Objective To explore the effects of Xuanfei Quyu Tongluo decoction on blood gas analysis and plasma fibrinogen in patients with acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD).Methods 100 cases of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with pulmonary hypertension were randomly divided into 2 groups.Cases in the control group were treated by a comprehensive treatment.Patients in the treatment group were treated by combination of a comprehensive treatment and Xuanfei Quyu Tongluo Chinese medicine.Before treatment,after treatment the first stop on the 8th day 30min oxygen are respectively peripheral arterial 1 mL(heparin) line of blood gas analysis,blood taken 2mL(heparin) measured fibrinogen.Result The effective rate in the control group was lower than that in the treatment group.The partial pressure of carbon dioxide [P(CO2)] and plasma fibrinogen levels in the treatment group was lower than that in the control group,blood oxygen partial pressure [P(O2)]in treatment group wan higher than that in control group.There were significant differences between two groups(P0.05).Conclusion Xuanfei Quyu Tongluo decoction can improve effect of acute exacerbation of COPD patients by decreasing blood viscosity and the level of P(CO2),and increasing the level of P(O2).


Since July 2000, the medical skin care service area has grown into a field of skin care, but as yet studies have been few. Most studies on medical...


Shannan Prefecture of Tibet is the central producing region of Tibetan chicken,and Tibetan chicken feeding has become one of the characteristic industries of animal husbandry in local agricultural and pastoral area,and it is an important source of food and income for the locals. However,because of extensive feeding management,low level of intensification,blind hybrid of exotic varieties and despising selective breeding,the number of pedigree Tibetan chickens have reduced year by year and the performance of Tibetan chicken herd varied greatly,premium specificity could not be effectively utilized. By investigating the present situation of Tibetan chicken feeding,analyzing the specificity of Tibetan chicken germplasm resources,the scientific conservation breeding was started to make full use of the advantage of keeping Tibetan chickens on the plateau.


The hexamethyl cob(III)yrinic acid c-tyramide was prepared for its immobilisation on electrodes. The electropolymerisation of this compound onto Pt and glassy carbon electrodes was successful and details of these reactions were explored. The grafting procedure, in which tyramine was first electropolymerized on the electrode followed by the electro-oxidative attachment of the B 12 -tyramide provided a further method for this immobilisation. Exploratory experiments for the electrocatalytic activity of these coated electrodes are reported.


An overview of Airborne Arctic Stratospheric Expedition 2 is given. Effects of Pinatubo aerosol on stratospheric ozone at mid-latitudes, in situ measurements of ClO and ClO/HCl ratio, balloon-borne measurements of ClO, NO, and O3 in a volcanic cloud, and new observations of the NO(y)/N2O correlation in the lower stratosphere are discussed. Among other topics addressed are the following: in situ tracer correlations of methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone as observed aboard the DC-8, in situ measurements of changes in stratospheric aerosol and the N2O-aerosol relationship inside and outside of the polar vortex, measurements of halogenated organic compounds near the tropical tropopause, and airborne brightness measurements of the polar winter troposphere.


The wide-ranging health care reform bill, passed by Congress in March and signed into law by President Obama, is a first step toward retooling and correcting the foundering American health care system. Beyond its core rationale—providing medical insurance coverage to 30-plus million uninsured Americans—the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) makes an initial "down payment" on a series of health care delivery and payment reforms. Many of these changes are in the form of limited demonstration programs, aimed at steering our current health care model away from its unsustainable, expensive focus on multiple procedures and services for chronically ill and often repeatedly hospitalized patients. A new paradigm emphasizes preventive and wellness care that would be provided by holistic teams of health professionals in hospitals, at home, and in the community. Payment to providers would be based on outcomes to be measured by, for example, readmission statistics. Pharmacists are mentioned as potential participants in many of these co-ordinated care demonstrations, although the scope of their role is vague.


Thermophilic anaerobic-aerobic treatment of bleach kraft mill effluent (BKME) at 55°C was studied using reactors partially packed with polyurethane carrier material. The wastewater was a mixture of chlorination stage and alkaline extraction stage effluents from softwood pulping. Both the thermophilic anaerobic and aerobic treatments provided about 40-45% COD and AOX removals at loading rates of about 13-2.5 kg COD m−3 d−1, which corresponded with hydraulic retention times of 17.6-30 h. The aerobic post-treatment removed less than 10% of the COD and AOX present in the anaerobically treated BKME.


The characteristics of dynamic, heterogeneity and limited resources of peers result in the existence of selfish behavior in MP2P network, which affect the network performance. To improve the performance of MP2P, a trust management model for peer reputation is established based on multiple-fuzzy theory in this paper. Direct trust, indirect trust, residual energy and active degree of peers are used as the fundamental variables and their weights are determined by using fuzzy theory, and then the reputation of peers is calculated. Peers with high reputation are allowed to participate in the communication and peers with low reputation are not allowed. The experimental simulation results show that the model not only effectively improve the malicious peer detection rate and the query hit rate but also reduce the Cx of the network.


More than 25 years ago, I became involved in preparations for, and then actually teaching, our inaugural classes in what I believe was the first college-level, credit-bearing, full-term course on Children and Death. At that time, I came across a few examples of death-related literature for children. Not many books on death-related subjects were available then, but they were fascinating. Who could fail to be intrigued and charmed by a story (Brown, The Dead Bird) in which children encounter a dead bird, bury it, put a marker over its grave, and sing a song of lamentation? Or what about the implications of a story (Smith, A Taste of Blackberries) that describes the aftermath of a situation in which a boy's friend dies after disturbing a beehive and being stung by a swarm of bees? Or a third story (Buck, The Big Wave) about how a young Japanese boy faces life after he is orphaned by a tidal wave that kills all of the other members of his family? Even most contemporary college students, whom many critics think are most notorious for what they have NOT read, have actually read E. B. White's Charlotte's Web, a tale of a little girl, a pet pig, and an amazing spider. Much has changed since those early years. We now have available to us a very large body of death-related literature that has been written and published to be read by or with children. All of us who undertook to prepare this special issue sought to draw attention to the richness of this body of literature, to reflect on its development, and to point to some of the many ways in which it can be


The authors, in the studies previously perfomed to establish the foundation of the improvement of non-eugenol system cement and impression material, made Zn(OH)2 react with o-methoxy phenol, o-methoxy benzoic acid and o-ethoxy benzoic acid respectively under various conditions, and examined their reactivity and yields [1]. The result was that the yield became largest, 70%, in the case of Zn(OH)2-omethoxy benzoic acid, 1 :4 (mol) in ratio, with the mixture of absolute methanol and H2O, 2:1 in ratio, used as solvent and the reaction time 20 hours. o-ethoxy benzoic acid showed preferable reactivity in the next place, and the worst was in the case of o-methoxy phenol. In the present studies the authors try to examine the structure of their reaction products. Concretely, IRs of the raw materials, that is, the organic compounds, are first measured, and then those of the reaction products obtained by the reaction of Zn(OH)2 and the respective organic compounds, to be compared with each other .


This paper further discusses an intensity-dependent multiphoton model by calculating its field properties such as photon number change,phase distribution and entropy evolution.On this condition,the authors notice a more clearly nonclassical performance of the single mode field.Especially for odd-photon process,the atom or the field will frequently go back to pure state from mixed state even for a long time (suppose no energy dissipation).On counting the intensity dependence,collapse and revival of atom or field photon number become more manifest.The authors also find the entropy can give more details of the field energy fluctuation connected with the phase distribution which is reverse to photon-number fluctuation(uncertainty relation).


Three cases of Progressive Hypertrophic Neuritis are reported. The first refers to a sporadic case of the disease which began when the patient was 28 years old. The disturbances observed (muscular atrophies, thickening of peripheral nerves, loss of tendon reflexes and slight disorders of cutaneous sensibilities) and the absence of manifestations of tabetic or cerebellar type classify the case into the group of the simple hypertrophic neuritis. The atrophies commenced in the left hand and developed in a multiple and successive character. The second case also deals with a sporadic form of the disease with essentially peripherical symptomatology (simple form of the N.H.). The illness started at 18 years of age; no familial incidence; the muscular atrophies occurred in a multiple and successive manner beginning in the left leg; the signs of the tabetic or cerebellar group were absent. The third case refers to a patient in whose family numerous references to neurological disturbances are encountered. The case studied (IV-3) and one of the sisters of the patient (IV-6) and probably the other indicated members of the family present essentially an amyotrophic picture associated to the signs of the tabetic group. The thickening of the peripheral nerves was verified in cases IV-3 and IV-6, thus establishing the diagnosis of hypertrophic neuritis, Dejerine-Sottas' form. The research of thickening of nerves unfortunately could not be investigated in the other members of the family. In case 3 the disturbances commenced at approximately 40 years of age, differing from the classic cases of Dejerine beginning in childhood or adolescence. A biopsy of superficial branch of the radial nerve was performed in cases 1 and 2 and the histopathological examination revealed the characteristic lesions of "schwannite hypertrophique" ("onion bulbs"). The principal elements concerning the historical of the disease, symp-lomatology, clinical forms and diagnosis are described later. The cardinal feature of the disorder (amyotrophies, thickening of peripheral nerves, loss of tendon reflexes) and the associated symptoms and signs (sensory, ocular, cerebellar, trophic changes, etc.) are analysed. Regarding the clinical forms, the author distinguishes: 1) the simple forms, or purely neuritic, characterized by the progressive amyotrophy of distal limb segments, thickening of peripheral nerves, loss of tendon reflexes and impairment of cutaneous sensibility; and 2) the complete or combined form, in which the disorders of tabetic or cerebellar group add to those previously referred to. While the sporadic cases of H.N. generally assume the first form, the familial cases, beginning in childhood, usually reveal the second form. It seems that the diseases is sometimes not recognized, confused with amyotrophic and ataxic syndromes of another nature, because the research of the enlargement of peripheral nerves is not always accomplished in the habitual neurological examination.


The formation of silica W was investigated with oxidation of vapor silicon monoxide prepared by the reduction of silica by silicon or disproportionation of silicon monoxide. A small amount of silica W was prepared with disproportionation of silicon monoxide. In the case of the reduction of silica with silicon, the formation of silica W needed a degree of 10-3 atm over vacuum conditions. The silica W prepared was measured by EPMA, and the results obtained showed that nitrogen was included in silica W.


With the advent of small cell networks (SCNs) to support growing wireless data volumes and thus reduced cell sizes, cooperative communications are significantly facilitated. Applicable to 3GPP LTE-A, we propose a novel channel/queue-aware user pairing and scheduling scheme in a cooperative virtual multiple-input multiple-output (VMIMO) system. The queueing performance of the VMIMO system with the scheduling scheme is analyzed based on the finite-state Markov model (FSMM), and compared with that of non-cooperative systems. Bounds on the average queuing delay of users are derived by using a semi-definite programming (SDP) approach. The presented analyses are validated through comparing the analytical and simulation results. It is found that the introduced VMIMO pairing process is able to significantly reduce service delays, bringing on a positive impact of cooperative techniques on next generation wireless systems. Index Terms – VMIMO, Pairing, Finite-State Markov Model (FSMM).


Bobbie Scull's bibliography of federal government bibliographies was begun in 1971 as an annual informational publication primarily intended for the faculty at Louisiana State University. Later she distributed it to libraries all over the state of Louisiana. In 1973 RSR began to publish these lists on an annual basis. This is the fourth such appearance. In the meantime these bibliographies were cumulated and published in two volumes: Bibliography of U.S. Government Bibliographies 1968–73 and 1974–76. (Pierian Press, 1975, 1979). RSR is proud to continue the annual supplements which are now computer produced at LSU. Although this supplement appears in Volume 8:1 (1980) in the future they will appear in the final issue of the year.


In this paper we develop a complete theory of factorization for isometries of hyperbolic 4-space. Of special interest is the case where a pair of isometries is linked, that is, when a pair of isometries can be expressed each as compositions of two involutions, one of which is common to both isometries.
Here we develop a new theory of hyperbolic pencils and twisting planes involving a new geometric construction, their half-turn banks. This enables us to give complete results about each of the pair-types of isometries and their simultaneous factorization by half-turns. That is, we provide geometric conditions for each such pair to be linked by half-turns. The main result gives a necessary and sufficient condition for any given pair of isometries to be linked. We also provide a procedure for constructing a half-turn linked pair of isometries of $\mathbb{H}^4$ that do not restrict to lower dimensions, yielding an example that gives a negative answer to a question raised by Ara Basmajian and Karan Puri.


The researched students, regardless of the stage of their studies, were usually characterized by low intensity of both pro-health and anti-health nutritional behaviour. The majority of them demonstrated a sufficient level of knowledge. There is a need for further educational activities aimed at the improvement of academic youth's nutritional behaviour.


History has shown that a larger flight crew does not per se imply that aircraft operations will be safer. The goal of this thesis is to determine the technical hurdles to Single Pilot Commercial Operations (SPCO). Continued technological developments, the upsurge of commercial Unmanned Aerial Systems, the non-negligible cost of air crews, and yet, stagnation in commercial crew reductions since 1980 are reasons to clarify the current technical hurdles to SPCO. The research was initiated with a broad literature survey. It was found that advances in technology and human factors understanding have made each historical crew reduction possible, through a redistribution of tasks across (fewer) humans, automation, supporting infrastructure and accompanying procedures. An exhaustive list was then formulated of all issues that could potentially affect a reduction to SPCO. Consequently, in-depth research of each issue determined the most predominant challenges to SPCO are; a. providing the single pilot with the correct situational awareness at a manageable workload; b. ensuring adequate monitoring of pilot performance without an on-board human co-pilot; and c. ensuring redundancy in case of incapacitation. Finally, Single Pilot Incapacitation Redundancy (SPIR) solutions were explored by means of a scenario analysis and functional analysis. The greatest challenge to SPIR turns out to be the setting of the incapacitation detection sensitivity threshold; avoiding excessive false warnings (alarm problem) yet retaining immediacy for timely recovery of stable flight; both incapacitation detection and seem-less control take-over are tasks more suited to the adaptability of humans. A concept for a SPCO flight deck has been presented in which these issues become obsolete.


PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To upgrade the resource of a computer from the present version to the latest version. SOLUTION: This method includes a step (a) for identifying the latest version of a resource 3, and digitally storing upgrade information 7 describing the characteristic of the latest version for more than one previous versions of the resource 3, a step (b) for digitally storing information for identifying the present version in a computer, and automatically deciding which of the previous versions is the present version by a computer, and a step (c) for displaying to a user at least the several upgrade information 7 for supporting the decision of whether or not the upgrade should be operated by the user, or automatically deciding it based on the result of the comparing step. The upgrade in which the information can be stored on a portable medium along the copy of the resource 3 and the upgrade information 7 includes instruction manuals for use according to a preliminarily decided ordinary syntax for installing each resource 3. COPYRIGHT: (C)1996,JPO


The effectiveness of fitting a locomotive cab with a passive inflatable restraint system utilizing inflatable structures, and interior padding to protect the operator has been evaluated for the in-line collision scenario. It is a challenge to design a system that increases protection for the locomotive operator within the cab during accidents, while allowing that operator to react to a specific situation by choosing either to leave or remain in the seat or cab. Numerous strategies have been proposed to increase locomotive cab occupant protection; however, most of these proposals have either required an active response from the cab occupants, e.g., getting into a refuge, or inhibited the potential for fleeing the cab, e.g., seatbelts. In this study, the occupant protection of a typical locomotive cab interior with a vertical console-stand style control is compared with the occupant protection of an interior modified with the addition of two tube-shaped inflatable structures for secondary impact injury mitigation. The crashworthiness performances of these two interior arrangements are compared for in-line train-to-train collision scenarios that approximate a locomotive-led train collision with another locomotive or cab car-led train. The analysis uses, as a basis, accident data and information on the crashworthiness performance of the locomotive interior in a train-to-train collision between a standing locomotive-led consist and a moving cab car-led consist conducted on January 31, 2002 at the Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, Colorado. An analysis model is developed and validated using the full-scale train-to-train test locomotive interior/occupant experiment. The interior/occupant model then serves as a means of interpolating to different crash pulses, and with the alternative protection method using inflatable tube-like structures and interior padding. A range of locomotive operator sizes is investigated, as well as a range of selected initial seating positions for the locomotive operator.


A survey on functional limit theorems for compositions of stochastic processes ispresented. Applications to stochastic processes with random scaling of time, randomsums, extremes with random sample ...


ABSTRACT. Due to strong demands from organic farmers, landscapers, and home-gardeners, production and utilization of composts have rapidly increased. So, there is the need for their characterization (compost quality evaluations, particularly their nutrient releasing characteristics). In this study, three vermi-composts, six thermo-composts, and a green manure were incubated at 10 g/kg with a Mollisol and an Oxisol at room temperature. Unamended soils served as controls. Nitrate (NO3-N) was extracted and measured at 3, 7, 14, 21, 28, 42, and 56 days during the incubation. The results showed that the potentially mineralizable N (referred to as N0) varied widely among the composts, but the mineralization rate (k) remained nearly constant, ranging from 0.02 to 0.03/day, suggesting that approximately 2 to 3% of N0 was transformed into NO3-N per day. Cumulative NO3-N release was linearly related to the square root of the total N in the composts. Relative absorbance at 260 nm of a 0.01M NaHCO3 extract failed to predict N0, but could clearly separate vermi-composts (low absorbance readings) from thermo-composts (high absorbance). A subsequent greenhouse experiment using pak choi (Brassica rapa, Chinensis group, cv. Bonzai) as the test plant grown on the same two soils amended with 10 g/kg composts or green manure demonstrated the beneficial effects of the organic inputs when compared with the control (soil alone) or a complete mineral fertilizer treatment (providing 80 mg N/kg as 16-16-16 commercial fertilizer with 0.5% micronutrients). Organic amendments provided more benefits to cabbage growth in the infertile yet better drained Oxisol than in the fertile but poorly drained Mollisol.


In 2038 we have lived though a decade during which the world's global computational infrastructure undermined privacy and trust in virtually every aspect of our lives. The problems were seen far in advance, but it was commonplace belief that a combination of cryptography and more distributed responsibilty in systems---'blockchains for everything, and all hail the cloud'---would together restore what had been lost in the first decades of the 21st century. As it turned out, it was these very technologies that ended up destroying the privacy and trust we had left.
 In this review, we argue that the mistake collectively made was to think of privacy and trust as technological problems, when in fact they are properties of social and political systems. If we are to recover from what we call the BlockCloud Apocalypse, humans and machines are going to have to figure out how to build systems that support privacy and trust in society, rather than attempt to replace it with trust in technical validations. We propose a return to trust in humanitarian motives rather than technological supremacy.


"conventional" treatment and no details of this are given; however, 87% received long acting nitrates, 76% anticoagulants, and 40% diuretics. Is it possible that a combination of these medications led to a pronounced hypotensive state in those assigned to monotherapy with nifedipine. Further details of the influences of concomitant medication are required, and we need to know the distribution of this concomitant treatment, especially in those patients who progressed to myocardial infarctions. In part B the term "placebo" group indicates treatment with metoprolol and "nifedipine" placebo.


With the popularity of the Internet, network security has been paid more and more attention. Application of network security has become important contents for lots of experts and scholars to study. This work began with the concept and features of computer network technology. Then it analyzed the threats of the computer network, including system vulnerabilities, viruses and Trojans, transport protocol, etc. Finally, it studied security measures including installing patch timely, installing anti-virus software and firewalls, developing new transport protocols, etc. It is hoped that it can provide a reference for the actual security work.


North Texas State University Denton, Texas 76203 In recent months there has been considerable controversy involving the role and effectiveness of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). This controversy emanates from the divergent opinions of the role that CEQ has assumed to ensure adequate protection of the environment and the concomitant costs to operate CEQ programs,' and the role its critics see mandated for the CEQ under PL 91-190. To gain a proper perspective of the functioning of the CEQ, it is useful to compare and contrast the intended coordinative role of the CEQ as a governing board with its actual activities since its formation.


Recently, similarity queries on feature vectors have been widely used to perform content-based retrieval of images. To apply this technique to large databases, it is required to develop multidimens...


We present work done towards the successful fabrication of a four-layer woodpile photonic crystal with a bandgap of 0.876 µm centered at 4.55 µm. The goal of this fabrication was to develop a process flow that will be used to fabricate a 15-layer woodpile structure with a defect used for accelerating electrons. The structure dimensions were designed using simulations to maximize the bandgap, and scaled by the minimum features achievable in the optical lithography process. Infrared spectroscopy measurements were taken of the resulting four-layer structure, demonstrating a clear bandgap region centered at 4.55 µm, with a full-width at half maximum (FWHM) of 2.72 µm. Variations in the actual fabricated structure were measured via SEM images, and the deviations were incorporated into simulations. The center bandgap wavelength predicted in simulations agrees to within 1% of the measured value, and the FWHM agrees to within 15% of the measurement. These results provide validation for the quality of the photonic crystal fabricated.


Preserving location privacy is increasingly an essential concern in Vehicular Adhoc Networks (VANETs). Vehicles broadcast beacon messages in an open form that contains information including vehicle identity, speed, location, and other headings. An adversary may track the various locations visited by a vehicle using sensitive information transmitted in beacons such as vehicle identity and location. By matching the vehicle identity used in beacon messages at various locations, an adversary learns the location history of a vehicle. This compromises the privacy of the vehicle driver. In existing research work, pseudonyms are used in place of the actual vehicle identity in the beacons. Pseudonyms should be changed regularly to safeguard the location privacy of vehicles. However, applying simple change in pseudonyms does not always provide location privacy. Existing schemes based on mix zones operate efficiently in higher traffic environments but fail to provide privacy in lower vehicle traffic densities. In this paper, we take the problem of location privacy in diverse vehicle traffic densities. We propose a new Crowd-based Mix Context (CMC) privacy scheme that provides location privacy as well as identity protection in various vehicle traffic densities. The pseudonym changing process utilizes context information of road such as speed, direction and the number of neighbors in transmission range for the anonymisation of vehicles, adaptively updating pseudonyms based on the number of a vehicle neighbors in the vicinity. We conduct formal modeling and specification of the proposed scheme using High-Level Petri Nets (HPLN). Simulation results validate the effectiveness of CMC in terms of location anonymisation, the probability of vehicle traceability, computation time (cost) and effect on vehicular applications.


Objective. This study ' s objective was to investigate the ef fi cacy and acceptability of intermittent aerobic exercise training on sleep parameters, fatigue, pain, depressive symptoms, physical function, and cardiorespiratory fi tness in people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods. Thirty-eight people with RA were assigned to intermittent aerobic exercise training (three sessions/ week for 6 weeks; intervention group, n = 17) or usual care (control group, n = 21). The primary outcome was a change in polysomnography-assessed sleep ef fi ciency from baseline to the end of the intervention. Secondary outcomes were sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), fatigue (Bristol Rheumatoid Arthritis Fatigue Multi-Dimensional Questionnaire), depression (Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression), and cardiorespiratory fi tness (watt max test). Results. No between-group differences were found in changes in polysomnography-assessed sleep ef fi ciency (0.04; 95% con fi dence interval [CI]: − 0.02 to 0.09, P = 0.17). In the intervention group, sleep ef fi ciency was improved signi fi cantly from baseline (0.84; 95% CI: 0.80-0.88) compared with the end of the intervention (6 weeks) (0.88; 95% CI: 0.85-0.92); however, there was no signi fi cant difference in the control group. Fatigue and depression measures were signi fi cantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group. Between-group differences were overall fatigue ( − 16.1; 95% CI: − 25.1 to − 7.0, P = 0.001), physical fatigue ( − 5.0; 95% CI: − 7.3 to − 2.7, P = 0.0001), cognitive fatigue ( − 2.4; 95% CI: − 4.2 to 0.6, P = 0.009), living with fatigue ( − 2.5; 95% CI: − 4.5 to − 0.5, P = 0.01), and depressive symptoms ( − 6.8; 95% CI: − 12.4 to − 1.1, P = 0.02).


This article reviews the background and development of Upper Echelon Theory,and serious challenges have to be faced with.Under the pressure,Upper Echelon Theory has further broadens its width and depth,and develops into strategic leadership.The most prominent improvements of empirical studies are methods adopted to directly measure the underlying psychological construct.Many studies apply these methods to exploring the relationship between CEO personalities and strategic outcomes.We also summarize some limitations of the research in this field and make some suggestions.


Dense motion estimation for dynamic natural phenomena (water, smoke, fire, etc. ) is a significant open problem. Current approaches tend to be either general, giving poor results, or specialise in one phenomenon and fail to generalise. Segmentation of phenomena is also an open problem. This paper describes an approach to estimate dense motion for dynamic phenomena that is simple, general, and which yields state of the art results. We use our dense motion field to segment phenomena to above state of the art levels. We demonstrate our contributions using lab-based video, video from a public dataset, and from the internet. an upgrade to dense flow estimation, and in particular to show that it generalises to several phenomena. Skeletons are sparse topographical maps over the phenomena. Empirical testing using laboratory based data, a public dataset for natural phenomena, and video from the internet "in the wild") show our method significantly improve state-of-the-art accuracy above a representative range of both well established and current methods. Second , we show how to use our dense flow solution, including skeletons, to segment natural phenomena, exceeding state-of-the-art solutions.


The Finite Cell Method (FCM) is an embedded domain method, in which the simulation domain is divided into a physical domain and a fictitious domain. The adaptive quadrature scheme employs the quad‐tree (oct‐tree in 3D) data structure to generate the quadrature points up to the specified level around the material boundary. In this paper, the FCM is applied for machine driven tunnel advancement simulations [1]. The geometry of the excavation volume is embedded into a background mesh by employing the B‐Rep concept. The mesh for the soil volume is structured and is fixed during the tunnel advancement. The tunnel lining is embedded in the soil mesh as a surface mesh, which incorporates the shell element formulation. In terms of the material description, the soil is represented as a saturated two‐phase medium [2], which consists of the soil matrix and the pore water. The effective stress of the soil is governed by means of the elastoplastic Mohr‐Coulomb constitutive model. Selected numerical benchmarks are performed to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method.


In the process of social development, corporate social responsibility and corporate financial performance have widely concerned. In academia, there is numerous researches on the connection between the two. Reviewing pertinent academic writing on the CSR and financial effect is the goal of this study, sorting out how the two elements are related and guiding corporate participation in community responsibility functions. The study of this paper draws several conclusions. First of all, most businesses that participate in social responsibility initiatives can improve their financial performance. What's more, the participation of a few companies in social responsibility activities has nothing to do with company performance or even hinders the company's business performance. The different impact results are related to the company's operating conditions, the purpose of participating in social responsibility activities, and social recognition. If companies wish to increase their financial returns through social responsibility, they must excel at strategic management.


The education of prospective Chemistry teachers is faced with the issue of integration of content knowledge, pedagogy and technology (TPACK / technological pedagogical content knowledge ). Prospective teachers are expected to become teachers who are skilled in teaching effectively, mastering material (Chemistry content) and able to utilize technology for learning. The purpose of this study is to analyze the ability of TPACK prospective Chemistry teachers in Basic Inorganic Chemistry courses. This research is a descriptive study to describe the ability of TPACK prospective chemistry teachers. The subjects of this study are students of Chemistry Education Study Program who took the Basic Inorganic Chemistry Course in the odd semester 2018/2019. The ability of TPACK teacher candidates is obtained by analyzing the CoR instrument and PaPeR.TPACK in this study includes three main components of teacher knowledge, namely content, pedagogy, and technology. Based on the analysis of CoRe and PaPeR, prospective teachers can arrange big ideas to develop teaching materials 3 to 5 big ideas; Chemistry teacher candidates are good at managing teaching time and have good abilities in choosing learning strategies (85%). There are still 77% of prospective teachers showing difficulties in managing class effectively. In the aspect of mastery of content shows that 62% of prospective teachers have mastery of concepts correctly, while 38% have mastery of concepts that are not exhaustive, and there are those that lead to misconceptions. The use of learning resources based on information technology and computers still need to be maximized because it is still limited in type (power point, video, internet), still few use it (32%), as well as the selection of learning resources and media that are less relevant for the achievement of basic competencies. The conclusion is that the ability of TPACK prospective teachers still needs to be improved in several aspects of mastery of content, pedagogics and technology. Keywords—technological pedagogical and content knowledge, prospective teachers of chemistry, chemical bonds


In the most prominent animal study of its time – a 2001 Nature "Brief Communications" entitled "Low mechanical signals strengthen long bones" – Clinton Rubin and colleagues reported data from sheep experiments suggesting that highfrequency, low-magnitude mechanical stimulation (LMMS), in the form of vibration applied to the hindlimb, had impressive anabolic effects on bone. This study of adult ewes found that animals who received vibration at a frequency of 30 Hertz and at an acceleration equal to 0.3 g (where g equals the Earth's gravitational field), for 20 minutes per day 5 times a week over the course of a year, exhibited a statistically significant 34% increase in proximal femur trabecular bone density, a similar increase in trabecular volume, a 45% increase in trabecular number, and a 36% decrease in trabecular spacing, compared to control animals.


Introduction: Mental health or psychological has always been a significant part of what we call generic "human health", as a constant and major concern not only for those in charge of organizing healthcare systems, be they public or private, but for all which, in one way or another deal with the management of human factor. Of course, ensuring a mental health corresponding for every individual, member of society in which he lives, has major costs, economic and social. Our paper has proposed that, starting from the evolution of the Romanian population over the last 50 years, taking into account the outstanding statistics on mental disorders in the EU and Romania, to highlight the costs and sources of funding of mental health services in our country They were studied numerous specialized works, some of which were published in ISI magazines and ISI Proceedings in Europe and the US. There have also been analyzed reports of specialized agencies, such as Health Care Cost Institute also from US so that by comparison, we can identify the specific dynamics and forms of funding mental illness in Romania. Method: Starting from mental health concepts, the authors identified and analyzed the main programmatic documents and organizational framework for assessing the state of health in Romania. So, they have analyzed the National Health Programs and the Strategy for Mental Health in Romania, aiming at evolution of funds allocated in recent years to this very important area. The statistical analysis of the data specific to the area studied allowed us to study the dynamics of the allocation of public and private funds to this sector of mental health over the last years. Results and Discussion: Financing mental health services in Romania is either with funds from the Ministry of Health or from the National House of Health. Once Romania joined the EU in 2007 it began to be concerns for funding health projects from European Funds also. The authors have identified and presented some European Funds and Operational Programs which allow funding of public mental health services, focusing on the need to increase the share of this type of financing within the total costs. It has also been studied the experience of these health services in European countries and in the United States of America. Thus, they were identified and analyzed public health system costs for job loss or depression, a disease widespread in major corporations in these states. Also they have been studied the social costs of excessive use of social networks such as Facebook and mental health at the work place. We appreciate that studying simultaneously both health costs and social ones on health mental constitute a solution for knowledge, quantification and treatment of such diseases that have a high prevalence, especially in contemporary society.


Based on first-principles calculations, we explore the electronic and phonon transport properties of a new-type two-dimensional (2D) hexagonal material XSe (X = Ge, Sn, and Pb), which can be prepar...


SUMMARY We identified over 100recipients ofrabies vaccine (humandiploid cellvaccine) and recruited themasplasma donors. Somewereplasmapheresed atstatic centres, others bymobile teams.Theoperation ofthese teamsisdescribed indetail. Noplasma wassenttotheFractionation Centre until thedateofvaccination hadbeenchecked. Assayresults showedthatthemajority of plasma collected between fourand20weeksafter thesecond doseofvaccine contained 6ormore IU/ml. Rabies mayreturn toBritain. Inthepastfewyears rabies hasbecomeendemic amongthewildlife of northern France withtheconstant risk that domestic animals will bebitten andthedisease transmitted to man. Untilrecently rabies vaccines were poorly immunogenic, andvaccination didnotgivea satisfactory degree oflasting immunity.' Inanycase thesideeffects ofvaccination madeprophylactic vaccination undesirable except inpeople withavery highrisk ofbecoming infected. Thenewervaccines, produced incell culture, are bothmorepotent andsafer thaneither thebrain tissue orduckembryo vaccines. TheHealth Departmentshavemadealimited amountofcell culture vaccine available forpre-exposure vaccination of customs andexcise officers andother people likely tobeexposed toimported rabies. Forthefirst timethebloodtransfusion services havehadareadysupply ofpotential donors with highlevels ofcirculating anti-rabies antibody. Turner2 hasshownthatafter rabies vaccination withcell culture vaccines highlevels ofIgGneutralising antibody areproduced. IgGbutnotIgM antibodies gavepassive protection tomiceinhis experiments. The WorldHealthOrganization3 advises all countries toensure asupply ofanti-rabies immunoglobulin. Humanproducts arepreferable tothose madefromanimals.' Although therapid response toactive immunisation withcell culture vaccines


The interaction of 2-chloro-3-cyano-5-ethoxycarbonyl-6-methylpyridine with potassium salts of amino acids leads to N-(3-cyano-5-ethoxycarbonyl-6-methyl-2-pyridyl)aminoalkanecarboxylic acids. Most of the obtained products demonstrated anticoagulant properties.


The performance characteristic of hydrounits is used very often in various control systems on hydro power plant for velocity control, power distribution, for displaying at different levels of automation pyramid: technicians, technologists, management and so on. Different systems do not have single unified description of the hydrounit's performance characteristic. It leads to growth of unnecessary calculations, errors and collisions. The study of the turbine efficiency can be automated by creating an appropriate mathematical model that approximates the initial performance characteristics of the turbine. This paper describes a method of approximation of the turbine performance characteristics using optimal two-dimensional cubic Hermit splines with free boundary conditions. The proposed method of hydrounit efficiency description allows to create single mathematical model and to use it in any control systems. The calculation load tests show high efficiency of the methods and confirm the possibility of their application in PLCs and servers.


Epistemologists have recently started appealing to the moral philosophy literature on interpersonal trust in order to help explain the epistemology of testimony. We argue that epistemologists who have given trust a significant role in their accounts of the epistemology of testimony have appealed to very different conceptions of the nature of trust, which have inevitably influenced the shape of their epistemological theorizing. Some have employed accounts of the nature of interpersonal trust according to which trust is a practical phenomenon subject to the will and to practical reasoning. Such accounts face the task of showing how the practical phenomenon that is interpersonal trust has epistemic implications for testimonial belief. Other theorists have employed accounts of the nature of interpersonal trust according to which trust is at least partly a cognitive phenomenon, itself subject to epistemic norms. Such accounts do not face the task of showing how practical rationality has implications for theoretical reason. Instead, they face the rather different tasks of showing how it is that cognitive trusting bears genuinely interpersonal features, and of how theoretical rationality can share features with practical rationality.


We undertook a mixed‐methods evaluation of a Web‐based conferencing service (virtual consult) between general practitioners (GPs) and cardiologists in managing patients with heart failure in the community to determine its effect on use of specialist heart failure services and acceptability to GPs.


This study aims to investigate the history of childhood in Renaissance Florence in the socio-cultural matrix in which it emerged. Generally speaking, children in Renaissance Florence were the objects of abandonment and abuse. In particular, this phenomenon was more accelerated by two elements: the first, high mortality after the black death that drove women to endless pregnancy and childbirth; the second, time-honored wet-nurse system that, as an useful way of getting women`s labor, was widely practiced during the Renaissance. Along with those, a peculiar marriage pattern of the Renaissance and dowry system relevant to it also furthered the child abandonment and abuse. As a result of those, the Florentine society brought forth many ``cruel mothers`` and ``poor children.`` Accordingly it seems plausible that miserable fate of Children in Renaissance Florence was a cultural slice of misogynist patriarchal society. But, at the same time the Florentine during the Renaissance established several foundling homes in order to raise and educate institutionally abandoned children. To put another way, on the opposite side of the abandonment of and the disinterest in children on the level of everyday life, municipal authorities or a group of civic charity organizations were actively protecting them. Paradoxically enough, however, the establishment of foundling homes encouraged abandonment, because the major purpose of establishing the foundling home was to remove unwanted children from the sight of ordinary citizens. Moreover, in doing so the Florentine intended to constitute the male-dominating patriarchal society. In short, the children of Renaissance Florence were the safe-goats stemmed from the construction of the state-centered controlling system or purification of the city, so to speak, ``policing of morality`` by the state.


This paper present the results of an integrated reservoir characterisation study, and the methodology used to confirm the existence of an additional reservoir drive mechanism based on natural fractures, which has been used to explain the significant discrepancies between material balance and volumetric estimates of STOIIP. A detailed core-based sedimentological study has defined the depositional environment and facies connectivity. Core, log, drilling and production analyses have been integrated to provide information on the natural fracture network, and geomechanical interpretation has been used to prove that the fractures seen in core are natural, and to explain the impact of regional stress variations on fracture properties and flow performance. Effective parameters have been estimated to represent the fracture network in the simulation model. A non-stationary geostatistical simulation has been used to model the reservoir facies distributions, and the static model has been conditioned with interpreted DST permeability, to represent effective flow properties. A full field history matched simulation model has been used to confirm STOIIP, and to develop an exploitation strategy.


Open access: http://isainsmedis.id/ Clinical characteristic of dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever among patients at Sanglah Hospital, Denpasar, Bali Shabrina Inderjit1*, I Made Sudarmaja2, I Kadek Swastika2 Background: Mosquito-borne diseases are one of the most significant public health risks globally, and dengue fever seems to be one of the most important arboviral diseases in humans. In humans, dengue viruses are the supreme agents that cause dengue fever (DF) and dengue hemorrhagic fever/dengue shock syndrome (DHF/DSS). Following that, the virus's presence, sufficient numbers of susceptible populations, and mosquito vectors are required to transmit dengue infection. This study aimed to identify the clinical characteristics of dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever among patients at Sanglah Hospital,


The hepatitis C guidance describes diagnosis, linkage to care, and treatment for people with HCV infection (AASLD/IDSA, 2019). Reduced access to treatment, however, is a common challenge due to restrictions on drug reimbursement. This section summarizes the US payer system, explains the concepts of cost, price, cost-effectiveness, value, and affordability, and addresses the cost-effectiveness of HCV treatment access. Although these terms may sound similar, the following discussion seeks to clarify them regarding HCV therapy. This section aims to be informational. As explained, actual costs are rarely known. Accordingly, the HCV guidance does not utilize cost-effectiveness analysis to guide recommendations at this time.


In reciprocating internal combustion engines, one of the most important issues is to clarify the frictional characteristics between the piston ring and the cylinder liner because of the demand for reduction in frictional loss as well as the solution to problems such as scuffing and wear with the advances in engine performance achieved in recent years. In the present study, the floating liner method in which the cylinder liner is supported by means of hydrostatic bearings was developed to measure accurately the frictional force of the piston assembly as a function of the crank angle during firing operation. The influences of engine operating conditions (engine speed, cylinder wall temperature, gas pressure in the cylinder), lubricating oil viscosity, polymer-containing multigrade oil and friction modifier on the frictional characteristics were evaluated on the basis of the experimental results obtained with this equipment.


★ 1013 drove this trend. Sometimes it was a fear that their military or space missions were declining that led such institutions to diversify their markets by selling their skills to urban governments. Sometimes it was "mission creep," to employ a military term, that expanded the reach. Sometimes it was a defensive reaction to minimize civilian criticism, much in the same way that nuclear power was. Light emphasizes the importance of New York and Los Angeles as case studies and institutionally, the RAND Corporation. For a time in the sixties and seventies, RAND even had a branch office in New York City. Liberals like Mayor John Lindsay of New York and conservatives like Mayor Sam Yorty of Los Angeles each bought into the offerings of the contractors. Pittsburgh, the model urban renewal city, did too. It should be emphasized that Professor Light is not talking about the military per se, but about contractors to the military, like RAND. NASA was a different case, since it did directly peddle its space wares to unwary urban governments. The book tells a fascinating story, but it is not user friendly, largely because it is so choked with jargon and acronyms. Undoubtedly, there is no help for the problem because the bewildering rise and fall of agencies and institutions compel the embrace of such language. Professor Light has done a mountain of primary and secondary research to reach her conclusions. The most important of these is that all of the input of military technique and technology improved the lives of urban dwellers very little. In contrast, professionals on both sides of the public and private divide improved their lives considerably. They gained public and professional reputations by implementing these techniques and technologies, engaged in high-powered exchanges over them, and made millions of dollars contracting their services. The public was often left holding the bag. These findings are gratifying to the author, who wrote a book with a similar title, Fortress California, 1910–1961: From Warfare to Welfare, published by Oxford University Press in 1992. However, that book investigated how cities developed their economies by piggybacking off military institutions like bases, defense plants, laboratories, and headquarters. Light comes at it from the opposite direction, investigating how laboratories, think tanks, universities, and defense contractors piggybacked on cities to promote their interests. An interesting, confirming contrast, if perhaps a bit harsh to city planning.


The performance of friction material in an oil-cooled environment is greatly influenced by conditions of use. The effects of several major factors ― power, speed, inertia, oil flow and reaction plate trickness ― were investigated using and inertia dynamometer. The program was designed to assess the relative significance of each factor in determining material performance and to examine how effects of each factor are modified by interaction with other factors. Three materials were tested


For a stimulating neural electrode, the charge density should be as large as possible to provide adequate stimulation of the nervous system while allowing for miniaturization of the electrode. Since iridium oxide is able to produce high charge densities while preventing undesirable reactions due to charge storage, it has become a promising material for neural prostheses. Successful production of stable Ir and Ir oxide films on various substrates now limits the use of this material. Ir was deposited on two differently prepared surface of (mirror finish, passivation) surgical Ti-6AI-4V with several methods. Ion beam mixing of sputter deposited Ir films on passivated Ti-6AI-4V produced stable and good adherent Ir films. It was found that the increase in charge density of pure Ir on continuous cyclingis due to the accumulation of the oxide phase ( associated with a large surface area) in which the valence state of iridium changes and the double-layer capacitance increases. This study also showed that the double layer capacitance is equally or even more responsible for the high charge density of anodically formed Ir oxide.


The invention discloses a preparation method of spherical lithium nickel-cobalt-manganese oxide. The preparation method comprises the following steps: by adopting a coprecipitation method, with carbonate as a precipitant, mixing nickel ions, cobalt ions and manganese ions with certain concentration in a metallic salt solution, a carbonate solution and an ammonium salt solution respectively and continuously adding mixtures into a reactor, controlling flows of the three solutions to enable the pH value of a reaction solution to be 9.5, and carrying out reaction at the temperature of 65 DEG C to prepare a spherical precursor material, wherein the concentration of NH4+ in the reaction solution is 1.0mol/L; and then carrying out preheating treatment, uniformly mixing the spherical precursor material with a lithium source, and carrying out heat treatment to prepare a final product. With the adoption of the preparation method, the balling speed of a precursor is high, particle sizes are uniformly distributed, the sphericity of the product is good, and density and capacitance are high.


A mechanical system is described for drawing the continuous product of two curves, for example a spectral profile on a recorder chart and a spectral correction curve. It may also be used to produce the required correction curve. By clamping one of the inputs, it may be used to normalize and superimpose a series of profiles. Other applications are suggested.


As mobile computing is becoming more and more popular, the security threats to mobile applications are simultaneously increasing explosively. Most malicious activities hack the user's private information, such as contact and location information, hijack the user's transactions and communications, and exploit the confidential enterprise data stored in mobile databases or in cache on mobile devices. Database security is one of the most important security areas to be addressed. Many schools are integrating database security topics into database and cybersecurity education. This paper addresses the needs for pedagogical learning materials for database security education and the challenges of building database security capacity through effective, engaging, and investigative learning approaches, through transferrable and integratable mobile-based learning modules with hands-on companion labs based on the OWASP recommendations, such as input validation, data encryption, data sharing, auditing, and others. The primary goal of this learning approach is to create a motivating learning environment that encourages and engages all students in database security concepts and practices learning. The preliminary feedback from students was positive. Students gained hands-on real world learning experiences on Mobile Database Security (MDS) with Android mobile devices, which also greatly promoted students' self-efficacy and confidence in their mobile security learning.


As of today, the semiconductor industry has been looking for possible alternative materials of silicon, since the physical limitation of silicon-based devices, i.e., planar CMOS devices for most of the scenarios, is approaching soon. Among all the novel materials arising from the horizon, graphene is considered to be a very promising alternative for its unique electrical properties. Although all kinds of prospective electrical properties it has(e.g., high mobility), there are barriers for Graphene-based Field Effect Transistors (G-FETs) to overcome, in order to find its way to the substitution of Silicon Metal Oxide Semiconducting Field Effect Transistors (Si-MOSFETs). One of the most important engineering barriers to be overwhelmed is the parasitic parameters, among which the parasitic resistance is considered to be one of the most critical roadblock. Contact resistance in G-FETs is relatively high compared to that of conventional Si-MOSFETs. In this paper, we present an experimental demonstration of a new method to reduce the contact resistance in back gate G-FETs. In the proposed device structure, the source/drain regions are fabricated using multilayer graphene (MLG), thus the top and edge contacts are formed between the MLG and metal electrodes, while the conducting channel is still formed by using single-layer graphene (SLG). Due to the high conductivity of MLG and relative low conductivity of SLG, the contact resistance is reduced while the controllability of channel conductivity is preserved.


This dissertation focuses on two problems in visual perception: (1) segmentation of images containing differently textured regions, and (2) estimation of planar surface inclination by measurement of texture gradients.
The models presented have a number of common methodological features. Each uses 2D Gabor filters having the same general form as that found to be a good description for simple cell receptive fields in visual cortex. Using this local spectral representation of image information, a higher order image analysis model is developed. In most cases, the algorithms allow parallel execution. Not only is this in accord with the psychophysical evidence for various "preattentive" processes in humans, it also permits rapid execution in machine vision applications on parallel architectures.
Results of these investigations are presented in the following chapters. 1. Texture discrimination by Gabor functions. This paper suggests that textures preattentively discriminable by humans are, in most cases, easily segmented by simple statistical differences between combinations of Gabor filter amplitudes. 2. Iterative and cooperative models for segmentation. Several iterative and cooperative algorithms are described to segment images using Gabor filter amplitudes. 3. Neural assemblies as building blocks of cortical computation. This paper addresses the relationship between experimental observations of neural assemblies in cortex and models such as those described in the previous chapter which may identify computational functions of these assemblies. 4. Estimation of textured surface inclination by parallel local spectral analysis. A cooperative algorithm is presented for estimating the inclination of planar textured surfaces from the two-dimensional distributions of Gabor filter amplitudes. 5. Receptive fields for the determination of textured surface inclination. A neural network model, developed to solve the texture gradient problem, contains receptive fields which have an oriented structure in an unusual space/spatial frequency coordinate system. 6. Underestimation of textured surface inclination by human observers: A model. With monocular stationary views, human subjects in psychophysical experiments tend to underestimate the inclination of "irregular" textured surfaces. The cooperative algorithm exhibits this same behavior, suggesting that a similar computation may be occurring in visual cortex.


New media, new knowledge practices, and concepts point to the need for greater understanding of cognitive processes underlying knowledge acquisition and generation in open informational worlds. The authors of the articles in this special issue address cognitive and instructional challenges surrounding multiple document comprehension—a prerequisite of digital literacy and knowledge work in the information age. In this article, we raise issues of conceptual clarity regarding constructs such as source and document, and discuss work in disciplinary literacy and knowledge-building communities to clarify uses of information resources to support knowledge creation. The discussion aims to (a) provide insights into the cognitive and social practices needed for students to manage, understand, apply, and create knowledge and (b) suggest research directions to advance these goals.


Exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) controllers have been extensively studied for run-to-run (RtR) control in semiconductor manufacturing processes. However, the EWMA controller with a fixed weight struggles to achieve excellent performance under unknown stochastic disturbances. To improve the performance of EMWA via online parameter tuning, an intelligent strategy using deep reinforcement learning (DRL) technique is developed in this work. To begin with, the weight adjusting problem is established as a Markov decision process. Meanwhile, simple state space, action space and reward function are designed. Then, the classical deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG) algorithm is utilized to adjust the weight online. Moreover, a quantile regression-based DDPG (QR-DDPG) algorithm is further verified the effectiveness of the proposed method. Finally, the developed scheme is implemented on a deep reactive ion etching process. Comparisons are conducted to show the superiority of the presented approach in terms of disturbance rejection and target tracking.


【Objective】The objective of the current study was to explore the response of 35 different sorghum cultivars to alkali stress,and screen them for suitability for growing in alkaline soil and provide some guidance for their management under alkali stress.【Method】Mixed alkali were used(NaHCO3﹕Na2CO3 with the mole ratio of 9﹕1) to simulate the typical alkali stress environment.The 35 sorghum cultivars were treated with 25 mmol.L-1 solution or distilled water and incubated in Petri dishes for 10 days at humidity of 60%,light/dark of 12 h/12 h,illumination of 34 μmol.m-2.s-1 and 28℃/25℃ of day/night during germination.The germination force was measured on the fourth day and the germination percentage,leaf length,root length,leaf fresh weight,root fresh weight,leaf dry weight,root dry weight and remaining seed dry weight were measured on the tenth day.Through the fuzzy mathematics method of membership function,principal component analysis(PCA) and clustering analysis(CA),the alkali resistance of different sorghum cultivars were evaluated.【Result】The PCA results showed that root length,germination index and leaf dry weight were the most significant factors and are recommended as the main indexes for identifing alkali tolerance of sorghum at germination.The cultivars were ranked based on the membership function,and three groups on alkali tolerance were sorted from the 35 sorghum cultivars according to the CA.The analysis showed that seven of the 35 cultivars were strongly tolerant of alkaline conditions,e.g.Siza25,that twenty-two were had medium tolerance,e.g.Jiza 319 and Chiza 28,and that six were sensitive,e.g.Longza 9.【Conclusion】Principal component analysis showed that root length,germination index and leaf dry weight were the most significant factors and these are recommended as the main indexes to identify alkali tolerance of sorghum at germination,and in plant breeding and evaluation projects should be supported by CA and membership function to provide rigorous assessment of cultivars tolerance of alkalinity.


Here we report on the magnetic properties of iron carbide nanoparticles embedded in a carbon matrix. Granular distributions of nanoparticles in an inert matrix, of potential use in various applications, were prepared by pyrolysis of organic precursors using the thermally assisted chemical vapour deposition method. By varying the precursor concentration and preparation temperature, compositions with varying iron concentration and nanoparticle sizes were made. Powder x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and Mössbauer spectroscopy studies revealed the nanocrystalline iron carbide (Fe3C) presence in the partially graphitized matrix. The dependence of the magnetic properties on the particle size and temperature (10 K<T<300 K) were studied using superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry. Based on the affect of surrounding carbon spins, the observed magnetic behaviour of the nanoparticle compositions, such as the temperature dependence of magnetization and coercivity, can be explained.


The paper looks into the topic of arbitrability, which defines the material scope of arbitration. While the issue of what disputes are arbitrable (i.e. capable of being submitted to arbitration) has now become less of a problem, some basic misconceptions in relation to arbitrability still persist. In particular, the paper examines first the rationale behind inarbitrability and the role of public policy in particular. The paper argues that in the limited types of disputes that are still considered inarbitrable, inarbitrability relates to the natural limitations of arbitration as a dispute resolution mechanism of consensual character rather than to public policy. The latter, as argued here, is effectively irrelevant to the discussion of arbitrability. Secondly, the paper looks into the sanctions of inarbitrability, and especially whether it has any impact on the validity of an arbitration agreement. The paper will argue that inarbitrability is an issue concerning the jurisdiction of an arbitral tribunal rather than the validity of an arbitration agreement, as is the prevailing view. This discussion has eventually important practical relevance. In fact, as will be shown, it pertains to the much debatable matter of which forum, national courts or arbitral tribunals, should have priority in determining whether a dispute is arbitrable or not.


This paper deals with Pr‐doped and Pr, Si‐codoped YAlO3 single crystal growth by the micro‐pulling‐down method and investigation of their spectroscopic and scintillating properties. The Pr3+ 5d ‐4f radioluminescence intensity is more than 10 times higher than that of Bi4Ge3O12 standard sample, but the Si‐codoping decreases it. Absorption spectra of as‐grown and air‐annealed Si,Pr‐codoped YAlO3 samples show along with an onset of 4f ‐5d transition round 230 nm the induced absorption band at 400 nm which possibly related to a hole center absorption (Pr4+ or O‐). Thermoluminescence measurements above the room temperature were performed in order to monitor deep electron traps. Strong concentration dependence of thermoluminescence was observed for Pr:YAlO3 glow curves. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


The word "Dada" has several parts of speech. It's often used as a kinship appellation noun in Chinese dialect. The semantic generalization of "Dada" in the construction of "X Dada" is the common result of the externalization of metaphorical thinking and the generalization of emotional principles. The popularity of "Xi Dada" structure is closely related to such factors as the mechanism of language analogy and the principle of least effort, the unique pragmatic effect of reduplicated words, the herd mentality and innovation psychological of netizen and the huge dissemination effect of network media.


The discussion regarding the relation betweenconsumption, credit and poverty has long-standingin Chilean sociology. How do poor familiesrelate to credit in Chile? Which aspect of povertydoes credit resolve – if it does- and which are itslimitations? In the following article we aim to takeup these questions, in light of a renewal in boththe concept of poverty and its numbers in Chile.Poverty cannot be reduced to the simple lack ofincome, but instead presents itself as a multidimensionalphenomenon, that keeps families fromaccessing the social resources that are necessaryin order to develop fully. In this context, the upscalingof credit allows them access to goods and servicesthat would otherwise be out of their reach.However, even if this represents a chance for socialinclusion, by means of participation in consumptionaccording to modern standards, it alsopresents the risk of chronic indebtedness, whichperpetuates or even worsens the already disadvantagedeconomic situation of poor families. Onthe other hand, credit's tendency to promote individualisticand self-sufficient solutions to socialissues has relevant implications for the coexistence,participation and employment of the poor.


Hardfacing is carried out to enhance the hardness of the surface of a substrate by depositing a hard and wear resistance filler metal. It is a more cost-effective to construct it out of regular steel and then coat the important layer of welded metal that can ensure the required hardness at the surface. A hardfacing system was developed by employing Robotic Gas Metal Arc Welding for the hardfacing of Stellite 21 on the Mild steel substate. The various components of the hardfacing system and the detailed procedure of hardfacing including the programming the robot, setting the process parameters, conducting the experiments as per Taguchi L9 array and the measurement of hardness were explained. Hardfacing trial 5 gave the maximum hardfacing deposit hardness of 499 Hv.


ii On Our Way Out 1 Arriving on Time: Flagstaff, Arizona 9 Dead Sharks 11 Arriving on Time: Black Hills, South Dakota 20 Burying the Local 22 Gator Eggs 42 Arriving on Time: Centennial, Wyoming 61 Flood 64 Arriving on Time: Galveston, Texas 79 Arriving on Time: Morgantown, West Virginia 81 ** Curriculum Vitae 82


Most dynamic systems show uncertainty in their behavior. Therefore, a deterministic model is not sufficient to predict the stochastic behavior of such systems. Alternatively, a stochastic model can be used for better analysis and simulation. By numerically integrating the stochastic differential equation or solving the Fokker-Planck equation, we can obtain a probability density function of the motion of the system. Based on this probability density function, the path-of-probability (POP) method for path planning has been developed and verified in simulation. However, there are rooms for more improvements and its practical implementation has not been performed yet. This paper concerns formulation, simulation and practical implementation of the path-of-probability for two-wheeled mobile robots. In this framework, we define a new cost function which measures the averaged targeting error using root-mean-square (RMS), and iteratively minimize it to find an optimal path with the lowest targeting error. The proposed algorithm is implemented and tested with a two-wheeled mobile robot for performance verification.Copyright © 2015 by ASME


People are regarded as the key content of information systems. Much attention should be paid to hotel employees, psychological factors towards adopting IT during the construction of information technology. Based on Theory of Reasoned Action and Technology Acceptance Model, this study surveys those employees over 3-star hotels, discusses their perception, attitude and intention towards IT adoption, compares their psychological difference under different external environment and individual demographics. This paper offers some theoretical and practical conclusion for technological progress and improvement of human resources management of hospitality industry.


The photopyroelectric calorimetry, in the front (inverse) configuration, was applied in order to measure the thermal effusivity of some Brazilianfats. The front configuration with thermally thick sensor and sample, and optically opaque sensor, was used for the first time for analysing the thermal properties of fat products. The information was obtained via a frequency scan of the phase of the pyroelectric signal; the measurement needs no calibration. The main advantage of this configuration on the other two front schemes proposed before is mainly technical: one has not to use very thin foils or expensive semitransparent sensors. On the other hand, the information is contained in the phase of the signal (and not in the amplitude - as usual) which is not dependent on the power fluctuations of the radiation source.


Current technological developments are so rapid, so that equipment has become a basic necessity on employment. This means that equipment and technology is an important support in an effort to increase productivity for the type of work. Work posture is the determining point in analyzing the effectiveness of a job. If the work posture carried out by the operator is good and ergonomic, it can be ascertained that the results obtained will be good too. This study aims to evaluate the posture of workers in MSME shoes, where workers are too bent and their legs are bent. Therefore, this study was made so that myaman workers while doing work and can increase the productivity of these MSMEs. Assessment of work posture in this study using the REBA method, the results of the assessment of the four work positions at level 2 with information needing action for that it is necessary to propose improvement of work posture by designing work facilities such as desks and chairs.


Currently, radiotherapy with electrons and photons beam is the most common approach in health care facilities; it allows a wide diffusion of the technology. Only a fast and accurate verification of the dose characteristics of the beams provides a safe and effective use of the methodology. However, the tool most commonly used for dose quality controls is the ionization chamber with the water phantom, which takes long time for the required measures. The research for new tools has increased in recent years to provide the required information more quickly. We have designed, built and tested a new tool based on a layer of square scintillating fibers of thickness 0.5 mm that can run a scan of the beam. The system provides both the dose profiles, related to a plane orthogonal to the beam axis at fixed depth, and the dose delivered in depth. The device was tested with a beam of 6MV photons. The beam was delivered by a linear accelerator Varian Clinac DHX 2100. The data collected were processed for the tomographic reconstruction of the dose by means of the FBP (filtered back projection) algorithm with different filters. An iterative reconstruction algorithm was also tested. In this paper, the results are presented and suggestions for future developments are described.


Background and Objective: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is widely distributed in nature and it is one of the most significant causes of hospital-acquired infections. It shows resistance to several antibiotics because of production of beta-lactamase enzymes, in addition to its intrinsic and mutational resistance. This study was conducted in Khartoum State to evaluate the in vitro activity of anti-microbial agents (piperacillin, azlocillin, imipenem and meropenem) against Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical isolates. Method: Anti-microbial susceptibility testing was done to all clinical isolates using standardized modified Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI). Results: The results shows that the most effective antibiotics against P. aeruginosa was imipenem which was effective against all isolates(100%), followed by meropenem 97.1 %, piperacillin 74.3 % and azlocillin 70 %. Carbapenems β-lactam antibiotics were found more effective than ureidopenicillins β-lactam antibiotics against P. aeruginosa, with mean activity of 98.6 % and 72.2 %, respectively. Conclusion: Carbapenems β-lactam antibiotic group (imipenem and meropenem) can be used for treatment of infection caused P. aeruginosa due to its highly activity against P. aeruginosa isolates.


Supplemental digital content is available in the text. BACKGROUND Acute mesenteric ischemia (AMI) is a disease with high mortality and requires a multidisciplinary approach for effective management. A pathway and care bundle were developed and implemented with the objective to reduce mortality. The aim of this retrospective comparative study was to analyze the effects of the pathway on patient management and outcome. METHODS All consecutive patients operated in a secondary and tertiary referral center because of occlusive arterial AMI were identified between 2014 and April 2020. The pathway aimed to increase overall awareness, and hasten and improve diagnostics and management. Patients treated before implementation of the pathway (pregroup, years 2014–2017) were compared with patients treated using the pathway (postgroup, May 2018 to April 2020). Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to compare the groups. RESULTS There were 78 patients in the pregroup and 67 patients in the postgroup with comparable baseline characteristics and disease acuity. The postgroup was more often diagnosed with contrast-enhanced computed tomography (58 [74%] vs. 63 [94%], p = 0.001) and had shorter mean in-hospital delay to operating room (7 hours [interquartile range, 3.5–12.5] vs. 3 hours [interquartile range, 2–11], p = 0.023). Revascularization was done more often in the postgroup (53 [68%] vs. 56 [84%], p = 0.030) especially using endovascular treatment (26 [33%] vs. 43 [64%], p < 0.001). Thirty-day mortality was lower in the postgroup (23 [51%] vs. 17 [25%], p = 0.001). Being managed in the postgroup remained as a protective factor (odds ratio, 0.32; 95% confidence interval, 0.14–0.75; p = 0.008) for 30-day mortality in the multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION Implementing a pathway and care bundle resulted in enhanced regional and in-hospital awareness of AMI, more appropriate computed tomography imaging, shorter in-hospital delays, increased number of revascularizations, and, hence, lower mortality. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Therapeutic/Care Management, level IV.


As already pointed out by László Somfai in the late 1980s, Béla Bartók's first fully developed five-movement realization of the so-called "bridge" or "palindrome" form was only an afterthought, a further development of a composition originally intended as a cycle of four movements only. As also discussed briefly by Somfai, the evolution of the Allegretto, pizzicato movement itself had distinct stages. A recently surfaced source further clarifies these compositional phases, among others confirms the existence of a 140-measure-long version without a proper conclusion, which, at one point, the composer considered as a definitive version (for which only the ending needed to be composed) and tested with the Waldbauer-Kerpely Quartet. The present article re-examines the compositional process of Bartók's String Quartet no. 4 with an emphasis on its additional fourth movement and discusses the different compositional phases of the Allegretto, pizzicato.


The AOU Check-list (1957) lists Destruction Island in northern Washington as the most southerly known breeding site of the Rhinoceros Auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata). Since then and particularly since the late 1960s, several new breeding sites of this species have been discovered in British Columbia, Oregon and California. The status of C. monocerata in the southern part of its range is either changing or at least becoming better known. In this paper we wish to 1) report some additional breeding sites in the southern part of this species' range, 2) summarize all the new records of the past ten years, and 3) comment on the significance of these records. We also compare Rhinoceros Auklet activity patterns during the breeding season in the new southern extreme of their range with their activity patterns farther north.


In the 1980's, we saw an increase in the attention paid to organizational culture as an important determinant of organizational success. Many experts began to argue that developing a strong organizational culture is essential for success. There is no denying that each organization has a unique social structure and that these social structures drive much of the individual behavior observed in organizations.


Underwater communication remains a challenge until nowadays due to limit in deployment of underwater wireless communication. Acoustic communication suffers from several losses due to its dependency on environmental properties like temperature, pressure, salinity, depth and geometric configuration. As the advancement in technology the application of interest nowadays comprises of underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs). These networks have a number of sensors deployed in a particular acoustic area between different nodes and ground base stations to perform data collection and monitoring. Presently, UWSNs possess several constraints like cost of deployment, limited battery source, limited bandwidth, propagation delay, routing, topology, security, resource utilization etc. Several methodologies have been introduced to overcome these issues and challenges in last few decades. In this paper a comprehensive review of potential application areas along with research challenges is carried out by comparing several aspects of presently available methods in the field of UWSNs and a new research direction is identified indicating future aspects for further improvements in Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks.


Enhancements and errata to the author's paper "A Balasian-Based Algorithm for Zero-One Polynomial Programming," Management Science, Vol. 18, No. 6 (February 1972), pp. B-328–B-343.


Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα)-induced maturation of dendritic cells (DC), with down-regulation of their endocytic ability, has been reported to be mediated by the accumulation of the lipid messenger ceramide. We have now studied the effects and mechanisms of action of NO on endocytosis, investigated with fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled dextran using human monocyte-derived DC, both immature and after treatment with TNFα. Exposure of DC to NO, released by either bystander phagocytes or NO donors, reversed the inhibition of endocytosis induced by TNFα. The intracellular accumulation of ceramide induced by TNFα was also inhibited by NO. In addition, NO was found to exert an inhibitory effect downstream of the TNFα-triggered ceramide accumulation, because NO donors reversed the inhibition of endocytosis induced by the cell-permeant C2-ceramide. These effects of NO were mimicked by the membrane-permeant cyclic GMP analogue, 8-Br cyclic GMP, and prevented by inhibition of the soluble guanylyl cyclase. At variance with rodents, the inducible isoform of the NO synthase was expressed neither in immature human DC nor after cell treatment with TNFα, interferon-γ, and lipopolysaccharide, suggesting that regulation of these cells depends on exogenous NO. NO, working through cyclic GMP, might therefore prolong the ability of human DC to internalize antigens at the site of inflammation and thus modulate the initial steps leading to antigen-specific immune responses.


This presentation provides an update on microcellular foam research efforts at Los Alamos. Topics include the influence of pressure on the phase separation of poly(4-methyl-1-pentene) from organic solution, a new concept of phase diagrams, physical testing of foams, and recent emulsion polymerization results.


Abstract The increasing importance of distance learning has encouraged the emergence of Internet-based education services. This area of activity imposes new challenges for the participants, and experience shows that management of the dynamics of activities is a key factor for the success of Internet-based educational actions. This article reports some results achieved on a project aimed at studying management of e-learning environments and, based on the approach and results from that research project, presents and discusses the role of workflow tools and metadata definitions in the future implementation of management tools.


This article explores the disengagement and deradicalization experiences of Northern Irish loyalist paramilitaries from the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Red Hand Commando (RHC). Interpretative phenomenological analysis was employed to develop an understanding of how the former combatants interpreted and made sense of their disengagement from violence extremism in Northern Ireland after the Belfast Agreement. The analysis of the interviews focusses around push and pull factors which either promote or hinder their ability to move away from violent extremism. The results find a resonance with recent research exploring disengagement and deradicalization processes with terror groupings across the globe and the ideological spectrum. The findings are discussed in relation to a number of topics, including the role of prison, barriers to disengagement, continued commitment and radicalization after desistence from violent extremism, the role of life changes in promoting disengagement and how organizational pressures contain and influence individual disengagement.


Components are the basic building blocks of enterprise and distributed applications. Component-based development (CBD) is the technique of using a component framework to develop components and it focuses on developing large software systems by integrating previously existing software components. Component oriented architecture has already being developed by which components may be developed, assembled, stored and reused. It is possible to assemble an application from a repository of components developed in various languages by homogeneous or heterogeneous composition. Web services represent an evolution of the Web to allow the open and flexible interaction of applications over the Internet. Web services standards provide a high level of interoperability across platforms, programming languages and applications and hence these facets of Web services have been used to integrate the best aspects of component-based development and the Web. In this paper we propose a new method for integrating Java and C++ components by dynamically converting them into Web services using AXIS and gSOAP respectively.


Background Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) can lead to impaired physical function and work productivity due to chronic inflammation. The goal of PsA treatment is minimal disease activity (MDA) or Remission/Low Disease Activity (REM/LDA) attainment by DAPSA. But there is limited data about the association between PsA activity and work productivity in routine care. The Russian Psoriatic Arthritis Registry (RU-PsART) collected data from 25 rheumatology clinics in the Russian Federation regions. Objectives evaluate the association between attainment of REM/LDA by DAPSA and the WPAI-SHP in PsA pts in routine care. Methods 294 (M/F–133/161) pts with PsA, diagnosed according to CASPAR criteria, mean age 41.2±1.9 (Min 21 – Max 72) years (yrs.), PsA duration 6.1±5.3 (Min 0 – Max 31) yrs., psoriasis duration 13.6±10.7 (Min 0.2 – Max 54.8) yrs. were included in the RU-PsART after signing consent participation forms. Pts underwent evaluation of PsA activity by DAPSA and considered REM≤4, LDA≤14, moderate disease activity (MDA) ≤28, high disease activity (HDA) >28 at baseline. 175 out of 294 pts fulfilled WPAI-SHP. DAPSA and WPAI-SHP at the same time were available in 135 out of 175 pts. 87 out of 135 patients were able to work and operate. At the time of evaluation 82 out of 135 pts were taking sDMARDs, 19 out of 135 pts – bDMARDs±sDMARDs, 11 out of 135 pts – NSAID and in 23 out of 135 pts data were missing. Overall work impairment, daily activity impairment, absenteeism and presentism were calculated. M±SD,%, ORs with 95% CI were performed. All CI >1 were considered to indicate statistical significance. Results Daily activity impairment was found in 91 out of 135 pts (67%), overall work impairment – in 64 out of 87 pts (74%), presentism – in 47 out of 87 pts (49%), absenteeism – in 31 out of 87 pts (36%). 40 pts out of 135 (29.6%) had REM/LDA and 95 out of 135 pts (62.9%) had MDA/HAD by DAPSA accordingly at the time of the assessment. Among pts with MDA/HAD daily activity impairment, overall work impairment, presentism and absenteeism were seen in significantly more cases compared to pts with REM/LDA – in 69 out of 95 pts (73%) and in 22 out of 40 pts (55%), OR 2.17 [1.0–4.69]; in 54 out of 62 pts (87%) and in 10 out of 25 pts (40%), OR 10.13 [3.40–30.16]; in 38 out of 62 pts (38%) and in 9 out of 25 pts (36%), OR 2.81 [1.07–7.38]; in 30 out of 62 pts (48%) and in 1 out of 25 pts (4%), OR 22.5 [2.86–176.80] accordingly (Fig.1).Abstract SAT0354 – Figure 1 Interrelation between WPAI-SHP and PsA activity by DAPSA. ORs with 95% CI. Conclusions Work disability is commonly found in PsA pts in routine care. REM/LDA status by DAPSA was associated with less disability and better work productivity. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Objective To study the biological reliability of Chitosan Collagen Biological Dressing (CCBD).Method The biological reliability of CCBD A, B were studied by skin, cerato conjunctiva, muscle stimulating test and cytotoxicity test with pro fluids of CCBD A, B. Result Pro fluids of CCBD A,B were not stimulating in skin, cerato conjunctiva and muscle stimulating test. Pro fluids of CCBD A, B had not poisonous effect on keratinocytes and fibroblasts.Conclusion CCBD A, B have satisfactory reliabilities.


Based on remote sensing and GIS technology,the land use,vegetation,soil and soil erosion around the Yuka mining area of Qinghai province were analyzed,revealing the eco-environment status of this area.As indicated by the results,as the desert-oasis ecotone in the arid and semi-arid area of West China,the landscape of this area was dominated by desert,and its eco-environment was very fragile,with the influence of the long-term coal mining,its eco-environment was deteriorating,and soil eroded seriously,the poor soil led to the low biological productivity,and it was very difficult to restore the vegetation once destroyed.According to the eco-environmental features of this region,its development orientation was discussed.The research results well reflected the eco-environmental conditions of this region,and provided references for the comprehensive improvement of ecology.


The article presents the results of the study of structural-sorption performance and absorption properties of both raw materials and carbon sorbents obtained in the carbonization process, in terms of their ability to absorb petroleum products from water and contribute to the preservation of environmental infrastructure. Under the proposed mode of carbonization received hydrophobic sorbents. The analysis of the obtained results shows that carbon materials based on pine sawdust, obtained at a temperature of 300 °C for 8-10 minutes, have the best buoyancy – 97-100%. This can be explained by the fact that in the process of carbonization of cellulose-containing raw materials the last of the components of plant tissues decomposes lignin (active decomposition of lignin occurs in the temperature range 280-325 °C). As a result of research it is established that in the process of low-temperature one-stage carbonization of vegetable raw materials unauthorized hydrophobization of the sorbent surface is carried out. For fast and efficient collection of oil and oil products, the sorbent must have the maximum sorption rate, which will reduce the absorption time of pollutants. The highest sorption rate is shown by a mixture of pine sawdust carbonate: expanded graphite (50:50) and carbon material based on pine sawdust, which can be explained by the developed porous structure and surface chemistry of the materials.


Objective:To investigate the epidemics of Nipah virus(NiV)in Yili, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Methods:One step real time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction(real-time RT-PCR)was performed to detect the NiV N in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 120 equines. Gene sequence and amino acid sequence were analyzed for positive products.Results:The positive rate of NiV N in PBMCs from 120 equines was 0%(0/120).Conclusion:The investigation do not support that NiV infection exist in Yili, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.


Friction limits the precision of positioning and pointing systems and can give rise to instability.The Dahl model is a simple dynamic model with one state and is widely used in servo design.But the Dahl model cannot predict the stick-slip motion.It analyzed and pointed out that the Dahl model is an analytical version of the early friction model used in the analog computer,and the state equation of the Dahl model represents an integrator with clamping function in the analog circuit.Based on this understanding of the Dahl model,a modified Dahl model was proposed.It can improve the stability of the friction loop and can offer a static friction differing from the Coulomb friction.A typical stick-slip example was studied with the modified Dahl model and the results coincide with the theoretical ones.The proposed modified Dahl model would have a wide range of applications in the high precision servo design.


The white‐lipped frog, Leptodactylus albilabris, exhibits the greatest sensitivity to substrate‐borne vibrations (seismic stimuli) reported to date for any terrestrial animal. Nerve fibers from the sacculus, the source of this extraordinary sensitivity, show clear responses to sinusoidal seismic stimuli with peak accelerations less than 0.001 cm/s2. In addition, this animal generates substrate‐borne vibrational signals during calling. As the male's vocal sac expands, it strikes the substrate impulsively, generating a vertically polarized surface (Rayleigh) wave that is detected by neighboring males. These Rayleigh waves are used as intraspecific communication signals to coordinate chorus behavior in this species. Recently, a particularly unusual behavior has been described for one species of Malaysian treefrog (Polypedates). During nocturnal courtship, females living in dense mats of floating vegetation perch conspicuously on a reed or blade of grass and tap their rear toes rhythmically. Males on neighbor...


ABSTRACT Background: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common disease in sows due to intensification of pig production. Despite direct economic losses, UTI prevalence and respective microbial identification are still poorly studied. Objective: The aims of this study were to identify the causative agents of UTI in sows through MALDI-TOF MS and to characterize their antimicrobial resistance profiles. Materials and Methods: Urine samples from 300 sows of three herds from São Paulo State (Brazil) were screened for UTI; suggestive samples were submitted to bacterial isolation. Species identification was performed by MALDI-TOF MS and susceptibility profiles were determined using disc diffusion method. Results: 128 samples suggestive of UTI were analyzed; 48% of the animals presented UTI caused by a single pathogen, while the remaining 52% presented mixed infection. Escherichia coli stood out with the highest frequency among both single and mixed infections. The Gram-positive were exclusively associated with 27% of single infections. The mixed infections were further classified into 49 profiles. The high frequency of multiresistant profiles stood out for most of the studied isolates. Conclusions: MALDI-TOF MS enabled the identification of rare pathogens related to UTI which may represent higher risk for porcine health, especially considering high frequency of multiresistant profiles.


Purpose : This paper proposes the application of haptic modeling to a virtual waxing-up system to be used for dental education and dental CAD systems.Materials and Methods : A mandibular right first molar model was selected from the tooth crown model data library we had previously created from the three-dimensional coordinate data of plaster models enlarged four times. After partially damaging the occlusal surface shape of the tooth model, we reconstructed its original shape using a haptic modeling system consisting of a haptic force feedback device called the PHANToM® and 3D modeling software called FreeForm®.Results : The FreeForm modeling system enables easier control of the functional shape of the occlusal surface than previous modification methods that handled the control points of various free-form surfaces with the 2D mouse. Additionally, the haptic interfaces were extremely useful for resolving visual ambiguities ; the sense of touch led to greater accuracy.Conclusion : We affirmed that the use of this haptic modeling system can provide a significant benefit to dental education and dental CAD systems.


IN CONNECTION WITH a study of the evolution of postural rdexes in neurologically abnormal infants, it became apparent that existing information about the ages at which various changes take place in these reflexes in normal children needed to be amplified. Particularly, the range of variation of normal was not clear from reports in the literature, and it is clearly essential to know the outer limits of normal in order to interpret apparent abnormalities.