This work provides different strategies for the enzymatic modification of the fatty acid composition in soybean phosphatidylcholine (PC) and the subsequent purification. Enzymatic transesterification reactions with caprylic acid as acyl donor were carried out in continuous enzyme bed reactors with a commercial immobilized lipase (Lipozyme RM IM) as catalyst. Operative stability of the immobilized lipase was examined under solvent and solvent-free conditions. The long reaction time required to have a high incorporation, combined with rapid deactivation of the enzyme, makes the solvent-free transesterification reaction unfavorable. Performing the reaction in the presence of solvent (hexane) makes it possible to have high incorporation into PC and deactivation of the lipase is less pronounced as compared to solvent-free operations. For solvent-free operation, it is suggested to recycle the reaction mixture through the packed bed reactor, as this would increase incorporation of the desired fatty acids, due to increased contact time between substrate and enzyme in the column. Removal of free fatty acids from the reaction mixture can be done by ultrafiltration; however, parameters need to be selected with care in order to have a feasible process. No changes are observed in the phospholipid (PL) distribution during ultrafiltration, and other techniques as column chromatography may be required if high purity of individual PL species is desired. LC/MS analysis of transesterified PC revealed the presence of 8:0/ 8:0-PC, showing that acyl migration takes place during the acidolysis reaction.


In Korea, the Korean Standard Nuclear Power Plant(KSNP) program has demonstrated its success through operation of its first units, Ulchin 3 and 4, from 1998, and six more units are currently under construction including two in North Korea. The next program is to provide a next generation reactor design, with increased power of 4000 MWt (1400 MWe), with higher confidence in safety, performance, construction and operation as well as economics relative to the KSNPs. The Advanced Power Reactor 1400 (APR1400) development program consisting of three phases was ended in 2001, and it is expected to obtain a Design Approval for the developed standard design soon, which is a planned goal of the program. The key to the APR1400 development is an evolutionary approach that relies on use of the proven KSNP design and proven components in order to derive maximum benefits from experience. Furthermore, advanced features and design improvements are implemented to provide additional benefits. These features are mainly to provide additional thermal margins; to better accommodate transients and reduce unnecessary challenges to the plant safety; to mitigate severe accident conditions; to simplify structure and to improve operability. This paper describes the development approach of the APR1400, and introduces majormore » design features including design improvements and advanced design features focusing on the nuclear steam supply system (NSSS). Also, some of the safety analysis results are presented. (authors)« less


age of Abraham and his flocks" is an analogue to the dwelling place of the Olympian gods. Olga Meerson addresses the same episodes for her seminal study of intertextual connections: the novel's Epilogue and Gen. 22:1–19 ("Abraham's Sacrifice of Isaac" in Christian, and "Isaac's Binding" in Judaic tradition). She defines the basic characteristics of Dostoevskii's eschatological poetics and addressing Raskolnikov's existential situation, resolves the problem of the unrepentant protagonist who "all of a sudden" becomes redeemed and aware of being resurrected." For Dostoevskii, Meerson states, the only way to break down the dialectics of the intellectual Raskolnikov is to "introduce into the novel the subtext from the world of the Bible and of the events described" and "to make the hero and the readers of the novel recognize the experience of repentance as such" (390). Dostoevsky beyond Dostoevsky is a valuable addition to the series of publications and conference proceedings: Dostoevsky and World Culture, The Twenty-First Century through Dostoevsky's Eyes: The Prospect for Humanity (2002).


Novel computational strategies are continuously being demanded by the pharmaceutical industry to assist, improve and speed up the drug discovery process. In this scenario chemoinformatics provide reliable mathematical tools to derive quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs), able to describe the correlation between molecular descriptors and various experimental profiles of the compounds. In the last years, nonlinear machine learning approaches have demonstrated a noteworthy predictive capability in several QSAR applications, confirming their superiority over the traditional linear methodologies. Particularly the feasibility of the classification approach has been highlighted in solving complex tasks. Moreover, the introduction of the autocorrelation concept in chemistry allows the structural comparison of the molecules
by using a vectorial fixed-length representation to serve as effective molecular descriptor. In the present thesis we have deeply investigated the wide applicability and the potentialities of nonlinear QSAR strategies, especially in combination with autocorrelation molecular electrostatic potential descriptors projected on the molecular surface. Our intent is arranged in six different case studies that focus on crucial problems in pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics and toxicity fields.
The first case study considers the estimation of a physicochemical property, the aqueous solvation free energy, that strictly relates to the pharmacokinetic profile and toxicity of chemicals. Our discussion on pharmacodynamics deals with the prediction of potency and selectivity of human adenosine receptor antagonists (hAR). The adenosine receptor family belongs to GPCR (G protein-coupled receptors) family A, including four different subtypes, referred to as A1, A2A, A2B and A3, which are widely distributed in the tissues. They differentiate for both pharmacological profile and effector coupling. Intensive explorative synthesis and pharmacological evaluation are aimed at discovering potent and selective ligands for each adenosine receptor subtype. In the present thesis, we have considered several pyrazolo-triazolo-pyrimidine and xanthine derivatives, studied as promising adenosine receptor antagonists. Then, a second case study focuses on the comparison and the parallel applicability of linear and nonlinear models to predict the binding affinity of human adenosine receptor A2A antagonists and find a consensus in the prediction results. The following studies evaluate the prediction of both selectivity and binding affinity to A2AR and A3R subtypes by combining classification and regression strategies, to finally investigate the full adenosine receptor potency spectrum and human adenosine receptor subtypes selectivity profile by applying a multilabel classification approach. In the field of pharmacokinetics, and more specifically in metabolism prediction, the use of multi- and single-label classification strategies is involved to analyze the isoform specificity of cytochrome P450 substrates. The results lead to the identification of the appropriate methodology to interpret the real metabolism information, characterized by xenobiotics potentially transformed by multiple cytochrome P450 isoforms. As final case study, we present a computational toxicology investigation. The recent regulatory initiatives due to REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals) require the ecotoxicological and risk assessment of chemicals for safety. Most of the current evaluation protocols are based on costly animal experiments. So, chemoinformatic tools are heartily recommended to facilitate the toxicity characterization
of chemical substances. We describe a novel integrated strategy to predict the acute aquatic toxicity through the combination of both toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic behaviors of chemicals, by using a machine learning classification method. The goal is to assign chemicals to different levels of acute aquatic toxicity, providing an appropriate answer to the new regulatory requirements. As preliminary validation of our approach, two toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic models have been applied in series to inspect both aquatic toxicity hazard and mode of action of a set of chemical substances with unknown or uncertain toxicodynamic information, assessing the potential ecological risk and the toxic mechanism.


The demonstration of applicability of safety analysis computer code to a nuclear reactor system is of importance for the licensing of the reactor. The applicability includes the capability of the computer code to addresses all important phenomena expected in the reactor and the verification and validation of the computer code for these phenomena. The SAS4A/SASSYS-1 system level computer code is the safety analysis computer code for the Westinghouse lead fast reactor (LFR) and demonstrating its applicability is an important task in the LFR development. The SAS4A/SASSYS-1 code is capable to simulate anticipated operational occurrences, design basis accidents and beyond design basis accidents of liquid metal fast reactors, and the major strengths of SAS4A/SASSYS-1 include a complete reactivity feedback model, a comprehensive fuel rod performance model, and extensive applications to liquid metal reactors. Over the past few years, the SAS4A/SASSYS-1 code was further improved as a part of various United State Department of Energy programs to extend its applicability to LFR systems. The improvements include the capability of mechanistic source term analysis, oxide fuel modeling enhancements, the capability of simulating the passive heat removal system through coupling with the GOTHIC code, the capability to simulate primary heat exchangers, and the enhancement of computer code verification and validation base specific to LFR systems. The validation is expected to be further enhanced with the LFR testing program, which includes experiments in United Kingdom Advanced Modular Reactor phase 2 program, LFR integral effects test facility, and International Atomic Energy Agency collaborations.


Objective To study age-related changes in expression of X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) in the primary auditory cortex in C57BL/6J mice. Methods XIAP expression in the primary autiditory cortex (A Ⅰ) was measured using immunohistochemical methods and compared between a group of 15 1-2 month-old (5-20g) and a group of 15 10-12 month-old (50-60g) C57BL/6J mice. Results Expression of XIAP in A Ⅰ showed significant decline in old mice compared to young mice. Conclusion The results provide direct morphological evidence indicating reduced XIAP presence in old C57BL/6J mice which may be a mechanism for age-related auditory function decline.


Effects of cesium vapor injection on H− production in a tandem source are studied theoretically by solving a set of particle balance equations in a steady‐state hydrogen plasma. In particular, enhancement of H− production and its mechanism, effects of wall recombination of H for surface H− production, and the effectiveness of the tandem two‐chamber system for H− optimization are discussed.


The selective districts from Liupanshui area, Guizhou are appraised for three phases involving pre-dressing, drilling and trial mining, and the evaluable principle, standard and outcome in every phase are posed; it is pointed out that the survey of the coal-layer gas is promising to breakthrough at three districts of Jinzhuping, Songhe and Qingjiao.


The openness and liberalization of China's financial market is expected to accelerate with her entrance to the WTO. China plans to carry out liberalization measures, including the expansion of the Renminbi business scope. Openness and liberalization will expedite the integration of internal and external sectors, thereby making the domestic financial market more vulnerable to environmental changes. Consequently, China should establish a strong financial system to efficiently cope with the contagion effects of an external financial crisis. However, China's financial system is still very weak, mainly due to the enormous bad loans to SOEs (state-owned enterprises). Accordingly, the Chinese government should carry out financial reform measures such as strengthening the financial supervision system, dealing with bad bank loans and restructuring the financial institutions. On the whole, China's entrance to the WTO is expected to have a positive influence on her financial sector by accelerating such reform policies as financial reform and SOE reform. Entrance to the WTO will make society recognize the necessity of reform and openness. The Chinese government can decide to push some difficult reform policies which would not have been considered without WTO entrance.


The CardioWest™ TAH-t (temporary total artificial heart), now known as the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart (SynCardia Systems, Inc.; Tucson, Ariz), was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2004 for temporary use in patients with irreversible biventricular heart failure who are potential candidates for cardiac transplantation. This approval was granted on the basis of a multi-institutional study of 80 patients.1 Surgical teams at 23 centers in the U.S. and 20 in Europe and Australia have been trained to implant this device, which is the only TAH to be approved in either the United States or Europe. More than 888 of these devices have been implanted since 1993. The leading centers have been in Paris; Berlin and Bad Oeynhausen, Germany; Tucson, Arizona; and Richmond, Virginia (Medical College of Virginia).

The SynCardia TAH-t is a pneumatic biventricular pulsatile pump that weighs 160 g, displaces 400 mL of space, and routinely pumps 7 to 9 L/min of blood at a central venous pressure of 10 to 15 mmHg when implanted. Once the console has been set up, it rarely needs any adjustment. Thanks to the pneumatic mechanism, it automatically increases output as the patient exercises or experiences any other increase in blood volume; there is no blood-balance discrepancy between the left and right ventricles. The ventricles are attached to the left and right atria, which are left entirely intact and have normal compliance and filling pressures. Therefore, this pump does not create negative pressure within the thorax at any time.

Indications for implantation have included severe heart failure that requires treatment with multiple high-dose inotropic agents and vasopressors and often with mechanical ventilation, intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation, and temporary extracorporeal cardiac and pulmonary support. The survival rate has been 79% to the time of transplantation; 86% of those survivors have lived for one year after transplantation. Sixty-nine percent of the TAH recipients, compared with 37% of a matched control group, have reached the endpoint of successful post-transplantation survival (P <0.01). Complications with this pump have been no worse than those reported with left ventricular assist devices. Stroke, the most dreaded complication of mechanical circulatory support devices, was seen in 10% of patients, but nearly all strokes occurred at the time of implantation or explantation. The stroke rate during device support was lower than 2%.

Since 2003, out-of-hospital care of TAH recipients has been a reality in Germany, where the Bad Oeynhausen group started discharging patients from the hospital on a portable driver. Now, more than 68 patients have been discharged home in Germany, France, and Italy for periods of up to 903 days. In the U.S., 2 new drivers, the Companion II (45 lb) and the Freedom (13.5 lb) drivers (SynCardia), have been tried in the laboratory. They are now ready for human use in Europe and the U.S. (Fig. 1). There are approximately 20 Companion II and 8 Freedom drivers attached to patients in Europe and Australia. The first patient discharged home on the 13.5-lb driver was in Moscow, the second in Phoenix. Before the production of the Companion II and Freedom drivers, only 36 large (Big Blue) consoles for driving the TAH were available in the world. This placed limitations on use, which will disappear over the next 18 months as the portable drivers become more available.

Fig. 1 The relative sizes of 3 drivers used for the SynCardia temporary total artificial heart. Illustration courtesy of SynCardia Systems, Inc.

Multivariate analyses of risks associated with the use of various types of mechanical circulatory support device have been used in an effort to identify favorable populations for each device type.2 The result has been that ventricular assist devices are associated with higher mortality rates in patients with right ventricular failure, either by itself or in combination with failure of the kidneys, the liver, or the lungs—and the SynCardia TAH-t does not increase the risk for patients with these conditions.

As the new, smaller drivers are approved and released, out-of-hospital care of TAH patients will be possible, first in Europe and later in the U.S. This should enable the cost of a TAH to be cut drastically. The quality of life of patients will be dramatically improved, and surgeons and hospitals will have a device-support option to offer the very sickest patients.


The various systems of principles within which modern economists suggest to develop and realize strategic management of the food-processing industry enterprises are examined. The detailed analysis of modern representations about effective system of principles of the activity of the industrial enterprise defined four principles. The analysis of production of the food-processing industry both in the Russian Federation and in the Astrakhan region is made, and also the factors influencing the development of the food-processing industry are revealed. By the results of the conducted research the strategy of the enterprise of food manufacture taking into account changes of consumer preferences is generated.


It is well known that cubic SrTiO3 possesses a typical perovskite structure whose reciprocal unit cell is shown in Fig. 1 where X, M, and R designate particular points at Brillouin zone boundaries with the Γ point being the zone origin. The instability of the phonon mode designated by the R point leads to the cubic-to-tetragonal phase transition of SrTiO3 at Tc=103 K. By using the same unit-cell as the cubic SrTiO3, reflections (h k 1) / 2 with h, k, and 1 all odd are superlattice reflections characteristic of tetragonal SrTiO3. Previous investigations of diffuse scattering were carried out by neutron and xray diffraction at Temperatures below 240 K. In the present work, observation of the diffuse scattering was extended to a broad Temperature range of 20 ∼ 700 K. Selected-area electron diffraction patterns (EDPs) reveal splitting and streaking of the superlattice reflections as shown in Fig. 2. We can see streaks along the [1 0 0]* direction, e.g., the streak connecting (5 3-5) / 2 and (7 3-5) / 2, the streak connecting (-3-5 7) / 2 and (-1-5 7) / 2. Splitting of the superreflections (7-1-1) / 2, (9-1-1) / 2, and (-7 1 1) / 2, along [0 1-1]* direction is evident. All the splitting and streaking behaviors shown in Fig. 2 and observed in other EDPs may be interpreted as being formed by the intersection of the Ewald sphere with reciprocal rods MRM shown in Fig. 1, which are along the <100>* direction passing through superlattice points.


Simple techniques for character recognition do not perform very well, but they are fast compared to more effective but also more complex methods. In this paper we describe how such simple techniques can be used as preprocessors for eliminating possibilities that the main classifier has to deal with. This is achieved in three different ways: by attempting a segmentation of word into characters, by reducing the number of the prototypes to match with the sample, and by providing a set of constraints for the matching. Experiments on an address data base provided by the U.S. Postal Service have shown that the method reduces the classification time by almost 60%, while it does not introduce any errors.


Blossom blight was documented in some strawberry production fields in Watsonville in 1996 and 1997. Xanthomonas fragariae and Cladosporium cladosporioides were identified as the causal organisms. This is the first documentation of the two organisms causing blossom blight of strawberry in California. This is also the first report identifying C. cladosporioides as a pathogen of strawberry.


AbstractSemianalytic formulas are obtained for flow to a well screened in a leaky aquifer that was overlain by an aquitard and phreatic aquifer and underlain by a second aquitard and leaky aquifer. Formulas are also obtained for the scenario in which the phreatic aquifer is hydraulically connected to a rectilinear stream. Adaptive mesh refinement is used to obtain highly resolved simulations for a meandering stream depletion problem that is both numerically challenging and has physically interesting features. The associated inverse problem is also considered, and a simple example is presented of synthetic pumping test data, which demonstrates that it can be very difficult to quantify the actual effects of pumping. The conclusion is that a framework for uncertainty quantification of aquifer parameters is necessary for objective determination of the parameters.


Objective: To research the relationship between the carotid atherosclerotic pathological changes in women patients with elderly hypertension and blood lipoid. Hemorheology by investigating the result of the carotid ultrasonic examine of the patients with hypertension. Methods: Carotid ultrasonography was measured in 181 patients with hypertension. Those patients were divided into 3 groups, to compare and analyze the relationship among carotid pathological changes degree and between carotid pathological changes and blood lipoid hemorheology. Results: Both the plaque form of carotid artery intima and the occurrence of cerebral infarction in women with elderly hypertension group was significantly higher than in that patients with non-elderly hypertension group (P0.05). But the blood viscosity low tangent rate was lower than that normal carotid artery intima ones (P0.05); A nonsignificant discrepancy was found between cerebral infarction and blood lipoid hemorheology compared with men patients with elderly hypertension. Conclusion: The occurrence rate of cerebral infarction in women patients with hypertension, especially the plaque group, is higher than women patients with non-elderly hypertension .It had a definite relationship with the increasing of age and hemorheology. It will be vital for preventing the occurrence of carotid pathological changes and the cerebral infarction in the patients with elderly hypertension to regularly observe the state of carotid sclerose, actively decrease blood pressure therapy and protect kidney function.


Objective:To develop a method for the determination of hydroxyproline in dairy products using amino acid analyzer.Methods:The procedure involved the hydrolysis of sample with 6mol/L HCl.Then hydroxyproline was detected by amino acid analyzer.Results:Recoveries were between 96.8% and 107% and RSD ranged from 0.40% to 4.9%.Conclusion:The method is accurate,precise and convenient.


OBJECTIVE
To compare early outcomes of the minilaparotomy approach to the resection of rectal cancer with those of conventional laparotomy.

DESIGN
Retrospective study.

SETTING
University hospital, Japan.

SUBJECTS
18 patients who had complete resection through a minilaparotomy and 20 who had a conventional laparotomy served as the study and the control groups, respectively. Patients who were overweight or morbidly obese (body mass index >25) were excluded from the study.

INTERVENTIONS
Complete resection through a skin incision less than 7 cm in length, or a conventional incision.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Early postoperative outcomes.

RESULTS
Postoperative time intervals to standing, walking, passing flatus, and removal of the urinary catheter, and analgesic requirements were significantly less in the minilaparotomy group (p = 0.007, p = 0.004, p = 0.02, p = 0.002, and p = 0.05, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS
The minilaparotomy for complete resection of rectal cancer is less invasive than conventional laparotomy, and provides an attractive alternative in highly selected patients who are not overweight.


The determination of the properties of gaseous films at air/water interface requires very special techniques as far as the measurements of the surface pressure are concerned. We have designed an apparatus based upon the characteristics of Langmuir trough. The measuring system consists of a lamp, three optics fibers and two high‐gain phototransistors. The surface pressure that have been measured (accurately with great ease) range from 0.0010–0.1500±0.00005 mN m−1 or ±0.1%. One successful application of the apparatus had been the determination of the molecular weight of proteins such as the bovine serum albumin, egg albumin, bovine rhodopsin, and cytochrome c.


In this paper we investigate a problem of state estimation for the dynamical system described by the linear operator equation with unknown parameters in Hilbert space. We present explicit expressions for linear minimax estimation and error provided that any pair of uncertain parameters belongs to the quadratic bounding set. As an application of the main result we present the solution of minimax estimation problem for the linear descriptor differential equation with constant matrices.


Elmore delay has been widely used as an analytical estimate of interconnect delays in the performance-driven synthesis and layout of VLSI routing topologies. However, for typical RLC interconnections with ramp input, Elmore delay can deviate by up to 100% or more from SPICE-computed delay since it is independent of rise time of the input ramp signal. We develop new analytical delay models based on the first and second moments of the interconnect transfer function when the input is a ramp signal with finite rise time. Delay estimates using our first moment based analytical models are within 4% of SPICE-computed delay, and models based on both first and second moments are within 2.3% of SPICE, across a wide range of interconnect parameter values. Evaluation of our analytical models is several orders of magnitude faster than simulation using SPICE. We also describe extensions of our approach for estimation of source-sink delays in arbitrary interconnect trees.


The Amery Regional Medical Center (ARMC) campus plan reflects the client's mission "to provide … quality healthcare and to promote the health and wellness of our community" by creating a synergy between the hospital, the adjacent Apple River, and the greater Amery community. Constructed in 2006, the project serves as a regional precedent for its many sustainable features including: porous pavement, green roof, and bioretention. The design and construction process exemplifies the importance of understanding site soils and the protection of soil health & structure. This presentation will explore the soil analysis process, soils as a design generator, and the nuances used to ensure soil protection.


This study investigates the identification and inference of quantile treatment effects (QTEs) in a fuzzy regression discontinuity (RD) design under rank similarity. Unlike Frandsen et al. (2012, Journal of Econometrics 168, 382–395), who focus on QTEs only for the compliant subpopulation, our approach can identify QTEs and average treatment effect for the whole population at the threshold. We derived a new set of moment restrictions for the RD model by imposing a local rank similarity condition, which restricts the evolution of individual ranks across treatment status in a neighborhood around the threshold. Based on the moment restrictions, we derive closed-form solutions for the estimands of the potential outcome cumulative distribution functions for the whole population. We demonstrate the functional central limit theorems and bootstrap validity results for the QTE estimators by explicitly accounting for observed covariates. In particular, we develop a multiplier bootstrap-based inference method with robustness against large bandwidths that applies to uniform inference by extending the recent work of Chiang et al. (2019, Journal of Econometrics 211, 589–618). We also propose a test for the local rank similarity assumption. To illustrate the estimation approach and its properties, we provide a simulation study and estimate the impacts of India's 40-billion-dollar national rural road construction program on the reallocation of labor out of agriculture.


In the order allocation to in-stock slabs problem, it is necessary to optimize both the selection thick and flat pieces of steel plate, that is called in-stock slabs, for each orders and the order arrangement in hot rolling plates. The optimum solution in this problem is to produce as many high priority orders as possible while using the slabs as efficiently as possible, i.e. reducing waste material as much as possible. We have approached this in-stock allocation problem as a combinatorial optimization problem and have successfully applied a combinatorial optimization method known as the genetic algorithms (GA) to achieve an optimal allocation and arrangement. We present the GA based system in this paper. As the in-stock allocation problem became more complicated (number of constraints included, number of orders, number of slabs, etc.) the calculation time began to exceed the allocated production planning time. In this system we divided the problem into sub problems while maintaining solution quality. By allocating the given calculation time among the small problems we were able to obtain a good solution in a feasible calculation time. In general, it is difficult to solve the problem which includes a vast of array of solution constraints and restrictions using GA. The order allocation problem has many these constraints such as order/slab material composition restriction, machine dictated order arrangement constraints and so on. In the proposed system, by introducing a new coding and decoding method which considers these constraints, it is possible to enable the application of GA. Furthermore, in this problem it is necessary to satisfy the two objectives of order priority and yield rate. By the construction of the evaluation function and the tuning of the weighting coefficients we were able to develop a system which satisfies two objectives.


A commentary on "Fevered Decisions: Race, Ethics, and Clinical Vulnerability in the Malarial Treatment of Neurosyphilis, 1922–1953," by Matthew Gambino in the July-August 2015 issue.


Over the last few years a series of measures have proved their worth in the reduction of noise and vibration emanating from railway tunnel structures. Among the most effective are mass spring systems. The article describes practical applications with and without ballast roadbed, and using prefabricated parts or concrete slabs cast in situ.


COGNA has developed an alcohol content measuring device that analyzes alcohol content in interstitial fluid. Interstitial fluid is the fluid between cells of the human body. It uses surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors as the sensing devices and wireless communication to a cell phone, typically a smart phone. COGNA's device is unobtrusive, appealing to the wearer, and takes the form of a small, thin, flexible patch (about 2 x 3 inches) in contact with the human body. The gold standard in measuring alcohol content is analyzing a blood sample. Although accurate, this method is slow (more than a few minutes) and requires pricking a finger or other body part of a person. Many people object to this. Another current method utilizes analyzing the breath of people (using a so called breathalyzer). This method is not very accurate. It depends on the actual chemical environment of the mouth. Attempts have been made to analyze sweat or sweat vapor of people for alcohol content. Although interesting, this method has shortcomings. It is not accurate enough and not all people sweat.


Abstract Looming war with Germany and Japan led Australia frantically to prepare its home defences. The industrial Illawarra region, in the south of New South Wales, represented a target of national significance that was ill prepared to resist an Axis attack. This article considers why Australia's government was so fearful of an attack in this location, and how it responded to the threat. It links to the emerging scholarship on Australia's home defences, shining new light onto this currently neglected part of the wartime narrative.


Rapid discovery of the distribution and relative abundance of organic material without sample destruction or the expenditure of irreplaceable resources is one of the primary requirements for exploration of novel extreme environments both in remote locations on Earth and on the Mars regolith. A wide variety of organic and biogenic molecular targets including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, aromatic amino acids, nucleic acids, photosynthetic pigments, and critical metabolic components such as flavin adenine dinucleotide and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide exhibit strong, distinctive fluorescent signatures following excitation by ultraviolet (UV) light sources. These fluorescence signatures are easily imaged with camera systems currently employed on Mars rovers and imaging equipment available during human or robotic exploration of remote extreme environments on Earth. In this paper we discuss recent results with epifluorescent imaging of organic and biological targets using filter bands comparable to those available to ExoMars and review plans for epifluorescence surveys of the Dry Valleys of Eastern Antarctica including the Schirmacher Oasis and the perennially ice-covered, merimictic, oligotrophic Lake Untersee.


During the 19th century, remains of an ancient harbour were found underwater at a depth of 5 to 6 meters in the eastern port of Alexandria. A research program was undertaken to determine when the harbour of Alexandria submerged underwater. Data were collected through underwater surveys by scuba diving and by campaigns of corings on land. Geomorphological (i.e. notches and pebble beaches), archaeological (harbour structures), and biological (i.e. marine macrofauna, bioconstructions, and biodepositions) sea level indicators were correlated to understand changes in relative sea level during the last 6 millennia. For each proxy, the altitudinal (vertical) and chronological ranges of imprecision were discussed. The results indicate that the rate of the relative sea level rise is ~80 mm per century between the middle of the 6th millennium and the 5th‒6th c. AD. An abrupt relative sea level rise (3.5 m + 1.5 m) occurred during the mid 8th c. to the end of 9th c. A D. I n t he 8 th c. A D, a s imilar p henomenon was observed for Heracleion (25 km east of Alexandria). Thus, a wide movement of sinking affected in a synchronous manner the western coastal margin of the Nile delta. Since this 8th- 9th c. AD event, the subsidence has increased around 2 m. The role of abrupt sinking events and subsidence remain determining in the deltaic context to anticipate future coastal adaptations and the risk of submersion.


Percutaneous spinal cord stimulation electrodes have a propensity to migrate longitudinally, which is a costly complication that often compromises therapeutic effect. After implementing simple changes to our percutaneous electrode anchoring technique, we no longer encounter this migration. The current retrospective study updates previously reported results.


In November 1969 a questionnaire about contraceptive practice was sent to a random sample of general practitioners and to all obstetricians/gynecologists living in one of 4 regions of Britain; South Midlands North and Scotland. Responses from 641 physicians who were married and aged 50 or less were analyzed the results compared to the general British population. The most significant observation was that at the time of survey the percentage of doctors wives using pills (27%) was greater than that for the general population (16%). Reliance on coitus interruptus (4%) and the condom (27%) was less than that indicated in the population as a whole but use of the IUD (6%) and the practice of sterilization (8%) was greater. The percentage using no family planning (16%) or the diaphragm or rhythm method was similar to that for the British population in general. 73% considered avoidance of pregnancy imperative or important.


Tree pruning generates organic resources whose nitrogen content is not always recycled appropriately. A field experiment was conducted in the central plateau of Burkina Faso to test the possibilities of improving soil properties and crop production through the application of Parkia biglobosa (néré) and Vitellaria paradoxa (karité) prunings as mulch. Two rates of leaf material of each species were applied and compared with a control (without mulch). Each treatment was repeated four times. Positions from the trees (around the trunk, eastern side, western side and outside the crown) were considered as blocks in a randomized blocks design. The physical and chemical properties of soil were measured during the second year whereas millet production was assessed over two cropping seasons. Two laboratory experiments were conducted with leachates of the leaves of each species to test the possible inhibition of crop germination or growth. The results of the field experiment showed a depressing effect of the mulch of Parkia biglobosa by 33% for millet grain yield and by 21% for total dry matter. However, Vitellaria paradoxa mulch increased grain yield by 120% and total dry matter by 43%. Ponding time and total C content were higher on plots that received the highest amount of leaves of both species. In the laboratory experiments, germination of sorghum seeds treated with leachate of 50 g of the leaves of Vitellaria paradoxa in 250 mL distilled water was reduced by 37% whereas the reduction was only 19% for the leachate of the leaves of Parkia biglobosa. It was concluded that, at least in the short term, millet production could be improved through the application of Vitellaria paradoxa mulch.


【Objective】 To investigate the effect of Simvastatin on serum levels of IL-6,IL-8,and TNF-α in maintenance hemodialysis(MHD) patients.【Methods】 The serum IL-6,IL-8,TNF-α levels of 80 MHD patients were detected.Then 80 MHD patients were randomly divided into Simvastatin treatment group(S group)and patient control group(P group).40 patients in the S group were given the treatment of homodialysis + Simvastatin while 40 cases in the P group were not given the Simvastatin treatment.The levels of IL-6,IL-8 and TNF-α of the S group and the P group were detected after 6 months of treatment.【Results】 After 6 months of treatment,IL-6、IL-8 and TNF-α levels of the patients in the S group were obvious decreased(P 0.01)as compared with those before the treatment;while the levels of those in the P group had no obvious decrease as compared with those before the treatment(P 0.05).【Conclusion】 Simvastatin could reduce the levels of IL-6,IL-8 and TNF-α of MHD patients,which has positive effect on the control of the microinflammatory state.


In the context of movement towards mandatory continuing dental education, this paper describes how a delayed postal questionnaire can be used in course evaluation. Specifically, the value of the questionnaire as a tool for assessing the impact of short course attendance on general dental practice is examined.


Objective Comparing liquid nitrogen grinding method with frozen section method for breaking the root of the herb Violae to extract RNA,to demonstrate that frozen section is a simple and effective mathod. Methods Broke the root of the Herb Violae by liquid nitrogen grinding method and frozen section method,and extracted RNA. Concentration,purity and integrity of RNA were detected. The GAPDH gene was amplified by RTPCR. Results The RNA concentration was 1. 21μg / μl and 3. 57μg / μl,extracted by liquid nitrogen grinding method and frozen section method respectively. Two distinct bands were showed by agarose gel electrophoresis. The ratio of brightness of the 28S rRNA and the 18S rRNA bands was greater than 1. The length of GAPDH gene was230 bp. Conclusion The experimental results indicated that frozen section method to break the root of the Herb Violae can meet the needs of most molecular biological experiments including gene cloning and expression analysis. It is an effective and simple method for extract RNA of from the plant root.


A large number of spiral bacteria besides rods and cocci has been observed as indigenous microorganisms in kusaya gravy, suggesting some important roles in the gravy. So we intended to investigate the characteristics of those bacteria and tried to isolate them by ordinary pour or spread plate methods. As the media for isolation, 2.5% NaCl-containing BPG1) medium, BP10G medium (concentration of peptone in BPG medium is fortified to 20 fold), ABCM (Eiken), kusaya gravy medium (filtrated kusaya gravy added 0.5% yeast extract, 0.5% bonito extract, and 1.5% agar), bonito extract medium (0.5% bonito extract, 2.5% NaCl, 1.5% agar, and distilled water) etc. were employed, and appropriate volume of decimal dilution of kusaya gravy was planted for plating. After 3 days' incubation at 20•Ž under aerobic and microaerobic conditions, our attempts to isolate spiral bacteria, however, were unsuccessful, because of following reasons; all colonies developed on the agar


Ruminants perhaps appeared about 50 million years ago (Ma). Five ruminant families had been extinct and about 200 species in 6 ruminant families are living today. The first ruminant family probably was small omnivore without functional ruminal microbiota to digest fiber. Subsequently, other ruminant families evolved around 18-23 Ma along with woodlands and grasslands. Probably, ruminants started to consume selective and highly nutritious plant leaves and grasses similar to concentrates. By 5-11 Ma, grasslands expanded and some ruminants used more grass in their diets with comparatively low nutritive values and high fibers. Historically, humans have domesticated 9 ruminant species that are mostly utilizer of low quality forages for human benefits. Thus, the non-functional rumen microbiota to predominantly concentrate fermenting microbiota, followed by predominantly fiber digesting microbiota had evolved for mutual complementary benefits of holobiont over the million years. The core microbiome of ruminant species seems the resultant of hologenome interaction in an evolutionary unit. The inertia and resilience properties of ruminal ecosystem seem to be due to this core microbiota, which makes the ecosystem most stable in response to perturbations because this core microbiota has evolutionary advantages with logically more generalists (i.e., wide metabolic versatile and redundancy). Also, a part of the ruminal microbiome shows highly plasticity, which is likely useful for evolutionary adaptability of holobiont. This review discusses ecological characteristics of ruminal microbial community in evolutionary perspectives. The updated understanding of ecological traits of ruminal microbiome would be helpful to better modulate the ruminal fermentation favorably for human benefits.


A variance reduction scheme is presented for non-parametric transfer function estimators based on the use of wavelets as an alternative to the traditional spectral windowing. The latter can be generalized into a variance reduction method based on thresholding (omitting or altering) the coefficients of an orthogonal series expansion of the estimator to be smoothed. The choice of threshold level is crucial, distinguishing between coefficients related predominantly to estimation errors and those associated with the underlying true function. The standard wavelet threshold operation with a constant or level-dependent threshold can not be applied to wavelet coefficients of spectral density functions. The nonstationarity in the statistical properties of these estimators reveals itself in the wavelet domain as significant peaks. An efficient threshold level should follow the standard deviation of each wavelet coefficient. New exact expressions of the standard deviation are presented. An estimator based on these expressions is proved to provide an appropriate threshold level.


Aging and cancer both occur as a result of accumulated cellular damage, and both are related to the regulation of specific genes in the damage response. Recent research has unveiled connections between the mechanisms of aging and cancer, but how to prevent the development of cancer and increase longevity remain unknown. SIRT1 (the mammalian Sir2), which has NAD(+)-dependent class III histone deacetylase activity, may be a key gene linking the modulation of cancer and aging. SIRT1 has broad biological functions in growth regulation, stress response, tumorigenesis, endocrine signaling, and extended lifespan. Here, we focus on the current knowledge regarding the role of SIRT1 in aging and cancer, and discuss the implications of SIRT1 as a therapeutic target for the optimal balance between anti-aging and anti-cancer activities. The sirtuin family has emerged as important regulators of diverse physiological and pathological events, including life-span extension, neurodegeneration, age-related disorders, obesity, heart disease, inflammation, and cancer. In mammals, there are 7 members (SIRT1-SIRT7) in the sirtuin family, with the function of SIRT1 being extensively studied in the past decade. SIRT1 can deacetylate histones and a number of nonhistone substrates, which are involved in multiple signaling pathways. Here, we focus on the current knowledge regarding the role of SIRT1 in aging and cancer, and discuss the implications of SIRT1 as a therapeutic target for the optimal balance between anti-aging and anti-cancer activities. SIRT1 has been considered as a tumor promoter because of its increased expression in some types of cancers and its role in inactivating proteins that are involved in tumor suppression and DNA damage repair. However, recent studies demonstrated that SIRT1 levels are reduced in some other types of cancers, and that SIRT1 deficiency results in genetic instability and tumorigenesis, while overexpression of SIRT1 attenuates cancer formation in mice heterozygous for tumor suppressor p53 or APC. Here, I review these recent findings and discuss the et al., IJSIT, 2018, 7(3), 693-705 Dr. Shahzad Mohammad Khan IJSIT (www.ijsit.com), Volume 7, Issue 3, May-June 2018 694 possibility that activation of SIRT1 both extends lifespan and inhibits cancer formation.


This paper will present a theory of the evolutionary origins and purposes of our two main political ideologies, as well as their relation to Darwinian strategies in other species. Conservatism psychologically drives one to engage in individual and group competitions regardless of cost to individuals. This psychological drive is a manifestation of K-selected behavioral drives, and most likely arose in a K-selected cohort of ancestors prone to remain behind to compete for limited resources, as our world-wide migration began. Designed to select for competitive fitness, this psychology pursues an individual advantage of producing the fittest offspring possible. Liberalism, conversely, involves seeking a more r-selected environment of free resources for all, absent any individual's need to demonstrate competitive fitness. This psychological drive is likely an adaptation to r-selected environmental pressures, and is designed to produce superior numbers of offspring through support for promiscuity, diminished investments in child-rearing, and a diminution in fitness-based competition between peers. It likely arose within a migratory cohort within our early populations, which was prone to flee the violence of the K-selection, in search of the free resource availability of an untapped, uninhabited, new environment. This urge to flee would be facilitated by the Liberal's reduced loyalty to in-group, preference for novel environments, and it would explain the prevalence of the DRD4-7r gene associated with Liberalism in migratory populations. We show that Liberalism will hold some degree of advantage during times of diminished competitive selective pressures, and thus it will gradually take hold in a population during periods of resource excess and limited competitive Darwinian selection among the populace. We show that this theory explains the entirety of each political philosophy's issue positions, correlates with all reviewed research on the nature of political affiliation, is consistent with current understandings of group selection, and describes the purpose such urges served in our ancient evolutionary past.


The invention provides an intelligent hydraulic cylinder system, solves the problems that a conventional hydraulic cylinder used on the construction machinery can not realize intelligent real-time and on-line monitoring and the working state of the hydraulic cylinder can not be comprehensively monitored, and relates to the technical field of intelligent working state detection of hydraulic cylinders. The intelligent hydraulic cylinder system comprises a hydraulic cylinder, and is characterized in that the hydraulic cylinder is connected with a signal acquisition sensor, the signal output terminal of the signal acquisition sensor is accessed into a signal conditioning circuit, and the signal conditioning circuit is connected with a wireless signal transmitting terminal. The intelligent hydraulic cylinder system further comprises a wireless signal receiving terminal corresponding to the wireless signal transmitting terminal and connected with a microcomputer processor in a bidirectional manner, and the microcomputer processor can be in bidirectional connection with a human-computer interface. The intelligent hydraulic cylinder system realizes visualized, digital and intelligent monitoring of related parameters of all hydraulic cylinders on the construction machinery and places key components of the construction machinery in a visualized and parametric real-time monitoring state, thereby greatly improving the security of the system.


This may be the first reported case of a 47, XXY,18p— ("Klinefelter‐de Grouchy I syndrome"), in a post‐term male neonate. The child had a dysmorphic facies, a small nose with a single orifice, cranial malformations and an alobar holoprosencephaly. These symptoms corresponded with the known phenotypic variants of the simple 18p— anomaly. The karyotypes of both parents were normal.


Characterizing and modeling the statistics associated with the initiation of gas breakdown has proven to be difficult due to a variety of rather unexplored phenomena involved. Experimental conditions for high power microwave window breakdown for pressures on the order of 100 to several 100 torr are complex: there are little to no naturally occurring free electrons in the breakdown region. The initial electron generation rate, from an external source, for example, is time dependent and so is the charge carrier amplification in the increasing radio frequency (RF) field amplitude with a rise time of 50 ns, which can be on the same order as the breakdown delay time. The probability of reaching a critical electron density within a given time period is composed of the statistical waiting time for the appearance of initiating electrons in the high-field region and the build-up of an avalanche with an inherent statistical distribution of the electron number. High power microwave breakdown and its delay time is of...


Cocoa is one of the commodity plantation for foreign exchange, the source of income of farmers, agro-industries, and regional development. Indonesia is currently the third largest country in the world of cocoa production with a 15 percent share of production after Ghana (16%) and Ivory Coast (40%). The research aims to analyze the potential for superior Cocoa products in order to accelerate economic growth and development of the region. This study was conducted in Rambipuji and Wuluhan District in Jember, East Java. The study population is bringing cocoa households (RTP) and sampling using random sampling. Cocoa in the study site has a comparative advantage indicated by the magnitude of the greatly enhanced by DRCR <1 and the competitive advantage represented by the PCR value of 0.5803. The research location is also the location of the cocoa plant base that could potentially seed.


CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 89, NO. 4, 25 AUGUST 2005 594 coastal lands of France, Ireland, Scotland and Norway. In Oriental countries seaweeds were used in fresh, dried, as well as in burnt ash form and were applied to the soil. In contemporary context, seaweed can be used in powdered, liquid, as well as fresh form. Seaweed-based fertilizer is rich in growth-enhancing factors like vitamins and plant hormones, which help in promoting growth and development of plants. Recently, seaweed has been used as a bioremediation agent in a study conducted by the University of Newcastle in Great Britain. Application of powdered seaweed on soil contaminated with the pesticide DDT reduced the toxicity of soil by 80% within six weeks. However, in India, use of seaweed is restricted to commercial production of phycocolloids. The Indian Ocean, including its adjacent seas, extends over an area of about 73.44 × 10 km and the potential harvest of seaweeds from the Indian Ocean is about 870 thousand tonnes (wet weight). India could draw benefits from this marine resource in various applications such as, rehabilitation of waste lands, enhancement of crop fields as well as the crops. A number of studies have already been carried out in Southern India to harness the potential of seaweeds as a natural fertilizer. Extracts from some seaweed species have shown beneficial effects on crop plants. This was reflected in the physiognomy as well as physiology of the crops. Algae are relatively high in nitrogen and potash, but low in phosphorus content. Hence, addition of phosphates could improve the fertility of this manure. The organic matter of seaweeds increases humus content of the soil, thereby ameliorating the soil texture and preservation of its moisture. A sustainable approach towards this venture is a prerequisite. An integrated organic farming system that includes solutions to pest management and land optimization, needs to be undertaken for the development of sustainable agriculture in an agronomical country like India.


Problem. The flow of currents in the conductive elements of electrical systems is accompanied by the excitation of electromagnetic fields and the occurrence of induced currents. The excitation of the induced signals, in turn, leads to a change in the parameters of the actual exciting currents. The purpose of the work is to obtain analytical expressions for the quantitative analysis of the results of the mutual influence of the exciting and induced currents and to calculate their ratio depending on the geometric characteristics of the inductor systems. Methodology. The analysis of the processes of mutual influence is carried out on the example of a widespread inductor system, where a flat circular solenoid is placed above the surface of a massive conductor. Analytical expressions for eddy currents excited in a massive conductor and numerical estimates of the effect of induced currents on exciting currents in a solenoid are obtained. Results. It is shown that the influence of the induced current on the current in the solenoid is very significant at small distances between the solenoid and the surface of the massive solenoid. It has been found that an increase in the width of the solenoid winding leads to a significant increase in the influence of the induced current on the excitation current in the solenoid. It is shown that the inductance of the «circular solenoid - massive conductor» system drops with a decrease in the distance between the solenoid and the massive conductor and an increase in the radial dimensions of the solenoid, which requires an increase in the amplitude of the exciting current to maintain a given value of the magnetic flux in the system. Originality. The scientific novelty of this work lies in the proposal of an analytical approach and obtaining numerical estimates of the mutual influence of conductors with exciting and induced currents. Practical value. Estimates of the mutual influence of conductors with currents are of interest for the practice of designing structures of electrical systems for various purposes. Very promising in the direction further research is seen as carrying out experiments with measurements of the quantitative characteristics of the mutual influence of exciting and induced currents in various designs of electrical systems.


We outline the idiosyncrasies of neural information processing and machine learning in quantitative finance. We also present some of the approaches we take towards solving the fundamental challenges we face.


Between the Ming and Qing Dynasties (early to mid seventeenth century), Sun Qifeng (1584-1675), founder of the Xiafeng Northern School of Confucianism, advocated the doctrine of "learning to be a sagely person" as a means to return and give new exegeses to the Confucian classics. This advocacy was an important means by which Sun set up an open pivot that would link various schools teaching different doctrines. These doctrines fell into two categories, one promoting "internal, innate sagacious nature" and the other "external cultivation for ruler-leadership" by stressing human relations and personal conduct. Thus, Sun had loosened the definition of a sagely person. In his implementation of Sun Qifeng's theory of "learning to be a sagely person," Yan Yuan (1635-1704) discovered the tension between Confucianism and neo-Confucianism. He therefore excluded the Confucian scholars of the Han, Tang, Song, and Ming periods from his roster of "Sages and Worthies," which reserved a place for Duke Zhou and Confucius, the only two individuals who really possessed a sagely character. This treatment marks a turning point where he divorced himself from the Xiafeng School. However, Yan Yuan underestimated the difficulty in "learning to be a sagely person" and the internal contradiction in Confucianism. As a result, he found himself in a mired position reconstructing the study of Confucianism, despite his utmost efforts to employ the orthodox doctrines of Duke Zhou and Confucius for his criticism of neo-Confucianism. His excessive reliance on knowledge acquired from reading and his lack of practical experience conjured up a fantasy of Confucianism in universal practice. This fantasy was completely incompatible with the political situation of the Qing dynasty, which was moving toward the foundation of a complex empire. In addition, he lacked a conscious knowledge of the Qing regime's establishment of its ideology, and a means by which he could move to the political center. In the end, he could only return to the Xiafeng school's comprehensive doctrine. For this reason, Yan Yuan's study substantially belonged to the Xiafeng Northern School system. The main component of the Qing dynasty's northern study was the Xiafeng Northern School, not the Yan-Li School. Hence, it is not accurate that the Yan -Li School became extinct after two generations. Rather, as soon as it was put in reality it made a return to the Xiafeng Northern School, the mainstream of the time. Nonetheless, since early modern times in the scholarship on Qing intellectual history, the Yan-Li school has been given most attention while the Xiafeng Northern School has been largely neglected. This phenomenon is a result of the misplacement of the greater and lesser traditions. This erroneous treatment prompts reconsideration in the study of Chinese history by means of proper placement of greater and lesser traditions.


In this paper,a called direct method(DM) is employed to study dynamical behaviors of a delayed resonator and then to focus on the investigations of vibrating features and the stability of a two-degree-of-freedom primary system with the delayed resonator.The stabilities for both the delayed resonator and the combined system are analyzed respectively.With a variation of the time delay in the delayed resonator,the stable and unstable regions for both the delayed resonator and combined system are obtained.It is shown in this paper that the DM is an easy method in computation and the obtained results are in good agreement with that given by the stability switch method(SSM).It follows from the stability analysis that the delayed resonator may be applied not only to stabilize the combined system but also to absorb partly the vibrations of the primary system for different time delays.The numerical simulations verify the validity of the analytical results.


In this paper we study a certain cardinality constrained packing integer program which is motivated by the problem of dimensioning a cut in a two-layer network. We prove NP-hardness and consider the facial structure of the corresponding polytope. We provide a complete description for the smallest nontrivial case and develop two general classes of facet-defining inequalities. This approach extends the
notion of the well known cutset inequalities to two network layers.


Augustin Augier's "Arbre botanique" (1801) is one of the earliest known family tree diagrams to represent the natural system. As such it is frequently cited in the literature on historical systemat ...


A symplectic integration of a Poisson manifold $(M,\Lambda)$ is a symplectic groupoid $(\Gamma,\eta)$ which realizes the given Poisson manifold, i.e. such that the space of units $\Gamma_0$ with the induced Poisson structure $\Lambda_0$ is isomorphic to $(M,\Lambda)$. This notion was introduced by A. Weinstein in order to quantize Poisson manifolds by quantizing their symplectic integration. Any Poisson manifold can be integrated by a local symplectic groupoid but already for regular Poisson manifolds there are obstructions to global integrability. The aim of this paper is to summarize all the known obstructions and present a sufficient topological condition for integrability of regular Poisson manifolds; we will indeed describe a concrete procedure for this integration. Further our criterion will provide necessary and sufficient if we require $\Gamma$ to be Hausdorff, which is a suitable condition to proceed to Weinstein's program of quantization. These integrability results may be interpreted as an generalization of the Cartan-Smith proof of Lie's third theorem in the infinite dimensional case.


In the present study, the performance of Doom pigs of Assam under field condition in respect to growth and reproductive traits managed under migratory scavenging system was observed. Data pertaining to 416 animals were utilized for the growth traits and 75 animals were utilized for reproductive traits. The average body weights of Doom pigs were found to be 0.62 ± 0.02, 8.52 ± 0.05 and 39.34 ± 0.31 kg at birth, weaning and adult respectively. The corresponding values in male and female pigs were 0.60 ± 0.01 and 0.65 ± 0.03; 8.29 ± 0.07 and 8.72 ± 0.08 and 38.57 ± 0.51 and 39.93 ± 0.36 kg at birth, weaning and adult respectively. Statistical analysis revealed that sex had highly significant (P<0.01) effect on weaning weight, significant (P<0.05) effect on adult weight and non significant effect on birth weight. Female pigs were significantly heavier than males at weaning and adult. The average age at first estrus, age at first fertile service, age at first farrowing, gestation length and inter farrowing period were found to be 213.91±1.36, 237.95±1.18, 351.51±1.24, 113.51±0.40 and 213.25±1.45 days respectively. The average litter size at birth, litter size at weaning, litter weight at birth and litter weight at weaning were 5.55 ± 0.11, 4.56 ± 0.09, 3.38 ± 0.06 kg and38.75 ± 0.55 kg respectively. Study of these growth and reproductive performance may be useful in selection of superior animals for development of suitable breeding programme and conservation policy for Doom pigs of Assam.


Class III malocclusions are sagittal disharmonies in the relationship of the mandible and its teeth to the maxilla and its teeth that are characterized by esthetic, skeletal, and dental deficiencies that can provoke grave psychological problems for patients who suffer from them. Orthodontists can begin early treatment of Class III cases with orthopedic techniques aimed at modifying facial growth, with orthodontic treatment at the end of the mixed dentition and in the permanent dentation, aimed at achieving favorable dental compensations, or they can employ a joint surgical-orthodontic technique at the close of the growth period. In this article, we present the results of our orthodontic treatment at the Faculty of Dental Medicine of Casablanca of a severe Class III malocclusion, with one-year followup records.


Non-domination is a central tenet of republicanism and a foundational principle of the EU constitutional order. Republicanism, however, has often been overlooked as a
legitimating principle in the EU. This article explores the EU from a non-dominating paradigm. It shows that the institutional balance, as opposed to the separation of powers, has descriptive and normative force in the EU. Additionally, this analysis provides a systematic reinterpretation of the EU analysing its institutional balance from a dialogical perspective that emphasizes republican values linked with civic virtue. This highlights that intergovernmental,supranational, the peoples, interest group, and technocratic actors are vital players 'free and equal' to exert influence that shapes and reshapes the institutional balance to reflect their own vision of the public good. The republican model presented in this article provides for the active participation and limitation of each actor that can – and should – be understood as enhancing the democratic nature and legitimation of the EU.


Introduced the moving sieve jigging machine as the core equipment of process system common process system common process equipment design and optimal choice, common process in detail is optimized.


Abstract A series of low-level tracer experiments conducted in metropolitan St. Louis is described. Values of dispersion parameters, calculated from the tracer data, are related to readily measured or derived meteorological indices of turbulence. The results are presented graphically as families of best-fit curves in terms of downwind distance and travel time. Results are compared with those of previous dispersion experiments conducted over relatively uncomplicated terrain in open country. In terms of the meteorological indices, crosswind dispersion is better described as a function of downwind distance, whereas that in the vertical is about as well described by travel time as by downwind distance. It is concluded that for low-level point sources, the urban area affects crosswind dispersion primarily by enhancing the initial size (i.e., close to the source) of the plume. As the plume becomes much larger than the size of eddies created by the local obstructions, the dispersion closely converges to that ass...


Films made from random nanowire arrays are an attractive choice for electronics requiring flexible transparent conductive films. However, thus far there has been no unified theory for predicting their electrical conductivity. We present an approximate analytical model for random nanowire network electrical conductivity that is faster to compute than existing computational approaches. Our model is an upper bound that also captures the key structure of the networks and becomes tighter as nanowire density grows. We demonstrate by comparison with direct simulation that the model accurately characterizes the dependencies of sheet conductivity on various parameters even at moderate nanowire densities. By being faster than direct sampling and allowing computation of derivatives, our model is an attractive surrogate objective for multidimensional optimization of random nanowire networks. The success of the approximation we use also helps illuminate what directions may be most promising for further theoretical work.


Abstract : This report describes the design, construction and evaluation of an apparatus for the measurement of the behavior of fabrics under biaxial tensile and shear forces. The instrument was evaluated by the testing of fabrics ranging in weight from 34 g/m to 486 g/m, corresponding to material applications ranging from lightweight parachute fabrics to heavyweight ballistic fabrics. The testwork demonstrates that the instrument, within the limitations of the testing techniques developed to date, can be used to provide the information necessary for the design of structural fabrics, the drafting of improved procurement specifications for fabrics and qualification of new fabrics for military applications. Technical problems and limitations of the instrument and of the testing techniques which require further study are discussed.


LAPP is involved in the phaseII upgrade for the ATLAS pixels tracker [1].
The LAPP's group is currently designing a pixels detector layout called Alpine Staves.
This layout should allow to savematter in the detector. The silicon detectors should also cover a very high angle in the forward region.The pixel modules data transmission is an issue because of the very high number of channels and because of the high data rates.
A first study in 2014 allowed to estimate the feasibility of data transmission and powering of the pixel modules along the staves thanks to multicore flexes.
Discussions with manufactures have showed that the multicore solution is too complex in term of feasibility and cost.
A simpler solution is a multiple flex made of several double‐sided cores.
This study presents the methods and principles for a transmission flex based on the
Alpine layout but results can be applied to a general stave‐based layout.

A prototype has been produced in 2015 and test results show thecapabilities of a flex designed with real detector specifications.


In his paper, Foxall displays exemplary academic honesty in discussing limitations of the theoretical model that he has developed, despite its wide adoption in several areas of consumer behavior research. The exclusive adherence of the model to an extensional language, according to its author, hinders an adequate account of behavior continuity, a personal level of explanation of behavior and a delimitation of behavioral interpretation. In order to overcome such limitations, the author proposes the implementation of intentional idiom in the model, by distinguishing between informative and symbolic reinforcement. Symbolic consequences would be derived from what the individual thinks, believes, desires, or feels to be the case and are described in intentional language, involving social conventions and status conferring rules. These proposals will probably instigate developments in the field, at least in three directions: the inclusion of other dispositional concepts in the model, in addition to intentional expressions; the adoption of dispositional concepts in describing individuals' learning histories; and the improvement of the theoretical notion of self-reinforcement, which seems central to the proposed concept of symbolic reinforcement.


The paper is under review at the Review of International Political Economy (RIPE). Please do not cite without the permission of the authors. Not to know what has been transacted in former times is to be always a child. If no use is made of the labours of past ages, the world must remain always in the infancy of knowledge. Cicero And Diotallevi kept interjecting, sententiously: 'Historia magistra vitae.' To which Belbo responded: 'Come on, cabalists don't believe in history.' And Diotallevi invariably answered: 'That's just the point. Everything is repeated, in a circle. History is a master because it teaches us that it doesn't exist. It's the permutations that matter.' Umberto Eco (1989), Foucault's Pendulum History teaches nothing, but only punishes for not learning its lessons.


The paper describes the Swarm Modelling in the context of the CPSwarm project, The project proposes a new science of system integration and tools to support engineering of CPS swarms.CPSwarm tools will ease development and integration of complex herds of heterogeneous CPS that collaborate based on local policies and that exhibit a collective behavior capable of solving complex, industrial-driven, real-world problems.


The embodiment of the invention provides a method and a device for determining water leaving radiance. The method comprises: according to the relation of a refraction angle and an incidence angle of light penetrating into a water body, determining the refraction angle corresponding to a preset incidence angle; according to the constraint relation between the water-surface reflection light intensity and the polarization spectrum of the reflection angle, the refraction angle and the preset angle of the light penetrating into the water body, by measuring and obtaining a 0 DEG polarization spectrum and a 90 DEG polarization spectrum of the water body at a preset observation azimuth angle and a preset observation zenith angle, determining the water-surface reflection light intensity of the water body; then removing the water-surface reflection light intensity from the spectrum radiance of the water body to obtain the water leaving radiance of the water body. According to the method and the device of the embodiment, the water leaving radiance of the water body can be determined by polarization characteristic of the water body, and therefore, only the preset of the observation azimuth angle and the observation zenith angle is required, and no exchange of observation geometry of a sensor is required, so that the problem is avoided that the accuracy of the water leaving radiance is low because of the exchange of observation geometry of the sensor.


In the years since the publication of The New Global Trading Order: The Evolving State and the Future of Trade, Dennis Patterson and Ari Afilao's ideas have lost none of their originality and their call for reimagining the law and institutions of international trade governance remains an open challenge. The authors offer a long-term historical reframing of the relationship between trade regulation and the dominant role of the state. The analysis hinges on what the authors view as a radical shift away from the dominant model of the 'modern' welfare nation-state after the fall of the Iron Curtain. They argue that despite the world being ushered into a different era at this historical moment, the institutions, law and politics of trade governance remained largely unchanged. The analysis culminates in proposals for a new style of statecraft, and institutions to match, that would be better suited to the political and economic realities of our time. At the core of this transformative project lies the argument that 'neither politics nor economics alone hold the key to unlocking solutions to the problems presented by global trade' (1). Rather, the authors' focus is on the relationship between the state and trade governance. They argue that the trade order reflects the dominant constitutional order of the state at different points in history, and the current crisis regarding statehood and trade governance stems from the unacknowledged disconnect between the present de facto role of the state and the de jure status quo of trade regulation. Perhaps most intriguingly, the book seeks to combine a post-modern approach to trade law and statecraft with what is in many ways a historical, progressive, rationalist perspective. The 270-page volume is organised into eight substantive chapters, each of which is prefaced by a summary thesis statement. Throughout, the authors deploy a writing style and analytical techniques that make the book eminently legible for trade and non-trade scholars alike.


Two dimensional shallow tidal wave equations are selected to simuatethe current fields of Shenzhen Bay and its surrounding sea, then the combination of atwo-dimensional water quality model the sea water carbonate buffer model areintaed into Predicting the impast of cooling water from a power Plant to the pHvalue of sea water. The results give out that the affected maximum scopes of thecooling water are very small compared to the researching extent and the impactneary has no effects on the water quality of the sea regime including Shenzhen Bay.


Our view of an intelligent information system IIS is composed of a unified knowledge base, database, and model base. The model base includes decision support models such as simulation models and forecasting models, for example. However, we feel that the model base should include domain specific problem solving modules as well as decision support models. This, then, allows an IIS to provide responses to user queries regardless of whether the query process involves a data retrieval, an inference, a computational method, a problem solving module employing, for example, a nonproduction rule based heuristic search technique, or some combination of these. The unified integration of these components is the major focus of this article. The inclusion of problem solving modules within our unified approach is of primary importance, and a major contribution of this work. The foundation for our unified knowledge/data/model/module management approach is Active KDL active knowledge/data language which follows the functional and object-oriented paradigms. Active KDL is based on the hyper-semantic data model, KDM knowledge/data model developed in the mid-1980s. By hyper-semantic, we mean a data information model capable of capturing even more of the meaning of an application area than captured via traditional, semantic, and object-oriented models.


SummaryAs an underlying brain dysfunction has been shown in an increasing number of cases of mental retardation autism and language disturbance pediatric neurology has been a field of growing attraction nbsp; Due to the enormous development in the new imaging techniques and laboratory analyses it has been possible to show an organic lesion in many of those cases In such a field where our country is not so backward in comparison to the developed countries the integration of various studies and cooperation of people from different disciplines are necessary for a better management of mentally handicapped people So many of those people expect the consequences of such a fruitful attemp Key words: Mental Retardation Behavioral Neurology Brain Dysfunction


In-scene parameter estimation applies image samples of a known population to find parameters in its image generation model. These parameter estimates then may be applied in models of other populations of interest. In remote-sensed imaging, the models are often complex (nonlinear, numerical, etc.), and the sample sizes are usually large. In many cases, traditional estimators are not applicable. The author presents a numerical approach to estimation that can be applied to such models. This estimator is an approximation to the maximum likelihood solution of a general non-linear model. It is based on matching simplified residuals with their known density, which is-obtained by simulation. The goodness of the match is characterized by an objective function derived from the likelihood ratio statistic. A sampling distribution, generated by replication, characterizes the estimator for a given application. The technique has been applied to estimate parameters in thermal infrared imagery, but it may be employed to estimate parameters in various single band and multi-spectral applications.<<ETX>>


This paper presents the log-concavity of the $m$-gonal figurate number sequences. The author gives and proves the recurrence formula for $m$-gonal figurate number sequences and its corresponding quotient sequences which are found to be bounded. Finally, the author also show that for $m\geq 3$, the sequence $\big \{S_n(m)\big\}_{n\geq 1}$ of $m$-gonal figurate numbers is a log-concave.


The classification of semilinear transformations preserving the determinant over a noncommutative local ring is given. For local Ore domains we obtain a classification of Adjamagbo determinant preservers. The developed technique allows us to classify Dieudonné determinant preservers for division rings which may be infinite dimensional over the center.


Using a volume‐limited sample of ∼7,000 early‐type galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) we derive parameters based on Principal Component Analysis applied to the SDSS spectra. These parameters are highly sensitive to Recent Star Formation (RSF), as found both using synthetic models and galaxies with NUV photometry from GALEX. The dependence of environment on the presence of recent star formation is investigated in the groups catalogue of Yang et al. (2007). The sample is separated either with respect to stellar mass (representing an "intrinsic" observable) or halo mass (as a proxy for environment). We find environment plays a secondary role, whereas stellar mass is strongly correlated with the stellar populations.


Citation for published version (APA): Vigo, M., Bellucci, B., & Baccelli, G. (2014). Elements for a Comparative Study of Textile Production and Use in Hittite Anatolia and Neighbouring Areas. In M. L. Nosch, C. Michel, & M. Harlow (Eds.), Prehistoric, Ancient Near Eastern and Aegean Textiles and Dress: an Interdisciplinary Anthology (Ancient Textile Series ed., Vol. 18, pp. 97-142). Oxford: Oxbow Books.


Single-image super-resolution technology is critical in remote sensing, effectively improving the resolution of target images, with super-resolution algorithms based on deep learning demonstrating superior performance. However, most neural networks present shortcomings, such as a lack of interpretability and requiring a long training time, limiting them in some application scenarios. Moreover, due to the multidegradation factors, tasks put forward higher requirements for the adaptability of algorithms. Therefore, this work develops a structured deep unfolding network (SDUNet), which is adaptable and requires a lower training time by cascading multiple small network modules. Additionally, the unfolding strategy proposed deals with multiple degradations, fully exploiting prior knowledge. The suggested method is challenged against state-of-the-art neural network methods on one optical remote sensing image (ORSI) dataset and one natural image dataset. The experimental results demonstrate our method's effectiveness in requiring less training time, involving fewer parameters, and achieving a higher reconstruction performance for ORSI super-resolution.


Company, Stollwerk and Co., of Cologne, in 1900-5 at the house in Georgstrasse. He says that there were automatic chocolate -machines, automatic music machines, electric pianos, weighing machines, the x-ray apparatus, automatic peasant bands, and a peepshow of the Frenchman Lumiere. In the cellar of the house a cinematograph apparatus functioned from time to time. Although Herr K. M. could not confirm the year 1896, Herr B. S. produced the answer to the key question. He could say for certain that he had seen the x-ray apparatus in 1896 because he was married that year, and he had gone to the showplace with his new brother-in-law. Further confirmation of the date 1896 came from a 78-year-old reader, Herr K. K., who became a soldier in 1897 and was quite definite that he went to the automaton show the year before. Dr. B. reported that in 1896 he already owned an x-ray apparatus in his practice, purchased through the firm of Nicolai, Leinstrasse, from Reiniger, Gebhard, and Schall. Herr 0. R. also reported that a doctor in Gehrden owned an x-ray apparatus in 1896. It seems, therefore, that Hanover and the show business were right up to date in March, 1896.


Objective To evaluate the safety,efficacy and advantages of laparoscopic colorectal surgery for elderly patients with colorectal cancer.Methods Operation safety,complications,and postoperative recovery of 35 patients aged 70 years and over who underwent laparoscopic colorectal surgery(LAPA group) were analyzed retrospectively and compared with those of 78 elderly patients performed with conventional open surgery(OPEN group) and 35 patients younger than 65 years performed with laparoscopic colorectal surgery(LAPB group) between December 2002 and December 2003.Results No surgery-related death occurred in LAPA group and LAPB group,but 2 deaths were found in OPEN group because of severe pulmonary infection and anastomotic leakage respectively.There were 33 (42.3%) cases of complications in the OPEN group which were significantly more than those in LAPA and LAPB group (P0.05).Mean blood loss,time to flatus and time to normal diet of LAPA group were(92±50)ml,(2±1)days,and(5±2)days respectively, which were significantly less than those of OPEN group(P0.05).No significant difference was found between LAPA group and LAPB group in terms of mean operation time,blood loss and complications(all P0.05).Local recurrence rate,metachronous metastases rate and cumulative survival probability at 30 months were similar in the LAPA and OPEN groups.Conclusions Laparoscopic colorectal surgery is safe and beneficial to the patients aged 70 years and over and it could be adopted widely.


Accommodation is one of the important aspects in the tourism development which is the competitive tourist sector. By providing adequate information of accommodation in terms of place, availability of facilities and price, it will be easier for travellers to choose any accommodation that meets their needs and budget. Thus, the aim of this project is to develop a one-stop centre of information for accommodation in Perlis to support the needs of tourists. The goals of the project are to prepare the georeferenced location, ii) detailed information about the facilities and the rate of each accommodation provided. As a result, the information on accommodation can retrieve from the centre of information, and it will help tourists in planning their vacation. In addition, the project will aid the Ministry of Tourism, Perlis office to manage and update every hotel and homestay information surrounding Perlis.


In this paper, the ordinary tap water was changed into directly drinkable water successfully through filtration equipment, which was made by Cocoanut Active Charcoal and Nano Silver. The quality of filtered water was similar to Bama longevity village's water. Its properties were characterized by high-resolution super conducting NMR spectrometer, inductively-coupled plasma spectrometer, far infrared radiation rate tester, pH acidity meter and redox potential instrument. The results showed that the pH value of this water was 7.2~8.5, and the region of ORP was 70~150mV, It presented as 5 to 7 molecules structure of water clusters, can launch far infrared ray, It contained 16 macro and micro elements human needed, such as K, Na, Ca, Al, Fe, Ti, Mo, V, Cr, Co, Sr, Cu, Mg, Mn, Zn and Ni.


Abstract This paper will examine why the feminist critique to human rights is still relevant even in so-called 'progressive' Western societies today, with specific attention to sexual violence. The first part of this essay will explore the feminist critique concerning the public/private sphere, paying attention to its historical emergence, and effect on the progression of women's rights in the area of sexual violence. This will be followed by a discussion of what has formally been done to address the issue, and a general discussion on shortcomings that exist today, with particular attention to the Larry Nassar case in the United States.


Objective:To observe the changes of expression of IGF-I and GAP-43 mRNA in rat dorsal root ganglion of early diabetes and effect of insulin treatment on them.Methods:Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus model were induced with a single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin(STZ,60mg/kg) .After model was made successfully,the diabetic model rats were divided into two groups(the diabetic model group and the insulin treatment group) .In the second day,the insulin treatment group was injected subcutaneously with protamine zinc insulin once a day.The administration was ceased on the end of the second week,then the dorsal root ganglion of rats in each group were isolated and the total RNA was extracted by using Trizol reagent and the IGF-I and GAP-43 gene expression were detected by the method of RT-PCR.Results:The levels of IGF-I and GAP-43 mRNA were decreased obviously in early diabetic DRG(P0.01) ,and insulin treatment could up-regulate the gene expression of IGF-I significantly(P0.01) and had the tendency of increasing GAP-43 expression.Conclusion:The reductions of IGF-I and GAP-43 mRNA in DRG of early phase of diabetes may contribute to the pathogenesis of diabetic peripheral neuropathy.


We consider a linearly unstable standing wave solution of a parabolic partial differential equation (PDE) on the real line and develop a high order method for polynomial approximation of the local ...


With the help of Wick's integrational operation of Banach space-valued generalized functionals of white noise and classical generalized functions of white noise,an integral called Bochner-Wick integral of a function valued in B-valued generalized functionals with respect to a measure which takes value in the space of generalized functionals was defined,its property was discussed,and corresponding convergence theorems were established.


We propose a new framework to solve inverse obstacle problems with a Dirichlet condition, consisting in the construction of a decreasing sequence of open domains that contain the searched obstacle. We provide a theoretical justification of this new methodology, infer from it a new algorithm based on the coupling of the quasi-reversibility technique and a level-set method, and illustrate the functionality of the algorithm with the help of numerical experiments in 2D.


Focus of this problem is: How the empowerment of Vocational Secondary School (SMK) through strategic management in preparing graduates which in agree with job market need? The object of this research is to find out SMK management profile, strategic management formulation, and strategic management implementation in SMK empowerment.

 This research used qualitative approach with case study, research subject is: all situation, condition, and SMK environment, headmaster, internal school members, and Vocational Secondary School stakeholders.

 The theoretical ground in analyzing this research finding is strategic management. This theory based on assumption that strategic management has strong basis in empowering all human resources, so, stakeholders can actively participate to cooperate, to give affirmation to all organization personnel in order to do the task in accord with each task performance demand.

 This research findings show: First, the three SMK profiles have basic standard as vocational school organization, the three SMK can implement their main task in accordance with basic standard which has been enacted in accordance with vocational school performance, it can be seen from organization structure ordering, curriculum and program, and also the existed resources usage, whether it is human resources or its facility. From the three SMK, SMK Negeri 3 has organization structure that is more detail and more optimal program if it is compared with SMK Negeri 1 and 2. Second, the three SMK initiate the formulation of strategic management by enacting vision, mission, object, goal, so, it facilitates them in directing the achievement of vocational school organization object. Strategy in enacting all sorts of policy is taken through deliberation, but in a particular matters the policy is taken by school head. Third, strategic management implementation which is conducted by SMK is by empowering all internal and external school members proportionally. In terms of strategic management implementation, SMK Negeri 3 more optimizing school personnel roles in implementing their programs. While SMK Negeri 1 and 2 still needs to optimize stakeholders roles actively in order to facilitate them in implementing enacted programs in the efforts to answer job market demand.

 The findings above describe that strategic management that is applied by Vocational Secondary School in Banda Aceh can empower personnel and internal and external environment. Therefore, this research offers SMK conceptual model of strategic management exertion, by recommending: (1) The needs of empowerment internal schools members through detail and proportional work mechanism in optimizing SMK programs; (2) The needs of headmaster in creating active participation of internal and external school members through effective control mechanism, (3) Conducting socialization of strategic management basic concept in internal and external school environment, in order school goal and customer need is fulfilled simultaneously; (4) The needs of SMK program and curriculum development that can answer job market needs.


The invention provides a polyester spinning method of a reducing screw melt extrusion machine, and in particular relates to a polyester spinning method of an integrated reducing screw melt extrusion machine. According to the polyester spinning method of the integrated reducing screw melt extrusion machine, the extrusion machine is divided into a feed pre-crystallization drying zone, a pre-melt exhaust zone, a melt zone and a compression metering zone from front to back; barrels in the feed pre-crystallization drying zone, the melt zone and the compression metering zone are cylindrical, and a barrel in the pre-melt exhaust zone is conical; the diameter of the barrel in the melt zone is the same as that of the barrel in the compression metering zone but is less than that of the barrel in the feed pre-crystallization drying zone; and a feed pre-crystallization drying temperature is controlled to be 110 to 170 DEG C, and a pre-melt air exhaust temperature is controlled to be lower than a raw material melt temperature of 3 to 10 DEG C. By the method, raw materials can be uniformly dried and pre-crystallized in the extrusion process and fully dehydrated without bulky drying equipment; and the method is suitable for melt spinning of polyester.


What is civil society? That is the most recurrent question when topics such as its objectives, goals and impact come up. This document summarizes the differe...


Metaphor is a critical component in architecture where it mediates the various stages involved in architectural design as well as the discussion on finished buildings in post-construction genres. In this regard, although metaphor appears to be mostly used in a conventional, unconscious way, architects also use it deliberately to discuss their work in the different genres articulating architectural discourse. In short, the metaphors found in architectural discourse not only reveal ways in which architects conceptualize space, but also work as tools for communicating their work to others. My main concern in this article is to discuss how metaphor is used by architects throughout the aforementioned design stages in three different genres, namely architects' texts reflecting upon their design, scholarly articles, and architectural reviews. The discussion focuses on six texts illustrating the aforementioned genres and dealing with a single building designed by Berlin-based architect Zvi Hecker. By using these data, I will attempt to show how metaphor is used, re-used and further elaborated (i.e., re-contextualized) by architects in the thinking and discursive endeavors involved in their work.


In order to effectively teach software testing students how to test real-world software, the software tools, exercises, and lab projects chosen by testing educators should be practical and realistic. However, there are not many publicly-available realistic testing courseware for software testing educators to adapt and customize. Even for the existing testing lab exercises developed and/or used by the educators, there are various drawbacks, e.g.: (1) They are not usually kept up-to-date with the most recent testing tools and technologies, e.g., JUnit, (2) They are not built based on realistic/real-world Systems Under Test (SUTs), but rather use "toy" examples (SUTs). The above needs were the main motives for the author and his team at the University of Calgary to modernize the lab exercises of an undergraduate software testing course. This paper presents the designed lab courseware, and the experiences learned from using the courseware in the University of Calgary. It is hoped (and expected) that other software testing educators start to use this laboratory courseware and find it useful for their instruction and training needs.


The natural radioactivity concentration in beach sediment samples collected from Pattipulam to Devanampattinam of East Coast of Tamilnadu have been determined by NaI (TI) gamma ray spectrometer. The specific activity concentrations range from ≤ 2.21 (BDL) to 37.02 Bq kg−1 with a mean of 3.79 Bqkg−1 for 238U, ≤ 2.11 (BDL) to 643.77 Bqkg−1 with a mean of 49.60 Bqkg−1 for 232Th and 300.34 Bqkg−1 to 449.08 Bqkg−1 with a mean of 360.23 Bqkg−1 for 40K. The potential radiological hazards due to natural radionuclides content such as Radium Equivalent activity (Raeq), Representative level index (RLI), External hazard index (Hex), absorbed gamma does rate (DR), and Annual effective dose rate (AEDR) are estimated to assess the radiation hazard associated with the sediments. The obtained data are compared with the recommended safety limits and international approved values. All the values are well below the recommended safety limits indicating that radiation levels do not poses any significant health hazard to the pu...


There is suggested an analytical approach within the preventive measures development for improving labour conditions and safety in a manufacturing enterprise. There is developed a technique of the safe length of service assessment, based on the assessments of professional risk accumulation up to the threshold of acceptable values, which allows forming a management strategy of financing arrangements intended to improve the labour conditions and safety. There is also considered an example of the financing arrangements strategy choice intended to improve labour conditions and safety. (Mjasnikov V., Salkucan V. Strategy of labour safety management. Life Sci J 2014;11(10s):225-227) (ISSN:1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com. 39