OBJECTIVE
To study the prevalence and associated factors of undernutrition in siblings of children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM).

METHOD
It was a community-based cross-sectional study of under-five year siblings of children with SAM.

RESULTS
A total of 128 under-five years siblings were studied, 30% had SAM whereas 20% had moderate acute malnutrition (MAM). More than 7 members in a family (OR=4.23, CI 1.9-9.6, P<0.001), underweight mothers (OR=5.2, CI 2.08-13.0, P<0.001), children who received pre-lacteals (OR=3.24, CI 1.33-7.87, P=0.007), and Muslim religion (OR=4.44, CI 1.78-11.1, P<0.001) were significantly associated with finding of another child with SAM in the family.

CONCLUSION
There was high proportion of severe malnutrition in siblings of children with SAM. Consideration should be given to actively screen all under-5 children in the family of a newly diagnosed child with SAM for undernutrition.


The introduction sets out the book's main arguments—assessing the Irish Party's rise and fall, the Irish revolution and how members and supporters experienced it, and finally how its leaders and supporters have been remembered. Key findings such as the number of former Irish Party figures who emerged in the Free State and the percentage of them which joined Fine Gael are outlined along with reference to the major features of commemoration. The evolution of writing on the party is also analysed and common perceptions of the party and its leaders are identified alongside themes prevalent later in the book. In so doing, the introduction clearly situates the book within the historiography as well as pointing to the contributions it can make to knowledge in the areas of party politics, Irish political culture; Treatyite history; public memory and commemoration in the Irish state. Finally, the introduction establishes the range of primary sources used and the nature of each as well as the methodologies employed in the book and a brief outline of each chapter.


In connection with new techniqes in current developing network and current conditions and future needs, this paper presents designing the building outline for the campus network for Anhui Institute of Education.


Abstract Unbundling is the process through which products previously sold together are separated into their constituent parts. In higher education, this dynamic has been driven primarily by financial motivations, and spearheaded by the for-profit sector, but also has pedagogical motivations through its emphasis on personalisation and employability. This article presents a theoretical analysis of the trend, proposing new conceptual tools with which to map the normative implications. While appearing to offer the prospect of financial viability and increased relevance, unbundling presents some worrying signs for universities: first, the removal of possible synergies between teaching and research, and between different modes of learning; second, the undermining of the ability of institutions to promote the public good and ensure equality of opportunity; and third, the threat of hyperporosity to the conducting of basic research with long-term benefits.


Nearly 1,000 educators met for the Working with Boys Building Fine Men conference held in Melbourne in April to examine the successes of teachers and youth workers with boys of all ages, and the latest research on educating boys successfully. If you missed the conference, never fear. Maureen Beckett was there, and reports on what works with boys.


The paper deals with the preliminary results of the techno-economic study of the layer III lithic assemblage, dug in 1957 by F. Zorzi of the Museo civico di Storia Naturale di Verona. The presented research is focused on the raw material management, within the local provisioning strategy model, on the strategies for introduction of lithic materials, on the predetermination of technical objectives and on their economical destination. Crypto-crystalline flint is introduced into the site, after experienced on the sources a first pre-shaping process, and then exploited by applying the Levallois predetermination method. 3 methods had been observed (unidirectional recurrent, centripetal and preferential Levallois) all independent in their initial phase but with afterwards turn-over during the reduction process development. The next operative phase, the retouching one, is well documented the high rate of the retouched blanks, most of which obtained by retouching the Levallois blanks. Along with this technological organization we can observe a circulation phenomenon of the finished products committed both to the site as well as towards external uses. The micro-crystalline flint exploitation shows the same technological organization above described, from which differs for a higher rate of fractioning of the different production phases and for a larger circulation of the finished products. The results of the techno-economic analysis reveal a mixed production-utilization economic strategies. The strong presence of flint assemblages, the 5 hearths and the occurrence of faunal remains force to a certain caution in proposing the settlement dynamic of the Neanderthal groups frequenting the Mezzena rockshelter. The archaeological record would be the result of more than one consecutive episodes of human presences, relatively short in time length and related to human groups which behave following a mobility system where the residential movements should be moderately frequent.


This chapter estimates the weather sensitivity of rice yield at the all-India level. The statistical technique of fixed effects panel regression is employed to empirically examine the causal relationship between weather and rice yield. The regression analysis presented in this chapter is based on district level weather and non-weather information for the period 1969-2007. The crop-weather relationship examined at a more disaggregated level and over a long time period enables the simulation of climate change impacts at the national level as well as their distributional effects at the sub-national level (see Chapter 3). Moreover, the approach employed here becomes useful towards calculating the costs of adaptation to climate change in the context of Indian agriculture (see Chapter 4).


A common Mediterranean species of Phorbas has been frequently identified under the specific name paupertas, referring to the sponge described as Hymeniacidon paupertas by Bowerbank 1866 from the north coasts of Europe. It is actually different from this species, and a new name, Phorbas topsenti sp.nov., is proposed. A description of the morphology, spicule complement and cytology is given. Another Mediterranean species of Phorbas, Phorbas tailliezi sp. nov. is described.


Amenamevir (formerly ASP2151) induces cytochrome P450 (CYP)2B6 and CYP3A4 and inhibits CYP2C8. We conducted 2 studies, 1 using montelukast as a probe to assess CYP2C8 and the other bupropion to assess CYP2B6. The montelukast study examined the effect of amenamevir on the pharmacokinetics of montelukast in 24 healthy men: each subject received montelukast 10 mg alone, followed by montelukast 10 mg with amenamevir 400 mg, or vice versa after a washout period. In the bupropion study, 24 subjects received a single dose of 150 mg bupropion on days 1, 15, 22, and 29, and repeated once‐daily doses of 400 mg amenamevir on days 6‐15. Amenamevir increased peak concentration and area under the concentration‐time curve of montelukast by about 22% (ratio 121.7%, 90%CI [114.8, 129.1]; 121% [116.2, 128.4], respectively) with a similar increase in hydroxymontelukast (ratio 121.4%, 90%CI [106.4, 138.5]; 125.6 % [111.3, 141.7]). Amenamevir reduced peak concentration and area under the concentration‐time curve of bupropion by 16% (84.29%, 90%CI [78.00, 91.10]; 84.07%, 90%CI [78.85, 89.63]), with recovery after 1 week; the pharmacokinetics of the primary metabolite hydroxybupropion was unaffected. Thus, amenamevir increased plasma concentrations of montelukast and decreased those of bupropion, but it did not do so enough to require dose adjustment of coadministered substrates of either CYP2C8 or CYP2B6.


Summary. The author visited McMaster Medical School as a fourth‐year medical student in 1984 and took part in a 12‐week unit 3 course. The present investigation on implementation of the educational principles of the MD programme was performed as an elective.


An overview of ryanodine receptor structure and function, R. Sitsapen and A.J. Williams characteristics of ryanodine receptor type 3 isoform (RyR3) and its homologues, Y. Ogawa and T. Murayama the skeletal muscle calcium-release channel visualised by electron cryomicroscopy, E.V. Orlova et al regulation of ryanodine receptor channel gating, R. Sitsapen ryanodine receptor ion conduction and selectivity, A.J. Williams ryanodine binding sites on the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ release channel, I.I. Serysheva and S.L. Hamilton the ryanodine receptor - a report from the ryanoids, W. Welch phosphorylation of ryanodine receptors, J.A. Airey and R. He Ca2+ release channel/ryanodine receptor -L-type Ca2+ channel/dihydropyridine receptor interactions in skeletal muscle, G. Meissner regulation of ryanodine receptor by peptide toxins, G.B. Gurrola and H.H. Valdivia chemical modification of ryanodine receptor/Ca2+ release channel activity, V. Shoshan-Barmatz and W. Feng the role of the ryanodine receptor in inherited muscle diseases, C.F. Louis and J.R. Mickelson ryanodine receptor adaptation, P. Velez et al adaptation, inactivation and inhibition in ryanodine receptors, G.D. Lamb and D.R. Laver regulation of SR calcium release in intact ventricular myocytes, D.M. Bers.


We analyzes the individual and organizational barriers that hinder hospital knowledge management under the conditions of knowledge economy,and puts forward such measures as changing concepts,improving incentive mechanism and ameliorating organizations,so as to transform challenges into advantages and promote the knowledge management in hospitals.


Tai mountain iron and steel Co.,actively uses high and new techniques depended on scientific and technical creation.Through constructing 16m 2 annular sintering machine,using new technique for saving energy resources and lowering consumption all continuous casting and roll in one heating of continuous casting billet are implement and some new techniques are developed,so the economic benefit of enterprise is increased and long development of enterprise is promoted.


The sparse suffix sorting problem is to sort b=o(n) arbitrary suffixes of a string of length n using o(n) words of space in addition to the string. We present an O(n) time Monte Carlo algorithm using O(b.log(b)) space and an O(n.log(b)) time Las Vegas algorithm using O(b) space. This is a significant improvement over the best prior solutions of [Bille et al., ICALP 2013]: a Monte Carlo algorithm running in O(n.log(b)) time and O(b^(1+e)) space or O(n.log^2(b)) time and O(b) space, and a Las Vegas algorithm running in O(n.log^2(b)+b^2.log(b)) time and O(b) space. All the above results are obtained with high probability not just in expectation.


…we are prepared to normalize relations with China on the basis of principles of peaceful coexistence. Furthermore it is possible to declare with confidence: if in Peking they will return to politics genuinely based on Marxism-Leninism, if they abandon the hostile course vis-a-vis the socialist countries, [if they] place themselves on the path of co-operation and solidarity with the socialist world, then an appropriate response will be forthcoming from our side and the possibility will present itself for the development of good relations between the USSR and PRC to correspond with the principles of socialist internationalism.


Mixed reality (MR) representation of accounting numbers is used as an alternative way of virtually engaging users of real three dimensional graphics of financialdata. An experiment was conducted to compare the usability and knowledge drawn from utilizing a table of numbers versus MR representations. The results showed that when MR was used, the participants'ratings of the firm's financial status and performance were more congruent with those of experts than when a table was employed. Also, MR was seen as providing less complex information with a shorter amount of time being spent and was perceived as being easyanduseful.


During the operation of heat exchanger networks(HEN)with varying operating conditions,bypass optimal control is considered an effective method to adjust outlet fluid temperature and save energy.However,locations of bypasses are derived without the verification by the control theory.And,it is always very difficult to choose the location of bypasses with the trade-off between controllability and capital investments.Therefore,it is necessary to develop a method to design a HEN control structure based on the control theory.Based on structural controllability,in order to maintain all states controllable and minimize the number of bypasses,a bypass optimal design method with all states controllable(method 1)was proposed.On the other hand,when the number of bypasses was limited,to maximize controllable states an alternative bypass optimal design method with sub-controllable states(method 2)was also presented.The results indicated that with these two methods,the optimal bypass design could be derived for any requirement of controllability and capital investments.A case study of HEN before desalting in an atmospheric/vacuum distillation plant demonstrated the effectiveness of these two methods proposed in this paper.


In this study the effect of cerium addition on the microstructure of hypereutectic Al-15Si alloy was investigated. Experiments have been conducted on Al15Si alloys with Ce content in the alloy varied from 0 to 2.51 wt.%. The alloys were produced by casting in a permanent mould. Optical microscopy, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Vickers microhardness were used in this investigation. The results showed that the addition of 0 to 2.5 wt.% of cerium led to the formation of precipitation of rod-like Al3Ce phase in the Al-matrix. The microhardness of the alloys increases with the increase in cerium content as a result of the Al3Ce precipitation.


In this paper, a compact on-interposer passive equalizer for chip-to-chip high-speed differential signaling was proposed and experimentally verified. By using the parasitic resistance and inductance of the coil-shaped on-interposer metal line, the proposed on-interposer passive equalizer achieves not only the wide-band equalization but also the compact size. Moreover, the symmetric structure of the proposed equalizer maintains the balance between the differential signals. The remarkable performance of the proposed on-interposer passive equalizer for differential signaling was successfully verified by a frequency- and time-domain measurement of up to 10 Gbps.


The dynamic structure factor S (q,ω) of electrons in single-crystal Al metal was measured with 1.4-eV resolution by means of inelastic x-ray-scattering spectroscopy for q parallel to [100] and for q parallel to [110] with 0.37 1.1 a.u. exhibit a q-orientation-independent double-peak or one-peak-one-shoulder fine structure


The article in individual chapters discuss domestic coalresources in Poland and Vietnam, types of coal occurrence in bothcountries, the processing status and main domestic mining companies. Thelast part will be a comparison of mining prospects and plans for thedevelopment of coal mining in both countries and a summary of positivepractices in both countries.


Background Based on two national surveys, the prevalence of soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH) in China had decreased from 53.58% in 1988–1992 to 19.56% in 2001–2004. To update the epidemiology and characteristics of STH in China, a third national survey was implemented in 2014–2015. Methodology/Principal findings This survey covered rural areas in 31 provinces in mainland of China. Multiple-stage stratified cluster sampling was employed, which included three levels (provinces, ecozones and economical levels). Stool samples were collected and the Kato-Katz method was applied for helminth eggs detection. Samples with hookworm eggs were selected and hatched to differentiate the species based on larval morphology. Between June 2014 and May 2015, a total of 484,210 participants from 604 counties were enrolled. The weighted prevalence of STH overall was 4.49% (95% confidential interval (CI): 2.45%-6.53%), including 2.62% (95% CI: 0.86%-4.38%) hookworm infections, 1.36% (95% CI: 0.49%-2.23%) ascariasis, and 1.02% (95% CI: 0.15%-1.89%) trichuriasis. The estimated population infected was 29.12 million (95% CI: 15.88 million-42.32 million) for all STH; 16.97 million (95% CI: 5.57 million-28.39 million) for hookworm infections; 8.83 million (95% CI: 3.18 million-14.45 million) for ascariasis; and 6.60 million (95% CI: 0.97 million-12.25 million) for trichuriasis. Overall, the prevalence of ascariasis and trichuriasis was relatively high in children, while hookworm infections were more common in the older population, especially those over 60. STH was highly prevalent in western China, and moderately in central areas, but low in eastern and northern regions. Out of 3,579 hookworm cases with species differentiation, 479 cases (13.38%) were infected with only Ancylostoma spp., 2,808 cases (78.46%) with only Necator americanus, and another 292 cases (8.16%) with both species. Conclusions/Significance This survey demonstrated the continuous decrease of STH in rural China. However, endemicity still prevails in the western areas of the country. Hookworm, especially N. americanus, is becoming the predominant species. Older farmers in western China should be prioritized for control due to the high prevalence of hookworm.


It is an apparatus and a method for producing individual blanks (2) from a foil web (1) and transporting them disclosed. With a first conveyor (12) the foil web (1) is supplied to a device (16) for generating at least one potential separation point (30). With a second conveyor (14) are transported away, the individual blanks (2) formed and further processing supplied. In the field of a guide system (5) of the second conveyor (14) is formed an outline (38) of the single blank (2).


Depending on word frequency analysis,co- word analysis,social network analysis and scientific knowledge mapping,the paper conducts a scientometric analysis of the downloaded theme literature of sport management from 2000 to 2012 in the Web of Science and CNKI database and summarizes the characteristics of the status quo of sport management studies at home and abroad since the beginning of the new century. Also,the paper makes a comparison from research objectives,research field,research approach,research methods between them.


The initiation of shielded explosive oblique impacted by fragment was researched. The theoretical calculation method of the shock pressure relate to the impact angle was established. Combining with the explosive initiation criterion,the critical velocity of impact initiation can be determined. The explosive coved with a metal plate impacted by fragment was simulated by the ignition and growth model of Lee-Tarver and LS-DYNA simulation software. By means of the"up-down"method,the critical detention velocities were gained and verify the effectiveness of the theoretical model and the influence of the fragment material; shape and the thickness of target on the critical initiation velocities of JO-9159 solid explosive were analyzed. The result shows that the error between theoretical calculation and numerical simulation was less than 5. 98% which shows the effectiveness of the proposed theoretical model. In the same conditions,compared to steel and copper,critical initiation for tungsten alloy fragment is low. The critical initiation velocity increases with the increase of incident angle and target thickness.


This study aims to determine protective efficiency of ellagic acid (EA) on malathion toxicity in carp. The fish were exposed to two sublethal concentrations of malathion (0.5 and 1 mg/L), and EA (100 mg per kg of fish weight) was simultaneously administered for 14 days. Malondialdehyde (MDA) level and superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH—Px), and glutathione—S—transferase (GST) activities were evaluated in liver, kidney and gills, which were collected at the end of the experiment. In conclusion, the findings of this study demonstrated that malathion caused oxidative stress and negative alterations on the antioxidant enzyme activities of the fish. However, this toxic effect was neutralised by the administration of EA. Thus, the present results suggest that simultaneous treatment with EA (100 mg per kg of fish weight) may alleviate malathion—induced oxidative stress.


With the rapid development of Internet technology,Blog—the new network word was born.The phenomenon of college students' Blogs is increasing obviously.This paper gives the concept of Blog,describes the development of Blog and especially the college student's Blogs,analyzes the chance and challenge that Blog brings to college education,and proposes the thoughts on helping students to build the correct view on Blog,using Blog to construct excellent college education,and utilizing Blog to manage college students.


Abstract Adolescent drug use provides challenges for parents, health professionals and the wider community. Of those adolescents who use drugs, cannabis is often the drug of choice. A number of adolescents will develop problems associated with cannabis use, and the burden of managing these problems will fall on the family, particularly the mother. This paper explores adolescent cannabis use from the perspective of mothers of affected young people. Twelve women took part in conversational style audio-taped interviews. Stories were extracted from the resulting narratives and were analysed guided by the work of Anderson and Jack (1991). Detailed findings are grouped under the themes: First awareness: 'I couldn't deny it was happening'; Constant vigilance: 'I watched his every move'; Cannabis and family life: 'I'd start to shake when he walked into the house'; Disrupted lives: 'I was terrified he'd go to prison'; Shifting aspirations: 'just staying alive'; and, Maintaining a loving relationship: 'always told him I loved him'. Implications for nursing practice are drawn from the findings.


Chinglish is a kind of abnormal English with Chinese characteristics arising in the process of learning.It is embodied in various aspects ranging from pronunciation,semantic to syntax and pragmatics.Among the factors leading to this phenomenon,the most important are: the negative impact of native language,the differences of the Chinese and the western thinking styles,the diversity of Chinese and western culture and the poor bilingual ability.Since Chinglish may cause communication gap,appropriate measures should be adopted to correct it in communicational process.


At the beginning of the spermatogenic lineage there is a compartment of undifferentiated spermatogonia, which can be subdivided into Asingle (As), &aired (Apr)? and Aaligned (A,I) spermatogonia.' The A, are considered to be stem cells. The daughter cells of an A, either become 2 new stem cells or stay together as A,, that will divide further to form chains of 4, 8 or, 16 AaI. We now have studied the topographical arrangement of these clones of undifferentiated spermatogonia and also of those that are in the S phase of their cell cycle.


L-2',3'-Didehydro-2',3'-dideoxy-3'-fluorocytidine (L-3'-Fd4C), a novel potent anti-HIV agent (EC(50) 0.03 microM in PBM cells), has been synthesized from L-xylose in 14 steps. [reaction: see text]


Zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) that exhibit light absorption in the near IR and excellent chemical stability show great potential for efficient light harvesting and light to electrical energy conversion. However, they have exhibited poor device efficiencies (<; 1%) for a long time . Only recently efficiencies up to ~5% have been realized. An important tool in the development towards higher efficiencies involves replacing a symmetric phthalocyanine by an asymmetric equivalent with one electron pulling group (anchoring onto the TiO<;sub>2<;/sub>) and three electron pushing groups. This clearly suggests that such an asymmetrical push-pull structure supports light-induced forward electron transfer (from the ZnPc core into the TiO<;sub>2<;/sub>) and prevents back electron transfer. However, ultrafast photodynamics studies have not been reported so far. This paper reports on a systematic study to investigate the impact of modification of the anchoring electron-pulling group on the ultrafast dynamics of the forward and back electron transfer using femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy.


Wind-fire hybrid transmission system stability has always been a research hot spot, and as the wind turbine control strategy is more and more complex, the stability is more complicated. In recent years, the idea of virtual synchronous machine applied to the control scheme of wind turbines has been popularized, so it is necessary to discuss the power angle stability of wind-fire hybrid system considering the additional control of the wind turbines with the virtual synchronous machine. In this paper, a typical wind-fire hybrid transmission system model is established, and the operating characteristics of the wind turbine are analyzed and the wind turbine model is established. Then, a control strategy of virtual synchronous machine is proposed. At last, the power equivalence function of wind-fire hybrid transmission system is analyzed by Extended Area Equity Criterion (EEAC), and the simulation results in PSASP show that when the receiver is a strong system, the higher the wind-fire ratio, the better the system's angle stability is. The control of the virtual synchronous machine has less effect on the stability of the power angle. When the receiver is a weak system, with the increase of wind power ratio, the power angle stability first increases and then decreases, there is an optimal ratio, and the application of the virtual synchronous machine control can effectively enhance the system's power angle stability, thereby improving the optimal wind-fire ratio.


It is shown that the use of realistic Zr cross sections in the calculations of the group constants, yields values or k/sub eff/ in substantial agreement with the Goldsmith predictions and experiments. A companison of ages of Zr-H/sub 2/0 mixtures was made between calculated and experimental results. A number of clean critical experiments were calcillated in a few-group theory using the new Zr cross sections and the results are evaluated. (W.D.M)


Geometric data summarization has become an essential tool in both geometric approximation algorithms and where geometry intersects with big data problems. In linear or near-linear time, large data sets can be compressed into a summary, and then more intricate algorithms can be run on the summaries whose results approximate those of the full data set. Coresets and sketches are the two most important classes of these summaries. A coreset is a reduced data set which can be used as proxy for the full data set; the same algorithm can be run on the coreset as the full data set, and the result on the coreset approximates that on the full data set. It is often required or desired that the coreset is a subset of the original data set, but in some cases this is relaxed. A weighted coreset is one where each point is assigned a weight, perhaps different than it had in the original set. A weak coreset associated with a set of queries is one where the error guarantee holds for a query which (nearly) optimizes some criteria, but not necessarily all queries; a strong coreset provides error guarantees for all queries. A sketch is a compressed mapping of the full data set onto a data structure which is easy to update with new or changed data, and allows certain queries whose results approximate queries on the full data set. A linear sketch is one where the mapping is a linear function of each data point, thus making it easy for data to be added, subtracted, or modified. These definitions can blend together, and some summaries can be classified as either or both. The overarching connection is that the summary size will ideally depend only on the approximation guarantee but not the size of the original data set, although in some cases logarithmic dependence is acceptable. We focus on five types of coresets and sketches: shape-fitting (Section 48.1), density estimation (Section 48.2), high-dimensional vectors (Section 48.3), highdimensional point sets / matrices (Section 48.4), and clustering (Section 48.5). There are many other types of coresets and sketches (e.g., for graphs [AGM12] or Fourier transforms [IKP14]) which we do not cover due to space limitations or because they are less geometric.


Abstract This article examines the authority of the 2005 International Committee of the Red Cross Study on Customary international humanitarian law within the international legal system by collecting and analysing citations to the Study in documents containing expressions of State positions, in the judgments of international and domestic courts and tribunals and in the outputs of other influential actors. Our analysis establishes that the Study is increasingly seen as a highly authoritative instrument, such that a particular proposition will be found to reflect customary international law simply on the basis that the Study says so. We argue that the Study's authority will likely only increase over time.


The article is devoted to the Old-Russian tradition of painting battle scenes in the novel The Silent Don by M.A. Sholokhov. The issue about the urgency of research of this theme is regarded in the article. Some problem-thematic and poetical convergences are considered, controversial points in the aspect of the Old-Russian tradition are marked out.


Several factors have helped to streamline the divorce process. Alternative dispute resolution has had a major impact by reducing demands on the system and encouraging divorcing parties to address their differences in a less adversar ial manner. Another important innovation has been court-ini tiated docket control, with its emphasis on pretrial scheduling orders, discovery plans, status conferences, bifurcated trials, and definite final trial settings. No longer must the parties live for years under a cloud of uncertainty about the timing of lit igation that temporarily grips their lives. Moreover, lawyers no longer must prepare time and again for trial because they are not sure when their case actually will be called. Increasingly, courts are using pretrial scheduling orders to control their dockets. Scheduling orders serve as roadmaps for both lawyer and client in getting from point A, the initial filing, to point B, its final resolution. Courts look favorably on family law practitioners who give careful consideration to pretrial orders and are vigilant in their execution. Lawyers who are not diligent in this regard may be sanctioned. The purpose of a pretrial order is to assist in the disposi tion of the case with minimal expense or burden to the par ties and to aid the trial court in narrowing issues in dispute and in disposing of other matters that may affect the final dis position of the action. Although pretrial scheduling orders are not addressed by statute in many states, they are governed by procedural rules. Trial courts are vested with broad author ity to manage their dockets and handle pretrial matters. Appellate courts routinely have held that courts have implied power to make and enforce these orders. The dismissal of a cause of action with prejudice due to failure to comply with a scheduling order has been held to be a proper sanction when failure to comply with the order demonstrates a callous di regard for the trial court and the judicial system. While this ultimate sanction of dismissal with prejudice should be imposed only upon a finding of flagrant bad faith or callous di regard, lesser sanctions may include the exclusion of wit nesses or exhibits and the imposition of monetary sanctions against either the party or the lawyer. Issues covered in pretrial scheduling orders typically include: establishment of a firm date for trial; designation of a level of discovery and imposition of discovery deadlines; imposition of deadlines for amendment of pleadings; desig nation of mediators and orders for mediation; orders for par enting coordination and other forms of therapeutic interven tion; and orders for forensic evaluations, including social tudies, psychological evaluations, and business valuations. Though courts are authorized to enforce these deadlines, it is also within their discretion to extend deadlines where appro priate. Other subjects that may be covered in a pretrial order include: limitation of the number of witnesses; admission and stipulation of facts; appointment of experts regarding


In a double‐blind trial, nasal insufflation of disodium cromoglycate was effective in controlling some of the symptoms of hay fever in 14 of 19 university students whilst only 6 of 16 students who took the control preparation underwent improvement in condition. Overall severity was less in those using the drug. There was a notable absence of soporific side effects.


This paper outlines action taken by the Government of Western Australia to encourage economic growth of the Mid West Region through the development of an industrial estate and associated deep water port. The various planning, environmental, economic, financial and engineering factors that affect the feasibility of developing and operating this infrastructure are mentioned. The paper describes the Government's role, including essential elements of the process that has been adopted to procure private sector involvement in building, owning and operating the proposed Oakajee Port.


as it functions to preserve stability, shock absorption, load transmission, and motion control of knee joint. There are number of surgical reconstruction options which are not without risk. Conservative rehabilitation in the form of physiotherapy provides hope in such situations. Hence the present study was conducted to find out the effect of rehabilitation program on meniscal injuries. Materials & Methods: In this prospective study, a total of 75 patients suffering from meniscus injuries included. Assessment was done using Lysholm Scoring scale. Various physiotherapy exercises were given to experiment group. Results: Study subjects achieved pain free functional activities of knee joint but symptoms were recurred when they were involved in vigorous activities. Conclusion: Properly executed conservative rehabilitation programs are very


The performance of the Fermilab accelerator complex, particularly the Tevatron, during the two years since the 1987 Particle Accelerator Conference is summarized. The accelerator has provided 800-GeV protons for one fixed-target run and 900-GeV protons and antiprotons for two collider runs during this period. Major accomplishments, as well as some of the operational problem areas, are highlighted.<<ETX>>


Using time-resolved two-photon photoemission spectroscopy, we have studied the dynamics of image potential states in an adsorbate heterolayer system on Cu(111), consisting of 1 monolayer (ML) N2 on top of 1−2 ML Xe. The image potential states show long lifetimes of up to 1.6 ps, which is attributed to the negative electron affinity of the N2 layer that acts as a barrier between the image-state wave functions and the metal substrate. The most striking dynamical feature is an intraband relaxation within the two-dimensional band of the first image state, resulting in a pronounced dependence of the rise and decay times of the electron population on the wave vector parallel to the surface. As underlying mechanism of the intraband relaxation, the interaction with the Cu electron system can be excluded on the basis of theoretical estimates concerning the effect of e−e scattering and the long-range interaction envisaged as "image charge friction". On the other hand, a threshold for the intraband decay of (6 ± 2) ...


In view of the good communication role between VBA and Office software,and the macro recording function,proposed an improved method of word automatic marking based on VBA.This method can adapt to all kinds of word operation judge,apply to the daily of word processing operations marking.The system tested by real data,and experimental results show that the algorithm can effective-ly improve the teachers marking word processing operation efficiency,and is feasible.


In Thai Buddhism, a high number of examples show that during the last 20 years or so the triangular interrelationship between hermeneutics, canonical authenticity and authority has been—more or less consciously—the subject of numerous, often very fervent debates. This has made clear the importance of the Pāli canon as a centre of reference for normative and formative authority in Thai society. Also, during these debates the conservatism of Thai Theravāda, and thereby its identity, has been challenged in various ways, e.g. by Western influenced text-critical or intertextual approaches, by reference to superior religious insight and by requests for feminist interpretations of the Pāli canon. At the same time, however, and in response to these challenges, the rationale for Thai Theravāda's conservatism and identity have become very clearly articulated, to an extent that has arguably never happened before in Thai history. By looking at some of the debates in which the foremost Thai Buddhist thinker and scholar monk P. A. Payutto (1939– ) has been involved, I seek to gain a deeper understanding of what these debates can teach us about the specific context and state of Thai Buddhist studies.


In adults with iron deficiency anemia (IDA), abnormal platelet counts were seen in several studies. However we retrospectively examined the clinical records of a larger number of adults with IDA to assess abnormal platelet counts. From November 2006 to April 2008, 615 consecutive adults (73 men and 542 women; age range, 16–88 years) with IDA were included in this study. The mean initial hemoglobin was 9.0 ± 1.8 g/dL (range 2.7–12.8 g/dL), and the mean initial platelet count was 304 × 103/µL ± 92.3 (range, 105–700 × 103/µL). The initial platelet counts were normal in 520 (84.6%) adults with IDA. Thrombocytosis (>400 × 103/µL) and thrombocytopenia (<150 × 103/µL) were detected in 82 (13.3%) and 13 (2.1%) adults with IDA, respectively. In conclusion, thrombocytosis was seen at lower rates in our study. Furthermore, this study shows that mild thrombocytopenia is not so rare in adults with IDA.


The electromagnetic shielding protective cloth comprises base cloth and coating layer on the base cloth; the base cloth is made of the non-woven cloth that is made by mixing the anti-electromagnet fiber with the general fiber in a weight ratio of 5-40:95-60, and then the mixed fibers is woven in the non-woven or weaving production line. After that, on the double point machine, a general hot-melt adhesive double point coating is made for the base cloth.


delivered at a colloquium at Georgia State University College of Law, at a Faculty Workshop at Washington University's School of Law, at john Marshall Law School, and at a Mercer University Law School Faculty Development Colloquium. I will present the main thesis of this work at a conference on "Law, Mind and Brain," at University College London and the Gruter Institute on February 13-14, 2006. Many thanks to those colleagues and friends who offered friendly and helpful comments and suggestions on this and related projects, including Robert Audi, Karen Kovach, Harold Lewis, Stephen Morse, and Jack Sammons. As always, I appreciate the financial and collegial support of Mercer Law School. Finally, special thanks to Rebecca McKelvey (Class of 2006) for timely and thorough research assistance.


Test Vector Leakage Assessment (TVLA) has been proposed as a method of determining if a side-channel attack is feasible, for a given implementation of a block cipher, by looking for leakage without conducting an attack. The thresholds chosen for the evaluation of leakage are chosen such that passing the tests gives a strong indication that no leakage is present. In this document, we describe how TVLA can be adapted to pubic key cryptographic algorithms, with a specific focus on RSA, ECDSA and ECDH.


Objectives: Ovarian malignancy being one of the most common among genital malignancy, ascendant importance has to be given to evaluate it pre-operatively with high degree of precision. It is of crowning importance because it helps to tailor neo-adjuvant chemotherapy, chemoradiation, radiotherapy and surgery. This study correlates between the clinical and HPE findings to prove that though USG helps in detection and characterization of adnexal lesion to some extent, its diagnostic ability is further improved by addition of a simple parameter CA-125. Methods: This study is a prospective observational study carried out between January 1, 2016 to 30 June, 2017 in the department of Obs and Gynae, RHP, Patiala. All cases of ovarian masses who underwent USG and CA-125 & were followed with laparotomy, followed by HPE of the specimen, were included in the study. Results: 55 patients were included in the evaluation. The specificity 86% of USG was enhanced to 88% on addition of CA-125 to the study. The specificity increased further to 94% when clinical examination, USG and CA-125 were combined. Sensitivity was 100% with all the three methods. Conclusion: Optimal pre-operative evaluation was achieved with USG. But when combined with clinical features & CA-125, the diagnostic value is extremely high. This aids in planning the management.


Objective To assess the efficiency and safety of combined thymic peptide-enhanced autologous cytokine induced killer(CIK) cells and IL-2 in treatment of diffuse large B cell lymphoma in aged patients.Methods Peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMC) were collected from 4 aged patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma.CIK cells were induced with in vitro interferon gamma(IFN-γ),IL-2 and anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody(mAb).Immune function of the cells and tumor-related biological indexes of the patients were observed after 2×109-3×109 autologous CIK cells were re-transfused into the patients each time and IL-2 100mU/d was subcutaneously injected for 10 days,28 days a cycle for 24 cycles.Results Two patients received 8 cycles of CIK cells transfusion and 2 patients received 4 cycles of CIK cells transfusion.No adverse reaction occurred in them.The number of CD3+,CD3+CD8+ and CD3+CD56+ was significantly greater and the serum β2-microglobulin level was markedly lower after CIK cells transfusion than before CIK cells transfusion(P0.05).Complete remission was achieved in 3 patients and 1 patient died of acute large-area myocardial infarction and persistent progression of lymphoma although partial remission was achieved after 8 cycles of CIK cells transfusion.Conclusion Combined autologous CIK cells transfusion and IL-2 is safe and effective for large B cell lymphoma in aged patients.


The beta-adrenergic agonist ractopamine (RAC) is a feed additive used to increase lean growth rate, improve feed efficiency, and increase carcass lean percentage and dressing percentage (Moody et al., 2000). Health status of the individual pig can influence and determine the amount of lean tissue growth of the pig (Holck et al., 1998), especially during a time of rapid growth such as in response to ractopamine.


Abstract We investigate whether reputation concerns provide sufficient incentive for Big Four auditors to provide higher quality audits in ASEAN countries where litigation exposure is low or nonexistent. We proxy audit quality based on the quality of reported earnings (earnings conservatism) to examine whether Big Four auditors provided higher quality audits (relative to non-Big Four auditors) during 1990–96. To neutralise the potential confounding effects of cross-border differences, we investigate the relative quality of Big Four vs. non-Big Four audits within each country separately so that each country serves as its own control. Our results suggest that although both Big Four and non-Big Four auditees report conservative earnings in all countries, only in the US do Big Four auditees report more conservative earnings than non-Big Four auditees. Thus, although the World Bank and UNCTAD (1999) did not express concerns about Big Four audit quality in emerging markets until 1999, the evidence suggests that the Big Four were not providing higher quality audits in ASEAN countries even prior to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Our findings are interesting in the context of the ongoing globalisation of capital markets in which cross-border investors in emerging markets, separated from corporate management not only geographically but often culturally and linguistically, are presumed to rely on a brand name Big Four audit to provide enhanced assurance on financial statements.


Phenological events and floral biology of Jacaranda ulei were studied. After the first rains, new branches, leaves and flowers are produced. The flowering period lasts for
40
almost three months; a great amount of flowers is produced; nectar is abundant. It was
identified 15 species of bees visiting the plant, also ants, butterflies and hummingbirds.
The flowers, fruits and seeds suffered from predatism and fungus attack, but the leaves
remained intact. The species is strongly selfincompatible, 30% of the flowers from
manually crossed pollination developed into fruits against only 10% of the naturally
pollinated ones. The necessity of having compatible individuals should be taken into
consideration for cultivating this plant in gardens or herbalists.


The tensile properties of both cis- and trans-polyacetylene, (CH)x, were investigated in order to determine the variables that influence that ultimate extension ratio (l/l0) of polyacetylene films. It was found that when cis-films of polyacetylene were extended in an inert (argon) atmosphere, ultimate extension ratios as high as 3.3 were obtained and with subsequent isomerization at 160–200°C under stress, a final l/l0, of about 4 was obtained. The extension ratio is extremely sensitive to exposure to oxygen and decreases markedly after periods as short as 1 min. It appears as though crosslinking may occur in the polymer when it is exposed to air and this produces brittleness in the specimen. When (CH)x was isomerized from cis to trans, it became brittle, even in the absence of air.


The article highlights the fundamental issues of building teaching process model aiming at the implementation in terms of studying at the faculties of Sciences using the selected teacher training technology. The principles, stages and approaches as well as a system of exercises for teaching English stylistic normative scientific writing have been presented in the article and, on their basis, the discussed model has been suggested. The model itself assists in the development of professional competence taking into consideration the students' individual professional needs as well as in the formation of the ability to independently write a scientific article, abstract and conference abstracts at the level the papers could be accepted for publication. There has been made an attempt in the article to prove that the model can successfully be implemented on the basis of interactive and communicative approaches, learning objectives, means, object and subject of study, education level and academic subjects where the proposed model was actually applied. It has also been proved that through modeling one can predict the development of the educational process and to substantiate a positive result as a new quality. The suggested teaching process model of stylistic normative English academic writing is implemented within several training modules that promote writing feasible review articles, experimental articles, and, finally, independent research papers by students.


Objective To investigate the expression of CCR7 and EGFR in NSCLC and their relationships with clinicopathological parameters,and to explore the roles of CCR7 and EGFR in NSCLC lymph node metastasis.Methods IHC was used to detect the expression of CCR7 and EGFR in 55patients with NSCLC.Results 67.2%(37/55) NSCLC specimens were found CCR7 positive,72.7%(40/55) NSCLC specimens were found EGFR positive,and their expression was positively re-lated with lymph node metastasis.Conclusion CCR7 And EGFR is highly expressed in NSCLC,and a close correlation is found between CCR7 And EGFR expression and lymph node metastasis.


Cognitive radio networks (CRNs) promise to accommodate billions of Internet of Things (IoT) devices within scarce spectrum by allowing secondary users (SUs) to use licensed spectrum. However, the devices need uninterruptible communication, which the conventional CRNs cannot fulfill. This necessitates successful service completion probability (SSCP) enhancement in CRNs. Further, maintaining fairness among SUs, in terms of availing network services, is a matter of consideration for ensuring the network services to be fairly available to all SUs. In this paper, we propose a hybrid CRN (HCRN) scheme to analyze two problems. Firstly, we investigate SSCP enhancement by utilizing hybrid underlay-interweave mode of CRNs and propose a dynamic channel reservation algorithm to support interrupted users. Secondly, we propose a multi-attributes based fairness-driven channel determination (MFD) algorithm for channel interruption, which ensures fairness among SUs in availing network services. Furthermore, continuous-time Markov chain is used for modelling, and mathematical formulations are derived for SSCP. The proposed scheme is evaluated under various network traffic loads and channel failure rates. Numerical results show significant improvement in SSCP and reduction in forced termination rate as compared to the benchmark. Similarly, the MFD algorithm brings a prominent improvement in fairness.


Absfracl-This paper presents a procedure for building SPICE models for via transitions in differential signaling. The method of extracting parameters of SPICE models from a full-wave simulation tool is demonstrated. Then the validity of the SPICE models is studied by comparing the solution from the SPICE models with that from the full-wave simulation. several parts, and each part is modeled as a SPICE passive network. The various via transitions in a practical design can be modeled by putting these basic building blocks together. This method is denoted as a layer peeling process in this paper. The models ofthese parts are called I' building blockp 0r"blocks". Solid planes inside the PCBs were used as natural boundaries for separating the blocks of a via. Similarly, this process was applied to build the via model library for differential signaling,


Regulators and auditing professionals have paid considerable attention to the independence, but recent high profile business and audit failures make it necessary to rethink the cornerstone of audit. Begin with the intangible character of independence and the obstacle when applying in practice, the paper analyzed the problems of regarding independence as the cornerstone. In the end, it points out that reliability, which consisted of independence, integrity and enterprise, was the real cornerstone.


Abstract The controlling function of the media is essential for freedom of expression in a democratic society. One of the pre-conditions of this controlling function is independence in relation not only to the state but also in relation to commercial interests. It is the latter relationship that is the focus of this article. Recent changes in the media landscape have put pressure on the independence of the media. Commercial interests seem to gain more influence on media content. The distinction between journalism and advertising has become less clear and it is not always maintained despite both legislation and self-regulation that dictate such a division. The aim of this article is to analyse the consequences of the changes in the media landscape and the challenges posed to the infrastructure for freedom of expression in Sweden, including legislation and self-regulation. The analysis is made with the help of the analytical distinction between market-driven and democracy-driven freedom of expression.


Implementations of artificial neural networks (ANNs) might lead to failures, which are hardly predicted in the design phase since ANNs are highly parallel and their parameters are barely interpretable. Here, we develop and evaluate a novel symbolic verification framework using incremental bounded model checking (BMC), satisfiability modulo theories (SMT), and invariant inference, to obtain adversarial cases and validate coverage methods in a multi-layer perceptron (MLP). We exploit incremental BMC based on interval analysis to compute boundaries from a neuron's input. Then, the latter are propagated to effectively find a neuron's output since it is the input of the next one. This paper describes the first bit-precise symbolic verification framework to reason over actual implementations of ANNs in CUDA, based on invariant inference, therefore providing further guarantees about finite-precision arithmetic and its rounding errors, which are routinely ignored in the existing literature. We have implemented the proposed approach on top of the efficient SMT-based bounded model checker (ESBMC), and its experimental results show that it can successfully verify safety properties, in actual implementations of ANNs, and generate real adversarial cases in MLPs. Our approach was able to verify and produce adversarial examples for 85.8% of 21 test cases considering different input images, and 100% of the properties related to covering methods. Although our verification time is higher than existing approaches, our methodology can consider fixed-point implementation aspects that are disregarded by the state-of-the-art verification methodologies.


Copyright © 2019 by author(s) and International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development Journal. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0) ABSTRACT In this paper, we are discussing the basic concepts and fundamentals of Natural Language Generation, a field in Natural Language Engineering that deals with the conversion of non-linguistic data into natural information. We will start our investigation by introducing the NLG system and its different types. We will also pin point the major differences between NLG and NLU also known as Natural Language Understanding. Afterwards, we will shed the light on the architecture of a basic NLG system, its advantages and disadvantages. Later, we will examine the different applications of NLG, showing a case study that illustrates how an NLG system operates from an algorithmic point of view. Finally, we will review some of the existing NLG systems together with their features, taken from the real world.


The Vulnerability Model (VM) is a computer model which simulates hazardous materials spills and computes the consequences to people and property from resulting fires, explosions, or toxic vapors. This report describes recent work performed to prepare the VM for operational use. Four specific tasks or developments are described: (1) development of the user Interface Module (UIM), and easy-to-use conversational program which enables inexperienced or occasional users to set up and run VM simulations easily and reliably with little or no training; (2) development of a series of VM output display routines which display the results of VM simulations on CRT terminals or hard copy plotters; (3) development of ready-to-use Geographical/Demographic files for Los Angeles and New York Harbors (a file for New Orleans already exists); and (4) performance of a number of VM spill simulations for selected chemicals in Los Angeles and New York Harbors to operationally test the UIM/VM system and to provide a hazard ranking of the selected chemicals.


Abstract : A statistical evaluation of the automated dichotic listening (DLT) and psychomotor tasks (PMT) indicated that both contributed to the prediction of primary flight training criteria. Prior to the main analyses, the extreme skewness-squadron differences in flight grades were removed by tranformations based on z-scores. Primary flight grades were highly correlated with the psychomotor scores (r's between -.26 and -.41) and moderately related with the dichotic listening scores (r's between -.22 and -.28). These r's were significant at an experiment wise alpha of .05. Multiple regression analysis indicated an even stronger validity coefficient when a combination of the performance measures was used (R = .442). Furthermore, the 19.5% of flight grade variance accounted for by the performance based tests was largely independent of the 16.6% variance accounted for by a combination of current selection tests and demographic variables. For the pass/fail criterion, a statistically optimal combination of DLT/PMT variables, selection tests scores, and demographic variables was specified that could be used to identify individuals who are relatively more likely to attrite. Classification matrices illustrate how such predictions could reduce attrition.


This work develops and applies a method for quantifying climate feedbacks as a function of timescale (in contrast to other studies which separate feedbacks into different physical processes). This is applied to long integrations of a GCM, plus an EMIC and an EBM. A picture is obtained of an initial fast negative feedback eroded by a series of positive feedbacks (attributed to equilibration of mixed layer and deep ocean). The deep ocean feedback is somewhat peaked, which is attributed to circulation bringing the deep ocean closer towards well-mixed (single timescale) character.


Jonathan Bunkell, Vice President of Online Book Sales for Elsevier, Ltd., presented an examination of e-books versus print books in order to assess which is the better value. The presenter considered the advantages of collecting online books as opposed to print, presented evidence that online books are a cost-effective solution that becomes more cost-effective over time, and demonstrated that e-books optimize usage of book titles, optimize their access and discoverability, and cross-link books with other online content for a dynamic research experience.


The melting of a 201 austenitic stainless steel was conducted in mushy zone for 0, 5, 10, 15 min under nitrogen atmosphere. The effect of the holding time on nitrogen content was investigated. The results showed that with the increase of holding time, the nitrogen content was significantly increased. It was found that the holding in mushy zone could avoid ferrite region during solidification, and facilitate the diffusion of nitrogen from liquid into austenite. Thermodynamic analysis demonstrates that the difference between the chemical potential of nitrogen in liquid and austenite provides the driving force for the nitrogen diffusion. It is concluded that melt holding in mushy zone is an effective way for increasing the nitrogen content in stainless steel, and thus provides a new method for the production of high nitrogen stainless steel.


Abstract Optical packet switching (OPS) exhibits the ability to be utilized as a data transmission technique for next-generation. The core router/switch plays a significant role in packet routing and buffering in OPS. Arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) is realized as a promising core element for fast optical switching, with its intrinsic capacity to achieve wavelength routing of different wavelengths in parallel. This paper proposes an AWG-based add-drop optical packet switch, including a hybrid buffer, to resolve contention among packets. In a hybrid buffer, both optical and electronic buffers are used for the buffering of contending packets. AWGs are affected by crosstalk that can significantly impair system operation. The physical layer analysis is discussed in the presence of crosstalk, and the performance of the switch is evaluated in terms of bit error rate. The desired minimum input power is calculated for the switch's correct operation for both optical buffer and electronic buffer. Finally, the packet loss probability (PLP) of the hybrid buffer is examined under various buffering conditions. Results reveal that with the increase in the optical power of the input signal, crosstalk power increases linearly for optical and electronic buffers. The increased crosstalk power is higher for electronic buffers than the optical buffer. The use of electronic memory in the hybrid buffer allows the hybrid buffer to increase its buffer size thus, reducing the PLP.


Visitors frequently refer to Mobile's historic ironwork as wrought iron, but the majority of it is cast iron. Cast iron, cheap and easy to produce in an infinite variety of shapes and designs, captured the imagination of nineteenth-century tastemakers seeking dramatic effect. Virtually every American city accessible by water had some ornamental cast iron, but it was nowhere more exuberantly employed than in the Deep South, particularly the Gulf ports, where wooden structures too rapidly succumbed to the semitropical climate. Whether locally designed and manufactured or imported from big East Coast foundries, Mobile's nineteenth-century ornamental ironwork nicely exhibits the era's diverse aesthetic tastes. A Greek Revival gate, a Gothic-accented cemetery fence, a town house verandah with arabesque patterns, a plashing fountain distinguished by satyr's faces--Mobilians' enthusiasm for the practical advantages and decorative delights of these things flourished until the turn of the twentieth century. Today, after decades of indifference and neglect, Mobilians once again appreciate the historic ironwork in their midst. Restored balconies are more popular than ever with residents, office workers, diners, and Mardi Gras revelers eager to take in the passing scene; fluted lamps illumine downtown streets; and venerable fences, gates, and statuary gleam with fresh coats of paint. Though a heartbreaking amount of Mobile's ornamental ironwork has been lost or stolen over the years, what remains continues to fascinate visitors and residents alike. The McCoy House (1873) verandah at 253 State Street features mixed elements. The columns and heavy Gothic brackets are from one foundry,. while the railing with its anthemions is from another. The brackets' manufacturer recommended a different railing, but for some reason the owner preferred this one. Sambo, manufactured by the Philadelphia foundry of Wood and Perot as a hitching post, is a rare piece which has had a troubled history in Alabama's Port Cir. At present it rests peacefully outside the National African American Archives, 564 Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue. The gates and fence at Barton Academy (1836), 504 Government Street, are an eloquent manifestation of neoclassicism in iron. This is among Mobile's earliest surviving ironwork. The Bienville Square fountain (1890) was dedicated to Dr. George A. Ketchum, president of the Bienville Water Works and an advocate of a pure water supply. Existing records do not indicate the fountain's origin, but the bottom basin exactly matches others fabricated by the J. …


We report the experimental observation of array-enhanced stochastic resonance, spatiotemporal synchronization, and noise-enhanced propagation in a simple coupled linear array of bistable electronic triggers. In addition, we highlight an analogy between charge density wave (CDW) like conductivity and spatiotemporal synchronization in stochastic resonances, several aspects of which are supported by the experimental evidence presented here. This may prove to be important in the understanding of nonlinear conductivity in CDW solids.


Introduction: Cutaneous alterations in patients with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) are frequently found but are variable. They present with multiple skin abnormalities which have a significant impact on the quality of life of patients. The objective was to study the incidence of various cutaneous manifestations in patients on dialysis. Material and Methods: A hospital based cross sectional study was conducted which included 100 consecutive cases of ESRD on hemodialysis for at least a period of 1 month. Cases were classified as ESRD on the basis of Cockroft-Gault formula, abnormal urinary imaging and urinary abnormality. Complete mucocutaneous examination was done in all patients. Investigations including renal function tests (RFT) and serum electrolytes were done in all patients. Results: 98% of cases had atleast one cutaneous finding attributable to to ESRD. The maximum number of cases was in the age group of 55-65 years with a male to female ratio of 2.8:1. Xerosis was the most common finding and was observed in 67% of cases followed by pallor (65%), hyperpigmentation (26%), edema (17%), pruritus (15%), ecchymosis (9%) and elastosis (3%). Among infections fungal infections (11%) were more common than bacterial infections (4%). In nail changes half and half nails (21%) and longitudinal ridging (20%) were frequently seen followed by leuconychia (15%), onycholysis (7%), Beau's lines (7%), koilonychia (2%), Mees' lines (2%) and Meuhrcke's lines (2%). Hair changes such as sparse scalp hair (7%) and lustreless hair (7%) were seen. Oral changes such as angular cheilitis (4%), uremic breath (2%) and macroglossia (1%) were present. Iatrogenic manifestations like gynaecomastia (1%) and A-V shunt dermatitis (1%) were also observed. Conclusion: Dermatological manifestations increase with increasing duration of renal disease. Our observations necessitate a joint effort between dermatologists and nephrologists for the early recognition and management of these dermatoses which may reduce the morbity and significantly improve the quality of life of patients.


An asymmetric tubular carbon membrane, appropriate for gas separation applications, was made through carbonization at 800°C of a precursor structure containing two phenol-formaldehyde resins, a partially cured novolac resin in 30–60 μm grains (bulk material), and a resole resin (membrane skin material). A replica of the skin material was deposited separately on a stainless steel substrate. The samples were analyzed by nitrogen adsorption, small-angle neutron scattering, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The basic structural entities of both skin and the bulk part were low-aspect-ratio carbon domains with a characteristic dimension in the 4.0–4.5 nm range. Further, the materials were characterized by microporosity in the 0.30–0.50 range with isotropic pores having a 1.3 nm diameter. The results are discussed with the help of a systematic survey of possible carbon structures with an intermediate level of microporosity. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 64: 2323–2345, 1997


In referelme to t, he paper by Ira Pohl, "A Method for Finding ti~miitonian Paths and Knight's Tours" [Comm. ACM 10, 7 (July 19(~7), 446-449], I would like to point out an improvement to the method described by I. Pohl, to avoid still possible backtracks without significantly increasing the amount of computation i~volved. The idea is to detect dead-ends as soon as possible. Let us censMer first the search for Ilamiltonian circuits, where one must go back to tile starting peint. [n this case, no dead-end may be left while making moves. Therefore, Warnsdorff's rule can be changed ill tile following way: Select the move(s) which connects with the fewest number of further moves. Case 1: This number is zero. If this is the last move, exit. Otherwise, backtrack. ;i : Case 2: This number is one, If there is no tie, make the selected move. If there is a tie, backtrack (otherwise, one would leave one dead-end). Case 3: This number is greater than one. Break tie if necessary ; and make selected move. Thus, the only change to be made to Ira Pohl's procedure is to backtrack instead of applying the tie-breaking rule when the minimum number of further moves is one. If one rmw considers the search for Hamiltonian paths, one can leave just one (lead end. Thus, the tie breaking rule with a minimum equal to one can be applied just once. This early back-tracking rule was successfully applied to finding llamiltonian circuits of the knight on a chessboard [i] and to studying hypo-hamiltonian graphs [2]. I~EFERENCES : 1. DunY, J.J. A graphic algorithm to find all hamiltonian cir-ili cults of a graph. Internal report, Alan 1{. Levinstone, of Stevens [nsti|ute of Technology, has pointed out an error in my progr~mL The corrections to the program are given below. In reg,,u*(l to Mr. I)uby's letter, [ would just point out that in the conehmion to my article several hybrid methods were given. These included the possibility of backtracking and using a Boolean equation Mgorithm of ForteCs ;ound in Beige. Line 61. A zero is missing and the line should therefore read check: if BOARD [rr,ff] = 0 then Lines 96-120 have several errors and are rewritten below. for i := 1 step 1 until nummov do begin T1 := Numofmov(NextR [i], NextF [i]); if (min > T1) A (TI~0) then begin if min # T1 then …


Recent studies have shown that the 3‐hydroxy‐3‐methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (statins) possess antiinflammatory and immunomodulatory properties, distinct from their action of lowering serum lipid levels. Moreover, results of epidemiological studies suggest that long‐term use of statins is associated with a decreased risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Interestingly, lovastatin (one of the most commonly used anticholesterol drugs) treatment of vascular‐derived cells has been reported to antagonize activation of the Janus kinase (JAK)/signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) signaling pathway, and it is well known that the JAK/STAT pathway plays a central role in interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ)‐induced microglial CD40 expression. We and others have previously reported that microglial CD40 expression is significantly induced by IFN‐γ and amyloid‐β (Aβ) peptide. Moreover, it has been shown that CD40 signaling is critically involved in microglia‐related immune responses in the CNS. In this study, we examined the putative role of lovastatin in modulation of CD40 expression and its signaling in cultured microglia. RT‐PCR, Western immunoblotting, and flow cytometry data show that lovastatin suppresses IFN‐γ‐induced CD40 expression. Additionally, lovastatin markedly inhibits IFN‐γ‐induced phosphorylation of JAK/STAT1. Furthermore, lovastatin is able to suppress microglial tumor necrosis factor‐α, interleukin (IL)‐β1 and IL‐6 production promoted either by IFN‐γ or by Aβ peptide challenge in the presence of CD40 cross‐linking. To characterize further lovastatin's effect on microglial function, we examined microglial phagocytic capability following CD40 cross‐linking. Data reveal that lovastatin markedly attenuates CD40‐mediated inhibition of microglial phagocytosis of Aβ. These results provide an insight into the mechanism of the beneficial effects of lovastatin in neurodegenerative disorders, particularly Alzheimer's disease. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Any good teacher can master the technique of Positive or Affirmative teaching, and so become a better teacher. This article tells both why and how.


Recently much of the research has been dedicated to the application of fractional calculus in rheology. In this paper fractional-order spectra are presented for the complex viscoelastic materials, which mechanical analogy are constructed by fractional elements connected in series or parallel. Fractional-order spectra connect directly to the material's constitutive relation with fractional derivatives and reflect the characteristic of networks of mechanical analogy. The calculation method for fractional-order spectra is provided. The spectra for some fractional models which are commonly used are determined.


A key thesis of this essay is that exploration of the construct of structural violence—especially as iterated in Johan Galtung's notion of the triangle of violence—can help elucidate the theological concept of systemic or social sin, and thereby help Christians generate a more adequate ethical response to issues and dilemmas in immigration debates in the U.S. today. The notion of structural evil and sin can proffer insight into the reality of complex webs and entanglements in structural violence that enshrouds the lives and journeys of unauthorized Latino/a immigrants into the United States, and into the role of U.S. citizens in perpetuating such violence. Structural violence, seen theologically as social sin, is a conceptual key to "critical seeing" of political, social, legal, and economic structures and policies that drive forced economic immigration in the first place, and also to exposing the moral oblivion and blindness that thwarts the church from offering hospitality and justice to unauthorized immigrants. I argue that because structural violence originates in the vastly unequal distribution of power and privilege among human agents, which systematically advantages elite power brokers at the expense of people on the lowest rungs of society, then repentance from structural violence must entail collective efforts toward redistributing power, and ensuring more equitable access to resources needed for human flourishing. The primary practice and discipline dedicated to this radical task is faith-based community organizing.


A novel K-nested layered look-ahead method and its corresponding architectures, which pack K trellis steps into one step (where K is the encoder constraint length) and combine two look-ahead sub-trellises in a layered manner, are proposed for a high throughput Viterbi decoder. The proposed method guarantees parallel paths between any two-trellis states in the look-ahead trellises and distributes the add-compare-select computations to all trellis layers. It leads to a regular and simple architecture for the Viterbi decoding algorithm. The proposed method can be implemented in a partly or fully parallel manner and can be used for a high throughput Viterbi decoder. The main advantage of the proposed design is that it has the least latency among all look-ahead Viterbi decoders for a given level of parallelism.


Recently in this journal Allen D. Callahan argued for a bold, distinctive interpretation of Paul's Epistle to Philemon. Contrary to the conventional interpretation, Onesimus was not a (runaway) slave, but was Philemon's own estranged blood brother. Rather than an appeal for forgiveness for a fugitivus, or a request to retain a slave for further service, the Epistle to Philemon is the apostle's attempt to bring about reconciliation between two brothers. Callahan's thesis constitutes a powerful reminder of how the interpretation of each of Paul's letters, perhaps especially this shortest and most subtle letter, depends acutely upon the interplay between historical reconstruction of the original context and the text itself. Callahan calls for a reconsideration of the most basic, universal presupposition of the interpretation of the letter—that Onesimus was Philemon's slave.


C-H...O hydrogen bonds with water acceptors are analyzed from 101 water molecules in 46 neutron crystal structures. The shortest observed hydrogen bond distances are H...O W ∼2.3A and C...O W ∼3.1 A. About 8% of the water molecules accept C-H...O W interactions with H...O W separations<2.5 A AND 39% WITH H...O W <2.8 A. CH donors may coordinate to water molecules in concert with OH and NH donors and with metal ions in many different combinations. The most frequent function of C-H...O W hydrogen bonds is to complete a tetrahedral coordination geometry around the water


India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world with a sharp upward swing in the hospitality and tourism sector. In such a competitive and challenging environment, it becomes imperative for employers and managers of hospitality and tourism industry to have a better team performance and outcomes. Emotional intelligence has the ability to perceive and comprehend others emotions in terms of social contexts, to dissuade the emotional reactions and to influence others by regulation and control of emotions. It epitomizes a critically important skill for effective transformational leadership and team performance in today's organizations. This study would emphasize the impact of emotional intelligence as a mediating variable on transformational leadership and team outcomes among Leaders/Managers of hospitality and tourism industry. The transformational leadership and team performance would be proposed as independent and dependent variable respectively.


Abstract Two mechatronic setups as advanced tools for control theory workshops are described in this paper. Schmid pendulum on the wheeled platform has been designed to demonstrate the advantages of adaptive hybrid control approaches. Ballbot autonomous robotic setup in turn has been built and programmed specially for optimal control workshops.


This paper briefly elaborated user-oriented construction of knowledge information system from the knowledge service technology level,the knowledge service level and the knowledge storehouse.


Abstract The life history and the later larval instars of Tetrastichus garryana Burks (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) are described and figured. The parasite has been collected from several species of oak gall cynipids, to which general group it seems to be restricted. In British Columbia it is most commonly associated with the gall-wasp Besbicus mirabilis (Kinsey).


The Murray-Darling crisis has led to drinking water shortages, drying rivers, and fish kills in the Darling, Macintyre and Murrumbidgee Rivers. This has been the catalyst for recommendations for a Royal Commission and creation of two independent scientific expert panels.


The debris flow was located in Gangou village,Gaochuan township,Anxian County of Sichuan Province in severe earthquake disaster area of "5·12",which was a new debris flow gully,it had not occurred before earthquake.Earthquake induced a mass of disasters as collapse,landslide and provided abundant incompact solid matters.In the rainfall,the bursting debris flow occurred on August 24,2009.The debris flow featured some characters:① the main source of debris flow was the large landslide which was located in the upper and middle reaches;② frequency of debris flow and local precipitation in Gangou was different;③ Gangou belonged to viscous,high-bulk volume debris flow;④ It was the large scale of outburst debris flow with flux about 403.17m3/s.The study indicated that the region had entered an active period by the Gangou debris flow.Therefore,it was important to assess debris flow risk and early warning and effective engineering measures in the Gangou basin areas as soon as possible.


The properties of azo reactive dyes depend on their existence form,azo or hydrazone. The stable form of an azo dye could be confirmed by its NMR and ESI-MSn,respectively. Navy components and deep red components of Reactive Supra Black( G or R)were shown that: the azo group on hydroxy side was hydrazone form and on amino side was azo form; the structure of the yellow component was confirmed by1H-NMR,13C-MNR and Electrospray Tandem Mass Spectra,the azo group on phenyl sulfonic acid side was transformed to hydrazone form during three successive coupling reactions. Thus,the correct structure of the yellow component of Supra Black was outlined.


Summary Acoustic impedance (AI) is one of the most effective ways of quantitatively interpreting seismic data and can simply be obtained by converting the reflectivity series of the subsurface layers. Therefore, high resolution seismic reflectivity inversion (HRRI) of the seismic data has been an important step in the seismic data processing. However, when seismic data include noise, traditional damped and undumped least square inversion methods mostly lead to unreliable and low quality results. In addition, estimation of reflectivity from seismic data is generally band-limited and negatively affects impedance producing. For this reasons, in this study, I performed the HRRI with using Cauchy regularization (HRRI-CR). The method is iteratively applied to produce reflectivity with high resolution and has anti-noise ability, which leads to obtain accurate seismic acoustic impedance results. I tested the performance of the HRRI-CR method on synthetic data in obtaining the AI and showed that the method provides more accurate information about the layers when comparing the subsurface layer model with calculated impedance curves.


Abstract : Under the EPA regulations, waste water should not contain more than 5-6mg/L of total phosphorus before it is discharged into a public sewer system. The conventional methods for determining phosphorous in waste are time consuming and also require pretreatment of samples to convert all the phosphorous to the orth-phosphate form for analysis. Inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometric method (ICP-AES) has been successfully used to determine phosphorus in waste. This method is fast, accurate and does not require sample pretreatment prior to analysis. (Keywords: Inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscropy, Waste, Standard addition.


Callistemon (Myrtaceae) is a plant genus native to Australia with many cultivars grown as ornamentals worldwide. Several orange larvae of an undescribed gall midge (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) were found feeding within vegetative buds of Callistemon viminalis plants grown in a production greenhouse in Victoria, Australia. Infested buds stopped their development and, following the departure of larvae, turned necrotic. Pupation took place in the soil. Young potted plants were infested and severely retarded in their overall growth. The new species is described and named Dasineura callistemoni Kolesik sp. nov.


The Australian language Arrernte has been argued by Breen & Pensalfini (1999) and Evans & Levinson (2009) to present a case of VC syllabification (vowel-consonant constituency, with coda maximization), rather than CV syllabification (consonant-vowel constituency, with onset maximization). In this paper we demonstrate that greater insights for a number of phenomena are achieved when analyzed with CV syllabification and onset consonants that are moraic, a possibility independently proposed for a wide range of languages by Topintzi (2010). Previous analyses were obliged to posit an underlying fleeting initial schwa for surface forms beginning with CV at the left edge; we demonstrate that once the full range of phenomena are considered, no such schwa is desirable, and that these words are underlyingly CV-initial. We review a range of prosodic morphology and external evidence from phonetic studies, acquisition, and musicology that points towards a CV syllabification in Arrernte and provide an analysis for the allomorphy, stress assignment, reduplication, and the transpositional language game 'Rabbit Talk' in terms of reference to moraic structure. The results lend themselves to new directions in the analysis of Arrernte and provide further evidence for moraic onsets in prosodic morphology. 1. Overview: The Universality of CV Syllabification The question of the universality of the syllable incites particular excitement among phonologists, at least since Jakobson's (1962) proposal of the ubiquity of CV syllabification. In a recent paper, Hyman (2011a) recants an earlier view (Hyman 1983) that Gokana does not have syllables, arguing instead that a restriction on the maximum prosodic stem size in verbs is best accounted for by assuming bisyllabic trochees. In a related facet of the same kind of debate, Labrune (2012) asserts that Japanese does not have syllables, suggesting that only moras play a role in phonotactic and metrical phenomena (however, see Kawahara (2016) for a rejoinder). In the present paper, we focus on a similar question of universality, although with respect to syllabification itself, and in particular the nature of the Onset as a preferred constituent, which in turn favors CV rather than VC syllables. The CV syllabification universal under examination is the one that favors CV, by the principle of onset maximization (Steriade 1982, Itô 1986), under which coda consonants are allowed, but only as a last resort, when consonants cannot be incorporated as an onset to a following vowel or made into a syllabic consonant. We thus do not limit this to the strict-CV phonology of Lowenstamm (1996), under which codas are claimed never to exist, with empty nuclei following them, but rather the broader claim that a VCV sequence will always be syllabified as V.CV under CV syllabification. By contrast, a putative VC syllabification algorithm would pursue 'Coda Maximization', whereby onset consonants are only allowed as a last resort, and a VCV sequence will be syllabified as VC.V. The case study at hand is Arrernte, a language previously studied by Breen & Pensalfini (1999), Henderson (2013), and a number of other authors, but brought to the spotlight of the universals debate by Evans & Levinson (2009), who contend that as a result of adopting Breen & Pensalfini's analysis, "The status of the CV assumption in any model of UG must be revised." Evans & Levinson thus have in mind an analysis of the VC type, in which consonants are preferentially syllabified as codas, rather than onsets. Of particular note in this connection, however, is the fact that Breen & Pensalfini (1999: 10; henceforth B&P) themselves state "if there is a viable alternative to VC(C) syllabification of Arrernte, it should be preferred". Our goal in this paper is to provide exactly such an alternative, consistent with CV syllabification and in fact, across many of the phenomena in question, more straightforward than the VC analysis. * For very helpful suggestions and discussion, we thank Myf Turpin, David Wilkins, Rob Pensalfini, Marija Tabain, Toni Borowsky, Michael Becker, Leo Wetzels, Moira Yip, and Bob Ladd; and the editors, associate editor, and anonymous reviewers of Phonology.


This study comparatively and quantitatively ascertained the antioxidant, nutritional and phytochemical potentials of Euphorbia heterophylla and Morinda lucida plants by Standard methods. The results of moisture, crude protein, fibre and ash contents respectively obtained in proximate analysis were significantly higher (p<0.05) in Euphorbia heterophylla than that of Morinda lucida except that of the total fat and carbohydrate contents. In mineral analysis, the relative amounts of potassium, calcium, magnesium, zinc and iron in the leaves of Morinda lucida were significantly h igher (p<0.05) as compared to E. heterophylla. With phytochemical analysis, there was a high significant difference (p<0.05) of tannins, alkalo ids and cyanogenic glycosides in both plants, and a higher significant difference (p<0.05) in the amounts of phytate, oxalate and phenols in Morinda lucida than that of Euphorbia heterophylla. There was also, a significant difference (p<0.05) for the antioxidant capacity of both plants with predominance of v itamin C, catalase, and superoxide dismutase activities in Euphorbia heterophylla than that of Morinda lucida. However, Glutathione peroxidase activity predominates in the latter plant. Therefore, these plants are rich in nutrients, phytochemicals and highly valuable sources of natural antioxidants, which may combat oxidative stress and inhibit degenerative disorders.


(179). Moreover, these strategies "had as their main goal not the mobilization but rather demobilization of. . . those parts of the population that were actively mobilizing against the interests of the conservative elites" (180). An argument of this kind was first advanced in the early 1990s by antinationalist political activists in Serbia and Croatia—whom Gagnon here labels "reformist"—in their polemics with their nationalist opponents. Gagnon extensively cites their memoirs and testimonies but does not note how similar their arguments are to his. His argument is directed against the "Western misidentifications of the causes of violence" (30). The "story told in the Wes t . . . 'focuses' either on ancient ethnic hatreds as the driving force behind the violence, or on evil leaders who push buttons and manipulate people in order to mobilize their support" (33). Gagnon's brief list of those who espouse one of these two models includes journalists, travelogue writers, and television pundits but no social scientists writing on the former Yugoslavia. In support of this argument Gagnon presents four types of evidence. First, public opinion polls that purport to show that the populations in Serbia and Croatia on the eve of the conflict did not see any threat from their alleged "ancient enemies" and that the "conservative" parties in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Serbia had received the support of less than 50 percent of the voters in each of those republics. He also reports (without supporting evidence) that between 50 and 85 percent of conscripts in Serbia called up to fight in Croatia avoided the draft. Second, the electoral propaganda of the victorious "conservative" political parties is supposed to show that these parties emphasized economic and social issues and were not mobilizing their electorates in support of violence and war. Third, the paramilitary and military units that perpetrated violence in nationally mixed areas in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina came from outside those areas, meaning that the violence was, as it were, "imported." Finally, the decrease in the popularity of the ruling "conservative" parties in Serbia and Croatia was, it is alleged, followed by an increase in violence. Gagnon regards this as evidence of the "conservative" ruling elites' strategy to demobilize their political opponents by shifting the political debate and discourse away from the issue of political and economic reforms. Yet the evidence he cites also shows that each ruling ("conservative") party presented the war they were fighting as a defensive war. And from 1990 to 2000 the majority of voters in Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina continuously voted for the parties whose explicitly nationalist platforms supported such defensive wars; only a small proportion of voters voted for the parties with antinationalist and antiwar platforms. Therefore, the majority of voters were, pace Gagnon, successfully mobilized to support defensive wars. Further, the outbreaks of violence in various conflict areas did not always follow the decrease in the popularity of the ruling parties. For example, the major outbreak of fighting in Croatia in September 1991 occurred when the popularity of both Serbian and Croatian "conservative" parties was not decreasing. All in all, no evidence is presented in the book that the leaders of either of these two parties were in fact planning to escalate violence as a demobilizing strategy against their political opponents. In the course of his, at times, rather impassioned argument, Gagnon perpetuates a few myths himself—such as the myth that the Yugoslav federal army attacked Slovenia on 25 June 1991. The book presents the social reality of the former Yugoslav republics as an almost Manichean struggle between the "conservative" elites and the "reformist" popular movements. Those opposed to the "conservatives" (whose evil deeds are well documented in the book) may find this story quite appealing. To many social scientists, though, the social reality of the former Yugoslavia appears significantly more fragmented and more complex than this book's story would allow.


An overview of the literature on some nonparametric or distribution-free quality control procedures is presented for univariate data. A nonparametric control chart is defined along with some general motivations and formulations. Various advantages of these charts are highlighted while some disadvantages of the more traditional, distribution-based. control charts are pointed out. Specific observations are made in the course of the review of articles and constructive criticism is offered. so that opportunities for further research can be identified. Connections to some areas of active research are made. such as sequential analysis, that are of relevance to process control. It is hoped that this article would lead to a wider acceptance of distribution-free control charts among the practitioners and would serve as an impetus to future research and development in this area.


Thank you for downloading computerized business information systems an introduction to data processing. Maybe you have knowledge that, people have search numerous times for their chosen readings like this computerized business information systems an introduction to data processing, but end up in infectious downloads. Rather than reading a good book with a cup of tea in the afternoon, instead they juggled with some infectious bugs inside their computer.


Grain-refined TiB2-TiCx composites were designed and fabricated by reaction hot pressing under 30 MPa at 1800 °C choosing 4.8 Ti-B4C material system with Al, C and Si3N4 as additives. The microstructure of the resultant was homogeneously grain-refined TiB2-TiCx matrix reinforced by AlN-SiC solid solution particles that were embedding tiny TiB2-TiCx crystals. The obtained specimen showed relative high flexural strength of 860±30 MPa and fracture toughness of 13.6±0.3 MPa·m1/2, which can be explained by several toughening mechanisms.


Introduction: Imaging of tissue with nearinfrared DOT is emerging as a practicable method to map hemoglobin concentrations within tissue for breast cancer detection. The accurate recovery of images by using numerical modeling requires an effective image reconstruction method. We illustrate a comparison between two widely used reconstruction methods (Born approximation [1,2] and NIRFAST [3,4]) using finite element modeling in COMSOL for 3D forward data generation. Results: A comparison between two DOT image reconstruction methods is presented in the following two graphs and table:


Background: Kidney disorders are serious outcomes of diabetes, resulting in renal ailments. This study seeks to provide an alternative treatment for the disorder through the use of medicinal plants that offer renal protection and ameliorate the deleterious effect of diabetes. Methods: Thirty rats were divided into six groups of five and hyperglycemia was induced by intraperitoneal injection of 50 mg/kg streptozotocin. The rats with a fasting blood glucose level exceeding 250 mg/dl were selected. The L. hastata leaf extract was administered orally and a daily insulin injection was given intramuscularly into the left thigh for 28 days. Rats were then sacrificed and the urine was collected for urinalysis. The kidneys were harvested and examined histologically. The micrographs obtained were subjected to morphometric analyses to evaluate several parameters. Results: The extract-treated groups showed preservation of the cytoarchitecture of the renal tubules and glomeruli as compared to the diabetic control group, which showed distortion of the glomeruli and atrophied renal tubules. The rats that received the extract showed a significantly increased glomerular perimeters and areas (P<0.01). The cellularity was significantly increased (P<0.001); however, the glomerular basement membranes were significantly thicker in these groups compared to the controls (P<0.001). Both the extract-treated and insulin-treated rats showed reduced urine glucose concentrations. Urobilirubinogen, protein, and ketone levels were elevated in the diabetic controls compared to the extract-treated rats. Conclusion: Administration of the L. hastata extract led to renal protection by preserving the cytoarchitecture of the glomeruli and renal tubules, restoring the kidneys' function.


Since 1951 many fumigation experiments have been carried out with different species and varieties of plants, including field corn and sweet corn. Results for gladiolus and Milo maize have been summarized, but only brief mention has been made of results obtained with corn. This report summarizes some of the earlier results obtained with sweet corn, used alone or in comparative tests with field corn in unreplicated experiments and the results of replicated fumigation experiments with Marcross sweet corn (Zea mays L.) and lamb's-quarters (Chenopodium album L.) carried out in 1963.


Entropy has been widely investigated as an effective metric to evaluate the dynamic complexity of signals. EEG is biological signals that contain rich complex dynamics. Transforming the information encoded in the rich dynamics embedded within EEG into appropriate biomarkers with discriminatory powers is important for event detection. It has broad prospects in a wide range of applications including medical diagnosis, therapy, and rehabilitation. This paper proposes a new entropy-based measure, Multi-scale Weighted Inherent Fuzzy Entropy (WIFEn), as an effective EEG biomarker for improving event detection performance. WIFEn first extracts Inherent Mode Functions (IMFs) using the Empirical Mode Decomposition method, then uses a weighted sum scheme to fuse the fuzzy entropy metrics calculated on each IMF. Finally, the multi-scale variation accounts for the multi-timescale dynamics inherent in EEG signals. Since EEG signals are a superposition of series of oscillations where information embedded in these oscillations is useful for estimating signal complexity, the aforementioned decomposition, and weighted sum procedures can improve the estimation results. The proposed method is tested with three entropy-based metrics for two tasks. The first task is eye-open and eye-closed detection with resting state EEG signals recorded from 10 subjects; while the second task is seizure detection for 8 epilepsy patients. The results indicate that the multi-scale WIFEn provides a better discriminatory power that improves detection performance than classic entropy-based measures, with an averaged improvement of 13.7% (p-value < 0.05) for resting-state classification and 5.9% (p-value < 0.05) for seizure detection.