Games |
- Smart Base64 1.0 - Convert files to base 64. .. (Commercial)
- Societies, Vol. 2, Pages 372-387: “Nothing Exists Except an Earthenware Pot”: Resisting Sovereignty on Robinson’s Island
- Sensors, Vol. 12, Pages 17620-17632: A Wireless Accelerometer-Based Body Posture Stability Detection System and Its Application for Meditation Practitioners
- Sensors, Vol. 12, Pages 17608-17619: Colonization of Potato Rhizosphere by GFP-Tagged Bacillus subtilis MB73/2, Pseudomonas sp. P482 and Ochrobactrum sp. A44 Shown on Large Sections of Roots Using Enrichment Sample Preparation and Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy
- Sensors, Vol. 12, Pages 17588-17607: Simultaneous Monitoring of Soil Water Content and Salinity with a Low-Cost Capacitance-Resistance Probe
- Sensors, Vol. 12, Pages 17569-17587: Dynamic Propagation Channel Characterization and Modeling for Human Body Communication
- Sensors, Vol. 12, Pages 17553-17568: Glyphosate Detection by Means of a Voltammetric Electronic Tongue and Discrimination of Potential Interferents
- Remote Sensing, Vol. 4, Pages 4010-4021: Plant Species Richness is Associated with Canopy Height and Topography in a Neotropical Forest
- Religions, Vol. 3, Pages 1195-1197: Editors’ Introduction to “European Perspectives on the New Comparative Theology”
- Religions, Vol. 3, Pages 1180-1194: Reasons for and Contexts of Deep Theological Engagement with Other Religious Traditions in Europe: Toward a Comparative Theology
- Molecules, Vol. 17, Pages 15013-15021: Compounds from the Roots and Rhizomes of Valeriana amurensis Protect against Neurotoxicity in PC12 Cells
- Fresh Finance 1.8.7 - Personal finance solution.. (Demo)
- Sponsored: Ears on with Turtle Beach’s Kilo and Tango headsets
- Membranes, Vol. 2, Pages 855-878: U.S. DOE Progress Towards Developing Low-Cost, High Performance, Durable Polymer Electrolyte Membranes for Fuel Cell Applications
- Materials, Vol. 5, Pages 2927-2936: Dispersion of Pt Nanoparticle-Doped Reduced Graphene Oxide Using Aniline as a Stabilizer
- Materials, Vol. 5, Pages 2903-2916: Preparation, Characterization and Release of Urea from Wheat Gluten Electrospun Membranes
- Materials, Vol. 5, Pages 2917-2926: Optimization of the GaAs-on-Si Substrate for Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) Sensor Application
- IJERPH, Vol. 9, Pages 4760-4781: Valuation of Mortality Risk Attributable to Climate Change: Investigating the Effect of Survey Administration Modes on a VSL
- IJERPH, Vol. 9, Pages 4744-4759: Second Malignant Neoplasms Following Radiotherapy
- IJERPH, Vol. 9, Pages 4732-4743: Protective Effect of Anthocyanins from Lingonberry on Radiation-induced Damages
| Smart Base64 1.0 - Convert files to base 64. .. (Commercial) Posted: 18 Dec 2012 03:19 AM PST  Smart Base64 is the best app for converting files to base64 and back again. Features:
OS X 10.8 and later Download Now |
| Posted: 18 Dec 2012 12:00 AM PST In this essay I would like to focus on “The Beast and the Sovereign”—and especially the Second Volume—as being something of an exception to Derrida’s usual hesitations about sovereignty. In other works, such as “Rogues”, Derrida displays a deep ambivalence about sovereignty insofar as for all of his condemnation of sovereign authority, he fears that what might replace it could be even worse (and, to be fair, he also sees positive aspects of sovereignty as well). In “The Beast and the Sovereign,” we find evidence of this ambivalence as well but here, Derrida comes a bit closer to the kind of position advocated by Walter Benjamin wherein sovereignty is an idolatrous practice of politics one which must not be eliminated so much as subverted. In particular, I focus on Derrida’s reading in Volume II of “Robinson Crusoe” as a text that both founds the sovereign subject and subverts it (by revealing its vulnerability, its fictional nature). In looking at how the book disappoints as much as it answers sovereign phantasms of authority and unity, I argue that Derrida transfers his own ambivalence about sovereignty to sovereignty itself, subverting and rupturing its central tenets in the process. |
| Posted: 18 Dec 2012 12:00 AM PST The practice of meditation has become an interesting research issue in recent decades. Meditation is known to be beneficial for health improvement and illness reduction and many studies on meditation have been made, from both the physiological and psychological points of view. It is a fundamental requirement of meditation practice to be able to sit without body motion. In this study, a novel body motion monitoring and estimation system has been developed. A wireless tri-axis accelerometer is used to measure body motion. Both a mean and maximum motion index is derived from the square summation of three axes. Two experiments were conducted in this study. The first experiment was to investigate the motion index baseline among three leg-crossing postures. The second experiment was to observe posture dynamics for thirty minute’s meditation. Twenty-six subjects participated in the experiments. In one experiment, thirteen subjects were recruited from an experienced meditation group (meditation experience > 3 years); and the other thirteen subjects were beginners (meditation experience < 1 years). There was a significant posture stability difference between both groups in terms of either mean or maximum parameters (p < 0.05), according to the results of the experiment. Results from another experiment showed that the motion index is different for various postures, such as full-lotus < half-lotus < non-lotus. |
| Posted: 18 Dec 2012 12:00 AM PST The ability to colonize the host plants’ rhizospheres is a crucial feature to study in the case of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPRs) with potential agricultural applications. In this work, we have created GFP-tagged derivatives of three candidate PGPRs: Bacillus subtilis MB73/2, Pseudomonas sp. P482 and Ochrobactrum sp. A44. The presence of these strains in the rhizosphere of soil-grown potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) was detected with a classical fluorescence microscope and a confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM). In this work, we have used a broad-field-of-view CLMS device, dedicated to in vivo analysis of macroscopic objects, equipped with an automated optical zoom system and tunable excitation and detection spectra. We show that features of this type of CLSM microscopes make them particularly well suited to study root colonization by microorganisms. To facilitate the detection of small and scattered bacterial populations, we have developed a fast and user-friendly enrichment method for root sample preparation. The described method, thanks to the in situ formation of mini-colonies, enables visualization of bacterial colonization sites on large root fragments. This approach can be easily modified to study colonization patterns of other fluorescently tagged strains. Additionally, dilution plating of the root extracts was performed to estimate the cell number of MB73/2, P482 and A44 in the rhizosphere of the inoculated plants. |
| Posted: 18 Dec 2012 12:00 AM PST Capacitance and resistivity sensors can be used to continuously monitor soil volumetric water content (θ) and pore-water electrical conductivity (ECp) with non-destructive methods. However, dielectric readings of capacitance sensors operating at low frequencies are normally biased by high soil electrical conductivity. A procedure to calibrate capacitance-resistance probes in saline conditions was implemented in contrasting soils. A low-cost capacitance-resistance probe (ECH2O-5TE, 70 MHz, Decagon Devices, Pullman, WA, USA) was used in five soils at four water contents (i.e., from dry conditions to saturation) and four salinity levels of the wetting solution (0, 5, 10, and 15 dS·m−1). θ was accurately predicted as a function of the dielectric constant, apparent electrical conductivity (ECa), texture and organic carbon content, even in high salinity conditions. Four models to estimate pore-water electrical conductivity were tested and a set of empirical predicting functions were identified to estimate the model parameters based on easily available soil properties (e.g., texture, soil organic matter). The four models were reformulated to estimate ECp as a function of ECa, dielectric readings, and soil characteristics, improving their performances with respect to the original model formulation. Low-cost capacitance-resistance probes, if properly calibrated, can be effectively used to monitor water and solute dynamics in saline soils. |
| Posted: 18 Dec 2012 12:00 AM PST This paper presents the first characterization and modeling of dynamic propagation channels for human body communication (HBC). In-situ experiments were performed using customized transceivers in an anechoic chamber. Three HBC propagation channels, i.e., from right leg to left leg, from right hand to left hand and from right hand to left leg, were investigated under thirty-three motion scenarios. Snapshots of data (2,800,000) were acquired from five volunteers. Various path gains caused by different locations and movements were quantified and the statistical distributions were estimated. In general, for a given reference threshold è = −10 dB, the maximum average level crossing rate of the HBC was approximately 1.99 Hz, the maximum average fade time was 59.4 ms, and the percentage of bad channel duration time was less than 4.16%. The HBC exhibited a fade depth of −4 dB at 90% complementary cumulative probability. The statistical parameters were observed to be centered for each propagation channel. Subsequently a Fritchman model was implemented to estimate the burst characteristics of the on-body fading. It was concluded that the HBC is motion-insensitive, which is sufficient for reliable communication link during motions, and therefore it has great potential for body sensor/area networks. |
| Posted: 18 Dec 2012 12:00 AM PST A new electronic tongue to monitor the presence of glyphosate (a non-selective systemic herbicide) has been developed. It is based on pulse voltammetry and consists in an array of three working electrodes (Pt, Co and Cu) encapsulated on a methacrylate cylinder. The electrochemical response of the sensing array was characteristic of the presence of glyphosate in buffered water (phosphate buffer 0.1 mol·dm−3, pH 6.7). Rotating disc electrode (RDE) studies were carried out with Pt, Co and Cu electrodes in water at room temperature and at pH 6.7 using 0.1 mol·dm−3 of phosphate as a buffer. In the presence of glyphosate, the corrosion current of the Cu and Co electrodes increased significantly, probably due to the formation of Cu2+ or Co2+ complexes. The pulse array waveform for the voltammetric tongue was designed by taking into account some of the redox processes observed in the electrochemical studies. The PCA statistical analysis required four dimensions to explain 95% of variance. Moreover, a two-dimensional representation of the two principal components differentiated the water mixtures containing glyphosate. Furthermore, the PLS statistical analyses allowed the creation of a model to correlate the electrochemical response of the electrodes with glyphosate concentrations, even in the presence of potential interferents such as humic acids and Ca2+. The system offers a PLS prediction model for glyphosate detection with values of 098, −2.3 × 10−5 and 0.94 for the slope, the intercept and the regression coefficient, respectively, which is in agreement with the good fit between the predicted and measured concentrations. The results suggest the feasibility of this system to help develop electronic tongues for glyphosate detection. |
| Posted: 18 Dec 2012 12:00 AM PST Most plant species are non-randomly distributed across environmental gradients in light, water, and nutrients. In tropical forests, these gradients result from biophysical processes related to the structure of the canopy and terrain, but how does species richness in tropical forests vary over such gradients, and can remote sensing capture this variation? Using airborne lidar, we tested the extent to which variation in tree species richness is statistically explained by lidar-measured structural variation in canopy height and terrain in the extensively studied, stem-mapped 50-ha plot on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama. We detected differences in species richness associated with variation in canopy height and topography across spatial scales ranging from 0.01-ha to 1.0-ha. However, species richness was most strongly associated with structural variation at the 1.0-ha scale. We developed a predictive generalized least squares model of species richness at the 1.0-ha scale (R2 = 0.479, RMSE = 8.3 species) using the mean and standard deviation of canopy height, mean elevation, and terrain curvature. The model demonstrates that lidar-derived measures of forest and terrain structure can capture a significant fraction of observed variation in tree species richness in tropical forests on local-scales. |
| Posted: 18 Dec 2012 12:00 AM PST This thematic issue of Religions, “European Perspectives on the New Comparative Theology,” asks how comparative theology—an old discipline that has been infused with new energy in recent decades and merited new attention—has been received, understood, and critiqued among theologians and scholars of religions in Europe today. How does comparative theology look in light of current understandings of theology, the study of religions, and comparative studies, and the politics of learning in the churches today? [...] |
| Posted: 18 Dec 2012 12:00 AM PST The different contexts of America and Europe have a significant impact on the development of comparative theology, especially in the German-speaking countries. The latter have found other solutions to the problem of religious pluralism that are not really conducive to comparative theology. Hence, the double responsibility of Catholic theology in particular toward the university and toward the Church is a part of the discourse policy of theology, which affects the theology of religions and comparative theology. On the one hand, theology is under the protection of the state, and on the other hand theology is threatened by the risk of unreliability due to ecclesiastical paternalism. But the theology of religions and comparative theology do not evade into science of religion or neo-orthodoxy, rather, they take a risk in a theological engagement with other religions, bringing one’s own faith into a deep encounter with other religions and their faiths while delving into points of detail. After giving short descriptions of these tasks, this article shows some examples of practice in comparative theology and gives a prospect into potential further developments of comparative theology in theories of difference and spaces. |
| Posted: 18 Dec 2012 12:00 AM PST Three new germacrane-type sesquiterpenoids, heishuixiecaoline A–C (compounds 1–3), were isolated along with ten known compounds 4–13 from fraction of Valeriana amurensis roots and rhizomes effective against Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The structures of 1–3 were elucidated on the basis of their spectroscopic data. We also investigated the protective effect of compounds 1–13 on the neurotoxicity of PC12 cells induced by amyloid-beta (Aβ25–25), respectively. As a result, germacrane-type sesquiterpenoids 1–4 and lignans 5–7 were seen to afford protection against Aβ-induced toxicity in PC 12 cells. This study will contribute to revealing the chemical basis for the therapeutic effect of V. amurensis against AD. |
| Fresh Finance 1.8.7 - Personal finance solution.. (Demo) Posted: 18 Dec 2012 02:56 AM PST  Fresh Finance is the straightforward personal finance software for everyone, simple yet powerful. Easily manage your personal finances, such as balancing the checkbook, keeping track of credit cards, bill reminders, budgeting and more. Generate reports to see where your money is going, and make tax time easy. The streamlined user interface has an easy learning curve, and you will be up and running in a matter of minutes. Version 1.8.7:
Mac OS X 10.4 or later Download Now This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Sponsored: Ears on with Turtle Beach’s Kilo and Tango headsets Posted: 18 Dec 2012 02:13 AM PST Turtle Beach's brand new Black Ops II headsets are certainly up at the premium end of the gaming market but we like to think we're worth it, and so we |
| Posted: 18 Dec 2012 12:00 AM PST Low cost, durable, and selective membranes with high ionic conductivity are a priority need for wide-spread adoption of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) and direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). Electrolyte membranes are a major cost component of PEMFC stacks at low production volumes. PEMFC membranes also impose limitations on fuel cell system operating conditions that add system complexity and cost. Reactant gas and fuel permeation through the membrane leads to decreased fuel cell performance, loss of efficiency, and reduced durability in both PEMFCs and DMFCs. To address these challenges, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Fuel Cell Technologies Program, in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, supports research and development aimed at improving ion exchange membranes for fuel cells. For PEMFCs, efforts are primarily focused on developing materials for higher temperature operation (up to 120 °C) in automotive applications. For DMFCs, efforts are focused on developing membranes with reduced methanol permeability. In this paper, the recently revised DOE membrane targets, strategies, and highlights of DOE-funded projects to develop new, inexpensive membranes that have good performance in hot and dry conditions (PEMFC) and that reduce methanol crossover (DMFC) will be discussed. |
| Posted: 18 Dec 2012 12:00 AM PST In this study, a simple one-step method was developed to load small-sized Pt nanoparticles (3.1 ± 0.3 nm) in large quantities (50 wt %) on aniline-functionalized and reduced graphene oxide (r-fGO). In the process, an ethylene glycol solution and aniline-functionalized moiety play the roles of reducing agent and stabilizer for the Pt nanoparticles, respectively, without damaging the graphite structures of the r-fGO. The Pt nanoparticles loading on the surface of r-fGO with uniform dispersion have a great effect on the electrical conductivity. |
| Posted: 18 Dec 2012 12:00 AM PST Homogeneous and thin porous membranes composed of oriented fibers were obtained from wheat gluten (WG) using the electrospinning technique. SEM micrographs showed an asymmetric structure and some porosity, which, in addition to a small thickness of 40 mm, are desirable characteristics for the membranes’ potential application in release systems. The membranes were loaded with urea to obtain pastilles. FT-IR and DSC studies confirmed the existence of interactions via hydrogen bonding between urea and WG proteins. The pastilles were studied as prolonged-released systems of urea in water. The release of urea during the first 10 min was very fast; then, the rate of release decreased as it reached equilibrium at 300 min, with a total of »98% urea released. TGA analysis showed that the release system obtained is thermally stable up to a temperature of 117 °C. It was concluded that a prolonged-release system of urea could be satisfactorily produced using WG fibers obtained by electrospinning for potential application in agricultural crops. |
| Posted: 17 Dec 2012 12:00 AM PST Resonant Tunneling Diodes (RTD) and High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) based on GaAs, as the piezoresistive sensing element, exhibit extremely high sensitivity in the MEMS sensors based on GaAs. To further expand their applications to the fields of MEMS sensors based on Si, we have studied the optimization of the GaAs epitaxy layers on Si wafers. Matching superlattice and strain superlattice were used, and the surface defect density can be improved by two orders of magnitude. Combing with the Raman spectrum, the residual stress was characterized, and it can be concluded from the experimental results that the residual stress can be reduced by 50%, in comparison with the original substrate. This method gives us a solution to optimize the epitaxy GaAs layers on Si substrate, which will also optimize our future process of integration RTD and HEMT based on GaAs on Si substrate for the MEMS sensor applications. |
| Posted: 18 Dec 2012 12:00 AM PST The health impact attributable to climate change has been identified as one of the priority areas for impact assessment. The main goal of this paper is to estimate the monetary value of one key health effect, which is premature mortality. Specifically, our goal is to derive the value of a statistical life from people’s willingness to pay for avoiding the risk of dying in one post-transition country in Europe, i.e., the Czech Republic. We carried out a series of conjoint choice experiments in order to value mortality risk reductions. We found the responses to the conjoint choice questions to be reasonable and consistent with the economic paradigm. The VSL is about EUR 2.4 million, and our estimate is comparable with the value of preventing a fatality as used in one of the integrated assessment models. To investigate whether carrying out the survey through the internet may violate the welfare estimate, we administered our questionnaire to two independent samples of respondents using two different modes of survey administration. The results show that the VSLs for the two groups of respondents are €2.25 and €2.55 million, and these figures are statistically indistinguishable. However, the key parameters of indirect utility between the two modes of survey administration are statistically different when specific subgroups of population, such as older respondents, are concerned. Based on this evidence, we conclude that properly designed and administered on-line surveys are a reliable method for administering questionnaires, even when the latter are cognitively challenging. However, attention should be paid to sampling and choice regarding the mode of survey administration if the preference of specific segments of the population is elicited. |
| IJERPH, Vol. 9, Pages 4744-4759: Second Malignant Neoplasms Following Radiotherapy Posted: 18 Dec 2012 12:00 AM PST More than half of all cancer patients receive radiotherapy as a part of their treatment. With the increasing number of long-term cancer survivors, there is a growing concern about the risk of radiation induced second malignant neoplasm [SMN]. This risk appears to be highest for survivors of childhood cancers. The exact mechanism and dose-response relationship for radiation induced malignancy is not well understood, however, there have been growing efforts to develop strategies for the prevention and mitigation of radiation induced cancers. This review article focuses on the incidence, etiology, and risk factors for SMN in various organs after radiotherapy. |
| Posted: 18 Dec 2012 12:00 AM PST There is a growing concern about the serious harm of radioactive materials, which are widely used in energy production, scientific research, medicine, industry and other areas. In recent years, owing to the great side effects of anti-radiation drugs, research on the radiation protectants has gradually expanded from the previous chemicals to the use of natural anti-radiation drugs and functional foods. Some reports have confirmed that anthocyanins are good antioxidants, which can effectively eliminate free radicals, but studies on the immunoregulatory and anti-radiation effects of anthocyanins from lingonberry (ALB) are less reported. In this experiment, mice were given orally once daily for 14 consecutive days before exposure to 6 Gy of gamma-radiation and were sacrificed on the 7th day post-irradiation. The results showed that the selected dose of extract did not lead to acute toxicity in mice; while groups given anthocyanins orally were significantly better than radiation control group according to blood analysis; pretreatment of anthocyanins significantly (p < 0.05) enhanced the thymus and spleen indices and spleen cell survival compared to the irradiation control group. Pretreatment with anthocyanins before irradiation significantly reduced the numbers of micronuclei (MN) in bone marrow polychromatic erythrocytes (PCEs). These findings indicate that anthocyanins have immunostimulatory potential against immunosuppression induced by the radiation. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Games To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий