The emergence of the knowledge-based economy has made intellectual capital a critical factor in assisting companies to obtain a competitive advantage in this fierce environment. This study adopted the knowledge-based view and resource-based view to explore and propose the influence of intellectual capital on e-service innovation and further examines the mediating effects of cross-functional integration and external collaborative competency on the relationship between intellectual capital and e-service innovation. An empirical study was performed based on a survey of information technology (IT) and marketing managers from financial and hotel industries in Taiwan. There were 126 companies whose two departments both responded to the questionnaires. The findings indicated that intellectual capital can promote the ability of firms to develop e-service innovation. Furthermore, cross-functional integration played a mediating role between intellectual capital and e-service innovation. This study suggested that managers should enhance intellectual capital in developing e-service innovation through cross-functional integration.


This paper presents the application of the hydraulic fracturing method in Romania, exemplified by three case studies. In the current conditions in which the oil and gas prices have risen above the limit of affordability, Romania, one of the few producers in Europe, is trying to solve the problems that have arisen through various methods, which are as follows: offshore drilling, gas underground storage, field rehabilitation and increasing the efficiency of applied technologies. The application of hydraulic fracturing is a safe process, with minimal environmental implications and certain economic benefits. The important thing is to have the necessary energy now, in the desired quantities and with minimal expenses. The authors sought to include key issues in the application of this technology in Romania. The scientific literature on this topic has helped us to interpret the data from the field in difficult situations and were a real support in our activity. We need to provide energy support and energy security and we do not have a lot of resources. Under these conditions, the reactivation of existing deposits and the extension of the production period are essential elements. The authors designed the fracturing technologies. The data corresponding to the geological structure obtained through geological investigations, and the database corresponding to the analyzed wells from the company's data archive were the elements used in the simulation programs. Thus, the values in the fracturing area about pore fluid permeability, layers stress, Young's modulus of the structure and fracture toughness were established. The fluids for the fracturing operation and the proppant were chosen for each case, in accordance with the geological recommendations, by our team. Testing of the fracturing technologies for different variants of the pumping program was carried out using the Fracpro program. The variants presented in this article are some of the best solutions found. We used the step-by-step flow test to find the fracture expansion pressure and closing pressure for each case. The mini-frac program established corrections to the designed technologies during the operation quickly and with reduced costs. The designed technologies allowed us to anticipate the necessary flows and pressure, leading to the choice of equipment. The fracture operations were performed only after the projected technologies anticipated the economic benefits covering the investments for the use of the equipment and the operation itself. Knowing the measured pressure of the well and the conditions of communication with the gas/oil reservoir, a simulation of the gas/oil production that could be obtained was made with the simulator. Two situations were exemplified for a gas well and an oil well. The field production results for a two-year interval are also indicated for these wells and a comparison was made with the estimated production.


Express high oxygen barrier properties without depending on humidity, even after subjected to retort treatment express high oxygen barrier property, and strength and excellent in transparency gas barrier laminate, and a process for its preparation. Therefore, comprises a substrate and a layer laminated on at least one side of the substrate, the layer is at least one containing a metal atom at least one characteristic group is bonded selected from a halogen atom and an alkoxy group a hydrolyzed condensate of the compound (L) of a composition comprising a polymer neutralized product of which contain at least one functional group selected from a carboxyl group and a carboxylic acid anhydride group. Then, at least part of the -COO- group contained in the at least one functional group is neutralized with divalent or higher valent metal ions.


Succession and incidence of insect pests of soybean in gird region were studied on soybean cultivar JS 95–60 sown on 5 July 2011. Five insect pests namely white fly, green semilooper, tobacco caterpillar, blue beetle and girdle beetle were found infesting soybean crop. The activity of blue beetle and white fly were started at 14 DAS and remained up to first week of September with its peak population in first week of August at 35 DAS. Infestation of green semilooper and tobacco caterpillar were started from third week of July and second week of August, respectively. The infestation of girdle beetle was started from second week of August and continued till harvest.


The lack of knowledge and specific regulations during the first half of 20th century led to a generation of concrete structures which do not suit with current standards. Moreover, the use of locally available and, sometimes, inappropriate materials, contributed to decrease the quality and the mechanical characteristics of concrete. Hence, several structures need to be strengthened. The aim of this study is to check the behaviour of a new structural material, named textile-reinforced mortar (TRM), used in jacketing technique in order to improve the performance of concretes with limited resistance capacity. Tests were carried out on basalt fabrics and TRM under tension forces and low strength (mud slab) concrete cylindrical specimens. Thirty samples were made using combinations of two mortars for the matrix with different number of plies. Therefore, it can be concluded that TRM is a promising solution in confinement to improve the structural performance of ancient concrete structures.


Pulmonic valvular stenosis, a relatively common congenital disorder, is being increasingly diagnosed in olderage groups. Young adults may present with dyspnea, lightheadedness, or exertional syncope. Treatment with balloon valvuloplasty is technically feasible and has been associated with durable results. We present a case of a young patient with hemodynamically significant pulmonic valvular stenosis and discuss the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of this condition.


The operation of hybrid circuits consisting of a single hole transistor coupled to a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) is demonstrated at 350 K. The devices are designed at ultimate scaling with complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology on 300 mm diameter silicon on insulator wafers using deep ultra‐violet lithography. Coulomb blockade oscillations up to 350 K are measured from silicon nanowire transistors with 20 nm Ω‐gate length and diameter under 5 nm. These oscillations are exploited to produce inverter/amplifier, literal gate, negative differential resistance and memory loop circuits for multivalued (MV) logic and MV memory applications, via hybridization with MOSFET in SETMOS configuration. The fabrication and the operation of these SHT‐MOSFET hybrid circuits at high temperature should spur single charge transistor integration into circuits for innovative applications in nanoelectronics.


Parametric building energy simulations are performed to quantify the range of annual HVAC energy savings achievable through comfort-optimized adjustments to conventional heating and cooling setpoints in office buildings. Savings potential is examined in context with occupant subjective feedback, using pilot data from (N=45) real builing occupants collected with a novel mobile sensing platform from 2-week pilot studies in four (4) commerical buildings. Machine learning techniques are used to generate probabilistic models of thermal discomfort from physical and subjective measures. Models are then interpreted to determine the largest setpoint range achievable while maintaining thermal conditions that are acceptable to 80 percent of building occupants surveyed. Outcomes are extrapolated across three (3) building vintages (pre1980, post-1980, and ASHRAE 90.1-compliant) and eight (8) California climate zones to determine the potential range of energy savings achievable from implementing customized setpoints learned through occupant subjective feedback and concurrent thermal sensing.


The decline of active COVID-19 cases in many countries in the world has proved that lockdown policies are indeed a very effective measure to stop the exponential spread of the virus. Still, the danger of a second wave of infections is omnipresent and it is clear, that every policy of the lockdown has to be carefully evaluated and possibly replaced by a different, less restrictive policy, before it can be lifted. Tracing of contacts and consequential tracing and breaking of infection-chains is a promising and comparably straightforward strategy to help containing the disease, although its precise impact on the epidemic is unknown. In order to quantify the benefits of tracing and similar policies we developed an agent-based model that not only validly depicts the spread of the disease, but allows for exploratory analysis of containment policies. We will describe our model and perform case studies in which we use the model to quantify impact of contact tracing in different characteristics and draw valuable conclusions about contact tracing policies in general.


Tomographic reconstruction from noisy projections do not yield adequate results. Mathematically, this tomographic reconstruction represents an ill-posed problem due to information missing caused by the presence of noise. Maximum a posteriori (MAP) or Bayesian reconstruction methods offer possibilities to improve the image quality as compared with analytical methods in particular by introducing a prior to guide the reconstruction and regularize the noise. With an aim to achieve robust utilization of continuity/connectivity information and overcome the heuristic weight update for other nonlocal prior methods, this paper proposes a novel patch similarity based mixture (PSM) prior model for tomographic reconstruction. This prior is defined by a weighted Gaussian distance between neighborhood intensities. The weight quantifies the similarity between local neighborhoods and is computed using a maximization entropy constraint. This prior is then introduced within a joint image/weight MAP computed tomography reco...


Dye waste that contains synthetic dyes like Direct Black 38, Remazol Yellow FG, and Reactive Red 2 in high concentration, is the main source of water pollution which can decrease the quality and ecosystem of water due to its difficult degradation properties. Physical and chemical adsorption method using adsorbent like activated carbon-chitosan composites can be carried out to decrease the concentration of dye waste. The purpose of this research is to find out the adsorption capacity of activated carbon-chitosan composites on Remazol Yellow FG dye waste using fixed bed column continuous system. The composites were made by adding 1:1 of the activated carbon into chitosan solution and then dropping it into the 15% NaOH-96% Ethanol in 4:1 v/v as the coagulant. Then, composites were used to adsorb the dye waste in order to find out the adsorption capacity. Next, samples were analyzed using UV-Vis Spectrophotometer. The results showed the optimum point was on 8 mL/min flow rate. The best adsorpstion capacity of 1.21781 mg/g was obtained in Thomas and Yoon-Nelson's Models.


Graphene, a monolayer crystal of carbon atoms, exhibits excellent electronic, mechanical, and thermal behavior, making it of significant interest in physics.1–3 The extraordinary physical properties of this material include zero band gap, zero effective mass for electrons and holes, resistivity of 10 5 cm (the lowest seen in any substance at room temperature), and electron mobility of 15,000cm2V 1s 1 in SiO2 substrate (200,000 in suspended structure).1 With the recent acceleration in graphene research, including an emphasis on large-scale production, some have begun envisioning new industrial possibilities in which carbon supplants silicon in transistors, sensors, resonators, and other electronic devices.3, 4 Graphene oxide (GO), shown in Figure 1(a–d), is produced by exposing stacked graphene sheets to phenolic hydroxyl, epoxide, carbonyl, carboxyl, or other oxygen functional groups. Because of GO's polycrystalline structure and the presence of various chemical and physical defects, mostly attributable to these functional groups, oxidizing graphene degrades certain of its physical properties substantially.1, 5 Yet these same defects also give GO a measurable band gap, and as a result it exhibits such characteristics as optical absorption and photoluminescence (unlike graphene, which features neither a clear absorption edge nor a well-defined band gap). GO's optical absorbance is dominated by – * transitions between 225 and 275nm (4.5–5.5eV), and its photoluminescence under visible and UV light, shown in Figure 1(e) and the inset of Figure 1(f), is visible to the naked eye.6–8 Much research has been conducted on synthesizing GO-based composite materials by controlling the distribution of the attached functional groups.5, 6, 9–11 Pure graphene is sp2-bonded, meaning that in the valence shell of each carbon atom, the 2s orbital and two of the three 2p orbitals 'mix' together to Figure 1. (a) A colloidal solution of graphene oxide (GO) in deionized water. (b) Transmission electron micrograph of GO. (c-d) Atomic force micrograph of GO thin film. (e) Photoluminescent emission of oxygen plasma-treated GO film, showing pressure dependence. (f) Scanning electron micrograph of GO film, with inset showing photoluminescence.


— The microphonic exploration of the near field of a subsonic hot free jet on the one hand, the characterization of the mixing zone by means of infrared radiometer on the other hand, bring to light some properties of the medium fluctuations that can be connected to the development of coherent vortex structures. These facts are of interest in the theory of spatial instability of velocity and temperature mean profiles, which makes it possible to ascertain that the generation zone of these structures takes place between one and two diameters and that they travel downstream without alteration down to the end of the potential cone, where a transition is initiated.


Raindrop imprints are firstly discovered from the Late Proterozoic Sangwon System of the Socheong Island, Korea. These are preserved on the bedding plane of purple shale. The strata preserving raindrop imprints are interpreted to have been deposited in the tidal flat environment which was temporally subaerial-exposed on the basis of associated sedimentary structures such as stromatolites, algal mats and mud cracks. These are, as far as is known, the oldest raindrop imprints (ca. 1.0 Ga) ever to be reported in Korea.


Date Presented 04/21/2023
 This quantitative study analyzed and demonstrated that the need to network and educate pediatricians is critical to their understanding the role of OT and how we can best collaborate to meet the needs of young children and families.
 Primary Author and Speaker: Beth K. Elenko
 Additional Authors and Speakers: Carly Galanaugh, Konrad Jaworski, Alvina Sedgh, Bailey Herzfeld


"An exploration of sensory and movement differences from the perspective of individuals with autism" by Robledo, Donnellan, and Strandt-Conroy, was originally published in Autism: The Movement Perspective as part of a Research Topic in Frontiers in Integrated Neuroscience (2012–2014). It gained a special place in the Topic, as in the general field of research in autism, by being one of the few studies to systematically study autism from the perspective of those with that lived experience. This paucity is all the more remarkable as there are at least 100,000 research studies published on the topic of autism in the past few decades (Robertson, 2010). It's hard not to argue that the perspective of autistic people themselves has been given too little attention by the research community although, fortunately, there are a growing number of self-accounts that have helped to shed light on that perspective over the last 25 years adding immensely to our understanding (e.g., Grandin, 1995; Williams, 1998; Mukhopadhyay, 2000).

Nonetheless, this paper by Robledo, Donnellan, and Strandt-Conroy occupies a unique position having called upon multiple rigorous social science research methodologies to study in-depth the presence and potential impact of "movement differences" in autism. They define movement differences as a difference, interference or shift in the efficient, effective utilization, and integration of movement; a disruption in the organization and regulation of perception, action, posture, language, speech, thought, emotion, and/or memory (Leary et al., 1999) which broadens and extends the notions of sensory-motor challenges which have drawn some attention from researchers in recent times (e.g., DSM-5). Using interviews, some in person and some with specialized accommodations for the individual, questionnaires and participant-produced data they present us with revealing and often poignant insights into what has often been defined in social terms as "inappropriate behavior." So Barbara, who has difficulty processing two senses at once chooses to turn her head to limit the visual input and is blamed for this accommodation. This research is an important step beyond the many thousands of studies in the canon showing what autistic people fail to do, or do wrong and little about how they attempt to accommodate to their movement challenges.

The editors of Frontiers and, in particular, the Special Research Issue Autism: The Movement Perspective, were proud to present the 40 papers in that issue, many on topics which do not generally get wide attention. We are particularly proud of this paper that has earned the opportunity to receive even broader readership in a Tier 2 publication.


Among the major contributions of the OS model is the identification of measures tomonitor performance in organizations of Science, Tecnology and Innovation – C,TI ii) of inducing results. Theaccompanying measures of the strategy are: i) Legitimacy; ii) Research Results; iii)Reliability of Facilities and; iv) Open of Facilities. Accompanying measures knowninduceres of results was composed by the aggregation of the following categories: i)Human Resources; ii) Financial Resources and; iii) Managerial Efficiency. Finaly, thepaper presents a conceptual model for monitoring the performance measures fororganizations, C,T&I and the practical point of view, suggesting a new framework ofperformance indications for the LNLS.


The notion of a universal intelligence test has been recently advocated as a means to assess humans, non-human animals and machines in an integrated, uniform way. While the main motivation has been the development of machine intelligence tests, the mere concept of a universal test has many implications in the way human intelligence tests are understood, and their relation to other tests in comparative psychology and animal cognition. From this diversity of subjects in the natural and artificial kingdoms, the very possibility of constructing a universal test is still controversial. In this paper we rephrase the question of whether universal intelligence tests are possible or not into the question of how universal intelligence tests can be, in terms of subjects, interfaces and resolutions. We discuss the feasibility and difficulty of universal tests depending on several levels according to what is taken for granted: the communication milieu, the resolution, the reward system or the agent itself. We argue that such tests must be highly adaptive, i.e. that tasks, resolution, rewards and communication have to be adapted according to how the evaluated agent is reacting and performing. Even so, the most general expression of a universal test may not be feasible (and, at best, might only be theoretically semi-computable). Nonetheless, in general, we can analyze the universality in terms of some traits that lead to several levels of universality and set the quest for universal tests as a progressive rather than absolute goal.


Over the past decade, Romanian New Wave (Noul Val) has emerged as a vital component of European cinematic identity, with a number of its films representing stories of diasporic migration within an historical context set before and after Romania's accession to the European
 Union. This migration cinema has been a flourishing artistic tool for social criticism, bringing on-screen stories of crime, social degradation and corruption connected to journeys away from Romania, a number of which have Italy as their target. Recent scholarship has identified sociopolitical
 themes associated with Romanian migration cinema and the cinematic representation of marginalized identities. However, critical attention has so far overlooked the analysis of the recurrent presence of Italy in Romanian films, especially as an index of the extent to which the voice of the
 Romanian migrant is allowed to penetrate contemporary cinematic narratives. To address this critical gap, this article examines the expressive modes used by Noul Val director Bobby Paunescu to represent Italy in his film Francesca. Experienced by characters as a dead end for
 utopian desire, this article illustrates how the journey to Italy culminates in failure, disenchantment and grief.


Separator according to one embodiment of the invention, the inlet portion and the outlet portion comprising a housing; The injection nozzle is arranged such that the fluid is injected toward the inside wall surface of the housing; Sand fan mounted on an inside bottom of the housing; And a between the jet nozzle and the sand pan part flow guide which is installed away from the bottom surface of the housing.


In this paper we develop a method for estimating the direction of symmetry and the mass-centre coordinates of the image objects with symmetry. The proposed method is based on the estimation of the axes of symmetry of the image-object by means of its enclosing equivalent ellipse. The coordinates of the mass-centre and the directions of the main axes of the equivalent ellipse are estimated with the Radon transformation method. Within the paper we propose the implementation of a forgetting-factor-type 2D filter that improves the accuracy of the estimate, especially for the blurred and noisy images.


A squash ball almost doesn't bounce; a Superball bounces first left then right, seeming to have a mind of its own. Remarkable and complex elastic behavior isn't confined to sports equipment and toys. Indeed, it can be found in some surprising places. When the elastic behavior of a rock is probed, for instance, it shows extreme nonlinearity hysteresis and discrete memory (the Flint‐stones could have had a computer that used a sandstone for random‐access memory). Rocks are an example of a class of unusual elastic materials that includes sand. soil, cement, concrete, ceramics and, it turns out, damaged materials, Many members of this class are the blue‐collar materials of daily life: They are in the bridges we cross on the way to work, the roofs over our heads and the ground beneath our cities—such as the Los Angeles basin (home to many earthquakes). The elastic behavior of these materials is of more than academic interest.


Coursebooks in electronics specialty for application-oriented undergraduate education should have their connotation in line with undergraduate program,featuring application-oriented undergraduate education,and integrating practice teaching.Such kind of books is intended to cultivate talents and make techniques readily acquired and applied by learners.


For offer the quantity rely on china woman volleyball team special body training, The article base on the four special body accomplishment`s which being mensurated in the resentl years, pilot established the estimate method and standard to the special body accomplishment, and has advived it may have being reference by the woman volleyball training, So that they can avoid lost the direction in the training,and benefit progress of special body accomplishment in both whole and balanced angles.


The photochemical reduction of Cr(Ⅵ) in aqueous solutions containing Fe(Ⅲ)-pyruvate complexes was preliminarily investigated under a UV lamp. The effects of pH, the initial concentrations of Fe(Ⅲ), pyruvate and Cr(Ⅵ) were also discussed in detail. The kinetics and mechanism of Cr(Ⅵ) photoreduction were analyzed. The results indicated that Cr(Ⅵ) could be photochemically reduced by iron(Ⅲ)-pyruvate complexes system and the optimum pH for photo reduction of Cr(Ⅵ) was 3.0. The initial rates of Cr(Ⅵ) photoreduction increased with increasing the initial concentrations of Fe(Ⅲ), pyruvate and Cr(Ⅵ). The apparent kinetics equation could be expressed as -dC_(Cr(Ⅵ))/dt=0.023[Cr(Ⅵ)]~(0.25) [Fe(Ⅲ)]~(0.96)[CH_3COCOONa]~(0.66). Fe(Ⅱ) generated by the photolysis of iron(Ⅲ)-pyruvate complexes was the dominant reductant of Cr(Ⅵ).


The groundwater industry has developed geophysical logging methods which have proved effective in assessing groundwater monitoring well construction and integrity. These methods are similar to oilfield production logging methods, but have been adapted to monitoring well constructions as determined inside of PVC and steel casing. Well construction, water level, and regions of investigation for various logging methods were considered to develop a monitoring well assessment strategy. Several of the electrical, nuclear, and mechanical methods were evaluated. The petroleum industry developed a gamma-gamma (density) logging tool which is adapted for gravel pack evaluation. The analogous use of the density log for characterizing the annular space in monitoring wells has been previously demonstrated; however, the authors have developed an approach to facilitate density log interpretation. The 4-pi density log is calibrated to the compensated density log and overlaid for an improved presentation. The high-resolution density tool developed for coal exploration was used to detect steel centralizers on PVC casing and corrosion of steel casing. The thermal neutron log was used in combination with the density log to distinguish between water-filled and air-filled voids and channels behind casing. Focused (guard) logs proved more effective than SP, 16--24 normal, induction, and single point resistancemore » logs for detecting slots, joints, and holes in PVC casing below the water level. The significance of possible channeling or voids in the annular space was evaluated by locating such defects relative to aquitards. The natural gamma (gamma-ray), neutron, and induction logs were used to determined the location of aquitards.« less


The concept of the generalized strain measures has been useful to solve various elastic, plastic and creep problems. The objective of this paper to solve the creep transition problem in spherical shell under internal pressure using the concept of generalized strain measures and Seth's transition theory of elastic, plastic and creep deformation. The expressions for the creep stresses and yielding are derived by taking the asymptotic behavior of creep transition. The results obtained have been discussed numerically and depicted graphically. The solution obtained does not use the adhoc assumptions given by Tresca or Von Mises.


Objective To investigate the effects of oral health education (mouth rinses,tooth brushing,oral prophylaxis) on periodontal indices and distribution of helicobacter pylori (Hp) in dental plaque.Methods 2945 people were educated in mouth rinses,tooth brushing method (Roll method) and the effect of oral prophylaxis.240 of them were studied and the clinical periodontal indices of calculus index(CT),plaque index (PLI),gingival index (GI),gingival bleeding index(SBI),pocket depth(PD),attachment loss(AL)and teeth movement(TM) were observed.Results The results showed significant differences of PLI,GI,SBI after 1 week mouth rinses,of PLI,GI,SBI,PD,AL,TM after 3 weeks.Conclusion Oral Health education can improve oral health.


The lack of motivation and interest on the part of the students in the ELT classes at the secondary and tertiary levels is a pan-Indian phenomenon. And very often teachers are clueless about how to handle this problem. Neuro-Linguistic Programming holds some potential to address this problem. An actionresearch conducted by the author at the tertiary level focuses on the kind of language used by the teacher in the class and the underlying attitudes and belief systems of the teacher even in the midst of indiscipline and lethargy. And the study shows that NLP can be tapped effectively for building up rapport with the students thereby enhancing teacher-effectiveness and learner-motivation. By way of explaining the various ways in which language was used in this action-research, the article discusses a number of NLP strategies and techniques and the underlying NLP assumptions/theories.


Scheduling plays an important role in the success of most logistic systems. Due to the NP-hard nature of such problems, they have predominantly been solved utilizing metaheuristic algorithms. This work is focused on a two-layered approach, which operates by splitting a 0-1 Integer programming formulation of a scheduling problem in two parts. One part of the problem is solved polynomially, while the other is solved by metaheuristic algorithms. The development of the polynomial algorithms is carried out by in-depth theoretical studies of the resulting linear programs of all scheduling problems considered in this work. The results for the benchmark instances of the schduling problems prove the potential of this approach. Another benefit is its inherent parallel structure that is demonstrated later in this work, along with its extension to other combinatorial optimization problems.


This paper estimates a non-linear Interacted VAR model to assess whether the real effects of monetary policy shocks are milder during times of high uncertainty. In a novel way, uncertainty, i.e., the conditioning indicator discriminating "high" and "low" uncertainty states, is modeled endogenously in the VAR and is found to reduce after an expansionary shock. Generalized Impulse Response Functions a la Koop, Pesaran and Potter (1996) suggest that monetary policy shocks are significantly less powerful during uncertain times, with the peak reactions of a battery of real variables being about two-thirds milder than those during tranquil times. Among the theoretical explanations proposed by the literature, real option effects and precautionary savings appear the ones supported by our results.


The trademark distinguishes goods and services of one business from goods and services of another business. Trademarks, one of the marketing management tools, create an image of products in the customer's minds. The market price of the products includes the value formed by the trademark image. In terms of marketing, there are many studies focusing on trademark value. Branding efforts have gained importance in developing marketing strategies in the global environment. Trademark creation and trademark protection have become important for businesses in providing sustainable competitive advantage. In terms of countries, trademark formation and protection also have the important role in providing competitive advantage. There is generally a similar trend between export/national income sizes, which are important indicators of the competitiveness of countries, and trademark formation/protection efforts. For businesses, trademark creation and trademark protection are indispensable in achieving more returns by providing sustainable competitive advantage.


Abstract In order to test the key factors affecting users' continuance intention of mobile banking Apps, this study combined the Technology acceptance model (TAM) with the perceptual sinteraction model, and further added human-system interaction and perceived privacy security that was not explored in these models before. Data were collected from 349 users who had experience with mobile banking to test the model and were analyzed with a structural equation model. The present study showed that various interactive characteristics of mobile banking (human-human interaction, human-information interaction, human-system interaction) had significant positive impacts on users' perceptions of using mobile banking (perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived privacy security). Users' perceptions of using mobile banking had significantly positive impacts on users' satisfaction with mobile banking, and user satisfaction had a significant impact on users' continuance intention. Users' income level had a significantly negative impact on their continuance intention. In order to further enhance users' continuance intention for mobile banking, designers and managers of mobile banking are suggested to pay special attention to the interactive characteristics of mobile banking and the impact on users' perceptions of mobile banking, so as to improve customer satisfaction and continuous intention.


This paper examines the relative importance of various financial and real shocks underlying oil price fluctuations using alternative Bayesian VAR approaches to calibrate the nature of major shocks. With a view to understanding the time-varying nature of shocks and structural shifts in their persistence, the models are estimated for two sub-periods. Contrary to some empirical findings, we find limited support for the argument that monetary policy shocks played an important role in causing fluctuations in oil prices. We also find evidence of significant but short-run effect of supply shocks on oil prices, whereas demand shocks seem to play a major role in driving oil prices in the medium to long-run. Precautionary oil demand shocks including speculation in commodity markets seem to have strong short-run impact on oil prices. Contrary to the belief held by some, demand shocks have now emerged as key drivers of oil prices over the medium to long-run. The findings do not, however, completely ignore the indirect role played by financial factors including short-term interest rates in causing fluctuations in oil prices by way of stimulating aggregate demand.


Fibroadenoma of the breast is associated with an elevated risk for invasive breast cancer, especially in case of complex changes and epithelial proliferations in adjacent tissue. The aim of this study was, therefore, to make a thorough inventory of the histologic features of epithelium and stroma within and adjacent to breast fibroadenomas in a group of 396 cases. Breast fibroadenomas appeared to display a wide spectrum of proliferative and non-proliferative histologic changes. Hyperplasia (excluding mild hyperplasia) within the fibroadenoma was found in 32.3% of cases. Carcinoma in situ (CIS; five ductal, three lobular) was found in eight fibroadenomas (2.0%) removed from six patients (1.7%), the youngest being 40 years of age. In three cases CIS was not confined to the fibroadenoma, but also involved the adjacent parenchyma. No invasive carcinoma was present within this series of fibroadenomas. Complex histology was seen in 40.4% of cases, mostly at higher age (mean age 35.4 years; p = 0.009). Hyperplasia in adjacent tissue was found in 8.8% of cases, usually at higher age (mean age 45.5 years; p < 0.001). In conclusion, known risk-elevating lesions in and around breast fibroadenomas occur frequently and mostly above the age of 35 years. These findings may have consequences for the clinical management of a subgroup of patients with fibroadenoma.


Height-diameter (h-d) relationships in forest stands are commonly used in various scientific and practical forestry applications. Accurate h-d models combined with tree stem volume equations are recognised to be effective in growing stock volume estimation. The purpose of the study was threefold: 1) development of a set of mathematical models of the h-d relationship in young and middle-aged forest stands for ten forest-forming species in Ukraine; 2) modelling stem volume in above mentioned forest stands; 3) comparison of established mathematical models with corresponding ones for premature, mature, and overmature forest stands. The study was based on permanent and temporal sample plots data (about 600) established in forest stands during 1950s-2020s within the most forested regions of Ukraine (Polissia, Forest-Steppe, Carpathians). In total, about 10,000 sample trees were measured on the sample plots to accurately estimate their stem volume outside bark. The h-d models demonstrated very similar relationships between stem heights and diameters for most of our species except for spruce and fir in mountain Carpathian forests where the steeper h-d curves were obtained. The study revealed that birch and hornbeam tree stems had the lowest volumes among surveyed species. The results also indicated that tree species tend to have higher volumes (up to 7% for coniferous, and up 10% for aspen and birch forests) in young and middle-aged forest sands than in older ones. For the other species, a statistically significant difference between stem volumes of trees of different ages was not observed. The developed mathematical models can complement the corresponding models for older groups of forest stands since they revealed an important aspect of relationships between the key tree stem parameters. These models are also applicable for a more precise stem volume estimation during thinning operations in the young and middle-aged forests in Ukraine


The article reviews an exhibition by electronic artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer at the Haunch of Venison gallery in New York City.


Three propylene-ethylene random copolymers, of varying ethylene content, were fractionated using preparative TREF. The TREF fractions were subsequently analysed offline by CRYSTAF, DSC, 13 C NMR spectroscopy, HT-GPC, and WAXD. The effect of the ethylene comonomer on the crystallisability of the propylene was investigated, along with the effect of the comonomer on the type of crystal phase formed during the crystallisation. The results show that the comonomer inhibits the crystallisation of the copolymer and that as the ethylene content increases, the crystallisation and melting points decrease. It was also shown that the higher the ethylene content, the more of the γ-phase crystal type is formed. The inter-molecular distribution of the ethylene comonomer and stereo errors vary between the samples analysed, and this accounts for the relative differences in crystallisation behaviour of the samples.


This paper looks at the history of Tosu using 'forward reconstruction'. It concludes that Proto-Ersuic changed *-im to *-am already before its breakup as a unity, but the 'brightening' of *-a- to -i- took place independently in Tosu and Lizu-Ersu. In Tosu this brightening did not target labial (or velar) initial words lacking an inherited medial *-j-. A number of changes in the history of Tosu probably preceded brightening, namely *-um, *-ak > -o and *-u, *-it, *-at, *-ra > -e. In contrast, the change *-e- > -i- in Tosu, of unclear conditioning, appears to be quite late. A dissimilation *CeCe > CeCa is potentially also a recent change.


The present invention is a secure transaction apparatus for use with and interaction with a mobile communication device and a remote secure transaction server. A transaction can be initiated by the use of the mobile communication device, and subsequently completed using the secure transaction apparatus. The secure transaction apparatus is capable of receiving and sending data via secure wireless communications protocols from/to the secure transaction server, and the secure transaction apparatus is capable of displaying data to a user of the transaction apparatus via a secure screen element. The secure transaction apparatus includes means to interact with the remote secure transaction server so that a secure and trustworthy transaction can occur.


Recommendations of the Council of Europe for Medicaly Assisted Procreation using and law texts, which were ratified by Turkey. SCD Medecine.


Bioremediation is environment-friendly, economic and effective method to deal with pollution of natural resources such as land and water. Crude oil-contaminated soil samples were collected and treated with the inherent community of bacteria after their isolation from it. The treatment efficiency was analyzed via capillary column gas chromatography in terms of hydrocarbon removal from the soil sample. The isolation of bacteria present in the crude oil contaminated soil sample was carried out via ten-fold dilution method. The qualitative analysis of the samples revealed that the soil sample consisted of various aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons containing carbon chains from C1 to C40 which comprised of chrysene, benzo (k) fluroranthene, benzo (a) pyrene, di-benzo (a, h) anthraces, benzo (g, h, i) perylene, phenenthrene, anthracene, fluroranthene, pyrene, benzo (a) anthracene, benzo (k) fluroranthene, benzo (a) pyrene, di-benzo (a, h) anthracene along with different species of cocci and bacilli.


An analysis of interdisciplinary research and theory relating to group dynamics is undertaken in terms of implications for small school leadership. The transferability of research and theory from sociology, psychology, and business management to educational administration is demonstrated. Concepts are operationalized to generate ideas that can be of use both to the practitioner and to the student of educational administration. The analysis includes ideas based on a principal's observational experiences that should be useful to the researcher in developing theoretical constructs for study.


One method which has been suggested for reducing speckle in the holographically reconstructed image of a diffusing object is the use of a moving aperture in the pupil plane of the imaging lens (this is equivalent to sampling the spatial frequency spectrum of the object). An expression is derived for the average power spectrum of the speckle in the image of a coherently illuminated diffusing object when a number of exposures are superimposed with a shift of the sampling aperture located in the spatial frequency plane between successive exposures, and experimental results are presented which confirm that an appreciable reduction in speckle can be obtained even when the shift of the sampling aperture between two exposures is less than its dimensions. This analysis is then extended to the case of a rectangular sampling aperture which is moving continuously for the duration of the exposure. The results show that, for a given range of movement, an exposure with a continuously moving aperture should be more effe...


In this paper I shall deal with the question of whether a State-granted minimal income (which is not the same as a basic income) is a necessary condition in order for individuals (1) to attain a basic level of autonomy; and (2) to develop capabilities that allow them to improve the quality of their life. As a theoretical basis for my analysis I shall use Honneth's theory of recognition, Sen's capability approach (also in the version offered by Nussbaum), and Simmel's concept of independency as developed in his Philosophy of Money. A minimal income aims at guaranteeing not only the survival of the extremely poor (this could also be achieved by emergency programs), but also – in cooperation with other State programs such as education, medical and legal assistance etc – at enabling these individuals to be more independent from their social environment, where dependence often constitutes a strong obstacle to the development of their autonomy. The social and political inclusion of millions of people, both in threshold countries and in poor countries, depends upon the existence of such programs.


Abstract This study will explore the learning context and its relationship with life skills in former elite athletes. This was a cross-sectional study where 477 former elite athletes completed an ad-hoc questionnaire. A two factors solution (individual and social life skills) from the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) explained 59.1% of the variance. Athletes that had a higher education at retirement, perceived having higher individual and social life skills. Athletes from team sports and those who trained less than 27 h/week perceived a higher degree of social life skills. Age was related to social life skills, too. Additionally, the higher the monthly salary was, the greater the athletes perceived their individual and social life skills. Sport stakeholders should not only provide athletes specific courses on life skills, but they should also guide them on how to apply those life skills in other spheres of their life after sport.


Speech recognition is basically pattern classification task. It is divided mainly into two major parts. The first part is speech signal processing and the second part is speech pattern recognition technique. This paper describes the database expansion & improvement of spoken Hindi Reduplicated words. The main focus is on the analysis of Spoken Hindi Reduplicated words by using endpoint detection algorithm. The improvement is done in the robust environment. Male and female speakers are selected from different agegroup to explore the acoustical variation in their utterances. Various emotions such as normal, happy, anger and surprise are taken for analysis of speech signal. Endpoint detection algorithm is used for the analysis purpose of various parameters such as total duration of time, number of samples, root mean square value and mean power (intensity) in air of speech signal.


This paper puts forward a sight teleoperation system to control underground LHD unit. The teleoperation system for underground LHD unit is necessary because of the harsh and dangerous environment. The operator uses the tele-controller to send instructions to the master controller on the simulation prototype of LHD unit by wireless communication, and then the implementation controller drives the devices based on the instructions. In addition, the security protection function is added in this system. The system has convenient manipulation, fast response time and strong anti-interference ability and so on characteristics, with which the simulation prototype of the LHD unit can be safe and reliable teleoperated. The effectiveness of the proposed controlling system is shown by experiments.


Symposium Neuroimaging has extensively characterized structural and functional brain networks, but the processes linking these two descriptions of nervous systems remain poorly understood and a hot area of research. In recent years, network communication models have gained substantial attention as a framework to bridge the structure-function gap---communication unfolding on top of structural connectivity facilitates functional interactions between neural elements. As our understanding of neural information flow advances, the number of brain network communication models is quickly growing, with current conceptualizations of neural signalling ranging from routing protocols akin to engineered systems to diffusive spreading dynamics. In parallel, the number neuroscientific applications in which these models have found utility is also increasing. Examples of recent advances include functional and effective connectivity prediction, tracking of the spread of neurodegenerative pathogens, and modelling the impact of lesions on brain function and cognition.


1.Introduction Among the well-known operations which can be perfor med on fuzzy matrices are the operations of component wise addition, multiplicati on, algebraic product, algebraic sum and complement. Much research works are done concer ni g fuzzy matrices and their applications to medical sciences, engineering, mana gement environment and social sciences. In 1977, Thomason [8] initiated the study on convergence of powers of fuzzy matrix. The theory of fuzzy matrix was developed by Kim and Roush [2] as an extension of Boolean matrix, with max-min operation over the fuz zy algebra. Ragab and Emam [4] presented some properties of the min-max compositio n of fuzzy matrices. Meenakshi [3] studied the theoretical developments of fuzzy matri ces. Shyamal and Pal [5,6] introduced two binary operators on fuzzy matrices and proved s everal properties on them and these operations are extended to intuitionistic fuzzy mat rices and studied its algebraic properties by Sriram and Boobalan [7]. Zhang and Zheng [9] int roduced bounded sum and bounded product of fuzzy matrices and presented several pro perties on these operations. The paper is organized in three sections. In sec tion 2,we give the basic definitions and operations on fuzzy matrices which will be used in this paper. In section 3, we introduce the hamacher operations on fuzzy matrices and focus ing on its properties. The De Morgan's law for the hamacher operations are establ i hed in section 4.


The invention provides a beverage can with a rotary straw connector. The beverage can comprises a can body, a straw, a rotary seat, a connector body and a pressing cover. The straw is arranged in the can body, the connector body is mounted on the can body through the rotary seat, a fixing piece is arranged on the connector body, the straw is positioned through the method that the fixing piece presses the rotary seat after rotation, the straw penetrates through the connector body and the rotary seat, the head of the straw stretches out from one side of the connector body, the pressing cover is mounted on the connector body through a connecting hinge, and the pressing cover can be used for clamping the head of the straw in the connector body after being pressed down. According to the beverage can with the rotary straw connector, the straw connector can be rotated to corresponding positions according to needs, the pressing cover on the straw can be pressed down when not used, and the beverage can with the rotary straw connector is convenient to use.


An experiment was conducted on turkey to compare the effect of semi intensive and intensive system of rearing on carcass characteristics and blood biochemical parameters. In this experiment, eight week old 48 turkey poults were divided into three replicates per treatment and eight birds in each replicate. The different carcass quality traits and blood parameters were studied after 90 days of experiment. The results showed that turkeys reared in intensive system had significantly (P<0.01) higher mean live weight (4323.33±82.71 g) in comparison to semi-intensive system (3372.50±117.35g). The breast (%) was significantly (P<0.01) high in semi-intensive system of rearing (19.09±0.74) in comparison to intensive system of rearing (14.40±1.72). There was significant difference observed in the length of the small intestine which was found to be longer in case of semi intensive system than the intensive system. Histologically, there was significant difference (P<0.01) found between the length (4.64±0.17 vs. 6.6±0.2) and width (2.52±0.12 vs. 3.44±0.13) of intestinal villi in intensive and semi-intensive system respectively. Organoleptic evaluation of the cooked meat (eight point hedonic scales) of different treatments revealed that the average value for general appearance, flavor, juiciness, texture and overall acceptability were numerically higher in semi-intensive rearing system. Blood biochemical parameters i.e. glucose, total protein, cholesterol, SGOT, SGPT and alkaline phosphatase were similar in both systems of rearing, however glucose values in the semi-intensive system (160.71±2.88) were significantly lower (P<0.05) than the intensive system (177.46±3.75). It can be concluded that the semi-intensive rearing system produced better results in comparison to intensive rearing system.


the structure of 3-dimensional (3D) nanowire MUGFET is proposed. The simulation results are based on the study of electrical parameters such as electrical potential, charge density, electric field, IV characteristics, transconductance and tool used is the nanohub multiple gate field effect transistors (MUGFET) simulator. The studies are done to cross check the performance of NANOWIRE MUGFETs on the basis of different insulating layer (oxide layer). The results show that the nanowire with Hafnium dioxide as the oxide layer gives a better performance as compared with Silicon dioxide as the oxide layer.


Performance degradation in communication networks are caused by a set of faults, called soft failures, owing to which the network resources like bandwidth can not be utilized to the expected level. An automated solution to the performance management problem involves identifying these soft failures followed by the required change in few of the performance parameters to overcome the performance degradation. The identification of soft failures can be done using any of the fault-diagnosis model, and is not discussed here. In this paper, the emphasis is on providing a viable solution to the network performance tuning. Since the exploration of the network performance tuning search space to bring out the required control is not well known in advance, a reinforcement control model is developed to tune the network performance. Ethernet performance management is taken up as a case study. The results obtained by the proposed approach demonstrate its effectiveness in solving the network performance management problem.


The paper highlights fuzzy control algorithms encompassing applications in a case study including in stock market strategy. The fuzzy membership function (unit share price) for a petroleum company for low, medium and high and the corresponding Mumbai Stock Exchange Sensitive Index are described. It has been shown that the unit share price in a dynamically stable market moves along with the sensitive index. The application of fuzzy control algorithms for market management may appear to be a promising domain for further investigation.


Objective. There have been remarkable advances over the past decade in neural prostheses to restore lost motor function. However, restoration of somatosensory feedback, which is essential for fine motor control and user acceptance, has lagged behind. With an increasing interest in using electrical stimulation to restore somatosensory sensations within the peripheral (PNS) and central nervous systems (CNS), it is critical to characterize the percepts evoked by electrical stimulation in a standardized manner with a validated psychometric questionnaire. This will allow comparison of results from applications at various nervous system levels in multiple settings. Approach. We compiled a summary of published reports of somatosensory percepts that were elicited by electrical stimulation in humans and used these to develop a new psychometric questionnaire. Results. This new questionnaire was able to characterize subjective evoked sensations with good test-retest reliability (Spearman's correlation coefficients ranging 0.716  ⩽  ρ  ⩽  1.000, p  ⩽  0.005) in 13 subjects receiving stimulation through neural implants in both the CNS and PNS. Furthermore, the new questionnaire captured more descriptors (M  =  2.65, SD  =  0.91) that would have been missed by being categorized as 'other sensations', using a previous questionnaire (M  =  1.40, SD  =  0.77, t(12)  =  −10.24, p  <  0.001). Lastly, the new questionnaire was able to capture different descriptors within subjects using different patterns of electrical stimulation (Wilk's Lambda  =  0.42, F(3, 10)  =  4.58, p  =  0.029). Significance. This new somatosensory psychometric questionnaire will aid in establishing consistency and standardization of reporting in future studies of somatosensory neural prostheses.


Jakarta has an essential function for Indonesia, apart from being the capital city of the country, Jakarta is also the center of the nation's economy. However, the problem of flooding that occurs every year causes enormous material and immaterial losses. One of the metropolitan areas that is often hit by floods is Bendungan Hilir Village. This village is the meeting point between the Ciliwung River and the Krukut River. One of the causes of flooding is when the water level in both rivers is high, the water from the Krukut River cannot flow, so it overflows into the surrounding area. For this reason, this study will analyze the level of flood hazard and the effect of normalization of the Krukut River. The analysis was performed using the HEC-RAS, combining 1D and 2D modeling. In the upstream part, the Krukut watershed flood hydrograph is applied for a return period of 25 years with a peak discharge of 169 m3/s, and the normal depth will be used as the downstream boundary. The modeling is carried out in two conditions, they are the existing channel and the channel after normalization. Based on the model results it is found that normalization could reduce the flood hazard of Krukut river around 75%.


........................................................................................................................................... 1 I. CONCEPT DESCRIPTION ............................................................................................................... 1 A. THE POTENTIAL OF X-RAY INTERFEROMETRY................................................................ 1 B. MISSION REQUIREMENTS..................................................................................................... 5 C. FLAT MIRROR X-RAY INTERFEROMETRY ......................................................................... 6 D. MISSION ARCHITECTURE ................................................................................................... 11 E. MISSION LIMITATIONS........................................................................................................ 15 F. NASA PROGRAMMATICS .................................................................................................... 17 II. SUMMARY OF PHASE I ............................................................................................................... 18 III. CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT PLAN............................................................................................ 19 A. THE PATHWAY ..................................................................................................................... 19 B. DEVELOPMENT OF KEY TECHNOLOGIES ........................................................................ 21 C. COMMUNITY ACCEPTANCE................................................................................................ 21 IV. MANAGEMENT ........................................................................................................................... 22


A confession first: Robert Turcan has long figured in my pantheon of great scholars, those whom one admires for their erudition and brilliance regardless of agreements or disagreements. One of my first academic tasks was to review his Les religions d'Asie dans la vallée du Rhône (1972) and a little later I translated an essay of his, re-printed here, on the Mauls relief that appeared in the first number of the Journal of Mithraic Studies (1976). The appearance of his collected articles on the Roman cult of Mithras, written over a period of some 40 years (19762016), provides a welcome occasion to acknowledge the sustained high quality and seriousness of his contribution to this field and briefly to relate them to changes that have taken place over the period to which he bears witness.


The accuracy of gait sensing detection and identification determines the usability and acceptability in field applications. Four inertial measurement units (IMUs) recorded from heel contact to toe-off as a footstep in gait. The 1400 footsteps from 70 participants were collected, and the 13 footsteps from each were randomly selected for the Siamese convolutional neural network (SCNN) model training. The inputs in the SCNN model were a matrix of 4 (sensor) $\times150$ (sample) with six channels, which were associated with three axes of acceleration and gyroscopes of one footstep. Subsequently, different numbers of enrolled people were used in the training model, and different footsteps were set as a threshold for ingroup or imposter detections. Even in the smallest number of enrolled people dataset in ingroup detection, the performance of the SCNN was significantly better than the long short-term memory (LSTM). The highest accuracy rate of ingroup detection was 96.33% in ten enrolled people, and the highest for imposter detection was 81.93% in 60 enrolled people under the 13 footsteps threshold. The best accuracy rate was in 30 enrolled people when employed ingroup and imposter detections together, significantly higher than the other enrolled numbers. The present study highlighted two contributions of an embedded IMU surface measurement system in gait information collection. First, only 13 steps of each participant were required in training, which was considered a minimal data input. Second, only one footstep achieved very promising personal identification for each person in the ingroup population and imposter detection, making our system highly applicable to gait biometrics.


Depression and the Use of Counseling Services Among Medical Students by Jane Lucile Givens B.M. (Boston University) 1987 M.M. (Temple University) 1989 A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Health and Medical Sciences in the GRADUATE DIVISION of the UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA at BERKELEY Committee in charge: Professor Emeritus Henrik L. Blum, MD MPH, chair Lecturer Maureen Katz, MD Professor Steven P. Segal, PhD 1995


The principles of new switched data networks planned in France are explained together with a short survey of the present state of the art. Basic techniques, offered services, compatibility with telephone, envelope concept, synchronization, and international compatibility are covered. The general ideas underlying the outline of its implementation are given but many technical details are still under study both in the French Post, Telegraph, and Telephone (PTT) Administration and in international bodies such as the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee (CCITT). Such studies, made by various administrations in Europe, should lead to new possibilities by sharing many features which are presently afforded within private networks, but interchange of information between potential users and administrations should throw light on the extent with which many services should be offered.


Pseudomonas aeruginosa continues to be a predominant cause of infections with high intrinsic resistance to antibiotics, resulting in treatment failure. P. aeruginosa is the leading cause of respiratory infections among cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Resistance to carbapenem antibiotics among P. aeruginosa has been reported. Thus, this study was undertaken to characterize the metallo-β-lactamase (MBL) production of P. aeruginosa by phenotypic and genotypic methods. A total of 572 sputum samples were collected from cystic fibrosis patients along with the patient demographic details in a questionnaire. In total, 217 P. aeruginosa isolates were collected and an antibiogram revealed that 159 (73.3%) and 141 (64.9%) of these colonies exhibited resistance to imipenem and meropenem, respectively. Ceftazidime and tobramycin resistance were both identified in 112 (51.6%) isolates, and resistance to piperacillin-tazobactam, gatifloxacin and netilmicin was detected in 96 (44.2%) respective samples. A total of 62 (28.6%) respective samples were resistant to cefoperazone, cefepime and ceftriaxone. The least antibiotic resistance was shown to amikacin and ceftizoxime with 51 (23.5%) and 32 (14.7%) respective colonies resistant to the antibiotics. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for imipenem revealed a reduction in the MIC values. MBL screening by the zone enhancement method using ceftazidime plus EDTA discs demonstrated that 63 (56.25%) of the colonies were positive for MBL. A total of 53 (84.1%) samples expressed blaVIM and 48 (76.1%) expressed blaIMP genes, as detected by duplex polymerase chain reaction. In conclusion, carbapenem resistance is of great clinical concern in cystic fibrosis patients with P. aeruginosa infection. Therefore, mandatory regular screening and monitoring the resistance in P. aeruginosa among CF patients is required.


The total flavonoids in Gynura were extracted in volume fraction 80% alcohol and purified,and their antioxidant activity in vitro and in vivo was studied.After removing impurities,the crude extracts were purified with type AB-8 macroporous adsorption resin.The content of the total flavonoids was determined by spectrophotometry.The antioxidant activity of the total flavonoids in vitro was analyzed by using different assays with Vc as cross reference,for example,DPPH radical(DPPH·) scavenging assay,hydroxyl radical(·OH) scavenging assay,superoxide radical(O2-·) scavenging assay.The antioxidant activity of the purified flavonoids in vivo was also investigated.The content of total crude flavonoids from Gynura was 13.928 mg/g,and the purification ratio was 32.79%.The radical scavenging effect was enhanced with increasing flavonoid concentration.The scavenging effect of the purified flavonoids was greater than the crude extracts.The level of superoxide dismutase(SOD) activity in the brain and liver of mice was significantly higher in low doses groups than in normal control groups(p0.05),so was the level of catalase(CAT) activity in liver.The brain malondialdehyde(MDA) content was obviously lower than that of the normal control groups(p0.05).


Aim: The present study was undertaken to assess IPM modules against Fall Armyworm in Maize through Frontline Demonstration and its economic impact.
Place and Duration of Study: The present study was carried out in Ananthapuramu district of Andhra Pradesh during the period 2020-2023.
Methodology: The main objective of frontline demos is to demonstrate recently available crop production and protection technology, as well as their management practices, in a farmer's field in a micro farming setting. The KVK, Reddipalle conducted front line demonstrations on maize throughout rabi seasons of 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022–2023, as part of annual technical programme of Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Reddipalle, Ananthapuramu district organised 30 FLD locations in KVK operational area of adopted villages. Following a group discussion, a list of farmers was created, and those who were chosen received specialised training in various parts of suggested protection technologies.
Results: According to the current results and subsequent analysis of the results, maize reported a higher total (91120 Rs ha-1) when compared to farmers practice (74309 Rs ha-1). The benefit cost ratio was significantly higher in the recommended approach (2.51) when compared to farmers practice (2.12). The higher grain output and better market pricing of the produce may be the causes of the maize demonstration's higher net returns and B: C ratio.
Conclusion: The FLD intervention is highly effective among maize farmers with increased net returns of 13618 rupees per hectare. Hence, FLD plays a vital role in dissemination of technology on a community basis when compared to other approaches.


INTRODUCTION
The purpose of the study was to analyze the role of automatic assessment of COVID-19 pneumonia severity in high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) images by artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
We retrospectively studied the medical records of consecutive patients admitted to the Krakow University Hospital due to COVID-19. Of the 1,729 patients, 804 had HRCT with automatically analyzed radiological parameters: absolute inflammation volume (AIV), absolute ground glass volume (AGV), absolute consolidation volume (ACV), percentage inflammation volume (PIV), percentage ground glass volume (PGV), percentage consolidation volume (PCV) and severity of pneumonia classified as none, mild, moderate, or critical.

RESULTS
The automatically assessed radiological parameters correlated with the clinical parameters that reflected the severity of pneumonia (p < 0.05). Patients with critical pneumonia, compared to mild or moderate, were more frequently men, had significantly lower oxygen saturation, higher respiratory rate, higher levels of inflammatory markers, more common need for mechanical ventilation, and admission to the intensive care unit (ICU); moreover, they were more likely to die during hospitalization. Notably, as determined by the receiving operating characteristic curve, radiological parameters above or equal the cut-off points were independently associated with in-hospital mortality (ACV odds ratio (OR) 4.08, 95% confidence limits (CI) 2.62 - 6.35; PCV OR 4.05, CI 2.60 - 6.30).

CONCLUSIONS
Using AI to analyze HRCT images is a simple and valuable approach to predict the severity of COVID-19 pneumonia.


Spondyloarthritis (SpA) is a group of inflammatory rheumatic diseases that have some key features in common. According to ASAS, this condition is classified into three main disease groups: radiographic axial SpA (r-AxSpA), non-radiographic axial SpA (nr-axSpA), and peripheral SpA (pSpA). All patients with SpA with predominantly axial involvement are considered to have axial SpA, patients with significant radiographic sacroiliitis according to the modified New York criteria have r-axSpA. Patients without radiographic sacroilitis but with axial disease have nr-axSpA. More information is needed about the difference between these groups, especially in other populations like ours.The objectives of this study are to systematically compare the demographic, clinical, and laboratory characteristics, disease onset, and physical examination findings of patients with r-AxSpA and nr-AxSpA; and identify factors that could predict a subtype of the disease.Data from 148 patients over 18 years collected between 1998 and 2005 from Hospital General de México and Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición. Patients classified according to ASAS criteria. We selected patients with nr-AxSpA and r-AxSpA and compared, clinical, demographic, and clinimetric variables. Logistic regression analysis was applied to identify the parameters associated with r-AxSpA or nr-AxSpA. Exclusion criteria included patients under biologic treatment.This study included 148 adult Mexican patients; general characteristics are exposed in table 1. HLA-B*27 was present in 57% of patients. Patients with nr – AxSpA were more women (41.4% vs 21.8%; P <0.05), with less presence of HLA-B27 (54.3% vs 92.7%, P < 0.05) compared to the r – axSpA group. R-AxSpA patients were younger at symptom onset (16 vs. 21 years; P < 0.01) than nr – axSpA (Image 1). Patients with nr – AxSpA had more history of infection preceding disease onset (32.9% vs 9.1%; P < 0.05), and less frequency of uveitis (10% vs 25.5% P < 0.05), more dactylitis (12.9% vs. 0%, P < 0.01), less painful entheses (3 vs. 6 P < 0.01), and less axial enthesopathy (1 vs. 4 P < 0.05) than r-AxSpA patients. The measures of thoracic expandability, modified Schober, right and left flexion test, were significantly lower in r-AxSpA group than in the nr-AxSpA group, p < 0.01). patients with r-AxSpA had higher Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI) (4.8 vs 2.9%; P < 0.01), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) (5.2 vs 4.1; P < 0.01), Dougados functional index (14% vs 7%; P < 0.05) than nr – AxSpA. Logistic regression shows that the factors that most influence the presentation of r-AxSpA are the history of uveitis (OR 14, 95% CI 2.3-85), HLA-B27 (OR 7, 97, 95% CI, 2.96-122), gender (male) (OR 6.16, 95% CI, 1.47-25.7), axial enthesopathy count (OR 1.17 95% CI, 1.03-1.33). The history of infection is a protective factor against radiographic disease (OR 0.19, 95% CI 0,04 – 0,91).This study provides insight into the differences that may affect the prediction of radiographic progression in patients with nr-AxSpA. We found that patients with radiographic disease had a younger age of presentation, mostly male, higher prevalence of HLA-B27, more history of uveitis, fewer episodes of dactylitis, more axial enthesopathy, and higher disease activity.Table 1Table 1.Patient characteristics and disease courseTotal SpAr-AxSpAnr-AxSpApSpATotal, n (%)14855 (37.2)70 (47.3)23 (15.5) ΔAge at symptom onset (yrs)20 (14 – 26)16 (12 – 21) Δ21 (17 – 28) Δ24 (13 – 27) ΔAge at diagnosis (yrs)23 (17 – 29)19 (16 – 26)26 (18 – 33)24 (17 – 30)Delay in diagnosis (yrs)2 (0 – 5) ◊3.5 (0 – 7) ◊1.5 (0 – 5)1 (0 – 3)Men (%)103 (69.8)43 (78.2) ¥41 (58.6) ¥19 (82.6)Male:Female ratio2.3:13.6:11.4:14.8:1HLA-B2785 (57.4%)38 (92.7%) ¥38 (54.3%) ¥9 (60%) ¥¥ P<0.05, † P<0.001, Δ P<0.0001, ◊ P>0.05BMI:Body mass index;r-AxSpA:radiographic AxSpA; nr-AxSpA:non-radiographic AxSpA;pSpA: Peripheral SpA.Graphic 1.NIL.NIL.None Declared.


For primary hip arthroplasty contemporary acetabular component options available from across multiple manufacturers have evolved over the years to provide several common and widely available features and a few unique options designed to address the main clinical problems that have plagued hip arthroplasty in the past. These include the main causes of failure of THA generally, and of acetabular components in particular: fixation, wear, instability, and infection. The design and implant options that have been made available vary in how effectively they have "solved" the problem in question and occasionally have created new problems or have been associated with major tradeoffs and disadvantages. Fixation: Cementless fixation of the socket has largely supplanted cemented fixation in North America. First generation ingrowth materials for cementless sockets including beads, plasma spraying, and wire mesh, have given way to enhanced more highly porous materials. The advent of rapid prototyping and 3-D printing of highly porous titanium (and other) materials has sparked a wave of various new orthopaedic implant designs including for the acetabulum. Wear: Polyethylene wear and the resulting osteolysis problems seen in hip arthroplasty in the 19809s and 909s spawned a competition between 3 technologies over the optimal enhanced wear couple for THA: Metal-on-Metal (MOM), Ceramic-on-Ceramic, and Metal/Ceramic-on-Highly Crosslinked Polyethylene. Metal-on-Metal surface replacement and MOM THA were designed to reduce wear and also allow very large heads and potentially enhanced hip stability. Unfortunately, after wide adoption, subsequent problems occurred and this ongoing disaster has resulted in the rapid disappearance of virtually all MOM designs. Ceramic-on-Ceramic articulations achieve very low wear rates, but with lower tolerances for imperfect implant positioning. The potential for stripe wear, audible squeaking, rare breakage problems, and much greater expense have limited usage in the US, though this articulation is still preferred by some surgeons for selected very young patients. Ceramic- or Chrome Cobalt-on-Highly Crosslinked Polyethylene has emerged as the most widely used articulation in the US and has excellent wear performance with no demonstrable osteolysis over the first decade. More recent modifications of crosslinking methods and use of Vitamin E as an antioxidant, it is hoped, will further improve wear performance and mechanical properties. Instability: Instability of the hip (subluxation or frank dislocation) remains one of the most common complications of THA, especially early. Acetabular component and insert options available to prevent instability (or treat it in the revision setting) include: 1) Optimal cup version and inclination (so called "safe zone"); 2) Prevent femoral component impingement against socket or liner rim; 3) Face changing elevated liner; 4) Liner to allow large fixed head (32 mm or > depending on cup size); 5) Dual mobility liner; 6) Tripolar construct (small bipolar inside a matched liner for a 40 mm or larger head); 7) Constrained liner (various designs). Infection: There are currently a very limited number of acetabular component or liner options available to attempt to reduce the risk of infection or assist as adjunctive measures in treating the infected arthroplasty, but this is an area of active research and implant design effort.


Background COVID-19 pandemic forced educational institutions to adopt online methods which were inevitable to keep continuity of education across all academia after suspension of traditional educational systems. The aim of this study was to explore the experience of faculty and students of online and face-to-face learning, and their preference of the mode of learning after the pandemic. Methods This is a mixed-method study. Quantitative data was collected through a survey from 194 medical students and 33 faculty members, while qualitative data was collected through two focus group discussions with 9 students and another two with 13 faculty members. Quantitative variables were presented as means and standard deviations. Paired samples t-test and Chi-square test were used. Thematic analysis of qualitative data was used to code, interpret, and make sense of data. Results Mean scores of responses of faculty members and students were higher for face-to-face and blended learning compared to online learning in all survey statements with statistically significant differences. More than half of the students (53.1%) preferred the face-to-face mode of learning, while most of the faculty members (60.6%) preferred the blended mode of learning. Qualitative analysis identified five themes, namely: "Transforming the way theoretical teaching sessions are given," "Face-to-face teaching at campus cannot be replaced for some types of education," "Interaction in online sessions is limited," "Problems and challenges of online examinations," and "Technical issues and challenges of online education." It revealed suggestions that at least 30% of the curriculum could be taught online post-COVID-19. Some aspects of clinically oriented teaching including history taking and case discussions can also be delivered online in the future. Faculty members and students reported that dealing with online education was not difficult, although the transition was not smooth. Conclusion Medical students and faculty members were in favor of face-to-face and blended modes of learning. However, they perceived online mode of learning as an acceptable adaptation in theoretical teaching and in some clinically oriented teaching including history taking and clinical case discussions. Although face-to-face education in medicine is irreplaceable, the blended mode of learning remains an acceptable and practical solution for the post-COVID era.


Heat equations related to some temperature fields in oil strata (such as exact formulation, lumped and the incomplete lumped, and the Lauwerier formulations) are discussed. We survey some oil strata problems and their solutions. The integral transform (Laplace, Hankel, generalized Hankel transforms, etc.) method is used to obtain an analytical solution of such problems. It is shown that Efros' theorem (a generalized form of the Laplace convolution) is suitable to deal with inverse transforms. Such problems are extended to include fractional derivatives and some cases of internal heat production. Numerical treatments of some fractional extensions of the temperature field problems are discussed.


Widya Kusuma, Indra. 2010. People Power as a Tool for Political Purpose as seen in the Movie entitled V for Vendetta. English Department. Languages and Art Faculty. Semarang State University.

This study is entitled People Power as a Tool for Political Purpose as seen in the Movie entitled V for Vendetta. The study focuses on the process of how people power arises in this movie. In this study the writer used the sociological approach to analyze the process.
The study carries out some objectives, those are (1) to identify the key factor of people power. (2) To explain how people power arise, especially in this movie. (3) To explain the people power movement of real political condition. To reach those objectives the writer was concerned with library research as the method of investigation. In this case, the writer used the movie V for Vendetta by Wachowski Brothers as the primary data, and some reference books dealing with the subject as the secondary ones.
The results of the study show that there are three main elements of people power; they are freedom, justice, and human rights. The disturbance of these elements caused people power to rise, along with the suffering of people and the cruelty of dictatorship and authoritarian regime. People power itself can be succeeded in a typology of low capacity-hybrid regime, and also inclined slow in taking decision. It cannot be done in an authoritative regime with repressive capability, which can break people power.
It is expected that this study could be useful for further research on people power and broaden the knowledge of the English Department's students on literary works.


According to the present embodiment includes a transmitter, a receiver, in the velocity-distance detection system that detects the distance between the receiver and the transmitter, the transmitter sends a composite frequency signal, the receiver includes an arithmetic unit for performing a receiving means for receiving the composite frequency signal transmitted from the transmitter, the calculation so that the difference in the power estimates or amplitude estimates of the plurality component becomes the target precision, the speed in the case where the difference has become the target accuracy, and speed estimating means for estimating a velocity of the transmitter or receiver, in the case where the difference has become the target accuracy, the phase of the plurality in the frequency signal each extracted based on the extracted each phase, the transmitter and calculates the propagation delay time of the multi-frequency signal between the receiver, based on the calculated propagation delay time, between the receiver and the transmitter distance to estimate the distance of It comprises a constant means.


Abstract Rock soles Lepidopsetta bilineata in Hecate Strait, British Columbia, were tagged and injected with oxytetracycline (OTC). Otoliths from eight of nine tagged fish recaptured 2–3 years later showed fluorescing OTC marks. Both the years since application of the OTC mark and the occurrence of growth checks could be read correctly from burned cross sections of the otoliths. Estimated ages of recaptured fish were 6–11 years.


In this research can be identified the curriculum and pedagogical aspects that are taken by the teachers from Rodrigo Lara Bonilla Public School in order to design some experiences with the purpose to educate for the Peace; It is placed in Ciudad Bolivar zone in Bogota city.
This study, based on Case Study. The data were obtain through semi- structured interview technique, the collection of documents that explain the process of design and implementation of the experiences included some theoretical framework.

To validate the data, researchers triangulate the information using some conceptual categories of Education for the peace, Culture of peace, Curriculum design of education for the peace and education in human rights.

The outcomes present the model, trend and pedagogical strategy from the institution. In addition, it will be identified the pedagogical characteristics of the curriculum design of the education for the peace for each experience. It will be characterized the roles of the teachers and directive teachers and finally, some recommendations will be given about curriculum and pedagogical aspects in order to implement one experience in the construction of the peace in other institutions or schools of the country.

Key words: Education for the peace, Study case, Curriculum and Pedagogical aspects.


Surgical management of solitary kidneys is a serious undertaking which has to be performed with the minimum loss of renal tissues. Nephrotomy involves great risks because in cases of complications (e.g., haemorrhage) nephrectomy is out of question. Urolithiasis should be surgically treated only if the stone blocks urinary flow. Postoperative renal failure may necessitate extracorporeal dialysis. Grafting of intestinal tissue is a great facility.


In October 2010 one of Finland's four national TV channels aired a panel discussion dealing with gay and lesbian rights in society. Among the debaters were members of parliament from various parties, well-known actors and other public figures, as well as a priest, a bishop and other religious spokespeople. Afterwards, a great number of people publicly expressed their views on same-sex marriages. The ways the Lutheran Church treated the same-sex couples, as well as the reasons and outcomes of a vast number of resignations from the Church were discussed, particularly in the online discussion forums. The public discussion spread rapidly, especially through the social media. Resignations from the Church are often perceived as a clear sign of the decline of religious beliefs and practices, which is an integral aspect of the secularization process. But lately the whole notion of a secularization of society has been questioned and a growing number of researchers have stated that the concepts of resacralization, desecularization, or a resurgence of religion would actually better describe the current situation than the theory of secularization. The aim of this article is to examine whether the concept of secularization still has some explanatory power at least in the Nordic countries. Another aim is to contemplate what kind of knowledge this special case has to offer when rethinking secularization.


To estimate the influence of the rotation center eccentricity of the single-blade centrifugal pump impeller on the radial force on it, and to explore the effective radial force balance method, a single blade pump with a power of 2.2 kW is analyzed. The accuracy of Numerical Simulation Methods are verified by tests of external characteristics (under three rotation-speeds of 1470 r/min, 2000 r/min, and 2940 r/min) and pressure distributions. There are five models with different rotation center coordinates (model a with (0,1), model b with (−1,0), model c with (0,−1), model d with (1,0), and model e with (0,0.5)) which are analyzed. The results show that the radial force of model c and model d reduced by 8.1% and 9.8%, respectively, which means the offset of the center of the impeller to the positive direction of the x-axis and the negative direction of the y-axis can effectively reduce the radial force. At the eccentricity of the impeller (2,−2), the radial force under all operating conditions is reduced, most obviously at 1.0 Qd, which is about 17%. The study may prove helpful to designers and pump manufacturers to find a path forward for an optimal eccentricity to minimize the radial force.


Background. The use of classical and modified surgical approaches to acetabulum is accompanied by serious intra-and postoperative complications associated with tissues, vessels, nerves, and lymphatic structures injury. The choice of approach to acetabulum affects the surgical time and the blood loss volume. The aim of the review was to compare the surgical time and blood loss volume using different surgical approaches to the acetabulum based on the relevant literature analysis. Methods. The search was carried out in PubMed/MEDLINE and Scopus databases from 1964 to 2022. When conducting a search for the phrases acetabular fractures, surgical approach to the acetabulum, 4368 articles were found. As a result of the selection, 12 publications containing the most complete information on the studied indicators were included in the quantitative analysis. data of surgical treatment of 540 patients with acetabulum fractures were analyzed. The average age of the patients was 45.2±11.6 years. Among the causes of pelvic and acetabulum fractures, road accident (70.4%) and falls from height (21.3%) largely prevailed. The blood loss depended on the use of specific approaches or their combination, and the surgical time. The shortest surgical time (101.0±27.0 min.) was required using pararectal approach, the longest (264±56.4 min.) — with the use of ilio-inguinal approach. The largest volume of blood loss was observed with Pfannenstiel approach — 1057.1±377.9 ml. No statistically significant differences were found when comparing the Kocher-Langenbeck (793±328 ml), ilio-inguinal (828±64 ml) and pararectal (798±322 ml) approach. Performing the Kocher-Langenbeck approach in the patient's lateral position reduces the surgical time by 16.8% and reduces blood loss by 12.4% compared to the patient's prone position. Conclusion. Comparative clinical studies are required to determine the safest surgical approaches to the acetabulum, depending on the type of fracture, the mechanism of injury and the age of the patient.


Background Melanoma is a relatively common cancer type with a high survival rate, but survivors risk recurrences or second primaries. Consequently, patients receive regular hospital follow-up, but this can be burdensome to attend and not optimally timed to detect arising problems. Total skin self-examination (TSSE) supports improved clinical outcomes from melanoma via earlier detection of recurrences and second primaries, and digital technology has the potential to support TSSE. Recent research with app-based interventions aimed at improving the well-being of older adults has found that they can use the technology and benefit from it, supporting the use of digital health care in diverse demographic groups. Thus, the Achieving Self-directed Integrated Cancer Aftercare (ASICA) digital health care intervention was developed. The intervention provided melanoma survivors with a monthly prompt to perform a TSSE as well as access to a dermatology nurse who provided them with feedback on photographs and descriptions of their skin. Objective We aimed to explore participants' attitudes, beliefs, and experiences regarding TSSE practices. Furthermore, we explored how participants experienced technology and how it influenced their practice of TSSE. Finally, we explored the practical and technical experiences of ASICA users. Methods This was a nested qualitative evaluation within a dual-center randomized controlled trial of the ASICA intervention. We conducted semistructured telephone interviews with the participants during a randomized controlled trial. The participants were purposively sampled to achieve a representative sample with representative proportions by age, sex, and residential geography. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a framework analysis approach applied within NVivo 12. Results A total of 22 interviews were conducted with participants from both groups. In total, 40% (9/22) of the interviewed participants were from rural areas, and 60% (13/22) were from urban areas; 60% (13/22) were from the intervention group, and 40% (9/22) were from the control group. Themes evolved around skin-checking behavior, other people's input into skin checking, contribution of health care professionals outside ASICA and its value, ideas around technology, practical experiences, and potential improvements. ASICA appeared to change participants' perceptions of skin checking. Users were more likely to report routinely performing TSSE thoroughly. There was some variation in beliefs about skin checking and using technology for health care. Overall, ASICA was experienced positively by participants. Several practical suggestions were made for the improvement of ASICA. Conclusions The ASICA intervention appeared to have positively influenced the attitudes and TSSE practices of melanoma survivors. This study provides important qualitative information about how a digital health care intervention is an effective means of prompting, recording, and responding to structured TSSE by melanoma survivors. Technical improvements are required, but the app offers promise for technologically enhanced melanoma follow-up in future. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03328247; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03328247?term=ASICA&rank=1 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) RR2-10.1186/s13063-019-3453-x


This paper briefly introduces the deformation feature on phyllite.It also has an exposition on the monitoring measurement of phyllite tunnel field and analyzes the measurement results.Based on this,it selects a scientific and reasonable method to control the great wall rock distortion effectively.


Two-phase flows in which solid particles are sedimenting in a visco-elastic fluid are common in drilling muds of oil and gas wells. Typically, in the numerical simulation of such flows, one employs Lagrangian formulation for the dispersed phase and Eulerian formulation of the carrier phase. Depending on the relative resolution of the grid resolution (Δ) and the characteristic length scale of the particle (dp), three different regimes [1] can be identified: (i) subgrid, when dp Δ. This study is concerned with fully resolved simulations (FRS) of particles in Newtonian and viscoelastic fluids. In FRS, all scales associated with the particle motion are resolved and the drag forces are directly evaluated, unlike in the other approaches where drag and lift correlations are used to estimate forces on the particles. A variety of methods have been proposed and used for implementing FRS in laminar and turbulent flows of Newtonian fluids. The present effort is based on the fictitious domain approach, based on the algorithm proposed by Patankar [2]. In this approach, the Navier Stoked equations, which include both Newtonian and non-Newtonian stresses, are solved over the entire domain including the region occupied by the particles. It is assumed that this region is filled with a fluid with density equal to the particle density. The particle is defined on a separate mesh that is free to move over the underlying grid. Both the fluid and the particle are assumed incompressible and the motion of the material inside the particle is constrained to be a rigid body motion. This is accomplished by adding a rigidity constraint body force in the momentum equation. The method requires transfer of information between the underlying fluid grid and the particle mesh; both interpolation and integration operators are suitably defined to preserve the second-order accuracy of the entire algorithm. The method is currently being implemented in a massively parallel, unstructured finite-volume-based incompressible fluid solver developed at Stanford University's Center for Turbulence Research [3,4]. In a previous effort [5] we have added viscoelastic effect by including the FENE-P constitutive model, which includes a tensorial partial differential equation representing the transport and dynamics of the components of the viscoelastic stresses. The combination of immersed boundary forcing formulations within a non-Newtonian Navier-Stokes solver has not been presented before and this represents one of the major challenges tackled herein. The algorithm is only briefly described here. In the first step, we solve the Navier-Stokes equation without any rigidity constraint force; we solve the momentum equations (without considerations of mass conservation) and size transport equations for the (symmetric) tensor of the nonNewtonian stresses. Then the solution in terms of the velocity field inside the particle domain is projected onto a rigid body motion. This is accomplished by computing the translation and rotation components of the rigid body motion using the statement of conservation of linear and angular momentum. From the rigid body motion, we can then evaluate the rigidity constraint force (the immersed boundary forcing), which is applied as a correction to the velocity field together with the usual constraint that enforces mass-conservation, e.g. the solenoidal condition for the velocity field. Finally using the body motion velocity we update the particle position. The algorithm has been implemented and preliminary simulations of flows around single particles have been considered for validating the numerical procedure. The flow around a fixed sphere (Fig. 1) is solved at different Reynolds using uniform grids with 128 elements. Comparisons of the drag coefficient are reported in Fig. 2. The same methodology has been already successfully applied to simulations of multiple moving particles. In Fig. 3 an example of the flow of a sphere sedimenting in a well is reported. Both particle-particle and particle-wells-wall interactions are treated considering a "soft" collision approach in which a short-range repulsive force is implemented. In addition, the various components of the algorithm have been designed to enable efficient parallelization. Some details of the implementation of the data transfer between particle-mesh and the fluid-grid will be also described. Current work is focused on the extension and validation of the immersed boundary forcing to non-Newtonian fluids. This will be the main focus of the presentation at the Workshop. Figure 1. Pressure field and streamlines for the flow around a fixed sphere. Figure 2. Comparisons of the coefficient of drag at different Reynolds numbers Figure 3. Sphere sedimenting in a well under gravity.


The ASPEN Oncology Special Section held an on-line journal club on January 18, 2023. One of the two papers discussed during that meeting contained several reading points that I thought would be pertinent to JPEN readers1 and I decided to discuss it in this issue of the JPEN Journal Club. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


A novel binuclear Cu(I) halide complex, Cu2I2(DPPCz)2, which emits efficient thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF), is reported. The crystal of this complex spontaneously undergoes ligand rotation and coordination-configuration transformation, converting to its isomer without any external stimulation.