The art of portrait "self-portrait" is a fun space that has shone with the span of time and has transcended the frameThe outer personality refers to the expression of the inner emotions that reside within the owner of the image. This is due to the sensitivity of the performance and the depth of expression. It embodies states, horizons, and features from spirit and image to formand meaning. From sadness and joy to eloquent silence, contemplation and reflection. It is ironic, fun and poetic toSmiling, nobility and dignity. It reflects astonishment, pity, and even pain, horror, and dissatisfaction. And hope and tendernessand longing. With those infinite variations and many variances. The diversity and richness of the human face of personalityThe human face is one of the sources of artistic vision that has occupied the interest of many people.


The Gibraltar arc, which closes the westernmost part of the Mediterranean basin, is a Miocene A‐type subduction arc formed by the continental collision of various pre‐Miocene terranes in the major zone of collision between the Iberian and African cratons. The hanging‐wall block, known as the Alborán domain, has undergone more than 300 km migration from a more easterly position, where it was the continuation of the Alpine Cretaceous‐Paleogene orogen. Contemporaneous with thin‐skinned thrusting in the footwall, the Alborán domain underwent two episodes of nearly orthogonal extension in which extensional systems developed with directions of extension varying from a NNW‐SSE system, orthogonal to the belt axis, in the late Burdigalian‐Langhian to a WSW directed orogen‐parallel one in the Serravallian. The superposition of these two systems resulted in a chocolate tablet megastructure. This extensional pattern is not satisfactorily explained in previously proposed models for the evolution of the arc. Orthogonal extension is plausible in a process of the gravitational collapse of an overthickened crust; nevertheless, orogen‐parallel extension is more difficult to explain in this context. We advocate that the WSW directed low‐angle normal faults formed during large‐scale extension in connection with important westward arc migration. The driving force of extension in a general context of convergence is controversial and varies between a convective removal model and a delamination model. Constraints on both the timing and the kinematics of extension, as presented in this paper, seem to support the contribution of both mechanisms. Convective removal may have started the process, but continued N‐S convergence could have resulted in westward tectonic escape and asymmetric lateral inflow of asthenospheric material accompanying lithospheric delamination.


The description on the back of the postcard reads ""Home of Angostura aromatic bitters" The residence of the governor is surrounded by the beautiful botanical gardens."


INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR GEO-INFORMATION AND EARTH OBSERVATION, ENSCHEDE, THE NETHERLANDS I Abstract Informal settlements have over time evolved informal systems of land tenure relations and management. Title registration in these settlements represents a significant departure from these systems. This study explores the behavioural and spatial changes that result from title registration using a case study from the city of Blantyre, Malawi from the point of view of two hypotheses: ??title registration in informal settlements will change behaviour in land transfer and development and increase tenure security perception and ??the behaviour after titling shall manifest itself spatially through investment and spatial development patterns. Correlation of behaviour and spatial changes was achieved by comparing behavioural data collected from ground surveys and spatial data derived from time series aerial photographs. The study has found that title registration in informal settlements has limited capacity to change behaviour. In turn, spatial changes reflect continued haphazard development. While informality still persists universally, formality is beginning to exist only marginally alongside the informal especially among those with substantial investment. The attraction of the informal system seems to stem from the social support infrastructure that is embedded in it. The study argues that in order to ensure that title registration is relevant to the needs of the community as well as land administrators and policy makers, the cultural dimension should be considered when incorporating informal tenure rights into formal registered titles. The study recommends an approach that is based on building on existing local forms of informal registration and land development management rather than trying to impose institutions modelled on imported systems. In other words policy makers should be moving away from a 'replacement paradigm' in which informal systems are legislated out towards an 'adaptation paradigm' where such systems are recognised, clarified and formalised.


The invention relates to a rotor (10) for an asynchronous machine (50), comprising a laminated core (20) and integrated an at least partially in the laminated core (20) short-circuit cage (30), wherein (i) the short-circuit cage (30) with bars (31 ) is formed with or from a first electrically conductive material, and short-circuiting rings (32-1, 32-2) with or from a second electrically conductive material, (ii) (at least one of short-circuit rings 32-1, 32-2) and in mechanical contact with this, a support ring (60-1, 60-2) is formed, (iii) a respective short-circuit ring (32-1, 32-2) and / or a respective support ring (60-1, 60-2) to form is of the mechanical contact a contour (33, 61) and (iv) a respective mechanical contact as fit formed.


A perfumed fabric softener is described which contains a fabric softening component as well as encapsulated fragrances as well as non-encapsulated fragrances. By a particular selection in particular of the encapsulated fragrances this fabric softener allows surprising odor benefits on the treated as part of a conventional washing process textiles, in particular as regards the aspects of pleasure, intensity and durability of fragrance impression. In this case, the total amount of perfume contained in the agent can even be reduced, and yet odor benefits can be achieved on the treated textiles.


A mutant library with 49,542 individual transformants of Magnaporthe grisea was established using restriction enzyme mediated integration (REMI) procedure with four plasmids, pUCATPH1, pUCATPH2, pV2, and pCB 1004. Each plasmid was used in combination with one of nine restriction endonucleases (ApaI, EcoRI, EcoRV, KpnI, HindIII, SacI, SmaI, SalI or XhoI) to transform M grisea strain P131 and Y34. The factors affecting the transformation frequency were investigated as well. Results showed that the transformation frequencies varied with the different enzymes, the different concentration of each enzyme used, and the amount of plasmid DNA in the transformation mixer. At the same concentration, among 5 enzymes tested for P131, HindIII generated the highest amount of transformants, while SalI generated the lowest. Highest amount of P131 transformants obtained when enzyme concentration used is 100, 150, 100, 50 and 50 units per ml of tansformation mixture for KpnI, HindIII, SacI, SmaI and SalI, respectively. Meanwhile, with the increase of amount of plasmid DNA in the transformation mixture, the transformation frequency increased, but the number of tranformants generated per μg of plasmid DNA decreased. The amount of plasmid DNA used also affected the integration nature of plasmid DNA on the fungal DNA and its effect appeared to vary with the enzyme used. Southern blot analysis of 102 randomly selected transformants suggested that the obtained mutant library contained diversiform of gene mutation; 72% of them had single-locus insertion and 49% of them had single-locus, single-copy insertion. Results also revealed that frequency of REMI events varied among transformants generated by different enzymes. Among four enzymes tested, KpnI yielded the highest level of REMI events, whereas HindIII yielded the lowest. Among 26,649 transformants of P131, 16,660 transformants, which mediated by different enzymes were screened for phenotypic mutation. In total, 60 morphological mutants were found, which included 2 whitish, 1 yellowish, 22 slow growing, 17 sporulation-defect mutants, and 18 mutants with elongated or chubby spores. Pathogenicity test of these transformants on four rice cultivars revealed 31 pathogenicity defects, and 2 cultivar specificity mutants. Therefore, the established mutant library provides us with a large number of tagged, diversiform mutants, from which interested genes can be isolated and their function can be studied.


In order to provide reference for resource protection,rational development and utilization of Tibetan Mastiff,70 samples from Tibet and Gansu were studied.Genetic structure and phylogenetic evolution analysis were explored using sequencing method and bioinformatics softwares,based on mitochondrial Cytb gene.A total of 6haplotypes were detected and 8polymorphic loci accounting for 0.7% of the analyzed sites were found.The two populations had similar genetic diversity,the haplotype diversity(Hd),nucleotide diversity(Pi),the average number of nucleotide difference(K)of them were 0.595,0.002 37,2.703 and 0.674,0.002 51,2.857,respectively.The gene flow between the two populations was strong and variation mainly was from within populations.Infered from the haplotype network and phylogenetic tree,Tibetan Mastiff had single maternal origin which evolved into 3branches.


BACKGROUND
Effectiveness of uncontrolled donation after circulatory death (uDCD) has been recently reported to be 75% according to data coming from some European countries in 2016, but few data are to date available on this topic.

METHODS
We assessed the utilization rate (as the percentage of donors who were converted into actual donors) in 37 uDCDs consecutively enrolled at our Center (Careggi Teaching Hospital) from June 2016 to June 2019.

RESULTS
In three cases the family did not give consent for donation (3/37, 8.1%). Among the 37 potential uDCDs, 22 became actual donors (22/37, 59%), with 10 livers and 38 kidneys being transplanted, respectively. Fifteen livers were recovered (15/37, 68%) and 10 livers were transplanted (10/15, 67%). Forty-two kidneys were procured and 38 organs transplanted. The overall effectiveness was 78%.

CONCLUSIONS
According to our three-year experience, uncontrolled DCDs do represent an additional system able to increase the number of transplanted organs (kidneys and livers) with an acceptable utilization rate. Reaserch on organ viability assessment (for both livers and kidneys from uDCDs) is still in its infancy and there is probably space for a further wider use of organs from uDCDs.


The FAD-dependent choline oxidase has a flavin cofactor covalently attached to the protein via histidine 99 through an 8α-N(3)-histidyl linkage. The enzyme catalyzes the four-electron oxidation of choline to glycine betaine, forming betaine aldehyde as an enzyme-bound intermediate. The variant form of choline oxidase in which the histidine residue has been replaced with asparagine was used to investigate the contribution of the 8α-N(3)-histidyl linkage of FAD to the protein toward the reaction catalyzed by the enzyme. Decreases of 10-fold and 30-fold in the kcat/Km and kcat values were observed as compared with wild-type choline oxidase at pH 10 and 25 °C, with no significant effect on kcat/KO using choline as substrate. Both the kcat/Km and kcat values increased with increasing pH to limiting values at high pH consistent with the participation of an unprotonated group in the reductive half-reaction and the overall turnover of the enzyme. The pH independence of both D(kcat/Km) and Dkcat, with average values of 9.2 ± 3.3 and 7.4 ± 0.5, respectively, is consistent with absence of external forward and reverse commitments to catalysis, and the chemical step of CH bond cleavage being rate-limiting for both the reductive half-reaction and the overall enzyme turnover. The temperature dependence of the Dkred values suggests disruption of the preorganization in the asparagine variant enzyme. Altogether, the data presented in this study are consistent with the FAD-histidyl covalent linkage being important for the optimal positioning of the hydride ion donor and acceptor in the tunneling reaction catalyzed by choline oxidase.


The utility model discloses an automatic cop pulling device of a ring spinning frame, and relates to an automatic doffing-cop pulling device of the ring spinning frame, in particular to an automatic cop pulling device for separating cops from spindles and collecting the cops. The automatic cop pulling device comprises a pneumatic manipulator (7), a horizontal movement component (1), a lifting component (5), a cop cutting component (9) and a cop collecting device. According to the automatic cop pulling device, the cops are pulled up and put down through vertical one-dimension motion of a lifting air cylinder and clamping and loosening of the pneumatic manipulator and can be prevented from being damaged in the cop pulling process, and radial force on the spindles is avoided. The automatic cop pulling device has the advantages of lowering the labor intensity of workers, decreasing the number of the workers and improving the working efficiency and the doffing quality.


Although research is prolific with the influence of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on firm performance, little attention is accorded to the primary driver for this influence. Drawing upon entrepr...


A simple and highly sensitive electrochemiluminescent immunosensor based on nanocomposite architecture of the one-pot synthesized carbon nanodots and Nafion composite film was proposed for the detection of α-fetoprotein.


The Jews were the first in the field; and the earliest Western legends which made their way to the East are taken from the Old Testament. Josephus has told us that the Semites were settled on the Kabul River by the first century a.d.; they may have been there still earlier; and there is an ancient tradition that Jews penetrated about this time into China—a thing not improbable in itself, if it could be authenticated. Now in the year a.d. 75 a Chinese general (Keng) Kong was besieged by the Hiungnu somewhere in the neighbourhood of Kashgar. The Hiungnu cut off the water supply; and the Chinese dug a well 150 feet deep, but found no water. They were reduced to the last extremities by thirst. Kong, lifting up his eyes to Heaven, cried: "I have heard that in olden time the Erh-Shih general drew his sword, and pierced the rock, and straightway a rushing stream gushed out." Thereupon Kong put on his garments of state, and prostrating himself beside the waterless well, prayed for the army and for himself. Presently the well brimmed over with water.


Technical Debt (TD) is a metaphor referring to immature software artifacts that can hurt the long-term maintenance of a system. Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) is a model-centric software development approach, which promises better maintainability. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence on the existence and influence of TD in the context of MDE. This paper investigates the code-level TD in MDE projects, which is incurred during code generation. We evaluated 16 open-source and non-trivial GMF/EMF-based MDE projects using bad smells, which are widely-accepted TD indicators. The results demonstrate that MDE is not TD-free, and code generators also incur TD, similarly to developers. In fact, the generated code usually contains more TD than handwritten code, which influences significantly the maintenance of MDE projects.


A new figuring station was designed and installed at the ESRF beamline BM05. It allows the figuring of mirrors within an iterative process combining the advantage of online metrology with dry etching. The complete process takes place under a vacuum environment to minimize surface contamination while non-contact surfacing tools open up the possibility of performing at-wavelength metrology and eliminating placement errors. The aim is to produce mirrors whose slopes do not deviate from the stigmatic profile by more than 0.1 µrad rms while keeping surface roughness in the acceptable limit of 0.1-0.2 nm rms. The desired elliptical mirror surface shape can be achieved in a few iterations in about a one day time span. This paper describes some of the important aspects of the process regarding both the online metrology and the etching process.


Triple therapy with a PPI, clarithromycin and amoxicillin for 2 weeks was compared with the potassiumcompetitive acid blocker (PCAB) vonoprazan for 1 week as recently reported by Ang et al.1 This PPIbased triple therapy is no longer standard treatment in Europe or the United States and is not recommended firstline in areas with >15% clarithromycin resistance,2,3 such as the United States and most European countries.4 However, many gastroenterologists and primary care physicians from these regions still commonly prescribe PPIbased triple therapy.5,6 In the study,1 the intentiontotreat (ITT) eradication rate with vonoprazan was 87.4%, not reaching the recommended target of ≥90% for firstline treatment. The noninferiority of vonoprazanbased triple therapy was confirmed, but this does not mean that these regimens are 'recommendable' or 'acceptable', only 'equivalent'. The prevalence of clarithromycin resistance was 17%,1 which is above the 15% threshold.4 Therefore, results obtained in this study cannot be extrapolated to other high clarithromycin resistance regions. ITT eradication rates for vonoprazan versus PPIbased triple therapy in clarithromycinresistant infections were 71.4% and 76.5%, respectively, emphasising that both regimens would be suboptimal if used in high clarithromycin resistance regions. Moreover, these results contrast with a recent metaanalysis where, among patients with clarithromycinresistant strains, vonoprazanbased triple therapy was significantly superior to PPIbased triple therapy (79% vs. 46%).7 In contrast, no significant difference was shown in patients with clarithromycinsusceptible strains when comparing vonoprazan and PPIbased triple therapy (93% vs. 90%).7 In the study by Ang et al,1 the PPIbased triple therapy prescribed was omeprazole or rabeprazole 20 mg b.d., although it is well known that high(double) dose PPI (e.g., omeprazole 40 mg b.d.) is more effective.8 Consensus guidelines recommend double dose PPIs be given b.d.3 Thus, standard dose treatment may be an unfair comparator as control. This highlights the fact that the optimal degree of acid suppression for Helicobacter pylori eradication has never been evaluated systematically during the PPI era nor, to date, during development of the PCABs. However, studies confirm that strong, longlasting acid inhibition, especially at night, is critical for H. pylori eradication.9 The promising initial results with vonoprazanbased dual therapy10 build on these objectives and offer enhanced compliance, low amoxicillin resistance rates, avoidance of clarithromycin, and infrequent adverse events. Nevertheless, appropriately designed trials driven by precision pharmacology are needed to determine the optimal degree of control of acid suppression. In summary, vonoprazanbased triple therapy with amoxicillin and clarithromycin promises a treatment alternative, but with two relevant limitations. First, if vonoprazanbased triple therapy is prescribed empirically without knowledge of H. pylori antibiotic susceptibility in regions with intermediatetohigh clarithromycin resistance, results will be suboptimal (<90%). Second, if H. pylori susceptibility testing is performed, as is recommended based on principles of antibiotic stewardship, and clarithromycin resistance is present, vonoprazanbased triple therapy would not be a good option. In clarithromycinsusceptible infections, highdose PPIbased is probably equivalent to, and cheaper than, vonoprazanbased triple therapy. The challenge is to define and optimise the dose of PCABbased dual therapy without delay.


The results leave little doubt that carefully selected overburden materials can be used to form productive topsoil substitutes in Applachian region. As long as potentially acid-forming materials are eliminated from consideration, carefully selected, graded and amended overburden materials can serve as topsoil substitute materials over and beyond the 5-year bond period. In the absence of organic amendments, the establishment and maintenance of a vigorous legume component in the forage stand is crucial.


The Internet's interdomain routing protocol, BGP, is vulnerable to a number of potentially crippling attacks. Many promising cryptography-based solutions have been proposed, but none have been embraced by the necessary communities to garner significant adoption. This is largely due to the difficulty of developing and maintaining the necessary PKI infrastructure and changes to the BGP protocol that the proposed solutions require. Alternative solutions such as anomaly detectors have been unable to provide the same level of security as the cryptographic mechanisms. In this paper we create an anomaly detector and response mechanism capable of automatically stopping the propagation of invalid path attacks, a difficult class of attacks to detect. Our solution provides comparable security to the cryptographic methods and could be readily deployed with a simple software upgrade in participating networks.


We report accurate ab initio studies of the geometries, electric dipole moments and dipole polarizabilities of azulene, fulvalene and naphthalene at both the Hartree Fock and density functional levels of theory. The molecular geometry was optimized in each case at the HF/6-311G(3d,2p) level of theory, and polarizabilities were then calculated at the same geometry but with the addition of diffuse Gaussian primitives. The BLYP density functional formulation was used for the density functional calculations. We also report semi-empirical (AM1, MNDO and PM3) electric dipole and dipole polarizability calculations for comparison; in each case the geometry was optimized before the properties were calculated. The semi-empirical polarizabilities give poor agreement with the ab initio values for the component of the tensor perpendicular to the molecular plane. The calculated mean polarizabilities of the title molecules, together with benzene and fulvene, have been decomposed into contributions from atoms and from groups of atoms. 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Abstract This paper employs mixed methods combining in-depth, semi-structured interviews with quantitative data of paired house sales, administrative data and institutional analysis to investigate the impacts of leaky building syndrome and its potential stigmatising effects on older homeowners in New Zealand. Older homeowners are particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of a leaky home. Adverse impacts were identified on the use value and financial value of older people's homes, retirement planning, physical and mental health, relationships and social connections. Some face an uncertain housing future and their ability to downsize is compromised. Complex and confusing information and processes around dispute resolution and remediation do not support a positive outcome. This exploratory study raises issues for further research, both in relation to older homeowners and ongoing challenges in addressing weathertightness problems due to non-remediation and remediation failure. This paper is the first to report research on older leaky homeowners' experiences, issues and impacts. The focus is unique in that it covers not only the experience of owning a leaky home, but also the implications of leaky home stigma for older people's ability to optimise their housing choices.


Leiomyosarcoma of the breast is rarely encountered in fine‐needle aspiration (FNA) cytologic material. We report a case of primary leiomyosarcoma of the breast in a 52‐yr‐old female. Aspiration cytology showed large, dissociated round to spindle cells with abundant vacuolated cytoplasm, pleomorphic nuclei, prominent nucleoli, and occasional intranuclear cytoplasmic invaginations. Mitotic figures, osteoclast‐like giant cells, and stromal fragments were identified. A diagnosis of malignant neoplasm representing either a sarcoma, a poorly differentiated carcinoma, or a metaplastic carcinoma was made. The patient underwent a wide excision of the lesion after negative work‐up. Histologic examination and immunohistochemical studies established the diagnosis of leiomyosarcoma. This case is presented here because we feel that, although FNA cytology with eventual ancillary studies is a valuable diagnostic tool to evaluate any breast mass, malignant spindle cell neoplasms of the breast still represent a diagnostic challenge for the cytopathologist. Recognition of all cytologic features of leiomyosarcoma may help to formulate a correct diagnosis. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2003;29:172–178. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Hadron production is investigated in proton-proton (pp) collisions at \surds = 7 TeV LHC energy - especially outside the cones of identified jets. We improved the original CDF definition of underlying event and introduce surrounding rings/belts (SB) around the cone of identified jets. We compare the characteristics of hadron production using the original CDF-based and the new SB-based via analysing PYTHIA generated fluxes of these hadrons within the geometrical regions of pp collisions.


Summary A panel of lectins was used to study surface carbohydrate expression on myeloma cells with the aim of finding a possible agent for in vitro bone marrow purging. Peanut agglutinin (PNA, galactose β1,3 n‐acetylgalactosamine‐binding) bound to all plasma cells in 33/34 bone marrow samples from myeloma patients and to all plasma cells in 11 bone marrows from patients with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance and 10 normal bone marrow samples. Bone marrow and peripheral blood monocytes reacted weakly with PNA except in one case of acute monoblastic leukaemia and two of chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia in which monocytes were strongly positive. The only case of plasma cell leukaemia studied was PNA negative. All other bone marrow mononuclear cells were negative for PNA but became positive after sialidase treatment. Peanut agglutinin may have potential as an agent to be used in myeloma for in vitro marrow purging prior to autologous transplantation in combination with high dose chemotherapy.


Summary Of the N-acyl derivatives of sodium sarcosine studied, sodium N-lauroyl sarcosinate produced the least effect and sodium N-palmitoyl sarcosinate produced the greatest effect in reducing the acid solubility of powdered human enamel. Aqueous solutions of 1%, 0.5%, 0.1% and 0.01% of sodium N-palmitoyl sarcosinate have been shown to reduce the solubility of powdered human enamel to a degree comparable to that observed with sodium fluoride solutions. These observations may be of importance in the prevention of dental caries.


Objective: To study the relationship between the serum levels of IL-10、IL-12 and HCV-RNA load in chronic hepatitis C genotypeI b Patients,to investigate the mechanism of difficult-to-treat HCV patients.Methods: 48 cases chronic hepatitis C genotype I b patients were divided into 3 groups,low virus load group:15 cases(1.0*103IU/mlHCV-RNA≤1.0*104IU/ml),medium virus load group: 20 cases(1.0*104IU/mlHCV-RNA≤1.0*106IU/ml),high virus load group: 13 cases(HCV-RNA1.0*106IU/ml);15 cases serum HCV-RNA-negative patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection and 15 cases healthy blood donors as control groups.Serum IL-10 and IL-12 levels were determined by ELISA method in all cases.Results: The level of IL-10 in serum of patients with chronic hepatitis C was significant higher than that in control groups(P=0.003),and the level of IL-12 was just significant lower than healthy blood donors group(P=0.045);the level of IL-10 was stepped up with the increase of HCV-RNA load,it was different significantly among 5 groups(F=18.65,P=0.000);Between the level of IL-10 and the HCV-RNA load are positive correlation,the level of IL-12 and the HCV-RNA load are noncorrelation.Conclusion: Cell immunity of chronic hepatitis C genotype I b patients tend to TH2 type;there is a positive correlation between the level of IL-10 and the HCV-RNA load.


The goal of this graduation theses is implementation the internal control system in Napajedla's kindergarten. In the first part you can find background research of theoretic source in financal control, internal control system and by-laws sphere. The practical part include the analysis of control system in the kindergarten above mentioned. Farther the material proceed to management analysis. My concept is based on these analyses and propose a motion of the internal control system and by-laws according to actual legislat


Since September 1998, Kochi prefecture has been designated as one of the proposed sites for inspection of ITS MODEL. Kochi prefectural police headquarters, as a part of lTS nuclei, has taken the next year's policy into account for the preparation of the inspection. Furthermore, the construction project of the universal traffic control centre (UTCC) has been produced, which may allow ITS advancement in Kochi for future application and be used as a fundamental base of the universal traffic management system, along with the construction of prefectural police central office building. This paper describes the following two issues: one is the progress status on the ITS inspection preparation, and other is an overview of the project on construction of the UTCC.


Objective To study the prevention of bile duct injury and cystic artery hemorrhage in laparoscope cholecystectomy. MethodsThe clinical data and operating methods of 635 patients undergone laparoscope cholecystectomy were analysed retrospectively. Results Among 635 cases, 4 cases was converted to laparotomy, cystic artery or posterior branch of cystic artery hemorrhage in 16 cases and they were all been controlled successfully during laparoscope cholecystectomy, one case had common hepatic duct injury who was undergone laparotomy the next day. ConclusionsObey the rules of operation strictly and properly deal with cystic artery hemorrhage are the key to prevent bile duct injury and cystic artery hemorrhage.


PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a light emitting device with improved light distribution characteristics.SOLUTION: A light emitting device (an LED module 10) includes: a substrate 110; a first light emitting part 120 which is provided on the substrate 10 and emits light; and a second light emitting part 130 which is provided on the substrate 110 and emits light having a light color different from that of the first light emitting part 121. The first light emitting part 120 and the second light emitting part 130 are arranged along a periphery of the substrate 110.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3


The subtitle of the book, "The Divided Land," epitomizes the fundamental thesis of the author. The divisions which he observes in the Argentine national fabric are those attributable to geographical isolation, the concentration of natural resources and population in the littoral, the economic stagnation of the interior provinces and the increasing wealth and modernization of the littoral, the antipathy between landowners and the proletariat and an industry-based bourgeoisie, the social psychology of the people, class conflicts, the clash of conflicting political and economic ideologies, and irreconcilable tendencies in foreign policy. These divisive factors are not altogether unknown, but McGann brings them into sharper focus and shows their relevancy for understanding the period that primarily concerns him, the post-1930 decades. The present political and economic crisis, he strongly feels, "is the product of structural, that is, historically shaped deficiencies and imbalances that have been brought to the breaking point at this juncture of Argentine history."


The Aromatic and Medicinal Plants sector has undergone a remarkable evolution, especially during the last decade. The global market is moving more and more towards products of natural origin. Indeed, of the 4200-existing plant in Morocco, 800 are listed as aromatic and medicinal plants. Among these plants, saffron is a source of income for many areas of Morocco. Saffron, the dried stigma of the Crocus sativus flower, is considered among the main terroir products of Morocco. Saffron has accompanied all civilizations, whether for its culinary role, for its quality of dye or its ancestral virtues rooted in folk medicine. This review highlights the main components of saffron, and the pharmacological activities that result from it and make this product a serious therapeutic hope. Then, a classification of uses of saffron was carried out according to its uses, traditional, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and perfumery without forgetting its use a spice incorporated in many dishes around the world.


Devising a unique data set we analyze corporate changes and enterprise performance during CEO successions in family firms. High human capital successors implement more changes when compared to low human capital successors. In addition, an enterprise external origin of the successor and a male gender are positively linked to the amount of changes. Furthermore, the amount of observed changes is subject to the economic contingency and is highest in CEO successions in turnaround situations. We find that the sum of managerial actions is positively related to enterprise performance. Our interpretation is that improvement potentials accumulated in pre-succession periods due to stale-in-the-saddle effects and the icarus paradox. In particular reviews of existing supplier relations, the product portfolio, and the compensation scheme were found to be significantly positively related to enhanced performance. (JEL: G30, G34, L25, L26, M10)


A novel photochemical approach for NADH regeneration, which employs visible light as a light source, carbon-containing TiO2, and [Cp*Rh(bpy)(H2O)]2+ as a catalyst, has been developed here. The carb...


Summary This paper presents a routing scheme for wireless sensor networks. We use an aggregation tree for sending the data from the sensor node to the base station. For an energy efficient operation of the sensor network in a distributed manner, an aggregation tree is built in order to minimize the total energy required to send data from the individual sensor nodes to the base station. An aggregation tree is a data gathering tree where the base station is the root and each sensor node is either a relaying or a leaf node of the tree. Through simulation, we found that the routing scheme that uses aggregation trees shows longer-lived characteristics when compared with other routing schemes.


A locking device for a window is provided to lock by pushing a stopper when front and rear windows are closed. A locking device for a window comprises a fixed member(2) attached to a rear window sash and a locking member(4) attached to a front window sash. The fixed member includes a body(22), a locking rod(24), a knob(26), a stopper(27), and a holding pin(28). The body includes flanges at two ends, a groove at the center, and a support plate fixed to the top of the groove. The locking rod is inserted into the groove of the body. The knob, which is integrated with the locking rod, moves back and forth. The stopper is hinged at the knob to fix the locking rod.


Infromacna technologia a informacný system v reinžinieringu Author describes using information technology and information technology (IS/IT) in the reengineering process in this paper. Only companies able to react to the real-world impulses of the volatile environment in the global market and where management will be able to manage the company at the same time can become successful. Process management supported by well design IS/IT is the tool that is able to help in such conditions where it is impossible to reach the necessary improvement within the existing process conditions. The modern IS/IT is the part of every reengineering effort.


Deep learning has been successfully applied to many tasks such as image classification, feature learning, Text classification (sentiments analysis or opinion mining) etc. However, little research has focused on extracting polarity of sentiments expressed in text using a multimodal architecture. In other words, no researches take in consideration the multimodal nature of human behaviors before classifying sentiments. The representation of a person (also call User Modeling in some domains such as Intelligent Tutoring Systems) is an important feature to take in consideration if one wants to extract subjective information such as the polarity of sentiments expressed by the person. To design an effective representation of a user, it is important to consider all sources of data informing about its current state. We present a usersensitive deep multimodal architecture which takes advantage of deep learning and user data to extract a rich latent representation of a user. This rich latent representation mainly helps in text classification tasks. The architecture consists of the combination of a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), LSTM-Auto-Encoder, Convolutional Neural Networks and multiple Deep Neural Networks, in order to support the multimodality of data. The resulting model has been tested on a public multimodal dataset and is able to achieve best results compared to state-of-the-art algorithms for a similar task: detection of opinion polarity. The results suggest that the latent representation learnt from multimodal data helps in the discrimination of polarity of opinion.


Aerodynamics study using computational fluid dynamics is very famous among the engineers and scientists, because it not only reduces the cost of the entire project but also saves a lot more time. The results of the CFD simulations needed to validate through experiments. So, we can say that CFD simulation studies reduce the no. Of experiments taken, if it cannot eliminate. In this research paper, we made four different aerodynamics missiles shapes CAD models in solid works by using underlying principles, mathematical equations of different curves and engineering judgement, one of them is a missile of standard basic shape. We have analysed and compared them with basic shape of missile. Here, in this study, Volume is taken a constant parameter. Drag Coefficient is the main parameter which is evaluated and studied at different Mach no's and at a constant angle of attack. Reasons behind the magnificent drop in drag coefficient explained in discussion section.


Noise can improve the signal-to-noise ratio of many nonlinear dynamical systems. This ''stochastic resonance" (SR) effect occurs in a wide range of physical and biological systems, and also occurs in engineering systems in signal processing, communications, and control. Most SR studies assume the signal and noise properties are known. To overcome this limitation, we give a type of adaptive stochastic resonance. This paper present a novel approach for investigating the relationships among the parameters of a bistable SR system, based on the characteristics of digital simulations. Using this approach, we can obtain the system's responses with varying parameters and these responses are consistent with experimental results. As a direct application, a system can be moved into the SR condition by conveniently changing its structural parameters, even when it is forced by an unknown periodic signal embedded in a white Gaussian noise with unknown statistical properties.


Review(s) of: Len Castle, Potter, Published by Ron Sang Publications. Available from the publisher at firstname.lastname@example.com, ISBN 0473087103, 250 pages, NZ $120.


With great interests, I carefully read the article by Valli De Re et al. in a recent issue of Liver International.1 The authors conducted a cohort study assessing the associations of polymorphisms of IFNL4 and PDCD1 genes on 734 hepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive patients, including 461 cases with liver disease of varying severity and 273 patients with lymphoproliferative disorders. The author indicated that IFNλ4 expression might contribute to the development of HCV-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and an epistatic contribution of IFNL4 and PDCD1 in mixed cryoglobulinemia (MC). However, some concerns should be interpreted cautiously in light of the following issues.


The current interest in assertiveness and assertive training in America has not been paralleled by research in Britain or Europe, where assertiveness has been considered within the wider context of social skills. In this study five widely used self-report assertiveness inventories, all derived in America, were administered to 200 British adult males and females, none of whom were undergraduate students. Of the six scores derived from the five scales, all showed significant male-female differences, with men reporting more assertiveness than females on five of the six, and females greater assertion on the sixth. These results confirm some previous findings of sex differences, but are inconsistent with other studies in the area. The results are discussed in terms of the different aspects of assertiveness measured by the scales, and the social and cultural differences in the measurement and manifestation of assertion.


For the understanding of the strong nuclear force, the study of interaction between mesons and nuclei is important. In case of long lived charged mesons, like π and K, secondary beams can be used for experiments. But the situation is different for the short lived neutral mesons, like π0, η and η'. The only access is indirect, making use of final-state interaction (FSI). The mesons are produced with some initial reaction in the nucleus and then their interaction with the same nucleus is studied. It is much discussed whether it is possible to form, via the strong interaction, quasi-bound states of mesons and nuclei, which would be the ideal tool for such studies. We will present preliminary results from the Crystal Ball/TAPS experiment at the Mainz MAMI accelerator for double neutral meson photoproduction, showing interesting potential to study meson nucleon interaction and discuss their relevance. The very first attempt has been made to measure the quasi-free behavior of the photoproduction of ηπ0 mesons from the 2H.


The article reflects the results of many years' researches, begun in 1972, of structural, hydrodynamic, thermophysical and mechanical properties of metal felt capillary structures (MFCSs) of heat pipes (HPs). These structures were made from the discrete sintered fibres with length 0.002-0.01 m by a diameter from 20 μm to 70 μm of a copper, stainless steel, or nickel. They were intended for HPs with shells of a copper, stainless steel, nickel, titan, nickel silver, ceramics and heat carriers: nitrogen, ammonia, water, ethanol, methanol, acetone, sodium and others. HPs worked in the range of temperatures from a cryogenic level (- 190 оС) to high temperatures (+ 800 оС). Analytical and experimental researches are executed by authors from the National Technical University of Ukraine "Kyiv Polytechnic Institute" (Kyiv, Ukraine) under the leadership of Dr., Prof. Semena M. On the basis of the conducted researches the functional dependences are obtained for implementation into engineering calculations of heat transfer characteristics of HPs. The proposed methods of the rational HP design with the use of MFCSs and elaborated technology of their fabrication allowed to create and implement into practice a variety of heat pipes and systems on their basis for different fields of application


The energy efficiency is increased and the device reprocessing methods using environmentally friendly waste fluorescent lamp, and this is disclosed. First, heating the crushed fluorescent light at a temperature of less than 100 ℃ 330 ℃ generates a gas containing a mercury vapor. The Subsequently, cooling the gas containing the mercury vapor at a temperature of -38 to 0 ℃ ℃ produces a liquid mercury. Finally, collect the resulting liquid mercury. Therefore, heating the crushed fluorescent light at a temperature lower than the boiling point of mercury, and energy saving and the equipment is lighter and reduces the failure.


CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO FLUID POWER CHAPTER 2 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF HYDRAULIC FLUIDS CHAPTER 3 ENERGY AND POWER IN HYDRAULIC SYSTEMS CHAPTER 4 FRICTIONAL LOSSES IN HYDRAULIC PIPELINES CHAPTER 5 HYDRAULIC PUMPS CHAPTER 6 HYDRAULIC CYLINDERS AND CUSHIOING DEVICES CHAPTER 7 HYDRAULIC MOTORS CHAPTER 8 HYDRAULIC VALVES CHAPTER 9 HYDRAULIC CIRCUIT DESIGN AND ANALYSIS CHAPTER 10 HYDRAULIC CONDUCTORS AND FITTINGS CHAPTER 11 ANCILLARY HYDRAULIC DEVICES CHAPTER 12 MAINTENANCE OF HYDRAULIC SYSTEMS CHAPTER 13 PNEUMATICS: AIR PREPARATION AND COMPONENTS CHAPTER 14 PNEUMATICS: CIRCUITS AND APPLICATIONS CHAPTER 15 BASIC ELECTRICAL CONTROLS FOR FLUID POWER CIRCUITS CHAPTER 16 FLUID LOGIC CONTROL SYSTEMS CHAPTER 17 ADVANCED ELECTRICAL CONTROLS FOR FLUID POWER SYSTEMS CHAPTER 18 AUTOMATION STUDIOTM COMPUTER SOFTWARE


Week utilization of research results for economic and social development in society as well as the competitiveness of technological products produced by universities encourage the need for factor analysis in optimizing research results that can bridge the solution to this problem. This research uses quantitative descriptive methods to identify and analyze factors that are considered variables to obtain an effective research process so that it can be utilized by users in the form of downstream research results. The results of the field study show several factors that influence the mechanism, including the importance of having a research road map that links and matches not only from a scientific perspective but also with industry through technology and market readiness. Scientific interdisciplinary collaboration and the role of intermediation and incubation are needed for its optimization supported by appropriate regulations. Potential research must be strengthened into research that produces high-value-added products, both economically and socially, capable of transforming into products that have competitive and comparative advantages and provide solutions for users.


Abstract The analysis of X-ray reflections allows for the determination of the grain dimension in the direction of the bisector of the incident and scattered radiation. It is shown that correct results will be obtained only as long as the grain dimensions perpendicular to this direction are sufficiently large. The possible errors are estimated. The conditions for the determination of the shape anisotropy are discussed.


in some vegetable tonic infusion, and if that does not control the attacks he rapidly increases the dose tilt he has found the quantity which will suit the individual case. Where there is any warning of the attack directs the patient to take 30 grains at once, and to repeat it every hour if required. Diet, however, is of much importance, and it is well that the patients should be restricted to fish and vegetables; although, when the attacks diminish in number, the more easily digested meats may be allowed twice or three times & the week.


This study examines the moderating impact of educational qualifications and duration of marriage on the relationship between emotional expression, financial management, communication flow, work involvement and marital adjustment. Three research questions were raised and two hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The sample size of 2651 was used for the study. A valid 60 item questionnaire titled Marital Adjustment and Personality Types inventory with reliability of 0.90 was also used for this study. The results reveal that educational qualification, duration of marriage does not moderate the relationship between emotional expression, financial management, communication flow, work involvement and marital adjustment among the respondents. The implications of the findings were addressed. Introduction Marriage is a lifelong interpersonal relationship between man and woman as husband and wife, governed by legal, customary and religious principles (Ebenuwa-Okoh, 2009). Adegoke & Esere (1999) and Esere (2000) opined that marriage is a social institution which fosters the coming together of two totally different individuals with different personality traits, psychological make-up and often different socio-economic background to form a family. At the point of marriage comes a period of adjustment to each other. This involves some compromise by both parties for the survival of the relationship. Marital adjustment, therefore, is defined as a situation where partners are said to be happy with each other in the relationship. It is a complex concept which is dependent on many variables. Oftentimes, partners, in the course of the relationship, do not experience the marital bliss that they expect before entering into the relationship. This is the probable reason newspaper reports as well as researchers such as Okorodudu & Ebenuwa-Okoh (2003) and Ebenuwa-Okoh (2007) say that the rate at which marital relationship is laced with pains, conflict and emotional confusion in recent times has increased dramatically. This has made the values of the marriage institution to diminish, its beauty to fade and its glory to wane. However, there is a paucity of literature on the various sources of conflicts within the family setting. Consensus and expression of affection are being undermined and this has caused stress on the physiological make-up of the couples. This leads to external and internal crisis. When this happens, love, which is the bedrock of marriage, collapses. The resultant effects are that communication breaks down, sex-life becomes unsatisfactory, nothing holds The Nigerian Journal of Research and Production Volume 16 No 2, April, 2010 2 together any longer and mistrust sets in. Even educational qualifications and experiences gathered over the years become problematic. Education could be defined as a body of knowledge acquired either in a formal or non-formal setting. This body of knowledge is pivotal to total development of the individual's personality, which also includes the person's (learner's) interactive potentials with other individuals. Thus, making him to be better adjusted to the realities of life such as in marital relationship. Ofeogbu (1998) and Popoola (1997) reported that educational qualifications are predictors of marital adjustment. They emphasized that they help to improve on all spheres of the individual's life, marriage inclusive. The importance of education in one's life cannot be underplayed. Its necessity has made it imperative for it to be an issue of investigation. Duration of marriage may have some impact on marital adjustment. It is the number of years spent in marital relationship. Ofeoghu (1998), in his study on the effects of duration of marriage on marital adjustment, revealed that the longer the number of years in marriage, the better adjusted the couples. This finding further confirms the popular adage that "experience is the best teacher". This phenomenon has not been adequately researched into in our cultural setting. Against these background, this study is set to investigate how such experiential variables such as educational qualifications of the spouses and experiences gathered over the years in marriage can moderate the relationship between spouses' emotional expression, financial management, communication flow, work involvement and marital adjustment. Arising from the statement of the problem, this study will answer and test the following research questions and hypotheses respectively. Research Questions 1. What is the nature of correlation between emotional expression, financial management, communication flow, work involvement, duration of marriage, educational qualification and marital adjustment? 2. Does educational qualification moderate the relationship between emotional expression, financial management, communication flow, work involvement and marital adjustment? 3. Does duration of marriage moderate the relationship between emotional expression, financial management, communication flow, work involvement and marital adjustment? Research Hypotheses Ho1: Educational qualification does not significantly moderate the relationship between emotional expression, financial management, communication flow, work involvement and marital adjustment. E.E. Ebenuwa-Okoh (Ph.D)


Subprime lending serves those with relatively high credit risk and therefore entails higher borrowing costs. This market has grown tremendously over the past decade, although with substantial variation in growth rates across the central cities of metropolitan areas in the US. Previous research has focused on specific cities and has shown that subprime lending historically occurs disproportionately in areas with higher risk, lower income and larger shares of minority households. This paper extends the literature by conducting a nation-wide study of how subprime lending patterns have changed over time across all US central cities. We find subprime lending growth is higher in urban census tracts with higher percentages of Hispanic population, lower levels of educational attainment, and, ceteris paribus, higher median family incomes.


In the rumen, unnecessary N-losses occur because the availability of energy and N in the rumen is usually unbalanced. Because N is more rapidly available than energy, decreasing the protein degradability optimizes fermentation and decreases N-losses. Heat treatment can be used to decrease protein degradability. Therefore, heat treatment of legume seeds, such as lupins, peas and faba beans, may result in a more efficient use of these seeds in ruminant diets. When whole seeds are treated by heat, the presence of the covering hull may affect the result. Not only the protein degradability, but also the degradability of starch present in peas and faba beans, may be altered due to the heat treatment.


From the point of view of grounding impedance, grounding potential, contact voltage and step voltage, the safety problems of grounding mesh in 500 kV Wennan Substation were discussed and analyzed, which located at high soil resistivity area. The corresponding measures for safety were put forward, such as adding insulation section on metal water pipe for outgoing of outside substation, adopting optical cable for telecommunication cables, checking and calculating the contact voltage and step voltage, reducing the induction voltage of cable, as well as adopting concentrated grounding installation for lightning rod. The grounding resistance of grounding mesh can be up to 0.5 Ω , which can still ensure operation and personal safety in substation.


Our ability to know and appreciate our everyday surroundings is bound up w i t h the language o f light. L i g h t shapes our lives, i l l u m i n a t i n g the places we use and allowing us to understand how people respond and behave i n them. L i g h t enables our perception; i t stimulates our senses and offers challenges for discovery. L i g h t speaks to us i n a language o f its o w n . T h e language includes not only quantitative, technical terms and concepts, which describe the way in which designers generate and manipulate light, but also descriptive, qualitative analogues, which reveal how light interacts w i t h people in the spaces they inhabit. I f we listen, we will discover how light enlivens buildings and spaces for people. L i g h t i n g designers (including architects and engineers) work w i t h a quantitative, technical language o f light, which includes terms like foot candles, lumens, watts, candelas, reflectors and photometric curves. Equipment like incandescent, fluorescent and high-intensity discharge lamps;


Fibre-reinforced composite (FRP) rna;teriaJ are found widely used nowadays in various industries such as offshore, aerospace, medical science and also in construction industries. The application of fibre-reintorced composite material have overcome the use of conventional materials such as steel, timber and concrete due to the composite material characteristics which are high in stiffuess, toughness. strength with low density that could contribute in reducing manufacturing and transportation cost. However, the environmental effect on the FRP followed by several failure of FRP when overload stress provides interests to study different performance of fracture surface of FRP as fracture mode of FRP could be only one mode or even more than one mode depends on the force act on it and also surrounding that may change the mechanical properties of the advanced material. This paper is an attempt to study the fracture surface of FRP composite and uncover the failure mechanism that may occur in the composite due to high load applied on it by visual and microscopic technique. The cause of the failure, the performance and propagation of the surface fracture may be determined by careful and thorough observation. Visual inspection of the fractured surface of FRP composite is to
determine the most critical fracture part that can be seen with our naked eyes as before using any other microscopic instrument, the first step in fracture inspection is visually observe any fracture that can be seen visually. Digital Microscopic image analyser is used to observe the
fractured surfaces of glass and epoxy composite in further detail to reveal the failure modes of the FRP such as delamination, fibre breakage. de-bonding between fibre and matrix and fibre pullout region that may weaken the performance of the composite. The tensile test results
shows the predictable pattern of brittle FR P pipe material resulting the objectives of this project have been achieved as several mode of failure on the surface of FRP pipe composite were revealed due to tensile load act on it.


This paper presents the analysis efficiency of a chemical reaction model of four states, such that their activated states can occur at any point (fixed but arbitrary) of the transition from one state to another. This mechanism operates under a single heat reservoir temperature, unlike the internal combustion engines where there are two thermal sources. Different efficiencies are compared to this model, which operate at different optimum engine regimes. Thus, some analytical methods are used to give an approximate expression, facilitating the comparison between them. Finally, the result is compared with that obtained by other authors considered a general model of an isothermal molecular machine. Taking into account the above, the results seems to follow a similar behaviour for all the optimized engines, which resemble that observed in the case of heat engine efficiencies.


In the last twenty years, there has been a boom in scholarship on Charles Brockden Brown, most of which connects his work to social developments occurring in the early American republic. Brown scholars often read him as a man ahead of his time, as his writing addresses, hints at, or even inverts social mores. The scholarship around Brown's novel Edgar Huntly has concentrated on how the narrative addresses westward expansion and white settlers' relationship with Native Americans or the ways in which Edgar Huntly connects to Revolutionary society. Kate Ward Sugar engages with this narrative in a different way, exploring the dynamic of sleepwalking as a way to address male homosocial bonds. Scholars, though, continue to side step the eroticism within this narrative and the implications of somnambulism's status as a mental illness being tied to an unnamed desire. This paper addresses this gap in the scholarship by integrating a queer and historicist reading of Edgar Huntly to suggest that Brown's use of sleepwalking is done to reflect a social fear of the homoerotic. It is the goal of this paper, then, to explore Edgar Huntly as a narrative that weaves the danger of sodomy to sleepwalking, suggesting an implicit relationship between madness, illness, and same-sex desire. This reading of Edgar Huntly thus not only expands the scholarship on Brown, but more importantly the history of sexuality by pointing towards a social development currently unexplored by scholars of the early American republic.


Though sharing only a short part on the natural products timeline, the studies on marine products has already handed in four new drugs to the clinical arsenal and brought up a long and promising list of unique molecules to pre-clinical and clinical trials. Thus, as the available analytical resources improve and the interest of large pharmaceutical companies arises, medical use of marine products has definitely become a reality.


We study the laser-induced torques in the antiferromagnet (AFM) Mn2Au. We find that even linearly polarized light may induce laser-induced torques in Mn2Au, i.e., the light does not have to be circularly polarized. The laser-induced torques in Mn2Au are comparable in magnitude to those in the ferromagnets Fe, Co and FePt at optical frequencies. We also compute the laser-induced torques at terahertz (THz) frequencies and compare them to the spin-orbit torques (SOTs) excited by THz laser-pulses. We find the SOTs to be dominant at THz frequencies for the laser-field strengths used in experiments. Additionally, we show that the matrix elements of the spin-orbit interaction (SOI) can be used to add SOI only during the Wannier interpolation, which we call Wannier interpolation of SOI (WISOI). This technique allows us to perform the Wannier interpolation conveniently for many magnetization directions from a single set of Wannier functions.


The purpose of the study is to examine the influence of firm characteristics (profitability, investment opportunity "market-to-book ratio", tangibility, size, growth) and industry effect to capital structure of stock companies in Vietnam. The study uses OLS regression method to analyze a data set consisting of 522 non-financial companies listed in the two stock exchanges Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HSX) and Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) during the period from 2008 to 2011.
The aggregate market-based leverage ratio in Vietnam is about 0.29. Despite the differences in business environment and management, this ratio is consistent to the statement from Frank and Goyal (2007) "Over the past half century the aggregate market-based leverage ratio has been about 0.32".
The empirical results show that profitability, tangibility, and growth are the major three determinants to debt ratios. The strong negative correlation between profitability and all debt ratios supports the prediction of the pecking order theory and it is considered as a serious defect of the trade-off theory. Tangibility has a strong positive correlation with long-term debt ratio but it has a negative correlation with short-term debt ratio. This result is consistent with the maturity mismatch principle "Firms tend to use long-term debt to finance fixed assets to prevent maturity mismatch; consequently, firms with high fraction of tangibility are expected to have high long-term debt ratio but low short-term debt ratio". The strong positive correlation between growth and all debt ratios is consistent to the statement of Jensen and Meckling, 1976 "Debt disciplines managers and mitigates agency problems to free cash flow since debt must be repaid to avoid bankruptcy". However, the fact that firms that have cash on hand actually issue debts is considered a serious problem of the pecking order theory (Frank and Goyal, 2007).
As per the empirical results the corporate capital structure of the whole data is dominated by short-term debt, but the corporate capital structure at industry level is sometimes dominated by long-term debt. It is consistent with the result of Gilson (1997) "Industry leverage is used as a proxy for target capital structure". According to Hovakimian et al. (2001), firms actively adjust their debt ratios towards the industry average. And similar persistence at firm level is reported in Lemmon et al. (2007). The differences of corporate capital structure at industry level and the similar persistence of capital structure at firm level reflect the role of industry effect as the crucial determinant of the target debt ratios.


Charles Darwin's possible misappropriation of content from Alfred Russel Wallace's 'Ternate essay' of 1858 remains a topic of discussion, despite a lack of solid evidence proving misadventure. In this note new observations help clarify one critical element of the story: whether Wallace's materials represented in part a reply to the Darwin letter dated 22 December 1857. The conclusion is that they very likely did not, and in turn probably were sent in March, not April, 1858.


Many papers have focused on the Internet and marketing education. There is broad agreement that technology should be viewed as an enabler in enhancing the quality of marketing education. In this issue of Marketing Education Review, Drs. Angeline Close, Ashutosh Dixit, and Naresh Malhotra present an article that is a must-read for all marketing educators. Their paper, "Chalkboards to Cybercourses: The Internet and Marketing Education," provides a comprehensive synthesis of existing knowledge of the role of Internet in marketing education.


Recent discovery of giant electrostriction in rare earth (RE (III)) substituted ceria (CeO2) thin films driven by electroactive defect complexes and their coordinated elastic response, expands the material spectrum for electrostrain applications beyond the conventional piezoelectric materials. Especially Gd substituted CeO2, with Gd concentration>10% seems to be an ideal material to obtain such large electrostrain response. However, there are not many experimental studies that systematically investigate the effect of RE (III) ion-defect interaction and RE concentration on electrostriction. Here we perform structure-property correlation studies in bulk ceramics of RE3+ substituted ceria doped with RE=Y, La and Gd at various concentrations upto a maximum of 20%, to understand the features responsible for giant electrostriction. Our results show that Y substituted ceria, with atleast 20% Y substitution, is clearly both a giant M and a Q electrostrictor at low frequencies (<20 Hz), and this correlates with the unique attractive defect-dopant interaction of Y with oxygen vacancies. La has a repulsive interaction with oxygen vacancies, and La doped ceria at all the studied compositions (upto 20%) does not show giant electrostiction. Gd has a neutral interaction, and only 20% Gd doped ceria at best falls at the border of classification between giant and non-giant electrostrictors at frequencies<0.05 Hz. Our work takes a step back from thin-films and assesses the fundamental defect features required in the design of giant electrostrictors.


Coronary heart disease (CHD) is an insidious and slowly progressive disease that begins in youth or middle age. By the time symptoms appear that lead the patient to seek medical care the disease is often advanced.' Medical or surgical treatment of symptomatic CHD has limited potential to reduce the rate of death from CHD. This limitation is unrelated to the effectiveness of medical care but is imposed by the nature of the disease. Two thirds of deaths from CHD occur suddenly due to cardiac arrest and take place outside the hospital, beyond the reach of sophisticated treatment.2 However, for patients who survive the early symptomatic period of acute myocardial infarction and are admitted to an acute care facility the mortality rate in hospital is only 10% to 20%.23 Therefore, improvements in hospital care can, at best, reduce the total mortality rate only slightly; any immediate effort to improve the prognosis of patients with CHD must focus on the prehospital phase of acute CHD. The life-saving capability of prehospital emergency care has been well documented.4`6 However, despite considerable effort to provide the general public with training in CPR, effective prehospital resuscitation for victims of cardiac arrest is generally unavailable in Canada. We believe this is due to a failure to appreciate the critical factors that determine survival and the consequent misdirection of much of our effort. In other words, CPR has gotten off on the wrong track. In this paper we will review the recent studies of factors determining the outcome of patients suffering cardiac arrest outside of hospital and look at the implications for training and for public policy in Canada.


We demonstrate a very compact multifunctional photonic crystal device on InP- membrane. Grating-coupled fibers feed a multimode photonic crystal wedged waveguide accomplishing individually selectable coarse WDM demux within 20 μm per channel toward membrane integrated detectors.


In order to find the most effective schedule of Mitomycine C (MMC) treatment against tumor bearing individuals, an investigation was made to compare the growth kinetics of solid and ascites tumor cells with that of intestinal mucosa cells before and after MMC treatment. In the duodenal crypt epithelium of the mouse, desoxy ribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis as measured by thymidine uptake was first depressed within 0.5 hours after a single injection of 40llg/kg or 400 pg/kg of MMC, signifi cantly increased over the control level at 24 hours and then gradually returned to the range of the control. Similar results were obtained in mitotic activity. In contrast, DNA synthesis in Ehrlich ascites tumor was depressed within 0.5 hours and not recovered yet at 24 hours after the same dosage of MMC. It was also noted that the cell repair in Yoshida solid tumor, after the damage due to MMC, was slow as compared to that in the intestinal mucosa of the rat. These data suggest that in the duodenal crypt epithelium some compensatory homeostatic mechanism of tissue level, which may alter their proliferative state, may be operative after the administra tion of the chemotherapeutic agents. It is, therefore, recommended that antitumor agents should be given under consideration of the different kinetics of regulatory cell repair of host and tumor tissues.


The TIC have been incorporated into society naturally, involving schools, so it is important to know how they are conceived TIC within educational institutions and know that uses for the different school practices. As these new technologies of information and communication have revolutionized the way people access information and the way you see the text, so it is essential to know the different uses that can be given to TIC in literacy practices and thus enrich the practices in the school daily.


Aiming at the requirement of crossing obstacles and carrying off a variety of operating equipments,a multifunctional ground mobile robot with a shared carrying platform is designed.The main performance index of the robot is determined.The structure design for the robot's chassis and carrying platform is completed.The composition of the control system is given.Based on the structure of the carrying platform,several typical carrying models of the robot are discussed and the driving mechanics of the robot's chassis and moving mechanics of the carrying platform are analyzed by using the classical mechanics method.The simulation results show that the proposed robot can climb up the slope of 30°,carry off two sets of integrated rocket launchers of 40mm diameter,and realize the required functions of crossing obstacles and carrying off a variety of operation equipments.


Neo-Vygotskian theoretical learning was developed based on Vygotsky's notions of scientific knowledge as psychological tools and teaching these tools as major instructional content. Vygotsky's adherents challenged the validity of the theoretical assumptions of guided discovery learning and argued that this scaffolding strategy was probably not a proper way to teach students scientific knowledge. Therefore, this paper investigated the effects of these different scaffolds and learners' metacognition on their higher-order thinking skills and task performance in mathematical learning. Eighty-four eighth grade students participated in our study. The learning sessions consisting of eight 40-minute lessons were conducted by a single teacher. The results showed that the theoretical learning group developed significantly better higher-order thinking skills and performed better than did the guided discovery learning group or the didactic learning group. Moreover, our study did not find a significant interaction between scaffolding type and metacognition, which indicated that the theoretical learning scaffold was more effective than were the other scaffolds regardless of the levels of metacognition.


With China joined the WTO, its economy will embrace the world with unprecedented fresh attitude and manner, it is the historical moment for seeking concrete cooperation between China securities houses and foreign financial entities. Besides the investment bank, the mutual fund industry is one of the hot spots for joint venture or other cooperation manifestation. Through cooperation, management experience, client base, market resource (distribution channel, public relationship), investment expertise, product design technology and all critical enterprise resource can be shared between partners. Information, monetary and human resource will be exchanged and reinforced between both parties; hence attractive rate of return and healthy growth prospective can be secured for the company and all its investors. This paper can be downloaded from the Social Science Research Network Electronic Paper Collection: http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=292799


The most serious crisis in the history of Russian-Belarusian relations has
been taking place over the past few months. In 2007 Russia started the
process of depriving Belarus of subsidies in the form of supplies of fuels
at low prices, which have for more than a decade guaranteed the stability
of the Belarusian economic model, and is continuing this process now
at an accelerated rate. At the same time, the Russian media started attacks
on Alyaksandr Lukashenka from the middle of this year. This toughening
up of Russia's measures indicates that the Kremlin is determined to
implement its goals regarding Belarus, including first of all taking over its
strategic economic assets, which would result in a significant weakening of
Lukashenka's position. The Belarusian government has been consistently
avoiding meeting Russian demands, while at the same time insisting on
the reinstatement of preferential conditions of co-operation. If the Belarusian
leader continues resisting Russian demands, the crisis in Russian-
-Belarusian relations will be aggravated, and a conflict over energy issues
around the turn of 2011 cannot be ruled out.
The reduction in preferences offered by Russia in the energy sector has
significantly impaired the condition of the Belarusian economy, and may
lead to its breakdown in a year or two. As his country comes under increasing
pressure from Russia, Alyaksandr Lukashenka will soon have to
make a strategic choice between yielding to the Kremlin's demands and
embarking upon an at least partial restructuring of the economy.


The effects of transaction institution to efficiency are obvious. This paper discusses the definition of efficiency, the effects of the different elements of transaction institution to efficiency and the practice in China stock market. Finally, we draw the conclusion.


Abstract : During this second year of the project, we established multiple primary cell strains from normal controls and SSc patients. We performed stimulation assays with silica in 82 primary fibroblast strains. Our results showed that silica activate fibroblasts toward fibrotic changes. However, different fibroblast strains obtained from different individuals showed different responses in terms of the gene expression of the ECM components. Using longitudinal linear models in analysis of association between specific genotypes and dynamic changes of gene expression of the fibroblasts in responding to silica stimulation, we identified that specific SNPs were associated with either single gene expression, or paired gene expression such as CTGF/SPARC and COL1A2/COL3A1, which suggest a strong biological correlation between these genes. Moreover, some SNPs and/or their corresponding genes were found to be associated with both SSc susceptibility and the fibrotic changes of human fibroblast in response to silica stimulation. These SSc susceptibility genes include not only previously identified ones, but also some novel ones, such as HLA-DPB1 and APBA1. These observations supported our original proposal that genetic elements within SSc fibroblasts might contribute to susceptibility to fibrotic process. Integrative studies of genetic and environmental factors with human fibroblasts may facilitate the discovery of potential pathogenesis of SSc. In this year, we will continuously obtain more human fibroblasts, especially SSc fibroblasts. We also will continuously perform stimulation assays of newly obtained human fibroblasts for a better chance to identify genetic components inside SSc patients contributing to susceptibility to environmental stimuli. Meanwhile, we will try to explore which specific bio-pathways associated with which specific genetic factors involved in silica induced fibrotic changes. Therefore, our studies are fulfilled with original proposal in the grant.


In recent years a lot of research work was dedicated to energy efficiency in cellular networks. An emerging field of interest in that direction is the use of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar - a type of energy that is bound to increase and develop. In this paper we survey the existing works and present the fundamental principles and motivations necessary for a thorough understanding of the usage of renewable energy in cellular networks. Furthermore, we introduce a reference model for renewable energy base station (REBS) and provide analysis of its components. The synthesis of dedicated REBS algorithms, system architectures, deployment strategies and evaluation metrics provides comprehensive overview and helps identify the perspectives in this promising research field.


Objective:To observe the protective effect of Phellinus Linteus and Coriolus Versicolor Capsules(PLCVC) on reduced WBC and renal injury induced by chemotherapy.Method:Cyclophosphamide and Cisplatin were injected intraperitoneally to mice respectively,after orally treated with PLCVC,WBC in blood and BUN and Scr in blood serum were determined.Results: PLCVC can increase WBC and decrease BUN,Scr.Conclusion: PLCVC can significantly reduce toxicity and side effects induced by chemotherapy.


Californians will soon vote on Proposition 37, mandating that genetically modified (GM) food is labeled. Supporters argue that mandatory labeling responds to consumers' rights, offers greater choice, and provides more information on food content. But the specifics of Prop 37 will result in a much different outcome. Food category choice will decrease and the added labeling information will be imprecise. Prop 37 will introduce a double standard for accidental GM purity in organic versus non-organic foods, favoring organic.


to be widely practiced today, with as many as 80/ to 85/ of the marriages contracted during the 1970's involving payment of bride- % wealth. Second, even though a number of other Eastern and Southern African societies have experienced a substitution of cash for cattle in bridewealth payments, there appears to be relatively little such monetization in contemporary Swaziland. And third, the number of cattle required for bridewealth (approximately ten to twelve head of cattle) has remained extremely constant over the course of the present century. These findings are analyzed in terms of some of the social, economic, and political realities present in contemporary Swaziland. An essential element found in most traditional African marital systems is the transference of mateiial goods from the groom or his lineage to the lineage of the bride. Although each society in which these marriage payments are found has its own word for the practice (i.e., "lobola", "ruracio", "'vupe", etc.), the term to describe these transactions used most widely is "bridewealth." Even though bridewealth is practiced to some degree in all major areas of the world, it is found most widely in Africa. According to the Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock, 1967), approxi mately 82% of ail traditional societies in Sub-Saharan Africa require bridewealth payments while most of the remaining 18% practice either token bridewealth or bride-service. The meaning of bride wealth has been widely debated throughout most of the present century. Early missionaries, viewing bridewealth as a form of wife purchase, took the position that such a practice was both denigrat ing to women and repugnant to the Christian ideal of marriage. Many colonial administrators, taking a more legalistic perspective, saw bride wealth as a symbol of the inferior legal status of women in traditional


The research was based on observations during industrial field experience and pre-research at Truntum Padang hotel, where several obstacles were found related to Service Quality and Perceived Value to Guest Satisfaction of MICE Service Users. The research method is quantitative with a causal relationship. Using nonprobality sampling technique by taking 100 respondents. This study uses a questionnaire to collect data using a Likert scale of 42 statements that have been tested for validity and reliability, the data is described through the analysis requirements test and hypothesis testing using multiple linear regression analysis techniques and the coefficient of determination using SPSS 20.00. Research results: (1) Service quality is in the very good group with a result of 56%. (2) Perceived value is in the good group with a result of 56%. (3) Satisfaction is in the good group with 63% results. Hypothesis testing shows the effect of X1 on Y with Sig. 0.00 <0.5 while t count 5.866> t table 1.9847, so H1 is accepted, the effect of X2 on Y is 0.238> 0.05 and t count 1.186 < t table 1.9847, so H2 is rejected, while the effect of Xl and X2 together on Y is 0.00 <0.05 and F count 63.269> from F table 3.09 so it can be said that H3 is accepted and R Square is 0.556.


A method of domain conceptual OLAP-modeling is suggested. The way of constructing the integral analytical model as a formal conceptual OLAP-cubes lattice is formally described. Advantages of on-line analytical processing based on conceptual OLAP-model are presented. Suggested method is implemented for integral analytical model constructing for scientific activities of the organization.


A method is suggested for obtaining wide-band mirrors through the use of a phase-shifting layer, making it possible to expand considerably the spectral reflection range of mirrors and to make wide-band mirrors having almost any reflection coefficient value. The use of these mirrors as resonators in dye lasers is shown to be possible.


The unraveling of the underlying genetic basis in diseases has accelerated rapidly as a result of dramatic advances in the field of molecular genetics, and will hopefully in due course lead to innovative, effective treatments for many human genetic diseases. Statistical genetics plays an important role in nearly every aspect of modern genetics, whether one is attempting to find genes responsible for rare monogenic disorders or complex genetic conditions, create a genomic map, or establish the interactions of inheritance and environment in the development of common diseases. Molecular genetic research is fundamentally important to the field of medicine and to the elucidation of the basic mechanisms of biological systems. In this thesis different applications of statistical methods have been used to explore the genetic component of bipolar disorder and related traits. Here, 41 families affected with bipolar disorder have been ascertained from the isolated population of Finland, presuming that the presence of stronger genetic and environmental homogeneity in this population than in many other populations is an advantage in gene localization. A genome-wide scan was performed identifying possible genomic susceptibility regions for bipolar disorder. The strongest evidence of linkage was provided by a locus on 16p12 in the two-point analysis (Zmax = 3.4) and on 4q32 in the three-point analysis (Zmax = 3.6). Encouraging results were also observed on chromosomes 12q23 and Xq25 (lod score > 2.0). The latter locus was already identified in a previous study and hence, a denser marker map was constructed covering 13cM of the critical region. The earlier linkage was found in one extended pedigree displaying bipolar disorder in several generations. In order to test the general significance of this linkage finding, as well as to narrow down the linked area, the genome-wide scan family sample consisting of 40 additional families was utilized in this analysis. The Xchromosomal linkage finding was replicated in the other pedigrees, however only with modest statistical significance. The linked region was consequently somewhat narrowed, and it was established in the genome-wide search that Xq25 represents the major linked region in the one extended family. In order to extract all possible information of the genome-wide scan performed, different statistical strategies were utilized to cluster and re-analyze the results and the study sample. In one line of study, the linkage results of all the available worldwide genome scans in bipolar disorder were re-analyzed in a meta-analysis. From this study it could be concluded that the strong linkage detected in the individual study samples could not be replicated when combining the linkage results from all studies worldwide. However, weaker linkage findings that seemed to be quite consistent across studies now stood out given the stronger statistical power. In a different type of study, the genotype data of our bipolar genome-wide scan and a genome-wide scan conducted in schizophrenia also using a Finnish study sample were combined. Instead of assessing linkage of the disease entities as defined in DSM-IV, shared traits of the two disorders such as psychotic and affective symptoms were examined. This study revealed a distinct locus for affective symptoms on chromosome 6p21 and a distinct locus for psychotic symptoms on chromosome 5q14.


Looking at the world's biodiversity record, India is strongly recognized as one of the big part of species richness with the special responses towards bouncing in medicinal plants. For this accountability, India has relatively high approaches in medicinal plants which are non-narcotic, devoid of side-effects and ultimately demanding for safeguarding health standards. Care over the spinning way of natural resources, National Medicinal Plants Board has taken vital steps to encourage its awareness among people for prompt and wonderful success. This excellent initiative came out through State Medicinal Plants Board where the funding was formally handed over to different non-government organizations (NGOs) as programmer for a more ambitious target area of work. The exciting phase unfolded with the choice of three more available medicinal species of West Bengal namely 'Haritaki', 'Bohera' and 'Bael' along their potential benefits and the whole awareness programme was entitled as '1 Phase of Haritaki, Bohera & Bael Programme'. The awareness programme featured a wide variety of people covering vast societal levelsfrom rural to urban, Anganwadi to Self-Help Group, students to local entities with the clutch of implementation. Amid the programmer some NGOs' performances were thriving and fabricating where others tumble and left discordant note of performance. However, the total arrangement contributed a good stead over and should be explored furthermore in coherent set of policies capturing prolific and palliative approaches towards medicinal plants of our country.


This paper concerns with the definition and use of "mechatronic objects" for the design of complex manufacturing system as large machinery, which involves some concepts derived from Object–Oriented programming applied to industrial software development. In particular, the programming languages and structures defined in the International Standard for Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) IEC 61131-3 norm are considered, with regards to software encapsulation facilities they offer. The aim is to develop a software configuration in which both control and mechanical devices are considered as a single object module. We call this integrated electronic–mechanical structure a "mechatronic object", meaning that this module should be designed, maintained and reused as a whole. The paper describes a modular objects identification methodology and reports about a real application example of the proposed concepts, showing effectiveness of the object–oriented framework for industrial software applications.


Background: Serotonin type 3 receptors are abundant in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord and in the spinal tract of the trigeminal nerve in the medulla. Moreover, the intrathecal (IT) or epidural administration of ondansetron, a selective 5-hydroxytryptamine 3 (5-) receptor antagonist, might prevent postoperative nausea, vomiting and intrathecal opioid-induced pruritus more effectively than the drug administered systemically. Before new drugs for spinal administration are accepted for clinical practice, experimental neurotoxicity studies must be undertaken. This study was performed in rats in order to reveal the behavioral and morphological signs of spinal cord damage after chronic IT ondansetron administration. Methods: Rats were anesthetized using enflurane in oxygen and an 8 cm polyethylene catheter was advanced caudally through the atlanto-occipital membrane under aseptic surgical conditions. Twelve rats were randomly divided into two groups, an ondansetron (O) group (n = 6) and a normal saline (N) group (n = 6). After postoperative 7 days, we started the IT injection of ondansetron 40 (20) or normal saline 20 once a day over two weeks. Potential changes of spinal cords were evaluated morphologically by light microscopy (LM) and electron microscopy (EM) in addition to behavioral changes. Results: No rat in either groups showed any motor or behavioral changes during the administration of ondansetron. By LM and EM, all six rats in the O group showed massive neovascularization over the white and gray matters of spinal cords. Conclusions: The results suggest that chronic IT administration of ondansetron causes pathologic changes in the rat spinal cord.


Objective To observe the infection status of Helicobacter pylori(HP) in gastric cancer patients and to explore its relationship with the clinical characteristics of gastric cancer.Methods Paraffin sections of surgical specimens from 794 patients who underwent gastrectomy in Changzheng Hosptial or Changhai Hosptial were detected with the modified Giemsa staining to identify the status of HP infection.The association of HP infection status with the clinicopathological features was analyzed by Chi-square test.The relationship between HP infection status and prognosis of gastric patients was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method and proportional hazard regression model.Results HP infection was significantly associated with Lauren classification,differentiation degree,and lymph-node metastases of gastric cancer(P0.05).The median survival time of the HP positive patients(68.5 months) was significantly longer than that of HP negative patients(36.4 months)(P=0.003).For patients undergoing curative surgeries,those with HP infection had a better prognosis compared with those without HP infection(P=0.034).For patients with intestinal-type gastric cancer,those without HP infection had a poorer prognosis compared with those with HP infection(P=0.006);there were no differences in patients with diffuse-type gastric cancer(P=0.922).Conclusion Our results indicate that HP infection status is not an independent factor for prognosis of gastric cancer patients.HP positive patients with intestinal-type gastric cancer may have a better prognosis.


Abstract Within the field of international adoption, little research has examined the involvement of fathers in cultural socialization practices. Using secondary data analysis with a sample of 332 international adoptive fathers and mothers, the present study examined international adoptive fathers' cultural socialization practices and compared these practices with those of international adoptive mothers. The results indicated that 1) family cultural socialization practices mainly engaged in by fathers were those that require little to no integration with people of the children's race and/or ethnicity, and 2) fathers' awareness or practices were found to be similar to those of mothers. This study illustrates the importance of continuing research on fathers' beliefs, attitudes, and practices in relation to the race and birth culture of their internationally adopted children. Keywords International adoption, fathers' awareness and involvement, cultural socialization practices International Journalof Human Ecology


The Tegola project is dedicated to research into the provision of high-speed internet access to remote and rural areas. As part of the project, we have built a testbed which demonstrates that it is now possible to provide the most remote parts of the Scottish mainland with speed and quality of service better than what is available in most UK cities. This report describes our findings based on our experience from constructing and monitoring this testbed for over a year. To summarise: • If speed and quality of service are important, they are doubly important in remote areas, where other forms of communication are lacking. • With the existing infrastructure, as many as 20% of the residences in Scotland may be unable to receive the speed of 2Mbps advocated in [CAR09] – a speed which is, in our opinion still far too low to meet the needs of remote communities. Even by upgrading the existing infrastructure, this figure is unlikely to change. • An alternative form of distribution based on terrestrial wireless is both workable and cost-effective thanks to the recent and dramatic fall in the cost of wireless technology. • While commercial distribution to consumers in remote areas is unlikely to prove profitable, community-driven partnerships can succeed. • In order that rural Scotland does not get left further behind in the broadband revolution, immediate planning is needed for the backhaul to support internet access by remote communities. In writing this report we have tried to minimise the jargon and technical details. But there are a few terms that are important to understand, and we have included explanatory footnotes where needed. For further information, please consult our website www.tegola.org.uk and the various technical reports cited in this paper.


The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study is to describe the glass ceiling is perceived by women in the role of mid-to-senior level academics and administrators in higher education in a Chinese university. This study also sought to understand the characteristics of women in mid-to-senior level positions, as well as the tools and resources necessary for women to obtain such a position in higher education. Drawing on in-depth interviews with eight women in mid-to-senior level academic and administrative positions in one university and informed by constructivist views, the essence of their lived experience helped to inform a broader discourse of women and the glass ceiling. The ?ndings highlight how women's career progression is shaped by cultural norms and conventions.


Background: Neonates admitted into neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) are at high risk of acquiring infections due to the immaturity of their immune systems and the barrage of intensive medical care. Multiple drug resistant organisms are mostly implicated in causing these infections, usually acquired through contaminated environment. This research was designed to assess the environmental contamination with multi-drug resistant organisms in neonatal intensive care unit.
Methods: Environmental samples were collected from all the equipment in each of the 3 rooms in neonatal intensive care unit and cultured on 5% sheep blood agar, chocolate agar and MacConkey agar plates. The isolates were identified with standard biochemical tests. Antibiotic susceptibility profile was done using modified Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method and interpreted according to the guidelines by Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute. Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus was detected using cefoxitin disc while extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producers were confirmed with ESBL chromogenic agar.
Results: Out of 36 samples collected from different sites in the 3 rooms, 19(53%) yielded bacterial growth. A total of 28 (78%) bacterial isolates were detected, with majority 25(89%) isolated from room 1. Staphylococcus aureus 15(42%) was the predominant isolate followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae 5(14%) and non-Candida albicans spp 3(8%). Most of Staphylococcus aureus isolates were from samples collected from incubators. Out of 15 Staphylococcus aureus isolated, 11 (73%) were MRSA. Among the Gram negatives, all 5(100%) Klebsiella pneumonioae and 3(60) Acinetobacter species were positive for extended spectrum beta-lactamase production. All the isolates were resistant to 3 or more classes of antibiotics. Imipenem and linezolid were the most sensitive antibiotics to the isolated organisms.
Conclusion: High degree of contamination of the environment in NICU with multi drug resistant bacteria is worrisome because of the serious threat it poses. This calls for immediate holistic interventional measures. Strict Compliance with infection prevention and control measures. Additionally, there should be regular antimicrobial resistance surveillance in NICU.


In this paper,physical and chemical properties, antimicrobial activity,and mode of action of natamycin are introduced.Food applications of natamycin in Cheese,meat,fruit juice are described separately.Regulatory status in different countries are compared.Toxicology of natamycin through different route and in different animal are reviewed.Different assay are discussed at the end.