The paper addresses the main issues of global copper market developments in the period 2013, the metal considered economic barometer and widely used in industrial production. Analysis of the most recent statistics points to the relationship between the two fundamental elements of market and presents factors with major influence on the development of demand and world supply of red metal and developments metal price quoted Metal Exchange in London (London Metal Exchange-LME) which in the past has seen a significant decline. The paper also contains forecasts of the international market, making comments on the possibility of developing new mining projects to ensure future supply of metal and metal price forecasts for the evolution of red on short and medium term.


INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: During the COVID-19 pandemic our institution limited elective surgery including management of kidney stones. Additionally, patients themselves were reluctant to pursue elective surgery. This presented us a unique opportunity to reassess the natural history of symptomatic nephrolithiasis given potentially prolonged periods of conservative management. METHODS: A retrospective review was performed of patients presenting to the emergency room (ER) with flank pain secondary to nephrolithiasis from March to April of 2020 (COVID peak period of elective surgery limitations), and a comparative cohort from March and April 2019. Assessed outcomes included definitive stone treatment at initial presentation to the ER, rate of spontaneous stone passage, and time to elective surgery from initial ER presentation. Chi-square or Mann-Whitney U tests were utilized for dependent binary variables and continuous variables, respectively. A Kaplan Meier analysis was used to demonstrate differences in time to elective surgery between the two eras. RESULTS: Baseline characteristics did not differ between groups (Table). Patients discharged from the ER were more often offered medical expulsive therapy (71.6% vs 55.0%, p=0.026) during the COVID era. The rate of surgical stone management or stent placement at initial presentation did not differ, however, discharged patients waited longer from initial ER presentation to elective surgery (55.3 vs 33.1 days, p=0.02). Spontaneous stone passage rates were similar between groups despite the delay, and similar stone location and stone size between eras. CONCLUSIONS: During the height of the COVID pandemic, ER patients with symptomatic stones had similar characteristics at presentation but were more often offered MET. Spontaneous stone passage during the pandemic was no different than in 2019, despite a significant difference in time to elective surgery from initial presentation to the ER with flank pain .


In modern conditions of the economy, unstable financial and political processes, the labor market is undergoing serious changes on a global scale. The article discusses the demand and supply of labor, the impact of migration processes, unemployment rates, the dynamics of the domestic and international markets, both at the macroeconomic and microeconomic levels. A study of the labor market as an economic system is given, taking into account the indicators of GDP and GNI. The ratio of supply and demand in the labor market in macroeconomic theory is considered, the dependence of wages on working hours is given. Attention is focused on the analysis of the relationship between the labor market and the unemployment rate. The data on the unemployment rate for the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, indicators of the impact of the minimum wage and migration (immigration) on the labor market, the results of economic data on migration in the labor markets of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) are provided.


Abstract: Activation of the NADPH oxidase system to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) plays a key role in bacterial killing by human neutrophils. However, the involvement of such radicals in spontaneous and TNFα‐driven neutrophil apoptosis remains uncertain. While incubation of cells under anoxic conditions attenuated the pro‐apoptotic effect of TNFα, full activation of the respiratory burst using PAF followed by fMLP, or the addition of physiologically relevant concentrations of H2O2, had no effect on the rate of apoptosis. Furthermore, the phosphoinositide 3‐kinase inhibitor, LY294002, which abolishes receptor‐mediated activation of the NADPH oxidase, and five discrete anti‐oxidants all failed to affect apoptotic thresholds. Thus ROS do not appear to modulate constitutive apoptosis in neutrophils or appear sufficient to mediate the pro‐apoptotic effect of TNFα.


Several commutation schemes for DC choppers have been described in which the commutating capacitor is connected across the load and a diode is in ' antiparallel ' to the main thyristor during commutation. A new scheme belonging to this group is proposed incorporating the beneficial aspects of the known schemes and avoiding their drawbacks. In particular, in the proposed scheme the permissible chopping frequency can be almost doubled for the same tq, αmin and commutation loss. The scheme has been analysed theoretically and verified experimentally.


For students, educators, practitioners, and scholars of community development, these two books are an essential read. In combination, the books provide readers with an understanding of the development of past and present theory and practice for working with communities through development efforts. The first book, Community Development in Theory and Practice: An International Reader, edited by Gary Craig, Keith Popple, and Mae Shaw, is a compilation of 29 articles previously published in The Community Development Journal. To select 29 articles from over 1,000 articles published over the journal's 40-year history, the editors used the following criteria:


Under Internet environment, document resource carrier develop in various types. Academic library should construct compound collections and establish document resource network safeguard system by collocating various document resources in reason.


Background: We examined the interactive role of treatability information on the motivation to engage in preventive health behavior after exposure to a threatening health communication. We predicted a three-way (treatability × susceptibility × family history of skin cancer) interaction such that in individuals with a family history of skin cancer, exposure to a message that communicates high susceptibility to skin cancer but which also make salient that such cancer is highly treatable reduces their intention to engage in preventive health behavior. We also predicted a three-way (treatability × susceptibility × self-efficacy) interaction such that when individuals are low in self-efficacy, exposure to a message that communicates high susceptibility and high treatability decreases their intention to engage in preventive health behavior. Methods: 335 participants were randomly assigned into groups in an experiment which includes 2(high treatability information versus low treatability information) × 2(high susceptibility information versus low susceptibility information) design with a hanging control group. Findings: Analyses revealed a two-way interaction whereby high treatability and high susceptibility information decreased the intention to engage in preventive health behavior. There was also a two-way interaction whereby high treatability information reduced the preventive health intention in participants with family history of skin cancer. Finally, self-efficacy also interacted with treatability information, such that when self-efficacy was low, exposure to high treatability information also decreased the intention to engage in the preventive health behavior. Discussion: The findings suggest that under certain conditions treatability information may actually reduce the persuasive impact of a threatening communication.


A series of centrifuge tests was performed on instrumented model caissons in normally consolidated, lightly overconsolidated and sensitive clays, to investigate the external radial stress changes around suction caissons during installation, consolidation and pullout, and axial capacity after consolidation. Total pressure transducers embedded at different elevations of the caisson wall showed external radial total stresses that varied almost linearly with depth during both penetration and extraction of the caisson, with smaller gradients during post-consolidation pullout. Only slight differences were found in the measured external radial total stress when pressure transducers entered the suction-affected zone from the jacking-affected zone. Comparisons are presented between measurements and two theoretical predictions, for both the external radial total stress during caisson installation, and the radial effective stress after consolidation. A simple cavity expansion approach was found to give reasonable pr...


The study investigated the compensatory effectiveness of the Quicktionary Reading Pen II (the Reading Pen), a portable device with miniaturized optical character recognition and speech synthesis capabilities. Thirty participants with reading disabilities aged 10–18 were trained on the operation of the technology and given two weeks to practice decoding single words and using various dictionary functions during independent silent reading in the classroom and other settings. Participants were then given a reading comprehension test under the following conditions: (a) reading passages silently using the Reading Pen, and (b) reading passages silently without assistance. Paired sample comparisons revealed significant differences under the two conditions in favor of using the pen (p<.0001+). Results are discussed in light of previous research on related technologies.


Language has been affected by the significant trend of globalization considerably in the last two decades. Literally, we have revolutionary changes in communication and technology in 21 st century and language has played a vital role to enable us to achieve and experience these developments. It is imperative that only powerful languages, like English, take the lead and stay on top in a global society and undoubtedly English has played a dominant role in international politics and diplomacy, information technology, science and technology, education and in resolving international conflicts and also the world economy. In this globalization, English has emerged as an international language despite strong competition from other languages. This paper investigates the status of English as a global language and its impact on the contemporary world in terms of communication, technology, education, information technology, scientific researches and above all societal transformation


Existing theorethical models of relationship between the state and religious organisations is under consideration in this article. European countries have implemented different legal/legislative solutions which are used for regulating the relationships between the state, religion and religious organisations. Many authors have classified these different types of regulations in a number of ideal types. Within the context of this paper a new type of classification which is based on two separate dimensions of the relationship towards religion and religious organisations is presented. The first dimension is intimately interlinked with the laicisation of the state, whilst the second one is linked with its secularistion. These dimensions are measured by an in depth study of a number of variables. Data based on the analysis of legislations within 19 European countries are presented herein within our classificatory scheme. This article can be a starting point for further theoretical and empirical work within this particular subfield.


The object of research is the process of a comprehensive assessment of the qualitative state of a waterlogged section of a road. Natural and climatic factors affect the state of the road due to changes in the conditions of the water-thermal regime and the movement of vehicles. Water, sudden temperature fluctuations, the impact of heavy transport play a key role in the life cycle of any transport structure, affecting its transport and operational characteristics. The definition of a complex indicator of the qualitative state is based on a set of individual indicators, it is comprehensively characterized taking into account the influence of the weightings of each parameter and the structural element of the highway. This is taken into account in the multilevel qualimetric model, which consists of two main groups of physical and functional wear. Indicators of physical wear and tear change over time and are characterized by compliance with certain regulatory indicators and requirements. Functional – do not change over time, but depend on the needs of consumers of transport services. The choice of the number of model levels depends on the weight of the technical and functional characteristics of the road section. Information about the site and its constituent properties increases with the number of levels. Their optimal number determines the volume of measurements and calculations when obtaining a complex indicator of the quality state. The research results made it possible to develop a comprehensive method for assessing the quality state of a waterlogged section of a road where it is necessary to arrange a drainage system. The developed method is based on an expert approach for determining physical and functional indicators, the number of which is determined depending on the parameters of the road. The nomenclature of indicators of the qualitative state of a waterlogged section of the road has been substantiated and a model with an optimal number of indicators has been formed, comprehensively and in full, allows one to characterize all its structural elements in terms of physical and functional wear.


To make computers obtain a deeper thinking, we propose a question semantic representation model based on concept knowledge tree, which integrates concepts and knowledge to express questions' semantics. Combined the question semantic representation model and related knowledge, we introduce a knowledge-driven semantic reasoning algorithm to recursively obtain new knowledge for deepening the comprehending of questions. We evaluate the performance of our system on a collected dataset, and the top-1 accuracy reaches to 62.1%. Experimental results demonstrate our proposed methods improve the depth of question comprehending.


Modular organization is the effective form in driving civil-military integration development of the equipment.In order to accelerate civil-military integration development of the equipment to make better use of modular organization advantage,this paper defines and analyzes related concepts of modular organization,studies intrinsic mechanism of the civil-military integration development of the equipment through modular organization,discusses the main countermeasures of promoting civil-military integration development to play advantage of modular organization of the equipment.


AFDX is the standard switched Ethernet solution for the transmission of avionics flows. Today's AFDX deployments in commercial aircrafts are lightly loaded to ensure the determinism of control and command operations. Manufacturers envision to take advantage of the remaining AFDX bandwidth to transmit additional non avionics flows (video, audio, service). These flows must not compromise the in-time transmission of avionics ones: constraints on jitter at source end system and end-to-end latency have to be insured for each avionics flow. In this paper, we investigate the scheduling of avionics and additional flows, mainly at the end system level. We show that an event-triggered strategy is better than a time-triggered one for additional flows at source level, but it might compromise the jitter constraint of avionics flows and increase the end-to-end latency of additional ones. We consider two time-triggered scheduling strategies, i.e. an optimal one and a simpler one based on a heuristic. We show that the later one performs nearly as well as the former one and that, for both of them, the difference with an event-triggered strategy at source level is limited and can be statically bounded.


Based on radiosonde‐derived temperature records from 1958 through 1980, the global surface temperature, and mean 0‐16 km temperature, were warmer in 1980 than in any previous year. This was due primarily to a continuing warming trend in the tropics, with recent warming also indicated for north and south temperate latitudes and south polar latitudes. There has been no evidence of warming in north polar latitudes. In the 16‐24 km layer there has been a tendency for cooling since the eruption of Mt. Agung in 1963, most obviously in the Southern Hemisphere. Northern Hemisphere rocketsonde data suggest a considerable cooling in middle and high stratosphere between 1970 and 1977, with little temperature change thereafter. Thus, the evidence is rather impressive for surface and tropospheric warming, and stratospheric cooling, during the past decade.


The resonant acousto-optic effect is studied both analytically and numerically in the terahertz range where the transverse-optical (TO) phonons play the role of a mediator which strongly couples the ultrasound and light fields. A propagating acoustic wave interacts with the TO phonons via anharmonic channels and opens band gaps in the TO-phonon polariton energy dispersion that results in pronounced Bragg scattering and reflection of the incoming light. The separation in frequency of different Bragg replicas, which is at the heart of acousto-optics, allows us to study the resonant acousto-optic effect in the most simple and efficient geometry of collinear propagation of electromagnetic and ultrasonic waves. The acoustically induced energy gaps, Bragg reflection spectra, and the spatial distribution of the electric field and polarization are calculated for CuCl parameters, in a wide range of frequencies and intensities of the pumping acoustic wave. Our results show drastic changes in terahertz spectra of semiconductor crystals that open the way for efficient and accessible manipulation of their infrared properties by tuning the parameters of the acoustic wave.


: Standard ocean chlorophyll-a (Chla) products from currently operational satellite sensors Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Aqua and Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) underestimate medium and high in situ Chla concentrations and have approximately 9% bias between each other in the California Current. By using the regional optimization approach of Kahru et al., we minimized the differences between satellite estimates and in situ match-ups as well as between estimates of the two satellite sensors and created improved empirical algorithms for both sensors. The regionally optimized Chla estimates from MODIS-Aqua and VIIRS have no bias between each other, have improved retrievals at medium Abstract —Standard ocean chlorophyll-a (Chla) products from 4 currently operational satellite sensors Moderate Resolution 5 Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Aqua and Visible Infrared 6 Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) underestimate medium and 7 high in situ Chla concentrations and have approximately 9% 8 bias between each other in the California Current. By using the 9 regional optimization approach of Kahru et al. , we minimized the 10 differences between satellite estimates and in situ match-ups as 11 well as between estimates of the two satellite sensors and created 12 improved empirical algorithms for both sensors. The regionally 13 optimized Chla estimates from MODIS-Aqua and VIIRS have 14 no bias between each other, have improved retrievals at medium 15 to high in situ Chla, and can be merged to improve temporal 16 frequency and spatial coverage and to extend the merged time 17 series. 18 Abstract —Standard ocean chlorophyll-a (Chla) products from 4 currently operational satellite sensors Moderate Resolution 5 Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Aqua and Visible Infrared 6 Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) underestimate medium and 7 high in situ Chla concentrations and have approximately 9% 8 bias between each other in the California Current. By using the 9 regional optimization approach of Kahru et al. , we minimized the 10 differences between satellite estimates and in situ match-ups as 11 well as between estimates of the two satellite sensors and created 12 improved empirical algorithms for both sensors. The regionally 13 optimized Chla estimates from MODIS-Aqua and VIIRS have 14 no bias between each other, have improved retrievals at medium 15 to high in situ Chla, and can be merged to improve temporal 16 frequency and spatial coverage and to extend the merged time 17 series.


The phase equilibria in the Li 2 O-GeO 2 -TeO 2 system have been studied using physicochemical methods; the boundaries of glass formation have been found. The compositions and melting points of the mixtures corresponding tothe van Rijn points and four-phase equilibria have been determined. The projection of the liquidus surface of the Li 2 O-GeO 2 -TeO 2 system onto a triangular diagram was plotted. Electrophysical and spectroscopic properties of the glasses were studied.


Rolling is a very common technique for shaping sheet metal. It aims to reduce the thickness of a metal sample to adapt it to the usual conditions of use in the industry. Nevertheless, this technique is not without modifying the mechanical and microstructural properties of the materials that can influence the mechanical strength of shaped parts. The purpose of the present investigation is to study the changes in microstructures and micro-hardness of Al-Mg-Si alloy with different rolling reduction in thickness and following artificial aging treatments at 175° C . We notice that the micro-hardness increases with the increasing of the deformation level . Reduction in thickness shows a change in microstructure and texture. Characterization methods used in this work is: Optical Microscopy (OM) and, Vickers microhardness.


Snow shovelers often complain about muscular aches and pains, but the demands on their metabolic and cardiovascular systems may be more significant.


Spectroscopy is completely neglected, despite its close links with physical molecular and chemical atomic theories and its varied developments at the turn of the century. Important areas of relevant physical theory are barely mentioned; analysis does not go beyond Gajori's worthy but forty-year-old survey. Statements that by 1911 the researches of the Curies (sic: Pierre Curie had died in 1906), J. J . Thomson, and Rutherford were 'inscrutable', that radiation theory was a 'chimera', and quantum theory 'an awesome enigma', are not helpful. The tendency to undervalue strong schools of physical science intensifies the idea that Perrin's work on Brownian motion can be seen as an experimental demonstration of aspects of a theory that was already the most acceptable and fruitful for the majority of physicists and chemists. The account of the elegant experimental methods by which Perrin achieved his ambition is the strength of this book.


We have developed a one-wire type thermal flow sensor that has a polysilicon microheater. It has very wide flow measurement range of 0.005-35m/s and very short response time of 0.14ms (90%). The size of the flow sensor chip is 1mm x 1mm x O.3mm. The sensitivity is above 22mV/(m/s)/sup 1/2/ when it is operated by constant resistance mode. Consuming electric power to keep the temperature rise of the microheater 80K in windless air at 22/spl deg/C under atmospheric pressure is about 6mW. As the polysilicon has large resistivity, large output signals can be gotten without amplifiers. It can be applied to household gas flowmeters and other systems.


A new linearization technique is proposed that compensates 3rd-and-5th-order intermodulation distortion (IM3 and IM5) simultaneously by using Cuber Predistortion and 2nd harmonics injection. Due to the use of predistortion, the power amplifier (PA) can be linearized at lower output back-off values and smaller drain currents than possible with the PA using conventional 3rd order distortion compensation. To validate the proposed technique, a 2 GHz band 45 W class PA and a linearizer are implemented. Two-tone test results show that both IM3 and IM5 are suppressed over a wide output dynamic range. W-CDMA one-carrier tests show that the ACLR of the PA is also improved, from -49.3 dBc to -62.3 dBc.


Adenine (1, 0.676 g, 5.0 mmol) was suspended in anhydrous DMF (20 mL) and sodium hydride (55-60 % suspension in mineral oil, 0.262 g, 6.0 mmol) was added at room temperature.[...]


and the area described by P' calculated by steps. Apart from a term increasing uniformly with the time, this is n An — Sn bpn -f2 Sn-xbSn^x) (pn — Pn-l) l Since ^ = xbx yby and sbp — ybx — xby, the calculations are simple. Applying this to Reuyl and Holmberg's data, we obtain the results shown in Figure 1. The steps were taken from each normal place to the next, and the three observations listed by the authors have been introduced into the normals. The observations as a whole are inconsistent with uniform description of area, and hence with motion under any central force. Those before 1923 and after 1929 can separately be thus represented. The curve is computed from the authors' secondary orbit. The impracticability of improving the wide orbit does not therefore weaken the evidence for the existence of a third body. Several more years of observation will be required for a good determination of the period—as the authors state.


The subject milestone was completed on March 1st. This milestone signifies the completion the mechanical installation and assembly of PuCTF in room 1345 in the LLNT Plutonium Facility. This installation included equipment both in room 1345 and in the loft, As reported in the last milestone, ''LLNL Pu Facility space prepared for installation of PUCTF'', milestone 6.2.2/Fy00/c, steel plates had been installed on the floor to support the PuCTF glovebox and equipment. The steel plate system was a substantial help in completing the mechanical installation reported here. The glovebox sections were brought into the room and attached together. Temporary seismic tie-down straps were used to brace the assembly. This temporary tie-down also provided Flexibility for alignment and adjustment. The internal equipment, (attritors, granulator, press feed shoe and die set, furnace, robot and powder transport system) were subsequently installed. The glovebox was then welded to the steel plates for permanent seismic anchoring. The control racks were attached to the floor and are ready for wiring and the press hydraulic power unit has been installed in the loft.


We report streamer‐ and proportional‐mode operation of a spherical‐anode gas pixel device. Also, signals resulting from electrons liberated by UV light striking the cathode were seen to be proportional to the light intensity, suggesting the use of the device for calorimetry readout.


Increased automated devices has not only increased dependencies on such devices, but also the increased attacks on them. Although several anomaly detection architectures exists in literature, the specific issues observed in this domain requires specialized anomaly detection models. This paper presents an effective model selection framework that selects anomaly detection models based on the level of concept drift existing in the data. The temporal aspects of the data are decomposed to determine the drift level. Depending on the levels, three varied models have been constructed and used for effective detection of anomalies. Experiments were performed in benchmark datasets and comparisons were performed with recent works in literature. Comparisons indicate effective performance of the proposed model.


Herein, we described the modification of chitosan with cyanuric chloride as a mediator for preparation of chitosan-s-triazinyl-bis(2-aminomethylpyridine) and chitosan-s-triazinyl-bis(8-oxyquinoline) derivatives to be used as reagents for preparation of silver nanoparticles under ecofriendly conditions. These two reagents are convenient and effective for reduction of silver ions to silver nanoparticles with particle size less than 10 nm that might be suitable for industrial and medicinal applications. The formation and particle size of AgNPs are characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). The antimicrobial activity of the two modified chitosan-s-triazine-AgNPs was evaluated against activities against Gram-positive bacteria (M. luteus ATCC 10240 and MRSA ATCC 43300), Gram-negative bacteria (E. coli ATCC 25922 and P. aeruginosa ATCC 75853), and C. albicans. The results showed that chitosan-s-triazinyl-bis(2-aminomethylpyridine) AgNPs showed high antimicrobial activities against all the tested microorganisms, while their analogous chitosan-s-triazinyl-bis(8-oxyquinoline) AgNPs showed moderate activities.


This volume includes five self-contained chapters in the fields of public debt and fiscal transfer schemes. After an introduction to the topic, chapter 2 shows that the institutional setting of fiscal policy making needs to be considered when assessing the sustainability of fiscal policy. Using data for the U.S. and German state governments, the results of fiscal sustainability tests depend on whether fiscal transfers are taken into account. If fiscal transfers are not included in the primary surplus, the test results do not indicate that the U.S. and German state governments pursued sustainable fiscal policies. Chapter 3 examines whether the municipalities' voting behavior in state elections in a German state influenced the distribution of discretionary grants from the state level to the municipalities. The results show that discretionary grants were awarded to municipalities with many core supporters of the incumbent state government. In Chapter 4, a test on explosive time-series behavior is applied to the Target balances of the German Bundesbank. Chapter 5 examines whether electoral motives in OECD countries influenced "creative accounting" by the governments as measured by stock-flow adjustments (the difference between budget deficits and the change in public debt). Governments can engage in creative accounting to hide borrowing and sugarcoat the budget balance. The results show that stock-flow adjustments increased before elections. In Germany, stock-flow adjustments chiefly occurred via the creation of off-budget special funds that governments can use to finance public activities outside the core budget. Chapter 6 describes special funds in Germany and elaborates upon the purposes for which special funds were established. It discusses the extent to which the new German debt brake limits the borrowing of special funds and explains how the debt brake can be circumvented by using special funds.


An experiment is described in which exhaustive lists of German non-prefixed and English mo nosyllabic strong verbs were compared with exhaustive lists of structurally comparable weak verbs. It turned out that there were a remarkably small number of weak verbs with the same vowel + consonant and consonant + vowel sequences as appear in the strong verbs. Furthermore, those few weak verbs which did have the sequences were mostly verbs derived from nouns: in contrast, the strong verbs are nearly all base or non-derived verbs. This phonological discovery points to the possibility of rules and meanings for ablaut and the -en 2nd participle ending in strong verbs.


The immunomodulatory effects of the extract of housefly Musca domestica larvae on irradiated Kunming mice were studied with such indices as the viscera indices,the activity of NK cell,the proliferation of T and B lymphocyte,SOD activity and MDA content assayed.The results indicated that the treatment with the extract consecutively for 18 d increased the mice' Spleen and Thymus indices,the activity of natural killer cell,and the proliferation of T,B lymphocyte.Serum analysis demonstrated that the extract significantly reduced the content of MDA and increased the activity of SOD.The results suggest that the extract of housefly larvae has positive immunomodulatory effects on mice irradiated or not.


The skeleton layout outlines the establishment of a staggering vehicle; its rule work is to safely pass on the most outrageous load for all arranged working conditions. This paper depicts plan and examination of overpowering vehicle body. Weight reducing is right now the essential issue in auto organizations. In the present work, the estimations of a current significant vehicle suspension of a TATA 2515EX vehicle is taken for exhibiting and examination of a staggering vehicle case with three particular composite materials particularly, Carbon/Epoxy, E-glass/Epoxy and S-glass/Epoxy subjected to an indistinct weight from that of a steel skeleton. The blueprint impediments were stresses and redirections. The three unmistakable composite overpowering vehicle skeleton have been shown by thinking about three different cross-regions. For endorsement the arrangement is done by applying the vertical weights following up on the even novel cross sections. Writing computer programs is used as a piece of this work CATIA V5 for illustrating, ANSYS 14.5 for examination.


Customer satisfaction is the sum total of customer expression of the service quality. Banks should know the perception of customers on innovative service to enable for improvement of quality of services. This paper focuses on customer perception on innovative service satisfaction towards CRM among selected banks in Madurai city. The required primary data were collected through structured questionnaire and the sample size of respondents was taken from eight selected banks at the rate of sixty customers from each bank. The findings reveal that regarding bank wise innovative customer service satisfaction, the highest satisfaction accounted for HDFC bank. INTRODUCTION The competitive climate in the Indian financial market has changed dramatically over the last few years. Even private sector and foreign banks have introduced innovative CRM services. Nowadays Indian banks have started experimenting with new services by offering Automatic Teller Machine that provides 24 hour services. Many consumers expect a variety of services from the banks. Many household consumers now prefer to take consumer durable loans (or) buy on instant credit rather than save for a few years to buy the consumer durable. As a result of this growing level of competition, CRM is emerging as an important element in banking activities. There is a need for the Indian banks to keep pace with their competitors by using CRM technique for business growth. Over the years, the Reserve Bank has laid special emphasis on technology infusion in the day to day operations of banks. Technology, apart from increasing the efficiency of banking services, is expected to boost the ongoing process of financial inclusion emphasized by the Reserve Bank. In recent years, increase in the number of off-site ATMs in various locations as well as use of mobile phones for delivering banking technology has further facilitated banking outreach in remote areas. The IT Vision Document, 2011-17 of the Reserve Bank sets out the roadmap for implementation of key IT applications in banking with special emphasis on seamless delivery of banking services through effective implementation of Business Continuity management (BCM), Information Security Policy, and Business Process Re-engineering (BPR). Review of the Related literature Ramachandran K., (2001) made a study on "How CRM can be strengthened Beyond the Hype". The study suggested that since customer needs are dynamic, new dimensions have to be added to the set of CRM tools based on information technology. J. S. Dhillon, Dr. G.S. Batra and Atul Dhyani (2003) in their study "Paradigm Change; Relationship Marketing and Service Quality of Banking Services", highlighted the changing dimensions of marketing of banking services in public sector banks and private sector banks in India after liberalization in the t990s. Arvind Singh (2004) in his article "Customer Relationship Management-New Horizons in Banking" argues that the truly most productive and desirable assets are not buildings and fixtures but a profitable customer base. He suggests that banks globally must consider themselves as innovative solution providers satisfying customers rather than just a product-driven or a profit driven distributor. John Mylonakis (2009) "CR Management functions: the main finding's of the study reveals that a majority of customers are satisfied with their bank. Most banks customer believes that the use of new technology help their communication with banks. Mr.Namho Chunga and soon Jae Kwonb (2009) Korea in their article entitled "Effect of trust level on mobile banking satisfaction: a multi-group analysis of information system success instruments". This study focuses on Perceptions of the system quality, information quality and information presentation of mobile banking. OBJECTIVE To analyze the perception on customer satisfaction about innovative services in banks towards CRM. Hypotheses H1 : There is no significant difference among banks regarding single window in innovative customer service satisfaction. H2: There is no significant difference among banks regarding 24 hrs service in innovative customer service satisfaction. H3: There is no significant difference among banks regarding global banking in innovative customer service satisfaction. H4: There is no significant difference among banks regarding internet banking service in innovative customer service satisfaction. H5: There is no significant difference among banks regarding mobile banking service in innovative customer service satisfaction. H6: There is no significant difference among banks regarding Anywhere banking service in innovative customer service satisfaction. Reliability statistics To measure the reliability of questionnaire cronbach alpha value is more than 0.6, it is presumed that the questionnaire is reliable.


Review(s) of: An Australian Resource for Pastoral Care, by Jill McGilvray, God's Love in Action: Pastoral Care for Everyone, Acorn Press, Brunswick East, 2009, softcover, 80 p., ISBN 9780908284848, RRP A$19.95.


Linear optical properties of the Ζn1-xΜgx Se (0 < x < 0.4) alloys have been studied using reflectance, spectroscopic ellipsometry and photoluminescence measurements. The refractive indices of Ζn1-xMgxSe epilayers were investigated as a function of Mg composition (0 ≤x0.4). The energies of band gap Εg and spin-orbit splitting Eg + Δ, have been determined. These energies are shifted gradually to higher values with increasing Mg content.


We use variants of the Hardy-Littlewood maximal and the Cruz-Uribe-Neugebauer minimal operators to give direct characterizations of A 1 and RH ∞ that clarify their near symmetry and yield elementary proofs of various known results, including Cruz-Uribe and Neugebauer's refinement of the Jones factorization theorem.


The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the state of foreign investment in the Ukrainian economy and identifies further prospects, opportunities and barriers to foreign investment in accordance with current economic and political realities.


Despite accounting for a very small percentage of the population that adopts an innovation, the 'innovators' and 'early adopters' — representing the two earliest groups of individuals to acquire the new product or service — play a crucial role in the dissemination of the innovation to larger market segments. The objective of this paper is to understand the characteristics of these individuals that positively influence their decisions to adopt innovations. We argue that awareness of these traits will enable firms to attain speedier uptake of their offerings while aiding policymakers achieve quicker and wider proliferation of new technologies intended for societal benefit. We undertake a review of the literature studying the diffusion of innovations and show future directions that this framework should take to analyse the adoption lifecycle.


In this paper, Tanaka formulae for ( α , d , β )-superprocesses in the dimensions where the local time exists are established under the optimal initial condition.


Employability as an Aspect of Quality of Higher Education Employability, or more precisely, the benefit and usefulness of the study programme for career and work tasks, is regarded as an aspect of quality of higher education (Storen & Aamodt, 2010). This realization is evidenced by the many official pronouncements and curriculum guidance services offered to higher education institutions. The Bologna Accord aims to create a European Higher Education Area that promotes mobility, employability and attractiveness of Europe as an educational region (Official Bologna Process website http://www.ehea.info/article-details.aspx?ArticleId=3). The Higher Education Academy in the UK has published extensive literature on supporting employability (e.g., The Higher Education Academy, 2011; Mantz, 2006). Curriculum design aimed at enhancing employability requires greater clarity in its definition. Mantz (2006) suggests that "Employability is a (multi-faceted) characteristic of the individual.... a set of achievements--skills, understandings and personal attributes--that makes graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy." (p. 8). D'Acre-Pool and Sewell (2007) describe employability as "having a set of skills, knowledge, understanding and personal attributes that make a person more likely to choose and secure occupations in which they can be satisfied and successful." (p. 280). What are the Attributes that Promote Employability? Relevant subject-matter knowledge and skills are the traditional attributes. However, it has been realized that additional "soft skills" are vital to being able to function successfully in an organization in the present era. Russell, Russell, and Tastle (2005), referring to employability of Information Systems' students, stress the "ability to communicate effectively in both oral and written format" (p. 1). They define the soft skills most frequently enumerated by industry as "the ability to: 1) demonstrate effective interpersonal relations, 2) demonstrate self-management strategies, 3) work within teams, 4) solve problems creatively and 5) make decisions." (p. 1). Westerstrom and Westerstrom (2009) claim that "To be employable as an engineer in today's global market, you will need the theoretical hard skills, like fundamental knowledge of science, mathematics and engineering design, and problem solving skills; soft skills like communication skills, managerial skills, negotiation and interpersonal skills; global skills like being able to work multidisciplinary, with societal issues and solutions on global problems. As well, knowing what working life demands, a feeling for economy and markets, empathy and emotional intelligence are also needed." (p. 5). These claims are corroborated by the HEFCE (2003) comprehensive research which reports on the main job skill requirements analyzed by interviews with 192 managers who employed university graduates. The list included ability to seek out new information, problem solving ability, ability to work on one's own without supervision, numeracy, written communication skills, formal presentation skills, team-working skills, computing/IT skills and the ability to identify solutions to customers' business problems (p. 13). The importance of the issue has led to the creation of several general models. Yorke and Knight (2006) offer the 4-component model: Understanding, Skills, Efficacy beliefs and Metacognition. D'Acre-Pool and Sewell (2007) define the CareerEDGE model: Career Development Learning, Experience (Work and Life), Degree Subject Knowledge, Understanding and Skills, Generic Skills (including Enterprise skills), Emotional Intelligence model. How have HE Institutions Responded to the Challenge? The wide spectrum of required attributes presents a serious challenge to institutions of higher education (HE) wishing to act on their commitment to the employability of students in different departments. …


In this complex and changing market,many companies face the problem of choosing a reasonable product program.In this paper,a screening-evaluating model for product program choice based on projective method is proposed.Firstly,some product programs are removed according to three principles of market,environment and industrial policy and corporate practice.Then,some evaluation indexes are employed from economy,social and environment factors,and the projective method is used to evaluate the product programs not be removed.A case study of Chlorine products in a Chlor-alkali enterprise is made which proves that this model is efficient and reasonable.


(54) SYNTHESIS OF ELASTOMERIC (52) U.S. Cl. ........................................... 528/32:528/25 POLY(CARBORANE-SILOXANE(58) Field of Classification Search ................... 528/32, ACETELYENE)S 528/25, 35 See application file for complete search history. (75) Inventor: Teddy Keller, Fairfax Station, VA (US) (56) References Cited (73) Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy, Washington, DC (US)


We describe a new damage testing approach and instrumentation that provides quantitative measurements of bulk damage versus fluence for several frequencies. A major advantage of this method is that it can simultaneously provide direct information on pinpoint density and size, and beam obscuration. This allows for more accurate evaluation of material performance under operational conditions. Protocols for laser conditioning to improve damage performance can also be easily and rapidly evaluated. This damage testing approach has enabled us to perform complex experiments toward probing the fundamental mechanisms of damage initiation and conditioning.


In a recent paper, McIntyre (I985) radically revised earlier estimates of the mass budget of the Lambert Glacier drainage basin (Allison, 1979). His re-assessment of the mass balance results from estimates of a decrease in both the size of the basin and in the average accumulation rate. Mclntyre (I985) used a compilation of surface elevations (Drewry, [cI983J) based on recent data from both radio echo-sounding t1ights and from the TWERLE balloons to construct ice-flow lil'llt$ and hence define the drainage basin. His estimate of an area for the interior drainage basin of 902 000 km2 is undoubtedly an improvement on the earlier estimate of I 090 000 km•


PURPOSE: A ceramic coating agent is adapted to improve water resistance, anti-corrosion, fouling resistance and fire retardant by blending a first reactant having lithium silicate as a main component, a second reactant having epoxy silane as a main component and a third reactant having aluminum flake as a main component. CONSTITUTION: A ceramic coating agent includes a first reactant, a second reactant, and a third reactant. The first reactant is a mixture of 100 parts by weight of distilled water, 60-90 parts by weight of lithium silicate, 50-80 parts by weight of boric acid and 20-40 parts by weight of epoxy silane. The second reactant is a mixture of 100 parts by weight of dipropylene glycol, 75-85 parts by weight of ethanol, 70-80 parts by weight of titanate acetylacet chelate, 50-60 parts by weight of titanate amine-based chelate, 50-60 parts by weight of epoxy silane, 30-40 parts by weight of tetraethoxy ortho silane, 30-40 parts by weight of methyltriethoxysilane, 20-30 parts by weight of isopropyl titanate and 10-20 parts by weight of distilled water. The third reactant is a mixture of 100 parts by weight of dipropylene glycol, 20-30 parts by weight of nonylphenol 4 mole, 15-25 parts by weight of nonylphenol 5 mole, 10-15 parts by weight of nonylphenol 10 mole, 50-70 parts by weight of aluminum flake and 5-10 parts by weight of nitropropane. The mixture ratio of the first reactant: the second reactant: the third reactant is 3:2:1.


Though scholars have long utilized Chinese sources on the history and culture of medieval Inner Asia's Turkic peoples and there are by now few historical works on Turks still unknown, yet one can hardly say that the process of study of Chinese historical accounts on the early Turks has been fully accomplished. The publication of Michael R. Drompp's brilliant research on the collapse of the Uighur Empire (744 – 840) and the 'Uighur crisis' on the northern frontier regions of Tang China confirms this point well. The book under review is the first monograph researching the letters written by famous Tang minister Li Deyu (787 – 850) on the emperor's and his own behalf on various issues related to the arrival of Uighur refugees in the northern frontier prefectures of Tang China. After the collapse of the Uighur Empire, Uighur tribes left the territory of what is today Mongolia and split up into several main groups, which fled in various directions. One of main groups fled to the south, to the Great Wall of China. Information on this group of Uighur refugees is the most detailed in the Chinese sources, since these Uighurs were involved in the Tang Empire's internal affairs, becoming an object of discussion at the Tang court and correspondence between the court and local military governors. Li Deyu was a key person in working out and implementing policy toward the Uighur refugees, which was reflected in such items as his reports submitted to the throne and letters composed on the emperor's behalf and addressed to the Uighur kaghan. Li's letters are preserved in his collected works entitled Li Wenrao wenji (The collected works of Li Wenrao) and Li Weigong Huichang ji (The collected works of Li, Duke of Wei, during the Huichang Era). Some of Li's letters were earlier translated in the works of such scholars as E. Chavannes and P. Pelliot, Tsai Wen-shen, G. Suprunenko and A. Maliavkin. However, until now they had never become an object of special investigation. This is done for the first time by Drompp, who has translated 70 documents composed by Li Deyu as well as analysing historical information and reconstructing events connected with the arrival of the Uighurs in North China and their fate. This work shows that the history of the Uighurs who fled to the Tang Empire and settled in the northern prefectures is of great importance, not only for the study of Tang policy toward 'northern barbarians', but also for the history of the Uighurs. Drompp characterizes historical research based on documents as 'a documentary history'. There are two parts, one being the research itself, the other being the translation of the 70 documents given as an Appendix. The first chapter of the work is entitled 'The frontier' (pp. 7 – 38). It focuses on the history of interactions between Chinese states and the nomadic peoples that populated neighbouring territories to the north. The outline of the history of the northern frontier area, which comprised a line connecting and separating the nomadic peoples of Inner Asia from China's sedentary agricultural population, includes a discussion of the 'Xiongnu model' of relations between China and the empire of the nomadic Xiongnu people; the history of Tang Asian Ethnicity, Volume 7, Number 2, June 2006


Human leukocyte antigen-B*15:178 shows one nucleotide difference from B*15:01:01:01 at 487 G>A, resulting in an amino acid change from Ala to Thr at codon 139.


Introduction The economic crisis has coincided with a general decline in citizen support for the State of Autonomies in Spain, according to public opinion polling, a decline that manifests in diverse ways by territory: with increasing centralist attitudes in some places and attitudes favouring "self-determination" in others. In this study we examine, first, the entity and meaning of the change in attitudes among the Spanish people towards the State of Autonomies, and we attempt to understand the phenomenon within its current political context and that of its evolution. This will lead us to an investigation of the interpretative frameworks of the territorial organisation of power that the discourses of the right, the left and the peripheral nationalists hold. Similarly, it will lead us to an evaluation of the impact the economic crisis and political dissatisfaction may be exerting on the support among the Spanish people for the State of Autonomies. In the second section, we go on to interpret and evaluate the information presented thus far, attempting to answer the question of whether what we are seeing is a crisis of legitimacy in the State of Autonomies. To do so, first, we consider the growth in preferences in Catalonia, with predictable consequences for the Basque Country, for a State model that recognizes the possibility for autonomous communities to become independent states. This consideration will lead us to explore the viability of an alternative solution to secession, which in our judgment would involve a constitutional reform that would reconfigure Spain as an authentic plurinational federal State; a reform that would imply both institutional changes and changes of a symbolic nature, but also the development of a federal spirit. Secondly, we will examine the data related to the growth in preferences for a central State without autonomies.


WITHOUT doubt, Bernard Brouwer belongs among the most important workers in the field of clinical neurology, neuropathology and neuro-anatomy in the first half of the twentieth century. During this period, which saw the beginning of the use of so many modern technical aids and appliances, not only in the basic sciences but also in medicine itself, he and his coworkers set down their great work in more than 240 publications. The greater part of these are the result of brilliant thinking and constant work with very simple instruments. A typical example is his classic work on 'The Projection of the Retina in thr Brciiti'. In 1915, in presenting a case of bilateral hrmianopsia, Brouwer discussed the possible localisation of the lesion in the visual radiation. In 1916 the autopsy report substantiated his assumptions. From that time onward problems concerning the localisation of visual function never left him. Even a few days before his death he was puzzled by the general concept of a cortical retina. At the beginning of this century there was a sharp controversy between Henschen and von Monakow, the former postulating a localised projection of the macula. whereas the latter favoured a more diffuse representation. Brouwer approached the problem with the aid of Zeeman, an ophthalmologist also working at Amsterdam University. Lesions made in the retina of rabbits, cats and nionkeys gave them an insight into the representation of retinal quadrants in the lateral geniculate body. Cortical lesions furnished them with data on the spatial organisation of the optic radiation between the geniculate body and the occipital cortex. The solution they suggested was that the macula has a localised but very wide cortical representation. It appeared later that in the monkey. and very probably in man also, there is a corticofugal connection from the striate area back to the geniculate body, as had previously been demonstrated in the rabbit. It is probable, as Brouwer wrote. that this system makes it possible to give the psychological mechanism of attention a physiological and anatomical basis.


The increased cysteic acid content in carbonized, unbleached wool found by the method of low-voltage paper electrophoresis was investigated. The cysteic acid-containing zone is overlapped by a somewhat slower running ninhydrin-positive zone, which originates from a compound that was not expected in hydrolysates of wool. The reaction of sulphuric acid with the amino acids serine, threonine, cysteine and tyrosine has been studied. The stability of the various derivatives obtained towards acidic hydrolysis was investigated and an explanation was found for the apparent increase of cysteic acid as well as for the origin of the unknown compound mentioned above.


Abstract The present study aims at the use of transcriptomic data of wild barley (Hordeum spontaneum) under salt stress in detecting regulated metabolites and crosstalking signal transduction pathways that help plants withstand harsh conditions. The studied pathways involved those emphasizing the roles of phytohormones auxin and abscisic acid (ABA) in conferring stress tolerance and adaptation. Of which, tryptophan-core pathways include metabolites that trigger auxin-responsive genes towards downstream signal transduction cascades and better plant growth. Analysis of 'MAPK signalling' pathway indicated active participation of several MAPK modules in receiving and delivering signals under salt stress towards appropriate downstream biological decisions. The results indicated that one enriched MEKK1 module, e.g. MEKK1-MKK2-MPK4/6, and two MKK3 modules, e.g. MEKK17/18-MKK3-MPK1/2/7/14 and ?-MKK3-MPK8, in this wild plant can effectively participate in salt stress adaptation and tolerance as well as homeostasis of reactive oxygen species (ROS). ABA seems to be a main player in the leaves of H. spontaneum in triggering signal transduction via MAPK modules. MKK7 was shown to be repressed under salt stress. This MAPK disturbs normal production, signalling and distribution of auxin, thus, enforces the plant to perform better under salt stress. In conclusion, the present study addresses signal transduction pathways that might justify the ability of this wild plant to tolerate salt stress.


The paper proposes a kind of pattern called Customer Requirement Elicitation Pattern to avoid the problems, such as semantic vagueness, quantitative analysis insufficiency, unclear customer positioning etc., when we try to acquire the requirements for QFD analysis. As to elicit the requirements from customers' segmentation, the pattern firstly extracts "user, environment and function " from the collected customers' requirements, and then classifies the requirements as basic-need, performance-need and delight-need according to Kano model and Fuzzy Cluster Analysis. The paper at last gives a quality design example based on Customer Requirement Elicitation Pattern of QFD from an anonymous car manufacturing company, which proves to successfully acquire the precisely quality design attributes under the condition of a man who brake in random situation.


To improve criteria for entry into future trials of immunosuppression, we enrolled 40 children with recent-onset Type I insulin-dependent diabetes in a pilot trial of cyclosporine. Twenty-seven patients were able to discontinue insulin therapy 48 +/- 5 days after the start of immunosuppression. At four months, their fasting and postprandial blood glucose concentrations averaged 110 and 160 mg per deciliter (6.1 and 8.9 mmol per liter) with a mean hemoglobin A1c level of 6.15 percent. Seventy-five percent of these patients with early remission still did not need insulin at 12 months, and their glycemic control was similar to that at 4 months. The major differences between the 27 patients with remission and the 13 without remission were the duration of symptoms before diagnosis (26.8 vs. 48.0 days, P less than 0.01), the degree of weight loss (3.2 vs. 10 percent of body weight, P less than 0.001), the initial hemoglobin A1c level (10.7 vs. 13.2 percent, P less than 0.001), and the frequency of ketoacidosis (11 vs. 61.5 percent, P less than 0.001). The lesser degree of weight loss was the strongest independent predictor of remission. The response of C-peptide to intravenous glucagon (0.50 vs. 0.17 pmol per milliliter, P less than 0.05) was also an independent predictor. No differences were observed between the two groups of patients in age, sex, HLA phenotype, autoantibodies to insulin or islet-cell antigens, or doses or trough levels of cyclosporine. Only minimal manifestations of toxicity were detected over the period of observation. We conclude that early treatment with cyclosporine in children with recent-onset Type I diabetes can induce remission from insulin dependence, with half the patients not requiring insulin after a full year.


Abstract The nanofibers prepared by electrospinning process have high potential for the removal of toxic matters from wastewaters. In the present study, the titanium dioxide and titanium dioxide/zinc oxide (TiO2/ZnO) nanofibers prepared by electrospinning technique were coated on the sewage sludge carbon (SSC) surface for adsorption of Ni(II), Cu(II), and COD from aqueous solutions and industrial wastewaters of Iran. The synthesized adsorbents were characterized using XRD, SEM and EDX analysis. The effect of adsorbent type, pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time and initial concentrations of Ni(II), Cu(II) and COD on the adsorption capacity of synthesized SSC/TiO2 and SSC/TiO2/ZnO nanofibrous adsorbents was investigated. The optimum pH values of 5, 6 and 7, adsorbent dosage of 0.5 gL−1, and equilibrium time of 30 min were obtained for maximum adsorption of Ni(II), Cu(II) and COD using SSC/TiO2/ZnO nanofibrous adsorbent. The kinetic and isotherm data were best described using pseudo-second-order kinetic and Redlich-Peterson isotherm models. The maximum monolayer sorption capacities of Ni(II), Cu(II) and COD were found to be 282.3 mg.g−1, 298.1 mg.g−1and 2220.3 mg.g−1, respectively using SSC/TiO2/ZnO nanofibrous adsorbent. The reusability of the nanofibers for adsorption of Ni(II), Cu(II), and COD was also examined for five runs. The simultaneous adsorption of Ni(II), Cu(II) and COD from aqueous solutions and industrial wastewater in a ternary system was also investigated. The obtained results indicated the high capability of SSC/TiO2/ZnO nanofibrous adsorbent for the removal of heavy metals and COD reduction from wastewaters. Graphical Abstract


When a body say a toy car slides down an inclined plane with angle of inclination less than 45 degree the downward and forward motion of the toy car can be restricted by a thread or support perfectly parallel to the horizontal.It can mathematically proved based on the law of conservation of energy that a portion of the weight of the toy car is unsupported even at the position of rest and sinks down in the same relative space causing compression of spacetime below the toy car.This is a mathematical proof of a plane solid surface where an object can rest with part of it's weight not supported even at the position og rest enabling a novel warp drive and time travel mechanism that can work without causing any physical harm to human subjects.


A proof-of-princle experiment for a THz SASE FEL is undergoing preparation at the Photo Injector Test facility at DESY in Zeuthen (PITZ), as a prototype THz source for pump-probe experiments at the European XFEL, which could potentially provide up to mJ/pulse THz radiation while maintaining the identical pulse train structure as the XFEL pulses. In the proof-of-principle experiment, LCLS-I undulators will be installed to generate SASE radiation in the THz range of 3-5 THz from electron bunches of 16-22 MeV/c. One key design is to obtain the peak current of nearly 200 A from the heavily charged bunches of a few nC. In this paper, we report our simulation results on the optimization of the space charge dominated beam in the photo injector and the following transport line with two cathode laser setups. Experimental results based on a short Gaussian laser will also be discussed.


A best-fitting procedure for the quantitative determination of the molar fractions of the stereosequences that define the microstructure of an ethylene−norbornene (E−N) copolymer from 13C NMR spectra has been set up. The quantitative determination of copolymer microstructure will allow one to clarify the E−N copolymerization mechanism. This method utilizes the observed peak areas of the 13C signals and takes into account the consistency between peak areas and the stoichiometry of the copolymer chain. Thus, a further extension of signal assignments is made possible by guessing assignments of unknown signals and by discarding inconsistent hypotheses. This procedure has been applied to the analysis of the 13C NMR spectra of a large number of E−N copolymers, prepared with catalyst precursors rac-Et(indenyl)2ZrCl2 (1), rac-Me2Si(2-Me-benz[e]indenyl)2ZrCl2 (2), Me2Si(Me4Cp)(NtBu)TiCl2 (3), and Me2C(Flu)(Cp)ZrCl2 (4). An estimate of the molar fractions of the various stereosequences with a standard deviation on ...


Background: In March 2010, the American Heart Association (AHA), American College of Cardiology (ACC), and other societies released new guidelines for the diagnosis and management of patients with ...


Abstract : Several composite systems were evaluated and the most appropriate was selected to fabricate two geometric half-scale versions of a full scale traversing launch beam. One beam was subsequently tested in four-point-bending. (Author)


The roll (R) is used to produce the strip (N) is repeated a coreless winding machine comprising: a first winding roller (1), on to the strip thereon; a second winding roller (3), which toward the first roller rotates in the same direction and form a nip through the strip in which both; means the above-described first winding roller (1) (15 urging said second winding roller (3) destined surface, 17); and means for the roll (R) cutting the strip at its winding end. Further comprising a process reel (R2) is formed and located at the support rollers (1,3) of the support surface upstream of nip roller (21, 21A).


The volume's editors emphasize the interdisciplinary character of postcolonial analysis and the necessity of breaking with binary approaches as part of the postcolonial endeavor in the Latin American field. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of historians participating in this debate in which sociologists, philosophers, and literary critics draw heavily on historical arguments. This constitutes the main pitfall of the volume, occasioning an oversimplification of historical arguments about the Latin American past, which at times undermines subsequent arguments and concepts. In overlooking current historical research on ethnohistory, agrarian history, slavery, the Atlantic world, and colonial identity, binary categories and dual approaches can reappear. Some contributors, for example, Elzbieta Sklodowska, Jose Antonio Mazzotti, Gordon Brotherston, Jose Rabasa, Santiago Castro-Klaren, and Fernando Coronil, are keenly aware of this problem and the challenges involved in overcoming "binary options," especially in dealing with Latin American Creoles. The critique of the self-referentiality of some postcolonial authors is also present. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that although Brazilian intellectuals are often cited, Lusophone America is the focal point of just one article, by Russell G. Hamilton. These exclusions demonstrate the need for scholars to keep striving to overcome academic divisions and linguistic barriers.


Environmentally clean and green source of energy is solar energy that can meet the increasing demand for energy. Recent trends in solar energy reflect that delafossite materials getting more attention because of its low-cost production and easy method of synthesis, non-toxic nature, environment-friendly nature, degradability compared to the silicon. In this direction, delafossite KFeO2 nanoparticles have synthesized by chemical method and used as photo-anode material for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). The structural, morphological, optical and photovoltaic properties of KFeO2 nanoparticles have been investigated. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) study reveals that the KFeO2 nanoparticles exhibit spherical morphology with particle size 12 nm. Rietveld refinement of x-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of KFeO2 reflects, its orthorhombic phase with Pbca space group. The optical study reveals that the bandgap of the KFeO2 nanoparticles lying in the visible range of spectrum, i.e., 1.88 eV. The DSSC has been fabricated using KFeO2 nanoparticles. The power conversion efficiency parameters is 0.84 V; 4.72 mA cm−2; 64% and 2.54% respectively, for open-circuit voltage (VOC), short circuit current–density (JSC), fill factor (FF) and Power conversion efficiency for fabricated DSSC. It has been found that the efficiency of fabricated DSSC has been decrease to 2.27% after 45 days.


Subtitle: European Community yards actually increased their order intake last year by a higher percentage than Asian competition. How they'd do it?


— lectrical discharge machining (EDM) is one of the oldest non-traditional machining processes. EDM process is basically done through the thermoelectric energy between the work piece and an electrode. In electrical discharge machining (EDM), a process utilizing the removal phenomenon of electrical discharge in dielectric, the working fluid plays an important role affecting the material removal rate and the properties of the machined surface. Selection of the right dielectric fluid is important for successful operations. This paper presents a literature survey on the various concepts with current research trends and also their effects in electrical discharge machining characteristics. surface methodology to identify the most influenctial parameters for maximizing metal removal rate and to minimize the surface roughness. Their experiments were carried out using a Box–Behnken experimental strategy. At the end they have concluded that the effect of machining parameters such as flushing pressure, pulse on-time, peak current and electrode rotation on MRR and surface quality of the WC/Co composites was analyzed using 3-D response graphs micro-EDM


The heat supply for drying powdery and granular AP is discussed. It is thought of economical and reasonable that heat is exchanged with air by hotblast stove. An example of SMU005 type hotblast stove for 3 years application and suitable production capacity is presented, including its structure, application , type and operation notice etc.


It has been a year and a half since the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic started. In today's protocols for the treatment of COVID-19 and the prevention of its complications, corticosteroid therapy and anticoagulant therapy have a crucial part. The goal of this article is to show, based on available data, both the benefits and the disadvantages of corticosteroid and anticoagulant therapy in treating the infection caused by the Sars-CoV-2 virus. At the very onset of the pandemic, an increased frequency of thrombotic events negatively impacting the course and outcome of the disease, was registered. It has been observed that increased values of D-dimer in patients with COVID-19 do not correlate with the presence of venous thrombosis and are not reliable in the detection of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary thromboembolism. According to the National Protocol for Treating COVID-19 (Version 12), anticoagulant therapy is recommended in hospitalized patients. Due to the risk of different side effects, such as bleeding and heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, a careful use of anticoagulant therapy is necessary, as well as close monitoring of its effects. With respect to corticosteroids, their efficacy in patients with moderate and severe clinical presentation of COVID-19, who are in need of oxygen support, was analyzed. Corticosteroids have proven efficient in decreasing mortality, decreasing the need for mechanical ventilation, decreasing the length of stay in intensive care units, as well as in shortening the length of hospital stay. Assessing the individual benefits and risks before introducing these drugs into the therapy of a patient with confirmed COVID-19 is of vital importance for achieving the desired effects of the therapy.


The article is devoted to the analysis of the exhibition activity of the masters of the Palekh lacquer miniature. The author has chosen as a chronological period the first fifteen years of the existence of this fishery – from its inception in the first half of the 1920s to the beginning of the Second World War. The subject of the study, therefore, is an analysis of the exhibition practices of the Palekh art craft of the pre-war period (1923-1939). The article shows the importance of the exhibition activity of the Palekh lacquer craft at all stages of this brief, but nevertheless extremely eventful period. The purpose of the article is to show the importance that the exhibition activity had for the success and public recognition of Palekh as a new and quickly became the most famous lacquer craft in Russia.     The scientific novelty of the article consists in the fact that, using historical-typological and structural research methods, as well as a historical-systematic approach, the author analyzes the most important domestic and foreign shows of the 1920s - 1930s, at which the products of the Palekh lacquer miniature were exhibited. The author emphasizes an important circumstance: the very formation and strengthening of the Palekh lacquer miniature craft in the first half and mid-1920s was caused precisely by the success of the prototypes exhibited at the largest exhibitions of that time, such as the All-Russian Exhibition of 1923 in Moscow, as well as the International Exhibition in Paris of 1925. At the same time, it is shown that Palekh's products continued to be successful at the shows (the exhibition "10 years of October" in 1927, the Soviet Exhibition in New York in 1928, the International Exhibition in Paris in 1937 and many other exhibitions analyzed in the article). Thus, it is the justification of the success of the exhibition activity of the Palekh lacquer miniature craft as an important factor of its public recognition that is the main conclusion of the article.


GONZAGA, Lívia Vieira, M.Sc. Universidade Federal de Viçosa, December, 2013. Spray dried surfactin as potentiating agent of bioremediation of oilcontaminated soil. Advisor: Marcos Rogério Tótola. Co-Advisers: Célia Alencar de Moraes and Maurício Dutra Costa. The effectiveness of spray dried surfactin, produced from a culture of Bacillus subtilis 4914 strain, was evaluated in microcosms containing sandy clay loam soil (SCL) or clayey soil (CLA) contaminated with petroleum. The highest respiratory rates in the microcosms additioned of petroleum demonstrated that oil was utilized as carbon source for microbiota in the microcosms of both soils. Maltodextrin, utilized as a drying adjuvants in the preparation of spray dried surfactin, was also utilized as a source of carbon and energy. The means of accumulated CO2 during the decline phase of the respiration rate shared by all microcosms of a same soil type, ranged from 47,6 to 137,7 μmol g for SCL soil and from 37,5 to 98,5 μmol g for CLA soil. The removal of TPH ranged from 19,6 to 38,4 % and from 62,6 to 73,2 % for the SCL and CLA soils, respectively. Surfactin in its two forms (in liquid solution and dried) influenced positively the degradation of the TPH in the SCL and CLA soils and in late phase of bioremediation. Maltodextrin did not interfere in the degradation of TPH. The lowest values of residual TPH in microcosms assembled with CLA soil were attributed to the highest microbial activity and biomass. The microbial community dynamics was studied by T-RFLP multiplex analysis of the groups Bacteria, Fungi e Archaea. The results demonstrated the occurrence of negative impact of oil on the microbial communities of all microcosms of both soil types, in the beginning of incubation period, and recovery of the community structure in subsequent times. The fungal community showed highest values of Shannon-Weaver index (H'), Simpson index (D) and Richness (S), followed by the Bacteria. In conclusion, spray dried surfactin favors the biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons in soils.


Abstract : Underwater acoustic propagation in the Arctic Ocean is characterized by a refractive surface-channel with a rough boundary. Acoustic scattering estimates, based on free-surface theory, have proven low by more than a factor of two in forward-scatter loss and low by 20 dB or more in backscatter strength. Failure to account for either attenuation or backscattering indicates that impedance effects must be involved. The ice layer is modeled as a uniform elastic solid. Perturbation analysis shows scattering from slopes as well as displacements. Displacements produce piston-like reradiation in addition to the usual vertical-dipole type associated with free surfaces. The 'rocking' horizontal dipole produced by slopes is evidently a significant mechanism at the lower frequencies. However, estimates of both attenuation and backscatter strength are much too low compared with experimental data. Keywords: Acoustic attenuation; Ice-water interface slope; Acoustic reflectivity; Underice roughness, Acoustic velocity; Low-frequency.


Abstract The palladium-catalyzed ring opening of cyclopropane- and vinylcyclopropane-appended spirotricyclic olefins by employing active methylene compounds, phenols and organoboronic acids is discussed in detail. The present strategy provides a facile route for the synthesis of biologically significant, functionalized spiro[2.4]heptenes under mild reaction conditions. The synthetic utility of the described compounds is emphasized by the preparation of the corresponding iodolactone derivatives and a highly substituted spiro[2.4]heptane.


This article analyzes the peculiarities of the formation of national values formed during the historical development of the material and spiritual culture of Kazakhstan. National values are the basis of spiritual and moral development, personal education, which are preserved in cultural, historical, family traditions and are passed down from generation to generation and ensure the effective development of the country. The author of the article of pedagogical deontology focuses the professional consciousness of the teacher on the fate of the student, on the principles of trust, empathy and justice. In this context, the primary school teacher's main task is to bring the quality of students' education to the international level, educate them in morality, and actively participate in the creation of the educational process on a national basis. In primary school age, the relationship of national culture is of great importance, in promoting the conscious perception of its values, in assimilating national traditions as values, in accordance with which it is necessary to demand norms of behavior. In this context, the primary school teacher argues that being active in building the educational process on a national basis is the greatest burden, the most important thing, the most sacred duty of teaching


In a magnetic nanopillar, microwave oscillations of the magnetization of one magnetic layer can be driven by spin-polarized current emitted from another magnetic layer. The conditions for this to occur in zero applied field are formulated in terms of the two components of the spin-transfer torque. One simple route to achieve microwave generation is to ensure that these components have opposite sign. Quantum-mechanical calculations are presented that show how this may be achieved by a suitable choice of the oscillating magnet thickness.


Devulcanized rubber (DR) with highly crystalline polypropylene (PP) was used to prepare thermoplastic vulcanizates on the basis of DR/PP (75/25) blends. Influences of the curing systems, dicumyl peroxide (DCP) and gamma radiation, were investigated by X‐ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy techniques. The mechanical and thermal behaviors of the composites in different proportions were studied. We found that the elastic modulus and tensile strength of the thermoplastic vulcanizates exhibited higher values than unvulcanized material. This finding may be attributed to an improvement in DR dispersion as well as interaction networks between the PP matrix and DR in the presence of DCP and the formation of more stable linkages. Peroxide caused a degradation of the PP molecules. A higher level of DCP was used in the peroxide‐vulcanized system and caused greater influence on properties. The mechanical and thermal properties of the unirradiated and irradiated composites were evaluated. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 20:168–176, 2014. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers


In retrospect,China chose a development path giving priority to industry,particularly to heavy industry,after the founding of the People's Republic of China,owing to various domestic and international factors.Correspondingly,China followed a path whereby agriculture supported industry and countryside supported cities.Since the turn of the century,the Party Central Committee,with Comrade Hu Jintao as General Secretary,has readjusted the development path in a timely manner,following a path of balancing and coordinating urban and rural development,whereby industry supports agriculture and cities support countryside.As the requirement of building a harmonious society,this has strong theoretical grounds and can draw from international experience.


Due to pterygium tissue compression on the corneal surface, it has been hypothesised that the degree of corneal astigmatism caused by pterygium can vary. This study aims to develop a freeze-dried method for estimating net pterygium tissue mass (NPTM) as dry weight. A single surgeon (KMK) excised 60 primary pterygium using the controlled partial avulsion technique and divided them into two groups: formalin-fixed (n=30) and unfixed (n=30). After determining the weight of each sterile container, 5 mL of 5% buffered formaldehyde was added to the formalin-fixed group and stored for one week, while 5 mL of distilled water was added to the non-fixed pterygium group. Each container was pre-frozen for 12 hours before being freeze-dried (-24 hours at -80 degrees Celsius). The result is referred to as the net pterygium tissue mass (NPTM). Using an independent T-test, a comparison of wet and dry weight and percentage of NPTM was conducted between groups. Wet weights for formalin-fixed and non-fixed pterygium were 253.33 82.17 g and 255.17 63.52 g, respectively, while dry weights were 184.92 84.31 g and 179.54 72.85 g. Formalin-fixed pterygium tissue revealed a slightly higher percentage of NPTM than non-fixed pterygium tissue (69.39 13.29% vs. 67.75 13.29%, p = 0.792), but this difference was not statistically significant. The freeze-dried method can be utilised to quantify the NPTM of pterygium fibrovascular tissue and investigate the influence of pterygium translucency on predicting induced-corneal astigmatism.


We present a novel dynamics for generating sizable CP-violating asymmetries in the decays of charged B → πω, πρ, πρ, and in B0(B) → πρ. The dynamics for the necessary final-state interactions involves the mixing of G-parity eigenstates of the system (D ∗ D,DD) with the G = ±1 states of πω and πρ, respectively. The dynamical effect is enhanced by the empirically large branching ratio for decays to (D ∗ D,DD). A correlated result is a markedly enhanced branching ratio for B0(B) → πρ, which has now been observed in two experiments. Direct CP violation in the decays of charged and neutralB mesons is the central theme in current experiments [1, 2, 3] at the two B-meson factories. Today, some forty years after the discovery of indirect CP violation in the two-pion decay of K L [4], direct CP violation has been established only in the matrix elements for the two-pion decays of the neutral K system.[5] It is yet to be established in decays of a charged particle. Recently, one experiment [1] has given results which indicate a sizable CP-violating asymmetry in the decays B∓ → π∓η, as predicted by theoretical estimates in 1991 [6], and also in the decays B∓ → K∓η.[7] Further, one experiment [2] has given a large direct CP violation in B0(B) → π−π+.[8] This group has now given an indication [3] of a sizable asymmetry in B∓ → π∓ω. All of these decays have similar, low branching ratios measured to be in the range of (2 − 7) × 10−6. In order to have direct CP violation observable, there must be (strong) interactions among particles in the final states.[6] It is physically clear that if there exists a decay channel with an empirically large branching ratio (i. e. a large decay amplitude) which has the same, conserved strong-interaction quantum numbers as the final hadron state, then decay into this channel followed by even a small mixing with the final state, will produce the essential strong-interaction, imaginary contribution to the amplitude, which will be sizable.[8] When the large decay amplitude involves a term in the CKM matrix with a different weak phase from the term relevant to the direct decay into the final state, then the necessary conditions for observing an asymmetry are met.[6] This dynamical mechanism explains [8] the large, direct CP violation observed in B0(B) → π+π−.[2] In a correlated way, the same dynamics predicts an enhanced branching ratio for B0(B) → ππ, as is observed [9, 10]. Mixing with the isospin-zero


Single-cell RNA-Seq makes it possible to characterize the transcriptomes of cell types and identify their transcriptional signatures via differential analysis. We present a fast and accurate method for discriminating cell types that takes advantage of the large numbers of cells that are assayed. When applied to transcript compatibility counts obtained via pseudoalignment, our approach provides a quantification-free analysis of 3' single-cell RNA-Seq that can identify previously undetectable marker genes.


The church of the Santa Maria Annunziata in the village of Vedrana, near Bologna, is situated along the medieval road that connects Bologna with Ferrara, Padua, and Venice. Between 2008 and 2010, fragments of frescoes, dating from the second half of the 13th century, were uncovered in the church. In these frescoes, which originally adorned the upper parts of the central nave walls until the 18th-century reconstructions, decorative elements, busts of the apostles in the scene of the Last Supper, remnants of the figures of Christ and Judas, along with several soldiers in the Betrayal of Judas scene were identified. Early researchers noted that the frescoes exhibit a stronger influence from the Veneto region, particularly the Paduan culture, rather than the influences of the art of nearby Venice. However, these frescoes also display notable influences of Byzantine art from the region of the Balkan Peninsula, received directly or through Venice.


We demonstrated a simple single-exposure method of fabricating phase-shifted fiber Bragg gratings (PSFBGs), in which a non-photosensitive SMF-28 fiber was irradiated by a femtosecond laser beam passing through a uniform period phase mask. The phase-shifted structure in the FBG was formed by shielding a small region of the incident femtosecond laser beam during its irradiation. The fabricated PSFBG exhibited a 0.2 nm narrow resonant frequency band, 88% peak reflectance, and 77% extinction ratio. All-optical switching based on cross-phase modulation was demonstrated in the PSFBG at 1549.625 nm. A switching extinction ratio of more than 40% was achieved for 0.6 kW pulse peak power.


The Education Program for Health Working is an instrument that seeks the valorization of health professionals aiming at the collective construction along with college students, in order to rebuild and reframe care delivery, providing greater insight into the Public Health System. This study is an experience report with participants from one university program developed from August 2012 to August 2014. The study included a preceptor, two students, two tutors, namely, respectively, a nurse, a nursing student, a biomedicine student, and two nutritionists. The results point to a knowledge raise, especially with regards to the health system. It become evident that the closer ties between students and health service professionals enables the exchange of experiences and knowledge sharing.


Introduction: The oxidation of Fe played a very important role during aqueous alteration of chondrites. The process of oxidation is most obvious in the CRs, Semarkona (LL3.0) and Paris (CM). In all of them, metal has clearly been converted to magnetite. In all other CMs and all CIs, the alteration of metal has almost gone to completion. The oxidant was the water responsible for the aqueous alteration of the meteorites through reactions such as:


Iris recognition enjoys universality, high degree of uniqueness and moderate user co-operation. This makes Iris recognition systems unavoidable in emerging security & authentication mechanisms. We propose an iris recognition system based on vector quantization and its performance is compared with the Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT). The proposed VQ based system does not need any pre-processing and segmentation of the iris. For vector quantization we have used Kekre's Fast Codebook Generation Algorithm (KFCG). Proposed VQ based method using KFCG requires 99.99% less computations as that of full 2-dimensional DCT. Further the KFCG method gives better performance with the accuracy of 89.10% outperforming DCT that gives accuracy around 66.10%. The system has a future scope for integration in existing mechanisms.


This paper presents the results of a study conducted on the interaction of two disfluencies: repeats and word fragments. It is based on 150 repeated word fragments (e.g., "on le re- re- revendique encore une fois") extracted from a one-million-word corpus of spoken French. Word fragments such as: "notre metier spe- specifique", are, like repeats (e.g., "vous avez evalue le le montant des degâts"), very frequent events in spoken language: on average, there is 1 word fragment every 50 seconds , 1 repeat every 17 seconds. Speakers and listeners alike are generally unaware of these phenomena as if they were not part of the communication process. They seldom trigger a metalinguistic reaction from the speaker and are even more rarely acknowledged by the listener. These phenomena have sometimes been interpreted as 'errors' in the communication process, like slips of the tongue [6]. Word fragments and repeats encompass different categories of phenomena, and this enables us to define them as an heterogeneous group ruled by different types of constraints and mechanisms . This analysis rests on the following criteria: structural aspects of the repeat, types of word fragments, morphological and syntactic aspects. Analyses of these repeated of identical word fragments from two different angles - that of the repeats and then that of the word fragments - confirm the relevance of the distinction between these two types of disfluencies.


The ability of body mass index (BMI) to predict excess fat in South Asian children is unknown. This cross-sectional study examines the influence of ethnicity on body fatness in children. Weight status and body fat were determined using BMI, waist circumference (WC), two skinfold sites (SF; triceps and subscapula) and leg-to-leg bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA; Tanita BF350, Tanita, Tokyo, Japan) in 194 children aged 8.47 ± 0.50 years from Coventry, United Kingdom. Biological maturity was also determined. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) identified significant differences between ethnic (p < 0.001) and gender groups' BMI (p = 0.026), with a significant covariate for skinfold (p < 0.001) and bioelectrical impedance (p < 0.001). For a given body fat value, South Asian children and females had a lower BMI value (−1.12 kg/m2, p < 0.001 and −0.50 kg/m2, p = 0.026, respectively, when adjusted for SF; −1.56 kg/m2, p < 0.001 and −0.31 kg/m2, p = 0.16, respectively, when adjusted for BIA) compared with white children and boys. The prediction model including ethnicity, gender and BIA explained 80.4% of the variance in BMI. Maturation was not found to be a significant covariate (p > 0.05). To conclude, the findings suggest that BMI cut-points may need to be lowered in South Asian children, and thus age-by-sex-by-ethnicity specific BMI cut-points are needed in children. Further research examining body composition with health parameters in this population is needed.


The objective of the thesis "The influence of prices on vehicle fleet" is to optimize the costs of the vehicle fleet in the medium enterprise. Every company tries to minimize those costs. The first part of the thesis describes the different types of fuels that can be used to power the vehicle and also various financial tools to manage the vehicle fleet. The second part consist of an analysis of different types of financing the vehicle fleet and also evaluates the benefits of using alternative fuels (eg LPG).


Abstract. Lesson Study is an effort to improve the quality of learning and development of teacher's professionality. The aim of implementation learning based Lesson Study in class VII C SMP Negeri 9 Jember to develop a character learning independence of students. Lesson Study based learning in this research went smoothly and accordance with the planned stages. The result shows the development of character learning independence from cycle I to cycle III. Lesson Study based learning is able to develop a character learning independence. It is show by a rise in the percentage of each indicator that shows the character learning independence.
Key Words : Lesson Study, Learning Independence


The flow of an incompressible liquid at nonzero Reynolds number Re in a two-dimensional model porous medium is studied via numerical simulation. The geometry is a random array of cylinders of square cross section and spectral element methods are used. We find a transition from linear Darcy flow at vanishing Re, to a cubic transitional regime at low Re, and then a quadratic Forchheimer when Re=O(1). In addition, some general remarks on scaling behavior and the form of the flow equation at finite Re are presented. {copyright} {ital 1998} {ital The American Physical Society}


Backgound: Suicides are associated with both high and low levels of intelligence and educational attainment in both individual-level and aggregate-level studies, but this has been rarely studied in the elderly. Methods: A cross-national study examining the relationship between elderly suicide rates (y-axis) and educational attainment (x-axis) was undertaken with the 'a priori' hypothesis that the relationship would be curvilinear and follow a U-shaped curve with the quadratic equation Y = A + BX + CX 2, where A, B and C are constants. Data on suicide rates for both sexes in the age-bands 65–74 years and 75+ years, and the Education Index (a proxy measure of educational attainment) were ascertained from the World Health Organisation and the United Nations websites, respectively. Results: The main finding was the predicted curvilinear relationship between suicide rates, in both sexes in both the elderly age-bands, and the Education Index fitting the quadratic equation Y = A + BX + CX 2. Conclusions: Given the cross-sectional study design, a causal relationship cannot be assumed. The impact of educational attainment on elderly suicide rates may occur through interaction with other factors, mediation of the effects of other factors, or by its effects being mediated by other factors, and require further study.


In the carrier meter reading system,the electric power carrier communication distance is Limited,and meter reading has low rates.This paper proposes a set of copy used in carrier-meter relay system technology and designs power line carrier communication routers to apply this technology.The user node,the path to achieve automatic optimization,each node of the routing path of automatic updates,and providing Ethernet and serial port pairs of nodes in the data fast,accurate and correct meter reading function.


This paper is proposed to describe the coherence of concepts in "SHARINGPLUS" with social theories. It is cross sectional research viewing teaching practice implemented by informants of the research. The informants include six lecturers who taught Qualitative Research Methodology at six Programs of Studies at an educational college, called "STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat", twelve lecturers who supervised theses with qualitative approach, and one of their supervised students. Sampling technique is purposive. The type of data is descriptive taken through interview and they were categorized based on each concept and discussed with the theories of Sociology. Findings show that the concepts "Stimulating", "Patient", "Loving", "Unforgettable", and "Sympathetic" are coherent with social exchange theory, "Appropriateness-based", "Revising", "Illustrating", and "Goal oriented" are coherent with action theory, and "Handled with consensus" and "Negotiating" are coherent with communicative action theories. Thus, the model combines three paradigms (Durhkemian, Maxian, and Weberian, with eleven concepts).


The design and implementation of procedures now used to allocate regional public transit costs among towns are examined. The basis of this examination is a set of case studies of eight cost-allocation procedures being used in five New England regions--two in Maine and three in Massachusetts. These regions have different demographic and economic characteristics, types of transit service and regional organizations, and sizes of operations. The procedures examined employ variables such as passenger trips, passenger miles, vehicle trips, vehicle miles, and vehicle hours. The population served in the regions varies from 80,000 to 226,000. Three of the regions contain urbanized areas and all five regions include a large amount of rural area. Five of the eight procedures are used to allocate costs of demand-responsive services; the other three are for fixed-route services. The services in Maine are operated by private nonprofit agencies associated closely with human service agencies, whereas the services in Massachusetts are provided by regional transit authorities under contract with private bus companies and private nonprofit corporations. The eight operating budgets range from approximately $86,000 to $580,000, and the local shares of the operating deficit range from $16,000 to $64,000. The issues involved in the decision to select a particular procedure are illustrated. Major issues were found to be geographic characteristics of the region, types of transit service provided, and concerns of participating towns regarding an equitable basis of allocation. In addition, the manner in which these issues affected the initial choice and subsequent changes in procedures is reviewed, and a description of the experience of the regional agencies in the implementation of their procedures is given. The results of these case studies provide insight into the process of designing and implementing a procedure to apportion costs to towns that participate in a regional transit program. (Author)