A code to calculate the anisotropic elastic properties in a silicon or germanium crystal is introduced. The program, named AniCryDe, allows the user to select the crystallographic configuration of interest. For the selected crystallographic orientation, AniCryDe calculates several key mechanical parameters, such as Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio and the shear modulus. Furthermore, the program displays both the compliance and the stiffness tensors concerning the crystallographic orientation of interest. The code enables the user to set several parameters through a user-friendly control stage. As a result, the user obtains the complete displacement field of a deformed crystal and the curvature of any crystallographic plane. Manufacturing wafer defects such as miscut and misflat angle are also taken into account.


A case has been presented which was characterized by the presence of bilateral pleural effusion and ascites in the presence of an abdominal tumor. At autopsy the tumor was found to be a pancreatic carcinoma with two small and probably recent metastases in the liver. The effusions were found to be due to causes obscure in nature but not carcinomatous in origin. It is suggested that this case may be analogous to cases of Meigs' syndrome, associated with a pancreatic tumor. Every procedure should be exhausted to demonstrate the benign or malignant nature of the effusions in this type of syndrome. If pleural metastases cannot be demonstrated and the abdominal tumor is amenable to surgery such surgery would then seem to be indicated.


The spectroscopic and structural investigations of haxachlorodisilazane and hexamethyldisilazane are reported. According to their spectra, the structure of those molecules seem to be D3d. Generally, a rigid D3d is indistinguishable from an internal rotating D′3h according to vibrational spectra. However, in this case, the molecules appear to be D′3h structure with free rotation of SiX3(X=Cl, Me) groups. 69


Background & Study Aim: Fasting is one of the most used nutritional strategies for weight loss by taekwondo athletes, but it could decrease sports performance. However, fasting promoted by breakfast omission may be an efficient alternative to rapid weight loss without negatively impair performance. This study aim was answer to question: whether 12-hour fasting promoted by breakfast omission promotes acute weight loss and interferes with the general and specific physical performance of taekwondo athletes. Material & Methods: In a randomized, double-blind, crossover design, 10 black belts taekwondo athletes performed two experimental sessions of countermovement jump (CMJ) and three rounds of Frequency of Speed Kick Test multiple (FSKTmult) series. Physical performance was determined by the total kicks of the three rounds (TK) and of each round (TKR) performed after fasting, in two conditions: after ingesting a placebo drink or a liquid meal. Rate perception effort of the mean of the three rounds (RPEm), rate perception effort of each round (RPE), the total kicks decrement index (TKDI) and the kicks decrement index in each round (KDI) were measured. Results: Total body mass decrease significantly between pre (64.68 ±7.11 kg) and post-fasting (64.03 ±7.03 kg) (p = 0.001; d = 0.09; Δ = 1%). CMJ, TK, RPEm and TKDI were not different between situations. KDI was not different between rounds in any condition. TKR decreased (p<0.001) between the three rounds but not between situations. RPE was not different between situations (p = 0.27) but increased between rounds (p<0.05). Conclusions: A 12-hour fasting promoted by breakfast omission may be efficient to significantly decrease total body mass, without decrease the physical performance of taekwondo athletes.


Enzyme catalysis has been studied for over a century. How it actually occurs has not been visualized until recently. By combining in crystallo reaction and X-ray diffraction analysis of reaction intermediates, we have obtained unprecedented atomic details of the DNA synthesis and RNA hydrolysis processes. Methods have been developed to co-crystallize native enzyme with cognate substrate but withholding essential metal ions. Enzymatic reaction is triggered by diffusion necessary metal ions into crystals and reaction intermediates are trapped by flash cooling of crystals to below -160°C. Contrary to the established theory that enzyme-substrate complexes and transition states have identical atomic composition and catalysis occurs by the two-metalion mechanism, we have discovered that an additional divalent cation has to be captured en route to transition state and product formation. Unlike the canonical two metal ions, which are coordinated by DNA polymerases and RNases, this third metal ion is free of enzyme coordination and is coordinated by nucleic acid substrate/product only. Experimental data indicate that binding of the third metal ion is the rate-limiting step in DNA synthesis and the free energy associated with the metal-ion binding can overcome the activation barrier to the transition state.


Measurement Challenges One of the main strengths of using lasers for commercial micro manufacturing is the ability to vary so many process parameters to achieve the desired result. However, this is also one of the largest challenges in optimising a laser manufacturing process. How does varying one parameter quantifi ably change the end result? Laser ablation creates surfaces that are a challenge for conventional methods of measurement due to issues around rapidly changing geometry, high aspect rations and very high roughness.


There are many advantages of applying extensible and scalable embedded simulator to embedded software testing. Particular researches were made to two embedded simulators:ARMulator and Proemulator. An Embedded System Testing Environment Frame (ESTE) was brought forward. First add instrumentation into embedded program under test,compile and link it to get an executable program. The instrument information was sending timely to instrument analyzer while the program was running on simulator. The analyzer can calculate program statement coverage. This paper finished two ESTE Frames based on ARMulator and Proemulator,and compared them. The ESTE frame can do white box testing timely and effectively.


For the closed-loop system via derivative-output feedback,the sufficient and necessary condition is given for the impulse-controllability and impulse-observability when the system has the maximum dynamic order(that is,the derivative coeficient matrix E+BLC reaches the maximun rank),and then the sufficient and necessary condition is obtained for the decentralized impulse-controllability and observability of the decentralized systems via local derivative feedback when the system reaches the maximum dynamic order.A numerical example is given to verify the effectiveness of the results.


Analog self-interference mitigation techniques are currently being investigated in a variety of operational settings for In-Band Full-Duplex (IBFD) systems. The significant multipath effects of realistic environments, such as inside buildings, can severely limit performance. The influence of different transceiver parameters on the effectiveness of a four-tap RF canceller using a tapped delay line architecture was characterized with a set of indoor measurements. The prototype canceller yielded up to 30 dB of cancellation over bandwidths ranging from 10 to 120 MHz centered at 2.45 GHz, and produced a combined analog system isolation that reached above 85 dB.


Dynamical growth aspect of symmetry-breaking,first-order phase transitions for wich the primary order parameter is a second-rank tensor,e.g.,strain describing diffusionless structural phase transitions,are considered


W e describe the excitation spectrum ofa two-com ponent neutralFerm igas in the super uid phaseat nitetem peratureby deriving a suitableRandom -Phaseapproxim ation with thetechnique offunctionalderivatives. The obtained spectrum for the hom ogeneous gas at sm allwavevectors containsthe Bogoliubov-Anderson phonon and isessentially di erentfrom the spectrum predicted by the static Bogoliubov theory,which instead shows an unphysically large response. W e adapt the results for the hom ogeneous system to obtain the dynam ic structure factor ofa harm onically con ned super uid and we identify in the spectrum a unique feature ofthe super uid phase.


Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of zinc dialkyl dithiophophates (ZDDP) and ash-less triphenyl phosphorothionate (TPPT) on hydrogen-free diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings. For many years, ZDDP have traditionally been used in engine oils as antiwear (AW) and extreme pressure (EP) additives. However, additives containing sulfated ash, phosphorus and sulfur (SAPS) have a detrimental effect on the exhaust after-treatment device found on modern vehicles. Besides the automotive industry, DLC is also used in hydraulic applications where zinc-free and ash-less hydraulic fluids have gradually gained popularity in recent years. Design/methodology/approach – The tribological tests were performed using a disk-on-cylinder tribometer, where the stationary hydrogen-free DLC-coated steel disk formed a line contact with an uncoated rotating steel shaft under lubricated conditions. Findings – It was found that TPPT and ZDDP separately at a concentration of 1.0 wt% increased the amount of f...


This study attempted to address the two problems of embankment stability and a growing number of discarded tyres and their associated parts such as motorcycle inner tubes. It was done by introducing woven motorcycle inner tube as reinforcement in an embankment with the aims at reducing the construction cost as well as conserving the environment. To achieve the purposes of this research the loading tests on model embankments having various configurations of reinforcement constructed under 1-G condition were conducted. The loading test results revealed that the plain embankment has the highest displacement as initially predicted. When one-layer of woven inner tubes was introduced, however, the stability was evidently improved. Furthermore, the stability was even better when two-layer of woven motorcycle inner tubes was included. Nonetheless, when three-layer of motorcycle woven inner tubes was included the displacements were very similar to those of the embankment reinforced with two-layer of woven inner tubes. This suggests that the three-layer of reinforcement is no better than those of the two-layer of reinforcement. From the test results and analyses, it may be concluded that woven motorcycle inner tubes could be employed as reinforcement to increase the stability of an embankment thereby reducing the overall construction cost as well as improving the environment.


Abstract: This chapter covers the creation of a bioprinted heart (cardiac) patch that might help to restore functional heart tissue after a heart attack. The chapter tells of the discovery that calcium ions carry the signal that initiates heart contraction. It also explains research on a pre-vascularized bioprinted heart patch that uses decellularized extracellular matrix and cardiac progenitor cells in its preparation. This study showed that of the various bioprinted constructs tested, the one that placed cells in an ordered arrangement (rather than as a random mix) gave the best results when transplanted into mice or rats. The experimenters performed echocardiograms on rats with a myocardial infarction (heart attack) and which had received a heart patch. Another study measures the contraction force exerted by bioprinted beating heart tissue.


Technology affords musicians of all ages the ability to choose how they interact with sound. In this recipe, children learn how to use the programming language Scratch to create their own musical instrument—a sampler—which they will use to create original music. Designed for students in the elementary grades, this activity includes the following learning outcomes: coding in Scratch, musical decision making, engaging with iterative design processes, creating music with a self-designed instrument, understanding the concept of cause and effect related to sound and a music interface, working in groups, and offering and receiving feedback about the creative process.


Since heparin inhibition of thrombin (ThI) and factor Xa (Xal) have been shown to depend differently upon the mole cular size of heparin, this study was undertaken to deter mine their dependence upon charge density (Z). Fractions varying systematically in charge density were isolated from 3 hog mucosal heparin preparations (2 decolorized and 1 un decolorized) using a 2 phase sequential extraction system. Xal assay was performed by the plasma clotting method of Yin using a commercial kit. ThI assay involved inhibition of plasma clotting by partially purified bovine thrombin. When heparin potencies were plotted against Z2, all 3 preparations determined by both assays showed a linear re lationship with the exception of one fraction with the high est charge density. For each of the 2 assays, the curves for the 2 decolorized preparations were essentially paral lel. Although the initial slope of the undecolorized prep aration was parallel to those of the decolorized heparins for each assay, the potency of the fraction with highest charge density was different. Thus, all 3 preparations ap peared similar for a given anticoagulant function except for the highest charged fractions. When the activity of each preparation was compared to each other, the Xal and ThI curves did not necessarily parallel each other or to the APPT potency curve. No clear cut systematic relationship or differential effects could be established between the heparin anticoagulant functions in relationship to charge density differences. The data suggested also heterogeneity of activities within each fraction with apparent charge density homogeneity. INTERACTION OF ATHEROGENIC (V L D L ; LDL) AND NON ATHEROGENIC LIPOPROTEINS (HDL) WITH HEPARIN FRACTIONS OF VARIOUS MOLECULAR SIZE. P. Duthilleul P. Fievet, L. Bouillet, J.C. Fruchart, Labora toire d 'Hématologie. Faculté de Pharmacie -Lille France-. C.T.B. I.N.S.E.R.M. -Lille France-. Some anticoagulant properties of various heparin fractions (with molecular weights from 5 000 to 20 300 daltons) have been investigated in purified and plasmatic systems with and without Lipoproteins isolated by ultracentrifugation from hyperlipemic subjects (type H a ) . Amidolytic (Tos-Gly-Pro-Arg-pNA) and coagulometric (Yin and Wessler) anti Xa activity of a HMW fraction (231 USP/mg. MW: 20 300) was decreased from 15 % m both systems supplied with LDL or VLDL since HDL have no effect. No influence was detected on anti lia activity (Phe-pro-arg-AIE fluorimetric method). LMW (20 USP/mg ; MW 6 000 8 000) and ULMW (20 USP.MW 4 000-5 000) anti Xa and anti lia activi ties was modified neither by VLDL/LDL neither by HDL. These findings point out to differences in the mechanisms of inhibition of thrombin and Xa by various molecular weigh heparin fractions. Two dimensional crossed Immunoelectrophoresis in agarose 1 % with mixing various quantities of each heparin fraction (0 100 vg/ml) in the first phase of electrophoresis7of LDL/VLDL, LDL/VLDL and AT III, LDL/VLDL and FXa reveal the presence of LDL or VLDL/heparin fractions complexes and LDL or VLDL/AT III complexes, which are isolated by Gel filtration on Ultrogel A 6 . We conclude that FXa can escape from neutraliza tion by inactive complexes.


Present studies were made to investigate the association between epidermal thickness and resistance of white cabbage against onion thrips, Thrips tabaci Lindeman, 1889 (Thysanoptera: Thripidae). Six white cabbage varieties including three susceptible ('Green Gem', 'Hurricane' and 'Quisor') and three resistant to onion thrips ('Balashi', 'Bloktor' and 'Riana') were involved in the studies. Additionally, the extent of antixenotic resistance during head formation and the level of thrips damage at harvest were also assessed and compared between varieties. A higher density of onion thrips was observed on susceptible than on resistant varieties. The results indicate that the epidermis is of the same thickness in susceptible white cabbage varieties as in resistant ones; therefore, we conclude that the thicknesses of either the adaxial or the abaxial part of the epidermis of head-forming leaves is not responsible for cabbage resistance to thrips. The study thus confirms that antixenotic resistance of white cabbage to thrips is not determined by epidermal thickness.


The paper describes how motor fuel taxes form the fiscal foundation for state highway maintenance and construction programs. Over the past decade motor fuel tax receipts measured in real terms have markedly declines. This, combined with increase in real cost of highway construction and maintenance has created a real crisis in highway funding. In the past three years, nearly all of the 50 states, most of them repeatedly, have had proposals introduced in their state legislatures to address their highway finance problem. A great variety of proposals have been considered including vehicle- and driver-related taxes, road usage taxes, transfers from the general fund, and bond issuances. This paper analyzes two types of petroleum related taxes in detail: (1) taxes on the processing of petroleum, so-called refinery taxes; and (2) taxes on the sale of petroleum products. Taxes on the combined profit from the extraction, refining and sale of petroleum products are also briefly discussed.


The state-of-art of soil mechanics is briefly discussed;and it is shown that the soil mechanics is still built on the semi-theoretical and semi-empirical foundation.Then some problems with numerical method applications to geotechnical engineering are presented;and how to apply numerical methods to practice is discussed;finally,some measures to deal with the problems are given.From above discussions,some conclusions can be drawn as follows: that soil mechanics is in the infancy of state,and with the development of it and the accumulation of experience on applying soil mechanics and numerical method to practice;numerical methods in geotechnique will be applied to practice more and more;and it will become a powerful tool to deal with geotechnical problems.


Ice streams are fast flowing outlet glaciers through which over 90% of the ice stored within the Antarctic Ice Sheet drains. The dynamic behaviour of ice streams is therefore crucial in controlling the mass balance of the ice sheet. Over the past few decades, Antarctica has been losing mass. Much of this mass loss has been focussed around coastal regions of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Some of the most dramatic changes such as grounding-line retreat, acceleration and surface elevation change have been observed in Pine Island Glacier (PIG) and its neighbouring ice streams. This is of particular concern because these ice streams account for∼10% of the discharge from the west Antarctic Ice Sheet and therefore have the potential to contribute significantly to global sea-level rise. One of the key challenges in accurately forecasting this future sea-level rise is improving understanding of processes occurring at the beds of ice streams. This requires detailed knowledge of the properties and dynamics of the bed. This thesis aims to address this knowledge gap by investigating the spatial and temporal characteristics of the bed of PIG using high-resolution geophysical data acquired in its trunk and tributaries and beneath the ice shelf. The thesis begins by analysing radar-derived high-resolution maps of subglacial topography. These data show a contrasting topography across the ice-bed interface. These diverse subglacial landscapes have an impact on ice flow through form drag, controlled by the size and orientation of bedrock undulations and protuberances. The next chapter provides a quantitative analysis of these landscapes using Fast Fourier analysis of subglacial roughness. This analysis investigates the roughness signature of subglacial bedforms and the how the orientation and wavelength of roughness elements determine their correlation with ice dynamic parameters. The slow-flowing inter-tributary site is found to have a distinct signature comparable to "ribbed" patterns of modelled basal shear stress and transverse "mega rib" bedforms. Roughness oriented parallel to ice flow with wavelengths approaching mean ice thickness are found to have the highest correlation with ice dynamic parameters. The temporal stability of PIG is analysed using repeat radar measurements. No significant change is observed over a period of 3-6 years with no evidence of rapid erosion or the evolution of subglacial bedforms as observed in previous repeat measurements of ice-stream beds elsewhere in Antarctica. This suggests that the widespread deforming till layer detected in extensive seismic reflection surveys is in steady state. Lastly, the thesis explores geomorphological evidence of twentieth-century grounding-line retreat beneath PIG Ice Shelf using high-resolution geophysical data acquired from autonomous underwater vehicle surveys. Evidence of erosion, deposition, meltwater flow and post-glacial


Investigation results of the gross chemical composition of Malyi Polissya Rendzinas (Rendzic Leptosols) and its transformation under the influence of deflation have been revealed. The oxides percentage in soils, their distribution in the profile have been described, and differentiation soil profile indices have been calculated. The changes in Rendzinas gross chemical composition due to the detection process of deflation have been analyzed.


Litopenaeus vannamei is a commercial shrimp that has high economic value. In recent years, the main commodity contributing to the aquaculture sector in Indonesia is vaname shrimp. Vaname shrimp cultivation aims to meet the increasing market demand. One of the factors that influence the success of vaname shrimp cultivation is the stocking density. This study aims to determine the growth and viability of PL-10 vaname shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) fry at different stocking densities. This study used a completely randomized design (CRD). There were 4 treatments, namely P1 with a stocking density of 75 heads / 40 liters, P2 with a stocking density of 150 heads / 40 liters, P3 with a stocking density of 225 heads / 40 liters, and P4 with a stocking density of 300 heads / 40 liters, respectively. 4 repetitions. The research data were analyzed using statistical analysis Univariate One Way Analysis of Variance at 5% level with a 95% confidence interval. The results showed that the highest daily growth rate was obtained in treatment P1 with an average value of 26.836 ± 0.745% / day, the highest daily length growth rate was obtained in treatment P1 with an average value of 6.719 ± 0.103% / day, the highest absolute weight growth was obtained at treatment P1. P1 treatment with an average value of 0.031 ± 0.027 gram, absolute length growth was obtained in treatment P1 with an average value of 23.025 ± 0.667 mm, the highest survival rate was obtained in treatment P2 with an average value of 96.333 ± 3.549%, but not different real with treatment P2 (93.333 ± 3.443%) and treatment P4 (92.417 ± 2.062). The conclusion of this study is that stocking density has a significant effect on the growth of vannamei shrimp which are being maintained at the PL-10 stage. The best stocking density in this study was P1 treatment (75 fish / 40 liters).


A rapid design approach for complicated sequential digital circuits is proposed based on the Pseudo-RandomSequence Technique as indicated by "Reverse-Deductive Formula of Switch Founction"given by YING Ke-zhen.


For a discrete group $G$, we use the natural correspondence between ideals in the Boolean algebra $ \mathcal{P}_G$ of subsets of $G$ and closed subsets in the Stone-$\check{C}$ech compactifi-cation $\beta G$ as a right topological semigroup to introduce and characterize some new ideals in $\beta G$. We show that if a group $G$ is either countable or Abelian then there are no closed ideals in $\beta G$ maximal in $G^*$, $G^* = \beta G \setminus G$, but this statement does not hold for the group $S_\kappa$ of all permutations of an infinite cardinal $\kappa$. We characterize the minimal closed ideal in $\beta G$ containing all idempotents of $G^*$.


Objective To investigate the effectiveness of different doses of estrogen replacement therapy for perimenopausal syndrome. Methods 70 perimenopausal syndrome patients based on a random draw principles were equally divided into treatment group and control group, the control group was given large doses of estrogen replacement therapy, the treatment group was given small dose of estrogen replacement therapy, the treating cycles were months. Results After treatment, the response rates of treatment group and the control group were 97.1% and 85.7% respectively compared to had obvious differences(P 0.05). Compared of serum FSH and E2 values between the two groups were not statistically significant before treatment, after treatment FSH values were significantly lower, E2 values were significantly increased(P 0.05), and the serum FSH and E2 values simultaneously compared with the control group differences were statistics significance(P 0.05). Conclusion Low-dose estrogen replacement therapy for perimenopausal syndrome has better outcomes, it can to promote the normalization of hormone secretion that should be widely applied.


Cruz and Gaudron sketch the concept of open-ended objects that are positioned as facilitating brainstorming workshops for human-computer interaction (HCI) purposes.

Open-ended objects are characterized by four features: those that provide a preliminary experience, a tangible representation of a question, an interactive experience, and an intentionally incomplete experience. This set of features is envisioned to provide a participatory atmosphere among participants in the brainstorm session and catalyze an experience perspective on the issue at hand.

The idea behind open-ended objects is appealing. However, its description is more a sketch of an idea than a scientifically sound introduction of a new concept. Moreover, much work has already been done on probing experiences [1] and related endeavors, such as interactive art, shared mental models, and visual languages, starting with the work of Rudolf Arnheim [2]. It is a shame that Cruz and Gaudron seem to be unaware of the vast amount of work related to theirs.

1) Westerink, J.H.D.M.; Ouwerkerk, M.; Overbeek, B.; Pasveer, W.F.; de Ruyter, B. Probing experience: from academic research to commercial propositions. Springer, Dordrecht, the Netherlands, 2008.
2) Arnheim, R. Visual thinking. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, 1969.


Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease with intermittent exacerbations and remissions. A large number of different therapies including alternative and complementary medicines have been used to treat RA without much evidence about their success. In recent times, fish body oil has attracted popularity among the physicians in Sri Lanka. The objective of this paper is to produce evidence on efficacy of fish oil in the treatment of RA. Materials and Methods: Publications to include in the present review were retrieved using a computerized search of seven independent databases. The references of all selected relevant articles were manually searched to obtain additional relevant articles. Only the RCTs published in English language were selected. Results: Efficacy of fish body oil in the management of RA has been tested in 12RCTs with sample size ranging from 16 to 68. In all trials, efficacy of fish oil was assessed compared to a placebo. In eleven trials it has been found that fish oil was significantly more effective than placebo in the treatment of RA. However, in one trial, effect of fish oil was similar to the effects of placebo. Stomach upset, diarrhoea and flatulence were reported as adverse effects. Conclusions : Fish oil has consistently demonstrated its clinical benefits in the management of RA. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/gmj.v17i1.4356 Galle Medical Journal , Vol 17: No. 1, March 2012 18-22


20-High rolling mills process high strength and/or very thin non-ferrous and ferrous metals using a complex, cluster arrangement of rolls. The 20-high roll cluster arrangement achieves specific flatness goals in the thin sheet by delivering maximum rolling pressure while minimizing the deflections of the small diameter rolls. 20-high mills also employ flatness control mechanisms with sophisticated actuators, such as those to shift intermediate rolls and deflect backup bearing shafts. The purpose of this is to compensate for variations in strip dimensional and mechanical properties which can cause poor flatness control quality from discrepancies in work-roll gap profile and distribution of rolling force. This suggests that the random property differences in the rolling parameters that substantially affect the flatness must be directly accounted for in flatness control algorithms in order to achieve strict flatness quality. The use of accurate mathematical models that account for the rolling pass target gage reduction can optimize the flatness control actuators and help gain an advantage in the thin gauge strip competitive global market. Based on the expected process parameter variations and nominal mill set-points (speed, tension, gage reduction, etc.), the mill's process control computer should determine the probability that target flatness control quality will be met for a required length of strip. The process computer should then either modify the number of rolling passes or adjust the thickness reduction schedule before rolling begins to secure an improved flatness probability estimate if the probability of achieving target strip flatness is too low for the required deliverable quality. Therefore, this research integrates 1) 20-high roll-stack mill mathematical modeling, 2) probability distribution data for random important rolling parameters, 3) reliability-based models to predict the probability of achieving desired strip flatness, and 4) optimization examples. The results can be used to reduce wasted rolled metal from poor flatness before rolling.© 2012 ASME


Enteric glia, the support cells of myenteric ganglia, have been widely studied with respect to their morphology and immunohistochemical phenotype, but little is known about their functional properties. We developed a method for the amplification of enteric glia from newborn guinea pigs to further characterize these cells. Treatment with a combination of basic fibroblast growth factor and the adenylate cyclase activator, cholera toxin, permitted expansion of enteric glial cultures to confluence and serial passage for up to 8 months. The long‐term cultured cells retained expression of (1) S100 protein, (2) GD3 ganglioside recognized by the monoclonal antibody LB1, and (3) the gene encoding glutamine synthetase. The electrophysiologic properties of cultured enteric glia were studied under whole‐cell patch clamp conditions. Most cells expressed "delayed rectifier"‐type potassium currents, and some also demonstrated tetrodotoxin‐sensitive sodium currents. Other subsets of voltage‐dependent potassium currents, calcium currents, and glutamate‐gated currents were not demonstrable. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Following a brief overview of past accomplishments in space science, a status report is given concerning progress toward recovering from the Challenger accident and a number of trends are described which are likely to have a major influence on the future of the NASA Space Science program. Key changes in process include a trend toward a program centered on the use of large, long-lived facilities, the emergence of strong space capabilities outside the U.S., and steps being taken toward the diversification of NASA's launch capability. A number of recent planning activities are also discussed. Major considerations which will specifically need to be taken into account in NASA's prgram planning include the need for provision of a spectrum of flight activities and the need to recognize likely resource limitations and to do more realistic program planning.


Packet losses due to congestion or buffer overflows is a common problem in packet switched networks. Current network protocols manage this problem by retransmitting the lost packets. However, the delay due to the retransmission of the lost packets may be unacceptable for many real-time applications. Recent focus to resolve this problem is to recover the lost data from the received packets using some error control coding scheme. In this context, signal representation using frames has gained attention and has been studied in J. Kovacevic et al. (2002), P.L. Dragotti et al. (2001), G. Rath and C. Guillemot (2004), and R. Motwani and C. Guillemot (2004). Oversampled transforms and oversampled filter banks have been considered as joint-source channel codes and methods for reconstructing from erasures is studied in these articles. However, for oversampled filter banks, the reconstruction methods based on operating the pseudo-inverse based on the entire signal length are computationally complex and those based on reconstructing the erasures are not optimal as far as reconstruction mean square error is concerned. In this paper, we propose a method for reconstruction from erasures using a synthesis filter bank which functions as a pseudo-inverse. Hence, the scheme minimizes the reconstruction mean square error. Further, the method is computationally efficient, because it does not operate the pseudo-inverse corresponding to the entire signal vector. The synthesis filter bank, which obviously depends on the erasure pattern implements the pseudo-inverse at a practical computational cost. Some typical bursty erasure patterns which permit existence of a FIR synthesis filter banks are studied. The theoretical results are validated for bursty erasure patterns by simulations using image data.


The invention discloses a method for extracting blueberry seed oil by adopting an ultrasonic-assisted aqueous enzymatic method. The method for extracting the blueberry seed oil by adopting the ultrasonic-assisted aqueous enzymatic method comprises the following steps: carrying out breaking, pulverization and then enzymolysis treatment on blueberry seed taken as raw material, applying certain ultrasonic for assisting extraction in different stages, then carrying out enzyme deactivation and centrifugation, and taking a supernate, so that the blueberry seed oil is obtained. The method for extracting the blueberry seed oil is simple in operation, mild in conditions, high in oil yield, pollution-free, easy for refining, low in production cost and applicable to large-scale production.


The formulation derived in Part I of this paper is applied to investigate non-linear vibration behavior of inclined sag cables with and without oil dampers in long-span cable-stayed bridges. The inclined sag cables used in computation are also tested in the laboratory with scaled cables and oil dampers. The experimental results are then compared with the theoretical results to verify the suggested approach. Both theoretical analyses and experiments display some typical non-linear behavior of cable vibration, including response hardening, response bifurcation, multiple solutions, jump, and internal resonance. They also demonstrate that an oil damper with an appropriate damping coefficient being selected can effectively suppress large vibration amplitudes of the cable so that in some cases, non-linear cable vibration problem may become a linear vibration problem. The agreement between the experimental and theoretical results is found to be satisfactory.


: One of the attractive factor of natural scenery image, either it is a photography or digital illustration, is because there is a sense of depth in the visual of the image. The existence of depth in photography can be learned and developed into form of digital illustration. Method that will be used is by observing the photography image from its color, lighting and objects size which will lead to depth of the image. The purpose is to make it easier for illustrators or learning person to make a scenery image with sense of depth in it. The end result is an application example of observing results of depthness in photography into digital illustration with sense of depth in it.


Oxidation tests of irradiated and un-irradiated rod with an artificial defect hole were Per-formed in air and air-argon mixed gas between 473K and 513K to study the oxidation behavior of damaged fuel rod during dry storage. Rods oxidized in air showed diameter in-crease due to volume expansion caused by the generation of U3O8 and the cladding of irradiated rod was broken after the diameter increase had reached about 2%. X-ray diffraction and metallography showed that the oxidation of irradiated UO2 pellet occurred preferentially at the grain boundary and that the crystal structure corresponding to U4O9 remained stable even after about 11,200h oxidation in air at 473K. It was suggested that the difference of the oxidation between irradiated and un-irradiated rods was due to FP gas bubble accumulation at grain boundary and FP accumulation in UO2 matrix. The oxidation rate of fuel rod in air-argon mixed gas was lower than that in air irrespective of irradiation. The irradiated rod in low oxygen partial press...


Results of this intervention will help to better understand the potential pathogenesis of T2DM. TCM compound preparations of SLP can not only provide a new chain of evidence of regulate intestinal flora of T2DM, but also compare the similarities and differences in transforming the structure of intestinal flora of T2DM patients with acarbose.


Response surface method with central composite design was used to establish quadratic regression models and surface maps to relate panel properties, including static bending modulus of elasticity, modulus of rupture, internal bond strength, and thickness swelling with flake slenderness ratio, flake orientation, and panel density. A robot mat formation system was used to form the panels with predefined processing parameters. Results indicated that nonlinear models capable of including interactions were required to relate flake slenderness ratio, flake orientation, and panel density to panel properties. An optimization model was developed to obtain the best panel performance with respect to the three factors. The optimized combination of the three factors within the experimental range is: 133 for flake slenderness ratio, 8° for surface flake orientation, and 0.62g/cm 3 for board density.


Even today, sensorial perception is a great philosophic mystery. This work is divided in two parts: The first synthesizes and criticizes the prevailing cerebral representationism model and enunciates an argument that prepares the field to the second one. In this second part the pragmatism perception theory is compared to Aristotle's De Anima. Here is, in a general way, the argument: (1) perception is the result of nature's cause factors intrinsic to organism-environment transaction. (2) these factors cannot be encountered among revealed ontological elements of this same perception; therefore (3) the ontological structure revealed by perception doesn't reflect the totality of the organism-environment's transaction complexity. This conclusion is vital to understand the Aristotelian-pragmatic perception theory: the subject-on-world's transposition to world-on-subject phase, via "immaterial reception of forms"- establishment of the anteceptive field conscious of the action potentialities in such way. Pragmatism naturalism cleared up: the perception is a natural-historic evolved version of this same key-andlocker mechanism proper to form detection intrinsic of elementary ontological, biologic and even physical-chemical interactions. But instead of detection in the automatic nomological / biological action: conscious detection, opened, of free actions possibilities inserted in the percipient environment.


With the emergence of a cosmopolitan anthropology has come, inone sense, a new recognition of the shared humanity and proximity of peoples more generally regarded and kept in place as "Other" by those Keith Hart baldly described as "a rich, aging white minority" currently presiding over the masses of the world. Yet at the same time we must ask what possibilities are there for participating and intervening more directly than we have been accustomed to doing in the discourse and social problematic of the places and among the peoples with whom we do research?


The injury of the annular ligament can change the stress distribution and affect the stability of the elbow joint, but its biomechanical mechanism is unclear. The present study investigated the biomechanical effects of different flexion angles of the annular ligament on elbow joint stability.


Abstract The reliability of radiocarbon dates for Palaeolithic human burials is of utmost importance for prehistoric archaeologists. Recently obtained dates for several such burials in central Russia raise important interrelated issues concerning site taphonomy and the precise radiocarbon-dating technique employed, with implications for the 'true' age of the burials. A critical review of the dating of the Sungir and Kostenki burials calls into question the reliability of employing ultrafiltration or single amino acids for the radiocarbon dating of Upper Palaeolithic bones.


The electronic and charge transport properties of a series of methylchalcogeno-substituted acene derivatives are investigated via quantum chemical calculations. To gain a better understanding of the role of methylchalcogeno substitution, the results for bis(methylchalcogeno)anthracene and bis(methylthio)pentacene are compared with those for their parent oligoacenes, that is, anthracene and pentacene. The introduction of methylchalcogeno group can increase the stability of their anionic compounds and lower the injection barriers of electrons in organic electronics devices. The methylchalcogeno group also change the charge transport properties by enhancing π stacking and chalcogen–chalcogen interactions. The calculations predict that the electron mobilities of bis(methylthio)anthracene and bis(methyltelluro)anthracene are 0.68 and 0.48 cm2/(V·s), respectively, which increase by a factor of 2 to 3 with respect to that of anthracene.


Residential Care Home for the Elderly (RCHJE) serves as an important institutional care
place for the elderly aged 60 and above. It acts as an alternative living arrangement, primarily for the
elderly who need a safe and homely long-term residential based environment with 24-hour care
available. RCHJE provides lodging, meal services and assistance with daily living activities for the
elderly people. The absence of common standards regarding the establishment and running of RCHJE
in Malaysia sets a wide degree of difference between the qualities of care provided by the care homes.
Reports reveal that RCHJE in Malaysia deliver poor quality of healthcare services and facilities and it
is yet to achieve the level of satisfactory. Therefore, the best way to secure the RCHJE in Malaysia
from future liability is to implement an effective Facilities Management Audit (FMA) program. FMA
provides an appraisal of the organization's management system. It offers RCHJE in Malaysia with the
opportunities to pin-point the areas where there are short-falls in service and to develop an
environment for continuous improvement in the quality of healthcare service for the elderly people.
However, up to this moment, there are still no FMA being conducted to audit the standards delivered
at the public RCHJE in Malaysia. Hence, this paper seeks to discuss about the Social Care Facilities
Management (SCFM) in context and the FMA being practiced at the RCHjE in Malaysia. The
research methods are identified to be participant's observation, interviews and Delphi method.


Objective:To investigate anticoagulant actions and mechanisms of the non-heating leech extract,and to compare the actions of the non-heating leech extract with the decoted leech extract Methods: We studied the effects of two leech extracts on prothrombin time and active part thromboplastin time by coagulation test and measured the activity of coagulation factor Ⅱ,Ⅴ,Ⅶ,and Ⅹ by prothrombin time test and the activity of coagulation factor Ⅷ by active part thromboplastin time test in rats In addition, the effect of the extracts on fibrinolytic function was observed by determination of euglobulin lysis time in rabbits Results:It showed that the non-heating leech extract remarkably prolonged prothrombin time and active part thromboplastin time and inhibited the activity of coagulation factor Ⅱ,Ⅶ and Ⅹ,but had no significant effects on activity of coagulation factor Ⅴ and Ⅷ as well as fibrinolytic system Compared with the decoted leech extract,the non-heating leech extract produced stronger pharmacological effects on prothrombin time and the activity of coagulation factor Ⅶ and Ⅹ Conclusion:Leech extract by non-heating technique produces significant inhibition of endogenous and exogenous coagulation system by inhibiting the activity of coagulation factor Ⅱ,Ⅶ and Ⅹ It produced stronger pharmacological effect on prothrombin time and the activity of coagulation factor Ⅶ and Ⅹ than decoted leech extracte


CERTAIN hamorrhagic conditions having as a common feature the striking symptom of bleeding into the skin and from the mueous membranes, are grouped together under the diagnosis of purpura. The peteehial haemorrhages and ecehymoses which are common to all purpuras, are however, but symptoms of a fault in the meehanisnm of blood coagulation which may be due to one of several different causes. The group is therefore a heterogeneous one gathered together on the basis of a common symptomatology, without reference to the underlying and usually unknown cause. Even on the basis of symptoms it has been possible to distinguish certain subgroups amongst the purpuras. Thus, we are accustomed to recognize as distinct types, Henoch's purpura, distinguished by hemorrhages int-o the intestine, and peliosis rheumatica, distinguished by an accompanying arthritis. As long ago as 1887 Denys' first nmade an obWervation which distinguished a pathological basis for certain of the purpuras, when he noted, in a case of purpura which he had studied, a great deficiency in the blood platelets. In 1889 Hayem2 confirined this finding and reported a similar condition in several other cases of the same disease. This feature seems to have aroused little comment until F'rank3 reported the results of his investigations, viz., that marked diminution in the number of platelets was a constant feature in that type of purpura described clinically as Werlhof 's disease or morbus inaculosa. He believed the lack of platelets to be due to deficient production of them on the part of their parent cells, the megakaryoeytes of the bone marr.ow, and regarded the disease as a form of aplastic anemia. He considered the deficiency in platelets to be the cause of the hwmorrhagic tendency, and proposed for the condition, the term essential thrombopenia. This loose term, since it may mean either deficiency in platelets (thrombocytes) or in thrombin, has been replaced by the more accurate designation, thrombocytopenia, proposed by Eppinger. Numerous investigations since Frank's paper have confirmed the fact that many cases of purpura, though not all, are associated with this great diminution in the number of platelets in the blood. On this basis it is possible to classify the purpuras into two groups, dependent upon whether the platelets are present in normal or diminished numbers (See Table I.)


Stroke is the third leading cause of death and a leading cause of severe long-term disability worldwide. It costs the world's economy billions of dollars each year in physician services, hospital costs, lost wages and decreased productivity. Rapid advances in medical technology have resulted in an explosion of treatment strategies in the management of acute ischemic stroke. Each clinical scenario presents unique challenges related to risks and benefits of therapy. In this article, we review the evolution of endovascular therapy in acute ischemic stroke, discuss the latest advances, challenges and controversies in the field and speculate on the future of this therapy.


One of the most important issues in the Convention for the International Sale revolves around the ability to define the way in which it anticipates the application of other sources of law with which it is integrated. It is, therefore, necessary to establish the scope of each one of these in order to be able to establish a system of regulatory sources of contracts for the international sale of goods. In this respect, the purpose of this paper is to study the value and scope of the usages and practices as a regulatory source of contracts for the international sale of goods under the framework of the 1980 United Nations Convention. It considers both legal theory and case law interpretations.


"na"(那) in a conversational reply sentence refers to a sentence used in reply that begins with the conjunction "na"(那).This paper analyzes the formation,types and functions of the "na" reply sentences.The part of speech and functions of the conjunction "na"(那) have been discussed as well.Contrary to a general higher frequency of the use of "zhe"(这) over "na"(那),"na"(那) is used more frequently than "zhe"(这) when it introduces a reply sentence or clause.


We present a numerical scheme for simulating a ferrite loaded nonlinear transmission line (NLTL). The numerical scheme is an extension of the well known finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The method couples Maxwell's equations with the nonlinear Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert (LLG) equation for modeling the dynamics of ferrite material. Furthermore, the method discretizes the domain using the staggered Veegrid with the magnetization vectors (M-fields) located at cell centers; the usual FDTD electric field and magnetic field updates are unchanged. We then validate the method and model by comparing simulation results with an Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) high-power NLTL experiment.


Abstract Stereoselective total synthesis of (+)-anamarine and the first synthesis of 8-epi-(–)-anamarine, its nonnatural diastereomer, were achieved from readily available d-mannitol. The key reactions involved were asymmetric dihydroxylation, cross-metathesis and ring-closing metathesis reactions. The approach is adoptable advantageously for the diversity-oriented synthesis of several related classes of natural products.


The Surface Environmental Surveillance Project (SESP) is conducted by the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) for the US Department of Energy (DOE) at the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington State. The Columbia River monitoring program, conducted as part of the SESP, provides a historical record of contaminant concentrations in the river attributable to natural causes, worldwide fallout, and operations conducted at the Hanford Site. In addition to ongoing monitoring, special studies are conducted periodically to enhance the understanding of the transport and fate of contaminants in the river. The Columbia River monitoring program includes sampling of river water, river sediment, river-bank springs entering the river, and various types of aquatic biota found in or along the river. These samples are analyzed for radiological constituents and a wide range of chemical parameters. This report describes the water sampling component of the overall Columbia River monitoring program conducted during the years 1980 through 1989 and summarizes the radiological results generated through the program during this time period. The only radionuclides found in the river that were consistently influenced by Hanford were tritium and iodine-129. Strontium-90 and uranium, also attributable to Hanford operations, were present in localized areas within the river near ground-water dischargemore » points; however, these contaminants are quickly dispersed within the river to concentrations similar to background.« less


Series Editors' Preface Acknowledgements The Texts and Early Performances Commentary: The Play in Performance Intellectual and Cultural Context Key Performances and Productions The Play on Screen Critical Assessments Further Reading Index


Commenting on a paper I published in this journal (Wilcox, 1979a), Molenaar (1981) has raised some questions about the usefulness and feasibility of measuring achievement with latent structure models. In the last two or three years, considerable progress has been made regarding the issues mentioned by Molenaar. The purpose of this note is to indicate the progress that has been made, to describe alternative solutions that have been recently proposed, and to comment on some of Molenaar's suggestions on how the model might be improved.


Jaskaran has completed his studies from the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management in Frankfurt, Germany. With an extensive experience of living, studying, and working in five different countries namely Germany, US, India, UK, and the Netherlands, he has gained significant international exposure and honed effective intercultural skills. The financial sector has always intrigued Jaskaran, as a result he gained professional experience in some of the most well-reputed firms and banks such as Deloitte, The World Bank, BNP Paribas, and LBBW. He is also a TEDx Speaker and delivered a motivational TED Talk about the 'Aspect of Change'. He was awarded with the title of Outstanding Personality by the city of Frankfurt and the FS Spirit Award by the Frankfurt School for extra-ordinary academic achievements and social engagement. Given his interest in politics, he is also a part of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation which focusses on promoting core values such as democracy, peace, and equality both at national and international level. Jaskaran specializes and enjoys collaborating on projects in the field of financial innovation, financial technology, central bank digital currency and the future of banking and payments. Feel free to get in touch with Jaskaran via the contact details below.


Temperature, water flow rate, pressure and current density are the operational parameters of a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyzer that govern its performance. The effects of temperature and current density have been widely studied compared to water flow rate and pressure.

In this work, the effect of water flow rate and pressure on electrolyzer performance, for a fixed temperature and input voltage, was studied. Initially, the individual effect of these parameters was studied, after which combinations of those parameters were studied in different orders of variation.

The combination which caused the most degradation was observed and then tested further with time and cyclic variations. The most significant identification was that a variation of anode flow rate and cathode pressure caused more degradation than any other combination. Accelerated stress tests were designed, in order to investigate the effect of time on the degradation rate of the electrolyzer. All the accelerated stress tests were then compared and a degradation multiplier was formulated. Effect of time and cycling on the proportion of reversible and irreversible losses was observed and presented.

Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) is a non-invasive technique which measures the response of a system by applying a small sinusoidal disturbance signal. The advantage of using EIS is that the technique has the ability to distinguish between the different electrochemical processes. EIS was carried out after each test. From the literature study, the electrolyzer losses were identified and compared with experimental results. It was seen that while the ohmic and activation losses remain almost similar, mass transport losses show significant changes in all the experiments.


This paper deals with the modeling of electric markets whenever certain imperfections pollute the supplied electrical energy. These imperfections are described in terms of a lack in power quality, and must be quantitatively introduced in the model as an additional economic factor which influences the consumption of electrical energy and its market price. Therefore, the main intent of this paper is to provide a unifying perspective in regard of the following question: How much the economic performance of electricity markets is downgraded by imperfections of supply? Such a problem can only be resolved with the aid of a market model, which should be able to integrate both technological and financial features in a single analytical frame. This is precisely the type of market model which is developed in the paper: a one including imperfections along with the other sources of cost. While very simple, the market model may be used in various important studies, such as the x-factor for productivity gains, quality target calculation, disturbances mitigation by demand-side management, etc‥ An application to compute continuity standards will be developed as an example of the model usage and potentiality.


In this work, we conduct research of spectral and power characteristics of quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) based on a GaAs/Al0.15Ga0.85As active region emitting at 2.3 (A), 3.2 (B) and 4.1 (C) THz. The QCL devices had a double-metal Au waveguide and operated in pulsed mode with 1.5-9 μs pulses at 20 Hz repetition rate. Using the integral output power curves measured with different pulse durations, we consider the potential mechanisms of QCL temperature degradation using Arrhenius plots. Moreover, we present the spectra of the lasers measured at fixed operating points for devices A, C and with current scanning for device B in a wide temperature range from 5 to 120 K. We hope that our results will prove useful for research concerning QCL maximum operating temperatures. Keywords: quantum cascade laser, terahertz range, quantum well, molecular beam epitaxy, activation energy, temperature degradation.


Summary The intravenous injection of PWM to mice produced in vivo changes in the spleen similar to those produced by intravenous injection of PHA. These changes were a marked increase in the weight of the spleen, along with an increase in the number of nucleated cells, lymphoblasts, and mitotic figures. In addition, PWM also produced a marked increase in the total number of plasma cells. However, these cells did not appear in the peripheral blood, and the effect of PWM on it was limited to a transient leukopenia. The technical assistance of Mrs. Barbara Kartzinel is gratefully acknowledged.


Mankind is undergoing an extraordinary ex pansion of numbers, unparalleled in history, which began in the eighteenth century and which has gathered increasing momentum since the beginning of the present century. The increase of the earth's human population during the last two hundred years has been three times greater than the cumulated growth during all the previous millennia of man's existence on the planet, and it appears likely that a still greater increase may be in store for the future, before a position of numerical stability is reached. The speeding up of population growth has been brought about by a great improvement in the conditions of mortality, which has enhanced the biological power of multiplication of the species. This has been partly offset in the economically more developed countries by restraint of reproduction, but reproduction rates remain undiminished in most of the less developed countries. The latter countries contain the major share of world population and are receiving an even larger share of the current increase resulting from the excess of births over deaths throughout the world. The crux of the world population problem is in the association of persistent poverty and technological retardation with unremitting rapid growth of numbers in the less developed countries.


The cestodes of this study were selected from one of several lots collected in the Dutch East Indies by Dr. J. H. Sandgound (formerly Curator of Helminthology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard College) and presented to Dr. R. Chester Hughes. The label with the worms states that they were taken from Dendrocygna javanica (Horsfield) in Batavia in October 1938 and were preserved in seventy per cent alconol. For study the specimens, consisting of four complete and several fragmentary strobilae, were stained in Grenacher's borax carmine and mounted in toto in Clarite.


Cow-calf performance and diet composition were compared between established alfalfa and tall fescue-red clover pastures in a rotational grazing system. Eighty cow-calf pairs were randomly allotted to the two dietary mixtures with three replications. Each of the six pastures was subdivided using a six-paddock rotation so that the paddocks were grazed for 6 d and rested for 30 d throughout the 121-d trial. Put-and-take animals were used to evaluate stocking rate. One ruminally fistulated cow was used in each of the six pastures to determine composition of grazed forage from reticulorumen evacuation at the beginning and end of grazing in paddock 1 (on d 0, 6, 36, 42, 72, 78, 108 and 114). Both treatments sustained similar stocking rates. Cow gain and body condition score change were not different due to treatments (P>0.10). However, weight gains of calves grazing alfalfa were 11.5% higher (P<0.05) than those of calves grazing tall fescue-red clover. Calf gain per hectare for the alfalfa pastures also tended to be higher (P=0.15) than that for tall fescue-red clover. This was due to the improved calf performance on alfalfa with similar stocking rates. Alfalfa was lower in NDF and ADF (P<0.05), and higher in CP at the beginning of grazing (P<0.05). After grazing, alfalfa was lower in NDF and higher in CP (P<0.05). Both alfalfa and tall fescue-red clover effectively maintained cow performance, whereas the alfalfa resulted in improved calf gain.


We study renormalized quenched strong-coupling QED in four dimensions in arbitrary covariant gauge. Above the critical coupling leading to dynamical chiral symmetry breaking, we show that there is no finite chiral limit. This behaviour is found to be independent of the detailed choice of photonfermion proper vertex in the Dyson-Schwinger equation formalism, provided that the vertex is consistent with the Ward-Takahashi identity and multiplicative renormalizability. We show that the finite solutions previously reported lie in an unphysical regime of the theory with multiple solutions and ultraviolet oscillations in the mass functions. This study supports the assertion that in four dimensions strong coupling QED does not have a continuum limit in the conventional sense.


This paper briefly outlines the rationale for structural health m onitoring as an integral component of bridge management systems. Two different approaches, sys t m identification and statistical pattern recognition, are summarised and applied in turn to vibration data collected from three scale model reinforced concrete bridges. The results show t hat the system identification paradigm can successfully locate and quantify the damage to the dec ks when they are loaded to incipient collapse, especially when experience is used to determine the parameters to adopt in the FE updating procedure. Although the statistical pattern recognition appr oach could neither quantify nor locate damage, a simple ANN could successfully classify the models as damaged or undamaged using a minimum number of measurements. Simulating data for a rang e of damage states between undamaged and damaged indicated that comparing the whole FRF with meas ures such as the cosh separation or Mahalanobis squared distance provided a more sensitive indic ator of system change than using simply the natural frequencies. A comparison of the strengths a d we knesses of the two approaches suggests that they should be used in a complementary manner. The statistical pattern recognition approach could be employed as a simple, cost efficient way to indicate that damage has occurred and trigger a more detailed investigation using system identificati on. Introduction Managing an ageing infrastructure is becoming an increasingly im portant issue for many developed countries and as a result significant efforts have been made in re ce t years to develop effective bridge management systems (BMS). Structural health monitoring ( SHM) and damage detection can play an important part in improving the efficiency of a BMS and ther e have therefore been corresponding efforts to develop suitable SHM and damage detection tools for bridges. Vibration data are a popular choice for prototype SHM systems because they a re asy to collect, provide a global picture of structural behaviour from relatively few measure ments and are dependent on both the level of stiffness and its distribution through a structure. Two different methodologies are usually used to incorporate vibration data within SHM systems for bri dges, pattern recognition and system identification. Each approach has its own advantages and disadva ntages. The pattern recognition approach is better able to handle noisy or less robust data but arguably lacks the refinement to locate and quantify damage. The system identificat ion pproach is capable of both locating and quantifying damage, but only if sufficient "clean" data are available. This latter point is of particular relevance to bridge structures, where collecting reliable m odal data is not easy. As part of another investigation into the static strength of reinfor ced concrete flat slab bridges, three large-scale (1:2.5) model bridges with different configurati ons typical of a major class of bridges built in the State of Victoria in the period 1920 to 1940 were cons tructed and tested to incipient collapse at the University of Melbourne. This programme pr ovided the opportunity to collect modal data for the model bridges in their undamaged and collaps e states and this data has since been used to compare the system identification and pattern rec og ition paradigms [1]. In this paper, the authors summarise the findings of those initial comparisons and present the results of further comparisons based on simulated data for intermediate damage states. Key Engineering Materials Online: 2003-07-15 ISSN: 1662-9795, Vols. 245-246, pp 35-42 doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.245-246.35 © 2003 Trans Tech Publications Ltd, Switzerland All rights reserved. No part of contents of this paper may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of Trans Tech Publications Ltd, www.scientific.net. (Semanticscholar.org-13/03/20,20:46:12) 2 Title of Publication (to be inserted by the publisher) Figure 1 Schematic Representation of Model Flat Slab Bridges (prototype dimensions) Laboratory Tests on Flat Slab Bridges The basic flat slab bridge configuration chosen for the test serie s consisted of 5 continuous spans (Fig. 1(a)) with each model having a different cross section (Fig .1(b)). The models were supported on truncated piers (column stubs) resting on top of a 360mm deep steel bea m running the full width of the deck at each pier-line. A key feature of the primary rei nforcement layout for this style of flat slab bridge is the "crank down" of selected top bars close to the end of the haunches on either side of the pier supports. This leads to a significant local reduction in negative moment capacity and hence locations where plastic hinge formation is more likely. The sequence of static tests included a number of serviceability le vel load configurations and two configurations with concentrated axle loads at the cantilever tips (one for each end of the bridge) taken to incipient collapse. The critical region for flexural dem and for the collapse level loading condition straddles the first pier extending just beyond the reinforcem ent "crank down" locations on either side. It is this region (at both ends of the bridge) that s uffered the most damage in terms of flexural crack formation, and hence reduction in flexural rigidity. Following these initial tests, two of the models were repaired using Fibre Reinforced Polymers (FRP ) and re-tested statically using the same testing sequence. A modal survey was performed on each model before and after each maj or static load increment. Testing was performed using an instrumented hammer to provide the exc itation in the form of a staggered double blow and measurements of the resultant vibration respons e were made using 15 accelerometers distributed around the deck slab. To achieve the spati al resolution necessary to determine the mode shapes with a limited number of sensors, the test s were carried out in stages across a total of 98 measurement locations. Between stages, two accelerometers were retained at fixed locations, whilst the others were relocated to new positions on the measurement grid. Damage Detection Using System Identification A finite element (FE) model of each of the bridge decks was cre ated with the FE package STRAND6, using plate elements for the deck, locally thickened to model the haunches, and offset beam elements for the kerbs. The modal parameters for the undamage decks, extracted from the vibration data using the Direct Simultaneous Modal Analysis (DSMA) algorithm (or a simplified form for load cases where excitation force data were not availa ble), were used to update the initial FE model to obtain a calibrated model for each deck. In each case t he parameters used in the updating procedure were the modulus of elasticity of the deck and the support conditi ons. The latter 1.6m 3.65m 4.57m 3.65m 1.6m 0.25m (a) Plan & Longitudinal Section (b) Transverse Section 7.4m


Significance: The authors describe a novel Cumediated enantioselective and γ-selective boryl substitution of allyl acetals for the synthesis of enantioenriched α-chiral linear or carbocyclic (E)-(γalkoxyallyl)boronates under mild conditions. The derived chiral boronates were used in aldehyde allylation reactions rendering the respective 1,2-diol products in good yields and excellent enantioselectivity. Comment: Z-Substituted allyl acetates gave superior results over the analogous E-substrates. This versatile strategy was highlighted by an impressive example within the modular synthesis of 3,3-disubstituted cyclopentene. In this system the strategy was used twice, formally replacing both alkoxy groups of the acetal by two subsequent boryl substitution/aldehyde allylation reactions. Exceptional enantiocontrol and high yields were obtained. General reaction:


The vehicle's localization is classically achieved by Bayesian methods like Extended Kaiman Filtering. Such a method provides an estimated position with its associated uncertainty. Bounded-error approaches using interval analysis work in a different way as they provide a possible set of positions. An advantage of such approaches is that the results are guaranteed and are not probabilistically defined. This paper focuses on constraints propagation techniques using static and dynamic fusion. Static fusion uses data redundancy to enhance proprioceptive data. Then dynamic fusion uses GPS in order to reduce the size of the localization box. The approach has been validated with a real outdoor vehicle.


BACKGROUND
Patients with head and neck cancer often experience debilitating speech, eating, and respiratory problems as well as the psychological effects of loss of function and change in body image. These patients often become unemployed as a result of their disease process, which adds financial burden to their already stressful lives. Yet the specific factors associated with unemployment have not been systematically studied.

METHODS
This multisite study used survey and chart data to determine the predictors of work-related disability.

RESULTS
Of the 384 patients who were working prior to their diagnosis of head and neck cancer, 52% (n = 201) were disabled by their cancer treatment. Multivariate analysis demonstrated significant links between disability and chemotherapy (odds ratio [OR], 3.4; P <.001), neck dissection status (OR, 2.3; P =.01), pain scores (OR, 1.2; P =.01), and time since diagnosis (OR, 0.9; P =.04).

CONCLUSIONS
More than half of the patients in this study were disabled by their head and neck cancer or treatment. Patients with head and neck cancer who have undergone chemotherapy or neck dissection or have high pain scores are at increased risk for disability from their cancer or their treatment. Efforts to prevent (if possible), better assess, and treat pain and other adverse effects of head and neck cancer treatments may also have the potential to reduce patient disability.


Although leptin levels are increased in obesity (1), obese subjects with type 2 diabetes display reduced leptin (2–4), which may be due to altered fat distribution (5). This study examined whether leptin levels are also reduced in lean subjects with type 2 diabetes.

Fifty nonobese Bangladeshi women with type 2 diabetes (aged 37.2 ± 1.3 years) were selected randomly from the Bangladesh Institute of Research and Rehabilitation in Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders (BIRDEM) outpatient department (28 were on diet and exercise, and 22 were on oral hypoglycemic agents; HbA …


Institute of Plant Genetics, Breeding and Biotechnology, University of Life Sciences, Akademicka Street 15, 20-950 Lublin, Poland Department of Food and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Hubei University of Technology, Wuchan, Wuhan 430068, China Department of Food and Nutrition, Osaka City University, Osaka 558-8585, Japan Institute of Technology, R&D Division, Kewpie Corporation, 2-5-7 Sengawa-cho, Chofu-shi, Tokyo 182-0002, Japan


Recommender systems are intelligent systems that help consumers by recommending products they are likely to appreciate or purchase. These recommendations are based on the user's own purchasing, searching or browsing history and also that of other consumers with similar interests. These systems are often embedded in e-commerce applications with the aim to provide efficient personalized recommendations that are of mutual value to both the buyer and the seller. This paper presents a novel neural network based approach that employs associative memory model to make recommendations for purchase to consumers. Associative memory models are inherently able to solve pattern completion problem. This intrinsic property is of immense value in building efficient recommender systems for e-commerce applications that present consumers with recommendations they are likely to have a higher acceptance. The results of experiments based on this model compare favorably with those from the standard user-based algorithm.


Levels of circulating sex hormone–binding globulin (SHBG) are associated inversely with insulin resistance. To examine whether SHBG levels predict risk for type 2 diabetes, investigators used data from two large randomized placebo-controlled trials originally designed to study the effects of aspirin and various …


Objective To study the effect of comprehensive intervention on enhancing subjective well - being of the empty nest elderly patients with urinary incontinenceMethods A total of 56 patients were divided into control and experimental groups, each group had 28 cases. The experimental group was given the comprehensive intervention, and Memorial University of Newfoundland Happiness Scale (MUNSH) was used before and after the intervention. Results After intervention, the subjective well - being of the empty nest elderly patients with urinary incontinence was improved, and the subjective well - being of husband and wife residing together group was better than that of living alone group. At the same time, after intervention, the patients' symptoms of urinary incontinence was improved significantly. Conclusions Comprehensive intervention will improve mental health and healthy lifestyles of the empty nest elderly patients with urinary incontinence, help them form a positive mind and adherer to recovery training, so that the quality of life and subjective well - being will be improved.

Key words:
Empty nest elderly;  Urinary incontinence;  Subjective well- being


Vibrational branching ratios and photoelectron angular distributions were measured for 4σ−1g photoionization of CO2 in the energy range 20–28 eV. Of particular interest are three vibrational components of the resulting CO+2 C 2Σ+g state—the allowed (000) and (100) bands and the forbidden (101) band. The wavelength dependence of the beta parameter for the forbidden band deviated significantly from that of the two allowed bands, showing instead a strong resemblance to that of the B 2Σ+u state. This behavior suggests that vibronic coupling to the B 2Σ+u state is responsible for the appearance of the forbidden (101) band in the C 2Σ+g state photoelectron spectrum. We also observe evidence for other many‐body effects—shape‐resonance‐induced continuum–continuum coupling and doubly excited autoionizing resonances—in the present data.


We propose a two-player game under the pecking order framework to model credit line realization. A firm and a bank make sequential decisions, and each has two choices. Firms with sufficient internal liquidity won't apply in the first place. Banks selectively reject submitted applications on concerns that borrowers can't service drawdown interest rate payments or principal repayment. The empirical analysis investigates both normal times and a crisis period. In normal times, credit line contracts add liquidity capacity when the cash holdings may be insufficient to address unexpected cash flow shocks. In the 2008 crisis, drawdowns confirm an independent demand-side story.


A subvariety V of an abelian variety is `translate' if it is the union of translates of proper algebraic subgroups. An irreducible V is `transverse' if it is not contained in any translate variety. Effective sharp lower bounds for a transverse subvarieties of a power of an elliptic curve E are known. Here, we prove a sharp lower bound for the essential minimum of non-translate subvarieties of such a power E^g.


Sales managers often make adjustments for factors such as territory difficulty or representative experience when doing performance evaluations. These adjustments may be subjective, they may be simple ratio calculations (e.g., sales divided by territory size), or they may involve complicated regression analyses. This research attempts an explanation of how and why these adjustments influence perceptions of the performance evaluation process, particularly its fairness and usefulness. Data from two surveys are presented. The first is an exploratory survey of sales managers; the second is a fuller survey of salespeople. Results show that making adjustments for territory difficulty increases perceptions of fairness and usefulness of the evaluation system among both sales managers and salespeople. Feedback quality is a key mediator of these effects for both groups. A different pattern exists with regard to accounting for representative experience. For sales managers, there are no effects on feedback quality or fairness or usefulness. Salespeople, however, rate systems that account for representative differences as providing better feedback quality, as more fair, and as more useful. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


Looks at five cases of significant value destruction – when acquisition was followed by divestiture at a much lower price. Notes that closer examination reveals several fault lines that companies frequently encounter as they execute their corporate strategy.


Ablation therapy (MCT and RFA) has been reported to be one of the useful approaches except for hepatic resection in the primary hepatic carcinoma with liver damage.In the present study, hepatic resection with intraoperative ablation therapy was performed on two cases of HCCs and a case of cholangiocarcinoma with liver cirrhosis and HCV positive. Case 1 : A 63-year-old man with liver damage, diabetic nephropathy and diabetic neuropathy underwent left hepatic lateral segmentectomy for large HCC (5 cm) and RFA for small HCC (exceeding 2 cm) in S8. Case 2 : A 62-year-old woman with liver cirrhosis underwent left hepatic lateral segmentectomy for large cholangiocarcinoma (4.5 cm) and MCT for small tumor (2 cm) in S5. Case 3 : A 69-year-old man with liver cirrhosis underwent partial caudate lobectomy of the liver for HCC (3 cm) in S1 and RFA for HCC (exceeding 3 cm) in S4.The efficiency of the coagulation was proven by employing postoperative enhanced computed tomography in all cases. All patients had an uneventful postoperative course.It was suggested that limited hepatic resection with multimodal minimally invasive treatment such as ablation therapy is effective when combined with interstinal therapy for multiple primary hepatic carcinomas with liver damage.


It is widely acknowledged that there have been significant improvements in telecommunications customer service and consumer outcomes in recent years, reflecting outcomes from the Australian Communications and Media Authority's Reconnecting the Customer (RTC) public inquiry in 2010–11; the development, registration and implementation of a substantially revised Telecommunications Consumer Protection (TCP) Code; and subsequent changes to industry behaviour. Since the RTC public inquiry and the implementation of a revised TCP Code, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA) has undertaken a number of studies to track and test the ongoing effectiveness of the interventions that arose from the RTC inquiry and TCP Code. These have included: monitoring of industry compliance with the revised TCP Code monitoring consumer complaints and complaints-handling outcomes tracking studies of consumer attitudes and behaviours that have assessed the effectiveness and satisfaction with various RTC interventions, including changes to customer service, product information, handling of unexpectedly high bills, and the use of spend management tools and alerts. To complement these studies, the ACMA undertook a benefits assessment to provide a further perspective on the assessment of the RTC inquiry outcomes, including the TCP Code interventions. This paper reports on the results of that benefits assessment. A key finding from this benefits assessment is that Australian consumers have benefited in the order of at least $545 million each year since registration of the revised TCP Code in September 2012. These benefits have been estimated based on the cost impacts on consumers and industry operators of reduced complaints, consumers choosing plans more appropriate for their consumption behaviour, and reductions in unexpectedly high bills. Much of the consumer benefit identified in this report involves economic transfers from industry to consumers. This is because mitigating the wrong contract problem1 and unexpectedly higher bills has reduced customer spend, which is lost revenue to industry operators. There are however, a number of likely additional effects beneficial for both consumers and industry that have not been quantified in this report. For example, improved consumer outcomes generally enhance consumer confidence and industry goodwill and promote more business activity. Better quality and timelier product information also helps the market function better and promotes competition, benefiting society more broadly.


The need for production by Enhanced Oil Recovery has increased drastically over the past two decades because of the constantly increasing need of Hydrocarbons and decline in the discovery of new oil and gas producing horizons. This paper deals with development of an ideal thermo chemical method of Enhanced Oil Recovery in the mature and depleting Naharkatiya Oilfield by experimental investigation of Reservoir rock and fluid samples and different phenomena occurring in the Petroleum Reservoir with TGA, XRD, SEM, PVT Analysis. In this paper the authors have designed a novel combination strategy taking into consideration all the techno-economic feasibilities and Reservoir Characteristics to develop the best method of EOR which can be employed by the Industry not only in Naharkatiya but also in analogous fields all over the world having the same Rock and fluid properties.


Processing large amounts of data is an essential problem of the big data era. Most of the data exchange is done via direct communication (using APIs) and well-structured file formats (JSON, XML, EDI, etc.), but a significant portion of the data is transferred using arbitrary formatted computer-generated documents (such as invoices, purchase orders, financial reports, etc.), which require sophisticated processing and human intervention for data interpretation and extraction. The currently available solutions, ranging from manual data entry to low-level scripting and data extraction tools, are costly and require human intervention. This paper describes the principle methodology for unsupervised, fully automatic data extraction from a wide range of computer-generated documents, assuming that their formatting reflects the original structure of the data sources. The presented methodology falls into the category of unsupervised machine learning and consists of the three main parts: (1) - detecting repeating patterns of text formatting by employing the relative feature space clustering and adaptive weighted feature score maps, (2) - detecting hierarchical formatting structures via collapsing and noise filtering procedure applied to the repeating formatting patterns and (3) - automatic configuration of the interactive data extraction tool (SiMX TextConverter) for fully automated processing.


HMOs and PPOs and MCOs and ACOs and ACCs, oh my. It seems that our health care system is an alphabet soup of acronyms. However, these acronyms represent more than abbreviations for areas of care; they tell a tale of health system evolution. As we look at the progression, we notice that one item is unlike the others: ACCs—Accountable Care Communities. HMOs, PPOs, MCOs, and ACOs are all part of the evolution of our health care systems based on tweaking clinical care and payment models to achieve various aims such as reduced costs, improved quality, and better health. Where ACCs tread new ground is recognizing that clinical care alone cannot improve health and reduce costs. Too many of the factors that influence health are not within the realm of the traditional health care delivery system. ACCs are an innovative model to address the gap that health providers have long known existed between clinical care and the environmental factors that heavily influence health outcomes. The ACC model recognizes that the communities in which we all live, learn, work, and age actively shape our health. While doctors and health systems are increasingly being held responsible for health outcomes, most factors influencing health outcomes—housing, transportation, education, poverty, access to healthy foods, public safety, and social supports—are not within the scope of clinical care. As a result, we have seen that when health care systems attempt to improve health through clinical care alone, health and cost outcomes often do not improve significantly. ACCs attempt…


The corrosion behavior of Fe 3 Al-type intermetallic alloys with addition of 1 at. % cerium, lithium and nickel at high temperature has been studied. The various alloys were exposed to an environment composed of 2.5 % SO 2 +N 2 at 900 °C for 48 h. For all the intermetallic tested, the corrosion kinetics showed a parabolic behavior. The alloy, which showed less corrosion rate, was the Fe 3 AlNi alloy, being Fe 3 AlCeLi the alloy with the highest corrosion rate. For the various alloys, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis, EDS, on the developed scale only detected aluminum, oxygen, and traces of iron and cerium, suggesting the formation of alumina as main component. The intermetallic alloys showed oxide cracking and spalling. The intermetallic chemical composition played an important role in defining the oxide scale morphology and the extent of damage.


Emergency contraception (EC) with levonorgestrel (LNG) is hypothesized to work by preventing fertilization and, therefore, to be ineffective once an


It is an experimental study to improve the characteristics of combustion and exhaust emission gas in the gasoline engine.
These characteristics are influenced by the fuel droplet size.
To improve these characteristics, we make the ultrasonic atomization apparatus, and compare with the commercial carburetor.
 The results obtained are as follows:
1. Maximum atomization quantity is obtained by the vibrator of resonancy frequency 1.65 MHz in the ultrasonic atomization apparatus.
2. With ultrasonic atomization apparatus, more than 99% of atomization rate can be obtained regardless of intake air temperature, velocity, and air-fuel ratio.
3. Atomization rate of the commercial carburetor increases with the air-fuel ratio and intake air temperature.
4. Difference of atomization rate between the ultrasonic atomization apparatus and the commercial carburetor increases with decreasing air-fuel ratio.
5. Droplet size is about 1-5um at the ultrasonic atomization apparatus, and 80-150um at the commercial carburetor, which indicates the ultrasonic atomization apparatus is excellent
in atomization.


The authors derive a theory for the Knight shift in narrow-gap semiconductors from a general expression for the Knight shift in solids, which includes spin-orbit and many-body effects from first principles. As an example, they have applied the theory to evaluate the temperature variation of the Knight shift of 207Pb in PbTe. The effects of temperature have been incorporated in their calculation through a change in the energy gap and through the Fermi distribution function and its derivative, which appear in the different contributions to the Knight shift. They formulate a k. pi band calculation in which the interaction of the band-edge states is considered exactly and the resulting states are treated with the far bands by using second-order perturbation theory. The results for two typical values of hole densities in p-PbTe show fairly good agreement with experiment. They emphasis that the general nature of the calculations can be used to calculate the quantity in other narrow-gap semiconductors such as PbS and PbSe.


In this study, we modelled and analyzed hotspot events recorded by MODIS satellite during the last nineteen years in the Mexican state of Oaxaca using a hierarchical Poisson Bayesian model. Our approach models the number of forest fires in space, time and the interaction of both and considers environmental variables. According to our results, some environmental variables can explain some of the observed Spatio-temporal variations, such as the temperature of the driest quarter, average wind speed, enhanced vegetation index values, and the occurrence of El Niño -Southern Oscillation. The analysis identified two spatial cluster regions: the first covers the Sierra Juárez up to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec , and the second covers the Sierra del Sur . Additionally, the temporal term in our model suggests that the number of events has increased by approximately 42.2 % in the last two decades. In conclusion, our results prompt that forest fires increased not only spatially but also in temporarily. These findings are alarm signals because if the trend continues, hundreds of new hectares of forest and its biodiversity will be threatened in the following decades, affecting too economic activities and people's health living in rural and urban areas of Oaxaca . This study can be a primary analysis in designing more efficient fire management programs to mitigate the impacts of altered fire regimes in Oaxaca .


A large-scale reinforced concrete shear wall-frame designed and detailed without seismic consideration, as practised in low probability of seismic occurrence regions, is tested under reversed cyclic loading. The seismic behaviour and available displacement ductility of the structure and structural members are investigated. The inherent ductility, derived from the experimental test, is compared with theoretical values for reliability check. The ductility demand factor of nonseismically designed and detailed ordinary moment resisting frames, subjected to low to moderate seismic events, has been evaluated and used as basis for the required estimate of ductility demands. By correlating the available ductility with the required ductility demands, it is concluded that an ordinary shear wall-frame with non-seismic design and detailing could not possess the ductility to adequately respond to an unexpected low to moderate earthquake.


In 1990s Poland, the answer to the question why I study Asian American literature could be brief and dismissive. Even today, Polish academics schooled in the tradition of European humanism are free to assume that their research interests are natural and politically neutral. At best, the choice to study ethnic literature passes without comment; at worst, it is viewed as a "politically correct" choice tantamount to academic self-marginalization. Thus, nothing prepared me for the rigorous examination of my academic interests when I arrived at UCLA in 1994. Getting through immigration and customs had been comparatively easy. The real interrogations started on campus: Why are you interested in Asian American literature? What's your stake? Are you aware of your privileged position? Have you thought about your accountability? These questions came over and over again. The harder I tried to deliver my thoughts on how I relate to Asian American literature, the less convincing they sounded. In my first year of gradu...


This thesis deals with computing of the magnetic lens with a perturbed pole piece due to manufacturing imperfections. Two possible ways of calculation are discussed — the perturbation theory and 3D computing. Three methods for evaluating axial multipole field functions from 3D fields are introduced. Beam spots in the image plane and aberration coefficients are computed and results obtained by the application of perturbation theory are compared to results evaluated from 3D simulations. Consequently, a suitability of using the perturbation theory is discussed.


The article is devoted to the synthesis of two directions of classical knowledge: art criticism and gender researches. It reveals the methodology variant of the gender reading of artistic image, conveying human behaviour, and substantiates the degree of correlation between the notions "gender" and "artistic image". The possibility of gender history reconstruction through the symbolic meaning, represented in the works of art, is analyzed. The author pays special attention to the analysis of the notions "artistic image", "symbol", "sign", "gender", "gender representation".


What functions should a citizen advisory council undertake? What competencies should council members possess? This writer conducted a study designed to find answers to these questions.


In the last few decades, the constantly intensive global urbanization has made the urban and suburban areas among the most dynamic sites on earth. Therefore, new innovative tools are required for a better assessment and a finer description of these areas. With the launch of the German TerraSAR-X system in June 2007, a new generation of high-resolution spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data is available which facilitates a spatially and thematically detailed analysis of the urban and suburban environment. In fact, the high resolution of TerraSAR-X enables individual buildings, urban structures and infrastructure such as roads and railway lines to be accurately mapped. However, the presence of speckle in SAR images makes the radiometric and textural aspects less efficient for class discrimination. In this article, our overall objective is to provide an optimal processing for geometric feature extraction from TerraSAR-X data. Our approach is a two-step approach consisting first in reducing the speckle noise by means of multilooking while ensuring reliable edge enhancement and preservation of the different geometrical structures. In fact, the higher is the number of looks, the better is the signal to noise ratio, and the smaller is the resolution of the image. But, the decrease of the resolution results unfortunately in a loss of the geometry. Therefore, a compromise should be done between the number of looks and the resolution. Then, in a second step, feature extraction, based on Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and Independent Components Analysis (ICA) will be performed in order to describe and analyze automatically the different geometrical structures that may exist in the SAR scene.


This work proposes a novel type of tunable magnetorheological (MR) damper operated based solely on the location of a permanent magnet incorporated into the piston. To create a larger damping force variation in comparison with the previous model, a different design configuration of the permanent-magnet-based MR (PMMR) damper is introduced to provide magnetic flux dispersion in two magnetic circuits by utilizing two materials with different magnetic reluctance. After discussing the design configuration and some advantages of the newly designed mechanism, the magnetic dispersion principle is analyzed through both the formulated analytical model of the magnetic circuit and the computer simulation based on the magnetic finite element method. Sequentially, the principal design parameters of the damper are determined and fabricated. Then, experiments are conducted to evaluate the variation in damping force depending on the location of the magnet. It is demonstrated that the new design and magnetic dispersion concept are valid showing higher damping force than the previous model. In addition, a curved structure of the two materials is further fabricated and tested to realize the linearity of the damping force variation.


Proper room pressurization is critical for preventing unwanted air transfer. In chemical and biological research facilities chemical fumes and airborne biological agents must be prevented from migrating out of laboratory rooms to non-laboratory areas. Air must be prevented from flowing into spaces that require a high degree of cleanliness and purity, such as food and drug processing operations. The absence of airborne particulate is especially critical for microelectronics and optical manufacturing. Proper room pressurization is vital for protecting the medical staff and patients from exposure to harmful and sometimes deadly airborne pathogens in treatment facilities. This report discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the two most commonly accepted methods of room pressurization control—Volumetric Airflow Tracking and Differential Pressure Sensing.