The theory of inner pair production associated with the radiative capture of ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ mesons and with the decay of the ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{0}$ meson is discussed. Appropriate distribution functions are derived and compared with recently obtained experimental results. The weak dependence of the theoretical predictions upon the details of meson theory is emphasized. The possible utility of the double conversion process, in which the ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{0}$ meson decays into two electron-positron pairs, for the determination of the ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{0}$ parity is also discussed.


Uniform and crack free Tb3+ doped lutetium oxide (Lu2O3:Tb) films were prepared by Pechini sol-gel method combined with the spin-coating technique. The influence of the different substrate (monocrystalline silicon (111) and silica glass) and atmosphere (N2 and Air) on the luminescence properties of films was investigated. According to the emission spectra, we found that the luminous intensity was higher on silica glass substrate. Moreover, it was found that the luminous intensity calcined in N2 was higher almost twice as that calcined in air.


Abstract The therapeutic potential of family‐oriented research has hardly been examined or conceptualized. This paper addresses seven aspects of the research process which may have therapeutic effects on participants. Examples from published research are used to provide empirical evidence of the therapeutic‐like responses of research participants. A perspective on the ethical responsibilities of doing family‐oriented research is offered, as are cautions about possible unintended negative effects.


Objective To analyze the complications of laser epithelial keratomileusis (LASEK) for high myopia,investigate the causes and discuss the prevention of these complications. Methods Technolas 217 Z excimer laser were used to correct high myopia(-7.00~-12.00) on 205 eyes in 106 cases and all of them were followed up for a period of 12 months. Results Intraoperative incompletely corneal epithelial flap:28 eyes (13.7%);Postoperative delayed corneal epithelial healing: 5 eyes(2.4%);Silk shaped keratetis:5 eyes(2.4%);corneal haze:142 eyes (69.3%),mean 0.81 ± 0.48; corneal haze2:11eyes(5.4%); Postoperative ste- roid intraocular hypertension:3 eyes (1.5%).At postoperative 12 months,there was refractive regression£1.00 D 23eyes(11.2%), the increase in astigmatism£1.00 D15eyes(7.3%),the decrease in best corrected visual acu- ity 1 line20eyes(9.8%). Conclusions LASEK is a safe and effective method for correcting high myopia,Yet attention should be paid on the complications during and after operation,especially postoperative corneal epi- thelial delayed healing and serious corneal haze. With the improvement in operative technique and reasonable drug ,these complications can be decreased and the preoperative correctness in estimation of the postoperative results and the postoperative accuracy in the correction of myopia can be elevated.


This chapter focuses on gambling addiction and the measures the Dutch authorities have taken to rein it. It deals with the scientific understanding of gambling addiction. The chapter sketches the results of a recent study on the scope and nature of gambling addiction in the Netherlands. It discusses the various gambling-addiction prevention measures that have been taken since the middle of the 1990s in the Netherlands. Addiction is described in the diagnostic manuals in terms of physical and psychological dependence. In order to determine whether gambling addiction was present, various measurement instruments have been developed. The most commonly used instrument is the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), which was developed in 1987 on the basis of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) III-R. Preventing gambling addiction is a complex matter, and concrete measures can take form in different ways. Keywords: Diagnosticand Statistical Manual (DSM) III-R; Dutch authorities; gambling addiction; Netherlands; South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS)


The first quantitative description of the electron density profile in the solar corona comes from the work of Baumbach (1937), who determined an average electron density profile from a study of the brightness distribution in the corona as observed a t the time of a solar eclipse. The method depends upon a knowledge of the mechanism whereby white light is scattered from the free electrons in the corona. Baumbach's results were further improved by Allen (1947) and van de Hulst (1950) to obtain the well-known Allen-Baumbach relation :


A survey using the SF-36, VFQ-25 questionnaires and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale revealed low levels of quality of life and psychological status of patients with open-angle glaucoma. Comprehensive treatment of glaucoma using the methods of psychotherapy and medication psychocorrection improved the quality of life and psychological status of patients compared with the control group.


Seeking a more tenable conception of discourse, new cognitive theory considers conventional imagery as a sort of "middle ground" through which the multiple meanings that emerge in distinct discourse situations are negotiated (Palmer, 1996: 39). Conventional grammar should be recognized as a resource for observing the appearance and developments of such imagery. In Langacker's usage-based approach toward grammar, grammatical rules are viewed as "schematizations of expressions" (Langacker, 1991: 555). They are the conventional tools of the language that allow speakers to frame the meanings that emerge within varied contexts. This discursive conception of grammar warrants consideration and development in anthropological studies because of its potential to offer a structuring framework of analysis for the constitution of discourse.


Objective To explore the protective effects of angiotensin Ⅱtype 1(AT1)receptor blocker candesartan in hepatic fibrosis induced by chronic carbon tetrachloride(CCl4)in rats and to observe the influence in liver for insulin-like growth factor binding protein-2(IGFBP-2).Methods Except rats in control group,all were given intraperitoneal injections of 40 % CCl4,and from the first day of the intraperitoneal injection,rats in treatment groups were given candesartan for 8 weeks by gastric gavage.The liver tissues were obtained from the control group,the model group and the candesartan treated group in different period respectively.Histopathological study of liver tissue was done with hematoxylin-eosin(HE)and Masson trichrome staining.The expression of IGFBP-2 in different group was measured by S-ABC immunohistochemistry,IGFBP-2 levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).Results Experimental rat hepatic fibrosis model induced by CCl4 was established.The expression of IGFBP-2 in liver tissue increased with the development of hepatic fibrosis(P0.05),and candesartan decreased the expression IGFBP-2 in hepatic fibrosis in rats(P0.05).Conclusion The expression of IGFBP-2 in liver tissue increases with the development of hepatic fibrosis,and candesartan decreases the expression IGFBP-2 in hepatic fibrosis in rats,which might inhibit the liver fibrosis.


This paper presents an electronic three phase watt-hour meter based on the MSP430F449 microcontroller. The developed system features a capacitive power supply obtained from the three phase network and circuits for signal conditioning to deal with the voltage and current signals. To protect the system from the grid's eventual power failures, a battery with a charging management system is included. The measured data is stored in a Flash memory and can be displayed through an LCD. Remote communication modules are implemented which allow infrared communication, serial port and optocouplers. The system's software implements the measurement of the voltage and current signals with a sample rate of 1 kS/s.


The article studies set of views of the inhabitants of the bordering with Poland Brest and Grodno regions on the Polish experience of social modernisation in the post-communist period. It is pointed out a positive perception of the image of Poland, based on the recognition of the obvious successes achieved by Polish society. A significant part of the respondents believe that the greatest successes have been achieved by this country in the socio-economic area, and the main reasons of this are accession to the European Union, development of market economy institutions and creation of a democratic political system. The respondents believe that Polish experience can be used for their country development, including also moving beyond the Russia's sphere of influence and joining the European Union.
Comparing Polish and Belarusian paths of development, majority of Belarusians prefer Polish way of doing reforms. The number of Belarusians who feel anxiety about Poland's accession to the Euro-Atlantic institutions has decreased over the past 20 years. The general growth of a positive attitude towards Poland and Poles in all appearances was noted, despite the intensive anti-Polish propaganda carried out in Belarus by state media.
Sociological study shows that, according to the Belarusians, they have nothing to offer Poles regarding the organisation of economic and socio-political life, but they might be interested at the Belarusian experience in cleanup on the streets, as well as strengthening of tolerance in the society.


The aim of this study was to demonstrate how a tandem quadrupole mass spectrometer could be used to confirm the presence of previously reported metabolites in human liver microsomal incubation samples. The results presented were for a 60-minute incubation sample. LC-MS and LC-MS-MS data was processed in an automated fashion to confirm the presence of a number of significant metabolites. The mass spectrometer was equipped with a novel stacked ring based collision cell having an axial field. The results illustrate benefits of this design to both parent and neutral loss analysis.


To the Editor:

The link between C-reactive protein (CRP) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) often is considered to be indirect in that it reflects an epiphenomenon. A direct proinflammatory role of CRP, however, may also explain the associations between CRP and CVD.1 The recent article by Pasceri et al2 regarding the proinflammatory effect of CRP on human endothelial cells provides additional arguments for such a proinflammatory role for CRP. It also raises several intriguing questions, however.

In the study by Pasceri et al,2 …


Abstract Davey and Biederman (1996) reported taste aversion and aversion failure conditioning using an increase in ambient temperature as the unconditional stimulus (US). Rats in a forward pairings group drank highly concentrated saccharin solution shortly before they were placed in a hot environment. Relative drinking suppression was obtained; that is, nominal attenuation of neophobia to the strong-tasting solution was greater in controls than in the forward group. We interpreted the failure of attenuation of neophobia in the forward group as evidence of a mild conditioned taste aversion but indicated an alternative interpretation couched in terms of memory acquisition or retrieval failure. Richardson, Riccio, and Steele (1986) reported state-dependent retrieval failure in an attenuation of neophobia procedure. In the present paper, we failed to substantiate the hypothesis that state dependency contributed to our 1996 findings. In a more direct procedural replication substituting pentobarbital or shock for heat, we again failed to obtain any effect consistent with the state dependency interpretation but, to the contrary, obtained an effect with pentobarbital that is explainable only in terms of conditioned taste aversion.


The interference of the natural polyphenol coumarin derivative, coumarin-3-carboxylic acid, with the insertion of lyotropic anions and cadmium into artificial lipid bilayers was investigated using the solid supported membrane (SSM) method. This electrophysiological method allows the study of artificial lipid membranes by successively applying substrate solutions of different concentrations ("concentration jumps"), which results in measurable capacitive currents. Heavy metals, like cadmium, and lyotropic or Hofmeister anions are among pollutants that can have noxious effects on living organisms. Therefore, it is of interest to try to find remedies to counteract or diminish their negative effects. An important number of studies have evidenced the beneficial role of polyphenols in the treatment and prevention of various human pathologies, due to both their antioxidant as well as prooxidant properties. In the present work, concentrations jumps of lyotropic anions and cadmium have been applied to artificial lipid membranes and the resulting electrical capacitive currents have been measured in the presence of several concentrations of the polyphenol coumarin. It has been found that in the presence of coumarin the electrical signals elicited by chaotropic anions and cadmium decreased significantly, suggesting a protective role of the polyphenol at the lipid bilayer level.


Adaptive Modulation and Coding (AMC) is a key technology to achieve high throughput in wireless communication. However, it only considers adaptive modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and ignores other factors which can also influence throughput. This paper focuses on the joint MCS selection, number of stream and stream power allocation for 5G system, with the target of maximizing average successful transmitted bits of the transport block. Two algorithms are proposed to solve it, which are Interior Point-Dichotomy (IPD) iterative algorithm and Power-based Deep Reinforcement Learning (PDRL) algorithm. The simulation results demonstrate the superiority of the two algorithms we propose. Specifically, IPD and PDRL algorithm respectively offer 0.04dB and 0.18dB gains with respect to adaptive MCS and number of stream (AMNS) on average power scheme.


In the marine exploration of the western Sichuan, the geological models of the area were built by combining the geological understanding. On the basis of the previous exploration engineering designs, seismic acquisition parameters and optimizes geometry were designed by utilizing the Tesseral 2-D full wavefield wave equation for forward calculation. The acquisition data demonstrated that desirable geological results had been achieved. At the end of the paper, in order to provid some good references to the future marine exploration of this region, some suggestions were given by evaluating adaptability of the acquisition method.


Numerous studies emphasize the critical role of a company's absorptive capacity (ACAP) in leveraging valuable external knowledge for innovation and performance, but a specification of what determines the value of external knowledge is lacking to date. While some studies focus on the absorption of valuable market knowledge, others relate ACAP to technological knowledge. To resolve this issue, we suggest that a company's proactive market orientation which leads to profound market knowledge motivates companies to absorb external technological knowledge and makes such absorption purposeful, because it determines which technological knowledge becomes valuable for companies to absorb. We also investigate the interrelationships between the components of ACAP and analyze the relevance of the individual components depending on the extent to which the environment in which companies operate is turbulent. Our conceptual framework receives supporting evidence from an empirical study conducted among middle and top mana...


Herein is reported a method for fabricating <10 mg/cm3 silver aerogels via the freeze casting of aqueous nanowire suspensions followed by freeze substitution and supercritical drying. This method overcomes the limitations of traditional freeze drying and yields highly uniform, crack-free monoliths that undergo no measurable shrinkage with excellent mold reproduction. Significantly, freeze substitution enables the use of high concentrations of cryoprotectants to control the freezing process and, hence, the pore architecture of the resulting aerogels. Due to its physical nature, this method is applicable to the fabrication of materials with a broad range of compositions.Herein is reported a method for fabricating <10 mg/cm3 silver aerogels via the freeze casting of aqueous nanowire suspensions followed by freeze substitution and supercritical drying. This method overcomes the limitations of traditional freeze drying and yields highly uniform, crack-free monoliths that undergo no measurable shrinkage with excellent mold reproduction. Significantly, freeze substitution enables the use of high concentrations of cryoprotectants to control the freezing process and, hence, the pore architecture of the resulting aerogels. Due to its physical nature, this method is applicable to the fabrication of materials with a broad range of compositions.


The aim of this study was to determine the effects of vermicompost application on the growth of pepper seedlings. Fertilizer doses and application time applied to plants are among the most important factors affecting seedling quality in seedling production. Vermicompost products have many advantages from plant development to soil regulating effects, antioxidant effect and the use of all kinds of wastes (plant, animal, industrial, etc.) in production. Seedling mortar (70% peat and 30% perlite), which was constituted in the study, constituted the control group of the study. Pepper seedlings were grown by adding different doses of vermicompost (5, 10, 20%) to this control group. The properties of the vermicompost used were pH: 7.5, EC: 2.15 dS m-1, C / N: 18.71, organic matter: 64%, N: 1.25%, K2O: 1.02%, P2O5: 0.55 %). In the study, full fertilizer (EC: 1) dose and semi fertilizer (EC: 2) dose were applied in fertilization. Koylum pepper varieties was used in the study. Total output rate (%), stem length (cm), stem diameter (mm), number of leaves (number), stem length (cm), wet and dry leaf weight (g), wet and dry body weight (g), wet and dry root weight (g) properties were determined. According to the control group, 10 and 20% vermicompost application of pepper seedlings wet weight, dry body weights and wet and dry root dry weights were statistically increased. The first emergence of plant seedlings and their marketable times were withdrawn early by vermicompost application. At the end of the study, it was determined that some of the properties examined with vermicompost application to control mortar increased. Vermicompost application showed good performance in working as an organic fertilizer that can be mixed with peat and perlite mixture.


Nitrile oxide approach to the synthesis of tetrahydrobenzisoxazole and tetrahydroindazole derivatives with additional isoxazole (isoxazoline) pharmacophoric moiety is developed. Bis heterocyclic derivatives obtained and related compounds are of interest as new compounds possessing potent anticancer, anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antimicrobial activity.


It has long been held that bulk silicon is immune from fatigue. We present contrary evidence demonstrating severe fatigue in macroscale cracks produced in cyclic loading of single-crystal silicon with a sphere indenter. The key ingredient is a component of shear stress acting on the cracks during contraction and expansion of the contact circle. This gives rise to frictional sliding at the crack walls, dislodging and ejecting slabs of material and debris onto the silicon surface. The damage expands with continued cycling, leading to progressive degradation of the surface. The results have implications concerning the function of silicon-based devices.


Raman spectroscopy was utilized to investigate residual stresses found within a SiC/SiC ceramic matrix composite containing Hi-NicalonTM fibers, a slurry melt-infiltrated matrix of silicon carbide particles, and silicon matrix. Large gradients of electrically-active boron are found throughout various regions within the crystalline lattice of the silicon matrix. The regions were identified by the varying degrees of asymmetry and peak width measured in the resonant Fano profile of the doped silicon. A methodology to determine the residual stress state of silicon exhibiting varying degrees of electrically-active boron is presented by utilizing the changes in the Raman profile parameters. Previous works on similar SiC/SiC CMCs have attributed spatial gradients in the wavenumber to large fluctuations in stress. By applying the proposed methodology, we show that these observations are related to active boron that is segregated in various matrix areas. Utilizing this methodology, mean compressive stresses in various silicon regions were found to be approximately 300 MPa, with complementary tensile silicon carbide particle stresses of approximately 300 MPa. 1 Based upon Knauf dissertation entitled "Effects of Heat Treatment on SiC-SiC Ceramic Matrix Composites," Purdue University, 2017. Partially presented at 2018 United States Advanced Ceramics Association conference, Cape Canaveral, FL. 2 Research funding provided by US Air Force, materials provided by Rolls Royce. 3 Active-duty Air Force officer, currently stationed at Arnold Air Force Base, TN, 37389. E-mail: email@example.com


When a viscous fluid flows past a blunt body at sufficiently large Reynolds numbers (Re), it naturally develops an oscillatory motion that manifests itself in the time-periodic variation of the wake behind the body, a von Karman vortex street (VKVS). If the body is elastic, the frequency of the oscillations may be close to the natural frequency of the body, thus producing a resonance phenomenon that can lead to catastrophic consequences. A remarkable example is the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridges.
Traditionally, most numerical simulations and experiments are flow past a rigid body. In this thesis, the ANSYS Workbench coupling system was used to investigate this question in the care of an elastic body (FSI) in the shape of a cylinder clamped at both ends. We modeled the cylinder as silicon rubber to allow sufficiently large deformation even at small Renolds numbers. This simulation starts from a relatively low Reynolds number (Re100) up to a medium-range of values (Re2000). Results are compared with flow past a rigid cylinder, and it turns out that quite different phenomena are observed. The deformable cylinder prevents or mitigates vortex shedding to some degree. Besides, bifurcation patterns are varying from those observed in rigid ones. Drag and lift coefficients and displacements plots specifically demonstrate the occurrence of the phenomena. Deep understandings of such phenomena may improve configurations of architectures to avoid flow-induced vibrations and vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs).


To search into the mechanism of chestnut seeds mould rot, a wide-ranging investigation has made. It revealed that the main factors affecting chestnut seeds mould rot and found a solution, which would provide a scientific basis for improving quantity and preserving fresh for the chestnut seeds.


We solve exactly a multiband one-dimensional Jahn-Teller (JT) model with strong electron correlations using the Lieb-Wu Bethe ansatz equations. As well as the metallic undistorted phase, we find two JT distorted phases. The first is a conducting phase, in which most carriers sit on one chain with the remaining carriers distributed equally among the other chains. We suggest that this phase is what is observed at low temperatures in Yb{sub 4}As{sub 3}. In the second phase all the carriers sit on one chain. This phase becomes a Mott insulator when the chain is half filled. We also show that a mean-field treatment of the model is misleading and that an exact treatment of interactions is essential. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}


Backlight is the largest consumer in LCD displays, mostly accounting for 50% of the power. In order to increase the energy saving property of the backlight, this paper proposes a histogram transformation guided backlight luminance scaling method for power minimization. Image histogram clipping, moving and extension strategy are imported based on ARM hardware. LED backlight is then dimmed using pulse modulation and power is minimized. Experiments show that the algorithm can save about 35% backlight energy consumption with 5% image distortion.


The possibility of skin friction reduction in laminar channel flow is investigated when the flow is subjected to stationary distributed surface blowing and suction. Blowing and suction provided at the channel walls is steady in time but varies as a sine function along the streamwise direction. The skin friction changes depending on the wavelength and amplitude of the actuation. Especially, the skin friction is reduced below that of fully developed laminar flow as the wavelength decreases and amplitude increases. The optimal wavelength of producing minimum skin friction is π/2δ, where is the channel half-height It is observed that the distributed blowing and suction induces strong negative Reynolds shear stress in the near-wall region at the end of the suction part.


Abstract The purpose of this study was to evaluated the control of diarrhea disease and the acute respiratory disease in children under 5 years. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) strategy. 900 children in 60 villages were selected by Cluster Sampling technique. Data were collected through questionnaires and analyzed by using SPSS for windows. The study found that diarrhea mobility was 2.17 episode I child I year. The household caretaker's knowledge according to the 3 effective rules of management at home, found that there were 35.8%. In the part of behavior of caretakers concerning the diarrhea prevention was found that 37.7% of drinking water was not clean. The rate of breast feeding among the under four month children was 34.3 %. About hand - washing before preparing food or milk for children and after defecation were 12.7, 16.5%. And the rate of proper clearing out of children's feces was 91.3%. The treatment for children who got the diarrhea disease by being taken to government hospitals, health centers, private hospitals and clinics were 40.0,33.3 and12.0 %. The liquid food that the sick children got is the oral dehydration salt ORS 92.0%. It was found that the percent of sick children who got the antibiotic and the antidiarrheal drug were 30.7, 18. 7%. The most distributing place of the antibiotic and antidiarrheal drug were private hospitals or clinics, which was 48.6 %. For the controlling of the children's acute respiratory disease the study showed that the respiratory disease mobility was 9.97 episode I child I year. The knowledge of the important symptoms of pneumonia and the symptoms that the caretakers should take the children to health facilities immediately, found that 16.2 % For the behaviors of disease prevention, it was found that the problems of smoking in household areas or sometime found 37.5 20.0%.The process of preventing the spreading of disease when coughing or sneezing and the separating a child from the patient were 2.2 and 49.1 %. For the curing of a sick child whether common cold or pneumonia, it was found that most of them were taken to health centers and private clinics at the rate of 44.9 and 22.0 %. Most of them were diagnosed to be common cold for 88.1 % while they got antibiotic 34.5 %. And about the proper homecare for sick children, for example, how to take care for the children who got fever, cough and running nose I inconvenient breath, it was found that the rate was only 93.5, 88.1 and 86.1 while the given criteria was 80 %. According to the study, it is suggested that there should be promoted the public health advertisement emphasizing on the knowledge and self-care for people who cure the household common cold children, how to choose the safe and proper drug, the symptoms of pneumonia that should seek the proper treatment. Key words: Acute diarrhea disease, acute respiratory infection in children under 5 years, evaluation.


The dysgenic effects of birth control are not easily measured and tend to be obscured by environmental changes and reduced by the spread of birth control to the population at large. Since the adaptation of birth control is usually greatest among older women of high parity mutations and congenital defects are reduced. Because of the opposite forces at work the true genetic implications of family planning are difficult to evaluate.


Mesalina watsonana is one of the most widely distributed lacertid lizards of Iran. To in- vestigate patterns of sexual dimorphism in this taxon, 206 (99 female, 107 male) adult specimens collected either from various regions of the Iranian Plateau during 2005-2008 or examined from mu- seum collections were studied based on 19 morphometric and nine meristic characters. The results suggest that in Mesalina watsonana, body size could be the product of sexual and natural selection modified by ecological factors. Further, in all the studied populations, head size parameter has a more pronounced effect on the degree of sexual dimorphism than the length factors.


PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an alloy composition and a plating method. SOLUTION: The electrolytic composition which is an electrolytic composition for depositing a tin-copper alloy on a substrate, contains 5 to 100 g/L tin, 0.01 to 10 g/L copper, >=1 acidic electrolytes and optionally at least one additive and does not substantially contain lead is disclosed.


The incidence, ecology, and mortality of gram‐negative bacillary bacteremia in elderly patients were studied in an analysis of 334 episodes over a four‐year‐period in a 489–bed North Carolina community teaching hospital, 135 (40.4%) of which occurred in patients 70 years of age or older. The bacteremia rate per 1000 hospital admissions increased sharply with increasing age. The ecology and in vitro antimicrobial susceptibilities of the bacterial isolates were strongly influenced by community v hospital acquisition, but not by age. Urosepsis was significantly more likely to be the underlying source of hospital‐acquired bacteremia in patients 70 years or older (P< 0.01).


Modern file systems rely on the journaling mechanism to maintain crash consistency. The use of non-volatile memory (NVM) significantly improves the performance of journaling file systems. However, the superior performance of NVM will increase the likelihood of the journal filling up more often, thereby increasing the frequency of checkpointing. Together with the large amount of random checkpointing I/O found in most use cases, the checkpointing process becomes a new performance bottleneck. This paper proposes NV-Journaling, a strategy that reduces the frequency of checkpointing as well as reshapes the I/O pattern of checkpointing from one of random I/O to that which is more sequential I/O. NV-Journaling introduces fine-grained commits along with a cache-friendly NVM journaling layout that exploits the idiosyncrasies of NVM technology. Under this scheme, only the modified portion of a block, rather than the entire block, is written into the NVM journal device. Doing so significantly reduces checkpoint frequency and achieves better space utilization. NV-Journaling further reshapes the I/O pattern of checkpoint using a locality-aware checkpointing process. Checkpointed blocks are classified into hot and cold blocks. NV-Journaling maintains a hot block list to absorb repeated updates, and a cold bucket list to group blocks by their proximity on disk. When a checkpoint is required, cold buckets are selected such that blocks are sequentially flushed to the hard disk. We built a prototype of NV-Journaling by modifying the JBD2 layer in the Linux kernel and evaluated it using different workloads. Our experimental results show that NV-Journaling can improve performance by up to 4.3× compared to traditional journaling.


Polymer films will prepared by galvanostatic electrochemical synthesis, which provides a constant oxidative current at the anode. The electrochemical deposition of monomer and their copolymer films was carried out by using a galvanostatic technique at temperature 27 °C in a one-compartment, three-electrode glass cell. The ITO coated glass plate will have to use as a working electrode, platinum foil as a counter electrode and Ag/AgCl as a reference electrode. The electrolyte solution will prepare in deionized water with optimum parameter. After synthesis the polymer coated electrodes will rinsed thoroughly in deionized water dried in cold air and then used for subsequent characterization. The synthesized composite films will subjected to various characterization viz. galvanostatic electrochemical technique. The FTIR, SEM, XRD etc methods use for characterization. Keyword Galvanostatic, Monomer, Polymer


Polypyrrole with different morphologies has great impact over its properties such as concentration, time, high surface to volume ratio, dopants etc based on morphology has been discussed in this review. These Polypyrrole are potentially used for the sensing of various gases such as NO2, NH3, CO, H2 and CH4 gases. The influence of surface morphology, and doping of various PPy structures on gas sensing performance are extensively explained in this article such as roughness of films of PPy due to nature of counter ions influence the response of PPy films when used as sensitive layer, nanosheet structures has lowest LOD and improved response/recovery times. Furthermore, article focused upon various morphologies of PPy obtained with different methods and its influence in sensitivity is explained in this article. The sensitivity and response of PPy to various gases are also reviewed.


The redistribution of Be in highly doped AlxGa1−xAs layers and AlxGa1−xAs/AlAs(GaAs) short period superlattices (SPSL) during molecular beam epitaxy was investigated by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) depth profiling. Be outdiffuses significantly from these layers and, additionally, segregates in growth direction. Conversely, Be is depleted and incorporated only up to a solid-solubility limit depending on the Al content. SPSLs with shorter period are disordered and show the solid-solubility limits of homogeneous AlxGa1−xAs layers with the same average composition. Be solid-solubility limits in AlxGa1−xAs layers covering the whole range from GaAs to AlAs are derived from the SIMS depth profiles.


On eight dairy farms, labour demand and labour efficiency were studied. In 2004, labour demand during a year was calculated using the computer model AgroWerk. To obtain detailed input data for this model the farmers recorded labour times, and all farms were visited to collect input data concerning farm size and farm equipment together with the farmers. Additionally, in 2005 AgroWerk and the `Meetlat Kwaliteit van de Arbeid? (`Labour Quality Monitor?) were used to calculate physical load of the lower back and the upper extremities for the workers on the farms. Input data were the same as used to calculate labour demand, with additional data concerning distribution of tasks over workers. To calculate the physical load, the computer model uses basic data concerning labour conditions during many tasks that can be done according to several working methods. For all workers, total exposure of the lower back and of the upper extremities are calculated. It is concluded that all workers on the farms in this study who work more than 1500 hours a year have an increased risk for back pain. One of the main risk factors is standing (probably mainly during milking), but also frequent twisting of the back and exposure to vibrations are important factors. For several workers also the physical load of the upper extremities was too high, causing an extended risk for pain in neck, shoulders, arms or hands. Main reasons were: frequent force development with arms or hands, combination of force development and movement with the elbows, vibrations at hand and arms, and holding objects with the hands.


AimTo determine the thyroglobulin cut-off value as an indicator for progressive disease and to research relationships between sex, histological type, extra-capsular invasion and progressive disease in differentiated thyroid cancer. MethodsFour hundred and eight patients were evaluated retrospectively. One hundred and fifty-eight patients (group 1) treated for progressive disease and 166 patients (group 2) that were ablated for thyroid remnant were included in our study. Sex, age, histological type, presence of extra-capsular invasion at the diagnosis and L-thyroxine off thyroglobulin values (6–12 months after the ablation) were obtained. Data were analysed by statistical methods. ResultsThere was no statistically significant difference for ages (group 1, 45.3±16.1 years; group 2, 47±12 years, P>0.05). The chi-squared test revealed statistically significant differences for histological type (P>0.05) and extra-capsular invasion (P<0.001) but not for sex (P>0.05). Feasible cut-off level, sensitivity and specificity were found as a 10 ng·ml−1 thyroglobulin value, 79% and 97%, respectively. However, sensitivity and specificity were 80%, 92% for 5 ng·ml−1 and 82% for 2 ng·ml−1 thyroglobulin levels. Multivariate analysis showed that a 10 ng·ml−1 thyroglobulin cut-off value and extra-capsular invasion were independent prognostic factors. ConclusionIncreased thyroglobulin level, extra-capsular invasion and follicular type were poor prognostic factors but sex was not, whereas only extra-capsular invasion and increased thyroglobulin level were independent prognostic indicators for our groups. A 10 ng·ml−1 thyroglobulin level was a feasible cut-off and seemed to be a stronger factor than other indicators to predict progressive disease.


With the development of communication market,there is more fierce competition among service providers.Besides voice service,data service has turned into the focus of competition among service providers.Multimedia messaging service(MMS) is one of the most competitive value-added services in the communication market.The best feature of MMS is that the multimedia function is supported and overall information could be transmitted in the MMS.Kinds of mechanisms and key technologies about MMS application were introduced in detail.The delivery report in the MMS was tested and the related data was analyzed,so a reference for the development of MMS was provided.


A low order nonlinear dynamic model (LOM) of the induction plasma deposition (IPD) process has been developed and analysed to obtain insight into the design of an appropriate feedback control structure.


This CJEM with an opportunity to hear differing perspectives on topics per-tinent to the practice of emergency medicine. The deba-ters have been allocated opposing arguments on topics where there is some controversy or perhaps scienti fi c equipoise. t just quick accurate and de fi nitive They also care . are hard provide in a encounter waiting


Effects of aquatic extracts from fresh leaves,stem,root,litter and rhizospheric soil of cultivated chrysanthemum species 'Gaoyataizi' on cell membrane stability during the rooting of cutting seedlings of the same plant species were studied.The results showed that aquatic extracts had significant inhibitory effects on the activities of peroxidase(POD),superioxide dismutase(SOD) and catalase(CAT).Aquatic extracts from all varieties significantly also increased the MDA content,which led to aggravation of membrane lipid peroxidation.Compared with the CK,the activities of POD,SOD and CAT decreased 72.8%,56.0%,29.3% by leaf extract and 43.1%,55.0% and 74.0% by litter extract,respectively,MDA content increased 107% by leaf extract and 127% by litter extract.Aquatic extracts had significant inhibitory effects on with increasing concentrations of tissue extracts,however,had weak effect at lower concentration.


Environmental changes happen all the time. Changing environments bring about selection of organisms, and there is no organism that does not modify its environment to make a living, survive, and reproduce. These changes are the main motors of evolution and, consequently, the main cause of biodiversity. Environmental violence—unsustainable use and extraction of natural resources—is the way capitalist economies exploit nature. The extinction rates associated with the current unsustainable use of resources are sufficient to assume that we are experiencing a sixth mass extinction event. The rate at which humans are transforming the environment leaves no time for evolutionary adaptation. We need to reduce environmental violence for life to maintain its normal processes. Without knowledge of nature and the consequences of violence against nature, we will become another of the planet's extinct species.Los cambios ambientales ocurren todo el tiempo. Los ambientes cambiantes propician la seleccion de organismos y n...


This paper depicts the effect of distributed generation (DG) location on power system voltage stability, voltage profile and power losses. Different categories of DG types are used to check the effects on power system voltage stability, voltage profile and power losses. The most suitable locations to connect DG sources are identified by a modal analysis. A modal analysis is used to verify both proximity and mechanism of voltage instability. Here, reduced power flow Jacobian is used of full Jacobian to account for dependence of voltage stability on reactive power flow. The weak buses are identified using bus participation factors. Then, DGs are injected at these buses in order to evaluate voltage stability, voltage profile and power losses for different scenarios. For these scenario optimal sizing of the DG units in distribution system given their location is determined by Genetic Algorithm. The analysis is conducted on a well-known IEEE 33 bus radial distribution network. The results show the impact of DG injection in radial distribution system on voltage stability, voltage index and power losses.


The abstract of the collected works of the Yuan Dynasty inSikuquanshun Zongmutiyao is one document including abundant and valuable research dates of the poems of Yuan Dynasty,it is not only show us very objective opinion of zhe men who wrote Sikuquanshu,but also show us their high level of the poems of Yuan Dynasty.The understanding of the traits of the poems of Yuan Dynasty,the judgments of the value of the poems of Yuan Dynasty,the description of the development and evolution of the literature style of Yuan Dynasty,all of these are very valuable for today's researchers to use.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to break down south-north migration along both the skill and the occupational dimension and thus to distinguish and compare several types of south-north migration and brain drain. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents south-north migration rates by occupational category at two distinct levels of disaggregation according to International Standard Classification of Occupations 1988 (ISCO-88). The data sets combine information about the labor market outcomes of immigrants in Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) countries around the year 2000 provided by the Database on Immigrants in OECD Countries by the OECD with employment data for the developing migrant-sending countries from the International Labour Organization. Findings – The incidence of south-north migration was highest among Professionals, one of the two occupational categories generally requiring tertiary education, and among clerks and legislators, senior officials and man...


Objectives: Define and quantify the critical surge period of existing on-line COVID-19 mortality data; this could be instrumental to decision makers to determine how long health controls should be in place, and how long to expect the public health system to be in great stress. Create and share on-line, open-source software to continuously monitor critical surge periods in various communities as the data set grows. Test the critical surge period computational method on hierarchical data sets of various communities: a) globally; b) countrywide (states in the US); and c) statewide (counties/towns in the US states).Study Design: This was an open-source, on-line, COVID-19 data analytics development with support for web-browsers on any current mobile device.Methods: On-line, timely data for COVID-19 mortality was automatically retrieved by a developed application using the programming Python language and Jupyter electronic notebooks. An on-line, version-controlled code repository was created for the application and also used for providing an open execution environment for the research community. The data was fitted to a modified sigmoid function via an automated non- linear least-squares method. Three optimal parameters were computed and the critical times for the maximum and minimum curvatures of the function were used to obtain the critical surge period. The goodness of the fit was measured by a standard coefficient of determination, and alternatively, by direct pointwise relative error. Results: The software developed (a Python package) is called covid-surge (repository URL: htttps://github.com/dpploy/covid-surge) and available for download from PyPI on-line (URL: https://pypi.org/project/covid-surge/). Using covid-surge, the critical surge period was computed for the communities with the most evolved COVID-19 outbreak. At the time of this writing, the critical surge period was calculated for all countries with fully evolved mortality (12 out of 188) and found to be in average 23 days with 3 days of standard deviation. Similarly, for all states/districts in the US (20 out of 56), the computed average was 25 days with 3 days of standard deviation. Likewise, for the same states in the US, counties/towns that had fully evolved mortality surge (91 total out of 981 that had death cases) had the overall average of the surge period equal to 23 days with a standard deviation of 3 days. The accuracy of these results can be reproduced on-line using the software provided. In addition, forward results using newer data can also be generated by the research community using covid-surge.Conclusions: The surge period for hierarchical data including 12 countries, 20 US states, and 91 US counties/towns is remarkably similar: a 24-day period with 3-day standard deviation for all communities across many countries and the US. All of these communities were under similar COVID-19 controls, including social distancing, improved hygiene, and isolation which helps explain the constancy of the surge period. That is, these communities experienced nearly the same amount of time during the most stressful period of the mortality surge. Although the extent to which epidemic controls are applied can vary from community to community, this study shows that the variability of the surge period is small. As the COVID-19 sweeps over the continents, additional data will be available for fully-evolved communities and a later comparison can be made with covid-surge on-line. This study suggests that communities not yet fully affected by the COVID-19 mortality may expect a period of high stress on their public health system of about 30 days (lower bound). That is, health care organizations should plan to operate at full capacity for a minimum of 30 days.


The variation of density with temperature in four homologues of N-(p-n-octyloxy benzylidene)p-n-alkylanilines, 8O.m's, viz., N-(p-n-octyloxybenzylidene)p-n-pentylaniline, 80.5, N-(p-n-octyloxybenzylidene) p-n-hexylaniline, 80.6, N-(p-n-octyloxybenzylidene)p-n-heptylaniline, 80.7, and N-(p-n-octyloxybenzylidene)p-n-nonylaniline, 8O.9, is reported. Results infer first order nature of isotropic to smectic-A (IA), smectic-A to smectic-B (AB) and smectic-C to smectic-B (CB) transitions, while smectic-A to smectic-C (AC) transition is found to be second order. The pressure dependence of the transition temperatures is estimated from the Clausius-Clapeyron equation using density and enthalpy data. Pre-transitional effects are estimated in the vicinity of fluctuation dominated non-linear regions of isotropic to smectic-A phase transition in all the compounds and the results are discussed in the light of the available data on other nO.m compounds.


When properly managed, piece-rate pay can result in enhanced wages for crew workers and increased productivity for growers. Despite the benefits of piece rate, crew workers were evenly divided between those who favor hourly pay and those who prefer piece-rate pay. Crew worker concern about how piece rates are determined played a key role in the unexpectedly low preference for piece rate. Suggestions are offered for establishing piece rates as pay incentives.


The analysis of dioxins and furans on a novel multidimensional (CGC - CGC - MS) configuration is presented. The system is based on flow controlled column switching, allowing the simultaneous isomeric separation of tetrachloro-, pentachloro- and hexachloro-substituted dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans on a polar column and the analysis of heptachloro- and octachloro-substituted dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans on an apolar column. PI'V injection in the solvent vent mode allows analysis of large sample sizes approaching in this way the sensitivity of CGC - high resolution MS.


In modern technology era, the demand for Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) cells has been greatly increased due to its wide varie-ty of applications. Power consumption, speed, read stability and leakage issues are the major design challenges related to SRAM. This paper presents a novel SRAM cell based on Multiple Supply Voltages and non-precharged RBL (MS-N10T) and also shows the comparison of various SRAM cells based on lector, sleep transistors and Transmission gate (TG) to reduce the power consumption when compared to LP10T. The SRAM cell MS-N10T when used in combination of TG and sleep transistors (TGNS-13T) further reduces the power consumption. The analysis further shows that the SRAM, TGNS13T reduces the power consumption approximately by 70-80%. On the Other hand, the LC14T SRAM cell enhances the stability approximately by 80-85%. The major objective of this work is to reduce the power consumption with marginal increase in propagation delay and to improve read stability so as to meet the challenges of advance-ments in technologies. All the various SRAM architectures are implemented using Cadence 45nm CMOS technology.


Jamin Asay: Truth in Constructive Empiricism (Under the direction of John Roberts) Constructive empiricism, the scientific anti-realism championed by Bas van Fraassen, claims to offer an adequate reconstruction of the aim and practice of scientific inquiry without adopting the inflationary metaphysical excesses of scientific realism. In articulating the positions of the realist and the empiricist, van Fraassen freely makes use of the concept of truth. Theories of truth come in a variety of flavors, some more metaphysically stark than others. Deflationary theories of truth, for instance, boast of the ability to offer a full account of the nature of truth without having to succumb to the supposed metaphysical extravagances accompanying more substantive accounts. Constructive empiricism and deflationism about truth seem, then, to form a natural pair. My contention is that such a pairing is not possible— constructive empiricism requires a more substantive account of truth than can be offered by the deflationist.


This volume covers the following: miscellaneous applications; arithmetic algorithms and architectures; DSP architectures; systolic algorithms and architectures; high speed networks; design methodologies; rapid prototyping; and compilers. A separate abstract was prepared for one paper in this volume.


For some coronal mass ejections (CMEs), their interaction with the ambient solar wind can produce a forward-reverse shock pair. The high-speed mass ejecta compresses the plasma near the top of the CME on both sides of the tangential discontinuity which separates the CME plasma from the ambient solar wind plasma. The front of the compressed CME plasma propagates in the reverse direction relative to the ejecta flow, it may steepen to form a reverse slow shock. The front of the compressed solar wind plasma also propagates in the foward direction relative to the ambient solar wind and it may steepen to form a forward shock. The forward-reverse shock pair associated with CMEs moves outward in interplanetary space and evolves into a pair of fast shocks. The interplanetary manifestation of some CMEs is pictured as a magnetic cloud accompanied by a shock pair: a forward shock precedes the cloud and a reverse shock either within or behind the cloud. copyright American Geophysical Union 1988


Objective To investigate the change of IL-6 in Lyme arthritis. Methods Twenty female Kunming mice were selected and randomly divided into two groups. The recombinant Bmp A of Borrelia burgdorferi was injected into the tibiotarsal joint of experimental group mice to induce the arthritis. ELISA experiment was used to detect the concentration of IL-6 in murine joints. Results The average concentration of IL-6 in the joint fluid of experimental mice and normal control group was 72.26 pg/m L and 31.32 pg/m L, respectively. The difference was statistically significant between two groups(P 0.01). Conclusion IL-6 is a important inflammatory cytokine,it has obvious correlation with Lyme arthritis.


This article analyzes the adaptation of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to the post-Cold War strategic scene. In this process of change the Colombian guerrilla organization has broken away from the traditional behavior patterns of Latin American armed groups in four key ways. First, the FARC has reduced the rigidity of its ideology in order to make its political message more attractive. Second, it has made a great effort to boost its military potential. Third, it has established independent channels of funding and arms supply. Finally, the Colombian rebels have developed a very decentralized organic structure that nevertheless maintains a sufficient degree of cohesion. These innovations have made the FARC a new model of insurgency that has managed to corner the Bogota government and destabilize a significant part of the Andean region.


The eighteen incompatible medicaments and nineteen medicaments of mutual restraint have been tought of traditional prohibited combination in long time,but people are unable to agree upon interrelated theories and can not reach an accordant consideration.From their origins and different comprehension of present TCM,this paper sum up and analyze previous experimental results in toxicology,pharmacology,chemistry and informatics so as to comprehend the scientific significance of the eighteen incompatible medicaments and nineteen medicaments of mutual restraint.We suggest that every drug pair has its own characteristic,one or several pairs can not typif the whole Eighteen Incompatible medicaments and nineteen medicaments of mutual restraint.Therefore the accurate modern understanding can only be reached until a systematic reseach on the whole drug pairs is done.


The cooling type of the nozzle body is very difficult to produce under the conditions of production created by the processing.Based on this topic of argon arc welding process method,nozzle body will be carried out from the separation of the design,manufacture,assembled and welding,which solved the cooling-nozzle body's cooling cavity structure design and layout,welding intensity control,overheating affected zone on the impact of secondary machining and so on.It explored a manufacturing processing method of cooling type needle valve assembly,and which resolved the problem of junction plastic and carbon balls phenomenon by engine strengthen and the use of poor-quality heavy oil.


To study the effect of L-arginine on circadian system, ICR mice and AR4-2J cells were treated with L-arginine. The locomotor activity of the mice intraperitoneally injected with a high dose of L-arginine was observed. We also detected effects of arginine on Per1 and Per2 gene expressions in AR4-2J cells. Double-plotted actograms were applied to analyze the locomotor activity of the mice, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used in analysis of the expression of the major circadian genes Per1 and Per2 in AR4-2J cells. The results presented here indicate that the intraperitoneal injection of L-arginine would strongly disrupt the circadian rhythm of locomotor activity in mice. While the co-culture of L-arginine would also disturb the circadian rhythm of Per1 and Per2 genes which were induced by PMA in AR4-2J cells, the expression levels of both genes greatly decreased.


We report on a case of female pelvic tuberculosis in which distinctive sonographic findings led to its diagnosis. A 31-year-old woman presented to our hospital with abdominal distension and pelvic pain that had persisted for 3 months. Physical examination revealed a moderately distended abdomen with positive shifting dullness; there was no abdominal tenderness or palpable mass. On pelvic examination, her vagina and cervix were normal. There was slight bulging of the cul-de-sac and tense, mild tenderness at both adnexa with no palpable mass. Transabdominal and transvaginal two-dimensional (2D) ultrasound with a Voluson E8 Expert system (GE Healthcare Ultrasound, Milwaukee, WI, USA) revealed anechoic ascites without septations. Both Fallopian tubes were enlarged with segmental constriction and there was echogenic content in the tubal lumens (Figure 1a). Peritubal adhesion bands were noted at the ampullary part of the right tube (Figure 1b). The uterus was of normal size with homogeneous echogenic endometrium and both ovaries were normal. The peritoneum covering the uterus, cul-de-sac and parietal peritoneum was noticeably thick (5 mm) (Figure 1a,c). Transabdominal three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound examination with surface rendering of the pelvic organs confirmed an enlarged swollen Fallopian tube with segmental constrictions. Numerous small tubercles were noted on the tubal serosa, uterine serosa and parietal peritoneum (Figure 2). These sonographic findings were highly suggestive of pelvic tuberculosis. Chest x-ray, sputum acid-fast bacilli (AFB) stain test, paracentesis for ascitic fluid analysis/AFB stain/mycobacterial culture and endometrial sampling were performed. The chest x-ray and sputum AFB stain test were both negative for tuberculosis. The ascitic fluid was straw colored with few lymphocytes and no malignant cells, and tested negative for AFB stain. Mycobacterial culture of ascitic fluid was also reported as negative for tuberculosis. Histological assessment of the endometrial tissue revealed non-caseous granulomatous inflammation with a positive AFB stain (Kinyoun method). The patient was consequently treated with multiagent anti-tuberculosis drugs of isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol. At 5-week follow up, pelvic pain and the volume of ascitic fluid had decreased considerably. At 9-week follow up, the ascites had resolved completely.


More than 40% web search queries pivot around a single entity, which can be interpreted with the available knowledge bases such as DBpedia and Freebase. With the advent of these knowledge repositories, major search engines are interested in suggesting the related entities to the users. These related entities provide an opportunity to the users to extend their knowledge. Related entities can be obtained from knowledge bases by retrieving the directly linked entities. However, many popular entities may have more than 1,000 directly connected entities without defining any associativity weight, and these knowledge bases mainly cover some specific types of relations. For instance, "Brad Pitt" can be considered related to "Tom Cruise" but they are not directly connected in DBpedia graph with any relation. Therefore, it is worth finding the related entities beyond the relations explicitly defined in knowledge graphs, and a ranking method is also required to quantify the relations between the entities. In this work, we present Entity Relatedness Graph (EnRG) that provides a ranked list of related entities to a given entity, and clusters them by their DBpedia types. Moreover, EnRG helps a user in discovering the provenance of implicit relations between two entities. With the help of EnRG, one can easily explore even the weak relations that are not explicitly included in the available knowledge bases, for instance, Why is "Brad Pitt" related to "Backstreet Boys"?


Phenytoin (5,5'-dipenylimidazolidine-2,4-dione) is the prime example of anticonvulsant agent. According to reported procedure, it is synthesized by condensation of benzil and urea in presence of base (30% w/v NaOH) using ethanol as solvent which itself acts as CNS stimulant. Removal of solvent after synthesis is most difficult and non-assured process. In case of phenytoin transformation in polymorphism plays an important role when solvent other than water is used. About 30% extra cost is calculated if solvent other than water is used. Therefore by application of green chemistry principle phenytoin was synthesized by condensation of benzil and urea in presence of base (30% NaOH) and water as green solvent. This compound was characterized on the basis of its spectral (IR, 1H NMR) data and evaluated for anticonvulsant activity using MES induced and PTZ induced seizure models in Swiss albino mice. Significant anticonvulsant activity was found by using 25 mg/kg and 50 mg/kg of phenytoin compared with standard phenytoin at 25 mg/kg dose.


This paper details out a simple methodology ev olved to benchmark water and sanitation utilities in terms of a single numerical performance score. The work involved identifying key indicators and assigning weights and mutual integration of these weights with a carefully devised scale over a spreadsheet to obtain performance scores. The weights were decided by employing a 3-tier DELPHI study, while the scale was devised using the mean indicators values available in the literature. This simple approach can reveal not just the relative rankings for partner utilities, but can also help utilities to figure out shortcomings in identified areas so that corrective measures can be adopted. The methodology has been exemplified by benchmarking four water supply utilities in Haryana, India.


Abstract We fabricated top emission organic light emitting diode (TEOLED) with transparent metal cathode Barium and Silver bilayer. Very thin Ba/Ag bilayer was deposited on the organic layer by thermal evaporation. This cathode showed high transmittance over 70% in visible range, and the device with a Ba‐Ag has a low turn on voltage and good electrical properties.


The device structure and operation principle of a GaInAsSb/GaSb PIN detector are described. The effect of sulphur passivation and AlGaAsSb window layer on the Ⅰ-Ⅴ characteristics has been discussed and analyzed in detail.


Objective:To discuss the application of explant culture system in human osteoblasts culture. Method:The cancellous bone was harvested from the ilia of 10 patients with congenital scoliosis, the chipped explants were cultured to obtain the osteoblasts.The morphology and formation of calcium nodules of cultured cells were observed,staining of alkaline phosphatase,collagen typeⅠand osteocalcin mRNA expression detected by RT-PCR,immunofluorescence of osteocalcin were all used to confirm the osteoblast phenotype.Result: Copious primary cells were obtained from the explant culture system, these cells were confirmed as osteoblasts by the morphology and formation of calcium nodules, staining of alkaline phosphatase, and expression of the collagen typeⅠand osteocalcin.Conclusion:Explant culture system is simple and economic methods.Offering copious primary osteoblasts with good cellular characters,it is an ideal culture system for human osteoblasts.


Sleep apnea syndromes, Aerospace medicine, Accident prevention, Disorders from excessive sleepiness, Surveys and Questionnaires. Background and purpose: In the context of air transport activity in Brazil there is no preventive regulation of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS). The aim is to identify Brazilian Civilian Pilots (BCP) with the possibility of having OSAS through responses to different questionnaires, validated and used worldwide as indicators of this disease, and propose the inclusion of these screening tools during the annual medical examination of health . Method: After signing the Informed Consent, 262 BCP were interviewed. The interviews included the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), the Berlin Questionnaire (BQ) and the STOP-BANG questionnaire (SBQ). Pilots that exceeded daily working hours or did not comply with the rest time required by law, pilots of international flights and users of sleep-inducing drugs were excluded from the study. Results: Positive results for OSAS were found in 16% of the cases according to the BQ, 37.4% according to the SBQ, and 11.45% were considered at risk in both questionnaires. A weak correlation was found between the answers to the questionnaires and the ESS. weak to moderate agreement was observed between the SBQ and the BQ to suggest the presence of OSAS (Weighted Kappa = 0.263, 95%CI 0.153 – 0.373) and also the odds ratio of 5.58 ( 95%CI 2.698 – 11.573). Citation: Junqueira AAF, Melo MHA, Neves DD, Filho JCR, Junqueira GF. (2022) Prevalence of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Risk for Brazilian Civil Aircraft Pilots. Ann Case Report 7: 858. DOI: 10.29011/2574-7754.100858 2 Volume 7; Issue 03 Ann Case Rep, an open access journal ISSN: 2574-7754 Discussion: We can infer that there is a risk of OSAS in the population studied and we suggest the application of these questionnaires as screening tools to indicate the completion of Polysomnography by the health regulatory agencies and flight licensing in order to increase safety.


There is limited evidence that for transcervical chorionic villus sampling (CVS), the use of small forceps may be more effective and less painful than the use of an aspiration cannula.


The authors present a group therapy for schizophrenia called multimodal integrative cognitive stimulating group therapy (MICST). MICST is founded upon a theoretical model that views schizophrenia as a condition characterized by information-processing and memory deficits, which interfere with communication. MICST is designed to stimulate clients' cognitive and memory functioning, improve information processing, and enhance clients' abilities to engage in reality-based conversations. The therapy combines elements of social skills relaxation exercise, cognitive rehabilitation, and traditional psychotherapy but also emphasizes accessing clients' "intact" cognitive functioning by using both visual and auditory modalities. MICST's long-term use, its eager acceptance by clients and staff, and results from various outcome measures support its potential value. However, formal studies are required to more firmly establish MICST's efficacy.


The expression for the gravitational red shift has been derived without the equivalence principle. This allowed us to give the gravitational mass opposite signs for particles and antiparticles. It is shown that when an antinucleus emits or absorbs a photon, the antigravity produces an anomalous frequency shift in magnitude or sign, or both, depending on the emitter-ab-sorber configuration. Whenever the antinucleus is used as an absorber, the shift will have a positive sign (blue shift). If an antinucleus emitter and a nucleus absorber were placed next to each other i'n a terrestrial laboratory, a gravitational shift would be produced about 106 times as large as the one observed by Pound and Rebka with nuclei. Measurement of the frequency of series the antihydrogen plus the gravitational field of the earth could reveal the existence of such an effect. antinucleon-nucleon that an apparent energy unbalance of 2 ev ( 1 part in 109 ) should be observed in antiproton annihilations, as a consequence of such an anomalous gravitational shift. our such effects, particularly in electromagnetic transitions, their in experimental their and against antigravity.


A formalism is developed to interpret the magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) sum rules in terms of the complex dielectric tensor e(ω). Utilizing classical Maxwell–Fresnel theory, the formalism is applied to the reflection spectra of Fe at the M2,3 transition to calculate the orbital moments 〈Lz〉. The analysis shows that due to the energy dependence of the unpolarized normalization integral and the absence of a well-defined cut-off energy across the transition edge, large errors can be introduced. Uncertainties in 〈Lz〉 by more than 100% are possible which makes a comparison with other literature values questionable. Due to the arbitrary energy cut-off, the application of the sum rules as a general tool to unambiguously decompose MCD spectra into orbital and spin components should be practiced with great caution.


Predictive models are pivotal tools for the development of new SPADs. To verify the effectiveness of such models, the generated results must be compared with experimental data on large set of SPADs. In doing so, a precise knowledge of the doping profile along the detector active region is mandatory, being physical processes involved in SPADs' operation generally strongly dependent on the electric field. Unfortunately, widely-adopted profiling techniques do not provide an accuracy sufficient for predictive SPAD modeling. To cope with this limitation, we developed an inverse method that, by means of electrical simulations and capacitance-voltage measurements, is able to refine approximated doping profiles. We used this method to calculate the breakdown voltages of multiple SPADs. Simulated results closely matching the experimental data provide us a convincing validation of the proposed technique.


Scaled advanced technologies with its narrow metal line spaces are prone to very wide variation. Therefore, having an accurate IMD-TDDB lifetime projection as the upcoming technologies shrink in dimensions is critical. It was reported previously that the Weibull shape parameter p is improved at low field stress (use condition) compared to higher fields (stress condition) in regard to field dependence model approach (E, a/E model) [1-2]. In this paper, we show that the P of IMD-TDDB improves as stress field or voltage is reduced through simulation by using the space data obtained from in-line SEM measurement This is further verified by the long-term (up to 8 months of package level) IMD-TDDB experimental data from various technology nodes with 80-100nm pitch. For the voltage projection, we also show that power-law shows better fit to the long term data. The study is highly useful for developing and qualifying the technology node beyond 14nm.


The variability of the hydraulic conductivity (K) and the sorption coefficient (Kd) and the correlation between these two variables leads to the enhanced dispersion of contaminants. Seventy-three (73) samples, at a spacing of 0.5 m, were taken from a horizontal transect, and 26 samples, at a sampling interval of 0.15 m, were taken from a vertical transect on a vertical undisturbed face at the Handy Cranberry Bog on Cape Cod, Massachussetts. The soils at this site, Mashpee Pitted Plain Deposits, are composed of the same glaciofluvial outwash sediments as the soils at the USGS test site. The test site is near the source of an extensively studied sewage contamination plume, which extends several kilometers into a sole source aquifer that supplies drinking water for the Cape Cod area. The hydraulic conductivity was measured with a falling head permeameter. The variance of InK is 0.080; the correlation length is 1 m for the horizontal transect and 0.1 m for the vertical transect. The percent organic carbon (POC) was measured using a CHN Analyzer. The POC measurements and the partioning coefficient, K 0 , were used to calculate Kd for three hypothetical contaminants: benzene, trichloro-benzene (TCB) and pentachlorobenzene (PentCB). The soils at the bog have an average POC value of 0.018%. The variance of the POC and lnKd for the entire sample population is 1 x 107 and 0.145. For a series of ten measurements of POC of the same sample, the variance is 4 x 10'. The correlation length of lnKd is 1 m for the horizontal transect and 0.15 m for the vertical transect. A linear regression of lnKd unto InK shows a significant correlation with a slope (b) of-0.341 and a coefficient of correlation (r) of-0.233. The correlation between InK and InKd is expressed in terms of the slope and an uncorrelated residual term using a linear regression model. Several tests, based on cross-covariance and cross-spectral analyses, indicate-that this simple linear regression model is an adequate representation of the correlation structure of the In Kd and InK fields. The longitudinal macrodispersivity for a nonreactive tracer is 0.076 m. For reactive tracers such as benzene, TCB and PentCB, the macrodispersivity is 0.081 m, 0.142 m and 0.177 m respectively.


Location and manipulation of complex data is a difficult, challenging task in nowadays extremely complex IT systems and on the Internet, overwhelmed with a huge amount of information that develops and grows rapidly. In this paper, we propose a self-organizing approach that combines purely decentralized unstructured P2P with space based computing in order to locate effectively and filter (retrieve) information from a network. The inspiration came from swarm intelligence that possesses distributive and autonomous properties and represents a self-organizing biological system. The goal is to achieve a good query capability, which we prove by means of benchmarks.


High density concrete is widely used in railway, crane counterweight, radiation shielding in nuclear plants or other radiation related application in medical establishment. The aim of this study is to increase the density of concrete and accomplish it by using steel treatment waste as aggregatesiron dross (mainly iron oxides) and steel punchings which are locally available. Two different mixes with the same w/c ratio and cement content were designed by using fine grinded iron dross and a mix of steel punchings with sizes less than 11.2 mm as aggregates. The traditional concrete aggregates were replaced by steel treatment waste in the amount of 50% and 100%. Physical and mechanical properties (density, compressive and tensile strength, freeze-thaw resistance and others) were determined for obtained concrete. The concrete with density up to 4640 kg/m3 was obtained in this study.


The Nation's guideline thought of the constitution in a world can be classified in to three types: In capitalist country, the constitutions stipulate clearly the position of the theory of human rights and natural law of the classic enlightenment scholars as the Nation's guideline thought , and confirm its constitutional status ; In socialist country, the constitutions stipulate clearly the socialist theory of Marxism as constitutional position and confirm the scientific socialist theory as the guiding ideology of country; Some country with the long religious tradition, stipulate religious theory and doctrine as the Nation's guideline thought clearly. China's constitutional stipulation in this field is Marxism-Leninism MAO Ze dong Thought being the Nation's guideline , the Amendment to China's constitution stipulates the theory of DENG Xiao ping as Nation's guideline thought .this Amendment is not only the result that Chinese modern constitutional culture development , but also accords with constitution confirmation of the country the world, which Nation's guideline thought must agree with the nation's legal systems, political systems, economics, and cultural conditions


City may be defined as the artificial creation of communal life in a natural environment, made up of complexes of buildings that cater to human needs. Urbanization then is a process that forms a chain of events over time. It may be said that city itself is a process, when viewed as whole. In this article, this formation process is examined taking Nicosia on the island of Cyprus as the example. The article was prompted by a number of factors, namely similarities between the walled city in the centre of Nicosia and its equivalent in European medieval settlements, the fact that Nicosia's walled city has survived to the present relatively intact, and its lack of mention in available sources. The article examines Nicosia's walled city in the context of findings on the medieval cities of Europe. The information on Nicosia city in the medieval period and 13th-15th centuries was taken from available sources, and interpreted by analyzing the physical structure of the settlement. In the introduction, an overall perspective is given of the historical period of Nicosia city. This is followed by a detailed description of the medieval period and 13th-15th centuries of the city. The article concludes with an evaluation and comments on the the physical formation of Nicosia city at the close of 15th century.


We developed an easily attachable fingertip-sized pressure sensor (FSPS) for a three-way stopcock in a liquid channel of a heart–lung machine. The FSPS has a double-pipe structure with a semispherical soft film cap on the pointed end and a diaphragm semiconductor strain sensor on the other end. An enclosed space of variable volume covered with the soft film cap prevents the semiconductor strain sensor from coming into direct contact with blood, and the double-pipe structure decreases the strain on the strain sensor when inserting the FSPS into the female-fitting part of the luer taper. It is difficult to fabricate a very fine double-pipe structure by cutting or injection molding. Instead, we fabricated it by using a three-dimensional (3D) printer. Moreover, it is difficult to fabricate a semispherical soft film cap with a 3D printer, so we fabricated it with a resin casting method using silicone resin. Experiments on the FSPS using a variable pressure liquid channel showed that it is not affected by inserting it into the female-fitting part of the luer taper and that it can accurately measure pressure in a liquid channel within a pressure range from 0 to 100 kPa.


OBJECTIVE: To investigate frequency of sexual encounters with new partners abroad in patients attending a genitourinary clinic (GUM). METHODS: In a case series 464 attenders at a genitourinary medicine clinic completed an anonymous self-administered questionnaire, if they had been abroad recently, enquiring about sexual behaviour abroad. RESULTS: 28.4% of subjects admitted to sex with a new partner abroad with only 41.7 per cent consistently using condoms. There were no significant differences in condom use for gender, ethnicity or type of visit and relationship. Twenty-nine per cent of those admitting to sex abroad had more than one partner. The risk of multiple partners was not associated with gender, ethnicity, type of visit (holiday or business) or type of relationship (heterosexual or homosexual). The first partner abroad for 63% of men and 62.5% of women was of a nationality other than that of United Kingdom residents. Non-Caucasians and homosexuals were significantly more likely to have first partners abroad from outside the UK than Caucasians and heterosexuals respectively. CONCLUSION: The occurrence of casual sex abroad in GUM attenders suggests that further research is needed to establish targetable risk factors for this type of behaviour amendable to change through health promotion.


This paper reports on the design and characterization of field effect transistor (FET)-based stress sensors (piezo-FETs). Each sensor is formed by four FETs connected as a Wheatstone bridge with a common gate electrode and merged source/drain diffusions. The sensors are operated in strong inversion and saturation and provide a differential voltage signal proportional to mechanical stress. Maximal stress sensitivities are achieved by using NMOS devices for σx′y′ and PMOS devices for (σx′x′ − σy′y′) and by their optimal orientations with respect to the crystallographic axes. Three designs optimized for low intrinsic offset (design A), low power consumption (design B) and small size (design C) are presented. The sensors were fabricated in a commercial 0.35 µm CMOS technology. Their sensitivities were characterized by application of well-defined normal and shear stress on a four-point bending bridge and a torsional bridge, respectively. Statistically meaningful values of the common-mode and intrinsic offset voltage variations were obtained from 95 samples on a wafer prober setup. Absolute sensitivities of ≈1 mV/MPa are reported for both sensors of design A with standard deviations of all offset voltages below 3 mV.


Field experiments were conducted to study N uptake and utilization under different N rates and panicle fertilizerdistribution ratios (PFDR) and influence on grain yield and quality in three rice varieties. Results showed that high N rate increasedtotal N accumulation and reduced N production efficiency and N harvest index. Under the same N rate, greater PFDR increasedtotal N accumulation, N recovery efficiency, N transportation efficiency and decreased N production efficiency. Changes of Nuptake and utilization under different N management have an important influence on grain yield and quality. Increase of Naccumulation increased protein content in grains and effective panicles, but reduced seed setting rate. N dry matter productionefficiency increased with increase of seed setting rate, protein contents in grains and effective panicles reduced. N harvest indexincreased and chalky rice ratio and area enhanced, and effective panicles reduced.


Abstract Navigation systems are reliable and safe for neurological surgery. Navigation is an attractive and innovative therapeutic option. Recently, endo and exoscopic surgeries have been gradually increasing in neurosurgery. We are currently trialing to use 4K and 8K systems to improve the accuracy and safety of our surgical procedures. Surgeries for deep-seated tumors are challenging because of the difficulty in creating a corridor and observing the interface between lesions and the normal area. In total, 315 patients underwent surgery at Okayama University between 2017 and 2019. Among them, we experienced 92 glioma surgeries using navigation systems. Preoperatively, we performed computed tomography imaging and contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the neuronavigation system. We experienced Curve(TM) Image Guided Surgery (BrainLab, Munich, Germany). The surgical trajectory was planned with functional MRI and diffusion tensor imaging to protect the eloquent area and critical vasculature of the brain. We used a clear plastic tubular retractor system, the ViewSite Brain Access System, for surgery of deep seated gliomas. We gently inserted and placed the ViewSite using the neuronavigation. The tumor was observed and resected through the ViewSite tubular retractor under a microscope and endoscope. If the tumor was large, we switched the ViewSite tubular retractor to brain spatulas to identify the boundary between the normal brain and lesion. We are currently using the combination of the tubular retractor and brain spatulas using navigation system. Here, we present and analyze our preoperative simulation, surgical procedure, and outcomes.


This study presents the first detailed estimate of Rwanda's nitrogen (N) flows and N footprint for food (NFfood) from 1961 to 2018. Low N fertilizer inputs, substandard production techniques, and inefficient agricultural management practices are focal causes of low crop yields, environmental pollution, and food insecurity. We therefore assessed the N budget, N use efficiency (NUE), virtual N factors (VNFs), soil N mining factors (SNMFs), and N footprint for the agro-food systems of Rwanda with consideration of scenarios of fertilized and unfertilized farms. The total N input to croplands increased from 14.6 kg N ha−1 yr−1 (1960s) to 34.1 kg N ha−1 yr−1 (2010–2018), while the total crop N uptake increased from 18 kg N ha−1yr−1 (1960s) to 28.2 kg N ha−1yr−1 (2010–2018), reflecting a decline of NUE from 124% (1960s) to 85% (2010–2018). Gaseous N losses of NH3, N2O, and NO increased from 0.45 (NH3), 0.03 (N2O), and 0.00 (NO) Gg N yr−1 (1960s) to 6.98 (NH3), 0.58 (N2O), and 0.10 (NO) Gg N yr−1 (2010–2018). Due to the low N inputs, SNMFs were in the range of 0.00 and 2.99 and the rice production, cash-crop production, and livestock production systems have greater SNMFs in Rwanda. The weighted NFfood per capita that presents the actual situation of fertilized and unfertilized croplands increased from 4.0 kg N cap−1 yr−1 (1960s) to 6.3 kg N cap−1 yr−1 (2010–2018). The NFfood per capita would increase from 3.5 kg N cap−1 yr−1 to 4.8 kg N cap−1 yr−1 under a scenario of all croplands without N fertilizer application and increase from 6.0 to 8.7 kg N cap−1 yr−1 under the situation of all croplands receiving N fertilizer. The per capita agro-food production accounted for approximately 58% of the national NFfood. The present study indicates that Rwanda is currently suffering from low N inputs, high soil N depletion, food insecurity, and environmental N losses. Therefore, suggesting that the implementation of N management policies of increasing agricultural N inputs and rehabilitating the degraded soils with organic amendments of human and animal waste needs to be carefully considered in Rwanda.


Lumbar puncture (LP) remains a necessary diagnostic technique. Nevertheless, the method is not without side effects since post-lumbar puncture headache (PLPH) can occur in up to 40% of cases (1). The PLPH presumably is caused by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage secondary to dural injury by the sharp tip of the Quincke needle. An option which may avoid PLPH is to use an atraumatic needle. A modified version of Whitacre's needle was developed by Sprotte for the purpose of regional anaesthesia (2). The tip of the needle is shaped as a closed circular cone with rounded profile. In spite of the small diameter of the needle, the CSF flow is sufficient due to a long, oval sideward aperture which is larger than the inner diameter of the needle (Fig. 1). Additionally, the wall of the atraumatic needle is thinner than the needles of Quincke and Whitacre. Since 1986, we have used this needle with good result (3, 4).


The need to improve engineering properties, reduce weight and cost of composites led to this present study. A356 alloymatrix composites with varying ranges of cow horn particles, (0–25 wt%), were p...


Tunneling in difficult geological conditions is often inevitable especially in urban areas. Ground improvement and reinforcement techniques are often required to guarantee safe tunnel excavations and/or to prevent damage to adjacent structures. The steel pipe-reinforced multi-step grouting method has been recently applied to tunnel sites in Korea as an auxiliary technique. In this study, the face stability with steel pipe-reinforced multi-step grouting was evaluated by simultaneously considering two factors: one is the effective stress acting on the tunnel face calculated by limit theorem and limit equilibrium method; the other is the seepage force obtained by means of numerical analysis. The study revealed that the influence of the steel pipe-reinforced multi-step grouting on the support pressure in dry condition is not significant while there is relatively a large amount of reduction in seepage forces by adopting the technique in saturated condition. The effect of the anisotropy of permeability on the seepage force acting on the tunnel face was also estimated by conducting the coupled analysis. It was found that a higher horizontal permeability compared with the vertical one causes reduction in the seepage force acting on the tunnel face.


For a connected graph $G$, the smallest normalized Laplacian eigenvalue is 0 while all others are positive and the largest cannot exceed the value 2. The sum of absolute deviations of the eigenvalues from 1 is called the normalized Laplacian energy, denoted by $\mathbb{LE}(G)$. In analogy with Laplacian-energy-like invariant of $G$, we define here the normalized Laplacian-energy-like as the sum of square roots of normalized Laplacian eigenvalues of $G$, denoted by $\mathbb{LEL}(G)$.


Direct emissions from the agricultural sector totaled 492.17 million tons of CO2 equivalent in 2018, placing the country as the third largest global emitter for agriculture. When considering Land Use Change, the country is the second as the largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Even with the intense emission of gases resulting from the intensification of production, Brazilian agribusiness contributes ENCICLOPÉDIA BIOSFERA, Centro Científico Conhecer – Jandaia-GO, v.19 n.39; p. 249 2022 significantly with regard to food security in the world and for the balance of the country's trade balance. In this sense, this work aims to analyze the CO2 emissions equivalent of the Brazilian Agricultural Production and of the changes in land use between the years 1994 and 2018 in relation to the Brazilian GDP in the same period. This study is to verify if there is an increase in emissions of both production and land use changes, since the Agribusiness GDP increases significantly each year in the country. The study concluded that agricultural emissions have grown over the years as well as the GDP of activities. Therefore, it is extremely important for the sector to be concerned with conducting research to help reduce the impact that agricultural activity causes on greenhouse gas emissions, including CO2. However, emissions due to changes in land use have fallen sharply since 2004, being negatively correlated with the agribusiness GDP, so, the deforestation has been decreasing over the years.


BACKGROUND AND AIMS
Cardiovascular complications are major causes of morbidity and mortality in patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). In particular, hypertension is insidious and remains a continuous problem that evolves during the course of the disease. Hypertension in ADPKD has been associated with abnormality in the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS). Early vascular changes have also been reported in young ADPKD patients. In addition, the cellular functions of mechanosensory cilia within vascular system have emerged recently. The basic and clinical perspectives of RAAS, vascular remodeling and sensory cilia are reviewed with regard to hypertension in ADPKD.


We studied the types and dynamic changes of proteinase in wheat leaf during seedling stage by SDS G PAGE. The results showed that, (1) 153, 72 and 68 kDa proteinase bands were present from the 3rd to 87th days after the emergence of seedlings; (2) 72 and 68 kDa proteinase showed very strong activities throughout the seedling stage; and (3) the proteinase enzymography could be affected by the physiological metabolism.


A metallic Mn layer was successfully formed on tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS)–SiO2 substrate at the deposition temperature of 250 °C by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using a newly developed Mn precursor, bis[1-(tert-butylamide)-2-dimethylaminoethane-N,N ']manganese. A thin and uniform Mn oxide layer was simultaneously formed at a CVD-Mn/TEOS–SiO2 interface, and was partially embedded in the TEOS–SiO2. This Mn oxide layer was composed of a bilayer of MnOx and MnSixOy. After annealing at 400 °C in vacuum for 10 h, the interface Mn oxide layer showed a good barrier property and thermal stability.


Background: Hypertensive heart failure in developing communities may be associated with reduced pump function. Whether severity of hypertension impacts differently in patients with hypertensive hypertrophy with systolic dysfunction as compared to patients with hypertensive hypertrophy with preserved systolic function is not clear. We therefore evaluated the relative impact of blood pressure in patients with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) with preserved left ventricular systolic function versus patients with LVH with reduced systolic function. Methods: A single-centre study of 175 Black African patients (55% female, age = 53.1±10.1 years) with moderate to severe hypertension (HT) was performed. Using echocardiography, patients were grouped as follows: (1) HT with preserved left ventricular systolic function; and (2) HT with reduced left ventricular systolic function. All measurements were made using standard American Society of Echocardiography definitions. Low ejection fraction (EF) was defined as <50% using the Simpsons method, LVH as LV mass index >120g/m2 in males and >100g/m2 in females. HT was defined as systolic or diastolic daytime ambulatory BP (ABPM) >140mmHg or 95mmHg respectively. Twenty eight healthy normotensive subjects served as controls. Results: There were no observed differences in any measure of blood pressure between patients with reduced EF (31 patients, 18%) and preserved EF (144 patients, 82%). The low EF group had significantly more male patients (81% vs 37%) but similar BMI (32.2 vs 30.7). Conclusion: Blood pressure load and severity are similar in hypertensive patients with and without left ventricular dysfunction. These results would implicate factors other than blood pressure as important determinants of left ventricular remodelling in hypertension.


A pin mounted support system for printed circuit cards and connectors includes a base portion having one or more bores for mounting upon the pins of the header and a guide surface portion that delimits the installed position of the printed circuit card or connector. Where the support is intended for use with a printed circuit board, the support includes a groove or track for accepting and supporting a lateral edge of the printed circuit board. Where the support is intended for use with a connector terminated cable, a keytab is provided with one or more bores for mating with the pins of the header to delimit the proper position of the connector. The connector is positioned between the keytabs and installed in its mated position. The supports are typically fabricated from a molded plastic and are easily removable from their support pins to allow convenient reconfiguring of the header.


340 vasectomized and 300 nonvasectomized married men in Angthong Province and Nakorn Rajsima Province, Thailand were individually interviewed. In the nonvasectomized group, 89% were under 46 years old, 93% finished at least 4 years of school, 73% were farmers, 75% practiced birth control at the time of the interview, 88% had heard of vasectomy, and 68% felt wives should have sterilization done and not husbands. The average number of living children per family was 4. The interviewed men were for the most part afraid that vasectomies would affect their sexual potency, physical and mental health, and their ability to do hard work. In the vasectomized group, 75% were under the age of 46, 96% finished at least 4 years of school, 80% were farmers, and 16% practiced birth control before undergoing vasectomy. The average number of living children was 3.3 per family. The main reasons for undergoing vasectomy were economic and health reasons, and the main motivators for seeking the procedure were friends, relatives and local health workers, although the main decision makers were the interviewees themselves. Of the 340 vasectomized men, 34% were operated on by MDs, while the rest were operated on by Army Medics (37%), Village healers (18%), Nurses (4%), and Junior Sanitarians (2%). Pregnancy rates ran at a maximum of 4% for vasectomies performed by health personnel. Complication rates were at about 15% of all men operated on.


The whale‐louse Scutocyamus antipodensis n.sp., ectoparasitic on Hector's dolphin, Cephalorhynchus hectori (van Beneden), is described and figured from material collected in Cloudy Bay, Cook Strait, New Zealand. Morphologically the new species is very close to S. parvus Lincoln & Hurley, the type and only other species of the genus, known only from the North Sea. However, the two species differ in the detailed structure and spinosity of the body and pereopods.


In this paper we present the results of a case study we conducted at two local SMEs (Small and Medium sized Enterprises) in two different domains. In the case study we examine how these companies handle separation of concerns in their respective domains. We focused on which concerns were perceived as problematic; what kind of design solutions were used to work around these problems and what the effect of these design solutions was on the separation of concerns. In our analysis we reflect on if, and how the use of advanced separation of concerns technology, such as e.g. Aspect Oriented Programming (AOP), would be useful. An important conclusion of our paper is that in both cases the companies do not need such tools for separating the concerns they are aware of (i.e. anticipated concerns) since adequate, conventional techniques have been applied. The benefit of applying such techniques to separate the remaining, unanticipated concerns is unclear as well since it is anticipated that at least some refactoring of the original system would be required in order to apply such techniques.


— Local history reminds us that life is always changing, including changes at the local level, human attitudes towards change are very much influenced by the horizons they have. The uniqueness of the history that exists in the environment can also be considered as part of local wisdom, so that we can also learn from the symbolic aspects which are generally full of local historical events. And in a prophetic dimension, local history that is developed and packaged in a positive thinking dimension can be a means of a healing and self-development process. the research objective is to maintain and arouse a sense of nationalism through local history that exists in each region. This research method uses the literature review method, namely a description of the theory, findings and other research materials obtained from reference materials to be used as the basis for research activities in formulating a clear frame of mind from the formulation of the problems to be compiled and studied. The final goal of a literature review is to get an idea of what other people have done before, literature review or also known as literature review is the first step to gathering relevant information.