PROFESSOR Kronman's paper' is a valuable analysis of the privacy exemption of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).2 I agree with much that he has to say, particularly with his approach to analyzing the cases. Kronman's demonstration that the cases establish or could have established rules increasing the value of information by assigning property rights to persons who would have purchased them in a market for information is thoughtful and interesting. It is significant, though, that his analysis shows that many of the decisions are not economically sound. Courts confuse increases in welfare with transfer payments, apparently seeing only the latter as socially desirable. What else would account for the difference between Wine Hobby,3 in which the court refused to release information that would have led to consensual busi-


Over the past several decades, the concepts of structural reliability, optimization, and life-cycle cost analysis and design have developed rapidly and become widely accepted among researchers and increasingly acknowledged among practicing engineers. The United States has a national inventory of almost 600,000 highway bridges, many of which have deteriorated substantially and will require large expenditures to repair. A reliability-based approach to optimizing the maintenance, repair and replacement of these bridges will provide a more efficient use of limited financial resources by ensuring an acceptable level of safety at a minimum expected life-cycle cost. The application of the minimum expected life-cycle cost criterion to optimize the management of highway bridges in the United States was recommended in 1991 by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of Congress. Also, the 1996 National Science Foundation Workshop on Incorporation of Structural Reliability in Bridge Engineering recommended that a methodology for realistic life-cycle cost estimation of highway bridges has to be developed and used to produce optimal expenditures for new and existing bridges under reliability constraints. The optimal expenditures have to take into account all expected costs from the design stage to the end of the bridge's life span. Such a methodology could be incorporated into modern bridge management systems. This paper presents such a methodology by integrating maintenance, repair and replacement decisions in bridge management based on reliability, optimization, and life-cycle cost. After providing the framework of this methodology, the approach is illustrated for both new and existing highway bridges. Applying this methodology on a network-level by using life-cycle activity profiles requires considerable research support. Increased data expected in the future will permit the rational evolution of bridge management systems based on reliability, optimization, and life-cycle cost considerations.


Sporadic Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (sCJD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that typically presents as a rapidly progressive encephalopathy associated with various neurological features, culminating in akinetic mutism and death. Atypical cases, presenting with an isolated focal may cause diagnostic confusion. We described a series of patients with sCJD presenting with isolated language impairment.


The evolution of the 'boson peak' contour in low frequency Raman spectra of a few Na 2 O-ZnO-SiO 2 compositions was observed under subsequent substitution of Na 2 O for ZnO. Frequency shift of this mid-order sensitive feature shows a decrease of the glass correlation radius with an increase in zinc oxide concentration (while keeping the SiO 2 content constant). In structural terms, the correlation sphere size reflects the dimension of the glass cell unit. In terms of physical properties, the effect is connected with the densification of the glass resulting from a change of modifying ions. Restriction of the molecular mobility of tightened structural elements produces unfavourable conditions for mid-range ordering


This paper presents a numerical investigation of heat transfer characteristics of fluid in Cylindrical Parabolic Concentrating Solar Collector in Ogbomoso Climatic Conditions (lat 8 o 01 I , long 4 o 11 I ). The parametric studies were conducted to investigate the effects of twist tape ratio, H /D in different fluids and length on the system performance as function of instantaneous efficiency in order to obtain the optimum performance of the system. A computer simulation program written in C++ language was developed to study the effect of Reynold numbers (Re) from 2,000 to 12,000 for the fixed value of incident solar insolation flux (Ib) of 186 W/m 2 on the system thermal performance, Nusselt number (Nu) as a function of Reynolds number (Re) rate with variable tape twist factor (X = H/Di) for different Prandtl number, Pr in the range of 0.0001 > 1). The results show that oil has highest heat transfer characteristics, Nusselt number values both with and without tape twist factor. It is observed that tape twist factor enhances the heat transfer characteristics of the fluids in cylindrical parabolic concentrating solar collector. The higher value of heat transfer characteristics is obtained with Nusselt number (Nutw) having tape twist factor (X = H/Di: 1, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15) in all the fluids considered. It is observed that performance of the cylindrical parabolic trough collector with twisted tape has been enhanced appreciably. These results can guild practicing engineers and designers in the evaluation of the existing real systems and design of future system.


This paper deals with the adaptation of a model predictive control to a blind system for building for preventing thermal discomfort, which occurs during summer. This system can be seen as a hybrid system by considering various blind positions. The MPC formulation leads to define a multi-objective optimization problem, for which the criteria are antagonist. This method seems to be effectiveness and is illustrated by various simulations within SIMBAD, a Matlab toolbox dedicated to building simulation. The proposed scheme is based on Branch and Bound techniques and does not rely on disturbance predictions, so that it could be easily implemented on industrial products.


Objective To compare the clinical results between paraspinal approach combined with posterior midline approach and traditional posterior midline approach in treatment of thoracolumbar fractures with nerve injury. Methods From February2009 to February 2012, a total of 52 cases of thoracolumbar fractures with nerve injury were included in the study, which were divided into two groups, including 24 cases of posterior midline approach, 28 cases of paraspinal approach combined with posterior midline approach. Results All 52 patients were followed up for 18-36 months, with an average of(26 ±4.5)month.The paraspinal approach combined with posterior midline approach group had a better performance in operation time, blood loss in and after operation, and postoperative VAS score at first week(P 0.05). There were no significant differences in recovery of anterior and posterior vertebral body height, Cobb angle, and recovery of neurological function between the two groups(P 0.05). Conclusion Paraspinal approach combined with posterior midline approach in the treatment of thoracolumbar fractures with nerve injury has the same clinical effect as posterior midline approach. And it has the advantages of shorter operation time, less trauma, less blood loss at operation and post operation, and faster recovery after operation.


The study aimed to investigate the prospect of a pharmacist and carry out educational activities for seniors in the House Remanso da Paz, Quixada, CE, Brazil. It was an observational study, analytical, crossover, consisting of a quantitative and qualitative approach, carried out in June 2016 with 23 seniors (57% women). The meetings occurred through informative lectures and educational activities, through a project of extension SAFI-Pharmaceutical care service to the elderly patient by Pharmacy students of the Catholic University Center of Quixada. Among the topics discussed were: rational use of medications, use of homemade herbal preparations, diabetes, and hypertension, rheumatic problems, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and sedentary lifestyle/food. An interview was conducted with a corresponding social, economic profile of the elderly, and information about the prescribed medications and those used by the practice of self-medication. The elderly had 60 to age 81 years old, diagnosed with hypertension (50%), gastritis (19%), and Diabetes (16%). The practice of self-medication was reported by 9 (40%) elderly and was not mentioned adverse effect caused by the use of medicines. Among the total number of 10 medicines, 80% were NSAIDS with complaints of use between headaches and body. The pharmacist was seen as a source of guidance on the use of medicines in 13%. With that, stresses the importance of the guidance of actions of the elderly quality of life and the importance of the role of the Pharmacist in the health of this population.


The article reviews the exhibition "This Could Become a Gimick [sic] or an Honest Articulation of the Workings of the Mind," at the MIT List Visual Arts Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts from October 22, 2010-January 2, 2011, which featured the work of artist Frances Stark.


Forster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) is a significant inter-particle energy transfer mechanism used in various applications such as artificial light-harvesting devices and many biomedical applications. However, the range of applicability of FRET is limited to several nanometers arising problems for FRET-based applications. This thesis develops an analytical model where the range of applicability of FRET is increased by positioning the energy exchanging molecules in the proximity of a charged metallic nanoparticle.


Abstract This paper compares the finite element predictions of elasto-plastic and creep behaviour with experimental data for axially loaded, shouldered tube models. Four shouldered tube models were made of a lead alloy and tested at 61°C, using strain gauges to measure the elasto-plastic and creep strains in the plain tube and fillet regions of the models. Instantaneous stress-strain and creep data were obtained from strain-gauged, uniaxial tensile specimens. The finite element solutions are based on the incremental Prandtl-Reuss equations. The elasto-plastic iterative solutions use a 'negative gradient' from the calculated point to the equivalent stress-equivalent strain curve to get the next estimate of the plastic strain increment. A time incremental method is used to obtain the creep solutions. Tests with the mean tube stress below, at and above the yield stress showed very good agreement between prediction and measurement of initial strains in the fillets. Differences between predictions and measurements of creep strains are attributable to cast-to-cast variations.


that protracted and expensive disputes and paper wars between flag officers were common. It is refreshing thatMorrow has not overrepresented individual admirals, such as Nelson and his band of brothers, in this book. Admiral St. Vincent probably receives more attention than anyone else does. Although Morrow admits that St. Vincent was overbearing, authoritarian, relentless, and not above ruining the careers of his juniors, Morrow may still come off as a bit of an apologist here. He is not as critical of Admiral St. Vincent as are many other historians, giving him leeway as the head of a new generation of flag officer seeking a more systematic (read modern) approach to flag command, thus paving the way for Nelson and his generation. For Morrow, this book is a self-described labor of love. It is also Morrow's first plunge into naval history, as his background is in political thought. Even so, he has produced a book of careful and intensive historical work, with source material originating from more than a dozen archives. The writing is elegant and easy to access for readers who are not dedicated scholars of naval history. There are a fewminor issues with the book. The chapter layout can be a bit confusing. Chapters 2, 4, and 6 feel as though they should be consecutive. They respectively deal with command authority, relationships between admirals and subordinates, and how admirals dealt with mutiny—topics that would flow naturally together. On the opposite side, chapters 7 and 8, 9 and 10, and 11 and 12 are clearly written as couplets, working well together to define the complex topics. There are also a few points where repetition is noticeable, andMorrow will likely get some push back on his defense of St. Vincent. However, these are very minor niggles. Is this book worth reading? Absolutely, yes. The hardback is a bit expensive, but the paperback is reasonably priced. This book provides a refreshing new look at the profession of flag officers at the pinnacle of the age of sail, and it reminds us that the job rarely, if ever, involved genius and glory in battle. Rather, it required fit minds to understand and cope with the immense logistical, interpersonal, and command challenges that producedmountains of paperwork necessary to administer the Royal Navy. Morrow should be welcomed into the fold of naval historians and congratulated for producing a solid work of naval history.


Abstract The fractional Burgers equation describes the physical processes of unidirectional propagation of weakly nonlinear acoustic waves through a gas-filled pipe. The Laplace homotopy perturbation method is discussed to obtain the approximate analytical solution of space-fractional and time-fractional Burgers equations. The method used combines the Laplace transform and the homotopy perturbation method. Numerical results show that the approach is easy to implement and accurate when applied to partial differential equations of fractional orders.


Using a 3-dimensional (3D) ultrasound data display device audience profile. By improving the speed of the scan conversion apparatus capable of scanning a target object in real time, and can virtually be stored by the scan target object previously acquired 3D data of the device. By using 3D ultrasound data of the target object device comprises: 1) scan conversion unit for performing scan conversion from Cartesian coordinates to conical coordinates of the 3D data of the rectangular coordinates for display on a screen of a display device, and 2) presentation means for presenting a multi-sectional image, the multi-sectional image based on the 3D scan conversion, and parallel with the reference profile.


The purpose of this service activity is to provide solutions to overcome the problems faced by productive teachers majoring in electronics engineering at SMK Negeri 2 Makassar including designing learning media in the form of sensor and transducer trainers, providing material related to the development of learning media, providing material and training related to learning media in the form of trainers, and provide materials and training related to the use of sensor and transducer trainers. The method of implementing this activity is design, definition, manufacture and deployment. Furthermore, to determine the achievement of this activity (whether the output of this activity is of good quality to be used as material in designing learning media development patterns), it is necessary to evaluate the implementation of activities during the activity process and after the end of the activity. Evaluation of this media was carried out by conducting trials on productive teachers at SMK Negeri 2 Makassar. The results of an evaluation of the level of partner satisfaction can be seen in Figure 3. with P1 to P10 being statement items given to partners covering PkM themes, PkM materials, benefits, community needs, planning, monitoring and evaluation, budget use, application of PkM results, exchange of information and follow-up of PkM activities. Statements about the usefulness of implementing PkM activities got 59% who answered very satisfied, the remaining 41% answered satisfied with the benefits of PkM. In addition, the statement regarding the exchange of information that occurred during the implementation of the PkM obtained a percentage of 53% very satisfied and 47% said they were satisfied.


A significant problem of modern criminal law science is the definition of its fundamental categories to which the "criminal and legal consequences" category belongs. The theme of criminal and legal consequences of committing a crime is still weakly developed. Nevertheless, the content of almost all theoretical constructions associated with criminal and legal measures, criminal punishment and criminal liability depends on its solution. The author suggests his idea of the system of criminal and legal consequences based on the system interpretation of law and formal and logical analysis of criminal law norms. The system comprises: a) consequences of commission of a crime such as discharges and implementation of criminal liability; consequences of commission of other criminal and related acts and appearing of criminal and relevant events that influence correction of the legal status of the individual having committed a crime.
The starting point in the development of the system appeared to be understanding of the terms «crime» and «consequence» in the context of criminal and legal relations theory and legal factors of criminal law. It is also noted that the system of criminal and legal consequences of crime commission can be viewed as a part of the consequence crime commission system which includes both actually legal and extra-legal consequences.


This paper investigates the material distribution problem of Chinese Power Grid Companies. We first analyze the characteristic of power grid material in terms of their distribution network, timeliness and inventory control. Then we illustrate the workflow of the whole distribution process, including material application, allocation, routes planning and order tracking. To solve the vehicle routing problem (VRP), a skewed variable neighborhood search (SVNS) algorithm is developed. A Distribution Management System is also designed to fulfill the whole workflow. We apply it to the case study, and the results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is capable of generating more reasonable vehicle routes and the system can help the company to reduce labor intensity and to improve efficiency.


The Goddard Laboratory for Atmospheric Sciences (GLAS) analysis of the FGGE observations for a 25-day period in January 1979 is examined using the normal mode energetics scheme. The results from the energetics analysis are compared with the data of Tanaka (1985). Kinetic energy spectra of the barotropic mode in the meridional-mode and frequency domains, and the total diabatic process are studied. It is observed that there are significant differences between GLAS and GFDL analyses results in the barotropic energy of gravity modes and the normal energetics scheme is applicable as a diagnostic tool.


Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage(DAH)is a clinical syndrome,characterized by iron deficiency anemia and transient alveolar infiltration or consolidation on chest radiograph.The syndrome can occur in a variety of heterogeneous disorders,many of which share clinical features of glomerulonephritis and may masquerade as Good-Pasture syndrome,adding further diagnostic complexity and meeting more therapeutic challenge.Main comments on classification of DAH and diagnosis of Good-Pasture's syndrome will be reviewed in this paper.


In this paper, we study transmissive property of acoustic wave in the two dimensional phonon band gap material(PBG).In the far field, we treat PBG samples as scattering objects and calculate transmission coefficient of acoustic wave in the finite-sized phonon band gap materials,the calculated resulted agree well with the band structure.


SUMMARY For the measurements of clinical facts in relation to health it has been necessary to develop clinical methodologies that now are an important part of the clinical epidemiology. The objective of this report is to motivate the readers to meditate about the factors that it is necessary to control in order to obtain the measurements of clinical facts: symptoms, signs, and laboratory or other type of data obtained with confidence and validity.


Person with Mental Illness (PWMI) during the course of illness may get separated from their families due to their psychopathology or cognitive distortions. They may forget their identity and address of family, wander away to distant places. Because of illness person may have poor self-care, aggressive behaviour and wandering on roads. These may grab the attention of social workers, NGO's, Police personnel will get them admitted  into Mental Health Facility [MHF] for treatment with reception order, get better in course of time. When they improve then real problem arises because after recovery PWMI are not supposed to be kept in MHF. Reunion of PWMI with family is challenging with available resources. It involves many people like doctors, social workers, police and other higher authorities to trace the families. But new technology like Google maps, Aadhar finger print are helping a lot by decreasing the time spent for tracing the families of PWMI. With the help of all these people and technology, family members were traced and reunited with PWMI.

Here we presenting a series of cases where the PWMI who wandered away because of their mental illness, found in our city brought to our MHF through court order and were treated. Their addresses were traced through a team work of doctors, social workers, police and technology and were reintegrated with their families.

Keywords: Reintegration, Mentally ill, Technology, Wandering lunatic.


Recurrent pericarditis (RP) is characterized by recurrence of symptoms of pericarditis after the original episode has ceased for 4–6 weeks. Though RP is associated with significant morbidity, there is little information regarding the impact of RP on patients' health-related quality of life (HRQOL).

 To describe clinical characteristics of and HRQOL burden in patients with RP in the United States.

 An IRB-approved web-based survey was conducted among patients ≥18 years old with RP who experienced ≥1 recurrence during the prior 12 months. Respondents were recruited from the RHAPSODY clinical trial recruitment database. Patients who met the survey inclusion criteria were asked to provide information on their demographic/clinical characteristics, treatments for RP, and to complete an 11-point pericarditis pain numerical rating scale, the Patient Global Impression of Pericarditis Severity scale, the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System® (PROMIS®) Global Health and Sleep Disturbance scales, and questions about the impact of RP on daily life.

 Of the 83 respondents with RP included in the study, 25% responded while experiencing a recurrence. Most respondents were Caucasian (76%) and 55% were female, with mean (standard deviation [SD]) age of 49.3 (13.7) years. Patients frequently reported history of hypertension (39%), anxiety (37%), and depression (34%); 16% and 15% of patients reported having pre-existing autoimmune disease and diabetes, respectively. About half (49%) of patients reported ≥3 recurrences in the prior year, and 40% visited the ER and 25% were hospitalized for their most recent recurrence. Among patients not actively experiencing a recurrence, 37% reported that the duration of their prior episode lasted ≥8 days. Medications most frequently used for RP and pain in the prior year included non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (82%), colchicine (63%), and corticosteroids (29%). Commonly reported symptoms included chest pain (93%), shortness of breath (66%), weakness/fatigue (64%), and heart palpitations (52%). Two-thirds of patients rated the severity of symptoms during the most recent RP episode as moderately severe to very severe, and 48% reported "quite a bit" or "very much" fear of pericarditis recurrence. The mean (SD) value for worst pericarditis pain (0–10 scale) during the recent recurrence was 6.1 (2.3), with 48% reporting severe pain (≥7 on the scale). Patients had substantially worse mean [SD] T scores for PROMIS physical health (37.6 [8.6]), mental health (42.8 [9.9]), and sleep disturbance (60.6 [8.3]) than the general population (50 [10]).

 RP is a burden on the daily lives of patients, resulting in severe pain and impaired quality-of-life including poor physical and mental health, sleep disturbance, and fear of recurrence. This study demonstrates the unmet need for therapies that can rapidly resolve symptoms and prevent recurrences.

 Type of funding source: Private company. Main funding source(s): Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Corp.


The present invention in detail relates to an automatic powdered milk mixing device is provided with a conveying means for reciprocating the feed tip and the transfer tips to a certain amount of milk received in the method, bunyutong the milk mixing apparatus In the formula with water in the bottle to bunyutong outside is, milk discharged by the milk unit for received when the transfer tip to protrude outside bunyutong fall to be put into a baby bottle; Provided with a hot water tank is heated by the supplied water from the water bucket and a bucket for storing the heating means, the water supply unit to supply water in the amount and temperature are set within the bottle; Sensor comprising a flow rate sensor for measuring the amount of water discharged from the temperature sensor and the hot water tank for measuring the temperature of the water stored in the hot water tank; Pump unit for pumping water to the reservoir and between the hot water tank; Set bunyuryang, water temperature, according to mulyang controlling the projection number of the transfer tip and to control the heating means and the set amount of water by pumping from the water bottle into the hot water tank above a predetermined amount of water to be supplied in a bottle hot water tank control unit for pumping the water bottle from the station; and characterized by comprising a, because the heat only a separate hot water tank to the heating means to save energy and to recover the staying water prevents dropping of residues. Milk powder, mixing, supply, feed, accept, bottles, temperature, flow rate, pump, heat


Objective: In order to develop a primary exploration of the relationship between the hobby of chewing areca and the rate of CP, the rate of CP and related factors of 0~7 years in Xiangtan was investigated. Methods: Act on the assignment and analyze from 2002.8 to 2002.10,all of the investigator have been trained and passed the exam. Results: There were 179895 of 0-7 years, who we had investigated. 385 of them were diagnosed CP. The rate was 2.14‰. The mostly effective reasons were breath-embarrassment premature-birth and low-birth-weight. The relationship between chewing areca and low-birth-weight was obviously in statistics. Conclusion: The relationship between chewing areca and CP was obviously, chewing areca during the pregnancy leads to premature-birth and low-birth-weigh, we would like encourage no chewing areca.


We have studied the interaction of indomethacin and diclofenac solutions, on multi-walled carbon nanotube. After investigated comparative study and assigned to either indomethacin or diclofenac adsorption isotherms. The adsorption equilibrium isotherms were fitted by Freundlich, Langmuir, and Temkin models. It was found that the Freundlich model described the adsorption process better than other two isotherm models. The amount of NSAIDs (indomethacin and diclofenac) adsorbed on carbon nanotube surface increased with the increase of the initial NSAIDs concentration. The results show that diclofenac has most amount adsorption rate of MWCNT.


In this text, I consider the properties of the particle že in Czech reprise questions. First, I consider že in wh-questions. While authors agree that it links the given utterance to the immediately preceding discourse, some assume that že is located in SpecCP and others that it is located in C. I use novel data to demonstrate that the two assumptions about the particle's distribution are not mutually exclusive. I claim that there are two types of že: the phrase-internal že (which is restricted to occur within SpecCP) and the phrase-external že (which is restricted to occur in C). Combining this dual analysis of že with some further assumptions makes it possible to account for the distribution of the particle in a variety of constructions. Second, I consider že in non-wh-questions. It turns out that že in these questions has the properties of the phrase-external že. This further supports the validity of the distinction between the phrase-internal že and the phrase-external že.


. In this paper we prove a couple of existence and approximation theorems for the PBVPs of first order nonlinear impulsive differential equations under certain mixed partial Lipschitz and partial compactness type conditions. Our main results are based on Dhage iteration method embodied in the hybrid fixed point principles of Dhage (2014) involving the sum of two monotone nondecreasing operators in a partially ordered Banach space. Our abstract main result is also illustrated by indicating a numerical example. We claim that the results of this paper are new and complement the work of Li et al [22] and Nieto [23, 24] on PBVPs of nonlinear impulsive differential equations.


Despite efforts to prioritise transformation of the previously disadvantaged population, inequalities created by the Apartheid system persist in the South African higher education system. This study assessed transformation in relation to population affinity and gender of first-time enrolments of Health Sciences (HS) postgraduate students at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg. A retrospective study of the Wits HS postgraduate student database was used for this assessment. The probability of a postgraduate student being Black African increased by 7.5 per cent per year [OR: 1.075, 95% CI (1.052–1.099), p<0.001] over the period 2008–2017 and of being female, increased by 5.6 per cent per year [OR: 1.056, 95% CI (1.033–1.081), p<0.001]. While transformation has occurred, Black African females are still under-represented. The transformation of the postgraduate student body as observed in this study is of importance to other countries struggling with racial and gender equity in the health workforce.


In his pioneering 1960 paper, Lehmer [6] discussed computer solutions to various combinatorial problems such as set inclusion, the evaluation of a function of several variables, and the generation of combinatorial objects. In particular, he presented an algorithm for generating all combinations of n objects taken k at a time (see also [7]). To our knowledge, at least seven other algorithms have since been described that perform the same basic task [1-5], [8-10]. Recently, Payne and Ives [11] provided a new implementat ion of the algorithm of Liu and Tang [8] and compared it with a few other combinat ion generators. The main conclusion of their work is tha t the new implementat ion is "a most at tractive combinat ion generator because it possesses so many advantageous attributes." One very impor tant "at t r ibute" with which the authors of [11] claim their new implementat ion has endowed the algorithm of [8] is speed (of program execution). Although this is an undeniable fact, we believe that it does not in any way justify their conclusion. Indeed, as our experiments described in the next section show, several other combinat ion generation algorithms are faster than the new method. The algorithm of Mifsud [9], which we found to be the best in terms of speed (for all values of n and k tried), is very briefly referred to in [11]. Ironically, "speed" is not even mentioned by Payne and Ives among the at tr ibutes of Mifsud's algorithm, and the "operat ion-count" comparat ive analysis they report ignores the algorithm altogether. (Also omit ted from the comparison are the


Severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a life-threatening condition in children and adults. Recently, a rising interest emerges in the positional OSA (POSA) as a specific clinical manifestation a relatively common sleep breathing disorder in young and adult patients. In the present concise survey, some essential characteristics of POSA reported in the newly published literature are described. A special attention is paid to the social epidemiology, diagnosis, and modern treatment of POSA from an interdisciplinary point of view.


One way to build your professional network is to go where the chemists are, especially to places where they are looking to talk with fellow professionals. A national meeting exposition is a good venue for this type of networking, and with a little extra work, you can gain a lot more from the exposition than you might think. Do your homework. Before you attend the exposition, find out which companies and organizations will be present, and identify the ones that you are most interested in talking with. Visit their websites, read their recent press releases, and learn about their products. If possible, familiarize yourself with their products, or talk to a colleague who uses the products, so you will have real experience to share. This way you can add value to the conversation. Prepare yourself. Bring business cards, a positive attitude, and realistic expectations. Go into every conversation with a


Light and electron microscopy were used to investigate the interactions between the fungus Colletotrichum trifolii Bain and Essary and callus cultures derived from anthracnose resistant or susceptible alfalfa plants (Medicago sativa L.). Race 1 and race 2 of the pathogen completely overgrew both callus types at the same rate of colonization. Comparisons with the responses observed in planta showed some similarities. In both cases the plant cells proximal to the approaching pathogen underwent vacuolar fragmentation and secreted extracellular materials that were histochemically similar when stained with Toluidine blue O and Sudan black B and that appeared to be lignin- or suberin-like in composition. However, in cultures these responses took place in many cells and began while the hyphal front was 0.5 to 1.0 cm distant from the callus edge. In the intact plants the responses were localized initially to one or two epidermal cells and did not begin until the pathogen had penetrated into the cuticle. Further d...


Abstract This paper describes the development, implementation, and follow up study of a program for undergraduate research in education, student teachers as action researchers (STAR). Students in a new urban education honors program at a large public university were given coursework in action research, developed a research plan in their practicums, implemented it during their student teaching, and presented the results at an undergraduate research conference. After examining student projects, faculty experiences, and follow-up interviews with the participants, we found that while there are challenges, the STAR program provides a useful introduction to teacher action research that empowers new teachers, giving them confidence and an early desire to use data to improve their instruction and benefit their students. We conclude with implications for modern classrooms and insights into expansion or adaptation of the technique for interested teacher educators.


Histopathological study was done on 303 pigs with proliferative hemorrhagic enteropathy, which were detected at the abattoir of Kagoshima City from June, 1981 to July, 1983. All the cases had the lesions of proliferative hemorrhagic enteropathy in the ileum, and 134 (44%) cases had the lesions in the cecum, 44(15%) in the colon, and 5 (0.2%) in the jejunum.


The manufacturing of adhesive tapes, photographic films, magnetic media, and many other products involves the coating and drying of thin films of polymeric solutions or emulsions over an impermeable substrate. Wet thickness may vary from 1 micron to 500 microns and solid content from 3% to 50% or more. The drying process generally occurs in convective ovens, where air temperature, air flow rate, and solvent partial pressure may be adjusted. In many cases, it is the manufacturing step that controls the productivity; therefore, it is very important to optimize the oven conditions to minimize the oven residence time without causing defects on the coated film and keeping the residual solvent inside the final product within specification limits. A drying model and a simulation software based on it were developed in order to solve the transient mass and heat transfer equations that describe the drying of a polymer solution containing two different solvents. The resulting system of equations shows strong non-linearity due to the free surface and the dependence of diffusion coefficients on solvent concentration and film temperature. The integration in time was performed with a fully implicit method, and at each time step, Newton's method was used to solve the resulting non-linear system of algebraic equations. An example of using the drying simulator to optimize an industrial adhesive tape line is discussed. The gain in productivity achieved by the analysis was greater than 40%.


Embodiment described a method of manufacturing a golf club head and a golf club head having an aperture generally herein. It may be described and claimed other embodiments.


For three types of conventional 2D photonic crystals with medium column's cross sections' shapes of hexagon,square and circular,a method that decreases the length in X direction to be p times and rotates shapes with angle φ for increasing the PBG of the photonic crystals was brought forward.The symmetry of the structures were decreased through changing the values of p and φ.With simulation using planar wave expansion method,the results were show that max PBG rate can reach above 12%,due to the photonic crystals of the three types of medium column with triangular lattice.Especially for photonic crystals of rectangle column with triangular lattice,the max PBG rate arrives at 15.1%.


The results of preclinical studies of a medicinal product for veterinary use "Vaccine associat-ed against parainfluenza-3, infectious rhinotracheitis, viral diarrhea, rotavirus and coronavirus infec-tions of cattle inactivated emulsion" are presented. The vaccine is made from concentrated parain-fluenza-3 virus antigens (strain "PTK-45/86"), infectious rhinotracheitis virus (strain "TK-A (VIEV) -V2"), viral diarrhea (strain "VK-1"), bovine rotavirus livestock (strain 2- "KL-2") and cattle coro-navirus (strain "RM"), inactivated by formalin (0.2 % by volume), emulsified in equal proportion with oil adjuvant (15 % lanolin, 85 % PES- 3). We studied the appearance, completeness of inacti-vation, sterility, safety, antigenic activity of the vaccine, tolerance by healthy animals, double ad-ministration of the vaccine in high doses. It is established that the vaccine is sterile, harmless to ani-mals. It has high antigenic activity. Twice subcutaneous administration of a vaccine dose of 1 cm3 in rabbits induced the formation of specific antibodies in blood serum in titers of PG-3 virus 266.6±65.3 in RTGA, IRT virus – 42.6±13.0 in RVN, and VD virus – 26.6±6.53 in RVN, rotavirus – 853.3±209.0 in ELISA, coronavirus – 213.3±52.2 in RTGA. Animals tolerated the introduction of high-dose vaccines. After administering the vaccine twice in a dose 3 times higher than the prophy-lactic one, the animals did not exhibit a deviation in the physiological parameters of the body. Based on the results of the research, production tests of the vaccine will be conducted on a limited number of cattle.


Much attention has been given to EM! effects created in variable speed ac drive system Zero switching states of inverter control invoke large common mode voltage
This paper focuses on the switching techniques to mitigate common mode voltage
This paper proposes a common-mode voltage reduction method based on sinusoidal pulse width modulation in three phase PWM inverter system By using three earners wave displaced by 120 degrees, it is possible to eliminate a common mode voltage pulse in one control period Simulation and experimental results show that common mode voltages in the proposed technique are reduced more than conventional technique


A field experiment is carried out to explore the cotton with drip irrigation under mulch and field irrigation.The results showed that the former can save 46 percent water than the latter,and the seed cotton output of drip irrigation under mulch is 6 percent less than field irrigation and it increases 217 percent more than dry land.Water productivity of drip irrigation under mulch is about 4.0kg per cubic.Water productivity of field irrigation is about 2.2kg per cubic.Water productivity per cubic drip under mulch is 82 percent higher than field irrigation.


The authors report excellent white organic light-emitting diodes (WOLEDs) made of 9,9bis[4-(di-p-tolyl)aminophenyl]-2,7-bis(diphenylamino)fluorene (TADPF) or 9,9-bis[4-(di-p-tolyl)aminophenyl]-2,7-bis(9-carbazolyl)fluorene (TAKF). The superposition of a yellow emission coming from the TADPF or TAKF electromer and a blue emission originating from bis(2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)benzothiazolate)zinc gives rise to a pure white-light emission. The multilayer device using TADPF shows a maximum luminance of 5123cd∕m2, a current efficiency of 2.8cd∕A, and Commission Internationale d'Eclairage chromaticity coordinates of (0.33, 0.33). This result is the optimal for WOLEDs based on electromers so far reported.


Water is a inestimable commodity, necessary for the maintenance of life, industrial processes and agricultural irrigation. Drinking surface water is increasingly scarce, making the use of groundwater more common. Although groundwater is generally potable by nature, this property can be altered by anthropogenic changes. The aim of this study was to verify the groundwater quality in the region of Medio Vale do Itajai – SC. For this purpose, the results of 51 reports of physicochemical and microbiological tests performed by environmental testing laboratories located in the cities of Blumenau and Timbo were studied. The results showed that 25 samples (49,01%) presented changes in the parameters evaluated. With respect to each parameter, 12 (25.53%) samples were contaminated by total coliforms and 4 (8.51%) by thermotolerant coliforms / E. coli. For pH, 7 samples (19.44%) were with values below the recommended by legislation and 6 (16.66%) presented turbidity values above the maximum allowed by law. Only 1 (5.26%) sample had altered odor, while 5 (16.66%) were nonconforming for the color attributes. Iron and ammonia levels were also above the permitted in 3 samples. Given the results, it is recommended that the potability of groundwater be certified by laboratory analysis before the consumption.


With the changing trends in global climate and increasing awareness of the environmental impact of the built environment, private and public sector building stakeholders are under constant and mounting pressure to reduce carbon emissions, energy consumption and waste generation. Conceptually, green building regulations are claimed to be the most effective tool toward promoting better environmental outcomes. Nonetheless, there is limited empirical evidence to justify claims for their effectiveness, especially in the Australian context, despite the introduction of various green building standards and regulations over the past two decades. In addressing this gap, this research aims to map the energy consumption and carbon emissions of certified offices under the mandatory Commercial Building Disclosure program. For this, the energy and carbon efficiencies of green certified commercial offices within the eight Australian central business districts (CBD) for 2011–2020 were assessed, and the offices were classified as green and non-green offices, based on their National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) of fewer than 4, and 4 and above stars, respectively. Data were extracted from the Commercial Building Disclosure program datasheet and thereafter analysed using various descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. Furthermore, the normalisation process was undertaken to capture the relative changes in energy and environmental performance between green and non-green offices. The results show an encouraging trend of a possible significant improvement in energy savings, and a reduction in carbon emissions for offices that have undergone retrofit and obtained an increase in their NABERS ratings. However, it is notable that 6-star NABERS-certified offices sometimes tend to save less energy than their 4- and 5-star rated counterparts, despite their high initial investment costs. Thus, this informs policymakers, authorities and practitioners that the highest NABERS rating does not necessarily help reduce energy consumption in buildings, and that greater emphasis should be placed on promoting the use of a whole building design approach, by exploring a more effective and appropriate combination of features, systems and materials based on stakeholders' needs and behaviours.


The stability of d33 coefficient in porous polypropylene was evaluated. The values of d33 coefficient after storage at 60 degC and 95 % humidity were compared with the coefficient before storage. The results show that decreases of d33 coefficient become 32 % in sample 1 and 15 % in sample 2.


This book consists of twelve scholarly chapters collected around the theme of dialectic in Plato and Aristotle. While the relation between these two great philosophers' conceptions of dialectic is often taken up in the book, only sometimes does the development of this central concept emerge as the point of focus, even in its explicitly 'non-evaluative' sense limited to 'a diachronic and comparative perspective' (p. 16), as Fink puts it in his clear Introduction. For those who are more acquainted with the contemporary baggage that comes with 'dialectic' than with its nascent stage, I think it might be helpful while reading through this review to bear in mind that the term was coined from the Greek word for conversation, and means 'the art of reasoned debate' in classical Greek. I now give a brief summary and evaluation of the chapters one by one. The first chapter takes on an innocently expanded version of Jonathan Barnes's ambitious contention that the dialogue form is extrinsic to Plato's arguments and that they can be bared of their dialectical 'clothing' without any 'philosophical loss'. Through exegetical, historical and logical diligence, Luca Castagnoli's 'Self-refutation and dialectic in Plato and Aristotle' contests this position in the carefully circumscribed 'dialectical context' of famous selfrefutation charges found in Plato and Aristotle against four theses: (1) 'Contradiction is impossible', (2) 'Man is the measure of all things', (3) 'Everything is true' (or, with a flip of the coin, 'Everything is false'), and (4) 'One must not philosophize'. Castagnoli convincingly argues that in the way these theses were handled by Plato and Aristotle, no 'absolute truth[s] about the world'were utilized to refute them with mathematical precision, but rather, the proponents of these theses, in the moment that they engage in a discussion, were shown to be unable to defend themselves without contradicting the logical implications of the very act of engaging in discussions. The self-refutation charge thus acts as a 'dialectical silencer', since the interlocutor who asserts the disputed thesis is forced into a philosophical Zugzwang. Castagnoli's broad conception of dialectic seems very much akin to the characterizations of philosophy found in critical realist literature. Marja-Liisa Kakkuri-Knuuttila's chapter, 'The role of the respondent in Plato and Aristotle', offers perhaps the most pertinent thesis found in the book to a key concept in its title: development. Kakkuri-Knuuttila contends that in the Topics, where Aristotle dealt primarily


The warpage of a set of six hard resin spherical lenses was measured when they were compressed by means of the tangential force exerted by a metal frame. The technique employed to measure the lenses improves over previous work both because greater precision is achieved, and because radii of curvature are measured in two perpendicular meridians. In this work, a representative sample of lenses has been used in order to test the way in which deformation depends on lens power and base. It is found that the induced warpage is enough to move the tested lenses between different base families, spoiling the initial design of the manufacturer.


Concerns about pain with intrauterine device (IUD) placement deter some women from choosing this highly effective, safe approach to contraception. In a


Puerto Rico has one of the highest diabetes rates in the USA and the prevalence of clinically diagnosed diabetes increased almost 5-folds between the years 2000 and 2004; and...


Abstract : Results of measurements to determine peak air traffic densities, the spatial distribution of air traffic, and its variation with time, in the Los Angeles Basin and at several locations from Boston to Washington, D.C. are reported. These measurements include only ATCRBS-transponder equipped aircraft. LA Basin traffic densities are shown to be significantly higher than those measured at any other location. The time- and spatial-average density over a circular region of 10 nmi radius reaches a peak value of 0.1 aircraft per sq. nmi in LA. Under comparable conditions the density in Washington, Philadelphia, and Boston reaches 0.02 to 0.04 aircraft per sq. nmi. These measurements, made in 1976, were compared with the LA Basin Standard Traffic Model as to spatial distribution of traffic and absolute density. The results show that the model and the measurement differ by a scale factor of 5:1 (with density being greater in the model) but otherwise agree closely in spatial distribution. (Author)


A two-junction device consisting of a 1.7-eV GaNPAs junction on a 1.1 -eV silicon junction has the theoretical potential to achieve nearly optimal efficiency for a two-junction tandem cell. We have demonstrated a monolithic III-V-on-silicon tandem solar cell in which most of the III-V layers are nearly lattice-matched to the silicon substrate. The cell includes a 1.8 eV GaNPAs top cell, a GaP-based tunnel junction (TJ), and a diffused silicon junction formed during the epitaxial growth of GaNP on the silicon substrate. This tandem on silicon has a V/sub OC/ of 1.53 V and an AM1.5G efficiency of 5.2% without any antireflection coating. Low currents in the top cell are the primary limitation to higher efficiency at this point.


Myocrisin a hyaluronidase inhibitor of low molecular weight was tested for antifertility activity. In addition the effect of myocrisin on penetration of the follicle cell layer by spermatozoa was studied. Myocrisin prevented the in vitro fertilization of capacitated mouse spermatozoa when these were added to intact oocytes. The inhibitor had no effect on sperm motility at the concentrations used for the in vitro fertilization tests and did not inhibit the acrosome reaction of guinea pig spermatozoa. Myocrisin also had no effect on human acrosin. Fertility was not prevented when the myocrisin-treated spermatozoa were added to oocytes from which the follicle cell layer had been removed showing that sperm hyaluronidase is essential specifically for sperm penetration through this ovum investment at least in the case of the mouse. Myocrisin is approved for human use by the FDA and is a compound worth further in vivo evaluation as a contraceptive. (authors)


Concentrated emulsions, in which the volume fraction of dispersed phase, Φ, is higher than the volume fraction of closely packed spheres, Φ CP , exhibit complex elasto-visco-plastic rheological behavior, controlled by a non-trivial interplay of viscous drag and capillary pressure (1-6). Their rheological properties, under steady shear deformation, are usually described by Herschel-Bulkley model, which includes three parameters – yield stress τ 0 , power-law index n, and consistency, k (1,4,7-10):


A DESCRIPTION IS GIVEN OF THE LIGHTING SYSTEM IN THE 820 M LONG CARVOTTO TUNNEL AT POTENZA, WHICH IS ON AN ACCESS ROAD TO THE SALERNO - REGGIO CALABRIA MOTORWAY. TO ENABLE THE EYE TO ADAPT TO CONDITIONS IN THE TUNNEL THE LIGHTING IS GRADUATED ON A SPECIAL SECTION 120 M BEFORE THE TUNNEL ENTRANCE: 40 M EACH AT 500, 200 AND 100 LUX, AND THEN THE ACTUAL 30 LUX LIGHTING IN THE TUNNEL, SO THAT THERE ARE NO SUDDEN CHANGES IN LIGHT INTENSITY. EMPHASIS WAS PLACED ON THE UNIFORM LIGHTING OF THE TUNNEL AND THE AVOIDANCE OF DANGEROUS SHADOWY ZONES. LOW-PRESSURE SODIUM LAMPS WITH MONOCHROMATIC YELLOW LIGHT WERE USED.


Simple Summary Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a common pathogen able to cause infection in humans and animals, especially in Nanning and other areas with intensive livestock and poultry industry. In order to prevent infection in livestock and poultry, sulfonamides are widely used, which accelerate the emergence and enrichment of sulfonamides resistance genes. This manuscript describes an epidemiological survey of sul3-positive pathogenic E. coli isolates in Nanning, assessing two vital features: antimicrobial resistance and transconjugants. All sul3 positive pathogenic E. coli were multidrug-resistant bacteria. Sul3 has the potential to transfer among E. coli, coupled with the contact between humans and animals. Under the circumstances, long-term monitoring is helpful to control the prevalence of drug resistance in Nanning. Abstract Sulfonamides are the second most popular antibiotic in many countries, which leads to the widespread emergence of sulfonamides resistance. sul3 is a more recent version of the gene associated with sulfonamide resistance, whose research is relatively little. In order to comprehend the prevalence of sul3 positive E. coli from animals in Nanning, a total of 146 strains of E. coli were identified from some farms and pet hospitals from 2015 to 2017. The drug resistance and prevalence of sul3 E. coli were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) identification, multi-site sequence typing (MLST), drug sensitivity test, and drug resistance gene detection, and then the plasmid containing sul3 was conjugated with the recipient strain (C600). The effect of sul3 plasmid on the recipient was analyzed by stability, drug resistance, and competitive test. In this study, forty-six sul3 positive E. coli strains were separated. A total of 12 ST types were observed, and 1 of those was a previously unknown type. The ST350 is the most numerous type. All isolates were multidrug-resistant E. coli, with high resistant rates to penicillin, ceftriaxone sodium, streptomycin, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, gatifloxacin, and chloramphenicol (100%, 73.9%, 82.6%, 100%, 80.4%, 71.7%, and 97.8%, respectively). They had at least three antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in addition to sul3. The plasmids transferred from three sul3-positive isolates to C600, most of which brought seven antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and increased ARGs to C600. The transferred sul3 gene and the plasmid carrying sul3 could be stably inherited in the recipient bacteria for at least 20 days. These plasmids had no effect on the growth of the recipient bacteria but greatly reduced the competitiveness of the strain at least 60 times in vitro. In Nanning, these sul3-positive E. coli had such strong AMR, and the plasmid carrying sul3 had the ability to transfer multiple resistance genes that long-term monitoring was necessary. Since the transferred plasmid would greatly reduce the competitiveness of the strain in vitro, we could consider limiting the spread of drug-resistant isolates in this respect.


The use of psychotropic medications and their adverse effects in frail adults has been debated extensively. However, it is unclear if antipsychotics are initiated in a nursing home or if the new resident arrives with the medication prescribed. The purpose of this study is to ascertain how many residents arrive already on antipsychotics and which factors, make them more likely to be on this medication.

 All admission notes to the centre between 1st Jan 2018 and 31st Dec 2018 were reviewed. Inclusion criteria was any person admitted with a diagnosis of dementia. Exclusion criteria was anyone who had psychiatric diagnosis such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. We collected data on age, gender, referral pathway (hospital or community), MMSE, Barthel, Cohen Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI) For comparisons of characteristics between the two groups (psychotropic drugs at admission: yes/no), the independent samples t-test (normally distributed data) or the Mann-Whitney U test (non-normally distributed data) was used for continuous variables and Fisher's exact test was used for categorical variables.

 There was a statistically significant relationship between source of admission and whether or not the patient was receiving psychotropic drugs on admission (p=0.017). 88.0% of patients on psychotropic drugs on admission came from an acute hospital setting. In contrast, only 4.0% of patients receiving psychotropic drugs on admission came from home Patients on psychotropic drugs at admission had higher CMAI scores compared to patients not on psychotropic drugs. Patients on psychotropic drugs at admission were younger (mean(SD): 76.2(8.7) years) than patients not of psychotropic drugs (mean(SD): 82.9(8.3).

 Prevalence of prescribing antipsychotics outside of nursing homes is high with many residents being admitted already on these medications. Efforts should be put in place on admission to nursing homes to reduce and stop antipsychotics which have been initiated in the community and hospital setting.


but a general psychomotor slowing. In addition, the authors do not clarify whether the observed deficits involve the spatial or the numerical working memory speed or both (5). These results are indicative of the complex nature of working memory and the perplexities in its assessment. Working memory is a modular executive function that comprises a verbal (phonological loop), a visuo-spatial (visuo-spatial sketchpad) and a central control (central executive) component, each integrated by different neural pathways (6). A detailed assessment of all its domains would require a wide range of specific neuropsychological instruments and could be the aim of a future study. Indeed, this issue might have important clinical implications, because working memory underlies the ability to perform complex tasks such as learning, comprehension, reasoning and planning, thus playing a key role in guiding everyday behaviour (6). Any impairment in these areas is expected to grossly influence patients' autonomy and quality of life.


In this study, we fabricated a novel micro porous hybrid scaffold of biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) and a polylectrolyte complex (PEC) of chitosan (CS) and hyaluronic acid (HA). The fabrication process included loading of CS-HA PEC in a bare BCP scaffold followed by lypophilization. SEM observation and porosimetry revealed that the scaffold was full of micro and macro pores with total porosity of more than 60 % and pore size in the range of 20~200μm. The composite scaffold was mechanically stronger than the bare BCP scaffold and was significantly stronger than the CS-HA PEC polymer scaffold. Bone morphogenetic growth factor (BMP-2) was immobilized in CS-HA PEC in order to integrate the osteoinductive potentiality required for osteogenesis. The BCP frame, prepared by sponge replica, worked as a physical barrier that prolonged the BMP-2 release significantly. The preliminary biocompatibility data show improved biological performance of the BMP-2 immobilized hybrid scaffold in the presence of rabbit bone marrow stem cells (rBMSC).


Non-Performing loans are the big challenge for the Banking sector. This study examined this serious issue by developing the relationship between the Non-Performing Loans and the Economic Growth. For this, the data of Economic indicators (GDP Growth, Interest Rates and Inflation) and Nonperforming Loans are taken for the time span of 1998-2010 on annually basis. By applying the regression we concluded there is Negative relationship between the GDP and Non-Performing loans but there is positive relationship between the interest rate and Non-performing Loans. Finally Non-performing loans hurts the Economic growth.


Summary A series of pre-processed samples from excavations of Roman and medieval deposits at Rickergate, Carlisle, was submitted for assessment of invertebrate remains. Most contained appreciable numbers of insects, and some were rich in ostracods and cladocerans. Further work is recommended, both to investigate local activity and living conditions, and to provide data for a study of land-use zonation in Carlisle.


The invention discloses an electric oven furnace door structure with a heat-insulating wall technology. The electric oven furnace door structure comprises a door frame, internal glass, external glass and heat-insulating glass, wherein the door frame comprises an internal frame and a heat-insulating frame; and the heat-insulating glass is low-emissivity (low-E) film hollow glass. According to the furnace door structure, the design of combination of the heat-insulating frame and a plurality of pieces of glass is employed, a multi-seal air heat-insulating wall is formed, so heat in a hearth cannot be subjected to convective transfer and conductive transfer, and an effect of reducing the temperature of a furnace door is achieved; meanwhile, by using the low-E film hollow glass, the infrared radiation amount of the hearth can be decreased; and a stainless steel heat-sink plate covers the surface of the external glass, so the surface temperature of the furnace door is reduced, and a user can be effectively prevented from being scalded.


Objective: The polyphenolic compound, resveratrol (3, 4', 5-trihydroxystilbene), trans-resveratrol is a natural phytoalexin that exists in many different foods such as grape peel and seed, peanut, mulberry and blueberry. Molasses is a natural food obtained by boiling and concentrating fruit juices known to be rich in minerals such as iron, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, calcium and magnesium, and phosphoric acid, formic acid, organic acids and some vitamins. Polyphenolic compounds are natural antioxidants and are known to have protective effects against tissue damage caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this study, we aimed to investigate the protective effects of grape molasses and resveratrol on ovarian damage induced by 7, 12-dimethylbenz [a] anthracene (DMBA). Methods: A total of 42 old female Wistar Albino rats, aged 18 weeks were divided into six groups. 10 mg/kg DMBA was injected in the rats in DMBA group subcutaneously on day 0 and day 7 while grape molasses feed with 20% grape molasses was given along with DMBA application to the rats in DMBA + grape molasses group. Resveratrol was administered by subcutaneous injection at 10 mg/kg/day to the DMBA + Resveratrol group, while only feed with 20% grape molasses was given to the grape molasses group. Resveratrol was administered by subcutaneous injection at 10 mg/kg/day to the resveratrol group. Results: GSH activity between the control group and molasses group, DMBA and DMBA + molasses groups and the control group and the DMBA + grape molasses groups was found statistically significant. Regarding the NO activity, the difference between the DMBA and resveratrol groups, DMBA and DMBA + resveratrol groups and the grape molasses and resveratrol groups was found statistically significant. MDA activity between DMBA + resveratrol and DMBA + grape molasses groups, and DMBA + grape molasses and grape molasses groups was found statistically significant. Conclusion: Molasses as one of the most important nutrient sources of Eastern and Central Anatolia was observed to decrease ovarian tissue oxidative damage induced with DMBA compared to resveratrol.


This paper summarises the performance of the gold exploration industry in the Western World since 1970, with particular emphasis on the period 1985 - 2003. It identifies the number and size of major (ie >1 million ounce) primary gold discoveries made over this period by location and type of company. Estimates are also made of the likely contribution from smaller discoveries down to 0.1 million ounces. It also assesses the overall trend in the percentage of grassroot discoveries that are converted into mines, and the time taken to get them into production. By comparing the discovery data against total exploration expenditures it is possible to determine the average unit cost of finding a major gold deposit. It is significant to note that the average unit cost per discovery and per ounce of resource has tripled over the last 30 years. An attempt is made to determine the overall economic value generated by the industry. This is based on a detailed analysis of the rates of return and the Net Present Values (NPVs) of 109 major gold projects. After including an adjustment for discoveries not modelled, the NPVs are compared against the total amount of money spent on exploration to determine the value-to-cost ratio for the industry. Based on historical spot gold prices and tax rules, it is found that the return on investment for gold exploration in the Western World over the period 1985 - 2003 was around five per cent real after-tax. The returns achieved in the US and Australia was significantly higher than that for Canada. The returns also appear to have declined in recent years. With regard to the relative performance of junior versus major companies, the paper estimates that the junior sector accounted for 30 40 per cent of the total exploration expenditure, and were was associated with 34 per cent of the total number of major deposits, 27 per cent of the contained ounces and 25 per cent of the economic value found.


Low HDL-cholesterol is a risk factor for adverse cardiovascular outcomes independently of levels of LDL-cholesterol. Surveys in individual countries have revealed a substantial prevalence of low HDL-cholesterol, but the utility of data from these studies is limited by differences in study designs and patient populations. Accordingly, the Pan-European Survey of HDL-cholesterol set out to determine the prevalence of low HDL-cholesterol [<1.03 mmol/L (40 mg/dL) in men and <1.29 mmol/L (50 mg/dL) in women] in a large ( n =8545) population of patients receiving treatment for dyslipidaemia under the care of specialist physicians in 11 European countries. Low HDL-cholesterol was present in 33% of men and 40% of women, with very low HDL-cholesterol present in 14% (both genders combined). Hypertriglyceridaemia was present in 49% of men and 45% of women. Low HDL-cholesterol and hypertriglyceridaemia occurred in 22% of men and 25% of women. Low HDL-cholesterol is common among the European population of patients under treatment for dyslipidaemia and thus contributes importantly to overall cardiovascular risk. Interventions to increase HDL-cholesterol have been shown to inhibit atherosclerosis and to improve cardiovascular prognosis in high-risk study populations. Agents that increase HDL-cholesterol should be used in addition to statins, where necessary, to optimize the lipid profile.


The authors survey the current state of phase change memory (PCM), a nonvolatile solid-state memory technology built around the large electrical contrast between the highly resistive amorphous and highly conductive crystalline states in so-called phase change materials. PCM technology has made rapid progress in a short time, having passed older technologies in terms of both sophisticated demonstrations of scaling to small device dimensions, as well as integrated large-array demonstrators with impressive retention, endurance, performance, and yield characteristics. They introduce the physics behind PCM technology, assess how its characteristics match up with various potential applications across the memory-storage hierarchy, and discuss its strengths including scalability and rapid switching speed. Challenges for the technology are addressed, including the design of PCM cells for low reset current, the need to control device-to-device variability, and undesirable changes in the phase change material that c...


Objective To assess the methods and efficacy of diagnosis and removal with fiberoptic bronchoscopy to foreign bodies of the lower respiratory tract. The foreign bodies were removed by the pliers of a fiberoptic bronchoscope after finding them in the lower respiratory tract in 8 patients. All the foreign bodies were removed by the pliers of the fiberoptic bronchoscope without complications. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy is an important tool to diagnose and remove foreign bodies of the lower respirtory tract.


We present a system for estimating the friction of the pavement surface at any curved road section, by arriving at a consensus estimate, based on data from vehicles that have recently passed through that section. This estimate can help following vehicles. To keep costs down, we depend only on standard automotive sensors, such as the IMU, and sensors for the steering angle and wheel speeds. Our system's workflow consists of: (i) processing measurements from vehicular sensors, (ii) transmitting short kinematic summaries from vehicles to a road side unit (RSU), using V2X communication, and (iii) estimating the friction coefficients, by running a machine learning regressor at the RSU, on summaries from individual vehicles, and then combining several such estimates.We study two key questions: (i) should each individual road section have a local friction coefficient regressor, or can we use a global regressor that covers all the possible road sections? and (ii) how accurate are the resulting regressor estimates? We test the performance of design variations of our system, using simulations of normal driving scenarios at curved road sections, using the commercial package Dyna4. We consider a single vehicle type with varying levels of tyre wear, and a range of road friction coefficients. We find that: (a) only a marginal loss of accuracy is incurred in using a global regressor as compared to local regressors, (b) the consensus estimate at the RSU has a worst case error of about ten percent, if the combination is based on at least fifty recently passed vehicles, and (c) our regressors have root mean square (RMS) errors that are less than five percent. The RMS error rate of our system is half as that of a commercial friction estimation service [7].But when tested with data from extreme driving manoeuvres that were unseen in the training data, our regressor performs an order of magnitude worse than on data from normal driving runs on curved road sections. Still our regressor's RMS errors on such test data are no worse than the state of the art Artificial Neural Network regressors [18], [30].


This paper examines the impacts of 29 opinion polls from three prominent media sources on 825 firms listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange during the 2020 Taiwan presidential election campaign. In the election, the challenger Han adopted unprecedented election tactics of asking his supporters to mislead pollsters on their voting intentions, separating the sample polls published before and after the start of this election tactic into normal and chaotic periods. This study assumes that stock markets respond positively to the increased incumbent polling leads due to the reduced probability of future changes to economic policy only for the credible normal polls. A standard event study in a 3-day event window, one day before and after the event day, is employed to analyze the short polling effects on stock returns during the sample period. The estimation window is 120 days. The results indicate that market returns are positively associated with the changes in the incumbent's lead only for the television's normal polls, and markets react more strongly to decreased polling leads than to increased polling leads for television polls, as presumed by the uncertain information hypothesis. Analysis of the impact of polling during the chaotic period on investor sentiment indicates that the market has positive reactions to both positive and negative polling changes, suggesting the tactic creates confusion in the market. This paper concludes that markets may react differently to opinion polls depending on their source and candidates' election tactics.


This paper presents an extension of AspectZ to model the requirements of software that manages a system of electronic health records in Chile: SYSFIC 1.0. AspectZ is an aspect-oriented language that preserves the basic characteristics of language Z and that aims to encapsulate cross-cutting concerns of a system into separate and independent entities. The application includes the use of Unified Modeling Language (UML) diagrams and a formal modeling of the system using AspectZ. The main features of the aspect-oriented modeling paradigm, such as the separation of concerns and the reduction and elimination of scattered and tangled code, are discussed. The results of this study show that the combination of aspect-oriented modeling and a formal method of software development allow obtaining more reliable solutions for critical information systems such as SYSFIC.


To prevent and to cure liver cirrhosis, we examined the effect of the ethanol extract of berries of Japanese ampelopsis on the collagen formation of rat liver cells in tissue culture. These cells had been transformed to produce collagen fibers very actively. When added at a time of subcultivation, the extract prevented the formation of collagen fibers. When it was added after the formation of collagen fibers, the fibers were fragmented into fine microfilaments.


Objective
To compare different non-operative clinical staging criteria regarding their accuracy and feasibility in evaluation of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) receiving concurrent intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and chemotherapy.

Methods
A study was performed on clinical data from 242 ESCC patients who received concurrent IMRT and chemotherapy in our hospital from 2008 to 2014. Prognostic prediction was compared between the Chinese 2009 staging system, the 6th edition staging system, and a suggested staging system. The survival rates were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method and analyzed by the log-rank test. A prognostic analysis was made by the Cox model.

Results
The 3-year sample size and overall survival rate were 168 and 47.4%, respectively. Esophageal tumor volume and the maximum diameter of metastatic lymph nodes were prognostic factors (P=0.000, 0.000). An intersection of T3 and T4 survival curves was found in the Chinese staging system and the 6th version staging system (P=0.696, 0.594), while an intersection of N1 and N2 survival curves was found in the Chinese staging system (P=0.068). The T staging based on esophageal tumor volume, N staging based on the maximum diameter of metastatic lymph nodes, and their combination could achieve a good separation of survival curves of different stages (P=0.000, 0.000, 0.000).

Conclusions
The T staging based on esophageal tumor volume combined with the N staging based on the maximum diameter of metastatic lymph nodes is an convenient non-operative clinical staging approach for prognostic prediction of ESCC patients receiving concurrent IMRT and chemotherapy.

Key words:
Esophageal neoplasms/intensity-modulated radiotherapy; Esophageal neoplasms/chemotherapy; Neoplasm staging; Prognosis


A simulation model is proposed by using Venism to analyze the supply chain. The proposed model deals with the impact of collaborative ordering and transportation decisions on the supply chain which includes several suppliers,one manufacturer and one third-party logistics provider.The performance under three different collaborative models is compared. The results show that the cost will decrease as the collaborative level increases.Moreover,the influence of some stochastic factors arising from the operation of supply chain on the supply chain and collaborative effect.The results show that the supply uncertainty from suppliers affects the collaborative effect.


Myofibrillar ATPase activity was measured in the epaxial musculature of rainbow trout acclimated to 5 and 21.°C, and goldfish acclimated to 5 and 30°C. The acclimated goldfish showed considerable differences in the specific activity and thermostability of this enzyme. However, such alterations were not apparent in the acclimated trout. The evolutionary implications of these findings are discussed.


Dear Editor, Peristomal PG (PPG) is a rare subtype of ulcerative PG mainly associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). No standard treatment for PPG exists due to its incompletely understood pathophysiology; however, corticosteroids and TNF inhibitors have been primarily used due to the presence of underlying IBD in the majority of these patients. The use of the interleukin-12 (IL-12) and interleukin 23 (IL23) inhibitor ustekinumab is increasing due to the importance of IL-23 inhibition in PG and IBD; however, the role of IL-12 remains overlooked. Here, we report a patient with PPG and concomitant IBD unresponsive to TNF inhibition who showed IL-12B overexpression in the perilesional dermis successfully treated with ustekinumab. A 54-year-old female with a history of Crohn's disease (CD) status post colectomy with ileostomy and rheumatoid arthritis presented with a right abdominal skin eruption. After an initial diagnosis of cellulitis, she developed violaceous tender ulcerations around her stoma site and was ultimately diagnosed with PPG after dermatology evaluation. Multiple topical and systemic treatments were trialed but her PPG remained unhealed for 2 years (Figure 1A). As the patient was failing TNF inhibition, two skin biopsies were obtained from perilesional skin and normal skin (left forearm as control) for histology and RNA extraction. The mRNA expression of IL-23A showed similar levels in both normal and perilesional dermis of PPG. However, IL-12B was only overexpressed in the perilesional dermis (Figure 1D). Therefore, infliximab was discontinued and ustekinumab was initiated. The patient received 90 mg SQ at week 0, week 4, week 12 followed by a maintenance regimen of every 8 weeks. After completing the induction regimen (her first three doses), blistering, pain, erythema, and drainage were significantly reduced. Re-epithelialization occurred with complete, sustained wound healing after 2 years of ustekinumab treatment. Her ulcer has remained healed for 12 months (Figure 1C). This case is a unique example of personalized medicine to manage the treatment of refractory PPG. The clinical features of PPG are well described; however, treatment regimens are not. This is most likely due to an incomplete understanding of its pathophysiological


PREFACE 1. Overview Chapter FADWA AL-TAHER 2. U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Program for Chemical CONTAMINANTS IN FOOD MIKE BOLGER, PAUL SOUTH, C. MURRAY, LAUREN ROBIN, G. WOOD, HENRY KIM AND NEGA BERU 3. Microbial contamination of fresh produce SUSANNE E. KELLER 4. Nanoscale materials in foods: existing and potential sources BERNADENE A. MAGNUSON 5. Renal toxicity of pet foods contaminated with melamine and related compounds WILLIAM H. TOLLESON 6. Mycotoxins of concern in imported grains DOJIN RYU AND LLOYD B. BULLERMAN 7. Effect of heat-processed foods on acrylamide formation FADWA AL-TAHER 8. Furan in thermally processed foods PATRICIA NYMAN 9. What chemists need to know about very low levels of chemicals in food RICHARD W. LANE 10. Effects of pasteurization on detection and toxicity of the beans from Abrus precatorius ERIC AE. GARBER 11. Detection and confirmation of food allergen using mass spectrometric techniques: Characterization of allergens in hazelnut using ESI and MALDI Mass Spectrometry DORCAS WEBER, GUSTAVO POLENTA, BENJAMIN P.-Y. LAU, AND SAMUEL BENREJEB GODEFROY 12. Inactivation of microbial contaminants in fresh produce BRENDAN A. NIEMIRA, BASSAM ANNOUS, XUETONG FAN, CHING-HSING LIAO, AND JOSEPH SITES 13. CARVER + Shock: Risk Assessment Tool PHILLIP POHL, ERIC LINDGREN, CECELIA WILLIAMS, MALYNDA ARAGON, JEFFREY DANEELS, ROBERT BROWITT, MADISON LINK, REGINA HUNTER, DON KAUTTER, JON WOODY, AMY BARRINGER, DAVE ACHESON, CORY BRYANT, FRED SHANK, AND SARAH DAVIS 14. Dealing with intentional and unintentional contaminants in meat and poultry products regulated by the USDA/FSIS KERRY L. DEARFIELD AND SUZANNE RIGBY 15. Lead in Food: The Neo-classical contaminant MICHAEL E. KASHTOCK 16. Achieving total food protection: Benefits from integrating food safety and food defense programs DAVID K. PARK INDEXES AUTHOR INDEX SUBJECT INDEX


Diffraction correction functions are assessed using a tissue equivalent calibrated phantom and compared to the theoretical model of Chen et al. (UFFC: 44; 515-525, 1997). Two transducers were evaluated: (1) 50 MHz, focal distance at 5.7 mm and f/number of 1.7 and (2) 29 MHz, 10.0 mm and f/2, respectively. The RF backscattered signals from a well calibrated tissue equivalent phantom were compensated for attenuation, squared and filtered, providing the backscattered power as a function of the penetration depth. A polynomial function was fitted and normalized to its peak, resulting in the experimental diffraction correction function. Over a region centered at the focus and corresponding to 25% of the focal distance, the RMS error between Chen's theoretical computation and experimental diffraction correction functions was 3.4% (50 MHz) and 4.3% (29 MHz). Between theoretical and the plane reflector cases the RMS error was; 17.6% (50 MHz) and 10.1% (29 MHz). Chen's theory is an accurate and useful means to correct ultrasound backscatter measurements in the high frequency range.


Three-dimensional imaging systems (such as laser scanners) are used in a variety of domains for purposes ranging from automotive-part inspection to surveying complex pipe assemblies on oil platforms. These devices produce large data sets of 3D point measurements that are often referred to as point clouds (see Figure 1). There is currently no general-purpose, open standard for storing point-cloud data, yet there is a critical need in the 3D-imaging industry for open standards that promote data interoperability among hardware and software systems. For the past three years, a group of volunteers within the global standards organization ASTM International (formerly known as the American Society for Testing and Materials) has been working on developing such an open standard.1 The volunteers are members of the E57.04 subcommittee on data interoperability, which is part of the E57 committee on 3D-imaging systems.2 The E57 committee as a whole is tasked to define standard terminology, testing methods, and best practices. The E57.04 subcommittee includes representatives from many of the major 3D-imaging-system manufacturers, software vendors, and service providers, as well as industry consultants and academic researchers. The 'E57 file format for 3D-imaging-data exchange,' more commonly known as the E57 format, is designed as a generalpurpose, open standard for storing 3D-imaging data. It can store point-cloud data from laser scanners but also encode data from flash light-detection and ranging (better known as lidar) systems, structured-light 3D scanners, stereovision systems, and other devices that produce 3D measurements. It can also store associated 2D imagery, such as that produced by digital cameras, as well as core metadata associated with the 2D images and 3D points. As a proof of concept of the E57 file format, an open-source reference library has been developed that is capable of reading, writing, and validating files in this format. Figure 1. Example data set that can be encoded in an E57 file. The data contains laser scans obtained from different locations. (Image courtesy of Intelisum Inc.)


Long-range master planning in public park and recreation agencies is often ineffective because planners approach it without a thorough understanding of data collection and interpretation principles. This paper focuses on triangulation, the process of collecting information from multiple sources with more than one research method and one of the principles on which modern planning is based. Advances in computer technology allow planners to employ triangulation to develop and manipulate large and complex data bases; however, the information mustbe gathered systematically, processed effectively, and thoughtfully integrated for maximum results. The theory and application of triangulation is examined as it was successfully employed in a planning project, including the pre-planning phase, in a public park and recreation agency.


School management will be more efficiency is for the existence fierce currently. For the schoolincrease the management efficiencies and found that important factor for sustainable management.However, innovation management is the most of key factors for improve the school management.This study aim is explore the relationship between innovation management and school managementefficiency. This study used the survey to the student in university, and 400 participators will beinterview and the effective rate of return for the questionnaire is 86%. The hypotheses will test bythe statistical soft 12.0 and AMOS 4.0, and the analysis method includes descriptive statistic, andpath analysis.The results indicated that management innovation had a positively effect on school efficiency but itwas not reached the level of significant; whereas the course teaching innovation was present thesame result. The results also found that the feature innovation had a positively effect on schoolefficiency and it was reached the level of significant. These findings can be provided the schoolimplement strategy for the improve school efficiency.


Methods have been developed for the determination of sulphur, sulphide, thiosulphate, sulphite and sulphate when present together in commercial calcium chloride.

The analysis is divided into three sections:

Section I.—Precipitation of sulphide by addition of zinc carbonate suspension; the precipitate also contains all the elementary sulphur present in the sample, and some insoluble sulphite and sulphate. The filtrate contains soluble thiosulphate, sulphite and sulphate, and these are determined by well-known methods.

The zinc carbonate precipitate is examined for sulphide and insoluble sulphite by iodine titration. The precipitate from another zinc carbonate separation is added to an excess of acidified iodine solution in which case sulphur is precipitated in amount equivalent to the sulphide present. This sulphur is separated together with any sulphur present in the sample, oxidized to sulphate and determined as barium sulphate. The filtrate from the acidified iodine separation of sulphur contains sulphate equivalent to the insoluble sulphate and sulphite associated with the zinc carbonate separation.

Section 2.—Total sulphate is determined in the sample by first boiling with dilute hydrochloric acid and then precipitating the sulphate with barium chloride.

Section 3.—A third portion of the sample is used for the determination of insoluble sulphite plus total sulphide.

A separation of the insoluble sulphite and sulphide is carried out with zinc carbonate suspension and the mixture filtered. The sulphide together with insoluble sulphite is determined in the precipitate by titration with iodine. The filtrate contains soluble sulphate, sulphite and thiosulphate.

From the results of analyses of each section and by a series of calculations the contents of sulphur, sulphide, thiosulphate, sulphite and sulphate can be obtained.

The scheme of analysis is shown on p. 367.


The Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly) Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) is one of the most important agricultural pests worldwide and it is considered a major pest of citrus orchards in Spain due to huge fruit losses incurred and to quarantine restrictions. Current medfly control strategies in Spain have mainly been based on field monitoring and aerial and terrestrial treatments with insecticides. Chemical approaches affect both food quality and environment, and also have a negative impact on beneficials. In recent years, emphasis has been placed on implementing environmentally friendly methods to control medfly in Spain. Within this context, biological control measures have hardly been used. In medfly there are three developmental stages that are susceptible to being preyed upon by ground-dwelling predators: late third instars larvae, which jump from the fruit to pupate underground, pupae and teneral adults, which remain on the soil until they are able to fly. Therefore, this research has thoroughly studied the importance of these grounddwelling predators in citrus groves and their influence upon C. capitata. This work reveals the presence of a rich and abundant complex of ground-dwelling polyphagous predators inhabiting the ground surface of citrus orchards in eastern Spain. Indeed, in a three-year study 17,526 ground-dwelling predator specimens belonging to 110 different species were captured. The most important predatory groups found were: spiders (Araneae), with 29.2% of the captures and 52 species found, rove beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae), with 40% of the captures and 34 species, ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae), with 14.1% of the captures and 19 species, and earwigs (Dermaptera) with 14.4% of the captures and 4 species. All these groups, as well as the most representative species belonging to them, showed different phenologies so that, on the whole, they were active throughout the year. On the other hand, there seems to be a relationship between their abundance and cover crop management. The existence of cover crops, either spontaneous or sown, resulted in greater ground-dwelling populations. Under laboratory conditions, the three most abundant ground-dwelling predators found, Pardosa cribata Simon, Pseudoophonus rufipes (De Geer) and Forficula auricularia L. were able to prey on at least some of the three C. capitata developmental stages appearing on the citrus orchard floor. Functional responses of these predators were obtained when these developmental stages were offered as prey. Pseudoophonus rufipes was the most efficient predator, while F. auricularia was the least. Pseudoophonus rufipes preyed mainly upon pupae, with an estimated


In the plasma etching technique, acquiring a high-quality transfer from the mask pattern onto the substrate under the suppression of the charging effects is of great significance. Most previous publications only focus on studying the charging phenomena on round mask holes. This work shifted the target to an isolated rectangle mask hole and two types of mask arrays (quadrangle and hexagonal arrays). A classical particle simulation program was used. This study first shows that rectangle holes with various ratios of length and width present different electric field ( E-field) strength distribution around the long and short sides. The larger the ratio, the stronger the E-field in the long side is than that in the short one. In addition, the E-field shows a quite weak distribution at the vertexes, which is due to the low curvature of the vertexes. Based on the evolutions of E-field and the simulated profile with time, it is indicated that ions would give priority to bombard the long side rather than the short side and vertexes, forcing the sides to deform outward as arcs. Unlike an isolated mask hole, the mask array has a remarkable influence on the charging effects in case of the close distance between holes. Simply put, the quadrangle and hexagonal arrays relieve and worsen the non-uniformity of the distribution of the E-field at the edge of a rectangle mask hole, respectively. The simulated profile evolution further proves those speculations based on the E-field distribution. Possible mechanisms behind this have been discussed in detail. The findings of this work help arrange an appropriate mask pattern according to the specific mask shape, which would shed light on a way of maintaining the pattern integrity.


The spatial distribution of the Ti vapor admixture ratio (XTi) was determined together with Ti excitation temperature () from two-dimensional (2D) optical emission spectroscopy (OES) during Ti feedstock injection into an Ar induction thermal plasma (ICTP) torch for Ti nanoparticle synthesis. The XTi is one important parameter affecting ICTP properties such as its electrical conductivity. The value of XTi was estimated from the radiation intensity ratio of the Ar atomic line to the Ti atomic line, and obtained from 2D OES observation. Furthermore the electron density (ne) was also determined from the estimated results of and XTi through the equilibrium composition. These 2D OES results revealed as 2500–4000 K at around the central axis of the ICTP torch, although it was higher than 4000 K in the off-axis region. In the off-axis region, XTi and ne were much higher than in the on-axis region.