We have designed and synthesized a HAB-based receptor with six ethereal oxygens on one face of the central benzene ring by a trimerization of a diarylacetylene in which the ethereal oxygens are tied together with a tetramethylene bridge. This unique amphiphilic receptor allows an efficient binding of a single potassium cation by a synergistic interaction with the polar ethereal fence and with the central benzene ring via cation−π interaction. Furthermore, the ready accessibility of this unique receptor with a bipolar binding pocket will allow the exploration of its usage for developing efficient sensing devices for various metal cations. The hexaphenylbenzene core has gained considerable attention due to its unique propellershaped structure and its usage for the preparation of modern graphitic materials for the applications in the emerging area of molecular electronics and nanotechnology.1 Numerous possibilities exist for future development and use of novel architectures based on hexaarylbenzene (HAB) derivatives in sensor applications and host−guest chemistry, in general, if a controlled synthesis can be developed which will allow the positioning of all the orthosubstituents (such as ethereal oxygens on the peripheral aryl rings) on one face of the central benzene ring. Interestingly, however, the ortho-substituted HAB derivatives exist as a mixture of rotamers due to the restricted rotation around the C−C bonds between the six peripheral aryl rings and the central benzene ring. For instance, it has been established2 that trimerization of bis(2-methoxyphenyl)acetylene leads to the formation of only eight rotamers (i.e., six achiral and one pair of enantiomeric rotamers) of hexakis(2-methoxyphenyl)benzene out of the possible nine rotamers. The only missing rotamer from this synthesis is the one which contains all the ethereal oxygens on one face of the propeller. Such a symmetrical isomer can be potentially useful for directing a metal cation to the central benzene ring with the aid of six ethereal oxygens that are prearranged in a manner akin to an 18-crown-6 geometry.3 Accordingly, in this paper, we now report a new strategy to access this elusive rotamer containing all the ethereal oxygens on one face of the HAB and delineate by NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography that it binds a single potassium cation to the central benzene ring via a synergistic interaction with the hydrophilic ethereal fence and the hydrophobic π-cloud of the central benzene ring4 as follows. It was conceived that preparation of the HAB derivative with oxygens on one face can be accomplished by a trimerization of a diarylacetylene in which the ethereal oxygens are tied together with a polymethylene bridge (see structure 4 in Scheme 1). Unfortunately, the synthesis of such bridged acetylenic derivatives from existing procedures was possible only in very poor yields.5 Therefore, we first developed a practical route to access the bridged diarylacetylene 4 in which the ethereal oxygens are tied with a tetramethylene bridge (see Scheme 1).6 For example, a reaction of 2 equiv of isopropylsalicylaldehyde (1) with 1,4dibromobutane in the presence of NaOH in refluxing ethanol afforded dialdehyde 2 in 95% yield. The McMurry coupling under mild dilution produced a mixture of cis/trans stilbenes 3 in >85% yield on a 20 g scale reaction, which were readily converted to the corresponding acetylene 4 (in >80% yield) by a simple bromination and dehydrobromination reaction sequence (see Supporting Information). Scheme 1.  Synthesis of HAB-based Receptor 5Sa a Conditions:  (a) NaOH, EtOH, reflux; (b) TiCl4, Zn, Py, THF, reflux; (c) Br2, AcOH; (d) KOtBu, THF, 22 °C; (e) Co2(CO)8, dioxane, reflux. A Co2(CO)8-catalyzed trimerization of 4 in refluxing dioxane for 12 h produced a mixture which contained roughly 25% trimer and ∼75% of the starting acetylene 4. A quick chromatographic separation on silica gel (using hexanes and ethyl acetate mixture as eluent) afforded pure symmetrical isomer 5s and the unsymmetrical isomer 5u in ∼1:2 ratio in >95% yield based on the recovered 4. The identity of 5s was readily established by the simplicity of its 1H/13C NMR spectra in comparison to that of 5u and was further confirmed by FAB mass spectrometry (see Supporting Information). The binding of K+ cation to 5s was monitored by 1H NMR spectroscopy. Thus, an incremental addition of potassium perfluorotetraphenylborate solution (0.08 M) to a solution of 5s in acetone-d6 (0.02 M) showed the appearance of a new set of signals in addition to the initial signals due to the uncomplexed 5s. The 1H NMR signals due to the 5s were completely replaced by the new signals upon addition of 1 equiv of K+, as shown in Figure 1. It is noteworthy that the 1H NMR spectrum remained unchanged upon further addition of K+ solution (i.e., beyond 1 equiv). Such a spectral change is readily reconciled as arising from the complexation of K+ to 5s. Moreover, it is noted that the potassium cation is held strongly in the [5s, K+] complex because of the fact that it does not undergo an exchange reaction with the uncomplexed 5s on the NMR time scale (at 22 °C). Unfortunately, an accurate binding constant for the formation of [5s, K+] could not be determined by NMR method as it simply showed complete capture of the K+ and suggested that the binding constant is too large to be measured by NMR spectroscopy.7 Figure 1 Partial 1H NMR spectra obtained upon the incremental addition of KB(C6F5)4 to 5s in acetonitrile−CH2Cl2 at 22 °C. To ascertain the structure of the [5s, K+] complex, we attempted the crystallization of [5s, K+] B(C6F5)4 by a slow diffusion of hexanes in an acetonitrile solution of the complex that resulted in poor quality crystals. However, by changing the counteranion from -B(C6F5)4 to -BPh4, the formation of an excellent crop of single crystals of the [5s, K+] -BPh4 from an acetonitrile−CH2Cl2mixture at 22 °C resulted. The structure of the complex [5s, K+ CH3CN] BPh4 is shown in Figure 2. Figure 2 Structure of [5s, K+] BPh4 with a single CH3CN molecule complexed to K+. The hydrogens and the anion are omitted. The X-ray structure in Figure 2 reveals that a single potassium cation sits in a shallow cavity with an (hydrophobic) aromatic bottom (i.e., the central benzene ring) while effectively interacting with the (hydrophilic) polar fence formed by six ethereal oxygens. The depth (i.e., the distance between the mean planes of the central benzene ring carbons and the ethereal fence) and the radius of the cavity are 2.22 and 2.97 Å, respectively. Such a bipolar nature of the cavity in 5s allows a tight van der Waals fit for a single K+ cation as discussed below. The most striking feature of the structure in Figure 2 is the symmetrical η6-coordination of the K+by the central benzene ring of 5s. The distance between the mean plane of the benzene ring and the K+ is 2.742 Å, a distance that is much shorter than the sum of van der Waals/ionic radii of carbon and K+ (i.e., 3.22 Å) and surpasses any of the previous experimental observations of the cation−arene contacts.8 One of the main factors favoring such a close K+···Ar coordination is the synergistic coordination of potassium cation by the all six ethereal oxygens prearranged in a geometry similar to that of the 18-crown-6. Another feature of the structure is that the K+ sits slightly (i.e., ∼0.52 Å) above the coordination plane of the ethereal fence, as pictured below in Figure 3. A simple geometrical consideration showed that the possible perpendicular orientation of the peripheral aryl rings in 5s could provide a more coplanar coordination of potassium cation with the ethereal fence with an almost normal K+···O separation of ∼2.84 Å (as opposed to the observed K+···O separation of 2.83−3.21 Å or av. 3.02 Å). However, such a structural alteration of the HAB propeller may only occur at the expense of substantial repulsive interaction among the peripheral aryl rings.9 Figure 3 Molecular structure of [5s, K+] showing the effective overlap of the polar ethereal fence with K+ while it rests on the aromatic bottom via cation−π interactions. The methyls of isopropyl groups and CH3CN are omitted. In summary, we have designed and synthesized a HAB-based receptor that contains a bipolar receptor site that allows a remarkably efficient binding of a single potassium cation because it synergistically interacts with the polar ethereal fence and with the central benzene ring via cation−π interaction a phenomenon that is well established in gas phase10 and in solid state 8and is known to play an important role in the stabilization of tertiary structures of various proteins.11 We believe that the development of this unique receptor with an amphiphilic binding pocket and the electronically coupled peripheral aryl groups12 will allow its usage for the development of practical sensors for various metal ions. We are currently exploring the selectivity of the binding of various metal cations to receptor 5s as well as its usage for sensing devices.


Database management systems provide a mechanism that enables software application systems to manipulate data from a database. Although object-oriented technology is widely used in the development of software systems, relational database management systems remain the dominant database technology. Database modeling enables software developers to design the database during the system analysis and design phase; however, most approaches focus only on designing database schemas, without considering models for the retrieval of data. A comprehensive database model would provide a solid base on which software developers could organize data for storage and retrieval. Unified modeling language (UML) is a gene ral purpose modeling notation and this paper proposes a UML profile for modeling database retrieval to overcome the inadequacie s found in current methods. The proposed model provides views of the database outlining query operations to enable the automatic generation of more comprehensive code in the model-driven development of enterprise information systems. We include examples to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method and its advantages over existing database modeling methods.


As the carriers of the construction of the campus culture, college societies attract a majority of students with its particular way of thinking,artistic features,knowledge,interest and its practicability.The society culture produced by the college society activities communicate in some sense with the society while promoting the development of the students as well as the universities,which is becoming a momentous force for the development of the society.


Despite the dominance of terrestriality in spiders, species across a diverse array of families are associated with aquatic habitats. Many species in the spider family Dictynidae are associated with water, either living near it or, in the case of Argyroneta aquatica, in it. Previous studies have indicated that this association arose once within the family. Here we test the hypothesis of a single origin via the broadest phylogeny of dictynids and related 'marronoids' to date, using several taxa that were not previously sampled in molecular analyses to provide the first quantitative test of the hypothesis put forth by Wheeler et al. (2016). We sampled 281 terminal taxa from 14 families, assembling a matrix with 4380 total base pairs of data from most taxa. We also assembled an atlas of morphological traits with potential significance for both ecology and taxonomy. Our resulting trees indicate that an aquatic habitat association has arisen multiple times within dictynids. Dictynidae and the genus Dictyna are polyphyletic and the genera Lathys and Cicurina remain unplaced. A review of aquatic habitat associations in spiders indicates that it occurs in members of at least 21 families. With our morphological atlas, we explore characters that have been implicated in aiding an aquatic lifestyle, which in the past may have caused confusion regarding taxon placement. Our results indicate that not all spiders with traits thought to be useful for aquatic habitat associations occupy such habitats, and that some spider taxa lacking these traits are nonetheless associated with water.


In this paper, a new zero-voltage zero-current transition (ZVZCT) boost converter using coupled inductors is proposed. The feature of this topology is: the main switch can be switched on with ZVZCT, and off with zero-voltage switching, without any voltage and current stress. The auxiliary switch is turned on with zero-current switching. Other semiconductor devices can also achieve soft switching (SS). Due to the existence of the coupling effect, the current impact of the auxiliary switch is completely suppressed when it is turned off. Lower input current and output voltage in the interval of the switch-off for the auxiliary switch are just equivalent to running at a low power level, which is an additional advantage of the coupled inductor ZVZCT solution. Another advantage of the topology is that the SS condition of the main switch for each specific load can be effectively optimized just by setting the ratio of coupling inductance corresponding to the circuit design and application load. Thus, the topology design can be improved to adapt to different load types. A 100 kHz experimental prototype has been verified, different load for 1 and 0.4 kW optimization comparison has been presented, and the case without optimization is also observed.


A multiplexed, targeted mass spectrometry assay of the S100 protein family uncovers the isoform-specific expression in thyroid tumours Abstract Background: Mounting evidence demonstrates a causal role for S100 proteins in tumourigenesis and several S100 isoforms have shown utility as biomarkers of several types of cancer. The S100 family is comprised of 21 small isoforms, many of them implicated in important cellular functions such as proliferation, motility and survival. Furthermore, in vivo experiments have proven the role of S100 proteins in tumour growth and disease progression, while other studies have shown their prognostic value and involvement in resistance to chemotherapy drugs. Taken together, all these aspects highlight S100 proteins as potential therapeutic targets and as a promising panel of cancer biomarkers. In this work, we have developed a mass spectrometry (MS)-based method for the multiplexed and specific analysis of the entire S100 protein family in tumour tissues and have applied it to investigate the expression of S100 isoforms in the context of thyroid cancer, the main endocrine malignancy. Methods: Selected Reaction Monitoring (SRM)-MS and stable isotope labelling/label-free analysis were employed to investigate the expression of the 21 S100 protein isoforms in thyroid tissue samples. Specimens included 9 normal thyroid tissues and 27 tumour tissues consisting of 9 follicular adenomas (FA), 8 follicular carcinomas (FTC) and 10 papillary carcinomas (PTC).


Abstract Collective excitations in semiconductor superlattices are studied beyond tbe random-phase approximation (RPA). The Singwi, Tosi, Land and Sjolander (STLS) theory, which accounts for exchange and short-range correlations effects through an effective potential depending on the structurc factor, is generalized to the layered electron system described by the model of Visscher and Falicov. The exact numerical solution of the STLS self-consistent equations provides information about intraplane and interplane correlations. The plasmon dispersion curves are evaluated for some typical values of the coupling constant rs of the electron system and the distance between the planes for GaAs/AlGaAs semiconductor superlattices. For comparison, the RPA and the Hubbard approximation are also considered.


A case of histologically and biochemically proven hepatic carcinoid tumor with typical carcinoid syndrome was reported. The patient had symptoms and signs of diarrhea, telangiecrasis over cheeks and neck, and episodic flushing of face. He was found to have increased levels of5-hydroxyindole acetic acid in the urine and serotonin in serum. Serial examinations showed hepatic tumors in both lobes; however, other sources of the carcinoid tumor cannot be found. Histological studies of the tumor showed positive argyrophilic and argentaffinic reactions. He received transcatheter arterial embolization for control of the carcinoid syndrome. Transient hypertension was noted in the postembolization period and was controlled by medication. The patientfinally died of hepaticfailure one month after embolization with some improvement of the carcinoid syndrome had been achieved.


A guided ion beam tandem mass spectrometer is used to study the reactions of atomic 187Re+ with CH4 and CD4 and collision-induced dissociation (CID) of ReCH4+ with Xe. These studies examine the activation of methane by Re+ in a low-pressure environment free of ligand supports or other reactive species. In the bimolecular reaction, ReCH2+ is efficiently produced in a slightly endothermic process and is the only ionic product observed at low energies, whereas at higher energies, ReH+ dominates the product spectrum. Other products observed include ReC+, ReCH+, and ReCH3+. Modeling of these endothermic reactions yields 0 K bond dissociation energies in eV of D0(Re+−C) = 5.12 ± 0.04, D0(Re+−CH) = 5.84 ± 0.06, D0(Re+−CH2) = 4.14 ± 0.06, D0(Re+−CH3) = 2.22 ± 0.13. Analysis of the behavior of the cross sections suggests that formation of ReH+, ReCH2+, and ReCH3+ occurs via an H−Re+−CH3 intermediate. CID of ReCH4+ reveals a bond energy of 0.53 ± 0.15 eV for Re+−CH4. The experimental bond energies compare favorably...


Multiple imputation (MI) is now a reference solution for handling missing data [1]. The idea is to replace each missing value not only once but by a set of M (M > 1) plausible values, thus reflecting the uncertainty about the prediction of the unknown missing values. The default method for MI is the data augmentation process, a Markov Chain Monte Carlo method [2], which assumes multivariate normality. For longitudinal studies with missing ordinal data, where the Gaussian assumption is no longer valid, application of the data augmentation method is questionable. In the following, consider a sample of N subjects and let Y be an ordinal outcome variable with K levels assessed on T occasions on each subject. Denote by Yij the assessment of Y on the ith subject (i = 1, · · · , N) on the jth occasion (j = 1, · · · , T ). Associated with each subject, there is a p × 1 vector of covariates, say xij measured at time j.


Linear systems originating from certain applications in the physical sciences can be challenging to solve by iterative methods. In the past, direct methods like Gaussian elimination have been often used to solve these systems, due to their robust nature. However, as problems are now often formulated in 3-D geometries, the use of direct solvers is becoming prohibitive. Moreover, unlike iterative solvers, direct solvers cannot be easily parallelized. Two classes of methods have attracted the interest of researchers in recent years. First, is the class of multigrid methods, which have been shown to be very efficient for elliptic-type problems, and for which various adaptations have been brought. Second, is the class of preconditioned Krylov subspace methods. Here, work has focused mainly on improving the preconditioning. The underlying challenge is to develop or identify techniques that are robust and efficient in terms of accuracy, stability, and scalability. As problems in computational science continue to evolve, so do preconditioning techniques, as new ideas are incorporated to develop solver technologies that are well adapted to solve novel and challenging problems. To further contribute to this endeavor, my research uses ideas from numerical linear algebra to address algorithmic and computational issues in the numerical solution of application problems. The ideas presented in this thesis will focus on improving the stability and effectiveness of ILU-based preconditioners to better handle challenging problems characterized by indefinite and poorly conditioned linear systems.
First, we present various strategies designed to improve the quality of the ILU factorization in order to safeguard stability without compromising the accuracy of the resulting factors. These strategies introduce new contributions to the areas of shifted ILU methods, modified ILU and compensation-based techniques, and reordering techniques for ILU. The resulting factors yield good and more robust preconditioners that are effective on highly indefinite and ill-conditioned linear systems.
Next, we demonstrate the effectiveness of combining ILU factorizations with multilevel methods. Multilevel ILU methods have become a popular area of research, as researchers seek to take advantage of the superior robustness of ILU, coupled with the efficiency and scalability of multilevel methods. We discuss issues related to constructing the next-level matrices in the multilevel hierarchy and present ideas from multilevel graph coarsening and reordering strategies to construct an algebraic multilevel ILU-based preconditioner.
Finally, we discuss key concepts necessary for an efficient adaptation of the ILU-based preconditioner into a parallel framework. We discuss the parallel implementation within the structure of the parallel algebraic multilevel solver (pARMS) framework. We demonstrate how different preconditioning techniques may be incorporated into this framework, and discuss issues relating to scalability.


Proton exchange membranes based on phosphotungstic acid(PWA) or silicotungstic acid(SiWA) doped polyimide(PI)/silica composites were prepared by sol-gel method.The proton conductivity,water retention and oxidation resistance of the membranes were investigated.The anhydrous composites can exhibit a conductivity as high as 10-7S/cm at room temperature and 105S/cm at intermediated temperature(100~200℃).The proton conductivity of the composite membranes increases with increasing temperature.Temperature dependence of proton conductivity of the membranes can be fitted by Arrhenius equation.The water retention of the membranes at intermediated temperature can be improved by the addition of silica and heteropolyacids.Even low water content in the membranes at intermediated temperature can further improve proton conductivity of the membrane.The oxidation resistance of the membranes increases with increasing silica content and decreases with increasing heteropolyacid content.Compared with pure PI membranes,the oxidation resistance of the composite membranes decreased a little.


The article summarizes the provisions of international agreements and domestic instruments aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in civil aviation, as well as analyzes of emission reduction measures implemented in the civil aviation of Russia. The recommendations for uniform complex approach to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in civil aviation is offered.


Introduction: Bilharzia is a major parasitic endemic, perpetuated by the habits of life of the tropical populations. He is responsible for digestive or urinary manifestations; Neurological complications are rare. Case presentations: We relate two cases of patients admitted in Fann teaching hospital during year 2016. They were 2 men respectively 25 years and 32 years old living in endemic bilharzia area and with a notion of repetitives bathings and haematuria in one case. They presented a subacute myeloradiculitis and a terminal cone syndrom. The findings revealed blood hypereosinophilia, positive bilharzian serology in blood and CSF and the presence of bilharzi's eggs in urine. The medullar MRI was normal in the first case and was like a pseudo tumor located from T11 to L1. Both patients benefited a treatment with a single-dose (40 mg/kg) of praziquantel, 6 weeks of corticosteroid therapy and intensive kinesiotherapy. The evolution was very favorable. Discussion and Conclusion: Neurobilharzia was rare but grave because of the functional sequelae. The epidemiological context can be a major contribution to the diagnostic orientation because very earlier hypereosinophilia are just found in half of cases. Treatment, associate praziquantel and corticosteroid, avoids the occurrence of important sequelae or even a total cure.


This study analyzes the return–risk metrics of real estate security tokens as digital representatives of fractional ownership in physical properties. The author uses approximately 40,000 pricing data points for 180 tokenized properties in the United States between 2019 and 2022 to construct a monthly index. This index is used in various analyses to see whether the tokens' returns follow the performance of the underlying markets for housing, securitized real estate, stock, and cryptocurrency. The token index shows no clear pattern of similarity to other asset classes and has its own return–risk pattern. The principal component analysis shows that debt and macroeconomic factors are the major drivers and that the crypto market and housing market are of minor importance in explaining variation in returns. This absence of a clear linear relationship with other assets makes real estate tokens attractive as diversifiers in a multiasset portfolio. However, investors looking for an alternative investment vehicle for the real estate asset class cannot rely on tokenized real estate.


Selective solar absorbers are key elements of all solar thermal systems. Solar thermal panels and Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) systems aim respectively at producing heat and electricity. In both cases, a surface receives the solar radiation and is designed to have the highest optical absorption (lowest optical reflectivity) of the solar radiation in the visible wavelength range where the solar intensity is the highest. It also has a low emissivity in the infrared (IR) range in order to avoid radiative thermal losses. Current solutions in the state of the art usually consist in deposited interferential thin films or in cermets [1]. Structured surfaces have been proposed and have been simulated because they are supposed to be more efficient when the solar radiation is not normal to the receiving surface and because they could potentially be fabricated with refractory materials able to sustain high operating temperatures. This work presents a new method to fabricate micro/nanostructured surfaces on molybdenum (refractory metal with a melting temperature of 2623°C). This method now allows obtaining a refractory selective surface with an excellent optical selectivity and a very high absorption in the visible range. This high absorption performance was obtained by achieving a double structuration at micro and nano scales thanks to an innovative process flow.


In Mendelian randomization (MR), genetic variants are used to construct instrumental variables, which enable inference about the causal relationship between a phenotype of interest and a response or disease outcome. However, standard MR inference requires several assumptions, including the assumption that the genetic variants only influence the response through the phenotype of interest. Pleiotropy occurs when a genetic variant has an effect on more than one phenotype; therefore, a pleiotropic genetic variant may be an invalid instrumental variable. Hence, a naive method for constructing instrumental variables may lead to biased estimation of the causality between the phenotype and the response. Here, we present a set of intuitive methods (Constrained Instrumental Variable methods [CIV]) to construct valid instrumental variables and perform adjusted causal effect estimation when pleiotropy exists, focusing particularly on the situation where pleiotropic phenotypes have been measured. Our approach includes an automatic and valid selection of genetic variants when building the instrumental variables. We also provide details of the features of many existing methods, together with a comparison of their performance in a large series of simulations. CIV methods performed consistently better than many comparators across four different pleiotropic violations of the MR assumptions. We analyzed data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) Mueller et al. (2005) to disentangle causal relationships of several biomarkers with AD progression. The results showed that CIV methods can provide causal effect estimates, as well as selection of valid instruments while accounting for pleiotropy.


Background: Immunosuppressive therapy (IST) is administered to the individual to prolong the graft survival; thus, the survival of the patient after organ transplantation. Adherence of the individual to IST is crucial. Aim: In this study, it was aimed to find out patients' adherence to immunosuppressant therapy after kidney transplantation. Material and Methods: The sample of this descriptive study consisted of 50 patients; who underwent kidney transplantation in a university hospital in Istanbul and who applied to the hospital for follow-up in the period between May 2017 and September 2017. Data were collected using the "Descriptive Characteristics Information Form" and the "Immunosuppressant Therapy Adherence Scale". Results: All of the participants in the study achieved the targeted blood levels of immunosuppressants and 54% had never forgotten/postponed taking the immunosuppressants. The patients; who forgot/postponed taking prescribed medications, reported the associated reasons as follows: Forgetfulness/carelessness (16%), leaving the medications at home forgetfully (14%), unable to take medications because of being away from home (10%), and barriers related to their occupation (6%). The mean score of the Immunosuppressant Therapy Adherence Scale was 11.40 ± 0.75 and individuals with a post-transplant period of shorter than two years had a higher mean score (11.81 ± 0.40) of the scale in this study (p < 0.05). Conclusions: In the study, immunosuppressant therapy adherence of patients was found high and all patients achieved the targeted blood levels of immunosuppressants after kidney transplantation.


With the advent of ISO/IEC 17025 and the growth in laboratory accreditation, more complete, detailed uncertainty analyses are required. This often points out the need for improved accuracy starting from the top of the traceability chain of a calibration laboratory. This paper describes a program that has been in place for several years to provide better uncertainties for solid state 10V zener references. This program is an on-site calibration service that can model a reference's drift performance resulting in a very predictable projected value. An evaluation of the accuracy of the predictions is presented as well as a description of the tools used to make the predictions. INTRODUCTION Prior to the development of the solid-state zener reference standard (DCVS), standard cells were used by most laboratories to maintain the volt. Pampered, they are quiet and have very predictable drift characteristics. However, they are poor travelers making it very difficult to send them for calibration or to use them to deliver accurate voltages to a production line or remote site. Zener references were conceived as a means to easily transfer dc voltage anywhere that it was needed. For manufacturers of precision calibrators, the need was to deliver 10V accurate to about 1-1.5 parts in 10. Soon, many laboratories wanted to be able to maintain their own zener references so calibration uncertainties were improved to about a part in 10. With multiple standards, some history and the use of regression models, 0.3 parts in 10 can be maintained with annual calibrations [1]. With further characterization and care, zener references can be used for intercomparisons between Josephson Arrays with transfer uncertainties of about a part in 10 [2]. Though zeners travel much better than standard cells, the demand for increasingly better uncertainties also increased the reluctance of some owners to allow them to do so. Many of them use an on-site calibration service that uses a wellcharacterized zener reference with demonstrated ability to travel well. A proficiency test is performed, then the calibration using a procedure from the calibration service provider. This process was accredited in 1995 by NVLAP and in 1998 by DKD, the German accreditation body. After calibration, users employ a number of methods to re-assign the value throughout the calibration interval. Some use the calibrated value throughout the interval and increase the uncertainty by the drift specification. This works well if the more accurate workload can be scheduled early in the calibration period. If the uncertainty demands aren't as great, a simpler approach is to increase the uncertainty for the maximum drift immediately and use the same uncertainty as well as assigned value throughout the interval. A more sophisticated approach is to use a drift model for the reference and change the assigned value and uncertainty during the calibration interval. To execute this strategy, one must have some previous calibration history for the unit, knowledge of the behavior of similar devices, a mathematical model to apply, the ability to perform the drift and uncertainty calculations and create a table of assigned values and uncertainties to be used throughout the calibration interval. As the manufacturer, we were in the best position to look at large populations of the references to develop the models and evaluate the results. In 1996, we started supplying projections based on linear and non-linear drift models upon the third calibration event. In 1998, a study was performed [3] to evaluate the reliability of those projections. This paper repeats the study for a much larger population, separates the results for 732A and 732B references and provides drift data for the populations. LINEAR AND NON-LINEAR DRIFT MODELS A linear regression model for the zener standard is calculated using historical calibration data. The output voltage of the standard is estimated by the following equation: ax+b represents the assigned value for the voltage, V, for any time, x, using a and b, the slope and offset terms for the regression. The remaining terms describe the uncertainty in the assigned value. Under the radical, the uncertainty of the regression based on its calibration history is combined with uncertainties due to calibration, temperature, pressure and seasonal effects based on populations of similar references. The combined uncertainty is expanded by the coverage factor, K. Non-linear drift is modeled by making a transformation of the time axis: x'=log (x – d) and then using x' instead of x in the equation above. A detailed description of the model and uncertainties was presented at NCSL in 1996 [1]. Figures 1 and 2 show the linear and non-linear models applied to the same calibration data. The linear model results in an uncertainty at the end of a one-year calibration interval of about 1 part in 10 . By transforming the time axis prior to applying the linear regression tools, the uncertainty can be halved. For this example, the offset used in the transformation was 11/13/93. Our experience has shown that the transformed time axis works best for about 60% of the projections for either the 732A or the 732B. EVALUATION OF THE PROJECTIONS The quality of the projections is evaluated by comparing the measured value at the end of the calibration interval to the value that was projected at the beginning of the interval. Since the uncertainty of the prediction varies somewhat, these prediction errors are normalized by dividing them by the prediction uncertainty. Projections are made for a year following the calibration. Often, the next calibration occurs somewhat beyond the 1-year projection. In this case, the projection and uncertainty could be calculated further. However, we chose to calculate the projection error as the difference between the 1-year projection and the calibrated value. This may have caused the out-of-confidence (OOC) rates to be slightly overstated. The 1998 Study In 1998, 53 calibrations were studied with respect to their previous projections [3]. Two of the calibrations were found to fall outside of the confidence interval for an OOC rate of 3.8%. The data are plotted as a function of the calibration interval in Fig. 3 and by number of calibrations in Fig. 4. The study concluded that the goal of maintaining a confidence level of 95% for the one-year projections was met. It concluded that the uncertainty for the projections based on few calibrations may be slightly understated but somewhat overstated as the number of prior calibrations becomes greater. 732A Projection reliability For the current study, Fig. 5 shows that 12 of the 268 predictions made for the 732A were found to be outside the prediction interval for an OOC rate of 4.5%. Of the 239 customer-owned units, 96% were calibrated at the customer's location. As in the 1998 study, the uncertainty for the projections were found to be a bit understated for small numbers of calibrations but decrease with more calibrations. Fig. 6 shows the standard deviation of the normalized prediction errors. It can also be seen that the prediction errors are fairly Gaussian with little (9%) bias so the 95% confidence level is about two sigma. u u u u s x x s s p TC cal x reg n n K b ax V 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 ) ( 1 + + + +           + ± + = − 732B Projection reliability For the current study, Fig. 7 shows that four of the 105 predictions made for the 732B were found to be outside the prediction interval for an OOC rate of 3.8%. Of the 73 customer-owned units, 96% were calibrated at the customer's location. The uncertainty for the projections for the 732B show better than 95% of the measured values at the end of the calibration period were found to be within the confidence interval for all the projections. This study again found that the confidence is lower for a small number of calibrations (Fig. 8). However, for the 732B, the standard deviations began to increase again for a high number of calibrations. This brings up the issue as to when early data should be excluded for the projections. Again, the prediction errors are fairly Gaussian with almost no bias (1%). DRIFT RATES 732A Drift Rates While analyzing the prediction reliability, we took the opportunity to examine the data for drift rate. A nnualized drift rates were calculated from the shifts seen between adjacent calibrations. To keep short intervals from producing misleading drift rates, only calibration intervals of at least 70 days were considered. Data were also excluded when an adjustment was made to the output. 720 calibration pairs remained for analysis. Seasonal effects may make the slopes reported for the shorter intervals slightly higher than would be seen over a year period. Fig. 9 shows the 732A drift rates are normally distributed with a mean of 0.47·10 -6 / yr and a standard deviation of 0.5·10 -6 / yr. 732B Drift Rates The drift rates for the 732B are shown in Fig. 10 for 335 calibration pairs. Here a bimodal distribution is evident with some units having a positive drift rate and a distinct separate group having mostly negative drift rates. The data were plotted in a number of ways to attempt to explain this distribution. Fig. 11 shows the 732B drift rates in serial number order. Here it is evident the higher serial numbers are associated with the negative drifts. Some of the lower serial numbers bear prototype or hardmodel serial numbers so may not fit "production sequence" and exhibit the negative drift rates as well. Some research showed that the positive drifts were associated with the Motorola references used in the 732A and early 732B units. The negative drifts were associated with Linear Technology references. Fig. 12 shows a plot of the errors for the 31 predictions made for the higher serial number units having Linear Technology references. One unit was found to deviate from the predicted value more than the prediction interval for an OOC rate of 3.2%. The fi


This paper presents an extended discussion of issues associated with the role of information privacy in IS research. This discussion was initiated in conjunction with a panel session at ICIS 2002. Following the conference, each of the panelists reworked and extended their position
statements, and provided a commentary on the position statements of the other panelists. The paper is framed with head and tail pieces written by the panel chair. The result is a (unique and provocative) blend of opinion and commentary on a topic that is of importance to IS research in the globally networked society in which we all live. IS researchers will find research questions, research conundrums, and research advice in equal measure.


The invention provides a temperature-reducing and dehumidifying device for mine refuge underground chambers, aiming to resolve the problem that a plurality of new unsolvable problems are brought forth when an air-conditioner is directly used in a refuge underground chamber. The temperature-reducing and dehumidifying device has the characteristics that a liquid carbon dioxide steel bottle, a high-pressure gauge, a main valve, a throttle valve, a heat power expansion valve, an evaporator, a low-pressure gauge, a reversing valve and a pneumatic blower are sequentially connected with each other through a pipe line, the liquid carbon dioxide steel bottle is arranged in a transition region, and the rest of the parts are arranged in a residential area. The invention provides the reliable temperature-reducing and dehumidifying device for the refuge underground chambers, which can work independently after a mine accident happens, thereby having great significance to the guarantee of the life safety of miners and prolonging the rescuing time.


Pedestrian protection system for a vehicle with - caused a sensor (14, 30) for detecting by an impact of an object (10) to the vehicle (12) deformation, - means (16) signals provided for evaluating the of the sensor system (14, 30), so that information about the characteristics of the impact can be supplied, and in consideration of time information (14, 30) of the sensor is detected, determine an intrusion speed of the object (10) can, and - a device (130) for raising a bonnet, in particular an engine bonnet, of the vehicle (12) which can be actuated in dependence on the information about the characteristics of the impact, characterized, - that the means (16) can determine a deformation work for evaluating the effected deformation, - taking account of the deformation work and the intrusion speed a the mass of the object (10) characterizing parameter is determined and - that the intrusion speed and the mass of the object ...


. The aim of this paper is to examine the perception of youth about support and impediments factors to entrepreneurship development in the Republic of Moldova and to define some solutions to improve it. The research has been conducted by using an analysis of academic literature, survey examination about business environment perception by youth, analysis and synthesis of survey data, deduction from general vision to some specifics for youth entrepreneurship. The main finding of research is that youth entrepreneurship is important by creating future perspectives for national economies and by defining main support and impediments factors to their development. Based on the survey data there has been established the perception of youth about entrepreneurship development in the Republic of Moldova. The challenges and opportunities for youth entrepreneurship development have been described as well as some solutions have been identified. The defined proposals could be used both for entrepreneurial policy development by governmental institutions and entrepreneurial training by different educational institutions, specifically for youth entrepreneurship. The value of research consists in defining the main factors of support and constraint, to provide ideas about how to develop youth entrepreneurship in the Republic of Moldova.


The induced resistance against plant pathogens via biocontrol agents is considered as an eco‐friendly and promising strategy. In this study, the induced resistance against Magnaporthe oryzae (M. oryzae) in rice seedling by a new potential biocontrol agent Streptomyces JD211 (JD211) was evaluated. The effects of JD211 on defense‐related enzymes activities and defense genes expression were investigated. The biocontrol efficacy of different JD211 concentrations was different, and the treatment of 10 g kg−1 JD211 achieved the highest biocontrol efficacy. Activities of catalase, phenylalanine ammonia‐lyase (PAL) and β‐1,3‐glucanase significantly increased in the presence of JD211. The gene expression level of both PAL and pathogenesis related protein 1 increased when rice seedlings were inoculated with JD211 alone or co‐inoculated with M. oryzae, and the expression level of chitinase gene was enhanced by JD211 in the later stage. All results suggested that JD211 could increase the rice resistance by stimulating a series of defense responses, which was the result of induced systemic resistance by JD211. This work will provide a new biocontrol agent against Magnaporthe oryzae in rice seedling.


On the basis of a review of research on child and adult homicide and mental disorder, along with an original study of these connections, Stroud and Pritchard suggest that diagnoses of mental disorder and other 'psychopathologies' can be useful in identify ing adults at risk of committing child homicide, and thus advocate that social work practice should focus attention on these issues in seeking to prevent child homicide. Issues contained in the paper, however, appear to present a number of concerns with considerable implications for social work practice. These concerns relate to the following: 1 The conclusions drawn in the paper about the prevalence of mental disorder amongst people committing child homicide. 2 The implications of the paper's findings and conclusions for the knowledge base and strategies social workers should be employing in identifying and managing risk of child homicide. 3 The implications of the paper for social work values.


High temperature in fire have serious influences on the structural behavior of reinforced concrete structure, and causes damage in structure, even leads to overall collapse. By thermal and structural analysis using finite element method, the whole-course behavior of a reinforced concrete bridge in fire is simulated, and the transient temperature field, deformation and stress is discussed. These information supply the basis for fire resistance of concrete bridge design.


Jean-Pierre Jeunet, recognized as both an author and director, possesses a unique temperament and an aptitude for creating imaginative worlds and combining fantastical sights and sounds. With a childlike heart, his films often evoke a sense of the surreal. The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet continues in this vein, as it explores the world of childhood and offers insight into the romantic. It is a work that should be studied by creators of children's films in our country.


References 1 Cui J, Shen LY, Wang GC. Role of hair follicles in the repigmentation of vitiligo. J Invest Dermatol 1991; 97: 410–416. 2 Kim CY, Yoon TJ, Kim TH. Epidermal grafting after chemical epilation in the treatment of vitiligo. Dermatol Surg 2001; 27: 855–856. 3 Laxmisha C, Kumari R, Thappa DM. Surgical repigmentation of leukotrichia in localized vitiligo. Dermatol Surg 2006; 32: 981–982. 4 Commo S, Gaillard O, Bernard BA. Human hair greying is linked to a specific depletion of hair follicle melanocytes affecting both the bulb and the outer root sheath. Br J Dermatol 2004; 150: 435–443. 5 Anbar TS, Abdel-Raouf H, Awad SS et al. The hair follicle melanocytes in vitiligo in relation to disease duration. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol 2009; 23: 934–939. 6 Tobin DJ, Swanson NN, Pittelkow MR et al. Melanocytes are not absent in lesional skin of long duration vitiligo. J Pathol 2000; 191: 407–416. 7 Moretti S, Spallanzani A, Amato L et al. New insights into the pathogenesis of vitiligo: imbalance of epidermal cytokines at sites of lesions. Pigment Cell Res 2002; 15: 87–92.


An examination is made in this dissertation, of the art criticism of Zola and Huysmans. Chapter One provides a biographical framework; this is based mainly on correspondence between Zola and Huysmans. Chapter Two contains an expose of Zola's literary theory, with especial reference to Le Roman experimental, and includes a discussion of realism and Naturalism making reference to the writings of Balzac, Flaubert and Goneourt. The particular characteristics of Zola's literary theory are pointed out: his insistence upon truth and the author's individuality; this is paralleled in his art criticism, as Chapter Four illustrates. Chapter Three examines Huysmans' literary theory with reference to his novels and the differences between Huysmans' Naturalism and Zola's. The increasing importance of the spiritual element, yet continued adherence to Naturalist practice is illustrated. Chapter Four begins with a description of the world of the arts in Paris when Zola wrote his "Salons". This is followed by an account of Zola's relationships with Independent painters of his time. Finally an examination of Zola's writings on art is made, and the formula by which he expressed his art theory is discussed: "Une ce uvre d'art est un coin de l a creation vu a. travers un temperament. The qualities Zola admired in a painter (and which reflected characteristics of his own writing) are observed: the vigour and solidity of Courbet, the sincerity of Manet and the Impressionists. It is further observed that the avant-garde realist painters appealed to a democratic sense in Zola, although his views on the technique of painting, essentially conservative, could not fully embrace the Impressionists' avant-garde technique. Chapter Five follows a similar pattern to the previous chapter and contains a discussion of Huysmans' writings on art, commenting on his acumen and objectivity as critic in appreciating the work of Impressionists, Cezanne, Gauguin and others. The increasing subjectivity, however, and preoccupation with spiritual rather than artistic matters parallels the development in his novel-writing, as illustrated in Chapter Three. In conclusion, an assessment is attempted of the critical writings on art of Zola and Huysmans. Item Type: Thesis (Masters) Award: Master of Arts Thesis Date: 1975 Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author Deposited On: 14 Mar 2014 17:05 Social bookmarking: Quick links Latest additions Search Browse by year Browse by department Prospective students International students Research degrees Durham e-Theses Home Questions? Deposit Guide Policies About A study of the literary theories and art criticism of Emile Zola and Joris-Karl Huysmans 1889 by Otto Brahm to present plays dealing with the new themes of naturalism in a naturalistic style with naturalistic staging. A parallel development occurred in the visual arts. Despite their claim to complete objectivity, the literary naturalists were handicapped by certain biases inherent in their deterministic theories. Though they faithfully reflected nature, it was always a nature "red in tooth and claw.†


Abstract This paper reports on a study to assess the Orbis Cascade Alliance's print collection for material supporting the Black experience. It covers descriptions of general methods used for collection assessment as well as those used to assess the Alliance including Brief Tests, List Checking, and Comparison Studies. Each method is described with its strengths and weaknesses as well as their application to a consortium of libraries with Black experience being the subject matter of the material collected. These methods can be used for other multidisciplinary topics. Issues with subject headings, publishing, acquisitions, and racism emerged during the study and are covered in the discussion.


Lobbying for emissions-trading schemes to be implemented, many US-based multinational companies are appealing to President Bush participate in upcoming talks.


According to the present situation, Inner Mongolia carbon emissions, first of all, this paper constructed Inner Mongolia carbon emissions model based on ST IRPAT, then used ridge regression method to analyze the influence factors of carbon emissions. It was concluded that various factors influenced coefficient in ST IRPAT model.Then this paper used GM( 1, 1) model to forecast Inner Mongolia carbon emissions, obtained Inner Mongolia carbon emissions in 2020. At last, this paper drew the conclusion and put forward relevant policy suggestions.


The article identifies urgency of the enterprise life cycle theory in the system of managing financial and economic activity of an enterprise, identifies problems and insufficiently developed theoretical issues, namely, identification of the main indicator of the state of an organisation on the life cycle curve, which thoroughly characterises its financial and economic activity. It develops and offers a methodical approach to identification of the financial and economic state of an enterprise. The article analyses, generalises and identifies main sub-systems of an enterprise within the proposed methods. On the basis of analysis of works of scientists the article identifies main indicators that characterise each subsystem of an enterprise and identifies the entropy method, having analysed the existing methods of calculation of an integral indicator, as the most justified approach to calculation of the enterprise life cycle integral indicator.


We propose a rational quantum deformed nonlocal currents in the homogenous space $SU(2)_k/U(1)$, and in terms of it and a free boson field a representation for the Drinfeld currents of Yangian double at a general level $k=c$ is obtained. In the classical limit $\hbar \to 0$, the quantum nonlocal currents become $SU(2)_k$ parafermion, and the realization of Yangian double becomes the parafermion realization of $SU(2)_k$ current algebra.


Labor in the Information Age John Trumpbour a; Alex Bryson b; Rafael Gomez c; Paul Willman c; Kim Scipes d; Greg Gigg e; Janet Wasko f; Rose Tang g;Tom Mertes h a Harvard University, b National Institute for Economic and Social Research and Centres for Economic Performance (CEP), London, UK c Department of Management, London School of Economics, London, UK d Purdue University North Central, e Teamster member IBT Local 25, Boston f University of Oregon, g Ferris Fellow of Journalism/Visiting Professor, Princeton University, h University of California, Los Angeles


The effective dielectric constant of the graded composites was calculated with three different methods, namely, the nonlinear differential effective dipole approximation method (NDEDA), the Maxwell-Garnette method (MGT) and the sum rule method (Sum). In each layer of the graded composites, the distribution of the dielectric constant follows a Drude form. Our numerical results show that when the number of layers N inside the graded composites increases, a gradual transition from sharp peaks to an emerging broad continuous band is clearly obtained. Moreover, the results obtained by the MGT and sum rule methods achieve a good agreement with that by the NDEDA method when N is approaching infinity.


The invention discloses a bactericidal composition containing coumoxystrobin and chlorothalonil. The weight ratio of the coumoxystrobin to the chlorothalonil is (1:30)-(1:1). The composition can be prepared into agriculturally allowable wettable powder, suspension, and water dispersible granules. The composition has reasonable components, and a good bactericidal effect and is low in cost; the activity and the bactericidal effect of the composition are not the simply superposed activity and bactericidal effects of all active ingredients; compared with the conventional single preparation, the invention has the advantages that the composition has the obvious bactericidal effect and an obvious synergic effect, can retard the production of resistance, does not pollute plants, is high in safety, meets the safety requirements of pesticide preparations and has obvious control effects on anthracnose, downy mildew, and epidemic disease of vegetables and anthracnose, downy mildew, and epidemic disease of fruit trees; and the residual amount of the preparation is low.


The stability of ReB2-type hexagonal OsB2 powder at high temperature with oxygen presence has been studied by thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, SEM, EDS, and high-temperature scanning transmission electron microscopy and XRD. Results of the study revealed that OsB2 ceramics interact readily with oxygen present in reducing atmosphere, especially at high temperature and produces boric acid, which decomposes on the surface of the powder resulting in the formation of boron vacancies in the hexagonal OsB2 lattice as well as changes in the stoichiometry of the compound. It was also found that under low oxygen partial pressure, sintering of OsB2 powders occurred at a relatively low temperature (900°C). Hexagonal OsB2 ceramic is prone to oxidation and it is very sensitive to oxygen partial pressures, especially at high temperatures.


It is more likely to prevent the watermark from JPEG-compression attack, when it is embedded into maximum value of the SVD. However, embedding the watermark with the same intensity into them may distort the watermarked image to a large extent. To solve this problem, a novel robust image-watermark algorithm is proposed with the characteristics of selective embedding intensity based on the non-uniform partition. The SVD values of the scrambled watermark will be embedded into the maximum SVD value of each 8x8 block of the host image in order and repeatedly. Besides, in order to increase the anti-cropping function and the security of the algorithm, Arnold Scrambling Algorithm is applied before the watermark is embedded. The results of the experiments have showed that this algorithm is robust against noising attack, filtering attack and cropping attack, especially the JPEG-compression attack and no obvious distortion appeared in the watermarked image.


This brief article highlights the decline in adolescent pregnancy in developing countries. Findings are based on an analysis of the Risks and Realities of Early Childbearing Worldwide by the Allan Guttmacher Institute. Declines were evident in Asia, North Africa, the Middle East, and some places in Latin America. Historically, the largest proportion of youth is constituted by those aged 10-19 years--20% of the world's 5.7 billion people. Adolescents number nearly 1.1 billion, of whom 913 million live in developing countries and 260 million live in developed countries. There are about 15 million births to adolescents worldwide. This constitutes over 10% of all births. Delayed childbearing is the reason for the decline in adolescent pregnancy. Declines were large in China, where only 8% of women aged 20-25 years had their first child during adolescence compared to 22% among women aged 40-44 years. In Sri Lanka, adolescent pregnancy declined to 16% of women aged 20-25 years and to 31% of women aged 40-44 years, respectively. The declines were from 26% to 21% in the Philippines and from 51% to 33% in Indonesia. Delayed childbearing brings significant health benefits to the mother and the child. Child mortality risk is 2-4 times higher among women aged under 17 years compared to women aged 20 years and older. Infant mortality risk is greater by 30% or more among babies whose mothers are aged 15-19 years compared to babies whose mothers are aged 20-29 years.


The technological infrastructure and economy of many countries all over the world is increasingly dependent on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). Hence, it is not surprising that requirements on the technical performance of these systems with respect to accuracy, reliability and safety are permanently growing.
Considering the fact that the ionospheric impact cannot be ignored, enhanced activities to monitor, model and forecast the ionospheric behavior in particular under perturbed conditions are needed. Fortunately, dual frequency signals of GNSS themselves offer a unique possibility to monitor the spatial and temporal behavior of electron density structures in the ionosphere and plasmasphere with great efficiency. Thus, ground and space based GNSS measurements can effectively be utilized to derive key parameters of the ionosphere describing temporal and spatial characteristics of ionization. The deduced information refers to a broad spectrum of ionospheric phenomena from small to large characteristic scales.
Presented are ground and space GNSS based data products that have been developed for research and dissemination via the Space Weather Application Center - Ionosphere (SWACI) of DLR (http://swaciweb.dlr.de) in recent years. In addition, related algorithms and results of data analyses are discussed to demonstrate the strong capabilities of ground and space based GNSS measurements for detecting, tracking and forecasting ionospheric perturbations. These capabilities will be completed in future by outstanding research results of TRANSMIT that will be demonstrated through highlighted prototype activities of TRANSMIT via the SWACI platform.
Considering current monitoring and modelling capabilities and outstanding capacity building activities within the TRANSMIT project, there exists a unique fundament for establishing a "Pan-European network for Ionospheric Perturbation Detection and Monitoring" (IPDM) in upcoming years.


Data preparation for machine learning is time consuming. We built an efficient machine-learning system and automated data preparation. Using a Web crawler, multiple keywords were used to download images to facilitate machine learning of automotive applications by local computers. A verification module then filtered the target images. Here, we explored weather while driving using only images containing vehicles. We found it simple to download images using a Web crawler without manually preparing the experimental learning data. We verified the utility of our approach using a computer vision algorithm. It is possible to eliminate most passive machine learning work when creating huge amounts of diverse data. Our method automatically generates a machine learning dataset for exploring weather features by capturing forward images taken from vehicles.


Objective
To investigate the effect of varicocele on the outcome of in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Methods
The 139 patients in vitro fertilization cycle were diagnosed by B-ultrasound, and 323 normal semen treated by IVF as control group. The rates of fertilization, cleavage rate, high quality embryo rate and pregnancy outcome in the IVF group were compared with those in the control group.

Results
There was statistically significant difference in fertilization rate, cleavage rate, high-quality embryo rate, embryo rate, clinical pregnancy rate between the IVF group and control group(P 0.05).

Conclusions
Varicocele can lead to the decline of IVF embryo quality, which has no obvious effect on pregnancy rate of abortion.

Key words:
Varicocele; Fertilization in Vitro


tag=1 data=How Hewson would change Australia. by David O'Reilly

tag=2 data=O'Reilly, David

tag=3 data=The Bulletin,

tag=6 data=13 August 1991

tag=7 data=24-31.

tag=8 data=POLITICAL PARTIES%TAXATION%FINANCE-FEDERAL

tag=10 data=Just about every area of life in Australia would change under a government led by John Hewson if the plans and philosophy being pursued now by his team are carried through.

tag=11 data=1991/3/10

tag=12 data=91/0893

tag=13 data=CAB


The article analyzes the phenomenon of ethnic markets through the lens of the specific contact language ("bazaar Pidgin"), arising and used in the process of communication between traders and customers. The paper is based on a comparison of a peculiarity of "Chinese" markets in Russia and "Russian" market Yabaolu in China. The authors demonstrate that these markets reproduce similar communicative sphere. The article demonstrates that a language, performing the communicative function, marks non ethic basis of "ethnic" market, defining it as a border contact space. Based on a comparative analysis authors note that "bazaar pidgin" bear resemblance to contact Russian-Chinese frontier. The authors comes to the conclu-sion that the language, fixed in space markets of Irkutsk and Beijing, creates a situation, reproducing a num-ber of practices, which are typical for the cross-border contacts. These practices realize at a considerable distance from the state borders outside the legal and social context of the borderland. Based on this conclu-sion, the authors, that the change of the contact language of market is a good marker for fixation and analysis of changes in transboundary systems and streams, intersecting at the "ethnic" markets.


The permeability tests, using a transient pulse method, were carried on KIMACHI sandstone under various confining and pore pressures.From the experimental data, it is recognized that permeability is underestimated when it is assumed that there is no storage in the rock specimen. Also, permeability increases as the pressure difference between both end pore pressure of the rock specimen increase.Under constant pore pressure, permeability decreases gradually as confining pressure becomes higher. But, it is found that permeability is remarkably affected by pore pressure rather than by confining pressure.Under constant confining pressure, permeability decreases as differential stress increses. With further increase in differential stress, permeability increases.


ABSTRACT Lanarkshire led in the manufacture of agricultural implements and machines from the late eighteenth century onwards. Helped by natural resources, the early and rapid rise of industrialization and infrastructure, businesses created innovative products that were in demand. This paper investigates the makers of agricultural implements and machines in Lanarkshire, especially outside Glasgow, as innovators and leaders in the trade. It looks at their character, why they were innovative and the implements and machines they were renowned for. Although activity began from the late-eighteenth century, the primary focus is on the mid-nineteenth to the early-twentieth century.


This paper is concerned with the investigation of direct speech in Greek narratives. More specifically, the aim of this paper is to examine how the producers of oral narratives present themselves as interactional protagonists via direct speech representation in personal stories. In particular, this study focuses on the use of direct speech within the conversational narratives of Greek adolescent groups. I consider direct speech as an important device because of its saliency and functional richness in the narratives told by the adolescents. I will argue that, in the present narrative data, direct speech is very frequent and functions as a means of presenting oneself. Self-presentation via direct speech in Greek adolescents' storytelling


The purpose of this interpretive paper is to provide an overview of recreational therapy and describe environmental strategies for using recreational therapy to treat problems and meet the needs of older adults. Table 1 provided a composite case scenario, highlighting how gardening lifted depression, illustrating the purpose. In addition, the paper provided an overview of recreational therapy, described therapeutic environments, made a connection between health care and architecture, and demonstrated how environmental theory drives practice in geriatric recreational therapy. Moreover, table 2 provided an example of the diverse professional groups that comprise a therapeutic team, drawing attention to the disciplines that presented at the International Conference of Healthcare and Therapeutic Design (ICHTD), which were held January 8th to 9th, 2012, in Tunghai University, Taichung. Furthermore, table 3 pointed out useful recreational therapy resources.


This paper outlines the possibilities and tensions that emerge in legal and social discourse when popular images and narratives of children as 'at risk' are juxtaposed with more revised constructions of the child as capable and autonomous. The paper explores this shift in representation of children against a background of extensive family law reform currently under way in Australia. It then reports insights from a pilot study which found that children 'to and fro' between accounts of hurt and powerlessness associated with divorce, and their desire to participate in the processes and decisions taking place around them. The paper posits that discourses of participation taken up in research, practice and policy need to acknowledge a dialectic relationship between agency and vulnerability if we are to respond to children in ways that include rather than marginalise. The paper concludes by highlighting some of the challenges that exist for researchers and practitioners seeking to be open to new ways of thinking about children's lives – ways based on an ethic that refuses the kind of normalisation and neat analyses conventionally pursued through research endeavours.


Abstract CONSIDERABLE controversy exists concerning the effects of caloric restriction during the growing period on the laying house performance of egg-type replacement stock. There are two major methods of caloric restriction: 1) limited feeding, and 2) use of high fiber feeds. McCay (1947) reported that restriction of caloric intake increased the life span of experimental animals. Hill and Dansky (1954) and Mellen et al. (1954) found that birds fed on low calorie diets made more efficient use of the calories they consumed. Carrick and Roberts (1947a, b), Bruins (1958), Roberts and Carrick (1934), Couch et al. (1957), and Reid et al. (1958) found the use of oats and other high fiber feeds resulted in a retarded growth rate, later sexual maturity, and increased feed per unit of gain. Milby and Sherwood (1953) in comparing a restricted with a full feeding program found the amount of feed required to raise the bird…


Berlin underwent a period of prodigious growth in the midnineteenth century. If there had ever been a moment in the history of the international statistical congress when it could be elevated to a higher plane, then it was 1863, in Berlin. Ernst Engel, the director of the Prussian statistical bureau, was intent on making the Berlin congress a resounding success. Baden was one of the states that took some interest in the resolutions adopted by the international statistical congress. The Baden government was closely involved in the initiatives introduced at the congresses in Vienna in 1857 and Berlin in 1863 with respect to a common system of statistics in Germany. Of all the major themes that would be addressed at the congress, the most innovative theme was the role of statistics in mutual assistance and insurance. Mutual assistance was, in Engel's view, a step towards economic autonomy and independence.


Abstract We give asymptotically sharp upper bounds on the radius and diameter of (i) a connected graph, (ii) a connected triangle-free graph, (iii) a connected C4-free graph of given order, minimum degree, and maximum degree. We also give better bounds on the radius and diameter for triangle-free graphs with a given order, minimum degree and a given number of distinct terms in the degree sequence of the graph. Our results improve on old classical theorems by Erd˝os, Pach, Pollack and Tuza [Radius, diameter, and minimum degree, J. Combin. Theory Ser. B 47 (1989), 73-79] on radius, diameter and minimum degree.


A detailed bioclimatic analysis was completed for an Australian arboreal marsupial, the mountain brushtail possum Trichosurus caninus. This was done to explore climatic factors underpinning the distribution of the species.


The toxicity of sixteen commercial formulations of pesticides used in peach orchard was assessed on adults of Trichogramma pretiosum Riley, 1879 (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae). The experiments were carried out using the International Organization for Biological and Integrated Control of Noxious Animals and Plants, West Palaearctic Regional Section (IOBC/WPRS) standard methodology, under laboratory conditions at temperature of 25±1oC, relative humidity of 70±10% and 14h photophase. The tests were carried out by exposing the adult parasitoids to fresh dry pesticide film applied on glass plates and assessed for the number of eggs parasitized by T. pretiosum adult female. Reduction in capacity of parasitism of T. pretiosum female compared with the control (treated with water) was used to measure the effect of the chemical. Pesticides were then classified into four categories, according to the reduction in parasitization (IOBC/WPRS): 1, harmless ( 99%). The fungicides (g of the active ingredient/100L of water) calcium + copper (40+100), dodine (79), folpet (125), iprodion (75), mancozeb (160), mancozeb + copper oxichloride (88+60) and triforine (24) and the insecticide teflubenzuron (3.75) were considered harmless (class 1); the fungicide tebuconazol (20) and the mineral oil (800) were slightly harmful (class 2); the fungicide-acaricide sulphur (480) and the herbicide glufosinate-ammonium (200) were moderately harmful (class 3); the insecticides fenitrothion (75), malathion (200), phosmet (100) and spinosad (6) were harmful (class 4) to T. pretiosum.


The scope of this study is to investigate the effect of tensile prestrain on crack growth behavior in a 304L stainless steel. Fatigue crack propagation tests were performed on single-edge notched tension (SENT) raw specimens (0% of prestrain) and on prestrained specimens (2% and 10%). On one hand, it is found that the different levels of prestrain exhibit no significant influence on crack propagation in the high range of Stress Intensity Factor (SIF), where there is no detectable crack closure. On the other hand, a clear effect of prestrain on crack growth rate can be observed in the near threshold region where closure is detected. Thus, it can be concluded that the prestrain mainly affects the crack growth rate through its influence on the crack closure.Copyright © 2009 by ASME


Historians have paid remarkably little attention to most viceroys of colonial Spanish America. Similarly, the study of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries has been relatively slight. In this thoughtful examination of the rule of grandee Duke of Alburquerque in New Spain (1702-1710), historian Christoph Rosenmiiller gives overdue attention to a viceroy that served during the War of , Spanish Succession. He focuses particularly on Alburquerque's use of patronage to benefit himself and retainers (criados) he brought from Spain and clients or allies he cultivated in Mexico and the interplay between the viceroy and local elites that occurred in the viceregal court.


The invention discloses a target object recognition method and device applied to an unmanned vehicle. The unmanned vehicle is provided with laser radar sensors and camera sensors. A specific implementation way of the method comprises the steps of acquiring point cloud data acquired by the laser radar sensors and image data acquired by the camera sensors; detecting a target object in the image data, and generating a rectangular frame used for indicating the target object; removing ground points used for indicating the ground and points located beyond a viewing angle range of the camera sensors from the point cloud data to acquire first point cloud data; detecting second point cloud data corresponding to the target object in the first point cloud data according to the rectangular frame; and determining a minimum outer bounding box corresponding to the target object in the second point cloud data. The implementation way disclosed by the invention improves the accuracy of target object recognition applied to the unmanned vehicle.


In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) or "living off the land" relies on exploiting local resources and in turn reducing burden of transporting supplies. In a more conventional ISRU approach, feedstock is mined and transported to a processing plant. In this paper, we present alternative design that combines mining and extraction into one and eliminates transport step. We investigated three Planetary Volatiles Extraction (PVEx) methods: "Sniffer", Mobile In Situ Water Extraction (MISWE), and Corer. All three approaches are drill based, which helps with material penetration and capture of volatiles. It was determined that the Sniffer approach does not work very well, because volatiles tend to escape up the soil and into the vacuum above. The MISWE came second in terms of water extraction efficiency and energy conversion efficiency. The Corer turned out to be the best approach. It also required less energy to drill than MISWE, rendering it a more efficient approach in terms of drilling.


The development of microfinance in Morocco dates from the 1990s and is particularly dynamic in the years 2000. Currently, and like other sectors of finance, the microfinance knows the same difficulties concerning the rate of covering. Indeed, credit risk or non-recovery of debts is likely to hinder the development of micro-finance institutions. Thus, an important place should be reserved for the business management of credit risks of borrowers notably through the anticipation of their failure. This anticipation is achievable through the use of a technical score that can affect an individual in a group, namely the right customers and failing. Drawing on the lessons of the discrimination function provided by (Saporta, 1975), judgment can be made by socio-economic and demographic characteristics of each customer and given the form taken by different variables. Calculating scores allowed us to develop a discriminating filter to note clients, identify risk classes and identify those likely to fall.


The car ferry operating between the mainland and the island plays an important role on transportation of goods and passengers. Therefore, the improvement of efficiency and safety as well as economic factor are importantly considered in the development process of car ferry. Double-ended car ferry is already popularized because of its economic feasibility and convenience for passenger in Europe and developed countries, and the demand is booming in domestic. In this paper, dynamic characteristics of propeller shaft and strength in double-ended car ferry are analyzed using campbell diagram and modal analysis. Based on the analysis of dynamic characteristics, resonant phenomenon and critical speed are stable when occurring the propeller shaft vibration due to forward and reverse propeller shaft working.


Facoltà di Ingegneria Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale e dell'Informazione Doctor of Philosophy A SAW-Less FDD Receiver with TX Leakage Cancellation in Receive and Transmit Bands by Daniele Montanari In modern mobile communication standards such as 4G LTE, the implementation of multi-band transceivers as well as the increasing channel bandwidth are the main need for high data-rate communications. However, close proximity of the Receiving (RX) and Transmitting (TX) antennas causes part of the transmitted signal to be coupled to the RX, bringing it to desensitization. To reduce this effect, Self-Interference Cancellation (SIC) techniques are a promising solution that avoids the use of bulky, costly and not tunable SAW-filters. However, antenna coupling group delay in the order of 2-3 ns limits the cancellation bandwidth of conventional SIC thus making it difficult to ensure good isolation over both TX and RX bands. In this thesis, a diversity receiver with SI cancellation over both bands is presented: a highly linear receiver is aided by an RF SIC that reduces the main TX signal power at the RX input; an auxiliary path (AUX) implements a notch filter in the TX band followed by a digital equalizer whose output is employed to reduce the TX noise leakage in the RX band. The diversity and auxiliary receivers were fabricated in 28 nm TMSC CMOS technology and operate between 1 and 2 GHz while the equalizer performing the Digital TX-Noise Reduction (DNR) algorithm was implemented on FPGA. The stand-alone RX has a Noise Figure (NF) of 4-5 dB and an out-of-band IIP3 of 18 dBm. Thanks to the SIC, the effective IIP3 is improved up to 25-29 dBm with a NF degradation of only 0.8 dB. Due to its high dynamic range, the AUX is able to reduce the TX noise by more than 29 dB degrading only by 1 dB the RX NF at full TX power (23 dBm).


Circumferential MFL is a new implementation of a widely used technology that has potential to provide improved detection and quantification of axially oriented defects such as cracks, seam weld defects, mechanical damage, and groove corrosion.

The objective of this project was to improve detection of cracks by changing the implementation along with using data from overlapping and complementary inspection techniques. Two technology advancements were investigated: combining high- and low-magnetization technology for stress detection and combining axial and circumferential MFL methods.

While circumferential MFL and the performance enhancements developed on this project may have limitations, this technology is reasonably well suited for assessing long axially oriented corrosion, which is a challenging anomaly for traditional axial MFL.


Background Hereditary Hemochromatosis (HH) is a common inherited disorder and characterised by an excess iron accumulation in several organs with consecutive organ dysfunction.1 Apart from the liver, the joints are a major site of excess iron deposition. Joint pain counts among the most frequent (>50%), earliest, and most debilitating symptoms of HH.2 To date, joint health status in HH patients is routinely assessed on hand radiographs.3 However, plain radiography is a low-resolution, 2D-technique with limited sensitivity to detect early joint changes or to monitor subtle progression of joint damage.4 With the advent of high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT), a promising imaging tool has emerged allowing for in vivo 3D characterisation of human joint microstructure at a spatial resolution of 130 µm.5 Due to its high sensitivity to detect and monitor subtle, short-term joint changes, HR-pQCT has been successfully applied to patients with RA.6 However, to date, HR-pQCT has not been used to characterise joint and bone changes seen in HH arthropathy. Objectives Here, we aimed to investigate in a cohort of HH patients 1) if the usage of HR-pQCT is feasible on HH patients; 2) to quantify joint microstructure of metacarpophalangeal joints (MCP2–4) in this specific patient group; and 3) investigate the relationship between HR-pQCT-derived joint microstructural parameters and clinical outcomes. Methods 25 HH patients were enrolled and their HH history and treatment were recorded. MCP joints of all patients were imaged at a clinical HR-pQCT system (XtremeCT, Scanco Medical AG). 330 images were acquired covering MCP 2, 3 and 4. The joint space (JS) morphology of each MCP was quantified from the HR-pQCT images semi-automatically4 and volume (JSV), joint space width mean (JSW), JSW variance (JSW.SD), and JSW asymmetry (JSW.AS) were calculated. Results Out of the 75 MCP joints available for analysis, 79% were successfully segmentable, and 19% required semi-manual intervention to separate the individual bones. 3 joints were excluded due to motion artefacts, and 1 joint was unsegmentable. HH patients were 32–72 years old, in 64% male, and had been diagnosed with HH 2 months to 40 years ago. 15% were pain free at the study date. HH patients with pain showed significantly lower JSV at MCP 2 and 4 (p=0.009) and exhibited a significantly higher joint asymmetry in MCP 3 (p=0.012) compared to their pain free colleagues. When looking at clinical correlations we found that time since HH diagnosis was positively correlated with the MCP4 JSW asymmetry (R2=0.451, p=0.040) and MCP 4 JSW.SD (R2=0.475, p=0.030). The number of phlebotomies since diagnosis was strongly correlated with the JSW.SD (MCP2–4: 0.4552<0.581,p<0.050) at all MCP sites.Abstract FRI0596 – Figure 1 3D surface reconstructions of the MCP3 with the local joint space width mapped into the joint space in psuedo-colour. Blue and green colours reflect narrow joint space width, while red colours code for a broader joint space width. A) 55 year old male with a BMI of 21.9 kg/m2 who has been diagnosed with hemochromatosis 8 years ago, but received only occasionally phlebotomies. B) 48 year old male (BMI 22.9 kg/m2) with a diagnosis of hemochromatosis of 8 years who received regular phlebotomies every 2 months. Both patients presented at the study date with hand pain. Note the larger and more symmetrical joint space width in patient B. Conclusions Our study provides the first evidence that joint space assessment of MCPs via HR-pQCT in patients with hereditary hemochromatosis is feasible and can provide a thorough structural joint characterisation and thus support the physician in his initial HH arthropathy assessment. Our findings suggest, that regular phlebotomies since diagnosis may preserve joint space morphology leading to a more evenly maintained joint space. However, larger studies are needed to validate our results. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Through analyzing and comparing the contents of traditional clustering and modern clustering, this paper induces the similarities and differences of the two clustering methods in order to lay a solid foundation for the in-depth research and development of clustering method in the analysis of theme evolution.


One of the promises of the creative city doxa has regard to the metropolitan benefit of linkages between art, creative industries and technoscience. However, the few empirical studies that are available tend to show that the link between production in the worlds of artistic creation on the one hand and of cultural, creative and techno-scientific industries on the other does occasionally exist in the context of research and development programmes, but that these links are difficult to identify. In this paper, and based on the Lyon experience, we aim at going beyond the assumption that the mere contiguity of creative, research and industrial development activities at the metropolitan scale is sufficient to foster interrelations (between organizations and individuals) which give birth to the desired innovation process. This paper is based on a inductive approach and is structured around three main parts. The first one retraces the social origins of the digital creation milieu in the Lyon metropolis, from its infancy to its artistic institutionalization. The second aims at describing the praxis of digital arts and the social organization of this relational environment. The last one explores the ways in which it is imbricate in a metropolitan cultural scene that is linked to the makers movement and to the current digital transition. This in turn leads the authors to discuss the creative city concept.


A review of analytical methods for the determination of aldehydes is given with 140 references. It is excerpted from material presented in Formaldehyde and Other Aldehydes, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1981.


Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) is a vibrational spectroscopy holding potentials for a rapid evaluation of quality and composition of food industry products without any need of sample preparation. Among many nanomaterials, gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and their colloidal dispersions have attracted great interest for SERS applications due to their unique properties of small size, large surface area to volume ratio, high reactivity to the living cells, stability over high temperatures. In this frame, a low-cost substrate, based on home-made 30-nm sized GNPs, has been designed and used for the investigation of commercial fruit juices and pulp. Thanks to the use of a wavelet denoising procedure and background subtraction spectra with clear features have been obtained. Their analysis has enabled to evidence the presence of components of great importance for the quality evaluation of the products, such as fructose and pectin. The overall inspection of the results has confirmed the potentialities of SERS in food industry.


ABSTRACT The study has been carried out from January until June 2010 by. The research conducted in two areas, Development of Agriculture BAPTIS (Baptis Rular Development Model) in Pondok Kubang Village Bengkulu and Laboratory Entomology at Biology department, Bengkulu University. Eggs of butterfly Papilio demoleus Linn. collected by using exploration method. The eggs were kept into the Laboratory of Entomology for further observation and identification. The results shown that 20 eggs were collected from field, 10 eggs were hatched, 4 eggs unhatched and 6 eggs were infected by parasitoid. There were 4 parasitoids infected of the eggs of butterfly Papilio demoleus (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae), they were Ooencyrtus sp.1, Ooencyrtus sp.2, Ooencyrtus sp.3, Ooencyrtus sp.4 (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae). Percentages of parasitation for each of them were 20%, 5%, 5% and 5% respectively.


Abstract K-means inverse regression was developed as an easy-to-use dimension reduction procedure for multivariate regression. This approach is similar to the original sliced inverse regression method, with the exception that the slices are explicitly produced by a K-means clustering of the response vectors. In this article, we propose K-medoids clustering as an alternative clustering approach for slicing and compare its performance to K-means in a simulation study. Although the two methods often produce comparable results, K-medoids tends to yield better performance in the presence of outliers. In addition to isolation of outliers, K-medoids clustering also has the advantage of accommodating a broader range of dissimilarity measures, which could prove useful in other graphical regression applications where slicing is required.


While there has been insightful research on the commonly used expression I think (IT), this study introduces a non-conventional and innovative conception of elasticity (Zhang 2011), bringing together several properties of IT. Drawn on large-scale naturally occurring classroom data with a rare combination of linguistically and culturally contrasting groups of L1 (American English) and L2 (Chinese- and Persian-speaking learners of English), this study shows that the elasticity of IT is manifested through three stretchable, non-discrete, and fluid continua: frequency, position, and cluster. The patterns show that L1 and L2 speakers stretch IT to variable degrees and stop at variable points along the three continua. A striking finding is that L1 speakers are speaker-oriented and assertive, the Persians are listener-centred and less authoritative, and the Chinese tend to take the middle-ground position. The findings imply that some discrepancies between L1 and L2 should not necessarily be labelled as overuse or underuse: they may simply be different focuses and preferences. The awareness of linguistic elasticity is crucial to communicative success.


Background and Objective: The increase in diabetes in Indonesia is largely due to poor food patterns and ingredients. Soybeans as a traditional Indonesian food contain good food ingredients and are believed by the public to prevent damage to pancreatic cells and to maintain the balance of the insulin hormone so as to reduce glucose levels in the blood. This study aims to determine the effect of soy infusion on blood glucose levels (Study on Wistar-strain rats loaded with glucose). Methods: This study is a True Experiment with using a pretest and posttest design with control group design. The research subjects used in this study were 3 months old male Wistar rats with glucose load intervention 1.35 mg with a concentration of 25%, 50%, 100% for 30 minutes, 60 minutes and 120 minutes. Case Study


Introduction and Hypothesis: Excessive oxidative stress with reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, but only few studies have ever imaged ROS in atherosclerotic plaques. We aimed to develop a novel ROS-responsive NIRF emitting sensor and test whether it can detect ROS in vitro and image intraplaque ROS in vivo using a customized intravital imaging. Methods and Results: A novel ROS-responsive sensor was fabricated by conjugating Chlorin e6 (Ce6, ex/em 660/675nm) to hyaluronic acid through a ROS-degradable thioketal linker. After exposure to various ROS in vitro, the thioketal linker of the quenched sensor was degraded by ROS (i.e., ·OH > O 2 - > OCl - ) and a near infrared fluorescence (NIRF) signal recovery was observed due to dequenching of the Ce6. To further assess intraplaque ROS in vivo, at 48 hrs after iv injection of the ROS sensor (2.5 mg/kg of Ce6), we imaged right carotid atheroma of atherogenic mice (apoE -/-, high cholesterol diet (HCD) for 4months) using our customized multispectral intravital fluorescence microscope (IVFM) under mechanical carotid stabilization. The ROS induced NIRF signals in the plaques were strongly detected as compared to normal vessels (Figure, p Conclusions: Our ROS sensor was feasible to detect intraplaque ROS activity in vivo. This novel ROS imaging strategy is expected to estimate the dynamic relationship of ROS generation and atherogenesis in vivo.


In this paper we will give a simple approach to determining conditions for stability of linear feedback systems subject to additive and multiplicative perturbations in the operators describing these systems. The approach is based on techniques used in functional analysis, and provides an alternative development and generalization of some conditions for the time - invariant case that have appeared in the literature very recently. As an example of the application of the conditions, we consider the determination of finite regions of stability for singularly perturbed systems.


One of the most important concepts included in a new tolerancing system is the maximum material principle, which is specified in the international standard ISO 1101/II. In this paper a statistical technique is applied to the allocation of tolerance on the simple examples for the maximum material principle. In the first place, concerning the case (Case 1) where the one component with two pins fits to the other component with two holes and the case (Case 2) of the component having more than two holes, the maximum material principle, the zero positional tolerance and the relevant gaging are explained. Secondly the concept of functional diameter corresponding to the functional (virtual) pitch diameter of screw threads is introduced, and the distributions of the functional diameters in the above two cases are derived. Finally taking into account the above distributions, the allocation of the total tolerance to the hole diameter tolerance and the positional tolerance (or center distance tolerance for Case 1) is discussed.


In high throughput wireless local area network (HT-WLAN) standards, such as the IEEE 802.11ac, a key enhancement in medium access control (MAC) layer is frame aggregation. However, different lengths of aggregated frames demand a variety of energy-budgets. Moreover, the carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance is an energy-consuming channel access scheme in WLAN. In this letter, we propose an online learning-based frame aggregation, Intelligent Energy-Efficient Frame Aggregation (IE2FA), to design an energy-efficient MAC for HT-WLAN. The simulation analysis of IE2FA shows that it can improve network performance significantly compared to the other related works mentioned in the literature.


Metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors incorporating Dy2O3 dielectric were fabricated and investigated. In this work, the electrical conduction mechanisms of 12nm Dy2O3 thin films as functions of temperature were studied. The dominant conduction mechanisms of the Al∕Dy2O3∕p‐Si metal-dysprosium oxide-semiconductor capacitor are the space-charge-limited current from 350to525K and the Schottky emission from 300to325K in the accumulation mode. Three different regions were observed in the current-density–voltage (J‐V) characteristics at 350K, namely, Ohm's law region, trap-filled-limited region, and Child's law region. The activation energy in Ohm's law region calculated from the Arrhenius plots is about 0.2eV. This energy is attributed to shallow traps, distributed near the conduction band edge in the forbidden gap. The trap capture cross section is about 3.2×10−21cm2. The electronic mobility, trap density, dielectric relaxation time, and density of states in conduction band were obtained from the space-charge-...


This document investigates the possibilities for designing a generic
transport service that allows Web Browser to exchange generic data in
a peer to peer way. Different transport protocols and their properties
are investigated in order to identify the most appropriate one.


This study analyzed the influence of Qigong exercise intervention upon a change in glucose, blood lipid, and SFT(senior fitness test) of elderly women and to closely examine the efficacy of a Qigong exercise intervention to promote the health of older women. As research subjects, 24 elderly women aged over 80 were dividedinto Qigong group(n=12) and control group(n=12), respectively, and the program was carried out for 60 minutes per a day, five times per week for 24 weeks. Data were analyzed using SPSS WIN 20.0, repeated measures ANOVA. The Qigong group had a significantly lower glucose level than the control group. Second, the blood lipid and neutral fat(TG) was reduced significantly in the Qigong group than the control group. The total cholesterol(TC), high-density lipoprotein(HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein(LDL-C) did not show a significant difference. Third, as for SFT, the leg strength, leg flexibility, and total body endurance were significantly higher in the Qigong group than in the control group. Therefore, Qigong has an influence on the reduction in glucose and neutral fat(TG) and upon the improvement in SFT(leg strength, leg flexibility, and total body endurance) of elderly women, and mayshow effectiveness as an exercise prescription program for older women.