It has been established that the management and protection of water resources in Greece is at a very early stage. Even though the European Union issued EU Directives that cover the needs of such a management framework since 2000, the integration into the Greek reality has not been fully achieved so far. In particular regarding water resources allocated between two or more administrative units, the sustainable management and protection becomes even more difficult, since in most cases a single management structure is unable to be established.
Therefore, the collection and recording of activities that seem to adversely affect the quality of the water and the surrounding environment of the region is necessary. Still, particularly auxiliary is the inclusion on electronic databases, so it is easier to find collective and edit them. An important part of such data (e.g. pollution sources) has spatial information, so the databases will be developed in order to be assisted with spatial functions required. This is possible by creating spatial databases that can store, manage and retrieve efficiently large volumes of spatial information.
The purpose of this thesis is the design and implementation of a system of a spatial database for the catchment area of the River Alfeios (Alpheus). As the collection of data on the activities developed around the river showed, there are significant problems of pollution and degradation of water quality in the region. It is pursued the collection, analysis and processing of all the features of the area negatively affecting water resources and the environment, in order to estimate pollutant loads, resulting in Alfeios.
In the first chapters of the thesis are presented the legislative framework for the management of water resources at European and national level and the basic characteristics of the existing situation in the catchment area, which directly or indirectly affect water resources and what they are. Then, take place the setting of user requirements and the design of the database, in which the data are going to be imported. Next, analyzes the technologies, as well as the free and open source software chosen for the establishment of the base. At the final stage, the implementation process of the base is described and the calculation of pollutant loads of nitrogen (n), phosphorus (p) and organic compounds through the execution of complex and compound queries on data using Structural Query Language (SQL).


Resolvent OF MEDICINAL AND sorbefacient MEDICATION each including at least one substituted N-SUBSTITUTE-O-toluidine represented by the general formula (I), and a percutaneously absorbable preparation containing a medicament AND resolvent O sorbefacient WHERE R {SUB 1} REPRESENTS C {SUB, SUB 1} C {4} ALKYL; YR SUB {2} {SUB represents C 1 -C} {SUB, 8} ALKYL.


Increasingly demanding for bandwidth and high data speed in wireless communication industry stimulates the operation frequency extending to higher band of the spectrum. This makes the radiated emission measurement facing challenges. At the high frequencies, the distance between the receiving antenna and the equipment under test (EUT) may not satisfy the far field radiation condition. Consequently, the field received at the measurement points specified in standards differs from the field at the actual wave front. The deviation between these two fields magnitude is analyzed in the frequency range of 1 GHz - 60 GHz for two typical dimensions of EUTs, as the receiving position varies from 0.8 m to 2 m. Obvious magnitude differences between E-field at the receiving position and the one at the wave front are observed in the analyzed results.


This article analyses a number of representations of the islandscapes of the Madeira and the Azores archipelagos. These representations highlight an aspect that is generally outside the framework of the hegemonic continental perspective of the islands: ie the fragility, uncertainty, resilience and imperfection of human existence on them and the local experience and knowledge of their inhabitants. In this study, I raise the following questions: i) in what way can representations of islandscapes contribute to an independent insular imaginary? and ii) what contribution can insular Atlantic criticism offer to the deconstruction of dominant epistemologies? I argue that the works analysed in the article share an archipelagic aesthetic (in that the deconstruction of dominant stereotypes unleashes a poetic impulse that "makes strange" what is otherwise familiar. As such, these works exercise freedom from opacity vis-a-vis the reductive transparency of insular representation created by well-established continental cultural traditions thereby contributing to the possibility of the coexistence of different worldviews.


A method of geological mapping of the near seabed section is presented in that such a characterization was performed through the interpretation of elastic attributes extracted from 3D reflection seismic data inversion and AVO (amplitude versus offset) analysis. The results regarded as the best ones were obtained from the ratio between Lame's coefficients, λ/µ (for the former) and an AVO attribute related to the so-called parameter "B" from Aki-Richards equation (Aki and Richards, 1980) for the latter. Although seismic inversion is more commonly applied to relatively consolidated rocks in the hydrocarbon Exploration, we were able to discriminate less consolidated sediments from the near seabed section in terms of four different morphostructural domains or compartments as well as a few faciological characteristics. In addition to the conventional seismic data, high resolution data (sub-bottom profile or SBP and multi-beam bathymetry) were used. Other sources of information include geotechnical in situ data (soil resistance to the penetration of piezocone device or PCPT and seismic piezocone device or SPCPT) and geological sampling through piston core.


To analyze the broken warp in the weaving process of metal wire mesh.The reason of broken warp such as the position of heddle suspension is too high or too low,twisting time is too early,pressure weight is too heavy,mesh tension is large,rotating speed of weaving machine is too high or weaving machine self-stop and safety device break failure,rapier band is not smooth,heddle has burr,warp yarn is less than mesh winding,steel reed folder wire,rapier band runs tilt or moves unevenly etc.The methods to prevent warp broken are: the mechanical properties of metal wire is stable and it reaches technical requirements,process parameters are correct.button up connects well,broken warp taps should be connected well,guarantee self-stop electrical installation in good condition,make sure rapier band is not taking wire,running smoothly,to smooth extra wires on the roller in time.


This paper demonstrates the changes of natural frequencies and modes of a PC bridge with a skew angle of 30 degrees throughout all the construction stages from production of a PC box-beam at factory to completion of asphalt pavement work by using a portable vibration measurement system with hammering excitation. This paper clarifies as follows: The first mode of vibration and first predominant frequencies of 14 individual PC beams are closed to the first natural frequency and mode of a simply supported beam. The bridge behaves as a plate after shear key development followed by transverse post-tensioning for integration of single beams. We experimentally confirmed that its first natural mode is longitudinally bending and its second mode is torsional. The largest increase of the first natural frequency occurred after integration, however remarkable decrease observed after asphalt pavement.


OBJECTIVES: To assess the specific contribution to overall scale performance of each of the five items that constitute the Norton pressure ulcer prediction scale.


A playing card (1) provided with identification code (a-f) which is arranged along opposed long sides of the card and mutually symmetrically. Each code (a-f) comprises at least six code fields of essentially equal size that occupy a significant area of the rim area of the respective edges of the card (1). According to a preferred embodiment, the codes are provided in that the surface of the entire playing card is reflective of ultraviolet light, where the surface has been de-masked to define the code fields (a-f).


The melting behavior of physical blends prepared from low, medium, and high density polyethylene was examined by differential scanning calorimetry. Binary low/high and ternary low/medium/high density polyethylene blends showed two endothermic peaks which were attributed to the melting of the lower and higher density components. The percent crystallinity of the blends was calculated according to an additivity relationship using the crystallinity of the pure components. These results compared favorably with an experimental crystallinity measured from the area under the melting curves.


Abstract Recent scholarship has documented the advantages of a new measure of partisan gerrymandering: the difference in the parties' wasted votes, divided by the total number of votes cast. This m...


Five 70-day-old mini-pigs were put in the cold environment (0℃) for half an hour and blood samples were collected via the superior vena cava 0, 15, 30 and 60 min after the treatment. Another 3 mini-pigs were exposed to hot environment (36.2℃) for an hour and blood samples were collected with similar procedure 0, 30 and 60 min after the treatment. Radioimmunoassay showed that in the cold stress treatment triiodothyronine (T_3) and thyroxine (T_4) in the plasma dropped significantly and cortisol content increased as compared with the control period. In the heat stress treatment, both T_3 and T_4 increased, though insignificantly; cortisol content was significantly higher than the control period, followed by a steady decline until it became lower than the control period 2 hours after the treatment. It is concluded that temperature stress, either 0℃ or 36.2℃ changed endocrine in mini-pigs.


Postcolonial Modernism contributes to a growing field of literature that reevaluates the artists of mid-century Africa on their own terms. Similar to Elizabeth Harney's seminal, comprehensive survey of arts and politics in postcolonial Senegal (In Senghor's Shadow, 2004), Chika Okeke-Agulu's newest book provides a complex, analytic study focused on a single sub-Saharan nation as it transitions from colony to independent state. This research represents the culmination of Okeke-Agulu's essays, exhibitions, and projects from the last two decades as he and his colleagues have attempted to delineate and define the relationship between the ideologies that shaped European modernism and their reinvention or reversal in the work from liberated African artists. This book brings together new archival research, in-depth interviews, and unpublished images in a refreshing study that homes in on the social and artistic climate of Nigeria between 1957 and 1967, the years of independence and the outbreak of the Biafran conflict, respectively. Divided into seven chapters that follow themes and institutions more than a strict chronology, Postcolonial Modernism guides the reader from the genesis of figurative realism, through the foundation of Nigeria's first degree-granting arts institution, and into the international careers of standout artists. Confidently stated, the argument of this book is that "Postcolonial modernism in mid-twentieth-century Nigeria was born of the struggle between imperial and colonial nativist ideologies and the stridently modernist worldview of early nationalists and the educated elite" (41). The inclusion of the modifier "postcolonial" is linked to the artists' desire for their experimental art to serve as a critical theater for cultural decolonization during the colonial occupation and, in the postcolony, as a platform for exploring the networks that shaped national identity and individual subjectivity. The first chapter summarizes the popular early-twentieth-century ideologies that circulated among the British colonial officials and emergent Nigerian intelligentsia. Though the dominant voice in policy was Lord Lugard, the British colonial officer who penned Dual Mandate (1922) and called for greater government involvement in education of the "natives," the vocal African and African American thinkers—mostly educated abroad—began to circulate radical, even revolutionary, ideas. These ideas would ultimately shape the subjectivity and nationalism employed by the artists in search of an African modernity. For the "intellectual origins" of this modern art, Okeke-Agulu looks to influential African American thinkers who fostered ideas—and protégés—that traveled to the continent. For instance, the intrepid Nigerian nationalist Nnamdi Azikiwe studied in the United States and subscribed to the Pan-Africanism espoused by W. E. B. Du Bois and Marcus Garvey before returning to Lagos where, as president of Nigeria from 1963 to 1966, he championed mastery of modern politics as the African's gateway to self-mastery. Indeed, education is presented here as the primary tool for Africans to gain a modern subjectivity—this being the very reason that the British system of indirect rule elected to withhold "literary education" (the humanities) from colonial subjects. The author effectively demonstrates the difficult position of Africans educated abroad, describing how colonial powers would undercut their voices with accusations of inauthenticity and frame them as "denationalized caricatures of the European" (29). With the recurring assertion that the shifts in the Nigerian political and intellectual spheres shaped modern art production of the mid-twentieth century, Okeke-Agulu employs the second chapter to highlight the conflicting teaching pedagogies of the pioneering artist Aina Onabolu and the Birmingham-graduated British instructor Kenneth Murray. Okeke-Agulu refutes the common assertion that the colonial presence was a modernizing force that inspired Nigerian artists to mimic academic realism. He recounts the early career of Onabolu, an oil painter who set out to prove not only the African artist's comparable skill, but also his work's ability to liberate other Nigerians from the colonialist insistence on traditions and nativism as the basis for African subjectivity. An exercise in corrective art history, Okeke-Agulu's study contends that Onabolu and Murray were not equal champions for modern Nigerian art, but were actually fundamentally opposed in their pedagogies. Responding to Sylvester Ogbechie's claims that Murray was the intellectual and aesthetic progenitor of the later Art Society's concept of "natural synthesis" (discussed at length in chapter 3), Okeke-Agulu scrutinizes Murray's memoranda, letters, and pedagogy and determines that Murray's beliefs of African cultural exceptionalism neatly align with the imperialist modus operandi of indirect rule. Disenchanted with modernism's decadence and lack of spirituality, Murray encouraged naive naturalism—or, as termed by Okeke-Agulu, "imperialist primitivism"—and successfully exhibited the illustrative work of his students abroad, reifying the expectation that African art exhibits an innate "tribal" quality to both Nigerian and British audiences. As Onabolu and Murray sought to chart a modern Nigerian art, the former employed a "reverse appropriation" of European canvas painting, academic training, and artistic professionalization, whereas the latter actively avoided these "corrupting" influences and rooted aspiring artists exclusively in local mytho-histories and techniques. Chapter 3 charts the rise of an avantgarde from a pool of students who attended the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology (NCAST) at Zaria, the first institution of higher learning to offer a terminal degree in fine art. Moving toward a professionalization of the artist while simultaneously engaging with critical analyses of Nigerian cultures, the inaugural members of the Art Society challenged the system established by the art department at Zaria wherein students were limited to courses in art techniques and destined to careers in teaching. No instruction was provided in the history of art—African or otherwise—and the concept of practicing artist as a career was a far-fetched notion, only attainable by superstars like Ben Enwonwu. Weaving together the voices of NCAST's British faculty, critical observers like Enwonwu, and new instructors like Paul de Monchaux, Okeke-Agulu demonstrates how the early years at Zaria were a sounding board for competing ideologies on art and nationalism as Nigeria was decolonized, astutely noting that


The present study is a short report on the broad research project of training and assessment of consecutive interpreting in English translation at B.A level in local universities. The focus of this report is on note-taking technique which is believed to be a major one in consecutive interpreting training based on the interpreting studies literature. The participants of the present research report were from Jahrom State University. These participants were exposed to a ten-week instruction of consecutive interpreting techniques one of which is note-taking. For an in-depth analysis of the application of this technique, after the administration of a 7-minuteaudio-visual test of interpretation and the collecting of the students' note-taking sheets, a retrospective interview was utilized to scrutinize the process of note-taking applied by the trainees The results indicated that the note-taking technique can be employed as an aid to memory retention in the consecutive interpreting training classes.


A 42 year-old woman underwent terminal or mural tracheostomy for adenoid cystic carcinoma of trachea in October 1982. She had used tracheal tube for stenosis of the orifice since then. In August 1988, massive bleeding occured through the tracheal tube which was controlled by cuff inflation. She was diagnosed as tracheo-innominate artery fistula by arteriography of innominate artery. For purpose of decrease of risk of massive bleeding during operation, we used arterial balloon catheter to stop innominate arterial blood flow. Although recurrence of adenoid cystic carcinoma prevented perfect control of bleeding, we could get good operative field in the greater part of operation by stopping innominate arterial blood flow with arterial balloon catheter. Using arterial balloon catheter to stop innominate arterial blood flow is useful in operation of tracheo-innominate artery fistula.


The normalized noise power density is shown for HFETs with InAlAs as barrier layer and those where InP is used. All transistors were manufactured in our Institute using the same geometrical parameters and exhibit almost the same sheet carrier concentration in the channel. The depicted spectrum of the HFET containing InAlAs is a typical result for these devices grown by MBE as long as no degeneration effects occur. On the other hand, HFETs without aluminium which were grown by LP-MOVPE and in which the In mole fraction has been varied from 53% up to 81%, show excellent device properties. The comparison between both material systems reveals that noise of the HFET with InAlAs is slightly lower. This can be understood since during the growth of the interface in this device only one component must be exchanged. Also, due to the larger conduction band discontinuity the penetration depth of the 2DEG into the barrier is reduced and with it the activation of traps located there. The latter also explains the decreasing noise power with increasing indium portion in the channel of the aluminium-free HFETs. However, at 67% indium, the minimum is reached and further increasing the strain does not improve the noise properties. Concluding, it may be stated that there exists a trade-off dependent on the special application between the slightly better performance of the InAlAs/InGaAs/InP HFETs and those devices with a InP barrier, which are less sensitive to stress.


. Tensor completion aimes at recovering missing data, and it is one of the popular concerns in deep learning and signal processing. Among the higher-order tensor decomposition algorithms, the recently proposed fully-connected tensor network decomposition (FCTN) algorithm is the most advanced. In this paper, by leveraging the superior expression of the fully-connected tensor network (FCTN) decomposition, we propose a new tensor completion method named the fully connected tensor network weighted optization(FCTN-WOPT). The algorithm per-forms a composition of the completed tensor by initialising the factors from the FCTN decomposition. We build a loss function with the weight tensor, the completed tensor and the incomplete tensor together, and then update the completed tensor using the lbfgs gradient descent algorithm to reduce the spatial memory occupation and speed up iterations. Finally we test the completion with synthetic data and real data (both image data and video data) and the results show the advanced performance of our FCTN-WOPT when it is applied to higher-order tensor completion.


TCP is a reliable connection-oriented transport protocol that performs well in traditional networks. However, in networks with wireless and other lossy links the protocol suffers from losses and delays due to frequent handoffs like in wireless networks running mobile IP. Many micromobility protocols have been proposed to reduce handoff latency and the load on the network when a mobile host moves among small wireless cells. In this paper, the performance of several TCP and UDP schemes over one of these protocols, MMP (multicast for mobility protocol), is compared and improvements to TCP in a multiple handoff network are proposed. The simulation results are presented using the Network Simulator-ns2 and different metrics for comparison. Our results show that the number of UDP packets lost is reduced when using MMP instead of mobile IP in a micromobility environment and that TCP provides better throughput performance for a traditional scheme like Tahoe TCP when it is adapted to the conditions of the network.


This paper describes a method for calculating the permanent of a matrix with a double savings compared to Ryser's formula.


Many cardiac diseases are highly correlated to cardiac dynamic mechanics and dynamic parameter, so understanding the mechanics of heart is crucial for clinical research, diagnosis and patient care. This paper proposes a novel Point Distribution Model (PDM) to describe the motional mechanics of heart and defines a new parameter named movement extent of myocardium (MEM) to analyze the local movement. The motion path of key points of PDM in a cardiac cycle was recovered via spline interpolation, and the results were used to estimate the velocity, acceleration of key points and MEM. By comparison, we can obtain the physical dynamic mechanics of the heart, and the deformation level of myocardium used to tell the pathological from the normal heart. More important is that the results can be used to judge the abnormal ones in early stage of disease from complex deformation of the myocardium.


We report on the fabrication of AlGaAs/GaAs resonant tunneling heterostructure bipolar transistors (RTHBT's). The devices exhibit a current peak in the transfer characteristics, with peak-to-valley current ratios of 1.7 and 9 at 300 K and 77 K, respectively. The common-emitter small signal current gains at 300 K and 77 K reach 40 and 28, respectively. They are the best results to date for AlGaAs/GaAs resonant tunneling transistors. Because the double barriers are placed in the emitter and far from the emitter-base interface, and the heterostructure emitter suppresses the hole injection from the base to the emitter, the occurrence of the negative differential resistance (NDR) in the device characteristics is governed by the emitter current but not by the base current. The operation mechanism of the NDR behavior in the common-emitter output characteristics is discussed.


The existing evidence is reviewed, and new 21-cm H I data are presented, concerning the shape of the rotation curve both in the inner and the outer parts of M31. It is concluded that a substantially constant value for the mass-to- luminosity ratio as a function of radius both for the spheroidal and the exponential disk components of the distribution of luminosity is in good agreement with the observations. (auth)


Objective To describe the characteristics and patterns of physical activity among adult women in urban Shanghai,and to explore relationships between physical activities and socio-demographics factors. Methods 74 942 participants (aged between 40~70 years) of the Shanghai Women's Health Study (SWHS) were included in this study. Physical activities and social demographic information was collected in the baseline recruitment survey. Descriptive analysis and logistic regression analysis were conducted to describe the physical activity patterns and their association with selected social demographic factors. Results The prevalence of regular exercise during the past 5 years was 35.5%. The top 3 most common exercises in this population were Tai Chi (including other slow movement exercises),dancing and walking,the participation rate was 79.3%,14.1%,3.8%,respectively. Energy expenditure from exercises contributed less than ten percent of total non-occupational physical activity. Approximately 2/3 (68.3%) women reported that they were responsible for doing almost all housework. Walking,cycling and public transportation were the common ways to and from work. Age was positively associated with participation in exercises/sports,with odds ratio 2.92(95%CI: 2.59~3.29) in 65~70 years subgroup. Also,there was a significantly dose-response relationship when comparing elderly and younger women. Retirement status was positively associated with exercises/sports,daily activity and housework,with odds ratios 1.97(95%CI: 1.87~2.08),3.11(95%CI: 2.99~3.23) and 2.87(95%CI: 2.76~2.98),respectively. Women with more education,more family income or a smaller family size were more likely to report less non-exercise activities. Accumulated time of watching TV was negatively associated with exercises/sports,and more than 5 hours/day with odds ratio 0.89(95%CI: 0.84~0.94). Conclusion In this cohort of middle age Chinese women,non-exercise physical activity,particularly housework,contribute vast majority of physical activity. Participation in exercises/sports (leisure-time physical activity) was relatively low. Some socio-demographic and lifestyle factors,including age,education,family income,employee status,watching TV,and so on,were associated with exercise or non-exercise physical activities.


Star-forming dwarf galaxies can be seen as the local proxies of the high-redshift building blocks of more massive galaxies according to the current paradigm of the hierarchical galaxy formation. They are low-mass objects, and therefore their rotation speed is very low. Several galaxies are observed to show quite strong magnetic fields. These cases of strong ordered magnetic fields seem to correlate with a high, but not extremely high, star formation rate. We investigate whether these magnetic fields could be generated by the cosmic-ray-driven dynamo. The environment of a dwarf galaxy is unfavourable for the large-scale dynamo action because of the very slow rotation that is required to create the regular component of the magnetic field. We built a 3D global model of a dwarf galaxy that consists of two gravitational components: the stars and the dark-matter halo described by the purely phenomenological profile proposed previously. We solved a system of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations that include an additional cosmic-ray component described by the fluid approximation. We found that the cosmic-ray-driven dynamo can amplify the magnetic field with an exponential growth rate. The $e$-folding time is correlated with the initial rotation speed. The final mean value of the azimuthal flux for our models is of the order of few $\mu$G and the system reaches its equipartition level. The results indicate that the cosmic-ray-driven dynamo is a process that can explain the magnetic fields in dwarf galaxies.


The report deals with theoretical studies concerning the analysis of near midair and midair collisions under visual meteorological conditions. The applicability of the rules of the air for pilots approaching a powered glider or flying in the critical area between converging courses and overtaking is studied. The effectiveness of horizontal evasive manoeuvres in this area is examined using some examples. Retrictions on a pilot's ability to see an approaching aircraft caused by meteorological phenomena, too small dimensions of the aircraft, the workload of the observing pilot, and by opaque structures in his cockpit are discussed.


Abstract A latitude‐temperature index (LTI) has been used in combination with a winter severity constraint to assess climate suitability of grapes in different regions of Europe. A detailed analysis has been carried out using period mean and individual year data for the 1951–1980 period. This allows for identification of core areas of suitability for each of four broadly defined grape cultivar groupings (cool to hot‐climate grapes). Areas that are at the northern margins of suitability, and that are marginal between different groups are also identified. A much clearer picture of the present distribution of grapes in Europe is given by this approach. The possible effect of climate change on grape suitability has also been evaluated. Output from several general circulation models (GCMs) have been used to adjust the period mean and individual year data and the LTI calculated for these adjusted data. While there is a range of uncertainty, both in relation to the magnitude and timing of climate change, it is e...


This article makes an exploratory empirical investigation into the relationship between net private capital flows and economic growth using a panel dataset from emerging Asian countries, namely South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, over the period 1980–2001. Overall, this article indicates that net private capital helps to promote economic growth for the countries in the sample. In addition, this article also supports the view that net private capital flows will better contribute to economic growth under a sound policy and economic environment. This article also seeks to improve the estimation results by controlling for reverse causality as an econometric method that can control, for reverse causality is very important to examining the relationship between net private capital flows and economic growth. To tackle this issue, this article employs the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimation technique, which is an econometric technique that can handle the reverse causality using the lagged explanatory variables as instruments.


As an important part of the channel fading, large scale fading should be considered in downlink massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. This paper investigates the downlink massive MIMO system over a large scale fading channel, when the base station takes advantage of maximum-radio transmission (MRT) precoding. The cases when the base station has perfect and imperfect channel state information (CSI) are considered respectively. Specially, through the analysis of single user's ergodic achievable rate, some novel and approximate expressions for the spectral efficiency (SE) are derived. Based on the approximate SE, the effect of the channel estimation error is analyzed intuitively. In addition, the average SE of all the users with different large-scale fading parameters is carefully investigated. Simulations validate that all the theoretical results coincide with numerical results and the large scale fading factors have little influence on SE reduction resulted from channel estimation.


This article presents a report on results from two "mega sites" on revenue coal routes with 286,000-pound traffic, where tests were carried out on insulated joints (IJs) to determine their long-term performance. The article describes the testing site design, which included eight IJ plugs of Allegheny design that were instrumented and installed at four locations. Seven have a supported foundation, and one is on a suspended foundation. Measurements recorded and studied included longitudinal rail force and rail temperature. Vertical impact wheel loads were measured as well. Results show that the IJs are performing well.


Solution-processed semiconductors are seen as a promising route to reducing the cost of the photovoltaic device manufacture. A photovoltaic cell can be developed from the Schottky junction between a semiconductor and a metal, with or without an insulating layer between them. This work reporting a singlelayer Schottky photovoltaic device that was fabricated by drop-casting intrinsic silicon nano-crystals (Si-NCs) from colloidal solution. Here the colloidal solution of silicon nano-crystals (Si-NCs) in dichlorobenzene was prepared by ultrasonic vibration (sonication) at different sonication time. Higher ultrasonic power produced smaller Si-NCs. An optoelectronic Schottky junction solar cell with Aluminium/Silicon Nano-crystals/IndiumTin-Oxide structure on glass substrate has been investigated with and without lanthanum fluoride insulating layer. The effect of photoactive layer (Si-NCs) thickness on absorption and photo-luminance has been studied. The surface morphology of Si-NCs layer was investigated by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Capacitance-voltage (C-V) study of the Schottky device revealed that resonant tunneling of electron and charge storage was there. The conductance-voltage (G-V) study also revealed the same hysteresis. The current-voltage (I-V) characterization has been studied with and without LaF3 at different parameters. The I-V characteristics showed a dependency on the incident light intensity that indicates its possible use in low-cost solar cell fabrication.


The two purposes of this study were: 1) to explore the effects of one-time service learning on the cognitive and affective development of science undergraduates student of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University and 2) to evaluate the effectiveness of STEM using on students' engagement in academic services. These questions were explored by means of qualitative study of 130 (grade 10-12) students of KrokSombunwittayakom School and 21 industrial microbiology students of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University who participated in one-time service learning at Prachin Buri Province in 2016 and 2017. The study discussed in this article examined the benefits of service-learning using both questionnaire and interview data. From data analyses, it indicated that activity participants engaged in activities actively and mindfully. STEM, significantly, influenced students behavior. Service participation showed positive effects to students' performance. The positive effects of service can be explained by the fact that participation in service increases their experiences.


Time-domain and frequency-domain spectroscopic experiments have been performed on the ð4ppÞLP, v 1⁄4 0 Rydberg state in three isotopomers of carbon monoxide. Accurate values for the excited state lifetimes of the f-parity components have been determined: sðCOÞ 1⁄4 1:08 0:05 ns, sðCOÞ 1⁄4 72 10 ps and sðCOÞ 1⁄4 29 6 ps. The spectral resolution in the frequency-domain experiment goes as far as the limit imposed by the natural lifetime; Qbranch lines, or f-parity components of the heavier isotopes, are resolved for the first time. Highly accurate transition frequencies are determined in a molecular beam experiment using comparison and interpolation with a saturated iodine reference standard. The results reveal a number of perturbations and predissociation mechanisms, displaying a high degree of complexity in the energetic region of the 4p Rydberg states of CO with strong isotopic effects. 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.


Right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) and pulmonary valve dysfunction are commonly seen in pediatric patients, particularly those with Tetralogy of Fallot. Most of these patients undergo surgical repair with the expectation that they may require surgical re‐intervention to replace a regurgitant pulmonary valve or to relieve RVOT stenosis. The first transcatheter pulmonary valve implantation was performed by Bonhoeffer et al. in early 2000 with a right ventricle‐to‐pulmonary artery (RV‐PA) conduit. Since then, the rapid adoption of transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement (TPVR) has offered a safe alternative to surgery for patients with failing RV‐PA conduits or dysfunctional bioprosthetic valves (BPV). Accordingly, the US Food and Drug Administration has approved both the Melody (Medtronic Inv) and Sapien XT (Edwards Lifesciences LLC) valves for use in dysfunctional RV‐PA conduits or dysfunctional BPVs. Most patients with repaired Tetralogy of Fallot and related lesions have a native RVOT (nRVOT), sometimes with a transannular patch repair. Because of advances in technique and valve design, TPVR has expanded to the off‐label treatment of severe pulmonary insufficiency within nRVOTs. Tackling this challenging patient population comes with inherent difficulties, particularly with sizing the valve for large RVOTs. Ventricular arrhythmias are a known complication of TPVR in non‐nRVOT. The incidence and sequelae of ventricular arrhythmias in children and adolescents undergoing TPVR within the nRVOT are unknown. In this issue of Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions, Barfuss et al. reported the results of a retrospective cohort study examining the incidence, severity, and duration of ventricular arrhythmias in 78 children and adolescents undergoing balloon‐expandable TPVR within the nRVOT. The authors reported on 78 patients (median age: 10.3 years; interquartile range: 6.5–12.8 years) with congenital heart disease including Tetralogy of Fallot (45 patients, 8%), congenital valvar pulmonary stenosis (14 patients, 18%), and pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum (12 patients, 15%). The most common intervention preceding TPVR was a transannular patch repair (54 patients, 69%). In 71 patients (91%), TPVR was performed for pulmonary regurgitation. Nonsustained ventricular arrhythmias were common (26 patients, 33.3%) but had a benign and transient course; only 15 (61.5%) of the 26 patients were treated pharmacologically, and just one required amiodarone for treatment of arrhythmia. No patients had sustained ventricular


This chapter demonstrates the principles behind some of the major genetic study designs used in psychiatry research. The first part focuses on behavioural genetic designs, while the second part describes designs for 'gene mapping'. Behavioural genetics examines the genetic basis of behavioural phenotypes, including both disorders and 'normal' dimensional traits. The theoretical basis is derived from population genetics, including properties such as segregation ratios, random mating, genetic variance, and genetic correlation between relatives. The second part of the chapter deals with gene mapping designs, in which specific genetic variants or genomic regions associated with a disorder or trait are identified. A brief outline of the most popular current approaches to the analysis of the genetics of complex human disorders is also provided.


The degradation of a hot spot obtained near one of the surface of a thin crystal plate of anthracene at helium temperatures is investigated. The experimental results are discussed in terms of the local thermal conductivity with both specific heat and thermal conductivity as well-known function of temperature. A good agreement between experimental results and model calculations is achieved. Analyzing the results of calculations a conclusion is drawn on the strong influence of sample temperature on the process of hot spot formation immediately after laser pumping. The role of the sample defectiveness is also discussed. The solution of the non-linear thermal conductivity equation used to describe experimental results is analyzed. It was found that initial conditions strongly affect the time evolution of the hot spot width.

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Building green mines is an important part of circular economy development and economic development mode transformation.The paper demonstrated the concept and content of green mines,and discussed the rules,framework and main index of the evaluation systems of green mines.It suggested that it was favorable for the scientific planning,comprehensive utilization and sustainable development of mine resources to establish the green mine index evaluation systems.


Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine whether and how the extent of religion in a firm's social environment affects corporate innovation and innovation efficiency from the perspectives of religion-related risk aversion and religion-based social norms. Design/methodology/approach - Using a sample of 8,601 Chinese firm-year observations from 2007 to 2012, this paper examines the relationship between religion and innovation intensity as well as innovation efficiency. A battery of checks, i.e. adopting Heckman selection model, using a province-level measure of religiosity and an alternative measure of innovation intensity, and taking the stochastic frontier analysis method to capture corporate innovation efficiency,are conducted to alleviate the concern of self-selection and to guarantee the robustness of our findings. Findings - This paper finds strong evidence that firms registered in more religious regions, i.e., regions with more Buddhist monasteries within a certain radius, undertake fewer innovation activities as measured by the ratio of R&D investment over total sales income but achieve higher innovation efficiency reflected by the value-relevance of R&D investment. Originality/value - This paper complements the existing literature by suggesting that religion can serve as an informal social mechanism and performs a "less is more" effect in disciplining corporate innovation activities.


Vital "reptational" movements of isolated synthetic polymer chains on a substrate were imaged by atomic force microscopy (AFM) in the tapping mode. The isotactic poly(methyl methacrylate) molecules deposited on mica have long flexible chains that reptated on the substrate like snakes (caterpillar-like) along their chain directions in humid air. The thin water layer adsorbed on the substrate accelerated these movements. Possible tip scan effects on the observed movements were evaluated and found to be small mainly based on the following points:  (1) the directions and time scales of the movements were not related to those of the scan, (2) the movements of the chains during interruption of the scan were similar to the movements during scanning, and (3) the movements were also observed in the frequency modulation mode (namely, "noncontact" mode) in which the tip force acting on the chains is significantly smaller than that in the tapping mode. The dynamic information about single polymer chains will stimulat...


In the last few years there has been a significant stream of research on multinational companies (MNCs) and centers of excellence (CoEs). Scholars recognize the critical role of subsidiaries for the success of the whole corporation. Centers of excellence are organizational units which have strong competencies and which are recognized by other units of the corporate network The research on CoEs has been focused on: (1) the definition of the concept of CoEs; (2) the determinants enabling their development; (3) the earning path of the CoE status; (4) the life-cycle of a CoE; (5) various typologies of CoEls; as well as (6) the effects of CoEs on the MNC and on the external environment. However, not much information about the issues that managers have to face concerning the concept of CoEs can be found in the literature. This paper wants to add some considerations to this gap and is built around two main questions: (1) what should be managed in a CoE; and (2) how can these issues be managed.


Adolescence is a period of transition from children to adulthood. A wide variety of problems in adolescents, particularly related to reproductive health is premarital sex, early marriage, abortion, women gave birth at age less than 20 years, as well as reproductive health knowledge, is still lacking. Lack of understanding of sexual behaviour in adolescents is very harmful to adolescents because at this time a teenager experiencing important developments, namely cognitive, emotional, social and sexual. This is due to many factors including customs, culture, religion and the lack of information from the right source. The fact now that the problem of adolescent reproductive health remains a sensitive matter and is still considered taboo, so it will be difficult if there is a gap in communication. The existence of reproductive health care centre that specialises in serving adolescents is needed. Various studies indicate that the presence of peer educators who are knowledgeable about reproductive health are expected among peers is more open and there can be communication from heart to heart. It proved to be useful and is needed to provide information on the juvenile. The existence of a centre for reproductive health services that specialises in serving adolescents is needed. The objective to increase information of adolescent reproduvtive health, it is can reduce the adolescent reproductive health problem.


This study explored the issue of whether the use of the Automated Teller Machines (ATM) as a service delivery tool in the banking industry of many developing countries has achieved its intended obj ...


Ray casting is a widely recognized method for high quality volume rendering. It traverses and samples the volume data ray by ray in image space. Traditionally, the algorithm is implemented in CPU on PC platform, resulting in slow speed and poor interactivity. This paper introduces a new technique named View Dependent Layer Sampling (VDLS), which supports a hardware implementation of ray casting by Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). VDLS organizes the ray sampling points into a set of layers which can be efficiently represented by two view dependent geometric buffers as two dynamic textures. Based on the structure of VDLS, the six steps involved in the ray casting algorithm including ray generation, ray traversal, interpolation, classification, shading and composition can be fully accomplished in GPU, taking advantage of its programmability and flexibility. In addition, two speedup techniques exploiting object space and image space coherence are proposed for fast culling of the lapsed rays. Several advanced features regarding illumination and composition are further discussed, with which VDLS is capable of reconfiguring the well-known geometric hardware engine for volume ray casting. The novel approach of GPU supported ray casting can render up to 150 million interpolated, post shaded and composed ray samples per second for perspective view. Experimental results suggest that the proposed framework can be regarded as an alternative for on-the-fly visualization and exploitation of discrete scalar data in medical visualization, physical phenomena simulation and material testing applications.


Z39.50 is a standard for information retrieval. It allows two computer systems connected to a network to exchange messages in order to cooperatively provide an information retrieval service. For the author, the completion of the international SR and Z39. standards is an event of profound importance to the information community and information vendors


Abstract The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of a novel care management program for low income older adults in Chicago. Older adults (n=200) who had annual income below $31,225 but about the state level for home and community based services were received care management. Program participants completed a battery of assessments (UCLA Loneliness Scale, single item Quality of Life and Physical Health scales, and Nutritional assessment) at initial assessment and 1-year follow-up. We also conducted interviews with clients and care managers. We used a t-test to evaluate participant outcomes and coded qualitative data to identify themes. Results showed no significant differences between baseline and 1 year follow-up indicating that this care management program kept participants stable. Only 5 of 200 (2.5%) of clients transitioned to a nursing home. This study contributes important results on a novel program to sustain vulnerable older adults in the community.


This chapter reviews sections 104–117 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (HGCRA), which provide the legislative framework for both the right to adjudication and for payment protections within construction contracts. It mentions the Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations 1998 or the Scheme, which provide the legislative framework for both the right to adjudication and for payment protections within construction contracts. It also talks about the amended versions of the Scheme that were introduced by separate statutory instruments for England, Wales, and Scotland. This chapter recounts how the scheme arose from the report of Sir Michael Latham, which reviewed procurement and contractual arrangements in the UK construction industry. It looks at the effectiveness of the policy of the HGCRA in respect of adjudication.


There has always been an interest in how to interpret metaphorical proverbs. Recent research in cognitive science can be utilized to effectively diagram proverb meaning, especially defining the base meaning and evaluating the proverb meaning as incorporated into a larger context such as a story (i.e. blended meaning). In this article Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner's model of conceptual blending (Fauconnier 2002) is applied and expanded to describe the process of metaphorical proverb meaning. The proverb under consideration serves as the conclusion to a Kazakh folktale. Through narrative analysis of the folktale the spaces of the proverb map can be filled in, and the base and blended meaning elucidated. Finally, there is a discussion of relevance as the process of incorporating cultural inferences which complete the meaning of the proverb both as base meaning and as blended meaning.


Various densely grafted polymers containing poly(aniline-2-sulfonic acid-co-aniline)s as side chains and polystyrene as the backbone were prepared. A styryl-substituted aniline macromonomer, 4-(4-vinylbenzoxyl)(N-tert-butoxycarbonyl)phenylamine (4-VBPA- t BOC), was first prepared by the reaction of 4-aminophenol with the amino-protecting moiety di-tert-butoxyldicarbonate, and this was followed by substitution with 4-vinylbenzyl chloride. 4-VBPA- t BOC thus obtained was homopolymerized with azobisisobutyronitrile as an initiator, and this was followed by deprotection with trifluoroacetic acid to generate poly[4-(4-vinylbenzoxyl)phenylamine] (PVBPA) with pendent amine moieties. Second, the copolymerization of aniline-2-sulfonic acid and aniline was carried out in the presence of PVBPA to generate densely grafted poly(aniline-2-sulfonic acid-co-aniline). Through the variation of the molar feed ratio of aniline-2-sulfonic acid to aniline, various densely grafted copolymers were generated with different aniline-2-sulfonic acid/aniline composition ratios along the side chains. The copolymers prepared with molar feed ratios greater than 1/2 were water-soluble and had conductivities comparable to those of the linear copolymers. Furthermore, these copolymers could self-dope in water through intermolecular or intramolecular interactions between the sulfonic acid moieties and imine nitrogens, and this generated large aggregates.


Genetic manipulations and dietary restriction in model organisms have proven that lifespan extension is achievable. Moreover these same interventions can protect against age-related diseases and improve general healthiness. Therefore, current efforts are being put forward to identify drugs that mimic healthy lifespan. Lithium has been documented to be able to extend the lifespan of the worm Caenorhabditis elegans, reduce mortality in Drosophila and a recent report has suggested that lithium concentrations in drinking water correlate with reduced mortality for all causes in a human population. The main objective of the project presented here was to determine the anti-ageing properties of lithium using the fruit fly and to determine the mechanism by which lithium exerts its broad health benefits and anti-ageing properties. My results showed that lithium extended lifespan independent of sex and genetic background. Lithium treated flies were also resistant to multiple stressors and showed reduced triglyceride levels. Lithium did not modify fecundity and it further extended lifespan of DR flies. The pro-longevity effects seemed to also be independent of the nutrient sensing network as it could further extend lifespan of flies with reduced signalling though the insulin/IGF-1 and the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) network. I performed transcriptional and translational microarrays in lithium treated flies and found out that lithium up-regulated a transcriptional response to stress regulated by the transcription factor cap'n'collar/NRF-2 and down-regulated functional categories implicated in mitochondrial complex I. By performing epistasis experiments I found out that lithium and shaggy, the fly homologue of GSK-3, regulate ageing by acting in the same molecular pathway. However, shaggy seemed to modulate ageing in a tissue-specific manner. The combination of lithium and genetic manipulations of shaggy revealed a very complex regulation of ageing and neurodegeneration. I also explored the nature of neurodegeneration induced by over-expression of Aβ1-42 and found out that some of the changes induced by Aβ1-42 impact general physiology and not only neurons. For example, our results suggest that altered metabolism is a prominent feature of the toxicity of Aβ1-42 in Drosophila.


Wheat and rice are two main staple food crops that may suffer from yield losses due to drought episodes that are increasingly impacted by climate change, in addition to new epidemic outbreaks. Sustainable intensification of production will rely on several strategies, such as efficient use of water and variety improvement. This review updates the latest findings regarding complementary approaches in agronomy, genetics, and phenomics to cope with climate change challenges. The agronomic approach focuses on a case study examining alternative rice water management practices, with their impact on greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity for ecosystem services. The genetic approach reviews in depth the latest technologies to achieve fungal disease resistance, as well as the use of landraces to increase the genetic diversity of new varieties. The phenomics approach explores recent advances in high-throughput remote sensing technologies useful in detecting both biotic and abiotic stress effects on breeding programs. The complementary nature of all these technologies indicates that only interdisciplinary work will ensure significant steps towards a more sustainable agriculture under future climate change scenarios.


The present invention provides a method, apparatus, and system for selecting a target area, an on-board unit (OBU), and a road side unit (RSU). The method comprises: an OBU or an RSU preferentially selects, according to a state of the OBU, a target area supporting access of a Vehicle to Everything (V2X) service, wherein the state comprises at least one of an idle state and a connected state. The present invention resolves the problem of difficulty in continuous execution of a V2X service of a vehicle during movement of the vehicle between a DSRC coverage area and an LTE coverage area in the related art.


23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 ABSTRACT Education unity among Europan Community countries is very important in the process of unifying Europe. Hence, with the thoughts of strengthening a regular determined and democratic society, the education ministiries of 29 European countries, started the unifiying education process by signing the Bologna Declaration in June 19, 1999. SOCRATES and ERASMUS were also accepted in January, 24, 2000. The final step of higher education, is very important in providing qualified human resources sharing scientficially gained knowledge, continuing development of skills for changing needs and educating youngsters towards Europen ideal. The Turkish Higher Education Law number 2547 which has been in process for 20 years and the law proposals that were prepared by National Education Ministry ( NEM ), Higher Education Council ( HEC ) and University Council ( UC ) in order to change the current higher education law were examined in this paper in the light of ERASMUS.


Summary This study assessed whether the attitudes of teachers toward energy issues were significantly changed by participating in U.S. government-sponsored educational workshops. Pre- and postquestionnaires (32 items) were administered to 47 participants at two of these workshops. An ANOVA for repeated measures was performed to ascertain significant changes. Direction of attitude change was also analyzed. Results indicated that the effect of workshop participation on energy attitudes was quite small. Changes were more evident in policy items than in items dealing with energy sources. For a minority of Ss, the workshop experience appeared to intensify existing attitudes about energy sources and to change policy attitudes from one extreme to the other.


Abstract. This paper shows a generic method of constructing CCA-secure public key encryption schemes with leakage-resilience on the secret key. It is based on a new kind of universal2 hash proof system which accepts an auxiliary parameter. Specifically, two schemes are presented, basing on the DCR assumption and DLIN assumption respectively.


Resettlement is the key for the success of TGP construction,while the resettlement of 400 thousand plus rural population is the core and difficult point in the whole TGP resettlement.Reservoir resettlement is a complex system engineering.The environmental capacity of TGP reservoir area can only receive 260~310 thousand resettlers and other 95~145 thousand population should be resettled outside the reservoir area.Therefore,the TGP resettlement work should persist in the following 3 principles:combination of multi-channal resettlement in the reservoir area and encouraging resettlement outside the reservoir area;taking agriculture resettlement as major resettlement way on the base of land resources;resettlement in accordance with individual condition.The government should take the acceptance of TGP resettlers as a major support task of the benefit area of TGP,properly raise resettlement cost for the out-of-the reservoir area relocation,reduce expenditures for the out-of-reservoir area relocation,formulate and implement related preferential policy for resettlement area.


Traditionally management schools of thought that emphasize certain types of work structures usually appear earlier than information technologies (IT) geared at supporting those work structures. This situation has undoubtedly changed recently, arguably around the mid-1990s, with the explosion in the commercial use of the Internet and particularly the Web. This calls for the development of a generic framework that ties together relevant management ideas that help organizations strategically and operationally align themselves with new Web-based IT. Our goal with this chapter is to provide some basic elements that can be used by managers and researchers as a starting point to develop this generic framework. As such, we focus on a particular set of activities associated with team coordination and communication in production and service delivery business processes through the Internet and the Web.


The Fifth Assessment Report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR5) revealed that the scale of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Asian cities is similar to those from developed economies, which are driven predominantly by economic growth. Due to variations in geographic and climatic contexts, culture and religion, living style and travel behavior, governance and institutions, and a wide range of density and land use mixes, there are significant variations in urban form patterns across Western and Asian cities. This paper uses a systematic review, which is a critical interpretive synthesis methodology, to review keywords of studies related to urban form among East and Southeast Asian cities. From 3725 records identified through database searching, 213 studies were included in qualitative analysis. The results show that, although the population density in built-up areas is higher, annual population density is declining significantly in East and Southeast Asia. In addition, there are various kinds of land use mixes including horizontal, vertical, and temporal forms. As a whole, the inconsistencies of urban form characteristics exist not only between Western and Asian cities, but also among Asian cities. Serious population density decreases in Asian cities might indicate that they are undergoing similar urban development processes to those of Western cities. We should be aware of the potential lock-in trends of urban development patterns in Chinese and Southeast Asian cities.


[Objective]The PGPR-uw4 under the stress of NaCl solution affecting the sunflower seed growth was measured.[Method]The sunflower seeds were planted in the pots filled with sand after they were soaked in the PGPR-uw4 suspension solution and fully watered once two days.And the physiology and ecology index of the seedling was measured after the 30th day.[Results]The results indicated that the germination,shoot height,root length,dry weight as well as fresh weight and other ecological indexes of the sunflower under the stress of certain concentration of salt was decreased and the PGPR-uw4 could lighten and reduce the effect caused by salt.The content of sugar,peroxidase vitality and the content of malonaldehyde in sunflower leaf under the stress of NaCl solution were increased at different degrees,however,the two former physiological indexes could be obviously raised but the content of malonaldehyde was reduced while the PGPR-uw4 was added.[Conclusion]The PGPR-uw4 could lighten and reduce the inhibition from the salt stress to sunflower seed growth.


Radioactive liquid wastes are produced as a consequence of processing fuel from Savannah River Plant (SRP) production reactors. These wastes are stored in mild steel waste tanks, some of which have developed cracks from stress corrosion. A laboratory test was developed to determine the relative agressiveness of the wastes for stress corrosion cracking of mild steel. Tensile samples were strained to fracture in synthetic waste solutions in an electrochemical cell with the sample as the anode. Crack initiation is expected if total elongation of the steel in the test is less than its uniform elongation in air. Cracking would be anticipated in a plant waste tank if solution conditions were equivalent to test conditions that cause a total elongation that is less than uniform elongation. The electrochemical tensile tests showed that the supernates in salt receiver tanks at SRP have the least aggressive compositions, and wastes newly generated during fuel repocessing have the most aggressive ones. Test data also verified that ASTM A 516-70 steel used in the fabrication of the later design waste tanks is less susceptible to cracking than the ASTM A 285-B steel used in earlier designs.


By means of two stratifications of ex- perimental days of the Whitetop Project--'into categories E and W and into categories air mass and frontal-the effects of cloud seeding on precipitation downwind, up- wind, and to the sides, up to 180 miles from the seeding line, were investigated. No significant effects were found for W and frontal days. On the other hand, for E and air- mass days, significant and highly significant apparent effects of seeding were found in all directions and in areas at distances up to 180 miles. All these significant apparent effects are negative, the largest of them indicating that seeding reduced precipitation to one quarter of its un- seeded value. The Whitetop cloud-seeding experiment was performed by Braham (1) over five summers (1960-64). The target center was near West Plains, Mo. The original evaluation (2) showed that within the so-called "Missouri Plume" the av- erage seeded precipitation "per fair hour" was about half that without seeding. Several subsequent studies (3, 4) were concerned with amounts precipitated per 24 hr in a fixed area ("area studied") up to 180 miles from the target center and, separately, in 6 parts of that area, designated A to F. Region A extends up to 30 miles from the target center. Regions B to F are concentric circular rings each 30 miles wide. It was found (3) that in all six regions the average 24-hr precipitation on the 102 days with seeding was less than those on the 96 days without seeding. For the entire area, the apparent loss of rain was 21%, with P = 0.13. Although none of the apparent effects was found significant by customary standards, further studies appeared justified by the fact that if the 20% apparent loss of rain was actually caused by seeding, this would mean operational (contrasted with experimental) cloud seeding under similar conditions would result in a loss of about 8 million acre-feet of rainwater per summer or, possibly, about $80 million loss of revenue to the local economy.


We study whether binary black hole template banks can be used to search for the gravitational waves emitted by general binary coalescences. To recover binary signals from noisy data, matched-filtering techniques are typically required. This is especially true for low-mass systems, with total mass M ≲ 10 M⊙, which can inspiral in the LIGO and Virgo frequency bands for thousands of cycles. In this paper, we focus on the detectability of low-mass binary systems whose individual components can have large spin-induced quadrupole moments and small compactness. The quadrupole contributes to the phase evolution of the waveform whereas the compactness affects the merger frequency of the binary. We find that binary black hole templates (with dimensionless quadrupole κ=1) cannot be reliably used to search for objects with large quadrupoles (κ≳ 20) over a wide range of parameter space. This is especially true if the general object is highly spinning and has a larger mass than its binary companion. A binary that consists of objects with small compactness could merge in the LIGO and Virgo frequency bands, thereby reducing its accumulated signal-to-noise ratio during the inspiraling regime. Template banks which include these more general waveforms must therefore be constructed. These extended banks would allow us to realistically search for the existence of new astrophysical and beyond the Standard Model compact objects.


After truncation of the Mississippian sediments, much of the present state of Wyoming was titled south. Pennsylvanian seas advanced onto the shelf area of Wyoming from both the southwest and southeast. In the southeastern part of the state, a hinge line developed in the vicinity of the Hartville area. This hinge line separated a basin deep in eastern Colorado from a more stable, restricted bay or gulf which occupied much of eastern Wyoming. In this bay an entire sequence of Permo-Pennsylvanian sediments accumulated. The bay appears to have occupied an area very similar in outline to the present-day structural configuration of the Powder River basin.


Most of the data concerning the properties of materials involved in the food processing industries are presented in tabular or graphical form. In these form, experimental data are difficult to use in calculus where properties' values are often and repeatedly necessary at different temperatures, i.e.: fluid flow, thermal balances, overall heat and/or mass transfer coefficients. This paper focuses on modelling the thermal conductivity of several products encountered in dairy technology. It aims to establish simple and reliable mathematical relationships between the up mentioned parameter and temperature, water content, or fat content. Using the literature data, different regression equations have been tested, in order to get consistent equations that express the studied parameter as a function of temperature and/or dry solids (fat) content. The obtained equations are very useful in the designing of processes and equipment for the food processing industry. They can be used in spreadsheet calculations as in other PC programs.


A hybrid deterministic/statistical modeling approach is used to predict air pollution levels generated from motor vehicle emissions. The inclusion of the effects of source emissions and meteorology on ambient concentrations is allowed by the deterministic models, but only within their range of greatest reliability. Two deterministic models are used: the ATDL model to obtain an areal indication of pollution levels, and the GM model to provide information on concentration reduction with distance from the roadway. The output data obtained from the deterministic models can be extrapolated by using the statistical model to predict the maximum levels of pollution concentration. Monte Carlo simulation shows the effects of system uncertainty with respect to emissions. Variability in meteorology is taken into account by running the model separately with a time-series input of wind speed for different calendar years. The methodology is demonstrated with an example of an Australian town.


Aim To explore effects of floating balloon catheter of severe coronary heart disease on cardiovascular function after coronary artery bypass grafting and results of monitoring.Methods 22 cases of severe coronary heart disease patients with coronary artery bypass surgery,were observed the balloon floating catheter inserted simultaneously with hemodynamic monitoring.Meanwhile 18 severe coronary heart disease patients were chosen under cardiopulmonary bypass with general anesthesia.Results All the 22 patients improved after hospital discharge.Such serious complications as the basic normal heart index,renal failure,hypertension,perioperative myocardial infarction,cerebrovascular accident,secondary open-chest hemostatic etc did not happen.The total effective rate was higher in the observation group,and the difference was statistically significant(P0.05).Conclusion Floating balloon catheter in coronary heart disease with severe coronary artery bypass surgery on cardiovascular function monitoring has a good effect,which should be applied in clinics.


In this paper, a beat-based autoencoder is proposed for mapping photoplethysmography (PPG) to a single-lead electrocardiogram (single-lead ECG) signal. The main limiting factors represented in uncleaned data, subject dependency, and erroneous beat segmentation are regarded. The dataset is cleaned by a two-stage clustering approach. Rather than complete single–lead ECG signal reconstruction, a beat-based PPG-to-single-lead-ECG (PPG2ECG) conversion is introduced for providing a simple lightweight model that meets the computational capabilities of wearable devices. In addition, peak-to-peak segmentation is employed for alleviating errors in PPG onset detection. Furthermore, subject-dependent training is highlighted as a critical factor in training procedures because most existing work includes different beats/signals from the same subject's record in both training and testing sets. So, we provide a completely subject-independent model where the testing subjects' records are hidden in the training stage entirely, i.e., a subject record appears once either in the training or testing set, but testing beats/signals belong to records that never appear in the training set. The proposed deep learning model is designed for providing efficient feature extraction that attains high reconstruction quality over subject-independent scenarios. The achieved performance is about 0.92 for the correlation coefficient and 0.0086 for the mean square error for the dataset extracted/cleaned from the MIMIC II dataset.


AbstractPublished eighteenth- and nineteenth-century instructions for the making of wallpaper are examined, with particular attention given to the specific pigments recommended and their application.


BACKGROUND
 Teleguidance, a promising telemedicine service for intraoperative surgical consultation, was planned to scale up between a major academic hospital in partnership with five other hospitals. If the service was adopted and used over time, it was expected to provide educational benefits and improve clinical outcomes during Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangio-Pancreatografy (ERCP), which is a technically advanced procedure for biliary and pancreatic disease. However, it is known that seemingly successful innovations can play out differently in new settings, which might cause variability in clinical outcomes. In addition, few telemedicine services survive long enough to deliver system level outcomes, causes of which are not well understood.

 OBJECTIVE
 We were interested in factors related to usability and user experience of the telemedicine service which might come to affect adoption. We therefore wanted to investigate perceptions and responses to use and/or anticipated use of a system. Technology acceptance, a construct referring to how users perceive a technology's usefulness, is commonly considered to indicate whether a new technology will actually be used in a real-life setting. Satisfaction measures are used to investigate whether user expectations and needs have been met through the use of technology.
In this study, we asked surgeons to rate the perceived usefulness of teleguidance, and their satisfaction with the telemedicine service in direct conjunction with real-time use during clinical procedures.

 METHODS
 We designed domain-specific measures for perceived usefulness and satisfaction, based on performance and outcome measures for the clinical procedure. Surgeons were asked to rate their user experience with the telemedicine service in direct conjunction with real-time use during clinical procedures.

 RESULTS
 142 remote intraoperative consultations were conducted during ERCP procedures at 5 hospitals. The demand for teleguidance was more pronounced in cases with higher complexity. Operating surgeons rated teleguidance to have contributed to performance and outcomes to a moderate or large extent in 111/140 (79.3%) of the cases. Specific examples are that teleguidance was rated as having contributed to intervention success and avoiding a repeated ERCP in 23 cases, avoiding 3 PTC, 11 referrals and in 11 cases, combinations of these outcomes.
Pre-procedure beliefs about the usefulness of teleguidance were generally lower than post-procedure satisfaction ratings.
The usefulness of teleguidance was mainly experienced through practical advice from the consulting specialist (119/140, 85%) and support with assessment and decision-making (122/140, 87%).

 CONCLUSIONS
 Users' satisfaction with teleguidance surpassed their initial expectations, mainly by contributing to non-technical aspects of performance, through help with general assessment. Teleguidance shows the potential to improve performance and outcomes during ERCP. However, it takes hands-on experience for practitioners to understand how the new telemedicine service contributes to performance and outcomes.

 CLINICALTRIAL
 N/A


Pilanggede Village is one of the villages that has a village economic institution called BUMDesa Pilanggede Gemilang. Which BUMDesa has succeeded in building a tourist village destination. The development of this tourist village is named the Taman Pinggir Gawan Tourism Village (TPG) which presents a characteristic of the panoramic beauty of the Bengawan Solo River. However, behind the panoramic beauty, the Bengawa Solo River is a river that is prone to flood disasters when the rainy season arrives. So that BUMDesa Pilanggede makes efforts to minimize the impact of disasters and also to maintain the existence of tourist villages. This research aims to examine how the BUMDesa strategy is in the development of the TPG tourism village, Pilanggede Village, Balen District, Bojonegoro Regency. The research method used is descriptive qualitative by describing the facts that occur in the field. Data collection techniques using observation, interviews, documentation, and triangulation. The results showed that in the process of developing a tourist village, several programs had been designed. The program includes establishing the image of tourism with the addition of new vehicles and also improving facilities and infrastructure, improving the quality of human resources through training, carrying out activities to maintain environmental hygiene, and also promoting through social media.


The risk of human papillomavirus (HPV)‐associated cancers is significantly higher among survivors of a childhood cancer compared to the general population. Despite this, their HPV vaccine uptake rates are lower. We examined factors related to HPV vaccine uptake among childhood cancer survivors from Western New York over 13 years following the introduction of HPV vaccines.


Asmund Karesson is one of our greatest rune stone makers. His ornographic stile was copied by other rune writers. Asmund also made many stones, around 60. Many scientists took for granted Asmund wa ...


The adsorber with better tightness was made with the new style production.The solar adsorptior refrigeration was assembled after strict leak test. Experiment showed the tightness of prototype is much better than before, it can stably work and its COP reached 0.085 or so.


Trabecular bone's capability to adapt its architecture to the surrounding environment has been a subject of research for more than a century. In the beginning of the 21 st century, Huiskes and co-workers [1] proposed a semi-mechanistic bone remodeling theory. The purpose of this research is to simulate and improve their theory by developing a computer code, as well as incorporating cellular accommodation effect. The regulatory mechanism proposed by Huiskes and colleagues is implemented and studied in a MATLAB code using finite element (FE) method. In addition to simulating the osteocyte mechanosensory role and separation of osteoclast and osteoblast activity as proposed by Huiskes et al. [1], we entered cellular accommodation effect proposed by Turner [2] into the model. Trabecular-like structures for different loading conditions and directionalities have been resulted using our approach. Furthermore, the model was able to predict stress shielding and also showed qualities of global mechanical optimality. In summary, results of our research showed that model proposed by Huiskes and co-workers has a good scientific merit and including cellular accommodation effect in their model will help to predict more realistic morphologies in time-dependent simulations.


With the continuous increase of multicast nodes and the introduction of IPv6 technology, CERNET2 ultra-large-scale multicast applications and security will be facing greater challenges. Therefore, a new security framework for dynamic multicast, in which multicast key management domain is divided into the trunk and leaves domains, is presented to avoid the overall system cost about re-keying because of the frequent changes of the members in the group.


RAND Europe conducted a study on the societal impact of early breast cancer. This study was divided into three interconnected phases, the first being. a mapping review on the published literature on the impacts of treatment of early breast cancer, which revealed existing gaps in the evidence on the non-clinical impacts of treatment of early breast cancer. This study aims to enrich the evidence base on the broader impacts of early breast cancer.


Background: Parasitic infections affect tens of millions of pregnant women worldwide, and directly or indirectly lead to a spectrum of adverse maternal and fetal/placental effects.
Objective: To determine the prevalence of intestinal parasites in pregnant women and its association with various factors.
Materials and Methods: Stool specimens were collected from pregnant women in a clean, wide mouth, leak-proof screw capped container. Formol ether Concentration technique was performed to increase the yield of the eggs and larvae. Modified Acid Fast staining was done for opportunistic parasitic infections.
Result: Out of the 300 pregnant women screened for presence of intestinal parasites, the prevalence of intestinal parasites was 42.67%. Protozoa (88.65%) were predominant than the helminths (11.34%). The prevalence of intestinal parasites was more in the second and the third trimester as compared to the first trimester. Primigravida women had greater positivity of intestinal parasites than the multigravida. Out of 220 anemic females, 115 (52.27%) had presence of intestinal parasites showing an association between anemia and intestinal parasites. Intestinal parasitosis showed a significant correlation with eosinophilia.
Two independently collected stool specimens for routine stool examination should be sufficient to ensure adequate diagnostic sensitivity.
Conclusion: Routine screening of stool samples for intestinal parasites, especially in anemic, malnourished and women with eosinophilia should be considered as a part of the routine antenatal care. Considering the fact that sanitation and hygiene is suboptimal in most parts of the country, there should be a strong emphasis on the recommendations in the national guidelines regarding deworming in pregnancy.

Keywords: Intestinal parasites, Pregnant women, Trimester, Gravida, Anaemia, Eosinophilia.


This unit provides an introduction to the binding of specific ligands to K+ channels that are expressed in a number of different preparations. The assays described can be used for screening a large number of compounds for interaction at specific binding sites and provides, in selected cases, details of expected results for unlabeled ligands that are known to bind to certain K+ channels.


Graph-theory-derived methods are used to study the chemical bonding topology in gallium-rich intermetallic phases of gallium and the alkali metals that contain globally delocalized Ga n deltahedra (n=8, 11, 12). Electron-precise chemical bonding models are presented for the following phases, assuming complete ionization of the alkali metals


Summary Various cardiac arrhythmias and conduction defects have been described in patients with mitral valve prolapse. We describe a case of a young woman affected by a mitral valve prolapse, involving the posterior mitral leaflet, with mild mitral regurgitation and an episode of syncope due to asystolia. It is hoped that this short communication will once again focus attention on the as yet unexplained association between mitral valve prolapse and various cardiac conduction disorders.


The aim is to examine the association between seven candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms in AMPKα1 and gestational diabetes in Chinese people.


'We the peoples of the United Nations determine... to reaffirm faith... in the equal rights of... nations large and small'. The United Nations organisation has, since inception, been predicated on equal respect for nations large and small. This equality is evident with, for example, the General Assembly of the United Nations according each state equal voting power, although the Security Council and its permanent membership is an issue. Axiomatically states around the world are at different stages of development and engage with the United Nations in different ways. This is, perhaps, especially evident when considering international human rights. Some states have accepted all the core human rights treaties adopted under the auspices of the United Nations, other have only accepted one or two. However, following the establishment of the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006, a radical strategy of reviewing the compliance of every UN member state with general international human rights and international humanitarian laws commenced. Through a


The extreme wing (600<λ<820 nm) of the sodium D lines perturbed by xenon and krypton has been measured in fluorescence at perturber densities between 2×1019 and 3×1020 cm−3. At these perturber densities the observed fluorescence results mostly from the NaXe* (NaKr*) molecule in the wavelength range of 600<λ<720 nm (600<λ<680 nm) and from the NaXe2* (NaKr2*) molecule in the range 740<λ<820 nm (700 <λ<820 nm). The fluorescence emission coefficient is obtained in normalized units, allowing quantitative comparison to theory. The quasistatic line‐broadening theory, including multiple‐perturber interactions, is used to calculate the density dependence of the spectra which would result from trimer potential surfaces given by scalarly additive pair interactions. This approximation explains some of the observatons; discrepancies between this model and the experimental results are discussed.


A set of scalar variables and projection operators for the vector momentum and magnetic field evolution equations is presented that has several unique and desirable properties, making it a preferred system for solving the magnetohydrodynamic equations in a torus with a strong toroidal magnetic field. A "weak form" of these equations is derived that explicitly conserves energy and is suitable for a Galerkin finite element formulation provided the basis elements have C1 continuity. Systems of reduced equations are discussed, along with their energy conservation properties. An implicit time advance is presented that adds diagonally dominant self-adjoint energy terms to the mass matrix to obtain numerical stability.


A powdered coal burner with superfine coal powder burning unit features that the ignition and combustion characteristics of superfine coal powder (less than 20 microns) are used to overcome the disadvantages of ordinary powdered coal burner such as unstable combustion and flameout on low load and greater variation in quality of powdered coal. Said powdered coal burner can be positioned at inside of primary tuyere or near it according to quality of powdered coal in one or more layers mode. The arranging manner is equidirectional or reversed tangent circle.


This paper proposed a two-phase acid domestication of anaerobic digestion sludge to explore a suitable domesticated method for rapidly improving the acid resistance and stability of a food waste anaerobic digestion system. In the first phase ( pH 7.2-5.7 ), pH was reduced by 0.5unit each time in Reactors#1 , #2and#3.In the second phase ( pH5.7 ), pH was reduced by 0.1 , 0.3and 0.5unit each time respectively.The results showed that in the first phase , the ranges of the total alkalinity , the COD removal rate and the volume gas rate were similar in the three reactors.In the second phase , the related indicators of Reactors#1and#2were similar overall , while Reactor#3was obviously different from Reactor#1and#2.The final acid tolerant values in Reactor#1 , #2and# 3are 4.1 , 4.0and 4.7respectively.When the method of gradual reduction of pH was used for acid domestication of anaerobic digestion sludge , reduction by 0.5pH unit each time was appropriate for the first stage ( pH 7.2-5.7 ) and reduction by 0.3pH unit each time was appropriate for the second stage ( pH5.7 ) .


A 70-year-old woman presented with a 2-month history of gradually progressive unsteadiness. She started to fall a few weeks before assessment and was holding furniture to balance herself. She complained of recent memory loss and constipation. Additionally she was being investigated for 'scarring on the lung' found on a chest X-ray. She took no medications and drank no alcohol. She had no relevant family history. On examination, there was horizontal nystagmus and dysarthria (staccato-type). She had moderate gait and limb ataxia. Romberg's test was negative. Her ankle jerks were absent but sensation was intact to all modalities. We found pitting oedema below the knees. An MR scan of the brain was normal. ### Question 1

How would you classify her type of ataxia?

### Comment

The eye movements, speech and limb findings suggest cerebellar ataxia. While the ankle jerks were absent, her distal sensation and her Romberg's test were normal, making it unlikely that there was a concomitant sensory ataxia. The bilateral cranial nerve and limb findings suggest a generalised cerebellar process. The speed of progression is in the slower end of the subacute category (weeks to months).

This helps to exclude several common causes of cerebellar ataxia in older patients. Strokes tend to be of sudden onset and unilateral. Degenerative conditions tend to be slower and associated with other neurological findings on examination (eg, multiple system atrophy). Her age of onset and negative family history make a genetic cause less likely.

Her cerebellar ataxia could be classified as subacute, generalised and late-onset. ### Question 2

What are the main causes of a subacute cerebellar ataxia?

### Comment

There is a relatively short list of conditions that can cause subacute cerebellar ataxia (table 1).

View this table:

Table 1
Causes of subacute cerebellar ataxia

Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration is a possibility. This tends to progress more rapidly over weeks. Patients usually …


Navigation nuclear magnetic resonance gyro(NMRG) is developed by defence advanced research projects agency of US to overcome the menace that GPS may suffer or the potential risks that GPS satellites may be out of work because of the base damage.It is featured in the technical characteristic of taking micro technology to seal up all necessary components in one IMU with small size,low power assumption,chip scale and high accuracy.nudear magnetic resonance(NMR) theory,NMRG theory,and the development and key technologies are introduced here.


With his usual kindness Mr. C. A. Frost sent me the subjoined Heteroptera collected by him in Nova Scotia in July 1927 and 1929, at Portaupique and Westchester. The latest data available on bugs from this part are contained in Blatchley's Heteroptera of Eastern North America; the most extensive list thus far pubished is Parshley's 1923 paper, Records of Nova Scotian Heteroptera, which appeared in Proceedings of the Acadian Entomological Society for 1922, pp. 102, 108. The present records have been checked against these; the order of the species, for convenience, is that of Blatchley's Heteroptera.


A fluid-dynamical model of powder-snow avalanches is developed which takes into account three-dimensional topography and can compute an avalanche's running course. The model also predicts the variations of height, speed and concentration of snow particles in the avalanche, as well as the level of turbulence. Application of the model to the Maseguchi avalanche, which occurred in 1986 at Niigata, Japan, shows it can provide reasonable prediction of the running course, height and speed of an avalanche.


This research aims to determine the attractiveness of using electronic money, knowing the use of electronic money from an Islamic perspective and knowing the contracts used in electronic money transactions. This research uses descriptive qualitative method. Qualitative descriptive method is a data processing method by analyzing the factors associated with the object of research by presenting data in more depth about the object of research. The results of interviews with the three respondents revealed that the attractiveness of electronic money as an alternative to cash is buying and selling activities and transactions that are more efficient, easy, safe and electronic money is currently a trend in society. In Islam, ideal money must be filled with intrinsic and extrinsic elements. But Islam likes the easy. Use of electronic money to facilitate consumers and producers. This means that Islam does not prohibit the use of electronic money as long as its security is guaranteed and the contract used must be in accordance with Islamic law. Electronic money in an Islamic perspective has conditions that do not violate usury, maysir, gharar which we often call prohibited. The contracts used in electronic money are the wadiah contract, qardh contract, shawl contract, murabahah contract, ijarah contract, jualah contract, and wakalah bil ujroh contract.
Keywords: The Attractiveness of Electronic Money, Islamic Perspective, Contract


The problem of accurately accounting for long ranged Coulomb forces within periodic boundaries in Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics computer simulation of strongly coupled Coulomb systems is considered. Periodicity artefacts characteristic of the conventional Ewald summation procedure are eliminated by angular averaging of Ewald sums over all orientations of the main cell. This approach provides an effective analytical electrostatic interaction potential and allows fast and accurate simulations of strongly coupled Coulomb fluids even on a modern PC. The effectiveness and accuracy of the method is illustrated on simple non-ideal plasma models.


The thermoelectric power generation module is a device that directly converts thermal energy into electrical energy. It has many advantages such as noise-free, pollution-free, high reliability, long service life and so on. The traditional thermoelectric power generation module has such disadvantages as complicated preparation process, processing pollution, great material wastage, etc. A method for preparing the thermoelectric power generation module has been studied in this article. Firstly, a silver electrode is made on a ceramic substrate, and then the template is placed on the electrode and stacked layer-by-layer with thermoelectric materials following the lamination technique; subsequently it is sintered into a galvanic couple arm and then the thermoelectric power generation module is made after encapsulation. The preparation method is able to effectively avoid the wastage of thermoelectric materials and processing pollution, and is especially suitable for the wide temperature range operation mode. It is also able to exert the best performance of each material segment and effectively improve the working efficiency of the power generation module.


Abstract In this paper we use qualitative data to identify how pharmacy frontline sales employees try to build rapport toward embarrassed clients using nonverbal interpersonal communication (NVIC). Upon doing so, we build on a conceptual framework where NIVC can create rapport in embarrassing situations, with the client usually preferring the salesperson who, through expressive similarity, connects himself/herself with the client's emotion and behaves discreetly, preserving the client from unnecessary exposure. Four methods were triangulated, including the critical incident technique. Results show that rapport building on the part of these salespeople by means of NIVC toward embarrassed clients is eminently amateurish, as these employees do not receive any prior training to perform in a more professional way. A relevant academic contribution comes from challenging the preconception that the categories of rapport are mutually exclusive and exhaustive, allowing the initial conceptual framework to be reconfigured as a new category of rapport is included. In practical terms, this research is also distinctive, since it suggests that, as a peculiar locus for embarrassment, pharmacies take these clients' emotion in a more serious way, searching for ways to mitigate it through better training of salespeople, as this effort may translate into higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.


Objective: The purpose of this review was to examine how tissue architecture, surgical procedures, implant components and prosthetic factors contribute collectively to esthetic success in the maxillary anterior and premolar region (esthetic zone). Materials and methods: Pubmed, Embase and the Cochrane electronic databases were searched for prospective human studies that investigate single tooth implants placed in the esthetic zone. Two reviewers assessed the quality of search results independently. The outcomes assessed include implant survival, complications, and peri-implant soft and hard tissue characteristics. Peri-implant soft tissue assessment included probing depths, bleeding on probing, plaque index, keratinized tissue and papilla index. Hard tissue assessment included measurements made at the time of surgical procedures and radiographic analysis. Studies that measured esthetic outcomes utilizing esthetic indexes and self-report were also included. Results and discussion: Of 51 primarily selected articles, 13 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. A variety of predictors for esthetic success were evaluated, such as existing hard and soft tissue architecture, the effect of simultaneous soft and hard tissue augmentation, the use of different implant components and various restorative protocols. These factors ultimately influence the final esthetic success in


Achieving the meaning of life is the purpose of each individual, butwhat is the meaning of life and how to get it can be analyzed through the cultural situationism. By contrasting the ways to the meaning of life from Karl Marx's perspective and Confucius' perspective, Marx constructs dialectical materialism, in which he envisions the Communism. Through changing of the economic and politic system of Capitalism, people get freedom and have self-actualization. Meanwhile, Confucianism devotes enculturation to the existing society, through education, people can get the meaning of life. With the methodology of logic and the explanation of culture based on 4TIS, the uniqueness of the choice of individual and the developing of organization can be better understood and the diversity of cultures also can be recognised. The conclusion is: 1) The meaning of life is only defined by subject; 2) The self-actualization is determined by the subject and its cultural situation; and 3) The developing way of a society or a group depends on subjects' cultural recognition and their traditions.