Type 2 diabetes is a complex disease that is characterized by insufficient insulin production or utilization. Type 2 diabetes is associated with complications such as diabetic neuropathy, diabetic nephropathy, diabetic retinopathy, atherosclerosis, peripheral artery disease and coronary heart disease. Three important risk factors for complications are hyperglycemia, hypertension and dyslipidemia.
Effective diabetes care involves self-management of the disease with proper nutrition, physical exercise and pharmacological agents that can control levels of glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure. With the rise in the prevalence of diabetes and often ineffective treatment intensification it is necessary to consider new treatment strategies. Patient centered approaches along with treatment intensification and diabetes education can be one such strategy to improve diabetes care. Diabetes education can be helpful as it helps in promoting healthy behaviors and appropriate diabetes self-management.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of providing patient education and intensifying treatment in patients with Type 2 diabetes and determine if there were significant changes observed in HbA1c, LDLc, blood pressure and adherence. This study specifically reported changes in patients at the 3 month follow up. The study was a prospective, cluster randomized controlled trial. There were a total of 240 patients enrolled in the study: 175 were in the intervention group and 65 were in the control group. Treatment was intensified according to pre-approved protocols and diabetes education was provided to patients in the intervention group.
There was significant decrease in HbA1c and LDLc levels within the intervention group but the difference was not significant within the control group. There was no decrease in blood pressure within the intervention or the control group. HbA1c, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure was significantly different in between the groups at baseline but not during 3 month follow up. There was no statistically significant difference between the underlying distributions of the adherence scores of protocol and the adherence scores of control at baseline or 3 month follow up.
The results from the 3 month follow up strongly indicated that treatment intensification along with patient education can be an effective way to treat diabetes. These results also emphasized the importance of a patient centered approach and diabetes education. The public health significance of this study is that it can be very helpful to optimize treatment strategies in diabetes while addressing behavioral and psychological needs of a patient. This can improve self-management of diabetes, which is one of the very important aspects of diabetes care.


In a phthalate buffer of pH 2.4 and in the presence of polyvinyl alcohol,a hydrophobic ionic association compound was formed between ethyl violet and sodium dodecyl benzene sulfate(SDBS),showing its absorption maximum at the wavelength of 550 nm.Based on this fact,a new on-line method for determination of an anionic surfactant,SDBS,by FI-spectrophotometry was proposed.Range of linearity for SDBS concentration was found between 0.08—3.50 mg·L~(-1).Detection limit(3S/N) found was 4.39μg·L~(-1).Precision was tested with standard solution containing 2.4 mg·L~(-1) SDBS for 14 determinations,giving value of RSD of 1.72%.Four samples of environmental water were analyzed by the proposed method for their contents of SDBS,giving results in consistency with the results found by the GB standard method.Values of recovery found by standard addition method were in the range of 95.0%-107.4%.


This presentation outlines the implementation of a machine translation system for avalanche warning bulletins in natural language, using a unification-based formalism developed at ISSCO, which will be introduced at the same occasion. Concrete examples taken from this project exemplify a modern approach to ma- chine translation: a rich representation of the semantic content of a sentence, the use of a sin- gle grammar for parsing and generating as well as generation and transfer based exclusively on the semantic representation of a sentence. Simultaneously, the limits of bidirectional trans- fer are being tested.


There has been an increasing number of employers in Taiwan for the past 30 years, who are influential to the labor market and the economy. However, our understanding of this particular group of people is still of scarcity. Moreover, with the growths of female labor force participation and educational attainment, women has no longer been confined to lower level positions and started to become managers, or even business owners. Due to the importance of employers and the fact that women's positions in the labor market have been changing, this thesis attempts to analyze the patterns and changes of the employer's sex composition in Taiwan. Using the "Human Resource Survey" from 1978 to 2005, this thesis intends to depict the picture of the patterns and changes of the employer's sex composition in Taiwan, and further analyze the employer's sex composition in different industrial sectors in the context of Taiwan's economic transformation. Furthermore, due to the importance of firm size to the employer's economic success, this thesis also analyzes sex composition of different firm size. Meanwhile, on the basis of the quantitative change of the employer's sex composition, this thesis also analyzes the qualitative change of the male and female employers respectively in terms of age, educational and industrial compositions and the distribution of firm size. The research result shows that the proportion of male employers is still much higher than that of women, but the percentage of female employers has consistently been increasing. As to sectoral differences, the personal service sector and social service sector has higher proportions of female employers, which indicates that these sectors provide more industrial niches to woman entrepreneurs. The sex composition among employers of different firm size, as has been expected, shows significant differences. Employers of firm size 2 to 9 people has the highest percentage of women. Further analyses of the age, educational and industrial compositions and the distribution of firm size show that while there are only slight differences between male and female employers' age and educational composition, the industrial and firm-size distributions show significant dissimilarities. The male employers center around the transformative sector while the female ones concentrate in low-profit, personal service sector with smaller firm size. Through the empirical analyses, the author concludes that a dual structure exists behind the sex composition of the employers in Taiwan. Despite the fact that the proportion of female employers has been increasing, which indicates that the roles and positions of women in the labor market has indeed undergone certain changes, the female employers still come in a "peripheral" and "secondary" position. In other words, we can still observe obvious gender stratification among the employers in Taiwan. Therefore, the gender equality in Taiwan's labor market still has a long way to go.


The purpose of this work is to investigate and quantify x-ray fluorescence, its production and its spectroscopy. Characteristic x-ray with different energies were obtained from six various elements using Am-241 source with 59.5 keV. It was found that x-ray energy and intensity increase with increasing atomic number of material. X-ray spectroscopy was studied for such elements in respect to their atomic number and intensity of Kα characteristic x-ray using proportional counter. Furthermore, x-ray fluorescence was produced from different thickness of copper foil using different energies. It was found that there is no substantial different in x-ray fluorescence yield with higher thickness of the target.


Objectives: Twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) is associated with a high risk of perinatal morbidity and mortality. The condition results from intertwin vascular connections in the shared placenta. We report here a case of early, severe TTTS that failed to respond to serial amniocenteses and that was successfully treated by means of superselective laser coagulation. Methods: A causative arteriovenous anastomosis was identified by means of prenatal obstetrical sonography, using color and spectral Doppler techniques. At fetoscopy, performed at 23 weeks' gestation, laser occlusion of only this connection was achieved. Results: This therapeutic intervention resulted in rapid resolution of all evidence of TTTS and a successful pregnancy outcome, with subsequent delivery of 2 healthy infants at 33 weeks' gestation. Conclusions: The potentially fatal pathophysiology of TTTS was reversed by interruption of a single arteriovenous connection. We have termed this the sonographically evaluated, laser-endoscopic coagulation for twins ('Select') procedure.


Acellular scaffolds from decellularized donor organs are showing promising clinical results in tissue and organ repair and regeneration. A successful decellularization process is determined by (a) its capability to decellularize complete organs of large animals, (b) retention of the extracellular matrix structures and morphologies, and (c) minimal loss of extracellular matrix proteins. In this study, porcine esophagi were perfused in full thickness with 0.25% w/v sodium dodecyl sulfate at perfusion rates 0.1-0.2 mL/min for up to 5 days. Decellularized tissues were characterized for their residual DNA, histological staining for their matrix structures, immunohistochemical staining for collagen type IV and laminin, and scanning electron microscopy for structural integrity. Our results showed that full thickness esophageal tissues treated using the horizontal perfusion setup were decellularized with good structural and biochemical integrity in the extracellular matrix. Residual DNA content in decellularized tissues was found to be 36 ± 12 ng/mg of tissues (n = 6) which was significantly lower than that of native tissues (p = 0.00022). Our study showed that the organ must be decellularized in full thickness and perfusion pressure must be controlled to minimize radial expansion. These factors were found to be critical in preserving the folded mucosa in the decellularized tissues.


When using a computer, we are engaging in a dialogue with the computer. In order to communicate effectively with the computer, we must be aware of the state of the computer. Therefore, we need our attention drawn to particular areas that may indicate the state. When these areas are not found easily, that is these areas are not conspicuous, then we may sacrifice speed and accuracy resulting in potentially disastrous consequences. It has been known for years that colour is very conspicuous: it is easily noticed and attracts attention. For this reason, colour has been used in the interface to group, discriminate and draw attention. Visual texture, normally studied for its segregating and discriminating properties, is also very conspicuous. Another visual attribute that research has shown to be conspicuous is depth conveyed through shape from shading perception: convex and concave objects are easily discriminated. The three-dimensional look that shape from shading imparts is becoming more popular in interface design due to its concrete, realistic appeal. However, designers are not making use of the functional benefits, that is the conspicuousness, of depth from shading in the design of the interface. A windowing system is a good example of an interface that needs to present conspicuous information to the user so that the user knows the state of the computer. In this case, so it is known which window is active and can receive input. This thesis empirically supports the idea that depth from shading can be used as a conspicuous attibute in a windowing system to indicate the active window. However, as the depth from shading cue is obscured by other overlapping windows, the conspicuousness of the cue decreases. Some guidelines for maintaining conspicuity of the depth from shading cue are provided. iv v Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor, William Cowan, for his advice and guidance throughout this thesis and for believing in my abilities before my entrance into the Master's program.rice Jaubert, deserve thanks for their wisdom and attention. Furthermore, I thank Pierre for his expertise and advice regarding the 'Attention' literature. A big thanks goes to Anne Jenson for helping things go smoothly over the past couple years. I also appreciated and enjoyed the many talks I had with Ian Bell regarding the different stages of my thesis and for providing motivation to explore the art of academic writing. I also want to thank Glenn Paulley …


A motional Stark effect (MSE) instrument is being installed on the Alcator C-Mod tokamak at MIT. This MSE diagnostic will provide measurements of the spatial profile of the internal poloidal magnetic field. The MSE has its primary collection optics inside the vacuum vessel. The light collected by the internal optics passes through a vacuum window and is relayed to a fiber optic array. The MSE optics are shared by a beam emission spectroscopy (BES) diagnostic which measures electron density fluctuations and their spatial correlations. This optical system requires high throughput and spatial resolution of less than 1 cm at the focal plane in the plasma. The design requirements for the internal optics also include the effects associated with plasma impingement, plasma disruptions, and thermal excursions.


Fuel pressure fluctuations in a diesel injection pump cavity can affect the injection quantity balance. Among them, the injection pump rotational speed is a major factor affecting fuel pump fuel pressure fluctuations within the cavity. This article through the use of HYDSIM software for different speeds of volatility in fuel injection pump cavity pressures for Simulation.


Currently, the prevalent data collection method in most construction firms focuses on document based approach which leads to excessive cost, time and manpower of projects. Activities such as Information sharing, production tracking, progress measurement, resource management and safety control can be performed more efficiently by using an automated data-based management system. This paper focuses on developing a method for data collection, called PRC in which a trilateral interaction among widespread technologies( PDA, RFID and camera), is used to obtain data from the job site and transfer it to a web based system where all the parties involved can access to this information subsequently. This system provides daily data, procurement data and visual data through the use of PDA, RFID and Camera installed on site, (PRC Data Collection System), which assists the project management team to fulfill their objectives, monitor and control the project more precisely and effectively.


Biomedical systems using microwave technology consume electric energy depending upon their applications. Those systems are deployed inside or outside living bodies. Energy can be supplied through wireless power transfer to the injected biomedical devices from outside, or can be harvested using various technologies such as RF, heat and vibration. For bio-systems or devices deployed outside living bodies such as WBAN apparatus that people wear, energy is provided using energy harvesting technology. Wireless energy transfer has been up to now used for other applications such as wireless charging, which can also be applied for transmitting energy through living body, but this should guarantee no harm to human body. In this work, possible wireless energy transfer through living body and energy harvesting using RF, heat and vibration are investigated and effective energy transfer and harvesting methods are presented. Overall system architecture as well as circuit implementation is described for this purpose.


Recently, M-health or mobile health has been receiving a lot of attention worldwide from healthcare professionals, patients, network service providers, application developers and researchers. Mobile phone software applications or apps are available for a variety of useful healthcare tasks such as psycho-education, symptom assessment, resource location, and tracking of treatment progress. This study focused on creating an application for smart phones with android system. The main aim of the proposed system is to help an important category of the society which is the alzheimer's patients, this system gives them the ability to have small memory which can help them to remember all tasks to live, which may contribute to the prevention of progression of the disease rapidly, the technology provides the best care because it is not susceptible to forgetfulness or damage. The design of the proposed system presented in this study includes reminding them of their families through memories and family photos and information, and the dates of their medications, the amount of medicine and hospital appointments.


'War's End' must of necessity be linked with war's beginning and the years between. The exodus from North Queensland to the south (mainly Brisbane) after the fall of Singapore, and the transition from a rural environment to city living, offers a unique insight into war's effect and aftermath from a woman's point of view. This exodus south, which swelled the ranks of women in a burgeoning industrial and martial clime, wrought enormous social upheavals never before experienced in living memory.


Females of the subsocial leaf beetle Gonioctena sibirica attend their broods on the willow Salix bakko. Females with broods settle on the underside of the basal part of leaves and face towards the base of the shoots. If other arthropods approach such attendant females, the females show aggressive behaviour against the intruder. The effectiveness of maternal care on offspring survival against pedestrian predators and against a parasitoid wasp was evaluated in field experiments using three groups: broods from which parent females were experimentally removed, those from which females were removed and pedestrian predators were excluded by tanglefoot treatments, and control broods. These experiments showed that maternal care was highly effective against pedestrian predators, but parasitism was not affected by the presence of females. Offspring mortality by predation or by parasitism was not usually dependent on larval densities. Position and orientation of attendant females will be effective for them to detect intruders which approach their larvae by walking along the stem, while it can inhibit the females from detecting parasitoids which fly and land directly on the leaf close to the larvae. The results suggest a trade-off in the effectiveness of prey defensive behaviour against different enemy species: prey defensive behaviour specific to one type of the enemy may make the prey more vulnerable to the other.


A planning method of cast for steelmaking continuous casting production scheduling in CIMS is studied. The cast plan model is established. An adaptive operator genetic algorithm is proposed to solve the optimum cast plan problem. The computation with practical data shows that the model and the solving method are very effective.


A rotaxane-based molecular shuttle composed of a benzo[24]crown-6 ether wheel threaded onto an axle with a benzo-bis(imidazolium) core can act as a pH-controlled fluorescence switch. The mechanism ...


Milk, as a highly nutritious food, serves as an ideal medium for the growth, and multiplication of spoilage microorganisms in areas with limited cooling storage and irregular supply of electricity in Tanzania. On the other hand, consumers are concerned about possible health effects from the use of chemical preservatives. However, number of plants have been used in food and in natural remedies for food preservation and curing various diseases for many eras, respectively. Nevertheless, there are many natural plant extracts rich in several phytochemical compounds including antioxidants which play important roles in both food system and human body tissues (Jayasinghea et al., 2013). Zanzibar is known as a spice island in Africa due to favourable climatic condition and soil. Therefore, the preliminary study was conducted assessing usage, consumption and effect of spices and herbs in milk. A cross sectional study involving direct observation and in-depth interviews was conducted in Zanzibar. Results show that 96.4% (P < 0.05) of the respondents use spices and herbs in milk for food and traditional medicinal purposes. The most commonly spices and herbs added in milk were cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, lemon grass, clove, turmeric and vanilla. Normally, the spices and herbs are purchased from markets and shops 87.5% (P <0.05). 75% of respondents did not experience side effects of spices and herbs used in milk while 25% did. The majority reported microorganisms (73.2%) and poor storage (39.3%) are the major causes of milk spoilage. Respondents were aware with causes of milk spoilage. Most of the households, used refrigeration (55.4%), boiling (42.9%), freezing (23.2%), thermos (21.4%) and only few (7.1%) used spices to control spoilage. Therefore, the effect of the spices and herbs on preservation of milk could be studied scientifically to explore their potential in milk preservation.


Exact calculations are performed for proton emission from triaxial nuclei by extending the nonadiabatic quasiparticle method to include the triaxial degree of freedom. We present for the first time a proper formalism for triaxial proton emitters, which includes the treatment of the pairing residual interaction and the coupling with the excited states of the daughter nucleus. The results for the nuclei {sup 161}Re and {sup 185}Bi are discussed. In contrast to an earlier prediction, where this problem was addressed with approximate methods, a weak dependance on triaxial deformation, especially in the nonadiabatic case, is found.


Obesity and Physical Inactivity are leading risk factors for insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. West Virginia leads the U.S. in obesity rates and ranks 11th for no leisure time physical activity. Data is scarce examining modifiable risk factors in young adults transitioning from high school to college. The purpose of this analysis was to examine the relationship between BMI and Physical Activity on insulin levels in college-aged freshman enrolled in the HERD (Higher Education Reducing Diabetes) Study at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. The HERD Study is a 4 year, randomized study examining the effects of a freshman healthy lifestyle intervention on type 2 diabetes risk. One hundred eighty three freshman enrolled into the study [age= 18.3±1.5 years; female=59.4%(n=107); 85.5% Caucasian(n=153); BMI= 27.3±8.1 kg/m2; VO2max=35.6 ±8.59 ml/kg/min]. Diabetes risk values were A1c= 5.09±.43%; fasting glucose= 85.9±9.66 mg/dl; insulin= 0.76±.60ng/ml. Fifty four percent (n=92) of students were deemed overweight or obese (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) while 67% (n= 122) did not meet current physical activity guidelines. No significant differences were found between BMI and A1c (p=.48) or fasting glucose (p=.82). However, students with a BMI ≥25 kg/m2 showed fasting insulin levels twice as high as students with a BMI Disclosure R. Powell: None. H. Cyphert: None.


The fatigue crack is a very important and typical failure in rotor bearing system, which always leads to great damage, especially for rod-fastening rotor bearing system. Rod-fastening rotor bearing system is a kind of typical structure of combined rotor bearing systems and widely used in gas turbine, aircraft engine, generating set et.al which occupy an important position in modern heavy industrial equipment. When a crack occurs in a rotor shaft, one disk, or a fastening rod of the system, the dynamic behaviours will change and become complicated compared with the general rotor system which has no fastening rod. To find out the dynamic characteristics of rotor system before and after the crack appearing, many studies have been devoted to the Jeffcott rotor system which always have no any fastening-rods and mainly based on the one dimensional model. Due to the three dimensional characteristics of crack in nature, it cannot really reflect the dynamic behaviours of system for one dimensional model. In this paper, based on the finite element method, nonlinear dynamic model of a three dimensional rod-fastening rotor bearing system with a crack in a rod is developed, where a combined solution contains shooting method, path-following technique, and Floquet theory are employed to determine the stability and bifurcation of the system. The effects of crack and the mass eccentricities on the dynamic behaviours of the system are studied by numerical simulations. Comparisons of the nonlinear dynamic behaviours between the cracked rod-fastening rotor bearing system and the intact ones are given by numerical simulations. Some different nonlinear dynamic characteristics in vibration amplitude, motion orbits, and frequency spectrum between two models are obtained which are useful to detect the presence of a crack and timely avoid the loss expansion resulting from crack.


This research is titled "Development Strategies for A Tourism Village (A Case Study at Pulesari Village)", it aims to formulate the suitable strategy in developing Pulesari Tourism Village in Turi District, Sleman. Samples involved in the research were selected using purposive sampling and random sampling techniques. The analysis tool chosen for the research is the SWOT analysis. The research stages consist of observation, interview with administrators of Pulesari Tourism Village, and distribution of questionnaires to 11 administrators and 100 visitors.
Results of the analysis in this research show that the suggested strategies for SO include: improving and maintaining points of tourism interests, improving the quality of service to the tourists, reactivating Salak Museum as a tourism attraction, and improving of tourism support products variation. For ST, the strategies suggested include: offering quality tourism products, developing interesting tourism attractions, improving the role of key persons to maintain local cultures, establishing an early warning system (EWS), and developing the tourism village without harming the ecosystem. The suggested strategies for WO are: improving the quality of human resources, increasing the promotion of the tourism village, improving and developing support facilities for the tourism village, and complementing the tourism support infrastructure. Meanwhile, the strategies suggested for WT are: complementing tourism facilities in line with the environmental aspects, changing the society's mind into being a tourism society, increasing interesting tourism promotions, and improving tourism-related human resources.


Fujian is a main seat of the hot spring clusters of China and has been devoting itself to the development of the hot spring industry these years.Taiwan possesses an advanced hot spring industry,the entry of its investors and capital into relative industry of Fujian not only bring in funds but also advanced ideas,thoughts and technology in design、exploitation and management.This article makes a thorough study on the exploitation and management of the hot spring industry invested by Taiwan enterprises in Fuzhou、Xiamen and Zhangzhou.,which possess rich mines of hot springs,trying to reveal essence of their operation to the relative industry of mainland so that they can take their experience for reference.


The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) is a United States program for vaccine safety, co-managed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). VAERS is a postmarketing surveillance program, collecting information about adverse events (possible harmful side effects) that occur after administration of vaccines to ascertain whether the risk–benefit ratio is high enough to justify continued use of any particular vaccine. VAERS, the Vaccine Safety Datalink, and the Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment (CISA) Network are tools by which the CDC and FDA monitor vaccine safety to fulfill their duty as regulatory agencies charged with protecting the public. VAERS has limitations, including unverified reports, misattribution, underreporting, and inconsistent data quality. CDC cautions that it is generally not possible to find out from VAERS data if a vaccine caused the adverse event, or how common the event might be.

VAERS has demonstrated its public health importance by providing health scientists with signals about possible adverse events following immunization. In one instance, VAERS detected reports for intussusception over that what would be expected to occur by chance alone after the RotaShield rotavirus vaccine in 1999. Epidemiologic studies confirmed an increased risk, and these data contributed to the product's removal from the US market. In another example, VAERS determined that there may be a potential for a small increase in risk for Guillain-Barre' syndrome (GBS) after the meningococcal conjugate vaccine, Menactra. As a result of this finding, a history of GBS became a contraindication to the vaccine and further controlled studies are currently underway to research this issue. Operation Each year the VAERS receives at least 50,000 reports of adverse events following immunization by more than 10 million vaccines. Higher-priority uses of the data include reports of death and other serious adverse events, recognizing and detecting adverse effects, and finding unexpected adverse events involving new vaccines. The VAERS data are also used to monitor known reactions to vaccines and for vaccine lot surveillance. Data mining techniques such as empirical Bayes methods can be used to improve the quality of data analysis.


Both insulin resistance and pancreatic beta-cell function normally contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes, with the latter also responsible for the progression of the disease. Successful management inevitably requires therapy that addresses both underlying defects. Clinical trials support the use of agents with complementary mechanisms of action. The major therapeutic effect of the thiazolidinediones in type 2 diabetes is improvement of insulin sensitivity and they are thus ideally suited for combination therapy with insulin, although they can also be used as monotherapy or in dual or triple oral agent therapy. In addition to improving glycaemic control, the thiazolidinediones have favourable effects on a number of cardiovascular risk factors and may reduce the risk of long-term diabetes-related complications independent of their effects on glycaemic control. Combination therapy of a thiazolidinedione with insulin is no longer contraindicated in Europe, and this combination can provide improvements in glycaemic control that are additive to the effects of insulin alone. Br J Diabetes Vasc Dis 2007;7:75-80


Future computer environments will include mobile computers which will either be disconnected, weakly inter-connected by low speed wireless networks such as GSM, or fully inter-connected by high speed networks ranging from Ethernet to ATM. Such environments place unique demands on systems, requiring software to dynamically adapt to rapid and significant uctuations in communications quality-of-service (QoS). This paper reviews existing adaptation techniques and describes an experiment in developing an adaptive mobile application and associated distributed systems platform. The experiences gained during this experiment are presented and analysed to provide a basis for the engineering of future adaptive systems.


Objective To explore the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrom(OSAHS) in children and to investigate the therapeutic effect of plasma low temperature tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy at low temperature on OSAHS.Methods One hundred and four pediatric patients were diagnosed as OSAHS by clinical manifestation,routine examination,fibrorhinopharyngescopy,X-ray at lateral rhinopharyngeal view and overnight polysomnography(PSG).Adenoidectomy and tonsillectomy was performed in 54 patients,only adenoidectomy in 28 cases and only tonsillectomy in 22 cases.Results Seventy four patients were cured,with 22 cases being improved evidently,6 cases being effective and 2 cases being ineffective.Conclusions Clinical symptoms and signs,X-ray at lateral rhinopharyngeal view,overnight PSG and so on were the major indexes for the diagnosis of OSAHS.Surgery was the best method for the treatment of OSAHS.


The activation of p38α, a MAPK family member, is associated with macrophage activation by microbial pattern molecules, such as LPS. The requirement of p38α in inflammatory responses has been shown in a number of studies using chemical inhibitors, though the inhibitors also inhibit p38β and perhaps some other enzymes. In this study, we used conditional knockout of p38α in macrophages to address the role of p38α in macrophage activation. We found that p38α deficiency causes a significant inhibition in the production of LPS-induced TNF-α, IL-12, and IL-18, but it has little or no effect on IL-6 or IFN-β production. Knockout of p38α in macrophages did not affect LPS-induced activation of the other major signaling pathways (NF-κB, Jnk, and Erk), nor did it affect the transcriptional activity of NF-κB. It had little inhibitory effect on LPS-induced AP-1 activity, but it significantly inhibited LPS-induced C/EBP-β and CREB activation, indicating that the role of p38α in cytokine production in macrophages is at least in part through its regulation of C/EBP-β and CREB activation. In addition, we also confirmed that p38α is important for phagocytosis of bacteria by macrophages. Our in vivo studies with two murine models showed that p38α is involved in sepsis. Collectively, our data demonstrate that p38α is an important player in inflammatory responses.


Socialism with Chinese characteristics is the latest achievement of Marxism in China which took shape with profound theoretical and practical foundation that keeps pace with time in line with Marxism,Leninism and Mao Zhedong Thought.It is a developing theory that has taken shape with considerable significance.


The dissertation thesis will focus on a phenomenon of insulator and buffer states in
international relations. It will review previous researches of insulator and buffer states and
aims to constitute a new broad definition what the term insulator and buffer states mean.
According to the definition insulator and buffer states will be revealed and their foreign
policy tools which have been used since the First World War will be analyzed. On the basis of
such research key questions of the dissertation thesis which stand whether there is a specific
foreign policy behaviour of insulator and buffer states and whether this behaviour is a subject
of changes of the whole international system will be answered. The thesis would like to bring
the topic of insulator and buffer states which have been on periphery of Czech political
science's interest to the topical academic environment and claims to be beneficial for
international relations and security studies scholars as well as for students of geopolitics and
foreign policy analyzers.


In this thesis the multiplicative Runge-Kutta Method is developed employing the idea of the ordinary Runge-Kutta Method to multiplicative calculus. The multiplicative Runge-Kutta Methods for the orders 2,3, and 4 are developed and discussed. The developed algorithms are applied to examples where the solutions of the Ordinary Differential Equations are known. This gives the opportunity to check the relative error of the calculation reliably. The results in the multiplicative case are also compared with the results from the ordinary Runge-Kutta Methods of the corresponding order. We can see that the Multiplicative Runge-Kutta Method is advantageous to the ordinary Runge-Kutta method of the same order if the solution is of exponential nature. Finally for completeness the multiplicative Finite Difference method is also presented.


Solid-state synthesis ensures a high loading and well dispersed growth of a large collection of metal–organic framework (MOF) nanostructures within a series of commercially available mesoporous silica allowing to render MOFs into fluidized solid sorbents for CO2 capture from post-combustion flue gas in a fluidized-bed reactor.


ABSTRACT The appropriate development of the small intestine (SI) is critical for efficient nutrient absorption and barrier function after birth. Most of the molecular features and regional patterning of the SI are programmed very early in prenatal development. However, the chromatin regulatory dynamics that underpin early SI development in humans is largely unknown. To fill this knowledge void, we apply a cutting-edge genomic technology to a state-of-the-art model of human SI development. Specifically, we leverage chromatin run-on sequencing (ChRO-seq) to define the landscape of active transcriptional regulatory elements across early stages of directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) into SI organoids. Through comprehensive bioinformatic analysis of the data we provide the first-ever view of the changing chromatin regulatory landscape and define stage-specific key enhancer hotspots during human SI development. We also identify candidate transcription factors and their cistromes that are associated with the acquisition of SI identity and the initiation of regional patterning. This work offers a rich resource for studying transcriptional regulation of early human SI development.


The present invention relates to a method for automatic object marking in medical imaging, comprising the steps of: DOLLAR A - (S1) coupled presenting different modes of presentation of at least one image data set, which contains at least one object to be marked, in respectively different display windows on at least one screen of a computer DOLLAR a - (S2) transferring the position of a selected part of a object-determining Erstmarkierung by a user initial point to the computer DOLLAR a - (S3) applying pattern recognition techniques to the vicinity of the initial point of the Erstmarkierung with the result of a detailed high-resolution second mark of the object DOLLAR A - (S4) reversible encoding of the second marker of the present in the computer image data sets DOLLAR A - (S5) highlighting the selected object relative to its surroundings in the image data sets on the screen.


In this paper, the characteristics of four-axis NC (Numerical Control) machining are analyzed initially. Afterwards, in order to obtain a complex workpiece by use of four-axis NC machining, a combined method that can optimize the machining process is proposed, which includes: modeling and programming based on UG software; simulation of the machining process by applying VERICUT. Finally, the results indicate that the method combined with UG programming and VERICUT simulation has practicability and superiority in four-axis NC machining.


We report on direct observation of spatial and optical luminescence switching (on and off condition) due to collapse of the coupling conditions of quantum dots (QDs) pair. In particular, one could observe that the relative intensities between two adjacent luminescence peaks and spatial images of individual QDs located closely nearby in a high-density self-assembled QD structure underwent a reversible change with respect to an external electric field.


Active imaging systems with coherent or partially coherent illuminators differ significantly from passive incoherent imagers. The impact of atmospheric turbulence in active systems can be greater than in a passive systems and rough surface induced speckle is often present in the imagery. The nature of the target illumination is also of a significantly different character than in passive systems. Currently released NVESD models do not address these aspects of imaging for full or partially coherent illumination. Extensions of the NVESD models to account for the performance impact of turbulence and speckle have been completed. This paper outlines the methods used for modeling the performance of active imaging systems with particular attention to the impact of speckle and atmospheric scintillation. Results from perception experiments using simulated imagery are presented.


The continous and discrete T-S models are used respectively to for modelling for non linear systems. Basing on the above mentioned, the continous type of fuzzy observer and the discrete one are designed respectively . It is proved that designed fuzzy rubust observers are globally uniformly asymptotically stable.


The death of legendary CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite in 2009 impelled former and present television journalists to revisit both Cronkite as an individual and the journalistic era of the 1960s and 1970s in which he worked. Through a qualitative analysis of television and National Public Radio (NPR) discourse in the four days following Cronkite's death, this study examines emergent interpretive patterns in the memorializing of the anchor. Beyond a nostalgic return to the past, the death of Walter Cronkite provided the journalistic community with an occasion to discuss the state of television news. By comparing Cronkite and his era with the present, television journalists were able to contrast an era when television news was dominated by only a handful of powerful networks with the fragmented, heterogeneous news environment of the present. As this study demonstrates, collective memory reveals the conflicted state of television journalism through twin narratives of continuity linking a shared past to the present as well as a narrative of decline from an era of mass audiences and cultural power never to be repeated.


We do not know who was the inventor of dissected plates: the earliest specimen of these stratified engravings that has fallen into our hands was published at Amsterdam, in 1645. It is called Pinax Microcosmographicus, and the title-page sets forth that it had been written by Stephen Michael Spacher, of the Tyrol, for the benefit of physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries; and that it was then translated "into our mother-tongue," (the Dutch, to wit,) and artistically engraved (artificiose sculptus) by Cornelius Dancker. The plates


This exploratory study examined how indigenous social media relates to college students' peer interaction and cultural involvement toward digital writing on social networking services (SNSs) in Japan. A qualitative research design was adopted that involved semi-structured in-depth interviews with eight university students on social media participation to investigate the role new technologies play in the establishment of peer connection practices. It was found that the respondents employed SNSs to connect with friends and to establish a sense of belonging by using a "connected presence" strategy. A thin but perpetual sense of membership belonging was developed mainly through silent online participation behavior which enhanced transient friendships. In addition, connected presence strategies that contribute to humorous content and emoticons were analyzed and it was found that social media facilitated the creation of easy-going online identities, which defuses tension, discomfort, or conflict. Finally, it was found that cultural traits such as a "psychological status of shame" and an "extreme sense of privacy protection" could have an impact on the digital writing of young people.


The motivation for elevating the microscope from an optical toy to an optical instrument derived from the mid‐seventeenth‐century belief in the subliminal, mechanical organization of the natural world. The microscope failed to reveal this corpuscular realm, but its success in popular instruction and entertainment secured its place in the growing amateur pursuit of natural philosophy in the eighteenth century. In the early nineteenth century the development of the achromatic objective gave the microscope a new technical potential, a potential exploited to its full extent by the members of the Microscopical Society of London. The British makers were very successfully engaged with advanced technical development in the mid‐century, but saw their dominance of the market decline with the growing demand for large numbers of instruments aimed at professional applications.


In their recent article, Curtin et al 1 probably relied on a computer search to compile their bibliography. While computers and bibliographic software programs speed up literature searching, they do have their own pitfalls; chiefly, that the world's literature begins when the databases were started. Therefore, articles published earlier, are overlooked. I should like to point out that the use of ethyl alcohol to treat ethylene glycol poisoning goes back to 1963 when studies by Peterson et al 2 showed that ethylene glycol is a substrate of alcohol dehydrogenase and that ethyl alcohol inhibits its oxidation, thus preventing the conversion of ethylene glycol to toxic intermediates and oxalic acid. Moreover, in the same article, experiments carried out using squirrel monkeys proved that treatment of these animals with ethyl alcohol after supertoxic doses of ethylene glycol was successful. These studies were the basis for the first effective treatment of humans 3 that


Densities of La(CF{sub 3}SO{sub 3}){sub 3}(aq) and Gd(CF{sub 3}SO{sub 3}){sub 3}(aq) have been measured at 278 K, 298 K, and 318 K at pressures of 0.1 MPa, 7.0 MPa, and 30.0 MPa using vibrating-tube densimeters. Apparent molar volumes obtained from the density data have been fitted to the Pitzer equation. The standard partial molar volumes V{sub {phi}}{sup {infinity}} and the ion-interaction parameters {beta}{sup (0)V} and {beta}{sup (1)V} have been determined through least-squares fitting to the experimental results. The standard partial molar volume of the trifluoromethanesulfonate anion V{sub {phi}}{sup {infinity}}(CF{sub 3}SO{sub 3}{sup {minus}},aq) was calculated at 298 K and 0.1 MPa from the partial molar volumes of the gadolinium and lanthanum salts and the available values for the standard partial molar volumes of the cations. Excellent agreement is obtained for V{sub {phi}}{sup {infinity}}(CF{sub 3}SO{sub 3}{sup {minus}},aq) calculated from the data for the two salts.


PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inclination angle detector that improves light-reception intensity of a light-reception element while securing a dynamic range in inclination angle detection.SOLUTION: The inclination angle detector includes a transparent container 16 in which a first liquid 17 and a second liquid 18 having different natures, specific gravities and light transmittances are encapsulated, and a two-liquid pipe 19 that is constituted so that movement occurs between the first liquid 17 and the second liquid 18 by inclination of the transparent container 16.


TWENTY years ago an article on manual training would perforce have been an argument in favor of manual training and a plea for its introduction into the general scheme of education. But today, when manual training is not only recognized as legitimate, but is even emphasized as one of the fundamental factors in all education, the point of interest among educators is the aims and ideals of various manual-training teachers, and the different methods whereby the best results are obtained. A point at issue is the age at which wood-working should be given to children. In the School of Education the children have wood-working through the eight grades, a longer time than in most schools, the wood-working being seldom introduced before the fifth grade. With this time as a basis, it may be possible to state with some definiteness what should be expected of a child when he has completed the work in wood through the eight grades. He should know how to use the ordinary wood-working tools, how to keep them in good working order, and the average cost of each tool. He should also know something of the history of tools. The study of the hammer is a good example of what may be done in this line. It can be traced back from the tool in the boy's hand through various stages to the rock in the hand of the savage. Through such study the child unconsciously learns much of the history of the race.


In this present work, performance study on drying mint leaves under the metrological conditions. Intensity of radiation falls on the absorber plate which transfers heat to forced air-flow inside the galvanized iron tube. Drying experiment carried out with 1 kg of mint leaves taken for drying process under the different mass-flow rate of 0.75 m/s and 1.25 m/s in serpentine flow of air. Performance of the collector and drying efficiency were 30.33% and 1.63% in first day at 0.75 m/s mass-flow rate and in the second day collector, the drying efficiency were 29.41% and 1.89% at the mass-flow rate of 1.25 m/s. The mass-flow rate of air decreased with increasing collector and drying efficiency.


We take the resistivity $(\ensuremath{\rho})$ and the current-voltage $(I\text{\ensuremath{-}}V)$ characteristics of a ${\text{SmFeAsO}}_{0.85}$ single crystal as a function of temperature $(T)$ for various magnetic fields up to 18 T along the $c$ axis. The tail region of $\ensuremath{\rho}(T)$ well fits the three-dimensional (3D) vortex-glass critical behavior. The critical exponents for the vortex-glass scaling of ${(d\text{ }\text{ln}\text{ }\ensuremath{\rho}/dT)}^{\ensuremath{-}1}\text{\ensuremath{-}}T$, $I\text{\ensuremath{-}}V$ curves, and the thermal activation energies of vortices in magnetic fields show a crossover for magnetic fields around 3 T. The crossover behavior results from the change in the strength of the vortex pinning and the entanglement of vortex lines in the stacked superconducting structure of ${\text{SmFeAsO}}_{0.85}$ material with the $c$-axis vortex-line coupling lying in between highly anisotropic Bi-based cuprates with decoupled two-dimensional vortices and less-anisotropic ${\text{YBa}}_{2}{\text{Cu}}_{3}{\text{O}}_{7\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\delta}}$ with coupled 3D vortices.


During the ten years up to June 1973, 198 patients with primary colorectal cancer were referred for their initial treatment to the Surgical Unit at Westminster Hospital. Of these, 43 patients presented with locally advanced adenocarcinoma of the large bowel, by which is meant carcinoma involving neighbouring tissues or organs. These patients are discussed, with reference to the effect of the degree of dissemination, the nature of the adhesions and the nature of the organ involved, on the prognosis. The patients were all reviewed in April 1974, and are reported here.


Rotor for machine modulated pole inner rotor, the rotor being configured to generate a rotor magnetic field for interaction with a stator magnetic field of a stator of the machine modulated poles, said rotor is adapted to rotate about a longitudinal axis of the rotor; wherein the rotor comprises: - a permanent plurality of magnets (422) disposed circumferentially about the longitudinal axis, each permanent magnet being magnetized in a direction of magnetization to generate a magnetic or radial or tangential flow, - a plurality element (401) for guiding axial flow each in contact with said plurality of permanent magnets and adapted to provide a flow path at least two dimensional for the magnetic flux generated by a respective one of the plurality of permanent magnets, the path comprising an axial component dimensional flow, - a support structure comprising an element (403) disposed internal tubular support radially inwardly of the plurality of permanent magnets and supporting said magnets (422); and - at least one element (402a, 402b) for guiding disposed external flow over or around a guide element corresponding axial flow and adapted to provide a path in at least a radial direction to the magnetic flux generated by one or more of the plurality of permanent magnets directing said flow to the stator, wherein the guide elements are axial flow of separate components of the guiding outer flow.


4-(Benzotriazol-1-ylmethyl)-N,N-dimethylaniline (1b) can be substituted at the CH 2 link via lithiation. Both the parent and substituted derivatives react with a variety of electron-rich benzenoid and heteroaromatic compounds in a novel approach to leuco dyes. Other 4-(benzotriazol-1-ylmethyl)anilines react similarly


To gain reliable sensitive feature information and increase the completeness of fault information, kernel principal component analysis (KPCA) fault diagnosis method based on multi-domain features is proposed. The basic theory of KPCA is introduced, and signal pre-processing is given, multi-domain feature vector is extracted from time, time-frequency and frequency domain, faults are diagnosed with KPCA method. The new KPCA fault diagnosis method based on multi-domain features is tested on axial piston pump, the result shows that the method is effective, and studying multi-domain feature vector plays an important role in fault diagnosis system.


Abstract:  The cranial anatomy of Neoaetosauroides engaeus Bonaparte, 1969 from the upper part of the Los Colorados Formation, western Argentina, is addressed herein. This description is based on material collected recently, which permits a complete restoration of the skull; previously, a partial lower jaw and premaxillary and maxillary fragments were the only cranial remains known. Unlike other aetosaurs for which the premaxillary dentition is known, in N. engaeus the upper tooth row extends anteriorly to reach near the expanded tip of the snout; this condition is not compatible with the presence of a keratinous beak previously suggested for other aetosaurs. The conical shape of the teeth of N. engaeus differs from the slightly compressed teeth of Desmatosuchus, Stagonolepis and Typothorax, and the distinctly recurved teeth of Aetosaurus and Aetosauroides. This diversity of dental morphology suggests a variety of food‐item preferences among aetosaurs.


There seems to be conclusive evidence that a definite relation exists between certain cases of gall bladder disease and heart disease. Surgeons occasionally use the phrase "cholecystic heart" with the idea that the gall bladder pathology bears a causal relation to the heart condition and symptoms. Graham recently accented this relation when he wrote, "We have observed brilliant results in cases of heart disease following cholecystectomy after it had been determined that there was a pathological gall bladder. We know of suspected cases of angina pectoris receiving complete and permanent relief following cholecystectomy after it had been determined that there was a pathological gall bladder." Babcock, in 1909, reported thirteen cases as evidence that chronic cholecystitis is a cause of myocardial failure. Lichty wrote well on the same subject. This paper apparently made little impression, though Willius recently wrote, "We at the Mayo Clinic have seen the striking improvement that so frequently occurs in the cardiovascular condition following operation." Acute cholecystitis seems to have less disturbing influence as a rule on the cardiovascular system. However, the great pain incident to a paroxysm of biliary colic seems more definitely to upset the circulation. Osler, Krehl, Sticker and Reisman have noted disturbances of the heart during such paroxysms of biliary colic and Allbutt recorded a case of an otherwise healthy young woman who died suddenly during an attack of colic. At necropsy a stone was found in the common duct but the heart and body otherwise were normal. Willius reports a series of sixty-one cases of chronic cholecystitis which were complicated by cardiovascular disease. Of these, following operation, 54%b showed definite improvement in their cardiovascular condition; 16%o were unchanged and 7%0 were worse. Abram and Weitzand have reported similar cases.


A modified sphere decoding (SD) scheme is proposed for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication systems in this paper. The contribution of the paper includes the introduction of a systematic approach to sphere radius design and control based on Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) as well as the complexity advantage yielded by the proposed scheme. The learning model is introduced to predict the number of lattice points inside the sphere with some radius. Since this number is cleverly learnt by a neural network (NNW), the SD updates the radius until expecting a small number of points and then starts the search hypersphere, which greatly reduces the computational complexity. We show through simulation that for high dimensional MIMO systems the number of lattice points highly reduces in the new SD algorithm, which leads to a complexity only 3 times of the MMSE decoder complexity.


Based on analysis of relationship between the IEEE802.11 MAC and system throughput, this paper improves an efficient contention-based MAC protocol for wireless local area networks. namely, DFCR, not only the mechanism of MAC, but also the bit error rate of wireless channel. The simulation studies show that the DFCR algorithm could significantly improve the performance of the IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol, and could simutaneously achieve high throughput performance and a high degree of fairness.


Industrial design is intrinsically linked to manufacturing; however, what is required of industrial design to adapt to new changes brought on by Industry 4.0 in manufacturing is unknown. Current literature gives little insight into how industrial designers need to evolve to the current developments in manufacturing to remain value drivers in an Industry 4.0 paradigm. There is minimal research describing the link between industrial design, Industry 4.0 and the effect this will have on sustainability. We conducted an extensive survey of 190 respondents from 53 countries to establish the present state of industrial design practice globally and to better understand the priority sustainability is given by practicing industrial designers. Qualitative data showed a desire for improved sustainable processes; however, quantitative data contradicted this, showing "sustainability" as one of the lowest ranked areas of importance in design practice for industrial designers. While sustainability—especially in manufacturing—demands more prominent change as industrial design adapts to an Industry 4.0 manufacturing paradigm, it seems that junior industrial designers do not currently see this as a priority.


Downlink transmit beamforming is a promising technique to reduce interference, and power control is a technique to adjust transmission power to satisfy the link quality. Joint transmission power control and beamforming are proposed to minimize total transmission power. The joint optimization problem is solved by receiver beamforming and power control in virtual uplink. SIR based power control is performed to adjust the power allocation, and transmit beamforming weight vectors are determined by Minimum Variance Distortionless Response (MVDR) criterion. The multipath combining weight vectors are determined by maximum ratio combining criterion. Simulation results show the joint optimization scheme decreases the transmission power, and system performance is enhanced.


OBJECTIVE
A systematic review of published data was conducted with the aim of assessing the caries preventive effect of consuming xylitol-based candies and lozenges.

METHODS
Electronic and hand searches were performed to find clinical trials concerning the consumption of products containing xylitol, published up to November 2009. The studies must have had the following characteristics: (a) a comparison of caries progression in subjects who either did or did not consume candies or lozenges containing xylitol during a minimum follow-up period of 1 year; and (b) a concurrent comparison of the percentage of caries progression according to the World Health Organization criteria. The caries preventive effect of xylitol was assessed by calculating the prevented fraction.

RESULTS
The initial search identified 127 references. Six studies met the initial eligibility criteria, but three were excluded after thorough analysis. Two more articles were selected after hand searching, but they were excluded due to the presence of chewing gum in the experimental group. Of the three selected studies, two found a lower caries increment in the treatment groups. Although the findings of the analyzed studies suggest that the use of xylitol-based candies and lozenges could favor a reduction in caries increment, in general, their consumption did not seem to be effective on the proximal surfaces. Nevertheless, these findings are not supported by strong evidence.

CONCLUSION
This research demonstrates the need for well-designed randomized clinical studies with adequate control groups and high compliance by the subjects.


Since 1987, a situation has emerged in the Qinhuangdao area of Hebei Province in which the key upper middle schools in the province have found it increasingly difficult to recruit students.


The Exhausted Truth and the True Inexhaustibility
What are the relations between images and truth? How can truth be represented? In the
article "The Exhausted Truth and the True Inexhaustibility", the German romanticist and
philosopher Friedrich Schlegel's theories concerning the great value and unmeasurable
importance of the endless, the unintelligible, and the inexhaustible serves as the opening
to a discussion of what is to be understood by the question of truth. Does truth pertain
to the forever unsayable domains of the oblique and evasive – that which must remain
outside the firm grasp of enlightenment and understanding? Or, on the contrary, is truth
that which not only can be enframed, but also reproduced and represented? The discussion
of this question brings forth a fundamental divide between Schlegel's and Romanticism's
idealizations of the creative and vitalistic transgressions of the human limits of
understanding and the boundaries set up in the names of enlightenment and knowledge.
As argued in the article, this divide would also describe a discrepancy between, on the one
hand, a contemplative search into the unknown depths of the world, and, on the other
DEN UDTØMTE SANDHED OG DEN SANDE UUDTØMMELIGHED 43 PERISKOP NR. 18 2017
hand, the desire to bring into light, into form, and into image. The Information Age in
which we are said to live today would appear to provide us first and foremost with the
latter image of truth: The substitution of Romanticism's inexhaustive image of truth with
the true exhaustiveness of our image culture.


The history of Western society is marked by the migration of monism. Christendom's concept of God was that of an Absolute Individual that enslaves: God is everything and humanity is nothing. It was replaced by its opposite – the Enlightenment's hero, man come of age – the absolute individual. Here humanity is viewed as everything and God as nothing, or at least off on holiday. Today, in keeping with the easternisation of the West, many are willing to sacrifice their autonomy for a view of reality wherein everything is God. Each outlook betrays the same fundamental weakness: a failure to provide space for otherness. What is required then is a concept of being that provides space for otherness within itself. The doctrine of the Trinity offers such a matrix of mediation. God is a sovereign community of persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – who exists freely in mutual love, and who therefore creates out of an overflow of gracious love rather than from need for communion or a drive towards consumption. There is relational space for otherness and freedom within the Godhead as Father, Son and Spirit mutually constitute one another. By extension, there is freedom to be other outside the Godhead, demonstrated in Christ's self-giving through the Spirit in the incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection. In closing, it will be argued that such a model safeguards appropriate space for otherness while at the same time fostering a more profound dynamic of mystical union, which so many today seek in the easternised West.


Abstract Eighteen female volunteers were randomly divided into three experimental groups which trained 10, 20, or 30 minutes a day at a heart rate of 144 beats per minute, three days per week for six weeks on a bicycle ergometer. Subjects were tested before and after the conditioning period to determine the effects of the conditioning programs on cardiovascular efficiency. The two tests administered during each testing period were the Astrand Test of Predicted Maximal Oxygen Uptake and a test of physical work capacity. The results indicated that all three groups significantly improved in cardiovascular efficiency between Test I and Test II. Predicted maximal oxygen uptake values increased five, five, and eight ml/kg per min. in the 10-, 20-, and 30-min. groups, respectively. Times in the physical work capacity test increased 24, 50, and 35 sec. in the three respective groups. The 30-min. group, however, showed a more consistent increase in cardiovascular efficiency than the other two.


of service vision, actual output an organizationas measured against its intended It three specific areas of firm but not to financial performance Abstract: The past recent years have seen changes in the Kenyan economy and commercial banks have not been spared from the impact of these changes which includes: interest rate capping; increasing competition from financial technology companies and increased Consumer expectations as well as political interference. These challenges possess financial pressure to the bank hence losses and create risk to Kenya's financial stability if allowed to persist in the long term. Majority of commercial banks have experienced decline in return on equity for the period 2014 to 2017. Management theories and practice suggest comparison (benchmarking) as the key tool for evaluating and improving organization performance and therefore minimize risk. This study therefore sought to investigate the influence of generic benchmarking on the performance of commercial banks in Bungoma County. The study used descriptive survey design. The target population was 133 which was the total number of managers in Bungoma County commercial banks. This used census approach, as it utilised the entire population in the research. To ascertain the reliability of the instruments, a pilot study was done in Nakuru County. Quantitative data collected using questionnaires was analysed by the use of descriptive statistics and inferential analysis using SPSS (Version 24) and presented through percentages, means, standard deviations and frequencies, percentages and correlation analysis. Tables and figures were used to present data. The findings indicated that there was an effective ICT system adoption in the majority of the commercial Banks and that ICT adoption affected commercial banks performance. Majority of the commercial banks had improved their market share as a result of ICT adoption. The relationship between generic benchmarking and performance of commercial bank was found to be positive and significant. They should aim at attracting customers, satisfying customers and retaining customers through strategic alliances. The study recommended that commercial banks should ensure that there is effective use of up to date ICT system to enhance performance of commercial banks.


Machine learning algorithms must be able to handle large volume in big data. Nowadays, data science languages such as Python and R, are widely popular to compute machine learning models. Unfortunately, model computation can be slow, especially when the data set does not fit in the main memory or it needs to be iteratively analyzed. With these motivations in mind, we present theory and algorithms to produce a multidimensional data set summary. We show our data summaries preserves essential statistical properties of the data set and it can be computed with an accelerated Gramian matrix multiplication. That is, our data summaries represents a lossless compression and we accelerate the expensive Gramian matrix multiplication in Python with C++ code. Our solution also works for a subset of the original data set obtained by variable selection without much loss on accuracy and without recomputing all intermediate matrices. We also consider parallel processing aspects leveraging our recently introduced low-cost parallel architecture. Our experimental evaluation shows that our Gramian matrix multiplication mechanism is superior to Python and it can work beyond RAM limitations. On the other hand, our computation of the machine learning model is competitive with the Python and R on a single machine, but it outperforms Spark in parallel machines.


A new test device which determines the abrasion and friction coefficient of rollers was designed.According to the test,this device is convenient and accurate to determine the abrasion and friction coefficient of cold rolling, thereby a powerful reference for selecting material and practical application of rollers was provided.


Many museums spend time and money fruitlessly competing with Wikipedia, creating online information resources and image galleries that will be mostly ignored, as Wikipedia is usually the highest ranked search result for any query. Wikimedia Commons can host searchable, downloadable images and Wikipedia can be easily edited by volunteers and specialists; both cost nothing to use and have a global audience. Yet most museums have no Wikipedia strategy, and often their institutional copyright policies – needlessly, for most natural history collections – prevent them from engaging and openly sharing collection information. I'll illustrate this with the case study of the Critter of the Week project, a collaboration between Radio NZ and the Department of Conservation that relies on the open image libraries of Auckland Museum and Landcare Research.
 There are simple institutional policies and procedures any museum can take that will support the work of the 70,000 volunteer Wikipedia editors. An institution can also directly host edit-a-thons and Wikipedia events, organise backstage tours for local Wikipedians, and host a Wikipedian in Residence. Subject specialists in a museum can even edit and update Wikipedia themselves, reaching a larger audience than almost any other science communication medium. In some ways, this is the opposite of how GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) institutions are used to working: collaborating with non-experts, releasing imperfect and unfinished content, abandoning branding opportunities, and no longer being the single voice of authority. But if we're serious about being relevant to our public, we need to meet them where they are – which is on Wikipedia.


THOUGH shock is due to many different causes, the clinical appearances are more or less constant; they vary only in degree, and are easily recognized in the more severe cases. The symptoms are increased pulse-rate, low blood-pressure, pallor, subnormal temperature, sweating, vomiting, thirst, and dry tongue; the mind is usually quite clear. In addition to the pallor, the skin of the ears and lips may show slight cyanosis. The signs are due to profound changes in the nervous, circulatory, and respiratory systems, and in the temperature-regulating mechanism. The amount of the fall in the blood-pressure and the reduction in volume of the circulating blood vary directly with the clinical condition, and indeed give a good quantitative estimate of the degree of shock present. As a result of study, in the last Great War, of the total blood volume and of the relative volume of red cells and plasma, using the vital red method and the haematocrit respectively, Keithl has divided shock into three stages according to its severity. Group 1.-Mild shock, in which the condition is good. There is a history of a not too severe injury or of a moderate primary hwamorrhage. On examination, there is some pallor, the pulse is 90-110, the systemic blood-pressure is over 95 mm., and the blood-volume is never below 75 per cent. These may be called compensated cases. Group 2.-The general condition is serious. The extremities are cold and clammy. The pulse is 120-140, the blood-pressure is 70-80 mm., the blood-volume is 65-75 per cent., and the volume of the red cells is increased relatively to that of the plasma. These cases are partially compensated. Grotup 3.-These cases are dangerously ill. The pulse is almost impalpable, the blood-pressure is below 60 mm., the blood-volume is less than 65 per cent., and on auscultation, the heartbeat is 120-160 per minute. They are not compensated. It is important to recognize to which group the patient belongs and to treat accordingly. The divisions suggested by these groups are not hard and fast. Intermediate stages occur, and an individual may and often does pass through two or even all three stages in a short time. Prior to the Great War of 1914-1918, the changes occurring in shock were not fully understood, but observations made then, and much painstaking work by experimental workers carried out since under controlled conditions, have shown many of the factors involved, and have …


Objective To summarize the experience and results of surgical treatment for double outlet of the right ventricle(DORV).Methods From January 1992 to June 2009,138 patients with DORV(age ranging from 2 months to 23 years) underwent surgical treatment.There were 85 males and 53 females.There were 106 subaortic ventricular septal defect(VSD),22 command doubly committed VSD,6 subpulmonary VSD,4 noncommitted VSD.90 cases underwent intraventricular tunnel and relive right ventricle outflow tract directly with pericardial patch or homograft valves conduits,and Rastelli procedure in 18;Bidirection cavopulmnary connection in 16,total cavopulmonary connection(TCPC) in 8,arterial switch operation in 6.All patients underwent the procedure by cardiopulmonary bypass.Resluts There were 18 cases of early death.96 cases were followed up from 3 months to 8 years.All cases were asymptomatic and did well in ordinary life.The cardiac function was in NYHA class Ⅰ in 62 and class Ⅱ in 34.The outcome was satisfactory.Conclusion There is significant correlation between anatomy and surgical strategies.Position of ventricular septal defect and development of left ventricle significantly influence the surgical outcomes.


Abstract Ten Mt/a lubricating oil furfural refining unit of PetroChina Fushun Petrochemical Company No. 1 Refinery has been shutdown for maintenance. The design data of solvent's consumption in unit time is 1.1 kg · t−1, the yield in 2002 is 78.0%. The phenomenon of facility pipeline's coking and tower wall's corrosion has been disposed. The results show that the ability of unit's processing has kept a great level after maintenance, the duty ratio of processing VGO3 has reached 172%, and the duty ratio of processing VGO4 has reached 156%.


From its very beginning the Royal Society was regarded by many, if not most, of its founders as centrally concerned with practical improvement. How could it be otherwise? The study of nature was not only a pious act in and of itself – a reading of the book of nature – but it was also the way in which God's Providence would provide discoveries for the relief of man's estate. The early ideologues of the Society, such as Robert Boyle and Thomas Sprat, continually returned to the usefulness of natural philosophy in that sense. They were no doubt stimulated in this not only by the narrow purpose of gaining support for their novel institution but also by quite genuine beliefs about the role that natural philosophy could play in creating a stable political and economic order through which prosperity might increase and the years of civil war be left behind. However, by the late seventeenth century the Society, especially after the demise of the history of trades programme, became much more a deliberative forum than a projective organization.


Cryoglobulins are a group of proteins that have the unusual property of reversibly precipitating or forming a gel in the cold. These cryoproteins were first described in 1933 by Wintrobe and Buell.' Lerner and Watson,^ in 1947, demonstrated that cryoproteins are immunoglobulins. They were originally noted in patients with multiple myeloma or macroglobulinemia. Subsequently, they were found in other disease states, such as lymphoproliferative disorders, chronic infections, acute and chronic liver disease, acute and chronic glomerulonephritis, renal transplantation, connective tissue diseases, and dysproteinemia.^'"*


This review article presents the historical background and the main characteristics of tumor necrosis as well as its role in the development of autoimmune disorders. The results of international studies of this cytokine in autoimmune hepatitis and primary biliary cirrhosis are also provided.


Joselyn and Tsurutani [1990] and Kamide and Joselyn [1991] suggested ways of improving the existing definition of Storm Sudden Commencements (SSCs) and Sudden Impulses (SIs). Because those two articles apparently present controversial opinions on some aspects of SSCs, we would like to point out some difficulties in defining SSCs that we think explain such a controversy.


This paper examines the relationships among radio station listenership, the number of program formats, and the number of stations. These relationships are statistically significant and consistent with theory, but the interrelationships are numerically small. The results imply that proposals by the federal Communications Commission and Congress to relax ownership restrictions must induce substantial changes in station numbers in order to noticeably increase programming diversity. Merely modest changes in these numbers will have only small diversity effects. The paper's results also imply that merely mandating the number of formats in a market may not be in the interests of listeners.


The paper describes a novel, approach for an on road vehicle detection system with the view of driving assistance. The presented technique generates the initial hypothesis by detecting the shadows projected by vehicles on the road surface. The results of detection are then verified using the Haar wavelet packet transform. The verification step compares the standard deviations of the best basis vector of the hypothesized vehicle with pre-computed feature vector of similar values for different vehicular structures. Experimental results confirm the validity of the presented approach in different lightening conditions and scenarios. The presented technique is capable of detecting vehicles at twelve frames per sec which makes it ideal for real time pre-crash sensing.


The study examines the effect of market intelligence practices on firm performance in the small- and medium-sized tour operators in Malaysia. Specifically, a conceptual model is developed which hypothesizes that firm innovativeness relates positively to market intelligence acquisition and market intelligence utilization which, in turn, affects firm performance. A self-administered questionnaire survey is used to garner responses from a sample of 81 tour operators. The findings indicate that firm performance is positively related to market intelligence practices both in terms of market intelligence acquisition and market intelligence utilization. In addition, it also shows that the relationship between firm innovativeness and market intelligence acquisition is stronger than the relationship between firm innovativeness and market intelligence utilization. These findings may imply that even though market intelligence practices are more prevalent among larger firms, small- and medium-sized tour operators may also benefit from having formal information processing systems and in particular in terms of acquiring and utilizing information. The limitations of the study and recommendations for future research are also discussed.


OBJECTIVE—The aim of this study was to determine the natural history of vascular remodeling of atherosclerotic plaques in patients with type 2 diabetes and the predictors of vessel shrinkage. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—In this serial intracoronary ultrasound (IVUS) study, 237 coronary segments from 45 patients enrolled in the DIABETES I, II, and III trials were included. Quantitative volumetric IVUS analyses (motorized pullbacks at 0.5 mm/s) were performed in the same coronary segment after the index procedure and at the 9-month follow-up. Nontreated mild lesions (angiographic stenosis <25%) with ≥0.5 mm plaque thickening and length of ≥5 mm assessed by IVUS were included. Vessel shrinkage was defined as a Δexternal elastic membrane area/Δplaque area < 0. Statistical adjustment by multiple segments and multiple lesions per patient was performed. RESULTS—Vessel shrinkage was identified in 37.1% of segments and was associated with a significant decrease in lumen area at 9 months (vessel shrinkage, 10 ± 4 mm2 vs. non–vessel shrinkage, 11 ± 4 mm2; P = 0.04). Independent predictors of vessel shrinkage were insulin requirements (odds ratio 4.6 [95% CI 1.40–15.10]; P = 0.01), glycated hemoglobin (1.5 [1.05–2.10]; P = 0.02), apolipoprotein B (0.96 [0.94–0.98]; P < 0.001), hypertension (3.7 [1.40–10.30]; P = 0.009), number of diseased vessels (5.6 [2.50–12.50]; P < 0.001), and prior revascularization (17.5 [6.50–46.90]; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS—This serial IVUS study suggests that progression of coronary artery disease in patients with type 2 diabetes may be mainly attributed to vessel shrinkage. Besides, vessel shrinkage is influenced by insulin requirements and metabolic control and is associated with more advanced coronary atherosclerosis.


Lithium-rich materials exhibit high capacity and high voltage properties due to the charge compensation mechanism, but disadvantages such as material voltage decay and poor cycling stability limit their practical application. The fixation and stabilizations of surface lattice oxygen is considered the most challenging problem for these materials. We have successfully prepared a lithium-rich cathode material with a triad of oxygen vacancies, surface spinel, and polyanionic SO42-doping by a mild surface pre-activation treatment, and systematically investigated the stabilization mechanism of surface oxygen vacancies in the materials. The VS-LR0.25 material with multiple stabilizations of oxygen vacancies exhibited excellent cycling stability and rate performance, with an initial Coulomb efficiency of 82.7%, and capacity retention of 95.1% after 200 cycles at 1 C.


Recent data reveal an increase in the likelihood of staff injury for those working in the health care and social assistance industries (United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2021). Without information summarizing variables pertaining to staff injury in behavior‐analytic service settings, organizational leaders risk the safety of staff they employ. Despite the social relevance, few studies concerning the types of client‐related staff injuries have been published. The purpose of this survey was to gather data on the cause, type, bodily location of, and treatment required for staff injury by surveying organizations that serve individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Respondents ranked the leading cause of injury as client‐to‐staff interactions, type of injury as bite, location of injury as arm, and the most common treatment required as on‐site first aid. These initial data could assist in the identification of job tasks that may be associated with increased risk of injury, potential ramifications of client‐inflicted injuries on staff performance and organizational outcomes, and how to address injuries in settings within an injury‐prone industry. Implications and future research ideas are also discussed.


Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data focusing can be carried out by filtering the raw signal in the two-dimensional Fourier domain and by applying a change of variables often referred to as Stolt interpolation. The basic idea of the paper is to present a new algorithm based on a non standard Fourier transform which allows the exact implementation of the Stolt change of variables. Efficiency of the presented procedure is due to the possibility of applying fast Fourier transform (FFT) codes. Moreover the algorithm doesn't require any modification if the data are already range compressed and also if the SAR system transmits a signal different from a linear FM chirp.<<ETX>>


Two hundred 60-day-age laying hens were randomly divided into five groups:control group,vitamin C group,compound Chinese herbal Medicine Ⅰ group,compound Chinese herbal medicine Ⅱ group,compound Chinese herbal medicine Ⅲ group.Egg quantity and feed intake were recorded every day.The results showed that expression of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) in heart tissues of all groups was detected by ELISA.All of the compound Chinese herbal medicine could improve the performance of laying hens under heat stress.The effect of compound Chinese herbal medicine Ⅱ was the best one.Compound Chinese herbal Medicine could induce the expression of HSP70 in heart tissues of laying hens suffering chronic heat stress and the expression of HSP70 in heart tissues of hens in compound Chinese herbal medicine Ⅱ group was the lowest of all.It indicated that the compound Chinese medicine could improve production performance of laying hens under heat stress,which may be related with the regulation of HSP70 expression.


In Otherwise than Being, Levinas' notion of the there is points towards an inherent fragility of all human responsibility. The answer of the responsible subjectivity can't rely on any certainty, not even that of being well inspired by the Good or by the other, instead of being submitted to the nonsense of the there is. Such a radical uncertainty is to me the condition of all practical and political action. This condition doesn't condemn us to be powerless, but leads on the contrary to a constant renewal and fecundity of the action, which makes its requiring endurance.


Levels in the compound nucleus 33 S have been investigated by measuring the reaction cross section for the reaction 29 Si(α, n) 32 S for incident a energies from 2.15 to 5.25 MeV, mostly in steps of 2.5 keV, using a 4π -geometry neutron counter. One hundred and thirty-four resonances have been identified. The reciprocity theorem has been used to calculate the total cross section for the inverse reaction 32S(n, α) 29 Si. Total widths have been determined for 107 resonances, and partial widths Γ α , Γ n and corresponding reduced widths γ α 2 , γ n 2 have been extracted for 19 cases where spin values are known. Statistical strength function analysis of the cross section under the excitation curve gave the averaged a particle strength function value as S¯ α =0.067±0.012 for this reaction.


1. Variation in offspring development is expected to be driven by constraints on resource allocation between growth and maintenance (e.g. thermoregulation). Rapid post-natal development decreases predation risk to offspring, while inclement weather likely prolongs development. For taxa with parental care, parental behaviour may partially buffer offspring against extrinsic drivers like predation risk and severe weather.


Estimation of net-to-gross in a complex amalgamation of varying reservoir bed thickness presents many challenges. Deploying conventional shale volume cut-offs to determine net sand distributions in these types of reservoirs, as seen in the Kebabangan Field, can be misleading because conventional logs can by-pass potential hydrocarbon bearing intervals due to the so-called "low resistivity and low contrast" response that can occur in thinly laminated beds. Using the thin bed analysis (TBA) with Thomas-Stieber approach to quantify net sand within both thick beds and thinly laminated beds was found to be an effective and repeatable method in evaluating net sand distributions in a well; mainly because it utilizes only basic log data as inputs; and therefore, can be applied in all the planned Phase I development wells and reservoir intervals. By integrating and comparing the net sand results with the sand count from core and log images, we can demonstrate the successful applications of Thomas-Stieber approach in quantifying net sand in both thick blocky sands, as well as, thinly laminated reservoirs sands in Kebabangan field.


One Be-related donor level in the band gap of GaN was identified by Radiotracer Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS) and Thermal Admittance Spectroscopy (TAS). The radioactive isotope Be was implanted into n-type GaN for these experiments. DLTS and TAS spectra were recorded, repeatedly, during the elemental transmutation of Be to Li, whereof the TAS spectra exhibit one level undergoing correlated concentration changes. From this, a relation is deduced between this level at 390 meV below the conduction band edge and a Be-correlated donor state in GaN. Furthermore, the implantation of Be into Mg-doped p-type GaN was observed to enhance the hole concentration significantly. DLTS spectra taken at n-GaN implanted with the radioactive isotope Mg show time-dependent concentration changes that are not related to the characteristic time of the radioactive decay.


The concept of quasi-coincidence of interval valued fuzzy point with an interval valued fuzzy subset has considered. By using this idea, the notion of interval valued (; )-fuzzy hyperideal in a semihyperring introduced and consequently, a generalization of interval valued fuzzy hyperideals and interval valued fuzzy hyperideals have dened. In this paper, we study the related properties of the interval valued (; )-fuzzy hyperideals and in particular, the interval valued (2;2 _q)-fuzzy hyperideals in semihyperrings will be investigated. Moreover, we also consider the concept of implication-based interval valued fuzzy hyperideals in a semihyperring.


The propagation of laser-driven shock wave in the combined targets with gold-layer , the shielding effects of gold-layer on the superthermal electrons and the function of gold-layer to the stability of shock wave are introduced . The designing method of target bases for Al-Cu impedance matching is also given. Targets with and without inserted gold-layer were constructed and tested at Senguang laser facility in 1989. After analyzing the tested data, it is confirmed that the 0. 8TPa high pressure was produced at the Cu sample and the measuring accuracy of shock wave velocity was better than 5%. The Al-Cu impedance matching test was fully success. These results are close to the experimental fitting curves (including the data of underground nuclear explosions) published by Nellis in 1988.


An in-depth comprehension of the spatial–temporal characteristics of land-use carbon emissions (LUCE), along with their potential influencing factors, is of high scientific significance for the realization of low-carbon land use and sustainable urban development. Academic investigations pertaining to LUCE predominantly encompass three key dimensions: assessment, optimization, and characterization research. This study aimed to investigate the spatial and temporal variations in LUCE within Zhejiang Province by analyzing data from 11 cities and identifying the key factors influencing these emissions. This research work employed the geographically and temporally weighted regression (GTWR) model to explore the patterns of variation in these factors across each city. The results reveal that (1) the temporal changes in LUCE display two predominant trends, while the spatial distribution exhibits a distinct "high in the northeast and low in the southwest" divergence; (2) the average intensity of each factor follows the order of economic level > government intervention > urban compactness > public facilities level > urban greening level > industrial structure > population density; (3) and the influencing factors exhibit significant spatial and temporal heterogeneity, with varying direction and intensity of effects for different cities at different stages of development. This study integrated the dimensions of time and space, systematically examining the evolutionary trends of influencing factors on LUCE within each region. Consequently, it contributes to the comprehension of the spatiotemporal effects associated with the driving mechanisms of LUCE. Moreover, it offers a foundation for formulating customized patterns and strategies to mitigate such emissions, taking into account specific local contexts.


The utility model relates to a specialized production device of automobile parts, in particular to a brake pad pressing machine. A workbench of the brake pad pressing machine is connected with a main column, the upper end of the main column is connected with an upper beam, and the upper beam is connected with a main hydraulic cylinder. A piston rod of the main hydraulic cylinder is connected with a slide block, the slide block is sleeved on a column, and a mold is arranged between the workbench and the slide block. The mold includes an upper pressing piece and a lower pressing piece, a movable pressing plate is arranged between the upper pressing piece and the lower pressing piece, and both the upper pressing piece and the lower pressing piece are provided with heating wires. The brake pad pressing machine improves processing precision of a brake pad and reduces labor intensity of operators in the pressing process.


This study investigates the chemical composition of mistletoe leaves growing on fig tree. The mistletoe leaves and the fig leaves used for this research were harvested from Fig plant. Proximate analyses, phytochemical screening, Elemental and antioxidant analysis were done on both leaves. This study has provided a scientific justification that both the Fig leaves and Mistletoe leaves contained relevant phyto constituents such as alkaloids, saponins, flavonoid, and steroids; whereas antraquinones, tannins, phenols, resins and terpenoids were completely absent. Nutritionally relevant inorganic minerals like, Calcium, magnesium and potassium were the most abundant element in both plants. Proximate constituents like carbohydrates, lipids and proteins were present in varied amounts in both leaves. Result of inhibition of free radicals in fig leave extract increases with increase in concentration of the extract. The inhibition is closely comparable with that of the standard (Vitamin C) at the same concentration. The inhibition by the extracts of mistletoe grown on fig tree is low when compared with that of Fig and that of standard. This suggests that some of the chemical characteristics of mistletoe are conferred to them by their host trees.


BACKGROUND AND AIM
Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is the most common cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) worldwide. Des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (DCP) is elevated in many patients with HCC, but also in severe alcoholics without HCC. We aimed to clarify whether the DCP/NX-DCP ratio (NX-DCP-R) could have a high specificity in ALD patients without HCC.

METHODS
We performed a prospective cohort study on a total of 703 consecutive outpatients of liver diseases including severe alcoholics and healthy volunteers, who underwent blood biochemical examinations at Kobe University Hospital. Serum DCP was measured by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA) using a monoclonal antibody, MU-3. A novel parameter, serum NX-DCP, which represents predominantly DCP caused by reduced vitamin K availability, was also measured by ECLIA using monoclonal antibodies P-16 and P-11. The diagnostic accuracy of DCP and NX-DCP-R in patients with and without excessive alcohol intake was statistically examined.

RESULTS
DCP was significantly higher in alcoholics than in non-alcoholics (p= 0.005), whereas the NX-DCP-R did not differ between alcoholics and non-alcoholics (p= 0.375). DCP was significantly increased in the serum of each patient with alcoholic hepatitis and alcoholic cirrhosis (p< 0.05), whereas the NX-DCP-R was not increased (p> 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
NX-DCP-R, but not DCP, was not increased in alcoholics without HCC. As for negative screening for HCC, the specificity of the NX-DCP-R in alcoholics without HCC was better than that of DCP in alcoholics without HCC, and so could be a useful negative screening tool for HCC in millions of alcoholics worldwide.


Chemicals and manufacturing method of the same is provided to prevent generation of powders in a blast furnace with a reduced RDI(Reduced Degradation Index) of sintered ore and achieve protection of the furnace from corrosion with greatly reduced amount of chlorine entering the furnace. Chemicals for improving an RDI(Reduction Degradation Index) is complex compound solution, having main compositions of Ca and Na metal of 0.11-20wt% of active substance. The complex compound solution of Ca and Na metal is provided to the sintered ore where the complex compound solution is being attached or absorbed, as an undiluted solution or diluted solution, to improve the RDI of the sintered ore that serves as a raw material of a blast furnace and reduce the amount of Chlorine entering the blast furnace as well.


This paper deals with the water cooling system of the Haenam-Jeju HVDC link power convertor in Korea. It is generally accepted that water is a very effective medium to remove heat from any type of equipment. Because of this, the benefits the water cooling method are used in HVDC applications. A water cooling system consists of a heat exchanger, circulation pump and connecting pipe. According to the temperature level, the thyristor junction temperature is maintained within a preset range by controlling the fan of the heat exchanger. In this paper, the water cooling system of a Korean HVDC link power convertor system is analyzed and estimated.