Preparation and characterization of selective electrodes based on nanoporous carbon/molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for glucose analysis in honey have been done. The purpose of the research is to know the optimum condition of electrodes based on nanoporous carbon/MIP and to know its electrodes performance. Molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was made by mixing glucose as template, methacrylic acid as monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as crosslinker with a rasio 1 4 12. The electrodes was made by mixing nanoporus carbon, MIP and paraffin with rasio 45 20 35. This research obtained optimum pH of glucose solution is 7,0-8,0, Nersnt factor is 27,8 mV/decade, range of measurement from concentration 10-6M until 10-2M. Limit detection of this electrodes is 6,17x10-7M. The selectivity coefficient of fructose and sucrose solution are 1,786x10-3 and 5,155x10-4 which means these solution doesn't interference measurement. The accuration of this electrodes is 93,86% for concentration 10-2M and 132% for concentration 10-4M, coefficient of variation is 1,09% for concentration 10-2M and 2,26% for concentration 10-4M. The content of glucose in honey which measured using this electrode is 22,4% w/w.


Using a novel, hand-collected data set covering all German non-financial firms listed in the Prime Standard of FWB (Frankfurt Stock Exchange), we examine determinants of executive compensation in German listed firms. We distinguish three potential determinants: firm characteristics, firm performance, and corporate governance characteristics. While we find that simple firm characteristics like size and industry affiliation together with time effects explain more than 60% of variation in overall compensation, performance characteristics are economically inconsequential for the explanation of compensation levels. When we distinguish between widely held firms and firms with a large blockholder, we find that the latter grant compensation packages that are smaller, less sensitive to the firm's stock market performance but more sensitive to the firm's operating performance. Finally, we confirm that supervisory board characteristics also affect the level of executive compensation in German firms. Overall, our findings suggest that although the corporate governance environment in Germany has changed dramatically during the last decade, German listed firms are still exposed to high agency costs.


The blast furnace (BF) with high temperatures and high pressures is one of the key reactors consuming major portion of energy in iron and steelmaking. Even slight improvement of its energy efficiency can generate huge benefits to the reduction of cost and more importantly to the mitigation of its carbon footprint on environment. Currently, there are mainly two groups of approaches for the understanding of the black box reactor. One group is based on continuum models, requiring relatively less computational effort. However, the closure constitutive correlations for the multiphase flow are not well established. The other group is based on discrete particle models. The discrete approaches can overcome the requirement of constitutive correlations of solid phase and treat grains of particulate raw materials individually using Newton's law of motion. It is desirable to develop a discrete particle model to address in-furnace thermochemical behaviours in the BF. This work presents a novel discrete particle model by which the interphase heat and mass transfer and key chemical reactions are considered. It can predict key features in the BF such as the formation of different flow zones. This work establishes a framework towards a virtual experimental BF.


We propose a method for evolving strategies based on the nearest-neighbor rule. A strategy corresponds to an action selection function which chooses an action depending on the current state of a (reactive) control problem to be solved. Given a set I of state/action pairs, our approach determines the action to be taken in state S' as the action A from (S, A) ∈ I for which S' and S are "nearest" among all states from members of I. The set I is evolved using a genetic algorithm. Our approach exceeds "standard" condition/action rule based approaches regarding the ways the state space can be subdivided. This is achieved without confronting the genetic algorithm---unlike neural networks---with too hard search problems as preliminary experiments with variations of a pursuit (predator--prey) game demonstrate.


The work presents the results of the applied surface pretreatment on topography and thickness of a passive layer of the anodically oxidized Ti6Al7Nb alloy. In our study were used: integrating sphere spectral measurements, bidirectional reflection distribution function (BRDF) method and optical profilometry. On the basis of the study, the passive layer thickness, roughness, waviness and the autocorrelation length were determined. The influence of voltage of anodization on topographical parameters of TiO2 has been discussed.


Introduction Supported metal clusters inside the cages of molecular sieve hosts are expected to possess size-dependent electronic properties and non-linear optical features. The behavior of metal clusters in various reactions is dependent on their size and degree of homogeneous distribution in the host matrix. Moreover, the formation of Cu species during the reduction of zeolites containing Cu species is important for the catalytic activity, mainly for the selective reduction of NOx[1], and for their specific activity in N2 adsorption at room temperature[2]. Despite the intensive research in catalysis, the formation process of various kinds of metal clusters and emergence of different species during the reduction process of metal ions confined in porous host materials is still not well understood. Detailed understanding of the reduction process of copper ion in the samples will be helpful in designing the other kinds of metal species in porous host materials, such as silver and gold ions, since these ions have the similar electronic structure in the outer shell and exhibit prominent catalytic features. In this report, the changes in the state of copper ions in four kinds of samples by heat treatment in vacuo have been studied by means of XAFS method. The samples used are as follows; CuMFI (Si/Al=11.9), CuAlMCM-41(IE) (Si/Al=11.5), CuAlMCM-41(TI) (Si/Al=11.5), and CuMCM-41, where we used the symbols of "IE" and "TI" signifying ion-exchange and template ion-exchange.


These Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne EPFL, n° 1307 (1994) Reference doi:10.5075/epfl-thesis-1307Print copy in library catalog Record created on 2005-03-16, modified on 2016-08-08


The study deals with existential motifs in selected fiction and memoir works of Slovak literature, which thematically focus on World War II. and the Holocaust of the Slovak Jewish minority. As we considered the fact that many works of Slovak provenance with this issue were published (especially after 1989), we focused only on a selection of those works, which contains fiction and non-fiction literature and memoir works written by surviving Jews, in which they gave valuable testimony about the Holocaust and anti-Semitism of the war-torn Slovak state and post-war society. Based on the interpretation and analysis of Shoah-themed works, we detect recurring existential motifs: degradation of human dignity, feelings of guilt for one's own survival, Auschwitz traumas, and the motif of The Lost Generation.


The aftermath of the financial crisis has brought the discussion about global fiscal consolidation to unprecedented terms. This concern has reached political level and it has become a very important topic both in the EU and OECD agendas. Therefore it is far from surprising that several initiatives have emerged to deal with it. Within the EU level, the European Council has frequently addressed the need of achieving fiscal consolidation. The European Commission launched a public consultation on factual examples and possible ways to tackle double non-taxation cases. More recently it presented a communication* on tax fraud and evasion and issued a recommendation* where it suggests that Member States coordinate common actions to resolve aggressive tax planning. The OECD BEPS report recently released constitutes the latest development in this area aiming at rethinking existing international tax rules.


The individual micro entrepreneur is self employed and legalized as a small businessman. It is perceived that this is a fast growing business category in Brazil as new autonomous business opportunities raise in the country. The aim of this article is to analyze the socioeconomic profile of micro entrepreneur individuals at Independencia Shopping Centre in Santa Maria-RS-Brazil after the implementation of MEI. The methodology utilized in this research was based on primary data gathered from questionnaire assessment applied to store owners from the 4 th to 9 th November 2013. Results indicate that the majority of participants interviewed were literate, age ranged between 15 - 69 years old and have completed fundamental education. The data revealed that individuals' quality of life has improved despite their decreasing profitability, also that there is considerable diverging opinions with respect to the advantages and disadvantages of local shop owners being relocated to the Shopping Centre premises. It was concluded that despite the improvement in shop ownerssocial well-being, entrepreneurs request more attention to be provided to their work establishment from the administrative Municipal level. Additionally, shop owners claim for more advertisement of the Shopping Centre as an attempt to enhance their own sales.


This paper investigates the nature of dispositional properties in the context of artificial intelligence systems. We start by examining the distinctive features of natural dispositions according to criteria introduced by McGeer (2018) for distinguishing between object-centered dispositions (i.e., properties like 'fragility') and agent-based abilities, including both 'habits' and 'skills' (a.k.a. 'intelligent capacities', Ryle 1949). We then explore to what extent the distinction applies to artificial dispositions in the context of two very different kinds of artificial systems, one based on rule-based classical logic and the other on reinforcement learning. Here we defend three substantive claims. First, we argue that artificial systems are not equal in the kinds of dispositional properties they instantiate. In particular, we show that logical systems instantiate merely object-centered dispositions whereas reinforcement learning systems allow for the instantiation of agent-based abilities. Second, we explore the similarities and differences between the agent-centered abilities of artificial systems and those of humans, especially as relates to the important distinction made in the human case between habits and skills/intelligent capacities. The upshot is that the agentcentered abilities of truly intelligent artificial systems are distinctive enough to constitute a third type of agent-based ability — blended agent-based ability — raising substantial questions as to how we understand the nature of their agency. Third, we explore one aspect of this problem, focussing on whether systems of this type are properly considered 'responsible agents', at least in some contexts and for some purposes. The ramifications of our analysis will turn out to be directly relevant to various ethical concerns of artificial intelligence.


The necessity of a higher data processing speed was crucial for the advances in computer science. There were created processors that needed increasingly more power, so that new methods were discovered and more complex systems were created in order to solve the cooling issue. In this paper, there are presented the trials performed on a mini refrigeration plant that used mechanical compression of Freon's, designed to cool electronic components like microprocessors, microcontrollers, graphic stations, or in the case of local cooling in diverse areas such as bioengineering, optics and nanotechnologies. The refrigeration system was constructed as an experimental set-up and consists of the following: two mini heat exchangers, working both as a condenser and a vaporizer, which are made of circular micro channels, a refrigeration compressor, lamination valve which contains a circular nano channel and a micro filter. The experimental determinations have proven that, although such a system contains a small quantity of Freon, of the order of milligrams, it reaches temperatures of -44 C.


In the introduction of management models and measures,the neglect of the management concepts and qualities of management staff,just paying attention to the modernization of equipment,management forms and measures,does not only have a negative effect on the running and development of universities,but also does harm to the Party and People's educational cause.Therefore,in the process of modernizing the educational management in universities,the core and most important step is to update the concepts of the management staff,raising their awareness of roles and service.Based on the requirements of modern public service,this paper has analyzed the problems facing the management staff in teaching and learning affairs,and discussed about the roles the roles they play and the service attitudes they should have,hoping to be help of improving the qualities of the management staff in order to promote a healthy development of the higher education.


The key aspects and features of the Australian 99Molybdenum Survey undertaken to collect information from the nuclear medicine community on its current 99Molybdenum needs and to assess ways of better utilisation are discussed. Other details of the survey are highlighted.


In July 1999, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) installed a cabled geophysical observatory system off Kushiro, southeastern Hokkaido Island, Japan. This observatory system comprises three ocean bottom seismographs (OBSs), two tsunami gauges, and a cable-end environmental monitoring system, connected with a 240 km long fiber optical cable. Processing OBSs and land-based data together, and comparing magnitude common recorded with that determined by Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), we found event detection level was improved down to magnitude 1.5, which is much lower than the previously designed as down to magnitude around 2. We compared detection level before and after installing OBSs, and found dramatic improvement on the earthquake detection level after installation of the cabled system. Four years and two months after the installation, a megathrust earthquake (The 2003 Tokachi-oki earthquake, MJMA 8.0) occurred just beneath the system. The system recorded clear unsaturated seismograms just at 28.6 km from the epicenter, which is the first observation on the ocean floor recording an earthquake with magnitude eight in the world. This paper reports hypocenter distribution derived from permanent cabled OBSs and land-based observation in the period from mainshock of the 2003 Tokachi-oki earthquake, to middle of May 2004. In the large slip area of the mainshock, a planar, with ten-degree dip, hypocenter distribution is obtained. Another deep planar seismic zone is found about 20 km depth from the plate interface. We think that the geophysical observations helps to understand the initiation process of the rupture of the 2003 Tokachi-oki earthquake and that observations including seismological, geodynamic, hydrogeological, and the other multidisciplinary observations would provide a clue to future understanding of seismogenic processes at southern end of the Kurile subduction zones


The utility model discloses a module is collected to the energy of intelligence wrist -watch, include: transmission, base plate portion, power input module, electricity generation subassembly and energy storage subassembly. The power input module includes weight subassembly and weight bull wheel, but the weight subassembly is installed in base plate portion with passing through the pivotal axis pivot and the the central axis of the skew pivotal axis of the focus of weight subassembly, and weight bull wheel and transmission are connected with to transmission transmission kinetic energy, and the weight subassembly is put the board and is installed on the pivotal axis including pendulum board and weight, and the weight is established and is being put the one end of keeping away from the pivotal axis of board, the electricity generation subassembly links to each other with transmission and turns into the electric energy with the kinetic energy with the transmission. The utility model discloses the module is collected to the energy, utilizes the swing or the rotation of the production of the off -center weight subassembly of focus to through kinetic energy transmission to the subassembly that generates electricity that transmission produced the weight subassembly, the electricity generation subassembly turns into kinetic energy the electric energy and saves through the energy storage subassembly again, can make intelligent wrist -watch reach the effect from the electricity generation from this.


Software size estimation is the process applied to develop a prediction for the amount of source code required to implement a software application. This estimate is fundamental to determining the resources and schedule needed to implement a system. Present estimation approaches are based upon research and model from the 1970's and do not embrace present day life cycle models nor engineering tools. A new model for software size estimation is introduced within this dissertation to accommodate graphical user interfaces and life cycle approaches utilizing business rules. This GUI-Point model is developed based upon the presentation of data to the user, business rules, and data storage. In order to determine appropriate weights for each of these factors, a sample set of six applications is used. Each application is analyzed by counting the number of lines of source used to implement each GUI object, business rule, and data access. Weighting coefficients are calculated using these counts. The resultant GUI-point contains three factors to accommodate user interfaces, one factor for business rules, and two factors for data storage. This GUI-Point model is particularly appropriate for life cycle models utilizing rapid prototyping techniques that quantify the user interface as part of system requirement analysis. GUI-Point modeling has been calibrated such that it can replace function point estimates in other cost estimation models.
In order to validate the model graphs are used to visually confirm the assumption of model linearity and a calculation of error performed. The GUI-Point model is compared to the function point model using a sample set of thirty-two applications. A null hypothesis is then constructed claiming no difference between function point and GUI-point accuracy. To test this claim the coefficient of determination for both methods is calculated. A 95% confidence interval is calculated and the null hypothesis rejected in favor of the alternative hypothesis that the GUI-point model provides a better estimate. In this comparison the GUI-point model is found to provide more accurate prediction of code size.


The authors show that some ATPG (automatic test pattern generation) programs may err in identifying untestable faults. These test generators may not be able to find the test sequence for a testable fault, even allowed infinite run time, and may mistakenly claim it as untestable. The main problem of these programs is that the underlying combinational test generation algorithm may over-specify the requirements at the present state lines. A necessary condition that the underlying combinational test generation algorithm must satisfy is considered to ensure a correct sequential ATPG program. It is shown that the simple D-algorithm satisfies this condition while PODEM and the enhanced D-algorithm do not. The impact of over-specification on the length of the generated test sequence was studied. Over-specification caused a longer test sequence. Experimental results are presented.<<ETX>>


Metronidazole has been proven an effective proctological analgesic and antimicrobial agent in patients undergoing excisional haemorrhoidectomy. The aim of this article is to evaluate the efficacy of topical versus oral administration of metronidazole to in controlling the post-operative pain following excisional haemorrhoidectomy.

 A comprehensive systematic search was undertaken with the help of local librarian and relevant published randomized controlled trials (RCT) were shortlisted according to the inclusion criteria. Summated outcomes of the poste-operative pain on day one and day seven were analyzed using the principles of meta-analysis on RevMan 5 statistical software.

 Two RCTs on 286 patients undergoing excisional haemorrhoidectomy were included in this review. There were 143 patients in topical metronidazole group and same number of patients were in oral metronidazole group. the antibiotics group (AG) and 877 patients in the no-antibiotics group (NAG). In the random effects model analysis, day 1 [standardized mean difference -0.06, 95% CI (-0.30–0.17), z = 0.55, p = 0.59] and day 7 [standardized mean difference 0.09, 95% CI (-1.29–1.47), z = 0.12, p = 0.90] post-operative pain score was statistically similar in both groups. There was significant heterogeneity [Tau2 = 0.96, chi2 = 32.49, df = 1; p = 0.00001, I2= 97%] between included trials.

 Both topical and oral administration of metronidazole as post-haemorrhoidectomy proctological analgesic is an effective modality. However, this evidence is based upon the findings of two RCTs on 286 patients and should be taken cautiously. A major, high quality RCT is mandatory to validate these findings.


Design criteria for coastal defenses exposed to wave overtopping are usually restricted to the assessment of mean discharges and maximum individual overtopping volumes, however it is not possible to give unambiguous or precise limits to tolerable overtopping for all kind of layouts (EurOtop, 2018). A few studies (e.g. Endoh and Takahashi, 1994) analyzed the relationship between wave overtopping flows and hazard levels for people at the crest of sea dikes. Sandoval (2016) confirmed that one single value of admissible mean discharge or individual overtopping volume is not a sufficient indicator of the hazard, but detailed characterization of flow velocities and depths is required. This work presents the results of an experimental campaign aiming at characterizing the flow characteristics associated to maximum individual overtopping volumes for an urbanized stretch of a town along the Catalan coast, where a bike path and a railway run along the coastline, exposed to significant overtopping events every stormy season.Recorded Presentation from the vICCE (YouTube Link): https://youtu.be/DwVl9wFJoq0


Chelonians are represented in the Late Miocene vertebrate assemblage from Atzelsdorf (Austria) by about 100 remains. Although a considerable number of them is not identifiable with confidence below order level, few wellpreserved isolated carapace and plastron elements allow to recognize the presence of the extinct tortoise Testudo cf. burgenlandica and the pond turtle Mauremys sp. On the basis of their ornamentation, three tiny shell fragments are tentatively referred to a softshell turtle (Trionyx sensu lato).


The key principle of the relationship between church and state has been clearly stipulated in the First Amendment of the Constitution of the USA. The so-called "establishing clause" and "free exercise clause" condition each other and have decisive influence on the development of the history of politics and religions in the USA, hence the most typical separation system of church and state has been formed in the modern world. In the practice, the two sects of "separationism" and "accommodationism" have appeared gradually. After September 11, the accommendationism seems to gain the advantage over the separationism.


Hedging: A General Outline The main aim of the present paper is to give a general outline of hedging and hedges by putting forward the ideas of the linguists who have brought a great contribution to the development of this linguistic strategy. My research also focuses on the study of the types of hedges and their function in scientific discourse. Besides, an attempt will be made to find out in what fields of academic papers hedges are more pronounced as well as to illustrate whether there are any fields where the use of hedges is excluded. In her article "I Think that Perhaps You Should: A Study of Hedges in Written Scientific Discourse" F. Salager-Meyer assumes that one of the most important aspects of scientific discourse is to weigh evidence and draw conclusions from data. Fundamental characteristics of science are uncertainty, doubt and skepticism. Scientists inevitably indicate their attitude in their writings. She states that as science is not the coolly objective discipline as asserted in many textbooks and scientific style guides, academic writing cannot be considered as a series of impersonal statements of facts which add up to the truth. Moreover, research from a variety of disciplines has revealed ways in which academic discourse is both socially situated and structured to accomplish rhetorical objectives. Linguistically these objectives are realized as hedges mostly verbal and adverbial expressions such as can, perhaps, may, suggest, which deal with degrees of probability. They are viewed as devices used to reflect not only fundamental characteristics of modern science, but also the true state of the writer's understanding and state of knowledge. According to F. Salager-Meyer, mild speech conveyed by hedges allows researchers to present themselves as cautious, coy, humble and modest servants of their discipline, and to diplomatically negotiate their claims when referring to the work of colleagues and competitors. Its use originates on logic and semantics, but has lately been developed further in pragmatics discourse analysis so far that it now extends to areas like metacommunication and to communication strategies like mitigation and politeness. Through this extension the concept has lost some of its clarity and sometimes seems to have reached a state of definitional chaos, as it overlaps with several other concepts. Hedging is a significant communicative resource for academics since it both confirms the individual's professional persona and represents a critical element in the rhetorical means of gaining acceptance of claims (Salager-Meyer 1995). In the article "Hedging Research in Pragmatics: A Bibliographical Research Guide to Hedging" H. Schröder and D. Zimmer showed that the designation hedge/hedging was introduced by G. Lakoff in his article "Hedges: A Study in Meaning Criteria and the Logic of Fuzzy Concepts". In his synchronic, non-contrastive study of the oral and written standard English, Lakoff defines hedges as words whose function is to make meanings fuzzier or less fuzzy. Lakoff argues that the logic hedges require serio-semantic analysis for all predicates. He (1972, 195) defines hedges as follows: "For me, some of Armenian Folia Anglistika Linguistics


Aims: Since several authors query the beneþt of surgical repair of rotator cuff tears, especially in the elderly patients, the purpose of our study was to observe patients with asymptomatic rotator cuff tears. Methods: A series of 235 patients were enrolled clinically during the time of hospitalization, additional ultrasound and X-ray examination of the shoulder was done. In 14 patients ultrasound revealed a clinical asymptomatic cuff tear, afþrmed by MR examination. All 14 patients were observed for 5 years with regular clinical and sonographic examination. Additional MRI was done at 5 year follow-up. Results: At the time of the last follow-up, only one patient developed speciþc symptoms, such as pain, nocturnal pain and weakness due to the cuff tear. Operative treatment for rotator cuff repair was scheduled. Active range of motion deceased from 180u to 167u in sexion and from 178u to 165u in abduction. Also range of external and internal rotation decreased. Radiological aggravation of cuff arthropathy was observed in all cases. Conclusion: Results of this study suggest that a rotator cuff tear can remain asymptomatic for years, although radiological signs of osteoarthrosis increases.


Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) at the solid / liqu id interface is widely used to investigate metal clust ers and films on foreign substrate surfaces [1,2]. Usually, the vertical calibration of heights is done using known height variations, preferably substrate steps. Of special interest in such investigations is the h eig t of the first monatomic layer on the foreign substrate. The values published for such layers by various groups are not in agreement, which was also found in recent investigations in our group [3,4]. Due to the chang e of the imaged metal while scanning a foreign metal step ed ge the principle question arises, whether different me tals have different effective barrier heights in the electrochemical environment.


What is meant by a landslide is the movement of a land mass slopes downward slope stability due to the disruption of the amount of soil moved it apart from its geometric depends on the severity and also from the shear strength (shear strength). Shear strength is not fixed, and can be decreased due to increasing water content in the soil itself, in addition to the influence of other disorders. Disruption to the stability of the slope can be caused by nature and also by human activity itself. The first so-called natural disasters, which can be caused by earthquakes or by heavy rain is prolonged, the second is human error, and generally in the form of imposition of excessive (overloading), excavation uncontrolled, drainage is less than perfect, and deforestation. Loa thorn road is one of the areas that has undulating topography. Wave in question is the natural state of hills and valleys, this has resulted in some segments of roads should be on the slopes. The presence of natural factors, especially rain and ground water flow that makes it lose ground slope stability or ability to withstand sliding friction that occurs, automatically highway above it will be impaired and will also affect the level of service. So that public facilities can function optimally we need to hold the handling of an avalanche is one of them by making the construction of retaining soil so that the soil in these segments do not move or shift. From the results of calculations can be concluded that, the dimensions of retaining wall is 3 meters high and 2.5 meters wide, 0.40 meters thick plate with a length of 55 meters, retaining wall stability safe to bolster however affect the shear, so it is necessary to pile foundation meperkaku wall structure and pile foundation.


The constituents of the essential oil of Stachys laxa Boiss. & Buhse growing wild in Iran were investigated by GC-MS for the first time. Thirty-three constituents were identified. Germacrene-D (40.1%), b -caryophylene (16.7%), b -phellandrene (5.5%), caryophyllene oxide (4.6%), linalool (3.2%) and ?-cadinol (2.6%) were found to be the major constituents of the oil.


Objective To investigate factors associated with postoperative complications after laparoscopic-assisted radical rectal surgery in rectal cancer.Methods The clinical data of 305 patients with rectal cancer performed laparoscopic-assisted radical resection from April 2008 to April 2012 in Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University were analyzed retrospectively.All the data were analyzed by the t test,chi-square test,Fisher exact probability or Logistic regression model.Results Postoperative complication occurred in 76 patients(24.9%).On univariate analysis,postoperative complication was associate with gender,age,preoperative comorbidity,location of tumor,TNM staging,neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy,operative time and surgeon experience(P0.05).Logistic regression analysis revealed that gender,preoperative comorbidity,location of tumor,TNM staging and surgeon experience were independent risk factors for postoperative complications(P0.05).Follow up was available in 275 patients(90.2%) with a median follow up of 24 months(rang,2-48months).Differences in survival and recurrence rate between patients with and without postoperative complication were of no statistical significance(P 0.05).Conclusion Gender,preoperative comorbidity,location of tumor,TNM staging,surgeon experience were independent risk factors for postoperative complications in laparoscopic-assisted radical rectal surgery in rectal cancer.


Fire is one of the fundamental element of world and indispensable object of human existence, but some times it becomes life annihilator and most ferocious element if raged by some mistake or omission which can throw away thousands of lives of human beings along with the billions in term of the wealth and property. The manuscript analyzes a similar fire incident that occurred in a factory at Nimrana City, Alwar (Rajasthan) on 29th October 2007 (FIR no. 288/09 dt. 30-10-09 U/s 285, 336 IPC) in which volatile and inflammable chemicals were used as raw material. Safety precautions should be followed as per SOP in presence of volatile and inflammable chemicals but long term and accustomed laborer become adept in bypassing the safety precautions and invent shortcuts for routine works which can result into this kind of havoc.
Through this paper, the authors have tried to explain the data related to case, this report help in reconstruction the dynamics of the accident by means of a dedication to determine the underlying cause of fire in the factory. It might help to explain the importance of spot visit and estimate the dense and depth of the fire investigation for forensic community. We have also suggested methodology to investigate cases related to fire/arson.


Based on the planning,organization and operation of the cooperative process,the paper argued for the complex demands of farmers' interests,the games of diverse exchange behaviors,and the evolution of reciprocity norms. From the perspective of community cooperatives,this paper emphasized the interests,games,and reciprocity norms in cooperation within a specific community,and suggested the integrated,dynamic and complex process of cooperation. The perspective of community cooperatives can alert the exaggerated and dominant emphases on the professional and economic attributes of specialized cooperatives,offer reflection on the economic orientation of rural specialized cooperatives,and provide new insight to understand China's rural specialized cooperatives.


(57) Abstract: ethyleneimine at a temperature at least 80 ° C. in the presence of a catalyst in a solvent, in homogeneous liquid phase, the ratio of length to internal diameter is due to polymerization in a tubular reactor is at least 5 , continuous production method of the homopolymer of ethyleneimine. Polyethyleneimine having a secondary nitrogen atom 40% to 60% and and M


The effects of rotor speed and discharging temperature on silica 1165MP-SSBR 5025-2 interaction as well as the mechanical properties and dynamic viscoelasticity are investigated in this work. The result shows that the discharging temperature increases linearly with increase of rotation speed, leading to increase of bound rubber content. The tensile strength, elongation at break and tear strength increase firstly, and then decrease with increase of rotation speed. However, the strength at 100% and 300% deformation decrease, and then they increase. The wet skid resistance of SSBR5025-2 filled with silica 1165MP improves with increase of rotation speed and discharging temperature, and the rolling resistance decreases.


This paper deals with a problem of stabilisation in digital video sequences. You will find the the brief introduction of current hardwareand softwaremethods for stabilisation and the proposing of a new softwarebased stabilisation method which does not change the final video resolution. The new method is based on finding of motion vectors that are used in video compression techniques. The final part of this paper deals with a testing of proposed method. Key–Words: Digital video stabilisation, software-based stabilisation


The cheating can be viewed as a major educational problem with a broad social concern. The unethical behaviour of students can crucially influence their qualification, future employment and manners in their professional carrier. The contribution investigates the unethical behaviour of the students of the University of Life Sciences in Prague. The goal is to examine if the students would act unethically in an examination tests and in proceeding their assignments. The inquiry investigation based on self-assessments confirmed that the unethical behaviour is quite frequent, more frequent is the exam cheating. The responders do not feel that their behaviour is immoral, they are rather afraid of penalization. The reaction of the teachers and the university is necessary. It is essential to study the reasons of unethical behaviour to apply rectifying measures effectively.


The Conceptual Background 1. A Confluence of Disciplines 2. Climate Dynamics 3. Empires and Barbarians 4. Antiquity Melds 5. Northerly Engagement 6. Towards the Optimum (a) The Climate in Temperate Eurasia (b) A Germinal Century 7. The Near East in Crisis 8. How Savage a Culmination? (a) How Cruel a Sea? (b) The Mongol Horde 9. Through the Optimum Une Longue Duree 10. Water, Warmth and Emergent Europe 11. Pointers to a Future (a) The Eurocentric World, 1492-1942 (b) Huntington or Gibbon? (c) A Gibbonesque Era (d) Translation to the Present (e) Persisting Uncertainties


Page 1 of 4 03/12 Certain industries, such as the automotive industry, require extensive testing of integrated circuits at high temperatures to ensure reliable performance in applications that are particularly intolerant of failures because of product safety concerns or other considerations. Testing at high temperatures simulates the conditions of use and also helps to identify and eliminate marginal devices that would be likely to fail prematurely. High temperatures also induce thermal stresses in the tester which can affect the positioning of the test probes on the test pads. The problem is complicated by the dynamic nature of the testing process as the wafer is repeatedly repositioned under the probe array. The process is becoming even more challenging as pad sizes shrink and testing temperatures increase. Probe mark analysis allows manufacturers to evaluate and optimize the testing process by examining the marks left by probes when they contact the test pads.


Agreement between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Saint Lucia for the exchange of information relating to tax matters. Castries, 2 December 2009


William Milne was born in 1785 at Kennethmont, Aberdeenshire,Scotland. After his father's early death, Milne supported the family as a farmhand and carpenter while receiving an education from his mother and a Sabbathschool. At sixteen, Milne sensed God's "free grace" remitting the "eternal wrath" that he feared his previousindifference to religion and his "profane swearing" had surely incurred.' Three years later, he left the Church of Scotland for the Congregational "Missionary Kirk" at neighboring Huntley, which endorsed the conviction of the Evangelical Awakening that Christians must extend the spiritual revival and social reform taking place at home to their non-Christianbrothers and sisters abroad andtherebyhasten the in-gathering of the imminent worldwide kingdom of God. Gratitude for his own redemption, admiration for mission heroes like David Brainerd (1718-47), avid reading of the Mis sionary Magazine, and dedication to "the coming of Christ's kingdom among the nations," inspired Milne to become a for eign missionary, 2


This epilogue argues that kinship has served as a mechanism to define which modes of social belonging, political participation, and cultural intelligibility are allowed and which are banned. In other words, kinship has been intimately tied to the nation. The fact that family planning and immigration were often controlled by the same agencies and the fact that the rhetoric of republicanism surfaced repeatedly in the bioethics and Civil Pact of Solidarity (PACS) debates point to the fundamental interrelation of kinship and nation. Moreover, in many other countries, experts from all disciplines have regularly intervened in the field of family law, and conservative critics have also suggested a direct connection between familial and social structures.


The vulnerability to environmental changes requires appropriate management of mountainous soils to harmonize agriculture productivity and health of agro-ecosystem. Information on spatial analyses in land uses is important for site-specific nutrient management. The current study investigates and maps soil properties in two land use types (agriculture and orchard) through geostatistical analyses of selected parameters using Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW). Geo-referenced soil samples were collected at 0-15 cm depth. Overall, silty loam soils were observed with slightly alkaline pH, normal electrical conductivity and adequate organic carbon in both land use types. Macronutrient results indicated that nitrate-nitrogen was medium while phosphorus and potassium were higher in both land uses. The two-way ANOVA indicated that the EC (p<0.05), NO3-N, Av. P and Ex. K (p<0.001) differed significantly across the land use types. Whereas with respect to various study locations the EC and Av. P differed significantly (p<0.01), while pH, SOC, NO3-N, Ex. K and saturation did vary. Higher Soil quality index (SQI) in agriculture soil indicating better quality or health than the orchard. The findings provide useful insights for soil fertility management in mountainous agro-ecosystems.


1 Tone Event Detection Basics 2 1.1 Tone Event Detector Architecture 2 1.2 Phase Detection With Frequency Offset Compensation 4 1.3 Summary of Theoretical Results 6 2 Tone Event Detector on StarCore 8 2.1 Automatic Level Control (ALC) 8 2.2 Tone Indication 9 2.3 Tone Indicator Counter 9 2.4 Finding the Closest Reference Frequency Tone .......10 2.5 FIR Filtering Implementation 10 3 Tone Events in Packet Telephony 11 4 RFC2833 Overview 11 4.1 Payload Format for Named Telephone Events .........12 4.2 Sending and Receiving Named Telephone Event Packets 15 4.3 Payload Format for Telephony Tones 16 4.4 Multiple Tones and Named Events in One Packet ...17 5 Conclusion 20 6 References 21 Tone Event Detection in Packet Telephony Using the StarCoreTM SC140 Core


In this paper we report new calculations useful for analysing and interpreting the data from the double beta decay (DBD) experiments. First, we propose a new approach to calculate simultaneously the products of nuclear matrix elements and phase space factors entering the DBD lifetimes. Then, we calculate deviations in the phase space factors due to Lorentz violation in weak decays, that can produce a small modification in the sum energy spectrum of the two neutrino double beta (2νββ) decay. Our calculations are reported for several nuclei of experimental interest.


The present article tries to realize an approximate analysis with regard to the grade of application of the educational inclusion in the Faculty of Sciences of the Education of the city of Granada. There are conscious the pupils and professorship of this current that is developing for time in the educational system of other countries and also in ours; in what grade do they conceive the university community that is carried out? The first part, of the approximate study centered on the perception of the university pupils, which later will complement itself with the perception of the professorship.


This study aimed to examine the effect of corporate governance and deferred tax
expense on earnings management. Independent variables used in this study is
institutional ownership structure, the structure of managerial ownership,
independent board, auditcommittee. This study was conducted using data from
documentation using www.idx.co.id, annual report. The method of analysis used
in this study is multiple linear regression. This study used a sample of
manufacturing firms listed on theIndonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) 2014-2016. The
research sample consists of 89years firm of listed manufacturing companies in
Indonesia. The results showed simultaneous variable institutional ownership
structure , the structure of managerial ownership and independent board,
auditcommittee, and deferred tax expense have a significant effect on earnings
management. However, only partial deferred tax expense is a significant effect on
earnings management.


Loop quantum gravity provides a background independent quantisation of General Relativity, where the microscopical structure of spacetime shows discrete and quantum properties. This microscopical quantum geometry has led to new insights in problems such as the big bang and black hole singularities. However, the study of the semiclassical limit of the theory is still a key open issue. In this talk, I will present recent developments suggesting that the correct low energy physics emerges. In particular, I will describe how the calculations of the graviton propagator in loop quantum gravity agree at large scales with the conventional free propagator of linearised General Relativity


Algorithms are exhibited for constructing automata to perform eecient calculations in Coxter groups. In the paper Casselman 1994] I explained in a rough fashion how to build au-tomata for recognizing various languages of strings in the Coxeter generators of nite and aane Weyl groups, in eeect showing how to implement a result of Brink-Howlett 1993] in a practical way. I also sketched a procedure to multiply elements of a Weyl group by a generator, which is related closely to the multiplier automata of Brink and Howlett. In this paper I will give more details of these algorithms, and indeed for arbitrary Coxeter groups, following Brink and Howlett even more closely in using their notion of minimal roots. In fact, much of what I will cover is at least implicit in the work of Brink and Howlett. What is essentially new is the formulation of their material in geometrical terms, along the lines of my earlier paper. On the one hand this may make some of their arguments clearer. On the other, as I pointed out in that paper, the use of saturation in building recognizing automata, which is justiied by geometry, renders the construction practical. Also, I will explain ne details of algorithms which are perhaps rather insigniicant from a mathematical standpoint, but which are required in order to make them eecient. All algorithms will depend on a simple geometrical realization of a Coxeter group. The group will stabilize a certain convex cone in the vector space of the realization, called the Tits cone. The realizations considered here are those in which the fundamental domain of the action of the group on this cone is simplicial. The simple roots are linear functions which are non-negative on the fundamental domain and vanish on the walls of this domain. The roots of the realization are the transforms of the simple roots under the group. The positive roots are those roots which are non-negative on the fundamental domain. What I call the minimal roots of the realization are, roughly speaking, those positive roots which are not screened oo in the Tits cone from the fundamental domain by other root hyperplanes. Although the notion of minimal roots is rather natural from a geometrical standpoint, it was apparently rst introduced in Brink-Howlett 1993]. (These roots were given no name there, but in Brink's thesis Brink 1994] they are called elementary roots.) The main result of …


The utility model relates to a fuel oil refilling opening cover assembly that is used for the car body. The cover assembly comprises a refilling opening cover outer plate, a refilling opening cover inner plate, an elastic spring plate and an installation supporting seat, wherein, the installation supporting seat is arranged on the car body through a rotation shaft; the outer surface of the refilling opening outer plate is a smooth arc with the lower part being inward concave that is matched with the car body; the longitudinal inner side of the refilling opening cover plate 2 is connected with a U-shaped connection plate 21, and the other side is provided with a curved edge; the outer side of the middle part of the refilling opening cover plate is firmly connected with the elastic spring plate; the longitudinal outer side of the refilling opening cover inner plate is connected with a tongue piece, and one side of the tongue piece is provided with a turned-over edge that is used for connecting the refilling opening cover outer plate; the inner sides of two opposite axial holes of the installation supporting seat are provided with a limit tongue piece. The utility model adopts the sheet-metal element; through the punch forming, welding and coating of the sheet-metal element, the favorable matching relationship between the refilling opening cover assembly and the car body can be guaranteed; the smoothness, the parting gap, the surface difference and the color difference of the molding surface meet the requirements of the appearance; the durance reliability and the opening-closing function of the refilling opening cover assembly are ensured.


This research collaboration in Northern Queensland comprises a Law Librarian, Health Librarian and a Public Health researcher with an interest in mental health law. This collaboration developed from librarian support of teaching and research in a Public Health postgraduate subject at JCU at Nguma-bada Campus (Cairns). Students were required to develop systematic review protocols for topics in a subject with substance misuse, mental health, regulation and policy content. Published research in this area is typically found in legal as well as health and social care databases. Hence our collaboration described here.


As systems are becoming ever larger and more complex, and as more stakeholders, typically from different disciplines, are involved throughout the system lifecycle, the challenge of overcoming the complexity inherent in systems development grows too. While a document-centric approach has been common practice, coping with the growing complexity of current systems calls for a model-based approach. This work discusses two systems modeling languages, OMG's SysML - Systems Modeling Language and OPM - Object Process Methodology. To demonstrate the similarities and differences between the languages, a concrete sample system was modeled in both SysML and OPM and the issue was discussed in an experimental graduate students' Web-based forum as part of a course in information systems engineering. Our study shows that SysML tends to be more appropriate in cases where a detailed picture is required. Alternatively, OPM is more suitable for defining system boundaries and demonstrating the overall picture of the system.


Introduction Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is the most common inherited monogenic autoinflammatory disease that gained the attention of researchers for decades. Population from East Mediterranean origin are mainly affected. Prevalence of FMF in endemic countries varies from 1:500 to 1:1,000; Turkey has the highest number of patients followed by Israel and Armenia. The most commonly incriminated genotypes are recessive gain-of-function mutations of the Mediterranean fever (MEFV) gene. MEFV gene, M694V, was proved to carry greater risk of developing secondary amyloidosis, a potentially lethal complication. Authors claimed that environmental factors and country of origin might augment the risk of amyloidosis in infants and children with FMF.


The paper presents a composite record of atmospheric CO based on several icecores from Greenland. The high resolution measurements reveal CO variations that have a too high frequency to have originated in the atmosphere. Production of CO in-situ, in the ice itself is assumed as the main cause for the CO spikes, after other potential explanations are tested and rejected. Considering this, the baseline of the measured CO is used to reconstruct the history of the maximum CO level in the Northern hemisphere over the past 300 years.


The largest contributing factor for human impact on global warming is the emission of greenhouse gasses, of which carbon dioxide (CO2) has the greatest consequences for the climate. Energy use in buildings is closely related to CO2 emissions from electricity and heat generation. An improvement of the energy efficiency of buildings would therefore have great impact on slowing down climate change and could also be economically beneficial for facility owners. In its Europe 2020 Strategy, the European Union has set itself three priorities for the year 2020; Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive growth, where sustainability addresses the issues of energy efficiency. The target is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20% compared to 1990 levels; increase the share of renewable energy sources in our final energy consumption to 20%; and a 20% increase in energy efficiency.To promote energy-saving, cost-effective building solutions and attain a higher energy efficiency the European Union has created the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), which both have been interpreted and incorporated into national legislation by the different member states of the EU. These directives and Swedish interpretations thereof are studied to investigate what impact they have on buildings in Sweden.Next, an Energy Performance Audit of the residential building Landsfogden 6 in the south of Stockholm was carried out. The results of that is that the energy performance of the building is 126 kWh/m2, which was surprising, given the recently executed substantial renovations, aiming at a 50% reduction in energy need.The only technical building system that has not been updated to a modern standard is the district heating substation. The system is old and oversized, both heat exchangers and pumps and valves, and the analysis shows that there is much to gain by installing a new substation. Fitted with an online control system and correctly adjusted, the energy use could decrease by 110 to 170 MWh/year, with the investment paid back in 2,5 years.Landsfogden 6 has been impacted by the Energy efficiency directive and the Energy performance of buildings directive as the decisions leading up to the renovations were directly connected first to the 20/20 goals of the Europe 2020 Strategy, but then decided upon aiming for the (possibly coming) Swedish goal for 2050, 50% higher energy efficiency.


The top performance in both the low-voltage and radio frequency (RF) scopes has been nominated for an unique nanodevice made from a graphene nanoribbon with an extremely short gate length (7.5 nm) in this study. Two distinct material engineering options were used, yielding some interesting outcomes. Due to the use of an ultrascale GNRFET in this study, the band structure non-linearity in the Dirac point and the energy-position dependent effective mass model for dual material gate architectures were examined for the first time. The NEGF formalism is used to carry out both the low-voltage and RF research using a three-dimensional (3D) Poisson equation. Low-voltage high performance has been validated by monitoring the key petameters in the terms of on current (Ion), off current (Ioff), Ion/Ioff ratio, subthreshold swing, and drain induced barrier lowering (DIBL) for the proposed device as compared to other structures under the study. The RF performance is examined by evaluation of essential parameters in the cases of parasitic gate capacitance, intrinsic cut-off frequency, intrinsic delay time, and transconductance. In addition, the performance of non-linearity and RF intermodulation distortion has been analyzed for all devices under investigation in order to attain the best attitude toward the suggested device.


The local recurrence rate after endoscopic piecemeal resection of superficial duodenal epithelial tumors (SDETs) is high, regardless of the technique used [1], which makes it difficult to perform endoscopic salvage treatment. The ideal situation would be to achieve an en bloc resection to avoid local recurrence. Underwater endoscopic mucosal resection (UEMR) can be performed safely for small SDETs [2]; however, the snare tip, without being fixed, may move from the initially planned area during snaring. Resected specimens may include excessive amounts of normal tissue or insufficient amounts of the target neoplasm. It is particularly difficult to achieve en bloc resection for SDETs of > 15mm in size [3], because such lesions straddle at least two folds and cannot be precisely grasped by the snare. Anchoring the snare tip to the duodenal mucosa to fix it in place has been tried [4]; however, there may be problems achieving an en bloc resection with this method. We previously reported that saline injection into a duodenal fold promotes a protruded form of the mucosa [5]. We suggest that mucosal protrusion has a role to play in anchoring and allows the snare tip to be fixed during UEMR. We devised a novel UEMR method that creates a new type of anchor by protruding the distal fold by the injection of saline. We used rotatable snares (Medi-Globe; Germany) to grasp the target lesions. In the novel technique, saline is first injected into the distal normal fold, so that it protrudes (▶Fig. 1 a). After water-immersion, the snare tip is fixed to the protruding fold, meaning it will not easily move after opening the snare because the protruding mucosa provides a cushioned anchor for the tip (▶Fig. 1 b). The direction and the lateral position of the snare can be repeatedly adjusted to grasp the entire lesion more precisely (▶Fig. 1 c; ▶Video 1). We suggest that this method will enable complete resection with free lateral margins, which are uncertain when performing conventional UEMR.


The work makes a tour of the definitions of journalism, regional journalism and the importance of the emergence of new space to practice journalism. It emphasizes in the digitization and the new digital era that seeks to create opportunities for citizen participation. Social media today play an important role but must be handled with professionalism by people today take this activity as a profession.


A retrospective study on 111 raptors received rehabilitation from 2008 to 2011 was conducted at Kasetsart University Raptor Rehabilitation Unit (KURU), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University in Thailand. Twenty-seven species in Falconiformes (73 individuals) and Strigiformes (38 individuals) were admitted. The identified causes of morbidity and mortality were trauma (38.74%), orphaned young (19.82%), starvation (17.12%), infectious diseases (13.51%), metabolic bone diseases (4.50%) and others (6.31%). After treatment, 40.54% of the raptors were recovered and able for release back to the wild, 29.73% deceased, 19.82% are being rehabed (as of Jan 2012), 9.91% were kept in captivity due to injury/disease-related permanent disabilities. Trauma appears to be the predominant cause of morbidity and mortality for rehabilitated raptors in the unit.


A chemo/regio selective enzymatic methodology has been designed to synthesize amphiphilic copolymers based on amino acid diesters and poly(ethylene glycol) [PEG]. The condensation polymerization was catalyzed by immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B (Novozyme 435) under solvent-less conditions. The synthesized polymers 3a–c were derivatized with long chain acid chlorides by chemical acylation to get the amphiphilic polymers 4a–c. The physical properties of the synthesized amphiphilic polymers viz: aggregation number, critical micelle concentration (CMC), radius of gyration (Rg), hydrodynamic radius (Rh) and particle size distribution were studied by static and dynamic light scattering (SLS and DLS) techniques. The polymers were found to be promising in drug delivery applications.


In recent years and especially in times of extended drought, the fire season in the western United States has become an annual consumer of not only natural resources but also dollars in the form of fire suppression and property damage/loss. To provide a new tool in the fire fighting arsenal, specially converted very large transport aircraft have been proposed to the U.S. Forest Service. While it goes without saying that wildfires are contained and extinguished by the work done by firefighter "boots on the ground," there may also be an important role provided by these so called Very Large Aerial Tankers (VLAT) that can deliver from 5 to 10 times more retardant or water in a single drop than other tankers. This paper describes a limited handling qualities evaluation of VLAT aircraft that was conducted by NASA and contractor Systems Technology, Inc. in support of this program. The effort focused primarily on piloted simulation evaluations. It was found that the VLAT class as a whole is airworthy and compatible with the wildfire suppression mission. Limitations in use should be considered when operating in steep terrain, irregular drop zones, or limited visibility wherein situational awareness regarding wing tip clearance may be an issue.


Sampling is employed in many fields of investigation to make inferences about characteristics or parameters of some larger set of cases. The intention is to represent that larger set with a minimum of effort and expense and a maximum of accuracy. We may want to know, for example, whether two or more variables are strongly correlated in that larger set. Researchers who are interested in cultural variation throughout the world (hereafter referred to as &dquo;cross-cultural&dquo; researchers) want to be able to generalize their sample results to the world. Hence they would ideally like to sample from all the cultures &dquo;that have ever existed, exist now, or ever will exist&dquo; (Otterbein's [1976: 108] &dquo;omneity&dquo;; statisticians generally use the word &dquo;population&dquo; to denote any large aggregate of existing cases [see, e.g., Cochran 1977: 5]). Unfortunately, the population of all past, present, and future cultures is (and will remain) incompletely accessible to us, since some past and present cultures are not described in sufficient detail, or are not described at all, in the ethnographic record, and since future cultures do not yet exist. However, we can still entertain the possibility of sampling from and generalizing to the population that consists of all of the cultures that have been fairly well described in the ethnographic record. (A list of the units in a population is called a &dquo;sampling frame,&dquo; which ideally covers the whole population and includes sampling units that do not overlap [Cochran 1977: 6].) In this paper, we discuss the various sampling strategies that have been employed, and might be employed, by cross-cultural researchers who want to generalize their results to some larger worldwide set of cases. Our discussion covers the following major topics: (1) sampling frames, samples, and sampling units; (2) random versus nonrandom sampling; (3) Galton's problem, or the issue of historical relatedness and how it may affect results and conclusions; and (4) practical considerations and recommendations. For other information about sampling, the reader is referred to the many books published since the 1950s on sampling theory and method (e.g., Cochran 1977; Kish 1965, 1987; for sampling in cross-cultural research, see Otterbein 1976, 1989, 1990).


The system identification theory based on SSI(Stochastic Subspace Identification) algorithm is researched,a method of electro-mechanical oscillation characteristics identification based on SSI is designed for power system and a method of participation factor calculation based on response is proposed, by which the quantitative evaluation of system controllability is realized. The proposed method is applied to calculate the dynamic angular frequency response of each generator in a system and the system electro-mechanical oscillation characteristics can be globally analyzed to effectively avoid the defect of traditional low-frequency oscillation analysis with insufficient information based on single signal. Simulative results of IEEE 39-bus system show its high identification accuracy and calculation efficiency.


The present investigation is — to the author's knowledge — the first attempt to document, understand, and ultimately correct the effect of temperature gradients on the higher-order moments of turbulent boundary-layer fluctuations obtained through hot-wire anemometry. Results, based on velocity and temperature data generated by means of direct numerical simulations from a turbulent channel flow emphasise that the ignored effect of temperature gradients might be able to explain some of the puzzling observations in the literature. Introduction and Motivation The (insufficient) finite length of a hot-wire sensor has been known for long to attenuate the measured fluctuations. With respect to wall-bounded turbulent flows efforts date back to the early 80s. Nonetheless, it was not until Hutchins et al. (5) that the quantitative effect of spatial resolution on the spectral content of the measured signal and in turn the root- mean-square (r.m.s.) was documented, thereby enabling to distinguish between Reynolds number (Re) as well as spatial and frequency resolution effects. In particular, the debate regarding the amplitude of the inner-scaled near-wall peak of the streamwise velocity (u) r.m.s. in canonical wall-bounded turbulent flows (7) has avalanched efforts to document, understand and ultimately correct spatial resolution effects (9). Since the amplitude grows logarithmically with Re for flat-plate boundary layers (5) and channel flows (1), the actual scaling behaviour can easily be masked by other effects. Due to the inconclusiveness of recent studies with respect to turbulent pipe flows at highRe (4) a possible explanation was thought to lie in the temperature gradient that can arise across the measurement plane in internal flows (8). The present study is a first attempt to document and understand this effect and propose and assess possible (practical) solutions.


w e l I m a c rofound racial and ethnic disparities have been documented in many aras of health and health care. Attempts o rectify these inequities in outcomes nd processes of care must begin with an ccurate account of their prevalence, ith some attention to potential etioloies. Unfortunately, disparities in obstetic outcomes and care have persisted ver time. Here we aim to summarize hese obstetric disparities and their posible origins, with the hope of driving an genda to resolve them. The manner in which disparities in ealth and health care should be dened is not always straightforward. In n argument to standardize the definiion, Le Cook et al described 3 definiions of disparities in health care. In he first, proposed by the Agency for ealthcare Research and Quality, dis-


African-American woman writer Toni Morrison creates many black characters in her novels who have committed Bad Faith in order to get rid of anxiety imposed by the racial discriminated American society or to run away from responsibility to explore their own self-identity.This paper tries to classify them into three different kinds according to Sartre' s theory.The analysis shows how much the black have suffered psychologically in the white-dominated society and reflects the importance of the reconstruction of the culture and spirit of the black community.


This article discusses the consequences for Spanish labor relations of the widespread use by employers of new information and communication technologies. It focuses on the problems that arise from the processing of personal data about workers, and on the problems that arise from the use by both workers and worker representatives of the employer's computerized communications facilities (this also includes the problems arising from the measures that employers may adopt in order to prevent the abuse of such facilities). A legal controversy has arisen in Spain in recent years over the extent to which employers may lawfully supervise and control the use that their employees make of the enterprise's communications facilities. This article aims to clarify the legal position and to define the limits upon employers' powers in this area. It analyzes the different possible sources of law, including certain provisions of the Constitution and legislation (that, although they were not originally created with this situation in mind, can and should apply). It also examines the already abundant caselaw. The possible legal consequences for employees of making personal use of their employer's communication facilities is discussed, along with the legal rules and guarantees that employers must respect. There is also a detailed examination of the significant risks for workers arising from the processing of their personal data by their employer. The Spanish legislation is analyzed, particular emphasis being put on how the law on data protection may be applied in practice at the workplace (the application of rules such as those on the nature of the data that may be collected, the effects of consent, the obligation to delete certain personal data, and transfers of personal data to third parties or to places outside Spanish jurisdiction). It is argued that, given their particular relation of subordination, the present level of legal protection for workers is inadequate; and it is argued that there is a need for worker representatives to play a greater role, and for the development of collective agreements, in order to protect the rights of individuals in this area.


Honesty is a fundamental life value that must be taught to early childhood. Teaching children to always say, behave and behave honestly will be a useful lesson for their life in the future. Instilling honesty from an early age will generally be more easily absorbed and instilled by children into a good habit until they are adults. The application of an honest attitude in the life of early childhood is very necessary and needed in everyday life because an honest attitude is a good and commendable attitude. Honesty is needed in various aspects of life. At Al-Urwatul Wutsqo Kindergarten, teachers make learning methods through traditional games to build understanding of children's honesty character.


Human engineering (also known as human factors) has been defined as, "a branch of applied science aimed at matching machine and task with the abilities of the operator." A more elaborate description of human engineering identifies it as being concerned with... the adaptation of human tasks and working environment to the sensory, mental, physical and other attributes of people. This adaptation for human use applies to such functions as the designs of equipment, instruments, manmachine systems, and consumer products, and to the development of optimum work methods and work environment.


Virus isolate Y64 was obtained from Siegesbeckia orientalis in Honghe, Yunnan province. The complete nucleotide sequence of DNA_A was determined, it contains 2730 nucleotides. Comparisons show that the total DNA_A of Y64 has the highest sequence identity (99%) with that of Tomato yellow leaf curl China virus (TYLCCNV) isolate Y38,and 96% sequence identity with that of TYLCCNV Guangxi isolate, while less than 83% identities are found when compared with other begomoviruses isolated in Asian. It is concluded that Y64 infecting Siegesbeckia orientalis is an isolate of TYLCCNV. Satellite DNA molecule (Y64β) was found to be associated with Y64 using the primers beta01 and beta02 Y64β consists of 1340 nucleotides, with a functional ORF (C1) in complementary_sense DNA. Y64β has 99 5%, 99 5% and 99 3% sequence identities with Y38β,Y36β and Y8β associated with TYLCCNV, respectively, and lower than 66 4% sequence identities are found with other reported satellite DNA molecules. Relationship dendrograms show that satellite DNAβ molecules are co_evolved with their help begomoviruses.


The poetic text in the cognitive linguistics context is the verbal representation of special conceptual structures. Poetry reflects the experience of interaction between a human being and the world. Therefore, the human being and the world are represented as two interacting systems – "I"-system, "World"-system. Despite plenty of poetic texts, the variety of subjective points of view, the interaction between "I"-system and "World"-system is possible to reduce to the three main cognitive strategies of interaction: Priest-strategy, Craftsman-strategy, Magician-strategy. Every cognitive strategy defines the set of basic parameters of the interaction between a person and the environment he exists.


Finding neutrinos of astrophysical origin requires a good understanding of the flux of atmospheric neutrinos up to the PeV energy range. Of particular importance is the level of prompt leptons, and the effect of the knee in the primary spectrum of nucleons. In this paper we describe techniques for combining Monte Carlo simulations with analytic approximations to overcome the technical problem of low statistics in the Monte Carlo. We will present preliminary results of our calculations based on the latest version of the SIBYLL event generator with charm.


Abstract The Morinaceae (Dipsacales) contains 13 species placed in Acanthocalyx, Cryptothladia or Morina, and is distributed from the mountains of southeastern Europe through the Himalayas to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, mainly in alpine habitats. Sequence data from two chloroplast regions (the trnK intron and the trnL-F region) and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of nuclear ribosomal DNA were used to infer phylogenetic relationships of Morinaceae and related Dipsacales. Both the nuclear and chloroplast datasets, as well as the combined data, provide strong support for relationships within the Valerina clade, placing Morinaceae as the sister group of a clade containing Valerianaceae and Dipsacaceae plus Triplostegia. The Morinaceae, Acanthocalyx, Cryptothladia, and a clade containing Morina and Cryptothladia, are all supported as monophyletic. However, Morina was found to be paraphyletic in several of our analyses, with Morina longifolia more closely related to Cryptothladia than to other Morina species. There is some evidence that Morina longifolia produces cleistogamous flowers, as do Cryptothladia species. Dispersal-vicariance analyses support the view that Valerina radiated initially within Asia, with subsequent movement into Europe in Morinaceae, Dipsacaceae, and Valerianaceae, and into the New World in Valerianaceae. For Morinaceae, as for a number of plant groups, the Brahmaputra river drainage marks a significant biogeographic divide, although this has been spanned within Acanthocalyx and the Morina-Cryptothladia lineage.


The present invention is a numerically controlled intelligent gas-burning stove and its control method. The gas-burning stove has two symmetrically distributed burners, one electrically controlling box, one gas sensor in the back part of the controlling box, one liquid crystal controlling box in the front part and connected via digital control circuit to the electrically controlling box, one electrically controlling regulation valve communicated via pipe with the burners and one general valve, one pressure switch beside one of the burners, and successively set flame detector, igniter and temperature sensor inside one of the burners. The said gas-burning stove may be programming controlled and has automatic ignition, touching fire regulation, temperature control, safety protection and other functions.


Software Defined Routing Protocols (SDRP) are becoming increasingly important for the reliable and efficient operation of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). SDRP makes use of improved technologies and techniques to provide rigorous, more intuitive, and more dynamic network management of WSNs. In particular, SDRP utilizes a combination of both proven network routing algorithms and new algorithms that optimize routing capacity to meet the rapidly changing requirements of networks deployed over large areas. As a result of its wide area coverage, SDRP is able to scale for small and large networks, providing both robust and efficient control of WSNs. It is also capable of self-organizing complex network topologies and minimizing communication cost. At the same time, SDRP provides an effective platform for the integration of different protocols, such as those for the mobile, multimedia, security, and quality of service. Furthermore, it is flexible enough to accommodate various types of application requirements. As such, SDRP can help to enhance quality of service and reduce total cost of ownership.


The formal Diels-Alder (D-A) reaction of alkenes with 1,2-diimine and related substrates is designed and studied by density functional theory (DFT), multi-reference and quasi-classical trajectory calculations in the presence of a benzoquinone-based organic oxidant. The reaction is found to occur through an Addition-Coupled Electron Transfer (ACET) with one electron transferred to the oxidant in one elementary step, affording a carbon-radical, followed by an intramolecular radical addition. The overall barrier is significantly reduced as compared to the traditional concerted D-A reaction. No concerted Pericyclic-Coupled Electron Transfer (cPeriCET), the reaction with two new bond formation events in one elementary step coupled with electron transfer, was found.


[Objective]To observe the acupuncture treatment of paroxysmal migraine curative effect.[Methods]Using random parallel control method,60 patients with outpatient were randomly divided into two groups according to flip a coin method.Control group,30 cases of sibeline 5 mg/times,1/d.Finn,0.3 g/times,2 times/d.Treatment group 30 cases acupuncture,find out the head dimension,rate of valley,wind pool,outside,gb 34,lr 3.Acupuncture disinfection,head d hole flat back 1.5 inches,the rate of hole hole direction to head d flat valley 1.5-inch,inclined toward the tip 1 inch,wind pool outside close stab into 1 inch,gb 34 stab a 1.5-inch,lr 3 point stab into 1 inch,the hole line needle to win a few QiGan,tired conduction is preferred,30 min/times,1/d.14 d continuous treatment for 1 course of treatment.Observation of clinical symptoms,migraine integral,adverse reactions.2 continuous treatment course,judge curative effect.[Results]The treatment group cure 9 cases,11 cases were markedly effective,effective in 5 cases,5 cases failed,the total effective rate was 83.33%.Control group healed in 5 cases,6 cases had marked effect,8 cases,11 cases,total effective rate was 63.33%.The treatment group curative effect is better than that of control group(P0.05).Two groups of migraine integral were improved(P0.05),the treatment group improved better than that of control group(P 0.05).[Conclusion]Acupuncture in treatment of attack effect is remarkable,migraine is worth promoting.


The gram-positive bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is known to produce proteinaceous inclusions during the late exponential phase of growth (Schnepf et al., 1998). The inclusions are composed of proteins known as insecticidal crystal proteins (ICPs), or d-endotoxins. Bt ICPs have been found that are highly toxic to a wide variety of important agricultural and healthrelated insect pests as well as other invertebrates and therefore they are used extensively to control insect pests. Traditionally, Bt's toxicity has been attributed mainly to its ICPs. Therefore, most studies of Bt over the past two decades have focused on the discovery of new ICPs and elucidation of their mode of action at the molecular level. To date, more than 300 ICP genes have been cloned, sequenced, and classified into 49 groups of cry genes and 2 groups of cyt genes based on the amino acid homology of the corresponding proteins (Crickmore et al., 2004). For the same reason, the first step in the typical manufacturing process of a Bt bioinsecticide is to concentrate the fermentation solids, such as d-endotoxin crystals, spores and unused particulate media components, by centrifugation and the supernatant is removed and discarded as waste (Travis and O'Callaghan, 2000). Nevertheless, recent research aimed at a more precise understanding of Bt components and how they contribute to its toxicity has revealed that many Bt isolates produce other molecules ranging from relatively simple organic compounds to different types of secreted toxins that contribute to toxicity (Cai et al., 2003a). Bt9816C, isolated from the soil of Shanghai (China) Vip3A is responsible for the potency of Bacillus thuringiensis 9816C culture supernatant against Helicoverpa armigera and Spodoptera exigua


Drug-resistance of chemotherapy is the leading cause of mortality in breast cancer patients. Understanding how drug-resistant cancer cell survival is of great importance for the breast cancer therapy. Here, we identified a key protein, TM9SF4, namely transmembrane 9 superfamily, isoform 4, which play vital role in drug-resistant breast cancer survival. TM9SF4 is significantly up-regulated in drug-resistant breast cancer cells MCF-7/ADM compared to its parental wildtype cell line MCF-7/WT. Knockdown of TM9SF4 using lenti-TM9SF4-shRNA dramatically decreased cell viability and induced cell death of MCF-7/ADM. Moreover, drug-resistant xenografts derived from animal model also showed a significantly reduced growth rate after the delivery of lenti-TM9SF4-shRNA. The underlying mechanism may be related to the triggering of ER stress, leading to unfolded protein response, which will induce apoptosis/necrosis, causing cell death. Our study provides TM9SF4 as a promising target for the overcoming of drug-resistance in clinical breast cancer therapy.


The space-dependent behavior of neutron noise induced by a propagating perturbation, represented by the fluctuations of the absorbtion cross section propagating with the coolant of a PWR, is investigated in a one-dimensional one-group approach. The general space-frequency problem is solved for this specific noise source with the help of Greens function technique. All calculations are made in the frame of first-order perturbation theory. The solution is investigated for a different frequencies and system sizes. The limits of point-kinetic and space-dependent behaviour were investigated. An interesting interference phenomenon was found between the point kinetic and the pure space dependent components of the noise for certain combinations of the frequency and system size. The results bear a significance for the dynamics of Molten Salt Reactors (MSR), which will be reported on in a companion paper.


In this paper, using SILAR thin film technique, which is low cost and is easy to control, the lead oxide (PbO) thin film was grown onto both microscope glass and inorganic semiconductor silicon (Si) wafer after appropriate chemical cleaning processes. The coating stage was performed by keeping the solution at 80 ℃. After forming a PbO thin film on the silicon semiconductor, Pb metal was evaporated onto its upper surface. Optical, morphological and structural properties of the PbO thin film formed on glass were investigated. The electrical and interface characteristics of the Pb/PbO/p-Si MIS Schottky diode were investigated in the dark by using current-voltage (I-V), capacity-voltage (C-V) and conductance-voltage (G-V) in 10kHz-2MHz frequency range and capacity-frequency (C-f) characteristics in 1kHz-10MHz frequency range.


Epothilones are a new class of anticancer compounds produced by the Gram-negative myxobacterium Sorangium cellulosum.It shows high cytotoxicity for animal cells and mimic biological effect of taxol.In order to obtain epothilone producing strains,three pairs of primers were used to amplify fragments of epoA,epoC and epoK which encoding loading module,polyketide synthases(PKS) and P450 enzyme respectively in epothilone biosynthesis cluster from sixty S.cellulosum strains,and the PCR products were sequenced to avoid the false-positive strains.Seven isolates XMU-So-58,XMU-So-64,XMU-So-70,XMU-So-72,XMU-So-112,XMU-So-264 and XMU-Nc-03 were found to have at least one fragment of epoA,epoC and epoK.Then they were successfully purified and their secondary metabolites were analyzed using epothilone B as positive control by HPLC-MS.The result showed that XMU-So-58,XMU-So-70,XMU-So-72 and XMU-So-264 didn′t produce epothilone.While epothilone B were detected in the fermentation products of three strains,XMU-Nc-03,XMU-So-64 and XMU-So-112 with intensity of 2.7×105,6.2×105 and 7.0×106 respectively,at the retention time of 9.8-9.9 min.Thus,XMU-So-112 was proved to be the best producer.In summary,the best producer of epothilone B not only was obtained from 60 Sorangium strains,but also it was established that an efficient method for screening antibiotic producers based on PCR screening coupled with HPLC-MS analysis.


We define algebras of triple semigroup and DeMorgan triple semigroup and by defining three Mann's compositions and one unary operation on the set of 3-place(ternary) functions over some set, we construct a DeMorgan triple semigroup of 3-place (ternary) functions and so find an abstract characterization of this algebras.


Nearly eighty substituted thiocarbanilides–viz., p -(2-thiazolyl)-, p -(4-thiazolyl)- and p -(5-thiazolyl)- p -alkoxy-thiocarbanilides, and p - p ′-bis(4-thiazolyl)-thiocarbanilides, along with a few thiazolyl thiocarbanilides having halogens on the phenyl ring containing the p ′-alkoxy group, have been synthesized and studied for in vitro antitubercular activity. Also described are over 40 new substituted thiazoles prepared as intermediates. p -(4-Thiazolyl)- p ′- alkoxy-thiocarbanilides in general showed the maximum in vitro tuberculostatic activity in the present study. p -(2,5-Dimethyl-4-thiazolyl)- p ′- n -propoxythiocarbanilide had the same in vitro tuberculostatic activity as isonicotinic acid hydrazide ( INH ) (0.04 mcg./ml.) but did not produce tuberculostatic serum concentration at the same oral dose level as INH .


The function of the parotid glands were studied in 45 patients with parotid gland diseases, with the salivary glands affection systemic diseases, and with radiation injury of the parotid glands. As a control, the studies were done on 13 patients with no history of salivary gland disease. The method is consisted of sequential scientigraphy using a gamma scintillation camera and simultaneous recordings of the time-activity curves for the regions over the parotid glands and Stensen's orifices. The examination was commenced immediately after intravenous injection of 99 mTc , and was continued up to 30 minutes. Salivation was stimulated with oral administration of tataric acid at 20 minutes after injection. According to whether the uptake, concentration and excretion of 99mTc were diminished or increased, the time-activity curves could be grouped in following four different patterns. Pattern-A. Parotid gland activities continuously increased with time, whereas the orifice activities were no more than those of background and the curves maintained a plateau in shape. However, sudden decrease was observed in parotid gland activities immediately after salivary


This paper describes the work carried out at the Carinthia University of Applied Sciences to create a LabVIEW based toolkit that aims at providing laboratory developers with a tool to easily develop new batch lab servers for the iLab Shared Architecture. The Toolkit was developed for the ELVIS batch lab server of MIT, but can be used as a general solution for any type of iLab batch Lab Server deployed with LabVIEW at the server-side. The development platform was LabVIEW due to its widespread use in engineering schools. The Toolkit implements the function of an experiment engine that parses an experiment specification XML document, executes the experiment and generates an experiment result XML document. The XML parser can be easily adapted.


DETAILS ARE GIVEN OF THE MODIFICATIONS TO THE ROAD PLAN COVERING FOUR PROVINCES TO ENABLE ROADS LEADING TO THE SAINT NAZAIRE-SAINT BREVIN BRIDGE TO BE BUILT AND TO BRING CHANGES TO INTERREGIONAL LINKS. COSTS ARE QUOTED. SEE ALSO IRRD ABSTRACTS NOS 106293-5.


The astrophysical S-factor for the 3 He( , ) 7 Be reaction plays an important role in the Solar Standard Model and in the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis scenario. The advances from two recent experiments performed using complementary techniques at center of mass (C.M.) energies between 1 and 3 MeV are discussed.


Solid phase crystallization of an amorphous silicon (a-Si) film stressed by a Si3N4 cap was studied by laser Raman spectroscopy. The a-Si films were deposited on Si3N4 (50 nm)/Si(100) substrate by rf sputtering. The stress in an a-Si film was controlled by thickness of a Si3N4 cap layer. The Si3N4 films were also deposited by rf sputtering. It was observed that the crystallization was affected by the stress in a-Si films introduced by the Si3N4 cap layer. The study suggests that the elastic stress increases with crystallization due to the smaller elastic modulus of a-Si with respect to crystalline silicon (c-Si). It is most reasonable to think that the elastic stress does not relax and that the elastic energy increased with crystallization because the elastic modulus of a-Si is smaller than that of c-Si. The experimental data was fitted by this model and the difference of the enthalpy ΔHac between a-Si and c-Si which is the latent heat of crystallization obtained by the fitting showed good coincidence with the previously reported value.Solid phase crystallization of an amorphous silicon (a-Si) film stressed by a Si3N4 cap was studied by laser Raman spectroscopy. The a-Si films were deposited on Si3N4 (50 nm)/Si(100) substrate by rf sputtering. The stress in an a-Si film was controlled by thickness of a Si3N4 cap layer. The Si3N4 films were also deposited by rf sputtering. It was observed that the crystallization was affected by the stress in a-Si films introduced by the Si3N4 cap layer. The study suggests that the elastic stress increases with crystallization due to the smaller elastic modulus of a-Si with respect to crystalline silicon (c-Si). It is most reasonable to think that the elastic stress does not relax and that the elastic energy increased with crystallization because the elastic modulus of a-Si is smaller than that of c-Si. The experimental data was fitted by this model and the difference of the enthalpy ΔHac between a-Si and c-Si which is the latent heat of crystallization obtained by the fitting showed good coincidence wi...


This study concerns about the enterprise's strategies theme, departing, first, from the presentation of the proposal of the classical Strategic Planning school, that proposes as a central paradigm of analysis the analysis of the internal and external environment of the organization, and the studies of it's forces and weakness. It is realized a raising of some of the most important censures this school's proposal receive along the time, in order to detach the possible weakness from the model. Put, then, as a counterpart to this proposal, the new schemes based in a strategic approach as intrinsic part of the discussion about the competitive position of the enterprise in the market where it is inserted. One of these models, proposed by the american economist Michael Porter sticks out of the others, searching to establish the problem of the strategy as a function of the competitive position search based in two instances the generic position, and the specific position. At the same time, when it searches detach the characteristics and the force of the Porter's model, the study searches raise some of his weakness too, even it would not be a specific object of analysis, a deepen study of this criterions question. At the end, realize a case study, searching apply to it the Porter's model, to demonstrate the validity of the raised hypothesis: whatever, the one which the models based in the strategic view as a part of the search from the enterprises to find a good competitive position in her markets, particularly the model proposed by Michael Porter, show much more interesting and superior to the old models based on the classic view from the Strategic Planning school, ever it could inlay limitations and present weakness that subject them to partials critics. The case study presented involve the discussion about the possible implications of the Porter's model applyed in a private school located in the region of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, be positioned at it's market, searching evaluate the correction of this position and the possible improvements that can accomplish at it, beyond the risks he inlay, in function of the paradigms proposed by the model.


Chapter 1 The contract of life assurance Chapter 2 Insurance law issues Chapter 3 FSMA and the life office Chapter 4 Intermediation and distribution of life insurance products Chapter 5 Financial promotion and product disclosure Chapter 6 With-profits funds Chapter 7 Prudential regulation Chapter 8 Life reassurance Chapter 9 Claims and title to life policies Chapter 10 Assignments Chapter 11 Trusts and life assurance Chapter 12 Insolvency and MWPA trusts Chapter 13 Income tax and capital gains tax Chapter 14 Inheritance tax Chapter 15 Estate planning and life assurance Chapter 16 The tax framework for registered pension schemes Chapter 17 Life assurance for special purposes.


California Bearing Ratio (CBR) and static and cyclic triaxial tests were conducted on the four most frequently encountered local materials—fly ash, coarse sand, stone dust, and river bed material (RBM)—for their use in the subbase layer of a flexible pavement. The CBR of stone dust was the maximum value of all, but its behavior under dynamic load in triaxial tests was inferior to that of the other materials. Fly ash has low CBR, but better stress-strain behavior than stone dust. The results show that RBM is the best material for use in the subbase layer as it had good CBR, high E-value and resilient modulus, and low permanent strain values compared to other materials used in this study.


Lightning overvoltages are responsible for the majority of faults and outages that occur in Medium Voltage (MV) distribution networks. The overhead lines can be protected from the above phenomena with adequate installation of surge arresters and shield wires. Insulation enhancement can also play a significant role in minimizing outage rates of the lines, though it will not be so effective. However, high and grounded structures such as trees or buildings will naturally protect the lines from direct lightning strokes, if adequate clearance between the lines and the structures is considered. This paper presents the experimental study and electro-geometric modeling on the shielding effect of trees on direct strokes to medium voltage distribution lines. The shielding effect of a nearby tree on an MV distribution conductor is compared with that of a concrete building which has been previously investigated in the literature. It is expected that the results of the comparison will serve as good recommendations for the enhancement of lightning protection in power distribution circuits.


A new class of functions, termed semistrictly G-preinvex functions, is introduced in this paper. The relationships between semistrictly G-preinvex functions and G-preinvex functions are investigated under mild assumptions. Our results improve and extend the existing ones in the literature. c © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


Self-healing technology offers an autonomic route to repairing damage in advanced polymers to extend their lifetime. A variety of self-healing systems have been developed for mechanical self-healing, protective coatings, and electronic self-healing. These self-healing systems rely on functional groups within the polymer, microvascular networks, or compartmentalization in capsules and particles. The healing agents become active in the crack plane upon damage, forming new bonds that heal the material. Of these systems, compartmentalization offers a simple and inexpensive means to apply self-healing to current advanced polymer applications. In this research, the primary motivation is to address challenges associated with small size-scale self-healing in compartmentalized systems. The term " small size-scale " in self-healing technology is applied to technologies where components are between 100 and 2000 nm. As the size of the capsules and particles decreases, current encapsulation methods do not ensure that self-healing components disperse well in a polymer matrix and that the components retain their contents during processing. The ring-opening metathesis polymerization reaction between


Abstract : Severe exposure to HD induces blistering skin reactions and significant loss of stem cell keratinocytes that are required for a continuous renewal of the epidermal cell layer. Therefore, HD injuries require long healing periods leaving significant cosmetic and/or functional deficits. We are developing bioengineered skin from embryonic stem cells for improved therapy for HD-induced skin damage. Since stem cell keratinocytes lack major histocompatibility class II antigens, they exhibit little immunogenicity and are suitable for allograft use. The multipotential nature of stem cells may be particularly valuable for skin damage where several cell types and growth factors are necessary for proper repair and regeneration. We differentiated embryonic stem cells to skin keratinocytes in a cellular matrix cultured in an air/liquid system to form the bioengineered skin, mimicking normal skin. The efficacy of bioengineered skin for HD-induced skin lesions was evaluated using a C57BL/6 mouse model and 2-chloroethylethyl sulfide (half-mustard or CEES). Mice were exposed to 3 microliters neat CEES for 10 minutes, and at 48 h post exposure, the injured skin was excised and the site was cleaned with debridase. Next, the bioengineered skin was transferred directly to the wound and affixed with a non-adherent sterile gauze pad. The affixed with a non-adherent sterile gauze pad. The embryonic stem cell derived bioengineered skin exhibited growth and healing in 1 to 3 weeks. In contrast, the CEES exposed animals not treated with bioengineered skin had a) no skin growth and b) obvious contraction of the skin in the injured area. Our results demonstrate that for the first time, topically applied fresh or frozen bioengineered skin or skin keratinocytes from embryonic stem cells produce improved healing when applied 48 h after HD exposure.