Competition is a fact of business life, a business should endeavor to develop strategies to compete successfully in the market place for it to enhance its chances of growth and therefore perform far above industry average. In an increasingly competitive agricultural industry, the absence of well-defined competitive strategies leads to weak competitive positions and hence performance below the industry average. The purpose of this study was to examine competitive strategies that the farmers' cooperatives adopt to achieve competitive advantage in Butere sub-county, Kenya. The study was guided by the following objectives: To find out the effect of cost leadership strategy on the performance of farmers cooperatives in Butere sub-county, to investigate the influence of product differentiation strategy on the performance of farmers cooperatives in Butere sub-county, to find out the effect of customer focus strategy on the performance of farmers cooperatives in Butere subcounty, and to investigate the effect of quality management strategy on the performance of farmers cooperatives in Butere sub-county. The study employed a descriptive survey design. The study used a target population of 35 employees drawn from two farmers' cooperatives, from whom the whole target population was used for the study. The study used census to pick items of study. The research instruments used were both closed-ended and open-ended questionnaires. Experts in the field of study from Jomo Kenyatta University assessed the validity of the research instruments. The reliability of instruments was done through a pilot study based on test and re-test method using Cronbach's Alpha Coefficient. Data collected was sorted, coded and analyzed and categorized into emergent themes and sub-themes. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and presented the results in form of frequency tables, pie charts and bar charts. The study concluded that cost leadership, customer focus, and quality management competitive strategies affect business performance. The study recommended that the farmers' cooperatives should use cost leadership strategy together with improved technology to enhance efficiency and incorporate a mechanism that would assure quality. Further studies are necessary to evaluate differentiation strategy and its effect on farmers' cooperatives business performance and also to find out how the farmers' cooperatives can use total quality management control tools to influence their performance.


This article explores the uneasy juxtaposition between the user access and user reality of 'barrier-free design' (bariafurii desain) in urban Japan. It argues that the growing number of accessibility features in Japanese public spaces has not necessarily resulted in a 'barrier-free' society. While these visible reminders raise public awareness about the difficulties physical and intellectual disabilities present to individuals, people with disabilities and their carers still live in physically narrowed spaces, primarily because of the reality of the urban landscape and pressure from the number of users.


Objective
To discuss the effect of calf spleen extractive injection and methylprednisolone on inflammatory factors and efficacy in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome(ARDS).

Methods
60 ARDS patients in our hospital from January 2013 to December 2015 were selected, and they were randomly divided groups A, B, C, each of 20 cases.All patients were given conventional therapy, group B was given intravenous injection of Methylprednisolone, 80 mg/d, group C was given intravenous injection calf spleen extractive injection and Methylprednisolone All patients treated for 7 days.The levels of interleukin-8(IL-8), tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)and procalcitonin (PCT)were detected before treatment 3 days and 7 days after treatment, duration ventilation time and oxygenation index, Acute physiology and Chronic Healtho Evaluation Ⅱ (APACHEⅡ) score, were observed.

Results
Before treatment, IL-8, TNF-α, PCT levels in 3 groups of patients were compared, the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). After treatment, 3 days, 7days, B group, C group of patients with IL-8, TNF-α, PCT levels were lower than the A group, C group, the above indicators were lower than the B group (P 0.05) between the 3 groups before treatment.After treatment, the oxygenation index of B group and C group was higher than that of A group, C group was higher than B group (P 0.05).

Conclusions
Methylprednisolone can significantly inhibit the inflammatory factor, help to improve the therapeutic effect in patients with ARDS, and the effect of calf spleen extractive injection and Methylprednisolone is better.

Key words:
Acute respiratory distress syndrome; Methylprednisolone; Inflammatory factors


Integrating with specific engineering case,this thesis introduces the application of light well points dewatering combining with water sealing pile in deep foundation pit engineering.Through supervising neighboring buildings inclination,underground pipeline settlement,and displacement and so on,it verifies the efficiency and reliability of light well point dewatering combining with water sealing pile scheme in deep foundation pit engineering,which is worth promoting.


75 Inventors: Jing S. Shu, Austin; Chien S. Liang; E; 5, E. Mikey as 8 v 8a w us we we w w w w w w w w w a w a d& 3. 135 a w yet ........ ... 427/34 Grover W. Trytten, both of Piano; 4,214,035 7/1980 Heberger . ... 427/171. Yvonne D. Satterfield, Dallas, all of 4,369,208 1/1983 Okunaka .. ... 427/314 Tex. 4,711,816 12/1987 Wittnebel ... 427/108 4,973,338 11/1990 Gaeta .................................... 51/295 73) Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated, 4,980,205 12/1990 Haskell ................................ 427/314 Dallas, Tex. Primary Examiner-Shrive Beck Assistant Examiner-Vi Duong Dang 21 Appl. No.: 198,684 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-W. James Brady, III; Richard L. Donaldson


In this paper we report on a local classification of four dimensional Ricci solitons which have a 2-dimensional Abelian Killing algebra G2, whose Killing leaves are non-null and orthogonally intransitive. The classification is obtained under the following additional assumptions: (i) the curvature vector field, of the submersion defined by G2, is a null vector field; (ii) G2 has a null vector; (iii) the vector field of the Ricci soliton is tangent to the Killing leaves and a symmetry of the orthogonal distribution. Since there are only few examples of orthogonally intransitive Einstein metrics, and even less is known about orthogonally intransitive Ricci solitons, we believe that these results can help fill this gap in the literature.


FLT3‐ITD mutations are prevalent mutations in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). PRL‐3, a metastasis‐associated phosphatase, is a downstream target of FLT3‐ITD. This study investigates the regulation and function of PRL‐3 in leukaemia cell lines and AML patients associated with FLT3‐ITD mutations. PRL‐3 expression is upregulated by the FLT3‐STAT5 signalling pathway in leukaemia cells, leading an activation of AP‐1 transcription factors via ERK and JNK pathways. PRL‐3‐depleted AML cells showed a significant decrease in cell growth. Clinically, high PRL‐3 mRNA expression was associated with FLT3‐ITD mutations in four independent AML datasets with 1158 patients. Multivariable Cox‐regression analysis on our Cohort 1 with 221 patients identified PRL‐3 as a novel prognostic marker independent of other clinical parameters. Kaplan–Meier analysis showed high PRL‐3 mRNA expression was significantly associated with poorer survival among 491 patients with normal karyotype. Targeting PRL‐3 reversed the oncogenic effects in FLT3‐ITD AML models in vitro and in vivo. Herein, we suggest that PRL‐3 could serve as a prognostic marker to predict poorer survival and as a promising novel therapeutic target for AML patients.


The multipath diversity and coding gain metrics for cyclic-prefixed single-carrier (SC-CP) systems, which characterize the bit error rate (BER) at high SNR, have not been carefully studied in the literature. We first show that, unlike OFDM, the diversity and coding gains for SC-CP are data-realization-dependent. Then, we show that there is a signal-tonoise ratio (SNR) threshold beyond which the dominant diversity order starts deviating from the maximum diversity order to eventually reduce to one at higher SNRs. Using the averaged pairwise probability, we derive an analytical expression for this SNR threshold. The latter is shown to increase with the block length and to be unrealistically high for moderate/high block lengths. Comparisons of SC-CP with rotated constellations and zero-padded SC systems are also provided.


A two-layer Hamiltonian toy model consisting of two isentropic stratospheric layers is simplified using perturbation analysis while preserving the Hamiltonian structure. These two layers are neutrally and stably stratified. The first approximation applies when the Froude number of the upper isentropic layer is small, such that the upper surface is approximately rigid, and this upper layer is much thicker than the lower layer. A conservative 1 1 2 -layer isentropic model emerges when leading-order perturbation theory is used in the Hamiltonian formulation of the isentropic two-layer model. Furthermore, Hamiltonian theory directly leads to (Salmon's) L1-dynamics for the novel 1 1 2 -layer model, following a more concise derivation than shown before, when the Rossby number in the upper stratospheric layer is small and leads to a geostrophic constraint.


The paper presents practical results obtained with sequential standard programming, RPC/RMI mechanism and Apache Hadoop distributed computing platform for a problem of computation time and power that might be used in e-mail text searching. First section is about Distributed Computing technologies and middleware introduction. In second and third section are shown few details about RPC/RMI and Apache Hadoop approaches. The fourth section presents the results of the computation for a classic problem such as word counting from large text files using standard versus remote procedure call versus map-reducing approach. In the end are shown the main advantages of the distributed systems and computing environments.


A stable Lattice Boltzmann Flux Solver (LBFS) is proposed for simulation of complex hypersonic flows in this paper. In LBFS, the finite volume method is applied to solve the Navier-Stokes equations. One-dimensional Lattice Boltzmann (D1Q4) model is applied to reconstruct the inviscid flux across the cell interface, while the viscous flux is solved by central difference method. A switch function is applied to control the numerical dissipation to enhance computational robustness. Also a local block grid refinement method based on the flow conditions is applied to improve calculation stability. A double ellipse model is studied to validate the accuracy and feasibility of the proposed scheme. Simulation results show that the method presented in this paper is able to calculate hypersonic flow field and the strong shock wave interaction can be well described.


Objective: To investigate the effects of arctigenin on transforming growth factor-β1( TGF-β1) expression by high glucose stimulated rat glomerular mesangial cells. Methods: GMCs were incubated with arctigenin( 30μmol/L,3μmol/L) for 48 hours,and the expression of TGF-β1 mRNA was measured by real-time PCR method. Results: Arctigenin decreased the expression of TGF-β1 expression by high glucose stimulated rat glomerular mesangial cells. Conclusion: The arctigenin can protect GMCs by reducing the production of TGF-β1.


The ultimate goal of any prescribed medical therapy is to achieve desired outcomes for patients. However, patient non-compliance has long been a major problem detrimental to patients' health and thus is a concern of all healthcare providers. Patient trust in doctors and patient-doctor communication have been identified as critical factors influencing patient compliance. Nevertheless, little is known about the role of mobile technologies in patient compliance. The purpose of this paper is to predict and empirically demonstrate how mobile healthcare applications juxtaposed to patient trust can increase patients' compliance. We conducted a field survey with 125 patients in the United States. PLS techniques were employed to analyze our dataset. The results reveal that patient-doctor communication and the use of mobile system significantly impact patients' trust, which has a prominent effect on patient compliance attitude. We also find that behavioral intention, response efficacy, and self-efficacy positively influence patients' actual compliance behavior.


A variant of human tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA-AΔFE3X), with deletion of the NH2-terminal fibronectin-like finger (F) and epidermal growth factor (E) domains, and with amino acid substitution of Gin for Asn at all known N-linked glycosylation sites was expressed in Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells and purified to homogeneity. The thrombolytic and pharmacokinetic properties of this variant were studied in a canine model with copper coil induced thrombosis of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Infusion of t PAΔFE3X at a rate of 5 pg/kg/min for 30 min in 3 dogs resulted in a plateau level in plasma of 0.66 ± 0.08 ug/ml and induced recanalization of the coronary artery within 24 ± 4 min (mean ± SEM). Bolus injections over 2 min of 0.15 mg/kg in 3 dogs resulted in peak antigen levels in plasma of 1.6 ± 0.72 μg/ml and caused reperfusion within 14 ± 6 min. Bolus injection of 0.075 mg/kg in 3 dogs gave plasma antigen levels of 0.81 + 0.20 μg/ml and induced lysis in 31 ±15 min. Further reduction of the bolus to 0.038 mg/kg yielded plasma peak levels of 0.43 ± 0.20 μg/ml but did not cause reperfusion within 3 hours. Bolus injection of 0.075 mg/kg of natural t-PA isolated from melanoma cell culture fluid (Mel-t-PA) resulted in plasma peak levels of 0.46 ± 0.09 μg/ml and caused recanalization within 3 hours in only 1 of 4 dogs. None of the injections was associated with systemic fibrinolytic activation and fibrinogen degradation. The disposition of t-PAΔ related antigen from plasma following bolus injection could be described by a sum of two exponential terms with t1/2α: 17 min and t1/2β: 100 min. No significant difference in disposition rates for the different bolus injections were observed. Corresponding values for t1/2α of Mel-t-PA are 3 min. It is concluded that the deletion mutant t-PAΔFE3X has a markedly slower disposition rate from plasma than intact t-PA, which renders it relatively more effective than natural t-PA after bolus injection.


Secure intranets are founded on the protection of logical resources accessible in corporate enterprises. The paper discusses I-RBAC, role-based access control for intranet security which offers efficient security management based on varied levels of role authorizations.


In the 1980s,the relevance theory as a basic theory of cognitive pragmatics raised the assumption that the process of utterance interpretation is equal to the choice of the best context after inferences in order to find the relevance between utterance and context.Only in this way can the best contextual result be acquired.This paper attempts to investigate the process of English learners' comprehension of listening materials with the basic theory of cognitive pragmatics-Relevance Theory.The importance and feasibility of the relevance theory used in listening class is indicated.The test papers of College English Test Band 4 are analysed.It is advised that English teachers encourage students to nurture the abilities of using inference to obtain context effects in terms of context,which in turn will lead to a better interpretation on communicative utterances.


In this paper the regularity of soil moisture evaportranspiration in spring wheat filed from the Yellow River pumping irrigation district in Ningxia is summarized based on a number of measured data from filed experiments and the regression formula is adopted to obtain the relationship of potential evapotranspiration and leaf exponent with the actual evapotranspiration. From this the procedure of water saving irrigation is developed for reference use.


This paper descr ibes IGBT and FWD design concept and measured results for the application of Magnetic Energy Recovery Switch (MERS) configuration for the first time. Since the switching frequency in the MERS application is so slow of 50–60Hz that a lower on-state voltage drop is strongly r equired for the IGBT and FWD chips even though their fast switching features are sacr ificed. Therefor e, the newly developed IGBT and FWD chip for this configuration exhibits an extr eme low on-state voltage drop while maintaining its turn-off withstand capability.


With the gradual growth of car-sharing market, it is particularly important to predict and analyze the demand of users. In this study, the K-means clustering method is used to cluster users into three types based on three indexes of the first use interval days, last use interval days, and monthly usage frequency. Each type of user demand has different time series trends. According to the ARIMA and LSTM models, respectively, the short-term demand of the three types of users is predicted. It is found that the LSTM model has a higher demand prediction accuracy for each type of user and the ARIMA model has a higher fitting accuracy. User demand forecasting can provide a reference for car-sharing managers to make scientific decisions.


The aim of the article is to identify the essence of the concept of "pantomimic culture" based on the analysis of the concepts of "culture" and "pantomime". Research methods. The main methodological principles of the research are scientific objectivity and systematic approaches in the use of complementary methods: theoretical (analysis of cultural, art history and historical literature), empirical and analytical (theoretical and art historical analysis of the phenomenon of "pantomime"). General culturological research methods, historical and analytical methods, epistemological principles of cognition of the essence of the concept of "pantomimic culture" were also used. Scientific novelty. Mutual integration of the development and transformation of the concepts of "culture" and "pantomime" has been analyzed in the context of the social and cultural space evolution. The conceptual and categorical apparatus of the research has been defined, in particular, the definition of the concept of "pantomimic culture" has been proposed. Conclusions. The social and communicative significance of pantomime as a cultural phenomenon is difficult to overestimate, since the pantomime act can be interpreted as an interpretation of national or cosmopolitan culture codes, a social and cultural message, an eloquent action of self-expression, a form of intercultural communication, etc. The pantomime culture is positioned as an interdisciplinary concept, the essential basis of which is the triad: man – culture – gesture that allowed us to define it as a cultural and anthropological concept; the universal language of culture that is characterized by a special sign system and uses various artistic signs (icons, indicators and symbols), endowed with certain properties; a unique means of creative embodiment of emotional collisions between the man, art and society under the conditions of modern stage space.


In the article by Tsantilas et al, "Risk of Stroke or Death Is Associated With the Timing of Carotid Artery Stenting for Symptomatic Carotid Stenosis: A Secondary Data Analysis of the German Statutory Quality Assurance Database," which published online March 27, 2018, and appeared in the April


Introduction. One specific feature to distinguish Selkup folktales is that the main character and his opponent are usually relatives. So, a positive character kills a relative of his (referred to as devil) and/or the latter's relatives — daughters and mother, and all that done with particular cruelty. The devil usually kills the positive character's parents, which is not a hindrance to the marriage of the hero to a daughter of the devil. As is known, folklore reflects a certain historical reality, stage-by-stage ideas of an ethnos about structure of society and its morality. And the question is why Selkups of the past had had such ethical norms, and how they had been explained. Goals. The study seeks to explore the motif of familial hostility in folklore of the northern Selkups, and the research objectives include identification and explanation of Selkup folklore plots where relatives act as opposing parties. Methods. The main research methods are semantic analysis (and its analogues — abstraction and reading of metaphors), integrated approach, typological and historical methods, modeling and theorizing. The theoretical basis of research logic is compiled from the concepts by K. Levi-Strauss, A. M. Zolotarev, and A. Gennep. Results. The study concludes that in the past Selkups had a dual social organization, the whole ethnos having been divided into two phratries, two exogamous halves for their members to enter into marriage unions. The war waged by folktale heroes emphasizes the division of the people into two parts and delineates the 'abyss' that lies between the halves of one ethnic community. In the Selkup motif of familial hostility morality goes second. The motif is to describe — through the language of metaphors — the model of standard social structure, social organization of the Selkups at a certain historical stage.


Agriculture stands on the cusp of a digital revolution, and the same technologies that created the Internet and are transforming medicine are now being applied in our farms and on our fields. Overall, this digital agricultural revolution is being driven by the low cost of collecting data on everything from soil conditions to animal health and crop development along with weather station data and data collected by drones and satellites. The promise of these technologies is more food, produced on less land, with fewer inputs and a smaller environmental footprint. At present, however, barriers to realizing this potential include a lack of ability to aggregate and interpret data in such a way that it results in useful decision support tools for farmers and the need to train farmers in how to use new tools. This article reviews the state of the literature on the promise and barriers to realizing the potential for Big Data to revolutionize agriculture.


The particulars of these records of earthquakes noted on the magnetograms of the Watheroo Magnetic Observatory, Western Australia, are given in the following tables. Table 1 shows also the times of the phases obtained on the seismograph at Perth according to the data supplied by Government Astronomer Curlewis.


The factors of politicization of religion and their possibility to influence the modern political process are investigated in this article.The author considers the issue of using a religious factor as a way of decreasing influence of the Russian Federation in the Caucasus and its replacement from the region. Much coverage is devoted to the modernization of a North Caucasian society as a necessary condition of stabilization of political relations.


The display apparatus and brightness control method thereof for controlling the brightness are provided in accordance with the external light. The display panel has a switching device, and displays an image, corresponding to a first amount of light incident on the current sensing portion of the display panel and outputs a current detected signal corresponding to the amount of current flowing through the switching device, the brightness control unit corresponding to the current sense signal detecting the current brightness, and outputs a luminance control signal by comparing the current luminance and a predetermined reference brightness, the light-generating unit controls the second light provided to the display panel according to the luminance control signal. Thus, according to the incident outside light using the characteristics of the switching device which the amount of current passing through the switching element variable detected external light, and controls the luminance by controlling the internal light amount according to the detected external light.


How to choose transport ways of freight is complex.The paper constructs the Synthesized Evaluate model of choosing transport ways of freight by analysis of hierarchy process to provide means for decision-maker,and makes the decision-making more scientific and logical.


New developments in the kindergartens in Greece have necessitated the availability of assessment tools that cover a wide range of children's skills and competencies that are related to the promotion of children's learning and development. The present study focuses on children's approaches to learning and aims to provide evidence for the Greek form of the Preschool Learning Behaviors Scale as a promising assessment tool for the Greek preschoolers. A nationally stratified sample of 398 boys and girls attending kindergarten classes provided data for the factor structure of the instrument. Two reliable and valid factors emerged describing children's motivation, determination to engage and persist in learning activities, as well as their responses toward novelty and frustration with an emphasis on attention. Upon identifying children's strengths and weaknesses when participating in learning activities, teachers could organize rich and challenging learning environments in the classroom, and design activities and intervention programs to foster children's adaptive behavior and promote later school success.


Platelet aggregation elicited by collagen or thrombin was inhibited by cepharanthine in a concentration-dependent manner. The in-hibition of thrombin-induced aggregation was correlated with the inhibition of arachidonate-release from the phospholipids of the membrane, notably from phosphatidylcholine.The normal disc shape of the washed platelets with a few pseudopods was transformed to a sphere due to treatment with cepharanthine at a concentra-tion which considerably inhibited aggregation. Washing the cepharanthine-treated platelets with a calcium-free solution changed the spherical shape back to the disc shape and abolished the inhibition of aggregation.These results suggest that cepharanthine disturbs the plasma membrane due to its incorporation into the membrane, which results in the change in shape of the membrane and the inhibition of aggregation.


This paper deals with the problem of improving the directional response pattern of a beamforming array using genetic algorithms to select the optimal geometry and microphone positions. The methodology adopted is based on the simultaneous optimization of two metrics from the response pattern, i.e., dynamic range & angular resolution. Array optimization also depends on the array beam pattern and the steering direction. A genetic algorithm is used to build a multi-objective array optimization tool and the fitness evaluation is based on the performance metrics of each candidate array configuration. The optimal solutions achieved by the developed tool, lead to new geometries that outperform the original array characteristics in both sensor number and performance metrics


This paper presents a new university course combining theoretical lectures with a robot competition. The main intention is to offer a practical course including hands-on experiences being close to current research topics in the field of mobile robotics. For this purpose, a commercial mobile robot is equipped with state of the art sensors, allowing autonomous execution of manipulation tasks. The course consists of three thematical sections. At the beginning of each, lectures provide the theoretical background. On this basis, the participants are addressed to develop algorithms and to solve specific tasks, delivered in homework packages, self-reliantly or in a team. Finally, the developed software components need to be merged to solve a predefined scenario, e.g. autonomous part handling. At the end of a thematic section, students demonstrate their developed solutions within a challenge and explain their approaches in a presentation. Starting with teleoperation and object recognition, the RobotChallenge ends up with navigation in unknown terrain. Besides others, the participants acquire soft-skills, such as project and team management. Being carried out for the first time in winter term 2011/2012, the RobotChallenge successfully promotes profound understanding of mobile robotics that is applied during practical experiences. It turns out, that aspiring to win competions lead to a high motivation of the students w.r.t. development of appropriate solutions.


In this short note, we answer two questions of Chen and Ruzsa negatively and answer a problem of Ma and Chen affirmatively.


In this paper the author introduced a new Algorithm of protecting Software Copyright. Firstly the author analysed the design idea of protecting software copyright,which used using limitedly of software by the Registry. Then the author implemented this Algorithm by developing of a application based on C#.


As an important adaptor protein in the intracellular signaling of interleukin-1 receptor/toll-like receptor (IL-1R/TLR) superfamily,myeloid differentiation factor 88( MyD88) plays a crucial role in the innate immune response. So far,no report about MyD88 in half smooth tongue sole( Cynoglossus semilaevis),one of the most promising and commercially important species for marine fish culture in China,is available. In this paper,the cloning,characterization and expression pattern of MyD88 in half smooth tongue sole was described. The full length MyD88 cDNA of half smooth tongue sole is 1 612 bp including a 132 bp 5′ untranslated region( UTR),a 590 bp 3′ UTR and a 858 bp open reading frame( ORF) encoding 285 amino acids. MyD88 contains a typical death domain at the N-terminal and a conservative Toll/IL-1R( TIR) domain at the C-terminal. The length of genomic DNA of MyD88 in this species is 2 923 bp with 5 exons and 4 introns. The phylogenetic tree based on 11 species MyD88 proteins showed that half smooth tongue sole MyD88 shared the closetest relationship with Japanese flounder( Paralichthys olivaceus). The next quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR analysis revealed MyD88 gene was expressed in all tested tissues with higher expression in immune tissues and reproduction tissues including blood,liver,spleen, kidney,testis and ovary. Then,the stimulation with LPS( lipopolysaccharide),GPN( peptidoglycan) and poly I:C showed that these stimulators could induce up-regulation of MyD88 expression in PBL of half smooth tongue sole. Finally,the pathogen infection experiment with Gram negative bacteria Vibrio anguillarum,indicated that MyD88 expression was significantly increased in the spleen by nealy 180 times and in the liver by more than 60 times after 96 th hour and in the headkidney with near 5 times at 48 th hour after challenge,respectively. These results suggest that MyD88 play an important role in the innate immune system in half smooth tongue sole.


'Terrorism.' The word spreads fear through society more than almost any other subject. Bombings, hijackings, assassinations, poisoned water supplies, gas attacks, nuclear attacks. The vision is conjured up of men in middle eastern head-dress, carrying bombs onto planes or lining up a world leader in the scope of a high powered rifle. Unfortunately for parts of the world this image is a reality. We have been relatively free of such incidents in Australia, however, there has been a trend towards labelling criminal incidents as 'terrorist incidents' when in fact they are not so. This blurring of terrorism may cause authorities to misinterpret criminal use of violence as a terrorist act and consequently activate the Standing Advisory Committee for Commonwealth and States Co-operation for Protection Against Violence (SACPAV) arrangements.


Light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs) based on Ru(bpy)3(ClO4)2 are thin-film solid-state devices that typically operate at low applied voltages and show relatively high efficiencies. They suffer, however, from poor operating lifetimes. A proposed source of lifetime degradation is water in the film. Previous studies have revealed a marked difference in operation performance between cells fabricated and tested inside a drybox and those made and tested under ambient conditions. This study further characterized the effect of water vapor on device operation. The role of water as solvent within the thin-film devices was found to increase the current and the initial light output, but at the expense of more rapid decay in light generation.


Enzymatic hydrolysis of xylan in raw alkaline lignin by xylanase from Trichoderma reesei was studied.The optimal hydrolysis conditions were determined as follows:pH value 4.8,temperature 45 ℃,hydrolysis time 4 h.The effects of solid concentration and enzyme dosage on sugar removing rate were also investigated.Results showed that sugar removing rate decreases as solid concentration increases and that the higher the enzyme dosage,the larger is the sugar removing rate.


Hoese, D.F. and Larson, H.K. 0000. Description of two new species of Nesogobius (Pisces: Gobioidei: Gobiidae) from southern Australia. Memoirs of Museum Victoria 63(1): 7–13. Two new species of Nesogobius are described from southern Australia and compared with described species Nesogobius pulchellus Castelnau and Nesogobius hinsbyi (McCulloch and Ogilby). Nesogobius greeni, sp. nov. differs from N. pulchellus in lacking a spine in the second dorsal and anal fi n and in lacking head pores. Nesogobius maccullochi sp. nov. differs from N. hinsbyi in having head pores and fewer dorsal spines and dorsal and anal rays.


The approaches the Asian countries have undertaken to manage their economic crisis prevail in three different patterns: the Malaysian style, the Indonesian style, and the Thai-South Korean style. They present similarities in terms of restructuring their economy and adopting new economic policies, given that the main causes of the crisis have been originally embedded within their economic structures themselves. The differences among these patterns, however, concern their response toward international help, especially the IMF, as a means to save their falling economy.


In spite of the great development of "suicidology" in the last century, our present theoretical knowledge and treatment-preventive strategies are still incomplete. This paper summarises our knowledge on the recognition and treatment of suicidal adults according to the SWOT analysis, demonstrating the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats related to this topic.


The present investigation entitled "Non-adherence factors to the contraceptive method of Medroxyprogesterone acetate in users attended in the family planning office of Hospital Regional Docente de Trujillo", whose objective was to establish the factors that determine non-adherence to the contraceptive method Medroxyprogesterone Acetate in users attended in the family planning office of Hospital Regional Docente de Trujillo. The study is non-experimental, cross-sectional and retrospective descriptive method. The sample was represented by 60 users of the family planning program, who underwent a structured survey regarding the study variables. Chi-square association statistical tests (p <0.05) were applied for the factors: sociodemographic, obstetric, level of knowledge, level of perception and adverse effects, finding level of significance for obstetric factors, corresponding to the time elapsed since his last pregnancy and the use of contraceptive methods previously, there is an association with non-adherence to the contraceptive method Acetate of Medroxyprogesterone. It is concluded that there is an association between obstetric factors and non-adherence to the contraceptive method Medroxygesterone Acetate in users treated in the Family Planning office of Hospital Regional Docente de Trujillo


The functional and ultrastructural consequences of the treatment with trimetazidine (TMZ) were analyzed in two canine models of myocardial stunning: One model of very brief coronary occlusion (2 minutes) and repeated (20) followed of 3 minutes of reperfusion (protocol 1), and a 15 minutes long unique ischaemia model and 60 minutes of reperfusion (protocol 2).
30 mestize dogs were used, randomized at double blind, with Placebo treatment or TMZ during a week. The examined end points were: haemodynamic parameters (cardiac rate, left ventricular pressure and dP/dt), parameters of regional function of the ischemic and control myocardial areas (telesystolic and teledyastolic diameter and shortening fraction), and ultrastructual study through electronic microscope of mitochondria (injury and size).
During performance of protocol 1, it was detected a lesser damage in the regional function of ischemic area at the end of the testing in the group treated with TMZ (93% of basal value) comparing with the Placebo serie (64% of basal value). In the ultrastructural study of ischemic area, differences were not objectified in the mitochondrial damage between both series, but mitochondrias treated with TMZ showed a significant increase in the perimeter and major axis and a decrease in the minor one.
During the analysis of protocol 2, the shortening fraction of the ischemic area experienced a drop of its values to figures of acinesia/discinesia during coronary obstruction, with partial recovery of its values after 60 minutes of reperfusion, without significant differences between Placebo series and TMZ ones (50% vs 41% of basal value). In the ultrastructural study of ischemic area no significant differences were noticed between both series, with similar percentages of mitochondrial damage; on the contrary ischemic mitochondrias in the group treated with TMZ were shorter than those presented in the Placebo group.
In the control area do not submitted to ischemia in both protocols, the mitochondrias treated with TMZ showed significant morphology changes, with an increase on major axis and a decrease of the minor one, presenting a morphology like a small cane.


Deformation partitioning is responsible for the various textural and compositional features
shown by garnets in the Berzosa Shear Zone. This process is time-and spacedependent
across the fault.


Abstract This paper studies the wild bootstrap–based test proposed in Cameron, Gelbach, and Miller (2008). Existing analyses of its properties require that number of clusters is "large." In an asymptotic framework in which the number of clusters is "small," we provide conditions under which an unstudentized version of the test is valid. These conditions include homogeneity-like restrictions on the distribution of covariates. We further establish that a studentized version of the test may only overreject the null hypothesis by a "small" amount that decreases exponentially with the number of clusters. We obtain a qualitatively similar result for "score" bootstrap-based tests, which permit testing in nonlinear models.


In view of the change of domestic and international environment, social situation,and the current situation of nonprofit organization in China,the artical explains the necessity of the management innovation of nonprofit organization and expounds the fact that nonprofit organization can realize several respects of the management innovation:personnel management based on objective management;use the modern technology to implement the information management;the budget and examining combining management;Set up strategic alliance with the profit organizations.


[Objective]An experiment was conducted to observe effects of different fertilizer mixtures on yield of rape seeds in rice growing areas of northern Guangxi in order to find out most economical application rate of fertilizers. [Method]Various combinations of different amount of N (89.8, 150.0, 179.6, 269.4 and 359.2 kg/ha), P2O5(60.0, 107.4, 120.0, 240.0 kg/ha)and K2O(60.0, 107.4, 120.0, 240.0 kg/ha)were applied in rice field. Ternary quadratic and unitary quadratic fertilizer effect models were established and optimized on the basis of experimental data to find out the best fertilizer combination.[Result]Treatment No. 13(N3P3K4)produced the highest yield of rapeseed (1911.2 kg/ha), which increased by 760.1% over control (N0P0K0). Treatment No.2(N3P3K3) recorded the highest ratio of output to input(15.9) with 3744 Yuan/ha revenue increment. [Conclusion]According to the fitting equation of fertilizer effect, the N, P2O5 and K2O application rates supporting maximum yield of rapeseed were 239.6,120.3 and 188.9 kg/ha, respectively, and the most economical application rates of N, P2O5 and K2O were 208.9, 98.1 and 173 kg/ha, respectively.


The relationship between the liver and the peritoneum is an important element in a body homeostasis maintaining. Morphofunctional changes occurring in the liver in response to fecal peritonitis allow a better understanding of this relationship. Despite the existing researches, some aspects of the pathological changes occurring in the liver in fecal peritonitis require a special study.
Purpose: to describe the composition and dynamics of the lymphocytic-leukocytic infiltrate in the liver in conditions of experimental fecal peritonitis.
The study was conducted on Balb/c (n=5) mice with artificially induced fecal peritonitis. One animal was euthanized on 1, 3, 5, 7 and 14 day of the experiment. Immunophenotyping of inflammatory infiltrate cells was performed on liver tissue samples using antibodies to CD3, CD45, CD163. Morphometric analysis was carried out with the calculation of the number of cells per unit area.
It was shown that the highest intensity of infiltration by CD45+-cells is observed on the 3rd day of the experiment with a subsequent decrease; infiltration by CD3+-cells increases by the 5th day of the experiment without further dynamics; infiltration of CD163+-cells by day 7 without further changes.
Conclusions: the severity of the liver parenchyma infiltration by immune cells in dynamics reflects the organ reaction to experimental fecal peritonitis.


Outer-membrane proteases T (OmpT) are membrane enzymes used for defense by Gram-negative bacteria. Here we use hybrid molecular mechanics/coarse-grained simulations to investigate the role of large-scale motions of OmpT from Escherichia coli for its function. In this approach, the enzyme active site is treated at the all-atom level, whilst the rest of the protein is described at the coarse-grained level. Our calculations agree well with previously reported all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, suggesting that this approach is well suitable to investigate membrane proteins. In addition, our findings suggest that OmpT large-scale conformational fluctuations might play a role for its biological function, as found for another protease class, the aspartyl proteases.


Xanthostemon novoguineenis (vernacular name: Sowang), an endemic plant in Papua from Myrtaceae family, is found widely near the buffer zone area and Mt. Cyclops Nature Reserve (MCNR) area. This research aimed to record the association of animals towards X. novoguineensis on its natural habitat. The survey was conducted in Cyclops buffer zone near Sentani City, Papua Province, Indonesia. The result showed that an interaction of animals directly to X. novoguineensis was documented and identified. Some insects species have an association with X. novoguineensis, namely black wasp (Isodontia sp 1), black-orange wasp (Isodontia sp 2), red weaver ant (Oecophylla sp 1) and black weaver ant (Oecophylla sp 2) have an association directly to flowers of X. novoguineensis. Furthermore, stick insect (Scepthrophasma sp) and spider (possibly from Araneae family) have an association with the leaves and trunks of this plant. Based on the finding, some leaves of these plant are fed by insects. It is indicated by a pattern of insect bites on the leaves.  Key words: buffer zone area,  cyclops, insect, sowang, Papua


ABSTRACT The adoption of energy efficiency in building design has become a matter of great importance given the links between energy use and global environmental change. While much research has been done on building engineering and science as well as on the benefits of energy efficiency to building owners and investors, little information is available on the process of successful technology adoption among designers. This article proposes that literature on innovation theory can provide insight into the problem of improving the adoption of energy efficient design. An adaptation of innovation theory principles to the adoption of improved energy performance has been developed. The objective is to provide an understanding of key aspects to promoting the technology more effectively among building design firms. The research highlights the importance of addressing designers' informational needs. Problems of imperfect information are identified, and suggestions for reducing barriers in this respect are discussed.


Over approximately the past 20 years, viscoelastic surfactant fluids containing wormlike micelles (WLMs) have been applied in numerous oil and gas well treatments, including hydraulic fracturing, matrix acidizing, wellbore fill removal, and gravel packing. Surfactant-based fluids often offer operational benefits including efficient preparation, effective particle transport, significant drag reduction, and minimum residue. To address different applications and conditions of temperature and salinity, a variety of surfactant types have been employed, including cationic, anionic, and zwitterionic chemistries. Current research continues to investigate both the fundamentals and applications of WLM fluids, including the possibility of adding nanoparticles to enhance fluid rheology and stability.


The topics of interest for this Special Issue include: wind energy harvesting, modeling and simulation of wind power converters, power electronic converter topologies for wind turbine generator systems, control of power electronic converters for wind turbine generators, condition monitoring, fault diagnosis, and protection for power electronic converters and machines in wind turbine generator systems, power electronics and control for small wind turbine systems in residential applications, synchrophasor applications in wind power generation, wind power grid connection issues, offshore wind power generation, FACTS applications for wind power, power electronics and control for energy storage in wind applications. This Special Issue is organized into two parts. Part 1 was published in the December 2013 issue. Part 2 is in this March 2014 issue.


When tuberculosis is confined to the lower lung fields, it often masquerades as pneumonia and the correct diagnosis gets delayed. Early diagnosis and treatment helps in the prevention of complications, a proper understanding of clinical, radiological, and bacteriological presentations, as well as treatment outcome of this disease entity is of crucial importance. This study was taken up to study the clinical features of lower lung field tuberculosis in a rural tertiary care centre in South India. From August 2011 to July 2012, 40 cases of Lower lung field Tuberculosis admitted to medical wards were studied. 24(60%) were males, 28(70%) were >40 age, 38(95%) had respiratory symptoms in the form of cough and scanty expectoration, 30(75%) had mild to moderate fever, 21(52.5%) had weight loss, 4(10%) had pleuritic pain, 6(15%) had scanty hemoptysis. Both lungs were equally involved with slight preponderance to right lung, 6(15%) had bilateral involvement. Predisposing conditions - 14(35%) diabetic, 4(10%) past history of PTB and 2(5%) had HIV. 2(5%) were sputum negative had unresolving pneumonia which responded to ATT. Conclusion: Tuberculosis should be considered when lower lung fields are involved, in elderly, Diabetics, HIV, immunocompromised and when the radiologic picture suggests unresolved pneumonia. Further investigation needed to confirm the Diagnosis of Lower Lung Tuberculosis. Response is similar as apical tuberculosis.


The paper describes the filtration curve up to the filtration rate
at which the nonlinear filtration appears due to the inertial component of the filtration flow structure, that is, the critical value of the filtration rate υcr, which determines
the upper limit of the possible application of Darcy's law.


Fourty eight strains were isolated from diseased pigs in Qinhuangdao and Tangshan of Hebei province from 2003 to 2004.The morphological,cultural and biochemistry characters indicated that the isolates belonged to genus Streptococcus.Furthermore,43 isolates could be agglutinated by the Lancefield group A-G latex diagnostic kit.The positive samples were 23,18,1 and 1 strains for group D,C,B and A respectively.But the rest five serums could not be typied.The isolates were demonstrated to be pathogenicity to mouse,rabbit and pig.The results showed that swine Strep.suis were mainly caused by groups D in these area.


We report a rare case of an 18-year-old female patient in whom accidental sectioning of flexometallic endotracheal tube occurred during partial maxillectomy for mass lesion under general anaesthesia. She was managed successfully by tracheostomy.


Using xinjiang crude oil as materials, the factors of temperature gradient, solvent-oil ratio, water content, and extraction number of plate in the product of furfural refinement were studied .The resultsshowed that: the temperature gradient is 40℃, solvent-oil ratio is (3.0~4.0)∶1, water content is less than 0.5%, extraction number of plate is over 3.


Background The biomarkers CXCL13 and sICAM1 have been associated with outcomes in patients with RA treated with TCZ. Objectives To determine the association of CXCL13 and sICAM1 with response to TCZ and disease activity in early RA and DMARD-IR patients. Methods Patient subsets from the FUNCTION (early RA) and LITHE (DMARD-IR) clinical trials were selected based on baseline and Week 24 sample availability; serum CXCL13 and sICAM1 levels were measured. Correlations between CXCL13 and sICAM1 levels and DAS28-ESR at baseline, and between change in CXCL13 and sICAM1 levels and change in DAS28-ESR at Week 24, were determined. Changes in CXCL13 and sICAM1 levels from baseline to Week 24 were compared between treatment arms using Welch t test. The effect of treatment, baseline DAS28-ESR and baseline CXCL13 and sICAM1 levels on the likelihood of DAS28-ESR remission and ACR50 response at Week 24 was determined via logistic regression. DAS28-ESR remission and ACR50 rates were compared against CXCL13 and sICAM1 status (high vs low based on median values) within each trial arm using a Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test. Results Overall, 458 of 872 patients from FUNCTION (TCZ +MTX, n=60; TCZ monotherapy [TCZ-mono], n=157; placebo [PBO]+MTX, n=141) and 287 of 791 patients from LITHE (TCZ +MTX, n=137; PBO+MTX, n=150) were included. In these patient subsets, mean disease duration in FUNCTION was significantly shorter than in LITHE (0.45 vs 8.65 years). At baseline, correlation of serum CXCL13 levels with DAS28-ESR was moderate in the early RA population and weak in the DMARD-IR population (table 1). Correlation between baseline serum sICAM1 levels and DAS28-ESR was low in both populations. Serum levels of CXCL13 decreased significantly at Week 24 in all treatment arms in both populations, with greater reductions in the TCZ +MTX and TCZ-mono arms; sICAM1 levels decreased significantly at Week 24 in the TCZ-mono arm in patients with early RA and the TCZ +MTX arms in both populations but not in the PBO+MTX arms. Change in CXCL13 levels correlated moderately with change in DAS28-ESR at Week 24 in both populations (table 1). Change in sICAM1 levels correlated moderately with change in DAS28-ESR at Week 24 in the DMARD-IR population but weakly in the early RA population. Although the treatment arm had a significant effect on the likelihood of DAS28-ESR remission and achievement of ACR50, the effect of baseline levels of CXCL13 and sICAM1 were not significant. DAS28-ESR remission and ACR50 response rates at Week 24 within each treatment arm of the early RA and DMARD-IR populations were not significantly different between patients with high vs low baseline CXCL13 and sICAM1 levels.Abstract THU0131 – Table 1 Correlation Between Serum CXCL13 and sICAM1 Levels and DAS28-ESR CXCL13. C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 13; DAS28-ESR, Disease Activity Score in 28 joints per erythrocyte sedimentation rate; DMARD-IR, inadequate response to disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; sICAM1, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1. * Correlation between change in CXCL13 and sICAM1 levels from baseline to Week 24 and change in DAS28-ESR from baseline to Week 24; all patients combined. Conclusions The association of baseline CXCL13 levels with RA disease activity was stronger in the early RA population than in the DMARD-IR population. Changes in CXCL13 and sICAM1 correlated significantly with changes in DAS28-ESR at Week 24. However, baseline levels of CXCL13 and sICAM1 did not predict response to TCZ at Week 24, suggesting that although these biomarkers are associated with disease activity, they do not predict response to TCZ in all RA populations. Acknowledgements Funded by F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. and Genentech, Inc. Disclosure of Interest T. Sornasse Employee of: Genentech, Inc., C. Gabay Grant/research support from: Roche, Pfizer, AB2 Bio, Consultant for: Roche, Pfizer, AbbVie, Novartis, Sanofi, M. Townsend Employee of: Genentech, Inc., R. Laubender Employee of: Roche Diagnostics, J. Wang Employee of: Roche Diagnostics, K. Tuckwell Employee of: Genentech, Inc.


Objective To prepare a monoclonal antibody(mAb)against gamma-glutamyltransferase(GGT)strongly bound to Datura stramonium(DSA)lectin in primary hepatocellular carcinoma tissue,and to identify the properties of the monoclonal antibody.Methods The fraction of gamma-glutamyltransferase strongly bound to DSA was purified from human hepatocellular carcinoma,and then was used to immunize BALB/c mice.The mouse splenic cells were then fused with mouse myeloma cells.Stable cell clones were screened by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)and limiting dilution.The immunoglobulin subtype of the mAb was identified by specific reagents.The specificity and bioaffinity of the mAb were identified by ELISA.Results Five cell lines producing monoclonal antibody which can specifically recognize gamma-glutamyltransferase strongly bound to DSA were acquired.The specificity of mAb was relatively high.The titre of the mAbs from hybridoma cell line in ascites was higher than 1∶625000 in ELISA test.The immunoglobulin subtype of mAb was identified as mouse IgG1.Conclusion The hybridoma cell lines producing mAb against gamma-glutamyltransferase strong binding to DSA were successfully prepared,and on this basis the corresponding immunoassay will be established.


The article examines the ritual meaning of the "freak" bet of the late nineteenth century, primarily as this took place in the city of Philadelphia. I propose that an election ritual can be thought of as an embodiment of the so-called "democratic paradox" put forward by Chantal Mouffe. The tension of the ritual lies in the question of whether it is able to satisfy competing demands on the modern polity and the citizens who compose it. I argue that the freak bet was an attempt to "think through," or publicly communicate, some of the paradoxes of modern liberty. It did not succeed in providing a definitive answer, since, as I suggest at the end, it is in the nature of liberal democracy that such an answer will not be forthcoming.


In order to measure the open-ended fund's liquidity risk accurately, the method of non-liquidity and are used in this paper. We measure the liquidity risk of open-ended fund with non-liquidity indicators, fitting these non-liquidity indicators of sample funds with GARCH model under normal distribution, t-distribution and generalized error distribution (GED), then put the fitting parameters into the method of to calculate the value of sample funds' liquidity risk. Empirical results show that: the liquidity indicators of open-ended fund have the characterstics of conditional heteroscedasticity, excess kurtosis and fat tail, which get the maximum reflection in GARCH model ; The value caculated from generalized error distribution comparing with other different distributions is optimal for its truly reflecting the liquidity risk of open-ended funds. The non-liquidity indicators and the method of based on GARCH model measuring the open-ended fund's liquidity risk synthetically and completely solve the measurement problem of open-ended fund liquidity risk.


This article details the results of an action research study which investigated how teachers used online learning community spaces to develop and support their teaching and learning of the Jewish Court of All Time (JCAT), a web-mediated, character-playing, simulation game that engages participants with social, historical and cultural curricula. The nature of reflection that was generated in the asynchronous and synchronous professional development spaces is discussed. Data analysis of online discussion and chat transcripts revealed that two forms of reflection were generated: reflection on self-as-teacher (juggling roles, responsibility, teaching challenges) and reflection on students (socio-cognitive and relational dimensions). The results speak to the importance of selecting online spaces that support the overall objectives of the professional development, as well as provide a rich forum to discuss the game in question. Having both asynchronous and synchronous spaces allows teachers the freedom to express themselves in multiple ways. Findings guide instructional design, generate insight on the interaction of online spaces and support teachers in how they learn and teach virtual simulation game experiences.


Let $|L_g|$, be the genus $g$ du Val linear system on a Halphen surface $Y$ of index $k$. We prove that the Clifford index $cliff(C)$ is constant on smooth curves $C\in |L_g|$. Let $\gamma(C)$ be the gonality of $C$. When $cliff(C)<\lfloor{\frac{g-1}{2}}\rfloor$ (the relevant case), we show that $\gamma(C)=cliff(C)+2=k$, and that the gonality is realized by the Weierstrass linear series $|-{kK_Y}_{|C}|$, which is totally ramified at one point. The proof of the first statement follows closely the path indicated by Green and Lazarsfeld for a similar statement regarding K3 surfaces.


Stellar age is an important quantity in astrophysics, which is useful for many fields both in the universe and galaxies. It cannot be determined by direct measurements, but can only be estimated or inferred. We attempt to find a useful indicator of stellar age, which is accurate from the zero-age main sequence to the tip of red giant branch for low-mass stars. Using the Yale Rotation and Evolution Code (YREC), a grid of stellar models has been constructed. Meanwhile, the frequency of maximum oscillations' power νmax and the large frequency separation Δν are calculated using the scaling relations. For the stars, the masses of which are from 0.8 M☉ to 2.8 M☉, we can obtain the νmax and stellar age by combing the scaling relations with the four sets of grid models (YREC, Dotter et al., Marigo et al., and YY isochrones). We find that νmax is tightly correlated and decreases monotonically with the age of the star from the main sequence to the red giant evolutionary stages. Moreover, we find that the line shapes of the curves in the Age versus νmax diagram, which is plotted by the four sets of grid models, are consistent for red giants with masses from 1.1 M☉ to 2.8 M☉. For red giants, the differences of correlation coefficients between Age and νmax for different grid models are minor and can be ignored. Interestingly, we find two peaks that correspond to the subgiants and bump of red giants in the Age versus νmax diagram. By general linear least-squares, we make the polynomial fitting and deduce the relationship between log(Age) and log(νmax) in red giants' evolutionary state.


Hydriding reactions of spherical and flat plate geometries of zirconium cobalt (ZrCo) and lanthanum penta-nickel (LaNi 5 ) intermetallic alloys were studied using kinetic data, and modified shrinking core model to account for concentration and temperature gradients in the gas film and ash layer under pseudo steady state non-isothermal conditions of 300, 310 and 320 K. The volumetric expansion of the alloy particle due to changing density was assumed during the hydriding reactions. The total hydriding time of 10 9 s was determined by numerical computati-on for different bulk temperatures, hydrogen concentrations and particle sizes; and the rate controlling process was identified to be diffusional. The values of the reaction times were very high, but could serve as data for predicting the length of hydriding cycle during hydrogen storage and recovery. Keywords: Hydriding reactions, Intermetallic alloys, Hydrogen storage, Shrinking core, Non-linear kinetics


The amount of structural damage image data produced in the aftermath of an earthquake can be staggering. It is challenging for a few human volunteers to efficiently filter and tag these images with meaningful damage information. The proposed solution is to automate post-earthquake reconnaissance image tagging activities by training a computer algorithm to classify each occurrence of damage per building material and structural member type. The approach is based on deep learning (DL), a subset of machine learning loosely based on the operation of a biologic neural system, which aims to learn and extract accurate representations from large data sets. DL algorithms are data driven; improving with increased training data. Thanks to the vast amount of data available and advances in computer architectures, DL has become one of the most popular image classification algorithms producing results comparable to and in some cases superior to human experts. The authors implemented a DL algorithm to automatically identify multiple damage types and associated structural members in a single image by adapting a pre-trained deep residual network. The algorithm was tested as follows: (i) binning building images as damage-no damage (88% accuracy), (ii) drawing a bounding box around damage in buildings (85% accuracy) and short/captive reinforced concrete columns with shear damage (77% accuracy). The lower accuracy of correctly identifying a target region in an image (test ii) compared to simple binning (test i) is anticipated since it is a more complex problem and there is a more limited number of expertly tagged training images (200 count) for shear damage-short column condition being studied. The research team expects algorithm accuracy will improve with training on additional images tagged for certain damage-structure pairs by a diverse set of experts. Dept. of Computer Science & Software Engineering, California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 (email: firstname.lastname@example.com) 2 Dept. of Architectural Engineering, California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 (email: firstname.lastname@example.com) Patterson B, Leone G, Pantoja M, Behrouzi A. "Deep Learning for Automated Image Classification of Seismic Damage to Built Infrastructure." Proceedings of the 11 National Conference in Earthquake Engineering, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, Los Angeles, CA. 2018 Eleventh U.S. National Conference on Earthquake Engineering Integrating Science, Engineering & Policy June 25-29, 2018 Los Angeles, California Deep Learning for Automated Image Classification of Seismic Damage to Built Infrastructure B. Patterson, G. Leone, M. Pantoja, and A. Behrouzi


In this paper,basic principle and implementation plan of the gain adjustable programmable control filter is introduced.The author has given a specific circuit and flow chart,introduced the filter circuits technology based on MAX262,the controller uses single chip to control the gain and the programmable control filter.At the same time,cooperating the keyboard and the show part to fulfill the enactment.The system can amplify and process the weak signal with noise and interference.Finally,a design example has given.


Over-activated hepatic gluconeogenesis contributes to the pathogenesis of metabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes. Precise control of hepatic gluconeogenesis thus is critical for maintaining whole-body metabolic homeostasis. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to play key roles in diseases by regulating diverse biological processes, but the function of lncRNAs in maintaining normal physiology, particularly glucose homeostasis in the liver, remains largely unexplored. We identified a novel liver-enriched long non-coding RNA, Gm10768, and examined its expression patterns under pathophysiological conditions. We further adopted gainand loss-of-function strategies to explore the effect of Gm10768 on hepatic glucose metabolism and the possible molecular mechanism involved. Our results showed that the expression of Gm10768 was significantly increased in the liver of fasted mice, and was induced by gluconeogenic hormonal stimuli. Functionally, overexpression of Gm10768 activated hepatic gluconeogenesis in a cell-autonomous manner. In contrast, 1 http://www.jbc.org/cgi/doi/10.1074/jbc.M117.812818 The latest version is at JBC Papers in Press. Published on January 23, 2018 as Manuscript M117.812818 Copyright 2018 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc. by gest on July 5, 2018 hp://w w w .jb.org/ D ow nladed from depletion of Gm10768 suppressed hepatic glucose production both in vitro and in vivo. Adenovirus-mediated hepatic knockdown of Gm10768 improved glucose tolerance and hyperglycemia of diabetic db/db mice. Mechanistically, Gm10768 sequestrated microRNA-214 (miR-214) to relieve its suppression on activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4), a positive regulator of hepatic gluconeogenesis. Taken together, we identified Gm10768 as a new lncRNA activating hepatic gluconeogenesis through antagonizing miR-214 in mice. As a central metabolic organ, the liver plays a critical role in maintaining glucose homeostasis. When nutrients are sufficiently available, liver increases glucose uptake and glycogen synthesis (1). Whereas during fasting, hepatic gluconeogenesis is triggered to keep normal blood glucose levels. Under pathological conditions, hepatic gluconeogenesis is abnormally over-activated, which results in hyperglycemia and contributes importantly to the pathogenesis of various metabolic disorders, such as type 2 diabetes (T2D) (2,3). Previous studies have demonstrated that hepatic gluconeogenesis, rather than glycogenolysis, is increased in patients with T2D (2). Hepatic gluconeogenesis is largely controlled through key rate-limiting enzymes in the gluconeogenic pathway, specifically phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) (4). Therefore, exploring new regulatory factors of gluconeogenic enzymes to inhibit over-activated hepatic gluconeogenesis is a feasible therapeutic strategy to treat T2D. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are transcripts larger than 200 nt in length and have no coding potential (5). Although historically misunderstood as junk transcripts, lncRNAs have now been realized to play key roles in disease occurrence through regulating diverse biological processes (6,7). Recently, studies suggest that lncRNAs may serve as critical regulators of glucose homeostasis in human diseases such as diabetes (8,9). For example, lncRNA Meg3 overexpression increases hepatic glucose production. In contrast, liver-specific knocked down of Meg3 reverses the impairment of glucose homeostasis in diabetic mice (10). Another lncRNA, lncLGR, which is induced by fasting, has been shown to suppress glucokinase expression and glycogen storage by binding to heterogenous nuclear ribonucleoprotein L (11). But in general, the physiological function of lncRNAs in maintaining glucose homeostasis in liver remains largely unexplored. In the present study, we characterized a long non-coding RNA, Gm10768, as a positive regulator involved in hepatic gluconeogenesis both in vitro and in vivo. Adenovirus-mediated knockdown of Gm10768 in the liver improved hyperglycemia and insulin resistance in diabetic db/db mice. Mechanistically, Gm10768 sequestered miR-214 and recovered the expression and function of activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4), which is a miR-214 target gene and is an activator of hepatic gluconeogenesis. RESULTS Identification of Gm10768 as an Inducible LncRNA during Hepatic Gluconeogenesis-To identify lncRNAs potentially involved in hepatic gluconeogenesis, we compared the expression levels of lncRNAs in the liver of mice under fasting-refeeding cycles using high-throughput RNA sequencing. An average of 67.6 million high-quality, 2 by gest on July 5, 2018 hp://w w w .jb.org/ D ow nladed from paired-end sequencing reads was obtained from each sample (range: 65.5-69.8 million). Among which, an average of 95.3% in the total reads (range: 94.8-95.5%) could be mapped to the mouse genome, and of which 89.2% reads (range: 88.9-89.4%) could be aligned to proper pairs. As a result, a total of 59892 genes (25732 protein-coding transcripts and 34160 annotated lncRNAs) with sufficiently high expression levels were identified (summarized reads information was shown in Supplemental Table S1). Specifically, we found that there were 1320 lncRNAs with induction folds > 3 in response to 16-h fasting (Supplemental Table S2). We next performed a cluster analysis by setting another two criteria to further screen these lncRNAs: already annotation as authentic lncRNAs in GenBank and relatively high abundance in the mouse liver (counting reads > 500). Our results showed that four lncRNAs, namely Gm15441, 4833411C07Rik, Gm10768, and 4931408D14Rik, met all the given criteria (Fig. 1A). To confirm these results, an independent reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) assay was performed and the results were consistent with RNA-seq analysis (Fig. 1B). We further validated these lncRNAs in the liver of diabetic db/db mice with over-activated hepatic gluconeogenesis and found that only two lncRNAs (4833411C07Rik and Gm10768) were increased (Fig. 1C). Finally, we used gainand loss-of-function methods in vitro to screen out functional lncRNAs affecting gluconeogenesis. Our data indicated that Gm10768, but not 4833411C07Rik, was positively correlated with the glucose production in mouse primary hepatocytes (Fig. 1D-G). These findings helped us to quickly narrow down our research target and selected Gm10768 as a promising regulator involved in hepatic gluconeogenesis. Gluconeogenic Signals Induce Hepatic Gm10768 Expression-Gm10768 is a predicted gene deposited in the GenBank with an accession number of NR_033472. It is an intergenic lncRNA located on chromosome 19qc3 in the mouse genome (Supplemental Fig. 1A). Although Gm10768 is a gene highly expressed in the mouse carotid body (12), its physiological function remains largely unknown. According to the overlapping region identified by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) analysis, we spliced 5'-end (1009 bp) and 3'-end (418 bp) sequences forming the full length cDNA (3470 bp) of Gm10768 (Supplemental Fig. 1B and Supplemental Fig. 2). We performed two widely employed algorithms to analyze the protein coding potential of Gm10768, and the results indicated that the coding potential of Gm10768 was very low (Supplemental Fig. 3A). Furthermore, a Gm10768 expression vector failed to produce any protein product when using an in vitro transcription/translation assay (Supplemental Fig. 3B). As shown in Fig. 2A, RT-qPCR analysis indicated that Gm10768 was specifically enriched in the liver, although it was ubiquitously expressed in all examined tissues. In addition, Gm10768 was distributed both in cytosol and in nuclei, with a moderate abundance in the nuclear compartment (Fig. 2B). Next, we performed in vitro experiments and treated mouse primary hepatocytes with forskolin (FSK) or hydrocortisone (HCS) to mimic hepatic gluconeogenesis and found that Gm10768 was induced in a time-dependent manner upon these treatments (Fig. 2C). Overexpression of Gm10768 Activates 3 by gest on July 5, 2018 hp://w w w .jb.org/ D ow nladed from Hepatic Gluconeogenesis-In our preliminary study, Gm10768 has already been shown to functionally increase the glucose production in mouse primary hepatocytes (Fig. 1E), it is therefore interesting to investigate the causal relationship between Gm10768 and hepatic gluconeogenesis. First, overexpression of Gm10768 remarkably increased the mRNA expression levels of Pepck and G6pase in mouse primary hepatocytes (Fig. 3A), while the lipogenic genes such as acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1 (Acc1) and fatty acid synthase (Fasn) remained unchanged, suggesting that the impact of Gm10768 is specific to the regulation of gluconeogenesis and is not a general disturbance of the hepatic metabolism. Consistently, protein levels of PEPCK and G6Pase were also upregulated (Fig. 3B). In vivo studies indicated that the expression of Gm10768 was elevated to 4.3-fold in the liver of mice injected with recombinant adenoviruses expressing Gm10768 (Fig. 4A). Gm10768 overexpression in vivo did not markedly affected the body weight, food intake or liver weight (Supplemental Fig. 4A), as well as liver damage biomarkers, including alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransaminase (AST) (Table 1). Interestingly, these mice showed a moderate increase in the serum levels of glucose and insulin both under fed and fasted conditions, compared to the control mice (Table 1). Glucose tolerance test (GTT), insulin tolerance test (ITT) and pyruvate tolerance test (PTT) indicated that forced expression of Gm10768 in mice exhibited an impairment of glucose disposal, insulin sensitivity and pyruvate tolerance (Fig. 4B-D). At the molecular level, a significant increase in the expression levels of PEPCK and G6Pase was observed (Fig. 4E and F), while the mRNA levels of Acc1 and Fasn did not show any change in Ad-Gm10768-infected mice (Fig. 4E).


Cognitive Radio Network (CRN) is a relatively new research area to improve spectral efficiency of wireless communication. Nowadays, the concept of commercial CRN (i.e., existence of primary and secondary users in licensed bands) is gaining popularity in wireless communication research. In fact, scarcity of bandwidth due to large number of wireless devices in different networks guides the unlicensed ISM (Industrial, Scientific and Medical) band to a saturation state. However, in CRN, at the absence of primary user, opportunistic medium access into licensed bands by the secondary users in different channels renders better bandwidth provisioning. The main concern and challenge for the CRN is channel rendezvous amongst the secondary users to discover the neighbours. A large number of existing works propose the channel rendezvous solutions using pseudo random channel hopping (i.e., switch from one channel to other) sequence. However, we argue that pseudo random sequence cannot provide efficient channel rendezvous in many scenarios and sometimes even the secondary users do not discover their neighbours. Hence, in this paper, we propose a channel hopping sequence method using the Tower of Hanoi (ToH) algorithm for multi-channel rendezvous amongst the secondary users of CRN. We have analysed and implemented the proposed mechanism, and found that it provides better results in terms of number of iteration and success rate for channel rendezvous than that of pseudo random approach.


OBJECTIVE To improve the dissolution rate of baicalin by the way of preparing baicalin solid dispersions,and investigate the effect of Tween-80 on the dissolution of baicalin in solid dispersions.METHODS The solid dispersions in different ratio of two kinds of carriers(PEG 6000 and PVP K30) were made by solvent method or melting method.The dissolution characteristics of baicalin,physical mixtures and solid dispersions were compared,in order to get the best carrier and ratio,and then add different ratio of Tween-80 in solid dispersion in order to investigate the effect of Tween-80 on the dissolution.RESULTS The solid dispersions of baicalin by using PVP as a carrier had quicker and higher dissolution than those using PEG as a carrier.With the increase of the dosage of Tween-80 in PVP solid dispersions,the dissolution of baicalin was significantly faster and higher.CONCLUSION The PVP solid dispersion in the ratio of 1∶8(baicalin∶PVP) which prepared by solvent method can improve the dissolution rate of baicalin significantly.Tween-80 can further enhance the drug dissolution in solid dispersions.


Q. We have a request for a home equity loan where the applicant had an appraisal completed for another lender. May we use it? A. We understand that an appraiser may not "assign" an appraisal to another entity. Instead, it would be deemed a "new assignment." Generally, a lender shouldn't accept an appraisal directly from an applicant. A lender may, subject to the stipulations below, accept an appraisal assigned or transferred from another institution. Please note, whereas the agencies do not define the term "financial services institution" the term is intended to describe entities that provide services in connection with real estate lending transactions on an ongoing basis, including brokers. See also government-sponsored enterprises' guidance on the matter (if appropriate), such as FHLMC's FAQ on Appraisal Independence Requirements-Transfer of Appraisals at http://tinyurl.com/b6qxxs6. The Interagency Appraisal and Evaluation Guidelines, http://tinyurl. com/6qs5fyt, under Section XV.B --"Appraisals From Other Financial Services Institutions" (on page FR 77463) state: "an institution may use an appraisal that was prepared by an appraiser engaged directly by another financial services institution, provided the institution determines that the appraisal conforms to the Agencies' appraisal regulations and is otherwise acceptable. An institution should assess whether to use the appraisal prior to making a credit decision. An institution should subject such appraisals to at least the same level of review that the institution performs on appraisals it obtains directly for similar properties and document its review in the credit file. The documentation of the review should support the institution's reliance on the appraisal. Among other considerations, an institution should confirm that: * "The appraiser was engaged directly by the other financial services institution. * "The appraiser had no direct, indirect, or prospective interest, financial or otherwise, in the property or transaction. * "The financial services institution (not the borrower) ordered the appraisal. For example, an engagement letter should show that the financial services institution, not the borrower, engaged the appraiser. "An institution must not accept an appraisal that has been readdressed or altered by the appraiser with the intent to conceal the original client. Altering an appraisal report in a manner that conceals the original client or intended users of the appraisal is misleading, does not conform to USPAP, and violates the Agencies' appraisal regulations." (Response provided Apri12012) When business account prospects get turned down due to signers Q. …


Advantages of correlational methods are described for estimating the relative reliance or weight observers give to different elements of a complex display when performing auditory or visual discriminations. Correlational methods differ from other such methods by providing a least‐squares estimate of weights rather than a maximum‐likelihood estimate based on a presumed model. The main benefit is that these methods can be generally applied in cases where the statistical properties of elements are unknown, where correlations exist between elements, or where it is necessary to evaluate decision models that are inherently nonlinear.


This paper offers a brief introduction of content-based instruction (CBI) and its related studies, and discusses the application of CBI in college English writing teaching. Based on CBI and its theme-based instruction, it constructs a new mode of college English teaching. In other words, according to students' interests and needs, teachers should concentrate on the contents and provide numerous authentic linguistic materials to improve students' English writing proficiency and develop their writing ability.


The present invention relates to an optical sheet including: (1) a transparent supporting film; (2) a diffusion layer which is located on one surface of the transparent supporting film, and diffuses a light; (3) a pattern layer which is located on another surface of the transparent supporting film, and includes multiple protrusion patterns with same heights; and (4) a base layer which is located on the pattern layer in parallel with the transparent supporting film, and is formed to allow a part of a space with the pattern layer so that only a part of an upper part including an uppermost part of the multiple protrusion patterns is invaded into the inside and exists. The optical sheet according to the present invention can reduce costs and thickness of a backlight unit, by replacing several sheets of optical films used in the backlight unit, because the optical sheet can perform a light collection function and a light diffusion function in one optical sheet. Also, the optical sheet can be used as an optical sheet for a surface light source apparatus, because the optical sheet can provide excellent optical luminance and viewing angle characteristics.


A liquid leading-in device for microanalytic chip is composed of at least one liquid inlet, at least one liquid outlet and at least one flow channel communicated to the microchannel on chip. Its advnatage is efficient automatic liquid leading-in.


Drawing on Edward Bunker's semi-autobiographical novels, this article argues for the criminological value of fiction. Drawing inspiration and extending core insights from "narrative criminology" and "popular criminology", we posit that novels and other creative sources can disrupt scholarly commonsense, pushing scholars to reconsider and extend theoretical perspectives. Specifically, Bunker's fiction encourages re-thinking of overly cognitive (i.e. "mentalist") understandings of "prisonization", which do not sufficiently capture the embodiment of carceral culture and routines. Through Bunker's work, we flesh out the concept of "carceral habitus"—itself deeply gendered and raced—to extend theories of prisonization, deepening understandings of how incarceration transforms people. We affirm that literary devices provide scholars innovative paths to communicating full-bodied accounts that breathe new vitality into criminological theory.


Tropoelastin is a key protein in the formation of connective tissue such as lungs, arteries, and cartilage. The assembly and further cross‐linking process of tropoelastin culminates in the formation of elastin fibers, a resilient biomaterial capable of withstanding numerous cycles of stress and strain. Like other intrinsically disordered proteins, tropoelastin can undergo liquid‐liquid phase separation in vitro and in the extracellular space. This event is thought to aid in the self‐assembly and subsequent maturation of elastin fibers. Although the mechanical properties and morphology of mature elastin fibers have been extensively studied, the properties of elastin liquid droplets and their subsequent maturation into a solid remains poorly understood. Here, we use a model mini‐elastin polypeptide that mimics the domain architecture of naturally occurring tropoelastin to characterize this transition. We use fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) and microrheology to capture the transition of elastin droplets from a liquid to a solid‐like state. We find that elastin droplets behave as viscous fluids at early incubation times, however, a rapid liquid‐to‐solid transition is observed in a timeframe of 80 minutes when held at constant temperature, even in the absence of cross‐linker. We further resolve the changes in dynamics, diffusion, and material properties of elastin condensates over the course of this transition. This work, which reveals the material transition from within elastin condensates, lends new insight into the early steps of the self‐assembly process of elastin while also contributing to the expanding repertoire of condensate maturation models in biological systems.


The struggle for women's liberation from male domination transcends barriers related to social class, culture, race and nationality. Indeed, throughout the world, women in both industrialised and developing countries are working toward the elimination of social and economic inequalities. The universal issues facing women must be recognised and affirmed by social and political planners in the formulation of progressive development policies and programmes consistent with the challenges of the new century. This conceptual paper will explore critical issues related to the role of women in social development and highlight opportunities for gender system transformation associated with projected social and structural developments of the new millennium. The paper will begin with an overview of the status of women in the world, followed by a discussion of critical issues related to women in social development, and a review of strategies implemented by the world's women to achieve gender equality. A summary of selected approaches to gender-inclusive development policies and an outline of a multi-systemic approach to woman-centred development will be offered. The authors conclude by outlining global recommendations for progressive, woman-centred policies of social development.


Often at times many organisations fail to achieve the objectives of their enterprise business architecture (EBA). This can be attributed to lack of assessment of readiness. This is also because there are no models specific to EBA readiness assessment. The lack of readiness assessment before deployment often results to challenges such as uncoordinated business designs, lack of flow in processes, derailment of activities, which make cost of operations prohibitive, increase complexity in managing potential risks, and service stagnancy. These challenges led to this study whose aim was to propose a solution that can be used to assess the readiness of EBA in an organisation. From the interpretivist perspective, the case study approach was employed to gain better understanding of the factors that influence the readiness of EBA in an organisation. The hermeneutics approach was applied in the analysis of the data. The sudy reveals the factors that influence the deployment of business architecture in organisations.


Cancer, a complex series of diseased conditions, contributes to a significant
health problem and is a leading cause of mortalities across the world. Lately, with the advent
of improved diagnostics and imaging techniques, and newer advanced oral chemotherapeutics;
millions of cancer affected people can lengthen their life span. Despite all
the challenges associated with an active chemotherapeutic molecule like microenvironment
and the intestinal barrier of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) etc., the oral delivery remains
the most acceptable route of drug administration. In this regard, nanotechnology
has played a significant role in the counteracting the challenges encountered with newly
developed molecules and aiding in improving their bioavailability and targetability to the
tumour site, while administering through the oral route. Several literature instances document
the usage of nanostructured drug delivery systems such as lipid-based, polymerbased
or metallic nanomaterials to improve the efficacy of chemotherapy. Besides, sitespecific
targeted surface-modified drug delivery system designed to deliver the active
molecule has opened up to the newer avenues of nanotechnology. However, the issue of
potential toxicity allied with nanotechnology cannot be compromised and thus, needs
specific ethical regulations and guidelines. The various in vitro models have been developed
to evaluate the in vitro toxicity profile which can be further correlated with the invivo
model. Thus, this review provides a summarized account of the various aspects related
to the role of nanotechnology in cancer therapy and various related issues thereof;
that must be triumphed over to apprehend its full promise.


Objective: This large international cohort study aimed to investigate the associations of examined lymph node (ELN) number with accurate staging and long-term survival in pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PaC) and to robustly determine the minimal and optimal ELN thresholds. Summary Background Data: ELN number is an important quality metric in cancer care. The recommended minimal ELN number in PaC to accurately stage cancer varies greatly across guidelines, and the optimal number especially to adequately stratify patient survival has not yet been established. Methods: Population-based data on patients with stage I to II PaC resected in 2003 to 2015 from the US Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results


ABSTRACT The influence of edaphic factors on plant distribution is essential to community ecology and important for vegetation restoration and management in arid ecosystems. In this study, desert plant distribution and diversity as well as soil water, salinity, and nutrients were measured in the Ebinur Lake Wetland Nature Reserve (ELWNR) in arid Northwest China. We determined relationships between plant distribution and soil factors along a transect with increasing distance from the river and created optimal models using soil factors to explain variations in plant diversity. In general, soil factors decreased with increasing distance from the river. Soil volumetric water content (SVWC), electrical conductivity (EC), pH, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and sulfur (S) were closely related to plant distribution. According to canonical correspondence analysis, plants along the transect were divided into three groups: saline–alkaline tolerant, drought tolerant, and high P-demanding. SVWC, pH, soil organic carbon (C), N, P, and S account for 93.8% of the variations in plant diversity in the ELWNR. Compared with other soil factors, S explained the largest percentage of variations in diversity when single soil variables were considered in generalized additive models (R2 = 38.9%). Our results suggest increases in soil pH, P, N, and S would improve plant diversity significantly. We found differences among species groups in preference for habitat, and N and S content had a significant positive effect of on plant diversity, providing a scientific reference for plant restoration and saline soil remediation in desert ecosystems.


The invention refers to a kind of input device which has mobile sense feedback, which includes a pressure perception cushion, the centre of the cushion is set a hole, the hole has a ball, part of the ball extrudes out of the hole of the cushion, and it sets at least a driver, makes the uses to touch and press the cushion to operate and control the cursor on the screen of the electric device, the control circuit of the input device, the control circuit operate and control the driver to make the ball generate rolling motion with the reverse direction and the direct ratio to the pressure, thus, when user touch and press the cushion, the ball will roll, and the user can feel the direction and speed of the cursor on screen, and can move the cursor to the proper position.


A continuous study of repeated cervical cytologic smears from 1983 women who were taking a sequential type contraceptive pill during as many as 92 menstrual cycles, showed that the observed rate of occurrence of cytologic atypia in treated patients was twice as high as the expected rate.


Communication with unlicenced 60-GHz band is attractive for wireless networks since a free-of-charge bandwidth of 7 GHz is available. The antenna array, conducting transmitter/receiver beamforming, is often used to enhance the transmission range. However, to conduct beamforming, the transceivers have to know the angles of signal arrival. Many angle-of-arrival (AoA) estimation algorithms are well known. Unfortunately, most of them are developed for digital arrays, requiring an analog-to-digital-converter (ADC) and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) for each antenna element. For an array with a large number of antennas, the implementation cost will be very high. Recently, hybrid antenna array, in which multiple antennas share an ADC/DAC, was proposed as a low-cost solution. However, the existing AoA estimation algorithms for hybrid arrays can only support one AoA; their applications are then limited in multipath indoor environments. In this paper, we propose new AoA estimation algorithms to solve the problem. Using an augmented beam-space approach, we extend the use of the well-known AoA estimation algorithms, MUSIC and ESPRIT developed for digital arrays, to the scenario of hybrid antenna arrays. Simulations show that the proposed algorithms, although developed for hybrid arrays, can have similar performance as MUSIC and ESPRIT in digital arrays.


A review on the design and the relevant considerations of the SNR pipework for the primary and secondary main sodium loops is given. It is pointed out that the design is governed by thermal stresses and less by mechanical forces. The requirements for materials to be used for the main sodium piping are identified. The reasons for the materials selection are summarized. The integrity of the pipework is confirmed by fracture mechanics investigations. The results show that unstable fractures can be excluded as a failure mechanism; the critical crack lengths are so large relative to the wall thickness that failures will manifest themselves by leaking rather than fracture. (auth)


Comparing two sequences by using dynamic programming algorithms is studied. Both serial and (multiple processor) parallel computer algorithms are discussed. Numerical performance of the developed software is validated through small to large-scale applications. Results (based upon comparing 2 large sequences with 40,000 and 36,000 character length, respectively, and using 2-24 parallel processors) indicate that the developed software is reliable and highly efficient.


PURPOSE: To provide a neutron flux mapping system capable of improving positioning of a detector. CONSTITUTION: A minute and rough resolver for detecting cable length draw-out from a spool is used for obtaining the position indication of a neutron flux detector at the end of a cable. At the time point when the detector passes a draw-out limit switch 74, the position the resolver indicates is stored to an non-volatile memory as an offset value at the time when the cable is firstly set in a neutron flux mapping system. Whenever the detector passes the drawn- out limit switch 74, the position the resolver indicates a compared with the offset value, and if its difference is remarkable, an alarm is given. During movement of the detector, average speed dividing position change during two times reading of the resolver by a time measured with an interval counting timer is found, and the alarm with be given if it is out of an expected range. The indication position of the resolver at the time when the detector results from a lattice strap and reduction of a neutron flux is indicated is compared with a prescribed lattice strap position to obtain the top boundary of a thimble. COPYRIGHT: (C)1992,JPO


This paper describes an approach, how a mathematical symbolic solver can be used to implement complex mathematical theories to a numerical implementation. This will be explained on hand of an unsteady potential theory for calculation of the lift of propeller blades rotating in a given wake. After a short overview about the analytic theory, it will be explained, how a mathematical model has been developed by the usage of the symbolic solver "Maple". Afterwards this mathematical model has been used to implement and verify a numerical FORTRAN implementation. By doing this it was possible to implement a small and very fast method, which allows to analyse the influence of a wake to the liftdistribution on a blade.