What began in 1910 as a magazine "devoted to technical education" disseminated by the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education has become today the Journal of Engineering Education, a premier discipline-based education research journal published by the American Society for Engineering Education in partnership with a global network of engineering education organizations (ASEE, 1910; Prism, 2010). Its evolution reflects both the emergence of global communities of scholars and practitioners dedicated to education research in engineering and its commitment to providing a world-class publication that will help cultivate, disseminate, and archive their scholarship. The Journal of Engineering Education launched its first five-year strategic plan in 2005 (JEE Strategic Plan, 2005). This plan served as a roadmap to reach higher levels of performance and achievement (Lohmann, 2010). For example— • The journal's annual distribution grew from 4,000 subscribers located primarily in North America to 10,000 readers in 80 countries. • The journal's annual submissions grew from 447 authors in 21 countries to 600 authors in 37 countries while the frequency of citations to the learning sciences in published articles increased from under 2 percent to nearly 60 percent. • The journal was rated in the top 5 percent of 21,000 journals by the Australian Research Council, and placed in the top 10 percent of over 2,000 journals in the Thomson-Reuters Social Sciences Citation Index and the top 15 percent of over 7,000 journals in the Science Citation Index. While we are pleased with the journal's growth, there is still much to be done to solidify our gains and accelerate our progress. This strategic plan charts our course.


The genus Conocephalus comprises 158 species and occurs in all temperate and tropical regions of the world (Eades et al. 2011). There are 18 native species in North America north of Mexico (Walker 2011) and 6 native species in Canada (Vickery & Kevan 1985). Vickery & Kevan (1985) provide a key to the species found in Canada and the northern United States of America. In fall 2008, I received a specimen collected near Vancouver, British Columbia, that I could not identify using North American guides. After collecting more specimens in 2009 I identified the species as Conocephalus dorsalis (Latreille 1804) by comparison with figures in Chopard (1922). Both sexes are illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. This species may be readily differentiated from all other North American members of the genus without reference to dichotomous keys. The male cerci (Fig. 3) are unlike any other species in North America. The inner tooth of the cercus is both long and unusually stout in relation to the distal end of the cercus. The females are distinctive in that the ovipositor is relatively short (shorter than the hind femur) and curves upwards. In North America, this ovipositor morphology is shared only with C. nemoralis (Scudder 1875) (Rehn & Hebard 1915). The ranges of the two species do not overlap at present. A recording of the calling song of C. dorsalis can be found at the Orthoptera Species File Online (Eades et al. 2011). An ocillogram of the calling song is illustrated in Ragge & Reynolds (1998).


Aimed at the limitation of storage and processor of embedded system, how to design simple and efficient serial communication protocol and network communication protocol is difficulty in development. The technical difficulties and the critical implementation technology of communication subsystem in smart home terminal based on embedded Linux system are discussed, which runs on ARM architecture. The design and implementation of serial communication protocol and network communication protocol is presented and all of these communication protocols can better solve the problem of communication between different devices which have different bandwidth and rate. This communication subsystem is debugged under embedded Linux system, and it can normally communicate with serial devices and network center. At present, it is already in used.


Objectives: Published data about the association between the consumption of sweetened soft-drinks (SSD) and obesity in childhood are controversial and still inconsistent. In addition, data are lacking in the Spanish population. The purpose of this study was therefore, to explore the cross-sectional association between body composition-related parameters and SSD consumption in Spanish adolescents. Subjects and methods: A representative sample of 1,523 adolescents (768 boys and 755 girls), with complete dietary data as well as anthropometric measurements, were included in this study. Weight, height, waist circumferences, and 6 skinfolds were measured, and BMI and percentage body fat were calculated. From a 24h dietary recall the subjects were grouped in 3 groups according to their SSD consumption: 1) Non-consumers (0 g of SSD consumption); 2) Moderate consumption (< 336 g/day of SSD, equivalent to the average SSD portion size); and 3) High consumption (> 336 g/day of SSD). Results: 67% males and 75% females did not consume any SSD the day before the dietary recall interview. Males consumed more SSD than females. Regarding the association between SSD consumption and measures of obesity, no difference was observed between the three groups of SSD consumption in any of the anthropometric measurement, BMI or body fat. Conclusion: As no association was present between SSD consumption and obesity in our cross-sectional study we suggest that dietary patterns and habits as well as lifestyle factors such as physical activity should be pre¿SE ASOCIA EL CONSUMO DE REFRESCOS AZUCARADOS CON LA COMPOSICIÓN CORPORAL? ESTUDIO TRANSVERSAL EN ADOLESCENTES ESPAÑOLES?


Abstract Interactions among six peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) cultivars, herbicides individually and in sequence, and a systemic insecticide were studied on four soil series in 1976 and on three soil series in 1977. Yields of peanuts grown on all soils were reduced significantly in 1976 by intensive sequential applications of the five herbicidal treatments. Additionally, repeated dinoseb treatment reduced yields on the Ruston and Greenville soils. In 1977, yield decreases did not occur from any herbicide treatment on the Do-than or Greenville soils; however, yields on the Tifton soil were reduced by intensive sequential herbicidal treatment or by 2,4-DB alone. Herbicides did not interact significantly with cultivars except on Greenville soil in 1977 when yields of only the Tifrun cultivar were increased by treatment with either benefin or dinoseb. The systemic insecticide disulfoton, with one exception, consistently increased the yield of peanuts when averaged over cultivars and herbicides. Also, in 1977, ...


Dynamic response behaviour of a simple torsionally coupled system with Multiple-Tuned Mass dampers (MTMDs) is investigated. The system is subjected to lateral excitation that is modelled as a broad-band stationary random process. MTMDs with uniformly distributed frequencies are considered for this purpose and they are arranged in a row covering the width of the system. A parametric study is conducted to investigate the effectiveness of MTMDs on reducing the response of torsionally coupled system. The parameters include the eccentricity of the main system, its uncoupled torsional to lateral frequency ratio and the damping of MTMDs. It is shown that the effectiveness of MTMDs in controlling the lateral response of the torsionally coupled system decreases with the increase in the degree of asymmetry. Further, the effectiveness of MTMDs, designed for an asymmetric system by ignoring the effect of the torsional coupling, is overestimated.


Background Few data exist on long‐term steps and their relation to changes in cardiovascular disease risk factors. We aimed to examine the associations using long‐term smartphone‐recorded steps. Methods and Results The present analysis made use of data from 2 national databases and a commercial app database. We evaluated the associations between smartphone‐recorded daily steps over 2 years and 2‐year changes in the cardiovascular disease risk factors. A total of 15 708 participants with mean (SD) age of 44.1 (9.5) and 23.5% women were included. After adjustment for potential confounders, differences in weight were almost linearly associated with 2‐year steps in men (estimate [SE] per 1000 steps/d: −0.33 [0.029] kg), and inversely related only above 5000 steps/d in women (−0.18 [0.054] kg). An inverse linear association with systolic blood pressure was observed in men (−0.34 [0.097] mm Hg) but not in women. Greater steps were associated with change in high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides (0.61 [0.068] and −3.4 [0.61] mg/dL in men; 0.64 [0.17] and −2.3 [0.67] mg/dL in women), while changes in low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol were evident in men only (−0.59 [0.17] mg/dL). A significant negative association with hemoglobin A1c was observed only in women (−0.012 [0.0043] %). Conclusions In a large cohort of Japanese adults, smartphone‐recorded steps over years were associated with beneficial changes in cardiovascular disease risk factors, with some differences between men and women in the associational patterns. The findings support the benefit of long‐term physical activity for cardiovascular disease health and suggest a useful role of smartphone‐recorded steps for monitoring cardiovascular disease risk over the long term.


The utility model relates to a windmill with blades capable of performing rotation and revolution, which is windmill with a new structure, belonging to the technical field of exploring and utilizing wind energy, and comprising blades (1), a windmill main shaft (2), a rotating shaft of the blades (2), a blocking rod (4), an upper frame (5), a lower frame (6), a transmission case (7), a generator (8), a base seat (17), etc. Because the blades are not symmetrically distributed at the two sides of the rotating shaft, the wind receiving area of a broad side is large, thus causing the blades to lean on the blocking rod in downwind condition and the blades to fall off the blocking rod in upwind condition, and effectively utilizing wind energy. The windmill has simple structure and low cost, can directly drive a plunger pump to pump and irrigate and drives a generator to generate electricity.


The present invention relates to a variable valve timing device and control method thereof. The variable valve timing device, according to embodiments of the invention, delivers rotation of a crankshaft to a first camshaft, and to a second camshaft through the first camshaft. The device comprises a first variable valve timing unit, configured to the first camshaft, for changing a phase of the first camshaft; a second variable valve timing unit, configured to the second camshaft, for changing a phase of the second camshaft; a crankshaft sensor that senses angle changes of the crankshaft; a camshaft sensor that senses angle changes of the second camshaft; and a control portion for controlling the first variable valve timing unit and the second variable valve timing unit, wherein the control portion controls the phases of the first camshaft or the second camshaft, and controls the phase of the second camshaft by controlling one of the first variable valve timing unit and the second variable valve timing unit.


ABSTRACT "Animal Unconscious" begins with Freud's claim, in The Psychopathology of Everyday Life (1965), that psychoanalysis proposes "nothing animal is alien to us." By drawing on recent scholarship in feminist, queer, new materialist, and posthumanist theory, the essay posits that the unconscious is something "animal," not something uniquely human in order to inquire what this postulate would mean for thinking about 3 problems: the place of animality in institutions of analysis and (higher) learning, the animality of language, and the invention of new modes of kinship. Throughout, the essay speculates on what it means to recast "human" psychoanalysis as an animal practice while simultaneously opening it toward including nonhuman animals in its purview.


A 68-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital because of a fist-sized abdominal tumor which was detected at a medical check up. On physical examination, the tumor was elastic hard, uneven, and slightly movable. Abdominal CT and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a solid tumor in her left lower quadrant, a part of which was enhanced. Barium enema study revealed no abnormal findings. Original site was obscure, but an operation was performed with a diagnosis of intraperitoneal tumor. During surgery, the tumor locating in the mesosigmoid was found. The tumor extirpation with a partial resection of the sigmoid colon was performed. Extirpatd tumor was 76×55×48mm in size. It was diagnosed as mesosigmoid leiomyosarcoma histopathologically. The patient has been doing well for about 3 years after the operation. Mesenteric leiomyosarcomas are rare, especially mesosigmoid leiomyosarcoma. There have been 52 cases of mesenteric leiomyosarcoma versus 10 cases of mesosigmoid leiomysarcoma including this case in this country. This disease does not respond to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. We think that aggressive surgical extirpation of the primary or recurrent leiomyosarcoma would contribute to improve the prognosis of this disease.


Two kinds of real-time resampling algorithms, local selection (LS) and Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), are briefly reviewed, and a new resampling algorithm suitable for real-time implementation of particle filters is proposed. The new resampling algorithm incorporates the concept of interleaving to overcome the drawback that when particles with large weights gather together, the performance will be degraded. The proposed resampling algorithm allows pipelined processing and parallelization implementation, which makes the particle filters more efficient. Simulations of a 2D target tracking application are conducted and the results indicate that the tracking accuracy of the proposed algorithm is superior to LS and MCMC. The hardware architecture of the algorithm is given. The hardware complexity including execution time and parallelization is analyzed, and it proves that the proposed method is efficient for real-time application.


Diabetes mellitus or commonly known as diabetes is a metabolic disease associated with unhealthy lifestyle patterns. Diabetes mellitus causes classic symptoms such as polyuria, polydipsia, fatigue and decreased physical performance, weight loss and causes complications. So that good management is needed with the four pillars of diabetes mellitus. The purpose of this case study is to look at knowledge and adherence related to the diabetes mellitus diet using the media booklet which is summarized with the 4 pillars of diabetes mellitus. This research began on 5-6 May 2023. The method in this study used a case study approach by implementing health education counseling related to the four pillars of diabetes mellitus. The sample in this study is Mrs. S. data collection was carried out by interviews, medical examinations, pre-tests, provision of health education, and ¬post-tests. The results of this case study are that with the measurements carried out giving the pretest and post-test there is an increase in knowledge and adherence to the diabetes mellitus diet in patients. It can be concluded that it is important to provide health education related to the 4 pillars of diabetes mellitus, especially people with diabetes mellitus in order to avoid the risk of complications that may occur and as an effort to increase knowledge and adherence regarding diabetes mellitus diet. One of the interventions that can be given to people with diabetes mellitus is the provision of health education related to the four pillars of diabetes mellitus which consist of: diabetes mellitus education, nutritional diet, pharmacology, and physical activity training


The quantification of activity of antibacterial agents is the basis for their rational and safe use in the treatment of bacterial infectious diseases. Since the discovery of them, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) is the main pharmacodynamic parameter used for the design of antibacterial regimens [33]. Nonetheless, in the last three decades, certain in vitro properties of these agents as post-antibiotic effect (PAE) and the activity of subinhibitory concentrations (sub-MIC effect) [35], have been reconsidered and have provided more information about the PD of antibiotics. Similarly, in vitro time-kill curves became a useful tool for evaluating the efficacy in function of time of different concentrations of an antibiotic [25].


Medical science has witnessed great advances that have resulted in better effective patient care and overall clinical outcome. This is largely due to medical technologies, research-oriented environment, multidisciplinary management, emphasis on enlightened state of care and ever increasing need for patients' full disclosure. The innovation and the improvement in patients' care come at a price-increase in volume of information; this needs processing . Paradoxically there is an increased requirement both in ethics and law for the preservation of this confidential information. The various theories underpinning ethics - Kantian , Consequentialism , Virtue ethics and Communitarianism uphold the need to maintain confidentiality to a different varying degree. Fidelity to the absolute need to preserve confidentiality is advocated by Kantian. This level of adherence is largely consistent with the Hippocratic Oath ; although ancient, the Oath continues to provide an overarching umbrella on national and international codes of practice. The Oath contains succinct but strong statement as regards confidentiality. Hippocratic medicine was a one-one consultation without the involvement of other professionals; health insurance and electronic transmission of information. Information disclosure for the overall benefit of the society was almost unknown. The Declaration of Geneva acknowledges the need to accord confidentiality an important recognition. Ethics and laws regarding confidentiality evolved long before the information age; the quality and nature of information held on patients are not only relevant to an integrated delivery of effective care, but have wider ramifications on public health, medical research/audit/education, public interests, and prevention of abuse and safeguards of the vulnerable.


The article analyses establishment of the domestic system of commercial insurance with consideration of genesis of mechanisms of its regulation. It shows that the basis of the state regulation of insurance should be formed by the model of economic and historical process of establishment and development of commercial insurance, allowing to reveal the role of the state in formation of efficient instruments of administration and development of this system. The article establishes that evolution of formation of the state mechanism of administration is a reaction to imperfection of mechanisms of self-regulation of the system of commercial insurance. It argues that the national model of state regulation has specific features of the continental model, which is manifested in the applied forms of regulation. The author tracked formation of the modern mechanism of state regulation of the system of commercial insurance in genesis, which allowed trustworthy establishment of its specific features and prospects of development.


Over the past fifteen years, the United States and other developed countries have employed trade agreements to substantially strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights for pharmaceutical products in the developing world. The associated rules changes have already had an effect on pharmaceutical prices in developing countries, prompting conflicts between developing country governments seeking to promote drug access and Western pharmaceutical companies wishing to protect their exclusive rights. If anything, such conflicts are bound to intensify as more patent protected drugs enter pharmaceutical markets outside rich countries. This paper describes the global shift in intellectual property policies and employs economic analysis to evaluate its consequences for developing countries. It also puts forward several recommendations for policymakers in developing countries and in the United States, seeking to better reconcile innovation incentives and access needs. The Center for Global Development is an independent think tank that works to reduce global poverty and inequality through rigorous research and active engagement with the policy community. This paper was made possible in part by financial support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Use and dissemination of this Working Paper is encouraged, however reproduced copies may not be used for commercial purposes. Further usage is permitted under the terms of the Creative Commons License. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and should not be attributed to the board of directors or funders of the Center for Global Development.


Coverage path planning is a problem that is faced on a daily base by different robots varying from indoor cleaning robots to agricultural drones. These platforms are sometimes expected to cover previously unknown areas, which may be too large to cover with a single battery charge, requiring multiple visits to a charging or a tanking station. This paper proposes a new method for this energy constrained coverage path planning problem. The proposed approach derives from contour following, and it provides superior performance compared to the existing work in the literature. Additionally, environment topology independent bounds are derived for the minimum number of charges and energy consumed for the energy constrained coverage path planning problem.


"In India where about 80 percent of people live in villages, the migration from rural areas has...a special significance. The author presents a probability model which can be used in the analysis of...out-migration." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND RUS)


Human resources are the mainstay of today's business and understanding their personality      through locus of control and subjective well being was the basic aim in the present study. Conducted among the employees of private sector concerns and banks in North Eastern part of Nigeria, understanding how much these workers blame external forces or maybe their own shortcomings and its effect on their sense of pleasure or happiness was underlying premiseof the paper. Independent and demographic variables along with other factors were put to test in the study employing Cronbach's Alpha, Split Half Method, Simple regression, Pearson correlations (bivariate), K independent samples median test, One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Levene Statistics, Welch and Brown-Forsythe test and associated methods like Tukey HSD and Games Howell test along with simple means, standard deviation and percentages were employed for the analysis of data for the research. A negative relationship between locus of control and subjective well-being, employees with more earnings having internal score, effect of gender on the constructs and many other key findings emerged as a result of the analysis of the data.


The minimum variance resource allocation problem asks to allocate a given amount of discrete resource to a given set of activities so that the variance of the profits among activities is minimized. The author presents a fully polynomial time approximation scheme for this problem.


The aim of the present study is to compare the physical fitness of table tennis players and the exercise intensity during a table tennis singles match with special reference to the different player levels. Thirty-three healthy men volunteered to participate in this study. They were divided into three samples: recreational level, regional level and league level. All players were subjected to a VO2max Fitness Test on the motorized treadmill. Measuring heart rate was realized with the monitors Polar RS800 during three table tennis matches. The samples of heart rate were stored in 1 second intervals and were transferred to the software ProTrainer 5. The matches were played on 3 games to 11 points with opponent from the same player level. The results showed significant differences in aerobic capacity (VO2max) and resting heart rate among the players on the recreational, regional and league level. The best values were in the league players. We found a significant positive relationship between player levels and heart rate responses. The table tennis skill level was a significant factor in the level of exercise intensity in the singles matches.


This study presents the suitability of using macro model (strut model ) for analyzing the seismic responses of single-story single-span reinforced concrete frames having different arrangement of masonry infill wall with openings by com  par  ing its results with those using micro model (wall-element model). From the result, the infill masonry wall increases the stiffness of RC frame structure. Meanwhile, the dia  gonal strut model will give smaller natural frequencies than wall-element model. When the part of the wall opening causes the wall to have no contact with a column, short column effect will be introduced in the column. Wall-element model can predict better the short column effect than the strut model. Although under static lateral load re  placing masonry infill wall by diagonal strut was considered to be suitable for com  puting the response structure behaviour for the case without any opening in infill wall, but it is not the case for the dynamic analysis.


: 17 4-PH stainless steel and Al7075 T6 alloy were provided by private firm. Samples were machined to fit size. Friction welding process was performed for 6, 9, 12, 15 s frictions durations under 150 MPa forging pressure and 50 MPa friction pressure at 1000 min -1 friction speed. Microstructure of welding zone and fractured surface were examined with optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Microstructure studies indicated that welding interfaces were continuous and void-free. Hardness and shear strength values of the welding zone and matrix were determined. Hardness profiles for various welding duration were similar to each other. The welding shear strength values increased with increase in the welding duration. The highest shear strength value was obtained from welded sample for 15s.


[GALIL, B. S. & GOREN, M. (1994): The deep sea Levantine fauna. — New records and rare occurren ces. — Senckenbergiana marit., 25 (1/3): 41-52, 4 figs., 1 Tab.; Frankfurt a. M.] A series of twelve cruises conducted between 1988 and 1991 to study the bathyal off the coast of Israel brought up a wealth of new Uata. The present work adds nine new records for the Levant basin — the crustaceans Eryonekus kempi, Munidopsis marionis, Bathynectes maravigna, Geryon longipes; the echiurids Echiurus abyssalis and Bonellia viridis; the shark Etmopterus spinax and the fish Coelorbyncbus labiatus and Nezumia sclerorbynchus — and extends the distribution of eighteen more species to the easternmost boundary of the Mediterranean. It is suggested that the extreme poverty of the deep Levantine fauna is due, in part, to recurrence of anoxic conditions at bathyal depths during the the Quaternary.


In this paper we test the weak form of the Efficient-Market Hypothesis (EMH) using monthly data from 2004M08 to 2018M04 of stock prices by using linear and nonlinear (KSS 3 type, Sollis and Kruse) unit root tests. The informational market efficiency is examined in the Islamic and conventional markets in Canada. It aims to investigate whether Islamic market would be more or less efficient than the conventional one. Findings indicate that both Conventional Canadian Stock Index (CCSI) and Dow Jones Islamic Canadian Price Index (DJICPI) show characteristics of random walk indicating that the stock markets are efficient. The major policy implications is that in this country ( Canada ), fund managers and investors cannot enjoy excess returns to their investment.


Background: Anaemia is rampant in India. Nutritional anaemia is one of the most frequently observed deficiencies throughout the world among the women of reproductive age group particularly during pregnancy and very often contributing to maternal deaths. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in field practice area of department of community medicine of a tertiary care teaching hospital i.e. Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College and General Hospital, Mumbai during the period of June 1999 to December 2000. A total of 288 non-pregnant women were included and a pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire was used for the study. Data was analyzed by using statistical package of social sciences (SPSS) version 17.0. Results: In the present study, out of 288 participants, 134 (46.5%) women were found anaemic. Anaemia was classified into mild 70 (52.2%), moderate 58 (43.3%) and severe 6 (4.5%). Majority 44.1% belongs to the age group of 15 to 24 years and maximum were Hindu i.e. 89.9% and 92% were married and 72.9% belongs to nuclear type of family and 60.4% had primary to secondary level of education followed by 37.2% who were illiterate and 30.5% had marriage below 15 years of age. 62.8% who belong to joint families and 65.4% of illiterate women were anaemic. Conclusions: In present study, prevalence of nutritional anaemia is widely present in women from 15 to 45 years of age. Occupation and education have a direct effect on socio-economic status thus leading to nutritional anaemia. There is a need to promote, educate and increase the awareness regarding the National health programs at the community level.


A series of experiments on composite beams reinforced with Prefabricated Cage System is reported. The experiments include eleven series of composite beams. The tests reported were used to ascertain the flexural strength of the beams and to validate the theoretical predictions. Companion specimens of concrete cylinders and cubes were tested for compressive strength and elastic modulus properties. Specimens of cold formed steel sheeting coupons were tested in tension to ascertain their yield strength and young's modulus. Failure shown is occur in pure bending region. In this study, the effects of concrete strength and confinement on flexural ductility of PCRC beams have been evaluated in terms of a parameter known as the ductility factor and this gives an indication of the ability of a structural member to deform. The results reveal that PCRC beams show better ductile performance and maintain their loading upto the loading. There was good agreement between the results obtained from the analytical model and those obtained from the test programme.


This paper is devoted to the history and current state of the issue of pollution of the geological environment and formation of technogenic petroleum reservoirs in the territory of the city of Grozny as a consequence of petroleum-related industrial activities. The area of Grozny was analyzed for subsurface contamination with petroleum products. Recommended actions for the remediation of the geological environment from petroleum contaminants are provided.


Several measurement methods of particle size were introduced and compared, including the principle, characteristics and application of them. Some problems of application in the advanced ceramic and refractory materials were also discussed according to the feature of their powder.


Modular Mathematics is a course for GCSE which is particularly suitable for candidates in sixth forms and tertiary colleges. It has been written by experienced teachers. Students will find the material accessible and motivating. This unit covers Attainment Target 2 of the National Curriculum, covering various aspects of the representation and use of numbers. Contexts appropriate for mature students are used to introduce mathematical ideas. These contexts are mainly taken from the world of work and finance.


With the rapid progress and continuous innovation of web technology and information technology, our society has entered the era of massive data. The application of computer web technology in various fields has raised people's living standard to a new level. In recent years, the introduction of artificial intelligence makes the development of computer technology faster. At the same time, it also brings great convenience to human beings. Researchers found that the comprehensive application of artificial intelligence and computer web technology can well deal with the problems of computer web technology. In this paper, artificial intelligence in the background of the era is the research object. This paper discusses its application in the web technology of computer, and finally gets the conclusion.


While the world has changed dramatically over the past decade, management theory has only partially adapted to this change. But what could a new management approach capable of handling the challenges companies are facing today look like? To answer this question a new management approach based on a company's core values is presented. To operationalize the new approach, a seven level development scheme is introduced and its individual value dimensions empirically verified. The results of the empirical verification permit the conclusion that the introduced model and its seven levels can be populated with specific value-related attributes and therefore can be used to measure and describe the core values of companies.


Despite vast amounts of resources and time invested in the development and implementation of health information systems (HIS), health data is barely used by health workers effectively to inform policy and to programmatic decision making. The general objective of the study was to assess use routine Health Information among sub-county health management teams in Makueni County. The study used a cross-sectional study design employing mixed methods of data collection. Census approach was used to enlist all the 120 sub-county health management team members in Makueni sub-counties in the study while 20 key informants were selected using purposive sampling method. Descriptive and regression analysis were used to analyse quantitative data using SPSS version 20. Thematic analysis of qualitative data was undertaken to identify emerging themes using QSR/Nvivo version 10 and validate the study findings. Findings revealed that the level of data use was 67%. Regression analysis indicated that there was a statistically significant relationship between education (p=0.011), availability of reporting tools (p=0.049), staff trainings on data use (p=0.005), access to the internet (p=0.000) availability of computers (p=0.002), possession of data analysis skills (p=0.000), accuracy of data (p=0.001), completeness of data (p=0.014), performance of data duality audit (0.011), legibility and accuracy of records (0.006) and adherence to reporting timeliness (p=0.000), positive attitudes toward data (p=0.027), availability of data sharing mechanisms (p=0.001), provision of data feedback (p=0.000), access to data and information (p=0.033), empowerment of staff to make decisions (p=0.042), use of data to set and evaluate targets (p=0,037), ensuring staff accountability for performance (p=0.007) and data use for decision making. In conclusion, the established need for management to enhance technical competency of staff, enhance perceived quality of data, encourage positive attitude towards data and promote an organizational culture which motivates and encourages evidence-based decision-making at all levels of service delivery.


It is well-known that no knot can be cancelled in a connected sum with another knot, whereas every link can be cancelled up to link homotopy in a (componentwise) connected sum with another link. In this paper we address the question whether the noncancellation property of knots holds for some (piecewise-linear) links up to some stronger analogue of link homotopy, which still does not distinguish between sufficiently close C^0-approximations of a topological link. We introduce a sequence of such increasingly stronger equivalence relations under the name of k-quasi-isotopy, k=1,2,...; all of them are weaker than isotopy (in the sense of Milnor). We prove that every link can be cancelled up to peripheral structure preserving isomorphism of any quotient of the fundamental group, functorially invariant under k-quasi-isotopy; functoriality means that the isomorphism between the quotients for links related by an allowable crossing change fits in the commutative diagram with the fundamental group of the complement to the intermediate singular link. The proof invokes Baer's theorem on the join of subnormal locally nilpotent subgroups. On the other hand, the integral generalized (lk\ne 0) Sato-Levine invariant \tilde\beta is invariant under 1-quasi-isotopy, but is not determined by any quotient of the fundamental group (endowed with the peripheral structure), functorially invariant under 1-quasi-isotopy - in contrast to Waldhausen's theorem.
As a byproduct, we use \tilde\beta to determine the image of the Kirk-Koschorke invariant \tilde\sigma of fibered link maps.


Auditory feedbacks are becoming increasingly popular in sports providing opportunities for monitoring and gait (re)training in ecological environments. We present the design process of a sonification strategy for modification of running parameters. The sonification provides real-time feedback of the performance through introduction of distortion of a baseline music track. The music BPM is continuously matched to the runners' cadence. The noise-based continuous feedback was able to significantly alter the mean running cadence in a non-instructed and non-disturbing way and performed better than standard verbal instructions. Although some of the participants did not respond effectively to the feedback, a large majority of the participants positively rated the feedback system in terms of pleasantness and motivation.


Benign monomelic amyotrophy (BMA) is a rare form of motor neuron disease of unknown cause and it's characterized by weakness and muscular atrophy restricted to an upper or lower limb, usually in the distal part, absence of upper motor neuron signs and self limited course. In this report we describe the clinical and electromyographic features of two young men with BMA in the proximal portion of the right upper limb, a location of BMA rarely described in the literature.


Abstract— Homocysteine (Hcy) is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) are major chemokines for leukocyte trafficking and have been identified in atheromatous plaques. MCP-1 and IL-8 have been found to express mainly by macrophages in human lesion. We undertook this study to determine whether Hcy could induce the secretion of chemokines from human monocytes and, if so, to explore the mediating mechanism. We found that clinically relevant levels of Hcy (10 to 1000 &mgr;mol/L) increased the protein secretion and mRNA expression as well as activity of MCP-1 and IL-8 in cultured primary human monocytes. These effects of Hcy were primarily mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) through NAD(P)H oxidase, because Hcy could upregulate the production of ROS and the inhibitors of protein kinase C, calmodulin, free radical scavengers, or NAD(P)H oxidase abolished Hcy-induced ROS production and MCP-1 and IL-8 secretion in these cells. Furthermore, the inhibitors of mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2) and nuclear factor-&kgr;B or the activator of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor &ggr; (PPAR&ggr;) significantly decreased Hcy-induced MCP-1 and IL-8 secretion in these cells. These data indicate that pathophysiological levels of Hcy can alter human monocyte function by upregulating MCP-1 and IL-8 expression and secretion via enhanced formation of intracellular ROS originated from NAD(P)H oxidase source via calmodulin or protein kinase C signaling pathways and that Hcy-induced ROS subsequently activates mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 and ERK1/2) and nuclear factor-&kgr;B in a PPAR&ggr; activator–sensitive manner. Thus, activation of PPAR&ggr; may become a therapeutic target for preventing Hcy-induced proatherogenic effects.


More and more wind turbines are made part of electrical power systems, in order to reduce the adverse environmental impact of conventional electrical power generation. A tendency to erect these turbines in wind parks, that are connected to the high voltage transmission grid can be observed. To facilitate the investigation of the impact of a wind park on the dynamics of the power system to which it is connected, an adequate model is required. In order to avoid the necessity of developing a detailed model of a wind park with tens or hundreds of wind turbines and their interconnections, aggregated wind park models are needed. A further advantage of aggregated models is a substantial reduction of computation time. In this paper, an aggregated model for a wind park equipped with variable speed wind turbines is developed and it is shown that the results yielded by the aggregated model and a detailed model show a high degree of correspondence.


SUMMARY 1. Freshwaters with established zebra mussel populations typically exhibit reduced chlorophyll a concentrations, but the subsequent impacts upon zooplankton are varied. We hypothesised that in an invaded system with less phytoplankton but available allochthonous subsidy, zooplankton may utilise greater proportions of allochthonous matter and that this could be traced by analysis of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes. 2. We used archived zooplankton samples which had been consistently preserved and which spanned the invasion period of an Irish lake, Lough Erne. Increasing reliance upon allochthonous resources would be reflected in an increase in zooplankton d 13 C away from phytoplankton which is relatively 13 C-depleted in humic-stained L. Erne. 3. Analysis of a series of monthly samples (1992–96, 1999–2003) revealed significant 13 C-enrichment of mixed zooplankton, Eudiaptomus gracilis and Mysis relicta post-zebra mussel invasion; d 13 C values approached )27& typical of terrestrial organic matter during spring and autumn. Changes in zooplankton elemental composition also suggested a switch to a lower quality diet. However, analysis of zooplankton d 13 C from an annual, single-point (June) time series spanning 28 years (1977–2004) suggested that when phytoplankton was sufficiently abundant, zooplankton used this resource and their d 13 C remained relatively constant around )32&. Post-invasion enrichment of mysid d 15 N may reflect a shift towards carnivory, but planktonic prey abundance was reduced and a subsequent loss of body condition could result in the same isotopic changes. 4. Our results indicate that in L. Erne, when phytoplankton was reduced by zebra mussel filtering, zooplankton assimilated more from allochthonous matter, and potentially sustained a higher population than would otherwise be possible. Thus, zebra mussel impact on foodweb structure and function is likely to be different in lakes subject to varying subsidy levels.


This paper introduces the developing trend of acquisitioning and cataloguing work of library under the network environment, analyzes the influences of network environment on acquisitioning and cataloguing work, and expounds the countermeasures for improving the acquisitioning and cataloguing work.


The performance and design of fiber-optic links for analog signal transmission at microwave frequencies are discussed. The effect of impedance matching the fiber-optic transceiver using either lossless or lossy circuit elements is presented. In particular, the following performance parameters are examined: link insertion loss, transceiver input and output VSWR, and link bandwidth. The contributions of RF circuit losses as well as optical losses to the overall RF link insertion loss are described. Commercially available fiber-optic links are shown to be unsuitable for most microwave applications. However, fiber-optic links employing lossless impedance matching to the laser diode and photodiode are shown to minimize the link insertion loss and VSWR in a finite frequency band and are therefore practical for many applications involving microwave signal transmission.


For forging operations, process parameters, such as workpiece geometry, forging load, and material properties of the deforming body, can all be measured by well-established techniques. Interface friction, however, is a far more elusive quantity, yet its significant role in determining forging forces and mode of material flow is well-recognized. Three new techniques are proposed to enable friction determination during forging. The first of these permits friction measurement over a small but finite increment of deformation; the second, removes the controversy over measuring geometry changes of a barreling surface and, therefore, provides for increase measurement accuracy; the third technique extends measurement to forging under plane strain conditions and introduces a new approach to the problem. The use of forging to measure flow stress and provide stress-strain data for the material being formed is discussed briefly. Presented at the 32nd Annual Meeting in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, May 9–12, 1977


The researching study under network environment means to create a sort of scientific research situation and way throughout the process of teaching. Taking advantage of network, students, under the guidance and support of directors, can select information technology in a positive manner and solve problems using scientific ways to achieve their goals.


To describe the urological outcomes in children with congenital Zika syndrome (CZS) and investigate the relationship between clinical and urological findings in this population.


The electric power development was first started in the year 1897 in India. It had a snail-space growth until 1985. The power sector witnessed a faster growth only after 1991. The electricity consumption (EC) increased from 43.724 Terawatt hour (TWh) in 1970 to 772.603 TWh in 2011, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.08%. In order to meet the increasing requirement of electricity, massive addition to the installed generating capacity is required. As of 2013, with a production of 1,006 TWh, India is the fifth largest producer of electricity in the world. In the year 2013, the total EC was 852.902 TWh. Of the total EC, industrial sector (IS) accounted for the largest share of 382.670 TWh, followed by DS 185.858 TWh, agriculture 140.960 TWh, Commercial 71.1019 TWh and others 60.24 TWh. Most of the growth in EC in India has taken place in the industrial sector (IS), due to the increasing number of applications of electricity intensive technologies. There had been a steady increase in the share of IS-EC from 29.579 TWh in the year 1970 and 346.469 TWh in the year 2011with a CAGR of 6.03%. Domestic sector (DS) EC (DS-EC) is the second biggest consumer of the electric energy in India. In the year 1970, 3.84 TWh of electricity is consumed in DS of India and 170.034 TWh in 2011 with a CAGR of 9.44%. iv Forecasting is the first step in planning and developing future generation, transmission and distribution facilities. One of the primary tasks of an electric utility is to accurately forecast the EC at all times, especially for long-term. Electric energy is an important ingredient that influences not only the economy, but also the political and the social security of any nation, The development of electric energy is more warranted for the growth of developing countries like India. Hence, the forecasting of EC is an important problem to be addressed by the power system planners. Therefore forecasting total-EC (T-EC), IS-EC and DS-EC are of prime importance for future energy strategies, such as identification, analysis of energy issues and their development. Generally, long-term EC prediction/forecasting methods can be classified into two broad categories such as i) conventional and ii) computational intelligence (CI) based methods. Conventional methods cannot properly present the complex nonlinear relationship that exists between the EC and input variables. The CI techniques are further classified into meta heuristic (MH) algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. The objective of this research is to develop EC model which is able to predict the future T-EC, IS-EC and DS-EC for India using CI techniques. The AI techniques considered are Artificial ANN, Least Square SVM (LSSVM) and ANFIS. The MH algorithms considered are GA, PSO, AIS and DE. T-EC is estimated based on the input variables population, imports, exports and per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India. IS-EC estimated based on the input variables imports, exports and Gross National v Product (GNP). DS-EC estimated based on the input variables population, Per capita GDP and electricity production. In AI techniques, from among the available data set (41 years data between 1971 and 2011) a part of data set related to EC (32 years) is used for training and the remaining part of the data set is used to test the network. Non-linear (exponential) relationship between EC and the set of variables such as population, imports, exports and per capita GDP, GNP and electricity production is used while applying MH algorithms for estimation of EC. The available 41-year historical data between 1971 and 2011 are used for finding the best values of the weighting parameters of the algorithms. The 8year data between 2001 and 2008 are used to examine the accuracy of the model. Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE), Mean Bias Error (MBE) Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and Correlation coefficient (R) are used as performance evaluation criteria. The developed model is used to forecast/estimate the T-EC, IS-EC and DS-EC for three alternate growth scenarios of the future years. In order to estimate the accuracy of the results obtained, AI techniques and MH algorithms are compared. Among the four MH algorithms, the results proved that, the DE is an efficient optimization tool for solving EC forecasting problems. In AI techniques, the performance of ANFIS is found to be better than ANN and LS-SVM. The predictions are carried out for the period between 2015 and 2025 and the results are compared with the 18 Electric Power Survey (EPS) vi of India which is prepared by the central electricity authority, Government of India.


Fiber Metal Laminates (FMLs) are advanced hybrid materials combining the excellent fatigue and damage tolerant properties of metals and fiber reinforced composites, which are ideal materials for aerospace. The fatigue crack growth behavior of FMLs is complex, which includes both crack growth in the metal layers and delamination growth at the metal/fiber interfaces in wake of the metal crack. This interaction makes it harder for the prediction of crack growth rate and damage tolerance. The fatigue crack growth behavior of FMLs has been studied by many researches and valuable results were obtained. In this paper, the fatigue damage mechanism of FMLs is reviewed. The prediction models for fatigue crack growth rate and life of FMLs under constant amplitude (CA) loading are summarized. Furthermore, the researches on fatigue crack growth and delamination behaviors of FMLs under variable amplitude (VA) loading are also overviewed.


Alzheimer 's Disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia that can lead to a neurological brain disorder that causes progressive memory loss as a result of damaging the brain cells and the ability to perform daily activities. Using MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scan brain images, we can get the help of Artificial intelligence (AI) technology for detection and prediction of this disease and classify the AD patients whether they have or may not have this deadly disease in future. The main purpose of doing all this is to make the best prediction and detection tools for the help of radiologists, doctors, caregivers to save time, cost, and help the patient suffering from this disease. In recent years, the Deep Learning (DL) algorithms are very useful for the diagnosis of AD as DL algorithms work well with large datasets. In this paper, we have implemented Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) for the earlier diagnosis and classification of AD using MRI images, the ADNI 3 class of images with the total number of 1512 mild, 2633 normal and 2480 AD were used. A significant accuracy of 99% achieved in which the model performed well as we compared with many other related works. Furthermore, we also compared the result with our previous work on which ma-chine learning algorithms were applied using OASIS dataset and it showed that when dealing with large amount of data like medical data the deep learning approaches can be a better option over the traditional machine learning techniques.


Bhagandara (~anal fistula) is a challenging surgical condition due to its high recurrence rate and anal incontinence. Acharya sushruta has explained surgical and para-surgical techniques for its management. Ksharasutra therapy is a time-tested para-surgical modality for Bhagandara with least recurrence (3.33%). Modified conventional technique of application of Ksharasutra is aimed to eliminate infected source and facilitate healing in short duration. A 30-year-old male patient presented with recurrent painful swelling with intermittent pus discharge from the base of the scrotum for one and half years. He underwent incision and drainage twice in the last six months. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an anterior fistulous tract representing as St. James Type 1 Fistula, which varied from clinical features. He was treated with Modified Conventional Kshara Sutra Therapy (MC-KST) and whole length of fistulous tract was healed completely within five weeks. Anal fistula with scrotal extension is considered a complex manifestation to manage. In MC-KST method, tract was intercepted nearer to sphincter and infected crypto-glandular lesion was eradicated by Ksharasutra. The study concluded that MC-KST is one option to manage anal fistula with scrotal extension to preserve normal perineal structures.


The lack of standardization in research involving pictorial variables has made it difficult to clarify the functions of pictorial stimuli in learning. rhis study sought to determine whether selected methods of rendering pictorial illustrations influenced the f.umber and type of descriptive words evoked-in a verbal association tEsk. 'Normally the verbal responses evoked by-a pictorial stimulus may be ranked as to frequency, with high frequency (called high dominance) associated with ease in learning. E,kperimental results indicated that color photographs elicited significantlymore descriptiye responses than black-and-white photographs, which in turn did better than line drawings. Both the stimulus .objects, were factors in deter*ining the number and type of verbal responses elicited. The results affirm the need for developing Standardized materials for studying concept learning with pictorial materials. uu9 LLI American Educational Research ASsociation., 'Chicago, 1972 MODE OF PICTORIAL RENDITION-AND ASSOCIATED RESPONSE TENDENCIES


Phyllis Fagell advises teachers and a principal who are dealing with their students' and their own anxiety. A middle school math teacher is finding that more boys than girls in her class are risk-averse when it comes to math. A high school teacher has noticed that a lot of her students are getting sick and missing class when there's a test. And a principal who's made some hard calls and gotten blowback wonders if he's in the right job.


In a medical biochemistry laboratory, under ISO 15189:2002, the postexamination process includes the systematic review, formatting and interpretation, authorization for release, reporting of results, transmission of results and storage of samples of the examinations. Results must reach the user in a timely and secure manner. Clause 5.8 of the standard sets out that 'the laboratory shall establish policies and practices to ensure that results distributed by telephone or other electronic means only reach an authorised receiver'. The CPA (UK) Ltd Standards for the Medical Laboratory 2010 set out the requirements for giving reports by telephone. Among the requirements demanded of the laboratory management are formalized procedures for (a) the circumstances in which reports may be given; (b) the nominated individual who may give reports; and (c) the individuals who may receive reports. In November 2010, the Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath) published a document 'Out-of-hours reporting of results requiring urgent clinical action to primary care: advice to pathologists and those that work in laboratory medicine'. This was in response to reports of the inability of laboratory staff to find an appropriate primary care physician to act on a markedly abnormal, and sometimes lifethreatening, result outside of conventional working times. The general principle is set out in section 4 of the RCPath document. 'The responsibility of the laboratory staff is to communicate the markedly abnormal test result to the clinical team – either the GP who made the request or to the out-of-hours provider'. The next statement is naı̈ve. 'It is the responsibility of the requesting team to review results of tests that they have requested and have proper handover arrangements in place to review and act on abnormal results after hours. The Primary Care Trust (PCT) or commissioning body has a responsibility to ensure that adequate out-of-hours cover arrangements are available, and that details of those arrangements are communicated to the laboratory. PCTs or GP commissioning bodies should be asked to inform the laboratory of specific arrangements for making telephone contact with a GP out of hours.' It is recognized that the out-of-hours cover doctor will have limited access to patient information. These are clear patient safety issues. The RCPath document does not address the context of independent GPs outside a state system. It downplays the ethical responsibility of the doctor to the individual patient and the parallel role of the consultant chemical pathologist and consultant clinical scientist in patient care. The General Medical Council requires doctors to put the care of a patient as a first concern. Therefore it is the duty of the doctor to provide any laboratory to which patient samples are sent with contact arrangements in the event of a life-threatening or very urgent patient result. The clinical biochemistry laboratory consultant must also place the care of the patient first. All requests to the laboratory are referrals to the consultant. My experience is that locum and out-of-hour services are unsatisfactory means of dealing with dangerous laboratory results. On occasions when an appropriate doctor cannot be contacted, there has often been no information on the address of the patient. Where an appropriate professional cannot be traced but the patient's address and phone number is available, I have directly contacted the patient. Where an address only is available, I have rarely asked the police to call and arrange for transfer of the patient. I believe that access to the direct personal cell phone number of every requestor of laboratory tests which may require urgent intervention should be incorporated into the governance requirements for clinical laboratory accreditation. Since I instituted this policy in 2010, there have been no cases where the laboratory could not find the relevant GP. A minority of GPs were resistant to providing the information and ultimately 2.5% refused and were asked to go elsewhere. This stipulation should also be a requirement for practice accreditation in primary care and must now be considered a best practice standard when GP practice registration is introduced under the Care Quality Commission in the UK in 2013.


The purpose of this paper is to design a variable structure controller (VSC) for a class of non-linear model-following systems, when subjected to fast and wide ranges of unknown-but-bounded parameter variations and disturbances. It has been shown that the use of discontinuous VSC may produce what is called chattering phenomena. By adopting a boundary layer controller, such chattering can be removed. The controller gains are then adjusted in such a way that the global asymptotic stability of the overall system is assured. An illustrative example for controlling a non-linear adaptive model-following system is carried out to demonstrate the design procedure.


Hamilton and Salmon (1962) and Hamilton (1964) have investigated the effect upon male chronic schizophrenics, inter alios, of the following regimes: (a) working in a hospital industrial workshop, (b) occupational therapy and (c) no specific activity (the first study only). Hamilton (1964), considering both studies, concludes that the results "may be said to weight the available evidence in favour of the superiority of Workshop Therapy". Certain points should be raised in connection with this conclusion.


Received: 04.07.2013 Accepted: 09.11.2013 This study was presented as an oral presentation during the 15th Annual Congress of Turkish Thoracic society, 11-15 April 2012, Antalya, Turkey: ss-036. Address for Correspondence: Tacettin Örnek, Department of Chest Diseases, Bülent Ecevit University Faculty of Medicine, Zonguldak, Turkey Phone: +90 372 266 20 01 E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com ©Copyright 2014 by Turkish Thoracic Society Available online at www.toraks.dergisi.org 112 ciliary NIMV for COPD. Patients who were prescribed NIMV for obesity hypoventilation syndrome or sleep apnoea syndrome were excluded. Therefore, 5 patients who were prescribed the device because of reasons other than COPD (restrictive lung disease due to scoliosis [n=1], interstitial pulmonary disease [n=2], obesity hypoventilation syndrome [n=2]) were excluded from the study (Figure 1). In April 2013, the patients were contacted using their phone numbers recorded in the electronic file system of the hospital and their consents were obtained after they were informed about the study. They were questioned whether they regularly used the device, daily duration of device use and death date if they died (information about dead patients were obtained from their legal representatives). Three patients who could not be reached and three patients who did not use the device regularly or used the device for less than 4 hours daily were excluded. The remaining 34 patients were considered as the study group. Clinical data of these patients were retrospectively reviewed using electronic patient files. statistical Analysis Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0 (Chicago, USA) package program. Normality of distribution was tested using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The means of two dependent groups was compared by Wilcoxon Signed-rank test in case the distribution of the groups was not normal, and the PairedSamples T test (Student T test) was used in case of normal distribution. The means of two independent groups were compared by Mann-Whitney U test when the distribution of the groups was not normal, whereas categorical variables were compared using the chi-square test and, if appropriate, by Fisher's Exact Probability test. Survival analysis was performed using Kaplan-Meier method. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. resULTs The mean age of the patients was 68±15 (range, 34-87) years and 59% (n=20) were females. All females had a history of biomass exposure, whereas 45% (n=9) had a history of cigarette smoking. Of the males, 86% (n=12) had a history of cigarette smoking and the 2 non-smoker males were retired coal mine workers. Of the patients included in the study, 53% (n=18) were house wives and 24% (n=8) were retired coal mine workers. Clinical data of the patients are summarized in Table 1. As was expected, there was a significant difference between the blood gas values obtained at hospital admission and at hospital discharge in patients receiving domiciliary NIMV (Table 2). According to the Global Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) criteria, 35% were Stage 4, 24% were Stage 3, and 41% were Stage 2 patients [4]. None of the patients had GOLD Stage 1 disease. Mortality in patients receiving domiciliary NIMV therapy is presented in Table 3 and the survival curve is demonstrated in Figure 2. The mean age and the mean duration of daily NIMV use of patients with a lifespan≤2 years after domiciliary NIMV prescription were significantly higher (n=17) as compared to that of the patients with a lifespan>2 years (n=17) (Table 4). The median follow-up period of study participants was 17 (range, 1-39) months. The number of patients that survived for at least 1 year after the initiation of NIMV therapy was 21 (62%). In these patients, the mean number of hospitalizations before and after domiciliary NIMV therapy was 1.38±1.28 and 0.57±0.93, respectively (p=0.003). The mean daily duration of domiciliary NIMV use was 8.91±4.46 hours. Thirty eight percent (n=13) of the patients had been receiving long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) previously. LTOT was commenced for the first time in 62% (n=21) of the patients together with NIMV. dIsCUssIoN In the present study, we discussed the clinical data and mortality of COPD patients that were discharged with domiciliary NIMV in the light of literature. The present study demonstrated that annual mortality in COPD patients receiving domiciliary NIMV therapy was 38.2%. Although NIMV therapy is frequently used for the treatment of chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure, data on the longterm efficacy of domiciliary NIMV therapy in COPD patients Figure 1. Flowchart illustrating the number of dropouts and the reasons COPD: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; NIMV: non-invasive mechanical ventilation Number of patients receiving domiciliary NIMV=45 NIMV=40 NIMV=37 Study group=34 Without COPD NİMV=5 Noncompliant =3 Could not be reached=3 Table 1. Clinical data of the patients receiving domiciliary NIMV


Abstract A significant amount of environmental pollution is caused by oil refinery industries in the form of spent alumina catalyst (SAC) waste generated during the process. This waste causes various detrimental effects on human health. In this study, an effort has been made to consume the SAC in the fabrication of aluminum-based composite materials via the friction stir process (FSP). An X-ray diffraction image of the SAC powder used in this work confirms the occurrence of Al2O3, Fe2O3, SiO2, and CaO phases. These hard-phase materials form the basis for SAC to be used as reinforcement content with the aluminum alloy. The FSP is used to create the composite material. It is evident from the scanning electron microscopy image of the Al/SAC composite developed by the FSP technique that fair distribution of constituent ingredients is attained during the process. The incorporation of SAC contents in the aluminum alloy results in remarkable enlargement in tensile strength and hardness of the composite material. The Al2O3, Fe2O3, SiO2, and CaO phases of SAC showed a considerable effect on thermal expansion and corrosion weight loss of the composite.


Closed-loop control of vortex-induced non-resonant vibration of a flexible square cylinder is experimentally investigated in this paper. Piezo-ceramic actuators were embedded inside the cylinder to cause an oscillation of the cylinder surface, which subsequently altered the fluid–structure interaction. Experiments were conducted in a wind tunnel at Reynolds numbers, Re, of 2800 and 8000. Two typical control schemes, i.e. Y_control and u+Y_control, were deployed using feedback signals from structural vibration Y and combined Y and fluctuating flow velocity u, respectively. The control effects on the structural vibration and flow were assessed using a laser vibrometer, an optical fiber Bragg grating sensor, hot wires and particle image velocimetry. Experimental results show that both vortex shedding from the cylinder and the vortex-induced non-resonant vibration were effectively suppressed. The best control effects were observed with u+Y_control in use; the root mean square values of Y, the structural strain rate εy along the lift direction and u, i.e. Yrms, εy,rms and urms, and the circulation Γ dropped at Re = 8000 by 58%, 52%, 53% and 88%, respectively, compared with the unperturbed case. It was found that the control effectively modified the nature of the fluid–structure interaction by changing the in-phase fluid–structure synchronization at all dominant frequencies into anti-phase interaction, accounting for the suppression in both vortex shedding and structural vibration.


It is shown that the La $5p$ photoemission (PE) spectra consist of a superposition of two final states reflecting predominantly ${5p}^{5}{4f}^{0}$ and ${5p}^{5}{4f}^{1}$ character. In contrast to La $3d$ spectra, the ${4f}^{1}$-derived component appears at the high-binding-energy side of the ${4f}^{0}$-derived emission due to a weaker interaction between the photohole and the $4f$ electron. This splitting into two components is crucial for the quantitative understanding of the resonant behavior of the $5p$ states at the $4\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{d}4f$ excitation threshold. In addition to the participator decay channel usually considered for the description of the resonant PE, a spectator decay channel must be taken into account that leads particularly to an enhancement of the ${4f}^{1}$ originating emission. The contributions of the spectator transitions are particularly important in the range of the so-called preresonances, e.g., at the ${}^{3}{P}_{1}$ and ${}^{3}{D}_{1}$ excitation thresholds.


The semilinear wave equation u,, - u, + f(u) = g(t) with u(O, t) = u(7T, t) = 0, u is T-periodic in t, is considered for some situations in which T is not a rational multiple of v. Various existence results depending on the range of f' are given, which contrast sharply with the case where T is a rational multiple of 7T. In this paper we consider T-periodic solutions of the nonlinear wave equation (1) ~~~utt- uxx -g(u) = h(x, t), O < x < ,, u(O, t) = u(r, t) = O, u(x, t) = u(x, t + T), under the assumption that the forcing term h(x, t) satisfies h(x, t + T) = h(x, t). In previous papers (2, 3, 6, 8) this equation has been examined under the assumption that T is a rational multiple of 2,r. The problem of making the transition to T being an irrational multiple of 2 r has been referred to in (3) as a small divisor problem. The purpose of this paper is to consider some of the phenomena associated with this case. In particular, we demonstrate that the results are totally different from the case where T = (p/q)r andp, q E Z.


Based on the NCEP/NCAR daily reanalysis data,the circulation background of the flash-flood-producing rainstorm over South China in June 2005 and its possible cause are analyzed.The results show that the weak El Nino events during 2004—2005 was the climatic background of the rainstorm.Compared with summer in 2005,the apparent heating source Q1 and apparent moisture sink Q2 were exceptionally strong over South China during June 17—26,2005.And the center of high value bands of Q1 and Q2 were basically coincided with that of rainfall.The anomalous heating source over the east coast of Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal forced an anomalous anticyclonic circulation over its northwest at the upper level,leading to the strenthening and westward stretching of South Asian High(SAH).An anomalous cyclonic circulation controlled the Chinese mainland,which went against the northward movement of SAH,but favored the maintaining of SAH over the south of the Tibetan Plateau and South China,so South China areas just located in the updraft areas in the south side of the upper level westeries jet,which is frequently in favor of the formation and maintenance of heavy rain,and thus severe flood.


Due to the multiple reactions that are involved, the mathematical description of anaerobic degradation of organic matter is normally complicated. Several efforts have been made for the development of the ADM1 model, that cover the major processes involved in complex organic substrate conversion. This model application requires a large number of constants and coefficients, which were proposed, reviewed the information available at the time of their publication. The more recent published papers about ADM1 model application report a necessary revision of the kinetic parameters used for volatile fatty acid (VFA) degradation. This work presents a kinetic study of VFA anaerobic degradation performed in batch and continuous stirred tank reactor. Acetic, propionic, and butyric acids (mixed in a ratio 2:1:1 COD basis) and acetic acid only were used as substrate. The biomass for kinetics assays was previously produced in a codigestion process using pig manure mixed with sewage sludge obtained from anaerobic municip...


The smell of automotive market and less to be left to the factors that support sales make the sale of Toyota vehicle units in PT. Nasmoco Solo Baru less maximum. This is evidenced by the sales data that has not been stable and tends to decline. This research aims to determine the influence of social media marketing factor, brand image, and after-sales service of Toyota car purchase decision in Nasmoco Solo Baru. This research is quantitative with multiple linear regression analyses and uses SPSS 23 data program. From 71 respondents can be known that simultaneously the social media marketing factor, brand image and after-sales service have significant effect on purchasing decisions. These three factors have an influence of 0.497 or 49.7% on the purchase decision of Toyota cars in PT. Nasmoco Solo Baru. Partial social media marketing, brand image and after-sales service, positive and significant effect on purchasing decisions. Keywords: social media marketing, brand image, after-sales service and purchase decision.


A die casting die for a magnesium alloy shell body was developed based on analysis of the structure technology characteristics of the product. Presentation was focused on the design of pouring system, Pro/E-based 3D solid modeling of the casting piece and optimized structure design of the die. The die proved stably and reliably.


As employers increasingly view disability as a form of diversity that can enrich the workplace and improve performance, a company in the industrial sector in the Midwest created an innovative initiative for employing an individual with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A case study methodology was utilized to gain a better understanding of effective employer practices in hiring and integrating employees with ASD. The case study was framed by Yang and Konrad's (2011) model of diversity in the workplace as well the Interactional Model of Cultural Diversity (IMCD; Cox, 1993), with specific focus on the four organizational contexts of the model, namely, organizational culture and acculturation processes, structural integration, informal integration, and institutional bias. Results indicate that the autism initiative had an overall positive impact on the company, with reports of stronger company performance and improved company climate. These results as well as others aligned with tenets of the theoretical framework implemented. Rehabilitation counselors can support employers looking to increase the disability diversity in their company through the theoretically supported insights of this case study. Doing so may help to address the current shortage of skilled workers in the workforce.


Hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPC) primarily reside in bone marrow (BM) niches, but are also found in peripheral blood (PB) in small numbers. Large numbers of HSPC can be pharmacologically mobilized from the BM into the PB and home back to BM niches following transplantation. We used the rhesus macaque to study the process of hematopoiesis in both space and time following autologous transplantation, as a model with great relevance to humans. We labeled individual CD34+ HSPC and their progeny with genetic "barcodes" via lentiviral transduction with a very high diversity barcode library, allowing tracking of the output from individual HSPC clones in vivo following autologous transplantation, in a quantitative and sensitive manner (Wu et al., 2014). In this study we investigated the pattern of HSPC clonal output in various anatomic niches, sampling left (L) vs right (R) iliac crest BM, PB and lymph node (LN) over time post ablative autologous transplantation, for all major hematopoietic lineages and CD34+ HSPC. We tracked thousands of HSPC clones in 6 rhesus macaques from 3.5 months (m) to up to 18.5m post transplantation. L and R iliac crest BM and PB were serially collected and CD34+ HSPC along with CD3+CD4+ T, CD3+CD8+ T, CD20+ B, CD14+ monocytes (Mo), CD33+ granulocytes (Gr), and two NK cell subsets (CD3-CD20-CD14-CD16+/ or CD56+) were purified. In all animals, there was marked geographic segregation of CD34+ HSPC for at least 6m post-transplant, with individual clones localized only to the L or R side but not both (Pearson correlation at 3.5-6m: r=0.019±0.08 for CD34+ L vs R, n=6), despite rapid expansion of CD34+ HSPC during early engraftment. This result suggests that during this phase of recovery, HSPC spread contiguously in the BM, and there is little geographic "mixing" via egress into and re-entry from the PB. With time between 7m and 18.5m post-transplant, the distribution of CD34+ HSPC became more homogeneous, with clones detected on both L and R (r=0.52±0.22 at 12-18.5m, n=3). The geographic restriction of clones at earlier time points suggests that release and homing may be dependent on local contiguous niche occupancy status, with migration only occurring following hematopoietic recovery. We next examined the clonal distribution of the more mature lineage-committed cells in the L vs R BM and in PB. Gr, Mo and B cells were produced locally in BM, with the clonal pattern of each lineage matching the CD34+ cells collected from the same side BM time point through 6m (r>0.80 for each lineage vs same side CD34+ cells), and distinct from same lineages (r Our model for the first time documents the dynamics of HSPC geographic distribution and migration in primates following transplantation, findings with direct clinical relevance, and provides new insights into hematopoietic lineage development, including a potential novel T cell development pathway in the BM. Our findings may also help explain the extremely patchy distribution of hematopoiesis in humans following transplantation or in the setting of marrow failure or aging, and suggest that analysis of individual BM samples may not fully reflect ongoing global hematopoiesis. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Social media is dramatically changing the way that people communicate and interact online. Several businesses have made it a priority to establish a presence on social media to connect with some of its biggest users: millennials. As social media has gained popularity, higher education institutions all around have begun to establish social media platforms in order to interact with current and prospective students and alumni. This study examined how higher education institutions in the University System of Georgia are utilizing social media and also compared use among the various types of institutions (research, comprehensive, state college and state university). Using long interviews and a content analysis, this study found that higher education institutions understand the importance of using social media however, many are not taking advantage of tools & strategies that can help them succeed. Thesis Mentor:___________________________ Dr. S. Camille Broadway Honors Director:___________________________ Dr. Steven Engel November 2014 Communication Arts Department University Honors Program Georgia Southern University Running head: HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN SOCIAL MEDIA


A method for ranking to be extended by a user of the information object, And generating a display (13) graphical user interface on (40) includes a graphical user interface the graph (41), graphs, one information object collection of each information object a plurality of icons representing, and a plurality of coupling element connecting the icons, each connector represents at least one link of a collection of links, and a step, And changing the chart by generating an additional coupling element between the icon in accordance with the graph change command received from the user control interacting means, A storing additional links to a database (21) in accordance with the additional binding element, additional links are mutually is related to an information object that is represented by connected by additional connectives icon, step When, Method comprising the steps of: calculating a rank of the link-based for one information object in the collection of information objects in accordance with the collection of additional links and link.


This paper presents an international view of sustainable development. The paper aims to provide an analysis on the link between openness to trade and economic growth and market failure like externalities. It focuses on the globalization process as the main factor for environmental problems. Albanian economy is exposed to a global economy and after twenty long years is still behind its Balkan neighbor. Albania is making the difficult transition to a more modern open-market economy. International trade has been a major driver of global growth and prosperity over the last century. The empirical literature has taken one of two advantage points. The first one is to analyze the correlation between openness and growth in data sets that cover a large section of developing and developed countries, in the tradition of cross country growth empirics. The second one is to concentrate on country or region-level analytical case studies of economic growth. We believe that this framework will contribute to understand why certain developing countries have made progress, while others have not. Progress has been very impressive for a number of developing countries in Southeast Europe, but progress has been less rapid for other countries like Albania. As a nation we have to think about what future research opportunities exist for us. The scale and scope of future research is an issue that affects our entire society and the next generation. The government has a general role in supporting this discussion, by setting up a dialogue with the community.


Sudden pressure increases in the penstock or spiral case of a hydraulic turbine are the effect of sudden flow variation that occur during transient processes of type opening / closing or load rejection of the hydro unit. The consequence of the pressure rise in the spiral case and penstock is the water hammer phenomenon, whose effects can be devastating in some cases, up to breaking pipes and calamities produced in the area. This paper aims to analyze the method of calculation of the maximum pressure values that might occur in load rejection situations to a hydraulic turbine, in spiral case and in penstock, conditioned by the limiting of the values of the over speed and measures of limiting the increase in pressure in conjunction with limiting the increase in speed in these specific processes. As an example, we studied and analyzed the situation of a hydroelectric power plant equipped with a 7.8 MW Francis turbine without pressure regulator and the inflow surge. The results of analytical calculation overlaid on the experimental measurements performed during the performance tests of the hydro unit lead to the conclusion that the calculation algorithm proposed has been chosen correctly and the 2-stage closing law of the wicket gate promoted in this case is effective in such situations.


This paper presents a fully integrated CMOS Operational Floating Current Conveyor (OFCC) circuit. The proposed circuit is designed for instrumentation amplifier circuits. The CMOS OFCC circuit is designed and simulated using Cadence in TSMC 90 m technology kit. The circuit aims at two different design goals. The first goal is to design a low power consumption circuit (LBW design) while the second is to design a high bandwidth circuit (HBW design). The total power consumption of the LBW design is 1.26 mW with 30 MHz bandwidth while the power consumption of the HBW design is 3 mW with 104.6 MHz bandwidth. 


Hugo Lopez-Gatell Ramirez, Mexico9s undersecretary of prevention and health promotion, has sat across from reporters almost every single night since late February to update them, and the country, on the toll of the coronavirus pandemic. His televised briefings are even more popular than those of the country9s president. But as COVID-19 deaths have continued to soar in Mexico, many have questioned Lopez-Gatell Ramirez9s leadership, including his decision to forgo widespread testing in favor of a more targeted approach. Critics accuse him of undercounting the true numbers and mishandling the nation9s response to the pandemic. In early August, the governors of nine Mexican states demanded his resignation. His defenders, on the other hand, say he9s making sound decisions based on science and doing the best he can with the limited resources at his disposal.


An experimental study of flash boiling spray characteristics was conducted in a constant volume vessel with MIE scattering. The fuels used in this study are n-pentane,n-hexane,n-heptane and their binary mixtures. Through capturing and analysis of spray image,the variation of spray macroscopic morphology,spray tip penetration and spray angle with the variation of fuel temperature and ambient pressure is revealed. Experimental results showed that,with continuous increasing fuel superheat,the phenomenon of flash boiling spray was appeared for the all three single component fuels. Fuel superheat degree is the key factor in flash boiling spray. Under the same fuel temperature and ambient pressure,addition of a small amount of low-boiling fuel into the high-boiling fuel will effectively promote the flash boiling of the mixture.


The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and unrest caused by the police killing of George Floyd have thrown this fact into stark relief.


This research is a systematic literature review of recently published studies in mobile payment adoption. The final 72 English articles published in reputable journals from 2016 to 2020 are selected from several online major scientific databases. The main objectives are to investigate the influencing factors in adopting the mobile payment systems, the moderating factors, the perspective used in the adoption (customer or merchant perspective), and the most active countries in studying the adoption of mobile payment systems. The result reveals that both Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use are the factors used the most frequently in mobile payment adoption studies. There are very limited studies that explore the moderating factors in their theoretical model, with Gender and Age as the two most used moderating factors. India is the country with the most studies in the adoption of mobile payment, followed by the US and Spain. Developing countries in Asia (excluding India) and Africa need to be more active in this area of research. Lastly, most research in mobile payment explores the adoption from the customer view. Future research needs to explore mobile payment adoption from the merchant view.


Objective To establish the xenograft model of human prostate cancer(PCa) by grafting patient-derived tissues beneath the renal capsule of intact male non-obese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficiency (NOD/SCID) mice.Methods Between October 2012 and August 2013,twenty NOD/SCID mice were randomly divided into 4 groups (n =5 each).Four patient-derived PCa specimens were collected and sent for frozen section analysis.A specimen of one patient corresponds to 5 mice.At 8-12 week after initial microsurgical implantation,grafts were harvested and fixed to be embedded with paraffin.For histopathology,routine hematoxylin-eosin staining was performed on these formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded sections.Immunohistochemical studies were performed for the expression of α-methylacyl CoA racemase (AMACR/P504S,prostate-specific antigen and P63 antigen on the sections.Results Taken rate of prostate cancer xenogtrafts in subrenal capsular was 95% (19/20).The subrenal capsule xenografts are protruded the renal surface and embedded into the renal parenchyma with angiogenesis.Pathological sections showed disruption of the basal cell.There was significant increase in proliferation and anaplasia of malignant prostate epithelium cells at subrenal capsule xenografts.Xenografts were confirmed as human PCa tissues with the PSA (+)/P63 (-)/P504S (-) immunostain.Conclusions The patient-derived human prostate cancer xenograft model in NOD/SCID mice is successfully established by microsurgical technique.This model can keep the heterogeneity of prostate,which could demonstrated the characters of PCa cells.It has been shown to facilitate the investigation of etiology mechanism of PCa,new agents and individualized antineoplastic therapy.

Key words:
Prostatic neoplasia;  Xenograft model antitumor assays;  Subrenal capsule assay; Testosterone;  Models, animal


A series of CuFeW alloys added with different Fe contents were prepared by the infiltration method.The effects of Fe addition on the microstructure,hardness,electrical conductivity and electrical breakdown characteristics of Cu-W alloy were investigated.The results show that the hardness of CuFeW alloys increases with increasing Fe contents,while the electrical conductivity decreases with increasing Fe percentage from 0% to 1.5% in the Cu-Fe alloys.The electrical conductivity of CuFeW alloys increases significantly after solid solution and aging treatments.The breakdown voltage of Cu-W alloys increases and the chopping current of the alloys decreases with Fe addition.The surface morphologies of CuFeW and Cu-W alloys after electrical breakdown show that vacuum arcs are scattered slightly on the surface of CuFeW alloys,the first electrical breakdown occurs discontinuously and selectively in copper matrix phase rather than occurs continuously and concentratively in the interphases of Cu/W owing to the addition of Fe element into Cu-W alloy,the formed cathode spots are small and disperse,and the splash of liquid copper is slight.


Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) is of particular interest to enhance the limit of detection for spectroscopic techniques such as Raman and fluorescence via a surface enhancement from metallic nanostructures and it is a key for single-molecule detection. In this study, using nanosphere lithography (NSL), a series of gold nanostructures over glass surfaces are prepared and modified to detect the position and the density of the individual confined hot spots. Once protected with an ultrathin layer of SiO2, the gold nanostructures are investigated using scanning confocal fluorescence microscopy to detect the fluorescence from a dye solution deposited over the SiO2-protected gold platforms. The fluorescence originates from an assembly of confined and homogeneously distributed hot spots. This clearly demonstrates that the dimensions of particles, the interparticle distance, and the thickness of the SiO2 protection layer are critical parameters to obtain the optimum electromagnetic enhancement. Herein,...


Abstract : This article reports findings from an investigation of snow on the water surface of the Kama and Votkinsk reservoir conducted in the winter of 1961-63. The chemical composition of the sample was determined by the technique of Ye. S. Burkser, N. Ye. Fedorova and B. B. Zaydis. Observations made on these reservoirs made possible a rough calculation of the amount of salt arriving on the water surface. (Author)


This article theorizes the relationship between two ways of "seeing" and organizing urban mobility markets: the abstract, algorithmic vision of the mobility platform and the experiential, relational vision of the platform driver. Using the case of mobility platforms in Jakarta, we empirically demonstrate how drivers experience the limitations of the platform's visions and how they deploy their own alternative visions of work and the city. We offer this drivers' "View from Within" as a counterpoint to the visions of the platform, decentering the platform's visions as the sole arbiter of change and optimization in the city. At the same time, we disrupt the assumed binary between these views, showing how they exist in a complex dance of complementarity and contestation. We conclude with a discussion on the opportunities this entanglement presents for worker agency in the algorithmic market, the hurdles toward more "worker centered design" in platform economies and the tensions between globalizing technological solutions and their localized instantiations. Through this article, we argue for seeing deep, embedded relationships as culturally and historically important modes of urban life which technology has to interact with but cannot fully capture nor do away with.


This essay it a preliminary study of the characteristics of style of English aplied to advertisement.The analysis covers its semantic features,vocabulary characteristics and sytax feature.


Levying a carbon tax is the main path to achieving the "dual carbon" goal, but implementing a carbon tax policy will have a negative impact on the macro economy. This article constructs a static CGE model, with tax neutrality as the premise, to simulate the impact of carbon tax collection on the macro economy under different policy scenarios. The results indicate that imposing a carbon tax and reducing other taxes to maintain tax neutrality can alleviate the adverse effects on the macro economy. Among them, collecting carbon tax and reducing value-added tax can effectively alleviate the decline of GDP and added value of the secondary industry, and drive the increase of total domestic investment; Levying carbon tax and reducing value-added tax can effectively control the rise of CPI; Levying carbon tax and reducing Personal income tax can increase EV of residents' welfare. Finally, this article proposes countermeasures and suggestions: 1. Adopting a tiered carbon tax implementation strategy to achieve emission reduction goals. 2. Establish a horizontal transfer payment system for carbon tax revenue between provinces to coordinate the balanced development of various provinces in China. 3. Coordinate carbon tax and Carbon emission trading, and avoid overlapping of carbon tax and Carbon emission trading.


Anaerobic decomposition of different parts of Scirpus cubensis: kinetics and gas production. We report the anaerobic decomposition of rhizomes, roots and aerial portions (leaves and fertile branches) of Scirpus cubensis, as well as the detritus from the entire plant; in this context, the hypothesis was that the aerial portion of S. cubensis is the most degradable source. Samples of water and plants were collected in the Oleo lagoon (Ecological Station of Jatai; 21o 36' S and 47o 49' W). The labile, soluble and refractory fractions of the fragments were quantified and the contents of carbon, nitrogen and ash were determined. For each kind of detritus, three incubations were prepared (7.0 g DW L -1 ) in the laboratory, using as controls two prepared with lagoon water. During 140 days, all flasks were maintained under controlled conditions, in the dark, at 20 oC. The results of periodic measurements of CO 2 and CH 4 were analyzed with an ANOVA (Kruskal-Wallis), with the consumptions of detritus being fitted to a 1 st order kinetics model. After 140 days, 47% of S. cubensis detritus was mineralized. Conversely the expected, the roots were the most mineralized structure (40%), while the rhizomes were the most refractory (26%); overall, the degradability of detritus was attributed to high ash contents. In addition, the detritus with the highest ash contents (roots) presented the most elevated CH 4 productions (21.7%).


Varex Dome, a 502-ft diameter engineering marveel of glue laminated timber, was built in record six months erection time. This dome shell structure forms both walls and roof for the new $8,300,000 Northern Arizona University multipurpose stadium, to be completed in September. Careful architectural planning provided the unversity with substantial enclosed floor space for a bargain basement price. Additional future savings will be realized from advanced thermal design, which keeps energy consumption very low.


In microwave spectroscopy and in atomic frequency standards, the atomic resonant frequency is often determied by the use of harmonic frequency modulation of a microwave signal. The effects of line asymmetry and modulating-signal nonlinear distortions are investigated by the use of an analytic approximation of the resonance line by means of an algebraic polynomial. The coefficients of the polynomial are determined experimentally and also derived theoretically. Detailed numerical results for a Ramsey resonance line in a cesium clock are given.


We present a Bayesian method of ion channel analysis and apply it to a simulated data set. An alternating renewal process prior is assigned to the signal, and an autoregressive process is fitted to the noise. After choosing model hyperconstants to yield 'uninformative' priors on the parameters, the joint posterior distribution is computed by using the reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo method. A novel form of simulated tempering is used to improve the mixing of the original sampler.


We analyze bulk service queues using the arrival time approach of Chae et al. (2001). As a result, the decomposition property of the M/G/1 queue with generalized vacations is extended to the queue in which the batch size is exactly a constant b. We also demonstrate that the arrival time approach is useful for relating the time-average queue length PGF to that of the departure time, both for the queue in which the batch size is as big as possible but up to the maximum of constant b. The case that the batch size is a random variable is also briefly mentioned.