P2X receptors are cation selective channels that are activated by extracellular nucleotides. These channels are likely formed by three identical or related subunits, each having two transmembrane segments (TM1 and TM2). To identify regions that undergo rearrangement during gating and to probe their secondary structure, we performed tryptophan scanning mutagenesis on the two putative TMs of the rat P2X 4 receptor channel. Mutant channels were expressed in Xenopus oocytes, concentration–response relationships constructed for ATP, and the EC 50 estimated by fitting the Hill equation to the data. Of the 22 mutations in TM1 and 24 in TM2, all but one in TM1 and seven in TM2 result in functional channels. Interestingly, the majority of the functional mutants display an increased sensitivity to ATP, and in general these perturbations are more pronounced for TM2 when compared with TM1. For TM1 and for the outer half of TM2, the perturbations are consistent with these regions adopting -helical secondary structures. In addition, the greatest perturbations in the gating equilibrium occur for mutations near the outer ends of both TM1 and TM2. Surface biotinylation experiments reveal that all the nonfunctional mutants traffic to the surface membrane at levels comparable to the WT channel, suggesting that these mutations likely disrupt ion conduction or gating. Taken together, these results suggest that the outer parts of TM1 and TM2 are helical and that they move during activation. The observation that the majority of nonconducting mutations are clustered toward the inner end of TM2 suggests a critical functional role for this region. key words: purinergic receptors • point mutation • scanning mutagenesis • oocytes • ligand-gated channel I N T R O D U C T I O N P2X receptors are cation channels that are gated by extracellular nucleotides. These widely distributed ion channels are highly permeable to calcium (Egan and Khakh, 2004), and perform diverse physiological functions (for a comprehensive recent review see North, 2002). Over the past decade, seven mammalian P2X receptor subunits have been cloned (P2X 1 –P2X 7 ) that form both homomeric and heteromeric channel assemblies (Brake et al., 1994; Valera et al., 1994; North, 2002). P2X receptor channels have structural and functional properties distinct from other ligand-gated channels. They are likely formed by three identical or related subunits (Nicke et al., 1998; Stoop et al., 1999; Jiang et al., 2003a; Aschrafi et al., 2004), each having a large extracellular segment of 280 amino acids that is flanked by two transmembrane segments (TM1 and TM2), placing both the NH 2 and COOH termini intracellular (Newbolt et al., 1998) (Fig. 1 A). In contrast, ion channels of the Cys-loop family (e.g., nicotinic acetylcholine receptor channels) contain five subunits, with each subunit having four transmembrane segments (Lester et al., 2004), whereas glutamate gated ion channels are tetramers in which each subunit has three segments that cross the membrane (Wollmuth and Sobolevsky, 2004). P2X receptor channels are also distinct in the ability to produce a large conductance pathway. Cells expressing homomeric P2X 2 , P2X 4 , or P2X 7 receptor channels, as well as P2X 2/3 heteromeric receptor channels, become permeable to molecules as large as YO-PRO-1 dye (523 D for the free cation) following long exposures to extracellular ATP, suggesting that the channels undergo pore dilation (Khakh et al., 1999; Virginio et al., 1999). The molecular mechanism for the increase in permeability is still not known, nor is it clear how the TMs are arranged around the pore. In most channels of known structure, the membranespanning segments adopt -helical secondary structures (Walz et al., 1997; Chang et al., 1998; Doyle et al., 1998; Dutzler et al., 2002; Jiang et al., 2002b, 2003b; Kuo et al., 2003; Miyazawa et al., 2003). However, scanning cysteine accessibility experiments on the two TMs of rat P2X 2 receptor channels did not resolve their secondary structure. Using methanethiosulfonate (MTS) reagents on TM2, Rassendren et al. (1997) concluded that their results do not support the hypothesis that the pore is Correspondence to Shai D. Silberberg: firstname.lastname@example.com S.D. Silberberg's permanent address is Department of Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel. Abbreviations used in this paper: MTS, methanethiosulfonate; TM, transmembrane; WT, wild-type. on Jne 0, 2017 D ow nladed fom Published March 28, 2005


In this paper we describe a system for indoor navigation in complex public or commercial facilities such as airports, train stations, clinics, museums, fairgrounds or conference centers. The concept of this approach is strongly focused on application in geographically distributed facilities containing multiple indoor areas, situated at various levels that are connected by stairs, escalator or elevators. A geographic-topological building model is the base for the indoor navigation solution implemented on smartphone. Indoor cell positioning is achieved by use of Bluetooth® beacons developed for an extended lifetime of more than one year. Pedestrian Dead Reckoning including walking cycle detection, heading estimation and floor level detection utilize smartphone sensors of camera, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth®, air pressure and inertial measurement units. The model generation is based on maps of multi-level buildings that are collected from publicly available sources to be displayed on the mobile device for user orientation. A building destination can be targeted by recognized commands spoken by the user. The indoor routing algorithms take into account multiple levels, elevators, stairs and escalators as well as free movement over walkable indoor areas. Changes of floor levels are detected by relative atmospheric pressure measurements. The indoor route throughout the building is presented to the user by a visual map and announced by vocal directions.


The insurance sector in Colombia where a constant growth and the entry of new competitors, especially foreign companies, Colombian insurance companies should aim to increase their organizational standards involving attention and customer service, more competitive on the market occurs.
2015, are expected to join new companies abroad. Their participation in the sector will continue to increase, not only for the entry of new players, but also for the interest of existing insurance companies to increase penetration in market segments and has not developed products (Portfolio, 2014).
Thus, it is interesting to analyze the case of Colombia Aseguradora Solidaria (ASC), which has an experience of 32 years in the insurance market and tends to be the preferred insurer solidarity sector, families and businesses, through simple and appropriate solutions provide protection and comfort to their clients. This organization has a broad portfolio of products and services in the five categories are distinguished: Auto, Life, Personal Accident, General and Property; Car category being the most diversification has; This category is intended to attract a greater number of end customers, providing coverage from family cars to heavy vehicles
In view of this situation presented in the insurance sector and specifically in the ASC, the essay addresses the following questions; How is the customer service strategy of the ASC? and What is the perception of customer service intermediaries identified by the ASC in Bogota, in the segment of auto policies ?, with these questions, the present study aims to provide an approach to a proposal for improvement perception intermediary, also conceived as client ASC


The electrocaloric effect (ECE) has been investigated in (Pb0.98La0.02)(Zr0.95Ti0.05)0.995O3 antiferroelectric ceramics obtained via the solid-state reaction method. The results from indirect measurements across the temperature range considered reveal a large electrocaloric temperature change (ΔT) of approximately 5 K at 373 K. The enhanced ECE, which is significantly higher than those reported for some lead-free and lead-based electro-ceramics, was obtained by applying an electric field of 60 kV/cm lower than what has been reported for commonly studied ceramic systems. This result suggests that this system is a potential candidate for practical electrocaloric device applications.


Objective: This study explores the effect of licensed practical nurse (LPN) reductions on registered nurse (RN) staffing. Background: RN staffing is usually evaluated by assessing RN/patient and RN/nursing staff ratios. Using these measures, researchers generally have not found deterioration in RN staffing. Despite differences in roles, RNs and LPNs frequently share a substantial amount of patient load. Given reductions in LPNs, adequate RN staffing can be assessed more completely by looking at the changes in the staffing of licensed nurses (RNs and LPNs combined). Methods: This study measures the percent change in RN, LPN, and licensed nurse staffing from 1991 to 2000 in 185 to 215 Pennsylvania hospitals. Paired sample t tests measure the significance of change from year to year and for the period overall. Results: A 29% reduction in LPNs during the years 1991 to 2000 affected RN staffing through an increase in licensed nurses'patient load and a slight decrease in skill mix. When adjusted for acuity, both RN and licensed nurse patient load increased significantly. Conclusions/Implications: These results help explain the perception that hospitals are understaffed. Future research and managerial decision‐making should consider the adequacy of licensed nurse staffing, and its impact on cost, performance, and quality.


The era of wild fight for new commercial markets has started after the disintegration of Socialist Bloc. So Economic Blocs have emerged in order to face this new global economy. In this context Mercosul has raised up in South America, which participating countries are Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The creation of this Bloc has a strong incidence in education, which is foreseen in the agreement signed by Common Market Council, which had place in Las Leñas in June of 1992. The plan proposed by the education ministries of the four Countries demands the application of a harmonic education system so that the instruction is equivalent in the four Countries. Taking into account this and other aspects of this new world the Engineering Faculty of University Center of Lusiada has elaborated an Engineering Course, which propose is basically the adoption of some subjects of Humanities and Social Sciences, among others. The chosen subjects are Philosophy, Human Resource, Development of Projects, Assisted Training Period, Management Strategies and since 1999 the subject Sociology was included to enrich the course principally because it is a Science that shows and discuss the main aspects of men life in Society. It discusses the importance of some social rituals for a living and the seeking for social justice. The goal is to form Engineers with good skills more creative, more critics and more attempt to the quick transformations in every aspect of professional life integrated to the new connected and global world. This experience has showed good results and has also brought up the changes in the way of seeing the Engineer as an agent of Science and Technology development for the well fare of humanity.


Benzene is a harmful material that must be to be removed from flue gases. In this study, the performance of a surface discharge plasma-catalysis combined reactor for benzene decomposition was studied. Benzene conversion and CO 2 selectivity increased upon loading a CeO 2 catalyst onto the plasma reactor. The conversion and selectivity depended on the surface area of the CeO 2 . FTIR studies revealed that byproduct organic compounds are formed on the CeO 2 , confirming that benzene oxidation occurs on the CeO 2 catalysts.


Flight behavior and response to blacklight of black cutworm (BC), Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel) and European corn borer (ECB), Ostrinia nubilalis (Hubner) adults were determined in laboratory tests at temperatures ranging from 0–55°C. ECB was tested at 2 air moisture conditions, less than 30% RH and 30–60% RH, while BC was only tested at one condition, between 30–60% RH. BC moths were active at lower temperatures (3°C) than were ECB (15°C). Both species were above 90% active from the lower temperature limits up to 45°C. Male BC moths were slightly less responsive than females to blacklight. Male and female ECB moths responded similarly except at low temperatures. The peak for ECB flight response occurred at higher temperatures in conditions of low relative humidity than in conditions of moderate humidity.


The history of education in the United States abounds with double themes and purposes for education: schooling for democratic citizenship and schooling for second-class citizenship. Although African Americans encountered significant legal barriers and threats of death while trying to obtain an education, their yearning for knowledge and opportunities served as a catalyst for education advocacy in their communities. In spite of various obstacles, researchers posit that African Americans erupted from slavery with a philosophy of education and perseverance that served as a precursor to the establishment of advocacy in education that would serve their needs and provide hope for a better education system. As a result, African Americans erupted from slavery with a philosophy of education and perseverance that served as a precursor to the establishment of universal schooling that would serve their needs and provide hope for a better life.


FIELD: medicine. SUBSTANCE: group of inventions refers to medical equipment, namely to means of detecting deterioration in a patient. System contains one or more processors, programmed to receive patient's served physiological data, including the measurement results of a plurality of patient's physiological parameters, physiological data measurements using the scoring table, subsequent reception of patient's non-attended physiological data, wherein non-attended physiological data includes the measurement results of patient's physiological data, measurements of subsequent score of a patient from the received subsequent non-attended physiological data using the scoring table, comparison of the base and subsequent scores for determination of any changes in score assessment of a patient, and a notification device. Information technology (IT) infrastructure of medical institution comprises a detection system, one or more systems of control over a patient and a communication network for exchanging subsequent physiological data, attended physiological data and base subsequent score assessments between the deterioration detection system and the control systems of patients. Method for detecting deterioration of a patient of a medical institution is performed by means of system using a processor for determining deterioration and non-volatile computer medium. EFFECT: using the inventions enables to extend the range of means for detecting deterioration in a patient. 15 cl, 8 dwg


Pb(Zr,Ti)O 3 (PZT) thin films with Zr/Ti ratio of 50:50 were deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO 2 /Si substrates using the sol-gel method. Since controlling the conditions of heat-treatment is a great role in film growth, post-annealing processes were conducted under different environments. After standard processing, the films were annealed at 600°C under 3 different processes—(a) 30 min in air, (b) 30 min in O 2 ambient and (c) 2 step which was conducted first in air and then in O 2 atmosphere during 30 min respectively. Through electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, we found that every film was crack-free and highly (111) oriented. Hysteresis measurements showed a generally large polarization value. The fatigue properties differ drastically for every process, showing an abnormal increase near the end of the measurement. The hysteresis loops before and after 1 × 10 10 switching cycles declined for the films annealed under a single-step, but as for the film by the two-step process, the hysteresis showed to increase in magnitude. Such abnormality and fatigue-free property is an unusual result for PZT films prepared on conventional Pt/Ti/SiO 2 /Si substrates.


Urban residents'basic medical insurance scheme and medical aid scheme for urban poverty -stricken population are the important components in social security system and a critical step in social security reform. The integrations between the two schemes could relieve the current"difficult and costly access to healthcare services for the poor",and it has a great realistic significance to improve the accessibility of healthcare services and equality. Based on the status quo of the two schemes integrations,this paper makes the analyses on the necessities and possibilities of the integrations.Moreover,the current existed difficulties and problems of the integrations are studied with relative suggestions put forward.


Methodology/Approach: This case study assesses the implications of various learning strategies over one academic year, involving a total of over 450 first-year students of the School of Management and Business. About 20 percent of these students read an economics degree, with the remainder ofthe class forming a broad student body with varying degrees ofprior contact with the subject and an invariably mixed appreciation and motivation for the subject matter. The students' performance and feedback were assessed primarily by using qualitative methods.


This research aims to propose a scale of love for a tourist destination, which allows a more comprehensive understanding of the emotional connection between tourists and the places they visit. Through a process of content validity, the dimensions of affection, passion, identity, dependence and integration were defined as part of the love of a tourist destination construct. Through a survey, the participants evaluated the items of these dimensions, based on the tourist destination with which they felt emotionally linked. The results show that these five dimensions are indeed part of a valid and reliable scale that could be used as an approximation to measure love towards a tourist destination.


In 1998 Professor Haïssaguerre and his colleagues made the initial observation in patients that triggering foci in or around the pulmonary veins initiate some types of atrial fibrillation. Since then it has become clear that atrial fibrillation and other atrial tachyarrhythmias can be initiated (and possibly maintained) by triggering foci in any of the thoracic veins. This concept is now one of the most current topics in electrophysiology, and while it is a topic of frequent discussion in the major cardiology and electrophysiology journals, Thoracic Vein Arrhythmias: Mechanisms and Treatment is the first state-of-the art multi-authored textbook that integrates the advances made in this rapidly developing new area of cardiac arrhythmias for the global community.


Experimental data are presented of our study of the digital receiver amplification stage with an adaptive dynamic range, along with computer and physical simulation results.


- This project aims to propose a design that has the ability to automatically detect, notify, and control gas leaks. In this project, the valve is automatically closed after a gas leak is detected, preventing the leaking. To avoid fire incidents, the electric power supply is also turned off. In particular, a gas sensor with great sensitivity to gases like propane and butane has been deployed. The GSM module in the gas leak detection system sends an SMS to the user to notify them.


The UNCLOS articles on and related to piracy are organized under General Provisions in Session I of Part VII on High Seas. Such an organization of the articles shows that the articles apply only on the high seas. As a matter of fact, a large number piracy attacks has happened in the Malacca, Singapore, and Karimata Straits, and only a few number take place in the high seas of South China Sea. With respect to Indonesia, piracy attacks occur in the exclusive economic zone, in the territorial sea, in the archipelagic waters, and even in the internal waters (in port area). In this respect, Indonesia unfortunately does not have a piracy act which can be used by government law enforcemet agencies to combat piracy. For this reason, Indonesia should develop piracy act by making the best use of all UNCLOS articles on and related to piracy.


First of all, we shall briefly state hereby on the history of Gulf archaeological studies, and on our own aims in carrying out the project. It should be noted that archaeology of the Gulf has been long neglected being obscured by the shadows of the first great civilizations of the 'Orient' till 1950s when the Danish archaeologists explored the Gulf countries to discover innumerable archaeological sites there clarifying the importance of them, especially their roles played in the ancientmost trade mechanism during the 3rd-2nd millennia B. C. among the great civilizations so far well known.(1) However, if we take the example of Bahrain, it was as early as 1879 that the significance of the land was first realized as regards the connection with the Mesopotamian world, when Captain E. L. Durand discovered the cuneiform inscription bearing the name of Inzak (Ensag),(2) significance of which being stressed by Rawlinson in 1880.(3) Discussions followed partly as regards the identification of ancient Dilmun, Magan and Meluhha, and excavations and researches were also carried out by Theodore Bent in 1890,(4) F. B. Prideau in 1906-7,(5) further followed by Ernest Mackay,(6) P. B. Cornwall,(7) Richard Bowen,(8) et al. The discussions were mainly centering around the identification of Dilmun, and as the archaeological evidences came to be revealed, more scholars joined the debates. However, the problem of identification of Dilmun, Magan, etc. should be more firmly based on scientific excavations, and it is also to be noted that the problem to locate the ancient geographical names is not the sole aim of the Gulf archaeology. We have to wait for more and more archaeological


Sustained high blood pressure is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in our society. The usefulness of educational intervention for improving the blood pressure status of market women was assessed in this interventional community based study. The socio-demographic data, blood pressure, body mass index (BMI) and awareness of the blood pressure status of the subjects were documented. Counseling of the respondents on hypertension, risk factors, drug compliance and life style modification took place within 3 months. The results showed that 59% of the respondents were unaware of their BP status, 21.5% were discovered to have elevated blood pressure. Among those found to be hypertensive only 30.2% were on medication and none of them had effective BP control. At post intervention, all (100%) of the subjects now had good knowledge of their BP status and 86.05% had effective control of their B.P. Lifestyle modification of respondents including their body mass index also slightly improved post intervention. This study establishes that blood pressure status of individuals in the community could be enhanced by an educational intervention strategy.


Joelle Bahloul. The Architecture of Memory:. Jewish–Muslim Household in Colonial Algeria, 1937-1962. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996

Jonathan Boyarin. Polish Jews in Paris: The Ethnography of Memory.Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991.

Jack Kugelmass. The Miracle of Intervale Avenue: The Story of. Jewish Congregation in the South Bronx. New York: Columbia University Press, Expanded Edition, 1996.

Fran Markowitz. A Community in Spite of Itself. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993.


This study systematically identified adherence barriers and strategies in 31 adolescents with sickle cell disease (SCD) and 71 caregivers. Qualitative data indicated that forgetting was the primary barrier and caregiver reminders were the primary strategies identified by both caregivers and adolescents. However, adolescents reported significantly more barriers for pain management (p < .01) than their caregivers. Caregivers and adolescents seem to experience similar as well as a few unique barriers and strategies across multiple components of the SCD treatment regimen. Multidisciplinary treatment teams have the opportunity to facilitate dialogue with patients and their families about adherence barriers and strategies.


Background & aim: Marital satisfaction during pregnancy is one of the factors affecting marital affectional bond. This study was performed to evaluate the effect of paternal-fetal attachment training on marital satisfaction during pregnancy. Methods: This clinical trial was conducted on 60 couples referring to two health centers of Mashhad, Iran, in 2015. The couples were randomly divided into intervention and control groups (n=30 couples in each group). The fathers in the intervention group participated in three 120-minute sessions of paternal-fetal attachment training and the mothers in both groups (intervention and control) received the routine prenatal care. Both groups were evaluated using Marital Satisfaction questionnaire of Nathan H Azarin before and three weeks after the intervention. To analyze the data, descriptive statistics, t-test, Chi-square test, Wilcoxon, Mann-Whitney U test, and analysis of covariance were performed using SPSS, version 22. Results: The mean score of marital satisfaction in men was significantly higher in the intervention group than the control group (P=0.003). The mean score of women's marital satisfaction in the intervention group increased after training from 62.63±2.58 to 66.50±2.43. However, there was no significant difference between two groups in terms of women's mean score of marital satisfaction (P=0.083). Conclusion: Paternal-fetal attachment training promoted marital satisfaction in men during pregnancy, so it is suggested to hold training programs for couples during pregnancy to enhance their marital satisfaction.


Longitudinal deck girders do not contribute their full capacity to the strength of an open ship subjected to longitudinal bending. The proportion of their strength that is effective in way of the maximum bending moment depends on the shape of the moment curve. Calculations of this effect are reproduced and discussed for a typical container ship of length 170m, breadth 28.4m, depth 15.5m and draught 9.5m.


7-benzylideneamino-5H-thiochromeno[2,3-b]pyridin-5-ones and 9-benzylideneamino-5H-thio- chromeno[2,3-b]pyridin-5-ones, on reaction with ethyl pyruvate to afford 1-ethoxycarbonyl-3-phenyl-12H- pyrido[3',2':5,6]thiopyrano[3,2-f]quinoline-12-ones and 4-ethoxycarbonyl-2-phenyl-7H- pyrido[3',2':5,6]thiopyrano[3,2-h]quinoline-7-ones respectively by the two different methods. These products were precipitated by addition of ethanol, water (1:1), were purified by recrystalizing from appropriate solvents and were characterized from their IR, 1H-NMR, mass spectra and elemental analysis data.


As research continues to evolve, it is important to look back with a critical eye on its impact on practice and what is guiding its trajectory into the future. In this work we discuss some of the key behavioral drivers that taken as a whole have made for a less than ideal relationship between research, model development, and use/reliance in practice. From a general public-good perspective, there is an obvious need for academics to take on a greater role of responsibility when it comes to both research and curriculum in an effort to avoid some of the failings that our past work has inevitably encouraged to date.


[Fe(C2O4)(FQ)(H2O)2] complexes (H-FQ = ciprofloxacin (1), lomefloxacin (2) and norfloxacin (3)) were synthesized and characterized using a variety of analytical and spectral techniques such as elemental analysis, infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, magnetic and conductance measurements. The experimental studies were complemented by quantum chemical calculations in terms of geometry optimization, natural bond orbital analysis and molecular electrostatic potential maps. Electronic structures were discussed by TD-DFT. Hematite (α-Fe2O3) nanoparticles, as promising materials for different catalytic applications, were prepared in air via the controlled thermal decomposition of 1–3. Powder X-ray diffraction was used to identify the polymorph of iron oxide. The morphology of nano-hematite was investigated by a field emission scanning electron microscope coupled to energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy for surface analysis. The catalytic degradation of methylene-blue (MB), as an industrial pollutant, exposed to UV radiation in the presence of nano-α-Fe2O3 as a catalyst and hydrogen peroxide as the oxidant was studied at room temperature in water.


PZT patches bonded on the surface of concrete structures can generate Pwaves,S waves and Rayleigh waves propagating along the surface of concrete structures.Experimental results show that the peak-to-peak amplitude of P waves decreases with compressive stress increasing when the frequency is about 120kHz.The change of P waves is the more obvious than S waves and Rayleigh waves during the whole loading procedure.After the first loading,the waveform with no stress is disserent from the initial waveform,and the wave velocity decreases.Variations of amplitude and velocity are caused by the opening of microcracks and generation of cracks within concrete.The correlation between the peak-to-peak amplitude of P waves and compressive stress can help to monitor stress and cracks of concrete structures.


This paper presents a Lyapunov-based design of repetitive learning controllers for uncertain systems. The controller design is unified due to the use of the parametrization and norm-bounding technique, and the novelty lies in the less requirement for the knowledge about the system undertaken. In addition, this design can handle fractional uncertainties involved in the dynamics effectively. The estimation for the fractional uncertainties is performed to facilitate the controller design and property analysis. Unsaturated- and saturated-learning algorithms are characterized, through rigorous analysis, for the establishment of the boundednesss of the variables in the closed-loop system and the the asymptotical convergence of the tracking error. Numerical examples are provided to verify effectiveness of the proposed learning control scheme.


In this paper, multi-functional amorphous silicon/organic hybrid solar cells that can create desired reflective colors exploiting a dielectric mirror are presented. Iridescent colors can be easily produced by controlling an angle of incidence and a polarization state of incident light. The presented approach can be applied to building-integrated solar cells, power-generating automobile surfaces, and self-powered electronic devices.


The instantaneously changing air content greatly affects the performances of magnetorheological dampers. However, the air variations/transport has been neglected in most previous studies. Based on open-system thermodynamics, a twin-bubble thermodynamic model is developed in this study, with the chambers taken as the open control volumes. It takes into account of the air variation/transport due to both the pressure change and the piston movement. Considering the dependence of the compressibility of air–fluid mixture on the air content, a thermodynamically enhanced mechanical model is then established, by combining the twin-bubble thermodynamic model with a mechanical model. To validate the proposed thermodynamically enhanced mechanical model, the damping forces of a magnetorheological damper (with a small amount of fluid leakage) were tested under different input currents and displacement excitations. The model predictions agree well with the experimental data. Due to the fluid leakage (i.e. large air content), the force–displacement hysteresis is not a desirable full rectangle, but a defective rectangle with two partially missing diagonal angles. The force–velocity hysteresis shows that force loss occurred when the piston changes its direction. Further, an experiment was performed on the high-temperature performance of the magnetorheological damper. The high temperature reduces both the yield force and the postyield viscous force. It also makes the force–displacement hysteresis fatter and the low damping force range smaller. A corresponding physical model is put forward, and its combination with the proposed thermodynamically enhanced mechanical model successfully captures the thermal effect. It is revealed that a prepressure is established and the air content decreases under high temperature.


Abstract : This report provides information on the flood plain, floodway, and flood profiles for a selected reach of the Sandusky River within the city of Tiffin, OH, for use in a flood plain management program. (Author)


We consider hard-core bosons on the kagome lattice in the presence of short-range repulsive interactions and focus particularly on the filling factor $1/3$. In the strongly interacting limit, the low-energy excitations can be described by the quantum fully packed loop coverings on the triangular lattice. Using a combination of tensor product state based methods and exact diagonalization techniques, we show that the system has an extended ${\mathbb{Z}}_{2}$ topological liquid phase as well as a latti ce nematic phase. The latter breaks lattice rotational symmetry. By tuning appropriate parameters in the model, we study the quantum phase transition between the topological and the symmetry broken phases. We construct the critical theory for this transition using a mapping to an Ising gauge theory that predicts the transition to belong to the $O(3)$ universality class.


We conducted a study to determine how variations in displayed NEXRAD weather data resolution interact with the pilot's direct view of weather. Each of 32 pilots was assigned to one of four groups; 8km, 4km, or 2km resolution, and a baseline condition without NEXRAD. Each flew the simulator from Santa Rosa, NM, with the intent to land at Albuquerque. Heavy precipitation moved into the area during the flight, and pilots were required to decide, using both the NEXRAD data and their out-the-window view, whether to continue or to divert to an alternate airport. Pilots spent more time looking at higher-resolution images than at the lower-resolution ones. Baseline- and 2km-condition pilots deferred their decisions longer than did the other two groups. Post-test NEXRAD image judgments reinforced the notion that higher-resolution images are likely to encourage pilots to continue flights with the expectation that they can fly around or between significant weather features.


A generalization of the famous Caccetta–H¨aggkvist conjecture, suggested by Aharoni [2], is that any family F = ( F 1 , . . . , F n ) of sets of edges in K n , each of size k , has a rainbow cycle of length at most (cid:100) nk (cid:101) . In [3, 1] it was shown that asymptotically this can be improved to O (log n ) if all sets are matchings of size 2, or all are triangles. We show that the same is true in the mixed case, i.e., if each F i is either a matching of size 2 or a triangle. We also study the case that each F i is a matching of size 2 or a single edge, or each F i is a triangle or a single edge, and in each of these cases we determine the threshold proportion between the types, beyond which the rainbow girth goes from linear to logarithmic.


The World Wide Web (the Web) is ubiquitous in people's lives today and is used on a daily basis to get information on a variety of topics. While information seeking behavior has been studied extensively in a Web setting, many of these studies assume a task-oriented search for information even though much of the information seeking on the Web is not necessarily done with previously stated information needs or goals. Some Web information seeking activity is done for purposes of entertainment, or for simply connecting with other people (for example, via social media websites), oftentimes with an unstructured, serendipitous approach. Information seeking in general, and information acquisition, in particular, is a pleasurable activity in and of itself. Surfing the Web for pleasure is a prominent activity and worthy of our attention as researchers. To do so, we need an appropriate framework. This paper borrows ideas from a social-cognitive approach to the uses and gratifications paradigm in order to investigate the suitability of that framework in a Web information access setting. More specifically, we use the answers from questions we asked to 180 survey respondents about their motivations for surfing the Web for pleasure and their affective states during and after their surfing sessions. The findings indicate that the social-cognitive approach to uses and gratifications is a useful baseline. We make enhancements to it and propose our own framework for research in this area. We present data to bolster the notion that the seeking and acquisition of information brings pleasure and we propose a framework to study user motivations and affective states both during and after their "surfing the Web for pleasure" sessions.


The present invention relates to a novel double oxide of lithium and manganese wherein the O anions and cations Li and Mn are arranged in layers, each layer Li cation being sandwiched between two layers of O anions, each layer of cations mn being sandwiched between two layers of O anions and each anion layer O is sandwiched between a cation layer and an Li layer mn cations. The invention also relates to a method for producing this compound and an electrochemical cell, battery or battery using this compound as the cathode.


ABSTRACT A green mode of simultaneous homogeneous liquid–liquid microextraction combined with dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction assisted by sodium sulphate has been developed for the extraction and pre-concentration of some phthalate esters and di-(2-ethylhexyl) adipate from different aqueous samples prior to their determination by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. In this method, an appropriate mixture of sodium sulphate solution (phase separation agent and disperser solvent) containing iso-propanol (extraction solvent) is hastily injected into an aqueous solution containing sodium sulphate and selected analytes. By doing so, the extractant is dispersed as tiny droplets into the aqueous phase. After centrifuging extractant containing the analytes is collected on the top of the aqueous phase. Under the optimum conditions, limits of detection and quantification were obtained in the ranges of 14–33, and 47–110 ng L–1, respectively. The enrichment factors and extraction recoveries of the phthalate esters ranged from 395 to 470 and 79–94%, respectively.


As a female writer,Chi Li depicts vividly the female souls.Her works have focused on feminine existence of being good mother and wife in emotional orientation of love and marriage.Females waken to fight against the male dominance.Meanwhile,she looks on the other half——males by herself and other females as the female awareness rooted in solid father-ruling sense has gradually wakened and grown.


The present invention relates to a use of one or more glycosidase in the process for the production and / or purification of the desired oligosaccharide production. The process may also include a nucleic acid which preferably processes using a host microorganism and expressing the protein in a suitable yihwagyeong per sugar degradation to interfere with purification of the desired oligosaccharide.


Site layout optimization aims to get the most optimal form of site layout. In this study, the site layout will be optimized using the multi objective function method by minimizing the Traveling Distance (TD) and Safety Index (SI) values. The calculation of the optimum site layout is done by making several alternative transfers of facilities. Based on the calculation results, the minimum TD result is alternative 0 of 4014,261 meters, and the minimum SI result is alternative 4 of 287,034. Alternative 0 cannot be compared because alternative 0 is the basic layout. Then in Alternative 4, there is an increase in TD of 80.98% and a decrease in SI of 12.66% from alternative 0. Therefore, to determine the most optimal site layout, the method is to use the calculation of the percentage value of traveling distance and safety index. Based on the results of interviews with PT. Adhimix Precast Indonesia Serpong area, the percentage rate given for traveling distance is 40% and the safety index is 60%. Based on the calculation of the percentage of TD and SI from all alternative layouts, it was found that the basic layout is the most optimal layout with the minimum value of 1802,897.


Assessing teacher competency:five standards-based steps to valid measurement using the CAATS model , Assessing teacher competency:five standards-based steps to valid measurement using the CAATS model , کتابخانه مرکزی دانشگاه علوم پزشکی تهران


Abstract : The turbulence created by streaming ions through a stationary plasma has been studied. The velocity of the streaming ions was selected via a biasing voltage. In situ probes were used to measure the local and time-varying plasma parameters, ion distribution functions, and the turbulence itself. Density fluctuations were recorded in time and space, Fourier transformed into frequency space and cross-correlated in space. The fluctuations were identified as ion sound modes and their growth rate was shown to depend on the beam energy. The interaction of density fluctuations with electromagnetic waves was investigated. Strong scattering of electromagnetic signals was observed when the wave was guided by a transmission line through a turbulent plasma. The effect was enhanced by forming a transmission line resonator and applying frequencies on the slope of the resonance curve. This suggests a method to eliminate the modulation of a high frequency signal by plasma turbulence. In addition a new method of generating plasma flows with shear has been devised. It is based on creating electron MHD flows with pulsed magnetic fields. Shear flow ion acoustic turbulence has been observed. The work also inspired new methods for eliminating the blackout problem.


Low molecular dextran is often used in post-operative management of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) to induce hypervolemia and hemodilution; however, its associated complications are not well-known. We retrospectively analyzed prothrombin time (PT%), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT%), and fibrinogen level as coagulation markers in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage who developed delayed intracranial hemorrhagic complications after undergoing craniotomy for clipping to examine the effect of long-term use of low molecular dextran on bleeding tendencies. Fifty-two patients with SAH who underwent craniotomy were divided into 2 groups: 26 without post-operative use of low molecular dextran (Group 1) and 26 to whom low molecular dextran was administered for more than 5 consecutive days (Group 2). Group 2 was further divided into 2 subgroups: those who developed hemorrhagic complications (Group 2A) and those without complications (Group 2B). The frequency of complications in Group 2A was 19% (5/26; 3 with subdural hematoma and epidural hematoma, 1 with epidural hematoma, and 1 with intracerebral hematoma). Complications appeared 7.6 days on average after starting low molecular dextran. Compared with Group 1, PT% and APTT% as well as pre-and post-low molecular dextran administration fibrinogen levels significantly decreased in Group 2A. Low molecular dextran is known to decrease fibrinogen levels, and patients' clinical conditions and changes in fibrinogen levels should be closely monitored to detect bleeding tendencies when low molecular dextran must be used for long periods.


Process writing approaches have been described in the literature for well over ten years (e.g., Atwell, 1987; Calkins, 1983, 1986, 1991; Graves, 1983; Murray, 1979). Features of process writing approaches usually include: (a) writing for authentic purposes and real audience, (b) student selection of topic, (c) multiple drafts with revision emphasized, and (d) writing within a predictable structure in which teachers and students devote time to talking about writing. Despite the careful delineation of these features, questions remain about how effectively these approaches have been implemented (Applebee, 1986). The difficulties of implementing process approaches to change classroom norms within bureaucratic institutions have been well documented (Florio-Ruane, 1991; Lensmire, 1991; Michaels, 1987).


The information provided is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the members of IRIDIA. The authors take full responsibility for any copyright breaches that may result from publication of this paper in the IRIDIA – Technical Report Series. IRIDIA is not responsible for any use that might be made of data appearing in this publication. Abstract Incremental social learning (ISL) was proposed as a way to improve the scalability of systems composed of multiple learning agents. In this article, we show that ISL can be very useful to improve the performance of population-based optimization algorithms. Our study focuses on two particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithms: a) the incremental particle swarm optimizer (IPSO), which is a PSO algorithm with a growing population size in which the initial position of new particles is biased toward the best-so-far solution, and b) the incremental particle swarm optimizer with local search (IPSOLS), in which solutions are further improved through a local search procedure. We first derive analytically the probability density function induced by the proposed initialization rule applied to new particles. We then compare the performance of IPSO and IPSOLS on a set of benchmark functions with that of other PSO algorithms (with and without local search) and a random restart local search algorithm. Finally, we measure the benefits of using incremental social learning on PSO algorithms by running IPSO and IPSOLS on problems with different fitness distance correlations.


A single hypervariable autosomal gene locus, PUM, codes for a family of mucin‐type glycoproteins present in human urine, and in several other normal and malignant tissues of epithelial origin. These mucins can be detected after electrophoresis using a series of monoclonal antibodies that show a pronounced tumour specificity on immunohistochemistry. Using a recently cloned cDNA, pMUC 10, coding for the core protein of the PUM coded mucins, to probe DNA isolated from a series of human‐rodent somatic cell hybrids, we have assigned the PUM locus to chromosome 1. This assignment was confirmed by in situ hybridization of pMUC10 to lymphocyte metaphase chromosomes and the gene was shown to be located within the region 1g21–24.


Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) based ferroelectric capacitor using lead titanate (PT) as seeding layers has been prepared on silicon wafer by an improved sol-gel method. The novel ferroelectric capacitor has high dielectric constant of about 1200, ultralow leakage current density of 0.1nA/cm 2 , high remanent polarization of 20 w C/cm 2 at coercive field of about 30kV/cm, and almost fatigue free properties. The capacitor structure can be valuable for FeRAM applications.


a. State Key Laboratory of Clean Energy Utilization, National Environmental Protection Coal-fired Air Pollution Control Engineering Technology Center, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China b. Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. c. ARC Research Hub for Computational Particle Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia


BACKGROUND
This study assessed the risk of recurrence of esophageal varices by evaluating the severity of cardia vascular structures in patients with portal hypertension by EUS with a catheter US probe before endoscopic variceal ligation.

METHODS
Thirty consecutive patients with esophageal varices at high risk for bleeding were studied. Simultaneous conventional endoscopy and EUS with a 20 MHz catheter US probe were performed before endoscopic variceal ligation. By catheter US probe EUS findings, vascular structures in the gastric cardia were classified into 2 grades, mild and severe, and the relationship between the catheter US probe EUS findings and the recurrence rate of esophageal varices was analyzed.

RESULTS
Catheter US probe EUS before endoscopic variceal ligation demonstrated cardial submucosal varices in all patients, whereas conventional endoscopy revealed cardial varices in only 21 patients (70.0%, NS). Patients with recurrent esophageal varices after endoscopic variceal ligation were more likely to have severe-grade perforating veins before treatment than those without recurrence (71.4% vs. 12.5%, p < 0.01). Patients with severe as opposed to mild-grade perforating veins before treatment had a significantly higher recurrence rate (90.9% vs. 21.0%, p < 0.01%).

CONCLUSIONS
Catheter US probe EUS findings for cardial vascular structures before treatment are useful for predicting the likelihood of recurrence of esophageal varices.


Patients with concomitant abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and intra-abdominal malignancy present a clinical dilemma because of the difficulty in deciding which pathology to address first. As this scenario is not commonly encountered, clear guidelines are not available to help in the decision-making process. Surgery for malignancy has been said to increase the risk of postoperative aneurysm rupture, but simultaneous cancer surgery and primary repair of the aneurysm may carry the risk of prosthetic graft infection. This paper describes a further complication that may arise in the setting of concomitant intra-abdominal malignancy carcinoma and AAA, namely peripheral embolism.


Isothermal vapor−liquid equilibria (VLE) were obtained for ethyl tert-butyl ether + n-alcohol (C1−C4) at 333.15 K by headspace gas chromatography, and excess molar volumes were determined from density measurements using a vibrating tube densimeter at 298.15 K. The binary mixtures showed positive deviation from the Raoult's law, and those containing methanol and ethanol have minimum boiling azeotropes. The excess molar volumes of all the binary mixtures were negative. The measured VLE data are well described using a modified UNIFAC equation (Dortmund), and excess molar volumes are correlated with the Redlich−Kister polynomial.


A 52‐year‐old black woman presented with a 5‐year history of gradual swelling and slowed hair growth involving the vertex and both parietal regions of the scalp. Gradually, the swelling progressed to involve the entire scalp, only sparing a peripheral crown. She reported no history of trauma or medications. Slight pruritus of the involved area was the only accompanying symptom. There was no family history of a similar condition. Her past medical history included surgery for ovarian cysts, 10 years previously, and cholelithiasis.


Traction motor of subway runs mainly in a dull and wet environment,there are very strict requirements for wet-resistance of the insulation structure.This article explains the improtance of waterproofing test for the insulation structure of subway traction motor,analyses the main reasons of poor waterproof performance,discusses the method to improve the typical insulation structure,such as the soaking test,which has verified the improved plan of waterproof insulation structure for traction motor.


Emissions of air pollutants and noise by road traffic is of particular concern to many European citizens. Despite emission reduction techniques, the quality of urban environment will remain on the agenda for the coming years, as a result of the continuous growth of road traffic. The Framework Directive [1] and Daughter Directives [2, 3] are addressing regular assessment of air quality through monitoring and modelling in agglomerations with more than 250.000 inhabitants. Articles 7.3 and 8 of the Framework Directive require Action Plans for the improvement of air quality and call for public information. The Clean Air for Europe programme (CAFE) within the 6 Environmental Action Plan is developing the thematic strategy for further reduction of air pollution and its effects. Next to air quality, the problem of noise is also of importance to most citizens. It is estimated that at least 20 % of EU population suffers from noise. In a proposal for a Noise Directive [4] larger cities need to produce noise maps and will have to develop Action Plans aiming to achieve noise limit values, which will be set on Member States' level. Both air quality and noise have unquestionably adverse effects on human health. Because the dominant source in most urban areas for both types of environmental impacts is traffic it is a challenge for local authorities to find integrated solutions for the environmental and traffic problems in urban areas to increase the quality of life for European citizens. Informing the public on the environmental situation as it is integral part of the Framework Directive is also governed by other Directives [5, 6] which call for the development of respective information technologies. The HEAVEN Project as it is part of the IST-Programme is developing an Decision Support System (DSS) to assess the environmental impacts of urban traffic, identify environmental efficient Transport Demand Management Strategies (TDMS) and informing the public on the environmental situation. The DSS will support European harmonisation and effectiveness of the implementation of air quality and noise related European legislation. 1 Heich Consult, Bergiusweg 1, D-50354 Hürth e-mail: email@example.com 2 Societa Trasporti Automobilistici S.P.A, Via Ostiense 131/L, I-Roma e-mail: email@example.com 3 Mizar Automazione S.P.A., Via Vincenzo Monti 48, I-Torino 10126 e-mail: email@example.com EnviroInfo 2002 (Wien) Environmental Communication in the Information Society Proceedings of the 16th Conference Copyright © IGU/ISEP, Wien 2002. ISBN: 3-9500036-7-3


In the present investigation solar water pumps using packed-bed collectors have been developed. It has been experimentally observed that the performance behaviour of such pumps is much superior to that of a solar water pump using conventional plain collectors. Among the solar water pumps developed, the one using iron-turning packed-bed collectors exhibits the best performance.

It is interesting to conclude that the performance of a solar water pump using conventional (plain) collectors can be improved appreciably just by packing the collectors with metallic materials.


The flipping ratios for polarized neutron scattering from the first six reflections in Ni have been measured on a series of samples of varying thickness and perfection and at a number of wavelengths. The results were corrected for secondary extinction on a point-by-point basis, using the measured absolute reflectivities, and multiple scattering was detected using conservation of neutrons. No adjustable parameters were used, and all data, except those from a rather perfect specimen which showed both primary and secondary extinction, agree to within the experimental accuracy after extinction correction. A diffuse scattering process with spin dependence was also detected, and the flipping ratios corrected for this. The corrected values differ somewhat from the values given by Mook [Phys. Rev. (1966), 14B, 495-501].


Since the initial report of thiourea as a complexing reagent for gold leaching, considerable research has been directed toward the use of thiourea as an alternative to cyanide for gold extraction from different auriferous mineral resources. At the same time, some fundamental investigations of the system have been reported. In this article, a review of both applications and fundamental research is made, including a review of the recent results from laboratory studies at the University of Utah. Recent research results demonstrate that thiourea decomposition is quite slow in the presence of ferric sulfate for simple solutions. Ferric sulfate and formamidine disulfide (FDS) are effective oxidants with fast kinetics. No passivation of the gold surface is observed in simple acidic solutions. However, in actual leaching systems, some sulfide minerals significantly catalyze the redox reaction between thiourea and ferric ion, causing high thiourea consumption if ferric ion is present in excess. The presence of copper has a deleterious influence on this leaching system.


Significance The biogenesis of a replicative vacuole is an essential step of Coxiella burnetii infections and involves the hijack of several host membrane trafficking pathways. Here we describe Coxiella vacuolar protein B (CvpB) as a Coxiella effector that interacts with phosphoinositides on host cell membranes and manipulates phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate [PI(3)P] metabolism for optimal Coxiella-containing vacuole (CCV) development. This is achieved by perturbing the activity of the phosphatidylinositol 5-kinase PIKfyve, leading to an enrichment of PI(3)P on CCV membranes, which is required for the autophagy machinery to mediate CCV homotypic fusion. The importance of this process is highlighted by a homotypic fusion defect between CCVs in cells infected with CvpB Coxiella mutants, which translates into an attenuated virulence in the insect model Galleria mellonella. The Q fever bacterium Coxiella burnetii replicates inside host cells within a large Coxiella-containing vacuole (CCV) whose biogenesis relies on the Dot/Icm-dependent secretion of bacterial effectors. Several membrane trafficking pathways contribute membranes, proteins, and lipids for CCV biogenesis. These include the endocytic and autophagy pathways, which are characterized by phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate [PI(3)P]-positive membranes. Here we show that the C. burnetii secreted effector Coxiella vacuolar protein B (CvpB) binds PI(3)P and phosphatidylserine (PS) on CCVs and early endosomal compartments and perturbs the activity of the phosphatidylinositol 5-kinase PIKfyve to manipulate PI(3)P metabolism. CvpB association to early endosome triggers vacuolation and clustering, leading to the channeling of large PI(3)P-positive membranes to CCVs for vacuole expansion. At CCVs, CvpB binding to early endosome- and autophagy-derived PI(3)P and the concomitant inhibition of PIKfyve favor the association of the autophagosomal machinery to CCVs for optimal homotypic fusion of the Coxiella-containing compartments. The importance of manipulating PI(3)P metabolism is highlighted by mutations in cvpB resulting in a multivacuolar phenotype, rescuable by gene complementation, indicative of a defect in CCV biogenesis. Using the insect model Galleria mellonella, we demonstrate the in vivo relevance of defective CCV biogenesis by highlighting an attenuated virulence phenotype associated with cvpB mutations.


The acidity of supports affects the catalytic activity of supported Pd catalysts for methanol synthesis. In previous studies focusing on the effects of zeolite acidity, the concentrations of the zeolitic protons were varied by back-exchanging the protons with Na{sup +} cations. However, there is a lack of understanding about the effects of Na{sup +} cations on the supported Pd catalysts and their catalytic activity. This paper focuses on this issue. CO chemisorption, N2 physisorption, ethane hydrogenolysis, and methanol synthesis were used to characterize three different catalysts with varying sodium contents (Pd/HY, Pd/NaHY, Pd/NaY). Pd/NaHY and Pd/HY were prepared from NaY and NH{sub 4}Y, respectively, by ion-exchange with [Pd(NH{sub 3}){sub 4}](NO{sub 3}){sub 2}. Pd/NaY was prepared from Pd/NaHY by back-exchange of H{sup +} with Na{sup +}. Steady-state isotopic transient kinetic analysis (SSITKA) was utilized in the study of methanol synthesis as well as N{sub 2} physisorption. The amount of CO adsorption and the overall catalytic activity for methanol synthesis increased in the following order: Pd/NaY < Pd/HY < Pd/NaHY. The results from ethane hydrogenolysis on the catalysts indicate that the Na{sup +} cations did not decorate the Pd surfaces. The SSITKA results from methanol synthesis indicate that the concentration of activemore » sites for methanol synthesis on Pd/NaHY was larger than that of either Pd/NaY or Pd/HY. The reaction results suggest that the Na+ cations influence the interaction between CO and Pd by electronic rather than structural effects.« less


The aim of the present paper is to review the literature on the separation of the ewe-lamb bond and its effects on behaviour, vocalisations and physiological indicators as mechanisms of acute stress in ewes and lambs. In all mammal species mothers constitute the most important social contact for their young during the first months of life, as they facilitate the acquisition of information on the physical and social environments. In sheep, soon after parturition, a mutual, lasting ewe-lamb bond is established. Mothers can identify their young through the use of different sensory modalities (olfaction, vision, hearing and direct contact), but the proper expression of adequate maternal behaviour is made more difficult by modern livestock-handling systems that in order to increase fecundity intensify demands on the mothering ability of ewes. In conventional dairy sheep production systems, weaning lambs are suckled by either their dams or surrogates. When the ewe-lamb bond is broken, frustration arising from maternal feeding deprivation and the absence of maternal care alter endocrine and behavioural responses and reduce growth, suggesting emotional disturbances in the lambs. Many authors have indicated that stressor factors on the farm, such as isolation or separation, alter the indexes of animal welfare, including hormonal, haematological and biochemical parameters. In the case of sheep, the fact that they are gregarious animals makes them highly sensitive to the stress of separation from the flock. The measurement of plasma constituents in blood samples can provide information about the stress that animals suffer during various handling operations. On the other hand, weaning, particularly at a young age, is also associated with perturbed growth rates and an increased susceptibility to disease. Disruption of the maternal relationship, therefore, is at least a transient source of poor welfare for lambs, and may disturb the acquisition of social and survival-related behaviours. The lambs manifested strong vocal responses when these periods of temporary separation were first imposed, but eventually became habituated to the procedure and then showed little response compared to lambs that had not experienced such temporary separations. The close mother-offspring relationship established during the first few minutes of life after birth is very important for the development and survival of newborns in practically all species, including sheep. To improve our understanding of the consequences of breaking the ewe-lamb bond, factors that contribute to the establishment of the motheryoung relationship are discussed in the first part of this review. The second part deals specifically with the effects of separation on the ewe-lamb bond; namely, variables and measurements of behaviour, vocalisations, and blood profiles.


We study Bayesian inference of black hole ringdown modes for simulated binary black hole signals. We consider to what extent different fundamental ringdown modes can be identified in the context of black hole spectroscopy. Our simulated signals are inspired by the high mass event GW190521. We find strong correlation between mass ratio and Bayes factors of the subdominant ringdown modes. The Bayes factor values and time dependency, and the peak time of the (3,3,0) mode align with those found analyzing the real event GW190521, particularly for high-mass ratio systems.


Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of institutional factors in agricultural structural change in the European Union (EU) using the case study of land mobility in Ireland. A range of agricultural land use options are compared in order to examine the effect of domestic and EU policy instruments on land mobility. Design/methodology/approach - Using socio-economic data from the Teagasc National Farm Survey, three hypothetical farms are created using a microsimulation approach to compare incomes across farm systems and land use options. Tax and subsidy policies are applied to derive returns for the hypothetical farms under a variety of land use scenarios. Findings - The analysis finds that in comparing four hypothetical scenarios, leasing out agricultural land on a long-term basis can prove more profitable for cattle and tillage farmers than farming the land. Only dairy farmers derive consistently higher disposable incomes from farming their land as opposed to leasing it out. Changes in CAP rules can also negatively affect farmers taking advantage of Ireland's tax-based leasing incentives. Originality/value - A gap in the literature exists in terms of how institutional factors may act to prevent either land supply or demand channels from functioning properly. This paper addresses that gap, using Ireland as a case study.


The Dengying Formation (Sinian) in Weiyuan, Sichuan is mostly built up of algal dolostones deposited in the shallow-marine tidal-flat environments, where the palaeokarsts are well developed. The palaeokarsts may be divided, according to their features, into three types: intraformational, weathering crust and porous palaeokarsts. The intraformational karsts resulted from the karstification produced by the leaching of the uplifted carbonate rocks during deposition and early diagenesis by meteoric water. The weathering crust karsts are associated with the surficial karst-type landform and weathering crust generated by the permenant penetrating and leaching of the carbonate rocks by meteoric water. When carbonate rocks are buried, the interstial water was steadily released with increasing depths, thus resulting in the formation of the porous palaeokarsts. The intraformational karsts and weathering crust karsts at the uppermost parts of Z4 1 and Z4 2, respectively are believed to be the most important reservoirs in the gas field. In particular, the weathering crust karsts developed as a porous buried hill at the uppermost part of Z4 2 may facilitate the early accumulation of oil and gas in this region.


Aim. The aim of the work is to analyze the available literature data on the effect of herbicides on the formation of mycorrhizal symbiosis. Results. The article gives a brief overview of the influence of herbicides with different mechanism of action on the formation and functioning of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis. The direct and indirect effects of herbicides on the AM fungi, the different selectivity of AM fungi to herbicides and other factors influencing the effect of herbicides on biodiversity of AM fungi and the formation of mycorrhizal symbiosis are considered. Conclusions. Herbicides with different mechanism of action can have a significant effect on the diversity of AM fungi present in the soil, the formation and functioning of mycorrhizal symbiosis. Their effect on the AM fungi can be either direct or indirect due to the influence on the host plant. AM fungi, in turn, can also influence the selectivity of the plant to herbicides. Studies on the effect of herbicides on mycorrhizal symbiosis may be important for increasing the herbicide efficiency.
Keywords: herbicides, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, mycorrhizal symbiosis.


The mature form of Hydra actinoporin-like toxin 4 (mHALT-4) differs from other actinoporins primarily by bearing approximately 115 additional residues at the N-terminus. Five dibasic residues were found in this extended region and we assume that, when cleaved, each truncated HALT-4 (tKK1, tKK2, tRK3, tKK4 and tKK5) could exhibit an enhanced cytolytic activity. However, our results showed that mHALT-4, tKK1 and tKK2 possessed similar cytolytic activity against HeLa cells, whereas tRK3, tKK4 and tKK5 failed to kill HeLa cells. Therefore, the cleavage of KK1 or KK2 sites did not enhance the cytolytic activity of tKK1 and tKK2 but might facilitate the sorting of tKK1 and tKK2 to the regulated secretory pathway and eventually deposit them in the nematocyst. In contrast, RK3, KK4 and KK5 were unlikely to serve as the proteolytic cleavage sites since the amino acids between KK2 and RK3 are also crucial for the pore formation. Highlights Five dibasic cleavage sites are identified at the N-terminal region of HALT-4 but they are unlikely to have a role in the enhancement of HALT-4 cytotoxicity. The first two dibasic sites, KK1 and KK2, may be involved in sorting HALT-4 to the regulated secretory pathway where HALT-4 can be transported to the nematocyst.


Animal blood is a by-product, which can be utilized in a value-adding way instead of being wasted. Allergen substitution is an obvious possibility because many properties of blood plasma are similar to egg white. Techno-functional and sensory attributes (water activity, moisture content, colour and texture related properties) were measured by instrumental methods. The allergenic egg powder can be substituted by non-allergenic blood plasma powder in sponge cakes, but the change in the ingredient has an effect on hardness and tolerating compressive stress until the breaking. In the case of water activity and moisture content, sponge cakes with blood plasma were as desirable as sponge cakes with egg.


The probabilistic behavior study of Evolutionary Algorithms (EA) in every generation is relevant to perform exploratory analysis, in order to summarize, monitor, and to formulate a hypothesis about observed data. For the purpose of understanding better how the population evolves along the generations, we made a descriptive analysis of Differential Evolution (DE) evolving population. The objective was to find a probabilistic model to fit the population over the generation. This probabilistic model can be a known probability distribution or a latent variable model, i.e., Gaussian mixture model. In this work, we conducted different adhesion tests for known continuous distributions defined for real variables, namely, Students t, Laplace, and Normal distributions. Among them, the latter showed the highest number of occurrences, hence we conducted a further study over the probability populations distribution based on this result. We used Henze and Zirkler hypothesis tests to verify multivariate normal distribution and a version of the multivariate Kolmogorov test aiming to assess the adjustment to other known multivariate continuous distributions. The probabilistic behavior analysis of the population generated by the DE was made over the single-objective box-constrained continuous optimization problems, the CEC13 benchmarks.


In recent years, the silver bream of the upper part of the Volga stretch of the Kuibyshev reservoir maintained a tendency to reduce the average size and weight indicators. Given the good availability of food and the fact that in the area under consideration, commercial fishing of this species has not been carried out in recent years, it can be assumed that changes in biological indicators are caused by a significant impact of anthropogenic impact in the form of individual and poaching fishing. It is necessary to strengthen control measures for such types of fishing.


: The study aims mainly to determine the obstacles of communication between the axes of the system of agricultural production and in the province of Menoufia. A sample was taken from the 105 guidance system represented by all categories of guidance service workers in Menoufia governorate , the research agencies collected data from the Sars El-Lian plant and the Faculty of Agriculture and numbered 42 researchers in the fields of agricultural guidance and other specialties, including 16 from Sars station representing 38% and the Faculty of Agriculture 26 representing 8.61% who deal with guides and farmers, A regular random sample of 170 farmers. The results showed that there are five independent variables affecting the administrative and regulatory constraints of the agricultural guidance device at a moral level of 0.01, independent variables affecting the interpretation of the variation in the variable of the dependent 44.3%, The results also showed that there are five independent variables affecting the communication and coordination constraints of the agricultural guidance device, independent variables explain the variation in the variable of 43.3%, The results also indicated the existence of five independent variables affecting the psychological and social constraints of the agricultural guidance system, the percentage of the total contribution of independent variables affecting the interpretation of the variation in the variable of 48.8%, The results also showed the existence of one independent variable affecting financial and administrative constraints, and the overall contribution ratio of independent variables affecting the interpretation of the variation in the variable of 32.2%, and the ratio of the total contribution of the independent variable influencer in explaining the variation in the variable of the dependent 33.8% due to the roles of the research authorities, The results also indicated that there are two independent variables affecting the barriers to communication between farmers and guidance, the percentage of the total contribution of independent variables affecting the interpretation of the milking in the variable of 8%, of which 5.9% is due to the level of education 2.1% due to the tendency of farmers towards guidance.


In this paper, based on accelerated testing indoors, under the action of bending tensile stress on a marine high-performance concrete chloride ion diffusion coefficient, the results show that: Subjected to bend under the action of tensile stress and do not withstand the test piece chloride diffusion coefficient increases with increasing stress levels, different tensile stress and does not bear the stress of the concrete chloride ion diffusion coefficient ratio (Dη/D0) exponential relationship with the stress level (η). In addition, addition, for a domestic Bridge, preliminary design to determine typical parameters of components and their environment is proposed to consider the durability of concrete structure load control index calculation method, to establish a "design life - chloride ion diffusion coefficient controlled targets" the correspondence between, for similar projects designed to provide a reference durability.


We reported the multiple pulse jet formation of highspeed liquid jet generated by impact acceleration method. However, the cause of the multiple pulse jet generation and wave interaction inside a nozzle are not yet experimentally resolved. In this paper we discuss the propagation and reflection of shock waves inside a nozzle and their contribution to the multiple pulse jet formation. To clarify the multiple pulse jet formation, we used a 10.6 mm x 10.6 mm container of water with thick acrylic observation windows and quantitatively visualized waves by using double exposure holographic interferometry and inserted an optical fiber pressure transducer of 0.1 mm in diameter and resonant frequency of 100 MHz into the 0.7 mm diameter nozzle exit hole for the pressure measurement after a projectile at 300 m/s impacted the liquid surface in the nozzle. The pressure behind the shock wave in liquid was 1.24 GPa generated by the projectile impact and successive over-pressures caused by the released wave from longitudinal and transversal waves in the nozzle metal wall and multiple reflections of waves in the liquid were accurately measured. Moreover, negative pressures detected with the optical fiber pressure transducer are attributable to impact flash and have no physical significance. Comparing visualization of highspeed liquid jet, pressure measurements, holographic interferometric visualization and one-dimensional analysis, we conclude the multiple reflections in nozzle liquid caused multiple impulsive acceleration of highspeed jet and the contribution of stress waves in nozzle metal to liquid jet formation is not significant.


We developed a time-lapse AVO inversion method, based on Bayesian method, in which all available seismic data can be used to obtain elastic properties (VP, VS, and ρ) and the changes between baseline and monitor surveys. The inverted elastic properties and the changes are consistent with the seismic data and prior information. Furthermore, the method is applicable to incomplete time-lapse multicomponent data sets. Preliminary tests on synthetic data based on log information from the Hangingstone heavy oilfiled, Alberta, shows promising results.


The research aims to investigate the use of straw–clay material in wall construction, its load bearing and heat insulation properties. The main objective of this study is to get optimal straw–clay construction material, which could be used in load bearing external wall constructions of one–storey houses. The effectiveness of different kinds of straw and clay proportions in construction materials is determined by compression and thermal conductivity tests. To show the effectiveness of straw–clay material in load bearing external walls, a specific model of a one–storey house in the finite element analysis program Ansys is created. As a result of this study it is determined that straw–clay block construction material in right proportions can be used in one–storey house load bearing external walls with sufficient compressive strength and thermal resistance.


This paper summarizes the functions of college journals in college education and teaching, such as promoting the development of existing disciplines, supporting the construction of new disciplines, and training high-tech talents, and put forwards such specific countermeasures as carrying out the planning of selected topics, attaching significance to reviewing manuscripts, supporting and nurturing young authors, and improving overall qualities of editors. College education and teaching is a complex system project and requires all aspects of cooperation and active cooperation. It is not something that a certain unit or a department can accomplish independently. It is difficult to get results in the short term. As a part of the school, the college journals have been playing an active role in discipline construction and talent training. The college journals are academic windows for the college. It can reflect the teaching and scientific research production, and the status of discipline construction and talent training. Based on this, this article summarizes the role of college journals in College education and teaching, and studies the specific countermeasures. 1. Roles of College Journals in College Education and Teaching 1.1. Promoting the Development of Existing Disciplines Each college has some influential subjects at home and abroad. These superior disciplines are an important factor in improving visibility and reputation of the college. To a certain extent, it is the foundation of the college's establishment . As a window for academic exchanges, the college journals provide good platform for the development of existing disciplines. It has the characteristics of a wide range of disciplines and rapid information dissemination. It is conducive to academic research of different disciplines on this platform, creating a keen academic atmosphere for the development of disciplines, and quickly deliver the latest research results of disciplines, especially key disciplines. It can demonstrate the academic strength and research level of the college and expand the influence of disciplines . 1.2. Supporting the development of new disciplines Based on the in-depth development of existing disciplines, and with the continuous deepening of scientific research, some researchers may have new scientific discoveries and gradually explore new areas of science, so as to resolve major issues that have not been solved by previous generations, and new disciplines are formed gradually. Compared with the existing superior disciplines and special disciplines, new disciplines are of low interest, late start of research, few researchers, and limited research levels. The research results may not be mature, easily controversial, not be accepted by people easily, and be difficult to develop. The college journals is a multi-disciplinary comprehensive academic journal. It advocates "let one hundred flowers blossom and one hundred schools of thought contend", and it is conducive to the academic discussion of 4th International Conference on Economics, Social Science, Arts, Education and Management Engineering (ESSAEME 2018) Copyright © 2018, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 204


A comparison is made between pre- and post-drainage scheme river flows recorded on the River Maine, Co. Antrim. A method of using five-year reference periods has been applied to the mean daily flows to smooth and eliminate, as far as possible, variations due to climatic changes.

Any loss of energy production which might have been due to changes in river flow was examined for turbine installations at a factory at Cullybackey. The quantities of usable water, and hence potential energy production, were calculated for each of the post-scheme five-year periods and compared with a pre-scheme five-year reference period. Any potential loss was then represented by a depreciation factor. It was found that no measurable loss of potential energy production has occurred on the River Maine in the post-scheme period.


Rights inherent to all, regardless nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or other status. Expressed and guaranteed by law in treaties, customary law, general principles, and other international law. Specific Issues in Human Rights


BACKGROUND
Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in the preterm neonate (PTN) with respiratory distress is frequent and there are controversies related to its medical and/or surgical treatment. The goal of the present study was to compare the outcome between the two groups of newborns with PDA, operated (group A) and not operated on (group B); and to determine the internal diameter (DI) in ductus arteriosus (DA) on outcome.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
The clinical records of PTN hospitalized from January 1999 to January 2002, discharged either by improvement or death, were retrolectively analyzed. Statistical analysis was carried out using the descriptive and inferential statistic. The statistical significance was considered at p<0.05.

RESULTS
The was significant difference in DI in DA in favor group A with p<0.01; and DI of 2 mm or more showed significant difference too in favor of group A with a p=0.0006. The mortality was similar in the two groups.

CONCLUSIONS
We concluded that in the PTN with significant PDA should intervene medical or surgically and without those data but with DI of 2 mm or more of DA, also.


Abstract The probability P of trapping of glass beads was measured for tilt rotating zone melting of camphor. P increased with increasing zone travel rate, increasing tilt angle, decreasing tube rotation, and increasing mass of beads. P also decreased dramatically with distance down the tube. This is attributed to increasing impurity content as the zone moves down the tube and by the changing shape of the freezing interface due to the diminished content of glass beads. Trapping was predominantly by periodic bands, indicating one or more catastrophic trapping mechanisms.


In this paper, "Organizational Behavior" individual behavior, group behavior and organizational behavior teaching and students' ego-identity exploration are combined to be explored. The author selects the "Legally Blonde", "Good Will Hunting", "The 33","Stanford Prison Experiment", "The Devil Wears Prada" and "Silicon Valley Legend", a total of six classic movies as a carrier of "organizational behavior" teaching curriculum for a new teaching improvement. Through the actions of movie characters analysis, students can gain a deeper understanding of organizational behavior concepts and application of the theory, and can conduct their own egoidentity explorations, think about their own values, beliefs, demand level, career goals, selfefficacy, learn to establish their family roles, social roles, as well as seek to better friendship, love and intimacy and, ultimately, better ego-identity, which means ego-identity achievement.


A salivary chromosome map of Anopheles (Cellia) stephensi stephensi is presented. The chromosomes exist as 5 units, the telocentric X chromosome and 2 metacentric autosomes. Chromosome 2 has arms of unequal lengths. Chromosome 3 has arms of equal lengths. The banding pattern is similar to that of Anopheles gambiae (subgenus Cellia ) but dissimilar to the species of the subgenera Anopheles and Nyssorhynchus thus far studied.


Elastomeric sealants are nonlinear viscoelastic materials that exhibit the Mullins effect. As a result, the behavior of a sealant depends on the previous history of strains the sample has seen. To deal with this issue, characterization tests like ASTM C1735, Standard Test Method for Measuring the Time Dependent Modulus of Sealants Using Stress Relaxation, subject the specimen to a specific strain history before measuring properties. To gain a better understanding of this history effect, this article studied a model sealant where the nonlinear viscoelastic properties were measured after a variety of strain histories ranging from no exposure to strain before the test to the history specified in ASTM C1735. The results provide insight into how strain history affects properties, supports information for the ASTM characterization test, and adds knowledge on the nature of the Mullins effect.


Through a detailed reading of a recent study of medieval Buddhism and politics in Sri Lanka in conjunction with a number of other works, this article explores the troubling legacy of translating the historical questions of subjectivity into the modern language of 'agency', 'autonomy', 'innovation', and 'creativity'. This legacy cannot easily be separated from the politics of white privilege in post-colonial studies of Buddhism and South Asian religion. The problem with trying to expose creativity, so pervasive in the studies of South Asian religion, is not merely a matter of anachronistic conceptualization of divergent historical forms of religious practice and subjectivity. It is that the very possibility of translating subjectivity into easily digestible aestheticized modes of being (e.g., creativity) is predicated on an uninterrogated assumption about the self-evidence of such concepts independent of temporal forms of power encountered in forms of life.


The problem of trade off is researched and discussed by analyzing and comparing weighted P norm methods and maximum entropy method to two principal methods of solving the multiobjective optimization problem.It is given that the trade off is stationary and artificial in weighted P norm method,but motional and inartificial in maximum entropy method.


Performance evaluation of the ITU-R. P.530-17, Ghiani and Budalal model are considered for this work. It is found that the predicted values from the ITU-R and Ghiani distance factor models are seen to gradually decrease with an increase in path length for distances below 1km. Results further suggest that for a link length of 300 m, the Ghiani model predicts a 0.2499 dB (1.059 w) to 0.3273 dB (1.078 w) precipitation loss across all four (4) stations. For the ITU-R. P.530-17 model, a 3.4741 dB (2.225 w) to 5.329 dB (3.411 w) precipitation loss is estimated across all stations while the Budalal model estimated a 2.8608 dB (1.932 w) to 4.6250 dB (2.901 w) precipitation loss across all stations. The ITU-R. P.530-17, Ghiani and Budalal model further suggest a precipitation loss in the Received Signal Strength (RSS) of a typical 5G base station operating in the four (4) stations considered to be at least -9.4733 dBm, -8.8601 dBm, and -6.2489 dBm respectively. Generally, all models are found to predict rain attenuation and distance factor values with disparities especially for link lengths above 300 m. Further research is recommended on the models for accurate prediction and improve agreement with measured values.


Mostindependent component analysis methods forblind source separation rely onthefundamental assumption that alltheunknown sources aremutually statistically independent. Suchassumption becomes problematic whenapplied tomanyreal worldapplications (e.g., biomedical imaging) that subsequently motivated theexploitation ofnon-negative nature ofthesources, observations andmixing matrix. We recently proposed anewmethod, called thenon-negative least-correlated component analysis (nLCA) foranoise-free 2x 2mixing system, that relaxes thesource independence assumption while usesthenon-negativity constraints onthe sources, observations andmixing matrix. Inthis paper, we extend thenLCAtothecaseofanoisy M xN non-negative mixing system whereM > N > 2.ThenLCAinvolves onlylow-complexity algebraic computations, andthusis computationally efficient. Illustrative experimental results arepresented todemonstrate its efficacy together with aperformance comparison withsomeexisting algorithms.


A research on difference scheme of image gravitational field in the GVF snake model is performed depending on the uniform stability and convergence conditions of the difference scheme.It is found that the original explicit forward difference scheme puts a strict restriction on the diffusion coefficient in the partial differential equation which decelerates the convergence speed of difference equation iteration.A new difference scheme is put forward,which has the advantage of unconditional uniform stability and convergence,and the restriction on the coefficient of partial differential equation is removed.Through increasing the value of the coefficient appropriately,the image of boundary information transmission becomes faster.Hence,iteration calculations are decreased rapidly for a given transmission range.The simulation experiments indicate that the new difference scheme be higher efficiency than the traditional one.