major problem in Urmia industrial town after construction because of existing clayey soils. In this direction, in order to investigate some of engineering and geotechnical characteristics of clayey soils before and after adding additives, compaction, Atterberg limits, unconfined compressive strength tests were accomplished. The results showed that adding hydraulic binders to the specimens leads to increased optimum moisture content, unconfined compressive strength and elasticity modulus, however, this adding decreased specimen's dry unit weight.


1Member of JSCE, Professor, Research Center for Disaster Prevention in the Extended Tokyo Metropolitan Area, Gunma University (1-5-1 Tenjin-cho, Kiryu-shi, Gunma 376-8515, Japan) E-mail: email@example.com 2Member of JSCE, Research Center for Disaster Prevention in the Extended Tokyo Metropolitan Area, Gunma University (IDA Co., Ltd.) (1-5-1 Tenjin-cho, Kiryu-shi, Gunma 376-8515, Japan) E-mail: email@example.com 3Member of JSCE, River Planning Division, Water and Disaster Management Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (1F, Joint Government Building (Chuo Godo Chosha) No. 3, 2-1-3 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8918, Japan) E-mail: email@example.com 4Member of JSCE, River Department, Kanto Regional Development Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (16F, Saitama New Urban Center Joint Government Building No. 2, 2-1 Shintoshin, Chuo-ku, Saitama-shi, Saitama 330-9724, Japan) E-mail: email@example.com


The weighted sum-rate maximization problem of ultra-dense cloud radio access networks is considered. The user-centric clustering is adopted for reducing the complexity. To reduce the training overhead, one only needs to estimate the intra-cluster channel-state information (CSI), while only the large-scale channel gains are available outside the cluster. We first derive the rate lower bound (LB) relying on Jensen's inequality. For the special case of non-overlapping clusters, the accurate data rate expression is derived in the closed form. The simulation results show the tightness of the LB for both the overlapped and non-overlapped cases. Then, we consider an alternative problem where the actual data rate is replaced by its LB, which constitutes a non-convex optimization problem. First, the globally optimal solution is obtained by applying the high-complexity outer polyblock approximation (OPA) algorithm. Then, we invoke the reduced-complexity modified weighted minimum mean square error (WMMSE) algorithm for mitigating the deleterious effects of the realistic imperfect CSI. For the subproblem solved by each WMMSE iteration, the beamforming vectors are derived in the closed form relying on the Lagrangian dual decomposition method. Finally, our simulation results show that the modified WMMSE algorithm's performance is comparable to that of the high-complexity OPA algorithm, which outperforms other benchmark algorithms.


In this research, the potential problems of a regional development project (Southeastern Anatolian Project GAP) related to land use, land degradation, water resources, agricultural pollution and production are analyzed in systems perspective. For this purpose, the dynamic simulation model GAPSIM is developed. GAPSIM simulates the development rate of irrigation schemes, hydropower production with respect to irrigation releases, water availability on farmlands, crop selection and production, salinization, pesticide and fertilizer consumption, rangeland and forest quality and urbanization and population dynamics in GAP during 1990-2030. The reference behavior of GAPSIM points to many problems. According to the model reference run, increased intensity of the most evapotranspirant crop cotton on fields causes significant water scarcity, which hinders development rate of irrigation into new acres. Also, water diversions to farmlands decrease and inhibit crop growth. On the other hand, increased monoculture cultivation of cotton leads to increased pest density on farmlands. Pesticide application rates gradually increase in order to sustain yields. Two factors have considerable effect on water availability, arable land use, agricultural pollution and agricultural production. Both of these scenario analyses related to "attitudes in crop preference" and "rate of land transformation" imply democratization of irrigation through improved infrastructure and farm extension practices. First, a significant improvement in system performance is achieved if those attitudes in crop preference which create bias towards monoculture cultivation of traditional crops are altered and rotations of new crops are stimulated. Secondly, if all farmers are assumed willing to transform their rainfed farm systems whenever water is available, more lands are irrigated and the cropping intensity of the most evapotranspirant crop cotton is hindered as water delivery per individual farm is decreased. In the following sections of this paper, a short model description accompanying the MS PowerPoint presentation and references are prowided. A more detailed policy analysis with GAPSIM is available at Saysel et al. (1999).


This paper examines school liability for school violence-related student injury in South Korea and the US. The study found that the US courts considered only violence-related behaviors of the perpetrator when judging whether violence can be foreseen; thus drug abuse or verbal abuse by the perpetrator were not considered as a part of his/her violent history. On the other hand, the Korean courts considered perpetrators' nonviolent behavior, such as low academic achievement or negative attitudes toward academic work, as indicators of violent history. Regarding the extent of school liability, while in Korea, schools were not held responsible for injuries to non-school-related persons caused by their students' violent acts in public, in the US, the court required schools to take legal responsibility for such cases happening during field trips. These findings help to reconsider school liability for school violence and generate suggestions for more reasonable and universal legal standards.


The distribution of an X-ray beam from a conventional X-ray tube is normally constant in time and can be investigated point by point using a single ionisation chamber. For the X-ray beam produced by a linear accelerator, however, such constancy in time can no longer be assumed and a more rapid method of investigating distributions becomes necessary. The output from an accelerator is also prone to rapid fluctuations and some means of compensating for these becomes highly desirable. Such an instrument has been described by Koschel and Clarke (1963) using cadmium sulphide detectors. These suffer from the defect of having a long time constant, even for small changes in doserate after a steady state has been reached. They have also been found to exhibit a non-linearity with doserate, though this is much less marked at the high levels involved in the present circumstances.


: The mechanism for two types of turn maneuver of a paraglider is made clear by investigating the lateral responses coupled with the longitudinal motion. One of them is the turn initiated by pulling down one of the side control lines that generates the directional angular velocity and sideslip which produce the rolling moment and the bank angle. The other is the turn due to the lateral movement of pilot's body that generates the rolling moment causing to produce the bank angle. Then the rolling angular velocity produces the directional angular velocity due to the proverse yawing moment of canopy. It was confirmed that, during a steady turn, the centrifugal forces acting on the virtual mass of canopy and body were important factors to balance the rolling moment due to the directional angular velocity.


The P.E.in colleges and universities is not only a effective way of improving students' physical ability and aptitude,but also an important classroom of cultivating mental quality of undergraduates.


Simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) has gained momentum as a novel and energy efficient technique to restore energy as well as transfer data in communication networks. In this paper, we consider an energy harvesting (EH) relay assisted collaborative wireless system which operates as a secondary network in underlay mode in a spectrum sharing environment. The collaborative system has a source node, a destination node, and multiple EH relays that are nonregenerative, interference-constrained, and use time-switching architecture to harvest energy and receive information from the source node. We select the relay with the maximum harvested energy for further transmission of data to the destination node. For the secondary cooperative EH system, we provide the average spectral efficiency analysis and propose an optimal time switching ratio policy for the selected EH relay that delivers superior performance than benchmark approaches, namely, the random selection and fixed time switching ratio approach. The proposed policy motivates its application in SWIPT based collaborative and spectrum sharing systems.


It is frequently argued that the 'digital divide' is one of the most significant development issues facing impoverished regions of the world. Yet, even though the term is inherently spatial, there have been no sustained efforts to examine the geographic assumptions underlying discourses of the 'digital divide.' This article traces the history of the term, reviewing some of its tangible effects and placing a focus on the temporal and spatial assumptions underpinning 'digital divide' discourses. Alternative formulations of the 'digital divide' are offered which take into account the hybrid, scattered, ordered and individualized nature of cyberspaces.


Introduction and Aim: The CAP (Controlled Attenuation Parameter) function of FibroScan® is a new non-invasive diagnostic tool that allows the quantification of hepatic steatosis at the same time as elastometry. It calculates the attenuation of ultrasonic signals. The aims of our study are to determine the role of CAP values in predicting liver steatosis in patients with chronic liver diseases, and to determine factors associated with the presence of steatopathy. Methods: Prospective, cross-sectional study, which was monocentric extending over 1 year. A CAP measurement by compact 530 fibroscan was performed using the M probe, or XL probe in the case of obesity, in all patients with chronic liver disease referred for liver elastometry, whatever its etiology and severity. Liver steatosis is graded based on the percentage of fat within the hepatocytes: grade 0: < 5%, grade 1: 5% -3 3%, grade 2: 34% 66%, and grade 3: > 66%. Results: Hepatic steatosis diagnosed by Fibroscan's CAP function is present in 40% of patients referred for evaluation of hepatic fibrosis for all causes of chronic liver disease. Severe hepatic steatosis is present in half of these patients. CAP values were significantly correlated with body mass index (p < 0.001), there was no correlation between CAP values and age, sex or etiology of hepatopathy nor with blood glucose, trigylceridemia, cholesterol level and liver enzymes. Conclusion: The CAP is a promising imaging method for rapidly and non-invasively diagnosing liver steatosis.


The title chiron, 1-tert-butyldimethylsilylpenta-1,4-diyn-3-ol (5), an essential segment of various bioactive polyacetylenic alcohols, has been efficiently resolved via a lipase-catalyzed acylation strategy. Lipases from different Pseudomonas species and Candida rugosa (CRL) furnished its (S)-antipode (as esters) with 86-96% ee. However, the (R)-alcohol 5 could be prepared with acceptable enantiomeric purity (93% ee) only using CRL-vinyl acetate-diisopropyl ether as the reagent protocol and under double filtration conditions. The chiron alcohol was then extended to the target compound (15E,R,R)-duryne (I) by its pyranylation, alkylation with the required achiral C(20)-alpha,omega-dibromide 15, and suitable functionalization.


Objective To evaluate the clinical effect and safety of huperzine A on the patients with mild and moderate Alzheimer disease(AD).Methods 60 patients with mild and moderate AD were randomly divided into treatment group(n=30)and control group(n=30),treatment group was treated with huperzine A(0.2 mg,twice daily)and control group was treated with placebo for 12 weeks.Memory Quotient(MQ),Mini-mental state examination(MMSE),HDS-R and ADL were measured respectively before treatment and after 12 weeks treatment.Results After 12 weeks treatment,MQ and MMSE in treatment group were obviously higher(P0.01),and they were obviously higher than that in control group(P0.01);ADL was obviously lower(P0.01),and it was also lower than that of control group(P0.01).Conclusion Huperzine A is safe and effective in the treatment for the patients with mild and moderate AD.


The nonionic-cationic emulsion polymn. of coupling agent 3-(2-aminoethyl)aminopropyl-methyld-imethoxysilane (HRSIL SCA-602) with octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) was studied, and the factors affecting theproduct granularity were discussed. The optimum conditions were obtained for the polymn.: reaction temp. 85~90 ℃, shearing time 10~15 min, catalyst amt. 0.25 g, dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride (1231) amt. 11.62~12.62g. The obtained aminosiloxane micro-emulsion had advantages in the physical property, softness and crease recovery of the treated fabrics as compared to the fabrics treated with aminosiloxane emulsions having the same amino value and prepd. from bulk polymn.


The strong quasi 2‐day wave (Q2DW) event that occurred during January 2015 was studied by employing medium frequency and meteor radar observations of winds from three different locations at low latitudes with considerable longitudinal separation. The large‐amplitude wave activity that occurred in mid‐January is the focus of this study. Using the advantage offered by the longitudinal separation among the stations, the zonal structure of the Q2DW has been examined. The presence of a dominant westward propagating zonal wavenumber 3 (W3) mode was revealed in the analysis. The availability of geomagnetic field data from a number of stations at low latitudes enabled us to observe the wave event at ionospheric dynamo region heights. The phase‐longitude cross‐section of the quasi 2‐day oscillation in the Y component of the geomagnetic field reiterates the presence of the dominant W3 mode observed at lower altitudes. Similar zonal characteristics and periods of the wave signatures found at mesospheric altitudes and in the manifestation of quiet‐time ionospheric currents in geomagnetic field are in conformity with the notion of the wave coupling of the atmosphere‐ionosphere system.


Serum levels of osteoarthritis (OA)-related cartilage and joint-specific biochemical markers – cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3, and hyaluronan (HA) –are shown to be associated with cartilage degradation, joint tissue degradation, and synovitis in patients with OA. Although these OA-related biochemical markers may initially precede the MRI biomarkers of joint structural changes, such changes detected in MRI can lead to biochemical marker changes later as the condition progresses. However, there is a lack of data on OA-related biochemical markers' association with MRI-based biomarkers in the middle-aged general population.We aimed to describe the associations between OA-related biochemical markers and MRI-based imaging biomarkers in middle-aged adults followed up over 10-13 years.Blood samples were collected during the Childhood Determinants of Adult Health (CDAH)-1 study at baseline (year: 2004-06, age: 26–36 years) and 10-13 year follow-up (CDAH-3; year: 2014–2019, age: 36–49 years). Serum samples from baseline (n=156) and follow-up (n= 167) were analyzed for three OA-related biomarkers – namely COMP, MMP-3, and HA– using non isotopic ELISA assay methodology. Knee MRI scans were obtained during the CDAH-knee study (year: 2008-10, age: 30-40 years, n=313), and MRIs were assessed for cartilage volume, cartilage thickness, subchondral bone area, cartilage defects, and bone marrow lesions (BML). Univariable and multivariable (adjusted for age, sex, and body mass index (BMI)) linear regression and logistic regression were used to describe the association of biochemical marker at CDAH-1 and MRI-based imaging biomarkers at CDAH-knee, and Tobit regression was used to describe the association of MRI-based imaging biomarkers at CDAH-knee and biochemical markers at CDAH-3.In the multivariable model for the association of biochemical marker with MRI-based imaging biomarkers (assessed after 4 years), we found a significant negative association of COMP with medial femorotibial compartment cartilage thickness (-0.010 (-0.019, -0.000) p=0.045), and MMP-3 with patellar cartilage thickness (-9.075 (-16.344, -1.807) p=0.015) and total bone area (-0.047 (-0.086, -0.007) p=0.020). No significant association was observed between HA and MRI markers.In the multivariable model for association of MRI-based imaging biomarkers with biochemical markers (assessed after 6-9 years), a significant negative association of total cartilage volume (-0.0005 (-0.0008, -0.0002) p=0.001) and total cartilage thickness (-0.628 (-1.143, -0.114) p=0.017) with MMP-3, and total bone area with COMP (0.270 (-0.474, -0.006) p=0.010) was observed. No significant association was observed between MRI-based imaging biomarkers and HA.COMP and MMP-3 levels were negatively associated with knee cartilage thickness assessed 4-years later. Similarly, knee cartilage thickness and volume were negatively associated with COMP and MMP-3 levels assessed 6-9 years later in population-based middle-aged adults, indicating an interdependent negative association of OA-related biochemical markers and MRI-based imaging biomarkers. These results suggest that OA-related biochemical markers may predict future MRI-based imaging biomarkers in middle-aged adults and thus represent possible at-risk populations to target for structure modification interventions.This project was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia Project Grant and Royal Hobart Hospital Research Foundation Project Grant.Benny Antony Grant/research support from: Investigator-Initiated Clinical Trial support from Nat Rem Ltd., Ambrish Singh: None declared, Leigh Blizzard: None declared, Alison Venn: None declared, Graeme Jones Speakers bureau: Speaker for various pharma, Grant/research support from: Investigator-Initiated Clinical Trial support, John Burgess: None declared, Venkat Parameswaran: None declared, Flavia Cicuttini: None declared, Lyn March: None declared, Changhai Ding: None declared


Subtitle: The new multi-crew pilot licence represents a significant new approach to training pilots for a career in air transport. Ultimately, it could allow the industry to sustain rapid growth by generating an influx of more appropriately trained pilots.


This evidence-based guide is aimed at those studying for or performing the newborn examination as an extended role. It could be used as a pre-course taster to encourage practitioners to undertake this role, which the authors promote as a natural extension of the role of the midwife.


A member of the faculty of Concordia College (Moorhead, Minnesota) recounts his experience with developing local internship opportunities for Germai business students in exchange for internship opportunities in Germany for his international business students. The faculty member had to develop a list of potential companies, in an area of small to medium sized firms; contact them to encourage their cooperation with the program; locate housing for the interns; provide information to the interns before they arrived, concerning money, clothing, transportation, and other facts; meet the interns at the airport and assist them in getting settled; introduce them to their employers; and regularly follow up on their progress. Implementation of the program has been time consuming, but it is felt that there are many willing partner schools in Germany and that exchange internships are an excellent method of developing positive relationships between Germans and Americans. (JDD) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * frcthe original document. *************************. 'c********************************************


The journal of Cancer & Allied Specialties will be retracting the clinical case-report "Diagnostic Dilemma of a Diaphragmatic Hernia" by Salman Yahya, Sonia Zafar, and Hafsa Babar.


LODGED BULLETS. The war has developed once again the discussion upon the removal of bullets. Formerly with the low velocity the proportion of lodged bullets was much larger than it is now. Some surgeons are of opinion that the missile ought to be searched for and removed at as early a moment as possible. I think the practice in ordinary circumstances unjustifiable. If the nature of the wound enables us to reach the bullet without trouble, or if it has lodged under the skin and can be reached by a simple incision, it may be removed. But remembering the character of the wounds made by the Mauser in most cases, enlarging the apertures, or a search with probes or other instruments, may mean a suppurating instead of a nonsuppurating track. It has been said in justification that the bullet may become displaced and give rise to troublesome after-effects. If these should occur the cause can then be dealt with, but a bullet may lie buried with impunity throughout a long life. Therefore, except under special circumstances, which are sufficiently obvious, nothing should be done beyond trying to occlude the wound and to secure it from contamination.


devolution to lower scales of government, playing out in the current UK emphasis on the city region. The approach also could be accused of glossing over the struggles which can occur—within local communities, given the areas "that most need improvements and political voice are least likely to be able to mount a response" (p. 93)—and in turn within sub-local communities, with Wills stressing the importance of non-partisan neighbourhood politics. This book makes an important contribution to the emerging literature on localism and its implications for changing state–society relationships and the location of power and control. It affirms the importance of place to politics and self-determination. As such, though Wills focuses on the English brand of localism, the book's lessons are of much broader relevance. But the debates about control underpinning the recent Brexit referendum underline the need for such quality and considered scholarship to inform research, policy and practice in the UK and elsewhere.


tieing writers: Anouilh, Salacrou, Robbe-Grillet, and Thornton Wilder (as quoted by Alan Schneider). These men were not deceived: "as important as the opening of Pirandello in Paris in 1923" (Anouilh, p. 13); "Tennessee Williams regards Godot as one of the greatest plays of modern times" (Alan Levy, p. 7'7); and so on. If Beckett was upset by Miami (which is unlikely) he must have been gratified by the instant, wholehearted and passionate accolade of his peers. Of almost equal interest are the attitudes of actors and directors. Having assisted in a production, I sympathize with Peter Bull's lament that "an identical cue kept recurring every few pages of the script, so that it was remarkably easy to leave out whole chunks of the play" (p. 40). And it is hard not to agree with Alan Simpson, the Dublin producer, that Beckett is wrong in insisting on "Nothing to be done" rather than on "It's no good" as a translation of "Rien a faire" (P.45). Beckett doesn't make it exactly easy for his players and directors, but this is the necessary intransigence of genius. Without Beckett's we should not have Godot; nor, for that matter, should we have had this charming, but not trivial, anthology.


HISTORIANS continue to probe the development of mining throughout the United States. Scholars have focused on the often colorful activities associated with gold and silver extraction in the mountainous West or on coal, lead, and iron ore. Recentiy historians expanded their interest from entrepreneurial decision-makers, hard-rock miners, and technological developments, to exceUent social histories of the Butte Irish and women on the mining frontiers. Larry Lankton, associate professor of history at Michigan Technological University, seeks to fill a void in the mining literature by writing a broad history of the Lake Superior copper district on Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Although his narrative spans the chronology from prehistoric native mining to the closing of operations about 1970, the focus is on the tensions and conflicts, the social and economic problems that surfaced during the critical decades, 1890-1920. The discovery of rich copper deposits lured permanent settiers to the Upper Peninsula. Because the copper lodes dipped steeply into the ground. Lake mines, unlike their industry rivals in Montana and Arizona, never converted to less expensive open-pit mining but retained deep-shaft operations. Therefore, incorporated companies, not individual miners or limited partnerships, were needed to exploit the copper ore. By the 1890s, Michigan copper companies, led by Calumet and Hecla, were "known for being among the most enlightened, fair, humane, and paternalistic employers in the American mining industry." Seeking to establish a sense of loyalty and a bridge between management and labor, companies provided basic elements for the health, education, and social welfare of the workers. No hard line separated civil and corporate authority, public or company interests. Schools were seen as "incubators," taking children from a dozen or more ethnic groups and producing English-speaking future miners. Managers sanctioned a variety of recreation opportunities, including bands and athletic teams. Nearly every ethnic group budt its own meeting and social hall and provided mutual aid and benefit societies. Until the early 20th century. Lake mining companies managed to extinguish small rebellions among workers and to avert larger problems. Management used a variety of techniques that included corporate paternalism, subterfuge and covert action, ethnic discrimination in hiring and firing, and outright displays of force. Copper companies demonstrated a preference for Cornish, Germans, and Austrians in their labor force. Finns were seen by mine managers as intractable, clannish, and difficult to Americanize. They were increasingly blamed for instigating labor troubles. The author concluded that "Michigan miners were dull in comparison with the fractious men found in eastern coal fields, or with the union men found in Butte or Cripple Creek." The only serious labor dispute in the Upper Peninsula copper region involved the Western Federation of Miners, whose organizing efforts had grown slowly before the winter of 1912-1913. The union gained a cause that appealed to a broad spectrum of underground workers when the major companies announced a new commitment to one-man drills. This destroyed the tradition of miners working together on a team, promised harder and more dangerous work, and threatened half the miners with unemployment or displacement to lower-paying jobs. The Western Federation called a strike that lasted from July, 1913, to the following spring. In the end, management devastated the union and left it buried in debt by utilizing its economic power over unpaid workers, by pitting one ethnic group against another, and by appealing to a long tradition of worker loyalty. Following World War I Lake copper companies found themselves on a downward spiral from which they never fully recovered. Excess production capacity, a dwindling market, and competition from new sources of copper in Canada and Chile all contributed to a slow decline. The 1930s depression ruined companies, communities, and individual mining families; World War II failed to sustain an economic boom. In 1969 Calumet and Hecla, which had dominated Lake Superior copper production for three-quarters of a century, terminated all mining and manufacturing operations on the Upper Peninsula. This signaled the end of an important era in base metal mining along the shore of Lake Superior.


An essential reference on Australia's religious groups with the latest information from the Australian 2011 Census. Church leaders and everyone interested in the changing profile of Australia's profile will find this invaluable. This book describes the changing profile and participation in each religious group.


This memo presents a simple analysis of small-scale self focusing or filamentation effects in strongly diverging or converging optical beams ("tapered beams") propagating in nonlinear or saturable optical media. In contrast to the collimated beam case where the nonlinear perturbations can be modelled as uniformly spaced periodic ripples, the nonlinear phase and amplitude ripples in the tapered-beam case can be modeled as nonlinear Newton's rings or Fresnel zone plates. These perturbations, although they preserve their shape with distance, do not grow exponentially with distance as in the collimated beam case because they lack the Talbot interaction that is necessary for exponential growth. Instead they tend to grow either logarithmically or as a power of z with distance.


The purpose of this investigation is to develop web-dendritic process methods that will: (1) minimize the cost of processing silicon into ribbons of solar cell quality with a terrestrial energy conversion efficiency greater than 10%, and (2) be suitable for large quantity production. Work is described on: (1) the procedures used to calibrate and operate the web-dendritic growth furnace, (2) use of the furnace to grow web-dendritic ribbon, (3) considerations applied for the thermal analysis and modeling of the web-dendritic growth system, and (4) procedures, facilities and initial results for the structural and electrical characterization of web material.


Abstract This article examines how Beat texts are received in Turkey as underground literature and what that reception reveals not only about the possibilities for cultural dissent in Turkey, but the extent to which the Beats are still capable of promoting social change in general. While translations of Beat Generation texts are a fairly recent phenomenon in Turkey, the internet has provided them with additional exposure, with the result that Beat texts play a role in discussions of the growing genre of underground literature in Turkey. This study analyses that role in order to discuss questions of commodification, transgression, censorship, and cultural difference that impact Beat texts in Turkey. Beat writers offer a form of resistance that allows Turkish readers to challenge mainstream values and mount legal challenges through the classic figure of the Beat rebel. This unique situation provides insight not only into the possibilities in culturally translating an imported counterculture, but also provides a refracted view of the assumptions operating in that countercultural model as it is redeployed in a different nation at a different moment of history.


The heat transport by a viscous fluid with temperature dependent viscosity has been studied numerically. As opposed to previous models, the top surface of the fluid clearly defines a tectonic plate with horizontally uniform velocity and subduction. Past studies failed to incorporate plates resulting in inefficient heat transport. With tectonic plates, the heat transport is as efficient as Rayleigh-Benard convection with constant viscosity; there is a strong buffering between internal temperature and heat loss. Past studies of parameterized convection which incorporated parameters indicative of a strong buffering between internal temperature and total heat output still provide the most physically plausible representation of the Earth's thermal evolution. The temperature dependence of silicate rheology has long been thought to imply a strong buffering between terrestrial heat loss and internal temperature. This process operates such that the viscosity of a warming planet decreases and leads to increased heat advection and heat output. This principle of planetary evolution has been brought into serious doubt as numerical models of convection with temperature dependent viscosity apparently failed to exhibit such behavior (Christensen, 1984, 1985). The present paper critically examines this discrepancy between theory and fluid dynamic models. This principle of temperature buffering, along with a relation between heat loss (Nusselt number) and Rayleigh number, has been exploited to formulate thermal history models of the Earth's mantle. These models are in general accord: predicting, for example, that during the Archean the mantle heat flux was -4 times higher than present values, while the internal temperature was only about 100oC higher (Davies,1980; Jackson and Pollack, 1984; Schubert et a1.,1980; Turcotte et al., 1979). Such thermal history models assume a power law relation between heat loss and Rayleigh number


Abstract This study demonstrates that silver (Ag+) impregnated graphene oxide (GO) reduces anion and natural organic matter (NOM) competition for bromide (Br−) adsorption sites compared with Ag+ impregnated powdered activated carbon (PAC). We impregnated two GO (Tour and Modifier Hummers [MH] method) and one PAC with silver ions. Batch studies were conducted to assess Br− removal in model waters with Br−, chloride (Cl−), bicarbonate (HCO3−), and/or NOM and natural surface waters. In buffered ultrapure water, Tour-Ag, MH-Ag, and PAC-Ag all removed >85% of Br−, while sorbents without Ag+ removed 75% of Br−, MH-Ag removed >50%, and PAC-Ag removed >30%, highlighting that GO-Ag is more effective at removing Br− from water than PAC-Ag (p < 0.05). Scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis show that Br− is evenly dispersed on the surface of GO-Ag, indicating possible attachment to oxygen groups and silver on the GO surface. A...


The cornerstones of primary care for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease are prophylaxis against Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), antiretroviral therapy, treatment of opportunistic infections and other complications of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), and a productive provider-patient-family relationship. Although much of HIV/AIDS treatment has now become standardized, guidelines can be helpful, especially for primary care providers treating small populations ofHIV-infected persons. The Current Report HIV series attempts to provide timely updates and comprehensive treatment reviews for family physicians and other primary care providers. This Current Report HIV article, based on our clinical experience at San Francisco General Hospital and a review of the medical literature, updates our annual treatment recommendations. I


A lamp in which a LED array is coupled to a transistor such that the same amount of current flows through both. The voltage level at the control (e.g., base) terminal of the transistor is controlled such that the current magnitude is reduced when the operating temperature rises. As a result, the heat generated from the junctions of the LEDs in the LED arrays is reduced, thereby compensating for the increase in the operating temperature.


Book, CD-ROM, S12F120, p.12 (2011). 7 ) JANTI SANE Committee, "Structural integrity assessment for nuclear power components experienced niigata chuetsu-oki earthquake", http://www.gengikyo.jp/archive/ pdf/JANTISANE-04.pdf, pp.56-72 (2012). 8 ) N. E. Dowling, "Crack growth during low-cycle fatigue of smooth axial specimens", American society for testing and materials special technical publication 637, pp.97-121 (1977). *大関 裕明,蓮沼 将太,小川 武史* 206 12514(p.201-206) 13.2.17 14:44 ページ 206


Ingles: This paper addresses the relationship between language and thought, discussing the issue within the cognitivist framework of embodied realism. The general thesis that thought is articulated as language is explored in two of its classic versions, which are then confronted with the more recent cognitive approach. We show that, while the classic approaches tend to stand in clear and opposed places within the broader debate of foundationalism vs. relativism, embodied realism's hybrid position in this debate is not as yet complemented by a perspicuous picture of the relationship between language and thought. Key-words: embodied realism; language/ thought; foundationalism; relativism


The 26S proteasome is the main proteolytic machine involved in protein degradation, thus contributing to homeostasis or stress response of eukaryotic cells. This macromolecular complex, consisting of a 20S core particle assembled with one or two 19S regulatory particles, is highly regulated by phosphorylation. Here we describe the Plasmodium berghei proteasome AAA-ATPase regulatory subunit Rpt3 and show that it binds to protein phosphatase 1, the major parasite phosphatase. In addition, PbRpt3 regulates the activity of the phosphatase both in vitro and in a heterologous model of Xenopus oocytes. Using mutagenesis approaches, we observed that the RVXF motifs of PbRpt3 are involved in this binding and activity. Further use of Xenopus oocyte model and mutagenesis based on the 3D model that we established revealed that the binding capacity of PbRpt3 to ATP may also contribute to its phosphatase-regulating activity. In the parasite, reverse genetic studies suggested an essential role for PbRpt3 since no viable knock-out line could be obtained. Additionally, immunoprecipitation assays followed by mass spectrometry analyses using transgenic PbRpt3-tagged parasites not only confirmed that PbRpt3 belongs to the 19S regulatory particle of the proteasome, but also revealed potential interaction with proteins already shown to play a role in the phospholipid membrane dynamics.


Composite materials are increasingly being utilized in many products, such as aircrafts, wind blades, etc. Accordingly, the need for nondestructive inspection of composite materials is increasing and technologies that allow nondestructive inspection are being studied. Existing ultrasound methods are limited in their ability to detect defects due to high attenuation in composite materials, and radiographic examination methods could pose a danger to human health. Terahertz (THz) wave technology is an emerging approach that is useful for imaging of concealed objects or internal structures due to high transmittance in non-conductive materials, straightness, and safety to human health. Using high-speed THz tomography systems that we developed, we have obtained THz tomographic images of glass-fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) laminates with artificial internal defects such as delamination and inclusion. The defects have various thicknesses and sizes, and lie at different depths. We present THz tomographic images of GFRP samples to demonstrate the extent to which the defects can be detected with the THz tomography systems.


Abstract : The Superior Labrum Anterior-to-Posterior (SLAP) lesion is a term that was coined to refer to a tear involving the superior glenoid labrum. These lesions are common among military members and athletes that utilize overhead arm movements. They typically occur as a result of a fall on out stretched hand or following repetitive overhead activity that places traction on the shoulder. SLAP lesions represent a specific pattern of injury that involves the partial or complete detachment of the superior labrum and/or the biceps tendon. Patients with SLAP lesions complain of shoulder pain while performing overhead movements and often develop mechanical popping or catching within the shoulder. The following case report reviews the typical clinical presentation, imaging findings, and treatment of the Superior Labrum Anterior-to-Posterior lesion.


Seldom does a vaccine researcher's job include calling city hall, big-box stores like Walmart and Target, and the US Postal Service. But Ann Falsey, MD, had those tasks on her to-do list in June as she prepared to recruit volunteers to test potential vaccines for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Falsey, of the University of Rochester School of Medicine, hoped large employers in her area would publicize vaccine trials to their essential workers, many of whom are Black or Hispanic. "We are thinking very hard about not only how to get a diverse population that reflects the US population but also people at high risk—postal workers, home health workers, you name it," she said. COVID-19's startling toll on minorities has drawn widespread attention to the need for diversity in large-scale phase 3 vaccine trials. Two 30 000-person trials, led by Moderna and a joint effort of Pfizer and BioNTech, began on July 27. AstraZeneca was expected to start US recruitment to test its vaccine, developed with Oxford University, in August, followed by Johnson & Johnson in September and Novavax later this fall. Drawing tens of thousands of people of color into clinical trials would be a heavy lift anytime in the US health care system, which is rife with distrust and racial divisions. But social distancing due to the pandemic— along with social unrest sparked by the police killing in Minneapolis of George Floyd— are adding to the challenge. Tried-and-true outreach strategies such as talks at community gatherings are off the table, replaced by Facebook posts, Zoom calls, and news media interviews. "We can't just go hang up posters," Falsey noted.


In this article, we present the procedure of preparation of flexible electronic paper with a photosensitive azo dye layer as the key element for changing the orientation of the polarization plane. The main steps of the technology for the fabrication of flexible e-paper are reported. The possible production of Digital Mirror Devices and the roll-to-roll process is discussed. Images on flexible e-paper are demonstrated, including bank card options. The advantages of optically rewritable e-paper technology in comparison with the e-ink usually used for this purpose are highlighted. Potential applications of flexible optically rewritable e-paper include price tags for supermarkets, indoor and outdoor advertisements, smart card labels, etc.


! TRAP is a group of metalloenzymes which are closely associated with osteoclastic action, and is confirmed to participate in bone resorption.1 ! Bone resorption and formation are biologically interlinked in a dynamic equilibrium in order to maintain bone mass. Therefore, if there is a change in the rate of bone resorption, bone formation may also be affected.2, 3 ! By TRAP gene knockout (-/-), bone resorption was reduced in mice models.1 ! We hypothesised that bone formation would be significantly reduced in the TRAP-/mice compared to controls.


This paper mainly introduces the current situation of international trade on laver industry in Japan,South Korea and China,and analyzes their laver industry standards and the effects of Asia regional laver standards development. Finally,the reasonable countermeasures and suggestions are put forward.


Recent electrical measurements have accessed transport in the topological surface state band of thin exfoliated samples of Bi2Se3 by removing the bulk n-type doping by contact with thin films of the molecular acceptor F4-TCNQ. Here we report on the film growth and interfacial electronic characterization of F4-TCNQ grown on Bi2Se3. Atomic force microscopy shows wetting layer formation followed by 3D island growth. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is consistent with this picture and also shows that charge transferred to the molecular layer is localized on nitrogen atoms. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy shows a work function increase and an upward shift of the valence band edge that suggest significant reduction in carrier density at the Bi2Se3 surface.


The World Health Organization estimates that a staggering two billion people harbor parasitic worm infections.The increasing of anthelmintic drug resistance and the high cost of anthelmintic drugs led to the development of herbalmedicine as an alternative source of anthelmintic. In the current study, in-vitro experiments were conducted todetermine the possible anthelmintic effects of Ficus elastic (FE) Linn which are traditionally used for treatment of variousdiseases. The main aim of this study is to investigate the anthelmintic activity of Ficus elastica using earth-worms(Pheritima posthuma). Intestinal worms affect a host of individuals resulting in malnutrition, intellectual retardation,stunted growth and cognitive deficits. The leaves of the plant were taken for anthelmentic activity against Indianearthworm Pheritima posthuma. The Methanol and Ethanol extract of the Ficus elactica were evaluated for theiranthelmintic activity against metronidazole (10mg/ml) as a reference and distilled water as a control group and theresults were expressed in terms of time for paralysis and time for death of worms.KEY WORDS: - Ficus elastica Linn. anthelmintic activity, metronidazole, Pheritima posthuma, Death time, Paralysis time.


Crude oil resource, refining capacity and oil product demand of the northeast region in China were analyzed. It's pointed out that these major refineries around Bohai gulf are lacking of reasonable crude oil resources, reasonable product market, so their competitiveness are poor. In order to change the current situation, it's suggested that expansion of refining capacities in the next period of time should be limited, the product structure should be optimized.


We investigate how to obtain a non-trivial geometric phase gate for a two-qubit spin chain, with Ising interaction in different magnetic fields. Indeed, one of the spins is driven by a time-varying rotating magnetic field, and the other is coupled with a static magnetic field in the direction of the rotation axis. This is an interesting problem both for the purpose of measuring the geometric phases and in quantum computing applications. It is shown that the static magnetic field does not change the adiabatic states of the system, and it does not affect the geometric phases, whereas it may be used to control the dynamic phases. In addition, by considering the exact two-spin adiabatic geometric phases, we find that a non-trivial two-spin unitary transformation, purely based on Berry phases, can be obtained by using two consecutive cycles with opposite directions of the magnetic fields, opposite signs of the interaction constant and the phase shift of the rotating magnetic field. In addition, in the non-adiabatic case, starting with a certain initial state, a cycle can be achieved and thus the Aharonov–Anandan phase is calculated.


Staying healthy is directly proportional to productive and energetic life. A system can be modeled to maintain the health track of a person and to avoid further health issues. Incorporating machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques in the medical sector can be of great benefit to healing millions of patient's diseases and predicting disease at an early stage to decrease the mortality statistics which are rapidly increasing. This paper provides a survey and analysis of the various disease diagnostic systems proposed previously by various authors. In addition, it also proposes an application that predicts the vulnerability of the disease by giving primary symptoms and other clinical data of a person as parameters. Two algorithms Random Forest Classifier and K Nearest Neighbour Classifier are studied and explored for symptom analysis and disease prediction.


The liquid CGP was useful for detecting FGFR2 fusion and the patient experienced typical side effects (nail disorders, hyperphosphatemia, and taste disorders) of pemigatinib that required treatment.


PURPOSE: A method and an apparatus for pointing a mouse in a portable terminal are provided to move a mouse pointer of a screen according to moving direction and moving distance of the portable terminal. CONSTITUTION: A button input unit(110) operates movement of a mouse pointer. A movement sensor unit(120) senses movement direction and size of a portable terminal. A controller(150) extracts a space movement location of the portable terminal based on the sensed movement direction and size. The controller moves a mouse pointer according to the space movement location.


The invention discloses a large free-form surface robot polishing system. The large free-form surface robot polishing system comprises a pneumatic polishing head, an industrial robot, a robot control cabinet, a traveler gantry, a visual system, a pneumatic control cabinet and a system control cabinet. When the polishing system works, a part standard is rapidly and accurately calibrated according to the standard accurate calibrating technique, the traveler gantry is used for driving the industrial robot to arrive at a target free-form surface, the pneumatic polishing head is driven by the industrial robot to polish the target free-form surface according to a planed path, the pneumatic smooth force control technique and the normal polishing force control technique are adopted in a polishing process, and consistency of polishing accuracy and polishing quality is effectively guaranteed; the industrial robot is driven by the traveler gantry to arrive at the next target free-form surface after the target free-form surface is polished, the industrial robot drives the pneumatic polishing head to conduct polishing according to the planed path again, and in this way, all free-form surfaces are polished step by step in sequence. The large free-form surface robot polishing system is simple in structure, wide in work range, and suitable for polishing the large free-form surfaces.


In this thesis we briefly look at the rules related to the greatest common divisor and the lowest common multiple of two integers and we describe the Euclidean algorithm. We study connections between Euclidean algorithm and continued fractions, Wirsing's method for determining the distribution function and how Knuth calculated the distribution of partial quotients in Euclidean algorithm using this method. Next Lehmer's algorithm is described and how it improves Euclidean algorithm, greatest common divisor and the multiplicative inverse mod n for a natural number n. We implement both Euclidean algorithm and Lehmer's algorithm in order to compare their speed. We also confirm the calculated distributions of partial quotients in Euclidean algorithm through an experiment.


Biometrics plays a significant role in day to day life. It is widely used as a means of personal identification and authentication. Of this signature is most important. Handwritten signature is unique to an individual and virtually impossible to duplicate. This emphasizes the need for an automatic verification system. The aim of this paper is to measure gray level features of an image when it is distorted by a complex background and train by using neural network classifier and SVM. The practical signature verification problems include problems due to the need of segmenting the signature from the image document. This problem is overcome in this paper by calculating the gray level distortion and segmenting the original signature from the complex backgrounds. Then the image is trained by a neural network by using feed forward back propagation algorithm and SVM


Activins are members of the transforming growth factor‐β superfamily that exert neurotrophic and neuroprotective effects on various neuronal populations. To determine the possible function of activin in stroke injury, we assessed which components of the activin signalling pathway were modulated in response to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). Furthermore, because oestradiol replacement protects against MCAO‐induced cell death, we explored whether oestradiol replacement influences activin gene expression. Female Sprague‐Dawley rats underwent permanent MCAO and the expression of activins and their corresponding receptors was determined by semiquantitative reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction at 24 h after onset of ischaemia. We observed up‐regulation of activin βA and activin type I receptor A mRNA in response to injury. Dual‐label immunocytochemistry followed by confocal z‐stack analysis showed that the activin A expressing cells comprised neurones. Next, we monitored the time course of activin βA mRNA expression in oestradiol‐ or vehicle‐treated rats at 4, 8, 16 and 24 h after MCAO via in situ hybridisation. Starting at 4 h after injury, activin βA mRNA was up‐regulated in cortical and striatal areas in the ipsilateral hemisphere. Activin βA mRNA levels in the cortex increased dramatically with time and were highest at 24 h after the insult, and oestradiol replacement did not influence this increase.


Abstract With the development of modern surveying and mapping technology, 3D laser scanners are increasingly used for building dip scanning. Building inclination characteristics are analyzed using three-dimensional point cloud data and binary linear regression. It can easily and intuitively obtain the inclination of the building. This method extracted the building inclination Angle from the point, line, plane, surface, and other angles. Then, a matching method based on two dimensions and surfaces is proposed, with a strong anti-noise ability. An optimal matching algorithm of structural plane and surface based on quadratic linear regression is proposed. Experiments prove the anti-interference ability and accuracy of this method. It is found that the binary linear regression fitting method can effectively identify the noise signal when there is a lot of noise interference in the point cloud data. It has good anti-interference ability.