We examined 23 patients with paroxysmal form of atrial fibrillation in the presence of coronary heart disease and hypertension to study в-adrenergic receptor reactivity and tone of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The evaluation of β-adrenergic reactivity of the cell membranes was performed; sinus rhythm variability was determined; and sympatheticotonic and vagotonic disorders in patients with paroxysmal form of atrial fibrillation were studied before and during treatment with sotalol. Using a quantitative biochemical method of adrenergic reactivity of the organism, individual sensitivity to β-adrenergic blocking agent (sotalol) was determined based on measuring the β-APM values of red blood cells. Effect of sotalol on ANS manifested through greater augmentation of the high-frequency spectral component of heart rate variability compared with the low frequency component. Long-term sotalol administration significantly reduced β-APM and increased the sensitivity of adrenergic receptors while maintaining the achieved target heart rate.


Abstract Background: We aimed to assess the effectiveness of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine against B.1.351 (beta) variant among residents of long-term care facilities (LCTFs) in eastern France. Methods: We used routinely collected surveillance and COVID-19 vaccination data to conduct a retrospective cohort study of SARS-CoV-2 B.1.351 infection incidence and vaccine effectiveness among LCTFs residents in eastern France between 15 January and 19 May 2021. Data from secondary RT-PCR screening were used to identify B.1.351 variants. Findings: Included in our analysis were 378 residents from five LCTFs: 287 (76%) females, with median (IQR) age of 89 (83-92) years. Two B.1.351 outbreaks took place in LTCFs in which more than 70% of residents had received two doses of BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine, which included 11 cases of severe disease and six deaths among those who had received two doses. Vaccine effectiveness (95% CI) seven days after the second dose of vaccine was 49% (14-69) against any infection with B.1.351 and 86% (67-94) against severe forms of COVID-19. In multivariable analysis, females were less likely to develop severe forms of disease (IRR = 0.35, 95% CI = 0.20-0.63). Interpretation: We observed reduced vaccine effectiveness associated with B.1.351, as well as B.1.351 outbreaks in two LTCFs among individuals who had received two doses of vaccine. Our findings highlight the need to maintain SARS-CoV-2 surveillance in these high-risk settings beyond the current COVID-19 mass vaccination campaign, and advocate for a booster vaccine dose prior to the next winter season.


A kinetic investigation of the reaction with bases of the intermediate isolated from solutions of NN-dimethylaniline and tetracyanoethylene, suggested subsequently to be a tetracyanoethane derivative, is reported. Activation parameters have been determined for the reaction and it has been found that there is no kinetic hydrogen isotope effect. The mechanism is discussed in the light of these findings.


In this study describes the fluorescein methacrylate (FMA) used as fluorescence functional monomer in the synthesis of caffeine-imprinted fluorescence polymers (Caf-FMIP) for the selective recognition of caffeine. The Caf-FMIP was synthesized using bulk polymerization with non-covalent imprinting approach and the formation of ˗NH groups had interaction with caffeine and FMA moieties was confirmed by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The absorption isotherm analysis of Caf-FMIP favors Freundlich model suggested the forming heterogeneous surface was occurred due to non-covalent imprinting approach. Fluorescence emissions of synthesized Caf-FMIP were 'switched on' in the presence of target molecule based on photo-induce electron transfer (PET) mechanism. In addition, Caf-FMIP fluorescence was enhanced more strongly by caffeine compared to non-imprinted polymer, which indicated that caffeine could recognized by the Caf-FMIP selectively.In this study describes the fluorescein methacrylate (FMA) used as fluorescence functional monomer in the synthesis of caffeine-imprinted fluorescence polymers (Caf-FMIP) for the selective recognition of caffeine. The Caf-FMIP was synthesized using bulk polymerization with non-covalent imprinting approach and the formation of ˗NH groups had interaction with caffeine and FMA moieties was confirmed by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The absorption isotherm analysis of Caf-FMIP favors Freundlich model suggested the forming heterogeneous surface was occurred due to non-covalent imprinting approach. Fluorescence emissions of synthesized Caf-FMIP were 'switched on' in the presence of target molecule based on photo-induce electron transfer (PET) mechanism. In addition, Caf-FMIP fluorescence was enhanced more strongly by caffeine compared to non-imprinted polymer, which indicated that caffeine could recognized by the Caf-FMIP selectively.


Deposition of the lower Unayzah reservoir (C and B members) in Saudi Arabia commenced in late Carboniferous times during the earliest stages of the late Paleozoic Gondwanan glaciation. The Unayzah C comprises quartzose sandstones, laid down upon the so-called Hercynian unconformity in a widespread glacio-fluvial outwash braidplain, during (probably several) early glacial retreat stages. These sediments were overridden and deformed during intervening glacial readvances, when advancing ice sheets thrust the sediments over each other with the construction of push moraines. The top Unayzah C surface is a significant unconformity representing the final sub-glacial contact of the Gondwanan ice-sheet. The overlying Unayzah B (early Permian) represents the final glacial retreat phase. It is sharply divided into a lower Unit B1 and an upper Unit B2. Unit B1 is dominated by glacigenic sediments, including highly deformed material attributed to localized push moraines (and hence representing minor glacial readvances); ice-proximal, subaqueous outwash fans (lacustrine turbidites and massive diamictites); and ice-distal, glaciolacustrine deposits including laminites and stratified diamictites. Unit B2 is characterized by fine-grained red-beds, representing low-lying alluvial floodbasin deposits. Embedded within these occur eolian and fluvial sandstones. A significant drainage event is thus implied between Units B1 and B2. The end of Unayzah B time is represented in places by paleosol development, indicating a disconformable contact with the overlying Unayzah A. This study extends the record of the advance and retreat of the Gondwanan ice sheets in southern Saudi Arabia, and also permits a degree of correlation with coeval rock units in Oman.


Workplace eldercare programs have become a more common component of the work-family benefit package of employers in recent years. This pilot study examines the correlates of caregiving employees' use of workplace eldercare programs. Phone surveys were conducted with 115 employed caregivers; both users and nonusers were interviewed. Findings suggest that use is related to both the type of caregiving situation in which an employee is involved and the work-related burdens of the caregiving experience. The research and practice implications of the study are discussed.


At a ®rst sight, the book by Rob Davis can be described as a very good user guide for the ARIS software, one of the market leading Business Process Modelling (BPM) tools. And in fact the book describes in great detail how to use the software to model your business processes, providing a lot of examples and proceeding from the very basic level of the software use to the very advanced one. For an ARIS user, as I am, it is a very useful book ± I would say the only one existing in the market, since ARIS does not provide a printed User Guide. However, I think that the value of this book stands not only in the description of how to use a software tool. In fact, the book uses the ARIS tool to describe and develop a more general discipline of Business Process Modelling. One of the major strengths of the ARIS tool is in fact to provide methodologies, rules and frameworks to model business processes, that can be usefully transferred to other software contexts where speci®c syntax and rules are not de®ned or provided. As a consequence, I see the target of this book being not only all the users of ARIS. I think that this book can be useful also to people that use simple process modelling languages, in order to increase the completeness and formal correctness of their models. I refer here especially to the users of the software tools that provide mainly a graphical support for the representation of the desired process models, without giving any architecture and rule for building the models themselves. In both cases, the main audience of the book will be formed by managers and consultants concerned with BPM in their businesses or the ones of their customers. However, also academic researchers or professors teaching BPM in their courses can ®nd a valid support in this book to formalize a conceptual framework and a theory of BPM. Let us look at the content of the book in more detail. I will describe it following the two perspectives of the two types of users mentioned above. For the user of ARIS: the reader will ®nd a useful guide on how to read the book at the end of Chapter 1 (} 1.11). This guide distinguishes ®ve categories of interest: Introductory, Basic ARIS, Advanced ARIS, Modelling Guidance, and ARIS in your Business. In detail, Chapters 2 and 3 provide the basic information on the logic and structure of ARIS functioning, while Chapters 4±6 provide information on how to use the software functionality, both in terms of resource management (databases, ®les, objects, etc.) ± ARIS Explorer, and of process modelling ± ARIS Designer. From Chapter 7 on the reader will progressively enter in the world of ARIS models, facing increasing complexity in the description of the process. All the important models and objects used by ARIS are presented, both from a practical point of view ± how to use the software to design the model, and from a conceptual one ± which rules to follow in order to build a correct model. Chapters 11±15 are suggested for advances users of ARIS, since they go into detail on how to structure and to represent complex business processes, describing horizontal and vertical decomposition of process, process variants, copies, model generation, etc. Chapters 16 and 17 come back to the use of software functionality, revisiting and further detailing the potential of ARIS Explorer and ARIS Designer. Finally, Chapters 18±20 give rules and suggestions on how to verify the correctness of the model designed, to set standards for process modelling within the organization and to administer the ARIS databases. As mentioned before, all the subjects are treated with high practical sense and are supported by a lot of examples, aimed at facilitating the comprehension and use of the software tool. For generic business process modellers: the chapters that could be interesting are only a part of the overall book. In particular: Chapter 1 introduces the general problem of BPM; Chapters 10, 18 and 20 provide general rules and concepts to capture, design and verify/validate business process models. These indications are generic enough to be interesting also for non-users of ARIS. Also Chapters 7±9 and 11±15, while dealing with speci®c models/structures of the ARIS software, give very interesting hints to a generic business modeller, since they provide quite general rules to represent all the relevant items in a process, to correctly de®ne links between the objects represented, to structure the model of the process,


A research report submitted to the Wits Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Philosophy by combination of coursework and research report.
Johannesburg, 2018


The coherent-state path-integral representation for the propagator of fermionic systems subjected to first-class constraints is constructed. As in the bosonic case the importance of path-integral measures for Lagrange multipliers is emphasized. One example is discussed in some detail.


The formulation of said invented low-alkali cement with small grain size and spherical appearance contains 60-75% of clinker, 3-7% of gypsum and 28-32% of mixed material, in which the formulation of cement clinker is 76-86% of limestone, 8-12% of sandstone, 4-8% of gangue and 2-4% of iron powder, and the described mixed material is formed from gangue, flyash, slag and limestone in the ratio of 3:3:3:1. The specific surface area of said cement is greater than or equal to 500 sq.m/kg, form of cement granule is spherical, the mean value of circularity is 0.6839, and the mean value of sphericity is 5.322, grain size of granule is less than 10 micrometers, granule grading range is 3-32 micrometers and greater than 90%, and its alkality only is 0.58%.


Abstract Process capability indices have been widely used in the manufacturing industry for measuring process reproduction capability according to manufacturing specifications. Properties of the univariate processes have been investigated extensively, but are comparatively neglected for multivariate processes where multiple dependent characteristics are involved in quality measurement. In this paper, we consider two commonly used multivariate capability indices MC p and MC pm , to evaluate multivariate process capability. We investigate the statistical properties of the estimated MC p and obtain the lower confidence bound for MC p . We also consider testing MC p , and provide critical values for testing if a multivariate process meets the preset capability requirement. In addition, an approximate confidence interval for MC pm is derived. A simulation study is conducted to ascertain the accuracy of the approximation. Three examples are presented to illustrate the applicability of the obtained results.


Flight to quality episodes involve a combination of extreme risk-or uncertainty-aversion, weal<nesses in the balance sheets of key financial intermediaries, and strategic or speculative behavior, that increases credit spreads on all but the safest and most liquid assets. Unlike previous episodes, the entire US financial system is currently at the center of the trouble, with no safe haven pockets, w/hich may lead to greater real effects. The US government's credit is still impeccable, w/hich facilitates policies in support of the financial system. Policy must take into account incentives for behavior during the crisis, discouraging excessive prudence, w/hich sometimes implies relegating post-crisis moral hazard concerns to a secondary role. .


The observed greater frequency and relatively earlier occurrence of senile cataract in patients with diabetes mellitus have led to numerous investigations of the carbohydrate metabolism in patients with cataract. Thus, Baldwin and Bartel, in 1924, in a study of one hundred and thirty-two cases of cataract, reported ninety-nine with a blood sugar during fasting above 120 mg. per hundred cubic centimeters of blood. In a study of a hundred cases of senile cataract in 1925, H. Maxwell Langdon found a blood sugar during fasting above the normal limits in fifteen cases, while forty-five of the patients had a lowered dextrose tolerance. In 1928, O'Brien found a blood sugar concentration during fasting above 120 mg. in 84 per cent of seventy-four patients with cataract and a lowered tolerance in 45 per cent. In a further study, in 1931, O'Brien found hyperglycemia in about 50 per cent of a series of


Hyperparameters play a critical role in machine learning. Hyperparameter tuning can make the difference between state-of-the-art and poor prediction performance for any algorithm, but it is particularly challenging for structure learning due to its unsupervised nature. As a result, hyperparameter tuning is often neglected in favour of using the default values provided by a particular implementation of an algorithm. While there have been numerous studies on performance evaluation of causal discovery algorithms, how hyperparameters affect individual algorithms, as well as the choice of the best algorithm for a specific problem, has not been studied in depth before. This work addresses this gap by investigating the influence of hyperparameters on causal structure learning tasks. Specifically, we perform an empirical evaluation of hyperparameter selection for some seminal learning algorithms on datasets of varying levels of complexity. We find that, while the choice of algorithm remains crucial to obtaining state-of-the-art performance, hyperparameter selection in ensemble settings strongly influences the choice of algorithm, in that a poor choice of hyperparameters can lead to analysts using algorithms which do not give state-of-the-art performance for their data.


Ischemic stroke has great correlation with carotid atherosclerosis and is mostly caused by vulnerable plaques. It's particularly important to analysis the components of plaques for the detection of vulnerable plaques. Recently plaque analysis based on multi-contrast magnetic resonance imaging has attracted great attention. Though multi-contrast MR imaging has potentials in enhanced demonstration of carotid wall, its performance is hampered by the misalignment of different imaging sequences. In this study, a coarse-to-fine registration strategy based on cross-sectional images and wall boundaries is proposed to solve the problem. It includes two steps: a rigid step using the iterative closest points to register the centerlines of carotid artery extracted from multi-contrast MR images, and a non-rigid step using the thin plate spline to register the lumen boundaries of carotid artery. In the rigid step, the centerline was extracted by tracking the crosssectional images along the vessel direction calculated by Hessian matrix. In the non-rigid step, a shape context descriptor is introduced to find corresponding points of two similar boundaries. In addition, the deterministic annealing technique is used to find a globally optimized solution. The proposed strategy was evaluated by newly developed three-dimensional, fast and high resolution multi-contrast black blood MR imaging. Quantitative validation indicated that after registration, the overlap of two boundaries from different sequences is 95%, and their mean surface distance is 0.12 mm. In conclusion, the proposed algorithm has improved the accuracy of registration effectively for further component analysis of carotid plaques.


Under the condition of market economic system,it has significant meaning to take industrialization of sports in university.This paper analyzes the possibility of developing sports market in university and puts forward the effective way to implement the industrialization of sports.


In this paper, the self-focusing of a Gaussian laser beams in the magnetized inhomogeneous cold plasma is investigated by considering the linear and exponential profiles for electron density. For this purpose, using the Maxwell's and the plasma hydrodynamic equations, a relation for the changes of laser spot radius is obtained. Using the RungeKutta method, the effect of the plasma inhomogeneity, external magnetic field, and laser frequency on the beam selffocusing is investigated. The results indicate that the increase of the magnetic field strength and laser frequency enhance the beam self-focusing and the initial plasma density affects the beam propagation in the plasma. Comparison of the results shows that the self-focusing in the exponential inhomogeneous plasma occurs at a shorter distance than the linear inhomogeneous plasma, but the variations of laser spot radius in the plasma with linear density profile is more intense than the exponential profile.


This thesis presents an analysis of the effects of individual level plasticity on population dynamics and persistence. The main objective of the research was to investigate whether different defense strategies of organisms have contrasting effects on population dynamics. Inducible defenses were expected to stabilize population dynamics as opposed to constitutive defenses or the absence of defenses. This chapter provides a concise introduction to phenotypic plasticity in aquatic organisms, theory on the effects of inducible defenses in twoand three-level food chains and the model system of algae and rotifers. Parts of this chapter are based on the paper: Van der Stap, I., M. Vos and W.M. Mooij. Inducible defenses and rotifer food chain dynamics. Hydrobiologia in press.


(Multi)fractal methods DFA, MDFA and WTMM have peculiarities and shortcomings manifested in test with synthetic and real world time series. One of fundamental problems in time series analysis is the length of series necessitated for reliability of results. Being statistical, these methods require enough size of data for sufficient accuracy of evaluated parameters. Thoroughly investigation for the relation of length and accuracy of evaluated parameters - local Hoelder exponent and multifractal spectrum with at different detrending regimes is presented. Two types of synthesized series with exactly settled parameters are used: monofractal Triadic Cantor set and Binomial multifractal model. For example of real data posturographic records are used.


The interests game relation between central government and local government is a key aspect on researching government action.the article will analyze interests relation between central government and local government through Game Theory,and discuss on how to harmonize the interests relation between them.Regional economic relations are influenced notably by market economic development and governments' macro controls' change,the competitive and orderly regional economic relations ensure macroeconomic development regularly,so we must study cause of formation and countermeasures about regional economic relations.It is possible that the regional economic relation be in a state of chaos on the basis of game theory.


A method to determine optimal fault test-points is proposed in this paper based on information theory. It can effeeclvely reduce the number of fault test-points and supply a scientific basis for Choosing fault testpoints. Finally, the method is validated by an exmple of typical fault diagnosis system.


In this study, the safe distance in the case of a hydrogen vehicle fire was analyzed according to the temperature distribution around a hydrogen gas jet flame formed by the thermally activated pressure relief device operation of a hydrogen storage container. The experiment was conducted while 70 MPa hydrogen gas was released from a 1.8-mm-diameter nozzle to a 1.8- × 1.8 m fire-resistant structure wall for distances of 2 and 4 m between the nozzle output and the wall. To analyze the temperature around the hydrogen gas jet flame, five fire-fighting heat-protective hood test samples, certified by the Korea Fire Institute, and temperature sensors were installed every 1 m from the center of the jet flame in the vertical direction to the direction of the flame. In the experiment, the temperature around the jet flame was measured to observe the safe distance for firefighters. The results show that the safe distances at 70°C or less, which is harmless to firefighters, were 5 m without a heat-protective hood and 3 m with a heat-protective hood. In addition, it was confirmed that the direction of the jet flame and blocking by obstacles affect the safe distance during fire-fighting and rescue activities by firefighters.


A severe human electrostatic discharge (ESD) equivalent source model has been developed for use in qualification testing of systems that have stringent safety or very high reliability requirements. The model produces the now-acknowledged worst-case waveform, and the values of the constituent components have been selected from measured human body electrical parameters to maximize the peak amplitude and rate of rise of the short-circuit discharge current and energy transfer to the victim system. 18 refs., 5 figs.


Coronary artery disease is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Acute coronary syndrome which includes STEMI, NSTEMI and unstable angina commonly diagnosed with the help of 12 lead in ECG in ER with or without elevated biomarkers. Inferior wall myocardial infarction is common cause of ST elevation myocardial infarction with low mortality rate. In this case report, we present a 52 years old male presented to ER with the complain of typical chest pain for more than 2 hours duration. Pain was in center of chest with radiation to back and left arm and associated with excessive sweating. Patient is a known smoker for past 10 years. At presentation Blood pressure was 110/70 mmHg and pulse rate of 55/min. Troponin I level was five times of upper normal limit. Basic investigations including ECG were done at presentation. ECG was showing typical changes of inferior wall myocardial infarction with infarction of right ventricle with hidden unique sign known as dead man sign commonly predict the location of obstruction and course of disease in the setting of acute coronary syndrome.


The National Health Federation is an alliance of promoters and followers who engage in lobbying campaigns and many other activities. The Health Alternatives Legal Foundation, led by attorneys, is working primarily through the courts. The American Quack Association is a mutual support network of "holistic" practitioners. The Coalition for Alternatives in Nutrition and Health Care is primarily involved in lobbying. All four groups are antagonistic toward accepted medical practices and use the words "alternative" and "freedom" to suit their own purposes. Many of their leaders have been involved in questionable health activities, and some have even been convicted of crimes involving such methods.


Kungkum ritual is a method of union between Atman and Brahman through the Meditation method in water. Kungkum focuses his concentration on the Sapta Cakra that is in the human body to activate these chakras with the aim of getting closer to God. When the chakras in the human body eat many benefits both medically and non-medically, scale and niskala. By using the concept of function in the Hindu tradition, this study discusses the procedures, meanings and values contained in the Kungkum ritual which is a Hindu Tradition, which is to gush or purify a person through certain practices. In discussing the meaning of kungkum ritual in Hindu tradition. Discussion of the procedures and benefits of using functions, while the meaning will be discussed on the basis of symbol theory. Kungkum rituals performed by humans in Umbul Nyai Kendat are not much different from kungkum rituals in several places. The aim of Kungkum at Umbul Nyai Kendat is to unite Atman with the Brahman within himself through the water method as a means of concentration. Concentrate on Kungkum by opening the aura that is in our body / doer which is centered on the Chakras in the body. When the chakras are active, someone who does kungkum will get many benefits such as not getting sick easily, being more sensitive to astral things and so on. After knowing the Meaning of Kungkum Rituals in Hindu Traditions, it is expected that all parties should help preserve the existence of Kungkum as a means of self-purification. This is a form of ancestral heritage that needs to be maintained. This is to add to the richness of Hindu culture and traditions that are almost extinct. After this research it is hoped that further research will emerge regarding rituals, ceremonies and ceremonies as well as ethics carried out by the community.


Abstract Excretion of bacteria in the urine was measured during administration of a large water load over a two-hour period to 26 elderly subjects. Five patients had morning bacteriuria with more than 105 colonies per milliliter. Bacterial concentration and excretion rates increased during water loading in these patients and reached a peak at 60 to 100 minutes. In eight subjects excretion of bacteria was increased during diuresis. In 13 subjects with negligible base-line bacteriuria the urine became or remained negative. Renal function was impaired in both groups with frank and transient bacteriuria. The identical time course of the bacterial rise during diuresis in subjects with frank and occult bacteriuria and their similar impairment of renal function implies an upper rather than a lower urinary-tract origin of bacteriuria. The water-loading test may be useful for screening subjects with doubtful bacteriuria.


Missionary periodicals, like their secular counterparts (newspapers and magazines), had the potential to create and sustain media events—those rare and precious times when news coverage breaks out of the confines of its daily routines, allowing contemporaneous themes to surface and occupy center stage. However, mission publications had their specific ways of presenting these issues, which are cast most sharply into relief when the underlying occurrences affected both missions and society at large. It is at those junctures that mission publications became more receptive towards broader political, social, and cultural trends; conversely, society took greater notice of missionary activities than usual during these times.


Abstract This review was carried to assess the occurrence and nature of heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in cooked meat products. HCAs are a group of mutagenic compounds detected in cooked meats, especially well-done meats. HCAs are formed as a result of reactions between amino acids and creatine at high temperatures of cooking. HCAs of importance are 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP), 2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx), 2-amino-3,4,8-trimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (4,8-DiMeIQx), IQ, and MeIQ. On the other hand, PAHs in cooked meat products are formed as a result of pyrolysis of fat which form intermediate products at high temperatures of cooking. Several studies have been carried on PAHs especially in cooked foods in the last few decades as a result of the carcinogenic and mutagenic properties of some members, especially benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), benz[a]anthracene, and dibenz[a,h]anthracene which are probably carcinogenic in humans, while benzo[b]-fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, dibenz[a,e]pyrene, dibenz[a,h]pyrene, dibenz[a,i]pyrene, dibenz[a,l]pyrene, 5-methylchrysene, and indeno[1,2,3-c,d]pyrene are possibly carcinogenic in humans. According to European Union, the maximum levels for benzo[a]pyrene and other PAHs in processed foods were laid down in Regulation (EC) No. 1881/2006 where maximum levels for certain contaminants in different foodstuffs were set. A maximum level for the sum of the four probable human carcinogenic PAHs namely benzo[a]pyrene, benz[a]anthracene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, and chrysene was included in Regulation (EU) No. 835/2011 amending Regulation (EC) No. 1881/2006. Several organizations have evaluated occurrence and toxicity of PAHs in different foods, beverages, and water, like the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IACR), the Scientific Committee on Food (SCF), and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). This could be seen in various legislations established on HCAs and PAHs in foods from different countries all over the world. These regulatory standards, rules and guidelines are set by the regulatory agencies to protect people from the risks of taken excess HCAs and PAHs and possible health effects.


Tonal noise is a common reason for annoyance and reduced comfort. Even if the level of the tone is relatively low, human hearing is such that tones are standing out. In many situations the tonal frequency will vary for different operation conditions. A typical situation is the noise in turbo-prop aircraft, where two or more propeller speeds are used to get better fuel economy and better performance than using a single propeller speed for the complete flight envelope. Before the SAAB 2000 was introducing Active Noise Control, in 1994, the most efficient noise control treatment for propeller noise was Dynamic Vibration Absorbers (DVAs). A major advantage of active noise control systems is the ability to adapt to a frequency shift, which a traditional passive DVA cannot, and thereby the effect of the DVA will essentially only be achieved at one of the operating propeller speeds. Present paper introduce a device that can adapt to more than one excitation frequency and is hence very suitable for application to propeller aircraft and other similar situations with tonal noise. Numerical simulation results and experimental data are presented, and application is made to a Vibro-Acoustic model of a turbo-prop aircraft.


Zhu Xi's studies on Chinese classic texts provide researchers with bountiful high quality commentaries and numerous documents that record his annotating process. In order to discover what Zhu concerns when he annotates Chinese classics and to utilize it to understand his most famous commentary "Sishu zhangju jizhu" (四書章句集注) this article studies profiles of him, quotations from him, his letters discussing studies on Chinese classics and his statements about Chinese classic commentaries. Zhu realizes that one's morality is cultivated extensively in the process of analyzing and comprehending Chinese classics; this causes him to study the sentence structures and the word meanings of "Sishu" (四書) throughout his life. His "Sishu zhangju jizhu" is not only his reading report but an excellent guidebook that give directions to later scholars studying the words and sentences of "Sishu". Zhu Xi's studies imply an evident connection between literary cultivation the tradition of Chinese classic studies.


Christian Katzenbach recently worked with his colleague Jascha Bareis on a project that  compared the strategies of various countries such as France, the US and China to partake in a  Global AI race , and identified distinct approaches between the countries. The researcher and  writer Nicolas Nova interviewed him for a report commissioned by the City of Lyon about the   different strategies and their impact on the imaginaries of AI. The original French version of the  interview has been pusblished in the report and by the French magazine "Millénaire 3".


In this paper, we focus on how we can assist the local designers in the developing countries to design and manufacture the problem solving products. Although there are a lot of examples of appropriate technology, most of them were designed by the experts who have professional knowledge. To solve this issue, we propose a design method rapid prototyping spiral, considering the conventional studies on creativity support. The rapid prototyping spiral is a quick iterating process of creating prototypes and getting feedbacks from the users. The advantage of this method is that it enables the designers to discover the hidden issues or the unconscious assumptions underlying the users or the community. Our method also takes advantage of the limitation of materials, which has been regarded as a negative aspect so far. We illustrate how our method is applicable to design in the developing countries, taking a project in Ghana as an example. Keywords-Design method; Prototyping; Design space.


Hormographiella aspergillata is a rare causative agent of invasive filamentous breakthrough infection, mostly arising after echinocandin exposure. We report a neutropenic patient who developed a severe sino‐orbito‐cerebral H. aspergillata infection while receiving empirical caspofungin, successfully controlled by an aggressive strategy associating surgical debridement and combined high‐dose regimen of antifungal drugs.


Leader-following cluster consensus is investigated for multiagent systems with weighted cooperative–competitive networks and measurement noise. A stochastic approximation protocol is proposed for interactively balanced and sub-balanced networks, and pinning control is introduced to deal with the divergence phenomenon in interactively unbalanced networks. With these protocols, sufficient conditions for reaching a strong mean-square leader-following cluster consensus are established for all the three types of networks, which are also extended to the cases without measurement noise. Numerical examples illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed protocols and theoretical analysis.


Summary : An 8-month-old female cat presented with a 1-month history of open-mouth breathing and intermittent regurgitation. Contrast radiography revealed megaesophagus (ME) with a large pharyngeal mass. The mass was removed by gentle traction under general anesthesia, after which the ME resolved within 9 days. The mass was diagnosed as a nasopharyngeal polyp based on clinical and histopathological findings. A similar polyp recurred 50 days postoperatively, and was also removed by traction fol lowed by four treatments with methylprednisolone acetate. The cat remained asymptomatic for 9 months after the second surgery. This report demonstrates that ME resulting from a nasopharyngeal polyp may resolve spontaneously after polyp removal, but post-surgical glucocorticoid therapy may also be needed to decrease the chance of recurrence. Jpn. J. Vet. Anesth. Surg.


This is really going to save you time and your money in something should think about. If you're seeking then search around for online. Without a doubt there are several these available and a lot of them have the freedom. However no doubt you receive what you spend on. An alternate way to get ideas would be to check another the true flag theodore roosevelt mark twain and the birth of american empire.


Contour extraction is a fundamental problem in computer vision, and widely applied to visual projects. However, for some scenes with complex background or objects to be extracted are similar to background, traditional methods seem powerless. In this paper, we present a new approach to tackle this problem. Given an image sequence, the approach is decomposed into two main phases: background modeling, contour extracting. In the first phase, Gaussian mixture distribution is applied to build the background model in dynamic environment. In the second phase, we map the segmented foreground pixels to a two-dimensional point set, through which we construct a geometric graph based on Euclidean distance, and then all border nodes are connected to generate the contour using the orientation information. Actual project results show that the approach is capable of generating contours with high accuracy and strong robustness.


Road deterioration which occurs faster than the road design life often occurs lately. The objective of this study is to assess the vehicle damage factor caused by excessive load and the effect of excessive load on the pavement design life. This research was conducted with Weigh in Motion and traffic volume surveys. The study was conducted on the station of KM 226 + 075, in the Bireuen - Bts Kota Lhokseumawe road section. Data analysis was performed using the Pedoman Perencanaan Tebal Lapis Tambah Perkerasan Lentur dengan Metode Lendutan. The results showed that the value of Vehicle Damage Factor for excess load condition is 696 % greater the one of normal load conditions. Based on the Cumulative Equivalent Standard Axle analysis, it is known that the road service life is reduced by 4.3 years compared to the design life, which is 10 years.


In this note we continue the study of Abian's order for reduced rings initiated in papers such as [1], [5], [3], [4]. A simple proof is given of Abian's result that taking suprema commutes with ring multiplication. The properties of orthogonally complete rings and of rings satisfying chain conditions with respect to Abian's order are investigated.


Nafiaa Bouanani Faculty of Education Sciences, University Mohammed V, Rabat, Morocco _____________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract:The study that fed this article investigates the progress/development of critical thinking skills through a reflective writing intervention. It is hypothesized in the study that metacognitive processes underlying reflective writing and critical thinking interweave. In other words, when students think critically or write reflectively they tend to use the same cognitive skills as writing in general is a circuit of thinking. Hence, It has been empirically proven that Reflective writing is a pedagogical strategy, among others, that enhances Critical Thinking skills of undergraduate students majoring in business, marketing and Finance. Reflective Writing productions of thirty Moroccan Business College Juniors were assessed, evaluated and scored over on academic term. The assessment was performed according to the Assessment Rubric for Critical thinking Skills which was originally designed within the Quality Enhancement plan (QEP) initiative, Georgia State University 2009. Current findings were very significant as the six critical thinking skills defined in the rubric proved major progress.


Interest rate functions as the cornerstone for the heavy majority of the financial models. The high volatility in interest rates in the financial crisis of 2008/09 and resulting increased uncertainty led many researchers to focus on modeling the dynamics of changes in short term interest rates. This study aims to analyze the volatility of short-term interest rate in Turkey in terms of overnight repo rate and to forecast this rate for the next six months by modelling this volatility. For this purpose, the ARCH family models like ARCH, GARCH and EGARCH were preferred to use since they are the most common methods in the literature. Using the weekly frequency data for the period of January 2002 - January 2021, the model that best describes the stochastic volatility in the data was found to be the GARCH (1.1) model. As a result of the fact that the in-sample estimates were found sufficient, the interest rate estimates for the next 6 months were realized.


Results of researches of chemical composition of chipping knives of foreign and domestic producers are given in the article. Results of mechanical tests of samples with determination of temporary resistance, percentage elongation, ultimate strength at cross bending, bend from the various tool steels, subjected to heat treatment (tempering) and thermomechanical processing with low tempering, are given. Recommendations on use of TO and TMO for investigated steels are given.


The invention discloses a diamond structure with 101 facets and a blue lotus shaped interior, and a cutting method of the diamond structure, wherein the diamond structure comprises a crown part, a waist part and a pavilion part; the crown part comprises a table surface and a crown side surface; the pavilion part comprises a pavilion part side surface and a bottom point; the crown part side surface comprises 8 crown star surfaces, 8 main crown surfaces, 8 main crown first auxiliary surfaces and 20 main crown second auxiliary surfaces; a side of each crown star surface adjoins with the table surface; a corner of each main crown surface adjoins with the table surface and a side of each main crown surface adjoins with the corresponding crown star surface; a side of each main crown first auxiliary surface adjoins with the corresponding main crown surface and a corner of each main crown first auxiliary surface is connected with the corresponding crown star surface; a side of each main crown second auxiliary surface adjoins with the corresponding main crown first auxiliary surface and a corner of each main crown second auxiliary surface adjoins with the corresponding main crown surface; the pavilion part side surface comprises 8 main pavilion surfaces, 16 main pavilion first auxiliary surfaces, 16 main pavilion second auxiliary surfaces and 16 main pavilion third auxiliary surfaces, wherein a side of each main pavilion first auxiliary surface adjoins with the corresponding main pavilion surface, a side of each main pavilion second auxiliary surface adjoins with the corresponding main pavilion first auxiliary surface, and a side of each main pavilion third auxiliary surface adjoins with the corresponding main pavilion second auxiliary surface. According to the technical scheme of the diamond structure, the number of the facets of a diamond is increased, and the shining effect and the value of the diamond are improved.


Nature (one's genes) and nurture (one's environment) jointly contribute to the formation and evolution of health and human capital over the life cycle. This complex interplay between genes and environment can be estimated and quantified using genetic information readily available in a growing number of social science data sets. To help the novice reader interested in understanding individual decision making, public policy, and inequality using genetic data, we introduce essential genetic terminology, review the literature in economics and social-science genetics—with a focus on the interplay between genes and environment—and discuss policy implications and future prospects of the use of genetic data in the social sciences and economics.


WEKA and MOA are a free open-source software project specific for data mining and data stream mining, respectively. They are written in Java and developed at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. This research paper presents a comprehensive study of both consists of algorithms, evaluation, visualization, correlation between WEKA and MOA, workflow of implementation, and the classification accuracy.


Two distinct lineages of T cells, distinguished by expression of either an αβ or γδ T cell receptor (TCR), arise from a common progenitor in the thymus. The type of pathogen and the cytokine milieu directs effector differentiation of αβ T cells in the periphery through the induction of specific transcriptional networks. γδ T cell development is distinct from that of αβ T cells in its ordered rearrangement of TCR genes and the pairing of Vγ and Vδ chains to generate γδ T cell subsets that home to specific tissues. While γδ T cells have primarily been studied as one homogenous population, they can be functionally classified into effector subsets based on the production of signature cytokines, analogous to αβ T helper subsets. Unlike αβ T cells, γδ T cell effector function correlates with genomically encoded TCR chains, but the mechanism of γδ effector specification is unclear. In conjunction with the Immunological Genome Project Consortium, we performed a high resolution transcriptome analysis of all emergent γδ thymocyte subsets segregated based on TCRγ/δ chain usage and maturation state in the thymus. Our data indicate the existence of three separate subtypes of γδ T cells in the thymus. The profiles of the emergent immature γδ T cell subsets are already embedded with unique gene programs directing subset-specific effector function, indicating that γδ T cell effector function is molecularly programmed in the thymus prior to, or concurrent with, TCR expression.


A review of recent BABAR results on exclusive B {yields} ({rho}/{Omega}){gamma}, B {yields} {pi}l{sup +}l{sup -} and B {yields} K(*) l{sup +}l{sup -} decays is presented. It was found that {bar {Beta}}[B {yields} ({rho}/{omega}){gamma}] = (1.01 {+-} 0.21 {+-} 0.08) x 10{sup -6}, {bar {Beta}}[B{sup +} {yields} {pi}l{sup +}l{sup -}] < 7.9 x 10{sup -8} at 90% C.L., {bar {Beta}}[B {yields} Kl{sup +}l{sup -}] = (0.84 {+-} 0.07 {+-} 0.02) x 10{sup -6} and {bar {Beta}}[B {yields} K*l{sup +}l{sup -}] = (0.78{sub -0.17}{sup +0.19} {+-} 0.11) x 10{sup -6}. it was also found that different asymmetry measurements are consistent with Standard Model expectations. Based on these results an independent estimate of the |V{sub td}/V{sub ts}| matrix element of the CKM matrix is derived to be |V{sub td}/V{sub ts}| = 0.171{sub -0.021-0.014}{sup +0.018+0.017}. A first evidence of B{sup +} {yields} {rho}{sup +}{gamma} decays was found and last year's observation of B{sup 0} {yields} {rho}{sup 0}{gamma} was confirmed.


Media and political commentators argued that both Prime Minister John Howard and Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd took a 'small target' approach in the 2007 federal election rather than address longterm issues or outline a broad vision for Australia's future. This article undertakes a comparative analysis of the spoken language of these two political leaders during the formal campaign. It argues that, despite the apparent focus on short-term or 'small target' issues, Australia's political leaders invoked broader themes of national identity and belonging both implicitly and explicitly in their campaign communications. Presenting alternative images of 'working families' and the 'opportunity society', each invited voters to see themselves reflected in his party's version of 'Australianness' - and to vote accordingly.


Recently, a new era of networking has emerged and has introduced dramatic and rapid changes to the infrastructure of high-speed large-scale networks. The rapid growth witnessed recently in network technology, infrastructure, and services offered has created new challenges for telecommunication networks.
The design of high-speed networks involves a complex decision-making process about the type of switching mode, the switches position and their configuration, the link topology and sizing, the routing mechanisms, and the capacity assignment. An efficient technique is thus required to tackle this delicate and very important problem. Computational intelligence techniques based on tools of fuzzy logic, artificial neural networks, and evolutionary algorithms, have recently become among the state of the art techniques in the domain of artificial intelligence and expert systems design. They have attracted much interest in the last few years given their high potential in dealing effectively with large structural and parametric uncertainties of complex systems. The appropriate integrations of these tools can make them very powerful and highly efficient when applied to ill-defined systems, characterized by complex modeling and unpredicted behavior. In recent years a novel integration scheme involving genetic algorithms and competitive learning has led to a new paradigm: population-based incremental learning (PBIL). PBIL is an algorithm that integrates in a very efficient manner the features of genetic algorithms and those of competitive learning.
The main thrust of this research work is on developing a set of intelligent algorithms with main task of tackling the complex issues of Quality of Service Multicast Routing (QoSMCR). In today's Internet and wide area networks, QoS multicast routing becomes of vital importance. This is due to the fact that the Internet is rapidly becoming the main carrier of new multimedia applications and it is expected to play a significant role in the future deployment of these applications. The traffic generated by such applications is characterized by new requirements and performance measurements. Multimedia applications are usually resource intensive, have stringent quality of service requirements, and in many cases involve large multicast groups. Any multicast routing algorithm must satisfy these requirements. PBIL QoSMCR based algorithm is shown here to be an excellent candidate to tackle these issues effectively in terms of the cost and performance.


Last few decades have seen a rapid increase in the fabrication and characterization of Al alloys for automobiles, heat exchangers and aerospace industries. Aluminium alloys are popular because of their high specific strength, light weight, excellent wear and high oxidation resistance. The development of aluminium alloys in these applications makes their study and research of utmost importance. Brazing is applied to the aluminium alloys for joining various aluminium parts together in most of the industrial applications. Various parameters affect the joining process of these aluminium alloys. In this article, various types of processing parameters have been discussed, and special attention has been given to the category of aluminium brazing alloys. The article reviews on the various parameters that affect the brazing property in various scientific and technological applications.


University, China) Abstract: The verb-object construction in oracle bone inscriptions is found primarily verb-object, but there is also the form of object-verb. With a mark, an object precedes its verb for the purpose of emphasis. Without a mark, the fact that an object precedes its verb is due to a relatively low level of syntactic modeling in the primitive language. The objects in oracle inscriptions having the largest scale aren't the objects acted by object arguments (O o ), but additive objects (O a ), which is the typical feature of object in this time. However, the object arguments had replaced the typical status of additive arguments in objects in Xizhou Chinese. The word order of double-object construction in Xizhou Chinese and Jinwen Shangshu still has the trace of a relatively low syntactic


Newborn infants have an increased susceptibility to serious infections. Neutrophil granulocytes play an important role in the defence against infections. We have studied the expression of the receptors for phagocytosis and adhesion (CD11 b, CD16, CD18, CD32, CD35 and Leu8) on neutrophil granulocytes from newborn infants and compared with results found in adults.Subjects and methods: Blood samples were taken from 18 term newborn infants (cord; blood) and 30 healthy adults. The granulocytes were fixed with formaldehyde and incubated with monoclonal antibodies against each receptor. The cells were then analyzed by flow cytometry (Epics Profil II).Results: For CD11b, CD16, CD18, CD32, and Leu8, there was no significant difference in receptor expression between granulocytes from newborns and those from adults. There was a trend towards increased expression of the CD35 receptor (p=O,068), and the expression of CD16 was significantly decreased (p=0,046) on granulocytes from newborns.Conclusion: With exception for a tendency of an increased expression of the complement receptor CD35 and a decreased expression of the Fc-receptor CD16, no significant differences were found between newborn infants and adults.


Graphical documentation is often characterized as an effective aid in program understanding. However, it is an open question exactly which types of graphical documentation are most suitable for which types of program understanding tasks (and in which specific usage contexts). The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is the de facto standard for modeling modern software applications. This paper describes an experiment to assess the qualitative efficacy of UML diagrams in aiding program understanding. The experiment had participants analyze a series of UML diagrams and answer a detailed questionnaire concerning a hypothetical software system. Results from the experiment suggest that the UML's efficacy in support of program understanding is limited by factors such as ill-defined syntax and semantics, spatial layout, and domain knowledge.


Simulation and visualization on aeolian sand movement and its interaction with vegetation are a challenging subject. In this work, we proposed a physically and procedurally based modeling and simulation method that can be used to synthesize sandy terrain with vegetation covers. For realizing a real-time simulation process, we implemented the method on the programming graphics processing unit (GPU). We tried to include significant mechanisms of sand transportation into the sand model, such as saltation and creep behaviors, while simplified the vegetation model and wind field model to make the simulation feasible and affordable. As a preliminary study, we conducted several numerical demonstrations on simple scenarios with or without vegetation. The simulation results confirmed that the proposed method is applicable for reaching visually realistic images in comparison with the real images from a desert field.


This paper proposes an alternative option to model a dynamical power system process. The model is based on a matrix polynomial form. The model can be obtained naturally writing the high order differential equations of some components (e.g. transmission line models modeled by sequences of RLC PI circuits in power systems) or some subsystems which compose the whole system. Another strategy would be by conversion of a known power system dynamical state-space representation. This latter was the option adopted in this paper. The conversion process from a model to another is done by carrying out successive Gaussian eliminations (GE) on an augmented frequency dependent matrix constructed from the state-space model. The equivalence of both approaches are evaluated and compared by accomplishing experiments in two dynamical systems. One of them is composed of RLC PI circuits calculated from the discretization process of transmission lines in the frequency domain. The results considering computation of transfer functions taking into account both methodologies demonstrate the equivalence of models.


Within Smart Grid concept the flexible biometric-based module base on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and selective Neural Network is developed. The formation of the selective Neural Network the biometric-based module uses the method which includes three main stages: preliminary processing of the image, face localization and face recognition. Experiments on the Yale face database show that (i) selective Neural Network exhibits promising classification capability for face detection, recognition problems; and (ii) the proposed biometric-based module achieves near real-time face detection, recognition speed and the competitive performance, as compared to some existing subspaces-based methods.


A broad class of CSMA protocols use synchronized contention in which nodes periodically contend at interval s of fixed duration. Both analysis and operation of these protoco ls assume perfect clock synchronization. However, in practice, clocks are not perfectly synchronized and drifts can vary widely, depending on the synchronization mechanism used in the networ k. We introduce an analytical model that quantifies the interplay of clock drifts with key performance factors such as content ion window size, carrier sense, and usage of guard time. Utilizi ng this model, we investigate the isolated and combined impact of th ese factors to per-flow throughput and fairness properties in both single-hop and multi-hop networks. Our model reveals condi t ons on protocol parameters under which the throughput of certain flows can exponentially decrease with clock drift; while at t he same time, it enables solutions that can offset such problem s in a predictable manner.


Abstract This research compares the relative effectiveness of imported and indigenous measures of personality perception for Hong Kong Chinese. The first study reports on the extraction of six factors of self-perception using bipolar, adjective rating scales from the U.S.A. tapping the Big Five (Digman, 1990), and Openness to Experience (McCrae & Costa, 1985; 1987). The second study reports on the extraction of six factors of self-perception derived from scales developed indigenously by Chinese psychologists. In the third study, the overlap of the imported and the indigenous dimensions is examined, and their relative power in explaining various criterion measures is assessed. The imported factors adequately explained all but one of the indigenous factors, although in complex combinations. Neither scale was better than the other in predicting the criterion variables. Imported measures may cut the phenomenal world differently from indigenous measures, but still enable scientists to predict behaviours just a...


The development of lithium (Li) metal anodes Li metal batteries faces huge challenges such as uncontrolled Li dendrite growth and large volume change during Li plating/stripping, resulting in severe capacity decay and high safety hazards. A 3D porous copper (Cu) current collector as a host for Li deposition can effectively settle these problems. However, constructing a uniform and compact 3D porous Cu structure is still an enormous challenge. Herein, an electrochemical etching method for Cu–Zinc (Zn) alloy is reported to precisely engrave a 3D Cu structure with uniform, smooth, and compact porous network. Such a continuous structure endows 3D Cu excellent mechanical properties and high electrical conductivity. The uniform and smooth pores with a large internal surface area ensures well dispersed current density for homogeneous Li metal deposition and accommodation. A smooth and stable solid electrolyte interphase is formed and meanwhile Li dendrites and dead Li are effectively suppressed. The Li metal anode conceived 3D Cu current collector can stably cycle for 400 h under an Li plating/stripping capacity of 1 mA h cm−2 and a current density of 1 mA cm−2. The Li@3D Cu||LiFePO4 full cells present excellent cycling and rate performances. The electrochemical dealloying is a robust method to construct 3D Cu current collectors for dendrite‐free Li metal anodes.


Trace gases in the middle atmosphere are subject to chemical transformations as well as to transport. A study of these processes occurring simultaneously in the atmosphere is performed using a three–dimensional hemispheric model based on the primitive equations to which a chemical scheme is added. The model results exhibit the gross features seen in the real atmosphere during a simulated wave number 1 warming, including the transport of chemically active trace species such as ozone, nitric acid, and nitrogen oxides. The model simulation suggests that the polar vortex behaves as a material entity during the planetary wave disturbance. At the same time, poleward transport is accomplished through tongues of tracers originating in the subtropics. Finally, scale interaction leads to mixing into even smaller scales, flattening gradients of tracer mixing ratios at mid-latitudes, while steepening them at the edge of the vortex. The relative influences of chemistry and dynamics on the distribution of these gases are investigated. The effect of nonlinearity on the transport is addressed.


Indian biodiversity is concentrated in the wet zone, which is disjunctly distributed in the north‐east and in the peninsular Western and Eastern Ghats. The Eastern Ghats region is smaller and less well explored biologically and the affinities and origins of its biota poorly understood. Our aim was to assess whether divergence between east and west lineages might have been caused by fragmentation of the wet zone during Pleistocene climatic fluctuations, by Late Miocene wet‐zone contraction or by more ancient events. We present the first dated phylogenetic test of these alternatives by inferring relationships and dating divergences within a wet‐zone‐restricted lineage endemic to the Eastern and Western Ghats.


The prognostic value of the tumor burden characterized by the metabolic tumor volume (MTV) remains under investigation in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) and MTV according to metabolic volume threshold as measured by positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT), and other clinical factors, in patients with NPC.


The amount of interest in asteroids, particularly near-Earth asteroids, has been slowly increasing the last few years. Early on, it was the fear of the potential hazards of an asteroid impact (which still remains); now, science and exploration are driving the motivation for detecting asteroids. By incorporating a process that attempts to remove stars from images, known as difference image analysis, into the shift and stack method for finding moving objects, an algorithm that searches for asteroids in series of images was created. When tested on previously discovered asteroids, the algorithm was able to detect 73% (104 out of 142) of the asteroids, with a false positive occurring in roughly one in six runs. Two of the test asteroids found by the algorithm were not found using a different shift and stack technique. Almost all of the asteroids that the algorithm could not detect were either slow moving, faint or both. The detection capability of the algorithm can easily be improved to be more successful at detecting slow and/or faint asteroids. This can be achieved by using a better method for masking the star residuals or by increasing the time between successive images when searching for asteroids with velocities of 2.4′′/min or less. A better mask would also decrease the likelihood of a false positive and could increase the chance of an asteroid in a crowded field being detected. These improvements, if made, could give this method an advantage over methods currently in asteroid detected.


The focus of this research is to examine the accommodation of Islamic custom and law, especially in determining the beginning and end of the month of Ramadan in indigenous Papuan Muslim communities in West Papua. This determination method is known as the traditional method, which is considered the most accurate in determining the beginning of the month of Ramadan. The community also maintains this method even though it often differs from the government's determination. The analytical method used in this research is phenomenology by looking at people's behaviour as text that can be interpreted and given meaning. The data used as the basis for the analysis of this study were obtained from observations, interviews, and documentation. Observations focused on indigenous peoples' traditions in determining the beginning and end of non-Ramadan. Interviews were conducted with 12 informants of syarak judges (Imam, khatib, muazzin, and marbot) who have knowledge and actors in the traditional method. The study results show that the indigenous people have been practising determining the beginning and end of the month of Ramadan for a long time, carried out by syarak judges consisting of imams, khatib, muazzin, and marbot. They are figures who are considered capable of knowing when the month of Ramadan will arrive. As for the number of days of Ramadan, it must be 30 days, so since the first day is set, it will be counted up to the 30th day. The number of days cannot be less and cannot be more. The limitation of this research lies in the limited time in the research process because it was carried out when there was an outbreak of the Corona Virus Disease 19.


Three components of normal stresses in a solution of rodlike macromolecules are calculated on the basis of the general theory of irreversible processes of macromolecular solutions developed by Kirkwood. The results are expressed in expansion series of even powers of the rate of shear and are explicitly given to their fourth powers.When the hydrodynamic interaction is not taken into account, two components of the normal stresses perpendicular to the direction of flow identically vanish, while, by the introduction of this interaction, they appear. The action of normal stresses is still mainly ``pull'' in the direction of flow as in the free‐draining case.


The safe use of drugs for pediatric patients is based upon good conditions of administration, in order to ensure accuracy and reproducibility of the dose received. But dosage adjustment often needs also a transformation of the galenic form, and that involves many risks or error. Some solutions are proposed in order to standardize the methods of drug adjustment for pediatric use.


The history of creativity research reveals extensive studies of the members of occupational groups noted for creative productivity. Much less attention has been paid to performing artists for whom interpretive skill rather than strictly original output constitutes the core of their professional activity. The similarities and differences between athletes and performing artists are considered, with special attention given to the distinctive memory requirements of the performing arts. A review of relevant personality research in the field points to uncertainty as to whether particular personality traits are antecedents or consequents of participation in the performing arts. Much weight is assigned to early socialization experience and motivational patterns that influence career choice and sustained commitment. The article concludes with a generic working model of the life span that considers intrinsic and extrinsic determinants contributing to eventual failure or success in this highly competitive domain.


The lifter DC digital electrical control system is the present advanced lifter control system in our country.This kind of system has the advantages such as good speed-regulation character,safety,reliability,saving energy,etc.As for this kind of system,the distance and speed control is its core control function.This article takes an example of a lifter electrical control system in Pakistan mine to analyse its distance and speed control principle,and its real effect.


A survey of recent literature indicates a need for a paradigm shift in the study of photographic images. Most of the literature does not call into question the opposition still/moving, but investigates instead the relation of still and moving images reduced to their dominant forms, photography and film. Still Moving, edited by Karen Beckman and Jean Ma, theorises the trajectory laid out by contemporary artistic practices and includes texts by contemporary artists. This, however, comes at the price of omitting (except for the contribution byRaymond Bellour and George Baker) the historical dimension of the question. Stop Motion, Fragmentation of Time: Exploring the Roots ofModernVisual Culture, edited by François Albera, Marta Braun and Andre Gaudreault, on the contrary, focuses only on the historical 'contact zone' between photography, chrono-photography and early film. Stillness and Time. Photography and the Moving Image, edited by David Green, privileges the perspective of photography, but (except for the contribution by Mary Ann Doane) ignores contemporary digital forms of moving stills. The forthcoming publication Fixe/anime , croisements de la photographie et du cinema au XXme siècle, edited by Laurent Guido and Olivier Lugon, covers a wide range of aspects such as early photo-animations, the photographic book and the illustrated press, but limits contemporary media to the analogue modalities of the slide show, the film still and the photograph sequence. In November 2009, I organized, together with Friedrich Tietjen, a conference entitled Moving Stills – Images in Motion. The aim of that conference, which explored pre-photographic, filmic and digital aspects of the moving still, was twofold: first, to bridge the gap between media history and theory; and second, to embrace both the historical and the contemporary forms of moving stills. Moving stills was also the name to be given to this collection of papers. In the end, however, I opted for the more general title 'Photography and Movement'. But the term moving still – with its emphasis on the second part of the term – illustrates the guiding principle of both the conference and of the present themed issue. Exploring the complex relationship between stillness andmotion within photographic images (and not the relation of still and moving images which subscribes to a mutually exclusive distinction), means to consider photography not as a time-less but as a time-based medium. It means to question photographic temporality in all its aspects: the image and its apparatus, the photographer and the observer, who both dynamically apprehend the image andmobilise, through peripatetic vision, a potentially moving image. This issue proposes a specific journey through the history of photography: starting with the pre-filmic loops of Eadweard Muybridge's Zoopraxiscope and Ottomar Anschütz's Schnellseher; proceeding through the dynamic apprehension of Patrick Clancy's photoscroll 365/360 as a spatial unfolding of snapshots assembled into disjointed image sequences, and the multiplex hologram, which again displays no coherent cinematic narrative but so-called 'sequence images'; to the different strategies of animation in contemporary photography ranging from virtual pans and scrolls over digital photomontages (Ken Burns effect) to 'primitive' stop motion and animation. 1 – Still Moving. Between Cinema and Photography, ed. Karen Beckmann and Jean Ma, Durham, NC: Duke University Press 2008.


Plasmonic chiral nanostructures provide a novel route for extraordinary optical properties, such as light polarization control and enhancing chiroptical signals of molecules. The symmetry of chiral nanostructures, such as helices, gyroids, and irregular tetrahedrons, is strongly correlated to chiroptical responses; therefore, it is an important design parameter. In a previous study, a synthetic strategy is demonstrated for 432‐symmetric chiral gold nanoparticles by breaking the mirror symmetry of a 4/m 3¯$\overline 3 $ 2/m‐symmetric crystal structure on a high‐index surface. Herein, the aim is to extend the chiral symmetry of gold nanoparticles and their chiroptical responses. The symmetry of gold nanoparticles can be modulated by inducing single or multiple twin planes in seed nanoparticles. The 32‐symmetric chiral gold nanoplates, referred to as 32 helicoids, are successfully synthesized using 3 2/m‐symmetric triangular and hexagonal plates. The growth mechanism of the 32 helicoids, which results in two different characteristic morphologies, is analyzed. The 32 helicoids are significantly important owing to their optical activity over a wide range from the visible to the near‐infrared region. This investigation provides an insight that symmetry control of the nanomorphology can represent an important research direction in chiral plasmonic applications.


The article reveals the specific features and functions of the supporting units in the literary text on the example of Eshqobil Shukur's poems. The paper also discusses the theoretical basis for the expression of units of independent meaning in the text only grammatical meaning. The focus is on the pragmatic nature of the supporting units. The peculiarities of the use of auxiliary units in the poetic text are discussed. Auxiliaries, like auxiliary verbs, are in a privative conflict in the lexical-level group of independent words and auxiliary words under the sign of "spiritual dependence."


This paper analyzes the theory of reverse engineering methods, combining with digital modeling technology and virtual prototype technology, a model of product innovation design is established and the evaluation index is introduced based on the theory of reverse engineering. The design defects of a certain imported down-the-hole drill(DTH drilling rig) is analyzed. According to the process of innovation design model, innovative design of the DTH drilling rig is done and the strength of the improved structure is verified. The improved 3D model of DTH drilling rig is built by Pro/E, and the kinematics simulation analysis about key components of the new products is carried out. There is no interference phenomenon in the simulation results analysis, which verifies the rationality of the model establishment.


Summary form only given.The DLPreg Products Digital Mirror Device (DMD) is a binary spatial light modulator operated typically at visible and near IR wavelengths. We have studied the optical properties of DMDs with coherent and incoherent light sources using a myriad of methods including scatterometry (diffractometry) and Doppler vibrometry to develop models for the DMDs optical performance. This talk will review these studies and applications of the DMD to light processing. A brief history of the invention and refinement of the DMD will also be described.


The colorimetric determination of aluminum by means of Eriochrome Cy-anine R after the separation of interfering ions with Zerolite FF(chloride form)is further examined.Procedures for the determination of aluminum in alloy steels,copper-aluminum alloys and iron ore are devised.The analyses may be accompli-shed in a short time;for aluminum in alloy steels or in copper-aluminum alloys,it takes half an hour,and for aluminum in iron ore,an hour.


The Ahlfors map is a conformal mapping function that maps a multiply connected region onto a unit disk. It can be written in terms of the Szegö kernel and the Garabedian kernel. In general, a zero of the Ahlfors map can be freely prescribed in a multiply connected region. The remaining zeros are the zeros of the Szegö kernel. For an annulus region, it is known that the second zero of the Ahlfors map can be computed analytically based on the series representation of the Szegö kernel. This paper presents another analytical method for finding the second zero of the Ahlfors map for an annulus region without using the series approach but using a boundary integral equation and knowledge of intersection points.


Objective:To detect the development of fetal cerebellar vermis with three-dimensional ultrasound virtual organ computer-aided analysis (VOCAL) technique,and to explore it′s reliability.To establish a normal growth chart of fetal cerebellar,and to find abnormality.Methods:476 normal fetuses at 18~35 gestation weeks were examined with trans-abdominal two-dimensional ultrasound (TAS) and trans-abdominal three-dimensional sonography (3D US),and the success rate of the mid-sagittal plane of the cerebellar vermis in different ways was compared.Normal growth charts of the fetal cerebellar vermis were established by measuring its area on the mid-sigittal plane and volume by VOCAL.Results:Fetal cerebellar vermis volume was positively correlated with gestational age(r=0.86,P0.05).8 cases of abnormality were found.Seven cases were absence of cerebellar vermis (5 cases were Dandy-walker syndrome,and two cases were wide forebrain with multiple malformations),and one case was cerebellar hypoplasia.The success rate in showing the mid-sagittal plane of the vermis with TAS and 3D US were 75% and 100%,respectively.There was significant difference between 3D US and TAS ( P0.01).Conclusions:Three-dimensional ultrasound virtual organ computer-aided analysis (VOCAL) technique is a valuable way in detecting the development of the fetal cerebellar vermis during the middle and late pregnancy.Knowledge of normal vermian appearance may help identify developmental anomalies and enable accurate prenatal counseling,which provides a new reliable quantitative indicator to diagnose central nervous system-related diseases of cerebellar vermis abnormalities.


The Figure shows a head-clamp meeting these requirements which was made for me by Down Bros. It is mounted on a frame secured by screw-clamps to each corner of the head of the operating table. The patient's head rests within an arc, the occiput and temporal fossae make contact with thick sorbo-sponge pads. A screw-clamp secures the head within this arc. The arc is, attached to the frame and may be rotated by the screw with its shaft placed obliquely. By tuining this, screw the arc holding the head may be conveniently rotated so as to incline the head to one side or the other. Such a manoeuvre is of value in lateral orbitotomy (Krdnlein's operation), and in dacryocystorhinostomy. Slight elevation of the head is helpful in reducing the amount of oozing during anaesthesia.


Modern views on the role of different hardware solutions for the implementation of biofeedback (BFB) in the preparation of highly skilled athletes are described. These methods are based on the presentation of information about the state of human organs and systems in an accessible and understandable form. Based on this information the person is able to include the self-regulatory mechanisms and purposefully use backup functionality of the body to improve its functions. The advances in microelectronics and neurophysiology in the basic research principles and mechanisms of the human brain are shown. The new and unique methods of election and natural workout different parts of the central, autonomic and peripheral nervous system of elite athletes are described.


Traffic prediction helps mitigate the impact of traffic congestion. The accuracy of traffic predictions depends on the availability of the data used for the prediction as well as the prediction model. Data from fixed traffic detectors is only available at certain locations. On the other hand, connected vehicles can provide Floating Car Data (FCD) at any location and time. However, FCD may not be available at all vehicles, and this can impact predictions since the FCD may not reflect the state of all traffic. This impact is larger when predicting traffic density or flow, and existing studies generally use FCD to predict traffic speed or travel time only. This study proposes a traffic prediction model that can accurately predict the three fundamental traffic variables (traffic density, flow, and speed) using FCD and an error recurrent convolutional neural network that takes as input the three variables. These are estimated using FCD and data from induction loops. These estimates depend on the penetration rate of FCD, so we propose a method to locally and dynamically estimate this penetration rate. This method improves the estimation of the traffic variables, and hence their prediction. The proposed model is used to analyze the impact of the FCD penetration rate on the prediction of the traffic variables. We show how our proposal reduces the amount of FCD needed to improve the prediction obtained with data from traffic detectors. We show that our proposal only requires FCD from 4% of the vehicles to improve the prediction accuracy achieved with traffic detectors. Augmenting this percentage increases the accuracy of our model for the three traffic variables. However, we also show that our prediction model reduces the FCD sample size (or FCD penetration rate) needed to achieve prediction accuracy levels close to that obtained if all vehicles provided FCD.


Objective:To determine and compare dynamic changes of tetramethylpyrazine hydrochloride in aqueous humor,vitreous and retinal tissue of rabbit eye after a single dose intraperitoneal injection.Methods:Fourty-four rabbits were randomly divided into 11 groups.Tetramethylpyrazine hydrochloride(80 mg·kg~(-1))was given by in- traperitoneal injection,After the administration the aqueous humor,vitreous and retinal tissue were harvested at vari- ous time and the concentration of tetramethylpyrazine hydrochloride was determined by RP-HPLC.The mobile phase consisted of methanol-water(62:38)at a flow rate of 0.9 mL·min~(-1).A Diamonsil C_(18)(250 mm×4.6 mm,5 μm)Stainless steel column was adopted.The UV detective wavelength was set at 280 nm.Results:The con- centration-time data of tetramethylpyrazine hydrochloride in aqueous humor,vitreous and retinal tissue were in a- greement on the two-compartment open model.The pharmacokinetic parameters were obtained as follows:respec- tively C_(max)=13.73,9.23 μg·mL~(-1)and 1.63 μg·mg~(-1);t_(max)=0.28,0.43 and 0.32 h.t_(1/2α)=0.42,0.65 and 0.35 h;t_(1/2β)=3.97,1.71 and 2.50 h;CL=1.34,1.07 L·h~(-1)and 7.9 g·h~(-1).The practical data of the concen- tration of tetramethylpyrazine in aqueous humor,vitreous and retinal tissue detected were 11.91,7.69 μg·mL~(-1) and 1.35 μg·mg~(-1)at 15 min respectively and the maximum were 18.71,12.40 μg·mL~(-1)and 2.59 μg·mg~(-1) at 30 min.Then the concentration of tetramethylpyrazine in aqueous humor,vitreous and retinal tissue was gradually decreased and declined to a lower point.(0.06 μg·mL~(-1)and 0.06μg·mg~(-1))in the aqueous humor and retinal tissue after 5 h.The drop of concentration of tetramethylpyrazine was slower in the vitreous.It was 0.14 μg·mL~(-1) at 8 h and 0.02 μg·mL~(-1)at 12 h.Conclusion:The tetramethylpyrazine can penetrate blood-aqueous humor bar- tiers and blood-retina barriers and enters aqueous humor,vitreous and retinal tissue.The clearance of the com- pound in aqueous humor and retinal tissue is fast with half-life,while the clearance is slower in vitreous and the half-life is longer.


Urban traffic flow prediction is a critical problem in the intelligent transportation system, and it's very challenging due to the complicated spatial-temporal dependency and essential uncertainty brought about by the complex road network and dynamic traffic conditions. However, existing methods either rely too much on prior knowledge or the data itself when modeling spatial-temporal dependency and few researchers consider them in combination. In this paper, a new spatial-temporal network for traffic flow prediction, which can comprehensively capture the complex spatial and temporal dependency based on prior knowledge and data-driven, is proposed. In particular, in the perspective of local and global spatial dependency in road networks, we construct a dynamic weighted graph by finding the spatial and semantic neighborhoods of road nodes based on road networks and the similarities between traffic data on different roads. Besides, the temporal trend module and implicit temporal dependency module are combined to capture the temporal transitivity of traffic flow and implicit dependencies between time point pairs. The experiment results of our proposed model outperform the state-of-the-art baselines.


CFRP sheets are extensively used to strengthen defected steel members due to the advantages
of high strength and light weight of CFRP. Among different types of CFRP sheets, high modulus sheets
showed better performance in extending the fatigue life of defected steel elements. It was found that fibre
breakage was the main failure mode for specimens reinforced with high modulus CFRP sheets comparing to
debonding failure in the interface between CFRP and steel for specimens repaired with normal modulus
CFRP. It is generally believed that failure should occur within the adhesive layer in the form of cohesion failure
so that the FRP material can be better utilised. In this study, CFRP sheets with high and normal modulus
were applied in a sandwich layered manner. Fatigue tests were conducted with fatigue life being compared
with those obtained from previous tests. Results showed that failure happened consistently in the interface of
steel and epoxy resin with a fatigue life of around 80% of that strengthened with high modulus CFRP sheets
only.


Block Mian 120 in Bamianhe Oilfield was located in the southern slope of Dongying Depression. Its heterogeneity was strong because of its poor compaction and diagenesis. In order to research the relationship between reservoir heterogeneity and accumulation of oil and gas to guide the next exploration and development of the field, reservoir heterogeneity was studied and physical modeling experimentation methods were used to research the influence of heterogeneity on the accumulation of oil and gas. The result reveals that reservoir heterogeneity has a great influence on oil-bearing capacity. The higher difference of permeability is, the poorer oil-bearing capacity of sand-body is; the lower difference of permeability is, the better oil-bearing capacity of sand-body is.


Background/Aims- Osteoarthritis is an inflammatory & degenerative disorder of joints. The exact pro-oxidant & antioxidant status is not clear in osteoarthritis. The aim of this study was to estimate levels of Malondialdehyde (the marker of lipid Peroxidation) & Reduced Glutathione (Non- enzymatic antioxidant marker) in serum of osteoarthritis patients & compare them with the levels in normal healthy controls. MATERIAL & METHODS: A study was performed at the Department of biochemistry at Pd. Dr. D.Y. Patil medical college, Pimpri, Pune-18(M.S.) In 30 patients of osteoarthritis serum levels of Non enzymatic Antioxidant & lipid Peroxidation marker were estimated by spectrophotometry. Thirty healthy controls were also included in the study & serum levels of same parameter also measured in them also. STASTICAL ANALYSIS: It was performed by using the student unpaired t- test & correlation between variables was studied by using the Pearson's correlation coefficient tests RESULT: Serum level of Reduced Glutathione was significantly lower in the patients than in the controls. (P<0.05). The serum Lipid Peroxidation marker (MDA) level was significantly increased in the patients than in the controls (P<0.05) CONCLUSION: The increased oxidative stress in terms of lipid Peroxidation marker (MDA) in the osteoarthritis patients is evidenced by decreased serum levels of non-enzymatic (GSH) antioxidant.


Abstract : An experimental and analytical investigation of boattail projectile drag reduction was performed. The experiments were conducted at Mach 6.3, and at a free stream Reynolds number based on the cylinder diameter Re = 3.7 million. Heat transfer measurements were also performed, and the results indicate that the flow field was predominently laminar upstream of the boattail. The results of the analysis indicate that inviscid codes may be used to provide guidelines for possible three-dimensional geometric configurations for the reduction in the drag. The discrepancies between experimental results and theoretical predictions are significant towards the end. Both the experimental and theoretical results indicate that the triangular boattail yields the largest drag reduction. Since the predominant drag of the boattail is the base drag, it is essential for future research that accurate measurements be performed in the base region of the model in order to have a better comparison between the various boattail configurations.


This research aims to know the influence of Transformational Leadership Style, Job Stress, and Work Environment on the Job Satisfaction case study on Shift production employees in PT. Prima Cahaya Indobeverage, Semarang. Data analysis technique using multiple regression. The result of this research have shown that, Tranformational Leadership Style, and Work Environment also positive significantly influence on the job satisfaction. Another indication, Job Stress variable have negative influence and not significantly on the Job Satisfaction. The Transformational Leadership Style, Job Stress, and Work Environment also have influence on the Job Satisfaction by simultanly.


The predominantly on NK cells and CD8+ T cells expressed activating receptor NKG2D binds several structurally diverse ligands, which are poorly expressed on "normal" resting cells, but can become upregulated on tumors and otherwise stressed or infected cells. Until now, only similar redundant stimulatory effects have been described for all NKG2D ligands. With this thesis work we show for the first time that distinct NKG2D ligands (H60 and MICA-8) can also act as strong suppressors on the proliferation of CD8+ and CD4+ T cells independently of NKG2D itself. The inhibition leads to a reversible cell cycle arrest, suggesting a physiologically relevant regulatory function. Our novel findings provide new explanations, how the expression of distinct NKG2D ligands could become a selective advantage for tumor cells.


Based on comprehensive analysis of the right of claim for dividing co-ownership by shares,this thesis studies relevant theoretic issues and practice issues of the right in detail.These issues include the nature of the right of claim for dividing co-ownership,the nature of dividing agreement,interaction between dividing agreement and dividing by litigation,the relationship between the right of claim and statute of limitation under the dividing agreement,the auction and selling of dividing methods adopted in dividing litigation,exercising the right of claim for dividing co-ownership by subrogation,restriction on the right by movable property and restrictive registrations,the legal consequence of excising the right,namely bringing it into effect,establishing the system of the right to mortgage in legislation,and the legal consequence of excising the usufructuary right or the real right for security and so on.


The most difficult area in starting medical research is probably getting the right research question. Where can we get a good question? A few important steps in forming a research questioni is discussed in this article.


Humic acids (HA) were extracted from young Mukah coal using alkaline extraction (NaOH and KOH solution). The humic acids precipitates were separated by centrifugation from its acidified solution. Samples were characterized by the yield, moisture content, ash content, total acidity, -COOH group, -OH group, nitrogen content and E./E6 ratio. The functional groups were identified by FTIR spectroscopy. The properties of the coal-derived humic acids were compared with the properties of humic acids extracted from the nitrated sample which produce through regenerated process.


on a hill-side to the west of 'Artilf, and during the afternoon of Friday, May 8th, 1885, I visited the place with Baron von Ustinoff. Our delight at discovering at the spot indicated a battered and weather-worn but otherwise well-preserved ?'oclc-altar with steps may be imagined. It has on the top hollows connected by grooves like Mr. Schick's Marmitah stone. The top is at present from four to five feet above


spatial analysis to urban research. The SACS system is described, sample data output is provided, the city directory development process is described, the cost of developing a directory for Seattle is presented, and differences between the Census and SACS are described. We are impressed by the utility of this method of coding street addresses, and feel that it might be a useful approach in handling this type of data in an urban system simulation.


Over the recent years automated observation systems that work continuously and allow obtaining information at any time have been widely implemented. Such systems include public monitoring systems in order to receive more complete information about the quality characteristics of the air basin over Ukraine. Examples of public monitoring organizations include SaveEcoBot, EcoCity, SaveDnipro.
The information presented on the websites of the public monitoring system contains large amount of data that are difficult to process and analyze. In order to optimize data processing, a program called PublicMonitoringParser was developed. It transforms large volumes of data presented on the Internet resource SaveEcoBot.com into compact, convenient, small files containing average monthly concentrations of pollutants and indicators of meteorological parameters. The program is written using the C# programming language and the .NET platform. The structure of the program and the principles of its operation are presented in this research.
According to the data of the website SavEecoBot.com the developed program was applied for assessment of the air basin state of Lviv Region in 2021. In general, for most substances, monitoring data were available only at the station in the city of Lviv at the following address: 13 Plastova Str. Monitoring of PM2.5 and PM10 content was carried out across the whole region.
It was detected that the content of NO2, SO2, NH3 exceeded the limit value. Significant excesses were also noted for the NH3 content (up to 9 – 16 MPC). It was established that the location of the public monitoring station was surrounded by industrial buildings, numerous transport industry enterprises, an oil depot for OKKO gas stations and city sewage treatment facilities. A comparison of the data obtained at stationary and automated points that monitor individual pollutants showed that the results are comparable only for the NO2 content.
Data from automated observation points complement the network of stationary points. Currently, the existing stationary network of atmospheric pollution monitoring across most regions of Ukraine is outdated and needs to be re-equipped. In general, it is necessary to further implement automated systems that are able to characterize the state of the air basin across individual populated places in a more complete and detailed manner.


Linear and nonlinear relations of time independent plasticity are compared and their local response for varying stress or strain increment orientation is studied. The applicability of incremental relations to stability and post-critical response analysis can be assessed from such comparative study. In particular, the endochronic model providing nonlinear incremental relations is considered.


The new paradigm of terrorism is partly a consequence of a sudden development of information technology, which is particularly manifested in the fact that terrorist organisations have recognized the importance mass media has on the accomplishment of their aims. Between media and terrorism there exists a very interactive (symbiotic) relationship, because media industry trends and patterns for media contents production head towards preference of sensation– seeking contents, whereas terrorist organisations can, due to their actions, ensure themselves maximum presence in the media. In so doing, terrorist organizations are constantly trying to manipulate and exploit free media for their own purpose. We might say that it is the mass media itself that provide global reach to terrorism, it influences the way the public perceives terrorism and dangers that arise from it, it influences political decisions used to respond to terrorism, but also the relations formed through national and international politics. However, media does not have to become an instrument of terrorism. Through a thoughtful approach media can, in western liberal countries, turn into a kind of weapon which can then be used as an important device in defeating terrorists, and the positive benefits certainly exceed unfavourable consequences caused by possible irresponsible actions by a part of journalists or media companies.