Datasets:

hac541309

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minipile_filtered_5percent

like 1

Transoral surgical treatment of Eagle's syndrome: case report and review of literature. Eagle's syndrome is a symptomatic abnormal length of the styloid process and/or a calcification of the stylohyoid ligament. Diagnosis is based on common pharyngeal symptoms and is confirmed by radiologic examination, more particularly CT-scan. Medical and surgical treatments are described. Medical treatment consists in repeated local anaesthetics, steroid infiltration or analgesics administration. It is purely symptomatic and has no long-term effectiveness. Surgical treatment remains the treatment of choice and consists of removal of the abnormal process. Both transoral and external approaches have been described. The advantages of the transoral approach is a shorter operative time, the absence of aesthetic prejudice and a lesser risk of neurovascular injury. Few post operative complications have been described (surgical cervical emphysema, cervical swelling, trismus and moderate breathing difficulty) but none of the studies reported neurovascular injury, deep cervical infection nor long-term complication. We present the technique, a case report and a review of the literature of the transoral approach.

This invention relates to a sheltering device, and more particularly pertains to a cover designed to operate effectively in preventing any leakage around a vent pipe and through its flashing even though significant disparity exists between the coefficient of expansions for the vent pipe and its accompanying and surrounding flashing. Customarily, in the plumbing trade, and usual type of cast iron vent pipe extends upwardly through the roof of the building, and then a flashing, usually also constructed of some form of metal, such as lead, is provided for mounting upon the roof of a building, with the upper end of this type of standard flashing having an extending lead sleeve that is usually peened over by means of hammering or other bending and into the upper end of the cast iron vent pipe, thereby sealing the opening in the roof through which the vent pipe extends. This prior art type of flashing for the vent pipe has generally worked satisfactory, primarily because the various types of metals from which both the vent pipe and the flashing have been constructed are metals both having a very low, or somewhat equivalent, coefficient of expansion. But, over the past few years, there has generally been developing a market for the plastic type of piping that is now being frequently used in the plumbing industry, generally such piping being constructed from a polyvinyl chloride, or a compound of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymers, generally identified in the trade as ABS. And, while this type of piping, thus far, has been found to work very effectively for plumbing installations, such pipe has a reasonably high coefficient of expansion which makes it very different to provide closure around the vent pipe when formed of one of these materials particularly where it extends through the building roof. For example, these vent pipes extend through a hole or aperture in the roof of the structure, and then have the old style of flashing, namely, one having an upper sleeve of lead, and which is sealed in place upon the roof, with said lead sleeve being peened over and around the upper edge of the plastic pipe. Then, and as frequently occurs, particularly in cold weather where the upper end of the plastic vent pipe may be exposed to very low winter temperatures, and with the vent pipe located within the building being exposed to the heated environment of the interior of the building, generally in the vicinity of 65.degree. to 75.degree. F., such has caused a high expansion of the plastic pipe. As a result, such a vent pipe expands considerably, while the lead flashing remains rather static, and with the only location for expansion of the vent pipe being in an upward shifting direction through the roof of a building, since usually its lower end is reasonably fixed to other plumbing installations, there is, therefore, no room for expansion downwardly. Consequently, the metal type flashing surrounding the upper end of the vent pipe is frequently broken loose and clear from its mounting upon the roof, causing a wide open gap in which the rain or other elements may easily flow as through the hole provided in the roof of the structure, and through which the vent pipe extends, eventually causing severe damage to the structure roof of the building within the vicinity of its said vent pipe. As an example of the type of expansion problems encountered in forming vent pipes of the newer plastic type materials, it has been found that a vent pipe formed of polyvinyl chloride, and having a length approximating 35 feet when initially prepared for use, will expand as much as 7/8 inch when exposed to temperatures in the range of 140.degree. F., while at the same time, when exposed to temperatures in the vicinity of 33.degree. F., may contract as much as 1/2 inch. In addition, a pipe formed from ABS, and also having an initially and precisely cut length of approximately 35 feet, will expand well over 11/2 inches when exposed to temperatures in the vicinity of 140.degree. F., and will contract as much as 1 inch when exposed to temperatures, as at the other extreme, around 35.degree. F. Bear in mind that the temperatures selected for these tests are not too unsimilar to the temperatures normally encountered by that portion of a vent pipe that extends through the roof of a structure, since in the hot summer sun, temperatures may well reach in the vicinity of 140.degree. F., at the roof line, while in the wintertime, temperatures within the central and northern parts of the United States easily average 33.degree. F. And, expansions of the type previously identified, particularly under summer heat, and even when the pipe interiorly of the structure, where most of it is located, is exposed to temperatures in the vicinity of 70.degree. F., when they expand the 1 inch or more in length, does have a very detrimental effect upon the lead flashing which had previously been peened around the upper edge of the pipe when installed. Thus, and particularly when expansion occurs, there is no place for the lead flashing to move but up, and when this occurs, it normally breaks loose from its mounting upon the roof structure, thereby readily exposing the gap between the roof and the enclosed vent pipe to rain, snow, or any other elements that eventually flow upon the surface of the roof. The current invention is designed for use with the present lead roof flashing which is predominantly used in the trade, and at the same time, totally eliminates any leakage that occurs from the problems now associated with the usage of plastic pipe with such a lead flashing, since the problem of expansion and contraction has been alleviated through the structure of this invention. Various prior art patents have given some consideration to the fabrication of shields for use in conjunction with roof vent pipes. For example, in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,181 to Nievelt, there is disclosed an outer cylindrical sheet that extends downwardly for flaring into an overlapping fashion and resting upon its modified form of sheet metal base, as shown. There are two significant differences between the shield of this prior art patent, and the current invention, in that the shield as shown is not fixed to any particular structure, but rather, simply rests upon the flashing. And, the shield is drapped over the vent pipe, and therefore, does not move with its expansion, as does the current invention. The U.S. Pat. No. 1,010,100, to Wallace discloses a roof jacket for a ventilating pipe, wherein a sleeve is provided upon the top edge of the vent pipe 4, and then has another sleeve disposed for telescoping about the vertical pipe portion of the flashing. The cap of this jacket contains a series of interconnecting lugs that are designed for passing through various notches formed upon the pipe so that the cap may be rotated so as to lock it in place. And, a disc and stud are further provided for partially enclosing the center of the vent pipe as shown, and therefore, actually obstruct, rather than allow, the free flow of air out of the vent pipe. The patent is specifically upon an adjustable ice and frost proof flashing, its base having adjustability to compensate for varying slopes on roofs, and since no plastic pipe was available in 1911, Wallace had no concern with expansion matters. And, for this reason, this prior art patent shows its pipe 10 and section 9 in contiguity, unlike the present invention. In any event, the structure of this Wallace jacket, particularly at its upper reaches, is quite dissimilar from the rather easily assembled adapter as designed and shown in the current invention. And, whereas Wallace is designed having contact between its sleeve and its pipe, the current invention avoids such. Other prior art patents in this particular field include a U.S. Pat. No. 1,750,019 to Moore, the U.S. Pat. No. 1,923,220 to Lightbown, U.S. Pat. No. 2,307,269 to Hauser, and the U.S. Pat. No. 3,436,880 to Kiefer. In view of the foregoing, it is, therefore, the principal object of this invention to provide a no leak expansion vent cover for use in conjunction with a current flashing provided upon the roof of a building structure. Another object of this invention is to provide a vent cover which may be made in various sizes to be readily connected onto existing vent pipes and cooperate with the flashing so as to overcome problems associated with material expansion as currently exists. A further object of this invention is to provide a vent cover which prevents lead flashings from being torn loose from their mountings upon roof structures. An additional object of this invention is to provide a vent cover that allows for free expansion of the plastic vent stack or pipe, without any contact or cooperation needed for its functioning from the surrounding flashing, which will remain in a fixed position. Another object of this invention is to provide a vent cover that is highly successful in operation and has received approved usage where ever installed. Yet another object of this invention is to provide a vent cover that can be easily modified, at the job site, for mounting upon plastic vent pipes of a variety of sizes. A further significant attribute of this invention is to provide a vent cover that allows for the full inside diameter of the vent pipe to vent its gases to the atmosphere. A further object of this invention is to provide a vent cover that can be easily installed upon new construction, or modified in repair of existing vent structures, within a matter of minutes. These and other objects will become more apparent to those skilled in the art upon reviewing the summary of this invention, and upon undertaking a study of the description of its preferred embodiment, in view of its drawings.

The invention relates generally to buttstocks for attachment to firearms, and more particularly to a buttstock assembly that has removable storage tubes which can be sealed from the outside environment. For several military applications and/or operational groups, weapons may need to be collapsible for ease of transportation to a field venue, and then easily assembled in the field. For example, rifles are frequently designed to be collapsible. One typical portion of a collapsible rifle assembly is the buttstock that forms the aft-most part of the assembled rifle. In general, the buttstock must be ergonomic since the buttstock forms the interface with the user""s shoulder area. Further, the buttstock can provide additional functionality such as a storage area since the buttstock does not generally contain any of the rifle""s operating components. The storage area should provide a watertight and dirt-free environment. Still further, a good buttstock design should minimize the use of moving parts that can cause rattle noises, break, fall off, etc. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a buttstock assembly for a collapsible rifle. Another object of the present invention is to provide a buttstock assembly having watertight and dirt-free storage areas. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an ergonomic buttstock assembly that is comfortable for a user over a range of shooting positions. Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more obvious hereinafter in the specification and drawings. In accordance with the present invention, a buttstock assembly for attachment to a rifle includes a buttstock that lo holds a plurality of removable and sealable tubes. In its simplest embodiment, the buttstock has i) a butt plate, ii) an elongated body extending perpendicularly away from the butt plate, and iii) a structural web coupled to the butt plate and elongated body. The elongated body defines a central cavity for receiving therein a portion of the rifle and further defines an elongated cavity on either side of and parallel to the central cavity. Each tube is open on one end thereof and forms a sliding fit with one elongated cavity. A cap is provided for sealing the open end of the tube.

As is known, the balancing of vehicle wheels includes identifying at least a plane which is perpendicular to the wheel axis, called the balancing plane, at which the weights will be applied on the wheel rim. In particular, in order to perform static wheel balancing it is sufficient to identify one balancing plane alone, while in order to perform a dynamic balancing two distinct balancing planes must be identified, reciprocally distanced along the wheel axis. An electronic calculator, connected to a measuring group belonging to the balancing machine, detects the wheel imbalance and calculates the entity of the weights according to the position of the balancing planes, as well as the angular position of the weights in the balancing planes themselves. The identification of the balancing planes is generally done by measuring some geometrical parameters which are characteristic of the wheel hub to be balanced, after the wheel has been mounted on the balancing machine. The geometric parameters are typically the hub diameter at each balancing plane and the distance of each balancing plane from a fixed reference plane of the balancing machine. Usually these measurements are performed by feelers on the balancing machine, which are positioned manually by the operative according to the points on the hub which are comprised in the balancing plane in which he wishes to locate the weights. The displacement of the feeler organs from a predetermined initial position is measured by special electronic systems which transmit the performed measurement to the electronic calculator which then processes the data. Recent research in the field of wheel balancers has been especially directed at obtaining maximum automation of the balancing processes, so as to optimise the results and reduce error as well as manual intervention on the part of the operatives. In this context, balancing machines have been devised which can make a totally automatic reading of the optimal balancing planes at which the weights should be applied on the rims. These balancing machines are generally provided with special pick-up devices which are connected to the electronic calculator and can perform a scan of the hub profile, and acquire for each point thereon the geometric parameters required for the balancing operation. The pick-up devices are generally aimed at detecting the spatial position of the points on the rim without direct contact with the points themselves, such as for example optical devices for measuring distances. In this way, on the basis of the rim profile and other imbalances of the wheel measured by the measuring group, the electronic calculator is able automatically to identify the optimal balancing planes, without any need for feelers and without any direct intervention on the part of the operative. Clearly these balancing machines are very expensive and complicated, and they do not always respond to market demand, where the need to have greater automation is generally accompanied by a need to have accessible prices. Further, the scanning of the rim profile requires a relatively long time, which has an overall effect of slowing down the wheel balancing process. The aim of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks in the prior art, by making available a method and a machine for vehicle wheel balancing, in which the determining of the balancing planes can be done semi-automatically, reducing the operative's manual contribution and improving the precision of the balancing, though remaining within the ambit of a simple, rational and inexpensive solution.

The effect of continuous drug exposure on the immune response to Trichostrongylus colubriformis in sheep. The effect of albendazole (ABZ)-capsule (CRC) administration on parasite establishment and immunity to ABZ-resistant (RES) and -susceptible (SUS) T. colubriformis was measured in Romney lambs. During 12 weeks of twice-weekly dosing with 3000 parasite larvae (L3), eggs were observed in faeces from CRC-treated and untreated lambs given RES L3, but not CRC-treated lambs given SUS L3. Following the period of trickle challenge all lambs were drenched and, 1 week later, dosed with 20000 SUS L3. Resulting worm burdens were higher in control lambs than in those previously treated with CRCs and challenged with SUS, which in turn were higher than those in the CRC-treated or -untreated lambs previously challenged with RES L3. During the period of trickle challenge, the number of peripheral eosinophils and titres of anti-L3 and anti-adult antibody were raised only in those groups given RES L3. There was no effect of CRC administration. Following drench and challenge, antibody titres and eosinophil numbers increased in the control animals but not in those groups which had received previous trickle infection. The results demonstrate that the larval challenge alone resulted in incomplete though substantial protection against subsequent parasite challenge. The use of CRCs may potentially impact on subsequent animal performance and selection for anthelmintic resistance through a reduced level of immunity.

Sleep patterns and fatigue in parents of twins. To examine patterns of postpartum parental sleep and levels of fatigue at 2, 12, and 20 weeks following hospital discharge of newborn twins. Descriptive longitudinal pilot study. Recruitment from 2 hospital postpartum units. Data collected in parents' homes. Eight primiparous parents caring for twins delivered at 33 to 38 weeks gestation. Home visits to deliver and retrieve study equipment: wrist actigraphy and sleep diaries to measure sleep, standardized instrument to measure fatigue, and an investigator-developed form to measure demographics and related variables. Fathers had significantly less night sleep (5.4 hours) and less 24 hour sleep (5.8 hours) than mothers (6.2 and 6.9 hours, respectively) at 2 weeks after twins were discharged. Sleep efficiency increased significantly over time in a linear fashion for both parents. Morning and evening fatigue levels were not significantly different between parents and remained constant over time. Pilot data suggest that mothers and especially fathers of twins experience sleep disturbances after discharge of their twins. Further study is needed to more fully describe the evolution of sleep patterns and clarify factors that influence sleep in parents of twins.

In IMT2000-TDD, a midamble, which is a pilot sequence, is inserted in the center of a time slot. Multiplexed signals from multiple users arrive at the receiving end, and the receiving end performs correlation operation using midambles different for each signal, thereby creating delay profiles on a per midamble basis, detecting paths and subjecting these to rake-demodulation or JD-demodulation, and acquiring the received data. To acquire the received data on a per user basis, it is necessary to detect the timing of each user's top path in delay profiles. Now, there is processing referred to as frame tracking for tracking the frame timings. By virtue of this frame tracking processing, the top path in a delay profile is detected on a per user basis, and the received data is demodulated by adjusting the timing in accordance with the top path. Usually, tracking processing is performed using a common channel that all users share. On this common channel, a signal is multiplexed with a user signal. At the receiving end, following user-specific delay profiles, delay profiles of the common channel are created. Now, when the receiving party moves while engaged in communication, and when, for instance, the receiving party moves out from behind a building while communicating, the receiving party is then able to receive direct waves from the base station apparatus after moving out from behind the building. Consequently, new peaks by the direct waves might appear before the peaks by the delay waves. If these peaks by the direct waves can be selected as paths and used for rake combining, the quality of the received signal after the rake combining can be improved. So, when paths such as above are detected, tracking processing is performed such that the top path is changed to a path by a direct wave. On the other hand, a mobile apparatus receives multiplexed transmission data from multiple users. Consequently, when there is a new path before the top path, there is a possibility that the correlation operation result at a timing before the top path shows the component of another user signal using a midamble corresponding to a circulation amount as of just before. That is, the communication schemes of IMT2000-TDD use midambles that are created on a per channel basis by cyclically shifting the basic midamble. Consequently, the correlation operation result at a timing before the top path and the correlation operation result of a channel using a midamble shift corresponding to a circulation amount as of just before may show the same component. However, with a typical receiving apparatus, when there is a new path before the top path in a delay profile, by tracking processing, this new path is always set as the new top path. Consequently, when the new path happens to be another user's delayed wave or the like, the reception is done at wrong timings and this may disable communications.

Wells typically contain sub-surface safety valves (SSV), which are actuated from the surface through a control line, which runs down to the valve. These valves have a biased closure member, known as a flapper. The flapper is biased into contact with a mating seat for isolation of a zone in the well from the surface. The flapper is positioned perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the wellbore, when it is in the closed position. To open the valve, pressure through the control line causes a flow tube to shift against a bias force. The flow tube engages the flapper to rotate it 90 degrees. The flow tube continues to advance as the flapper is positioned behind it. In certain wells, with the SSV closed and formation pressure acting on the flapper in the closed position, it is desirable to equalize the pressure on both sides of the flapper before attempting to rotate it with the flow tube. A pressure imbalance can occur because there is gas at low pressure above the flapper and high pressure from the formation below the flapper. One costly way to equalize the pressure is to add heavy fluid above the flapper. An easier way is to install and equalizing valve in the flapper so that when the flow tube starts moving down it strikes the plunger of the equalizing valve first. This causes the plunger to move to equalize the pressure across the flapper before the flapper is pushed away from its seat by the flow tube. A few examples of this design are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,475,599 and 4,478,286. The layout of the principal components of an SSV in the closed position is illustrated in FIG. 1. The SSV 10 has a body 12 and a flapper 14 pinned at pin 16 to body 12. The flapper 14 is biased to the closed position shown by a spring 18. Flapper 14 is in contact with a seat 20, in the closed position shown in FIG. 1. A flow tube 22 is driven by pressure in a control line (not shown) against the force of a spring 24. The equalizer valve 26 is disposed in the flapper 14 so that upon initial downward movement of the flow tube 22, the initial contact occurs between the equalizer valve 26 and the flow tube 22, which results in pressure equalization before the flow tube 22 pushes the flapper 14 off of seat 20. When the flow tube 22 moves down completely, as shown in FIG. 2, the flapper 14 is behind the flow tube 22. FIG. 2 also illustrates the initial position of equalizer valve 26 when the flapper 14 is in the closed position of FIG. 1. It can be seen that the equalizer valve is engaged off-center by the flow tube 22. One reason for this offset contact is the limited choice of placement of the equalizer valve 26. FIG. 3 shows a view of the underside of the flapper 14 showing the bore 28 located in the thick segment 30 of flapper 14. In order to get a sufficiently long bore, it was located in the remotest part of the thick segment 30. FIG. 6 illustrates the need for offset contact. The equalizer valve 26 comprises a plunger 32 and a bore 34 that extends from the upper end 36 to lateral bores 38. When depressed by the flow tube 22 the lateral bores 38 extend below the lower end 40 of the flapper 14 and equalizing flow is established. The offset contact is used in this design to avoid obstructing the bore 34 during initial movement of the plunger 32. FIG. 2 illustrates another aspect of the prior design. The plunger 32 had a chamfer 42 so as to avoid contact with the flow tube 22 when the SSV was in the open position. This need for clearance made the end of the plunger 32 asymmetrical, making the installed orientation critical to achieve the desired clearance with the flow tube 22 when the SSV was opened. The offset contact between the flow tube 22 and the plunger 32 tended to put a counterclockwise moment on the plunger 32 and resulted in abnormal wear on portion 44, closest to the point of offset contact. To combat this problem of wear, the plunger 32 was first produced and measured. Thereafter, bore 28 was machined to about 0.001 inch over the diameter of the plunger 32 and both surfaces were polished to 8 RMS. The problem was that each plunger 32 was custom fit to each bore 28 so that it was not possible to maintain a store of spare parts that could be counted on to provide adequate service. Even with expensive machining, the problem of premature wear due to offset contact, created a reliability and maintenance concern. Accordingly, the objective of the present invention is to provide design features to minimize or otherwise cope with the wear issue from offset contact. Another feature of the invention is to work around offset contact that caused the wear and still allow the equalizer valve 26 to effectively function. Those skilled in the art will appreciate how the invention addresses these objectives from a review of the detailed description of the preferred embodiment, which appears below.

A baseline study for the development of an instrument for the assessment of pain. This study was designed to establish a foundation for the further development of a pain assessment tool for use in clinical practice. It was earlier reported that there existed a significant difference in the intensity of the words pain, ache and hurt and that each of these concepts had their own specific sensory and affective word descriptors. This study was designed to: 1 find out if the above results could be verified by using subjects with a different background from those included in the previous study; 2 determine the intensity of word descriptors; and 3 determine if patients, nurses and nursing students use the same word descriptors to describe pain-like experiences. Pain assessment tools used were the McGill Pain Questionnaire, a visual analogue scale and a pain, ache and hurt questionnaire. The results of the earlier reported study were confirmed. In addition, a significant difference was found in intensity of the word descriptors. Patients, nurses and nursing students used basically the same word descriptor to describe pain-like experiences. The sensory word descriptors (crushing, sharp, tearing, cutting, penetrating, gnawing, dull, pulling, sore, stinging, pricking and pinching) and the affective word descriptors (dreadful, torturing, killing, unbearable, terrifying, suffocating, exhausting, unhappy, troublesome, annoying, irritating and fearful) are suggested as a foundation upon which a pain assessment tool could be developed for use in clinical practice.

Driver detection of water quality trends in three large European river basins. This study analyses how indicators of water quality (thirteen physico-chemical variables) and drivers of change (i.e., monthly aggregated air temperature and streamflow, population density, and percentage of agricultural land use) coevolve in three large European river basins (i.e., Adige, Ebro, Sava) with different climatic, soil and water use conditions. Spearman rank correlation, Principal Component Analysis, and Mann-Kendall trend tests were applied to long-term time series of water quality data during the period 1990-2015 in order to investigate the relationships between water quality parameters and the main factors controlling them. Results show that air temperature, considered as a proxy of climatic change, has a significant impact, in particular in the Adige and Ebro: positive trends of water temperature and negative of dissolved oxygen are correlated with upward trends of air temperatures. The aquatic ecosystems of these rivers are, therefore, experiencing a reduction in oxygen, which may exacerbate in the future given the projected further increase in temperature. Furthermore, monthly streamflow has been shown to reduce in the Ebro, thereby reducing the beneficial effect of dilution, which appears evident from the observed upward patterns of chloride concentrations and electrical conductivity. Upward trends of chloride and biological oxygen demand in the Adige and Sava, and of phosphate in the Adige appears to be related to increasing human population density, whereas phosphates in the Sava and biological oxygen demand in the Ebro are highly correlated with agricultural land use, considered as a proxy of the impact of agricultural practises. The present study shows the complex relationships between drivers and observed changes in water quality parameters. Such analysis can represent, complementary to a deep knowledge of the investigated systems, a reliable tool for decision makers in river basin planning by providing an overview of the potential impacts on the aquatic ecosystem of the three basins.

"Yes!" "It is possible!" "Man can fly." "No, no, no..." "this can't be happening!" "A chicken?" "How bizarre." "Even if a flightless bird could assend this far into the stratisfier the lack of oxygen would make breathing nearly impossible." "Also, he's wearing pajamas so this must be..." "A dream." "Precisely." "But we are still, however, going to crash and it will hurt." " The bank's being robbed!" " Quickly!" "Surround the building!" "You go that way!" "You go this way!" "There he is!" " Come on!" " After him, men!" "That way!" " He came this way." "I'm sure of it." " Come on!" "Come on, mates!" "Keep up!" "Sorry, sir." "Today is the day I will finally achieve what has been deemed impossible." "Man can break the 50-mile-per-hour speed barrier." "And you, you're lucky enough to be a part of it, Pierre." " It's Jean Michel, sir." " Yes." "We will make history." "Or we will die trying." " Die?" " This is very exciting." "That's it!" "I refuse to be catapulted, electrocuted, or have my internal organs disrupted any longer!" "I quit!" "He is a very sick man!" "The electrocution was not my fault!" "You refused to wear the rubber underpants!" "We're looking for a bank robber." "Is there no man brave enough to be my valet?" "Oh..." "Aah!" "I'm your new valet." "Uh..." "I must commend the valet service on their... impeccable foresight." "But they know I only accept French valets." "Yes." "Oh!" "Oui!" "Oui!" "I come from a long line of French valets." "On my father's side." "Very, very French." " But your accent..." " My father French." "Never speak." "My mother Chinese and never shuts up." "All the children pick up her accent." "Very well." "Uh..." "Will you be willing to risk your life to challenge the laws of physics as we know them?" " Yes." "Uh, and I can sing, too." " Excellent." "Pop this little hat on." " He's got to be in here." " He's this way!" "And the throttle in your right hand controls the speed." " How do I stop?" " Godspeed!" "Twenty-five miles per hour." "Yes, the pressure's stable-ish." "We need more speed, man." "Forty miles per hour." "Hang on in there, my good man." "Forty-seven." "Forty-eight." "Forty-nine." "Eureka!" "We've done it!" "Uh..." "I say, I say." "Uh, good morning." " I'm looking for a-a man with..." " Over here!" "Ah, there-there he is." "There's my valet." "Sorry!" "New valet." " Good morning." " Good morning." "You'll be able to let go any second." "The pack will run out of steam in exactly three, two, one..." "Now." "Look out!" "That was incredible!" "Well done!" "We've broken the human speed barrier." "Good-bye, sir." "It's been very nice valeting for you." "Let's... do it again soon." "Bye." "Hey, wait." "Please, wait, wait!" "Well, with you as my... brave valet, I can test all my inventions." "No!" "Spread out!" " Cover that..." " Yes, yes, yes." " I take the job." " Splendid!" "I can't wait to present my results to the Royal Academy." "Too kind." "Too kind." "Thank you." "And with this grant to develop new applications for copper wire," "Dr. Ramsey invented this." "Needless to say, the Royal Academy of Science declared this crackpot mentally incompetent, and he was duly dispatched to a lunatic asylum." "Sir." "I have an urgent announcement for you." "Here." "Well, don't just stand there, man." "Read it." "What?" "Oh." "Um..." ""It is with great distress that Scotland Yard announces that the Bank of England..." "has been robbed."" "My stolen jade Buddha stolen?" "You blighter!" "You gave me every assurance that the Bank of England was impenetrable!" "Sir, sir, I said "impregnable"." "It's the same thing, you idiot!" "Please, please, not the quills!" "Lord Salisbury!" "Please contact general Fang and inform her, no Buddha, no deal." "To forgo your obligation would be dishonorable, Lord Kelvin." "A woman in the Royal Academy?" "The jade Buddha was successfully delivered by us to the Bank of England." " What happens while it's in British hands..." " ..." "Is absolutely your concern." "Colonel Kitchner, chief of Scotland Yard, please inform general Fang what other items were stolen from the Bank of England." "Nothing else." "Exactly." "It seems your little land dispute has spilled over onto our noble shore." "Until the jade Buddha is back in my possession, you and your cause will receive no British military assistance whatsoever." "Kitchner!" "My agents will retrieve the jade Buddha once again, Lord Kelvin." "This time, do not let it slip through your fingers." "A female general." "What sort of pathetic man takes orders from a woman?" "Cor!" " Come away from here." " Oh, dad." "Can't we stay?" "My wind-powered pulley system circulates the house with fresh air." "Kitchen items are to be placed on the white boat, and the blue is for laundry." "But most importantly, this supplies the house with a running current of electricity." "Electricity." "This is my comprehensive data schedule and list of regulations." "It's quite simple." "You're never to divert one iota from my plans." "I must live my life with total efficiency, to maximize my inventing capacity, thus enabling me to do the most I can for mankind." "Uh, Mr. Fogg, you are a noble, precise gentleman." "Thank you." "Uh..." "Sorry." "What was your name?" "Ahem." "Uh?" "Passport." "Too." "Passepartout." "Bottled light." "A miracle." "Hardly." "Just undiscovered science from an American named Thomas Edison." "It turns on with a whistle." "Please, don't do that." "Ah, see, your eye is drawn to what I hope will one day be my crowning achievement." "A giant moth?" " It's a flying machine." " It can fly?" "Yes." "No." "But it will... one day." "When I've worked out the problem with the steering cables and that damned chicken." "One day it will transport people through the air." "Perhaps over entire oceans." "Uh-oh." "I think I'm going to have to make a rule for this." ""Dear father:" "I will find the fastest way back to China... to make our village safe once again."" "Passepartout?" "Departure for the Royal Academy of Science in two minutes." "Prepare my urban transport device." "It's the shoes with little wheels on them." "Clear the way." "Clear the way." "Mr. Fogg coming through." "Watch out!" "Watch out!" "Excuse me." "Out of way." " Gangway, gangway." " Fogg's arrived." " Gangway." "Ooh!" " Hey!" "That makes it exactly ten minutes before noon." "That will be all." "Gentlemen." "Today I have proved that man can break the 50-mile-per-hour speed barrier without disrupting his internal organs." "Where is your Royal Academy of Science authorization?" "What am I thinking?" "What a fool." "That would mean that you were a real scientist!" "By your definition, Kelvin, a real scientist's objective would be to prevent man from progress." "We live in a golden age, Fogg." "Everything worth discovering has been discovered." "Yet, ridiculous dreamers like you insist on a past filled with..." "dinosaurs... and evolution." "And on a future filled with motorized vehicles, radio waves, and flying machines!" "Confound it!" "The bloody Bank of England is a madhouse!" "Rumor has it the bloke's a foreigner." "An Asian chap." "Rumor has it the bloke's a foreigner." "Nothing." "Yes, I heard it was a Chinese fellow, and he acted alone." "Uh, no." "Actually, they say he was Norwegian." "In fact, though, it was a gang of elderly Norwegians." "Yes, I heard it from a very reliable source that it was a gang of redheaded elderly Norwegians with very tiny feet." "Well, if you ask me, it's about time someone robbed that bank." "Like this very institution, the Bank of England is outdated." "As usual, Fogg, your contempt for tradition is appalling." "You rest on your... traditions, if you prefer, but, as with this bank robber, progress waits for no one." "Oh, so now you're an expert on the bank thief as well." "Give us the benefit of your ineffable wisdom, Fogg." "Twenty-six minutes ago, a ship left Dover for Paris." "From there, the thief takes the Orient Express, where he transfers to a steamer, from Istanbul to India." "In little over a month, that man could be in China." "If we're to believe Fogg's calculations, he will have circled the globe and returned to England in a fortnight." "Actually, by my calculations, it would be closer to, uh, exactly 80 days." "Outstanding idea." "Well, then, Fogg, let's see you circumnavigate the world in 80 days." "I..." "That would be a fruitless use of my time." "I'm on the verge of..." "numerous... countless..." "scientific breakthroughs." "You coward." "Admit it." "It cannot be done." "It can!" "I could do it." "A wager." "10,000 pounds." "Unlike you and your colleagues, money does not inspire me." "I believe every man has his price." "Even you, oh, noble Phileas Fogg." "There must be something I could offer you that would be worthy of your time." "There is." "Your position as head of the Royal Academy." "With the queen's heir, I could..." "lead Britain and the rest of the world into a new age of progress and discovery." " Fair enough." " What?" "I, Lord Kelvin, hereby vow to surrender my position as minister of science to Phileas Fogg..." " No!" " No!" "No!" "...if he can circumnavigate the globe... in no more than 80 days." "But if he cannot, he must never set foot in this academy again, he must tear down that abhorrent eyesore he calls a laboratory, and he must swear never to invent again." "Just as I always suspected, Fogg." "You promise so much, yet you deliver... oh, nothing." " I'll-I'll take your wager." " What did you say?" "I'll take your wager!" "He did it." "Then it's done." "A man who has never set foot out of England circling the globe." "This is going to be rather amusing." "History won't remember your amusement, Lord Kelvin, but it will be hard-pressed to forget the moment I'm standing on the very top step of the Royal Academy of Science." "By the strike of noon, after I, Phileas Fogg, have travelled around the world in 80 days!" "Oh, dear." "Mr. Fogg, we all pack and ready to go." "Mr. Fogg, are you in here?" "Phileas!" "Phileas!" "Phileas!" " Uh..." " Mr. Fogg, are you well, sir?" "Huh?" "Uh, Passepartout." "Would you..." "sit with me a moment?" "Yes, sir." "I risked everything, my entire life's work." "For something you believe in." "Nothing could make more sense than that, sir." "You are an honourable man, Passepartout." "But I'm afraid this was a calamitous lapse of judgement." " Mr-Mr." "Fogg?" " Yes?" " Maybe we should let your family..." " There really is... no one left to tell." "This house and... my inventions are all I have." "And a brave new French valet that will help you make it around the world in 80 days." " You really believe we can succeed?" " Yes." "Yes." "Yes." "Yes!" "You're mad." "We'll be sliced to pieces before we reach India." "We're with you, sir!" "Good luck!" "Halt!" " Quite a contraption you got here, Mr. Fogg." " I thank you, inspector." "But I'm afraid I'm gonna have to detain you and your valet until further notice." "You see, this here doohickey is in violation of the city's new vehicle code." "Vehicle code?" "Code 431." "All vehicles must be powered by horses." "Or other indigenous quadruped creatures of the like, excluding giraffes and..." "My good man, you're driveling." "Now stand aside." "I'm about to embark upon a journey around the world." "Not in this monstrosity, you're not." "No!" " Mm-mm." " That's hot." "It's..." "Ow!" "Time to go." "We have a boat to catch." "Stealing a police vehicle is not an acceptable way to begin our journey." " Not stealing." "Borrowing." " Ah." "Excuse us." "We're just borrowing this vehicle to catch our ship to Paris, if someone could inform the appropriate authorities." "Bloody hell!" "Me brain's leakin'!" "Ahh!" "Damn that nincompoop Fix." "What's the point of hiring a corrupt police officer if he can't even abuse the law properly?" " Kitchner." " Sir!" "Tell inspector Fix to pack his bags." " He's going on a little trip." " Right away, sir." "Retrieve the jade Buddha in Paris." "As for Lau Xing..." "Kill him!" "Hmm." "Smart man." "Passepartout, will you tell this impudent fellow that we must leave within six and a half hours, or we miss our connection in Constantinople." "Yes, sir." "Please." "We are in a great hurry." " Passepartout?" " Yes?" "In French." "Sacre bleu, la champignon, chateau, bien, françois, voila, ooh-la-la, foie de gras." "T'as I'air malade, toi." " What did he say?" " Uh..." "He say..." " What?" " He says not to worry." "The next train will leave in five hours." "Good time for sightseeing." "Passepartout, this is a scientific expedition, not a holiday!" "I will not miss this train." "Ah!" " Very amazing." " What?" "What does it say?" "This week only Eddie Thomason will be showing his new inventions." "Thomas Edison?" "Here in Paris?" "What a chance for you to meet another great inventor." "Ah..." "I would quite like to... tell him about my whistle modification." "Good idea." "See?" "Exposition." "Science." "I assure you these are not the works of Thomas Edison." "Uh, I think he is somewhere around here." "Wait a moment." "This isn't science." "This is art." " Yeah." " Hmm." "That painting is highly inaccurate." "It's not supposed to be accurate." "The artist views reality through imagination rather than simply recording it." "It is called... "impressionism"." "Well, um, I'm not impressed." "Trees are not violet, grass is not charcoal, and a man cannot... fly." "You feel something." "You dream of flying." "Or of naked men." " Sometimes." " Ah." "The flying." "N- n-not the men." "I'm glad you like my painting." "Monique La Roche." "Phileas Fogg." "Well, I must say, it's a lot better than these... amateurs." "What did he say?" " Oh, no." " Oh, no, not again." " Who's responsible for this vandalism?" " It's mine, sir, does it please you?" "Please me?" "No." "You want to hang something?" "Go hang people's coats as you were hired to do!" " But sir..." " In fact, don't!" "You're fired!" "Leave art to the artists." "Goodness." "What was all that about?" "Well, a wealthy gentleman bought my painting for a lot of money." "Champagne for everyone!" "I'm still looking for Mr. Eddie." "Nice painting." "Have you ever considered a career in schematic drawing?" "No." "It would be far too limiting." "At least your work shows genuine promise." "Thank you." "Those I painted many months ago." "I was..." "lacking inspiration." "I found some men to help me find Mr. "Edimon"." " This way." " Thank you." "Thank you." "He's very eager." "Get him!" "Oh, no, no, no, no." "Oh, it's terrible, no?" "No, no, it's... clever." " Oh." "Hmm." "Yes." " He's a clown." " Mm-hmm." "And yet... he's incredibly angry." "Oh, the... the irony is, uh, terrifying." " Is that good?" " Is it?" "Ah, this is interesting." "Of course, you do realize that, without opposable thumbs, a dog could never play poker." "Yes, they can." "And where have you ever seen a dog playing poker?" "Right there." "Yes, perhaps I'm not the best judge." "Bandits!" "They come to take away all the paintings!" "Look out." "My paintings!" " Quickly!" "Come this way!" " Passepartout!" "Go, go, go!" "Thank you, Miss La Roche." "You may just have saved our trip." " There you are." " I would, uh..." " I would like to repay you." " Then take me with you." " What?" " I'm stifled here." "Pigeonholed." "They think of me only as a... a coat-check girl!" " Why?" " Because I am the coat-check girl." " Ah." " Look." "The leading art critic in Paris." "Look what he wrote about one of my paintings." " I can't read this." "I think it's French." " I wish I couldn't." "Why do you carry it around?" "When I do succeed, I can throw it in his face, but for now," "I need a world journey to inspire me." "I'm inspired to get us back on schedule." "Let's see." "Wind velocity approximately twelve knots, factoring in air density..." "Outstanding!" "Passepartout, onward!" "Ah." "Hey, there we go." "Passepartout, tell him to keep the change." "Uh... pathe, fromage, por favor." "We are going around the world in 80 days!" "My God!" "They are Mad!" "Please, Miss La Roche, the balloon cannot support all this weight!" "Your hot air should compensate, no?" "Get off!" " What are they doing?" " Well, they're being disorderly." "Hey!" "Let go!" "Let go!" "Hey!" "Passepartout!" "My valise!" "It has all my money in it." "Hey, lady, lady, lady!" "It's my bag." "No, that is my bag." "No, that's not your bag." "It's my bag!" " No!" " You crazy." "Yes." "That tickles!" "You took my bag." "Mr. Fogg!" "Good catch!" " Thank you." "Ooh!" "Those are the gallery bandits." "Ho, ho, ho!" "Oh, yes!" "He stole my purse!" "This devil stole my purse!" "My bag!" "He took my..." "Ah!" " We've stolen that old lady's purse." " Huh." "Here." "We must help Passepartout." "How do I make this go lower?" "What are you doing?" "You decrease the overall weight then..." "That's not going to work." " Yes, it is." "Physics, no?" "Yes." "Ahhh..." "Bonjour." "Bonjour." " Eh?" " Bye-bye!" "Wake up, lady!" "Wake up!" "Wake up, lady!" "Wake up!" "Lady, wake up!" " Bye, mama." " Merci." "Bye, baby." "Ohh..." "Very impressive." "I'd have let go by now." "The statue's grabbing his trousers." "I don't think it's doing it on purpose." "Oh, dear." "Help!" "Well done, Passepartout." "We're still on schedule despite those dogged thieves." "Yes, yes." "Thank you." "Those art thieves seemed to recognize you." " I look like someone they know." " Some other Frenchman, perhaps?" " So, where can we drop you off?" " We're not stopping." "Once we land in Munich to board the Orient Express, you are free to go." "Thank you so much." " For what?" " For saying I'm free to go with you." "No, no." "I did not say you were free to come." " I said you were free to go." " Where?" " Anywhere." " Yes, thank you." "I will go with you." " No, you will not, Miss La Roche." " Monique." "Miss..." "Monique!" "There!" "Now we are getting along." "Comme c'est beau." "C'est magnifique." "Toutes ces couleurs." "Look at the sunrise." "There is only one word for it." " "Magical."" " Miss La Roche!" "I refuse to allow you to continue travelling with us." "I'm not travelling with you." "I'm making my own way." "Maybe you shouldn't travel with me." "This is what happens when you leave your home." "You meet... people!" "Why are you keeping up this... ruse?" "Perhaps I should inform Mr. Fogg, and together he and I can speculate." "A very sacred object was stolen from my village." "I have taken it back." "Incroyable." "For many centuries, the jade Buddha has protected my people." "It has never left our village... until now." "And those art thieves." "Who are they?" "The Black Scorpions." "They work for an evil warlord." "Fang." "She wants the Buddha so she can take over my village." "I must return the jade Buddha to protect Lanzhou." "Mr. Fogg is the fastest way." "Perhaps, then, we can help one another." "I will keep your secret, and you, you convince Mr. Fogg to allow me to travel the world with you." "Keep this Dummkopf in his seat, or we throw him off!" "Merely pointing out that, uh, if they coordinated their coal-shoveling technique, they could maximize our speed." "When we reach Constantinople, I suggest you board a train we are not on." " Uh, Mr. Fogg, she must come with us." " And why is that?" "Uh, we just discovered that we are related from the same family." "I'm her father's second cousin's sister on my mother's side." "French." "Monsieur Fogg." "If I make the train go faster, I can come with you, oui?" "Yes." "I bid you farewell, Miss La Roche." "If there's anything else you would like, just let us know, Miss La Roche." "Ah!" "Voila." "Champagne with your first-class seats, Mademoiselle La Roche." "Merci." " Champagne?" " No, thank you." " Merci." " Monsieur." "A tea?" "Okay." ""How to make English tea."" "Precisely 96 degrees." "Excuse me, sir." "Fogg's valet!" " A jade Buddha!" " This is not a jade Buddha." " Oh, yes, it is!" " You're right." "But..." "I'm not a valet." "Oh." "Really?" "Me bloody... bloody nose!" "Let me in!" "You're gonna pay for scorching' me willy!" "Heh-heh-heh-heh." "Now I gotcha." "Ow!" "Oh!" "Ow!" "Ahhh!" "You're under arrest!" "Ah!" "Ooh!" "Ow!" "Sorry!" "Why the devil are we stopping?" "Prince Hapi would be honored to have Phileas Fogg and his travelling companions at his banquet." "How very flattering." "But please inform prince "Happy" that we are on a very tight schedule." "Prince Hapi demands it." "Then prince Hapi will have to get accustomed to not getting everything he wants." "It is magnificent." "Mr. Fogg, his house is even bigger than yours." "His collection, his taste..." "It is exquisite." "Yes, it is." "Not good." "Very old." "Look." "Broken." "And where is His Highness?" "Oh." "The prince is also a talented musician." "Sorry if I did nothing but, uh, lounge about the palace all day," "I'd learn to pluck a few notes." "Well, let's make this brief." "I'll pose for a few photographs, perhaps wearing a turban, holding an atlas..." "Mademoiselle." "How magical that our paths should cross." "Do you believe in fate?" "Is that what you call it when one stops a moving train and kidnaps its passengers?" "Phileas Fogg." "Please forgive me, but I feel like Aphrodite herself descended to Earth." "Now, what is a ravishing woman like you..." " I never think when I'm naked." " I do." "In the bath." " Yes." "Well, I mean..." " No!" "Don't touch it!" " That is my most treasured possession." " I was only pointing." "I was just..." "Don't even point." "Rodin." "Yes." "A Rodin." "Oh." "I have never seen a more beautiful..." "muscular form." "Well, I can assure you, I'm in much better shape now." "Incroyable." "It is a sculpture of you!" "Yes." ""Hapi Birthday." "Your pal, Rodin."" " Come, my dear." "Let us dine." " Yes." "Ah, Mr. Fogg, please join us." "No, sorry." "We are on a tight schedule." "We will join you, actually." "But just one drink." "After the duke and the duchess sat down in the bath," "I realized I forgot to put on my bathing suit." "I'm such a fool." "Always embarrassing myself in front of visiting dignitaries." "But you know how that can be, right, Phil?" "Uh, yes." "Uh, it's Phileas, actually." "So, Foggy, tell me." "I heard you're an inventor." "Well, I try to apply myself to thinking of new ways to help better mankind, if that's what you mean." "Well, I'm not an inventor, but I did develop a new way of irrigating dry land so that no one in my kingdom ever has to be hungry." "Oh." "Mr. Fogg invented wheelie shoes." "Not now, Passepartout." "Oh." "Mmm." " Miss La Roche." " Hmm?" "It is mesmerizing, the way your face illuminates." "Oh..." "You know, her discoloration could easily be interpreted as an allergic reaction or a mild form of hives." "Although in actuality I've noticed a certain... luminescent glow about her complexion when she's drawing." "And... sometimes, when she's..." "concentrating on her latest work, her ears will actually flutter." " It's rather fetching." " Well, guess who else was in this bath." "U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes." "Shouldn't we be going now?" "We have a schedule to keep." "Thank you for your hospitality, prince Hapi." "It's been absolutely fascinating, but I'm... afraid we must push on." "Yes." "Very well." "The gentlemen are free to go." "But Miss La Roche..." "stays here with me." " To be my wife." " Hmm?" "Yes." "Wife number seven." " You have seven wives?" " One for each day of the week." " This is absolutely ridiculous!" " No more talk!" "Prince Hapi has spoken!" "Well, we did say one drink." "Passepartout, we're leaving." "I can tell when we're not wanted." "Monsieur Fogg!" "Do Tuesdays work for you?" " Good-bye." " Thank you!" "No!" "Halt!" "Or Hapi gets smashed!" "Please!" "Anything but my statue of me!" "Miss La Roche, please join us, if you will." " All of you, drop your weapons." " Do as he says!" " Get in the tent." " Everybody!" " Now!" " Let's go." "Come on." "Now, take off your clothes and throw them..." "Uh..." "I assure you the statue is not armed... harmed in any way." "Fact is it's... it's completely..." "Get them!" "His arm!" "Thank you, Phileas." "That was very heroic." "Yes, a-a-and needlessly time-consuming." "This is exactly why I should never have let you come along." "Kill them!" "I want my arm!" "No!" "Sir!" "I've received a telegram from inspector Fix." " A-ha!" " According to him, the bank thief and Fogg's valet are the same man." "That numb-skull Fogg doesn't even realize he's transporting the bank thief!" " Or does he?" " He did leave town in quite a hurry." "Wouldn't you say, Lord Rhodes?" "Indeed, Lord Salisbury." "Eh, evading arrest, stealing a police vehicle, sounds rather incriminating to me." "One can almost deduce this entire bet was merely a ruse to facilitate his escape." " Don't you agree, Lord Kelvin?" " Yes." "Brilliant, Lord Salisbury." "I shall name a beef-related entrée after you in your honor!" "Kitchner!" " Sir!" " Inform your men at Scotland Yard that Phileas Fogg is without a doubt the man who robbed the Bank of England!" " Where are they now?" " Uh, they're taking a train across India, from Bombay to Calcutta." "Thank God we own India!" "I want their faces posted in every police station, army barracks, post office, railway station and outhouse in India!" "We're going to stop Fogg and get my jade Buddha back by any means necessary!" "Agra is where we will capture them!" "Intercept them at Agra!" "Carry on, Cutter!" "Move it!" "Move it!" "Fall in!" "And they were the greatest kung fu boxers." "Ten Tigers of Canton." "Brothers in arms." "They fought to keep order and justice in China." "The most famous of Ten Tigers is Wong Fei Hung." "Armed with only bamboo sticks..." "It's salivating on... please." "Is this your goat?" "Did they really fight like tigers?" "Each Tiger have their own animal fighting style." "Like tiger." "Snake." "Snake head, snake tail, snake mouth, snake tongue!" "Where are my impression calculations?" "Monkey!" "The goat!" "Passepartout, I'm being attacked by a ferocious animal!" " It has... small horns." " Sorry, Mr. Fogg." "Please keep that inconsiderate beast away from me." "And refrain from your ridiculous anecdotes." "Why do you not like his story, Mr. Frog?" "It's Fogg." "Phileas Fogg." "How could a man learn to defend himself by watching animals behave like..." " animals?" " It is famous legend." " A ridiculous legend." " Most legends are born from truth." "Yes." "But all truths are born from facts." "Solid, tangible facts that can be... calculated and... written down on paper." "And then eaten by a goat." "Mr. Feelsillious, when I tell the story of the man who circled the entire world in 80 days, would that not be a legend?" "Only if the man's name was..." "Feelsillious Frog." " What the blazes is it now?" " Come this way!" "Come on!" "Look sharp, now." "Get 'em!" "Find these men!" "Uh-oh." "Time to go." "They seem to think we robbed the Bank of England." "It's preposterous." "This is a desperate attempt by Lord Kelvin to impede my journey." "I am a British citizen." "I have nothing to fear." "Except bullets." "Listen up!" "Have you seen these men?" "Come on!" "Any word on the bank thieves, sir?" "They were spotted on the train." "Keep your rifles at the ready." "They won't get past us, sir!" "Ladies, have you seen these two men?" "Look closely." "They're very dangerous." "They're everywhere!" "This is not going to work!" " Stay calm." "Just act like ladies." " Not a problem." "Hello." "Hello!" "Ah." " I feel faint." " Phileas, women are not that weak!" "No, but I am." "Hello, darlin'." "What can I do for you, eh?" "What nice hand, nice eye, nice hair..." "Hang about!" "Mr. Fogg, what are you doing?" "This is no time to sleep." "Stop, stop, stop, stop." "Go, go, go!" "Get us out of Agra quickly." "Passepartout, we did it." "Hey, wrong way." "Ah!" "Phileas?" "No!" "No!" "Aah!" "Run!" "Run, Passepartout!" "Ah!" "Ah!" "Ahhh!" "Fogg's valet!" "Heh!" " What are you doing?" " Now I gotcha!" "Hand over the jade Buddha!" "Oh!" "You're under arrest!" "Whoa!" "Watch me plums!" "Ooh!" "See?" "Now you get him very mad!" "Let's go." "Stop, or I'll arrest you as well!" "Run!" " Which way?" " Down!" "Again!" "Down!" "Jump!" " Go, go, go, go, go, go!" " What's upsetting him?" " He also wants the jade Buddha!" " Then give it to him!" " Phileas, wake up!" " Please, please." "You must go." "My husband will be home soon." " Phileas!" "Phileas, help!" "Leave her alone!" "I'll protect you!" "Ah!" "I'm here, my dear." "Uh, that, uh, stumble was simply to buy me time." "This cane is not as it appears." "If I depress this button here, it would deploy a weapon far more deadly than yours." "This... is... a... strange knife." "Isn't it a sextant?" "Yes." "Huh." " Are you all right, my dear?" " Phileas, that was so unlike you." "Ah!" "You men, come with me!" "You'd better put this on." "Perhaps I should, uh, wear women's clothing more often." "We should run." " What, now?" " Mm-hmm." "Yes, we should run." " Break down the door!" " Okay." "No, no, no, not me brains!" " Give me the jade Bu-ddhay!" " Okay, okay." "What's "Bu-ddhay"?" "Get ready to jump!" "Now!" "It is him, the Englishman who robbed the Bank of England!" "He's escaping in that palkee-garry!" "Hey, there he is!" "They'll check all trains heading east." "If we could make it to the coast, we can't sail into Singapore or Hong Kong." " They're both British colonies." " Does England own everything in Asia?" "Not China." "Not yet." "Passepartout?" " You look troubled." " I cannot keep lying to Mr. Fogg." "You did what you had to." "The fate of your village is of far greater importance than any bet Phileas has made." "If he loses, all it will cost him is some money and pride." "No, Mr. Fogg will lose much more than that." "What do you mean?" "My village!" " Your village?" " Uh..." "I mean, my, what a village!" "Oh, it's beautiful!" "We do need to stop and resupply, but we must be off by morning." " Lau Xing, Lau Xing." " Lau Xing, Lau Xing." "Lau Xing." " Lau Xing." " Lau Xing." "Goodness, that's quite a welcome." "Do these people know him?" "It must be their custom, the way they welcome all strangers." " Lau Xing." " Lau Xing." "Kids, say hello to my friends as well." "Whoo!" "Lau Xing." "My son, you're home!" "Lau Xing." "Lau Xing." "Who is that man?" "Ah." "Uh..." "He's my valet." "I am so proud of you." "My son has a valet." "How happy I am!" "We must celebrate that Lau Xing returned." "His valet will cook a big feast for us!" "Oh." "It's beautiful." "You are very talented." "Thank you." "You need more blue." "Fascinating." "Absolutely fascinating." "Sorry?" "Vile." "Absolutely vile." "Welcome home, Lau Xing." "Your brothers will be proud." "The whole notion of a lighter-than-air craft cannot work, of course, unless you can harness the power of... helium... or hydrogen, which is far better..." "Yes, well, couldn't have put it better myself." "As for this Englishman, do you think such an association is wise?" "I promise you, he is the most disciplined man I have ever met." "The crane!" "The monkey." "Very frightening." "Snake." "And, of course, the eagle." "Phileas?" "Phileas, I made this for you." "Oh, yes." "Oh, that's very, very good." "Yes." "What does this say?" "Stupid." "You have returned our sacred Buddha." "It has brought hope back to our village." "Drink!" "Thanks to your courageous efforts..." "Drink!" "I've had quite enough." "I just..." "I..." "Thanks to your courageous efforts... we will live in peace and..." "Drink!" "Thanks to your courageous efforts... we will live in peace and harmony... and for that we are eternally grateful!" "Drink!" "I'm going to be abominably ill." "Drink!" "I..." "I want to die." "Please kill me." ""Dear father:" "I will find the fastest way to China."" "It's strong." "Mr. Fogg, I was going to tell you." " This is your family." " My name is not Passepartout." "It is Lau Xing." " I robbed the Bank of England." " You robbed the Bank of England?" "Not for gold or money, but for the jade Buddha." "It was stolen from our village." "Phileas, he had no other choice." "This was his only way to get home." " You knew about this?" " Well..." "I have nothing but respect for you, Mr. Fogg." "Then respect my deductive reasoning." "You have both used me." "You to escape to China, and you to travel the world to further your impressionistic humbug!" "Your overtures of..." "comradeship, of friendship, of..." "All that was just a means to ensure I would take you along." "My entire life, I got along splendidly by myself." "You've been nothing more than pebbles in my shoe, slowing me down, endangering my life, risking everything, all I've ever lived for." "And you!" "You knew that." "Don't let him go." "He'll be lost by midnight." "Go!" "More of your relatives, I suppose." "You can just forget about a reference." "I beg a thousand pardons, Mr. Fogg." "What's he screaming about?" "He's saying "Please, let me go." "I'm bored."" "Why is he in prison?" "Urinating in public." "Charming." "At least he had the decency to be forthcoming about it." "Is there anything you've told me that's even remotely true?" "I really can sing." "Look!" "Oh, good." "Here comes Mr. Grumpy and the Leatherettes." " Where is the jade Buddha?" " You are better off killing me." "You have nerve." "Are your comrades so brave?" "Your threats don't frighten me." "Nor does your silly bracelet." "All right." "It's not silly." "I spit on you!" "France spits on you!" "Vive L'Anjou!" " Your turn will come soon enough." " Coward!" "Leave them alone." "Fight me." "Yes, fight him." "Let's see how ferocious you really are." "Hey, that's cheating!" " Look out!" " Huh?" "Left!" "Behind you!" "No!" " Hit them!" " Silence!" "You savages!" "Phileas, help him!" " Watch out on the right." " Huh?" "No, no, my right." "Stop helping me!" "Sorry." "What's happening?" "Where is Passepartout?" "How is he getting on?" "I wouldn't say he's winning, but, uh, I think he's doing all right." "Go home to mama." " What took you so long?" " I had to finish my lunch." "Wong Fei Hung!" "Surely you're not foolish enough to take on all of my men by yourself?" "Ten Tigers?" "Kill them!" "Execute the prisoners!" "I want their heads on pikes!" "What's happening?" "Phileas!" "Passepartout..." "Knife!" " Merci." " Oh, you're welcome." "You promise me that Black Scorpions will never come back to Lanzhou." "These are my brothers and sister." "The Ten Tigers." " But there are only nine." " Including me." "They're real." "The legend was true." " Mr. Fogg..." " Passepartout, or whatever your name is, save your apologies." "Phileas, he risked his life for what he believes in." "If anyone understands that, you do." "Please ensure Miss La Roche finds safe passage home." "This should be adequate." "Oh." "I, uh, believe this is your veil." "I will never dress like a woman again." "Ever." "Mr. Fogg." "Please let me help you win your bet." "I have secured the services of a more reliable gentleman." "Give me a minute." "You never learn!" "Yes." "Well, perhaps I'll just, uh, travel alone." "Fifi La Belle!" "She sings!" "She dances!" "She does the dance of the..." "You, sir, come right in." "See Miss Fifi La Belle in all her..." "Ah, the most modern city in the world." "Finally, civilization." "Excuse me." "Pardon me." "Eh, can anyone direct me to the Pacific Railroad Station?" "Oh, I'm so sorry, sir." "I'm such a... rutabaga sometimes." "No, no, no." "Please, it's... my fault entirely." " Let me, uh..." " Oh..." "Ah!" "Oh." "Oh, Lord, I think I sprained my knee." "Uh!" "Ooh." "I should, uh, find you a physician." "There's a kind old doctor who has an office just around the corner." "Excellent." "Well, uh, I-I'll get him for you." "Thank you." "There should be more people like you in this world." "Whoo, doggy!" "Jackpot!" "Whoo!" "Three days later." "Mon Dieu." "Can you imagine Phileas alone in a place like this?" "I'm sure he's fine." "Alms." "Alms." "Alms for the poor?" "Arms?" "You already got arms." "It's money you need." "I can't even scrounge proficiently." "Hey." "Cheer up, pal." "You just gotta figure out what'll work for you." "Now, what makes you different from them?" "I'm hungry and miserable." "No." "You stink." "Now, your stink is your most powerful weapon in your begging arsenal." "Watch this." "Hey." " Gimme some money, please." " Yeah, sure, pal." "Just don't touch me." "You stink." " That guy smells like a dead horse!" " I'm not proud of it." "Simple... yet effective." " Yeah, I see." " You try." "Come on, give it a shot." "I got faith in you." "Excuse me." "Now, uh, you..." "I'm not gonna lie to you." "That's gonna happen about half the time." "It's a volume business." " Hunk o' cheese?" " Oh, yes, I would rather..." "Maybe later." "What are them drawings?" "You some kind of devil worshipper?" "Don't you be putting a hex on me." "I'll cut you." " I'm an inventor." " That's nice." "Or, rather, I was." "One day I will build a machine that will allow man to fly." "Flying men?" "Where?" " Nowhere." " Where are the flying men?" " Where are the flying men?" " They're over there." "The bird men are coming!" "I knew it!" "The bird men are coming!" "The bird men are coming!" "The birds!" "The bird men!" "Bird men!" "Birds!" ""I travelled the world for inspiration and found it in a man..." "who lives what he dreams."" " Phileas?" " No." "Passepartout!" "Monique!" "Mr. Fogg." "You crossed the Pacific Ocean." "For me?" " We will help you win your bet." " Mr. Fogg, I would never let you down." " But why would you do this?" " Because you are our friend, and perhaps... more." "More with her." "You and me?" "We just stick with friends." "Lord Kelvin, I can offer you something much more precious than a single jade Buddha." "Beneath Lanzhou are a series of untapped jade reserves." "If the town were to be overrun, those reserves would be ours." "I see." "However, should Phileas Fogg win this race," "I will have neither the power nor the means to hand over any arsenal." "Then I will see to it personally that Mr. Fogg's journey is cut... short." "Very well." "Let us consider our deal to be..." "Still, i-it's a first-rate idea, sir." "What's this thing here blocking my jade reserves?" "That will certainly have to be demolished." "But that is the Great Wall of China, sir." "It's not that great." "Passepartout went to get help hours ago." "What if he's lost, or..." "Don't fret, my dear." "No doubt he'll return with help, and we will board our train in Reno with time to spare." "Agua." "Perhaps I'm being a little optimistic." "Help!" " Help us!" " Help!" "Ah!" "A rattlesnake!" "Help!" "I don't want to die!" "Ah." "Good morning." " Howdy." " Hey." "Crazy English cowboy wannabe man." "How's about going and be crazy someplace else?" "You're blocking the damn path." "Wilbur, it's him." "I'll be damned." "Mr. Fogg, my name is Orville Wright." "This is my brother, Wilbur." " We're big fans of yours." " Well, fan's a strong word." "Better way to say it's we got a lot of money riding on you to win your bet." "And when you win it, we're gonna use our winnings to build this." "Orville, maybe now is not the time." "Let me explain it to Mr. Fogg." "Mr. Fogg, just one second." "You gotta forgive my brother." "He's got his head up in the clouds." "He's one of these sad old dreamers who..." "thinks man's gonna go swooshing around on the planet like a little hummingbird flying through the air." "Yeah, we're all gonna fly, bro." "He thinks so, too." "It's really kind of sad." "I'm sorry." "He's kind of a moron." "He's mastered the cable steering system." "I knew it." "The-the-the drag-and-lift ratio." " This is brilliant." " Thank you." "That's what I've been saying, but Orville doesn't listen to me." "All that stuff you said about mastering..." "That's-that's exactly what I say." "You gotta have faith in me, no matter how crazy big brother's dreams sound." " But you told me..." " You gotta have confidence." "Shh." " I said you gotta speak up and support me." " Excuse me, gentlemen." "Have you come across our friend on your way here?" "Now, wait, wait." "Who are we looking for?" "I notice everything." "Passepartout." "You mean the crazy, half-naked Chinese guy we saw running around, where he was like..." " Singing "Frere Jacques"?" " Yeah, and a cow skull on his head?" " Possibly." " Yes." " He's in the back of the wagon." " Passepartout." " You're alive!" " Is that you, grandma?" " Bye-bye." " Good luck." "Go win the bet." " No pressure, but you gotta win it." " Bye." "Now, you see, to get the real classy dames, you gotta invent stuff." "I did." ""I did"?" "What's with the "I did"?" "We're the Wright Brothers." "We did." "Now go." "Hyah!" "They're not going to make it!" "They're not going to make it!" "Ah-ha-ha!" "New York, New York!" "So much to see!" "So little time!" "Our steamer for London leaves in ten minutes!" "Go, go, go!" "Go, go, go!" " We're never going to make it." " Phileas Fogg?" "Would you autograph this for me, please?" "It's for the wife." "Certainly." "Uh, this business about me..." "robbing the Bank of England..." "Ah, I'm from Ireland." "Nice goin'." "The boat." "Right." "Come on, follow me." "I know a shortcut." "Make a lane!" "Make a lane!" "Where are we?" " Ah!" " Whoa!" " That's a big man." " It is a lady." "A French lady." "She looks like an evil Chinese warlord to me." "Your journey has caused quite a stir, Mr. Fogg, but I'm afraid it ends here." "Leave them alone, Fang." "This has nothing to do with them." "On the contrary, Lau Xing," "Lord Kelvin and I have made new arrangements to conquer Lanzhou." "Unfortunately for Mr. Fogg, they entail his..." "permanent detour." "I knew Kelvin was duplicitous, but to align himself with such a little scoundrel!" "All right, you're not a scoundrel, but you are quite small!" "As in... petite, but most definitely lethal and, you know, generally very scary." "One, two..." " Go!" " Three!" " Go up there." " Stop them." "Passepartout, my cane!" "Uh, there." "Passepartout!" "Help!" "We are trapped!" "Help!" "Passepartout!" "Help!" "There you are!" "You have a knife in your right buttock." "It's the evil Chinese warlord!" " Ooh!" " Huh?" "She's coming!" "The boat!" "Up there!" "Hurry!" "Go, go, go!" "Go, Mr. Fogg." "There's not much time." "Ah, wait, wait!" "What am I thinking?" "Passepartout can't defeat them all by himself." "He's... nine Tigers short." "Phileas, I do believe you are becoming the man of my dreams." "Well, when this is over, let's hope that, uh, the arms and legs of the man of your dreams are still attached to the torso... of the man of your dreams." " You have failed to stop him." " Then your death will have to suffice." "Let go of me!" "The book!" "It's going to fall!" "How can we save..." " Phileas?" " I will save him..." "Wah!" "Mr. Fogg!" "No!" "Passepartout?" "Passepartout!" " Huh?" " You're alive!" "Are you injured?" "Yes, well, uh..." "Rules are made to be broken." "Or, uh, stabbed by a... spiky shoe." "Mr. Fogg, you missed the ship." "You'll lose your bet." "Oh." "At least I didn't lose a friend." "You must be the eleventh Tiger." "Meow!" " Let's go." "We must catch the next ship." " It would never reach London in time." "No." "No!" "No!" "We are not giving up!" "I almost died!" "You almost died!" "We take the next ship and win that bet!" "Very well." " Let's go." " Yes!" "Thank you." "Yes." "Yes!" "Yes!" "Oh, it's hopeless." "By those calculations, I'm still behind by one day." " Phileas, there must be some way!" " Phileas Fogg on my boat?" "What an honor, sir!" "I've quite a penny wagered on you." "The wife's none too happy about it." "Then again, she hasn't cracked a smile since the day that shark almost devoured me." "Got 'em both in one bite." "Ah, it's inspector Fix!" "My goodness!" "He made it around the world before Fogg!" "I came back from India the short way, you ninny!" "I take it you don't have Phileas Fogg in that valise." "A little jade Buddha, perhaps?" "That's the last of the coal, captain." "Mr. Fogg." "I'm sorry to say, we've burnt the last of the coal." "But I've had a word with the crew, and all of them... have agreed to burn their shoes." "The effort is appreciated, captain." "Unfortunately, we're not even close." "We've gained a mere six hours." " Even shoes cannot help us now." " Must be something we can do." "That's it." "I've got it." "Birds." "Excellent idea!" "We'll burn birds!" "No, we'll fly to London." "We simply follow the laws of physics mastered by the birds millennia ago and combine it with the Wright Brothers' ingenious cable steering system." "Most people would laugh at you." "But not us." "We care about you." "Captain, I'm afraid I have to ask permission to dismantle your ship to build this flying machine." "Dismantle "Carmen"?" "But she's me livelihood, me most loyal companion." "Never, never, ever!" "What if I could direct you to an impeccable physician who could replace both your nipples, at my expense, and I will give you enough money to buy a brand-new ship?" "You had me at the nipples." " Cornelius, fetch me me tools!" "Now!" " Aye, aye, captain!" "One, two!" "One, two!" "Timber!" "I'll go sharpen the propeller." "Wrong way." "Not looking." "Just one more." "That's it!" "Right, lads, tie it off!" "The Greenwich time zone." "The last time I shall set my watch ahead." "Well..." " Shall we... fly?" " Let's." "Mr. Fogg." "Hurrah!" "Inspiring words." " Very well." "Prepare for take-off!" " Yes, sir!" " Mr. Fogg, are you sure?" " No!" "Whoa!" "How the hell are we getting back?" "Whoa!" " Now!" " Ohhh!" "You did it, Phileas!" "We are flying!" "My God!" "It's... magical!" " Better than your dreams?" " Better than my dreams." "Hey!" "Don't forget to steer!" "It's a... a... telegram from... general Fang, sir." "We're going to make it!" " This all right?" " Oh, dear." " This is exactly like a dream I had." " You dream of winning the race?" " No, of crashing to my death." " Don't worry." "I'm gonna get it." " Look up there!" " Great Scott!" "Look, look!" "It's a flying machine!" " Don't step on the wing!" " It's Phileas Fogg!" "Sir, rumor has it a flying machine is heading for the Royal Academy, our bank thief at the pedals." "Some people will believe anything." "A flying machine is heading for the Royal Academy!" " The bank thief is pedaling!" " See what I mean?" "Help!" "Well done, Passepartout!" "The wing ropes!" "Just a minor setback." "Another minor setback." "All right, this is a major setback." "A flying machine is headed for the Royal Academy of Science, and witnesses swear that it's..." "Phileas Fogg." "Faster, Passepartout!" "Faster!" " We're losing altitude!" " Landing gear?" "That would have been an excellent idea!" "The bird men are here!" "No." "I will not lose this wager!" "He is not to reach the top step." "Get the police." "Here." "Now!" "I want Phileas Fogg arrested the moment his feet touch British soil!" "Oh!" " I'm sorry..." " Right in my ear!" "Passepartout, get back in your seat." "We're going to return to the ground!" "Stop!" "Kitchner!" "Hold your ground!" "Why are they all fleeing?" "Cowards!" "Hold on!" "We're to make it to the top step!" " Ah." "New Zealand." "We didn't go there." " Top step." "Arrest them!" "They robbed the Bank of England!" "No, no!" "Nonsense!" "Where is your proof?" "This is the Royal Academy of Science!" "We don't need to prove anything!" "Besides which, by the time you get out of jail, you'll have lost the wager." "Noon." "We did our best." "Out of me way!" "Move it!" "I used to be somebody important!" "Should have thrown him through a higher window." " Get off!" " Get rid of this buffoon!" " Buffoon, eh?" "That's the thanks I get for going halfway around the world to stop Fogg for you, yay?" "He also sent a Chinese warlord to kill Phileas Fogg!" "That's right." "He did!" "Lies!" "All of it!" " Kitchner!" " Yes?" " Tell them!" " Oh, well, yes, uh..." " Well, the thing of it..." " You mumbling moron!" "Salisbury, please translate Kitchner's incoherent blather." "I..." "Me..." "I..." "Yes." "Yes!" " Rhodes!" " The-the thing of it is," "I don't want to make a fuss." "You spineless cretins!" "That man stuck me with quills!" "Bunches of them!" "Yes!" "Lord Kelvin's a bully!" "It's true!" "I hate to admit it, but I'm a battered lord." " No!" " Oh, boo-hoo!" "So what if I did try to kill Phileas Fogg?" "What are you... gutless peons going to do about it?" "I hold all the power!" "I run everything!" "So, which of you half-wits is going to stop me?" "You?" "You?" "You?" " The queen!" " The queen?" "Oh, the queen!" "That inbred, antiquated old cow!" "The only way she could stop me is if she sat on me!" "With her big, fat royal bottom!" "She's behind me, isn't she?" "Oh, Your Majesty." "I have just apprehended the culprits who robbed the Bank of England." " No, Majesty!" " Rubbish!" "Quiet!" "I love being able to do that." "So, Lord Kelvin, unsportsmanlike conduct, attempted murder, trading my arsenal for Buddhas." "How do you know about that?" "I never said..." "Admit it." "You've been a naughty boy, haven't you?" "Your Majesty, I assure you, there is an explanation for all of this." "What it was, was, was..." "I was..." "I..." "I was simply... simply..." "Why do they always run?" "Arrest him." "Get out of my way, you fools!" "Unhand me!" "Don't you know who I am?" "I'll kill you!" "I'll have you for this, Fogg!" "So, is this Phileas Fogg's miraculous flying invention?" "Your Majesty, we all invented it." "I'm very impressed, and that doesn't happen often." "Thank you." "But still, we failed to help Phileas win his bet." " I'm sorry, Phileas." " Don't be, ma chérie." "I saw the world." "I learnt of new cultures." "I flew across an ocean." "I wore women's clothing." "Oh?" "Made a friend." "Fell in love." " Who cares if I lost a wager?" " I do." "I've got 20 quid riding on you." "But, Your Majesty, it is gone 12 noon." "Correct." "Which gives you 24 hours remaining." " Could we have miscounted?" " No." "I moved Mr. Fogg's watch ahead one hour as we passed each time zone." "The international date line." "We set our watches forward at 20 more time zones, so... here it's still... day 79." " So, we've..." " We've won!" "We won, we won..." "Thank God." "Ah!" "Your Majesty, I..." "I apologize." "Do forgive me." "I, uh..." " I quite forgot myself." " Go and win your bet, Mr. Fogg." "I shall need a new minister of science." "Uh, yes, of course, Your Majesty." " Shall we?" " Yeah." "Go!" " We won, Phileas!" "We won!" " Yes!" "We won!" "Oh, well done!"

NanoLab is proposing to develop a new biomolecule delivery technique named "nanospearing", based on its previously published work. DNA plasmids are immobilized on magnetically susceptible, needle-like nanostructures. These needles can be magnetically accelerated to penetrate ('spear') the cell membrane. The plasmid DNA bound to the nanotubes can be released and expressed in the cells. Two pieces of equipment, called GeneBlender and GeneHammer, are proposed for spearing cells in suspension and on substrates respectively. Theoretical analysis is to to be used for optimizing the system configuration so that nanotubes can be driven to their highest speed for spearing. Different molecular immobilization strategies will be tested to achieve the efficient plasmid loading. Upon ressolving the potential pitfalls, the process will be universalized and packaged into a transfection kit. The development will be focused on plasmid DNA delivery at this phase. It is enasaged for applications in vivo, such as drug delivery and vaccination. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]

In the next-generation mobile communication network, the introduction of an additional low power node is being considered, or traffic offloading to another RAT (radio access technology) (for example, a WiFi access point that is a local area network) is being considered because the number of users who use a mobile communication network is increasing and a higher transmission rate is required. In addition, in the latest 3GPP standard, the standardization of MAPCON, IFOM, or SaMOG is in progress, which can distribute traffic by using both the mobile communication network and WiFi, as well as the WiFi offloading. In the case in which the electronic device uses one or more RATs (for example, WiFi), in order to minimize power consumption, the electronic device is required to efficiently search for an optimal nearby access point while the electronic device uses the mobile communication network. Although next-generation WiFi standard technologies have been actively proposed in the WiFi standard, such as 802.11k/r for performing the traffic loading balancing between access points or 802.11u for determining and notifying of the load occupation rate in the access point in advance, it is impossible to properly determine the load status, such as the congestion status in WiFi, with the current WiFi technology. As a result, optimized traffic offloading cannot be achieved. As a temporary solution before the optimized traffic offloading is completed and implemented, many providers and electronic device manufacturers currently optimize a call manager at the access point end in the electronic device as much as possible to then efficiently select the available access point. In the future, it is predicted that the WiFi access point will evolve to recognize a nearby interference channel or the activities of related users by using more intelligent functions and to estimate the traffic load of the access point in order to thereby enable the electronic device to connect to the optimal available access point.

Combined surgical approach to coexistent carotid and coronary artery disease. Combined coronary artery bypass and carotid endarterectomy were performed in 52 patients (mean age 61 years) between 1981 and 1990. Of these, 36 (69%) had functional class III-IV angina pectoris, 33 (63%) had triple-vessel disease, 36 (69%) had one, or more, previous myocardial infarctions, and 33 (63%) had an abnormal left ventricular function. In 4 cases, additional cardiac procedures were performed. Asymptomatic carotid stenosis was documented in 29 patients (56%) and the remaining 23 (44%) had experienced cerebrovascular symptoms. All patients had hemodynamically significant stenosis of at least one carotid artery, 17 (33%) had severe bilateral carotid artery stenosis, and 6 (11%) had an additional occlusion of the contralateral internal carotid artery. There were no early deaths. Perioperative morbidity included: myocardial infarction in 4 patients (7.7%) and neurological deficit in 3 (5.7%) but functional impairment was not permanent. Late results have been obtained for all 52 patients at a mean postoperative interval of 35 months. Four patients (7.7%) have died, and the 5 year life-table survival rate was 83%. At five years, actuarial curves showed 67% of patients to be free of all serious events or death. Late mortality and morbidity were related above all to the progression of the coronary artery disease. We concluded that simultaneous endarterectomy of significant carotid artery stenosis in candidates for coronary bypass can be done safely and considered as more practical for the patient.

Lancets are used in the sense of the invention as blood withdrawal systems which are used to puncture an appropriate part of the body in order to remove a small amount of blood from a part of the body for analytical or diagnostic purposes. The blood is frequently drawn from a finger or earlobe. In medical practices lancets are used for this which are inserted into an appropriate part of the body by a doctor or laboratory staff either manually or with the aid of a simple apparatus. The lancet must of course be sharp and sterile. Otherwise there are no especially stringent requirements for medical practices since blood is collected from individual patients at large time intervals and the puncture is carried out by specially trained staff. Nevertheless the puncture is frequently associated with considerable pain. If the blood withdrawal system should be suitable for operation by the patients themselves, this makes much higher demands on the system especially with regard to pain-free and reliable blood withdrawal. The independent use of blood withdrawal systems by patients is carried out especially for so-called home monitoring. In this case the aim is to enable groups of patients that are at special risk to regularly monitor certain analytical values of their blood. This applies among others to diabetics who frequently and regularly check their blood sugar level and adapt it to the requirements by injecting insulin. The insulin requirement depends among other factors on the food intake and physical activity and must be kept as continuously as possible within certain set limits. This is important for the health of the patients and to avoid serious secondary damage such as loss of sight and amputation of parts of the body. Blood withdrawal systems have been used for a long time which consist of a lancing device and associated lancets that are specially adapted for the respective instrument. A housing of the lancing device contains a lancet drive which mechanically punctures the skin with a lancet. A spring is usually used as a drive element for the lancing movement. In the initial phase of development very simple constructions were commonly used in which the lancet was directly attached to one end of a pressure spring arranged in an elongate housing. Such a blood withdrawal device is disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,110. However, the use of the described systems show that in particular the requirement for a less painful blood withdrawal cannot be fulfilled. Recently small, simple-to-operate and relatively low-cost analytical systems have been developed to reduce the pain of puncture which are usually composed of blood test strips and an accompanying evaluation instrument. Such modern blood withdrawal systems are intended to ensure that blood withdrawal is as painless as possible for the patient and is simple to handle. Therefore in the recent prior art numerous different blood withdrawal systems are known which are suitable for generating the incisions required for blood collection in a simple and relatively painless manner. Such blood withdrawal systems usually comprise a housing with an exit opening for the tip of a lancet and a lancet holder for holding the lancet which can be moved relative to the housing along a predetermined straight puncturing path. The lancet holder is moved during the puncturing and return movement by a lancet drive which has an elastic drive element which is usually a metal spring. In a first position in which the elastic drive element is in a tensioned state, the lancet holder is usually locked by means of a locking device. After such a locking device is released, the elastic drive element relaxes so that the movement of the drive element is converted into a puncturing movement of the lancet drive which moves the lancet held by the lancet holder at high speed along the predetermined lancing path in a puncturing direction until the tip of the lancet emerges from the exit opening of the blood withdrawal system. A wound is generated in a part of the body pressed against the exit opening. Immediately afterwards the lancet is usually retracted by the lancet drive into the housing. The drive units of the modern lancing devices which reduce pain due to a high lancing speed and the retraction of the lancet after the lancing consequently ensure that in the case of the modern lancing devices the blood withdrawal is considerably more pleasant for the patient. Such blood withdrawal systems of the prior art are described for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,442,836, 4,535,769 and 4,924,897. In the design described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,879 a spiral drive spring acts on a wheel whose rotation is converted by means of a lever connected to the wheel into a lancing and retraction movement. It is claimed that the pain is reduced by among others the fact that this movement proceeds very rapidly. However, the construction using precisely manufactured metal parts is complicated and involves many parts. Another disadvantage is that the lancet emerges from the exit opening when the lancet drive is tensioned resulting in a risk of injury for the user. European Patent No. 0 582 226 describes another lancing device which is suitable for withdrawing blood samples. A piston driven by a spring means is movably mounted within the lancing device. A lancet which emerges through an opening provided in the housing during a lancing process is located at one end of the piston. The outer periphery of the piston has wings of only limited strength which bear against the housing wall of the lancing device. When the lancing process is carried out the piston is moved in the puncturing direction by means of the spring elements thereby destroying the wings of the plunger so that they no longer rest against the housing. A disadvantage of this prior art device is that the spring elements for driving the piston have to apply sufficient force to first destroy the wings of the piston before the piston can be moved in the lancing direction. Furthermore if the wings are not completely destroyed, this can cause frictional effects when the piston moves within the housing in the lancing direction. Hence the conditions of a lancing process are changed depending on the frictional effects so that undefined force curves act during the lancing process. This influences among others the puncturing speed of the lancet into a part of the skin so that the patient has to expect different levels of pain caused by the puncturing. In addition the lancet has a sterile protector which has to be removed from the needle tip before use. However, the wings may be damaged as a result of a strong pulling motion and this may accidentally trigger a lancing process. Since the described mechanism is only suitable for disposable lancing devices and it is not possible to retension the lancet due to the destroyed wings on the piston, the unused lancet has to be consequently discarded. Furthermore U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,279 discloses a blood withdrawal system in which the lancet holder is moved along an inclined ramp located in the housing in an opposite direction to the lancing direction by rotating an external part of the housing. This movement tensions a spring member which serves as the drive element for the lancet holder. The sloping surface protruding into the housing has a plateau on which the lancet holder can be temporarily held after a first rotary movement of the external housing member. In this position the lancet holder is pulled back in the opposite direction to lancing to such an extent that the lancet can be removed from the lancet holder and exchanged. By continuing the rotation the lancet holder is moved further along the sloping surface in the opposite direction to lancing, further tensioning the spring element until the lancet holder is moved beyond the sloping surface and is driven by the force of the spring in the puncturing direction. The lancet tip emerges from the housing. A disadvantage of the prior art is that the rotational movement of the outer housing member makes it more difficult for the user to handle the blood withdrawal system. In order to tension the blood withdrawal system and simultaneously position the finger pad at the exit opening of the blood withdrawal system, the patient has to position his finger in a holder provided. The holder also serves to fix the position of the blood withdrawal system on the finger tip while the user rotates the outer housing member with the other hand. The said blood withdrawal system proves to be extremely unwieldy and is very difficult to operate particularly by elderly persons.

Gaming device manufacturers strive to make gaming devices that provide as much enjoyment and excitement as possible. Providing a secondary or bonus game in which a player has an opportunity to win potentially large awards or credits in addition to the awards associated with the primary or base game of the gaming device is one way to enhance player enjoyment and excitement. Gaming devices having bonus games generally employ a triggering event that occurs during the base game. The triggering event temporarily stalls or halts the base game play and enables a player to enter a second, different game, which is the bonus game. The player plays the bonus game, likely receives an award and returns to the base game. One known bonus game enables players to accept or decline multiple award offers. The TOP DOLLAR® gaming device which is manufactured and distributed by the assignee of this application, provides the player with three offers and a final award. When an offer is given, the player may accept or reject it by pushing an accept button or a reject button, respectively. If the player accepts an offer, the player receives the accepted bonus amount and the bonus round terminates. If the player declines an offer, the game generates another offer for the player. The player is automatically provided with the last selected offer if the player rejects the three previous offers. In this game, each offer can include one or more illuminated amounts. If an offer is rejected, the gaming machine terminates the illumination of such amounts and one or more amounts are illuminated to make the next offer. The previously illuminated amounts of the previous offer are not saved. In this known offer/acceptance game, when the player rejects an offer, the player risks a current or guaranteed award for a higher value award. The game may instead provide a lower award. The game thus creates a risk for the player. Enabling a player to pick from different risk based alternatives and then enabling the player to accumulate awards or offers from the selected alternatives provides excitement and enjoyment to the player. Therefore a need exists to provide an offer/acceptance game that enables a player to weigh options and explore the consequences of selecting those options where the player may accumulate awards or offers.

Specific isolation and characterization of antibody directed to binding site antigenic determinants. The preparation and specificity of antibodies specific for the ligand-binding site of HOPC 8, a phosphorylcholine (PC)-binding mouse myeloma protein, are described. Antiserum to HOPC 8, prepared in rabbits, was adsorbed with an HOPC 8-Sepharose immunoadsorbent and anti-binding site antibodies were eluted with PC. These antibodies reacted with HOPC 8 but not other myeloma proteins, including those with PC-binding specificity different from HOPC 8; the specificity of this anti-HOPC 8 antibody for the combining site region of HOPC 8 was shown by the fact that 1) the interaction of the anti-HOPC 8 antibody preparation with HOPC 8 was completely blocked by PC and 2) the antibody preparation failed to bind TEPC 15 in which the combining sites had been blocked by covalently bound PC groups. Moreover, these anti-binding site antibodies did not react with isolated heavy or light chains, indicating the requirement for a heavy-light chain interaction. By contrast an idiotypic antiserum to HOPC 8 prepared in A/J mice did bind affinity-labeled TEPC 15 and the reaction with HOPC 8 was only marginally hapten inhibitable. Both of the idiotypic determinants detected by these two antisera were present on anti-PC antibody raised in BALB/c mice;

51EVERYONE WHO believes (adheres to, trusts, and relies on the fact) that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah) is a born-again child of God; and everyone who loves the Father also loves the one born of Him (His offspring).2By this we come to know (recognize and understand) that we love the children of God: when we love God and obey His commands (orders, charges)--[when we keep His ordinances and are mindful of His precepts and His teaching].3For the [true] love of God is this: that we do His commands [keep His ordinances and are mindful of His precepts and teaching]. And these orders of His are not irksome (burdensome, oppressive, or grievous).4For whatever is born of God is victorious over the world; and this is the victory that conquers the world, even our faith.5Who is it that is victorious over [that conquers] the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on that fact]?6This is He Who came by (with) water and blood [[C]Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.His baptism and His death], Jesus Christ (the Messiah)--not by (in) the water only, but by (in) the water and the blood. And it is the [Holy] Spirit Who bears witness, because the [Holy] Spirit is the Truth.7So there are three witnesses [D]The italicized section is found only in late manuscripts.in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are One;8and there are three witnesses on the earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree [are in unison; their testimony coincides].9If we accept [as we do] the testimony of men [if we are willing to take human authority], the testimony of God is greater (of stronger authority), for this is the testimony of God, even the witness which He has borne regarding His Son.10He who believes in the Son of God [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him] has the testimony [possesses this divine attestation] within himself. He who does not believe God [in this way] has made Him out to be and represented Him as a liar, because he has not believed (put his faith in, adhered to, and relied on) the evidence (the testimony) that God has borne regarding His Son.11And this is that testimony (that evidence): God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.12He who possesses the Son has that life; he who does not possess the Son of God does not have that life.13I write this to you who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) the name of the Son of God [in [E]Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.the peculiar services and blessings conferred by Him on men], so that you may know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that you [already] have life, [F]Brooke F. Westcott, cited by Speaker’s Commentary.yes, eternal life.14And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us.15And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him.16If anyone sees his brother [believer] committing a sin that does not [lead to] death (the extinguishing of life), he will pray and [God] will give him life [yes, He will grant life to all those whose sin is not one leading to death]. There is a sin [that leads] to death; I do not say that one should pray for that.17All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin which does not [involve] death [that may be repented of and forgiven].18We know [absolutely] that anyone born of God does not [deliberately and knowingly] practice committing sin, but the One Who was begotten of God carefully watches over and protects him [Christ’s divine presence within him preserves him against the evil], and the wicked one does not lay hold (get a grip) on him or touch [him].19We know [positively] that we are of God, and the whole world [around us] is under the power of the evil one.20And we [have seen and] know [positively] that the Son of God has [actually] come to this world and has given us understanding and insight [progressively] to perceive (recognize) and come to know better and more clearly Him Who is true; and we are in Him Who is true--in His Son Jesus Christ (the Messiah). This [Man] is the true God and Life eternal.21Little children, keep yourselves from idols (false gods)--[from anything and everything that would occupy the place in your heart due to God, from any sort of substitute for Him that would take first place in your life]. Amen (so let it be).

Aircraft and road traffic noise and children's cognition and health: a cross-national study. Exposure to environmental stressors can impair children's health and their cognitive development. The effects of air pollution, lead, and chemicals have been studied, but there has been less emphasis on the effects of noise. Our aim, therefore, was to assess the effect of exposure to aircraft and road traffic noise on cognitive performance and health in children. We did a cross-national, cross-sectional study in which we assessed 2844 of 3207 children aged 9-10 years who were attending 89 schools of 77 approached in the Netherlands, 27 in Spain, and 30 in the UK located in local authority areas around three major airports. We selected children by extent of exposure to external aircraft and road traffic noise at school as predicted from noise contour maps, modelling, and on-site measurements, and matched schools within countries for socioeconomic status. We measured cognitive and health outcomes with standardised tests and questionnaires administered in the classroom. We also used a questionnaire to obtain information from parents about socioeconomic status, their education, and ethnic origin. We identified linear exposure-effect associations between exposure to chronic aircraft noise and impairment of reading comprehension (p=0.0097) and recognition memory (p=0.0141), and a non-linear association with annoyance (p<0.0001) maintained after adjustment for mother's education, socioeconomic status, longstanding illness, and extent of classroom insulation against noise. Exposure to road traffic noise was linearly associated with increases in episodic memory (conceptual recall: p=0.0066; information recall: p=0.0489), but also with annoyance (p=0.0047). Neither aircraft noise nor traffic noise affected sustained attention, self-reported health, or overall mental health. Our findings indicate that a chronic environmental stressor-aircraft noise-could impair cognitive development in children, specifically reading comprehension. Schools exposed to high levels of aircraft noise are not healthy educational environments.

Bioremediation of Cd by microbially induced calcite precipitation. Contamination by Cd is a significant environmental problem. Therefore, we examined Cd removal from an environmental perspective. Ureolysis-driven calcium carbonate precipitation has been proposed for use in geotechnical engineering for soil remediation applications. In this study, 55 calcite-forming bacterial strains were newly isolated from various environments. Biomineralization of Cd by calcite-forming bacteria was investigated in laboratory-scale experiments. A simple method was developed to determine the effectiveness of microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP). Using this method, we determined the effectiveness of biomineralization for retarding the flow of crystal violet through a 25-mL column. When the selected bacteria were analyzed using an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer, high removal rates (99.95%) of Cd were observed following incubation for 48 h. Samples of solids that formed in the reaction vessels were examined using a scanning electron microscope. The CdCO3 compounds primarily showed a spherical shape. The results of this study demonstrate that MICP-based sequestration of soluble heavy metals via coprecipitation with calcite may be useful for toxic heavy metal bioremediation.

Water gates are employed in a range of impound docks, marinas and canals in order to protect vessels from the detrimental effects of tides, wind and waves. Similarly such gates are employed within lock mechanisms so as to permit vessels to move up and down from one water level to another within a canal. A further area where water gates are employed is in the construction of flood control barriers. Typically, a number of gates are located across a river estuary and are deployed at times when tide levels rise to such a point that there is a significant danger of flooding of the surrounding area. In order for existing flood control barriers designs to provide the necessary protection their construction requires substantial civil engineering work that includes the installation of concrete caissons. A good example of such a flood control barrier is the Thames Barrier. Such structures are therefore extremely expensive and their installation can seriously disturb the habitat of the sub-sea life forms and the surrounding environment. The Prior Art teaches of Mitre, Sector, Radial and Flap style water gates employed for the aforementioned purposes. These all comprise steel core structures with various means for providing the required watertight seal. However, for various reasons these gate designs are prone to leakage. In the UK alone 73% of ports that employ Mitre gates exhibit substantial levels of leakage. Such leaks cost time and the associated water losses can render the port unattractive and ultimately inoperable. Replacement gates cost in the region of .English Pound.800,000 and have a lifetime of about 30 to 50 years. However, Mitre gates require major maintenance work every 10 to 15 years that typically incurs costs of .English Pound.200,000. In addition the effects of global warming are reducing the efficiency of Mitre gates due to increases in the associated water levels. These gates depend upon hydraulic pressure that results from the difference in the water levels from the upper side and lower side of the Mitre gate. Such increased water levels act to reduce this difference hence reducing the gate efficiency. A second disadvantage of such gate designs is the fact that they employ hardwoods in order to provide the required watertight seals. These woods are expensive due to their limited supply and so a more environmentally friendly solution would be preferable. Presently, Sector gates are the preferred option for replacing Mitre Gates. Although the gates themselves offer an economical alternative to the Mitre Gate they require extensive civil engineering work to be carried out to provide the required Sector gate recesses. Such civil engineering is both time consuming and expensive incurring costs of several millions of pounds.

Identification of patterns in sound data, also known as pattern matching, may be utilized to support a wide variety of different usage scenarios. This may include audio source separation, which may involve identification of sound data that corresponds to different sound sources. For example, audio source separation may be performed to remove noise from a recording, separate different speakers in a dialog, and so on. In another example, pattern matching may be used to support word spotting and audio retrieval, such as a part of voice recognition (e.g., a virtual phone menu) by identifying particular keywords in the sound data, to locate sound data having desired keywords or other sounds, and so on. Conventional techniques that were utilized to identify patterns in sound data, however, typically relied on a matrix representation of the sound data. This representation could be resource intensive to analyze, even when confronted with sparse sound data in which most of the frequency energies are close to zero. Consequently, such representations may be ill suited to real time scenarios and result in needless consumption of computational resources.

Prior art is known to include procedures and devices for machining objects using laser radiation that, for example, are used for shaping the cornea of the eye to correct poor vision. The required energy is brought into the tissue through pulsed laser radiation that is guided by scanning the sector of the lens from which tissue is to be removed. More recent developments in connection with such ophthalmological surgical procedures for improving poor vision are using ultra-short pulse lasers to impart the energy and are known as fs-LASIK. The state of technology is described in R. Kurtz et al. “Femtosecond Laser Corneal Refractive Surgery”, Proc. SPIE 3591, 209 (1999). Here the laser radiation is focused on a focal point of a magnitude of just a few micrometers in the cornea. At the focal point a plasma is generated, which quickly vaporizes immediately adjacent tissue, causing a separation of the tissue at this location. This interaction between the laser radiation and the tissue is called photo-disruption. Since the photo-disruption is limited to a microscopically small area, it is possible to create precise surgical cuts within the eye to achieve a locally restricted separation of the corneal tissue. Targeted rows of such separation zones allow macroscopic cuts and a predetermined partial corneal volume can be isolated. The removal of this partial volume achieves a desired change in the refraction of the cornea and thus a correction of the poor vision. In the following, the method based upon photo-disruption is referred to as fs-LASIK. The procedure is designed so that prior to the fs-LASIK procedure, an observation device, for example a microscope, is used to inspect the object of the procedure and to determine the parameters of the treatment, such as the intensity of the laser radiation, pulse sequences, length and location of the cuts, etc. Following this, the procedure is carried out using the laser scan device. Usually, the results of the procedure are evaluated again with the help of the observation device. Following this, post-surgical steps are carried out, such as the removal of the excised volume and the wound care.

The metabolic syndrome is not correlated with the short-term risk of decompensation in patients with cirrhosis. Obesity proved to favor clinical decompensation in patients with cirrhosis. Our aim was to investigate if metabolic syndrome (MS) in cirrhotic patients represents a risk factor for decompensation. 704 cirrhotics, included in a MS prevalence study were considered for evaluation; 121 patients were excluded because they did not complete the follow-up and 303 because they were decompensated at the start of the study. The remaining 280 were followed-up for a median period of 28.1+/-18 months. Patients were censored at the end of follow-up or at occurrence of a liver related event (LRE). Liver related events were considered the following: decompensation (ascites, variceal bleeding, hepatorenal syndrome, jaundice, encephalopathy), hepatocellular carcinoma, portal vein thrombosis and infections. All MS criteria except the abdominal circumference were significantly different between decompensated and compensated patients. HDL-cholesterol levels were lower in decompensated patients. Among the 280 patients who completed the follow-up, 85 (30%) presented LREs. Ascites was the most frequent event. In the univariate analysis of the MS criteria we found a trend to significance of an inverse correlation between MS and LREs. There was no significant difference between patients with or without MS regarding survival free of LREs, 76.7% and 66.5%, respectively. None of the MS criteria reached the level of significance in discriminating patients with and without LREs. In short term, presence of MS was not a risk factor for LREs. In short term, liver function and lower nutritional status influenced the prognosis. In decompensated patients, the MS defining criteria are not applicable.

Mobile app self-care versus in-office care for stress reduction: a cost minimization analysis. We calculated the cost of providing stress reduction care with a mobile phone app (Breathe2Relax) in comparison with normal in-person care, the standard method for managing stress in military and civilian populations. We conducted a cost-minimization analysis. The total cost to the military healthcare system of treating 1000 patients with the app was $106,397. Treating 1000 patients with in-office care cost $68,820. Treatment using the app became less expensive than in-office treatment at approximately 1600 users. From the perspective of the civilian healthcare system, treatment using the app became less expensive than in-office treatment at approximately 1500 users. An online tool was used to obtain data about the number of app downloads and usage sessions. A total of 47,000 users had accessed the app for 10-30 min sessions in the 2.5 years since the release of the app. Assuming that all 47,000 users were military beneficiaries, the savings to the military healthcare system would be $2.7 million; if the 47,000 users were civilian, the savings to the civilian healthcare system would be $2.9 million. Because of the large number of potential users, the total societal savings resulting from self-care using the app may be considerable.

The structure of affective symptoms in a sample of young adults. Symptoms of bipolar disorders include depression and mania. The term "bipolar" implies states that are opposite to each other. Construing scales that define mania and depression as opposite ends of one dimension cannot account for the existence of mixed symptoms. One self-report instrument, the Internal State Scale (ISS), combines both dimensions in one measure. However, the ISS only assesses internal subjective states and does not tap other typical and more objective symptoms of (hypo-) mania. To explore the factorial structure of affective symptoms in a general population sample, we extended the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), adding items to assess manic symptoms as described in DSM-IV. The scale was completed by 2,059 young adults. The results for the original CES-D are comparable to prior studies. Factor-analysis for the extended CES-D revealed two factors in women and men: most manic symptoms loaded high on a factor "euphoria-activation," whereas the other factor included all typical dysphoric-depressive symptoms, but also included the "manic symptoms" of distractibility and irritability. Our results support a two-factor model of bipolar symptoms in the general population with irritability being more closely associated with dysphoria than euphoria. The implications and limitations of the present results are discussed.

Trajectories of Evidence Based Treatment for School Children with Autism: What's the Right Level for the Implementation? Evidence-based practices (EBP) for children with autism are under-used in special-education schools. No research compared child-level versus teacher-level influences on EBP use, which could guide implementation strategies. We derived longitudinal profiles of EBP receipt by children (N = 234) in 69 autism-support classrooms, over an academic year. We compared overall impacts of child-level and teacher-level factors on profile membership. Most children received little EBP throughout the year; however substantial subgroups received increasing, and decreasing, doses of EBP. Child-level and teacher-level factors contributed about equally to profile membership. Children's autism symptoms and verbal ability, teachers' EBP skills, training/experience, classroom support, class size, and implementation leadership climate predicted profile membership. Early identification of treatment profiles could facilitate targeted implementation strategies increasing EBP use.

The invention relates to a pneumatic mail station for the delivery, reception and transit of pneumatic dispatch cases with two pneumatic tube sections placed at mutually opposite limiting walls of the pneumatic mail station for coupling with an incoming forwarding tube path and an outgoing forwarding tube path as well as with an insertion or inward transfer opening for the introduction of pneumatic dispatch cases which are to be sent and an unloading or outward transfer opening for the discharge of received pneumatic dispatch cases in the same limiting surfaces and with a reception tube chamber shiftable into alignment with the pneumatic tube section associated with the incoming forwarding tube path for the reception of pneumatic dispatch cases, there being allocated to said reception tube chamber a closure device functioning at one end of the chamber in the manner of creating an air pillow decelerating the pneumatic dispatch case and an air conduit which, in the reception position of the reception tube chamber, pneumatically connects the incoming pneumatic tube section with the outgoing forwarding pneumatic tube section. Given such a pneumatic mail station--known from the Austrian Pat. No. 353,172, FIG. 1 as well as page 4, line 33 through page 5, line 12--the closure device is designed as an electromagnetically or, respectively, motor-driven slide. The slide comprises a movable plate which is guided in a slide housing. For this purpose, the slide housing is rigidly connected to the tube chamber and is displaced in common with said tube chamber. The actual drive of the tube chamber ensues via a cog wheel mechanism which engages in the central area of the tube chamber. Given vertical disposition of the tube chamber--the usual standard position of pneumatic mail stations--the slide is situated in the lower portion of the station. The pneumatic tube sections for the incoming and the outgoing forwarding tube paths have holes near the upper and lower boundaries of the station housing which discharge into the air conduit. A clack valve is situated in the central portion of the air conduit, said clack valve being opened for the air streaming from the top toward the bottom but being closed for the opposite air flow direction. Upon arrival of a pneumatic dispatch case from the upper transmission tube path, the slide is run into the clear cross-section of the tube chamber so that the stream of conveying air is interrupted at the tube chamber. The stream of conveying air proceeds through the holes in the pneumatic tube sections and the air conduit, so that an effective pneumatic drive is available for the incoming traveling tube until the pneumatic dispatch case enters the area of the air holes of the incoming pneumatic tube section. The deceleration path in which the pneumatic dispatch case creates an air pillow in front of it which decelerates it extends from this area to the level of the slide. Pneumatic dispatch cases arriving from below first traverse the area of the open slide, actuate a contact after the traversal and thus redirect the direction of the conveying air stream on the one hand and, on the other hand, actuate the slide drive so that the tube chamber is closed off at the lower portion thereof. Subsequently, the same operational sequence occurs as in the arrival of a pneumatic dispatch case entering the pneumatic mail station from the top. In the known pneumatic mail station, thus, the same reception operation is provided given the arrival of pneumatic dispatch cases arriving in the pneumatic mail station both from the top and from below, the pneumatic dispatch case moving from top toward bottom in the final phase of said reception operation. This is to be viewed as being disadvantageous insofar as there is an increasing desire in the planning of contemporary pneumatic mail systems to have the pneumatic dispatch cases enter the pneumatic mail station from below, because this makes it easier to conceal or, respectively, cover the pneumatic mail tubes by means of covers, office furniture or counters. A further disadvantage is to be seen in that the pneumatic deceleration is imperfect insofar as lightweight pneumatic dispatch cases are better and more effectively decelerated than heavy pneumatic dispatch cases; given the same air velocity in tube lines proceeding down from the top, heavy pneumatic dispatch cases exhibit higher conveying speeds than lightweight pneumatic dispatch cases. In order to also be able to effectively decelerate heavy and, thus, faster pneumatic dispatch cases, an air conduit is provided for the known pneumatic mail station given high conveying speeds of heavy pneumatic dispatch cases, said air conduit emerging from the pneumatic mail station and, in an area lying correspondingly far above the pneumatic mail station, discharging into the forwarding tube entering the pneumatic mail station from the top.

"Previously on desperate housewives..." "Susan's new boyfriend met the family..." "Who are you?" "Hi" "I'm Mike." "Her ex-Husband." "Gaby's life was no long glamorous." "Now it's official." "I've lost everything." "First our money, then my figure," "Now the last shreds of our social standing." "Baby, we have a home, and we have two beautiful little girls..." "Danielle's decision was devastating." "Please, just don't take him!" "Benjamin's all I have!" "You're just gonna have to find something else." "And Edie's new husband showed the dark side." "I would consider it a personal favor" "If you'd apologize to Edie." "No." "And it seems to me" "That a woman le you would like to keep" "The few friends that she has left." "I think you'd better go." "Now why would you bring me flowers?" "'Cause you've got a computer," "And I need to find out some stuff about Edie's husband." "Benjamin katz was 6 years old," "And there were a lot of things he didn't understand." "He wasn't sure why the woman you call "mommy"" "Isn't always your mother." "Or how the man who was always there for him" "Could suddenly be taken away." "Or why you could go for a ride..." "And never come back home." "Yes, there were a lot of things" "Benjamin katz couldn't understand," "And no one seemed in a hurry" "To explain them." "Here they come, finally." "You know, Bree, things will be a little strange at first," "So please, be on your best behavior." "I do not require lectures on tact." "I know." "It's just that we've missed benjy so much," "And it's taken so many olive branches" "To get them to come back." "I'm aware of what's at stake, Orson." "Good." "So if you feel an impulse to criticize something," "You'll keep the thought to yourself." "Hi!" "I've already started." "Danielle!" "What a dightfully ethnic ensemble." "Hey, mom, Orson." "Hi, danielle." "Oh, I want to meet my husband leo." "It's nice to finally meet both of you in person." "Lovely to meet you, leo." "Hey, who's this little linebacker?" "Hi, benjy." "Remember me?" "I'm not sure." "That's okay." "That's what this visit is for, right?" "Getting to know each other." "Now we have you for the whole weekend, right?" "Yep, whole three days." "Oh, good. 'Cause we've made lots of plans." "We're gonna take you to the circus" "If it's okay with your folks." "Can I go, danielle?" ""Danielle"?" "Did he just ca you "danielle"?" "Well, it is my name." "Yes, I'm aware of that." "I picked it." "I'm just concerned" "People might view it as a sign of, um, disrespect." "By "people, " you mean you?" "Uh..." "leo." "Look at all the luggage you have here." "I'll give you a hand here." "Okay." "Oh, thanks." "Um..." "let me be clear." "I do no want him calling me "Bree. "" "Oh, don't worry." "Td him to call you "granny. "" "Yes, benjamin katz was only 6 years old," "But even he could understand" "This was going to be..." "A long weekend." "Any child will tell you" "That where you find a playground," "You will also find..." "Bullies" "Young tyrants who bring pain..." "Intimidation..." "And violence." "What can children do in the face of such torment?" "Well, there is one obvious option," "But not every child is eager to go running home to mother." "Ugh." "Hey." "Hon." "How was the park?" "Wait." "Hold on." "Mommy just found her first gray hair." "I need you to grab it, yank it and never speak of it again." "Oh." "Look at your face." "It's scratched." "What happened?" "Nothing." "And your shirt is ripped." "That's the second time this week." "Is someone picking on you?" "Who is it?" "Is it jeffrey hixon, that weird kid who eats paper?" "Is it timmy crowley?" "His mom slept in her car last night." "Who knows what's going on there?" "Is it that boy from your birthday," "The one who slugged the pony?" "Oh, sweetie." "I know you're upset," "But you'll feel better if you talk about it." "And there's nothing you can't tell me." "I'm your mommy." "I wanna talk to daddy." "Okay." "We'll give him a call." "You're not gonna find another one in this condition." "I mean, the car is a classic." "Well, what do you think, nabila?" "Eh." "I like it." "I don't love it." "Tell you what." "Gaby and I want to find our car a nice home." "So I'm prepared to knock a grand off." "What do you say?" "I say knock off 5 grand, and we'll talk" "Oh, come on." "It's already priced way below blue book," "Not to mention it's mint." "This is not mint." "Hey, an you not see this ding in the bumper here?" "Okay, this car goes zero to 60 in 5 seconds." "By the time someone says, "wow, a ding, "" "You're in the next county. 4 grand, you got yourself a deal." "Deal." "What?" "No!" "No, no deal!" "The nondriving blind guy does not speak for me." "Would you excuse us?" "Gaby, we've been trying to move this car for a month." "We need the cash." "God, sn't there any way we can keep it?" "I mean, this car's the last thing I have" "That tells the world, "I'm better than you. "" "Sorry, babe." "We have to pay the mortgage." "We can't afford to be better than anyone." "Here." "Take good care of her." "Actually, it's not for us." "It's for our nanny." "Okay, that one hurt." "So what'd you dig up on mr." "X.?" "You mean Dave?" "Yeah." "Nothing yet." "It's been two days." "What gives?" "Well, for starters, when I search for "Dave Williams, "" "I get a million and a half hits." "To narrow it down, I'm gonna need more information," "Like where he was born, where he went to school." "Did he serve time in the military?" "Oh, believe me," "If he served time, it was in the state pen." "Hey!" "Dave!" "Morning, ladies." "Si bastard." "How are you?" "Hey, katherine," "Your sprinkler system working okay now?" "Like a charm." "And thanks again." "I've never been able to get that to work." "Oh, I hear ya." "To program those things, you need an engineering degree." "Oh, yeah?" "You got one of those?" "Anyway... really appreciate it." "Take care." "I just can't go through with this." "He-He just strikes me as so nice." "That's supposed to comfort me," "Given your track record with men?" "Katherine, please." "The guy is bad news." "I can't prove it, but I feel it in my bones." "And I can't sit around doing nothing when I know" "That Edie's waking up every morning next to him." "If anyone finds out we're doing this..." "No one will know." "And when they do, they'll probably thank us." "Because I'm telling ya, this guy is up to something." "Cleaning out the old garage" " My deepest sympathy." "Hey, Dave." "You-You settling in okay?" "Yeah." "Yeah." "Well, they finally delivered my flat screen." "I was dying without it." "I mean, it is 65 inches." "Wow." "Sweet!" "Hey, w-The play-Offs are on." "You should come check it out." "It's like being right on the field." "Yeah..." "Um, Lynette's really busting my hump" "About clearing this place out, so..." "Well, maybe later." "The game doesn't start for a couple hours." "We could order one of those giant" "Sandwiches." "Sorry, but, you know, check back with me" "Make sure I survive this whole thing." "Okay." "Hi, Dave." "Hi." "Hey, Tom?" "Yeah?" "Why are there two piles?" "Well, that's the pile that I'm throwing away," "And, uh, this is the stuff I still need." "You need unopened mountain climbing equipment from 1986?" "You don't climb mountains." "Not yet, but someday." "I mean, you know... who knows?" "I know." "You get winded just climbing out of the tub." "You're never gonna climb a mountain." "You know what else you're never gonna do?" "Learn german, make your own beer or..." "Have 8 minute abs." "Come on, not the ab-Tastic." "Toss it, and keep tossing" "Until this 2-Car garage can hold at least one car." "Please tell me you're not getting rid of your bass." "No point in hanging on to it." "I mean, being in a band is just one more thing I'll never do." "Before he moved, Mike and I," "We used to get together on saturdays and just... jam." "Man, that was fun." "You know, I play the drums." "Maybe you and I should jam sometime." "I guess we could." "Maybe even later today?" "Just..." "Yeah!" "Yeah, you know what?" "Just give me a couple hours." "I gotta stash these old "playboys. " I'll see you later." "Now remember, you can't just start grilling Edie," "Or she'll get suspicious." "We have to be subtle." "I'll just follow your lead." "Okay." "Sorry I'm late." "What a great idea!" "I haven't done this in ages- A fun lunch with the girls." "Yeah, it's fun." "Where was Dave born?" "What?" "We were just wondering" "Where he got his great... manners." "He's got that gentle bearing" "Of a... southern gentleman." "No, he's from somewhere in the midwest." ""Somewhere"?" "You don't know where your husband grew up?" "Well, he showed me a picture of his childhood home once." "It had a cow in it." "I lost interest." "Honestly, Edie, how can you be married to a guy" "And not know these things?" "You know what?" "What?" "I think it's time to order." "Where's our waitress?" "I'll be right with you, mrs." "Mayfair." "Oh, no problem, debbie." "You take your time." "She is such a sweet girl." "She's saving money for college." "Speaking of which... where did Dave go to college?" "Come on, debbie!" "While we're young!" "I don't know." "All right." "What about high school?" "Why are you asking me all these questions?" "I just think it's odd that you're married to some guy" "You don't know anything about him." "Other than the fact that he's a lovely man." "He... fixed my sprinkler." "I don't want to talk about this anymore." "I'm going to the ladies' room." "Well, your subtle approach got us nowhere." "I've been through a lot with this baby." "I hate to sell her, but, you know," "With my new sports car coming, I don't really need it." "Yeah." "Here she is." "How's it look?" "Be glad you're blind." "We have to be practical." "We just need something to get us from point "a" to point "b. "" "Now let's buy the thing." "Okay, just let me handle this." "So... do we have a sale?" "I don't know, andrew." "I mean... we like it." "We don't love." "Yeah, well, no one buys a car like this and loves it." "It's all about the price." "And you're not gonna do better." "Yeah, about that price" "You're gonna have to drop it." "I mean, look at all these dents." "Yeah, it's also missing three hubcaps," "And it's got a hanger for an antenna." "Full disclosure- It's a piece of crap." "You want it or not?" "Well, I'll tell you what." "Since your mom and I are dear friends," "I'll take it off your hands if you knock off $300." "And since my mom and you are dear friends," "I'll resist the urge to flip you the bird." "Andrew!" "Unless you lower this price, we're walking... right now." "See ya." "I mean it." "This is it." "Fine." "Okay, fine." "Knock off $200, and we'll give you cash." "No. $100." "No." "Wh" "Will you at least have it washed?" "I'll empty the ashtray." "Final offer." "Damn you." "You beat me again!" "Curse you and your diabolical checkers prowess." "All right, Orson." "Don't overexcite him on the upholstery." "So, danielle, what would you like me to make as a side dish" "For your welcome home party?" "I can do anything so long as it complements beef tenderloin." "Actually, we don't eat meat." "We're vegetarians." "Excuse me?" "So is benjamin." "Oh." "Well... since when?" "Since I realized that meat was a byproduct of murder." "Would it be more acceptable" "If I shopped for a suicidal pork loin?" "Bree, it's no big deal." "I'll just make a nice risotto." "This isn't about dinner." "This is about her nutty liberal politics" "Getting in the way of our grandson's nutrition." "He gets all the protein he needs from cheese and beans d tofu." "Well, this isn't just about nutrition." "Do you want him to be teased at school" "Every time he pulls tofu out of his lunchbox?" "Actually, that won't be an issue." "Danielle is homeschooling him." "Excuse me?" "You're teaching him?" "Yes." "I take it you have an opinion?" "So instead of sending him to a proper school," "You're gonna give him the benefit" "Of your straight "c" average?" "Hey, he's only 6," "And he's already reading at a third grade level." "Well, what happens next year when he overtakes you?" "Uh, Bree... ahem." "Best behavior, remember?" "I am sorry, but am I supposed to sit by" "While she degrades his body and his mind?" "Fine." "Cricize my parenting all you want." "I don't care," "Because you don't get to decide how he's raised anymore." "I'm his mother." "And by the way, mark your calendars," "'Cause seven years from next saturday" "Benjamin's bar mitzvah." "Isn't this cool?" "Dave brought his drums over so we could jam." "Your boy is pretty good." "Yeah," "And we figured out we got bass, we got drums" "Mike plays guitar." "I think Orson plays keyboards." "You see where I am going with this?" "I do, but I'm hoping I'm wrong." "We're gonna start a garage band!" "And I wasn't!" "Maybe if we get good enough," "We can even get, like, a couple of gigs." "How fun would that be? "Gigs"?" "Did you just say "gigs"?" "Now all's we need is a little time to practice" "A few nights a week, some weekends." "What?" "Well, yeah," "Just until we get the rhythm section all dialed in." "Okay, I need to dial you in to some gigs you already have," "Which are running a restaurant, being a husband and a father." "And I thought you were the one who said" "You wanted to spend more time with your family." "But we could play clubs." "I mean, he's just having a little fun, Lynette." "Guys need to blow off steam." "Could you just... for a sec?" "Come on." "You know I'm right." "You're far too busy for this." "You can't just decide for me like that." "I mean, if I wanna play bass," "I will play bass." "I'm not hurting anybody." "Those of us with hearing beg to differ." "Okay, you know what?" "Please leave our rehearsal space." "Oh, come on, Tom." "This is not your" "Guys, hey, knock it off back there." "Oh, God." "What now?" "Oh." "Hey." "What's up?" "You sold me a lemon." "That's what's up." "What are you talking about?" "Your car!" "I took it to a mechanic, who told me the radiator's shot." "Oh." "That." "Yeah." "It's been giving me trouble for years." "Just use the jug." "What jug?" "Oh, it's in the trunk." "You just keep it full of water," "And when the radiator overheats, you fill it up." "Oh, and, uh, try not going up hills" "And stay in the shade as much as possible." "Okay, I-I can't drive around avoiding gravity and the sun." "Well, sorry." "If you want a car with no flaws, buy a new one." "Or I could get the radiator fixed," "Which is gonna cost $300, which you are paying for." "Remember full disclosure?" "Crap?" "This is your car." "It's your problem." "Okay, you know what?" "That's it." "I wanna talk to your mother." "Uh, well, she's in a meeting right now." "Can I take a message?" "Damn it, andrew." "You tell Bree to call me by the end of the day." "May I ask what it's regarding?" "All right, we'll talk about it more later, buddy." "Why don't you go on outside and play for a while?" "Okay." "Well, what did he say?" "Well, he still won't tell me who's picking on him," "But he did ask me to teach him how to" "Fight." "He's only 5." "I don't want him fighting" "I'm sorry, but every boy" "Has to learn how to throw a punch eventually." "Ugh." "You know, if you wanna give him a leg up," "You could teach him a little capoeira." "Capo-What?" "Oh, it's a brazilian martial art" "That incorporates dance." "Yeah, 'cause there's nothing scarier" "Than a guy coming at ya with jazz hands." "That's funny, but actually," "The dance part's to catch your opponent off guard." "Like that?" "No, there's a little more nuance to it." "Ooh!" "Like that." "Where's the "dance" part?" "Oh!" "There it is, ginger!" "You know what, boys?" "Not in the house." "Oh, my God!" "Give it back!" "It's my ball!" "It's my ball now." "Hey!" "You leave him alone." "Oh!" "Honey!" "Is that who's been picking on you?" "Juanita Solis?" "Well, she is going to get a big surprise," "Because your daddy" "Is about to turn you into a killing machine." "Uh, m." "J., can I talk to your mom for a second?" "What?" "I can't teach him to hit a girl." "That's not just any girl." "You saw her." "She could take down a small deer." "It doesn't matter." "If it wears a skirt, it's off-Limits." "That is sexist." "If feminism means anything, it's that it's okay" "For a big, mean girl to get her butt kicked." "You, teach him" "One of those brazilian kung fu cha-Cha things." "I'm with Mike." "You can't hit girls." "Ah!" "Couple of wusses." "I'll handle it myself." "Oops!" "Didn't see that coming." "Just for that, I'm breaking my rule about not hitting girls." "Ga, we have a problem." "I just saw Juanita push m." "J. Down." "Really?" "Really." "It's not the first time." "Juanita's been bullying him." "Wow." "I'm sorry." "I'll talk to her." "Thank you." "And don't worry." "No one will hear about this from me." "Hear what?" "That m." "J.'S getting beat up by a little girl." "Well..." "A girl." "Are you suggesting" "That Juanita is fat for her age?" "Gaby, Juanita's fat for your age." "Yeah?" "Well, let's face it." "M.J. Could get beaten up by a kitten." "You know what?" "Maybe you could teach your daughter" "How to use her words and not her fists." "Yeah?" "Or maybe you could teach your son to grow a pair!" "What you looking at?" "Oh, just some old pictures." "Can you guess who that little girl is?" "That's your mom way back when she was your age." "What's she eating?" "Oh!" "Uh, a hot dog." "No way." "Oh, yes." "Your mother loved hot dogs." "Every day at lunchtime, she'd say to me," ""Mommy, I want hot dog. "" "How come she doesn't eat them now?" "Well, because she's all grown-Up." "You see, hot dogs and hamburgers" "Are what make little boys and girls" "Grow up to be big and strong." "And now that she's grown-Up, she doesn't need them anymore." "Doesn't mommy want me to be big and strong?" "I've been asking myself that all day." "Maybe she's afraid if you get big," "You'll leave home and go play for the red sox." "But I want to get big." "I want to play baseball." "Oh." "Well..." "In that case..." "Can I?" "You have to promise not to tell your mommy." "Okay." "Well, what do you think?" "It's like tofu, only better." "Yes." "Yes, it is." "Two three four" "When Tom Scavo through himself" "Into his new hobby." "His wife told herself" "It was a phase, and it would pass quickly." "But three hours later, she realized" "It could not pass quickly enough." "So Lynette began to plot" "Against her husband's instrument of torture." "Ooh!" "Careful, honey." "Sorry." "You could break your dad's guitar and..." "It was at that moment her daughter" "Provided her an idea for a... simple accident..." "And... a clean alibi." "Damn it!" "Hey, is everything all right?" "Oh, my!" "It was lying in the middle of the floor!" "How in the world did that happen?" "Has penny been playing in here again?" "I've told her a million times!" "Now I'm sure it was an accident, Tom." "Please don't yell at her." "This was a $1,600 bass." "I can't afford to replace it." "Penny lynn Scavo!" "Where is she?" "Oh, Tom!" "She's up in her room." "I'm gonna go play outside." "Oh!" "Wait." "Your forgot your whistle." "Okay, sweetie." "This is just to be on the safe side." "If Juanita comes around, you just blow it." "I'll be right there." "Okay." "Good boy." "Hey, give me back my whistle!" "Juanita Solis, don't you move!" "You are in big trouble!" "What's on your head?" "Never mind." "What did you do to m." "J.?" "He wouldn't let me blow his whistle." "So your solution was to push him down?" "Do you think that's nice?" "How would you feel if someone did that to you?" "I wouldn't care." "Oh, really?" "You don't think it would hurt?" "Even if it did..." "I'm not a crybaby like m." "J." "I'm sorry." "Juanita, I just wanted you to see how it felt." "Are you okay?" "Susan, I saw that!" "Kids, get inside!" "Okay, first off, it wasn't as bad as it looked." "Really?" "'Cause it looked like you body-Slammed my daughter." "I barely tapped her." "She was milking it." "That's your defense?" "You were only assaulting her "a little"?" "I was trying to teach her not to be a bully" "Something she should have learned from her mother." "Well, I'm sorry." "I was too busy trying to explain to her" "Why m." "J. Doesn't wear a dress like all the other little girls." "This conversation is over." "Tell bob and lee that I'll pay for the dent in their lawn." "You did not!" "I did." "You know what?" "We've both been incredibly childish here," "And it is time one of us took the high road," "So I am now going to walk away." "Please take note of this conflict resolution" "And try to pass the lesson on to your daughter." "You can dye that hair all you want," "But the gray's just gonna keep coming." "And they call me white trash." "You got a minute?" "Yeah." "Sure." "Come on in." "I, uh, I heard there was a little accident." "So..." "I got this for Tom." "You bought Tom a new bass?" "It's not as smooth as his old one, but it's good." "We can't accept this." "It's mostly selfish on my part." "I was having too much fun." "Well, sorry." "But maybe you could go skateboarding with Orson." "All right." "Forget about me." "Tom was having fun." "And from what I've seen, he needs it." "And what makes you think you know what my husband needs?" "Just something that I saw the other day," "When you were making him get rid of all his things." "You mean his junk?" "It may be junk to you," "But to Tom..." "Well, that was stuff he was gonna get around to." "You know what a midlife crisis is?" "I'm married to a 45-Year-Old man who has a red convertible." "Yeah, I think I know." "But you know how it happens?" "A man gets to a certain age," "And he realizes..." "he's gonna die someday." "Really die." "And what's worse is that he's everything he's ever gonna be." "He's never gonna be rich." "He's never gonna climb a mountain." "Now some guys do bad things" "When they get those thoughts in their heads." "By comparison," "Playing in a garage band" " Well..." "It seems pretty harmless." "So... now my marriage is in trouble," "And you're gonna save it by giving Tom a bass?" "No." "No." "I'm not." "You are." "Most of the guys in my class went into corporate law," "But I wanted to do something" "That would influence environmental policy." "That's how he ended up at the e." "P.A." "So, leo, where did you study law?" "Cornell." "Now I'm jealous." "I always wished that I'd gone to a school like cornell." "But... it just wasn't in the cards for me." "How about you, Dave?" "Me?" "No." "Wasn't in my cards, either." "So where did you go?" "After listening to leo, I'd be embarrassed to tell you." "So... e." "P.A." "What's your opinion on global warming" "Fact or fiction?" "Hold on, darling." "Mrs. Mccluskey asked you a question." "Tell her where you went to school." "Oh, Edie, I think she was just making conversation." "So" "Okay, then why don't you tell me where you went?" "After all, I am your wife." "Shouldn't I know?" "Actually, I didn't go to college." "I took a job out of high school" "Because my family was having a hard time." "Not having a degree is something that has always" "Been embarrassing to me," "Especially when I'm with people who do." "So, my darling, is there anything else" "You'd like to quiz me about in public?" "My... childhood stuttering?" "My dad's drinking problems?" "No." "I'm... good." "I came to say I'm sorry." "You attacked my child and then me." "Why should I even listen to you?" "I brought booze." "Come on in." "Like, I have this rule" "No toy guns." "Except everything that m." "J. Picks up" "Whether it's a hairbrush, a hanger, everything" "He pretends it's a gun." "Well, what do you expect?" "He's a boy." "That's my point!" "I know nothing about raising boys." "And I think m." "J. Has figured this out," "So he goes straight to Mike whenever there's a problem." "But that's okay." "Mike's a great dad." "Yeah, sure, on alternate weekends." "That's fine..." "Until... m." "J. Needs his daddy," "And his daddy's not there." "San, it's not your fault." "Well, we split up," "So it's at least half my fault any way you slice it." "Well, if it's any consolation," "Carlos is a hands-On, full-Time dad," "And I still feel like I'm not getting the job done," "Like..." "I'm not preparing them enough." "Preparing them for what?" "For how hard life is." "I mean, I have to admit," "When you told me Juanita was bullying m." "J.," "My first thought was, thank God!" "Let her do the pushing," "Just as long as she's not a victim." "Well, I don't see any kid of yours being a victim." "You're the strongest person I know." "I used to be." "Look at my life, Susan." "I..." "I've been beaten down." "Well, I thought I had you beaten today," "And next think I knew, I was eathing grass." "Today doesn't count." "Today I was mad." "Maybe you need to get mad more often." "Maybe you're right." "This is nice." "We should rumble all the time." "To Susan mayer" "Good mom." "To gabrielle Solis" "Another good mom." "Mommy, we're hungry!" "So?" "!" "There's waffles in the freezer!" "And get mommy some ice!" "Isn't this nice?" "For the first time in years," "My family is all here under the same roof." "Here's to many more meals together." "Yes." "Aw." "Welcome home." "Cheers." "I don't feel good, danielle." ""Danielle"?" "I think I'm gonna be sick." "Let's get you to the powder room." "Here we are" "Mushroom risotto." "There's an unfortunate coincidence." "I'm so sorry, mom." "I'll clean it up." "No, um, you take benjy upstairs." "I'll get it." "Orson, could you get the mop, please?" "Oh, my God." "Is that meat?" "No!" "Of course not." "Does this look like meat to you?" "It's... hard to tell." "Just so we're clear," "What I'm about to throw up is a western omelet." "That is not meat." "That piece right there- That's definitely meat!" "Still waiting on that mop." "What did grandma give you to eat?" "She said not to tell." "You gave him meat and then told him to lie?" "!" "I gave him a hot dog, all right?" "He liked it so much, he asked for another." "Two hot dogs?" "All right," "I'll concede the second one was clearly a mistake." "Come on, leo." "We're leaving." "No!" "Danielle, please." "I'm sorry, Orson." "She's made it impossible for us to stay in this house." "Danielle, wait, wait." "Well, we can still drink, right?" "Oh, yeah." "Well, I've apologized till I'm blue in the face," "But they're still leaving in the morning." "Now you're not speaking to me, either?" "They're just mad." "Things will be better next time." "You honestly think there'll be a next time?" "It took us three years to talk them into this visit." "It took you one day..." "To ruin it." "Orson, I'm truly sorry." "It's just, seeing..." "All these mistakes that she's making with benjamin," "It's just so hard for me." "You know what hard for me?" "When I left for prison," "Benjamin was in my house, he was in my life." "He called me "daddy. "" "And when I came home, he was gone." "And you think that's my fault?" "Yes, I do." "Orson, you weren't here." "She came back." "She was married to a lawyer." "And don't forget, she is his mother!" "I tried to fight, but" "You should've fought harder." "I was on my knees." "I was sobbing." "She said "no" and then ripped him out of my arms." "You have no right to say that to me." "You kind of blindsided me tonight." "I know." "I am so sorry." "I was clearly uncomfortable." "I don't understand why you kept pressing me." "Honestly, it was all Karen McCluskey's fault." "Really?" "How so?" "Well, she kept asking me all this stuff about yr background" "And why I don't know more about you, and..." "I should've just never let her get to me." "It's okay, sweetie." "Now I understand." "Kind of sad when you think about it." "What do you mean?" "Oh..." "maybe you guys don't notice" "Because you're so used to her." "But her behavior reminds me of my grandmother," "When we first started to notice..." "The dementia, that is." "You think Karen's going senile?" "I remember my poor grandmother..." "Started getting so paranoid." "She thought people were breaking into her house and..." "Stealing her things." "We finally had to put her in a home." "I just hope that doesn't happen to Karen." "I want my 300 bucks." "I told you." "It's your car." "You deal with it." "That's it?" "No compassion?" "No, "hey, let's split the bill and call it even"?" "Look at it this way." "You're not losing 300 bucks." "You're gaining a valuable lesson-Buyer beware." "True." "Now here's a valuable lesson for you." "What t hell is wrong with you?" "!" "Give me my money," "Or next time we're trading paint." "You're bluffing." "I am tired of being a victim, andrew." "And trust me, that is no bluff." "Hey!" "You-You touch my car, and you're paying for it." "Luckily, I'm insured." "Oh, wait." "Our policy lapsed." "Hope you've got good coverage." "Wait!" "Wait!" "Wait!" "Wait!" "Wait, wait." "I'll get my checkbook." "I prefer cash." "Bullies..." "Any adult will tell you the playground" "Is not the only place to find them." "Everywhere you look, you can find people unconcerned" "Or unaware of the pain they inflict." "It might be a neighbor" "Preying on the suspicions of her friend..." "Or a daughter" "Punishing the choices of her mother." "Or a housewife seeking justice" "From the man who sold her a car." "Yes..." "There are bullies everywhere." "And the worst are the ones who take advantage of you" "Without you ever knowing" "What they've done."

The desire to reduce automotive fuel consumption and emissions is well documented. Therefore, vehicles are being developed that reduce or completely eliminate reliance on internal combustion engines. Electrified vehicles are currently being developed for this purpose. In general, electrified vehicles differ from conventional motor vehicles because they are selectively driven by one or more battery powered electric machines. Conventional motor vehicles, by contrast, rely exclusively on the internal combustion engine to propel the vehicle. A charging system typically connects an electrified vehicle to an external power source, such as a wall outlet or a charging station, for charging the battery pack of the vehicle. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and battery electric vehicles, for example, include a vehicle inlet assembly having ports for receiving a connector from the charging station. An electrified vehicle user may encounter situations in which he/she arrives at a public charging station that is already being used by another electrified vehicle user. It may be desirable for the electrified vehicle user to ascertain whether the other vehicle has either completed charging or received a sufficient amount of charge to permit the connector to be unplugged from the other vehicle and then connected to the user's own vehicle for charging.

The present invention relates to a zoom lens system which comprises four lens units, makes use of a rear focus and has a short total length, a large aperture and a high zoom ratio. Recently radical reductions in the size, weight and cost of video cameras have caused the camcorder market to grow vigorously. The market growth has allowed widespread use of camcorders. Mainly, the video camera comprises an electric circuit board, an actuator (mechanical) system and an optical system. So far, the size and cost reductions have been achieved in terms of the electrical system in particular. More recently, however, some considerable reduction in the size of an image sensor optical system has made sharp progress. At present, the size and cost reductions of the image sensor optical system are being achieved by the development of a new zoom type lens systems making effective use of the progress in techniques for miniaturizing images, processing aspherical surfaces rotation-symmetrically and automatic TTL focusing. Several examples of those novel zoom lenses are set forth in JP-Kokai-62-24213, JP-Kokai-62-178917, JP-Kokai-62-215225, etc. However, the present need for size and weight reductions, esp., reductions in the total length and the diameter of front lenses, is immense. Referring now to techniques prior to the above-mentioned prior art, for instance, JP-Kokai-60-186818 (a zoom lens of eight magnifications), the zoom lens system disclosed therein comprises a zoom subsystem constructed from a first unit having a positive refracting power, movable for focusing and consisting of, in order from the object side, a negative lens, a positive lens and a positive lens, a second unit having a negative refractive power, movable for zooming and consisting of, in order from the object side, a negative lens, a negative lens and a positive lens, and a third unit having a negative refractive power, disposed so as to correct variations of the position of an image due to zooming, the third lens being movable and consisting of a meniscus-form of negative lens component strongly concave on the object side; and an image formation subsystem constructed from a stop and a relay lens unit. This is an example of the zoom lens system having a long total length and a front lens with a large diameter. The first unit is designed to be movable for focusing, in which case it is likely that variations of spherical aberration may be increased by focusing in the vicinity of the telephoto end, thus making it impossible to increase the power strongly enough. Accordingly, the image location due to the first unit (i.e., the object point of the second unit) becomes so far that the power of the second unit can become weak and so much space is required for the movement of the second unit, resulting in an increase in the total length of the zoom subsystem. In addition, when the powers of the first and second units are weak, the location of the entrance pupil is imperatively deep (as viewed from the object side). In particular, the lens diameter of the first unit should not be increased; nor should the lens thickness be increased so as to assure the edge thickness of the convex lens. This in turn leads to an increase in the depth of the entrance pupil, resulting in a massive increase in the size of front lens and, hence, a further increase in the total length of the zoom subsystem. To add to this, consideration must be taken of a further increase in the depth of the entrance pupil when a near-by object point is brought into focus. This is because focusing is achieved by the first unit. For those reasons, such rear focus versions are set forth in the above-mentioned JP-Kokai-62-24213, 62-178917 and 62-215225 and some versions in which the compensator unit is located in the rear of a stop have now been adopted. These versions may possibly have astonishing latent faculties of reducing the total length and making the front lens diameter small. Referring especially to JP-Kokai-62-178917, it teaches that some considerable reduction in the number of constituent lenses is achieved by applying an aspherical surface to the above-mentioned image formation subsystem and some correction of aberrations is also attained. However, any size reduction cannot be achieved with the total length and front lens diameter without making substantial changes with respect to conventional or classical lens configurations. That is to say, the system disclosed in JP-Kokai-62-178917 comprises a zoom subsystem including a first unit having a positive refracting power and a second unit having a negative refracting power and an image formation subsystem including a third unit consisting solely of a positive single lens having an aspherical surface and always remaining fixed and a fourth unit having at least one negative lens or consisting generally of two or three lenses and being movable during zooming and for regulating the focal position depending on how far the subject is spaced. Thus, the use of the rear focus which also serves as a compensator and the aspherical surface renders it possible to reduce the number of constituent lenses to ten or below, thereby reducing extra space. This thus enables the front lens diameter to be reduced and makes it possible to reduce the total length. The rear focus configuration could make it easy to increase the power of the first unit. However, this is not the case and the power of the second unit remains weak as well. In addition, using a single lens for the third unit incurs another disadvantage. In other words, the luminous flux cannot be easily converged here, so that it can not leave a focally. For this reason, there is no choice but to increase the focal length of the fourth unit, and the back focus remains long as well; that is, no sufficient reductions in the total length, front lens diameter, etc. are achieved.

The present invention relates generally to color television receivers and, more particularly, to a color television receiver including an interface system adapted for selectively enabling the receiver for operation in a first mode wherein a color video image is conventionally reproduced in accordance with a received television signal or, alternatively, in a second mode wherein an alpha-numeric type display is produced on all or part of the screen in a selected color. The use of color television receivers for providing on-screen displays of alpha-numeric type information, the term alpha-numeric type information as used herein being intended to comprehend both alpha-numeric characters as well as graphics, is generally known in the art, one relatively common example thereof being the on-screen display of channel number and time information. U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,797 to Olson discloses a system of this type wherein time and channel number information developed by a character generator is suitably multiplexed for developing a video signal which is used to drive the cathode ray tube (CRT) of a color television receiver. Another circuit designed for performing a similar function is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,812,285 to Miyata et al. In addition to the on-screen display of time and channel number information, great interest has recently been expressed in other forms of on-screen alpha-numeric type displays including captioning for the deaf, teletext and viewdata information. In captioning for the deaf, as in the case of channel number and time displays, the alpha-numeric display is superimposed over a portion of the video image reproduced on the CRT screen in response to a received television signal whereas, in the case of teletext and viewdata information, the entire CRT screen is typically used to reproduce the alpha-numeric characters. In the past, the alpha-numeric information intended for display on the CRT screen has generally been inserted in the luminance signal path of the receiver so that only corresponding white images could be reproduced. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,135,182 to Bell et al, it is also known to convert an alpha-numeric signal to a monochrome NTSC television signal which may then be coupled directly to the antenna terminals of a television receiver for reproducing the alpha-numerics in terms of a black and white image. U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,698 to Bart et al discloses a system wherein alpha-numeric type information signals are coupled to the R, G, B inputs of the video output stage of a color television receiver in place of the corresponding video signals developed in response to a received television signal, but this system uses a plurality transmission gates which are relatively expensive and therefore does not provide a circuit desirable for use in a mass produced consumer product. It is therefore a basic object of the present invention to provide a novel circuit for facilitating the display of alpha-numeric type information on the screen of a color television receiver. It is a more specific object of the invention to provide a relatively inexpensive circuit capable of providing complete or partial on-screen displays, in a selected color, of alpha-numeric type information derived from various different sources including, but not limited to, channel number and time generators and teletext and viewdata decoders.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to electrical testing methods, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for testing both the electrical devices and circuit connections of a printed circuit board. 2. Description of the Prior Art Printed circuit boards are coming into evermore popular use for packaging complex electronic circuits. Such boards today may have many hundreds of electrical devices, including integrated circuit packages or chips which themselves take the place of numerous discrete devices, and thousands of circuit interconnections. Formulating testing procedures to ensure that each of the devices and circuit connections work properly, both by themselves and together on the board, has accordingly become quite important. The ideal testing technique should be able to test all of the board components under the operating conditions they may be expected to encounter, should identify and isolate any defects in either the electrical devices mounted on the board or the connections between such devices, should be efficient in terms of both preparation and operating time, and should be capable of readily accomodating to changes in board design. Perhaps the most accurate method in use today for testing printed circuit boards involves digital logic simulation. In this technique the logic components or devices, as well as the board topology or network structure, are modeled by a computer program. A programmed set of logic stimuli is then applied to the board model to generate a response which can be used as a reference in testing actual boards. The test program is designed for the specific board to be tested in accordance with known techniques, such as NTS MAINCO programming language. Digital logic simulation is a very precise technique in that it provides expected response values for all logic nodes on the board, both output nodes at the edge of the board and internal nodes. Defects on a test board can be detected and located with high accuracy, since the expected logic state of each response node can be known for each step of the test program, and compared with the actual output states exhibited by a test board when a test program is run on it. On the other hand, this technique requires the expenditure of a considerable amount of time to both prepare the model and in the actual testing of the boards, and the model must be very accurate in order to achieve good results. Also, while the simulation may be valid, the test program itself may be inadequate to locate some possible defects. The time factor is particularly important when a final board design has not been reached. If the board is subsequently changed the model must also be changed, and this is again a time consuming process. The simulation technique is therefor best adapted to situations in which the final system design has been reached. Other testing techniques are known which are faster than logic simulation, but which do not produce as much useful information. For example, a test program may be applied to a test board, and the resulting logic pattern at the board output nodes compared with the corresponding pattern for a reference board. With this technique defects on a board may be detected, but they can be quite difficult to isolate. Also, a board defect may exist but not become manifest if it has only a transitory effect during the application of a test program, or if it is cancelled by other defects on the board. In either case, the final test response after the program has run may correspond to the reference response, thereby producing a false indication that the board is operating properly. Another technique involves the acquisition of transition counts for all or selected output nodes on a test board, and the comparison of these counts with a reference. According to the transition count method, a count is accumulated for selected output nodes as the test program is applied to the board, and a number is added to the count for each output node every time the node shifts from one logic state to the other, or every time a node is sampled. The number added may be either a constant or a known variable, depending upon whether the basic method or a variation thereof is selected. Several variations of this technique have been developed to reduce the chance of multiple board defects cancelling each other and giving a correct final transition count as a result of incorrect board operation. According to one variation, the original transition count is modified by adding some other number to the basic transition count each time the output node logic state changes. For example, the order of the test program step at which the logic transition occurs may be added to the basic transition number. Thus, if a transition from a "0" to a "1" logic state is indicated by the base transition number 1, that transition on the 178th step of the test program will advance the accumulated transition count by a total of 179. Another variation on the transition count technique, known as cyclic redundancy code, makes use of a mathematical algorithm to detect output errors over a long sequence of serial data by generating numbers which are unique to the sequence of transitions at the output nodes, rather than being determined solely by the accumulated transition counts. This technique is highly accurate in detecting any deviations from the expected sequence of logic transitions, but like its related transition counting techniques it gives little or no information as to the exact problem which might be causing a divergence between the expected and actual logic sequence at a particular output node. In a further method known to the art, the individual devices mounted on the board are simply tested one at a time by applying a set of input stimuli to each device, and testing to see if it produces the correct output. While this technique is effective in identifying and isolating particular device problems, it requires the time consuming procedure of placing an integrated circuit probe or clip on every one of the board devices and testing the devices individually. This problem may become prohibitive in the case of large circuit boards, such as those used in high-capacity computer systems. Also, while the operation of each device individually may be ascertained, the board as a whole is untested, and faulty operation due to bad connections or short circuits external to the individual devices may go undetected. For each of the testing techniques described above, it is assumed that an adequate test program is available to exercise the circuit boards in a proper manner such that any defects on the boards will become manifest by comparing the board response to a reference. In some cases, however, the test program may not exercise the board sufficiently, and certain board defects may pass unnoticed. There is therefor a need for ensuring that a test program intended to be used with a particular board design is indeed adequate for that board.

Purines in tRNAs required for recognition by ATP/CTP:tRNA nucleotidyltransferase from rabbit liver. Recognition of tRNA by the enzyme ATP/CTP:tRNA nucleotidyltransferase from rabbit liver was studied using 12 tRNAs, previously treated with the chemical modifier diethylpyrocarbonate (DEP). Such chemically modified tRNAs were labeled with 32P by nucleotidyltransferase, using alpha-[32P]ATP as a cosubstrate. A carbethoxylated purine at position 57 in the psi-loop interfered with recognition of the tRNA in all instances. DEP-modified purines at other positions (58 in the psi-loop, 52 or 53 in the psi-stem, and 71-73 in the acceptor stem), also interfered with the interaction, but in only a few tRNAs. The mammalian enzyme was more similar to the homologous enzyme from yeast than that from bacteria, in its requirements for chemically unmodified purines. The extent of exclusion of modified bases from 32P-labeled material diminished as the concentration of enzyme increased, demonstrating that interference was not due to the inability of the chemically altered tRNA to refold into a recognizable conformation. The degree of purification of the enzyme did not affect the identity of bases that inhibited the reaction when modified.

Effect of CYP17 and PSA gene polymorphisms on prostate cancer risk and circulating PSA levels in the Slovak population. Cytochrome P-450c17α (CYP17) and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) genes, which are involved in the androgen metabolism cascade, have been studied as possible candidates for genetic influences on prostate cancer development. Contradictory results prompted us to evaluate the frequencies of polymorphisms in the CYP17 and PSA genes as well as the association between these genetic variants and serum PSA levels in prostate cancer patients and men routinely screened for prostate cancer with PSA in the Slovak male population. The CYP17 and PSA polymorphisms were determined by the PCR-RFLP analysis in 197 Caucasian prostate cancer patients and 256 Caucasian controls. We did not find any association between the CYP17 and PSA genotypes and prostate cancer risk overall, or by grade. Also the total serum PSA levels in the cases with the AG or AA genotype were not significantly higher than in the men with the GG genotype (P > 0.05). Our study did not provide support for the hypothesized relationship between CYP17 and PSA gene polymorphisms and prostate cancer in the Slovak male population.

Vascular endothelial growth factor [VEGF; also known as vascular permeability factor (VPF)] is a highly conserved, potent multifunctional cytokine. Abnormal levels of production and or secretion of VEGF have been linked to a number of pathological conditions. For example, high concentrations of biologically active VEGF have been detected in pleural fluids and ascites of cancer patients (Zebrowski et al., 1999a, b). Ascites, the accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity, may result from a number of conditions, including tumours and other disease states such as chronic liver disease. Cirrhosis of the liver is responsible for the majority of cases of ascites and the prognosis is generally poor. Accumulation of malignant ascites is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis. Causes of malignant ascites formation include colon, gastric, pancreatic, endometrial and ovarian cancer (Smith and Jayson, 2003). For example, the malignant progression of ovarian cancer is predominantly confined to the peritoneal cavity and often evolves to an ascites form (Ozols et al., 1980). Both tumour size and the accumulation of ascites are inversely associated with survival (Hasumi et al., 2002). Current therapeutic treatment of patients with advanced ovarian cancer associates cytoreductive surgery and systemic chemotherapy, the combination of paclitaxel and cisplatin being considered the initial chemotherapy for stage III and IV (Burbridge et al., 1999). However two thirds of patients already have advanced disease when diagnosed, and poor prognoses are associated with rapidly accumulating ascites fluid and highly invasive and pleomorphic cellular phenotypes. There remains a need for an effective method for the treatment of ascites and ascites-associated conditions. Ascites is linked to peritoneal, as well as tumour microvascular hyperpermeability and several studies have implicated a role for VEGF in ascites formation via increasing vascular permeability. More generally, VEGF exerts a number of important effects on vascular endothelium including inducing new vascular formation. VEGF possesses potent vascular permeability-enhancing activity and abnormal levels of VEGF production or secretion lead to microvascular hyperpermeability. VEGF is now recognized as a key factor required for growth of tumours and is involved in many other disease states such as diabetes, arthritis including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, endometriosis, cerebral oedema, atheroscelrosis, ischaemic heart disease, and retinopathic diseases such as age related macular degeneration. Tumour secretion of VEGF is essential for ascites accumulation. Tumour cells usually represent the main source of VEGF, but tumour-associated stroma is also an important site of VEGF production. Blocking VEGF production or secretion by tumour cells, for example using a VEGF inhibitor, has been shown in animal studies to result in inhibition of ascites formation (Zebrowski et al., 1999a, b; Xu et al., 2000). There is also growing evidence that VEGF production and secretion is not limited to solid tumours, but that VEGF and VEGF receptors are expressed by a variety of leukemias and other haematological malignancies. Accordingly, VEGF is an attractive target for therapeutic intervention and several strategies to block VEGF activity have been sought, including monoclonal antibodies, VEGF receptor antagonists, tyrosine kinase antagonists and soluble VEGF receptors (VEGF-trap). There remains a need however for an effective method of inhibiting VEGF production and/or secretion and for treatment of conditions associated with VEGF production and/or secretion. The present invention is predicated on the inventors' surprising finding that the benzimidazole carbamate albendazole has a potent effect on VEGF levels secreted by human ovarian cancer cells in vitro and on VEGF levels in vivo, and exhibits significant inhibitory effect on a number of conditions associated with abnormal VEGF levels.

[Inheritance of academic idea and experience about using traditional Chinese medicine from JIN Shi-yuan]. Professor Jin Shi-yuan has been worked in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) over 70 years. He made prominent contributions in identification, processing, dispensing of TCM and reasonable use proprietary Chinese medicine. In over 70 years, he has mastered herbal medicine and traditional Chinese Medicine. It is also professor JIN's academic characteristic. Professor JIN's practical experiences were summarized according to the current situation about clinical medication, change of species of Juhong and Chenpi has been different from species of medical history. The quality is lower than before. Medicinal parts of Danggui, Gancao, Huangqin and Wuyao has been changed. So the actions of these herbal medicines have been changed also. Fresh herbal Qianchangpu has disappeared but it should be used clinically. Medical history, change of species, change of medicinal part, and change of preparing process in professor JIN's academic idea were be summarized periodically. The result is hoped to be referred by administration, manufacture, medical treatment of TCM.

Recent evidence has strongly suggested that the adult body weight of humans is greatly influenced by heredity (Bouchard et. al., 1985; 1986; Bray; 1981; Stunkard et. al., 1986a; 1986b). Since body weight is principally produced and maintained by eating, the genes that influence body weight probably act by affecting food intake, specifically, the frequency, composition, or size of meals. There have been, however, no systematic studies of hereditary influences on the meal patterns of humans. The proposed research will investigate that aspect of eating behavior is genetically determined by studying and comparing the meal patterns of monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins. MZ and DZ twins will be asked to enter into a diary everything they either eat or drink and the time of the meals throughout a consecutive seven day period. The records will then be entered into a computer in coded form for analysis of the nutrient composition of the recorded meals. The similarities and differences between overall nutrient intakes and the microstructure of eating including the meal compositions, the intervals between meals, the meal pattern correlations, and the circadian distribution of eating will be determined separately for the MZ and DZ twins. The heritabilities of these factors will then be estimated based upon the difference between the intra-twin correlations for the MZ and DZ pairs. The proposed study should provide insights into how heredity influences the meal patterns of humans and in turn encodes and maintains body weight. This may suggest the nature of the physiological processes that are genetically influenced and suggest methods of intervention to prevent or treat abnormal body weight or eating behavior.

Association of soy and fiber consumption with the risk of endometrial cancer. The authors conducted a case-control study among the multi-ethnic population of Hawaii to examine the role of dietary soy, fiber, and related foods and nutrients on the risk of endometrial cancer. Endometrial cancer cases (n = 332) diagnosed between 1985 and 1993 were identified from the five main ethnic groups in the state (Japanese, Caucasian, Native Hawaiian, Filipino, and Chinese) through the rapid-reporting system of the Hawaii Tumor Registry. Population controls (n = 511) were selected randomly from lists of female Oahu residents and matched to cases on age (+/-2.5 years) and ethnicity. All subjects were interviewed using a diet history questionnaire that included over 250 food items. Non-dietary risk factors for endometrial cancer included nulliparity, never using oral contraceptives, fertility drug use, use of unopposed estrogens, a history of diabetes mellitus or hypertension, and a high Quetelet's index (kg/cm2). Energy intake from fat, but not from other sources, was positively associated with the risk of endometrial cancer. The authors also found a positive, monotonic relation of fat intake with the odds ratios for endometrial cancer after adjustment for energy intake. The consumption of fiber, but not starch, was inversely related to risk after adjustment for energy intake and other confounders. Similar inverse gradients in the odds ratios were obtained for crude fiber, non-starch polysaccharide, and dietary fiber. Sources of fiber, including cereal and vegetable and fruit fiber, were associated with a 29-46% reduction in risk for women in the highest quartiles of consumption. Vitamin A and possibly vitamin C, but not vitamin E, were also inversely associated with endometrial cancer, although trends were not strong. High consumption of soy products and other legumes was associated with a decreased risk of endometrial cancer (p for trend = 0.01; odds ratio = 0.46, 95% confidence interval 0.26-0.83) for the highest compared with the lowest quartile of soy intake. Similar reductions in risk were found for increased consumption of other sources of phytoestrogens such as whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and seaweeds. Ethnic-specific analyses were generally consistent with these results. The observed dietary associations appeared to be largely independent of other risk factors, although the effects of soy and legumes on risk were limited to women who were never pregnant or who had never used unopposed estrogens. These data suggest that plant-based diets low in calories from fat, high in fiber, and rich in legumes (especially soybeans), whole grain foods, vegetables, and fruits reduce the risk of endometrial cancer. These dietary associations may explain in part the reduced rates of uterine cancer in Asian countries compared with those in the United States.

The present invention refers to a heat pump arrangement for heating purposes comprising a vaporizer designed as a heat exchanger, a compressor for compression of a vaporized medium and a condensor incorporated in a heat distribution system, at which the vaporizer is designed as an icing machine arranged to produce ice slush, and the heat generated during the ice formation is emitted to the vaporizer. There are nowadays strong attempts to economize on energy sources in all ways. For heating purposes solar energy and heat pump technique are therefore two alternative solutions, which become more and more intersesting but which also have their limitations. For heating purposes solar energy is collected with solar energy collectors, from which the heat is transferred by means of e.g. air or water. Solar energy collectors can only collect a part of the solar energy which is radiated towards it. The efficiency can be about 50%, but depends strongly on a plurality of factors, e.g. the over-temperature of the collector in relation to the air temperature. The efficiency decreases with a rising over-temperature and vice versa. Another problem when utilizing solar energy for heating purposes is that the intensity of the sun is highest during the summer and lowest during the winter and thus inversely related to the heating demands. For this reason some kind of heat accumulator and/or alternative energy sources must be installed in the system. In some plants they have tried to supply the heating requirements only with the collected solar energy. In this case it is necessary to work with relatively high temperatures on the collectors, and energy must be stored from the summer to the winter. Owing to the high temperatures the efficiency of the collector is considerably decreased, which means that collectors with very large surface areas must be used. Such a plant also needs a big accumulator volume, i.e. due to the fact that the temperaure only can vary between narrow limits (about +95.degree. C. when fully loaded to about +45.degree. C. when the accumulator is unloaded). There have also been attempts to use salt solutions of different kind in order to increase the stored energy per unit of volume and by that decrease the accumulated volume. In order to decrease the accumulated volume and temporarily increase the efficiency of the collectors, solar energy collectors are sometimes combined with a heat pump. The vaporizer of the heat pump takes heat from the solar energy collector/accumulator system and delivers heat at a higher temperature by means of the condensor to the heat system. By this combination the temperature variation of the accumulator can increase and its volume can be reduced. However the surface areas of the collectors, as the accumulator volume, are still very large if the entire annual heat requirements of a building shall be supplied in this way. In many cases attempts have been made to supply the heat requirements only by means of heat pumps without solar energy collectors and accumulators. The heat pump then has to take heat from the air or from the ground. The efficiency or heat factor of the heat pump decreases strongly when the temperature of the primary heat source--in this case the outdoor air or the ground--is low, and is therefore especially unfavorable during cold periods when the heat requirement are highest. The heat pump working with heat from the ground further have the disadvantages that it can be used only for special ground conditions, it has to be placed on a large depth and a large surface of the heat absorbing tube coils is required.

Since the invention of penicillin in 1928 by Alexander Flemming and their wider availability in the 1940s, further variants of existing and new antibiotics have been on the trial. Compared to the situation in 1954 when two million pounds of antibiotics were produced in the US, the present figure exceeds 50 million pounds. Antibiotics work either by killing bacteria (bacteriocidal) or by inhibiting growth (bacteriostatic) and their bioactivities have transformed human ability to treat many infectious diseases that previously were considered certain killers. It is estimated that globally humans consume above 250 million doses of antibiotics annually and 20%–50% of that use is unnecessary depending on the class of antibiotic. Further, widespread use of antibiotics promotes spread of antibiotic resistance many a times leading to multiple drug resistance. The total amount of antibiotic in the given dosage used for treatment of an infection generally is much higher than what is actually required to control a given population of parasite in the infected individual. This is so because all antibiotic given to the patient in a therapy does not reach the target site. This may be due to (i) lower absorption in the gut membrane when taken orally (ii) restrictive uptake by the target microbe or (iii) operation of efflux pump leading to indiscriminate extrusion of the antibiotics or therapeutic molecules. Thus, large portions of the drugs we apply are wasted and only a miniscule percentage is being targeted to the infective microbes. But even worse part is that the unutilized drug/antibiotic amount remains as a load in the body and environment. This then acts as a selection pressure, facilitating emergence of drug resistance in parasites leading to their predominance in the niche and ultimately resulting into failure of antibiotics against resistant infections. Additionally, such a situation leads to side effects, illness and reduction in life expectancy being more acute in the older population. One of the ways that has been feasible to reduce drug dosage is the occurrence of synergism between different therapeutic agents. However, even in such a situation if both the molecules have the antibiotic property, the problem of continued selection pressure on microbes is still likely to continue. Therefore, the need is for molecules, which by themselves are not microbicidal but when present with a drug or active molecule, enhance its activity and availability (bioenhancers). These molecules by their presence will not exert any selection pressure for the mutants to emerge resistant against them and on the other hand could reduce the dosage of antibiotics or drugs so that their ill effects are minimized. This way resistance development process will be substantially delayed ultimately leading to enhanced life-span of the novel and existing antibiotics. Such drug/molecule facilitators should have novel properties like non-toxic to humans, animals or plants, should be effective at a very low concentration in a combination, should be easy to formulate and most importantly enhance uptake/absorption and activity of the drug molecules. This can lead to development of judicious and strategic concentrations of antibiotics with specific bioenhancers to improve availability of the drug right up to the target for effectively controlling the infectious organisms. The present invention was the result of planned experiments to provide a novel method for improving activity and bioavailability of antibiotics, drugs and other molecules using a plant glycoside “Glycyrrhizin” in different formulations. The bioavailability of nutrients and enhancement of antibiotics/drugs effectivity is relevant to human, plant as well as animal health and thus the compositions and methods of the invention are also intended to be used in agriculture and veterinary practice.

Radial gap electric machines typically have stator windings which are in slots defined in the stator. The windings are provided in the stator directly by a winding machine, or pre-wound around a bobbin or mandrel and then transferred to the stator. Winding is time consuming and difficult to control repeatability from one machine to the next in mass marketing. While improvements in winding design therefore proliferate to address this problem, unfortunately most result in complex winding shapes and designs, and in multi-piece windings which still must be assembled, and which introduce new issues which challenge repeatability and reliability, etc. Therefore, there remains a need for an improved method of inexpensively and reliably providing a winding in a slotted stator of a radial gap electric machine. Referring to FIG. 1, a typical permanent magnet (PM) machine according to the prior art is shown at 100. Prior art PM machine 100 has a rotor 102, with permanent magnets 104 mounted thereto by a retaining ring 106, which is mounted on a rotatable shaft 108. Rotor 102 is adjacent a stator 110 having a plurality of windings 112 interspersed between a plurality of teeth 114 mounted to a back iron 116. (For ease of illustration, the adjacent elements of windings 112 in FIG. 1b are shown unconnected.) As is well understood, PM machine 100 may operate in a generator/alternator mode or a motor mode. [When operated in a generator/alternator mode, an external torque source forces rotation of the shaft (and thus the rotor and the magnets), and the interaction of the magnets and the windings causes a magnetic flux to loop the windings in the slots. As the rotor rotates, the magnetic flux in the stator structure changes, and this changing flux results in generation of voltage in the windings, which results in an output current that can be used to power electrical devices, or be stored for later use. When operated in a motor mode, a voltage from an external source is applied to the stator windings which causes current flow in the windings and results in a magnetic flux to be set up in the magnetic circuit formed by the teeth and back iron. When current is supplied in an appropriate manner to the windings, the rotor can be made to rotate and thus produce usable torque. The operation of such machines is thus well understood.] Such PM machines can have an “inside rotor” configuration as shown in FIGS. 1a and 1b, or an “outside rotor” configuration as shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b. The reference numerals in FIGS. 2a and 2b correspond to the corresponding features described with reference to FIGS. 1a and 1b. In the “outside rotor” configuration, however, rotor yoke 108′ replaces rotor shaft 108. For ease of illustration, the adjacent elements of the windings in FIG. 2b are also shown unconnected. Irrespective of whether operated in an alternator or motor mode, the magnetic flux path in these prior art PM machines is as partially and simply depicted in FIG. 3, the flux path as indicated by the arrows 118, and the poles and virtual poles denoted by an “N” or an “S”. It is this magnetic flux 118 which induces a voltage in the alternator winding 112 (or in the case of a motor, creates the magnetic attraction with the permanent magnet 106 to cause rotor rotation), as described above.

This invention relates to tape dispensers, and particularly this invention relates to tape dispensers of the sort utilized to dispense tape which is typically employed for purposes of the sealing boxes and packages. Such tape typically has a width of two inches up to 3.5 inches; and typically such tape is wound on a core which has an inner diameter in the range of 1.5 to 3 inches. The present invention provides a tape dispenser from which a length of tape may be dispensed and cut from the roll of tape, where the hand of the person operating the tape dispenser is protected from contacting the edges of the roll of tape mounted in the dispenser. The type of tape for which dispensers in keeping with present invention are provided is typically referred to as xe2x80x9cmailing tapexe2x80x9d. As noted, mailing tape typically has a width of from two inches up to about 3.5 inches, and the tape is wound on cylindrical cores which have the same width as the tape and which have an inner diameter in the range of 1.5 to 3 inches. The tape is intended to be unwound or unreeled from the core when the core is mounted in a dispenser. Quite often, in mailing rooms which have large volumes, and packing rooms where cardboard boxes may be erected and taped using wide tape, the dispenser for the tape is large and/or automated. On the other hand, it may very often occur, especially in small mailing rooms or offices, and very often in household purposes, that a smaller roll of mailing tape is required to be used in such a manner that essentially the mailing tape is to be held in the hand. However, it is inconvenient to dispense or unreel tape directly from a roll without the use of the dispenser of some sort into which the roll of tape has been rotatably mounted. Moreover, such dispenser must be small enough to be held in the hand, and to be manipulated so as to permit a length of tape to be dispensed from the roll of tape, and then to be cut therefrom using a cutter member which is an integral part of the dispenser. On the other hand, such dispensers as are presently known for hand held dispensing of mailing tape, as discussed hereafter, are both awkward to use and are uncomfortable to use, especially by female persons who typically have smaller hands, the skin of which may be less callused than those of a male co-worker. The inventor herein has unexpectedly discovered that the provision of a pair of cover wing portions which extend over the edges of the roll of tape mounted in the tape dispenser not only provides structural rigidity when the dispenser is in use, but greater comfort to the hand of the user is afforded. On the other hand, the provision of the pair of cover wing portions does not significantly affect the flexibility of the side walls of the dispenser, so that a used core may be removed from the dispenser and a new roll of tape may be installed in the dispenser. U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,332 issued Nov. 21, 1995 to Dretzka et al, teaches a tape dispenser having a polymeric frame with a cutter mounted on one end and an arched portion in the upper region of the dispenser. The arched portion is resiliently flexible, having a generally cylindrically concave surface adjacent the periphery of the roll of tape, and is adapted to be received in the palm of the hand of a user to space the user""s hand away from the rotating roll of tape as it is being dispensed. However, as it happens, the edges of a roll of tape mounted in commercial embodiments of the tape dispenser remain exposed, and they are typically in contact with the hand of the user. The patent also teaches a pair of inwardly directed tab portions which are defined at their edges by cam surfaces, and which have arcuate retaining surfaces in the upper region of each tab portion. The purpose of the cam surfaces is to urge the tape into the region adjacent the cutter member, so that the tape may be cut upon appropriate manipulation of the dispenser. Another U.S. Pat. No. is 4,961,525 issued Oct. 9, 1990 to Corbo et al. That patent teaches a reusable tape dispenser where the edges of the roll of tape mounted in the dispenser are fully exposed. The dispenser has a pair of flexible side walls which are secured using releasable locking means. Also, a pair of opposed tabs are located beneath a base wall portion to provide guides for the tape as it is being dispensed, and to assure its proximity to the cutter member. The present invention provides a tape dispenser for dispensing a length of tape from a roll of tape which is rotatably mounted thereon, and for cutting the dispensed length of tape away from the roll of tape. The tape dispenser comprises a body which has a rear portion and a front portion, and a cutter member which is disposed at the front edge of the front portion. The body has a pair of substantially planar side walls, and a pair of inwardly directed hub portions which are located in the rear portion of the body. Each of the hub portions has at least an arcuate portion in the top region thereof, and the arcuate portion is adapted so as to rotatably support the core of a roll of tape when placed thereon. A cover portion extends between the side walls in the front portion of the body, behind the cutter member. A cover wing portion extends inwardly from each side wall in the upper region of the rear portion of the body, so as to cover the edges of a roll of tape in that upper region when the roll of tape is placed in the tape dispenser. The pair of side walls is sufficiently flexible so as to permit them to be spread apart in the rear portion thereof in order to remove or install a roll of tape over the hub portion. The pair of side walls have elastic memory so as to restore themselves to a normal unflexed condition whereby each of the side walls is substantially planar. Typically, the transition between each of the planar side walls and each of the cover wing portions is curved. The cover wing portions may typically extend inwardly from each of the side walls also in the rear region of the rear portion of the body. A pair of tabs may be provided, which extend inwardly from the pair of side walls in the front region of the rear portion of the body, below the cover portion. Each of the tabs includes an arcuate retaining surface which extends forwardly therefrom. Typically, there is at least one opening that is formed through the transition area between each of the cover wing portions and the respective one of the pair of side walls. There may be a pair of ribbed finger rests that are formed on the pair of side walls in the region between the front portion and the rear portion thereof. The arcuate hub portion of each of the side walls defines a horizontally disposed centre axis of rotation which extends sideways through the rear portion of the body, so as to rotatably mount a roll of tape in the tape dispenser. Typically, the body of the tape dispenser of the present invention is injection molded from a polymeric plastics material chosen from the group consisting of ABS, polystyrene, and combinations thereof.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a combustion apparatus for use in a heating system, hot water supply system, air-conditioning system, portable heater and other equipment in which such gaseous fuel as natural gas and propane gas or liquid fuel such as kerosene and light oil are burnt for providing a heat source. 2. Related Art of the Invention Catalytic combustion is a method of burning a fuel-air mixture by using a catalyzer with a platinum alloy carried by such ceramic carrier as honeycomb and fiber. A catalyst used for combustion has a selective adsorption to oxygen and hydrocarbon, and allows them to react with each other on a surface of the catalyst. In such operation, because the catalyst is at a temperature lower than that obtained by flame combustion of an identical gas, almost no NOx is produced. It is a problem, however, that the temperature of a catalyzer is increased to 1,200.degree. C. or a higher temperature, if a combustion apparatus using a catalyst is operated at a combustion load (intensity of combustion in relation to a volume of combustion chamber) identical to that of a flame combustion apparatus, and a life of the catalyst in terms of heat resistance is significantly reduced. It is, therefore, required to use the catalyst at a temperature lower than a critical temperature of heat resistance thereof by using means for reducing the combustion load and increasing the size of a combustion chamber or employing means for increasing the excess air ratio in a fuel-air mixture and reducing the combustion temperature. Flame combustion is achieved at an excess air ratio of 1 to 2. On the other hand, catalytic combustion is achieved at an excess air ratio of 1 to 5, and it, therefore, allows use of a leaner fuel-air mixture. However, it is a problem that a thermal efficiency is considerably lowered, when a leaner fuel-air mixture is employed. It means that a difference in temperature between a heat exchanger and combustion exhaust is reduced, because a combustion temperature is lower at a lower concentration of fuel, and a rate of heat transfer is reduced. Thus, in order to obtain a higher heat efficiency, a heat exchanger of a larger size is required, and it has been difficult to provide a compact catalytic combustion apparatus having a high combustion capacity. Additionally, in catalytic combustion, although it is required to preliminarily mix the air with a fuel to cause a reaction, it is a problem, when a liquid fuel is employed, that a higher heat is required for vaporizing the fuel. In a conventional liquid fuel combustion apparatus of vaporization type using the flame combustion method, although a vaporizing unit is heated by an electric heater only at an initial stage of the combustion, consumption of an electric power is low, because it is heated by applying a flame to a part of the vaporizing unit during stationary burning. In the case of a conventional combustion apparatus using the catalytic combustion method, however, it is a problem that an electric power supply is required for vaporization heat even in a stationary state, as no flame is formed, resulting in an additional power consumption.

The metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) have attracted considerable interest as novel therapeutic targets for multiple neurological and psychiatric conditions. Among the least studied of the eight subtypes of the mGluR family is mGluR3, where selective ligands have yet to be identified. In spite of this limitation, we have made significant progress in elucidating the roles and functions attributable to mGluR3, including a novel role for mGluR3 in regulating hippocampal function. Specifically, we have shown that group II mGluRs (mGluR2 and mGluR3) participate in a novel form of glial-neuronal communication in the hippocampus in which activation of mGluRs on astrocytes leads to release of adenosine and reduction of glutamate release from neighboring glutamate synapses. We postulate that this astrocytic response is mediated by the mGluR3 subtype and that activation of mGluR3 could impair hippocampal LTP. These results lead us to hypothesize that selective antagonists of mGluR3 could have cognition-enhancing effects. Prior studies with mGluR2/3 antagonists using both wild-type and mGluR2 knockout mice in the Morris water maze, a model of spatial learning that depends on normal hippocampal function, are consistent with mGluR3 functioning as the predominant group II mGluR subtype responsible for the cognition-enhancing effects seen with group II mGluR antagonists. Additionally, exciting new preclinical studies reveal that group II antagonists have robust efficacy in multiple animal models that predict antidepressant activity. Highly selective antagonists that are suitable for use in animal models are needed in order to better understand the respective roles of mGluR2 and mGluR3 in these studies. In addition to our multiple series of group II mGluR antagonists, we have recently discovered a series of compounds that are selective antagonists of mGluR3. Importantly, these new selective antagonists are from a chemotype that has previously delivered efficacious CNS tool compounds in the past. These selective compounds offer an unprecedented opportunity to systematically test the hypotheses presented above. In order to accomplish our goals we will optimize our compounds such that the resultant probe will possess the balance of properties required to make it a highly valuable tool to the research community. The optimization process will involve an iterative medicinal chemistry library approach focused not only on potency and selectivity, but a number of DMPK parameters associated with CNS exposure. Using our selective antagonists of mGluR3, along with mGluR3 knockout mice, we plan to rigorously test the hypothesis that blockade of mGluR3 inhibits group II mGluR-mediated astrocytic-neuronal communication in hippocampal area CA1. In addition, we will test the hypothesis that coactivation of mGluR3 and bARs leads to an impairment of hippocampal LTP. Finally, we will examine our optimized compounds in efficacy models where mGluR2/3 antagonists have been shown to have cognition-enhancing and antidepressant-like effects in order to elucidate the respective roles of each receptor. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Recent studies suggest that drugs that selectively block actions of a specific neurotransmitter receptor, termed mGluR3, may provide a novel approach for treatment of major depression and may improve memory formation in patients suffering from serious brain disorders. We have discovered new molecules within a chemotype proven to deliver efficacious CNS tool compounds that selectively inhibit this neurotransmitter receptor. Studies are proposed to optimize the properties of these molecules through iterative medicinal chemistry so that they can be used to test the hypothesis that mGluR3 inhibitors have actions that predict efficacy in treatment of depression and cognitive impairments.

Secure mounting of cables during installation thereof is a necessity in a variety of environments. One such environment is in fiber optics, and in particular in the fiber optic inside office environment. In such environment, fiber optic distribution enclosures are utilized to manage optical fiber distribution. An enclosure typically accommodates one or more fiber trays, each of which includes one or more cassettes. Within a cassette, an incoming optical fiber may be spliced, split, etc., and outgoing optical fibers may be connected to the cassette and incoming optical fibers to provide fiber optic connections within the inside office environment. The incoming cables which include incoming optical fibers must be secured to the enclosures to facilitate secure, reliable connections. Current techniques for mounting cables require the use of tie-wraps, hook-and-loop fasteners, hose clamps, bracket clamps, etc. In many cases, the mounting performance using such apparatus is less than desirable, and/or the ability to remove and reattach such apparatus to relocate or adjust the associated cable is limited. Additionally, while some “quick-release” type solutions are available, these solutions require an additional mounting plate to be secured within the enclosure. Further, presently known mounting solutions do not relieve torsional or bending stresses in the associated cables. Accordingly, improved cable mounting clamps are desired. For example, cable mounting clamps which are easily and efficiently removable and reattachable in associated environments, such as to associated enclosures, would be advantageous. Additionally or alternatively, cable mounting clamps which include features for relieving torsional or bending stresses in associated cables would be advantageous.

Axially arranged rotary threshing or separating systems have long been in use in agricultural combines for threshing crops to separate grain from crop residue, also referred to as material other than grain (MOG). Such axially arranged systems typically include at least one cylindrical rotor rotated within a concave or cage, the rotor and surrounding concave being oriented so as to extend forwardly to rearwardly within the combine. In operation, crop material is fed or directed into a circumferential passage between the rotor and the concave, hereinafter referred to as a rotor residue passage, and is carried rearwardly along a generally helical path in such passage by the rotation of the rotor as grain is threshed from the crop material. The flow of crop residue or MOG remaining between the rotor and concave after threshing is typically discharged or expelled by the rotating rotor at a rear or downstream end of the rotor and the rotor residue passage in a generally downward, or a downward and sidewardly, direction in what is a continuation of the helical path of movement of the crop residue within the rotor residue passage between the rotor and concave. The flow is typically discharged into a discharge opening at the downstream end of the rotor and into a further passage, hereinafter referred to as a discharge passage, that extends downwardly and somewhat rearwardly into a crop residue distribution system located below and rearwardly of the rear end of the threshing system, and which typically includes a rotary beater or other apparatus which propels the crop residue rearwardly within a rear end of the combine for either discharge from the combine through a rear opening onto a field, or into a chopper and/or spreader mounted on the rear end operable for spreading the residue over a swath of a field. Due to the nature of operation of the rotor, the design of the rotor and concave, and the helical movement of the crop residue within the rotor residue passage, the flow of crop residue from the rotor residue passage into the discharge opening is often greater on the downward sweep side of the rotor than on the upward sweep side, as a consequence of which an uneven flow of crop residue occurs across the width of the discharge opening, which uneven flow has typically, in the past, proceeded through the discharge passage to the crop residue distribution system. When the crop residue is to be spread in a swath over a field, it is desirable in many instances for the crop residue to be distributed evenly or uniformly over the swath. This is desirable for reasons including that uneven crop residue distribution on a field can lead to temperature and moisture gradients detrimental to even growth of future crops on the field. It can also make it difficult for crops to utilize nutrients, and can impact the effectiveness of agricultural chemicals. Large discontinuities of crop residue can lead to plugging and other functional problems with tillage and/or planting equipment. One factor which has been found to influence the ability of a chopper and/or spreader to distribute crop residue evenly or uniformly over a field is the transverse or side to side evenness of crop residue inflow into the chopper and/or spreader. That is, it has been found that the amount of crop residue infeed to one side of the chopper should be about equal to the amount of crop residue infeed to the other side in order to achieve even distribution over a field. In turn, the side to side infeed to the chopper/spreader has been found to be a function of the side to side distribution of crop residue infeed into the beater or other impeller of the crop residue distribution system from the threshing system. Numerous devices and structures have been developed to improve flow of crop residue from axially arranged threshing systems into crop residue distribution systems, including constructions such as are disclosed in Payne et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,352,474 entitled Metering Edge for Axially Arranged Rotary Separator and Pfeiffer et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,241,605 entitled Discharge Geometry for Axially Arranged Rotary Separator. Although the above referenced constructions may perform well, it has been found that a variety of variables and conditions can influence the ability to redirect and transversely distribute crop residue flow in the discharge passage between a threshing system and a crop residue distribution system. For example, residue from different crops, such as wheat and corn, will typically flow differently, and different rotor rotation speeds will typically be used for different crops. For instance, small grains such as wheat and other grasses will typically be threshed at a relatively high rotor speed, for instance, 600 to 1000 revolutions per minute (rpm), and produce residue containing a large volume of small stalks of straw, whereas corn will typically be threshed at a relatively slow rotor speed, for instance, less than 400 rpm, and produce crop residue containing a mixture of bulky stalk segments, cob fragments and large leaves. For a given crop, differences in plant maturity and weather conditions can affect size, moisture content, and other characteristics of crop residue so as to have varying flow and distribution characteristics. Due at least in part to the above described variables and conditions, it has been observed that the transition of crop residue flow from the threshing system to the residue distribution system can vary. In particular, the side to side distribution of the flow into the rotating beater can vary, that is, flow to one side of the beater can be heavier than to the other side, such that the beater will propel more crop residue into one side of a chopper and/or spreader, resulting, in turn, in uneven crop residue distribution over a swath of a field. In an attempt to address the foregoing problems, an apparatus was thus developed for transitioning crop residue from an axially arranged threshing system of a combine to a distribution system that overcomes one or more of the problems and disadvantages set forth above. Such apparatus, as described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/204,230, includes an adjustable deflector construction that includes a movable portion, hereinafter referred to as a deflector plate, that can be adjustably positioned to be in the path of the flow of the crop residue when that residue is expelled from the threshing system and an adjusting mechanism operable for moving the deflector plate within the path of the flow of the crop residue for changing a transverse location at which the flow deflected by the deflector plate will flow into the crop residue distribution system. For the most part, prior to the present invention, deflector constructions have been positioned with the deflector plate hingedly or pivotally mounted at the downstream end of the rotor adjacent a lower quadrant of the rotor residue passage, and adjustment thereof has been performed either manually or under control of a control system. It has now been discovered and recognized that improved performance and reliability can be achieved through the employment of additional features and methods, including by locating the deflector at a higher position at the downstream end of the rotor, with the hinge or pivoting axis for the deflector plate being at approximately the height of the axis of the rotor at its downstream end, and by also providing a control that will effect automatic retraction of the deflector to a nominal, safe, typically approximately vertical position, when a rotor reversing function is engaged, such as when the rotor has become plugged and actuation of a rotor reversing function or deplugging function is effected to clear the plug. By positioning the deflector plate in the discharge passage at the downstream end of the threshing rotor at such higher position at approximately the height of the axis of the threshing rotor at that downstream end, crop residue can be intercepted at an earlier and generally higher point of discharge and redirected as determined to be desirable to better distribute the crop residue, and especially to better direct a portion of the residue stream from the heavier flow side towards the lighter flow side of the spreader. The noted, controlled retraction of the deflector plate prevents damage to the deflector apparatus by the crop residue and the rotor that might otherwise be occasioned by the change in the rotor's direction of rotation. In the absence of such controlled retraction, a rotor reversal can result in the forced deposit of crop residue between the backside of the extended deflector plate and the bulkhead to which it is mounted and the attendant risks of damage to both the deflector plate itself and to the adjustment means therefor as additional crop residue continues to be directed to such location. Even if the rotor reversal is only for a short duration, when the rotor operation is returned to its original condition, the buildup of crop residue between the backside of the deflector plate and the bulkhead to which it is mounted may be such that it does not properly clear, which can result in the deflector plate remaining in a jammed condition or in subsequent less effective operation and positioning of the deflector plate. Additionally, it has been found that the inclusion of a projecting directional vane on the surface of the deflector plate and a tapered leading edge can both individually further assist in distributing the crop residue more evenly, and that it is also advantageous to be able to return the deflector plate to a desired, operating condition after the rotor reversing function has been completed or disengaged, such as the operating position prior to rotor reversal. Consequently, there has now been developed an improved apparatus, and method of use thereof, for transitioning crop residue from an axially arranged threshing system of a combine to a distribution system that includes one or more of the features discussed hereinabove and which overcomes one or more of the problems and disadvantages set forth hereinabove.

Political efficacy in adolescence: Development, gender differences, and outcome relations. The present study focuses on political efficacy in terms of students' competence self-perceptions related to the domain of politics. The investigation addresses the mean level development and longitudinal relations to outcome variables including gender differences. Drawing on a sample of N = 2,504 German students, political efficacy, along with meaningful outcome variables (i.e., political information behavior, political knowledge, and interest in politics), was measured at 2 measurement points, once in Grade 7 and once in Grade 10. Students' mean levels of political efficacy increased from the first to the second measurement point, and boys consistently displayed higher levels. Political efficacy demonstrated reciprocal relations to political information behavior and political knowledge, and showed a unidirectional relation to interest in politics across time. The pattern of outcome relations was invariant across gender. This study contributes to research and theory on political socialization in adolescence as it outlines temporal relations among, and gender differences in, facets of political socialization. Therefore, this study also offers new practical insights into effectively facilitating political education in adolescent students. (PsycINFO Database Record

"Previously on The Returned..." "He got out!" "Do you know how stupid you are?" "Do you?" "Maybe he was just hunting." "Hunting what?" "I know who you are." "You killed my mom." "You killed me." "Hello, Henry." "Tell them who you are." "She's Camille." "She's not my cousin." "She's my sister." "Lena, you're not making any sense." "You shouldn't be out of the hospital." "Why don't you tell them why I was in the hospital?" "She wants me dead like her." "Lena?" "Lena?" "Are you okay?" "Camille." "What?" "She says it happened fast." "She didn't even know it was coming." "She wasn't afraid." "What are you talking about?" "She's gone now." "I'm not understanding what's going on here." "Sometimes... sometimes during sex, I see things." "Or hear things." "It just happens." "Come on, get off." "Get off." "I'm..." "I'm gonna go." "Okay." "_" "Clear." "Bag her." "I'm resuming compressions." "She's flatlined." "No pulse." "Stay with us, Lucy." "Come on." "She's catatonic." "She's in defib." "Body temp 92." "Blood pressure dropping." "Time of death: 2:26." "Pupillary reflexes are good." "Brain function's normal." "What's her BP?" "Liz?" "110 over 60." "Is that good?" "For someone we thought was clinically dead?" "Yeah, that's pretty good." "What happened?" "Why am I here?" "Someone attacked you." "You were stabbed." "When they brought you in, you'd lost so much blood that you slipped into a coma." "An hour ago, you went into sudden cardiac arrest." "Your heart stopped." "I was stabbed?" "Where was I stabbed?" "May I?" "If I knew where she was going," "I wouldn't be calling the police." "Yes, I understand she's an adult." "Let me say it one more time." "My daughter is hurt, and she left the hospital." "Thank you." "All right." "Hi, it's Lena." "Leave me a message, and I'll call you back probably." "Honey, it's me again." "I know you're upset, but you have to call me back." "We're all very worried about you, okay?" "I love you." "It's not like she's dead or anything." "Lena's fine." "I can feel her." "Like we used to." "Remember that winter that you took us all sledding in Silver Springs?" "Lena broke her ankle, and I felt it." "Mom and I were still on the top of the mountain, but I knew she was hurt." "Fine, don't believe me." "No one's saying we didn't believe you, honey." "It happened the day of the accident too." "I felt her right before." "What do you mean, you felt her?" "She wasn't sick that day." "She was with Ben having sex." "You guys are so clueless." "Camille?" "Why was Lena running away from you last night?" "Did..." "Did you do something?" "Claire." "You think I hurt her?" "That she's gone because of me?" "Camille." "What if Lena's right?" "What if Camille isn't who she used to be?" "Camille is our daughter." "So is Lena." "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." " Who are you?" " I'm Adam." "It's okay." "You're safe." " You're safe." " Where am I?" "My cabin." "Look, I found you passed out by the river." "Just take it easy." "Look, I was gonna take you to the hospital, but... it looks like you've already been, and I figured..." "I figured you left for a reason." "Look, I couldn't just leave you out in the woods, so I brought you here." "What happened to your back?" "It's a long story." "Do you have any aspirin or... or whiskey?" "It hurts like hell." "No." "I have something better though." "Just wait here." "I remember leaving the Dog Star." "I remember walking." "Then what?" "Well, the doctors said I was found in the tunnel under the highway, but I don't remember being there." "I don't remember anything else." "What about him?" "Does he look familiar?" "Yeah." "I met him at the Dog Star." "He was looking for a girl who used to work there." "Is he the person who attacked you?" "I don't..." "I don't remember." "But it could be him." "I'm sorry." "It's okay." "We'll talk more later." "You just get some rest now." "Doc?" "Stay here." "Did you hear that?" "Hear what?" "Nothing." "Never mind." "What are the chances of her getting her memories back after something like this?" "Something like this?" "I've never seen something like this." "No one has." "There's no medical precedent." "Three hours ago, this girl was dead." "And now?" "She's fine." "All right." "Thanks." "Yeah." "♪ Dug myself out of a grave, no shovel ♪" "♪ Double flip step and dancing with the devil ♪" "♪ Echoes inside of my brain that say meant away ♪" "♪ Quarter never change, I'm still myself, klepto ♪" "Can I help you?" "I'm Claire Winship." "Lena's mom." "Oh, Mrs. Winship." "Sorry, I'm, like, half asleep." "May I come in?" "Uh, yeah." "Yeah, sure." "So how's Lena?" "I mean, we were really worried about her last night." "That's why I'm here." "Lena never came home." "She's not answering her phone." "Oh." "Yeah, she was saying some pretty crazy shit." "Guess she was kind of out of it, painkillers and all." "What happened to her back?" "The doctors aren't sure." "She should be in the hospital." "Did you call Ben?" "Ben hasn't heard from her." "Is there someone new maybe?" "Somebody I'm not thinking of?" "A boyfriend?" "Well, there isn't, like, one." "What do you mean?" "Well, Lena... sh... she knows a lot of different guys." "But last night, I didn't see her with anyone." "Sorry." "What is it?" "Nettles mostly, some ground-up whitebark pine and a bunch of other stuff." "It's my ma's recipe." "Okay, this is gonna hurt." "But it'll make it better." "Mm." "Trust me." "Okay." "Do you live here by yourself?" "Um, I used to live with my ma and my brother, but my ma died." "And your brother?" "He did something I can't forgive." "I had a sister." "I wasn't good to her either." "What happened?" "I did something unforgivable too." "I think that's why this is happening to me." "I should be dead." "Me too." "But we're not." "We're here." "Maybe it's not too late to be different." "Hey." "I got your message." "Did you find Victor?" "No." "But we picked up a homeless woman we think may've been with him." "Witnesses saw them together at the diner." "She skipped out on the check, so we picked her up this morning." "W... what about Victor?" "She says he walked off while she was in the restroom." "You don't think she did something to him?" "She seems off but not violent." "Look, she says she's George Goddard's wife." "George Goddard's wife died 29 years ago." "She's probably off her meds, but she does seem to know a lot about him." "George was a patient of yours, right?" "I was thinking maybe you could talk to her a little, get her to open up." "If she does know where Victor went, maybe she'll tell you." "Who are you?" "I'm Julie." "I'm a doctor." "A shrink?" "I'm not that kind of doctor." "May I sit down?" "Do you have any food?" "I am starving." "I was George's doctor." "I saw pictures of you in his house." "So then you believe me?" "That I am who I say I am?" "Hmm." "George said you died in the flood." "Do you remember that?" "Mm-hmm." "I remember the sound mostly." "It was like a strong wind, but there was no wind." "And then there was the water." "Oh, it was black as tar." "A stew of sludge." "Broken trees." "Glass." "Ugh, floating cars." "Yep." "It felt like the whole world was being swallowed up." "And the little boy, why were you with him yesterday?" "He's like me." "Victor died in the flood too?" "Hmm, you mean Henry?" "No, he died before that." "Do you know how?" "Some men broke into his house looking to rob the place." "That was terrible." "Killed his mother, and then they killed him." "How is this possible?" "The more pertinent question is "why."" "There has to be a reason for us being here, right?" "How do you know if you're dead?" "There's only one way to find out." "You don't seriously believe any of that, do you?" "Look at me." "That woman met Victor at the Triple C two days ago." "She doesn't know anything about him." "She's crazy." "What if she's not?" "What are you saying?" "That she's dead?" "Maybe she and Victor aren't the only ones." "What?" "You mean you?" "Hey, I was there, okay?" "You fought like hell, and you survived." "That man didn't kill you." "You don't get it." "It would be a relief to find out that I'm like her." "It would explain why I haven't been able... to feel my life." "Can you feel that?" "Come with me." "I want to show you something." "Richard and I grew up together." "We dropped out of school and went on the road together to see the country, to... to have adventures." "We made it as far as Caldwell before we ran out of money." "Richard said it would be easy." "Nobody was supposed to be home." "Your mother was reading a book in the living room when we came through the back door." "I had no idea he was gonna do... what he did." "And he told me to go search the house, and that's... that's when I found you." "I'm sorry." "I brought you out here to show you that the man who killed your mother, who killed you, he's dead now." "And he died a slow and horrible death from cancer." "It took... it took five years to eat him up." "Henry, I've spent the last 29 years of my life trying to live... trying to make up for that night." "I've devoted myself to trying to... help others." "But I see now that maybe that's not enough." "Maybe that's why... you've come back." "I am asking for your forgiveness, Henry." "But I understand if you can't give it." "Lena?" "Hey." "I'm fine." "You can stop calling." "Tell me where you are." "I'll come get you." "No." "Lena, you should be in a hospital." "That wound is serious." "It's getting better, really." "You don't have to worry." "You ran away from a hospital." "You won't tell us where you are or who you're with." "I know I haven't been there for you." "I'm sorry." "It's a little late for that, don't you think?" "Lena, don't..." "Hey, it's Ben." "Leave a message." "Ben, it's Alice." "Sorry things got so crazy last night." "Lena was pretty messed up, huh?" "Anyway, call me back when you get this." "I want to see you." "She's with someone." "Did she say that?" "Do you know about out daughter's reputation?" "So when you were hanging out there at the Dog Star with your friend... what did you do?" "You just sit and watch her get drunk and go home with strangers?" "You know, legally she is an adult." "She can do whatever she wants to." "You may not like the way she's living her life, but at least she's living it." "You've been at the bottom of a bottle for four years." "And you've been locked in this house lighting candles to your dead daughter's shrine." "I think..." "I think you're pissed off you got no one left to mourn." "Camille's back." "Lena doesn't need you." "And you don't know what the heck to do." "Can you imagine being anything other than the perfect grieving martyr?" "Get out of here." "Get out." "What are you doing?" "Sorry, I was just looking for something to wear." "The hospital gown's kind of gross." "Is this, uh, is this your mother's?" "Mm-hmm." "Are you sure it's okay?" "Turn around." "Oh." "Okay, you can turn around." "It's my brother." "Just, uh, wait here, okay?" "What are you doing here?" "I just want to talk." "Well, I don't want to talk." "You need to go." "Is someone here?" "What?" "No." "Do you have someone here?" "It's Ma." "She's back." "Like me." " Ma's back?" " Yes." "But she doesn't want to see you." "You killed her son." "She doesn't want to see you ever again." "What's wrong?" "Tony's your brother?" "Tony's brother is dead." "How long have you been back?" "A few days." "Tony told everyone you died because you were sick." "He lied." "Then how did it happen?" "I was a bad person." "You don't seem like a bad person." "Well, you don't know me." "You took care of me." "Oh." "I have been in the dark." "Give yourself a break." "Jack's right." "Now that Camille's back, I..." "I've lived in the shadow of her death." "Looking back is the only thing I know how to do." "Maybe it's time I started seeing what's right in front of me." "Bit of a role reversal, huh, Tony?" "Everything okay?" "It's fam... family stuff." " You want your usual?" " No, no, no, no." "Actually, not tonight." "I'm looking for Lena." "I think she might have gone home with someone last night." "Did she meet anybody here?" "Was she hanging out with anybody?" "No, um..." "No." "Sorry, I didn't." "Thanks." "I didn't think you were coming." "Is anybody else home?" "Whoa." "This is weird." "It's, um... it's exactly how it was when..." "Sit down." "Who are you?" "You know who I am." "Camille?" "Ben." "Ben." "Victor." "Victor, why did you come to me?" "Is it because I'm like you?" "You're the fairy." "My mom said you would protect me." "I'm not a fairy." "I know you are." "Okay." "I'll be the fairy." "Whatever you want." "You didn't have to come." "I'm looking for Lena." "She took off from here yesterday." "Oh." "Sorry." "I hope she's okay." "I came to see you yesterday, but you were unconscious." "You know, when I was standing there beside your bed, I was..." "I wasn't thinking about the money you took or the lies that you told." "I was thinking how I wanted you to wake up." "Hmm." "Here you are." "You should hate me." "Maybe I should." "But I don't." "Everything I said about Camille," "I made it all up." "I know." "It doesn't matter." "Sometimes I even convinced myself that it was true... that I really had a gift." "I'm sorry." "I believed you 'cause I wanted to." "But that was before." "Since I woke up..." "It's really happening now." "What are you talking about?" "Voices in my head, whispering things, scary things, things I don't want to hear." "I don't expect you to believe me." "He was supposed to be at your baseball game." "He told your mom he was tied up at work." "The truth was he was at the bar." "He said there was ice on the road... but really he was drunk." "He's sorry you had to grow up without a father." "And he wants me to tell you..." "What?" "He's scared for you."

The playing of electronic games over the Internet by multiple players has become an increasingly popular pastime. Although games designed to run on personal computers (PCs) and on dedicated electronic game systems, such as Microsoft Corporation's XBOX™ game system, are designed to enable multiple players to play in a local game session, games played over the Internet offer users the opportunity to match skills against a much broader range of players and to play at any time. Multiplayer games over a network are typically implemented by enabling each of a plurality of client computing devices to connect to a server computing device over the network, so that the server computing device facilitates game interaction between the players of a plurality of different games. To simplify the following discussion, the term “client” will be used instead of client computing device, and the term “server” will be used instead of server computing device, but the broader concept of these entities is intended to apply. Ideally, only the skill of players participating in online game play should determine who wins a game. However, online gamers are notorious for developing creative ways to cheat during online game play, so that a player's skill in playing a game is not necessarily determinative of who wins the game. For example, game software can be modified (for example, using a Game Shark program) to provide a player with more lives, more energy, more protection, and other attributes, so that the player has a substantial advantage over players who are running an unmodified version of the game program. Playing against another person who is cheating in this manner can be very frustrating and will not be enjoyable, since the game is often no longer won by the more skillful player, but instead, is won by the player who is cheating by using a modified game program. Accordingly, it would be desirable for a server at a game playing site to be able to detect if a player is using a modified game program so that the server can take appropriate action to prevent such a modified program from being used in online game play by a player who is connected to the server. Dedicated electronic game playing systems can also be modified to enable a player to cheat when playing online games. For example, it is possible for a player to connect a replacement memory module containing a modified basic input output system (BIOS) to a game console, to replace the original BIOS, and thus, enable functionality and changes to the system that would not be permitted while running the system with the original BIOS. The modified BIOS can permit unauthorized or pirated copies of games to be played and can permit a user to avoid zone restrictions regarding games that can be played on the game console. More importantly, use of a modified chip in a game console can allow other types of cheating behavior during game play. Thus, it would also be desirable to detect modifications that have been made to an electronic game system when the game system is logging onto a game site to play a multiplayer game, and/or during play of such a game, to enable an appropriate action to be taken by a server at the site. In a more general sense, it would further be desirable to enable a server to challenge a client device in regard to any desired condition on the client when the user of the client device is attempting to log on or sign in to a service provided on the server, to enable the server to determine if some characteristic or condition of the client is different than expected. It will be apparent that this procedure is not limited to a game playing function provided by the server or limited to game playing clients. If the response returned from a client is not as expected, then the server should be able to automatically take appropriate action. For example, the server might simply terminate the current session with the client, and might record an identification of the client in a database to prevent the client from ever again using the service provided on the server, even if the response returned from the client to the server in a future session is as expected.

The kidney and hypertension: over 70 years of research. The crucial role of the kidneys in regulation of systemic blood pressure has been known for more than 70 years. A multitude of studies have described the regulatory mechanisms behind this interaction, and elucidate why kidney disease is such a rampant and difficult form of secondary hypertension. Historically, renal hypertension has primarily been described as derangements of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS), and salt and volume retention. Renally mediated hypertension involves the activation of RAAS leading to angiotensin II-mediated vaso-constriction, and aldosterone-mediated salt retention. The increased sodium retention and volume expansion seen in kidney disease is accompanied by a failure to autoregulate the peripheral vasculature, leading to hypertension. An-giotensin II and aldosterone also cause increased inflammation and endothelial dysfunction, and volume retention leads to the elaboration of ouabain-like compounds that contribute to increased total peripheral resistance. More recently, studies have shown that activation of renal afferent pathways connecting with specific brain nuclei involved in the noradrenergic control of blood pressure appears to play a substantial role. This article will review the classic pa-radigms, as well as new and emerging paradigms linking the kidney with blood pressure.

Hydroxyl radical (•OH) is one of reactive oxygen radicals. Hydroxyl radical (•OH) has extremely strong oxidizing property with an oxidation reduction potential of 2.80 V, which is second only to that of fluorine atom and is capable of reacting with most inorganics or organics at a diffusion controlled rate with a reaction rate constant of generally greater than 108 mol L−1 s−1. In the field of environmental science, hydroxyl radicals are used for degradation treatment of organic pollutants and are the most important reactive intermediates in the advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) for sewage treatment. There are many methods for generating hydroxyl radicals, which can be broadly classified into chemical catalysis method, ozone/hydrogen peroxide photolysis method, photocatalysis method, electrocatalysis method, ray method, and so on. The chemical catalysis method generally uses Fenton reaction, and hydroxyl radicals are generated by catalyzing decomposition of hydrogen peroxide with iron ions. Although the method is simple, easy and cheaper, a large amount of iron-containing sludge is generated when it is applied on a larger scale, causing inconvenient subsequent processing. Ozone and hydrogen peroxide are photolyzed under the irradiation of ultraviolet light and hydroxyl radicals can be generated; however, it is needed to add hydroxyl radical precursors, such as ozone and hydrogen peroxide, and there are more side reactions. Generating hydroxyl radicals by photocatalysis with semiconductor titanium dioxide particles and the like as a catalyst needs to ensure that the catalyst is in a suspended state, and it is also needed to separate the photocatalyst simultaneously for the photocatalysis, providing poor continuous operation, and the dissolved oxygen has a greater influence on the generation of hydroxyl radicals by photocatalysis using titanium dioxide. The method for generating hydroxyl radicals by electrocatalysis has higher requirements for the dissolved oxygen in water and its catalytic components, and has lower current efficiency. There are problems of higher cost and greater harm to the human body in the ray method. Therefore, the current commonly used methods for generating hydroxyl radicals have more side reactions, have poor operability and low efficiency, or have a great harm to the environment or the human body. Accordingly, the existing methods for generating hydroxyl radicals each have their own problems, and thus it is difficult for their popularization and application.

Comparison of the effects of supplementation with whey mineral and potassium on arterial tone in experimental hypertension. The aim of this work was to compare the effects of supplementation of rat chow diet with potassium (K+) and whey mineral concentrate (Whey), a diet rich in milk minerals, on blood pressure and arterial responses in vitro in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Thirty young SHR and twenty Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY) were allocated into five groups: SHR, Whey-SHR, K(+)-SHR, WKY and Whey-WKY. Whey-supplementation was performed by adding 25% whey mineral concentrate to the chow, which in particular increased the intake of potassium (from 1.0% to 3.6%) and also that of calcium (from 1.0% to 1.3%) and magnesium (from 0.2% to 0.3%) in the rats. The K(+)-SHR were given extra potassium chloride (KCl) so that the final potassium content in the chow was 3.6%. Blood pressures were measured indirectly by the tail-cuff method. Responses of mesenteric arterial rings were examined in standard organ chambers after 12 study weeks. During the 12-week study systolic blood pressures in control SHR increased steadily from 160 to about 230 mmHg, while supplementation with either Whey or potassium had a clear antihypertensive effect of about 50 mmHg in the hypertensive rats. Blood pressures in the WKY and Whey-WKY groups remained comparable during the whole study. In noradrenaline-precontracted arterial rings, endothelium-dependent relaxation to acetylcholine (ACh), as well as endothelium-independent relaxations to nitroprusside and isoprenaline were attenuated in untreated SHR, while all these dilatory responses were similarly improved by Whey and potassium supplementation. The cyclooxygenase inhibitor diclofenac, which reduces the synthesis of dilatory and constricting prostanoids, clearly enhanced the relaxation to ACh in untreated SHR, but was without effect in the other groups. In the presence of the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester the relaxation to ACh was markedly reduced in all SHR groups, whereas in the two WKY groups, distinct relaxations to ACh were still present. The remaining responses were partially prevented by tetraethylammonium, an inhibitor of calcium-activated potassium channels, and the difference between untreated and potassium-supplemented SHR was abolished. When endothelium-mediated hyperpolarization of smooth muscle was prevented by precontracting the preparations with 50 mM KCl, only marginal differences were observed in relaxations to ACh between untreated SHR and the other groups. Interestingly, the impaired endothelium-independent relaxations to cromakalim, a hyperpolarizing vasodilator acting via ATP-sensitive potassium channels, were normalized by Whey mineral and potassium diets. Supplementation with Whey mineral and a comparable dose of potassium similarly opposed the development of experimental genetic hypertension, an effect which was associated with improved arterial dilatory properties. Both supplements augmented the hyperpolarization-related component of arterial relaxation, increased the sensitivity of smooth muscle to nitric oxide, and decreased the production of vasoconstrictor prostanoids. Therefore, the beneficial effects of the Whey diet could be attributed to increased intake of potassium in SHR.

"This changes everything." "[Fishlegs] Well, by my calculations, Hiccup, for the Dragon Blade to ignite in those kind of wind conditions, it would require" "An additional half jar of Monstrous Nightmare gel." "Precisely!" "Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Fishlegs?" "[both] Build a new handle to hold twice as much gel." "Of course." "Now, what gauge cylinder will we use?" "My brain says 10, but my heart says 13..." "That's a language we'll never understand." "[growls in approval] [chuckles] Yeah." "You know, we too have a language that you will never understand." "This is news?" "No, seriously." "We created our own secret twin language." "Yeah, just in case we ever got captured and needed to communicate in code." "Okay, I know I'm gonna regret asking this, but what exactly is this secret language of yours?" "It's complex, so try and follow along with that pretty little head of yours." "Ello-hay, [snorts] Uffnut-Ray. [snorts]" "Ello-hay, [snorts] Uffnut-Tay. [snorts]" "We call it Boar Latin!" "[Ruffnut] Yeah." "Genius, right?" "[snorts]" "Oh, wait, uh..." "En-ius-jay, Ight-ray?" "[snorts]" "Can you believe it only took us 11 years to come up with that?" "I mean, 15 with the research and development." "What's with all the snorting?" "Uh, hello?" "It's called "Boar Latin." Uh, boar. [snorts]" "Yeah, heard of it?" "Can't have the Latin without the boar." "Then it'd just be Latin." "Duh." "Everyone speaks Latin these days." "[chuckles] Ummy-Day. [snorts]" "Erk-jay. [snorts]" "Hey, just for the record, I understand everything you guys are saying." "That's ingenious, Hiccup." "I wouldn't have thought of it if you hadn't suggested Changewing acid." "Uh, I come back from patrol for this?" "[imitating Fishlegs] "Oh, you're so smart, Hiccup."" "[imitating Hiccup] "Oh, no, actually you're the smartest, Fishlegs."" "[imitating Fishlegs] "Oh, you're so pretty."" "[imitating Hiccup] "Oh, actually you're so pretty." "We're both pretty." "Let's hug."" "Ah!" "Ook-Lay. [snorts]" "Uh, what was that?" "Boar Latin." "I'll explain later." "[Terrible Terror growls]" "Terror Mail." "We'll continue this discussion later, Fishlegs." "Huh?" "What is it?" "Urgent message from the Defenders of the Wing." "Mala needs help." "[whizzing]" "All right, gang." "Fan out and keep your eyes peeled." "We have no idea what we're flying into." "[woman 1] They're here!" "[man 1] Welcome!" "[crowd cheering]" "Look, there they are!" "[man 2] Welcome, Riders!" "[man 3] I see them now!" "[crowd continues cheering]" "Hiccup Haddock, thank the ancients, you received our message." "Mala." "Throk." "What happened?" "Is it Hunters?" "No." "Something much worse." "[laughs] This would appear to be an egg-mergency." "Or some might call it "emergency egg-may." [snorts]" "Has something happened to Tuffnut?" "Nope." "This is pretty much a daily thing." "Is that" "An Eruptodon egg." "Unlike other dragons, Eruptodons only produce a single egg in their lifetime." "Our tribe has been waiting generations for our Great Protector to have an heir." "And now, it has finally happened." "So, this should be a time for celebration, shouldn't it?" "[all sighing]" "If it were that simple." "An Eruptodon egg can only hatch under very special conditions." "The dragon is born of flame and its egg requires the life-giving lava of its ancestral nesting site, a cavern deep inside the Grand Volcano." "So, what's it doin' out here?" "[rumbling] [growls wearily]" "Easy girl." "It's all right." "The birth weakened our already aged Great Protector, so much so that she cannot fly to the sacred site." "We were able to spare the egg, but without proper nesting, it will not hatch." "Our only option is to transport the egg ourselves before the lava rises and floods the cavern." "Whoa!" "[screams] -[Mala screams] [laughs] [sniffs]" "The future of our entire civilization rests on this egg's survival." "If it fails to hatch, the Great Protector will not have an heir." "And if there is no Eruptodon to eat the lava from the volcano, the island and our tribe is doomed." "Mala, we will deliver that egg into the volcano." "[laughs] When you say "we will," you actually mean "you will," right?" "Okay, great." "Check you later." "By the looks of the lava, we have a small window, but it should be enough time to get in and get out." "Exactly." "You thinking what I'm thinking, Fishlegs?" "[retches] Here it comes." "Another Hicclegs lovefest." "I'll fly the egg down." "I'll fly the egg down." "[all gasp]" "Uh, Hiccup, I think you mean I should fly the egg down, because Gronckles are accustomed to lava." "Well, that's true, yeah, but a Night Fury has the distinct speed advantage, don't you think?" "Gentlemen." "Time is waning." "Hiccup and the Night Fury will fly the egg to the cavern." "Right." "Yes." "Okay." "What just happened?" "I have no idea, but Hicclegs just got very interesting." "Our armor is coated with a layer of heat-resistant Eruptodon saliva." "Ugh." "It should help protect against the effects of the volcano." "And, speaking of heat..." "[Toothless grunting]" "Gronckle Iron tail fin." "[clinking] [whistles]" "Uh, Fishlegs, look" "The sacred cavern is located on the south side of the volcano's interior." "May the spirits of our fallen warriors guide your wings, Hiccup Haddock." "[grunts]" "Okay, uh, I guess all I need now is the egg." "The egg is my responsibility." "I'm going with you." "My Queen, let me go instead." "No, Throk." "A Queen must always be willing to risk her life for her people." "[growls]" "[lava bubbling]" "[grunts] Come on." "Keep going, bud." "[Mala grunts] [growls]" "Down there." "I see it." "Toothless, wing right." "[Toothless grunting]" "[Hiccup] Whoa!" "What is happening, Hiccup?" "If that tail gives out, the three of us and the egg are done for." "[Hiccup grunting] -[Toothless growling]" "[Mala groaning]" "My queen." "Hiccup, what happened?" "Quickly." "Replace the Night Fury's tail." "You must go back." "I don't have another one." "I could try to make one out of" "No." "There's no time." "Oh, no." "I feared this would happen." "The egg has spent too much time outside the nesting site." "It requires the life-giving lava." "And if it isn't delivered soon, it will become hard as stone." "Then..." "Then, what?" "It will never hatch." "And it will die." "[crowd clamoring]" "There is no need for panic." "We must stay calm." "[grunting in pain]" "These herbs will help you regain your strength, Great Protector." "Looks like ol' Throk might be a little "cray-cray." [laughs, snorts]" "Oh!" "Wow!" "I had no idea" "you spoke our language." "Rother-bay. [snorts] [both laughing]" "What?" "[grunting in pain] [crowd continues clamoring]" "Fear not." "The egg will be delivered into the Grand Volcano as promised." "Hey, uh, Fishlegs, look, [stammers] about earlier" "Yeah, earlier." "Right." "Weird." "So weird." "[chuckles]" "Well, I thought we could put our heads together again and see if we can come up with a solution." "She really needs us." "Yes." "I agree." "Great." "Great." "Yeah, well, I've been giving it a lot of thought." "Me, too." "Perfect." "Then you must be thinking what I'm thinking, right?" "Scale down the cliff." "Submerge the egg in a lava bath." "[sighs in exasperation]" "Lava bath?" "Oh, come on." "We could never maintain its temperature." "Lava cools." "Scale down the cliff?" "Were you being serious about that?" "Well, what do you think I'm" "Guys, remember earlier when you both agreed Gronckles were good in lava conditions?" "Maybe Fishlegs and Meatlug should give it a try?" "You know, Eruptodons, Gronckles, both Boulder class." "Hey, we tried it your way." "Why not just" "Excellent idea." "We leave at once." "Uh..." "Come, Hiccup." "We don't know what we'll find and may need your help." "[growling]" "[growls excitedly]" "We are nearing the sacred nesting site." "Okay, girl." "Take us home." "Can't this Gronckle fly any faster?" "[grunts] -[exclaims]" "Fishlegs, why are you stopping?" "[lava explodes]" "Impressive." "Okay, girl, let's go." "[screeching]" "We must transport the egg to the end of these caverns before the lava floods in." "Quickly." "[screeching]" "Rother-bay [snorts] Notlout-say [snorts] e-way [snorts] elcome-way [snorts] ou-yay. [snorts]" "For the millionth time, you two," "I don't understand anything you've been saying for the last three hours!" "Shh." "It's okay, Boar Brother Snotlout." "Don't." "No need to hide your proud roots." "Please stop." "You're among your Boar Latin family now." "[screams]" "Or should we say, "amily-fay." [snorts]" "Okay, that lava is getting a little too close to the entrance." "Not to worry, Astrid Hofferson." "Queen Mala knows this volcano better than anyone on the island." "[grunts]" "They've been down there for a long time." "Yes." "The lava is rising quickly." "They should've returned by now." "That settles it." "We're going in." "[growls] [lava explodes]" "I agree." "But how?" "Those explosions are too dangerous and getting worse." "If we just had a way to get down safely without dragons." "Actually, we might have a "lan-pay." -[snorts]" "[screams] -[laughs]" "We'll make it." "Uh, hey, you guys, what are those?" "Whoa!" "Hmm." "There was a time when the tribal elders would climb down into these caverns and sacrifice themselves for the good of the tribe." "Right, right, right, right." "But, what are these figures?" "I have never seen those before." "Uh, the egg?" "We should keep moving." "[distant roaring]" "Um, what was that?" "Uh, I'm not sure." "[screeching]" "Please tell me those aren't bats." "Yeah, they're definitely not bats." "[screeching getting louder]" "[Fishlegs screams]" "Guard the egg!" "[Meatlug grunts]" "This must have been what the carving was trying to warn about." "But there's too many." "They're as relentless as Speed Stingers, so we should probably... [clangs]" "Not exactly what I had in mind." "I'll direct them away while you and Meatlug get Mala and the egg to safety." "Hiccup, these dragons eat fire." "Fishlegs, that is abundantly clear." "[Mala] No!" "Mala!" "[grunting]" "Stay away." "They outnumber her three to one." "Then we need to even the odds." "[screeching]" "Ah, now what?" "I don't know." "I thought you had the idea." "[Meatlug grunting] [screeching in panic] [growls]" "Hiccup Haddock." "No!" "[screeching]" "Fishlegs Ingerman." "We'll never make it to her in time." "[growling]" "Meatlug, roll!" "Meatlug, fly!" "[growls quizzically, groans] [screams] Stop!" "No!" "[growling]" "The Diving Bell was your big "lan-pay"?" "You flew all the way to Berk for a big hunk of metal to dangle over fire?" "Why not bring back a frying pan?" "How "umb-day" are they?" "[laughs, snorts]" "It's uncanny." "There's no trace of an accent." "To talk that eloquently, he must be at least a quarter boar." "Maybe two-fifths." "He is hairy in strange places." "Hey!" "Actually, I believe this could work." "If we were to invert it, and then coat it in Eruptodon saliva." "It won't last long but should be enough to reach the cavern, find them, and raise them to safety." "I'll get to work." "Oh, great, now what?" "Which direction?" "Left." "Right." "Oh, Gods." "What is going on with us?" "We're just not thinking." "We need to clear our heads." "Right, right." "Good idea." "Right." "Left?" "[gasps]" "Ugh!" "Oh, maybe we're cursed." "No." "There is a perfectly logical explanation for what's happening." "Of course, I can't think of it right now." "Mala, what direction do you think?" "Hiccup, where's Mala?" "Mala!" "She snuck off down those corridors." "Mala!" "Mala!" "[grunts annoyingly]" "Okay, Barf and Belch, take us in." "[Barf and Belch grunting]" "[lava bubbling]" "Grace of the ancients." "The Eruptodon saliva worked." "Yes." "But we need to move faster." "Guys, let's pick up the "ace-pay." [snorts]" "[laughs] They made it." "Great." "Time for the big swing." "[metal creaking]" "[Astrid screams] -[splashes]" "[Astrid grunting]" "[Toothless growling]" "[chomps]" "Toothless, what are you doing?" "[screams] Toothless!" "Pull up, you crazy Night Fury." "[gasps] Oh, that's not good." "[growls in pain]" "Okay, you're the "idea dragon." Now what?" "Mala!" "Mala!" "Mala!" "Mala!" "I must have offended the gods, Hiccup." "That's why we're being punished." "I should've never taken Odin's name in vain." "Never!" "Oh, come on, Fishlegs." "That has nothing to do with this." "There, you see, our fortunes are finally changing for the better." "Leave me." "This is my duty." "My people." "Mala, you don't know what they're capable of." "[screeching] [all scream]" "Unhand me." "I command you." "Sacrificing yourself won't do anyone any good." "Hiccup, look." "[screeching]" "Are they frustrated at not being able to crack the shell, or is it something else?" "Not sure, but it doesn't seem predatory." "[rumbling]" "Wait, Fishlegs, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" "You know, I think I actually am!" "There is no more time for indecision." "Mala..." "[screeching]" "Oh, for the love of Odi" "Seriously?" "Sorry." "I really gotta work on that." "[bubbling] [explosion]" "[groans] Th..." "Th..." "Throk." "So tired." "[groans]" "Don't close your eyes, Astrid." "We must stay awake for Hiccup Haddock and Queen Mala." "Hi..." "Hi..." "Hiccup." "[sizzling] [screeching]" "That is the Egg of the Great Protector." "I command you." "Return it." "[screeching] [grunting with effort] [screeching furiously] [rumbling]" "Mala, give us the egg." "Absolutely not." "We have a plan." "Do you?" "We do." "And I think you should hear us out on this one." "Those dragons won't let you pass, but we have a way to get the egg to the nesting place." "Trust us, Mala." "[rumbling] [screeching]" "Hiccup, what are you doing?" "They don't want to harm the egg." "They're not predators, okay?" "They're here to help Eruptodon eggs reach their sacred nesting place." "Yeah." "Those cave drawings weren't a warning from your ancestors." "They were historical records, instructions." "[screeching]" "Their attacks were to keep us humans from damaging the egg." "[rumbling loudly]" "We have to go." "Now." "[growling] [screeching]" "Ooh." "This is gonna be close." "Give us all you got!" "[Hiccup] Come on." "Yes!" "Hey!" "Down there!" "Look behind you!" "Hiccup, there in the lava!" "Let's go, Fishlegs." "Right there with you." "[grunts] [grunts]" "Come on, Throk." "[grunts] Go!" "That Gronckle clearly cannot hold us all." "My mission was to get my queen to safety." "By the ancients." "By the ancients." "[roars]" "[Mala] Yes!" "[Fishlegs] [laughs]" "[grunting affectionately]" "The egg is in good hands, Mala." "Exactly what I was gonna say." "[both laughing]" "It's nice to see things are back to normal." "Whatevs." "I sort of liked the new Hicclegs." "The other kind is "otally-tay" [snorts] "oring-bay." [snorts]" "A true master linguist." "[growls in approval] [chuckles] You said it "Ookfang-hay." [snorts]" "[screeches]" "[screeching excitedly]"

Previously, in a supermarket or a retail store, in order to conduct a merchandise sale data processing, an electronic device such as a POS (Point Of Sales) terminal with a screen for operator and a screen for customer is used. The POS terminal is a terminal which is arranged in a clearing area and used for a cashier conducting a sales processing, a keyboard is arranged in the upper side of its main body. In the vicinity of approximate middle of the upper side of the main body, the display section for salesclerk is arranged in a manner that it faces to the keyboard side and being able to adjust an angle in a vertical direction via a shaft. In the vicinity of the end of the back side of the upper side of the main body, a display section for customer is arranged in a manner that it faces to the opposite side of the display section for salesclerk and an angle in a horizontal direction can be adjusted via a shaft. In the interior of the main body of the POS terminal and in the vicinity of a keyboard, a receipt printer and a journal printer are arranged side by side in parallel at the superior surface of the main body. A cover used for transport of a continuous-feed paper into and from the receipt printer and a cover used for transport of a continuous-feed paper into and from the journal printer are arranged side by side in the superior surface of the main body. In addition, a receipt outlet of the receipt printer is arranged in the cover.

Lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries are currently the best performing batteries and already became the standard for portable electronic devices. In addition, these batteries already penetrated and rapidly gain ground in other industries such as automotive and electrical storage. Enabling advantages of such batteries are a high energy density combined with a good power performance. A Li-ion battery typically contains a number of so-called Li-ion cells, which in turn contain a positive (cathode) electrode, a negative (anode) electrode and a separator which are immersed in an electrolyte. The most frequently used Li-ion cells for portable applications are developed using electrochemically active materials such as lithium cobalt oxide or lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide for the cathode and a natural or artificial graphite for the anode. It is known that one of the important limitative factors influencing a battery's performance and in particular battery's energy density is the active material in the anode. Therefore, to improve the energy density, newer electrochemically active materials based on e.g. tin, aluminium and silicon were investigated and developed during the last decades, such developments being mostly based on the principle of alloying said active material with Li during Li incorporation therein during use. The best candidate seems to be silicon as theoretical capacities of 3579 mAh/g or 2200 mAh/cm3 can be obtained and these capacities are far larger than that of graphite (372 mAh/g) but also those of other candidates. Note that throughout this document silicon is intended to mean the element Si in its zerovalent state. The term Si will be used to indicate the element Si regardless of its oxidation state, zerovalent or oxidised. However, one drawback of using a silicon based electrochemically active material in an anode is its large volume expansion during charging, which is as high as 300% when the lithium ions are fully incorporated, e.g. by alloying or insertion, in the anode's active material—a process often called lithiation. The large volume expansion of the silicon based materials during Li incorporation may induce stresses in the silicon, which in turn could lead to a mechanical degradation of the silicon material. Repeated periodically during charging and discharging of the Li-ion battery, the repetitive mechanical degradation of the silicon electrochemically active material may reduce the life of a battery to an unacceptable level. In an attempt to alleviate the deleterious effects of the volume change of the silicon, many research studies showed that by reducing the size of the silicon material into submicron or nanosized silicon particles, typically with an average size smaller than 500 nm and preferably smaller than 150 nm, and using these as the electrochemically active material may prove a viable solution. In order to accommodate the volume change, composite particles are usually used in which the silicon particles are mixed with a matrix material, usually a carbon based material, but possibly also a silicon based alloy or SiO2. In the present invention, only composites having carbon as matrix material are considered. Further, a negative effect of silicon is that a thick SEI, a Solid-Electrolyte Interface, may be formed on the anode. An SEI is a complex reaction product of the electrolyte and lithium, and therefore leads to a loss of lithium availability for electrochemical reactions and therefore to a poor cycle performance, which is the capacity loss per charging-discharging cycle. A thick SEI may further increase the electrical resistance of a battery and thereby limit the achievable charging and discharging rates. In principle the SEI formation is a self-terminating process that stops as soon as a ‘passivation layer’ has formed on the silicon surface. However, because of the volume expansion of silicon, both silicon and the SEI may be damaged during discharging (lithiation) and recharging (de-lithiation), thereby freeing new silicon surface and leading to a new onset of SEI formation. In the art, the above lithiation/de-lithiation mechanism is generally quantified by a so-called coulombic efficiency, which is defined as a ratio (in % for a charge-discharge cycle) between the energy removed from a battery during discharge compared with the energy used during charging. Most work on silicon-based anode materials is therefore focused on improving said coulombic efficiency. Current methods to make such silicon based composites are based on mixing the individual ingredients (e.g. silicon and carbon or a precursor for the intended matrix material) during preparation of the electrode paste formulation, or by a separate composite manufacturing step that is then carried out via dry milling/mixing of silicon and host material (possible followed by a firing step), or via wet milling/mixing of silicon and host material (followed by removal of the liquid medium and a possible firing step). Despite the advances in the art of negative electrodes and electrochemically active materials contained therein, there is still a need for yet better electrodes that have the ability to further optimize the performance of Li-ion batteries. In particular, for most applications, negative electrodes having improved capacities and coulombic efficiencies are desirable. Therefore, the invention concerns a composite powder for use in an anode of a lithium ion battery, whereby the particles of the composite powder comprise a carbon matrix material and silicon particles dispersed in this matrix material, whereby the composite powder further comprises silicon carbide whereby the ordered domain size of the silicon carbide, as determined by the Scherrer equation applied to the X-ray diffraction SiC peak having a maximum at 2θ between 35.4° and 35.8°, when measured with a copper anticathode producing Kα1 and Kα2 X-rays with a wavelength equal to 0.15418 nm, is at most 15 nm and preferably at most 9 nm and more preferably at most 7 nm. The Scherrer equation (P. Scherrer; Göttinger Nachrichten 2, 98 (1918)) is a well known equation for calculating the size of ordered domains from X-Ray diffraction data. In order to avoid machine to machine variations, standardized samples can be used for calibration. The composite powder according to the invention has a better cycle performance than traditional powders. Without being bound by theory, the inventors believe that the silicon carbide improves the mechanical bond between the silicon particles and the carbon matrix material, so that stresses on the interface between the silicon particles and the matrix material, e.g. those associated with expansion and contraction of the silicon during use of the battery, are less likely to lead to a disconnection of the silicon particles from the matrix material. This, in turn, allows for a better transfer of lithium ions from the matrix to the silicon and vice versa. Additionally, less silicon surface is then available for the formation of a SEI. Preferably said silicon carbide is present on the surface of said silicon particles, so that said silicon carbide forms a partial or complete coating of said silicon particles and so that the interface between said silicon particles and said carbon is at least partly formed by the said silicon carbide. It is noted that silicon carbide formation may also occur with the traditional materials, if silicon embedded in carbon or a carbon precursor is overheated, typically to well over 1000 degrees. However, this will in practice not lead to a limited, superficial formation of chemical Si—C bonds, as is shown to be beneficial in the present invention, but to a complete conversion of silicon to silicon carbide, leaving no silicon to act as anode active material. Also, in such circumstances a highly crystalline silicon carbide is formed. The silicon carbide in a powder according to the present invention is present as a thin layer of very small silicon carbide crystals or poorly crystalline silicon carbide, which shows itself as having, on an X-Ray diffractogram of the composite powder, a peak having a maximum at 2θ between 35.4° and 35.8°, having a width at half the maximum height of more than 1.0°, which is equivalent to an ordered domain size of 9 nm as determined by the Scherrer equation applied to the SiC peak on the X-Ray diffractogram at 20=35.6°, when measured with a copper anticathode producing Kα1 and Kα2 X-rays with a wavelength equal to 0.15418 nm. Preferably, the composite powder has an oxygen content which is 3 wt % or less, and preferably 2 wt % or less. A low oxygen content is important to avoid too much lithium consumption during the first battery cycles. Preferably the composite powder has a particle size distribution with d10, d50 and d90 values, whereby (d90−d10)/d50 is 3 or lower. The d50 value is defined as diameter of a particle of the composite powder corresponding to 50 weight % cumulative undersize particle size distribution. In other words, if for example d50 is 12 μm, 50% of the total weight of particles in the tested sample are smaller than 12 μm. Analogously d10 and d90 are the particle sizes compared to which 10% respectively 90% of the total weight of particles is smaller. A narrow PSD is of crucial importance since small particles, typically below 1 μm, result in a higher lithium consumption caused by electrolyte reactions. Excessively large particles on the other hand are detrimental for the final electrode swelling. Preferably less than 25% by weight, and more preferably less than 20% by weight of all Si present in the composite powder is present in the form of silicon carbide, as Si present in the form of silicon carbide is not available as anode active material capable of being lithiated and delithiated. In order to have an appreciable effect more than 0.5% by weight of all Si present in the composite powder should be present in the form of silicon carbide. The invention further concerns a method of manufacturing a composite powder, preferably a composite powder as described above according the invention, comprising the following steps: A: Providing a first product comprising one or more of products I, II and III B: Providing a second product being carbon or being a precursor for carbon, and preferably being pitch, whereby said precursor can be thermally decomposed to carbon at a temperature less than a first temperature; C: Mixing said first and second products to obtain a mixture; D: Thermally treating said mixture at a temperature less than said first temperature; whereby product I is: silicon particles having on at least part of their surface silicon carbide; whereby product II is: silicon particles that can be provided on at least part of their surface with silicon carbide by being exposed to a temperature less than said first temperature and by being provided on their surface with a compound containing C atoms and capable of reacting with silicon at a temperature less than said first temperature to form silicon carbide; and whereby product III is: silicon particles that can be provided on at least part of their surface with silicon carbide by being exposed to a temperature less than said first temperature and by being provided on their surface with a precursor compound for silicon carbide, said precursor compound comprising Si atoms and C atoms and being capable of being transformed into silicon carbide a temperature less than said first temperature; whereby said first temperature is 1075° C. and preferably 1020°.

The present invention relates to coordinating protocol stacks for computer systems or electronic devices. More particularly, the invention relates to dynamically loading and unloading of protocol stacks under signaling control. Protocol stacks are the hierarchy of protocols that allow computers and devices to communicate over a network. These networking protocol stacks have traditionally been statically loaded. That is, once loaded into memory, the protocol stacks will typically remain loaded in memory until they are explicitly unloaded by a user. The static loading of protocol stacks can be acceptable in some environments, but there are an increasing number of environments and situations where the static loading of protocol stacks provides less than desirable results. As a first example, smaller mobile devices such as cell phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) are becoming more and more popular. Although including many of the same components as their larger, less mobile brethren, these mobile devices usually have fewer resources such as memory in which the protocol stacks are loaded. Additionally, the smaller mobile devices often need to run operating system vendor applications that use non-sharable protocol stacks while periodically needing to use that same stack for other purposes. Thus, statically loading of protocol stacks can be troublesome on devices, such as smaller mobile devices, that are resource limited. In order to address this resource constraints problem, what is usually done is to limit the number or capability of the applications that are supported on the platform to a level that never exceeds the available memory when all the protocol stacks are loaded. In some cases, a more costly model of the device, which includes greater memory and possibly the applications to take advantage of this memory, may be introduced. In still other cases, the ability to add plug-in extra-cost memory to a mobility platform may be provided. The major disadvantage to these solutions is that at any given price point, the functionality that can be offered to customers is less than that which could be achieved if memory were used more efficiently. Another situation where static loading of protocol stacks can result in less than desirable results is when one attempts to share non-sharable protocol stacks. Non-sharable protocol stacks are stacks that either cannot be loaded or used or are not designed to be loaded or used at the same time, typically by different applications. For example, a company's own application may use some of the same protocol stacks as Microsoft's NetMeeting. However, the protocol stacks in NetMeeting may not be designed to be shared in this manner. What is typically done to alleviate this problem of sharing non-sharable protocol stacks is that the users switch between applications by manually unloading the protocol stacks of one application and then loading the protocol stacks of the other application. Depending on the applications, the protocol stacks can be unloaded manually or automatically when the application is exited. In theory, the problem of sharing non-sharable protocol stacks can also be solved by integrating into a single application all the needed functionality so there is no need to load a potentially conflicting application. The goal of providing all the needed functionality is difficult to achieve for single users and even harder for large groups that may want a very diverse set of utilities. Alternatively, one could only purchase applications that do not have protocol stack sharing restrictions. This may be impractical as it limits one's choices of applications and results in higher resource utilization such as memory. Finally, it is possible for the vendor to support truly shared use of its protocol stacks, both by its own graphical user interface (GUI) and by programmatic callers. However, most vendors, even the largest and most successful, usually do not invest the extra effort required to make this solution work.

The field of the present invention is jet reaction thrust control of attitude (pitch, yaw and roll) of a moving body. More particularly, the present invention relates to jet reaction thrust control of a vehicle wherein successively oppositely directed and selectively variable impulse bits are applied to the vehicle. The vehicle comprises a source of pressurized motive gas communicating to pairs of attitude control nozzles which are oppositely disposed with respect to a control axis, and bistable valving controlling flow of the motive gas to the nozzles. The magnitude of the impulse bits applied to the vehicle is the time integral of thrust, and duration of thrust for each pulse. The oppositely directed thrust pulses from the attitude control nozzles are changed stepwise between near-zero, and a determined level. Because the impulse bits are applied to the vehicle in successively opposite directions, the vehicle is forced into an attitude oscillation. This attitude oscillation is known to those in the art as a limit cycle, and the control method is known as a Pulse Duration Modulation (PDM) or bang-bang system. In applications where the impulse bits are sufficiently small in comparison to the vehicle mass and are applied at a frequency above the oscillation threshold frequency of the vehicle, the latter responds only to the net average force without oscillation. A conventional PDM vehicle control system utilizing bistable valve structure is known in accord with U.S. Pat. No. 3,278,140, issued Oct. 11, 1966 to K. C. Evans. According to the teaching of Evans, one of three bistable valves is utilized to control each one of the pitch, yaw, and roll axis of a vehicle. Each of the bistable valves comprises a body defining a nozzle directing a motive gas stream toward a splitter which defines a bifurcated flow path. Control ports are located on each side of the fluid stream as it travels toward the splitter. The chamber through which the fluid stream travels is configured to cause a vacuum in the control ports in response to flow of the fluid stream. Consequently, closing one of the control ports to atmosphere while leaving the opposite port open causes rarification switching of the fluid stream toward the closed port. With a control scheme as taught by Evans, a vehicle must comprise at least three bistable valve apparatus to control the attitude of the vehicle in each one of the pitch, yaw, and roll axis. Consequently, the control apparatus may comprise a considerable portion of the total weight of a small vehicle. When it is desired to make a vehicle which is man-portable, or which can be carried upon other small, light-weight vehicles, the total weight of the vehicle is a critical design parameter. In such circumstances, the weight of a control device as taught by Evans may be a prohibitively large portion of the permissible vehicle weight. Of course, if the control scheme according to Evans is utilized nevertheless, the performance of the vehicle may fall short of that required. Another aspect of the Evans control scheme which is not entirely satisfactory is the use of rarification switching of the fluid stream between its two positions within the bistable valve. Such a switching arrangement can result in the PDM characteristic of the control system being variable and dependent upon atmospheric pressure level. As a result, a vehicle which operates satisfactorily near sea level may have an unsatisfactorily slow PDM rate when used at a higher altitude. Still another undesirable aspect of the Evans teaching when applied to small vehicles is the use of three separate motive fluid streams to effect control in the three control axes. Because each of the fluid streams must be flowing so long as control of the vehicle is to be effected, a considerable portion of vehicle total energy may be dissipated by the three streams in combination.

Blood volume redistribution on fluid treatments after burn-blast combined injury, especially with respect to the regulation role of microcirculation due to the Fåhraeus effect. Considering the Fåhraeus effect and the blood volume regulation role of the microcirculation, we used a new method for calculating the blood volume change in microcirculation, macrocirculation as well as the whole circulation (delta Vmic, delta Vmac, delta Vb), to compare fluid therapy effects of hypertonic saline dextran solution (HSD) and lactic Ringer's solution at the early stage after burn-blast combined injury (BBI). The measurement of plasma viscosity was used in this calculation. The results showed that, with calculation of the blood volume change in microcirculation and macrocirculation, this method could more exactly and distinctly display the change and distribution of blood volume during the therapy. It confirms that HSD treatment can increase blood pressure and attenuate tissue edema, by significantly increasing total blood volume, recouping delta Vmac. The study suggests that a desirable and practical clinical method for blood volume change can be developed based on the present study.

One example of an axial flow rotary machine is a gas turbine engine of the type used to propel aircraft. An aircraft gas turbine engine typically has a compression section, a combustion section, and a turbine section. An annular flowpath for working medium gases extends axially through the engine. A stator assembly extends axially through the engine and about the working medium flowpath. A rotor assembly extends axially through the sections of the engine and inwardly of the stator assembly. The rotor assembly includes rows of rotor blades which extend outwardly from the rotor across the working medium flowpath in both the turbine and compression sections. The stator assembly includes an engine case which bounds the working medium flowpath and which is disposed outwardly of the rotor assembly. Rows of stator vanes extend inwardly from the engine case and across the working medium flowpath into proximity with the rotor assembly. The rows of stator vanes are located upstream of the associated row of rotor blades to direct the working medium gases into the downstream row of rotor blades. One example of a gas turbine engine having a stator assembly and a rotor assembly is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,233 issued to Baran entitled "Stator Assembly For Bounding The Working Medium Flowpath Of A Gas Turbine Engine". In this construction, the stator assembly includes an outer case and a wall bounding the working medium flowpath which is formed of a plurality of circumferentially extending wall segments, such as the duct 34 and the stator vanes 32. An inner casing in the form of a seal member 86 extends circumferentially between the outer case and the wall elements to form a cooling air chamber outwardly of the inner casing and to block hot gases from the working medium flowpath from the mixing with the cooling air chamber, or air from the cooling air chamber flowing into the working medium flowpath. The seal member might be formed of relatively thin sheet metal material and formed in a single circumferentially continuous piece. However, the circumferential continuity may result in the seal element being cracked or warped during transient operative conditions of the engine as the outer case changes its diameter at a different rate from the inner case in response to transient thermal conditions of the engine. A second example of an engine structure employing rotor blades and stator vanes inwardly of an outer case is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,373 issued to William G. Monsarrat which is entitled "Flow Directing Assembly For A Gas Turbine Engine." In Monsarrat, the compression section of the engine includes an inner case and an outer case or annular sleeve. The outer case is attached to the inner case and positions the segments circumferentially about the rotor assembly during operation of the engine. The inner case extends axially in the engine outwardly of an annular flowpath for working medium gases. The inner case is formed of a plurality of arcuate segments which are circumferentially adjacent one to the other. Adjacent arcuate segments are spaced circumferentially leaving a circumferential clearance gap G therebetween. The engine also includes a plurality of cooling tubes which extend circumferentially about the exterior of the outer case. The cooling tubes impinge cooling air under preselected operative conditions of the engine to adjust the radial clearance between the inner case and the rotor assembly. As the cooling air is impinged on the outer case, the outer case contracts and moves inwardly to a smaller diameter, forcing the inner case to a smaller diameter and decreasing the clearance gap G between adjacent arcuate segments and decreasing the radial gap between the rotor assembly and the stator assembly. The circumferential gap G between adjacent arcuate segments allows the segments to slidably accommodate the inward and outward movmment of the outer case. The gap decreases resistance by the inner case to movement of the outer case; and, it avoids crushing or stretching of the inner case by the outer case at operative conditions where the outer case has a different diameter than the inner case, such as might occur during transient operating conditions of the engine because of differences in thermal expansion between the inner case and the outer case. As shown in FIG. 4 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,373, the adjacent arcuate segments overlap each other to provide sealing. Alternatively, a means for sealing, such as a feather seal, extends circumferentially between the adjacent arcuate segments of the inner case. The above constructions notwithstanding, scientists and engineers under the direction of Applicant's assignee are working to develop inner cases which have having an acceptable fatigue life while accommodating changes in diameter of the outer case and while blocking the movement of gases.

A natural language screening measure for motivation to change. Client motivation for change, a topic of high interest to addiction clinicians, is multidimensional and complex, and many different approaches to measurement have been tried. The current effort drew on psycholinguistic research on natural language that is used by clients to describe their own motivation. Seven addiction treatment sites participated in the development of a simple scale to measure client motivation. Twelve items were drafted to represent six potential dimensions of motivation for change that occur in natural discourse. The maximum self-rating of motivation (10 on a 0-10 scale) was the median score on all items, and 43% of respondents rated 10 on all 12 items - a substantial ceiling effect. From 1035 responses, three factors emerged representing importance, ability, and commitment - constructs that are also reflected in several theoretical models of motivation. A 3-item version of the scale, with one marker item for each of these constructs, accounted for 81% of variance in the full scale. The three items are: 1. It is important for me to . . . 2. I could . . . and 3. I am trying to . . . This offers a quick (1-minute) assessment of clients' self-reported motivation for change.

The invention relates to precision surface measurement, including techniques to measure surface characteristics of precision optical components unbiased by a measurement system. The need to determine the errors in a part (e.g., an optical component, such as a lens or mirror), unbiased by errors in a measurement system, is a long-standing problem. One general approach is to measure multiple objects in different combinations and then to determine the contributions from each object individually, such as in the 3-Flat test. The 3-Flat test has a variety of limitations; one of the most significant is the need for three, nominally identical parts to test. The second general approach is to perform a measurement of the surface of a “test part” in a measurement system, and then to displace or “shear” the test part relative to the measurement system. Differencing the two measurements cancels the contribution (bias) of the measurement system and leaves one with an approximation of the derivative of the surface in the same direction as the shear motion. An estimate of the surface of the part under test unbiased by the measurement system error may be derived from the difference data. Within the family of shearing methods, there are two general approaches that have been used: lateral shear and rotational shear. Lateral shear in two orthogonal directions results in an estimate of the gradient of the part under test; however, the use of lateral shear alone can be sensitive to drift resulting in errors proportional to the array size in the estimate of the test part. Rotational shearing methods have been widely reported and have been shown to be robust for the determination of the rotationally varying surface errors; however, rotational shearing methods alone do not typically allow one to determine the rotationally invariant errors (e.g., mean radial profile) of the test part and instrument separately from one another.

The present invention relates to a hydraulically controlled brake comprising at least one friction element, for example a pad where a disc brake is concerned, designed to be clamped against a rotating track under the thrust of a piston mounted to slide in a cylinder body, in response to a generation of pressure in a control chamber filled with hydraulic fluid and defined by the piston in the cylinder body. The invention relates more particularly to such a brake, in which the piston comprises a cup-shaped piece which has a cylindrical side wall engaged in the cylinder body and a bottom adjacent to the control chamber. The invention relates even more particularly to such a brake, in which means are provided to prevent an excessive rise in temperature of the hydraulic fluid and consist of a cylindrical core which is made of mechanically resistant and thermally insulating material and which is engaged in the cup. In general, the means for fitting the core into the cup make use of an effect which involves engaging the core into the cup by force, thus increasing the production cost. The subject of the present invention is a hydraulically controlled brake of the type mentioned above, in which the construction of the piston is particularly simple and convenient, at the same time with a reduced cost price and excellent effectiveness against the risks of excessive heat of the hydraulic fluid.

The present invention relates generally to the field of marking devices, and more particularly to a device capable of applying a marking material to a substrate by introducing the marking material into a high-velocity propellant stream. Ink jet is currently a common printing technology. There are a variety of types of ink jet printing, including thermal ink jet (TIJ), piezo-electric ink jet, etc. In general, liquid ink droplets are ejected from an orifice located at a one terminus of a channel. In a TIJ printer, for example, a droplet is ejected by the explosive formation of a vapor bubble within an ink-bearing channel. The vapor bubble is formed by means of a heater, in the form of a resistor, located on one surface of the channel. We have identified several disadvantages with TIJ (and other ink jet) systems known in the art. For a 300 spot-per-inch (spi) TIJ system, the exit orifice from which an ink droplet is ejected is typically on the order of about 64 xcexcm in width, with a channel-to-channel spacing (pitch) of about 84 xcexcm, and for a 600 dpi system width is about 35 xcexcm and pitch of about 42 xcexcm. A limit on the size of the exit orifice is imposed by the viscosity of the fluid ink used by these systems. It is possible to lower the viscosity of the ink by diluting it in increasing amounts of liquid (e.g., water) with an aim to reducing the exit orifice width. However, the increased liquid content of the ink results in increased wicking, paper wrinkle, and slower drying time of the ejected ink droplet, which negatively affects resolution, image quality (e.g., minimum spot size, inter-color mixing, spot shape), etc. The effect of this orifice width limitation is to limit resolution of TIJ printing, for example to well below 900 spi, because spot size is a function of the width of the exit orifice, and resolution is a function of spot size. Another disadvantage of known ink jet technologies is the difficulty of producing greyscale printing. That is, it is very difficult for an ink jet system to produce varying size spots on a printed substrate. If one lowers the propulsive force (heat in a TIJ system) so as to eject less ink in an attempt to produce a smaller dot, or likewise increases the propulsive force to eject more ink and thereby to produce a larger dot, the trajectory of the ejected droplet is affected. This in turn renders precise dot placement difficult or impossible, and not only makes monochrome greyscale printing problematic, it makes multiple color greyscale ink jet printing impracticable. In addition, preferred greyscale printing is obtained not by varying the dot size, as is the case for TIJ, but by varying the dot density while keeping a constant dot size. Still another disadvantage of common ink jet systems is rate of marking obtained. Approximately 80% of the time required to print a spot is taken by waiting for the ink jet channel to refill with ink by capillary action. To a certain degree, a more dilute ink flows faster, but raises the problem of wicking, substrate wrinkle, drying time, etc. discussed above. One problem common to ejection printing systems is that the channels may become clogged. Systems such as TIJ which employ aqueous ink colorants are often sensitive to this problem, and routinely employ non-printing cycles for channel cleaning during operation. This is required since ink typically sits in an ejector waiting to be ejected during operation, and while sitting may begin to dry and lead to clogging. Other technologies which may be relevant as background to the present invention include electrostatic grids, electrostatic ejection (so-called tone jet), acoustic ink printing, and certain aerosol and atomizing systems such as dye sublimation. The present invention is a novel system for applying a marking material to a substrate, directly or indirectly, which overcomes the disadvantages referred to above, as well as others discussed further herein. In particular, the present invention is a system of the type including a propellant which travels through a channel, and a marking material which is controllably (i.e., modifiable in use) introduced, or metered, into the channel such that energy from the propellant propels the marking material to the substrate. The propellant is usually a dry gas which may continuously flow through the channel while the marking apparatus is in an operative configuration (i.e., in a power-on or similar state ready to mark). The system is referred to as xe2x80x9cballistic aerosol markingxe2x80x9d in the sense that marking is achieved by in essence launching a non-colloidal, solid or semi-solid particulate, or alternatively a liquid, marking material at a substrate. The shape of the channel may result in a collimated (or focused) flight of the propellant and marking material onto the substrate. In our system, the propellant may be introduced at a propellant port into the channel to form a propellant stream. A marking material may then be introduced into the propellant stream from one or more marking material inlet ports. The propellant may enter the channel at a high velocity. Alternatively, the propellant may be introduced into the channel at a high pressure, and the channel may include a constriction (e.g., de Laval or similar converging/diverging type nozzle) for converting the high pressure of the propellant to high velocity. In such a case, the propellant is introduced at a port located at a proximal end of the channel (defined as the converging region), and the marking material ports are provided near the distal end of the channel (at or further down-stream of a region defined as the diverging region), allowing for introduction of marking material into the propellant stream. In the case where multiple ports are provided, each port may provide for a different color (e.g., cyan, magenta, yellow, and black), pre-marking treatment material (such as a marking material adherent), post-marking treatment material (such as a substrate surface finish material, e.g., matte or gloss coating, etc.), marking material not otherwise visible to the unaided eye (e.g., magnetic particle-bearing material, ultra violet-fluorescent material, etc.) or other marking material to be applied to the substrate. The marking material is imparted with kinetic energy from the propellant stream, and ejected from the channel at an exit orifice located at the distal end of the channel in a direction toward a substrate. One or more such channels may be provided in a structure which, in one embodiment, is referred to herein as a print head. The width of the exit (or ejection) orifice of a channel is generally on the order of 250 xcexcm or smaller, preferably in the range of 100 xcexcm or smaller. Where more than one channel is provided, the pitch, or spacing from edge to edge (or center to center) between adjacent channels may also be on the order of 250 xcexcm or smaller, preferably in the range of 100 xcexcm or smaller. Alternatively, the channels may be staggered, allowing reduced edge-to-edge spacing. The exit orifice and/or some or all of each channel may have a circular, semicircular, oval, square, rectangular, triangular or other cross sectional shape when viewed along the direction of flow of the propellant stream (the channel""s longitudinal axis). The material to be applied to the substrate may be transported to a port by one or more of a wide variety of ways, including simple gravity feed, hydrodynamic, electrostatic, or ultrasonic transport, etc. The material may be metered out of the port into the propellant stream also by one of a wide variety of ways, including control of the transport mechanism, or a separate system such as pressure balancing, electrostatics, acoustic energy, ink jet, etc. The material to be applied to the substrate may be a solid or semi-solid particulate material such as a toner or variety of toners in different colors, a suspension of such a marking material in a carrier, a suspension of such a marking material in a carrier with a charge director, a phase change material, etc. One preferred embodiment employs a marking material which is particulate, solid or semi-solid, and dry or suspended in a liquid carrier. Such a marking material is referred to herein as a particulate marking material. This is to be distinguished from a liquid marking material, dissolved marking material, atomized marking material, or similar non-particulate material, which is generally referred to herein as a liquid marking material. However, the present invention is able to utilize such a liquid marking material in certain applications, as otherwise described herein. In addition, the ability to use a wide variety of marking materials (e.g., not limited to aqueous marking material) allows the present invention to mark on a wide variety of substrates. For example, the present invention allows direct marking on non-porous substrates such as polymers, plastics, metals, glass, treated and finished surfaces, etc. The reduction in wicking and elimination of drying time also provides improved printing to porous substrates such as paper, textiles, ceramics, etc. In addition, the present invention may be configured for indirect marking, for example marking to an intermediate transfer roller or belt, marking to a viscous binder film and nip transfer system, etc. The material to be deposited on a substrate may be subjected to post ejection modification, for example fusing or drying, overcoat, curing, etc. In the case of fusing, the kinetic energy of the material to be deposited may itself be sufficient to effectively either soften or melt (generically referred to herein as xe2x80x9cmeltxe2x80x9d) the marking material upon impact with the substrate and fuse it to the substrate. The substrate may be heated to enhance this process. Pressure rollers may be used to cold-fuse the marking material to the substrate. In-flight phase change (solid-liquid-solid) may alternatively be employed. A heated wire in the particle path is one way to accomplish the initial phase change. Alternatively, propellant temperature may accomplish this result. In one embodiment, a laser may be employed to heat and melt the particulate material in-flight to accomplish the initial phase change. The melting and fusing may also be electrostatically assisted (i.e., retaining the particulate material in a desired position to allow ample time for melting and fusing into a final desired position). The type of particulate may also dictate the post ejection modification. For example, UV curable materials may be cured by application of UV radiation, either in flight or when located on the material-bearing substrate. Since propellant may continuously flow through a channel, channel clogging from the build-up of material is reduced or eliminated (the propellant effectively continuously cleans the channel). In addition, a closure may be provided which isolates the channels from the environment when the system is not in use. Alternatively, the print head and substrate support (e.g., platen) may be brought into physical contact to effect a closure of the channel. Initial and terminal cleaning cycles may be designed into operation of the printing system to optimize the cleaning of the channel(s). Waste material cleaned from the system may be deposited in a cleaning station. However, it is also possible to engage the closure against an orifice to redirect the propellant stream through the port and into the reservoir to thereby flush out the port. Thus, the present invention and its various embodiments provide numerous advantages discussed above, as well as additional advantages which will be described in further detail below.

1. Field of the Invention: The present invention relates to a method for drying coals, particularly coking coals, by using a heating medium for exchanging the sensible heat of a gas generated from coke ovens and using this heat medium containing the sensitive heat as a main heat source for the drying. 2. Description of Prior Arts: In coke ovens in which coking coals are distilled to produce cokes, the oven gas generating during the distillation in carburization chambers passes through ascension pipes to bend pipes communicating with dry mains and the gas is cooled in the bend pipes by a liquor spray with ammonia liquor, then the oven gas collected in the bend pipes is further cooled down to about ordinary temperatures by gas coolers. The gas generated from the coke ovens is usually at a temperature ranging from 600.degree. to 800.degree. C., but due to the lack of efficient means for recovering the heat contained in the oven gas, or due to a failure in finding appropriate applications for the recovered heat from the oven gas, no practical trials have been made for recovering the waste heat of the coke oven gas. Meanwhile, in coke ovens, combustion chambers provided adjacent the carbonization chambers and gaseous fuels are burnt therein for the purpose of distillation of coking coals, and only part of the waste gas generated by the combustion is recovered in heat regenerating chambers and the remainder is not utilized in the conventional arts. The present inventors have made extensive studies and experiments for recovering the sensible heat contained in coke oven gases from the point of energy savings and proposed a method as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 55-40736, according to which a heat-stable organic heat medium, such as alkyldiphenyl, having a high boiling point, high fluidity at low temperatures, and being usable as liquid under ordinary pressure is supplied through heat conductive pipes arranged in the inside wall of ascension pipes of coke ovens to recover the sensitive heat of coke oven gases and utilize this recovered heat for pre-heating the combustion gas for hot blast ovens. The method just mentioned above has been found to be very effective to recover the heat at a high recovery ratio.

This invention relates to a process for refining a molten metal, and more particularly to a secondary refining process, wherein harmful or unnecessary impurities contained in a molten metal in the form of non-metallic components such as sulfur (S), oxygen (O), hydrogen (H), nitrogen (N), etc., and metallic components such as lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), bismuth (Bi), tellurium (Te), etc. can be reduced to tiniest traces effectively and in an extremely short time as well. In the metals and alloys obtained by melting, harmful or unnecessary metallic and non-metallic components, in addition to essential metallic components, are often contained owing to the choice of the materials utilized. And it is well known that impurities contained in a molten metal such as sulfur, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, etc. largely affect the quality of the final products. That is why a secondary refining process is often carried out, which executes an extra purification of the molten metal taken out of a melting furnace. As conventional secondary refining processes RH, DH, FINKL-MOHR, LF etc., are widely known. Among them RH and DH methods are superior in degassing, but not suitable for promoting desulfurization and deoxidation by means of adding flux, and not capable of maintaining heat of the molten metal. Consequently it becomes necessary to heighten the temperature of the discharged molten metal in the primary furnace, for example an electric arc furnace, which inevitably sacrifices the efficiency of the primary furnace and the cost of the refractory materials therefor. And FINKL-MOHR and LF (ladle furnace) methods are capable of executing reducing-refining with their heating apparatus equipped with electrodes, and also adaptable to the gas blowing. They are, however, inherently weak in the capacity of stirring the molten metal, because the ladle itself works as a refining furnace and a porous plug is utilized. They are consequently disadvantageous in their low refining efficiency. Impurities contained inevitably in the molten metals, in particular, in the molten steel, for example, metallic components such as small amounts of Pb, Zn, etc., are harmful to the quality of the obtained products. Degradation of the hot-workability, crack-sensibility of steel ingots, and degradation of the thermal fatigue life are well known as demerits caused by the impurities. It is essentially required to reduce, in the course of refining of the molten metals, such impurities to a low level where they do no harm to the quality of the products. According to the general belief Pb and Zn elements must be less than 15 p.p.m., and Bi and Te elements are allowed at a level of 5 p.p.m. In austenite stainless steels containing Ni and Cr, for example, cracking in the course of hot-working can be actually prevented at the content level of 15 p.p.m. of Pb and Zn and 5 p.p.m. of Bi and Te. According to the conventional actual manufacturing method, application of oxidizing-refining to the molten metals in a primary furnace like an electric arc furnace enables removal of the above-mentioned unnecessary elements relatively easily, because they produce oxidized substances of low boiling point. In cases of not employing oxidizing-refining, that is to say cases wherein oxidizing-refining is not needed because of obtainability of the combination of required ingredients to some extent by means of proper arrangement of materials such as in high carbon steel or high alloy steel, harmful elements must be prevented by controlling the material arrangement or removed by any other methods than the oxidizing-refining from the molten metal. In the prior art removing the harmful metallic elements from the molten metal has been extremely difficult.

Acute exercise attenuates negative affect following repeated sad mood inductions in persons who have recovered from depression. Identifying factors that may protect individuals from developing Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in the face of stress is critical. In the current study we experimentally tested whether such a potentially protective factor, engaging in acute exercise, reduces the adverse effects of repeated sad mood inductions in individuals who have recovered from depression. We hypothesized that recovered depressed participants who engage in acute exercise report a smaller increase in negative affect (NA) and a smaller decrease in positive affect (PA) when exposed to a repeated sad mood induction (i.e., habituation), whereas participants who do not exercise show sensitization (i.e., increased NA and decreased PA in response to a repeated adverse stimulus). Forty-one women recovered from MDD and 40 healthy control women were randomly assigned to either exercise for 15 minutes or quiet rest. Afterward, participants were exposed to two sad mood inductions and reported their levels of affect throughout the study. Recovered depressed participants who had not exercised exhibited higher NA after the second sad mood induction, a finding consistent with sensitization. In contrast, both recovered depressed participants who had engaged in acute exercise and healthy control participants showed no increase in NA in response to the repeated sad mood induction. Participants who exercised reported higher PA after the exercise bout; however, our hypothesis concerning reported PA trajectories following the sad mood inductions was not supported. Results suggest that exercise can serve as a protective factor in the face of exposure to repeated emotional stressors, particularly concerning NA in individuals who have recovered from depression.

Spectral imaging systems are often used to acquire spectral images of land masses in order to identify features of interest. For example, spectral images of a rain forest may be acquired to identify the presence of a particular type of vegetation in the rain forest and spectral images of a military zone may be used to identify the presence of military equipment such as airplanes and tanks in the military zone. Thus, these spectral imaging systems may be used to identify both relatively large and relatively small features of interest in a wide range of land mass types and areas. Spectral imaging systems vary in their ability to produce images for sensing such features within these diverse land masses. Hence, methods and apparatus for analyzing spectral imaging systems, e.g., to assessing their ability to produce images in which features of interest may be identified, are useful. There is an ever present desire for imaging system improvements. Accordingly, a need remains for improved methods, systems, and computer program products to analyze spectral imaging systems.

In recent years, in line with an increase in the price of energy sources due to the depletion of fossil fuels and amplification of interests in environmental pollution, environmentally-friendly alternative energy sources has become an indispensable element for future life. Thus, research into various power generation technologies using nuclear power, solar power, wind power, tidal power, etc. has continuously conducted, and great interests in power storage devices for more efficiently using the energy thus generated have also grown. In particular, as mobile devices have been continuously developed and the demand for such mobile devices has increased, the demand for secondary batteries has also sharply increased as an energy source for such mobile devices. Accordingly, much research into batteries satisfying various needs has been carried out. Typically, in terms of the shape of batteries, the demand for prismatic secondary batteries or pouch-shaped secondary batteries that are thin enough to be applied to products, such as cellular phones, is very high. In terms of the material for batteries, on the other hand, the demand for lithium secondary batteries, such as lithium ion batteries and lithium ion polymer batteries, which exhibit high energy density, discharge voltage, and output stability, is also very high. In addition, the secondary battery may be classified based on the structure of an electrode assembly, which has a structure in which a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a separator interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode are stacked. Representative examples of such an electrode assembly include a jelly-roll type (winding type) electrode assembly in which long-sheet type positive electrodes and long-sheet type negative electrodes coated with an active material are wound in the state in which a separator is interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, and a stack type (laminating type) electrode assembly in which a plurality of positive electrodes and negative electrodes, each of which are cut in units of a predetermined size, are sequentially stacked in the state in which a plurality of separators is interposed respectively between the positive electrodes and the negative electrodes. In recent years, in order to solve the problems with the jelly-roll type electrode assembly and the stack type electrode assembly, there has been developed a stacked/folded type electrode assembly, which is a combination of the jelly roll type electrode assembly and the stacked type electrode assembly, having an improved structure in which a predetermined number of positive electrodes and a predetermined number of negative electrodes are sequentially stacked in the state in which a predetermined number of separators are disposed respectively between the positive electrodes and the negative electrodes to constitute a unit cell, after which a plurality of unit cells is sequentially wound in the state of being placed on a separation film. In addition, the secondary battery may be classified according to the shape of the battery into a cylindrical battery or a prismatic battery in which an electrode assembly is built in a cylindrical or rectangular metal container, and a pouch-typed battery in which an electrode assembly is built in a pouch-shaped case made of an aluminum laminate sheet. In particular, in recent years, a pouch-typed battery having a structure in which a stack-typed or a stack/folding typed electrode assembly is built in a pouch-typed battery case made of an aluminum laminate sheet has attracted a great deal of attention due to low manufacturing cost, small weight, easy morphological deformation, etc., and its usage is also gradually increasing. In general, such a secondary battery is manufactured by coating an electrode mixture comprising an electrode active material, a conductive agent, a binder, etc., onto an electrode current collector, and drying the coated collector to prepare an electrode, laminating the electrode together with a separator, enclosing the electrode together with an electrolytic solution in a battery case, and then sealing the case. FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a manufacturing process of a conventional positive electrode for a secondary battery. Referring to FIG. 1, the positive electrode 100 is formed by a process in which the positive electrode mixture 110 including positive electrode active material particles 111 and binders 112 is coated in a liquid state onto a top surface of an positive electrode current collector 120, and then dried 130. Here, in the drying process 130 for the positive electrode mixture 110, a solvent contained in the positive electrode mixture 110 is dried 130, and the binder 112 is contained in the positive electrode mixture 110 in a state of being dissolved in the solvent. Therefore, in the process of drying the solvent, the binder 112 dissolved in the solvent is transferred to the upper portion of the negative electrode mixture 110. Accordingly, a relatively small amount of binder component is disposed between the positive electrode mixture 110 and the positive electrode current collector 120, thereby lowering the adhesive force between the positive electrode mixture 110 and the positive electrode current collector 120, and also increasing the resistance of the positive electrode 100. Therefore, there is a problem that the structural stability and electrical performance of the secondary battery including the positive electrode 100 are deteriorated. Further, these problems act as factors that increase the fraction defective in the electrode manufacturing process, lower the reliability of the electrode manufacturing process, delay the overall process time and thus increase the manufacturing cost. Therefore, there is a high need for a technology capable of fundamentally solving such a problem.

Minimally invasive ivor lewis esophagectomy after induction therapy yields similar early outcomes to surgery alone. : Although considered an integral part of treatment for regionally advanced esophageal cancer, there is conflicting literature regarding the effect of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy on esophagectomy. The objectives of this study are to examine the effect of neoadjuvant therapy in regard to perioperative parameters, morbidity, and short-term mortality in patients undergoing a minimally invasive Ivor Lewis esophagectomy (MIE). : This is a retrospective review of 39 patients undergoing MIE for esophageal cancer during 2007-2010. : Of the 39 patients, 14 (36%) did not receive neoadjuvant therapy (NCR) and 25 (64%) did receive either chemoradiotherapy or chemotherapy (CR). On comparing NCR vs CR, there was no difference in operative time (361 vs 362 minutes; P = 0.94) or estimated blood loss (233 vs 190 mL; P = 0.06). All patients underwent an R0 resection, and there was no difference in the mean number of lymph nodes harvested (NCR 21.5 vs CR 21.6; P = 0.95). Both groups had mean intensive care unit stay of 1 day (P = 0.7), and there was no difference in length of stay (NCR 7.4 vs CR 8.2 days; P = 0.38). There were no deaths or anastomotic leaks in either group. The incidence of complications in the NCR group was 21% (3/14) while in the CR group was 48% (12/25). Complications were not associated with neoadjuvant therapy [CR vs NCR: odds ratio = 3.44 (0.72-16.38); P = 0.121], even after adjusting for comorbidities and age. : MIE can be performed safely following neoadjuvant therapy with similar perioperative results, morbidity, and short-term mortality when compared with MIE alone. Longer follow-up is required for oncologic validity.

Project Abstract This competitive continuation application requests a five-year renewal for our institutional national research service award (T32) entitled, ?Research Training in Child Mental Health.? Support is requested for six postdoctoral fellows. The overarching aim of this program is to train the next generation of researchers to design and carry out innovative research projects that will help advance knowledge in the field of child mental health. Strengths of the program include a breadth of faculty research interests and expertise, a number of faculty members conducting T2-T3 translational research, and research projects with diverse, underserved and disadvantaged populations. The program embraces an apprenticeship model in which fellows work with a primary research mentor, and in many cases, a secondary research mentor. In the apprenticeship model, the mentor works closely with the trainee on existing projects, secondary data analyses, grant writing, and scientific presentations. The didactic program includes both a core and individualized curriculum including seminars on grant writing, responsible conduct of research, professional development, and innovative multidisciplinary approaches to research. This latter seminar helps stimulate discussion of translational research ideas within the context of the NIMH strategic plan. The breadth of research interests, from basic to applied, helps broaden research perspectives and educate fellows with respect to the process of collaboration and conducting research across disciplines. During this past cycle we have trained 17 T32 postdoctoral fellows (10 graduates, 7 still enrolled); 7 additional postdoctoral fellows funded by F32s, a diversity supplement, and other sources also took part in the T32 training. Of the 10 graduates of the T32 in this 5th cycle, all have faculty positions, 7 in medical schools and 3 in psychology departments; all have submitted NIH grants as PIs during their fellowship, and 4 K awards, a 40% hit rate, were funded. Fifteen of 17 former T32 fellows from our prior (4th) cycle have faculty positions and they have been awarded a total of 11 NIH PI grants including 3 R01s (and a 4th awaiting funding with a 5th percentile), an R03, R34, R21, R21/R33, and 3 K awards. Three Brain and Behavior Research Foundation Young Investigator awards have also been secured. The 10 graduates from the 5th cycle have published 195 peer-reviewed papers (M = 19.5), 80 first author (M = 8), and 65 (M = 6.5) directly related to their fellowship research. The 17 graduates in the 4th cycle have published 453 peer-reviewed manuscripts (M = 26.6), 171 first author (M = 10.1), and 125 (m = 7.4) directly related to their fellowships. In this competing continuation, we integrate new, accomplished independent investigators into the mentoring pool, introduce mentor training opportunities, expand our scientific reach to wet-lab research, and expand opportunities for exposure to team science.

Normal hair is sometimes naturally so fine and limp and so lacking in body that it does not hold a hair set well. Frequently, the hair becomes even less bodied and is sometimes weakened as a result of being subjected to multiple chemically active cosmetic treatments, such as permanent waves and tints. Additionally, hair may be further weakened and weathered by other contributing factors, such as bleaching by exposure to sun and chlorinated swimming pool water. Normal hair is also usually hydrophobic. However, many of the previously mentioned chemical treatments remove the natural hydrophobic components from the hair. Consequently, the relative porosity of the hair increases as its hydrophobicity decreases. As the porosity of the hair increases, it tends to pick up water and swell more readily. When the hair is weakened and porous, it is more vulnerable to stretching and breaking while it is water-swollen. Routine grooming inevitably requires that wet hair be mechanically stretched and manipulated during shampooing, combing and setting on curlers. Additionally, currently popular hairstyles are achieved by "blow-drying" the freshly washed hair. In the "blow-dry" procedure, the hair is not set on curlers; rather the wet hair is brushed continuously until it is dry while a stream of heated air from a hand-held electric hair dryer is directed over the portion of the hair being brushed. Thus water-swollen hair that is in a weakened physical condition may snap and break or be mechanically damaged during blow drying. This invention relates to a method of treating hair to strengthen it and improve its physical properties by treating the hair with compositions containing a water-dispersible non-toxic polyvalent metal salt of a mineral acid. The hair is strengthened by restoring its hydrophobicity and decreasing its porosity. The physical properties of the hair are improved by long-lasting conditioning benefits that resist removal by water or subsequent shampoo washings. The polyvalent metal salts have a cation selected from the group consisting of aluminum (III), cerium (III) and (IV), iron (III) and zirconium (IV) and an anion of a strong mineral acid. Polyvalent metal salts are generally appreciated in the art primarily for their astringent effects on skin for antiperspirant activity. Hewitt et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 3,842,847, taught the use of astringent water-soluble salts of aluminum, hafnium, zirconium and zinc and the like in a shampoo and hair treatment to diminish scalp perspiration. By diminishing the perspiration on the scalp, less sebum transferred to the hair, so the hair stayed cleaner longer. Hewitt et al. reported antistatic, as well as anti-soiling, effects with aqueous rinses of aluminum chlorohydrate present in concentrations of at least 0.004 weight percent, preferably from 2 to 6 weight percent. The researchers believed the aluminum salt reacted with the hair keratin making it less anionic in nature and thus less "fly-away." However, for the purposes intended by Hewitt et al., the pH of the treatment and shampoo compositions were limited to the operable astringency range of the metal salts from 3 to 6.5. Also the hair had to be water rinsed after treatment until the pH of the rinse water was at least over 6. The effectiveness of the method of this invention, as explained below, is not dependent on the astringent action, if any, of the polyvalent metal salt of aluminum or zirconium selected for use in hair-treating compositions used herein. For example, zinc salt, one of the astringent materials taught by Hewitt et al. is ineffective to achieve the results of this invention. Further the hair treating compositions of this invention, including those containing aluminum and zirconium salts similar to those taught by Hewitt et al., need not be rinsed from the hair. Indeed, the compositions are preferably allowed to remain in contact with the hair as explained below, and are effective for the purpose intended at salt concentrations well below known levels recognized for astringent antiperspirant effects. Cassidy in U.S. Pat. No. 3,208,910, taught the use of a water-soluble zirconium carboxylate salt in a hair styling fluid for imparting body, moisture resistance and sheen to human hair. Zirconium acetate present in a concentration of 0.1 to 2 percent at a pH from about 3 to 6 was used for setting the hair. However, the hair tended to behave as if it were full of snarls and was extremely difficult to comb if the concentration exceeded 2 percent. Consequently, body and moisture-resistant effects could only be increased by including auxiliary dispersing agents, waxes and polymers or by washing the hair with a soap shampoo and forming an insoluble zirconium soap on the hair. The compositions of this invention are not so restricted, and the zirconium salts practiced as taught herein are those which were rejected by Cassidy as being less effective than carboxylate salts. Commercially available products usually rely on resins or polymeric materials to produce bodying effects on the hair. However, these products usually provide no hydrophobic improvement against the known adverse effects of humidity in maintaining a hair style. In some cases, these materials make the hair hard to comb or may, themselves, absorb moisture. Attempts have been made to make hair hydrophobic by means of products that are applied to the hair in the form of oily hair dressings and creams where the product is left on the hair to act as a physical barrier against moisture. However such products provide a temporary effect that is removed when the user washes her or his hair. Frequently these products weigh the hair down with a dull coating, thereby sacrificing the bodying benefits desired by persons having fine, limp, porous hair. Thus, consumers face a dilemma in choosing which physical characteristics they wish to improve and which desirable characteristics they are willing to sacrifice to get the desired improvement. A desirable hair treatment product, therefore, would strengthen the hair, especially porous hair, and provide a cosmetically pleasing, lasting improvement in the physical properties of hair.

Various articles are assembled from more than one material, forming multiple portions of the article. In general, such articles are formed by securing a first material to a second material using a securing technique such as welding, adhering, fusing, soldering, brazing or a combination thereof. Such techniques suffer from various drawbacks. For example, such techniques can suffer from limited applicability to alloys, can be subject to fatigue, can delaminate, or combinations thereof. Articles formed from combined alloys are often used in power generation systems, engines, bridges, buildings, wind turbines, and other large structures. Such structures are continuously subjected to increasing forces to provide improved efficiency and/or due to new environmental conditions. Such articles require increased resistance to fatigue, increased mechanical properties, increased capability of being fabricating, increased design life and reduced life cycle cost. Known components having two or more materials do not sufficiently meet all of the desired parameters. As an alloy ingot cools, there are many factors which affect the final structure of the article formed. For example, when a molten alloy is poured into a mold, a temperature difference between the mold and the alloy causes thermal convection currents at the mold wall. The convection current contributes to segregation and the breaking off of metal dendrites forming on the wall. Those dendrites act as nuclei for the formation of equiaxed grains. Changing local compositions contributes to segregation, which further complicates grain formation. Additionally, the composition of the alloy and the rate at which the cast cools affect the final grain structure. Known casting methods do not sufficiently address such concerns regarding grain formation. A casting method, a cast article, and a casting system that do not suffer from one or more of the above drawbacks would be desirable in the art.

[The results of the treatment of the cataract in children and youth treated in Ophthalmology Clinic in Poznań]. Cataract is a leading course of a treatable blindness and serious visual impairment in children. Treatment, especially in one-sided cataract is a challenge and it is connected with the risk of complications. The decision to perform a surgery in older children with already coexisting amblyopia is not easy to make. The aim of our study was to present the effects of the cataract treatment in children between 3 and 18 years old, in the Ophthalmology Clinic in Poznań. Between 2006 and 2008, the surgery was done in 36 children (42 eyes). The data of those patients, e.g. the type and location of the cataract, accompanying disorders and visual acuity reached, were analyzed. In this group of patient 60% of children reached visual acuity equal to 0.5, and 24% of them full visual acuity. The way to prepare the patient to the surgery, the way to calculate the power of the intraocular lens to be implanted and the surgery technique will be discussed.

Generally, a secondary battery may be rechargeable and have increased capacity. A representative example of the secondary battery includes a nickel cadmium battery, a nickel hydrogen battery, a lithium ion battery, and the like. Among them, the lithium ion battery has been spotlighted as the next generation power source due to excellent characteristics such as a long lifespan, high capacity, and the like. Among them, a lithium secondary battery, which has operating voltage of 3.6 V or more, is used as a power supply of a portable electronic device or several lithium secondary batteries are connected in series with each other to thereby be used for a high output hybrid vehicle. Since this lithium secondary battery has operating voltage three times higher than that of the nickel-cadmium battery or the nickel-metal hydride battery and is more excellent in view of energy density characteristics per unit weight than the nickel-cadmium battery or the nickel-metal hydride battery, the use of the lithium secondary battery has rapidly increased. The lithium secondary battery may be manufactured in various types. A representative type of the lithium secondary battery may include a cylindrical type and a prismatic type that are mainly used for the lithium ion battery. A lithium polymer battery that has been recently spotlighted is manufactured in a pouch type having flexibility, such that it has a relatively free shape. In addition, the lithium polymer battery has excellent stability and light weight, such that it is advantageous for slimness and lightness of the portable electronic device. Meanwhile, in a case of a power supply for driving a motor of an electric automobile, or the like requiring a large amount of power, several tens of secondary battery cells are connected in series or parallel with each other to thereby configure a battery module. When a plurality of battery modules are charged or discharged, heat is generated from the cell and charging or discharging performance of the battery cell may be varied depending on a temperature of the cell. Therefore, it is important to maintain an internal temperature of the battery at appropriate temperature. A secondary battery module disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2007-0014631 according to the related art includes a plurality of unit cells which are stacked and arranged to efficiently cool heat generated from the unit cell, and a plurality of partitions installed between the unit cells and having a cooling passage formed therein and protrusions formed on both surfaces thereof. Therefore, the related art relates to a method of cooling the plurality of cells while a heat transferring medium is circulated in the plurality of partitions. However, since the related art has a configuration of cooling only regions in which the protrusions formed on the both surfaces of the partition and the plurality of unit cells are in contact with each other, there is a problem that regions in which the protrusions and the plurality of unit cells are not in contact with each other are not cooled.

Both the learning of an aversive CS-US pairing in classical fear conditioning and the extinction of a fear response critically rely on the amygdala to occur. Additionally, several lines of evidence suggest that extinction learning is not simply an erasure of the original fear memory, but a distinct and parallel form of learning that suppresses the expression of the conditioned fear response. Thus there appear to be two forms of learning that occur in the basolateral amygdala which have opposing effects on the expression of conditioned fear through the output of the amygdala (the central nucleus). We hypothesize that these two forms of learning will produce differential patterns of second-messenger and transcription factor activation within the sub-populations of excitatory and inhibitory neurons that constitute the associative learning circuit in the basolateral complex of the amygdala (BLA). Furthermore, we hypothesize that by using pharmacologic and genetic manipulations targeting one particular sub-population of BLA neurons, we may be able to selectively alter one of these two types of learning while leaving the other intact.

NEW DELHI: Railways today dismissed reports about the leak of email and mobile numbers from user profile data of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation's ( IRCTC ) e-ticketing system and said everything is safe and secure.There is no hacking nor any leakage of IRCTC ticketing website and everything is safe, Railway Board Member (Traffic) Mohd Jamshed told PTI.He was replying to a query about reports citing cyber officials in Maharashtra regarding alleged leak of email and mobile numbers from user profile data of IRCTC e-ticketing system.He said the security system has already been reviewed twice in the recent past.Railways constituted a committee comprising cyber experts and vigilance officials from IRCTC and Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) on May 3 to check the possible theft of data and found no such case."The committee has submitted the preliminary reports and there is no leakage. We are constantly monitoring it," Jamshed said.The e-ticketing system is managed in-house by CRIS, the IT arm of Indian Railways. The data centre is in the premises of CRIS.According to Railways, the report of possible theft of data came to light on May 2 and a thorough investigation was carried out to ascertain its veracity.However, no such incident was detected by technical teams of CRIS and IRCTC.The data of e-ticketing system can be broadly divided into two categories - sensitive information like debit/credit card details, login ID, passwords, which could cause potential financial risk. PAN card detail is not required for booking e-ticket.No sensitive data is alleged to have been leaked.It is clarified that other data like mobile numbers and email ids is available with a large number of electronic service providing entities such as e-commerce firms and telemarketers.Email and mobile numbers have to be shared with service providers for providing catering services, cab services, hotel bookings, SMS services etc. Till now, leak of data through none of the service providers of IRCTC has been established.E-ticketing website has been working normally thereby eliminating any chances of unauthorized interference, IRCTC said.According to IRCTC, about 5.48 lakh tickets were booked in a single day in April, 2016 with 2.66 lakh peak concurrent users which means about 13,600 tickets were booked per minute.The e-ticketing system has several components viz. internet gateway, network security devices such as gateway router and Firewall, Application Delivery Controller, Security Information Event Management System (SIEM) web server and database server access logs.According to railways, each component has been checked and none of them has been found to have any unusual activity. Technical investigations have also not indicated any unusual activity with respect to various system components.The IT security of e-ticketing system is ensured through regular security audits by Standardization Testing Quality Certification (STQC) Directorate of Department of Electronics and IT.IRCTC CMD AK Manocha said auditing is an ongoing process and security audit of e-ticketing system is undertaken biannually.Audit trails are maintained for access to the system and all sensitive data like passwords are stored in encrypted form."24x7 monitoring of the system is done throughout the year by technical team of experts. Strict physical checks are already in place in the data centre like restricted access to data centre, CCTV cameras at entry and exit points of data centre," Manocha said.

The overall objectives of this proposal are to study the effect of measurement errors by the standard mercury sphygmomanometer (SMS) on the management of hypertension and to determine if more accurate but more expensive, alternative technologies such as random zero sphygmomanometer (RZS), electronic automatic recorders (AR) and 24 hour ambulatory blood pressure monitors (ABPM) lead to improved clinical decision making and cost effective blood pressure management. Ambulatory hypertensive patients followed in the general internal medicine clinic at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics will be studied with concurrent BP measurements by SMS, RZS, AR and ABPM. The specific aims are: 1) to determine the frequency of misclassification of hypertension using the SMS, RZS and AR in comparison to the ABPM as the reference standard; 2) to assess the impact of misclassification of hypertension status due to measurement errors with the SMS on treatment decisions of clinic physicians; 3) to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of an intervention strategy to reduce inappropriate treatment decisions due to errors with SMS by providing physicians BP values obtained with the newer methods; 4) to determine if more accurate measurements with the improved technology lead to more appropriate management decisions and better BP control; and 5) to analyze the cost effectiveness of different BP measurement techniques in classifying BP status. The ultimate objective of the study is to determine if there is justification for the widespread use and high investment cost of newer technologies in the clinical setting. The results of the study will contribute to improved decision making in the management of patients with established hypertension, who are subject to life-long treatment with antihypertensive therapy. The study has important societal benefits given the high prevalence of hypertension in the general population. Directors of outpatient clinics, and all personnel involved with the care and decision making of hypertensive patients would benefit from the results of the study. The study will consist of 2 phases: an initial, observational phase and a sequential, interventional phase. The initial, pilot phase will provide the baseline information of hypertension misclassification by SMS and its impact on clinicians' treatment decisions in managing BP. The appropriateness of treatment decisions based on the SMS measurements will be compared to the management appropriate for the BP as measured by the ABPM. In the interventional phase, readings obtained with more advanced methods (RZS, AR, and ABPM) will be provided to the clinicians. The appropriateness of BP management after the intervention will be compared to that of the baseline. A formal cost effectiveness analysis will be performed by evaluating the medical care and patient costs associated with treatment of hypertension and its sequelae relative to clinical impact of the four different methods of measuring BP.

Quality assurance in the social- and educational sector – an empirical analysis to assess the actual situation of quality and educational controlling concerning the day nurseries of Berlin Child care has been getting never known public attention within the last years. Accordingly, the crucial question is whether, to what extent and in what way the introduction of quality and educational controlling is used in practice. The method used in this study is triangulation, which includes three parts: tQuality assurance in the social- and educational sector – an empirical analysis to assess the actual situation of quality and educational controlling concerning the day nurseries of Berlin Child care has been getting never known public attention within the last years. Accordingly, the crucial question is whether, to what extent and in what way the introduction of quality and educational controlling is used in practice. The method used in this study is triangulation, which includes three parts: the literary analysis, the qualitative investigation (interviews with ten bodies responsible for nursery schools and evaluation by content analysis) and the quantitative investigation (standardized interviews with 49 day nursery heads and evaluation by SPSS). This study comes to the following conclusions: - The sector of day nursery is fixed by several laws (federal laws, national/regional laws and educational plans). - The sector of day nursery can be described by a pluralism of quality, which has been systematized by the introduction of the Berliner Bildungsprogramm. - The sector of day nursery has changed in literature, society and practice because of the introduction of the Berliner Bildungsprogramm, which gives orientation and quality security. - This sector is located between the social and the educational sector. - The possibility of implementing the quality and the educational instruments depends on political general conditions. - The demand for better general conditions, like the improvement of the personnel key, can be established without exception.…

The present invention relates to a security element in the form of a thread or strip to be embedded in a security document comprising a carrier sheet and at least one marking substance applied thereto. e.g. in the form of a coating, to allow for visual and/or machine detection of authenticity, and to a method for producing and testing the same. It is a known measure to protect security documents by embedding in these documents security elements which either have special machine detectable physical properties or are designed in terms of their visual appearance so as to serve as an authenticity feature for the security document. Such security elements are e.g. threads or strips directly embedded in the paper ply as it is being formed during the manufacture of the paper. Such a security thread is known e.g. from German laid open print no. 27 54 267, whereby a carrier sheet made of polyester or cellulose is coated with various materials. The visually and/or machine readable authenticity features are e.g. an aluminized coating, a magnetic coating, a coating of X-ray absorbent material and/or luminescent material. This publication shows various structures of such security threads which differ in their layer arrangement and/or the materials used thereby. However, all examples shown therein have at least one, usually even several, of the disadvantages stated below. For example, the layer materials susceptible to mechanical abrasion and atmospheric influences, such as the metal coating, usually form the outside of the thread. However, mechanical stresses during production of the thread can easily destroy the metal coating, and during subsequent use it is often the case that the metal coaxing loses its original shine and eventually turns dull. In serious cases the metal layer may even be completely interrupted, so that the security thread loses not only its reflectiveness but also its machine testable electrical conductivity over the entire length of the thread. Furthermore, the structure is usually asymmetrical and this asymmetry leads to curling of the thread and the formation of garlands. Thus, the thread cannot always be embedded readily in the same flat position in the fibrous layer of a paper ply being formed. The areas of the paper web in which the security thread does not come to lie on the plane of the paper ply must subsequently be eliminated as being useless. This reject rate leads to higher costs for the paper production. Finally, manufacturing errors in the coating process cannot be ruled out. For example, there may be wide fluctuations in the layer thickness and also complete interruptions In the coating. Such interruptions in a metal layer, for example, result in an interruption of the electrical conductivity. These security documents must also be eliminated as rejects since these irregularities prevent reliable detection of authenticity.

Mangrove forests as traps for marine litter. To verify weather mangroves act as sinks for marine litter, we surveyed through visual census 20 forests along the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf, both in inhabited and remote locations. Anthropogenic debris items were counted and classified along transects, and the influence of main drivers of distribution were considered (i.e. land-based and ocean-based sources, density of the forest and properties of the object). We confirmed that distance to major maritime traffic routes significantly affects the density of anthropogenic debris in Red Sea mangrove forests, while this was independent of land-based activities. This suggests ocean-based activities combined with surface currents as major drivers of litter in this basin. Additionally, litter was more abundant where the mangrove density was higher, and object distribution through the mangrove stand often depended on their shape and dimension. We particularly show that pneumatophores act as a sieve retaining large plastic objects, leading to higher plastic mass estimates in mangroves compared to those of beaches previously surveyed in the Red Sea.

"This looks well balanced." "Eww." "This is like that movie, Angela's Ashtray." "Jake." "Did you forget to buy lasagna?" "We are through paying through the nose for second-rate frozen food." "That's a relief, the coins were making my nostrils bleed." "Thanks to Basement Bob's Bulk-Rate Steak and Sausage dot com, tonight, we luxuriate in the majesty of near-wholesale prime rib." "What?" "If the Fashion Club finds out I'm eating bulk-rate." "Or eating at all." "Dammit!" "We've got four mouths to feed." "Food costs money." "I knew it." "But Daria will be away at college soon, and then there will only be three mouths to feed." "Yes." "I'm sure the sudden windfall will more than make up for tuition, room and board." "Tuition?" "Oh, God." "Daria, I know." "Why don't you get one of those scholarship thingies?" "Why Quinn." "That's an excellent idea." "Yeah." "If only they didn't give them to people with well-rounded, balanced interests." "You know, somebody else." "That must be the prime rib!" "I'd just assumed it would be dead." "And here it is, ringing the doorbell." "You know, Daria." "There are scholarships exclusively for academic achievement." "Winning one of those could make up for your lack of extracurriculars come college admissions time." "It wouldn't hurt to look into it." "Right?" "All right!" "Feast your eyes on this!" "Huh?" "Eww." "They look like hot dogs." "Many hot dogs." "Hey!" "That's not what I ordered." "Jake." "Hey!" "Meat guy!" "Come back here!" "Criminals, beware." "This detective won't talk, but you will!" "Mime and punishment, next on Sick, Sad World." "I don't like where this is going." "I haven't said anything yet." "So there's still time to flee?" "Look, Daria." "The more I think about applying for an academic scholarship, the more I like it." "There's almost nothing on your high school record to show you're motivated and involved." "Could that be, because I'm not?" "Daria." "Are you telling me you don't plan on going to college?" "Of course I do." "Okay?" "Not for me, not for your father, for you." "All right." "Damn." "These scholarship foundations all want you to be an expert in something:" "concert violinist, nationally-ranked gymnast, published author." "God, Daria." "What have been doing all this time?" "Acting like a teen-ager?" "Hey, here's one for you." "Have you ever had anything shown in a museum?" "Regional's okay." "Yeah, like I'm going to fill out a five-pound application and kiss the butts of some review board just for a few thousand bucks to go to a school I'll probably hate anyway." "Um... not that you shouldn't do it." "Hmm." "Here's something." "The Wizard Foundation will award a ten-thousand dollar prize who best embodies the Wizard pursuit of excellence." "You've got to admire their vagueness." "The pursuit of excellence." "So, you don't actually have to catch it?" "Great." "There's an essay:" "How would you change the world if you could?" "I knew I should have taped the Miss America Pageant." "Well, if you need any illustrations for your essay, I'm pretty good at painting mushroom clouds." "Hey, Daria." "I know I'm crazy to ask, but one of the paper's editors quit." "Could you use another extracurricular activity for your transcript?" "Technically, no." "Since another implies I have any to begin with." "What are you gonna do about your college applications?" "Gee, how refreshing." "A lecture from a fellow student just like the ones I get from my mother." "Thanks to her, I spent the whole night on the web, looking into scholarships." "Really?" "Find anything?" "The closest I came was the Wizard Foundation Prize." "The software company?" "Just to apply, they make you fill out a form, and write an essay." "Um, Daria." "That's pretty much par for the course." "Darn." "I guess there's no such thing as a free ten thousand dollars." "Hmm." "Well, good luck." "If I actually follow through." "But, I'm hoping to come to my senses before that happens." "In sum, my world would be made fairer to the simple step of eliminating all money." "Politicians could serve the people they represent, instead of the ones paying for their attack ads." "CEO's could stop fouling the planet and cheating their workers just to keep their stock prices pumped." "And, of course, promising young students such as myself, could actually study, instead of spending their time groveling in scholarship essays." "Wow." "You're really going to send that in?" "Why wouldn't I?" "The whole point of these scholarships is to show how marvelously well-adjusted you are." "You're coming all observant and honest." "You know, anti-social." "Look, this is how I write." "I wouldn't want to get the prize based on some phony essay and phony personality." "What are you looking for?" "The umbilical cord." "Since you were obviously born yesterday." "Daria, did I hear you reading your scholarship essay?" "Judging by how calm you are, I'd say no, you didn't." "Daria." "You girls ready for some more hot dog slices?" "Um, thanks Mr. Morgendorffer, but I think I'm exactly as woozy as I want to be." "Hey, honey!" "How does hot dog jalapeno hotties sound for tonight?" "Kind of like the sound of four people racing to beat each other to the bathroom." "Jake!" "Send those hot dogs back!" "I can't." "I broke the seal." "But they made the mistake!" "Well, uh, if you want to get technical about it, I made the mistake." "I kind-of typed in the wrong product number." "Damn fuzzy computer screen!" "Yes, you can eat over." "Is this what you in the legal profession refer to as discovery?" "Um, this is for you." "It's from the Wizard Foundation." "I didn't realize you'd already sent in the application." "You weren't meant to." "Oh, great." "Now I have to be interviewed by these people." "Oh, Daria!" "You got an interview?" "Yeah, me and ninety-nine other finalists." "Talk about feeling special." "But, you should feel special." "You're a finalist!" "You're on your way." "Besides, even making it this far will impress a college admissions board." "It means the" "Wizard Foundation's recognized what a unique individual you are." "Huh." "Why does this say occupant?" "Hey, Daria." "What's up?" "Actually, you know that Wizard scholarship I told you about?" "I made the finals." "That's great." "So did I." "You applied?" "Yeah." "Thanks for letting me know about it." "Letting you now about it?" "Colleagues, confreres, amigos de scholasticos." "Gee, trilingual obnoxiousness." "I see from this list I downloaded that we've all been deemed worthy of the title, Wizard Foundation Finalist, and I for one, am basking in the glow of you two lovely ladies." "Not to mention, my own luminescence." "Rrroww." "How many people did you tell about this scholarship?" "Are you kidding?" "The fewer people who know about this, the better." "I mean," "You know, I'm kind of surprised you applied, what with the way you were talking." "Hmm." "Surprise, surprise." "Yeah." "Well, No hard feelings, right?" "Why would you have any?" "But, did you know that finely sliced fried wieners are a fun and proteinaceous party food?" "Daria, what are you doing to prepare for the Wizard interview?" "Nothing." "With America's studious sweetheart, Jodie Landon in the competition," "I don't stand a chance." "Jodie applied, too?" "After she heard about it from me." "Well, it's a dog-eat-dog world, you might as well get used to it." "Gee, I don't think I can get any more used to eating dogs than I am right now." "I mean there's nothing wrong with competition, as long as you rise to the occasion." "Even if you need a little outside help." "Okay, that was shoe number one." "I just happened to hear about a coach who could help you prepare for the interview." "What a mad coincidence." "A couple sessions with Dr. Danada and you're a guaranteed master of special interviewing techniques and strategies." "Isn't having someone tell you how to act and what to say cheating?" "He's just teaching you what you'd eventually have learned from experience anyway." "You mean; that a scholarship supposedly based on merit can be bought?" "Feisty..." "lady!" "No, I won't show you my belly button." "Hmm." "But, perhaps you can enlighten me on some of the special effects you're planning for your Wizard interview." "Accompanying visuals, charts, graphs, dancing animals?" "Sorry, it's just going to be me, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir." "You know, since we are in the competition together." "Actually, we're in it separately." "Technically." "But, we can still help one another." "Say, by swapping essays to gain a broader perspective on what they like?" "Not interested, thanks." "Drive home safe." "Oh, tart-tongued temptress." "If you help me, I might afford you an opportunity to invest in my dot-com company." "You've started a dot-com?" "A modest exotic candies venture, not unlike the small business that Wizard's illustrious CEO, Mark Straum began in his high school days." "Care for a wasabi gummy-fish imported from Tokyo?" "It's just the kind that Mr. Straum happens to enjoy." "How do you know?" "Extensive research into his likes and dislikes, and the order he's already placed on my site. no way I'm going to win that scholarship without some kind of highly uncharacteristic butt-kissing." "Oh, I' sure you'll find a characteristic way to do it." "What does that mean?" "Nothing." "You gonna eat that?" "Don't you think I'm in a lousy position?" "Sure, sure." "I just can't get worked up about it, that's all." "Hey, guys." "Mind if I join you?" "The more, the merrier." "That's your motto, isn't it?" "Look, I didn't do anything wrong." "That scholarship is open to everyone, and you said you didn't even think you were going to apply." "Can't we just hope that one of us gets a break?" "Gee, which one of us do you hope gets a break?" "Let's level the playing field." "My dad found a coach who preps people for interviews, and I wanted you to know about." "Here's his card." "Dr. Danada." "Of course." "I already knew about him, but um... thanks." "Oh, a coach." "That sounds fair to everybody else." "Is something bugging you?" "Not a bit." "I think after school, I'll go home, surf the web, see if there are any scholarships for underachievers." "At least I'll know I'm not competing with anyone who was coached." "She almost sounds like you." "Does that mean I've been sounding like you?" "Hi!" "If any of us starts to sound like her, it's time to panic." "Hi, Mr. Morgendorffer." "I'm here to see Daria." "Sure thing!" "But first, care for a caramel pop-up corn dog?" "Um... thanks." "You know, I can be onto something here." "A pushcart, a nice big umbrella, and hey," "I'm open for business." "Um..." "I've got to help Daria prepare for her interview, now." "Why, God?" "Why are those computer screens so damn hard to read?" "Hey, thanks for helping me out." "I just hope this little run-through will be enough to do any good." "Okay, now I'm a humorless suit from the Wizard Foundation, and you're some jaded, high school snot." "In other words, you." "How flattering." "All right, Daria." "Let's say that we hire you to work at Wizard." "Not very likely, but hey." "Now, your first assignment is to fire half your employees." "Do you:" "A, fire by lottery, B, fire by seniority, or C, just get rid of any women and minorities who happened to have snuck through the gates." "Okay, thanks Tom." "Very helpful." "I'm trying to represent Wizard accurately." "So you'll be comfortable with the face of evil when it stares into your soul." "What are you talking about?" "You've heard about their hiring policies, haven't you?" "I must have fallen behind in my annual reports again." "So, then you don't know about their measly two women VP's and one" "African-American in senior management." "Really?" "I wonder if Jodie's heard about this?" "That's it?" "No righteous indignation?" "No protesting of sexism and racism?" "This is where you usually leap up and swear you won't be co-opted by these bottom-feeding weasels." "Yeah, it is." "So why aren't you leaping and swearing?" "Um, my foot's asleep." "So basically, they're hiring practices and employee relations aren't that different from the Ku Klux Klan, if you disregard the dental plan." "Well, You may be overstating things a little, but I get your point." "They're not what you'd call progressive." "Not progressive?" "Hey, Daria." "Summit meeting of the Wizard finalists?" "Dad, Daria found out some kind-of questionable things about Wizard's personnel policies." "No kidding." "I guess you didn't see the interview with their CEO in the" "Journal." "Talk about your redneck billionaires." "You already knew about this?" "They haven't promoted a woman or a minority in three years." "So?" "Who better to win the prize than a brilliant young woman?" "Especially, if it turns out to be a brilliant young black woman." "That is a good point." "I thought you wouldn't want anything to do with Wizard, once you found out." "Trying to reduce the competition by getting me to drop out, huh?" "No." "I thought we'd both drop out." "And who will win the scholarship then?" "Huh?" "Look Daria, Wizard's policies have been prehistoric, yeah." "But someone, somewhere in the organization, is trying to address that." "Or, they wouldn't have created this prize." "Now, do you walk away because the guy at the top is an idiot, or do you join the people trying to change the way he does business?" "How do I know they're not just trying to make him look good, without changing anything at all?" "They won't change anything at all, if kids like you two don't push your way onto their radar and show them the error of their ways." "If you don't go up to the gate and ring the big bell, they've kept you out without having to do a thing." "Ring the big bell, Daria!" "Ring the big bell!" "Big bell?" "Okay, so my dad thinks he's Martin Luther King, Jr." "Or Quasimodo, I'm not quite sure." "Listen, I've gotta go, or I'll be late for my coaching session." "Did you sign up with Dr. Danada yet?" "Make no mistake about this, Daria." "Knowledge is power." "The key to scoring big on any interview is knowing what they want, and then delivering that product." "I'm must praying that they want bulk-rate hot dogs." "Daria, the product is you." "Successful alumni reflect well on colleges and foundations, so you need to project 'winner' the moment you walk in the door." "Dress for success." "Look that interviewer in they eye, and dazzle them with a million-dollar smile." "Squander my million-dollar smile on a ten thousand dollar prize?" "That's crazy talk." "Daria, if you don't mind my saying so, you're giving off mixed signals about wanting this award." "You do want the scholarship?" "I guess." "But not if it takes dishonesty to get it." "Is it dishonest to say you're deserving of the Wizard prize?" "See now, that speaks directly to the ambiguities at issue here." "The prize is given by a company with less than stellar ethics." "So, which would make me more deserving of the prize?" "Acting ethically, or acting unethically?" "Let's talk about what you're going to wear." "So basically, Danada was a complete waste of time and money." "I'll never learn to suck-up like Jodie." "You shouldn't, anyway." "You're right." "You've gotta be yourself when you suck-up." "Why do you keep saying that?" "My whole problem is that I'm not sucking up." "Really?" "Then, why did you go to the coach in the first place?" "For that matter, why apply for a scholarship at all?" "What?" "It's all part of buying into the system, and buying into the system is another way of saying sucking up." "Who made you the Chicago Eight?" "This isn't the way you usually think." "What do you know about how I think?" "Just because a person doesn't go around applying for scholarships and using every ten-dollar word they know." "It doesn't mean they're stupid." "Who said you were..." "Mr. Brower, allow me to personally welcome you to Lawndale High." "We are very happy to have three finalists for the Wizard Scholarship." "We'll talk later about some of your surveillance software." "Let's begin." "Ms. Landon." "What would you say are your strengths as a student and a human being." "That's a good question." "My strengths are that I question, and I care." "And, I'm not afraid to go for it with my whole heart and soul." "Mr. Ruttheimer, your strengths?" "Aside from my far-flung reputation as a people person, I'd say my strengths include a daring entrepreneurial bent, coupled with an unquenchable need to succeed." "Nice tie, by the way." "Ms. Morgendorffer?" "I would say that my main strength is that I don't babble." "Um..." "Ms. Landon." "What is your greatest weakness?" "My believe my greatest weakness is that sometimes I care too much and try too hard, and as a consequence, I don't always take time to smell the roses." "To tell you the truth, I have a weakness for wasabi gummy-fish." "Care for one?" "My main weakness is my inability to answer stock questions with stock answers." "Now, for my last question." "Why do you deserve the Wizard Scholarship?" "Ms. Landon." "Mr. Brower, I believe in myself and I hope to achieve a lot in this world." "And then, use everything I've learned to give back to my community, the way" "Wizard is doing now with this wonderful scholarship." "Mr. Ruttheimer." "Awesome question." "I was thinking about just that when I started my dot-com company." "Because, I'm just the kind of go-getter the Wizard Scholarship was created for." "Thank you!" "Ms. Morgendorffer." "Why do you deserve the Wizard Scholarship?" "Whether or not I deserve anything is irrelevant, assuming you run your scholarship program the same way you run your company." "Since the token women and minorities you hire rarely move into upper management, and since I won't give the answers you want to hear, in hopes of somehow bucking the odds, I guess you can just pass on me, as if I were one of your female employees up for promotion." "Ms. Morgendorffer, you seem to have a bit of an attitude problem." "Are you trying to sabotage yourself?" "I'm responding to your questions truthfully." "So, I guess the answer is yes." "Too bad." "According to my notes, you got high marks for the light-hearted spoof you wrote for an essay." "Light-hearted spoof?" "So none of us is Wizard Scholarship material." "I really thought I had a good shot." "Oh, hell." "Maybe my answers were too damn pat." "Is it possible I imported the wrong wasabi gummy-fish?" "Well, I know why I didn't get it." "Oh, yeah." "No question there." "Definitely." "Hey!" "Come on, Daria." "You didn't want it." "No, I did want it." "It just took me a while to figure out how badly I wanted it." "How badly was that?" "Not badly enough to smile and lie for the award, but badly enough to get mad at you for applying." "Sorry." "I'm sorry." "I should have told you I was applying." "I can't believe I didn't." "I can't believe I went to that coach, after all my high and mighty posturing about integrity." "What about both of us sucking up to the racist, sexist goons at Wizard?" "Yeah." "Who would have thought we'd be able to pursue excellence and scumminess, both at the same time." "Oh!" "Why couldn't it have been me?" "Jodie told me about the big brush-off from Wizard." "Sorry, kid." "Why were you so anti-scholarship?" "No reason." "Except maybe... seeing the big brains compete for a prize based on their academic achievement." "Well deserved, don't get me wrong." "Might possibly have made little Janey feel a bit..." "I don't know." "Left out?" "Look, I'm good at the things I'm good at." "Grades isn't one of them." "We never used to think about stuff like this." "I know." "What's happened to us?" "I don't know." "Selling out?" "Buying in?" "Joining the system?" "Being co-opted?" "Maybe we're just getting older." "Yeah, I felt a twinge of osteoporosis when I woke up this morning." "So, you willing to admit yet that you're more competitive than you thought?" "Come on." "If I were really competitive, I'd be in the parking lot right now, squaring off with the rest of them." "Welcome to Lawndale High's first annual Hot Diggity Dog Eating Contest, courtesy of Jake Morgendorffer Consulting." "First prize is a year's supply of Grade A, quality bulk rate delicious hot dogs." "So, without further ado." "Let's begin the festivities, and may the best porker win!" "Synchro by Janez"

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. The Experimental Core now has five Core Facilities. The Human Electrophysiology Core Facility undertakes studies related to human midlatency uditory evoked responses as arousal (pre-attentional) measures, attentional measures as exhibited by performance of a Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) reaction time test, cognitive functions as exhibited in the performance of an Operant Test Battery (OTB), and relative frontal lobe blood flow as measured using Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS). The Image Analysis Core was developed during Year 1 of the award and consists of a confocal microscope with fluorescence and image analysis software, along with a high speed camera for visualizing voltage-dependent and calcium dyes in the in vitro recording rig. The Animal Electrophysiology Core has P13 potential and TMS facilities for rats. The Molecular Core has bRT-PCR, Luminex and other assays. The TMS Core has facilities for TMS in humans for a number of disorders.

Evaluation of a radar-based proximity warning system for off-highway dump trucks. A radar-based proximity warning system was evaluated by researchers at the Spokane Research Laboratory of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to determine if the system would be effective in detecting objects in the blind spots of an off-highway dump truck. An average of five fatalities occur each year in surface mines as a result of an equipment operator not being aware of a smaller vehicle, person or change in terrain near the equipment. Sensor technology that can detect such obstacles and that also is designed for surface mining applications is rare. Researchers worked closely with the radar system manufacturer to test and modify the system on large, off-highway dump trucks at a surface mine over a period of 2 years. The final system was thoroughly evaluated by recording video images from a camera on the rear of the truck and by recording all alarms from the rear-mounted radar. Data show that the system reliably detected small vehicles, berms, people and other equipment. However, alarms from objects that posed no immediate danger were common, supporting the assertion that sensor-based systems for proximity warning should be used in combination with other devices, such as cameras, that would allow the operator to check the source of any alarm.

MGS ScholarshipPepsi Little People’s has announced that the Maureen Garrity Scholarship for Women has been established to honor Maureen Garrity, a long-time supporter and volunteer for the Pepsi Little People’s Golf Championships.​Dr. Garrity passed away December 23, 2018, after a long and courageous battle with breast cancer.​Maureen spent 34 years at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and was particularly impactful in supporting student-led programs on social determinants of health, leadership and community service. Her impact on students, faculty, staff and colleagues across the country was truly amazing and leaves an immeasurable legacy of educators, physicians, leaders and friends.​For 16 years, Maureen was a year-round volunteer for the Pepsi Little People’s Golf Championship, and could be seen during the tournament working on her computer, taking pictures, and cheering on the players.​This merit Scholarship was established to support the education of women who participate in the Pepsi Little People’s Golf Championships. The recipient should be a high school junior or senior, graduating in 2019 or 2020, with an unweighted grade-point average of 3.5 or above, who intends to pursue a college degree, and who competes in and completes the 2019 Pepsi Little People’s Golf Championships.​This Scholarship will fund the recipient in an amount between $1500 and $2000 for her continuing education, as indicated in her personal statement.​For information and application, please email Nan Ryan, LPGC Executive Director, at ryannan@me.com. Completed application and associated documents must be received by the Little People’s office no later than April 15, 2019. ... See MoreSee Less

Date: Thu, 03 Jan 2002 20:42:16 -0600 From: Charlie Lambert Subject: nsync complications chapter 4 DISCLAIMER: Hello everybody, first off, this story is going to be about establishing relationships, not purely about sex, but there will still be encounters. I must however state that I do not know anybody's sexual preferences in REALITY, however, in this little fiction world of mine, they are what I choose them to be. Once again, the "Duh Factor": if you are not old enough to view this material, go away. If homosexual material offends you, why are you here? Special Thanx: Jessie! You are my main inspiration! Also, a special thanx to Alex, James, Jimmy, and Chris. Thanks for the motivation! Reminder: Lance's thoughts are in greater than, less than arrows <> and Joey's are in regular brackets []. Thanx and enjoy! In the previous chapter: The guys of N'Sync fly down to Mobile, Alabama. Lance is still in shock and so are the other guys. Lance stays at the hospital that night with his sister while the other guys and Britney go to the hotel. JC convinces management to try to get a hold of BSB's management and ask Kevin to talk to Lance, considering he lost his father. Stacy wakes up in the middle of the night and Lance has to tell her the news, and now I'm going to zoom ahead a week or so after his parents' funeral. Chapter Four Management had deemed it necessary to cancel everything for at least three months. Considering all they had was some promotional appearances, it wasn't that hard to manage. They wanted to give Lance and the rest of the gang time to recover from their loss. After all, they were like parents to them too. The guys have returned to Orlando, and Stacy with Lance. Lance insisted that she come stay with him until she gets better and can do stuff on her own. Lance was in the process of waking up this one Saturday morning when he heard the doorbell ring. Of course, the doorbell rang a second time and Lance started to get out of bed. He put on his green robe and started toward the front door. He opened the door and was shocked to see Kevin Richardson of the Backstreet Boys standing there. "I didn't wake you, did I?" Kevin asked, looking at Lance who was still groggy. "What? Oh, well, yeah you kind of did, but I needed to get up anyways. Come on in." "Thanks, you have no idea how hard it was for me to get up this morning, but since it was a personal favor to somebody, I felt like I needed to get here on time." "Personal favor?" Lance asked, motioning for Kevin to have a seat in the living room. "He didn't tell you? That's just like him, JC asked me to come have a chat with you." "Oh, he did? What about?" Lance asked, playing dumb and taking a seat opposite Kevin. "Don't play dumb, you know that he is worried about you, they all are." "I'm fine, I've told them that a million times since it happened." "Are you?" Kevin asked, looking directly at Lance. Lance looked right back at Kevin and saw that he was being serious, Lance could tell that Kevin wanted to help. Lance thought about it a second, then continued. "I...I honestly don't know anymore..." "Exactly what I said when I was asked that question." "Huh?" "My dad passed away from cancer and I was depressed for a while, until B-rok started asking questions and I finally realized that I didn't need to play Mr. Tough guy anymore and that my friends were there to comfort me and be there for me." "I'm sorry that you lost your dad like that, but...my situation is completely different." "What do you mean?" "I'm not trying to play Mr. Tough Guy, it doesn't take much for me to break down, and I'm getting over the fact of living without my parents, its not the fact that they're...they're dead, its just..." Lance let the sentence come to an end. "Just what?" "Its personal." "You won't feel better until you talk about it, I know that for sure." "I know, but I can't just blurt it out like that, I mean, I don't want to ruin the guys." "Ruin the guys?" Kevin gave it some thought for a few moments and then started again, "I think I know where this is headed." "How could you?" "We had the same situation in our group. It took AJ a while to admit it, but I was finally able to get him to confess and it made him feel so much better afterwards." "Confess?" Lance asked, he knew what was coming next. "Lance, are you bi?" Lance, a little startled by the question took a few minutes to respond. "Not exactly, this is a one way street and it goes the opposite way." Lance immediately regretted using that analogy because he felt like an idiot afterwards. "You're gay?" "Yeah..." Lance replied and then he decided it was time for a little rant and rave. "I don't know how to break it to the guys, I've only told Joey and I know that if it was to get out, it would ruin N Sync and all of them have worked too hard for me to screw it up for them." Kevin, feeling that that wasn't the real reason for Lance's behavior, "There's something more though, you know that the guys would accept you for who you are and it isn't too hard to keep certain things from the press, what is it?" "They died...and I couldn't tell them. I didn't tell them, I was afraid that they would shun me and...deep down I knew they wouldn't, but it was the fear of it all and then they go and get in this horrible accident..." Kevin got up immediately and crossed to where Lance was and sat down next to him, pulling him into a hug. Lance returned the hug and dried out what was the beginning of tears. "It'll be alright Lance, you really should talk to the rest of the guys and let them know how you feel, right now, they are your family and you need to tell them so they can help you." "Thanks Kevin...I...I really appreciate this "little chat" we had." Kevin laughed, "No problem." Lance, feeling a little bit childish after his outburst, thanked Kevin again, gave him a hug and told him he'd call the guys right away. After showing Kevin out, he called Joey. "Ugh...hello?" Lance, remembering that it was still before noon on a Saturday, cursed himself silently, and then he started talking. "Joey, its me, Lance." Joey immediately showed signs of wakefulness. "Lance? Oh, what's up?" "I was wondering if you could get a hold of the guys and ask them to come over around noon, I'm going to tell them." "Sure man, no prob, I'll get a hold of everybody and see you around noon, alright?" "Thanks Joey, see ya then." Lance then remembered his sister and immediately ran up to her room. She was just waking up when Lance walked in. "Good morning sleepy head." "Good Morning Lance, ugh, what time is it?" "It's about ten thirty. You hungry?" "Not really, is there anything you wanted to pamper me about today?" A hint of sarcasm underlining her voice. "Haha, very funny Stacy. Not really actually...but there's something I needed to tell you." "Okay, I'm all ears, what is it?" Lance crossed over to Stacy's bed and sat down next to her. She sat up and was looking at him when he took a deep breath. "It's taken me a while to realize the way I feel about...relationships and I wanted to tell you before I tell the guys." "You're a little late on that flight Bro, I already know that you're gay." "What?! How'd you know?" Lance almost jumped off the bed in shock. "I am your sister after all, not to mention there were little signs that I picked up on here and there." She smiled at him. "I'm okay with it Lance, whatever makes you happy makes me happy." Lance, unsure of what to do, hugged his sister and thanked her a million times for taking it so well. Then a question popped into his head. "Did...did mom and dad know?" "They suspected as much, they loved you Lance. They were happy as long as you were happy." A huge wait was lifted off Lance's shoulders at that moment. Stacy feeling rather curious, "So the guys don't know?" "Joey does, I'm going to tell the others today." "So...what kind of guys do you like?" A devious grin came across her face. Feeling really awkward at that moment, "As if that's any of your business" His face turning beet red. "Haha, you're turning crimson little brother." Lance and Stacy laughed it off for a little while and then he remembered the guys were coming over. So he headed downstairs to put a pizza in the oven for lunch. Stacy, feeling tired from her meds went back to sleep. It only took him a few minutes to get the pizza in the oven and was contemplating taking a shower; however, the doorbell rang at that exact moment. Lance looked up at the clock and realized it was noon already. He jogged over to the front door and sure enough, the rest of the guys were there. All of them looking still a tad bit groggy, but concerned none the less. "Hey guys come on in and get comfortable." The all sat down and JC was the first to speak up. "So...what was it that you wanted to tell us on this Saturday morning?" "Afternoon," Joey corrected, giggling a little bit. "Either way, you're right, there's something I need to tell you guys, but first I wanted to thank you JC." "For what?" "For getting Kevin from BSB to come speak to me, it really helped, and it shows how worried you are about me, thanks." "No problem, you know you're like a brother to all of us." "That's the reason I decided to talk to all of you guys now. I want you guys to promise to listen to what I have to say and wait until I'm done, then...we can talk if you want to." All the guys nodded in agreement, and all getting looks of concern on their faces. "Okay. Gosh, where to begin?" Lance tried to lighten the mood. The guys smiled accordingly. "Well, you guys all know that I was really depressed whenever I found out about my parents and all of you were there for me. I'm getting over that now, slowly but surely I'm learning how to deal with not having my parents anymore. The reason I'm kind of 'out of it' so to speak has to do with my parents and you guys. I never got to tell them something really important. I was afraid to, although now I know it was a childish fear. I'm worried about telling ya'll because I don't want to do anything that could endanger 'N Sync. We've all worked so hard to get this far in life, but I have to tell you." Lance took a really deep breath and continued. "I've had to come to terms with something extremely personal, having to do with the types of relationships I want to get involved with...I'm gay." Lance was staring off at the floor, unable to bring himself to look at anybody for fear of the looks. Chris, being serious for once, "So this is what you were going to tell us before all this stuff happened, back at the hotel in Atlanta?" "Yeah, it is." "Whatever makes you happy hombre," Justin replied. Lance looked up at this point in time and stared at Justin. "Same goes here Scoop," Chris replies. "Yeah, this is what had you weirded out for the past couple of weeks? You should've told us sooner Scoop," JC said. At this point in time, Lance started crying, and for the first time in a long time, this was for pure happiness. "Thank you guys, you have no idea how long I've wanted to tell you." "Group Hug!" Joey yelled at the top of his lungs. All the guys got up and went over to Lance, all grappling and giving a humongous hug to him. Lance was extremely happy. [I'm glad everyone took it so well. I'm really glad to see Lance so happy. What is this weird feeling I've been having lately? I've been worried about Lance, but it just seems like something else is there...] Uh oh! What's going on in Joey's head? Hmmmm...=0) Let me know what you thought about this chapter. I LOVE EMAIL!!! If I can, I will respond to everyone's that I get. I love helpful criticisms. Whether they are constructive or not. If you have any suggestions, let me know. Later, Charlie. grandbaykracker@hotmail.com

Lack of genetic structure among ecologically adapted populations of an Australian rainforest Drosophila species as indicated by microsatellite markers and mitochondrial DNA sequences. Although fragmented rainforest environments represent hotspots for invertebrate biodiversity, few genetic studies have been conducted on rainforest invertebrates. Thus, it is not known if invertebrate species in rainforests are highly genetically fragmented, with the potential for populations to show divergent selection responses, or if there are low levels of gene flow sufficient to maintain genetic homogeneity among fragmented populations. Here we use microsatellite markers and DNA sequences from the mitochondrial ND5 locus to investigate genetic differences among Drosophila birchii populations from tropical rainforests in Queensland, Australia. As found in a previous study, mitochondrial DNA diversity was low with no evidence for population differentiation among rainforest fragments. The pattern of mitochondrial haplotype variation was consistent with D. birchii having undergone substantial past population growth. Levels of nuclear genetic variation were high in all populations while F(ST) values were very low, even for flies from geographically isolated areas of rainforest. No significant differentiation was observed between populations on either side of the Burdekin Gap (a long-term dry corridor), although there was evidence for higher gene diversity in low-latitude populations. Spatial autocorrelation coefficients were low and did not differ significantly from random, except for one locus which revealed a clinal-like pattern. Comparisons of microsatellite differentiation contrasted with previously established clinal patterns in quantitative traits in D. birchii, and indicate that the patterns in quantitative traits are likely to be due to selection. These results suggest moderate gene flow in D. birchii over large distances. Limited population structure in this species appears to be due to recent range expansions or cycles of local extinctions followed by recolonizations/expansions. Nevertheless, patterns of local adaptation have developed in D. birchii that may result in populations showing different selection responses when faced with environmental change.

A silver halide photographic light-sensitive material is photographically processed through a development step, a bleaching step, a washing step and a stabilization step after being exposed. The photographic processing is ordinarily conducted using an automatic processing machine. On such occasions, a replenisher replenishing system is commonly used wherein the processing solution in a processing tank is controlled so that the activity thereof is kept constant. In the case of the replenisher replenishing system, the purposes thereof include dilution of materials dissolved out from the light-sensitive material, correction of the amount of evaporation and replenishment of consumed components. Because of solution replenishing, much overflow-solution is ordinarily discharged. Recently, world wide movements for regulations on prohibiting dumping photo-effluent into oceans and regulations against disposal of plastic materials have been promoted. Accordingly, development of a new system in which photographic waste solution is markedly reduced and bottles for processing agents are eliminated is demanded. In addition, safety regulations on packaging materials have been made strengthened to maintain safety regarding the transportation of liquid hazardous substances, resulting in an increase of cost. In mini-labs which have recently proliferated rapidly, errors frequently occur during dissolution or dilution operations of the replenishing solutions due to a lack of man power. Therefore, this conventional replenishment system has drawn much frequent complaints. Accordinly, in the photographic industry a new replenishing system is demanded in which photographic waste solution is markedly reduced, bottles for processing agents are eliminated and dissolving operations are also eliminated. In response to these demands WO92-20013 discloses a method of solidifying almost all processing components and directly supplying these solids in processing tanks. However, it has been proved that in this method a concentration degree of the components in a color developing solution markedly increases compared to the conventional liquid color developer, and the storage stability due to aging of the solution deteriorates. Particularly when tableted and molded, the components react with each other by pressure-caused heat and storage stability problems occur. Further, localized concentrations of the components increase on dissolving, resulting in precipitates, filter clogging and adhesion of the precipitates to the surface of the light-sensitive materials to be processed. It is essential that in color developer containing various components in various amounts the components are contained in a specific amount therein. When the component content of the developer deviates, the process stability deteriorates, resulting in serious problems in photographic properties. The color developer of photographic processing agents plays an important role in determining photographic properties, and the controlling method of the component is a proposition to be solved in the art. As for concentration latitude of the components, the fluctuation range of the main components such as a color developing agent or an alikali is not less than 10 weight %, and that of an auxiliary agent such as a fluorescent brightening agent is not less than 15 weight %. When the processing agent out of the above range is used, it results in extraordinary development, either too active or inactive. It is easy to obtain a specific amount of a liquid processing agent, since uniform dispersion can be obtained by diluting it. As for the solid processing composition, mixing problems made it difficult to obtain a unifom dispersion. To overcome the above problem one can consider a method of weighing every component individually and mixing all components; however, this method is troublesome in production and not preferable in view of cost, control and speed regarding the equipment. These have been problems in producing the solid color developing composition. Accordingly, it is a high priority to develop a technique to solve the above problems.

An authentication process is usually invoked when a user attempts to access a device that requires a one or more forms of user identification. For example, a username and a password may be a form of identification required to authenticate the user. Various systems may have different requirements for implementing usernames and passwords. Some authentication systems require the user to change the username or password after a certain period of time. This may require the user to remember different usernames and passwords, possibly including various changes to their usernames and passwords. Thus, such systems may require users to memorize their usernames and passwords, thereby making it difficult or cumbersome for the users to successfully authenticate an account. One reason for requiring periodic changes of authentication information is to protect the security of online or Internet-based transactions from Internet hackers and reduce the likelihood of fraudulent Internet activity. As such, there is much need for technological advancements to support authentication systems that rely on user information and in some instances, without having to keep track of changes to usernames and passwords. Embodiments of the present disclosure and their advantages may be understood by referring to the detailed description provided herein. It should be appreciated that reference numerals may be used to illustrate various elements and/or features provided in the figures. Further, the figures may illustrate various examples for purposes of illustration and explanation related to the embodiments of the present disclosure and not for purposes of any limitation.

A torsion damping device as described in the last preceding paragraph is described in the specification of French published patent application No. FR 2 568 638A, in which the damping device is part of a hydrokinetic torque transmitting apparatus in the form of a torque converter. In that arrangement, the torque input element consists of one of the rings of the first pair of guide rings, which is externally fixed to the wall of the torque converter casing, while the torque output element consists of the second hub, the latter being mounted on a driven shaft for rotation of the latter with it. Such a device presents certain problems, since the abutment means are located at the outer periphery of the damping device, so that the resilient members of the first series cannot be extended circumferentially to as great an extent as is desirable. In addition, the guide ring which constitutes the torque input element has a peripheral fastening flange which is somewhat large in the axial direction. This increases the axial size of the torsion damping device, and prevents resilient members of large circumferential length from being used for the first series of resilient members.

This invention relates to phosphate-binding polymers for oral administration. People with inadequate renal function, hypoparathyroidism, or certain other medical conditions often have hyperphosphatemia, meaning serum phosphate levels of over 6 mg/dL. Hyperphosphatemia, especially if present over extended periods of time, leads to severe abnormalities in calcium and phosphorus metabolism, often manifested by aberrant calcification in joints, lungs, and eyes. Therapeutic efforts to reduce serum phosphate include dialysis, reduction in dietary phosphate, and oral administration of insoluble phosphate binders to reduce gastrointestinal absorption. Dialysis and reduced dietary phosphate are usually insufficient to adequately reverse hyperphosphatemia, so the use of phosphate binders is routinely required to treat these patients. Phosphate binders include calcium or aluminum salts, or organic polymers such as ion exchange resins. Calcium salts have been widely used to bind intestinal phosphate and prevent absorption. The ingested calcium combines with phosphate to form insoluble calcium phosphate salts such as Ca.sub.3 (PO.sub.4).sub.2, CaHPO.sub.4, or Ca(H.sub.2 PO.sub.4).sub.2. Different types of calcium salts, including calcium carbonate, acetate (such as the pharmaceutical "PhosLo.RTM."), citrate, alginate, and ketoacid salts have been utilized for phosphate binding. The major problem with all of these therapeutics is the hypercalcemia which often results from absorption of the high amounts of ingested calcium. Hypercalcemia causes serious side effects such as cardiac arrhythmias, renal failure, and skin and visceral calcification. Frequent monitoring of serum calcium levels is required during therapy with calcium-based phosphate binders. Aluminum-based phosphate binders, such as the aluminum hydroxide gel "Amphojel.RTM.", have also been used for treating hyperphosphatemia. These compounds complex with intestinal phosphate to form highly insoluble aluminum phosphate; the bound phosphate is unavailable for absorption by the patient. Prolonged use of aluminum gels leads to accumulations of aluminum, and often to aluminum toxicity, accompanied by such symptoms as encephalopathy, osteomalacia, and myopathy. Organic polymers that have been used to bind phosphate have typically been ion exchange resins. Those tested include "Dowex.RTM." anion-exchange resins in the chloride form, such as XF 43311, XY 40013, XF 43254, XY 40011, and XY 40012. These resins have several drawbacks for treatment of hyperphosphatemia, including poor binding efficiency, necessitating use of high dosages for significant reduction of absorbed phosphate. In addition, the ion exchange resins also bind bile salts.

Kidneys from uncontrolled donors after cardiac death: which kidneys do worse? Kidneys from uncontrolled donors after cardiac death (DCD) expand the donor pool, but are associated with more primary nonfunction (PNF) and delayed graft function (DGF) compared with more conventional donor kidneys. It remains unclear, which factors influence outcome of uncontrolled donation. Therefore, we studied which donor, graft, and recipient characteristics are associated with PNF in a large cohort study. The association between different characteristics and short-term graft function was analyzed for kidneys procured in the Maastricht region from 1 January 1981 to 1 July 2009. Patients were followed until 7 January 2010. A total of 135 uncontrolled donor kidneys were included in this study. The incidence of PNF and DGF was 22% and 61%, respectively. Increasing donor age is an independent risk factor for graft failure in a univariate analysis (OR 1.035, 95% CI 1.004-1.068, P = 0.028). Donor age remains strongly associated with PNF in a multivariate analysis (OR 1.064, 95% CI 1.013-1.118, P = 0.014). However, the predictive value of donor age alone is poor (AURC 0.640, 95% CI 0.553-0.721). Increasing donor age of uncontrolled DCD donors is a major risk factor for PNF. Other clinically relevant variables were not associated with PNF. Donor age is strongly associated with PNF and remains an important parameter in donor selection.

Electrochemical cells comprising polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) may be operated as fuel cells wherein a fuel and an oxidant are electrochemically converted at the cell electrodes to produce electrical power, or as electrolyzers wherein an external electrical current is passed between the cell electrodes, typically through water, resulting in generation of hydrogen and oxygen at the respective electrodes of the cell. FIG. 1 illustrates a typical design of a conventional electrochemical cell comprising a PEM, and a stack of such cells. Each cell comprises a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) 5 such as that illustrated in an exploded view in FIG. 1a. MEA 5 comprises an ion-conducting PEM layer 2 interposed between two electrode layers 1,3 which are typically porous and electrically conductive, and comprise an electrocatalyst at the interface with the adjacent PEM layer 2 for promoting the desired electrochemical reaction. The electrocatalyst generally defines the electrochemically active area of the cell. The MEA is typically consolidated as a bonded laminated assembly. In an individual cell 10, illustrated in an exploded view in FIG. 1b, an MEA is interposed between a pair of separator plates 11, 12, which are typically fluid impermeable and electrically conductive. The cell separator plates are typically manufactured from non-metals such as graphite or from metals, such as certain grades of steel or surface treated metals, or from electrically conductive plastic composite materials. Fluid flow spaces, such as passages or chambers, are provided between the plate and the adjacent electrode to facilitate access of reactants to the electrodes and removal of products. Such spaces may, for example, be provided by means of spacers between separator plates 11, 12 and corresponding electrodes 1, 3, or by provision of a mesh or porous fluid flow layer between separator plates 11, 12 and corresponding electrodes 1, 3. More commonly channels (not shown) are formed in the face of the separator plate facing the electrode. Separator plates comprising such channels are commonly referred to as fluid flow field plates. In conventional PEM cells, resilient gaskets or seals are typically provided between the faces of the MEA 5 and each separator plate 11, 12 around the perimeter to prevent leakage of fluid reactant and product streams. Electrochemical cells with a ion-conductive PEM layer, hereinafter called PEM cells, are advantageously stacked to form a stack 100 (see FIG. 1d) comprising a plurality of cells disposed between a pair of end plates 17, 18. A compression mechanism (not shown) is typically employed to hold the cells tightly together, maintain good electrical contact between components and to compress the seals. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1c, each cell 10 comprises a pair of separator plates 11, 12 in a configuration with two separator plates per MEA. Cooling spaces or layers may be provided between some or all of the adjacent pairs of separator plates in the stack assembly. An alternative configuration has a single separator plate or "bipolar plate" interposed between pairs of MEAs, contacting the cathode of one cell and the anode of the adjacent cell, thus resulting in only one separator plate per MEA in the stack (except for the end cell). The stack may comprises a cooling layer interposed between every few cells of the stack, rather than between each adjacent pair of cells. The cell elements described have openings 30 formed therein which, in the stacked assembly, align to form fluid manifolds for supply and exhaust of reactants and products and, if cooling spaces are provided, for a cooling medium. Again, resilient gaskets or seals are typically provided between the faces of the MEA 5 and each separator plate 11, 12 around the perimeter of these fluid manifold openings to prevent leakage and intermixing of fluid streams in the operating stack. In the future it is anticipated that a major area of application for PEM fuel cells, will be for electrical power generation in stationary power plants and portable power generation systems, and for propulsion in motor vehicles. For these applications, a PEM fuel cell service life of at least 10 years is desirable. Production costs are important and will play a central role in the successful commercialization of PEM fuel cells for these applications. Other important considerations when designing a PEM cell are simplicity and cost-effectiveness of maintenance and repair. The present invention relates to improved sealing and construction of individual PEM cells and stacks of such cells. Conventional PEM cell sealing mechanisms generally employ resilient gaskets made of elastomeric materials, which are typically disposed in grooves in the separator plates or MEAs, for example, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,176,966 and 5,284,718. Over the course of an electrochemical cell's service life the elastomeric gaskets are subjected to prolonged deformation and sometimes a harsh operating environment. Over time such gaskets tend to decrease in resilience, for example due to compression set and chemical degradation, and may become permanently deformed. This impacts negatively on the sealing function and can ultimately lead to an increased incidence of leaks. With such gasketed plates, the plastic deformation of the plates increases as the full force of pressure on the sealing area of the plate is continuously applied. Moreover, an uneven gasket pressure force distribution along the length of the stack, with a minimum in the center, can be observed in stacks using such a sealing mechanism. Thus, the sealing elements of the cells are typically exposed to higher pressure in the end plate areas in order to guarantee adequate sealing performance in the center cells of the stack. Increased sealing pressure applied to the cells in the end plate areas may then lead to increased plastic deformations and a shorter time to gasket failure. The assembly of a PEM cell stack which comprises a plurality of PEM cells each having many separate gaskets which must be fitted to or formed on the various components is labor-intensive, costly and generally unsuited to high-volume manufacture due to the multitude of parts and assembly steps required. Further, in the design and manufacture of PEM cells, in order to achieve the desired specifications, such as increased power density, there is a desire to make the individual cell elements thinner. Accordingly, there will be finer dimensional tolerances required for such thin cell elements and it will become more difficult to design gaskets which will maintain high dimensional tolerances, despite the use of highly elastic materials, as even highly elastic materials have a limited elastic deformation range. With conventional PEM cell designs, it is sometimes difficult to remove and repair an individual cell or to identify or test which cells in a stack may require repair. Furthermore, disassembly of a stack consisting of multiple cells each comprising separate cell components can be very costly as in many instances, after the removal of one cell, the gaskets of all the remaining cells may need to be replaced before the stack can be reassembled and reused. Another disadvantage of conventional PEM cells arises because the PEM typically projects beyond the edges of the electrodes and cell separator plates around the perimeter and around manifold openings. The projecting portion of the PEM may serve to avoid short circuits between plates, and it typically contacts and cooperates with the gaskets to form the fluid seal between the MEA and separator plates. However, such designs tend to leave the PEM edge exposed to air and/or reactant or coolant streams. Exposure to air or other dry gas streams can cause drying of the PEM beginning from the edge and moving towards the center. Drying of the membrane can lead to permanent damage to the membrane, reduced cell performance and ultimately malfunction of the PEM cells. Exposure of the PEM edge to some coolants and other streams can result in physical and/or chemical damage to the membrane or electrodes. German printed patent application number DE 44 42 285 describes a PEM cell stack where individual components of the stack are mechanically pressed together with a frame element or clamp of U-shaped cross-section. Specifically, the edge portions of two separator plates are pressed against the membrane, which is disposed between them, to form a gas-tight seal. The European published application EP 0 331 128 and related U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,568 disclose a liquid electrolyte fuel cell with a porous electrode substrate which has a sealant material injected into a marginal edge portion thereof. EP 0 122 150 describes a fuel cell stack with liquid, fixed electrolytes. In this stack array, two adjacent, porous and gas-bearing plates are bonded or glued together across their entire surface, in a face-to-face bond. The purpose of this arrangement is to keep the gases in the two gas-bearing plates separated from one another. In the EP 0 083 937 and related U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,917, individual components of a fuel cell stack are glued together with an adhesive material. The purpose of this arrangement is to solidly join the components to form a stack, and not to reliably seal the gas spaces. DE 19 64 811 discloses a fuel cell stack where the electrodes are attached inside a sectional plastic frame, respectively, and where the sectional frames are glued together in a gas and liquid-tight manner. An improved electrochemical PEM cell uses an adhesive bonding agent between individual PEM cell components and/or between adjacent PEM cells in a stack. The present approach provides a simplified PEM cell and stack design with a reduced part count, and associated manufacturing and cost benefits. Sealing is generally more reliable with this approach, and embodiments of the present construction may permit easier stack disassembly, testing, repair and maintenance.

Prebiotic effects of cassava fibre as an ingredient in cracker-like products. Cassava fibre, a waste product formed in starch production, was incorporated into wheat to give composite flours at ratios of 80/20, 70/30, 60/40 and 50/50, respectively. A cracker-like biscuit was produced from the preferred ratios (60/40 and 50/50). The effects of these on diets as a prebiotic were evaluated in a rat assay. Determinations of the proximate composition and haematological parameters were made as well as microbiological analysis. The protein content of the cracker-like product based on the 50/50 and 60/40 (fibre/wheat flour) ratios were 15.0% and 10.0%, respectively. Crude fibre ranged from 14.1-17.1% while ash ranged from 3.0 and 5.0%. Low cholesterol levels of 28.75 mg dL(-1) and 18.75 mg dL(-1) were recorded for the 50/50 and 60/40 composite ratios, respectively. The result of liver function test showed that the rats that were fed the fibre-based cracker product had an average value of 44.00 IU L(-1) of aspartate amino transferase (AST), which is lower than the 67.75 IU L(-1) recorded for the control. There was a significant increase in the packed cell volume (PCV) of the rats fed a fibre-based diet, relative to those fed "Ogi" (fermented maize). Haemoglobin was significantly higher in the control sample than all others, while no significant difference was observed in the white blood cell (WBC) count, with average of 11.75 mm(3). Data obtained from the faecal analysis showed that the rats fed with the composite ratios and other diets had an increased Lactobacillus count. However, by increasing the number of days that the rats were fed the fibre-based diet, the E. coli count in the rat faeces reduced significantly. The data obtained shows that cassava fibre-based crackers have good nutraceutic effects, with reduction in the E. coli count found in the rat faeces and healthy performances in terms of weight gain.

The invention relates to an electrical system for vehicles for vehicles having a combustion engine, a generator, a starter motor that can be manually activated, a starter battery and a breaker, controlled by a crash sensor and arranged in a starter circuit which includes the starter battery and the starter motor. Electrical systems for vehicles are designed to prevent overheating and overload of wires caused by electrical short circuits in the event of a crash. For this purpose, most circuits are protected from short circuits by use of fuses and/or circuit breakers, except for the starter cable, i.e., the connection between the positive pole of the battery and the starter motor. Because of the high current of the starter motor, there is no suitable fuse for this cable. EP 0 825 068, discloses a starter circuit which includes a breaker that interrupts the flow of current in response to a signal from a crash sensor, wherein the breaker immediately interrupts power to the starter cable in the event of a crash. The breaker may be constructed as a pyrotechnic device which triggers an explosion that interrupts the main path of the current. DE 196 06 448 and DE 44 02 994 respectively show a breaker of this type in the form of a battery terminal which is ordinarily actuated with the assistance of a pyrotechnical blasting cap in cooperation with an air bag sensor. For this purpose, the breaker is provided with two contact pieces whose contacting surfaces normally lie on top of each other and which may be separated from each other by pyrotechnical means, more specifically in the form of a propellant charge, when the vehicle undergoes an abnormally high acceleration. According to DE 44 25 307, the propellant charge may constitute a structural part of a battery terminal. All of the prior approaches result in a permanent interruption of the starter circuit when a crash occurs. As a result, the vehicle cannot be started after the crash sensor has been triggered. This is particularly disadvantageous when the air bag sensor is triggered on account of a failure, or in a minor accident, when the driver would like to at least drive the car to the garage. In such a case, the vehicle can no longer be moved without repair. An electrical system for vehicles is described in DE 40 28 242 wherein there is provided a second battery for supplying electrical accessories, in addition to a starter battery. The two batteries are connected together when the voltage of the electrical system battery is higher than the voltage of the starter battery. Conversely, when the voltage of the electrical system battery has dropped relative to the voltage of the starter battery, the two batteries are separated from each other. Accordingly, the generator is capable of recharging both batteries. In this solution, the second electrical accessory battery and the starter battery are permanently connected in parallel and the starter battery alone may be disconnected by a starter battery breaker in the starter circuit. A diagram of connections for achieving an appropriate function in connection with the above mentioned reference is described in DE 38 41 769. WO 96133078 describes a battery terminal cooperating with a switch in the line leading to the battery, the switch being provided with monitoring means for controlling the switch in accordance with the signals received at its monitoring inputs. It is the object of the present invention to make it possible to restart vehicles having a starter circuit breaker after response of the crash sensor and the irreversible interruption of the starter circuit in response thereto. According to the invention, there is provided a bypass electrical switch which may be actuated by a control circuit, that is used in to detect whether there is a short circuit in the starter circuit, such that, after interruption of the starter circuit on account of a activation of a breaker, an electrical connection may be re-established between the starter and a battery in the starter circuit by the bypass switch, when the starter circuit is free from any short circuit. A feature of the preferred embodiment of the invention is that a bypass-switch is arranged to re-connect the starter circuit when the control circuit senses that the starter circuit is free from any short circuit. Thus, the engine may be re-started when the mechanical damage occasioned by the crash is not so severe as to destroy the functionality of the starter. The energy source which is connected by the bypass switch to the starter circuit may be any available battery within the electrical system. The solution according to the invention is independent of the position of the breaker, which may also, e.g. be located in the ground cable of the starter battery. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the bypass switch is preferably arranged parallel to the breaker, to thereby restore an electrical connection between the starter and the starter battery. The starter battery is therefore used for restarting the vehicle after the crash (as far as it has not been destroyed). The safety relevant function of the breaker is preserved in that the response of the breaker to the crash sensor prevents overload of the wires in the event of an accident, and on the other hand, the vehicle can be restarted when it is in running order. The electronics of the control circuit senses whether there is any short circuit in the starter wire and triggers the connection means when there is none. In an alternative embodiment of the invention for electrical systems having a second battery, the bypass switch makes an electrical connection between the starter circuit and the second battery of the electrical system in the event the response of the breaker permanently interrupts the starter circuit. The energy source use for the starter thereby is the second battery of the electrical system, which ordinarily is not damaged in a frontal collision, as it may be located in the rear part of the vehicle. In this arrangement, the commutator that is already provided in such vehicles can function as the bypass switch when it is provided with a suitable control circuit for sensing short circuits in the starter circuit. The invention will be more fully explained hereinafter with reference to two exemplary embodiments that are illustrated in the Figures.

NEW DELHI: The government has directed the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) to prepare quarantine facilities with a bed capacity to admit over 5,400 people to deal with cases of coronavirus across the country, officials said on Monday.These forces, comprising the Central Reserve Police Force , the Border Security Force, the Central Industrial Security Force , the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, the Sashastra Seema Bal and the National Security Guard , have also been asked to create 75 isolation wards as part of preparations to combat possible large-scale outbreak of the virus.Officials told PTI that the Union home ministry has asked these forces to create a total of 5,440-bed capacity at 37 locations in the country.75 isolation wards are also to be created at these locations by these forces, they said."The aim is to build capacity. These forces have also been asked to earmark and depute their respective teams of doctors, paramedics and sanitation officials who will man these quarantine facilities," a senior home ministry officer said.The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force, which is already running such a quarantine centre in Delhi's Chhawla area, has also been asked to prepare training modules for specialist trainers of these forces.ITBP experts will hold workshops and prepare online modules for these forces to make them understand the management and other medical protocols to run a quarantine centre for coronavirus affected people, officials said.The second batch of people, including Indians and foreigners, evacuated from Wuhan in China are still living at the ITBP centre.ITBP Director General (DG) S S Deswal, they said, will also be holding an awareness session on these measures on a free-to-air Doordarshan channel.All these forces have also been asked to conduct awareness and outreach programmes as part of preparing the community against the coronavirus, they said.The number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 43 on Monday with four people, including a three-year-old child in Kerala who had returned from Italy, testing positive for the disease, Health Ministry officials said.Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday said the government is prepared to deal with the issue and his ministry is sending directives, including guidelines, to states in all the languages on ways to contain it. PTI NES NES

This invention relates to liquid ring pumps for pumping gases or vapors (hereinafter generically "gas") to compress the gas or to produce a reduced gas pressure region ("vacuum"). More particularly, the invention relates to liquid ring pumps having rotating canisters that are supported by fluid bearing pads. Liquid ring pumps are well known as shown, for example, by Bissell et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,498,844. In most such pumps a rotor is rotatably mounted in a stationary annular housing so that the rotor axis is eccentric to the central axis of the housing. The rotor has blades which extend parallel to the rotor axis and which project radially out from that axis so that the blades are equally spaced in the circumferential direction around the rotor. A quantity of a pumping liquid such as water is maintained in the housing. As the rotor rotates, the rotor blades engage the liquid and form it into an annular ring inside the housing. Because the housing is eccentric to the rotor, the liquid ring is also eccentric to the rotor. This means that on one side of the pump--the intake zone--the liquid between adjacent rotor blades is moving radially outward, away from the rotor hub, while on the other side of the pump--the compression zone--the liquid between adjacent rotor blades is moving radially inward toward the rotor hub. A gas intake is connected to the intake zone so that gas to be pumped is pulled into the spaces between adjacent rotor blades where the liquid is moving radially outward. A gas discharge is connected to the compression zone so that gas compressed by the liquid moving radially inward can be discharged from the pump. A major cause of energy loss in liquid ring pumps is fluid friction between the liquid ring and the stationary housing. Energy loss due to such fluid friction is proportional to the square or an even higher power of the velocity difference between the liquid ring and the housing. To reduce such losses, a substantially cylindrical hollow canister can be provided inside the outer periphery of the pump housing. The housing is stationary, but the canister is free to rotate with the liquid ring. The canister, which is propelled by the fluid drag on its inner surface, tends to rotate at a velocity less than the liquid ring velocity. For example, if the canister velocity is half the liquid ring velocity the fluid friction energy loss between the liquid ring and the canister is one quarter (or less) of the energy loss with no rotating canister. In order to allow the canister to rotate freely, it must be supported within the housing, for example, by mechanical bearings. As described in Haavik U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,300, the canister can also be supported for rotation by an annular fluid bearing formed by placing a pressurized bearing liquid in the annular clearance between the canister and the stationary housing. In Russian patent 939,826, gas is mixed with the bearing liquid to reduce frictional resistance to rotation of the canister. The frictional drag on the rotating canister can be reduced even more by completely or substantially completely substituting compressed gas for liquid as the rotating canister bearing fluid, as shown in Haavik et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,502. However, there are several concerns with pumps that use annular fluid bearings to support the rotating canister. One concern is that the thickness of the clearance between the rotating canister and the housing must be fairly small. When compressed gas is used as the bearing fluid, the thickness of the clearance in the radial direction is typically about 0.001 inch. When water is used as the bearing fluid, a typical clearance thickness may be in the range from about 0.002 inch to 0.005 inch. Fairly precise manufacturing techniques must be used to construct pumps with such small clearance thicknesses. Another concern, especially when liquids are used for the bearing fluid, is that the friction between an annular fluid bearing and the canister may not be as low as it could be. Although this is not as great a concern for rotating canister pumps that use gas for the bearing fluid, any reduction in bearing friction would help to reduce energy loss in the pump. Further, it would be desirable to be able to provide easily adjustable axial fluid bearings, so that the rotating canister can be confined to a desired axial location. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved radial fluid bearing for a rotating canister liquid ring pump. It is another object of the invention to provide an adjustable axial fluid bearing for a rotating canister liquid ring pump.

The central nervous system (CNS) is the most critical of all normal tissues for maintaining coordinated normal function. Following radiation exposure, the response of the CNS has been attributable to parenchymal and vascular damages including oligodendrocytes, neural progenitors, and endothelial cells. A dynamic process of radiation-induced death of target cells and subsequent secondary reactive inflammatory process is believed to lead to cell loss, tissue damage and functional deficits. Arguably of greater consequence than the physical[unreadable] damage is the psychological impact of CNS injury which could result in the loss of sight, paralysis or reduced cognitive function. The only investigational demonstration of pharmacological mitigation of CNS radiation damage was recently made by our group using the Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, ramipril (an FDA-approved drug). Of note, a reduction of injury assessed functionally and histopathologically was observed even when ramipril was administered weeks after the radiation exposure. This project is based on the hypothesis that the suppression of oxidative stress resulting from multi-cellular interactions through a network of pro-inflammatory mediators would mitigate radiation-induced brain injury by[unreadable] specific pharmacological treatment. Three classes of drugs are well known to suppress oxidative stress and two of them, ACE inhibitors and their receptor blockers and statins are widely used in various cardiovascular disorders in humans. The project aims to address specific therapeutic roles of three classes of drugs, ACE inhibitors and receptor blockers, statins, and SOD mimetics, in all phases of the brain injury, i.e., acute, early delayed, and late delayed reactions. The primary goal is to demonstrate their efficacy and to optimize the use of drug dosage and timing of the administration to mitigate and treat the radiation brain injury. End points for evaluation are cognitive functions, visual function, MRI for permeability of the blood brain barrier, and histopathological and proliferative changes for neurogenesis, vascular and glial cells, using single doses of whole brain radiation of the adult rats. The positive findings from the proposed study will be readily translatable in humans, since both ACE inhibitors and statins are widely used in a variety of cardiovascular disorders in the clinics. In summary, experimental studies suggest radiation-induced CNS injury can be treated. The goal of this project is to bring one or more of these experimental approaches into clinical practice.[unreadable]

Health and wealth in Uzbekistan and sub-Saharan Africa in comparative perspective. The study investigates the magnitude of differences in child and adult mortality by wealth in Uzbekistan, a former soviet country of Central Asia, and compares it with similar indicators from sub-Saharan Africa. Data were derived from Demographic and Health Surveys. An "Absolute Wealth Index" was built from data on goods owned by households and quality of housing, and scaled from 0 to 12. Wealth was distributed evenly in Uzbekistan, with a symmetric distribution around a mean of 5.5 modern goods. In sub-Saharan Africa, on the contrary, the wealth distribution had a lower mean (2.5) and was highly skewed towards the left, revealing a high proportion of very poor people. Adult and child mortality levels were lower in Uzbekistan. Despite these major differences, the relationships between mortality indicators and the wealth index were similar in the two cases. The magnitude of mortality differentials by wealth was of the same order in both cases, with gradients ranging from 2.5 to 1 for child mortality and 1.5 to 1 for adult mortality (poorest versus richest). However, mortality levels remained lower in Uzbekistan than in sub-Saharan Africa at the same level of wealth for both children and adults. A similar relationship was found between nutritional status and wealth index in both cases. On the contrary, there were no differences by wealth in use of health services and level of education in Uzbekistan, whereas wealth gradients were steep for the same variables in sub-Saharan Africa. The study suggests that mortality differentials were primarily due to nutritional status, and not to access and use of health services or to education. The discussion focuses on health and social policies during the colonial and post-colonial period that have produced these patterns.

Older children at the time of the Norwood operation have ongoing mortality vulnerability that continues after cavopulmonary connection. Delayed first-stage palliation of children with hypoplastic left heart syndrome and related pathologies can be associated with poor outcomes because of development of progressive pulmonary vascular disease and volume load effects on the systemic ventricle and atrioventricular valve. We examine the current era's survival in this subgroup. Fifty-five infants older than 2 weeks underwent the Norwood operation (2003-2007). Separate competing risk analyses were performed to model outcomes (death and transition to the next stage) after the Norwood operation and after bidirectional cavopulmonary connection. Median age was 32 days (range, 15-118 days). Forty-seven percent had hypoplastic left heart syndrome, and 53% had other complex univentricular variants. Mean ascending aortic size was 4.4 ± 1.9 mm, 10% had impaired ventricular function, 11% had moderate atrioventricular valve regurgitation, and 32% had restrictive pulmonary venous return. Pulmonary blood flow was established through an aortopulmonary shunt (n = 30) or Sano shunt (n = 25). After the Norwood operation, patients required longer ventilation and more oxygen and nitric oxide and had higher inotropic scores compared with those undergoing the traditional management protocol. Competing risks analysis showed that 2 years after the Norwood operation, 39% had died, and 57% underwent bidirectional cavopulmonary connection. Four years after bidirectional cavopulmonary connection, 15% had died, and 85% underwent the Fontan operation. Overall 3-year survival after the Norwood operation was 53%. Factors associated with mortality were age, lower weight at the time of the Norwood operation, impaired ventricular function, longer circulatory arrest, and lower pre-bidirectional cavopulmonary connection saturation. Children older than 2 weeks undergoing the Norwood operation frequently require postoperative pulmonary vasodilatation and high inotropic support. A significant hazard of death persists through all steps of multistage palliation. Increased pulmonary vascular resistance and volume load effects, such as systemic ventricular impairment and atrioventricular valve regurgitation, are commonly evident in patients in whom treatment fails or who do not qualify to proceed to the next stage of palliation. Those patients should be closely monitored for timely referral for heart transplantation when indicated.