In practice, the task of reconstructing the flow field of tropical cyclones (TCs) amounts to a data assimilation problem. Data assimilation involves taking sparse measurements recorded within a domain, and trying to reconstruct the flow of the fluid throughout the domain (both where you have recorded data, and where you don't). In doing so, one must rely on physical intuition of the system (such as the governing equations of motion or symmetry properties). Reconstructing full TC flows is important for a variety of reasons. The most important application is for initialization schemes for dynamical forecast models in order to accurately forecast the evolution of the TC using numerical modeling, we need an accurate picture of what the full TC wind and pressure fields look like at our initial time steps in the forecast model. Cavallo et al. (2013) discuss how inadequate initialization schemes are largely responsible to forecast errors for TCs [2]. This is especially true of intensity forecasts (predicting the maximum winds and minimum central pressure of storms at various times in the future), which especially suffer from inadequate initialization [2, 9]. In addition to improving forecast skill, reconstructing TC flows would better facilitate research on impacts of winds from historical hurricanes, and would allow for better insurance risk assessment and augment our understanding of climatological TC impacts. Data assimilation for TCs is especially difficult because the wind and pressure fields are so large in both the horizontal (hundreds of kilometers) and vertical scales (kilometers), and assimilation methods are heavily constrained by the small amount of real-time recorded measurements from within storms. One common source of data available for real-time forecasting is hurricane hunter data, which come from planes that fly horizontal transects through the eye of the storm at a flight level of anywhere between the 850hPA and 700hPa pressure levels. These planes can measure the 3d winds and pressure (among other variables) along the paths they trace out [3]. These planes also drop small instruments called dropsondes throughout


This paper presents a method of integration and implementation of transmitting video and audio data from multiple Internet protocol (IP) surveillance cameras in a wireless sensor network to a centralized management unit (central node) using real time streaming protocol (RTSP). The wireless network is based on ldquostarrdquo topology by using the IEEE 802.11 series of standards in wireless local area networks (WLAN). Security for wireless communications between the sensors and central node is achieved in real-time through the proposed uncertainty classification of network traffic with little and negligible run-time overhead for hacker or threat detection. A correlation-based feature selection algorithm is utilized in the central node for improved intrusion detection speed and accuracy by eliminating redundant and irrelevant features in the feature space. Uncertainty problems are solved using the fuzzy belief k-nearest neighbours (k-NN) intrusion detector, which incorporates the fuzzy clustering technique with the Dempster-Shafer theory. Also, the detection process is made more efficient using the k-NN technique. Experimental results show up to 94% detection rate of potential threats and intrusions, which indicate a significant performance increase compared with three other classifiers.


Because most historians think that history is not so much about the past as it is about how the ongoing present is being constructed from the ongoing past, they think that their work is vitally important to understanding the present. They never seem to grow used to the idea—so widespread in our culture— that history is about topics that are enveloped in the past and bear only a quaint connection to the present. A friend of mine who is an environmental historian recently told me of her experience at an environmental conference. At receptions, when she replied "historian" to those who asked what she did, the inquirer's first response was to seek someone more relevant with whom to talk. This surprised her because she thought her work was extremely relevant to the conference discussions. Such encounters are unlikely to occur at ARNOVA receptions because the culture of those who work in the nonprofit and voluntary sector has incorporated, to a remarkable degree, historians as part of their landscape. To this historian, that cross-disciplinary spirit is especially encouraging because I learn so much from my contact with those who occupy the frontlines of our present-day reality. I feel honored to be asked to reflect on my recent book in these pages. I want to use this opportunity to point out the value of women's history to nonprofit and voluntary professionals. My remarks have three dimensions. First, I want to reflect on why it is that history in general and women's history in particular is useful and accessible to nonspecialized readers. Second, I want to mention some specific ways that women's history can illuminate our understanding of American public culture. Third, based on my research on women reformers in the Progressive era, I want to draw some conclusions about the relationship between the public and private sectors in addressing social problems today. As NVSQ readers know, during the past 25 years, women's history has become an established feature of the historical discipline. As a graduate student in the late 1960s, I would never have predicted this. I worked in the field because I loved it, not imagining that I would ever be employed as a historian.


Abstract Unicellular photosynthetic dinoflagellates from the genus Symbiodinium are found either free-living or in hospite with a wide variety of marine invertebrate hosts including scleractinian corals. The linkages between free-living and endosymbiotic Symbiodinium remain largely unstudied and constitute a major gap in knowledge. In this study, the diversity of free-living Symbiodinium spp. and those associated with scleractinian corals from coral reefs in Sanya CRNR, South China Sea were determined by Symbiodinium-specific primers for the hypervariable region of the chloroplast 23S domain V (cp23S-HVR). The results illustrated that the free-living Symbiodinium spp. were highly spatially heterogeneous with high diversity related to clades A, B, C, D, F, G and H. However, the reef corals mainly hosted only one symbiont type of either clades C or D, and few species could harbour both concurrently. Surprisingly, Symbiodinium spp. in scleractinian corals were totally different from free-living forms in adjacent waters. These results suggest that the corals did not recruit Symbiodinium spp. from adjacent waters and the exchange of Symbiodinium spp. between corals and waters is limited in this region.


Objective: In the present study the antibacterial activity of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles was investigated against gram negative (Escherichia coli and Proteus vulgaris) and gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus mutans) organisms.Methods: The synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles was carried out by co-precipitation method using zinc sulfate and sodium hydroxide as precursors. These nanoparticles were characterized by XRD (X-Ray Diffraction), FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Radiation), UV-Visible spectroscopy and SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) with EDX (Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis). As well as antibacterial activity and minimum inhibitory concentration of the nanoparticles were carried out by agar well diffusion method and broth dilution method respectively against gram negative (Escherichia coli and Proteus vulgaris) and gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus mutans) bacteria.Results: The average crystallite size of ZnO nanoparticles was found to be 35 nm by X-ray diffraction. The vibration bands at 450 and 603 cm-1 which were assigned for ZnO stretching vibration were observed in FTIR spectrum. The optical absorption band at 383 nm was obtained from UV-Visible spectrum. Spherical shape morphology was observed in SEM studies. The antibacterial assay clearly expressed that E. coli showed a maximum zone of inhibition (32±0.20 mm) followed by Proteus vulgaris (30±0.45 nm) at 50 mg/ml concentration of ZnO nanoparticles.Conclusion: Zinc oxide nanoparticles have exhibited good antibacterial activity with gram negative bacteria when compared to gram positive bacteria.


The Arctic is of fundamental military-strategic importance for Russia. The development of the Arctic without an advanced telecommunication infrastructure is very difficult. To supply working in the Arctic employees with universal means of communication, it is the most efficient to use wireless communication band between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Facilities, where radio telecommunication equipment in the Arctic works, have walls consisting of a multilayer structure. There is the problem of organizing communication of good quality. In such rooms, the best method is to use wireless networks using MIMO technology. We have developed a theory that allows us to determine the time Interflection T based on the determination of the dielectric constant of multilayer materials. In this case, problems arise in determining this coefficient. We propose to use the well-known method of short circuit and idling. We conducted a large number of measurements to determine the dielectric constant of various materials. We used this value to calculate the time T. In the future, we made adjustments to the premises by changing the size and amount of multilayer materials. Experimental results in the range from 2.4 GHz to 5 GHz showed that the data transfer rate increased by 5-10% when we performed the calculation of time Interflection and processed the room with multilayer materials. The proposed method is applicable indoors to build a wireless LAN standard IEEE 802.11 n.


Madiha Shafique Dar, Safia Bano, Jameel Ahmed PhD Scholar, University of Balochistan, Pakistan, email@example.com Assistant Professor, University of Balochistan, Pakistan, email@example.com Assistant Professor, University of Balochistan, Pakistan, email@example.com ARTICLE DETAILS ABSTRACT History: Revised format: November, 2020 Available Online: December, 2020 This paper aims to identify how awareness of SDGs affects sustainable performance and how training can assist to enhance the economic, environmental, and social performance of employees. The research study is conducted in a public sector institute with a population of 331 employees. Among 269 respondents participated in the survey. The data is analyzed using SPSS and Smart PLS. The result showed a significant relationship among the variables. The awareness of SDGs proved to be positively related to the social, economic, and environmental performance of the employees. Moreover, training also positively mediates the relationship between SDGs awareness and sustainable performance. The paper promotes public institutions to contribute their utmost efforts in achieving SDGs and create learning development experiences that assist employees to preserve cuttingedge knowledge and perform at their best.


The steel-concrete composite column comprises a steel core and surrounding concrete. The purpose of the system is to provide analysis and design techniques for a newly invented class of laced steel-concrete composite short columns for cyclic axial loads. To minimize the increasing density issues associated with nominal strength concrete and in consideration of the depletion of natural resources required to produce concrete, factory-obtained lightweight sintered fly ash aggregates with and without basalt fiber are employed. The normal-weight concrete containing basalt fiber is shown to be more ductile than any other column. The axial deformation of columns LNA and LSA at failure was found to be 3.5 mm, whereas columns LNAF and LSAF reached an axial shortening of 4.5 mm at failure. The column LSAF was found to have 5.3% more energy absorption than the LSA and 11.5% less than the column LNAF. It was observed that the rigidity of these fabricated components had been enhanced. It was found that the section configuration with a lacing system had improved confinement effects and ductility. Comparing the finite element analysis to the experimental data revealed a strong connection with numerical modeling, with a variance of around 8.77%.


The area of head and neck embryology and histology is of extreme importance in the study of dental practice and dental hygiene. The authors feel that understanding histology is the first step in making the best treatment decisions for the patient. They state that "one must first understand what is normal in order to gain a better awareness of what is abnormal." This sets the tone of the text. There are 16 chapters in this text. The authors begin in Chapter 1 with the development and structure of cells and tissues. Chapter 2 discusses the structure and function of cells, tissues, and organs, and how they function in making up organs and organ systems. This chapter has been specifically modified in this edition to provide more critical information about the building blocks of the body's systems. Chapters 3 through 5 cover the development of the oral-facial region, the face and palate, and the teeth. Chapter 6 discusses the eruption and shedding of the teeth. The enamel, dentin, dental pulp and cementum are discussed in depth in chapters 7 through 9. The next 2 chapters discuss the periodontium. Chapters 13 through 16 describe the temporomandibular joint, its anatomy, histology, and function, the oral mucosa and its components, the salivary glands and tonsils, and biofilms and their development in the oral cavity, respectively. Each chapter area is thoroughly discussed but is not overwhelming in its detail, making it also of practical value to dental hygienists who wish to review this information.


This book titled High-Temperature Measurements of Materials is the 11th volume in the series "Advances in Materials Research" edited by Professors Hiroyuki Fukuyama and Yoshio Waseda. The book is composed of nine chapters, the contents of which try to solve the currently important basic problems in high-temperature melts from scientific basics to real application fields related to industrial problems. The contents of this present volume are expected to contribute to solving the most important problem of sustainability of the global society by applying recent high-level scientific and engineering researches in materials science. Recent important contributions from large scale experimental facilities from over the world are collected and explained in detail in this book, where we can now measure clearly the important behaviors of high-temperature melts which have never been observed by traditional experimental techniques. This book also introduces recent advancements in computer simulations, which have become very effective not only in explaining experimentally observed phenomena but also in predicting materials properties and processes which are difficult to be measured for the materials under high-temperature environments. As the series editor, I thank Dr. Claus Ascheron of Springer-Verlag, who always has interest in and kindly takes care of our research activity to encourage publication in this series of books.


Background: Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) in remission will present flares during the evolution of the disease.Definitive biomarkers have not been identified to predict flares and radiographic progression (RP) in this kind of patients Objectives: To search biomarkers of clinical relapse and RP in patients with RA in clinical remission Methods: RA patients in clinical remission (DAS28-ESR<2.6 for>6 months) were selected.Clinical,epidemiological and serological data were analyzed.MRI of dominant hand,ultrasound assessment of knees and hands and serum levels of inflammation and angiogenesis biomarkers were evaluated at 0 and 48 weeks.Synovial biopsy was performed in patients with subclinical synovitis.Patients were follow-up for 5 years.Radiological data were collected.Clinical relapse was defined as the loss of remission status involving a therapeutic intervention.RP was defined as the change in the Sharp van der Heijde (SvH) index at 5 years >10.47 [SDD (minimum detectable change)]. Results: 60 patients in DAS28 remission. 1/3 also met remission criteria for SDAI(33.3%),CDAI(31.6%) and ACR(35%).78% were women,mean age 53 years. 82% were ACPA+.26% were taking oral prednisone,76% DMARDs and 45% biological therapies.48% met criteria for subclinical synovitis(UdAS:SH>2+PD)1. After 5 years of follow-up, 44(73%), 11(18%), 9(15%) and 10(17%) patients remained in remission according to DAS28,SDAI, DAI and ACR criteria,respectively. 29 patients (48%) had flares at any time during the 5 years. In the multivariate analysis, the variables that were related to clinical relapse were the BMI (OR 1.6 CI 95% 1.1-2.3), bone edema at baseline (OR 1.2,CI 95% 1-1.5), PD signal at 48w (OR 9.2,CI 95% 1.2-66.7) and the change in levels of CXCL16 (OR 1.04 CI 95% 0.9-1) and ESR (OR 3.6,CI 95% 1.1-12.2) between the first and latest evaluation (Rate). In the subgroup of 23 patients undergoing synovial biopsy, the number of mast cells was higher in those patients (n=10) who flared (p=0.02). 20 patients (33%) changed DMARDs or biological therapy. In the logistic regression analysis, BMI (OR 1.3 CI 95% 1-1.6), biological therapy (OR 17.8 CI 95% 2-167.1),progression of erosions measured by MRI (OR 1.1, CI 95% 1-1.3) and the rate of progression of calprotectin levels during the first year (OR 4.4,CI 95% 1.1-17.2) were the main factors that predicted the change in baseline therapy after 5 years of follow-up. Finally, only 6 patients (10%) had RP according to the SvH index and 7 (12%) had erosion progression.This small number of "progressors" did not allowed more exhaustive analysis of factors predicting RP.However,the number of macrophages and T cells at sinovial tissue (ST) was much higher in patients with RP.Likewise,the first-year rate of bone edema was significantly higher in patients suffering structural progression (p=0.04). Conclusion: 27% of RA patients lost clinical remission (DAS28) after 5 years of follow-up.BMI,baseline bone edema,PD signal at 12m and first-year rate of CXCL16 and VSG levels were predictors of joint flares. Baseline BMI, use of biological therapy,MRI erosions and calprotectin levels predicted the change of baseline therapy for RA. Only 10% of patients had RP along the study.Sinovial mast cells were associated with disease flares. Macrophages and T cells in ST were higher in patients with RP in an exploratory analysis. Reference [1] Ramirez J, Ruiz-Esquide V, Pomes I, Celis R, Cuervo A, Hernandez MV, et al. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis in clinical remission and ultrasound-defined active synovitis exhibit higher disease activity and increased serum levels of angiogenic biomarkers. Arthritis Res Ther. 2014;16:R5. Disclosure of Interests: Julio Ramirez: None declared, Andrea Cuervo: None declared, Raquel Celis: None declared, Raul Castellanos-Moreira Speakers bureau: MSD, Lilly, Sebastian C Rodriguez-García: None declared, Virginia Ruiz-Esquide: None declared, José Gomez Puerta Speakers bureau: BMS, Pfizer, Amgen, Raimón Sanmartí Speakers bureau: PFIZER, SANOFI, LILLY, MSD, UCB, NOVARTIS, JANSSEN, Juan D. Cañete: None declared


Transgenic cystic fibrosis (CF) murine models do not develop spontaneous lung or sinus disease, 2 major causes of morbidity in human CF patients. Because of these limitations, transgenic cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR)−/− pigs have been developed and are currently being characterized. These CF animal models have phenotypes closely resembling that of human CF subjects. The objectives of the current study were to develop primary porcine nasal epithelial (PNE) cultures and evaluate their usefulness as a means to investigate sinonasal transepithelial transport and CFTR function.


With the recent advances in motion tracking technologies and three-dimensional computer graphics software, communication through avatars has become increasingly popular. Can avatars be sufficiently persuasive, when compared to traditional forms of interpersonal communication? What factors contribute to the persuasiveness of virtual influencers? Existing literature has studied the differences in persuasiveness between human and virtual speakers extensively, particularly in education. However, few studies have been conducted on product promotion. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the characteristics of persuasiveness for humans and virtual influencers, as well as the differences between them in this regard in a more modern and practical situation: product introduction videos used in influencer marketing. Specifically, we recruited participants to watch product introduction videos on YouTube, presented by either humans or avatars. The videos were similar, except for the appearance of the presenter. Before and after watching the videos, the participants were asked to complete a questionnaire about their willingness to purchase the products and the characteristics of presenters' persuasiveness. The results show that although promotion via avatars can increase the participants' willingness to purchase, human influencers were more persuasive. However, the virtual YouTubers (VTubers) were more persuasive in certain product domains. VTubers who can change their appearance to match the product domain have potential for future applications. We also attempted to construct a model of persuasiveness in this pragmatic context based on Dyson's persuasiveness rating scale and the overall impression of the video. The degree of persuasiveness was found to be related to the presenters' likability, whether the presenter was a human or an avatar, the degree of familiarity between the presenter and the audience, the presenters' trustworthiness, and the quality as well as the entertainment level of the video. This model may be helpful for running successful promotions on YouTube. Our findings verify that avatars can be fairly persuasive in some situations, including promotional videos. These findings contribute to the future development of communication through avatars.


The aim of this study was to improve the quality of the supervision course accomplished in Escola Superior de Enfermagem de São João (ESEnf SJ). In nursing, supervision is considered indispensable in the road for the quality of teaching and the practices. Studies have shown that nurses with postgraduate education in teaching and counselling describe themselves as more effective and competent than those without it. In agreement with the obtained results in this study, the course influenced the development of mentor's competences in the nurses that accomplished it.


The American Chemical Society held its 2019 Pharma Leaders Conference in San Diego Oct. 2–3. The invitation-only meeting, hosted by Celgene, drew 48 attendees from 21 pharmaceutical and biotech companies and three universities to discuss leading trends in the pharmaceutical industry. Topics included "A Celgene Perspective on Artificial Intelligence in Drug Discovery" and "Activity-Based Proteomics: Target and Drug Discovery on a Global Scale." ACS executive director and CEO Thomas Connelly delivered remarks. The 2020 meeting will take place Oct. 27–28 at Genentech in South San Francisco.


During the simulation-aided net-zero energy (NZE) building design process, there is major uncertainty related to occupancy schedules, occupant behavior, and the corresponding effect on thermal and electrical loads in buildings—particularly as building envelopes, lighting, and mechanical systems become more efficient. As a result, designers' assumptions about occupant-related energy use may have a significant impact on equipment sizing and the associated capital cost. To demonstrate a design process that considers the relationship between uncertainty from occupants and corresponding costs, this paper used a stochastic office tenant model (occupancy, lighting, and plug loads) for photovoltaic (PV) system sizing of an NZE building. Using the medium Canadian office reference building model as a case study, it was found that uncertainty of occupants for sizing PV is very expensive if the objective is to be highly confident that the building will be NZE. The results revealed that each incremental percentage point of improved certainty toward achieving NZE becomes increasingly expensive.


We encounter an inventory problem whenever physical goods are stocked for anticipated demand. Inventory is oft en necessary when there is uncertainty in demand. However, even when demand is known for certain, inventory is built up to satisfy large demands when production is time-consuming. Stocking can also be used as a strategy to take advantage of the economies of scale since suppliers oft en off er discount to encourage large orders and administrative costs can be saved by combining orders. Another critical reason for keeping high inventory is the loss of customer goodwill when shortages occur. On the other hand, inventory ties down capital and incurs storage costs and property taxes. Appropriate cost functions are included in inventory models to capture the trade-off between overstocking and short-


Objectives
                  Cardiac injury has been reported in up to 20-30% of COVID-19 patients and severe disease can lead to cardiopulmonary failure. The role of mechanical circulatory support in these cases remains undetermined. We aimed to determine characteristics and outcomes of patients with COVID-19 requiring venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) or veno-arterial-venous (VAV) ECMO support.

                  Design and Setting
                  A multicenter, retrospective case series.

                  Participants
                  The cohort consisted of adult patients (18 years of age and older) with confirmed COVID-19 requiring VA- or VAV-ECMO support in the period from March 1, 2020 to April 30, 2021. Outcomes were recorded until July 31, 2021.

                  Measurements and Main Results
                  To show factors related to death during hospitalization, patients were grouped as survivors and non-survivors. Kaplan Meier analysis was used to estimate 90-day in-hospital mortality. Overall, 37 patients from 12 centers comprised the study cohort. Patients were 44 (IQR, 35-52) years old, 12 (32%) were female. Duration of ECMO support ranged from 2 to 132 days. At the end of the follow-up period, 13 patients (35%) were discharged or transferred alive, and 24 patients (65%) died during the hospitalization. The cumulative in-hospital mortality at 90-days was 64% (95% CI: 47-81). Time from intubation to VA- or VAV-ECMO initiation (1 IQR 0-7.5 vs. 6 IQR 2.5-14 days, p=0.0383), body mass index (32 IQR 26-36 vs. 37 IQR 33-40, p=0.009) and baseline C-reactive protein (7.15 vs. 38.9 mg/dL, p=0.009) were higher in those that expired.

                  Conclusions
                  Only one-third of the patients with COVID-19 requiring VA- or VAV-ECMO survived to discharge. Close monitoring of at-risk patients with early initiation of ECMO with circulatory support may further improve outcomes.


The equipment deployment center in our hospital developed an equipment deployment system in order to manage better the medical equipment.Describes the design of overall structure and the function of the system.


FIRMLY ROOTED in the positive psychology paradigm, this practical guide begins by describing the development of personal profiles for team members. It then takes the reader through the person-centred teams framework.


The automated or semiautomated control of microrobots for targeted drug delivery, retinal surgeries, and other ophthalmic procedures has the potential to significantly augment the capabilities of human surgeons. For accurate magnetic control, the position of the microrobots is required. In this paper, we extract the intraocular projection mapping and use it in the established CAD-model-based pose-estimation framework. Our algorithm requires no focus information. This is the first work that treats a complicated refractive imaging system, such as the eye, in a model-based localization framework. We design a model-eye chamber with human-like optical elements in which we control a microrobot and estimate its position using monocular vision.


Weaning food blends prepared from fermented pearl millet/roasted cowpea in 70:30 and 60:40 ratios were evaluated for their nutritional values. The pearl millets used were SOSAT C-88 (an improved variety) and a local variety (unimproved), while the cowpea used was the Borno red. Standard methods were used for the analysis. Processing of the grains resulted in lower levels of phytic acid and higher in vitro protein digestibility of the weaning food blends. The predominant microorganisms isolated during the production of "Kamu" were Streptococcus tactics, Saccharomyces cerevisae, Micrococcus lateus andLactobacillus plantarum. Sensory evaluation results showed that there were no significant differences (P>0.05) in the weaning food blends. Even though the 70:30 ratio was used in most literatures, the 60:40 ratio used in this study was superior to the 70:30 ratio.

 Key words: Millet, in vitro protein digestability, phytate, sensory.


There are assumptions that leg length discrepancy (LLD) may cause low back pain (LBP) by creating pelvic obliquity and lumbar scoliosis, although the exact means by which LLD causes or augments LBP is not clear. While it is evident individuals with LLD display compensatory movements in the lower limbs and pelvis, there is a scarce research regarding the effects of LLD on spinal motion. In this study LLD (1, 2, 3cm) was simulated and using a vector coding technique inter-segmental spine and pelvis coordination during gait was investigated. Circular statistics was used to average the coordination angles between trails and individuals. This investigation did not reveal any distinct differences in pelvis and lumbar spine coordination in the frontal plane during various phases of the gait cycle. High movement variability was related to changes in coordination patterns. Incorporating measures of coordination and movement variability may assist clinicians in the rehabilitation process for the purpose of restoring normal patterns of walking.


Slack cable structures exhibit large displacements and rotations in response to the applied loads before reaching an equilibrium state. Consequently, following any alteration of the applied loads, the structure is essentially unstable and ordinary numerical analysis methods break down due to singularities. In this paper, an effective iterative method is developed for three-dimensional large-displacement analysis of structures consisting of slack cables as the primary load bearing system. This approach takes advantage of substructuring technique that helps reduce the analysis costs associated with slack cables and uses an effective procedure for detecting and limiting the structural instabilities. The proposed analysis method is applied to a number of example structures using a computer program that also serves to generate the initial form of the structure. It is shown that this procedure is an effective approach in the analysis of such structures with high degrees of instability and large displacements.


Based on the existing study of incoherent dual point-source counteracting anti-radar missile (ARM),the attacking process of ARM was researched through analyzing the homing and moving theory of ARM,and the error distance of ARM disturbed by dual point-source was probed into.Aiming at the deficiencies of existing model,the multi-factors' impact on the error distance of ARM was analyzed,and the error distance model of ARM disturbed by incoherent dual point-source was perfeced.Finally,a demonstration is presented to validate the model studied.


The project Massive Unseen Companions to Hot Faint Underluminous Stars from SDSS (MUCHFUSS) aims to find sdBs with compact companions like massive white dwarfs, neutron stars or black holes. Here we provide classifications, atmospher ic parameters and a complete radial velocity (RV) catalogue containing 1914 single measurements for an sample of 177 hot subluminous stars discovered based on SDSS DR7. 110 stars show significant RV va riability, while 67 qualify as candidates. We constrain the fraction of close massive compact companions of hydrogen-rich hot subdwarfs in our sample to be smaller than ∼ 1.3%, which is already close to the theoretical predictions. However, the sample might still contain such binaries with longer periods exceeding∼ 8 d. We detect a


As you all are aware that ISE is in process of launching its own Trading Platform which has been named as Islamabad Electronic Exchange System (IEES) Trading Platform, therefore, in order to ensure smooth functioning of the system at users' end, following hardware configuration are required to be maintained:


This book focuses on how, for Berkeley, mind is related to its ideas. It does not assume that thinkers like Descartes, Malebranche, or Locke define for Berkeley the context in which he develops his own thought. Instead, it indicates how he draws on a tradition that informed his early training and that challenges much of the early modern thought with which he is often associated. Specifically, this book indicates how Berkeley's distinctive treatment of mind (as the activity whereby objects are differentiated and related to one another) highlights how mind neither precedes the existence of objects nor exists independently of them. This distinctive way of understanding the relation of mind and objects allows Berkeley to appropriate ideas from his contemporaries in ways that so transform the issues with which he is engaged that his insights—for example, about how God creates the minds that perceive objects—are only now starting to be fully appreciated.


Since the UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden in June 1972, there has been a pronounced shift away from a preoccupation with economic growth to a more integrated perspective, encompassing all matters relating to the development of the person1. This expanded view of development has been crystallised through a series of UN Conferences held between 1985 and 20052. The participatory and consultative nature of these events has helped to build global consensus that economic growth is not a sufficient condition for the attainment of social development and cannot be sustained in the absence of social development and environmental protection. Equally importantly, the events have prompted the adoption of a more inclusive decision-making process at the national and global level involving state and non-state actors.


Effects of indocyanine green in treatment of murine mammary tumor by an 808-nm diode laser: an in vivo studyWei R. ChenOklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, 1 14 1 North Lincoln Boulevard, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73 104 &Department ofPhysics and Astronomy, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma 73109Kelly 0. WichertDepartment ofMathematics, Oklahoma State University, Stiliwater, OK 74078Aaron K. HigginsOklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, 1 141 North Lincoln Boulevard, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104Kenneth E. BartelsDepartment ofMedicine and Surgery, College of Veterinary Medicine and Center for Laser Research, Oklahoma StateUniversity, Stillwater, OK 74078Robert L. Adams and Robert E. NordquistDean A. McGee Eye Institute & Department ofOphthalmology, University ofOkiahoma, 1001 Stanton L. YoungBoulevard, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104ABSTRACTIndocyanine green was used to enhance laser-induced photothermal destruction of murine mammary tumor cells. The 808-nm diode laser used in these experiments matches the absorption peak of the indocyanine green. The combination of thelaser and in situ administration of aqueous ICG provided a highly selective phototherrnal destruction pattern of the tumortissue. Histology showed that within the power range of 3 to 5


Domestic demand is inadequate,especially the inadequacy in consume repuirement is faced with a serious question in the economic development of our country. Tracing inadequacy to its reasons as following; The adjustment of economic structure results in structure topsy - turvy between supply and demand; Changes in system reduce residents' respected income;The income of residents in town and country is generally on the low side and the extent of increase is slow; There are too many problems in rural consume market and consume requirement is depressive; There are too many problems in rural consume market and consume requirement is depressive;The shortage of consume in great demand.


Overview The Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory of FORTH-ICS provides user research and usability consulting services, throughout the user experience lifecycle of interactive applications and services. Following User-Centred Design and Design for All approaches, the HCI Laboratory supports the activities of user requirements and context of use analysis, user experience design and user experience evaluation. The Laboratory has an established tradition in a variety of User experience design activities involve visual design, interaction design, information architecture design, and industrial design, addressing a variety of application domains, such as desktop, web and mobile applications, large-screen interactive systems, and Ambient Intelligence environments. An important activity throughout the entire design, development and deployment lifecycle is user experience evaluation. Services in this domain include paper prototyping, high fidelity mockups' and interactive systems' evaluation, through a variety of methods such as expert-based evaluation with usability and accessibility experts, user testing in the laboratory, and user observation in the field. Evaluation of a smart table for children Evaluation of a home care robot Target Applications User experience design services support the entire lifecycle of design, development and deployment of interactive products and applications. The HCI Laboratory services in this area specialize in particular in two main domains where the Lab has high expertise: (i) Universal Access, Design for All and Assistive Technologies, and (ii) interaction in Ambient Intelligence Environments.


This paper introduces a new scheme for the scheduling of generic, untightly nested loops on distributed-memory systems. Being targeted at the bulk-synchronous parallel (BSP) model of computation , the novel parallelization scheme yields parallel code which is scalable, portable, and whose performance can be analytically evaluated.


Parallel connection of inverter modules is a solution to increase reliability, efficiency and redundancy of inverters in Micro-Grid system. Proper load sharing among parallel inverters is a key point. The circulating current among the inverters can greatly reduce the efficiency or even cause instability of the system. In this paper, a control strategy for improving the load sharing performance in order to reduce the circulating current among parallel inverters in islanding micro-grid is proposed. The control strategy includes an estimator for filter parameters, which compensates for any possible uncertainty or drift of their value. Also a double loop feedback control, with an outer voltage and inner current control, is adopted that provides excellent operation at transient and steady-state conditions. Finally, the proposed control and estimation algorithms are confirmed through simulations of two 2kW parallel connected single phase inverters.


Simple, sensitive, accurate, precise and rapid Visible Spectrophotometric methods were developed for the estimation of Ranolazine in pure form and its formulation. For the estimation of Ranolazine, the Ranolazine is subjected to oxidation with 20% Sulphuric acid. The oxidized drug is treated with ferric phenanthroline and potassium permanganate reagents and its absorbances are measured at 510 and 525nm respectively, solvent system employed was methanol. The developed method was used to estimate the total drug content in commercially available oral formulations of Ranolazine and recovery studies were also carried out. Sample recovery in the formulations using the above method was in good agreement with their respective labeled claims, thus suggesting the validity of the method and noninterface of formulation excipients in the estimation. The developed method was found to be stability specific and were validated as per ICH guidelines-2005, USP-2000 and statistical methods. IJRPC 2011, 1(1) Sambasivarao et al. 67 Preparation of sample solution (Bulk drug): Ranolazine 100mg was accurately weighed and taken into 100 ml volumetric flask 50 ml methanol and further it was made up to 100 ml with methanol solution. This solution was further serially diluted with methanol solution to get 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 μg/ml solutions. Preparation of sample solution (Dosage forms): Twenty tablets were weighed and powdered; the powder equivalent to 100mg of Ranolazine was weighed accurately and taken in 100 ml volumetric flask containing 50 ml of methanol. The contents were shaken well for 30 minutes and made up to the volume 100 ml with methanol. This solution was further diluted with methanol solution to get 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 μg/ml solutions. PROCEDURE Method-A 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, 15 μg/ml solutions were taken separately in 10ml standard flasks, 1ml of 20%v/v Sulphuric acid solution was added to each flask followed by 1ml of 0.1%w/v KMno4 reagent and the solution was allowed to stand for 10 minutes for complete reaction. All the flasks were diluted to 10ml with distilled water and mixed well. The amount of KMno4 reagent and 20%w/v sulphuric acid solution was optimized by various trails and an amount of 1ml of 0.1%w/v KMno4 reagent and 1ml of 20% sulphuric acid was found to be satisfactory. This solution was subjected to scanning in visible region. KMno4 exhibits maximum absorbance at about 525nm. The absorbance of the solutions at 525nm was measured and the calibration curves were constructed. Linearity was obeyed in the concentration range of 5-15 μg/ml. The results were tabulated in Table 1, 2 and overlay spectra and linearity plot were shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 respectively. Linearity and range Linearity of Ranolazine by colorimetric method has been done and the corresponding values are tabulated in Table 1. Table 1: Linearity of Ranolazine – Method A S. No. Conc.(μg/ml) Absorbance 1 5 0.36836 2 7.5 0.50845 3 10 0.62772 4 12.5 0.76265 5 15 0.88133 Fig. 1: Overlay Spectrum of Ranolazine Showing Linearity – Method – A Table 2: Analytical Characteristics of Ranolazine – Method A Parameters Visible Spectrophotometry Regression equation y = -0.051x + 1.141 Correlation coefficient 0.9990 Linearity range 5 – 15 μg/ml Number of data points 5 ASSAY OF RANOLAZINE IN SYNTHETIC MIXTURE (METHOD – A) The assay was done with six set of samples as described in the procedure for analysis of synthetic mixtures and the results are as follows Table 3: Assay of Ranolazine – Method A Set Weight of placebo Standard weight Sample weight Absorbance of sample Drug (mg) % assay 1 0.251 0.0501 0.301 0.6266 49.89 99.78 2 0.252 0.0500 0.302 0.6275 49.82 99.64 3 0.250 0.0500 0.300 0.6263 50.05 100.11


By putting in order the contemporary literary history since 1949,we have a good view of the great achievement scored in contemporary literature and its education.There is a close relationship between contemporary literature and humanity education.In recent years,however,humanity education tends to be deviating from the whole education system.Therefore,we should stress the importance of contemporary literature and humanity in building a harmonious society.


In the October 2003 Term, the Supreme Court decided seven environmental law cases - an extraordinarily large number. Although all of the cases revolved around questions of statutory interpretation, the issues presented were diverse, and the Court's flurry of activity might appear coincidental. Indeed, some of the issues addressed by the Court border on the trivial, which could point to the absence of any broader meaning in these decisions. When the decisions are considered in the aggregate and in the context of the Court's prior environmental jurisprudence, however, a pattern does emerge. The October 2003 Term's environmental law decisions continue a trend in the gradual but discernible erosion of environmental law and of governmental authority to advance environmental concerns. This article examines critically the tools of statutory interpretation that have resulted in this erosion, particularly in the October 2003 Term's decisions: textualism; the importation of common law causation analysis into modern statutory schemes; and the invocation of federalism principles to inform statutory interpretation. The article concludes that the Court has used these tools selectively to circumvent Congress' intent and to narrow the scope of environmental regulation. This narrowing is particularly problematic because the Court's rhetoric in using these tools has allowed it to disclaim responsibility for policy choices and thus to avoid accountability for those choices.


This paper critically examines the Irish Government's commitment to "Delivering better government", in the context of achieving gender equality. The strategic management initiative (SMI) seeks highest quality of service delivery to customers in a modern flexible and professional manner. This necessitates the fullest development of human resources. To achieve this end a study was undertaken to investigate gender imbalance at managerial grades. The report highlighted continuing gender imbalance at all grades and a prevailing culture that is less than conducive to women and many men. The authors called for a new strategic approach to gender equality in which specific targets are set over a specific time frame. The Irish Civil Service is now faced with a combined need to address a new equality agenda in order to deliver its strategic vision of quality in serving the public, thereby underpinning the need to pursue quality, equality and diversity as core values in a fast‐growing Irish economy.


ABSTRACT Indoor localization plays an important role in medical treatment and industrial application. Dual-frequency phase-comparison method is widely applied to indoor localization. However, frequency was randomly chosen in most current dual-frequency phase-comparison schemes, which reduced the ranging accuracy. Therefore, an IL-ODFC (indoor localization scheme based on optimal dual-frequency comparison ranging) scheme was proposed. An indoor localization system and a wireless sensor nodes based on dual-phase measurement were designed and established in order to form target nodes and reference nodes and send their communication results to the location engine of indoor localization system. Firstly, reasons for errors of traditions dual-frequency phase-comparison ranging in IL-ODFC scheme was analyzed; then, the concept of frequency domain and one-time linear regression idea was introduced; next, LS (least square) method was used to choose optimal difference frequency in order to obtain accurate ranging data. After obtaining distances among three reference nodes, LS was used to estimate the location of the target nodes. The simulation result shows that the proposed IL-ODFC scheme can effectively improve location accuracy.


The invention belongs to the technical field of articles for daily use, and relates to a rotary reciprocating electronic toothbrush. The whole toothbrush comprises a protective cap, a toothbrush head, a handle and a base, wherein the bottom end of the handle is inserted in the base in a detachable manner; the upper end of the handle is in detachable sealed butt joint with the toothbrush head; the outside of the toothbrush head is sleeved by the protective cover in a buckling manner; the outside upper and the lower ends of an outer guide ring on the top of the toothbrush head are sleeved by the protective plates; an inner guide ring which is in butt joint with a transmission shaft and a cylindrical rotating brush head are arranged inside the outer guide ring; a sliding clip is fixedly arranged at the inner side of each protective plate; the upper and lower ends of the inner guide ring are sleeved by upper and lower brush heads; a guide rib position is respectively fixedly arranged outside the upper and lower brush heads; the transmission shaft is controlled by a motor to rotate, so that the brush heads are driven to rotate, and the upper and lower brush heads are driven to reciprocate up and down. The electronic toothbrush has the advantages of novel structure, scientific design, high automatic degree, strong tooth cleaning performance, small gum injury, electric and energy saving and environmental friendliness and is convenient to use, and users feel comfortable.


Aggregate occupies at least three-quarters of the volume of asphalt mixture and can significantly affect the performance of pavement. The geometrical morphology influences the slippage and interlock among aggregates for resisting and distributing applied loads. In recent years, the discrete element method (DEM) has been employed for simulation of asphalt mixture structure. This paper introduces an approach for simulation of aggregate and asphalt mixture using parameterized shape and size gradation. Both plane geometry factor (PGF) and section aspect ratio (SAR) were employed to describe the 3D geometric characteristics of aggregates. A numerical technique of aggregate models was implemented with probabilistic parameters depending on statistical results of PGFs and SARs. Therefore, the 3D numerical model of asphalt mixtures was assembled with three different components, which is validated by uniaxial compression test via comparison with that of the laboratory result. It was found that the PGF and SAR are appropriate to describe the three-dimensional features of aggregate shapes, due to the fact that a simplified space object can be described by a 2D graphical projection and a vector scalar corresponding to the space vector. Probability distribution curves of PGFs and SARs between coarse aggregates are in concordance with the Gauss-type function, since their correlation coefficients are all greater than 95%. It was verified that the developed clumping algorithm of aggregates was reasonable with the shapes and size gradation. Based on the parallel-bond model and the Burger's model, the results of virtual tests are in good agreement with those of laboratory uniaxial tests. It is shown that the angularity (PGF) of aggregates has a beneficial effect on the strength and stability while the flat-elongated feature (SAR) has a negative effect on those of asphalt mixtures. Author keywords: asphalt mixtures; irregular aggregates; three-dimensional simulation; discrete element method; parameterized shape


In a plasma with long density scale length, a laser beam breaks up into a number of filaments, each having a size a∼c/ωp. The process of stimulated Raman scattering in these filaments involves a backscattered light wave of radial extent ∼a and a Langmuir wave of extent b∼(aλD)1/2≪a. The strong localization of the interaction region tends to severely suppress the growth rate. However, the filamentation‐induced enhancement of pump intensity opposes this effect. At power densities of a few times 1014 W/cm2 at 1 μ filamentation does not seem to have a strong effect on stimulated Raman scattering.


This paper makes geometric correction and image fusion for the images before and after the earthquake disaster in Mianyang District, and makes evaluation on the damages of the buildings, the landslide, and the mudflow, etc.in Mianyang District through visual interpretation, and introduces the application of QuickBird image in earthquake relief of Mianyang District.


While we arc witncssing, in recent decades, the revival of inclepencicnt movcments ali over the world, it is intcresting to analyze the status of Cabinda enclave. ln 2010, a violent murclcrous attack against the rogolese l'ootball team during the Afl-ican Cup ofNations highlighted the arguments of the main separatist movement that clairnecl the indepenclence of the territory towards Angola. Thesc arguments can be classified into threc groups: ilrst, in the ninetcenth ccrnury. Cabinda would have constitutecl an inciependent state with which Portugal would have signecl protectoratc treatics: secondly, woulci be null the 1975 Alvor Agrecrnent by which Portugal has accepteci the incorporation or the territory ol' Cabinda into the newly independcnt state of Angola; and flnally, in a contcmporary perspective, evcry people wou id have a right to self:.cletcnnination. The analysis or .\:h.e.s.e_w:g.w.rum.tsJ.n the light of international law will come to confirm the status of" 1 Cailwrinc Main é Prolcssma na Fa,:uldadc de Uireilo da Univcrsidade Lusùl(ma do l'orto (Ponugal). Tarnbém lcciona no lnslilulu de l'.siudos Polilicos (Sciences Po), na Universidadc Cüôlica de Lille: c na Escola Normal Superior Cachan (1-ranÎa). 2 Robe ri Kolb é Profcssor na Faculdadc de' Llireilu da \Jniversidade de Gencbra (SuiÎc1). !9 anuario01.indd 29 1 0/Hl/2013 3:30:~5,1 I'M 1


The properties of images, both confocal and conventional, of random surfaces are discussed, and ways of measuring the statistical properties of the surface from either amplitude or intensity data considered. The approach is based on the Kirchhoff approximation, and encompasses the regimes of scattering and speckle.


Integrated with the project performance research development in the world, this article structures a performance evaluation system which accords with the urban rivers pollution characteristics and the treatment project performance in the south city of China. With an empirical study on the treatment project of the Panlongjiang River in Nanba Village of Kunming City, this article evaluates the treatment projects from the aspects of social economic profit, ecological benefit and the social benefit for people's livelihood. The evaluation result shows that the treatment project on the part of Panlongjiang River in Nanba Village of Kunming City works effectively. The investment and income, the benefit of projects and the river environmental quality belong to the level of very efficient. The pollution emission reduction benefit, the ecological quality of riparian zone landscape, aquatic environment condition, and the development of basic establishment belong to the level of efficient. The environmental protection and management performance belongs to the level of ordinary. The practice demonstrates that this evaluation index system has certain serviceability and can reflect the process and the real achievements of treatment projects of black color and odor urban rivers.


Objective Eight patients with neonatal hepatitis syndrome,received limited outcome of internal medicine therapy,were done operation.Methods Underwent surgical operation on 45~75 days old.7 cases who were diagnosed with biliary atresia in the operation underwent portoenterostomy Kasai procedure,and 1 patient with inspissated bile syndrome received biliary tract washing.Results All patients obtained satisfied short-term outcome: jaundice recession,obvious serumbilirubin descent and normal stool color.Cholangitis appeared in 3 cases postoperatively and relieved gradually after anti-infection and anti-inflammation treatment.Conclusion It is commented that the early surgical treatment is necessary in neonatal hepatitis syndrome patients with uneffective internal medicine treatment and portoenterostomy Kasai procedure is an effective surgical method.The long-term outcome of surgical therapy needs further survey.


This paper describes a new practical knowledge-based expert system (called LoFy) for short-term load forecasting equipped with graphical user interfaces. This system uses AI and other computing techniques. Various visual objects like calendar, chart, grid and dialog box have been included to increase the facility of interaction. Also, various forecasting models like trending, multiple regression, artificial neural networks, a fuzzy rule-based model and the relative coefficient model have been included to increase the forecasting accuracy. The simulation based on historical sample data shows that the forecasting accuracy is improved when compared to the results from the conventional methods. Through the fuzzy rule-based approach, the forecasting accuracy has improved remarkably.


Detailed vertical phytoplankton sample series with a good resolution were taken every 3–4 days for almost two years from the artificial Lake Saidenbach. The intervals between samplings were systematically increased by regularly "ignoring" certain samples so that six different annual curves based on different sampling frequencies were obtained to describe phytoplankton variations in the course of the year from a single time series. In this way it was possible to study the effect of the interval between samplings on the results of phytoplankton studies and on the rates of change and turnover calculated from the biomass. The results show that the maximum rates of change and turnover values yielded by half-weekly samplings are some 20–30% higher than those yielded by weekly samplings. Sampling intervals smaller than 3–4 days yield not much increased rates of change and turnovers. This implies that short term changes in the phytoplankton are more accurately detected by half-weekly samplings. It is therefore suggested that, depending on the nature and objectives of the investigations, sampling intervals of 3–4 weeks are sufficient for the winter, but during the growth period (spring to autumn) samples should be taken at least once a week or fortnightly.


The present work investigates the physical layer security of wireless communication systems over non-homogeneous fading environments, which are typically encountered in realistic wireless transmission scenarios in the context of conventional and emerging communication systems. This is carried out in the context of a single-input multiple-output system that consists of a single-antenna transmitter, a multi-antenna legitimate receiver, and a multi-antenna active eavesdropper. To this end, novel exact analytic expressions are derived for the corresponding average secrecy capacity, which are corroborated by respective results from computer simulations that verify their validity. Capitalizing on the offered results, the physical layer security is quantified in terms of different parameters. This leads to the development of useful insights on the impact of non-homogeneous fading environment and the number of employed antennas on the achieved physical layer security levels of the considered set up.


This is a review of numerical applications of classical gluodynamics to heavy ion collisions. We recall some results from calculations of gluon production, discuss their implications for heavy ion phenomenology, and outline a strategy to calculate the number of quark pairs produced by these classical fields.


Exposure to wideband electromagnetic radiation (EMR) over seven days was measured in this paper, and a short-time Fourier transform analysis on this showed that the change of EMR over time conforms to people's daily work and rest cycle and is affected by the intensive use of wireless communication devices, thus showing strong low-frequency periodicity and high-frequency fluctuations. These characteristics lead to a significant decrease in the performance of traditional EMR time series mod-els. To this end, a hybrid model based on wavelet decomposition (WD) and long-short time memory (LSTM) is proposed for the wideband electric field radiation prediction. The proposed model is verified by the measurement samples under different prediction steps. It is also compared with other representative models, and the results show that the proposed model outperforms other models in prediction accuracy and prediction steps.


The concept of assurance of structural integrity has been taken into accounted especially for energy-related structures where flaw evaluations are conducted based on the fracture mechanics and non-destructive inspections. In evaluations near welded locations, three-dimensional welding residual stresses must be given quantitatively. However, residual stresses only on surfaces can be measured by the X-ray technique. It is inadequate to apply the thermo-elasto-plastic simulation because it gives qualitative information owing to complexity of actual welding process. Moreover, it is required to predict welding deformations in the design process. Authors proposed a new method to evaluate both welding deformations and residual stresses based on the eigen-strain methodology, which is applicable to the finite element (FEM) analysis. In the proposed method, three-dimensional eigen-strains are estimated by the inverse analysis using the Truncated Singular Value Decomposition (TSVD) method and the penalty method. Numerical simulations are carried out for a butt-welded plate with larger angular deformation in the thickness direction. As a result, eigen-strains to express both welding deformations and residual stresses with higher accuracy could be estimated successfully.


Five drywells surrounding single shell tank 241-C-103 were logged with the high-purity germanium logging system to investigate possible leakage of radioactive contamination from the tank. The investigation included integration of the drywell survey results with several other data sources. There is no conclusive evidence showing indications that the 241-C-103 tank has leaked


1Fujian Key Laboratory for Translational Research in Cancer and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Institute for Translational Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350122, People's Republic of China; 2Cancer Metastasis Alert and Prevention Center, and Pharmaceutical Photocatalysis of State Key Laboratory of Photocatalysis on Energy and Environment, College of Chemistry, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Cancer Metastasis Chemoprevention and Chemotherapy, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350002, People's Republic of China; 3School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Innovative Drug Target Research, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361102, People's Republic of China; 4Institute of Oceanography, Minjiang University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350108, People's Republic of China


Forty-seven infants with prolonged obstructive jaundice were studied by hepatobiliary ultrasonography. Thirty-eight cases finally proved to have neonatal hepatitis; four biliary atresia; (3 proved, 1 suspected) and the other five choledochal cyst. In the neonatal hepatitis group, ultrasonography showed normal common duct and/or visible gallbladder in all cases. Ultrasonography revealed abnormal biliary tree in three of the four with biliary atresia. While cystic dilatation of common duct was seen in all with choledochal cyst. Ultrasonography is considered to be a valuable test in detecting the nature of prolonged obstructive jaundice, whether it is a surgical or medical problem.


ABSTRACT We synthesized three photochromic two-photon absorptive diarylethene derivatives with styrylbenzene unit and measured two-photon absorption cross-sections at 800 nm by using an open aperture Z-scan method with 120 femtosecond pulses. It was found that two of the dyes have large values (δ = 52 GM) equivalent to AF-50.


As meteorological prediction and communication technologies have advanced, disaster outcomes following hurricanes have not shown matching progress. Through analysis of focus group conversations held with specific populations in New York City communities affected by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, we investigate how risk communication might help mediate societal vulnerability to hurricanes by influencing the information that people receive, their perceptions of approaching hurricane risks, and their behavioral responses. The focus group conversations illuminated both shared themes and important differences among the various populations who participated in the study. The findings illustrate the complexity behind the term vulnerability, particularly as it interacts with risk communication to influence outcomes. We propose that risk communication with diverse populations can be improved by incorporating understandings of unseen capacities as well as susceptibilities, therefore moving toward a more just and equitable hazard information system.


Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is frequently associated with comorbid psychological issues, and apparently, there exists a bidirectional relationship that either of them predisposes the other. It still remains an enigma whether IGD is an individual entity or a coping mechanism. Here, we aim to describe IGD in 4 adolescent males with comorbid psychiatric or psychosocial conditions using a developmental approach and to bring out different interplays between gaming behavior, psychopathology, and environment. This article also aims at exploring how IGD can be understood as a way of coping with another psychological condition, identifying which could be a key factor in the management.


The spinal column constitutes the central axis of human torso and is often used by radiologists to reference the location of organs in the chest and abdomen. However, visually identifying and labeling vertebrae is not trivial and can be timeconsuming. This paper presents an approach to automatically label vertebrae based on two pieces of anatomical knowledge: one vertebra has at most two attached ribs, and ribs are attached only to thoracic vertebrae. The spinal column is first extracted by a hybrid method using the watershed algorithm, directed acyclic graph search and a four-part vertebra model. Then curved reformations in sagittal and coronal directions are computed and aggregated intensity profiles along the spinal cord are analyzed to partition the spinal column into vertebrae. After that, candidates for rib bones are detected using features such as location, orientation, shape, size and density. Then a correspondence matrix is established to match ribs and vertebrae. The last vertebra (from thoracic to lumbar) with attached ribs is identified and labeled as T12. The rest of vertebrae are labeled accordingly. The method was tested on 50 CT scans and successfully labeled 48 of them. The two failed cases were mainly due to rudimentary ribs.


The purpose of this study was to present our analysis of outcomes, prognostic factors, and treatment for cervical esophageal carcinoma using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database.


A secondary electric heating device of vehicle and a method thereof are provided to protect a battery and decrease the load of the battery by controlling a duty ratio of a PWM signal. A secondary electric heating device of vehicle comprises: a switching unit(206) switching the battery voltage according to a PWM signal; and a heater unit(214) including a heating member connected to the switching unit. The current sensor(222) detects a current flowing through the heater unit. A controller(224) increases and decreases a PWM duty of the PWM signal. The controller sets up a target power comparing the battery voltage with the reference voltage. The PWM duty of the PWM signal increases and decreases according to a comparison result of the target power and power consumption.


Obtaining precise yaw rate and lateral velocity as well as developing a nonlinear controller becomes more and more essential for improving the vehicle handling performance. Different from traditional methods, a data-driven subspace-based prediction approach is introduced by integrating propagator with predictor-based subspace identification method in this paper. Based on an identifiable vehicle model, the prediction process is validated by standard road tests data. To employ this data-driven prediction method in the vehicle handling stabilization and solve the controlling problem of nonlinear lateral dynamic system, a feedback linearization controller based on the new piecewise tire model is elaborately developed. On account of that the one-step prediction output reduces the time delay between actuator and lateral dynamic response, the subspace-based controller can theoretically improve the vehicle handling performance. By road simulation results, the proposed feedback linearization controller combined with a data-driven subspace-based prediction method greatly enhances the handling performance and provides a more effective technique for both vehicle parameter estimation and handling stabilization.


Future wireless communication systems demand faster communications, massive access, high mobility, relaxed synchronization and also a very low latency. Generalized Frequency Division Multiplexing (GFDM) a candidate for 5G, is a non-orthogonal based multi-carrier technique with a flexible frame structure of M time slots per K subcarriers and a free choice of pulse shaping filter. However, due to the inherent non-orthogonal nature of the subcarriers there is a performance degradation. This paper discusses the preliminary performance evaluation of a GFDM based digital communication system with prolate spheroidal (multi-taper) windows versus conventional GFDM. The introduction of prolate spheroidal windows as pulse shaping filters can compensate for orthogonality loss, eventually turning conventional GFDM into an improved, orthogonal system. GFDM using these windows outperforms conventional GFDM in terms of symbol error rate (SER) performance in fading multipath channels. Furthermore, the analytical equations of the above performance in conventional GFDM are extended to cover the multi-taper case and the analytical results are compared with simulations.


There is significantly less understanding, however, of the difficulties faced in determining economic performance in the recent past. In fact, all kinds of economic data undergo revisions over time, meaning that our view of the past is constantly changing. sometimes, the revised data tell a story that differs greatly from what was told by original data. This is especially true of employment data for metro areas. On March 8, the Bureau of Labor statistics (BLs) released its latest annual benchmark revisions to the payroll employment data for every metro area in the united states. Monthly employment estimates going back to April 2005 were affected by these revisions. In addition, new population controls resulted in small revisions to the data further back in time. Compared with the initial estimates released in January, the latest revisions result in a significant upgrading in the perceived economic health of metro areas in the Eighth District.1 The table presents the preand post-revision estimates of employment growth in 2006 for all 18 metro areas in the Eighth District. summing over the 18 metro areas, the benchmark revisions greatly increased estimated job growth: The initial estimate across all of the metro areas in the Eighth District was an increase of 34,900 jobs, whereas the new, post-benchmark estimate indicates 60,700 more jobs. All four of the largest metro areas in the District saw upward revisions in the estimates of their employment growth. The st. Louis and Louisville metro areas saw dramatic improvements in their employment estimates, while the revisions in Memphis and Little Rock were more measured. Before the revisions, the employment estimates suggested that st. Louis and Louisville both experienced relatively grim years in 2006. st. Louis was said to have seen a loss of 400 jobs (–0.03 percent), while Louisville was thought to have seen an increase of only 3,900 (0.6 percent). The new estimates, however, present completely different pictures. st. Louis and Louisville are now seen as having generated 13,600 jobs (1.0 percent) and 11,900 jobs (1.9 percent), respectively. The new story is that st. Louis saw positive but slow employment growth that was somewhat below the rate for the united states (1.7 percent), while employment in Louisville grew somewhat faster than it did for the country as a whole. Before the revisions, employment in the Memphis metro area was thought to have increased last year by 6,100 (1.0 percent), while the corresponding employment growth in Little Rock was 5,900 (1.7 percent). The new estimates indicate that the Memphis metro area generated 9,300 more jobs (1.5 percent), which puts its performance much closer to the national rate. For Little Rock, the new estimate of the net number of jobs created in 2006 is 6,800 (2.0 percent), which now puts the area as an above-average job producer for the year. some very large revisions, both up and down, occurred for the employment growth estimates of the 14 small and medium metro areas in the Eighth District. Three large upward revisions, each of which was of greater than one percentage point, occurred for Bowling Green, Elizabethtown and Fort smith. Bowling Green saw its employment picture change from slightly below the national average to well above it, while Elizabethtown and Fort smith saw their employment pictures completely reverse. Each had initially been thought to have experienced mild job losses in 2006, but now are estimated to have experienced job gains well above the national rate. At the other end, Evansville, Hot springs and Pine Bluff all saw significant downward revisions (one percentage point or more) in their employment growth rates for last year. For Hot springs, the downward revision meant that its 2006 performance was downgraded from startlingly good to only above average. Evansville and Pine Bluff, on the other hand, went from having positive to negative job growth for the year. The revision was especially dismal for Pine Bluff, which went from above-average job growth to significant job losses.


Objective To discuss the clinical significance of detecting HBV-DNA by fluorescent PCR. Methods To study the relationship between the quantity of HBV-DNA and HBV-M, ALT, HA, LN by detecting in 154 cases. Results The fluorescent PCR method can direltly detect the quantity of HBV-DNA. The detection bears positive relationship with ALT, and negative relationship with the severity of hepatitis liver fibrosis. Conclusion We can estimate the severity of hepatitis by this method and conduct appropriate anti-virus and antifibrosis therapy.


This study investigates the dictionary use of graduates in English and German as well as their attitudes towards teaching and learning dictionary skills in the classroom. The first section of the paper offers a historical overview of research on dictionary use and dictionary didactics in Hungary. This is followed by the detailed description of the quantitative research, which aims to investigate the participants' (n=197) self-reported preferences and attitudes regarding dictionary use, their dictionary consultation behaviour, and the role of dictionaries as an aid to language learning and teaching. The research results partly confirm the trends revealed in previous international studies (e.g. increased use of online tools, reluctance to pay for dictionaries, low prestige of teaching dictionary use); they also show that there is a need for dictionary use skills to be taught from an early age and for placing a special emphasis on features and search strategies in the case of digital dictionaries. Based on these findings, the authors plan to design a core 'dictionary skills' module (with teaching aids and handbooks), which could be incorporated into a variety of courses in tertiary education.


A high sensitive and selective spectrophotometric method for the determination of trace nickel in zinc alloy has been developed.In the boric acid buffer solution(pH=10), nickel with a new chromogenic reagent o-carboxyl-phenyl diazoamino azobenzene forms a brick red stable complex which shows maximum absorption wavelength at 542 nm with a molar absorptivity of 1.24×10~5 L·mol~(-1)·cm~(-1).Beer's law is obeyed in the range of 0-6 μg/25 mL for nickel. RSD is 1.0% for the determination of 5 μg/25 mL nickel. This method is very sensitive,simple,and it has been used for the determination of nickel in hot-dipping zinc alloy with satisfactory results.


The thesis is a research related to the distribution of beds in public hospitals in Brazil and some
of the disease-diagnostic equipments available for the beneficiaries of health insurance plans
existent in Brazil. Among others, the equipment mentioned in the thesis are mammography
machines, ultrasound machines, tomography computerized machines, nuclear magnetic
resonance machines. The study presents the relation between the increase in the number of
beneficiaries of private health insurance in the country and how the distribution of the health
care services occurred in the five Brazilian regions in the period from 2002 to 2009.
The data for the research was collected from the Assistencia Medico Sanitaria (AMS) in 2002-
2005 and 2009, as well as from the Caderno de Informacao da Agencia Nacional de Saude
during the period between 2002 and 2011. This research also displays information about the
regulatory policies applied in the regulation of beds and services available to the beneficiaries
of private health insurance. This research aims to show that the distribution of beds and
services for the support of disease diagnosis, regulated by the private system of supplementary
health care, did not follow the growth policies proposed by the market in regards to the increase
of the number of beneficiaries of health insurance as well as the sufficient supply of beds and
equipments.
Through this research it was possible to infer that the existent technical rules were not either
sufficient or capable of promoting the expected balance between the supply and the demand
proposed as the institutional goal of the regulatory organ - therefore resulting in a recurring
crisis of lack of supplies as well as the involuntary support of the supplementary private medical
service by the public health system.


Semiempirical pseudopotentials, representing singly ionized X+ cores (X=Cu, Ag), are used to determine bond lengths, dissociation energies, and dipole moments of the 2Π ground states of CuO and AgO. In addition, X 2Π→A 2Σ+ excitation energies are given for both molecules. The influence of core polarization and valence correlation is discussed.


The developing trends and uses development of key advanced materials and their parts in aeronautic aerospace, large scale desalination equipment and deep ocean oil exploitation platform were illustrated in brief. This paper showed that high level equipment especially in aeronautic aerospace and ocean developments and utilizations were a complicated systematized projects, which should be supported by various high technologies, new material parts, sensors and a lot of funds. This paper pointed out that key advanced materials and their composite materials used in high level equipment's not only can satisfied the demand of high performance and light weight, but also the important contribution of energy safety and reduction of emissions.


We have developed a novel three-dimensional microfabrication method for biodegradable polymers. Unlike conventional processes, our process satisfies high-resolution and highspeed requirements. The system design allows us the processing of micro-level forms by stacking up melted polymers from the nozzle. A single layer from the piled-up layers of extruded lines was observed to evaluate the resolution. The lateral and depth resolutions attained are 40 /spl mu/m and 45 /spl mu/n, respectively. Biodegradable polymers enable three-dimensional microstructures such as micro-pipes, micro-bends, and micro-coil springs to be manufactured in less than 15 min. The biocompatibility of the structure was evaluated using a cell line (PC12). A small vessel, with a transparent base, was fabricated using PLA and cells were cultivated in it. The cell morphology and the proliferation were then compared with the results obtained using the standard method. Our system renders it possible to produce toxic-free, and leakage-free devices. The mechanical strength of our microstructures was evaluated using a tensile strength test. The tensile strength of the microstructure was lower than the one obtained from the conventional method, but has enough strength for fabrication of medical devices. Our system is expected to have potential applications in optimum design and fabrication of implantable devices.


In this work, Ion implantation was applied for quantitative and spatial control of Na distribution in CIGS films. Local Na-doped layer near the CIGS surface was observed in secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) depth-profile. Implantation-induced lattice displacement and recovery processes by rapid thermal annealing were characterized by Raman spectroscopy and grazing incident X-ray diffraction. Post annealing process and annealing during implantation both can reduce implantation-induced displacement well. In the preliminary work, Na-implanted CIGS film lead to an enhancement in electrical properties of device.


Majority of the patients with chronic kidney disease on hemodialysis (CKD HD) have various bone-related pathologies covered under one clinical entity chronic kidney disease – mineral bone disorders (CKD-MBD). One of the most common is the adynamic bone disease (ABD).1 Published data are showing that changes of calcium level in HD fluid might improve the ABD.2,3 Our aim was to assess whether the lowering of the calcium in dialysis fluid will improve the ABD in our HD patients.

 Prospective study was conducted in a single HD centre in a period of 12 months (01.10.2020 until 30.09.2021), with further 6 months follow up. One hundred thirty three HD patients were screened, 64 patients of them had ABD (iPTH <150 ng/ml). 53 patients were enrolled who met the inclusion criteria (age >18 years, and HD vintage >90 days) and 50 completed the study, during which the only phosphate binder used was calcium based. The calcium level content in the dialysis fluid was changed from various calcium content level (1.5 mmol/L; 1.75 mmol/L) and set to 1.25 mmol/L in the enrolled patients. Laboratory parameters were followed each month and the level of iPTH trimonthly.

 Data from 50 patients was collected and analysed, 50.9% (n=27) males. The average age of the cohort was 69.31 years (±12.49), average HD vintage was 51.94 months (±43.82). Average HD time was 254.8 minutes (±14.71) with average blood pump 393.4 ml/min (±44.38). At study end, the iPTH level was significantly changed (p=.00001), from 67.48 ng/ml (±32.85) to 150.38 ng/ml (±92.96). 24 out of 50 patients (48%) had iPTH level >150 ng/ml, p=.00001. Calcium level changed slightly from 2.27 mmol/L (±0.15) to 2.25 mmol/L (±0.18), p=.25. The phosphate level changed from 1.29 mmol/L (±0.49) to 1.55 mmol/L (±0.48), p=.004. The alkaline phosphatase level significantly changed (p=.00002), from 82.61 IU/L (±49.5) to 118.71 IU/L (±50.23). Patients who had iPTH level >150 ng/ml at the study end had level of calcium of 2.2 mmol/L (±0.16), p=.17 compared to patients who had iPTH level <150 ng/ml (level of calcium of 2.31 mmol/L ±0.18; p= .43). There was improvement in the level of phosphate and alkaline phosphatase; 1.31 mmol/L (±0.46) vs. 1.6 mmol/L (±0.46), p=.002 and 82.57 IU/L (±57.22) vs. 130.83 IU/L (±60.24), p= .004, accordingly. Diabetes mellitus (DM) had insignificant impact on ABD in the patient cohort. 66.7% of the patients with DM (n=10) and 40% of the patients without DM (n=14) reached iPTH >150 ng/ml at study end. Intergroup comparison showed significance only in the level of calcium, DM group calcium=2.16 mmol/L (±0.1); non DM group calcium=2.29 mmol/L (±0.1); p=.01. Additionally, at study end, Karnofsky score was higher in patients with iPTH >150 ng/ml, 76.09% (±13.05); p=.009. Patients who did not reach iPTH >150 ng/ml (n=26) were further followed up for 6 months, and 10 of them reached iPTH >150 ng/ml.

 Indirectly minor change in HD setting, as lowering the calcium level in dialysis fluid in a period of more than 12 months, might improve the adynamic bone disease. Presence of diabetes did not showed significant impact on ABD. However, Karnofsky score showed significant improvement, and exercise may also improve ABD in HD patients. These findings might be used as recommendation in low and middle-income countries in which pharmacological treatments for ABD are limited and/or unavailable.


We study the structures of a family of rational elliptic surfaces, called Halphen surfaces of index 2. These surfaces have bisections, but they do not have a global section. We construct several examples of Halphen surfaces of index 2 with type $I_{n}$ fibers. By considering double covers of the Halphen surfaces of index 2, we obtain genus-one fibered K3 surfaces without a global section. Consequently, we obtain examples of K3 surfaces without a section with type $I_n$ fibers. Furthermore, we consider F-theory compactifications on the resulting K3 surfaces without a section times a K3 surface. We find that SU(5) gauge symmetry arises in one of these compactifications.


AbstractIn this paper I intend to analyse war reporting in Bosnian War. I am working in Foucaultian tradition of understanding discourse as a tool of power and Lacanian tradition of understanding phantasm as a imaginary scenario that gives one understanding of his social role and his way of desiring. I intend to expose, how war reporting uses traditional stereotypes in explaining the war in Bosnia. In my research I go beyond narrative analysis and expose political value of such reporting. Relaying on the concept of phantasm I try to expose how the stereotypic reporting creates the passive position of reader: he is concerned but he cannot do much in this irrational, tribal war. In this way sensational, stereotypical reporting actually contributed to prevailing policy of passivity that was partially responsible for prolongation of the conflict.KeywordsWar reporting, Bosnian War, discursive power, fantasyIntroductionPalestinian literary theorist Edward Said (2003) analysed a concept of Orientalism, a discourse about a geographic territory east of Europe. He revealed the Orientalism not as a science or knowledge about some specific space and time, but as a discursive construct, based on The West's stereotypes and myths about The East. He argued that the Orientalism is inherently entangled in western imperialism; with its stereotypical view it advocated western expansion. His work had a strong impact on other scholars, like Bulgarian historian Maria Todorova (2009). Similarly as Said, she conducted a study of Balkanism as a discourse about Balkans from the eighteen century till today. In contrast to Orient, the Balkans are geographically defined area, that is part of the European continent. Balkanism as a discourse explains Balkans as not completely European, as a place in-between; Balkans are European other, second, not yet truly Europe, that is marked by culture of primitivism, disorder and poverty.Balkanism as a discourse was also used in war reporting from collapsing Yugoslavia. It was a part of a general trend in 20th century war reporting that has often used different stereotypes, myths and metaphors to represent the situation on the battlefield. This approach enabled easier explanation of complex conflicts, but it also create a misrepresentation of reality. While the Cold War reporting was systematically simplified by the model of two block tensions, the post Cold War conflicts tend to be more demanding, hence a new way of stereotypes based reporting gained its moment. When the war in Bosnia erupted in 1992, the war reporters developed specific pattern of reporting, that used the metaphors about Balkans, rooted in stereotypes analyzed by Todorova. Reports became less insightful and more sensational, hence they represented a disrupted overview of conflicts. Further on, they also had negative political consequences. As Allen and Seaton (1999: p.2) stated: "It enabled the governments of rich industrial states to absolve themselves of responsibility for what was happening, and helped them to adopt increasingly oppressive measures against refugees and immigrants".In this paper I intend to analyze western media reporting on Bosnian War. As previous researches has already exposed, the reporting on Bosnian War (as well as other conflict in last decade of 20th century on western Balkans) was often bias, confusing and unclear in explaining the roots of the conflict. Burg and Shoup (2000) in their extended analysis of Bosnian war argued that extensive media coverage of the conflict presented it in a chaotic way. The coverage was focused on the main events, like the bombing of Sarajevo. In majority cases reporters expressed honest concerns about civil victims, but they did not explain the conflict: "The compelling nature of the story of Muslim victimization deterred most reporters from any efforts to examine the complex issues underlying the war" (p. 162). Such reporting distorted the reality of the war and consequently the idea of western military intervention had only minor public support. …


A large number of medicinal plants are claimed to be useful in treating skin diseases in all traditional system of medicine. The present study was carried out to investigate the antimicrobial effect of the compound isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction of flowers of Datura anoxia. This compound was shown to possess antimicrobial activity against bacteria and fungi. Four bacterial strains Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Bacillus cereus and two fungal strains Curvularia lunata and Candida albicans were tested by using disc diffusion method. The antibacterial activity of the compound isolated from ethyl acetate fraction is almost comparable with standard solvent control Chloramphenicol. The antifungal activity is almost comparable with standard solvent control Fluconazole. A. Rajeshkanna 1* , M. M. Senthamilselvi 2 D. Prabhakaran 3 , N. Muruganantham 4 , S. Solomon 5 1 Department of Chemistry, Ananda College, Devakottai, Tamil Nadu, India. 2 Regional Joint Director of Collegiate Education, Thiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, India. 3 Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd., Ariyalur, Tamil Nadu, India. 4 Department of Chemistry, Roever Engineering College, Perambalur, Tamil Nadu, India. 5 Department of Chemistry, Periyar E.V.R.College (Autonomous), Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India. Submission: 2 June 2017 Accepted: 10 June 2017 Published: 25 June 2017 www.ijppr.humanjournals.com Citation: A. Rajeshkanna et al. Ijppr.Human, 2017; Vol. 9 (3): 85-92. 86 INTRODUCTION Infectious diseases are the leading foundation of death worldwide. Antibiotic resistance has become a global concern [1]. The medical efficacy of many existing antibiotics is being threatened by the emergence of multidrug-resistant pathogens [2]. Many infectious diseases have been known to be treated with herbal remedies throughout the history of mankind. Natural products, either as pure compounds or as standardized plant extracts, provide unlimited opportunities for new drug leads because of the unmatched availability of chemical diversity. There is a continuous and urgent need to discover new antimicrobial compounds with diverse chemical structures and novel mechanisms of action for new and re-emerging infectious diseases [3]. Therefore, researchers are increasingly turning their attention to folk medicine, looking for new leads to develop better drugs against microbial infections [4]. The increasing failure of chemotherapeutics and antibiotic resistance exhibited by pathogenic microbial infectious agents have led to the screening of several medicinal plants for their potential antimicrobial activity [5,6]. Datura is known (vellum mattai) as thorn apple, prickly burr, jimson weed, moon flower, devil's weed, devil's cucumber and devil's trumpet. All Datura plants found to contain tropane alkaloids such as scopolamine, hyoscyamine, and atropine, primarily in their seeds and flowers [7]. Datura innoxia (Family: Solanaceae) is used for many medicinal purposes. Datura precise and natural distribution is uncertain, owing to its extensive cultivation and naturalization throughout the temperate and tropical regions of the globe. In Sudan, Datura innoxia is widely spread in AL Jazeera State and other States. It is native to Central and South America, and introduced in Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe [8]. It contains tropane alkaloids such as scopolamine, hyoscyamine, hyoscine, norscopolamine, meteloidine, [9, 10] flavonoids, cardiacs glycosides, essential oils, saponins and phenols [11,12]. Traditional medicine uses flowers, leaves and seed of Datura innoxia to treat skin eruptions, colds, and nervous disorders [13]. It has been used in the earlier period as antispasmodic, hallucinogenic, hypnotic and narcotic and also in the treatment of insanity, impotence, asthma, diarrhea, as an analgesic, to control fever, kill parasites, and skin diseases [14]. www.ijppr.humanjournals.com Citation: A. Rajeshkanna et al. Ijppr.Human, 2017; Vol. 9 (3): 85-92. 87 MATERIALS AND METHODS Collection of Flowers Fresh flowers of Datura innoxia were collected from S. Pudur, Sivagangai (Dt), Tamil Nadu, India, during the month of January and identified by Dr. S. John Britto, Director, The Rapinat Herbarium and Centre for Molecular Systematics (Authentication No. AR001 dated: 08/01/2016). St. Joseph's College (Campus), Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India. Extraction and fractionation Fresh flower (3 kg) of Datura innoxia were extracted with 90% ethanol (5x500ml). The combined alcoholic extract was concentrated in vacuo and the aqueous extract was successively fractionated with petroleum ether (60-80 0 C) (6x250ml), Peroxide free diethyl ether (4x250ml) and ethyl acetate (8x250ml). Petroleum ether fraction and diethyl ether fraction did not yield any isolable material. Ethyl acetate fraction of concentration yielded a dry powder which was dissolved in DMSO to get various concentrations and were used for further study. Antimicrobial procedure Screening of antibacterial activity


This study explored 3 secondary science teachers' conceptions of inquiry and the use of an inquiry framework to support students during inquiry-based activities. These secondary science teachers were in their first years of teaching and were part of a state-wide professional development (PD) program that emphasized a structured approach to inquiry instruction. These teachers were purposefully selected with each indicating that they implemented the equiry levels framework (ELF) emphasized in the PD. The researchers employed a constant comparative approach to analyze the data set, which included classroom observations, surveys, and interviews. Results indicated the participants' understanding of inquiry became more aligned with the VISTA framework. However, differences in participants' understanding ELF and beliefs about inquiry may have contributed to their varied emphasis on scientific practices and types of interactions in their classroom science instruction. The teacher with the strongest understanding of ELF and fewest perceived barriers to implementing inquiry incorporated more scientific practices and allowed for more student-student interactions. The present study has the potential to inform how methods of structuring inquiry instruction and teaching scientific practices are taught to in-service teachers.


This paper describes software for the Apple Macintosh microcomputer that aids architecture students and professionals in incorporating energy considerations in the earliest phases of the design process. The user interface is a "sketch pad" environment that has been designed to foster design activities rather than analysis and allows users to input a building by drawing it at any level of detail. It provides a schematic evaluation of the building's energy performance and a complete annual energy loads'analysis. Calculation algorithms are simplified, both to speed up the computer's response time and to minimize the amount of sPecification the user must be burdened with. By seeing evaluations of their work frequently and easily, users may make preliminary decisions about a design idea and develop a familiarity with, and an intuition for; the effect of energy considerations on their design process. The paper will discuss several areas in which our software is unique among energy analysis programs: The Graphic Interface allows the user to input a building design graphically and include several features that are specific to architectural drawing habits. The program is the medium for design drawing as well as for the input for analysis. Drawing tools l09k and behave like the physical objects they represent rather than the mathematical equivalents found in most CAD programs. 1120/PP90 Building Simulation '91, Nice, France 8/91 Page 1 Design Aids. Ru1e-of-Thumb evaluations can be perfonned on building components. The optimal window size is detennined by the criteria of solar heating, cross-ventilation, stack ventilation and daylighting. Interactive, on-screen displays show the user graphically how well their design-in-progress is performing. See Figure 1. Graphic and Numeric Input. The primary input procedure for this program is graphic: the user draws the building on the screen or imports it frOm another Macintosh program. Material specification is accomplished by selection from "Chinese Menus". See Figure 2. Infonnation may be reviewed or edited numerically. This section has been carefully designed to confonn to a designer's concept of the building rather than a programmer's concept of the energy fonnulas. Annual Loads Analysis. The program calculates loads for the building for twenty-four hours, for each of four representative days in the year. Loads include heating and cooling and take into consideration the effects of thenna! mass, natural ventilation, and daylighting. We are currently developing a simulation of the building loads which is displayed graphically by the building elements themselves. Progress. The design specifications for Energy Scheming were substantially complete as of April,1988. A functional version of this software was finished in November, 1988, and was beta tested in 1989. The program is currently being revised in response to beta testing. The program is written in 'C' and will run on the Macintosh SE or Mac II. Acknowledgements. The work on this project has been supported by the U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement ofPost-Secondary Education, the University of Oregon Department of Architecture, Apple Computer Inc., and the Bonneville Power Administration. 1120/PP90 Building Simulation '91. Nice. France 8/91 Page 2 ~o~ Rule of Thumb Window Sizing AidEntire building j Percent of Target Area Rchieued: J O~ . . 1oo~ 200~ 20 40 60 8