Design of mechatronics is greatly challenging due to its multi-disciplinary nature. On one hand companies need to facilitate integration between engineering domains while they on the other hand need to manage dependencies created between the exact same domains as the development process progresses. This paper proposes a way to identify, model and clarify dependencies by use of a  Mechatronic Integration Concept . The usefulness of the Mechatronic Integration Concept has been tested in an industrial development project showing positive results of shortening the lead-time, minimizing rework and increasing the performance of the product. The literature review on the topic of dependency modelling in mechatronic products seems to reveal a lack of proposals for how to represent the dependencies graphically which can facilitate cross-domain discussions.


Introduction: The knowledge of the internal anatomy of human teeth is one of the determinative factors for the success of the endodontic treatment. Some anat...


I apply collective action theory here to examine empirical data on social dynamics in prestate societies of Central European Plains between 500 and 1000 CE. The proposition is that under certain socioeconomic conditions, levels of political formations reflect rational agreement and consent between the rulers and the ruled. This addresses the dilemma whereby self-interest behavior of social actors would seemingly limit the potential for collective action and group cohesion. The theory employed here, which derives from game theory assumptions, integrates political science and anthropological perspectives. The examined empirical evidence shows that a very basic community-level management of common pool resources seems a successful strategy to manage a short term risk, secure economic benefits and ultimately leads to sustainable higher level political organization.


sexuals in government and the artistic community) challenged traditional views of masculinity; not surprisingly, Sigmund Freud appears often. These changes made the "vertigo years" particularly uneasy ones for the traditional male elite, the aristocracy, as well as the emerging elite, the bourgeoisie. Although the argument is fine as far as it goes, it may be a bit of a stretch to suggest, as Blom does, that the naval arms race of this period was predominantly a function of the crisis of domestic masculinity. The book is organized into chapters dedicated to individual years. Though such an idea might help to give the book a structure, it does not always work. Only the introductory anecdote seems connected to the year in question; not even the opening quotations come from the year in question. The remainder of the chapters drift and move as they must in order to cover the themes the author wishes to discuss. The chapters on 1902 and 1906 are particularly guilty. Along the way, however, the book offers a wide variety of compelling and interesting anecdotes about the lives and changing beliefs of Europeans in this critical era. The author chose to touch on 1914 only lightly, probably to disengage the book from the war that began that year, but it does give the book a rather abrupt finish. Well-written and engaging at times, The Vertigo Years is unlikely to tell specialists much that they did not already know. General readers and students, however, will find the book a good introduction to the world of Europe from 1900 to 1914. Instructors might also find it a good supplementary book for courses on modern European history. They will need, however, to provide more context for the events and beliefs that led to the outbreak of a war that destroyed this Europe forever.


This paper presents basic features for modeling some important aspects of sustainable development of the riverine landscape Kamp. We used the QR ontology to collect and organize expert knowledge on ecological effects of water abstraction on fish and the integration of stakeholder interests for successful and sustainable implementation of (ecological) river engineering measures. Following a standardized QR-modeling framework, a concept map served as the basis for the structural model of the Kamp system. Based on this, two causal models are presented expressing system behaviors. Based on the most relevant entities, interacting static and process model fragments are presented. Conclusions and remarks on ongoing work are given.


When we draw a comparison of modernization between China and Japan,we will find that the difference of city features between China and Japan has a relationship with the advancement of the modernization of two civilizations.In pre-modern China,the situation was that on one hand there were few metropolises with huge population and established cultural infrastructure and on the other there was a vast majority of poor rural villages.But in the Edo Period in Japan,the difference between cities and rural villages was far smaller than that in China.I think that the difference of city features between China and Japan led to the subtle difference of ethos and ideology of respective intellectuals.This paper will try to clarify the features of modernization in China and in Japan by comparison of the discourse on city and urbanity.


Abstract A MAJOR problem in classifying eggs into various quality categories is the lack of an objective means of determining differences among eggs of varying interior quality. Candling is the only method being used commercially at the present time. Therefore in specifying quality differences, those factors which are apparent when the egg is candled must be used. Four quality grades (AA, A, B, C) for eggs with clean shells are included in the latest U. S. Standards (1946). The specifications include factors relating to the shell, aircell, white and yolk. The shell must be unbroken for all quality categories. "Normal" shells or departures therefrom determine the quality into which the egg is placed. Aircell factors considered are depth and regularity. White condition is determined by the degree of firmness, clearness, and defects. Yolk condition is based on yolk centering and movement, outline, and degree of defects. It is obvious that in . . .


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to conduct performance evaluation of eight main scientific data sharing platforms in China and find existing problems, thus providing reference for maximizing the value of scientific data and enhancing scientific research efficiency. Design/methodology/approach – First, the authors built an evaluation indicator system for the performance of scientific data sharing platforms. Next, the analytic hierarchy process was employed to set indicator weights. Then, the authors use experts grading method to give scored for each indicator and calculated the scoring results of the scientific data sharing platform performance evaluation. Finally, an analysis of the results was conducted. Findings – The performance evaluation of eight platforms is arranged by descending order by the value of F: the Data Sharing Infrastructure of Earth System Science (76.962), the Basic Science Data Sharing Center (76.595), the National Scientific Data Sharing Platform for Population and Health (71....


A topic that has received a significant amount of attention within the international community is the concept of harmful tax competition. This is of particular relevance to the EU due to the additional exposure to this problem the Member States experience by virtue of the internal market. A closely related concept is that of aggressive tax planning where multinational enterprises abuse mismatches between tax systems allowing them to pay low or no tax on large parts of their profits. The Commission's recent State aid investigations into the advanced rulings handed out by Member States is an attempt to resolve a situation where Member States facilitate tax avoidance for tax competition purposes. This paper focus on the four investigations where a final decision has been reached: Starbucks, Fiat, Apple and Excess Profit.

The paper introduces the reader to the background of tax competition before explaining the current state of the law surrounding the notion of State aid in Art. 107. The focus is on the concept of the selective advantage in the area of tax law. A review of the ECJ's case law in this area show a significant degree of inconsistency in how the test of selective advantage is to be applied. The ECJ puts a major emphasis on the question of competitive advantages being granted on a discriminatory basis. This is contrary to the traditional idea of State aid which require there to be a transfer of state resources to an undertaking. But the ECJ seem to consider evidence of unequal treatment under the tax laws as enough to raise a presumption that this prerequisite is fulfilled.

Using that logic the Commission argues in the cases mentioned above that a failure to abide by the OECD's arm's length principle in the area of transfer pricing is contrary to Art. 107. As this paper illustrates this further expands the scope of Art. 107 to such a degree that the Commission can be regarded as harmonizing this area of law through the State aid process. This paper argues that this interpretation by the Commission infringes too much on the Member States' tax sovereignty and that a more restrictive approach to the State aid test is needed.


A large-volume, distributed, pulsed, 14 MeV neutron source, which utilizes the high powered (270-GW) Power Burst Facility (PBF) at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, is described. The concept of utilizing existing fission test reactors to test fusion first wall/blanket (FW/B) components and systems has been adequately documented. In all previous scenarios, the normal fission spectrum (including tailoring) was shown to produce adequate heating profiles and some tritium breeding. However, one recognized shortcoming has been the absence of the 14 MeV neutron component. This paper describes a scheme whereby the fission neutrons would be employed to produce the desired 14 MeV component. The data obtained from tests in this largevolume (20 cm (8 in.) in diameter and 90 cm (36 in.) in length), distributed neutron source will pertain to both near-term (Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor--TFTR) and future pulsed fusion machines. Specifically, application requiring high flux but low fluence is foreseen in the areas of dosimetry benchmarking for tritium breeding performance code verification. As a general purpose, FW/B integrated technology development capability, the PBF is shown to be pertinent to addressing the bulk-heated, solid breeder blanket thermal and mechanical issues; tritium permeation in the presence of radiation, and barrier development in themore » prototypical radiation environment associated with the first wall; issues associated with the technology of breeder materials; and in-situ tritium recovery process characterization and system development.« less


In the north bank of Turks river the YiLi natural grassland field select 20 4-month-old Kazakh lambs with the similar weight(24.71 kg±2.07 kg),from 2008 May 15 to September 20 to test grazing lamb growth,feed intake determination,serum biochemical and hormonal.The results showed that:4 to 8-month-old lambs with average daily weight gain:(175±34)g,(92±36)g,(158±46)g,(81±36)g,lamb daily weight gain has two peaks:4 to 5 months old and 6 to 7 months old,which were significantly higher than both 5~6 month old lambs and 7to 8 month old lambs(P0.05),the changes in serum biochemical markers:there is no significant difference about ALP,LDH,GOT content between months(P0.05);TP content 5 to 7 months higher than 4 to 8 months,and significantly higher than 6 months old lamb(P0.05);ALB levels of 6,7,8 months old twere significantly higher than 4,5 months old lamb(P0.05);GLB content of 5,7 months old lamb are higher than 4,6,8 month old lamb,7-months-old lamb was significantly higher than 6 months old lamb(P0.05);A/G,4,6 month old lamb was higher than 5,8 months old lamb,and which was also significantly higher than the 7-month-old lamb(P0.05);BUN content,there was no significant difference among 4,5,7,8 months old lamb(P0.05),but every of them was significantly higher than 6 months old lamb(P0.05);GLU content,5,7 months old lamb were significantly higher than 4,6,8 months old lamb(P0.05);TC,GPT,LDL-C,HDL-C content,4 to 8-month-old lamb gradually increased(HDL-C 5-month-old lamb decreased slightly),TC,GPT content difference between adjacent months was not significant(P0.05),LDL-C,HDL-C content of 7 to 8 months old lamb were significantly higher than 4,5,6 months old lamb(P0.05);TG content,the whole period with downward trend,only the adjacent inter-month-old lamb 7 months old lamb were significantly higher than the 8-month-old lamb(P0.05);FFA content,8-month-old lamb was significantly higher than the remaining months old lamb(P0.05),6-month-old lamb was higher than the 4-month-old lamb,and which was significantly higher than 5,7-month-old lamb(P0.01).


In this work was to verify the existence of the effect of temperature difference on some blood parameters of Common Carp. The results showed follows: There were no significant differences (p>0, 05) in HB and PCV rates for group 1 and group 2 and thus no correlation coefficient between them. The results indicated the presence of significant difference (P>0.05) in WBC counts of the second group (winter collection group) compared with summer collection group, and last there were no significant difference (P>0.05) in the RBC counts for two groups.


You have a research dilemma or clinical challenge and think to yourself, "I bet I can find that on the Web." You turn on your computer, connect to your Internet service provider, click on your browser's search icon, type your question, wait for the results to load, then— voila —you have 25,000 hits. Or worse, none.


s from the annual meeting of the Danish Neurological Society April 1995 Paradoxically enhanced neuroendocrine and metabolic responses to exercise in mitochondrial myopathy Vissing J, Galbo H, Vissing S, Hailer RG Departments of Neurology, 'University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, 'Copenhagen Muscle Research Center, National Hospital, (Rigshospitalet), Copenhagen In mitochondrial myopathy the oxidative capacity is low due to enzymatic defects in the respiratory chain. To investigate glucose homeostasis in this condition, metabolic responses to 20 min of cycle exercise at maximal effort were studied in 4 mitochondrial myopathy patients and 4 healthy matched controls, studied at the same absolute ((A), 0-20 W) and relative ((R), 40-110 W) work load as patients. At rest, metabolic variables were similar in patients and controls. During exercise, glucose production and concentration were higher (P<O.O5) in patients (33 + 7 vs. A: 12+ 2 and R: 2 2 + 2 pmolmin' .kgg ' ) and (6.3k0.7 vs. A: 5.3 kO.1 and R: 5.0 + 0.2 mM), respectively. Increases in plasma growth hormone, epinephrine, norepinephrine, ACTH, lactate and decreases in plasma insulin and pH were also larger (P < 0.05) in patients versus controls at both work loads. Muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) was assessed by microneurography during static hand-grip exercise in two patients and controls to monitor the time course of the sympathetic response to exercise. MSNA increased earlier and more in patients than controls during hand-grip exercise. The enhanced glucose production, although improving ATP production by stimulating anaerobic glycolqsis, probably contributes to the exercise intolerance in mitochondrial myopathies by accelerating the accumulation of nonoxidized metabolites. The rapidity of the exaggerated exercise responses in mitochondrial myopathy indicates that the responses are evoked from metaboreceptors in working muscle. Electrophysiological findings in Machado-Joseph disease Azorean or Machado-Joseph disease (MJD) is an autosomal dominantly inherited neuronal degeneration characterized by CAG repeat expansion in the MJDl gene on chromosome 14. We examined 5 affected and 3 unaffected members of a Danish family with Type I11 MJD. Three patients with CAG repeat expansion had the characteristic clinical features: progressive ataxia, amyotrophy, reduced reflexes and peripheral sensory loss. Two had slight symptoms and signs only. In the three patients with overt disease, evoked potential studies revealed multimodal abnormalities, electromyography (EMG) revealed Colding-Jmgensen' E, S~rensen' SA, Hasholt' L, Lauritzen3 M Departments of Clinical Neurophysiology, 'Rigshospitalet, 'Institute of Medical Genetics, The Panum Institute, 3Glostrup Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark neurogenic changes, and nerve conduction studies revealed signs of severe loss of both motor and sensory nerve fibers. The two patients with slight symptoms and signs had abnormal somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP). In conclusion, electrophysiological evaluation of patients with Type I11 MJD reveals a conspicuous pattern of abnormalities at an early stage of disease. This may be of value in the diagnosis of sporadic cases, or in quantifying the outcome of a future treatment.


This study analyzes a couple-level (N = 581), longitudinal data set of employees to provide evidence about technology use over time, the factors that predict use, and the potential for a spouse to influence an individual's use. Although longitudinal usage patterns suggest a trend toward adoption and use of e-mail, the Internet, cell phones, and pagers over time, this trend toward continuing use is stronger for some technologies (e-mail, the Internet) than for others (cell phones, pagers). Furthermore, correlates of use differ by gender and the type of technology used. Last, technology use tends to be an individual-rather than couple-level phenomenon, with one exception. In the case of cell phone or pager use, husbands' past use influences wives' use 2 years later.


In the paper,the single-layer vibration isolating devices is systemly introduced,and the vibration environment,vibration theory, and vibration system are described.Based on the understand the single-layer vibration isolating devices,the purpose,project and contents of the test researches of vibration performance are described in detail.And at the same time,the vibration intensity and the vibration acceleration are explained.By the data processing,the vibration performance of the vibration devices and the status of vibration of the machine are analyzed.It is foundation of the maintain,and provided basis for correlative researching.


Past studies examining the international conflict behavior of parliamentary democracies have reported inconsistent findings and produced some empirical puzzles. One of the main puzzles is that, despite a strong theoretical basis for expecting coalitional majority cabinets to be less conflict prone than single-party majorities, most studies found no difference in their conflict behavior. Still others report coalitional governments to be more conflict prone than single-party ones. In this study, I show that these empirical inconsistencies can be resolved once we take into account the ideological composition of the cabinet. The main contention is that relatively marginal coalitional partners may have a disproportionate influence when the government faces risky decisions, such as the initiation of international disputes. The key lies in their greater bargaining leverage in intra-coalitional politics, which is subsequently reflected in their influence over foreign conflict decisions. More generally, this study shows how different degrees of ideological diversity or cohesion abate and/or accentuate a state's conflict behavior. The expectations are tested empirically, and the findings more robustly predict the conflict behavior of parliamentary regimes than do the results of previous research.


The experiment was conducted to study the effects of melatonin on cashmere performance in Inner Mongolia white cashmere goats during the cashmere growing.Twenty-four half-sib castrated male goats(15±1.5) months,(32.92±2.33) kg were divided randomly into 4 groups and subcutaneously implanted respectively with melatonin implants 0,2,4,and 8 mg/kg BW.The results showed that treatment with melatonin implants clearly increased plasma melatonin concentration about one month before cashmere growing(the summer solstice),ahead of time cashmere growing,prolong cashmere and increase production.However,it was no effect on guard hair length and cashmere diameter.And besides,the appropriate dose of melatonin was 2 mg/kg BW.


As the requirements for quality of accounting information continue to be rigorous, corporate surplus management is gradually biased toward using real business for it. Real surplus management behavior is covert and private, and can damage the long-term value of enterprises, so how to curb real surplus management behavior is an important issue worth studying. This paper selects a sample of listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen A-shares from 20152019 to test the influence of Confucianism. This paper selects a sample of listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen A-shares from 2015-2019 to test the influence of Confucian culture on corporate true surplus management from an informal institutional perspective. It is found that the two are significantly negatively correlated, and this relationship is more prominent among non-state enterprises, growth stage enterprises and Further research finds that Confucian culture can complement the internal and external Further research finds that Confucian culture can complement the internal and external monitoring mechanisms of firms, with external audits reinforcing this disincentive effect and internal controls reinforcing the moderating effect in The Confucian culture can complement the internal and external monitoring mechanisms of firms, with external audits reinforcing this disincentive effect and internal controls reinforcing the moderating effect in firms with more effective internal controls.


We study the convergence property of a family of distributed routing algorithms based on the ant colony metaphor, namely the uniform and regular ant routing algorithms discussed by Subramanian et al. [8]. For a simple two-node network, we show that the probabilistic routing tables converge in distribution (resp. in the a.s. sense) for the uniform (resp. regular) case. To the best of the authors' knowledge, the results given here appear to be the first formal convergence results for ant routing algorithms. Although they hold only for a very limited class of networks, their analysis already provide some useful lessons for extending the results to more complicated networks. We also discuss some of implementation issues that naturally arise from the convergence analysis.


Satoyama–Satoumi Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Assessing Trends to Rethink a Sustainable Future T 2010 biodiversity target (committed to by Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2002) to achieve a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss by 2010 has not been met. In fact, the changes in biodiversity due to human activities have been more rapid in the past 50 years than at any time in history. There is now a high risk of dramatic biodiversity loss and accompanying degradation of a broad range of ecosystem services if ecosystems are pushed beyond certain thresholds or tipping points. At the same time, however, the human use of ecosystems and their services has contributed to substantial net gains in human well-being and economic development. It is unrealistic to apply mainstream approaches to environmental protection (e.g. expansion of protected areas and preservation efforts) while also attempting to reduce poverty and enhance human well-being. Finding a way to ensure optimal use of ecosystem services without creating loss of biodiversity is critical. In furtherance of this goal, the Japan Satoyama Satoumi Assessment ( JSSA) is a study of the interaction between humans and terrestrial–aquatic ecosystems (satoyama), and marine–coastal ecosystems (satoumi) in Japan. It examines changes in these ecosystems over the past 50 years by applying the framework of sub-global assessments developed by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA). The MA, commissioned in 2000, focuses on changes in ecosystem services and their consequences on human well-being (ecosystem services being defined as the benefits people obtain from ecosystems). The overarching goal of the JSSA is to provide scientifically-credible and policy-relevant information on the significance of ecosystem services provided by satoyama and satoumi landscapes, and their contributions to economic and human development for the use of policymakers. The specific objectives of the JSSA are to: ■ improve understanding of the relationship between satoyama–satoumi and biodiversity, ecosystem services and human well-being; number 7, 2010


The decimal reduction time (D-value) is the time required for inactivation of 90% of the population of test organisms subjected to a lethal agent. The D-value is calculated from the plot of the log number of surviving organisms/g as a function of the time after inoculation into the product. This value provides a quantitative expression of the rate of death of specific test organisms in a particular product. COSMETIC PRESERVATIVE EFFICACY is established by determining the D-VALUES for several test organisms used to challenge the cosmetic products, and seeing if these values meet the acceptance criteria of D-values _<4 hr for pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus and ?seudomonas aeruginosa) and _<28 hr for non-pathogenic bacteria, yeasts and molds. Examples are provided to show how the method is used to establish preservative efficacy in lotions and shampoos preserved with parabens, formaldehyde or glyceryl monolaurate.


Objective To understand the relationship of artificial abortion and reproductive tract infections(RTIs) and its influencing factors, so as to care for women's health better and better. Methods 148 women suffered artificial abortion in our department from March 2012 to March 2013 were randomly selected for routine gynecologic examination. Vaginal secretions were taken to detect vaginal cleanliness, chlamydia, trichomoniasis, candidiasis, gonorrhea, etc., and their age of first sexual intercourse, history of abortion, marital status, sexual partner's health status and other relevant information were all carried out an investigation, the data were recorded for statistical analysis. Results In 148 cases of artificial abortion in this study, reproductive tract infection incidence rate was 18.2 %(27/148), among which cervicitis(26.0 %), candida vaginitis(22.2 %) and annex inflammation(22.2 %) were the most common infection(P 0.05). The main influencing factors of genital infection of abortion female were patient's marital status, history of abortion, the age of first sexual intercourse, sexual partner's health status, personal hygiene measures, with statistical significance(P 0.05). Conclusion We should pay attention to the influencing factors of reproductive tract infections when operate artificial abortion clinically; reduce the reproductive tract infection incidence rate through health promotion, in order to care for women's health better.


This paper aims to investigate the simultaneous removal efficiencies of both COD and nitrogen in a single reactor treating coal gasification wastewater( CGW). A novel loop hybrid reactor was developed and operated under different recirculation modes in order to achieve simultaneous removal of refractory compounds and total nitrogen( TN) in a full-scale CGW treatment plant. Mid-ditch recirculation was superior to other operational modes in terms of the NH3-N and TN removal,resulting in a TN removal efficiency of 52. 3%.Although the system achieved equal COD removal rates under different recirculation modes,hydrophobic acid( HPO-A) fraction of effluent dissolved organic matter( DOMef) in mid-ditch recirculation mode accounted for35.7%,compared to the proportions of 59. 2%,45. 3% and 39. 4% for the other modes. The ultraviolet absorbance to dissolved organic carbon ratio test revealed that effluent under mid-ditch recirculation mode contained more non-aromatic hydrophilic components. Furthermore,appropriate recirculation and anoxic / oxic( A/O) partitions were also demonstrated to remove some refractory metabolites( phenols,alkanes,aniline,etc.),which reduced the chromaticity and improved the biodegradability.


The chemical etching of AlN films with the texture of the (0 0 2) and (1 0 0) planes has been investigated. The chemical states of the films before and after etching were particularly focused on. The AlN films were prepared by sputtering and etched in KOH solution. It is found that the etch rate, etched surface morphology and the surface chemical state depend on the film's different textures. The etch rate of the film with (1 0 0) texture is higher than that of the (0 0 2) orientated film, while the latter exhibits homogeneous pyramids of triangular shape on the etched surface. Some changes were observed in the x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) after etching, including the reduction of the Al–O component, the enhancement of the O–H component and the appearance of the N–H component. Based on the XPS results, the appropriate mechanisms of the chemical etching for films with (0 0 2) and (1 0 0) textures have been proposed. The etching can be continued by the attractive effect between OH− ions and Al atoms as well as dissolving the in-process product of aluminium oxide.


The invention relates to a manufacturing process of a silicon heterojunction solar battery. The silicon heterojunction solar battery comprises a first electric silicon substrate, a first intrinsic silicon layer, a second intrinsic silicon layer, a second electric silicon layer and a first electric heavily-doping silicon layer, wherein the first intrinsic silicon layer and the second intrinsic silicon layer are respectively formed at two sides of the first electric silicon substrate and forms a heterojunction with the first electric silicon substrate; and the second electric silicon layer and the first electric heavily-doping silicon layer are respectively formed on the first intrinsic silicon layer and the second intrinsic silicon layer. According to the invention, the second electric silicon layer and the first electric heavily-doping silicon layer are formed in an ion implantation way so as to optimize the thicknesses and the doping qualities of the second electric silicon layer and the first electric heavily-doping silicon layer.


The evolvement of software development paradigms is following the industry needs for applications that adhere to the notions of modularity, distribution, elasticity and robustness.1 The birth of the microservice paradigm has emerged from common (best) practices adopted by leading companies such as Netflix, Amazon, and Uber, which embraced DevOps concepts into their software development lifecycles and deployed their coded artifacts seamlessly across cloud platforms, almost exclusively through containerized execution environments.


GIS (Geographical Information System)is the basic core undergraduate course of GIS, and also basic course of relative specialities such as geography, geology, surveying and mapping, resource, environment etc., which is very important for students to study and understand the basic principle, method of GIS or the others. However, the existing content and system of GIS course are not perfect and the standard teaching mode has not been formed, which restrict the development and improvement of GIS teaching to a certain degree. Through ten years' exploration and accumulation we constructed and finished GIS premium course accepted as The National Level GIS Course last year. In this paper, the throughway and method how to construct the national level GIS great course is presented, particularly, the content and system of GIS network course are also discussed.


This paper examines the relationships between academic deans' roles, conflict, and ambiguity, and postulates that the same roles in which they engage today are regarded as challenges in the future which will not abate unless conflict and ambiguity are lessened. The authors discuss the implications of these issues and recommend strategies recommended for easing the burden of the deanship from personal, administrative, and positional perspectives.


From the viewpoint of acoustics, the window is a rather
 complicated structure and its sound insulation depends upon numerous designing
 modifications, some of which are of decisive importance. They include blazing,
 infiltration, the window frame with fixed glass and the window structure itself.


Two different signal‐processing systems are described for the conversion of reflection high‐energy electron diffraction (RHEED) patterns, displayed on a phosphor screen, into quantitative data. Both systems are based on the use of a sensitive video camera. One system using a multichannel boxcar integrator is particularly suited to simultaneous temporal measurements of different RHEED beams and integrated line intensities, while the other can be applied to fast data acquisition of line profiles. The system performance is illustrated and discussed.


It is seen that in the three body final state of a nucleon knockout reaction the residual nucleus not only bears testimony to the dynamics of the knocked out nucleon before the event but also can testify the happening at the time of the hard collision event. This arises mainly because of the distorting optical potentials of the residual nucleus with the knockout partners. In 40Ca(p, 2p) knockout reaction the optical distortion effects are large enough to be able to differentiate between strong peripheral bruising or the deep interpenetration of the two protons at the time of knockout. Similar effect is witnessed in the proton knockout using pions. Many stronger evidences of the effect of varying behaviour of the knockout vertex exist in the nucleon cluster knockout reactions which were only viewed as unexplained large anomalies. Evidences are provided where the different short distance behaviour of the knockout vertex t-matrix effective interaction produced huge differences in the finite range (FR) distorted wave impulse approximation (DWIA) predictions of various knockout reactions. These observations enhance the possibility of observing the multiquark objects (dibaryons, pentaquark eta.) through nucleon knockout reactions if they are produced at the knockout vertex by the incident hadron beam.


In the past, electricity was considered a local concern, but over time major portions of the electrical grid have become regional, national, and even international in scope. Electricity regulation has evolved into a complex web of multijurisdictional oversight, and this evolution has created both tensions and opportunities. National legislation and regulation have helped increase reliability, diversify the fuel mix for electricity generation, and create a more open market for electricity. However, national regulation designed to enhance open markets also created opportunities for abuse. In addition, the increasing level of federal oversight has led to conflicts between state and federal entities as the traditional sense of local control over siting and delivery of electricity has been eroded.A large portion of the current U.S. transmission system is between thirty and fifty years old. As the transmission grid ages, reliability concerns increase; an old grid is simply more likely to fail. Still, new transmission infrastructure is expensive, laborintensive, and complex. Further, there are significant concerns about whether upgraded and expanded transmission lines are the best way to improve safety and reliability.Certainly, with the advent of microgrids and other technologies, transmission lines are not the sole option. A multi-faceted approach that considers local and regional needs, as well as those of the nation as a whole, is necessary. There are several areas in need of consideration. Recent federal legislation designed to address transmission siting has been well intended, but limited in scope. Further, recent court decisions have all but eliminated the potential effectiveness of the federal siting authority. In addition, cost allocation issues for new energy facilities have emerged as paramount in the relatively new era of competitive markets for power generation, and these issues have been exacerbated by recent energy policy developments. Finally, policies designed to address public safety and environmental concerns have impeded (or run the risk of impeding) broader policy goals, because the policies are often limited in scope and not part of a comprehensive package then ensures necessary synergies to improve grid reliability.There is no shortage of effort at the state, regional, and federal levels to improve electricity grid reliability and safety. Unfortunately, in many cases, the efforts have been competitive with other energy-related policies (such as climate change initiatives and renewable energy mandates), and jurisdictional conflicts have obstructed, rather than facilitated, many such efforts. It is time for Congress to provide clear authority to someone to make and coordinate changes. A failure to act to preserve and improve the safety and reliability of our electric system would be a costly and avoidable failure. And that is something no one can afford.


Although the outcome of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has been improving, the origin of this disease is still unknown. It is likely that individual genetic susceptibility and environmental exposure play a role in carcinogenesis. To maintain normal hematopoiesis, DNA synthesis and repair systems need to be intact. Folate metabolism, producing purines and pyrimidines, is the source of nucleotides while base excision and nucleotide excision repair enzymes, i.e. XRCC1 and XPD, have important roles in protection of DNA damage. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of enzymes involving these processes alter their enzymatic structures and functions. We hypothesized that SNPs of folate metabolic enzymes including methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR 677 C>T; 1298 A>C), methionine synthase (MS 2756 A>G), and tandem repeats of thymidylate synthase (TS 2R or 3R) and of DNA repair enzymes (XRCC1 26304 C>T; 27466 G>A; 28152 G>A and XPD 23591 G>A; 35931 A>C) could effect the risk of ALL in children. We performed genotyping of these SNPs in 108 ALL and 317 normal controls by using PCR RFLP method. Genotype frequencies of folate metabolic enzymes SNPs were not different between cases and controls. However, TS 2R allele showed a trend to decrease risk of ALL (OR=0.66; 95% CI 0.41–1.07). We observed a 4.5 fold reduction in the risk of ALL in individuals with the XRCC1 26304 TT genotype (OR=0.22; 95% CI 0.5–0.96). XRCC1 26304 T allele showed a protective effect to this disease (OR=0.67; 95% CI 0.47–0.97). In contrast, individuals with XRCC1 28152 A allele had an increased risk of ALL (OR=1.67; 95% CI 1.2–2.33) compared to those with G allele. XRCC1 28152 GA and GA+AA genotypes were significantly higher among patients with ALL compared to controls (OR=2.17; 95% CI 1.37–3.45 and OR=2.18; 95%CI 1.38–3.42). No association between genotype or allele frequencies of both XPD SNPs and risk of ALL was shown in this study. In conclusion, our data demonstrated that SNPs of DNA repair enzymes (XRCC1 26304 C>T and 28152 G>A) but not folate-dependent DNA synthetic enzymes may influence risk of childhood ALL.


Abstract Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) is an important vegetable crop cherished all over the world for consumption as a raw vegetable or as processed products. They are subjected to various drying processes to increase product stability and decrease postharvest loss. However, this can cause a loss in volatile compounds due to process conditions. Present study aims to gain an insight into the volatile profile of tomatoes when subjected to hot air, freeze, and spray drying processes. In this regard, the analysis of headspace - solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) in conjunction with gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy (GC–MS) revealed that the volatile profile, namely compounds belonging to aldehydes, alcohols, terpenes, ketones, and furans varied greatly between the fresh and dehydrated tomatoes. The aroma of dehydrated tomato products that retained volatiles followed the following order: freeze-drying >/≥spray drying > hot air drying. An increase in contents of compounds such as dimethyl sulfide, 2-ethyl furan, hydroxymethyl furfural, acetaldehyde, and α-terpineol was found in all dehydrated products. Interestingly, compounds such as 3-methyl furan, hexanol and terpinyl acetate were found to occur only in dehydrated products. The presence of γ-undecalactone (fruity odor note) is identified for the first time in our study in fresh and all dehydrated tomatoes. From the results obtained and with chemometric analysis as principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis on the volatile profile, it could be concluded that dehydrated tomatoes serve suitable products that could be extensively commercialized world-wide to achieve overall consumer acceptability.


While complex examining of 208 patients with injuring of perinasal sinuses walls who entered the maxillary facial surgery and otorinolaryngology department of the municipal clinics №1, Novokusnetsk during 19962005 one hundred and one (101) patients had nasal cavity disease before trauma, (48,6 %). The curvature of nasal partition with nasal breathing disturbance (43,8 %), hypertrophy of the low nose shell (3,4 %), changes in the area of ostiomeatal complex (1,5 %) were happened most of all. 42 patients have undergone single-stage operation of injured sinuses and nose cavity. The comparative analysis of the two groups of patients showed the high efficiency of simultaneous surgery which gave not only the good anatomic and functional results but allowed to reduce twice the amount of hospitalizations, thus having speeded the time of recovery of patients with injuring of perinasal sinuses walls.


This research was aimed to determine the role of the use of Mobile Phone Application (MPA) in Mathematics learning. The Pre and Post-test Quasy Experiment method was applied. The Pre-test was performed to understand the initial capability. In contrast, the Post-test was selected to identify changes in student ability after they were introduced to the application of Mobile Technology. Student responses to the use of this application were evaluated by a questionnaire. Based on the questionnaire, high scores were achieved, indicating the student's interest in this application. Also, learning results showed significant improvement in the learning achievement and the student learning behaviour. It was concluded that education supported by the MPA application gave a positive impact on learning outcomes as well as learning atmosphere both in class and outside the classroom.


the over-all purpose is to define political philosophy, this is true only of the first five articles, which constitute Part I. The remaining three articles, and the colloquium, which appear as Part II under the general title "Problemes de Philosophie Politique" are actually devoted to an exploration of "l'lde'e de Constitution." At first glance this would seem to be a rather different subject. In Part I the longest and most substantial contribution is J. W. Chapman's "Political Theory: Logical Structure and Enduring Types," an original and interesting attempt to outline a typology of modern political thought, using Hume as a starting-point and as a recurring point of reference. It is well worth reading, but is clearly out of place in the present context. The remaining contributors to Part I are concerned, in a more direct and basic way, with problems of scope and method. An Italian, R. Treves, takes the familiar logico-positivist line that all philosophy is essentially non-normative, and that political philosophers should limit themselves to problems of methodology. This proposition is rejected by the three French scholars whose articles lead off and set the general tone of the volume. To them political philosophy (or as B. de Jouvenel prefers to call it, "la politique pure") may or may not be normative, but in either case is to be defined as a search for truths of the widest possible degree of generality. The political philosopher is one who "spdcule sur les principes fondamentaux de Forganisation sociale" (P. Bastid, p. 20), one who tries to "saisir 1'actualiW politique sous ses aspects les plus simples" (B. de Jouvenel, p. 27) or who helps us to "comprendre les grandes attitudes politiques humaines" (It. Polin, p. 41). But specific historic events (this point is particularly emphasized by the first two authors) are intrinsically contingent, and therefore incapable of being subsumed under broad generalizations. It is only in so far as they are regulated by social institutions, above all by law-making institutions, that human actions are capable of becoming in any way orderly and predictable. The study of such institutions is, therefore, the only possible subject of political philosophy.


Purpose
Following a crucial COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, the coronavirus has affected every academic institution, particularly libraries and information centres. To address this unprecedented scenario, libraries' staff has decided to provide their services via digital access while staying close to the users. To predict users' intention to use digital libraries after COVID-19, the authors combined the technology acceptance model (TAM), the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and perceived risk.

Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected via a paper-based questionnaire using a convenient sampling method which was distributed at two major libraries; Maulana Azad Library, Aligarh Muslim University and Dr Zakir Husain Library, Jamia Millia Islamia in India.

Findings
Empirical findings suggested that all the proposed hypotheses were supported, and the integrated model had strong explanation power as the proposed model explained a 74.5% variance in users' intention to use digital libraries after COVID-19.

Research limitations/implications
This study offers substantial information to librarians, digital libraries, universities, institutes and other stakeholders and sheds light on the potential for a developing nation to transition to an economy with a strong digital infrastructure. The scope of the study is constrained to the users in India only, hence, leading to the possibility that it may be challenging to generalize the findings.

Originality/value
According to the best of the authors' knowledge, it is one of the few studies to predict users' intentions for using digital libraries after COVID-19 by applying the integrated model of TPB and TAM in an emerging economy. It helped understand the users' attitudes towards using the digital services and resources available at the respective libraries. It also contributed considerably to the argument that users have grown accustomed to harnessing digital libraries during the post-COVID-19 period.


The amount of data moved over the Internet per year has already exceeded the Exabyte scale and soon will hit the Zettabyte range. To support this massive amount of data movement across the globe, the networking infrastructure as well as the source and destination nodes consume immense amount of electric power, with an estimated cost measured in billions of dollars. Although considerable amount of research has been done on power management techniques for the networking infrastructure, there has not been much prior work focusing on energy-aware data transfer algorithms for minimizing the power consumed at the end-systems. We introduce novel data transfer algorithms which aim to achieve high data transfer throughput while keeping the energy consumption during the transfers at the minimal levels. Our experimental results show that our energy-aware data transfer algorithms can achieve up to 50% energy savings with the same or higher level of data transfer throughput.


Introduction:
 Stroke is a common cause of mortality in the US. However, the economic burden of stroke on the healthcare system is not well known. In this study, we aim to calculate the annual cumulative and per-patient cost of stroke.

 Methods:
 We conducted a retrospective analysis of Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS). We calculated annual trends in cost for stroke patients from 2006 to 2019. Cost was corrected for inflation to the 2021 January US Dollar. A multivariate linear regression with patient characteristics (e.g. age, sex, Charlson Comorbidity Index) as covariates was used to identify factors for higher costs.

 Results:
 In this study time-period, 2,998,237 stroke patients presented to the ED and 2,481,171 (83%) were admitted. From 2006 to 2019, the cumulative ED cost increased by a factor of 7.0 from 0.49 ± 0.03 to 3.91 ± 0.16 billion dollars (p<0.001, Figure 1A). The cumulative inpatient (IP) cost increased by a factor of 2.7 from 14.42 ± 0.78 to 37.06 ± 2.26 billion dollars (p<0.001, Figure 1B). Per-patient ED charges increased by a factor of 3.0 from 1950 ± 64 to 7818 ± 260 dollars (p<0.001, Figure 1C). Per-patient IP charges increased by 89% from 40.22 ± 1.12 to 76.06 ± 3.18 thousand dollars (p<0.001, Figure 1D). The top 5 risk factors (all with a p-value<0.001) for high ED and IP costs are displayed in Figure 2.

 Conclusion:
 Stroke places an increasingly substantial burden on the US healthcare. Furthermore, the cost of care is significantly related to service intensity and the patient's age.


541 Background: Hormone receptor-positive breast cancer (HR+BC) is heterogeneous. Attempts to use transcriptional analysis such as Oncotype Dx facilitate therapy planning but fail to identify patients who will relapse or potential therapy targets.

METHODS
We used reverse phase protein lysate arrays and Microvigene software to quantify expression of estrogen receptor (ERα) and 36 total/activated components of the HER2, phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and STAT pathways in 64 HR+BCs and 40 breast cancer cell lines. Clustering was performed with Xcluster and Treeview.

RESULTS
47/64 HR+BC patients were treated with adjuvant hormone therapy and 43/64 with chemotherapy. There were 12 recurrences including 5 patients diagnosed with metastases within 0-3 months of diagnosis. Unsupervised analysis using the expression of all 37 proteins revealed two large subclusters of HR+BCs. One large cluster was composed of tumors with lower ERα expression levels and was driven by an antibody group composed mostly of phosphoproteins indicative of activated growth factor signaling pathways. Thus, there were significant inverse correlations between ERα expression and the expression and activation of components of the PI3K/MAPK pathways including EGFR, src, AKT, 4EBP1, and PKCα (p≤0.05 for each). Similar inverse correlations were seen in 40 assayed breast cancer cell lines. The clinicoproteomic predictors of relapse among HR+BCs were nuclear grade (p=0.001), low expression of ERα (p=0.04), low p38 phosphorylation (p=0.02), and high p53 (p=0.02). There also was a trend (p≤0.1) to the association of low MAPK and S6 phosphorylation, low p27, and high cyclin B1 with relapse. Using these antibodies to perform a supervised analysis, we found a small group of p53-high, cyclin B1-high, ERα-low HR+BCs with a 75% likelihood of relapse, significantly greater than in other tumors (p<0.003). Since 10/12 relapses occurred in 26 grade 3 tumors, we searched for and found a 'grade 3' HR+BC 6 antibody signature associated with a recurrence-free survival at 20 months of 17% compared to 100% in other patients (p=0.002).

CONCLUSION
Although patient numbers are small and the findings require validation, kinase signaling profiles have potential in breast cancer prediction. No significant financial relationships to disclose.


cerebellar vermis, elongation of the fourth ventricle, and reduction in the size of the posterior fossa.5 However, an important difference is that higher grade Arnold–Chiari malformation in humans is associated with lumbar spina bifida and/or a protruding meningomyelocele. The clinical symptoms in human beings are often related to the presence of hydrocephalus.5 Though mild dilation of the lateral ventricles was observed in 2 lions, this was not a significant feature. A part of the present study was previously reported as Arnold–Chiari-like malformation in an abstract form.13 In summary, the lions in this report had skull malformation and cerebellar herniation. Although the precise etiology of the described changes in these lions cannot be determined, the gross and histologic lesions have striking similarity to the lesions described in lions with vitamin A deficiency in other parts of the world. Acknowledgement. This article is College of Veterinary Medicine Journal Series Number 542.


In this study the investigator tries to understand measure and identify the relationship between scientific attitude and achievement level of science in VIII class Urdu medium minority students. It also proposes to study the influence of some of the personal and demographic variables and identify the causes for variations in scientific attitude and the level of attainment they reach in science education with different family backgrounds. By studying these factors it may be possible to improve the standards in science education by adopting innovations in Science Teaching and suggest remedial measures so as to bring uniformity in science education at secondary level Urdu medium students on par with other media pupil.


The invention discloses a holographic color separation variable digital anti-counterfeiting mark, which comprises a transparent base material layer, a laser layer, a color layer and an adhesive sticker layer which are sequentially bonded from top to bottom, wherein the color layer comprises a first color layer and a second color layer which are arranged from top to bottom, are mutually bonded and have different colors, the transparent adhesive sticker layer is arranged under the second color layer, variable digits produced randomly by a system are respectively embedded in the first color layer and the second color layer, and the digits on the first color layer and the second color layer are mutually overlapped or mutually combined to display complete variable digits. The colors of the variable digits are two or more different colors, the variable digits can be separated and can also be overlapped, but are different in colors, the manufacturing difficulty is very high, and the variable digits are difficult to copy.


This article presents two proposals to spur the extensive adoption of grid-connected, residential, solar photovoltaic systems in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. To this aim, electricity generation costs and subsidies were estimated first, together with time-of-generation avoided costs that could result from the implementation of such solar systems. An overview of financing mechanisms for solar and other renewable energies around the world is also presented followed by current mechanisms available in Mexico. The first proposal is centered around the operation of a solar energy service company that would receive the avoided cost of generation as compensation in return for sourcing, installing, and maintaining solar PV systems on residential users' roofs. This would free up the residential user from any future electricity payments. The second proposal consists in the implementation of a feed-in tariff (FiT), currently unavailable in Mexico for residential users. The FiT could be funded from the avoided generation cost in conventional plants plus the corresponding savings from self-generation of electricity. Alternatively, the option of funding the FiT from small increases in electricity prices to all customers was also explored. Present value analyses suggest that both proposals are worthwhile pursuing in Baja California Sur.


This article presents some reflections on the social construction of homosexual conjugality in contemporary Brazil, particularly concerning the Legislative sphere - where most of the debate on the law project for civil partnership between people of the same sex has taken place. The main objective is to analyze the structuring elements of the ideological struggles stemming from the disputes around the social and juridical recognition of homosexual unions as familial entities. The discourses that come from the Catholic Church and those of homosexual representatives are also given priority in the analysis.


In order to explore a smart carrier which can control drug delivery in special pH environment, a type of nanometer material, namely, poly acrylic acid acrylamide (P(AA-AM)) was synthesized with acrylic acid and acrylamide as monomers. Its structure was determined using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and its swelling properties were tested by measuring its weight evolution. The drug delivery control potential was estimated by monitoring its swelling performances in the solutions of different pH values. The cycle characteristics were also investigated to determine its degradation properties in the environment. The results indicate that the synthesized material is sensitive to pH and is suitable for controlling drug delivery at the pH range from 10 to11 and below 7. Furthermore, this material can be automatic decomposition in the environment so that it is a degradable green material without causing burden to the environment.


Thank you for downloading spatial econometrics from cross sectional data to spatial panels. Maybe you have knowledge that, people have look hundreds times for their chosen novels like this spatial econometrics from cross sectional data to spatial panels, but end up in malicious downloads. Rather than enjoying a good book with a cup of tea in the afternoon, instead they juggled with some harmful bugs inside their laptop.


The heterogeneous oxidation of n-hexane soot surfaces by gas-phase ozone has been studied in a coated-wall flow tube connected to a mass spectrometer. Uptake measurements confirm earlier studies that the initial uptake is primarily non-catalytic and that the number of reactive surface sites is close to that of a full monolayer. The initial uptake kinetics exhibit an inverse dependence on ozone gas-phase concentration, as expected if the reaction proceeds via a Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism. Support for this reaction not being an Eley-Rideal process comes from the lack of temperature dependence of the initial uptake coefficient, and that a saturated surface coverage of adsorbed dodecane does not affect the kinetics. It is demonstrated that there is a strong similarity between the initial uptake kinetics for ozone loss on a wide variety of surfaces. This suggests that the reactions proceed through a common rate determining step, most likely involving adsorbed ozone molecules.


Hairtail, Trichiurus Lepturus is a warm water fish species and is widely distributed in Yellow Sea. This is the second major fishery resource in Korea and so has been occupying a large portion of the catch in Korea for a long time. However, since the 1980s, catches have fallen sharply and the minimum catch was recorded in 2012. From the past, overfishing of immature hairtails has decreased the resources of hairtails, which resulted in the reduction for catches. So, in order to produce maximum sustainable yield, we need the management of hairtail in Korea sea. Thus, in this study, to obtain the optimal harvesting strategies while simultaneously preserving the immature hairtails, we establish the discrete time agestructured model for hairtails. For the survival of immature hairtails, we consider the Beverton-Holt function. Biologically, they eat zooplankton mainly, so that their survival follows density-dependence due to the limited resources of zooplankton. Specifically, hairtail is the representative fish with characteristics of cannibalism. Moreover, female hairtails are known to spawn at a moderate sea surface temperature. Thus, we consider Ricker recruitment function with sea surface temperature in the model. The discrete-time optimal control problem is conducted as Pontryagin's Maximum Principle. By using numerical simulations, we obtain that in the comprehensive sense, it is not the best strategy to strongly limit fishing of hairtails and so the optimal harvesting strategy should be addressed.


The aim of this work are to extend the records of planktonic copepods of La Pampa province and lo give a brief diagnostic description of the main features of each species. I found 5 species quoted for the first time for the province: Acanthocyclops robustus, Mesocyciops meridianus , Metacyciops mendocinus, Microcylops anceps anceps and Tropocyciops prasinus meridionales.


We report the systematic changes in structural, electrical, and optical properties of NiO thin films on c-sapphire introduced by nanosecond ultraviolet excimer laser pulses. Epitaxial nature of as deposited NiO was determined by x-ray diffraction phi scans and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and it was established that NiO film growth takes place with twin domains on sapphire where two types of domains have 60° in-plane rotation with respect to each other about the [111] growth direction. We determined that at pulsed laser energy density of 0.275 J/cm2, NiO films exhibited conversion from p-type semiconducting to n-type conductive behavior with three orders of magnitude decrease in resistivity, while maintaining its cubic crystal structure and good epitaxial relationship. Our TEM and electron-energy-loss spectroscopy studies conclusively ruled out the presence of any Ni clustering or precipitation due to the laser treatment. The laser-induced n-type carrier transport and conductivity enhancement we...


Recent advances in interventional procedures for left atrial appendage (LAA) closure and instrumentation have made it clinically import-ant to understand LAA anatomy and evaluation. Rare anatomic variants including rudimentary and congenitally absent LAA have been identified, complicating anticoagulation decisions in these patients. 1,2 A 55-year-old man presented with recurrent stroke. Ambulatory electrocardiogram monitoring diagnosed paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. CHA 2 DS 2 VASc score was 5, with points attributed to hyperten-sion, diabetes, peripheral artery disease and stroke. LAA occlusion device placement was discussed given elevated bleeding risk. HAS-BLED score was 4, with points for hypertension, renal disease, stroke, and prior gastrointestinal bleeding. Transoesophageal echocardio-gram (TOE) operator was unable to visualize the LAA ( Figure 1 ). Cardiac computed tomography (CT) was ordered to further evaluate the patient's anatomy, and only rudimentary LAA was present ( Figure 2 ). Due to this anatomy, the patient was not a candidate for an occlusion device, but the necessity of anticoagulation was less certain. Differential diagnosis for non-visualization of LAA during TOE includes flush thrombus, variant anatomical features, poor echocardiography windows, prior surgical ligation, and insertion of an occlusion device. 1 Further imaging using CT or magnetic resonance imaging is recommended to evaluate LAA anatomy. 2 LAA occlusion is a reason-able alternative to warfarin therapy for stroke prevention in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation. 3 It has been previously postulated, though not proven, that


Chasing the American Dream: Understanding What Shapes Our Fortunes Mark Robert Rank, Thomas A. Hirschl and Kirk A. Foster. Oxford, 2014.Income and wealth inequality have been a central focus of American political discourse for the last forty years. Of particular concern has been how increasing inequality erodes working- and middle-class Americans' ability to attain "the American Dream" of providing a comfortable lifestyle for one's family through the rewards of labor. The last forty years' political and economic scholarship focuses on the increasing difficulty of attaining this dream; almost no work addresses what the American Dream actually means to workingand middle-class Americans. Mark Robert Rank, Thomas A. Hirschl, and Kirk A. Foster's Chasing the American Dream: Understanding What Shapes Our Fortunes moves beyond this tradition, using a multidimensional approach to examine what Americans think the Dream is, as well as to explore the viability of attaining this Dream through traditional pathways. By utilizing individual interviews, focus groups, and a lifetable approach that employs data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Pew Center for Research, Rank et al. provide a "somewhat different lens for interpreting and assessing the current and future status of the American Dream" (7).The authors break their study into three sections: identifying core components of, assessing pathways to, and exploring meanings of the American Dream. Each section utilizes the multidimensional approach, providing personal experiences and focus group discussions, as well as longitudinal quantitative data measuring economic risks and rewards across generations. The first section points to what Americans most commonly identify as the crucial components of the Dream. Most crucial is the freedom to pursue one's passions or interests (28). Economic security is requisite for this pursuit and, indeed, ranks as the second-most crucial component-more important, for many Americans, even than mobility (39). For most Americans, security is not attaining riches but is having the resources and tools to live a comfortable and rewarding life: a decent paying job with benefits, accumulated savings and assets, the ability to provide for one's children, home ownership, and the possibility of retiring comfortably (49). Three quarters of Americans, however, think that attaining these two components have become more difficult, a reality Rank et al. attest to through data showing fewer decent-paying jobs, lower average wages, fewer benefits, and more part-time work relative to full-time opportunities. American workers have been living up to their end of the bargain, producing more despite working less; Corporate America, however, has not lived up to its end (39). Despite this, the third component is supreme optimism in the ability to attain the Dream in one's children's lifetimes, if not in one's own.The second section looks at the changing landscape of opportunities for attaining the Dream, with an eye specifically toward the market for jobs paying enough to support a family. This section provides a wealth of useful data and interpretations of labor markets. There is a mismatch between the number who need this type of job and the supply, which results in increased polarization of jobs, further fostering inequality (71). …


Muscari comosum L. (Liliaceae) displays a striking chromosomal polymorphism in the second largest chromosome. This polymorphism involves four cosmopolitan types. Two of these are shorter than the o...


Since the beginning of this century much effort has gone into increasing the catalogue of facts about our national life. More recently, the mere amassing of data has been given new meaning by the growth of applied economics. The attempt to interpret facts, the essential of applied economics, has not, however, made the progress that might have been expected. For one thing, the old idea of statistics as the mere assembly of figures still holds out attractions for the unadventurous. Much of the current effort of statisticians, whether in Government service, the universities or in private trade, goes into marshalling facts in publications which vie with Bradshaw in complexity and in painting broad pictures that make only minor contributions to our knowledge of 'the way things work'. In this respect statisticians have much in common with librarians whose happiness seems to depend on having books on the shelves rather than in use. Again, the attraction of a quick return for a minimum of effort has meant that research has not developed as uniformly as it might have done. In some fields a wealth of information has resulted in comparatively detailed research, but there is still a large area where little work has been done.


The ZrO2 gel fibers were obtained by spinning of the Zr(O-nC3H7)4-H2O-C2H5OH-HCl solutions having the initial H2O/alkoxide molar ratios of 0.7 to 1.5 and C2H5OH/alkoxide molar ratios larger than 4 in the course of reaction at 80•Ž. The spinnable composition region for the solutions was relatively restricted, compared to the cases of drawing SiO2 or TiO2 gel fibers from the corresponding alkoxide solutions. The formation of linear zirconoxane polymers consisting of ZrO6 octahedra during the hydrolysis-condensation reaction of Zr(O-nC3H7)4 was proposed to account for the spinnability, like in the silicon and titanium alkoxide solutions. While the ZrO2 gel fibers were broken into pieces by heating owing to the transformation of primarily


Hyde Tools, Inc., of Southbridge, Massachusetts, is a medium-sized firm employing about three hundred persons. In 1988, it learned of a company that eliminated its wastewater discharge after being threatened with massive Clean Water Act fines resulting from a suit brought by a Massachusetts environmental group. Hyde decided to devise a similar program to attain zero water discharge and do it within five years. More than 75 percent toward its goal, Hyde'S environmental success, detailed in this article, still relies heavily on the company'S Total Quality Management system and the efforts of a dedicated environmental staff. Hyde'S success typifies TQEM in action—showing how small continuous improvements can lead to significant financial paybacks.


Dear Sir: We congratulate Vassilopoulos and Kelessis [1] on their description of a novel surgical technique but would like to bring to the readers' attention that radiologic gastrostomy is a viable option for feeding tube placement. Radiologists in our department have been performing ̄uoroscopically guided gastrostomy and gastrojejunostomy on an almost daily basis for the last 16 years. Most importantly, we strongly disagree with the authors' assertion that an inability to pass an endoscope makes surgical gastrostomy mandatory. Radiologic techniques easily cross strictures that do not permit passage of an endoscope. Furthermore, passage of an orogastric or nasogastric tube is not necessary for safe and successful radiologic gastrostomy [2]. Radiologic gastrostomy, performed under local anesthesia, is effective and successful, with safety equal to or greater than that of endoscopic gastrostomy [3±6]. A more invasive technique such as surgery or laparoscopy cannot be justi®ed for gastrostomy alone. John A. Clark, MDCM, FRCPC Robyn A. Pugash, MD, FRCPC Department of Medical Imaging University of Toronto St. Michael's Hospital, Wellesley Site Toronto, Ontario, Canada


Based on evidence from reviews of relevant literature, analysis of the secondary data from various official sources and primary research in the fieldwork in Uganda, the theoretical argument presented in this research monograph rests on the need to move from the dualistic concepts of the urban economy, to notions that present urban economic activities on a continuum. The study builds on the concept of the 'hybrid economy' (Chen, 2012) and the recent efforts of other researchers in challenging the dualistic concept of formal and informal sectors. The monograph provides an initial guide to this body of research, and identifies a number of key researchable issues.


Correspondence to: Mr J Wardrope, Accident and Emergency Department, Northern General Hospital, Herries Road, Sheffield S5 7AU, UK; jimwardrope@ hotmail.com _________________________ L arge numbers of patients with abdominal pain present to their general practitioners and emergency departments every year. Most require no specific medical intervention but some will require urgent hospital admission. The elderly and paediatric patient present particular challenges. The very young often give a poor history or can very quickly deteriorate. The elderly may have a very complicated medical history and misleading signs. A longitudinal study found that 50% of elderly patients (65 or over) with abdominal pain required admission. Because of the difficulty of assessment in these groups of patients you should have a lower threshold for referral. Abdominal pain has numerous causes but it is not necessary to reach a specific diagnosis. The aim is to decide on a management plan, to know when to monitor a patient at home, and to rule out the more serious pathology. Most patients can be adequately assessed by the simple techniques described and an accurate plan formed for the patients further management. This article will focus on initial assessment and management and not on specific conditions. There are numerous texts that will give the basic outline of symptoms for different pathologies. 3 More than 30 women die each year in the UK as a direct consequence of pregnancy. The Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths 1997–99 stated that ''Women are still dying of potentially treatable conditions where the use of simple diagnostic guidelines may help to identify conditions such as ectopic pregnancy, sepsis and pulmonary embolism''.


It is presented the technique of controlling temperature fields in the gas-air environment in the vicinity of sources of heat radiation purposed to determine the optimal consumptions of various energy sources and to prevent boiler plants or individual units overheating. This technique enables to carry out continuous control of thermal processes. The technique of non-contact determination of the temperature shows that using gases as information environment enables by measurement of their concentration to determine the temperature of gas-air environment.


Indoor localization is becoming critical to empower Internet of Things for various applications, such as asset tracking, geolocation, and smart cities. Wi-Fi-based indoor localization using received signal strength (RSS) has drawn much attention over the past decade because it does not require extra infrastructure and specialized hardware. It is well known that the localization accuracy using RSS is rather susceptible to the changing environment. Localization by fusing multiple fingerprint functions of RSS is a promising strategy to overcome the above drawback. However, the existing fusion techniques cannot make full use of the intrinsic complementarity among multiple fingerprint functions. It also fails to exploit the knowledge obtained in the offline phase and thus shows low accuracy in the complex environment. This paper proposes a knowledge aided adaptive localization (KAAL) approach by using a global fusion profile (GFP) to mitigate the above shortcomings. First, we propose a GFP construction algorithm by minimizing position errors over all fingerprint functions with weight constraints in the offline phase. Based on the knowledge from GFP and the trained multiple fingerprint models, we then derive two KAAL algorithms, namely, multiple function averaging and optimal function selection, to achieve highly accurate localization results. Experimental results demonstrate that our proposed localization approach is superior to the existing methods both in simulated and real environments.


Objective Determine carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cytokeratin-19 fragment (CYFRA21-1), and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) changes in patients with the lung adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and small cell lung cancer before and after chemotherapy then evaluate the levels and expressions of three serum tumor marker in different pathological types of lung cancer before and after treatment. Methods Serum CEA, CYFRA21-1, NSE levels were measured by chemiluminescence in 56 cases with lung cancer, of which 20 cases were adenocarcinoma, 26 cases were squamous cell carcinoma and 10 cases were small cell lung cancer before and after chemotherapy, then make a comparative analysis, respectively. Results The three tumor markers in the different pathological types of lung cancer were compared against the overall differences in adenocarcinoma. The average CEA was higher than other types of water (P<0.01), the squamous cell carcinoma with high levels of CYFRA21-1 in other types (P<0.01), and the NSE levels of small cell lung cancer is higher than other types (P<0.01). Conclusion Three levels of tumor markers in adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and small cell lung cancer was significantly increased before chemotherapy, and decreased in effective group therapy, there was no changes in ineffective group therapy. It is useful to determine pathological types of lung cancer, evaluate the prognosis and effectiveness of chemotherapy. Clinicians can select and improve treatment programs on basis of changes of these markers level.


I am pleased to announce that this journal is now the 27 ranked history journal in the Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports. One contributory factor is that we are truly an international journal. In the last year we have featured contributions on and contributors from some 30 countries. With the aim of cementing our position as the world's leading sport history journal, the Editorial College has adopted the following mission statement.


Britains first ever live, televised, party leaders' debate took place on 15 April 2010, during one of the most intriguing and closely fought general election campaigns in living memory. Arguably the most important single development in the medias treatment of politics since the arrival of television during the 1959 campaign, the leaders' debate and its aftermath provide a unique window on the political communication environment of contemporary Britain. This article focuses on the surrounding processes of mediation before, during and after the event, particularly the interactions between broadcasting, press and online media, including citizen opinion expressed and coordinated through online social network sites. A narrative reconstruction of journalists', political parties' and online activists' behaviour raises the question of whether traditional understandings of the 'news cycle' should now be replaced by a broader concern with what I term 'political information cycles': assemblages of personnel, practices, genres and temporalities in which supposedly 'new' online media are increasingly integrated with supposedly 'old' broadcast and press media.


According to the features of short signal duration and difficult bit synchronizaiton in burst communication,the Maximum Mean Power Estimation(MMPE) bit synchronization method is studied,that is estimating the best sampling point by use of the sampling time with maximum mean power.The impact of length of observation time on synchronization is simulated with MATLAB.The MMPE method is realized based on FPGA and DSP.The test result shows that the dither range is less than 8% of the symbol period.


Recent work by Basturkmen et al. (2002) showed that Markov sources lead to scan BIST designs of lower cost compared to earlier proposed methods in scan BIST. However the method presented by Basturkmen et al. utilizes tests generated using a deterministic test generator for target faults in synthesizing the Markov source to generate the tests. The requirement of a deterministic test generator may hinder the use of this procedure in industrial settings since the BIST tool must also include a deterministic ATPG tool that may add to the cost of the BIST tool. In this paper we investigate a procedure to synthesize BIST controllers with Markov sources for test generation using Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs). This allows us to avoid using the deterministic ATPG needed previously. Additionally we do not employ inversion logic used in by Basturkmen et al., thereby potentially reducing the hardware in the BIST controller. Nevertheless, the proposed method achieves close to 100% fault efficiency using far fewer tests than required by pseudo random tests. In this work, similar to that of Basturkmen et al., we employ Markov sources based on finite state machines (FSMs) with transitions controlled by additional inputs. Hence, transition probabilities (TPs) of the FSM are determined by the 1-probability on a corresponding input.


This paper,by analyzing the process from mediating natural ideas to forming the historical concept of the romanticism historiography in the Western history,points out that the raising of the history organic idea of romanticism historiography enriches the connotation of historiography itself,speeds up the progress of the history professionalization and provides many inspirations to the today's history teaching.


The electrochem. deposition of MoO2 at edge-plane-like sites along the surface of MWCNTs produces nanoplugs of MoO2 at the ends of the tubes, which are the regions of greatest electrochem. activity. It also speculates that it may be possible to form nanorings of MoO2 around the circumference of the nanotube. It is envisaged that, as nanotechnol. progresses, this rapid and simple method of forming nanoplugs at the ends of CNTs may be used in the fabrication of nanoelectronic circuitry. MoO2 can be easily reduced to Mo metal by heating to around 500° under a flow of hydrogen gas as the MWCNTs can withstand temps. up to around 700°. The Mo metal at the ends of the CNTs could then be used to form well-defined elec. contacts between CNTs. [on SciFinder(R)]


The study analysed the technical efficiency of small-scale pigeon pea farms in Malawi. 2010/2012 National wide data of 2,137 pigeon pea farmers were analyzed using Maximum Likelihood estimation of a Stochastic frontier. The determinants of technical efficiency were incorporated within single-stage estimation of the frontier. Results revealed that the average output of pigeon pea farms in Malawi could increase by 47% under prevailing technology. The technical efficiency of the sampled pigeon pea farms ranged from 0.22 to 0.84 (0.53 average). Most importantly, the empirical results demonstrate that better extension services and farmer training programs on crop marketing and providing access to credit are key to enhance technical efficiency. Acknowledgement : Special thanks to World Bank and Malawi National Statistical Office for the data which was made available for this study.


Chitosan is derived from chitin by deacetylation.This article reviewed the reasearch progress in the usefulness of chitosan in inhibiting plant disease.Chitosan exhibits antifungal,antibacterial and antiviral properties,it also induces a broad spectrum of defensive plant responses.It is possible that the chitosan molecule is a true plant growth regulator and functions in gene expression.


The economics of mechanical harvesting of wine grapes depend on many factors including vineyard location, value of the crop, availability and cost of hand labor, the efficiency of fruit removal, and transport from the catching frame to the gondola. This report describes general performance and identifies juice loss in mechanically harvested cane pruned Chardonnay in Napa Valley. The crop was harvested using a cane shaker (pivotal striker), trunk shaker (rotary pulsator), and a hand crew. Fruit collected in each replication was weighed, assessed for stem content, crushed, and made into wine. Sample vines within each replication were evaluated for fruit not removed, second crop, and ground loss. Results indicate (1) no significant difference in quantity of fruit delivered to the winery, (2) significantly higher stem content and significantly more unharvested fruit in the hand harvested treatment, (3) no significant difference in ground loss, and (4) significantly higher levels of second crop removed by the mechanical harvesters. Adjusting actual yield taking into account cluster stem content, fruit left on the vine, ground loss, and the second crop harvested by machine and not by hand crews, the mechanical harvesters yielded 5.7% to 8.0% less crop to the winery due to juice loss. The value of the juice lost from the mechanical harvesters was offset by the lower cost of operating the mechanical harvesters. Wines produced from the harvest treatments exhibited minor detectable differences but were all high quality Chardonnay wines.


Vehicle-based estimation system on large scale crop acreage, which was equipped with GPS receivers, GIS software and a video camera on a off-road vehicle, can capture the images of video and calculate the crop acreage proportion based on matching between GPS information and image recognition. The system provides the credible data for government to make decision and provides technological method. In order to enhance the real-time and reliable character of the system, namely improve the precision of image recognition and estimation result, the grid algorithm of the crop image feature extraction was proposed. The principle of the grid algorithm was that the every crop image was segmented to 16 grids averagely and the four corner grids were regarded as the beginning area during feature extraction and crop recognition. Whether or not to continue extracting feature and recognizing in other grids as well as the recognizing sequence was determined according to the result of crop recognition in the four beginning areas. The texture feature, the shape feature and the color feature were extracted in terms of the particularity of the crop recognition, then the different features or the feature combination were used in order to recognize the crop. The detailed analysis methods of different crops and different cultivating condition were discussed in this paper.


Objective To evaluate the effects of intrathecal DREAM-short hairpin RNA (shRNA) on hyperalgesia in morphine-tolerant rats with bone cancer pain (BCP).Methods Sixty healthy female Sprague-Dawley rats,weighing 200-230 g,in which intrathecal catheters were successfully implanted without complications,were randomly divided into 5 groups (n =12 each) using a random number table:sham operation group (group S),BCP group (group P),BCP + morphine tolerance group (group PM),BCP + morphine tolerance + vehicle group (group PMV) and BCP + morphine tolerance + RNAi group (group PMR).Bone cancer pain was induced by injection of breast cancer cells (Walker 256) 5 μl (1 × 105/tμl) into upper segment of bone marrow of the left tibia.Morphine tolerance was induced by subcutaneous injection of morphine three times a day for 5 consecutive days starting from 14th day after intra-tibia injection in PM,PMV and PMR groups.The single bolus of morphine was 10,20,30,40 and 60 mg/kg from 14th day to 18th day,respectively.Morphine 3 mg/kg was injected subcutaneously on 19th day after intra-tibia injection in PM,PMV and PMR groups.On 20th day after intra-tibia injection,normal saline 10 μl,vehicle 5 μl + normal saline 5 μl and DREAM-shRNA 5 μl + normal saline 5 μl were injected intrathecally once a day for 5 consecutive days in PM,PMB and PMR groups,respectively.The frequency of spontaneous paw withdrawal was recorded and the extent of hind limb claudication when the rats walked was scored and recorded,and thermal paw withdrawal latency (TWL) and mechanical paw withdrawal threshold (MWT) were measured 1 day before intra-tibia injection (To) and at 7,14,18,19,21,25 and 28 days after intra-tibia injection (T1-7).The animals were sacrificed after the last measurement of pain threshold at T7 and the L4 segments of the spinal cord were removed for detection of the expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP),and DREAM mRNA and protein.Results Compared with group S,the frequency of spontaneous paw withdrawal was signifioantly increased and the extent of hind limb claudication score was decreased at T2-3,5.7 in group P,while at T4-6 in PM,PMV and PMR groups,MWT was decreased at T1-3,5-7 in group P,while at T1, 3-7 in PM,PMV and PMR groups,and the expression of DREAM mRNA and protein was up-regulated in P,PM,PMV and PMR groups (P < 0.01).Compared with group P,the frequency of spontaneous paw withdrawal was significantly decreased at T2-3 and increased at T4,the extent of hind limb claudication score was increased at T2-3 and decreased at T4 in PM and PMV groups,the frequency of spontaneous paw withdrawal was decreased at T2-3,6-7 and increased at T4,and the extent of hind limb claudication score was increased at T2-3,6.7 and decreased at T4 in group PMR,MWT was increased at T2-3 and decreased at T4-7 in PM and PMV groups,MWT was increased at T2-3,6-7 and decreased at T4-5 in group PMR,and the expression of DREAM mRNA and protein was up-regulated in PM and PMV groups and downregulated in group PMR (P < 0.01).There was no significant difference in the indexes mentioned above at each time point between PM and PMV groups (P > 0.05).Compared with PM and PMV groups,the frequency of spontaneous paw withdrawal was significantly decreased,and the extent of hind limb claudication and MWT were increased at T6-7,and the expression of DREAM mRNA and protein was down-regulated in PMR group (P < 0.01).There was no significant difference in TWL at each time point among the five groups (P > 0.05).In PMV and PMR groups,a large amount of green fluorescence was observed,which meant that the expression of GFP was positive.Conclusion Intrathecal DREAM-shRNA can attenuate hyperalgesia in morphine-tolerant rats with BCP.

Key words:
RNA interference ;  Transcription factors;  Injections, spinal;  Bone neoplasm;  Pain; Morphine;  Drug tolerance;  Hyperalgesia


Abstract Chalk Rock lithology suggests shallow-water conditions, but the fauna has been said (Woods, 1897; Jukes-Brown, 1904) to imply a depth between about 100–500 fm. A study of the sponges which are numerous in the Oxfordshire–Hertfordshire area shows that these form a fauna of the sort which is typical of the Chalk as a whole, with Hexactinellida predominant as was pointed out by Woods; this is a fauna of deep-water type by both modern and Cretaceous standards. The depth which these sponges imply need, however, not be much more than 100 fm., and their presence need have no direct bearing on the depth at which erosional features were formed.


To examine a change occurring in the coagulation-fibrinolytic system during oral contraceptive (OC) administration, the author measured fibrinopeptide A and Bbeta15-42 (FPA and FPBbeta15-42) over a long period of time. These are sensitive indicators of coagulation and fibrinolytic activity as well as coagulation fibrinolysis inhibiting factor plasma antithrombin III (AT III) and alpha2 plasmin inhibitor (alpha2 PI). The interesting results are listed as follows. 1) FPA showed almost no change during OC administration, nor was thrombin observed to have been produced. 2) FPB15-42 increased when the drug was administered 3-5 times and 11-12 times (p0.05) but showed significant difference when the drug was administered for the 18th and 24th times. 3) Plasma AT III activity decreased significantly (p0.05) when the drug was given for the 1st time but showed no change when the drug was administered 3-5 times. When administered 11-12 times, AT III was observed to decrease again, but repeat administrations did not cause AT III to decline; this was probably due to inurement. A similar change in immune activity concentration was observed but the change was slight. 4) When the drug was given 3-5 times following the 1st administration, a slight decrease (p0.1) occurred in alpha2 PI levels, but no change worth of mention was noted to occur thereafter. 5) In patients who received norethisterone 5 mg alone, no particular change was seen to occur in FPA, FPBbeta15-42, AT III, or alpha2 PI. Judging from the above results, especially that there was an increase in FPA, the decrease in AT III levels may be attributed not to a reduction in consumption but to a decrease in the AT III itself, due to estrogens. It is possible also that an increase in FPBbeta 15-42 led to plasmin production which was the reason so few thromboses were observed to form. (author's modified)


The possibility of the applying methodological principles of physics in teaching solving problems in physics is discussed. The approach stimulates the development of physics awareness and paradoxical character of students" thinking


Trigeminal trophic syndrome (TTS) is an uncommon medical condition that may be encountered by otolaryngologists and facial plastic surgeons. TTS begins with damage to the trigeminal nerve or its central sensory connections, causing anesthesia in a dermatomal distribution. With repeated scratching and manipulation, an ulceration occurs, often in the alar region. In this multi‐institutional report, we summarize a small series of patients with TTS. Treatment options are discussed along with a review of the relevant literature. Although rare, it is important that practicing otolaryngologists be familiar with the classic signs and symptoms of this condition in order to avoid delays in diagnosis and treatment. Laryngoscope, 2011


Thick GaN films were grown on GaN/sapphire template in a vertical HVPE reactor. Various material characterization techniques,including AFM, SEM, XRD, RBS/Channeling, CL, PL, and XPS, were used to characterize these GaN epitaxial films. It was found that stepped/terraced structures appeared on the film surface,which were indicative of a nearly step-flow mode of growth for the HVPE GaN despite the high growth rate. A few hexagonal pits appeared on the surface, which have strong light emission. After being etched in molten KOH, the wavy steps disappeared and hexagonal pits with {1010} facets appeared on the surface. An EPD of only 8 ×10~6cm~(-2) shows that the GaN film has few dislocations. Both XRD and RBS channeling indicate the high quality of the GaN thick films. Sharp band-edge emission with a full width at half maximum(FWHM)of 67meV was observed, while the yellow and infrared emissions were also found. These emissions are likely caused by native defects and C and O impurities.


Despite the lack of scientific justification and objective arguments, the centuries-old experience of medicine allows us to note the general trend in the development of first aid methods for AP. Without being able to scientifically study the problem and test various procedures, ancient medicine was able to determine exclusively empirically the importance of reducing the load of blood on the pulmonary vessels in a critical situation. In fact, the only assessment of these efforts remained the results of treatment.


To improve the accuracy of the distributed-parameter model of the micro-cantilever in an atomic-force microscope(AFM), we propose a modified model which contains the nonlinear spatial-temporal properties. On this basis,the structure of the controller is simplified and a nonlinear compensation term is added to correct the traditional distributed parameter model. Next, the Karhunen-Loeve(K–L) decomposition method is applied to extract the dominant spatial basis function of the system, achieving the space-time decomposition. Then, a temporal Hammerstein model is identified by the temporal coefficients obtained from the decomposition and the input signal, which transforms the infinite dimensional partial differential equation model into the finite-dimensional ordinary differential equation model, making it possible to design the controller without considering the space coupling. Finally, we use the leas t-squares-support-vector-machine algorithm and the singular-value decomposition method to identify the parameters of the model. Simulation and experimental comparisons with the traditional distributed parameter model are given to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.


The computerized ionospheric tomography (CIT) technique is a means to obtain the spatial distribution of ionospheric electron density from the TEC values, which can be realized by the ground-based GPS. In this paper, by using the ALOS Phased Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) full-pol data and ionospheric data from the IRI 2007, the reconstruction of ionospheric electron density distribution is first proposed. Simulation results show that it can demonstrate the spatial distribution of ionospheric electron density. Compared with GPS measurements, the proposed technique do not needs ground stations and can give a higher resolution results due to the characters of space-borne SAR systems. Thus, it is a promising direction in future CIT.