A machine learningsemi-supervised method was developed for the classification analysis of defects on the surface of the sewer pipe based on CCTV video inspection images. The aim of the research is the process of defect detection on the surface of sewage pipes. The subject of the research is a machine learning method for the classification analysis of sewage pipe defects on video inspection images under conditions of a limited and unbalanced set of labeled training data. A five-stage algorithm for classifier training is proposed. In the first stage, contrast training occurs using the instance-prototype contrast loss function, where the normalized Euclidean distance is used to measure the similarity of the encoded samples. The second step considers two variants of regularized loss functions – a triplet NCA function and a contrast-center loss function. The regularizing component in the second stage of training is used to penalize the rounding error of the output feature vector to a discrete form and ensures that the principle of information bottlenecking is implemented. The next step is to calculate the binary code of each class to implement error-correcting codes, but considering the structure of the classes and the relationships between their features. The resulting prototype vector of each class is used as a label of image for training using the cross-entropy loss function.  The last stage of training conducts an optimization of the parameters of the decision rules using the information criterion to consider the variance of the class distribution in Hamming binary space. A micro-averaged metric F1, which is calculated on test data, is used to compare learning outcomes at different stages and within different approaches. The results obtained on the Sewer-ML open dataset confirm the suitability of the training method for practical use, with an F1 metric value of 0.977. The proposed method provides a 9 % increase in the value of the micro-averaged F1 metric compared to the results obtained using the traditional method.


Phosphorylation is a reversible protein modification involved in regulating a myriad of cellular events including receptor signaling, protein association and compartmentalization, activation and inhibition of protein function, and cell survival (1, 2). Antigen binding to B-cell receptor (BCR) results in a signal cascade involving multiple proteins and phosphorylation events. We are interested in characterizing changes in tyrosine phosphorylation (pY) on a global scale in response to BCR-ligand binding (3). However, the initial objective was to establish a general workflow in order to isolate pY peptides and identify as many pY sites as possible from resting and stimulated B-cells. In order to accomplish this, primary B-cells were stimulated with anti-kappa, a BCR crosslinking reagent,and pY peptides were isolated with an anti-pY antibody (4). Recovered peptides were further enriched for phosphopeptides using the Phos-trapTM Phosphopeptide Enrichment Kit or simply desalted using μZipTips (Millipore Corp., Bedford, MA). Samples were then analyzed by nano-LC/MS on an LTQ-Orbitrap. General methods


To investigate the effect of uncertainty in biodiesel production from microalgae, a supply chain network (SCN) of the process from cultivation of microalgae to distribution of biodiesel is developed using mixed-integer linear programming. Biodiesel demandis the crucial factor in the design of SCN, but is quite uncertain, so a stochastic approach that considers uncertain scenarios is developed, and its recommendations are compared to those of a deterministic model. Also, three different scenario-generation methodologies are employed to illustrate the applicability of the approach. The proposed model determines: (1) the numbers, locations, and sizes of a carbon capture and storage system; (2) the numbers, locations, sizes, and types of bio-refineries; (3) the transportation paths of CO 2 and water from feedstock fields to bio-refineries; and (4) the transportation paths of biodiesel from bio-refinery to demand cities, while minimizing the expected total cost considering several constraints such as locations of power plants as carbon sources, potential locations of bio-refineries, and demands for biodiesel at each site. The proposed model is validated by applying it to a case study based on the predicted biodiesel demand of Korea in the year 2030. A numerical example illustrates that the unit production cost of alga-derived biodiesel by the stochastic model (US$ 2.84 per liter) is at least 5% more economical than that of the deterministic model (US$ 2.99 per liter). The proposed approach is able to respond to uncertain demand situations in SCN design.


A simulation has been developed for estimating the transient temperature and pressure distributions in a high-temperature superconducting (HTS) power cable with a fault current accident cooled by a forced flow of subcooled liquid nitrogen (LN2). This simulation is an essential tool for realizing a practical HTS power cable in order to assess the effects of short-circuit accidents. When a fault occurs in a 275 kV class power transmission system in Japan, an excessive current of 63 kA may flow in the cable for 0.6 s. When faults occur, it is important to estimate the temperature and pressure profiles in a cable cooled by the forced flow of subcooled LN2. The temperature profiles of the LN2 coolant and the cable cores were analyzed by solving nonlinear partial differential equations of the heat transfer phenomenon through heat conduction using finite-difference method. The GASPAK software package (Cryodata) was used to evaluate the fluid properties. The simulation results for 275 kV class 20 m model cable show fairly good agreement with the experimental results obtained by Fukukawa Electric.


Brad H. Reddick, MD, is a Fellow in Child Psychology at Massachusetts General Hospital; and is a Clinical Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. <firstname.lastname@example.com> Elizabeth Catlin, MD, is Chief of Neonatology at Massachusetts General Hospital; and is Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Department of Neonatology at Harvard Medical School. Michael Jellinek, MD, is Chairman of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychology at Massachusetts General Hospital; and is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.


The utility model provides a wireless control and alarm system based on Bluetooth, which belongs to the electronic field. The wireless control and alarm system based on Bluetooth comprises a master computer portion and a slave computer portion. The host computer portion comprises a first one-chip microcomputer or an embedded chip mainboard, a bluetooth module and a first wireless communication module; the Bluetooth module and the first wireless communication module are both connected to the first one-chip microcomputer or the embedded chip mainboard; the slave computer portion comprises a second one-chip microcomputer or an embedded chip mainboard, a second wireless communication module, a household electrical appliance control switch module, an acousto-optic alarm module and various sensor modules; and the second wireless communication module, the household electrical appliance control switch module, the acousto-optic alarm module and various sensor modules are all connected to the second one-chip microcomputer or the embedded chip mainboard. According to the wireless control and alarm system provided in the utility model, Bluetooth and other wireless communication technologies are employed, and intelligent control on and abnormity alarm for household electrical appliances are realized.


During plastic deformation, cells and subgrains are created in most alloys. This is collectively referred as the formation of a substructure. There is extensive qualitative information about substructures in the literature, but quantitative modeling has only appeared recently. In this paper, basic models for the formation of substructure during creep and deformation at constant strain rate are presented. It is demonstrated that the models can give at least an approximate description of available experimental data. The presence of substructure can have a dramatic impact on properties. It is well-known that prior cold work can significantly increase the creep strength. Cold work of copper can raise the creep rupture time by up to six orders of magnitude. During plastic deformation dislocations with opposite Burgers vectors move in different directions creating polarized or unbalanced dislocations. Since the unbalanced dislocations are not exposed to static recovery, they form a stable dislocation structure. Taking the role of the unbalanced dislocations into account, the full increase of the creep strength after cold work can quantitatively be explained (without the use of adjustable parameters). Additionally, the shape of the creep curves that varies with the amount of cold work can be modeled. The substructure is also of importance for the modeling of creep curves for material without cold work. In power-law breakdown, the stress exponent can be 50 or more. This should imply that there would be a huge increase in the creep rate with increasing strain, but that is not observed. The reason is that the unbalanced dislocations form a back stress that acts against the increase in the true stress. Taking the back stress into account, it has been possible to model creep curves for copper at near ambient temperatures. This effect must be taken into account in stress analysis to avoid overestimating the creep rate by many orders of magnitude.


pation: An observational study. Anesthesia and Analgesia 2012; 114: 987– 92. 37. Hiller KN, Karni RJ, Cai C, Holcomb JB, Hagberg CA. Comparing success rates of anesthesia providers versus trauma surgeons in their use of palpation to identify the cricothyroid membrane in female subjects: a prospective observational study. Canadian Journal of Anesthesia 2016; 63: 807–17. 38. Howard-Quijano KJ, Huang YM, Matevosian R, Kaplan MB, Steadman RH. Video-assisted instruction improves the success rate for tracheal intubation by novices. British Journal of Anaesthesia 2008; 101: 568–72, e1. 39. Stringer KF, Bajenov S, Yentis SM. Training in airway management. Anaesthesia 2002; 57: 967–83. 40. McGuire B, Dalton AJ. Sugammadex, airway obstruction, and drifting across the ethical divide: a personal account. Anaesthesia 2016; 71: 487–92. 41. Cook TM, MacDougall-Davis SR. Complications and failure of airway management. British Journal of Anaesthesia 2012; 109: i68–i85. 42. Mathieu JE, Heffner TS, Goodwin GF, Salas E, Cannon-Bowers J-A. The influence of shared mental models on team process and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology 2000; 85: 273–83. 43. Weingart SD, Levitan RM. Preoxygenation and prevention of desaturation during emergency airway management. Annals of Emergency Medicine 2012; 59: 165–75, e1. 44. Sakles JC, Mosier JM, Patanwala AE, Arcaris B, Dicken JM. First pass success without hypoxemia is increased with the use of apneic oxygenation during rapid sequence intubation in the Emergency Department. Academic Emergency Medicine 2016; 23: 703–10.


A method and apparatus for characterizing a light source for the light source, and an alternative method of selection. The method of obtaining (102) a first image source operation, obtaining (106) a second image is illuminated environment, and obtaining (104, 108) at the respective time of a respective first and second images are obtained and a camera optical system and a second camera image processing system according to a first camera and a second camera disposed settings. The first image analysis (110), and a second image first and second cameras arranged to estimate the characteristics of the light source. Characteristics of the source can be used to suggest alternative light source and characteristics of the proposed alternative light source may alternatively be used to simulate the effect of a light source is irradiated on the environment.


Abstract : Questions of atmospheric optics, the visibility of polarized radiation sources in the atmosphere, light conditions in the depth of the scattering medium illuminated by polarized radiation, and other matters are linked with the need to investigate the polarization characteristics of scattered light. The use of lasers with linear radiation polarization substantially increases the range of conditions in which the polarization characteristics of scattered light may be investigated. Experimental investigations of the degree of polarization of forward scattered and backward scattered (reflected) light during radiation discharge in artificial fog and smoke are given.


The third and fourth volumes of the 'Phenomenological Workshop' disclose in detail the entire mass of notes, drafts for seminars and outlines for research manuscripts that Eugen Fink left behind as a unique phenomenological legacy. They are all part of his early work, written in the years 1933 to 1945. In fact, through extensive critical revision of the philosophical principles at the heart of Husserlian transcendental phenomenology, Eugen Fink advanced slowly but steadily towards a radical ontological and cosmological renewal of phenomenology in his early notes and various research manuscripts. This book documents this ontological and cosmological renewal of phenomenology during the years 1933–1945.


Groups & Hot Lines, 37 Web Sites, and two Directories & Databases. All disorders are described in a similar fashion. For the professional, the directory offers critical and comprehensive information on managed care organizations, information systems, government agencies, provider organizations, and national associations. Included is a current list of pharmaceuticals used to treat mental health conditions as well as recommended treatments. The index is very comprehensive and is organized by disorder, then keyword, and all organizations by state. This directory would be useful to libraries providing consumer health information and as a basic reference tool for medical libraries. It would also be valuable to professionals and patients to help them become better educated about categorical diagnoses, symptoms, and treatments.


The study attempts to determine the nature and scope of preparation programs for elementary school guidance workers: (a) the content and scope of the preparation programs; (b) the personal and professional characteristics of the counselor educators in these programs; (c) the personal and professional characteristics of the counselor enrollees in these programs. A preliminary questionnaire was mailed to 575 institutions which offered a master's and/or doctor's degree. Of these 575, 45 offered at least a master's degree in elementary school guidance. An institutional data blank, counselor educator and counselor enrollee data blanks were mailed to the chief counselor educator in each of the 45 institutions. 36 institutions participated fully in the study. Conclusions are that: (a) Although many institutions were offering preparation in the field of elementary school guidance, relatively few were offering preparation at this level that was significantly different from the preparation in guidance at the secondary school level. (b) The developmental aspects of guidance were stressed in the preparation at this level. (c) Emphasis was placed on the child development, child study and appraisal, and elementary education areas for preparation in elementary school guidance. (d) Preparation programs in elementary school guidance, at the time of the study, were relatively few.


Text representation is considered as the mainly problem in text categorization,which is widely used in the vector space model.Term weight in each dimension is its TFIDF value(term frequency,inverse document frequency).But TFIDF is not able to stress the significance of key terms which contribute mainly to the content of a text.A novel term selection and weighting approach based on key words is presented.The structure information and mutual information to extract key words are employed,and word location,word de-pendence,wordfrequency,and document frequency in weighting a term are integrated.In SVM classification experiment,the approach outperforms traditional TFIDF approach with a boost in average precision about 5 %.


In this paper, we propose a new method to derive practical linear time algorithms for maximum weightsum problems. A maximum weightsum problem is speci ed as follows: given a recursive data x, nd an optimal subset of elements of x which not only satis es certain property p but also maximizes the sum of the weight of elements of the subset. The key point of our approach is to describe the property p as a functional program. This enables us to use program transformation techniques. Based on this approach, we present the optimization theorem, with which we construct a systematic framework to calculate e cient linear time algorithms for maximum weightsum problems on recursive data structures. We demonstrate e ectiveness of our approach through several interesting and non-trivial examples, which would be di cult to solve by known approaches.


We study the Cauchy problem to generalized Boussinesq equation with linear restoring force and combined power type nonlinearities. Generalized Nehari functionals are introduced and their monotonicity and sign preserving properties are established. By means of an extension of the concavity method of Levine and generalized Nehari functionals finite time blow up of the solutions with arbitrary high positive initial energy is proved.


........................................................................................................................ ii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... iii List of Tables ................................................................................................................ vi List of Figures ............................................................................................................. vii List of Appendices ..................................................................................................... viii Glossary ..........................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: General Introduction. ................................................................................2 Arthropod Biological Control ................................................................................. 2 Host specificity testing ............................................................................................ 3 Study system ............................................................................................................ 4 Life history characteristics of diamondback moth and Diadromus collaris ........... 6 Thesis objective and experimental approach .......................................................... 7 Figures ....................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 2: Establishing host range testing parameters for Diadromus collaris: maximizing the parasitoid's motivation to oviposit. .............................................10 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 10 Materials & Methods ............................................................................................. 13 Insect cultures ....................................................................................................... 13 The effect of diet .................................................................................................... 13 The effect of D. collaris age .................................................................................. 14 The effect of pupal presentation ............................................................................ 15 The effect of exposure length ................................................................................ 15 The effect of host cocoon....................................................................................... 16 Statistical analyses ................................................................................................ 16 Results ..................................................................................................................... 17 Discussion................................................................................................................ 18 The effect of diet .................................................................................................... 19 The effect of D. collaris age .................................................................................. 21 The effect of pupal presentation ............................................................................ 21 The effect of exposure length ................................................................................ 22 The effect of host cocoon....................................................................................... 22 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 23


In order to solve the problem that it is difficult to judge whether the air targets detected by infrared detectors at different locations are the same target, an infrared air target fusion algorithm is proposed. The algorithm constructs a cylindrical coordinate system, introduces two infrared sensors into the cylindrical coordinate system. Then introduces the aerial target information which including azimuth elevation into the cylindrical coordinate system, thus establishing the association between the targets. Finally, the correctness of the algorithm is verified by three rounds of experiments. The simulation results show that the error of the algorithm is within the reservation threshold and has certain engineering application value.


In this paper,the Yetter-Drimfeld categories are studied: the dual of the weak Hopf algebras in the left Yetter-Drimfeld category are the ones in the right Yetter-Drimfeld category;the Yetter-Drimfeld category of the weak Hopf algebra is the one of the dual.


A device with a coil oscillating along the helical trajectory of the measured field is applied for measuring constant magnetic field index. The relative order of accuracy is 1% for indexes>0.3 and es sufficiert t 2% for es sufficiert t 0.1 v 5/m/sup 2/ fields. (tr-auth)


Getrag All Wheel Drive AB (GAWD) in Koping, Sweden today develops, manufactures and sells All Wheel Drive (AWD) systems to the private car industry. However it has not always been like this. Be ...


The structural and spectroscopic studies of N,N,N′,N′,N′-pentakis-(benzimidazol-2-yl-methyl)diethylenetriamine (L1) and N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis-(benzimidazol-2-yl-methyl)-N′-(carboxylmethyl)diethylenetriamine (L2H) and [CuL1]2+, [CuL2H]2+, and [CuL2]+ were carried out by density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependant (TD)-DFT techniques. The results show that a geometrical change occurs when carboxylate/carboxylic acid coordinates with the metal ion. For example, the ligand L2H forms an octahedral geometry with CuII and in the structure, four nitrogens (N3, N13, N44, N47) are equatorially coordinated with the metal ion, and atoms O50 (–COOH) and N41, which are weakly bonded at the axial positions, are in competition in the formation of an axial bond with CuII; however, for the ligand L2, only a square pyramidal (SP) geometry results with CuII because of the formation of a strong axial bond by O50 (–COO–) with CuII, which dictates non-bonding at its trans position. Molecular orbital analysis proves that both HOMO and HOMO – 1 are localized over the carboxylate ion that favours a strong axial bond with the metal ion; thus, the SP geometry results in the X-ray structure of [CuL2]ClO4. Furthermore, for the complexes, since the electronic spectroscopic bands were unseparated in the spectra, the TD-DFT was used to identify the bands.


Market interest rates reflect the preferences of market participants. When market participants are missing, the average discount rate in the population may therefore differ from the market rate. Missing current market participants, such as constrained borrowers, tends to imply an average discount rate that is above the market rate, whereas missing future market participants, such as future generations, tends to imply an average rate below the market rate. Nonetheless, a government with the ability to transfer wealth intratemporally across agents will generally wish to use the market interest rate as a guide to policy. One robust argument for the use of a lower social discount rate is intrapersonal: Future selves discount the past, whereas current selves discount the future. Legacy utility may also justify a low social discount rate. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Financial Economics, Volume 15 is November 2023. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


Abstract The present study investigated the second language processing of grammatical mood in Spanish. Eye-movement data from a group of advanced proficiency second language users revealed nativelike processing with irregular verb stimuli but not with regular verb stimuli. A comparison group of native speakers showed the expected effect with both types of stimuli, but these were slightly more robust with irregular verbs than with regular verbs. We propose that the role of verb form regularity was due to the greater visual salience of Spanish subjunctive forms with irregular verbs versus regular verbs and possibly also due to less efficient processing of rule-based regular inflectional morphology versus whole irregular word forms. In any case, the results suggest that what appeared to be difficulty with sentence processing could be traced back to word-level processes, which appeared to be the primary area of difficulty. This outcome seems to go against theories that suggest that L2 sentence processing is shallow.


This statement, when applied to software engineering, reflects harshly upon the software engineer that believes themselves to really be a computer scientist. The fundamentals of any science lie in its ability to prove or refute theory through observation. Software engineering is no exception to this yet, to date, we have failed to provide satisfactory empirical evaluations of many of the theories we hold as truths.


The text sheds light on some research questions regarding the gender aspects of the past. It gives basic notes on accelerated demographic aging, as well as a historical review of the processes of aging in Serbia and gender inequality among the older generations, i.e. the feminization of the past. This work also includes presentations and perceptions of old age, thus older women, as well as how they are presented in domestic films.


This article aims to discuss, albeit briefly, the evolution of the use of blood, both as a representative language but also as a work material. Connecting art and blood, not attaining to the relationship between them. Reinforcing the way blood is presented in many artworks, and has been placed as belonging to History, Art and human evolution, it changes and grows, as humankind itself. The purpose of this text is to generate in the reader reflections about the presence of the organic element, especially when we think about the poetry of artists who have added, and still provide value to the use of blood as an essential material for works elaboration. The power of objective or subjective communication regarding to some works that contains blood was present in several narratives from past artists, and since the end of the 60's until nowadays is used as an essential material at performances and installations.


It is a method for monitoring the function of a device (20) for variably setting a cylinder compression ratio in a reciprocating internal combustion engine (10) above, comprising the steps of determining (S10) a value (44, 46, 54, 56) of an engine parameter indicative of a motor position of the internal combustion engine (10) at a defined cylinder compression ratio, comparing (S12) the determined value (44, 46, 54, 56) with an additional value (44, 46, 54, 56, 58, 60) of said engine parameter, and having a function of a result of comparing determining (S14, S16) whether the device (20) works correctly for variably adjusting the compression cylinder.


The invention relates to a high-performance extrusion grade ASA resin composition and a preparation method thereof. The preparation method comprises the following steps of: selecting two ASA rubber powders which have high stainability and are composited with different molecular weight and different rubber particle sizes, high molecular weight AS resin, a surface glazing agent, matching with lubricating agent, antioxidant and a weather-proofing agent simultaneously, melting in a twin-screw extruder, blending and preparing the resin composition. The ASA resin composition has high toughness, weathering resistance and surface glossness and good processing performance and is especially applicable to combining extrusion of profiled materials used for buildings of PVC doors and windows and glazed tiles and the like.


Objective: To study the effect of Qi-boosting Blood-quickening Prescription on myocardial ischemia and local angiogenic factor Ang-1 and Ang-2 protein expression in rats.Methods: The establishment of myocardial ischemia model in healthy male SD rats was created,according to ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery.Ischemic myocardium Ang-1,Ang-2 protein expression was detected by immunohistochemical method to observe the influence of Qi-boosting Bloodquickening Prescription on Ang-2 and Ang-1in myocardial ischemia rats.Results: The expression of Ang-1 of myocardium in Qi-boosting Blood-quickening Prescription group was higher than that of the control group;Ang-2 expression lower than that of the control group,and the difference was statistically significant(P0.05).Conclusion: Qi-boosting Blood-quickening Prescription may promote angiogenesis to increase collateral circulation of the heart and resist myocardial ischemia,according to promotion of Ang-1 and the inhibition of Ang-2 expression.


The passivation of SiO_2 film on the crystalline silicon(C-Si) wafers was discussed including the variation of solar cells property with the different passivation films.Based on the PC1D softwre,the C-Si solar cells with SiO_2/SiN_x were simulated,the effect of front surface recombination velocity(FSRV) and bulk lifetime(τ_b) on electrical properties was investigated.According to the simulation,the output electrical properties will take on linear degradation when the FSRV is greater than 10~4 cm/s,while I_(sc) and U_(oc) will increase lineally when τ_b is less than 30 μs.The comparison was made in this work about the passivation effect of SiO_2,SiN_x and SiO_2/SiN_x on C-Si wafers.It is demonstrated that effective minority carrier lifetime of C-Si wafers passivated by SiO_2/SiN_x is increased greatly during the annealing.Furthermore,I_(sc),U_(oc),conversion efficiency and internal quantum efficiency of solar cells with SiN_x/SiO_2 films are improved.


John W. Hammond was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and moved to New Orleans, Louisiana. After graduating from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor's degree in Policital Science, he worked for Congressman Hale Boggs and then Whitney Bank. In 1973 Mr. Hammond graduated from Washington and Lee Law School and moved to Marietta, Georgia. In addition to practicing law, he represented Ward 5 as a member of the Marietta City Council from 1981 to 1990. Hammond also served in the Georgia General Assembly, representing District 20 from 1991 to 1992 and District 32 from 1993 to 1994.


The calculations: source term, or spent fuel composition by Serpent, heat transfer analysis through CFD (computational fluid dynamics) calculations with OpenFOAM to determine the peak cladding temperature of the fuel pins stored in a Castor-V/21 cask. Samples of results are depicted in Figures 4 – 6. Figure 1. Rough process scheme describing the criticality safety validation package. Nuclear criticality and safety analyses preparedness at VTT (KATVE)


Abrasive waterjet cutting technology has come back into use in the field of rock excavation (such as for tunneling) due to the need for precision construction with low vibration. Because the abrasive particles play an important role in efficient erosion during the cutting process, the abrasive characteristics strongly affect the rock cutting performance. In this study, rock cutting tests were performed with five different coarse (40 mesh) garnets to explore the effect of the abrasive feed rate, physical properties, and particle size distribution on rock cutting performance. In addition, garnet particle disintegration was investigated with garnet characteristics for the abrasive waterjet. The test results indicate that the particle size distribution, garnet purity, specific gravity, and hardness are the most important parameters for rock cutting performance. This study offers better understanding of coarse garnet performance and efficiency according to the garnet characteristics. This should provide assistance in selection of the garnet needed to achieve the desired performance for hard rock cutting.


With the rise of creative economic times,building a creative city has become a new trend.The development of creative industries at home and abroad has diversified situation,including three typical modes such as government-pull mode,technology-driven mode and market development mode.As far as culture creative industry of Tianjin is concerned,the basic development idea should be planning for the creative industry as a first,creating the creative industry cluster as a carrier,taking core business as a leader,taking urban culture grade,Binhai New Area image and the Olympic culture spirit as characteristics,paying attention to independent innovation of industry design and R D,constructing the creative industry chain with Tianjin characteristics,striving to become a national creative industry base that standing in Tianjin,radiating 3 North and facing the world.


This paper examines the relationship between the socio-economic factors of urban government and the degree of fiscal decentralization in Korean urban governments. The regression and correlation analyses are employed to analyze what factors produce the inter-city differences in the degree of fiscal decentralization. Dependent variables are the degree of revenue decentralization and the degree of expenditure decentralization. Independent variables are urban population, urban area, employment, automobile registration, urban poverty, urban history, building permits, and regions. The results show that employment and urban area are positive factors while urban population is a negative factor to fiscal decentralization, even though the socioeconomic factors of urban government do not strongly affect the degree of fiscal decentralization in Korean urban governments.


Four traits, canopy temperature, leaf net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance and transpiration rate were determined by using 9 wheat cultivars during the flowering to ripening period in drought conditions. The large differences existed in all the four traits among different temperature type varieties. Especially, the low canopy temperature wheat and drought-resistant varieties were better in all above aspects, so the use and selection of the low canopy temperature materials should be stressed in the wheat breeding and culture, it was useful to improve crop yield and quality in arid areas.


The objective of this work is to argue that the theory of biologist Jean Piaget, Genetic Epistemology, concerns the Epigenetic Ontogenesis of logical mathematical thought and its application in the achievement of scientific knowledge. The explanation of this evolution is made possible by the theoretical compatibility between mathematical and biological structures, which are created through the exchanges of the organism with the environment and are capable of altering gene expression. These exchanges are similar to a dialogue, in the platonic sense, a dialectical movement that allows the reasoning faculties to develop "from the sensitive multiplicity to the intelligible unity", "Idea" or concept. According to Piaget, this movement is expressed by the endogenous construction of a chain of organic structures that ultimately bring about actions, language and thought; in other words, the very outward behavior of social life. In this sequence of affiliations, each step is indebted to the former, which is its condition of existence, as an "a priori" or an "evolutionary Kantianism", as stated by Piaget himself. Here we aim to identify the biological knowledge as such, suitable to be falsified (in the Popperian sense) through scientific testing, but not through ideologies or philosophies. The main research of our Laboratory of Genetic Epistemology has been performed on the construction of spatio-temporal and causal notions, including their role in epigenetic recovery of low-income children with severe learning problems at school but without any apparent medical condition. These children do not construct the sequence of organic endogenous structures, responsible for logical-mathematical thought and articulated speech. This work has been carried out through games and other recreational activities created specifically for this purpose. Finally, after two or three years of daily work, we succeed in demonstrating the acquisition of the ability to think and speak coherently.


Kids will discover their connection with nature and have fun by doing these amazing science-based activities. They can build a solar panel, make recycled paper, build a worm composter and create a forest ecosystem in a jar.


Since the expiry of the deadline for the completion of the internal market at the end of 1992, the Commission has shifted its focus away from piloting an intense rule-making burst through the Community legislative system. As part of its quest to establish reliable methods for managing the internal market, the Commission is now overtly concerned to improve the quality of those adopted laws, for example by securing simplification and consolidation, and it is intent on investigating more rigorously how a closer match may be made between the relevant laws on paper and their practical application on the ground.1 In short, the Commission is focusing its energies on ensuring that the legal framework which has been adopted is treated by commercial operators and consumers in the market as a viable and trustworthy basis for an integrated market. Accordingly much of the Commission's work since the last survey of the law relating to the free movement of goods has been at first sight relatively unglamorous. It largely concerns soft law initiatives and attempts to improve administrative co-ordination designed to underpin the practice of market management, both vertically (Commission/Member State) and horizontally (Member State/Member State). This forms the core of the strategy for the internal market covering the next five years, published on 24 November 1999.2 Nonetheless, even though these initiatives might not immediately strike the lawyer accustomed to a fountain of legislative activity as worthy of close inspection, it is clearly the case that the Commission regards its medium-term mission to stabilise the management of the internal market as best pursued by a gradual approach designed to improve practical compliance.


On the basis of BM-algorithm and [12], an improved BM-algorithm was presented. The important characters of the improved BM-algorithm were stated as follows: 1) The complexity of the algorithm was reduced efficiently; 2) The matching algorithm was more easily extended to two dimensions and approximate matching.


This paper describes the development of a micro-machined passive check valve for an SMA-based compact hybrid actuator device (CHAD). The overall diameter of the valve is 12 mm and the thickness is 1 mm. The structure houses an array of 56 micro check valves. Each micro valve has a 250 μm diameter orifice covered by 10 mm thick nickel flap. Stoppers on each micro valves limit the displacement of the flaps during an opening. This design allows the Ni flaps to withstand high-pressure gradient created by the actuator while achieving high flow rate. A finite element analysis is used to characterize the static and dynamic behaviors of the valve flap for the prediction on flow rate. The prediction is found to be in good agreement with the experiment on static flow rate. The test results indicate that the flaps are able to withstand pressure difference of 0.28 MPa while achieving flow rate of 20 cc/sec. The valve also has low cracking pressure and reverse leakage.


Those identical, ethical mandates were told to me on two occasions: first, when as a preteen I objected to my father, a dentist, fluoridating the teeth of his young patients, suggesting that he was sacrificing his income (and my future college tuition) by the prevention of caries; second, when as a proto-lithologist, Michael Grasso and I discussed the founding of a kidney stone clinic and I asked Michael if he was worried that I would reduce the number of ureteroscopies and lithotripsies he would perform. Kidney stones are common and preventable, but not commonly prevented. Instead, our experience has been that most patients, despite their interest, have not received any serious recommendations about how to avoid kidney stone recurrence. Stone formers seek advice regarding their disorder, whether that is about the choices for urological intervention or strategies and regimens for prevention. Bringing these two components of kidney stone practice together into a single setting is the goal of a kidney stone clinic. Like any other disorder, expertise among practitioners develops with exposure and repetition. A kidney stone clinic offers these assets to its personnel while offering patients the confidence that develops when expertise is demonstrated. Simply titling one's office or practice a "kidney stone clinic" may lead to some assurance that the disorder is seen repeatedly there, but developing a real integration of diverse skills and mastery will be even more convincing. This book arises from the partnership that Michael Grasso and I began in 1996 when we first formed a kidney stone clinic. Michael brought his vast experience in endourology and urological intervention for kidney stones to our enterprise. My contribution, as a nephrologist and physiologist, was


Psoriasis is a chronic infl ammatory skin disease that affects 2% to 4% of the population. Infl ammatory arthritis develops in approximately 30% of patients with psoriasis and can have a major effect on activities of daily living and quality of life.


In this paper the jitter suffered by the cells of the monomedia traffic streams which compose a multimedia data flow loading an ATM Multiplexer is analyzed. To this aim, a multimedia source is modeled as an arrival process defined as the superposition of heterogeneous arrival processes, each of which models one monomedia source. In order to capture the time relationships existing between the monomedia sources of the multimedia stream, they are modeled as mutually correlated Interrupted Bernoulli Processes. Correlation functions are derived for each monomedia source as well as for the multimedia source as a whole. A case study is shown in order to assess the possibility of analytical treatment of the proposed paradigm.


This study focused on integrated marketing communications and customer loyalty in the telecommunications industry in Nigeria. Lagos State, Nigeria constitutes the scope of the study being that it is the commercial hub of Nigeria and there resides a huge population of telecoms subscribers. Survey design was adopted for the study. Cross-sectional data were collected across the twenty local government areas in Lagos State with the aid of a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire administered on 600 telecommunications subscribers yielded 82.3% response rate. Using descriptive statistics, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy and Bartlett's test of sphericity, the data collected were analyzed. The findings reveal that integrated marketing communications (IMC) has a significant positive effect on customer loyalty. The result further shows that each of the proxies of IMC studied influenced customer loyalty at varying degrees, ranging from high to weak extent. It can therefore be inferred that implementation of IMC in the telecommunications industry in Nigeria enhances customer loyalty. Some recommendations were made and the managerial implications highlighted.


Publishers have long had an important role in education, producing books and other learning materials.
 Today, the publisher's role is changing fast with the platform evolution from stand-alone to networked computers. Print and the Web are compared, demonstrating that they will remain complementary. The publishers' traditional Value Chain is linear and one-way; it is operative in a stable, predictable environment, and accommodates mass production. This traditional Value Chain is evolving into a new Value Circle, which is iterative, with shorter product cycles, interaction between customers, authors and publishers to develop products and services, and "mass customization".
 Today, custom publishing efforts are already well underway.
 However, critical solutions are required for handling rights, royalties, and intellectual property protection; publishers are developing the Digital Object Identifier, new licensing standards, and experimenting with copy protection technologies.
 Key opportunities in emerging technology are discussed, including Metadata and query enhancement; work flow analysis and new tools that capture pedagogy; and contact management systems to capture and support customers.
 The emergence of repositories of software such as the Educational Object Economy are critiqued, with recommendations made for facilitation of electronic commerce.
 We review some basic business considerations.
 Our perspective is based on college publishing, the focus of the E/W Consortium on Authoring Tools, but all segments of publishing face similar concerns. Reviewers: Henry Lieberman (MIT), Jane Moran (Middlesex U.), Andy Reilly (Open U.)
 Interactive elements: Two QuickTime movies from an educational multimedia publication are included. Two QuickTime movies from Chemisty:Interactive, an educational multimedia publication, are included. You will need the Apple QuickTime plug-in for your browser, or a separate player application.


An (nk)-conguration is a set of n points and n lines in the projective plane such that the point { line incidence graph is k-regular. The conguration is geometric, topological, or combinatorial depending on whether lines are considered to be straight lines, pseudolines or just combinatorial lines. We provide an algorithm for generating all combinatorial (nk)-congurations that admit a topological realization, for given n and k. This is done without enumerating rst all combinatorial ( nk)-congurations. Among other results, our algorithm enables us to conrm, in just one hour with a Java code of the second author, a satisability result of Lars Schewe in [11], obtained after several months of CPU-time.


It is important to provide survivability of sensor networks in face of attacks in the network. In this paper, we focus on survivability modeling and enhancing of sensor networks through software rejuvenation and reconfiguration of sensor nodes in a cluster in the network. A specific action in software rejuvenation and reconfiguration is enforced to sensor node and it is possible to enhance survivability of sensor networks. We present a conceptual two level survivability model. The lower level presents how to define the state of each cluster in the network through a threshold function. The upper level presents probabilistic survivability of each cluster. We analyze proposed survivability model using proof of concept scenario examples and steady state analysis.


Recently, a new super rapid heating induction hardening technique which uses MICROPULSE SYSTEM has been developed. The new induction hardening technique differs from the former induction hardning in that the new technique is very useful for controlling case-hardened depth exactly, and is attendant on little deformation after hardening.In this study, in order to clarify the fatigue strength of the notched specimens of carbon steel (S45C, α=1.6) whose effective case-hardened depth are about 0.70mm and 0.45mm, uniaxial loading fatigue tests were conducted. It was found that the fatigue strength of the hardened specimens was 670MPa for the hardning depth 0.70mm and 630MPa for the hardening depth 0.45mm. Micro pulse induction hardening improved the fatigue strength about two times higher than that of the S45C base metal. The "Fish-eye" which indicates that fatigue cracks initiated from the inside of a specimen appeared on many fracture surfaces. And the position of the "Fish-eye" coincided nearly with that of the case-hardened depth.


A trellis decoder which incorporates the residual redundancy in low bit rate speech coder parameters is used to decode Reed Solomon (RS) codes. As not all the transmitted speech parameters and bits are equally sensitive to errors, unequal error protection has been employed to enhance speech quality. Subcodes of RS codes, which have been introduced by Shin and Sweeney (1995), are used for this purpose. A trellis decoding method is tailored to combat bursty errors in a mobile communication channel. Simulation results on a land mobile channel show a noticeable increase in performance and computational efficiency of the decoder.


We describe a method for generating the color texture corresponding to a range image. Based on the projection of fringe patterns on an object, a color texture of the object's surfaces can be extracted from an original fringe image. Since the range image of the object is also obtained from the original fringe image, this method eliminates alignment problems during the texture mapping, and avoids the need for extra cameras to acquire the texture. Experimental results are given to illustrate the validity of color texture extraction using our proposed method.


Objective To compare the effect of quetiapine combined with lithium carbonate and with sodium valproate in treating bipolar disorder patients with aggressive behaviors.Methods 93inpatients with bipolar disorder,who met the CCMD-3diagnostic criteria,were randomly divided into the observation group(46cases)and the control group(47cases).The observation group were treated with quetiapine combined with lithium carbonate by oral administration,while the control group were treated with quetiapine combined with sodium valproate by oral administration.Modified Overt Aggression Scales(MOAS)was used to evaluate the treating effect for attack behaviors.Results Before treatment,there was no significant difference in the " MOAS" scores between two groups(P 0.05),but at the end of the second week,the fourth week and the eighth week of the treatment,their difference was statistically significant(P 0.001).11cases of aggressive behavior occurred in the observation group during hospitalization and 25occurred in the control group,so the difference was statistically significant(χ 2=8.3996,P =0.0038).No significant difference was found between groups in terms of side effect of drugs(χ 2=0.5226,P=0.4697)as well as the clinical curative effeect and hospitalization duration(P 0.05).Conclusion Quetiapine combined with lithium and quetiapine combined with sodium valproate have similar effect in treating patients with bipolar affective disorder.Both of them do not have obvious side effect of drugs,but they can significantly reduce aggressive behaviors of inpatients.


Thispaperconsiderstheproblemofrelativepositioncontrolformultiplespacecraftformatione ying.Specie cally, the full nonlinear dynamics describing the relative positioning of multiple spacecraft formation e ying are used to develop a Lyapunov-based, nonlinear, adaptive control law that guarantees global asymptotic convergence of the position tracking error in the presence of unknown, constant, or slow-varying spacecraft masses, disturbance forces, and gravity forces. Simulation results are included to illustrate the controller performance. that compensated for unknown, constant disturbances while pro- ducing globally asymptotically decaying position tracking errors. This controller, however, required exact knowledge of the space- craft parameters. In this paper we consider the full nonlinear dynamics describ- ing the relative positioning of MSFF for control design purposes. Using Lyapunov-based control design and stability analysis tech- niques, we develop a nonlinear adaptive control law that guarantees global asymptotic convergence of the spacecraft relative position to any sufe ciently smooth desired trajectory, despite the presence of unknown, constant, or slow-varying spacecraft masses, disturbance forces, and gravity forces. In the case when the parameters are ex- actlyknown,theproposedcontrolstrategyyieldsglobalexponential convergence of the tracking errors. In comparison to the work of Refs. 11 and 12, the proposed controller ensures stronger stability resultsandaccountsforawiderclassofparametricuncertainties.As inRefs.11-13, we will consider in this paper the idealized scenario where the spacecraft actuators are capable of providing continuous- time control efforts, as opposed to being of pulse type. 9 We note that the problem of pulse-type, nonlinear control design for MSFF constitutes an open research problem and is beyond the scope of this paper. The paper is organized as follows. Section II presents the non- linear dynamic model derivation. The control objective is stated in Sec. III. The control design and closed-loop stability analysis are presented in Sec. IV. Simulation results are provided in Sec. V, whereas some concluding remarks are given in Sec. VI.


Solid waste and carbondioxide emission gradually become a threat to the sustainability of humanity. Negative externalities from the existence of solid waste and air pollution can threaten the environmental sustainability. Does the threat to environmental sustainability affect economic growth in a country? With panel data obtained from the OECD and the World Bank, researchers then analyzed using the Fixed Effect Model (FEM) to identify the impact of solid waste and air pollution on Gross Domestik Product (GDP) in countries in Europe and Asia Pacific. The results of this study indicate that there is a significant and positive relationship between GDP and solid waste and carbon dioxide emissions


al x Quantum manifestations of classical chaos and integ bility have been intensively investigated in the past deca [1]. It has been realized that the statistical properties the quantum energy spectrum are strongly influenced the underlying classical dynamics. Indeed, classical i tegrability generally implies the absence of level repu sion and a Poissonian statistics of energy level spacin On the contrary, chaotic dynamics leads to level repulsio with the level spacing statistics Pssd being the same as in the random matrix theory (RMT), i.e., the Wigner-Dyson (WD) distribution [2]. These two distributions of Pssd also characterize, respectively, the localized and metal phases in the Anderson model of disordered systems. the critical point between these two phases an interme ate level spacing statistics occurs [3]. While for one-particle systems the statistical propertie of spectra are well understood, the same problem in man body systems has been addressed only recently. The fi results demonstrated that many-body integrable syste are still characterized by Poisson statistics PPssd, whereas in the absence of integrals of motion the Wigner-Dyso statisticsPWDssd has been found [4]. More recently, investigations of finite Fermi systems such as the Ce ato [5] and the28Si nucleus [6] put forward the question of the statistical description and thermalization induced by inte action. A quantum chaos criterion for emergence of RM statistics and dynamical thermalization induced by inte action was established in Ref. [7]. Namely, a crossov from Poisson statistics to the WD distribution takes plac when the coupling matrix elements become comparab to the level spacing between directly coupled states. F two-body interaction, the critical interaction strength be comes exponentially larger than the multiparticle leve spacing. Indeed, the latter decreases exponentially w the number of particles, while the former decreases typ cally only quadratically. This result was corroborated i Ref. [8], and should apply to various physical systems su as complex nuclei, atoms, clusters, and quantum dots. In this Letter, we develop and apply these concepts disordered spin systems. These systems are of great perimental and theoretical interest [9]; in particular, quan tum spin glasses have recently attracted a great deal attention, and various approaches have been develope


Online bibliographic databases are providing significant resources to conduct analysis of academic social networks.We believe that work of an author is always influenced by work of his or her co-authors. In this study, we investigatethe impact of productivity and quality of work of an author's co-authors on his or her ranking along with his owncontribution. We propose mutual influence (MI) based ranking method, which ranks authors based on (1) Publicationsof an author, along with impact of publications of his or her co-authors, (2) Normalized author position based Citationsweight, which is calculated from the citations received by an author with respect to position of his or her name in theco-authors list, (3) MINCC that combines the impact of both factors. A series of experiments has been conducted andresults show that proposed approach has capability to ranks authors in a significant way.


We test accurate models of Comptonization spectra over the high-quality data of the BeppoSAX long look at NGC 5548, allowing for different geometries of the scattering region, different temperatures of the input soft photon field, and different viewing angles. We find that the BeppoSAX data are well represented by a plane-parallel or hemispherical corona viewed at an inclination angle of 30°. For both geometries the best-fit temperature of the soft photons is close to 15 eV. The corresponding best-fit values of the hot plasma temperature and optical depth are kTe ≃ 250-260 keV and τ ≃ 0.16-0.37 for the slab and hemisphere, respectively. These values are substantially different from those derived fitting the data with a power-law-plus-cutoff approximation to the Comptonization component (kTe ≲ 60 keV, τ ≃ 2.4). In particular, the temperature of the hot electrons estimated from Comptonization models is much larger. This is due to the fact that accurate Comptonization spectra in anisotropic geometries show "intrinsic" curvature that reduces the necessity of a high-energy cutoff. The Comptonization parameter derived for the slab model is larger than predicted for a two-phase plane-parallel corona in energy balance, suggesting that a more "photon-starved" geometry is necessary. The case of a hemispherical corona is consistent with energy balance but requires a large reflection component. The spectral softening detected during a flare that occurred in the central part of the observation corresponds to a decrease of the Comptonization parameter, probably associated with an increase of the soft photon luminosity, the hard photon luminosity remaining constant. The increased cooling fits in naturally with the derived decrease of the coronal temperature kTe in the high state.


In the course of the work, the task of picking up signals from the leg muscles is solved to control the active exoskeleton designed to remove the external load from the operator. In this work, an algorithm has been developed that processes the set of received myographic signals characterizing the intensity of the traced muscle, and translates them into control actions for the actuator controller, in the form of an analog, bipolar signal characterizing the setting effect of the speed and direction of rotation for each «joint». A variant of the arrangement of electrodes for picking up bioelectric signals for controlling the drives of the active exoskeleton of the legs is also presented. In the course of the study, a number of solutions were proposed that increase the reliability of the control signal, including the use of an electronic gyroscope to correct the control action, due to the influence on the links of gravity. The myographic sensor, in this system, is based on a non-invasive bioelectrical activity sensor. The biopotential is measured with two signal electrodes located along the muscle under study. Since some muscles perform related functions, to develop an algorithm for controlling the exoskeleton, it is necessary to describe the influence of all muscles included in the analysis process on the rotation of each joint, as well as to introduce appropriate correction coefficients for the influence to compensate for the inhomogeneous effect.


Biopharmaceuticals are becoming one of the most promising drugs on the market mainly due to their successful treatment of a vast array of serious diseases, such as cancers, immune disorders, and infections. Structurally, biopharmaceuticals are proteins and it is important to mention that more than 60 % of biopharmaceuticals are glycosylated. Glycosylation is one of the most common posttranslational modifications. It is also the most demanding and the most complex posttranslational modification. The research showed that glycosylation can significantly impact on the safety, efficiency, and quality of the therapeutic glycoproteins. In the first part of the introduction of the present thesis, the development of the therapeutic glycoproteins and their classification were reviewed. Glycosylation process and nomenclature were also discussed. The second part of the introduction revealed current issues in the field of the production and the characterization of the therapeutic glycoproteins. In the context of the doctoral thesis, we introduced new approach, namely hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography coupled to a high-resolution mass spectrometer (HILIC-HR-MS) combined with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and classification through Soft Independent Modelling by Class Analogy (SIMCA) data treatment. Accordingly, N-glycans were first enzymatically released using peptide-N-glycosidase F (PNGase F) and reduced using sodium borohydride. Then those N-glycans were separated by HILIC and detected by HR-MS. PCA and SIMCA simplified interpretation of the MS data collected in the huge tables. PCA was applied to test whether it is possible to visualize N-glycosylation differences between samples and to help identifying within which N-glycans changes occurred. SIMCA, which is a more complex data analysis technique, was applied to build and validate a classification models. SIMCA was also applied to verify whether it is possible to use built models to classify real samples. Described approach enabled us to detect small changes in N-glycosylation of the therapeutic glycoproteins (a change of only 1% in relative glycan abundance). It was applied to assess changes in N-glycosylation of therapeutic glycoproteins. Accordingly, we tested N-glycosylation consistency between batches of infliximab, trastuzumab, and bevacizumab and monitored the N-glycosylation of bevacizumab over storage time in plastic syringes.Furthermore, we worked on the faster sample preparation technique, where online-solid-phase extraction (SPE)-LC was combined to the previously mentioned HILIC-MS-PCA/SIMCA method. Online-SPE-LC allowed us to faster the sample preparation in terms of avoiding time-consuming cleaning steps.


The explosion of interest in H1N1, more popularly called 'swine flu', across the world, from late April to early May 2009, exemplified how information transmission in modern online society can affect the spread of the disease itself. A simple but effective model based on cultural evolutionary theory can characterise in such data the effective degree of social transmission versus independent decision. In a novel approach that applies this model to Google Trends search data, we find significant differences in social transmission of the exact phrase `swine flu' in 2009, compared with 'bird flu' in 2005. The methodology can thus inform policies for addressing public awareness of health issues, which can be more effective with knowledge of how the information is being spread or learned.


The polar instability of K 1−x Na x TaO 3 is associated to critical linear and non linear phenomena. Data on linear dielectric and elastic susceptibilities show a critical slowing down from 10 9 to 10 7 Hz of the Ta 5+ motion on approaching the critical temperature. Polydispersive susceptibility at low frequency and critical nonlinearity are evidence for freezing of a disordered configuration only slightly below the (extrapolated) critical temperature. Standard models of dilute glasses do not account for this near-coincidence. Instead, we search for a scenario in which both the ferroelectric and the frustrated interactions between impurity dipoles are enhanced by the critical correlation of lattice dipolar displacements L'instabilite polaire de K 1−x Na x TaO 3 (0,08≤x≤0,24) est associee a une variation critique des reponses lineaire et non lineaire. Les resultats sur les susceptibilites dielectriques et elastiques montrent un ralentissement critique de 10 9 a 10 7 Hz de l'oscillation des ions Ta 5+ en s'approchant de la temperature critique. Recherche d'une interpretation ou les interactions de type ferroelectrique et les interactions frustrees entre impuretes dipolaires sont accrues par la correlation entre les distorsions polaires du reseau


This vehicle air-conditioning device has a configuration provided with: a compressor; an outside heat exchanger; a water-refrigerant heat exchanger which exchanges heat between a refrigerant and cooling water; a heat release unit which releases heat from the cooling water to air; a circulation means which circulates the cooling water between the water-refrigerant heat exchanger and the heat release unit; and an air blow path through which air is blown into a vehicle interior and in which the heat release unit is disposed midway, a send-out port for sending out the compressed refrigerant and an introduction port for introducing the refrigerant that has not been compressed being provided in the compressor, a first fit part that is fitted in the send-out port of the compressor, and a second fit part that is fitted in the introduction port of the compressor being provided in the water-refrigerant heat exchanger, an introduction path for introducing the refrigerant sent out from the compressor into the water-refrigerant heat exchanger being provided in the first fit part, a refrigerant passage one end of which is connected to the introduction port of the compressor and which has a pipe connection port at the other end being provided in the second fit part, and the compressor and the water-refrigerant heat exchanger being integrally joined by the first fit part and the second fit part being fitted. According to the present invention, a more compact air-conditioning system that utilizes a refrigerant circuit and a cooling water circuit can be achieved. Further, since a refrigerant pipe of the compressor and a refrigerant pipe of the water-refrigerant heat exchanger are connected by a short path, heat loss therebetween can be reduced, thereby achieving improved air-conditioning performance and energy saving correspondingly.


The influence of compressive and tensile axial strains on the critical current of various Nb/sub 3/Sn conductors is investigated. The investigated multifilamentary wires are especially developed for the ITER project. The critical current is determined as a function of an axial tension in a standard pull set-up. These results are compared with the results that are obtained on a bending spring-type strain device. In this second device an axial compression larger than the integral thermal shrinkage of the matrix, can be achieved. A study of the field dependence of the critical current yields the strain dependence of the extrapolated upper-critical field versus the axial strain. A good correlation is found between the two different strain devices in the tensile strain regime. There is a difference in the (limited) compressive strain regime where such a comparison can be made.


Because of recent controversy surrounding the use of excessively graphic pictorial warning labels (PWL) on cigarette packs in South Korea, it is necessary to provide evidence to evaluate their effectiveness as a tobacco control policy according to the harm perception they evoke. An analysis was performed using a nationally representative survey conducted six months after the introduction of PWLs in South Korea. Among 62,276 survey participants, 43,231 students from grades 7–12 who had seen a PWL in the past 30 days comprised the research sample. Non-smoking intention was evaluated according to the harm perception evoked by PWLs, which predicted higher non-smoking intention among adolescents. Non-smoking intention was particularly higher in daily smokers with harm perception (52.0%) than those who have never smoked and have no harm perception (40.1%). In the case of those who perceived harmfulness, non-smoking intention was formed in about 45% of daily smokers who had no experience of trying to quit in the last 12 months. Therefore, it is important to select PWLs that can arouse in adolescents sufficient harm perception of smoking.


To develop an effective and convenient solution for underwater repelling oil and cleaning up oily water, TiO2 nano‐coating is deposited on the surface of poly(propylene) nonwoven (PPN) by atomic layer deposition (ALD). There is no evident change in the morphologies comparing ALD‐modified PPN with PPN except for thickness. For oils of different densities, such as 1,2‐dichloroethane, methylene chloride, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, n‐hexane, and petroleum ether, the underwater oil contact angle and underwater oil sliding angle of ALD‐modified PPN range from 152.25° to 156.19° and 5.63° to 8.80°, respectively, exhibiting superior superhydrophilicity and underwater superoleophobicity. Notably, ALD‐modified PPN shows a high chemical stability in different solutions, such as acid, alkali, salt, and polar solvent, which even can slightly improve the underwater superoleophobicity of TiO2 nano‐coating. The excellent underwater anti‐oil property, self‐cleaning property, robust chemical resistance, and easily scaled‐up preparation process of TiO2‐coated PPN suggest great potential for practical applications in the energy, environmental protection, marine anti‐fouling, and microflow control fields.


Changes in precipitation frequency can have a major impact on many different sectors including agriculture, tourism, and recreation. This study investigates trends in precipitation days at first‐order weather stations across the conterminous United States from 1951 to 2015. The Mann‐Kendall test and sliding window correlation analysis are used to examine trends over time. Future precipitation days are forecasted via usage of a stepwise auto‐regressive model. The Mann‐Kendall test found that the majority of the Northeast and Midwestern states show upward trends in precipitation days, while negative trends are located in the Southeast and in clusters throughout the Northwest. Sliding window correlation analysis was used to detect the decade when most of the change in precipitation days occurred. The northeastern United States had more significant changes during the earlier decades whereas the centre part of the country had more significant changes in the later decades. Most stations saw more decades with positive (increasing) trends in precipitation days. Precipitation days are expected to increase for most of the United States into the future.


Abstract Objective: This innovation in simulation evaluated the effectiveness of a time sensible, low-cost simulation on prelicensure nursing students' knowledge and confidence in responding to public health emergencies. Method: One hundred eighty-two nursing students, in groups of 5, participated in a 75-min emergency preparedness disaster simulation. A mixed methods design was used to evaluate students' knowledge and confidence in disaster preparedness, and satisfaction with the simulation. Results: Students reported an increase in knowledge and confidence following the disaster simulation and satisfaction with the experience. Conclusions: Prelicensure nursing programs can replicate this low cost, time sensible disaster simulation to effectively educate students in emergency preparedness.


The phase velocity and group velocity dispersion curves of composite material plate are calculated and plotted by using dichotomy method in MATLAB.The actuating frequency,pulse and actuating shape are designed by dispersion curve of Lamb wave.The dynamic response signals of the composite plate are obtained by finite element method.Damage location is calculated by the actual group velocity of Lamb wave and time of flight of the difference signal before and after damage.


Lymphokines (Spl-LKs) capable of inhibiting toxoplasma multiplication in homologous cell monolayers in vitro exist in the supernatant of spleen cells from toxoplasma immune animals incubated either with toxoplasma lysate antigen (TLA), or with non-specific mitogens (4, 10, 12-15). Contained in the Spl-LKs is a toxoplasma growth inhibitory factor, Toxo-GIF (15), approximately 30, 000 to 40, 000 m. w., which inhibits toxoplasma multiplication in homologous but not in heterologous cells, thus showing species specificity (10).Recently, circulating interferon (IFN) has demonstrated antiviral activity not only in homologous but also in heterologous cells (1, 2). In the authors' previous reports (11, 12, 18), the activity of gamma-interferon (IFN-r) in the circulation of toxoplasma immune animals reached its maximum after 6 h while the Toxo-GIF activity peaked 24 to 48 h after TLA injection. The relationship of Toxo-GIF to IFN-r, both of which are found in the same serum, had not yet been clarified. Based on the above observations, an attempt was made to determine whether immune serum, chemically hydrolyzed to its low-molecular components via enzymes and acid-alkaline hydrolysis, would inhibit toxoplasma multiplication not only in homologous but also in heterologous cells. It also aimed at detecting IFN activity from the same hydrolyzed samples.Evidence was presented on the production and properties of Toxo-GIF and IFN in the circulating blood of toxoplasma immune mice, following the intraperitoneal injection of TLA. The IFN elaborated by this method was designated IFN-r. This study deals mainly with some biologically active substances derived from hydrolyzed toxoplasma immune mouse serum (HS-LKs) or hydrolyzed spleen cell cultured lymphokines (HSpl-LKs) and their effects on parasite growth not only in homologous but also in heterologous cells. The HS-LKs and HSpl-LKs, approximately 3, 000-5, 000 m.w., strongly inhibited toxoplasma multiplication in homologous cells, without cytotoxicity, when administered in concentration of 0.5% or less. This substance, or substances, also inhibited toxoplasma multiplication in heterologous monolayers of bovine monocytes, canine monocytes and human heart cells. This ability to inhibit toxoplasma multiplication in homologous and heterologous cells was derived not from IFN-r, but from Toxo-GIF or aToxo-GIF-like substance.


We introduce a general class of statistical-mechanics models, taking values in an Abelian group, which includes examples of both spin and gauge models, both ordered and disordered. The model is described by a set of 'variables' and a set of 'interactions'. Each interaction is associated with a linear combination of variables; these are summarized in a matrix J. A Gibbs factor is associated with each variable (one-body term) and with each interaction. Then we introduce a duality transformation for systems in this class. The duality exchanges the Abelian group with its dual, the Gibbs factors with their Fourier transforms and the interactions with the variables. High (low) couplings in the interaction terms are mapped into low (high) couplings in the one-body terms. If the matrix J is interpreted as a vector representation of a matroid, duality exchanges the matroid with its dual. We discuss some physical examples. The main idea is to generalize the known models up to eventually include randomness into the pattern of interaction. We introduce and study a random Gaussian model, a random Potts-like model and a random variant of discrete scalar QED. Although the classical procedure as given by Kramers and Wannier does not extend in a natural way to such a wider class of systems, our weaker procedure applies to these models, too. We shortly describe the consequence of duality for each example.


This study explores diverse figures in the pedal
passages in Johann Sebastian Bach's Orgelbuchlein in order to
improve pedal technique by a more effective practice style. The
Orgelbuchlein has been thought to include easy pieces that are
usually played by beginning students. One of the reasons for this
belief is that the pieces are short. In fact, however, none of the
chorale settings in the Orgelbuchlein are easy to play. Their
various levels of difficulty and styles prove Bach's pedagogical
purpose. I will take full advantage of the obbligato pedal writing
in the Orgelbuchlein to develop a pedal technique for music
composed before 1750. This study provides pedal exercises according
to level of difficulty with directions for practicing included.
These pedal exercises based on the Orgelbuchlein will challenge
organ students in the great variety they include.


The purpose of this paper is to analyse quality and quantity problems in ocean soft pipeline's reinforcement which have arisen with the development of offshore oil production,discuss reinforcement's structural types, technical requirements and materials chosen for ocean soft pipeline. And investigate into the effect of different kinds of ocean soft pine's reinforcement on ocean soft pipeline's pressure resistance ,anti-corrosion,flexure and bonding property etc.


Validation of a numerical simulation using experimental data is a necessary prerequisite for verification of proper use of numerical method. This article deals with a comparison of velocities as predicted by an idealized model of human upper airways during stationary inspiration for three different breathing regimes. For the purpose of this study, a model which includes a realistic geometry of the mouth cavity and glottis coupled with an idealized geometry of the trachea and bronchial tree up to the fourth generation of branching was made. Calculations were compared with experimental data acquired by Phase-Doppler Particle Anemometry (P/DPA) on the identical geometry. Velocity data were compared at three points in the trachea. Specific air flow characteristics are documented and discussed based on results of the numerical simulation of the velocity field.


Desert Bus began as vaporware. A decade after it was initially shelved, it was rediscovered and became a way for gamers to show off their insider knowledge of rare and hard-to-find bits of gaming history. A few years later, its reputation for being one of the least fun video games ever made it the centerpiece of a long-running charity event. In this essay, I will conduct a textual analysis of Desert Bus and argue that the uniquely painful gaming experience that the game provides players makes it a perfect vehicle for charity streaming, providing both a sense of gamer authenticity and credibility to the Desert Bus for Hope event and an emotional incentive for viewers to give. This research stands to benefit scholars working on cult media, a field in which work on video games is relatively rare in comparison to work on television and film.


Purpose
Development of non-invasive therapies for wAMD and DME has not yet been successful due to poor PK/PD properties. SRPK1 is a novel target that controls VEGF-A splicing. Delivery of potent small molecules to the retina as eye drops is an unmet need due to lack of insight into drug required properties. We used rational medicinal chemistry and permeability models to identify physicochemical properties for retinal delivery.

Methods
Porcine eyes were dissected, and full thickness tissue clamped into a scaffold with drug formulations facing the sclera. Tissue sections were dissected after 24 hours and compound extracted and analysed by mass spectrometry. Efficacy, toxicity and PK were evaluated in C57/Bl6 mice. PK was assessed in pigmented and albino rabbits.

Results
Highly potent and selective SRPK1 inhibitors with improved permeability (×10-6 cm/s) ex vivo (Compound A 1.47, Compound B 4.07) had improved PK in in vivo models. SRPK1 inhibitors did not inhibit retinal function yet inhibited laser-CNV following eye drops given to mice (EC50s<0.5 μM, n = 6–8, p < 0.05, One-way ANOVA).

Conclusions
Ex vivo screening enabled modelling and design of novel compounds with improved permeability and optimisation for in vivo retinal delivery.


Optic nerve sheath diameter ultrasonography as a means for noninvasive determination of intracranial pressure (ICP) is a technique recently receiving consideration in the intensive care and emergency medicine literature1-4. The concept of a noninvasive, readily available technique to perform at-thebedside, point-of-care determination of ICP is an attractive means of early identification and potentially objective management of intracranial hypertension, especially in resourceconstrained or austere environments. Current usage of ultrasound for optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) has focused on perioperative assessment in the neurosurgical community, as well as both intensive care unit (ICU) and emergency department (ED) based correlations to invasive dynamical intracranial ICP monitoring. Preand postoperative assessment of ONSD in neurosurgical patients, ABSTRACT: Objective: To evauluate our novel ultrasound model for measurement of optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) and determine the intraand inter-operator variability associated with this technique. Methods: We conducted ten measurements of ONSD per model amongst eight different models with a single experienced operator to examine intra-operator variability. Similarly, we had seven different operators measure the OSND twice in eight different models, in order to determine inter-operator variability analyzed with a three level linear statistical model. Results: For intra-operator variability, the intra-cluster correlation coefficients for the experienced and novice operators were 0.643 and 0.453 respectively. This displayed improvement in intra-operator variability with experience. The inter-cluster correlation coefficient was 0 for the group of novice operators, indicating negligible difference amongst multiple operators in measuring any given model of ONSD. A strong, statistically significant, linear relationship between the actual model disc size and the ultrasound ONSD measures was identified, implying the reliability of the images produced by our novel model. Conclusions: Utilizing a novel model for ONSD ultrasonography, we have determined the intraoperator reliability of ONSD measurement to be moderate, with no appreciable difference amongst multiple operators. Improvement in measurement reliability has been demonstrated between expert and novice operators with our model, indicating the potential benefit of simulation platforms for teaching the technique of ONSD ultrasound.


Cardiopulmonary exercise testing is an effective method to monitor and assess body's state. The purpose of this article is to introduce MAX-Ⅱ cardiopulmonary function evaluation system and some useful indexes.


To Clone the N terminal gene of mouse Shh protein,we extract the total RNA from the pregnant mouse embryo of 10.5 d. N terminal gene of Shh protein was amplified using RT-PCR and inserted into the prokaryotic expression vector pQEN3. The recombinant vector pQEN3-Shh-N was transformed into E.coli BL21,and induced with 1.0 mmol/L IPTG. A 20 kD protein was detected on the SDS-PAGE and identified by western blot,it showed that the 20 kD protein was the N terminal protein of Shh. The recombinant N terminal protein of Shh was up to thirty percent of the total protein,which provided a basis for studying the relationship between the hair growth and the N terminal protein of Shh.


With the fastly-growing social and commercial demands for portable electronic devices and the need for developing environmentally friendly high-power energy sources, new non-critical, non-toxic materials are currently being widely studied [1]. Electrochemical Double Layer Capacitors, also termed as supercapacitors, store energy electrostatically by charge separation at the high-surface-area porous carbon / electrolyte interface, by charging the electrochemical double layer [2]. Carbon-based materials are the most widely used electrode materials for EDLCs because of their desirable physical-chemical properties and low cost. Out of the various carbon structures explored as electrode materials, graphene appears to be a promising candidate thanks to its key properties [3].
 In this work, in-depth electrochemical characterizations of 2-Dimensional graphene-based materials was achieved using Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy (SECM) technique to study local electrochemical properties: ionic transport and charge transfer properties. 2D carbon materials with tuned interlayer distance were prepared by bridging reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets using hexanediamine electroactive molecules acting as pillars. Pillared and non-pillared porous graphene hydrogel (6GH and GHG respectively) composed were also synthetized and tested. Those measurements gave insights about the electroactivity and conductivity of the material's surface. Also, the influence of the nature and lengths of the pillar on the electrochemical performance have been studied. Preliminary results using conventional electrochemical techniques show that the specific capacitance of raw GHG (170 F g-1) was reduced down to 70F g-1 when adding 6 carbons-hexanediamine pillars during its hydrothermal synthesis to prepare the 6GH (pillared graphene hydrogel). For the rGO, the addition of pillars with different lengths resulted in an increase of specific capacitance from 100 F g-1 to rGO to 140 F g-1 for rGO pillared with 7 atoms pillar diamine pillar (7RP) and 130 F g-1 for rGO pillared with 8 atoms diamine pillar (8RP) .
 Then, SECM experiments in feedback mode allowed for a fast comparison of the change in local electrochemical activity for the different surfaces through redox reactions between the tip and the electrode surface for all developed materials. Fitting measured approach curves to simulated ones can be used to estimate rate coefficients, as suggested by Chang, Mirkin and Bard [5]. The effective rate coefficient (keff) values for the mediator regenerating surface reaction were estimated using Wittstock's method by fitting the approach curves recorded at different positions. A 10µm diameter platinum-disc microelectrode was the tip connected to the Bio-Logic SECM-150 bipotentiostat and responsible for the approach curve measurement. For the GHG, it was found a 2.3 10-2 cm s-1 effective constant, which is reduced to 1.6 1.8 10-2 cm s-1 for the 6GH. For the rGO, the keff has the value of 3.3 10-2 cm s-1. The next step is to define the effective constant for the pillared rGO 7RP and 8RP. This study contributed to define the key characteristics allowing for the use of electrodes for supercapacitors offering optimal performance in energy density and power density.
 1- Zhang, Li Li; Zhao, X. S. Carbon-based materials as supercapacitor electrodes. , 38(9), 2520–0, 2009.
 2- Jiang Yang, Sundaram Gunasekaran. Electrochemically reduced graphene oxide sheets for use in high performance supercapacitors,Carbon, 2013.
 3- Zhu, Y.; Murali, S.; Stoller, M. D.; Ganesh, K. J.; Cai, W.; Ferreira, P. J.; Pirkle, A.; Wallace, R. M.; Cychosz, K. A.; Thommes, M. Carbon-Based Supercapacitors Produced by Activation of Graphene, 2011.

 4-TAKAHASHI, Yasufumi. Development of High-Resolution Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy for Nanoscale Topography and Electrochemical Simultaneous Imaging. Electrochemistry, 2016.
 5- C. Wei, A.J. Bard, M.V. Mirkin, Scanning electrochemical microscopy. 31. Application of SECM to study of charge transfer processes at the liquid/liquid interface, J. Phys. Chem. 99

 Figure 1


Abstract Iamblichus' theory of self-motion has to be pieced together from various texts and passing remarks. Ever since Aristotle's critique, Plato's concept of the self-motive soul was felt to be problematic. Taking his lead from Plotinus, Iamblichus counters Aristotle's criticism by claiming that true self-motion transcends the opposition between activity and passivity. He moreover argues that it does not involve motion that is spatially extended. Hence it is non-physical. Primary self-motion is the reversion of the soul to itself, by which the soul constitutes itself, i.e. imparts life to itself. This motion is located at the level of essence or substance. The bestowal of life upon the body derives from this fundamental motion. As a result, animals are derivatively self-motive. Secondary self-motions are acts of thought in the broad sense. Contrary to the unmoved motion of intellect, the self-motion of the soul is not beyond time. This somehow fits Iamblichus' theory of the "changing self''. Iamblichus anticipates much of the later Platonic accounts of self-motion.


Introduction: Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media (CSOM) is one of the most commonly encountered diseases in otorhinolaryngology practice. Material and methods: A total of 70 samples from 64 clinically diagnosed cases of CSOM were included in the study. The bacterial identification and antibiotic sensitivity of the isolates was carried out by automated method. Identification and antifungal susceptibility of yeast was performed using automated method. However identification of moulds was carried out by conventional methods. Result: Out of 70 samples 50% (35/70) showed positive bacterial culture. Among 64 patients, 53.12% (34/64) were males and 46.87% (30/64) were females. The commonest bacteria isolated was Pseudomonas aeruginosa 45.71% (16/35) followed by Staphylococcus aureus 33.42% (11/35), Proteus mirabilis 14.28% (5/35), Enterobacter cloacae 5.71% (2/35) and Sphingomonas paucimobilis 2.8% (1/35). All Pseudomonas isolates obtained in this study were found to be 100% resistant to amoxicillin/clavulanate, cotrimoxazole, and cefixime and 100% sensitive to meropenem and tigecycline. With 36.36% (12/33) Aspergillus fumigatus was found to be the predominant isolate. While 30.30% (10/33) Aspergillus niger, 18.18% (6/33) Candida albicans, 6.06% (2/33) Aspergillus terreus , 3.03% (1/33) Candida tropicalis, 3.03% (1/33) Rhizopus species and 3.03% (1/33) Paecilomyces species were also observed. All the seven strains of yeast were sensitive to fluconazole, amphotericin B, flucytosine and voriconazole. Conclusion: An appropriate knowledge of antibacterial susceptibility of microorganisms would contribute to a rational antibiotic use and the success of treatment for chronic supportive otitis media.


Abstract. Assessment of the stability of deep geological repositories is a key task in
the site selection process for high-level radioactive waste. Geomechanical
stability is affected by endogenous and exogenous processes as well as by
geotechnical operations. Stability prediction requires both an estimate of
future stress changes as well as the initial, i.e. current stress
state. However, data records on the current stress state in the upper crust
are incomplete, sparse and spatially unevenly distributed. Therefore,
geomechanical-numerical models are the only way to estimate the full stress
tensor at locations where stress observations are not available. The main components of such a 3-D geomechanical model are the distribution of
the elastic rock properties and rock density as well as stress data for the
model calibration. The aim is to find the optimal initial and boundary
conditions that result in a best-fit with respect to available stress data
within the model volume. For this reason, the first open access database for
stress magnitude data has been developed as an extension of the existing
database on stress orientation data (world-stress-map.org). The new database
contains 568 data records from Germany and surrounding areas, but only 15 % of
these data records are of acceptable quality. Thus, only one reliable set of stress magnitude data is available for an area of 100×100 km2. Based on existing compilations of the crustal structure in and around Germany, data were merged into one model with the aim of estimating the 3-D stress state in Germany. Geomechanical models for stress estimation in Germany were created with varying geometrical and mechanical resolution. While the first model consists of four mechanical units and 1.3 million finite elements, the subsequent model consists of 12 units and 3.6 million finite elements. The results of the best-fit model with respect to the stress data reveal that there are regional differences when calculating the fracture potential, i.e. the distance to failure of intact rock as well as different values of slip tendency, which provides a measure of the reactivation potential of pre-existing faults. The observed variability of the modelled stress field can be used as a first-order assessment. Since model uncertainties are still high, the absolute values are not yet reliable. However, the model can be used to derive consistent initial and boundary conditions for models on a regional scale. Furthermore, it makes it possible to investigate the influence of the large-scale crustal structure on the overall stress pattern. The modelling workflow is set-up in a way that new information and higher resolution if needed can be implemented when more data are provided. This will improve the reliability of both, the model prediction on the large scale as well as the initial and boundary conditions for high-resolution regional models for selected areas during the site selection process.


OBJECTIVE
Individual placement and support (IPS) is the evidence-based supported employment approach for people with serious mental illness. Because funding is the major barrier for states to implement IPS and increase access, the IPS Learning Community collected information about sources of IPS funding from 24 member states.

METHODS
In early 2020, IPS employment leaders from the public mental health authority and the state vocational rehabilitation (VR) authority completed a questionnaire identifying sources of funding for IPS in their states.

RESULTS
The main sources of funding were Medicaid, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) block grants, state and county government, the Ticket to Work program, and the federal-state VR programs.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
Funding IPS services requires braided funding from multiple sources. This complicated method limits scaling up services statewide. Solving this funding problem would require coordinated action from federal and state agencies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).


It discloses methods and methods of using the microparticles to produce a bioactive BMP-2 microparticles. The present invention also provides a pharmaceutical composition comprising a precipitated bioactive BMP-2 microparticles and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. The BMP-2 has the amino acid sequence of human BMP-2, which is recombinantly expressed proteins. In a subject, the method of the present invention to increase the BMP-2 levels comprises the steps of providing an aqueous BMP-2 suspension containing the resolubilized BMP-2 polypeptide; to the subject, said subject in an amount sufficient to increase BMP-2 levels in, comprising introducing the aqueous suspension.


Modern technologies require new materials of special properties. One of the reasons for interest in materials of unusual mechanical properties comes from the fact that they can be used (either as inclusions or as matrices) to form composites of required properties. There is a number of physical properties that we implicitly assume to be positive. However, one may be surprised to discover that they can also be negative. Negative materials include, amongst other ones, those having negative stiffness (Lakes et al., 2001), negative thermal expansion (Hartwig, 1995), negative refractive index (Sang & Li, 2005), negative permittivity (Ruppin, 2000) and/or negative permeability (Ruppin, 2000). It is worth to add that in presence of some constrains even the compressibility can be negative (Lakes & Wojciechowski, 2008). A new field of challenge are studies of materials exhibiting negative Poisson's ratio. The latter is a negative ratio of relative transverse dimension change to relative longitudinal dimension change of a body when an infinitesimal change of a stress acting along the longitudinal direction occurs whereas the other stress components remain unchanged. Such materials, first manufactured by Lakes (Lakes, 1987) and coined auxetics by Evans (Evans, 1991), are a subject of intensive studies both in the context of fundamental research and applications (Remillat et al., 2009). The aim of this chapter is to demonstrate recently discovered anomalous deformation of an auxetic plate, constrained by fixing two opposite sides, which is loaded by uniform tension (or compression) applied perpendicularly to two other opposite sides of the plate. The problem was studied both in three dimensions (3D) by Strek et al. (Strek et al., 2008) and in two dimensions (2D) by Pozniak et al. (Pozniak et al., 2010) by finite element methods. In all the cases studied it has been assumed that the material was isotropic. 12