PURPOSE: A pre-stressed-precast-segmental spandrel open concrete arch bridge and a constructing method thereof are provided to improve outer appearance in comparison with a concrete bridge. CONSTITUTION: A pre-stressed-precast-segmental spandrel open concrete arch bridge comprises a base concrete(1), a pre-stress free cast segment concrete arch rib(2a), and a concrete upper plate(4). The base concrete is vertically and alternately installed. A mount groove(1b) is formed on the lower part of the abutments of a bridge. A mounting part of the pre-stress free cast segment concrete arch rib is mounted on the mount groove. The mounting part is fixed with be buried in the concrete. The concrete upper plate is installed between the upper side of the base concrete abutments of the bridge and the central upper side of the stress free cast segment concrete arch rib.


Current antiemetic regimens are less effective in children than in adults. Fosaprepitant was recently approved for prevention of chemotherapy‐induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) in children aged six months and older.


This article addresses the ways that working with archived classic family and communities studies from the 1960s can throw a different light on past and present research conventions around acceptable research practice. We consider the constitution of 'good' methodological conduct through looking at the nature of data and acknowledgement of who generates it, culminating in a focus on the implications of acceptable and unacceptable researcher accounts. Past conventions raise questions about the merging of primary data and context alongside which is active in the research field, while present understandings of 'good' ethical practice become a suspect narrative.


We propose a novel transabdominal fetal pulse oximetry using frequency-modulated continuous-wave near-infrared spectroscopy. By measuring the time-resolved reflectance of light shined on pregnant sheep's abdomen, we experimentally recovered the fetal signals originating from deep tissue.


Multi-resolution sub-band cepstral features strive to exploit discriminative cues in localised regions of the spectral domain by supplementing the full bandwidth cepstral features with sub-band cepstral features derived from several levels of sub-band decomposition. Multi-resolution feature vectors, formed by concatenation of the sub-band cepstral features into an extended feature vector, are shown to yield better performance than conventional MFCCs for phoneme recognition on the TIMIT database. Possible strategies for the recombination of partial recognition scores from independent multi-resolution sub-band models are explored. By exploiting the sub-band variations in signal to noise ratio for linearly weighted recombination of the log likelihood probabilities we obtained improved phoneme recognition performance in broadband noise compared to MFCC features. This is an advantage over a purely sub-band approach using non-linear recombination which is robust only to narrow band noise.


The objective of this study is to analyze the characteristics of persons with a high sugar-intake ratio (%E) and factors affecting sugar-intake ratio with the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey ( $6^{th}$ KNHANES). The sugar-intake ratio is the calories of sugar from processed ...


Objective To observe changes on membrane integrity and ultrastructure of human sperm after freeze-drying. Methods Semen samples from both normospermic donors (group A, n=15) and infertile men with abnormal sperm parameters (group B, n=15) were enrolled into this study. These samples were freeze-dried by using a freeze-drying method. The membrane integrity in the head and tail regions of individual spermatozoon was examined by using the combined hypo-osmotic swelling-eosin Y exclusion test. Sperm ultrastructure in groups A (n=3) and B (n=3) was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results After freeze-drying, all spermatozoa were types I (damaged both head and tail membranes) and III (damaged head membrane and intact tail membrane) membrane integrity in groups A and B. Type III of group B had lower value than that of group A (P Conclusion Freeze-dried human spermatozoa could have intact structural components. However, freeze-drying resulted in severe damage on membrane integrity and ultrastructure of sperm. Samples from infertile men would have less resistance to freeze-drying.


Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) form a high risk group osteoporosis (OP). Its main causes are autoimmune inflammation, concomitant pathology, and their treatment. When OP occurs in SLE, bone mass loss is shown to occur early and is associated with the use of glucocorticosteroids (GC). To prevent OP, all patients with SLE should modify their lifestyle. To verify bone changes, densitometry is performed in patients who have risk factors of OP and/or a menopause. Calcium preparations and vitamin D are used to prevent OP; bisphosphonates that significantly reduce the risk of fractures of the vertebral column and femoral neck are employed for therapy of OP. A SLE patient with gluco-corticoid-induced OP and a good effect of bisphophonate treatment is described.


A measurement of the electron charge asymmetry in inclusive pp→W+X → eν+X production at √ s = 7 TeV is presented based on data recorded by the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 840 pb−1. The electron charge asymmetry reflects the unequal production of W+ and W− bosons in pp collisions. The electron charge asymmetry is measured in bins of absolute value of electron pseudorapidity in the range of |η| < 2.4. The asymmetry rises from about 0.1 to 0.2 as a function of the pseudorapidity and is measured with a relative precision better than 7%. This measurement provides new stringent constraints for parton distribution functions. Submitted to Physical Review Letters c © 2014 CERN for the benefit of the CMS Collaboration. CC-BY-3.0 license ∗See Appendix A for the list of collaboration members ar X iv :1 20 6. 25 98 v2 [ he pex ] 2 0 M ar 2 01 3


The measurement of soil water content in the field is complicated by soil heterogeneity, as well as issues of temporal and spatial scales. A particular gap exists in our ability to observe water contents at the field scale, ranging from 0.1 to 80 km. This work explores the feasibility of using fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing (DTS) observations of the diel temperature cycle to estimate the volumetric water content of the soil profile. Relationships between the thermal properties of bulk soil and the water content of the soil are described, and analytical and numerical models of conductive heat transport are presented. Model results are compared to data collected using a fiber-optic DTS to measure temperature within the soil profile at Valley Vista Ranch, an agricultural site in northern Nevada. Observed temporal phase shifts and diel amplitudes at a depth of 15 cm in the soil profile are compared to the phase shifts and amplitudes predicted by the numerical simulations for the same surface temperature wave. While phase shifts and amplitudes measured in the field return repeatable estimates of the soil thermal properties, these estimates could not be correlated with the volumetric water content of the soil. Potential causes for this discrepancy, including advective heat fluxes, biased surface temperature measurements, and model deficiencies are explored, and recommendations for improvements to future experiments are presented.


This issue includes the abstracts of the 6th International Forum of Mood and Anxiety Disorders (IFMAD) Meeting, held in Vienna, Austria from November 29 to December 1, 2006. In the past years, IFMAD has evolved into an important and significant platform where ideas and thoughts on the recent developments in psychiatric treatments of mood and anxiety disorders are exchanged. International experts meet in an informal atmosphere to address and discuss research findings. State-of-theart lectures on mood and anxiety disorders as well as poster presentations provide up-to-date information on the current understanding of the diseases as well as treatment issues. Besides the abstracts of the IFMAD meeting, a number of articles cover relevent topics such as sexual dysfuntion, coercion in psychiatric care, polypharmacy in schizophrenia, antidepressant monotherapy and the mechanism of escitalopram on striatal dopamine activity. In the first article, Mercan et al. demonstrate that sexual dysfunction in female patients suffering from panic disorders is primarily driven by an accompanying depression. Furthermore, panic disordered female patients who do not have depressive symptoms do not usually experience a loss of sexual interest but rather orgasmic problems. The co-occurence of impulse control disorders (ICD) and nicotine dependence has been studied in 127 French women by Lejoyeux et al. Interestingly, the data confirm the frequency of the association between bulimia, compulsive buying and nicotine dependence, with compulsive buying being the most frequent disorder followed by bulimia and pathological gambling. Moreover, nicotine dependence in women is associated with a higher level of alcohol consumption. Therefore, the results clearly indicate that nicotine-dependent women, regardless of their motivations for consultation, should also be screened for compulsive buying, bulimia, and alcohol dependence. In the third article, Wynn reviews the important topic of coercion in psychiatric care as well as its legal and ethical controversies. Since there is a long tradition for the use of coercion in psychiatric care, and many approaches exist in different countries in accordance with the respective mental health legislature, this article provides orientation for our daily practice and might even stimulate further research in this field. Modestin and colleagues studied the frequency, socio-demography and comorbidity of ICD-10 personality disorders in admissions of all hospitals situated in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland over a period of 5 years. A total of 10% of all in-patients and 7% of first-ever admissions suffered from personality disorders, with emotionally unstable personality disorders being the most frequent personality disorder diagnosis (55% of all patients diagnosed with personality disorders). The data obtained from over 40,000 in-patients further indicate that the differentiation in the impulsive and the borderline subtype is justified in contrast to emotionally unstable personality disorders; other personality disorders were diagnosed only in the presence of comorbid axis I disorders. Masand et al. address the topic of polypharmacy in schizophrenia. They point out that polypharmacy is common in real-world, clinical settings: the use of psychotropic medications as an adjunct to antipsychotic agents is often performed when patients have a poor response to monotherapy with only one antipsychotic agent. The evidence for the adjunctive use of antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, lithium, antidepressants, benzodiazepines and other psychotropics in the treatment of schizophrenia is reviewed. Furthermore, suggestions are given for the use of polypharmacy in difficult and practical clinical settings. The authors clearly refer to the limitation of the data. Thus, more data are needed from controlled studies in order to guide effective, safe and rational pharmacy and medication combinations in the treatment of schizophrenia. The topic of duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) is now widely researched. In the subsequent article, Compton and colleagues indicate that the presence of negative symptoms is significantly different in patients with a short or long DUP. The positive effects of quetiapine on motor and sleep in the treatment of uniand bipolar depressed patients are documented by Baune's group. Llorca et al studied the frequency and tolerability of risperidone long-acting injectable (RLAI) in 130 patients, and demonstrated that RLAI significantly improved disease symptoms, functioning, hospitalization status, and reduced movement disorders when treated in combination with oral atypical antipsychotics. De Hert and colleagues evaluated to what degree antipsychotic prescribing patterns are in accordance with published treatment recommendations. This article provides an insight into the factors determining guidelines for adherence or non-adherence. Based on the data of 1215 psychotic in-patients participating in a naturalistic prospective follow-up study, they documented that polypharmacy and also higher-dosing are frequently observed and appear to be influenced by the patients' clinical condition and International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, 2006; 10(4): 233 234


Laser welding is widely used in titanium alloy welding due to its high energy density, small heat affected zone, and rapid processing ability. However, problems with laser welding, such as deformation and cracking caused by residual stress, need to be resolved. In this paper, the residual stress in laser welding of TC4 titanium alloy was studied using an ultrasonic laser. The residual stress in titanium alloy plates is considered a plane stress state. A pre-stress loading method is proposed and acoustoelastic coefficients are obtained. Based on the known acoustoelastic coefficients, the transverse and longitudinal residual stresses in laser welding are measured using an ultrasonic laser. The results show that longitudinal residual stress is greater than the transverse stress. The distribution regularity of the residual stress is similar to normal welding, but the tensile stress zone is much narrower. Then, the influence of heat input and welding speed on residual stress is discussed. With increasing heat input, the welding zone widens, and the peak value of the residual stress increases. A higher welding speed should be chosen when the welding power is constant. This research has important significance for the measurement and control of residual stress in the laser welding process.


Based on the investigation data of Hg in Jiaozhou Bay in May and August of 1991, according to the horizontal and vertical matter content variation model proposed by the author, the horizontal loss amount, vertical disputed amount and vertical sediment amount of Hg at surface and bottom were determined, and the modelling diagram of horizontal and vertical variation of Hg content were established. In May and August, the variation of absolutely and relatively horizontal loss amount of Hg at surface and bottom was 0.021-0.060μg/L and 40.74-74.07%, the variation of absolutely and relatively vertical disputed amount was 0.004-0.049μg/L and 20.00-60.49%, and the absolutely and relatively vertical sediment amount was 0.010-0.033μg/L and 19.60-61.11%. The variation of horizontal loss amount showed that, Hg content in bay, whether transported in eastern nearshore waters or bay center in May and August, caused the high horizontal loss at surface and bottom. The variation of vertical loss amount disclosed that Hg content at surface and bottom were vertical sediment amount in eastern nearshore waters, but vertical disputed amount in bay center. Hence, it was believed that space, not time, decided that Hg content at surface and bottom was vertical sediment amount or vertical disputed amount. The variation of vertical loss amount further disclosed that in May or August, these two waters were far from each other, however, the relatively vertical variation amount of Hg content at surface and bottom was consistent, changing from 19.60-20.00% to 60.49-61.11%. Therefore, it was believed that space, not time, decided the relatively vertical variation amount.


The following paper presents findings from a qualitative study conducted on board of two merchant vessels. Interviews and observations have been used to obtain insights in how safety is defined and ...


As a social science, accounting is in interdependence with its environment. According to that, accounting system of each country is influenced by different economic and non – economic factors, including culture. Even when financial statements are prepared on the basis of comparable accounting principles, language or currency, there is still culture as one factor of influence that must be considered. Accounting values that have impact on particular accounting systems are linked with Hofstede's cultural dimensions and described in Gray's model, later empirically tested by other researchers. Although not all of Gray's hypotheses are supported, the main framework for explaining international differences and issues in accounting by cultural factors has been established. After all, culture can also be considered as criterion for classifying national accounting systems into clusters, which is very important for efforts on international accounting harmonization area.


The Omega index of a graph G is defined as , where is the number of strips of length s. In this paper, we compute this index for k-polyomino chain, phenylenes and carbon nanocones.


Eutrophication contributes to the proliferation of alien invasive weed species such as water hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes. Although the South American moth Niphograpta albiguttalis was released in South Africa in 1990 as a biological control agent against water hyacinth, no post-release evaluations have yet been conducted here. The impact of N. albiguttalis on water hyacinth growth was quantified under low-, medium- and high-nutrient concentrations in a greenhouse experiment. Niphograpta albiguttalis was damaging to water hyacinth in all three nutrient treatments, but significant damage in most plant parameters was found only under high-nutrient treatments. However, E. crassipes plants grown in high-nutrient water were healthier, and presumably had higher fitness, than plants not exposed to herbivory at lower-nutrient levels. Niphograpta albiguttalis is likely to be most damaging to water hyacinth in eutrophic water systems, but the damage will not result in acceptable levels of control because of the plant's high productivity under these conditions. Niphograpta albiguttalis is a suitable agent for controlling water hyacinth infestations in eutrophic water systems, but should be used in combination with other biological control agents and included in an integrated management plan also involving herbicidal control and water quality management.


To improve the precision at the very top ranks of a document list presented in response to a query, researchers suggested to exploit information induced from clustering of documents highly ranked by some initial search. We propose a novel model for ranking such (query-specific) clusters by the presumed percentage of relevant documents that they contain. The model is based on (i) proposing a palette of "witness" cluster properties that purportedly correlate with this percentage, (ii) devising concrete quantitative measures for these properties, and (iii) ordering the clusters via aggregation of rankings induced by these individual measures. Empirical evaluation shows that our model is consistently more effective than previously suggested methods in detecting clusters containing a high relevant-document percentage. Furthermore, the precision-at-top-ranks performance of this model transcends that of standard document-based retrieval, and competes with that of a state-of-the-art document-based retrieval approach.


During the first ten years that followed "The Decade of the Brain", the quest of neuroscience for understanding brain function in health and disease has greatly expanded to include molecular, developmental, cognitive and evolutionary aspects of the nervous system. This increased multidisciplinary effort has been complemented by the spectacular development of highly sophisticated experimental methods. Neuroscientists can now perform studies ranging from molecular and imaging analysis of single pre- and postsynaptic neuronal processes to imaging of neural activity in the whole brain during perceptual and motor behavioral tasks. At the same time, theoretical advances in neuroscience have been aided by the rapid development of mathematical and computational simulations of biologically and functionally realistic single cells and complex neural networks across multiple spatiotemporal scales. Therefore, neuroscientists are more than ever in a position to deliver answers to basic, medical and biotechnological questions related to brain function and dysfunction. [...]


Volume III is part of a four volume set documenting areas of research resulting from the development of the Automotive Manufacturing Assessment System (AMAS) for the DOT/Transportation Systems Center. AMAS was designed to assist in the evaluation of industry capability to produce fuel efficient vehicles. Through extensive research and synthesis of publicly available information, detailed abstracts and summaries were generated to describe material applications to automotive vehicles and components with emphasis on technological advances and weight reduction potential for each domestic auto manufacturer, material, and component area. Investigation focuses on analyzing factors affected by fuel economy efforts: current and innovative materials and their component applications; auto manufacturers' and suppliers' development programs; tooling/manufacturing processes; weight savings and fuel economy benefits; and costs involved. Weight reduction progress in the 1977 and 1978 model years is highlighted but announced future plans for each manufacturer are also presented.


Mycotoxins are toxic and/or carcinogenic secondary metabolites produced by fungi on a wide array of agricultural commodities that can cause diseases referred to as mycotoxicoses; the fungi per se are not involved in the disease process. The presencd of mycotoxins in agricultural commodities and ensuing mycotoxicoses represent an extremely complex series of interactions between the causative fungi, the contaminated product, physicochemical environmental factors and the intoxicated host. This complexity is reflected in the difficulty in achieving some measure of control over the problem. Unlike most of the substances discussed a t this conference, mycotoxins do not have a point source of origin, which futher complicates control. Unfortunately, the notoriety achieved by one set of these toxins, the aflatoxins, has tended to obscure the fact that there exists a large number of additional mycotoxins all representing special problems in detection, analysis and control. TABLE 1 illustrates those toxins currently of most concern, whereas TABLE 2 lists those of potential concern. Additionally, a number of these compounds have been shown to be carcinogenic by various tests (TABLE 3). Nevertheless, the mycotoxins of primary concern are the aflatoxins, a family of closely related substituted coumarins produced by Aspergillus j a w s and A . parasiticus that constitute a worldwide problem (FIGURE I ) . TABLE 4 shows those agricultural commodities or products reported to contain aflatoxin as a result in natural infection. Aflatoxin contamination was previously thought to result primarily from improper storage. Comprehensive studies, centered at our Center,' have revealed that aflatoxin contamination, particularly of corn, the major commodity affected, can start in the field prior to harvest. With respect to control, this finding has changed the entire concept of the problem. In fact, we now know that aflatoxin contamination can occur in the field, during harvest, storage, processing, distribution and in the household. This aspect plus the wide variety of commodities affected dictates a multiplicity of control approaches and measures; some of these have been successful and others are yet to be initiated. In the field, the obvious solution would be the breeding of crops either resistant to the growth of the causative fungi or in some manner inhibiting toxin biosynthesis by the mold. In several field experiments in which corn was innoculated with A. j a v u s , significant differences in corn genotypes for aflatoxin levels were noted by several


A detection system, which includes a target object having a target object coordinate system; tracking unit, configured to monitor the position of the target object and / or orientation, and generates a target position indication object and / or orientation of a target object position signal ; camera positioned to capture an image of the target object; orienting mechanism, which is connected to the camera to control the orientation of the camera with respect to the target object; and a processor configured to analyze the image to detect differences in the image, and when there is a difference in the image, based on at least the orientation of the target object and the camera position signal, determining a difference with respect to the position of the object coordinate system, and then directed to target and indicate the difference to the camera and laser.


ABSTRACT: A 3 year old girl with neuroblastoma with preoperative diarrhoea and hypokalemia developed sudden intra operative hyperkalemia. The possible etiology and treatment are discussed.


The maximum utilization of noble metals as heterogeneous catalysts is achieved by dispersing the noble metals as small particles supported on a porous, high surface area powder. In some studies with supported noble metal catalysts, it has been reported that the metal particle interacts with the support material and that the interaction affects the catalytic properties of the metal. Experimental studies on metal-support interactions that are pertinent to electrocatalysis will be discussed. Platinum supported on carbon black is one of the most active electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction in phosphoric acid fuel cells. In the acid environment at 100 to 200/sup 0/C, the Pt surface area decreases with time due to the growth of the supported Pt particles. The effects of a liquid-phase environment on the particle growth mechanism of supported Pt catalysts is discussed. 60 references.


Let Gp be a random graph on 2 d vertices where edges are selected independently with a xed probability p > 1 4 , and let H be the d-dimensional hypercube Q d. We answer a question of Bollobb as by showing that, as d ! 1, Gp almost surely has a spanning subgraph isomorphic to H. In fact we prove a result which can be applied to many other graphs, improving also previous results for the lattice, i.e., the 2-dimensional square grid. The proof uses the second moment method|writing X for the number of subgraphs of G isomorphic to H, where G is a suitable random graph, we expand the variance of X as a sum over all subgraphs of H itself. As the subgraphs of H may be quite complicated, most of the work is in estimating the various terms of this sum.


In recent years, companies have been confronted with a new type of negative consumer behavior: consumers who have turned hostile and who are strongly determined to cause damage to the brand. Empowered by new technological possibilities, an individual consumer can now wreak havoc on a brand with relatively little effort. In reflection of this new phenomenon, the authors introduce the concept of consumer brand sabotage (CBS). On the basis of different underlying motives, a conceptual framework distinguishes CBS (a form of hostile aggression: harming the brand as dominant motive) from other forms of negative consumer behavior, such as customer retaliation and negative word of mouth (instrumental aggression: harming a brand is only a means to achieve other objectives, e.g., restoring equity). This framework adapts insights from aggression and appraisal theories as well as qualitative interviews with actual saboteurs to a consumer–brand relationship context in order to develop an improved theoretical understanding of the under-researched phenomenon of CBS. The authors analyze the mental escalation processes of individual consumers toward CBS and develop a road map for future research.


This paper describes high-resolution autocollimator calibration system in NMIJ. A goniometer system with nano-radian resolution provides precision rotation angles of a mirror attached on the rotation axis and rotation angles read by an autocollimator are compared to the set angles. The rotation angle is detected by a highprecision angle interferometer that observes motions of corner reflectors attached to the axis. The interferometer is calibrated to output absolute angles by a 24-sided optical polygon that is attached to the rotation axis. The performance of the system is verified by comparing the calibration curves of same autocollimator taken by this system and those taken by the national standard of NMIJ.


Geographical and logical growth of the World-Wide Web is accompanied by a fast technological development. Web can be successfully used as a platform for implementation of diverse applications. Distributed and collaborative systems are among the most challenging Web applications. TANGO is an integration platform which enables implementation of Web-based collaborative environments. The system provides means for fast integration of Weband non-Web-applications into one multi-user collaborative systems. In this paper we describe the functional model, requirements, system design and certain implementation issues of the TANGO system. 1 Corresponding author: firstname.lastname@example.com 2 On leave of absence from EFP, Poznan, Poland 3 This research was supported by the U.S. Department of Defense under Rome Laboratory Collaboration & Interactive Visualization Contract No. F 3062-95-C-0273-01 and by Polish KBN grant No. PB1173/T11/95/09


The paper focuses on Margaret Atwood's novel The Penelopiad and John Barth's short stories "Menelaiad" and "Anonymiad," comparing the approaches of the two authors in their postmodernist retellings of Homer's Odyssey. Both Atwood and Barth base their narratives on minor episodes from this epic, with its less prominent or unnamed characters assuming the roles of the narrators. Using different postmodernist techniques, the authors experiment with the form and content of the narration, combine different genres, and demythologize the situations and characters. In their re-evaluations and reinterpretations of the Odyssey, they create works which epitomize Barth's notion of postmodernist fiction as a literature of replenishment. The comparative analysis presented in this paper aims to highlight the ways in which Atwood and Barth challenge the old and add new perspectives on Homer's epic, at the same time confirming its relevance in the postmodern context.


The present work discusses the field ethnographic material obtained among the population, which due to ecological factors migrated from the highland region of Georgia – Svaneti and Adjara to the lowlands. Research aims to answer the following research question: what influence the migration processes and migrants' psychological-mental connection with their former place of residence has on the sacral space formation in their new settlement areas? Research methods: Observation, interviews, method of close description, historical-comparative method and method of visual anthropology.


ABSTRACT This paper describes a preliminary assessment of a departmental approach to palliative care for the dying older person. Forty patients who died in the Extended Care Wing of a teaching hospital were studied using the Palliative Care Assessment Record. Twenty-five were studied retrospectively while fifteen were followed prospectively. The results suggest that there may be subgroups of the terminally ill elderly, such as those with respiratory illnesses, requiring distinct care approaches. Suggestions are outlined regarding a more comprehensive assessment protocol to study this and related care issues. RÉSUMÉ Cet article décrit une evaluation préliminaire d'une approche departmentale au soin palliatif pour les personnes âgées mourantes. Quarante patients qui sont morts dans le centre du soin chronique dans un hôpital d'enseignement furent étudié utilisant le Palliative Care Assessment Record. Vingt-cinq furent étudié rétrospectivement, tandis que quinze furent étudié prospectivement. Les résultats suggèrent qu'il existe possiblement des sousgroupes des personnes âgées mourantes, comme celles avec des maladies respiratoires, exigant des approches différentes au soin. Des suggestions sont offertes à propos d'un protocol d'evaluation plus comprehensif pour l'étude de ces questions des soin.


Motivation has been called the ―neglected heart‖ of language teaching. As teachers, we often forget that all of our learning activities are filtered through our students' motivation. In this sense, students control the flow of the classroom. Without student motivation, there is no pulse, there is no life in the class. When we learn to incorporate direct approaches to generating student motivation in our teaching, we will become happier and more successful teachers. This paper is an attempt to look at EFL learners' motivation in learning a foreign language from a theoretical approach. It includes a definition of the concept, the importance of motivation, specific approaches for generating motivation, difference between integrative and instrumental motivation, difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, factors influencing motivation, and adopting motivational teaching practice.


Edge detection considered as very important and fundamental tool in image processing. An image edge is a very sensitive place where the image information and details mostly placed on it. Different filters were used to detect and enhance these edges to improve the sharpness and raising the image clarity. The significance of this paper comes from the study, compare and evaluate the effects of three well-known edge detection techniques in a spatial domain, where this evaluation was performed using both subjective and objective manner to find out the best edge detection algorithm. The Sobel, Homogeneity and Prewitt algorithms were used on 2D gray-scale synthesis and real images in Jordan using C# programming language. According to the comparative results obtained using the three techniques, it was clearly found that Prewitt and Homogeneity algorithms performance were better than Sobel algorithm. Therefore, Prewitt and Homogeneity algorithms can be recommended as useful detection tools in edge detection.


Since Mooreâ€TMs law is reaching its limits, the microelectronics industry is facing large challenges to develop new methods of microchip manufacturing. Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is the future in designing microchips. In this method, a thin film of photoresist material is exposed to EUV photons (13.5 nm) which results in a change in the photoresist its solubility. Because of the high EUV absorbance of tin, tin-oxo cages are potential candidates as EUV photoresists. Despite the good lithography performances of these molecules, the photochemical mechanism is poorly understood. This thesis provides a step forward towards better understanding of the photochemistry of tin-oxo cages, focussing on TinOH. The photochemistry was studied in solution and Deep Ultraviolet (DUV) light (225 nm) was used rather than EUV light (13.5 nm) to ease the spectroscopic analysis. UV/VIS spectroscopy confirmed that Sn–C bonds are broken upon DUV exposure, by detecting a decrease in absorbance from the [d↕ σSn–C] transitions. 1H NMR spectroscopy confirmed this as well by observing a decrease in integrals of nBu protons from TinOH after DUV exposure and determined the quantum yield of Sn–C bond cleavage to be 44% after 5 min. of DUV exposure. The Evans Method showed that this photon induced Sn–C bond cleavage is homolytic, by detecting transient radicals with a spin trap. Three main photoproducts were identified with 1D 1H, 2D TOCSY, DOSY and Selective TOCSY NMR spectroscopy: 1-butene, 1-butanol and 1,1-dimethoxybutane (selectivity 10%, 10% and 12% respectively).


The six GCC economies – Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain – are some of the world's most profligate consumers of energy and emitters of greenhouse gases, relative to their size. Other hydrocarbon exporters in the region, notably Iran and Algeria, are beset by similar circumstances. Observers have attributed this state of affairs to the very low prices at which energy is sold in these countries. However, there have been few attempts to quantify the effects of subsidies on domestic consumption. This article takes a simplified approach to a complex topic by posing the following questions: What would happen if fuel and electricity prices in the Gulf monarchies were increased to world market levels? How would consumers respond? More specifically, would electricity demand in Abu Dhabi adjust to look more like that in unsubsidized, but otherwise similar, Arizona?


COVID-19 has caused a devastating pandemic, infecting 3,090,445 people and causing 217,769 deaths, as of 30 April, 2020. The current evidence base for selected drugs repositioned to treat COVID- 19 are summarized here. Chloroquine (CQ) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) block the entry of the SARS-CoV-2 virus into cells and have immunomodulatory effects. Early, poor quality studies pointed to benefit with CQ and HCQ treatment in COVID-19 infection, but no further evidence supporting their use is available to date, and the drugs cannot be recommended for treatment or prophylaxis. However, several countries use CQ or HCQ for compassionate treatment. Lopinavir-ritonavir, which is effective against HIV, was evaluated in one clinical trial which showed no benefit. Remdesivir, a drug developed for EBOLA, has been shown to have in-vitro efficacy against SARS-CoV-2, and the treatment has been used on compassionate grounds in severe cases. Limited studies have shown clinical improvement with remdesivir which is approved for emergency use in severe COVID-19. The RNA polymerase inhibitor favipiravir has been shown to improve clinical features, hasten viral clearance, and improve HRCT findings. Corticosteroids have shown no benefit. Trials are underway with the IL-6 receptor blocking monoclonal antibody tocilizumab, with retrospective data showing reduction in inflammatory markers and clinical improvement. Convalescent plasma has been shown to be of some benefit in severe cases of SARS, MERS and H1N1 influenza, and is recommended by the FDA for those with serious or immediately life-threatening infection with COVID-19. Several large randomized controlled trials are underway, evaluating these repositioned therapies as well as many other treatments. No effective specific treatments are available for COVID- 19 infection as yet.


West Kalimantan is a povince which has rich natural resources, one of which is gold mining. Besides it has many advantages, there is a lot of disadvantages produced by Mining like waste residue of gold mine that will be very dangerous for society lived along the Mining Environment. In education, one effort to minimize the negative result is by educating students through the development of integrated practical guidlines adapted to the living environment of students which have been damaged bacause of gold mine. It is extremely important for creating the correlation between lesson materials with students' environment, thus the learning process will be meaningful for them, and they can give contribution to solve the enviromental problem. This research aimed to develop lesson materials in form of practical guideline based on school's environment , and integrated with alternative technology for waste of gold mine environment in West Kalimantan Province. Borg and Gall design model was chosen as research method. Initially, teaching module concluded materials and media was validated by two validators and two science teachers. Data were analyzed qualitatively, it showed that integrated practical guideline for alternative technology for waste of gold mine environment is teoritically valid with score of A (very good). Therefore, it can be concluded that this development can produce the feasible practical guideline that will be used by students which is integrated with alternative technology for waste of gold mine environment.


In cardiac clinical trials, appearance of spiral waves in myocardium electrical signal is associated with the arrhythmia and tachycardia. Spatiotemporal chaos generates form breakup of spiral waves, and may lead to ventricular fibrillation. Therefore, cancellation of spiral wave and spatiotemporal chaos can avoid the emergence of arrhythmia, tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation. Kinetic behavior of cardiac myocytes is well described by Fitzhugh–Nagumo model. In this paper, Fitzhugh–Nagumo model as node for a network. Spiral waves or the spatiotemporal chaos of a nodes have been canceled by bidirectional feedback, then spiral waves or the spatiotemporal chaos of the other node is suppressed through synchronization of network. Numerical simulation results demonstrate that proposed method can eliminate spiral wave and spatiotemporal chaos of the network effectively. Compared with previous synchronization tactics such as active-passive decomposition method and Lyapunov exponent method, our proposed method has better synchronization performance within network.


CIRC aspires to be the successor to ICRCCM (Intercomparison of Radiation Codes in Climate Models). It is envisioned as an evolving and regularly updated reference source for GCM-type radiative transfer (RT) code evaluation with the principle goal to contribute in the improvement of RT parameterizations. CIRC is jointly endorsed by DOE's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program and the GEWEX Radiation Panel (GRP). CIRC's goal is to provide test cases for which GCM RT algorithms should be performing at their best, i.e, well characterized clear-sky and homogeneous, overcast cloudy cases. What distinguishes CIRC from previous intercomparisons is that its pool of cases is based on observed datasets. The bulk of atmospheric and surface input as well as radiative fluxes come from ARM observations as documented in the Broadband Heating Rate Profile (BBHRP) product. BBHRP also provides reference calculations from AER's RRTM RT algorithms that can be used to select the most optimal set of cases and to provide a first-order estimate of our ability to achieve radiative flux closure given the limitations in our knowledge of the atmospheric state.


A cooling system for an internal combustion engine mounted within a vehicle includes a radiator for rejecting heat to ambient air and an axial fan mounted within a fan shroud associated with a radiator. The fan has a stationary hub equipped with louvers which may be controlled so as to either block off or allow airflow through the hub, and consequentially through the radiator. In this manner, theairflow past the fan may be greatly increased when the vehicle is operated at a higher groundspeed, while decreasing the amount of power consumed by the fan.


The infrared and Raman spectra of L-cysteine molec ule has been recorded in the nujol mull as well as in the aqueous solution in the range of 4000-400cm . The observed infrared and Raman frequencies are assigned on the basis of the theoretically calculated vibrational frequencies for the most stable structure of zwitterionic cysteine hydrated with six water molecules at B3LYP/6-311G* level. The electronic ab sorption spectrum of the cysteine molecule has been measured in solution at dif ferent concentrations and at different pH in the range of 400200 nm. It is observed t hat he electronic absorption band shifts with the change of pH as well as the concentrations. The DDFT calculations for the same molecule (zwitterionic cysteine + six water molecul es) has also been carried out at B3LYP/6311G* level. The optimized bond lengths and bond an gles for the most stable structure of cysteine hydrated with six water molecules were com pared with those reported for X-ray data


In the present review has described the historical stages of systemic therapy of breast cancer with the use of taxanes, and has given a detailed description of drugs (paclitaxel and docetaxel). The role of docetaxel (Taxotere) in reducing the recurrences and death from cancer risk has shown. The major randomized trials has described; was studied the effectiveness of combination with docetaxel (Taxotere) in the adjuvant treatment of early breast cancer with or without lymph nodes involvement. The important role of docetaxel (Taxotere) in the adjuvant treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer was shown.


The growth of pure single crystals of ferrites by the Czochralski method is reported. Problems encountered are discussed and a practical solution indicated.


This paper analyzes the necessity of mastering the specialized English by the subject librarians,and puts forward the suggestion on making the subject librarians be able to provide research-based information consultant for the teachers and students through sci -tech English training,specialized English training and the staggered cultivation of research-type librarians.


Objective To study the role of ERα and ER β in epithelial ovarian tumors. Methods Forty-five cases of epithelial ovarian carcinoma and 10 cases of benign epithelial ovarian tumor admitted in The Fourth People′s Hospital of Wuxi from January 1992 to June 2002 were studied. No chemotherapy or hormone treatment was given before operation. The expression of ER α and ER β was determined by using immunohistochemistry in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue specimens. The status of ER α and ER β was compared to the clinico-pathological characteristics of ovarian carcinoma. Results ER α and ER β proteins were located inside the nuclei. The positive expression rate of ER α was 51.1% (23/45) for primary epithelial ovarian carcinoma, similar to that for benign ovarian tumors(50.0%). The positive expression rate of ER β was 8.89% (4/45) for primary ovarian carcinoma, significantly lower than that for benign tumors (50.0%). The positive rate of ER β was significantly lower than that of ER α in serous cystadenocarcinoma and poorly differentiated and advanced carcinoma. Conclusion ER α and ER β are nuclear receptors. Downregulation of ER β expression and upregulation of ER α/ER β may be a useful marker for epithelial ovarian carcinogenesis, and ER β is of prognostic significance for epihelial ovarian carcinoma.


Considering the wide applications of composite materials, it is necessary understand the dynamic effects of damage mechanisms, including matrix cracking and interfacial debonding, on the stiffness performance of these materials. Strain rates may have a significant effect on the dynamic behavior of composite materials subjected to dynamic loadings. In this study, a numerical approach with the finite element code ABAQUS is used to develop a failure criterion to express the effect of static and dynamic damage mechanisms on the composite's stiffness under uniaxial tensile loading. A random epoxy/glass composite material is investigated under three strain rates: quasi-static, intermediate, and high, here 10−4, 1, and 200 s−1, respectively. The results illustrate that the interfacial debonding increases as the strain rate increases in random epoxy/glass composite materials. At the same time, the normalized stiffness components exhibit different trends with strain rate increase due to their connection to matrix cracking or interfacial debonding.Copyright © 2012 by ASME


The Zhuanchengzi Beds are the basal sedimentary interbeds in the Yixian Formation,a volcanic-sedimentary rock sequence distributed in Yixian area (Wang et al.,2003).The palynological assemblage from the Beds is dominated by non-striate bisaccate pollen (about 70% in content),associated with a few pollen and spores of Cicatricosisporites,Jugella,Ephedripites,Jiaohepollis,Classopollis etc.,but lacks any angiospermous pollen.This assemblage is very close to that from the Jianshangou Beds,the basal beds of the Yixian Formation distributed in Beipiao area (Li and Liu,1999) and comparable with the Suite B from the Purbeck Beds of southern England (Norris,1969).On the other hand,it is quite different from the Late Jurassic palynological assemblage of the Houcheng Formation in the adjacent northern Hebei Province,which is dominated by Classopollis pollen (amounting to 15%—91% in content,Zhang,1989).Thus,an age of Berriasian and relatively warm and moist climate are suggested for the Zhuanchengzi Beds.


This paper shows the feasibility of using an intelligent systems approach to increase the accuracy of a 3D ultrasonic position estimation system for real-time image guided neurosurgery. Current image guided systems use camera based technology that is space-intensive, have an accuracy of about 1.0–2.0 mm, and are prone to occasional failures. The 3D system presented in this paper eliminates the space intensive camera, has an accuracy of around 1.0 mm in the operating range of about 200–400 mm, makes the system independent of line-of-sight occlusion problems, and is expected to pave the way for accurate fusion models of MRI and ultrasonography to account for brain shifts during surgery. Hence, the proposed system provides many more advantages over existing systems without compromising on the accuracy. This paper presents the system formulation, a neural network model that uses the raw signals, the electronic hardware for data acquisition and processing as well as simulation and actual results.Copyright © 2004 by ASME


For wild, complex innovation one domain of life stands heads, shoulders, tentacles, tree bark and coral reefs above the rest: with full respect bacteria and archaea, many of evolution's most interesting inventions are a product of eukaryotic life. "The complexity of life on earth can only be understood if we understand eukaryotes," says Neil Blackstone, a biologist at Northern Illinois University. But there's a problem. Most biologists believe that the last eukaryotic common ancestor (or LECA) had all of the complex features associated with modern eukaryotes: sex through meiosis and chromosomes held in a nucleus. That makes it very difficult to compare various eukaryotes a route to study how features arrived—as one might with tetrapods or land plants. It's all there from the start. "So it's a tough problem to get at, yet it's crucial if we're going to understand life," says Blackstone. "I think right now we're seeing a lot of foment where people are coming to grips with the issue—realizing that we can't use methods of comparative biology." If the field of evolutionary biology could use a new big idea to chew on, discuss and try to prove or try to disprove, they may perhaps have found a candidate in a richly detailed paper (Garg and Martin 2016) recently published in Genome Biology and Evolution by Sriram G. Garg and William F. Martin (Editor-in-Chief of GBE). In it they propose a somewhat radical idea: "We're proposing that mitosis evolved from meiosis," says Martin, "which is exactly contrary to what everybody has always assumed." This happened, they believe, following the acquisition of the bacterial ancestor of mitochondria, as it established itself within the cytosol of its archaeal host. Thinking back to high school biology you may remember, the purpose of mitosis and meiosis are very different, though at first glance the processes can seem very similar. In both, the function is to make new nuclei and ultimately cells. The names for steps in the nuclear cycle (prophase, metaphase, anaphase and telophase) are parallel between the processes (with a few additional steps for meiosis). However, their purpose is very different. Cells go through meiosis to make gametes, recombining genetic material (thereby creating genetic diversity) and halving the number of chromosomes of the mother cell. Mitosis is purely for asexual reproduction. When it goes right, the daughter cells look just like the mother cell. In great detail over more than 30 pages, Garg and Martin detail how they believe a proto-mitochondrial bacterium began living inside an archaeon and there developed meiosis. Only later, the believe, did mitosis start. One of the reasons the authors believe this is sequence of events is Muller's ratchet: without genetic recombination, bad mutations pile up in an asexually reproducing population, making life difficult and eventually near-impossible. So the lineage giving rise to modern eukaryotes, they reason, had to have some method of recombining DNA. If this was the case, the authors write, "the lineage was necessarily recombining [. . .] leaving neither selective pressure to evolve anything as complicated as meiosis and sex, nor benefit from it once it arose. This line of thought actually renders the origin of meiosis from mitosis altogether unlikely." A first step in their time line was the evolution of the nucleus: As individual proto-mitochondria died inside their host archaeal cells, the authors propose the mitochondrial genes released their DNA into the cell which then glommed on to the archaean genome. And, through nonhomologous recombination, these genes integrated. But this carried some consequences: the host had to deal with self-splicing introns which can copy themselves and reinsert into the genome. "And that's what triggers the whole cascade," says Blackstone, who was not involved in the Garg and Martin paper. "It's really triggered by evolutionary conflict at the genomic level." Because the self splicing introns were slow and translation in ribosomes was fast, it was dangerous to let the ribosomes get to the message RNA until the cell splicing introns had sort of finished their work of splicing themselves out. So, a physical barrier evolved to mediate these conflicts: the nucleus, and it became the hallmark of eukaryotes. But, as often happens, the solution to one problem can create new ones. If chromosomes are confined to the nucleus they can no longer attach to the cell membrane. When the


The recently developed information-theoretic approach to crystallographic symmetry classifications and quantifications [1-4] in two dimensions (2D) from digital transmission electron and scanning probe microscope images is adapted here for the analysis of an experimental electron diffraction spot pattern, Fig. 1. Digital input data are in [1-3] considered to consist of the pixel-wise sums of approximately Gaussian distributed noise and an unknown underlying signal that is strictly 2D periodic. Structural defects within the crystals or on the crystal surfaces, instrumental image recording noise, slight deviations from zero-crystal-tilt conditions in transmission electron microscopy, and small inaccuracies in the algorithmic processing of the digital data all contribute to a single generalized noise term. The plane symmetry group and projected Laue class [1,3] (or 2D Bravais lattice type [4]) that is "anchored" to the least broken symmetries [1] are identified as genuine in the presence of generalized noise. More severely broken symmetries that are not anchored in this sense are identified as pseudosymmetries. Objective symmetry classifications/quantifications have been undertaken for three concentric regions of the electron in Fig. The well-known electron crystallography program CRISP/ELD for the extraction of the electron diffraction spot intensities in the program's default (primitive These intensities were as * .hke details of the three regions are given in numerical results point symmetry


IBC Advanced Technologies' Molecular Recognition Technology(MRT) SuperLig products selectively and rapidly bind with target species enabling their selective removal from solutions.The MRT process can produce a high purity separation product of maximum added value at a competitive cost.SuperLig products have high selectivity for many target species which can include metal ions,anions,and neutral molecules.In operation,the SuperLig product is first placed in a packed column.A solution containing a mixture of the target species and other chemical species is then passed through the column.The target species is removed selectively by the SuperLig product,the column is washed to remove residual feed solution,and the target species is recovered by a minimal quantity of eluent.The result is a pure and concentrated species that can be kept for its value or disposed of safely.The process is environmentally and ecologically friendly with no organic solvents being used.This paper provides a review of some examples of applications of MRT to separations of interest to the Chinese metallurgical industry.Included are several applications of MRT,including Pd separations from Pt metal refinery streams and low-grade spent catalyst wastes,Rh recovery from spent auto catalyst and other feeds,Re removal from selected impurity ions,Cd removal from Co electrolyte,Bi removal from Cu electrolyte,In and Ge separations from difficult matrices,and removal of bivalent first transition series and other metal ions from acid mine drainage(Berkeley Pit,Montana).Finally,the potential application of MRT to separations involving the recovery of rare earth metals and Li from low-level waste solutions and end-of-life products is discussed.


Modern electronics relies on high quality semiconductor materials. For thin films used in solar cells and flat panel displays, the key issues are the precise composition and spatial uniformity. Modeling and simulation are indispensable for optimizing the technologies of semiconductor film production, such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD), plasma enhanced CVD and hot-wire CVD. Multiphysics simulations of electromagnetic dynamics coupled with the flow of reacting gases, plasma discharge and deposition processes, allowed us to optimize large-scale plasma chemical reactors [1] and to find other solutions to complex industrial applications [2,3].Copyright © 2010 by ASME


The discovery of polar metals, bulk band conductors which combine broken inversion symmetry and metallic conductivity, has disrupted the long-standing assumption that polar order and metallicity are incompatible. Despite recent progress, however, the circumstances which allow for this property convergence remain ambiguous. Here, we perform a first-principles analysis of the evolution in the polar distortions in perovskite ${\mathrm{BaTiO}}_{3}$ under electrostatic doping to ascertain the dependencies of acentricity and electrical conductivity at the microscopic level. We focus on the role of local off-centering displacements, driven by the second-order Jahn-Teller effect, rather than discussing bulk homogeneous and cooperative lifting of inversion symmetry, which relies on long-range Coulombic interactions. We show that $n$-type doping disrupts the Ti-O covalent bond and advocate for using chemical bonding arguments as a framework for understanding the interplay between local distortions and free charge carriers rather than solely principles of dielectric screening in metals. In the process, we develop several tools and electronic descriptors that we expect could enable a more direct comparison between the behavior of doped ferroelectrics, such as ${\mathrm{BaTiO}}_{3}$, and polar metals, such as ${\mathrm{LiOsO}}_{3}$, helping us to better understand their similarities and differences under external perturbation.


The redevelopment of abandoned coal mine land and the creation of recreation space in cities are two significant elements for fostering urban more sustainable development. This paper presents an systematic perspective on plan strategy making, and examines how Jingxi ACML recreation system may combine with the existing tourism resources in Fangshan District and Mentougou District. Research employed a questionnaire survey and interviewed many residents around Jingxi coalfields. Based on a lot of site-investigations,to solve current problems,it is suggested that Jingxi ACML recreation system should consist of A Major Center, A Sub-center, and Two Axes.


Introduction:
 Apolipoprotein B (ApoB) is a key structure protein in very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL). Ample research has been focusing on its crucial role in lipoprotein metabolism and the onset of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, in vivo research on the broader pathophysiological function of ApoB has been hindered by the embryonic lethality of ApoB knockout (ApoB-KO) animal models. Thus, the objective of this study is to establish ApoB-KO cell models and demonstrate ApoB as a key determinant in governing hepatocyte proliferation and apoptosis.

 Approaches and Results:
 the Crispr/Cas-9 gene editing technology was applied to genetically disrupt ApoB expression in both human and mouse hepatocytes. Total RNAs of the parental and ApoB-KO cells were subjected to RNA sequencing profiling for whole transcriptome. Subsequent bioinformatics analysis revealed that ApoB-KO significantly altered expression of more than 2000 genes in hepatocytes. More importantly, expression of genes involved in DNA replication, cell cycle, cell proliferation and apoptotic signaling were the genes mostly affected, which were either up- or down-regulated by more than 5-folds. These included the histone associated genes H2ac10-12, cyclin Ccna2, Ccnb1 and Cdc20, cell proliferation gene Fosb and apoptosis gene P53. A BrDU cell proliferation assay detecting the actively proliferating cells further demonstrated that depletion of ApoB greatly inhabited cell proliferation, indicated by the markedly reduced cell numbers and the prolonged cell doubling time in ApoB-KO cells compared to their parental cells. Mechanistic study revealed that cAMP signaling, and the insulin associated PI3K kinase pathway that medicated gene transcription, cell growth and proliferation were profoundly impaired upon ApoB depletion. Reconstitution of ApoB in the KO cells by expressing a truncated ApoB protein, ApoB72, was able to promote cell growth rate and improve cell survival to a level comparable to the parental cells.

 Conclusion:
 This is the first study that characterizes a novel function of ApoB as a key determinant in hepatic cell proliferation and survival pathways. This novel finding greatly advances our knowledge of ApoB beyond the boundary of VLDL metabolism and CVD.


Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology Study Programme: Applied Informatics Author: Bc. Jakub Fedorko Master's thesis: Automatic pre-selection of potential misinformation for later expert evaluation Supervisor: doc. Ing. Jakub Šimko, PhD. Place and year of submission: Bratislava 2022 The rapid spread of false information on social media renders manual fact-checking methods ineffective. Automatic fact-checking systems try to inhibit potential damage caused by false information by detecting check-worthy claims, gathering relevant information, and inferring their veracity. The recent research in the check-worthiness field relies increasingly on word and even sentence embeddings technology to convey meaning, substituting simpler text features such as tf-idf, sentiment and others found in earlier works. Motivated by the above and general scarcity of use of the sentence embeddings, we present our sent-nnmodel utilising BERT-based sentence embeddings as its text representation, which outperforms baseline methods by more than 2.5% and 4.2% in average precision and f1-score on the positive class.


Abstract : The work consists of concurrent studies of transient surface damage and latchup phenomena in irradiated CMOS devices. Isothermal V sub th annealing data are presented for CMOS 4007 inverters from 0.0001 to 0.001 sec after exposure to ionizing radiation pulses. Commercial and research samples prepared on bulk silicon as well as silicon-on-sappire substrates are evaluated. High and low temperature annealing data are used to develop extended room temperature annealing characteristics over the 0.000001 and 10 to the 8th power sec post exposure interval. Electrical measurements and radiation tests have been conducted on selected commercial CMOS devices in an assessment of their susceptibility to radiation-induced latchup. A latchup problem has been identified in four of the thirteen circuit types tested. Test results along with some techniques for avoiding latchup are discussed.


INTRODUCTION
Wait times for cancer diagnosis and treatment are a significant concern for Canadians. Men with prostate cancer experience longer waiting times for diagnosis and treatment than those observed for other cancers. Longer waits are associated with both patient and family psychosocial distress and may be associated with worse prognosis.

METHODS
Men referred for treatment of prostate cancer at a single Canadian cancer centre were interviewed. The intervals from suspicion to definitive therapy were calculated, factors associated with delays along this pathway were identified, and common causes of delay identified by patients were described.

RESULTS
A total of 41 consecutive patients participated. The median interval from suspicion to the first fraction of radiotherapy for all patients was 247 days (interquartile range [IQR] 168-367 d). The median diagnostic interval was 53 days (IQR 28-166 d). The median treatment interval was 127 days (IQR 100-180 d). Patients under 70 years old and patients with <T2c disease had shorter intervals from suspicion to treatment. From diagnosis to start of radiotherapy, patients with low-risk disease had longer intervals. Seventy percent of patients perceived a delay in their care, of which 45%, 31% and 24% of patients felt the delays were due to the health care system, patient or physician factors, respectively.

INTERPRETATION
In this study, 12% and 0% of patients met Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control and Canadian Association of Radiation Oncologists wait time recommendations, respectively. A large component of wait time is patient driven. Alternate strategies should be developed and measured to shorten the intervals between the suspicion and treatment of prostate cancer.


Subjective colours produced by the achromatic pattern of a rotating Benham's disc depend upon the phase relationship and the contrast between the luminous signals of the arc and the background. By studying the effect of luminance and spectral adaptation with different illuminations specified in terms of LMS cone excitation, we determine whether particular post-receptoral combination signals explain the differences in perceived colours. The results show that (1) the attributes of subjective colours may be determined from a combination of L and M cone excitations in an antagonistic and in a synergetic mode, and more precisely by the ratio of these two combinations; (2) the contribution of these two combinations is modulated by the duration of the white phase preceding the arc; (3) the effect of the S cone signal is small and essentially restricted to the arcs adjacent to the black surface of the disc. We discuss temporal aspects of non-specific spectral contrast units implied in achromatic detection (parvo- and magno-system). We argue that the mechanisms underlying Benham subjective colours, are situated in a neurophysiological site high enough in the visual information processing hierarchy to allow both types of non-spectral-specific signals to be modulated by the duration of the white phase following the dark half disc and preceding the arc, thus reducing the implication of retinal level. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Col Res Appl, 26, S174–S179, 2001


For this well attended (∼50), the discussion was divided into two parts. In the first part, potential sponsors of TPV research were identified and other related technical fields that might supply useful information to aid TPV development were discussed. The status of emitter and filter technology was covered in the second part of the discussion. A question and answer format was used in the discussion. (AIP)


I am not sure whether the artworld walks past me as if with an iPod in its ear as a reproof, because it thinks that those it has pronounced dead should stay quietly buried, or because my own choice of a subterranean rostrum was imprudent in the first place.


Bacterial strains producing hydantoinase were screened from soil using the hydantoin as the sole nitro- gen source.The millipore rapid screening method was used to select the strains which could catalyze asymmetric hydrolysis of hydantoin to produce N-carbamyl-D-phenylalanine,while Wh-11 strain possessed higher enzymatic activity.


Hyperspectral imaging sensors are continuously enhanced by increasing spatial and spectral resolution. However, the 'curse of dimensionality' comes into effect, as the amount of acquired data increases in third order (two spatial, one spectral dimension). On top of that, the computational expense of many chemometric data evaluation techniques such as principal component analysis (PCA) rises also in third order with the data amount. Thus the need for computer memory is increased in third and the demand for computational power up to ninth order. One immediate consequence of massively increased computation times is a decreased time resolution of hyperspectral imagers, which is especially detrimental in online applications. Archiving humongous amounts of data becomes another burden. Thus it is anticipated that increased computation resources alone will not be able to facilitate fast online evaluation of hyperspectral data cubes or even to handle the acquired data. In this study, 3D wavelet transforms are used for compression of hyperspectral data cubes prior to chemometric data evaluation and/or data storage. Five different wavelet types of the Daubechies family are compared with respect to their ability to preserve relevant information in compressed data cubes. Because only relevant information has to be considered, shorter computation time and less storage space are required. By means of experimental hyperspectral data cubes it is demonstrated that additional computation expense for the 3D wavelet transform is largely overcompensated by reduced calculations necessitated by smaller data cubes. In the presented examples, computation time for a PCA could be decreased by one order of magnitude; storage space could be reduced to <1% of the original size. It was found that the wavelet type has a major influence on the acceleration factors. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Because of their superb energy resolution and detection efficiency crystal scintillators are widely used in high energy and nuclear physics experiments. A crucial issue is radiation damage. We report an investigation on γ-ray induced radiation damage in crystal scintillators of large size, including BaF2, BGO, CeF3, pure CsI, LSO/LYSO/LFS and PWO with an integrated dose up to 340 Mrad at a dose rate up to 1 Mrad/h. Optical and scintillation properties of these crystal samples were measured before and after irradiations. The result shows that pure CsI crystals have good radiation hardness below 100 krad. BaF2, BGO and LYSO crystals show good radiation hardness beyond 1 Mrad. In terms of light output degradation LSO/LYSO/LFS is clearly the best among all scintillation crystals.


In this article, we give a glimpse on recent works in the simulation of ferromagnetic phenomena. We focus here on the computation of the stray field in the periodic case, and the microwave susceptibility which requires the resolution of many ill-conditionned linear systems.


Plants have a great impact upon the urban microclimate in contrast to dry structural materials. Infrared surface temp can be substantially modified by evaporative cooling and the interception of radiant energy by plants to reduce the heat island characteristic of the summer urban microclimate.
High temp characteristic of surfaces such as artificial turf can be reduced by irrigation. Outdoor athletic areas covered with artificial turf should be either irrigated to permit evaporative cooling or shaded to intercept solar radiant energy.
Coniferous trees appear capable of providing a small amount of attenuation for environmental noises that are either predominantly low or high frequency in composition. However, dense wide plantings are necessary to achieve effective environmental noise attenuation from vegetation alone in urban areas and the practical value of plants as an urban "sound barrier" appears questionable.


bjective:To study the effect of the soft capsules of Genkwa flower for recovering stomach health(Jinghuaweikang Jiaowan)on the levels of NO,NOS and ET in the gastric mucous of rats with gastric ulcer.Methods:Following after the establishment of a gastric ulcer model of rats using the Okabe method,48 rats were randomly 1:1 assigned to one of six groups:negative control(distilled water only),soft capsules of Genkwa flower(30,20 or 10mg·kg~(-1)·d~(-1)),sucralfate(10mg·kg~(-1)·d~(-1))and famotidine(5mg·kg~(-1)·d~(-1)).All of these rats were orally supplemented with the corresponding dose of study drugs daily for 10 days.The ulcer area and the levels of NO,NOS and ET in gastric mucosal tissue were measured pre-dosing and 1 day post the last dosing.Results:The soft capsules of Genkwa flower significantly make the ulcer area and ET level reductions and NO and NOS levels escalations in the gas- tric mucosa in a dose-dependent manner,compared to the control group(P<0.01).The soft capsules of Genkwa flower(30mg·kg~(-1)·d~(-1))were superior to sueralfate and famotidine in the protection of gas- tric mucosa(P<0.05).Conclusion:The soft capsules of Genkwa flower recovered the gastric mucosa from the ulcer by balancing NO,NOS and ET levels in gastric mucosa.


The present study examined the negative effects of insufficient social support on mental -physical health of adolescents. Two types of insufficient social support were used; the gap between requested and received support and the gap between received and provided support. Five hundred and five adolescents responded to questionnaires that included items measuring received, requested and provided support, and adjustment and menta卜physical health. Received support was classified into six factors by factor analysis. Results from multiple regressions indicated that (1) the higher requested-received support gaps were negatively associated with better adjustment and mental health. (2) There was little association between the received-provided support gaps and adjustment or mental health. (3) There was no association between each of the two gaps and physical health. And (4) the six factors of requested-received, the six factors of received-requested support gaps, and each factors of the two gaps, only accounted for extremely low variance in adjustment or menta卜physical health.


The purpose of the present work was to improve the treatment of reparative osteogenic disorders on the basis of study of the effect of hyperhomocysteinaemia (HHcy) and associated metabolic and molecular-genetic factors in the formation of false joints of long bones. The efficacy of surgical treatment was assessed in 153 patients with false joints of long bones against a background of HHcy and associated states. HHcy and metabolic disorders were diagnosed in 81, HHcy and molecular-genetic disorders in 72 patients. It was revealed that, against a background of HHcy and associated metabolic and genetic disorders, surgical treatment of false joints was complicated by inflammatory and thrombus obliterating diseases of vessels. The course of reparative osteogenesis was characterized by a sharp inhibition of the osteoinductive potential of the bone tissue with progression of local and systemic osteoporosis, development of an instability in fixing structures, delays in the formation, mineralization and organotypical reconstruction of distraction regenerate, appearance of refractures. A combination of HHcy and polymorphism of 677-TT MTHFR and 786 SS-NOS genes created the most unfavorable conditions for osteoreparation. Treatment of false joints against a background of HHcy depended upon the clinical-radiological type of a false joint, polymorphism of MTHFR C677T and eNOS O786N genes, state of trophism of bone fragments and their spatial position, consisting in use of the rational surgical technique, an active management of the pre- and postoperative periods, involvement of metabolic and osteotrophic therapies.


The 1,1,3-triphenylallyl cation and its p-methoxy and p-dimethylamino substituted derivatives have been generated in dichloromethane solution or as stable salts. Allylsilanes, allylstannanes, silylated enol ethers and ketene acetals, as well as enamines attack the sterically less hindered 3-position of the allyl cation as derived from the structures of the reaction products. Kinetic investigations of these reactions revealed that they follow the equation log k(20 °C) =
s(N
+
E), which allows one to derive the electrophilicity parameters E of Ph2CCH–CH+Ph (E
=
+0.98 ± 0.20), (p-MeOC6H4)2CCH–CH+Ph (E
=
−2.67 ± 0.30), (p-Me2NC6H4)2CCH–CH+Ph (E
=
−8.97 ±
0.32) and (p-Me2NC6H4)2CCH–CH+(p-Me2NC6H4) (E
=
−9.84 ± 0.21).


The formulation of six basecoats was designed using aluminium pastes for the per-painted system in the automotive. The aluminium pastes contain pancake type metallic pigment, #501, #801, #601 and cornflake type metallic pigment, #750, #770, #790. The relative cure density of the basecoat increased in order of #501, #801, #601, #750, #770, #790. T-bending, impact resistance, and taping adhesion showed increment with increasing cure density. In the appear- ance(combined factor) test on cornflake type pigment, The basecoat including the smallest particle size pigment, #790 resulted in the best combined factor compared to other two systems(#750, #770).


Use of the AASHTO DARWin-ME mechanistic–empirical pavement design software requires that truck loading data be provided in the form of normalized axle load frequency distributions (spectra). Default axle load frequency spectra are provided in the software. However, these default distributions were derived from national data and may not suit the needs of individual states. This study analyzed the Florida Department of Transportation's substantial database of truck weight data taken from its network of high-quality weigh-in-motion stations to determine whether site- or state-specific axle load spectra could be generated and how they should be applied. Several analytical procedures were developed and applied to the data, including analysis of variance and cluster analysis. The results of this work were used to develop Level 2 axle load spectra that could be applied to design sections. This paper presents detailed information about the traffic data requirements of the new guide, the process followed for deriving Florida's input values, and the resulting recommended values.


Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a relevant issue of modern oncology and ranks the third place among most common malignan-cies. Every year, more than 1 million new cases of CRC are diagnosed worldwide, with approximately the same frequency of prevalence among the male and female population. Colon cancer (CC) amounts for more than half of all cases of CRC, and it's incidence and mortality remain rather high. Surgery remains the main method of CRC treatment, and determining the extent of surgery and lymph node dissection remains an urgent problem. For the first time in Japan, a classification of groups of lymph nodes (l.n.) was proposed depending on the level of lymph outflow and location in relation to the main vessels. According to the numbering of l.n. groups by the Japanese Society for Cancer of the Colon and Rectum (JSCCR), all lymph nodes are numbered with three digits. As a rule, lymphogenic metastasis occurs in one direction, bilateral spread is possible if the tumor is located at the same distance from two feeding vessels. With tumors of the right- sided localization, all groups of l.n. located along the branches of the superior mesenteric artery are removed, and with tumors of the left half of the colon, all l.n. located along the trunk of the inferior mesenteric artery are removed. The presence of affected l.n. is important for assessing the prognosis and further determining the need for adjuvant therapy. Some literature data demonstrate good results of surgical interventions performed in accordance with the concept of embryonic planes and complete mesocolonic excision. D3 lymph node dissection is not performed in daily practice in some European countries and North America, unlike a number of Eastern countries. However, the level of vessel ligation remains the subject of scientific discussion. The purpose of this review was to analyze the available literature on the problem of choosing the level of lymph node dissection in CC surgery.


Introduction: Cognitive susceptibility to smoking is defined as absence of firm commitment not to smoke in the future or if offered a cigarette by best friends. It begins in adolescence and is the first step in the transition to current smoking. Psychosocial risk factors play a crucial role to discourage susceptible adolescents from becoming established smokers. Most studies were conducted in the USA and evidence from low-income countries is limited. Despite the established Tobacco Product Control and Regulatory Bill 2011S in Nepal, cigarette smoking is widely prevalent among adolescents and the absolute number of smokers continues to rise. Hypothesis: We tested the hypothesis that socio-demographic and environmental risk factors associated with susceptibility to smoking among adolescents living in a peri-urban area of Nepal. Methods: We conducted a community cross-sectional study during October-November 2011 in the Jhaukhel - Duwakot Health Demographic Surveillance Site, a peri-urban area in Bhakapur dis...


Quantum cascade (QC) detectors in the GaN/AlxGa1−xN material system grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition are designed, fabricated, and characterized. Only two material compositions, i.e., GaN as wells and Al0.5Ga0.5N as barriers are used in the active layers. The QC detectors operates around 4 μm, with a peak responsivity of up to ∼100 μA/W and a detectivity of up to 108 Jones at the background limited infrared performance temperature around 140 K.


We show that the autoionization line shape can be modified by the choice of two laser intensities and the relative phase. Under well specified conditions, proper choice of the phase can lead to selective cancellation of the transition to the discrete or the continuum part of the state. Application of the idea to a multichannel problem in the rare gases also provides significant effects.


Injection molding of metal powder with use of depolymerization polymers were discussed.The compound used by this process consisted essentially of PBMA(Polybutyl-methacrylate) and PS (Polystylene). It was clarified that the rate of degradation of this compound were faster than that of compound which contain a good deal of random degradation polymers (PP(Polypropylene) and EVA(Ethylene-vinyl-acetate)). On the compound which contain a good deal of depoiymerization polymers, the degree of distortion of the test piece on thermal debinding process increased with an increase of PBMA content of the compound, the sintered bodys include only 20ppm of carbon, and the relative density of sintered body was 96%.


The difficulties of obtaining promotion in the career structure jungle of cardiology have long been a matter of serious concern, and this concern is underlined in a recent detailed paper on "staffing and facilities in car-diology in England and Wales."'I This paper is a valuable addition to the report published two years before under the auspices of the Cardiology*Committee of the Royal College of Physicians of London.2 Three years have passed since the first report and nearly one year since the second, yet what has been achieved? The first paper drew attention to the unevenness in geographical distribution of cardiological consultants. Of a total of 201 cardiologists (including both those fully committed to cardiology and those working as physicians with a major interest in cardiology), 66 were working in the four London regions. Inevitably, of course, the metropolitan areas attract more car-diological attention, and the special responsibilities and problems of the London teaching hospitals demand larger numbers of posts. Some unevenness in distribution of posts throughout the country cannot be entirely avoided, but the problems are aggravated when the total number of consultants is less than desirable. Compared with one specialist cardiologist for every 220 000 population in England and Wales, there are 10 cardiologists for 200 000 people in the United States of America and many more cardiolog-ists relatively in other nations in the European Economic Community than in the United Kingdom. Even allowing for the difficulties of direct comparison between the different nations, cultures, and environments , the United Kingdom seems to be distinctly short of specialist cardiologists. 1-3 Such shortages have at least two serious consequences: firstly, the denial of essential cardiac services to populations in need, and, secondly, the denial of a realistic career structure and reasonable prospects of appropriate promotion to the rank of consultant for experienced and competent "junior" doctors and, in particular, for the senior registrars in caraiology. The report in 1981 stressed both these problems and urged the appointment of more consultant physicians with a major interest in cardiology as posts became vacant in district general hospitals.2 The report stressed the paradox of a pressing need for more consultant cardiologists existing alongside a relative excess of senior registrars available to become consultants in the ensuing 10 years. Thus expertise urgently needed by the community was not being made available. In the light of that report, the recent paper, prepared by the Centre …


3D marine surveys often take place in regions cluttered with oil rigs and sometimes other seismic vessels. The acoustic environment is therefore not very conducive to the acquisition of accurate seismic data. The oil rig may be in the process of drilling and there fore creating a great deal of vibration. It may have engines or noisy pumps. It may even read to the seismic arrival by diffracting part of the energy. The other seismic vessels may also be shooting. Numerous attempts have been made to demonstrate that these kinds of noise can be attenuated efficiently by methods based on the levels of amplitudes or on randomization of this noise within certain groups of traces. Apparently the concerns of the industry have not been allayed by these method sand, as a result, drilling and seismic acquisition must be planned on a regional scale (time-sparing), so that each activity respects the silence required by the other. In certain cases, this time-sparing is uneconomic and therefore impracticable.


We report on VBG-diode-pumped Yb:Lu<inf>2</inf>O<inf>3</inf>, Yb:Sc<inf>2</inf>O<inf>3</inf>, and Yb:LuScO<inf>3</inf> thin disk lasers delivering more than 250 W of output power at optical-to-optical efficiencies up to 73%. 140 W of fundamental-mode output power were obtained with Yb:Lu<inf>2</inf>O<inf>3</inf>.


The design of the baseband board for many types of instrumentation developed is limited to verify its feasibility by implementation. On this basis we propose a detailed feasibility analysis method before the design of the baseband board to prevent the waste of the manpower and time resources because of the shortage of chip resources, which provided a reference for the design of the baseband board. Firstly we determine the model of core processor based on LTE-A characteristics and baseband board requirements; then we focus on the storage capacity and bus capacity of the baseband board to ensure that the selected components have sufficient capacity and margin; finally we prove the correctness of the feasibility analysis through the test on the baseband board, and it also provides the reference for other hardware chip selection.


Generating immersive game content is one of the ultimate goals for a game designer. This goal can be achieved by realizing the fact that players' perception of the same game differ according to a number of factors including: players' personality, playing styles, expertise and culture background. While one player might find the game immersive, others may quit playing as a result of encountering a seemingly insoluble problem. One promising avenue towards optimizing the gameplay experience for individual game players is to tailor player experience in real-time via automatic game content generation. Specifying the aspects of the game that have the major influence on the gameplay experience, identifying the relationship between these aspect and each individual experience and defining a mechanism for tailoring the game content according to each individual needs are important steps towards player-driven content generation.


The purpose of this study was to discuss marketing strategy for oriental hospital, by making a comparative analysis of how hospital user...


It is generally known as "anneal-hardening"(1) that when cold deformed copper base alloys of alpha solid solution are annealed at lower temperatures than the recrystallization temperatures, their hardness increases unusually(2). In regard to Cu-Si alloys(3), it has been reported that there are abnormal increases in hardness in the annealed specimen after cold deformation. By means of transmission electron microscopy, a Moire pattern has been observed in a Cu-Si alloy which was rolled at room temperature and annealed at low temperatures. This might be due to segregation of solute atoms to dislocations-


With extensive review of tests made during the past 25 years plus the results of certain self-conducted tests as its basis, the AIEE Standards committee subcommittee on conduction in stationary contact surfaces recommends various changes in the present Standards for permissible temperatures on electric contacts. These recommendations, together with pertinent abstracts of present Standards, are presented herewith for the purpose of obtaining comments and criticism.


Utilization of waste materials with various engineering for the manufacture of products in all fields has been done by many people to get a new alternative of material. One of these materials is corn skin that has a strong nature, light, and significant texture which make it a potential waste material. This research studies the utilization of corn skin through lamination process, which then put a tensile test and acoustic test/damping power by measuring the coefficient of damping to the sound. The method used in this research is experiment in laboratory by making lamination which is laying arrangement process with number of layers starting from 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 layer using wooden adhesive then pressing. After forming the laminated sheets, the specimens are made according to ASTM D638 standard for tensile test and ASTM E-1050-98 standard for acoustic test of specimen. The research results indicates that the laminate of corn skin produced the highest tensile strength value of 18.34 N/mm 2 on the layer number of 10 layers. The value of this tensile strength is in the category of class V of wood power that can only be used for temporary construction. While the result of acoustical test indicated that the ability of sound damping shown with the highest of (α) 0.266 coefficient value with the number of layers of 5 layers at low frequency ( 4000 Hz), the reducing coefficient (α) is 0.382 with lamination of 10 layers. Compared with other materials, the results of this lamination of con skin at low frequency of (1000Hz) with α = 0.075 have better sound dumping value than play wood material (α = 0.05) and  styrofoam (α = 0.07), so it can be used as an alternative material for sound absorbers such as:; floors, walls, recording studio rooms, inner walls and sound speaker boxes.


Human Geography neo-extractivist regimes like Bolivia. That binary needs challenging, if for no other reason than to complicate its need to constitute an outside that glosses over a set of typically Marxist questions regarding living labor and the rural/urban, frontier/core binaries used to understand it (Gago and Mezzadra 2017). Underplayed in the book, these questions of capital emerge as one of the more forceful limits to decolonization.


Overlap in foods and foraging of four species of breeding blackbirds in the Potholes of central Washington was estimated from samples of food delivered to the nestings obtained by the pipe—cleaner technique. Prey distribution and availability were sampled with emergence traps for aquatic species and by sweeping with a standard insect net for upland species. Overlap was estimated by the probability than an item of food drawn randomly from the diet of one species would be of the same prey category taken from the same habitat as an item drawn at random from the diet of another species. Because of the diurnal cycle of emergence of aquatic insects, overlaps were calculated for three periods of the day (preemergence, emergence and postemergence) and averaged for the final overlap value. The overall food overlap for three of the species is high for all periods of the day and there is little evidence for differential specialization within habitats. Habitat overlaps, however, are varied, being highest during the emergence period for Redwings and Yellowheads but highest during the afternoon between Redwings and Brewers. The total overlap values are very similar to the theoretical maximum values derived from competition theory by MacArthur and Levins.


PURPOSE: A control method prevents water diluting drain from being needlessly wasted on short operation such as cooking and a switching valve from being frequently switched on long operation such as filling hot water to restrain noise and prevent the durability of the switching valve from falling. CONSTITUTION: A switching periodic duration of a switching valve(16) for a first dilution operation diluting drain on early stage after starting combustion of a gas burner(21) heating a heat exchanger(12) is set shorter than the switching periodic duration for a second dilution operation executed thereafter. The switching valve(16) is opened on the early stage of the first dilution operation.


This paper first introduces how to work NC and the importance of the performance evaluation of NC server.Then it analyses the peculiarity of Windows terminal server. And Based on it, the NC server is tested .At last we analyse the tested data and summarize the experience formula of NC server performance in Windows terminal mode.


We formulate a brachistochrone problem in Lorentzian geometry and we prove a variational principle valid for brachistochrones in stationary manifolds. This variational principle is stated in terms of geodesics in a suitable sub-Riemannian structure on M. Moreover, we prove the regularity of the solutions of our variational problem and we determine a differential equation satisfied by the brachistochrones. Some explicit examples are computed.


The utility model provides a spectrum obtaining system, comprising a pulse laser, a pumped laser source and a detection unit, wherein the pulse laser is used for generating initial wavelength narrowband pulse. The spectrum obtaining system also comprises a wavelength division multiplexing unit, a frequency shift loop and a spectrum detection unit, wherein the wavelength division multiplexing unit comprises a first input terminal, a second input terminal and an output terminal used for coupling and outputting the signals of the first input terminal and the second input terminal, the pulse laser and the pumped laser source are respectively in connection with the first input terminal and the second input terminal of the wavelength division multiplexing unit. The beneficial effects are that the spectrum obtaining system simply realizes spectrum detection on a tandem type optical device to be detected. Furtherly, the spectrum obtaining system formed by selected a Raman fiber amplifier, etc. possesses the excellent performances of low noise, high energy, stable light pulse sequence, high detection precision and system resolution ratio, etc. and can well perform spectrum detection analysis on a serial reuse optical device to be detected in a time domain.


This paper outlines the system architecture and the core data structures of Kalchas, a fulltext search engine for XML data with emphasis on dynamic indexing, and identifies features worth demonstrating. The concept of dynamic index implies that the aim is to re ect the creation of, deletion of, and updates to relevant files in the search index as early as possible. This is achieved by a number of techniques, including ideas drawn from partitioned B-Trees and inverted indices. The actual ranked retrieval of document is implemented with XML-specific query operators for lowest common ancestor queries.A live demonstration will discuss Kalchas' behaviour in typical use cases, such as interactive editing sessions and bulk loading large amounts of static files as well as querying the contents of the indexed files; it tries to clarify both the short-comings and the advantages of the method.