The concept of Lorenz invariant mass and mean propagation velocity have been investigated in detail for various multiphoton wave-packet states of light. Based on photodetection theory and straightforward kinematics, we presented a physically reasonable and at the same time rigorous proof that mean propagation velocity is consistent with the Lorentz-invariant mass concept for an arbitrary multiphoton wave-packet state. We argued that mean propagation velocity is less than the speed of light constant in vacuum and is governed by geometric properties of state's amplitude in wave-vector space for arbitrary wave-packet states. To classify states with different fixed values of Lorentz-invariant mass, we introduced a specific set of modes that allow us to describe the wave-packet state in its rest frame.


Legal moralism claims that we can attain knowledge on the moral correctness or falsity of our laws. Thus, it affirms moral cognitivism. This short treatise criticizes the central assumptions of moral cognitivism from the view of a realistic epistemology. It shows that moral knowledge in the cognitivistic sense can be gained neither by empirical observation nor by pure reasoning. Finally, moral cognitivism has to refer to a mysterious moral intuitionism, but can not substantiate it by any reasons or arguments.


This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study, conducted on 14 cases of heat stroke and hyperpyrexia admitted in Civil Hospital, Sukhur between 1st Jan. and 31st Dec, 2006. The objective was to evaluate the clinical presentation, socio-demographic pattern and to suggest preventive strategies for the control of this problem. Data analysis showed mean age was 32.86 with S.D. ± 17.06. 85.7 were males and 14.37 females, making a male to female ratio of 6:1 occupation wise, date showed 7.17, house wives, 28.47, labourers, 43.9% farmers and 21.4% were children. With proper and efficient management the cure rate was 100%. Study concluded that the lives of the victims of heat stroke and hyperpyrexia could be saved with proper preventive measures, first aid programmes and efficient treatment practices.


We present an extension of the standard RAS algorithm, referred to as 'constrained RAS', or 'cRAS'. In contrast to existing RAS variants employing additional partial information in a particular aggregated form, our technique makes use of partial information of any kind.


As a new type of education method, distance education has given rise to a revolution in medical education on the global scale. This method is of vital importance to the constant improvement of the quality and technical skills of health professionals, to the establishment of life long education system and to the change of knowledge imparting methods. For the sake of the study on the status of distance medical ed-ucation in China, the popularization of foreign ripe experience, the promotion of medical distance education in China and the scientific application of the distance continuing medical education, this essay introduced the development of medical distance education both home and abroad to reasonably utilize education re-sources and to improve the overall quality of health personnel, therefore, to meet the increasing health de- mand of people and to construct a harmonious society in China.

Key words:
Distance medical education;  Continuing medical education;  Development;  Thought


This paper examines the ecclesiology of John Tillotson (1630-1694), a late seventeenth-century English clergyman and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1691 to 1694. Ecclesiology was an important consideration for late seventeenth-century Anglican divines, due to their desire to vindicate the special status of the established church in a complex situation – the Anglican Communion was to be regarded as the only lawful church in England while Protestant Dissenters and Roman Catholics were refusing to conform. In general, leading churchmen relied on the ecclesiology based on Protestantism, Erastianism, and Episcopalianism. Tillotson used the first two, but ignored the last. However, his ecclesiology had a distinctive aspect which ventured beyond the general arguments.When Tillotson constructed his ideas on the church he regarded the virtue of charity as crucial. For him, this feature distinguished the Church of England both from the Church of Rome and from the Dissenting communities. Tillotson's ecclesiastical vision was to create a national Christian community founded on charity. He believed that all true followers of Jesus should obey his chief commandment to love one another and dwell in unity. It is likely that Tillotson's opinion on the church was shared by his Latitudinarian friends. They too believed that cruelty was the manifestation of an un-Christian spirit and emphasised the importance of moderation and charity as core Christian values. This implies that an ecclesiology based on charity was fundamental to their identity as a group.


Investigations were made on some more important aspects of management, motivation and entrepreneurship in tobacco producing organizations and their effect in improving the effectiveness of work. Results reveal that, although tobacco production in Macedonia is very important activity, with almost one tenth of the total population engaged in it, the country is still standing behind the trends in world tobacco production per unit area.


In the second part of this article, the extrahepatic functions of vitamin K will be discussed in more detail. Recently, there have been numerous indications that suboptimal vitamin K status is associated with adverse effects on cardiovascular and bone health. This article will present relevant cohort and interventional studies on arterial calcification and bone mineral density (BMD) in the form of a literature review. The potential effect of vitamin K status on other diseases like osteoarthritis, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and cancer will also be mentioned briefly.


Determining the length of the plunger's pumping is an integral part of the calculation of the well pump. However, it should be borne in mind that the pumping course of the plunger is different for each well. Therefore, the article proposes to define it from the dynamogram, on the coordinate parameter "pumping course" which is length, starting from the point of the minimum load on the TPS before the start of the suction. The opening of the supercharged valve shows a minimum load level, which has reached the lowest value due to the maximum high pressure of liquid compression in the working cylinder, after opening load begins to increase. This is the main sign of the opening of the supercharged valve. Mathematical modeling of the interaction of the column of rods and liquid showed: the column of rods, having a higher mass than the mass of liquid, is not subjected to a large forced oscillation, which is reflected on the dynamogram. The opening moment of the discharge valve indicates the beginning of liquid injection or the effective stroke of the plunger, therefore, we need to find exactly this point on the dynamogram circuit.Towards the end of the turn down the column comes to its original state, freed from longitudinal bends and vibrations. Then it can be argued: on the distance of the plunger's run his intermediate state cannot have an impact. However, this allegation requires proof.


Noise hazards can occur in almost all work areas and can be sourced from various work equipment. The sound category included in the noise hazard is sound with an intensity of more than 70 dB. In areas where sound has an intensity of more than 70 dB, it is recommended to use hearing protection devices such as ear plugs, while if the sound intensity is more than 80 dB, you must use ear muffs. The work area is usually only given a warning board to use hearing protection equipment, but there is no noise hazard detection device that can give real-time warnings. The purpose of this study is to design a tool that can detect and measure noise levels in a work area. This tool uses the fc-04 tool as a noise level reader which then gives a signal to the Arduino Uno microcontroller which will classify the sound level into 3 levels, namely low, medium and high which are displayed on the LCD board and use 3 LED (green, yellow and red) as an indicator of the level of noise hazard and a warning to use hearing protection.


The objectives of this paper are to identify factors influencing the adoption of innovations, specifically e-commerce readiness and to identify specific barriers or obstacles to the use of ICT by small and medium tourism enterprises in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Enterprises studied included guesthouses, lodges and self-catering, bed and breakfast, and tour operators. A survey research design was adopted and data collected through interviews, observation and administration of a structured questionnaire. The results reveal that high cost, limited funds and not knowing what to adopt are perceived as barriers to the diffusion of ICTs among the tourism service providers in the study.


It is proposed that a family system evaluation be added to the initial medical and social history used during a hospice assessment. The family evaluation should assess the family through a functional dysfunctional framework in addition to assessing the role structure of each of its members. This additional data, can of fer insight into the internal workings of the family while adding important information as to the compliance level of the family in accepting hospice and the services that hospice hasto of fer. This may assist in not only the quality of service implementation but in assisting hospice personnel in lessening their potential for stress and burnout as well.


A glazed ceramic product with crystalline structure gives an artistic effect. In this study, the effects of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) addition into glaze batches on the crystallization behavior of crystal glaze were studied. Samples were fired at different gloss firing temperatures ranging from 1000-1200 o C with 1060 o C crystallization temperature. Xray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX) analysis of the phases identified these crystals as willemite (Zn2SiO4) in the form of spherulites. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis indicated that willemite crystals are in the acicular needle like shape. XRD result showed that the intensities of crystal peaks decreased with the addition of CaCO3 up to 3.0 wt%. However, there was no willemite crystals formation as the amount of CaCO3 raised to 5.0 wt%. Besides that, the results also indicated that willemite growth occurs during isothermal holding at crystallization temperature instead of during cooling from gloss firing temperature.


BACKGROUND AND AIM: Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) associated with a recent SARS-CoV2 infection is a rare complication of the infection that often requires admission to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Currently, there are no prediction models to assess severity in MIS-C patients as tools of risk assessment that may prevent decompensation out of the ICU setting. METHOD(S): We performed a retrospective chart review from 5/2020 to 6/2021 to collect presenting symptoms, lab and imaging results, and treatment regimens for all patients presenting to our institution with MIS-C. We imputed missing values using KNN Imputation and used a random forest algorithm to identify three lab test features for our model: ferritin, procalcitonin, and platelets. The echocardiogram ejection fraction (EF) was included for clinical relevance. We modeled these variables using multiple logistic regression and evaluated it through the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. RESULT(S): 78 patients were analyzed, of which 50 (64%) were admitted to the ICU. Platelet concentration was significant (OR 0.9930, CI 0.986-0.998, p-value = 0.021). However, procalcitonin, ferritin, and EF showed no significance. The AUC of our ROC curve was significant at 0.8043 (p-value < 0.0001). Fig1 shows the mean and standard deviation of platelets and EF to ICU admission and AUROC of the model. The negative predictive value (NPV) 75.0%, positive predictive value (PPV) 77.6%. CONCLUSION(S): Platelet concentration on admission was a significant predictor of ICU admission. Larger studies are required to develop predictive PICU admission models. (Figure Presented).


The article examines modern aspects of the legal regulation of artificial intelligence through the prism of the use of reproductive technologies. It is noted that the legal regulation of artificial intelligence is carried out both at the national and international levels. In Ukraine, the issue of artificial intelligence is partially regulated in the Law of Ukraine "On the Protection of Personal Data" and the Concept of the Development of Artificial Intelligence in 2020. The international legal regulation of this aspect of social relations is concentrated in international acts that have a purely advisory nature regarding the characteristics of artificial intelligence, in particular in the European Ethical Charter of the Council of Europe regarding the use of artificial intelligence in judicial systems. It was emphasized that on the issues of artificial reproduction, where artificial intelligence acts as a "mother". The concept of artificial reproduction involves the widespread use of artificial intelligence, which will be responsible for each child's access to nutrients "adapted to its needs." In addition, it predicts that artificial intelligence will be able to monitor the development of children and signal any possible deviations. It was concluded that the legal support of artificial intelligence should be regulated taking into account the study of the risks of its use in various spheres of life of society based on the positive foreign experience of countries such as Japan, Australia, and the USA. At the same time, it is worth taking into account the fact that the role of artificial intelligence in artificial reproduction differs depending on the method. Thus, in the procedure of in vitro fertilization or artificial insemination, artificial intelligence will be involved in the selection process of eggs and sperm in order to increase the percentage of the possibility of fertilization and reduce the risks associated with the development of the embryo. Considered aspects determination the age limit for persons to whom will apply assisted reproductive technology. Also investigated the possibility of reproductive technologies for people who are not in a registered marriage. This article gives examples of legal regulation of assisted reproductive technology in foreign countries.


.. Objective: To compare various modalities of treatment in management of carcinoma oesophagus with particular stress on relief of dysphagia due to ca. Design: Descriptive, retrospective study. Setting: Surgical department CMH Rawalpindi. Period: From 1996 to 2000 (4 years). Patients & Methods. The study subjects included 33 patients with histopathological diagnosis of carcinoma oesophagus (including criteria), 28 patients were operated upon (curative 18, palliative 10) with 17.5% operative mortality, 4 merited solely on chemo/radiation therapy (advance stage tumor), while 01 patent opted for chemo/radiation despite being favorable candidate for surgery. Results: Of the 33 cases, 29 were operated out of which 11 were subjected to Ivor-lewis procedure, 15 were operated upon through transhiatal approach while in the remaining cases, palliative bypass procedures were done. Conclusion: Surgery (transthoracic + tans hiatal approach) proved to be the only reliable mode of treatment whether supplemented by adjuvant therapy or not, Chemo/radiation as a sole mode of treatment had drastic results.


Although strongly adsorbing ions are relatively immobile within porous media, preferential
flow and adsorption to mobile colloids can enhance their transport. There is limited knowledge
regarding the role of preferential flow and colloidal transport on adsorbing ions. The goal of this
research is to determine the influence of preferential flow paths and colloids on transportation of
adsorbing ions. The movement of a conservative tracer within soil by preferential flow has been
studied in previous research at a west Tennessee field plot and results demonstrate rapid transport
of the tracer. Eight soil monoliths with a diameter of 0.3 m and a length of 1.0 m were excavated and
collected in PVC pipes from the Ames Plantation, near Grand Junction, Tennessee. The monoliths
were transported to the laboratory where a column experiment was performed to determine the
transport rate of an adsorbing and non-adsorbing ion. Four monoliths were treated with poultry litter,
and the other four monoliths were treated with inorganic fertilizer. Fertilizer was applied at
congruence to the recommended Nitrogen rate of 168 kg ha-1. Water spiked bromide as KBr, which
behaves as a conservative tracer, was applied daily to the surface of all monoliths at a constant
concentration of 20 ppm d-1. Fiberglass wicks sampled water moving through the matrix, and water
dripping from the base of the column, indicative of preferential flow, was collected using a brass
nipple. Concentrations of total phosphorus, inorganic phosphorus, organic phosphorus, and bromide
were measured. The transport of P from preferential flow and matrix flow of a monolith were
compared by constructing breakthrough curves for the brass nipple and fiberglass wicks. A portion
of the effluent samples were filtered with 0.45 and/or 0.1 mm nylon filters to reveal the role colloids
play in ionic transport. P concentrations were relatively higher in the free water compared to the
matrix water, indicative that when preferential paths are present P adsorption is decreased.
Monoliths with early detection of Br also had elevated P concentrations. Leachate samples from the
fiberglass wicks had lower Br concentrations than leachate samples from the brass nipple.
Comparisons between the inorganic and organic fertilizer effects on P transport are inconclusive at
this time. Additional studies on the monoliths are ongoing.


We report on the crystal quality and on-wafer device performance of GaN-on-Si LED wafers grown by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition on Si(111) substrates. Average XRD FWHM of 343 arcsec and 456 arcsec for the 002 and 102 reflections, respectively, are measured for GaN-on-Si template wafers and a dislocation density around 5×108 cm–2 is determined via etch pit density. Excellent electroluminescence uniformity for the 150 and 200 mm blue LED wafers was achieved. The standard deviation values measured across the wafer surface are 3.9% for the electroluminescence intensity, 0.6–0.8% for the peak wavelength and 1.3% for the forward voltage. The high uniformity confirms the viability of the GaN-on-Si technology on large substrate diameters for next generation LED manufacturing. The feasibility of a two-step growth process for LED wafers on GaN-on-Si templates is demonstrated successfully and the issues of wafer to wafer uniformity and processing yield are discussed. (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


This paper outlines the necessary aspects of arts-based educational research in a study that probed the nature of caring in an arts classroom. Based on the dissertation that won the Elliot Eisner Doctoral Research Award in Art Education, the author explains how this study is a work of art, a work of education, and a work of qualitative research. This study presents deconstruction as a praxis experienced through the process of art making, wherein the researcher and her middle-level art students employ the tools of the visual arts to achieve an aesthetic space of artful living. Using the methodology of a/r/tography, the author explores how by emphasizing aesthetic engagement, being attuned to moments of lingering and states of flux in the arts classroom, and deconstructing care through art and writing, she was able to engage in a space of transformation.


During the operation of the unit type gravure press, the violent mechanical vibration generated by the guide roller will seriously affect the stability of the unit operation, and causing transmission faults such as wrinkle, offset, scratch or fracture, and reducing the printing accuracy. To this problem, a novel multi-approach composite collaborative vibration isolator which combines the local resonator and multi-layer composite structure is proposed to solve the problems of vibration suppression in the single frequency and vibration energy dissipation in the full frequency band, respectively, and the theoretical model on the proposed isolator is established basing on dynamic stiffness method. For demonstrating isolation performance, the regularized normalized modal displacement, power loss density, elastic strain energy density, total kinetic energy, and vibration transmission ratio can be discussed. The results show that the composite vibration isolator has a wide vibration isolation band, and the vibration wave has two attenuation bands within 0–2000 Hz. The first attenuation band is 188–224 Hz and the width is 36 Hz; the second attenuation band is greater than 328 Hz. When the band of the vibration isolator is above 700 Hz, the vibration transmission ratio shows a monotonous decreasing trend. Furthermore, an experimental platform for the vibration isolation device of the guide roller is established to verify the vibration isolation performance. When the drive motor frequency is 20 Hz, the composite vibration isolator has the best vibration isolation effect. At the same time, the vibration isolation effect gradually decreases with the increase of the guide roller speed, but it still has preferable vibration isolation performance under various working conditions.


The area of metal phosphate frameworks, derived from phosphoric acid (H3PO4) and its esters ((RO)PO3H2), has developed into a major theme within the chemistry of framework and porous solids during the last decade. The analogous metal phosphonates which are derived from organophosphonic acids (RPO3H2) have however been extensively investigated since as early as 1970s owing to their important applications in various fields. While the majority of the metal phosphonates reported in the literature are layered compounds (made up of 2D [M(RPO3)(H2O)]n sheets that are stacked one over other), a greater structural diversity exists in the case of metal phosphates. The known structural types vary from discrete zero-dimensional clusters, 1D chains, 2D sheets to 3D framework solids and zeolite-like porous compounds. Generation of such varied structures starting from both phosphoric acid and its esters is the focal point of this chapter. This article showcases, taking zinc and aluminum phosphates as examples, how the transformations of rationally synthesized molecular compounds to materials represent an important new direction in both structural inorganic chemistry and materials chemistry, enabling possible pathways for the rational design of newer materials.


Abstract The present paper attempts to give a broad review of tests performed with air as a cheaper and more accurate option when compared with tests using incompressible flows. The work presents a description of an aerodynamic test- bench for examining models of hydraulic machines. Experimental and theoretical values of local velocity and density were determined at several axial planes. Test results were also used to show how water machine models can be equally tested in air tunnels. Analysis is supported by the theory of dynamic similarity. The work presents a qualitative and quantitative description of actual cases based on model tests. With special emphasis on conditions of similarity, which have a fundamental significance in the design of hydraulic machines, the author explains the possibility of supplementing them by using air as the working medium. The influence of Reynolds number, roughness and turbulence is also discussed.


The Main challenge on iris and most biometric identifier's is the user variability in the acquired identifiers. The Iris of the same person captured in different time may differ due to the signal noise of the environment or the iris camera. In Error Correction Code, ECC is introduced to reduce the variability and noise of the iris data. To find best system performance, This paper reviews an approach is tested using 2 different distance metric measurement functions for the iris pattern matching identification process which are Hamming Distance and Weighted Euclidean Distance. An experiment with the CASIA version 1.0 iris database indicates that results can assure a higher security with a false acceptance rate (FAR).


In Systems Engineering (SE), development of complex systems involves a collaboration of expertise from different domains. Heterogeneous artifacts are generated using different modeling tools. Capturing the traceability information among these artifacts helps serve many purposes, including change impact analysis; validation and verification; and requirements tracking. However, creating trace links among these heterogeneous artifacts is problematic. No precise semantics exist for the trace links that relate them. This paper shows how to capture traceability information in a system with heterogeneous artifacts, illustrated here using an avionics case study that uses a traceability model and a trace links taxonomy that we constructed and published previously.


The name Kistiakowsky was first drawn to my attention 50 years ago by my Oxford tutor H. W. (later Sir Harold) Thompson (F. R. S.), who required me to write an essay on photochemical reactions and suggested that Kistiakowsky's book (5) should be read as a useful guide to the understanding of those chemical reactions which follow the primary act of light absorption. I followed the advice, which proved to be good, but I did not find the book particularly stimulating. In retrospect, I suppose this was inevitable because, in 1927, when the book was completed, photochemistry was still in a rather dull, classical, 'stamp-collecting', phase from which it was shortly rescued by spectroscopic and fluorescence measurements and by techniques for determining absolute reaction rates. Kistiakow sky was destined to contribute in a seminal way to this later development and I had a foretaste of this as I complied with Thompson's request that I should also read two papers by Dieke & Kistiakowsky (31, 41) on the spectrum of formaldehyde.


The analysis on all thermal resistances in a sort of chip radiator with heat pipe is made through the method of electro-thermal simulation.The electric heat transfer model is established of the heat pipe chip radiator under forced air cooled condition,and the formula of its total heat-transfer ability is worked out.Then,a certain kind of designed instance is simulated by ICEPAK software,and the simulated result corresponds to the theoretical computational result basically,and so the validity of the electric heat transfer model is verified.


The article sequence article outlines the reforms carried out to introduce modern information and communication technologies and systems into the activities of the internal affairs bodies to ensure public order, in particular, the results of the legislation adopted in this area and the results achieved through their implementation into practice, as well as creation of an electronic criminogenic map of the administrative territory and, on its basis, the need to create a special software system that allows for automatic distribution of forces and means, operational management, early prediction of incidents and crimes, as well as electronic methodological guidance on the algorithm of actions of employees sent to the scene is substantiated.


Background: Complementary therapies are cost-effective and non-invasive methods, aimed at increasing comfort in stressful situations. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of aromatherapy with rose and lavender fragrances on the physiological parameters of patients undergoing open heart surgery. Methods: This randomized, controlled, clinical study was performed on 160 patients, undergoing open heart surgery in 2015. The patients were randomly allocated to 4 groups: 2 intervention groups, 1 control group, and 1 placebo group. After transferring the patients from the operating room to the cardiovascular intensive care unit (ICU), the vital signs were documented in all the groups with the patient's first inspiratory effort, using a monitoring device. In the intervention group, after the patient's first inspiratory effort, a cotton cloth, impregnated with 3 drops of rose and lavender fragrances, was attached to the patient's endotracheal tube. In the placebo group, intervention was performed with a cotton cloth impregnated with water. In the control group, no intervention was applied. Afterwards, the patients' vital signs were controlled and documented every 30 minutes until the endotracheal tube was extracted. Following endotracheal tube extraction, the vital signs were documented every 15 minutes for 1 hour. For data analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated, using SPSS version 23. Results: The results of the present study indicated that aromatherapy with rose and lavender fragrances does not cause any significant difference in the physiological indicators. The decline in systolic blood pressure within the first 15, 45, and 60 minutes following endotracheal tube extraction was significantly different among the groups. However, although the difference was statistically significant, it was not of clinical importance. Conclusions: Considering the positive effects of aromatherapy on hemodynamic indicators, this method can be applied as an effective complementary treatment.


This article through to the agricultural product physical distribution connotation,the significance,the charac-teristic and the present situation analysis,have pointed out the present agricultural product physical distribution exis-tence's physical distribution facility and physical distribution technology backwardness,the management level low,the building redundant project phenomenon serious,has the spe-cialty technical knowledge talented person,the agricultural product physical distribution informationization level not to adapt and so on questions obviously deficient.And profits from the developed country agricultural product physical distri-bution the development experience,based on this proposed that the improvement basic requirement,the optimized confor-mity resources,the cultivation and the development agricultur-al product physical distribution organization,education and training countermeasures and so on increases government's support dynamics,to strengthen,to speed up our country a-gricultural product physical distribution development to provide certain theory instruction and the policy-making reference.


A period of living and studying or working abroad is generally regarded as an advantage for young people when they enter the labour market. And young people who go abroad during their final course of study do indeed enter the labour market on more favourable terms. However, this apparent advantage is in fact linked to the establishments they attended and the social milieus in which they grew up. Lire le document en ligne Julien Calmand, Pascale Rouaud, Emmanuel Sulzer, Studying or working abr...


Electrical engineering should be taught in a problem-solving environment in the light of broad objectives guided by the scientific method. Instead, courses are often designed for limited objectives with course content tailored to the interest of the teacher who has abandoned a careful exposition of the scientific method in favor of idealized generalizations. Consequently, students graduate who cannot deal adequately with complex problems arising from real-world situations


Objective To evaluate the effect of the percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) in the manage- ment of complicated upper ureterie calculi, compared with retroperitoneal laparoscopie ureterolithotomy (RLU). Methods Seventy-one cases with complicated upper ureteric calculi were retrospectively investigated (PCNL group 23 cases, RLU group 29 eases). Clinical data including operation time, stone free rate and the surgical complications were statistically analyzed. Results , All the operations were successful in all 52 cases. Compared with the RLU group, the PCNL group had a significant shorter operation time [ (45.12 ± 11.56 ) min vs ( 82.03 ± 12.45 ) min, t = 10.13 ,P 〈 0.01 ] , and significant difference were detected. A week after the operation, the PCNL group showed a stone free rate of 95.6% (22/23) while the RLU group 100.0% (29/29), and no significant difference were detec- ted. No significant complications, such as intraoperative or postoperative bleeding and damage to surrounding organs, were detected. The patients were followed up for 6 to 12 months (mean,9 months) , and no recurrent stones or ureteral stricture were developed during the period. Conclusion Both PCNL and RLU are safe and effective for complicated upper ureteral calculi. The appropriate method depends on the patients' specific conditions,the unit equipments and the experience of operator.

Key words:
Ureteral calculi ;  Prcutaneous nephrolithotomy ;  Laparoscopic ureterolithotomy


Stores of catecholamines accumulated in the adrenal glands and in the walls of the aortae of rats during treatment with diethazine or chlorpromazine. Diethazine failed to antagonise the release by reserpine of tissue stores of catecholamines and increased tissue sensitivity to the pressor effects of tyramine, probably because release of catecholamines from tissue stores by tyramine is enhanced. Chlorpromazine antagonised the release of adrenal medullary amines by reserpine and delayed the restoration of these stores after depletion.


Advances in anesthetic and surgical management, such as deep hypothermic circulatory arrest and temporary clipping, have improved outcomes for intracranial aneurysm patients. However, these techniques are associated with significant risks. We report on two cases in which adenosine administration was used to induce transient periods of cardiac asystole during intracranial aneurysm surgery. This asystole resulted in profound hypotension and collapse of the aneurysm, which facilitated its safe clipping. (Anesth Pain Med 2012; 7: 55 ∼ 58)


The purpose of this report is to summarize and evaluate the Argonne Distance Tabletop Exercise (DISTEX) method. DISTEX is intended to facilitate multi-organization, multi-objective tabletop emergency response exercises that permit players to participate from their own facility's incident command center. This report is based on experience during its first use during the FluNami 2007 exercise, which took place from September 19-October 17, 2007. FluNami 2007 exercised the response of local public health officials and hospitals to a hypothetical pandemic flu outbreak. The underlying purpose of the DISTEX method is to make tabletop exercising more effective and more convenient for playing organizations. It combines elements of traditional tabletop exercising, such as scenario discussions and scenario injects, with distance learning technologies. This distance-learning approach also allows playing organizations to include a broader range of staff in the exercise. An average of 81.25 persons participated in each weekly webcast session from all playing organizations combined. The DISTEX method required development of several components. The exercise objectives were based on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Target Capabilities List. The ten playing organizations included four public health departments and six hospitals in the Chicago area. An extent-of-play agreement identified the objectives applicable to each organization. A scenario was developed to drive the exercise over its five-week life. Weekly problem-solving task sets were designed to address objectives that could not be addressed fully during webcast sessions, as well as to involve additional playing organization staff. Injects were developed to drive play between webcast sessions, and, in some cases, featured mock media stories based in part on player actions as identified from the problem-solving tasks. The weekly 90-minute webcast sessions were discussions among the playing organizations that were moderated by a highly-qualified public health physician, who reviewed key scenario developments and player actions, as well as solicited input from each playing organization. The exercise control structure included trusted agents who oversaw exercise planning, playing organization points of contact to ensure exercise coordination, and exercise controller/evaluators to initiate and oversee exercise play. A password-protected exercise website was designed for FluNami 2007 to serve as a compartmentalized central information source, and for transmitting exercise documents. During the course of FluNami 2007, feedback on its quality was collected from players and controller/evaluators. Player feedback was requested at the conclusion of each webcast, upon completion of each problem-solving task, and on October 17, 2007, after the final webcast session had ended. The overall average score given to FluNami 2008 by the responding players was 3.9 on a five-point scale. In addition, suggestions for improving the process were provided by Argonne controller/evaluators after the exercise concluded. A series of recommendations was developed based on feedback from the players and controller/evaluators. These included improvements to the exercise scope and objectives, the problem-solving tasks, the scenarios, exercise control, the webcast sessions, the exercise website, and the player feedback process.


Anaerobic Ammonia technique of biological removal nitrogen is one of the hot point of water treatment research.This paper introduces the removal nitrogen mechanism,and analyses the influential factor of anaerobic ammonia.Finally,it discusses the way to remove nitrogen by controlling PH and temperature.


This cross sectional study aims at determining the effect of gastrointestinal nematodes on haematological and biochemical parameters in goats. 368 goats that were presented to the Campus Veterinary Hospital and Ambulatory Clinical Services, Mylardevpally, College of Veterinary Science, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, from December-2017 to June-2018. Out of which 140 goats (38.04%) were found positive for gastrointestinal nematodal infestation. Ten apparently healthy goats (Group I) which were negative for gastrointestinal nematodal infestation were selected, subjected to haematological and biochemical investigations and they served as healthy control group. Goats positive for gastrointestinal nematodal infestation were randomly divided into two groups (II and III) with each group having 10 positive cases. There was significant (p<0.05) decrease in the mean Haemoglobin (Hb), Packed cell volume (PCV), Total erythrocyte counts (TEC) and lymphocytes, Total serum proteins (TSP), Albumin levels whereas, significant (p<0.05) increase in Total leucocyte counts (TLC), eosinophils, monocytes and Globulin and Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) counts in infestated goats. It was concluded that decreased haemoglobin, total erythrocyte counts, total serum proteins, albumin were important indicators of gastrointestinal nematodiasis in goats.


Today, a main question is to answer to the following problematic: have we recognized that for software, the delivery of absolute numerical safety targets is considered to be impossible, and the methods contained in the CENELEC standard produce a "probability" that certain (unsafe) failure rates will be archived rather then an absolute assurance? We know that checks before putting safety signalling facilities into service as well as the results of tests are essential but time consuming without guaranty of exhaustiveness in particular for the case of computerised equipments. In the context of greater economic constraints and increasing complexity of computerized tools, the capacities of the classic approval process are today attained. We see in actual practice a reduction of the validation cover rate and more and more numerous unsafe failures as results. This paper assumes that it is possible in practice to give an exhaustive formal proof that the "functional" of the signalling application (functional "white box") is safe in the context of use (over-system). The presented method makes it possible, after a rigorous and cost effective design, to validate formally the "functional" software of critical computerized systems. The aim of our project was to provide the SNCF (today for delegated infrastructure manager, and tomorrow for rolling stock departments of railway undertaker) with an operating method for the formal validation of critical computerized systems, especially for the Interlocking and ETCS/ERTMS systems. A formal proof method by assertion, applicable to these critical systems, which covers equally the specification and its real software implementation, is presented in this paper. With the proposed method and its associated tools we completely verify that the system follows all safety properties at all time and does not show superfluous conditions: it replaces the platform checks and is in accordance with the existing SNCF testing procedures. The advantages are a significant reduction of testing time and of the related costs, an increase of the tests cover rate (deterministic safety vs. probabilistic safety), The paper assumes that the formal methods mastery by infrastructure engineers is a main key to prove that, during the life of the system, more safety is not more expensive.


This paper discusses the optimal approximation to generalized reflexive matrices on a linear manifold. The general expression of the solution to the problem is given. In addition, in corresponding solution set of the problem, the explicit expression of the nearest matrix to a given matrix in the Frobenius norm have been derived.


The principles of SYCO are explained and its characteristics compared with those of earlier behavioural, architectural, logical and physical compilers. The architecture of the circuits generated is described, and compilation algorithms are presented for the overall architecture, the checking and operative portions, and mask generation. An optimisation tool (ARTS) devised as an aid to the search for the best area/speed compromise is presented. Developments under way are related to usability of circuit libraries provided by existing CAD environments, and unified online/offline test techniques for critical applications with circuits detecting faults in the course of their operation.


The ALICE experiment at CERN is primarily focused on quark-gluon plasma production in heavy ion (Pb-Pb) collisions. In addition, high multiplicity events from the LHC pp programme will provide an interesting field of study. As with A-A collisions, high multiplicity could suggest high underlying energy density of the system, possibly exceeding that required for deconfinement. Bjorken first suggested that deconfinement might occur in pp collisions, and evidence for this was sought by the E-735 experiment at Fermilab but no clear signature was seen. The LHC will offer new possibilities for examining this idea owing to the much greater multiplicity reach available at higher energy. The ALICE experiment has powerful triggering tools and particle identification (PID), which place it in a strong position to analyse these events and to measure the observable signatures of deconfinement that may arise. Signatures particularly related to strangeness production will be outlined and the capabilities for such studies at ALICE will be discussed.


Chain operation is a product of economic development and business competition,chain catering industry is closely related to economic development,with close links to the residents' life. "Twelfth five-year",China's catering industry has been continued rapid growth,industry scale constantly expanding,continuously broaden the business field. Objective analysis current situation of the development of chain restaurant industry of our country,the relationship between the empirical research with the national economy,according to the results betw een the two promote each other. Chain restaurant industry in our country and harmonious win- win development of national economy,to expand consumption demand,alleviate employment pressure and stable residents is of great significance.


A complete methodology to design robust fault detection and isolation (FDI) filters and fault-tolerant control (FTC) schemes for linear parameter varying systems is proposed, with particular focus on its applicability to wind turbines. This paper takes advantage of the recent advances in model falsification using set-valued observers (SVOs) that led to the development of FDI methods for uncertain linear time-varying systems, with promising results in terms of the time required to diagnose faults. An integration of such SVO-based FDI methods with robust control synthesis is described, to deploy new FTC algorithms that are able to stabilize the plant under faulty environments. The FDI and FTC algorithms are assessed by resorting to a publicly available wind turbine benchmark model, using Monte Carlo simulation runs.


A variety of business models for performance and quality are being proliferated in the construction and services industry. In Europe, specifically in the Netherlands, the Best Value (BV) business model is being applied and is having positive impacts, making it further attractive to countries that are new to BV and looking for improvements. A feasibility study of BV in Italy is conducted via: a brief synopsis of BV, a resource and environmental analysis, and presentation of the results of a survey carried out to determine the degree of achievability of BV in Italy are analyzed. The feasibility regarding the approach to implementation of BV is also discussed. The results of the industry survey are analysed to understand the overall contracting environment and hypothesize on the potential outcomes of the utilization of BV in the Italian construction and services industry. A list of recommendations to utilize BV is developed


The spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana Clemens (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), is one of the destructive insect species of the boreal forest in eastern North America. Recent studies have discovered two sets of phenolic compounds that appear to play an important role in the resistance of coniferous trees to the spruce budworm. The phenolic glycosides, picein and pungenin are present in most of the susceptible white spruce trees, but their aglycone forms, piceol and pungenol are found only in white spruce trees resistant to the spruce budworm. These compounds have been shown to retard development time, reduce budworm survival and pupal mass. This research focused on monitoring the fate of these phenolic aglycones (acetophenones) after ingestion by the budworm and aimed at determining how the compounds were detoxified. High performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry identified glycosylated and glutathionylated-metabolite of piceol and pungenol in the frass of the caterpillars. Midgut enzyme assays were conducted at neutral and alkaline pH to measure the activity of detoxification enzyme glutathione-S-transferase.
In this study, spruce budworm larvae were reared on either artificial diet only (control diet) or artificial diet containing combined acetophenones (piceol and pungenol). Our results suggest that the insects upregulated production of the detoxifying enzyme, glutathione-S-transferase, in response to feeding on diet containing acetophenones. The acetophenones were thus detoxified by conversion to glycosylated and glutathionylated form in the gut.


Opening arguments were made Monday in Bill Cosby's retrial for sexual assault. During the court proceedings, the public learned just how much civil settlement money the comedian paid her to keep quiet about the assault.


We use the severe and short-lived shock created by the 1994 Rwanda genocide to identify key ages in the accumulation of human capital. Using the post-genocide Demographic and Health Survey for Rwanda and neighboring countries we explore how exposure to the genocide affected women's health as measured by their adult height. We show that the effect of the shock decreases with age as younger girls were affected more severely. However, the effect is not zero for older ages. We find large negative impacts even for those who were between 13 and 18 at the time of the genocide. These results are robust to a large set of possible confounding factors including the possible nonrandom survival rates of the genocide. Our findings suggest that the sensitive periods for this aspect of human capital accumulation go well beyond early childhood. JEL codes: I10, I15, N4, O15.


Direct magnetic measurements performed by space probes demonstrated the existence of small-scale, stationary surface magnetic fields on the Moon. The magnetic field averaged over a region of approximately 600 km was found to be no larger than approximately 10(exp -5) G, that of the regions approximately 100-200 km is approximately 10(exp -5) to 10(exp -4) G, and that of approximately 10-100 km reaches approximately 10(exp -3) G. Investigations of certain lunar rocks reveal stable residual magnetization, which could have been acquired during the crystallization of the rocks in the presence of the outer magnetic field, provided such a field existed at the initial stage of lunar evolution. Estimates show that 4 x 10(exp 9) yr ago the field was small, then it rose to approximately 1.3 G at the beginning of 3.9 x 10(exp 9) yr with a subsequent exponential decrease during the period of 3.9 x 10(exp 9) yr to 3.2 x 10(exp 9) yr ago. Small-scale fields have been explained by some authors as due to mechanical impacts produced by meteors. The theory of this effect is not elaborated in detail. This can in no way explain the paleomagnetic data. These data are commonly explained as a result of the dynamo action in the liquid lunar core.


Germany's plan to introduce competition into its electric power sector will have a profound effect on Europe's bid for a single electricity market


The possible geometrical configuration of B 2 H 6 molecule of D 3d ,D 3h ,D 2d and planar or stereo D 2h have long been argued about.In this work different methods of B3P86,BP86,B3LYP,BLYP,UHF,HF and LSDA in Gaussian 98 program have been used to optimize the structure of B 2 H 6 .Our result shwos that the ground state geometrical configuration for B 2 H 6 molecules is stereo D 2h ,i.e.,the three-center two bridge hydrogen structure,in wh ich two boron and four hydrogen atoms lie in a plane while the other two bridge hydrogen atoms lie in a plane perpendicular to it.This three-center two bridge hydrogen structure is more stable than two-center two-electron bond structure.


The notion of symmetry classically defined for hyperbolic systems of conservation laws is extended to the case of evolution equations of conservative form for which the flux function can bean operator. We explain how such a symmetrization can work from a general point of view using an extension of the classical Godunov structure. We then apply it to the Green–Naghdi type equations which are a dispersive extension of the hyperbolic shallow-water equations. In fact, in the case of these equations, the general Godunov structure of the system is obtained from its Hamiltonian structure.


Anti-corrosive performance of a protective coat applied on blowholes dressed out by puttying is investigated. Edge retention behaviours and anti-corrosive performances of a ferromagnetic pigment (FMP) paint system applied to the steel plates with various edge geometries are investigated. The effectiveness of puttying as an alternative to repair welding for blowhole dressing, and stripe coating with FMP paint as an alternative to mechanical grinding of sharp edges are discussed. As results, the followings are found: (1) The protective performance of a top coat applied to a weld bead with blowholes which is dressed out by 100% solid epoxy / polyamide putty is better than or equivalent to that for the case where blowholes are dressed out by repairwelding. Puttying by 100% solid epoxy / polyamide putty is an effective alternative to repair welding for blowhole dressing. (2) A thick area of coating along sharp edge is created when FMP paint system is applied as a top coat. Edge retention behaviour is improved when the bevel angle decreases. The protective performance of a specimen with sharp edge coated by FMP paint system is higher than or equivalent to that of specimens with edge preparation coated by an ordinary paint system. FMP paint is an attractive alternative to mechanical grinding of edge because it can eliminate the need for a great amount of labour.


The utility model discloses a hot extrusion forging device of a flange axle tube, which comprises a convex die and a concave die, and further comprises an upsetting movable die and a position movable die, a die cavity of the concave die is a second-order step hole, a big hole of the die cavity of the concave die is arranged on the upper portion, a small hole of the die cavity of the concave die is arranged on the lower portion, the upsetting movable die is provided with a blind hole which is used to be inserted in the convex die, and the position movable die is provided with a through hole which is used to pass through the convex die. The hot extrusion forging device of the flange axle tube uses the upsetting movable die to assist upsetting, and uses the position movable die to assist position, and the position movable die can prevent the convex die from bending and deforming when the convex die contacts with hot workpiece, thereby guaranteeing positional accuracy of holes arranged on the workpiece, not needing an auxiliary movable die when molding, achieving to complete three forging processes in the same device, leading the workpiece not to be turned over during the forging forming process, reducing heat loss, and being high in process efficiency.


The stretching of material lines in time periodic sequences of ''weak'' flows (i.e., characterized by a linear stretching for long times) in which streamlines change at the end of each periodic unit is quantified in terms of a mixing efficiency. Two different flows and two different strain distributions give nearly identical results in terms of the mixing efficiency and indicate the existence of an optimal operating condition for maximum stretch. The results are relevant to fluid mixing in chaotic flows.


As a branch of natural science,medical science also contains abundant humanities ideas.'Medicine is a human course' and 'medicine is a kind technology ' embody the humanity evaluation of medical science from western and Chinese cultural history of medical science respectively.The humanities education in medical universities should take the medical science humanities spirit as educational principle,and pay attention to the course design,teacher installment,instructional reform,and evaluating system.


A user query facet is a collection of items that summarizes the content covered by a query. In general, the most significant information of a user query is present in the top retrieved document that are in the form of lists. In this work, we propose a framework Automatic Extraction of Facets for User Queries [AEFUQ] that extract the user query facets automatically by grouping the list based on three categories namely HTML tags, free text patterns and repeat regions. Grouping of the list is based on domain sites present in the list. We observe that some of the lists are not relevant for extracting the facets. In order to prune these lists, the importance of each item in the lists that are present in the group G is evaluated and Cosine Similarity (CS) between two items is calculated. Further, based on CS score obtained, High Quality Clustering (HQC) algorithm is proposed to cluster the items that has the most number of point in each iteration to obtain more number of facets. Finally, the top most items from each cluster are provided as the best facets for the user query. Experiments are conducted on User Q and Random Q dataset. It is observed that the proposed method AEFUQ outperforms by providing a large number of useful query facets compared to QDMiner method [1].


In order to improve the research on metal cutting process,DEFORM-3D was used as a platform,and the cutting process of 0Cr18Ni9 stainless steel was modeled and simulated by FEA,finally the change law of the cutting force of 0Cr18Ni9 stainless steel and the influence made by cutting speed and feed were analyzed,and the simulation data were made contrast with calculation data.The results show that the simulation data got by DEFORM-3D have a relatively high inosculation with the calculation data,which means simulation dada has a relatively high level of reliability.It provides a new way to systematically investigate the metal cutting process.


On March 31, 2004, Kofi Annan made an impassioned plea for local Cypriot leaders to support impending referenda to end three decades of division on the island. He framed the importance of these plebiscites in no uncertain terms: "Let me be clear. The choice is not between this settlement plan and some other magical or mythical solution. In reality, at this stage, the choice is between this settlement and no settlement" (Annan 2004). The SecretaryGeneral's words proved to be hauntingly accurate. While a majority of the Turkish Cypriot population voted in favor of a federation of two states, more than three-quarters of Greek Cypriots cast their ballots in opposition. And in the decade and a half since the failed 2004 reunification plan, no fewer than four additional rounds of peace talks have been attempted and abandoned. Today, the divided island remains the site of Europe's longest unresolved political dispute and an archetype of intractable conflict (Heraclides 2011). The half-century of political stalemate in Cyprus raises challenging questions for peace scholars and practitioners alike. Why has it been so difficult to reunify the island? Why have top-down negotiations such as the Annan Plan, as well as more recent bottom-up approaches, proved equally ineffective? What might a permanent settlement even look like at this point? There is, of course, no shortage of answers to such questions. Politicians, policy analysts, peacemakers, and conflict scholars have all weighed in over the years. This diverse set of actors has advanced varied and inventive plans of action, but most share a common perspective. Taking a negative peace framework as their starting point, they stress that the island has been free of extended periods of armed conflict since the 1974 ceasefire that divided Cyprus and express a strong desire not to undermine the current status quo. Policy suggestions, in turn, involve some variation of security guarantees and a plan for shared governance between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities. The primary concern of these plans is to avoid a return to intercommunal violence. They overwhelmingly frame the Greek and Turkish


The distribution of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV infection across individuals and subgroups within societies and across populations still preoccupies scientists of multiple disciplinary backgrounds. Systematic observation of how such distributions change over time in the presence and absence of preventive interventions underscores the complex almost mysterious multilevel multifactorial causation of the epidemiological profile of STIs. The importance of attention to both the individual- and population-level factors that cause and prevent chronic and communicable diseases has been emphasized elsewhere. During the past 10–15 years we have witnessed remarkable advances in a number of scientific domains each of which has important implications for our understanding of the epidemiology and prevention of STIs. The emergent linkages and overlaps among these domains are reminiscent of Wilson's concept of consilience—that is the interlocking of causal explanation across disciplines. These converging advances promise even faster growth in our understanding of the determinants and potential for prevention of STIs in populations in the near future while simultaneously offering us important insights at the present time. (excerpt)


Culture context of motivating employees is the subject of the analysis undertaken in this article. The authors based on the assumption that the knowledge of what values culturally conditioned guide nationalities or ethnic groups constitutes the foundation of people management in transnational organizations. The research shows that the societies differ in terms of importance they assign to work and in terms of expectations that the job should fulfil. Employees oriented towards the internal values of work are ready for changes, autonomy, development and undertaking initiatives. The influence of culture and social institutions on the process of motivation is visible at the stage of experiencing by employees the strength of particular psychological needs.


The problem of diabetes mellitus (DM) has attracted scientists of different specialities, as its prevalence is increasing worldwide and assumes the character of a pandemic. The use of optical non-invasive diagnostic methods is a promising direction for the early determination of the presence and severity of diabetic complications. This work is aimed at assessing changes in the uorescence intensity and the blood microcirculation level, evaluated in the skin of patients with DM with the use of local cold and heating tests. An experimental studies were carried out involving patients with type 2 DM and healthy controls. Significant differences were found in the changes in the level of microcirculation and oxidative metabolism under the in uence of local temperature effects (local heating and cooling) among patients and control group. The results can be used in further development of an optical non-invasive diagnosis of diabetes complications.


An underwater running machine having a delivering device of a new patient and a discharged patient is provided to help a patient who cannot move comfortably and to be used as a rehabilitation device and an exercising device. A door(12) is installed. A walking conveyor(20) is installed inside a water tank body. A water supply tool and a water outlet are installed on the water tank body. Support frames(13,14) are formed to extend from the upper parts of front and rear sides of the water tank body to form a rectangular frame shape. A guide rail(30) is fixed on the center of the upper side of the support frames. A patient is guided into the water tank body along the guide rail. A transfer car(40) is installed on the guide rail to be able to slide horizontally. A delivering member(50) is installed to be able to ascend and descend from the car with a rope(42).


The mathematical model of vertical natural circulation type steam generators (SG) in pressurized water reactor (PWR) nuclear power plants is presented. There are four control nodes in the model, including primary side, downcomer region, boiling region and water separator region on secondary side. The mass conservation equation, energy conservation equation, flow equation and heat transfer equation are described in this paper. The model is useful to simulate the dynamic characteristics of SG, or to build engineering simulator and training simulator with other nuclear power models.


This paper justifies and sets up the basics of a method for final works of non-academic graduate courses, in administration - but going beyond the circumstance of being linked to a "course". They are conceived as different to as academically formatted works, such as dissertations, as technical monograph pieces (Act n. 80/98, BRAZIL, 1999). We will call them here "monographic studies by organization professionals" or, for brevity sake, "professionals studies", without intending to innovate by the expression or speaking of something not practised yet. Support is taken on linguistics and philosophy of language, both of pragmatic bases. The starting point is that we face a particular speech genre, defined by the pragmatic context of symbolic interaction with an auditory of professionals interested in strategic self-orientation and decision-making in practical situations. This is to define a specific, non-colloquial language game, with high level of justification for those intentions and entitled to scientific status. After drawing a scheme of theoretical basis, the concept of professionals studies in administration is set up and distinguished of other close speech genres in use. Some crucial points of method are raised from author's experience. The essay concludes by some questions on the theoretical and institutional horizon of the proposal.


Rasmussen et al. in Copenhagen found similar clinical outcome from ranibizumab and aflibercept in wet AMD with 15% fewer aflibercept injections. Veneruso et al. in Italy report that early light deprivation from congenital cataracts impairs cone function in the retina. Kuhli-Hatterbach et al. in Germany associate high levels of lipoprotein with CRVO and suggest screening in selected groups. Willerslev et al. in Denmark found increased retinal blood flow and oxygen levels in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms. Steel et al. in UK noted dissociation of optic nerve fibre layer after macular hole surgery with ILM peeling.


A method of judging furnace burning outfire based on flame image information was studied. Three feature vectors were extracted from furnace flame images. A method of using Support Vector Machine combined with furnace operation conditions to judge furnace outfire was designed. According to signals of coal mill outage and coal valve switch, burner outfire was judged when powder burner off. And combustion states were classified by Support Vector Machine when powder is being sprayed. The method is simple, convenient and practical and has high correct classification rate.


We present observations of condensation nuclei (CN) and aerosol optical depth (AOD) from a shipboard project using bulk-carrier ships sailing through the western Pacific Ocean between Nelson, New Zealand, and Osaka, Japan. The data is from eight voyages between 2006 and 2013. CN counts for all voyages followed the same broad pattern: highly variable numbers near New Zealand, then variable and occasionally very high counts north of New Zealand through to the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ) and the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Through the north western Pacific Ocean there were generally very low counts until approaching Japan when high counts were measured in eastward outflow from Japan, Korea and China. AOD measurements were made on voyages from 2007 at 20minute intervals during daylight hours when the sun was clear of cloud. Back trajectories were calculated to identify airmass source regions. The AOD data were plotted in relation to the identified source regions to give estimates of aerosol size and turbidity. The AOD data was then compared to aerosol information obtained from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument onboard the Aqua earth-orbiting spacecraft. Substantial temporal variability in fine spatial structure of the latitudinal occurrence of CN and AOD was noted. This often reflected the position and strength of the major convergence zones and the movement of synoptic-scale weather systems through the western Pacific Ocean. The aerosol data matches well with the source regions identified by back-trajectory plots. The variability in transport may be as important as variability in sources in determining the structure of CN across the western Pacific Ocean. Submitted: 19 July 2018 Accepted: 28 November 2018 39 Weather & Climate Volume 38 Issue 1 that runs approximately north-south across the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ) and Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The individual voyage tracks are spatially identical, generally varying no more than 5km at any location. On the voyages from 2007 onwards shipborne aerosol optical depth data were also collected during daylight hours when the sun was clear of cloud. Atmospheric aerosols are one of the largest sources of uncertainty in the current understanding of climate change (IPCC, 2013). They affect the climate by absorbing and scattering solar radiation (direct radiative effect), acting as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and hence affecting the radiative properties of clouds (indirect radiative effect). Chemical changes can occur on aerosol surfaces, altering the chemical and radiative properties of the atmosphere. Aerosol sources include biomass burning, volcanic eruptions, sea salt, biological and fossil fuel burning and aeolian dust. A secondary aerosol source originates with gas-to-particle conversion from the oxidation of organic and inorganic gaseous compounds (de Leeuw et al., 2014). A summary of aerosol data collected around the Pacific basin as part of numerous field experiments – GLOBE (Global Backscatter Experiment), ACE-1 (First Aerosol Characterisation Experiment), PEM A & B (Pacific Exploratory Mission) – has been published by Clarke et al., 2001, with emphasis on new particle production and evolution. Quantifying the size distribution and chemical composition of aerosols is critical for estimating their impact on climate. The relatively short life-times of atmospheric aerosols and large spatial differences makes it difficult to relate the few surface-based observations to regional scales. Estimates of direct and indirect aerosol radiative effects are poorly constrained by observations, particularly in marine regions. Here, the clouds are susceptible to anthropogenic effects and the potential for indirect aerosol radiative forcing is largest. Oceans constitute one of the single largest sources of atmospheric aerosols. Estimates have shown that around 30% of the total natural aerosol flux to the atmosphere is of marine origin and in the range of 1000 to 2000 Tg per year (Prospero et al., 1983; Andreae, 1995). Marine aerosols have two main components: primary aerosols produced over the sea surface by breaking bubbles and whitecaps, and the secondary non-sea-salt (nss) aerosols produced mostly by the chemical decomposition of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and other organics produced by marine phytoplankton. Sub-micrometre aerosols form CCN in marine stratocumulus clouds (Charlson et al., 1987), influence the droplet size distribution and cloud albedo, and affect the visibility in the atmosphere over oceans (Fitzgerald, 1991). Mineral aerosols from continental and arid regions are also transported by winds to remote ocean locations and can be a source of trace minerals that support marine phytoplankton (Hoppel et al., 1990, Martino et al., 2014). The western Pacific Ocean is a large ocean area that is influenced by all sources of aerosol production and transport: wave and bubble production, secondary aerosol production (especially in the southern western Pacific, an area of rich biological activity) and longrange atmospheric transport of aerosols from Australia, Indonesia and continental Asia. However, there are few in situ aerosol data for the region. Here we explore the spatial distribution and transport using CN data collected during eight ship voyages between New Zealand and Japan and investigate likely aerosol source regions by long-range back trajectory calculations. In addition, AOD measurements were taken during daylight hours with clear sky conditions. We describe the measurement techniques specific to this study, followed by a discussion of the general meteorology through the western Pacific Ocean. The data from each of the transects are presented and detailed local meteorology is used to interpret various features of the CN data on each of the


Abstract Despite the growing interest in the study of de facto states, our understanding of the conditions under which these entities construct and change strategies to gain international recognition remains partial. The aim of this article is to answer the following questions: firstly, what strategies did the Kurdistan Region of Iraq adopt in its pursuit of international recognition? And secondly, what internal and external dynamics are responsible for changing these recognition strategies? To do so, we analyse 68 speeches, interviews and statements from former KRI President Masoud Barzani, from the public announcement of an independence referendum on 7 June 2017 to the holding of the referendum on 25 September 2017, looking into his arguments for independence and how internal and external dynamics have shaped the KRI's recognition strategies. Drawing on the case of the KRI, the article tries to provide insights into how de facto states construct their arguments for statehood.


Previous studies have reported that the peak latency of P300 in healthy adults increases with age and depends on task difficulty. We study the relations between the peak latency of P300 and task difficulty and age of subjects through three types of experiments. First experiment is a visual stimulation task with a single target stimulus and one or two non-target stimuli. Second experiment is a visual stimulation task with a single circle stimulus with variable diameter and a single non-target circle stimulus with invariable diameter. Third experiment is a visual stimulation task with a variable vertex target and non-target stimuli. The experimental results show that the relation between task difficulty and the peak latency of P300 changes with age.


The Ephorate of Palaeoanthropology and Spelaeology (EPS) is the state-run body responsible for the range of issues revolving around the legal protection, management, development and interdisciplinary study of caves in Greece (http://www.culture.gr/el/ministry/SitePages/viewyphresia.aspx?iID=1784). It is housed in the Ministry of Culture and Sports and is the sole institution taking an integrated overview of the issues surrounding caves in Greece. Its position within the cultural-heritage domain derives from caves being fully ascribed the status of ancient monuments and thus subject to the protective provisions of the archaeological law (3028/2002), alongside and independent of their status and need for protection as sustainable natural landforms. Once caves were recognized as sites requiring specialized archaeological research with distinct administrative requirements, the Ephorate of Speleology was established as a special office within the Ministry of Culture in 1976; it was comparable in status, at a later stage, to the local ephorates of antiquities, but as an entity constituted at the national rather than the district level. Its supra-regional scope was reformulated by legislation in 2014 reuniting into one institution the two components (northern and southern Greece) into which it had been separated a decade previously.


Abstract Provided that the industrial sector is digitized, it presents an opportunity to enhance the safety and quality of work for the workforce, and it should also lead to a positive social impact by reducing the gender gap and promoting equal opportunities for men and women. Gender equality does not mean sameness, but rather equal social status, rights, and obligations, as well as fair and equitable approach. Fundamentals for both prosperity and a sustainable world is established by the above-mentioned. The primary objective of the research described in this article was to examine the impact of Industry 4.0 on gender equality within industrial organizations and how gender equality is perceived by employees of industrial enterprises. The conducted questionnaire survey was focused on the application of the current state of gender equality under the conditions of Industry 4.0 in seven large industrial enterprises in Slovakia. The survey was focused on industrial enterprises. The most important findings of the conducted survey is the facts that women and men generally perceive the issue of gender equality differently, and that the majority of female respondents do not perceive the arrival of Industry 4.0 and the digitization and automation associated with it as a trend with positive impact.


German language is one of the most popular international language and still widely studied. One of the things that make the learning process of German language easier is by changing the the inflected or derived sentence into root form. Therefore this research implements the CMR stemming method that can process the conversion of the sentence. This research uses data of 30105 root words. These data will be matched with the test data of 2384 words. The results of this research proves that the accuracy level of CMR stemming algorithm is 99%. This is because the more data in the corpus, the greater level of accuracy it can gained.


This paper is intended to examine a relationship between the Principal Principle and Conditionalization. For this purpose, I will first formulate several versions of the Principal Principle and Conditionalization in Section 2. In regard to the relationship between the two norms in question, I will show in Section 3 that the Principal Principle and Conditionalization are complementary in two particular senses. The first complementarity is that we don't have to formulate every version of the Principal Principle if the credences evolves by means of Conditionalization. The second complementarity is that we don't have to require for rational agents to update overall credal state by means of Conditionalization if the agent satisfies the Principal Principle. This result can be regarded as a result that criticizes and supplements some existing works about the relationship between the norms.


APO-BMI is a chain-extended with certain diamines to provide thermosetting resins retaining the improved properties of APO-BMI resins, but having increased toughness in the cured resins.


Livelihood is all the needs and necessities that occur according to circumstances and places, such as food, clothing, shelter, assistance, and all his needs according to tradition because the law of subsistence is an obligation of a husband towards his wife and family. The Islamic Religious Council (MAIP) of Patani Region has a special working position namely Qadhi which handles matters related to family matters, in the Islamic Religious Council of Southern Patani Thailand does not have a Law or Compilation of Islamic Law (KHI) like Indonesia, but the responsible party will handle issues related to the family rights of Muslims by referring to the fiqh of Imam Shafi'i. In the case of non-fulfillment of the support of wives and children according to the religious assembly, for the Islamic religious assembly, there is no written fatwa, only a letter of agreement that can be an important asset in resolving the problem. This research uses qualitative methods, taking the background of informants, data collection is carried out using observation, interviews, and documentation. The results of this study concluded that after the marriage bond held a taklik letter (agreement) between husband and wife because it held a taklik made by the Islamic Religious Council (MAIP) so that the husband did not commit violence against his wife unfairly and followed shari'i, husbands who did not follow the taklik letter (Agreement) then the wife could complain to the Village Imam or the Islamic Religious Council (MAIP). The wife must bring two witnesses or concrete evidence, the Islamic Religious Council (MAIP) will give advice related to Islamic teachings that follow shari'a law so that peace arises between husband and wife then husband and wife may be added a taklik letter that has been determined by the Islamic Religious Council (MAIP) for the problem of not fulfilling income with the agreement between husband and wife,  and the husband does not provide for himself, hurts and does not occupy the position for more than four months the wife may be fasahk


In the post-apocalyptic construction simulation Frostpunk (2018) two modes of action are confronted with each other. On the one hand, the player-leaders' decisions concern their people. The players are, in Donna Haraway's terms, response-able for and to the survivors of a global climate collapse in a situation of co-presently "livingwith and dying-with each other" (Haraway 2016, 2). The complex interdependence of social conditions and player choices in Frostpunk thus problematises any notion of winning. What is at stake is the possibility of forming a community itself by acting precisely as that community, experienced through simultaneously sharing and leading it. The second mode of action lies in the decisions that oppose the perceived well-being of the community: The players are forced to manage an inevitable demise by constructing buildings, saving resources, and advancing technologies in view of the next drop in temperatures or the next storm that will deplete all depots and diminish hope. Departing from the modes of similar dictatorship simulations, Frostpunk reconfigures the genre's autocratic gameplay (Dor 2018, Wiemer 2008, 2012) to open new political perspectives.


In this essay, I consider some of the factors that are making it more and more difficult to expend the effort necessary to do system design. Because of changes in the economics of the field in both industry and research, we have become less able to take the time needed to do real system design, and to train the next generation of designers. Because of the intellectual property landscape, we are less able to discuss system design. The end result is that we do less good system design than we used to, at least in those environments where system design used to be most common. But there are reasons to be optimistic about the future of system design, which appears to be happening in non-traditional ways and in non-traditional venues.


The object of this research was to obtain data on the physiologic properties of nerves from normal monkeys, first, for comparison with nerves from monkeys afflicted with poliomyelitis, and second, for comparison with the nerves from other normal species, on which a considerable amount of data is being accumulated. METHODS The animals employed were adult normal Macacus rhesus from stocks supplying poliomyelitis researches. Data were obtained by photographically recording the action potentials of freshly excised nerves, employing the cathode-ray oscillograph and a four-stage resistance-coupled amplifier, the whole having a sensitivity of 200 mm. per millivolt and no appreciable inertia. The nerves were removed under light ether anesthesia and when the data were not recorded immediately were kept in iced Ringer's solution, where they would remain approximately normal for from one to three hours at least. They were placed for experimentation in a water-jacketed thermostat at 37 C., mounted on Ringer-filled


This study aims to identify the personality characteristics and sources of stress of managers working in football clubs in Istanbul and to reveal such personality characteristics which have impact on the sources of stress. In total, 75 people including 52 men and 23 women who work as trainers and managers in football clubs participated in the research. Eysenck Personality Inventory was used to identify the personality characteristics of managers and the Stress Scale (Garipoglu) to determine the sources of stress. Descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analyses were used in the data analysis. As a result of the findings obtained, it was determined that the managers are extrovert in terms of their personality characteristics and the most visible source of stress was found to be "the stress they have with their colleagues." A significant correlation was observed between the sources of stress and the personality characteristics (p<0.05). It was found that the stress levels of the sport managers are affected by their personality characteristics and sub-dimensions of pseudo personality and neuroticism have an apparent effect on the stress levels of the participating managers. It is considered that the results obtained will contribute to the methods to overcome the stress and shed light on the efforts to build the team spirit that underlies the sportive achievements.


AbstractTailwater recovery (TWR) systems are being implemented on agricultural landscapes to create an additional source of irrigation water. Existing studies have sampled TWR systems using grab sa...


Various previous works states that there is a great inter relationship exists between haemopoietic system and endocrine system. So much so the gonadal Hormones influence the general metabolism, such as electrolyte balance, water balance mineral metabolism, haemopoiesis and so on. There is evidence that the genital hormones more specifically oestrogens and progesterones undergo specific, cyclical fluctuations during menstrual cycle of females. This awaken the curiosity that how these subtle fluctuations which are within physiologic limits during menstrual cycle are going to influence certain parameters RBC count, Hb%, Reticulocyte count, serum copper, Ceruloplasmin and Calcium which are the parameters selected to peep in. The Erythropoietic Parameters such as RBC count, Hb%, Reticulocyte Count were found to be similar in all the three phases, and this can be explained as, even though Oestrogen has a suppressive action over erythropoiesis, the minimal changes in the level of oestrogen for very short duration for 14 days could not influence the erythropoietic system. The serum copper, ceruloplasmium and calcium concentrations showed a rise during follicular phase. This increase could be due to the Oestrogenic influence in follicular phase and slightly lower levels in luteal phase used to determine the levels of ceruloplasmin, among the sam- ples showed 2 to 3 times the normal value of ceruloplasmin . After taking the history of those patients, it has been determined that the majority of green plasma specimens were from donors taking oral contraceptive pill with an oestrogen component. Same high levels of ceruloplasmin found in females during preg- nancy, after Oestrogen administration and in rheumatoid arthri- tis. Oestrogen leads to marked acceleration of calcium uptake and decreases its elimination through pigeons gut . In non-pregnant women oestrogen administration results in increased parathy- roid activity . These evidences suggest possible ovarian hor - mones influence over Calcium, during different phases of men- strual cycle .


ABSTRACT This article introduces the concept of racial witnessing – i.e. defining moments where an individual experiences a strong event in which they (or someone they care deeply about) were racialized, Othered, and/or treated differently (usually negatively) because of their racial group, racial affiliation, etc. It is these moments of racial witnessing that are pivotal in the development of los conscientes. These were the more critical-minded preservice teachers who demonstrated a greater understanding regarding race and racism and the impacts it has on the educational system and human lives. This article argues that it is not a specific variable and/or experience (such as those gained in field experiences) that creates race consciousness among preservice teachers. It is the accumulation of racial witnessing events that allow for a deeper understanding of how race dictates lives.


In preparing for an aging global population, older adults' well-being has become an urgent priority across the world. Counseling psychologists have also called upon the field for more empirical attention on older adults. Yet, a review of the literature revealed that older adults were represented in less than 2% of all the articles in the Journal of Counseling Psychology (JCP) and The Counseling Psychologist (TCP) from 1991 to 2000. The current study presents a follow-up review of older adult research in counseling psychology literature between 2001 and 2015 in the following mainstream journals: Counselling Psychology Quarterly (CPQ), JCP, and TCQ. Results suggest a decline in the past 15 years, with less than 1% of the total articles in JCP, TCP, and CPQ devoted to older adults. Most of the studies employed cross-sectional survey research design to examine predictors of mental health. A number of studies focused on culture-specific experiences of diverse older adults. Implications and suggestions for future research on older adult issues are discussed in relation to the principles and interests rooted in the field of counseling psychology.


A Pulsating Heat Pipe specifically designed to be hosted on board the Heat Transfer Host of the International Space Station is tested in hyper-gravity and microgravity during Parabolic Flights. The device is realized bending an annealed aluminium tube with an inner diameter of 3 mm. The geometry is a three-dimensional closed loop with 14 turns. The external temperatures of the device are measured in the adiabatic zone with a high-speed infrared camera, recording images at 50 frames per second and with a spatial resolution of 1280x1024 pixel. The images are thereafter post-processed and utilized to extrapolate space and time-varying local heat fluxes on the tube internal surface in contact with the fluid, solving the inverse heat conduction problem in the pipe wall. It is found that the local heat flux can reach values up to 10 kW/m during the start-up of the device in weightlessness. These results point out that in this dynamic thermofluidic system, the temperature difference between the fluid and the internal tube wall is always present even in the non-cooled/heated section. Such continuous heat transfer is beneficial for the conservation of the thermally driven oscillations of the fluid. Additionally, the synchronization of the heat flux measurements with the temperature trends and the inner flow pressure provides an overview of the device thermo-fluid dynamics at different gravity levels.


In this paper, some Lp-convergences and complete convergences of the maximum of the partial sum for negatively superadditive dependent random variables are obtained. The proofs of the results are based on a new Rosenthal type inequality concerning negatively superadditive dependent random variables.


The term bandwidth refers to the data rate that a network link or a network path can transfer. Bandwidth is one of the guarantee attribute to measure the performance of the network. Measuring available bandwidth in ad hoc networks is a challenging issue in Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET). In this paper, the new technique is proposed to evaluate the accurate available bandwidth in ad hoc networks. This technique considers reducing backoff time, node's and link's capability. By these network flows, the amount of bandwidth is wasted. Estimating accurate available bandwidth allows a node to make an optimal decision before sending a packet in networks.


The a priori theory of metals is yielding energy results which are relevant to the construction of phase diagrams - to the solution phases as well as to line compounds. There is a wide range in the rigor of the calculations currently being done and this is discussed. Calculations for the structural stabilities (fcc vs bcc vs hcp) of the elemental metals, quantities which are employed in the constructs of the terminal phases, are reviewed and shown to be inconsistent with the values currently employed in such constructs (also see Miodownik elsewhere in this volume). Finally, as an example, the calculated heats of formation are compared with experiment for PtHf, IrTa and OsW, three compounds with the same electron to atom ratio but different bonding properties.


Zinc deposits are primary,whereas lead deposits are secondary in association with sulfur,cadmium and silver.Lenticular stratiform shape is a stratabound lead-zinc deposits.Metal sulfides are mainly sphalerite,galena and pyrite.Deposit forming temperature is in the low temperature and deforming temperature is from 142 ° C ~ 262 ° C after analyzing of sulphides sphalerite composition and trace element,comparing with similar deposits at home and abroad,and combining with sulfur isotope data.Its characteristics of the causes can be compared with the Mississippi Valley type deposits.


Vaginal bacterial flora have recently become the focus of intense research attention. Factors contributing to the renewed interest include the role of non-ulcerative sexually transmitted diseases and potentially other forms of vaginitis in heterosexual HIV transmission, vaginal flora of bacterial va


Rituals of the Warao Indians of the Orinoco delta of Venezuela that involve the distribution of moriche (Mauritia flexuosa) starch may contribute to the preservation of tribal or subgroup identity, but such rituals also constitute an important survival mechanism by channeling surplus food between subgroups, and by institutionalizing the storage of basic foodstuffs which are thus guarded against capricious consumption. The nahanamu festival, with the associated kanobo cult, enhances the possibility of survival for the entire population. This article examines the economic features of the nahanamu, nowara, and habi sanuka rituals, and links them to the seasonality of moriche starch and other aspects of the Warao habitat.


One of the most frequent errors made in the preparation of investment project evaluations arises out of the improper accounting for the impact of inflation on the financial and economic performance of a potential project. In this case of commercial projects it is not uncommon to find the returns to the owner of the project (either private sector, government, or public enterprise) underestimated or overestimated by 50 percent or more simply as a result of the use of incorrect procedures in accounting for expected inflation. Similarly, in economic appraisals of projects, economists usually have ignored the financing and liquidity constraints which inflation imposes on the investment and operation of projects even when the realized rate of inflation is equal to the rate anticipated.


A novel approach was developed for fast design of composite mold surface based on scattered points offsetting algorithm. This method would be quite effective in the situation a mold surface can't be modeled by offsetting operation caused by surface geometric characteristics or design defects, and need inefficient manual interactions. Therefore, an algorithm was proposed to solve surface self-intersections. And an approach was presented to produce a triangular mesh based on implicit surface representation with boundary preservation characteristics. The experimental results indicate the proposed method will be a good solution to mold surface offsetting and improve the efficiency of composite mold design.


Gross description and methods of specimen handling microscopic description and interpretation normal hapatic development and congenital fibrocystic hepatobiliary anomalies acute hepatitis chronic hepatitis hepatic injury produced by infectious agents granulomatous diseases of the liver hepatic manifestations of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome alcoholic liver injury fatty liver hyperbilirubinemia and cholestasis in adults hyperbilirubinemia and cholestatis in infancy hepatic disorders associated with liver transplantation metabolic diseases associated with hepatocellular injury and necrosis metabolic diseases with abnormal hepatic storage products hepatic pigment abnormalities hepatic vascular lesions hepatic disorders of pregnancy the liver in systemic disorders fibrosis, regenerative nodules, and cirrhosis neoplastic and other space-occupying lesions of the liver liver injury induced by drugs and other chemicals the gallbladder the bile ducts.


SUMMARY
A gas-liquid chromatographic technique for the rapid separation of organic acids as silyl derivatives is described. The procedure involves two successive analyses using different stationary phases, one of which separates citric and isocitric acids directly as silyl derivatives. This avoids the tedious conversion of isocitric acid to the lactone. The chromatographic analysis of the major acids in a plant with Crassulacean acid metabolism can be completed in under 20 min.


The study aimed to compare the effects of thoracic epidural anaesthesia (TEA) with those of the beta‐adrenoceptor blocker, metoprolol, on central haemodynamics in conscious rats with acute myocardial infarction. During methohexital anaesthesia, appropriate vascular catheters were inserted, a thoracic epidural catheter was implanted and the left coronary artery was ligated. A recovery period of 1–2 h elapsed after termination of surgery and anaesthesia. Experiments were performed on four separate groups of animals (A‐D). In Group A (n= 10) mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), and cardiac output (CO) were measured, and stroke volume (SV) and systemic vascular resistance (SVR) were calculated before and 10–15 min after the induction of TEA (bupivacaine 5 mg · ml‐1). In Group B (n=6) left ventricular end‐diastolic pressure (LVEDP) and maximal dP/dt were recorded as in Group A. In Group C (n = 10) central haemodynamics were measured 10 min after i.v. metoprolol (0.5 mg · kg‐1) and again 10–15 min after the addition of TEA. In Group D (n=6) LVEDP and max dP/dt were measured as in Group C. The reduction in CO, SV, HR and max dP/dt was of the same magnitude with TEA and metoprolol. TEA lowered MAP by 17%, while metoprolol did not change MAP. Metoprolol caused an increase in LVEDP from 20.8 ± 1.8 to 27.5 ± 2.7 mmHg (2.8 ± 0.2 to 3.7 ± 0.4 kPa) (P < 0.01), while TEA induced a decrease in LVEDP from 24.2 ± 1.4 to 17.8 ± 1.6 mmHg (3.2 ± 0.2 to 2.4 ± 0.2 kPa) (P < 0.05). SVR increased 27% with metoprolol but was not affected by TEA. Induction of TEA during maximal beta blockade did not cause any further changes in CO, HR, max dP/dt or SV. In this situation, however, MAP and SVR decreased significantly by 23% and 19%, respectively, and LVEDP decreased from 27.5 ± 2.7 to 20.2 ± 2.3 mmHg (3.7 ± 0.4 to 2.7 ± 0.3 kPa) (P < 0.01). Compared to metoprolol, TEA may have more favourable effects on central haemodynamics during acute myocardial infarction, as, in striking contrast to metoprolol, TEA decreased indices of wall tension and outflow impedance of the left ventricle.