To the Editor: We have read with interest the comments made by Dr. Fern andez-Cuadros and thank him for his interest in our recently published article. This work was done using the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) cohort, which is an observational study looking into knee OA evolution over time. The OAI provides a unique database that allows the exploration of a large number of parameters of the disease and comprises extensive documentation of the structural changes occurring over time using radiographs and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The results of the present study demonstrated a protective effect of combined treatment with Glu/CS against cartilage volume loss in the lateral compartment assessed by quantitative MRI. Note that, as expected, the analyses were adjusted for any possible imbalance between the treatment groups at baseline. The finding of the protective effect in the lateral compartment is well in line with previous studies by our group (1,2) and others (3) using quantitative MRI technology. As acknowledged by Dr. Fern andez-Cuadros and many well-recognized experts in this field, radiographs provide poor accuracy and precision for measuring disease progression in the lateral compartment, findings that concur with the data presented in a previous study (1). Moreover, the yawn sign proposed by Dr. Fern andezCuadros may be a putative explanation for lateral compartment "protection" over time when assessed with standing plain radiographs, but such an explanation does not hold for cartilage volume assessment for patients lying supine while using MRI. The preferential protective effect in the lateral compartment of the treatment with Glu/CS, observed in the current study, has a number of logical explanations highlighted in the discussion section, which have to do with the extent of cartilage loss in the compartments. Simply put, the demonstration of lateral compartment cartilage protection is better demonstrated than the medial compartment for patients with longer disease duration and worse disease severity, as these patients have less cartilage volume in the medial compartment upon study inception. This finding is supported by a recent study (4). The latter explored treatment with chondroitin sulfate and demonstrated that patients with less severe OA, as compared to another study in which patients had more severe disease (2), had better cartilage preservation in the medial compartment, hence a greater protective effect against cartilage loss in the medial compartment than in the lateral compartment. Moreover, with regard to the comment about the actual dose of Glu/CS, as pointed out in the discussion section, there was no information about the exact dose or quality of the medication, which represents another important study limitation. However, according to the medication history form of the OAI workbook, the frequency of Glu/CS use was ≥85%. To address the comment regarding the effect of treatment on OA symptoms, again, as mentioned in the discussion section, observational studies are well recognized as presenting a number of limitations that make it extremely difficult to accurately and reliably assess the symptomatic effects of treatment. This study is no exception.


The invention discloses a method and a device for transmitting a data package, and belongs to the technical field of communication. The method comprises the steps of receiving a chain detection message sent by a first device, wherein the chain detecting message is carried with a first device magic word; if the first device magic word is different from a second device magic word stored at the terminal, determine that the first device and a second device are not the same one device, and the second device is the device for performing PPP (point-to-point protocol) negotiation with the terminal; re-performing PPP negotiation with the first device; transmitting the data package to the first device through a route obtained after negotiation. Through the magic word carried by the chain detection message, the method and the device for transmitting the data package can determine if the opposite terminal of the terminal is switched, thereby avoiding sending the data package to a wrong route.


Abstract : Operations have been concentrated on the micro-resolution analysis of the 120 meter ice core that was collected in Greenland in June, 1992. Thus far, 64 meters of the ice core have been sampled and a total of over 4000 individual samples have been analyzed for both nitrate and electrical conductivity. It has been possible to identify a number of specific anomalies in both the nitrate and the electrical conductivity records. Strong nitrate anomalies related to known solar flares have been identified, and it will become possible to delineate a signal of solar activity well beyond the known geophysical records. It has also been observed that periods of known low solar activity also correlate with lower than normal nitrate concentration and yearly nitrate flux. A new automatic ice core melting apparatus has been designed and built that will permit sampling the remaining ice cores at a higher resolution than was previously possible. This is a significant advantage because deeper ice cores are more compacted and the higher sampling frequency will maintain nearly the same time resolution as that obtained nearer the surface.


Research on GIS interoperability is very important for spatial data share and integration. GIS specifications play important roles. In this paper, OpenGIS WMS (Web Map Service) specification is studied, and Web services technology is introduced for its implementation. Totally different from other implementations, the mapping Web service has advantages of cross-platform interoperability and high capability of integration etc. We also give an example of its integrated application in Spatial Information Search Engine (SISE) system using ASP.NET. Excellent performances are achieved for all the components in this distributed system


The wanted output of the Active Power Filter always exceeds its output range in the course of harmonic compensation. This article presents two algorithms to optimize the output signal. One is to swap between time and frequency.The other is to analyze crest. By the two algorithms, the Active Power Filter gets good compensation effect and avoids producing the new harmonic .


The new exact weak solution of the equations for the ideal incompressible fluid dynamics in the finite layer inside two plates with solid boundaries is obtained. The solution meets a devised non-linear finite dimension Hamiltonian dynamic system for the coordinates and the Lamb impulses of N point vortex dipoles (PVD), i.e. extremely small solid spherical particles, moving with respect to the fluid. For N=2 the necessary condition for the collapse (or the converging in one point during the finite time) of two PVD is stated. On the base of the proposed theory, the new hydrodynamic mechanism of converging for two small spherical particles (of the same radius) is introduced and used for interpreting the observed paradoxical effects of attraction for micro particles with the same sign of electrical charge in the colloid and dusty plasma systems. The correspondence of the condition for collapse of two PVD with the experimentally observed data where convergence of two like-charged micro-spheres moving in the fluid layer is observed only when definite necessary restrictions on the fluid layer depth are imposed from above and below (J. C. Crocker, D. G. Grier, 1996) is stated. We also state the possibility of correspondence between the obtained condition of collapse for two PVD in the limit of unbounded fluid and known numerical results on the threshold of the impact parameter for the realization of resonance bond state (and corresponding stochastic dynamic regime) for two finite size vortex dipoles during their scattering in unbounded fluid (S. V. Manakov, L. N. Shchur, 1983; L. Tophoj, H. Aref, 2008). Here we show that in the latter process the size of dipoles is not so important as it was thought before.


We show super-resolution chemical imaging with plasmonic nanoholes, Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy and Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy. Spectral and spatial content are obtained simultaneously by imaging through filters or gratings.


Recent progress of study on gas electron multiplier (GEM) has been described. Due to its fast time re-sponse and excellent position sensitivity, the GEM will find wide applications in particle physics, medicine and as-trophysics. These potential applications have been briefly introduced.


In combination with the Living examples taken from the shaft kiln cement plant,discussed in the article are the effects of the correct proportioning of coal in the raw meal on the quality of the finished cement in kind and the importance of the correct coal proportioning in the raw meal.According to the article,invention of the Multi-purpose Calorie-meter of Coal-mix has a great and realistic significance in guiding the transformation of the raw meal's coal proportioning from the pilot-style to the scientific-style.


This paper formulates mode conversions of transmission and reflection from differential mode to common mode in differential transmission lines with bend discontinuity using a very simple model. The formulae tell us that the mode conversion is caused by not only the path difference in the bend but also the difference between the characteristic impedance and port impedance. The formulae were validated by full-wave simulation under the assumption that effect of the bend region is small and results showed that path difference reduction and impedance matching at the input and output ports are significant in suppressing mode conversion. This suggests that the tightly coupled asymmetrically tapered bend proposed by the authors should be effective for suppressing mode conversion.


For the sake of evaluating dynamically and forecasting the risk of an urban buried gas pipeline system,and providing more subjective and safe management grounds for manager,the SPA and Markov chain were got together,and used for evaluating dynamically urban buried gas pipeline system.Seeing that the system had a lot of uncertainties and a dynamic state characteristic,a new dynamic method for evaluating and forecasting the risk of the system was adopted,that was a combination of state evaluation and forecast analysis.With this method,the danger grade of the system was determined according to the contact number,and the final risk level of the system was forecasted by using the ergodic property of the Markov chain and a combination of set pair state potential with the result.


A B S T R A CT Protonemata of Onoclea sensibilis were grown for 7 days in darkness and were then transferred into light on new media, either liquid or agar-solidified, which contained 0.15 % colchicine. The growth of individual plants was observed on solid media in microchambers. Unequivocal evidence was obtained that cell wall expansion and an increase in cell diameter occurred in regions well behind the apex of the protonema. This finding is related to an hypothesis which proposes light-induced changes in microtubule orientation and cell wall structure as an explanation for certain changes in cell form in fern gametophytes. MILLER AND STEPHANI (1971) suggested that the increase by light in the rate of protonema elongation in fern gametophytes might result from a light-induced change in the orientation of cytoplasmic microtubules which, in turn, controlled the structure and mechanical properties of the cellulose cell wall. The walls of protonemata growing in darkness were supposed to be more mechanically isotropic and prone to yield laterally as well as longitudinally under cell turgor. Irradiation with red or far-red light was proposed to produce a wall structure which was strengthened against lateral yielding; this was indicated by the smaller diameters of the light-treated protonemata. Since both dark- and light-grown protonemata had the same rate of volume increase, the rate of elongation was, of necessity, higher in irradiated plants with smaller diameters. Some support for the basic assumption of this hypothesis has come from the work of Stetler and DeMaggio (1972). Microtubules were oriented axially in the cylindrical part of protonemata of Dryopteris filix-mas which were kept filamentous under red light, whereas microtubule orientation was random in plants placed under blue light, which initiated a bulging lateral expansion of the filament tip. Thus at least one example of a lightinduced change in cell shape in fern gametophytes is correlated with an observable change in microtubule orientation.


Taking oxidized chitin as the cross-linking agent,the composite gelatin membrane has been prepared by solution cross-linked method.The influence of carbonyl group content of the oxidized chitin on the thermal stability and water absorption behavior of the composite membrane has been researched.The results show that the thermal denaturation temperature of the composite membrane will increase with the increase of the carbonyl group in the oxidized chitin.And then the swelling behavior of the composite membrane in the solution with different pH and ionic strength also has been tested.The results show that the swelling rate of the composite membrane is slower than the that of original gelatin membrane,and the rate of weight growth in the fully swelling state of the native gelatin membrane is higher than that of the composite membrane.


We studied age-related reproductive success in female lesser snow geese Chen caerulescens caerulescens, using data from the breeding colony at La Perouse Bay, Manitoba, 1973-88. We assessed age-specific variation in both individual components of reproductive success and their cumulative product using individuals aged 2-19 years. The composite measure of reproductive success increased among birds 2-6 years of age. Increased reproductive success over these ages was due to significant increases in clutch size and gosling survival and significant reductions in probabilities of total nest and total brood failure. After age 6, the composite measure of reproductive success declined significantly


After acute coronary syndrome events and after stent implantation, aspirin plus clopidogrel is better than aspirin alone for preventing vascular events, even considering bleeding risk. To assess combination therapy's value after a cerebrovascular event, researchers conducted the MATCH trial, sponsored by clopidogrel's manufacturer. They randomized 7599 patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA) or ischemic stroke within the previous 3 months (mean, 27 days) to receive clopidogrel …


The building system causes excessive vibrations during the seismic event which can lead to the complete collapse of a building, bridges etc. resulting in damage to the structure. Hence, the safety of the structures is essential to keep the building functional during and after the effects of the earthquake. To overcome these damages, additional energy dissipation systems are considered for the seismic protection of the building. The aim of the present study is to use the X-plate damper (XPD) in the structural system and compare it to a building without XPD. Non-linear time history analysis is carried out with and without the XPD in the system. The results show that there is a decrease in the overall displacement of the building compared to without the X plate damper in the building.


Objective To investigate the relation between the endothelium protein C receptor and lupus nephritis(LN). Methods The soluble endothelial protein C receptor (sEPCR) in plasma and EPCR mRNA in peripheral blood circulating endothelial protein C receptor(EPCR) were detected by enzyme linked Immunosorbent assay(ELISA) and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE),LN and normal control,respectively.Results The mean levels of sEPCR was significantly higher in SLE patients(261±13 ng/ml) than that in controls(167±11 ng/ml)(P0.001) The mean levels of sEPCR was significantly higher in LN patients(312±21 ng/ml)than SLE patients(261±13 ng/ml)(P0.001).The expression of EPCR mRNA was significantly higher in SLE patients[(132.5±32.6)mg/L] and LN patients(201±33.5 mg/L)than that in normal controls(88.6±29.5 mg/L),and it existed obvious differences between in SLE patients and LN patients(P0.005). Conclusion The increase of EPCR might be a marker that could be used to detect early stage LN and EPCR played important roles in pathogenesis of LN.


This is the first of a three-volume collection of studies which focuses on Conrad's Polish roots and his contribution to English literature.


Through the study and comparison of the th eo ry and methods of the urban mass transit network program, the railway program an d the urban traffic program, the paper analyzes and indicates that assessment an d decision making of the urban mass transit network program is multi-objective and complex just as that of the railway program and urban communication program. On this basis, the program decision-making assessment by layer index system is established, the decision-making format standardization effective method propo sed, the index weight AHP computer model and AHP-TOPSIS selection model built, the decision-making analysis system and the application software established an d actual sample cases are used to prove and verify that the model established by this paper can use all information. Thus those that could only be calculated by words are included in the calculation and experiences and the theory are combin ed. The results prove they are in conformity with the actual situation of the de cision-making of the urban mass transit network program. They can provide choic e service for the assessment and solution of the urban mass transit network prog ram and thus avoid human errors in policy-making.


1 The book addresses some of the recent buzz words centered around the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), also known as "Blockchain". The contributions mainly refer to one of the business areas where DLT has become the Messiah, namely the financial industry, as DLT has the potential to carve out the traditional middleman in banking transactions. Other relevant issues are treated as well, such as conflict of law (Florence Guillaume), intellectual property law (Daniel Kraus and Charlotte Boulay), data protection (Adrien Alberini und Vincent Pfammater), and even tax treatment of cryptocurrencies and criminal law aspects (Nadja Capus and Maelle Le Boudec).


High efficiency video coding (HEVC), as an up-to-date video coding standard, is becoming widely used, due to its preeminent performance. We argue in this paper that the new HEVC encoder can be utilized to provide efficient features for video segmentation. Thus, we propose a novel method, which learns to segment videos in HEVC compressed domain. Specifically, three features are extracted from HEVC bitstreams. Then, these features are integrated for video segmentation in compressed domain, through the logistic regression which is learnt from training data. This way, the computational complexity on video decoding can be saved. Experimental results show that our method is significantly superior to other state-of-the-art methods in terms of F-measure.


A number of recent estimates of the total luminosities of galaxies in the SDSS are significantly larger than those reported by the SDSS pipeline. This is because of a combination of three effects: one is simply a matter of defining the scale out to which one integrates the fit when defining the total luminosity, and amounts on average to 7 arcseconds. In the SDSS main galaxy sample these are typically luminous galaxies, so they are not necessarily nearby. This bias becomes worse when allowing the model more freedom to fit the surface brightness profile. When PyMorph sky values are used, then two component Sersic-Exponential fits to E+S0s return more light than single component deVaucouleurs fits (up to ~0.2 mag), but less light than single Sersic fits (0.1 mag). Finally, we show that PyMorph fits of Meert et al. (2015) to DR7 data remain valid for DR9 images. Our findings show that, especially at large luminosities, these PyMorph estimates should be preferred to the SDSS pipeline values.


Legally authorized to adjust the layout of schools for compulsory education,the government should seek to satisfy the special needs of compulsory education.Providing easy enrollment at the nearest school protects a student's right and is required of the government in the layout adjustment of schools for compulsory education.The government should take the initiative and adjust its measures,so as to lay a solid material foundation for enrollment at nearest schools,facilitate such enrollment,enhance its comprehensive quality,and improve its supporting system.


Abstract : The Department of Defense (DOD) has continuing efforts to modernize its airlift and tanker fleets by investing billions of dollars to modify legacy airlift systems, such as the C-5 and C-130, and procure new aircraft, such as a tanker replacement. Acquisition has been on GAO's list as a high risk area since 1990. Past GAO reports, including two recently issued, raise concerns about the quality of analyses underpinning the programmatic decision-making surrounding DOD's airlift requirements. GAO has reported that elements contributing to a sound business case for an acquisition are missing or incomplete as DOD and the services attempt to acquire new capabilities. Those elements include firm requirements, mature technologies, a knowledge-based acquisition strategy, a realistic cost estimate, and sufficient funding. Acquisition problems that include failure to limit cost growth, schedule delays, and quantity reductions persist, but fiscal realities will not allow budgets to accommodate these problems any longer. This testimony addresses (1) the analyses supporting the Department of Defense's (DOD) mobility capabilities and requirements and (2) actions that are needed to improve the outcomes of weapon system acquisitions.


The present invention comprises a backing layer, on donepezil transdermal patch that includes a pressure-sensitive adhesive of the matrix layer. The pressure-sensitive adhesive property matrix layer comprises donepezil free base and acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive, acrylic pressure sensitive adhesives, and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate and vinyl acetate copolymer, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, vinyl acetate and, and copolymers of hydroxyl group-containing monomer is selected from the group consisting of. Relative to the total weight of the copolymer, about 65 to 75% by weight of 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, from about 25 to 35 wt% vinyl acetate, and includes about 0-10 wt% of hydroxyl group-containing monomer.


In the paper, we employ a global value chain / global production network framework to examine value creation and especially value capture by various types of companies. The analysis is based on economic performance indicators from the 300 largest companies in Czechia based on turnover from 2014 to 2019. However, the hypothesized pattern of value capture was not confirmed in the case of foreign-owned companies. This finding suggests that an important role is played by the mandates multinationals assign to their national branches. The analysis also showed that companies operating in the service sector, broadly conceived, tend to capture less value than manufacturing firms. Finally, companies in both the manufacturing and service sector with access to the end market tend to capture greater value than companies without such access. Overall, our empirical analysis of value captured demonstrates that the assumption of a straightforward relationship between company position within a global value chain or global production network and value capture can be overly simplistic.


A purpose of historical sociology is to search out universal patterns within a historical perspective. The almost universal concern of the Victorian governing classes with the question of social control and the problem of order suggests such a pattern. This study seeks to direct new evidence towards confirming or denying the validity of this, by examining the exercise of power in nineteenth and early twentieth century adult education. Thus the discontinuities which determine the historical period under investigation coincide with the acceleration of working-class political demands at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and with the promise of a 'new beginning' heralded by the Final Report (Adult Education Committee) of the Ministry of Reconstruction, at the beginning of the twentieth. A great deal of history is written 'from above', i.e, from the standpoint of those who have had the charge of running or influencing the educational activities of other people. To counter this tendency, insights and data emanating 'from below' are, where possible, set against insights and data emanating 'from above', in order to generate a more general theory and in order to delimit the boundaries of existing theory. Hitherto, attention has mainly concentrated on studies of adult education institutions in the northern counties of England; particularly Lancashire and Yorkshire. They are rich sources of evidence, and represent the existing caucus of theory. However, adult education in the southern counties was developing apace in the nineteenth century. A particular relevance of this study is therefore that it is supported by hitherto unrevealed and unresearched data from the county of Surrey; data which reinforce or otherwise qualify those general conclusions drawn from previous studies.


The aim of the study was to assess the effects of exposure to low doses of cadmium dissolved in drinking water (at a concentration 200 times higher than the maximum permissible dose) on lipid metabolism in 20 Wistar rats. Animals were divided into two groups, control and experimental. Experimental animals were exposed to low doses of cadmium chloride in concentration of 20 μM of drinking water. The biochemical parameters determined in blood plasma included lipase, triglyceride, cholesterol and HDLcholesterol in blood of rats. Lipase decreased; triglycerides, cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol were not changed in rats exposed to cadmium. The objective assessment of potential damage should consider not only the final results but also levels of the investigated parameters throughout the trial, i.e. in its individual stages.


This paper concerns the question whether the rational reconstructLon of science provided by the philosophy of science is partly desciiptiv/e and partly normative task. To this respect we offer a general characterization of the concept of science and observ/e then briefly the relations bet ween the history and the philosophy of science. The widely extended vieu that there cannot be a history of science without an underlying philoso phy suggests the problem whether it can exist a rational reconstruction of science independently froin any theory about the science. On the ansuer to this question depends that ue could conceiue the philosophy of science as a discipline uhich combines descriptu/e (or empirical) with nor ma tice elements.


Floating Point Numbers are used in the field of medical imaging, biometrics, motion capture and audio applications, including broadcast, conferencing, musical instruments and professional audio. For this IEEE 754 standard is used .The floating point standard defines not only normalized values but it also considers special cases. It also specifies four rounding modes. Rounding modes implemented in this multiplier are round to infinity, round to zero and round to nearest. Exceptions used in this floating point are inexact, invalid, overflow, underflow, infinity operations, etc.


The study examined the analysis of rice consumption among civil servants in Ibadan North East Local Government area of Oyo State. One hundred and twenty respondents were selected using stratified random techniques. Primary data were collected using structured questionnaires. The statistical tools used in analyzing the results were frequency distribution, percentage, linear regression, semi-log and double-log. The finding revealed that majority (35.8%) of the respondents were in the age bracket 41-50years, 46.7% were female, 53.3% were male, 65.8% of the respondents have post - secondary education, 6.7% have minimum of primary education, 26.7% have secondary education and 0.8% of the respondents have no formal education. Eighty five percent (85%) of the respondents were married, 11.7% were single, 2.5% were widow and 0.8% was divorced. The study indicated that about 59.2% consumed rice in white form, 15% consumed rice in jolofu form and 0.8% consumed rice in fried form. Sixty percent (60%) of decision to consumption of rice at home were made by children, 10% were decided by the spouse, 21.7% were decided by the respondent itself and 96.7 % of rice were often purchased in the market, 0.4% of rice were often purchased from hawker, while 2.5% were often purchased from other sources. Based on results from the linear regression and semi log showed that that there is a significant relationship between Age, Sex and Amount spent on substitute. The finding of the study, it was recommended that respondents should be encouraged to have access to financial assistance for local producer, policy and regulation of commodities and Research.


Generators synthesize software systems by composing components from reuse libraries. In general, not all syntactically correct compositions are semantically correct. We present domain independent algorithms for the GenVoca model of software generators to validate component compositions. Our work relies on attribute grammars and offers powerful debugging capabilities with explanation based error reporting. We illustrate our approach by showing how compositions are debugged by a GenVoca generator for container data structures.


The present invention provides methods for reducing the content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or aromatic extracts of HAP, the method via HAP oxide oxidizing compound, wherein the heme protein in the presence of the aromatic extract with an oxidizing agent in a non-reactive contacting the organic solvent, and then contacted with heme proteins immobilized or supported.


The reduction of loss of lives and assets during bushfire is one of the primary aims or lire management agencies. Traditional fire mitigation strategies include strategic fire hreaks, static water points, management of ignition sources, rapid detection and local response, air attack, and fuel reduction burning. There have been few quantitative studies that assess the success or these strategies. We need to promote 'new' strategies more focused on human hehaviour and community preparedness. DeJcndable space provides our best strategy for reducing losses during major bushfires. The size or the defendable space depends on the type of house to be defended, who is defending it, and the spatial context of the property. In the urban fi'inge, remnant vegetation on private property often has high conservation values, and application of traditional mitigation strategies, as well as the vegetation modification required to achieve defendable space, may have significant impacts on conservation and biodiversity values.


This paper provides a history of genomic data release policies and explores these policies' research implications. It also discusses librarians' roles in establishing and clarifying access to those data. Finally, it proposes that librarians advocate free and open access to basic genomic data.


Many human motion tracking systems average, integrate, or correlate device samples over some non-zero period of time in order to produce a single system-level measurement. This is done to reduce the effects of device noise, or because one has no choice with some devices. The problem is that the target (user) is likely to be moving throughout the sample time, and this movement will in effect introduce additional "noise" (uncertainty) into the measurements. In this paper we introduce a method to optimize the device sampling time at the measurement level. The central idea is to determine the sampling time that maximizes device noise filtering while minimizing the impact of the expected target motion over the interval. We present the theory behind the approach, and both simulated and real-world examples.


We acknowledge the well-justified comment on how others could apply the humidity effect for these types of particles. Generally, we think that particle counting at the detection limit of ultra-fine condensation particle counters has to be treated with care. Due to high particle number concentrations in the nucleation mode, atmospheric measurements of soluble and insoluble nanoparticles might lead to wrong data interpretation. The lowest detectable particle size, i.e. the cut-off diameter of a CPC, is among the largest sources of inaccuracy in the sub-10 nm particle concentration measurement (Kangasluoma et al., 2018). Given that not only seeds of different chemical compositions but also solubilities are present in the atmosphere – these uncertainties on the number concentration need to be considered. A straightforward approach to assess the uncertainty of a humid sample flow is to dry the inlet flow of a CPC by e.g. using a Silica gel dryer or Nafion dryer which is a common method during ambient measurements. Additionally, the inlet RH should be monitored and kept below a threshold value in order to narrow down the uncertainty from the humidity dependent change of the cut-off curve in the case of a soluble seed. Hygroscopicity measurements of particles in the targeted size range further improve the assessment on the uncertainty of the number concentration. The location of the measurement site is also a clear indicator of a possible enhanced contribution of hygroscopic seed particles, i.e. when the measurement site is located by the coastline. Thereby the accuracy of the data interpretation would increase. Even without these additional measurements, the location of the measurement site can be used for data interpretation. As a result, studies that consider sea spray as a particle source should consider the effect of humidity on the particle detection efficiency. Furthermore, the enhanced activation of soluble particles can also be used to improve the detection efficiency for hygroscopic seeds.


A LC-MS method was established for the determination of manidipine hydrochloride in human plasma.Pharmacokinetics after single dose and multi dose oral administration of manidipine hydrochloride in 12 healthy volunteers were discussed.The analytes were extracted by ethyl acetate and nimodipine was used as internal standard.A Venusil XBP C8 column was used,with mobile phase of 5 mmol/L ammonium acetate solution(containing 0.5% acetic acid)-methanol-acetonitrile(15∶40∶45).The flow rate was 0.6ml/min.Atmospheric pressure electronic spray ionization(AP-ESI)was used,and it was operated in the positive ion mode.Selected ion monitoring ions were 611.4(M+1)for manidipine and 441.1(M+Na)for nimodipine,respectively.The calibration curve of manidipine hydrochloride was linear in the concentration range of 0.25-50ng/ml.The recovery and extraction recovery were more than 99% and 49%,respectively.The RSDs of intra-and inter-day were less than 8%.


We have developed a simple room-temperature readout for superconducting bolometers and calorimeters. Due to electro-thermal feedback, the bolometer can be noise-matched with the readout amplifier. The constructed amplifier consists of low-noise field-effect transistors, and voltage bias is actively provided by electrical feedback. According to our measurements on superconducting vacuum-bridge bolometers, the total noise is limited by the bolometer phonon and Johnson noise characterized by a critical temperature of 8.5 K. We show that, with proper sensor design, it is possible to reach the photon noise limit in video-rate submillimetre imaging applications.


This survey study aimed to determine the benefits of extracurricular activities for prospective teachers by performing a scaling study with pairwise comparison. Participants were 365 prospective teachers studying at different branches of a higher education institution. The data collection tool was designed by taking the opinions of three domain experts and two measurement and evaluation experts about the benefits that emerged from the literature. Each student was asked to rank the benefits of extracurricular activities by making a pairwise comparison. In the analysis of the data, as the chi-square value for error calculated with the Case V model was higher than expected at the 0,05 significance level, the Case III model was used for scaling. In this way, the benefits of extracurricular activities for the development of prospective teachers were scaled through pairwise comparison. The results showed that the order of benefits from the biggest to the smallest were: supporting personal development, supporting teaching skills, supporting social development, instilling positive affective qualities, supporting academic development and supporting physical development. Recommendations for the future include conducting studies to explore the reasons for the less preferred benefits.


The development of information technology is bringing many changes to everyday life, and machine learning can be used as a technique to solve a wide range of real-world problems. Analysis and utilization of data are essential processes in applying machine learning to real-world problems. As a method of processing data in machine learning, we propose an approach based on applying multiple linear regression models by interlacing data to the task of classifying similar software. Linear regression is widely used in estimation problems to model the relationship between input and output data. In our approach, multiple linear regression models are generated by training on interlaced feature data. A combination of these multiple models is then used as the prediction model for classifying similar software. Experiments are performed to evaluate the proposed approach as compared to conventional linear regression, and the experimental results show that the proposed method classifies similar software more accurately than the conventional model. We anticipate the proposed approach to be applied to various kinds of classification problems to improve the accuracy of conventional linear regression.


Windows Azure Storage (WAS) is a cloud storage system that provides customers the ability to store seemingly limitless amounts of data for any duration of time. WAS customers have access to their data from anywhere at any time and only pay for what they use and store. In WAS, data is stored durably using both local and geographic replication to facilitate disaster recovery. Currently, WAS storage comes in the form of Blobs (files), Tables (structured storage), and Queues (message delivery). In this paper, we describe the WAS architecture, global namespace, and data model, as well as its resource provisioning, load balancing, and replication systems.


Leprosy is a chronic infection caused by the acid-fast bacillus Mycobacterium leprae . In addition to the skin, upper respiratory tract and peripheral nervous system leprosy patients often develop ocular manifestations.It is very important to detect Ocular leprosy because around 10% peoples of ocular leprosy can end up with blindness. Prevalence of blindness is around 4.5% in India. Though early stage is asymptomatic but early detection and appropriate treatment is very much essential. Hereby , representing an article with ocular manifestations in Leprosy patient.


The present invention provides a method for forming a semiconductor device using the dual damascene process. The method to form the first sacrificial film to fill the contact hole portion penetrating through the mold layer formed on the substrate, and forming the second sacrificial film to fill the contact hole remains. The etching rate of the anisotropic etching for the formation of the first sacrificial film groove is formed at a slower substance compared to the mold layer. In this way, since the anisotropic etching for the formation of the groove protect the bottom surface of contact hole etch stop layer, and the contact hole sidewall sloping it is possible to minimize the phenomenon.


The velocity information estimated by the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver is an important element for the dynamic alignment of the inertial navigation system, and it is of great significance to analyze it deeply and meticulously. A variety of GNSS velocity measurement models show different characteristics in a changeable environment, and this status quo is bound to break the monotonous situation in which the Doppler model is widely used. In this regard, this paper applies different GNSS velocity measurement models to strap-down interial navigation system (SINS) dynamic alignment and continuous observation. In addition, aiming at the shortcomings of the traditional time-differenced carrier phase (TDCP) algorithm, an optimization method is deduced from the formula level, and two effective constraint algorithms are given. Then, according to the vehicle test results, comprehensively compare the integrated navigation performance of various speed measurement models, and analyze the improvement effect of the proposed TDCP algorithm. This paper provides a summary for the comprehensive study of GNSS velocity measurement model and the application of optimized carrier phase to integrated navigation, which has certain practical value.


A concentrator lens system was designed for a multi-junction solar cell, CDO-100-C3MJ, with an added feature − a convex lens was added above the Fresnel lens in order to improve the output power of the setup and reduce the need for the use of solar trackers. The convex lens setup was tested with the Fresnel lens setup over a 3-day photoperiod by measuring the voltage, current, irradiance, and temperature at every hour. The results showed that the convex lens setup produced 1.94% more power, but only at around midday. The increase in power is due to the convex lens that focuses a greater amount of irradiance on the solar cell over the course of the day.


Due to its extensive core coverage (444 m of the 527-m thick succession), well 7128/6-1 provides a unique opportunity for detailed sedimentologic study of the entire sub-surface Late Carboniferous-Permian Finnmark carbonate platform. This 'reference section' is augmented by 51 m of core in well 7128/4-1, 25 km to the west. Based on a combination of core description and a standard set of petrologic analyses performed at fixed l to 2 m spacing, the approximately 500-m thick carbonate succession is divided into nine lithostratigraphic units, each comprising a distinct depositional facies association. Trends in microfacies, inferred water depth, cycle thickness, and gamma ray (GR) profile are used to differentiate a hierarchy of stratigraphic sequences, reflecting probable 5ththrough 2nd-order fluctuations in relative sea leve!. Seven main sequences are recognized (3rdor possibly lower-order}, whose varying facies composition and cyclicity record the changing interplay of eustacy, climate, tectonics, and siliciclastic influx during the 50-60 m.y. history of platform evolution.


The redemptive function of science is a central facet of contemporary late-modern mythology, which due to the preeminent discursive hegemony of scientism generally goes more or less unexamined. A kind of redemptive scientism has popularly been acknowledged as simply real and unquestionably true, whereas neither the rationale nor the character of these narratives are sufficiently critically examined. Arguably, the trust in scientific redemption has waned in later years, which due to the narratives' dominant role risks engendering profound effects upon culture and society in general, yet these consequences are difficult to understand since we are insufficiently familiar with the myths that cause them. The purpose of this article is to exemplify the reproduction of such secular eschatologies within the framework of the futurology literature from a period which strongly affirmed and celebrated them. This will hopefully enable us to better understand their character, entrenchment, and ideological consequences, as well as what may follow from a developing rejection of them.


Porous coordination polymers (PCPs), also referred to as metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), have firmly established themselves as a class of excellent solid-state sorbents for carbon dioxide (CO2) along with their other several exciting properties. The mixed-ligand PCPs, constructed with polycarboxylates and N,N′-donor ligands, have been adopted for the fabrication of novel functional PCPs/MOFs, as the combination of different ligands with metal ions offer a better control over the structural variation of the frameworks compared to a single ligand. In this highlight, we have emphasized some of such important mixed linker-based MOFs with different carboxylate ligands and N,N′-donor linkers that act as excellent materials for CO2 adsorption and separation. The prospect of such mixed-ligand MOFs for the effective separation and sequestration of CO2 is also addressed by means of discussing different strategies for designing mixed-ligand MOFs that not only can potentially improve the amount of CO2 adsorption but also can increase the selectivity of CO2 uptake over other gases and volatiles.


Objectives: To investigate the psycho-physiological mechanisms of an Altered State of Consciousness (ASC) produced through systematic mental training by correlating the results of multiple computerised bioelectrographic measurements. Design: All subjects were tested using a set of modern computerized techniques comprising: digital electroencephalography; measurement of the low-frequency bi-lateral activity of the brain; evoked bioelectrographic signals measured by computerised Kirlian photography [otherwise called GasDischarge-Visualisation (GDV)]; self-reporting by subjects; linguistic testing; profiling of mood states. Executive Summary – prepared by the Editors Altered States of Consciousness 3 Location: Sweden and Russia from 1996 to 1999. Subjects: Young volunteers (61) undergoing systematic mental training for not less than 7 weeks. The control group (56) were not engaged in mental training. Results: All participants involved in the systematic mental training showed significant positive changes in their psycho-emotional status after 7-weeks of mental training. All the techniques showed specific changes which might be associated with an Altered State of Consciousness in the subjects. The Kirlian (GDV) patterns showed a form of 'explosive activation' which was stable, reproducible and correlated with an Altered State of Consciousness. This led the authors to introduce the concept of short-term activation of the induced bioelectrographic processes and enabled the properties of this Altered State of Consciousness to be determined for the first time. There were practically no changes in the Control Group. Conclusion: Altered State of Consciousness activation took place with harmonisation of the biopotential field of the brain, the psychic state and the bio-energy fields. This is attributed to changes in both the psychosomatic and psycho-energetic autoregulation. This conclusion is of vital importance for understanding what happens in systematic mental training and, the fundamentals of bio-energetic and psychosomatic medicine.


Cultural diversity in the education system can be seen through the various dimensions including intellectual intelligence, gender, race, ethnicity, values and family background. These varieties have implications for teaching and student learning culture. In the teaching of Islamic education, teacher's perspective on the concept of cultural diversity will give a clearer picture of the actions, decisions and practices in the classroom. Thus, this qualitative study will explore teachers' understanding of cultural diversity among the students. Semi-structured interviews were used to obtain the excellent teachers' understanding of the concept of multiculturalism, which involves seven outstanding teacher of Islamic education as study participants. The study found that teachers have given four main themes in discussing the concept of cultural diversity in the teaching of Islam that encompasses various religious practices, various values, diversity of peoples and nations and languages. Understanding of different cultures help Islamic Education teachers to understand the way people live and everyday practice of student life, thus can provide an equitable education to meet the needs of different students. It is hoped that this study will open the minds of Islamic Education teachers who had only used examples involving Malay Muslim students regardless of students with different cultural backgrounds. Besides, it also can eliminate prejudices and racial stereotypes in order to foster positive attitudes and respect for differences on ethnicity, race, and culture


Ergonomists are, in most cases, focusing on the human being when evaluating assembly system designs. This results in the human performance being expressed isolated from the technical environment. On the other hand, technicians are prone to concentrate on the hardware. These conditions underline the need to pursue a more integrated evaluation and design procedure in order to avoid the drawbacks of these traditional approaches. In this paper, the authors propose an alternative approach, i.e. process oriented ergonomics, which might be a constructive way of tackling some of the more complex aspects of the man-machine interaction in industrial environments such as assembly of engines.


Trust has an important role in the social life and state. Politicians as one element in a democracy become a major focus in the society, especially related to the behavior of politicians. This study aimed to describe the dynamics of distrust of politicians and the reasons why students distrust to politicians. Study participants were university students at UIN Suska Riau who totaled 219 (53 men and 164 women, mising 2). The instrument used a open-ended questions with indigenous psychological analysis. The results showed that in general students do not trust to politicians. There are four main reasons, the first Lack of integrity (71.7%), internal factors (8.2%), situational (7.3%), and competence (4.1%). The social dynamics of psychological distrust of politicians will be discussed in this article.


From the early 1900s, some psychologists have attempted to establish their discipline as a quantitative science. In using quantitative methods to investigate their theories, they adopted their own special definition of measurement of attributes such as cognitive abilities, as though they were quantities of the type encountered in Newtonian science. Joel Michell has presented a carefully reasoned argument that psychological attributes lack additivity, and therefore cannot be quantities in the same way as the attributes of classical Newtonian physics. In the early decades of the 20th century, quantum theory superseded Newtonian mechanics as the best model of physical reality. This article gives a brief, critical overview of the evolution of current measurement practices in psychology, and suggests the need for a transition from a Newtonian to a quantum theoretical paradigm for psychological measurement. Finally, a case study is presented that considers the implications of a quantum theoretical model for educational measurement. In particular, it is argued that, since the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is predicated on a Newtonian conception of measurement, this may constrain the extent to which it can make accurate comparisons of the achievements of different education systems.


. The radio galaxy Hydra A hosts a pair of hundred-kiloparsec diameter radio lobes that are being powered by one of the most powerful AGN outbursts known to date. Observations in the radio band provide us with an excellent probe for studying a high-energy electron population residing in the lobes. Using the MeerKAT observations of Hydra A, we computed the flux densities of these giant lobes at several frequencies and combined them with previous results from VLA observations at lower frequencies. We found that the spectrum in the MeerKAT frequency range is well described by a power law, while the overall spectrum indicates a steepening with frequency. We set constraints on the magnetic field strength and the age of the giant lobes through modelling of the temporal evolution of electron spectra under the influence of synchrotron losses.


In this paper, we study holomorphic [Formula: see text]-graded vertex superalgebras. We prove that all such vertex superalgebras of central charge [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] are purely even. For the case of central charge [Formula: see text] we prove that the weight-one Lie superalgebra is either zero, of superdimension [Formula: see text], or else is one of an explicit list of 1332 semisimple Lie superalgebras.


Suburban rail transport is essentially important for cities with peripheral residency. Istanbul has such a character. Currently servicing suburban rail system of the city serves not only serves for people living at the peripheries but also for residents of the several urbanized regions of the city as well. Obviously, recent decision to stop the operation of the suburban rail lines for a projected period of two years until the kick-off for the highly anticipated Marmaray project may have various negative impacts on significant amount of individuals. The aim of this study is to alert local authorities and residents of Istanbul for the upcoming aftermath. The paper includes an assessment of current situation with various statistics. Moreover, in order to reflect the outcome of the temporary closure of suburban rail lines, simplified calculations for additional passengers that will shift to remaining public transport services are presented. Furthermore, several recommendations such as new feeder lines or stepwise construction in order to handle the additional demand are proposed. The paper is finalized with a conclusion including general remarks.


We used the UltraViolet-Optical Telescope on board Swift to systematically follow the dynamically new comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) on its approach to the Sun. The comet was observed from a heliocentric distance of 4.5 AU pre-perihelion to its perihelion at 1.4 AU. From our observations, we estimate that the water production rate during closest approach to Mars was 1.5 ± 0.3 × 1028 molecules s−1, that peak gas delivery rates where between 4.5 and 8.8 kg s−1, and that in total between 3.1 and 5.4 × 104 kg cometary gas was delivered to the planet. Seasonal and evolutionary effects on the nucleus govern the pre-perihelion activity of comet Siding Spring. The sudden increase of its water production between 2.46 and 2.06 AU suggests the onset of the sublimation of icy grains in the coma, likely driven by CO2. As the comet got closer to the Sun, the relative contribution of the nucleus' water production increased, while CO2 production rates decreased. The changes in the comet's activity can be explained by a depletion of CO2, but the comet's high mass loss rate suggests they may reflect primordial heterogeneities in the nucleus.


The authors give a derivation of the van der Waals free energy of interaction between two semi-infinite media. The treatment, which includes the case of magnetic and conducting media, is valid for all temperatures and includes retardation effects. The method is an extension of one used by van Kampen (1968) and considers the free energy of electromagnetic surface modes in the region between the two media. The result reduces to that derived using Green function techniques by Lifshitz et al. (1961) for nonmagnetic media.


Raymond Moley's interest in Daniel O'Gonnell was originally inspired by his Irish grandmother's tales of the great man. During a long career in teaching, politics and journalism, which included membership in FDR's "brain trust" and the editorship of Newsweek, Moley never lost the idea of writing about O'Connell. In retirement this project took shape, supported by Moley's conviction that both Irish and Americans needed reminding of how much their countries' political development owed to O'Connell's teaching and tactics. Although his essay is based largely on secondary sources, Moley received considerable assistance from Professor Maurice O'Connell, a direct descendant of the Liberator and the editor of his correspondence, as well as the author of the book's foreword. Born in Kerry in 1775 and reared by a prosperous uncle, O'Connell completed his education in France and London, returning to Ireland to practice law. Having won fame and some fortune as a brilliant advocate for downtrodden fellow Catholics, he dedicated himself to the task of freeing his country from English misrule. O'Connell sought to attain this end by peaceful pressure, both because of his rationalist principles and his abhorrence of violence as morally evil and selfdefeating. In the struggle for Catholic Emancipation, he labored heroically to inspire and organize the peasants to defy their Protestant landlords. The success of this campaign took the Liberator to Parliament, where he created the nucleus of an independent Irish Party and used it to seek his ultimate objective, repeal of the Anglo-Irish Union of 1800. However, solid British opposition caused O'Connell to shelve repeal temporarily in favor of an alliance with the Whig government and more limited concessions. O'Connell revived the repeal agitation in 1840, when the return to power of his old enemy, Peel, appeared imminent. Three years later, the agitation reached its height with a series of "monster meetings" designed to overawe the government. When the government banned the climactic Clontarf meeting, however, O'Connell submitted rather than risk bloodshed. His attempts to revive Irish morale after this defeat were overshadowed by dissension within the nationalist movement and the devastating potato famine of 1845-48. Exhausted and fatally ill, the aged leader died at Genoa in May 1847 while on a pilgimage to Rome. Posthumous attacks by political foes and the apparent success of armed rebellion against Britain diminished O'Connell's stature in the century following his death. Yet he never lacked defenders, and recent studies have enhanced his reputation.


Leadership is generally viewed as important and beneficial for individuals as well as organizations. The term, however, also implies followership and the targets for leadership may be less enthusiastic about adopting a follower position. From a follower's point of view, there might be downsides associated with a leadership/followership relationship, including negative effects on identity and reduced autonomy. These often neglected downsides may lead to a dampening of the enthusiasm for leadership in practice and form a counterforce to the prevalence of leadership. This aversion towards followership may therefore mean 'less' leadership, for instance less salient 'leader/follower' qualities in relations and interactions than is generally assumed in leadership/followership studies.


A context-sensitive grammar G is said to be CS(k) iff a particular kind of table-driven parser, Jk(G), exists. Corresponding to each Jk(G), we define a class of parsers Jk(G). Jk(G) is itself a Jk(G). The main results are: 1. Any processor Jk(G) for a CS(k) grammar G accepts exactly the sentences of G. 2. The set of languages generable by CS(k) grammars is exactly the set of languages accepted by deterministic linear-bounded automata (DLBA's). 3. (a) It is undecidable whether there exists any k ≥ 0 such that an arbitrary CSG is CS(k). (b) For every fixed k ≥ 0, there is no algorithm that will decide if G is CS(k) and also construct Jk(G) if it exists. 4. For any DLBA MI algorithms are given to (i) construct a CS(k) grammar GM that generates the language accepted by M, and (ii) construct a processor J1 (GM). 5. CS(k) grammars are unambiguous. 6. The sentences of a CS(k) grammar can be parsed in a time proportional to the length of their derivations.


The effects of video detector saturation on the overall linearity of a radiometric receiver are analyzed. A simple model of the detector is used and the stochastic nature of the signals is allowed for. A useful design formuIa is derived.


Schools have become the seat of a new doxa, namely competency-based pedagogy. This paper takes a critical look at this new wave, which evidently originated from outside the field of educational sciences. The very definition of the concept of "competency" is problematic and seems ultimately to refer to a new norm described as "new complexity." In the final analysis, the competency-based approach takes on the real issue of mobilizing knowledge in a problem-solving context. The author presents the problematic solution of rejecting the use of disciplines as a point of entry,  an approach that faces difficult if not impossible issues, such as that of groups of situations. The author concludes by suggesting that we forget the notion of competencies and rethink the notion of learning.


The correlation between accumulation of linolenic acid in the crowns and roots of winter wheat and its frost hardening at low temperature is indirect. It results from their common requirement for light and low temperature. Light mainly produces energy and carbon reserves. The partial hardening obtained in darkness could be eliminated by preetiolation. The high levels of linolenic acid and frost resistance reached after hardening were maintained for a long time in darkness. The levels of linolenic acid and frost hardiness decreased faster at low temperature in hardened plants after treatment with BASF 13-338, a substituted pyridazinone, than in plants deprived of light. The mode of action of BASF 13-338 is apparently not limited to the inhibition of photosynthesis.


Mixtures of Beta densities have led to different methods of density estimation for univariate data assumed to have compact support. One such method relies on Bernstein polynomials and leads to good approximation properties for the resulting estimator of the underlying density f. In particular, if f is twice continuously differentiable, this estimator can be shown to attain the optimal nonparametric convergence rate of n −4/5 in terms of mean integrated squared error (MISE). However, this rate cannot be improved upon directly when relying on the usual Bernstein polynomials, no matter what other assumptions are made on the smoothness of f. In this note, we show how a simple method of bias reduction can lead to a Bernstein-based estimator that does achieve a higher rate of convergence. Precisely, we exhibit a bias-corrected estimator that achieves the optimal nonparametric MISE rate of n −8/9 when the underlying density f is four times continuously differentiable on its support.


Hard disk rotor suspended by active magnetic bearings consists of stator, rotor, magnetic actuator, sensor, controller and power amplifier. In order to research mechanical and electronic coupling dynamic behaviour of hard disk rotor, not only the dynamic model of rotor is needed, but also the model of stator and magnetic bearing must be incorporated into the model of the rotor. The uniform coupling dynamic model based on state space is set up. The model includes the interaction among magnetic actuator, controller, power amplifier and mechanical structure. At the same time, a active magnetic bearing can be simplified for spring-damping system. A simplified dynamic model is set up. The simulation showed that mechanical and electronic coupling action affected eigenvalue of hard disk rigid rotor suspended by active magnetic bearings.


A precise control over the internal architecture was essential for manufacture of complex organs. To create vascular systems that mimic human livers, we designed and fabricated complex 3D objects w...


Due to an administrative error, the following articles published in Welding International, volume 27, number 3, March 2013, as translations of articles published originally in Svarochnoe Proizvodstvo, November 2011, were in fact published originally in Svarochnoe Proizvodstvo, November 2010. Translations of these articles were also published, acknowledging their correct source, in Welding International, volume 26, number 5, May 2012. The publisher apologises for this error.


We propose a novel approach for detecting partial reflectional symmetry in images. Our method consists of two principal stages: candidate selection and validation. In the first step, candidates for mirror-symmetric patches are identified using an existing heuristic procedure based on Hough voting. The candidates are then validated using a principled statistical procedure inspired from the a contrario theory, which minimizes the number of false positives. Our algorithm uses integral image properties to enhance the execution time.


Maturing pre-erythrocytic schizonts of Plasmodium berghei develop within vacuoles in the cytoplasm of hepatic parenchymal cells of Thamnomys surdaster. The cytoplasm of these schizonts is subdivided into island-like units, the pseudocytomeres, around whose periphery the merozoites bud. Each merozoite is surrounded by a double-membraned pellicle covered by tiny microfibrillae. Typical cristate mitochondria were not seen in the schizonts or the merozoites. The developing schizont may obtain its nutrition by pinocytotic uptake of material synthesized in the cytoplasm of the infected host cell, and transferred to the vacuole surrounding the parasite.


a conjugation by a Mobius transformation, at least if L(G) C ^(R^) for no k < n and for no Mobius transformation h


The property of harmonic maps between complete Riemannian manifolds has been studied extensively by many authors (e.g., [C; Sh; T]). In the present paper we show some nonexistence results for quasi-conformal harmonic diffeomorphisms between complete Riemannian manifolds. In dimension 2, harmonic maps are closely related to the deformation theory of Riemann surfaces. One of the questions that arises naturally is: Are Riemann surfaces that are related by harmonic diffeomorphisms necessarily quasi-conformally related? See Schoen's article [S] for a general discussion on this subject, where other questions were also discussed. The result we show in this paper provides some partial answers to the high-dimensional generalization of this type of question. In particular we prove the following result, which can be thought of as a Liouville type theorem for harmonic diffeomorphisms.


Consumption of alcohol has been an integral part of society since Neolithic times. Harmful alcohol use accounts for 4% of the total global disease burden. The annual estimated cost to the National Health Service (NHS) alone is £2.7 billion. Around 24% of the adult population in UK consumes alcohol to levels that are associated with potential or actual harm to their health and well-being, while 9% of men and 4% of women aged 16–74 years are alcohol dependent. This article seeks to address the identification, assessment and evidence-based management of harmful and dependent drinkers in the adult primary care population.


In human-human communications, especially in face-to-face communication, sub-verbal and non-verbal messages have more importance than messages transported by words. On the other hand, in traditional man-machine interfaces, machines only understand pre-defined operations, and never understand operators' sub-verbal and non-verbal messages. This causes some usability problems in machine operations. We have proposed elsewhere that grasping information interface concept (GIIC) is the key idea to alleviate the above-mentioned communication gap between man and machine, and this paper verifies GIIC experimentally. GIIC regards grasping-and-moving as a fundamental hand operation necessary for performing tasks using modern man-machine interfaces, and behavioral measures associated with grasping, such as force, posture, etc., should have much potential in developing task-adaptive and operator-adaptive interfaces because it is known that how people grasp devices is dependent on the purpose of these tasks. GIIC provides machines with a communication channel to understand operators' intents more through the grasping information


We are developing a superconducting magnet system for growing high-quality protein crystals from solutions in a reduced gravity environment by magnetic force. In order to estimate a suitable reduced gravity environment by magnetic force for protein crystal growth, we propose a flow simulation model that elucidates the motion of multicomponent solutions under magnetic force. The simulation model is based on the Navier-Stokes equation and is applied to analyzing effects of different factors on the fluid flow in protein solutions. Numerical calculation results indicate that magnetic force strongly influences the protein solution flow through magnetic susceptibility distribution in fluid.


FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) has the advantages of parallelism and reconfigurability, therefore, it is widely used in areas such as image processing, robotics and artificial intelligence. However, the development of FPGA currently involves too many hardware details, so it lacks extensibility for different platforms and flexibility for system level management and scheduling. In this paper, we propose an FPGA Virtualization Mechanism (FVM), which divides physical resources into pages (virtual resources). We use the technology of PR (Partial Reconfiguration) and the method of intermediate form to lift the extensibility and performance. We implement FVM in our platform VSC (Vary Super Computer System). Experiment results show that FVM can solve the problem of extensibility and flexibility, with high performance.


This research uses Neural Networks to determine two dimensional airfoil geometry using Bezier-PARSEC parameterization. Earlier, Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) techniques have been used to solve combinatorial optimization problems like TSP. This work extends ACO method from TSP problem to design parameters for estimating unknown Bezier-PARSEC parameters that define upper and lower curves of the airfoil. The efficiency and the performance of ACO technique was compared to that of GA. The work established that ACO exhibited improved performance than the GA in terms of optimization time and level of precision achieved. In the next phase, Neural Network is implemented using Cp as input in terms of Cl, Cd and Cm for learning and targeting the corresponding Bezier-PARSEC parameters. Neural Networks including Feed-forward back propagation, Generalized Regression and Radial Basis were implemented and were compared to evaluate their performance. Similar to earlier work with GA and Neural Nets, this work also established Feed-forward back propagation Neural Network as a preferred method for determining the design of airfoil since the technique presented better approximation results than other neural nets.


Objective To investigate the prevalence and risk factors of urinary incontinence (UI) among female adults in Beijing area, and to examine the impact on life quality of UI patients. Methods Multiple stage stratified systematic sampling was used to select female adults from 48 study sites in 6 districts of Beijing, 3 058 females participated in the study and completed the questionnaire. The face to face investigation was conducted by trained staff. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 16.0. Results Based on the judging according to the standard questionnaire, the prevalence of UI among female adults in Beijing reached 22.1%. Age (OR=1.27,95% CI:1.14~1.41), chronic diseases (OR=2.39,95% CI:1.93~2.95), cesarean-section (OR=0.65,95% CI:0.46~0.90), stress and fatigue (OR=1.18,95% CI:1.05~1.32), abdominal distention (OR=2.24,95% CI:1.57~3.19), semi-liquid stool (OR=1.65,95% CI:1.09~2.51) were entered the non-conditional Logistic regression model. Suffering UI has caused obvious impact on quality of life of patients. Impact by stress urinary incontinence is mild, and that by mixed urinary incontinence is severe. Conclusions UI is a common and severe disease among female adults, prevention and treatment should be taken seriously and immediately by health authority.


ABSTRACT Volunteer management careers and the influence of workplace factors on volunteer manager turnover intentions have received relatively little attention in the empirical research literature. This study uses original survey data collected from over 400 volunteer managers to examine relationships between turnover intention and work motivation factors, person–organization fit (P-O fit), and emotional labor. Work motivation factors includes perceptions of advancement opportunities, task significance, autonomy, and pay satisfaction. P-O fit reflects the degree of congruence between an individual's values and goals, and the characteristics of their workplace. Emotional labor reflects the degree to which employees are engaged in the management of emotions to adhere to the emotional expectations of their jobs. Results emphasize a lack of advancement opportunities as the primary driver of turnover, and P-O fit as a main factor for retention. In addition, the ability to regulate emotions was found to result in reduced quit intentions.


With recent growth in the cruise industry, travellers are demanding better experiences. This research conceptualizes cruise travellers' experience as a second-order, four-dimensional construct which measures cruise travellers' experience by assessing their hedonics & escapism, social interaction, recognition & self-esteem and activities & facilities. Based upon a rigorous psychometric process of scale development and validation through intensive literature review and a large scale quantitative surrey, the authors propose a comprehensive instrument for assessing cruise travellers' experience that is reliable and valid.


W. D. Ross is commonly considered to be a generalist about prima facie duty but a particularist about absolute duty. That is, many philosophers hold that Ross accepts that there are true moral principles involving prima facie duty but denies that there are any true moral principles involving absolute duty. I agree with the former claim: Ross surely accepts prima facie moral principles. However, in this paper, I challenge the latter claim. Ross, I argue, is no more a particularist about absolute duty than a utilitarian or a Kantian is. While this conclusion is interesting in its own right, it is also important, I argue, because it prevents us from overlooking Ross's criterion of moral obligation and because it may have implications on the broader debate between particularists and generalists.


A new formulation is presented to model the hysteretic bending behaviour of metallic strands. The interaction between the wires of the strand is modeled through a frictional contact model based on the Amontons-Coulomb law and accounts for the effects of the tangential compliance mechanism. The new model is presented with reference to a single-layered mono-metallic strand and is applied to the study of the energy dissipation in cyclic bending.


The methanolic and chloroform extracts of leaves and bark of Zanthoxylum armatum DC. were evaluated for their phytochemical analysis and biological activities. In phytochemical analysis, fargsin was identified as major constituent in leaves methanolic and leaves chloroform extracts. t-butylamine and benzoxazole, 2-(isobutylamino) were identified as the major constituents in bark methanolic and bark chloroform extracts respectively. Both the extracts exhibited moderate antioxidant activity with IC 50 values ranging from 19.42±0.07 to78.01±0.31 µg. These extracts also possess moderate anti-inflammatory activity with IB 50 values ranging from 28.53 ± 0.06 to 89.80 ± 0.05 µg. Moderate anti-bacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus has also been observed in both the extracts. The total flavonoids, orthodihydric phenols and phenolic contents were also quantified in the extracts. Based on these observations, it can be concluded that Zanthoxylum armatum DC. may be used as herbal antioxidant, food preservative, natural anti-inflammatory drug and natural bactericidal, besides generation of data base for judicious exploitation in future.


The information affecting human impression forms is more.This paper tries to study whether participating in physical exercise can affect human' impression formation.The result indicated that individual physical exercise information may affect human impression formation.People have highly welcome the physical exerciser,but does not have the obvious bad impression on no exerciser.This kind of information also influences more people to participate in the physical exercise.


This paper considers estimation of general panel data models subject to the incidental parameter problem of Neyman and Scott (1948). Our main focus is on the finite sample behavior of analytical bias corrected Maximum Likelihood estimators as discussed in Hahn and Kuersteiner (2002), Hahn and Newey (2004) and Hahn and Kuersteiner (2011). As it is mentioned in Hahn and Newey (2004) and Arellano and Hahn (2006), in principle it is possible to iterate the bias formula to obtain an estimator that might have better finite sample properties than the one step estimator. In this paper we will investigate merits and limitations of iterative bias correction procedures in finite samples, by considering three examples: Panel AR(1), Panel VAR(1) and Static Panel Probit.


In this paper, we study Randers spaces whose geodesic are orbit fr m a specific setting. Mathematics Subject Classification: 53C60; 53C30 keywords: Randers metric, homogeneous geodesics, geodesic as orbits.


Haemoglo bin Packed cell volume Mean corpuscular volume MCHC Red blood cell count Erythrocyte sedimentation rate Reticulocyte count Total serum proteins Albumin Globulin Albumin : globulin ratio Immunoglobin G Immunoglobin A Immunoglobin M Cold agglutination titre 98 g/L 0.317 (31.7%) 8.04 fL 248 g/L 3.98 x 10* 12 120mm; first hour 10% 70 g/L 34 g/L 36gIL 0.94 29.91 g/L (normal 5-12) 1.21 g/L (normal 0.5-3.5) 4.18 g/L (normal 0.3-2.3)+ 37c Anti i (adult) 16 Anti i (cord) 16 25c Anti i (adult) 64 Anti i (cord) 32 4c Anti i (adult) 1024 Anti i (cord) 128


The device of the invention comprises a photooxidation closed loop circuit (1) comprising a pump (2) debiting successively in a four-way valve (3) in the flow cell (4) of a spectrophotometric system ( 5) and a liquid ultraviolet exposure station (6) whose output is connected to said pump (2), the four-way valve (3) being connected on the one hand, to the output of a position partial destruction (8) of a sampling circuit and, secondly, to a liquid discharge conduit (12). The invention is particularly applicable to continuous monitoring of water quality and the treatment of effluent treatment plants.


By analyzing sticking of mould caused frequently by hydrogen in steel,this article brought forward measures against hydrogen increase,which restrained frequently occurred sticking effectively,improved up to grade rate of slab and reduced unplanned closing down and breakout accident at the same time.


In this study, the senior students' views on parenting were studied as a part of the required Parent Education course offered in the last year of a preschool education undergrad program in Malatya, Turkey. The participants were 70 senior students receiving the course and they completed the assignments by answering questions related with parenting. The data were analyzed with the qualitative techniques. As a result, the general description of parenting, the ideal and expected parent portraits described by the participants revolved around the change in parenting and the students showed a strong belief about the effectiveness of parent education and involvement in preschool education. This study helped the participants to improve their insights by making connections between theory and practice about parenting in preschool period and significant results and implications were revealed for the researchers and practitioners.


Name lookup is an essential function, but a performance bottleneck in both today's and future network architectures. Variable-length and unbounded names rather than fixed-length addresses, as well as much larger and more dynamic forwarding tables call for a careful re-engineering of lookup structures for fast, memory-efficient, and scalable packet forwarding. We propose a novel data structure, called NameTrie, to store and index forwarding table entries efficiently and to support fast name lookups and updates. Its novelty lies in the optimized design and implementation of a character-trie structure. The nodes of NameTrie are stored compactly, improving cache efficiency and speeding up packet processing. Its edges are implemented using a hash table, facilitating fast name lookups and updates. A new scheme is used to encode control information without consuming additional memory. Running on conventional commodity hardware and using large-scale real-world name datasets, our implementation of NameTrie in software achieves 2.82~3.56, 3.48~3.72, and 2.73~3.25 million name insertions, lookups, and removals per second, respectively, for various datasets while requiring a small memory footprint. We have conducted a comprehensive performance evaluation against the state-of-the-art of named data networking (NDN) as a typical use-case. It is shown to require at least 35% less memory and runs at least 3x faster for name table lookups and updates than two well-known trie-based schemes in NDN.


To review the progresses of embryonic stem cells,hematopoietic stem cells,oval cells and small hepatocyte-like progenitor cell in liver,bone marrow-derived liver stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells as well as the mechanism of them differentiating to hepatocytes.

Key words:
liver ;  stem cell ;  differentiation ;


This paper introduces the framework, working theory and implementation mechanisms in kernel of the Linux firewall named Netfilter. Then it expounds the loading module mechanism of Linux, and analyzes the data structure of Linux module and their relationship, and how to program the kernel module and build it in Netfilter, in order to achieve the function expansion of firewall. The Linux firewall will be taken as an example to show how to implement module loading and unloading technology.


This study examines the image and import of Urhobo oral performances in which women are the dominant figures within the context of traditional festivals. The festival presents a performance situation that mutually utilizes the gender in a non-exclusive manner, thereby creating a balance in the society. Each festival symbolizes a quest with a battle motif demanding female chivalry as much as male heroism. The performances done by women are veritable avenues to project female heroic archetypes, worthy of celebration and emulation in the society. They are heroes because in each festival, they undergo series of rites that are believed as necessary for the promotion and preservation of the socio-cultural norms, values and ideals of the society. However, not many readings of the heroine have been undertaken, especially in the Urhobo situation. This paper seeks to bridge this gap.


Procter & gamble boasts an international presence supported by widely recognized brands (Oil of Olay, Head and shoulders, Pantene, Secret...)


Factors related to mortality and disease in Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis) from Hong Kong waters were investigated by detailed examination of dolphin specimens found stranded from 1995-2004. In total, 86 specimens were necropsied, but many of these were too badly decomposed to provide much information. Skin and blubber biopsies were also collected from six identified living individuals and concentrations of organochlorines (DDTs, PCBs and HCHs) were determined from blubber samples of stranded and biopsied dolphins. A large proportion of the strandings (53.2%) were young-of-the-year. The most commonly diagnosed causes of death were net entanglement and vessel collision. The pesticide DDT showed the highest concentrations and the ratio of DDT to its breakdown products (and other information) suggests that there may be a recent or nearby source of DDT into the dolphins' ecosystem. Concentrations of both DDTs and PCBs showed a pattern of increasing with age in males. In females, they increased until sexual maturity, then decreased, and finally increased again in late life. This is consistent with a hypothesised transfer of pollutants from mother to offspring during gestation and lactation. Inter-laboratory differences and effects of decomposition of specimens are two potential biases that may significantly affect the quality of the present data. In order to resolve the potential problems associated with these issues, a long-term biopsy collection programme has recently been initiated.


Thyroid cancer is the most common malignant endocrine tumour. Differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) is a rare disease with increased incidence. In 2014, 62,980 (15,190 for males and 47,790 for women) cases of DTC were estimated in the US, compared to 2009 with 31,200 new cases [1]. In the US, estimated new cases for 2017 are 14,400 for males and 42,470 for females [2]. Thyroid cancer incidence rates are three-fold higher in women than in men (21 vs. 7 per 100,000 population), despite equivalent death rates (0.5 per 100,000 population) [2]. Worldwide data for thyroid cancer are available from GLOBOCAN 2012. The incidence of thyroid cancer in 2012 was estimated to be 298,102 new cases worldwide, representing 2.1% of all cancers [3]. Thyroid cancer types are classified according to their histological characteristics. DTC types comprise papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) and follicular thyroid cancer (FTC). DTC represents the majority of all thyroid carcinoma types with a generally positive prognosis [4]. The next group is anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC), representing approximately 2% of all thyroid cancers. ATC is different from DTC, in that the cells mainly consist of undifferentiated cells with a very low or no similarity to normal thyroid tissue [5]. The one-year mortality rate is 90% [6]. Poorly differentiated thyroid cancer (PDTC) is similar to ATC; it is less common and has a poor prognosis [7]. Another thyroid cancer type is medullary thyroid cancer (MTC), deriving from neuroendocrine C-cells. The five-year survival rate is approximately 86% for MTC patients [8]. In recent years, studies in the field of thyroid cancer research have been performed in order to improve diagnosis with molecular biological techniques, to extend treatment strategies, to identify and verify thyroid specific biomarkers, as well as to identify cancer-specific changes in gene expression patterns and alterations of the protein content. Furthermore, new drugs, small molecules, and antibodies have been developed and tested in vitro and in vivo [9,10]. In clinical trials, the ratio between therapeutic and adverse effects was investigated [10]. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) have become a new therapeutic option in patients with radioactive iodine (RAI)-refractory progressive DTC and in medullary thyroid cancer. In the last few years, new substances for targeted systemic therapy have been approved after their efficacy was demonstrated in Phase III trials. Most of them show a moderate response. However, adverse effects are common and have to be managed, such as hypertension, fatigue, diarrhoea, and others. In this Special Issue, a total of 16 excellent papers consisting of nine original research studies, six reviews, and one communication have been published, as detailed in Table 1. Several manuscripts focusing on the diagnosis [11–15], characterisation [16–19], and treatment [20–22] of thyroid cancer, as well as on alterations of thyroid cancer cells by altered gravity [23,24] or radiation damage of the thyroid gland [25], including genetics, proteomics, molecular, and cell biology, are published in this Special Issue. In addition, an original publication reports that the polymorphism


The explorer who realizes that an island, a passage, an ocean for which he has been searching do not exist is compensated for his disappointment by an adjustment of the map to carry his name for all to appreciate; the ethnographer who pushed the platypodes and the triamatikoi over the brink into fable land had the satisfaction of a gain in the regularity and rationality of our world; but the historian who somewhere between analytical description and synthetic reconstruction discovers the non-existence, or better though less dramatically: the inappropriateness and functional inoperativeness of his key concept, can do nothing to mask his discomfiture than to set forth his negative conclusion as stringently as he would have its opposite. Webster's New International Dictionary (Second edition) defines &dquo;to converge&dquo; as &dquo;to tend to one point; to incline and approach nearer together&dquo; (as do the radii of a circle toward the center); in biological usage, converging equals &dquo;developing


Bronchopulmonary defense system protects the organism effectively against various inhaled material. This system, including mechanical, biochemical and immunological mechanisms, is reviewed.


With robots appearing frequently within our society, the cases will be higher where people with little or no practical
experience in robotics would have to supervise robots. Future interfaces should make Human Robot Interactions
(HRI) intuitive for such less-experienced users. A key requirement to have an intuitive interface is to improve the
level of HRI performance. In this study we try to improve the HRI performance by developing a system namely,
SHRIMP (Spatial Human Robot Interaction Marker Platform) based on Augmented Reality (AR) technology. We
present SHRIMP as a new type of middleware for HRI, that can mediate high-level user intentions with robot-
related action tasks. SHRIMP enables users to embed user intentions in the form of AR diagrams inside the robot's
environment (as seen by the robot's camera view). These AR diagrams translate into action tasks for robots to
follow in that environment. Furthermore, we report on the HRI performance induced by our SHRIMP framework
when compared to an alternative more common robot control interface, a joystick controller.


Objectives : The aim of this study is to investigate the preventive effect of Puerariae Flos ethanol extract (PE) on methionin and choline deficient (MCD)-diet-induced Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in C57BL/6J mice.
Methods : In the in vivo experiments, C57BL/6J mice were divided into 4 groups; Normal group, Control group, MCD+PE 100 group, and MCD+PE 300 group. After 4 weeks, body weight, liver weight, biochemical parameters for liver function test, histological changes, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and Western blot were assessed.
Results : Mice lost body weight with the MCD-diet and the MCD+PE 100 group and MCD+PE 300 groups lost less than the control group, though showed no statistical significance. Liver weights were decreased by the MCD diet, but MCD+PE 300 groups were increased significantly. In the liver function test, all the values were decreased with the MCD-diet, MCD+PE 100 group and MCD+PE 300 groups were increased significance. In histological findings of the livers, MCD-diet induced severe fatty accumulation in the livers, but this fatty change was reduced in the MCD+PE 100 group and MCD+PE 300 groups was inhibited respectively. In lipid accumulation factors (such as SREBP-1c, C/EBPα, PPAR-γ), MCD+PE 100 group and MCD+PE 300 groups showed inhibitory effect on liver lipogenesis by reducing associated gene expressions caused by MCD diet.
Conclusions : We were able to know that Puerariae Flos ethanol extract (PE) shown hepatoprotective effects via a decrease on the hepatic lipogenesis factors in the experimental NAFLD Models.


Barangay governance plays a vital role in the empowerment of the local government units in the country. This is linked with the leader's accountability, fairness, and transparency in the exercise of his duties and functions as a servant in his community. This study aimed to evaluate the governance of the Barangay Chairpersons in the Municipality of Ubay, Bohol. The researcher employed the descriptive survey questionnaire using quantitative design and a key informant interview using a qualitative approach. Results showed that the higher the IRA (Internal Revenue Allotment) given to the barangays, the more programs and projects are implemented because funds had been given to them as a subsidy for continuous developments. The results also indicated that majority of the Barangay Chairpersons were able to deliver very satisfactory public services in their barangays which also indicated that the core values of governance namely fairness, transparency and accountability were strengthened by the barangay chairmen during their term of office. The study concluded that the Local Government Code of 1991 paved the way for greater local autonomy to bring government closer to the doorsteps of the people.


We show that extraction of the quantities} $\rho(s)=\mbox{Re}[T_{N}(s,0)]/\mbox{Im}[T_{N}(s,0)]$ {\it and} $\sigma_{\mbox{tot}}(s)$ {\it from the data on the $pp$ differential cross-section at $\sqrt{s} = 13$} TeV {\it obtained by the} TOTEM {\it Collaboration gives results essentially different from those presented in publication} \cite{Ant} {\it if to use a modified formula for Coulomb-nuclear interference. The physical interpretation of these data changes accordingly.


Space radiation presents major challenges to future missions to the Earth s moon or Mars. Health risks of concern include cancer, degenerative and performance risks to the central nervous system, heart and lens, and the acute radiation syndromes. The galactic cosmic rays (GCR) contain high energy and charge (HZE) nuclei, which have been shown to cause qualitatively distinct biological damage compared to terresterial radiation, such as X-rays or gamma-rays, causing risk estimates to be highly uncertain. The biological effects of solar particle events (SPE) are similar to terresterial radiation except for their biological dose-rate modifiers; however the onset and size of SPEs are difficult to predict. The high energies of GCR reduce the effectiveness of shielding, while SPE s can be shielded however the current gap in radiobiological knowledge hinders optimization. Methods used to project risks on Earth must be modified because of the large uncertainties in projecting health risks from space radiation, and thus impact mission requirements and costs. We describe NASA s unique approach to radiation safety that applies probabilistic risk assessments and uncertainty based criteria within the occupational health program for astronauts and to mission design. The two terrestrial criteria of a point estimate of maximum acceptable level of risk and application of the principle of As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) are supplemented by a third requirement that protects against risk projection uncertainties using the upper 95% confidence level (CL) in radiation risk projection models. Exploration science goals in radiation protection are centered on ground-based research to achieve the necessary biological knowledge, and in the development of new technologies to improve SPE monitoring and optimize shielding. Radiobiology research is centered on a ground based program investigating the radiobiology of high-energy protons and HZE nuclei at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) located at DoE s Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, NY. We describe recent NSRL results that are closing the knowledge gap in HZE radiobiology and improving exploration risk estimates. Linking probabilistic risk assessment to research goals makes it possible to express risk management objectives in terms of quantitative metrics, which include the number of days in space without exceeding a given risk level within well defined confidence limits, and probabilistic assessments of the effectiveness of design trade spaces such as material type, mass, solar cycle, crew selection criteria, and biological countermeasures. New research in SPE alert and risk assessment, individual radiation sensitivity, and biological countermeasure development are described.


A morphology filtered parameter optimized genetic algorithm for target detection was put forward,which combines morphology filter and self-adaptive genetic algorithm.Self-adaptive target detection was realized through morphology filtered genetic algorithm and seeking of the best framework unit.As two special detecting applications,solid thruster plume IR image and weak-small infrared target under complex background were detected.The experimental results testified that this method can adapt to different environment,greatly enhance the signal noise ratio of target detection,and effectively detect target from complex background.Compared with other methods,this method has more practical value.


Somatic embryos and plantlets were induced from suspension culture of cotyledon callus in melon (Cucumis melo L.). Cotyledons excised directly from bared mature seed were cultured on MS agar media with several concentrations of 2, 4-D and BA. Three weeks old calli were transferred to MS liquid medium without growth regulators, and cultured on a reciprocal and gyratory shaker (115 rpm). Somatic embryos and plantlets were observed within 2-3 weeks in the liquid media. The calli cultured on MS agar medium with 1.0mg/l 2, 4-D+0.1mg/l BA were the most suitable for embryogenesis.