Objective:To investigate the drug brain protective agent Edaravone Injection after drug treatment whether has a protective effect on acute myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury after thrombolysis.Method:160 patients with acute myocardial infarction who had thrombolysis indication and selective thrombolytic therapy with urokinase intravenous in our hospital from December 2009 to December 2013 were selected,they were randomly divided into the observation group for 82 cases and the control group for 78 cases according to the random number table method.The observation group before and after thrombolytic therapy was given Edaravone Injection 30 mg plus 0.9% Sodium Chloride Solution intravenous infusion of 100 mL,bid,for 14 d.The control group was given the same amount of placebo byintravenous infusion.The ECG and hemodynamic monitoring of all patients were detected.Result:The incidence of ST segment re-elevation,reperfusion arrhythmia and postinfarction angina pectoris in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group,the recanalization rate of the observation group was 65.9%,it was significantly higher than the 48.7% of the control group,the mortality for 4 weeks of the observation group was 12.2%,it was significantly lower than the 23.1%of the control group,the differences were statistically significant(P0.01).There were no statistically significant differences in premature ventricualr contraction and sinus arrest between the groups(P0.05),but in accelerated idioventricular rhythm,ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation heartbeat,the differences were statistically significant(P0.01).Conclusion:In acute myocardial ischemia,injection with Edaravone Injection after drug treatment before reperfusion can alleviate myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury,effectively clear oxygen free radical,improve the ability of antioxidative stress.Thrombolytic therapy before and after treatment administration on acute ischemic myocardial protection effect is obvious,Edaravone Injection may be a new clinical cardiovascular drugs.


The structure and properties of silicone surfactants were described in this paper. Particularly, it summarized that the function of nonionic, cationic, anionic, and anphoteric silicone surfactants when applied in personal care products. Meanwhile,it has every confidence in prospect to the application of silicone surfactants in personal care products.


Global networking, growing computer infrastructure complexity and the ongoing migration of many private and business aspects to the electronic domain commonly mandate using cutting-edge technologies based on data analysis, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to ensure high levels of network and information system security. Transparency is a major barrier to the deployment of black box intelligent systems in high-risk domains, such as the cybersecurity domain, with the problem getting worse as machine learning models increase in complexity. In this research, explainable machine learning is used to extract information from the CIC-IDS2017 dataset and to critically contrast the knowledge attained by analyzing if–then decision tree rules with the knowledge attained by the SHAP approach. The paper compares the challenges of the knowledge extraction using the SHAP method and the if–then decision tree rules, providing guidelines regarding different approaches suited to specific situations.


Objectives To elevate the level of diagnosis and treatment of Adrenal gland, uropoiesis male reproductive system with malignant lymphomas. Methods The clinical data of 4 patients in our department was reviewed, There were no special features either in clinical manifestations or in conventional imaging studies. The final pathologic diagnosis was achieved by surgical exploration(2 cases) and biopsy directed by B-ultrasonic (2 cases).3 cases underwent a combined polychemotherapy. Results One patient post - operation were followed up in November so far, is still alive and 2 case s respective survival 4 years and 2 years ;the others died 20 days after diagnosis,due to brain metastases、bellows infection、septic shock.Conclusions Clinical manifestations and conventional imaging studies demonstrated nospecial characteristics compared with benign tumor. We suggest that it's a good idea to biopsy directed by CT or sonography and operations research.Treatment according to pathological types and stages of individual treatment.

Key words:
Lymphome;  Adrenal Gland Neoplesms;  Urogeniteal Neoplasms


Can the specialty boards respond to change? A brief review of the history of the development of the specialty board system in the United States reveals that its birth and evolution was, and is, a response to the need for change. Around the turn of the century the growth of new knowledge pertinent to the practice of medicine had reached a pace which justified many well-motivated physicians in devoting their best efforts to a limited field of practice. Unfortunately, the financial and social advantages of engaging in this kind of limited practice appeared substantial to other physicians less well motivated. There were virtually no standards for evaluating competence, either legal or ethical. A few organizations and special sections within the American Medical Association did exist where physicians having a common interest in a special field of practice might assemble for the exchange of information pertinent to that field. The first


A mode choice on transportation model, are developed based on the economic theory is called the Random Utility Maximization (RUM), which emphasizes the use of rationality in the selection process. In 2008, Caspar G. Chorus developed the Random Regret Minimization (RRM) theory, which facilitated the development of the voting behavior theory (choice behavior), in which a state of choice behavior minimizes regret that may arise from selection. This preliminary study aims to demonstrate differences in the calculation results in the analysis of RUM and RRM in the case of the selection of vehicle types. Such results exhibit the intermodal characteristic of work or business travel. The method of analysis used in this study is the stated preference technique. Results of the comparison analysis between RUM and RRM showed no significant difference across the purposes of travel, total travel time, and destination point.


In this paper we address the problem of autonomous Impedance Mapping (IM) of an environment using a team of mobile robots. IM of a domain provides the boundary information required to model the sound propagation in the domain. We equip the robots with a speaker and two microphones and utilize the two-microphone reflection method to estimate the normal surface impedance of the boundaries. Specifically, while a speaker robot plays white noise, a listener robot measures the pressure values at two adjacent points next to the sample and uses this data to estimate its impedance. We model the collaborative IM task using Linear Temporal Logic and design motion plans that allow the robots to switch between speaker and listener roles while maintaining desired distances from each other and the samples, and measure the impedance of every boundary segment. We present experimental results and validate our impedance measurements by comparing to a standard method.


The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has recently outlined and begun to implement its comprehensive plan for revision and restructuring of the educational system in this province. The Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Delivery of Programs and Services in Primary, Elementary, Secondary Education (1992), has placed the school curriculum at the very focus of this process. One of the needs identified by the Commission was a balanced and relevant curriculum. In setting direction for revisions to the present system, however, this comprehensive and important document, makes only cursory reference to the arts subjects. Of the two hundred and eleven recommendations made by the Commission, none make mention of the arts. This study examined the perceptions of educators towards the arts in school curriculum. The intention of this research was to set the stage, at this crucial time of change in our educational system, for a more comprehensive understanding of the role and place of arts subjects in the total education of students. -- The initial stage of the research involved a critical examination of the most pertinent educational documents and review of relevant literature. The researcher then interviewed a cross-section of educators from all levels of the system in this province. The nine participants discussed a list of eight open-ended questions which were designed to provide information about the perceptions of these educators towards the role of arts in school curriculum. -- One of the most significant findings in the study was the broad agreement that the arts subjects have an essential role to play in the overall education of students. Furthermore, the participants perceived the arts to be an essential component in providing quality education for students at all levels of the system. It would appear that the arts are perceived by educators as nurturing the very characteristics that have been identified by the recent Royal Commission, as well as by other educational reports, as essential to the future success of students.


As Hainan Island belonged to tropical monsoon influenced region, vegetation coverage was high. It is accessible to acquire the vegetation index information from remote sensing images, but predicting the average vegetation index in spatial distributing trend is not available. Under the condition that the average vegetation index values of observed stations in different seasons were known, it was possible to qualify the vegetation index values in study area and predict the NDVI (Normal Different Vegetation Index) change trend. In order to learn the variance trend of NDVI and the relationships between NDVI and temperature, precipitation, and land cover in Hainan Island, in this paper, the average seasonal NDVI values of 18 representative stations in Hainan Island were derived by a standard 10-day composite NDVI generated from MODIS imagery. ArcGIS Geostatistical Analyst was applied to predict the seasonal NDVI change trend by the Kriging method in Hainan Island. The correlation of temperature, precipitation, and land cover with NDVI change was analyzed by correlation analysis method. The results showed that the Kriging method of ARCGIS Geostatistical Analyst was a good way to predict the NDVI change trend. Temperature has the primary influence on NDVI, followed by precipitation and land-cover in Hainan Island.


As the increasing of system performance and computing power, embedded systems are more complicated and interactive. Therefore, operating system (OS) plays a more important role in embedded systems to utilize various hardware and software resources. However, no OS can meet all requirements of various embedded systems. Due to the advance of reconfigurable processors, system requirements can be more dynamic. Embedded OS has becoming more critical in the development of embedded systems and thus there is a strong need of configurable embedded OS to better and faster build up the target system. In this paper, we propose a configurable OS, called COS, based on SOA (service-oriented architecture) for embedded SoC (system on a chip) systems to build an application specific OS according to the system requirements. COS can be easily configured to better utilize the resources of the target embedded platform and have better support to the embedded application. Moreover, the COS can easily extend new features or functionalities of other OSes and even be adapted to the designs of other OSes. We implement COS on an ARM platform to prove its configurability and also evaluate its overhead. We believe that COS can be configured to meet the various requirements in embedded SoC systems and help to speed up the embedded system development process


Context. Identifying the physical mechanisms driving the escape of Lyman continuum (LyC) photons is crucial for the search of Lyman continuum emitter (LCE) candidates.
Aims. To understand the physical properties involved in the leakage of LyC photons, we investigate the connection between the H I covering fraction, H I velocity width, the Lyman α (Lyα) properties, and the escape of LyC photons in a sample of 22 star-forming galaxies, which includes 13 confirmed LCEs.
Methods. We fit the stellar continuum, dust attenuation, and absorption lines between 920 Å and 1300 Å to extract the H I covering fractions and dust attenuation. Additionally, we measure the H I velocity widths of the optically thick Lyman series and derive the Lyα equivalent widths (EW), escape fractions (fesc), peak velocities, and fluxes at the minimum of the observed Lyα profiles.
Results. Overall, we highlight strong observational correlations between the presence of low H I covering fractions and the observation of (1) low Lyα peak velocities; (2) more flux at the profile minimum; and (3) larger EW(Lyα), fesc(Lyα), and fescobs(LyC). Hence, low column density channels are crucial ISM ingredients for the leakage of Lyα and LyC photons. Additionally, galaxies with narrower H I absorption velocity widths have higher Lyα equivalent widths, larger Lyα escape fractions, and lower Lyα peak velocity separations. This may suggest that these galaxies have low H I column density. Finally, we find that dust also regulates the amount of Lyα and LyC radiation that actually escapes the ISM.
Conclusions. The ISM porosity is one of the origins of strong Lyα emission, enabling the escape of ionizing photons in low-z leakers. However, this is not sufficient to explain the largest fescobs(LyC), which indicates that the most extreme LCEs are likely to be density-bounded along all lines of sight to the observer. Overall, the neutral gas porosity provides a constraint for a lower limit to the escape fraction of LyC and Lyα photons, which offers a key estimator for assessing the leakage of ionizing photons.


PURPOSE: A remote control flapping vehicle capable of stand-up advance flight is provided to utilize the flight by attaching a micro camera or utilize the remote control flapping vehicle as a toy. CONSTITUTION: A remote control flapping vehicle capable of stand-up advance flight includes a body, a main wing, a tail, a tail rotor, a driving unit(500) and a flight control unit(600). The main wing is installed in the front part upper of the body in X shape of a character. The tail rotor controls the flight direction of the body. The driving unit runs the main wing. The flight control unit includes the receiver receiving the control signal for controlling the driving part and tail rotor.


The microstructure and mechanical properties of High Velocity Oxy-Fuel (HVOF) sprayed Cr3C2-NiCr alloy coatings deposited on austenitic stainless steel AISI 304 were investigated. The splat morphology of the coatings is due to the deposition and re-solidification of successive molten or semi molten powder particles. The morphologies of the coatings were characterized by using the techniques such as optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction () and field emission scanning electron XRDmicroscopy/energy-dispersive analysis. Average microhardness of the coatings at different loads were found to be in the range of 222.8–523 HV, respectively.


Conservation
Reports of plummeting insect biomass and threats to insect pollinators have prompted urgent calls for enhanced insect conservation efforts. In a Perspective, Basset and Lamarre outline some of the key steps that need to be taken to protect insect populations. Scientific knowledge needs to be enhanced by performing continuous monitoring studies to inform conservation efforts, especially in the tropics, where knowledge is very limited. Mitigating climate change, reducing pesticide use, and halting habitat loss and fragmentation will also be crucial. Last but not least, engaging the public will help to increase interest in protecting insects beyond iconic species such as bees and butterflies.

Science , this issue p. [1230][1]

 [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aaw7071


Ion charge state distributions have been measured with high time resolution for short and long arc pulses. Data for 3 /spl mu/s and quasi-steady state are given for most conductive elements in a Periodic Table. The mean ion charge states can be fitted by functions of the form Q~=Q~/sub t/spl rarr//spl infin// [1+A exp(-t//spl tau/)] where A is an enhancement function that depends on the power density. For the present conditions, A/spl sim/1 and /spl tau//spl sim/50 /spl mu/s.


A cooling shell arrangement is assembled about an outer periphery of a housing of a dynamoelectric machine. The cooling shell arrangement comprises at least two extruded sections of arcuate shaped cooling members having cooling fins and at least two locking members fixedly holding the at least two sections in a predetermined position on the outer peripheral surface of the housing so that elongation of the at least two sections caused by thermal expansion is accommodated by the at least two locking members. Hoop tension is maintained in the at least two sections over a predetermined temperature range. The cooling shell arrangement improves the transfer of heat from the outer peripheral surface of the housing.


Among the institutional instruments likely to participate in the economic development of a country, banks occupy a crucial place, as their role affects means of payment, exchanges, credit, financial transactions and advice. The analysis of paradigms and mechanisms of the banking system makes it possible to intervene in the heart of the economic system. Congo's banking system, like that of almost all African countries, is characterized by half a century of failure, several bankruptcies, endemic corruption, the embezzlement and exclusion of so-called poor populations and rural. This article proposes a model of the endogenous financing of the real economy through solidarity banks. Our objective is to formulate a decision-making tool for economic and financial governance, in terms of financing local development. We propose to explain the importance of monetary policy and the renovated banking system on endogenous bases, according to traditional African values.


One of most popular methods applied in stated preference evaluation is conjoint analysis. While doing preference evaluations with the application of conjoint analysis, a respondent is presented a set of profiles (products or services) to evaluate. Respondents are asked to rank or order profiles. While using discrete choice studies we don't ask respondents to rank or order profiles, but we present a set of profiles and ask him or her to choose either one or none of them. Preference measurement and evaluation with the application of adaptive conjoint analysis is done in two phases. The respondent evaluates preferences towards levels of all attributes, then evaluates selected pairs and chooses one profile. This method allows for the use of a large number of attributes and levels. But because of the need to choose between pairs of profiles it is different from the consumer behaviour market. To get more real-life data, an adaptive discrete choice method was proposed to describe both compensatory and non-compensatory behaviours. Menu-based choice, designed for markets where a consumer can make choices from the menu, is the newest method of preference analysis. The main aim of the paper is to describe all of the methods, starting from conjoint analysis on through to menu-based choice.


Introduction: Prior studies that rely on pharmacy refill data suggest that there maybe an association between antihypertensive drug class and adherence. We aimed to determine whether there is a relationship between antihypertensive drug class and adherence measured electronically. Methods: We enrolled a sample of 188 participants with treated but uncontrolled hypertension from 2 urban primary care clinics. Adherence was measured during the interval between two clinic visits using a 4-compartment electronic pillbox (MedSignals) that records the date and time each compartment is opened. Adherence was calculated as the percent of days the correct number of doses of a particular medication was taken as prescribed. A mixed effects regression analysis was used to assess the association between drug class and percent adherence using Bonferroni adjusted alpha levels and adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity, number of BP medications/patient, coronary artery disease (CAD), depressive symptoms, and days monitored. S...


Healthcare services are increasingly using medical images and video in their applications. Quality assessment can be performed via image quality evaluation metrics. However, due to the specific nature of the associated data, quality evaluation of medical images poses several issues. In this paper, we provide an insight into medical image quality evaluation, by discussing the issues faced and the current trends in the literature. Based on the analysis of the medical and technical literature, three broad categories of quality evaluation metrics are presented. The different methodologies are compared in different environments and services and recommendations for future research are provided.


Vapor pressures and the molar enthalpies of vaporization of the linear aliphatic alkyl esters of dicarboxylic acids R−CO2−(CH2)n−CO2−R with n = (0 to 4) with R = C2H5, n-C3H7, and n-C4H9 have been determined using the transpiration method. A linear correlation of enthalpies of vaporization (at T = 298.15 K) of the esters with the number n and with Kovat's indices has been found, proving the internal consistency of measured data.


The purpose of this study was compare the scoring profile and game related statistics of the two finalist during the different stages of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The design of the study was descriptive and observational. The video recordings of all games that involved New Zealand and France during RWC 2011 (n=12 matches) were used and analyzed. The data were collected from the official web page of RWC (www.rugbyworldcup2011.com) and from the Rugbystats webpage (http://www.rugbystats.com.au). Results from game related statistics between New Zealand and France in RWC 2011, revealed different measures of performance for both teams. The main findings of the study show that New Zealand points mostly came from tries and France scored their points from penalty kick indicating the difference in approach by the two teams. The study revealed significant differences in performance indicators when comparing New Zealand and France rugby teams.


The QEI team, during summer 2020, conducted a survey to investigate how OU student learning has been impacted by the Covid-19 disruption. In particular, the responses facilitated us to study the impact of the Covid-19 disruption on undertaking specific learning, assessment and social activities, and how students' background characteristics relate to any potential impact. The data presented in this report includes all 555 responses received.


The purpose of this investigation work in the scope of natural science teaching was understand the relation between the pedagogical practices and the social imaginary about human development and social of secondary schoolteachers from an educative institution of Bogota city. Using a qualitative design with hermeneutic approach, it concludes that although those teachers recognized the school like a primordial stage for the human and social development, the sense of their pedagogical practices is anchored to socials imaginaries of a practical assumption "who doesn´t work doesn´t eat" of a moral order assumption: "you have to be someone in the life" and of a scientific order assumption: "the naturals laws are unchangeable truths", what makes it difficult its setting and also of their students as autonomous subjects and links them with the epistemic and axiological imperatives of the social and human model of development characteristic of the dominant neoliberal economic order.


Texas fresh market cucumbers in 1974 brought a gross value of 4.4 million from 2,800 acres during spring, 900 acres during summer, and 2,700 acres during fall production seasons. Fresh market cucumbers comprised 3.3 percent of the acreage and 2.5 percent of the value of the Texas vegetable industry. The 6,400 acres harvested during 1974 compares with 5,900 acres in 1973, and 6,900 acres during 1972.


During the sampling period from Dec. 2010 to Sep. 2011 and Sep. 2012- Jun. 2013,the seasonal variation,morphological composition of nitrogen and phosphorus were analyzed,and relationship between environmental factors was studied,respectively.Results indicated that the main presence of DIN was nitrates,which accounted for more than 90% in all seasons,its concentration in summer /autumn was higher than that in spring /winter. The concentration peaks of DIN and TP were 3. 99 mg /L and 1. 70 mg /L,respectively,appeared in summer of 2011 during the flood period.


Weather phenomena across the United States have provided heightened attention to climate change in headlines such as "Heavy Rain and Floods: The 'New Normal' with Climate Change?" (Christian Science Monitor, Aug. 14, 2014); "Delay Action on Climate Change by 10 Years and Costs Rocket 40%" (Time, July 29, 2014); "State Hearing Focuses on Cutting Greenhouse Gases" (Fort Worth Star Telegram, August 18, 2014); and "More Severe Tornado Outbreaks may be Linked to Climate Change" (CBS, August 8, 2014). As a result, many people find themselves wanting to know more about climate change, our students included. Yet how many of us take the opportunity to bring climate change into the classroom? Undoubtedly social studies teachers may be less familiar with the physical mechanisms of climate change, but this should not prevent us from taking the opportunity to discuss and debate the role of government and citizens. While natural scientists are busy unraveling the physical mysteries of climate change, the realm of applying this knowledge to decision making rests firmly in the social sciences. In this article, we discuss why the social studies classroom is in many ways an ideal place to incorporate climate change and how teachers might use the C3 Framework to structure climate change inquiry. Using the C3 Framework, we will outline an example of how climate change might be used in a civics or government course, then touch briefly on history, economics, and geography. We will begin with a brief overview of climate change before moving on to its use in the classroom.


Using individual level data (the Japanese General Social Survey), this paper aims to explore how interaction between genders contributes to the cessation of smoking in Japan, where females are distinctly less inclined to smoke than males. Controlling for various socioeconomic factors and selection bias, I find through a Heckman-type selection estimation that proportions of female employees in workplaces are negatively associated with male smoking but not with female smoking. Furthermore, married males are less likely to smoke than single males, whereas there is no difference in smoking rates between married and single females. These results suggest that smokers are more inclined to cease smoking when they are more likely to have contact with opposite sex nonsmokers. Overall, this empirical study provides evidence that the psychological effect of the presence of people in one's surroundings has a direct significant effect upon smoking behavior; however, this effect is observed only among males and not females.


The heat affected zone (HAZ) of welded SUS304 steel has been irradiated using three irradiation modes of electron single irradiation, electron irradiation after He-injection and electron /He ion dual-beam irradiation by 1250 kV high voltage electron microscope (HVEM) connected with an ion accelerator. Void size in the specimen with pre-injected helium increased considerably and the void size distribution was a bi-modal. Void swelling is the highest in the case of electron irradiation after He-injection. The segregation of solutes of Ni and Cr near grain boundary was suppressed in the cases of electron/He þ -ion dual-beam and electron irradiation after He-injection comparing with electron single irradiation.


This qualitative study explored how Catholic sisters who practice social work understand their experiences in both religious life and the field of social work. Sisters have made significant contributions to professional social services for centuries and have done so out of deep spiritual commitments; yet, modern sisters' experiences have not been examined by researchers as a source of knowledge about how spiritual belief and social work practice intersect and impact both individual growth and institutional action. A total of 12 Catholic sisters who had worked in social work settings across the U.S. participated in semi-structured interviews for this study about meaning behind their choice of lifestyle and work, the motivations that sustained those choices, and finally, their understanding of any areas of reciprocal influence, overlap, or evolution in terms of their beliefs and behaviors as social workers and as sisters. Noteworthy findings from this sample are as follows: (1) a "generative" spirituality motivated sisters' work for social justice alongside oppressed communities, (2) membership in religious community functioned as an embrace of "woman-centered" spirituality, (3) community structures buoyed and enhanced their social work practices and development as sisters, (4) spiritual beliefs and behaviors were sometimes renegotiated to better meet the needs of social justice as understood through social work experience SPIRITUALITY, COMMUNITY AND ACTION: AN EXPLORATION OF CATHOLIC SISTERS IN SOCIAL WORK A project based upon an independent investigation, submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Work.


The problem of assessing the value of a candidate is viewed here as a multiple combination problem. On the one hand, a candidate can be evaluated according to different criteria, and on the other hand, several experts are supposed to assess the value of candidates according to each criterion. Criteria are not equally important, experts are not equally competent or reliable. Moreover, levels of satisfaction of criteria, or levels of confidence are only assumed to take their values in linearly ordered scales, whose nature is rather qualitative. The problem is discussed within two frameworks, the transferable belief model (TBM) and the qualitative possibility theory (QPT). They respectively offer a quantitative and a qualitative setting for handling the problem, thus providing a way to emphasize what are the underlying assumptions in each approach. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


The invention relates to a preparation technology of a low-cost high-strength ceramic floor tile, which comprises the following steps: 1)taking 30-40% of steel slag, 40-55% of bayer process red mud and 20-30% of talcum according to weight percentage for standby; 2)crudely crushing the steel slag into the particles with size below 10mm; 3)respectively performing ball milling on the steel slag particles and the bayer process red mud by a ball mill for 8 hours, and sieving through a sieve with 250 meshes; 4)placing the sieved raw material in a three-dimensional stereo feed mixer for mixing for 10 hours; and 5)adding water in a mixture, and preparing a green compact by an oil hydraulic press under 25MPa pressure, placing the dried green compact in a muffle furnace, and roasting to obtain the ceramic floor tile. The ceramic floor tile provided by the invention takes red mud and steel slag as main raw materials, and the red mud and steel slag substitute the rear kaolin with high cost and high quality, so that dependence of ceramic industry in our country to kaolin is reduced, and crisis of high-quality kaolin scarcity due to rapid development of industrial can be alleviated.


Thirty four Russian speaking adults were tested for their comprehension of four complex adverbial sentence types expressing the temporal order of events. Three hypotheses put forward in the literature and tested in English state respectively that: (i) adverbial clause placement, (ii) conjunction choice, and (iii) order of mention effect on participants' adverbial sentences comprehension. The results of the study demonstrated that none of the three hypotheses were relevant for Russian material. A new explanation was proposed.


Onion ( Allium cepa L.) is one of the most important vegetable crops worldwide. In Japan, it is grown using two different cultivation methods (spring-sowing and autumn-sowing). The traditional cultivation method for onion in the Tohoku region in northeast Japan has been autumn sowing; however, onion productivity has been low. Recently, spring sowing of onion has been established in this region to improve onion productivity in the off-crop season. To better understand the spring-sowing cultivation method, we examined the plant growth and bulb development of eight commercially-grown onion cultivars ('Turbo', 'Aurora', 'Momiji No. 3', 'Marso', 'Okhotsk 222', 'Kitamomiji 2000', 'Super Kitamomiji', and 'Gunnison') throughout the growth period. The results showed that this cultivation method enabled us to grow and compare relatively long-day and intermediate-day cultivars at the same time, under the same environmental conditions. Onion bulb development was induced and persisted during long day-lengths and was inhibited by short day-lengths which were longer or shorter than the critical day-lengths for bulb development of each cultivar. To elucidate this mechanism, expression analysis of AcFTs related to bulb development was conducted. Our expression analysis showed that AcFT1 was expressed in accordance with the maturity of the cultivars, and this gene expression can be used as an index for maturity types of the cultivars and bulb development. The results indicate that onion responds to a critical day-length for bulb development and starts bulb development before the bulbing ratio greatly exceeds 2. This metric can be used as an index


The sustainability of urban infrastructure projects is one of the major aspects of sustainable urban development.Based on literature review and a questionnaire survey,this paper established a set of sustainable evaluation indexes for urban infrastructure projects from the following aspects:projects' buildability,maintenance and adaptability,social environmental impacts,natural environmental impacts.Meanwhile,during the evaluation process,there is some fuzziness and hesitancy for experts in the decision making.In order to solve the realistic problem,this paper introduced intuitionistic fuzzy sets into the evaluation model.We introduced the intuitionistic fuzzy weighted average operator to gather the decision-makers' opinions,and then score function was applied to transfer the fuzzy matrix into score function matrix which is ordinary matrix.And on this basis,the fuzzy entropy was introduced to calculate the optimal weight of each index and the synthesis score of each alternative was calculated based on the index weight and the score function matrix.According to the score,the ranks of the alternatives were obtained.At last,a case was used to demonstrate the feasibility and effective of the model.The method can solve the problem of traditional fuzzy sets which can't express all the information.


Abstract The current investigation compared 12 models of outcomes of international rugby union matches and then used the most accurate model to investigate performances within the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The underlying linear regression models were used within a simulation package that introduced random variability about performance evidenced by the residual distribution of the regression analyses. Each model was used within 10,000 simulations of the 2015 Rugby World Cup from which match outcome and team progression statistics were recorded. The most accurate model with respect to the actual 2015 tournament was developed using data from all seven previous tournaments rather than restricting cases to the most recent three tournaments. The model was more accurate when the data used violated the assumptions of linear regression rather than transforming variables to satisfy the assumptions. The model included World ranking points as a predictor variable and was more accurate than corresponding models that represented relative home advantage as well. The most accurate model used separate models for the pool and knockout stage matches although the 9 models that separating these match types were less accurate on average than when the two match types were considered together. This model was used to investigate properties of the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The tournament disadvantaged three teams in the World's top 5 who were drawn in the same pool. Teams ranked in the World's top 7 did not perform as well as predicted while teams ranked 16th and below performed better than predicted suggesting that the strength in depth in international rugby union is increasing. There was a small effect of having additional recovery days from the previous match compared to the opponents which was worth 4.1 points. The information produced by this research should be considered by those design tournaments such as the Rugby World Cup.


When steel fabricators erect structural members in field, temporary tightening of fastener should be useful. However, if bolt holes are not aligned by production error or natural condition, additional effort andpain should be provided to align bolt holes. It lead to longer period than times of construction (a primarily day of construction) and more cost than originally cost. This problem will be overcomed by oversize or slotted holes. Early, AISC and Eurocode have included provision for design process such oversize or slotted holes. But, domestic design method is not refered about oversize and slotted holes. Meanwhile, domestic design method and construction environment are variance with Europe and the United States of America. Therefore, a suitable design method for oversize and slotted holes in domestic real condition is needed. In this study, we evaluated behavior of the joints and decided the friction coefficient on oversize and slotted holes of friction joints with high strength bolts.


combinationwith otherphysicalmeans(stockings, paddles,calf stimulationor dihydroergotamine). The evidenceis that in a dose of5,000 U SC twice or three times per day a significantreduction in venousthromboticeventscan beachievedat very little cost in termsof excessbleedingand wound haematomas . Heparinwas originally describedin extractsof liver by McLeanand hiscolleaguesin 19167, and it has been widely used as an tithrombotic since the mid-1930s. Naturally occurring heparin, as used therapeutically,containsa mixture of compoundswith differentactionson bloodcoagulation and plateletfunction. The molecularweightof the individual mucopolysaccharides rangesfrom 2,000 to 50,000daltons,with an averageof 20,000. Injection of unfractionatedheparinintravenouslyresults in prolongation of the whole blood coagulation time, which is dosedependent:the higher the dose thelonger the coagulationtime. This is due to avarietyof actions,the mostimportant being the combinationof heparin with antithrombin III and the subsequenteffects of the complexon a rangeofactivationproductsproduced during blood coagulation''. Of particular importanceare theeffectson FactorsXa and IIa, which are key points in thecoagulationcascade. Unfractionatedheparinhasapproximatelyequal inhibitory actionson FXa and FXIIa. In addition, Introduction Deep veinthrombosisof the legs and its equelae, pulmonaryembolismand thepost-phlebiticlimb, have been welldescribedover the last two centuries, but it isonly in the last 20yearsthat advances inmodemdiagnostictechnologyhaveallowed doctorsto chartmoreaccuratelythe epidemiology and pathology of thesecommon conditions. Of more importance,technologyhasallowedus to detect theforming thrombuswell in advanceof it producingclinical signsin the legs orembolisingto the I lung. In parallel with this has been a rapid accumulation of knowledgeabout the biochemicalmechanisms of fibrin formation and dissolutionand the factors which normallyprotecttheendotheliumfrom fibrin or plateletdeposition. As a resultof this, more rational antithrombotic measureshave been introduced which should be used to prevent the increasingmorbidity and mortality from deep vein thrombosisand pulmonaryembolism.


Using geometry optimization and DFT method at the B3LYP/6-31G* level of theory for C35H30, an equilibrium geometry is identified that has the form of a coplanar double-cage dodecahedrane. Vibrational frequencies and the IR spectrum are computed at the same level of theory. The heat of formation for C35H30 has been estimated in this paper. The heat of formation of C35H30 as well as the vibrational analysis indicates that this system enjoys sufficient stability to allow for its experimental preparation.


(above 9.1 wt%) steels takes a little different relationships (001)η//(211)M and (110)η2 ゚(100)M. The carbide particles are smaller than 100 A and line up to make needle-like shapes. Needle directions are scattered, but for the N-type carbide the average needle direction is [531]M and for the R-type carbide it is [532]M. The carbide contains nickel as well as iron. Its carbon content is considered to decrease with increasing nickel. Superstructure reflections do not appear in the R-type carbide. This is ascribed to a disorder in the carbon atom arrangement caused by the replacement of iron by nickel. The superstructure reflections from the N-type carbide show frequently an intensity anormaly. An explanation is given on the basis of an antiphase domain model with respect to the carbon atom arrangement in the carbide. This gives that in some carbide particles antiphase domain boundaries may be formed in


The two common problems in engineering graphics are studied,which are: ①the characteristic points on the intersection of a cylinder and a cone with their axes intersecting perpendicularly and ② the principal axis of the V-projection ellipse of the intersection of an oblique plane and a cylinder.The commonly wrong solutions are discussed and the right solutions are derived by using conic theory.At last the graphic methods for the problems are given.engineering graphics;intersection;conic;graphic method


The psychosocial aspects of the reinsertion at work are discussed in this study, which was done based on semi-structured interviews with 10 people who acquired a visual or a physical disability, due to different circumstances, and then went back to the labor market after the incident. Through the content analysis method, it was noticed that the returning to labor was positively faced by the most part of the interviewed people. It was firstly motivated by financial necessity, but then allowed that other perspectives were attributed to work. Beyond that, the reinsertion assumed a greater individual value when the impacts resulted from the disability were bigger than when they demanded less changes in everyday life. Results are considered relevant for purposing ways of (re)insertion in the organizational context based on social and legal aspects and also for promoting an inclusive labor market and a more participating society.


I investigate the market reactions to 3,520 restatement announcements during 1995-2006, and find an 85 percent reduction in the average market reaction beginning in the first quarter of 2001, and continuing through the end of the sample period. I analyze whether the reduction is due to changes in the frequencies of specific restatement characteristics, changes in the way the market reacts to the characteristics, or both. My results suggest that reduced market reactions are mainly associated with a change in the frequencies of restatement characteristics, including the severity of the restatements, changes in the way they are disclosed, and changes in the disclosures of parties that initiate restatements. Nearly half of the reduction in market reactions appears to be due to an increase in the frequency of less severe restatements.


The development of wireless technologies and digital infrastructure has radically changed the relationships of individuals with their habitat and with each other. Instead of boundaries and separation, researchers increasingly describe the modern world, using concepts of network, connectivity and flow. The article presents theoretical positions within the framework of the sociological analysis of cyberspace as a special type of space emerging as a result of the development of information and communication technologies. The specifics of different approaches to the definition of cyberspace in the context of the description of the time-space distantiation as one of the key characteristic of modern society in which network structures have a decisive influence are considered. The paper concludes that, despite the large number of studies devoted to the issues of cyberspace, the interpretation of this concept is highly ambiguous. The technological basis for the design of cyberspace, as well as the understanding that any space is socially constructed, allows us to consider cyberspace in the perspective of studying its physical, social and informational aspects. This new type of space, characteristic of the networked societies of the 21st century, has a number of features that point to its virtuality, network nature of functioning, multidimensionality, nonlinearity, variability, the ability to be a public and private space and the basis for constructing a networked identity.


The present invention relates to retain water and nutrients planting drought-resistant afforestation technology in the field of agriculture and forestry, in particular to retain water and fertilizer cultivation substrate and method for preparing a composite of bentonite and mushroom residue. The matrix includes 30 to 40 parts of bentonite, mushroom residue 60-70 parts, fertilizer 0.1-0.5 parts. Preparing the substrate is first selected waste Jundai after mushroom cultivation fresh off the shelf, off the bag after processing, crushing, adding complex microbial agents, urea, ensure composting feed carbon and nitrogen ratio of 20; raw materials are thoroughly mixed even after adjusting the water content of 60%, bacteria slag heap after a good system, stored in ventilated and facilities to prevent rain, until the moisture content to 20%; and then the bacteria slag, bentonite and fertilizer mix, crushed which obtained water and fertilizer cultivation substrate. The invention rich source of raw materials, low cost, bentonite mineral resources are widely distributed, low cost, waste mushroom residue production, easily accessible; simple production process, environmental pollution.


This paper announces a ground truthed database of on-line handwritten mathematical formulae. It have recently been collected in our group in connection with the research on methods for structural pattern recognition. Unlike the availability of handwritten characters or texts, collections of structural objects are rather scarce, thus we would like to provide them to the community. We also present the methodology and tools used for data acquisition. Finally, we report on our experiment with the automatic generation of additional samples. The process utilizes the dataset to extract statistical descriptions of symbols alignments and relative sizes.


Bacillus anthracis is the causative agent of anthrax disease. Improvement of existing anthrax vaccines, which are currently based on the administration of Protective Antigen (the highly immunogenic nontoxic subunit of the bacterial toxin) may entail other bacterial immunogenic elements, part of which are predicted to reside on the surface of bacterial cells. In the present study, membranal proteins extracted from a stationary‐phase culture of a nonvirulent B. anthracis strain, devoid of the native virulence plasmids pXO1 and pXO2, were separated by two‐dimensional electrophoresis (2‐DE) and a characteristic protein map was defined. The proteomic analysis allowed matix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization‐time of flight mass spectrometry‐assisted identification of 86 protein spots which represent the product of 30 individual open reading frames (ORF). Among these, a prevalent class of proteins was the S‐layer proteins (which were found to represent more than 75% of the B. anthracis membranal fraction) and proteins containing S‐layer homology (SLH)‐membranal localization domains. Five novel SLH proteins, previously inferred only from bioinformatic ORF analysis (draft genome sequence), were identified and one was shown to be a highly abundant membranal protein. Western blots of the 2‐DE gels were probed with sera from convalescent rabbits and guinea pigs infected with virulent B. anthracis (Vollum strain). This analysis revealed that B. anthracis immune animals exhibit antibodies against at least 14 distinct membranal proteins present in the 2‐DE map, establishing that these proteins are expressed in vivo and are able to elicit an immune response. The identification of the protein components of the B. anthracis membranal fraction, as well as the establishment of their potential immunogenicity, underscore the strength of the proteomic approach for identifying molecules which may serve for further analysis of immune and protective abilities.


Evolvement of rice dwarfing conception and the present utilization situation of dwarfing resources were recommended,and its research advances of molecular biology foundation on dwarf gene were also summarized.Further more,conceptions of rice dwarfing were redefined in this paper,and the future research direction in this field was put forward.


This paper proposes a design method for devices composed of long fiber-reinforced composites (FRC) and additive manufactured (AM) parts. Both FRC and AM processes have similar application characteristics: suitable for small production volumes, additive in nature, and capable of being highly automated. On the other hand, the classes have distinct characteristics. FRCcomponents tend to be large and of simple shapes, while AM components tend to be small with highly complex geometry. Their combination has the potential for significant synergies, while mitigating their individual limitations. A decision guide is proposed, in the form of a series of questions, to guide the designer to determine if their application is a good candidate for FRC+AM. The decision guide is reformulated into a proposed design process that guides the designer to advantageously benefit from AM and FRC characteristics. The tools are illustrated with an example of a composite pressure vessel with integrated pressure reducer.


AIM: To investigate the regulatory function of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells( MSCs) on T helper 17 cells( Th17) and regulatory T cells( Treg) in peripheral blood of severe asthmatic children.METHODS: MSCs were isolated,cultured and identified in vitro. MSCs digested with mitomycin were cocultured with T lymphocytes( TLC) at different ratios( 1∶ 1,1∶ 2,1∶ 10 and 1∶ 20) from severe asthmatic children for 72 h. The proliferation of TLC was measured by CCK-8 method. In the coculture system of the 1∶ 2 ratio and the single TLC system,the supernatant levels of interleukin-17( IL-17) and transforming growth factor-β( TGF-β) were measured by ELISA. The mRNA expression of retinoic acid-related orphan nuclear receptor C( RORC) and forkhead box protein 3( Foxp3) in TLC was detected by qRT-PCR. RESULTS: After cocultured with MSCs,the proliferation of TLC decreased significantly in a dosedependent manner( P 0. 05). It also showed decreases in IL-17( 3 799 ± 441 vs 4 890 ± 373,P 0. 05) and RORC mRNA level( 1. 21 ± 0. 14 vs 3. 85 ± 0. 48,P 0. 05),while an increase in TGF-β level( 209 ± 32 vs 117 ± 26,P 0. 05) was observed. No influence on the mRNA expression of Foxp3 was found( P 0. 05). CONCLUSION: MSCs suppresses Th17 polarization of naive peripheral blood CD4+T cells and matures Th17 cells secreting IL-17,which may effectively revise Th17 /Treg imbalance of asthma.


The interaction of electric field with charged domain walls in ferroelectrics is theoretically addressed. A general expression for the force acting per unit area of a charged domain wall carrying free charge is derived. It is shown that, in proper ferroelectrics, the free charge carried by the wall is dependent on the size of the adjacent domains. As a result, it was found that the mobility of such domain wall (with respect to the applied field) is sensitive to the parameters of the domain pattern containing this wall. The problem of the force acting on a planar charged 180 ◦ domain wall normal to the polarization direction in a periodic domain pattern in a proper ferroelectric is analytically solved in terms of Landau theory. It is shown that, in small applied fields (in the linear regime), the forces acting on walls in such pattern increase with decreasing the wall spacing, the direction of the forces coinciding with those for the case of the corresponding neutral walls. At the same time, for large enough wall spacings and large enough fields, these forces can be of the opposite sign. It is shown that the domain pattern considered is unstable in a defect-free ferroelectric. The poling of a crystal containing such pattern, stabilized by the pinning pressure, is also considered. It is shown that, except for a special situation, the presence of charge domain walls can make poling more difficult. It is demonstrated that the results obtained are also applicable to zig-zag walls under the condition that the zig-zag amplitude is much smaller than the domain wall spacing.


A novel technique for quantum-well intermixing is demonstrated, which has proven a reliable means for obtaining postgrowth shifts in the band edge of a wide range of III-V material systems. The technique relies upon the generation of point defects via plasma induced damage during the deposition of sputtered SiO/sub 2/, and provides a simple and reliable process for the fabrication of both wavelength tuned lasers and monolithically integrated devices. Wavelength tuned broad area oxide stripe lasers are demonstrated in InGaAs-InAlGaAs, InGaAs-InGaAsP, and GaInP-AlGaInP quantum well systems, and it is shown that low absorption losses are obtained after intermixing. Oxide stripe lasers with integrated slab waveguides have also enabled the production of a narrow single lobed far field (3/spl deg/) pattern in both InGaAs-InAlGaAs, and GaInP-AlGaInP devices. Extended cavity ridge waveguide lasers operating at 1.5 /spl mu/m are demonstrated with low loss (/spl alpha/=4.1 cm/sup -1/) waveguides, and it is shown that this loss is limited only by free carrier absorption in waveguide cladding layers. In addition, the operation of intermixed multimode interference couplers is demonstrated, where four GaAs-AlGaAs laser amplifiers are monolithically integrated to produce high output powers of 180 mW in a single fundamental mode. The results illustrate that the technique can routinely be used to fabricate low-loss optical interconnects and offers a very promising route toward photonic integration.


Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL) is a safe and effective procedure commonly performed to remove renal stones. Although PNL is associated with low morbidity, unexpected complications may occur. We describe here a 44-year-old male patient with recurrent renal stones who experienced a renal rupture and massive bleeding following PNL. Left nephrectomy and intensive treatment did not improve the patient's condition, and he died 14 days later as a result of multi-organ failure. (Korean J Anesthesiol 2008; 54: 689~93)


Objective: To understand ethnic differences in SARS-CoV-2 infection risk and symptoms in hospital healthcare workers (HCW).

Methods: A  Prospective longitudinal observational cohort study. 1364 HCW at five UK hospitals were studied with up to 16 weeks of symptom questionnaires and antibody testing (to both nucleocapsid and spike protein) during the first UK wave in five NHS hospitals. The main outcome measures were SARS-CoV-2 infection (seropositivity at any time-point) and symptoms.

Results:  272 of 1364 HCW (mean age 40.7 years, 72% female, 74% white, ≥6 samples per participant) seroconverted, reporting predominantly mild or no symptoms. Seropositivity was lower in ITU workers (OR=0.43 95%CI 0.24, 0.76; p=0.0033). Seropositivity was higher in black (compared to white) participants, independent of age, sex, role and index of multiple deprivation (OR=2.61 95%CI 1.47-4.62 p=0.0009). No association was seen with other ethnic groups.

Conclusions: In the UK first wave, black ethnicity (but not other ethnicities) more than doubled HCW infection risk, independent of age, sex, measured socio-economic factors and role.

Trial Registration: NCT04318314

Funding Statement: Funding for the PANTHER study was from the UKRI/MRC (Cov-0331 - MR/V027883/1 ), with additional institutional support from the Nottingham NIHR BRC. Funding for COVIDsortium was donated by individuals, charitable Trusts, and corporations including Goldman Sachs, Citadel and Citadel Securities, The Guy Foundation, GW Pharmaceuticals, Kusuma Trust, and Jagclif Charitable Trust, and enabled by Barts Charity with support from UCLH Charity. Wider support is acknowledged on the COVIDsortium website. Institutional support from Barts Health NHS Trust and Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust facilitated study processes, in partnership with University College London and Queen Mary University London. Serology tests (anti-S1 and anti-NP) were funded by Public Health England. JCM, CMa and TAT are directly and indirectly supported by the University College London Hospitals (UCLH) and Barts NIHR Biomedical Research Centres and through the British Heart Foundation (BHF) Accelerator Award (AA/18/6/34223). TAT is funded by a BHF Intermediate Research Fellowship (FS/19/35/34374). MN is supported by the Wellcome Trust (207511/Z/17/Z) and by NIHR Biomedical Research Funding to UCL and UCLH. None of the aforementioned funding bodies have contributed to the design, collection, or analysis of the data.

Declaration of Interests: None to declare.

Ethics Approval Statement: The study was approved by a UK Research Ethics Committee (South Central - Oxford A Research Ethics Committee, reference 20/SC/0149).


Changes to governance and funding of universities have placed increasing importance on teaching quality. Curriculum development is central to teaching quality. Yet, as research has shown, it is rarely given priority in university departments. We sought to identify key barriers and facilitators of curriculum development in four professionally accredited master's level degree programmes within the University of Melbourne, Australia. Our work progresses existing knowledge of curriculum development in three ways: (a) we provide a contemporary assessment of barriers and facilitators, (b) we gauge the views of administrative staff involved in curriculum development and find that they identify important process-oriented means for improvement and (c) we identify the facilitative role professional accreditation plays in curriculum development. A key barrier to curriculum development was found to be the existence of cumbersome, inflexible and lengthy administrative processes. However, we identify means by which these can be addressed, including the revision of long lead times for data provision required by the federal government.


Discretization algorithms have played an important role in data mining, which is widely applied in industrial control. Since the current discretization methods can not accurately reflect the degree of the class-attribute interdependency of the industrial database, a new discretization algorithm, which is based on information distance criterion and ant colony optimization algorithm(ACO), is proposed. The paper analyses the information measures of the interdependence between two discrete variables, and an improved information distance criterion is generated to evaluate the class-attribute interdependency of the discretization scheme. In the algorithm, The ACO is applied to detect the optimal discretization scheme, and a new pheromone matrix is defined on the construction of the optimization, and an effective heuristic values assignment approach, which is used with the criterion values of discretization scheme, is proposed. We performed the experiments on a real industrial database. Experiment results verify that the proposed algorithm can produce a better discretization results.


Heavy metals released into the environment have a negative impact on the development of living organisms and soil fertility. The use of biomass obtained on such soils as a substrate for biogas production is problematic since heavy metals affect the consortia of microorganisms-decomposers and methane producers, and, consequently, the biogas yield. Therefore, the effect of certain metal ions and their concentrations in the environment on the development of the anaerobicconsortia for biogas production is the topical question. We are aimed to generalize research findings across the influence of heavy metal compounds on the process of anaerobic fermentation of biomass and determination of limiting concentrations for the functioning of the anaerobic consortia. Analysis of the literature has shown that the addition of heavy metal salts to the working medium affects the process of anaerobic fermentation, which depends on the form of the introduced metal, its concentration, the preliminary adaptation of the consortia to the metal. The biogas yield depends on the concentration of the element under study and the presence of other elements in the substrate. It has been established that the allowable concentrations of metal ions are as follows: for іron – 20 g/l Fe0 or 500 mg/l K2FeO4; for chromium – 50 mg/l Cr3+; for copper – 40 mg/l CuCl2; for zinc – 40 mg/l ZnCl2. The data obtained on the influence of various concentrations of heavy metals on the anaerobic fermentation process will make it possible to model and conduct further studies of the effects of both individual heavy metal ions and their combinations on the biotechnology of processing waste containing such metals.


Tony Jones summarises the key recommendations for reform of the building safety regulatory system in the UK, and explores the impact these may have on structural engineers.


The element zinc (Zn) is considered an essential micronutrient to plants, being that the addition of this metal in forage cultivation may cause increment in the productivity. In Brazilian soils are frequent the cases of Zn deficiency, being necessary the fertilization of these areas with this micronutrient. However it must be highlighted that some sources of this micronutrient available in the market present in its composition heavy metals. This work aimed to study the effect of different sources and doses of Zn applied in Tifton 85 and the production of dry matter and the levels of Zn, phosphorus (P), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and chromium (Cr) in leaf tissue and the levels Zn, Cd, Pb and Cr in soil. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse using a Rhodic oxisol of medium texture. Vases with volume of 4 dm 3 were used, which were organized in a completely randomized in factorial scheme (5x4) with three replications. The treatments were the five sources of Zn (A, B, C, D) in four doses of the micronutrient (0, 2, 4, 6 kg ha -1 ). The results show that did not occurred accumulation of Cd, Pb and Cr in the leaf tissue and Cd and Cr in the soil. The source E provided higher production of dry matter in relation to the sources A, B, C, D. However the source 'A' provided higher concentrations of Zn for the forage.


Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) in Russia is presented by a number of wild and domestic populations. Both wild and domestic reindeer play an important role in lives of indigenous people. Investigation of biodiversity of this species is very important for developing conservation and breeding programs. Our research was aimed at determining haplotype variability and genetic diversity of the wild and domestic reindeer. MtDNA cytb gene (1140 bp) of the wild reindeer from the Taimyr region (WLD, n = 16) and domestic reindeer from the Nenets-Autonomous district (NEN, n = 15) and Tuva Republic (TUVA, n = 5) were sequenced. It was shown that the number of variable sites was higher in WLD—35, than in NEN and TUVA—17 and 5, respectively. Haplotype diversity was 0.958 ± 0.036 in WLD, 0.762 ± 0.096 in NEN and 0.900 ± 0.161 in TUVA. Average number of nucleotide differences was 7.942 in WLD, 4.324 in NEN and 2.800 in TUVA. The medianjoining network revealed that WLD and NEN had shared haplotypes with each other, while TUVA had private haplotypes. Thus, the obtained results of the current study demonstrated that the wild reindeer were characterized by higher genetic diversity than both domestic groups. Tuva reindeer clustered separately from the other populations and were characterized by higher haplotype diversity than the Nenets conspecifics that had a higher average number of nucleotide differences.


Premature failure of a plastic mould insert made of M330 steel for injecting cellphone was analyzed.The morphology and microstructure of the failed insert's working surface were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and Rockwell hardness was also tested.The hardness of the surface micro-areas was measured by nanoindentation.It was found that the main reason resulting in the failure was the reduction of hardness and wear resistance caused by three times of tempering among which an additional tempering was aimed to the convenience of etching process.Another main factor was the change of the working surface corroded dots design,because the new design made the insert plastic flow more freely than the old one and the abrasion was aggravated.


In the twentieth century, great technological advances in the arms industry allowed wars to reach an incredible degree of cruelty, brutality and efficiency in the art of killing, not only mobilized opponents but even defenseless civilian populations. Despite the good intentions expressed in the Geneva convention, the war was never as cruel and bloody as in that century. Even so, it was observed, especially among hunting aviators, occasional manifestations of honor and respect for the adversary, in a kind of revival of the spirit of the old medieval knights. This article, the result of a selected bibliographical research, lists and discusses some of these episodes that occurred in the two World Wars and more recently in the conflict known as the Falklands War or the Falkland Islands.


Objectives To determine if cone beam CT-guided navigation bronchoscopy (CBCT-NB) is a cost-effective diagnostic procedure in patients with a pulmonary nodule (PN) with an intermediate risk for lung cancer. Materials and methods Two decision analytical models were developed to compare the long-term costs, survival and quality of life. In the first model, CBCT-NB was compared with CT-guided transthoracic needle biopsy (TTNB) in TTNB eligible patients. In the second model, CBCT-NB was compared with direct treatment (without pathology proven lung cancer) in patients for whom TTNB is not suitable. Input data were gathered in-house, from literature and expert opinion. Effects were expressed in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). Sensitivity analyses were used to assess uncertainty. Results CBCT-NB can be cost-effective in TTNB eligible patients with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of €18 416 in an expert setting. The probabilistic sensitivity analysis showed that in 69% and 90% of iterations CBCT-NB remained cost-effective assuming a willingness to pay (WTP) of €20 000 and €80 000 per QALY. CBCT-NB dominated in the treatment strategy in which TTNB is not suitable. The probabilistic sensitivity analysis showed that in 95% of iterations CBCT-NB remained the dominant strategy, and CBCT-NB remained cost-effective in 100% of iterations assuming a WTP limit of €20 000. In the comparison between CBCT NB and TTNB, the deterministic sensitivity analysis showed that the diagnostic properties and costs of both procedures have a large impact on the outcome. Conclusions CBCT-NB seems a cost-effective procedure when compared with TTNB and when compared with a direct treatment strategy in patients with an intermediate risk PN.


Background: The rapid spread of illness and death caused by the severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its associated coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) demands a rapid response in treatment development. Limitations of de novo drug development, however, suggest that drug repurposing is best suited to meet this demand. Methods: Due to the difficulty of accessing electronic health record data in general and in the midst of a global pandemic, and due to the similarity between SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV, we propose mining the extensive biomedical literature for treatments to SARS that may also then be appropriate for COVID-19. In particular, we propose a method of mining a large biomedical word embedding for FDA approved drugs based on drug-disease treatment analogies. Results: We first validate that our method correctly identifies ground truth treatments for well-known diseases. We then use our method to find several approved drugs that have been suggested or are currently in clinical trials for COVID-19 in our top hits and present the rest as promising leads for further experimental investigation. Conclusions: We find our approach promising and present it, along with suggestions for future work, to the computational drug repurposing community at large as another tool to help fight the pandemic. Code and data for our methods can be found at https://github.com/finnkuusisto/covid19_word_embedding.


Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common and frequently occurring disease in the respiratory system.The morbidity and mortality of COPD are high.In recent years, the prevalence of COPD has been increasing.The acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) increased the consumption of medical and health resources, which is the primary burden of COPD patients' medical expenses and the main cause of death in patients with COPD.Current clinical research focuses on the management of acute exacerbations, prevention of AECOPD has not yet attracted enough attention of clinicians, how to prevent and reduce the occurrence and development of AECOPD become the focus of reducing COPD morbidity and mortality and reducing the economic burden of COPD.This study aims to provide a better medical service for patients with AECOPD by reviewing the latest research results, and summarizing the risk factors of AECOPD, exploring the risk factors of AECOPD, and guiding the clinical practice.

Key words:
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Risk factors


The development of the theory of absolute integrals derives from certain key facts. Among them are: (I) An integral is a positive linear functional on a vector lattice, which is continuous in a certain sense. (II) A function equal almost everywhere to a summable function is itself summable. (III) Every measurable function is the pointwise limit of a sequence of elementary step functions. A device that often plays an important role in measure theory, but which has not beenfully exploited in the theory of abstract integrals is that of (IV) the smallest class containing a given class and having a certain property (such as being a σ-ring of sets). It is our purpose in this paper to examine the theory of abstract real-valued absolute integrals axiomatically, in such a way as to isolate and clarify the roles of (I) through (IV).


Traditional TWACS system can realize the uplink demodulation by judging the positive and negative of sampling modulation current's accumulation. The demodulation algorithm often uses the square wave to match, but this way is lack of anti-interference ability. In this paper, according to the uplink encoding and the difference time domain, the sampling current signal can be synthesized to a sine signal nearly. Then with the help of the complex wavelet analysis and the algorithm, the synthesis sampling value can be handled and the demodulation will be realized. The simulation and experimental results indicate that the algorithm effectively improve the performance of the traditional demodulation method.


IN the latter part of the nineteenth century American society encountered a series of complex problems. Rapid industrialization, immigration, and urbanization created what Robert H. Wiebe has described as a "distended society," a nation pervaded by a sense of "crisis" and a "search for order."' One of the focal points of discontent was the large corporation. Because of its power, its wealth, its new elite, and its all too frequent displays of antisocial behavior, big business became one of the major negative symbols of American reform. The social relations of the large corporation were all the more important because it was big business which first adopted the bureaucratic values and authority structure which ultimately provided most Americans-including reformers-with the means of imposing a new type of order on their society.2 The image of big business which was held by various other elements in society is thus highly important to the historian. American labor's attitude toward the large corporation is especially interesting because union relations with big business were often strained during the years of changing economic conditions and social values in the first three decades of the twentieth century. The emphasis here is upon the American Federation of Labor, and the major source of information is labor journals, in particular, AFL's official publication, the American Federa-


Delivering quality software is every software developer's responsibility. The use of software development methodologies increases chances of delivering quality software, within stipulated timelines and budget. Limited research exists on solo software development methodologies, thus solo developers resort to adapting team software development methods for their development efforts. The dilemma is that adaptation of team software methodologies may compromise the quality of the resulting methodologies. This paper addresses this dilemma by presenting results of a qualitative meta-synthesis conducted to synthesize the existing few solo software development methodologies into a high-quality solo software development framework. Articles published between January 2000 and December 2017 were identified using a predefined search string. Six primary studies were included in the synthesis after meeting the criteria set for the study. Using meta-ethnography, the identified solo software development methodologies were interpreted and translated into each other resulting in a six staged solo software development framework. The six stages are: Management Buy-in and Standards adoption; Requirements Elicitation; Release and Sprint Planning; Development; Sprint Review and Close; and Evaluation. This study therefore contributes to knowledge through theory building in solo (freelance) software development. Freelance developers can adopt this framework to enhance the quality of their software. Further research on the derived framework should validate the framework empirically creating more knowledge in the field of solo software development.


In this article the author talks about the Hudson River which is tidal, gaining a mean elevation of inland from the Atlantic, and it is flanked, almost without interruption, by bluffs and cliffs. Topics discussed the studio's benefits, Cerra is collaborating with a Cornell researcher who studies behaviors and conservation management, and the views of Josh Cerra, ASLA, the director of graduate studies in the Department of Landscape Architecture at Cornell University, on it.


A nonlinear model of a flapping-wing micro aerial vehicle (MAV) is built in which the load acceleration and equivalent moment are formulated linearly in the body frame. The aerodynamic force and moment are not considered directly because the mass and moment of inertia of the flapping-wing MAV are too tiny. The visual measurement system (VMS) is taken to measure the flight data such as the position and Euler angles of the plant because there is no onboard sensor. The nonlinear optimization is applied to identify the parameters in the nonlinear model. Based on the built model, the under-actuated control laws are designed with the hierarchical dynamic inversion (HDI). The designed under-actuated control laws are verified in simulation. The simulation results demonstrate that the resulting closed-loop system is capable of asymptotically tracking the references in which the yaw angle is free. The modeling and control analysis are useful to development of the flapping-wing MAVs.


The function disorder of opening and closing of range gate circuit under low temperature is analyzed by means of discussion about the circuit principle,and the conclusion is reached that the problem is the characteristics of the transistor BT33D at 1V_(27).To resolve the problem must define the indexes for the saturated voltage reduction and the valley point voltage.


For two matrices A and B of order n×n which satisfy xn−1=0, it is shown that the transformation matrix TAB which connects A and B via ATAB=TABB becomes general involutional when AB=ωBA, ω being a primitive nth root of unity.


Estimation of unknown parameters associated with a distributed sensor network using its noisy measurements has been an active research area recently. Several estimation algorithms, such as the incremental and diffusion algorithms, have been proposed to address this problem. Incremental algorithms require less communication among nodes of the networks while diffusion algorithms are more robust and require large amounts of energy for communication. In this study, we have proposed a hybrid methodology that combines incremental and diffusion algorithms based on the property of a priori error, where is the difference of output error and noise variance of each sensor. The proposed network started with an incremental communication scheme and switched to diffusion scheme to complete the rest of the estimation. Simulation results showed that the proposed algorithm largely improved the convergence rate as well as the estimation accuracy.


Written, visual and material evidence demonstrates that the indigenous and immigrant peoples of nineteenth century New Zealand both retained aspects of their traditional burial practices and forms of memorialisation while modifying others in response to their new environmental and social contexts. Maori had developed a complex set of burial rituals by the beginning of the nineteenth century, practised within the framework of tangihanga. These included primary and secondary burial and limited memorialisation, with practices varying between iwi. Change and continuity characterised the development of Maori burial practice and places during the nineteenth century. Maori appropriated European practices and materials, translated traditional practices into new materials, and new practices into traditional materials. Although urupa came to appear more European, they were still firmly embedded in the framework of tangihanga and notions of tapu. The nineteenth century settlement of New Zealand occurred at a time of transition in British burial practices, with the traditional churchyard burial ground giving way to the modern cemetery. The predominantly British settlers transplanted both institutions to the colonial context. The cemeteries, churchyards and burial grounds created in nineteenth century New Zealand were influenced by a great number of factors. These included the materials available, the religious and ethnic make up of settler society, regionalism, economic ties, major events, political and social conditions, means of establishment and function. These processes, events, and influences resulted m a rich yet neglected material culture of urupa, cemeteries, churchyards, burial grounds and lone graves which are today valuable components of our historic and cultural landscapes. Portions of this heritage have already been lost through decay and destruction. Neglect is now the major threat. Part of this neglect is due to the fact that we do not understand our cemeteries, what they show, how and why they have developed over time. Neglect is also engendered by cultural perceptions of what is valuable. While Maori regard urupa and burial places as toanga and sacred sites, Pakeha have tended to ignore their historic cemeteries. Such attitudes have been reflected and enforced by the policy of external agencies such as the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. New Zealand's nineteenth century cemeteries have a great but under-utilised research potential, which it is important to recognise if we wish to preserve them. Preface and Acknowledgments "Even as the moon dies, and then, having bathed in the waters of life, returns to this world once more young and beautiful, so let the man die and revive." Such were the words ofTane, offspring ofRangi, the Sky Father, and Papa, the Earth Mother, to Hine-te-Po, Goddess of Death and Hades. But Hine of the Dark World said, "Not so. Rather let man die and return to Mother Earth, even that he may be mourned and wept for."1 iii It is because of death that we have cemeteries. Despite this grim reason for their existence cemeteries are wonderful places for the living too. Even though many of the people who now rest under mouldering stones are no longer "mourned and wept for", the hundreds of historic cemeteries and burial places which can be found throughout New Zealand remain fascinating sites. I hope this thesis will contribute to an appreciation of the many nineteenth and early twentieth century cemeteries which dot our landscape. Richard Meyer asks, "Why study cemeteries and gravemarkers at all? For the same reasons, in essence, that we value and study all artefacts which embody lasting cultural truths: to help us achieve a better understanding of ourselves what we are, what we have been, and, perhaps, what we are in the process of becoming. "2 Cemeteries are valuable as places of cultural enrichment. This thesis originally intended to posit of theoretical model for the interpretation of the historic New Zealand cemetery. This was all well and good until I realised that nobody in New Zealand really seemed to know what the historic cemetery was and how the cemetery had developed in this country. Sure, anyone could point out an old cemetery, but no one seemed to know why it looked like it does, what it reflects, how intertwined it is with wider historic landscapes, and with people, places, events. While many individual histories of cemeteries have been written over the years, none of these fit within a larger picture of cemetery development in this country. This larger picture is what I have created. 1 Elsdon Best, Maori Eschatology, Facsimile Edition of Trans. N.Z. Institute Article (Christchurch: Kiwi Publishers, 1998). Read before the Auckland Institute 6 December 1905, 1. 2 Richard E. Meyer, "Introduction", in Richard E. Meyer, ed., Cemeteries and Gravemarkers: Voices of American Culture (Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press, 1992), 5.


The Suppliers of Home Appliance Chain Stores refers that the manufacturing enterprises of home appliances lying on upstream supply chain offer products for the home appliances chain stores.At present,many home appliances chain stores prefer to eatablish direct supply relationship with manufacturing enterprises in order to reduce flow aspect,lower circulation costs and avoid the wholesale aspect.With the establishment of distrbution channels in the area of appliances,home appliance chain stores faces many suppliers,how to select suitbale suppliers deserves to be deeply considered combined with the development strategy.Meanwhile,how to evaluate suppliers through certain index also needs us to discuss deeply.


Introduction: Bacteriuria in pregnancy is quite common, with the prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria occurring in about 2-5% of pregnancies, acute cystitis occurring in 1.3% of pregnancies and acute pyelonephritis occurring in about 3%. If not treated properly, asymptomatic bacteriuria can increase the risk of pyelonephritis and the incidence of low birth weight (LBW). This study aims to describe the characteristics of patients with bacteriuria in pregnant women at Sanglah Hospital. Acknowledging the characteristics of patients with bacteriuria may help the screening process establish an early diagnosis and management.
Methods: This study is a retrospective descriptive study carried out at Sanglah Hospital Denpasar from January 2018 to January 2020. Pregnant women diagnosed with bacteriuria in pregnancy from January 2018 to January 2020 at Sanglah Hospital Denpasar who had met the inclusion criteria and did not meet the exclusion criteria were included in the study. Data regarding the patient's age, gestational age when bacteriuria was diagnosed, UTI complaints, bacterial urine levels, and culture results were collected for each subject.
Results: Based on the results of this study, it was found that the prevalence of positive bacteriuria from January 2018 to 2020 was 0.89%. Most of the pregnant women diagnosed with bacteriuria were aged 20-35 years (77.1%), had gestational age of 0 - 28 weeks (64.9%), were multigravida (52.7%), and had high school education level (50.8%). The majority of pregnant women who experience bacteriuria were included in the group of asymptomatic bacteriuria (64.9%). The urinalysis results on pregnant women with bacteriuria showed that most of the pregnant women (45.6%) had +1 bacteria levels, followed by +2 and +3 bacteria levels, namely 28% and 26.4%, respectively.
Conclusion: Bacteriuria in pregnancy is still a problem that is often encountered in daily practice


Objective: To observe the role of Qudu medicinal granules (祛毒冲剂) on enterogenous endotoxemia . Methods: Sixty-one cases with enterogenous endotoxemia were randomly divided into two groups:Qudu medicinal granule group (n=30) that was treated with Qudu medicinal granules combined with western medicine, and smecta group which was treated with smecta and western medicine (n=31). Changes of symptoms and signs were observed before treatment and 1, 3, 7 days after treatment. Blood samples were collected in the morning to measure the white blood cell (WBC), plasma lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) levels. Results: Recovery speed of WBC count in Qudu medicinal granule group was faster than that of the smecta group, there was significant difference on the third day after treatment (P0.01) ; while the defecation frequency was higher (P=0.000), and levels of plasma LPS and TNF were eliminated more rapidly than that of the smecta group (all P0.01). Conclusion: Qudu medicinal granules could effectively reduce the levels of plasma LPS and TNF, and improve clinical outcome.


To study biological phenomena, mathematical biologists often employ modeling with ordinary differential equations. A system of ordinary differential equations that describes the state of a phenomenon as a moving point in space across time is known as a dynamical system . This moving point emerges from the initial condition of the system and is referred to as a trajectory that "lives" in phase space , i.e., a space that defines all possible states of the system. In our previous work, we proposed Many-Lands [AKS ∗ 19] —an approach to explore and analyze typical trajectories of 4D dynamical systems, using smooth, animated transitions to navigate through phase space. However, in ManyLands the comparison of multiple trajectories emerging from different initial conditions does not scale well, due to overdrawing that clutters the view. We extend ManyLands to support the comparative visualization of multiple trajectories of a 4D dynamical system, making use of smoke surfaces. In this way, the sensitivity of the dynamical system to its initialization can be investigated. The 4D smoke surfaces can be further projected onto lower-dimensional subspaces (3D and 2D) with seamless animated transitions. We showcase the capabilities of our approach using two 4D dynamical systems from biology [Gol11, KJS06] and a 4D dynamical system exhibiting chaotic behavior [Bou15] .


The k –e turbulence model of Launder and Spalding has found widespread application in the computation of fluid flows. Under conditions of strong adverse pressure gradient or strong streamline curvature, the accuracy of the model is known to decrease. The present paper adds to the available case studies involving these types of flows by providing predictions for two problems. In the first problem, Simpson's flow, an adverse pressure gradient induces the flow along a planar surface to separate. The second problem is unseparated flow over an airfoil. In addition to predictions using the standard k –e model, results are reported from another k –e model by Hanjalic and Launder, that has been modified to account for adverse pressure gradients.


This paper evaluates and compares the performance of three algorithms for estimating electromechanical oscillation modes using ringdown data. The three algorithms are Prony Analysis (PA), Matrix Pencil (MP) and Variable Projection (VP) algorithms. The VP is initialized using the MP and the PA. The results are denoted as VPMP and VPPA, respectively. The estimation accuracy and computation time of the three algorithms are evaluated and compared from a user's perspective. Using a simple model, the impact of the following parameters are investigated using the Monte-Carlo method: model orders, sampling frequency, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), fitting residuals and window selection. The comparison reveals some preferred features of the MP, VPMP and VPPA over the PA.


The OFDMA Physical layer in the WiMAX standard of IEEE 802.16e adopts 114 LDPC codes with various code rates and block sizes as a channel coding scheme to meet varying channel environments and different requirements for transmission performance. In this paper, the performances of the LDPC codes are evaluated according to various code rates and block-lengths throueh simulation studies using min-sum decoding algorithm in AWGN chamois. As the block-length increases and the code rate decreases, the BER performance improves. In the cases with code rates of 2/3 and 3/4, where two different codes ate specified for each code rate, the codes with code rates of 2/3A and 3/4B outperform those of 2/3B and 3/4A, respectively. Through the statistical analyses of the number of decoding iterations the decoding complexity and the word error rates of LDPC codes are estimated. The results can be used to trade-off between the performance and the complexity in designs of LDPC decoders.


Australian children and adolescents are getting fatter. When the 2000 International Obesity Task Force BMI for age cut points (2) were applied to two national data sets collected 10 years apart (1985–1995), the prevalence of overweight in Australian children aged 7–15 years had almost doubled, whilst the prevalence of obesity had tripled (1). This suggests that overweight and obesity levels are increasing in Australian children. Students were recruited from four Hunter primary schools of varying socio-economic status (SES) (2-low SES, 1-high SES, 1-mod SES). Anthropometric data was obtained from children who had parental consent to participate in the survey. The study was approved by the Hunter Area Health Service, the University of Newcastle and the NSW Department of Education Ethics Committees. Children were categorised, using the BMI cut-points as either at a Healthy Weight (equivalent to an adult BMI ≤ 25), 'At Risk' of becoming overweight (equivalent to an adult BMI >25 to <30) or Overweight (equivalent to an adult BMI ≥ 30). Of the 917 children who received an invitation to participate in the study, 290 children were weighed and measured. The average response rate across the schools was 31.6%. Of these 69% were identified as being in the healthy weight range, 19% in the 'at risk' group and 12% in the overweight group. The proportion of children in each category was not different across the four schools. The trends observed in this study suggest that childhood overweight and obesity in the 4 Hunter schools included in the study are similar to national statistics. However, due to the low consent rate of parents, it is difficult to determine if the children measured are truly representative of the schools' populations, therefore results cannot be generalised. In conclusion, further studies are needed in the Hunter region to determine the true prevalence of overweight and obesity in school children. Methods of approaching parents and children need to address the low response rate for future prevalence estimates.


Significant advances in technologies led to the development of Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). WSN composes of large number of sensor nodes, which are tiny, low powered, densely deployed in an ad hoc fashion either inside a physical phenomenon to be sensed or very closely to it. The region around the sink forms a bottleneck zone due to heavy traffic flow, which reduces the lifetime of WSN. One of the constraints in the WSNs is limited battery power of the sensor nodes which in turn can reduce the lifetime of WSN. This paper attempts to improve the network lifetime by considering duty cycle, network coding and clustering techniques. The results show that the lifetime of the WSN can be enhanced by combining duty cycle, Network coding and clustering. Performance metrics like Energy Consumption, Packet Delivery ratio and Latency were also analyzed using NS2.


Percolating ion transport in binary mixtures with high dielectric loss: Dry dielectric spectroscopy recordings and wet time-dependent salt release measurements.


The objective of this study was to report the response to selection for fertility and hatchability in white egg layers strains, based on sire and dam performance, and the effects of inbreeding on these traits. Two selected white egg strains (CC and DD) from Embrapa·s poultry program under multiple trait selection were compared to a control strain (CCc). The control strain was established by randomly mating one male from each sire family to a non-related female from each dam family and was used to monitor genetic change in the selected lines. CC and DD were selected using family and individual information on hen-day egg production up to 40 weeks of age, egg weight, sexual maturity and 16-week-old body weight over five generations. Independent culling levels (ICL) were also used during population expansion to eliminate sires and dams with low fertility (FERT) and hatchability (HATC). Initially, FERT and HATC were over 90.0% in both selected and control strains. FERT and HATC of the selected and the control strains were compared during the last generation. FERT averages were 93.8, 93.8 and 94.4%, and HATCH averages were 93.2, 91.6 and 93.1% for CC, DD and CCc respectively. FERT and HATCH means were not different among strains. Estimated inbreeding increased at a rate of 0.4% per generation in all strains. Selection using ICL was able to effectively maintain the high initial FERT and HATC levels, and provide potential for high selection intensity in other traits. Inbreeding depression was not observed for any trait, indicating that selection compensated for any negative effects of inbreeding.


This study aimed to investigate the key technical and psychological factors that impact the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) professionals' trust in collaborative robots (cobots) powered by artificial intelligence (AI). The study employed a nationwide survey of 600 AEC industry practitioners to gather in-depth responses and valuable insights into the future opportunities for promoting the adoption, cultivation, and training of a skilled workforce to leverage this technology effectively. A Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis revealed that safety and reliability are significant factors for the adoption of AI-powered cobots in construction. Fear of being replaced resulting from the use of cobots can have a substantial effect on the mental health of the affected workers. A lower error rate in jobs involving cobots, safety measurements, and security of data collected by cobots from jobsites significantly impact reliability, while the transparency of cobots' inner workings can benefit accuracy, robustness, security, privacy, and communication, and results in higher levels of automation, all of which demonstrated as contributors to trust. The study's findings provide critical insights into the perceptions and experiences of AEC professionals towards adoption of cobots in construction and help project teams determine the adoption approach that aligns with the company's goals workers' welfare.


5 AS enjoys widespread acceptance as a data management system. Most applications, however, involve the writing of sometimes lengthy and complex 5 AS programs. These programs are usually spec i fie to the data management problem at hand and do not easily generalize to other data management situations. The writing of ad hoc SAS programs to salve changing, often unforeseen data management problems results in heavy demands on programming staff and computer resources. The relCltiunal approach to the management of data provides a comprehensive and integrated solution to many data management problems. Although 5 AS currently has elements of a relational system, it most importantly lacks a systematized way to manipulate SAS data sets in a true relational manner. R AQL is a new relational query language which brings a full relational processing capability to 5 AS. The higher level language of RAQL permits the relational processing capability to be expressed clearly and very concisely. Information in SAS data sets becomes more accessible. Queries on the data are much more easily formulated. Manipulation of SAS data sets becomes more precise and systematic. The query facility of RAQL combined with the statistical, editing, report writing and graphics capability of SAS results in a very comprehensive data management package.