Three types of polymer-protected bimetallic clusters of noble-metals, prepared by simultaneous alcohol reduction, have been totally shown to have special 'core-shell' structures, on the basis of X-ray diffraction and quantitative X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic measurements. In situ UV–VIS spectral changes during the formation of clusters indicated that the redox potentials of metal ions can control the order of the reduction and that redox reactions between two kinds of metal elements occur during the reduction. Thus, specific effects of the second element were observed. The special structures of these bimetallic clusters are concluded to be controlled by the orders of the reduction of the metal ions and the aggregation property of metal atoms which is attributed to the formation of a 'polymer–metal' complex with the protective polymer.


This paper discusses the making of animated programs using the programming language Visual Basic version 6.0. Program animation is about the solar system consisting of a sun, nine planets (one earth) and the celestial body that encircle the sun. A description of the elements - the elements of the so- lar system was obtained with a button bearing the name of the element - element of the solar system.


To investigate the three‐dimensional (3D) course of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and determine the optimum planes for oblique full‐length MRI of the ligament.


Virtual media like television or other types of media influence the audience from year to year more and more powerful. The role of social networks as a source of information and its interpretation is growing especially rapidly. Modern pagans (neo-pagans) in Ukraine represent a small part of religiously oriented citizens of Ukraine. However, they are also present in the information virtual space. And not only in their social groups and pagan sites. Quite often, representatives of the pagan movement of Ukraine and their worldview and lifestyle became the objects of news related to conflict situations. Typically, in virtual media, information was conveyed through the prism of "pagans and others". Thus, voluntarily or involuntarily, there is the perception of the pagans in Ukraine and the pagan movement as a whole is somehow exotic, extravagant, sometimes dangerous and even hostile. Although paganism is not widely known in Ukraine, it is also not informationally isolated. For the majority of the population of Ukraine, paganism is more associated with "Ivan Kupala", jumping over a fire and spectacular historical reconstructions. However, the media covers not only holidays and interesting rituals, but also conflict situations related one way or another with the rejection of the pagans and their worldview. I focused only on the most resonant cases, which received quite noticeable and lengthy coverage in the Internet media. Among them: the destruction (burning, logging, dousing) of the shrines of the pagans. Such cases became especially resonant on Khortytsya island in Zaporizhzhia, where one of the centers of the pagan movement of Ukraine, the Ruske Pravoslavne Kolo, was deployed. The acts of vandalism and religious hatred also took place in the other cities of Ukraine. Among the most high-profile cases is the destruction of a wooden statue of Perun and a stone sculpture of Svitovid (a copy of the Zbruchansky idol) in Kyiv. Also publicized was the case of the taking away by social services of children from pagan parents in Buki willage in the Zhytomyr region and their return through the court. Relations between pagans, Ukrainian Greek Catholics, and the local population of the Gusyatinsky district in the Ternopil region were difficult, too. Stormy discussions on social networks caused the burial of the pagan who died in the war, Marian Nayda.


Today's bank is to serve and maintain smooth relation with customers. With onset of liberalization in general, banking sector in particular, it has been realized that it is better to create and retain the existing customers to sustain in the competitive environment. This paper explores the strategies adopted by the banking sector to maintain customer relationship management practices to retain the customers. One of the biggest challenges being faced by banking industry today is how to gain an advantage over competitors in satisfying customer needs. The banking industry in India has undergone a sea change after the liberalization. Banking sector today faces many challenges like global competition for deposits and loans and underwriting fees, increasing customer demands, shrinking profit margins and changing technology.


We demonstrate the generation of quasi-continuous ultraviolet excitation at wavelengths shorter than 240 nm using the frequency-doubled output of a synchronously pumped picosecond dye laser operating in the region of 420 nm. Owing to the relatively low peak power but high average power of the system, we obtain high-quality resonance Raman spectra at wavelengths as short as 209 nm. We apply the source to the study of the binding of anticancer drugs to DNA. In particular, we compare the binding of cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (II) (cisplatin) and cis-diammine-1, 1-cyclobutane dicarboxylate platinum (II) (carboplatin) to certain mononucleotides.


Inflammation is a body's protective mechanism to eliminate invading pathogens and cellular damaging signals. The inflammatory response consists of two main consecutive steps—a priming step preparing the inflammatory responses and a triggering step boosting the inflammatory responses. The main feature of the triggering step is the activation of the inflammasome, an intracellular multiprotein complex facilitating the inflammatory responses. The regulatory roles of 'canonical' inflammasomes in the inflammatory responses and diseases have been largely investigated, so far. New types of inflammasomes have been recently discovered and named as 'non-canonical' inflammasomes since their roles to induce inflammatory responses are similar to those of canonical inflammasomes, however, the stimulating ligands and the underlying mechanisms are different. Therefore, a growing number of studies have actively investigated the novel roles of non-canonical inflammasomes in inflammatory responses and diseases. This review summarizes and discusses the recent studies exploring the regulatory roles of caspase-11 non-canonical inflammasome during the inflammatory responses and provides insight into the development of novel therapeutics for infectious and inflammatory diseases by targeting caspase-11 non-canonical inflammasome.


The paper describes an approach to the synthesis of automatic hover mode stabilization systems of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) equipped with multilink manipulators (MM). The proposed approach involves the installation of an additional thruster on the AUV. This thruster is located above the AUV center of the buoyancy on the outrigger rod in such a way that the thrust formed by the thruster is directed along the transverse horizontal axis of the vehicle. This expands the original propulsion and steering complex (PSC) and allows to compensate for the effects from the MM that cause the displacements of the AUV along the roll angle. Based on the features of the thrusters layout scheme, control signals of the extended PSC are generated to compensate for the dynamic effects caused by the force contact of the MM working tool (WT) with the target objects when performing manipulative operations. To calculate these MM effects, a modified algorithm for solving the inverse dynamics problem is used, which does not require the installation of expensive multicomponent force and torque sensors in the MM WT. The results of numerical simulation in Matlab/Simulink with visualization in the CoppeliaSim simulator showed the operability and high efficiency of the synthesized AUV stabilization system when performing manipulation operations.


The continuing and rapid growth of the Internet has created an extremely large capacity problem to the service and content provider's networks. The increased network traffic and the absence of service priority, usually produce high network congestions, delayed data and service transmissions and lack of throughput. The effect of these factors in AW content transmission is to distort the initial content and decrease the content quality. To avoid this negative effect, service and content providers are looking for architectures that give them greater control on traffic passing through their domains and other heterogeneous networks. This document proposes an experimental core network architecture (MPLS-DiffServ) presenting a solution for content providers that want reliable and agreed level of quality, even if the network is under congestion. MPLS-DiffServ architecture, couples the DiffServ'sper hop guarantees with MPLS traffic engineering capabilities. Furthermore, content/services of different format will be distributed over MPLS-DiffServ network with different guarantee limits and delivered on a variety of user terminals..


A bacterial strain was constructed which permitted positive selection for ochre suppressor mutations as well as for the loss of suppressor function. A derivative bearing an ochre suppressor mutation was selected following mutagenesis with N-methyl-N-nitroso-N'-nitroguanidine. The suppressor-bearing strain was treated with nitrous acid to eliminate suppressor function by mutation, and a strain lacking suppressor activity was selected. The selected strain which had lost suppressor function was then subjected to mutagenesis to induce a second suppressor mutation. The alternating sequence (induction of an ochre suppressor mutation + induction of a mutation eliminating ochre suppressor activity) was repeated 29 and one-half times in a single strain. Some of the suppressor mutations were tentatively mapped at four locations on the chromosome. The first suppressor mutation selected maps at about minute 30 on the chromosome. The second suppressor selected maps at approximately minute 60, while the third suppressor maps nearby, possibly as far as minute 72. Among the subsequently selected suppressor mutations, all eleven which were mapped were cotransducible with the gal and nic loci near minute 36 on the chromosome and may represent more than one suppressor gene. Deletions were selected which inactivate two of the ochre suppressor alleles mapping near the gal-nic region, suggesting that one or more such genes are dispensable. Some evidence also suggests that the occurrence of either deletion mutations or trans-duction-mediated recombination events in the gal-nic region can cause instability of nearby suppressor alleles. diluted 1:150-1:300 into 3 ml of DM containing 75 units/ml penicillin plus nutrients to satisfy the original growth requirements of the strain being mutagenized. The culture was incubated for 19-22 hrs at 37" without shaking and spread at 101- and I02-fold dilutions on DM agar plates containing appropriate supplements. Mutants were detected after replicating the colonies to plates which lacked supplements satisfying the requirements imposed by the desired mutations.


Neem seeds show curious post-shedding behaviour and have been variously documented as orthodox, intermediate or recalcitrant, apparently relating to provenance. In addition, even in the air-dry state, hermetically stored seeds rapidly lose viability. In the present case, putatively recalcitrant, hydrated neem seeds from a Kenyan coastal provenance were stored in loosely-closed polythene bags to ascertain : 1. Whether or not the axes showed metabolic enhancement indicative of the onset of germination under ambient storage conditions for 10 d ; and 2. Whether chilling (4 ± 2°C for 10 d) had an adverse effect on the axis cells. There was a slight germination lag relative to the control material in the ambient-stored seeds, which is ascribed to their partial enclosure, but the totality of germination was unaffected, while chilling had markedly adverse effects on both rate and totality. The ultrastructure of control material, sampled prior to storage, was typical of embryonic axes in the stage of late development or early stages of germination. During ambient storage, there was considerable enhancement of ultrastructural features indicating that germination (even though slightly delayed) was indeed underway. In contrast, a regression of subcellular development accompanied chilling, many axis cells showing degenerative changes. In terms of this behaviour, seeds of A. indica from this African provenance conform to the characteristics expected of tropical recalcitrant species.


A total of 13 cadavers (12 men and 1 wo m en) o f different age group were used for the study with the purpose to determine the prevalence of femoral vein duplication. Lower limb regions (26 sides) were carefully dissected as per the standard dissection procedure. Femoral vein (unitruncular) was found in 96.15% of specimen. Bitruncular configurations (total bifidity) was found in a male cadaver of 75 years of age (3.85%). In the right lower limb, 6.5 cms below the inguinal ligament the femoral vein lateral r amus received the lateral circumflex femoral vein, and the m edial circumflex femoral vein, and the lateral and medial ramii formed a common venous trunk. Knowledge of the truncular venous variations is important to recognize and avoid potential errors in diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis of the femoral vein, in the case of an occluded duplicated trunk.


First several non stationary random signals models are discussed . Different signals generation processes are presented . In detection
or transmission systems, these non stationary signals can be either the useful signals or the disturbing noises .The first case i s
illustrated by communication through fading dispersive channels and the second case by detection in presence of reverberation .


The application of Spiroid gears to rotary tillers is proposed. The research on the design and manufacturing of the transmission of rotary tillers is developed. The work hopes to be a good practice for better load capacity, mechanical performance and wear resistance of rotary tillers.


In the perspective of injury and disability risk, this research carries out an empirical investigation and case study on injuries and disabilities situation of 400 athletes of 20 events in 4 events groups in Liaoning Province. It discloses present situation of athletes' injuries, and systematically elaborates the form mechanism from the aspects of process factor, human factor and condition safeguard factor and so on, thus provides the theory basis for the occurrence reduction of sports injuries and the optimization of sports training management.


The aim of the present study was to examine whether a C-reactive protein (CRP) first approach would improve the detection rate of postoperative complications by CT. CRP is a useful biomarker to identify major complications following surgery for colorectal cancer. Patients with histologically confirmed colorectal cancer, who underwent elective surgery between 2008 and 2015 at a single centre were included. Exceeding the established CRP threshold of 150mg/L on postoperative day (POD) 4 was recorded. Results of CT performed between postoperative days 4 and 14 were recorded. Four hundred ninety-five patients were included. The majority were male (58%), over 65 (68%), with node-negative disease (66%) and underwent open surgery (70%). Those patients who underwent a CT scan (n=93), versus those who did not (n=402), were more likely to have a postoperative complication (84% vs 35%, P<0.001), infective complication (67% vs 21%, P<0.001), and anastomotic leak (17% vs 2%, P<0.001). In patients who did not undergo a CT scan (n=402) exceeding the CRP threshold (n=117) on POD 4 was associated with a higher rate of postoperative complication (50% vs 29%, P<0.001), infective complications (36% vs 15%, P<0.001), and anastomotic leak (4% vs 0.5%, P=0.009). In patients who did undergo a CT scan (n=93) exceeding the CRP threshold (n=53) on POD 4 was associated with earlier CT (median POD 6 vs 8, P=0.001) but not postoperative complications. A CRP first approach resulted in earlier and improved detection of complications by CT following surgery for colorectal cancer. Abbreviations: CRP = C-reactive protein, CT = computed tomography, FBC = full blood count, mGPS = modified Glasgow Prognostic Score, POD = postoperative day.


It is analysized the circulating process of thermoacoustic engine.And under the condition of complex exponential heat transfer law,it is obtained the expression of irreversible thermoacoustic engine for output power and temperature ratio,exergy efficiency and temperature ratio.It is concluded that the irreversible factors and heat leakage rate has influence on output power and exergy efficiency;irreversible factors and complex exponential imaginary have great effect on output power of engine.However,although both irreversible factors and heat leakage rate have effect on exergy efficiency,complex exponential imaginary value range don′t depend on the exergy efficiency.


Abstract.  It is well known that major strength of non‐parametric regression function estimation breaks down when correlated errors exist in the data. Positively (negatively) correlated errors tend to produce undersmoothing (oversmoothing). Several remedies have been proposed in the context of bandwidth selection problem, but they are hard to implement without prior knowledge of error correlations. In this paper we propose a simple estimator of error correlation which is ready to implement and reports a reasonably good performance.


With the development of the knowledge economy, the effective management of R&D employees has been the core point of contemporary HRM in hi-tech company. The R&D employees who are innovative and creative are regarded as the core of human resources as well as the prime mover of new values for an enterprise. Therefore, the motivation system of them counts much to the hi-tech company R&D employees. This paper carried out survey and statistical analysis of R&D employees including the characteristics of R&D employees demands, the flow of R&D employees and the contentment degree to R&D employees present job. According to conclusions of the study, the paper put forward some management suggestions to R&D employees such as the comprehensive salary strategy, career development, corporate culture and mental bond etc. If the various motivation methods can be effectively integrated, R&D employeespsila innovation ability will be virtually stimulated.


Intertextuality is the generally accepted term denoting the interconnectedness and interrelatedness of texts. The new text is thus viewed as part of the vast network of texts influencing one another. The present article aims at revealing how contextual meanings influence the process of text interpretation. "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." (Ecclesiastes, 1: 9-14) The term of intertextuality has been the apple of discord ever since it was coined in 1966 by Julia Kristeva, who introduced the hypothesis that every text is, in fact, an intertext formed out of the previously constructed texts and which constitutes the basis of the next one. The initial meaning of the term has undergone modification in time, yet, it has preserved the general idea of interconnectedness which exists among texts. The term itself has an intertextual meaning as it echoes the concept of polyphony introduced by Mihail Bakhtin. Polyphony reveals the existence of 'a plurality of independent and unmerged voices and consciousnesses'245 which stand over against the claims of the author. The Russian theorist dwelt upon the dialogical essence of speech which implies that speech is based on the interlocutors' previous social, communicative experiences which help both encode and decode the intended message of their utterances. Thus, the very speech by its nature is intertextual as it refers to the previously usages of language, it is a multi-voiced set of experiences which help create new texts. Nowadays, the term of intertextuality is used not only in literary studies but also in other spheres of human communication, such as: film production, advertisements, political discourse, etc. It has turned into a global concept of interrelatedness of various texts (regardless of their forms) existing in the vast network of human creation. Graham Allen speaks about the usefulness of such a term which 'foregrounds notions of relationality, interconnectedness and interdependence in modern cultural life'246 thus enabling the participants of a speech act to get a better understanding of each other's message. At the same time, intertextuality reminds us once again that each text exists in relation to other texts. The term is supported by some [Julia Kristeva, Adolphe Harber, Graham Allen, Umberto Eco, etc.] who share the conviction that 'intertextuality is and will remain a crucial element in the attempt to understand literature and culture'247. However, there are theorists who oppose the need for such a concept which in their opinion is 'at best a rhetorical flourish intended to impress, at worst [...] the signifier of an illogical position'248. The divergence of opinions could be explained by the fact that the term of intertextuality is viewed in different ways. Some researchers refer to intertextuality as a 'technique of allusion'249, 245Bakhtin, 1999, p. 6. 246Allen, 2000, p. 5. 247Allen, 2000, p. 7. 248Irwin, 2004, p. 228. 249Simpson, 2004, p. 21. PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com 98 others consider it as 'part of the network of evaluative devices found in literary discourse, which works in complex ways to deepen the meaning of the text'250. All of them support the idea that a text does not exist in isolation, moreover it cannot be decoded in isolation from the vast network of texts from where, as a rule, it takes its origins and which help to get a better understanding of a text. As a matter of fact, intertextuality is one of the seven standards of textuality whose absence implies that such a text loses its communicative character and, as a result, becomes a 'nontext'251. Intertextuality can be considered as a text universal. As seen from above, there is not one accepted mainstream definition of intertextuality. In this article intertextuality is referred to as a unifying technique of text weaving by means of other texts in literary discourse. It is an attempt to analyze the plurality of distinct voices in the narration which interact with the reader's experience. The process of reading appears to be the process of text interaction. The writer encodes the message referring to both external and cultural sources which are inferred by the reader with the help of his literary and cultural background. Consequently, while recreating the author's text the reader creates his own which is both an echo of the author's original text and his personal background. Literary discourse offers a good example of intertextual relationships which exist within a text. Being regarded as a reciprocal dialogue between the writer and the reader, the literary text appears as an intentionally structured message full of connotative meanings aimed to arouse a specific response. The reader reconstructs the message intended by the author and, at the same time, he contributes his own experience to this process. Thus, the original text is, in fact, an intertext which helps create the reader's text. This accounts for the various interpretations of a literary text as every reader brings his own input. Only a part may coincide with what the author initially intended, the other is, as a rule, inferred by the reader. The more competent the reader is the better he will understand the author's message. By competent we imply the literary and cultural background which may help the reader decode the text. This knowledge is acquired through extensive reading and learning which form the reader's literary competence. Generally, intertextuality is retrospectively oriented as it echoes the already existing or presupposed text(s) but it creates a refreshed vision as it is part of a new ideational context to which it is subordinated. However, the reader evokes texts not meant by the author (they may not have been created at the time). This implies that texts certainly interact with each other and that the dialogue existing between them is an on-going process open to new interpretations. Intertextuality is realized in several ways in a literary text. Valentina Şmatova states that 'the search for intertextuality must go in different directions'252 and delineates eight possible ways: • the generic direction; • stylistic devices as the underlying force of intertextuality; • combination of visual and linguistic texts; • translation intertextuality; • parody intertextuality; • incorporation intertextuality; • many-voiced narration; • global intertextuality. The directions considered in this article are: the generic direction, stylistic devices and manyvoiced narration, as we consider these are the three directions realized in W. S. Maugham's short story 'A Friend in Need'. The very appurtenance of a literary text to a concrete genre is a reference to already existing texts whose structural form it follows. For example, a short story becomes one when it is shaped and narrated according to the accepted standards required by the genre it belongs to. The American writer, Edgar Allan Poe advocated for conciseness and rigorous selection of the 250Black, 2006, p. 49. 251Bell, 2000, p. 180. 252Şmatova, 2004, p. 103. PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com 99 figures of speech while creating a literary text. He claimed that "If any literary work is too long to be read at one sitting, we must be content to dispense with the immensely important effect derivable from unity of impression – for, if two sittings be required, the affairs of the world interfere, and everything like totality is at once destroyed"253. This basic rule of conciseness in short stories is still respected which, in its turn, is an indirect reference to Allan Edgar Poe's statement as well. W. S. Maugham's short story A Friend In Need is a case of intertextuality within the genre of short story as it is thematically structured according to its length limitations. The title of the short story is an intertext that connects the short story to the text of the proverb: 'A friend in need is a friend indeed'. Its manifest allusion to this well-known proverb arouses certain expectations on the part of the reader who assumes that the story is going to deal with friendship. Having initially a positive meaning, the syntagm 'a friend in need' inclines the reader to hear the story of true friends who help each other in hard times. The survey conducted on second-year students from English Philology Department showed that 90% thought that the short story is going to reveal a case of true friendship, of friends helping each other when one of them is in trouble. The other 10% were familiar with some of W. S. Maugham's works and said that the story most probably will deal with something which is opposed to friendship. This is the case of the competent reader who would perceive the ironic tinge in the title and would have different expectations from the reader who has not read any of the author's works. Thus, the dialogue between the works of the same author form intratextuality which helps decode the author's message more easily. The short story 'A Friend in Need' reveals the dark side of the human nature where the notion of friendship is distorted. It alludes to the proverb but due to its ironic twist it distorts its initial positive meaning, putting the texts in antonymic relation with the original meaning of the proverb: Text of the Story vs. Text of the Proverb. The author does not include the whole saying but only its first part, the second is deduced before and after the reading of the entire story. In the first case it is the echo of the proverb, whereas in the second, it is the echo of the story itself which denies what was stated in the original text and results in: a friend in need is not a friend indeed. The schematized interconnectedness between the original text and the short story can be represented as follows: The relation between the story and the proverb is distorted as there is no explicit narration about friends helping each o


The capacity of Thymomodulin, a thymic derivative, to restore the antibody response and the number of circulating leucocytes in immunodepressed animals was studied. Administered daily to cyclophosphamide-treated mice, Thymomodulin significantly stimulated the recovery of the antibody response to sheep erythrocytes after a second administration of the antigen. The white blood cell count also showed a rapid and significant increase. Antibody titres were enhanced to normal range values again in immunodepressed rabbits. The possible mechanism of these findings is discussed. Some preliminary results obtained in restoring the immune response in aged mice are also reported.


Quasi-classical trajectory calculations are performed to study the stereodynamics of the H ( 2 S) + NH (a 1 ∆ ) → H 2 ( X 1 Σ + g ) + N ( 2 D) reaction based on the first excited state NH 2 (1 2 A (cid:48) ) potential energy surface reported by Li et al. [Li Y Q and Varandas A J C 2010 J. Phys. Chem. A 114 9644] for the first time. We observe the changes of differential cross-sections at different collision energies and different initial reagent rotational excitations. The influence of collision energy on the 𝑘 – 𝑘 (cid:48) distribution can be attributed to a purely impulsive effect. Initial reagent rotational excitation transforms the reaction mechanism from insertion to abstraction. The effect of initial reagent rotational excitations on 𝑘 – 𝑘 (cid:48) distribution can be explained by the rotational excitation enlarging the rotational rate of reagent NH in the entrance channel to reduce the probability of collision between incidence H atom and H atom of target molecular. We also investigate the changes of vector correlations and find that the rotational angular momentum vector 𝑗 (cid:48) of the product H 2 is not only aligned, but also oriented along the y axis. The alignment parameter, the disposal of total angular momentum and the reaction mechanism are all analyzed carefully to explain the polarization behavior of the product rotational angular moment. differential cross section, stereodynamics, rotational excitation, rotational polarization, Vector correlation


Background—Detection of either viral or bacterial pathogens is associated with wheezing in children, however the influence of both bacteria and virus on illness symptoms has not been described. Objective—We evaluated bacterial detection during peak RV season in children with and without asthma to determine if an association exists between bacterial infection and the severity of RV illnesses. Methods—308 children (166 with asthma, 142 without asthma) ages 4–12 years provided five consecutive weekly nasal samples during September, and scored cold and asthma symptoms daily. Viral diagnostics and quantitative PCR for Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis were performed on all nasal samples. Results—Detection rates were 53%, 17% and 11% for H. influenzae, S. pneumoniae and M. catarrhalis, respectively, with detection of RV increasing the risk of detecting bacteria within the same sample (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.4–2.7, p<0.0001) or the following week (OR 1.6 (1.1–2.4), p=0.02). In the absence of RV, S. pneumoniae was associated with increased cold symptoms (mean 2.7 (95% CI 2.0–3.5) vs. 1.8 (1.5–2.2), p=0.006) and moderate asthma exacerbations (18% (12%–27%) vs. 9.2% (6.7%–12%), p=0.006). In the presence of RV, S. pneumoniae was © 2014 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved. Corresponding author: Kirsten M. Kloepfer MD, 705 Riley Hospital Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46202. Telephone number (317) 278-7860, Fax number (317) 278-7856, and email@example.com. Concept and design: JEG, RFL; Analysis and interpretation: KMK, WML, TEP, TK, RFV, MDE, REG, YAB, RFL, JEG; Drafting of manuscript for important intellectual content: KMK, JEG Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. NIH Public Access Author Manuscript J Allergy Clin Immunol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2015 May 01. Published in final edited form as: J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2014 May ; 133(5): 1301–1307.e3. doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2014.02.030. N IH -P A A uhor M anscript N IH -P A A uhor M anscript N IH -P A A uhor M anscript associated with increased moderate asthma exacerbations (22% (16%–29%) vs. 15% (11%–20%), p=0.01). Furthermore, M. catarrhalis detected alongside RV increased the likelihood of experiencing cold and/or asthma symptoms compared to isolated detection of RV (OR 2.0 (1.0– 4.1), p=0.04). Regardless of RV status, H. influenzae was not associated with respiratory symptoms. Conclusion—RV infection enhances detection of specific bacterial pathogens in children with and without asthma. Furthermore, these findings suggest that M. catarrhalis and S. pneumoniae contribute to the severity of respiratory illnesses, including exacerbations of asthma.


A comparison of the monitor unit calculations between a commercial treatment planning system (TPS) and ''hand'' calculations is extremely important in radiation therapy. In this paper, we will recalculate MU of the 3D-CRT plan for Lung and Rectal cancer on the treatment planning system supplied by Prowess Panther 4.6 at Dong Nai General Hospital, Vietnam. The monitor unit of each beams was recalculate by ''hand'' calculations and compared TPS. In general excellent overall agreement was found between calculations performed with the TPS and "hand" calculations. The MU difference between the monitor unit calculations of TPS and ''hand'' calculation was 0.144% with a standard deviation of 0.051% for rectal patients and 0.027 with a standard deviation of 0.008% for Lung patients. The result shows that there were no significant differences between recalculation and TPS.


The use of modeling economic processes are determined in order to establish numerous relationships that exist in the economy, and establish the degree of infl uence of internal and external factors on the results of production and economic activities, as well as addressing specifi c economic issues. This article is an illustration of the skill of formulating economic-mathematical problems, their solutions and further analysis on the actual material. The use of economic-mathematical models for current planning development and planning for the future allows you to defi ne its basic parameters. The developed model is applicable in the analysis of the resulting patterns of production. With its help it is possible to identify the most appropriate ways of spending resources and increasing the volume of products supported by reliable data. Developed mathematical optimization model for organizations justifi es changes in the structure of production that aims to maximize profi ts with full use of the resource potential.


Large-scale land acquisitions in African countries by foreign investors who use such lands for agricultural purposes that have negative socio-economic and environmental impact in host countries is considered as 'land grabbing in Africa'. In the context of the environment, the type of crops and monoculture practices undertaken by the foreign investors led to changes in land use, deforestation, exposure of land to soil erosion, depletion of water sources, pollution of surface water and contamination of ground water as a result of the intense use of agro-chemicals. Collectively, these have had a deleterious environmental impact in host countries. This article examines the phenomenon of 'land grabbing in Africa' by identifying the type of land-based agricultural investments by foreign entities and the environmental impact of such investments in African countries like Nigeria. The article argues that the prevailing Nigerian environmental law cannot ensure sustainable development as it does not address the environmental impact of land-based agricultural investments by foreign enterprises in the country. The article proposes that suitable environmental laws must contain the concepts of Community Participation in environmental impact assessment process of land based foreign investments and Environmental Justice for victims of environmental degradation of such investments.


We developed an integrated dual-gate-driving thin-film transistor (TFT)-based compensation pixel circuit for active matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) displays to overcome the limitations of conventional pixel circuits that synchronize in only one direction. Our pixel circuit based on amorphous indium–gallium–zinc–tin oxide TFTs (a-IGZTO TFTs) utilizes selectively synchronized (SLT-Sync) dual-gate-driving TFTs to compensate for threshold voltage (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V}_{{\mathrm {th}}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) variations and extend the input data range for precise control of emission current. We performed simulations to verify circuit performance and fabricated new and comparable pixel circuits to evaluate the simulation result. The new pixel circuit operates as a gate-synchronized (G-Sync) dual-gate TFT compensating for <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V}_{{\mathrm {th}}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> variation, enabling more accurate and rapid sensing than a source-synchronized (S-Sync) dual-gate TFT. The field-effect mobility (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu _{{\mathrm {FET}}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) of the new pixel was 1.4-fold than that of the latter dual-gate TFTs operating mode, and the emission current error rate on <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V}_{{\mathrm {th}}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> variation (±0.5 V) was < 5.0%. The new pixel circuit behaved as an S-Sync dual-gate TFT during emission. The input data range is about 0.6 V greater than that of a G-Sync dual-gate TFT, due to the twofold increase in subthreshold swing (SS). Therefore, the new pixel circuit optimally balances fast <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V}_{{\mathrm {th}}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> compensation and input data range expansion, and will find applications in high-resolution AMOLED displays by applying the SLT-Sync dual-gate TFTs, which operate in G-Sync and S-Sync modes as needed.


Transformation is central to the Christian faith. Romans 12: 2 makes this clear: 'Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God – what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect' (Good News Translation, Australian Text Usage, 1994). Transformation in this sense is an 'inner experience' and that same sense is intended with the idea of a self-transforming school. The Christian is open to the will of God; the Christian school is also open to the will of God, but open in other ways. Expressed simply, the self-transforming Christian school is – and must be – open to a range of influences — and in doing so it 'calls the shots' in terms of how it discerns these influences and their potential impact, and makes its choices.


Presentation of Case A 27-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital because of infertility. She had been married for nine years and had been unable to conceive. The menarche had occurred at the a...


I. ALLEGRO MODERATO A NARRATIVE ANALYSIS AND ITS EFFECT ON PERFORMANCE by ALINA ALEJANDRA VÁZQUEZ (Under the Direction of David Starkweather) ABSTRACT The following dissertation provides a narrative analysis of the first movement of Myaskovsky's Second Cello Sonata primarily using the narratological method of Byron Almén, but also drawing upon the semiotic approach of Robert Hatten. Nikolay Myaskovsky achieved high acclaim in Russia during his lifetime, yet his music is not well known in the United States today. For this reason, I believe it is important to study and perform this work. This analytical approach provides a vital tool for musicians facing the challenges of giving a musical and meaningful performance of a piece that is relatively unknown in the United States.


With the complete implementation of the rural tax - fee reform, the agriculture tax is free, and the teachers there get their payment from the county government. In Cuizhou province there is a great change in rural financial function, public finance receipt and expenditure scope and scales. The old system cannot adapt the new situation. Therefore, it is inevitable to deepen financial reform and adjust the rural financial system in time.


Phosphorescent white organic light-emitting diodes with double light-emitting layers were fabricated based on phosphorescent blue emittor bis[3,5-difluoro-2-(2-pridyl) phenyl-(2-earboxypyribyl) iridumⅢ](FIrpic) and red emittor bis(2-methyldibenzo[f,h]quinoxaline)(acetylacetonate) iridium(Ⅲ)(Ir(MDQ)2acac).FIrpic was doped in an ultra wide band-gap host 1,3-bis(triphenylsilyl) benzene(UGH3),and Ir(MDQ)2acac was doped in the host 4,4',4″-tris(carbazol-9-yl) triphenylamine(TCTA).A hole transporting wide-band-gap material 1,3-bis(carbazol-9-yl) benzene(mCP) was introduced between the emitting layers.The device structure was ITO /NPB(40nm) /TCTA∶ Ir(MDQ)2acac 7%(10 nm) /mCP(x nm) /UGH3 ∶ Firpic 8%(30 nm) /BPhen(30nm) /LiF(0.8 nm) /Al(200 nm).The results show that the interlayer plays an important role of balancing charge carriers,and blocking energy transfer between the emitting layers.With an appropriate thickness of the interlayer,the device performances can be significantly enhanced.Compared with the device without interlayer,the maximum current efficiency can be enhanced from 3.4 cd /A to 13.2 cd /A.


Significance: 3,3-Dialkylated oxindoles 3 were prepared in moderate to good yields by the reaction of aldehydes 1 with the N-alkyl-N-arylacrylamides 2. The aldehydes serve as precursors of alkyl radicals, and O2 serves as the oxidant. Symmetrically substituted aldehydes 1 gave the corresponding 3,3′-dialkylated oxindoles 3, whereas unsymmetrical branched aldehydes gave the products as mixtures of two diastereoisomers (dr = 1:1 to 1:1.7). A cyclohexyl-substituted oxindole was also obtained in moderate yield, but the reaction was less efficient with a linear aldehyde, giving the product in only 15% yield. Compounds 2 bearing EDGs and EWGs were well tolerated. Halo-substituted aromatics 2 (R3 = Br, Cl, F, I) were successfully used as substrates, and 1naphthylor N-pyridine-substituted methacrylamides 2 also gave the corresponding products in good yields. Nonprotected arylmethacrylamides failed to give any products. Comment: Oxindole skeletons are found in many bioactive natural products and pharmaceuticals, for which synthetic methods are available (see Review below). These methods generally require a metal catalyst, a stoichiometric oxidant, and a toxic solvent. The reported method involves a simple one-step reaction that affords the products 3 in reasonable yields. In the presence of the radical scavenger TEMPO, the reaction failed to occur, indicating that it proceeds via radical intermediates. On the basis of control experiments and a literature report (R.-J. Tang, Q. He, L. Lang Chem. Commun. 2015, 51, 5925), a possible reaction mechanism is proposed, involving the intermediates A and B. The synthetic utility of this method was demonstrated by the transformation of 3a (R4 = alkyl; R1 = Me; R2 = CH2CO2Me; R 3 = OMe) into alkyl analogues of the alkaloids tetrahydrofuranoindoline and (±)-esermethole.


Friendly Force Tracking Systems (FFTS) are the lowest echelon command and control information systems (C2IS) in any army command and control architecture. Their initial goal is to provide near real-time information about own troops position. However, in foreseeable current empty battlefields as well as in asymmetric confrontations at least two extra functionalities are required: 1) sensor integration capabilities and 2) extra features allowing traditional C2 functions over small units with high mobility, possibly from battalion level downwards dismounted soldier. SIMACOP, developed by Technical University of Valencia, provides upon a FFT system basic C2 functionalities previously stated: threat, alarm and ORBAT management; overlaying and tactical chat messaging as well as sensor integration, with special focus on video. System has been successfully evaluated by Spanish Army and has been used as a basic tool for manoeuvres carried by Spanish Army 8 Light Cavalry Regiment and the Signal Brigade. In this work the fielded experience of the system at such realistic scenarios is shown demonstrating its C2 capabilities far beyond from being a simple FFT system. Precisely, 'sensor-on-network' concept has been demonstrated by means of video-server integration, implementing the "Post and smart pull" communication paradigm. Gaining access to video information from any sensor at any C2 post, bears to a sensible enhancement in agility and mission effectiveness.


Organic synthesis has contributed significantly to the development of new drugs, in view of the constant research to develop new products that are effective, at a lower cost and with the minimization of adverse effects. According to Hargreaves et al.,1 and later reaffirmed by Cechinel et al.,2 cyclic imides are organic functions that demonstrate therapeutic potential due to their easy attainment and good yields. They are composed of the group -CO-N (R)-CO-, which demonstrate sedative, hypnotic, hypotensive, carcinostatic, antimitotic, antinociceptive, between other properties. They are divided into subclasses, being these maleimides, succinimides, glutarimides, naphthalides and other.2,3


It is the last paper of a long series. We present the spectral side of the twisted trace formula and its stable version. Using the method of Arthur, we finish the proof of the stabilization of the two sides of this twisted trace formula.


Background: A novel drug delivery system using poly (e-caprolactone) - poly (ethylene glycol) -poly (e-caprolactone) (PCL-PEG-PCL) was established in this study. Methods: Ceftriaxone (CTX) was encapsulated within PCL-PEG-PCL nanoparticles by a double emulsion technique (w/o/w), leading to creation of ceftriaxone-loaded PCL-PEG-PCL (CTX/PCL-PEG-PCL) polymersomes. The resulting polymersomes were characterized by various techniques such as dynamic light scattering (DLS). The release profile of the CTX from the polymersomes was evaluated. Results: The findings showed the successful formation of spherical CTX/PCL-PEG-PCL polymersomes. The loading efficiency of CTX was 17.50± 1.17%. The results of DLS showed that the polymersomes have size of 115.7± 0.48 nm. In vitro release of CTX from polymersomes was remarkably sustained. The sustained release of drug was hypothetically due to the encapsulation of CTX in core of polymersomes. Conclusion: The results indicate the successful formulation of CTX loaded PCL-PEG-PCL polymersomes. It can be concluded that polymersomes may be considered as an effective treatment strategy for to improve the therapeutic effect of CTX in the future. Keywords: Ceftriaxone, Drug delivery, Nanoparticles, PCL-PEG–PCL, Polymersomes,


................................................................................................................................................................................... i DECLARATION ......................................................................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................................................... vi TABLE OF MAPS ....................................................................................................................................................................... xi TABLE OF FIGURES............................................................................................................................................................... xii LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................................................................... xiv TABLE OF PLATES................................................................................................................................................................. xv LIST OF GRAPHS ................................................................................................................................................................... xvi ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................................................................................. xvii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND ........................................................................................ 1 1.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background and Motivation for Study ........................................................................................................ 2 1.2 The Study Area ...................................................................................................................................................... 5 1.3 Problem Statement ............................................................................................................................................ 10 1.4 Literature Review .............................................................................................................................................. 11 1.5 Research Aim and Objectives ........................................................................................................................ 13 1.5.1 Primary Aim of Study .............................................................................................................................. 13 1.5.2 Research Objectives ................................................................................................................................. 13 1.6 Research Questions ........................................................................................................................................... 14 1.6.1 Key Question ............................................................................................................................................... 14 1.6.2 Sub Questions: ........................................................................................................................................... 14 1.7 Hypothesis............................................................................................................................................................. 15 1.8 Research Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 15


This paper introduces a new synchronous control circuit of SCR controlled welding source without synchronous transformer.The synchronous control circuits can control the synchronization of natural commutating points critically,and tail after the shift of natural commutating points.Therefore it overcomes the shortage of traditional synchronous control circuits.Not only is the structure of the circuit simple,but also is reliable and stable.At the same time ,it has a high precision to synchronous points,and a good display in engineering applicable examination.


This paper presents data from an analysis of a large conversational-speech corpus, showing evidence that voice quality, as measured on a continuum from pressed to breathy using a normalized amplitude quotient (NAQ), is varied consistently, and in much the same way as, but independently of, fundamental frequency, to signal paralinguistic information. We show that interlocutor, speaking-style, and speech-act all have significant interactions with NAQ, and argue that voice-quality should be considered as the 4 prosodic parameter, along with pitch, power, and duration.


By means of original research at the Sheptytsky archives in Lviv, the author uncovered a file of some seventy handwritten letters between Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky and his sometime spiritual son, Lev Gillet (A Monk of the Eastern Church), a file which sheds important light on the biographies of both of these influential churchmen and also on interwar history. This correspondence, dating from the first meeting of the two in 1921 through to Sheptytsky's receiving of Gillet into the Studites and then Gillet's entrance into Orthodoxy in 1928, is analyzed to reveal several key incidents in the decade, including: Ukrainian political aspirations after Poland took over Eastern Galicia; Eastern Catholic expansionism into former Tsarist territories; the questionable work of Michel d'Herbigny and Pius XI's Mortalium animos; and the creation of Chevetogne. In addition, the letters reveal subtle developments in the thinking of both Sheptytsky and Gillet as well as their relations with such ecumenically significant figures as Dom Lambert Beauduin, Leonid Fiodorov, and the Orthodox pioneers of Saint Serge Institute in Paris. Even to the end of his life, Gillet referred to Sheptytsky as my bishop and the correspondence concludes with a poignant exchange as the son realizes the pain he is causing his father, but asks nonetheless for the freedom to follow his conscience - a move that might have been avoided had the politics of soteriological exclusivism not been so severe at the time.


ABSTRACT During September and October 2021, eSwatini experienced school demonstrations unprecedented in the country's history. Drawing on a socio-emotional development framework and frustration-aggression theory, the article presents an educator's theoretically informed reflections on these events. It explores the possibility that the demonstrations are not simply a reflection of the prevalent political riots presently sweeping the country. Rather, they further expose the fundamental deficiencies in the country's political and education system. Utilising personal observations, contemporary news reports and an extensive literature review, the article explores the possibility that the violence seen in schools can be both a communicative strategy and an expression of negative emotions arising from both direct and indirect educational consequences of the pandemic, and further driven by the prevailing political system and the government's failure to meet students' needs. Building on this, the article suggests strategies that educators and policymakers could employ to address students' socio-emotional needs, thereby averting future emotional eruptions and violent behaviours.


The aim of the article was to study the role of personality and intelligence in prognostic tasks solving. The presented results were obtained in a sample of 78 participants. Seven methods were used: a computerized version of the prognostic task (based on V.N. Azarov`s task [1982]; an intelligence test and five psychodiagnostic questionnaires to assess personality traits and style characteristics. In the prognostic task, three measurable indicators of the possible strategy were considered: the ratio of available and missing information (awareness), the reasonableness of the possible choice by the available amount of the information (justifiability) and the change in the prognosis reasonableness due to the latest obtained information (trend). The correlations between intelligence measurement and preferred levels of awareness (r = 0.261, p <0.05) and validity (r = 0.244, p <0.05) were established. Two strategies of uncertainty control, differing by the use of the above-mentioned indicators were identified and described with the awareness-only oriented strategy seeming more successful. There were differences in the intolerance of uncertainty levels (measured by the New Questionnaire of Tolerance/Intolerance for Uncertainty by T.V. Kornilova [11]) in the individuals who preferred different strategies of uncertainty control (U = 558, p = 0.047). The participants who tried to use all the three indicators in solving the prognostic task were more uncertainty intolerant than the awareness-only oriented group.


The paper deals with synthesis of nanocrystalline La 0.7 Sr 0.3 Mn O 3 (LSMO) and BaTiO 3 (BT) powder via hydroxide co-precipitation route. The particle size of the powder is determined using Williamson Hall method and is observed to be nearly 35 nm for LSMO and 120 nm for BT. To avoid occurrence of impurity phases the composites of LSMO and BT are formed at 1273 K using Bi 2 O 3 as a sintering aid. The paper focuses mainly on synthesis and dielectric properties of LSMO and BT composites. The effect of sintering aid on dielectric properties is also analyzed in this paper.


In a previous article (MHD September/ October), I outlined the key attributes of integrated solution providers (ISP) and why organisations that are 3PL, 4PL and supply consulting customers need to consider what value they are receiving for their expenditure.


Through this book, upper undergraduate mathematics majors will master a challenging yet rewarding subject, and approach advanced studies in algebra, number theory and geometry with confidence. Groups, rings and fields are covered in depth with a strong emphasis on irreducible polynomials, a fresh approach to modules and linear algebra, a fresh take on Gröbner theory, and a group theoretic treatment of Rejewski's deciphering of the Enigma machine. It includes a detailed treatment of the basics on finite groups, including Sylow theory and the structure of finite abelian groups. Galois theory and its applications to polynomial equations and geometric constructions are treated in depth. Those interested in computations will appreciate the novel treatment of division algorithms. This rigorous text 'gets to the point', focusing on concisely demonstrating the concept at hand, taking a 'definitions first, examples next' approach. Exercises reinforce the main ideas of the text and encourage students' creativity.


Norethindrone (0.5 mg/kg combined with 3.0 μg of estrogen), injected sc 15–24 hr prior to mating, prevents ovulation in rabbits. Following norethindrone the postcoital elevation in ovarian progestin output, indicative of the discharge of pituitary ovulating hormone, failed to occur, and no increase in gonadotropin activity could be demonstrated in the peripheral circulation. Ovarian progestin output was rapidly activated, however, by iv injection of a minimal stimulating amount of LH or by intra-arterial ovarian infusion of peripheral blood from mated control donors. Estradiol benzoate (0.1 mg in oil) injected sc at 48 and 24 hr before mating partially overcame the blocking action of norethindrone. In the estrogen-primed, norethindrone- treated series, 7/16 rabbits ovulated to mating, and this ratio, as well as the average number of ruptured follicles per ovulating rabbit (3.8), approximated the effect induced by a single iv injection of 2 μg/kg LH; whereas, in the control series, 100 % of the animals ovu...


Wide-spread deployment of infrastructure WLANs has made Wi-Fi an integral part of today's Internet access technology. WLANs suffer from degraded system throughput and each node's throughput fluctuates significantly in the saturation regime. In this paper, we propose a link layer traffic control mechanism which controls the offered load of DCF system. It is shown that the link layer traffic controller can improve DCF system throughput and reduce nodes' throughput fluctuation with properly controlled offered load. We propose a dynamic traffic control algorithm which can find an optimal offered load and show its performance improvement with ns-2 simulation.


AbstractThis article argues that transnational flows of knowledge, data, and technologies are not only an actual feature of the Internet, but rather a constitutive characteristic of its historical ...


This paper describes the work in progress of an interactive audiovisual synthesis application that explores the relationship between user interaction, image sequences and sound in the context of inter-active digital arts and media productions. The application generates aesthetically pleasing audiovisual output in interactive and real-time. It is based on an analysis of visual changes in the image sequences which are mapped to musical scales. The application is intended to become an integrated and modular toolkit that supports creative professionals in exploring different combinations of image and sound representations, for instance, in the context of mood representations, artistic ideation and content creation processes. The current implementation marks an initial step into this direction.


A 55-year-old female was referred to the Neurological Center Rosenhuegel with suspected stroke following sudden-onset sensory aphasia preceded by left-sided intermittent, pulsating ear- and headache, nausea, plus an elementary visual hallucination of bright, flashing, white lights. The ear- and headache began abruptly several days prior to arrival and were responsive to ibuprofen. The hallucinatory symptoms began suddenly after headache onset and lasted approximately five minutes. The patient also experienced aphasia immediately following the hallucinatory symptoms and was promptly transferred to the hospital. She had no known history of chronic illness, including migraines, stroke, seizures, or immunosuppression, and denied having fever or recent illness immediately prior to symptom onset. She had not been taking any regular medications, had not traveled recently, and denied alcohol and substance abuse. Family history was insignificant. Sensory aphasia was noted upon arrival at the hospital. A cranial CT-scan ruled out intracranial hemorrhage and CT-perfusion illustrated hyper-perfusion of the left occipital lobe (Figure 1). As the patient was within the appropriate time frame for thrombolytic therapy, she received intravenous alteplase due to suspected stroke and was asymptomatic the next day.


Generally, high light‐harvesting efficiency, electron‐injection efficiency, and charge‐collection efficiency are the prerequisites for high‐efficiency quantum‐dot‐sensitized solar cells (QDSCs). However, it is fairly difficult for a single QD sensitizer to meet these three requirements simultaneously. It is demonstrated that these parameters can be felicitously balanced by a cosensitization strategy through the adoption of environmental‐friendly Zn–Cu–In–Se and Zn–Cu–In–S dual QD sensitizers with cascade energy structure. Experimental results indicate that: i) the combination of the dual QDs can improve the light‐harvesting capability of the cells, especially in the visible light window; ii) the cosensitization approach can facilitate electron injection, benefitting from the cascade energy structure of the two QD sensitizers employed; iii) the charge‐collection efficiency can be remarkably enhanced by the suppressed charge‐recombination process due to the improved QD coverage on TiO2. Consequently, this cosensitization strategy delivers a new certified efficiency record of 12.98% for liquid‐junction QDSCs under AM 1.5G 1 sun irradiation. Moreover, the constructed cells exhibit good stability in a high‐humidity environment.


Waterlogging is common on sloping duplex soils in south-western Australia and causes damage to non-irrigated cereal crops and pastures. The factors which affect the performance of surface seepage interceptor drains installed to reduce this waterlogging are complex because the soils are very variable and have preferred pathways for groundwater flow. We compared DRAINMOD's predictions with field measured waterlogging intensity and drain flow over 3 years near Mt Barker and Narrogin in Western Australia. DRAINMOD failed to accurately predict waterlogging intensities and drain flows because water can move through macropores which bypass the soil matrix. At Mt Barker, DRAINMOD overpredicted waterlogging intensity by between 120% in a wet year and 650% in a very dry year. Drain flows were underpredicted by 148% in the driest year. At Narrogin, DRAINMOD underpredicted waterlogging intensity each year (rainfall was below average each year) and drain flow in the driest two years. However, by increasing Ks of the topsoil and adjusting Ks of the subsoil clay, DRAINMOD predictions agreed with measured responses. DRAINMOD can be used to predict waterlogging intensities and drain flows in duplex soils in the >450 mm annual rainfall areas of south-western Australia provided adjustments are made to the field point-measured Ks. Reliability increases with increasing rainfall during the growing season.


Abstract The objective of this paper is to stress that the size of a Linear Fractional Representation (LFR) significantly depends on the way tabulated or irrational data are approximated during the modeling process. It is notably shown that rational approximants can result in much smaller LFR than polynomial ones. In this context, a new method is introduced to generate sparse rational models, which avoid data overfitting and lead to simple yet accurate LFR, thanks to a symbolic regression technique. Genetic Programming is implemented to select sparse monomials and coupled with a nonlinear iterative procedure to estimate the coefficients of the surrogate model. Furthermore, a μ-analysis based proof is given to check the nonsingularity of the resulting rational functions. The proposed method is evaluated on an aeronautical example and successfully compared to more classical approaches.


The present study aimed to evaluate the relationship between serum N‐terminal (NT)‐pro‐brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels and incidence of left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic dysfunction in patients who underwent low‐dose anthracycline chemotherapy.


This study aims to determine the effect of supervisor support and empowerment of career plateau with the mediation of job satisfaction (Studies in BPPKB Kabupaten Pati ) " . Population in the study were employees in the BPPKB Kabupaten Pati much as 135 people . Sampling technique using purposive sampling as many as 130 employees . A statistical technique used is validity test with matrix componen, reliability test with alfa cronbach, double regresion analisis , t test and r 2 test with adjusted  r square. Results reveal that supervisor support significantly negative effect on career plateau. Empowerment significant negative effect on career plateau. Supervisor Support positive influence significant job satisfaction. Empowerment significant positive effect on job satisfaction. Career plateau significant negative effect on job satisfaction. Career plateau mediate the influence of supervisor support on job satisfaction. Career plateau is not mediating variables empowerment on job satisfaction. Keywords : Supervisor Support , Empowerment , Career Plateau and Job   Satisfaction


Fresh Cryptotaenia japonica Hassk was used as raw material,according to the sensory evaluation of color and texture,the effect of blanching conditions,different kinds of color fixative and color- protecting conditions on the effectiveness of color- protection and texture of Cryptotaenia japonica Hassk which had treated by alkali blanching and color fixative was observed in the research. The results showed that alkali blanching and color fixative had a better color protection. The solution of 0.06% of Zn( COOH) 2 and 0.3% of PA played a significant effect on color protection during different kinds and concentration color fixative.Under the condition of 90℃ and 1. 0% Na 2 CO 3 blanching for 1min,the effect of blanching was the best,when the material was soaked with the color- protecting solution of 0.3% PA + 0.07% Zn( COOH) 2 under the condition of pH5.0 for 20min,the effect of color- protecting was the best. Under these conditions,the best techniques of protecting color and texture could be obtained.


OBJECTIVE
In many cancers, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) are largely involved; they can regulate cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. However, the research of lncRNA regulation on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is vacant. The aim of this article was to lucubrate the specific role of lncRNA LUCAT1 in regulating the progression of pancreatic cancer.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Pancreatic cancer and adjacent tissues were collected, and the expression of LUCAT1, one potential involved LucRNA, was measured using real-time qPCR (RT-qPCR). Different pathological types of pancreatic cancer cell lines were cultured, and the expression difference of LncRNA LUCAT1 was detected by RT-qPCR, and two cell lines were selected for downstream experiments. si-RNA was used to knockdown the expression of LUCAT1, comparing the difference in expression of LUCAT1, characterizing cell proliferation by MTT and BrdU staining, detecting apoptosis, and cell cycle changes by flow cytometry. Meanwhile, Western blotting was used for the detection of cyclin expression and thus investigate two important associated signaling pathways. Besides, the expression of signaling pathway was validated by signaling inhibitor.

RESULTS
In comparison to normal cells, LUCAT1 was highly expressed in human pancreatic cancer cell lines (p<0.05). The higher expression of LUCAT1 resulted in enhanced pathogenesis of PDA cells and motivated the development to S phase by regulation of cyclin D1, CDK4. Furthermore, LUCAT1 promoted PDA cells development by inducing AKT's and p38 MAPK's phosphorylation.

CONCLUSIONS
LUCAT1, as the key factor, played a positive role in the proliferation and invasion of pancreatic cells via AKT/MAPK signaling.


Active House is a concept developed by a large collaboration of actors from the automation and power industry and research institutes in Sweden. The frame is the Stockholm City's Royal Seaport city development area which focuses on sustainable development and extensive CO2 reductions. The residential building is called an "Active House" since it has active interaction between the electricity consumer and the utility. The active interaction aims at reducing utilization of electricity production with high CO2 emissions and includes customer-controlled post-shift and reduction of the consumer's electricity loads and local electricity production using Solar PV systems. This paper presents the Active House collaboration, the household incentives to participate and its energy management system used to shift and reduce electric loads, and also discusses the hourly CO2 emission model and some of its simulation results for the Swedish and the United Kingdom power system.


Starch is organized in concentric alternating semi-crystalline and amorphous layers in granules of various sizes within the endosperm. The amount of amylose in starch normally varies between 200 and 300 g/kg, but waxy cereals may contain negligible amounts and starch from high-amylose varieties may contain up to 700 g amylose/kg. High amylose content is associated with reduced digestibility. Fat and protein are found on the surface of starch granules, and these components may act as physical barriers to digestion. Heat treatment with sufficient water present will cause gelatinisation that will increase susceptibility for starch degradation in the digestive tract, although a linear relationship between extent of gelatinisation due to processing and digestibility has not been found. The low water content during feed processing limits the extent of gelatinisation, but gelatinisation temperature and extent of gelatinisation will be affected by properties of the starch, which in turn may affect digestibility. The effect of starch properties and feed processing on digestion in non-ruminant animals and ruminants are discussed. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


On irradiation di-p-t-butylphenyl carbonate has been shown to rearrange via a novel photo-catalysed double Fries reaction to yield 5,5-di-t-buty1-2,2'-dihydroxybenzophenone. The nsubstituted phenyl carbonate gave rise to 2,2,-dihydroxy and 2,4,-dihydroxybenzophonone. An indication that the mechanism of the reaction involved the formation and eventual rearrangement of the corresponding salicylate was obtained by isolation of 5-t-butylsalicylie acid and by the irradiation of phenyl salioylate. The photolysis of aryl formate esters has indicated that the primary decomposition process may well be intramolecular extrusion of carbon monoxide although there is some evidence that other dissociation processes are in operation. The irradiation of ?-naphthyls phenylp p-t-butylphenyl, 2,6-xyly1 and p-chloro-phenyl formates in oyolohexene gave rise to the corresponded; aryl cyclohevl ether. This photooatalysed addition to an olefin is not restricted to cyclohexene and irradiation of p-t-butylphenyl formate in pant-2-one and 2-methylpent-l-one gave rise to the respective ethers. Attempts were made to elucidate the mechanism by irradiation of 2-aIly1-4-t-butylphenyl formate and 2-(3,3-dimethylallyl)phenol. Both irradiations gave rise to good yields of the normal addition products. Another route to the generation of aryloxy radicals was investigated involving the synthesis and decomposition of peroxy compounds containing phonoxy ether groups. The synthesis and decomposition of Bis-phenoxypropionyl)peroxide has been carried out showing the generation of phenoxyethyl radicals. 0,0-t-Buty1-o-phenylmonopercarbonate has been synthesised and analysis of the mixture obtained from its decomposition in cyclohexene has shown the presence of phenyl cyciohoxyl ether. Methyl and ethyl 5-phenoxypenta-2,4-dienoate were synthesized, the former by condensation of phenol with methyl but-l-on-3-yne-1-oarboxylate, the latter by reuotion of carbethony-methylene-triphenyl aosphorane and 3-phenozyacrolein. Attempts to synthesise this system by reaction of 3-phonoxyacrolein with several compounds having an active methylene group were unsuccessful. Diels-Alder reactions were carried out on the ethyl ester to give l-ethyl 2v5-dimethylbenzeno-12v3-tricarboxylate with dimethylacetylenedicar.boxylate7 ethyl 1-naphthoate 171th benzyne and 3-oarbethoxy-6-phenoxy-1,2,6-tetrahydrophthalic anhydride and the corresponding acid with maleic allydride. Ethyl 2-methy1-5-phenoxypenta-204-dienoateg synthesised by reaction of 3-phenoxyacrolein and 1-carbethoxyethylidene-triphenyl phosphorane did not react with the above dienophiles.


Focusing on a number of sensational trials with young female defendants involving drugs, murder, adultery, miscegenation and sexual perversion in the period 1918-1924, the books suggests that the figure of the modern woman/flapper was a personification of the upheavals of the time, representing anxieties about modernity, and instabilities of gender, class, race and national identity. Later she came to stand for the 'roaring' 1920s, but in the period immediately after the Great War she represented not only newness and hedonism, but also a frightening, uncertain future.


Wind power is inherently more variable in time than traditional energy sources. When wind power delivers at its most it is desirable that as much energy as possible can be converted into electric power and being transferred to the consumers. The intermediate grid can put limits on how much energy can be transferred. The usual method to determine the capability of the line does not take into account the impact of weather parameters on the conductor. The influence of wind, ambient temperature change and solar radiation was being studied and the optimal capability of the line outside Ludvika was being researched. Results showed that under certain conditions it is possible to increase the power transmission by 55 % (or even more, depending on the weather). So the need of building new lines has to be reconsidered since the current grid can manage to transmit an extra power. The modeling of the line was done and the program was compared with the one which is being used in STRI. The results agreed very well with the deviation up to 0.3 %. It showed that the method used in the thesis was correct and the application was made in a right way. It is also possible to upload the data on the other conductors and apply the model (made in the thesis) in order to determine the constraints of power transmission for the other lines. Additionally the program could be used in the projecting of future grids to minimize the cost of lines. This thesis is based on the method used for determining the thermal behavior of overhead conductors.


Automation becomes more significant on increasing effectiveness and efficiency. Therefore, to provide better facilities, hotels take a turn for automation. For that reason, an automation system on giving service by hotels for receiving and sending a certain message in a certain moment to the guest, has been designed. The guest will be in charge with the Interactive Voice Response system through the telephone line to receive messages. The recorded voice messages will guide the guest to enter necessary data to form the message such as room number, date, time and kind of message. The automation system is designed in Delphi 3.0 using Sound Card. The guidance voice is pre-recorded messages. The services provided are Wake Up Call and Personal Reminder. The hardware involved in the system are on/off hook, ring detector, tone detector and DTMF decoder, while the software are DTMF encoder and the controller system. The conclusion shows that system enables computer functions as the receiver and message deliverer automatically without operator interference. Unfortunately, the telephone voice recording has a noise that is caused by the sidetone effect of the line. Furthermore, this interactive voice system can be equipped with voice recognition and speech synthesizer instead of using stored speech, as done in this final project.


Puberty is associated with transient insulin resistance that normally recedes at the end of puberty; however, in overweight children insulin resistance persists leading to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. The mechanisms whereby pancreatic β cells adapt to pubertal insulin resistance, and how they are affected by the metabolic status, have not been investigated. Here we show that puberty is associated with a transient increase in β-cell proliferation in rats and humans of both sexes. In rats, β-cell proliferation correlated with a rise in growth hormone (GH) levels. Serum from pubertal rats and humans promoted β-cell proliferation, suggesting the implication of a circulating factor. In pubertal rat islets, expression of genes of the GH/serotonin (5-HT) pathway underwent changes consistent with proliferative effect. Inhibition of the pro-proliferative 5-HT receptor isoform HTR2b blocked the increase in β-cell proliferation in pubertal islets ex vivo and in vivo. Peri-pubertal metabolic stress blunted β-cell proliferation during puberty and led to altered glucose homeostasis later in life. This study identifies a role of GH/GHR/5-HT/HTR2b signaling in the control of β-cell mass expansion during puberty and a mechanistic link between pubertal obesity and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.


v Acknowledgements vi CHAPTER ONE: Introduction 1 CHAPTER TWO: The Literature Review 9 Job Stress 13 Historical Overview of Clerical Work 22 Clerical Work Today 31 The Impact of Global Economic Restructuring on Clerical Work 46 Telecommunications and Restructuring 50 Conclusion 53 CHAPTER THREE: The Methodology 56 Feminist Interviewing 57 Feminist Interviewing in My Research 62 Interviewing Clerical Workers 65 Limitations of the Research 69 An Insider/Outsider Position 71 Ethical Considerations 74 Conclusion 77 CHAPTER FOUR: Themes from the Interviews 79 Introduction of Participants 82 Interview Themes 86 Coping With Stress or Adding to Stress? 123 Conclusion 126 CHAPTER F/VE; Conclusion 132 Suggestions for Future Research 132 Strategies for Change Toward a Stress-Free Workplace 133 BIBLIOGRAPHY 140 APPENDIX A 149 APPENDIX B 151 MOUNT SAINT VINCENT UNIVERSITY SAINT MARY'S UNIVERSITY DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY JOINT M.A. IN WOMEN'S STUDIES The undersigned hereby certify that they have read and recommend for acceptance a thesis entitled Job Stress in tiie Pink Coliar Ghetto: Cierical Workers in the Telecommunications industry by Monnah Green in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Mastere of Arts.


This paper represents the process and results of an investigation carried out in response, to the need of research practices, in ways of reading and writing, "Masters in Teaching", from La Salle University, to address teaching strategies in reading, and writing. This research focuses on critical reading on the Internet. Because, from our experience as high school teachers in government schools, did not show us strategies concerning how to enhance critical reading using the internet, in the classrooms in high school. This research is ethnographic, and for the analysis, and interpretation of information, we chose the method of "Content Analysis". This research was conducted in four phases: the first is the design of each of the instruments for data collected. The second is the application of the instruments designed in the previous phase. The third, intended for analysis. The fourth was focused on the interpretation of data and results. Thus, based on the identification of practical teaching, and reading practices of students using the Internet, we presented a main result, the outline a teaching strategy which allows us to develop skills in critical reading on the Internet from the classroom, for middle school education.


The Planning-Programming-Budgeting System (PPBS) and other ambitious budget reform efforts of the last fifteen years have been substantial partial failures in virtually every setting where they have been attempted. Inadequate resources, limited time, uncertainly, overambitious schedules, and other factors have contributed to this result.

Most importantly, the sophistication of the budgeting system is ultimately limited by the overall quality of management throughout the government. Procedures for rational resource allocation are meaningless unless they are based upon cost-effective program modules and supported by an effective system of accountability for both expenditures and performance.

The approach recommended here would integrate performance and management improvement with the modernization of budgeting. It would require capacity building on an agency-by-agency basis, budget reform, and performance monitoring and accountability through a central staff.


The invention discloses a method and system for monitoring a CDN server. The method for monitoring the CDN server comprises the steps of obtaining a domain name of the CDN server needing to detected, conducting domain name analysis according to the domain name of the CDN server needing to detected, obtaining a corresponding IP address, sending an HTTP detection request to the IP address, and determining the state of the CDN server according to response information specific to the HTTP detection request. According to the monitoring method, the detection real-time performance and accuracy of the CDN server can be improved.


This chapter explores whether and how the field of hybrid nanomaterials is interdisciplinary, with the aim of understanding the underlying knowledge structure of this book. To do so, we conducted a bibliometric analysis based on 113 review publications selected by the contributors. The results suggest that integration of different disciplines is carried out first, around research on specific inorganic support materials (quantum dots, carbon nanotubes, etc.), and second, around research on applications in sensing and molecular machines. The centrality of sensing applications and their pervasive presence in other clusters suggest that they constitute the key


Neural Machine Translation (NMT) has become a significant technology in natural language processing through extensive research and development. However, the deficiency of high-quality bilingual language pair data still poses a major challenge to improving NMT performance. Recent studies are exploring the use of contextual information from pre-trained language model (PLM) to address this problem. Yet, the issue of incompatibility between PLM and NMT model remains unresolved. This study proposes a PLM-integrated NMT (PiNMT) model to overcome the identified problems. The PiNMT model consists of three critical components, PLM Multi Layer Converter, Embedding Fusion, and Cosine Alignment, each playing a vital role in providing effective PLM information to NMT. Furthermore, two training strategies, Separate Learning Rates and Dual Step Training, are also introduced in this paper. By implementing the proposed PiNMT model and training strategy, we achieved state-of-the-art performance on the IWSLT'14 En$\leftrightarrow$De dataset. This study's outcomes are noteworthy as they demonstrate a novel approach for efficiently integrating PLM with NMT to overcome incompatibility and enhance performance.


In this article, a chipless RFID reader antenna based on a modified rectangular‐resonator is presented. The reader antenna is fabricated and measured to validate multiple narrowband resonance behavior. The measurement results show that the reader antenna can detect 11‐bit multi‐frequency coded chipless tag and depict gains of 4.7 and 5.2 dBi at 0.58 and 2.4 GHz, respectively. The cubic interpolation approach as a signal processing technique is applied at the reader end to eliminate the unnecessary drops at the measurement. Further study of Chu and Mclean's fundamental limit demonstrates that the physical dimensions of the proposed antenna and the radiation characteristics fulfilling the limitations. The multiple narrow‐band responses of the reader antenna can be suitable to detect multi‐bit tags which are of high demand because a multibit tag can be used for multiple frequency applications for hassle‐free wireless environment, viz. tracking, retailing, identification, and healthcare utilities.


Global trends of expanding cities to meet the requirement of increasing population always have been concern for environmental exploitation. Worldwide trends of overlaying urban areas over the rural one is defining the much more crafted texture of the city but the process often expels out the life from the city. The problem caused are varying as per the cities. In developed nations people love to settle on outskirts for better living space but developing nation are striving hard to provide one's own space to everyone. Urban sprawl is an issue that has allocated many discussions to itself in academics. Regarding to mentioned issues in cities, this article attempts to surveys the results of sprawl by precise cognition of characteristics and causes and introduces correct remedies at the end of it. Re-densification of suburbs, improving their walkability, avoiding change in land use and mixing the use with proper effective policy measure are some of the efforts which can be made towards to control the sprawl. The method of the study adopts the study made earlier in the various components of urban related issues and their findings.


"Forestry as an Aid to Re-establishment After the War" was prepared as a paper for the April meeting of the Northern Ontario Section of the Society. Its purpose was to open a discussion of possibilities for creating employment through forestry work in the post-war period.Much of the article deals with the accomplishments of the Civilian Conservation Corps of the United States. This enterprise was emphasized not only because it may serve as a guide to a future program but also because it shows that concrete results have been obtained in the use of forestry as an aid in reducing unemployment.The importance of indirect uses of the forests, such as tourist attraction and wild life conservation, has been stressed both because of their economic soundness and their value as a selling feature for a program of re-establishment.


Traditional fermented food products such as fermented rice are known to possess probiotic potential. Probiotics are live microorganisms that provide a myriad of health benefits. Despite the associated health benefits, fermented rice has not received due attention in the countries where rice is the staple diet. Many strains of probiotic bacteria have been isolated from different sources, however, not much work has been carried out on isolation of probiotic strains from fermented rice. In this backdrop, the present study was carried out to isolate and identify potentially probiotic microorganisms from fermented rice. Cooked and uncooked white and red rice were separately fermented and subsequently used to isolate potentially probiotic strains. The Man Rogosa Sharpe (MRS), MRS sorbitol (0.2%) and MRS L-cysteine (0.5%) culture media were used for the isolation of potentially probiotic bacteria. The samples of fermented rice were serially diluted, plated and incubated at 37°C for 2-3 days under anaerobic conditions. The resulting colonies were purified and tested for catalase production and Gram-staining. Distinct cluster like cocci, diplo cocci and rods were observed with gram-positive and catalase-negative reactions. Most of the isolated cluster like cocci morphologically resembled Aercococcus or Peptococcus species. The rods were selected for motility and endospore test and sugar fermentation was studied using API 50CH kits. The biochemical characteristics (gram positivity and catalase-negativity) non-motile and non-endospore forming and colony and cell morphology of seven rod shaped bacteria resembled the genus Lactobacillus and were identified to species level by API 50CH kits. The subsequent physiological and molecular methods for species identification and probiotic characterization of these seven Lactobacillus spp will further confirm the application of them as potential probiotic starter cultures in the food industry. Tropical Agricultural Research Vol. 26 (3): 428 – 440 (2015)


Israeli National Security Policy: Issues and Actors by Bernard Reich The Foreign Policy of the Labor Party by Gershon R. Kieval The Foreign Policy of Herut and the Likud by Ilan Peleg The Ethnic Factor in Israel's Foreign Policy by Maurice M. Roumani The Religious Parties and Israel's Foreign Policy by Stewart Reiser Extremist Inputsinto Israel's Foreign Policy: The Case of Gush Emunim by Ehud Sprinzak Tehiya as a Permanent Nationalist Phenomenon by Aaron D. Rosenbaum Israeli Public Opinion on Peace Issues by Gloria H. Falk Coping with Turbulence: The First Two Years of the National Unity Government under Peres by Marver H. Bernstein Selected Bibliography by Joseph Helman Index


[Objective] To explore the epidemic characteristics of hand-foot-mouth disease(HFMD),provide scientific basis for HFMD control and prevention.[Methods]Data of the clinically diagnosed HFMD cases reported by medical institutions and epidemiological investigation in Puyang city were analyzed in 2008.[Results]581 HFMD cases were reported in Puyang in 2008.The morbidity rate was 15.89/100 000 with sporadic cases.No outbreak occurred.The morbidity rate(/100 000) was 20.74 in male and 10.51 in female(P0.01),56.81,319.14,29.81 and 7.36 in the people aged 0 year-old,from 1 to 3,4 to 9,10 to 13 year-old(P0.01) respectively.The morbidity rate was 14.85/100000 and 18.32/100 000 in rural areas and urban district(P0.05).83.48% of the cases were reported from May to July.68 specimens collected from 35 cases within 1 week of the illness were tested.The positive rate of EV71 virus nucleic acid was 80.06%.32 serum samples were tested,all of them were negative for EV71 virus nucleic acid.[Conclusion]Most of the HFMD cases were infected with intestinal virus EV71 in Puyang city in 2008.Most of the cases were urban male children aged from 1 to 3.


Abstract Indentation tests were performed on samples of 6061 aluminium alloy in the annealed, T4 and T6 temper conditions. The tests were performed over a range of loading rates to study the effect of indentation strain rate on the indentation depth dependence of the average indentation stress σind. While changes by several orders of magnitude during the constant loading rate nano-/microscale indentation tests, we observed that the strain rate sensitivity of σind increases with decreasing indentation depth for all the samples tested. By applying an obstacle limited dislocation glide description of the deformation process, we were able to demonstrate that the apparent activation energy of the obstacles to dislocation glide increases with decreasing indentation depth and is also dependent upon the heat treatment condition of the 6061 test material. This suggests that, based upon the assumption of the operative deformation mechanism chosen, the strength of the dislocation–obstacle interactions that limit the rate of deformation is significantly increased in indentations of depth <∼4 μm.


The instability of snowpacks and the occurrence of avalanches is the reason for the current interest in studying the effects of temperature gradients on dry snow metamorphism. Snow on the ground undergoes complex changes in the snowpack structure due to macroscopic temperature gradients. To simplify the situation, we began with a two-dimensional array of high-purity laboratory-grown ice spheres laid in contact with each other. The center of mass between the particles and the contact bond growth between two ice spheres were observed using optical microscopy and recorded as a function of time in order to understand the processes occurring. High-resolution images of the bonding between particles were recorded using a cold stageequipped scanning electron microscope. Three-dimensional images of specimens were obtained using X-ray computed tomography. In addition, a series of experiments was performed with doped ice, in which changes in the sintering processes due to the dissolved impurities were found.


This Proclamation (OG 127) provides for the payment of licence duties by brewers of beer and distillers of wine brandy and spirits. Summary: This Act (RSA GG 3118) restricts dealings in dependence-producing drugs and establishes rehabilitation centres for treatment of people with drug problems. Applicability to SWA: Section 1 defines " Republic " to include " the territory " , which is defined as " the territory of South West Africa ". Section 64 states " This Act and any amendment thereof shall apply also in the territory, including the Eastern Caprivi Zipfel. "


In the visual object tracking task, although the convolutional neural network has excellent performance, it is difficult to learn the global and long-range semantic information interaction due to the inherent locality of convolution. Simultaneously, the existing template updating methods focus on the target position of the next frame, which will integrate more irrelevant background and cause tracking instability. Therefore, to address this issue, inspired by Transformer, in this paper, we propose a coarse-to-fine tracking method based on the attention mechanism (CTFT). First, employing swin transformer block instead of the original convolutional network backbone to achieve self-attention from local to global. Second, using attention to effectively combine template and search region features in the part of feature fusion, and explore the possibility of using attention mechanism as the backbone in object tracking for the first time. Finally, a tracking strategy from coarse to fine is proposed. In the offline coarse tracking stage, the initial estimation of the target object is generated to obtain the coarse regress bounding box of the target. In the online fine tracking stage, we make use of the coarse regress bounding box to expand the corresponding object frame, and use the segmentation to get the fine regress bounding box of the object. Experiments on challenging benchmarks including GOT-10k, LaSOT, VOT2018, VOT2019, UAV123 and OTB-100 demonstrate that the proposed CTFT outperforms many state-of-the-art trackers and achieves leading performance.


R. CHARLES C. EDWARDS and Dr. William D. Holden already have implicitly defined medical manpower as physicians. In the context of the distribution of physicians in specialties and of the time they spend in caring for patients, teaching, and research I shall consider to what extent a medical school's faculty can be involved in the delivery of health care. The Flexner report,1 like the Bible, is much talked about but little read. I had not read it before Dr. Harry M. Zimmerman asked me to appear on this panel, but when I did I learned a good deal about the history of medical schools and education in the United States. In 1750 the first classes in medical education provided lectures in anatomy in Philadelphia. Several years later our first medical school was formed as the College of Philadelphia, soon, by merger, to become the University of Pennsylvania's College of Medicine. Between 1768 and the end of the 18th century three more medical schools were born. One, the progenitor of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, was called King's College until a merger in 1814. The second was the medical department of Harvard College and the third was Dartmouth Medical School. Then came the deluge. In the 19th century at one time or another there were 457 Medical schools in this country, although Flexner pointed out that most of them were called schools by courtesy only. They were, by and large, institutions designed to make money-for doctors, for people calling themselves doctors, for administrators, or for just plain "sharpies." But in 1893 the Johns Hopkins Medical School became an institution of which Flexner could write as follows: