economic transition. It evolved from a manufacturingbased economy toward a more service-oriented economy, following a national trend that started much earlier. This transition has been particularly painful for El Paso because its manufacturing employment is concentrated in the apparel industry, which has been in steep decline in the United States for many years. Despite this trend, the El Paso economy continues to be strong. The growth of the service sector has more than offset the decline in manufacturing employment, and El Paso has had a net gain of more than 42,000 jobs over 10 years. The average annual growth rate of employment has been 2.1 percent, slightly higher than the U.S. job growth rate over the same period. Consequently, unemployment declined from 11.6 percent at the beginning of the decade to 9.4 percent in 1999. The current unemployment rate is 8.2 percent. Proximity to Ciudad Juárez and Mexico has shaped the El Paso economy in its manufacturing-to-services transition. Manufacturing sectors related to maquiladora activity in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juárez are growing. Furthermore, El Paso services and services-related employment is benefiting from the economic interrelationships generated by daily flows of trade and people between these cities. This article examines El Paso's economic transition over the past decade and considers how linkages to Ciudad Juárez have transformed the two economies from competing to complementary ones.


Simple Summary The studies on chitin utilization as a source for bioethanol production are still very few. The present study explores some simple methods for insect chitin extraction and application in bioethanol production. Using insect chitin in bioethanol production, may help decreasing the dependence on energy crops as a carbon source for bioethanol. Fungal strains of Mucor circinelloides were reported previously to bio-convert chitin directly to ethanol in submerged fermentation systems. In our study, we explored the bioconversion of insect chitin to bioethanol using two different strains of Mucor circinelloides in submerged fermentation systems. An insect-isolated M. circinelloides strain was found to bio-convert the extracted chitin directly to ethanol in submerged fermentation system. The source of strain isolation and the pH of the production medium were showed to influence the chitin bioconversion directly to bioethanol. All fermentation processes can be conducted easily, using the whole growing microorganism instead of using purified enzymes. These results highlight the insect biomass as a potential new, cheap and renewable source for bioethanol production simply, using a potent insect-isolated M. circinelloides strain. Abstract Chitin, the second most plentiful biopolymer in nature, is a major component of insect cuticle. In searching for alternative resources for fossil fuels, some fungal strains of Mucor circinelloides from an insect-source were found to produce bioethanol directly using insect chitin as a substrate. Herein, simplified methods for insect chitin extraction and application as a substrate in submerged fermentation for bioethanol production were explored. Chitin of the American cockroach (Periplaneta americana (L.)) was isolated by refluxing the cockroaches dried exoskeletons with 4% NaOH. The purity of the extracted chitin was assessed to be high when the physicochemical properties of the extracted chitin matched these of commercially available crab and shrimp samples. The extracted chitin was employed as a substrate in submerged fermentation using two strains of M. circinelloides. One of these, strains M. circinelloides 6017 showed immense potential for bioethanol production directly. It could to bio-transform 15 g/L of colloidal chitin directly to 11.22 ± 0.312 g/L of bioethanol (74% of the initial chitin mass) after 6 days of incubation. These results confirm the possibility of using insect biomass as a potential alternative resource for bioethanol production in a simple manner thus contributing to the creation of an alternate energy source.


The value of requests for coagulation studies prior to angiography is unclear. The rationale that coagulation studies might be helpful in identifying patients likely to suffer from haemorrhagic complications is ill-founded. The primary mechanism of haemostasis following an arterial puncture is the formation of a haemostatic plug, the cellular components of which are the platelets. Aggregation formation on the exposed collagen fibres at the site of puncture results in the formation of a rapid occlusive haemostatic plug (Sixma, 1987). Performing coagulation studies to assess this process is valueless. This can be seen in patients who have haemophilia, where there is a normal bleeding time (a function of the haemostatic plug) but an abnormality of coagulation because of the defects in factor VIII clotting activity.


This paper describes the Automatic X-Ray Image Analysis and Sorting (AXIAS) system which is designed to analyze and measure x-ray images of opaque hollow microspheres used as laser fusion targets. The x-ray images are first recorded on a high resolution film plate. The AXIAS system then digitizes and processes the images to accurately measure the target parameters and defects. The primary goals of the AXIAS system are: to provide extremely accurate and rapid measurements, to engineer a practical system for a routine production environment and to furnish the capability of automatically measuring an array of images for sorting and selection.


Background: Three‐dimensional (3D) electroanatomical navigation systems decrease the fluoroscopy time of electrophysiology and ablation procedures. The aim of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of a complete nonfluoroscopic approach for electrophysiologic studies and right‐sided catheter ablations for supraventricular tachycardia in patients with normal cardiac anatomy using a 3D, surface electrode‐based navigation system (NavX™, St. Jude Medical, St. Paul, MN, USA).


Abstract. Introduction. Active recreation tourism is more effective for physical, emotional, intellectual recreation than passive recreation tourism. Active forms of tourism give dosed in terms of volume and intensity of physical activity for participants, which is the main factor in their recreation and effective recovery. Active tourism is becoming an increasingly important segment of the tourism industry. Active tourism includes more and more types of recreational and tourist and tourist and sports activities. It performs several functions - health, prevention, rehabilitation, training, and education. World experience shows that recently the share of active, extreme, and adventure tourism is growing rapidly. Therefore, the study of current trends in the world and domestic experience of organization of active tourism is relevant. Purpose. The article aims to study current trends in the world and domestic experience in the organization and functioning of active tourism. In the long run, this will help improve the tourist image of the country, region, community and increase tourist flows. Results. International practice shows that, at the present stage of the development of economic systems, tourism is the most dynamically developing area. It is also worth noting that international tourism for some developing countries is the main export ofservices and one of theprincipalsources of foreign exchange in these countries; acts as a stabilizing lever for the formation of their budgets and credit and financial relations with other states. At the beginning of the XXI century, international tourism became one of the most important economic activities in the world, and its history begins long before the invention of the word tourist in the late 18th century. According to the Western tradition, organized trips can be found in ancient Greece and Rome, which claim origins as "heritage tourism" (historical monuments of recognized cultural significance) and beach resorts. Analysis of global trends in active tourism shows that there is a growing interest in more extreme travel "nomadic recreation"; familyextreme trips; immersion in the ocean; space travel; micro-trips or weekend tours; extreme-recovery. In response to the growing demand, travel agencies in the European Union offer a wide range of cycling tours, hiking, rafting, diving, sightseeing, and fauna. Analysis of the development of tourism in Ukraine shows that due to the fast pace of life, inactive, addiction to gadgets, more and more tourists today have begun to prefer active recreation. This holiday will be especially interesting for citizens who live in highrise buildings, among the asphalt and want to change their everyday life for a while for the beauty and splendor of nature. Each region of Ukraine has potential opportunities for the development of each type of tourism: hiking, biking, car, water, fishing, hunting, horseback riding, and mountaineering. In recent years, there has been an increasing number ofspecialized tour operators and guides offering relevant services. Also, the network ofspecialized shops, suppliers, points of hire, and service of modern tourist equipment, establishments, various tourist information, maps, guides are expanded. Conclusions. It is claimed, thatthe word demand is growing for active, extreme tourism because humanity is increasingly suffering from overwork and digital dependence. Given that most areas suffer from overtourism new concepts of recreation are becoming increasingly popular, where it is possible to restore inner peace, mental and spiritual condition. In addition, the identity of local culture and the identity of territory have a significant influence on interest among tourists. Ukraine has the potential for the development of active types of tourism. Also, the world experience will help diversify the range of ideas for the development of tourism.


An integral analytical formula for a spatial distribution of the optical escape factor (OEF) in an infinite cylindrical plasma is derived as a function of an arbitrary upper state spatial density profile, the temperature ratio of the upper state to the lower state, and the optical depth of the corresponding transition. Test calculations are carried out for three different upper state profiles, i.e., uniform (rectangular), parabolic, and Gaussian upper state profiles. The OEF takes on negative values at the periphery of the parabolic and Gaussian upper state profiles. These characteristics cannot be expressed by the conventional OEF formulas derived for the center of the plasma, even though the optical depth is increased. In addition to the analytical derivation of the formula, two practical formulas are proposed: an empirical formula of the spatial distribution of the OEF for the Gaussian upper state density profile and a linear formula of the OEF distribution for upper state profiles that are expressed as linear combinations. These formulas enable us to calculate the spatial distribution of the OEF for the multiple-Gaussian upper state profile without the need for time-consuming integral calculations.


Summary A total of 837 services were analyzed for the effects of sire and system of mating on estimated embryonic mortality by 150 days of gestation. The sire had a highly significant effect on the rate of embryonic death in the females to which he was bred. Outbred embryos had an estimated death rate of 19.8% by 150 days as compared-to 22.3% for inbred embryos. Outbred dams had 19.2% embryonic death by 150 days, whereas embryonic mortality in inbred dams was 28.4%. Although the difference between outbreds and inbreds was not statistically significant in either case, the trend was for inbreeding of either embryos or dams, particularly the latter, to increase embryonic mortality.


Since the earliest days of the film industry, mainstream films have been banned for their sexual, religious, social and political content. This volume traces the efforts to censor 125 films, ranging from the silent "The Birth of a Nation", to "Schindler's List". It examines the continued efforts to regulate the industry, providing a summary of each banned film - including production details, censorship history, and suggestions for further reading. The volume looks at the early efforts to regulate the movie industry, such as the Hays Code in 1922 and the Motion Picture Production Code in 1930. There is also coverage on the emergence of the Catholic League of Decency, which wielded extensive power for nearly 40 years and the reasoning behind the different types of censorship, including racism and anti-Semitism, sexual "indecency" and the fear of Communism. The appendices profile the directors of the banned films, classify them according to the reason for their censorship or ban, and listing of 125 additional challenged, censored, and banned films.


BACKGROUND & AIMS
Clostridioides difficile toxin A (TcdA) activates the innate immune response. TcdA co-purifies with DNA. Toll like receptor 9 (TLR9) recognizes bacterial DNA to initiate inflammation. We investigated whether DNA bound to TcdA activates an inflammatory response in murine models of C difficile infection (CDI) via activation of TLR9.

METHODS
We performed studies with human colonocytes and monocytes and macrophages from wildtype and TLR9-knockout mice, incubated with TcdA or its antagonist (ODN TTAGGG), or transduced with vectors encoding TLR9 or small-interfering RNAs. Cytokine production was measured with an ELISA. We studied a transduction domain of TcdA (TcdA57-80), which was predicted by machine learning to have cell-penetrating activity and confirmed by synchrotron small-angle x-ray scattering. Intestines of CD1 mice, C57BL6J mice, and mice that express a form of TLR9 that is not activated by CpG DNA were injected with TcdA, TLR9 antagonist, or both. Enterotoxicity was estimated based on loop weight:length ratios. A TLR9 antagonist was tested in mice infected with C. difficile. We incubated human colon with an antagonist of TLR9 and measured TcdA-induced production of cytokines.

RESULTS
The TcdA57-80 protein transduction domain had membrane remodeling activity that allowed TcdA to enter endosomes. TcdA-bound DNA entered human colonocytes. TLR9 was required for production of cytokines by cultured cells and in human colon explants incubated with TcdA. TLR9 was required in TcdA-induced mice intestinal secretions and in the survival of mice infected by C. difficile. Even in a protease-rich environment, in which only fragments of TcdA exist, the TcdA57-80 domain organized DNA into a geometrically ordered structure that activated TLR9.

CONCLUSIONS
Rather than inactivating DNA's ability to binding TLR9 via binding, TcdA can in fact chaperone and organize DNA into a highly pro-inflammatory spatially periodic structure. TcdA from C difficile can bind and organize bacterial DNA to activate TLR9. TcdA and TcdA fragments remodel membranes, which allows them to access endosomes and present bacterial DNA to and activate TLR9. Rather than inactivating the ability of DNA to bind TLR9, TcdA appears to chaperone and organize DNA into an inflammatory, spatially periodic structure.


There exist many experimental situations in which a subjective rather than an objective test of a specific variable proves to be a much more relevant method of investigation. Because of the intimate relationship between image processing and the human eye, subjective tests are extremely important in the final judgement if an image is passed by the human eye. In this paper, insight into what method of colour edge detection results in edge maps which are in best accordance with what the human eye sees. In particular, this paper presents a comparison of the relative subjectively-based performances of a group of basic order statistic and difference vector operator detectors.


The home TV is evolving more and more as a communication center for all home communications services. The development of this new integrated circuit was based on the increasing demand for additional TV signal sources. The design of a single chip VHF / UHF modulator IC with excellent performance and minimized external circuitry is described in this paper. This integrated circuit has been developed to convert audio and video signals into high frequency VHF / UHF-TV signals for all TV standards. It is suitable for applications in video recorders, personal computers, cable converters, remodulators, video test signal generators, and radio amateur TV transmitters.


Echocardiography has become one of the most commonly used cardiac diagnostic techniques, applicable to the assessment of a wide variety of disorders of the heart. In recent years, digital techniques (both computer and electronics) have been increas ingly applied to echocardiography. The utilization of dig ital technology has been fruitfu lly applied to all aspects of two-dimensional (2D) echocardiography, including image acquisition, preprocessing analysis to help for the medical d iagnosis. Echocardiography images are noisy and having low contrast. These Echocardiography images are preprocessed to get clearer images. The Transthoracic Echocardiography images are processed for diagnosis of valvular heart and diseases quantification of LV volume.


Multi-Object Tracking (MOT) is the task that has a lot of potential for development, and there are still many problems to be solved. In the traditional tracking by detection paradigm, There has been a lot of work on feature based object re-identification methods. However, this method has a lack of training data problem. For labeling multi-object tracking dataset, every detection in a video sequence need its location and IDs. Since assigning consecutive IDs to each detection in every sequence is a very labor-intensive task, current multi-object tracking dataset is not sufficient enough to train re-identification network. So in this paper, we propose a novel self-supervised learning method using a lot of short videos which has no human labeling, and improve the tracking performance through the re-identification network trained in the self-supervised manner to solve the lack of training data problem. Despite the re-identification network is trained in a self-supervised manner, it achieves the state-of-the-art performance of MOTA 62.0\% and IDF1 62.6\% on the MOT17 test benchmark. Furthermore, the performance is improved as much as learned with a large amount of data, it shows the potential of self-supervised method.


Soil organic phosphorus (P) may play a significant role in ecosystem P dynamics, yet, little is known about the development of different organic P classes over time. According to the commonly accepted model, relative proportions of organic P are expected to increase quickly after the commencement of soil development, subsequently remaining relatively stable over time. We tested this hypothesis on a young soil chronosequence in the Damma glacier forefield (Switzerland), where we examined the development of different organic P classes over time. In detail, we hypothesized that organic P compounds resistant against broadly active phosphatase-enzymes would increase with soil age.


We provide a comprehensive picture of the relationship between labor market outcomes and age by gender in all the 28 European countries covered by the European Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC). The analysis is based on a somewhat unconventional approach that refers to concentration curves in the context of Gini regression framework. It allows to identify ranges in the explanatory variables where local slopes change sign and/or size, i.e. the components that \make up" a regression coecient. The European countries are clustered into five groups according to their employment, hours of work and earnings age-profiles by gender, as identified by the concentration curves. The most relevant differences in age pro les concern working-hours-patterns: some countries are characterized by an almost specular behavior in men and women; other countries instead show similar patterns. Generally, earnings increase with age for both men and women. However, local regression coefficients are not monotonic over the entire age range and can even be locally negative in some countries.


Define $\tau(\pi)$ to be the number of subsequences of $\pi$ that are order-isomorphic
 to $\tau$. Let~$\tau$ be a pattern of length three with at most two distinct letters, namely, \[\tau\in\{111,112,121,122,211,212,221\}.\]
 In this paper, we give an algorithm for finding the generating function \[w_{\tau;r}(n;y)=\sum_{k\geq1}\,\,\sum_{\pi\in[k]^n,\tau(\pi)=r}y^k\] for the number of $k$-ary words of length $n$ that contain exactly $r$ occurrences of the pattern $\tau$, for given $r\geq0$.
 In particular, we obtain explicit formulas for the generating functions $w_{\tau;r}(n;y)$, where $r=0,1$.


In this paper an effective method for optimal power flow (OPF) of combined economic and emission dispatch by employing multiobjective particle swarm optimization for a standard IEEE 30 bus test system is presented. The harmful ecological effects caused due to emission of particulate and gaseous pollutants from fossil fuel power plants, can be reduced by proper load allocation among the various generating units. Multiobjective Particle Swarm Optimization is employed for optimization of Fuel cost, Emission and also for minimization total cost which includes economic dispatch and emission component. For improved performance of the power system Static Var Compensator (SVC) is adapted in the IEEE 30 bus system and results for optimization of Combined Economic and Emission Dispatch (CEED) with and without SVC installation are obtained and compared. The limits to carry out PSO has been set on generator real and reactive power outputs, reactive power injection due to capacitor banks, bus voltages and transformer tapings.


A sampling-based algorithm for solving stochastic optimization problems, based on Auer et. al.'s Exp3 algorithm for "adversarial multi-armed bandit problems," has been recently presented by the authors. In particular, the authors recursively extended the Exp3-based algorithm for solving finite-horizon Markov decision processes (MDPs) and analyzed its finite-iteration performance in terms of the expected bias relative to the maximum value of the "recursive sample- average-approximation (SAA)" problem induced by the sampling process in the algorithm, showing that the upper bound of the expected bias approaches zero as the sampling size per state sampled in each stage goes to infinity, leading to the convergence to the optimal value of the original MDP problem in the limit. As a sequel to the previous work, the idea is further extended for solving two-person zero-sum Markov games (MGs), providing a finite-iteration bound to the equilibrium value of the induced "recursive SAA game" problem and asymptotic convergence to the true equilibrium value. The recursively extended algorithm for MGs can be used for breaking the curse of dimensionality.


Regionalization technique using flow duration curve and spatial interpolation algorithm is developed for the purpose of estimating daily flow time series at ungauged station. In this study, we assumed a part of 8 gauging stations of Nakdong River basin as ungauged stations. Then, we generated flow duration curves and daily flow hydrographs by regionalization technique at ungauged stations. And we compared generated and observed hydrographs. The simulation results showed that the observed flows were well simulated by the proposed method and that the general patterns of the observed flows were satisfactorily reproduced by the regionalization technique. From these results, it is possible that we obtain daily flow information without application of labour intensive and time consuming deterministic models, which require complicating quantification of model parameter values. And we compared the regionalization techniques with the specific discharge method which is the most general approach in hydrological practice in Korea. The results showed that the regionalization technique was superior to specific discharge method.method.


INTRODUCTION
Varignon's theorem states that the midpoints of the sides of an arbitrary quadrilateral form a parallelogram. The parallelogram thus formed, known as the Varignon parallelogram, has the property that its area is half that of the original quadrilateral. In Figure 1 the Varignon parallelogram EFGH is formed by joining the mid-points of the sides of quadrilateral ABCD. Proving that the midpoints of an arbitrary quadrilateral doing deed form a parallelogram can readily be accomplished using the midpoint theorem. In Figure 2, one of the diagonals of quadrilateral ABCD has been drawn in. Since H and E are the midpoints of the sides of triangle ADB, it follows that HE is parallel to DB. Using a similar observation in triangle BCD we have FG parallel to BD from which it follows that HE is parallel to FG. Using AC, the other diagonal of quadrilateral ABCD, it can similarly be shown that EF is parallel to HG.


In this thesis we present the concept of concatenated multilevel codes. These codes are a combination of generalized concatenated codes with multilevel coding. The structure of these codes is simpl ...


The debate regarding rising temperatures and CO2 emissions has attracted the attention of economists employing recent econometric techniques. This article extends the previous literature using a dataset that covers 800 000 years, as well as a shorter dataset, and examines the interaction between temperature and CO2 emissions. Unit root tests reveal a difference between the two datasets. For the long dataset, all tests support the view that both temperature and CO2 are stationary around a constant. For the short dataset, temperature exhibits trend-stationary behaviour, while CO2 contains a unit root. This result is robust to nonlinear trends or trend breaks. Modelling the long dataset reveals that while contemporaneous CO2 appears positive and significant in the temperature equation, including lags results in a joint effect that is near zero. This result is confirmed using a different lag structure and Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model. A Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) approach to account for endogeneity suggests an insignificant relationship. In sum, the key result from our analysis is that CO2 has, at best, a weak relationship with temperature, while there is no evidence of trending when using a sufficiently long dataset. Thus, as a secondary result we highlight the danger of using a small sample in this context.


In this paper, a proposal of employing an intuitive, human-centered, simplified software-based flight control system in general aviation aircraft has been presented. Airplanes equipped with such a flight control system with belong to a new class of general aviation aircraft with improved safety and efficiency handling properties – Facilitated Airplane (FA) or Simple Flying Airplane (SFA). The proposed method of aircraft control differs from traditional solutions. It proposes a different pilot role and different aircraft handling qualities. It is assumed that the aircraft is automatically controlled; pilot makes decisions and introduces corrections when necessary. Pilot displaces sidestick and controls the airplane indirectly, via forming filters, handling quality processor and stabilization control system. Depending on phase of flight, pilot enters flight parameters (for example: flight path, heading, altitude) into the system or manually controls aircraft's attitude and airspeed by manual control deflection. Algorithms that calculate and perform control have been equipped with built-in testing mechanisms, which minimize the possibility of exceeding operating limitations, both under automatic and manual control. The control system, without pilot's participation, counteracts the results of external disturbances (for example, air turbulence), dampens undesired oscillations (for example, dutch roll oscillations), and stabilization of flight parameters: bank angle or heading, flight altitude, pitch angle or airspeed. Flight control system is equipped with diagnostic subsystems to ensure the desired level of reliability. New design concepts allow improvements in operating properties of already existing and newly designed executive aircraft, as well as establishing a higher level of flight safety.


With the steadily growing demand for energy in the world, oil and gas companies are finding themselves facing increasing capital and operating costs. To ensure the economic viability of investments and improve the safety of operations, oil and gas companies are promoting their asset integrity management (AIM) systems. In the past, the oil and gas industry adopted reactive maintenance regimes, which involved recertification, testing and repair of faulty equipment while trying to achieve minimum downtime. As technology becomes more affordable, operators have been able to carry out improved fault diagnosis, prognosis and maintenance optimisation. As a result of this, condition-based maintenance (CBM) is being adopted more and more as the preeminent maintenance regime for oil and gas equipment. The blowout preventer (BOP) is one of the most expensive and safety critical drilling equipment in the oil and gas industry. However, there have been very few studies and best practices about how to develop a CBM policy and what specific monitoring techniques and devices will be required to implement it for the BOP system. This paper proposes a V-model based architecture for designing a CBM policy in BOP systems. As a result of the model proposed, gaps in implementation are identified and all the hardware, software and training requirements for implementing the CBM solution in BOP systems will be outlined in detail. Our proposed CBM framework will help BOP operators and maintenance personnel make cost savings through less repairs and replacements and minimal downtime.


Abstract This paper describes the outcome of a research and development project concerned to construct a computer aid for careers advisers and career decision-makers which differs in basic philosophy and design from others currentiy in the field. The resulting Careers Decision Aiding System (CDAS) is principally concerned with improving the quality of the decision-making strategy employed by clients by raising their awareness of the way in which their career choice is made, ratherthan with employing computer technology to attempt to match people to careers. The use of the CDAS by clients and careers advisers is illustrated by two case-studies.


The incidence of fungal infections has experienced a
marked increase in the last two decades being limited to a few drugs with serious drawbacks.
Combination therapy has emerged as an approach to improve the efficacy of currently
used antifungal therapy that also may delay the evolution of resistance.

The objectives of this work are to present a bibliographic search on the plants used
in traditional medicine in Argentina for ailments related to fungal infections and to investigate
the antifungal activity of currently used antifungal drugs in combination with natural
extracts.

Results of the bibliographic investigation showed that 153 species belonging to 56
families and 120 genera from Argentina are applied to treat signs and symptoms considered
to maintain ethnopharmacological uses related to fungal infections, mainly for skin and mucosal
conditions.

Regarding the evaluation of the antifungal activity of combinations between
extracts and antifungal drugs, we observed that extracts from plants species belonging to a
genera traditionally used for ailments related to fungal infections have more chances of
enhancing the activity of amphotericin B, fluconazole and itraconazole. In addition, we observed
that there is a greater chance of finding an enhancement in the activity of the commercial
antifungals when the combination is performed with extracts that have shown activity
in solitary. Nevertheless, inactive extracts that would have been discarded according to
the classic strategy displayed activity in combination and they continue being potential candidates
in the search for new antifungals.


The stress–strain characteristics of compressed sandstone are affected by many different factors. The study on the evolution law of the strain field of compressed sandstone is of great significance for disaster prediction and warning during the construction process of geotechnical engineering. In this paper, uniaxial compression tests of red sandstone of 100 mm height and 50 mm length and width were carried out under the conditions of (1) different loading rates, (2) different particle sizes and (3) different inclination angles of prefabricated fractures. Stress–strain curves corresponding to different conditions were presented, the evolution of strain field on the sample surfaces was analyzed with the help of Digital Image Correlation technology and the relationship between the stress–strain curves and the strain field was preliminarily given. This study may be helpful for obtaining a deeper understanding of the deformation and failure mechanism of sandstone under uniaxial compression.


Results and concepts in the theory of weak convergence of a sequence of probability measures are applied to convergence problems for a variety of recursive adaptive (stochastic approximation-like) methods. Similar techniques have had wide applicability in areas of operations research and in some other areas in stochastic control. It is quite likely that they will play a much more important role in control theory than they do at present, since they allow relatively simple and natural proofs for many types of convergence and approximation problems. Part of the aim of the paper is tutorial: to introduce the ideas and to show how they might be applied. Also, many of the results are new, and they can all be generalized in many directions.


The objective of this study was to investigate the diagnostic prevalence of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) in the United States and examine treatment patterns for these diseases.


Nowadays our country is in the transforming period of the social system,the transformation of government functions has already been the key factor in the system transformation.Professor Goldsmith and Eggers proposed the theory of network governance,which emphasizes the deeper level of public-private partnerships in the public service supply and higher level of government network management ability.Network governance theory has great significance to the transformation of government functions.Combining the theory of network governance,we should build the network government.Based on China's fundamental national conditions and the Control-Service Theory,promote the transformation of government functions.


The microscopic characters and TLC characters of ramie leaf were described.And the average water content,average total ash content,average acid-insoluble ash content,average alcohol-soluble extractive content and average chlorogenic acid content in crude drug ramie leaf were 7.47%,16.29%,1.71%,12.66% and 0.05% resp.


Objectives: Approximately 20% of UK women aged 70+ with early breast cancer receive primary endocrine therapy (PET) instead of surgery. PET reduces surgical morbidity but with some survival decrement. To complement and utilise a treatment dependent prognostic model, we investigated the cost-effectiveness of surgery plus adjuvant therapies versus PET for women with varying health and fitness, identifying subgroups for which each treatment is cost-effective. Methods: Survival outcomes from a statistical model, and published data on recurrence, were combined with data from a large, multicentre, prospective cohort study of over 3400 UK women aged 70+ with early breast cancer and median 52 month follow up, to populate a probabilistic economic model. This model evaluated the cost effectiveness of surgery plus adjuvant therapies relative to PET for 24 illustrative subgroups: Age {70, 80, 90} x Nodal status {FALSE (F), TRUE (T)} x Comorbidity score {0,1,2,3+}. Results: For a 70 year old with no lymph node involvement and no comorbidities (70,F,0), surgery plus adjuvant therapies was cheaper and more effective than PET. For other subgroups, surgery plus adjuvant therapies was more effective but more expensive. Surgery plus adjuvant therapies was not cost-effective for 4 of the 24 subgroups: (90,F,2), (90,F,3), (90,T,2), (90,T,3). Conclusion: From a UK perspective, surgery plus adjuvant therapies is clinically effective and cost effective for most women aged 70+ with early breast cancer. Cost effectiveness reduces with age and comorbidities and for women over 90 with multiple comorbidities, there is little cost benefit and a negative impact on quality-of-life.


This Study Aims to illuminate the correlation between civic engagement and community-engaged arts. As art and politics often correlate to each other, in the early 1990's "new genre public art" has developed out of the previous traditional public art movements with decoration purposes (Lacy, 1995). These New genres have functioned as social intervention channels. this essay will carry out the study of the correlation between the new socio-political phenomenon and public art practices as: (participatory art, dialogic art, community-based art, activist art). Using Art-based research methodology the researcher intends to investigate contemporary community-based art practices and its contribution to local communities' development. A case study on the city of Philadelphia's Mural Arts Program is carried out in this research.


AbstrcatA new method, based on support vector machines (SVMs) and genetic algorithm, is proposed for texture recognition. The main difficulty of texture recognition is the lack of effective tools to characterize different scales of textures. To alleviate the problem,wavelet co-occurrence parameters, window size, mean and standard deviation of different level discrete wavelet transform (DWT) images are used as texture features. In particular, we apply multi-class support vector machines for classification, using error-correcting output codes (ECOC) for the extension of binary SVMs. On the other hand, genetic algorithm is used for feature optimization to obtain more accurate rates. Compared to the conventional Bayes classifier, SVMs produce more accurate recognition rates on the Ponce texture database. The error rate of experiments is less than 10%.


ABSTRACT Mountaineering, broadly defined as hiking, trekking and climbing, is nowadays a mass phenomenon. Sensitive to outside influences, the environment of high mountain areas, until recently cut off from civilisation, has been abruptly exposed to it. The environment of high mountain areas has clearly been affected. The balance of environmental profit and loss depends on a number of factors and circumstances. The paper argues that within populated areas (inhabited and agricultural exploited), mountaineering – contrary to widespread opinion – has an impact on the natural environment that is almost always positive, but above populated areas it is almost always negative. The authors propose a qualitative model for this thesis.


Abstract China's new labour law is a significant reform that offers workers greater employment security and income protection. It is a product of both unprecedented industrial unrest as well as the Chinese government's decision to move its economy to a higher-wage, higher-technology future. The law has energised many workers, who are now using the courts and the Communist Party-controlled trade unions to press their claims. But the law has also evoked a sharp reaction from many employers, who have sought to circumvent its purposes in two ways. First, they coerce many employees to resign their posts—thereby forfeiting important seniority claims—and then rehire them as new employees. Second, many labour-intensive manufacturers have begun to shutter their factories and shift production to even lower-wage regions of China or Southeast Asia. Although long an instrument of labour control and intimidation, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions has sought to use the new labour law to win for itself a measure of institutional and ideological legitimacy.


Nonneutralizing monoclonal antibodies were prepared against two strains, S2 and YO, of human rotaviruses isolated in cell culture. S2‐37 and YO‐5 antibodies had subgroup I and subgroup II specificities, respectively. The remaining antibodies (S2‐65, YO‐71, YO‐89, and YO‐156) reacted commonly with all the rotaviruses examined. All of the monoclonal antibodies agglutinated exclusively single‐shelled particles and immunoprecipitated 42,000‐dalton protein, a major component of inner capsid.


Introduction: The prognosis of pediatric immune thrombocytopenic purpura ( ITP ) has a favorable prognosis, about 80 % of ITP children will be cured in 6 months with or without therapy, the rest of patients develop to chronic ITP. However, it is difficult to predict the course of this disease at the time of diagnosis. Recent advances of automated blood cell analyzer enable to measure various blood cell parameters. Among these parameters, platelet indices such as mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet size deviation width (PDW) and platelet-large cell ratio (P-LCR) has brought about some information for thrombocytopenia. We studied the significance of such platelet indices in the differential diagnosis of immune thrombocytopenic purpura ( ITP ) and their ability to discriminate the clinical courses of ITP. Methods: Ninety-three patients were enrolled this study at our institution from 2004 to 2006. Their ages ranged from 1 to 17 years ( media 4.3 years ). Of 93, patients were divided into two goups for analysis, according to the diagnosis of ITP. 34 were diagnosed as ITP and 59 were diagnosed various blood diseases other than ITP. In these 59 non-ITP patients, five were with thrombocytopenia ( platelet count 9 /L ), the other without thrombocytopenia. Of 34 ITP patients, 29 were acute subtype and 5 were chronic. The Sysmex-XE2100 automated blood cell analyzer (Sysmex, Kobe, Japan) was used to measure the blood parameters, including the platelet indices. Results: According to MPV, PDW and P-LCR, there were no significant differences between ITP patients and non-ITP. In children with ITP, there were significant inverse correlations between the platelet count and evaluated parameters, MPV (R 2 =0.376), PDW (R 2 =0.26) and P-LCR(R 2 =0.338). But no significant correlations were found between the platelet count and these evaluated platelet indices in non-ITP. Also, we have found all platelet indices were significantly higher in chronic ITP than in acute ITP. In particular, PDW (9.910 vs 13.080) and P-LCR (21.071 vs 33.220) showed marked differences between the two groups. Conclusions: ITP is considered as a result of hyper-destruction of platelets. Increase of platelet count is regarded as decrease of destruction of platelets. Our data suggested that platelet indices, MPV, PDW and P-LCR showed the useful information for the degree of platelet destruction and the ability to predict the clinical courses of ITP.


The beneficiation of oil shales and separation of organic matter (OM) enables expansion of fields of their industrial application. For example the concentrate of OM may be used for separation of dicarboxylic acids for further production of plastics, plasticizers and other chemical products. Due to enrichment in OM in the beneficiation process, oil shales may be used more effectively in both power engineering and oil production. Besides, the separation of calcite allows to reduce emission of carbon dioxide at processing oil shales. To choose the optimum grinding method to enable most selective separation of OM, different possibilities were tested. The best results, related to further separation of OM in the hydrocycling process, were obtained by using a centrifugal-rebound mill for grinding oil shale. The three-stage hydrocycling of the ground oil shale makes it possible to upgrade the concentrate up to 50.2% OM at high recovery – 91.5% from the feed ore. Separation of OM was carried out by using the flotation process, and the effect of different parameters was investigated. These included reagent conditions, particle size, pH level and flotation time. After five cleaner flotation of the rough concentrate the product containing 85.7% OM at the recovery of 81.3% from the feed oil shale was obtained. In this report the general flow sheet involving combined hydrocycling and flotation processes is described. This flow sheet enables to produce a concentrate containing 90% OM at the recovery of 90.9% from the feed oil shale.


The book begins with a comparison of the United States and United Kingdom methods of measuring the unemployment rate and is of interest when we remember that in Australia we moved away from the British registration approach to almost total reliance upon the United States type survey method. More importantly, the first chapter introduces a fundamental issue: what do measures of the unemployment rate really tell us about macroeconomic and labour market performance? As the authors so rightly point .. out, the debate over unemployment statistics should really be seen as part of the whole Keynesian-monetarist controversy in economics. 'What the debate reveals is that there is almost no limit to which certain individuals will go in order to minimise their estimates of Keynesian unemployment, par-


Pilgrimage is often seen as a special form of religious travelling which is done relatively rarely, possibly even only once in a lifetime, such as the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. This article argues that pilgrimage does not necessarily have to be such a rare and elevated form of religious behaviour; it can also be even a daily habit or a lifestyle a pilgrim wants to maintain. Pilgrimage in this case helps the pilgrim to maintain a set of values he or she considers important, such as the Greek Orthodox religion, Greekness and a connection to the local community. This article presents the sacred site visitation of a contemporary suburban convent in Northern Greece, the convent of the Dormition of the Virgin.


Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is a network containing a set of autonomous nodes that are randomly distributed in a region of interest. The role of each node is the periodic transmission of results to the sink. Improving the energy efficiency and maximizing the networking lifetime are the major challenges in this kind of networks. To deal with this, the hierarchical protocols (Cluster based-approach, chain based-approach) have been developed in order to reduce the network traffic toward the sink and therefore prolong the network lifetime. In this paper we will concentrate to the protocol LEACH (Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy Protocol) in order to propose a new method of selection of cluster head. Our method is to conserve energy consumption when transmitting data to the Base Station (BS). We evaluated the performance of the LEACH protocol with our proposed method using Matlab as a simulation tool.


In existing Liquefied Petroleum Gases terminals, the transfer of liquefied gases to the tanker is performed via articulated loading arms or flexible hoses, working under quasistatic conditions. The tanker has to be firmly moored alongside a jetty or a process barge in a protected area (such as a harbour in most cases). This paper gives the main results of the development of an offshore refrigerated LPG (-48/sup 0/C) loading/unloading system, using a CALM buoy and LPG floating hoses working under dynamic conditions. The aim of this new concept is to replace the standard harbour structure for loading/unloading refrigerated LPG and to provide a considerable reduction in investments and a greater flexibility regarding the terminal location. The main components of that terminal have been designed so as to enable the loading of a 75 000 cubic meter LPG carrier in 15 hours. The results of static and dynamic low temperature tests on a LPG swivel joint for CALM buoy and LPG floating hoses show that such a SPM terminal is now a realistic solution.


The invention discloses a gas-magnetic mixed suspension type of 6-DOF (degree of freedom) planar motor comprising a stator substrate placed on the horizontal XY plane and a mover substrate floating on the stator substrate and parallel to the stator substrate. The four angles on the upper surface of the stator substrate are respectively provided with a first permanent magnet array, a second permanent magnet array, a third permanent magnet array and a fourth permanent magnet array. The wavelength direction of the first permanent magnet array and the third permanent magnet array thereof is the same with X axis and the wavelength direction of the second permanent magnet array and the fourth permanent magnet array is the same with Y axis. The four angles of the lower surface of the mover substrate are respectively provided with a first thrust winding, a second thrust winding, a third thrust winding and a fourth thrust winding. The wavelength direction of the first thrust winding and the third thrust winding thereof is the same with X axis and the wavelength direction of the second thrust winding and the fourth thrust winding is the same with Y axis. The four angles of the lower surface of the moving substrate are respectively provided with a first aerostatic bearing air cushion, a second aerostatic bearing air cushion, a third aerostatic bearing air cushion and a fourth aerostatic bearing air cushion.


INTRODUCTION 565 STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF BGP AND MGP ........ .. . .. ........ 566 SUBSTRATE RECOGNITION BY THE VITAMIN-K-DEPENDENT ,},-GLUTAMYL CARBOXYLASE ........ . . 569 THE EFFECT OF WARFARIN ON BGP SyNTHESIS 573 EFFECTS ON BONE OF LONG-TERM TREATMENT WITH WARFARIN PLUS VITAMIN K 576 IMPLICATIONS OF TISSUE DIFFERENCES IN VITAMIN K METABOLISM FOR WARFARIN PROPHYLAXIS 579


Simulations of argon diffusion and of picosecond recombination of nitric oxide to myoglobin are presented. Three computational methods are compared, usual classical trajectories, mean field trajectories, and mean field trajectories with a binary collision correction. The ligand mobility and the spatial distribution of the ligand in the protein interior are examined. Time-dependent properties calculated with the binary collision model are in good agreement with exact simulations. This is to be contrasted with the original mean field protocol that is not working well for dynamics


Objective: To investigate the antibacterial activity of Chidan pill and its medicinal substances in vitro.Methods: The minimal inhibitory concentration(MIC)and the minimal bactericidal concentration(MBC) of the aqueous and alcohol extractives of the Chidan pill and its medicinal substances against Staphylococcus aureus,Escherichia coli,Pseudomonas aeruginosa,and Blastomyces albicans were deter-mined.Results: The antibacterial activity of both aqueous and alcohol extractives of Chidan pill and its medicinal substances against Blasto-myces albicans was weaker than that against Staphylococcus aureus,Escherichia coli,and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in vitro.Among all kinds of extractives,the antibacterial activity of the aqueous extractive of the medicinal substances against Blastomyces albicans was relatively stronger(P 0.05).The antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus,Escherichia coli,and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were different among various kinds of extractives.The antibacterial activity of the aqueous extractive of the medicinal substances against Blastomyces albi-cans and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the antibacterial activity of the alcohol extractive of Chidan pill against Staphylococcus aureus and Es-cherichia coli was the strongest,respectively.Conclusion: The aqueous and alcohol extractives of Chidan pill and its medicinal substances have antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus,Escherichia coli,Pseudomonas aeruginosa,and Blastomyces albicans in vitro.


Conventional approach of energy derivation is causing anthropogenic pollution and climate change. Various sustainable alternatives of renewable energy particularly solar energy have been developed and implemented as a part of the global effort to gradually decommission usage of fossil fuel and in turn, reduce carbon footprint to overcome adverse environmental impacts. Nevertheless, it was reported that in 2019, only 0.85% of total energy used globally is powered by solar energy. Photovoltaic by itself is not feasible enough due to magnified requirement of land for its installation. Therefore, one of the solutions is floating photovoltaic. However, floating photovoltaic is also restraint by the impact of tidal wave. Characterisation of relationship between stability of large floating structures corresponding to volumetric displacement of the buoyancy control device is the focal point of this paper. Significance of tidal wave impact is empirically assessed based on a scaled-down model of buoyancy control device integrated large floating structure by manipulating the buoyancy of buoyancy control device assisted structure to structure without buoyancy control device under a controlled environment. Fluctuation of the buoyancy control device can be reduced by up to 99.65% when tested against highest configuration of wave transducer by displacing only 50% of air with water. Meanwhile, neutral buoyancy is achieved up to almost 100% when the buoyancy control device is completely filled with water and total submergence has been achieved.


Poly-acrylate liquid rubber was synthesized via solution polymerization with butyl acrylate,ethyl acrylate and glycidyl methacrylate,and was used to enhance the toughness of epoxy resin system of EP828/mXDA.The influence of poly-acrylate liquid rubber content on morphology,mechanics properties and glass transition temperature of the modification system was discussed in this paper.The SEM photo showed in the blend of EP828/mXDA system toughened with poly-acrylate liquid rubber the sea island structure was formed and in which epoxy component existed as the continuous phase and liquid rubber component existed as the disperse phase.The size and number of rubber particals were increased with the poly-acrylate liquid rubber content increased.The impact strength of the modification system was increased by 151.8% and the glass transition temperature dropped by 11.3 ℃,when 15%(wt) liquid rubber was incorporated and the size of sea island phase region was about 1μm.In a word,the incorporation of the synthesized liquid rubber could greatly improves the toughness of EP828/mXDA system,and the system heat-resistant property decreased a little at the same time.


To demonstrate that reconstructive transoral laser microsurgical (R‐TLM) techniques can be used for the treatment of symptomatic laryngeal posterior glottic web–based stenosis (PGWS) in a large cohort of patients utilizing a postcricoid mucosal advancement flap (PCMAF).


Dynamic agroecosystem models can be used both for supporting operative desicions finding in order to realize agrotechnical measures in plant production and for evaluating the mediumand long-term consequences of possible changes in land use and climate. In this paper the AGROSIM named family of agroecosystem models suitable for answering both questions is briefly represented. The general possibilities to use agroecosystem models for studying the consequences of different agrotechnical measures (N-fertilization, irrigation, pest control) as well as for model integration into farm-level desicion support systems are studied and discussed exemplarily for the winter wheat component model. Finally the possibilities, problems and limitations of agroecosystem model transfer to different European locations (France, Netherlands, Poland, Germany) are investigated and discussed on the basis of model adaptation calculations.


Pain is a multidimensional experience. Previous psychological studies have shown that a person's subjective pain threshold can change when certain emotions are recognized. We examined this association by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) (15 healthy subjects) and magneto encephalography (MEG) (19 healthy subjects). Subjects experienced pain stimuli in different emotional contexts induced by the presentation of sad, happy or neutral facial stimuli. They also rated their subjective pain intensity. We found: 1) The intensity of subjective pain ratings increased in the sad emotional context, 2) pain–related activation in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was more pronounced in the sad context, and we demonstrated amygdala to ACC connections during the experience of pain in the sad context, and 3) event–related desynchronization (ERD) of lower beta bands in the right hemisphere after pain stimuli was larger in the sad emotional condition. These results show that emotional stimuli can modulate neural responses to pain stimuli, and that it may be relevant to understanding the broader relationship between somatic complaints and negative emotion.


Sir The paper by Mr Magee and colleagues (Br JSurg 1992; 79: 1014-16) studying life quality in survivors of elective abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA 1 surgery is welcome. That this quality appears to equal or even exceed preoperative levels is noteworthy, as this conclusion differs from earlier opinion'. However, the fact that patients were asked to recall details of well-being from up to 42 months before operation rather weakens the reliability of the study. Were the patients interviewed by the authors or independent interviewers? Were the patients told that the results would be analysed anonymously? Many patients are so willing to please. The more potential biases that could be excluded, the more convincing the results would be. Nevertheless, that so many patients perceived themselves as having relatively good life quality after aneurysm surgery is good news. The results presented in the paper should not be used in isolation to support the need for a national aneurysm screening programme. The 8 per cent mortality rate of elective operation is a reminder that aneurysm repair can be a hazardous procedure. It would have been helpful in assessing this study to know the criteria on which elective operation was offered, the number of patients considered unfit for operation and the conditions from which they suffered. Many currently conclude that a national screening programme for AAA is not yet ~ a r r a n t e d ~ ~ . At first glance, the reported decrease in postoperative sexual potency seems interesting. O n closer inspection the results are even more intriguing because it appears that Bristol and Exeter men are unusually virile. From the data presented it can be calculated that the approximate mean age of the 120 male interviewees with aneurysm was 73 years. Some I19 of them are reported to have had 'normal sexual function' before operation. Considering their advanced years, perhaps the men of Bristol and Exeter were not only willing to please but also exceptionally able so to do.


As a variant of Finite mixture model (FMM), finite Inverted Dirichlet mixture model (IDMM) can not avoid the conventional challenges, such as how to select the appropriate number of mixture components based on the observed data. Towards easing these issues, we propose a variational inference framework for learning IDMM which has been proved to be an efficient tool for modeling vectors with positive elements. Compared with the conventional Expectation maximization (EM) algorithm commonly used for learning FMM, the proposed approach prevents over-fitting well. Furthermore, it is able to do automatic determination of the number of mixture components and parameters estimation, simultaneously. Experimental results on both synthetic and real data of object detection confirm significant improvements on flexibility and efficiency being achieved.


The ordering of CH function is first discussed. The generalized P ordering CH function is derived. And then the general presentation of CH function with different ordering is presented by means of the multiplication of generalized Radamache functions. Moreover, the construction property of CH function is studied in detail, and the copy theory of CH function is developed. Finally, the generalized bridge function is constructed on the basis of copy theory.


This paper discusses the concepts and the supporting infrastructure developed within the extrovert-Gadgets research project. This project explores concepts and technologies that aim to enable end-users to realize, modify and personalise Ubiquitous Computing applications. The eGadgets technology is at a proof of concept stage and the demonstration presented shows the feasibility of augmenting physical objects with a digital 'self' and for defining the combined behaviour of a few such augmented artefacts through a purpose made editor.


A versal unfolding of a Pfaffian system with irregular singularities on the Riemann sphere is studied through its middle convolution. If the system is rigid, it is realized as a confluent limit of a rigid Fuchsian system. We show that the versal unfolding of a rigid Pfaffian system is extended to a versal KZ equation regarding singular points as variables. Appell's hypergeometric equations and their confluences are the simple examples.


Benzaldehyde glycol acetal was synthesized from benzaldehyde and glycol in the presence of H3PW6Mo6O40/SiO2 as catalyst.The optimal reaction conditions were screened by orthogonal test method.The yield of benzaldehyde glycol acetal can reach 79.6% under the optimum reaction conditions that benzaldehyde is 0.2mol,molar ratio of benzaldehyde to glycol is 1.0∶1.5,the quantity of catalyst is 1.0%,the reaction time is 45min and the cyclohexane as carrying-water reagent is 12mL.


Objective To observe the effect of chuanxiongzine by local artery infusion into pancreatic gland treating severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). Methods Divide the patients into two group , research group and control group,33 patients each.Besides the routine treatment、preventing and curing infection and some other measures ,the research group give continuing infusion into the local artery using chuanxiongzine and Somatostatin.However the control group give Somatostatin only.The 3d's and 6d's curative effect are compared. Results There had a significant deviation between the 3d's and 6d's curative effect of the two group(P0.05) .It was reflected in the indexs such as blood and urinary amylase、blood glucose、blood calcium、blood urea nitrogen、the number of WBC、the number of days when the abdominal distention 、bellyache and tenderness vanished etc.Meanwhile, there had a more significant deviation between the two group in the indexs of blood and urinary amylase、blood glucose、blood calcium and the number of days when the abdominal distention、bellyache and tenderness vanished(P0.05) . Comparing the length of stay ,the research group was more short also (P0.05). Conclusion Local artery infusion using chuanxiongzine combining with Somatostatin is better then infusing Somatostatin only when curing SAP.


Leads (57) Abstract: a bag, by the method of packing a bag to store sheets of material such as a photosensitive material, a light-shielded environment for the photosensitive material. This is the bag there is a rear end with a path that meanders along with forming the end for shielding, which is the air trapped in the can also be issued from the cavity of the bag.


Mathematics is often regarded as a boring subject, meaningless and less related to daily life. The teacher can use a variety of learning approaches that are interesting and make students more focused on paying attention and understanding the subject matter. The realistic mathematics approach in this study is used as a way to improve students' abilities especially in mathematics. The research method used is quasi-experimental with a non-equivalent control group. The population in this study were Madrasah Ibtidaiyah Negeri students in Bandung and Madrasa Ibtidaiyah Negeri Sumedang City. The results showed that the ability to think creatively and mathematical connections of students in the experimental class were better than students who obtained conventional mathematics learning. In addition, students' responses to mathematics learning using a realistic mathematical approach were interpreted as good, this is based on the results of a questionnaire that 86.08% of students were in the experimental class.


Objictive To observed the effect of adefovir dipivoxil treated with chronic hepatitis B (chronic hepatitis B).Methods 100 cases of chronic hepatitis B were randomly divided into 2 groups,treatment group 50 cases,50 cases of the control group.On the basis of treating by diammonium glycyrrhizinate injection,decreasing related enzymes and liver protection therapy,the control group was added kushenin 0.2g,three times per day,oral,while treatment group oral adefovir dipivoxil 10mg,one time a day,treatment for 24 weeks.Observed the changes of ALT,HBV-DNA,HBeAg in the two groups after treatment.Results End of treatment,two patients showed significant improvement of clinical symptoms,HBV-DNA efficiency,84.0% and HBV-DNA negative conversion rate of 66.0% in the treatment group were higher than that in the control group of 40.0% and 16.0%,the difference was statistically significant (P0.05).Conclusion The efficacy of inhibiting HBV-DNA about adefovir dipivoxil treated with chronic hepatitis B obviously,it is worth to promote the application of clinical.


In this paper,a second-order semi-linear Robin problem is discussed.Firstly,the asymptotic solution of the problem by boundary layer function method is constructed and the asymptotic expression of the point of transition is given.Secondly,the existence of the solution with step-type contrast structures is proved by using differential inequality,and the remainder estimate is presented.


BACKGROUND
We present our experience with an as yet undescribed type of intentionally ingested metallic foreign body that was specially designed to arrest in its passage and cause perforation of the gastrointestinal tract. The two halves of a standard paper clip are tied crosswise with a rubber band, forming an elastic "cross." With its branches squeezed to lie parallel, the cross is wrapped into a small strip of paper and ingested. After being released from its wrapper, the branches of the cross spring back to their original position and cause perforation of the bowel wall.

DESIGN
Case series.

SETTING
University hospital, Bulgaria.

PATIENTS
Five male prisoners from the same jail undergoing laparotomy for foreign body removal during 1 week in January 1994.

INTERVENTIONS
Laparotomy, removal of the foreign bodies through incisions of the bowel wall, immediate restoration of the gastrointestinal tract continuity, and peritoneal lavage and drainage.

OUTCOME MEASURES
Morbidity and mortality.

RESULTS
Two of the patients were initially observed but subsequently underwent surgery for perforations of the gastrointestinal tract. Three of the patients underwent immediate operative treatment. There were 20 total crosses ingested; all foreign objects impacted and perforated the stomach (50%), first duodenal portion (25%), and fourth duodenal portion (20%). There was no morbidity or mortality among the five patients treated.

CONCLUSIONS
Because ingested crosses that have been released from their wrappers never move distally, the only definitive solution is to operate early.


Residual stresses in cold-formed sections may play a significant role in determining their behaviour and strength.Laboratory measurements of residual stresses by destructive methods are not only time-consuming but also of limited accuracy.This paper describes a finite element-based method for predicting residual stresses in press-braked thin-walled sections,which overcomes these difficulties.The method offers a powerful tool for exploring the effect of different forming parameters on the magnitude and distribution of residual stresses,so that these forming parameters can be optimized.In this method,the effects of coiling and uncoiling are accounted for analytically,with the resulting residual stresses specified as initial stresses in a subsequent finite element simulation of cold bending.Numerical results from this method are shown to agree closely with laboratory measurements,demonstrating the validity and accuracy of the method.The present method provides residual stress distributions over the cross-section as well as across the thickness,and also explains why residual stresses may differ considerably in otherwise identical sections.


Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) entry involves at least four cellular factors, including CD81, the scavenger receptor class B type I (SCARB‐1), occludin (OCLN), and claudin‐1 (CLDN1). In addition, CLDN6 and CLDN9 have been shown to substitute for CLDN1 as HCV entry factors in human nonliver cells. We examined the role of different CLDN proteins during HCV entry by using cell lines expressing either predominantly CLDN1 (Huh‐7.5) or CLDN6 (HuH6). Huh‐7.5 cells were susceptible to all tested HCV isolates, whereas HuH6 cells were only permissive to some viral strains. Silencing of CLDN6 in HuH6 cells revealed that these cells are infected in a CLDN6‐dependent fashion, and ectopic expression of CLDN1 or CLDN6 in 293T cells lacking endogenous CLDN expression confirmed that only some HCV strains efficiently use CLDN6 for infection. CLDN1‐specific neutralizing antibodies (Abs) fully abrogated infection of Huh‐7.5 cells by isolates that use CLDN1 only, whereas viruses with broad CLDN tropism were only partially inhibited by these Abs. Importantly, infection by these latter strains in the presence of anti‐CLDN1 Ab was further reduced by silencing CLDN6, suggesting that viruses with broad CLDN usage escape CLDN1‐specific Abs by utilization of CLDN6. Messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of HCV entry factors in liver biopsies of HCV patients infected with different genotype and with variable degree of liver fibrosis were determined. Uniformly high levels of CD81, SCARB‐1, OCLN, and CLDN1 mRNA were detected. In contrast, abundance of CLDN6 mRNA was highly variable between patients. Conclusion: These findings highlight differential CLDN usage by HCV isolates, which may evolve based on variable expression of CLDN proteins in human liver cells. Broad CLDN tropism may facilitate viral escape from CLDN1‐specific therapeutic strategies. (Hepatology 2014;58:24–34)


Comparative analysis is done of the environmental characteristics of the winter of strong/weak Madden-Julian Oscillation(MJO) activity over the tropical western Pacific based on the NCEP reanalysis data. It is shown that the activity of MJO has a significant interannual and interdecadal variability in tropical western Pacific during winter. In the strong MJO winter, there exits anomalous cyclonic circulation east of the Philippines and a strong anomalous easterly controls the equatorial eastern Pacific region and the westerly anomalies extend from the Indian Ocean to the western Pacific at lower troposphere, strengthening the convergence in the western Pacific region and significantly increasing cumulus convection over the equatorial western Pacific. All these features are the opposite in the weak MJO winter. Eastward propagation is the main feature of MJO, though there may be little westward propagation. Compared to a weak MJO winter, the value of spatial and temporal spectra and the center frequency are higher in a strong MJO winter. The anomalous activity of MJO is closely linked to the sea surface temperature(SST) and the East Asian winter monsoon; in the strong MJO winter, there are positive anomalies in the high latitudes and negative anomalies in low latitudes in both the sea level pressure and 500 h Pa geopotential height and the temperature is lower over the central part of Chinese mainland, which means a strong East Asian winter monsoon; and positive rainfall is located in the area between the Yellow River and Yangtze River while less rainfall is in the south of the Yangtze river. The SSTA is negative near the island of Taiwan due to the effect of the strong East Asian winter monsoon, and shows a La Nia type of anomaly in the eastern Pacific. In the weak MJO activity winter, the characteristics mentioned above are just the opposite.


The existence two S-dual descriptions of (N,1) string bound states suggests that the strong coupling behaviour of electric flux lines in large N 2D SYM theory has a dual description in terms of weakly coupled IIB string theory. In support of this identification, we propose a dual interpretation of the SYM loop equation as a perturbative string Ward identity, expressing the conformal invariance of the corresponding boundary interaction. This correspondence can be viewed as a weak coupling check of the matrix string conjecture.


The Diels-Alder (D-A) reaction is one of the most powerful reactions in organic synthesis. The intermolecular D-A reaction attracts much less attentions than its intramolecular counterpart in natural product synthesis, possibly due to the issues of reactivity and selectivity. In the past decade, the intermolecular D-A reaction has been increasingly utilized in the total synthesis of structurally complex natural products. In this article, we present a few examples for the elegant applications of the intermolecular D-A reaction that are inspired by biosynthetic hypotheses of the target natural products. These examples demonstrate that D-A reaction is not only useful for preparing building blocks but also powerful for coupling structurally complicated and sterically demanding segments in a highly chemo- and stereo-controlled fashion, which may inspire further developments of intermolecular D-A reaction from both strategy and methodology perspectives.


In this article the author considers the necessity of formation of the modern paradigm of the economical theory on the basis of the values, which are suitable to the development of Russian economic model.


Several franchise agreements were concluded between Make It Easy B.V. and Make It Easy Reality B.V. (hereafter the franchisers) on the one hand, and Make it Easy Gelderland V.O.F as well as other…


The concrete content of construction site supervision is introduced. Combined with its management specifications from several aspects the responsibilities of supervisors in construction site supervision are proposed in order to improve construction quality.


Aquatic insects collected from the stream below the dam, the pool and the spillway of Opa stream-reservoir system in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, were compared. The primary purpose of this collection is to carry out an assessment of the relation between habitat structure and the distribution and abundance of aquatic insects in the water body. There was a marked difference in the taxonomic composition of insects in the spillway from those in the pool and stream. Only the larvae of the Trichoptera family, Hydropsychidae were present in the spillway while Ephemeroptera, Odonata, Plecoptera, Coleoptera, Hemiptera and Diptera occurred in the other sampling locations. Jaccard's similarity index and similarity ratio were 0.667 and -1.09 respectively, when the taxa composition and insect abundance from stream and pool were compared. This indicates that both sampling locations are considerably similar. The Trichoptera larvae occurred in large numbers and closely associated with a moss, Fontinalis (Bryophyta), recording 1232.5, 900 and 1178 larvae per sq.m as densities in August, September and November respectively. With Trichoptera larvae alone, the spillway recorded the highest total number of individuals among the three sampling locations throughout the period of study. It was inferred that Fontinalis provided strong foundations for larvae, refuge from predators, and substratum for algae and diatoms which serve as food resource for larvae. The moss - Trichoptera association in an unstable habitat such as the spillway was discussed with reference to the ability of hydropsychid caddisflies to survive in a wide range of habitats. However, the association observed in this study needs further investigation. Journal of Aquatic Sciences Volume 16, April 2001, pp. 7-12

 KEY WORDS: Bryophyta, Fontinalis, reservoir spillway, Trichoptera, Insecta, habitat preference.


Studing on the evaluating standards of desertification control aims to grade the degree of desertified land control level,to quantitatively and qualitatively certified the desertified soil improvement,and to provide the indexes for scientific desertification control and evaluation,rational using and monitor the change of desertification land.At the same time,studing on the evaluating standards is also the importance part for building the technical system of combating desertification.This paper,taking vegetation cover rate as dominant factor,the edificator species' living form and configuration pattern as well as the bio-crust and soil development as supplementary indexes,has set up the standards for grading the desertified land control degree of different climatic regions based on our field investigation and relative theoretical research achievements.The evaluating system has reflected the principles of regionalization,irreplaceable and easy for operating,which can guide the desertification dynamics monitoring and be used for evaluating the desertification controlling effect of our country.


The article deals with the issues of improving the energy efficiency of mainline locomotives with asynchronous traction motors by determining the characteristics of the traction drive using a device for measuring the magnetic scattering field of the frontal part of the stator winding.


Minnesotas TINY MOVING PARTS have just released the music video for their new song Applause. The bands new album Swell, set to be released on Triple ...


The analysis of the spatial distribution of fingerlings in the waters of the North-Western Caspian was carried out on base of 2015-2018 trawl surveys. The spatial distributions of the Russian sturgeon fingering maps were drawn and compared for 4 years. The regions where the Russian sturgeon fingerlings feed the most mass were marked. The number and the spatial distribution of fingerlings were determined in two ways: 2D spline approximation and the Voronov's polygon method. Both methods are included in the program"Cartmaster" developed by FSBSI"VNIRO". The fingerling number estimates in the study area fell in the range from 2.479 to 5.490 million specimen, which corresponds to 8-15% of the number of juveniles released from sturgeon hatcheries in 2015-2018. The results are used as base for predicting the stock recruitment and for estimating the contribution of sturgeon hatcheries to replenishing the Russian sturgeon population.


Although everyday life is often demanding, it remains unclear how demanding conditions impact self-regulation. Some theories suggest that demanding conditions impair self-regulation, by undermining autonomy, interfering with skilled performance and working memory, and depleting energy resources. Other theories, however, suggest that demanding conditions improve self-regulation by mobilizing super-ordinate control processes. The present article integrates both kinds of theories by proposing that the self-regulatory impact of demanding conditions depends on how people adapt to such conditions. When people are action-oriented, demanding conditions may lead to improved self-regulation. When people are state-oriented, demanding conditions may lead to impaired self-regulation. Consistent with this idea, action versus state orientation strongly moderates the influence of demands on self-regulatory performance. The impact of demanding conditions on self-regulation is thus not fixed, but modifiable by psychological processes. Demanding conditions are pervasive in everyday life. At the workplace, employees need to stay abreast of rapid technological innovations and deal with constant pressures towards increased efficiency and productivity. In educational settings, students must meet high standards of academic excellence, often while performing low-paying jobs to cover high tuitions and while taking care of their family members. Even among friends, there are always emails to be responded to, birthdays to be remembered, meetings to be arranged, favors to be returned, along with countless other duties and obligations. Given that demanding conditions are exceedingly common, it is important to understand how people can most effectively deal with such conditions. Unfortunately, psychological theories offer seemingly contradictory insights into this matter. Some influential theories propose that demanding conditions are likely to undermine self-regulation (Baumeister & Showers, 1986; Beilock, Kulp, Holt, & Carr, 2004; Deci & Ryan, 2000; Muraven & Baumeister, 2000). However, other theories suggest that demanding conditions lead people to marshal their self-regulatory resources, resulting in enhanced motivation and self-regulation (e.g., Botvinick, Braver, Barch, Carter, & Cohen, 2001; Brehm & Self, 1989; Trope & Fishbach, 2000). These different theories have very different practical implications. If demanding conditions undermine self-regulation, people will be best off by avoiding demanding conditions. By contrast, if demanding conditions facilitate selfregulation, people may be advised to seek out demanding conditions whenever they can. In the present article, we develop an integrative theoretical analysis of how demanding conditions influence self-regulation. In what follows, we begin by taking a closer look at the basic ways in which demanding conditions might help or hurt self-regulation. Next, drawing upon action control theory (Kuhl, 1984, 1994a), we propose that the self-regulatory impact of demanding conditions depends on people's mode of adapting to these


Currently, mobile devices, respectively smartphones, are an inseparable part of everyday human activities, including education. The purpose of this article is to compare available language learning mobile apps on the market and discuss their pros and cons. In addition, the authors describe a newly developed mobile app focused on learning and practicing of English language vocabulary and phrases, tailored to the needs of its users. The findings show that this mobile app is user-friendly and students appreciate its interactivity.


Excessive amount of dyes in the discharged wastewater from the textile industry becomes a severe problem in water pollution due to the presence of unruly toxic organic compounds. Dyes are highly toxic and carcinogenic compounds that cause extremely harmful effects on the on the human health. The adsorption method is considered one of the best methods for dye removal from wastewater because of its availability, low cost, stability, large surface area to volume ratio and high adsorption capacity. In this article, hydroxyapatite (HAP) was used as a solid adsorbent for the removal of methyl orange (MO) dye from aqueous solutions. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) surface characterization test was performed before and after the adsorption process, ensuring the adsorption of the MO dye successfully using HAP. Adsorption kinetics and isotherms were studied for this adsorption system to predict the adsorption mechanism. Additionally, the effects of changing pH of solution, initial MO dye concentration, of adsorbent dose and contact time on the adsorption process efficiency were studied. The maximum adsorption efficiency for MO dye from aqueous solutions (88.3%) was achieved at the optimum operating conditions of contact time = 90 min, pH = 4, initial dye concentration = 0.5 mg/L and adsorbent dose = 2 g/L.


The absorption spectrum of zinc vapour is measured under various conditions in the 190–224 nm region and the absolute absorption coefficient per pair of atoms is derived. A relatively narrow diffuse band at 200.22 nm (in a vacuum) is observed and its profile is carefully determined for several temperatures. It is found that the band maximum slightly decreases with a temperature increase. This indicates that the band is generated by transitions occurring within the range of negative energy values of the ground-state potential. The experimental results are utilized to derive information concerning the upper-state potential and the oscillator strength function via semiclassical calculations of the band profile and its comparison with the experimental one. It is shown that the theoretical potentials for the lowest Rydberg states available cannot be responsible for the band formation, and some part of the previously unknown excited-state potential near its minimum as well as the f(R) function reproducing the experimental band profile are found. The equilibrium position, Re, and the energy minimum, E(Re), for this state are established to be 3.94 ± 0.15 Å and 49 660 ± 50 cm−1, respectively. It is also shown that f(R), being equal to zero at large distances, for R lower than about 4 Å increases rapidly to the maximal value of 0.61 ± 0.03 at R = 3.65 ± 0.05 Å. Such a behaviour indicates that the upper state here can be coupled with a state characterized by strongly allowed transition to the ground state. A discussion concerning this matter and identification of the upper-state asymptote is presented.


Contention scheduling (Cooper & Shallice 2000) is a wellknown action selection mechanism in cognitive science. It can account for normal action sequencing of daily routine actions in humans as well as for various errors exhibited by impaired human subjects. In this paper, we examine the potential of contention scheduling as an action selection mechanism for artificial agents, in particular robots. We first introduce the APOC architecture framework in order to summarize–in an "architecture-neutral" specification–the basic properties of the contention scheduling model. Then we analyze various aspects of contention scheduling that may cause problems in the context of the design of artificial agents and suggest modifications that may be able to overcome the difficulties, concluding that the contention scheduling model, as it stands, is not yet an appriopriate candidate for action selction in artificial agents.


My aim in this paper is to explore some metaphysical and psychological implications of the (contentious) idealist interpretation of the belief in external objects ("bodies") Hume ascribes to us in the Treatise. More specifically, I will argue that the interpretation commits Hume to the claim that space is spatially fragmented, both synchronically and (even more so) diachronically, and renders Hume incapable of allowing for all the spatial thoughts we think we can have. But (perhaps surprisingly) it does not impugn Hume's view of causation.


Introduction: An average face is always more aesthetic than an atypical face, so setting soft tissue treatment goals for male and female orthodontic patients required local norms, like average measurements of local aesthetically pleasing profile is more important than adopting universal norms. Aim: To obtain angular and average measurements of softtissue facial profiles for males and females in young adults of Hyderabad, India. Materials and Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopaedics, Government Dental College and Hospital, Hyderabad, India, from the December 2007 to January 2010. The study included 104 aesthetically pleasing individuals between the age group of 16 years to 25 years (42 male and 62 female) selected by Orthodontists and laypersons, facial profile photographs were taken with standardized photographic set up with camera using 100 mm macrolens. Photographs were traced and 12 angular measurements were taken. Descriptive statistical analysis was done using software MATLAB (Matrix Laboratory) mean, maximum, minimum value, standard deviation and confidence intervals were calculated. Student's t-test was done to determine sexual dimorphism, and p-value ≤0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Total of 104 subjects (42 male subjects; mean age :21.4 years and 62 female subjects; mean age: 19.6 years) were analysed. There was a statistically (p-value <0.05) significant sexual dimorphism in seven of the angular measurements were noted. The nasofrontal (females-141o ±4.8o , males-137.86o ±5.2o ), nasal angle (females -84.4±9o , males-80.7o ±6.9o ), vertical nasal (males-32.08o ±3.3o , females-28.33o ±3.636o ), nasal dorsal angle (males-180.19o ±7.112o , females-174.43o ±6.648o ), cervicomental angle (females-98.41o ±5.4o , males-95.7o ±5.1o ), angle of facial convexity (females-173.2o ±4.4o , males-169.6o ±54.8o ), and angle of total facial convexity (females-149o ±4.6o , males144.4o ±5.2o ), showed sexual dimorphism. In the present study, large variability was observed with the nasolabial (p-value=0.314), and mentolabial (p-value=0.798) angles. Conclusion: Successful orthodontic treatment is mainly measured by patient appraisal only, this can be obtained by giving the locally more aesthetically pleasing facial profile to the patient, setting soft tissue facial profile treatment goals to native individuals is far more important than following universal norms in the total benefit of the patients.


The well-known finite-difference frequency-domain method for the Helmholtz equation requires high spatial sampling density to produce accurate solutions due to numerical grid dispersion. We present the method of connected local field which has a FD-like formulation that connects square patches of overlapping EM fields. Each local field is represented by a truncated Fourier-Bessel series satisfying the Helmholtz equation. We show that the method of connected local fields is a viable, highly-accurate numerical electromagnetic field wave solver.


This paper designed a good humancomputer interaction base on MATLAB GUI.It can plot temperature change curve from the input of temperature data,which can also improve the recognization of data processing efficiency.


Abstract: The harmonic balance method is an attractive solution for the computation of periodic flows and can be used as an alternative to classical time-marching methods, at a reduced computational cost. The current paper investigates using the Harmonic Balance (HB) method for LCO simulations under uncertainty. The HB formulation is used in conjuction with a non-intrusive polynomial-chaos (NIPC) approach to propagate variability in parameters. Results show the potential of the HB approach together with NIPC to represent uncertainty in nonlinear dynamical systems at a fraction of the cost of performing time accurate simulations.


Experiments were made in the temperature range from 20 to 100°C to determine the frictional force acting on an acrylic filament pulled out from paralleled fiber bundles of cotton, viscose rayon, or polyester fibers, and following results were obtained: (1) The temperature influence on the frictional force varies according to the kinds of fibers. The friction when pulled out from cotton fiber bundles has the minimum at 80°C, while that from viscose rayon or polyester fiber bundles reaches the maximum at 80°C. (2) The pulling out frictional force from fiber bundles, fs (g/cm), is expressed by the equation : fs =K0Pa where P (g/cm2) is the external force applied on parallel fiber bundles, Ko and a are experimental constants affected by the kinds of fibers, temperature, and compressive properties of fiber bundles.


Percutaneous mitral balloon valvotomy (PMV) has evolved into an effective method for the treatment of patients with symptomatic mitral stenosis. An increase in mitral regurgitation can occur in ≈45% of patients undergoing PMV. Severe mitral regurgitation can be caused by rupture of chordae or of a papillary muscle. Noncommissural tearing of the mitral leaflet is also an important mechanism of severe regurgitation after PMV.

A 35-year-old woman presented with exertional dyspnea that had been present for 3 months. Physical examination revealed a chronically …


The effects of chronic reserpine administration on free catecholamine levels in the adrenal medulla and in urine have been investigated:

Pretreatment with synaptic blocking agents such as LSD, phenoxybenzamine and meprobamate did not antagonize the amine depleting action of reserpine.

Prior administration of hexamethonium antagonized the depleting action of reserpine on the adrenal medulla. It also blocked the increase in urinary catecholamines produced by reserpine.

5-Hydroxytryptamine produced a significant depression of medullary catecholamine levels only in the presence of an amine oxidase inhibitor.

It is proposed that catecholamine depletion produced by reserpine results from a dual action upon the central nervous system and the peripheral effector unit.


ABSTRACT This paper investigates the geopolitical factors that have been the catalyst for the Rohingya crisis, with special attention on the roles of China and India. It then situates those views through 20 in-depth interviews of informants from Bangladesh who are experts in South and Southeast Asian politics. Bangladesh has borne the brunt of accommodating the fleeing Rohingyas and is currently bearing the ensuing socio-economic costs. The research findings suggest that as a result of Chinese and Indian strategic interest in Myanmar and competition for regional dominance, the Rohingya have become the meat in the sandwich, and the 'Rohingya crisis' has been propelled into a status quo.


Twin studies have estimated the relative contribution of genes and the environment to variance in exercise behavior and it is known that parental education positively affects exercise levels. This study investigates the role of parental education as a potential modifier of variance in exercise behavior from age 7 to 18 years. The study is based on large datasets from the Netherlands Twin Register (NTR: N = 24 874 twins; surveys around the ages of 7, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 years) and two Finnish twin cohorts (FinnTwin12: N = 4399; 12, 14 and 17 years; FinnTwin16: N = 4648; 16, 17 and 18 years). Regular participation in moderate‐to‐vigorous exercise activities during leisure time was assessed by survey. Parental education was dichotomized ("both parents with a low education" vs "at least one parent with a high education"). The mean in exercise behavior tended to be higher and the variance tended to be lower in children of high educated parents. Evidence for gene‐by‐environment interaction was weak. To develop successful interventions that specifically target children of low educated parents, the mechanisms causing the mean and variance differences between the two groups should be better understood.


One of the most challenging problems in the computational biology is inferring the evolutionary history to construct phylogenetic trees. A phylogenetic tree is a branching topology that represents the evolutionary relationships among groups of organisms. Traditional construction methods of phylogenetic trees rely on building a multiple sequence alignment (MSA) of the corresponding sequences of organisms. However, achieving optimal MSA for a numerous number of sequences is computationally complex. Moreover, even if an optimal MSA is obtained, it may not reflect the evolutionary history of the sequences. So, several free-alignment methods for phylogenetic tree construction have been proposed. In this paper, we investigate a free-alignment construction method to infer the optimal phylogenetic tree based on differential evolution algorithm. The evaluation results confirm that the investigated method succeeds in building the optimal tree with accuracy higher than other considered methods.


The invention relates to a route planning method for an autonomous underwater vehicle aiming at undetermined mission time. The route planning method is characterized by comprising the following steps of: encoding a route planning problem to obtain a population with a scale of N; estimating population fitness and selecting N good individuals from the current population; carrying out interlace operation on the good individuals at a probability of pc; carrying out mutation operation on the interlaced good individuals at a probability of pm; carrying out an elicitation type mutation operation to obtain an optimal individual; and decoding the optimal individual according to an encoding rule in the step 1, so as to obtain a planned route of each AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle). The route planning method for the autonomous underwater vehicle aiming at the undetermined mission time provided by the invention can be used for planning the routes of a plurality of AUVs, so as to realize cooperative route plane of a multi-AUV system, and ensure the global optimum of a planning result. Furthermore, the route planning method has the characteristics that use is convenient and generality is strong, and can be applied to the route plane of a robot and the like.


It will be seen that in some hospitals the number of cases is much reduced, while in others it has grown; the increase in some cases is due to the fact that the number of beds was increased during the years 1920-30 in the hospitals in question, and therefore the increase is more apparent than real. In others more cases are admitted than formerly, because they are not sent on to various rate-aided institutions. The gradual disappearance of acute osteomyelitis is due to the fact that the general health of children is much better. Tonsils and adenoids are removed at an early age, and this in itself allows better aeration of the lungs, does away with septic infection of the throat, and prevents many complications occurring after infectious fevers. Debilitating and deficiency diseases of infancy are treated very effectively. Slum clearance in the British Isles is going ahead, and tenement houses with adequate washing facilities are now found in most of our big cities. The streets are cleaner and the drainage system satisfactory. There is also a tendency for these acute cases to be sent to hospital much earlier than in former years, and so early cases are seen to-day, while it was generally the late ones that were seen thirty years ago. These are the real factors in preventing the common occurrence of acute osteomyelitis in children when it is considered that the condition is a septicaemia, due in the vast majority of cases to the staphylococcus, the organism getting into the blood stream either from a septic infection on the skin, such as a boil, or from a septic tonsil, or in other cases as an enteritis. In all probability trauma plays no important part in the causation of acute'osteomyelitis, but textbooks have always stressed it as a causation for many years, and therefore it is still recorded as an initial cause. If trauma