Abstract In organic farms, hens can freely access the outdoor areas, a potential source of helminth infections. This study aimed to evaluate the effective use of free-range access in organic laying hen's farms located in Italy. The other objective was to quantify the major risk factors for endo- and ectoparasite infestation and its effect on performance, health and welfare, correlated to the use of free-range access. Fifteen organic farms of laying hens were assessed and visited twice. The total number of hens in the three zones was counted and recorded three times daily. Indirect indicators (characteristics of vegetation cover, amount and weight of droppings) were recorded. To evaluate parasite infestation, 15 fresh faecal samples per flock were collected from the ground/floor or perches. From seven farms, 15 gastrointestinal tracts from end-of-lay hens were qualitatively and quantitatively examined for the presence of endoparasites at different developmental stages. The percentage of hens observed outdoors in zone 3 was affected by free-range features. As expected, zone 1 was more frequented by hens than the others. The correlations among number and weight of droppings collected outside, vegetation score and the percentage of hens showed interesting results. Only three species of parasites were found during faecal samples analysis. There was a significantly and positively correlation between the number of Capillaria and Ascaridia eggs. The results showed that the presence in the free-range area of mounds, trees and bushes attracted more animals outside and allowed them to show their natural behaviour. Highlights Consumer's motivations to buy organic food are related to human health, environmental concerns and animal welfare. The higher animal welfare standards of organic production lead consumers to buy organic instead of conventional food of animal origin. However, some health and welfare problems that could affect organic egg production need to be addressed. The characteristics of the outdoor range are one of the factors that can most affect its use. Moreover, the use of the free range is considered one of the major risk factors for endo- and ectoparasite infestation in organic layers that can affect performance, health and welfare.


In the Republic of Mordovia among young wild oat weed common in size and biological mass and occupies a leading position prevails in crops early term of sowing. In modern agriculture, tillage and fertilizer are standing by anthropogenic factors, dramatically altering the environmental conditions of growth of both weeds and cultural part of agrophytocenosis. So far, remains unexplored question about the influence of different types of fertilizer and timing of their introduction to the provocation of wild oat seedlings than usual. In order to identify the action of various types of fertilizer and timing of their introduction to provoke wild oat seedlings were laid, and we have conducted field and laboratory experience with a three-factor systematic placement options. Aqueous solutions of various concentrations of mineral fertilizers considerably stimulated the germination of seeds of wild oats. In the embodiment where the uses of ammonium nitrate solution (NH4NO3), increasing the number of germinated seeds has been observed at a concentration of 0.01%, 11% as compared to control. With increasing concentration up to 0.03 21%, at 0.05 39%. When using these fertilizers in the autumn under the basic process of germination indicated a strengthening of grains of the weed at the time of first cultivation compared to the control of the background of a complete fertilizer by 53% with the use of ammonium nitrate 68%. Studies have shown that the use of mineral fertilizers substantially alter the environmental conditions for seed germination is usually wild oats. On versions with the introduction of nitrogen and full dose of fertilizer in the fall took place additional wild oat seeds provocation to deeper layers of the plow layer, which led to the purification of wild oat seed reserves in the plow layer soil during presowing soil treatments. The use of phosphate fertilizers as a primary treatment, and presowing cultivation intensifies wild oat seed germination. Effect of potassium fertilizers was less significant


A novel method for oligonucleotide synthesis on the basis of chemoselective phosphonylation is described. Nucleoside 3'-H-phosphonate monomers without amino protection were synthesized by the O-selective phosphonylation of nucleosides bearing the free amino and 3'-hydroxy groups. It was found that the amino groups of nucleosides were not modified during internucleotidic bond formation when carbenium and phosphonium compounds were employed as condensing reagents in the present H-phosphonate method. A mechanism for the O-selective condensation was investigated in detail by means of 31P NMR spectroscopy as well as ab initio molecular orbital calculations. The internucleotidic H-phosphonate linkages were oxidized with N-sulfonyloxazilidine derivatives in the presence of silyating reagents under unhydrous conditions without degradation of the oligonucleotide chain. The present method was found to be effective for the synthesis of base-sensitive DNA derivatives bearing various functional groups.


Maximizing signal energy in both time and frequency is a celebrated problem which has already received much attention. We propose here a new approach which operates directly in the timefrequency plane : the addressed problem is to find the signal whose time-frequency energy distribution is most concentrated in a given time-frequency domain of any shape. The solution is shown to be that of an eigenequation depending on both the considered domain and the chosen distribution. Explicit solutions are derived for elliptic domains in the Wigner-Ville case and connections with classical approaches are pointed out.


The utility model discloses a remote wireless security monitoring device for distributed lightening arresters, comprising a router, a monitoring computer, a monitoring client computer, a distributed field detection terminal and a mobile base station. The field detection terminal transmits the running parameters of the lightening arresters to the mobile base station through wireless remote transmission; an Internet network is sequentially connected with the router and the monitoring computer; the monitoring client computer is connected to the lower end of the monitoring computer; and the mobile base station transmits signals to the router through the Internet network. The utility model adopts the GPRS technology to carry out remote, real-time and on-line monitoring on the dispersively distributed lightening arresters in field in a non-contact and network mode to ensure the safe running of an electric grid, knows the running status of the lightening arresters in real time through inquiring from the Internet, processes the collected data to obtain the size of resistive current, realizes the wireless transmission of the data through accessing the GPRS into the Internet and operates remote monitoring software for inquiring and the monitoring data and for operation; and the monitoring mode is accurate and convenient, is in real time and has strong practicality.


In current age, realization of market's competitive construction is a survival key and important factor for organizations success. Achieving this concept depends on management's awareness of customers comment and needs, assessment and utilization of marketing mix in order to achieve greater market share. Also firms know that, the after sales service has a great impact on customer's loyalty and purchase repeat. Therefore the services should have their satisfaction. This research is done by questionnaire and randomized sampling related to measuring customer's satisfaction of marketing mix factors in the terms of Hyundai distributor sales and after sales service. The researcher is eager to study and identify the marketing mix factors mix that have the greatest impact on attracting and retaining Hyundai customers, to identify, prioritize them and assist management in the field of marketing decisions. Therefore, in this research, sales and after sales services of Marketing mix factors are based on the 4p approach: Price, promotion, product (service) and place are determined. Sale Statistical test results show that the importance of price is greater than other factors and Product factor is more important than place and promotion. In the field of after sales service, product (service quality), has the greatest impact however the Price factor, has the least impact. [Mostafa Jafari, Mohammad mahdavi mazde, Amir Ahmadi. Hyundai customer satisfaction Measurement in field of sales and after sales service refer to Marketing mix factors in Iran. J Am Sci 2012;8(10):1-8]. (ISSN: 1545-1003). http://www.jofamericanscience.org. 1


Pectin is a complex mixture of polysaccharides that is present on plants cell wall used mainly in food and beverage industry as thickening and gelling agent. This study used Microwave Assisted Extraction to obtain pectin from fruit waste specifically mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana) rind. Central composite design is used in investigating the effect of microwave extraction condition in the yield of pectin with a total of 34 runs. Effects of extraction conditions such as ApH of 2 3, Birradiation time of 3 9 minutes and C power level of (336 595 watts on the yield of pectin from mangosteen rind were evaluated. The factors that significantly affect the yield are pH and power level and their interactions with value of p<0.05 while irradiation time remains insignificant. At a given factors and levels, the yield of pectin ranges from 3.1% to 9.2%. Optimum yield of pectin (9.022%) can be attained at lower limit in ph of 2, irradiation time of 3 minutes and power level of 336 watts. The mathematical model for pectin extraction using this method is expressed in coded equation: Yield = 5.57 – 2.15A – 0.4169C + 0.2250AB + 0.6331AC with an F-value of 1035.21 implies the model is significant. High coefficients of determination was attained with R of 0.9930 against the predicted R of 0.9906, thus confirming adequacy of adjustment of the regression models with the experimental data. The extracted pectin from mangosteen rinds using the optimized conditions have 4.38% ash content, 12.33% moisture, 11.12% methoxyl content, 65.78% anhydrouronic acid and 95.98% degree of esterification. A high-methoxyl and rapid set pectin was attained from the mangosteen rind with the microwave assisted extraction method.


'The authors are developing multi-functional anion-exchange resins that facilitate anion uptake by carefully controlling the structure of the anion receptor site. The new ion-exchange resins interface the rapidly developing field of ion-specific chelating ligands with robust, commercial ion exchange technology. The overall objective of the research is to develop a predictive capability which allows the facile design and implementation of multi-functionalized anion exchange materials which selectively sorb metal complexes of interest from targeted process, waste, and environmental streams. The basic scientific issues addressed are actinide complex speciation along with modeling of the metal complex/functional site interactions in order to determine optimal binding-site characteristics. Their approach uses a thorough determination of the chemical species both in solution and as bound to the resin to determine the characteristics of resin active sites which can actively facilitate specific metal-complex sorption to the resin. The first year milestones were designed to allow us to build off of their extensive expertise with plutonium in nitrate solutions prior to investigating other, less familiar systems. While the principle investigators have successfully developed actinide chelators and ion-exchange materials in the past, the authors were fully aware that integration of this two fields would be challenging, rewarding and, at times, highly frustrating. Relatively small differences in the substrate (cross-linkage, impurities), the active sites (percent substitution, physical accessibility), the actinide solution (oxidation state changes, purity) and the analytical procedures (low detection limits) can produce inconsistent sorption behavior which is difficult to interpret. The potential paybacks for success, however, are enormous. They feel that they have learned a great deal about how to control these numerous variables to produce consistent, reliable analysis of actinide sorption behavior with the new and baseline anion-exchange materials. The four Year 1 (FY97) milestones are listed below along with an update on the progress towards their completion.'


At present,the rural library project arranged by the Party Central Committee is implemented in a big way in China.The author has visited the rural library in some villages and held discussion with the farmers.The author holds the view that the Agricultural Science and Technology Departments at the County and Township Levels should get involved in rural library construction.


Lori Gilbert-Kaye jumped. She jumped in front of a gunman with a rifle in order to protect Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein during a mass shooting at Congregation Chabad in Poway, north of San Diego in California, April 27, 2019. She died. Lori Kaye deliberately sacrificed her life in order to preserve the life of her rabbi. "She did not die in vain," said her surviving husband. "Her death must bring goodness to the world." John T. Earnest was booked by the San Diego Sheriff's Department on murder in the first degree. He had entered the synagogue for the sole purpose of murdering as many Jews as he could. His family released a statement that included, "To our great shame, he [John Earnest] is now part of the history of evil." Good and Evil. Both in the flash of a single microsecond. The pulling of the trigger defined John Earnest as evil while, at the same time, it defined Lori Kaye as good. How do we explain good and evil? Can we explain it scientifically? Theologically? Some other way? Here is one explanation, the selfish gene explanation. According to the selfish gene theory, it might look like this: Lori Kaye and Rabbi Goldstein were close kin. They carried many of the same genes. Therefore, Kaye's good deed was prompted by kin selection, by the evolutionary drive to replicate shared DNA sequences. John Earnest, in contrast, did not share genes with those he attempted to wipe out. Because Jews are genetically other, genocide of the other is the path his genes took to win at survival. How's that for a cogent explanation? I see a problem here. There is no evidence that Lori Kay and Rabbi Goldstein were close kin let alone that Kaye would let another person, more genetically distant from her, simply die by gunshot. The family of John Earnest, with whom the killer shares the maximum number of genes, issued a statement decrying the action of John. The family expressed their grief and sorrow at the loss of a Jewish life. Among those who share this particular family's genome, we find both good and evil. In short, the selfish gene theory fails to discriminate between good and evil. It explains virtually nothing. To ask a scientist to explain good and evil might be a good idea. But it is not a good idea to ask a journalist to report on what a sociobiologist or evolutionary psychologist says about this important topic and then pretend that we now have a so-called scientific explanation. Frankly, as a theologian, I find evil quite mysterious. Good is somewhat comprehensible, to be sure; but evil resists explanation. We intuitively understand evil, but evil still defies explanation. The best a theologian can do is point to God's grace and hope for redemption from evil.


This study was aimed at developing the valid and practical civic education textbook with problem-based approach of civic education course at Sriwijaya University and at finding out the potential effect of the textbook use with problem-based approach towards students' problem solving skill. Thus, that skill can be used by the students in the life of nation, state, and society. The subjects of this study were the students taking civic education course in odd semester of 2019-2020 academic year selected through random sampling technique. This study was a research and development research. The processes of this study were done by testing the product validity through material and language testing indicating that this textbook was valid to use. Then to maximize the study, the product was also tested through some stages, i.e. one to one, small group, and field evaluation in which the results would show that this textbook was practical to use.


A module M is called ⊕-supplemented if every submodule of M has a supplement that is a direct summand of M. It is shown that if M is a ⊕-supplemented module and r(M) is a coclosed submodule of M for a left preradical r, then r(M) is a direct summand of M, and both r(M) and M/r(M) are ⊕-supplemented.


SGs represent a great potential for education since they can join an instructional value with the appealing language of digital natives. Searching for methodologies to support effective authoring of Serious Games (SGs), we have abstracted a model consisting of a 3D geo-referenced Virtual World (VW) where knowledge is implemented also through tasks that are disseminated across the environment. The model is designed to support authors to focus on defining the tasks' content and annotation (e.g. relevance to various topics, difficulty, position in the VW, typology of supported learning styles, interrelation with other tasks and events, etc.), without being asked to do game scripting, which typically involves hardcoding events, actions, locations and contents of a specific game. Task annotation allows reusing tasks also in different games. Moreover, different game designers can exploit repositories of tasks and build educational games specifying a VW, and its missions as sequences of tasks that meet learning strategy criteria that can be expressed through the proposed framework. This model opens new perspectives to pedagogical experts and game designers to develop runtime game engines able to provide players with adaptive contents. The paper presents the user, task and learning strategy models in detail and an example of application.


In this paper, we consider different notions of openness for the scalar multiplication on sequence spaces and spaces of continuous functions. We apply existing techniques to derive weak openness of multiplication on spaces of differentiable functions, endowed with a large collection of quasialgebra norms.


The experiment aims to study the the stability of American Black Plums'(black ambers') pigment. The result shows that the pigment has good heat resistance.And pH values,which is suitable to acid environment,has an evident effect on the pigment.Common metallic ion has no effect on it,but Fe~(3+) and Al~(3+) has a notable impact on the pigment of black plums.Salt and starch has no side effect on the pigment while Vitamin C and H_(2)O_(2) have.The result also shows that the pigment has stronger ability of restoring while its oxidation resistance is worse.In addition,the antiseptic, sodium benzoate has no evident effect on the pigment.


The role of velocity saturation due to high–field mobility degradation in lifting the pinchoff condition in a longchannel MOSFET is described. The electric field on the drain end at the onset of current saturation is always extremely high leading to the velocity saturation of the carriers. This velocity saturation leads to the saturation value nsD =nsoV'g/2Vc = IDsat/qvth W on the drain end, in contrast with the well-known pinchoff behaviour, where the carrier density is shown to vanish at the saturation point. The carrier distribution, as well as the velocity distribution as a function of the channel distance along the length of the channel, is presented.


Fertilization causes species loss and species dominance changes in plant communities worldwide. However, it still remains unclear how fertilization acts upon species functional traits, e.g. seed mass. Seed mass is a key trait of the regeneration strategy of plants, which influences a range of processes during the seedling establishment phase. Fertilization may select upon seed mass, either directly by increased nutrient availability or indirectly by increased competition. Since previous research has mainly analyzed the indirect effects of fertilization, we disentangled the direct and indirect effects to examine how nutrient availability and competition influence the seed mass relationships on four key components during seedling establishment: seedling emergence, time of seedling emergence, seedling survival and seedling growth. We conducted a common garden experiment with 22 dry grassland species with a two-way full factorial design that simulated additional nutrient supply and increased competition. While we found no evidence that fertilization either directly by additional nutrient supply or indirectly by increased competition alters the relationship between seed mass and (time of) seedling emergence, we revealed that large seed mass is beneficial under nutrient-poor conditions (seedlings have greater chances of survival, particularly in nutrient-poor soils) as well as under competition (large-seeded species produced larger seedlings, which suffered less from competition than small-seeded species). Based on these findings, we argue that both factors, i.e. nutrient availability and competition intensity, ought to be considered to understand how fertilization influences seedling establishment and species composition with respect to seed mass in natural communities. We propose a simple conceptual model, in which seed mass in natural communities is determined by competition intensity and nutrient availability. Here, we hypothesize that seed mass shows a U-shaped pattern along gradients of soil fertility, which may explain the contrasting soil fertility-seed mass relationships found in the recent literature.


Background: revascularization therapy for patients with left main (LM) and/or three vessel coronary disease is a matter of argument for long a time whether bypercutaneous coronary angiography orcoronary artery bypass grafting. SYNTAX trial was designed to assess the optimal revascularization strategy between percutaneous coronary intervention and coronary artery bypass grafting, for patients with left main stem coronary artery disease and/or 3-vessel coronary disease.
Aim: To estimate the complexity of coronary artery disease in patients referred to a tertiary Iraqi cardiac center and its effect on mode of revascularization.
Patients and Method: Ninety nine patients who were referred to Iraqi center for heart disease from July to December 2010 withthe diagnosis of CAD were included. Full history, clinical examination, biochemical tests ( blood sugar ,total cholesterol , blood urea and serum creatinine) were checked, electrocardiographic and echocardiographic characteristics were analyzed .All patients underwent diagnostic angiography andSYNTAX score calculator was applied and the SYNTAX score was recorded.Patients  were divided into two groups :  group A  , thosewho were  planned for PCI  and group B who were planned for  CABG .
Results: Mean age of the patients was 57.6±10.6, ranging 19-80 year, male were more than female (75.8% vs. 24.6%). Risk factors prevalencewas DM (42.6%), high blood pressure (52.8 %), smoking (42.4%), hypercholesterolemia (43.4%) and prior MI (32.3%).
Mean age of group A was 54.22±11.27 while group B was 62.37±7.47 (P value 0.0001) . There was no significant difference in risk factors prevalence between group A and B ( DM  36.2% vs.51.2% p=0.31), hypertension(53.4% vs.53.3% p=0.98),  smoking (41.3% vs.43.9% p=0.8), hypercholestoemia (31% vs. 60.9%),ejection fraction<50% ( 20.6% vs. 24.3% ) (p=0.66). All patient with left main steam disease 13 (31.7%) passed to CABG group.
Mean total SYNTAX score for all patients was 16.7±6.5. Mean SYNTAX score were (10.24±6, 26.01±7.7) for group A and B respectively (P value 0.00001).
Conclusion: Patients with lower SYNTAX score were managed by PCI. Iraqi patients treated with PCI have lower syntax score than that in SYNTAX study, while those who were treated by CABG,   were comparable to that in SYNTAX study.


A simple method of obtaining biplane stereoscopic views of the posterior fossa is described. This is done by rotating the head slowly during an angiographic exposure from the midline to the medial aspect of both eyebrows. When reviewed with a stereoscopic hand viewer, a third dimensional stereoscopic effect is obtained. No additional equipment or exposures are needed.Although this method is considered quite valuable for visualization of the blood vessels of the posterior fossa, the method can also be applied to carotid angiography.Other stereoscopic effect can be obtained with any movement of the subject during programmed serial filming. This can be obtained because of the systolic and diastolic movements of the heart and blood vessels. Therefore, a stereoscopic effect can be obtained with coronary arteriograms, abdominal aortograms, renal aortograms and pulmonary arteriograms.


W e have measured 0.68 p s electrical step functions, the fastest reported to date, generated by nonlinear transmission lines (NLTLs) integrated with sampling circuits which have a 3dB bandwidth of at least 725GHz. From the measured waveforms, the average velocity of the depletion edge of the varactor diodes on the NLTL is calculated to be 2.1. lo7 cm / sec. Because the other time constants in the circuit are much smaller than the measured 0.68 p s , this velocity saturation is believed to be the limiting phenomenon of the circuit performance. An NLTL is an electrical step function generator consisting of a high-impedance transmission line periodically loaded with varactor diodes [ I ] . The NLTL per-diode propagation delay q,Tllr,ov = [ L,,,,y (C,,,,, + Cdrode ( V))]1'2 is a function of the diodes' capacitance, and both decrease with increasing reverse bias voltage. The falling edge of the waveform becomes steeper during propagation since the delay for the waveform peak is greater than for the trough. A shock wave is formed whose transition time is limited by the diodes' cutoff frequency f , = (27~i?~C~/) ' and the Bragg frequency f,, = ( 7 ~ . Tlelrrv)-' that arises from the NLTL's periodicity. To make f,, high the diode separation must be decreased, and this spacing becomes limited by the diodes' physical size. As the line dimensions are reduced, the diodes' pad parasitics contribute a large fraction of C,,,,, and lower f,, . To address both these problems, coplanar waveguide (CPW) transmission lines were fabricated with the center conductor raised off' the substrate. Others have used a similar technique to reduce loss at the line input [2], but the impact is much greater at the high frequency output end. By elevating the center conductor 3 p m above the substrate, the wave velocity is doubled and, hence, for the same physical separation between diodes, f ' , is doubled. The process flow consists of forming ohmic contacts, ion implanting to provide isolation, depositing metal for the Schottky contacts and CPW ground planes, and then applying a layer of polyimide. The polyimide is subsequently etched in an 0 2 R.I.E. system until = 0 . 2 p m of the Schottky metal is exposed. The posts for the air bridge lines are formed on top of the polyimide and provide the contacts to the tops of the diodes. After electroplating the air lines, the polyimide is removed, leaving the contacts between the CPW and the diodes in air, substantially reducing the parasitic capacitance. By contacting the diodes this way, a small Schottky contact can be placed in the middle of a larger active region. The regions outside the active areas are H + implanted to render them semi-insulating, and the lateral straggle of the ions damages the active regions near the mask edge. By contacting the diodes from the top, l p m x l p m sampling diodes were fabricated that suffered no performance degradation from the Hf lateral straggle. The NLTLs are designed to have f,, = 1500GHz and the Ipin diodes on GaAs with an active layer of N , = 1,1017 cm-' have f, = 4THz [3]. NLTLs providing separate strobe and test signals are integrated with sampling circuits to provide for on-wafer measurements. The bandwidth of the sampling circuits is determined by the aperture time of the strobe pulse and the RC time constant of the sampling diodes, both of which are < 0 . 2 p s , The sampled waveform has a 3.7 V step with a 0.68 p s 10% 90% falltime. In previous work, where the time constants of the sampling circuits and the NLTLs were comparable, a simple sum-of-squares deconvolution has been used to determine the sampler bandwidth. Using that method here gives a conservative estimate for the sampler bandwidth of 725 GHz . In the NLTL's varactor diodes, the depletion edge moves 145nm in 0.68 p s , giving an average velocity of 2.1.107 cm / sec. Because all other time constants in the circuit are much lower than this, the velocity saturation, which has been analyzed by others 141, appears to be the limiting phenomenon. Similar circuits will be fabricated on material with N , = 3. cm-' and a speed enhancement is expected because of the & reduction i n the distance the depletion edge will have to move.


Testing was performed on a prototype of Hewlett-Packard (HP) Micro-ElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) seismic accelerometer at the U.S. Geological Survey's Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory. This prototype was built using discrete electronic components. The self-noise level was measured during low seismic background conditions and found to be 9.8 ng/√Hz at periods below 0.2 s (frequencies above 5 Hz). The six-second microseism noise was also discernible. The HP MEMS accelerometer was compared to a Geotech Model GS-13 reference seismometer during seismic noise and signal levels well above the self-noise of the accelerometer. Matching power spectral densities (corrected for accelerometer and seismometer responses to represent true ground motion) indicated that the HP MEMS accelerometer has a flat (constant) response to acceleration from 0.0125 Hz to at least 62.5 Hz. Tilt calibrations of the HP MEMS accelerometer verified that the flat response to acceleration extends to 0 Hz. Future development of the HP MEMS accelerometer includes replacing the discreet electronic boards with a low-power application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and increasing the dynamic range of the sensor to detect strong motion signals above one gravitational acceleration, while maintaining the self-noise observed during these tests.


Abstract : The long-term goals are to understand surf zone processes, in particular cross-shore exchange related to rip current systems through field observations and numerical modeling. Rip currents occur commonly on most beaches and dominate many. It is recognized that beaches with straight and parallel contours are not a stable morphologic configuration, whereas more complex beaches, which support the existence of rip current morphology, are stable and more common.


AIM
This study aims to evaluate the effects of a community-based program entitled "Brain Vitality Enhancement (BRAVE)" on the cognitive function, physical and mental well-being of persons with mild cognitive impairment.

STUDY DESIGN
This is a parallel wait-list randomized controlled trial.

METHODS
The BRAVE program consists of two phases. Phase 1 is an empowerment workshop for training 50 peer mentors to be the exercise ambassadors, while Phase 2 is a supervised exercise program for 250 persons with mild cognitive impairment. They will be randomly allocated to intervention or waitlist control groups. For the intervention group, the peer mentors and mentees will be matched according to gender and residential areas to form mentor-mentee groups to attend an 8-week supervised exercise training. The mentor-mentee groups will continue to participate mentor-directed exercise sessions in the community thereafter. A mobile application will be developed for self-directed learning. We hypothesize that persons with mild cognitive impairment receiving the BRAVE program will demonstrate better cognitive function and health-related quality of life than the control group who receive usual care. This study is funded by a grant from the Food and Health Bureau of the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in April 2018.

DISCUSSION
This study will empower a group of golden-aged adults to be the ambassadors to promoting brain health in the community and persons with mild cognitive impairment to integrate moderate-intensity exercise into their lifestyle to achieve long-term beneficial effects on their cognition and well-being.

IMPACT
Given the population with mild cognitive impairment is growing rapidly and expected to keep escalating in coming decades and limited treatment options for cognitive decline and its significant burden on the health and social care system, this study is timely to promote active aging in the society and reduce the burden associated with cognitive decline. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


Reservoir engineers and petrophysists are Interested in how permeability and porosity relate to the attributes of pore aperture size distribution, primarily to estimate permeability and flow units, each with uniform pore throat size distribution and similar production performance. The approach is useful in managing production reservoirs In terms of bypassed oil by water flooding and sound reservoir management of EOR projects. Exploration geologists are primarily interested in using pore aperture size attributes derived from mercury injection data to evaluate the sealing capacity of stratigraphic traps immediately after an initial discovery or even before drilling. If we can determine the pressure required In establishing a connected oil filament through the largest Interconnected and previously water-saturated pore throats, then we can evaluate the vertical hydrocarbon column required for migrating hydrocarbons.


Abstract Reducing the impact of collisions of cars is a major issue for reducing the injury and death of passengers.According to the statistical data of the Road Traffic Authority, the deaths from side collision accidents caused bythe collision of passenger cars is greater than the deaths from head-on collision accidents. To accommodate this, vehicle designers have added a reinforcing material called the impact frame and impact beam on the inside of thedoor. Many experiments are needed to develop the door impact beam. These reinforcements to develop a collisionexperiment is essential. Collision experiments are costly and time consuming. This study used a drop Impactor to obtain the impulse and a strain experimental device was developed for this purpose. The economic costs were reducedand the ideal experiment device configuration was determined. A comparison of the experimental results with numerical value analysis revealed 3.5 × 10-3sec strain ranging from 3.49 × 10-3 to 3.99 × 10-3 Key Words :


Lightness is a very important parameter in the automotive industry. So, one of the main aims of the automotive makers is to use lighter materials such as foams in automobile parts. In this study, PP polymer and 20%wt. talc and EPDM filled PP composite foams were produced using the traditional injection moulding method. Scanning electron microscopy was used to examine and to characterise the PP polymer foam and PP composite foam structure. Furthermore, mechanical and microscopy tests were also carried out to examine the strength and reliability of the foam material. The results showed that the lightness of the material varies between 8% and 29% depending on the amount of chemical foaming agent in PP and PP-T-EPDM composite. Therefore, it is recommended for use in vehicle parts.


1. Hermanides J, Hollmann MW, Stevens MF, Lirk P. Failed epidural: Causes and management. Br J Anaesth 2012;109:144-54. 2. Jaju R, Paliwal B, Sethi P, Bhatia P. Epidural catheter displacement–A report of delayed diagnosis. Indian J Anaesth 2018;62:1009-10. 3. Kumar AH, MacLeod DB, Kumar KR, Ray N, Gadsden J. Comparison of perineural catheter fixation methods: A volunteer study. Anaesthesia 2021;76:714-6. 4. Sharma A, Parasa SK, Tejvath K, Ramachandran G. Epidural catheter fixation. A comparison of subcutaneous tunneling versus device fixation technique. J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol 2016;32:65-8. Figure 1: Epidural catheter fixation with ECG electrode d


In this paper, we calculated and analyzed the lattice constant, electronic band structure and densityof state of pure Zn O, N-doped, Hf-doped and N-Hf co-doped Zn O by first-principles based upon the density func-tion theory(DFT). The calculation results show that, compared with pure Zn O, the volume of single doped showed atrend of increase, while in co-doped only slightly larger than N, and so did the Band gap width. Compared with thefour types of system, the phase of N-Hf co-doped Zn O has a relatively stable structure, relatively narrow band gap,and present a weak n type system when Compared with Hf-doped.


There are clearly many styles of leadership that can be implemented in organization, such as transformational leadership. Transformational leadership brings ourselves changes within the people who involved in and or a whole of the organization to achieve higher level in performance. This paper shows an alternative framework of transformational leadership implementation in school that can improve students' outcomes (the academic competencies-skills and non academic competencies-skills). These learning outcomes should be acquired completely by every student as the results of the education process and the learning activities. Hopefully the outcomes provide what the students need for their future life. B


Insect chitin is a potential target for resistance plant proteins, but plant-derived chitin-degrading enzymes active against insects are virtually unknown. Commercial β-N-acetylhexosaminidase (NAHA), a chitin-degrading enzyme from jack bean Canavalia ensiformis, caused significant mortality of fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda larvae at 75 μg/gm, but no significant mortality was noted with Aspergillus niger NAHA. Maize Zea mays callus transformed to express an Arabidopsis thaliana clone that putatively codes for NAHA caused significantly higher mortality of cigarette beetle Lasioderma serricorne larvae and significantly reduced growth rates (as reflected by survivor weights) of S. frugiperda as compared to callus that expressed control cDNAs. Tassels from model line Hi-II maize (Z. mays) plants transformed with the NAHA gene fed to S. frugiperda caused significantly higher mortality than tassels transformed to express glucuronidase; mortality was significantly correlated with NAHA expression levels dete...


The nitro-substituted aminobenzimidazoles (III) are prepared as potential precursors for food-borne carcinogens or their analogues by cyclization of nitrophenylenediamines (I) with cyanogen bromide (II).


The polemics of Josephus had predecessors in the third and second century B.C.E. in the form of a series of polemical texts directed at the inhabitants of the area in and around Shechem. Most of them are built upon the story of the rape of Dinah and the subsequent killing of the Shechemites in Gen 34. The story in Gen 34 about the rape of Dinah and the subsequent killing of all the inhabitants of Shechem belongs with those biblical stories which seem relatively isolated in the larger context. We know from Josephus that the Shechemites of his age were branded with the acts of the Shechemites in Gen 34. This technique was not invented by him, but is visible in the several re-tellings of Gen 34 in the second century B.C.E.Keywords: Dinah; Josephus; predecessors; Shechem


Introduction: Pharmacotherapy used for Diabetes mellitus (DM) often results in failure or difficulty in achieving therapeutic goals. To assist these patients, the Management Drug Therapy (MDT) aims at the identification, resolution, and prevention of Drug Related Problems (DRP).
Objectives: To evaluate the clinical results of an MDT program and associated factor with the detection of drug therapy problems (DTP).
Methods: A longitudinal quasi-experimental study was performed including all patients followed up in the MTD program (n=38) during three years. The associated factors with the detection of three DTP or over in the initial evaluation assessment were evaluated by univariate (Pearson's chi- square test) and multivariate analysis (logistic regression). The clinical impact of the service was assessed by comparing
initial and final clinical and laboratory parameters (HbA1c, Arterial Pressure, and LDLc) with covariance a covariance analysis.
Results: 108 DTPs were identified. Their main causes were dose too low (n=47; 43%) and non-adherence
(n=22; 20%). Considering the patients that had at least two MTD consultations (33 patients with 105 DTPs), 60% of the DTP were resolved. To solve them, 52 interventions were made with prescribers (45 were accepted), and 54 interventions made directly with patients. The use of 10 or more drugs was positively associated with the identifications of 3 DTP or over in the initial assessment (OR 6.3; 95%CI 1.3-30.6). A statistically significant reduction was detected in the patients' LDLc at the end of the follow-up period.
Conclusions: The clinical service helped to resolve DTP and improved clinical results.


Acknowledgements: The research basis for this publication was generously supported with annual funding by the Virginia Winegrowers Advisory Board. In addition, we gratefully acknowledge the Virginia Vineyards Association's funding of a portion of printing costs of this bulletin. Appreciation is also expressed to the following members of the Virginia wine industry for their comments and helpful suggestions with preparation of this bulletin: Introduction Suitability of grape varieties rape varieties recommended in this publication have demonstrated commercial suitability under diverse growing conditions in Virginia. Strengths and weaknesses of each variety are based on the collective experiences of numerous commercial growers and vintners and, for some varieties, from controlled comparisons in research plots. A variety recommended as " suitable " does not guarantee that the variety will flourish and consistently produce high yields of quality fruit for all growers. Rather, " suitable " is a relative term. A good grower at a good site will have a greater probability of success with a suitable variety than with an unsuitable variety. Suitability is also based on positive winery demand for the variety. The current varietal composition of Virginia viticulture is depicted in Figure 1. Note that 72% of the acreage is represented by only seven varieties, and the remaining 28% of acreage is comprised of over 20 other varieties. Grapevines are members of the genus Vitis, which includes two subgen-era, Euvitis and Muscadinia. Euvitis (true grapes) includes over 60 species of bunch grapes, including most of those Figure 1. Varietal composition of Virginia grape acreage in 1998. Introduction found in Virginia. Muscadinia is comprised of only three species, including Vitis rotundifolia. There are few places in the world that can claim the diversity of grape species indigenous to and cultivated in Virginia. Indigenous Euvitis species include V. aestivalis, V. cinerea, V. labrus-ca, V. riparia, V. rupestris, and V. vulpina (Massey, 1945). Most of these native species are ill-suited to quality wine production , but some provide important genetic sources of pest resistance in root-stock and scion (Fruiting portion of vine) breeding programs. The majority (>70%) of commercial grape production is based on members of another species, V. vinifera. Vitis vinifera grapes, sometimes called European grapes, dominate world wine production. Virginia wines are also made from (V. aestivalis) (e.g., Norton), and V. labrusca (e.g., Niagara). Additionally, interspecific hybrid grapes (e.g., Vidal) constitute at least 20% of Virginia grape acreage. Members of the sub-genera, Vitis …


In this paper, we investigate the impact of a bit-labeling scheme on security performance of bit-interleaved coded modulation (BICM) systems for the Gaussian wiretap channel, where the concept of security gap plays an important role. To exemplify this, we present optimization algorithms of bit-labeling, where a difference of the achievable information rates (AIRs) for the legitimate receiver and the eavesdropper is maximized. Our results demonstrate that the conventional Gray labeling may not be necessarily optimal in terms of security gap, and the proposed bit-labeling can significantly improve its performance at the cost of degradation in the achievable bit-error rate (BER) performance by the legitimate receiver. We also demonstrate that, for high order quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), such as 64QAM, the dimension-wise optimization of bit-labeling may be sufficient to achieve similar security gap performance to the direct two-dimensional optimization. The proposed bit-labeling optimization approach can be combined with the state-of-the-art coding schemes to further reduce a security gap.


The volume could be useful to people interested in the Catalan immersion model, especially at a time when this model is being questioned by powerful political and media sectors, who prefer a system of linguistic segregation. It will also be useful to scholars and students interested in language planning, minority languages, and biand multilingual education. If anything, one may argue that the volume could have been rounded-up with a final chapter that brought together the main findings and implications of the eight studies. Although this would make it even better in my view, I must admit it is not a common practice in edited volumes and therefore no criticism is intended with this remark.


The design and performance of an image tube sensitive to ultraviolet radiation is described. The tube incorporates a standard vidicon gun section and is operated in a standard vidicon camera chain. The spectral response of the tube is determined by the choice of photocathode material and window. A tube having a CsI photocathode and a LiF window responds to radiation with wavelength between 1050 and 2000 A. Other materials which vary the response within the spectral region 1050 to 3000 A are discussed. Resolution, sensitivity, time constant, and quantum yield measurements of a laboratory model of the tube are discussed.


Library sustainable development is the important link of vigor civilization construction in our country.Library sustainable development in our country is restricted by five major factors.They are: deficient in self-development mechanism and people of talent,not good enough on service level,inadequate consumers' ability and lack cooperative among libraries.In order to promote library sustainable development in our country,we should blaze new ideas in management system,personal system,service,fostering ability of information consumers and constructing strategy alliance.That' s the basic guarantee.


The MicroCarb mission was initiated in Dec 2015 during the COP21 climate conference. Its objective is a better understanding of the carbon cycle within our atmosphere and thus enabling the prediction of its evolution. The French space agency CNES selected Airbus Defense & Space for the development of the satellite and its disruptive instrument with an original concept based on multi freeform mirror design. Safran Reosc was selected by Airbus for the optical manufacturing of all the key optical components of this innovative compact spectrometer, the first in EU of its class entirely based on precision freeform optics. We will first recall the benefits of using freeform optics in an imaging or spectral instrument. Then we will present the MicroCarb satellite and its instrument optical design. Joint design analysis was spent with Airbus towards 'feasible' optics despite the fact that this project constituted a unique opportunity for Safran Reosc to make a quantum leap in optical manufacturing and testing technology for precision freeform optics in Silicon Carbide (SiC).


With the exception of papal bullae and royal golden seals, metal seals were very rare in northern Europe in the Middle Ages and early modern period. This paper explores a rare example of the use of lead as a medium into which to impress a seal, something that is not only of considerable interest in the context of medieval sigillography, but which provides an insight into the concerns and motives of an individual who in other circumstances would have remained an anonymous member of the Elizabethan gentry and county bureaucracy.


This paper investigates a connection between self-similar group representations and induced rational maps on the projective space which preserve the projective spectrum of the group. The focus is on the infinite dihedral group D∞. The main theorem states that the Julia set of the induced rational map F on P2 for D∞ is the union of the projective spectrum with F's extended indeterminacy set. Moreover, the limit function of the iteration sequence {F∘n} on the Fatou set is fully described. This discovery finds an application to the Grigorchuk group G of intermediate growth and its induced rational map G on P4. In the end, the paper proposes the conjecture that G's projective spectrum is contained in the Julia set of G.


Designed to provide health career information to Chicano/Hispanic students, this publication can be used by counselors and teachers to motivate.and assist Chicano/Hispanic students to enter the health professions. The booklet includes: (1) inspirational comments from pictured Chicano/Hispanic role models in the Northwest who are currently involved in health occupations and who may be contacted for information concerning school presentations and field trips for students to health facilities; (2) brief descriptions of different health careers and sources for further information on each; (3) suggested courses of study for students in grades 9-12; (4) a list of support services for Chicano/Hispanic students seeking to continue higher education; and (5) a list of Chicano/Hispanic health services in the Northwest. (Author/CM) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** CHICANO ROLE MODELS FOR HEALTH CAREERS HEAL ING.:.1 S i YOUR'. EVERY HERITAGE N 1 S SO :'GREAT::: TO, 'MAKE THE; WORLD OF THE DEPR I VED . A EED ' HEALTHY.ONE.'.' .'TO. -HAVE. THE BLACK HAND SURGICALLY CARVE:',.-.::tifElnly MAN DANCE' INTO THE MOST. ADVANCE .,... OF:':MEDICINES -. ... A.. CORANDERA,IRANSFORM: FOLK . REMEDIES i 7..T0' MODERN DROGS. . -


A review of the foreign and Russian literature devoted to application of the herbal medicine Myrtol standardized, an original vegetative complex standardized by the content of three components: d-limonen, 1,8-cyneol, α -pinene. The clinical effective-ness of the standardized Myrtol was proved in the therapy of acute and chronic rhinosinusitis, acute and chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD). The studies showed that the drug has a wide pharmacodynamic profile of action (mycolytic, secretolytic, secretomotor, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects) with high safety profie.


This article presents a microfluidic pumping approach using traveling-wave dielectrophoresis (twDEP) of microparticles. With this approach, the flow is generated directly in the microfluidic devices by inducing strong electromechanical effects in the fluid using integrated microelectrodes. The fluidic driving mechanisms due to the particle–fluid and particle–particle interactions under twDEP are analyzed, and the induced flow field is obtained from numerical simulations. Experimental measurements of the flow velocity in a prototype DEP micropumping device show satisfactory agreement with the numerical predications. Results from this work indicate that the DEP-induced micropumping scheme holds great promise for devising versatile, self-contained microscale fluidic delivery systems.


The invention discloses a system and a method for realizing cogeneration of a heat conduction oil furnace by using a semiconductor power generation device. High-temperature heat conduction oil is used as a heat source of a semiconductor temperature-difference power generation device. The system comprises at least one semiconductor temperature-difference power generation device, wherein the semiconductor temperature-difference power generation device comprises a phase-change working medium evaporator and a phase-change working medium condenser; the condenser cools vapour by using a cold fluid as a cooling medium in a mode of indirect heat exchange; the heat conduction oil which is subjected to power generation cooling by the semiconductor temperature-difference power generation device serves as a heat supply heat source of a heat exchanger of a heat user; the phase-change working medium condenser of a power generation module heats the cold fluid (water for instance); and a generated hot fluid (hot water or the vapour for instance) can serve as a heat supply medium for external supply. In the method, by adoption of the method and a device for realizing the cogeneration of the heat conduction oil furnace by using the heat conduction oil as a heat medium, the aim of efficiently and economically utilizing heat energy is fulfilled.


Examination and cross-examination are some of the most important skills that a good counsel must command; this includes knowing how to approach, both his own and others', witnesses and knowing how to use the questioning too, which must be done scientifically. There are basic rules that every litigant must follow: a theory of the case, which is the assumption that intervening party presents on how facts occurred and law enforcement, thereby building a proposal known as claim. The objective of the claim is to become the raw material for the ruling, based and argued intellectively on the proof of evidence to be submitted and analyzed during the debate, to perform the three elements required by the hearing process model: controlling, opposing or presenting an alternative view.


Are provided for producing the semiconductor devices with copper compounds and methods. In one embodiment, a semiconductor device having a copper compound on a substrate, such as a FEOL processed substrate is prepared. The method comprises forming a copper layer on a substrate. The copper layer is composed of grains. The copper layer is modified such that the modified layer of copper has an average grain size that is greater than about 0.05 microns. In the method, the modified copper layer is etched so that a line along the substrate and a via extending from the line upward, are generated.


On December 22, 1845, the Rev. Theodore Parker of West Roxbury went to Plymouth, Massachusetts, to observe Forefathers' Day, a day-long public celebration that commemorated the Pilgrims' landing in North America in 1620. Beyond the feasts and parades that were traditional on these occasions, Parker took special pains to hear orators Edward Everett and Rufus Choate expound upon the "virtues, sufferings and sacrifices" of New England's founding generation. By the time he reached his West Roxbury home that evening, though, the joy of the occasion had worn off, and sober reflections inspired his nightly journal entry. "It was joyous," he wrote, "but yet sad in recollection." Troubling his thoughts that night were recent political events surrounding the annexation of Texas and the growing power of the southern slave interest in the national government. Even more than these incidents themselves, however, Parker was disturbed by the lack of any discussion of them in the day's ceremonial pageantry. "I hate to judge men by one thing," he complained, "but in all the day there was but one allusion, I think, to slavery." Freezing the lessons of history into attractive but meaningless tableaus, the brilliant but conservative orators at Plymouth threatened to sever the moral link between New England's past glory and its present responsibilities in the nation's crisis. Such a detachment of culture from life robbed New Englanders of their most important wellsprings of action, and Parker ultimately felt compelled to conclude that "the Spirit of the Pilgrims rests no longer in the sons."2 Less than two years later, Parker joined Ralph Waldo Emerson and several other Massachusetts scholars, reformers, and politicians in founding the Massachusetts Quarterly Review, a journal devoted to "literature, politics, religion and humanity." Though initially sharing editorial duties with Emerson and James E. Cabot, Parker took sole custody of the journal within a year and became the dominant architect of its message. During his three years as editor, Parker used the Review both to reinvigorate and to reinvent the politics and culture of New England as the larger nation struggled with the issues of war, expansion, and slavery. Beyond his role as editor, Parker was also the journal's most important contributor, and he used it as a platform from which to contest the dominance of older, established Massachusetts periodicals whose political and cultural conservatism he saw as dangerous in the context of a national crisis. Without fully embracing radical abolitionist ideology, he attempted to reestablish a bridge between his understanding of New England's place in America's republican past, and its crucial role in transforming the American present. Reworking the old symbols of Puritanism and the Revolution, Parker also derived new sectional meaning from materials as diverse as abolitionism, Free Soil politics, and the life of John Quincy Adams. Both selective and strikingly opportunistic in his use of sectional history, Parker clung tenaciously to New England's past while confidently rearranging it in search of present meaning. Groping toward more democratic modes of expression and appealing to broadly held sectional values, moreover, Parker also hoped to establish a New England antislavery culture that would transcend the movement's ideological divisions.3 As an avenue for the expression of New England's special place in American life, the Massachusetts Quarterly Review was certainly not alone. Over the past several decades, students of New England history have amply documented the extraordinary sense of sectional pride and uniqueness that swept across the region during the early national and antebellum periods. By attending public festivals, creating historical societies, erecting monuments, and consecrating cemeteries, New Englanders not only reinforced a sense of corporate identity, but they also constructed a distinctive and normative image of their history and traditions. …


Seafood processing generates a substantial volume of wastes. This study examined the feasibility of converting the fish waste into useful fertilizer by composting. Groundfish waste and chitin sludge generated from the production of chitin were composted with red alder or a mixture of western hemlock and Douglas-fir sawdust to produce four composts: alder with groundfish waste (AGF); hemlock/fir with groundfish waste (HGF); alder with chitin sludge (ACS); and hemlock/fir with chitin sludge (HCS). The resulting AGF had a higher total N and a lower C:N ratio than the other three composts. A large portion of the total N in the AGF, HGF, and HCS composts was in inorganic forms (NH4+-N and NO3−-N), as opposed to only two percent in the ACS compost. Alder sawdust is more quickly decomposed, which favored N retention and limited nitrification during the composting period. It was less favorable than the hemlock/Douglas fir sawdust for composting with chitin sludge. Corn growth on soil amended with compost was depe...


The Performance of Asynchronous Cooperative Diversity with SIC Receivers by Harish Palakurthi The multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna systems are well known for achieving the higher spectral efficiencies and improving the link reliability in wireless communications. But the use of multiple antennas in a cellular uplink is impractical due to the size constraints of the mobile device. The potential solution which was used is to exploit the user cooperation to create a virtual antenna array. In this paper we investigate the cooperative diversity in an asynchronous code-division multiple-access (CDMA) uplink by taking inter-user nonorthogonality(allocation of non-orthogonal channels to multiple users) into consideration. Most the previous research work assumes the use of the inter-user orthogonality and the synchronism between the signals transmitted from different users. Both of these assumptions might bring in extra complexities in the network as they both will need the users to be accurately coordinated. If we consider the inter-user nonorthogonality and the asynchronous communication between transmitter and the receiver, we will need a way to combat the multiple access interference (MAI) and the inter-symbol interference (ISI). In this thesis try to eliminate those effects by using the MMSE detector and Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC) receivers. These techniques help will enhance total network performance and can exploit maximum diversity. We will be assuming a CDMA cellular uplink model with a multi-user decode-and-forward (DF) cooperative diversity protocol wherein each user first transmits its own message and other users overhear that message and can relay it to base station. So each user here acts as a relay and also has its own information to transmit. The channel spans a single spreading code, sk(t) for two orthogonal time-phases. In the first time phase every user broadcasts its own spread message and in the second time phase, the users in the decoding set relays the re-encoded and re-spreaded messages. The relays which doesn't belong in the decoding set, continue to transmit their own information. But throughout the paper we consider that all of the users are cooperating and hence the decoding relays transmit asynchronously over the subchannel. And the use of non-orthogonal spreading codes leads to non-orthogonality across the subchannels.


SPEEDEX is a decentralized exchange (DEX) that lets par-ticipants securely trade assets without giving any single party undue control over the market. SPEEDEX offers several ad-vantages over prior DEXes. It achieves high throughput—over 200,000 transactions per second on 48-core servers, even with tens of millions of open offers. SPEEDEX runs entirely within a Layer-1 blockchain, and thus achieves its scalability without fragmenting market liquidity between multiple blockchains or rollups. It eliminates internal arbitrage opportunities, so that a direct trade from asset A to B always receives as good a price as trading through some third asset such as USD. Finally, it prevents front-running attacks that would otherwise increase the effective bid-ask spread for small traders. SPEEDEX's key design insight is its use of an Arrow-Debreu exchange market structure that fixes the valuation of assets for all trades in a given block of transactions. We construct an algorithm that is both asymptotically efficient and empirically practical that computes these valuations while exactly preserving a DEX's financial correctness constraints. Not only does this market structure provide fairness across trades, but it also makes trade operations commutative and hence efficiently parallelizable. SPEEDEX is scheduled for deployment within one of the largest Layer-1 blockchains this year.


Direct Metallization The alternative to electroless copper metallization is a process whereby the non-conductive surface of PTHs/vias is rendered conductive so that electroplating can be directly applied. During the last three years, the number of PWBs manufactured by direct metallization (DM) has increased dramatically. This is a significant change for an industry that, for more than 30 years, has relied exclusively on electroless copper to metallize PTHs/vias. DM processes were first introduced in the late '70s, with widespread promotion of those based on carbon technology in the '80s. Environmental concern for the constituents in electroless copper was the motivating factor (i.e., formaldehyde, cyanide, and chelating agents). The DM process, however, was introduced prematurely, and reports of higher costs and lack of consistent quality fostered reluctance of PWB fabricators to experiment with an unproven process. Although the waste treatment from electroless copper systems was compounded by "bailout" (required to maintain solution balance and periodic bath changes), the total cost of a conventional electroless copper system was not significant when compared to the entire board manufacturing cost. The "If it works, don't fix it!" attitude prevailed until recently, when the benefits derived from a more streamlined and simplified PWB manufacturing process were more clearly defined. The ever-accelerating demand for higher-density boards with more layers, finer lines, narrower spaces, and smaller vias is now the driving force for a more efficient and reliable PTH metallization system. The high cost of sophisticated PWBs requires high first-pass yields to remain profitable. DM appears to have the potential to provide this and enable the printed wiring board industry to penetrate markets with organic substrates previously reserved for ceramic hybrid circuits.


B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) is the most common pediatric malignance, but 35% of patients still relapse after chemotherapy treatment, mainly in the central nervous system (CNS). In order to search for new biomarkers that could predict CNS infiltration and relapse, many studies are trying to find gene products aberrantly expressed in these patients, including osteopontin (OPN). The OPN primary transcript undergoes alternative splicing, generating at least five OPN splicing isoforms (OPN-SI), named OPNa, OPNb, OPNc, OPN4 and OPN5, that have tumor specific roles and have been reported as biomarkers in solid tumors. However, knowledge regarding OPN-SI in B-ALL is scarce. This study aimed to investigate the expression patterns and roles of OPN-SI in CNS infiltration in B-ALL. OPN-SI transcript levels were analyzed by quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR) assays using RNA extracted from 54 B-ALL pediatric patient blood samples or from RS4,11 cell line. OPNc transcript knock-down in RS4;11 cells (a B-ALL cell line containing the MLL gene fusion) was performed using anti-OPNc or control scrambled antisense DNA oligomers (anti-OPNc-ASOs and Scbl-ASO, respectively). These oligomers were transfected in RS4;11 cells and the in vitro effects of OPNc knock-down were evaluated by several functional assays, such as cell viability by MTT analysis, cell adhesion, and transmigration and invasion assays using a boyden chamber device. Among tested OPN-SI, OPNc is the most highly expressed OPN-SI in B-ALL patient samples containing the MLL fusion gene, when compared to those samples harboring the ETV6-RUNX1 fusion gene (p<0,005). High OPNc expression levels were significantly associated with poor prognostic features, such as high-risk classification (p<0,005), CNS infiltration and high white blood cell counting (p<0,05). The RS4;11 cells in which OPNc was knocked-down decreased their OPNc expression levels in 85% in relation to control Scbl-ASO transfected cells (p<0,005). These cells decreased their viability in 41% (p<0,05), besides displaying a 55% decrease in RS4;11 cell adhesion to matrigel. In addition, these cells decreased their capacity to transmigrate (54%) and invade the matrigel (51%) in comparison to control cells. In summary, these results suggest that OPNc transcript levels are associated with B-ALL worse prognostic features and that it may mediate some key steps involved on CNS infiltration mechanistic. Hence, our data provide important basis for the potential use of OPNc as a biomarker for B-ALL CNS relapse and for the involvement of this isoform on some steps that can mediate CNS invasion, opening new opportunities to improve B-ALL pediatric patients' survival rates and quality of life.
 Citation Format: Ana Clara Ana Clara Santos da Fonseca Bastos, Luciana Bueno Ferreira, Mariana Emerenciano, Etel Rodrigues Pereira Gimba. Osteopontin-c is worse prognostic marker and mediate key steps associated with central nervous system infiltration in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 6719.


Strong correlation between characteristic features of norms ECG intervals and age and gender of children has been established due to the process of growth and development. These findings should be regarded in functional identification of heart conduction disorders. The ECG waves and intervals become stable at an age of 13–14 years due to the maturity of heart conduction system. Key words: cardio-vascular system, functional diagnostics, ECG time intervals, growth and development.


In order to provide better assistant decision server about purchasing book for acquisition staffs, analyses several library acquisition models, according to development of computer technology, proposes the library acquisition decision support system and its system framework based on Web framework, analyses the system function and pivotal technology. The system is developed by SQL Server 2000 as background database and Java as devel-opment tool.


The proposal I make for the restoration of fr. 22 Powell of the Erigone by Eratosthenes faithfully rewrites the manuscript tradition and does not conflict with the metre, as the line Ἰκαριοῖ, etc. (see fr. 4 R.) is balanced, thanks to the trihemimeral caesura and the bucolic diaeresis. To further my argument, I cite a series of hexameters from both earlier epic as well as that of the Hellenistic era, where the secondary caesurae (trihemimeral + hephthemimeral or bucolic) are either found alone or are reinforced, as the main caesura is absent or cannot be applied given the enclitic, preposition, and (sometimes) elision. Starting from the surviving line, I argue that in the Erigone mention was certainly made of the origins of tragedy, which are located in Attica. Eratosthenes drew from a pre-existing theory and, through his authority, made it the prevailing one. This can be seen from a plethora of similar evidence, in both later Greek and Latin authors and scholars.


It is well known that plant species diversity is highest in tropical forests. With regard to the mechanisms for the maintenance of tropical plant diversity, different hypotheses have been put forward, but until now, no convincing theory has appeared. Different researchers have obtained different conclusions , from which has arisen heated debate. This review discusses four mechanisms that are frequently invoked to explain the coexistence of the great number of plant species in tropical forests, these being Niche differentiation, Predatory pressure, Life history tradeoffs, and Lottery competition. Niche differentiation is evident from the non-random spatial distributions along micro-environmental gradients and plays an important role in sustaining high biodiversity. Pests reduce the survival and growth rate of seedlings near conspecific adults, thereby freeing space for other plant species. Pest pressure remains a promising but not widely proven mechanism for plant coexistence in tropical forests. Life history tradeoffs do occur a-mong tropical forest plants, and thus allow a large number of species to coexist. Suppressed by the canopy, understory plants rarely come into competition with one another, and chance becomes an important determinant of the recruitment of understory plants.


I am very happy to serve as the Associate Editor for this special supplement to the Journal of Periodontology on periodontal surveillance. Drs. Paul Eke (Guest Editor and Workgroup Co-Chair) and Robert J. Genco (Workgroup Chair) have pulled together experts on this timely topic as part of a joint effort between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Periodontology.1 The result is a fine assembly of work that provides the field of periodontal surveillance with the current status and some interesting future directions on the monitoring of periodontal disease. This supplement offers important tools to researchers and individuals in the public health sector with approaches in managing large periodontal disease patient populations. The body of work in this supplement pays particular attention to the use of clinical and behavioral measures of disease in the clinical and field testing arenas. There is an interesting future ahead in the use of methods of periodontal surveillance that range from new salivary proteomic and genomic biomarkers of disease to other rapid identification procedures to classify patients.2,3 This supplement provides a sound basis for future growth in the field, and we believe this work will provide our readership with an excellent resource for the continued growth in this important component of oral health monitoring and research.


CASE REPORT A 20-year-old man had epigastric pain of 2 years' duration which worsened after meals and was unrelieved by antacids. He also had anorexia, weight loss and vomiting with three episodes of moderate haematemesis. There was no history of fever, respiratory problems or jaundice and no past history of tuberculous infection or contact with the disease. On examination, the patient was malnourished, afebrile, mildly anaemic and anicteric. Abdominal examination was unremarkable except for mild epigastric tenderness. Routine blood investigations were normal. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed a pyloric mass obstructing the gastric outlet, but a biopsy was inconclusive. With a presumptive diagnosis of gastric carcinoma, a partial gastrectomy (Billroth type 2) was done. The specimen was sent for histopathologic examination. The stomach wall was seen to be thickened with loss of rugae and mucosal atrophy. A mass 7 x 4 ern and 0.5 ern thick extended from the pyloric region into the duodenum. A few subpyloric lymph nodes were enlarged. On microscopic examination, sections from stomach revealed ulcerated mucosa with dense diffuse lymphocytic infiltration extending up to the serosal surface. Many caseating and non-caseating granulomas were present in the stomach wall, duodenal submucosa and the pyloric lymph nodes. There was no evidence of malignancy. These histologic appearances were characteristic of tuberculous involvement of the stomach extending into the duodenum. Postoperatively, the patient was started on antituberculous therapy with isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol. He developed a 'blowout' of the duodenal stump with a biliary fistula and had a prolonged convalescence.


AIM To analyze the expression of mitosis checkpoint gene hsMAD2 in acute leukemia. METHODS Bone marrow or peripheral blood samples of 17 cases of acute leukemia were obtained and their mononuclear cells were isolated. Then, we analyzed their hsMAD2 expression by using RT PCR and Western blot. Normal control blood samples were also analyzed. RESULTS RT PCR analysis showed 9 cases out of 14 cases of acute non lymphocytic leukemia and 1 case out of 4 cases of acute lymphocytic leukemia had decreased expression of hsMAD2. Western blot analysis verified that 4 cases out of 8 cases had decreased expression of hsMAD2, which is consistent with the results of RT PCR. CONCLUSION hsMAD2 gene is a leukemia related gene and may play an important role in leukemia pathogenesis.


Professionals are increasingly expected to provide services that are clinically, ethically, and culturally competent. Counselors and other professionals working with individuals and families in counseling as well as consultation contexts, where medical concerns are a focus, would do well to consider the implications of clinical, ethical, and cultural competence in their work. The article describes clinical, ethical, and cultural competence—and their components—and illustrates them with case material.


We present results from the Fermilab Tevatron on b and t quark production in pp̄ collisions at √ s = 1.8 TeV. The bb̄ cross section has been measured in both the central and forward regions. In addition, differential cross sections as a function of difference in azimuth and rapidity of the two b-quarks have been obtained. And the tt̄ cross section in different channels, and limits on single-top production are also presented.


It is well-known that theory of pseudospectra has many important theoretical and practical applications, (for example, robust stability, transient behavior, nonnormal dynamics). It is also well-known that computational methods for pseudospectra determination are very costly for large matrices. Hence, it is necessary to find good, but relatively cheap, pseudospectra localizations. In this paper we derive some new pseudospectra localization sets, and compare them with the known ones, using relevant numerical examples arising in applications in ecology and vibration analysis. The new sets keep numerical complexity of the Pseudo-Geršgorin localization sets, but produce tighter results that can be compared to much more numerically complex localizations such as Pseudo-Brauer sets and Pseudo-CKV sets.


Abstract In this work, earlier studies reporting α‐H2CO3 are revised. The cryo‐technique pioneered by Hage, Hallbrucker, and Mayer (HHM) is adapted to supposedly prepare carbonic acid from KHCO3. In methanolic solution, methylation of the salt is found, which upon acidification transforms to the monomethyl ester of carbonic acid (CAME, HO‐CO‐OCH3). Infrared spectroscopy data both of the solid at 210 K and of the evaporated molecules trapped and isolated in argon matrix at 10 K are presented. The interpretation of the observed bands on the basis of carbonic acid [as suggested originally by HHM in their publications from 1993–1997 and taken over by Winkel et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007 and Bernard et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011] is inferior compared with the interpretation on the basis of CAME. The assignment relies on isotope substitution experiments, including deuteration of the OH‐ and CH3‐ groups as well as 12C and 13C isotope exchange and on variation of the solvents in both preparation steps. The interpretation of the single molecule spectroscopy experiments is aided by a comprehensive calculation of high‐level ab initio frequencies for gas‐phase molecules and clusters in the harmonic approximation. This analysis provides evidence for the existence of not only single CAME molecules but also CAME dimers and water complexes in the argon matrix. Furthermore, different conformational CAME isomers are identified, where conformational isomerism is triggered in experiments through UV irradiation. In contrast to earlier studies, this analysis allows explanation of almost every single band of the complex spectra in the range between 4000 and 600 cm−1.


A series of the longest class of oligothiophenes extended at intervals of seven thiophene units from the 6-mer up to the 48-mer has been synthesized by a combination of the random Eglinton coupling reaction of mono- and di-ethynylsexithiophenes and a subsequent sodium sulfide-induced cyclization reaction of the resulting oligo(sexithienylene-diethynylene)s. Their structures were well characterized by MALDI-TOF MS and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The molecular weights of the oligothiophenes and oligo(sexithienylene-diethynylene)s, measured by gel-permeation liquid chromatography using the polystyrene standard, are nearly double the actual ones, indicating that they keep highly rigid rod-type shapes. According to a molecular model, the molecular lengths of the longest oligothiophene 48-mer and the longest oligo(sexithienylene-diethynylene) reach approximately 18.6 nm and 25.0 nm, respectively. In the electronic absorption and emission spectra, the π–π* transitions of the oligothiophenes demonstrate progressive red ...


Significant tissue loss is a consistent feature of ureteric obstruction with, most studies showing increased programmed cell death or apoptosis of kidney epithelial cells. The study by Chuang et al. showed that there is also muscular damage during obstruction, specifically of the ureteric myocytes. More importantly they show for the first time that this induction of cell death is associated with the increased expression of cytochrome c and the caspases, key proteins that drive the induction of apoptosis. Admittedly they do not show whether cytochrome c is released from the mitochondria or that the caspases are truly activated, important events in the cell death pathway, but an increase in their expression does indicate their role in this process. Understanding the pathways leading to tissue loss during ureteric obstruction has important implications in the development of novel treatments for this condition.


Common structure types and features of small and medium-span bridges are stated;the problems existing in design are summarized and corresponding suggestions are proposed.


A harmonious family of three generations living under one roof is often an assumed image of a Chinese traditional family. In reality, few Chinese families resemble this image. My article uses the Chung family history to illustrate how a family in rural Guangdong, South China, experienced a fast social ascent or descent in one generation. Its history reveals many aspects of Chinese family tradition, such as filial piety, equal inheritance system among sons, or education as an important family agenda. The rise and fall of this family also helps us understand the competitive social environment of Guangdong that sent hundreds of thousand immigrants overseas in the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth century. When some members of the Chung family migrated overseas, other members followed. The Chung lineage, similar to numerous Cantonese immigrant families in America, became transnational in culture.


The standard history of free speech in America is that nothing significant occurred between 1801, when the Sedition Act of 1798 expired, and 1917, when Congress enacted the Espionage Act to suppress opposition to America's entry into the First World War. David Rabban's study of the First Amendment in American law and culture between the 1870s and the 1920s thoroughly undermines this view. By canvassing various free speech controversies over the course of half a century, analyzing the legal system's response to them, and probing the philosophical underpinnings of that response, Rabban presents a new paradigm for the development of our First Amendment freedoms.


Background: Anthropogenic activities have clearly affected the environment, with irreversible and destructive consequences. Mining activities have a significant negative impact, primarily on soil, and then on human health. The negative impact of the first mining activities is represented even today in the soils of those localities. Research shows that, for different types of mines, the concentrations of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) are high, especially in antimony, multi-metal and lead–zinc mines, which have adverse effects on the environment and then on human health and the economy. A large flood in 2014 in Western Serbia resulted in the breaking of the dam of the processed antimony ore dump of the former antimony mine, causing toxic tailings to spill and pollute the downstream area. Due to this accident, tailings material flooded the area downstream of the dump, and severely affected the local agriculture and population. Methods: Potentially toxic elements content, pollution indices and health indices were determined in soil samples from the flooded area, using referenced methodologies. The sources and routes of pollutants and risks were determined and quantified using statistical principal component analysis, positive matrix factorisation, and a Monte Carlo simulation. Results: The main source of As, Cd, Hg, Pb, Sb and Zn in the upper part of the study area was the tailing material. Based on the pollution indices, about 72% of the studied samples show a high risk of contamination and are mainly distributed immediately downstream of the tailings dump that was spilled due to heavy rainfall. Conclusions: Although the content of the PTEs is high, there is no non-carcinogenic risk for any PTEs except As, for which a threshold risk was determined. There is no carcinogenic risk in the study area.


Like all our objects of research, public service media are not prey waiting in the world – we create them as research objects when we research and when we write. This is easy to forget in the case of public service media, which seem so familiar as research objects because they are already so overwritten. Often we begin the creation of our public service media research object from assumptions that we don't even feel the need to unpack. Public service media institutions might be (and have been) written as discourses, practices, philosophies, politics and/or histories. This article examines what it means to write and research public service media, and it discusses whether descriptions of assemblages that favour particular types of human agency over others – and human agency generally over non-human agents – are sufficient, or whether our research and writing practices might benefit from a hybridisation of methods as well as object(s).


The rituals are patterned, repetitive behaviour focused on the super-natural realm and the enactment of belief expressed in myth and doctrine. Regularly performed rituals are called periodic rituals. Non-periodic rituals, in contrast, occur irregularly, at unpredictable times, in response to unscheduled events. This article reveals the role of religious rituals in coping with the sudden events like, flood. In the spirituality of many indigenous traditions, humanity is inextricably linked to nature. Heavy rains and river behaviour are communicated and discussed, dispensing with the need for high-tech warning systems. A worldview that sees water primarily as a source of life, rather than danger, affects the way villagers prepare themselves to mitigate with floods. Therefore, there are some non-periodic rituals which are traditionally performed at the time of flood. One of the best examples is Pulin Utsav, which is celebrated only when the Yamuna water enters in Gyan Gudri, the village of Vrindavan (Uttar Pradesh, India) on the river bank, a phenomenon seen once in several years. Thus, the study shows that religion is a key force behind the way a community or society interacts and cope up with environmental hazard.


Postmodern critics fail to ask the truth-seeker's essential question, What does the evidence prove? Instead they trust the generalizations and slogans of ideologies to guide their interpretations. Attempting to be up-to-date and profound, these critics lose sight of the literature they are supposed to explore. The Truth of Uncertainty celebrates values commonly associated with modern, not postmodern, criticism, applying them to contemporary works in a series of fresh and unusual inquiries. Galligan finds important implications for criticism in work from the physical sciences that are rarely touched on by American intellectuals, such as Gerald M. Edelman's Bright Air, Brilliant Fire: On the Matter of the Mind and Roger Penrose's The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics. Likewise, he finds illumination in the works of novelists that American critics have largely ignored - Josef Skvorecky, George V. Higgins, Mary Lee Settle, Robertson Davies.


Flashing in pure polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) and a blend containing PPS and liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) during injection molding was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry and scanning electron microscopy. The shape of the flash was observed by use of a projector. Flashing was detected in pure PPS and 90/10 PPS/LCP blend but was not found in other compositions, including pure LCP. The DSC thermograms of the flash revealed both exothermic and endothermic peaks at around 120 o and 285 o C. The first peak, known as crystallization temperature on heating, occurred as a result of early crystalllzation of PPS. The observed double peaks indicated that the degree of crystallinlty was lower in the flash than in the molded part. The morphological studies revealed the presence of LCP fibrils in the skin region and droplets in the core region of 90/10 PPS blend. The absence of flash was attributed to the diameters of the fibrils and droplets, which were found to increase with increasing LCP component


The "Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Ice Cave" is a rare cave in the world. The preserved ice bodies in the vertical cave are very rarely seen both in quality and in quantity. Studies show that the formation of the ice bodies in the ice cave is related mainly to Quaternary glaciation. The ice bodies were formed in Early Pleistocene epiglacial epoch. The excellent preservation of the ice bodies is related to various factors, such as the geographical setting, the low-temperature protective layer, i.e., the ice room effect resulting from the thermal equilibrium of the ice body and the country rock, the existence of the vertical cave, the window room effect, i.e., the thermal-equilibrium between the ice body and fissure air in the country rock, and the thermodynamic effect caused by underground coal combustion. The formation and preservation of the "Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Ice Cave" constitutes the true record and the witness of the climatic and environmental variation in the same area, and can provide important practical data and basis for the study of climatic and environmental variation in this area and in North China. Therefore, the study of this subject is of very high scientific value and practical significance.


According to the application experience of the oxidation treatment to the metal inner surface in the thermodynamic system,feed water in the direct cooling drum boiler unit has been turned into trend for feed water treatment modification of the change reduction treatment to oxidation treatment.From original,supervised,and controlled by the industrial ORP,water treatment modification has been optimized.Thus,energy saving and wastage decreasing have been carried out,in order to reach the goal of safety and environment protection.


ABSTRACT Recently, manufacturing concepts, such as personalized production and distributed manufacturing, have attracted attention owing to the ongoing revolution in industrial technology. Connected micro smart factories in factory-as-a-service system with these new manufacturing paradigms and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) are inefficient in terms of cost and production. To solve these problems, a digital twin, which uses a digital representation of a process, with the same configuration of manufacturing elements, synchronized information, and functional units, was designed and implemented. The digital twin utilizes the latest information from the Internet to gather data from IIoT devices and interoperates in a variety of applications. In addition, it derives the components of a detailed design of the digital twin application, to which it performs procedure definition. This research differs from other digital twin studies that concentrate on the prognostic health management of only a single machine. This study could help managers organize the benefits of utilization through a digital twin based on a hierarchy as they could receive real-time monitoring of the present, tracking information from the past, and operational decision-making support for the future. In addition, the proposed application reduces the cost and production inefficiencies, ultimately resulting in the efficient operation of a manufacturing system.


In recent years, E. nitens growers in southern Australia have established substantial areas of plantation to produce sawlog- and veneer-quality timber in addition to pulpwood. Drying degrade, manifested as checking (radially-oriented cracks) brought about by excessive collapse
(excessive shrinkage of timber caused by the buckling or flattening of cells), has been identified as a problem that may significantly reduce recovery of appearance-grade sawntimber from such plantations. Collapse occurs in the initial stages of timber drying as free water is removed from cell lumens. True shrinkage occurs later in the drying process as water is removed from cell walls (Raymond et al. in press).

This study expands on work undertaken by Kube and Raymond (2001) and Raymond et al. (in press) aimed at developing a suitable low-cost non-destructive technique to assess the propensity of an individual tree's timber to collapse upon drying. It investigates different methods of assessing total core shrinkage (i.e. true shrinkage plus collapse) in dried wood
cores. Genetic parameters are presented for each method of total shrinkage assessment, DBH and basic density.


ABSTRACT Unemployment results in lower levels of cognitive skills and has long-term effects on health and economic well-being. In this paper, I show that unemployment also has negative effects on noncognitive skills, at least in the short term. Using a sample of Germans born between 1945 and 1995, I account for potential endogeneity by using state-level unemployment rates as instruments and controlling for past levels of noncognitive skills. The effects of not working are strong, reducing conscientiousness by 0.15 of a standard deviation for women and by 0.25 for men.


deals with sets of physical objects: theoretical physics is supposed to represent certain features of objects of a kind- namely, physical systems- and experimental physics assumes the task of testing such theoretical representations. And those objects that are the concern- or, as we shall say, the intended referents- of physical theory are, ex-hypothesi , self-existent: they are not mind-dependent. True, some of them, such as the transuranians, might not have come into being without human action guided by physical theory ; others, such as the magnetic monopoles, may be no more than fictions. And every idea concerning physical objects of a kind, whether or not it is an adequate idea, is no more and no less than an idea. Furthermore, no such idea is ever a photographic description of its intended referent but a hypothetical incomplete and symbolic representation of it. Yet the point at issue is that physical theory intends to refer ultimately to veal objects and, moreover, in the most objective (i.e. subject- detached or operator- invariant) and trice (adequate) possible way. What follows spells out the preceding platitudes and attempts to analyze some traits of physical theories that often obscure its intended real reference, objectivity, and partial truth.


This report describes a simple method for obtaining vertebral arteriograms during the course of carotid arteriography. I t is a modification of a previously described "open" technic in which filling of the vertebral arterial system is accomplished by retrograde injection of contrast media into the right common carotid artery (1). The results of the present study show that vertebral arteriograms of diagnostic quality can be obtained in 70 per cent of the cases investigated. Method Vertebral arteriography by retrograde injection of the right common carotid artery is performed as follows: The patient is placed on the x-ray table, in a supine position, and the neck is hyperextended by folded sheets placed beneath the shoulders. The skin is prepared with a suitable antiseptic (Merthiolate) and a local anesthetic (1 per cent procaine or 1 per cent lidocaine) is injected into the skin and deeper cervical tissues about the common carotid artery. The position of the arteriographer is at the head of the table on th...


The aim of this study was analyse harp seals prey use and selection during summer in Svalbard waters. A total of 41, 34 and 58 (including 24 faeces samples) from animals were sampled in 1996, 1997 and 2004. Krill was the overall dominant prey species (63%) followed by polar cod (16%) and other fish species (10%) in terms of a combined index (frequency occurrence and weight). Resource mapping was performed in two areas simultaneous with the seal sampling, in 1996 and 1997 by using standard acoustic methods. These surveys suggested that krill was the most abundant prey in both areas and years; krill constituted 84% and 69% of the total prey biomass in 1996 (99.7 tonnes/nm2) and 1997 (21.4 tonnes/nm2), respectively followed by parathmisto sp. (13 and 18%) and Gammarus sp. (2 and 12%). The prey preference results suggest that harp seals are not particular prey selective, i.e., harp seals display a random feeding behaviour.


The effects of large-scale simple velocity shear on a magnetic field in a low-β MHD fluid are examined in the limit that the magnetic field does not significantly affect the fluid flow. The large-scale fluid shear stretches the magnetic field and can cause significant field amplification. Application to the solar wind suggests that the latitudinal shear observed may contribute significantly to the observed periods of underwound or radial magnetic field.


ABSTRACT THE Previous studies on the economics of soil compaction have selected the optimum machinery complement on the basis of cost minimization. In this study the revenue side of the machinery is also considered. Linear programming models are developed to maximize net farm income considering the yield loss implications of different tractor sizes, farm sizes, and weather conditions. The results indicate that grain com cultivated conventionally is the best system for the three weather patterns: wet, dry, and average. The optimum tractor size is 140 kW for a wet year and 60 kW for a dry year and 100 kW an average year. The impact and implications on the optimum net farm income of two other cultural practices, reduced tillage and crop rotation, are also analyzed in this study.