In the present era, knowing the students' intention towards online learning is become necessary due to the persisting situations of the COVID-19. The current paper explores the teaching of English as a second language among business students through intention towards online learning due to different waves of COVID-19 in Pakistan. The research is conceptualized based on literature. The study used a deductive method that utilizes cross-sectional data. The study employed a random sampling technique to trace the respondents. By using the AMOS, the results of a study underline a positive significant effect of performance expectancy (PE), effort expectancy (EE), social influence (SI), facilitating conditions (FC) and perceived usefulness (PU) on intention towards online learning (ITOL) among the business students. The study's findings would assist policymakers and planners in knowing further about the individuals' intention towards online learning during the different pandemics. The study would also provide valuable insights to comprehend the elements that influence online learning (OL) concerning the teaching of English, who's English is a second language. In the last, results of a study would contribute to the arts, management and psychology's literature to further recognize the intention, English teaching and its connections, particularly in a miserable condition of COVID-19 in a developing country.


In November 2006, the QPILCH Homeless Persons' Legal Clinic (HPLC) and the University of Queensland T.C. Beirne School of Law (UQ Law School) released the findings of their joint research project about the impact of Queensland police move-on powers on homeless people. The final report, Nowhere to Go: the impact of police move-on powers on homeless people in Queensland, made some grim findings about the impact of the move-on laws on homeless people in Brisbane generally, but most significantly, on Brisbane's primary homeless population. This article discusses some of the findings of the report.


Abstract A historic mission of higher education has been to produce citizens, yet traditional measures show that citizenship is declining. Educators are seeking pedagogical methods to increase civic engagement in students. One method that has received much attention is service learning, yet results have been mixed. The link between service learning and civic engagement may emerge, however, when the definition of engagement is expanded. Introduction Often the rhetoric around the benefits of civic commitment development in college students revolves around the need of society to have engaged citizens so that our democracy is strengthened (Westheimer & Kane, 2004). When service learning is the vehicle through which this civic engagement develops, the impact on the individual through such experiential learning student can be deepened. Yet in higher education, little is known about citizenship development through service learning. Much of the research that has been done is mixed in the findings about whether service learning fosters such citizenship (Delli Carpini & Keeter, 2000; Perry & Katula, 2001), and of that research, much of it has been done in primary and secondary educational settings (Battistoni, 1997; Kirlin, 2000). Some of the confusion seems to stem from a lack of consensus about the definition of civic engagement. When the evidence for what counts as civic engagement is focused entirely on behaviors such as campaigning for a favored politician, then researchers (Batttistoni, 1997; Walker, 2000) find that the connection between service learning and this type of civic engagement is weak or nonexistent. Yet there seems to be more than just traditional civic behaviors that define community engagement. A definition of civic engagement that is so focused on one aspect of engagement may obscure a more subtle and fluid continuum of caring about community that is escaping detection when the focus is entirely on such actions. Focus also needs to be brought to the changes in awareness of community that are necessary for an individual to take action. Walker argues that "feeding the hungry does nothing to disrupt or rethink poverty or injustice" (2000, p. 647), yet if a person is not even aware of the levels of poverty in the community then it is unlikely that the person will act to disrupt them. Before one can commit to civic engagement, one must have knowledge of the need for engagement. Perhaps one approach to redefining the role of service learning in civic engagement development lies in broadening the complexity of our definitions of citizenship. Taking this approach, some researchers have begun to categorize citizenship by degrees of community involvement (Allen, 2003; Battistoni, 1997). One recent approach has been developed by Westheimer and Kahne (2004) who presented three profiles of citizenship. The personally responsible citizen "acts responsibly in his or her community by, for example, picking up liter, giving blood, recycling, obeying laws ... contributes to food or clothing drives when asked and volunteers to help those less fortunate" (The Personally Responsible Citizen section, para. 1). The participatory citizen actively participates "in the civic affairs and the social life of the community at the local, state, or national level." While the personally responsible citizen would "contribute cans of food for the homeless, the participatory citizen might organize the food drive" (The Participatory Citizen section, para. 1). Finally, the justice-oriented citizen goes beyond just helping. These citizens "emphasize social justice" and focus on eliminating "root causes of problems." While the participatory citizens are "organizing the food drive and personally responsible citizens are donating food, justice-oriented citizens would be "asking why people are hungry and acting on what they discover" (The Justice-oriented Citizen section, para. 1). Looking at degrees of engagement can change the question from whether civic engagement is fostered through service learning to what type of civic engagement is fostered through service learning? …


The Southwestern Intervention Plan is a project that will allow The District Secretary of Environment of Bogotá to focus the measures of the Air Plan in the localities that have presented the greatest air quality problems in the city, based on the governance between public and private institutions, academia and citizens, who address a discussion around the environmental, sociocultural and economic dimensions that make this the most polluted area of Bogotá.The main objective is to present the operational plans that include local measures for the control and monitoring of sources (mobile and fixed), urban ecosystems (revegetation processes and trees), reduction of emissions of re-suspended material, and the Regional articulation.


An infrared endoscopic system has been developed to investigate thermal spread and collateral damage during energized laparoscopic surgery, the system consists of an infrared endoscope and a thermal camera (3-5 μm) with combined thermal sensitivity of 0.05°C. The system performance was evaluated in live animals with electrosurgical devices to monitor intraoperative thermal changes. During activation periods, the peak temperature of the jaws averaged 100.5 ± 5.8 ℃ with a thermal spread of 3.0 ± 0.9 mm. For laparoscopic dissections of the esophagus-gastric junction with the 10 mm Atlas, the maximum jaw temperature was 105.2 ± 2.1 ℃ with a bigger thermal spread of 11.5 ± 7.2 mm). The study has confirmed that infrared endoscopy is a very useful tool adjunct to conventional endoscopy, which may improve the safety of energized laparoscopic dissections.


The paper examines the macroeconomic structure of SAARC countries, i.e. Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It also explores the possibility of trade expansion among these countries by examining the macro-economic and regional trade link models based on time series data of 28 years. The study finds that there are inter-country differences in production and consumption patterns, investment behaviour, tax and non-tax structures in the SAARC countries. Hence, there is considerable scope for trade expansion among the SAARC countries. The study also confirms that aggregate regional consumption and regional GNP increase significantly with the increase of aggregate regional trade, and the consumption and income elasticities are 1.70 and 1.61 respectively. The study also exhibits that the GNP of Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, with limited exceptions, are significantly increased with the increase of their exports to the region. So these countries would definitely benefit from the regional trade expansion. The same may be true for India if the smuggled trade is prevented or reduced, and true economic factors, keeping aside political conflicts, dominate for regional trade policy.


Abstract:  A nonlinear control strategy with limited control force is applied to the modal control of the multi‐degree‐of‐freedom (MDOF) structure subjected to multiple excitations. For the modal control of the MDOF structure, a new eigenvalue assignment algorithm that modifies the dynamic characteristics of only the specific mode is proposed. For the probabilistic evaluation of the proposed nonlinear modal control, the joint probability density function (PDF) of the equivalent nonlinearly controlled single‐degree‐of‐freedom (SDOF) system is obtained by the solution of the reduced Fokker–Planck equation for the equivalent nonlinear system. To overcome the difficulty in the application of the joint PDF to the MDOF structure controlled by the hybrid mass damper (HMD) system and subjected to multiple excitations, the equivalent damping ratio is proposed. The results of the analysis indicate that the proposed nonlinear modal control strategy is effective for the control of MDOF structures requiring a significantly smaller peak control force than the linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) controller to produce a similar control performance level.


Caudal block is a common regional anesthesia technique in pediatrics with landmark method predominantly being practiced. Ultrasound‐guided technique provides real‐time visualization of the structures and injection while performing caudal block. We performed this meta‐analysis to determine the utility of ultrasound in caudal blocks in children over the landmark‐based technique.


This article is a book review of Rosemary Lyster and Adrian Bradbrook's book Energy Law and the Environment. The article commends Lyster and Bradbrook's publication and concludes that the overwhelming message of the book is that a truly sustainable energy future can only be achieved by promulgation of both regulation and stimulation, and the genuine participation of all interested and affected bodies.


This paper presents a 2DOF (two-degree-of-freedom) H∞ controller based pitch-axis attitude control design approach for a spacecraft. A dynamics model of pitch-axis attitude control system with structured and unstructured uncertainties is analyzed and established. Then the H∞ controller is designed by using the two-degree-of-freedom robust control approach. Because the order of the controller is very high, the Hankel-norm approximation is used to reduce the order of the controller. Finally, Simulations demonstrate that this H∞ controller has better robust stability to influences of disturbance torques and parameter uncertainties.


Given a deterministic difference equation $x_{n+1}= f(x_n)$, we would like to stabilize any point $x^{\ast}\in (0, f(b))$, where $b$ is a unique maximum point of $f$, by introducing proportional feedback (PF) control. We assume that PF control contains either a multiplicative $x_{n+1}= f\left( (\nu + \ell\chi_{n+1})x_n \right)$ or an additive noise $x_{n+1}=f(\lambda x_n) +\ell\chi_{n+1}$. We study conditions under which the solution eventually enters some interval, treated as a stochastic (blurred) equilibrium. In addition, we prove that, for each $\varepsilon>0$, when the noise level $\ell$ is sufficiently small, all solutions eventually belong to the interval $(x^{\ast}-\varepsilon,x^{\ast}+\varepsilon)$.


Network topology design is a multiobjective problem with various design components. The components such as cost, message delay and reliability are important to gain the best performance. Recently, Genetic Algorithms(GAs) have been widely used as an optimization method for real-world problems such as combinatorial optimization, network topology design, and so on. This paper proposed a method of Multi-objective GA for Design of the network topology which is to minimize connection cost and message delay time. A common difficulty in multiobjective optimization is the existence of an objective conflict. We used the prufer number and cluster string for encoding, parato elimination method and niche-formation method for the fitness sharing method, and reformation elitism for the prevention of pre-convergence. From the simulation, the proposed method shows that the better candidates of network architecture can be found.


A horn based loudspeaker system provides control over peak to peak pressure of an acoustic signal across its frequency spectrum. Frequency spectrum matched acoustic energy added to the acoustic signal at diverse points distributed along the horn.


Economic globalization has brought instabilities for developing countries. The multiple and upgrading of community service will help enhance people's sense of recognition and belongings, thus becoming the safety valve of social stability. For modern community service, its function of helping the elderly, employment ,culture and information should be strengthened, and the spirit of voluntary and the development of intermediary organizations should be greatly encouraged.


In magnetically confined plasmas, several improved confinement modes such as H-mode and internal transport barrier have been discovered and discussed from the viewpoint of the influence of the low-order rational surfaces [1,2]. In the previous study of the spontaneous transition in ECH plasmas of a low magnetic shear helical device Heliotron J [3], the enhancement factor of the plasma confinement after the transition has been discussed with regard to the rotational transform at the plasma edge. The control of the toroidal current in the low magnetic shear device is essential for the control of the radial profile of the rotational transform. In Heliotron J, the control of the non-inductive toroidal current has been demonstrated using the neutral beam current drive (NBCD) or the electron cyclotron current drive in conjunction with the bootstrap (BS) current control by changing one of the magnetic Fourier component, bumpiness, which is the mirror ratio along the toroidal direction [4,5]. In the recent NBI discharges of Heliotron J, a spontaneous transition has been observed with a sudden drop of the Hc line-emission intensity and increase in the stored energy. In this study, we present the characteristics of the spontaneous transition and its dependence on the NBI power and the bumpy field component. 2. Experimental Results Heliotron J is the medium sized (R/a = 1.2m/0.17m) experimental device with an L/M = 1/4 helical winding coil, where L and M are the pole number of the helical coil and the helical pitch number of the filed along the toroidal direction, respectively. The confinement field is controlled using the five types of the external coils, the helical coil, two types of the toroidal coils (TA and TB) and two sets of the vertical coils. Two tangentially beamlines (BL2 and BL1) of NBI have been installed in the co- (Co) and counter- (CTR) directions whose maximum power and voltage are 0.7 MW and 30 keV, respectively. Figure 1 show the time evolution of the plasma stored energy, the line averaged electron density, the toroidal current and the Hc intensity in the Co and CTR injected NBI plasmas in the configuration of the edge rotational transform k(a)/2r = 0.54. The initial plasma was produced by the 70GHz 2 nd harmonic electron cyclotron heating (ECH), after that, the


This paper presents an approach for the enhancement of standard switch ASICs with real-time Ethernet functions. Whereas a standard switch ASIC provides sophisticated mechanisms for switching of non real-time frames, an attached FPGA implements cut-through switching of real-time frames. The proposed FPGA architecture supports configuration of port numbers, bandwidth reservation for real-time frames and utilizes flow-control mechanisms of the ASIC in order to keep frame buffer sizes low. Mapping exemplary RTE extensions of PROFINET IRT onto a Xilinx Spartan 6 FPGA demonstrates the capability of providing band-width reservation and cut-through-forwarding of real-time frames. Therefore, the approach benefits from the innovations made by the switch manufacturers, whereas only a small amount of functions has to be mapped onto an FPGA.


Abstract A model of intervention for the improvement of social and emotional wellbeing is outlined. The model is derived from George Kelly's theory of personal constructs, focusing on "constructs of transition" and the use of groundwork games with horses to assist clients make changes in their lives. Common language for the experience of emotion is used to provide clients with a sense of containment while they develop skills to expand their sense of personal agency and interconnectedness. The games played with the horses provide experimental space and relationships, giving the client psychological boundaries of safety until such time that the skills or lessons learned in the game can be used to overcome some adversity in their life.


NH4NO3 used to be the main raw material for producing nitrate-compound fertilizer.In recent years,NH4Cl has been one of the main raw materials for nitrate-compound fertilizer production because of its low price,while NH4Cl could improve the decomposition of NH4NO3,so the explosive analysis is presented here when NH4Cl and other organic materials are used to produce NH4NO3 series compound fertilizer.Safe production could be ensured by controlling the composition of raw materials and avoiding high temperature.


Abstract : The properties of the generalized inverse of an arbitrary incidence matrix are examined in connection with the properties of the corresponding directed graph. (Author)


helps readers conceptually articulate and compare four closely related approaches. This book also distinguishes itself by engaging market-based perspectives into social work or policy intervention approaches. It points to a timely challenge that social work, public policy, nonprofit, and human service professionals need to carefully think through regarding the roles that business and technology can play for serving the needs in our societies. Many examples in the book demonstrate that the markets' reach encompasses various sectors at multiple levels, including organizational, community, and international agents and dynamics. This book naturally expands our perception of "market-based" approaches not only from "corporates and businesses" but also to their interactions with the government, employees, consumers, nonprofits, advocates, and media. The extensive description and comparison of each model, accompanied by numerous acronyms and theoretical elements, may not promise a fast read. Nonetheless, this book can be a useful guide for scholars who are interested in the implications of public–private partnerships and various market-based strategies for nonprofits or social service organizations.


Terrorism has become a central and defining issue in Australia's relations with the countries of Southeast Asia. Since September 2001, Australian diplomacy has worked at a frenetic pace in the region to secure greater cooperation across the full range of political, military and development assistance sectors. Overall, the results have been mixed. On the positive side, Australia has negotiated no fewer than 12 separate bilateral 'memoranda of understanding' on counter-terrorism cooperation with Asian and Pacific countries; co-hosted four Ministerial regional summits; and provided more than $100 million in aid projects to assist counter-terrorism efforts. However, on the other side of the ledger, and despite the above efforts, the terrorist threat to Australian interests remains multifaceted and real. The complex intersection of localized grievances and separatist movements in Southeast Asia combined with globalized Islamist ideology and support poses a set of very difficult challenges for regional states and their allies. The direct challenge to Australia has two separate, but overlapping dimensions. The first is the immediacy of the threat: although American commentators often refer to Southeast Asia as the 'second front' in the global war on terror, for Australia it is the front door. As the most recent annual report from the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) notes, there has been at least one aborted, disrupted or actual terrorist attack against Australians or Australian interests in Southeast Asia every year for the past five years. And this pattern is unlikely to change soon. In ASIO's assessment, 'Australia and its interests here and around the world will continue to be at threat from terrorist attacks, not only against diplomatic missions but also against a range of soft targets and critical infrastructure.' The second challenge arises from the enhanced levels of regional cooperation, both bilateral and multilateral, required to confront this common security danger. Despite the recent pace of diplomatic activity and the occasional successes, Australian officials continue


Introduction. Extracted teeth are still considered clinical waste and
 therefore are being discarded. It is evident that obtained and prepared
 autogenous dentin graft (ADG) may be used for guided bone regeneration (GBR)
 due to its similar biochemical characteristics to human bone. The aim was to
 present a novel procedure in a clinical setting that employs freshly
 extracted teeth that are processed into a bacteria-free particulate dentin,
 and then grafted immediately into the extraction sites or bone deffects.
 Monitoring the clinical and radiological parameters (vertical and horizontal
 dimensional changes on the alveolar ridge and vertical dimension of
 intrabony defects at the distal aspect of the second molar after extraction
 of third molar) for a period of 6 months, proved rapid healing capacity of
 ADG on the bone and soft tissue structures in the jawbones. Material and
 methods. Clinical measurements were performed using a questionnaire for
 monitoring the postoperative clinical manifestation, bone measuring calipers
 for measuring horizontal changes of the alveolar ridge and graduated probe
 for measuring vertical dimensional changes, also paraclinical-radiological
 examinations to follow-up bone density. Results. During the follow up period
 of six months, clinical measurements of post-extraction dimensional changes
 of the alveolar ridges showed minimal horizontal and vertical bone
 resorption with preserved alveolar ridge volume, with an accelerated bone
 regenerative process without special postoperative complications.
 Conclusion. Dentin particulate grafted immediately after extractions should
 be considered as gold standard due to its osteogenetic, osteoinductive and
 osteoconductive effects on bone tissue regeneration. With the use of
 mineralized dentin matrix we get maximum utilization of our own biological
 potential without the use of other artificial graft materials.


In the paper, based on the results of lean gas furnace temperature field, the study was carried out on heating earthenware. Compared with earthenware which heated with electric furnace, earthenware heated with Low-carbon Catalytic Combustion Furnace was having apparent advantages. The content of the pollutants in exhaust gas was detected during heating in the same time. It would be the conclusion that a trace of pollutants was produced in the highly clean combustion furnace production process, from analyzing and comparing the data under the condition of heating with earthenware and heating without earthenware in the catalytic combustion furnace.


This research aims to determine the effect of the application Vermicompost Organic Fertilizer and NPK inorganic fertilizer in different doses to see mustard plants' growth and the yield on the media of inland peat soil. The study was a completely randomized design factorial Completely Randomized Design, consisting of 2 treatment factors and three replications. The first factor is the dose of Vermicompost organic fertilizer (D), which consisting of 3 levels i,e D0 : control ; D1: 100 g/polybag; D2 : 200 g/polybag and the second factor is the dose NPK Fertilizer which consisting of 2 levels M0: control; M1: 1 g/polibag. This research has been conducted on the experimental field department of agriculture cultivation, Faculty of Agriculture, Palangka Raya University, Palangka Raya City, Central Kalimantan from October until December 2017. The results showed that the interaction of Vermicompost organic fertilizer and NPK fertilizer did not give an effect for plant growth parameters. Doses Vermicompost 100 g / polybag and NPK 1 g / polybag gave the highest results to growth and yield of mustard plants; based on the results of the analysis, the treatment of 1 g NPK / polybag had a very significant effect on the observed parameters such as plant height, number of leaf, root weight, and total plant weight.


This article considers sampled-data output feedback control of a class of nonlinear systems in output feedback form. The underlying continuous-time controller is designed based on backstepping technique, employing a linear dynamic filter, and globally asymptotically stabilises the system. Rigorous analysis shows that when implemented with a sampling and zero-order hold device, the sampled-data version of the continuous-time controller semi-globally asymptotically stabilises the original system, given that the sampling period is smaller than a specific value, which depends on the initial values and nonlinearity of the system. Simulation results of a physical system are included in the end.


As the dimensions of modern semiconductor devices continue to shrink below the current 14 nm technology node, novel processes for the deposition of highly conformal, low temperature, silicon based dielectrics will be needed for applications that include sidewall spacers, barriers, and patterning layers. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is an ideal method for achieving the high conformality and has been used in high volume manufacturing (HVM) to deposit high-k dielectric materials (HfO 2 , ZrO 2 … ) for several technology generations. Plasma assisted ALD is the best known method to meet low temperature (< 500 o C) requirements and is now being used for depositing conformal silicon dielectrics such as silicon oxide (SiO 2 ) and silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ). In this presentation, the current state of the art of precursors, plasmas and process conditions required to deposit conformal silicon dielectrics by plasma ALD will be discussed. Theoretical and experimental data will be presented to explain the observed reaction characteristics for the plasma ALD of SiO 2 , Si 3 N 4 , and the lack (so far) of silicon carbide (SiC). Although plasma enables low temperature deposition, they pose challenges for achieving isotropic film properties over the complex topography of today ' s semiconductor devices. The demand for lower temperature deposition of silicon nitride (<300 ˚ C), with the requirement that the films be uniform, conformal, and of controllable thickness, has led to the development of plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD). Silicon nitride films are typically deposited using aminosilane or chlorine-based silicon precursors and either NH 3 or N 2 plasma as co-reactants. In contrast to ALD using NH 3 plasma, for which the growth is hindered by the presence of hydrogen, the use of a N 2 plasma leads to good quality films at low temperatures. [ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2015 , 7 (35), 19857] However, the mechanisms involved in this process are not well understood. Experimental and theoretical work has suggested that aminosilane precursors (DSBAS and BTBAS) react on under- coordinated nitrogen bonds [J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2015 , 6, 3610] generated by the N 2 plasma. The notion that plasma induced defects (or reactive sites) facilitate subsequent reactions has been well accepted. However, such reactive sites can also lead to recapture of the precursor by-products and oxygen contaminants, arising from plasma etching of the plasma chamber dielectric in inductively coupled plasma (ICP) sources. In this work we use in-situ infrared spectroscopy to investigate each step of a PEALD process with DSBAS or BTBAS and Ar or N 2 remote plasmas. We find that, on fully H-terminated silicon Si(111) surfaces, these two aminosilane precursors do 2 Cl 2 ) have been utilized as Si precursors. Despite previous studies, the underlying reaction mechanisms of these Si precursors with a nitrogen containing surface during PEALD still remain uncertain. Parameters controlling the rate of growth and uniformity have been demonstrated experimentally, but without knowledge of the reaction mechanisms, direct contributions of specific process conditions cannot be explained. Using first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we have examined and identified a novel mechanism for the adsorption and decomposition of DCS on a hydrogenated SiN surface. Our study predicts that the DCS adsorption and dissociation can occur by overcoming a moderate barrier (< 0.7 eV), far lower than the prohibitively large barriers predicted for previously proposed mechanisms. Through a detailed electronic structure analysis of the reaction intermediates, we have elucidated the principles underlying the reaction mechanism, notably the hypervalent nature of Si which permits chlorosilanes to adsorb prior to dissociation. A proper model of the interactions between the SiN surface are necessary to explain the ALD process and also indicate the mechanism for the formation of side products, which has a considerable contribution to the thermodynamic favorability of the proposed mechanism. We have examined the same mechanism utilizing alternative precursors and the predicted trends are found to be corroborated with the important properties of the system. Understanding these principles allows us to develop guidelines for processing conditions, such as the importance of maintain the proper surface composition to support Si precursor adsorption and dissociation. Our study provides insight into the SiN ALD process via chlorosilanes and guidelines to control the deposition for high- quality SiN films and provides a framework for future theoretical studies of ALD mechanisms. deposited This resulted in with high amounts of and hydrogen impurities, non-stoichiometric composition and poor crystalline on of on nano-particles of on nano-powder on flat to size specific properties of nano-powder1, from on an of using (RR) The results for alumina deposition demonstrated conformal of with varying growth per cycle as a function of temperature. The as-prepared samples were investigated with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM). Growth per cycle and properties of ALD grown alumina films on W-nanopowders as a function of reaction temperature be presented and discussed. Process and equipment design are critical components to the emerging field of ALD onto particles. While industrial semiconductor ALD processes and tools are designed for standardized, reproducible rigid substrates, the diversity of particle substrates necessitates a variety of engineering approaches. As ALD coated powder products require different ALD cycle thicknesses, production quantities, particle sizes, and possible substrate/precursor interactions, there is no single best design. This talk will focus on various process approaches for ALD onto particles, ranging from prototype batch reactors to continuous, spatial production systems for high volume industries. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is mostly known as a technique that produces perfect films with atomic resolution on large substrates with complex geometries, even under fluctuating production conditions. This is also true for several processes, but not all... ALD is a chemical process that relies on available active sites on a substrate, and has proven capable to grow on surfaces one initially would assume to be inert, such as Teflon and gold. The initial stages of such growth deviates from the ideology of a layered growth. How does this affect the evolution in growth? ALD can produce materials with textures varying from completely amorphous to well crystalline, and their growth dynamics can lead to film evolution that seemingly disobeys the linear growth process most related to ALD. The crystal growth dynamics known from PVD processes does not apply in the ALD regime. What are the factors that determine the evolution in texture? ALD relies on self-terminating surface reactions to secure robust growth. What happens to the robustness if the bulk of the material is capable of absorbing some of the precursor and act as a reservoir? ALD is most suited for deposition of binary compounds, and has proven well capable of production of ternary and quaternary compounds. However, control of stoichiometry is not as straight forward as simple combination of several binary processes. What controls the deposited stoichiometry? These questions, and possibly many more, will be raised during the current contribution. The combination of ALD growth with a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) enables the in situ observation of the precursor interaction with the surface. Since ALD is based on gaseous-solid chemical reaction of surface species with the metalorganic precursor, the deposition might differ significantly depending on the used precursors leading to alternated properties of the interface. Herein, we show QCM results for interplay of Te- and Se-precursors (Te(Et 3 Si) 2 and Se(Et 3 Si) 2 ) with Sb 2 Se 3 and Sb 2 Te 3 surfaces on the exchange interactions the material interfaces. we a thin film on the surface of our QCM-crystal study the evolution of frequency/film thickness when QCM to the mentioned precursors. The used precursors Se(Et 3 Si) 2 and Te(Et 3 Si) 2 differ in their interaction behavior depending on the used V-VI semiconductor substrate. the gathered experiments, we propose an exchange reaction for the utilization of the used precursors. of structures ALD respect possible exchange reactions. of core-shell nanostructures ALD on V-VI challenging compared Deposition of high-k dielectrics via atomic layer deposition (ALD) onto semiconductors becomes a norm to prepare a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET). One key issue in determining the device performance of a MOSFET is the strength of the interface dipole at the O/S interface. The conventional method to tackle the issue of the interface diploe is using electrical current (I) - voltage (V) measurements, from which the interfacial dipole was calculated by processing the obtained I-V curve using a fit to a theoretical model with a few parameters under assumptions. The approach essentially deals with the bulk properties of the oxide and semiconductor. It becomes rather complicated to access to the " real " interface dipole. Because the interface dipole is an energy- parameterized function, the dipole strength can be directly determined without a presumption by utilizing the photoelectron spectroscopy (PES). Synchrotron radiation PES plays a key role here because it is able to deliver all the energy levels needed to determine the strength of the interface dipole. In this Conference, we will demonstrate the development of the ALD Y 2 O 3 on a p-type GaAs(001)-4x6 with different cycles of deposition. The pristine p-GaAs(001)-4x6 surface was grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) in a multi-UHV chamber system. 1 The as-grown sample w


The understanding of electron transport in proteins based on a novel technique involving muon spin rotation (μSR)measurements is a topic of great current interest. The technique, which involves study of spin relaxation of a positive muon (μ+) trapped in amino acids in protein chains due to the fluctuating magnetic field that the moving electron produces, is based on the premise that the electron is generated by ionization of a muonium (Mu) which was trapped at the same site as the μ+ left behind. In attempting to test this premise from first-principles for the Cytochrome c (Cyt c) system in which recent μSR measurements have been made, we have carried out Hartree- Fock investigations of the electronic structures of the bare amino acids and amino acids with + and Mu trapped at the oxygen of the C=O group common to all amino acids. With the aim that the comparison of theoretically predicted experimental nuclear quadrupole interaction (NQI) parameters will provide a useful test of the electron distribution in the amino acids of Cyt c, we present results for the nuclear quadrupole coupling constants (e2qQ) and asymmetry parameters (η) for the bare amino acids and the amino acids with trapped μ+ and Mu. The trends in 2 and for 14N and 17O between the various amino acids, as well as the changes in these parameters in the presence of μ+ and Mu are being analyzed. It would be helpful to have experimental data for e2qQ and to η compare with our predictions for the amino acids as they occur in vitro in polycrystalline Cyt c in which the SR measurements have been carried out. It is also hoped that the μSR technique will be able to provide experimental data on e2qQ and for the 14N and 17O nuclei to compare with our predictions


A model of spontaneous formation of the radial heterostructure in arsenide nanowire in single process is proposed. Good agreement of theory and experiment was demonstrated for (In,As)As nanowires. This could be considered as an alternative approach to formation of core-shell heterostructure.


The thesis took the fine courses in colleges and universities as the starting point, proposed the architecture and functional module design of Web2.0-based learning Support Service System based on analysis of the characteristics of Web2.0 and concept of learning support services system, explored the achievement process of partial functional modules, provided a new paradigm for the e-learning of Web2.0 era.


Points out that customer satisfaction and retention are critical for retail banks, and investigates the major determinants of customer satisfaction and future intentions in the retail bank sector. Identifies the determinants which include service quality dimensions (e.g. getting it right the first time), service features (e.g. competitive interest rates), service problems, service recovery and products used. Finds, in particular, that service problems and the bank's service recovery ability have a major impact on customer satisfaction and intentions to switch.


PrinciPles on the aPPlication of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity the english version is the authoritative text. official translations are available in arabic, chinese, french, russian and spanish. march 2007 Principles on the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity


The intention of this paper is to provide a clear idea about the current education scenario practiced in Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu, India, its associated drawbacks and to propose innovative teaching methods. For this purpose, various schools in the district were visited and surveys had been conducted to bring out the expectations and interests of students towards our education system. Based on the feedback given by the students and teachers, an analysis was performed and the shortcomings in the current education system were spotted out. The suggestions and expectations on the existing education scheme are being discussed in this paper.


In the preceding paper (1) the immunological properties of intact pneumococci were compared with those of the isolated bacterial protein and carbohydrate. The whole cell, with antigenic functions unimpaired, gives rise to immune bodies which agglutinate pneumococci of the homologous type and precipitate the soluble specific substance, the carbohydrate, of the cell. I t was shown that the bacterial protein stimulates the formation of precipitins which react with pneumococcus protein regardless of the type. This antibody to the protein does not agglutinate type-specific strains or precipitate solutions of the specific polysaccharide which distinguishes each type of Pneumococcus. The carbohydrate substance when dissociated from the bacterial cell has been found to possess no antigenic power; that is, in the free state it it is devoid of the property of inciting antibody formation. Antibodies reactive with the free carbohydrate can be produced only by immunization with intact organisms. The subject of the present paper is the marked difference in the antigenic properties of intact pneumococci and the bacterial substances of these same organisms when in solution.


Automatically recognizing surgical gestures plays a key role in computer-assisted surgery and automatic skill assessment. Solutions to this task that only rely on video without additional sensor hardware have attracted great attention since they are economical and feasible. However, it is still a challenging problem due to the variable gesture durations and the oversegmentation problem that occurred in a long gesture duration. To address the above problems, we propose a cascade network with boundary-adaptive filter to dynamically capture the long-range temporal dependencies and reduce the over-segmentation errors obviously. A cascade module is designed to enhance the temporal modeling abilities in different timescales, in which multiple similar temporal convolution networks are divided into cascade stages and a fusion stage. Every cascade stage with different temporal receptive fields has a frame-specific weight to adjust the distribution of each stage and they will be aggregated into the fusion stage to refine the predictions. The frame-specific model architecture may incur a more serious over-segmentation problem. A boundary-adaptive filter is designed to leverage gesture boundary information to smooth the prediction results adaptively, which maintains consistency within a gesture duration while keeping the gesture-crossing discrepancy. We evaluate our model on the JHU-ISI Gesture and Skill Assessment Working Set (JIGSAWS). The proposed method reaches the state-of-the-art frame-wise accuracy (83.79%) and comparable segment-level performance (83.35% F1@50).


The objective of this paper is to build a post Keynesian macrodynamic model of growth and cycles in which technical progress is endogenous in the sense of Kaldor and government finances its deficit by means of debt issuing. The model presented here aims to reproduce the main stylized facts of long run dynamics of developed capitalist economies, mainly the U.S economy. To accomplish this target, we will present some numerical simulations of the model in order to the behavior of a typical developed capitalist economy of century XX. We will also analyze the long-run effects over real output and public debt of alternative mix of fiscal and monetary policies: (i) fiscal contraction cum monetary expansion; (ii) fiscal expansion cum monetary contraction.


The key aim of our work was to illustrate the benefits and means to deploy P2P services via the IMS. Having demonstrated the technical viability of P2P-IMS we have also found a way to add a new management dimension to existing P2P systems. P2P-IMS comes with a natural "data management" mechanism, addressing the DRM problem which is still a major hurdle in existing P2P platforms. In P2P-IMS, the IMS manages user registration, authentication, and authorisation, as well as monitoring, charging and billing. The immediate benefit is that P2P-IMS can be used as a building block to deploy managed secure group communication services. By contrast to existing P2P systems, in P2P-IMS group members are authenticated securely. In this way it is possible to manage authorisation policies in P2P communication and data exchange.


Anxiety/fear is a normal reaction to threatening situations and it represents a physiologically protective function. Anxiety/fear is often manifested as avoidance and is also characterized by overt sympathetic reactions. Pathological anxiety is a level of anxiety that is disproportionate to the threat and can be manifested even in the absence of threat. In clinical practice, categorical systems set the boundary at which a particular level of anxiety becomes an anxiety disorder.

Although a genetic contribution to anxiety disorders has long been suspected, it is only recently that genetic polymorphisms in various neurotransmitter and neuromodulatory systems have been linked to anxiety disorders. Still, the contribution of these factors is relatively small to the overall disease phenotype and the complex interaction between genetic factors and the environment will ultimately explain the development of susceptibility to anxiety.

Genetic and biochemical studies, combined with the analysis of mouse strains with induced genetic mutations implicate multiple neurobiological processes in anxiety disorders. Although the association of neurotransmitters and their receptors with anxiety-like behavior is not surprising, cytokines and cell adhesion molecules were also identified as modulators of anxiety. Furthermore, intracellular signaling pathways and their target genes were linked to anxiety allowing the assembly of specific "anxiety" pathways. It is apparent that anxiety-related pathways and processes involve communication between various neurons that, via signaling pathways, eventually converge onto regulation of transcription and/or translation. The proper function of these pathways is especially crucial during early postnatal development and one can hypothesize that abnormalities in these pathways at any level lead to, via altered gene expression, to changes in neuronal morphology and/or function. Importantly, all commonly used anxiolytic drugs can be integrated into this model implying that anxiolytic drugs target and modulate the molecular and cellular pathways which establish and/or control the level of anxiety.

Keywords:

anxiety;
fear;
anxiety disorders;
neurotransmitters;
receptors;
signaling pathways;
neuronal circuits;
knockout mice;
association studies


Writers working in industry and contracting are often involved in the writing of technical content marketing for products, services, and personal freelance businesses. In this article, writers in technical industries are introduced to the legal and ethical issues of technical content marketing and advertising, which covers intellectual property, truth in advertising, comparative and competitive advertising, and customer reach. The goal of this article is to provide writers with a better understanding of these legal terms and concepts as well as ethical issues that influence technical content marketing strategy and practice.


Acknowledging culture as the "software of the mind" (Hofstede, 1994), this paper asserts that international business, management, and marketing scholars have done too little to address the practitioner community's need for a better knowledgebase regarding African cultures. Despite the importance of Africa to the global economy, transnational marketing, and even the prosperity of rising Asian economic powers, scholars have produced little practicable business knowledge on African national cultures. Over the last thirty years, three leading scholarly projects on national culture, including the work of Hofstede, Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, and the GLOBE Study, have collectively provided empirical data on a total of only twelve African nations. This paper identifies basic deficiencies in the study of African cultures, highlights the impact of those deficiencies to the cultural knowledgebase, and suggests resolutions for upgrading intelligence on key African cultures vital to transnational business interests .


This text re-discusses the motivations of political order which led the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) to transfer its Assembly from Porto Alegre to Evian, France in 1970. Among the reasons for the transference was the lack of awareness on the part of the directing board of the Igreja Evangelica de Confi ssao Luterana no Brasil (IECLB) [Evangelical Church of Lutheran Confession in Brasil], of the violation of Human Rights by the authoritarian civil-military government specifi cally in the period considered to be of the most intense repression, between 1969-1974. Besides recovering the debate on the theme, the text includes an analysis of the interviews carried out with people of the Evangelical-Lutheran confession who struggled for the re-democratization of Brazil, suffering with the silence of their church and with the oppression of the State.


Background: Scleroderma has been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events, however,studies on this from India are sparse.We evaluated clinical and serological factors associated with subclinical atherosclerosis in Indian patients with scleroderma, in a cross-sectional design. Objectives: To compare carotid intima-medial thickness (CIMT, mean value of both carotids) as a measure of subclinical atherosclerosis (SCA) between patients with scleroderma (n=61) fulfilling 2013 ACR/EULAR criteria, and healthy controls (n=41). - To compare clinical (body mass index – BMI, waist-hip ratio – WHR, fasting lipid profile) and serological factors (microparticles, endothelial microparticles, inflammatory cytokines associated with increased cardiovascular risk) between patients with scleroderma and healthy controls. - To identify factors associated with SCA in scleroderma patients. Methods: Subclinical atherosclerosis(SCA) was defined by presence of carotid plaques, or increased CIMT >2 standard deviations compared with Indian reference standards for age and sex. Total microparticles (TMP) were measured of plasma after ultracentrifugation as per previously described protocol using microbeads of 3 μm size (TMP were of size 0.1-1 μm); of these, microparticles positive for CD31 and CD142 were endothelial microparticles (EMP). Serum cytokines (IL-1, IL-6, TNF-α, IL-17) were measured by ELISA using manufacturer instructions. Linear regression was used to identify the determinants of CIMT in scleroderma. Binomial logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with subclinical athersclerosis in scleroderma. Results: Despite lower BMI, triglycerides and VLDL cholesterol, CIMT was significantly higher in patients with scleroderma. Patients with scleroderma had significantly higher total microparticles and endothelial microparticles in plasma, and serum IL-1± and IL-6 (Table 1). On multivariable regression, age was the only significant determinant of CIMT. 28 (45.9%) patients had SCA; 13 (21.3%) had carotid plaques. Patients with SCA had higher proportion of males (9/28 in those with SCA vs 2/33 in those without SCA). Binomial logistic regression did not identify any other significant predictors of SCA. Conclusion: Patients with scleroderma had significant burden of subclinical atherosclerosis, which could not be explained by traditional or novel cardiovascular risk factors. References: [1]Psarras A, Soulaidopoulos S, Garyfallos A, Kitas G, Dimitroulas T. A critical view on cardiovascular risk in systemic sclerosis. Rheumatol Int. 2017 Jan; 37(1):85-95. [2]Jung C, Drummer K, Oelzner P, Figulla HR, Boettcher J, Franz M, et al. The association between endothelial microparticles and inflammation in patients with systemic sclerosis and Raynaud's phenomenon as detected by functional imaging. Clin HemorheolMicrocirc. 2015; 61(3):549-557. Acknowledgments: Supported by IRA(Indian Rheumatology Association) Research Grant to DP Misra. Disclosure of Interests: None declared


LAKE STURGEON (ACIPENSER FULVESCENS) POPULATION ATTRIBUTES, REPRODUCTIVE STRUCTURE AND DISTRIBUTION IN NAMAKAN RESERVOIR, MINNESOTA AND ONTARIO Stephanie L. Shaw August 2010 Population declines of lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) have resulted in their protected status as a species of special concern in the state of Minnesota and threatened in the province of Ontario. Water bodies that lie along the Minnesota-Ontario border are home to historic populations of lake sturgeon. Research has been conducted on the neighboring lake sturgeon populations (i.e., Rainy Lake, the lower Seine River in Ontario, and Rainy River/Lake of the Woods). However, little research has been conducted on the lake sturgeon population of the Namakan Reservoir. The objectives of this project were to 1) assess the lake sturgeon in Namakan Reservoir by quantifying age, growth, mortality, and reproductive structure, and 2) to examine the influence of gender and reproductive condition on seasonal distribution and movement patterns of lake sturgeon in the Namakan Reservoir. I evaluated year class strength and reproductive structure of lake sturgeon collected in the U.S. and Canadian waters of Namakan Reservoir. Reproductive structure of lake sturgeon was assessed during spring 2008 and 2009 using plasma testosterone and


Objective To analyze the recent(2004-2008)clinical datas of malignant hyperthermia(MH) in China and compare them with the previous ones(1978-2004).Methods Twenty-one cases of MH occurred from 2004-2008 were reviewed and analyzed.Results MH still occured more frequently in males than females.The average age of MH patients had rised.MH developed more often in general surgery,thopedic surgery and neurosurgery.The first clinical manifestation was the ascensus of the end-tidal CO2(Et-CO2).Vitro contracture test,which was the gold standard of MH,hadn't been generalized yet.CRRT(continus renal replacement treatment) was the newest brightened dot in treatment of MH.The death rate of MH had decreased.Conclusion The report of MH and inducing drugs have been increasing,while death rate decrease.Our country's monitoring system and diagnosis of MH still needs to be consummated as soon as possible.The vitro contracture test,dynamic monitoring of lactic acid and use of dantrolene should be generalized.


In this paper, the performance of the cutting tool with nanocrystalline multilayer coatings (TiN+TiAlN) for machining of superalloy Inconel 718 in the dry and wet conditions was studied. The multi layer TiN and TiAlN with nanocrystalline structure was applied by physical vapor deposition technique (arc evaporation) on the WC-Co inserts. The results of the ball on disc wear test and the machining of superalloy Inconel 718 in wet and dry conditions indicated that the nanocrystalline coatings could produce better performance of tools in turning. Abrasion and adhesive wear resistance improved by nanocrystalline and modified Aluminum composition in TiAlN coating as well as toughness and thermal stability.


NEW TECHNIQUES GEMS & GEMOLOGY SUMMER 2008 opaz [Al2SiO4(F,OH)2] occurs as an accessory mineral in some granites and associated hydrothermally altered rocks, as well as in pegmatites, rhyolites, and other aluminous rocks. The crystallographic, optical, and chemical properties of topaz can vary with chemical composition, which reflects the petrogenesis of the rocks in which the individual crystal formed (Christiansen et al., 1983). However, most topaz is colorless as mined, so it is often color enhanced for use in jewelry. One common method used to produce color centers in topaz consists of irradiating the gem with gamma rays, neutrons, or electrons, followed by lowtemperature annealing (Nassau et al., 1978, 1985). Unfortunately, this procedure may induce radioactivity, thus requiring that the gems be stored safely until their activity has decayed below the legal limits. In some cases, depending on the procedure and the nature of the starting material, the decay process requires more than a year of storage, a costly delay for the owner of the topaz. In other cases, material has been released into the market prematurely (see, e.g., Ashbaugh and Shigley, 1993). Although no health impairments arising from treated gems with radioactivity below the legal limit have been reported, government, industry, and consumer groups alike are concerned about the potential risk should radioactive topaz inadvertently enter the gem market (see, e.g., Yonick, 2007; Kremkow, 2008). In response to these concerns, two color enhancement processes that do not involve irradiation have been successfully developed. One is a coating, and the other is a diffusion-driven layer near the surface of the host gem. The main difference between these two treatments, as will be explained in more detail in the following sections, lies in the interaction of the added elements with the gemstone's surface. While both of these techniques are well established and detailed descriptions of the procedures involved are available (Starcke et al., 1996; Pollack, 1997), less is known about the atomic-scale processes that occur during the color treatment. This article focuses on the principal mechanisms giving rise to T


In this study, ultrasound, Fenton, ozonation and their combinations were conducted to degrade tetracycline, which is extensively used in humans and animals to treat and prevent bacterial infections and has been proven to be harmful to the environment. Experimental results indicated that the effects of ultrasonic watt and reaction temperatures in sono-Fenton systems were insignificant. However, both the addition of anions and increasing the pH to a basic condition remarkably inhibited the contribution of tetracycline degradation and mineralization. The effects of ozone gas flows and pH levels on the degradation and mineralization of tetracycline were not obvious in ozonation, due to the saturated ozone concentration in solution were close with different ozone gas flows, but they were significantly affected by the change of solution toxicity, as defined by the profiles of cell viability. As the ozonation was combined with ultrasound or/and Fenton, the required treatment durations were shortened, and the mineralization efficiencies were enhanced. Hence, operation costs were also reduced by the combination of ultrasound, Fenton and ozone. The maximum tetracycline degradation efficiency in the ultrasound/Fenton/O3 process was as high as 99.8%, followed by 65% mineralization, which revealed that the ultrasound/Fenton/O3 method synergistically increased the mineralization of refractory compounds; additionally, the toxicity of the treated tetracycline solution significantly decreased, whereas the cell viability increased from <50% to 94%.


A method of identifying one or more occlusions in vascula ture located in a region of interest, includes extracting vascu lature from the region of interest, identifying a subject geom etry of the extracted vasculature; and comparing the Subject geometry to a predetermined geometry to identify a blockage. A device for identifying one or more occlusions in vascula ture located in a region of interest is also presented.


Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) is a disease caused by the bacterium Rickettsia rickettsii which is spread to humans by ticks. Symptoms include the sudden onset of fever, headache and muscle pain followed by the development of a rash. In the laboratory, rickettsiae cannot be cultivated on agar plates or in broth, but only in viable eukaryotic host cells. Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Mediterranean spotted fever are rickettsial infections primarily of endothelial cells that normally have a potent anticoagulant function. As a result of endothelial cell infection and injury, the hemostatic system is perturbed and shows changes that vary widely from a minor reduction in the platelet count to severe coagulopathies, such as deep venous thrombosis and disseminated intravascular coagulation. Animals probably become infected by aerosol and by the bite of any of the 40 species of ticks that carry the organisms. From the portal of entry in the skin, rickettsiae spread via the bloodstream to infect the endothelium and sometimes the vascular smooth muscle cells, brain, lungs, heart, kidneys, liver, gastrointestinal tract and other organs. Rickettsia species enter their target cells, multiply by binary fission in the cytosol and damage heavily parasitized cells directly. The target cells are macrophages in the lungs, liver, bone marrow, spleen, heart valves and other organs. Clinico-epidemiologic diagnosis is ultimately a matter of suspicion. Empirical treatment and later laboratory confirmation gives specific diagnosis. Some laboratories are able to identify rickettsiae by immunohistology in skin biopsies as a timely, acute diagnostic procedure, but to establish the diagnosis; physicians usually rely on serologic demonstration of the development of antibodies to rickettsial antigens in serum collected after the patient has recovered. Currently, assays that demonstrate antibodies to rickettsial antigens themselves are preferable to the nonspecific, insensitive Weil-Felix test that is based on the crossreactive antigens of OX-19 and OX-2 strains. Tetracycline, Doxycycline and chloramphenicol are the drugs of choice for treatment. Control of the tick population on the property, keeping pets tick-free are some measures to control the disease.


Abstract : The absorption spectra for certain steroid and catechol derivatives in the range from 185-300 mu. in the vapor state is compared to the absorption spectra of these compounds observed in solvents. It is pointed out that better resolution and higher sensitivity is observed in the vapor state. Elevated temperatures are used to vaporize these compounds and a practical cuvette and heating means are described for this purpose. At elevated temperatures certain bands visible at low temperatures are wiped out in the range of approximately 230 mu. However, other bands of high degree of absorptivity appear at from 185210 mu. The spectra of derivatives of desoxy corticosterone, cortisone, estradiol, estrone, veratrole and vanillin are explored in this study. (Author)


The main task of the industrialization project of comprehensive agricultural development is to extend the agricultural industrial chain, to promote strategic adjustment of agricultural and rural economic structure, to improve the overall agricultural efficiency and to increase farmers income by supporting the leading enterprises of agriculture industrialization and other trade entities. A combination of paid and unpaid is the primary way of comprehensive agricultural development funds to support agricultural industrialization projects. The specific measures are put forward to ensure repayment of funds by study on advantage and disadvantage of such mode.


We present a case of middle ear rhabdomyosarcoma with intracranial erosion and later presented with diffuse leptomeningeal spread. Such lesions are difficult to eradicate and have a poor prognosis


The possibility of the production at high energy of heavy quarks, supersym metric particles and other large mass colored systems via the intrinsic twist-six components in the proton wave function is discussed. While the existing data do not rule out the possible relevance of intrinsic charm production at present energies, the extrapolation of such intrinsic contributions to very high masses and energies suggests that they will not play an important role at the SSC. Discussion Some time ago it was suggested that various features of the data on charm production at the ISR might be indicative of the presence of a new production mechanism corresponding to the excitation of intrinsic charm components of the proton wave function. The experimental features of particular interest were the apparently weak dependence of the production cross section on the longitudinal momentum of the charmed system and the apparently large magnitude of the cross section, as compared with the conventional expectations from perturbative QCD. In the usual QCD production mechanism of (extrinsic) gluon fusion , GG -+ QQ, the charmed system is produced predominantly at small momentum in the overall CM system and with considerably smaller total cross section than inferred from many of the early ISR results. In contrast, the intrinsic charm component was argued to exhibit a fairly flat distribution in the momentum fraction carried by the charmed quarks and to have a normalization which is inaccessible to perturbative QCD and therefore perhaps sufficiently large. The data from the EMC collaboration on deep-inelastic muon scattering could also be intepreted as suggesting an unexpectedly largn charm structure function in the region z > 0.3. The possible existence of such a new production mechanism is of great importance for design considerations at the SSC. An example of the importance of this issue is that, if intrinsic large x production is dominant, experiments and, perhaps, even the machine should be designed to focus on the forward "diflractive" regime. The qu"Rtion of the present experimental evidence for the role of intrinsic charm is reviewed elsewhere in these proceedings. For the present purposes a brief summary is sufficient. The data vary considerably from experiment to experiment and their interpretation is sufficiently model dependent to yield only the conclusion that the data do not rule out the possibility that intrinsic charm is playing^ role in the ISR data. In the following discussion the focus will be rather on the issue of how the basic intrinsic-production picture extrapolates to the very large mass systems accessible at the SSC (the production of intrinsic "Chevrolets").


Population behavior in rice rat Holochilus sciureus was evaluated in rice fields from Ospino Municipality (Portuguesa) during three crop cycles. Relative Abundance Index (RAI) of this rodent was estimated by removal capture method. Damage measurement was based on a simple randomized sampling along a preset transect system. One hundred and twenty two individuals were captured: being 126 males (18 youth and 108 adults) and 96 females (16 youth and 80 adults). Sex quotient was 1:1 (P>0,05) during cycles but it was 3:1 (P= 0,021) during tillage stage. Mean number of embryos in this population was 7.05 ± 1.99. Age classes did not show variations (χ2= 6,87 p=0,3328), according to climate conditions of the crop (dry or rainy season). However, increase in juvenile and adult number was observed during grain maturity (χ2= 14.81 p= 0.0218). The RAI increased during reproduction (bloom) and grain maturity. The RAI was directly related to crop age (Ŷ = 0.0106X1.35503 , r2=0.7282 r=0.8533) during dry season 2006-2007, while in rainy season (2007), it increased 84 days after sowing (das) and it was fitted to 0,12539X -5,58373 Yˆ   (r2=0.6915, r= 0.8316). Different to other cycles, during dry season 2007-2008, RAI showed fluctuations fitted to the model (r2=0.8206 r=0.9059). No damage (cut tillage or nest construction) was observed during 2006-2007. In subsequent cycles cut tillage was observed only from 112 das during cycle 2007 or from 95 and 109 das in 2007-2008, but no effect on mean yield was observed. During three cycles, the higher high plant, the higher H. sciureus abundance, and conversely, the lower water lamina, the higher abundance. Variable damage was added in 2007-2008 analysis, being the higher water lamina, the lower damage level. Multidisciplinary studies to better understand behavior of rodent pest are required. Results could support design of economically sustainable management programs, harmonizing with environment and when possible applicable as a preventive strategy.


Ascorbic acid (AsA) has the disadvantage that it is susceptible toward thermal and oxidative degradation. Various derivatives of AsA to overcome this disadvantage have been reported in a number of laboratories." One of the most promising derivatives among them is ascorbic acid-2-phosphate (AsA2P); which shows remarkably high stability in vitro and is easily converted into AsA in vivo by enzymatic dephosphorylation (FIGURE 1). Several approaches to synthesize AsA2P by the chemical method have been attempted,"6 but it still appears laborious and expensive to phosphorylate AsA at the C-2 position specifically. Compared to the chemical method, enzymatic phosphorylation of AsA is considered to be more advantageous in many respects because of its high specificity. We tested 715 strains of microorganisms from our culture collection, which consisted of 446 strains of bacteria, 25 strains of actinomycetes, 175 strains of yeast, and 69 strains of molds, in regard to their AsA2P-producing ability from ATP and AsA. To provide cell membrane with permeability, the cells were treated with Nymeen S-215, a cationic surfactant, and xylene. After incubation of the reaction mixtures (pH 7.0) containing permeabilized cells a t 30 OC for 20 h, the supernatants were assayed for the formation of AsA2P by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A number of strains belonging to bacteria and yeast accumulated some product that could have been converted from AsA and some of them had the same retention time with authentic AsA2P. To confirm whether these products were really AsA2P or not, the reaction mixtures of candidates were further analyzed by the combination of thin layer chromatography (TLC) and HPLC. Three bacteria, Pseudomonas azotocolliguns KY4661, P. paucimobilis KY4084, and unidentified bacterium KY3 132, were ascertained to be able to produce AsA2P from AsA and ATP under these screening conditions. Among them, P. azotocolligans KY466 1 was used for further experiments as the best strain. After the investigations on the reaction conditions, the pH was found to be important for the efficient production of AsA2P. The optimal pH was around 5.5 on 2-h


The paper reports the outcomes of the collaborative use of Google Sites in teaching undergraduate courses in Economic Terminology at Volgograd State University. Based on a students' survey, that allowed the project team to collect relevant data grouped according to four criteria: accessibility, interactive capacity, problem solving facilities, and feasibility of online tasks, as well as on a teachers' questionnaire where page creation potential, interactive capacity, problem solving facilities, and task formulation options were assessed. The findings demonstrated that 1 Google Sites may considerably support instructors of undergraduate courses in their efforts to motivate students' learning and empower them with interactive course materials; 2 virtual education community needs experiential ethic norms for responsible behavior more than prescribed administrative rules of online collective action.


This paper proposes a common rail pressure controller for passenger car diesel engines. The common rail system of diesel engine has some difficulties to control rail pressure. The rail pressure is influenced by interaction between a metering unit (MeUn) and a pressure control valve (PCV). The interaction increases complexity of control algorithm. In order to solve this problem, we present a common rail pressure controller based on the quantitative feedback theory (QFT). For the controller design, a plant model of the common rail system is approximated by a first order transfer function, and the PCV driving current and the rail pressure are used as input/output variables of this model. The rail pressure variation by MeUn is represented as parametric uncertainty. Then, requirement specifications for stability and reference tracking are defined, and the control algorithm is designed to satisfy these requirements using the QFT method. In order to validate the proposed controller, engine experiments are performed. The QFT based rail pressure controller successfully satisfies the tracking performance. Furthermore, the control robustness is evaluated when the MeUn driving current is abruptly changed.


A two-qubit quantum gate is realized using electronically excited states in a single ion with an energy separation on the order of a terahertz times the Planck constant as a qubit. Two phase-locked lasers are used to excite a stimulated Raman transition between two metastable states ${D}_{3/2}$ and ${D}_{5/2}$ separated by $1.82$ THz in a single trapped $^{40}\mathrm{Ca}$${}^{+}$ ion to construct a qubit, which is used as the target bit for the Cirac-Zoller two-qubit controlled NOT gate. Quantum dynamics conditioned on a motional qubit is clearly observed as a fringe reversal in Ramsey interferometry.


We evaluate the consistency of two methods for estimating the effect of an economic policy: (i) asking people how the policy caused them to change their behavior (reported effects) and (ii) inferring this change using data on behavior and differences in treatment across people (revealed-preference estimates). Both methods are widely used to measure spending caused by increases in liquidity. Using federal stimulus payments disbursed quasi-randomly in 2008, we find larger revealed-preference estimates of spending propensities for households who report greater spending responses, and the methods produce similar average propensities. But evidence is mixed on the relationship between spending propensities and liquidity. (JEL C83, D14, D91, E62, H24, H31)


Antibody reactivity against the 'mitochondrial M 2 antigen' was determined in sera from 10 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). using Western blotting after SDS‐PAGE separation of rat liver mitochondria (RLM) and plasma membrane proteins. The molecular weights of the major M2 antigens in rat liver mitochondria were 67 and 50 kD Two of the 10 PBC patients did not react to any of these major antigens, eight reacted to the 67‐kD and four of those also to the 50‐kD antigen. The 67‐ and 50‐kD antigens were present in both plasma membrane and RLM and had affinity to concanavalin A. Antibody reactivity against the 67‐kD antigen could be detected in both IgG and IgA as well as in the IgM class. The reactive IgG subclasses to both types of antigen preparations were mainly of the GI and G3 isotypes. This reactivity was always stronger with antigens from the plasma membrane preparations. Sera from two patients with high antibody litres against mitochondria also reacted with IgG2 against the 50‐kD antigen from plasma membrane, but not to the corresponding antigen in mitochondria. Reactivity of antibodies in PBC sera to the periphery of viable hepatocytes and radioactive surface labelling of the 50‐kD component are both consistent with a plasma membrane localization of M2. Serum from healthy controls and several patients with different diseases did not contain antibodies reactive against any of the antigens described. We suggest that antigens, partly identical to the mitochondrial M2, are located in the plasma membrane compartment. The PBC pathogenetical consequences of these findings arc discussed.


"TWD Textilwerke Deggendorf GmbH"* In May 1986 the Commission adopted a negative decision in respect of non-notified aid granted by the German authorities to the company TWD Textilwerke…


The activity of bees pollination in onion was observed throughout the day. Numerically maximum activity was observed during afternoon hours (12.00 to 2.00 PM) with 7.00 numbers in rock bee, 5.40 in Indian bees, 11.60 in little bees and 7.80 in case of dammer be, respectively. Among the four species of bees, little bees were more in entire day with highest of 111.60 bees/10 inflorescence/ minute followed by dammer bee with 9.40 bees/10 inflorescence/ minute, Among the bees major contributor was little bee, this may be due to more colonies of little bees in that area and destruction of rock bee colonies. Also, the bee acitivty was observed maximum number at 100 per cent flowering stage. The observations on number of seeds per umbel, 1000 seed weight and per cent germination under the laboratory conditions. The results clearly indicated that, maximum number of seeds per umbel was observed in open pollinated flowers with 339.30 ± 60.27 seeds per umber where all the four species of bees were made visits regularly followed by in case of pollination in mesh cloth cage with bees with 330.00±35.80 and very least number of seed set was observed in case of pollination in mesh cloth cage without bees with only 60.70 seeds/umbel. Similarly, 1000 seed weight also differed significantly in case of pollination with bees and without bees. In case of with bees it weighed around 3.37 g/1000 seeds followed by 3.10 g/1000 seeds in onion with bee cage and least in case of control with only 1.97 g/1000 seeds.


1. Definition From the viewpoint of hard- or software construction, computer applications in medicine are not very different from those in any other area of science and technology. The main (and sole) difference lies in the specific type of (medical) process that is related to certain applications. For that reason the field of medical informatics is considerably larger than simply computer application to medicine; it deals with the research of processes in medicine and health care, and the development of software systems (algorithms) to solve problems related to these processes. Hence, R & D in medical informatics requires a specific approach, related as closely to medicine as to informatics (computer science) itself. This is even more necessary if such problems concern distinct medical, i.e., diagnostic or therapeutic, processes. On this basis a definition of medical informatics can be formulated as follows: Medical Informatics comprises the theoretical and practical aspects of information processing and communication, based on knowledge and experience derived from processes in medicine and health care. Because of the abundance of applications of computers in medicine, we felt the need to bring some order in these (often) basically different applications by developing a working model (reported elsewhere in more detail [l]). The reason why we developed such a model was twofold: first to be able to understand the intrinsic potentialities of certain applications of computers in medicine and to obtain some idea of the principal limitations of the systems we develop; second to have a working model for educational purposes so that everyone becoming acquainted with medical information processing might not only learn technical skill but also obtain insight. Skill (experience) helps to solve specific problems for which one is trained (knowhow); insight is generalized knowledge to solve problems of a wide variety (knowwhy). Both terms appear in the definition above.


e13121Background: The identification of a targeted therapy for patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of the most urgent needs in breast cancer therapeutics. Since the p53 gene i...


The purpose of this paper is to expand the discussion of urban population density in two ways. The first is to include the business firm density in order to get an impression of the interrelationship between firm and population densities. The second is to estimate a comprehensive model including a description of the densities in 22 towns, making the coefficients of the individual town equations a function of population size, income and employment pattern, using the expansion method.


In this article, we prove a $p$-adic analogue of the local invariant cycle theorem for $H^2$ in mixed characteristics. As a result, for a smooth projective variety $X$ over a $p$-adic local field $K$ with a proper flat regular model $\mathcal{X}$ over $O_K$, we show that the natural map $Br(\mathcal{X})\rightarrow Br(X_{\bar{K}})^{G_K}$ has a finite kernel and a finite cokernel. And we prove that the natural map $Hom(Br(X)/Br(K)+Br(\mathcal{X}), \mathbb{Q}/\mathbb{Z}) \rightarrow Alb_X(K)$ has a finite kernel and a finite cokernel, generalizing Lichtenbaum's duality between Brauer groups and Jacobians for curves to arbitrary dimensions.


Non-traumatic spontaneous subcapsular renal hematoma, also known as Wunderlich syndrome, is a rare entity that is associated with some renal pathology, mainly tumors or cysts, anticoagulant drugs administration or unknown reasons. We present a case of an elderly patient that presented with spontaneous subcapsular renal hematoma and complete deterioration of his kidney due to severe pyonephrosis that was managed conservatively.


In Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), First Order supreme leader Kilo Ren exhibits an enraged determination to crush the rebels once and for all. He orders 'every gun we have to fire' at Luke Skywalker as soon as he catches sight of him. But the First Order guns have no effect because the image of Skywalker is merely a projection cast from a distant planet. Similar to the First Order forces, in their paper 'Independent territories revisited? The concept of partially independent territories and the role of such territories in the international system', Riegl, Doboš, and Bečka (2019) make a zealous attempt to snuff out the concept of partially independent territories. Rather than trying to build upon or adjust the concept, they (surprisingly) assert that it does not exist. They say that it does 'not produce any discernible pattern' (p. 13). They also emphasize 'the flaws of the PIT concept'. Riegl et al. base their conclusions on their reading of my 2016 paper in Territory, Politics, Governance entitled 'Partial independence beats full independence'. But similar to the First Order forces in Star Wars, they are not able to engage effectively with their target. Instead, their approach leads them to attack illusory semblances and misrepresentations. Before elaborating, it is important that I convey from the outset that I very much welcome this effort by Riegl et al. In fact, it is long overdue that naysayers against partial independence come out into the open and clarify some of their views. Partially independent territories are not supposed to exist according to a variety of theories of international politics. The idea that a political form that is comparable to sovereign states, like partially independent territories, exists and has discernable economic, political, and security advantages, is a disruptive development in the analysis of politics, law, sociology, and economics. So naturally there will be those that oppose the idea. Many of us who have written on partial independence (including those who use related terms like regional autonomy, sub-national jurisdictions, and federacy) have been waiting to see the countervailing arguments of proponents of full independence and have been curious how they might attempt to discount partial independence and its advantages. Regrettably, however, Riegl et al. fail to present anything close to this vaunted, strong and long-awaited critique. Ideally, when offering a critique, scholars would present alternative points of view that can be discussed and debated. Unfortunately, however, in spite of the fervour of their points, the commentators make missteps that sadly prevent a proper scholarly discussion. I nevertheless do not believe that they have wasted their time and effort. Instead, their paper presents a good opportunity to spell out what an appropriate critique might look like. I will therefore attempt to spell this out below to help Riegl et al. with their approach so that if or when they (or others)


The stabilization problem for networked control systems(NCS) with random packet dropouts is studied in this paper.Both sensor-to-controller(S/C) and controller-to-actuator(C/A) packet dropouts are considered,which are modeled respectively.Based on Lyapunov stability theory,sufficient condition is derived,which ensures the globally mean-square asymptotically stability for the closed-loop systems.Moreover,the gain matrix of the state feedback control law is obtained by using the linear matrix inequality(LMI) approach.Numerical examples illustrate the effectiveness of the results.


: This study purposed to investigate the effect of digital banking on customer satisfaction case of National Bank of Kenya. The objective that guided the study: To determine the effect of speed of transactions on Customer Satisfaction case of National Bank of Kenya, Bungoma County. The target population for the study was bank customers and banking staff from National Bank in Bungoma County. The study utilized a sample size of 417. Descriptive survey design was undertaken and data was collected using a triangulation of methods including questionnaires, interview schedules and document reviews. Analysis was undertaken with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences where both descriptive and correlation analysis were performed. The findings of the study established that there was a significant relationship between speed of transaction and customers satisfaction, χ 2 (6, N=350) = 221.45. The study recommends that there is need by banks to invest more on robust reliable systems to reduce incidents of failed transactions and transactional errors in ATMs.


The introduction of inexpensive cylinder pressure sensors provides new opportunities for precise engine control. This paper presents a spark advance control strategy based upon cylinder pressure in spark ignition engines. It is well known that the location of peak pressure(LPP) reflects combustion phasing and can be used for controlling the spark advance. The well-known problems of the LPP-based spark advance control method are that many samples of data are required and there is loss of combustion phasing detection capability due to hook-back at late burn conditions. To solve these problems, a multi-layer feedforward neural network is employed. The LPP and hook-back are estimated, using the neural network, which needs only five output voltage samples from the pressure sensor. The neural network plays an important role in mitigating the A/D conversion load of an electronic engine controller by increasing the sampling interval from 1° crank angle (CA) to 20° CA. A proposed control algorithm does not need a sensor calibration and pegging (bias calculation) procedure because the neural network estimates the LPP from the raw sensor output voltage. The estimated LPP can be regarded as a good index for combustion phasing, and can also be used as an MBT control parameter. The feasibility of this methodology is closely examined through steady and transient engine operations to control individual cylinder spark advances. The experimental results have revealed a favorable agreement of optimal combustion phasing in each cylinder.


In the title compounds, C(11)H(18)N(2), (II), and C(13)H(20)N(2)O, (III), the pyrrolidine rings have twist conformations. Compound (II) crystallizes with two independent molecules (A and B) in the asymmetric unit. The mean planes of the pyrrole and pyrrolidine rings are inclined to one another by 89.99 (11) and 89.35 (10)° in molecules A and B, respectively. In (III), the amide derivative of (II), the same dihedral angle is much smaller, at only 13.42 (10)°. In the crystal structure of (II), the individual molecules are linked via N-H...N hydrogen bonds to form inversion dimers, each with an R(2)(2)(12) graph-set motif. In the crystal structure of (III), the molecules are linked via N-H...O hydrogen bonds to form inversion dimers with an R(2)(2)(16) graph-set motif.


To keep sustainable development,small and medium-sized enterprises have advantages in business flexibility,technology adoption,company property policies and innovation,as well as have disadvantages in raising funds,attracting and retaining talented employees,occupying low market share,lacking advanced business management skills and being unable to take a high level of social responsibilities.Small and medium-sized enterprises should build a structure of the sustainable development by enhancing capabilities of resource integration,developing learning skills,gaining innovation abilities,adaptabilities and nurturing social responsibilities.


Investigation to examine the impact of anthropogenic activity and unstoppable hot mudflow by the "LUSI" mud on the environment and fish biodiversity has been carried out. Water quality analyses including heavy metal and phenol concentration from the site were determined using AAS and spectrophotometer. Physico-chemical analyses at the location showed high levels of pollutants: including a high level of phenol and heavy metal such as lead, cadmium and mercury. The discharge of these pollutants into the river body, estuaries and coastal environment influenced fish biodiversity. Data on fish diversity taken by comparing fish data from reports after the eruption in 2006 with the data before the eruption from the previous study shows a decrease of diversity. Seven years after the eruption, there were nine important economic species consumed by local people of the deltas need to be taken seriously.


Over object arteriotomy, while preventing blood flow, also configured to maintain minimum disturbance of intravascular flow involves placement and deployment of the expandable device, vascular access ports, such as arteriotomy describing embodiments for closing. Suitable prosthesis with such a shape memory alloy or polymer is constructed from flexible material length may comprise one or more frames. Such frame is to spread the load, a thrombus that may be associated with intravascular flow to minimize configured to maintain hemostasis, may be coupled into a sheet or tubular structure.


Expansive soil is generally defined as any soil or rock material that exhibits volumetric deformation when its water content changes. It has a potential to swell and shrink under increasing and decreasing water content and suction. If the swelling potential of expansive soils is restrained by surrounding soils or prevented by the overburden pressure or other loads, a counter force which is commonly referred to as swelling pressure will be generated. The primary problem that arises with regard to expansive soils is that deformations are significantly greater than elastic deformations and they cannot be predicted by classical elastic or plastic theory. Movement usually exists in an uneven pattern and such a magnitude can cause extensive damage to structure and pavements resting on them (Nelson & Miller, 1992). The lightweight structure and pavements are very susceptible to damage caused by volume change in expansive soil. The infrastructure such as the foundation slab, highway pavement, the basement wall, and pipeline would be imposed by the expansive soil swelling pressure and consequently results in extensive damages. Muntohar (2006) identified that the swelling pressure caused the pavement damages in Sta. 8 + 127 of the Purworejo-Wates Highway. The weight of the Abstract: In foundation design on an expansive soil, the most critical step is to quantify accurately the magnitude of heave and swelling pressure due to change in moisture content. The one-dimensional oedometer has been widely accepted method to determine the heave and swelling pressure of expansive soil. Its simplicity, suitability, and the availability were the reasons for the frequent use of oedometer swell testing technique, but many procedures were identified to measure the swelling properties. Each testing procedures were not unique and resulted different swelling properties and heave prediction. Then, this paper provides an overview of various existing heave prediction by oedometer methods and evaluate common practices of this methods. The techniques were reviewed systematically and summarized. The study summarized a state-of-the-art heave prediction based on the oedometer methods. Various equations forms to predict heave based on the oedometer method have been presented, but the fundamental principles were the same to propose the equation of heave prediction. The differences in these methods were related to the procedures in which the heave index parameter were determined. The three main procedures of oedometer test, i.e. consolidation swell (CS), constant volume CV, and swell overburden (SO), have been summarized. Most of the heave prediction uses the parameter from CS and CV methods. Several reports have shown that the closest estimates of field heave were predicted based on CV method.


A direct stator flux vector control scheme in discrete-time domain is proposed in this paper for the interior permanent magnet synchronous motor (IPMSM) drive to remove the proportional-integral (PI) controller from the direct torque control (DTC) scheme applied to IPMSM and to obtain faster dynamic response and lower torque ripple output. The output of speed outer loop is used as the desired torque angle instead of the desired torque in the proposed scheme. The desired stator flux vector in dq coordinate is calculated with a given amplitude. The state-space equations in discrete-time for IPMSM are established, the actual stator flux vector is estimated in deadbeat manner by a full-order state observer, and then the closed-loop control is achieved by the pole placement. The stator flux error vector is utilized to calculate the reference stator voltage vector. Extracting the angle position and amplitude from the estimated stator flux vector and estimating the output torque are eliminated for the direct feedback control of the stator flux vector. The proposed scheme is comparatively investigated with a PI-SVM DTC scheme by experiment results. Experimental results show the feasibility and advantages of the proposed control scheme.


Non-interference in discrete event systems deals with the possibility by an intruder to infer the occurrences of private and non observable events, the so called high-level ones, by interacting with the system at a user level, i.e., by observing the occurrence of the so called low-level ones. When bisimulation non-interference is considered, the security objective is not only to avoid the detection of high-level event occurrences, but also to avoid the detection of their non occurrences; i.e., the secret includes also the non occurrences of some events. This letter deals with such a more restrictive security property in the framework of discrete event systems modelled as Petri nets. A necessary and sufficient condition is given to assess bisimulation non-interference in bounded Petri nets. Such a condition requires the solution of integer linear programming optimization problems, whose solution can be used also to statically enforce bisimulation non-interference when this condition is not satisfied by the original system.


In this study, we implemented orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) based communication with universal serial peripheral device known USRP. We aim to study synchronization related problems of OFDM based system in real environment. The timing, phase and channel estimation are done. Their effects to the system performance are discussed. The results show that by using right tools, synchronization problem can be addressed overwhelmingly.


Research purposes: Taking the Dabieshan Tunnel of the Hefei-Wuhan Railway as the background,the study is done on the contact mechanical characteristics and the load bearing characteristics of single-layer lining in the different construction stages as well as on the stability of surrounding rocks for the purpose of clarifying the mechanical characteristics of single-layer lining to provide the reference to the design and construction of similar tunnels. Research conclusions:(1) Compared with the composite lining structure,the contact pressure of single-layer lining structure is obviously bigger,and the maximum pressure is easy to occur at arch foot while the minimum prssure is easy to occur on inverted arch.The internal force of the secondary single-layer lining is obviously smaller than the composite lining.(2) The inner force in single-layer lining is firstly distributed following the supporting time and then distributed following the rigidity.(3) The YAI values of the surrounding rocks on the left and right arch web sides and arch foot are relatively small,and where is easy to destabilize,so the relative measure should be taken.


The x-ray source Cyg X-2 had been identified with a faint variable star, V 1341 Cyg, as long ago as 1967, but up to now there is no conclusive evidence that this is a binary system, notwithstanding a number of endeavors to find a binary period. The situation with this x-ray source resembles that of Sco X-I, for which the binary period was found after a large number ( 1000) of optical observations had been a ~ e r a g e d . ~ I believe that the same technique will prove to be fruitful for Cyg X-2 when a large enough number of observations is available. In this communication I want to present some new results obtained by analysis of optical observations carried out by V. M. Lyutiy, V. P. Goransky, and S. Yu. Shugarov at the Crimean Observatory and at Moscow University in 1974-75.2*5 These observations comprise 335 photoelectric UBV magnitudes and 509 photographic B magnitudes taken between J.D. 2442247 and 2442684. The ostensible optical brightness variations seem to be irregular with ful l amplitude I"'. I f there is any regular component, its amplitude should be appreciably less than this value. T o find such a regular component buried under large-amplitude chaotic variations, the computer program based on two independent algorithms was used.' In the first algorithm for each trial period the correlation coefficient with the sine wave was calculated and normalized so as to give the best sine-wave approximation to the observed magnitudes in the limit of the large number of observations. This coefficient is plotted along the ordinate axis in FIGURES 1 and 3. In the second algorithm the mean squared deviation from the average light curve (called "dispersion" in FIGURE 2) was found for each trial period. The basic property of both algorithms is that with the increasing number of observations the scatter in "amplitude" and "dispersion" (cf. FIGURES 1 and 2) for "false" trial periods decreases while the peaks corresponding to "true" periods of persisting regular components remain approximately the same. In early spring of 1975, when about 200 individual photoelectric points had been obtained, the periodograms (similar to those in FIGURES 1-3) showed three distinct peaks corresponding to periods PI = 5d9, P2 = Id203 and P3 =