Biomass is a sustainable biofuel as long as it does not compete with food and feed production. Gasification is a versatile technology that produces a gas which can be converted into various high value products. Torrefaction is a technology that converts biomass to a more coal alike product with upgraded properties. As it was confirmed that torrefaction offers environmental benefits in co-combustion for electricity generation, it was decided to assess gasification of torrefaction wood from technical and environmental perspectives. Gasification of commercial torrefied mixed wood pellets resulted in in an increased gas quality and decreased tars quantity, leading in a positive affecting the gasification performance positively. On the other hand, the gasification of torrefied pure woods affected the gasification performance negatively; the effects on the gas quality were limited and the effect on the tar quantity was not the same for both pure woods. Furthermore, for a better understanding of the tar formation in the gasifier additional experiments were performed. Torrefaction resulted in increasing the phenol and decreasing the naphthalene mass fractions at the high temperature range. However, it did not show a significant effect on the polyaromatics species heavier than fluorene. Lastly, the environmental performance of a biorefinery based on gasification of torrefied wood for car fuels production showed significant environmental benefits in CO2 emissions reduction and air quality improvement of the broader area as well. To conclude, torrefaction adds benefits in the technical performance of the gasifier especially regarding the problematic tar content of the gasification gas, but it may decrease the gasification performance, and wood torrefaction integrated in a biorefinery system shows significant benefits to important environmental impacts.


The results of the latest British Social Attitudes (BSA) Survey of satisfaction with the NHS and its services make grim reading for general practice. 1 In 2021, satisfaction with GPs fell an unprecedented 30 percentage points to its lowest ever level of 38 per cent. 2 This is a shocking fall: from the survey's inception in 1983 until 2018, general practice had held the top spot over all other NHS services in every year, even if by 2018 satisfaction had already fallen from its last peak of 80% in 2009.


bar and the judiciary, find much to recommend the modern system of professional regulation of lawyers. Legal scholars concerned about access to justice have often been scathing about what they perceive as self-serving claims by the American Bar Association that legal regulation is in the public interest. To date, the critiques have had little impact. In recent years, the aba has renewed its commitment to the justifications for self-regulation — the need to protect client confidentiality, guard against conflicts of interest, protect the public from unauthorized practice, and maintain the independence of the legal profession — that have been so soundly rejected by legal scholars. Indeed, as recently as 2003, over objections from antitrust officials at the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice, and from its own aba Sections of Antitrust Law and Delivery of Legal Services, the aba urged states to invigorate enforcement of unauthorized practice laws against non-lawyers on the basis of a definition of "the practice of law" that effectively covers everything lawyers now do. This is compelling evidence that the organized bar's regulatory agenda is still set by a continued use of the rubric of consumer protection to justify rigorous protection of the legal-services monopoly held by lawyers. In this article, I focus on a cost of the current regulatory model that has been largely overlooked, given the emphasis on the impact of regulation on pricing and availability — particularly in the personal services sector. This is the cost of stagnation in the underlying design and content of legal inputs — what it means to "do law." For the clients that


This paper presents a new method to measure stakeholder affiliation and team process quality based on latent semantic analysis (LSA). First, it makes important clarifications to published measurements of semantic coherence as an indicator of shared knowledge in design. A new method is proposed to measure semantic coherence between members during a group setting. It complements the existing method by measuring the communication similarity between stakeholders. Second, a new framework is suggested to decouple design process and design outcome for studying team communication based on LSA. The research is based on a study of experienced product designers in China. Homogeneous teams of experienced product designers with similar backgrounds are formed to study the relation between semantic coherence and process and product outcome. The study finds that teams with high levels of semantic coherence between each participant and between each participant and the group are likely to have high quality processes. The team process, however, is not strongly correlated to a high quality design outcome.


The recursion concept and feature of the recursive systems is exposed in the article, the attempt of their classification is done. Visual recursion is considered as the method of harmonization of in–spatial environment. The types of the visual recursive systems (planar, volume–spatial, combined) are first analyses in the art and design.


Protonation by HBF4·Et2O of the cycloheptatriene complexes [Mo(CO)2L(η6-C7H8)] in the presence of CO has yielded the cycloheptadienyl products [Mo(CO)3L(η5-C7H9)][BF4](L = CO 1a, CNBut1b or PPh31c); subsequent treatment of 1a or 1b with acetonitrile afforded the trihapto-bonded complexes [Mo(CO)2L(NCMe)2(η3-C7H9)]+(L = NCMe 2a or CNBut2b). Reaction of 2a with sodium cyclopentadienide Na(cp) gives [Mo(CO)2(η3-C7H9)(cp)]3 for which an X-ray structural characterisation confirmed the trihapto-bonding mode of the cycloheptadienyl ligand. The monodentate ligands PPh3 and CNBut react in a 2 : 1 ratio with 2a to give [Mo(CO)2L2(η5-C7H9)]+(L = PPh34a or CNBut4b) and chelate ligands L–L react with 2a to give [Mo(CO)2(L–L)(η5-C7H9)]+(L = Ph2PCH2PPh25, 2,2′-bipyridyl 6, cyclohexa-1,3-diene 7 or norborna-2,5-diene 8). The crystal structure of 5 reveals a highly asymmetric molecule in which the carbonyl carbon and phosphorus donor atoms exhibit significant deviation from a common basal plane.


The discovery of ordered mesoporous carbons (OMCs) in 1999 has opened a new chapter in the research of ordered mesoporous materials. The first OMCs were obtained by filling the pores of silica nanostructures (used as hard templates) with suitable carbon precursors followed by carbonization and dissolution of the template. Recently, a simple and feasible way of preparing mesoporous carbons by self-assembly of appropriate polymerizing organics (carbon precursors) and triblock copolymers (soft template) has been reported. This presentation provides a brief overview of the hard-templating and soft-templating synthesis of OMCs with special emphasis on their adsorption properties and characterization. The former synthesis strategy involves the use of ordered mesoporous silicas, colloidal silica and colloidal crystals as hard templates. While a complete filling of the template pores with carbon precursors affords true inverse carbon replicas, an incomplete filling of pores (so-called film-type replication) results in carbons with extremely large pore volume. The latter synthesis is based on the introduction of carbon precursors into the organized phase of block copolymer (soft template). Both, hard-templating and sof-templating synthesis of mesoporous carbons allow for tailoring catalytic properties of carbons by adding inorganic species and/or nanoparticles of metals and metal oxides.


Some interspecific hybrids were obtained after hybridization of Prunus persica with treated pollens from P.armeniaca and P.salicina,then the hybrid embryos were successfully rescued,and a molecular identification was made in part of the hybrids.The results showed that the hybrid embryo abortion started from the 7th or 8th week after pollination in cross when used the Yuhualu or Zhonghua Shoutao as the female parent.The cultivars with different durations for fruit development and the ages of hybrid embryos have great effects on the rate of embryo germination and growth.At the same age(when the PF value was around 0.5),the late peach cultivar Zhonghua Shoutao acquired more than 50% of embryo germination rate,but the early peach cultivar Yuhualu gave only 6.7% of it.Treatment of male parent pollen in the electrostatic field at an appropriate dosage improved the efficiency of bud inducement and multiplication,but treatment with 60Co γ-ray reduced the efficiency and produced weak buds.For rescuing!the hybrid embryos,it is concluded that the medium 1/2MS + 6-BA 4 mg·L-1 + IBA 0.5 mg·L-1 can increase the embryo germination rate up to 90%,the MS + 6-BA 1.0 mg·L-1 + IBA 1.0 mg·L-1 is the best medium for bud induction and multiplication,and the MS + IAA 0.5 mg·L-1 + NAA 0.2 mg·L-1 is the best rooting medium.SSR identification proves that the hybrids obtained by the embryo rescuing system are true ones.


The quality of a ceramic is defined by its homogenous and non-porous volume. These parameters determine the durability and failure probability of a component. By means of XCT, the structural changes within the samples over the whole manufacturing route were evaluated. In the qualitative evaluation at lower XCT resolutions (> (70 μm)3 voxel size) pores, cracks, and higherand lower dense inclusions were compared within and between corresponding samples. Cracks in the wood polymer composite (WPC) tend to shrink in the C-template during carbonisation. In some WPCs no big cracks were visible while in the C-templates big cracks appeared due to carbonising and shrinkage – but these cracks are fully closed in the ceramic after the Si infiltration-step. For quantitative analysis of phase composition, high resolution XCT-measurements between (0.8 μm)3 and (3 μm)3 voxel size were applied. Due to the fact, that the absorption contrast between the wood and polymer matrix in the WPC and contrast between Si / SiC and C / Air in the ceramic is very limited, this quantification step is very challenging. For the C-templates, applying a simple threshold algorithm, the quantification by XCT leads to promising results and fits well to LOM and mercury porosimetry. With SEM/EDS higher dense inclusions, visible in XCT, were analyesed and mainly consist of the elements C-O and trace amounts of, for example, Fe, Zn, Si or Mg.


Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate associated chromosomal anomalies and sonographic findings, as well as the perinatal outcome in fetuses with the agenesis of ductus venosus (ADV). Methods: The data of 16 ADV cases diagnosed in Istanbul Faculty of Medicine between 2005 and 2015 were reviewed retrospectively. Results: The average gestational age at diagnosis was 25.8 weeks. In all cases umbilical venous drainage was extrahepatic. Aberrant umbilical vein drained to inferior vena cava in 9 cases and directly to right atrium in 7 cases. In 4 cases extracardiac, in 7 cases cardiac findings were associated. In 6 cases ADV was isolated, and no chromosomal anomaly was detected in these cases. In three fetuses karyotype anomaly was detected; 46XY,t(1;6)(q23,1;q21) in one case and trisomy 21 in two cases. In the former fetus the agenesis of portal venous system was detected, while in the latter two, several anomalies such as double bubble, ventriculomegaly, nasal bone hypoplasia and AVSD were associated. In these three cases with chromosomal anomalies and in another with AVSD, right isomerism and portohepatic shunt, the pregnancy was terminated. Four babies with concominant cardiac anomalies died in the neonatal period. Six isolated cases and another case with persistence cloaca are currently alive and healthy. The postnatal data in one case could not be reached. Conclusions: The outcome of ADV is very good in isolated cases. The prognosis of ADV depends on the concominant structural and chromosomal anomalies. Portal venous system must also be evaluated, since anomalies in this system can be associated.


Purpose Transplanting photoreceptors from human pluripotent stem cell derived retinal organoids have the potential to reverse vision loss in affected individuals. However, transplantable photoreceptors are only a subset of all cells in the organoids. Hence the goal of our current study was to accelerate and synchronize photoreceptor differentiation in retinal organoids by inhibiting the Notch signaling pathway at different developmental time-points using a small molecule, PF-03084014 (PF). Methods Human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)- and embryonic stem cells (hESC)-derived retinal organoids were treated with 10μM PF for three days at day 45 (D45), D60, D90 and D120 of differentiation. Organoids collected at 14-, 28-, and 42-days post-PF treatment were analyzed for progenitor and photoreceptor markers and Notch pathway inhibition by immunohistochemistry (IHC), quantitative PCR (qPCR) and bulk RNA-seq (n=3-5 organoids from 3 independent experiments). Results Retinal organoids collected at 14-days post-PF treatment showed a decrease in progenitor markers (KI67, VSX2, PAX6, and LHX2) and an increase in differentiated pan-photoreceptor markers (OTX2, CRX, and RCVRN) at all organoid stages except D120. PF-treated organoids at D45 and D60 exhibited an increase in cone photoreceptor markers (RXRG and ARR3). PF-treatment at D90 revealed an increase in cone and rod photoreceptors markers (ARR3, NRL, and NR2E3). Bulk RNA-seq analysis mirrored the IHC data and qPCR confirmed Notch effector inhibition. Conclusions Timing the Notch pathway inhibition in human retinal organoids to align with progenitor competency stages can yield an enriched population of early cone or rod photoreceptors.


Objective To investigate the relationship between diabetes and cholecystitis,cholelithiasis,fatty liver and lipid metabolism.Methods To collect 161 patients with diabetes who had received B-ultrasonic examination on upper belly and analyse such relative factors as age,course of disease,accompanying diseases(in terms of cholecystitis,cholelithiasis,fatty liver ect)and lipid decompensation,then contrast in parallel with 42 non-diabetic individuals in hospital at the same time.The method used is χ 2 test.Results B-ultrasonic examination positive rate in diabetic patients is much higher than in negative ones;lipid decompensation in diabetes in B-ultrasonic positive group is higher than that in negative group,and much higher than non-diabetic individuals.Conclusion Patients with diabetes appear more susceptible to cholecystitis,cholelithiasis and fatty liver,which count much for lipid decompensation.


Abstract : This final report describes the multigram preparation and purification of l-acetylhexahydro-3,5-dinitro-l,3,5-triazine (TAX) and the feasibility of preparing, purifying, and analyzing multigram quantities of l-acetyloctahydro-3,5,7-trinitro-1,3,5,7-tetr azocine (SEX) needed for toxicological testing. TAX was prepared by nitrolysis of 1,3,5-triacetylhexahydro-1,3,5-triazine (TRAT) using a mixture of trifluoroacetic anhydride (TFAA) and 100% nitric acid. A continuous plug-flow reactor design was found to be a rapid, efficient, and safe method for the preparation of TAX in kilogram quantities. The crude TAX, contaminated with 25% to 30% RDX, was obtained analytically pure (99.9+%) by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) on silica gel using nitromethane as the eluent. SEX was prepared by nitrolysis of 1,5-diacetyloctahydro-3,7-dinitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (DADN), using a mixture of 30% oleum and 100% nitric acid. Conditions for the preparation of the DADN/SEX/HMX mixture were optimized and the process can be conducted batchwise. Thus SEX could be provided in the quantities desired for subsequent purification.


Since 1995, considerable expertise has built up in measuring aspects of gender inequality and
equality, and in researching these in education, particularly formal schooling. Existing international
and national measures used for reporting on gender in formal schooling chart gender parity in
school enrolment, attendance, progression, and learning outcomes. Gender parity measures the
number of girls as a proportion of the number of boys. This measure generates some insights
regarding the distribution and use of resources, but it is narrow. However, gender parity as a
measurement technique tells us very little about the institutions which help reproduce gender
inequalities within and beyond education. It also fails to give us a sense of the dimensions of gender
equality, and the processes and investments in schooling which will develop, support and sustain
this. Thus it does not generate sufficiently multi-dimensional insights for policy makers and
practitioners with regard to where gender inequalities and equalities are located in education and
how change in these processes can be evaluated and tracked using quantitative and qualitative
information and a range of strategies for measurement.


Most Learning Management Systems (LMSs) provide support for the facilitation of assessment
events through tools that manage quizzes, discussions, assignments and summative results.
However, these assessment tools are generally less extensively utilised than other content
delivery and discussion tools. In this article it is shown why and how assessment and
communication tools are used for courses in the Department of Industrial and Systems
Engineering. The successes and frustrations associated with the use of WebCT assessment tools
are shared. It is concluded that assessment tools of LMSs are not the solution to all sound
pedagogical practices, but they have tremendous potential for streamlining and enhancing the
quality of the learning and assessment processes.


An electric vehicle system for transporting human passengers or cargo includes an electric vehicle that includes a body, a plurality of wheels, a cargo area, an electric motor for propelling the electric vehicle, and a primary battery for providing electrical power to the electric motor for propelling the electric vehicle. An auxiliary battery module is attachable to the electric vehicle for providing electrical power to the electric motor via a first electrical connector at the auxiliary battery module and a second electrical connector at the electric vehicle that mates with the first electrical connector. The auxiliary battery module can be positioned in the cargo area while supplying power to the electric motor, and can be removable and reattachable from the electric vehicle. The auxiliary battery module includes an integrated cooling system for cooling itself during operation of the electric vehicle including a conduit therein for circulating coolant.


In this paper, a coupled fractional-order system with fluctuating frequency driven by different periodic signals under various damping strength is investigated. Firstly, based on the Shapiro-Loginov formula and Laplace transform method, the expressions for the output amplitude gain (OAG) of the two subsystems are derived and the resonant behaviors of particles are analyzed. The OAG exhibits various resonance behaviors in response to variations in system parameters, input signals and dichotomous noise, including parameter-induced stochastic resonance, bona-fide resonance and stochastic resonance. Especially, the average behavior of the two output signals is synchronized when two subsystems' input signals and damping strengths are equal, which is verified in the numerical simulation. Finally, the proposed system is applied to the bearing fault diagnosis to evaluate its engineering application value. The results prove that the system is effective in diagnosing fault signals and has excellent performance.


interval between castration and removal of the tumours was in every instance the same. Control mice were used. In castrated mice the calcium content of tumours was 0.16%, the percentage of potassium was 0.40 and the potassium calcium ratio was 2.4 to 1. In non-castrated mice the percentage of calcium was 0.04, that of potassium was 1.51 and the potassium calcium ratio was 36 to 1. In a second group of non-castrated mice the figures were respectively 0.15, 2.46 and 16.6 to 1. Unfortunately nothing is said in regard to the number of mice in each group. It is claimed that these results show without question that the level of potassium is less in castrated than in control mice and that the ratio of potassium to calcium in the castrated group is much less than that found in the non-castrated group. The variations of the level of potassium of tumours depend evidently on the soil in which they have developed. Drs. Loeper, Turpin and Zizine refer to the results obtained by several workers in regard to the effect of castration on basal metabolism. The results are somewhat at variance. Zfinz found a diminution in basal metabolism of animals after castration and even after ligation of the spermatic cords. Heymans and de Kojuma found that the metabolism of castrated roosters was raised 20% to 30% and that of the castrated rat 28%. Tsubura found that castration lowers the metabolism of a rabbit and that a subsequent testicular graft brings it back practically to a normal level. Observations on human beings are in the opinion of Drs. Loeper, Turpin and Zizine contradictory. They state that no research has been conducted into the calcium or potassium content of either castrated human beings or animals. They have tried to fill in this gap by investigations on mice. They determined the calcium and potassium content of the entire animal. Again they do not state how many animals were subjected to this examination. Some animals were absorbing their grafts and in some the grafts were developing. In the first group the percentage of calcium in castrated animals was 0.94, the potassium level was 0.26 and the potassium calcium ratio was 0.29 to 1. The figures in non-castrated animals of this group were 0.72%, 0.35% and 0.48 to 1. In the group of animals whose grafts were developing, the percentage of calcium in the castrated lot was 0.79, the potassium was 0.27% and the potassium calcium ratio was 0.38 to 1. The figures for the noncastrated animals of this group were respectively 0.61%, 0.26% and 0.428 to 1. It is pointed out that even if the absolute value of potassium and calcium is not modified to any considerable extent, the relative value is altered and the potassium calcium ratio is 5% less among the castrated than in the non-castrated group.


In recent years, vegetation grows thickly in river channels even on originally gravel river beds . Riverine vegetation is one of the most important parameter for flood control , biodiversity conservation and so on. Consequently, it is quite important to develop efficient methods for monitoring these vegetation. This research evaluated high resolution satellite remote sensing and classification trees methods for classification of riverine vegetation in the midstream of Tama river . The estimated vegetation classes were compared with the vegetation classes in the existing actual vegetation map and the accuracy were evaluated. These results suggest that the method having a combination of high resolution satellite IKONOS data and classification trees is useful for monitoring riverine vegetationin riparian ecosystem .


The acoustical design of spaces for surround sound music production raises issues concerning room size and shape, loudspeaker placement, and placement of sound‐absorbing and sound‐diffusing finishes that require different solutions than for 2‐channel stereo listening environments. Design and construction of a new room for multichannel audio, rather than renovating a room originally conceived for a 2‐channel stereo loudspeaker system, presents an opportunity to address the issues from first principles. This paper presents a case study of the design, construction, and commissioning of a new audio control room for multichannel classical music recording, and discusses unique solutions to the critical issues for these listening environments. The use of a computer model as a design tool and in situ measurements in the completed room are also discussed.


Since late seventies, in Dr. Graciela Candelas' Molecular Biology laboratory, we have been studying regulatory molecular mechanisms in silk synthesis by spider Nephila clavipes. These have been conducted parallel to Lyon's grouop research in larvae stage of moth Bombyx mori. During past years, both molecular biology research groups developed high level advice and collaboration relationship. Recently, an opportunity arose for teamwork within biotechnological aspect for the production of this protein.


The paper explains how information stored in on-board recorders of flight parameters can be used for acceptance tests, also referred to as qualification tests. The disclosed example refers to the An-28 'Bryza' aircraft where an old airscrew was substituted with the new generation Hartzell airscrew of the HC-B5 MP-3D type. The airscrew is an integral part of the driving system for the airscrew propelled aircraft that is provided with the TWD-10B engine. After revamping of the airscrew, the aircraft was named as TWD-10B/PZL-10S. The follow-up investigations were carried out with the aim to find out how much the airscrew substitution affected the alteration of key performance characteristics achieved by the driving unit of the aircraft. The investigations comprised both ground and in-flight tests and have led to determination of the essential characteristics for the engine operation as well as variations of the operational parameters in time. In some cases also so called phase portraits were found out for parameters of the engine operation so that to reflect dynamic properties of the engines. Such investigations are indispensable since the aircrafts are subject to operational limitations and technical conditions that must be mandatory fulfilled due to requirements of flight safety. The paper demonstrates that the data stored in on-board recorders of flight parameters can be really useful for execution of such acceptance (qualification) tests.


Complexes [Pd(3)(mu(3)-S)(mu(3)-X)(L)(3)] (L = orthometalated imine), obtained by an unusual reaction of mu(2)-OH dimeric complexes and CS(2), are an unprecedented type of asymmetrical bridges between metallatriangles, which force an all-cis arrangement of the three orthometalated ligands relative to the metallatriangle.


Introduction Studies have shown direct transfer of pathogens between patient and the environment, with patients in intensive treatment units (ITUs) at highest risk to healthcare associated infections (HCAIs). Therefore, frequent and effective cleaning is important in reducing the incidence of HCAIs. While some guidance exists on cleaning, how and when cleaning should occur is not defined. Aim To audit surface cleaning practices undertaken by healthcare staff within patient bed spaces in ITU. Methods Observations were undertaken for 500 hours to audit how non-organic surfaces were cleaned by staff. Observations included different bed spaces, shifts, healthcare staff and routine and post discharge cleaning. Staffs were classified into groups: doctors, nurses, healthcare assistants, housekeepers, cleaners and others. Surfaces were categorised by height as level 0 (<0.6 m), level 1 (0.6 m–1.2 m) or level 2 (>1.2 m). Observations included the numbers of staff entering a patient bed space, surfaces touched before and after patient contact and cleaning agent and technique used to clean any surface. Findings 17% of staff entering bed spaces undertake some form of surface cleaning. On average, a cleaner would clean 8 surfaces of a possible 56 when entering a bed space, while nurses and doctors on average clean 0.2 and 0 surfaces respectively. Nurses most commonly cleaned the intravenous tray with a wipe, with technique varying significantly. Conclusion Cleaning methods were inconsistent between staff groups. Confusion between cleaning roles was observed, showing a need for a clear division of cleaning responsibilities between staff groups. Wide variabilities in cleaning technique among all staff groups highlights clear gaps in training and a need for a comprehensive training package with defined cleaning roles.


Introduction to the two approaches and education An article has been published in: Müyesser Ceylan/Detlev Lindau-Bank (ed.) Between Holistic Education and Teacher Training. 3 International Journal of Teacher Education and Training Conference Post-Conference-Book. Hochschule Vechta, Schriftenreihe zur Sozialen Arbeit, Band 3, VVSWF, 47-63. Conference at Vechta University 22.-25 May, 2005, Germany Ulla Härkönen & Tuomo Jämsä University of Joensuu, Finland


Steel concrete composite structures are widely used in many structural applications such as beams, slabs, walls and columns. Composite structures provide not only great reduction for the element size and weight but also high structural efficiency. Because of the little data and disagreement between the R.C. and steel Egyptian Codes of Practice, an experimental and theoretical investigation were conducted to study the behavior of concrete filled steel box columns. The experimental program consists of six square filled steel box columns and two square R.C. columns (reference elements). The experimental variables are the load position (centric or eccentric) and the distribution of the mechanical shear connectors (nails). Test results are presented and discussed in comparison with the estimated values predicated from the Egyptian R.C. and steel codes of practice as well as the values obtained from the finite element program (ANSYS 12).


The Piper betel is an evergreen and perennial creeper belonging to the Piperaceae family, with glossy heart-shaped leaves and white catkin. It is valued both as a mild stimulant and for its medicinal properties. The total phenolic content of methanolic leaves extract was estimated by Folin-Ciocalteu assay method, and was found to be 0.110 mg/CE/g (Catechine Equivalent per gram). However, antioxidant activity of methanolic leaves extract of Piper betel was determined by DPPH free radical scavenging method. The DPPH radical scavenging activity of methanolic extract of Piper betel was found to be highest at 100μl concentration which was 25.2%. Nevertheless, % DPPH scavenging activity of standard ascorbic acid at same concentration was found to be 40%. The % DPPH scavenging activity increases with the increasing concentration. The concentration of Piper betel needed for 50% inhibition (IC50) was found to be 282.31μg/ml whereas 369.19 μg/ml needed for ascorbic acid. INTRODUCTION: In response to the increased popularity and greater demand for medicinal plants, a number of conservation groups are recommending that wild medicinal plants be brought into cultivation. Ethnopharmacological surveys conducted among herbal practitioners of traditional Arab medicine in Palestine and the Middle East have revealed that a large number of indigenous plant species are being used as a source of herbal therapies. A large number of medicinal plants and their purified constituents have shown beneficial therapeutic potentials. QUICK RESPONSE CODE DOI: 10.13040/IJPSR.0975-8232.4(12).4537-41 Article can be accessed online on: www.ijpsr.com DOI link: http://dx.doi.org/10.13040/IJPSR.0975-8232.4(12).4537-41 The majority of the antioxidant activity is due to the flavones, isoflavones, flavonoids, anthocyanin, coumarin, lignans, catechins and isocatechins 1 . Antioxidant-based drug formulations are used for the prevention and treatment of complex diseases like atherosclerosis, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and cancer 2 . Piper species, commonly used in diet and traditional medicine, were assessed for their antioxidant potential. The antioxidant and radical scavenging activities of black pepper (Piper nigrum Linn.) seeds have been well reported 3 . Both water extract and ethanol extract of black pepper exhibited strong antioxidant activity. Antimicrobial 4 , larvicidal 5 and anti-cancer 6 activities of Piper nigrum Linn. have been reported.


The feasibility of the utilisation of marine sediments as inocula for anaerobic waste water treatment at low temperature was studied. The work was carried out at the psychrophilic range of temperature (20°C). The substrates studied were: pig manure, distillery slops, and sewage sludge with a total solids concentration of 40, 25 and 32 kg.m -3 , respectively. A start-up procedure, consisting of the addition of methanol to the feed, was used. An initial organic load of 0.5 kg COD.m -3 .d -1 was applied, and increased up to values ranging from 1.0 to 1.5 COD.m -3 .d -1 . The results reported showed that the anaerobic treatment with marine sediments as inocula was a stable process at 20°C for the three substrates studied


The focus of Journal Watch "Top Stories" generally is original research, not practice guidelines. This year we make an exception with the American Heart Association's new guidelines on prevention of endocarditis, which represent a major shift in practice. For many clinical entities, multiple organizations elaborate competing clinical guidelines in the U.S., but for prevention of endocarditis, the AHA's guideline — last updated in 1997 — essentially stands alone (Journal Watch Jun 12 2007).

Prophylaxis is now …


This study provides detailed evidence on the transistion state of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries. It draws on data from a survey conducted among portfolio managers of Western investment funds thereby making use of the knowledge of experts in CEE markets. The approach of the study is two-fold : First, criteria for portfolio investment and current barriers to higher investment in CEE countries are identified. Second, the CEE portfolio structure is explained making use of detailed grading data from the survey. The results suggest that a reduction in general and macroeconomic risk tends to increase investment and that the potential of high returns and low risk from the setting of financial markets contributes to signifficantly higher investment in some countries.


Properly designed, the Computer-based Patient Record (CPR) has great potential. It can be used to facilitate continual improvement of quality patient care. At the same time, it can help with cost control. The CPR can produce these advantages by improving accessibility and utility of data related to patient care. Ultimately, it should enable clinicians to better understand the effects of clinical decisions on patient care outcomes. Clini cians can use that new knowledge to change practice in a way that improves the success of clinical protocols. The key to achievement of these benefits lies in the design of the system. The purpose of this paper is to describe one facet of the design of the CPR; design of the structure for the clinical content of the CPR. Design of the CPR has four main components. They are, design of the hardware configuration, database management system (DBMS) design, applications software design, and design of the structure of the content data to be placed in the CPR. Details of the hardware design are usually a function of the requirements of the software. Users specify the requisite functionality of the applications software. Vendors design the internal structure of their software packages to meet the customer's requirements. Sometimes, customers and their consultants collaborate with vendors on software design. When the system involves a database, the specific DBMS software must be purchased or developed. Once the DBMS is selected, the file structures and the internal linkages among the various databases, files and tables or records must be addressed. These layers provide the founda tion for a powerful computer based clinical record. With a clinical database, an additional layer of structure needs to be developed. That layer consists of the structure of the clinical information that is to be placed in the


Many cutting‐edge studies on collaborative data gathering and charging (CDAC) assume that the mobile vehicle (MV) has enough energy to charge the sensors as well as collect data from them. The current studies also took into account that the sensors always receive full charge from the MV, resulting in a wireless rechargeable sensor network (WRSN) with very little dead period and very little data gathering latency. It is also believed that the energy consumption rates of the sensors are constant. However, in large‐scale WRSN, the aforementioned considerations are not always practical. In addition, the utilization of single base station (BS) in a large‐scale WRSN cannot guarantee improved network scalability, expedite charging decisions by minimizing the substantial overhead of the BS, and enhance the traveling distance for MV. In order to overcome the aforementioned problems, we present an effective on‐demand partial CDAC scheme using battery‐limited multiple MVs. The proposed scheme implements the CDAC process in such a way that the total dead periods of the sensors and the energy consumption of MVs are reduced. We use a multi‐objective‐based genetic algorithm (GA) to optimize the entire CDAC process. The simulation is carried out to demonstrate the usefulness and competitiveness of the proposed scheme. In comparison with existing works, the proposed work improves CDAC performance by reducing sensor dead time and energy consumption of MV.


Microwave extraction method was used to extract polysaccharide from the branch and leaf of wild Gynostemma pentaphyllumobtained from Qinba Mountains,and the content of polysaccharide was determined by phenol hydrate-sulphuric acid method.Solid-to-liquid ratio,pH,microwave temperature and microwave time were selected as extraction factors,the single factor experiment and L9(34)orthogonal test was carried on to optimize the extraction process of polysaccharide from the branch and leaf of wild Gynostemma pentaphyllum.It showed that the optimum extraction conditions were pH of 9,solid-to-liquid ratio of 1∶20,microwave temperture of 60℃,microwave time of 15min,on these conditions,the extraction could reach up to 40.10mg.g-1.


A preparation method of a blended and cross-linked polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) pervaporation membrane belongs to the technical field of membrane separation. The preparation method aims to obtain a high-throughput and high-selectivity blended and cross-linked pervaporation PVA membrane by blending and cross-linking a water-soluble hyperbranched polymer (WHBP). The preparation method comprises the following steps: synthesizing the WHBP; preparing a pervaporation membrane; and blade-coating a high molecular porous base membrane, of which the average pore size is 50-100mu m, with a PVA coating solution prepared in the last step, after a solvent naturally volatilizes for 12-48h, placing the high molecular porous base membrane in a vacuum drying oven at 80-100DEG C for heat treatment for 1-3h, thereby obtaining the blended and cross-linked PVA pervaporation membrane. The WHBP/PVA membrane prepared according to the preparation method has high separation performance and high throughput when used for pervaporation separation of n-butyl alcohol and water, and is widely applicable to dehydration of organic solvents, especially dehydration of alcohol.


hv = heat transfer coefficient at vapor film [kcal/m2.hr. °C] KtL, Kl = A;-value of bulk liquid and bulk vapor [-] Kyi = componentoverall vapor phase mass transfer _ coefficient [kg-mol/m2 -hr-4y] Kyi = average value of Kyi [kg-mol/m2 -hr-Jj/] Ni =å component mass transfer rate [kg-mol/hr-m3] qL = sensible heat transfer at liquid film [kcal/hr-m3] qv = sensible heat transfer at vapor film [kcal/hr-m3] T1, TL, Tv = temperature at interface, bulk liquid and bulk vapor respectively [°G] Uc, UL, Uv = proportional constant defined by Eqs.(5), (6) and (7) [kcal/m2hr.°C]


Microwave-Induced Thermo-Acoustic Tomography (MITAT) is a promising technique in biomedical imaging. It has predominant advantages in both contrast and resolution compared with conventional microwave or ultrasound imaging system for malignant tumors. In this paper, Time Reversal Mirror (TRM) imaging technique based on numeric method Pseudo-Spectrum Time Domain (PSTD) for MITAT imaging is studied computationally. The proportion relationship between the deposited microwave energy and the induced thermo-acoustic initial source is deduced by analytic method. Due to the globe higher order character and the efficiency, the PSTD method is employed to implement the forward core of the TRM and to model the complex biologic tissue. In order to illustrate the performance of the TRM technique applied in MITAT, some thermo-acoustic objects with different initial pressure distributions are simulated, then designed and imaged by this technique to represent the complex biologic tissue case in a random media. Under the consideration of noise and the velocity parameter change of the model, the contrast and resolution of the images generated by using TRM technique based on PSTD method are also studied.


Background: The present study was conducted to study the knowledge, attitude and practice of emergency contraception (EC) among the practicing gynecologists. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out with the help of predesigned questionnaire among the members of local obstetrics and gynecological society. The questionnaire included questions regarding basic knowledge, misconception and attitude towards use of emergency contraception. Results: Results were analyzed using 124 fully completed questionnaires. Majority of them were female gynecologists (72%). About 84% were not offering EC routinely nor did they advice the same to their clients. All the participants were aware of levonorgestrel (LNG) being used for EC. Only about 64% of them answered correctly about the dosage and timing of initiation of EC. About 12% of the participant gynecologists believed that EC is a form of abortion. Fifty eight percent of the respondents believed that it promotes the irresponsible and promiscuous behavior in the clients and 60% felt that it is targeted mainly at unmarried adolescents and may undermine the parental authority and community morals, which show a strong misconception even among the gynecologists. About 54% believed that women/couples may stop using the regular contraception if it is easily available. About 10% felt that it is not safe to use EC. Conclusions: There is a great paucity of knowledge regarding the use of EC not only among the general public and clients, but also among the service providers and health professionals. This study concluded that there is lack of awareness and certain misconceptions about the use of EC even among the gynecologists, which has resulted in underutilization of EC. There is an urgent need for sensitizing all sections of people about EC through appropriate programs for curbing the population.


The building sector plays a central role in addressing the problem of global energy consumption. Therefore, effective design measures need to be taken to ensure efficient usage and management of new structures. The challenging task for designers is to reduce energy demands while maintaining a high-quality indoor environment and low costs of construction and operations. This study proposes a methodological framework that enables decision-makers to resolve conflicts between energy demand and life cycle costs. A case study is analyzed to validate the proposed method, adopting different solutions for walls, roofs, floors, windows, window-to-wall ratios and geographical locations. Models are created on the basis of all the possible combinations between these elements, enriched by their thermal properties and construction/management costs. After the alternative models are defined, energy analyses are carried out for an estimation of consumption. By calculating the total cost of each model as the sum of construction, energy and maintenance costs, a joint analysis is carried out for variable life cycles. The obtained results from the proposed method confirm the importance of a preliminary assessment from both energy and cost points of view, and demonstrate the impact of considering different building life cycles on the choice of design alternatives.


This paper presents a brief review on the current applications and perspectives on the stability of complex dynamical systems, with an emphasis on three main classes of systems such as delay-free systems, time-delay systems, and systems with uncertainties in its parameters, which lead to some criteria with necessary and/or sufficient conditions to determine stability and/or stabilization in the domains of frequency and time. Besides, criteria on robust stability and stability of nonlinear time-delay systems are presented, including some numerical approaches.


Multiphoton optical tomography provides the capability of non-invasive optical sectioning of skin with high spatial and intracellular resolution as well as high NIR (near infrared) light penetration into pigmented skin areas. The imaging system DermaInspect based on femtosecond laser pulses was used to perform multiphoton optical tomography in clinical studies. Patients with abnormal pigmented tissues were imaged in vivo. After the multiphoton imaging procedure, biopsies were taken, imaged again and further processed with standard histological methods. We report on preliminary results. The visualization of pigmented cell clusters based on non-linear luminescence using the novel multiphoton device was possible. These clusters could be clearly distinguished from non-pigmented cells. Cancerous tissues showed significant differences in the cell structure of the epidermal layers. The system DermaInspect might become a high resolution diagnostic tool for melanoma diagnostics.


The rotor system is the most important part for helicopter, the helicopter flight quality depends tightly on the rotor blade. The parameters of primary standard rotor bland had been identified by analyzing its parameters systematically basing on dynamic balance test. A new method is proposed to calibrate the parameters of primary standard rotor blade with designing series of calibration equipments. Some of verification test and simulation results indicate that the method is valid, the uncertainty of measurement accord with the technical requirements. It can solve the calibration problem of standard rotor blade, finish the metrological transfer process, and maintain the consistency and stability of helicopter rotor blades.


As the global burden of SARS-CoV-2 infections escalates, so does the evolution of viral variants which is of particular concern due to their potential for increased transmissibility and pathology. In addition to this entrenched variant diversity in circulation, RNA viruses can also display genetic diversity within single infected hosts with co-existing viral variants evolving differently in distinct cell types. The BriSΔ variant, originally identified as a viral subpopulation by passaging SARS-CoV-2 isolate hCoV-19/England/02/2020, comprises in the spike glycoprotein an eight amino-acid deletion encompassing the furin recognition motif and S1/S2 cleavage site. Here, we analyzed the structure, function and molecular dynamics of this variant spike, providing mechanistic insight into how the deletion correlates to viral cell tropism, ACE2 receptor binding and infectivity, allowing the virus to probe diverse trajectories in distinct cell types to evolve viral fitness. Teaser SARS-CoV-2 can exploit different cell types to diversify and evolve virus variants distinct in infectivity and structure.


The need for undergraduate teaching of Animal Welfare and Ethics (AWE) in Australian and New Zealand veterinary courses reflects - increasing community concerns and expectations about AWE; the demands of veterinary accreditation; and fears that, unless students encounter AWE as part of their formal education, as veterinarians they will be relatively unaware of the discipline of animal welfare science. To address this need, we assembled leaders in the field of AWE education from the eight veterinary schools in Australia and New Zealand and used modified deliberative polling to identify resources that can address the learning and teaching needs of undergraduate veterinary students in AWE. This paper describes the role of the poll in developing the first shared online curriculum resource for veterinary graduate learning and teaching in AWE in Australia and New Zealand. The poll highlighted the importance of three core learning and teaching strategies to be used in the new resource: scenario-based learning; a quality of animal life assessment tool; and the so-called 'Human Continuum' discussion platform. The aim of this online resource is to ensure Australian and New Zealand veterinary graduates have the knowledge, and the research, communication and critical reasoning skills, to fulfil the AWE role demanded of them by contemporary society, both nationally and internationally.


The following species of Brachiopoda were recorded by Messrs. Marr & Roberts from the Ordovician beds of the Haverfordwest district:—


A review of high-resolution Raman spectroscopy of gases, including spontaneous, incoherent Raman spectroscopy, as well as of nonlinear techniques for coherent anti-Stokes scattering (CARS), stimulated Raman gain (SRG) and stimulated Raman loss (SRL) spectroscopy, and photoacoustic Raman spectroscopy (PARS) in the frequency domain is presented. Femtosecond degenerate four-wave mixing spectroscopy (Fs-DFWM) and Raman-induced polarization spectroscopy (RIPS) in the time domain are discussed. Also treated are the broadenings of Raman lines due to the Doppler and pressure effects. Basic theoretical notions and working equations for the analysis of highly resolved spectra are presented. Examples are drawn from the literature to illustrate the respective advantages and disadvantages of the various techniques. The interplay between high-resolution Raman spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and ab initio computational schemes is illustrated. The article concludes with an overall assessment of the respective advantages and disadvantages of the methods used in high-resolution Raman spectroscopy.

Keywords:

spontaneous Raman spectra;
coherent Raman scattering;
frequency domain spectroscopy;
femtosecond four-wave mixing time domain spectroscopy;
rotation spectra;
vibration–rotation spectra;
linear;
symmetric;
spherical;
and asymmetric top rotator molecules


For the problem of bus voltage fluctuation caused by wind power generation in AC microgrid, this paper proposes an ADRC strategy to control the Static Var Compensator (SVC). This strategy can improve AC busbar voltage compensation precision and the response speed of the thyristor controlled reactor. As well as, the rated capacity of SVC can be more fully utilized, thus making up the deficiency of the traditional proportional-integral control technology, so that the SVC plays a more important role in the voltage stability of AC microgrid bus. Finally, the simulation result indicated that the proposed controller can achieve better suppression effect of AC bus voltage fluctuation and improve the dynamic response performance of reactive power compensation device.


ABSTRACT There is broad international recognition of the importance of ongoing professional learning opportunities for educators. Despite this seemingly global consensus, there is disagreement regarding the best ways to conceptualise teacher learning, and what kinds of learning should be promoted or counted. This article reports on a narrative inquiry which explores how three Israeli primary school teachers experience and understand the role and significance of professional learning in their professional lives. In interviews and written narratives, the participants share experiences of profoundly important learning in what I call liminal spaces, beyond schools and formal professional development programmes. In this article, I explore powerful learning occurring on the border between the personal and professional lives of teachers. This study conceptualises teacher learning as complex and messy. The findings contribute to and challenge some of the existing knowledge base of teacher learning, especially studies that seek to standardise and quantify learning and thereby overlook potent forms of professional learning. I offer practical recommendations for individual teachers, school leadership, fellow researchers and policy makers.


The direct calculation method is defined as a technical/scientific approach using basic principles and theory to derive or verify the components of a structural design and relies, to a large extent, upon the speed and power of the digital computer. The structural analysis is discussed under the main headings of (i) structural design criteria, (ii) mathematical modelling of structural problem, and (iii) application example of Ro-Ro ship. A list of publications recommended for further study is appended. Order from BSRA as No. 51,554.


Taking the capacitors typed BAM46/3-6000-1×3W as an example,this paper makes a brief introduction and summary of the design and development of tank capacitor.It recommends to widely use this type of capacitors.


Testing for element membership in a Bloom filter requires hashing of a test element (e.g. a string) and multiple lookups in memory. A design of a new two-tier Bloom filter with on-chip hash functions and cache is described. For elements with a heavy-tailed distribution for popularity, membership testing time can be significantly reduced.


We report the calculation of the same-species elastic scattering properties for the ultracold rubidium{rubidium ( 85 Rb{ 85 Rb) system and the results are compared with other theoretical and experimental results in detail. We present an improved potential for triplet ground states of the Rb2 molecule, and calculate the scattering lengths at and the e(cid:11)ective range re using WKB and Numerov methods for two rubidium-85 collisions in the triplet state. Also, we investigate the convergence of these scattering properties, i.e. the dependence on core radius and K 0 parameter using quantum defect theory and the analytic calculations of scattering length obtained by Szmytkowski. In addition, we present evaporative cooling and other results that include phase shift and cross section at zero energy limit.


This study has been conducted to find out the factors which have been affecting demand for fertilizer as specified equations for nitrogen, phosphorus and potash, are estimated by using both the static as well as the dynamic models. The results are acceptable from both an economic and statistical point of view. The estimated price elasticity of demand demonstrates variations between the nutrients. The Cobb-Douglas production function has been applied to the analysis and Ordinary Least Square in double log form was used for estimation. The results suggest that the demand for nitrogen and phosphorous are price inelastic both in the short run as well as in the long run while for potash fertilizer, the elasticity of demand is price elastic both in the short run and in the long run. Future shift in fertilizer demand will be dependent on the reduction in the relative price of fertilizer. It indicates either increase in agricultural commodity price or decrease in fertilizer price.


Lisa Schur is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Labor Studies and Employment Relations of Rutgers University (50 Labor Center Way, New Brunswick, NJ 08903, 732-932-1743, email@example.com). Douglas Kruse is a Professor in the Department of Human Resource Management of Rutgers University (94 Rockafeller Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, 732-445-5991, email@example.com). This report benefited from excellent research assistance by Haejin Kim and Judy Amorski, and valuable comments by Kevin Hallock.


In a location estimation with the received signal strength indication (RSSI) of a wireless signal in an area, the maximum likelihood (ML) function should match the real statistical property of the RSSI in the area. For a wireless local area network (WLAN)-based RSSI location estimation with a wideband signal in an office environment, the wideband signal experiences frequency selectively Rayleigh fading, so a complicated ML function containing several channel parameters needs to be derived in the environment. This paper shows that a simplified ML function containing only two channel parameters, which is optimum for a narrowband signal, is also applicable to an IEEE 802.11g WLAN-based location estimation with a wideband signal. Computer simulation and experimental results show that the use of the simplified ML function introduces almost no degradation in the location estimation performance in typical office environments, as compared with the use of an exact ML function.


ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to determine: (1) the level of consumer satisfaction grand market, and (2) differences in the level of consumer satisfaction views of social demography. Determination of the sample using a two-stage sampling method of judgment, respondents 200 people, with the 22 indicators measured using a Likert scale. Data were analyzed with descriptive analysis, cross tables and Chi Square test. Results showed not all consumers are satisfied, judging from the number of levels of suitability value less than 100 persen. The big difference in satisfaction based on demographic characteristics. Improved by optimizing the satisfaction indicators have a low percentage of satisfaction levels. Based on demographic characteristics, preferential treatment to consumers, male, age more than 30 years, low levels of education, and work. The difference in behavior is not expected to reduce the behavior of previous behavior towards consumers who are already satisfied. Keywords: traditional market, revitalization of the market, customer satisfaction, socio-demographic characteristics, chi square analysis


nets of family, nation, and religion. For Lowry the three nets were one. The joined presences of his father and his father's God stalked him everywhere in England. Here was a threat not merely to his imagination but also to his life. The origins of Malcolm Lowry's self-destructive urges, according to Douglas Day in his biography of Lowry, lay in the &dquo;threatening super-ego&dquo; which A. O. Lowry foisted on his son.' 1


BACKGROUND: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are one of the common complications associated with patients stay in a medical organization. An urgent practical problem is the choice of antibiotic therapy for the treatment of patients with nosocomial infections because these infections are caused by antibiotic-resistant strains. HAIs associated with previous hospitalization (HAPH) manifest in patients after discharge from the hospital, and their risk of isolating resistant strains often remains unrecognized by specialists. Thus, more studies are required to examine the structure of HAPH pathogens and patterns of consumption of antibacterial drugs for the treatment of HAPH to further determine antibiotic therapy in these patients.
AIMS: To analyze the use of antibiotic therapy for the treatment of HAPH with known etiological agents and the level of antibiotic resistance.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study analyzed the results of a multicenter descriptive retrospective study based on the Clinics Siberian State Medical University and the State Clinical Hospital No. B.I. Alperovich (Tomsk). A total of 108 HAPH cases were examined according to the medical records of inpatients (Form 003/y). For pharmacoepidemiological analysis, the anatomical therapeutic chemical/defined daily dose (DDD) methodology was used, and antibiotic intake was assessed using the number of established daily doses. The etiological structure of HSV microorganisms was evaluated using the AMRcloud online platform. Quantitative and qualitative indicators were presented as shares (%) and absolute numbers.
RESULTS: In total, 116 isolates from patients with HAPH were assessed. Klebsiella pneumoniae, Klebsiella oxytoca, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli were the dominant pathogens causing HAPH in the overall distribution of pathogens. For the treatment of these patients, a wide range of drugs was used, including 13 groups of antibiotics. In most cases, the parenteral route of drug administration was used: intravenous route, 56.0%; intramuscular, 28.0%; and oral, 16.0%. The DDD analysis showed that antibiotic intake for the treatment of patients with HAPH was 137.8 NDDD/100 bed-days; surgical infection, 48.2 NDDD/100 bed-days (35.0%); and pneumonia, 89.6 NDDD/100 bed-days (65.0%). Cephalosporins were the most commonly used group of antibiotics for both surgical infection and pneumonia, mainly third-generation cephalosporins.
CONCLUSION: Etiological agents of HAPH are phenotypically similar to nosocomial strains. Among antibacterial drugs, cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones were mainly consumed, and HAPH isolates had unfavorable resistance profiles to these drugs.


Outsourcing is a reality in organizations. In Brazil, it was strengthened from the 70s and it increased its coverage in the public sector in the 80s, due to the Managerial Reform of the State Apparatus. The Superintendence of Infrastructure and Maintenance of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) has a substantial number of outsourced services. Considering the actions of outsourcing personnel in this department, the present study aims to verify whether the outsourcing of services contributes to the organizational innovation at the University. Besides documental research, data collected from four types of semi-structured questionnaires were used as assessment tools. The research findings points out the creation of new innovative ideas by outsourcing personnel and the implementation of these ideas by the Superintendence, as well as the participation of the outsourcing personnel in the innovative actions demonstrating that they have contributed to the organizational innovation of UFMG.


The present invention, when changing the resolution (分解 能) of conversion, so that the change can be a change in the required pulse only in a simpler configuration. The present invention, when the resolution mode of the AD conversion is the 9-bit mode, the decoder 102 operates only an H counter 104. If the resolution mode of the AD conversion of the 10-bit mode or 12-bit mode, decoder 102, when the count value of the H counter 104 is a start count value stored in the register (101), an H counter ( at the same time to stop the counting operation of the 104), and initiate a count of the idle counter 106, a count of the H counter 104 when the count value of the idle counter 106 is to be the count stored in the register 101 to thereby resume. The invention, for example, can be applied to an image sensor employing a column AD conversion method. A solid-state imaging device, a driving control method, an image pickup device,


Thin cloud is one type of the most common noises in optical remote sensing images.It will severely affect the recognition precision of images.As thin cloud mainly exists in low frequency domain,the algorithm with adaptive thresholds of wavelet transform is presented to remove thin cloud in the single band image.The thresholds between thin cloud and land surface objects in the wavelet coefficients can be adaptively searched with general crossing validation(GCV) and genetic algorithm(GA).Then thin cloud is removed by shrinking wavelet coefficients.Results indicate that thin cloud can be effectively removed with the proposed algorithm while land surface objects are maintained,and blurry details of land surface objects become clear.With the highest entropy,the cloud-removed image from the algorithm shows better effect than those from homomorphic wavelet-based filter and homomorphic filter.The different scale thresholds of wavelet coefficients between thin cloud and land surface objects can be picked out with GA and GCV automatically.


Two fundamental experiments are performed on the accuracy of the human operation in manual control systems, and the results are applied to actual problems.(1) Human operators have extensive adaptivity to the change of the system gain, but this adaptation is limited by the visual threshold and by the manual backlush. Therefore, this fact leads to the necessity of the suitable gain allocation to the display and control.(2) The inaccuracy of switching time in manual time-optimal control of a pure inertia system is measured, and it is shown by the example of the crane operation that this inaccuracy is one limiting factor of the operating speed of the machine.


To the Editor: Atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors (ATRTs)make up 1%–2%of childhood brain tumors and are associatedwith SMARCB1/INI1mutation.1,2 Current standard of care includes initial resection followed by intensive induction chemotherapy, followed by high-dose thiotepa and carboplatin with tandem stem cell rescues. Additionally, if appropriate, radiation is utilized either prior to or following stem cell rescue.3 This treatment regimenhas improved the survival; however, overall survival rate remains poor at 48%, and radiation therapy has been found to be a vital part of the initial treatment leading to improved survival.2 Given the young age at presentation, some patients with ATRT are unable to receive radiation as a part of their initial therapy, which subsequently increases their risk of disease recurrence.3 There may be a need for a treatment that can prolong remission status until children are old enough to receive radiation. We present a case of a 5-monthold with ATRT where prolonged remission was successfully achieved without radiation therapy using maintenance oral and intraventricular chemotherapy, with good quality of life. A previously healthy 5-month-old male presented with emesis and downward gaze. Computerized tomography (CT) scan showed cerebellar mass with obstructive hydrocephalus, for which external ventricular drain was placed emergently. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain showed a large right posterior fossa mass (Fig 1A,1B). He underwent gross total resection of the tumor, and pathology revealed a diagnosis of ATRT with SMARCB1 mutation, and later confirmed TYR subtype by methylation analysis. Germline mutation of SMARCB1 was also identified in this patient. He received intensive chemotherapywithmethotrexate, cyclophosphamide, etoposide, vincristine, and cisplatin, followed by three consecutive highdose chemotherapy treatments (carboplatin and thiotepa), followed by stem cell rescues.3 At the end of therapy, there was no evidence of disease (Fig 1E,1F). However, 3 months later he developed


Mosquitoes are associated with the transmission of malaria, dengue, chikungunya, japanese encephalitis, filariasis and other viral diseases throughout the globe. Mosquito-borne diseases have an economic impact, including loss in commercial and labor outputs, particularly in countries with tropical and subtropical climates; however, no part of the world is free from vector-borne diseases. The present study was carried out to establish the properties of leaf extract of Annona squamosa was tested for larvicidal activity against Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito. The extracts of Annona squamosa commonly available and growing in India were tested for larvicidal activity against the 4th instar larvae of Culex quinquefasciatus using standard WHO technique. The lethality varied in plant methanolic extracts of Annona sqamosa was found most effective and 100% result was observed in this treatment. INTRODUCTION: Medicinal plants have been identified and used throughout human history. Plants have the ability to synthesize a wide variety of chemical compounds that are used to perform important biological functions. Ethno botany is recognized as an effective way to discover future medicines. Plants may be an alternative source of mosquito-control agents because they constitute a rich source of bioactive chemicals (Sukumar et al, 1991; Wink, 1993). They are not only effective, but also greatly reduce the risk of potentially adverse ecological effects; they may prevent the possibility of the resistance that synthetic chemical insecticides typically bring about after prolonged use (Monzon et al, 1994). Medicinal plants are commonly found throughout tropical and subtropical countries. A lot of research work on medicinal plants has been carried out on agricultural pests with promising results, and some have been produced at industrial level. However, very few have been reported for control of mosquito vectors. Mosquito-borne diseases remain a major problem in the world, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions. These diseases contribute significantly to disease burden, death, poverty, and social debility in tropical countries (Young-Su et al, 2002). Although vector control programs have been established for a long time, the main method for control of the vectors is the use of chemical insecticides. However, the effectiveness of vector control has declined due to the development of resistance in mosquitoes against currently used insecticides (Chandre et al, 1998; Penilla et al, 1998). There are many serious drawbacks with the use of chemical insecticides, for example, the increasing cost of new insecticides and annual importation expenditures, effects on non-target populations especially on humans, environmental pollution, such as entering the food chain, and the development of insecticide resistance and the emergence of refractory vector behavior. One approach to this problem has been to search for new and effective compounds that do not have any ill effects on non-target populations, are easily degradable, safe, and easily available at low cost. Some crude extracts from medicinal plants are currently being used as they are potentially economical, safe, and practical for control measures. Being "environmentally friendly," it is more practical and safe for the environment to use botanical insecticides to control mosquitoes. Therefore, this study was designed to focus on the Annona squamosa plant and their potential specific effects on Cx. quinquefasciatus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Collection and processing of medicinal plants: The fresh and healthy leaves of Annona squamosa were collected from nalgonda district, Telangana State, India. and washed with fresh water and shade dried at room temperature. The dried material was powdered and extracted with methanol for 3 days and filtered with watman filter paper 1. The extracts were concentrated at reduced temperature on a rotary evaporator and stored at 40 C. Preparation of stock solution: 1 gram of crude extract was first dissolved in 100 ml of methanol and stored as stock solution. The anthelmintic assay was carried as per the method of Tandon et al., 1997. Selection of mosquito species: The important vector species of mosquito borne which is Culex quinquefasciatus was selected for the present study. This species is the vector of west Nile virus which causes encephalitis or lymphatic filariasis or meningitis which is known to effect the brain tissue, finally resulting in permanent neurological damage (Hubalek and Halouzka, 1999). Collection and culture of mosquito larvae: Culex quinquefasciatus larvae were collected from stagnant sewage water near Hyderabad, the collected larvae were reared from egg to larval stage and then to adults in the laboratory itself, to avoid the species mixture next f1 generation larvae were used for the present study. This procedure facilitates to maintain the uniform age of larval instar. The 4th instar larvae were used to


Gonioscopy is an important component of evaluation of any glaucoma patient. Goldmann two-mirror and Sussman or Zeiss four-mirror are the commonly used gonioscopes. Presence of synechia in the angle is diagnostic of angle closure disease in an occludable angle. A patient with pseudo-goniosynechia that disappeared on indentation gonioscopy with Sussman lens but persisted with manipulation gonioscopy with a Goldmann lens is reported.


Abstract 1570 Outcomes for childhood leukemia have improved significantly in recent years with remission rates of over 98% and reported cure rates of 80% for standard risk cases. However, 20% of patients relapse due to failure to eradicate the disease. Further improvement in outcomes will require a better understanding of the biology of this malignancy and the mechanisms of drug resistance. Evidence that several leukemia subpopulations can initiate and maintain this disease in xenograft models and that some of these subpopulations are resistant to current therapeutic agents suggests that relapse may arise from these cells. Parthenolide (PTL), a sesquiterpene lactone compound, has been shown to cause apoptosis in malignant cells by inducing oxidative stress and by inhibiting NF-κB mediated cell survival. In this investigation we have assessed the effects of PTL on leukemia subpopulations in a cohort of childhood ALL cases from mixed prognostic subgroups. Cells from 15 B-ALL cases were stained with antibodies against CD34 and CD19, while CD34 and CD7 were used for 7 T-ALL cases. Cells were then sorted based on expression or lack of expression of the antibody combinations. Unsorted cells and the 4 sorted subpopulations from each type of leukemia were treated with 7.5 and 10 μM PTL for 18–24 hours. The effect of PTL on viability was studied by flow cytometry using Annexin V and Propidium iodide. In B-ALL cases, the CD34 + /CD19 - population was the least affected with 89.1±6.9% cells surviving PTL treatment. This was significantly higher than the unsorted cells and the other sorted populations ( + /CD7 - population was the least affected (59.9±13.3% viable cells). The functional capacity of the PTL treated unsorted cells and sorted populations was also assessed in vivo. NOD/SCID IL2Rγ null (NSG) mice were inoculated with untreated or PTL treated cells and the levels of engraftment after 10 weeks were compared. The results to date indicate that PTL treatment prevented engraftment of unsorted ALL cells. Mean engraftment levels of 65±20% CD45 + (range 29–99%) were observed using untreated cells while there was no detectable human cell engraftment with the PTL treated cells. This suggests PTL is more effective on unsorted ALL cells than the data from the short term apoptosis assays indicated. Engraftment was achieved using CD34 - cells from 3 cases (73±29%, range 40–96%). However, no engraftment was observed when CD34 - cells were treated with PTL. In contrast, the levels of engraftment observed with PTL treated CD34 + /CD19 - B-ALL cells were similar to or greater than those observed with the untreated counterparts (95±8% and 64±9% CD45 + respectively, P≤0.07). The levels of engraftment observed with CD34 + /CD7 - T-ALL cells were reduced with PTL treatment from 67±21% to 12±9% CD45+ (P≤0.03) but not eliminated. Subsequently, we investigated the mechanisms for this apparent resistance to PTL in the primitive cell populations. PTL has been associated with induction of oxidative stress, activation of p53 and inhibition of NF-κB in AML and CLL. We used confocal microscopy to investigate whether NF-κB is constitutively expressed in ALL cases and to evaluate the effect of PTL on the phosphorylation of NF-κB. Three B-ALL and 3 T-ALL cases, where the unsorted populations had been affected by PTL while the respective CD34 + /CD19 - and CD34 + /CD7 - populations were more resistant, were investigated. Cells were stained with anti-phospho-p65 polyclonal antibody and Alexa fluor 488. NF-κB was constitutively activated in all cases. There was evidence of decreased phosphorylation in unsorted PTL treated cells indicating inhibition of NF-κB. However, in the phenotypically primitive cells there was no difference in the phosphorylation levels compared to untreated cells or phosphorylation was increased. This suggests NF-κB was not inhibited, which could explain the observed resistance of these leukemia populations to PTL. These data demonstrate that some leukemia initiating cell populations in childhood B-ALL and T-ALL are resistant to PTL. A more thorough understanding of these leukemia initiating cell populations and their mechanisms of resistance will be required for the development of more effective therapies. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Temporal relationships between phasic cardiac responses and choice reaction time (RT) performance were studied in 8 human volunteers using a speed-accuracy tradeoff design. "Cardiac cycle time" was varied by presenting stimuli at either the R wave of the electrocardiogram or 350 msec afterward. The speed and accuracy of choice RT performance were systematically manipulated by rewarding subjects for responding as close as possible to five different RT targets (150, 200, 250, 300, and 350 msec). The magnitude of both the cardiac deceleration which preceded stimulus onset and the cardiac acceleration which followed the response varied systematically with RT; both anticipatory deceleration and accelerative recovery were larger for faster RTs. More importantly, the timing of the shift from anticipatory deceleration to accelerative recovery varied systematically as a function of both cardiac cycle time and RT. Correlations between performance and cardiac interbeat intervals (IBIs) before, during, and after the RT were uniformly low, but showed consistent variation as a function of temporal proximity of the IBI to the stimulus. An hypothesis which relates timing of task completion, timing of vagal inhibition, and phasic cardiac responses was proposed to account for the timing of the shift from anticipatory deceleration to accelerative recovery.


High energy lasers have many applications, such as in aerospace, weapons, wireless power transfer, and manufacturing. Fluid-laser interaction is important to predicting power at receiver, and other measures of laser beam quality. Typically the carrying medium of the laser is modeled statistically. This dissertation describes a novel method of coupling fluid dynamics to beam propagation in free space. The coupled laser-fluid solver captures dynamic interaction of fluid temperature and beam intensity. Ultimately, the model captures the effects of fluid convection in the laser intensity-field. Boundary conditions play an important role for fluid dynamics, more so than for beam dynamics. Simulation convergence and time performance are compared for three fluid boundary conditions: periodic boundary conditions, finite box domain, and an open boundary condition. Scintillation is included in the final simulations. Scintillation is an important factor in laser beam quality. It is usually incorporated via phase-screens on the beam alone. A unique hybrid volumetric phase-screen model is developed to simulate laserfluid interaction in the presence of small turbulence. The hybrid model is simulated and results of simulations, where scintillation is asymptotically incorporated into the coupled fluid-beam simulation, are presented.


This chapter discusses the intricate web of interactions between human beings, pests, and pesticides in the 21st century against the backdrop of good environmental stewardship and economic sustainability. Pests and pesticides are defined and their effects on human beings discussed. Pesticides are defined as economic poisons with equal emphasis on "economic" and "poison". Pest control is differentiated from pest management and the factors affecting the tolerance of human beings for pests also discussed. Pesticides are used in agriculture to prevent or reduce crop injury and damage but their application is based on bioeconomic principles that help maintain good environmental quality as well as improve economic returns in farm enterprises. Even though environmental concerns were the impetus for the develop‐ ment of these bioeconomic principles, their significant economic benefits have overshadowed their environmental beginnings and function. The Economic Injury Level (EIL) is a bioeco‐ nomic concept that refers to the lowest population of pests that will cause economic damage, and the Economic threshold (ET), is the point at which action need to be taken in order to prevent an increasing pest population from reaching the economic injury level (EIL). Envi‐ ronmental EILs have been proposed to replace economic EILs in order to re-focus attention on environmental concerns without losing sight of economic considerations. Concerns on the environmental impact of conventional pesticides have led to increased interest in less toxic alternatives including biopesticides. The fact that these compounds are generally not as fastacting as their conventional counterparts makes early pest detection even more crucial than in cases where conventional pesticides are used. The notion that organic pesticides are harmless and therefore can be used without safety precautions is erroneous and dangerous. In fact nicotine pesticides have been discontinued in many countries because they are very toxic to humans and rotenone another natural active ingredient is very toxic to fish and other aquatic organisms. Pesticides have also been implicated in the Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) of native populations of honey bees, a situation that has made it necessary for some


A hemispherical coil array used in multichannel Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (mTMS) was designed in the present paper. Genetic Algorithm (GA) was applied to optimize the current configuration of the coil array so that the array could induce electric field on a hemispherical plane assumed as the cortex area of human brain. The maximum areas that could be stimulated simultaneously were evaluated. Results showed that the designed hemispherical coil array could be used to stimulate two or three arbitrary brain areas at the same time.


This paper introduces three key features in geometry-based stochastic channel models in order to include massive MIMO channels. Those key features consists of multiuser (MU) consistency, non-stationarities across the base station array and inclusion of spherical wave modelling. To ensure MU consistency, we introduce the concept of "user aura", which is a circle around the user with radius defined according to the stationarity interval. The overlap between auras determines the share of common clusters among users. To model non-stationarities across a massive array, sub-arrays are defined for which clusters are independently generated. At last, we describe a procedure to incorporate spherical wave modelling, where a cluster focal point is defined to account for distance between user and cluster.


In this paper, we propose a lossless Quality Scores compression methods of FASTQ file format which is commonly used to store the NGS (Next Generation Sequencing). Instead of elaborating excellent data structure and compression technique based on the original FASTQ Quality Scores file, we try to change the distribution of original FASTQ Quality Scores file through linear combination prediction so as to make it better for further compression, using existing compression algorithms. Experimental results indicate that our compression method outperforms other four state-of-the-art compression tools and achieves up to 10% improvement in compression ratio comparing with the one in the second place and up to 35% over Gzip both on on all test datasets.


Experimental information of the behavior of two hydraulic rams connected in parallel, as well as a single ram operating with an installation using a vertical-radial supply was obtained and compared. In both connections, the height of the supply flow rate was varied and the pressures in the supply pipe, impulse valves, air chambers, and delivery pipe with and without return pipe (vertical descending section) were measured. Thus, the proper operation of the proposed supply line was verified, and it was observed that the connection with two hydraulic rams pumped more water than when operating with a single ram. However, the delivery flow rate is lesser than the sum of the flows pumped by each ram when operating independently. This behavior was found to be similar to that of radial pumps connected in parallel. Also, the vertical return-pipe increases the delivery flow rate by a factor more than three times. This proposed configuration provides an alternative to develop cheap, small, and environment-friendly technologies.


Lagrangian coherent structures (LCS) in fluid flows appear as co-dimension one ridges of the finite time Lyapunov exponent (FTLE) field. In three- dimensions this means two-dimensional ridges. A fast algorithm is presented here to locate and extract such ridge surfaces while avoiding unnecessary computations away from the LCS. This algorithm reduces the order of the computational complexity from O(1/dx^3) to about O(1/dx^2) by eliminating computations over most of the three dimensional domain and computing the FTLE only near the two-dimensional ridge surfaces. The algorithm is grid based and proofs of error bounds for ridge locations are included. The algorithm performance and error bounds are verified in several examples. The algorithm offers significant advantages in computational cost as well as later data analysis.


Aim: To investigate whether or not Fos participate in the analgesic effect on the early stage of once TENS. Method: The expression of c-fos mRNA was observed by means of the RT-PCR at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4h after the facial TENS to rat. Result: The clear expression took place at 0.5h and continued to 4h, then the expression reduced. Conclusion: It was need to further observe the effect of c-fos mRNA in the early analgesia of once TENS.


Current treatment of bacterial and fungal infections heavily relies on strategies which aim to inhibit and kill pathogens with high specificity. These strategies are very successful and antibiotics have contributed to increasing human life expectancy more than any other class of therapeutic drugs. However, antibiotics are losing efficacy as a result of high selection pressure and rapid resistance development. Thus, strategies that rely on boosting natural host defenses are gaining more attention, since compounds targeting host mechanisms should control infections regardless of the antibiotic resistance levels of pathogens. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are considered as ideal candidates for such novel anti-infective strategies since they combine direct antibiotic activities with modulation of immune responses (Figure (Figure1).1). However, AMPs frequently lack specific molecular targets and tend to have membrane disruptive activities, bearing risks of cytotoxicity. For anti-infective drug development, AMPs should ideally inhibit specific microbial targets without impacting on membranes; peptides with such properties were recently identified in a large subfamily of AMPs, the defensins.


The conformal symmetry transformations are elucidated for two‐dimensional gravity with torsion in conformal gauge. The model is proved to describe one parameter family of surfaces with torsion. On these surfaces equations for extremal and geodesic lines are completely integrated and analyzed.


Production planning, programming and control are essential for companies that seek to remain competitive in the market, meeting consumer demands. The Easter celebration period is considered one of the best dates for the chocolate industry, as there are significant increases in production, in addition to informal trade in these products. Among the Operational Research (PO) resolution techniques is Linear Programming (PL), related to the planning of scarce resources that support decision making. The study aimed to plan the production, with a view to maximizing the profit, of an easter egg producer, using the PL tools. Two types of Easter eggs and the necessary resources for their production processes were analyzed. The results emphasize that the solution that maximizes profit is concentrated in the simultaneous production of both products. It was understood that the PL technique helps in decision making as it presents accurate and effective results.


According to the studies of lake sediments' lithological property, grain size, pollen and magnetic susceptibility of the Cuoe lake in the central Tibetan Plateau, and combining the achievement of RH-core of Zoige basin in eastern Tibetan Plateau, we discuss the process of environmental changes and its responding to the tectonic uplift of Tibetan Plateau during the last 2 8Ma. The sedimentary records from the outcrop indicate that the Cuoe Basin was first formed by fault activity at about 2 8MaBP and a strong uplift movement occurred at about 2 6MaBP and a relatively leveling epoch under the background of the uplift from 2 6 to 0 8MaBP. Three tectonic uplift movements have been revealed by the sedimentary records in core of Zoige basin since 0 9MaBP,showing three stages of environmental evolution of the plateau. There was no strong dry climate event near 2 6MaBP, corresponding to the bottom age of Loess in the Loess Plateau. The sedimentary records of lake sediments in the plateau show a wet climate during the prosperous periods of loess accumulation such as L 15、L 9、L 6.


An approach is provided for digital triggering a recording of one or several signals sampled at individual sampling instants on a digital oscilloscope. The triggering is carried out when the interval between two recurrent triggering events is less or greater than a time threshold value.


The present invention relates to a Fischer - Tropsch catalyst - support and Fischer-Tropsch catalyst. The carrier comprising a silica is subjected to hydrothermal treatment. Compared with the untreated catalyst prepared from silica-containing support, the hydrothermal treatment the resulting catalyst has improved C5 + selectivity.


Machine automatic squeeze improved the entire group squeezed interconnected by an independent support of the drive unit. # The invention relates to a machine for squeezing the type of the spin occurs in a group squeezed comprising at least one male drum and at least one female drum the drum having female recesses to carry the fruit and the male protrusions to be inserted into the cavities of the female drum imprisoning fruit being characteristic of this invention that the group squeezed and other auxiliary elements interlocked are preferably a housing such that engage and disengage the drive element in one block.


INTRODUCTION This article examines the benefits and teaching procedures resulting from a classroom activity in student problem posing. The benefits included an enhancement of student reasoning and reflection and a heightened level of engagement. Principles and Standards for School Mathematics [3] indicates that one of the critical requirements for successful problem solving is a productive disposition to problem pose. To develop such a disposition, students must be provided with more than explicit instruction. When students, rather than the teacher, formulate new problems, it can foster the kind of responsibility that students need to take for constructing their own knowledge. BACKGROUND Many students fail to experience problem posing in their study of mathematics [4]. Often, students are exposed to mathematics instruction which requires little student input, much as in the Instrumental or Platonist perspective [1]. The Instrumentalist perspective emphasizes the mastery of skills, rules, and procedures that become ends in themselves, rather than devices for understanding, representation, and reasoning. From this perspective, the student's role is to master what the teacher says. The Platonist perspective also emphasizes narration, and students are considered to be receptors. When mathematics instruction mimics these narrative perspectives, the textbook or teacher is continually relied upon for problem generation and for explicit instructions on how to solve problems. Students serve mostly as listeners and have little responsibility for constructing their own knowledge. Problem posing can be used to challenge over-reliance on the teacher and the textbook, and give the student an improved sense of ownership and engagement in their education. Moreover, extending problems with problem posing offers other potential benefits. As part of the critical "look back" process of problem solving, it can enhance student reasoning and reflection needed for a deep understanding of mathematics. Also, student-generated connections between mathematics and the real world often spring from such creative experiences. PROCEDURES The following activity utilizes a common problem involving automobile depreciation, which could be labeled the Jetta Problem. This problem was assigned to a class of community college students enrolled in a precalculus course. They worked on the problem in small groups of 3 or 4 students and had graphing calculators at their disposal. Jetta Problem: A new 2000 Volkswagon Jetta GL-Sedan has a base price of $15,230 and will depreciate 44% over the first 5 years. a) Model the Jetta's depreciation using a linear function. b) Model the Jetta's depreciation using an exponential function. c) If you owned the Jetta and wished to trade it in after 4 years, which method of depreciation would be most beneficial to you as the owner? To encourage problem posing by the students, the following was added to the problem. d) Extend this problem by writing your own question and solution using or modifying the information given in the problem. EXAMPLE SOLUTIONS AND STUDENT RESPONSES Presented below are sample solutions to parts a, b, and c, along with seven examples of student-generated problems resulting from part d of the Jetta Problem. The solutions to Parts a, b and c serve merely as a point of reference for the reflective and creative problems posed, as well as the related discussions prompted by Part d. Although all of the groups found a solution for part a, most needed help with Part b. However, once part b was completed, all of the groups managed to complete Part c and to generate a problem and a solution for Part d. Solution to Part c: Students entered function y^sub 1^ and their choice for y^sub 2^ into the calculator. In Figure 1 a printout of the calculator displays shows the functions, window, and graphs used. Because of the values of y^sub 1^ and y^sub 2^ at x = 4 are very close together, some students examined the table of values for y^sub 1^ and y^sub 2^, and a printout of the table forms the last display in Figure 1. …


The system communicates data, including an encoder for encoding the communication data by a forward error correction code (102). Data randomizer (106), the communication data is randomized by a random bit sequence, combining circuit (104) includes a known symbol communications data, synthesizes the frame. Modulator (110), the communication data based on a particular mapping algorithm to form a communications signal having a capable MSK or GMSK waveform to transmit the communication data, and minimum shift keying or Gaussian minimum shift mapping to keying (MSK or GMSK) symbols.


It is generally assumed that plant assimilation constitutes the major sink for anthropogenic NO{sub 3}- deposition in temperate forests because growth is generally limited by N availability . However, few studies have directly determined the ability of overstory trees to take up and assimilate NO{sub 3}-. We studied the NO{sub 3}- nutrition of Acer saccharum Marsh. in four northern hardwood forests receiving experimental NO{sub 3}- additions equivalent to 30 kg N ha{sup -1} y{sup -1}. Kinetic parameters for uptake of NO{sub 3}- and NH{sub 4}+ by excised fine roots were determined using {sup 15}N, and rates of nitrate reductase activity (NRA) in leaves and fine roots were measured using an in vivo assay. Rates of leaf (7.87 nmol g{sup -1} h{sup -1}) and fine root (2.72 nmol g{sup -1} h{sup -1}) NRA were substantially lower than rates for most woody plants, and showed no response to NO{sub 3}- fertilization. The mean V{sub max} for NO{sub 3}- uptake in fine roots (0.67 {mu}mol g{sup -1} h{sup -1}) was approximately 30-times lower than the V{sub max} for NH{sub 4}+ uptake. At the present concentrations of NO{sub 3}- in soil solution, NO{sub 3}- uptake by fine roots already occurs at its maximum velocity,more » suggesting that Acer saccharum has a limited ability to directly assimilate NO{sub 3} entering these ecosystems from the atmosphere.« less


Previous studies have shown that the application of mathematical techniques can be useful for clarifying emotional involvements in drama. Using a mathematical technique, Taylor's a, this study evaluates political involvements in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar." With the support of the influence theories of Katz and Bales, the analysis proves that Brutus is identified as the "natural leader" with the greatest degree of "political influence" throughout the majority of the drama. The general influence theories of Bales and Parsons assist in delineating the characteristics of the influence structure. Interestingly, the degree of Brutus' influence in each act was proportional to his communication flow.


Objective To observe the relationship between serum transforming growth factor β1 (TGF β1) and liver cell damage, procollagen Ⅲ (PCⅢ), Laminin (LN), hyaluronic acid (HA), proliferation of hepatic fibrotic tissue.Methods Serum TGF β1 was detected by ELISA. Liver biopsy was performed in 29 patients with chronic hepatitis B(CHB)/liver cirrhosis (LC). Histopathological diagnoses and quantitative analysis for collagenous and reticular fibers were made.Results (1) Serum TGF β1 levels in CHB and LC patients were notably higher than that in NC (95.3±34.1)mg/L( P 0.01) and increased by degrees in mild, moderate, severe CHB and LC (144.3±57.1)mg/L、(349.5±107.7)mg/L,(508.3±133.3)mg/L,(579.4±225.1)mg/L, ( P 0.01 or P 0.05). (2) Serum TGF β1 was positively correlated with serum level of PCⅢ, LN, HA ( P 0.01 or P 0.05). Conclusion TGF β1 plays an important role in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis. The detection of serum TGF β1 is of high value in diagnosing liver fibrosis. diagnostic value in liver fibrosis.