The proposed measures will meet with little popularity, yet in view of the urgency drastic action is necessary. Also, the transition to CO2-free energy remains inevitable regardless of climate policy imperatives. The energy independence that grows in line with CO2-free energy generation increases room for manoeuvre in foreign policy, thereby also creating room for manoeuvre for a truly independent foreign and security policy. This in turn can clearly bring pressure to bear in terms of climate policy.


Over 30% (19/62) of cells with identi®ed P, M or mixed P/M input were recorded from layer 4 (seven of those cells were found in parvorecipient layer 4Cb, four cells were recorded in the magno-recipient layer 4Ca and eight cells were located in layer 4B). Six of these cells (all of them located in layer 4Cb), appeared to receive a pure P input, eight received a pure M input (three of them were located in layer 4Ca and ®ve in layer 4B) while the remaining ®ve cells appeared to receive mixed P and M inputs (one of them was located in layer 4Cb, one in layer 4Ca and three in layer 4B).


Preface Biography Works and Performances Discography Bibliography Appendix A: Alphabetical List of Works Appendix B: Chronological List of Works Appendix C: Canadian Music Centres Index


Zinc oxide, ZnSO₄, and ZnS were tested as sources of Zn at rates of 1, 2, and 4 ppm Zn for two successive crops of corn (Zea mays) grown on Nolichucky sandy clay loam (pH 7.3). Each source was mixed throughout the soil as finely ground material, incorporated into granules of ammonium nitrate (AN) or ammonium polyphosphate (APP) by pressure granulation, and into granules of concentrated superphosphate (CSP) during the granulation stage of the manufacturing process. When mixed with the soil ZnO and ZnSO₄ were more effective than when incorporated with a macronutrient carrier. Both ZnO and ZnSO₄ were markedly superior to ZnS. Ammonium nitrate and APP were comparable carriers when ZnSO₄ was the source, but APP was superior to AN when ZnO was used. A higher concentration of Zn in the CSP granules resulted in poorer response to this carrier. Zinc oxide was pressure granulated with CSP, AN, APP, or Nolichucky soil to contain 0.5, 2.0, or 8.0% Zn. Soil granules and CSP were applied at 1, 2, and 4 ppm Zn while AN and APP were applied at 2 ppm only. Forage yields and Zn uptake varied inversely with concentration of Zn in all carriers.


Background/Aims: The rapid expansion of web-based video hosting platforms has resulted in DVD-assisted learning being increasingly used in higher education. This format is particularly attractive for teaching clinical skills as it provides a permanent resource that can be cost effective for the university, while providing a flexible learning tool for the learner. DVD-assisted learning has been found to be effective in teaching clinical skills when compared with other teaching modalities; however, the majority of this research has been conducted in the discipline of medicine to teach surgical skills. The aim of this research was to determine the efficacy of a DVD-based teaching approach (intervention) compared with the traditional face-to-face approach (control) to teach occupational therapy students to transfer a patient using a hoist. Methods: A single-blind, randomised controlled pilot trial was carried out among final-year occupational therapy students (n=12) who were randomly assigned to DVD-assisted ...


This paper presents a year-by-year incremental approach to forecasting the Atlantic named storm fre- quency (ATSF) for the hurricane season (1 June–30 November). The year-by-yearincrease or decrease in the ATSF is first forecasted to yield a net ATSF prediction. Six key predictors for the year-by-year increment in the number of Atlantic named tropical storms have been identified that are available before 1 May. The forecast model for the year-by-year increment of the ATSF is first established using a multilinear regression method based on data taken from the years 1965–99, and the forecast model of the ATSF is then derived. The prediction model for the ATSF shows good prediction skill. Compared to the climatological average mean absoluteerror(MAE)of4.1,thepercentageimprovementintheMAEis29%forthehindcastperiodof2004–09and46%forthecross-validationtestfrom1985to2009(26yr).Thisworkdemonstratesthattheyear-by-year incremental approach has the potential to improve the operational forecasting skill for the ATSF.


» There is a spectrum of midtarsal injuries, ranging from mild midfoot sprains to complex Lisfranc fracture-dislocations.» Use of appropriate imaging can reduce patient morbidity, by reducing the number of missed diagnoses and, conversely, avoiding overtreatment. Weight-bearing radiographs are of great value when investigating the so-called subtle Lisfranc injury.» Regardless of the operative strategy, anatomical reduction and stable fixation is a prerequisite for a satisfactory outcome in the management of displaced injuries.» Fixation device removal is less frequently reported after primary arthrodesis compared with open reduction and internal fixation based on 6 published meta-analyses. However, the indications for further surgery are often unclear, and the evidence of the included studies is of typically low quality. Further high-quality prospective randomized trials with robust cost-effectiveness analyses are required in this area.» We have proposed an investigation and treatment algorithm based on the current literature and clinical experience of our trauma center.


A calculating model is proposed to determinate the extended products with surface transducer. The expressions depending on the curvature of cylindrical product and the distance between transducer and surface of product are derived.


Dental pain, anxiety and fear are important factors that prevent patients from seeking dental care. Dental anxiety is a prevalent issue which every dental practitioner will face. As dental anxiety involves personal consequences for the affected patients - as well as hampering the clinical performance of the dental profession – this matter should be taken seriously and dealt with accordingly. The treatment of dental anxiety thus should be within the competence of the general practitioner in this research we will clarify the measures a general dentist can take to understand what is happening with these patients and how to ease the dental treatment of fearful patients. Studies indicate that memory of dental pain is "reconstructed" over time. They found that highly anxious patients tended to overestimate the pain they would feel prior to the dental procedure and also overestimate the pain experienced, when asked to recall it later. This pattern of findings has also been seen in other studies. In a study which examined 60 dental patients who twice underwent oral surgery, the highly anxious patients expected more pain than they actually experienced during the procedure, and also required more time for management than did patients with low anxiety levels.


Background: We examined the impact of a two year secondary prevention program on recurrent hospitalization in cardiac patients with ready access to specialist care.

Methods: The Young at Heart Study was a multicentre, randomized controlled trial comparing usual post-discharge care (UC) with a flexible, nurse-led, home-based intervention (HBI). The primary endpoint was rate of all-cause hospital stay during 31.5±7.5 months follow-up.

Results: Overall, 602 (mean age 70±10 years, 72% men and 62% hospitalized for coronary artery disease of whom 39% underwent coronary revascularization) patients were randomized to UC (n=296) or HBI (n=306 - 96% received at least one home visit). Women were on average 5 years older (p<0.001) and had greater levels of co-morbidity (p=0.009) than men; these differences were consistent across the two study groups. At 2 years, more HBI versus UC (39 vs. 27%; OR 1.67; 95% CI 1.15 – 2.41; p=0.007) patients were assessed as stable and optimally managed. Overall, 42 patients (7.0%) died and 492 patients (82%) were hospitalized with 2338 all-cause admissions and 10,045 days of hospitalization. There were no group differences (HBI vs. UC) in the primary endpoint of all-cause hospital stay (0.78±2.01 vs. 0.68±1.96/month; p=0.546) or all-cause hospitalization (0.14±0.20 vs. 0.14±0.30/month; p=0.867). Overall, men in the HBI group (40/215 [19%]) were significantly less likely to experience a cardiovascular admission compared to UC (61/216 [28%]) with the reverse situation for women in the HBI group (30/91 [33%]) vs. UC (20/80 [25%]). Independent correlates of cardiovascular admission were living alone (HR 1.62, 95% CI 1.03-2.54; p=0.038) and increasing comorbidity (HR 1.09, 95% CI 1.02 – 1.16 per unit score; p=0.013) for men and women combined. For men only, assignment to the HBI group (HR 0.61, 95% CI 0.41-0.93 for HBI vs. UC; p=0.019) and advancing age was associated with reduced likelihood of a cardiovascular readmission (HR 0.97, 95% CI 0.94-1.00 per year; p=0.05) with 583 less days of (p=0.036) hospital stay. In women, advancing age (HR 1.06, 95% CI 1.01-1.10 per year; p=0.012) and study site (HR 0.57, 95% CI 0.40-0.82, site A vs. B; p=0.002) were the only significant correlates, with assignment to HBI associated with a non-significant 1.4-fold increased risk of such an event.

Conclusions: Despite high levels of engagement and potential clinical improvements at 2 years, HBI did not reduce levels of recurrent hospital stay compared to usual care. However, improved cardiovascular outcomes in men, but not women, requires further investigation.


A simple optical system has been designed for making spatially resolved measurements of the emission and self‐absorption of an extended radiator. The system, which is a highly efficient collector of radiation, isolates a conical region extending through the radiating body. If the radiator is uniform along the line of sight, no mathematical inversion is required to determine the local emission and absorption coefficients. Since the isolated region is the radiation source for measuring its own absorption, source and absorber are identical, and the analysis for wavelength dependent absorption is simplified. The system can also be used for making spatially resolved measurements of the absorption of externally generated radiation. This paper describes the basic concept as well as an instrument containing only reflection optics that has been constructed for measuring radial profiles of radiative properties of a gas discharge plasma.


The PROSPECT radiative transfer model was widely used to estimate leaf biochemical parameters, such as chlorophyll, leaf mass per area (LMA) and equivalent water thickness (EWT). Many studies have reported that LMA is the most difficult to retrieve from PROSPECT primarily because the dry matter absorption features on the reflectance spectra of fresh leaves are largely masked by stronger water absorption. This study proposed a new inversion method by integrating the continuous wavelet analysis into the PROSPECT inversion process. Instead of using reflectance directly as for most studies, this method used the wavelet coefficient spectra from continuous wavelet transform for constructing the merit function for inversion. The performance of the new method was evaluated with a multi-species dataset (LOPEX) and a single-species dataset (Wheat). The results demonstrated that the wavelet-based inversion method yielded higher accuracies than traditional methods and better consistency between data sets. This inversion method has great potential for developing portable instruments to predict foliar biomass of crops without the need of calibration models.


&dquo;Where once the basic power and prerogatives of privileged elites were maintained primarily through mere naked exercise of power, reliance is increasingly placed instead on the effort to limit the mind's power rationally to understand public policy. The result is extremism on the Right, and manipulated consensus in the middle.&dquo; This quotation from Mr. Kaufman's book provides a pertinent introduction to his work in two ways: firstly, in the emphasis on reason and rational deliberation,


Microstructure, soft magnetic properties, and applications of high resistive Fe-M-O (M=Hf, Zr, rare-earth metals) were studied. The Fe-M-O films are composed of bcc nanograins and amorphous phases with larger amounts of M and O elements which chemically combine each other. Consequently, the amorphous phases have high electrical resistivity. The compositional dependence of magnetic properties, electrical resistivity, and structure have been almost clarified. For example, the high magnetization of 1.3 T, high permeability of 1400 at 100 MHz and the high electrical resistivity of 4.1 μΩ m are simultaneously obtained for as-deposited Fe62Hf11O27 nanostructured film fabricated by rf reactive sputtering in a static magnetic field. Furthermore, Co addition to Fe-M-O films improves the frequency characteristics mainly by the increase in the crystalline anisotropy of the nanograins. The Co44.3Fe19.1Hf14.5O22.1 film exhibits the quality factor (Q=μ′/μ′′) of 61 and the μ′ of 170 at 100 MHz as well as the high Is of ...


We report on the elimination of stacking faults by the insertion of low-temperature AlN interlayers in nearly (1016) and (11¯04) oriented semi-polar GaN grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy on Si(112) and Si(113), respectively. The elimination of these defects is visualized by cathodoluminescence (CL) as well as scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and STEM-CL. A possible annihilation mechanism is discussed which leads to the conclusion that the elimination mechanism is most likely valid for all layers with (11¯01) surfaces, enabling heteroepitaxial semi- and non-polar GaN free from stacking faults.


This article discusses the need to prepare students for work in extreme conditions. A special teaching methodology was developed, which turned out to be highly effective.


This paper aims at establishing the elements of sustainable development in the accounting of the economic entities. Emphasis is placed on the principles of sustainable development both in the national context and in the European space. The entities' approach to integrating the requirements of sustainable growth into the accounting model has long been debated since the consumed natural resources are not to be found distinctly in the accounting records of the entity. The debate on this topic is carried out through specific instruments in the form of sustainable development indicators. Thus, in this paper, macroeconomic elements are promoted and, through their compositions, they integrate as many elements of the sustainable development into the accounting model and they are the most appropriate to meet the requirements of the development.


Historically, the high amplitude δ Sct-type variables (δ Sct pulsators with full amplitudes larger than 0.m3) have been considered as a separated group from the "normal" low amplitude δ Sct variables on the basis, mainly, of their pulsation amplitudes. This has been a subject of controversy by a number of authors. After the review papers by Breger (1979, 1980), the commonly accepted idea is that, independently of the amplitude, the δ Sct variables are normal Population I stars in, or evolving off, the main sequence according to standard stellar evolution theory. This excludes the recently discovered pre-main sequence δ Sct pulsators. Nevertheless, some differences remain and some interesting aspects make these high amplitude objects very useful.


Twenty bacterial isolates were isolated from different sources. Preliminary screening for amylotic bacteria was performed on starch solid media. Out of them; 11 isolates showed positive results when flooded with iodine solution. The amylotic activity index was 93, 95 and 99. Identification of all isolates revealed that they belonged to the genus Bacillus. Out of all, three strains of Bacillus designated as B1, B2, and B11 were chosen for further study; according to their saccharification activity measured with the DNS method. Optimum conditions for enzyme production were measured, using wheat bran solid state fermentation (SSF) method. The optimum conditions for the three strains were generally found to be 55%- 75% moisture contents ; not less than 48 hrs incubation time (72 hours max. ); maximum enzymes production was attained at incubation temperature of 30℃ - 50℃; although the amylase retained more than 89% of its activity at temperature ranging from20℃ -70℃ , and optimum pH of 3.5.Qualitative analysis revealed that glucose and maltose was produced by Bacillus strains, B11 enzymes from hydrolysis of soluble starch.


ABSTRACT Purpose The purpose of this review was to explain how advances in our knowledge of rumen microbial ecology provide opportunities to improve ruminal fiber degradation, decrease enteric methane production, and limit wastage of dietary protein without disrupting ruminal efficiency. Sources Peer-reviewed literature was the primary course of information reviewed. Synthesis As numbers of microbial taxa in the rumen have expanded in the past 10 yr, we have gained appreciation for why rumen efficiency is so variable among dietary situations and even among dairy cattle fed the same diets. In typical dairy rations with mixed forage and grain, the primary fibrolytics support a balanced community. However, that community can be disrupted and thus limit fiber digestibility or DMI unless forage quality and particle size along with RDP are maintained. Efforts to decrease enteric methane or improve the efficiency of dietary protein usage should appreciate the complexity of the microbial community to improve consistency of responses. Conclusions and Applications Many feeding practices indirectly influence the rumen microbial structure and function, and future opportunities for feed additives will likely be adjusted for likelihood of benefit using microbial sequence data.


THE OVERALL JOB SATISFACTION AND THE CURRICULUM SATISFACTION OF THE TEACHERS AT THE SECOND CYCLE OF PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS Tüzemen Gençer, Eda MSc, Department of Educational Sciences Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Ahmet OK August 2004, 84 pages The purpose of this study was to assess the overall job satisfaction and the curriculum satisfaction of the teachers teaching Mathematics, Turkish, Social Studies, Natural Sciences, and Foreign Language at 6-8 grades of public elementary schools. A questionnaire developed by the researcher was used as the data collection instrument of this study. All the teachers working at the 6-8 grades of the public elementary schools in Turkey and teaching Mathematics, Turkish, Social Studies, Natural Sciences, and Foreign Language constituted the population of the study. The total number of the teachers who constituted the sample was 720. The data gathered was analyzed by SPSS program; descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, and one-way ANOVA. The results showed that the teachers were satisfied in terms of overall job satisfaction, however, quite undecided in terms of curriculum satisfaction. According to the results of the study, there was a significant difference between the teachers' overall job satisfaction in terms of age, marital status, educational background, work experience, lesson load, and motive for choosing teaching profession, but no difference in terms of their gender, number of courses taught, and teaching subject. The results also showed that there was a significant difference between the teachers' curriculum satisfaction in terms of teaching subject. When the teachers' choice for a new career was considered, there was a significant difference iv between the teachers' overall job satisfaction and between their curriculum satisfaction.


Summary Problems arising from the cultural bias of intelligence tests can be reduced by developing new tests within the society in which they are to be used. With the use of an item format in which S points to one of five illustrations which does not belong with the other four, a nonverbal test of 100 items was developed by Filipinos for Filipino children. Standardized on 1200 school children in the Philippines, the test showed high reliability and satisfactory validity. Results indicate that different norms are needed for urban and rural children. The format readily permits new items and a new analysis when new cultural groups are tested.


Exegetical analysis of unit 2,9–16 and its context (see 1,18–4,25) shows that Paul wants to give the Greek notion of "conscience" a similar meaning and function as "heart" in the biblical and Judaism tradition. He assumes that all the Jews and Greeks have sinned and therefore find themselves in the same position relative to the righteousness of God, even though possessed by ones the Law revealed while by others the natural rights. Since the Law has proved ineffective in the way of salvation of mankind that means it also lost its salvific efficacy, as evidenced by the new initiative of God's saving work carried out in the justification free for all, by virtue of the blood of Jesus Christ (3.25). Each person can be granted with this grace by profession of faith in Christ. However, to obtain the gift of peace, participate in the glory and praise of God in eternity, followers of Jesus must consistently educate their heart and conscience of the new law, that is, they must be circumcised by Gospel of Christ, the Son of God, which became the only power of God leading to salvation (1.16) . The proof of such restored by God's order of salvation is the announced judgment on the whole of humanity on the last day, which he will complete by Jesus Christ based on the Gospel.


Recent analysis of COMPTEL data has revealed an extremely close correlation between 53 GHz microwave free-free and 1.8 MeV gamma-ray line emission. While microwave free-free emission arises from the ionized interstellar medium, 1.8 MeV gamma rays are emitted during the radioactive decay of 26Al. We argue that the close correlation can only be understood if massive stars (M≳20 M☉) are at the origin of Galactic 26Al. Based on the measured proportionality factor, we estimate the 26Al yield of an "equivalent O7 V star" to be (1.0±0.5)×10−4 M☉. Using an estimate for the total Galactic Lyman continuum luminosity of Q=3.5×1053 photons s-1, we derive the Galactic 26Al mass to be 3.1±0.9 M☉. The mass estimate is compared to theoretical nucleosynthesis predictions for 26Al from core-collapse supernovae and Wolf-Rayet stars. We circumvent the problem of using a weakly constrained star formation rate for this comparison by determining the star formation rate self-consistently from our models, using the Galactic Lyman continuum luminosity. The effects of mass loss and metallicity are considered, and the uncertainties of predicted 26Al production rates due to poorly known initial mass limits for the candidate sources are discussed. Assuming solar metallicity throughout the entire Galaxy, we predict a Galactic 26Al mass of 1.6±0.3 M☉, of which ~60% is produced by core-collapse supernovae, while ~40% originates from Wolf-Rayet stars. Taking the Galactic metallicity gradient into account increases the Galactic 26Al mass to 2.2±0.4 M☉, consistent with the observed value. The increase mainly arises from enhanced production by Wolf-Rayet stars in the metal-rich inner Galaxy; these contribute ~60% of the Galactic 26Al budget. We predict that the metallicity gradient should produce an inner-to-outer Galaxy intensity contrast of ~30% between 1.8 MeV and Galactic free-free emission, which should be observable by the future gamma-ray spectrometer SPI on the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL).


Uncontrolled population growth have a negative impact for Indonesia. One way to control the population is using contraceptives. However, a limited of contraceptive experts to be one of the triggers so that society get a bit of information about contraception. Then, expert systems built by applying Bayes method to calculate the value of certainty and forward chaining in the process of tracing to assist couples in determining contraceptive. Determination of contraceptives based on evidence that selected by user as answers from questions posed by system, where all the evidence will be calculated by Bayes theorem to find the biggest certainty value. The probability of male contraception without evidence, there are 80% of condoms and 20% of vasectomy. The probability of female contraception without evidence, there are 6% of pills, 4% of injection, 35% of IUD, 40% implant and 15% of tubektomi. Based on the results of this research, it is known that the evidence concerning of user's health condition has a different weight to each of contraceptives so that the evidence is chosen will affect the value of the certainty of each contraceptives. Keyword : Expert system, forward chaining, Bayes theorem, contraception. Universitas Sumatera Utara


In order to improve the anti-wear properties of mechanical seals made of metal and polymer, surface texture of dimple patterns was fabricated by photolithography and micro-electrochemical machining on 316 stainless steel, the wear tests of textured stainless steel against five different polymer materials were carried out. It is found that surface texture increased wear while the lowest Young's modulus material UHMWPE was used, as well as decreased wear to other four materials whose Young's modulus were higher, and the wear rate decreased significantly as the Young's modulus of polymer materials raised. Then, the FEM software ANSYS was employed to analyze the stress and deformation of contact surfaces to explain the mechanisms. The results show that textured surface increased the contact stress and deformation at the edges of texture. And the deformation became more obvious to results in cutting wear possibly while the Young's modulus was low.


Education systems in schools today are generally still oriented to the material media books and verbal material delivery by the teacher. This problem raises the lack of understanding and lack of interest of students in understanding material, especially in Biology chapter Genetics. The learning media provided by the teacher are felt to be lacking to support the achievement of maximum student learning achievement. Therefore an interesting learning media is needed that aims to foster students 'interest in learning and increase students' understanding of genetic material. Alternative learning media that can be used is with educational games. In the process of developing this educational game using the  waterfall method. The selection of the waterfall method is because the process of making each stage is systematic, meaning that each stage is interrelated so that it can facilitate the making of the system. The results of this study were in the form of an educational game "The Adventure of Cali-Cali" which was tested on students to find out the improvement in learning achievement. From the data obtained at the pretest results show that students still do not understand the genetic material provided by the teacher. This is evidenced by as many as 90.3% of students who have not met the  Minimum Completion Criteria (KKM). Then the treatment game was given when the posttest showed that as much as 6.50% of students did not meet the KKM. The comparison of the results of the pretest and posttest showed an increase in student learning achievement which increased to 83.8%.


Nowadays business communities are vulnerable to risk, because risk is not only inherent in every activity or business process of the company but also arise in various forms and types. Risks that occur in each company might be different and can present in various forms and cause negative impacts. Thus it is essential for companies to have a proper SC risk management in order to survive in a risky business environment. In this study, integration of the supply chain risk management model will be carried out by using HOR and ANP model. HOR is an innovative model for proactive SC risk management which combines the basic ideas of two well-known tools: the house of quality of the quality function deployment and the failure mode and effect analysis. HOR phase 1 is used to determine which risk agent will be prioritized in advance for precautionary measures and ANP to obtain the best alternative action. There are several steps of the integration method. First of all is mapping business processes. Second, identifying risk events and risk causes. Third, conducting risk assessments and determining the Aggregate Risk Potential (ARP), which risk agents are need to be prioritized based on the ARP value from HOR 1. Fourth, identifying which actions are appropriate to minimize risk agents by ANP modeling and each of these actions will be given weight to obtain the best alternative action. ANP is a tool to determine correlation between risk mitigation and hence rank those mitigation based on the priorities. The second phase of HOR is used to determine correlation between risk mitigation and the event risk and also its effectiveness based on its degree of difficulty to be applied. The output of this phase is a list of priorities on the mitigation risk which is relatively possible and feasible to be applied and capable to mitigate the risks. This study is conducted on 3 reputable manufacturing industries to be compared and analysed. HOR2 is intended to prioritize the proactive actions that the company should pursue to maximize the cost-effectiveness of the effort in dealing with the selected risk agents in HOR 1. This research shows that risks apply differently on each company. Hence, the ANP ranking is different. Mitigation risk's rank is determined from the second phase of HOR as it has considered correlation aspect of risk agents and its degree of difficulty to be mitigate. Finally, special actions are applied to various risks such as performance appraisal to the staffs. Further study is needed such as by ISM method in order to make mitigation actions are focused on the companies.


Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS)-dedicated cell is a Long Term Evolution (LTE) based broadcast transmission mode with both high transmission efficiency and good compatibility with LTE unicast systems. However, since the physical design of Cell Acquisition Subframe (CAS), which is the control part of an MBMS-dedicated cell transmission period, does not take into account the long delay spread channels in Medium Tower Medium Power (MTMP) and High Tower High Power (HTHP) cells, receivers would probably suffer from multipath aliasing errors in practical transmission. This paper analyzes the impact of aliasing errors on channel estimation (CHE) accuracy and proposes an Aliasing-Elimination CHE algorithm for CAS reception. In the proposed algorithm, the pre-decoded Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) is reconstructed and utilized to generate a complete multipath distribution within the entire OFDM symbol length. By using this full-symbol length multipath distribution, the proposed algorithm eliminates aliasing errors effectively. Simulation results and complexity analysis show that the proposed CHE algorithm achieves a significant performance improvement compared to conventional CHE algorithms in long delay spread channels, with acceptable increment in complexity.


The ever-increasing scale of system interconnection and diverse dynamic time constants of power equipment pose challenges to power system electromagnetic transients simulation algorithm. In this paper, an advanced numerical integration method based on matrix exponential operator is proposed. Krylov subspace approximation is utilized to effectively reduce the problem dimension, and an accurate dense output formula is established to enable the method adopting larger simulation step size and revealing higher frequency dynamic details simultaneously. Accuracy, numerical stability and computation efficiency is demonstrated through numerical case studies.


In order to improve the corrosion and tribocorrosion resistance of magnesium alloy used as implant materials in human body, a calcium phosphate (Ca/P) containing coating was obtained by micro‐arc oxidation (MAO) on the nano‐layer pretreated by ultrasonic cold forging technology (UCFT). The metallographic structure of the UCFT‐treated sample was observed by metallographic microscope. The thickness of the nanolayer is about 100 µm and the grain size has become smaller than that of the untreated sample. The results show that OCP increases gradually under corrosion and will be up and down under tribocorrosion. PDP data show that the current density of UCFT‐MAO sample is the lowest under corrosion and tribocorrosion, and the current density of the sample under tribocorrosion is higher than that under corrosion. EIS shows that the impedance magnitude (|Z|) of the samples under tribocorrosion is much lower than that of under corrosion. These results indicate that corrosion resistant performance of the UCFT‐MAO sample can be reduced by wear. And a physical model of the tribocorrosion behavior was proposed.


BACKGROUND: Leg length discrepancy (LLD) can cause abnormal posture, muscle and/or joint pains, which leads to walking difficulties. The common treatment is to use a shoe lift on the shorter leg side, but this has unsatisfying results. OBJECTIVE: Through research and development, we created 3D printing orthotic insoles for LLD patients and aimed to improve their symptoms. METHODS: 1. Research and development of 3D printing orthotic insole: (1) foot scan and data acquisition; (2) insole software modeling; (3) 3D printing insole using TPU materials, and (4) post-processing. 2. Clinical observation: we customized insoles for LLD patients and required them to wear them while walking. We conducted general inquiries and a functional evaluation before and after 12 weeks of wearing insoles. RESULTS: There are seven complete cases. The joint and lower back pains were alleviated. The stride frequency, stride and pace were improved in all seven cases. Patients' overall health condition improved significantly. CONCLUSIONS: The 3D printing orthotic insoles are made with clear procedures and practical operability. By wearing insoles, patients' muscle and/or joint pains were relieved and their gaits were improved.


The problems with drug use are still found in the society, such as lack of knowledge about drug management, how to use it, storing, and others. The DAGUSIBU program was created as an effort to increase public knowledge in using and managing drugs. The purpose of the program is to help the community to know about the procedures for storing and disposing drugs that are no longer in use. The method of the activity is by outreaching the community "door to door" with leaflets. The socialization was carried out on 12 to 13 May 2021, the participants were the people in Meler Village, Ruteng Sub-district, Manggrai Regency, NTT. The implementation of the DAGUSIBU Socialization Program which has been implemented in there has succeeded well and received a good response from its people.


Sulfuric acid treated biopolymers (STB) were prepared from a lignocellulosic-based agricultural byproduct. The STB has been used as an effective adsorbent in a batch experiment for the removal of m...


Objective:To investigate the indications,surgical method and clinical application of laparoscopic liver abscess catheter drainage and laparoscopic liver abscess incision and drainage. Methods:The clinical data of 63 patients with liver abscess who underwent laparoscopic surgery from Jan.2000 to Jun.2010 were retrospectively analyzed.34 patients underwent laparoscopic liver abscess catheter drainage and 29 patients underwent laparoscopic liver abscess incision and drainage. Results:All laparoscopic operations were successful,no one was transferred to open operation.The average operative time of laparoscopic liver abscess catheter drainage was 35min,65min for laparoscopic liver abscess incision and drainage.Laparoscopic cholecystectomy and common bile duct exploration and drainage were applied in 15 cases.Mean postoperative hospital stay was 13d.Inadequate drainage was found in 2 patients,who were cured by B-ultrasound guided puncture after removal of the drainage tube.Postoperative residual bile duct calculus occurred in 2 cases,and was removed by choledochoscopy through sinus.49 cases were followed up for 3 months to 3 years.3 cases relapsed in two years,2 cases of which were the left hepatic duct stricture and infection,and healed after open left hepatectomy;1 case was caused by diabetes and recovered after laparoscopic catheter drainage. Conclusions:Laparoscopic surgical treatment of liver abscess has advantages of easy operation,small trauma and fast recovery,is the ideal surgical treatment of liver abscess.


ABSTRACT This article responds to encouragement to remember the wonder in gender and sexualities education. Specifically, it addresses gender and sexuality in a variety of contexts, from mediated forms to how gendered sexual expectations are socially constructed and conveyed through cultural scripts, particularly in heterosexual contexts. According to traditional sexual scripts, men are encouraged to be sexually active and privilege personal sexual pleasure (e.g., arousal, orgasm), whereas women are often conditioned to be sexually passive, reactive, dismissive and reputationally protective. Exploring gender, conditioning and education as they relate to sexuality and pleasure, this article combines scholarly research with play in its approach. Findings acknowledge both the continuation of traditional sexual expectations and practices as related to sex and gender as well as the value of more contemporary, sexual nuance such as those found in PlayLabs, educational workshops addressing sex and mentoring as related to sex and pleasure.


Pulmonary complications of smoking include lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and smoking-related interstitial lung disease.Injury related to cigarette smoking may result in a spectrum of response in the lungs in which several disease entities co-exist.High resolution CT is the imaging modality of choice in patients with suspected emphysema or smoking-related interstitial lung disease.


Pancreatic cancers are inherently refractory to conventional chemotherapies. Gemcitabine [20,20-difluoro-20deoxycytidine (dFdC)] is currently used as a first-line treatment against locally advanced and metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. Gemcitabine is phosphorylated intracellularly to its active diphosphate (dFdC-DP) and triphosphate (dFdC-TP) forms that inhibit DNA and RNA replication. Membrane-bound nucleoside transporters are prerequisites for hydrophilic gemcitabine to enter cells because cells deficient in nucleoside transporter are resistant to gemcitabine cytotoxicity. Studies to date suggest 2 transporters from each of the human concentrative nucleoside transporter family (hCNT1 and hCNT3) and the equilibrative nucleoside transporter family (hENT1 and hENT2) are capable of translocating gemcitabine across the cell surface. Despite the expression of one or more of the aforementioned transporters in most cells types, hENT1 is generally considered to be predominantly involved in gemcitabine transport in tumors as its expression correlates with cellular proliferation. Clinical evidence also shows that pancreatic tumor cells with high hENT1 expression exhibit increased gemcitabine chemosensitivity. The present study establishes a role for the human concentrative nucleoside transporter-1 (hCNT1) in regulating the chemosensitivity of human pancreatic cancer cells to gemcitabine. Pharmacologic inhibition of hCNT1 degradation moderately increased cell surface hCNT1 expression and cellular gemcitabine transport in MIA PaCa-2 cells. Constitutive hCNT1 expression reduced clonogenic survival of MIA PaCa-2 cells and steeply augmented gemcitabine transport and chemosensitization. In addition to supporting a putative tumor suppressor role for hCNT1, the present findings highlight hCNT1 as a potential candidate to render drug-resistant pancreatic cancer cells amenable to chemotherapy. (Image from cited article courtesy of publisher.)


Crustacean zooplankton in high altitude ponds in Colorado support two suites of epizoans. Epizoans on Daphnia consisted of Colacium calvum, Characium gracilipes, and peritrich ciliates. Epizoans on Ceriodaphnia, Scapholeberis, and Eucyclops involved Colacium vesiculosum and the peritrich ciliates. Frequent, regular molting of most of the substrate organisms keeps attachment surfaces unoccupied. Epizoan attachment is site-specific rather than a function of epizoan-epizoan interaction. The presence of phototrophic epizoans may contribute to increased susceptibility of their substrate organisms to fish predation.


This paper is a study of the Federal income tax burden of the public utility industry. Effective tax rates are calculated for the years 1954 through 1978. Reasons for the dramatic decline in the effective tax rates are identified, and the impact of the industry's tax benefits on Federal tax revenues, the financial characteristics of the industry, and utility rates are assessed.


A rapid laboratory method is presented for testing the effectiveness of sodium silicate as an anodic inhibitor. Passivity curves taken on polished steel electrodes, pre ‐treated for 24, or better, 48 hr in aerated solutions of sodium silicate (3–500 ppm silica) and compared with sodium hydroxide solutions of the same pH, indicate that silica, and not merely an increase in pH, caused inhibition. No corrosion products were observed in the short pretreatment time for electrodes treated with 15 and more ppm silica, whereas all sodium hydroxide treated electrodes corroded. The method can be made the basis of a practical test by pretreating the electrodes, in the actual environment being treated, with sodium silicate. The procedure also appears to be applicable in the testing of other anodic inhibitors.


The control of multiple rigid body spacecraft in formation flight is explored in this paper. We propose a general control methodology based on the general equations of motion for constrained mechanical systems to solve the problem of formation flying with attitude requirements. Examples of formation flying rigid body spacecraft with various attitude requirements will be given about an oblate central body. The examples demonstrate the broad applicability and scalability of the method. The approach leads to a simple non-linear control methodology that allows exact control of both orbital and attitude dynamics. No linearization of the dynamics is required. The approach used reveals a systematic technique for controlling complex non-linear systems.


A keyboard with a push-pull stand bar, being comprised of a sliding stand bar, a rotatable U-shaped support, a base, a keyboard panel, a stop rod and a stop button, characterized in that: the sliding stand bar is provided with guide rails thereon and is fixed on the base via the guide rails, and can fit with the guide rails at the bottom of the base and slide along the guide rails; the rotatable U-shaped support is of a U-shaped slot structure and has a rotating shaft, and is provided with a toothed structure thereon, is connected to the base via the rotating shaft and is rotatable around the rotating shaft; the stop bar and the stop button are fastened together with one end being fixed on the base and the other end fitting with the teeth on the rotatable U-shaped support.


Auditory processing disorders constitute a heterogeneous group of deficit in the process and analysis of the auditory signal, that affect in an important way the learning, the labor and social life of the patient that suffers them. The medical literature recognizes them for few years and even there are questions without resolving with respect to its physiopathology, diagnostic and management. This article intends to make a revision of the recent literature that permit an approach to the diagnosis and management of the patients with this type of pathologies.


Traditional dynamic balancing and field balancing are unable to meet the trend that high speed rotating machinery becomes more intelligent and precise,so on-line active balancing with non-stop and high-precision is an important method to lower unbalance of rotating machinery.For some type of high-speed grinding motor spindle,an active balancer is put forward,it has cyclic symmetry structure,realizes self-lock and drive using electromagnetism and permanent magnet.This paper mainly studies magnetic circuit and magnetic field of the balancer,obtains static self-lock force and torque and driving force and torque by FEA.Study results can guide optimization of the electromagnetic balancer,then the best balancing effect will be obtained.


In White Noise (1985), Don DeLillo shows the web of systems predominating late twentieth century society. DeLillo illustrates the organizations of supermarket, media, and even drug as new discourses of power in postmodern condition in which, according to Michele Foucault, power is diffuse, and power conflicts can happen at many different sites and levels. This study is an exegesis of Foucault's central concept for understanding representations, and the intersections of discourse, power, and the subject in Don DeLillo's White Noise in which power disseminates through different social and cultural discourses.


Observations collected from a fast-flowing buoyant river plume entering the head of Doubtful Sound, New Zealand, were analysed to examine the drivers of plume lateral spreading. The near-field plume is characterised by flow speeds of over 2 ms−1, and strong stratification (N2 > 0.1 s−2), resulting in enhanced shear which supports the elevated turbulence dissipation rates (ϵ > 10−3 W kg−1). Estimates of plume lateral spreading rates were derived from the trajectories of Lagrangian GPS surface drifters and from cross-plume hydrographic transects. Lateral spreading rates derived from the latter compared favourably with estimates derived from a control volume technique in a previous study. The lateral spreading of the plume was driven by a baroclinic pressure gradient toward the base of the plume. However, spreading rates were underestimated by the surface drifters. A convergence of near-surface flow from the barotropic pressure gradient concentrated the drifters within the plume core. The combination of enhanced internal turbulence stress and mixing at the base of the surface layer, and the presence of steep fjord sidewalls likely reduced the rate of lateral spreading relative to the theoretical spreading rate. The estimates of plume width from the observations provided evidence of scale-dependent dispersion which followed a 4/3 power law. Two theoretical models of dispersion, turbulence and shear flow dispersion, were examined to assess which was capable of representing the observed spreading. An analytical horizontal shear-flow dispersion model generated estimates of lateral dispersion that were consistent with the observed 4/3 law of dispersion. Therefore, horizontal shear dispersion appeared to be the dominant mechanism of dispersion, thus spreading, in the surface plume layer.


Initially limited to portable consumer electronics, the field of lithium ion batteries (LIBs) is rapidly expanding toward performance-demanding applications such as electric vehicles and load levelling of electric grids. The success of LIBs is owed to high energy density, lightweight, rapid charge/discharge, and long lifetime. However, safety issues deriving from the use of flammable liquid organic electrolytes are at present one of the major drawbacks of this technology. Solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs), representing a lithium salt associated with a polar neutral polymer or with an ion-conducting polymer matrix have been proposed to replace liquid electrolytes in LIBs. Among other benefits, SPEs offer inherent thermal stability, nonflammability and good mechanical stability. Moreover, they do not require liquid electrolyte confinement and, therefore, enable the production of flexible and thinner batteries. Despite the mentioned advantages, the intrinsic low ionic conductivity of polymer electrolytes have precluded their use in real devices so far, and significant research efforts are still required to address this open issue. Considering such a scenario, the research work during this Ph.D. career has been focused on the development of novel high-performance polymer electrolytes for applications in LIBs. The goal has been pursued exploiting a series of smart engineering strategies and synthetic pathways. All of the newly designed materials were characterized in terms of their physicochemical and electrochemical properties, and their performance evaluated in lab-scale lithium cell prototypes. In the first part of this Ph.D. work, UV-induced crosslinking has demonstrated to be a versatile tool for preparing different families of quasi-solid polymer electrolytes based on polyethylene oxide (PEO). In the past decades, this polymer has been intensively studied since its ability to complex and transport alkali metal cations. At ambient temperature, the ionic conductivity of lithium salt complexes in PEO is limited by the semicristalline domains, and ion conduction is limited to the amorphous phase. Recently, combinations of high molecular weight PEO, lithium salts and low molecular weight plasticizer have been explored as polymer based electrolyte. Despite an increase of ionic conductivity, the mechanical stability of the composite was poor when the content of plasticizer exceeded a certain limit. In this thesis a solution to this problem was proposed: highly conductive PEO based polymer electrolytes were prepared via UV induced crosslinking in the presence of a lithium salt (lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide, LiTFSI) and various high boiling point liquid plasticizers. A room temperature ionic liquid, namely 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide (EMITFSI) was used in the former case, whereas tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether (TEGDME) was employed in the latter. In both systems, ionic conductivity substantially increased upon incorporation of the plasticizer (up to 10-4 S cm-1 at 25 °C). Noteworthy, the obtained crosslinking assured the mechanical properties to be well retained despite the high plasticizer content (up to 45% wt). Moreover, the prepared SPE showed outstanding characteristics in terms of thermal stability (> 170 °C) and electrochemical stability window (>4.5 V in both cases). Finally, the prepared materials were successfully tested in lithium cells prototypes. An in situ polymerization method was developed to obtain an improved interfacial adhesion between the polymer electrolyte and the cells electrodes. Lab-scale lithium cells were assembled and tested up to hundred cycles of full charge and discharge, showing excellent performance at different operating temperatures and applied current rates. Given the promising prospect of the developed materials, along with the easiness of the proposed process, the newly developed preparati


Two simple recursive formulas are derived for obtaining the coefficients of the partial fraction expansion with multiple poles. The entire process is pure algebraic operation without any differential calculus and is readily adapted to a digital computer.


A series of aralkyl and alkyl carbamates of the type R1OCONR2R3 (R1=alkyl or aralkyl, R2, R3=H, Me, Et) were prepared and tested for anticonvulsant activity in mice by means of the maximal electroshock seizure test. The ED50 values were analyzed in terms of hydrophobic (log P), electronic (σ1) and other parameters by regression analysis. The results are essentially the same as those for previously studied m-and p-substituted benzyl N, N-dimethylcarbamates (X-C6H4-CH2OCONMe2). The activity depended parabolically on log P with an optimum log P of 1.7, and was negatively correlated with σ1. It was also found that the potency is reduced when R1 is an alkyl group or includes a hydrogen-bonding group. Structural requirements for the optimal potency and the aromatic ring contribution to the activity are discussed.


Background: Firearm injuries represent a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. The incidence varies over time and according to geographic region. Aim of the work: The aim of our study was to illustrate the epidemiology of firearm-related injuries and point to pattern of firearm violence in Fayoum Governorate-Egypt. Methodology: comparative observational study on firearm injuries reported by Forensic Medical Authority in Fayoum Governorate from the period of January 2011 to December 2016. Firearm injuries related to demonstrations or political events were excluded. Results:  male gender constituted about 89% while female gender represented 10% of the study population. 40% were urban and 60% were rural. About one percent of study group showed fatal injuries. Quarrels were on the top of the list of the known causes of firearm injuries (13%). Conclusion: We concluded that, the incidence of fire arm injuries was high in 2011 and gradually decreased through 2012 and 2013 then an increase was noticed in 2014 followed by a decrease to the least percentage recorded through the study period in 2016.


ABSTRACT This study presents 60-GHz patch antennas backed by artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) arrays for bandwidth and gain enhancement. Low-temperature cofired ceramic technology was adopted for antenna fabrication. Three patch antennas implemented with different AMC configurations were simulated and compared. The patch-shaped AMC was selected for final antenna fabrication because of its superior performance. The proposed antenna provided a measured impedance bandwidth of 50.2 − 68 GHz or an equivalent fractional bandwidth of 30.3%. The measured maximum gain was 7.8 dBi at 63 GHz.


Abstract : This study explores the effects of airpower technologies and logistics on American airpower. It finds that future swarms of small, remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) might provide significant force-projection capabilities using global military and commercial logistics infrastructures. This conclusion results from an examination of air operations during the Vietnam War, Operations DESERT STORM and ENDURING FREEDOM, existing RPA research and development, and projected Department of Defense developmental milestones involving swarms of small RPAs. The thesis also proposes a concept of operations, designated Locust Swarm, and a new logistics construct, called Instant Basing, that exploit the future capabilities of small, unmanned aerial vehicles. Such concepts may provide national policymakers relatively low-cost, low-risk options for international crises requiring the rapid deployment of airpower.


There are many buckle anchors in the multi-ribbed steel arch bridge multi-segmental construction,through the analysis and comparison of finite element program on a different order of demolition cord simulation analysis,a reasonable program of demolition cord is identified making the arch design as close as linear after the alignment which provide the reference for demolition cable in the future similar projects.


When A Min was a young guy in the mid-forties a new buzzword appeared: B2B e-commerce. During the first hype it was expected that B2B ability will become a knock-out criteria for selecting business partners. Now, A Min is celebrating his 50 birthday with glamour but the first glamour of B2B is gone. B2B is back to reality, where it was at A Min's 40 anniversary. At that time A Min already recognized that communications between enterprises will become more and more important. He advised his student to concentrate on this topic. Here, the student reports about his work on B2B. We take a look at the history of B2B which started around the time when A Min was born. The history was mainly dominated by business document standardization efforts. The shortcomings of this approach are analyzed. If projects towards integrating small & medium enterprises continue this path, B2B will never take off. Therefore, a paradigm shift for B2B is proposed and an initiative called ebXML following this paradigm is presented. When we meet again to celebrate A Min's 60 birthday, I hope to report that the paradigm shift has happened and the phrase "B2B or not 2B" is reality.


As a private university, Dalian University of Science and Technology always attaches great importance to strengthening party building. Through continuous promotion of the board of directors, the president's office, the party committee, the party and government joint meeting (hereinafter referred to as the "four meetings"), improve the "four meetings " linkage mechanism, so that the "four meetings " can not only play their respective roles, but also form a joint effort. The political core role of the party committee is effectively played in participating in various decision-making and practical work of DLUST, and continuously promotes the healthy development of university education. 党委政治核心条件下"四会"联动机制的建立与完善 单慧 a* 大连科技学院,大连,辽宁,中国 firstname.lastname@example.com


Abstract In the present study, a new series of (bis)ureas 11(a–f) and (bis)thioureas 13(a–f) of 3,3'-dimethoxy-[1,1'-biphenyl]-4,4'-diamine dihydrochloride (9) has been synthesized. This precursor intermediate 9 in high yields was preparedfrom the commercial starting material, 4,4'-dinitro-[1,1'-biphenyl]-3,3'-diol (7) by following the chemical transformations such as methylation of hydroxyl groups and reduction of nitro to an amine functionality. Antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the synthesized compounds were evaluated to screen for their biological significance. Antimicrobial activity screening results against four bacteria and two fungi unveiled that a few compounds, 11 b/13b, 11e/13e, and 11d (MIC 3.125 − 6.25 µg/ml) against all the tested bacterial strains and compound 11d against Cladosporium species (MIC 3.125 µg/ml) having potential activity. Especially, (bis)urea compounds 11a, 11 b, and 11e, and (bis)thiourea compounds 13a, 13d, and 13f (MIC 3.125 µg/ml) are proved the comparable activity with standard, cefixime (MIC 3.125 µg/ml) against P. aeruginosa. On the other hand, a few compounds 11c/13c, 13d, and 11e/13e were found, by using DPPH and FRAP methods, to exhibit a good antioxidant activity (IC50 range 25.0–32.5 µg/ml). The synthesized compounds were docked well in the active site of an enzyme, DNA Gyrase A, and the predictions of in silico-ADME and pharmacokinetic parameters suggest that the compounds have good oral bioavailability. The results demonstrate that this class of compounds has an expedient scope to use as antibacterial and antioxidant agents upon further development.


What kind of value does a public building for cultural activities create for clients, construction professionals and users? One approach to understand the complexity of ongoing processes over time ...


Since the first total hip replacement (THR) in 1938 by Philip Wiles, prosthesis materials and THR surgical technologies have developed rapidly. In this review, we use internationally-published research to synthesize a comprehensive analysis of the specific characteristics and clinical
 outcomes of different bearing surfaces used in THR. Polyethylene, metallic alloys, and ceramic have become the three most commonly used hip prosthesis bearing surfaces after decades of hip implant development. Different bearing surface types have varying characteristics that offer specific
 benefits and risks of complication. A thorough understanding of the unique properties and possible complications of each type of bearing surface is critical to surgeons tasked with selecting appropriate implant materials for total hip replacement.


Several bismuth layer-structured compounds A_n_−3Bi_4Ti_nO_3_n_+3 (A = Ba, Sr, Ca) with n > 4 were synthesized and investigated. The average radius of A-site cations was found to be closely related to the lattice parameters in the a-b plane and, therefore, closely related to the stability of the layer structure. For Ba_2Bi_4Ti_5O_18 ceramics, there was a diffused phase transition centered at approximately 330 °C, which should be due to the cation redistribution of A-site Ba^2+ and Bi^3+ in the (Bi_2O_2)^2+ layer. For Sr_2Bi_4Ti_5O_18 ceramics, a sharp dielectric constant peak was found at 325 °C. Ceramics of five-layered Ca_2Bi_4Ti_5O_18 and six-layered Ca_3Bi_4Ti_6O_21 showed temperature-stable dielectric constants up to 800 °C, and ferroelectricity was observed. In addition, as ferroelectrics, these Ca-containing bismuth layer-structured compounds showed frequency-independent dielectric constants >150 and small tan δ on the order of 10^−3-10^−4 in the frequency range of 1 kHz to 1 MHz.


DPX-F5384, methyl 2-[[[[[(4, 6-dimethox-pyrimidin-2-yl) amino] carbonyl] amino] sulfonyl]methyl]benzoate and several analogs were examined for herbicidal activities, crop safety, and selectivity.(1) Both DPX-F5384 and DPX-T6375 which have substitutents of 2-CO2CH3 were tested in petri dishes to examine their effect during early growth stage of rice, Brassica pekinensis and Sagittaria pygmaea. The results indicated that DPX-F5384 has the highest selectivity between rice and other plants. DPX-T6357 provided little selectivity.(2) DPX-F5384 and the analogs were tested for herbicidal activity and crop safety under paddy rice conditions. DPX-W4515, DPX-T6375, DPX-W4189, and DPX-T6376, all with phenyl moiety, exhibited very high weed control activity, but caused severe phytotoxicity on transplanted rice exhibiting little selectivity between rice and weeds. DPX-F5384, with 2-CO2CH3 substituted benzyl moiety, was highly active, 2-Cl substituted DPX-F5390 had very low activity. In contrast to the benzyl type derivatives, DPX-R5582, with 2-Cl substituted phenoxy, had considerably high activity.Among the sulfonylurea compounds exa mined, DPX-F5384 proved to have sufficient crop safety for rice. DPX-R5582 was relatively safe to rice but its safety margin was not broad enough. In addition, DPX-R5582 was not particularly active on Scirpus juncoides, one of the major weeds in rice paddies. DPX-F5384 was the best compound based on its high weed control activity and selective safety to rice.


Despite the growing attention and acknowledgements of the beneficial nature of sport, many South African children still lack access to physical education (PE), physical activity or sport. Many barriers exist that hinder the facilitation of quality PE and sport participation for children in impoverished environments. This research aims to determine the effects of a PE and sport programme offered by local (change) agents at selected schools and a community centre, and to report on a whole-of-school community approach within the context of an impoverished rural community in South Africa. The explorative and descriptive research design of this study utilised qualitative research methods to capture local voices guided by inductive reasoning and rich narrative descriptions. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with two principals from a primary and secondary school, as well as 16 learners (eight per school type), two implementers and two stakeholder representatives. Qualitative data was triangulated with observations and field notes. The main findings report on the various benefits and barriers, whilst contributing to the discourse of school-community integration.


One of the most important elements of China's economic reform has been the promotion of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow. Government polices on FDI have gone through different stages in their main objectives since the late‐1970s, from gradually opening to foreign investors, to actively encouraging inward investment, directing FDI in accordance with domestic industrial restructuring, and complying with China's World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations. FDI in China has experienced rapid growth especially since the mid‐1990s, as well as structural change. Most of the earlier investments were small scale, labor‐intensive and export‐oriented. In recent years, more investment has been large scale and more capital and technology intensive, aiming at both domestic and export markets. Moreover, increasingly more investment has come from the industrial world, and has located along the eastern coastal regions, in additional to the two southeastern provinces. FDI has played a crucial role in China's rapid growth, economic transition, and, mostly importantly, integration with the world. China's recent accession to the WTO provides more incentives to foreign investors. At the same time, it will also result in more intense competition for domestic firms.


Finding ways to support colleges in reducing the frequency of discrimination experiences is imperative to improve the health of the nation and reduce health disparities. The current study evaluated the effectiveness of an intergroup dialogue (IGD)-based diversity and social justice course offered to undergraduate students at a large, midwestern university. Students enrolled in the course completed pre- and postcourse evaluation survey measures of critical consciousness, appreciation for diversity, preference for inequality, and week-to-week ratings of openness, connectedness, and participation in the course. Results suggest the course intervention had positive effects on students' critical consciousness and appreciation of diversity scores. In addition, latent profile and transition analyses indicated students were significantly more likely to stay or move into adaptive versus less adaptive patterns of engagement (i.e., self-rated participation, openness, and connectedness). Findings are discussed in relationship to IGD theory and practice and implications for future research and implementation of IGD-based coursework.


By using the methods of investigate,interviews,documentary and mathematical statistics,this paper analyzes current condition of peasant physical fitness in attitude and behavior in Lianyunguang.This paper put forward such corresponding suggestions as the service system of peasant physical fitness activity on the organization and management of perfection,establishing long-term efficiency and steady push mechanism of rural physical education fitness activity


The nonlinear characteristic is the one of essential characteristics about the magnetic fluid. The orthogonal stationary magnetic field is caused by the mutual orthogonal DC. According to the grads of magnetic field in the area filled with magnetic fluid, the magnetic density of magnetic fluid changes with the grads of magnetic field. With the increasing magnitude of DC, the magnetic density of magnetic fluid can be increased. Error of the measured voltage wll be increased as the volume of the changing rate of DC increasing.


In the arena of scientific medicine, it is not often that a field of study owes its recognition and formative development to a single individual, but in the case of liver injury caused by drugs and other therapeutic xenobiotics, one remarkable man is universally credited as the Patriarch of Drug Hepatotoxicity. Hyman Joseph Zimmerman was born in Rochester, NY, in 1914, quipping later that his birth might have helped start World War I. It probably would never have crossed his mind that the subsequent world conflict would serendipitously play a role in his entry into


Social media platforms display unique qualities that afford unanticipated uses and challenge the application of popular human-centered evaluations and interpretations. This observation, coupled with a rise in unanticipated uses, demonstrates that the design, function, and use of platforms are best treated through a sociotechnical lens.


(7‐O‐(2,6‐Dideoxy‐2‐fluoro‐α‐L‐talopyranosyl)adriamycmone‐14‐hemipimerate (ME2303) showed a more marked growth inhibition of Lewis lung carcinoma than adriamycin (ADM). When administered to s.c. Lewis lung carcinoma‐hearing mice, ME2303 in the plasma and liver was rapidly metabolized and disappeared. However, ME2303 was incorporated into the tumor at higher concentrations and remained in the tumor for a longer period than in the plasma and liver. ME2303 was metabolized to 7‐O‐(2,6‐dideoxy‐2‐fluoro‐α‐L‐talopyranosyl) adriamycinone (M1), the product of esterolysis, and its reduced derivative at the C‐13 position (M2), Larger amounts of these metabolites were found in the analyzed tissues than in plasma. The maximum concentration of Ml in the tumor was observed at 2 h posttreatment, while the maxima in the plasma and liver were observed at 15 min. On the other hand, i.v. injection of M1 into mice showed a weaker antitumor effect than ME2303 injection, though Ml levels in the plasma and tumor were almost the same as those after administration of ME2303 at the maximum tolerated doses. Some metabolites of ME2303 were found in the tumor after administration of ME2303, but not after administration of M1. ADM remained in the analyzed tissues for a long period and ADM concentrations in the tumor were much higher than in the plasma but less than in the liver. M1 reached a concentration higher than that of ADM in the tumor, opposite to the pattern observed in the liver. The conversion process from ME2303 to M1, the metabolites and their locations in the tumor may be important for the marked antitumor effect of ME2303 in vivo.


This paper examines the errect of liquidity prden'nce on investment, output, and prices in competitive markets, with allernative struclures of financial intermediation. The need for liquidity is due to uncertainty in the preferences of individuals. Investment in physical capilal is unobservable, and so illiquid. Individuals are willing to carry liquid assets which are dominaled in lheir rate of return. We examine three types of economies: one with money, the second with bonds, and the third with investment banking. Monetary and interest rate policiles can have expansionary effects; the qualitative impact of policy interventions differ across asset structures. We also examine the aggregate provision for liquidity, as well as liquidity and term premia at equilibrium.


A genetic risk tool could be used at the first clinical visit of patients with inflammatory arthritis to increase diagnostic efficacy. A genetic tool for triaging diagnoses Multiple slowly progressing diseases initially present with inflammatory arthritis, and it can be difficult to clinically differentiate these conditions. Knevel et al. show that genetic data could be used to triage inflammatory arthritis–causing diagnoses at a patient's first visit, improving the likelihood of a correct initial diagnosis and potentially expediting appropriate treatment. Their genetic diagnostic tool, here optimized for rheumatic disease diagnosis, could, in principle, be calibrated for other phenotypically similar diseases with different underlying genetics. It is challenging to quickly diagnose slowly progressing diseases. To prioritize multiple related diagnoses, we developed G-PROB (Genetic Probability tool) to calculate the probability of different diseases for a patient using genetic risk scores. We tested G-PROB for inflammatory arthritis–causing diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, spondyloarthropathy, psoriatic arthritis, and gout). After validating on simulated data, we tested G-PROB in three cohorts: 1211 patients identified by International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes within the eMERGE database, 245 patients identified through ICD codes and medical record review within the Partners Biobank, and 243 patients first presenting with unexplained inflammatory arthritis and with final diagnoses by record review within the Partners Biobank. Calibration of G-probabilities with disease status was high, with regression coefficients from 0.90 to 1.08 (1.00 is ideal). G-probabilities discriminated true diagnoses across the three cohorts with pooled areas under the curve (95% CI) of 0.69 (0.67 to 0.71), 0.81 (0.76 to 0.84), and 0.84 (0.81 to 0.86), respectively. For all patients, at least one disease could be ruled out, and in 45% of patients, a likely diagnosis was identified with a 64% positive predictive value. In 35% of cases, the clinician's initial diagnosis was incorrect. Initial clinical diagnosis explained 39% of the variance in final disease, which improved to 51% (P < 0.0001) after adding G-probabilities. Converting genotype information before a clinical visit into an interpretable probability value for five different inflammatory arthritides could potentially be used to improve the diagnostic efficiency of rheumatic diseases in clinical practice.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate telomerase activity in laryngeal nonmalignant mucosa adjacent to carcinoma and discuss its effect on extension and recurrence of laryngeal carcinoma.

METHOD
Telomerase repeat amplification protocol was used and combined with histological examination.

RESULT
The positive percentage of telomerase activation was even higher in laryngeal nonmalignant mucosa distant toward surgically negative margin of carcinoma than in laryngeal carcinomas themselves (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION
Telomerase activation occurred probably before the morphologic alteration, which may imply expansion of the cells with potential of malignant transformation.


The standard practice in modelling route choice and mode choice is to use Random-Utility models (e.g. logit or probit) with utility functions that are linear in parameters and often linear functions of the explanatory variables. However, there are reasons to suspect that non-linearities exist in the valuation of attributes in route-choice behaviour. The literature contains a number of instances where non-linearities have been incorporated in discrete-choice models in a pragmatic way, and more recently gives a plausible theoretical underpinning for non-linearities. This raises the question of whether adding threshold effects and non-linear transformations to conventional logit models can be shown to improve the models, and which method seems best. To investigate this the authors estimate a number of logit models with non-linear utility functions on a route-choice dataset collected by earlier researchers in The Netherlands, and show a practical method to estimate a logit model with piece-wise linear utility functions. The results tend to show that the piecewise linear formulation gives reasonable results and is easy to use, but that the use of the Box-Cox transform must be used with care, especially if it is applied to more than one variable simultaneously. For the covering abstract see ITRD E115303.


Geothermal energy systems often suffer the inefficiency resulting from the seasonally fluctuating demand between summer and winter. One possible solution is seasonal storage of heat in relatively shallow aquifers. However, the efficiency of such a system will depend on a number of factors that cannot all be known a priori. Thus the importance of monitoring. We have expanded our earlier work on harmonic pulse testing (HPT) to incorporate the effect of a temperature front moving into the reservoir due to injection of hot (or cold) water. To assess the feasibility of the technique for thermal front monitoring, we devised a synthetic field case where water at 90°C was stored in a 20°C aquifer. First, we employed a numerical reservoir simulator to determine the temperature distribution in a doublet system. Then, this distribution was imposed as initial condition for a pulse test simulated with the same numerical technique; in this way, synthetic data were created. The data was then analyzed using our new analytical relationships. The thermal front around the injector could indeed be characterized through the application of the proposed HPT interpretation methodology. A mobility change was detected around the injector, corresponding to an increased local temperature, approaching the injection value. Moreover, the estimated radius of the thermal front was in good agreement (within 10%) with the equivalent radius of the – not perfectly cylindrical – numerically calculated heated zone. Adding noise to the pressure data did not deteriorate the signal much, as long as the tests were carefully designed in terms of pulse duration and sampling rate.


In the midst of the Kosovo crisis in 1999 the European Union (EU) pledged itself to draw the Western Balkan region closer to the perspective of full integration into the EU. While the EU has firmly committed itself to the eventual membership of the Western Balkan countries it has set a unique membership condition requesting 'full cooperation with the ICTY' prior to opening accession negotiations with some of the countries in the region. This essay tries to unravel why this condition has been developed and how to explain its somewhat differentiated use. The approach taken is a theoretically informed analytical discussion in the form of a qualitative case study on Serbia and Croatia from the point of view of the European Council. The empirical data presented is partly novel, partly borrowing from past scholarly undertakings and suggests that both rationalist and constructivist meta-theories can yield valid explanations on why the EU holds tight on its unique membership condition, but also why Croatia seems to be closer to EU membership than Serbia. The essay relies heavily and advances substantively on the two meta-theoretical frameworks which it embodies in the empirical data presented.


Efficient procedures for automatic measurements of length and Euler characteristic in 3D images are presented. The effect of background noise on the measurement of length and Euler characteristic of a fibrous structure is estimated.


Incommensurate crystal structures of spin ladder series Sr14-xCaxCu24O41 (x=3, 7, 11, 12.2) were characterized by powder neutron scattering method and refined using the superspace group Xmmm(00{\gamma})ss0 (equivalent to superspace group Fmmm(0,0,1+{\gamma})ss0); X stands for non-standard centering (0,0,0,0), (0,1/2,1/2,1/2), (1/2,1/2,0,0), (1/2,0,1/2,1/2)) with a modulated structure model. The Ca doping effects on the lattice parameters, atomic displacement, Cu-O distances, Cu-O bond angles and Cu bond valence sum were characterized. The refined results show that the CuO4 planar units in both chain and ladder sublattices become closer to square shape with an increase of Ca doping. The Cu bond valence sum calculation provided new evidence for the charge transfer from the chains to ladders (approximately 0.16 holes per Cu from x=0 to 12.2). The charge transfer was attributed to two different mechanisms: (a) the Cu-O bond distance shrinkage on the ladder; (b) increase of the interaction between two sublattices, resulting in Cu-O bonding between the chains and ladders. The low temperature structural refinement resulted in the similar conclusion, with a slight charge backflow to the chains.


Background: In all over world nearly 14.4 million victims were affected due to identity theft during 2018 says cybercrime reportand it is essential to highlight that the crimes are in increasing phase. The ground reality today is that technology is used to tapdigital consumer's curiosity quotient and trap them through intrusive marketing strategies.Purpose: The current study is to fill the empirical vacuum by understanding the consumers' awareness and perception onthese intrusive marketing strategies.Methodology: The study comprised of 276 responses, analyzed through SPSS software for empirical conclusions. Youth isthe most vulnerable in technology usage and hence this study was conducted among youth.Findings: Many smartphone users have become victims of identity thefts and invasive strategies. Based on the awarenessand perception the major clusters were Risk-averse doubter, Open-minded online shoppers, Reserved information seekers andInformation surfer. These clusters were highly significant with awareness, perception and usage. Clusters were highly associatedwith demographic variables such as gender, age and education


Left Jordan derivation on semisimple rings is studied.Using the properties of semiprime ring and the existed results,it is proved that if R is a 2-torsion free semiprime ring and D is a left Jordan derivation of RR,then D is a derivation which maps R to Z(R).


Wound care used to be more of an art than a science, but thanks to contributions from different disciplines, wound care is nowfirmly based on science and clinical evidence using a holistic view of the patient. This means not only focusing on the specific wound that needs to be treated, but also trying to observe and understand the patient's overall health. Such an approach requires a range of skills from medicine to physiology, psychology, clinical engineering and patient care. The management of the patient with skin lesions, a subject that is often underestimated, requires targeted and timely interventions through the creation of specialised and multidisciplinary teams. These teams can accompany the person throughout their treatment journey, ensuring effectiveness of treatment and equanimity of access to care.


In this paper, the Titanium carbide/Molybdenum (TiC/Mo) alloy was prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS). The oxidation process of the TiC/Mo alloy at different oxidation temperatures was studied, and the oxidation mechanism was discussed in depth. The focus is on the influence of the introduction of TiC particles on the high-temperature oxidation properties of Mo alloys. The phase composition and morphology of the oxide film were analyzed by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The results showed that, after oxidation, the surface oxide film is mainly composed of Titanium dioxide (TiO2), Molybdenum dioxide (MoO2), Molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) and Molybdenum oxide hydrate (MoO3(H2O)2) phases. As the oxidation temperature increases, the surface of the oxide film will warp, and thereby increase porosity. The dense MoO2 will form a protective inner oxide layer and inhibit further progress of the TiC/Mo alloy. Oxygen will undergo violent oxidation through the pores and the inside of the matrix, and the protective MoO2 internal oxide film will disappear. TiC particles dispersed in the matrix will be oxidized to form TiO2, which will be gradually deposited on the surface of the oxide film, hindering the diffusion of oxygen to the matrix. The quantity loss during the entire oxidation process is significantly reduced. Therefore, the introduction of TiC can greatly improve the oxidation resistance of Mo alloys.


BACKGROUND: Succinic acid (SA) is an intermediate in the production of commodity chemicals, but SA bioproduction has not yet been commercialized due to end product inhibition and high product separation costs. Two-phase partitioning bioreactors (TPPBs) can increase volumetric productivity through in situ product removal, although SA uptake by polymers requires a pH below the pKA2 of SA (4.2). It was proposed to reversibly reduce the pH with CO2 sparging for absorption of SA, followed by nitrogen stripping to allow continued bioproduction after returning to metabolic pH levels.

RESULTS: At 1 atm CO2 sparging lowered the pH of RO water to 3.8 but only to 4.75 in medium, requiring acid/base pH adjustment in subsequent experiments. Actinobacillus succinogenes was temporarily exposed to pH 4.2 for between 5 min and 4 h to observe the effect on subsequent growth; cells could grow after up to 4 h of low pH exposure, sufficient time for SA uptake. Because atmospheric CO2 could not adequately lower the pH of medium, a TPPB was operated with the pH being shifted using strong acid/base; SA was recovered in situ, however, the accumulation of salts hindered further cell growth.

CONCLUSION: Several key elements of this novel processing strategy were successfully demonstrated, and work is continuing with high pressure CO2 to achieve the desired pH adjustment levels. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry


In this study, the effect of hydrogenated styrene butadiene diblock copolymers on the rheological properties of high‐density polyethylene (HDPE)/high impact polystyrene (HIPS) blends is investigated. The blends were prepared in the melt state at 180 °C for 5 min in a batch mixer. The results show that the rheological properties of the blends were very sensitive to the copolymer concentration present in the blend mainly in the low frequency region. At low copolymer content (e.g., 1 wt. %), an important decrease of the zero‐shear viscosity (η0) was observed in the case of HIPS rich blends. For the HDPE rich blends, this decrease was not observed when modified with the pure diblock copolymer. As the copolymer content increases, and depending on the copolymer structure, an increase or a further decrease of η0 was obtained. This behavior was interpreted as due to the change in the copolymer state in the blend, i.e., saturation of the interface and micelles formation. Predictions of an emulsion model of two viscoelastic liquids including an interfacial tension (σ) contribution to the elastic properties were close to the experiments for the 90/10 and 20/80 HDPE/HIPS unmodified blends, but unsatisfactory in the other cases. According to the general features of polymer suspensions and to the predictions of this model, it is concluded that phase interactions as produced by the addition of the copolymer are very important. This aspect must be included in any rheological model for copolymer modified immiscible blends.


Moral Identity (MI) can be defined as the degree to which the morality is important as a part of a person's identity. This construct has shown strong relationships with intentions and moral behavior, but has not yet been adapted to Brazil. Thus, the study intended to find evidences of validity of the MI scale to the Brazilian context. Therefore, the MI scale was translated and applied online along with related constructs scales in a sample of 218 people. The results of the factor analysis and reliability showed a two-factor structure (internalization and symbolization) with satisfactory rates for the MI scale. Significant correlations were found with sympathy, moral disengagement and brazilian jeitinho. Therefore, the instrument is constituted as a relevant measure for identifying characteristics related to morality and ethics.


We have analyzed the properties of the evolution of the ion and electron precipitation and the magnetic field perturbations in the auroral oval during substorms using the low-altitude polar-orbiting satellites DMSP F6 and F7. We show two examples where the magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling, based on the character of the particle precipitation and field-aligned current regions, exhibits different substorm responses. The main difference in the coupling response is reflected in the intensification of the ion keV plasma sheet precipitation flux. In one example (November 29, 1984) the intensification is confined to a narrow latitudinal region at the poleward edge of the region 2 current system. In the other example (November 1, 1984) the intensification encompasses a much wider latitudinal span over which typical estimated ion thermal energies are 15 keV and where there is a proliferation of discrete electron precipitation with peak energies of 500 eV. During the recovery phase, that region develops a very uniform diffuse electron precipitation that can last for long periods (>1 hour) subjected to electrostatic potential drops of ≈450 eV. There are, however, characteristics common to both examples. For instance, the energy distribution in the equatorward edge of the midnight auroral oval ion precipitation is transformed a few minutes into the expansion phase from that expected qualitatively from a steady state earthward convection into an energy distribution where the flux of keV ions is dramatically reduced and only ions and electrons with energies below 1 keV are detected. This precipitation region is colocated with a system of region 2 polarity field-aligned currents and has a well-defined poleward boundary that defines the location where the average energy of the ion and electron precipitation starts to decrease monotonically with decreasing latitude. Also, during the expansion phase the intense diffuse electron precipitation that occurs poleward of the region 2 system coincides with strong region 1 field-aligned currents. Inside this region, ion and electron flux depletion (≈2° wide) develops around the magnetic latitude where the enhancement of the westward electrojet is first detected. During expansion and recovery additional ion precipitation appears in the midnight and dusk passes equatorward of the electron equatorward precipitation boundary in the two cases presented here. The similarity between the ion spectra of this ion precipitation and the spectra of the plasma sheet suggests that portions of plasma sheet plasma become detached from the bulk of the plasma sheet population. The equatorward detachments are separated from the rest of the plasma sheet by a dispersionless boundary. The ion energy cutoff of the dusk detachments exhibits the dispersion in latitude characteristic of steady state earthward transport produced by an enhanced convection electric field. This suggests that the particle transport in the magnetosphere is disrupted at onset in the inner magnetosphere where region 2 currents are generated but continues unimpeded in the earthward region.


The irreversible thermodynamics-based model for the description of coupled heat and moisture transfer was analyzed. Transport coefficients appearing in model equations were independently determined, and the equations were numerically integrated to predict temperature and moisture content profiles for a closed system of water unsaturated glass beads. An experimental investigation of the moisture glass beads medium provided measurements of steady-state profiles of local temperatures and moisture content. These data, when compared with model predictions, indicated the validity of the irreversible thermodynamics approach. The coupling coefficient relating thermal gradients to moisture flux was found to be strongly moisture-dependent. The coupling coefficient which relates moisture content gradient to heat flux was found to be extremely small, and the heat flux associated with the moisture content gradient proved to be negligible. 111 references.


A novel coordination polymer[Zn(N 3 ) 2 (bpp)] n [bpp =1,3-bis(4-pyridyl)-propane]was synthesized at room temperature and structurally chara cterized by means of X-ray single cry stal diffraction.The results show t hat the polymer exhibits a linear chain stru cture;the Zn-Zn distance is 12.235?.Each Zn?ion is coordinated by two nitrogen atoms from bpp ligands and t wo nitrogen atoms from azido(N 3- )groups,the coordination geometry o f Zn?ion is a slightly distorted tetrahed ron,the angles around Zn?ions are from 103.27°to 121.37°.In t he solid-state structure of the polyme r,the linear chains are stacked with parallel mode along a direction.Moreover,between adjacent chains,there areπ-πinteractions between pyridine rings,which are arranged in face-to-face fashion with interplanar distances of av.3.821?.CCDC:189591.


We studied the distal radio-ulnar joint subluxations occuring after radial head resections and concluded that they have no effect upon the function of the wrist.


A method for the in-situ characterization of spurious modes in high power microwave transmission lines is presented. It uses hole couplers, which are integrated into a mitre-bend. The signals are proportional to the field strength at the mirror and allow to partly reconstruct the mode spectrum in the waveguide. The theoretical background is presented as well as results from measurements on prototypes.


As an accurate spatial interpolation method for data in arbitrary dimensions, Radial Basis Function(referred RBF), was particularly suitable for Digital Elevation Model(referred DEM) interpolation with respect to complex terrain that no assumption is needed for the experiment data. But the interpolation model would become difficult to solve when the number of points, whose elevation is already known, used to construct RBF interpolation model is too large. This is due to the reason that the inversed RBF interpolation matrix would become too huge or too slow to be solved. To address this issue, the hierarchical RBF interpolation method based on local optimal shape parameters, was proposed in this paper and the DEM was interpolated and reconstructed in the experiment. The interpolation procedure was described as follows: first, set the minimum point number in the tree node sub- regions of the study area and define the overlap rate between the adjacent child node sub- regions.Then, construct the regional binary tree recursively from top to bottom, that means the study area was firstly divided from a complete area into two small overlapped regions, and each region could be taken as the child nodes of the binary tree. Second, use the Leave One Out Cross Validation(referred LOOCV) method to calculate the optimal shape parameters in the leaf node regions of the binary tree. As the point distributions in each sub-region are different from each other, as well as the elevation properties, it would lead to different optimal shape parameters. Next, establish the optimal RBF interpolation model, i.e. calculate the linear combination coefficients for each RBF node in the interpolation model with the optimal shape parameter. Third, calculate the elevations of the unknown points in the leaf node regions and get the elevation values using the weighted average method according to the principle of Partition of Unity. The weight of the unknown point in the child node sub- region is calculated using the distance to the center point of the sub-region. Solve the interpolation problem from the bottom to the top recursively to get the final elevation values of the unknown points. Experiments was carried out by using the DEM in some area of Yunnan Province, and the results showed that RBF hierarchical interpolation method with local optimal shape parameters had good stability and high accuracy when DEM was reconstructed from random distributed spatial elevation points, thus it can be taken as an reliable interpolation method.


Once an integral component of company-sponsored compensation schemes in many western economies, private defined benefit (DB) pensions are in decline. For many, DB schemes (and their related health care liabilities, depending on the jurisdiction) have hobbled the financial well-being of plan sponsors and even whole sectors of industry. If a constraint on shareholder value in the short-term, these schemes threaten long-term corporate survival in the emerging global economy. While there remains considerable debate over the ability of financial markets to adequately price DB liabilities, there is a growing industry devoted to estimating their long-term risks with respect to longevity, inflation and cost. In this paper, we survey the nature and significance of the problem, focusing upon UK and US private employer sponsored plans. It is suggested that the crisis was apparent, for those willing to look, a decade ago. Its significance was papered-over by the 1990s stock market bubble and high interest rates but has returned through what many analysts identify as a perfect storm. Having documented the nature and scope of the perfect storm, we also evaluate proffered solutions to the crisis, such as financial engineering, government intervention, and private sector negotiation. In the final sections of the paper, we set-out the principles that should guide the design of new kinds of employer sponsored plans noting that if, as suggested by many experts, western economies are entering an era of increasing labor shortage, private pensions will continue to have an important role in managing human capital.


Most of the previous literature on music users' needs, habits, and interactions with music information retrieval (MIR) systems focuses on investigating user groups of particular demographics or testing the usability of specific interfaces/systems. In order to improve our understanding of how users' personalities and characteristics affect their needs and interactions with MIR systems, we conducted a qualitative user study across multiple commercial music services, utilizing interviews and think-aloud sessions. Based on the empirical user data, we have developed seven personas. These personas offer a deeper understanding of the different types of MIR system users and the relative importance of various design implications for each user type. Implications for system design include a renegotiation of our understanding of desired user engagement, especially with the habit of context-switching, designing systems for specialized uses, and addressing user concerns around privacy, transparency, and control.


NASA is investigating the use of swarms of robotic vehicles for future space exploration missions. Such swarms offer many advantages of traditional, single spacecraft, missions. Intelligent swarms offer potential for self-management and survivability, and their emergent properties make such swarms potentially very powerful. However, they are significantly more difficult to design, and ensuring that proper behaviors will emerge is a complex task. NASA's FAST project is investigating the use of formal approaches to the specification and verification of such systems. Using ANTS, a NASA concept mission, as a case study, multiple formal methods were evaluated to determine their effectiveness in modeling and ensuring desired swarm behavior. We discuss this evaluation and propose a hybrid formal method for use in the development of future NASA intelligent swarms