This paper examines the macroeconomic impact of the Asset Purchase Programme (APP) in the euro area on the basis of a set of macro-finance variables included in a Dynamic Nelson–Siegel modelling framework. The empirical results emphasise the role of the APP's portfolio balance channel in stimulating economic growth and inflation, both at the aggregate euro area level and at the disaggregated country-specific level. The portfolio balance channel works at the aggregated level through greater international price competitiveness, easier conditions on capital markets, and higher asset prices. Moreover, the results suggest that the initial APP announcement has increased the annual real GDP growth rates and HICP inflation in the euro area by up to 0.7% and 0.8%, respectively. At the disaggregated level, there is evidence for the stimulation of bank lending through the portfolio balance channel in the core countries. Moreover, the stronger rise in stock prices in the core countries shows that the wealth effect triggered by portfolio rebalancing is mainly concentrated in the richer member countries. A comparison of the country-specific macroeconomic impact of APP shows that while overall GDP responses are broadly comparable across countries, the peripheral countries that have implemented effective labour market reforms have benefited significantly from bond purchases in stimulating inflation. This points to the need for further labour market reforms in Italy. A reform package of labour and product market reforms can help to reduce the resulting transition costs.


ABSTRACTAdrenocortical carcinomas (ACC) are rare malignant tumors of the adrenal cortex whose prognosis remains ominous. Considerable progress has been made during the last few years in the identification of the molecular mechanisms implicated in their pathogenesis. Overexpression of the transcription factor Steroidogenic Factor-1 (SF-1/NR5A1), a pivotal regulator of adrenocortical development and steroidogenic function, has a stage-independent negative prognostic value in patients with ACC.1 Studies in cell lines and animal models have shown that an increased SF-1 dosage is able to increase adrenocortical cell proliferation and triggers tumorigenesis.2 Those effects are, at least in part, explained by differential regulation by overexpressed SF-1 of a set of genes that are largely distinct from those ones that are regulated by the same transcription factor in conditions of basal expression.3 Understanding of the cellular and molecular function of those SF-1 dosage-dependent target genes is important to s...


We propose a new methodology for soft error rate estimation using multiple sensitive volumes and machine learning. The proposed methodology assigns multiple sensitive volumes to a unit circuit (e.g. SRAM cell) and constructs a discriminator from TCAD simulations by machine learning. For each ion reproduced by radiation transport simulation, the discriminator judges whether an upset occurs or not, and consequently we can obtain soft error rate by counting the number of events judged as upset events. Advantages of the proposed methodology are: (1) empirical construction and adjustment of sensitive volume and critical charge is no longer necessary, (2) multiple transistors can be easily considered, and (3) event-wise accuracy can be improved. We confirmed the correlation between irradiation results and simulation results for 65-nm silicon on thin buried oxide (SOTB) SRAM. The estimation error was 7% without any empirical optimization of sensitive volume and critical charge.


The distribution and effects of the mistletoes Arceuthobium divaricatum Engelm. on Pinus edulis Engelm. and Phoradendron juniperinum Engelm. on Juniperus osteosperma (Torr.) Little on the pinyon-juniper vegetation type on the south rim of Grand Canyon National Park were investigated. Fire was the most limiting factor in the distribution of the mistletoes. The incidence of infection increased as trunk diameter and height increased in both pinyon and juniper. Arceuthobium divaricatum had the more serious impact on its host in respect to both vigor and mortality. Both mistletoes appear to be in equilibrium with their hosts at this time. Two mistletoes of the pinyon-juniper ecosystem of the Grand Canyon are Arceuthobium divaricatum Engelm. and Phoradendron juniperinum Engelm. Research on A. divaricatum and P. juniper- inum has been extremely limited because the trees infected have not been economically important as timber resources. With rising in- terest in utilization of the resources of the pinyon-juniper vegetation type, especially in a recreational capacity, effective management of these stands will be paramount in national parks and recreation areas (Clary 1975). Information on the site preferences and environmental factors that predispose the host trees to mistletoe infection will fa- cilitate management of diseased stands. This study was conducted to determine the distribution and effects of dwarf mistletoe on pinyon (Pinus edulis Engelm.) and true mistletoe on juniper (Juniperus osteosperma (Torr.) Little) on the South Rim at Grand Canyon Na- tional Park, Arizona.


A Steiner triple system of order n (STS(n)) is said to be embeddable in an orientable surface if there is an orientable embedding of the complete graph Kn whose faces can be properly 2-colored (say, black and white) in such a way that all black faces are triangles and these are precisely the blocks of the STS(n). If, in addition, all white faces are triangular, then the collection of all white triangles forms another STS(n); the pair of such STS(n)s is then said to have an (orientable) bi-embedding. We study several questions related to embeddings and bi-embeddings of STSs. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 6: 325–336, 1998


We present a 23-year-old Iranian male, who was born full-term by normal vaginal delivery to a 27-year-old, G1, P0 mother. His birth weight was 2.5 kg. The birth height and head circumference are not available. The gestational and neonatal periods were uneventful. Developmental milestones were delayed. He could sit without support at age two years, walked at age 4 years, and talked in sentences at age 7 years. Despite apparent developmental delay, no diagnostic work-ups were performed. Reportedly, he attended regular school up to the 7th grade. He has not been able to hold a job steadily. He came to our attention while a pedigree was prepared for his sister who came to our clinic for a routine pre-marital genetic counseling, and he was then evaluated due to his history of "learning disability."On physical examination, his weight was 58 kg, his height was 150 cm, and his head circumference was 54.5 cm. He is communicative. He can read and write well. His IQ is 65-70. He has a stooped posture, and minor dysmorphic features, such as mild epicanthic folds, slightly downslanting palpebral fissures (not upslanting). prominent nose with slightly elongated nasal septum, narrow palate, and fine motor incoordination. The rest of the physical examination including the heart auscultation and dermatoglyphics were normal. No dysmorphic genetic syndrome was suspected. A chromosome analysis was performed because of the history of developmental delay, which revealed 47, XY.+21. Repeat chromosome analysis and FISH using the whole chromosome 21 paint and distal Q21 probe showed straightforward trisomy 21, i.e., all three chromosomes 21 painted over entire length, and no regions of chromosomes 21 were translocated elsewhere in the genome. Patients with the features of Down syndrome and relatively good performance are likely to have mosaicism, which is not always easy to demonstrate. Therefore, the possibility of mosaicism in this patient exist. An attempt for fibroblasts culture from a skin biopsy sample was unsuccessful. He has recently married. Reportedly, he has difficulties in his sexual performance.


This study aimed at investigating the effect of the storytelling strategies on improving the language speaking skills of grade-six elementary school boys in Sudan. It was designated to find out the effects of using storytelling on developing language speaking skills. It was assumed that there are statistically significant differences between the mean scores of the experimental group students and their peers in the control group on the language speaking skills test due to the storytelling technique. The total sample was 63 where there were 31 students in the experimental group and 32 in the controlled group. Pre-test and post-test were used to collect the data. The results of the study showed that there was a substantial effect of the storytelling technique on language speaking skills in favor of the experimental group. The results proved that English language traditional techniques don't meet the need of the students or attract their interest to improve their English language. Storytelling techniques were found very helpful to promote language speaking skills. The study recommended that teachers should be subjected to intensive training to cope with the learners' needs and to be aware of the communicative approach necessities.  Article visualizations:


Taking the teaching process of the medical immunology curriculum as a master line,the curriculum restructuring as the method and the big sample investigation results as the basis,this article advocates teaching with heart,establishing curriculum with the sentiment,in order to interlink the heart of teachers and students and reach mutual understanding.


We study the algebraic connectivity, λ2, of an Erdös-Rényi random graph G(n, p) on n vertices, where the edges are chosen with probability p = p0 logn n for some constant p0. It is well-known that the threshold for connectivity of this graph model is p0 = 1; with high probability the graph is connected when p0 > 1 and disconnected when p0 < 1. In the connected regime where p0 > 1 we show that λ2 ∼ anp asymptotically almost surely as n → ∞, where a ∈ (0, 1) satisfies p0 = 1 + ap0(1 − log a). This estimate recovers the two well-known limits λ2 → 0 as p0 → 1 and λ2 ∼ np for np/ log n→∞. We also provide a similar result λ2(L) ∼ 1 for the first non-trivial eigenvalue of the normalized graph Laplacian L in this regime.


Recent research works propose to use the Unified Modeling Language (UML) to design datawarehouses. First, the paper overviews these recent UML-based techniques. We show that UML can help system designers to build a data warehouse model. This type of model aims to describe the different analysis dimensions of the data. Second, we will also present different UML-based tools used during a project of agricultural data warehouse. The paper will introduce this data warehouse developed in France. Its goal is to allow analyzing spatially the use of pesticide in agriculture.


This article seeks to trace the conceptual link that is established in the whole work of Arthur Danto, a key author in the analytical consideration of the concept of representation, between cognitive asymmetries, representation theory and transfigured criterion of reality. This articulation gives us a model of particular predilection for cognitive asymmetries linked to the tragic structure that is limitative of the possibilities advanced by Danto on our ability to capture the openness and incompleteness of our apprehension of history.


Abstract : The research problem is the Effect of jump rope exercises against resistance in the game of badminton at the club RTV pekanbaru. His goal to find out how much influence the relationship jump rope and endurance capabilities of individuals and groups. This research technique using total sampling with a sample of 10 athletes badminton RTV Pekanbaru. This study uses correlation techniques. Then, the test data using the normality test, the test product moment correlation, significant test α = 0:05. Normality test variable X, L0maks (0.2064) <Ltabel (0.258), and the normality test variable Y, L0maks (0.2015) <Ltabel ( 0 .258) in other words 95% confidence level of normal data and conclusions of research shows: where there is a significant relationship between the effect of jump rope and endurance capabilities, Similarly, Ho is rejected and Ha accepted. Key word : Effect of Exercise Skip Rope , Endurance Capability


A 26-year-old man with unsuspected reticulum cell sarcome presented as an instance of concurrent subacute constrictive pericarditis and cardiac amponad. Numerous remarkable features either obscured or illuminated the diagnosis. These included: a relatively acute history, fever, convulsions with elevated cerebrospinal fluid pressure, orthopnea, plethora, "Stokes' collar" neck edema, pulsus paradoxus with initially high diastolic blood pressure, markedly raised systemic venous pressure, electric alternation of the heart responding to pericardiocentesis, disproportionate elevation of pericardial fluid LDH, unprecedented intolerance to post-pericardiocentesis air insufflation. A unique roentgenographic appearance of the induced pneumopericardium gave the essential clue for detection of the combined mechanical impediment of the heart.


The coupling of electrothermal and optical models in multidimensional semiconductor laser simulation is a non-trivial task: While electrothermal models are conveniently formulated in a system of partial differential equations, the optical problem necessitates the solution of Maxwell's equations with results in eigenvalue problems with the eigenvalues representing lasing wavelengths and losses of the laser's modes. The state-of-the-art approach to achieve a self-consistent electro-optothermal solution os a Gummel-type iteration where the electrothermal equations (using a Newton scheme), and the optical eigenvalue problems are solved iteratively until a convergence criterion is reached. This is extremely time-consuming and unstable, especially for simulation of devices featuring closely spaced multiple modes (for example broad area lasers, VCSELs). In this work, we present a novel numerical electro-optothermal coupling scheme for semiconductor lasers which is based on the integration of the optical eigenvalue into a single global Newton formulation, The necessary derivatives are obtained by perturbation theory. The proposed scheme is more robust and decreases the computational burden (simulation time) by more than an order of magnitude compared to Gummel-type interations. This novel coupling scheme allows to investigate the influence of the electro-optothermal coupling on the device characteristics and internal physics. The effects of bias conditions on the modal dynamics, optical wavelengths, losses, and far-field patterns are analyzed. For a VCSEL, we quantify the role of gain guiding and thermal lensing.


9,9-Bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)xanthene(BHPX) was synthesized with good yield from xanthenone in one-pot,two-step synthetic procedure.A novel cardo poly(ether ether ketone ketone)(PEEKK-X) containing xanthene structure was successfully prepared via a typical nucleophilic aromatic substitution polycondensation of BHPX and 1,3-bis(4-fluorobenzoyl)benzene with the use of sulfolane as solvent.The polymer was characterized by FTIR,DSC,TGA and WAXD,etc.The results showed that the polymer had excellent heat-resistance,the glass transition temperature(T_g) was 215℃.The onset temperature taken at 5% weight loss of the polymer in nitrogen was 558℃.The polymer was noncrystalline and was soluble in common organic solvents such as DMF,DMAc,NMP and CHCl_3 at room temperature.The polymer formed transparent,strong and flexible films with tensile strength of 81.5 MPa,Young's moduli of 2.48 GPa and elongation at break of 16.8%.


This article reviews the biographical accounts of Lina Bo Bardi during her period in Italy, based on research held by the author. Two documents have contributed decisively for this work: an interview of Lina Bo Bardi by Francesco Tentori performed in 1989, and an account of her former partner in Italy, architect Carlo Pagani, obtained from the Italian publication of Curriculum literary 1994. These texts provided the guidelines for the research held in Italy in 1998 with support from CNPq. Comparison to other reports and sources, identified issues that need to be taken account towards a better understanding of Lina Bo Bardi training period in Italy, before her trip to Brazil following Pietro Maria Bardi.


This article examines cinematic representations of the vast rural-to-urban migration that affected Spain in the 1950s. Madrid, which began its time as capital of Franco's Spain as a city that had to be purged of its sins, became crucial to the hierarchical, centralized control of the nation, and thus was prioritized over the countryside and provincial capitals. As a result, the segmented, ordered space of Madrid's urban planning was quickly overwhelmed by the number of arriving migrants who moved from the periphery of the nation to the periphery of the capital. Two films from opposite ends of the decade and of the political spectrum, José Antonio Nieves Conde's Surcos/Furrows (Nieves Conde 1951) and Carlos Saura's Los golfos/The Delinquents (), highlight the plight of both recent and more-established migrants to Madrid. The methods that the characters in these films use to gain access to the centre of Spanish social imaginary (i.e., crime and spectacle) are doomed to failure because they are inherently marginal activities. The films frame their protagonists' movement through urban space to show that the economic modernization of the Franco regime in the 1950s failed to live up to expectations for improving the social well-being of the city's inhabitants.


Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXTs) are a sub-class of High Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs) associated with OB supergiant companions and displaying transient X-ray activity. This behaviour is quite surprising since HMXBs hosting supergiants were known to be persistent sources, until the INTEGRAL discoveries obtained by means of the monitoring of the Galactic plane. We have been performing a monitoring campaign with Swift of four SFXTs with the main aim of characterizing both the long-term behaviour of these transients and the properties during bright outbursts. Here we discuss the properties of the X-ray emission observed outside the outbursts as well as the flares observed from two SFXTs: IGRJ17544-2916 and XTEJ1739-302. Contrarily to what previously thought, Swift allowed us to discover that SFXTs spend most of the time in accretion at a low level, even outside the bright outbursts, with an accretion luminosity of 1E33-1E34 erg/s, and that the quiescent level at ~1E32 erg/s is a much rarer state.


In this paper, a finite control set predictive control in cascade with PI controller is presented for a three-phase neural point clamped boost rectifier. The control algorithm consists of a finite control set predictive control for inner current loop in synchronous reference frame and a PI voltage control for the outer-loop system. There are two reference signals for this cascade controller, one being the dc link voltage reference and the other q-axis current reference, which are used to regulate the dc link voltage and achieve an unity power factor. A physical model is used for the design of finite control set predictive controller in the inner-loop and an empirical model is used for the design of PI controller for the outer-loop. Simulation results show the satisfactory closed-loop control performance for the dc-link and the q-axis current regulation.


In this paper we propose an optimal time-delayed feedback control (TDFC) for tracking unstable periodic orbits (UPOs). It is shown that TDFC will drive a trajectory onto a periodic orbit while minimising an integral of a cost function of the error in periodicity and the control effort. This optimal TDFC relies on the linearisation about the delayed trajectory not the UPO itself and therefore can be implemented without a priori knowledge of a reference orbit. This optimal TDFC is applied to the problem of tracking an unstable periodic orbit in the nonlinear equations describing the circular restricted three-body problem. The results of this investigation demonstrate that TDFC could efficiently drive a spacecraft onto a periodic orbit in the vicinity of a (UPO) halo orbit.


Negative stereotypes are attached to childless or 1-child couples and to only children. People choosing to have fewer than the socially predicted 2-child norm are responding to rational, individual norms instead of exterior normative pressures. Research has shown that only or widely spaced children benefit from adult contact during development. There is an inverse relationship between intelligence and family size. Only and 1st-born personality characteristics tend to contradict the negative stereotypes. Different reasons why couples choose to have children do not differentially determine the health of the children or the marriage.


Where you stand depends upon where you sit. From the trenches in Norman, Oklahoma comes the observation that by 1980, "agreement had been reached on the participants in the energy policy community," as well as on the boundaries of the subsectors and on broad goals for a national energy policy (p. 255). In Washington in late 1979 Rep. Toby Moffett (Dem., Conn.) told the House Select Committee on Committees, which was trying to reorganize energy jurisdictions in that body, that the 83 committees and subcommittees in the House holding hearings on energy matters in 1977 and 1978 constituted "jungle warfare." The entire attempt to reshuffle the energy policy deck, which failed overwhelmingly in 1980, was based upon the Speaker's presumption that no such consensus existed. Kash and Rycroft argue that before the OPEC embargo in 1973, energy policymaking was concentrated in five policy sectors that did not overlap: coal, oil, natural gas, electricity, and nuclear power. They present clear-cut and straightforward accounts of these separate "iron triangles" and even propose a new conceptual framework for examining subsystem politics—which looks very much like the old framework, but does not cite it. We learn much about pre-1973 policies, if not about the political forces which drove those policies. The authors' thesis is that in the postembargo years the politics of scarcity provoked widespread instability in energy politics and the breakdown of these subsystems. It is dead on target. But how these subsystems broke down is never discussed in great detail, as Kash and Rycroft continue to focus on each in turn and not on how one impinged upon the others; and the attractiveness of the thesis is undermined by the authors' stipulation that somehow everything had fallen into place by 1980, only to be undone by the Reagan administration. This argument is "voodoo ergonomics." Kash and Rycroft try to distinguish in chapter 2 between physical policies, on the one hand, and social policies on the other. This means that resource policy is essentially technocratic rather than sociopolitical; it leads to the conclusion (p. 107) that advocates of soft energy paths (e.g., solar, conservation, hydro and wind power) have burst into traditional energy policy sectors and thereby disrupted the entire process. Maybe such kamikaze acts were disruptive. I'm not so sure, because American society seems to have a large tolerance for permitting fringe activities without paying serious attention to them. When such groups gain influence, they must be speaking for more than a few post-hippie antinuclear activists. The Clamshell Alliance has not had nearly the impact on nuclear development that Citibank and friends have. The best parts of the book are, not surprisingly, those that deal with technical discussions of energy technologies. Chapters 5 through 7 are quite lucid. Chapters 8 and 9 present good discussions of post-1973 legislation in the Congress, but precious little evidence on how the various subsystems began to compete with each other. From these discussions comes the conclusion in chapter 10 that the sum of all of these parts is a reasonably coherent energy policy, rather than a jerry-built set of compromises representing what Craufurd Goodwin of Brookings has called "a preference for inaction." Precisely how, particularly when energy prices were still rising, did all of these conflicts get resolved—and resolved so amicably? Chapter 12 contains 20 policy recommendations that can be summarized in the single demand that John L. Lewis made for his mine workers' union members much earlier in this century: More. More of everything, from coal to nuclear (fast breeders only) to a larger Strategic Petroleum Reserve to solar to conservation to environmental protection to, yes, even to synthetic fuels. In a proposal they admit will please neither liberals nor conservatives, Kash and Rycroft call for more funding for synfuels, but with production left up to the major energy companies—the same Exxon, Union, and Mobil that have already abandoned federally subsidized projects. Throughout the entire book, there is no mention of environmental, boomtown, and water problems associated with synfuels' development, nor is there an assessment as to whether such fuels will ever be commercially viable without substantial governmental subsidies. Yet the authors specifically rule out government-run projects; their solutions are technocratic, as is the thrust of their entire argument. Technocrats especially should realize that you can't put Humpty Dumpty together again. When the next shortage comes, we shall see a war of each against all precisely because the stakes are so large and the scope of the issue is so pervasive. Any commodity in short supply is more of a social policy issue than one of physical policy. It was certainly not a redundancy that the focus of the 1979 and 1980 reform effort in the House was on an Interstate and Foreign Commerce subcommittee on Energy and Power.


Multi-robot teams are effective in a variety of task allocation domains such as warehouse automation and surveillance. Robots in such domains have to perform tasks at given locations and specific times. Tasks have to be allocated to optimize given team objectives, such as minimizing the total distance traveled. We propose an efficient, satisficing and centralized Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) based algorithm which exploits the branch and bound paradigm with a novel search parallelization method to solve the multi-robot task allocation problem with spatial, temporal and other side constraints. Unlike previous heuristics proposed for this problem, our approach maintains asymptotic convergence guarantees of MCTS and it has efficient anytime behavior. It finds near-optimal solutions for non-trivial problems in the Solomon data sets in an hour.


According to isomorphic fundamental principles,the isomorphic characters and natures of choice and swap sorting algorithms based on traditional internal sorting were studied and found.Further,several new sorting algorithms with choice and swap based on chain lists were advanced by using their isomorphic characters and natures.Therefore,the application forms and applied ranges of choice and swap sorting algorithms were deepened and expended.Provided an important studying case for fusing subjects,teaching reform and innovating education of "Data Structure" and "Program Design".


The problem of this study was to analyze doctoral programs in mathematics and education for the preparation of teachers of undergraduate mathematics. The purpose of the study was to determine (1) the need for such programs, (2) the attitude of college and university officials toward them, (3) the composition of present offerings and (4) recommendations to the future course their development should take.


(1) The amounts of six phenolic compounds (p-hydroxybenzoic, vanillic, p-coumaric and ferulic acids, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde and vanillin), released by four extractants, differed considerably between soils from fourteen plots on which four graminaceous species, eight dicotyledonous species and two species of the Pteridophytes had been grown individually for 16 yr. There were also large differences in the amounts of the phenolic compounds extracted from the roots of these species. (2) When expressed in terms of #g phenolic compound g-1 organic C, differences between the roots were greater than differences between the soils. Also the amounts extracted by water from the roots (after freeze-drying and grinding) were much greater than the amounts extracted from the soils. The amounts extracted by 2 M NaOH were, in general, greater from the roots than from the soils and, with p-coumaric and ferulic acids from the graminaceous species, much greater. However, in instances where the amounts extracted from the roots by 2 M NaOH were small, e.g. vanillic acid from Pteridium aquilinum, the amounts from the soils, expressed per unit of organic C, were greater than those from the roots. (3) The sum of the six phenolic compounds extracted from the soils by 2 M NaOH represented between 0-03% and 0.33% of the soil organic matter, these values referring to soils under Pteridium aquilinum and Campanula rapunculoides respectively. In thirteen of the soils, p-coumaric acid was present in greater amounts than anypof the other compounds. (4) With the possible exception of the soil under Agropyron repens, the amounts of the identified phenolic compounds extracted by water appeared unlikely to exert allelopathic effects. However, the amounts released by 0-5% Ca(OH)2 were equivalent to concentrations in the soil solution that have been reported to have adverse effects on plant growth under certain conditions, which suggests that such effects might occur in the field as a consequence of liming.


An in situ energy-dispersive X-ray diffraction experiment was undertaken on operational titanium electrowinning cells to observe the formation of rutile (TiO2) passivation layers on Magneli-phase (TinO2n−1; n = 4–6) anodes and thus determine the relationship between passivation layer formation and electrolysis time. Quantitative phase analysis of the energy-dispersive data was undertaken using a crystal-structure-based Rietveld refinement. Layer formation was successfully observed and it was found that the rate of increase in layer thickness decreased with time, rather than remaining constant as observed in previous studies. The limiting step in rutile formation is thought to be the rate of solid-state diffusion of oxygen within the anode structure.


Abstract. The article is concerned on to the study of the peculiarities of the commission of enforced disappearance in Ukraine in the conditions of armed conflict and problematic issues that arise in practice in connection with the need to bring the perpetrators to criminal responsibility for the commission of the specified offense. The prerequisites for the criminalization of enforced disappearance have been considered. The reasons for the prevalence of enforced disappearances in the context of armed conflict have been identified and investigated. Statistical data on the number of enforced disappearances have been analyzed. Attention has been focused on the specifics of the perpetration of enforced disappearances during the war in Ukraine. The method of committing of enforced disappearances in the conditions of an armed conflict has been studied, the data on the categories of persons who become victims of this criminal offense have been analyzed. Possible places of violent disappearances, including during the so-called "filtering" have been considered. Attention has been dedicated to the main element of the objective side of enforced disappearance – the refusal to recognize the fact of deprivation of liberty and to inform about the fate and location of the victim. Certain problems of responsibility for enforced disappearance have been identified, including the causes of impunity for persons who commit enforced disappearances. A conclusion has been made regarding the presence of problematic issues that require legal resolution and the need to form an effective mechanism aimed at bringing to criminal responsibility persons committing crimes of enforced disappearance in order to avoid impunity.


We analyzed the remains of small mammals from two rockshelters in the pre-Andean mountains of central Chile. A significant fraction of the remains exhibited evidence of burning. Burned remains were present from 4460 to 1520 B.P. and belong to rodent species of large body size and weight that are either diurnal or colonial. We suggest that rodents were a constant food item for humans in central Chile, and that rodent species were selected based on body size and conspicuousness.


An a-c voltmeter has been developed to indicate directly the percentage difference between an unknown voltage and the settings of the instrument dials. It is accurate to 0.05% from 5 cps (cycles per second) to 10 kc within the voltage range from 1 to 700 volts. Two 10-ma (milliampere) thermoelements are used; one in series with an a-c decade resistor, and the other energized from a constant-voltage d-c source, a Zener diode. A built-in galvanometer, calibrated in % of input voltage, indicates the difference between the two thermocouple-output emfs (electromotive forces), and has a resolution of more than 0.01%. The instrument was designed for rapidly calibrating other voltmeters, but it can be used also for a-c-d-c difference measurements - frequency response tests - to 0.02%.


【Objective】To investigate the effects of ventilation with 50% and 100% oxygen on lung injury after cardiopulmonary bypass(CPB).【Methods】Eighteen patients(aged 19~61,ASAⅡ~Ⅲ) undergoing valve replacement were randomized to receive 100% oxygen(group H,n=9) or 50% oxygen(group L,n=9) throughout surgery.Before CPB,1hour,6hours after CPB,blood samples were taken from radial artery and pulmonary artery for blood gas analysis.PaO2/FiO2,RI,Qs/Qt were calculated.SOD and MDA were determined in arterial blood sample before CPB and 60min after CPB.【Results】At 1hour after CPB,PaO2/FiO2 of two groups were lower than the levels before CPB.At 6 hours after CPB,PaO2/FiO2 were not different from the levels before CPB in Group L,but remained significantly lower in Group H.At 1hour after CPB,RI,Qs/Qt were higher than the levels before CPB in Group H.The change was not observed in Group L.Compared with group H,the production of MDA and depletion of SOD were tepid in group L at 1h after CPB.【Conclusion】Ventilation with 50% oxygen in patients undergoing valve replacement can alleviate lung injury.


In this paper, a novel feature map method for human activity recognition is proposed, which is used to process the adopted raw motion sensing data. Firstly, the feature of the raw data is described by using a novel feature map. Secondly, we use the Sift algorithm to extract the features in the feature map, and the word bag method is utilized to describe these features. Finally, the support vector machine is adopted for classification. The experimental results show that the recognition accuracy of the method is 94.3%, which demonstrates that the novel feature map method is effective.


As a common but modifiable chronic condition, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been identified as the top secondary cause of many other diseases including cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. Diagnosing and managing OSA provides neurological, cardiovascular and metabolic benefits, however real-world studies indicate disconnections between evidence and outcomes. Using an engagement approach and qualitative design, this project aims to better understand care and research gaps in OSA in a community healthcare setting.

 Patient and family representatives were identified and recruited through OSA support meetings hosted by MultiCare Sleep Medicine Centers, to form a board of 12, with three key patient advocates. Six meetings, each facilitated by one or two members of the board, were held to encourage focus group discussion and accommodate interactive conversations on the topic. Discussions were audio recorded and edited to exclude patients' identifiable information, then transcribed. Manual open coding was completed by two coders for each transcription to develop a codebook, followed by auto-coding and inductive content analysis using Nvivo 11.

 All enrolled patients had diagnosed moderate-to-severe OSA and were prescribed with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. Two participants were African American and one was multiethnic. Patients' age ranged from early 30s to 80s. Seven main themes were identified: OSA diagnostic issues; treatment experiences and options; comorbidities; patient community and support needs; long-term management challenges beyond "compliance"; knowledge of OSA, CPAP and care; and patient-driven research. The first few weeks after CPAP initiation appeared to be a critical time window that impacted patients' adaptation and use.

 Our study revealed barriers and facilitators in OSA diagnosis and treatment. Results showed highly prevalent chronic co-morbidities and the needs to care for patients in the comorbid scenario. It was highlighted that a paradigm of patient-centered care and research is lacking and warranted. Participants also called for better coordination between sleep medicine, primary care, other specialists, durable device suppliers and insurance. Key research efforts are expected to focus on the first 30-day post CPAP dispense to improve compliance.

 Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) (Contract #: 7717241)


In pursuance of effective strategic activity plan preparation methods which could express institutions rational strategic planning model should be used. Extensive theoretic potential for institution strategic planning and sufficient abilities to use it together are guarantee for reaching goals of institution's strategic planning. On the other hand, the question arises whether the use of theoretic potential allows to reach goals of rational strategic planning? The solution of our suggested complex tasks of institution's rational strategic planning is to set the demand of the institution's activity development and this demand fulfillment opportunities and weaknesses, to detect the directions and priorities of institution's activity development, to chose the best ways and means to implement the institution's activity development directions and priorities, to monitor the institution's activity development means implementation. The analysis and evaluation of methods are purposeful to perform in the elements section of the complex of the planning tasks. Generally combinations of methods to solve institution's strategic analysis tasks in special literature are recommended. The use of combinations of methods allows analyzing and evaluating different factors which influence development of institution's activity, plus synthesizes the results. The use of theoretic potential for institution's objective orientation setting creates preconditions to form the mission of institution, create the vision and set strategic goals. Theoretic potential for preparation and acceptance of institution's strategic decisions are sufficient for decision of tasks of alternatives generation, formation of criteria for alternatives evaluation along with the criteria combination, alternatives analysis and evaluation, the best alternative choice. The use of the institution's action plan implementation monitoring theoretic potential creates preconditions for analysis and evaluation of inside changes which happened due to action plan implementation, for setting connections between action plan implementation results and institution's activity development indicators. The use of methods recommended in special literature doesn't create preconditions to generate alternatives of rational action plan, i.e. to generate alternatives integrating the actions for increasement of the allocation of institutions resources, usage and development possibilities. In regard to complexity principle formation the criteria to evaluate the action plan alternatives and to form criteria combinations is problematical too. Moreover, suggested recommendations to analyse and evaluate action plan alternatives aren't concretized to the level of quantitative analysis and evaluation of alternatives. So methods analysis and evaluation in context of tasks of institution rational strategic planning allow to identify strong and weak aspects of these tasks decision. Besides, it enables to make methods selections for institution strategic analysis, objective orientation setting, strategic decision preparation and acceptance, monitoring of actions plan implementation. Application of methods selections creates preconditions for decision of adequate strategic planning tasks. In pursuance to fill the essential gap in institution's strategic planning directions for improvement of planning of institution's strategic decisions implementation are established. Its implementation allows to reach all goals of rational strategic planning.


Abstract High-resolution spectral observations of young stars with dense protoplanetary discs like Beta Pictoris led to the discovery of variable emission lines of metal atoms, Na, Fe etc., that indicate the presence of fluxes of comet-like evaporating bodies falling onto the stars, FEBs. Assuming the presence of stellar atmospheres similar to the solar one, we show that passages of the FEBs through the stellar chromosphere and photosphere with velocities around 600 km/s will be accompanied by aerodynamic crushing of the nuclei, transverse expansion of the crushed matter, "explosion" of the flattened nuclei in a relatively very thin sub-photosphere layer due to sharp deceleration, and impulse production of a hot plasma. The impulsive rise of the layer's temperature and density lead to the generation of a strong "blast" shock wave and shock wave-induced ejection/eruption of hot plasma into space above the chromosphere. Observations of such impact-induced high-temperature phenomena are of interest for the physics/prognosis of stellar/solar flares as well as physics of comets.


HIPAA requires covered entities to follow standards for protecting the security of electronic protected health information (e-PHI). This study examines the need to develop a secure data exchange in order to maintain compliance with the goals of
  the HIPAA Security Rule. Literature published between 2000 and 2011 is analyzed to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of e-PHI while allowing entities to adopt new technologies to improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of patient care. Keywords: electronic data exchange, HIPAA security rule, HIPAA security violation, security vulnerability, protecting e-PHI, HIPAA breach, penalties, and HIPAA implications. SECURING ELECTRONIC DATA EXCHANGES 4 SECURING ELECTRONIC DATA EXCHANGES 5 Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 3 Table of Contents................................................................................................................ 5 List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... 7 Introduction to the Annotated Bibliography ....................................................................... 9 Problem and Significance ............................................................................................... 9 Purpose.......................................................................................................................... 11 Research Questions....................................................................................................... 13 Audience ....................................................................................................................... 13 Research Delimitations ................................................................................................. 15 Time frame................................................................................................................ 15 Search scope.............................................................................................................. 17 Intended audience. .................................................................................................... 18 Topic focus................................................................................................................ 18 Reading Plan Preview................................................................................................... 19 Organization Plan Preview ........................................................................................... 20 Definitions......................................................................................................................... 21 Research Parameters ......................................................................................................... 25 Search Report................................................................................................................ 25 Keywords. ................................................................................................................. 26 Search process........................................................................................................... 28 Evaluation criteria. .................................................................................................... 29 Documentation approach. ......................................................................................... 30 SECURING ELECTRONIC DATA EXCHANGES 6 Reading and Organization Plan .................................................................................... 31 Scholarly Annotated Bibliography ................................................................................... 36 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 96 Assess Existing Frameworks in Relation to the Security Rule..................................... 97 Identify Potential Risks and Liabilities During Electronic Data Exchanges .............. 100 Protect the Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability of E-PHI Data Exchanges .... 101 Select Appropriate Emerging Technologies to Secure Electronic Data Exchanges... 102 References....................................................................................................................... 104 Appendix A..................................................................................................................... 115 SECURING ELECTRONIC DATA EXCHANGES 7 List of Figures Figure 1. Covered entities................................................................................................. 14 Figure 2. HIPAA components .......................................................................................... 17 Figure 3. Translation rules for coding texts...................................................................... 33 Figure 4. Stakeholders in a healthcare system.................................................................. 97 Figure 5. HIPAA security checklist for healthcare providers .......................................... 99 Figure 6. Civil penalties for HIPAA violation ............................................................... 101 SECURING ELECTRONIC DATA EXCHANGES 8 SECURING ELECTRONIC DATA EXCHANGES 9 Introduction to the Annotated Bibliography Problem and Significance The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services states: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) required the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop regulations protecting the privacy and security of certain health information. To fulfill this requirement, HHS published what are commonly known as the HIPAA Privacy Rule and the HIPAA Security Rule. The Privacy Rule, or Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information, establishes national standards for the protection of certain health information. The Security Standards for the Protection of Electronic Protected Health Information (the Security Rule) establish a national set of security standards for protecting certain health information that is held or transferred in electronic form. (HHS, 2011, "Introduction," para. 1) Smith (2003) provides further definition on HIPAA Security Rule in the ISSA journal: If security is the vehicle, privacy is the payload. The whole point of HIPAA security is to provide a foundation so that covered entities (those organizations that come under the span of authority of the HIPAA statute) are in a position to guarantee the privacy rights of patients and health plan members. (para. 8) Within this environment, healthcare industries have greater security concerns than other industries because they must provide electronic access of patient medical information to a number of entities in a safe and confidential manner in order to meet security mandates
  (General DataComm, 2004). System vulnerabilities may increase the risk of exposing protected information to unauthorized personnel or malicious insiders who could misuse patient health SECURING ELECTRONIC DATA EXCHANGES 10 information for personal gains. Increased mobility of patient data and the extended enterprise introduce a host of related enterprise security challenges (Juniper Networks, 2010). Covered entities have become more vulnerable to security threats mainly due to enhanced mobility of patient data, unbounded networks as a result of connectivity with hundreds of similar health care stakeholders, transmission of electronic health data and sharing of sensitive information. As mentioned on the HHS website (2011), information security is achieved by ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information. Covered entities can thus face serious problems if their members' sensitive data is stolen, misused or unavailable. Such problems cannot only affect the covered entities business due to bad reputation or penalties, but can also directly affect vital care of their patients. When referring to the complexity of the HIPAA rule structure, Hall, Hoffman and Sobel (2008) state: There once was a happy time when HIPAA referred to insurance reforms that increased access and tried to reduce costs. Owing to its gargantuan privacy rule, HIPAA is now known mainly as the source of constant headaches and endless strife over whether patients' medical records are adequately protected. (pp. 7-8) Collmann et al. (2004) point out the range of security issues within covered entities in this statement: While healthcare organizations find implementing good industry practice difficult enough to accomplish, other issues such as the safe patching of security vulnerabilities
  in the software of biomedical devices, safely sharing information across enterprise boundaries, organizing information security programs in competition with other organizational missions, and managing risk in networked SECURING ELECTRONIC DATA EXCHANGES 11 environments loom large and often unnoticed, especially for networks of hospitals seeking to manage information resources as an enterprise. (pp. 113-118) External security threats in the form of theft or misuse of confidential information can directly impact the integrity of patient information by corrupting records during electronic data exchanges. Lentz (2000) shares her views on the importance of HIPAA by stating: HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, and its accompanying regulations, make it a violation to share patient information with anyone not authorized to know or who has no need to know that information. And patient information isn't limited to name, health status or date of birth. HIPAA says any information that could identify a patient must be protected. (para. 7) Thus the assumption underlying this study is that the HIPAA


Exchange proteins directly activated by cAMP (Epac1 and Epac2), along with protein kinase A (PKA), are major downstream effectors of the universal intracellular second messenger cAMP, which serves as a nexus of multiple endocrine inputs to regulate renal tubule water and electrolyte transport. We previously demonstrated that deletion of either Epac isoform, namely Epac1 or Epac2, diminishes urinary concentrating ability by reducing fluid reabsorption in the proximal tubule. Here, we employed balance studies in combination with direct electrophysiological assessment of Na+ influx in distal tubule segments from mice with targeted deletion of Epac1 or Epac2 to investigate the role of Epac cascade in tuning urinary Na+ excretion during variations in dietary salt intake. 24 h urinary Na+ levels were comparable in Epac WT and Epac isoform knockouts when animals were subjected to a regular salt intake (0.32% Na+). In contrast, we detected a delayed anti‐natriuretic response during the first 2 days of dietary sodium restriction (<0.01% Na+), which was more pronounced in Epac2 "−/− mice. Consistently, patch clamp analysis in freshly isolated split‐opened collecting ducts found indistinguishable activity (NPo) of the epithelial Na+ channel (ENaC) between Epac WT and Epac2 −/− mice on a regular salt intake: 0.37±0.03 and 0.36±0.05, respectively. Low salt diet greatly increased ENaC activity in Epac WT to 0.75±0.05 as expected, whereas this response was significantly blunted in Epac2 −/− mice (NPo = 0.48 ± 0.06). This was associated with a decrease in both number of active channels per patch and ENaC open probability. In summary, our results support a role of Epac signaling cascade (with a higher contribution of Epac2) in stimulation of ENaC activity by dietary salt restriction. We further propose that reduced ENaC‐mediated Na+ reabsorption at least partially contributes to impaired renal salt conservation in mice with deleted Epac isoforms.


Studies have shown that an organization's human resources should be effectively attracted, developed, motivated, managed, and valued to sustain a competitive edge in the market. Organizations must take care of the strategy of scale, the diversification of activities, the allocation of resources, the orientation towards the buyer, value chains, change management, innovations, and the strategic renewal of the organization itself in order to maintain their competitive advantage(s) and ensure their survival. This paper is aimed at determining whether the level of the factors for creating the value of the organization and the level of the competitive advantage of the organization actually affect or do not affect the level of human capital in the organization. Based on the research conducted in the paper, it can be concluded that the level of human capital in the organization increases simultaneously with the increasing of the level of the factors for creating the value of the organization and the level of the competitive advantage of the organization.


William golding's work is studied in the light of the category of the holy. The approach is at once analytical and interpretative, and wishes to be intertextual. The analysis presents a study of the holy in itself, then of the means of expression of the holy in the work, indirect means which cover the study of symbolism, direct means which cover the study of irony, of the grotesque, of the sign-symbol and of the links with magic realism.


It is disclosed a fuel system including a high-pressure fuel pump with a low-noise fuel metering valve. In one example, the low-noise fuel metering valve may be cam-driven. The fuel system can reduce engine noise and provide operational modes that differ from other fuel systems.


An infrared (IR) sensor for temperature measurement in domestic induction hobs and results of its applications are presented. It comprises an InGaAs PIN photodiode and a preamplifier which detects the infrared radiation emitted from the bottom of the pot. This sensor is potentially useful because it is a fast, cheap and contactless solution for measuring temperature. The proposed sensor has been tested in the cooking range from 75°C to 200°C with pots made of different materials. The proposed solution will allow controlled cooking and fire prevention.


This analysis deals with the exact analytical solutions for the velocity field and the adequate shear stress for Maxwell fluid over the sine and cosine oscillations. The solutions for the velocity field and the adequate shear stress for Maxwell fluid are investigated. These solutions are obtained by employing the approach of integral transforms (Fourier Sine and Laplace transforms). Both the results of velocity field and shear stress are written in terms of the convolutions theorem, elementary functions and simple integral forms; satisfy all the initial and boundary conditions. Newtonian fluid is the limited case, which is reduced for the expression of velocity field and adequate shear stress . Finally the distinct variations of parameters are depicted for graphical illustrations in order to meet the different physical situations.


Vitamin D, a fat-soluble vitamin found in few natural food sources, is synthesized in human skin after sun exposure. Insufficient and deficiency of vitamin D is very common in the world, which is thought to contribute to a wide range of health issues. Vitamin D has long been utilized in combination with calcium to improve bone health and reduce the risk of fractures. Vitamin D supplementation has been linked to the prevention of high blood pressure, cancer, and other diseases. Recent research also points to a possible association between vitamin D deficiency and chronic pain.


Type A γ-aminobutyric acid receptors (GABAA), the major sites of fast synaptic inhibition in the brain, are believed to be composed predominantly of α, β, and γ subunits. Although cell surface expression is essential for GABAA receptor function, little is known regarding its regulation. To address this issue, the membrane stability of recombinant α1β2 or α1β2γ2 receptors was analyzed in human embryonic kidney cells. α1β2γ2 but not α1β2 receptors were found to recycle constitutively between the cell surface and a microtubule-dependent, perinuclear endosomal compartment. Similar GABAA receptor endocytosis was also seen in cultured hippocampal and cortical neurons. GABAA receptor surface levels were reduced upon protein kinase C (PKC) activation. Like basal endocytosis, this response required the γ2subunit but not receptor phosphorylation. Although inhibiting PKC activity did not block α1β2γ2receptor endocytosis, it did prevent receptor down-regulation, suggesting that PKC activity may block α1β2γ2 receptor recycling to the cell surface. In agreement with this observation, blocking recycling from endosomes with wortmannin selectively reduced surface levels of γ2-containing receptors. Together, our results demonstrate that the surface stability of GABAA receptors can be dynamically and specifically regulated, enabling neurons to modulate cell surface receptor number upon the appropriate cues.


Bohmian mechanics represents the universe as set of continuous paths on the configuration space, with a probability measure defined on it. Such a structure corresponds to a stochastic process. Since there is just one universe, the probability measure is used to define typicality rather than relative frequencies. In the general language of stochastic processes, a precise criterion for the empirical equivalence of a process representing the universe to standard quantum mechanics is proposed. Such a criterion does not fix univocally the probability measure, which remains underdetermined. This corresponds to the well known underdetermination of Bohmian mechanics. In order to solve this ambiguity, the proposal is made to replace the probability measure with a less detailed mathematical structure, namely a quantum expression called typicality distance. Such a replacement requires a new rule, analogous to the Born rule, which derives typicality directly from the typicality distance, without the intermediation of a probability measure.


Goal. To provide information about dangerous pests of vegetable crops — thrips. To describe the morphology and biology of the pest, the methods of spreading and harmfulness, provide information on the necessary phytosanitary measures to restrict its development and reduce the harmfulness, and to justify the need to use alternative biological methods to control the population of thrips in the conditions of the Southern steppe of Ukraine on an example of the most common of them — tobacco thrips (Thrips tabaci Lind.).
Methods. Informational and analytical. The collection of information was carried out in accessible specialized literature and the Internet.
Results. The information about sucking pests of vegetable crops - thrips is given.  Thrips are known for a long time, they belong to wide polyphages, that is they harm a wide range of cultural and wild plants  (from 100 to 400 spesies). On an example of the most common of them — tobacco thrips (Thrips tabaci Lind.) there is given information about the morphology and biology of the pest, the methods of its spreading and harmfulness, as well as the information on the necessary phytosanitary measures for restriction its development and reduction of the harm. This most widespread and dangerous polyphage, due to its close connection with plants, where its entire life cycle develops - from eggs to imago, has inhabited almost all greenhouses. In the natural conditions of the southern region of Ukraine, the tobacco thrips were found on large areas of vegetable crops with the seedling method of their cultivation, mainly cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, cabbage, watermelons, and the like. It harms bulbs in vegetable stores, which leads to a deterioration in the quality of garden plants and gardening material. The reaction of the plant to the damage by the trips is desensitization, which is manifested in growth retardation, distortion and loss of turgor of damaged leaves, which later become yellow and dries. Imago winter, mostly females, in greenhouses - in different slits, and in open ground - in the upper layer of soil at a depth of 7-10 cm, under plant remains or in the rootstock of perennials or weeds. At temperatures below 0 ° С and in the absence of snow cover, insects die. The pest spreads at all stages of development - eggs, larvae, imago - with planting material of vegetable crops (with plants or in soil), transport, containers, workers' tools, their clothes or footwear. This also occurs when collecting, packing and selling contaminated products. This is especially true for cabbage, with which the thrips can get to the greenhouse or indoor plants. In the conditions of the steppe and forest-steppe zones of Ukraine, the tobacco thrips can develop in open soil at temperatures over 10 ° C during the growing season from the second decade of May to the end of September, causing significant damage to vegetable crops. If this is the case, the pest can give 3-4 to 5-6 generations, depending on the weather conditions. In the population control of tobacco thrips, satisfactory results are received by systematic cultivation of plants with the following insecticides: Akketlik, Aktar, Phyitoverm, Karate Zeon, Confidor Maxi (with irrigation water) and others. It is obligatory to change preparations during the growing season. On the onion fields thrips is successfully reduced with insecticide of natural origin Spintor when using periodic spraying of plants. Because thrips are very resistant pests, therefore, in addition to insecticides, the use of predatory mites Amblyseius cucumeris, A. barken, A. derenerans, as well as predators of Orius laevigatus, O. magusaculus can be used to destroy them. Taking into account that nowadays the protection of vegetable crops takes the direction for the use of biological agents against pests - polyphages, special attention should be paid to the use of natural enemies of the tobacco thrips.
Conclusions. In the natural conditions of the southern region of Ukraine, tobacco thrips were found on large areas of vegetable crops, therefore, there are all reasons for phytosanitary surveys of open-air vegetable crops to detect and eliminate this dangerous pest. Taking into account that nowadays the protection of vegetable crops takes the direction for the use of biological agents against pests - polyphages, special attention should be paid to the use of natural enemies of the tobacco thrips.


Among developmental potentials of the municipality of Knic land is of primary significance. A survey of types and fertility land classes was presented in the paper. The structure of surfaces was analyzed according the way of utilization as well as changes that occurred due to construction of the river Gruza accumulation. Spatial differentiation of structural aims for the utilization of the whole land and agricultural one was carried out, which confirmed the physical-geographic and socio-economic heterogeneity of the area. It was pointed to numerous limiting factors of optimal exploitation of land fund (with a special review on shortening the properties). Appropriate measures and activities were also suggested.


Introduction Mental health regional differences during pregnancy through the COVID-19 pandemic is understudied. Objectives We aimed to quantify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal mental health during pregnancy. Methods A cohort study with a web-based recruitment strategy and electronic data collection was initiated in 06/2020. Although Canadian women, >18 years were primarily targeted, pregnant women worldwide were eligible. The current analysis includes data on women enrolled 06/2020-11/2020. Self-reported data included mental health measures (Edinburgh Perinatal Depression Scale (EPDS), Generalized Anxiety Disorders (GAD-7)), stress. We compared maternal mental health stratifying on country/continents of residence, and identified determinants of mental health using multivariable regression models. Results Of 2,109 pregnant women recruited, 1,932 were from Canada, 48 the United States (US), 73 Europe, 35 Africa, and 21 Asia/Oceania. Mean depressive symptom scores were lower in Canada (EPDS 8.2, SD 5.2) compared to the US (EPDS 10.5, SD 4.8) and Europe (EPDS 10.4, SD 6.5) (p<0.05), regardless of being infected or not. Maternal anxiety, stress, decreased income and access to health care due to the pandemic were increasing maternal depression. The prevalence of severe anxiety was similar across country/continents. Maternal depression, stress, and earlier recruitment during the pandemic (June/July) were associated with increased maternal anxiety. Conclusions In this first international study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, CONCEPTION has shown significant country/continent-specific variations in depressive symptoms during pregnancy, whereas severe anxiety was similar regardless of place of residence. Strategies are needed to reduce COVID-19's mental health burden in pregnancy. Disclosure No significant relationships.


Cement is the most widely used man-made material. The global cement industry produces about 3.3 billion tons of cement annually. A lot of energy is needed to produce cement. About 200 kg of coal is used to produce each ton of cement. The cement industry also produces about five percent of the world's greenhouse gases. In order to reduce the use of fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions, some cement producers have the potential to recover waste heat. The method studied in this research is based on heat recovery from boilers installed at the outlet of clinker cooler and preheater of cement factory. Due to the low temperature of the gases available, three different fluids, water, R123 and R245fa are considered as the operating fluid. Also, energy and exergy analysis is performed in a Rankin cycle and the selection of optimal parameters is considered by using genetic algorithm. By selecting the decision parameters in the optimization of the genetic algorithm such as pinch temperature, evaporator pressure and operating mass flow rate, the optimal values of exergy efficiency were obtained.


Two literary conversion narratives with much historical detail, are compared in this thesis: the Confessiones written by the renowned fourth century church-father, St. Augustine, and Surprised by Joy written by the twentieth century writer and scholar, C.S. Lewis. In order to understand St. Augustine's conversion to the Christian faith, Christian religion as a social phenomenon in the Ancient World is discussed. As background for the discussion and comparison of the two conversion narratives, a brief biography is given of St. Augustine and of Lewis, as well as a description of each one's course of conversion. The research is structured in terms of beacons that St. Augustine identified during the course of his conversion: people who played a significant role, events that influenced his life, and inner conflict that spurred him on his way. By means of an analysis regarding theme and content, it is shown that there are clear similarities between the beacons identified by Augustine and Lewis in their conversion narratives. Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za


High-throughput molecular profiling technologies such as microarrays have recently been used in the genetic analysis of complex traits. Genetic loci influencing gene expression can be identified using quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping. These genetic loci may also influence higherorder traits. The coregulation of gene expression traits and higher-order traits indicates that some of the gene expression traits may be involved in the causal pathways connecting the genetic loci and higher-order traits. Strong associations between the modules of gene expression traits, higher-order traits, and the genetic loci regulating them have been found, indicating that genetic loci may influence higher-order traits by affecting gene expression traits. In this chapter, I discuss the recent trend in combining genetic and genomic methods to analyze complex traits, and introduce a computational approach to studying the causal pathways from DNA to complex traits.


The Minnesota Department of Public Service chose a 14-year-old activated sludge plant as a demonstration project for its energy conservation grant and loan program. After an energy audit, it was determined that aeration blowers accounted for 65 percent of the plant's energy bill. It was estimated that replacing the blowers and replacing bubble diffusers would save approximately $77000/yr. Highlights from this energy audit are to be used to inform other municipalities of the potential energy savings at treatment plants.


At a later session, dealing with the ages 8 to 14, Dr. J. -ALISON GLOVER, Senior Medical Officer 'to the Board of Education, was in the chair. He said that during the years 11 to 14 the child was as a rule extraordinarily sensitive to praise and blame. Judicious praise was specially important during this period, and, on the other hand, a cruel, unjust, or harsh word might leave something corresponding to a physical scar ujon the memory. Dr. Glover also mentioned that he had been recentTy rather surprised, on looking at the elaborate tables for recording observiations at a child guidance clinic, to find no space provided for recording the weight of the childa most important sign of bodily fitness. Dr. EMANUEL MILLER, honorary director of the Child Guidance Unit, West End Hospital for Nervous Diseases, who read the opening paper, said that it was in the first five years that the major conflicts of life were faced and dealt with. Neuroses and character formation were the resultants of those conflicts ; intelligence alone remained to develop. Neurosis apart, by the time the child had entered its sixth year it had successfully repressed certain tendencies and was free to enter the social life of school and community by adjusting such emotions as had been left free from the childhood-period to the new social life which it wished to enjoy. Before teachers set to work on the child between 8 and 14 they ought to be provided with such knowledge of its earlier years as was put into the hands of physicians and social workers in child guidance clinics. They should know whether they were handling porcelain or earthenware, a vessel with an emotional leak, or one capable of holding all that was put into it. He gave some indications of peculiarities in character which called for special handling, and the ends to which the moulding of the child should be designed, as, for instance, to remove anxiety or excessive obsessional symptoms by active treatment, to obviate frustration by love (for example, in establishing parent substitutes), to afford outlets for aggression in group play, and " to condone, in a reasonable measure, vulgarity." Miss M. WITHERS, head mistress of a junior girls' school, Barking, gave the experience of a very sympathetic teacher in an approach to young girls. It is sufficient to quote one sentence from her paper: " I count time well spent when work is laid aside to gaze at a rainbow." Miss F. HAWTREY, principal of Avery Hill Training College, pleaded for beautiful schools-schools as beautiful as were the churches of long ago. The general discussion centred chiefly round the juvenile court, as to which diametrically opposed opinions were expressed. Dr. DORIS ODLUM raised the question of biological teaching in schools. The National Council for Mental Hygiene, the Eugenics Education Society, and the British Social Hygiene Council were pressing that such biological teaching should not concern itself only with plant and animal life, but be carried a step further to inchlde human biology, especially in relation to the reproductive functions. The final session of the Conference was wholly educational. Mr. R. E. ROPER, late director of physical education, Bedales School, gave some startling figures as to young people at present being turned out of school without employment or prospect of it. Miss GRACE HADOW, principal of the Society of Oxford Home Students, gave the results of a sympathetic study of the girls from secondary schools who came up to Oxford. Oxford, she said, was turning out not only good doctors and lawyers, but good wives and mothers. The last paper of all was by Mr. G. A. LYWARD, director of Finchden Manor School,' Tenterden, who spoke of a testing out with neurotic bovs of views he had long held concerning the vital need for a new teaching technique. A luncheon which was to have been held in connexion with the Conference was cancelled. The Ministerof Health, who was to have been the guest, sent his good wishes for the success of the Conference, saying that mental health was of no less-perhaps even of greaterimportance to the community than the health of the body. BACTERIOLOGICAL GRADING OF MILK


Assessing potential long-term forest productivity requires identification of the processes regulating chemical changes in forest soils. We resampled the litter layer and upper two mineral soil horizons, A and AB/BA, in two aggrading southern Appalachian watersheds 20 yr after an earlier sampling. Soils from a mixed-hardwood watershed exhibited a small but significant decrease in soil pH. Extractable base cation content declined substantially in both mineral horizons. For example, Ca2+ levels in the A horizon fell from 236 kg ha" 1 in 1970 to 80 kg ha" 1 in 1990. Proportionally, the decline was greatest for Mg2"1", which dropped from 111 to 20 kg ha" 1. A white pine (Pinus strobus L.) plantation was planted in 1956, after clear-felling hardwoods and recutting sprouts for 15 yr. Soil pH and base cation concentrations declined in the A horizon from 1970 to 1990. Soil pH declined from 5.9 to 5.0 and Ca2+ levels from 534 to 288 kg ha" 1. Cation content did not change significantly in the AB/BA soil horizon. Nutrient budgets were constructed using these soil and litter data plus existing data on weathering rates, forest productivity, and hydrologic fluxes and associated chemistry. Decreases in soil base cations and soil pH are attributed to leaching and to the sequestration of nutrients in biomass.


Both Disinvestment and Privatization process in Public Sector Banks initiated by the then NDA Government came to an end soon after UPA Government took over. The Atal Bihari Vajpayee government had proposed to reduce government holding in state-run banks to 33% but the amendment could not be passed in Parliament as Congress, which was the main Opposition party, blocked the move. Later on Congress party with other partners came to power and even The Ministry of Disinvestment was closed .The recommendations of Disinvestment Commission could not be implemented. For last one decade disinvestment process came to a grinding halt, however, now again there are possibilities that Public Sector Banks may initiate the process again. Privatization process may seem to be a remote possibility at present, however, Disinvestment is on agenda of present government. The Government is now set to reduce shareholding to less than 52% while maintaining ownership but selling additional shares which will infuse more capital to fulfil capital adequacy norms as per Basel III. There are a number of challenges to this process and it is necessary to expedite the process. It is assumed that disinvestment process will make public sector banks more accountable and also efficiency may improve, ultimately pave way for privatization in near future.


A new difference equation for the numerical solution of the one-dimensional diffusion equation was obtained by using a semi-analytic method, in which the only approximation employed is that the source distribution within a mesh-region is represented by a linear function. A test program, EXX-1, was prepared and run for BWR calculations, and comparisons were made with the conventional method. The results show that by using the new difference equation, a very coarse mesh model (1 mesh point per material region) can be applied without seriously impairing the computational accuracy. It is also shown that the conventional difference equation becomes identical to the new expression if group-constants are multiplied by correction factors and the treatment of the source term appropriately modified. New difference equations for spherical and cylindrical geometries are also given, in an appendix.


We propose that linguists and political scientists develop an interdisciplinary and ethical research strategy for studying the relationships between language endangerment and political conflict. A leading cause of language endangerment is political violence driven by outside actors who expropriate land, extract resources, and displace individuals, many of whom reside in communities that speak endangered languages. Most language documentation projects, however, do not address the political landscape that causes the conflict, whether it is history, language policy, conflict over natural resources and ethno-religious identities, or absent and coopted governmental institutions experienced by the communities in question. At the same time, political scientists have developed models to explain and predict the political conflict and violence that threaten entire communities and can also explain why indigenous communities are particularly at risk of being harmed by this type of violence. We suggest that an interdisciplinary strategy that combines some of the large N data analysis strengths of political science with the qualitative, community-driven research of linguists can best help scholars understand the determinants of language loss; conduct such research ethically, and help utilize the fruits of this research to support and empower endangered language communities.


Is presented hereby the creation of an optimization program for the design of reinforcing steel for any type of structural elements which may be considered as columns, pillar, pilots or dies, subjected to flexo-compression mechanic stresses for rectangular cross sections elements with the support of numeric methods and meta-heuristic algorithms for the optimization of constructions costs, particularly the Genetic algorithm, adapting such algorithms to the optimization problem so that it makes the resultant designs practical and convenient for its application in the construction industry, based on certain criteria from NTC-17 and questioning other. It will be shown how such optimization algorithm was adapted to the problem, as well as other general numeric methods for engineering and others developed specifically for structural engineering for the optimal design of this sort of concrete elements. Moreover, sensibility cost analysis of unitary construction prices are presented as well, with which the objective function for the optimization algorithm was created. At the end, results of various experiments with and without the optimization program are shown, making comparisons between different structural models regarding cost and geometry.


The effect of a reduction process with CO or H2 on the size of nickel particles in Ni/ZrO2 dry methane reforming catalysts have been studied by means of in situ X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) and Diffuse Reflectance FTIR Spectroscopy (DRIFTS). Our results clearly indicate that a high temperature treatment with CO increases the dispersion of the nickel metallic phase. XAS results have shown a lower coordination number of Ni in the sample treated with CO than that reduced with H2. From the DRIFTS results, it can be established that, under the CO treatment, the formation of Ni(CO)4 complexes corrodes the nickel particles, decreasing their size. The formation of these gas molecules occurs without measurable losses of nickel from the catalyst which maintains the same nickel content after the hydrogen or the CO treatment at high temperature. Therefore, this airborne nickel compound, by colliding with the zirconia surface, must deposit the nickel metal atoms around onto the support. This behavior is evidenc...


The "service dog" has become an increasingly popular choice as an assistant for a person with a disability. These animals have public access rights in most countries, including the right to ride on public and paratransit vehicles. Service dogs are extremely valuable to their handlers and as such, consideration should be given to their safe transport. This paper will discuss some common issues in transporting passengers with service dogs in particular, as dogs are the most widely recognized animal performing service work. The paper will discuss optimum seating arrangements in paratransit and public vehicles, securement of service dogs, policies for behavior and maintenance of the animal on the vehicle and seating for multiple passengers with service dogs. The focus of this paper is to suggest some possible solutions to common issues that arise when boarding, disembarking and encountering other passengers with service animals.


The present study was undertaken to explore the effect of blended instruction (face-to-face instruction accompanied with online instruction) on grammar learning in Iranian EFL learners. To test the null hypothesis, two intact classes containing eighty sophomore female and male students of English translation at Islamic Azad University of Arak Branch, Iran participated. Pre-test means scores showed insignificant differences between the experimental and control groups in their grammatical knowledge. At the end of treatment period, a post-test (the same as pre-test) was administered in both groups to compare their grammar achievement. Adopting a quasi-experimental design, the null hypothesis was rejected.


he efficacy of selected insecticides viz., Chlorpyriphos (0.1 to 0.5%). T Fenvalerate (0.01 to 0.1 Yo), Cypermethrin (0.01 to 0.1 %) and boric acid (3 to 10%) individually as well as in combination with a fungicide, Chlorothalonil (0.5%) was evaluated both in the laboratory and in the field against major insect pests of rubber wood viz., Sinoxylon anale, Heterobostrychus aequalis, Minthea rugicollis and Lyctus brunneus. Chlorothalonil was used mainly to prevent incidence of sap stain fungi. The solution pick-up and chemical retention were also studied. There was no major variation in the solution pick-up of different chemicals. The values ranged from 101 kg/m3 for boric acid (5%) to 129 kg/m3 for Chlorpyriphos (0.2%). The chemical retention ranged from 0.0 1 kg/m3 for Cypermethrin (0.01%) to 10.87 kg/m3 for boric acid (10%). The difference in retention was mainly because of the difference in the concentrations used. All the insecticides used in this study were found to be equally effective against borers. As the lowest concentration of different chemicals gave effective protection, the threshold values for these chemicals will be lower than that of the lowest concentration tried. However, for commercial application, it is safe to use at least the lowest concentration of different chemicals tried. Considering the effectiveness in controlling insect and fungal problems, treatments with Chlorpyriphos 20 EC (0.5%) or Fenvalerate 20 EC (0.1%) with Chlorothalonil 75 WP (0.5%) are recommended for commercial use.


Physicians should discourage switching between anti-hypertension medications and should encourage both the patient and the funder to stick with the successfully up-titrated medication.


This paper suggests a decision tree based approach for flexible job shop scheduling with multiple process plans, i.e. each job can be processed through alternative operations, each of which can be processed on alternative machines. The main decision variables are: (a) selecting operation/machine pair; and (b) sequencing the jobs assigned to each machine. As an extension of the priority scheduling approach that selects the best priority rule combination after many simulation runs, this study suggests a decision tree based approach in which a decision tree is used to select a priority rule combination adequate for a specific system state and hence the burdens required for developing simulation models and carrying out simulation runs can be eliminated. The decision tree based scheduling approach consists of construction and scheduling modules. In the construction module, a decision tree is constructed using a four-stage algorithm, and in the scheduling module, a priority rule combination is selected using the decision tree. To show the performance of the decision tree based approach suggested in this study, a case study was done on a flexible job shop with reconfigurable manufacturing cells and a conventional job shop, and the results are reported by comparing it with individual priority rule combinations for the objectives of minimizing total flow time and total tardiness. Keywords—Flexible job shop scheduling, Decision tree, Priority rules, Case study.


Present work serves as a collection of measurements and results, which are needed for the determination of new EUVN (European Vertical Reference Network) points in Slovenia under the project EUVN_DA (EUVN Densification Action), which is held by International Association of Geodesy IAG Sub-commission Europe Reference Frame EUREF. Main reason for initiation of EUVN_DA project are the discrepancyies between the current gravimetric quasigeoid (EGG97) and the point-wise EUVN quasigeoid. Differences between the EGG97 quasigeoid and the GPS/levelling quasigeoidal height anomalies of the EUVN stations are significant and highly variable in some part of Europe. In Slovenia is for EUVN_DA project responsible Surveying and Mapping Authority of Republic of Slovenia (SMARS; GURS in Slovenia) in cooperation with Geodetic Institute of Slovenia (GIS) and University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering (FGG). On the territory of Slovenia are 12 EUVN_DA stations (new EUVN stations). There are two points (SI01 in SI03), that are already part of the EUVN. Project requires three tipes of measurements: levelling, GPS- observations and gravimetric measurements. This papier describes how are the required data gained from the results of the measurements. Estimated accuracy of geopotential and normal height of EUVN_DA-stations is also provided. Theoretical part of diploma is focused on gravitiy field of the Earth and definitions of the Heights sistems.


In this study we describe the establishment of a leukemic cell line (BNML-CL/ara-C), originating from the l-#-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine (ara-C)-resistant brown Norway rat myelocytic leukemia model (H.N.MI./ ara-C), that retains the in vivo generated ara-C resistance. Its biological and biochemical characteristics have been compared with a cell line, derived from the ara-C-sensitive BNML model (BNML-CL/O). Resist ance to ara-C was attributed to a decrease in phosphorylation of ara-C. Deoxycytidine (dCyd) kinase activity in crude cell extracts with dCyd as substrate showed similar enzyme activities in both cell lines, whereas with ara-C as substrate no dCyd kinase activity was detectable in the ara-C-resistant cell line. Two isoenzymes of dCyd kinase with different substrate specificities have been described (Cheng, Y. ( '.. Domin, B., and Lee, L. S. Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 481: 481-492, 1977), cytoplasmic (dCyd kinase I, substrates: dCyd and ara-C) and mitochondria! (dCyd kinase II, substrates: dCyd and thymidine). In the ara-C-sensitive BNML model, thymidine induced a reduction of dCyd kinase activity when dCyd was used as substrate. However, thymidine did not affect kinase activity with ara-C was used as substrate. In the BNML-CL/ara-C, thymidine even induces a dCyd kinase inhibition of 85% with dCyd as substrate. It is likely that the ara-C-specific dCyd kinase deficiency in BNML-CL/ ara-C cells was due to a selective loss of dCyd kinase I, whereas dCyd kinase II activity remained intact.


Review(s) of: Bully beef and balderdash: Some myths of the AIF examined and debunked, by Graham Wilson, Big Sky Publishing: Newport NSW, 2012, ISBN: 978-1-9219-4156-6.


The authors sent a questionnaire assessing curricula on sexual counseling to chairpersons of all counselor education programs in the United States. Results show the current status of sexuality instruction for counselors.


Phishing is a type of Internet procedure to seek to get a victim's credentials such as passwords, credit card numbers, bank account details and other sensitive information by defrauded webpages. Deceptive webpages have particular features to deflect victims to fall into trap. Comprehensive Phishing Detector (CPhD) system can distinguish phishing websites from legitimate websites by extracting these features from URL pattern, website content, images and animations of webpages. The central goal of this system is reducing the run-time of investigation and using instant calculation method and algorithms. Approximately, for every 1,200,000 requests in DNS logs or TLS/SSL logs we need 12min to explore phishing-IPs, 14ms to compare every-two URLs for seeking suspicious URL, 1.20min to compare every two sites words and finally 3min to compare two images. These tests were implemented on 90 Iranian banks, social network sites, search engines and some other well-known sites.


This paper reports on viable applications of multicomponent seismology to reservoir characterization which are being researched by a Reservoir Characterization Project (RCP) team at Colorado School of Mines, which includes specialists in geology, geophysics and petroleum engineering, Fractured reservoirs are a primary focus of this team. Based on observations, RCP participants contend that natural fracturing constitutes a major source of reservoir heterogeneity by inducing permeability anisotropy. However, the team has been successful in accurately characterizing and improving production from fractured highly heterogeneous reservoirs by combining three-dimensional (3-D), three-component (3-C) surface seismic surveys, 3-C vertical seismic profiles (VSPs) and horizontal drilling. This integrated program has been found to maximize recovery and minimize economic risk when developing such reservoirs.


In this article, we show the survey and H 1s spectra acquired with a photon energy of 400.02 eV and H2(g) electron-energy loss of Ag 3d5/2 spectra with a photon energy of 451.3 eV using high-resolution synchrotron-radiation NAP-XPS.


The Covid-19 pandemic instigate researchers from around the world to seek educational alternatives with technologies, among them are digital games. This article is based on the theoretical assumptions that support the use of games as learning promoters and presents an exploratory and qualitative research, with the aim of analyzing the experiences, learning and meanings expressed by players in an online community about the game Plague inc.  in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data collection was performed in an online community of players, and 545 game evaluations and contributions were performed spontaneously. The results of the analysis of the content of the collected data, coded in categories, indicate that the game has provided the development of new knowledge, reflections on the context of the pandemic, questioning about the scientific information conveyed in the game, besides promoting interaction in the midst of isolation.  Thus, it is understood that playing experience allows to problematize reality and offers opportunities to signify experiences and knowledge.


The Yellow River basin (YRB), the cradle of Chinese civilization, has so frequently been subjected to disastrous floods that the basin is entitled "China's Sorrow". Managing these floods was historically dominated by ethical approaches. These are now complemented, and sometimes replaced, by scientific approaches. This has prevented major flooding over the last 50 years, but the present situation is far from sustainable. In addition, drought and environmental issues have become prominent and urgent. The introduction of integrated water resources management (IWRM) is very promising, but this approach remains a scientific and technical-based approach, even if it is public participation-based and explicitly takes care of ecosystems. What seems to be lacking in the YRB is a strong ethical basis, sufficiently rooted in the society of the basin. The indigenous ethical approaches used for flood management can provide that basis, in particular Taoism. This should be re-enforced to give greater emphasis to nature in the basin and to harmonize human beings with nature.


In this paper the effects of introducing mulch technology, mechanised chopping of the follow vegetation in farm family units in the region of Brazil known as Eastern Amazon are evaluated. The proposed approach includes social research, experimental design and thematic model to calculate economic performance indicators and technical efficiency scores, which were determined using Data Envelopment Analysis models in order to compare agricultural systems applying mulch technology to those using slash-and-burn agriculture. The results indicate that systems of annual crops (e.g. beans, maize and cassava) using slash-and-burn technology were more efficient with a better economic performance. On the other hand, agricultural systems of permanent crops (e.g. passion-fruit) using mulch technology had higher efficiency scores, but lower economic performance when compared to those that used slash-and-burn technology. The paper concludes that the economic viability of mulch technology demands the reduction of the hour/machine cost, as well as the increase of the family monetary returns, by intensifying land use with vegetables such as West Indian gherkin (burr cucumber), sweet pepper and eggplant in the temporary production systems.


The present invention provides a method and a smoothing capacitor having a small capacitance regardless of the bus voltage can be performed without a sharp rise in a more stable and smooth driving of an inexpensive small-sized motor drive means (22). Motor driving means (22) comprising: a rectifying and smoothing circuit (2); DC power by rectifying and smoothing circuit (2) obtained is converted to AC power and supplied to the brushless DC motor (4) an inverter (3); and during the driving signal to the inverter (3) a control unit (30), the drive signal for controlling the inverter (3), so that the switching element in one arm of the plurality of arms perform the PWM output, the arm Instead arm switching element a plurality of upper and lower arm side are turned on the output of the control unit (30) outputs a drive signal, such that when the switching brushless DC motor (4) with energization, the conduction of the output end arm switching element on the opposite side of the output arm begins to conduct.


In the above-named work [ibid., vol. MTT-15, pp. 37-41, Jan. 1967] the author described two models of a nonreciprocal circular polarizer. The second model was a two-stage device in which the second stage provided a refinement of the approximate circular polarization produced by the first stage. The device used for this purpose consisted of a circular waveguide with a ferrite rod along its axis, so dimensioned that one sense of circular polarization could propagate but not the other. It has been called to the author's attention that a theoretical basis for such a device was provided in a series of papers by R.A. Waldron ("Electromagnetic wave propagation in cylindrical waveguides containing gyromagnetic media," J. Brit. IRE, vol. 18, pp. 597-612, 677-690, 733-746, 1958). Furthermore, a patent embodying the applicacation of this principle was obtained by him (British Patent 850 054, September 2S, 1960).


7531 Background: high blood levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) appear to be associated with a poor prognosis in advanced cancer, probably as a consequence of its angiogenic and immunosuppressive effects. The prognostic significance of serum VEGF levels and its variation during cancer treatment is still unknown. Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical usefulness of active serum vascular endothelial growth factor (sVEGF-A) levels in metastatic malignant melanoma patients and to investigate the possible relationship between sVEGF-A variations and clinical response during biochemotherapy. Patients and Treatment: The study included 73 patients with a fully documented history of metastatic malignant melanoma. Biochemotherapy consisted of Cisplatinum, rIL-2 and Alpha-interferon in two induction cycles. The assessment of clinical response was performed according to WHO criteria. Sixty seven patients were evaluable: 43 % (29/67) were responding (RC&RP) and 57 % were non-respo...