A large body of evidence suggests that the first 1000 days is a critical window in which interventions to address malnutrition will be most effective, but little is known about the impact on linear growth of nutritional interventions in children ≥2 y. The aim of this analysis was to evaluate the effectiveness of several nutrition‐based interventions, specifically (1) iron; 2) zinc; 3) calcium; 4) iodine; 5) vitamin A; 6) multiple (≥2) micronutrients; 7) protein; and 8) food, at improving growth in healthy children ≥2 y. A systematic search of MEDLINE and EMBASE retrieved 7,794 articles. A total of 69 studies met pre‐specified inclusion criteria. Data were pooled using the generic inverse variance method and expressed as standard mean differences (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Analyses were first conducted using a fixed effects model. If significant heterogeneity was observed (P‐value <0.05, I2 statistic >50%), analyses were repeated assuming a random effects model. Baseline height for age z‐score (HAZ), age, nutrient dose, study duration, and nutritional status were examined as potential sources of heterogeneity. Zinc (mean effect size 0.15; 95% CI: 0.06, 0.24), vitamin A (0.05, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.09), multiple micronutrient (0.26; 95% CI: 0.13, 0.39), and protein (0.68; 95% CI: 0.30, 1.05) had significant positive effects on linear growth with baseline HAZ a significant inverse predictor of the effect size. Iron (0.10; 95% CI: −0.04, 0.24), calcium (0.03; 95% CI: −0.09, 0.14), iodine (0.07; 95% CI: −0.10, 0.25), and food‐based (0.19; 95% CI: −0.28, 0.66) interventions had no significant effect on growth. Age at baseline, study duration and dose were not related to effect size for any nutrient examined. Further restricting our analysis to study populations with baseline iron, calcium, and zinc deficiency did not alter our conclusions for each respective nutrient. Our study suggests that zinc, vitamin A, multiple micronutrient, and protein interventions delivered after 24 mo of age can have a positive effect on linear growth, especially in populations that have experienced growth failure.


ABSTRACT
 Tissue-associated bacterial community profiles generated using a nested polymerase chain reaction—denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) approach and culture-dependent and culture-independent isolation techniques were compared. Oyster samples were collected from 2 harvest areas along the coast of Maine, in the United States. Profiles from both isolation strategies were evaluated using Sorensen's index of similarity and cluster analysis of gel banding patterns. Culture-independent profiles were further evaluated using the Shannon diversity index. In general, the culture-dependent strategy resulted in a greater number of bands within a profile. Bacterial DGGE profiles were found to be highly similar within an isolation strategy, with a higher degree of unrelatedness between culture-dependent and -independent techniques. Cluster analysis identified bands present in the culture-dependent strategy and not the total DNA technique, and vice versa. Significant differences in community profiles between oyster-associated and seawater were observed, indicating a diverse group of specialist bacterial species inhabit and are able to proliferate within the oyster.


—Biological specimens are identified by a printed label detailing their collection and curation information. Deterioration of specimen labels can render specimens scientifically valueless. Given that this problem is a threat to wet-preserved collections, it is critically important to know which label preparation techniques will withstand decades of immersion in common preservatives. Traditional print methods that have lasted for centuries, such as writing in pencil or India ink on cotton rag paper, are time-consuming and not amenable to producing multiple copies of labels. Laser-printing technology greatly increases label production rates, but its durability on assorted label papers or stored in common preservatives has not been quantitatively tested. This 14-yr study examines the durability of laser print on five museum-quality papers. We evaluate the effects of post-printing heat and acrylic-coating treatments on print durability in the presence of two preservative types, formalin and ethanol. All treatments remained legible at the end of the trial. The treatments that maintained the greatest print legibility were acrylic-coated (vs. uncoated) labels and labels immersed in ethanol (vs. formalin solution). Paper type and microwave treatment did not affect print durability.


What is the role of the doctor? So asked Sir John Tooke, chair of the Medical Schools Council, in last year's inquiry into UK doctors' specialist training.1 As Tooke said, without clarity on the doctor's role, we can't know how best we should select, educate, and train doctors, or plan the future medical workforce. We now have the profession's answer—a consensus statement endorsed by a consortium of leaders of UK medicine.2 This isn't the first attempt to define what it means to be a doctor. Nor will it be the last. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is updating its definition (box), and the World Health Organization and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Devel‐ opment are drawing up their own. Many forces have converged to prompt these efforts: sociopolitical changes; scientific and technical progress; the end of deference and the democratisation of knowledge; the rise of chronic disease; and the shift to multidisciplinary working, including role substitution and the extended role of nurses. These were among the factors that prompted the Royal College of Physicians' 2005 inquiry into the meaning of professionalism. Its report defined pro‐ fessionalism as "a set of values, behaviours, and rela‐ tionships that underpins the trust the public has in doctors."3 It talked of a covenant between the medical profession and society, which went far beyond compli‐ ance with contracts or job plans and even technical ability. It required doctors to work in partnership with patients and to exercise honesty, empathy, confidenti‐ ality, humanity, and above all judgment in the face of uncertainty. It concluded that the most important aim of professionalism was securing trust. Building on this and subsequent work,4‐6 the new consensus statement focuses not on values but on the attributes and abilities that doctors need and the range of tasks they undertake. As well as supporting patients in making decisions about their care, doctors must be active in teaching the next generation of doctors, managing resources, and improving the quality of care. They must also be able to work in teams and must take account of finite resources in their decision making, "notwithstanding the primacy of the individual doctor‐ patient relationship." Any attempt to come up with a generic definition of what it means to be a doctor is fraught with difficul‐ ties, not least because so much depends on context— the clinical setting, the patient's preferences, and the doctor's experience and seniority.7 The doctor's role cannot be defined in isolation because, as the Royal College of Physicians' report made clear, relation‐ ships are everything in modern health care.3 There are two particularly thorny issues that tend to be skirted around—the distinction between a doctor and a nurse, and related to this, the question of who should lead the clinical team. The BMA's recent report on the role of the doctor talks about the unique contribution of doctors, their exceptional skills and competencies, and the need to understand not only what doctors do but what they do that others don't.6 The consensus statement concludes that doctors "alone amongst healthcare professionals must be capable of regularly taking ultimate responsi‐ bility" for clinical decisions. But neither report tackles directly the distinction between doctors and nurses, nor what is precisely meant by the newly omnipres‐ ent and euphemistically vague term "clinical leader‐ ship." Taking such coyness to the extreme, the recent report on the role of the nurse, commissioned by the chief nursing officer, mentions the word doctor only once, in its methods section listing which groups were consulted.8 The nursing report is more soul searching than the recent spate of medically focused reports. It says that nursing has lost its way and calls for nurses to reassert the care of patients at the centre of their role. The new consensus statement on the role of the doctor hints at an important distinction between doctors and nurses by emphasising the doctor as clinical scientist, and not‐ ing the depth and breadth of medical training and the importance of intellectual ability in selection for medi‐ cal school. "Doctors must have the ability to assimilate new knowledge critically, have strong intellectual skills and grasp of scientific principles and be capable of . . . managing uncertainty, ambiguity and complexity." In the ILO's definitions of doctor and nurse, only the words "scientific" and "care" draw any real distinction between the two (box). Somewhere in the awkwardness of talking about this distinction, both doctors and nurses may have lost their way and risk losing their identity. The trust that society places in doctors may well reside to a greater extent than is currently acknowledged in their ability to go back to first principles and make difficult decisions, under situations of uncertainty, on the basis of a deep understanding of the underlying science. All else can probably be carried out by other members of a team using consensus guidelines and protocols. Of course these intellectual abilities must be overlaid with the accrual over time of skills, experience, and judgment, Fiona Godlee editor, BMJ, London WC1H 9JR firstname.lastname@example.com competing interest: FG attended the consensus meeting on the role of the doctor as an observer. Provenance and peer review: Commissioned; externally peer reviewed.


Every system that is owned by an organization must be in accordance with the needs of users of the system, so that the system used is able to run optimally. Thus the needs for information quality that can be generated inside a system should be balanced or in harmony. E-procurement is the procurement of goods and services whose implementation is done electronically (web based / internet). When the government also use the procurement process to provide goods and services through e-procurement system, there will be further improvement and assurance on the efficiency, effectiveness, transparency, and accountability in spending money. This study examines about alignment of quality e-procurement system, which was between user's needs of qualified information with the information capacity that could be generated by the e-procurement system. The research was conducted in the scope of Salatiga local government. The object of study was Procurement Services Unit (ULP) Salatiga, as manager institution of electronic procurement of goods and services (e-procurement) in Salatiga governance. The data collection was conducted by interviewing the managers of Electronic Procurement Service (LPSE) Salatiga, procurement committee (Pokja) and the Partners (providers of goods and services). This study, especially the results of the questionnaire showed that all of the user's desired information quality have already been generated by e-procurement system. Thus the e-procurement system implemented by Salatiga local government to provide goods and services was already running in harmony.


The minimum miscible pressure (Pm) of CO2-hydrocarbon mixtures in nanopores is a key parameter for CO2-enhanced shale oil recovery. Although the miscible behaviors of CO2-hydrocarbon mixtures in nanopores have been widely investigated through the simulations and calculations, the heterogeneity of shale components with different affinity to hydrocarbons results in the deviation of traditional predictions and motivates us to investigate how the surface properties influence the CO2-hydrocarbon miscible behaviors in nanopores. In this work, we established a model and framework to determine the wettability-dependent physical phenomena and its impact on the Pm of CO2-hydrocarbon in shale nanopores. First, a generalized scaling rule is established to clarify the potential correlation between critical properties shift and wettability based on the analysis of microscopic interactions (fluid-surface interactions and fluid-fluid interactions). Second, a wettability-dependent SKR EOS is structured and a generalized and practical framework for confined phase behavior with different surface wettability is constructed. Subsequently, the Pm of CO2-hydrocarbon mixtures in confined space with various wettability is evaluated with our model. The calculated results demonstrate that the nanoconfined effects on Pm not only relate to the pore dimension but also depend on the contact angle. In an intermediate-wet nanopore, the minimum miscible pressure approaches the bulk value. In an oil-wet nanopore with a width smaller than 100nm, the minimum miscible pressure is suppressed by the confined effects, and the reduction is further strengthened with a reduction in pore dimension and increase of wall-hydrocarbon affinity. Our work uses a macroscopically measurable parameter (contact angle) to characterize the shift of critical properties derived from the microscopic interactions, and further construct a generalized and practical framework for phase behavior and minimum miscible pressure determination in nanopores with different surface properties. The method and framework can make a significant contribution in the area of upscaling a molecular or nanoscale understanding to a reservoir scale simulation in shale gas/oil research.


Stereo vision systems in autonomous vehicles can come with camera sensors with different models and lenses to detect objects at long and short ranges. The intrinsic/extrinsic parameters of the camera sensors, such as the focal length and distortion parameters used for calibration, are not provided. In this article, we present a novel rectification method for uncalibrated stereo cameras based on their corresponding feature points. To obtain reliable key/feature points and descriptors from stereo images, we propose a deep neural network, called a multilevel feature pooling network. The model processes images individually to learn both local and semiglobal features, from which the location and descriptor of each pixel in the image are estimated. We also introduce a method to balance the zoom effect caused by the different focal lengths of the camera lenses and rectify the images by estimating homography matrices for stereo images based on their refined corresponding feature points.


In order to research the characteristics of pests of hybrid rice Yongyou 12, characteristics of rice leaf roller, brown plant hopper and rice false smuton hybrid rice Yongyou 12, japonica rice Xiushui 134 and other japonica rice varieties were studied. The results showed that under the same treatment, insects involucred of rice leaf roller of hybrid rice Yongyou 12 was 26.43% higher than japonica rice Xiushui 134, live insects was 45.03% higher than japonica rice Xiushui 134; at different day in September, worms amount of 100 clusters of hybrid rice Yongyou 12 was 5.4, 5.1~11.0, 4.7~6.6 times than other japonica rice varieties; rice false smut panicles of hybrid rice Yongyou 12 and japonica rice Xiushui 134 were 6.60 and 0.40. Thus, hybrid rice Yongyou 12 was susceptible to rice leaf roller, brown plant hopper and rice false smut.


There have been more and more Combined Cycle plants being built in recent years due to the efficiency and flexibility they provide. Modeling Combined Cycle plants in the unit commitment problem is very challenging. Combined Cycle units can be operated in various operational modes; however, implementing detailed physical components of a Combined Cycle Plant in market operation is not practical due to model complexity and absence of data. This paper discusses the use of configuration based Combined Cycle model in MISO unit commitment. The usage of a transition cost matrix is proposed to represent additional expenses incurred due to starting up extra units when switching from one operating mode to another. This model represents an approach to overcome the dilemma of preserving accuracy and maintaining practicability while ensuring a more economic solution.


This paper focuses on the representation of Jews and Judaism in the visual culture of Northern Europe in the period from about 1400 to the early 16th century CE. It uses psychoanalytic concepts as tools for understanding some aspects of the paintings, sculptures, prints, manuscripts and other objects of the period and their backgrounds. In particular, the paper makes a distinction between differentiation and splitting. Where the former expresses an acknowledged fact, like the monotheistic religious split into three distinct groups, the latter, splitting, expresses a particular form of differentiation where we are led to an antagonistic and hateful view of the Other. The paper will argue that towards the end of the first and the start of the second millennium CE there was a shift in the visual representation of Jews, from images that differentiated Jews and Judaism from Christians and Christianity, to ones that increasingly demonized them and where splitting was the dominant mechanism. These changes will be linked with developments in spirituality and Biblical hermeneutics. Three examples of the manifestation of splitting will be discussed: first, the contrast between two significantly similar female figures, the failing 'synagoga' and the thriving 'ekklesia' ; second, the development of the cult of Corpus Christi , which became linked with anti-Semitism particularly through the 'blood libels'; and third, the growth of passion iconography as an expression of the vilification and demonization of Jews by Christians, particularly on the charge of 'deicide', the killing of a god.


Local authorities (LA) have been serving as leaders in their communities to implement the Low Carbon Cities Framework (LCCF). LCCFC, although carefully developed, has not been effectively utilised. This paper aimed to study the effect of LCCFC implementation on community satisfaction levels. The objectives of this paper were: (i) to determine the implementation of LCCFC in relation to community satisfaction, (ii) to analyse the levels of community satisfaction across economic, social, and environmental aspects, and (iii) to suggest strategies and frameworks for enhancing community satisfaction. A mixed method approach was employed, which encompassed both an interview and a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire survey reached a sample size of 400 participants, drawn from six distinct neighbourhood areas within the jurisdiction of the Subang Jaya Municipal Council. Meanwhile, the interview was conducted with town planners within a Local Authority (LA) as key stakeholders, alongside the community. The qualitative data was analysed using Atlas Ti, while the quantitative data was via SPSS. The findings of the present study reveal that the utilisation of the LCCF checklist by the local authority concerned is currently inadequate, thereby necessitating the identification of strategies for improvement and the formulation of action plans to enhance community contentment. It is recommended that the findings of the current study be utilised as a point of reference by other local authorities, thereby constituting a significant advancement in the pursuit of accelerating sustainable development.


The result of investigation of the UV, gamma irradiation, annealing in air (700-1300 K) and N2+H2 gas mixture (1700 K) on optical and lasing properties of Nd-doped YAlO3 (YAP-Nd) laser crystals are presented The crystals were grown by the Czochralski technique from iridium crucibles in 98% Ar+2% O2 atmosphere.


Color metaphor plays a huge role in setting off the atmosphere, depicting the characters, and revealing the significance of the theme. In Dry September, Faulkner used different colors in a metaphorical and symbolic way. The metaphor of different colors implies the abstract human nature. The colors in Dry September are closely related to the thematic meanings of "madness, violence, and death." By analyzing the metaphorical meanings of the colors, it is then possible to have a better understanding about the profound themes expressed in the short story. However, there are several studies on this short story concerning color metaphor. This paper attempts to analyze the metaphorical meanings represented by the colors in detail to better comprehend the evil side of human nature and the tragedy of life that the author wanted to convey in the short story.


Wang Changshun's new works,The Scholars of Pre-Qin period and Sima Qian,is another masterpiece studying Sima Qian and Historical Records.The works shows us the feature which is new,extensive,rigorous and connecting,that is new and unique research perspective,the organic combination about research data at all times and in all lands,rigorous and pragmatic research attitudes,the connecting and resilient rational thinking,and it shows us that an innovative scholar should have basic cultural accomplishment and academic character,and also gives our researchers a lot of academic inspiration,thus literature studies will be led to a wider sphere.


Although prospective studies suggest a bidirectional association between depression and type 2 diabetes, few studies have examined depressive symptom clusters or concurrently evaluated both directions of this relationship. Consequently, our objective was to examine the longitudinal, bidirectional associations between the somatic-vegetative and cognitive-affective clusters of depressive symptoms and insulin resistance, which is implicated in the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes. Participants were 269 adults (baseline age range: 50-70 years, 55% female, 14% non-white) without diabetes enrolled in the Pittsburgh Healthy Heart Project, a prospective cohort study. At baseline and the 6-year visits, participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) to assess depressive symptoms and underwent a blood draw to quantify fasting serum insulin and glucose. We examined baseline BDI-II total and subscale scores as predictors of 6-year change in the homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) score, an index of insulin resistance computed from fasting insulin and glucose. We also examined baseline HOMA score as a predictor of 6-year change in BDI-II total and subscale scores. HOMA and BDI-II change were computed as follow-up score minus baseline score. Regression analyses, adjusted for baseline HOMA score and demographic factors, revealed that the baseline BDI-II somatic-vegetative score (beta=.14, p=.03), but not the total (beta=.10, p=.11) or cognitive-affective (beta=.004, p=.95) scores, was a predictor of 6-year increases in the HOMA score. The pattern of results was similar after further adjustment for body mass index, except that the BDI-II total score became a predictor of HOMA change (beta=.13, p=.03). In contrast, the baseline HOMA score did not predict 6-year change in BDI-II total, somatic-vegetative, or cognitive-affective scores (all p's>.48). Our findings indicate that older adults experiencing the somatic-vegetative symptoms of depression (e.g., fatigue, sleep disturbance, and appetite changes) may be at an increased risk of insulin resistance and subsequent type 2 diabetes.


Yes we should, argues Wates design manager and BIM beginner Lisa Gould. Its potential to cut waste and reduce risk is huge. But if the very mention of 'BIM' makes your eyes glaze over, don't worry you're not alone. Definitions are hazy and the business case for adopting it has yet to be made. But here, Gould explains what it is, what it isn't yet and how to get started using it Analysis I CR


A survey was conducted to investigate the intake pattern of health supplements and health foods by using questionnaire. The data were collected from 395 adults over middle age and analyzed with SAS program. The natural foods were most frequently taken among health supplements and health foods for health. There was no difference in pattern of health supplements or health foods intake between male and female. The item taken over 20% of subjects was health drinks, green tea, ginseng product, dietary fiber drink, honey, general tea, tonic medicine from natural foods, vitamin B, vitamin C from nutrition supplements, and Lactobacillus product from health supplements. As the main reason for taking health supplements or health foods, the male indicated recovery of fatigue and improvement of health, but the female indicated recovery of fatigue and protection or treatment on disease(p


The Internet penetration rate is rising all over the world. In South Korea, there is no area which does not have Ethernet ports and Wi-Fi. So many people are familiar with network, Internet. However, there are still many countries and regions that do not know the weather today because the Internet is not available yet. To solve this problem, many people are studying the mesh network and actually building it and making efforts to spread the Internet. But, in reality, software that can build and manage such a mesh network is insufficient. In order to solve this problem, this paper proposes Gathering of Organization Treating Humble Ad-hoc Management (GOTHAM) and describes the results. GOTHAM is designed to solve three problems that exist in mesh network users. The first is that the mesh network is difficult to install, and the second is that there is no mesh network topology visualization software for batman-adv. And finally, there is no mesh network integration system for administrators. This paper focuses on these three problems and explains the GOTHAM that combines software-defined network (SDN). In addition, this paper describes three modules of GOTHAM. GOTHAM-setting, GOTHAM-main, and GOTHAM-GUI are explained in detail, and how these three modules work together is described. And also, we evaluate and analyze the performance of file transfer function using flow control which is a user application in the GOTHAM-main module. GOTHAM's goal is not to be used for research but to actually run and let people use right now. That's why GOTHAM is an open source project. All the software used in GOTHAM is open source. And also, we use hardware which is inexpensive and easy to get anywhere.


This research aims to apply the Method of Fault Positions to respond to difficulties found in the monitoring records of power distribution systems. In the context of power quality, resources for definition and evaluation of voltage sags indicators are pursued as a direct application of the method. This method uses computational simulations of symmetric and asymmetric short-circuits, by which the influence of each applied situation will also be verified to all buses of the distribution system. The optimal number of power quality monitors and the best positions for installing them on the distribution system will be also determined by applying the Branch-and-Bound algorithm. The purpose is to ensure the observability of the entire distribution system to any short-circuits. The proposed methodology is tested on two IEEE systems: IEEE 34-bus and IEEE 37-bus. The results obtained so far show the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed methodology and are reported in this work.


The cold-work hardening of Q235 material is investigated through tests as the result of pre-torsion cold-work hardening research done before. It is concluded from experimental results that the preformamce of cold-roll reinforcing Steel with ribs can be further improved without changing Q235 mother reinforcing steel material in any way if the pre-torsion cold-work hardening is fully taken into consideration during operations.


The "etiquette" shown by Xun Zi through the phenomenon and ideology of adornment aesthetics ulture is great different from the "etiquette" of Confucius.The "etiquette" advocated by Xun Zi is of evident character of "national force",which endows the "moral etiquette" With the attribute of "observing the law".Besides,Xun Zi madepenetrating elenchus on non-musical and pragmatic adornment aesthetics of Mo Zi.


Drug-induced alopecia is a side effect characterized by generalized hair loss. It is reversible when the drug is discontinued. It is a common side effect of psychotropic drugs. Increasingly widespread use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor is rare and limited to case reports on the use of alopecia. The exact mechanism of drug-induced alopecia is unknown. However, alopecia an undesirable side effect, and can cause drug incompatibility. Here, we report a case of hair loss after fluoxetine use which resolved after the discontinuation of fluoxetine


In recent years, the increasing threat to groundwater quality due to human activities has become a matter of great concern. The groundwater quality problems present today are caused by contamination and by overexploitation, or by combination of both, which are faced by many Indian states. Today, reverse osmosis (RO) membranes are the leading technology for desalination of groundwater because of their strong separation capabilities and exhibiting a great potential for treatment of waters worldwide. However, the RO process had some problems due to the formation of polarization films because high pressure operation and by-products which may generate bacteria and fouling. Also, high energy consumption and brine disposal problem is faced in RO process due to the limited recovery of water. These problems may be overcome by other membrane thermal process such as a membrane distillation (MD). This paper addresses the outline of RO and MD process for desalination. RO has developed over the past 40 years and MD is an emerging technology for brackish water desalination and yet is not fully implemented in industry. The MD is the better alternative to RO for desalination theoretically found in the literature.


We analyze the role of newly integrated data from the child support and child welfare systems in seeding a major policy change in Wisconsin. Parents are often ordered to pay child support to offset the costs of their children's stay in foster care. Policy allows for consideration of the "best interests of the child." Concerns that charging parents could delay or disrupt reunification motivated our analyses of integrated data to identify the impacts of current policy. We summarize the results of the analyses and then focus on the role of administrative data in supporting policy development. We discuss the potential and limitations of integrated data in supporting cross-system innovation and detail a series of complementary research efforts designed to support implementation.


The result of a LA-AIDS showed that the food consumption of poor households in West Java is influenced by its own-price, the price of other commodities, income, number of household members, household location, education of the head of household, and work type of the head of the household. The own-price elasticity identified that the price increase in each commodity group does not affect the consumption of the general food group. The cross-price elasticity of food groups showed more complementary.


This paper presents a review of the guidelines set by different rating systems around the world, to deal with historic buildings. it addresses the many aspects of rating tools and weighing of credits criteria in order to better understand the mutual relationship between the existing situation and the goal to reach. first, the particular cosiderations of rating systems are reviewed. Finally, all aspects are combined into a table that contains a full list of rating tools categories that could be implemented on historic buildings, with high performance.


In teaching, instructors have the responsibilities to ensure that the objectives of the lesson for that day are accomplished and that the students understand the lesson. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is by asking questions. Although most of the questions asked in the classroom are usually related to the pedagogical aspects of teaching and learning, questions can also serve different functions. This study identified the functions of questions in ESL classroom discourse in a public university. The data consisted of audio recording data of five ESL instructors. The data were transcribed and analysed based on the framework set for the investigation: the functions of questions, types of questions and speech act. The analysis revealed that the functions of these instructors' questions were limited mainly to evoking students' response and seeking information. The findings raise some legitimate concerns for the instructors' limited use of questions in the classroom for effective teaching. Some recommendations are put forward for instructors to explore and enhance the use of different functions of questions in their teaching.


This paper gives a description of the use of Optical Coherence Tomography to localize the Ex-PRESSTM mini implant placed in the anterior segment of the eye. An OCT scanner, central wavelength 1280 nm, bandwidth 60 nm, resolution of 12 μm, was build onto a slitlamp to scan the anterior segment of the eye. Five ex-vivo porcine eyes received an Ex-Press implant, and were used as a model to visualize the position of the implant in the anterior segment. In the ex-vivo porcine eyes the OCT images showed the anatomy of the anterior segment in great detail. The anterior segment OCT was able to visualize the whole outline, and the position of the implant. The acquisition time of 0.8 sec is short enough to allow for scanning patients, and AS-OCT is expected to aid in providing answers to the question which parameters will determine the success or failure of such a device.


This paper explores the relationship between economic policy uncertainty and financial reporting quality. Quality is operationalized using Ball and Shivakumar's (2005) accruals-based measure of incremental bad news' sensitivity. We hypothesize that increased uncertainty raises the demand for conditional conservatism that, in turns, leads to a larger incremental bad news' sensitivity. Using firm-level data from 22 countries over 1995 to 2019, we find robust evidence that supports a positive relationship between economic policy uncertainty and incremental bad news' sensitivity. This relationship is shaped by the prevalence of bank debt usage, judicial independence, and debt enforcement efficiency that is a measure of creditor protection.


The invention discloses a metal rubber filtering system for a high speed electrical discharge wire-cutting machine tool. The system mainly comprises a working solution box, a metal rubber filter and corresponding pipelines, wherein the working solution box is provided with a return solution chamber, a filtering chamber and a solution outlet chamber; a horizontal filter screen and a vertical filter screen are arranged in the return solution chamber; the return solution chamber communicates with a working table of the machine tool through a flow returning pipe; the filtering chamber is connected with the solution outlet chamber by a first pipe and a second pipe; the solution outlet chamber is provided with a fourth pipe and a fifth pipe which are serially connected together; and a sixth pipe and a seventh pipe which are spliced together are arranged at the tail end of the fifth pipe, and respectively communicate to nozzles of an upper wire rack and a lower wire rack of the machine tool to clean and cool workpieces and wire electrodes. Compared with the traditional mode, the filtering system not only greatly reduces degree of pollution of a working solution and improves surface accuracy of a cut workpiece, but also prolongs the service life of the working solution. By the metal rubber filtering system for the high speed electrical discharge wire-cutting machine tool, double effects of lowering production cost and reducing environmental burden can be achieved.


Presented herein are ice-tank data concerning ice-rubble loads against a moored conical platform. Of prime interest is how rubble-ice loads are influenced by horizontal stiffness of the platform's mooring system. An important, and heretofore undocumented, feature of rubble loading and clearing around the platform is the accumulation of ice rubble as a false bow, or prow, at the platform's leading perimeter. The ice-tank data show that, under certain conditions of ice-rubble loading, the lowest stiffness of mooring tested resulted in prow instability and sloughing, which in turn lead to a cyclic pattern of loading, and to rubble congestion around the platform. An outcome of such rubble congestion was a marked increase in the overall rubble-ice load exerted against the platform.


The problem of school innovative educational activities is considered to be urgent due to the competition on the market of educational services. Content, technology and teaching educational innovations become the source of competitive advantages of the modern school. Innovation is always a risk, because only a few of them are implemented in reality and lead to positive results. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the content and methodological aspects of opportunities and risks prediction as an integral part of school innovative development. The basis of the author's position is the probabilistic nature of school, which is manifested in the uncertainty and unpredictability of the effects of innovations introduction in the educational process. Subjects of innovative activity, innovative activity itself and the environment are thought to be the main factors of uncertainty. Chances and risks are considered to be the forms of actualization of school future development. Chances and risks are objective and subjective. The author describes a hierarchy of predictable chances and risks, including operational, tactical and strategic levels. Chances and risks prediction is considered to be a mechanism for reducing the uncertainty and unpredictability of school innovative development. The author represents methodological aspects of opportunities and risks prediction. The paper contains an example of real educational practice.


ABSTRACT This paper is to investigate the linear minimum mean square error estimation for Markovian jump linear system subject to unknown Markov chains, multi-channel mode and observation delays, and packet losses. The reorganisation method is employed to convert the delayed measurement system into an equivalent delay-free one and a new state variable is introduced, by which the original state estimation with transmission delays and data losses is transformed into the new state estimation for the reorganised delay-free system with jumping parameters and multiplicative noises. The new state estimation is derived via the innovation analysis method, and an analytical solution to the estimator is given in terms of a set of generalised Riccati difference equations based on a set of coupled Lyapunov equations. Then the original state estimation will be obtained via the jumping property. Finally, we show that the difference Riccati equations converge to a set of generalised algebraic Riccati equations under appropriate assumptions, which result in an optimal stationary filter.


This paper examines attitudes towards women as managers in a sample (n=166) of U.S. and Dutch male and female undergraduate business students using the women as managers scale (WAMS). Across both cultures, three factors emerged from the WAMS and were labeled "ability," "acceptance," and "female specific barriers." Results showed that females held more favorable attitudes towards women as managers than did males. Similarly, but contrary to expectations, U.S. participants held more favorable attitudes towards women as managers than did Dutch participants. These results can inform both women managers and multinational corporations interested in improving the success of their international assignments.


Described is a program of research into sensory aids for the deaf, emphasizing research on factors involved in the effective use of sensory aids rather than evaluation of particular devices. Aspects of the program are the development of a programed testing and training unit, the control of fundamental voice frequency using visual feedback, and tactile stimulation using a wearable hearing aid. The experiments conducted in each of these three areas are detailed. (KW) we have begun a program of research into the application of sensory aids for the deaf. These we define as 'devices which accept an acoustic input and introduce modifications before presenting an output to the auditory, visual or tactile sensors of the deaf sAject.' This definition includes the conventional amplifier. Our aim is not so much to evaluate particular devices as to research some of the factors involved in their effective use. To date our work has covered three areas. Firstly, the design of a binary choice programmed teaching and training unit. This is controlled by modular programming equipment (Grason-Stadler 1200 Series) and can be operated in the classroom, with remote control from the research laboratory. In a preliminary auditory discrimination study, using 30 deaf children, we found that younger children (6 years or younger) did not react well to the machine, but older children were interested and well motivated. Our second area of interest has been in the use of a pitch display for instantaneous visible feedback of fundamental voice frequency. A study with 60 deaf children showed that very few of them were able to exercise voluntary pitch control. Performance on the task given was not found to be related to sex, hearing loss, habitual pitch, or speech intelligibility. It was found, however, that there was a significant improvement with age. We have since extended this work by teaching control of fundamental voice frequency to a group of children both with and without the instantaneous feedback. Our third interest has been the use of tactile stimulation for those children whom we feel to have no residual hearing. We have designed special mittens which permits the children to wear a bone conduction oscillator in the hand. This is driven by a high power hearing aid and gives a 20 to 30 dB improvement in sound sensitivity over the conventional aid. We hope to learn more of the information handling capacity of this system and to establish …


I am pleased and honored to have been asked to give this first Rex Nettleford memorial lecture which was to have coincided with the anniversary of his death and the launch of another of his books; this time a collection of eulogies. Rex's contribution is so timeless that I do not think that the delay of few days will impair the relevance of my remarks to his life and work. I am amazed at the number of eulogies he gave and the persons from so many disciplines and walks of life whom he eulogized. I suppose he was asked to deliver eulogies and write tributes so often, not only because of his prodigious oratorical gifts, but also because of his humanism and because he obviously laid store by the number of persons whose lives he touched or who touched his life in a significant way. He related well to people and obviously cared deeply about many of them so it must have been relatively easy to "speak well" of them. The impressive spread of the eulogized across the Caribbean is also not surprising because he was a regionalist at heart and an open and unrepentant believer that there is something special, more than a natural mystic, which identifies us Caribbean people. It is the kind of regionalism he advocated and the instruments that must sustain it that are the burden of my remarks today.


A class of binary sequences, constrained with respect to the length of zero runs, is considered. For such sequences, termed (d, k)-sequences, new combinatorial and computational results are established. Explicit expressions for enumerating (d, k)-sequences of finite length are obtained. Efficient computational procedures for calculating the capacity of a (d, k)-code are given. A simple method for constructing a near-optimal (d, k)-code is proposed. Illustrative numerical examples demonstrate further the theoretical results.


Various types of government programs in poverty alleviation efforts have been widely implemented, but the assistance that reached the hands of the people has not been in accordance with what is expected. One reason is that the determination of the status of poor families as beneficiaries has not been optimal, so that in providing poverty assistance has not been well targeted. Application Development Decision Support System Determination of Poor Family is made by the method used in determining the decision is the method of Simple Additive Weighting (SAW). The results of the assessment conducted by the system are given poverty status such as Very Poor, Poor, Vulnerable Poor and Not Poor. SAW method is chosen because it can determine the weight value for each attribute, then proceed with the ranking process that will select the best alternative from a number of alternatives, in this case the alternatives referred to are families categorized as poor families based on the criteria specified. With the ranking process, the assessment will be more precise because it is based on predetermined criteria and weights, so it will get more accurate results for anyone who is categorized as poor. These results can then form the basis for the TPK (Poverty Reduction Team) team of Tamanmartani villages to determine which families are entitled to receive government funding so that the distribution of aid is targeted.


Corbicula largillierti is a native mollusk from China. In Brazil, this species was first recorded in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso. This short communication reports the occurrence of C. largillierti for the first time in the Paraiba river basin (Brazilian semi-arid), and also considers the risk of introduction of other molluscs invaders in this basin due to the diversion of water from the Sao Francisco River. Densities of individuals ranged from 33 to 65 ind.m-2 (maximum values of 484 ind.m-2) in coarse sediment (gravel, 2-4 mm). The diversion of waters from the Sao Francisco river can lead to the introduction of new species, enhancing ecological problems in the Paraiba river basin.


We examine the long memory property and structural break in the spot and futures gold volatility in Russia from 2008 through 2013. We find strong evidence of long memory in the volatility of both spot and futures gold series. The break dates are associated with the recent global financial crisis. Moreover, we investigate the volatility spillover effect between the Russian spot and futures gold markets using the corrected Dynamic Conditional Correlation model (cDCC). The findings show relatively high level of conditional correlation between spot and futures gold returns. This outcome decreases the portfolio diversification benefits for gold investors.


ABSTRACT Significant increments of energy demand and the need to decarbonize the existing energy systems motivate policymakers to utilize renewable energy resources. Accordingly, this paper suggests a hybrid electricity generation system that operates with wind and municipal solid waste biomass to generate monotonous currents and protect the environment by using a portion of the urban wastes. To select a hybrid power plant location, Z-number data envelopment analysis is employed considering economic, social, environmental, and strategic factors, in addition to reliability of fuzzy data. Furthermore, a routing problem is solved by the particle swarm optimization algorithm to calculate the optimal cost of urban waste gathering. As a case study, the model is applied to thirty-one cities in Iran; Shahrbabak, Meymeh, and Birjand are three cities selected as optimal hybrid power plant locations. Finally, the sensitivity analysis results indicate the importance of globally adopting land cost and distance from power distribution network factors.


Careful airway assessment before anesthesia induction and perioperative airway management are critical responsibilities of the anesthetist. However, despite improvements in patient monitoring, airway devices, clinical protocols, and training, which have reduced the risk associated with an unpredicted difficult airway (DA), these changes have not reduced the incidence of unanticipated DAs in clinical practice. This prospective, randomized, single-blind study was undertaken to investigate the impact of a new assessment form on airway prediction and management by anesthesia residents, based on the hypothesis that residents would improve in their evaluation of DAs during the study. Adult nonobstetric patients undergoing elective surgery requiring general anesthesia were enrolled in the study if their airway was not already secured. Ninety-one residents were randomized to use the new comprehensive airway assessment form along with the existing form or the existing anesthesia preoperative assessment form only. The new form required a detailed assessment of the patient's airway history and physical examination. Difficult mask ventilation was defined as difficulty in maintaining a mask seal and obtaining satisfactory capnography (end-tidal CO2 and tidal volume). Difficult supraglottic airway was defined as either inability to physically place a supraglottic device or inadequacy of ventilation, oxygenation, or airway protection after placement that required conversion to another technique. Difficult direct laryngoscopy was defined as difficulty in visualizing any portion of the vocal cords after conventional laryngoscopy requiring more than 1 attempt. Difficult intubation was defined as proper insertion of the tracheal tube with conventional laryngoscopy requiring multiple attempts. Difficult surgical airway was considered as a difficult cricothyrotomy or tracheostomy, open or percutaneous, performed electively or emergently, to manage a DA due to bleeding, poor orientation, and difficult instrumentation. The database included 9117 postoperative encounters, but the 155 patients who received multiple anesthetics were excluded from the analysis. All statistical analyses were performed using SAS 9.2 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC). P < 0.05 indicated statistical significance. Of the 83,645 preoperative assessments, 8075 assessments were included in the final analysis, with 3332 (41%) performed by the experimental group and 4743 performed by the control


It is because of the rapidly increasing interconnections among all nations, the need for mobility and the urge to be academically competitive in relation to the rest of the world, that multicultural education in all its facets is becoming more important than ever. A new language pedagogy is gaining ground, wherein multicultural awareness along with multilingualism constitute the core of the foreign language (L2) curriculum. Thus, in-service teacher training has a strategic role in preparing Europe's education systems to meet the challenges of change and to equip students to respond effectively to those challenges. The paper will, therefore, explore the requirements of culturally responsive language pedagogy, the foreign language teacher's roles within the new paradigm, the possibilities and benefits of first-hand multicultural experience and ways of instilling multicultural awareness and competence into students, all for the purpose of embracing and appreciating diversity as a means of both academic and personal growth.


Data from Chinas 1982 one-in-a-thousand fertility survey are used to construct contour maps (called Lexis maps) of various surfaces of Chinese marriage and fertility. They offer a panoramic view of the interaction of age period and cohort variations. The maps clearly display long-term trends of the past 3 decades: age of 1st marriage has shifted upward by about 4 years and fertility has dramatically declined especially before age 20 and after age 30. The maps also reveal the substantial impact of disruptions associated with the Great Leap Forward the Cultural Revolution and the mobilization of urban school graduates for work in rural and mountaineous areas as well as the increase in marriage and fertility associated with the new Marriage Law announced in 1980. Because the maps display age and time simultaneously the effect of long-term trends and short-term disturbances on the age-composition of marriage and fertility can be seen. Marriage continues to occur largely within a 5-year period of age although this period has shifted from 15-19 to 20-24; childbearing has been drastically concentrated in the ages from 21-28. Amidst the turbulent change 2 striking regularities persist. Marriage although delayed remains virtually universal by age 35 and fertility among married women younger than 26 remains as high as it has been over the last 30-40 years. Between ages 19-26 about 1/3 of married women bear a child a year. One important implication of the patterns over the last 3 decades is that China will be burdened with a jagged age structure perhaps for a century or more.


Amazon soils are usually low in the nutrients that plants covet, but harpy eagles can create local hot spots with their poop and prey.


An in situ study of the spatial distribution of the piezoelectric properties of an LiNb(1−x)Ta
 x
 O3 crystal (〈x〉 = 0.088) in an external DC electric field was performed by the method of X-ray diffraction of synchrotron radiation at angles close to 180°. The variation of the d
 22 piezoelectric coefficient was determined with high accuracy (up to 2%) in local areas by the angular shift of the diffraction maximum under the action of the electric field (E = 1582 V mm−1) applied on the crystal along the Y axis, during scanning along the X and Z directions. A correlation between the piezoelectric strain amplitude and the concentration of tantalum obtained by X-ray fluorescence mapping has been established.


known, although it has received more attention during the last decade. Nevertheless, seabirds, especially pelagic species, have been neglected, enabling recent works to steadily add new species to the state's list. Rosario cited 16 Procellariiformes for Santa Catarina but at least two species were overlooked, namely White-headed Petrel Pterodroma lessoni, found once on a beach on Santa Catarina Island, the only documented record in Brazil, and Antarctic Prion Pachyptila desolata. A few additional pelagics have been recorded in Santa Catarina more recently, including Northern Royal Albatross Diomedea sanfordi, Light-mantled Sooty Albatross Phoebetria palpebrata and, in recent years, several Catharacta and Stercorarius. Almost all records of Procellariiformes and Stercorariidae in Santa Catarina are of specimens found on beaches or birds observed offshore. Here we present data on some of these seabirds recorded in coastal waters of Santa Catarina. In addition, we also comment on the presence of Sphenisciformes and Laridae in the state.


A statistical theory of resonant multielectron recombination based on properties of chaotic eigenstates is developed. The level density of many-body states increases exponentially with the number of excited electrons. When the residual electron-electron interaction exceeds the interval between these levels, the eigenstates (called compound states or compound resonances if these states are in the continuum) become "chaotic" superpositions of large numbers of Hartree-Fock configurational basis states. This situation takes place in some rare-earth atoms and many open-shell multiply charged ions excited in the process of electron recombination. Our theory describes resonant multielectron recombination via dielectronic doorway states leading to such compound resonances. The result is a radiative capture cross section averaged over a small energy interval containing several compound resonances. In many cases individual resonances are not resolved experimentally (since the interval between them is small, e.g., � 1 meV, possibly even smaller than their radiative widths), therefore, our statistical theory should correctly describe the experimental data. We perform numerical calculations of the recombination cross sections for tungsten ions W q+ , q = 18–25. The recombination rate for W 20+ measured recently [Phys. Rev. A 83, 012711 (2011)] is 10 3 greater than the direct radiative recombination rate at low energies, and our result for W 20+ agrees with the measurements.


A study investigated to explore the comparison of insect species composition in natural, semi natural and Man-made ecosystems at Kuttiady village, Kozhikode district of Kerala state, Southern India. Collection of insects belonging to different order and family was made by using variety of collection equipments and methods due to the diversity in their habitate. Study was carried out at selected habitats from August 2020January 2021. A total of 51 insect species belonging to 8 different orders and 34 different families were recorded in the study area. Among these, 23 species were identified from natural ecosystem (12 families), 17 from semi-natural ecosystem (12 families) and 11 from Man-made ecosystem (11 families). During the present investigation high species composition was recorded in natural ecosystem followed by semi-natural ecosystem whereas the minimum species composition was noticed in Man-made ecosystem. The study conclude that the natural ecosystem support the existence of rich insect species might be due to favourable environmental and habitat conditions. Therefore, the continuous monitoring and conservation of natural ecosystems is highly essential for the sustenance of rich flora and fauna.


Introduction: Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are frequently associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a non-malignant enlargement of the prostate. Increasing attention has been focused on the use of phytotherapeutic agents to alleviate the symptoms of BPH in recent times. The most described and studied phytotherapeutic agent for the medical treatment of symptomatic BPH is the lipido-sterolic extract of Serenoa repens, Permixon® which is known as Prostagood® in Turkey. This prospective study was designed to evaluate and compare the efficacy and safety of Serenoa Repens (SR) and Tamsulosin (TAM) in men with LUTS secondary to BPH during a 6-month period. Materials and Methods: This prospective study was designed to have 2 arms including SR 320 mg per day (N=20) and Tamsulosin (TAM) 0.4 mg per day (N=20) to reveal the superiority or equivalence between these treatment regimens in BPH. Patients with International Prostate Symptom Score (I-PSS) ≥10, a maximal urinary flow rate (Qmax) of 5-15 ml/s were included in the study. The I-PSSand LUTS-related quality of life scores (QL) and uroflowmetry test results were recorded. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS v10.0) software was used for statistical analyses. A p value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Mean age of patients was 57.8±6.8 (range 43-72) years. After 6 months, mean decrease in I-PSS was 6.1 and 4.6 in the SR and TAM group, respectively. Mean increase in Qmax was similar in both the SR and TAM groups (3.2 ml/s for SR, 3.7 for TAM). The difference between IPSS and Qmax values at baseline and 6 months were significant in each group. However, the groups were not statistically different with regard to increase in Qmax and decrease in I-PSS and QL scores (p>0.05). During the 6-month treatment period, 12 (40%) patients treated with TAM had drug-related adverse reactions while no adverse effect was detected in SR group. Conclusion: LUTS associated with BPH are very common in men over the age of 60 years worldwide. Currently, there is no consensus for the management of LUTS due to BPH. An alternative treatment of BPH with phytotherapeutic agents seems to be increasing in some European countries. In most placebo-controlled studies, the efficacy of SR is shown to be greater than placebo. Previous studies have compared TAM to SR and most have found equivalent efficiency in resolving LUTS due to BPH. In vitro studies have shown that SR is a non-competitive inhibitor of type I 5-alpha-reductase and non-competitively inhibits the type II isozyme. Another most widely accepted mechanism of action by which SR has been suggested to improve voiding symptoms in men with BPH is through inhibition of dihydrotestosterone binding to the cytosolic androgen receptor in prostatic cells. Anti-proliferative and anti-inflammatory mechanisms have been also described, while the major mechanism still remains undetermined. In summary, we found that treatment of BPH by both SR and TAM seems to be effective alone. None of them had superiority to another and additionally, SR is a well-tolerated agent that can be used alternatively in the treatment of LUTS due to BPH.


A GC method was developed to analyze residue of Prochloraz and its metabolites in Soil and Cucumber.The sample was extracted with acetone,and was partitioned with dichloromethane.Then the extract was concentrated,and was hydrolyzed with pyridine hydrochloric acid.Then the hydrolyzed solution was extracted with hexane,and was cleaned with sulfuric acid.Prochloraz was determined by a gas chromatograph with ECD detector.The lowest detection limit for prochloraz was 1 5×10 -11 g;The lowest detecting concentration was 0 001 mg·kg -1 .The average recoveries were 75 6%—106 0% with 2 5%—11 5% coefficients of variation.


Essentiality of design orientation in the course of product design is emphasized. By analyzing concept conversions among product, commodity and consumable, the reaso nable advice of design orientation in the different phases of commodity circulation and some concrete methods of design orientation are put forward.


Observations in a brackish creek in eastern Australia indicate that the blue-eye, P. signifer, includes various kinds of insects in its diet in the proportions encountered, provided that they are below a maximum size dictated by the mouth-gape of the fish. Encounter rates are affected by prey body size and water turbidity, but not by hunger level of the fish. Fish fed on insects at rates varying between 0.04 and 0.08 mg s-1.


The pKa values of four pseudo-substituted bromo- and unsubstituted 4-carboxy[2.2]paracyclophanes have been measured and Kirkwood–Westheimer calculations carried out; the substituent effects observed are both normal and reversed, the electrostatic field theory accounting for them both qualitatively and, for the pseudo ortho-, metal-, and para-isomers, quantitatively.


As part of the refinement of the diagnosis, clinical management and therapy of patients with speech disorders, we present an analysis of the successful treatment of amnestic aphasia using valproic acid drug with electroencephalography monitoring for therapy verification. We suggest some organizational and neurological features of the implementation of clinical tactics in the treatment and diagnostic process in amnestic aphasia.


The New Jersey Exchange Place station of the Port Authority Trans- Hudson (PATH) commuter system is being completely rebuilt after it was forced to close when its counterpart in Manhattan was destroyed along with the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Three components are: resuming service at Exchange Place; repairing the flood-damaged tunnels under the river; and building a temporary PATH station on the New York side at the former World Trade Center site. The goal is to have the New Jersey side operable by June 2003 and the Manhattan by December 2003. The New Jersey work means converting the station into a terminus with turnouts and crossovers. Forced closure has enabled the plans to be significantly expanded. The Hudson tunnels have been stripped down to their original cast-iron linings and are in surprisingly good condition. The Manhattan station will have a functional, open-air design.


Mental stress consistently increases mean arterial pressure (MAP), but changes in muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) during mental stress can vary widely between subjects. The MAP responsiveness to mental stress has been reported to be augmented in both prehypertensive and obese adults when compared to normotensive and normal weight adults, respectively. Cardiovascular reactivity to mental stress has been suggested as a predictor of hypertensive risk (i.e., cardiovascular reactivity hypothesis), yet the major contributing factors to the MSNA and MAP responses to mental stress remain unclear. Predictive independent variables include factors such as resting blood pressure, sex, and body mass index (BMI). Therefore, we used a regression selection method with an algorithm that employed both forward selection and backward elimination to determine the best explanatory variable for the changes in MSNA (ΔMSNA) and MAP (ΔMAP) during mental stress. Predictive independent variables included resting systolic arterial blood pressure (SAP), diastolic arterial blood pressure (DAP), mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), heart rate, sex, age, and BMI in 97 adults (67 males and 30 females). Heart rate, MSNA, and MAP were simultaneously and continuously recorded during a 5–10 min supine baseline and 5 min of mental stress (via mental arithmetic). The strongest predicting variable for ΔMSNA responses to mental stress was BMI (p<0.02), which explained 3.5% of the variance; BMI and ΔMSNA were significantly correlated (p<0.04). In contrast, the strongest predicting variable for ΔMAP responses to mental stress was resting SAP (p<0.02), which explained 5.6% of the variance; resting SAP and ΔMAP responses to mental stress were significantly correlated (p<0.01). We conclude that BMI is the predominant factor that contributes to the ΔMSNA response to mental stress, while resting SAP is the most important contributing factor to ΔMAP responses. Our findings reinforce the importance of both BMI and resting blood pressure in neural cardiovascular reactivity studies.


Objective: To observe the effect of intrathecal administration of N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) on hociceptive heat threshold in rats. Methods: Seventy SD female rats were randomly divided into seven groups with intrathecal administration of different doses of medicine. The rats in Group A received intrathecal injection of nomal saline as control. Different doses of NMDA were injected intrathecally in Group B, C, D and E. Intrathecal administration of MK801, an antagonist of NMDA receptor, was performed in Group F, while NMDA were injected following the intrathecal injection of MK801 in group G. The volume of administration for each group was 10μl. The hociceptive heat thresholds of rats in each group were measured with hot plate both before and after administration, with the analgesia index(AI) calculated. Results: Intrathecal administration of NMDA decreased the hociceptive threshold of rats, inducing the ascendance of analgesia index in a dose-dependent way. MK801 could inhibit such reaction significantly. Conclusion: Spinal NMDA system plays an important role in the development of hyperalgesia in rats.


: Biological diversity and cultural diversity have been identified as interdependent factors by UNESCO "Culture for the 2030 Agenda". Biological diversity determines the livelihood of the inhabitants. The contribution of inhabitants to conserve or manage the habitat sustainably is highly recognized by the world heritage convention. Minimizing waste, avoiding chemicals, selecting natural and healthier products, and recyclability are the five sustainability goals in trend. Ecological sustainability is the key feature of the communities living in their natural habitats. Indigenous knowledge of the people who lived in a specific area for generations is an underutilized resource for the sustainable management of the ecological system. Data centrism, carbon offsetting, and going for green products are new concepts of the century. These concepts were often applied by the local people who lived closer to lowland tropical forests in Sri Lanka. Gathering information on indigenous knowledge and identifying the diverse materials used by the indigenous people will be a reference library for future sustainable utilization, management, and conservation of lowland tropical forests. The present work describes indigenous knowledge as revealed by the local people who live closer to lowland tropical forests. The information is mainly focused on agriculture-related themes, namely food (mushrooms, aquatic and terrestrial leaves, wild fruits, aquatic molluscs), wood, vines, and leaves for production purposes (materials for housing, wood for specific purposes, leaves for weaving), natural substances (oils, wax, resins, dies, and toxic substance gathered from the forests, their sources, and usage) and honey collection and animal rearing. This invites the scientific community to explore the untouched areas in the nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, ethnobotanical, phytochemical, and architectural fields within new trending concepts such as ecological sustainability, eco-friendly, low-waste food, functional food, carbon footprint offset, green building, eco-tourism, and tightening supply chain concepts.


Random events in space and time often exhibit a locally dependent structure. When the events are very rare and dependent structure is not too complicated, various studies in the literature have shown that Poisson and compound Poisson processes can provide adequate approximations. However, the accuracy of approximations does not improve or may even deteriorate when the mean number of events increases. In this paper, we investigate an alternative family of approximating point processes and establish Stein's method for their approximations. We prove two theorems to accommodate respectively the positively and negatively related dependent structures. Three examples are given to illustrate that our approach can circumvent the technical difficulties encountered in compound Poisson process approximation [see Barbour & Mu ansson (2002)] and our approximation error bound decreases when the mean number of the random events increases, in contrast to increasing bounds for compound Poisson process approximation.


The invention provides a P2P (peer to peer) network control device and a P2P network control architecture. The P2P network control device authenticates service requests transmitted by a user node in an IMS (IP multimedia subsystem) network, such as registration request, resource release and resource query for joining a P2P service overlay network. If authentication succeeds, the service requests are transmitted to the P2P service overlay network corresponding to the types of requested services. Behaviors of the user node in joining and exiting an upper overlay network and a content resource overlay network of the P2P service overlay network are controlled. A resource node list of the user node requiring for the resources, returned by the P2P overlay network, is optimized according to network optimization information provided by a network optimization service unit, and the resource node list which is optimized is returned to the user node. Therefore, the P2P service overlay network, the user node and service traffic are effectively monitored by an ISP (internet service provider) through the deployed P2P network control device, and the P2P service overlay network can be operated orderly.


The seminal paper published by Leland et al. triggered a new direction on traffic modeling research, by unveiling the fractal nature of network traffic processes (Leland, Taqqu, Willinger, Wilson, & Bellcore, 1994). These authors experimentally demonstrated that the LAN Ethernet traffic collected in Bellcore Morristown Research and Engineering Center exhibits self-similar properties and burstiness in a wide range of time scales. abstract


Because these authors believed that muscle cramps in patients with cancer are a "common complaint of unappreciated significance," they undertook a prospective evaluation of 50 such patients who reported cramps. Each patient underwent a thorough …


Centered modified systematic sampling (CMSS)' was proposed by Kim(1985) for estimating the mean of a population with a linear trend. In the present paper a version of this sampling method is suggested. This version turns out to be efficient in the same degree as the original method from the viewpoint of the expected mean square error criterion. It is also shown to be quite an efficient method as compared with other existing methods. An illustrative example is given.


Search for entities has become the most popular type of Web search, second to navigational queries. As such, the search for entities has attracted considerable amount of research interest. In this paper we describe our participation in the Semantic Search Challenge of the Semantic Search 2011 Workshop at WWW'2011, where we achieved first and third place in the list and entity search tracks.


Background: Breast milk provides adequate protein to facilitate growth for term infants. Appropriate nutrition is necessary for the growth of preterm infants. Extremely-low-birth-weight (ELBW) infants require higher protein intakes to achieve adequate growth. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of protein supplements on the physical growth of infants weighing less than 1,000 grams through the serial measurement of their anthropometric indices (weight, height, and head circumference) during admission at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Methods: This triple-blind, randomized clinical trial was conducted on 64 infants weighing less than 1,000 grams, who were admitted to the NICU of Akbar Abadi Hospital in Tehran, Iran during 2015-2016. Data on the daily nutritional intake of the subjects were recorded until discharge from the hospital. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 24. Results: In total, 63 infants were enrolled in the study. Mean daily weight gain of the infants was 55.92±36.90 and 30.80±13.91 grams in the case and control groups, respectively (P=0.001). Mean weekly linear growth in the case and control groups was 0.77±0.67 and 0.76±0.29 centimeter, respectively (P=0.939). Mean weekly head circumference growth in the case and control groups was 0.51±0.10 and 0.34±0.16 centimeter, respectively (P<0.001). Conclusion: According to the results, protein therapy in the premature, extremely-low-birth-weight (ELBW) infants could improve the rate of weight gain and head circumference growth. Given the importance of weight gain in premature ELBW infants, it is recommended that protein therapy be employed in these newborns. Various studies have denoted the few side-effects of protein therapy, which indicates the safety of this method to resolve the lack of weight gain in these infants.


A method for removing Pb(II) and Cd(II) ions from contaminated waters via a batch procedure by dithizone-modified cellulose acetate nanosponges as an adsorbent is proposed. Determination of Pb(II) and Cd(II) ions in the initial and final samples were carried out by flame atomic absorption spectrometry technique. The adsorbent was prepared from waste photographic tapes. The time required for complete adsorption process was 6 seconds. While non-modified cellulose acetate nanosponges can adsorb only about 2.0 % of Pb 2+ from an aqueous solution of 50 mg L −1 and 1.5 % of Cd 2+ from a solution of 10 mg L −1 , dithizone modification improved the efficiency to up to 99.5 and 95.5 %. Maximum adsorption capacities of the dithizone-modified adsorbent were 787mg g -1 for lead and 195 mg g -1 for cadmium. Received 12 Dec 2015, Revised 07 May 2016, Accepted 11 May 2016


For the computer hardware in the teaching equipment and means of a single backward,the technical problems will be faster,more popular technology,and the eda integrated into many courses teaching content and the establishment of the integration and network teaching platform.The simulation eda in the application of technical platforms,the implementation of the theory and methods and procedure,describe the platform of the structure,the teaching content and software system design,hardware,and system design.


...........................................................................................................2 Acknowledgements...............................................................................................3 Abbreviations......................................................................................................4 Introduction......................................................................................6 Part I – 'Crisis in the Technological Landscape'.......................................15 Chapter 1, Player Piano: 'Aesthetic of Nostalgia'.......................................................15 Technological Determinism: Crisis of Progress....................................................16 The Body in Crisis......................................................................................21 Crisis of American mythology: Freedom and Second Creation..................................26 Chapter 2, Crash: 'Aesthetic of Defamiliarization'......................................................33 'Crisis of narration': the Quest for the Real in the Technological Landscape..................33 Crisis as Trauma: the 'Compulsive Return'.........................................................39 The Spectres of Technology: Defamiliarization and the Uncanny...............................44 Chapter 3, The Circle: 'Aesthetic of Transparency'....................................................47 Ontological crisis: Aestheticization of Technology in a Religious Context ...................47 Crisis of Homogenization: Sight over Insight in the Technological Landscape...............54 Part II – 'Infantilization in the Technological Landscape'...........................60 Children of Totalitarian Regimes.....................................................................60 Paul Proteus and the Oedipus Complex.............................................................61 Regression in Crash and The Circle..................................................................65 Pleasure over Reality: Infantilized Landscapes.....................................................66 Religion as an Obsessional Neurosis: Robert Vaughan as God of Technology...............68 "Now we are all God": the Omnipotence of Thought and Narcissim in The Circle...........73 Conclusion......................................................................................85 Works Cited....................................................................................89


Skuas and jaegers (Stercorariinae), like other birds with a raptorial lifestyle, display reversed sexual dimorphism in size (RSD) in which females are larger than males. This condition is commonly believed to be associated with the morphology or behavioral ecology of avian predators, and numerous theoretical explanations have been presented to account for its evolution. Most tests of these ideas have been theoretical or based on com- parative analyses. We present tests of specific hypotheses of RSD based on field studies of Great Skuas (Catharacta skua) and Parasitic Jaegers (Stercorarius parasiticus) breeding in Shet- land. We also present a comparative analysis of foraging behavior and degree of RSD within the Stercorariinae. We found no support for the popular theories that claim that RSD evolved as a result of specialized roles during breeding. Large females were not more fecund, nor were they the main defenders of the nest. Male body size was not correlated with any breed- ing parameter. In addition, interspecific comparisons did not support the idea that the de- gree of RSD is related to foraging behavior during the breeding season (as opposed to mor- phology). Female dominance within pairs did not affect any breeding parameters. Support was found for theories that RSD is linked to sexual selection. Large females had an advantage when pairing with older males, which could be a result of intrasexual competition for mates. There was assortative mating for size, indicating that small males could also have an advan- tage in pairing, because large males seem to be rejected by small females. Given the disparate results of several previous studies, we conclude that a large body of empirical evidence will be needed before we can draw firm conclusions about the main selective factors that act to maintain current levels of RSD in natural populations of raptorial birds. Received 24 July 1997,


Spacecraft, returning back to Earth, experience a very harsh environment during the encounter with the particles of the atmosphere. One of the major issues of the atmospheric entry is the extreme aerodynamic heating and the exothermic chemical reactions due to the gas-surface interaction at hypersonic free stream velocities. There is a constant effort by the space agencies to increase the understanding of the re-entry flight dynamics to optimize the spacecraft and especially its thermal protection system design. During the design process, ground tests and numerical tools are extensively used for their low cost and controlled environment abilities. However, real flight tests are indispensable for ground test and numerical tools validation. Due to high costs, such missions are rarely launched and thus there is an increasing interest in small affordable entry probes. Such platforms, once matured enough, may serve as an easily accessible tool to produce experimental data. It is the aim of this dissertation to propose tools to improve ground test capabilities and on the other hand to present the design, and using the developed tools, the testing of aerothermodynamic experimental payloads to collect flight data with a small entry probe. QARMAN (QubeSat for Aerothermodynamic Research and Measurements on AblatioN) is a triple unit CubeSat with ablative and ceramic thermal protection systems. It will perform an atmospheric entry with 7.7 km/s and a peak heat flux of 1.7 MW/m. The aim of the in-flight experiments is to retrieve real flight data on ablator efficiency (temperature, pressure, recession) and temperature-pressure measurements for transition on the side panels. The peculiar squared geometry of QARMAN led to the development of a Flight-to-Ground Duplication methodology accounting for spacecraft geometries. It allows duplicating fully the stagnation region of a spacecraft with an arbitrary geometry in subsonic plasma wind tunnels. As a requirement of this methodology, free stream characterization techniques, specifically enthalpy measurement techniques are introduced. Experimental and numerical databases are built. A thorough ablation characterization campaign in VKI Plasmatron is conducted to provide input for building material response models. The cork P50 ablator is studied in terms of surface and sub-surface temperatures, emissivity, mass loss, char-pyrolysis layers, outgassing species and recession and swelling profiles. Similar in-flight experiments are proposed for QARMAN flight for in-depth temperature and pressure. Methods to build models for advanced data treatment are proposed. A full picture of post-flight analysis strategy is described for each study to relate the ground tools and flight data.


Introduction The 1914–45 period was littered with civil wars, famines, economic depression, population displacements, ethnic cleansings, and World Wars, and yet a clear long-term demographic trend can be discerned. The total population of Europe rose from nearly 500 million in 1913 to nearly 600 million by 1950, a result of mortality falling more than fertility. In 1913 there were still very large differences in birth and death rates across Europe's regions, with the highest in eastern and southern Europe. Despite massive short-term shocks, the next thirty years were marked by huge overall declines in mortality and fertility and by a considerable narrowing of the differences across countries. One task of this chapter is to explain these developments. A second distinctive feature of the period was the great movements and displacements of population within Europe. The underlying economic force was a large shift from agriculture to industry, matched by the move from villages to towns which is analyzed in a later section. Equally important were political forces linked to the collapse of the three multicultural empires (Ottoman, Russian, Austrian–Hungarian) which, together with the military expansions and contractions of the German Reichs in the two world wars (see Chapter 6 in this volume), led to huge population displacements, ethnic cleansings, and deaths from war, famine, and deportation. What effect did these massive changes have on living standards? Over the whole period, real incomes rose, as did life expectancy, literacy, and education levels.


on a reagent by a postgradu-ate, and preparation of the reagent in current At he the of His research interests include stereoselective total synthe- sis of natural products of biological significance and development of new synthetic methodologies for target-oriented synthesis.


Acoustic phased arrays are capable of steering and focusing a beam of sound via selective coordination of the spatial distribution of phase angles between multiple sound emitters. Constrained by the principles of reciprocity, conventional phased arrays exhibit identical transmission and reception patterns which limit the scope of their operation. This work presents a controllable space-time acoustic phased array which breaks time-reversal symmetry, and enables phononic transition in both momentum and energy spaces. By leveraging a dynamic phase modulation, the proposed linear phased array is no longer bound by the acoustic reciprocity, and supports asymmetric transmission and reception patterns that can be tuned independently at multiple channels. A foundational framework is developed to characterize and interpret the emergent nonreciprocal phenomena and is later validated against benchmark numerical experiments. The new phased array selectively alters the directional and frequency content of the incident signal and the frequency conversion between the different wave fields is analyzed as a function of the imposed modulation. The space-time acoustic phased array enables unprecedented control over sound waves in a variety of applications ranging from ultrasonic imaging to non-destructive testing and underwater SONAR telecommunication.


"Although Shakespeare wrote fast, he prepared his ground well and, while hatching a plot or considering how to add details to a major source, he read round his subject, maybe in a desultory way but with an eye for the useful trifle, often dipping into books published in the last few years and recalling what he had long since read, conflating material from many places."'0 I would urge that Troilus and Cressida as well as Othello shows traces of a dip into Holland's Pliny; that sometime around 1602, as he was contemplating an unusually erotic and titillating love tragedy, Shakespeare easily spotted the most erotic and titillating section in the new translation of the Natural History. He found there a striking statement about man's absurd yet tragic sexual nature; furthermore, the context accentuated for him man's bestiality at the same time that it specified the distinctively human plight. Shakespeare's eye was also caught, on the same page, by the account of the generation of vipers, a cycle of death that his early training in rhetoric had prepared him to read as a moral emblem. In this context and at this time in his creative life, Shakespeare discovered the generation of vipers to be an apt metaphor for human sexuality.


ABSTRACT Pinus chiapensis is an endemic and endangered species from Mexico and Guatemala, which has low seedling survival from seeds, and protocols for its asexual propagation have not been fully studied. For these reasons, through a greenhouse experiment, we first compared the production and development of cutting capacity from mother plants produced from trees selected at six different locations. Second, we evaluated after 22 weeks of growing the development responses of such cuttings, i.e. survival, root production, root length and cutting length, growing in two substrates supplemented with four different concentrations of indolebutyric acid. We found differences on cutting production and development among the six sites. In particular, plants from Zapotitlán reached the highest yield of 4.28 ± 0.36 cuttings per plant and 1.94 ± 0.08 cm in length. Cutting survival ranged from 68.6% to 100% on all treatments. The highest percentage of rooted cuttings (100%) was observed for substrate B at 1000 ppm of indolebutyric acid. In addition, the highest root production of 3.19 ± 0.21 per cutting, the highest root growth of 4.49 ± 0.79 cm and the highest cutting growth of 5.53 ± 0.26 cm were observed for substrate B at 1000 ppm of indolebutyric acid. The production of rooted cuttings should be utilized in conjunction with genetic tree improvement programs to implement local commercial plantations of plus-trees, which can reduce the extractive pressure of the few remaining relictual populations of this species, which in turn would allow increase the income of rural communities improving their life conditions.


In nests of opossum (Didelphis aurita), localized in palm-trees of the species Attalea indaya Dr., the authors found a new tritatoma, the description of which is being made by Dr. H. LENT. They verified that this triatoma had been naturally infected by Trypanosoma (Schizotrhypanum) cruzy. Two guinea-pigs were subsequently infected by peritoneal inoculation of excrements of this new triatoma. The xenodiagnosis of these guinea-pigs, made with normal nymphas of. T. megistus and T. infestans resulted positive after 25 days. Evidence was obtained of being the opossum (Didelphis) one of the sources infection of the new vector, because several specimens of them were found infected, and also a specimen of D. aurita, which contained trypanosomes with the morphology of T. (S.) cruzy in the peripheral blood.


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performance; a dual- bandwidth was achieved extended from (3.72 to 3.79) GHz and (6.99 to 8.55) GHz with maximum antenna gain equal to (5.28, 7.66) dBi, respectively. The antenna is characterized by its small size and high efficiency, making it suitable for Long-Term Evolution LTE, 5G, and satellite applications.


With the rapid development of science and technology, it is an inevitable trend for wireless communication systems to work on the same platform in different frequency bands. Reconfigurable antenna realizes the reconfiguration of parameters such as resonant frequency, polarization mode and radiation direction. The function of traditional multi-antennas can be realized by a single antenna. This paper presents a frequency reconfigurable antenna, which is especially suitable for multi-band and single-band hopping network communication systems. The simulation results show that the bias network has little effect on the antenna performance. In this paper, a polarization reconfigurable clover antenna fed by coplanar waveguide is proposed, which can realize switching function between left-handed circular polarization and right-handed circular polarization.


P97 Table 1Demographics and clinical characteristics of participants at hospital admission and follow up for wave 1 and 2 admissions Wave 1 Wave 2 p-value N = 400 N = 400 Demographics and Lifestyle Age (years) (Median, IQR) 61 (50 -74) 61 (51 - 74) 0.59 Male gender (N,%) 247 (61.8%) 237 (59.3%) 0.47 Ethnicity (White) (N,%) 200 (50.0%) 195 (48.8%) 0.001* Smoking status – Never smoker (N,%) 215 (53.8%) 219 (54.8%) 0.58 BMI (kg/m2) (Median, IQR) 26.8 (24.1 - 29.4) 27.7 (24.3 - 31.6) 0.015 Underlying clinical status Clinical Frailty Score (Median, IQR) 2 (2, 4) N = 332 3 (2, 3) N = 384 0.001 Shielding Status (N,%) Extremely vulnerable HCP issued letter 32 (10.1%) 23 (7.2%) 39 (11.2%) 5 (1.4%) 0.001 Covid Admission Severity Parameters Total number of symptoms (Median, IQR) 4 (3 - 6) 3 (2 - 3) <0.0001 NEWS2 score (Median, IQR) 5 (2 - 7) N = 372 4 (3 - 6) N = 379 0.60 TEP status – For full escalation (N,%) 284/365 (77.8%) 361/400 (90.3%) <0.0001 Maximum respiratory support (N,%) CPAP NIV N= 377 10 (2.7%) 2 (0.5%) N = 400 32 (8.0%) 5 (1.3%) <0.0001 Received anti-viral or immunosuppressive drugs (N,%) 23/374 (6.2%) 127/400 (31.8%) <0.0001 ITU admission (N,%) 62/377 (16.5%) 43/400 (10.8%) 0.02 Intubation (N,%) 49/364 (13.5%) 19/400 (4.8%) <0.0001 Pulmonary Embolus (N,%) 22/360 (6.1%) 24/395 (6.1%) 0.98 Follow-up Outcomes N = 322 N = 365 Mental Health Outcomes PHQ2 score ≥ 3 (N,%) 47 (15.4%) 34 (9.9%) 0.04 TSQ score ≥ 5 (N,%) 44 (14.9%) 12 (3.3%) <0.0001 Physical Recovery and Symptoms Not returned to work (N,%) 76 (24.8%) 114 (33.6%) 0.03 Improved Sleep quality (N,%) 168 (61.5%) 265 (78.4%) <0.0001 Improved Fatigue (N,%) 241 (87.6%) 307 (88.7%) 0.91 Improved Cough (N,%) 194 (69.5%) 291 (84.8%) <0.0001 Improved Breathlessness (N,%) 213 (76.1%) 311 (89.6%) <0.0001 Total Number of Symptoms (Median, IQR) 1 (0 - 2) N=314 0 (0 – 1) N=364 Radiology outcomes (N,%) Normalised Significantly Improved Not significantly improved Worsened N=309 211 (68.3%) 55 (17.8%) 2 (0.7%) 30 (9.7%) N=279 187 (67.0%) 65 (23.3%) 13 (4.7%) 14 (5.0%) <0.0001 *p value likely attributable to differences in unknown ethnicityConclusionThese data suggest second wave pa ients, although frailer, presented with fewer symptoms and experienced improved hospital admission trajectory. They demonstrated improved self-reported mental health and physical recovery outcomes despite earlier follow-up, possibly attributed to improved in-hospital treatment. Supporting recovery remains a clinical priority given many patients had not returned to work.ReferenceSaito S, et al. First and second COVID-19 waves in Japan: comparison of disease severity and characteristics. J Infect. 2021;82(4):84-123.


Alstonia scholaris contains flavonoids, tannins, triterpenoids, resins and alkaloids. Alkaloid compounds, tannins and flavonoids of plant origin can inhibit weed growth. Alkaloid compounds, tannins and flavonoids work by suppressing the hormone auxin and the hormone gibberelin so that weed growth is inhibited. This study aims to determine the potential of Alstonia scholaris leaves in inhibiting the growth of weed Cyperus rotundus. The inhibition of Cyperus rotundus growth can be seen from changes in leaf color/population phytotoxicity, number of leaves, and height of Cyperus rotundus. The research used Cyperus rotundus leaves which were mashed into flour and then extracted by macerating with alcohol 96% . The results of the extract of Cyperus rotundus leaf flour consisting of a concentration of 0 g/l (control), 25 g/l, 50 g/l, 75 g/l, and 100 g/l were applied to Cyperus rotundus. Pure extracts are given with different concentrations to determine the concentration that is effective in suppressing the growth of Cyperus rotundus. Vegetable herbicides of Cyperus rotundus leaves with a concentration of 50 g/l became the solution to control the enchanted grass weeds that are environmentally friendly without using synthetic herbicides. With the results of phytotoxicity P2= 40.00%, wet weight P2= 1.53 g, and dry weight P2= 0.91 g.


of objects that is most 'natural' and that is acquired first by children. The global categories that children demonstrate first, such as animate, are abstract, not based on specific perceptual features, a finding that fits well with the claim that 'gist' memory predominates in the early years (Brainerd & Reyna, 1990). It would be no service to Jean Mandler to pretend that I agree with all of her conclusions. For example, I would place more emphasis on the motor side of infancy, particularly on the infant's active participation in events, not simply on the perceptual observation of them. I would also question some of the clear distinctions made, for example, that imitation is meaningful while perception is unconscious. Is that always the case? I would urge more attention to the social figures in the infant's world with the suspicion that these are the first to be conceptualized. I would also debate issues of representation (although her expertise in this area is unassailable), such as the question of the representational status of the replicas that infants use in her tasks: Are they real? Symbols? Or both? How do they relate to later symbolic development, for example in DeLoache's (1990) work? And I would not reject the basic level of categorization, based not on similarity but on their common use as names, the basis of Brown's (1958) original observation of the most functional level of naming. These points of divergence do not in any major way conflict with Mandler's foundational theory, but might suggest places for further inquiry and testing of assumptions. Up to now, consciousness and meaning have largely been missing from infant research and from the theoretical controversies swirling around it, lacunae that Mandler's work means to fill. Now that these have become acceptable constructs in studies of adult cognition, they may also be welcomed in distinguishing among facts and fantasies of infant and child research. In emphasizing children's meaning-making, their interpretation of experience as the basis for conceptual development as well as for language, inductive reasoning and memory of the past, this theory provides an important bridge to post-infancy developments. Among other things, taking consciousness into account has enabled differentiating and integrating discrepant findings, in addition to formulating a developmental theory of differentiation and integration in the infant–child mind. This work thus paves the way for a fresh look at meaningful cognitive development as an overall process. This is …