Abstract With the rapid development of technology, the smart lighting system has been a part of our daily life. The control theory has absolutely changed the traditional lighting system. Due to the flexibility, lower cost and power dissipation, the smart lighting system uses ZigBee technique to realize its function. This paper proposed a new routing algorithm based on the traditional algorithm—ADPS (Address Redistribute and Path Reselection). The improved address allocation method according to the weight and network depth has been put forward. The results show that the new routing algorithm can basically optimize the real-time performance and reliability of smart lighting system.


This paper presents the torsional vibration isolation performance evaluation of a centrifugal pendulum absorbers (CPAs) that has a continuously varying resonance frequencies proportional to engine firing (excitation) order. CPAs are commonly used to suppress torsional vibrations in rotating machi-nery and internal combustion engines. In this study, they are employed on the current spring type torsional damper inside a torque converter of automotive vehicle. To evaluate the effectiveness of de-signed resonance tuning order, the torsional vibration transmissibility based on torque measurements with respect to different engine firing orders is experimentally measured with a lower-inertia dynamometer. The torsional vibration transmissibility with respect to different frequencies with engine order of 2 is also evaluated. It has been demonstrated that the significant vibration reduction over operational frequency range of interest can be achieved by attaching simple pendulums. Future research direction includes the study on theoretical analysis, improved design of pendulum etc.


The distribution of landslides in Victoria can be closely related to certain geological conditions, in combination with steep natural slopes, and heavy rainfall. In addition man made affects can sometimes be distinguished. Landslides are not generally a major hazard in the local landscape, but several major slides in recent years have damaged or threatened roads and houses and have required detailed study and costly control measures (a).


Open-pit slopes contain numerous nonpenetrating, intermittent joints which maintain stability under blasting operations. The tip dynamic response coefficient (DRC) of parallel cracks in a typical rock mass under combined dynamic and static loading conditions was calculated in this study based on the superposition principle. The dynamic response law of the intermittent joint in the slope under blasting was determined accordingly. The influence of many factors (the disturbance amplitude of dynamic load, the lateral confining pressure, the length of rock bridge, the length between cracks, the staggered distance between cracks, and the crack inclination angle) on the dynamic response was theoretically analyzed as well. The ABAQUS numerical assessments were conducted on simulation models with parallel cracks under combined dynamic and static loading conditions. The results show that a larger dynamic load amplitude and smaller crack inclination angle/confining pressure result in greater Type II dynamic strengthening effect on the crack tip. When the length of the rock bridge between cracks ( ) is smaller than the half length of the crack ( ), the dynamic strengthening effect at the crack tip weakens gradually with increase in ; when , the strengthening effect is almost unchanged. With the increase in the staggered distance between cracks ( ), the dynamic strengthening effect of the crack tip weakens at first and then strengthens; the strengthening effect is weakest when ; the crack propagation under combined dynamic and static loading is the most sensitive to the lateral confining pressure ( ) and is the least sensitive to the inclination angle of the cracks ( ). Theoretical results are validated by comparison with numerical simulation results. Such information regarding the dynamic response law of the parallel cracks in rock masses under dynamic and static loading conditions is conducive to further research on the mesofailure mechanism of open-pit mine jointed rock slopes under blasting operations.


School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing 100044, China Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Future Urban Design, Beijing 100044, China Beijing Collaborative Innovation Center for Energy Conservation & Emission Reduction and Sustainable Urban-Rural Development, Beijing 100044, China National Institute of Clean-and-Low-Carbon Energy (NICE), Beijing 102211, China Guangxi Transportation Research & Consulting Co., Ltd., Guangxi, Nanning 530007, China


Two experimental platforms were set up to measure the heat transfer coefficient of horizontal-tube falling film evaporators.The effect of spray density,evaporating temperature,total temperature difference and inlet steam velocity on the overall heat transfer coefficient K is studied. Furthermore the impact of different tube pitches on the heat transfer characteristics is also presented. The results indicate that growth of spray density and evaporating temperature helps to increase the K.The K could also be increased by reducing the total temperature difference.However,the impact of the inlet steam velocity on the K is less significant.The K with tube-pitch of 46.7 mm is supreme in the present testing conditions.


UNLABELLED
The aim of the study was to investigate the gender differences in patients with schizophrenia in age of onset, other demographic and clinical characteristics and their relationship with QEEG power spectrum measures.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Thirty patients with schizophrenia were enrolled in the study, 17 female and 13 male, mean age 34 years. Comprehensive assessment of the symptoms of schizophrenia was performed using PANSS (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale), BPRS (Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale) and CGI (Clinical Global Impression) scale. The age of onset of schizophrenia and the duration of psychosis was assessed using the medical history and parts of the IRAOS (Interview for Retrospective Assessment of Onset of Schizophrenia).

RESULTS
Female patients had more severe psychopathology with statistically significant differences in PANSS and BPRS scores (larger total scores) and on the positive subscale of PANSS. QEEG power spectrum showed statistical significant difference only for the beta band in female patients. Women were less employed and had longer duration of illness and previous treatment. There were no differences in the mean age of onset of the disease (26 years in male and 25 years in female patients) and in the familiar occurrence.

CONCLUSION
Fast basic activity in beta bands was associated with female patients with schizophrenia who presented more severe psychopathology and had longer duration of the disease and previous treatment. Considering the relatively small sample the current results must be replicated with a larger group of subjects to confirm the findings.


To investigate the feasibility of the laser hardening technique in straightening of a shaft part and what the effects of different processing conditions,a relevant test was designed and implemented,where a CO2 laser was used for the shaft specimen.The influence of processing conditions such as laser hardening area,shaft diameter,laser power and laser hardening times on straightening was analyzed qualitatively.The results showed that the laser hardening can be used for straightening a shaft.The eccentricity which is straightened is below 0.1 mm.The laser hardening area and the shaft diameter are of great influence on the shaft-straightening.


Contemporary European law of delicts (torts) represents more and more an expression of constitutional rights and personal freedoms. It is regarded that human rights have the most powerful and immediate influence with respect to protection of human dignity. Simply and nicely put: "Human dignity is an inherent value, possessed by each individual in the same manner". According to the ideas expressed in the preamble of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. With respect to each state - observance of human dignity is fundamental for democratic state of law. Human dignity is a notion broader than separately guaranteed rights and freedoms, and respect for it is a prerequisite for exercising of other rights. Contemporary civil law protects human dignity, as the most profound and most sensitive value of human personality, mostly, by the norms of immaterial damages. The basis for its protection, in the countries belonging to the Roman legal family, was laid by the Roman law rules on iniuria. This paper discusses the Roman rules on iniuria, what was left of them during the middle ages, and finally how was human personality safeguarded under revolutionary turnovers of the modern era according to the provisions of the Serbian Civil Code.


Abstract The recent rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to transform how governments work by enhancing the quality of decision-making. Despite rising expectations and the growing use of AI by governments, scholarly research on AI applications in public administration has lagged. In this study, we fill gaps in the current literature on the application of machine learning (ML) algorithms with a focus on revenue forecasting by local governments. Specifically, we explore how different ML models perform on predicting revenue for local governments and compare the relative performance of revenue forecasting by traditional forecasters and several ML algorithms. Our findings reveal that traditional statistical forecasting methods outperform ML algorithms overall, while one of ML algorithms, KNN, is more effective in predicting property tax revenue. This result is particularly salient for public managers in local governments to handle foreseeable fiscal challenges through more accurate predictions of revenue.


Until the late 1980s, Albania was one of the least known countries in the world and virtually inaccessible to foreigners. Most studies on Eastern Europe lacked reliable and complete information about Albania; it was usually either mentioned as the smallest and the least developed country of Europe or totally ignored. For their part, Albanian scholars have made little contribution, if any, to analysing their society under Hoxha's Communist regime. As with all totalitarian systems, Albania's Communism was immune to criticism for almost forty-five years, and information on domestic issues was tightly controlled. This article aims to throw some light on and to systematically analyse Albania's road from Communism. The country's inherited social, political, cultural, and economic conditions have made Albania's move from Communism the most difficult and convulsive of all the East European countries. They are also likely to put considerable obstacles in the path of establishing a true democracy, making Albania's post-Communist transition highly uncertain.


The power tolerance in recording is one of the most significant issues in the case of rewritable optical disk systems. Magneto-optical land/groove recording has been investigated by magnetic field modulation with pulse irradiation. The lower limit and the upper limit of the power tolerance are determined from the overwriting and the crosswrite characteristics, respectively. The experimental dependence of the power tolerance on track pitch, pulse duty, and optical spot size has been in good agreement with our model based on the thermal analysis. According to our model, the mark width is exactly the width of a recording track for the lower limit of power tolerance, and it spreads into the neighboring track for the upper limit. The deep groove substrate has been found experimentally and theoretically to be effective for improving the power tolerance.


This study examined the methylene blue dye adsorption on rice husk char- burnt clay composite. At a total residence time of 50 minutes, husk of rice was burned at 200...


GENETICS was at a turning point in the early 1940s. The classical period had matured and was ripe for the transition to the molecular era. Geneticists had established that a gene has a precise location on a particular chromosome. They had explained the transmission of genes in heredity, and their


In the last few years,the tourism development of ChenZhou is quite rapid,but the definition of traveling image is not so sufficient.If ChenZhou wants to be a perfect tourism city,and win more and more tourists' favor,it must integrate its own abound resources of culture and history,making full use of them,appreciating its tourism products.The resources of culture and history in ChenZhou can be integrated into localized agriculture culture,paradise culture,JanDuWen,red culture,local acrobatics culture and sports culture.To fully understand ChenZhou's culture and history and transform it to a economical resource,the following measures should be taken: enriching its historical and cultural tourism abundance and depth' highlighting several of its tourism products.and properly giving publicity to ChenZhou' cultural and historical tourism.


Thus spake W. B. Yeats after some forty-five years of seeing his plays produced and often directing them himself. Perhaps the last phrases quoted are all the answer some critics of his plays deserve. Certainly he has no need of any defense from me or from a lady who wrote "I would like to redeem both A Vision and the [later] plays…" It was the same lady who remarked that "In spite of its appeal, The Player Queen, like most of Yeats's plays, is not really stageworthy." Granted such a redeemer, Yeats hardly needs a betrayer. What he does need are directors who are intelligent and humble enough to read all that he has written about the kind of production he wanted for a particular play or type of play and then to carry out these instructions as faithfully as possible.


In biomedical applications, the Electromyographic (EMG) signal is used to record the electrical activity of the muscles during their contraction. EMG signal classification stands at the core of real time systems that aim to discriminate between user's movements without relying on other environmental conditions (as it is the case with gesture classification based on video). The classification of EMG signals is usually used to translate the sign language or to design computer interfaces based on gesture recognition. In this paper, we propose a continuation of our previous work, on a real-time automatic hand gesture recognition using fully connected neural networks and temporal features extracted from the EMG signals. This approach leads to a recognition of an increased number of gestures, starting from a system trained for discriminating between a small number of classes of recognized gestures. More precisely, using an innovative transfer learning method, we preserved the performance of the system (99.31% overall accuracy compared to previous 99.78%), while doubling the number of recognized gestures.


Adopting a psycholinguistic model of analysis such as Relevance Theory (Sperber & Wilson 1986a[1995]), helps, we argue, account for traditional Arab grammarians' long-standing belief that the verb, as a lexical category, fails to be xabar (a rheme). Concisely, this paper aims to explore the 'linkage' between linguistic structure and pragmatic interpretation. The proposal adopted here is that, following Al-Jarrah (2009), actions, being less concrete than participants, tend to stand out less in the "landscape"; and thus, are less likely to create maximal relevance. In relevance-theoretic terms, verbal constituents create, we argue, less contextual effects for larger processing cognitive effort. Nominal constituents, on the other hand, are more likely to be relevant because they are, we believe, the "discourse entities" which are mainly the potential carriers of information. The present study advances the uniform assumption that the "rhematic status" of a constituent - be it nominal, verbal, etc. - is exclusively determined by its overall relevance to the context in which it occurs, i.e. the one causing substantial modification to the cognitive environment of the interlocutors in the discourse. In order to empirically support the validity of this claim, the information structuring of the opening of some Qur'anic chapters (Arabic: suras) is investigated. Whereas some chapters (e.g. 'al-muŧaffifeen, 'al-''la) follow the verbal pattern (V S), others (e.g.'altakweer, 'al-inshigaag, 'al-infiŧaar) follow the nominal pattern (NP VP). As for the mechanism, sooner disambiguation (topicalisation), defocalisation (lower pitch), and reference assignment (pronoun usage) all work in tandem in a text consisting of a set of assumptions of different degrees of manifestness to narrow down the assumption that is relevant most to both the speaker and the audience in the discourse, and ultimately enhance the local cohesion of the text. (Note 1)


North Carolina elementary school essential learning standards require students to understand the scientific method and also to understand the functional interaction of muscles and bones. A technology‐based active learning laboratory incorporating both of these standards was designed to help students grasp the concepts in a fun, innovative way, while also introducing the students, who are historically unlikely to attend college, to a university research laboratory. Additionally, the activities were designed to be taught by undergraduate exercise science students as an educational outreach service learning project in conjunction with the American Physiological Society's Physiology Understanding (PhUn) Week. The "Which Hand is Stronger?" lab used hand dynamometry, pinch strength, and arm flexor strength as a model to teach 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students the scientific method. Hand dynamometry was chosen because the methodology can be used to evaluate a simple, fun, developmentally appropriate question; does hand dominance influence hand strength? The laboratory exercise guided students through the scientific process: introducing background information about muscles, bones, and their interactions depending on how they are used; utilizing the knowledge learned to formulate a hypothesis based on which hand the students write and throw with; performing several functional tests and analyzing the data; and drawing a conclusion based on the results of the entire class. Research equipment in the university's neuromuscular and biomechanics laboratory was used for functional testing and data analysis. A hand dynamometer, pinch meter, and myometer (Biometrics Ltd. Newport, UK) were used to determine force of hand grip, lateral pinch, and arm flexor strength for both the left and right sides. With the help of volunteers, the students analyzed and recorded their force output data using software interfaced with the force testing equipment. Each individual shared results with the class to compile a table of all students' data. Combining hand dynamometry with real‐time graphical force output allowed students to visually connect action with muscle strength data. Anecdotally, students were visibly excited to see their data. Most of the students concluded that their hypothesis that hand dominance was associated with grip strength was correct, however, this was not always true for individual students. This provided an opportunity to discuss proper interpretation of results, methodologic limitations, and physiological differences related to the different measures. Elementary teachers surveyed were enthusiastic about the lessons and determined that the laboratory was age‐appropriate and met the curriculum standards for content. Service‐learning volunteers believed that the experience was more educational and more meaningful than other service opportunities in which they had participated, and expressed interest in being able to participate in similar, future projects.


A first host (60), computer readable medium and method for providing a specialized software package (24) to a second host (70). The method includes initializing, at the first host (60), an application (90) on the first host (60) for communicating with a corresponding application (100) on the second host (70); sending, from the first host (60), a message for verifying a presence of the specialized software package (24) on the second host (70); pushing, when the specialized software package (24) is not present on the second host (70), the specialized software package (24) from the first host (60) to the second host (70); performing, at the first host (60), a specialized activity based on the specialized software package (24) at the first host (60) and the specialized software package (24) at the second host (70); and receiving at the application (90) of the first host (60), a result of the specialized activity, wherein the result of the specialized activity is used by the application (90) at the first host (60) to communicate with the corresponding application (100) on the second host (70).


The magnetic memory effect of 45CrNiMoVA structural steel under static-load were studied.The surface magnetic field intensity signals were measure by EMS-2003 instrument in the whole tensile process and gaining the relationship of the magnetic memory signal with variation of stresses.The zone of surface magnetic signals exist excursion,and the position of zero value and fracture of specimens has some relationship.The zero value is helpful on deciding the dangerous zone of 45CrNiMoVA tructural steel component.


Modeling approaches based on the density functional theory (DFT): the Kohn–Sham (KS) method and orbital-free (OF) method are used to for calculation of the binding energies per atom as functions of the diameter of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with the open ends. It is shown that this energy has a minimum at a diameter of about 1.1 – 1.2 nm. The experiments made by means of Raman spectroscopy have shown that diameters of SWCNTs mainly lie in the range of 1 – 1.5 nm.


Under field conditions and similar climates, the
daily amount of water evaporated by agricultural
plants is nearly the same for most agricultural
crops at full cover when soil moisture is not limiting.
The amount of energy available to evaporate
water is the major controlling factor when actively
growing, well-watered agricultural plants fully
cover the soil. As a result, mean maximum evaporation
rates generally vary between 5 and 6 mm
per day in humid moderate climates and between
7.5 and 8.5 mm per day in arid irrigated areas. Daily
rates of 10-14 mm have been measured on
clear, hot, windy days. The total seasonal amount
of water evaporated from an annual crop ranges
from 50 to 80% of the amount evaporated from a
crop such as alfalfa in a given climate. Small
plants that do not shade the soil after planting and
mature plants near harvest account for most of this
difference. Total seasonal evaporation also depends
on the length of the growing season.


Recent technological developments concerning Web 2.0 have enabled the use of three-dimensional virtual platforms for educational purposes. In this paper, focus is placed on the modifi cation of an OpenSimulator based 3D environment for its reuse in a different fi eld of medical education; developments are presented alongside the associated effort to reconstruct and repurpose this environment so as to fi t medical specialties of different clinical skills. The aim of this study was to present repurposing aspects of a learning environment modifi cation and adaption to the needs of various medical specialties, in an attempt to reuse – and therefore share – learning content between different medical areas. Initially, a 3-Dimensional environment was created using the OpenSim platform for use in cardiology. Then, the virtual environment was modifi ed so as to be oriented to the needs of psychiatry. The reconstruction of the educational environment and context and the reformation of the educational clinical scenario offer the possibility of reusability of this content which can be tailored to the needs of each medical fi eld. * Corresponding author; Address: Lab of Medical Informatics, P.O. Box 323, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki Greece, tel:+302310999310, fax:+302310999263, email: firstname.lastname@example.com BIO-ALGORITHMS AND MED-SYSTEMS JOURNAL EDITED BY MEDICAL COLLEGE – JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY Vol. 6, No. 11, 2010, p. 9–13


An iterative digital image filtering algorithm based on signaling game idea is presented. Aim at shortages of the standard medium filtering algorithm, this paper provides an improving approach through appointing signaling game idea. The method is that choose filtering window, sort every pixel value in the window and find the median first and then compare the median and the window central pixel value, and obtain the probability that the window central pixel is signal point or noise point according to the similarity between the medium and window central pixel value, finally, construct membership function to fix the value of window central pixel and bring the value amended to the following pixel filtering operation. As the method above, we repeat the operation until all the value of pixels in the image have been amended. The results of computer simulation prove that the improved algorithm not only can suppress the noise but also keep details of the image well.


Firefighters are potentially exposed to many carcinogens in their work. Collection of occupational hazard exposure data offers firefighters greater awareness of their health and wellness and analysis of the data provides researchers opportunities to identify firefighters' specific health risks. The University of Miami's Firefighters' Cancer Initiative conducted user-centered design research with 450 Florida firefighters to develop and implement the Personal Exposure Reporter system for firefighters. Responses after product launch suggest that the system is well received and allows firefighters to successfully submit incident exposure information. The Personal Exposure Reporter will help both firefighters and cancer researchers better understand and address cancer risks.


A pump system for a downhole tool comprises a pump 41a which is powered by mud 17a flowing downward through a drill string. The pump is in fluid communication with the formation or borehole 18. The pump is linked to a controller, preferably tool embedded software, which controls the pump speed based upon a parameter of the system. The parameter is selected from mud flow rate, tool temperature, borehole or formation pressure, fluid mobility, system losses, mechanical or electrical load limitations, available power or combinations thereof. The pump may be linked to a gearbox 48a linked to a turbine 37a driven by the mud flow. The mud flow to the turbine may be controlled by a throttle valve 123 linked to the tool embedded software. The pump system may be used in conjunction with a formation sampling device 31a. In a second aspect, a pump system includes a controller that adjusts a transmission operatively linked to the turbine. In a further aspect, a method includes limiting the pump operation.


The Adonis Complex of the Male Millenial : A study into the perception and attitude of young men towards sexualisation and objectification in men's lifestyle magazines


The competition and compatibility of technology standards,proprietary vs.open, were analyzed under the framework of two-sided markets.When the two standards are incompatible,the firm owning proprietary standards can achieve lower prices,larger markets share and more profit.However,when they are compatible,the profit of the total industry and the social welfare will be improved.


Coal-fired power plants play a significant role in the abatement of the CO2 emissions. Solar hybrid with a coal-fired power plant is an attractive option for the solar energy utilization and energy conservation. An analysis model was built up on the basis of the material balance and the performance of the boiler integrated with the solar energy in which parabolic trough solar thermal collectors were adopted. A comparison of the presented model with the boiler thermodynamic calculation was investigated through a case study of a 600MW subcritical boiler with the integration of the solar energy, and the results show that the presented analysis model can meet the need of the engineering calculation.


ABSTRACT We assessed the ability of three commercial systems to infer carbapenem resistance mechanisms in 39 carbapenemase-producing and 16 other carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. The sensitivity/specificity values for "flagging" a likely carbapenemase were 100%/0% (BD Phoenix), 82 to 85%/6 to 19% (MicroScan), and 74%/38% (Vitek 2), respectively. OXA-48 producers were poorly detected, but all systems reliably detected isolates with KPC and most with metallo-carbapenemases.


The human eye is sensitive to three primary bands of light—centered on the red, green, and blue parts of the visible spectrum. The human eye is not very sensitive to variations in shades of gray—being able to distinguish only approximately 25 different gradations of gray in satellite images. However, by using the three different color sensors, the eye has the potential to distinguish up to a million different values of color. Hence, color is a powerful tool for distinguishing various objects of interest with subtle intensity variations.
The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites-R (GOES-R) series of geostationary satellites do not have a green channel. However, a synthetic green channel can be constructed from the blue, red, and nearinfrared "veggie" channels for the use in a true-color visible image. Since the launch of the GOES-16 satellite, several different groups have developed color visible algorithms that are available on public websites. The purpose of this paper is to help explain the similarities and differences of true-color GOES images that are on the web and in other locations.


(S)-Phenylsuccinic acid, C10H10O4, crystallizes from water with two molecules per asymmetric unit. In the crystal structure, the carboxyl groups of each acid molecule are connected to those of adja ...


Immanuel Kant and John Dewey can both plausibly be read as supporting the view that art can combat the existential Unheimlichkeit engendered by the finitude and contingency of our earthly being, and thus help us to feel more at home in the world. But, although both agree that any sense of alienation one might feel within her phenomenal existence can be transformed through the work of art, the explanation each gives for this transformative capacity betrays some important differences. Indeed, Dewey sees the contrast between himself and Kant as having to do primarily with the latter's appeal to the infinite and non-contingent in the development of his account. In this paper, I aim to illuminate how – by taking this difference as his point of departure in explaining art's transformative capacity – Dewey presents an equally compelling, and perhaps even more inclusive, account of how art is capable of helping us feel more at home in the world, and is one that actually places the transformative locus of the work of art within our phenomenal, contingent, and finite existence.


The concept of a resource management paradigm was developed and operationalized in a nationwide study of US Forest Service employees in 1990. The results suggested that the attitudes and values of one particular segment of Forest Service employees, the Association of Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, represent an alternative resource management paradigm that differs significantly from the dominant management paradigm held by the majority of US Forest Service employees. The study also found a significant segment of non-Association of Forest Service Employees for the Environmental Ethics employees eager to embrace non-consumptive forest policy changes. In 1996, the nationwide study of the US Forest Service was replicated to re-examine what changes had occurred. The results indicate that: (1) An alternative resource management paradigm continues to exist in the agency but that Association of Forest Service Employees for the Environmental Ethics' role as a catalyst has changed due to a potential decline in association membership, its perceived effectiveness among other agency employees, actual changes in agency resource management, and other more pressing external threats. (2) The agency has shifted more toward embracing the new resource management paradigm between 1990‐1996, thus narrowing the perceived bureaucratic performance gap between employee preferences and resource management outcomes. (3) The production of commodities is viewed as more favorable in 1996 than in 1990, perhaps as a result of the shift in agency resource orientation toward ecosystem management and less production of forest goods. It is argued that the pendulum has swung too far toward non-commodities along a commodity/noncommodity continuum in the minds of forest service employees. We argue that this trend is part of an international phenomenon. Further, the kind of longitudinal and institutional analysis presented here could be applied to resource management agencies in national and provincial governments of other countries. © 2000 Academic Press


The skins and seeds of grapes are known to be rich sources of phenolic compounds, both flavonoids and non-flavonoids. The aim of the present study is to determine polyphenolic composition, antioxidant potential along with free radical scavenging activity and antimicrobial properties of ethanol extract of Grape skin and seed. Grape seed showed high antioxidant and antimicrobial activity compared to grape skin extract which revealed the medicinal properties of grape seed extract. The IC 50


1-(2′-Chloroacetylamino)-4,4-dimethyl-1,4-dihydro-3(2H)-isoquinolinone (3) was cyclised by treatment with sodium hydride in dimethyl sulphoxide containing 0.1 % of water to give 10,10-dimethyl-6,7,9,10-tetrahydro-5H,14bH-isoquino[2,1-d][1,4]benzodiazepine-6,9-dione (4) in a yield of 80%. In anhydrous dimethyl sulphoxide the main product of the reaction was 5-N-(4,4-dimethyl-1-phenyl-1,4-dihydro-3(2H)-isoquinolinon-1′-yl)isoquino[2,1-d][1,4]benzodiazepine-6,9-dione (5), which was also prepared by the reaction of 3 with 4.


According to the regional characteristics and climatic features in a cold region, interpret the relationship between building exterior pattern and energy-saving design by do the research on building size, building skin and construction design method,and explore how to combination of both, explore the possibility of the development of energy-saving building forms in a cold region on this basis, and enrich its architectural form vocabulary.


We report a new asymmetric route to both the D and L isomers of 3- and 4-pyridylalanine. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a direct asymmetric synthesis of these heterocyclic amino acid analogues


Time‐resolved electron energy loss spectroscopy (TREELS) was used to monitor the transitions between the terminal, short bridge, and (2×1)p1g1 saturation overlayer sites of CO on Ni(110). Three coverage regimes (each corresponding to the dominance of one adsorption site) were observed in the CO stretch corrected relative intensity measured continuously during adsorption. The populations of the three species and their relative dynamic dipole moments were derived from a simple model. The reduction in EEL cross section in the p1g1 phase is consistent with a tilt of the CO molecule by as much as 55° from the surface normal. Kinetics of the transformation from the p1g1 to mostly bridge‐bonded phase was obtained by monitoring (1) changes in EEL intensities induced by a linear temperature ramp, and (2) the isothermal nonequilibrium relaxation of CO following a rapid saturation exposure from a pulsed gas doser.


---------------------------------------------------------------------***--------------------------------------------------------------------Abstract – Botnets are the common vehicle for Cybercriminal activities. They are used for spamming, phishing, denial-of-service attacks, brute-force cracking attacks, stealing private data and cyber warfare. A botnet is also called as a zombie army. This zombie army may range from net computers that the owner of the system may not know that their device is under the control of this zombie army and they transmit the viruses or spam to other co-operative computers which are cordially in link with them in the network. In our paper we propose two stages of approaches for Botnet detection. The primary stage discovers or detects and collects the anomalies related to the network which are co-related to the botnets. The second stage does the work of identifying the bots and blocking them from entering into the receiver end and also identifying the IP addresses of the Bot sender and the Bot sender will not be able to login the application any longer. The approach is generally to exploit the 2 observations: (1) Botmaster's or attacker targets are easier to find as a result of the impact with several alternative nodes, and (2) The activities of the infected machines will be similar to the Botmaster's activities but will be under the supervision of the Botmaster. In our project we are implementing a Scanner for identifying the Bots. Protection mode is implemented in every receiver end.


The division of Azerbaijan economy to the oil and non-oil sectors has been crucial economic approach due to the boom in the energy sector during the last decades. However, this division cannot eliminate the gap between the sectors. The oil sector has dominant position in Azerbaijan economy. This paper investigates and characterises the potential economic sectors of the non-oil division in Azerbaijan which can promote the economic growth using the main indicators and their shares in the gross output. Likewise, this research assesses the efficiency of the Azerbaijan government in order to foster the percentage of non-oil sector particularly in the agricultural activities and the development of the regions. The results of the paper asserts that the falling oil prices and oil production have amplified the share of the non-oil sector in the economy. The current economic situation reveals the outcomes of the activities by the Azerbaijan government in the non-oil sector.


Since it starts by writing itself as a text about a thought of difference, it assumes ped agogy as a work of creation. It is a text produced under the Gilles...


Newly provided are: an electroconductive substrate which includes an electroconductive film configured of electroconductive fibers comprising nanometer-size structural moieties; and a process for producing the electroconductive substrate. A transparent electroconductive film (1a) which comprises a support layer (2), a hydrophilic interlayer (3) formed on the support layer (2) by coating fluid application and constituted of a film comprising aggregates of colloidal particles as a main component, a hydrophobic electroconductive layer (4) formed on the interlayer (3) by coating fluid application and constituted of a film comprising electroconductive fibers, and an overcoat layer (5) that covers and protects the interlayer (3) and electroconductive layer (4) lying on the support layer (2) is subjected to an ultrasonic treatment in water to thereby form a fine pattern in the electroconductive layer (4). Alternatively, a transparent electroconductive film (1b) which comprises a support layer (2), a hydrophilic interlayer (3) formed on the support layer (2) and constituted of a film comprising aggregates of colloidal particles as a main component, a hydrophobic electroconductive layer (4) formed on the interlayer (3) and constituted of a film comprising electroconductive fibers, and a photocured resist layer (6) formed on the electroconductive layer (4) is subjected to an ultrasonic treatment in water to thereby form a fine pattern in the electroconductive layer (4).


Neoadjuvant radiotherapy with concurrent fluoropyrimidines followed by surgery is considered the standard-of-care in locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). Neoadjuvant chemo-radiotherapy (CRT) is associated with a pathological complete response (pCR) rate of 11-18%. Intensification of neoadjuvant treatment can lead to higher rates of tumor resectability and pCR, although the best therapeutic sequence is unknown. This is a prospective, single arm study which aims to standardize institutional clinical practice in accordance with international recommendations. Patients with LARC received neoadjuvant intensive treatment with concurrent CRT followed by 12 weeks of consolidation chemotherapy (ChT) with CAPOX or mFOLFOX6. Clinical response was accessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 10 weeks, 14 weeks, and 18 weeks. If complete clinical response (cCR) was obtained, a watch-and-wait (W&W) strategy was offered; otherwise, surgery was performed. The primary endpoint was to evaluate clinical response rate after 10 weeks of intensification treatment, and its comparison with historical data. Key secondary endpoints included clinical response rate at 14 and 18 weeks, rate of patients who enter W&W strategy, rate of pCR in patients who undergo surgery, recurrence free survival (RFS), overall survival (OS), and rate of adverse effects. We present efficacy and safety preliminary results one year from the start of the study. Six patients with LARC were included. Three had a tumour in the low-rectum, two in middle-rectum and one in high-rectum. At initial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), two had cT2, three had cT3 and one had cT4; three had cN1 and one cN2; two patients had extramural venous invasion (EMVI+) and one had mesorectal fascia involvement (MRF+). After CRT, all patients started consolidation ChT. The most common grade [≥]3 AEs were neutropenia, nausea, and diarrhoea. There were no dose-limiting toxicities and all patients completed treatment. MRI at 10 weeks showed a tumour regression grade (TRG) 2 in three patients, TRG3 in two patients and TRG4 in one patient. Two patients are in the W&W surveillance protocol; one is awaiting MRI at 18 weeks; another patient awaits surgery; and of the two patients already underwent surgery, one had a ypT3N1 and the other had complete pathological response (pCR). To this date there are no recurrence or death events. These preliminary results suggests tolerability and feasibility of a neoadjuvant intensification treatment in patients with LARC.


150The individual in international law — Human rights and freedoms — Freedom of expression — Limits on freedom of expression — Conviction of publisher and seizure of publications under obscenity legislation — Whether restrictions necessary for the protection of morals — No common European concept of morals — Margin of appreciation afforded to State authorities — Function of freedom of expression in a democratic society — Relevance of age of target readership of literature — Relevance of attitude of other European States towards same publication — Relevance of attitude of national authorities towards other similar publications — European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Articles 10, 17 and 18 Discrimination — Whether seizure of allegedly obscene literature politically motivated — European Convention, Article 14 Deprivation of possessions — Meaning — Provisional seizure pending trial — Eventual destruction — Whether necessary — First Protocol to the European Convention, Article 1 European Court of Human Rights — Jurisdiction — Supervisory role in relation to Article 10 and Article 1 of the First Protocol to the European Convention — Capacity to review decisions of national authorities — Capacity to consider allegation already rejected by Commission as manifestly ill-founded Treaties — Interpretation — Bilingual treaties — Comparison of French and English texts


The kinetics of deactivation of a series of nickel catalysts by thiophene during benzene hydrogenation has been studied. The amount of sulfur retained by the catalyst for different amount of thiophene fed into the reactor was measured, and the effect of the retained sulfur on both catalyst activity and metallic surface area was investigated. On the basis of these results, a kinetic model for the process was developed and its parameters were estimated. The model includes a relationship between the deactivation rate constant and both the physicochemical characteristics of the catalyst and the total amount of catalyst in the reactor


PURPOSE: To obtain the title coating material improved in stain resistance, flex resistance, impact resistance, etc. CONSTITUTION: The title material consists essentially of a resin containing as the functional groups an epoxy group and at least one kind of group selected from a silanol group and a hydrolyzable group directly bonded to a silicon atom and forms a cured film having a TUKON hardness (Knoop hardness number) of 4 to 12, a glass transition temperature of 50-90°C and an intercrosslinkage molecular weight of at most 500. COPYRIGHT: (C)1993,JPO&Japio


Regularization methods consist of a category of commonly used techniques to obtain robust solutions to ill-posed problems such as nonparametric regression and classification. In recent years, methods of regularization have also been successfully introduced to address some other classical problems in statistics, e.g. model/variable selection and dimension reduction. This thesis is composed of two major parts, both of which are within the framework of regularization methods. In the first part of this thesis, we are interested in the physics problem of detecting high energy signal neutrino events. We propose a modification to the traditional nonparametric penalized likelihood approach, to take into account the usage of importance sampling techniques in the generation of the training data from computer experiments. We try to estimate the multivariate logit function of the signal neutrino events in order to find the most powerful decision boundary at a certain significance level to optimally separate signal from background neutrinos. For simulated normal data, we compare this approach with a non-standard support vector machine (SVM) approach. The results suggest that in the case of weighted binary data, logistic regression is more appropriate than SVM in terms of finding individual level curves of the logit function. We also propose a diagnostic plot to check the goodness of fit of the result when


Fetal magnetocardiographic (fMCG) signals are complex signals that reflect the electrical activity of the fetal heart. Due to the SQUID's (Super-conducting QUantum Interference Device) ability to detect minute changes in the magnetic fields of the surrounding environment and placement of the sensors over the maternal abdomen, many mixtures of maternal and fetal signals are present in fMCG recordings. In order to investigate the fMCG without interference from the maternal MCG and other sources, signal processing techniques must be implemented to either separate the various contributing sources or attenuate the maternal MCG. Various independent component analysis (ICA) algorithms and signal- space projections techniques were compared for ability to identify the maternal MCG and fMCG component or attenuate the maternal MCG component without affecting the amplitude or timing of the fMCG signal. Our findings indicated that all tested algorithms allow the user to identify the fMCG in the majority of the cases tested, but attenuation of the maternal MCG by orthogonal projection of the signal-space vectors proved superior to all of the ICA algorithms tested.


The invention discloses a renal denervation ablation catheter with a pre-bent catheter body. The ablation catheter comprises a main catheter body, an electrode, a handle, an electric wire and an electric terminal; the two ends of the main catheter body are connected with the electrode and the handle, respectively; the main catheter body is provided with a tubular cavity and a tubular wall; the electric wire goes through the tubular cavity of the catheter body, and one end of the electric wire is electrically connected with the electrode, while the other end of the electric wire is electrically connected with the electric wire of the electric terminal after going through the handle; one end, close to the electrode, of the main catheter body is a far end of the main catheter body, and an in-catheter shape memory metal wire is inserted in the tubular wall of the far end in the axial direction of the main catheter body and provided with a bent part; after the in-catheter shape memory metal wire is inserted in the tubular wall so that the far end of the main catheter body is provided with a bent far-end pre-bent catheter section, and the bent far-end pre-bent catheter section is capable of providing reliable and controllable curvature. The ablation catheter is simple to operate, easy to manufacture, and capable of providing reliable curvature.


The type of response—mucosal and systemic immunity versus tolerance—induced as a consequence of the exposure of mucosa-associated lymphoepithelial structures to abundant food and microbial antigens depends on many factors. On the side of stimulation, the type of antigen, its form (soluble versus particulate), low versus high dose, commensal versus pathogenic bacterium, and longevity of the exposure profoundly influence the interactions with various populations of host mucosal cells and the ensuing type of immune responses. Papers presented in this session by Drs. Garside, Kraehenbuhl, Mayer, Macpherson, Lorenz, and their coworkers addressed essential questions concerning these points. Specifically, the organization of lymphoepithelial structures of mucosal tissues, particularly in the intestinal tract, their cellular compositions, and intercellular ligand/receptor-mediated communications play a decisive role in the outcome of the response. In addition to the extensively studied Peyer's patches (PPs) with their characteristic localization, cellular composition, and function, isolated lymphoid follicles (ILFs) complement and extend or even substitute for the PP function as a mucosal inductive site, particularly with respect to the humoral, IgA-mediated responses induced by oral immunization with gram-negative intestinal bacteria. Thus, the absence of PPs in certain mouse strains does not seem to significantly compromise the quality and magnitude of humoral immune responses. The potential participation of ILFs in the induction of mucosal tolerance has not been investigated. Furthermore, there may be important species and even mouse strain-dependent differences in the presence and function of PPs and ILFs that should be considered in the generalization and unbiased interpretation of results. Nevertheless, it is becoming quite clear that mucosal tissues with associated lymphoepithelial structures and unique cellular composition, such as PPs, ILFs, intestinal cryptopatches, as well as loosely organized structures in the lamina propria, intraepithelial compartment, and villi, independently or in concert fulfill their basic mission—induction of IgA-dominated humoral responses that restrict further antigen uptake, and at the same time induce a state of mucosal tolerance by various mechanisms (clonal anergy, deletion, or stimulation of various populations of immunoregulatory T cells).


In this paper properties of the LNT reactors were described. In the discussed reactors the bar aluminates and magnesium oxide were used as a compound for NOX storage. There is also discussed a procedure of reactor studies and the test bench. The structure of tested reactor and diffraction analysis of catalysts surface was also described, including pictures from the scanning electron microscope and the X-ray examinations of surface structure with size determination of noble metals crystallites. Article contain analysis of reactors properties in carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon oxidation and nitric oxides storage and reduction for botch models of catalysts at conditions when engine was running by turns rich and lean and when it was running under stechiometrical conditions. Tests were conducted in few different reactor temperatures. Additionally the analysis of conversion of mine, toxic exhaust gases under conditions when engine was running low had been conducted to simulate the real conditions in which LNT reactors are being used. Summary of all results and determinate parameters showed which of elaborated reactors had better catalytic properties. In this case reactor with magnesium oxide in his structure had better conversion values than the reactor with bar aluminates.


Sunstainable development principles suggest that health effects are associated with the result of complex issues affecting air, soil and water. In some areas in Indonesia, such as South Kalimantan province, water quality has been a problem due to both natural environmental hazards and anthropogenic activities. One of the water borne diseases which results as a sign of permanent damage to health is dental decay. Teeth also can provide an excellent record of nutritional status and environmental exposure.The Indonesian Basic Health Research Survey (2008) showed that the prevalence of dental decay was extremely high (83. 6 %). In addition, only 40 % of the people have access to a good quality source of drinking water and much of the drinking water quality was poor (58. 6 %). Tooth decay is a multi-factorial disease, related to socio-behavioural risk: unhealthy diet, poor oral hygiene, individual susceptibility; hereditary factors, and environmental risk factors.
The aims of this research are to study the association between drinking water quality and the severity of dental caries in school children as well as investigate the associated environmental risk factors from the perspective of sustainable development principles.
In this dissertation, quantitative & Qualitative methods are employed in a cross sectional study, with oral health examinations of 600 school children in 2 age group, 6 and 12 years old, of 300 children each.Study location covered 20 villages, 3 districts, in South Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. Interviewers investigated social risk factors. Drinking water samples were collected from 20 villages and tested through the laboratory analyses. To strengthen the evidence of the environmental exposure, a dental analysis using Laser Ablation Inductively Couple Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) examined trace elements in selected 30 exfoliated deciduous teeth from the sample of 600 children.
The study shows the prevalence of tooth decay is 99,7%; on average there are 11 decayed, exfoliated or filled deciduous teeth per person. This finding exceeding the target of oral global health set by WHO is of 50%, and no more than 7 tooth decay. Laboratory findings showed that 30 % of drinking water is outside the normal pH range of 6.5-8.5. Then, 95 % of fluoride concentration is below the optimum level (0.7 ppm) to prevent dental caries. In certain areas, manganese concentration exceeds the safety level of 0.4 ppm. Bivariate analysis showed significant correlations (p<0.05); the more acidic water, the lower the fluoride, the higher the dental caries. Manganese is positively associated with dental caries in deciduous teeth. The potential resource of manganese in this study found is the study site close to mining area. Turbidity and colour shows significant association with permanent teeth decay. Multivariate analysis shows covariate factors positively associated with tooth decay are oral hygiene index and consumption of sweet food, and inversely associated with consumption of milk and fruit.
The result of mass Spectrometry through LA-ICP-MS shows that an individual has a unique pattern resulting from different concentration of trace elements in the tooth. Bivariate analysis showed significant (p<0.05) but moderate correlations between the dental caries index and concentrations of tin, mercury and uranium in dentine and inversely with copper in enamel. Concentration of fluoride in water is inversely correlated with selenium, tin, cerium, and lead in enamel, selenium and lanthanum in dentine and positively associated with, samarium, erbium in dentine. Water pH is positively correlated with arsenic and uranium in enamel and with samarium in dentine, and inversely with selenium in enamel and dentine.
Socio-behavioural patterns vary among the school children in different villages. The findings support views of people that they have tooth decay due to poor quality water and that many teenagers failed the health examination of Army School entry test, in large part due to teeth decay. Hence, tooth decay also reflects poor environmental conditions and has consequences for future socio-political life, education and employment. A potential approach using local wisdom and applying religious approach in innovative methods in oral health promotion was also identified.
Identification of trace elements in the teeth of schoolchildren was undertaken in order to associate levels with caries experience and the quality of local drinking water in communities with distinctive environmental conditions.
Tooth decay in school children is highly prevalent and related to poor drinking water quality in certain areas. This needs to be taken into account as a potential indicator of general environmental problems. Interventions are not only treatment of cases and minimizing human exposures but also integrated action from sectors that generate environmental health threats. Environmental risk factors need to be taken into account as the subject of oral health promotion in preventing the high incidence of dental caries in school children.


Since the body is a good conductor,the pacing signals and cardio-signals can be acquired together by ECG measuring circuit. The high pacing signals interfere with the processing of cardio-signal. This paper introduces a new method for restraining pacing signals and compares it with the traditional one based on slew inhibition. The result indicates that the new method is superior to the traditional one.


Objective To investigate the effect of biofeedback and functional electrical stimulation in the treatment of uterine prolapse.Methods Fifty-four patients with uterine prolapse were divided into test group(27 cases) and control group(27 cases) at random.Biofeedback stimulation device was used in test group,for 20 minutes per section,thirteen sections as one sequence.Routine support,therapy was used in control group,such as suitable bed rest,nutritional support positive treatment for constipation and pelvic muscles exercise.The results were analyzed after forty-six days.Results After treatments,the total effective rate of test group was 85.1%,and what the control group was 40.7%.Conclusion Biofeedback and functional electrical stimulation is a safe and effective way in the treatment of uterine prolapse.


【Objective】To discuss the efficacy of selective facial nerve decompression in the treatment of facial paralysis caused by craniocerebral trauma.【Methods】A total of 45 cases of facial paralysis caused by craniocerebral trauma between 1999 and 2006 were randomly divided into two groups,i.e.medical treatment group(n=21) and facial nerve decompression surgery group(n=24).Facial nerve function recovery in two groups before treatment and one week,one month and three month after treatment was assessed by House-Brackmann(H-B) classification method.【Results】 Facial nerve function recovery in facial nerve decompression surgery group in one week and one month after treatment was compared with that in medical treatment group.There was significant difference(Z=-1.995,P=0.046;Z=-2.103,P=0.035).And facial nerve decompression surgery was more effective.Therefore there was significant difference in facial nerve decompression surgery group as compared with pre-treatment(Z=-0.430,P=0.667).The difference was not statistically significant as compared with medical treatment group(Z=-0.430,P=0.667).【Conclusion】 As compared with medical treatment,facial nerve decompression can rapidly alleviate facial paralysis caused by hematoma or edema with obvious effect and rapid recovery.


The possibilities of the in situ real-time Brewster-angle interferometric reflectance probe to follow cycle-dependent film-quality changes during the atomic layer deposition (ALD) are investigated. Experiments are centered around the growth of amorphous TiO2 thin films on fused quartz substrates in a traveling-wave reactor using TiCl4 and H2O as reactants. It is concluded that ALD has prospects for the preparation of microstructurally homogeneous low- optical-loss TiO2 films in case the precise thickness control is needed. The main problem is the microporosity of the films and as a result their moderate refractive index.


Bio-economic profit models were developed and applied to evaluate biological and economic variables that characterize production systems utilizing the Boran breed. Production systems were described according to their sale age (24 months short-fed or 36 months long-fed), levels of input (low, medium or high) and final goal (beef or dual purpose) representing practical circumstances that exist in the various beef cattle farms in Kenya. The input variables were classified into production and economic variables. The outputs from the profit models included revenue, costs and feed intake of cows, heifers and steers in the different production systems. These models can be used to simulate changes in production and marketing circumstances. The biological relationships and assumptions in the model are general and flexible and can therefore be applied to a wide range of beef cattle production circumstances by changing the input variables. In addition, by modifying the herd dynamics and management variables this model may be applied in Kenya or other countries to production systems that utilize indigenous cattle genetic resources or their crosses with Bos taurus breeds.


In connection with the coal characteristics and production practice, the technical conversion project at Kongzhuan Coal Preparation Plant given that: HM cyclone with un pressurized feeding employed; and parameter of construction figuration and installation of the 300/850A 3 product HM cyclone innovated and optimized. Remarkable benefit achieved from such technical conversion that: the E p value of the first stage separation being 0.036kg/L; quantitative efficiency, 95%; quality of clean coal, one rank upgraded compared with that before conversion; clean coal yield, 10% increased, and annual economic benefit, 30,000,000 Yuan increased.


The main idea of this paper is that some sort of legal theory dealing with the law's social impact is an indispensable element of the legal profession in the time of late modernity. Can legal theory pro-vide an adequate understanding of the social context of the application of law, relying solely on in-ternal resources? If not, which interdisiplinary discourse is the best and why?


Social networking sites, such as Facebook, offer adolescent users an ideal platform for negative comparison (i.e., experiencing negative feelings from social comparison). Although such negative comparison on Facebook has been associated with users' well-being, the reciprocal relations between the two remain unclear, particularly in an adolescent sample. To examine this reciprocal process, a two-wave study among a representative sample of Flemish adolescents was set up (NTime1 = 1,840). Data were analyzed using structural equation modelling. Cross-lagged analyses indicated that negative comparison on Facebook predicted decreases in life satisfaction over time. Conversely, lower scores on life satisfaction predicted increases in negative comparison on Facebook. The discussion focuses on the understanding of these findings, key limitations, directions for future research and implications for prevention and intervention strategies. NEGATIVE COMPARISON ON FACEBOOK AND LIFE SATISFACTION 3 "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger": Negative Comparison on Facebook and Adolescents' Life Satisfaction are Reciprocally Related Adolescence is characterized by important physical, psychological, and social changes. A significant indicator of successful completion of this developmental phase is life satisfaction, which refers to the subjective evaluation of overall quality of life. However, in the transition to adolescence, life satisfaction starts declining. Because of this decline and potential adverse outcomes of poor life satisfaction, including depression and anxiety, but also suicide, it is particularly relevant to examine factors contributing to this decrease. One factor that may partly explain decreasing life satisfaction is negative online comparison; studies found an association between negative online comparison and college students' well-being. At the same time, though, we may expect, based on cognitive dissonance and selective exposure theory, that life satisfaction also predicts adolescents' tendency for negative online comparison. However, no study thus far examined such reciprocal relations. Therefore, the present two-wave study aims to investigate the reciprocal relations between negative online comparison and adolescents' life satisfaction, hereby adding to prior studies that were mainly cross-sectional 9 or focused on the unidirectional impact of online social comparison. We believe it is critical to determine whether negative online comparison and poor life satisfaction are reciprocally related and reinforce one another, given the detrimental outcomes of poor life satisfaction. This study focuses on adolescents, as this age group may be particularly at risk for the impact of negative online comparison, given both their online presence and the decrease of life satisfaction during this developmental period. Facebook Use and Adolescents' Well-Being Facebook is the most widely used SNS; young people spend approximately two hours per day on Facebook, during which they frequently update their status, upload photos, and browse others' profiles. While some scholars argue that Facebook use is related to NEGATIVE COMPARISON ON FACEBOOK AND LIFE SATISFACTION 4 poor well-being, others suggest that Facebook use does not affect users' well-being. This controversy may be due to the lack of focus on indirect associations, specific user characteristics and different usage patterns within initial studies. However, more recent studies addressed these critical gaps. For instance, Chen and Lee found that Facebook interaction was indirectly related with greater psychological distress, through increased communication overload and reduced self-esteem. In line with these studies, the present study focuses on a specific Facebook usage pattern, i.e., negative comparison on Facebook, and its reciprocal relations with adolescents' life satisfaction. We particularly focus on this specific Facebook usage pattern, as many users may use Facebook for social comparison. This expectation is based on social comparison theory, which argues that individuals are driven by a desire to evaluate their opinions and abilities. In the absence of an objective base for comparison, this self-evaluation motive is served through comparison with (similar) others. Recent studies showed that Facebook users are frequently exposed to other users' feelings and experiences, as young people mainly use Facebook to browse through other's profiles. This exposure is more than relevant, as Facebook hereby offers users an ideal setting where they can easily compare themselves with (similar) others. By exploring the reciprocal relations between this specific Facebook usage pattern and adolescents' life satisfaction, the present study aims to contribute to a more nuanced insight into the role of Facebook in adolescents' lives. Social comparison processes can be either downward (i.e., comparison with those who we believe are worse off) or upward (i.e., comparison with those who we believe are better off). Festinger, however, proposed that individuals have 'a unidirectional drive upward'; people generally prefer to compare themselves with others who are better off. In line with this, we believe that SNSs, in particular, may offer adolescent users the perfect platform for engaging in such upward comparison. Studies already demonstrated that social media users NEGATIVE COMPARISON ON FACEBOOK AND LIFE SATISFACTION 5 tend to portray themselves as positively as possible online, applying various techniques to optimize their online self-presentation, including carefully selecting and retouching photos and disclosing mostly positive emotional experiences. Due to this 'ideal' online selfpresentation, adolescent SNS users may develop the feeling that others are better off. Recent studies supported this claim, showing that the use of SNSs may stimulate young people's upward comparison processes on a variety of dimensions, such as appearance and success in life. Negative Comparison on Facebook Predicts Lower Life Satisfaction Upward comparison provides a reference point against which one's own situation may be perceived as 'inferior'; people are especially likely to compare themselves negatively when they engage in upward social comparison. It is this negative comparison that may harm individuals' well-being. Scholars believe that individuals' tendency to engage in maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, such as rumination (i.e., the tendency to focus repetitively on negative stimuli) may explain this harmful impact of negative comparison, as negative comparison has been found to stimulate rumination, and this rumination, in turn, further stimulated the development of depressive symptoms. In line with these suggestions, research reported an association between negative online comparison and individuals' wellbeing. For instance, Feinstein et al. showed that negative comparison on Facebook predicted increases in depressive symptoms. It was therefore hypothesized that: Hypothesis 1: Negative comparison on Facebook (Time 1) will negatively predict adolescents' satisfaction with life (Time 2) Lower Life Satisfaction Predicts Negative Comparison on Facebook Although the impact of online social comparison on well-being has often been reported, the possible reverse impact is still unclear. However, various scholars emphasize the need to examine individual antecedents of social comparison processes, as the strength NEGATIVE COMPARISON ON FACEBOOK AND LIFE SATISFACTION 6 and frequency with which individuals apply social comparison processes may vary. According to Festinger, individuals who are uncertain about their opinions and abilities will be more likely to make social comparisons. Especially people who are uncertain about various aspects of their lives may be more motivated to engage in social comparison, as it offers them a way to gain information for a deeper understanding about themselves and their social worlds. In line with this suggestion, studies have shown that individuals who are depressed or have low self-esteem are more likely to compare themselves with others. However, based on cognitive dissonance theory and selective exposure theory, we believe that people with poor well-being may be particularly attracted to negative comparison on Facebook. While cognitive dissonance theory argues that individuals actively avoid situations and information in which dissonance may occur, but prefer information that is consistent with their cognitions and behaviors, selective exposure theory suggests that people may select specific media content that confirms and supports their own behavior. In line with these theories, we expect that adolescents who are dissatisfied with their life will compare themselves negatively on Facebook, as this negative comparison confirms and supports their own negative cognitions about one's life. In line with these suggestions, de Vries and Kuehne showed that Facebook use more strongly predicted negative social comparison among those who were dissatisfied with their lives. In addition, Johnson and Knobloch-Westerwick found that SNS users with a negative mood select specific media content (i.e., downward online comparison) to enhance their negative mood. Although this study provided support for cognitive dissonance and selective exposure theory with regard to online comparison behaviors, these findings somewhat differ from our expectations. However, this may be partly explained by differences between mood in that study and life satisfaction in the present study; whereas individuals' mood fluctuates strongly over time, life satisfaction is more stable. Individuals with a negative mood may NEGATIVE COMPARISON ON FACEBOOK AND LIFE SATISFACTION 7 therefore feel more capable to change their negative feelings, compared to persons who are dissatisfied with their life. As a result, individuals with a negative mood may be particularly driven to downward comparison, as this type o


Time-resolved dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) is measured in the photochemical reaction of benzaldehyde. The creation of nuclear spin polarization is analysed theoretically by a model that includes the cross relaxation, electron spin transition, and chemical reaction of radicals. A comparison between experiment and calculation leads to the following conclusions. (a) The time profile of DNP represents the time dependence of the radical concentration. (b) The rate of cross relaxation affects the intensity of DNP but does not affect its time profile. (c) The cross relaxation rate for the α-proton of the α-hydroxybenzyl radical is one or two orders of magnitude smaller than that for the aromatic protons.


InN quantum dots (QDs) on GaN (0001) grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy onto a sapphire substrate were studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). We found that the nucleation of InN QDs on GaN is directly related to the presence of threading dislocations (TDs) in the center of the QDs. The TEM analysis revealed that the TDs finish at the InN∕GaN interface and they are pure edge dislocations. Therefore, spiral growth models cannot explain nucleation of these QDs. Although controlling edge TDs constitute a possible approach to determine the QD density, a better approach may be an increase in the material growth rate in order to enter the diffusion-limited growth mode, where growth is not sensitive to surface heterogeneities.


A lot of research effort has been spent on the development of emotion theories and modeling, however, their suitability and applicability to expressions in human computer interaction has not exhaustively been evaluated. Furthermore, investigations concerning the ability of the annotators to map certain expressions onto the developed emotion models is lacking proof. The proposed annotation tool, which incorporates the standard Geneva Emotional Wheel developed by Klaus Scherer and a novel temporal characteristic description feature, is aiming towards enabling the annotator to label expressions recorded in human computer interaction scenarios on an utterance level. Further, it is respecting key features of realistic and natural emotional expressions, such as their sequentiality, temporal characteristics, their mixed occurrences, and their expressivity or clarity of perception. Additionally, first steps towards evaluating the proposed tool, by analyzing utterance annotations taken from two expressive speech corpora, are undertaken and some future goals including the open source accessibility of the tool are given.


The car body of high-speed train bears all the static and dynamic loads. An accurate strength analysis of critical point is crucial for its fatigue design. Since a fatigue analysis is dependent on the load amplitude and its application point on car body, the loads applied in the fatigue test is studied by using the strength test bench. A comparative study was performed among the relevant standards concerns the car body fatigue. In addition, a specific test scheme is promoted, and the applied loads on vertical, lateral, longitudinal and torsional directions on car body under various spectrums are thoroughly determined. This study provides a basic fatigue test bench of car body for high-speed trains with the specific loads application and test schemes. This allows the body to be subjected to random loads and provides a basis for the specifications of follow-up fatigue tests on the car body and its components.


A common generalization of effect algebras and ortholattices that allows to represent ortholattices in a similar way in which orthomodular lattices are represented in the setting of effect algebras is introduced.


Stream restoration projects have become increasingly common, and the need for systematic post‐project evaluation, particularly for small‐scale projects, is evident. This study describes how a 70‐m restored reach of a small urban stream, Baxter Creek (in Poinsett Park, El Cerrito, California), was quickly and inexpensively evaluated using habitat, biological, and resident‐attitude assessments. The restoration involved opening a previously culverted channel, planting riparian vegetation, and adding in‐stream step‐pool sequences and sinuosity. Replicated benthic macroinvertebrate samples from the restored site and an upstream unrestored site were compared using several metrics, including taxa richness and a biotic index. Both biological and habitat quality improved in the restored compared with the unrestored section. However, when compared with a creek restored 12 years before, habitat condition was of lower quality in the recently restored creek. A survey of the neighborhood residents indicated that, overall, they were pleased with the restored creek site. The approach used in this demonstration project may be applicable to other small‐scale evaluations of urban stream restorations.


Accurate simulations of the circulation and transport of material substance in the coastal zones of the Great Lakes are needed to assess the impacts of such shoreline developments as drinking water intakes and sewage outfalls and diversions on water quality. It is almost impossible for the coastal modeller to develop or apply three-dimensional fluid dynamics models without having access to good visualization tools, which are a necessary step before model performance can be evaluated. The visualization package with rendering ability, Iris Explorer, has been used in a study of coastal exchange flow between Hamilton Harbour and Lake Ontario. Three-dimensional irregularly gridded output of coastal models is difficult to handle computationally. Novel extensions of the software written to visualize irregular three-dimensional and time-dependent data either from finite element models or from arrays of field instruments are described. A number of examples are provided which illustrate the benefits of advanced visualization methods and computer animation in interpreting three-dimensional mathematical model output and of the employment of these display tools in validating the models with extensive collections of field data.


Abstract The rural countryside is changing pushed by the impacts of the EU and World policies. The big wheel of agricultural competitiveness grinds on, concentrating resources in the hands of fewer and fewer people, crushing small farmers and small businesses, threatening the environment and changing the countryside and a food production system that has made a useful contribution to society over decades. There is almost universal acceptance of this model of development and it has strong supporters among farming organisations, agribusinesses and the multinational firms creating technology and supplies for the agricultural industry. Extension services have made a significant contribution in supporting this model. Current moves towards extensification and concerns about the environment, animal welfare and food safety, are beginning to raise issues which challenge the above model. This paper outlines trends in farming and in farm household incomes in Ireland and examines those changes in the context of future...


We have developed a function-level processor simulator, SimCore/Alpha Functional Simulator Version 2.0 (SimCore Version 2.0), for processor architecture research and processor education. This paper describes the design and implementation of SimCore Version 2.0. The main features of SimCore Version 2.0 are as follows: (1) It offers many functions as a function-level simulator. (2) It is implemented compactly with 2,800 lines in C++. (3) It separates the function of the program loader. (4) No global variable is used, and so it improves the readability and function. (5) It offers a powerful verification mechanism. (6) It operates on many platforms. (7) Compared with sim-fast in the SimpleScalar Tool Set, SimCore Version 2.0 attains a 19% improvement in simulation speed.


Endeavours to understand the complex interactions between society and environment have stimulated a lively debate over the prerequisites for interdisciplinarity and integrated environmental research. One highly contested issue is whether, and to what extent, interdisciplinarity can be achieved within the framework of present academic structures, considering their strong disciplinary orientation. Some scholars see a need for a fundamental reorganisation of science and its links back to society, in order to be able to develop trans-disciplinary and problem-oriented knowledge. Other authors reject this position and highlight the need for strictly disciplinary research which then has to be integrated into interdisciplinary research by appropriate organisational means. Against this background, this article describes to what extent the research organisation and research practices currently applied in major German university-based environmental research programmes can be said to be interdisciplinary and integrative. The programmes were also examined to find out how different outcomes could be explained. The most important finding was that the full challenge of interdisciplinarity only becomes apparent during the actual research process. Being predominantly based on an additive form of integration of results, these research processes were multidisciplinary rather than interdisciplinary, but nevertheless produced an interdisciplinary "added value" beyond disciplinary perspectives. Variations in outcomes corresponded to differences in the organisation of the respective research processes and their management. Thus, while this study confirms the dependency of interdisciplinarity on suitable organisational structures and endeavours, it also points to the need for developing a supportive academic culture. Correspondence: Dr. Winfried Osthorst University of Bremen Research Centre Sustainability Enrique-Schmidt-Strase 7 D-28359 Bremen Tel.: +49 (421) 535729 Fax: +49 (421) 218 – 44 49 eMail: firstname.lastname@example.com


By considering different definitions of fractional derevatives, we study some kind of fractional differential equations and also give some of there applications.


In order to automatically inspect chip components with the placement machine vision system, an algorithm based on connected region labeling is proposed to extract the features of chip components. Firstly, an image preprocessing method is dened to improve the quality of the lead part. On the basis of image preprocessing, in order to extract the overall and geometric features of a chip component, morphological connected region labeling and boundary extraction methods are adopted. In the feature extraction process, the inspection of chip component type is completed by using the extracted features sequentially. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can inspect various types of chip components with good accuracy.


N/GaN multiple quantum wells grown by MOCVD oversapphire and bulk GaN substrates. High excitation conditions enabled usto achieve a screening of the built-in fleld by free carriers. This allowed forthe evaluation of the in°uence of band potential °uctuations due to thevariation in In-content on e–ciency of spontaneous and stimulated emission.InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells grown on bulk GaN substrate exhibit asigniflcantly lower stimulated emission threshold and thus enhanced lateralemission. Transient and dynamic properties of luminescence indicate asigniflcant reduction in compositional disorder in homoepitaxially grownstructures.PACS numbers: 78.45.+h, 78.47.+p, 78.67.De


Chalcopyrite-pyrite bioleaching tests were performed with shaking flasks by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans.The research focused on the effects of basic salt mediums,pyrite-to-chalcopyrite mass ratio and mineral size distribution.It is found that chalcopyrite bioleaching can be promoted by pyrite.The leaching rate of copper in the iron-free 9K medium in pyrite-chalcopyrite bioleaching is 1.68 times as large as that in the 9K medium.The leaching of copper is better using a wide size range of minerals and the leaching rate of copper is related to the mass ratio of pyrite to chalcopyrite.When the mass ratio is 2∶2,the highest leaching rate of copper is obtained to be 45.58%.The content of pyrite is of the essence in affecting the leaching rate level of copper.At a mass ratio of pyrite to chalcopyrite no more than 5∶2 the oxidation of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans plays an important role in the bioleaching,but when the mass ratio is 10∶2 the galvanic effect between the two sulphide minerals mainly influences the bioleaching.X-ray diffraction analyses of leaching residues indicate that the generation of jarosite in the iron-free 9K medium is less than that in the 9K medium,FeSO4 in the 9K medium can be replaced by pyrite,the galvanic effect forms with chalcopyrite,and therefore the bioleaching efficiency of copper is increased.


The association of various genetic polymorphisms with functional dyspepsia (FD) has been suggested, but the results were still controversial. The aim of the present study was to assess the association of GNB3 825C>T, SLC6A4 5‐HTTLPR, ADRA2A‐1291C>G, CCK‐1R intron 779T>C, and TRPV1 945G>C polymorphisms with FD based on Rome III criteria in Korea.


Multispectral and phase-contrast diffuse optical tomography are used to track treatment progress in a patient with locally advanced invasive carcinoma of the breast cancer during neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Two types of chemotherapy treatment including four cycles of Adriamycin/Cytoxin (AC cycles) and twelve cycles of Taxol/Herceptin (TH cycles) were applied to patient. A total of eight optical exams were performed before and within the chemotherapy. Images of tissue refractive index, and absorption and scattering coefficients, as well as oxy-hemoglobin and deoxy-hemoglobin concentrations along with scattering particle volume fraction and mean diameter of cellular components were all obtained. The tumor was identified through absorption and scattering images. Tumor shrinkage was observed during the course of chemotherapy from all the optical images. Our results show that oxy-hemoglobin, deoxy-hemoglobin and total hemoglobin in tumor decreased after chemotherapy compared to that of before chemotherapy. Significant changes in tumor refractive index along with tumor cellular morphology during the entire chemotherapy are also observed.


The article has introduced construction methods and technique measures for back-tied type of porcelain curtain wall by national specification demanding, combined with big-areas practiced in Xinguang tunnel engineering, provided experiences with construction and management for porcelain curtain wall in the future.


Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's letters were composed during her travels with her husband Edward Wortley, who was appointed British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in 1716. Her correspondences with historical figures including Alexander Pope, the Abbe Conti, and Lady Mar were published in 1762 and were extremely popular during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Of this large collection of letters, her descriptions of Turkey received much attention after their publication and continue to interest contemporary critics and scholars. Numerous editions of the Letters from the Levant or Turkish Embassy Letters exist in the form of illustrated "coffee table" books and more complete volumes with extensive critical introductions. As contemporary discussions of travel, Orientalism, and postcolonial theory flourish, Montagu's letters are often cited as examples of early women's travel writing. From their inception the letters were described as being especially insightful since they provided a vision of the "Oriental" through the eyes of a female traveler. Mary Astell in her preface to the 1763 publication writes:


In Ancient Egypt, the Books of the Netherworld picture a lot of liminal creatures, including snake-deities. Among them some are benevolent, some malevolent and one can even find some divinities having both aspects. These books offer both visual representations and textual descriptions giving the functions of these liminal entities. The snake-god Nau gathers all these aspects. Nau1 is attested for the first time in the Pyramid Texts and one can find this deity through all the dynastic period and still in the Graeco-Roman temples. This snake-god is often portrayed as the Enemy in the Egyptian texts. On the other hand, scholars have established that this deity has a close relationship with the god Ra.


New paradigm about lawyer has shifted legal profession education in this millennial era. Thus scholars need to orientate legal profession education in order to graduates of law school in Indonesia not only to study law substance but also the process law implement digitally to the change in technology industry 4.0 This article starts at understanding of law science characteristics, the evolution of teaching method, curriculum designing in law school in Indonesia, new paradigm in law practice technology in digital era. The digital era means the transition of traditional industries towards economy era which based on information computerized. Technology revolution which is initialled with internet development and working-ethos computer evolution, thus this revolution reinforced all aspects into digital era. Furthermore, it affects to legal profession which must be line with development flow in digital era. Legal profession is legal praxis community which emerged from law school, for that issue education process of legal profession must be oriented to the learning process.


A convectional diffusion of nutrients around the blood vessels in brain occurs in well-structured neurovascular units (NVU) including neurons, glia and micro vessels. A common feature of the process is a combination of a relatively high-speed delivery solution stream inside the blood vessel and a low-speed convectional flow in parenchyma. The specific trait of NVU is the existence of a tight cover layer around the vessels which is formed by shoots (end-feet) of astrocytes. This layer forms so called blood-brain barrier (BBB). Under different pathological states the permeability of BBB is changed. The concentration gradient of a chemical compound in NVU has been modelled using a combination of mathematical description of a cerebral blood flow (CBF) and further 3D diffusion away from the blood vessels borders. The governing equation for the blood flow is the non-steady-state Navier–Stokes equation for an incompressible non-Newtonian fluid flow without buoyancy effects. BBB is modeled by the flux dysconnectivity functions. The velocity of fluid flow in the paravascular space was estimated using Darcy's law. Finally, the diffusion of the nutrient is considered as a convectional reaction-diffusion in a porous media. By the example of glucose, it was shown that increased permeability of BBB yields an increased level of the nutrient even under essential (on 70%) decrease of CBF. Contrarily, a low BBB permeability breeds a decreased concentration level under increased (on 50%) CBF. Such a phenomenon is explained by a smooth enlarge of the direct diffusion area for a blood-to-brain border glucose transport having three-level organization.


The primordial fluctuations on large scales are adiabatic, but on smaller scales this need not be the case. Here we derive the general analytical framework to compute the stochastic gravitational wave background induced by primordial cold dark matter isocurvature fluctuations on small scales. We find that large isocurvature fluctuations can yield an observable gravitational wave signal, with a spectrum distinct from the one induced by adiabatic perturbations, and we provide for the first time the exact analytic expression of the kernel necessary to compute this signal. We then forecast the constraining power of future gravitational wave detectors on dark matter isocurvature on small scales and find they will dramatically improve on existing constraints.


Objective: The aim of this study was to improve understanding the clinical, pathologic, and prognostic features of urachal carcinoma (UrC), a retrospectively descriptive study was done in 2 clinical centers. Methods: After excluding the 2 missed patients, the clinical and pathological data of 59 patients with UrC, who were diagnosed or treated at 2 clinical centers between 1986 and 2019, was retrospectively analyzed. SPSS 22.0 (IBM) and GraphPad Prism 8.0.1 were used for statistics and data visualization. Survival data were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method and Log-rank tests. Cox proportional hazards regression were performed for find risk factors on predicting the prognosis. Results: Of all 59 patients, 47 were male and 12 were female. The median age at diagnosis was 51.6 years (range: 22–84 years). Gross hematuria was the most common symptom (79.66%). The majority of urachal neoplasms were adenocarcinomas (94.92%). Forty-two patients (72.41%) underwent extended partial cystectomy with en bloc resection of the entire urachus. The mean follow-up was 52 months (3–277 months). Median overall survival was 52.8 months (4–93 months). The 3-year cancer-specific survival (CSS) rate and 5-year CSS rate were 69.1% and 61.2%. There was no significant difference among localized T stage, tumor histologic grade and surgical procedures in determining prognosis by survival analyze. While patients with high-risk TNM stage (local abdominal metastasis, lymph node metastasis, or distant metastasis) (p = 0.003) and positive surgical margin (p < 0.001) had significantly worse prognosis. Conclusions: The results indicate that high-risk TNM stage and positive surgical margin are risk predictors of prognosis. Localized T stage, histologic grade, and surgical procedure cause no significant effect on patient prognosis. The extended partial cystectomy is the recommended surgical approach for patients with UrC. Active multimodal treatments may improve the survival of patients with recurrent and metastatic disease.


The purpose of this paper is to formulate and solve a synthesis problem for a class of linear quantum equations that may describe mixed quantum-classical systems. A general model and a standard model for mixed quantum-classical linear stochastic systems are proposed for our design processes and then we show how the former may be transformed into the latter, which can clearly present the internal structure of a mixed quantum-classical system. Physical realizability conditions are derived separately for the two models to ensure that they can correspond to physical systems. Furthermore, a network synthesis theory is developed for a mixed quantum-classical system of the standard form and an example is given to illustrate the theory.


There has been a significant growth in the elderly population of developing countries. This growth leads health systems in those countries to face an increase in consultations for oral diseases for this age group. Therefore, the biopsychosocial approach is essential for healthy aging in the elderly. The objectives of this review article are to identify the psychological factors that have a relationship with most prevalent oral diseases in elderly people (dental caries and periodontal disease), and then describe how tooth loss, the principal consequence of caries and periodontal disease, impacts the mental health of older people. Finally, some proposals for dental work in the elderly are discussed, considering the psychological factors related to oral health.