Marosi beach is an natural mangrove in West Sumba Regency . This inventory of vegetation in Marosi beach is based on the lack of scientific data in mangrove vegetation, where its will support the sustainable forest management. The line transect  was develop on line of beach to collect the data. T he results showed that 10 species were classified into 9 families was found , its namely Avicennia lanata (Ridley), Rhizhopora lamarckii MontrA©al., Lumnitzera racemosa Willd., Aegiceras corniculatum (L.) blanco, Excoecaria agallocha L., Excoecaria indica, Heritiera littoralis, Dolichandrone spathacea (Lf), Pandanus tectorius. Parkinson ex Z., L. Cerbera manghas . T he distribution on tree strata, Excoecaria agallocha L. is a species whose presence is more than 73.33% . At sapling strata  Rhizhopora lamarckii MontrA©al., Avicennia lanata (Ridley) is a species whose presence is 53.33%, At strata seedling Rhizhopora lamarckii MontrA©al., whose presence is a kind of 53.33%. Key words: Inventory, mangrove, habitats.


consequences that lead to an increase in risk of atherosclerosis in patients with epilepsy, several studies have reported that the patients commonly used antiepileptic drugs like phenytoin, and carbamazepine increase serum total Cholesterol, High Density Lipoproteins Cholesterol (HDL-C) Low Density lipoprotein Cholesterol ( LDL-C ) levels and Triglyceride (TG) .The aim of this study to assess and compare serum lipid profile of young adult patients treated by anti-epileptic drugs (phenytoin, oxcarbazepine and valproic acid) . Materials and Methods a cross-sectional study was conducted in Aljazeera state. Epileptic patients were of recruited. and taking antiepileptic drugs for more than six months and on regular follow up; approximately 120 patients on commonly used antiepileptic drugs (40 on phenytoin, 40 on oxcarbazepine, 40 on valproic Acid). Age and sex matching 40 controls were taken. our results show significant difference in the of  mean TC, TG, HDL, and LDL-C levels in the group receiving phenytoin for more than six months when compared with control group P value (0.00) for all lipid profile. Also significant difference between the mean of TC, TG, HDL-C and LDL-C levels in the group receiving oxcarbazepine for more than six months when compared with control P value (0.00 ) for all lipid profile. From the present study we concluded that CYP enzyme inducer anti-epileptic medicines like phenytoin and oxcarbazepine is strongly associated with increased levels of TC, LDL-C, HDL-C and TG, where asvalproate showed no significant change. Therefore, the serum cholesterol level should be regularly monitored in patients undergoing. Therapy with inducer anti-epileptic medicines.


The relationship between lexis and grammatical pattern is generally recognized to be more complex than was once thought; this complexity includes the association of word sense with favoured or dispreferred syntactic patterns. Modern learner dictionaries accordingly contain a great deal of information about the grammatical contexts in which words characteristically appear. Recent work on lexical priming theory suggests that there is an equally complex relationship between lexis and textual position. This paper reports a corpus investigation of the lexis of the initial sentences of newspaper reports. We show that naturalness in text is not just a product of the choice of collocations and grammatical pattern but depends with equal force on the choice of lexis primed for the appropriate textual position.


This study sought to identify the state of prospective teachers' knowledge about differentiated instruction; how often prospective teachers differentiate instruction in specific subject areas; and the differentiated instruction factors that are implemented during the internship practicum period in the pre-service National Diploma in teaching program in order to meet the needs of diverse learners in 8 National Colleges of Education in Sri Lanka. This study involved stratified sample of (three Tamil medium, three Sinhala medium and two English medium) 158 prospective teachers, 36 teacher educators from 8 National Colleges of Education in seven provinces and 8 different districts. Data were collected using questionnaires for prospective teachers and teacher educators, interview schedules for prospective teachers and teacher educators; observation schedule for prospective teachers. In addition, differentiated instruction factors embedded in the syllabus of National Diploma in teaching (29 subjects) were analyzed using content analysis method. Chi square analyses and the descriptive analysis are used as major analysis techniques, and the qualitative data provided by prospective teachers and teacher educators were considered for a cross checking of the quantitative inferences. The researcher concluded that differentiated instruction factors have to include in the theory and practice of the National Diploma in teaching syllabi and teaching practicum would result in improved better achievement in pre-service National Diploma in teaching diploma in teaching. Empowering the teacher educators in differentiated instruction concept and practice is a dire necessity for the successful implementation of this pre-service teacher training conducted in Sri Lankan National Colleges of Education.


The need for energy planners to carry out accurate forecast of electricity generation is imperative in the realization of overall enterprise objectives. This paper presents an exquisite decomposition model which adequately describes the original data by employing a statistical decomposition of a set of 132 month (1996-2006) electricity generation data from Ughelli Power Station, Delta State, Nigeria. The multiplicative version of the decomposition model was employed to characterize the data into its various components such as Noise, Trends, Cyclical Component, and Seasonal Index. Our results show a linear increasing trend, heavy noise, cyclical activities and seasonality. The application of statistical forecasting technique which takes into consideration the various components that are buried in the set of generation data will however, serve as a good instrument that can be adjudged intriguing and intuitively appealing for energy planners in order to come up with better maintenance and operation policies that can cub the up and down nature of the present operation and maintenance (O & M).


This paper deals with microstructural evolutions and mechanical properties of Nb-Si binaries containing dual-phase Nb/Nb5Si3 with Nb to Nb5Si3 fraction ratios of 90:10,80:20,70:30 and 50:50,prepared by spark plasma sintering(SPS).Dense Nb/Nb5Si3 samples with a relative density larger than 99.5% were obtained by SPS processing.The SPS samples consist of the Nb and Nb5Si3 phases with less than 3% fraction of NbO oxide.Hv at room temperature,and compressive strength at 1150℃ and 1250 1C of the bulk SPS alloys increase monolithically by enhancing fraction of the stiffening Nb5Si3 phase.For example,0.2% yield strength,σ0.2,increases from 175 MPa to 420 MPa at 1150℃ and from 110 MPa to 280 MPa at 1250℃,when the Nb5Si3 fraction increases from 10% to 50%.It is interesting that the fracture toughness,KQ,of the bulk SPS samples seems not to be sensitive to phase fraction.Heat treatment,however,plays a key role on the KQ as compared with that of the as-sintered state,at the corresponding Nb5Si3 fraction and considerably improves the KQ by about 100% for samples with the Nb5Si3 fractions of 10%-30%,and by about 50% for the sample with 50% Nb5Si3 fraction.


Abstract : Four keying Logics for the entry of alphanumeric characters were evaluated. The Logics were selected based on their compatibility with current keyboard designs being used for the pilot-aircraft interface involving communications, navigation, and other aircraft subsystems. Each of four groups of seven subjects learned one of the Logics and their performance was recorded on an alphanumeric keying task. Performance measures were keying speed and keying accuracy for alphabetic characters, numeric characters, character strings, and total list. A keying Logic utilizing individual keys (36) for each alphabetic and numeric character was significantly superior to other Logics which used push-button telephone type keyboards, with regard to keying time. With regard to keying accuracy, all Logics performed equally well, with an error rate of approximately 0.5 percent. Significant performance differences among the three matrix keyboard Logics were inconsistent. Of these, one utilizing the telephone arrangement was most accurate. Research is recommended to further examine keying performance in the learned state, as well as under more realistic conditions. (Author)


Over 30 years ago, Feiman-Nemser and Buchmann (1985) wrote about "pitfalls of experience" in teacher education. In the current study, I share vignettes of three student teachers engaged in an urban teacher preparation program to highlight how these pitfalls are still operating—and are arguably even more problematic— as we prepare teachers to work with minoritized youth. I add additional detail to the familiarity pitfall and also suggest the existence of a new standardization pitfall. I end with cautions for teacher educators and a call for reimagined student teaching experiences as we consider these and other pitfalls in the preparation of teachers for urban settings.


China has a wetland area of 53.42 million hectares, the fourth largest in the world; it includes all types of wetlands defined by the Ramsar Convention and has a carbon sink capacity of more than 1.71 million metric tons per year. Inland wetlands in China are mainly distributed in 10 major catchments, among which the Yellow River, the Yangtze River, the rivers in the northwest, and the rivers in the northeast each have more than 8 million hectares of wetlands. There are 4220 species of plants and 4015 species of animals in China's wetland ecosystem. The wetland resources that have been developed and utilized include edible products, reeds for paper making, peat for fertilizer, fuel for power generation, and chemical, pharmaceutical, ceramic, and building materials. However, wetland areas in China have shrunk by about 54% since 1980. In recent years, China's central government has set great store by Chinese wetlands, and although 49.03% of wetland area is now officially protected, many issues have confounded the implementation of that protection. It is imperative that knowledge gained from scientific research be used to formulate a sound wetland protection and management plan that takes into consideration social, economic, and ecological issues in a way that facilitates the sustainable use of wetland resources and informs decision-makers of the paths that must be followed to achieve that goal.


The operation of China washing product industry in 2000 is in good conditions.The regulation of economy structure has adjusted,the competition of the market is sharpening increasingly.The enterprises show themselves in good development position with reform,development and alteration.It is predicted that washing product output will increase by 4 % in 2001 than in 2000.Meanwhile,it is pointed out the environmental friendliness,joint venture,price competition and sodium tripolyphosphate etc.are still the concerning subject in the field.


This study was designed to investigate the relationships between nutrition education, nutrition awareness and nutrition knowledge of school food service employees. We analyzed 288 self-administered questionnaires. Most of the employees (89.8%) were with contract-managed food services, 45.1% were 41~50 years old, and 45.4% had chef certification. Two-thirds of the employees received nutrition education on 'nutritionally balanced diet' and 'sources of calcium', whereas less than 50% received education on 'problems with carbohydrates', 'functions of iron', 'deficiency and sources of iron'. The degree of nutrition awareness was generally higher than the level of nutrition education experience. The mean nutrition knowledge score was 11.7 out of 20 possible points. The majority of employees correctly identified 'sources of calcium (91.8%)', 'functions of carbohydrates (91.4%)', 'sources of cholesterol (91.0%)', and 'problems with lipids (90.4%)'; less than 50% correctly answered 'sources of proteins (18.9%)', 'functions of iron (27.9%)', 'recommended dietary allowances (32.0%)', 'functions of lipids (40.2%)', and 'sources of vitamins (44.3%)'. A chi-square analysis revealed that the employees' actual knowledge did not differ significantly by nutrition education - with the exception of three topics; 'recommended dietary allowances', 'changes in vitamins during cooking', 'functions of water' - or by their nutrition awareness. Nutrition knowledge scores did not differ by sex, decreased with age, increased with academic background, and increased in careers of >10 years or that were contract managed. There were significant correlations between nutrition education scores and nutrition awareness scores (p<0.001); nutrition knowledge scores and nutrition education scores (p<0.001); nutrition knowledge scores and nutrition awareness scores (p<0.001).


Autophagy is an intracellular process that facilitates the vacuolar degradation of cytoplasmic components. Plant autophagy is thought to play an important role in nutrient recycling under starvation. During autophagy, a small volume of the cytoplasm, including entire organelles, is engulfed in a double-membrane vesicle called an autophagosome and delivered to the vacuole/lysosome. The outer membrane of the autophagosome then fuses with the vacuolar/ lysosomal membrane, and the inner membrane structure—the autophagic body—is broken down by hydrolytic enzymes. Autophagy-related genes (ATGs) are highly conserved across fungal, plant, and animal kingdoms. Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) atg mutants show accelerated leaf senescence and fail to respond to nutrient resupply after severe carbon or nitrogen starvation. Autophagic bodies and Rubisco-containing bodies (RCBs), a kind of autophagic body containing chloroplast stroma, accumulate in the vacuole of excised leaves treated with concanamycin A, a drug that suppresses vacuolar lytic activity. In this issue, Izumi et al. (pp. 1196–1209)demonstrate the relationship between the nutrient status of Arabidopsis leaves and chloroplast degradation via RCBs. They examined the effects of nutrient conditions during leaf incubation on the appearance of RCBs. All analyses showed that carbon status is the major factor controlling the production of RCBs in leaves, whereas nitrogen status is less important. In contrast, the appearance of non-RCBtype autophagic bodies was not suppressed in excised leaves in the light and responded partially to the addition of nitrogen. These results suggest that there is a mechanism specifically controlling RCB production during plant autophagy.


An improved shear deformable thin-walled curved beam theory to overcome the drawback of currently available beam theories is newly proposed for the spatially coupled free vibration and elastic analysis. For this, the displacement field considering the shear deformation effects is presented by introducing displacement parameters defined at the centroid and shear center axes. Next the elastic strain and kinetic energies considering the shear effects due to the shear forces and the restrained warping torsion are rigorously derived. Then the equilibrium equations are consistently derived for curved beams with non-symmetric thin-walled sections. It should be noticed that this formulation can be easily reduced to the warping-free beam theory by simply putting the sectional properties associated with warping to zero for curved beams with L- or T-shaped sections. Finally in order to illustrate the validity and the accuracy of this study, finite element solutions using the isoparametric curved beam elements are presented and compared with those in available references and ABAQUS`s shell elements.


The recycling of water coproduced during in situ bitumen production is one of the primary operating challenges for steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) operations in oil sand reserves. Produced water that is either recycled for steam production or disposed of may be subject to different water quality requirements for the purposes of plant operations or environmental regulations. The organic components dissolved and suspended in the produced water are a fingerprint of the bitumen-in-place, the processing conditions utilized during production, and the chemicals used by operators during operations. Analysis of SAGD produced water using two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with electron ionization and time-of-flight mass spectrometry (2DGC-TOFMS) showed a wide variety of organic constituents within the water sample. Compounds ranging from C6 to C18 straight chain and branched aliphatics to more polar, water-soluble, oxygen- and sulfur- heteroatomic species were tentatively identified. Methyl- and ethy...


The women morbidity of infertility in our country is 12.5% to 15%,close to the level of 15% to 20% in developed countries,which was getting younger and younger.This phenomenon is drown more a attention of all aspects.Studies have shown that infertility about 10% to 20% caused by the immune factors.With the development of reproductive immunology in recent years,the relative antibodies,the immune factors and the genes have been found in the study.The immune infertility prevention,diagnosis,treatment provides an important basis.A brief overview about the research progress of the related autoantibody was made in the paper.


A type of clamp-band unlocking support was proposed to realize the connecting and unlocking between satellite and camera,and the shock environment of the support was studied.The structure of the support was presented,and the structural shock response was measured and analyzed.Transient analysis was conducted by using finite element analysis(FEA) software.The experimental and computational data were both converted to shock response spectrum(SRS) for comparison.The results indicate that the vibration generated by the release of strain energy dominates in the unlocking shock,and properly reducing the preload of clamp band can lower the structural shock response,and the finite element analysis can estimate the low frequency shock environment with sufficient accuracy.These conclusions provide reference to the design of this kind of devices and the preanalysis of shock environment.


The client should have sufficient information to participate intelligently in decisions concerning the objectives of the representation and the means by which they are to be pursued, to the extent the client is willing and able to do so.'


The last decade has seen a dramatic increase in the application of FT-IR spectroscopy to biological problems. As well as transmission methods, many specialized techniques are increasingly being applied to biological structural studies, the most popular being ATR spectroscopy. While ATR-IR spectroscopy has been applied to conformational studies of lipids and membrane-associated proteins and peptides for some time, it has only recently been applied to soluble proteins. Two assumptions are made in the analysis of soluble proteins as films. First, it is assumed that drying of films does not result in irreversible structural alterations. Second, it is assumed that rehydration of the film results in the same degree of protein/solvent interaction as in solution, or that reduced solvent interaction in films does not produce structural alterations. In this note we compare spectra of representative proteins as films deposited on ATR elements and in solution. Our results show that significant differences are apparent between solution and film spectra.


Topical application of AltozarTM†, at rates as low as 0.7 nanograms per aphid, caused severe morphological changes and prevented larviposition when applied to third instar Aphis craccivora, although treatment of other instars was less effective. Aphids which failed to reproduce contained fewer oocytes and embryos than untreated aphids, but enormous development of the embryos had occurred, and oocytes within these embryos also exhibited exaggerated development. The reproductive tract of treated aphids was distorted and non‐functional presumably due to pressare from the hyper‐developed embryos. The volume and mean nuclear size of the corpus allatum of treated aphids were significantly smaller than in untreated controls (newly‐moulted adults) and the effect of the chemical on the endocrine system is discussed. Neurosecretory staining revealed no difference between treated and untreated aphids.


Diabetic retinopathy is a neovascular disorder caused by diabetes and for severe cases; it may also lead to blindness. Hence early detection is very useful to prevent this catastrophe. We have proposed an automated method to detect Diabetic retinopathy and categorize it as diabetic retinopathy proliferative (DRP) or diabetic retinopathy non-proliferative (DRNP). The proposed automated method is implemented in three stages, viz., image processing, feature extraction & dimension reduction and classification. In the first stage we have applied Canny edge detection and histogram equalization methods to improve the feature enhancement of the given input image. In the second stage we have employed principal component analysis (PCA) for feature extraction and dimensionality reduction. In third stage, support vector machines (SVM) and neural networks (NN) of soft computing techniques have been employed for classifying the given fundus image into DRP or DRNP. We tested our method with various fundus images and the preliminary results show that SVM is better than NN for this purpose.


Background: Different measures are used to describe relevant anatomic variations that can result in patellofemoral instability and disorders. Knee version, the relative rotational alignment between the femur and tibia in the axial plane at the level of the knee, may have a decisive effect on the kinematics of the patellofemoral joint. However, data regarding the values of knee version are currently lacking. Purpose: This study aimed to determine standard values for knee version in a healthy population. Study Design: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: A total of 100 healthy volunteers (50 male and 50 female) without patellofemoral disorders or lower extremity malalignment were included in this study and underwent knee magnetic resonance imaging. The torsion values of the femur and tibia were independently measured using the Waidelich and Strecker method. Knee version, defined as static rotation of the tibia with respect to the femur in full extension, was determined by measuring the angle between the tangent lines to the dorsal femoral condyle (DFC) and the dorsal tibial head (DTH; defined by the posterior point of the proximal tibial plateau). Supplementary measurements were obtained as follows: (1) femoral epicondylar line (FEL), (2) tibial ellipse center line (TECL), (3) tibial tuberosity–trochlear groove (TT-TG) distance, and (4) tibial tuberosity–posterior cruciate ligament (TT-PCL) distance. Results: In 200 analyzed legs of 100 volunteers (mean age, 26.5 ± 5.8 years [range, 18 to 40 years]), we identified a mean internal femoral torsion of −23.8°± 9.7° (range, −46.2° to 1.6°), external tibial torsion of 33.2°± 7.4° (range, 16.4° to 50.3°), and external knee version (DFC to DTH) of 1.3°± 3.9° (range, −8.7° to 11.7°). Other measurements were as follows: FEL to TECL, −0.9°± 4.9° (range, −16.8° to 12.1°); FEL to DTH, −3.6°± 4.0° (range, −12.6° to 6.8°); and DFC to TECL, 4.0°± 4.9° (range, −12.7° to 14.7°). The mean TT-TG distance was 13.4 ± 3.7 mm (range, 5.3-23.5 mm), and the mean TT-PCL distance was 11.5 ± 3.5 mm (range, 6.0-20.9 mm). Female participants had significantly greater external knee version than male participants. Conclusion: Coronal- and sagittal-plane alignments of the knee have a well-known effect on the biomechanics of this joint. Additional information about the axial plane may result in new decision-making algorithms for managing knee disorders. This study is the first to report standard values of knee version in a healthy population. As a subsequent step building on this work, we advocate for the measurement of knee version in patients with patellofemoral disorders, as this parameter may assist with new treatment guidelines in the future.


But oil and gas also present Norway with considerable economic policy challenges. The experience of other countries that have received large, unexpected income from natural resources is not encouraging. Societies that suddenly gain access to huge wealth stemming from natural resources have a tendency to spend the money and then fall into decline. Spain in the 17th century provides a good example of this, as the historian David Landes observed. The colonisation of South and Central America gave access to a wealth of natural resources, not least gold. Spain chose to spend a large portion of the windfalls on luxury and war. More recently the expression "Dutch disease" reminds us that this issue is still relevant.


The Dayton Accords are the peace agreement that ended the three-and-a-half-year war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The agreement was reached at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio in November 1995, and was formally signed in Paris on 14 December 1995. While the Dayton Accords ended the war, they had another function and purpose as well; they sought to construct a country that all warring factions (Croats, Bosniaks, and Serbs) could call home. The Dayton Accords created the consociationalized political, governmental, and judicial structures in Bosnia as we know them today. The constitutional system designed by Dayton has effectively stopped the country from slipping back into war, but is viewed by scholars and experts as very flawed and as a major factor as to why Bosnia and Herzegovina has still not moved on from ethnic discord twenty-three years after the war. One of the major concerns that remains is that the Dayton constitution requires that the seats in two key institutions, the three-member presidency and the parliamentary House of Peoples, be equally divided amongst the constitutive peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs). This legally disallows members from the country's 17 officially recognized minority groups from holding office. The * Correspondence details: Jared O'Neil Bell. Email: email@example.com, firstname.lastname@example.com


The current development of Gowa Regency is directed at efforts to develop economic activities that can provide welfare to the people of Gowa Regency. This study aims to formulate a strategy for developing small micro enterprises (MSMEs) in Gowa Regency. Data collection was carried out by conducting in-depth interviews with cooperative and MSMEs service staff in Gowa Regency, and MSMEs entrepreneurs in Gowa Regency. Apart from the interviews, a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was also conducted. The data obtained were then analyzed using descriptive analysis and SWOT analysis. The results of the study show that the strengths possessed by MSMEs  in Gowa Regency are, increase public interest in doing business and local government support for MSMEs development. Weaknesses faced include coordination of coaching by each Regional Apparatus Organization (OPD) and the absence of a training center. While opportunities for MSMES development include: the availability of natural resources and the position of Gowa Regency which is directly adjacent to the city of Makassar as the provincial capital. Furthermore, the challenges faced include; more competitive entry of products from Java and abroad, as well as dependence on raw materials from Java and imports. Therefore the MSMEsdevelopment strategy in Gowa Regency can be carried out with a program to create a healthy business climate for MSMESs with the aim of facilitating the establishment of a healthy, economical, and efficient and non-discriminatory business environment for the continuity and improvement of MSMEs performance.


Associations between PTSD, sleep and cardiovascular disease are well-established in prior research, but few studies have examined adverse health correlates of nightmares. Nightmares are often called the "hallmark" symptom of PTSD and represent the cardinal sleep-specific manifestation of PTSD. Yet, prior studies have not examined nightmares' independent contribution to cardiovascular disease risks beyond risks conferred by PTSD. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between nightmares and cardiovascular disease in Veterans with and without PTSD.

 Participants were Veterans (N=3876; 78% male) serving since September 11, 2001, 1 or 2 tours of duty (73.5%), aged 38 years (SD=10.4), 31% meeting criteria for current PTSD, with equivalent proportions of African-Americans (48%) and Caucasians (48%). Nightmare frequency was assessed using the Davidson Trauma Scale (DTS), with "frequent" defined as occurring at least 2-3 times per week. Self-reported medical issues were assessed using the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study (NVVRS) Self-report Medical Questionnaire. PTSD diagnosis was established using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-V.

 Frequent nightmares over the past week were endorsed by 33% of participants. Cardiovascular conditions were endorsed at the following rates: heart problems (6%); diabetes (6.6%); arthrosclerosis (0.5%); hypertension (29.2%); stroke (0.7%); and heart attack (1.2%). After adjusting for age, sex and race, frequent nightmares were associated with heart problems (F=7.50, p=.006), high blood pressure (F=23.84, p<.0001), and heart attack (F=7.19, p=.007). When PTSD was added to the model, these associations remained significant.

 We found that frequent nightmares among Veterans are associated with cardiovascular conditions, even after controlling for the effects of PTSD. Additional research is needed to explore mechanisms explaining these associations and determine if reducing nightmare frequency and severity results in improved cardiovascular health.

 This work was supported by the Department of Veterans VISN 6 MIRECC and ADAPT Centers at the Durham VA Health Care System. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs.


Pertussis-like syndrome, a clinical picture similar to whooping cough, is one of the most common lower respiratory syndromes in the pediatric practice in recent years. http://scielo.sld.cu 725 Revista Cubana de Medicina General Integral. 2012;28(4): 725-734 Whooping cough continues to be one of the oldest preventable diseases in infants, which still causes significant outbreaks mainly in children, but also in adolescents and adults. The objective of this review was to provide general physicians and pediatricians at the primary and the secondary health care levels with information about this present re-emerging epidemiological problem. The management of this disease is difficult for both the developed and the developing countries. One of the major obstacles that lead to delayed epidemiological intervention and treatment of whooping cough in several countries has been the poor clinical suspicion of the presence of the disease on the part of health workers and physicians, and the lack of knowledge within the family setting. It is required to know and to accept the reemergence of whooping cough at present, in order to make a timely diagnosis and to apply a line of treatment.


Large-scale simulation modeling is a highly visible arrival on the population and development scene-one that commands increasing resources year by year. In 1967 only a few modestsized "economic-demographic models" existed, and only one, the General Electric Company's TEMPO-I, was in wide use. By 1975 at least a dozen large models were in various stages of construction and operation; more were in the planning stage. Each of these models consists of a detailed, recursive computer program for the simulation of long-term development. The focus is on population, and the idea is to give developing country planners a means to test alternative policy choices and to deepen their insight into the future impact of present decisions. This paper examines the thinking behind the current economic-demographic models, and presents a critical assessment of their potential use to development planners. Although in its present form, systems-based and computer-intensive, large-scale simulation modeling in population and development has been in existence less than ten years, the origins go further back-at least to the 1958 Coale-Hoover model for evaluating the impact of a hypothetical fertility reduction in India.' That this model became the ancestor of so many computer-based analyses was somewhat unintentional: Coale and Hoover argued the case for fertility reduction verbally, through careful, nuanced analysis, in the main body of their book; the formal model is added almost as an afterthought in the back pages-in 1958, systems thinking did not dominate economic analysis. This early study spawned a number of similar formulations during the 1960s, these efforts gradually becoming less


The flower emission by sugarcane can make serious damages and losses to the sugar and alcohol sector, because it reduces the agricultural productivity and th...


Presented is the complex fixture, as a mathematical model, for the purpose of designing large-scale fixture, planning force assembly, synthesizing mechanism tolerance and analyzing contact restraint. In contrast to a simplex fixture, a complex fixture is not necessarily accessible and deterministic. In order to recognize what is an effective fixel, and what is an active fixel for a complex fixture, a set of fundamental equations is developed, such as locating equation (1), rigidity constraint (2), clamping equation (3), and compliance model (4) etc. A complex fixture is regarded as a rigid fixture system (RFS), if it can be algebraically described by (1), (2), and (3). A complex fixture is an elastic fixture system (EFS), if it can be algebraically described by (1), (3), and (4). By exploiting equations (3) and (2), we may construct different geometrical primitives both in wrench space and in twist space to characterize a complex fixture. Based on the duality of (3) and (2), any RSF can be represented by a pair of linear programs: the primal P and the dual D.


An intervention package of task clarification, checklists, and posted performance feedback was developed to increase completion of tasks contributing to the appearance of a local grocery store. The intervention package was based on an informal diagnostic assessment that examined antecedents, equipment and processes, knowledge and skills, and consequences in the organizational environment. A multiple baseline design across five departments was utilized to evaluate the effects of the intervention package on employee cleaning behavior related to the appearance of the store. The results suggest overall improvement of task completion across the five departments observed, with substantial increases resulting from application of the intervention. The mean percentage of tasks completed in the deli department increased by 36%; by 93% in the meat department; by 38% in the frozen department; by 25% in the produce department; and by 34% in the front-end department. The average increase of task completion across departments was more than 45%. The results of this study are consistent with those of Anderson, Crowell, Hantula, and Siroky (1988), as well as with La Fleur and Hyten (1995), demonstrating that task clarification, checklists, and feedback have positive effects on work performance.


This paper systemically introduced the toughening methods for modifying epoxy resins presently,including rubber toughening,thermoplastic resin toughening,IPN toughening,"flexible chain" toughening and arborization molecule toughening epoxy resins.The toughening micromechanism for the marked increase of toughness in the presence of flexible side chain was then identified.


The present invention provides a supercharged internal combustion engine. The engine includes: a cylinder; intake duct in the intake system, for supplying pressurized air to the cylinders; an exhaust duct for discharging exhaust gas; exhaust gas turbocharger, comprising an exhaust duct provided in a turbine and a compressor disposed in an intake pipe; exhaust gas recirculation device, which comprises a recirculation line, the recirculation conduit from the exhaust conduit downstream of the turbine and the branch opening to the intake duct upstream of the compressor; and means for detecting the content of the charge air intake system component i Ci, intake sensor in the intake duct of the recirculation line disposed downstream of the opening. In this way, exhaust gas recirculation may be adjusted to control emissions based on feedback from the sensor.


Dissociation constants of NH4+ ion, Ka,c = cH+(T)cNH3/cNH4+, where c denotes molarity and cH+(T) = cH+ + cHSO4-, were determined at 298.15 K in aqueous (NH4)2SO4 solutions at different ionic strengths (I = 0.75−7.5 mol dm-3) by potentiometry using a glass electrode. The Ka,c values were converted to those on the molality basis by use of the densities of the corresponding solutions. The activity coefficients of ammonia, γc,NH3 and γm,NH3, respectively, on the molar and molal bases, were determined by a transpiration method. The observed dissociation constants on the molality basis, pKa,m, were compared with those calculated from the Pitzer equations.


The misuse of the Food & Drug Administration's citizen petition process is one tactic in a large repertoire of legal maneuvering used by pharmaceutical companies to protect their brand-name drug revenue streams from the introduction of low-cost generics. To date, the financial cost to society of these delays has not been calculated in the literature, which likely hinders the push for policy solutions. Drawing from a previously published data set on 249 citizen petitions, this article identifies four petitions that were highly likely to have been the final obstacle to a generic drug entering the market and for which sufficient volume and usage data were available. Using these four dubious citizen petitions, the total financial cost to society of citizen petition delays was $1.9 billion or $3.6 million per day. The total financial cost to government-provided insurance programs in the same period was roughly $782 million. Due to the conservative methodology employed (choosing only four petitions that met the criteria of "but for" this citizen petition the generic would have gone to market), the estimates are likely low. Citizen petitions that contributed to a generic delay as one of many tactics or for which there was not sufficient volume and usage information were eliminated from consideration in this estimate.


The magnetoresistance of step-edge junctions based on La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 films was investigated using a Wheatstone bridge geometry. Two types of step-edge structures were prepared: The step was either fabricated by ion-beam etching of SrTiO3 (001) substrates or by wet-chemical etching of an insulating NdMnO3 layer deposited on SrTiO3 (001). Both the magnetoresistive and insulating layers were deposited by injection-metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The temperature dependence of the magnetoresistance was explored for both types of junctions in different field orientations. The largest low-field magnetoresistance was obtained when the step was formed directly in the substrate; it was observed up to room temperature (∼1% for an applied field of ∼0.05 T) and at 40 K, it increased ∼12% under an applied field of ∼0.1 T. The hysteretic behavior for the two types of junctions appeared to be very different.


One of the less known Pasta filata cheese in Indian context is Burrata cheese, an Italian origin cheese popular in Southern Italy. Burrata is preferably consumed with olive oil and serves as an alternative to Caprese salad. This cheese variety is usually made from cow milk and are produced in two ways viz., artisanal method and industrial method. The product consists of a double structure viz., composed of a 'bag' made of mozzarella paste and an inner core 'stracciatella'; the latter is a blend of double cream and Mozzarella cheese strips. The cheese is characterized by being rindless, milky white with a smooth, shiny surface made up of fibrous elastic structure. The cheese is spherical, characterized by a head and a short neck and is rich in milk fat (60.0 % fat-on-dry matter). The high moisture (aw 0.95 to 0.97) and pH (6.1-6.2) favours microbial growth restricting its shelf life, even under refrigerated conditions. Modified atmospheric packaging has enabled shelf life extension of cheese. Psychrotrophic microorganisms such as Pseudomonas and Enterobacteriaceae species are responsible for the spoilage of burrata cheese. Efforts have been underway to produce reduced-fat Burrata cheese to obviate the high calorie content and appropriate means to extend its shelf life.


Introduction 1. Globalization of Industries, Strategies, Firms and Marketing Activities 2. MNCs' Marketing Activities: towards an integrated global Approach? 3. The Study 3.1 Research Questions and Methodology 3.2 Principal Findings 3.2.1 Italian MNCs and their Marketing Orientation 3.2.2 Means and Reasons for Implementing and Integrating Global Marketing Activities 3.2.3 The Correlation between Integrated Global Marketing Activities And Performance: Challenges, Drawbacks And Difficulties 3.2.4 Some Findings about the Integration of Global Marketing with other Funcional Areas Conclusions References


Auger spectra of clean polycrystalline gold have been determined in a cylindrical velocity analyzer at a resolution of 0.6%. The assignment of the Auger transitions is discussed. The energy distribution curve, N(E) is obtained from the experimental d(E×N(E))/dE curve and the secondary electron background substracted in the region of the N6VV, N7VV doublet. Deconvolution of this region was performed on a Dupont curve resolver into four separate peaks and the two larger peaks assigned to the Auger transitions N7VV and N6VV. The width of each peak is ∼ 3.2 eV which compares with a value predicted from the known band structure of gold of greater than 10 eV; apparently only a part of the valence band is available for Auger emission.The adsorption of mercury on the clean gold surface is examined at 300 K and the initial sticking probability is shown to be close to unity, falling rapidly when the coverage exceeds 4.6 × 1014 atoms cm–2. Heating the gold to ∼ 450 K in vacuum removed all the Auger features associated with Hg.


A new n‐sided surface scheme is presented, that generalizes tensor product Bézier patches. Boundaries and corresponding cross‐derivatives are specified as conventional Bézier surfaces of arbitrary degrees. The surface is defined over a convex polygonal domain; local coordinates are computed from generalized barycentric coordinates; control points are multiplied by weighted, biparametric Bernstein functions. A method for interpolating a middle point is also presented.


The article presents the results of the study in the field of information and analytical modeling of territorial objects. The raw data used in the study was obtained using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). Big Data technologies such as Apache Hadoop and Apache Spark were used for data storage and analysis. The Delaunay triangulation algorithm was used to construct the surface skeleton. Algorithm A* was implemented to find the shortest paths in the resulting graph.


Namibia's independence will pose a number of challenges to its first government. History, ecology, the structure of productive forces and the mode of production have imposed constraints and a need for change. The degree of freedom available is very limited. 'Gradualism' and 'moderation' are no longer viable options because of the course of the liberation struggle and of the efforts to repress it. Initial priorities are examined including maintenance of production in key industries and expansion of provision of basic services. These are also reviewed in terms of SWAPOs political programme goals which appear to be potentially consistent with a workable transitional strategy.


In [M.M. Hosseini, Modified Adomain decomposition method for specific second order ordinary differential equations, Appl. Math. Comput. 186 (2007), pp. 117–123] an efficient modification of Adomian decomposition method has been proposed for solving some cases of ordinary differential equations. In this paper, this method is generalized to more cases. The proposed method can be applied to linear, nonlinear, singular and nonsingular problems. Here, it is focused on nonlinear singular initial value problems of ordinary differential equations. The scheme is tested for some examples and the obtained results demonstrate reliability and efficiency of the proposed method.


The bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis is responsible for sexually transmitted infections. Because of its intracellular developmental process, it poses difficulties for researchers trying to understand it. The goal of this project is to provide evidence that an omega (ω) factor of the RNA polymerase is present in Chlamydia trachomatis. In general, the ω factor aids in the folding of the RNA polymerase's β′ subunit and thus, the assembly of the β′ subunits with α, α, β to form a functional core enzyme in the conformation of α, α, β, β′ and ω. Through BLAST analysis, our lab has found a putative ω subunit in Chlamydia that has a resemblance to E.coli ω subunit. We are in the process of expressing the putative ω with α, β, β′ and σ 66 in E. coli BL21 with or without ω. Whether the protein is true ω or not will be judged by its ability to aid in the yield of the recombinant chlamydial RNA core enzyme.


The onset of menopause is considered to be one of the most important phases in the life span of a female. Associated with this stage is the fear of various ailments due to progressively diminishing functions of the ovaries. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has been considered the traditional mainstay for achieving therapeutic relief of various menopausal symptoms. During the last few years, complimentary products and nutraceuticals have gained immense popularity when compared with HRT. The benefits of these prophylactic and therapeutic interventions have yet to be proven with certainty and these regimens are not absolutely free from side effects either. However, the these products have been researched extensively throughout the globe, and many studies are still in pipeline to prove their definite efficacy and benefits over HRT in relieving menopausal symptomatology. This article is an attempt to elaborate the various clinical facts associated with consumption of nutraceuticals during the menopause period.


Packaging color is an important component of the overall aesthetic packaging design. This essay is to set out that we should be good at using colors and give a novel design to cosmetic packages from the color design of cosmetics packaging, cosmetics users'(consumers') age, sexual orientation, geographic sales in order to make the products come to the fore.


Yenagoa, capital city of Bayelsa State, lies in floodplain and surrounded by freshwater swamp and tributaries of the Nun River, Ekole and Epie Creeks, lakes and other natural drainage paths. But the City is annually inundated most times of the year. The goal of this research is to assess and recommend an effective storm water management system in the city. Objectives of the study include: assessing the challenges posed by storm water, identify climatic and hydrological settings of the study area, (c) develop an effective management strategy to mitigate the problem. Multi-stage sampling procedure was adopted and purposively select 6 communities from 22 identified communities, 95 questionnaires were administered. Spearman Rank Correlation was used to test the relationship between adequacy of drains and annual flooding incidence. The study found that; extensive uncontrolled development on wetlands fuelled rapid urbanisation, lack of drainage in many communities and the major roads in the city, development along natural drainage paths and poor waste management practices, thus blocking the natural paths of storm water flow and storm water challenges have caused environmental, health, economic and social problems for the residents. The study recommends that the 2004 Yenagoa Master be implemented and adopt the modified 2002 Model of Urban Storm water Improvement Conceptualisation (MUSIC) framework. Communities should be planned and appropriately laid out before development commences. Drainages should be provided with roads and linked to the natural discharge points. Natural drainage paths and wetlands should be cleared with adequate storm water infrastructure provided.


With increasing demands to improve the perfwmmce of the powder metallurgy (PM) process, green machining appears as an interesting method to solve the problems related to the poor machinability of PM components. The chips formed during green machining of PM components are similar in size to the base powder; which allows for direct recycling. Reclamation of green PMchips.is aprocess that can conceivably reduce material cost in the Production of hgh-quality PM components This study investigates the reclamation of chips formed during green machining of sinter-hardening (FLC-4608J components. The results show that up to 20 w/o of the chips can be odded to a compatible powder mie without signyicantly affecting compaction behavior and sintered properties.


Our preliminary magnetostriction measurements have already shown a strong interplay of lattice dynamic and magnetism in both antiferromagnetic and paramagnetic states, and give unambiguous evidence of strong spin- phonon coupling in uranium dioxide. Further studies are planned to address the puzzling behavior of UO2 in magnetic and paramagnetic states and details of the spin-phonon coupling.


We investigated five acids—(1) formic acid, (2) acetic acid, (3) perchloric acid, (4) hydrochloric acid and (5) nitric acid—as an electrolyte for a direct one-step, in-situ electrochemical growth of conducting polyaniline (CPA) nanowires onto patterned microelectrode devices (MEDs). The effect of these acid electrolytes on the growth and morphology of CPA nanowires generated from its monomer aniline solution in acid electrolytes are reported. We investigated acid electrolyte solutions with varying concentrations (0.2–1.0M) and monomer aniline solutions (concentrations: 0.1–1.0M). The growth of CPA nanowires was not observed in either formic or acetic acid electrolyte solutions at any monomer aniline and acid electrolyte concentrations. Neither formic nor acetic acids facilitated electro-polymerization processes. This may be due to their weak acid behavior. Growth of CPA nanowires was observed from all inorganic (perchloric, hydrochloric and nitric) acids with aniline concentrations of 0.1–0.6M and electrolyte concentrations of 0.2–0.6M in various degrees. High quality CPA nanowires with diameters ~50–150nm and length ≥2μm and high surface-area porous nanonetwork morphologies were obtained from 0.2–0.4M aniline solutions in 0.2–0.4M nitric and 0.2–0.6M perchloric acid electrolyte solutions. These high qualirty CPA nanowires will facilitate their use in chemical sensor and biosensor applications with improved detection capability.


Hierarchical porous-structured Fe3O4 microspheres for use in Fischer–Tropsch (FT) synthesis were fabricated via a solvothermal reaction mediated by ethylene glycol. Each microsphere was observed to consist of primary nanoparticles that served as active oxides for the FT synthesis reaction. Without additional porous support, the pore structure was well constructed through the self-assembly of the Fe3O4 nanoparticles. Compared to the previously reported Fe catalyst, the current synthesized porous structure appeared to have improved the interparticle connectivity and promote the dispersion of active metal, and hence enhance the selectivity for C5+ hydrocarbons. In particular, 1PFe with an average pore size of 3.71 nm and Fe dispersion of 13.9% exhibited the best selectivity for C5+ (59.0 wt%) combined with the lowest CH4 product fraction (11.3 wt%), as well as a high CO conversion of 93.2%.


An IR flare is used as a source in the half-active IR night- viewer system, and the non-scanning IR micro-photoelectric camera as a sensor. The clear image had been obtained at night. Some IR flares and the automatic testing equipment had been developed. Then the integral radiation character of the IR flares had been measured. Some samples with more kind of the fuel components are manufactured, the wavelength of the IR flare for maximum radiant flux have matched with the responded wavelength of the sensor. The clearly reflective image of the targets had been obtained at 400m and 700m in the field tests. In this paper, the we develop a sample of IR flare as radiant point and characters, measuring system and method and test in our field are introduced.


The drawbacks of traditional DSS is analyzed,and a DSS architecture structure based on data base is proposed. The structure includes model base, method base, knowledge base, data base and their management system, as well as OLAP, data mining unit and problem integrated processing unit. The functions of the system are studied,and the relationships and the key technologies of DSS based on the data warehouse are also investigated.


EDITOR—I am writing in response to the editorial by Dixon and Dewar on the NHS plan.1 The government has published its response to the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Long Term Care. 2 3 It has accepted in full or in slightly modified form 23 of the 24 recommendations of the royal commission. It has not fully accepted the main recommendation but is proposing to fund nursing care in nursing homes.

When discussing funding for long term care, the royal commission …


As a result of a long-term and ongoing study of the taxonomy of the Australian herpetofauna, this paper formally names eleven well defined species within the genus Tympanocryptis Peters, 1863, four subspecies and erects a new subgenus for three divergent species. As this paper was about to go to press and with knowledge of this author's working on the relevant species, Melville et al. (2019) scooped this author to formally name another (valid) species that would otherwise have been formally named herein. Significantly this recent paper by Melville et al (2019) and an earlier one, Melville et al. (2018) both engaged in serious acts of academic misconduct, potential violation of copyright law and the crime of taxonomic vandalism. Taxonomic vandalism is the deliberate illegal renaming of taxa previously named by another person and the associated act of improperly and in breach of the rules of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (Ride et al. 1999) unlawfully getting others to use the illegal junior synonym. A separate paper deals with the ethically repugnant acts of Melville in more detail and the wider consequences of her improper actions. In the context of the significant increase in known species within Tympanocryptis, this paper also highlights the fact that the biodiversity of Australia's herpetofauna has been significantly under-estimated. Furthermore extinctions are likely unless more work is done to both identify and name species-level taxa and engage in a plan to conserve them which in order to have any chance of success must include restricting and stopping the runaway growth of human population in Australia. The ongoing threat to the survival of taxa caused by the unscientific and reckless Kaiser et al. (2013) manifesto is also assessed.


In the article we consider the peculiarities of the genre congratulation, which is the part of the administrative discourse. Three main features of this genre are distinguished.


Three compounds were isolated from alcoholic extracts of Gentiana tizuensis Franch..On the basis of spectroscopic methods.Their structures were identified as ursolic acid(1),isooreintin(2),swertiajaponin(3).Among them,compound 2 was isolated from the plant for the first time,compound 3 was isolated from Gentiana for the first time.


Conditions necessaw to the use of intramuscular digoxin as a challenge of delayed digitalis vomiting were studied in dogs. The ED50 f SE was 0.0566 f OW405 and the ED84 & SE was 0.070 5 0.004 mg./kg. Intramuscular injection of the ED84 was followed by an emetic syndrome which began in 2 to 3 hours, consisted of 5 to 10 vomiting spells and 50 to 100 retching spells, and stopped at 8 to 10 hours after injection. The ED84 produced some bradycardia, anorexia and diarrhoea. Repetition of the ED84 at intervals less, but not greater, than 4 days produced a more marked vomiting syndrome. The emetic syndrome was the same in male as in female dogs, the same during the night as during the day, and the same at all seasons of the year. The onset of vomiting was delayed and the number of vomiting and retching spells reduced when food was given at any time from 12 to 16 hours before, to 1 to 2 hours after, injection of the ED84. Excessive (72-hour) starvation lessened the vomiting syndrome, probably due to excitement. The vomiting syndrome was less marked when recorded by observers who were particularly friendly with the dogs, outside the period of recording, apparently due simply to the nearness of such persons.


The scope of this theoretical research is to outline recommendations for improving the complex process of detection of accounts manipulation. In this respect we turned to the previous literature and assessed empirical studies in order to be able to develop a robust model for understand the process of detection for accounts manipulation and further to ease the path of detection by proposing as we stated above a theoretical framework in this respect. Since there is a constant conjecture between cause and effect we are able to assert that two direction of research can be identified and both can explain further the roots for limiting earnings management since its detection can be much easier approached: the event that can represent the root for accounts manipulation and the normal trend considered for a certain company related to the accruals level and economic trend. In the end if we know the cause we can interpret the event and combat its appearance. But when this kind of research appears, another question springs. Should we fight earnings management practices? Clikeman (2003:78) sensed that by using those practices companies are walking on a very slippery slope where minor accounting gimmicks become more and more aggressive until they create material misstatements in the financial statements. So, the recourse to such practices creates a stake that is not negligible. The users of financial statements are misled when making decisions based on manipulated accounting numbers. To a certain extent, the existence of earnings management distorts the usefulness of financial statements, and in this respect the process of detecting it can be regarded both as being important and challenging. Our proposal is not related to a technical process of detecting earnings management as typical empirical studies found in the literature and more than that we open a new stream of research based on understanding the forms of manifestation for accounts manipulation, getting to know the antecedents, the features, the possible interactions among antecedents and current features. Based on the recommendations found in the literature the eradication of manipulative processes is next to impossible but the limitation can be a reality. In this respect the researchers recommend controlling the conditions and motives that increase the likelihood of its presence and also developing stronger tools to detection.


The race to the next process node of FinFETs becomes more prominent after the Intel's & TSMC's announcement to use tri-gate technology (FinFETs) commercially in below 20nm node. Last year, the revealed the 16nm FinFET process that by many measures is one of the most advanced semiconductor technologies. Most of the other semiconductor industries/foundries are expected to adopt FinFETs at 16/14 nm in order to keep pace imposed by the Intel and TSMC. However, similar to the problems faced by any new technology, FinFETs with sub-20 nm feature size also faces several design challenges. Most of these challenges arise due to technological restriction that again degrades its performances. Although, some performance boosters such as high permittivity spacers, enhances the device characteristics but has limited applicability in high-performance circuit applications. Researchers also explored various physical configurations/architectures to alleviate device-circuit co-design to improve the overall performance. However, contradictory observations have been made with respect to device and circuit immunity to random variations that result in an ambiguity about their true applicability. Therefore, it is necessary to thoroughly investigate these novel device architectures with their circuit suitability and tolerance to random variations. Therefore, this tutorial explores the possibilities of dual-spacer (symmetric and asymmetric) architecture for the purpose and its impact of high performance logic circuit/SRAM applications with its tolerance limits to random variations.


We recently proposed in the International Journal of Sciences the use of GIMP, the GNU Image Manipulation Program, for enhancing the panoramic radiographic images. One of its tools, the Retinex filter, revealed itself quite suitable for detecting weak features hidden in the shadows of these radiographic images. Here we show that this filter, besides being relevant for medical and biologic imaging, can be helpful for enhancing the images coming from microscopy techniques related to other scientific investigations


The performance of major search engines for Basque is far from satisfactory, partly due to the agglutinative nature of the language –it is commonly known that search engines do not perform well with such languages– and partly because it is not a language to which search engines restrict their results. In this paper we present EusBila, a search service for Basque that relies on the APIs of search engines, yet obtains a lemma-based and language-filtered search by means of morphological query expansion and language-filtering words. It is a cost-effective approach, which we think can be used for other agglutinative or minority languages. We also evaluate how well EusBila performs when carrying out a Basque query, and we compare this performance to that of a major search engine in terms of precision and recall, thus demonstrating that EusBila is a very valid solution.


The performance of a dimensional surface-measuring instrument is usually limited by a small number of critical components or specifications. For example, parameters such as those specifying ranges and resolutions, and probe geometry are needed to define the capabilities of the instrument. The response of the instrument to sinusoidal perturbations of varying amplitude and wavelength, can be mapped in amplitude-wavelength space to show the effect of each parameter and the overall limits of performance.


Increasing fuel price is becoming a major consideration in fisheries due to its contribution in total cost to produce fish. Fishermen have to reallocate production inputs according to their price, and /or accept substantial modifications in revenues. However, the impact of increasing fuel cost has to be analyzed in relation to the type of fishing gear used. The results are indeed different for trawlers (active gear) compared to netters/liners/potters (passive gear). This paper addresses to technical change between trawling and others fishing techniques, considering on the one hand, the evolution of capital valuation from 1990 to 2005, and on the second hand cost and earnings changes since 1998 to 2005. In particular, fuel expenses are examined under a special French regime implemented in 2004 and called "Fund for the prevention of risks to fishing". If this fund has been created by producer organisations to compensate the fluctuations of energy prices, the regime is considered as a subsidies scheme fuelled by the State according to the European Union. This financial support is a major element in the examination of fishermen behaviour in France. It is shown paradoxically that fishing vessels can maintained their fuel consumption in a context of a high rising fuel cost, thanks to such a State aid. First, materials are presented, describing the state of the Bay of Biscay fisheries from 1990 to 2005. This study concerns indeed exclusively French fishing vessels operating in the Bay of Biscay. Methods used consist to study fishermen behaviour face to the fuel component. In this respect, a very simple model based on adaptative expectations is suggested and seems to suit well to represent fishermen behaviour according the fleet segment in a context of increasing energy costs. Results are presented for the estimated model. Lastly, discussion is oriented around two main economic components, earnings and costs. Fleet contribution to total earnings is appreciated according to fishing methods used. The impact of fuel cost is then characterized for constant samples (1998-2005) under the State aid scheme.


The need for a place to live is one that many people prepare, both millennials and adults and the elderly. With the continued increase in population growth in Indonesia and increasing public interest in buying a place to live early on, this can make not all groups of people have a place to live or a house that is quite livable. Related to this, the public needs up-to-date information related to predictions of house prices both for housing and second-hand housing prices for planning purposes in the future. The purpose of this study is to carry out a comparative analysis of the prediction results of house prices with several Machine Learning algorithms consist of Linear Regression, Random Forest Regression and Gradient Boosted Trees Regression. Evaluation for all the method applying Cross-Validation. The evaluation is seen from the smallest Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) error rate of each testing method. The results of this study are the Random Forest Regression obtained an RMSE value of 0.440, the Linear Regression model obtained an RMSE value of 0.515 and the RMSE value of Gradient Boosted Trees Regression of 0.508. The results were obtained from testing a dataset of 2011 records with a division of 80% for data training and 20% for data testing, the data has 6 attributes used in testing including house prices, land area, building area, number of bathrooms, number of bedrooms and the number of garages. In this study, prediction results using the Random Forest Regression method yielded the highest accuracy of 81.5% compared to the Linear Regression and Gradient Boosted Trees Regression methods.


Plum entitled his 1982 Wartenberg Lecture "What Causes Infarction in Ischemic Brain?" This question remains incompletely answered 2 decades later, during which excitatory amino acids and calcium toxicity have been central research and therapeutic targets. Recently, attention has returned to a central neurochemical feature of ischemic brain injury, acidosis, which was focused on in Plum's lecture. Targeting this effector of injury as therapy for brain ischemia now may be closer at hand and may result in robust neuroprotection.


Abstract : This document describes the development of cost estimating relationships (CERs) and other cost factors for bombers, tankers, air-to-surface missiles, ICBMs, SSBNs and SLBMs. Both RDT&E and initial procurement cost CERs are presented as are cost factors for support, procurement, recurring procurement, military construction, O&M and military personnel. The principal purpose for the derivation of these CERs and cost factors is to estimate the costs of the USSR and the U.S. strategic intercontinental attack forces in the same consistent manner. A basic requirement in the development of these cost estimates is that they should contain only those input values and/or parameters that could be estimated based on observable characteristics of USSR systems.


We live in a complex world where uncertainty is the only certainty. Today's compelling business problem is replaced tomorrow with a problem which was not even imagined yesterday. Data driven decision systems are used by managers in support of their strategic decisions and should be agile and flexibility to survive in our ever change world of complex decisions. The argument presented in this conceptual paper is that data vault modeling is inherently better equipped than dimensional modelling to handle the turbulations of our complex world. The paper investigates the underlying assumptions of dimensional modelling and data vault modelling in terms of requirements collection and the resulting data modelling techniques. It uses critical systems thinking as guiding philosophy to reflect on the benefits of understanding and modelling a variety of perspectives in a problem situation. Critical systems thinking also promotes equal opportunity and accountability. It is argued that both these aspirations can better be achieved by using dimensional modeling as alternative to dimensional modelling. We hope to promote the development of sustainable data driven decision systems which can stand the test of our turbulent times.


the important data support platform which ensures the efficiency and safety of coal mine production is the coal mine production scheduling system.The author choices B/S model architecture,first,the system architecture are simply described,then the functions of the system requirements are expounded.At last,respectively from the rights management,and the data processing in two aspects,the realization of the function module is explained.


Objective To investigate the clinical distribution and the drug resistance of Proteus mirabilis from 2007 to 2010,and study the drug-resistant mechanism of the resistant isolates(CRE).Method The drug resistance of Proteus mirabilis isolated clinically during 2007 to 2010 was analyzied retrospectively.The preservied strains resistant to imipenem,meropenem or ertapenem were resuscitated.The modifided Hodge test was used to detect the carbapenemase,and the drug resistance genes were detected by PCR method.Result The isolation rate of Proteus mirabilis from sputum was the highest,which was 51.1% in 2007,34.4% in 2008,22.1% in 2009,and 35.4% in 2010.The isolation rate from urine was the second,which was 14.3% in 2007,28.0% in 2008,34.9% in 2009,and 33.6% in 2010.The resistance rates to fluoroquinolones,penicillins,cephalosporins and aminoglycosides remained high and stable during the 4 years,while that to carbapenem was the lowest yet increased obviously.The resistance rate to imipenem increased from 1.8% in 2007 to 16.1% in 2010,while to meropenem from 1.7% in 2007 to 16.8% in 2010.Of the 15 cephalosporins-resistant strains,7 strains were Hodge test positive,11 strains were blaKPC positive,and 13 strains were blaCTX-M positive.Conclusion The Proteus mirabilis isolated in the region is resistant to many commonly used antibiotics in clinics.The resistance rate to carbapenem is the lowest which,however,has increased obviously.The carbapenemase produced by blaKPC gene and the β-Lactamase by blaCTX-M gene are the prominent causes of resistance,to which great attention should be paid.


OBJECTIVE
The coexistence rate between chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis (CLT) and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is quite high. Whether CLT influences metastatic lymph nodes remains uncertain. High-volume lymph node metastasis is recommended as an unfavorable pathological feature. We aimed to investigate risk factors for high-volume central lymph node metastasis (CLNM) and lateral lymph node metastasis (LLNM) in PTC patients.

STUDY DESIGN
Retrospective cohort study.

SETTING
Changzhou First People's Hospital.

METHODS
Clinicopathological characteristics of 1094 PTC patients who underwent surgery in our center from January 2019 to November 2021 were analyzed.

RESULTS
The number of metastatic lymph nodes in the central compartment and lateral compartment were lower in the CLT group. We demonstrated that age, BRAF V600E, shape, and the number of foci were risk factors for high-volume CLNM in patients with CLT. For patients without CLT, sex, age, tumor size, number of foci, and margin were risk factors for high-volume CLNM. Tumor size, number of foci, location, and CLNM were all risk factors for high-volume LLNM in patients with or without CLT. Body mass index was only associated with high-volume LLNM in CLT patients. All the above factors were incorporated into nomograms, which showed perfect discriminative ability.

CONCLUSION
Separate predictive systems should be used for CLT and non-CLT patients for a more accurate clinical assessment of lymph node status. Our nomograms of predicting high-volume CLNM and LLNM could facilitate risk-stratified management of PTC recurrence and treatment decisions.


In Europe, the urban plan is changing into a more complex legal document, and is loosing its initial purpose of "giving shape" to the city; in that way, new intervention proposals are appearing, as for example the Strategic Plans. In that way, in the present article, it is questioned if the urban planification tries to get a better quality of life, or if it tries to be useful for the economic development, being the quality of life the final consecuence. It is not answered but it deals about sorne ideas of the relation between cities and richness. So there are comments to sorne texts chosen because all of them respond to the same concept: "the cities are richer and more successful, when they are more creative".


This paper considers the probable impact of improved fisheries management on the volume and quality of fish supply. It is shown that the transition from a rent dissipation equilibrium (where most open access fisheries find themselves) to an economically efficient equilibrium may just as easily entail a decrease as an increase in the volume of harvest. Indeed, given the current level of the world's fish stocks, it appears unlikely that the current trend toward economically efficient fisheries management regimes will result in a significant increase in the worldwide supply of marine catches. Therefore, it seems that a sustained increase in the future volume of fish supply must continue to come from fish farming. The movement toward more efficient fisheries management regimes is, on the other hand, likely to substantially enhance the quality of landed catch. Due to fish stock and fishing capital dynamics, however, this effect is likely to be stronger in the short rather than the long run.


Objective To evaluate the effects and safety of closed tracheal suction system (CTSS) versus open tracheal suction system(OTSS) for mechanically ventilated patients. Methods All randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing CTSS with OTSS for mechanically ventilated patients home and abroad


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to critically review the contributions made by the articles in this theme issue with reference to the literature and by examining the linkages between global economic change and the sustainable development efforts of tourism-dependent economies. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the theme issue ' s contribution to four key questions: What are the implications of global economic transformation for tourism? Where will the tourists come from in future? Where will they go? What are the implications for tourism-dependent economies? Findings – The paper concludes that success in tourism can only be determined by measuring the long-term benefits to the investors and other stakeholders. As such, tourism businesses cannot be sustained indefinitely unless the government, the investors and other stakeholders are broadly satisfied with the benefits derived. Research limitations/implications – The paper observes that small, tourism-dependent economies need good gove...


Elastomeric mirror is one of the main components of systems that require tunable optical characteristics, and is being applied in various devices such as optical zoom camera, electrostatic actuator, and augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR) display. Generally, to fabricate an elastomeric mirror, a metal layer is deposited on an elastomer substrate by vacuum process such as thermal evaporation, e-beam evaporation, and sputtering. However, these processes can damage the elastomeric substrate, thereby degrading the quality of the mirror surface. The metal layer formed on the elastomeric substrate is also vulnerable to small deformation, which limits applications of elastomeric mirror. In this work, we report all-solution-processed elastomeric mirror film whose constituent layers were deposited sequentially by spin coating and dip coating method. The film consists of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) base, aluminum (Al) mirror, and PDMS encapsulation layer. As a material of mirror layer, we selected a 'mirror ink', which composed of Al powder, organic solvent, adhesive and mainly used for screen printing. We adjusted the dilution concentration of mirror ink to make it suitable for the solution process and controlling the roughness of the coated mirror layer. In addition, there was no damage to the mirror layer against deformation due to the presence of encapsulation layer, so it can be attachable well to the curved surface. As an example of application, we demonstrated a seamless display system by placing the elastomeric mirror between two curved panels. We expect that our elastomeric mirror will be applicable to various tunable optical systems.


Ethics and professionalism standards are essential components of health and welfare training programs, yet data on effective ethics training methods remain elusive. We studied two different delivery methods of ethics education in the Gynecology and Obstetrics rotation of medical school: case-based instructor-facilitated discussion only and case-based discussion following student-led presentations. This paper describes results of the focus group we held with student participants from both methods. Students participated in a mixed 1-hour focus group. The focus group moderator transcribed the meeting, which became the data for the analysis. The research team analyzed the data using grounded theory. Two themes emerged from the data: (1) the ways in which students progressed in their ability to identify and assess ethical questions and (2) the degree to which students were engaged with the course material, peers, and facilitators. In addition, two main categories emerged from overlap among the codes identified by the analysts: understanding of the material and perspectives on ethical issues. Although not determinative, the data suggest a preference for instructor-led discussions over peer presentations and discussions. An engaged peer cohort, faculty participation, and a structured discussion were essential to students' satisfaction with instructional delivery.


Steady flow of a thin trickle of viscous fluid down an inclined surface is considered, via a thin-film approximation. Results obtained for uniform flow down the topside or underside of an inclined plane are used in a simple way to approximate flow down a non-plane surface.


Numerous accidents from crowd stampedes have been recorded in human history, Therefore, the public has set high priority on the safety of public places. Surveillances systems aim to use artificial intelligence to address this problem, so that the crowd accident can be significantly reduced. We adopt a low cost camera to gather visual data and propose a cellular model for data interpretation. Based on the model, the motion status of the measured area can be represented as a dynamic state matrix, so the proposed method can save a lot of computing time. We adopted the Discrete Cosine Transformation to transform the motion status of the measured area into the frequency domain to recognize the frequency distribution. Then the feature values are extracted based on different frequency bands and distinct directional information to form a feature vector for training and classification. Finally, the Support Vector Machine is used to classify the feature vector into five classes of crowd density, with the results showing the proposed system is highly effective in crowd monitoring.


Rock sample has random and fuzzy characteristics, the traditional statistic method isnt suitable for processing fuzzy attribute. The paper analyses the rock mechanical parameters in slope engineering using random-fuzzy method and discusses the choice of membership function. The practical computation results show that the random-fuzzy method is more realistic and better than conventional methods.


One of Roman's legal principles state that Leges ab omnibus intellegi debet (statutes should be intelligible to all). The above mentioned postulate is of universal nature and may with full certainty be referred to the legislator who makes law within the scope of Public Finances. Undoubtedly, the problem of clarity and transparency of the law being made constitutes an important and practical issue in the 21st century in Poland and other European countries as well. However, we should have in mind that even the best act that takes into account the above principle, from the moment it becomes valid onwards, constitutes a certain "element" of the whole system of law. As a result, considering mutual relations between various regulations, dynamics of socio-economic changes in practice, there may occur various phenomena of different interpretation and application of law by the administration and citizens. In this situation, it seems to be necessary that some mechanism should function in fi nancial law, which will allow elimination of or at least considerable limits to this phenomenon. In this paper the institution of individual interpretation has been outlined, based on the tax law example, that may serve to meet the goal indicated in the subject-matter.


The debate on incorporation and distribution of emergency contraception in Chile was an issue scheduled on the public agenda of the late 1990s. It became a major issue for about a decade. This research shows how the contraception issue, which is concerned with sexual and reproductive rights of women was dealt in the judiciary. It also illustrates the role of society; how some supported the contraception bill and others rejected it. We want to unveil the ongoing crisis taking place while legislating issues like this, as some stand by women's rights others by fetuses rights. Moreover, this article analyzes the effects of the dictatorial regime, led by Augusto Pinochet (1973-1989), and its legacy on the promotion of a patriarchal legal view on women's rights. We contend that much of the latest social movements will contest such legacy.


191 accumulates and results in amyloidosis because it is unable to cross the dialysis filter [2]. HRA predominantly occurs in the osteoarticular structures, but it is also systemically found to appear in the other tissues and organs as well [3]. The clinical manifestations of HRA markedly increase in patients treated with regular dialysis for longer than 10 years, and it is more common in patients who start dialysis when older than 50 years of age [4]. Although HRA is common morbidity of dialysis, dialysis-related lingual amyloidosis is relatively rare. In a reported case series, among 472 patients treated with dialysis for more than 10 years, only eight patients (1.69%) developed lingual amyloidosis while all of them had proceeding osteoarticular amyloidosis [5]. Our case also had medical histories of bilateral carpal tunnel syndromes which might be associated with osteoarticular involvement of HRA although they were not histologically proven. In regard to the clinical signs and symptoms, dialysis-related lingual amyloid deposition predominantly starts on the lateral side of the tongue and then develops diffuse nodules probably due to frequent contact with the teeth and related stimulation [5]. The treatment for HRA is difficult and largely unsatisfactory, but successful renal transplantation leads to rapid disappearance of symptoms and no further progression [6]. In addition, biocompatible "high-flux" synthetic membranes are recommended to be used for hemodialysis since they can significantly reduce the prevalence of HRA and thereby improve such symptoms [4,7].


The purpose of this study is to determine the mechanical properties and the microstructure behavior at weldment and HAZ of mild steel and stainless steel joint fabricated using MIG welding process. Material from grade Austenitic stainless steel(AISI 304) and mild steel (AISI 1010) with both thickness 4 mm were used. Welding design was done in single groove butt joint and weld using 1.2 mm and 0.8 mm diameter size of filler wire (ER309). Welding machine (WIM 210S) was used with selected parameter with involved voltage, wire feed speed and gas flow rate. Mechanical
properties were evaluated in tensile tests, Charpy-V toughness tests, and hardness test. In addition microstructure examinations were carried out. Base on the finding, there was changes in hardness value on base metal, weldment and HAZ area. High hardness value has been identified at both HAZ area of dissimilar weld. Tensile test show at 1.2 mm strength was weaker than 0.8 mm joint. All specimens were fracture at HAZ near AISI 1010 side because of lack of fusion. At their barrier microstructures reveal that present of crack at HAZ near AISI 1010 and show little dilution in intermetallic of dissimilar metal. No ferrite structure present because MIG welding provide rapid cooling. All the implication in the dissimilar weld disturbance and affect the whole properties.


We researched aging of the LRB (Lead Rubber Bearing) installed in a base-isolated building which was constructed 15 years ago. The hardness of the cover rubber and the height were measured for 35 LRBs which were installed in the building. The compression test and combined compression shear test with monitor samples and actually installed LRB were performed to search changes in their hysteresis characteristics. The monitor samples were composed of 4 LRBs and 1 RB. Main results obtained were as follows: 1) The LRBs installed in the TC building crept approximately 1 (mm) during 15 years and did not changed during last 5 years. 2) The hardness of the cover rubber did not change against that of 15 years ago. 3) From the testing of the monitor samples, the compression stiffness increased approximately 17% and the shear stiffness increased approximately 5%, however the yield force changed quite a little during 15 years on average. As a result, the suitability of the design specifications of the LRB was confirmed.Copyright © 2004 by ASME


Lane departure warning systems (LDWS) provide an effective counter-measure against road departure crashes. Much commercial development of these systems has concentrated on image processing-based systems. Because these systems depend on the detection and tracking of lane markings, it is logical to hypothesize that the visibility of the markings under different weather and lighting conditions may significantly influence the performance of LDWS. Work was done to determine the effects of environmental conditions such as rain and lighting on LDWS performance with typical lane-marking installations on limited-access facilities. The main performance measure used in this study is the efficacy rate (ER). This is defined as the ratio of the number of instances in which the lane departure warning device is able to provide lane crossing alarms in all instances in which an LDWS-equipped vehicle crosses the lane markings. The results indicate that in most cases the ER of the LDWS under dry and light rain conditions is 100%. However, it was found that performance of LDWS of lane markings was affected significantly by heavy rain conditions at night for typical lane-marking installations. With heavy-rain night conditions, most of the observed ER values were between 0% and 30%. It appears that the ER associated with night rain conditions increases with increased lane-marking retroreflectivity. Dusk conditions were found to drop the ER of LDWS by 15% to 18%. At a few locations that had yellow lane markings near the end of their service lives or had yellow markings on concrete pavements, LDWS had difficulty detecting the markings because of the low level of contrast between the yellow markings and the pavement.


Abstract : Two articles are presented. In Detonation Turbulence, an approximate analytic solution of the vorticity equation is reported which shows some of the properties of turbulence, an understanding of which is essential for predicting the flow of detonation products behind the detonation front in explosive lenses. The second article, Nonresonant Interband Faraday Rotation in Silicon, is a report on measurements of Faraday rotation in intrinsic silicon, made with a magnetic field of 20 kG at room temperature in the spectral region 0.45-2.05 eV. The measurements are discussed in terms of both the semiclassical theory of Kolodziejczak, Lax, and Nishina, and the quantum mechanical theory of Boswarva, Howard, and Lidiard. (Author)


Summary: The paper discusses the main ideas of the new approach to discrete multi-criteria comparison and choice from a small set of alternatives and its implementation as Intelligent Decision Support System (IDSS) UniComBOS. The approach has been developed within the Verbal Decision Analysis paradigm. While pursuing to use psychologically correct information on Decision Maker's (DM) preferences, the approach allows to take into account individual, but not only general, DM's ability to deal with multi-criteria alternatives. This is facilitated by a special graphical user interface (colour differentiation of preferences), proposed to assist a DM in comparisons and provide possibility for additional checks of her/his answers' consistency. As in the most multi-criteria decision making aids, multi-criteria descriptions of the alternatives are decomposed into their parts upon the less number of criteria ("units"). DM makes pair-wise comparison starting from one-criterion units, and then a number of criteria in units are incremented one-by-one, until either the best alternative will be found by the newly introduced rule of U- Dominance, or it will be obvious, that the comparison of the given multi-criteria units is a great challenge to DM. In the latter case, the system would not be able to find the single best alternative, but it will indicate a set of incomparable alternatives which are preferable for DM as compared to any alternative not included in this set.


(45) and "[d]o you communicate with your creative team any differently, regardless of whether you're choreographing, directing, or both?" (75). Cramer keeps the conversations refreshingly balanced and practical, avoiding inquiries that could have easily turned unproductively erudite. Her casual yet respectful tone as interviewer encourages the choreographers to offer humorous and intriguing antidotes that concurrently entertain and reinforce the lessons they are trying to teach. A few of the interviews even contain harmless jabs at some of the icons of the dance world and a playful lampoon of elements within the theatre, such as the audition process, out-of-town tryouts, and so on. Cramer also avoids dance jargon and interpolates explanations about each artist within the interviews, making the book user-friendly to those who do not have extensive musical theatre knowledge.


In this paper, we propose a method for suppressing shaft voltage by modifying the rotor shape and the permanent magnets in interior permanent magnet type high voltage motors. The shaft voltage, which adversely affects the bearing by occurring bearing current, is induced by parasitic components and the leakage flux in motor-driven systems as well as inherent linkage flux between main magnetic flux and shaft according to rotor configuration. Thus, shaft voltage should be analyzed and considered under inverter-driven and non-inverter-driven conditions because inherent linkage flux can analyze under non-inverter-driven condition. In this study, we designed re-arrangement magnet and re-structuring rotor to minimize the shaft voltage. In addition, we optimized the proposed models. The shaft voltage suppression effect of the designed model was validated experimentally and by comparative finite element analysis.


Formulation of a three-dimensional, quasi-static lubrication model of an artificial hip joint is proposed which includes the inclination angle of the acetabular cup. This is performed by deriving a transformed Reynolds equation accounting for this cup tilt angle. The numerical simulation also addresses mass conservation at the location of film rupture. A 3-D spherical representation of the articulating surfaces of the hip prosthesis is mapped onto a cartesian coordinate system of the entire geometry of the "ball and socket" joint. Results include the lubricating fluid pressure distributions for various inclination angles of the acetabular cup demonstrating that the greatest pressures occur for large eccentricities in the upward vertical direction.


At present,our country is in the transformation stage from traditional society to modern society,the emergence of interest group is a historical necessity,during this stage,how to understand exactly the interest group in our country and its impact on local government decision making is an important problem to face.So analyzing and studying interest group have profound theoretical and practical significance.


This descriptive research aims to analyze: (1) the availability and utilization of Information System at Public Elementary School in Pekanbaru - Riau and (2) principals' leadership at Public Elementary School in Pekanbaru - Riau . By using proportional random sampling technique, 66 school principals spread across 12 sub -districts in Pekanbaru - Riau were selected as the sample. The instrument used was a questionnaire addressed to the principals. The principals are asked to give their answers to the given questionnaire and they were free to choose one or more answers for each item based on their situation and condition. The data needed are related to the principals' view of the availability and utilization of the Information System at the school they lead and the data about the principals' view of leadership carried out related to the functions and roles they have done. The results of the data analysis prove that: (1) the availability of Information System at school was rated positively by the principals, whether in terms of availability, management, or perceived benefits; and (2) in carrying out leadership, their roles and functions as supervisors, managers and educators occupied the highest position.


I. A. ALMEIDA. Optimization of Titanium Machining by Pulsed Nd:Yag Laser. 2007. Thesis (Doctoral) Tecnologia Nuclear Materiais IPEN, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 2007. The main goal of this work was to establish the requirements for laser processed parts to satisfy uniform surface finish, low roughness and preservation of the mechanical and functional properties of the parts. Lasers became a versatile machining tool that satisfies the modern trends in material processing. In this study, the cutting quality factors of sheets of pure titanium and its alloys, by pulsed Nd:Yag laser, were investigated according to the Design and Analysis of Experiments. Laser pulse energy, laser pulse length, pressure of the protective/reactive gas, cutting speed, were considered the key laser parameter processing factors. In this Design, a factorial arrangement, regarding several combinations of these different processing factors, was performed and the influence of each one was also taken into consideration. The cutting process was performed on commercially pure titanium (grade 2) and the alloy Ti-6Al-4V (grade 5) sheets. The obtained samples were analyzed through optical microscopy in order to determine the edge roughness formations. The samples were also analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and submitted to micro hardness tests and surface roughness inspections. An increase on the surface hardness on the cut region and the formation of nitrogen precipitates under a thin layer of a melted zone were verified. In spite of the complexity of the interactions between this diversity of parameters, it is possible to optimize the titanium laser cutting.


In this study, I compared the description of the forest in Princess Mononoke and My Neighbor Totoro. The two works reflect the influence of "the laurel forest culture theory". In the former work, the forest represents the harmony produced by the commensal history of coexistence of nature and humans; but the forest in the latter work is pictured, on the one hand, as existence to let one feel in awe of it and at the same time as being mysterious, while on the other hand as a person who is furious at human beings. In My Neighbor Totoro, the different worlds that Totoro lives in are linked to the terrestrial world through a forest. A human being worships the forest and consequently the composition in the forest emerges through sisters. However, the forest of the Forest Spirit in Princess Mononoke is depicted as a place of the opposition between the human and the supernatural being; and looking at nature and human contradictoriness through the human girl San, brought up by a Japanese wolf-god, became the relief. In addition, it allows you to reflect on nature, and the problem of having to live together as the very existence of the human being, through the boy Ashitaka, who decides to live in Tatara village and San, who decides to live in the forest. Through the consideration of the two works, it is confirmed that the outlook on nature of Miyazaki clarified contradictoriness with human beings and nature.