The metabolism process of humanoids is well designed for emitting the heat constantly. But no heat transfer phenomena occur from the spinal side of the body in sitting posture. The proper heat transfer is arrested in the sitting posture; this makes the human to feel discomfort. The bus drivers are the main victims who face this problem every day and cause of the disease called "hemorrhoid". This project mainly focused to modify and construct a convenient chilled cushion chair with jam-backed Phase Change Material (PCM) to overcome such problems. This chair absorbs body heat when occupied and discharges while vacant. The stages when liquid change to solid and solid change to liquid occurs nearly by a constant temperature. The chair provides a cooling effect and also a cushioning effect to the occupier. The PCMs are having large latent heat and provide a cooling effect by maintaining nearly by constant temperature to the human body.  The jam-backed chilled cushion chair is invented for improved thermal comfort for the driver for some extended time by the proper temperature that acceptable level of the human. The performance tests are carried out to evaluate the working of the pad.


The aim of this study is the comparison of the movement of various types of human dermal fibroblasts with and without genetic modification. Three groups of fibroblasts were cultured and monitored: (1) control group of fibroblasts isolated from human skin (not transduced); (2) transduced with lentivirus bearing EGFP fluorescent marker; (3) transduced with lentivirus bearing DsRed2 fluorescent marker. The experimental sequences of images documenting cells' movement have been analyzed using image processing methods. The cells' movement was described by: (1) distance between each two consecutive images/frames, (2) distance and displacement covered by each fibroblast in 30 minutes (3) length of cell crawling cycle, (4) the movement tortuosity coefficient for all fibroblasts in each group. Also shape features such as: area, perimeter, eccentricity, length of the major axis have been analyzed. It appears that the general movement behavior is not changed by the process of transduction but some of its aspects are modified. The efficiency of movement in the sense of distance covered and region penetration is decreased because of changes in cells' morphology. Transduced cells are less polarized and develop extra podia during their crawling.


Cognitive Radio systems have been proposed to address the shortage of space spectrum resources illusion and the spectrum sensing is a key technology in cognitive radio system. Spread spectrum modulation signal has been applied widely in satellite measurement and control, satellite-ground communications, inter-satellite communications. And the spread spectrum signal detection perception is another difficulty in spectrum sensing. Based on wavelet transform (WT) spectrum sensing technology can be applied to the spread spectrum signal sensing systems. The magnitude characteristic of discrete wavelet transform and the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) are applied to space network signal receiver, in order to sense inter-satellite link signal. Compared with energy detection, the detector based on discrete wavelet transform has better detection performance at low SNR. The result of research is expected for providing technical information and support for the future space network management and engineering applications.


This chapter argues that there has been a change in the face or paradigm of war and that our institutions are unsuited to conduct the new form of war because they all developed to manage the previous one. Then, the chapter illustrates some of the characteristics of this new form of war with examples from the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. It shows that Israel was also setting conditional objectives, namely to get the Lebanese to deal with Hezbollah. However, the pronouncements were accompanied by others that were couched in the hard terms of industrial war, namely that the objective was to destroy Hezbollah and defeat the rocket attacks, which gave an early hint that there might be divided counsel in Tel Aviv. Finally, it makes some brief suggestions of where one needs to look not so much for the answers but for the changes one must make. Keywords: Hezbollah; industrial war; Israel; Lebanon; Tel Aviv


Objective:To investigate the long-term therapeutic effect of endovenouse laser treatment(EVLT)of varicose veins in the lower limbs.Methods:According to CEAP classification,there were C2 in 86 limbs,C3 in 41 limbs,C4 in 126 limbs,C5 in 7 limbs.278 limbs,in 243 patients were treated by EVLT or EVLT combined with external banding valvuloplasty of superficial femoral vein or EVLT combined with ligation of great saphenous vein and denudation of superficial varicosities.Results:211 cases were followed up for 6~52 months.Mean operative time was 26±5 minutes.Patients could discharged 3~5 days later.Long-term complication included shin numbness or paraesthesia,thrombophlebitis,residual varicose, recanalization of GSV.Conclusion:EVLT is a new technique to treat varicose veins,it has significant effect,minor invasion and no serious complication,it is better than other surgical procedures.But regular surgical procedure and high ligation of the GSV are necessary in practical operation.


In oil-water-mineral substrate systems we show that the contact angle can be tuned by an ionic structure in the water layer confined between an oil droplet and the sub strate. We perform molecular dynamics simulations of a complex oil droplet in an NaCl aqueous solution on mica surface; the oil is a mixture of n-decane and surfac tant molecules. The surfactant head contains an OH group and an aromatic ring. A thin water layer between the oil droplet and the substrate and ionic stratification regulate the wetting behavior. The concentration of salt ions in the thin film first decreases as the salt concentration in the bulk increases. With further increase in bulk salt concentration, the adsorbed ion concentration in the thin film increases. On the other hand the surfactant head adsorption in the thin film first increases as the bulk salt concentration increases. Then it decreases with further increase in the bulk salt concentration. The change of contact angle with salt concentration also shows a non-monotonic behavior; the contact angle is first nearly constant to a low salt con centration of 0.1 wt% NaCl. Then decreases sharply as salt concentration increases from 0.1 to 1.1 wt% NaCl. A reverse trend in contact angle follows with further salt concentration increase. The non-monotonic trend unlike monotonic trend of interfacial tension with salt concentration is in line with recent measurements of contact angle of oil-brine-substrate systems. A sharp increase of surfactant head adsorption in the thin film, the droplet of ion adsorption and the minimum of contact angle are all related. This is the first report of such correlations with change of wetting in the brine-complex oil-mineral substrate predicted from molecular simulations.


In this paper, the authors use temporal imaging concepts in building the novel instrumentation for optical signal processing. Two temporal imaging devices are used, time-lenses and time-prisms. For one instrument, the authors use a time-lens to build a multiwavelength pulse generator ideal for WDM parallel processing that eliminates the need for mode-locking or nonlinear spectrum generation used in current similar sampling instruments. In another device, the authors use a time-prism pair to achieve a programmable ultrafast optical delay line.


Gray markets are the markets that have products with real brand names which can be only identified and defined through selling them in unauthorized channels. Gray markets imply distributing branded products by unauthorized individuals. In other words, gray markets are the markets in which entering the products to the market by the manufacturer is not planned. In this research, the hypothesis has been come up with studying the effects of mental image of brands on consumers' reluctance to buy in gray markets of Mobile market in Hamadan Province using triangular mental image of brands of Yu et al (2000) and Nurjaya et al (2007) in which the mental image of brands variable is divided in to three factors, brand associations, brand differentiation and brand loyalty.  This research was done by using descriptive survey method in the statistical population of the study (including all mobile consumers in Hamadan province). The most important tools for collecting data was a questionnaire prepared and designed by using questionnaires in books, articles and websites and its reliability was equal to the 0.912 unit. The results showed that all the hypotheses were accepted. The analysis and comparison of the results of hypotheses test and the model of mental image brand indicated the main hypothesis brand image variable has a direct impact of 0.760 on consumers' reluctance to buy in mobiles gray markets. And also, brand associations with a number equals to 0.710 unit has the most impact among the three factors of mental image of the brand on the consumer reluctance to buy in gray markets.


This paper deals with the performance of UMTS/HSPA radio mobile networks in high buildings using passive distributed antenna system, which was initially designed and implemented for the GSM network. Field measurements were performed with drive/walk test equipment (network scanner, mobile terminal and handy), field measurement software, and a functional UMTS/HSPA network, using 10 codes per session. The impact of the use of passive distributed antenna system on the UMTS/HSPA network performance was studied inside the dominant, 150-meters-high and about 25-meters-wide twist tower of 38 floors, situated in the city of Sarajevo. Key-Words: performance, UMTS, HSPA, coverage, high-buildings, DAS, field measurements


This paper presents the importance of temperature measurements of electrical equipment, how thermal stress affects the proper functioning of equipment and also the design and development of a temperature logger that can monitor, acquire, process and analyze the thermal stress of electrical equipment. A thermal overload of the electrical equipment causes a pronounced wear and improper operation thereof. In order to have the best knowledge of the thermal stress of electrical equipment is vital to use a temperature logger capable to monitor the temperature of their constructive structure in a great number of points.


Summary The effects of carnitine and BSA on the oxidation to CO2 and conversion to acetoacetate of [1-14C] palmitate, [1-14C] traws-2-hexadecenoate, [1-14C] DL-3-hydroxyhexadecanoate and [1-14C] 3-ketohexadecanoate were examined in liver mitochondria from normal and diabetic rats and in heart muscle mitochondria from normal animals. Carnitine stimulated the oxidation of all substrates except the 3-keto intermediate by normal liver and heart muscle mitochondria; BSA increased basal oxidation and augmented the carnitine effect on the oxidation of these same compounds in both tissues. Carnitine increased the conversion of palmitate and the unsaturated and hydroxy derivatives to acetoacetate in liver mitochondria; BSA greatly increased both basal and carnitine-stimulated acetoacetate production; no acetoacetate accumulated under any conditions in heart mitochondria. Diabetes did not significantly influence the oxidation of, or the accumulation of acetoacetate from, any of the 4 substrates tested in liver mitochondria, nor was the effect of carnitine greater than normal in tissue obtained from diabetic rats.


Hemoparasites have great economic impact on livestock affecting 80% of the world cattle population and causes economic loss due to morbidity and mortality. They also impair the export and import trade of live animal and animal products by down grading their quality (Kasozi et al., 2014). The arthropod transmitted hemoparasitic diseases are important vector-borne diseases of tropical and subtropical parts of the world especially to the sub saharan Africa country including Ethiopia (Setotaw et al., 2014). In Ethiopia there are 47 species of ticks found on livestock and most of them have importance as vector and disease causing agents and also have damaging effect on skin and hide production as reviewed by (Tadesse and Sultan, 2014). Among tick-borne diseases anaplasmosis, babesiosis, cowdriosis and theileriosis (T. mutan) are major diseases in Ethiopia (Silesh et al., 1996).


Diagnostic difficulties in the assessment of neurofibromatosis are presented in this case report. Clinical findings may simplify the classification of radiological alterations.


Solar louvers and light shelves serve as passive cooling, shading, and lighting mechanisms. The goal of this research was to optimize a passive system for this particular location and building shape/orientation by observing how the temperature and lighting change with different outdoor building attachments is the goal of this project. As part of this pilot study this research provides some of the methodology being used. The first method examines a physical scale model using the Sun Path Method. A second comparative method was used to compare the results further quantifying the results of the first method through computer simulation software known as Ecotect. Based on the methodologies used the simulations yielded a reduction in solar thermal gain of 10–15% during the summer months when solar shading devices were used yet had little to no impact on the daylighting effect.


The hydro power industry is witnessing radical changes to its major players. The number of equipment manufacturers is decreasing as big names merge or are bought out. Suzanne Moxon reports.


This paper describes an optimization method for nonlinear systems with properties that depend on functions instead of discrete parameters. The method is applied to the design of systems with spatially distributed parameters. The underlying mathematical problem of the calculus of variations is approximated by a finite dimensional constrained nonlinear minimax-problem. This is solved with a method that combines a deterministic algorithm for local optimisation with a statistical method for global optimization. The former is based on linearization and linear programming with adaptive trust region, while the latter uses elements from genetic methods and pattern recognition. An example with a nonlinearly loaded nonuniform transmission line shows the capability of the algorithm to determine the unknown optimum function with high precision.<<ETX>>


One of the fundamental difficulties of the drilling process is the evacuation of the chips from the drilled hole. As the hole depth increases, the chips tend to cluster together and clog the flutes, causing increased forces, poor hole quality, elevated drill temperatures, and drill breakage. In this paper, a model for chip evacuation has been developed to predict the force and torque arising from the evacuation of the discontinuous chips. The model considers the pressure on a differential chip section being created by the forces required to push the chips out of the hole. The two coefficients of friction required by the model are established via a calibration procedure. The effectiveness of both the calibration and the force models has been assessed via a set of validation experiments. The model can be used to predict the depth when chip-clogging occurs, indicating the need for a pecking cycle, and the depth where the drill experiences an excessive amount of torque, which may result in drill breakage.


Chronic total occlusions continue to be one of the most frequent indications for referring patients for coronary artery bypass, as it defines a patient population at increased risk of mortality and the morbidity of chronic limiting angina pectoris. The retrospective analysis from Saito et al. [1] represents an informative chronology of the advances seen in the treatment of chronic total occlusion (CTO). It was recognized early on that CTO represents an angiographic risk factor for failure of PCI [2]. More importantly, patients with failed revascularization attempts for CTO identify patients at increased risk of mortality [3,4]. Advances in treatment of CTO have occurred primarily due to improved guidewire designs with integrally extruded small distal tips allowing the operator to cannulate the small neovascular channels often present in chronic total occlusions. Saito et al. [2] in this issue describe not only the evolution in wires but also present evidence that a difference in the procedural success rate may be seen depending on the access site for the procedure. They note that transradial access predicted an increased likelihood of success for crossing totally occluded vessels compared to femoral access. Given the retrospective nature of their study, this could also reflect the skill of the operator; the more compulsive interventionalist could be more likely to perform the procedure using the radial approach. The success rate for CTO greater than 12 weeks in duration has been reported to vary from 20% to 80%. Older reports suggested that even with aggressive attempts, fewer than 50% of lesions could be crossed. Even the use of stiff olive-tipped wires [5] and laser guidewires [6] failed to improve this outcome. The phase 1 trial of Saito et al. [1] using conventional guidewires did demonstrate that lesion success rate was improved at 67%. In the second phase of the trial, using the newer guidewires, the success rate improved to 81% and was greatest in the subset treated using radial access. The technique of using a second guidewire if the first wire exits extraluminally is an important clinical tip. Importantly, the success was accomplished in under 1 hr of procedural time and required only moderate (180 cc) contrast volumes. New technologies specifically designed to cross totally occluded vessels such as the Lumend Frontrunner and other novel designs offer us the potential to achieve complete revascularization of our patients. When coupled with drug-eluting stents, we will increase the patients eligible for percutaneous intervention by an estimated 100,000 patients per year. The price for successful recanalization of CTO is a willingness to spend more time in the catheterization laboratory performing the procedure and to learn new skills in assessing when we are intraluminal and how to regain control of the lumen when we are extraluminal. We must also learn more about the pathology of chronically occluded vessels, particularly the distal end, often referred to as the cap, as this appears to be behaving differently from other atherosclerotic tissue. New devices designed to recannalize CTO will be based on an improved understanding of how to identify tissue planes and vascular channels. As Thomas Alva Edison once observed, "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."


The aim of this work is to develop a methodology to integrate global changes scenarios into quantitative risk assessment. This paper describes a methodology to take into account effects of changing climate on landslides activity and impacts of social changes on exposure to provide a complete evaluation of risk for given scenarios. This approach is applied for demonstration purpose on a southern alpine test site. Mechanical approaches represent a solution to quantify landslide susceptibility and to model hazard on unprecedented conditions, as it is likely to occur. However, as the quantity and the quality of data are generally very heterogeneous at a regional scale, it is necessary to take into account their uncertainty in the analysis. In this perspective, a new hazard modeling method has been developed and integrated in a GIS-based software called ALICE ® . To go further, climate change scenarios have been computed for the alpine test site (Barcelonnette area, France) using the REMO-COSMO-LM. From the precipitation time series, a daily index of the soil water content has been computed thanks to a reservoir-based model (GARDENIA ® ). Hence, the program classifies hazard zones depending on the several spatial data (lithological, DEM, etc. . . ) and different hydrological contexts varying in time. The probabilistically initiated landslides are then propagated thank to a semi-empirical model (BORA) to provide real hazard maps. Different scenarios of land-use have been developed using an automate cellular model to cover the probable range of development of potential elements at risks in the future. These exposure maps are then combined with the aforementioned hazard maps to obtain risk maps for the different periods and the different land-use development scenarios. Potential evolutions of landslide risks are then evaluated, with a general increase in the 7 communes. This methodology also allows the analysis of the contributions of both considered global changes (climate and land-use) to the evolution of risk. This communication, realized within the framework of Safeland project, is supported by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development, Area "Environment", Activity 18.104.22.168 "Prediction of triggering and risk assessment for landslides" (grant agreement n 226479).


A longitudinal control system based on throttle and brake control is designed. A novel fuzzy-step algorithm is developed to eliminate the vibration of the brake pedal when braking control activates. Experiments show that the output of the controller can drive the brake pedal to move stepwise and smoothly. Also, a switching strategy between throttle control and brake control is improved, and tests show that the switching is successful. As a result, the control system has smooth behaviors for velocity tracking.


Aside from the obvious organic factors there is also a psychogenic factor in abortion which must be taken into consideration. In this study 15% of women faced with imminent abortion or imminent preterm delivery were investigated with the help of a questionnaire and various psychometric tests. The control group was comprised of 91 women with an uncomplicated course of pregnancy. These women it was expected would demonstrate a different personality profile have variables within their partnerships and their adjustment and show differences in anxiety level all of which were considered to be important for the outcome of their clinical symptoms. Results of this investigation showed that across the different psychogenic factors it was the asthenic personality profile coupled with neurotic and paranoid assimilation which reduced the psychic capacity of these pregnant women to cope with their pregnancies and which subsequently resulted in their preterm labor. (authors modified) (summaries in GER ENG)


This paper describes a method to simulate and optimize eVTOL UAV. The simulation includes aerodynamics, flight mechanics, structural mechanics, electrical propulsion and flight performance calculations. The optimization is performed in the form of sensitivity studies, varying configuration parameters such as aspect ratio or the cruise speed. The propulsion system simulation is based on a database approach with commercially available components and a method is presented on how to efficiently incorporate and analyze such a database. Three different configurations are compared: a tiltless multirotor VTOL with a designated cruise motor, a fully tiltable multirotor VTOL and a VTOL with tiltable wingtip propulsion. The first and the last one are shown to have the best performance depending on the required cruise speed.


A Pb0.97La0.02(Zr0.95Ti0.05)O3 anti-ferroelectric thick-film micro-cantilever applying micro-machining technology based silicon was designed and fabricated to meet the requirements of high-frequency vibration energy application. The anti-ferroelectric cantilevers showed the high-frequency vibration characteristics with the strain generated due to the anti-ferroelectric–ferroelectric transformation. The maximum vibration velocity and displacement of the cantilever tip of 600 μm (L) × 60 μm (W) × 10 μm (H) were 4.22 m/s and 23.5 μm. The first response frequency was up to 28.6 kHz at 42 V transitions voltage induced when the anti-ferroelectric material layer was strained, significantly larger than the typical piezoelectric cantilevers. The five-size different cantilevers fabricated in one chip had mostly the same sharp voltage, owing to the same thickness of anti-ferroelectric material layer. The vibration frequency increased with the decrease of the cantilever length, while the vibration velocity and displacement had the opposite trends. It can be seen that the silicon-based anti-ferroelectric cantilever with a high vibration frequency shows a more incomparable vibration than other cantilevers of other materials, which can be regarded as a new direction for micro-electro-mechanical system vibration devices.


Three deep sea spider crabs (Brachyura: Majidae) from the south west Pacific are examined: Vitjazmaia latidactyla Zarenkov, 1994 from the western Indian Ocean, is recorded from New Zealand, eastern Australia and the northern Tasman Sea; Oxypleurodon wanganella sp.nov. is described from north west of northern New Zealand; and Cyrtomaia cornuta Richer de Forges and Guinot, 1988 from New Caledonian waters, is now recorded from New Zealand.


Kuhn classified science into two alternate stages: normal science and scientific revolutions.But Barnes argued that scientific revolutions did not exist.Because as the stage of scientific revolutions,in the stage of normal science,meaning chang,technique change,the invention of problem-solutions and new judgment criterion could also exist.


The "Equilibrium Model" has provided new tools for describing and investigating enzyme thermal adaptation. It has been shown that the effect of temperature on enzyme activity is not only governed by ∆G‡cat and ∆G‡inact but also by two new intrinsic parameters, ∆Heq and Teq, which describe the enthalpy and midpoint, respectively, of a reversible equilibrium between active and inactive (but not denatured) forms of enzyme. Twenty‐one enzymes from organisms with a wide range of growth temperatures were characterized using the Equilibrium Model. Statistical analysis indicates that Teq is a better predictor of growth temperature than enzyme stability (∆G‡inact). As expected from the Equilibrium Model, ∆Heq correlates with catalytic temperature tolerance of enzymes and thus can be declared the first intrinsic and quantitative measure of enzyme eurythermalism. Other findings shed light on the evolution of psychrophilic and thermophilic enzymes. The findings suggest that the description of the Equilibrium Model of the effect of temperature on enzyme activity applies to all enzymes regardless of their temperature origins and that its associated parameters, ∆Heq and Teq, are intrinsic and necessary parameters for characterizing the thermal properties of enzymes and their temperature adaptation and evolution.—Lee C. K., Daniel, R. M., Shepherd, C., Saul, D., Cary, S. C., Danson, M. J., Eisenthal, R., Peterson M. E. Eurythermal‐ism and the temperature dependence of enzyme activity FASEB J. 21, 1934–1941 (2007)


Inverse voltammetry is a very perspective method due to its relative simplicity, cost effectiveness, and sensibility. Universality of this method allows scientists to find new objectives, both organic and inorganic nature, for the use of the method. Some results of the improvement and adaptation of the standardized methodology for cobalt identification with a rotating disk electrode implemented on the analyzer «Ecotest-VA» with the «ЕМ-04» module for the identification of the mass concentration of this metal in the medication «Cyanocobalamin» is presented in this article. The arrival of an analytical signal in the form of peaks on a voltamperogram during the quantitative determination of cobalt results from the adsorptive concentration of cobalt-dimethylglyoxime complexes on the surface of the working cathode. Cathode current registered when Еmax = (-1.1)–(-1.2) V is compliant with catalytic current of electrochemical reduction of hydrogen from adsorbed cobalt dimethylglyoxime and is an analytical signal of a measured ion, in the present case – of cobalt. Peak height (area) is proportional to the metal-ion concentration in the solution. It is necessary to carry out the sample preparation of the medication and a solution for additive components for the implementation of the analysis method when determining the mass concentration of the metal in the cyanocobalamin solution. The cyanocobalamin solution with the addition of hydrogen peroxide is maintained in a photolysis camera for the transportation of cobalt into the solution as a Со3+. The solution for additive components is boiled with hydrogen peroxide to convert Со2+ into Со3+. Using the developed method, the evaluation of cobalt in the medication «Cyanocobalamin» (0.5 mg/сm3) was conducted. Validation of the results obtained was carried out with the use of the technique «entered-identified».


This paper reports on an experiment comparing the relative effectiveness of standard group facilitation techniques with system dynamics facilitation techniques in a real world stakeholder participation process. The experiment tested the hypothesis that the system dynamics approach would lead to: (1) better decisions; (2) greater participant focus on relevant materials; and (3) higher procedural satisfaction. The system dynamics approach yielded better decisions and focus but lower procedural satisfaction among participants.


Containing information on the use and / or safety of the industrial truck truck which is provided with one or more markings and / or documentation, at least one marking or documentation is provided with a RFID transponder, in which data are stored.


This paper discussed the selection of SCI journals and questions associated with submitting manuscripts.The strategy for the submitting manuscripts.and the problems in the publication of manuscripts were also summarized in this article.These results would be valuable and guide for the researchers to submit their manuscripts,conform the writing skills of scientific papers,and improve the efficiency of SCI publications.

Key words:
SCI; Source journals; Scientific paper; Submitting manuscript


Prispevok informuje o podmienkach pre ziskanie diplomu Eur. Ing., ktorý udeľuje Europska federacia narodných inžinierskych zvazov (FEANI). European Dimensions for the Education of Engineers in Slovak Republic This contribution informs about the reguirements for acquiring of the diploma Eur. Ing., which is confered by the European Federation of National Engineering Associations (FEANI).


Abstract In this paper, two well established Taylor-Galerkin finite element methods and a second-order Godunov-type finite difference scheme are applied to the problem of finite amplitude axisymmetric wave propagation in hyperelastic membranes. The Taylor-Galerkin finite element methods are derived using continuous and discontinuous base functions, respectively. The second-order Godunov-type scheme is an extension of van Leer's method. The governing equations are given in terms of the principal components of Biot stress and stretch tensors, and are expressed as a conservation law with a source term. Ogden's three-term strain energy function is utilized as the constitutive equation. Numerical results are presented for inflation and impact loading cases. A comparison of these results indicates that for the problem considered in this paper, the second-order Godunov-type finite difference scheme provides the best results, whereas the Taylor-Galerkin finite element method using continuous base functions is the most efficient in computation.


Abstract:The principal focus of this paper is to examine the importance of British contributions to the success of the Irish hospitals' sweepstake. In its early years, up to three quarters of Irish sweepstake tickets were sold in Britain, bringing millions of pounds into Ireland annually for expenditure on improving the state's hospital services. The vast amount of money leaving Britain in this way angered the British government and forced them to introduce new legislation to curtail the activities of the sweep. The paper will highlight the extent to which the success of the Irish sweepstake depended on the market for tickets in Britain; the danger posed to the survival of the sweep by the restriction of its activities in Britain after 1935; the role of the sweepstake controversy in further exacerbating already strained relations between the governments of Great Britain and the Irish Free State in the 1930s; how the success of the sweep in Britain raised the issue of legalising a British lottery; and the eventual decline of the Irish sweepstake as a force in British gambling circles in the post-war years.


Ride-pooling remains a promising emerging mode with a potential to contribute towards urban sustainability and emission reductions. Recent studies revealed complexity and diversity among travellers' ride-pooling aptitudes. So far, ride-poling analyses assumed homogeneity and/or determinism of ride-pooling travellers. This, as we demonstrate, leads to a false assessment of ride-pooling system performance. We experiment with an actual NYC demand from 2016 and classify travellers into four groups of various ride-pooling behaviours (value of time and penalty for sharing), as reported in the recent SP study. We replicate their random behaviour to obtain meaningful distributions. Unsurprisingly, results vary significantly from the deterministic benchmark: expected mileage savings were lower, while the utility gains for travellers were greater. Observing performance of heterogeneous travellers, we find that those with a low value of time are most beneficial travellers in the pooling system, while those with an average penalty for sharing benefit the most. Notably, despite the highly variable travellers' behaviour, the confidence intervals for the key performance indicators are reasonably narrow and system-wide performance remains predictable. Such findings shed a new light on the expected performance of large scale ride-pooling systems. We argue, that the policy recommendations shall be revised to accommodate behavioural heterogeneity.


The incessant fiscal deficit being experienced in different countries across the world has raised concerns about the ability of government to properly manage its revenues and expenditures. This has necessitated a flurry of studies on the relationship between government revenues and government expenditures over time. However, empirical evidence appears to be mixed, even within a country, depending on the methodological approaches adopted by each researcher. In the light of this, this study examines the asymmetric causality and cointegration between revenues and expenditures using aggregated and disaggregated data. The results of linear causality tests of Granger (1969) and Toda-Yamamoto (1995) support fiscal synchronisation hypothesis while those of nonlinear causality test of Diks and Panchenko (2006) support revenue-spending hypothesis. The results further show the existence of asymmetric cointegration between revenues and expenditures in the short-run and the long-run. The final results obtained from the decomposition of revenues into the positive and negative components show that positive change in revenues has a positive effect on expenditures and vice versa for a negative change in revenues. Based on these findings, the panacea proposed to over-reliance in revenues, particularly oil revenues as a determinant of government expenditures, is the proper management of oil revenues and other sources of revenues. The government would also need to diversify the economy so that more revenues could be available to it from other sources to finance its expenditures.


display of two oximeter probes is extremely useful particularly for prolonged procedures on small, compromised infants. In only 23% of cases would the oximetry been adequate with a single probe attached. Using two oximeters alleviates anxiety otherwise caused by falsely low SpO2 readings and periods of dropout. Karen Wouters M B B C H , D A , F R C A Anaesthetic Department, St Thomas Hospital, Guy's and St Thomas NHS Trust, Lambeth Place Road, London, SE1 7EH (email: email@example.com)


The seasonal variation and the effect of physico-chemical factors on cyanobacterial diversity along Cochin backwater were studied during 2002-2004. In all, 75 species of cyanobacteria from 24 genera across 7 families and 4 orders of the class Cyanophyceae were recorded. Of these thirty one species were unicellular colonial forms, 43 were filamentous forms without heterocyst and two were heterocystous filamentous forms. The predominant species observed were Chroococcus turgidus, Chroococcus tenax, Synechococcus elongatus, Synechocystis salina, Oscillatoria foreaui, Oscillatoria remyii, Oscillatoria pseudogeminata, Oscillatoria subtillissima, Oscillatoria willei, Phormidium purpurescens and Phormidium tenue. Water temperature, salinity and euphotic depth had a positive correlation with the cyanobacterial density, whereas, nutrients had a negative impact when they were in excess. Pre-monsoon season was characterised by high density of these organisms, whereas, cell count was very low during monsoon season. All the backwater stations and the mangrove station showed significantly higher cyanobacterial community when compared to sea shore site which suggests that the ecological conditions of Cochin estuary support a rich cyanobacterial flora.


Sensory systems are adapted to the statistical structure of natural stimuli, thereby optimizing neural coding. Head motion during natural activities is first sensed and then processed by central vestibulo‐motor pathways to influence subsequent behaviour, thereby establishing a feedback loop. To investigate the role of this vestibular feedback on the statistical structure of the head movements, we compared head movements in patients with unilateral vestibular loss and healthy controls. We show that the loss of vestibular feedback substantially alters the statistical structure of head motion for activities that require rapid online feedback control and predict this change by modelling the effects of increased movement variability. Our findings suggest that, following peripheral vestibular loss, changes in the reliability of the sensory input to central pathways impact the statistical structure of head motion during voluntary behaviours.


Increased interest in the study of the relationships between human and nonhuman animals over the past few decades has often focused on what factors shape people's attitudes and treatment towards nonhuman animals. Some scholars have focused on features of the nonhuman animals (cuteness, intelligence, and utility) and how those features predict human behavior while others have concentrated more on possible human individual differences that influence their attitudes and positive or negative actions towards nonhuman animals. In this study, with 978 participants from five different cross-cultural study sites (Arizona, California, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Spain), we utilized three superordinate categories of animal species representing three "Concentric Circles" surrounding our own (from
 Kith-Kin
 , to
 Domestic
 , to
 Wild
 Animals) to investigate the influence of individual differences and local ecological conditions on empathy and harm avoidance scores across these categories. Specifically, these variables were as follows: (1) a set of variables representing the cross-cultural study sites; (2) a second set of sociodemographic predictors; (3) a developmental Animal Exposure factor; (4) a Dark Inventory factor; (5) an Interpersonal Aggression factor; (6) a KithKin-Empathy factor, measuring emotional and cognitive empathy towards
 Kith-Kin
 animals; (7) a Domestic-Empathy factor, measuring emotional and cognitive empathy towards
 Domestic
 animals; (8) a Wild-Empathy factor, measuring emotional and cognitive empathy towards
 Wild
 animals; and (9) a Harm Avoidance factor. A Cascade Model approach allowed us to integrate many factors (individual differences and local ecological conditions) together in explaining empathy and harm avoidance that have previously been examined only in mutual isolation.


The recessive mastitis of the cows is one of the common and frequently encountered disease, always casue huge losses for dairy farming.In this study, 39 milk samples were collected from a cattle farm in Changchun, and their susceptibility to antibiotics was tested. The results of experiment showed that the pathogenic bacterias were susceptible to sisomycin, gentamycin, ciprofloxacin and fosfomycin. Combined to the dairy feeding management and disease control situation. The therapeutic measure was instituted to cure this field cow mastitis.


I. Concise Overview of the Literature People are often judged or stereotyped according to their group membership(s). Group membership can include (but is not limited to) ethnicity, race, gender, age, and religious affiliation. Stereotypes about an individual's group, which can be shaped as either positive or negative, elicit a variety of emotions. Negative stereotypes often cause negative responses, which can manifest themselves in the stereotyped individual's reactions, performance on a task, motivation, and self-esteem. Research has shown that the threat of being evaluated, judged by, or treated in terms of a negative stereotype can cause individuals to perform worse in a domain in which negative stereotypes exist about a group of which they are a member. Imagine taking a difficult math test that is at the upper limits of your ability. If you are a male and you find yourself having difficulty, you may begin to worry about failing the test. If you are a female, however, you may worry about failing the test and reinforcing the math-inferiority stereotype. Therefore, struggling with a math test becomes doubly threatening, as you begin to worry not only about failing the test, but also about being personally reduced to a negative stereotype targeting your group in that domain. This phenomenon has been termed stereotype threat (Spencer, Steele, & Quinn, 1999; Steele & Aronson, 1995). Research suggests that the negative effects of stereotype threat on performance are mediated by psychological and physiological mechanisms such as anxiety, arousal (i.e., readiness to respond to specified stimuli), and working memory (Schmader & Johns, 2003; Spencer et al., 1999; Steele, 1997). Individual differences such as the extent to which a person identifies with their group (e.g., gender) or a particular domain (e.g., math) also seems to influence the impact that stereotype threat has on individuals' performance. Stereotype threat not only creates performance decrements but ultimately may also impact major life decisions (i.e., choice of profession) and prevent individuals from reaching their full potential within a threatened domain (Gupta & Bhawe, 2007). As a result of such shortand long-term negative effects, researchers have begun to look at ways to remediate stereotype threat. Effective remediation strategies include de-emphasizing threatened identities and providing examples of stereotyped individuals who have succeeded with the domain (Danaher & Crandall, 2008; Marx & Roman, 2002).


Effects of various orientations of a reflector on the airborne reflected ultrasonic pulse amplitudes were investigated while keeping both the transeiver set and the target stationary. Frequency scanning of ultrasonic waves was performed in the restricted range of 42.1 to 48.7 KHz. The results revealed that interesting characteristic information of the reflector's orientation could be gathered using this frequency scanning technique. It is possible that dolphins can utilize this technique to recognise orientations of their hidden-in-sand preys and hence know exactly which way to bite.


In this research, we aim at developing STM lithography with atomic resolution toward its application to quantum devices. First, we have confirmed successfully an atomically flat and hydrogen-terminated surface of Si (111) required for the lithography after unisotropic chemical etching in aqueous NH4F solution with decreased dissolved oxygen. Next, we have studied hydrogen desorption from the surface by electron bombardment from an STM tip. It has been confirmed that desorption area increases approximately in proportion to the tunneling current.


Val B. Satterfield, M. D., is the Consultant Psychiatrist, St. Louis Police Academy, and Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Washington University, School of Medicine, St. Louis. Dr. Satterfield has been active in the formation of the Academy of Forensic Sciences and is serving now as Chairman of its Psychiatric Section. This paper was read at the 1950 Annual Meeting of the Academy.-EDITOR.


Roegneria Koch is the largest genus in the Triticeae Species groups.Within this genus there are many good resources,for example,the genes related to high-yield,pest-resistant and stress tolerance,and they are necessary for wheat and other grain crops.However,many issues are still in debate in Roegneria,such as the classification system,evolution status and evolutionary relationship with other related genera.This essay aimed to give better understanding of the phylogenetic profiles in Roegneria systematically.According to research data on the establishment of Roegneria,evolution status,genome composition and differentiation,an overview was given.With the development of the molecular marker techniques,the method for phylogenetic studies on Roegneria would become more effective,which combined with molecular systematics,cytology and traditional morphological techniques.


"The beginning of the employment career is often associated with phases of unemployment. We argue that unemployment has different implications for different educational groups on future employment career depending on institutional settings in the UK and Germany. While search and matching models argue that an unemployment phase might be used for an active job search and might result in a better position, human capital and signalling theory predict status losses. The strongly skill-based and rigid labour market in Germany creates a stigma attached to unemployment and therefore might have negative consequences upon the re-entry into the labour market for all educational groups. The 'trial and error' strategy at the beginning of an employment career in flexible labour markets is common and therefore search and matching models should predict positive outcomes in the UK, especially for high-educated persons. Using the German Socio-Economic Panel and British Household Panel we simultaneously estimate hazard rates and changes in the occupational status." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))


Cross-cultural comparison and dialogue is a new way of mutual exchange, mutual reference, and joint development of Eastern and Western music cultures in the world, serving as an important prerequisite for the development of various musical cultures in China. This paper makes a comparative analysis of the commonness and differences between Eastern and Western music aesthetics from the perspective of cross-culture. Firstly, the aesthetic connotation of Eastern and Western music is expounded. Secondly, the commonness of Eastern and Western music aesthetics is analyzed from two aspects: the expression mode of aesthetic characteristics and the aesthetic cultural characteristics of music. Finally, the differences of Eastern and Western music aesthetics are analyzed from three aspects: aesthetic characteristics, aesthetic orientation, and aesthetic methods of music.


Background: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an inherited neuromuscular disorder causing progressive muscle weakness and premature death. Steroids remain the mainstream approach for supportive care but have side effects; other targeted therapies and gene therapies are also being developed. As there is limited evidence on the use of disease modifying nutritional supplement adjuncts in DMD, this pilot trial is to evaluate the effects of supplementation of Aureobasidium pullulans-derived 1,3 1,6 beta glucan from the N163 strain in young patients with DMD. Methods: Twenty-seven patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), nine in the control arm (undergoing conventional therapies) participated. The patients were divided into groups: those not administered steroids (Steroid negative) (n = 5), those administered steroids (Steroid positive) (n = 4), and 18 in the treatment arm (N163 beta glucan supplement along with conventional therapies; N-163 Steroid negative and N-163 Steroid positive); they participated in the study for 45 days. Assessments of muscle function, disease status, and levels of IL6, IL13, TGF beta;, creatinine kinase (CK), titin, TNF Alpha;, haptoglobin, and dystrophin in the blood and myoglobin in the urine were performed at baseline and at the end of the study. Results: IL6 showed a significant decrease in the N163 Steroid negative group, from a baseline value of 7.2 pg/ml to 2.7 pg/ml. IL13 decreased in both treatment groups, from 157.76 pg/ml to 114.08 pg/ml (N-163 Steroid negative) and from 289.56 pg/ml to 255.56 pg/ml (N-163 Steroid positive). TGF beta levels showed a significant decrease in the N163 Steroid negative group, from a baseline value of 3302 ng/ml to 1325.66 ng/ml post intervention. Dystrophin levels increased by up to 32% in both Steroid positive and negative groups. Medical research council (MRC) grading showed muscle strength improvement in 12 out of 18 patients (67%) in the treatment group and four out of nine (44%) subjects in the control group. Conclusion: Supplementation with the N163 beta glucan food supplement produced disease-modifying beneficial effects: a significant decrease in inflammation and fibrosis markers, increase in dystrophin and improvement in muscle strength in DMD subjects over 45 days, thus making this a potential adjunct treatment for DMD after validation. A longer duration of follow up and further research on the mechanism of action and commonalities with other diseases provoked by hyperactive inflammation and/or fibrosis may pave the way for their extended applications in other dystrophinopathies and neuroinflammatory diseases.


The paper summarizes the problems that Japan faces during a period of falling and stagnant population and discusses their remedies. The problem of a stagnant population is well recognized and has been studied from a broad perspective by the Japanese government. This paper, however, defines the problem of action under three headings: (1) buying time; (2) building a new relationship between men and women; and (3) the political economy of a stagnant population.


The differences in resource endowment and economic and cultural back-ground in different cities form different types of innovative urban development models gradually. From the perspective of major innovative cities development practices abroad, depending on the different industry, the innovation-oriented city construction can be divided into high-tech innovation-oriented city, traditional industrial manufacturing innovation-oriented city, service industry innovation-oriented city and cultural industries innovation-oriented city (Hospers, 2003). The study selects the strategies and measures of regions of Boston in America, London in UK, Tokyo in Japan, Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany to analyze, compare, and summarize their experience of development, and accordingly analyzes its enlightenment to the other innovation-type provinces construction of China.


Risk management is an inalienable and indispensable process in the administrative praxis of corporations. In this sense, this study aims to analyze the relationship between IT and corporate risk management of an agricultural company. This research is typified as qualitative and case study, the technical procedure is related to semi-structured interviews, closed questionnaire, and secondary documentary. The analysis of the information collected was carried out with the help of the Sphinx Lexica 5.1 software. The results indicate that IT risk management is carried out with no formal structure, without integration and effective employee participation. Incorporate risk management, efforts are directed at strategic and financial risks, and there is a lack of observance of the recommended principles in risk management. It is concluded that there is a relationship between IT risk management and corporate risk management but considered fragile in the agricultural company. In addition, there is no formal IT risk management process, although there are occasional initiatives.


A corticotomy is a procedure whereby only cortical bone is surgically cut, perforated or mechanically altered and at the same time minimally penetrates the bone marrow. 1 Corticotomy assisted orthodontic treatment is an established and efficient technique that has gradually gained as a complementary treatment option for the treatment of adult orthodontics. 2 Different surgical techniques are found to perform corticotomy; among them: corticotomy, corticostion, accelerated osteogenic orthodontics-AOO, micro-osteoperforations and the piezocision technique. 3 Corticotomy is used to facilitate orthodontic dental movement and to overcome some deficiencies of conventional orthodontic treatment such as: the long duration required, the limitation of dental movement and the difficulty in producing movements in certain directions. Clinical applications for corticotomy include: dental crowding, accelerating canine retraction after premolar extraction, retraction of anterior teeth, facilitating eruption of impacted teeth, molar intrusion and correction of open bite and facilitating slow orthodontic expansion. 2


An injection molding machine that uses a mold and a native controller to operate according to an original mold cycle to mold plastic objects is retrofitted with a retrofit controller; the retrofitted machine uses the mold and the retrofit controller to operate according to a retrofit mold cycle to mold plastic objects.


Purpose – Although Generation Y has been extensively examined in the popular and academic literature, there have not been any studies to date that have identified the psychographic profile of this market segment using the VALS scale. The purpose of the research presented in this paper is to provide a segment characterization of Generation Y using the VALS typology and provide insights into the media habits of this population. Design/methodology/approach – The research sample consisted of subjects from Generation Y that were drawn from a population of college students. To determine the VALS types, participants completed the VALS survey in addition to responding to questions related to demographics and media habits. Originality/value – The results contribute to the literature by providing for the first time a segmented characterization of Generation Y consumers. The research provides a detailed perspective of this important market segment and provides marketers with insights on their values, attitudes, and ...


Colours in Byatt's collection of short stories are either organic or related to the body, which is consistent with the stories as tales of domestic horror depicting the decaying body, the tortured body, the ecorche body or the body left without a mind. Byatt is, in particular, a black magician evoking the horror within by making use of the domestic toil of black-leading or the domestic upset of the war's blackout to build a sophisticated metaphor of the work of art as metamorphosis. Working like a painter incrementing layers upon layers of meaning like so many touches of colour or coats of material, Byatt's use of colour is a subtle means to work on the limit (limes) of the unspeakable and stand on the threshold (limen) between brilliance and terror so that she may transform Raw Material into Body Art as two aptly named stories suggest. Working with colours, she paints the body sublime.


For those of us who were once fans of Mrs Pepperpot—and it's surprising how many come out of the woodwork, wearing a smile, when you mention that name—this volume is essential reading. It grew out of a conference held in June 2012, at Hedmark University College in Norway, entitled Alf Proysen's Literature for Children , in preparation for the centenary of Proysen's birth, in 2014. I have to say that I knew nothing about the man till I saw this volume. In fact, on a bad day I might have struggled to remember who wrote those Mrs Pepperpot books. (Published: 15 December 2014) Citation : Nordic Journal of ChildLit Aesthetics, Vol. 5, 2014 http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/blft.v5.26727


Researchers have established a Holocene pattern of Bison spp. diminution on the Great Plains of North America. This pattern, however, is less clear west of the Rocky Mountains. This lack of clarity stems from a relative paucity of paleontological and archaeological bison assemblages sufficiently large enough to understand local bison diminution. To begin filling this important gap in knowledge, we analyze a large bison assemblage from Baker Cave, a Late-Holocene archaeological site located on Idaho's Snake River Plain. Measurements of humeri, radii, tibiae, metatarsals, and calcanei demonstrate that these animals were significantly smaller than Early-Holocene bison from both the Great Plains and Snake River Plain. Middle-Holocene bison from the Great Plains are generally larger than those from Baker Cave, but this size difference varies by skeletal element. The Baker Cave bison do fall within the range of Late-Holocene morphological variation present in both Snake River Plain and Great Plains bison populations. These results provide a necessary first step for understanding bison morphology in the region, but establishing a pattern of diminution west of the Rocky Mountains will require follow-up studies with other faunas.


Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Lexical Analysis System (ICTCLAS) is a common tool for Chinese word segmentation and named entity recognition. With this tool, the F1 value of person name recognition from Chinese texts in Tibetan culture is only 40%. We propose a method for transliteration recognition of Tibetan person name based on Tibetan cultural knowledge. Firstly, we leverage Tibetan cultural dictionary to improve the word segmentation performance of ICTCLAS. Then, special contextual features and naming rules of Tibetan person name in their culture are adopted to determine the boundary of Chinese transliteration of Tibetan person name. Finally, the transliteration candidates of Tibetan person name are filtered based on discrimination and reliability. Experiments on a 1.2 M Tibetan text in Tibetan culture show that the method can increase the F1 value of Chinese transliteration recognition of Tibetan person name from 40.08% to 87.92% in ICTCLAS.


Biodiesel is green and renewable energy ,but producing biodiesel must be based on local conditions to avoid competing with edible oil.China is famous for its food , and it produces several millions of waste frying oils every year, which can offer raw material to produce the biodiesel.The biodiesel produced by waste frying oils is practicable and has been put into commercial application in Japan, and it brings important revelations to China the following :First is to promote the acceptance and the participation of the civilians,second is to formulate supporting policies for biodiesel industry, third is to make good use of the by product glycerin.


Recently, robots that communicate with human have attracted much attention in the research field of robotics. In communication between human, almost all human recognize the subtleties of emotion in each other's facial expressions, voices, and motions. Robots can communicate more smoothly with human as they detect human emotions and respond with appropriate behaviors. Usually, almost all human express their own emotions with their facial expressions. In this project, we propose an emotion detection system with facial features using a Bayesian network. In actual communication, it is possible that some parts of the face will be occluded by adornments such as glasses or a hat. In previous studies on facial recognition, these studies have been had the process to fill in the gaps of occluded features after capturing facial features from each image. However, not all occluded features can always be filled in the gaps accurately. Therefore, it is difficult for robots to detect emotions accurately in real-time communication. For this reason, we propose an emotion detection system taking into consideration partial occlusion of the face using causal relations between facial features. Bayesian network classifiers infer from the dependencies among the target attribute and explanatory variables.


This research was aimed to find out the role of internet in translating. The subject of this research was the students who took Translation course. The data in this research were taken in three methods that is observation, interview and questionnaire. Based on the result of data analysis, it was found that in the Translation course, the students had freedom on using internet to translate. Internet was believed by the students to be helpful on their ability to translate, especially in translating in more natural way. Moreover, the students used search engines such as google and yahoo, read articles in English, and used online dictionary. However, they tend to be not satisfy with the translation result of the google translate. Therefore, the first conclusion that can be taken is that the ability of the students to translate is good enough. It was proven by the mean score of the class which reached 78.67. The second conclusion is that the internet is quite helpful for the students to help them translating the material.

Keywords: internet, translation ability, qualitative research.


The inbred strains C57BL/6J (C57) and DBA/2J (DBA) display striking differences in a number of behavioral tasks depending on hippocampal function, such as contextual memory. Historically, this has been explained through differences in post-synaptic protein expression underlying synaptic transmission and plasticity. We measured the synaptic hippocampal protein content (iTRAQ and mass spectrometry), CA1 synapse ultrastructural morphology and synaptic functioning in adult C57 and DBA mice. DBA mice showed a prominent decrease in the Ras-GAP calciumsensing protein RASAL1. Furthermore, expression of several presynaptic markers involved in exocytosis, such as syntaxin (Stx1b), Ras-related proteins (Rab3a/c), and rabphilin (Rph3a), was reduced. Ultrastructural analysis of CA1 hippocampal synapses showed a significantly lower number of synaptic vesicles and presynaptic cluster size in DBA mice, without changes in postsynaptic density or active zone. In line with this compromised presynaptic morphological and molecular phenotype in DBA mice, we found significantly lower paired-pulse facilitation and enhanced short-term depression of glutamatergic synapses, indicating a difference in transmitter release and/or refilling mechanisms. Taken together, our data suggest that in addition to strain-specific post-synaptic differences, the change in dynamic properties of presynaptic transmitter release may underlie compromised synaptic processing related to cognitive functioning in DBA mice. Inbred and gene-specific mutant mouse strains have provided a basis for exploration of the impact of genetic variation on structural, physiological and molecular factors that modulate learning and memory. A number of strains display prominent differences in behavioral tasks depending on hippocampal function (1). In particular, DBA/2J (DBA) is outperformed by the C57Bl/6J (C57) strain in tasks for aversive memory formation and maintenance (2). Various deficits in tasks for spatial memory, such as Barnes and Morris water maze (3–5), and non-spatial memory, such as cued and contextual fear conditioning (5, 6), have been reported for DBA mice. These memory impairments may be linked to a reduced capacity http://www.jbc.org/cgi/doi/10.1074/jbc.M114.628776 The latest version is at JBC Papers in Press. Published on April 24, 2015 as Manuscript M114.628776 Copyright 2015 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc. at U N IV D E SH E R B R O O K E on M ay 2, 2015 hp://w w w .jb.org/ D ow nladed from C57-DBA strain differences in presynaptic function 2 for the maintenance of theta-burst LTP in the CA1 area of the hippocampus (Schaffer collateral pathway) in DBA compared with C57 (5, 7). Theta-burst activity is assumed important in novel context exploration (8), an important factor in the formation of spatial and fear conditioning memories. Induction of LTP appeared unaffected unless interburst intervals were extremely compressed to three seconds (8, 9). In search of the principal molecular mechanisms underlying the physiological and behavioral phenotype of DBA mice, studies have mainly focused on postsynaptic proteins. For instance, changes in the level and activity of signaling proteins such as protein kinase C (PKC), the protein kinase A-pathway and mitogen activated protein kinase specifically affect behavioral and physiological performance (10, 11). Differences in the level and activity of some of the above proteins have also been shown to affect memory formation in DBA mice (11–13). For example, treatment with oxiracetam increased membrane-bound PKC, which was associated with improved memory performance of DBA mice in the Morris water maze (14). However, the diverse physiological responses to the temporal pattern of stimulation may be insufficiently explained by postsynaptic mechanisms only. A reduced capacity for pairedpulse facilitation (PPF) has been observed (5), which suggests the presence of changes in presynaptic dynamics and short-term plasticity that may further contribute to the physiological and behavioral phenotype in DBA mice. Since a comprehensive view of the synaptic composition, morphology and short-term plasticity in these strains is lacking, we performed an integrative analysis of the synaptic differences between DBA and C57 in adult (10–13 weeks) mice. We observed decreased expression levels of presynaptic markers involved in exocytosis, together with a lower number of synaptic vesicles and presynaptic cluster size in DBA mice, and no changes in postsynaptic density or active zone. Moreover, DBA mice displayed decreased pairedpulse facilitation and enhanced short-term depression of glutamatergic synapses. These results suggest an alteration in transmitter release or refilling mechanisms that, in addition to known postsynaptic mechanisms, may contribute to learning and memory differences in these strains. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES Animals. Male C57Bl6/J and DBA/2J were obtained from Charles River (Lyon), and were individually housed with cage enrichment and water and food ad libitum on a 12/12 h rhythm lights on/off with lights on at 7 AM. All experiments were approved by the Animal Users Care Committee of the VU University and complied with the European Council Directive


language (L2) is used/taught/learnt in the absence of a native-speaker model of the language (Bickerton 1981). This is the situation prevailing in India with regard to English. However, due to prolonged contact between English and the Indian vernacular languages, certain common conventions for the use of English, such as borrowing, code-mixing and code-switching have developed in all the Indian vernacular language communities in India. Research in these speech conventions suggests that these conventional practices serve as interpretive tools or communication strategies in interaction (Kachru 1978a, 1978b; Gumperz 1982; Datta 1985). Presumably, then, these conventions also affect the verbal


Millimetre Wave (MmWave) massive multiple-input multiple-output (MmWave-massive-MIMO) has developed as beneficial for gigabit-per-second data broadcast into 6G digitized wireless technology. The collection of low-rate and energy-efficient (EE) types of machinery, low power consumptions, multi-bit quantized massive MIMO-Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing Access (OFDMA) structure have been planned for the receiver manner. The main concentration effort is the minimization of a state-of-the-art pilot-symbol quantized (PSQ) massive MIMO-OFDMA system (m-MIMO-OFDM-S). Accordingly, in this analysis, by minimizing many advantages of the Variational Estimated Message Fleeting (VEMF) algorithm. A modified low complexity manner VEMF algorithm is invented for the utilization of the ASQ-m-MIMO-OFDM-S structure. Hence, two new modules improve the energy efficiency and spectrum efficiency for wireless smart 6G technology of pilot bits allocation process for MmWave connections of the hybrid MIMO-OFDM receiver structural design. Several technologies such as massive MIMO-OFDMA, 3GPP & 4G& 5G technology, the device to device communication (D2D), GREEN communication have increasingly important consideration in assisting spectrum consumption along with power consumption during simulations. The proposed VEMF algorithm has achieved higher capacity, sum rate, Energy Efficiency (EE), and throughput for the receiver section. Finally, we present a greater number of user's data transmissions MmWave-massive-MIMO-OFDMA system.


A novel method for evaluating the colorimetric accuracy of digital color cameras is proposed based on a new measure of the metamer mismatch body (MMB) induced by the change from the camera as an observer to the human standard observer. Previous methods of evaluating the colorimetric accuracy of a camera are the Luther the MMB relative to that of the convex hull of the spectral curve [3]. The latter method addresses problems of the previous two methods but, narrow. The method introduced here extends and improves upon the normalized-volume-of-the-MMB method by replacing the normalized volume with a normalized shape measure.


Summary. The effect of temperature fluctuations which cryopreserved spermatozoa may undergo during routine shipping and handling was evaluated in sperm frozen with two cryoprotectants. Sperm frozen in TEST‐yolk buffer maintained motility better than those frozen in glycerol solution in all studies. Sperm motility was significantly compromised in samples stored more than one day in dry ice, regardless of the cryoprotectant, and more than two days in a liquid nitrogen shipping dewar if frozen in glycerol solution. Sperm motility was not compromised following exposure to room temperature for up to 3 min if TEST‐yolk buffer was used as the cryoprotectant, but was compromised following 1 min exposure using glycerol cryoprotectant. This study describes the limits of non‐ideal conditions that spermatozoa may undergo during shipping and handling, and demonstrates the effects of the cryoprotectant on those limits.


Phi meson production in heavy-ion collisions at subthreshold energies is studied in the relativistic transport model. We include contributions from the baryon-baryon, pion-baryon, and kaon-antikaon interactions and find that the reaction πN → φN is most important for phi meson production. The implication of our results is discussed with respect to the preliminary experimental data from the FOPI collaboration and the future dilepton experiment by the HADES collaboration at GSI.


This paper studies how investment can be influenced by common tax and monetary policies, where investment is measured by the proportion of an investor' wealth invested in the asset that pays a random return. We further prove that all risk-uncertainty averse individuals will increase investments if and only if a type of proportional tax with full loss o ff set (Domar and Musgrave 1944, QJE) is imposed. This result holds: 1. under ambiguity, that is when the probability distribution of an asset's return is unknown; 2. when borrowing in the safe asset is allowed.


A figure of merit for operating earth stations can be evaluated by G/T measurement. The performance of receiver must be retained quality for handling a weak power. Currently, the development of new S-band antenna system for THAICHOTE satellite series is being performed by GISTDA so that G/T measurement program is also required to be one of that parts. Particularly, this program attempts to be automatic function by starting from the sun tracking to G/T solution. This paper will describe the methodology and assessment of accuracy by referring to the original system.


Studies of (dtbpe)Ni Silylamides and their Redox Properties: We previously developed a general route for synthesis of silylamido complexes of nickel supported by the 1,2-bis(di-tert-butylphosphino)ethane (dtbpe) ligand, shown below (Figure 2). All three complexes that have been prepared show a promising reversible Ni redox couple at more positive potentials than related complexes that have hydrogen rather than a trimethylsilyl substituent. These are useful complexes for exploring steps B and C.


In order to solve the problem of traditional manual method for seed point selection in liver segmentation process, an automatic seed point selection method was proposed based on statistic model of intensity. This method is according to the characteristics of structure and grayscale of the liver. It transfers the problem of obtaining seed point to the identification and location of the liver. By means of statistics and analysis of liver intensity on the sequence of CT images, the seed point can be obtained quickly and accurately. The whole process has no user interaction. And it ensures the position of seed point will not change by different operators.


In this study, the effect of UV treatment on the physicochemical properties and structural variation of metal oxide-silica nanocomposites (Mn2O3-Fe2O3@SiO2) has been investigated. Based on the results, UV irradiation significantly affects the nanocomposite structure, where SiO2 network reconfiguration, change in surface OH group density, and surface area were observed. Erythromycin (ERY) has been chosen as a module pollutant to compare the performance of the pristine and UV-treated nanocomposites. The pristine nanocomposite had a high adsorption efficiency (99.47%) and photocatalytic activity (99.57%) at neutral pH for ERY in the first cycle, and this efficiency decreased significantly for the multiple cycles. However, different results have been observed for the UV-treated nanocomposite, where it retained its performance for ten consecutive cycles. This enhanced performance is attributed to the structural modifications after UV exposure, where increased surface area, pore volume, and OH group density resulted in an increased number of the possible mechanisms responsible for the adsorption/oxidation of ERY. Moreover, oxidation of adsorbed molecules by UV light after each cycle can also be another reason for enhanced removal. For the first time, the fate of ERY is studied using regenerated nanocomposites after the last cycle. LC/MS/MS results showed that ERY degraded in 20 min, and the produced reaction by-products were adsorbed by nanocomposites. This study could be a foundation research for the practical approaches for the regeneration of nanomaterials and the successful removal of organic pollutants from aquatic environments.


Figure 1: Altitude of GOCE above WGS84 reference ellipsoid for the last three weeks (days 13/294-13/314). When the Xenon ion propulsion of ESA's GOCE (Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer) stopped operating after October 21, 2013, the satellite experienced a rapid decay of orbital altitude (see Fig. 1). Despite the increasing air drag conditions, GOCE accelerometers and GPS receivers delivered high-quality data until November 8 and November 10, respectively, before GOCE finally disintegrated on November 11, around 0:16 UTC near the Falkland islands (see Fig 2).


In this study, a simple and efficient ultrasound-assisted emulsification microextraction (USAEME) method combined with gas chromatography (GC) was developed for the preconcentration and determination of oxadiazon in water and soil samples. In this method, fine droplets of toluene were formed and dispersed in the sample with the help of ultrasonic waves which accelerated the formation of a fine cloudy solution without using disperser solvents. Several factors influencing the extraction efficiency, such as the nature and volume of organic solvent, extraction temperature, ionic strength and centrifugation time, were investigated and optimized. Using optimum extraction conditions a detection limit of 0.1 µg L –1 and a good linearity in a calibration range of 0.25–250 µg L –1 were achieved for the analyte in a river water sample. This proposed method was successfully applied to the analysis


ABSTRACT Molecular dynamics simulations (MDS) are employed to investigate the effects of interatomic interaction and nanostructure on wettability of water on a copper plate. In the nano scale, these simulation results showed that the contact angle gradually increases with the decreasing of the reaction parameters, which results in the decreasing of free energy on the solid-liquid interface. Therefore, it leads to that the hydrophilic material is turned into hydrophobic, which fits the results that the wettability is changed by low surface energy materials in macro scale. Furthermore, the contact angles on smooth and rough surfaces are 87° and 71.6°, respectively. That is to say that the hydrophilic will increase for hydrophilic material due to the existence of one-layer structure; it agrees with the experimental results in macro scale.


Objective:To study the evaluation of sodium Ferulate in the tratment of left ventricular diastolic function in dvabets mellitus. Methods: left ventricular diastolic function be measured by echocardiography with before treatment after treatment. Results: CO, VE and EDT of treatment at 1/2 month were more than that of before treatment; VA and EAT of treatment at 1/2 month were lower than that of before treatment. Conclusion: Sodium Ferulate can improve left ventricular diastolic in diabetes mellitus.


Modeling was done to simulate whole‐year running of solar rectangular photobioreactors (PBRs). Introducing the concept of ideal reactor, the maximal biomass productivity that could be achieved on Earth on nitrate as N‐source was calculated. Two additional factors were also analyzed with respect to dynamic calculations over the whole year: the effect of PBR location and the effects of given operating conditions on the resulting decrease in productivity compared with the ideal one. Simulations were conducted for the cyanobacterium Arthospira platensis, giving an ideal productivity (upper limit) in the range 55–60 tX ha−1 year−1 for a sun tracking system (and around 35–40 tX ha−1 year−1 for a fixed horizontal PBR). For an implantation in France (Nantes, west coast), the modification in irradiation conditions resulted in a decrease in biomass productivity of 40%. Various parameters were investigated, with special emphasis on the influence of the incident angle of solar illumination on resulting productivities, affecting both light capture and light transfer inside the bulk culture. It was also found that with appropriate optimization of the residence time as permitted by the model, productivities close to maximal could be achieved for a given location. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2012


The Endocrine Society has revised its 2007 guidelines for managing thyroid disease during pregnancy and postpartum. Highlights of the updated


On studying the rural society of the Central Pyrenean region, using the histories of families in the village of Esparros, reconstituted from the 17th century up to 1914, it would appear that an attempt was made to escape from population pressure at the end of the Ancien Regime, by using a specifie type of Malthusian check, over and above delayed marriage, emigration of the youngest in the family and frequent celibacy : a limitation of fertility within marriage amongst women aged over 35. Whether this was a moral restraint resulting from abstinence or whether it was a matter of limiting births, it is sure that, in these country areas, married couples in the past were able to adapt their behaviour to the ups and downs of the economic and demographic conditions and to ease the path towards the permanence of the stem-family. This family model is mainly based on the couple formed by a lone heir and spouse living together with the parents, and on the inegalitarian transmission of the family property and of the house (maison) -i.e., the building and the lineage- of which the name, like a patronymic, is transmitted from one generation to the next. Before 1640, the stem-family was able to function with a high rate of mortality and early marriage, that is at a faster pace of renewal of generations than was later the case.


Graphene surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) provide a promising platform to develop a series of new photonic, plasmonic and optoelectronic devices from terahertz to optic spectrum owing to its excellent properties. In this paper, a new kind of graphene metasurfaces, i.e., bilayer graphene ribbon arrays separated by a dielectric gap is proposed. The general dispersion theory of SPP mode on the structure is investigated by a modal expansion method. Solving field expressions on different regions and using proper periodic boundary conditions, the analytical dispersion expressions of SPP mode are obtained on the bilayer graphene ribbon arrays for the first time. With this result, the SPP characteristics of dispersion and propagation loss can be calculated and analyzed with graphene and structural parameters. The proposed SPP modes on the bilayer graphene ribbon arrays metasurface can open up new ways to develop some functional devices such as low-loss sub-wavelength plasmonic waveguide, planar retroreflectors and the enhanced terahertz radiation source.


We demonstrate the recurrent reconfiguration of virtual network function placement and routing and wavelength assignment in optical metro networks supporting 5G services. Reconfiguration solutions are provided by a dedicated planning-tool module.


A brief historical review on measurement techniques of sound absorption or the acoustic surface impedance will be presented, starting from procedures in the 1930s. Many in situ and laboratory methods have been described over the years. Most of these methods are based on the assumption of plane wave propagation or diffuse sound field. Measurement examples will be shown for some of the methods presented and compared to each other. A commonly used measurement procedure of so-called diffuse sound absorption coefficients is described in the international standard ISO 354. The present revision of the standard only focuses on the conditioning of the sound field and further applying Sabine equation. A diffuse sound field is atheoretical approach. Geometrical acoustics as the basis of sound field simulation has been applied to measurements in a virtual reverberation chamber on absorber baffle set-ups [see Probst (2015)] and showed good agreement between measured and calculated values. This approach is used to investigate the effect of sample size and sample position. Correspondingly, non-standard measurements are compared with simulation results.


This paper studies and implementation of positioning system based on GPS.The system consists of hardware platforms, positioning terminal software, positioning and monitoring service center. One of positioning terminal is based on Samsung's S3C2440 ARM9 processor, G600 communication module and u-blox GPS positioning module. Positioning terminal software Linux-based development of embedded real-time operating system, it's multi-tasking, real-time characteristics of software provides a good platform. Running on the Linux operating system is the terminal software, by driving the hardware platforms and Linux, the terminal software to complete the GPS positioning, and communications with control centers and other functions. The second type of positioning terminal is based on Android platform for mobile phones and other android pads. Such terminals can use the rich resources of the Android platform to achieve the map display, GPS positioning, communications with control centers. Monitoring platform is a GIS-based management platform, including the integration of the electronic map, and track positioning terminal location query.


Data Visualization: Smoothing data for display using Kernel Density Estimation. Application of the KDE Procedure (provided with Base SAS®) with the Univar Statement provides smoothing for data in graphs. While PROC KDE provides a great resource for smoothing data, the bandwidth selection is fixed and does not account for uncertainty / variance measurements. This paper presents a macro for smoothing data that takes into account uncertainty at each observation point. The method can be used for data with normal and nearly-normal uncertainty distributions.


Long COVID has had a profound impact on the lives and health of many people around the globe. Estimates of the number of people affected vary, but on the 6th May 2022, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) identified that there were 1.8 million (2.8%) people living in private households in the UK alone who were experiencing self-reported long COVID symptoms. The same data identified that symptoms adversely affect the day-to-day activities of 1.2 million people in the UK. However, the long-term consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection and the subsequent impact on public health are still largely unknown and present a major challenge to health and care systems moving forward. A mechanism to facilitate long-term monitoring of long COVID is therefore essential to support research, service improvement and enhance understanding of the disease as it evolves. In response to this, the aim of this commentary is to outline key recommendations for a voluntary Long COVID Registry in Wales. In this paper, five key recommendations are highlighted that should be considered in the development of a Long COVID Registry. These include: 1) a dual purpose of research and service improvement; 2) experiential co-design with end-users; 3) recruitment of a self-referred population and inclusion of a control group; 4) utilisation of digital infrastructures and 6) a prudent and integrated approach.


It is a useful method to decrease water pollution using natural minerals.In this thesis,Ca-based bentonite produced from Liaoning province was modified by means of calcinning procedure,hydrochloric acid and sodium chloride immersing processes.The adsorbability for simulative printing waste water was studied utilizing the modified bentonite.The results indicate that the adsorbability of modified bentonite is superior to natural bentonite,and the best effect is distributed to the sample modified by calcinning at 500℃.The best technological parameters for waste water decolorization are that pH is 1.0~3.0,the amount of the modified bentonite is 0.15 g/mL,the stirring time is 20 min.The decolorization ratio and CODcr removal ratio of the wastewater after being treated by modified bentonite reach to 99.0% and 92.16 mg/L respectively and meet the national A-level of sewage discharge standard (GB8978-1996).


Two new gobiid species of Vanderhorstia Smith, 1959 which have been recently collected from Japanese waters. Both new species are distributed in marine coral reef habitats off the Ryukyus, Japan. Vanderhorstia cyanolineata sp. nov. can be well distinguished from congeners by the following unique combination of features: (1) fin ray counts: second dorsal fin rays I/12, anal fin rays I/12; pectoral fin rays 18-19; (2) fin shape: low first dorsal fin with about equal 3rd to 5th spinous rays, caudal fin large and middle rays as sword-like projection; (3) scales: LR 50-52; TR 18; and (4) its own specific colouration mentioned below. Vanderhorstia fulvopelvis sp. nov. can be well distinguished from congeners by the following unique combination of features: (1) fin ray counts: second dorsal fin rays I/12, anal fin rays I/12; pectoral fin rays 17; (2) fin shape: D1 in lacking any filamentous ray; C large with larger upper lobe forming as pointed tip; (3) scales: LR 46-47; TR 16; and (4) their own specific colouration. The diagnosis, formal descriptions and color images of specimens as well as underwater photo records will be provided in this paper.


Significance Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death worldwide, with atherosclerosis being the most common source of clinical events. Metabolic changes with aging associate with concurrent increased risk of both type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, with the former further raising the risk of the latter. The activity of a selective type of autophagy, chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA), decreases with age or upon dietary excesses. Here we study whether reduced CMA activity increases risk of atherosclerosis in mouse models. We have identified that CMA is up-regulated early in response to proatherogenic challenges and demonstrate that reduced systemic CMA aggravates vascular pathology in these conditions. We also provide proof-of-concept support that CMA up-regulation is an effective intervention to reduce atherosclerosis severity and progression.


We present a new method of analysing and quantifying velocity structure in star-forming regions suitable for the rapidly increasing quantity and quality of stellar position–velocity data. The method can be applied to data in any number of dimensions, does not require the centre or characteristic size (e.g. radius) of the region to be determined, and can be applied to regions with any underlying density and velocity structure. We test the method on a variety of example data sets and show it is robust with realistic observational uncertainties and selection effects. This method identifies velocity structures/scales in a region, and allows a direct comparison to be made between regions.


In the first part of this paper I established Durkheim's intense dissatisfaction with the materialism of his earlier work. I demonstrated also how the series of critical reviews of this work embarrassed Durkheim and crystallized his desire to revise his theory. Finally, I showed how a much more subjectivist theory emerged in the 18931896 period. In this second part, I argue that these developments were themselves transitional. Beginning in the published work of 1896, there emerges a much more subjectivist theory still Durkheim calls this his 'religious sociology' With it, he felt, he could finally present the alternative to matenalism he had always sought, and through it he argued with his critics that he had never been 'materialist' at all! The 'spiritual programme of Durkheim's later writings' has never been appreciated. In the last twenty years of life he sought to rethink and rewrite every aspect of his theory of society. Properly understood, this theory, though badly one-sided, offers a precious legacy to contemporary studies of cultural life. In my conclusion to Part I of this essay, I argued that by the middle of the 1890s Durkheim found himself in a real quandary. From the dramatic shifts which immediately postdated The Division of Labour in 1903, from responses to reviews of this and other early work, and from more personal documents as well, it seems clear that Durkheim realised, consciously or not, that the theory which had informed so much of Division was a drastic mistake But his positivist faith that scientific objectivity must reveal the very consistency of social life, his intellectual pride in the integrity of his theorising, and perhaps also his lack of critical self-consciousness all of these factors prevented Durkheim from acknowledging in the mid-1890s that he was, in fact, embarked upon a drastic theoretical revision. To his understandable but, nonetheless, illegitimate indignation, no one seemed aware of this fateful turn neither his antagonistic critics nor his faithful students If his new path were to be recogmsed if his divergence from the theory of Marxian socialism were ever to be recognised for what it was his innovation would have to be asserted in a more emphatic and radical


Electronic and structural properties of polypyrroles oxidized by different concentrations of chlorine atoms or molecules are studied with the use of a density functional method implemented with plane waves and pseudo-potentials for the core electrons. The calculated properties are compared with those obtained for the neutral system that are in good agreement with the available experimental data. The role of the counterion in the oxidation process is studied extensively and shown to be crucial for the localization of charge and structural defects.


This introduction to a volume on the populations of the Arab East begins by distinguishing between the Maghreb or Western Arab world comprising Morocco Tunisia and Algeria from the Machrek or Eastern Arab world. The volume focuses on the Arab countries of the Middle East with some comparisons to the Maghreb and the non-Arab Middle Eastern countries. Whereas the Maghreb is remarkable for the preponderance of Sunni Islam and importance of a single subpopulation the Berbers the Machrek is the site of complex and changing migratory movements that have brought diverse branches of Islam a persisting Christian presence and great cultural variety. The Machrek is less advanced in the demographic transition than the Maghreb. The Arabian peninsula itself the birthplace of the Arabic language and Islamic religion exhibits on its borders influences of Africa Persia and India. The local populations in the Gulf states are vastly outnumbered by foreign workers. Religious ethnic and linguistic minorities have provoked crises within the region while the Arab-Israeli conflict the Gulf war and the Iran-Iraq war have revealed geopolitical fragility and have influenced inter-Arab population movements. The methodological problems in measuring demographic processes in such a context are considerable.


Satellite navigation signals are very weak in power and, therefore, rather easy to jam for various purposes in both military operations and civilian life. This paper studies the jamming mitigation performance of deep GNSS-INS coupling when a low-cost MEMS inertial measurement unit (IMU) is being used. Deep coupling refers to the integration architecture which implements inertial-aided vector GNSS tracking instead of independent (scalar) tracking loops. In this paper the most important equations involved in noncoherent deep coupling are presented and the tracking performance using the MEMS IMU is compared to the performance obtained using the true antenna position instead of inertial navigation computations. Moreover, the convergence of the integration filter is investigated in the case where only four satellites are available. The results show that the MEMS IMU cannot quite bridge a jamming period of 35 seconds but still outperforms standard unassisted scalar tracking. Moreover, it is observed that an adverse satellite geometry significantly slows down the convergence of the accelerometer bias states of the integration filter while some other states reach a steady state normally.


In  the  face  of  the  students  to  understand  the  structurant  concept  of  biological evolution,  it  proposed  a  simulation  game  that  seeks  to  overcome  some  of  the learning obstacles identified. Also, it's proposed a new iconography to teach the evolution, in which the insects are a medium to its learning. The study populations were children of 9 to 12 years old of 5th degree of primary education, and the total sample were 128, distributed in three educative institutions. To estimate the game efficacy it was planted applied questionnaires before and after of the application of game. The total number of right answers before of the game was 23 and after of the game 123, which shows a considerable difference that could be measured by the game: "Evolution". Despite of the game reflex be effective, it was identified in the  students  a  permanency  of  follow  obstacles:  Need,  spontaneous  causation, directionality  of  the  change  produced  by  an  agent,  non-differentiation  between mutagenic agent and selective agent and tend to think that two processes occurs in the same generation. Understand the evolution allows to the children dispose of alternative  answers  to  fundamental  questions  around  to  the  origin  and  the formation process of the species, including ours.


That paper describes the activities related with an inspection and condition assessment of existing bridge over a railway line in Sofia, Bulgaria. The structure is part of important transport connection between two major residential areas and the Owner wants to enlarge. The aim is to build a new bridge parallel to the existing one and then to refurbish the old one due to its poor exploitational condition. In the assessment report, it is included scanning with UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) and making of Digital Twin of the structure. The registration of the damages and the identifying of maintenance problems is based on a Visual inspection, NDT Tools and Building Information Model. The quality control assessment of the bridge is based on PI's and KPI's and then two scenarios are elaborated for further action – Reference and Preventive.


Actual communications systems use high-order modulations and channels with memory. However, as the memory of the channels and the order of the constellations grow, optimal equalization such as BCJR algorithm is computationally intractable, as their complexity increases exponentially with the number of taps and size of modulation. In this paper, we propose a novel low-complexity hard and soft output equalizer based on the Expectation Propagation (EP) algorithm that provides high-accuracy posterior probability estimations at the input of the channel decoder with similar computational complexity than the linear MMSE. We experimentally show that this quasi-optimal solution outperforms classical solutions reducing the bit error probability with low complexity when LDPC channel decoding is used, avoiding the curse of dimensionality with channel memory and constellation size.