Colonization and the legacy of apartheid have resulted in indigenous music practices being submerged under a plethora of hybrid and imported forms of music in South Africa. Although the legitimacy of these hybrid or imported forms of music is unquestionable in being the voice of oppressed peoples, scholars need to be aware that these forms are highly mediated or creolized.
Current African music scholarship in cases such as jazz is often undertaken by individuals neither African nor trained in its artistic practice, and several seem unaware that searching for 'African traits' or 'African-ess' in such hybridized forms risks indulging in a practice of exoticization, merely scratching the metaphorical surface of the art.
In order to investigate a South African canon in music, the author believes that one ought to approach jazz as another form of 'art music', for then we could come closer to its reality in South Africa today: a music that is able to adapt itself and be adapted to different situations regardless of the intentions of the colonizers and their latter-day musicologists, in short a music that is already being 'indigenized' by its participants regardless of skin colour. Jazz has arguably long since left the ghetto, but that is where, it seems, some musicologists still want to see it.


We show that torsion points of certain orders are not on a theta divisor in the Jacobian variety of a hyperelliptic curve given by the equation $y^2=x^{2g+1}+x$ with $g \geq 2$. The proof employs a method of Anderson who proved an analogous result for a cyclic quotient of a Fermat curve of prime degree.


Objective
To evaluate the method of PSM-mec detection by Vitek MS for nosocomial-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) identification.

Methods
Totally 167 isolates of MRSA and 100 isolates of methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) used in this research were non-repetitively and prospectively collected between June 2012 and December 2013, two different SCCmec genotyping methods were applied for the MRSA strains, Vitek MS was used for identification of the isolates, the acquisition mass-spectrogram and the result mass-spectrogram at Myla system were analyzed among the different SCCmec type of MRSA.

Results
The 167 isolates of MRSA were classified into 5 major SCCmec types, among which SCCmecⅠ accounting for 3.6%(6 isolates); SCCmecⅡ 6.0%(10 isolates); SCCmecⅢ and Ⅲa 84.4%(141 isolates); SCCmec Ⅳand Ⅳa 4.8%(8 isolates); SCCmecⅤ 1.2%(2 isolates), respectively.The peak adjacent to the horizontal axis of a m/z 2 500 could be visually identified between the SCCmec Ⅱ and Ⅲ MRSA, of which the delta toxin peak were presented at m/z 3 005-3 009 or m/z 3 037-3 056, while the strains without delta toxin peak and the other types of MRSA or MSSA had no characteristic peak at the same position.

Conclusions
Nosocomial-acquired MRSA of the drug-resistant condition could be rapidly differentiated and forecasted by Vitek MS. Vitek MS could serve as a routine clinical assistance for epidemiological investigations of nosocomial-acquired MRSA in local area.(Chin J Lab Med, 2015, 38: 843-847)

Key words:
Cross infection; Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; Genotype; Bacterial toxins; Mass spectrometry


Visible light communications (VLC) is a good candidate technology for the 6th generation (6G) wireless communications. Red, green, and blue (RGB) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) based VLC has become an important research branch due to its low price and high reliability. However, the saturation of photodiode (PD) caused by the ambient background light may seriously degrade the bit error rate (BER) performance of an RGB-VLC system's three spatially uncoupled information streams (i.e., red, green, and blue LEDs can transmit different data packets simultaneously) in practical applications. To mitigate the ambient light interference in point-to-point RGB-VLC systems, we propose, PNC-VLC, a network-coded scheme that uses two LEDs with the same color at the transmitter to transmit two different data streams and we make use of the naturally overlapped signals at the receiver to formulate physical-layer network coding (PNC). The adaptivity of PNC-VLC could effectively improve the BER degradation problem caused by the saturation of PD under the influence of ambient light. We conducted simulations based on the parameters of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products to prove the superiority of the PNC-VLC under the influence of four typical illuminants. Simulation results show that the PNC-VLC system can maintain a better and more stable system BER performance under different ambient background light conditions. Remarkably, with 2/3 throughput efficiency, PNC-VLC can bring 133.3% gain to the BER performance when compared with RGB-VLC under the Illuminant A interference model, making it a good option for VLC applications with unpredictable ambient background interferences.


This is a discussion of the article ''Finding and correcting flawed research literatures".(Delgado-Romero & Howard, 2005). A number of weaknesses in the evaluation method that was proposed are pointed out and an improved more quantitative evaluation method based upon Bayesian statistics is proposed.


We present a case of an asymptomatic 23-year-old woman who was referred for an abnormal routine electrocardiogram. Her past medical history was normal. She had a previous uneventful pregnancy with a healthy child. During auscultation, a mild holosystolic murmur was heard at all auscultation points, gaining intensity at the apex and mesocardiac area. While S1 was normal, a widely split S2 was heard. Pulse rate was 92/min and arterial blood pressure was 130/85 mmHg. There was no pretibial edema and the lungs were clear. There was no physical congenital abnormality. Her electrocardiogram was in normal sinus rhythm with a complete right bundle branch block. Oxygen saturation measured with finger pulse oximetry was 89%. Chest radiography showed increased pulmonary vascularity, mild cardiomegaly and left atrial enlargement (Figure A). Complete absence of the interatrial septum and normal left ventricular dimensions and functions were detected in transthoracic echocardiography. The main pulmonary artery and right ventricle were dilated and a paradoxical motion of the interventricular septum was observed. Mitral and tricuspid valve attachments to the interventricular septum were on the same anatomic plane, and there was no cleft of the mitral valve (Figure B, C, Video*). Doppler examination revealed mild mitral and moderate tricuspid regurgitation. Systolic pulmonary arterial pressure was 40–45 mmHg. A major vessel opening to the left side of the atrium was thought to be a pulmonary vein. The inferior and superior vena cava were opening normally into the right side of the atrium. The patient was informed about the disease and its progression and referrred for corrective surgery. Common atrium (CA) is a rare congenital anomaly in adults and is also known as single atrium or cor triloculare biventriculare. Rastelli et al. described three characteristic findings of CA: 1) complete absence of the interatrial septum, or a small strand of tissue present in the cephalad wall of a common chamber, 2) absence of interventricular communication, 3) an accompanying cleft in the anterior leaflet of the mitral valve. Similarly, our patient had a common atrium without an interatrial septum and absence of interventricular communication, but did not have a cleft on the anterior mitral leaflet. Patients with CA are usually admitted in late childhood or young adulthood with nonspecific symptoms like dyspnea, palpitation, fatigue or syncope. Interestingly, despite undergoing a challenging process—pregnancy—in her past medical history, our patient remained asymptomatic. Herein we present an asymptomatic patient diagnosed incidentally and showing an unusual disease presentation. According to the current data, echocardiography is the first line diagnostic tool, and corrective surgery is the mainstay of therapy. Additionally, early diagnosis is crucial before progression to Eisenmenger syndrome, which is a contraindication for corrective surgery. 579


Peripheral displays are an important class of applications that improve our ability to balance multiple activities. However, peripheral display innovation and development has suffered because much ...


This study examined the effect of surgical approach on the 1year migration of the Exeter stem, using Roentgen Stereophotogrammetric Analysis (RSA). There is evidence that implants with increased early migration, particularly those moving into internal rotation, are likely to have a higher failure rate. A total of 46 patients awaiting THR were allocated into 2 groups. Both groups underwent an Exeter Total Hip replacement, one through the Posterior Approach (PA), and the other through the Hardinge Approach (HA). RSA was used to assess post-operative stem position and migration at 1 year. Post-operative gait analysis and clinical evaluation was used to assess a subgroup of patients. There was no difference in the initial stem position of each group within the femoral canal. Significant differences in migration were found for migration of the head distally and posteriorly and for the tip medially. During gait, the legs of the PA group were relatively internally rotated when compared to those of the HA group. Relative to the supporting bone, the PA implants internally rotate and also rotate into valgus further than the HA implants. The starting position of the prostheses was the same and the cement and prosthesis characteristics were similar. From this, we can infer that surgical approach and therefore muscle function, have a large influence on component migration. During gait, the PA group had internally rotated legs compared to the HA group. This is probably due to short external rotator weakness in the PA group. As a result the internally rotating component of the posteriorly directed joint reaction force on the femoral stem will be larger. This probably explains the rapid internal rotation seen in the implants of the PA group. With the HA group, because of abductor damage there is likely to be a smaller component of the joint reaction force acting on the stem. This would explain the smaller rates of observed coronal plain rotation (rotation into valgus). Profound differences exist in early migration, between the HA and PA. Different muscle function may account for this and probably influences long-term outcome.


The solar air heater is a device rises air flowing temperature in numerous engineering applications as; heating of buildings, and agricultural crops drying. An indoor investigation was experimentally established using the solar simulator to test the flat plate double-pass solar air heater performance with and without paraffin wax-based on phase change material PCM. Although the temperature inside this collector is higher than the required temperature. Therefore, being a paraffin wax may be used as a heat storing material will enable the collector to work during the night. The tests were applied to evaluate the charge and discharge process of the new system and was performed under various air MFRs of (0.6, 0.9, 1.2, 1.5, and 1.8) kg/min and constant solar irradiation of 625 W/m2. The results showed that the maximum thermal efficiencies obtained for the double-pass with and without PCM were 63.53% and 68.23%, respectively, for airflow rate of 1.8 kg/min and also the efficiencies is a strongly dependence on the air MFR. Also, the maximum air temperature rise was about 10.9°C, and 12.25 °C with and without PCM, respectively, above the inlet temperature at air MAF of 0.6 kg/min and solar irradiation of 625 W/m2 during charging period and this leads to energy saving. The experimental tests showing reasonable agreement with the previous study with a maximum error of thermal efficiency was about (4.5%) at the same indoor conditions.


Abstract Recent data indicate that as many as 180,000 patients die each year due to harm suffered as a result of medical care. Between 40 and 60% of these deaths—and the millions of injuries due to medical care—are preventable. In the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), neonates' size and fragility makes them especially susceptible to serious medical errors, which occur at a far higher rate in this population than elsewhere in hospitals. A growing body of literature demonstrates that the work schedules and sleep deprivation of physicians are important contributors to this epidemic of error. Nowhere is there a higher risk of adverse outcomes due to provider sleep deprivation than in the NICU, where even minor lapses of attention or miscalculations can lead to dire patient outcomes. This review will discuss what is known about how provider sleep deprivation may impact perinatal and neonatal medicine and will discuss ongoing research questions that must be addressed to guide future improvement efforts.


The introduction of asset\|backed securitization as a new form and technique of financing is still at the beginning stage in China. At a time of economic globalization it will benefit China in the following aspects: It will stimulate the development of capital market, activate assets of the bank, and quicken the flow of the assets; it will also promote reform in the housing market, and optimize the capital structure of state owned enterprises. Therefore, the author suggests, a asset\|backed securitization market under government supervision should be set up, the primary market should be developed, and restrictions for new investors should be relieved.


We have previously described the association between maternal Li therapy during pregnancy and fetal macrosomia (Ped Res 17(4):304A, 1983). This study reviews the records of 241 infants reported to the Register of Lithium Babies between 1962-1978. All infants were included in calculating mortality statistics. Gestational age (GA), birthweight (BW), sex, Li dose and duration of therapy were analyzed in 180 infants. Premature delivery occurred in 39% of the pregnancies. Mothers of premature infants were treated with higher daily Li doses during the 1st and 2nd trimester than mothers of term infants (1.2 ± .6 gm vs. .9 ± .5 gm (1st trim.), p <.001 and 1.0 ± .8 gm vs .8 ± .5 gm (2nd trim.), p=.06). Macrosomia (BW > 90th %tile for GA) was identified in 36% of the infants with a higher frequency in infants born prematurely than in those born at term (59% vs. 26%). The degree of macrosomia was significantly more pronounced in premature infants than in full term infants (129 ± 23 vs. 106 ± 18, % mean BW for GA, p<.0001). Perinatal mortality was 8.3% (projected 83 deaths/1000 live births) and included 8 stillbirths. Premature delivery accounted for 42% of the perinatal deaths. This study demonstrates that maternal use of Li (particularly greater than 1 gram daily in the 1st and 2nd trimester) during pregnancy constitutes a significant risk of premature delivery and fetal macrosomia. Prenatal management of these high risk pregnancies should include close monitoring for excessive intrauterine growth and premature labor.


In this paper, we describe a deblurring method using Image-Fusion of multiple images taken with different object-distances. Our method uses the wavelet transform for the fusion, but we create new wavelet coefficients by mixing each pixel value by using "reference image usage rate (IUR)". And we present simple and effective algorithms "Fusion rule for the lowest frequency subband" "Noise reduction algorithm" "Blur reduction algorithm" that use this IUR. I. INTRODUCTION When we take a photo, we adjust the object-distance (focus position) manually or automatically to take the clear image of the photographic subject. In other words, we put the subject into the zone of focus that is called depth-of-field. However, in the case of the short object distance, the zone becomes too narrow to cover the whole region of the subject(s) and the image of such regions become unclear. But, clear regions are also contained in a photo image, so we can correct the subject image by synthesizing (fusing) images that are taken with different object distance (See Fig.1).


This work was carried out with the objective of studying the yield of Pinus taeda L., planted in an initial spacing of 3 x 2 m, located in Canela, Rio Grande do Sul state. The amostral population was submitted to one and two selective thinning, beyond a control sample, without thinning. The selective low thinning was conducted with reduction of the basal area to levels of 28 m 2 /ha. At age 17, the total yield of the control sample, without thinning, was 886.3 m 3 ha -1 ; with one thinning at age 11 the yield was 756.6 m 3 ha -1 , resulting in losses of yield of 14.6% compared to the control; with two selective at ages 11 and 15, the yield was 732.9 m 3 ha -1 , resulting in losses of yield in relation with the control sample, without thinning, of 17.3%. The selective thinning allowed a significant gain in diameter, up to age 17, with the execution of a selective thinning at age 11 an average diameter of 33.4 cm; with two selective thinning at ages 11 and 15 an average diameter of 33.5 cm; and an average diameter of 24.3 cm in the control sample, without thinning.


Inspection and measurement of three-dimensional objects are widely needed in industries for quality monitoring and control, inspection, and reverse engineering. A number of visual or optical methods have been developed for that purpose using laser structured light, moire, stereo vision, confocal mic...


False alarms in active sonar systems commonly come from natural and man‐made inhomogeneities in the ocean environment. For example, fish, mud‐volcanoes, rock outcrops, and ship‐wrecks can all cause target‐like false alarms called clutter. The sparse nature of the physical sources of clutter can lead to data most appropriately represented statistically as a mixture of two probability distribution functions (PDFs). The Rayleigh PDF is a natural choice for the background scattering, while there are many options to represent the clutter‐source scattering. Expectation‐maximization (EM) based algorithms are presented to estimate parameters for a Rayleigh‐distributed background mixed with log‐normal, generalized Pareto, Weibull, or K PDFs representing the clutter. The EM algorithm requires maximization of a weighted log‐likelihood function, similar to maximum‐likelihood parameter estimation. While the log‐normal distribution yields closed‐form estimates, the other PDFs do not. Thus, an EM‐gradient algorithm is implemented for the generalized‐Pareto and Weibull PDFs, while a method‐of‐moments algorithm is necessary for the K. Application of the estimation algorithm on real data ranging from near‐Rayleigh to very‐heavy‐tailed illustrates the various models' efficacy. [Work sponsored by ONR under Contract nos. N00014‐09‐C‐0318 and N00014‐06‐G‐0218‐34.]


Many researches related to the infant cry analysis intent to estimate the context and/or obtain objective information concerning the physical and emotional condition of newborns. Using several techniques in signal processing, peculiar acoustics features, such as the fundamental frequency and formants, are classically analyzed. However, the findings reveal the existence of some contests with respect to the conclusions. In this article a specific phonologic program was used to analyze the cry signal, aiming to investigate the real significance of some classical frequency domain parameters. The results point out that just two among four studied parameters seem to contribute in the analysis of the cry signal context. Beside the significance of the two parameters in such analysis, the problem complexity indicate that the more researches are necessary to find out new parameters, maybe correlated with psychoacoustic principles.


Saudi Arabia is an arid desert country without rivers or sweet-water lakes. It does, however, have large amounts of ground water and seawater. These waters must be desalted by some means in order to make them potable. The most frequently used methods for that purpose are: multistage flash (MSF) evaporation, reverse osmosis (RO), and electrodialysis (ED). Because of rapid industrialization of the country, the demand for fresh water has been growing steadily. This, in turn, has resulted in a spectacular growth of the water-desalination industry. This paper discusses the availability and properties of the waters. It gives a detailed description of the major accomplishments and of the ongoing and future programs in the field of water desalination in Saudi Arabia. 14 references, 6 figures, 8 tables.


The design of software systems and the models describing it are usually constrained by the intended software architecture. The intended software architecture defines, for example, how components may be grouped or how they may interact. For the sake of maintenance, evolvability, and smooth operation of software systems, it is of great importance to check and guarantee the architectural compliance of the design and the implementation. Due to size and complexity of modern software systems such checks cannot be done manually but require adequate tool support. Unfortunately, current tool support is not flexible enough to cover easily different aspects of architectural compliance checking. This paper outlines an approach to architectural compliance checking in component-based systems based on logic formalisms. Furthermore, the paper describes a prototypical tool that realizes the approach, and its application in a case study.


In recent five or six years, the tourism in Zhangjiajie city has achieved a lot, but some problems still exist, counter measures should be taken; work hard to upgrade tourism products and service quality; carry out multi-strategy in products and markets; hasten the steps of building infrastructure criteria; perfectly construct and manage the city and establish a good image.


Ammonia borane (AB) hydrides have been employed as disposable hydrogen (H2) sources for fuel cell applications, due to their high hydrogen capacity. In this paper, ammonia borane (AB) complex with high purity was synthesized by chemical method, using the low cost raw materials of NaBH4, CO2, and NH3. The thermal dynamic for the synthesis process is analyzed. The phase composition for the obtained ammonia borane (AB) complex powders was detected by X-ray diffraction (XRD) characterization. The results suggest that, very high purity ammonia borane (AB) complex powders were obtained, which was quite in agreement with the standard index of ammonia borane.


We have investigated unusual phase transitions that were triggered by chemical doping in $\mathrm{C}{\mathrm{a}}_{3}\mathrm{R}{\mathrm{u}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{7}$. Our experiments showed that doping with a few percent of Mn ($g4%$) can change the quasi-two-dimensional metallic state of $\mathrm{C}{\mathrm{a}}_{3}\mathrm{R}{\mathrm{u}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{7}$ into a Mott insulating state with a G-type antiferromagnetic order, but this Mott state cannot be induced by Fe doping. By combining these results with first-principles calculations, we show that lattice-orbital coupling (LOC) plays an important role in the Mott transition. Interestingly, the transition temperature ${T}_{\mathrm{MIT}}$ is found to be predetermined by a structural parameter denoted by $c/\sqrt{ab}$ at temperatures far above N\'eel temperature ${T}_{\mathrm{N}}$. This LOC-assisted Mott transition clearly contrasts with the band-filling picture. It is addressed that this type of Mott transition originates in the strong scattering centers formed by specific $3d$ dopants. The dopant-scattering picture is then applied to explain the puzzling doping effects that occur in other ruthenates and $3d$ oxides. Our findings will advance the general understanding of how the unusual properties of $4d$ correlated systems are governed by the complex interplay that occurs among the charge, spin, lattice, and orbital degrees of freedom.


Abstract The effect of microstructure on shear strength of saturated marine clays was investigated by conducting a series of consolidated-drained (CD), consolidated-undrained (CU) triaxial shear tests and mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) tests on undisturbed and reconstitute specimens. The valuable findings from the experimental study are follows: (1) The shear strength of undisturbed specimens is lower than that of corresponding reconstituted specimens due to larger void ratio at the same confining pressure. However, undisturbed specimens have higher strength than reconstituted specimens when their void ratios are the same. (2) The main reason for the lower shear strength of reconstituted specimens with the same void ratio as undisturbed specimens is that more volume of inter-aggregate pores exists in the reconstituted specimens according to the MIP test results. And the difference in shear strength between undisturbed and reconstituted specimens is mainly caused by the difference in soil fabric. (3) The shear test results dealt with a reference void ratio, as a fabric index, show that there is a unique linear relation between strength and void ratio at failure to the reference void ratio. Moreover, the linear relation is suitable for other marine clays from the literature. Therefore, the reference void ratio can be used as a soil fabric index to normalize the strength characteristics of marine soft clays.


Position- and time-resolved ion counting (PATRIC) array detection with a magnetic sector mass spectrometer equipped with an ionspray interface in the on-line coupling of high-performance anion-exchange chromatography (HPAEC) with mass spectrometry (MS) is described. PATRIC array detection is used in both the static and scanning mode for molecular mass determination and structure characterization caused by nozzle/skimmer-induced fragmentation in the ionspray interface. The virtual mass range is extended to over 7000 Da by the presence of triply and quadruply sodiated molecules in an enzyme digest of an exocellular polysaccharide (EPS) of Lactococcus lactis and quadruply sodiated molecules of β-1,4-xylose oligomers. After optimization of the HPAEC/MS system, molecular mass information could be obtained down to ∽700 pg per injection for each α-1,4-glucose oligomer up to a degree of polymerization of 7 using PATRIC array detection in the static mode. Structure information was obtained for α-1,4 glucose oligomers, galacturonic acid oligomers and an EPS digest using PATRIC array detection in the scanning mode. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The idea of universal liberal legal norms has long been under attack from a variety of sources. One of the most sustained and sophisticated philosophical versions of such an attack is found in the work of Martin Heidegger. His argument from the social embeddedness of the self to the ultimate contingency and groundlessness of any claims of normativity has been highly influential across a number of fields. This paper argues that legal theorists who wish to contest such a view should look to the work of philosopher Emmanuel Levinas. In his critique of Heidegger, Levinas affirms the significance of the human beyond the particular context in which we find ourselves embedded. Levinas wrote very little about law; his main focus was on ethical responsibility and the claim that an "other" makes on me. I argue that legal responsibility is fundamentally different, concerned instead with the claims that a self can make on others. Drawing upon Levinas' understanding of the self as constituted through ethical responsibility, I argue that a Levinasian account of justice can support liberal-democratic norms such as freedom, equality and dignity. Indeed, Levinas himself endorsed universal human rights and even indicated a strong affinity with Kant's idea of justice. What he denied, however, was that justice is a fully rational and coherent concept. I argue that this does not render justice incoherent or call into question the basic status of the norms of justice. Rather, a Levinasian account of justice shifts the emphasis to the community practice of reasoning about universal norms, a practice that is never complete. I further suggest that such a practice of reasoning should be familiar to lawyers as it bears a strong resemblance to common law reasoning.


We give a mathematical analysis of potential-theoretical numerical integration formulas mainly proposed by Tanaka et al. over weighted Hardy spaces, which are spaces of analytic functions with a certain decay. We investigate the case of choosing sampling points by discrete energy minimization. In order to bound the convergence rate of the numerical integration error, we make use of the recent result of Hayakawa and Tanaka on the function approximation formula.


Community pharmacists are sometimes viewed as an apathetic bunch that either choose not to, or cannot be bothered to engage with professional developments. I would contend that a more accurate picture of community pharmacists is of group trying to do a difficult and responsible job, resigned to the fact that their professional lives are largely controlled by, and run for the benefit of, the interests of others. I have long believed that the majority of the ills afflicting community pharmacy stem from the increasingly profit-driven and competitively commercial environment in which it is forced to operate, and by the resulting disenfranchisement of employed community pharmacists. Although somewhat controversial, these views have found recognition and support from those professional colleagues who, like me, have no vested interests or ulterior motives to disagree with the sentiments. Any trawl through The Journal's letters pages will demonstrate that there has been a recent rise in like-minded individuals expressing similar concerns in increasingly strident terms. Matters such as medicines use review targets, rest breaks and medicines shortages are all legitimate issues on which any leaders should have an opinion. They impinge on the membership directly, affecting as they do work pressures, professional autonomy and the status of the profession. Much of the community pharmacy fraternity are obviously looking for help and guidance and they deserve support in addressing these issues from their professional body. I am sure it is not a coincidence that this increase in cries for help coincides with the separation of the professional body from its regulatory functions. There is a not unreasonable expectation that this new professional body will be able to help, when perhaps its predecessor could not or would not. I am not naive enough to believe that our new Royal Pharmaceutical Society will be able to cure all of community pharmacy's ills, or even be able to exert all that much influence. It seldom has in the past. However, it should be trying to, or at least be seen to be trying to. To do so would demonstrate that it understands and empathises with community pharmacists and has an appetite to confront pharmacists' concerns in a meaningful way. Is this too much to ask? The President's workplace pressure campaign was a welcome development, but as is often the case, it has failed to deliver anything tangible. Whether it was ever going to be able to do so, given the disparate and conflicting interests of others associated with pharmacy, is unlikely. However, although the issue has not been resolved, everything has gone quiet. The current silence on this, and on other important issues affecting pharmacy, is likely to be viewed as either a demonstration of our professional body's impotence to deliver any meaningful change or, just as worryingly, that the Society is more preoccupied by its external relationships and how it is viewed by others than with addressing the needs of its members.


. The adsorption o f small organic anions like those o f benzoate, tartrate, citrate and glutamate on Portland composite cements СЕМ II and CEM III can be influenced by the present limestone (industrial СаСОз). Therefore, the replacement o f ordinary Portland cement СЕМ I is not a trivial matter, although using these materials reduces the cement production and hence the C02 emission providing the solution of an up-to-date environmental problem. A systematic study is shown here by zeta potential determination on the CaC03 suspension containing the organic anions. The effect o f increasing pH leas' further considered and correlated to the adsorption on CaC03 surface. The study gives an insight on the compatibility between cement and organic additives in presence of limestone that has very similar surface properties to cement.


The invention provides a high-pressure mixed gas supply device which comprises a valve, a steel bottle, an air inflow pipeline I, an air inflow pipeline II and an air outflow pipeline. The valve is installed on a bottle opening of the steel bottle and provided with an air inflow valve port I, an air inflow valve port II and an air outflow valve port which are connected with the air inflow pipeline I, the air inflow pipeline II and the air outflow pipeline respectively and mixed gas can be supplied. The air inflow pipeline I and the air inflow pipeline II are sequentially provided with electromagnetic flow meters, stop valves and one-way valves and the electromagnetic flow meters 31 are connected with an ECU 34. The air outflow pipeline is sequentially provided with a temperature and pressure sensor, a stop valve and an electromagnetic valve, the temperature and pressure sensor and the electromagnetic valve are connected with the ECU 34, the concentration ratio, the pressure and the temperature of the mixed gas can be accurately controlled, and the mixed gas is intelligently supplied. By the adoption of the high-pressure mixed gas supply device, the gas-gas mixed gas and gas-liquid mixed gas can be supplied, and the device is simple, practical, low in cost and wide in application range.


Various norms can be defined on a Krein space by choosing different underlying fundamental decompositions. Some estimates of norms on Krein spaces are discussed and few results in Bognar's paper are generalized.


Texas A&M Health Science Center Temple, TX 76508 valuation of a 23-year-old man with a history of tonic–clonic seizures revealed an arteriovenous malformation in the right parietal region of the brain (Panel A, arrow). Angiographic study of the internal carotid artery (Panel B, large arrow) delineated the malformation in the middle-cerebral-artery distribution, with draining veins (Panel B, small arrows) to the superior sagittal sinus. The patient underwent embolization followed by surgical resection, resulting in left hemiparesis. Three years later, the patient has weakness of his distal left arm but is functioning well and has no seizures. Cerebral arteriovenous malformations are the result of secondary progressive dilatation of a congenital arteriovenous fistula. Most patients with arteriovenous malformations present in the first two decades of life. The most common signs and symptoms are hemorrhage and seizures.


Condition monitoring power semiconductor devices can inform converter maintenance and reduce damage. This paper presents a method to monitor solder fatigue in a voltage source inverter insulated gate bipolar transistor power module by detecting the change of an inverter output harmonic. It is shown that low-order harmonics, caused by nonideal switching, are affected by the device junction temperature, which in turn depends upon module solder condition. To improve the detection accuracy of the phenomenon, the inverter controller is set to cause harmonic resonance at the target harmonic frequency. The would-be resonance is suppressed by an outer control loop where the control action can be used as the condition monitoring signal. Simulation and experiment are presented to validate the method and evaluate its performance in operation.


Purpose: Conventional CEST experiments are generally performed by acquiring images as a function of irradiation frequency (Z-spectrum), and then performing asymmetry analysis by subtracting signal intensities of images acquired at positive offset frequencies from signal intensities of images acquired at negative offset frequencies relative to the water signal. However, asymmetry analysis is problematic because the conventional semi-solid magnetization transfer contrast (MTC) is often not symmetric about the water signal. Consequently, the CEST signal may include significant effects from MTC. The CEST signals from amide/amine and aliphatic protons from mobile proteins and tissue metabolites also get mixed in this procedure. We propose a method named variable delay pulsed (VDP) CEST, for obtaining predominantly exchange-based saturation transfer contrast. The new technique is based on a pulsed RF irradiation scheme with the delay (mixing time) between the RF pulses varied between two (or more) separate acquisitions (1, 2). The irradiation frequency is kept at the same frequency of interest and uses the same B1 strength. The CEST image is obtained by subtracting the CEST images recorded at two different mixing times, for instance the minimum mixing time and a longer mixing time at which slower transfer processes such as nuclear Overhauser enhancements (NOEs) are more visible. Effects from direct water saturation (DS), MTC, and very fast exchanging protons will be strongly reduced or removed by the subtraction, while predominantly slower CEST effects such as amide proton transfer (APT) and NOE-relayed CEST contrast are preserved.


We read with great interest the article by Sacco et al. (1) on the problem of aspirin efficacy in primary prevention of cardiovascular events in type 2 diabetic patients. In our opinion, this is an important yet somewhat understudied area in the field of diabetes care. The Diabetes Prevention Project (DPP) trial has shown lower effects of primary prevention of cardiovascular disease with low-dose aspirin in diabetic subjects compared with nondiabetic subjects. The …


This letter proposes a procedure for generation and control of chaotic beats in a dynamical system that is initially in the periodic state. The dynamical system describes a simple nonlinear optical process — second-harmonic generation of light. The periodic states of the system are found to be in analytical forms. We also investigate some aspects of synchronization of chaotic beats in two systems, detuned in the pump fields.


The group velocity and polarization vector for qSV wave are studied in transversely isotropic media with vertical axis of symmetry, the exact and approximate formula for the calculation of group velocity and polarization are given in the paper, and the reliability of the replacement to the algebraic complexity of the exact formula with the simplified approximate formula is discussed. In the last, we present velocity anisotropic factor, polarization and their corresponding deviation between polarization and its phase normal for qSV wave in several commonly anisotropic materials.


Recently an unconditionally stable ADI method was successfully applied to the solution of Maxwell's equations using a variation of the FDTD method. The ADI method is most useful for solving problems where the lattice is grossly over discretized spatially (< 10/sup -2//spl lambda//sub min/). For this scheme to be applicable to analyzing practical electromagnetic interaction problems, an efficient absorbing boundary condition that maintains unconditional stability must be derived. In this paper, an absorbing boundary condition using a perfectly matched layer (PML) is introduced. Specifically, the convolutional PML (CPML) method is used with complex frequency shifted scaling coefficients. It is shown that this method maintains unconditional stability. Further, it is demonstrated that the method provides a significant improvement in the reflection error as compared to the originally proposed split-field PML ADI scheme.


We propose a simple microscopic model to numerically investigate the stability of a two dimensional fractional topological insulator (FTI). The simplest example of a FTI consists of two decoupled copies of a Laughlin state with opposite chiralities. We focus on bosons at half filling. We study the stability of the FTI phase upon addition of two coupling terms of different nature: an interspin interaction term, and an inversion symmetry breaking term that couples the copies at the single particle level. Using exact diagonalization and entanglement spectra, we numerically show that the FTI phase is stable against both perturbations. We compare our system to a similar bilayer fractional Chern insulator. We show evidence that the time reversal invariant system survives the introduction of interaction coupling on a larger scale than the time reversal symmetry breaking one, stressing the importance of time reversal symmetry in the FTI phase stability. We also discuss possible fractional phases beyond $\nu = 1/2$.


The invention discloses a color conversion organic material for a plant illumination light source. The color conversion organic material at least comprises two kinds of organic materials, and is a combination of any material system in a red fluorescent material-blue fluorescent material doped system, a blue fluorescent main body material-doped red phosphorescent object material doped system and a blue fluorescent main body material-doped blue phosphorescent object material doping system; and the material has low cost, light of other wavelengths of various light sources can be converted into blue violet light of 400-480 nanometers in wavelength or red orange light of 600-680 nanometers in length of a waveband required by plant growth, and light of other wavebands which is not absorbed by plant chlorophyll is reduced. The aim of converting color is fulfilled, and the material has the physical and chemical characteristics of high universality, high compatibility and the like, can be uniformly added into a substrate material, can be used for forming a film material and can be used for preparing a plastic film, an artificial light source and a plant incubator, so that plant light illumination is realized, and the effect of promoting plant growth is achieved.


Xinyi city belongs to south sub-tropic monsoon climate,average air temperature of whole year is about 16.5℃ to 22.8℃,biogas pool produces gases perennially,and biogas will develop very quickly in this place.According to the characteristics of Xinyi city,some appropriate development ways are put forward,in order to spread anaerobic ferment technology effectively,drive and accelerate fostering fishes,feeding pigs,soaking seeds and spraying fruits,also develop stockbreeding and pollution-free of agricutrue.


The vegetal region of the Ilyanassa egg, incorporated into the polar lobe and segregated to the D blastomere, appears to have an organizing influence in development. The results of deleting individual micromeres of the first three quartets, and the 4d cell, indicate that most of these cells play rather distinctive developmental roles. Both cytoplasmic segregation and embryonic induction are believed to be involved in determining the fate of cells during development in Ilyanassa . Comparisons are made with other forms.


Engineering structural modifications of epitaxial perovskite thin films is an effective route to induce new functionalities or enhance existing properties due to the close relation of the electronic ground state to the local bonding environment. As such, there is a necessity to systematically refine and precisely quantify these structural displacements, particularly those of the oxygen octahedra, which is a challenge due to the weak scattering factor of oxygen and the small diffraction volume of thin films. Here, we present an optimized algorithm to refine the octahedral rotation angles using specific unit-cell-doubling half-order diffraction peaks for the a−a−c+ Pbnm structure. The oxygen and A-site positions can be obtained by minimizing the squared-error between calculated and experimentally determined peak intensities using the (1/2 1/2 3/2) and (1/2 1/2 5/2) reflections to determine the rotation angle α about in-plane axes and the (1/2 5/2 1), (1/2 3/2 1), and (1/2 3/2 2) reflections to determine the...


Reducing Recidivism in Gang Affiliated Offenders: An Interpretative Phenomenological Approach by Cassandra Pacheco MSW, California State University Dominguez Hills, 2013 BS Psychology, California Polytechnic State University, 2011 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Forensic Psychology Walden University May 2019 Abstract Recidivism is a major social problem, as is gang membership. Gang membership has been shown to increase the risk of recidivism; however, there is a gap in the literature as to how gang-membership influences reentry experiences. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of gang affiliated reentry individuals with reentry service providers. This study examined how a gang affiliated identity shapeRecidivism is a major social problem, as is gang membership. Gang membership has been shown to increase the risk of recidivism; however, there is a gap in the literature as to how gang-membership influences reentry experiences. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of gang affiliated reentry individuals with reentry service providers. This study examined how a gang affiliated identity shape reentry individuals' interactions with reentry organizations. An interpretative phenomenological analysis design was employed in this study. In-person, semistructured interviews were conducted with 5 participants who met inclusion criteria to facilitate an understanding of this population's reentry services. Analysis of the data resulted in 3 themes: negative experiences in relation to interactions with others based on gang identity, influence of gang identity on reentry location, and appreciation of support received despite gang affiliation. The findings were then compared with current literature and the tenant of intersectionality as well as ecological systems theory to begin to develop implications for social change. Reentry service providers can use the findings of the study to develop interventions that address the pressures of gang membership on reentry, examine the impact of location on reentry, and develop ways to deliver services in a nonjudgmental and supportive way. Additionally, the results of this study set a foundation from which future research can further explore the reentry experiences of gang affiliated individuals both in more focused qualitative studies and broader quantitative studies as well as how a gang identity impacts recidivism. Reducing Recidivism in Gang Affiliated Offenders: An Interpretative Phenomenological Approach by Cassandra Pacheco Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy


This study proposed a multi-sensor real-time motion tracking technology based on a Kinect camera and Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS) sensors. The proposed method serves as a test bed for sportic human motion analysis. Joint data was retrieved from the Kinect camera, and accurate motion tracking was performed through AHRS sensors attached to major joints. OpenGL contents were generated to support the motion tracking technology, and the output showed that the proposed system is more accurate that other systems that rely on single sensors. The proposed system uses minimal information required for human motion tracking, making it more affordable and easier to set up. The experimental results verified that the system is capable of realistic motion capture.


In this paper, we propose an end-to-end learned image compression framework for low-rate scenarios. Based on variational autoencoder, our method features a pair of compact-resolution and super-resolution networks, a set of hyper and main codec networks, and a conditional context model. The learning process of this framework is facilitated with integrated non-local attention modules and phase congruency priors. Multiple models are obtained from training with different hyper-parameters, and are jointly used in the image-level model selection process for rate control, which ensures that the bit rate constraint of the CLIC challenge is satisfied. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can achieve an averaged multi-scale structural similarity (MS-SSIM) score of 0.9648 with bit rate consumption of 0.1499 bits per pixel, which outperforms the BPG image coding method significantly.


Some new oscillatory and asymptotic properties of solutions of neutral differential equations with odd-order are established. Through the new results, we give sufficient conditions for the oscillation of all solutions of the studied equations, and this is an improvement of the relevant results. The efficiency of the obtained criteria is illustrated via example.


In three-dimensional Fermi gases with spin imbalance, a competition exists between Cooper pairing with zero and finite momentum. The latter gives rise to the Fulde–Ferrell–Larkin–Ovchinnikov (FFLO) superfluid phase, which only exists in a restricted area of the phase diagram as a function of chemical potential imbalance and interaction strength. Applying an optical potential along one direction enhances the FFLO region in this phase diagram. In this paper, we construct the phase diagram as a function of polarization and interaction strength in order to study the competition between the FFLO phase and the spin balanced Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer (BCS) phase. This allows us to take into account the region of phase separation, and provides a more direct connection with experiment. Subsequently, we investigate the effects of the wavelength and the depth of the optical potential, which is applied along one direction, on the FFLO state. It is shown that the FFLO state can exist up to a higher level of spin imbalance if the wavelength of the optical potential becomes smaller. Our results give rise to an interesting effect: the maximal polarization at which the FFLO state can exist decreases when the interaction strength exceeds a certain critical value. This counterintuitive phenomenon is discussed and the connection to the optical potential is explained.


With the continuous increase in the demand for oil and gas, there is a need for application of novel techniques such as Improved Oil Recovery (IOR) and Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) methods. Most of the secondary recovery processes start with water flooding. However, injecting gas along with water gives higher recovery than water flood alone. This happens due to the presence of residual gas saturation at the end of the flood which results in lower residual oil saturation than would result from water flood only. Water alternating gas (WAG) injection is the accepted approach for field application in which slugs of water and gas are injected alternatively. Gravity governs the fluid flow in the reservoir if the heterogeneities are not significant. Gharbi et al. (2003) and Stone (2004, 2007) propose an injection scheme in which water is injected simultaneously with, but above, gas into the reservoir. Algharaib et al. (2007) calls this process "modified SWAG (simultaneous water and gas)" injection. Jamshidnezhad et al. (2010) further investigate the effect of instability of gas injection in this process. Non-uniformity of gas injection correlates inversely with the total injection rate and directly increasing vertical distance between the two horizontal injection wells. The paper also speculates that the relationship of gas saturation and gas relative permeability is one of the factors causing instability. The objective of the thesis is to find out the factors that controls the stability of gas injection. To do so, we propose a simulation study which will take into account sensitivity on several parameters that can contribute to stability of gas injection. We start with a homogeneous reservoir model and later investigate the effects of local grid refinement near the well and heterogeneities. We speculate that the relationship of gas injection rate with gas relative permeability and well gridblock pressure are the vital factors that control the stability of gas flow through the reservoir. The simulation output data is analyzed for varying input data. The variation in the input data is controlled so as to have a clear understanding between results and parameters. The results from the study indicate that the non-uniform nature of gas injection depends on saturation and relative-permeability behaviour in the neighbouring gridblocks. The instability in the injection process is triggered in the near-well region. Refining the area near the well solves the issue of non-uniform injection process, at least in this study. Segmenting the well into multiple segments gives a wider spread of gas front instead of localized fingering from either end of the well. We study one of the issues in simultaneous water and gas injection process, but several problems like the geology of the reservoir, rock type, geometry of the field, operational aspects and feasibility needs more research and development.


SINCE 1901, the International List of Causes of Death has been used in the United States for classifying causes on certificates of death. Because many certificates include two or more causes of death, it became necessary to formulate rules to decide the single cause to which the death should be ascribed. Such rules were drawn up under the supervision of the Bureau of the Census, of which the National Office of Vital Statistics was then a part. Since 1913, these rules, published as the Joint Cause Manual, have been in general use throughout the country. Both the International List and the Joint Cause Manual have been revised every ten years and every revision has resulted in breaks in the comparability of mortality statistics. The sixth revision of the International List (1948) resulted in a new list known as the International Statistical Classification of Diseases, Injuries and Causes of Death, which differs radically in arrangement, and to some extent in inclusions, from the old classifications. At the same time, the rules of the Manual of Joint Causes were discarded and rules new to this country were adopted. Previous revisions of the International


This study was designed to examine the effect of ω-3 fatty acid, linlenic acid. EPA, DHA on serum lipid and cytokines of male rats(Sprague-Dawley). Animals of 3 groups were administrated perilla oil, salmoon oil, and tuna oil of 0.4 ㎖/day for 8 weeks respectively. These oils were used for a source of linolenic acid, EPA and DHA. ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid decrease significantly body weight, serum PGE_2 content and serum cytokines content of the rat, and increases internal organs weight, specially liver weight and serum HDL-cholesterol level of the rat. In the results, authors propose to use perilla oil for source of effective ω-3 poly-unsaturated fatty acid(linolenic acid) to Prevent cardiovascular and immune diseases.


In the new era, energy-saving and efficiency-increasing become the key to improve the satisfaction of residents' health insurance and strengthen the function of social security. With the implementation of China's resident medical insurance system, the problem of "difficult and expensive to see a doctor" has been alleviated to a certain extent, but the problems of management, supervision and management, which affect the sustainable and efficient operation of basic medical insurance, are still prominent, based on the microsurvey data, the evaluation index system of satisfaction degree of basic medical insurance is constructed, and the performance of residents' medical insurance is comprehensively evaluated by multiple linear regression method.


This project is purposed to design and development of Ultra-Wideband Wireless Transmission in the communication system between multimedia devices. Ultra-Wideband is a one data transmitter system that is not using the wire system which it is a new revolution for a consumer electronic device. Ultra-Wideband become the best choice because it has a few advantages such as low power consumption in high data rated up to 480Mbps. Other that, Ultra-Wideband also do not use a high cost in develop the transmitter and receiver device besides low power transmit and low interference. Moreover, this system has a few disadvantages in their criteria such as limited range in transmit data. So this system is suitable for the Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) consumer electronic device. In the Projek Sarjana Muda, a few objectives have been proposed in order to learn and get information about the history and criteria of this system in wireless communication system, besides determine the available usage in network family such as Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN), Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN) and Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN). At the same time, the analysis about Ultra-Wideband will be doing in order to determine the suitable range frequency for this system. This analysis is including in understanding the theory of Ultra-Wideband which doing the simulation by using the MATLAB system. The output for this project will be present in Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) Mapping. At the Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) Mapping, a few output will be produces by refer to value of Signal-Noise-to-Ratio (SNR). Decreasing of Signal-Noise-to-Ratio (SNR), will increasing the magnitude of received Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing.


This study examined how Lubukusu, a Bantu dialect of Luluhyia language in Bungoma County has locative clitics and their impact in communication. The study aimed at establishing the effects of Lubukusu locative clitics in communication among the native speakers of Lubukusu in Bungoma County by looking at the morphological and syntactic behavior of Lubukusu clitics. This study employed the Stratal Optimality Theory by Anderson (2005) where he describes the phonological behavior of clitics. This study relied on the pre-existing data and adopted a qualitative research approach by use of descriptive research design. The target populations were the native speakers of Lubukusu from Bungoma County. The study employed simple random sampling and probability sampling techniques so that each respondent had an equal chance of being selected fairly. The study used qualitative data collection methods by use of interview schedule. Interview schedule were used because the researcher did not want to limit the respondents on the use of Lubukusu locative clitics. The qualitative data were analyzed by descriptive and content analysis to get information. The researcher ensured that while carrying out this study, the confidentiality of the respondents was adhered to. The study found out that Lubukusu locative clitics had morphological properties that were reconciled with their syntactic properties and phonological properties in order to aid in communication within a sentence structure. These findings implied that Lubukusu locative clitics have properties that were peculiar and that can be interpreted by assuming that they become part of the adjacent words at the phonological level but they are independent elements at the syntactic level of analysis. That is why they both were and were not words.


Nuclear rules and regulations are composed of a multitude of provisions, benchmarks, etc. of different origins and different levels of legal quality. The Safety Criteria and Guidelines for Nuclear Power Plants published in the "Bundesanzeiger" (Federal Gazette) by the competent federal ministry after consultation of the competent highest state authorities are of particular importance. The Safety Criteria were adopted by the States Committee for Atomic Energy on October 12, 1977 and published in the "Bundesanzeiger." The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMU) intends to revise and amend the contents of the safety criteria and guidelines applying to nuclear power plants. The question underlying this article is this: In what legal way can such an "amendment" be achieved in a permissible fashion? This leaves out of consideration the question of the contents and applicability of amended provisions, such as the question to what extent amended regulations can also be applied to the nuclear power plants already licensed and in operation, or whether the concept of finality and the constitutional ban on retroactive effect or other constitutional or paramount rules contain restrictions on the contents of such regulations. Solely the question of a permissible amending procedure is under study.


The invention relates to an RS-485 signal converter capable of automatically adjusting a transmitting-receiving order, which comprises an RS485 serial interface, a transmitting control unit, a receiving control unit and a logic controller, wherein, the transmitting control unit and the receiving control unit are respectively connected with an input end and an output end of the RS485 serial interface; and the logic controller comprises a local transmission request end, a state recognition end and a transmission request end, wherein, the state recognition end is connected with the receiving control unit to judge the receiving state of the receiving control unit according to a signal of the state recognition end and judge whether the transmitting state of the RS485 serial interface is enabled through the transmitting control unit. Therefore, a user of the RS-485 signal converter does not need to set delay time according to the length of an RS48 transmission line so as to avoid data collision completely, thus achieving more convenient use.


High-resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), as an efficient Earth observation technology, can be used as a complementary means of observation for snow depth (SD) and can address the spatial heterogeneity of mountain snow. However, there is still uncertainty in the SD retrieval algorithm based on SAR data, due to soil surface scattering. The aim of this study is to quantify the impact of soil signals on the SD retrieval method based on the cross-ratio (CR) of high-spatial resolution SAR images. Utilizing ascending Sentinel-1 observation data during the period from November 2016 to March 2020 and a CR method based on VH- and VV-polarization, we quantitatively analyzed the CR variability characteristics of rock and soil areas within typical thick snow study areas in the Northern Hemisphere from temporal and spatial perspectives. The correlation analysis demonstrated that the CR signal in rock areas at a daily timescale shows a strong correlation (mean value > 0.60) with snow depth. Furthermore, the soil areas are more influenced by freeze-thaw cycles, such that the monthly CR changes showed no or negative trend during the snow accumulation period. This study highlights the complexity of the physical mechanisms of snow scattering during winter processes and the influencing factors that cause uncertainty in the SD retrieval, which help to promote the development of high-spatial resolution C-band data for snow characterization applications.


The low separation rate of electron-hole pairs in single-component photocatalysts severely limits their applications for wastewater treatment. For this study, SnO2/BiOCOOH photocatalysts in flower-like microspheres were controllably synthesized via a one-step hydrothermal method and were characterized by various advanced techniques. These SnO2/BiOCOOH nanocomposites demonstrated excellent photocatalytic activities for the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB), titan yellow, and levofloxacin hydrochloride (LVF). Specifically, 98.5% of the RhB, 80% of the titan yellow, and 85% of the LVF were degraded under 5 W LED (λ=365 nm) light irradiation within 30, 40, and 60 min, respectively. Radical trapping experiments and electron spin resonance results indicated that h+ was the dominant active radical, whereas •O2 - and •OH played an auxiliary role in the photocatalytic system. Subsequently, a potential photocatalytic mechanism was proposed based on the experimental results.


The preservation of fresh agricultural products in the distribution process has been drawing serious attention from society. It has become one kind of competition means and social responsibility for companies and the whole supply chain to provide consumers with fresher products. However,companies in the fresh agricultural products' supply chain do not have strong motives to cover the preservation costs alone because of the costly cold chain transportation or cold storage construction fees. Supply chain members' reluctance to cooperate can lead to a greater loss of fresh agricultural products in distribution channels and fail to provide high quality products for consumers. The key factor of solving this problem is to strengthen the cooperation among companies in the supply chain.To improve the cooperation among supply chain members,this study proposes a two-echelon supply chain profit model,which consists of one retailer and one supplier,based on consumer time-varying utility function. By employing the Stackelberg game,the supplier's optimal preservation efforts and the retailer's optimal pricing are analyzed under decentralized settings and centralized settings. We find that the supplier's preservation effort is lower in the decentralized setting. To encourage the supplier to improve preservation efforts,we designed two retailer-development incentive mechanisms,including a " wholesale price preservation cost sharing "contract and a "purchase price based on product freshness"contract.The results show that both the incentive mechanisms can encourage the supplier to improve preservation efforts and realize supply chain coordination to some extent. However,the application scope of the incentive mechanisms depends on whether the retailer has a relatively strong position. If so,both the incentive mechanisms are applicable. Under the"purchase price based on product freshness"contract,the retailer decides purchase price based on products' freshness level. As long as the supplier's profit after investing preservation effort is higher than that of not using preservation effort,the retailer can obtain higher profit than the " wholesale price +preservation cost sharing" contract. If not,only the " wholesale price + preservation cost sharing" contract can improve supply chain coordination. Under the circumstance,the retailer shares more proportion of preservation cost to obtain a lower wholesale price from the supplier and achieve the same optimal pricing as that in the centralized setting.Finally,the numerical analyses reveal that if consumers have more preference for agricultural product's freshness the retailer's incentive mechanisms can effectively realize supply chain coordination. If consumers have more preference for agricultural product's price,it's more difficult to realize supply chain coordination via retailer's incentive mechanisms.All in all,if the retailer takes the appropriate incentive mechanism,the supplier's preservation effort can be improved. However,different retailers have different incentive mechanisms. Besides,the retailers should consider consumer preferences when designing incentive mechanisms.


a series of mice which had been previously phloridzinized and starved for twenty-four hours. It proved to be somewhat in excess of 150 milligrammes for a mouse of sixteen to twenty grammes weight. The lethal dose of "Insulin" was similarlv determined and found to he a little more than one-tenth of the dose which is lethal for a two-kilogram rabbit. Lethal and sub-lethnl doses of diacetic acid and sub-lethal doses of "Insulin" were then injected simultaneously into starved phloridzinized mice. A series of control animals of similar weight received like doses of diaeetic acid but no "Insulin."


We present a new test case generation technology, specifically targeted at verifying systems that include address translation mechanisms. The ever-growing demand for performance makes these mechanisms more complex, thereby increasing the risk of bugs and increasing the need for such technology. DeepTrans is a package that provides model-based test generation capabilities to verify translation mechanisms based on a modeling language. The modeling language includes constructs for describing the address translation process, commonly used translation resources, and architecture rules related to translation. DeepTrans is currently used by two different IBM test generators.


While traditional approaches to manipulation planning assume known object templates, recent approaches to "category-level manipulation" aim to manipulate a category of objects with potentially unknown instances and large intra-category shape variation. In this paper we explore an object representation to enable precise category-level manipulation, capturing a notion of the object configuration and extent, while being generalizable to novel instances. Building on our previous work, kPAM 1, we combine semantic keypoints with dense geometry (a point cloud or mesh) as the interface between the perception module and motion planner. Leveraging advances in learning-based keypoint detection and shape completion, both dense geometry and keypoints can be perceived from raw sensor input. Using the proposed hybrid object representation, we formulate the manipulation task as a motion planning problem which encodes both the object target configuration and physical feasibility for a category of objects. In this way, many existing manipulation planners can be generalized to categories of objects, and the resulting perception-to-action manipulation pipeline is robust to large intra-category shape variation. Extensive hardware experiments demonstrate our pipeline can produce robot trajectories that accomplish tasks with never-before-seen objects. The video demo is available on this link: https://sites.google.com/view/generalizable-manipulation.


ObjectiveTo perform gene cloning to the whole genome of PET-32a-PEA,and to construct and identify the prokaryotic expression plasmid.MethodsThe DNA genome was extracted from genome of Pseudomonas aeruginosa,the gene of PEA with signal peptide was amplified by primers of PCR designed. Then the PCR products were digested by Hind Ⅲ and EcoRⅠ and connected to recombinate with prokaryotic expression plasmid PET-32a.ResultsAfter plasmid construction of prokaryotic expression plasmid PET-32a-PEA,the PET-32a-PEA was digested with restriction enzyme,and identified with PCR and DNA sequencing,so as to confirm its construction.ConclusionSuccessful construction of PEA in prokaryotic expression vector could provide basis for further study of genetic engineering vaccine and recombinant immunotoxin for immune target therapy.


Thermoplastic polyurethane(TPU) film composite fabrics were laminated respectively,from nylon,polyester and cotton base fabric and the high permeability 909TPU films.DF nano silver solution was used to deal with the composite fabrics.Before or after finishing for these laminated composite fabrics,this paper tested antibacterial properties to Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213 and Escherchia coli ATCC 8739,and tested some main properties of outdoor apparel fabric,such as waterproof,water vapor permeability and peeling strengths.The results show that the new finishing process of DF nano-silver antimicrobial treating the film composite fabric is simple and practical.And antimicrobial properties of the film composite fabrics significantly improved and waterproof and breathable and peel strength were less affected.


A forming method of an under pump metal layer, comprising the following steps: offering a semiconductor substrate on which an insulating dielectric layer, a groove located in the insulating dielectric layer and a metal layer located above the insulating dielectric layer and in the groove are formed; forming a hard mask layer on the metal layer; forming a photoresist layer on the hard mask layer, and defining the shape of the under pump metal layer; taking the photoresist layer as a mask to etch the hard mask layer; removing the photoresist layer; taking the hard mask layer as a mask to etch the metal layer; removing the hard mask layer. Similarly, the invention also provides a method for forming a connecting cushion. Compared with the prior art, the invention rearranges the process procedures of incinerating and etching the under pump metal layer to provide the insulating dielectric layer with the protection of the metal layer in the process of removing photoresist, solves the problem of great loss of polyimide in the insulating dielectric layer, and is beneficial for improving the yield of the product.


Chapter 1 Preface Chapter 2 Chapter 1: The Life of American Philosophy - The Education of Ella Lyman Cabot Chapter 3 Chapter 2: Women and Forgotten Movements in American Philosophy: Ella Lyman Cabot and Mary Parker Follett on Growth and Creativity Chapter 4 Chapter 3: Ella Lyman Cabot's Chance: The Nature of Contingency in the American Philosophical Tradition Chapter 5 Chapter 4: Everyday Ethics: Morality and the Imagination Chapter 6 Chapter 5: "How Does it Feel to Be a Problem?" - Women in American Thought Chapter 7 Chapter 6: Cabot on Peace Education: Moral Psychology, Ethics, and International Affairs (1906-1930) Chapter 8 Chapter 7: "Thought is Never at Rest:" Ella Lyman Cabot and the Struggle of Idealism Chapter 9 Appendix: Selected Writings of Ella Lyman Cabot


A series of benign and malignant breast tissues were studied by fluorescent antibody and hemagglutination inhibition for the presence of A, B, and D (Rh) blood group antigens. No differences were found between these two groups of tissues for any of these antigens. The benign or atypical tissue immediately adjacent to the malignant area more often showed the same loss or retention of antigen as the carcinoma. There was no correlation of the loss of blood group antigen in the primary cancer site with that of axillary lymph node metastasis. An absence of staining mixed with areas of specific staining was noted only in the malignant and adjacent tissue sections.


Inguinal hernia is a common surgical pathology. Therefore inguinal hernia repair is a commonly performed surgery. 4 Postoperative urinary retention (POIR), postoperative testicular atrophy (POTA), inguinal pain, hypoesthesia may develop following IHO. POTA is not a frequent pathology. However, if patients have problems with testicular functions against psychological effects, it can cause erectile dysfunction (ED), loss of libido, and infertility at a young age. Also during surgery, damage to the lymphatic vessels of the spermatic cord may cause hydrocele; damage to the genital branch of the genitofemoral nerve may cause hypoesthesia in the inner surface of the femur and in the outer genitalia. POTA may bring about factors such as increased morbidity, in some cases, continuous hormone replacement, increased cost, and longer hospital stay. Investigating risk factors that cause POTA can help reduce the complication rate. Many studies have been conducted investigating the factors predicting POTA development. In the studies conducted, we noticed that hernia type (direct, indirect, ABSTRACT


The effect of LiNbO3 (LN) addition on the ferroelectric behavior and piezoelectric properties of Bi0.5(Na0.80K0.20)0.5TiO3 (BNKT20) lead-free piezoceramics were systematically investigated. Results showed that the LN substitution into BNKT20 induced a transition from coexistence of ferroelectric tetragonal and rhombohedral phases to relaxor pseudocubic phases, which is accompanied by the significant disruption of ferroelectric order and with the shift of the ferroelectric-relaxor transition temperature TF-R down to room temperature. Accordingly, a large accompanying normalized strain of ∼0.38% (corresponding to a large signal d33* of ∼475 pm/V) were obtained in BNKT20 with 2.5 mol. %LN addition near the phase boundary. Temperature-dependent measurements of both polarization and strain from room temperature to 120 °C suggested that the origin of the large strain is due to a reversible field-induced ergodic relaxor-to-ferroelectric phase transformation. Moreover, an attractive property for application as hi...


Abstract This work examined the combustion behavior (flame characteristics and temperatures) and the emissions (SO2, NO, NO2, CO, CO2, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), soot and ash) from blends of a pulverized bituminous coal and ground waste automobile tires. The following fuel feed compositions were examined: 100% coal, 75–25% and 50–50% coal and tire blends, as well as 100% tire. Coal and tire particles were in the size ranges of 63–75 and 180–212 μm, respectively. Combustion of cylindrical streams of particles look place under steady flow conditions, in an electrically-heated drop-tube furnace in air, at a gas temperature of 1150°C and a particle heating rate of ≈105°C/s, The bulk equivalence ratio, φ, in the furnace was varied in the range of 0.5 to 2, by varying the particle mass loading. Combustion observations on burning clouds of particles were conducted with simultaneous pyrometry and cinematography. Interparticle flame interactions were visually observed mostly in the near-stoichiometri...


This paper studies the contribution of the pre-opening period to the daily price discovery process and the factors that impacts the return generated over this period for six stocks traded on the Malta Stock Exchange. We utilise both the weighted price contribution (WPC) method and the Wang and Yang (2009) extension of the Hasbrouck (1995) information share (IS) measure applicable to sequentially trading periods. We determine the information content of the order book by measuring the impact of the relative depth and height in the overnight and opening order book and changes to the relative depth and height during the pre-opening attributable to order submissions and alterations. We find that approximately one third of daily price discovery is attributable to the preopening period. The results indicates that the impact of relative depth and height of the overnight and opening order book on opening are concentrated at the top of the order book. Furthermore, cumulative changes to the relative depth attributable to order submissions during the pre-opening most significantly impact the opening returns of less active stocks. However, we find a strong relationship between opening returns and changes in the relative height along the order book attributable to order submissions, cancellations and forward and backward price revisions over the pre-opening period.


We propose a novel type of zero-watermarking method that incorporates associative memory models. Because the zero-watermarking method does not embed a watermark directly in an image, it avoids degrading the original image. However, as a watermark is associated with each image, it is difficult to manage the associations when dealing with a large number of images. Moreover, the conventional zero-watermarking method cannot correct the watermark when an image is degraded, and the watermark's length must be equal to that of the feature vector extracted from an image. Hence, we propose a novel management scheme that uses both a hetero-associative memory model and an auto-associative memory model. The proposed method can manage a large number of mappings between images and watermarks via the hetero-associative memory model, while also eliminating the watermark length restriction. Furthermore, even if an image is heavily degraded, the auto-associative memory model can correct watermark errors. The proposed method was evaluated in the case of JPEG compression, and we found that it can sufficiently reduce errors in watermarking.


According to the structure characteristics of gene sequences of VP1 and VP2 for chicken infectious anemia virus,a pair of specific primers was designed,the polymerase chain reaction(PCR) technique was used to simultaneously detect and identify chicken infectious anemia viruses(CIAV),and the CIAV-PCR kit were developed.The results showed that a 420 bp DNA fragment was amplified by the PCR kit only from the CIAV strains and isolated strains,and were not amplified in the other pathogenic viruses and bacteria.Very little as 10 fg CIAV DNA could be detected using gel electrophoresis in this PCR kit.After storage at-20℃ for 1,3,6,and 9 months,respectively,10 to 100 fg of CIAV DNA could still be detected by the kit.Although the sensitivity of the kit decreased a titer after storing for 12 months,100% of the clinical samples from infected chickens could be detected positively with the CIAV-PCR kit.The results indicated the CIAV-PCR kit was specific,sensitive,fast,and accurate,and was suitable for applying in clinics and production.


Aerosol particles could grow on charged ions nuclei. Such nuclei could be produced by different processes occurring in a gas phase, including chemical and photochemical reactions and radioactive decay. In particular, appearance of ions in the gas phase could be related to alpha, beta and gamma radiation. Moreover, it is common belief that radiation, both natural and anthropogenic, is the main contributor of ions to the atmosphere. It was shown (Freidlander, 2000) that presence of oversaturated vapor does not always ensures particle growth on charged ions. The reason is based on a fact that, according to the classic theory of nucleation, there is a Coulomb's barrier exists for charged nuclei, preventing small particle growth up to the point where substantial oversaturation is reached. Considering that the size of the critical cluster is small (few dozens of molecules), the surface tension could not be considered, as almost all molecules are located on the surface. In this situation, a kinetic approach ought to be used to describe the mechanism of the particle growth on charged ions. Cloud (Wilson) chambers and diffusion chambers are commonly used for detecting ionizing radiation by visualised particle growth on the ion nuclei produced by radioactive decay. Diffusion chambers have some important advantages as (1) they are self cleaning from alien nuclei, (2) allow identifying a nature of radioactive particle, and (3) could operate continuously. Figure 1 shows some traces of radioactive decay products.


Conservative surgery is used to treat transitional cell bladder cancer. The greatest risk, however, is recurrence and progression of the disease. To reduce these problems the patient undergoes intracavitary therapy with immunomodulators and chemotherapeutic drugs, including the bacillus Calmette-Guerin, which best reduces these risks.


Based on single factor test,the solid state fermentation(SSF) medium to produce β-galactosidase by Aspergillus oryzae GN-1 were optimized by L9(33) orthogonal test. The results showed that the β-galactosidase activity of 156.04U/mL was obtained ,when SSF was carried out using wheat bran and water in 1∶1 ratio , supplemented with 1.5% (w/w) ammonium sulfate,0.4% (w/w) magnesium sulfate and 3% (w/w) sucrose at 30℃ for 6 days,which was about 8.3 times of the β-galactosidase activity acquired on the basic medium.


E. F. Steiner introduced a qua si-proximity S satisfying A 8 B iff {x\ 8 B for some x of A. The purpose of this paper is to de- scribe the Tychonoff product of topologies in terms of Steiner's quasi- proximities. Whenever iX , S ) is the Steiner quasi-proximity space, the product proximity on X = ilX can be given, by using the concept of fi- nite coverings, as the smallest proximity on X which makes each projec- tion S-continuous.


G eorge Bush promised to kill two birds with one stone when he introduced his "consumer driven" healthcare plan. According to Bush, the market based plan would contain spiralling health costs and make insurance more affordable for the 48 million uninsured US citizens.

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Under the scheme, consumers buy high-deductible plans—insurance plans that cost less each month, but they must pay a higher portion of the bill if they use medical services. The money saved by lower monthly payments is set aside in a tax free "health savings account" held by the consumer, who can use the savings to pay for medical care. Since out-of-pocket payments with high-deductible plans can run up to $5100 (£2696; €3978) for an individual and $10 200 for a family, consumers will have considerable money at stake, or "skin in the game," as conservatives like to put it. And having skin in the game, according to enthusiasts like Regina E Herzlinger, chair of Harvard Business School, will drive healthcare costs down and quality up, because consumers will comparison shop to get the highest quality care for the best price—much as they do for other consumer goods …

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We report on the development of highly reflective back contacts (RBCs) made of multilayer stacks for ultrathin CIGS solar cells. Two architectures are compared: they are made of a silver mirror coated either with a single layer of In2O3:Sn (ITO) or with a bilayer of ZnO:Al/ITO. Due to the improvement of CIGS rear reflectance, both back contacts result in a significant external quantum efficiency enhancement, in agreement with optical simulations. However, solar cells fabricated with Ag/ITO back contacts exhibit a strong shunting behavior. The key role of the ZnO:Al layer to control the morphology of the top ITO layer and to avoid silver diffusion through the back contact is highlighted. For a 500-nm-thick CIGS layer, this optimized RBC leads to a best cell with a short-circuit current of 27.8 mA/cm2 (+2.2 mA/cm2 as compared to a Mo back contact) and a 12.2%-efficiency (+2.5% absolute).


879–86 2 Critchley LA, Lee A, Ho AM. A critical review of the ability of continuous cardiac output monitors to measure trends in cardiac output. Anesth Analg 2010; 111: 1180–92 3 Ishihara H, Okawa H, Tanabe K, et al. A new non-invasive continuous cardiac output trend solely utilizing routine cardiovascular monitors. J Clin Monit Comput 2004; 18: 313–20 4 Yamada T, Tsutsui M, Sugo Y, et al. Multicenter study verifying a method of noninvasive continuous cardiac output measurement using pulse wave transit time: a comparison with intermittent bolus thermodilution cardiac output. Anesth Analg 2012; 115: 82–7 5 Ishihara H, Sugo Y, Tsutsui M, et al. The ability of a new continuous cardiac output monitor to measure trends in cardiac output following implementation of a patient information calibration and an automated exclusion algorithm. J Clin Monit Comput 2012, doi: 10.1007/s10877-012-9384-7


The stability version of the Edge Theorem states that a polytope of polynomials is D-stable if and only if its edge polynomials are all D-stable. Unfortunately, this statement is only true for restricted classes of polytopes and restricted classes of stability regions. If either of these restrictions is removed, the theorem will not be valid. In order to remove these constraints, this paper will present a simple precondition for the Edge Theorem. If this condition is not satisfied then the polytope is not D-stable. If this condition is satisfied then the stability version of the Edge Theorem is valid for all stability regions D and all polytopes of polynomials. The Generalized Edge Theorem of Soh and Berger is stated in a similar form. They consider stability regions D whose complements are simply connected in the complex plane. A special case of this theorem states that a polytope of polynomials is D-stable if and only if the edge polynomials are D-stable. It will be shown by counter example that this statement is not true. The precondition presented in this paper suggests ways of correcting this theorem.


Amorphous nanoparticles of cefuroxime axetil (CFA), a kind of poorly water-soluble antibiotic drug, were prepared at massive production rate by a novel continuous process, the high-gravity antisolvent precipitation (HGAP). The produced CFA nanoparticles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry (FTIR), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), specific surface area analysis (BET), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and a dissolution test. The mean particle size of CFA was about 300 nm with a narrow distribution from 100 to 400 nm. The specific surface area reached up to 8.67 m2/g, which was about 4 times higher than that of the commercial spray-dried CFA. And the results of the dissolution test showed that dissolution rate of the former were higher than that of the latter. Hence it is proved the HGAP technique offers a direct and continuous process for mass-production of drug nanoparticles.


Intestinal homeostasis is maintained by the dynamic interplay between the gut microbiota and the host immune system. Alterations in the composition and function of the gut microbiota have been associated with increased susceptibility to intestinal inflammation, but whether these candidate microbes actively modulate host phenotypes is frequently not known.
The role of members of the Prevotella genus within the intestinal microbiota and their effects on the host is not completely understood and somewhat conflicting interpretations have been reported. Whereas association with plant-rich diet and improved glucose metabolism suggested Prevotella spp. are beneficial for the host, their increased relative abundances in microbial ecosystems at multiple body sites have been associated with diverse diseases. Yet, whether Prevotella spp. actively contribute to the development of these diseases is not known. The detailed investigation of the immunomodulatory properties of Prevotella spp. has been prohibited by the poor characterization of Prevotella species and high strain diversity, as well as the lacking availability of diverse intestinal Prevotella isolates.
In the present work, we isolated three novel intestinal Prevotella species from mice prone to intestinal inflammation. Characterization of the impact of Prevotella colonization on the interplay between host and the microbiota during intestinal homeostasis and inflammation was performed using P. intestinalis, which among the three novel species shared the highest similarity to the predominant human gut Prevotella species - P. copri. We identified that colonization by this novel member of the Prevotella genus significantly decreased the production of the bacterial fermentation product SCFAs and the immunomodulatory cytokine IL-18, which was associated with an increase in the severity of intestinal inflammation. Our findings suggested that Prevotella-mediated intestinal injury may be influenced via different pathways, yet the ability to ameliorate Prevotella-induced disease severity by supplementation of IL-18 suggested that remodeling of the microbial metabolome and specifically SCFA production may be the dominating pathomechanism. Finally, the consequences of modulation of SCFA production in the intestine by Prevotella spp. may have far-reaching consequences for the host, as SCFA have immunomodulatory effects in distant sites such as the liver, bones or the brain.


This study was carried out in Sakarya province between in 2012 and in 2014 and supported by the General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies. Reactions of 60 genotypes were determined against stalk and ear rot diseases caused by Fusarium moniliforme in maize growing areas of the Marmara region. Artificial inoculations of the stalk and ear rot disease were performed in the Marmara region, having an important role in maize cultivation in our country. Toothpick and syringe methods were used for stalk rot and ear rot respectively. Reaction trials of inbred lines were set up in a randomized complete block design with three replications in the experimental field of Directorate of Sakarya Maize Research Station. In the experiments, 10 plants per each plot of inoculated and control plots were treated. Sakarya Directorate of Maize Research Station corn breeder promising set out in 2012 and 2013 by 30 inbred lines were tested. In the year 2014, in the years 2012 and 2013 to Fusarium stalk rot against mid-resistant and moderately susceptible reaction showing the lines and, to Fusarium ear rot against resistant and moderately resistant reaction showing, there's hope lines of reactions has been identified. As a result, 1 inbred line and 6 inbred lines were found to be middle resistant and moderately susceptible against Fusarium stem rot, respectively. However, it was determined that 12 genotypes were resistant and another 12 genotypes were moderately resistant to Fusarium ear rot. Inbred lines found to be promising can be used as genitor plant sources against stalk and ear rot diseases by corn breeders' organizations


The aim of this presentation is to show how we use statistics and pharmacokinetics (PK) in certain types of clinical pharmacology study. The focus will be on the statistical analyses of PK data, and we will give a brief description of PK and how we assess the PK of a compound. We will concentrate on two types of study design: First Time in Human (FTIH) and Repeat Dose. Also included in the presentation will be the objectives of these types of trial and when they happen in the drug development process. The presentation will also give an overview of dose proportionality; as the dose increases, we expect that AUC (area under the concentration time curve) and Cmax (Maximum concentration observed) increase in proportion, and will give a brief description of both the Power and ANOVA models. We will also look at accumulation i.e. whether the drug accumulates in the body, time invariance i.e. how the concentration profile at steady state compares to the full profile on Day 1 and how to perform an assessment of steady state using trough concentrations from the last 3-5 days of dosing to assess whether this has been achieved. Example code will also be presented to show the statistical analyses of dose proportionality, using both the Power model and the ANOVA method for its assessment.


For the real-time recording of essential bond parameters: bond-force; ultrasonic amplitude; bonding time; during the bonding process, sensors are applied to the bond arm. The methods (measuring procedures) and necessary hardware and software for the monitoring of the measured values have been developed. Strain gauges are fixed to the bond arm and provide a signal proportional to the applied bond-force. A piezo-ceramic sensor is attached to the horn of the bond arm to measure the amplitude of the ultrasound. The bond-time is deducible from the duration of the ultrasonic signal. The electrical signals are recorded and interpreted in real-time using a PC compatible PCD3T (Siemens) computer. The sensorised bond arm can be used advantageously with either nail-head or wedge-wedge bond machines, with both thick and thin wire bonds. Results are discussed for 25 /spl mu/m Al-wire bonds on different surfaces. To show correlation for ultrasound and bond-sticking, frequency-distributions are presented. To check bond quality, extensive shear tests and pull tests were performed. Results show that shear tests are more sensitive to bond quality than pull tests. The data from automatic process control can be used to substitute SPC (Statistical Process Control) and minimise destructive tests. Bond quality can be monitored by observing the 2nd harmonic of the ultrasonic signal. Bond parameters drifting towards bad bond quality can be avoided.<<ETX>>


Femtosecond laser is a kind of infrared laser transported in pulse form, and it can penetrate transparent tissue and perform high precision cutting in tissues. It can make corneal implants and beds with different shapes, and has achieved good results in corneal transplantation. In recent years, a number of related studies have described the effectiveness, safety and stability of femtosecond laser assisted keratoplasty, and have put forward some new techniques and viewpoints.


Motivated by Wayne C. Booth's notion of "methodological pluralism," this essay compares Fredric Jameson and Kenneth Burke's writings on Henry James in order to shed new light on disagreements voiced by these theorists in a 1978 exchange from Critical Inquiry. The essay builds on Burke's brief commentary on James's The Spoils of Poynton, as well as Jameson's scattered writings on James's psychologized modernism, to demonstrate how Spoils reflects the incongruous but finally complementary positions of Jameson the historical ideologist and Burke the rhetorician.


The invention relates to an externally used traditional Chinese medicament for treating skin diseases which is prepared mainly from the following raw materials (by weight portion): cnidium fruit 0. 5-2 parts, roor of sessile stemona 0. 5-2 parts, Cortex Pseudolaricis 0. 5-2 parts, kuh-seng 0. 5-2 parts, sea apron 0. 3-1 part, seaweed 0. 3-1 part, oldenlandia 0. 5-2 parts, rheum officinale 0. 5-2 parts, rheum officinale 0. 2-0. 8 part, Chinese blistering beetle 0. 1-0. 5 part, edible vinegar concentrate 45-55 parts, arisaema tuber 18-25 parts and secretio bufonis 3-5 parts.


A Department of Economics working paper on the employment prospects of secondary technical school graduates in Zimbabwe during the 1980's.


The objective of this paper is to investigate a charging method control techniques for charging lead-acid battery. The characteristics of lead-acid battery are presented that include the charging method affecting the capacity of battery. The conventional charging method is pointed out the merit and drawback. And also the Variable Pulse Width Charging is also presented in this paper. This method is modified from the conventional method to enhance the life cycle and capacity.


Having high-end kitchen appliances makes cooking simple and less time consuming. Sleek experts list down the best chimneys your modular kitchen. Read on to know more!