A new processing technique, known as hydrophobic displacement, was explored as a means of simultaneously removing both mineral matter and surface moisture from coal in a single process. Previous thermodynamic analysis suggests that coal moisture will be spontaneously displaced by any oil with a contact angle greater than ninety degrees in water. Based on these results, six methods of hydrophobic displacement were evaluated: hand shaking, screening, air classification, centrifugation, filtration, and displacement. In the first five methods hydrophobic displacement took place during the cleaning stage. A recyclable non-polar liquid (i.e. pentane) was used to agglomerate coal fines followed by a physical separation step to remove the coal agglomerates from the mineral-laden slurry. Bench-scale tests were performed to identify the conditions required to create stable agglomerates. Only the last method, displacement, did not utilized agglomeration and performed hydrophobic displacement during dewatering, not cleaning. A procedure was also developed for determining moisture content from evaporation curves so that the contents of water and pentane remaining in a sample could be accurately distinguished. Two primary coal samples were evaluated in the test program, i.e., dry pulverized 80 mesh x 0 clean coal and 100 mesh x 0 flotation feed. These samples were further screened or aged (oxidized) to provide additional test samples. The lowest moisture, 7.5%, was achieved with centrifugation of the pulverized 80 mesh x 0 clean coal sample. Centrifugation provided the most reliable separation method since it consistently produced low moisture, high combustible recoveries, and high ash rejections. Hand shaking produced the next lowest moisture at 16.2%; however, the low moistures were associated with a drop in combustible recovery. There was also a great deal of error in this process due to its arbitrary nature. Factors such as oxidation, size distribution, and contact angle hysteresis influenced the concentrate moistures, regardless of the method utilized.


The thin-walled parts of the tank are widely used in aerospace filed and the accuracy is the basis requirement for ensuring the usability. Due to the low rigidity of the thin-walled parts, the milling force becomes a major factor for the machining deformation. Based on analysis the relationship between feed speed and the length of the cutting arc, the feed speed optimization method is proposed to reduce the machining deformation. To reduce the machining deformation the optimal machining path is put forward which is base the finite element analysis results on the rigidity distribution law of the parts. At the same time, an efficient compensation method based on laser measurement is proposed. Through machining the aluminium alloy 2219 thin-walled tank parts as an example, experimental results indicate that the effectiveness of the proposed control method in machining process. This research provides an effective approach to reduce the machining deformation for the tank thin-walled parts.


Tin dioxide-multiwalled carbon nanotubes composite(SnO2 /MWCNTs) has been synthesized by using low-heating solid-state reaction with dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide(DTAB) as surfactant.The structure and morphology of the obtained samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD),transmission electron microscopy(TEM).The results showed that SnO2 nanodots could symmetrically grow on the surface of the MWCNTs.Electrochemical performance of these electrodes has been investigated using cyclic voltammetry,galvanostatic charge-discharge.Compared with bare SnO2 nanodots and purity MWCNTs,SnO2 nanodots uniformly dispersed on MWCNTs lead to a significantly improved capacitive performance in 1.0 mol·L-1 Na2SO4.Galvanostatic chargedischarge studies show that SnO2 has a maximum specific capacitance of 217.3 F·g-1 at 0.2 A·g-1 with 11wt% loading.


Background: Small bowel obstruction (SBO) is defined as a complete or partial mechanical blockage to the passage of intraluminal contents. In the United States, 15% of admissions for abdominal pain are secondary to SBO, with 300,000 hospital admissions annually. The most common causes of SBO by order are adhesions followed by hernias, Crohn's disease, malignancy, and volvulus. ANALYSIS 24(106), November December, 2020 Medical Science ISSN 2321–7359 EISSN 2321–7367


The implications of assuming concrete or rock to be a perfectly plastic body when determining the bearing capacity of concrete blocks or rock are examined experimentally. The strain field is experimentally determined for the indentation of a circular punch on a circular block having various block base conditions. Limit analysis is then applied to obtain upper and lower bound solutions for the standarized indirect tensile test o Various factors influencing the load tests of concrete cylinders are briefly discussed. ~ ~Assistant Professor, Fritz Engineering Laboratory, Department of Civil Engineering, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.


This study aims at investigating the factors influencing the effectiveness of internal control systems in the Jordanian ministries, as well as identifying the major obstacles facing these systems and their development in the Jordanian ministries. In order to achieve the objectives of this study and test its hypotheses, the researchers developed a questionnaire, which was distributed to (126) persons (including managers and employees at the departments of internal control). 82% of the distributed questionnaires have been received and used for statitical analysis.
The study concluded that the most effective factor in the internal control systems is the components of the accounting system. Where the least effective factors in the internal control systems are the performance control and the employees qualifications. The study also showed that there is a weakness in applying the policies of selecting and appointing employees in an objective and fairway, and a lack of good training for them. In addition to the previous mentioned weaknesses, the study showed that there is a weakness in the administrative leadership in the Jordanian ministries.
The researchers presented few recommendations, including: the Jordanian government should pay more attention to the internal control systems in the Jordanian ministries by focusing on the managerial and financial pillars that influence the effectiveness of internal control systems and developing accurate standards for measuring and evaluating the government performance.


The development of a multifactor framework which links ageing of insulation systems to power network performance is described. The framework provides a platform on which to develop models of plant reliability, identifying direct relationships between the working environment of the equipment and the ageing and failure processes of the insulation system. The evolution of the working environment is far from trivial and requires a stochastic modeling approach. The framework establishes links between the physics and chemistry of insulation degradation, the management of power quality and load flows in the network, thus linking plant reliability to asset management. In this paper, as an example of its use, the framework is used to provide a qualitative analysis and contrast of ageing and failure of insulation systems in high and low voltage networks. Finally, it is also shown to provide a platform for future research in the area.


The repeated data transmission in directed diffusion routing wireless sensor networks may result in difficult data fusion and this would hinder the practical.Based on the characteristics of directed-diffusion-routing wireless sensor network,DAM-DDNN model(data-aggregation model based on directed diffusion and neural network) is proposed.With the help of BP neural network with teacher leaning,the accuracy of sensing data could be improved,and the temporal redundancy and spatial redundancy of sensing data be reduced.And with the aid of neural network without teacher learning,the data redundancy could be reduced in the forwarding process of data packets.Theoretical analysis and simulation results show that the DAM- DDNN data-aggregation model could improve the comprehensive performance of wireless sensor network.


⋅Copyright c 2018 by The Korean Balance Society. All rights reserved. ⋅This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Orthostatic dizziness is a common dizziness syndrome characterized by nonvertiginous lightheadedness when patients rise to stand from a sitting or supine position. Orthostatic dizziness is commonly believed to derive from orthostatic hypotension (OH) or postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS). Tilt-table test and Valsalva maneuver are standardized methods for evaluating of adrenergic autonomic function and essential for diagnosis of OH and POTS. We described the guidelines and interpretations of the tilt-table test and Valsalva maneuver. Res Vestib Sci 2018;17(1):8-12


Basalt weathering is a key control over the global carbon cycle, though in situ measurements of carbon cycling are lacking. In an experimental, vegetation-free hillslope containing 330 m 3 of ground basalt scoria, we measured real-time inorganic carbon dynamics within the porous media and seepage flow. The hillslope carbon flux (0.6–5.1 mg C m –2 h –1 ) matched weathering rates of natural basalt landscapes (0.4–8.8 mg C m –2 h –1 ) despite lacking the expected field-based impediments to weathering. After rainfall, a decrease in CO 2 concentration ([CO 2 ]) in pore spaces into solution suggested rapid carbon sequestration but slow reactant supply. Persistent low soil [CO 2 ] implied that diffusion limited CO 2 supply, while when sufficiently dry, reaction product concentrations limited further weathering. Strong influence of diffusion could cause spatial heterogeneity of weathering even in natural settings, implying that modeling studies need to include variable soil [CO 2 ] to improve carbon cycling estimates associated with potential carbon sequestration methods.


Dynamic PET images suffer from limited reconstruction quality, affecting physiological quantification and clinical diagnosis. This thesis utilizes temporal coherence and tracer pharmacokinetics to cope with reconstruction for improving PET quantification. Evaluation results based on simulations and real measurements have shown clear improvements in reconstruction. This thesis also confirms that these improvements have the potential to improve diagnosis.


On the basis of prevention policy,this paper decides maintenance cycle and part of the normal route by analyzing predetermined confidence leveland and by establishing and solving mathematics model.Meanwhile the notion of optimization is applied to its determination and to its analysis process.By approaches of technique economy,regress probability,and economy probability,revision is made to meet different demands and purposes,thereby the optimized maintenance cycle is achieved.


Introduction In the short story "The Kid from the Alamo" by Beatriz de la Garza the narrator remembers his grade school years in Poggendorf (formerly Los Robles) in Southeast Texas. In particular, he focuses on Texan history, because even at that tender age, what they were studying seemed strange to him. The book started with a few pages about the native American pre-Columbian population, a few more on the Spanish explorers and some more on missions and missionaries. That was nothing but a prelude to the "real history of Texas" which started with the arrival of the English-speaking settlers. That is what struck me as odd. I mean, all you had to do was look around, and you could see that there were a lot of us Mexicanos, in Texas. So where did we come in? We came in at the Alamo, where we killed David Crockett, and at San Jacinto, where we were whipped by Sam Houston. That was it. Santa Anna and the wicked Mexicans were taken care of in a couple of chapters, and then we went on to the Civil War and a lot of boring governors after that. And not another Spanish name mentioned again. (210) One may be tempted to dismiss these words as those of a mexicano/chicano with an obvious ax to grind, but the American historian David J. Weber makes a similar comment: The history of Mexico's far northern frontier ... has been written almost entirely by United States historians, and one theme has dominated their writing: American expansion ... The theme has dominated historical explanation to such a point, however, that the activities of Mexicans on their own frontier have been neglected and, in the process, ethocentricity has influenced scholarship (1988:94). But the problem goes beyond mere neglect and it has also influenced the attitudes towards the Hispanic population of the Southwest in general and Southern Texas in particular. As Weber demonstrates, Anglo-American views of Hispanics were influenced first and foremost by stereotypes that were "in large part an extension of negative attitudes toward Catholic Spaniards which Anglo Americans had inherited from their Protestant English forbearers" (159). These stereotypes, which according to Weber are still in operation [laid] behind the arrogant sense of cultural and political superiority, known in United States history as Manifest Destiny, ... [and] led to the United States seizure of half of the Mexican Republic in 1846-47. The stereotype of the inferior Mexican has been used to the present to justify efforts to "Americanize" Mexicans in the Southwestern United States, replacing their "Folkways," with "superior" Anglo-American culture (166). One influential contribution that exemplifies the kind of Anglo-American scholarship criticized by Weber is Walter Prescott Webb's The Texas Rangers: A Century of Frontier Defense. An example of his rhetoric will suffice here: "... there is a cruel streak in the Mexican native, or so the history would lead us to believe. This cruelty may be a heritage from the Spanish of the Inquisition; it may, and doubtless should, be attributed partly to the Indian blood" (14). It is against this blatantly racist and distorted history that Rolando Hinojosa-Smith, as well as Americo Paredes and others, have been writing their literary responses since the mid 50s (Saldivar 1991: 167-180). With his Klail City Death Trip Series (KCDT) Rolando Hinojosa-Smith (henceforth, RHS)(1) has been writing/righting the history of his native Lower Rio Grande Valley, and he has accomplished this task. a traves de un proceso de escuchar al pueblo para escuchar las voces de la memoria comunitaria ... de una busqueda y encuentro de la comunidad chicana, primero en los recuerdos personales, y segundo, en la memoria comunal. Esta ultima puede parecer fragmentada, pero a traves del acto de recordar por parte del narrador, estos fragmentos adquieren forma, unidad y coherencia, que la lectura luego confirma (Bruce-Novoa 1986:70-71, 108-111). …


Hand segmentation and detection in truly unconstrained RGB-based settings is important for many applications. However, existing datasets are far from sufficient both in terms of size and variety due to the infeasibility of manual annotation of large amounts of segmentation and detection data. As a result, current methods are limited by many underlying assumptions such as constrained environment, consistent skin color and lighting. In this work, we present a large-scale RGB-based egocentric hand segmentation/detection dataset Ego2Hands that is automatically annotated and a color-invariant compositing-based data generation technique capable of creating unlimited training data with variety. For quantitative analysis, we manually annotated an evaluation set that significantly exceeds existing benchmarks in quantity, diversity and annotation accuracy. We show that our dataset and training technique can produce models that generalize to unseen environments without domain adaptation. We introduce Convolutional Segmentation Machine (CSM) as an architecture that better balances accuracy, size and speed and provide thorough analysis on the performance of state-of-the-art models on the Ego2Hands dataset.


Biotic stress is a major cause for pre and postharvest losses in agriculture. Food crops of the world are damaged by more than of 10,000 species of insects 30,000 species of weeds, 1,00, 000 types of diseases (due to fungi, viruses, bacteria and various microbes) and a 1,000 species of nematodes. Modern day management practices for the above specified stress factors largely depends on the utilization of synthetic pesticides. Pesticide misuse in numerous sectors of agriculture frequently has often linked to health issues and environmental pollution around the world. Thus, there is a growing interest in replacing or possibly supplementing the prevailing control strategies with new and safer techniques. One of the promising management tools in this new state of affairs for crop protection is microbial pesticides. At present, only 3% of plant protectants used globally are covered by bio pesticides, but their growth rate indicates an increasing trend in the past two decades. The discovery of insecticidal property of Bacillus Review Article Rajashekhar et al.; IJECC, 11(4): 18-32, 2021; Article no.IJECC.68671 19 thuringiensis (Bt) indicated a more extensive part of organism based natural control. Microbial pesticides comprise of a microorganisms (bacterium, fungus, virus or protozoan) or toxins produced by them as the active ingredient. The most commonly used microbial pesticides are entomopathogenic fungi (Metarhizium, Beauveria and Verticillium), entomopathogenic bacteria (Bt), entomopathogenic nematode (Steinernema and Heterorhabditis) and baculoviruses (NPV and GV) which able to cause disease in insects. Microbial insecticides are promising alternative to ecologically disruptive pest control measures as they are no longer harmful to the environment and non target organisms. If deployed appropriately, microbial insecticides have capability to bring sustainability to global agriculture for food and food safety.


Part 1 Invited speakers: turbulent reactive and combustive flows on MPP systems, D.R. Emerson et al direct numerical simulation of isotropic turbulence using NAL numerical wind tunnel, K. Yamamoto parallel CFD on ADENA, T. Nogi parallel treatment of CFD related problems, D. Vandromme et al performance of NAS parallel benchmark LU on IBM SP systems, V.K. Naik implementing a CFD solver on Cenju-3 parallel computer, K. Muramatsu et al. Part 2 Reacting or turbulent flows: turbulence simulation on sparse grids using the combination method, M. Gribel and W. Huber towards 3D direct numerical simulation of turbulent reactive flow, A. Stoessel et al. Part 3 Distributed memories: a scalable parallel conjugate gradient solver for the IBM SP, D.J. Klepacki dynamic load-balancing for parallel simulation of reactive flows, D. Thevenin et al. Part 4 Euler ad Navier-Stokes solvers: additive turbulent decomposition - a highly parallelizable turbulence simulation technique, J.M. McDonough and D. Wang the transplantation of an unsteady Navier-Stokes solver for cascade flows onto the NWT system, T. Yamane oblique reflection of shock waves simulated by the Navier-Stokes equations, F. Higashino et al. Part 5 Implementation on special architectures: three-dimensional vortex method on GRAPE-3AF - a special purpose computer for vortex method, I. Hachisu et al NAS parallel benchmark results on ADENART, T. Imamura et al portable implementation of a non conform multidomian industrial CFD code on MIMD MPP systems, C. Borel and B. Culty. Part 6 Domain decomposition methods I: numerical simulation of incompressible flow on parallel computer with the domain decomposition technique, K. Shimano and C. Arakawa a vector-parallel algorithm for computations of multi-domain flow-fields, Y. Takakura et al AIRPLANE on the IBM parallel system SPI, W.-S. Cheng et al. Part 7 Domain decomposition methods II: optimal domain decomposition for parallel multiblock flow-field solvers using genetic algorithms, D. Quagliarella domain decomposition technique for 2-D incompressible Navier-Stokes solver on array of transputers, M. Obata et al. Part 8 FEM and irregular meshes I: an unstructured multigrid algorithm for parallel simulation of fluid flow, T.L. Tysinger and W.A. Smith JOSTLE - partitioning of unstructured meshes for massively parallel machines, C. Walshaw et al. Part 9 FEM and irregular meshes II: a concurrent, tetrahedral fluid solver, based on wave propagation, A. Fyfe et al. Part 10 From explicit to implicit algorithms: parallel implementation of Boltzmann equation solvers using PVM, K. Morinishi and N. Satofuka. Part 11 New algorithms and architectures: parallel implementation of gridless algorithm for compressible flow equations, N. Satofuka et al. Part 12 Networked computers: environment requirements for using dynamic load balancing in parellel CFD computations, Y.P. Chien et al. Part 13 Tools and mapping strategies. (Part contents).


An object of the present invention is to provide a vibration detection sensor applicable to various equipment and various fields which require the detection and measurement of the accurate vibration. Vibration detection sensor 100 has a substrate (2), a cable-like piezoelectric element 1 is directly connected at least at one end to the substrate (2). Shaped cable piezoelectric device 1 is along the radial direction, the center electrode 3 and the piezoelectric element 5 is disposed on the circumference, is disposed in the external electrode 7, and the periphery is disposed on the circumference provided with a covering layer (9). Vibration detection sensor, the substrate, the cable-like piezoelectric element, a center electrode, a piezoelectric member, and the outer electrode, the coating layer


Monitoring the generation and expansion of fatigue cracks in mechanical structures is critical to structural safety. To solve this problem, an optical sensing method for identifying crack propagation in mechanical structures is proposed. On-line monitoring of crack location, length, and expansion direction during crack propagation is achieved by combining micro-cavity array (MCA) fiber and optical frequency domain reflection (OFDR) system. Two adjacent ultra-short FBGs are used as a micro-cavity (MC) sensing element to obtain the strain distribution near the crack tip through a high spatial resolution distributed strain detection system. The crack state is obtained by combining the classical theoretical model, and a near real-time detection is achieved. Thereby, the system can perform an online monitoring and timely alarms on cracks. In this paper, we show the monitoring of the crack state during the process of preset crack length of 20 mm and crack propagation to 50 mm. An MCA fiber with 2542 MC elements with a spatial resolution of 1 mm is densely laid perpendicular to the crack tip direction. The crack propagation process is realized by using fatigue machine to apply cyclic load on aluminum alloy specimen, the distribution of non-uniform strain field of aluminum alloy specimen is obtained by detecting the wavelength drift of each MC element in the MCA fiber. In the test result, the distribution of the non-uniform strain field of the aluminum alloy specimen measured by the MC element is consistent with the simulation results. Consistently, the location of the crack tip and the detection of the crack length can be realized according to the distribution of the non-uniform strain field, and the feasibility of the aluminum alloy crack extension recognition system based on the MCA fiber is verified.


: This paper presents a novel approach for reactive power planning of a connected power network. Reactive power planning is nothing but the optimal usage of all reactive power sources i.e., transformer tap setting arrangements, reactive generations of generators and shunt VAR compensators installed at weak nodes. Shunt VAR compensator placement positions are determined by a FVSI (Fast Voltage Stability Index) method. Optimal setting of all reactive power reserves are determined by a GA (genetic algorithm) based optimization method. The effectiveness of the detection of the weak nodes by the FVSI method is validated by comparing the result with two other well-known methods of weak node detection like Modal analysis and the L -index method. Finally, FVSI based allocation of VAR sources emerges as the most suitable method for reactive power planning.


In order to sell surplus power or buy back-up power from a utility, a cogeneration plant of a customer needs be connected to a utility network. This connection may significantly affect the inherent operation characteristics of the utility system connected. In this paper a typical three-phase four-wire radial distribution feeder consists with a small cogeneration plant in the northern Taiwan was selected as a sample system. The sample system was modeled in detail and simulated by a commercial simulation software package, PSpice. Simulation results indicated the operation characteristics of the system, such as voltage and current profiles, system losses and short-circuit capacities were affected considerably while a cogeneration plant was in parallel operation with the system. The advantages and disadvantages of the parallel operation of small cogeneration systems with a distribution system are explored in this paper.


The need for a conceptual method of pinpointing R&D-based strategic opportunities is identified. A method, the technological growth tree, is developed as a managerial tool for mapping out strategic planning areas for the process-based industries. The usefulness of the proposed method is illustrated by reference to the bromine and ethanol industries. A number of specific R&D-based strategic opportunities, identified by the application of the method to the above industries, is presented.


In recent years,the ASEAN countries are gradually recovering from the recent international financial crisis.However,affected by the global economic recession,the economic development in ASEAN countries is slowing down.In the post-crisis period,ASEAN countries actively adjust their macro-economic policies,accelerate the economic transformation and promote regional economic integration.Considering the current global economic situation,ASEAN countries still have to face various new challenges.


This paper draws on the World Bank's new sources of data, the results of surveys of over 30,000 firms in 53 developing countries and Doing Business indicators in 130 countries. The World Bank's Investment Climate Surveys provide new insights into both the perceptions of local entrepreneurs about constraints they face, but also objective measures of the quality of infrastructure, regulatory burdens, crime, access to finance, and the security of property rights. Doing Business indicators give the costs of fully complying with various regulatory procedures. Together, the formal requirements and the actual experience of different types of firms illustrate the scope for investment climate improvements. The gains, in terms of increased productivity, investment and job growth are considerable. That smaller firms face costs that are up to a third higher underscores that improving investment climate conditions will disproportionately benefit small firms.


Many organisms appear to mimic inanimate objects such as twigs, leaves, stones, and bird droppings. Such adaptations are considered to have evolved because their bearers are misidentified as either inedible objects by their predators, or as innocuous objects by their prey. In the past, this phenomenon has been classified by some as Batesian mimicry and by others as crypsis, but now is considered to be conceptually different from both, and has been termed 'masquerade'. Despite the debate over how to classify masquerade, this phenomenon has received little attention from evolutionary biologists. Here, we discuss the limited empirical evidence supporting the idea that masquerade functions to cause misidentification of organisms, provide a testable definition of masquerade, and suggest how masquerade evolved and under what ecological conditions.


A new simple and rapid dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction has been applied to preconcentrate trace levels of zinc as a prior step to its determination by spectrophotometric method. In the proposed method, 4(2-pyridylazo) resorcinol (PAR) is used as a chelating agent, and chloroform and ethanol are selected as extraction and dispersive solvent. The optimization strategy is carried out by using two level full factorial designs. Results of the two level full factorial design (2) based on an analysis of variance demonstrated that the pH, concentration of PAR, amount of dispersive and extraction solvents are statistically significant. Optimal condition for three variables: pH, concentration of PAR, amount of dispersive and extraction solvents are obtained by using Box-Behnken design. Under the optimum conditions, the calibration graphs are linear in the range of 30-220 ng mL with detection limit of 11.2 ng mL (3δB/m) and the enrichment factor of this method for zinc reached at 130. The relative standard deviation (RSD) is 1.4% (n=7) at 50 ng mL level. The method is successfully applied to the determination of trace amount of zinc in water and human blood samples.


The rapid advance phase was marked by well distributed rainfall over the country, which occurred due to the interaction between the monsoon flow and midlatitude westerlies. Thus by 16 June, southwest monsoon covered most parts of the country, outside some parts of Rajasthan. Subsequently, there was a hiatus in the further advance due to the weakening of the monsoon current. It covered the remaining parts of Rajasthan and thus the entire country by 10 July, 5 days ahead of the normal date.


Given the high density of urban spaces, residents and tourists share resources and infrastructure in limited spaces. The purpose of the study is to investigate the influence of residents' perceived tourism impacts on their attitudes towards tourism growth, the effect of proximity to tourism center on residents' attitudes, and how this effect is moderated by residents' demographic features (age, gender, length of residence) in urban settings. A total of 251 responses were collected in downtown Greenville, a tourist zone located in the heart of Greenville, SC, USA. Using multiple regression models and ANOVA, the study suggested that (1) economic impact was the most important predictor of residents' attitudes towards tourism growth, (2) downtown residents were more favorable of tourism growth than county residents, and (3) Age and gender moderated the effect of proximity to a tourism center on residents' attitudes towards tourism growth.


Effects of cypermethrin (100 ppm) and endosulfan (30 ppm) on macrophage functions were investigated by their administration in the feed for 8 weeks in broiler chicks,. The functional activity of  macrophages assessed by nitroblue tetrazolium reduction test indicated a significant depression in number of functional macrophages in pesticide fed birds at fourth and eighth week. The reduction in active macrophages was more significant in endosulfan fed birds.


This paper explores the application of engineering geomorphology in the investigation and treatment for highway line selection,line design, and unfavorable geology in northern edge river highway,and analyzes the stability and adaptability of route line scheme,which has provided theoretical basis for highway geology investigation,design and construction.


The present invention relates to a contact module housing and the contact member and a fiber optic connector module, the contact module housing includes a housing body from the rear to the front in the insertion guide frame corresponding connector module mounting holes, provided with a limit on the housing body forward direction for contact with the module on the connector frame stop blocking structure housing mating stop surfaces to limit forward movement limit of the housing body, the housing body is provided with a mounting member for contacting the respective optical fiber mounting holes, the module housing body is also provided with a slot for an elastic wall of the hole of the module mounting holes card installed in the housing to restrict movement of the body toward the rear of the module locking hooks. The present invention can provide a detachable connection with the frame field and the use of the contact module housing of the contact module housing of the contact module and fiber optic connectors.


We compare and contrast from a geometric perspective a number of low-dimensional signal models that support stable information-preserving dimensionality reduction. We consider sparse and compressible signal models for deterministic and random signals, structured sparse and compressible signal models, point clouds, and manifold signal models. Each model has a particular geometrical structure that enables signal information to be stably preserved via a simple linear and nonadaptive projection to a much lower dimensional space; in each case the projection dimension is independent of the signal's ambient dimension at best or grows logarithmically with it at worst. As a bonus, we point out a common misconception related to probabilistic compressible signal models, namely, by showing that the oft-used generalized Gaussian and Laplacian models do not support stable linear dimensionality reduction.


Costa Rica has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, owing to its highly open economy that has large exposures to trade, tourism, foreign direct investment, and global supply chains. Tourism exports, which account for over 6 percent of GDP and 19 percent of exports, have collapsed with border closures, while other exports have also slowed owing to a slump in demand from trading partners. A severe local outbreak, which saw confirmed Covid-19 cases jump to 669 in just over six weeks, has led to large domestic labor restrictions, aimed at preventing a spreading of the virus, and is poised to cause additional widespread and prolonged disruptions to economic activity, balance of payments (BOP), and fiscal accounts, at a time when the fiscal space is very limited.


In this review paper, we are focused on the different technologies that are used to remove the near-far problem in wireless communication. Near-far problem effects the communication in the cell or outside the cell because the single can"t reach properly to the receiver or sender. There is different kind of method that is used to remove the near far problem. Guard zone is created in the network to overcome the near far problem. Exclusion zone is also used with guard zone to remove the effect of the near far problem. Many users observed that near far can be overcome by the 2 way one is too used the MAC protocol and other is the power control of the signal.MAC protocol is used in different ways by different users. And power control is also done in many ways like open loop, close loop, by defining the Hybrid access point for all the users in the cell. The near-far problem will be solving by adjusting dynamic output power at the transmitter end. Sequential Interference Cancellation (SIC) Algorithm is also used to use to remove the near far problem.


Objective To explore the mechanism and efficacy of Flos puerariae alcohol extract in a mouse model of alcoholism Methods A total of 80 clean grade Kunming mice were divided into four groups of control group, model control group, treatment group and positive drug control group. 10ml/kg bw oral physiological saline, 0ml/kg bw oral distillate, 10ml/kg bw distillate +10 ml/kg bw alcohol extract and 10ml/kg bw liquor +10 ml/kg bw were administered respectively twice a day for 45 consecutive days. The semi-automatic biochemical analyzer was employed to test AST and ALT. And the liver tissue slices were prepared to observe the morphological changes. Results Flos puerariae alcohol demonstrated a higher survival rate of mice. ALT and AST decreased significantly more than the pathology model group. And liver morphology significantly improved and the efficacy of anti-inebriation was better than the positive drug group. Conclusion Flos puerariae alcohol extract can significantly reduce the damaging effect of alcohol upon murine liver tissue and thus it plays a role in anti-inebriation.


UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) catalyzes a transfer of glucuronic acid from UDP-glucuronic acid to various endogenous and exogenous compounds and is located in the endoplasmic reticulum of liver and other tissues. Glucuronidation is a major detoxication reaction and provides great effects on the metabolism, disposition and excretion of pharmacologically and toxicologically active compounds. There are several UGT isoenzymes with different and overlapping substrate specificities and under different regulation. During the last decade, there has been a dramatical increase in the understanding of the structure and function of UGT isoenzymes especially through the recombinant DNA technology. This review concentrates on the recent developments in the research on glucuronidation and deals with purification, cloning, gene structure, deficiency, chromosomal location and function of UGT isoenzymes and glucuronides as active metabolites.


ABSTRACT In an effort to bridge the gap between the one-on-one attention that students receive when they come into the library and the attention given to online learners, the University of West Florida Libraries added an online learner component to its Personal Librarian Program. Personal librarian programs provide an opportunity for individualized outreach to students and can be particularly beneficial to online learners who may not receive it otherwise. While much of the literature on outreach to online students focuses on embedded librarianship, a personal librarian program emphasizes a direct connection and fosters an independent and strong relationship between the librarian and the student. The implementation of a personal librarian program for online learners by the University of West Florida has had successes and challenges that illuminate lessons for other institutions considering implementations of similar programs.


Seventeen compounds (1 - 17), β-sitosterone (1), lupenone (2), arborinone (3), β-sitosterol (4), lupeol (5), epi-lupeol (6), taraxerol (7), betulinic acid (8), 24R-methyllophenol (9), germanicol (10), hexatriacontane (11), nonacosan-1-ol (12), benzoic acid (13), tetradecyl(E)-ferulate (14), di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (15), trilinolein (16) and monopalmitin (17), were isolated from the methylene chloride-soluble fraction of the cork of Euonymus alatus Sieb. The structures of these compounds were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic evidence. Compounds 6, 11, 13 and 14 were isolated for the first time from this plant. Compound 4 showed moderate cytotoxic activity with an IC50 value of 6.22 μM in HL-60 cell line. Compound 9 exhibited moderate cytotoxic activity with IC50 values of 63.31, 15.45, 15.14 and 21.72 μM in four kinds of human cancer cell lines, Jurkat T, HeLa, HL-60 and MCF-7, respectively. Compound 17 showed moderate cytotoxic activity with an IC50 value of 70.71 μM in Jurkat T cell line. In addition, compounds 2, 3, 14 and 16 exhibited weak antioxidant activity with IC50 values of 151.76, 170.79, 137.46 and 139.37 μM, respectively.


research methods. (d) planning and conducting educational research, (e) selection of the subjects, (f) survey methods, (g) methods of experimentation. (h) methods of inquiry, and (i) methods of evaluation. Each package consists of in~ructional material and a good number of readings. To a large extent, the materials are oriented towards developing countries. In this volume, the material is presented in a way totally different from a. standard text-book format, that we find in the fourth volume, The slim fourth volume is concerned with two main questions: (a) what can be done to increase the amount of information available from educational data? and (b) what techniques can be used in given situations? ln other words. it is concerned with techniques of analysis of data in educational planning. While some of the techniques explained in the volume can be found in any text-book on statistics, the illustrations given here are education-specific and hence it would be of particular use to practitioners and researchers in educational planning. However, the editor's claim that it is not "just another standard statistical treatise" cannot be totally appreciated. This is not to undermine the importance of the volume. Besides techniques of analysis, visual data displays. tables of counts, measures of central tendency and regression analysis, the volume includes an interesting case study on "How educational statistics can be utilised for policy analysis?" relating to Paraguay. The four volumes together present an excellent blend of theory, empirical work and operational mechanics in educational planning. The practitioners and researchers in the field find the volumes to be of immense use. However. a thorough review of country case studies of applications of planning models in educa~ion. e.g .• the application of manpower planning models in OECD countries under MR TEP, the applications of rates of return approach to educational planning in several countries, etc., would have enhanced the value of these volumes quite significantly. Davis observes in the foreword to the first volume: "The field of educational planning proved too large and amorphous to fit into a neat set of manuals" (p. xi). The skills and dexterity with which the whole material on educati9nal planning could be organised into four .neat volumes of about 1600 pages, with not much overlapping, cannot but be admired. -JANDHYALA B.G. TlLAK


Presolar SiC grains of the mainstream, Y, and Z type are believed to come from carbon stars. We compared their C and Si isotopic ratios with theoretical models for the envelope compositions of AGB stars. Two sets of models (FRANEC and Monash) use a range of stellar masses (1.5-5 M☉) and metallicities, different prescriptions for mass loss, and two sets of neutron-capture cross sections for the Si isotopes. They predict that the shifts in Si isotopic ratios and the increase of 12C/13C in the envelope during third dredge-up are higher for higher stellar mass, lower metallicity, and lower mass-loss rate. Because the 22Ne neutron source dominates Si nucleosynthesis, the effect of the 13C source is negligible. Comparison of the model predictions with grain data confirms an AGB origin for these grains, with Y and Z grains having originated in stars with lower than solar metallicity. The Si isotopic ratios of the Z grains favor the Si cross sections by Guber et al. over those by Bao et al. The 12C/13C ratios of low-metallicity models are much higher than those found in Z grains, and cool bottom processing must be invoked to explain the grains' C isotopic ratios. By combining Z grain Si data with the models, we determined the evolution of the 29Si/28Si ratio in the Galaxy as function of metallicity Z. At Z < 0.01 this ratio rises much faster than current Galactic evolution models predict and suggests an early source of the heavy Si isotopes not considered in these models.


Computerized treatment planning is increasing rapidly in Radiation Oncology departments. Beam data must be supplied to the computer to calculate the dose distributions required. Theoretical calculations, hand digitizing of representative or measured isodose curves, isodose information input with a rho-theta device and direct input of beam profile data are among the methods used to generate beam data. To simplify the task without sacrificing accuracy, an SHM water phantom was interfaced to a RAD-8 treatment planning system to measure automatically and store beam distribution data for use by the planning system. The operation of the system and comparison of the results are discussed.


In murine macrophages, inducible NO synthase II (iNOS or NOS-II) is induced at the transcriptional level by IFN-gamma, alone or synergistically with LPS. We investigated the possible role of reactions of ADP-ribosylation in triggering the signaling pathways involved in NOS-II gene expression. Stimulation with IFN-gamma and/or LPS of RAW 264.7 macrophages, transiently transfected with the NOS-II promoter, was inhibited by ADP-ribosylation inhibitors, indicating that they interfered with the signal(s) responsible for NOS-II gene transcription. We therefore explored the effect of these inhibitors on the activity of IRF-1 and NF kappa B transcription factors known to be involved in NOS-II induction by IFN-gamma and LPS. No effect was observed on IRF-1 activation. However, NF kappa B binding to its target sequence diminished and transfection experiments with an NF kappa B-driven reporter plasmid demonstrating that ADP-ribosylation inhibitors suppressed NF kappa B-dependent promoter activity. These results provide evidence that a step involving ADP-ribosylation is required to activate NF kappa B-mediated gene transcription.


My reflections are organised along four main lines. First, I argue that the euro pushes integration forwards. Second, I highlight some of the main benefits and costs of European economic and monetary integration. Third, I provide some snapshots of the diversity of euro area national economies, a natural phenomenon in a wide currency area. Fourth, I discuss the issue of the optimal economic management of the euro area.


This study attempted to determine if the association between genetic admixture and cognitive ability among African, European, and Amerindian descent groups in the USA holds across a large time period. First, we used the large and nationally representative Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD) sample to examine the association between cognitive ability and parental-reported race, genetically-predicted color, and genetic ancestry among Puerto Ricans, non-Hispanic Whites, Blacks, and American Indians in the 21st century. Second, we use the 1850 to 1930 US censuses to trace ancestry-associated cognitive differences back to the early 19th and early 20th century among African American, American Indian, and Puerto Rican groups by using age-heaping-based numeracy as a proxy for cognitive ability. In the ABCD sample, we found that European ancestry is positively associated with cognitive ability within race/ethnic groups. In the census data, among African Americans and American Indians but not Puerto Ricans, we find that greater apparent European admixture is associated with higher numeracy, and this holds when we subset by age, sex, and literacy status. Therefore, we established that admixture is associated with cognitive ability in the 21st century as it was in the 19th and early 20th century. The implications of these findings are discussed.


Abtract Rapeseed cake and meal, a by-product of rapeseed, is one of the most important protein feedstuffs. Quality characteristics of rapeseed meal are given as follows: (1) The energy value of rapeseed meal is at variance, for which it is affected by its residual oil, crust and crude fiber content. (2) Rapeseed meal is an excellent protein source owing to its relatively high protein level (30%-40%), lysine, methionine and tryptophan levels as well as its low digestibility. (3) The calcium, phosphorus, selenium, iron and manganese contents in rapeseed meal are very high, but up to 65% of the P content is abound in P-phytate and thus reducing it bioavailability. (4) High levels of nicotinic acid and choline as well as low carotenoid and vitamin D levels are the main vitamins characteristics of rapeseed meal. Furthermore, variety, squeeze technique, anti-nutritional factors and its levels will also influence the nutritional value of rapeseed meal. While the main anti-nutritional factors in rapeseed meal include glucosinolates, sinapine, sinapic acid, tannin, phytic acid and crude fiber, there are some physical, chemical, biological and crop breeding methods to deal with the toxicity in rapeseed meal, of which the crop breeding is the most successful. Chinese "Double low" rapeseed and Canadian canola are main new varieties. Rapeseed meal has been widely used in the diet of some animals, and the amounts incorporated in diets of poultry, swine and cattle are usually 8%-15%, 3%-15% and 5%-20%, respectively. Presently, the anti-nutritional factors in common rapeseed meal, especially the glucosinolates and sinapic acid, are the main limiting factors for its wider application, while popularization and application for new species will bring into an available approach in solving those problems.


The reproductivity of Meloidogyne javanica and M. incognita race 3 in lettuce (Lactuca sativa) Grand Rapids (resistant to Meloidogyne spp.), tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) Santa Clara (susceptible to Meloidogyne spp.) and Nemadoro (resistant to Meloidogyne spp.), wild tomato (Lycopersicon peruvianum), hot pepper (Capsicum chinense) BGH 433, resistant to Meloidogyne spp., green pepper (Capsicum annuum) Ikeda resistant to M. javanica and susceptible to M. incognita was studied in three different environments: 1) greenhouse without temperature control; 2) room with air temperature controlled at 24 °C; 3) waterbath with soil temperature controlled at 29-30 °C placed in room with temperature controlled at 24°C. Greatest M. javanica and M. incognita race 3 reproduction and gall number occurred in warmed soil mixture compared to temperature controlled room and greenhouse. In warmed soil, the number of galls and eggs of M. javanica on tomato Nemadoro was greater (P ≤ 0.05) than that in the same plants grown in greenhouse or air controlled room. Also, in warmed soil, the M. incognita race 3 reproductivity on tomato Nemadoro was greater (P ≤ 0.05) than that on wild tomato. The M. javanica reproductivity on green pepper Ikeda grown in warmed soil was greater (P ≤ 0.05) than that on the same plants grown in greenhouse or air controlled room; and greater than on hot pepper BGH 433. The reproductivity of M. incognita race 3 was also similar on hot pepper BGH 433 and on green pepper Ikeda, but, in warmed soil, the reproductivity of this pathogen in these hosts was greater than that on the same plants grown in greenhouse or in air controlled room. The lettuce Grand Rapids inoculated either with M. javanica or M. incognita race 3 had a low number of galls and eggs in all environment tested.


The North Carolina Court of Appeals, in a case where negligent killing of a pet dog with no market value was admitted, has denied recovery of lintrinsicr damages (also called lactualr damages). Shera v. NC State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, 723 S.E.2d 352 (N.C. App. 2012). Because the holding is narrow and the type of damages denied are not the same as emotional damages, a close look at the decision is warranted.


Background: Stillbirths remain a major public health issue worldwide with an estimated 3 million deaths per year globally. We investigated the factors associated with stillbirths in fetuses of at least 28 weeks' gestation or 1000 grams at birth. Methods: We performed a hospital-based, cross-sectional study among women who delivered stillbirths at Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in Lilongwe, Malawi from May-November 2017. Eligible women were enrolled after obtaining informed consent, and their demographic and reproductive health information was collected. Blood samples were collected for full blood count, malaria, blood glucose, syphilis, and HIV testing, and the probable risk factors associated with stillbirths were assessed. Results: A total of 1,687 deliveries with 126 stillbirths occurred during the 6-month period, representing a stillbirth rate of 79 per 1,000 births. Seventy percent of these stillbirths were diagnosed on admission at KCH, and about 49% were fresh stillbirths. Half of the stillbirths had a birthweight of at least 2,500g, and the majority of these stillbirths were fresh (60%). The following factors were associated with stillbirth: uterine rupture (15.1%), placental abruption (14.3%), Hypertension (10.3%), obstructed/prolonged labor (5.8%), syphilis (7.1%), malaria (2.4%), congenital anomalies (2.4%), and diabetes (1.5%). Conclusions: The stillbirth rate at KCH is high, and most fetal deaths occurred prior to arrival at KCH. Although most of the stillbirths were unexplained, uterine rupture and abruption placenta emerged as major factors associated with stillbirths and these are largely preventable even in resource limited settings.


Automated retinal vascular network detection and analysis using digital retinal images continue to play a major role in the field of biomedicine for the diagnosis and management of various forms of human ailments like hypertension, diabetic retinopathy, retinopathy of prematurity, glaucoma and cardiovascular diseases. Although several literature have implemented different automatic approaches of detecting blood vessels in the retinal and also determining their tortuous states, the results obtained show that there are needs for further investigation on more efficient ways to detect and characterize the blood vessel network tortuosity states. This paper implements the use of an adaptive thresholding method based on local spatial relational variance (LSRV) for the detection of the retinal vascular networks. The suitability of a multi-layer perceptron artificial neural network (MLP-ANN) technique for the tortuosity characterization of retinal blood vascular networks is also presented in this paper. Some vessel geometric features of detected vessels are fed into ANN classifier for the automatic classification of the retinal vascular networks as being tortuous vessels or normal vessels. Experimental studies conducted on DRIVE and STARE databases show that the vascular network detection results obtained from the method implemented in this paper detects large and thin vascular networks in the retina. In comparison to preious methods in the literature, the proposed method for vascular network segmentation achieved better performance than several methods in the literature with a mean accuracy value of 95.04% and mean sensitivity value of 75.16% on DRIVE and mean accuracy value of 94.02% and average sensitivity value of 76.55% on STARE with computational processing time of 4.5 seconds and 9.4 seconds on DRIVE and STARE respectively. The MLP-ANN method proposed for the vascular network tortuosity characterization achieves promising accuracy rates of 77.5%, 80%, 83.33%, 85%, 86.67% and 100% for varying training sample sizes.


This study examined thirty-one Korean students' pronunciation of an English passage using a speech recognition application, Speechnotes, and two Canadian raters' evaluations of their speech according to the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) band criteria to assess the possibility of using the application as a teaching aid for pronunciation education. The results showed that the grand average percentage of correctly recognized words was 77.7%. From the moderate recognition rate, the pronunciation level of the participants was construed as intermediate and higher. The recognition rate varied depending on the composition of the content words and the function words in each given sentence. Frequency counts of unrecognized words by group level and word type revealed the typical pronunciation problems of the participants, including fricatives and nasals. The IELTS bands chosen by the two native raters for the rainbow passage had a moderately high correlation with each other. A moderate correlation was reported between the number of correctly recognized content words and the raters' bands, while an almost a negligible correlation was found between the function words and the raters' bands. From these results, the author concludes that the speech recognition application could constitute a partial aid for diagnosing each individual's or the group's pronunciation problems, but further studies are still needed to match human raters.


When computational stylometry, the study of style, is applied to typed natural language texts it becomes possible to identify authors based on the texts that they write. If the author has a preference for writing anonymously, then the use of computational stylometry is adversarial to the author. In turn, an author may behave in an adversarial way to an attributer, by writing in a way that hides her identity. In this work, we investigate to what extent authors with a preference for anonymity are a↵ected by the application of stylometry and how authorship may be attributed even when an author implements tactics to prevent authorship attribution. In this work, we develop state-of-the-art authorship attribution methods for adversarial settings, using feature and language modelling based attribution methods. We show that authorship can be attributed accurately if the author does not take any precautions to prevent authorship attribution, and we investigate the e↵ectiveness of adversarial authorship as a way to improve author anonymity. We develop a novel method capable of (partial) text de-obfuscation and demonstrate its e↵ectiveness. We also show that imitation as an adversarial writing tactic is more e↵ective against an adversarial authorship attribution attempt than obfuscation.


Portulaca oleracea L. is considered as a serious problematic weed of vegetables, vineyards and banana orchards in many parts of India. Ceutorhynchus portulacae Marshall (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) was identified as a potential indigenous biocontrol agent, which could be utilised for the effective suppression of the purslane weed. Field and laboratory studies in Bangalore revealed that the adults cease to feed and multiply during the cold winter months of November-January, indicating the possibility of diapause in the adult stage. A study was carried out to determine whether adults undergo diapause and the factors governing it. Behavioural and physiological observations showed that the adults were not capable of undergoing any diapause. But, they remain inactive during the cold winter period and become active with the advent of favourable environmental conditions.


Spatial analysis is considered as a complex scientific task of landscape science. Spatial structural and morphometric analysis of Digital Elevation Model (DEM) is defined as a methodology of information inventory of landscapes and their geoecological status. The effectiveness of this methodology is determined by the reliability of the DEM. It is suggested to use ArcGIS software for create DEM, in particular, the Topo to Raster data interpolation method. Specificity of construction of this the DEM and features of classification and interpretation of its data are considered.


The integration of sciencetechnology resource is an important pinpoint for the urban development of xi' an model.Xi'an is the experimental city of overall planning sciencetechnology resource,and its integration of sciencetechnology resource in colleges and universities to some degree shows the typical and realistic value.This paper analyzes its obstacle factors from three aspects,including human resource,platform equipment resource and Sci-tech resource.At the same time,the corresponding policy suggestions are put forward,such as local financial incentives,technology personnel evaluation of colleges and universities,the open-and-share management of platform equipment,and the cooperation between academics and businesses.


The purpose of this paper is to suggest the preliminary data for the improvement of the senior centers' indoor environment and the upcoming progress located in rural areas. In wanju county, 81.8% of seniors were enrolled in senior centers, and used the facility everyday. Also, most of the users tended to use the facilities between 12 a.m. and 6 p.m. The majority of users had lunch at the senior centers. The facilities of most senior centers were in poor condition, and some had their restroom outdoor. Also, most senior centers are exposed to high concentrations of carbon dioxide during winter. During this season, the thermal environment in the restroom was bad. However, the users' level of the facilities' satisfaction was positive. Senior centers have been operating the facilities with difficulties, due to the low financial support from the local autonomous organization. The indoor temperature in most centers, especially, was above 30°C during summer on account of lack of funding for airconditioning. Therefore, it could be recommended that the local autonomous entity start regular check-ups and repairs for the poor indoor environment and facilities, with more financial support and active supervision of the management. 주 요 어 : 경로당, 만족도, 공기질, 지방자치단체


The report, Towards a New Agenda for Growth: Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is a collection of background papers published by the World Bank and edited by Camille Numah. It seeks to find solutions to the main economic problems confronting the OECS. Given the similarity between Caribbean nations, it could also prove to be a relevant source of policy initiatives to solve such problems in the region as whole. The study attempts to provide analytical solutions to two key economic problems: stagnant growth and uncompetitiveness. It assesses the likely impact of further globalisation on the domestic sources of growth and identifies key constraints to the attraction and utilisation of investments. The first two chapters of the book investigate the growth challenge and macroeconomic competitiveness while the external and investment climate are studied in Chapters 3 and 4, respectively. Skills, wages and the labour market are the main topics probed in Chapter 5 and technology, finance and infrastructure are explored in Chapter 6. The report concludes with the opportunities for expanding exports of services in Chapter 7.


A cancer vaccine containing a mixture of killed bacteria with potential immunostimulatory and antineoplastic activities. Mixed bacteria vaccine (MBV or Coley's toxins) consists of a pyrogenic bacterial lysate derived from Serratia marcescens and Streptococcus pyogenes; the active components in the lysate may be lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a component of the Gram-negative bacterial cell wall of Serratia, and streptokinase, an enzyme produced by Streptococcus pyogenes. LPS has been shown to stimulate the host humoral immune response and induce the release of various antitumor cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (T NF) and interleukin-12 (IL-12). Qeios · Definition, February 7, 2020


A study of spatial and temporal profiles of the Low-latitude boundary layer (LLBL) is important for our understanding of processes involved in formation of this layer as well as in plasma transfer processes at the boundary between the magnetosheath and plasma sheet. In situ observations by five Themis spacecraft during their "string-of-pearls" configuration provide us with the comprehensive data set for a detail analysis of the LLBL structure. Preliminary results revealed smooth and monotonous changes of the ion density and temperature over a whole thickness of the LLBL that is near 1 Re under steady upstream conditions and the positive Bz component of the interplanetary/magnetosheath magnetic field. We present a case study under both quiet conditions and sudden changes of the magnetic field orientation leading to reformation of the LLBL profile from smooth to non-monotonous. We found distortions of the magnetopause surface as the main reason of apparent non-monotonous LLBL structure.


Undergraduate education curriculum reform of research universities is a worldwide issue,through the comparative study on undergraduate education curriculum of several research universities of China and Japan,the article points out a series of viewpoints we should stress on,which are meaningful for the current undergraduate education curriculum reform of universities.


Concurrently detecting multiple objects of interest will yield massive time savings in processing and enable a more streamlined and unified detection system. The ShuttleNet is designed to repeat the encoding–decoding round freely or even endlessly, achieving prodigious successes in terms of simultaneous detection of multiple pavement distresses and surface design features on asphalt pavements. This paper proposes an efficient and improved architecture of ShuttleNet called ShuttleNetV2 for enhanced global modeling and retrieving fine details capabilities. The proposed ShuttleNetV2 represents two major modifications on the original ShuttleNet. On the one hand, the self-attention mechanism is purposefully introduced to capture long-range dependency. On the other hand, ShuttleNetV2 adopts various sampling scales to combine the characteristics of different receptive fields. The experimental results indicate that the recommended architectural variation of the proposed ShuttleNetV2 model yields a mean F-measure of 94.21% and a mean intersection-over-union of 0.8914 on 1500 pairs of testing images. The proposed ShuttleNetV2 outperforms ShuttleNet in detecting nearly all types of pavement patterns. In particular, ShuttleNetV2 efficaciously tackles the tangible limitations of ShuttleNet in detecting giant distresses. Moreover, the ShuttleNetV2 can process an image in roughly 78 ms using modern graphic processing unit devices, which has a promising potential in supporting the real-time detection of multiple pavement distresses and surface design features on asphalt pavements.


This paper presents an improved tree-structured multiple signal classification (MUSIC) algorithm to jointly estimate the directions of arrival (DOA) and propagation delays in a CDMA system. The proposed algorithm makes use of one spatial (S)-MUSIC and two temporal (T)-MUSIC algorithms alternatively to estimate the group delays and the DOA, respectively. In contrast to the previous version, a constrained temporal filtering process and a constrained spatial beamforming process are addressed, which try to minimize the filtered output power under a set of judicious chosen linear constraints. Such a constrained filtering approach can effectively partition the incoming rays and suppress the propagation error in the tree-structured estimation scheme, thus in turn enhancing the overall performance. Furthermore, the pairing of the estimated DOA and delays is also automatically determined. Compared with previous works, the new approach calls for low computational complexity but exhibits superior performance, as shown in the furnished simulations.


2012 was the Alan Turing Year — the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Alan Turing's birth. Turing's biographer Andrew Hodges in the "Forward" to The Turing Guide comments that "Turing's centenary year reflected a general public sense that the issues of Alan Turing's life and work are as relevant as ever in the twentyfirst century." The Turing Guide consists of 42 essays that are written for general readers and that celebrate Turing's: life (38 pages), accomplishments in mathematics (44 pages), codebreaking (120 pages), On Computable Numbers and the Turing machine (36 pages), postwar work on computers (67 pages), contributions to morphogenesis (32 pages), ideas related to machine intelligence (86 pages), and legacy (32 pages). Eleven essays deal directly with codebreaking. Copeland either wrote, participated in the writing of, or revised 16 of the essays. Of the eight essays in the section "Artificial Intelligence and the Mind," three were written by Diane Proudfoot and one includes her as a coauthor with Copeland (who wrote one other essay and coauthored a third essay in that section). The book begins with an overview of Turing's life and work by Copeland and Bowen. The essay is mostly a timeline of Turing's life. The authors suggest that Turing's death might have been accidental. Chapter 3, "Meeting a Genius" (4 pages), is by mathematician and Bletchley Park codebreaker Peter Hilton (1923–2010). Notes to the chapter (p. 485) state that the chapter was "assembled by Jack Copeland" and "published with the permission of [Hilton's] wife." It is also noted that "[in] 2001 and again in 2002 [Hilton] visited Copeland at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, where he delivered lectures on Turing and codebreaking. [The] chapter is a compilation of extracts from [Hilton's] papers and notes left in New Zealand, together with extracts from [Hilton's]


Field experiments on the popularization of mulched drip irrigation and furrow irrigation to cotton cultivation were conducted at the Shihezi Experimental Station of Soil Amelioration of Xingjiang Uygur Autonomous Region from Apr. to Sep., 1998. The result shows that the cotton yield and WUE under mulched drip irrigation are 18.9% and 143.7% higher than those under furrow irrigation. Economic benefit analysis also shows that mulched drip irrigation for cotton cultivation can save (8?155?Yuan/hm~2) as compared with furrow irrigation. Besides, mulched drip irrigation can also generate certain social and ecological benefits.


In this study, driver identification task was performed using artificial neural networks and vehicle diagnosis data without feature engineering which is one of the most challenging steps of machine learning methods. Along with the data sets used in the literature, the data set including rural road, urban and highway routes with 5 different drivers was collected and used experimentally. Driver identification problem is considered as multivariate time series classification problem. With the FCNN (Fully Convolutional Neural Network) architecture established to solve the problem, the success rate of RNN (Recurrent Neural Network)-based architectures and traditional ML methods in the literature has been exceeded. The window size in the sliding window method has been reduced in training and validation. At the same time, the space occupied by the model on the memory and the number of floating point operations were reduced, increasing the possibility of use in in-vehicle systems. While the results are obtained with the stratified fold validation, they are compared with the time series segmentation method in data sets containing a single drive on the route.


The apparatus and method, while using a wireless device, to participate in at least one aspect of the online role-playing game (MMORPG), provided to the player of MMORPG. The wireless device performs mobile MMORPG client, and it is interfacing with MMORPG game server (s) via the mobile MMORPG server. Location-based game mode of using a wireless device is disclosed.


This study investigated the early literacy experiences and spelling practices of the finalists in the 1986 Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee, who were determined to be gifted spellers. Two open‐ended questionnaires were employed: one for the parents of the spellers and one for the spellers. Results indicated that gifted spellers show an early interest in language related activities such as reading, writing, and spelling and suggested that gifted spellers pass through developmental spelling stages far earlier than the average child. Results also indicated that gifted spellers rely on visual memory strategies, word meanings, and saying/writing words to master new words. The spellers in this study reported being in control of their efforts to master the orthography.


Enterprise modeling is becoming a major technique to improve enterprise function. Information model of enterprise is applicable to guide the establishing of enterprise information system ,and it can also increase the ratio of success to put into practices .This article studies the process to establish the information model of MTO production information system, gives out production information system's function model, information model and a specific method to put into practices.


Abstract This paper aims to deepen the discussion about the productive interdependence and regional resilience among the Brazilian states and regions through an input-output network analysis to identify emergent patterns or properties within the Brazilian states. We use an inter-regional IO matrix, the base year 2011, for the 27 Brazilian states and 68 sectors. The main results show that some states remain isolated in the Brazilian productive structure. Moreover, even with the spatial heterogeneity presented in the Brazilian economy, their inter-regional interdependence is situated at a level that enables the recovery even without some important links.


In 1888 Robert Fruin, the famous Dutch nineteenth century historian, used an important passage in the prologue of the second Dutch chronicle of Jan van Naaldwijk to settle a long standing dispute about the authorship of the so called Divisiekroniek which was published in 1517 by the Leiden printer Jan Seversz. ... Zie: Summary


Dr. Freed Dies; NYC Surgeon, YU Director Dr. Alexander Freed, who retired from Yeshi,·a College Ill 1955, died in Hadera, Israel on February 13. He was 66 years old. Dr. Freed \Vas .As:mciate Proit:"ssor of Hygiene and physician to the students of Yeshiva for 20 years. Extremely well liked by students and faculty, Dr. Freed found time to advist" young and old and sacrificed a private practict" to be of service to a generation of Yeshi\·a students. -Dr. Freed was born in a small rown, Delyatich, in Lithuania. At an early age he repaired to the Yeshiva in \Volozhin where he be-


Magnetic regenerator materials, such as HoCu2, Er3Ni, Gd2O2S, and so on, are always needed to produce the cooling power at the temperature of 4.2 K using regenerative cryocoolers. The use of a large quantity of magnetic regenerator materials affects directly the fabrication cost of 4K cryocoolers. From this point of view, we introduce a magnetic regenerator material economizing method in this paper. An innovative regenerator structure was adopted for two-stage Gifford-McMahon (GM) cryocooler. The structure has a bakelite rod inserted in the co-axial layout of the 2nd stage regenerator in which HoCu2 spheres are filled. The cold temperature side of the 2nd stage regenerator is occupied with 50% by volume of the bakelite rod and HoCu2 spheres, and the warm side is packed with lead (Pb) spheres as a single layer. The bakelite rod is a dummy volume. Two types of conventional GM cryocoolers with power consumption of 1.3 and 7.3 kW, respectively, are tested. The experimental results show that the filling volume...


Abstract This paper presents results from a comprehensive investigation in which observations from several case studies an integrated with three-dimensional cloud model results to examine the general kinematic structure of downdrafts associated with High Plains precipitating convection. One particular downdraft type, the low-level precipitation-associated downdraft, is the focus of this paper. General airflow and trajectory patterns within low-level downdrafts are convergent from 0.8 km upwards to downdraft top, typically less than 5 km AGL. Observed mass flux profiles often increase rapidly with height as a result of strong buoyancy forcing below the melting level. Inflow to the low-level downdraft although vertically continuous, can be separated into two branches. The up-down branch originating within the planetary boundary layer initially rises up to 4 km and then descends within the main precipitation-associated downdraft. The midlevel branch, usually more pronounced during early downdraft stages, ori...


In ample variety of transformations, the presence of silver as an additive or co-catalyst is believed to be innocuous for the efficiency of the operating metal catalyst.  Even though Ag additives are required often as coupling partners, oxidants or halide scavengers, its role as a catalytically competent species is widely neglected in cross-coupling reactions.  Most likely, this is due to the erroneously assumed incapacity of Ag to undergo 2 e - redox steps.  Definite proof is herein provided for the required elementary steps to accomplish the oxidative trifluoromethylation of arenes through Ag I /Ag III redox catalysis ( i.e. CEL coupling), namely: i ) easy Ag I /Ag III 2 e - oxidation mediated by air; ii ) bpy/phen ligation to Ag III ; iii ) boron-to-Ag III aryl transfer; and iv ) ulterior reductive elimination of benzotrifluorides from an [aryl-Ag III -CF 3 ] fragment.  More precisely, an ultimate entry and full characterization of organosilver(III) compounds [K] + [Ag III (CF 3 ) 4 ] - ( K-1 ), [(bpy)Ag III (CF 3 ) 3 ] ( 2 ) and [(phen)Ag III (CF 3 ) 3 ] ( 3 ), is described.  The utility of 3 in cross-coupling has been showcased unambiguously, and a large variety of arylboron compounds was trifluoromethylated via [Ag III (aryl)(CF 3 ) 3 ] - intermediates.  This work breaks with old stereotypes and misconceptions regarding the disability of Ag to undergo cross-coupling by itself.


The book Designing and Managing Your Research Project--Core Knowledge for Social and Health Researchers by David R. Thomas and Ian D. Hodges (2010) is rich in content, full of practical information with a simple, easy-to-follow layout. In the following essay I will very briefly discuss my background and position as a reviewer, followed by the review of this book. Finally, I will close with some concluding remarks. Background As a graduate student at a university, I am regularly involved in research. Though I consider myself a young researcher, my previous work experience in project and team-based research environments, studying at different universities and working with various supervisors, positions me reasonably well to relate and review the content of this book. Therefore, I use a reflective approach to amass the "core knowledge" shared by Thomas and Hodges (2010). Review According to Thomas and Hodges (2010), "Research is inspired and driven largely by the desire to solve or answer some kind of question or problem" (p. 240). The book overall is to be commended for its practicality and utility. The title of the book very vividly indicates what the readers can expect - nothing less than the core knowledge of research project management. A chapter-by-chapter review will add more weight to this claim. To begin with, from reading the first two chapters, I could see that Thomas and Hodges (2010): (a) provide consistently, in a simple tone, some really valuable information in research project management; (b) show empathy towards all researchers, particularly the young and novice; (c) implicitly give a nudge on the "just-do-it" approach to qualitative research; (e) hint that reading chapter one carefully will be relatively sufficient to commence a research project, however the rest of the chapters are worth referring to along the way; (d) provide an exciting and in-depth look at the nuances of research; (e) give the praxis of a research project whilst admitting the amorphous nature of qualitative research as one will realize when going through all the chapters; (f) encourage researchers to be explorative and adopt a "learning-by-doing" approach; and (g) provide questions and exercises at the end of every chapter (except chapter one) to challenge the readers, as well as to prepare them for real life research projects. In Chapter 3, "Developing Research Aims and Objectives," Thomas and Hodges (2010) explain the key aspects of how to set aims and objectives in a research design. Demonstrating this with an interesting case study, they highlight the importance of not only setting objectives but also doing risk analysis and being realistic in scoping a research project. In the next chapter, "Preparing and Writing a Research Proposal," Thomas and Hodges use a consultative approach in discussing how to prepare and write a research proposal. I was able to relate the information they share to my own experience and identify some gaps in my own proposal. I have learnt to use the information from this chapter as pointers to further improve other research projects that I work on. The layout they provide will be of significant value when writing proposals and/or vying for research project funding. Chapter 5, "Getting Funding for Research," flows seamlessly from Chapter 4. Thomas and Hodges (2010): (a) provide simple, easy-to-follow instructions, such as clear "read-and-run-with-it" directives in designing proposals for funding; (b) provide readers with practical case studies, as is prevalent in other chapters; (c) while empathizing with researchers, do not shy away from discussing the fundamentals and setbacks often experienced when seeking project funding; and (d) provide website links to help new and experienced researchers learn about and search for research funds in demanding and competitive circumstances. Chapter 6 is on "Research Ethics and Ethics Reviews." I am glad to see the book has an entire chapter on this topic, making the coverage of ethics comprehensive. …


The impact of annular cracks on the effective elastic and conductive properties of a material is analysed. The compliance contribution tensor of an annular crack—the quantity that determines the increase in compliance of a solid due to introduction of such a crack—is derived analytically. The resistivity contribution tensor of an annular crack is calculated numerically. It is shown that an effective circular crack, i.e. a crack which yields the same change in elastic/conductive properties of a material as the given annular crack, can be chosen to match both of these tensors. Using this result, the explicit relation between elastic and conductive properties of a material containing annular cracks is obtained. The relation is derived using a non–interaction approximation. Applicability of the derived formulae to real materials (to plasma–sprayed coatings, in particular) is discussed.


The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have been more active than usual since mid-
-February this year, holding a number of previously unannounced military exercises aimed at
testing combat readiness. They have also maintained, for many months, a Russian warship
task force in the Mediterranean in connection with the civil war in Syria. Those activities stand
out of the usual training routine of the Russian army. They have no precedent in Russia's recent
history in terms of the size of the forces involved, the measures employed, the territorial
span, the number of exercises, or the scheduling and mode of carrying out the drills. The last
combat-readiness tests on this scale were carried out by the Soviet army in the 1980s. The intensity
of the Russian Navy's activities in the Mediterranean and the military means engaged
are comparable, in due proportion, with the activities of the Soviet fleet during the Vietnam
war. The Russian leadership, including president Vladimir Putin, has been directly following
the recent activities of the Russian Armed Forces and their evolution.


GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT ABSTRACT Development of efficient antimicrobial metal-oxide nanoparticles (MONPs) is important to advance in the biomedical and in the industrial fields. Herein, ZnO-CuO nanoparticles with improved antibacterial were developed by simple double precipitation technique and their properties were studied. The bactericide ability of ZnO-CuO nanoparticles was investigated against Escherichia coli. The ZnO-CuO0.5 exhibited high activity against E.coli at high and low concentration levels. The MONPs were analyzed via FTIR, UV-visible/DRS, PL, SEM/EDS, TEM, XRD and TGA analysis. These results show the formation of hexagonal wurtzite-monoclinic phase morphology and the thermal characteristics of the ZnO-CuO nanoparticles emphasize the potential of these dual nanooxide materials. The intensity of the emission band of ZnO was decreased following the increase in the CuO concentrations and the order is as follows: CuO < ZnO-CuO0.5 < ZnO-CuO0.1 < ZnO. The co-assembled MONPs developed may function as potential candidates for advanced biomedical and industrial applications.


The true nature of psychiatric nursing and what it ought to be is hotly debated. To date, there have been conflicting ideas about what nurses actually do and what they ought to do. According to Michael ( 1994 ), many of the skills of psychiatric nurses are 'invisible' which makes the true value of psychiatric nursing difficult to recognise and define. Barker and Reynolds ( 1996 ) call upon nurses to be more client-centred and to listen to client needs. Davidson ( 1992 ) suggests that nurses should define a clear professional role - distinct from the role of other members of the healthcare profession - while Goumay ( 1997 ) urges nurses to develop common core competencies, shared with other professionals, to provide a more team-led approach to the management of serious mental health problems. This context provided an impetus to the current research.


The invention relates to a medical instrument, particularly relates to an orientable laparoscopic instrument handle and aims at solving the technical problem that the torsion moment is difficult to exert due to the fact that instrument heads can not be rotated by rotation of handles when torsion force is required to be exerted due to the fact that the instrument heads of existing conventional laparoscopic instruments can be rotated at will relative to the handles. The handle comprises a handle body and a rotating wheel, an instrument head is fixed on the rotating wheel, the rotating wheel is connected with the handle body through a rotating shaft, and the rotating wheel can be rotated relative to the handle body. The handle is characterized in that a sliding track is arranged on the handle body, a sliding block is arranged on the sliding track, the sliding block and the rotating wheel are provided with matched embedded portions, and the sliding block can move on the sliding track so as to be embedded on or separated from the rotating wheel. When the sliding block is embedded on the rotating wheel, the rotating wheel can not be rotated, the angle of the instrument head is fixed, and when the sliding block is separated from the rotating wheel, the angle of the instrument head can be adjusted through rotation of the rotating wheel. Compared with the prior art, the handle has the advantages that the handle has instrument head rotation and locking functions, and a new tool is provided for laparoscopic surgeries.


Objective: To assess the effect of abobotulinumtoxinA (aboBoNT-A; Dysport®) on voluntary movements following 1500U total dose injection split between upper (UL) and lower limbs (LL) in conjunction with Guided Self-rehabilitation Contracts (GSC). Background: Few previous botulinum toxin A spasticity studies have been conducted with a systematic standardized at-home rehabilitation protocol, or with simultaneous UL and LL injection. Design/Methods: Phase 3b/4, prospective, single-arm, open-label study (NCT02969356) conducted at 20 centers across Europe and the USA. Intended recruitment of 155 adults with spastic hemiparesis due to acquired brain injury; stratified so either limb is the primary treatment target (TT) in 50% of patients (±10% flexibility). Patients will receive two consecutive injection cycles (12–20 weeks apart) of aboBoNT-A 1500U, split between UL and LL. Doses per muscle are according to investigators' judgment; ≥750U required in primary TT for each cycle. Patients will receive personalized GSC, involving prescribed stretch postures and exercises performed daily and recorded in a diary. Primary efficacy endpoint: proportion of responders (improvement in composite active range of motion of ≥35° or 5° in UL or LL, respectively) in the primary TT (finger, wrist and elbow flexors for UL; soleus and gastrocnemius muscles for LL) at Week 6 of Cycle 2. Secondary efficacy endpoints: active function in UL (Modified Frenchay Scale) and LL (walking speed), patient satisfaction with GSC, change in patients' and physiotherapists' beliefs that GSC can improve function, patients' (caregivers) and physicians' global assessment of benefit, and quality-of-life assessments. Safety assessment includes recording adverse events and vital signs. Results: Planned study period is December 2016–July 2018. Baseline characteristics and study results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals and at international congresses. Conclusions: The ENGAGE study will provide insights into the safety and efficacy on voluntary movements of abobotulinumtoxinA, simultaneously injected into UL and LL, combined with GSC in adults with spastic hemiparesis. Study Supported by: Ipsen Disclosure: Dr. Gracies has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Allergan, Ipsen, Merz. Dr. Gracies has received research support from Allergan, Ipsen, Merz. Dr. Francisco has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Allergan, Ipsen, Merz, Medtronic. Dr. Francisco has received personal compensation in an editorial capacity for Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine. Dr. Francisco has received research support from Allergan, Ipsen, Merz, Medtronic, Microtransponder, Ottobock. Dr. Jech has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Ipsen. Dr. Jech has received research support from Ipsen, Czech Science Foundation, Czech Ministry of Health, Czech Ministry of Education, and Charles University, Prague. Dr. Boyer has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Ipsen, Medtronic. Dr. Maisonobe has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Ipsen Pharma. Dr. Balcaitiene has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Ipsen.


Nanocrystalline ZrO_2/Al_2O_3 composite powders are synthesized successfully from aqueous solution of metal nitrate containing citric acid as chelating agent by sol-gel method.The construct and phase purity of the powders are analyzed by means of XRD.And the two key factors,initial solution concentration and the heat decomposition temperature of the gel are studied.From the experiment we can get the conclusions that when the initial solution concentration is 0.6mol/L and the heat decomposition temperature is 1200℃,we can get the best result.The size of ZrO_2/Al_2O_3composite powders made in the best parameters range from 30nm to 41nm.


The customs in the Saraso Women Farmer Group and Pandan Saiyo, Nagari Batu Balang, Harau, Kabupaten, Lima Puluh Kota, Sumatera Barat ,in the cattle breeding are only sideline. The survey results revealed that the main livelihood of the population is farming. Agricultural land he worked on to produce rice and cocoa plantations. Besides in the field of animal husbandry there are cattle, ducks and quail. The low weight of cattle due to the low concentrate feed is due to the expensive price of concentrate feed. maximal use, even often wasted, thus reducing feed costs and increasing cow's growth. Then farm waste will be processed so fertilizer for agricultural crops or plantations that will reduce the cost of farmers in terms of purchasing chemical fertilizers in addition to being expensive is also limited . Implementation Techniques has done is with learning and discussions as well as directly demonstration of implementation, making straw fermented, cocoa skin fermentation, quail fermentation, hatching of duck eggs and composting process done with group members. Compost has been applied to corn crops. The results obtained in the form of straw fermented and fermented quail fermentation and fermented cocoa skin have been applied to cattle feed in the group, which is first processed in the form of candy lily let durable. And the result is an increase in Cow Body Weight is an average of 700 gr /day which previously 320 gr /day. Hatchability is low, because electricity power outage


In this paper, the composite additive of CaF2/CaO was used to extract vanadium from stone coal, and the effect of roasting and leaching kinetics were studied. The purpose of this manuscript is to realize and improve the vanadium recovery from stone coal using the composite additive. The experimental results indicated that the roasted clinker can be obtained under the conditions of CaF2/CaO at a mass ratio of 2:3 and a total additive amount of 10 wt %, a roasting temperature 850 °C, and a roasting time of 90 min. The leaching rate of vanadium can reach 86.74%, which increased by 16.4% compared with that of blank roasting under the conditions including a leaching temperature of 950 °C, a sulfuric acid concentration of 15% (v/v), a leaching time of 2 h, and a ratio of liquid to solid of 3 mL/g. The phase transformation analysis indicated that the muscovite structure was effectively destroyed during the roasting process comparing with no additives, which provided the basis for vanadium dissociation. Roasting can promote the formation of calcium vanadate, which is beneficial to the leaching of vanadium. The vanadium leaching kinetic analysis indicated that the activation energy of the acid leaching reaction decreased from 42.50 KJ/mol in the blank roasting to 22.56 KJ/mol in the calcified roasting, and the reaction order, with respect to the sulfuric acid concentration, decreased from 1.15 to 0.85. Calcified roasting has a better mineral activation than blank roasting, which can accelerate the leaching of vanadium and reduce the dependence on high-temperature and high acid levels in the leaching process.


Three popular yam varieties; Pona, Dente and Afebetua were evaluated for their reaction to plant parasitic nematodes infestation in three districts (Atebubu, Kintampo and Wenchi) of Ghana where yam is intensively cultivated. Plant population/12 m 2 plot, nematode population/200 cm 3 rhizosphere soil, nematode population/5g tuber peels, tuber gall index and yield were analyzed using the mixed model (REML) approach in GenStat. Plant establishment of Pona at Wenchi was 63% higher than at Atebubu. Three nematodes; Meloidogyne spp., Pratylenchus coffeae and Scutellonema bradys were isolated from rhizosphere soils across the locations. Meloidogyne spp. population on Afebetua was 41 and 61% higher than on Dente at Kintampo and Wenchi respectively. Similarly, 64 and 89% more Pratylenchus coffeae were found on Afebetua than on Dente at Atebubu and Wenchi, respectively. Significantly higher (P < 0.05) populations of Meloidogyne spp. juveniles were extracted from tuber peels in Pona, Dente and Afebetua at Wenchi than at Atebubu. Afebetua was the highest yielding variety. It out yielded Pona by (87, 45 and 71)% and Dente by (66, 81 and 62)% at Atebubu, Kintampo and Wenchi, respectively.


Silicon carbide (SiC) is an excellent semiconductor for the fabrication of high power and high temperature electronic devices. SiC pn junctions are critical components of SiC high power devices and circuits. However, the high electric field behavior of SiC p-n junction structures is not well characterized. The study of the high field breakdown mechanisms of SiC p-n junction plays an important role in determining the proper design of SiC high power p-n junction-based devices. We have determined the high field breakdown behaviors of several types of 4H-SiC epitaxial p-n junction diodes of different design. In our efforts to increase the breakdown voltage, we have found that oxide passivation did not substantially affect the breakdown voltage but edge termination using argon ion implantation is effective in improving the breakdown voltage of SiC-p-n junction diodes.


It relates to for the system and method for difference etching。A kind of a kind of method according to embodiment, including: substrate is positioned in chamber;And when there is the steam of non-zero pressure, substrate being carried out plasma sputtering, the etch-rate being wherein in the steam of non-zero pressure the first material to reducing substrate is effective。The invention also discloses a kind of plasma sputtering apparatus according to a kind of embodiment, including: chamber;Being used for the speed determined to discharge the bin of steam in chamber;Base for substrate;And plasma source。


A deterministic phase retrieval method based on a moving pinhole pair is proposed. Given a complex wave incident on the two pinholes, the phase difference across the pinholes is calculated using a recorded interferogram and the locations of the pinholes. The advantage of dynamic referencing (i.e., moving both pinholes compared to one pinhole at a fixed location) is the simpler processing of interferograms. Smooth wavefronts (phase difference values within a –π to π range) were successfully reconstructed demonstrating the effectiveness of the technique.


Conical teeth abnormalities are usually seen in the upper incisors. Notwithstanding being seen smaller than normal size, these teeth can be of cylindrical, pin, wedge or barrel-like shapes. In general, environmental and genetic factors take place in the etiology of conical teeth abnormalities. In this case report, radiographic evaluations of the patient with conical teeth abnormalities and the restoration of that case with composite veneer after the diagnosis were discussed.


Abstract Hyperkalemia is a life-threatening emergency, but it needs to be differentiated from pseudohyperkalemia to avoid unnecessary treatment. We present a case of pseudohyperkalemia in a chronic lymphocytic leukemia patient with severe leukocytosis, highlighting the role of point-of-care potassium. Laboratory workup showed persistent hyperkalemia on analysis of venous blood samples even after treatment for hyperkalemia. Point-of-care potassium checks on whole arterial blood immediately after sampling were consistently in the normal range. Treatments for hyperkalemia were stopped to avoid life-threatening hypokalemia.