Introduction To fully comprehend and appreciate the impact of psychosurgery on treatment-resistant depression it is pertinent to review its initial development and subsequent history. By reviewing previous studies of psychosurgery, we can build a narrative of what was, what currently is and what might be. Assessing the complex philosophical dilemma of the mind and the impact this has on individuals' concept of psychosurgery has helped to bridge the gap between Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. Objectives We aimed to examine this question, starting at the very beginnings of our concept of mind, working through to modern-day thinking, how we approach both neurosurgery and psychiatry and help to bridge the two. Methods A narrative review of the current literature concerning neurosurgery for mental disorders and said applications to modern psychiatry was conducted. Emphasis on philosophical thought processing in conjunction with the neurosurgical intervention was noted. Results Psychosurgery has its roots in the early philosophy of mind, concerned with distinguishing whether the mind is a physical entity or immaterial. Psychosurgery is reliant on a physical concept of the mind, or at the very least that the mind supervenes the physical brain. History has shown us examples of this, with the archetype of this being the story of Phineas Gage. Since its onset psychosurgery has moved in and out of vogue. After being met with early scepticism it later went on to be performed thousands of times to help cure schizophrenia. In the 1800s, Gottlieb Burkhardt pioneered initial surgical interventions on the brain with intended psychiatric outcomes, moving on to work from Egas Moniz and the development of leucotomies and famously lobotomies, to modern medical techniques of Deep Brain Stimulation. Conclusions Psychosurgery has faced much opposition throughout history due to the uniquely invasive nature of not just affecting us physically but also mentally and the implications that this has for us as humans and our understanding of ourselves. As both medical and cultural views of mental health have changed over time, so has our understanding of psychosurgery and its potential applications. It is possible that early attempts to implement psychosurgery, before the advent of modern medicine, did more harm to psychosurgery's reputation than good. However, without those early forays, we may never have progressed to the modern techniques we now utilise. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


This study presents a ZigBee-based wireless sensor network (WSN) system combined with an automatic data capturing system to establish a real-time shop-floor control system. The goal is aimed at enhancing the performance of shop-floor control (SFC) and providing a rapid response to customer requirements. The proposed system included a system simulator, job assignment module and network monitor module. System functions included network parameter settings, real-time system status sensing and data collection, intelligent event tracing and warning, and several responding mechanisms. The proposed system can simplify the implementation of an electronic production control systems and enables the shop-floor control more transparent and instant via a wireless networking infrastructure.


Hurricane damage results in tree mortality and variation in both light and nutrient availability for the individuals that remain. In turn, resource availability influences the interactions between plants and insect herbivores. We report effects of Hurricane Opal on the phenolic chemistry and levels of defoliation on surviving trees at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in North Carolina. We measured foliar astringency, hydrolysable tannins, and condensed tannins in the foliage of red maple and red oak saplings in hurricane- damaged and undamaged sites. We estimated inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus availability in the soil, and the accumulated leaf area removed by insect herbivores. The foliar astrin- gency of both red maple and red oak was higher in sites damaged by the hurricane. Later in the growing season, condensed tannin levels were significantly higher in the foliage of red oak in damaged sites. There were no consistent differences in ammonium, nitrate, or phosphate availability between damaged and undamaged sites. Despite higher foliar as- tringency of trees in sites damaged by Hurricane Opal, levels of defoliation by insect herbivores were higher in damaged than in control sites on both tree species. Apparent increases in putative defensive compounds following hurricane damage did not protect trees from herbivory.


The work reported here deals with the fabrication and characterization of iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles (NPs – IONPs) incorporated polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based nanocomposite films. The nanocomposite films, fabricated via solution casting route, have been characterized using advanced analytical techniques including x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and UV-visible (vis.) spectroscopy. There observed notable changes in the structural phases, crystallite size (2.3 to 2.1 nm), d-spacing (0.131 to 0.134 Å), optical absorption edge (5.12 to 4.84 eV), indirect bandgap (4.99 to 4.68 eV), direct bandgap (5.35 to 5.20 eV), and band tail (0.57 to 0.89 eV) from native PVA to nanocomposite films. The refractive index and optical conductivity enhancements were also observed on incorporating IONPs into the PVA matrix. It could be inferred that a minute loading of IONPs might induce significant alternation in opto-structural properties of the PVA-based nanocomposites for potential optoelectronic applications.


Norman Pittenger, whose birth-centenary fell in 2005, 'was above all a talker'.2 He published more than 1,400 books, articles and reviews, over seventy years. David Edwards, who was Dean of King's College, Cambridge, when Pittenger retired there in 1966, has said that most of Pittenger's output was 'in the two fields . . . "God and Sex"'.3 Pittenger is remembered in British theology for having helped to introduce process thought; and for being one of the earliest voices for the acceptance of homosexual relationships. His contributions to both areas have received attention,4 but his work remains to be interpreted in terms of panentheism. This paper argues that Pittenger's work provides a particularly clear example of panentheism, and indeed that panentheism is the key to the two contributions for which he is remembered. It argues furthermore that his work illuminates the origins of modern panentheism, and also panentheism's promise for theology.


ABSTRACT Murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV-68) is closely related to Epstein-Barr virus and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) and provides a small-animal model to study the pathogenesis of gammaherpesvirus (γHV) infections. According to the colinear organization of the γHV genomes, the M10 locus is situated at a position equivalent to the K12 locus of KSHV, which codes for proteins of the kaposin family. The M10 locus of MHV-68 has been predicted to code for three overlapping open reading frames (M10a, M10b, and M10c [M10a-c]) with unknown function. In addition, the M10 locus contains a lytic origin of replication (oriLyt). To elucidate the function of the M10 locus during lytic and latent infections, we investigated, both in vitro and in vivo, the following four recombinant viruses which were generated using MHV-68 cloned as a bacterial artificial chromosome: (i) a mutant virus with a deletion which affects both the coding region for M10a-c and the oriLyt; (ii) a revertant virus in which both the M10a-c coding region and the oriLyt were reverted to those of the wild type; (iii) a virus with an ectopic insertion of the oriLyt, which restores the function of the oriLyt but not the M10a-c coding region; and (iv) a mutant virus with a deletion in the oriLyt only. While the mutants were slightly attenuated with regard to lytic replication in cell culture, they showed severe growth defects in vivo. Both lytic replication and latency amplification were strongly reduced. In contrast, both the revertant virus and the virus with the ectopic oriLyt insertion grew very similarly to the parental wild-type virus both in vitro and in vivo. Thus, we provide genetic evidence that mutation of the oriLyt, and not of putative protein coding sequences within the M10a-c region, is responsible for the observed phenotype. We conclude that the oriLyt in the M10 locus plays an important role during infection of mice with MHV-68.


In this demo, we present PAMSys#8482;(physical activity monitoring system), a single body sensor solution for long-term and continuous monitoring of a person's daily activities. PAMSys#8482; requires only a single light-weight sensor unit that can be integrated unobtrusively into a comfortable shirt (or directly to a subject's shirt) without hindering daily-living activities. The use of large flash storage and low power sensor technologies allows a maximal system lifetime of 8 days on a single charge, minimizing the management burden of the users of the system. PAMWare#8482;, the data analysis software for PAMSys#8482;, performs advanced biomechanical analyses on the tri-axial accelerometer signals recorded by the sensor unit and generates a detailed report on the subject's postural information throughout the entire measurement period. The system can be used for monitoring the state of health in the elderly, as well as the effect of different medical and surgical procedures in enhancing a patients' quality of life. As an example, long-term physical activity data can be applied to assess the risk of fall for elderly people by monitoring durations of sit-to-stand posture transitions.


The purpose of this paper is to report upon the vegetation of a tract of land 0.8 hectare (about 2 acres) in extent, involving a transect approximately 650 meters long (over 2000 feet) and over 12 meters wide (40 feet). It is part of a larger transect 64 kilometers (40 miles) long, in which brush control for fire-line purposes was effected by clearing and harrowing in 1934-1936. Although most of the line progressed to brush composed of tree species, the small part here described developed, coincidentally, to a complex of stable tree-less plant communities which has so far resisted reinvasion by unwanted woody plants. As a demonstration of relatively stable low plant covers that could be created today by selective application of herbicides, its description and interpretation is not only of academic interest, but of importance in the field of Plant Community Management where such covers are of practical value for many special purposes. This report is based in part on data from permanent plots, and in conjunction with other studies, is part of a long-term cooperative project between the Boy Scouts of America Greater New York Councils and the American Museum of Natural History. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the above mentioned organizations in establishing this project. They also acknowledge information obtained from Professor Ralph Unger (Head, Department of Forest Extension, State University of New York Forestry College, Syracuse) who directed the activities in 1934-1936, and from Mr. Kenneth Crandall, Property Superintendent, Ten Mile River Scout Camps, Narrowsburg, New York, resident on the area at that time. Mr. A. H. Whitney, Assistant Director, New York State Science Service, Albany, kindly supplied references and information on the geology of the region. The field data here published were obtained by the authors during the period August 30September 1, 1951. The transect described is part of the boundary fire line of the Ten Mile River Scout Camps, owned by the Greater New York Councils, Boy Scouts of America. This 12,000 acre tract is in southeastern Sullivan County, southeastern New York. The part here reported upon lies in southern Bethel Township, about 1 kilometer north and east of Crystal Lake. The geological substructure of this entire region is the Catskill formation of Upper Devonian age, comprising freshwater piedmont and delta deposits, mainly sandstones but also shales and conglomerates. Locally, the material is a grayish sandstone. These are overlain by highly variable glacial deposits, the weathering of which has given rise to the present soils. On the transect, two soils have been mapped by Secor et al. (1946): Lackawanna stony silt loam shallow phase and Norwich stony silt loam, both fourth-grade soils. The Lackawanna is that of welldrained uplands, from which bedrock outcrops on the summits, and which varies from being exceedingly stony and shallow on the steeper slopes to conditions on the lower slopes that approach the non-stony first-grade Lackawanna silt loam. The Norwich stony silt loam is that of the poorly drained flatlands near the small


Contrary to what people usually think, the psychology discipline is a real science. The psychology disci pline is composed of various fields (cognitive psychology, social psychology and clinical psychology) which are aimed at understandi ng the human mental processes and their related behaviours using a stri ct experimental method. We based the workshop we orga nized on the findings from experimental studies in cognitive, social and clinical psychology. The main purpose of this worksh op was to provide some tools to think about educational practices and to conside r the contribution of psychological findings to edu cation and teaching. We presented the mechanisms underlying learning and th e factors that can influence knowledge acquisition. We discussed about various contextual factor that can affect learning and its evaluation, the way people manage failure events, th e cognitive and cerebral mechanisms underlying learning. Moreover, we conside red the link between the social group and learning, more particularly the influence of other people on our own performance. Fi nally, we described psychological aspects specific t o the teacher-student relationship.


Given a curve C on a projective nonsingular rational surface S, over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero, we are interested in the set Omega_C of linear systems Lambda on S satisfying C is in Lambda, dim Lambda > 0, and the general member of Lambda is a rational curve. The main result of the paper gives a complete description of Omega_C and, in particular, characterizes the curves C for which Omega_C is non empty.


Antioxidants present in natural sources helps to scavenge free radicals and thus, provide health benefits. The study report the in vitro radical scavenging capacity of methanol and aqueous extracts of Dissotis rotundifolia whole plant. The main objective for this research was to use standard procedures to determine phenolic content, nitric oxide scavenging activity, hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, DPPH-scavenging activity, antimicrobial properties and DNA damage protecting activity to evaluate the antioxidant potential of various extracts. Concentrations of plant extracts ranging from 0.02 to 0.10 mg/ml were prepared and mixed with appropriate volumes of reagents and the respective absorbances read at the respective wavelength. The antimicrobial properties of the sample was determined using agar disc diffusion test. The extracts inhibited the growth of staphylococcus aureus and E-coli for both days. The results of this study indicate that extracts of D. rotundifolia whole plant contain a variety of phytochemical compounds that can competently protect the body against oxidative stress caused by free radicals and might therefore be used as a source of potent natural antioxidant


This paper reviews the design activity for chemical engineering process design, starting from the earliest step of selecting which products to manufacture and ending with designing the operating procedures for a process plant. At each step we discuss computer-aided design tools which have been or are being developed. Throughout synthesis aids which help make discrete design decisions are contrasted with analysis aids which help to select the proper values for continuous variables. Computer aids are abundant to aid in process design. The future holds promise for an integrated design tool which will aid the engineer from start to finish in his task.


User equipment (UE) (20) in the down-link candidates, a specific adjustment for the transfer point (CoMP) for providing the flexibility to configure the channel state information (CSI) to match the transmission estimates the eNodeB (18) the system and method are described. UE (20) receives a configuration message that specifies choose from eNodeB (18), CSI ㅂmo. CSI report is specified by the particular desired signal estimate with a particular interference estimation for the data transmission on the at least one effective channel is characterized by a particular reference signal. UE (20) determines the estimated interference in accordance with the interference estimates, and / or CSI report based on the effective channel estimate and at least estimate the one effective channel, and the interference estimate by performing a measurement for a given reference signal . UE (20) also transmits the CSI reported to the eNodeB (18).


Abstract : Signals intelligence (SIGINT), information derived from the monitoring, interception, decryption and evaluation of an adversary's electronic communications, has long been viewed as a significant factor in modem warfare. However, relatively little research has been conducted to quantify the influence of SIGINT in war. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate and quantify the influence of SIGINT in warfare by developing an interactive wargame based on the McCue simulation of the U-boat War in the Atlantic. The research comprises two phases. Phase one consists of constructing an interactive wargame version of McCue's simulation. In the wargame, a human player directs convoys across a chessboard representation of the North Atlantic while the computer controls the movement of the U-boats and tabulates the number of U- boat attack-days. Phase one tests how well the wargame models reality using historical data. The second phase of research consists of experimenting within the wargame to explore the effects of varying levels of SIGINT. Each iteration of the wargame, reflecting one of four possible SIGINT conditions, is repeated to derive statistics about the influence of signals intelligence. The results show about a twenty-five percent net change in the number of attack-days for the side utilizing SIGINT.


A system for detecting rotational frequency of engine which comprises a switching device including a switching transistor for switching on and off the flow of current to the ignition coil of an internal combustion engine and a current limiting circuit for limiting the flow of current to the switching transistor to a predetermined value, and a speed detecting circuit connected to the junction of the ignition coil and the switching transistor. The speed detecting circuit is designed so that it has a threshold value voltage which is higher than the collector voltage of the switching transistor produced on limitation of current flow and which varies in response to the power supply voltage, and a signal is generated when the voltage at the junction of the ignition coil and the switching transistor exceeds the threshold value voltage, thus generating an output signal in synchronism with the spark ignition timing irrespective of variation in the supply voltage and thereby accurately detecting the engine speed irrespective of variation in the supply voltage.


On New Zealand farmland slopes, soil erosion, through heavy rainfall, can result in damages and costs that are both financial, in terms of farm repairs and insurance payouts, and physical. The sediment from the removal of soil enters streams, causing silting on the lowlands and waterways. We all depend on soil for survival and farms need to maintain and preserve good organic humus-rich topsoil during these "erosive" periods by using control methods, such as tree cover, as their root systems can stabilise the soil and significantly reduce the effects of erosion on hill slopes (Douglas et al. 2009; National Poplar and Willow Users Group 2007). Willow trees are used because they are multi-functional. They are easy to grow from poles, propagate in most climates, can be used for shade and shelter for farm animals and yet allow sunlight for pasture growth under their open-branched canopies. They provide nutritious fodder for stock in drought conditions, which usually occur in late summer and autumn. They also possess extensive root systems that stabilize the soil and so can help to prevent erosion on pastoral hill slopes.


With the gradual attention of the State and the Ministry of Education to Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run schools, the ideological and political teaching of Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run schools has been widely promoted, reformed and innovated. In order to promote the improvement and development of ideological and political courses for Chineseforeign cooperatively-run schools, we must deepen the concept of ideological and political education. Nowadays, the problem facing Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run schools is to improve the teaching quality of ideological and political courses. In this article, the author mainly summarizes the idea of ideological and political education of Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run school students, analyzes its existing problems, and puts forward relevant countermeasures. Keywords—Ideological political; Sino-foreign cooperativelyrun schools; Practice Teaching


Through the polymerization and grafting reaction of bisphenol A dianhydride and bisphenol A diamine, the polyimide activator (PI activator) of acyl caprolactam end capping is obtained and then the anionic in-situ polymerization modified nylon 6 resin is obtained. Viscosity analysis shows that PI consumption is higher than 0.1 (of monomer mass), the reaction temperature is higher than 160°C, the viscosity rises rapidly in a short time and the rapid polymerization molding can be realized; when PI consumption is higher than 0.15 (of monomer mass), the water absorption of matrix resin will be lower than 1.4%; compared with the nylon resin, its water absorption is significantly lowered and its mechanical property is improved greatly; microscopic analysis shows that PI molecules fail to enter the crystalline phase of the nylon 6 and form lamellar crystals in the nylon matrix, which plays a role of enhancement and obstruction; differential thermal analysis shows that PI reduces the melting enthalpy and melting point temperature of nylon 6 resin, which indicates that PI reduces the crystallization capacity of nylon 6.


Recently, numerous promising results have shown that updatable learned indexes can perform better than traditional indexes with much lower memory space consumption. But it is unknown how these learned indexes compare against each other and against the traditional ones under realistic workloads with changing data distributions and concurrency levels. This makes practitioners still wary about how these new indexes would actually behave in practice. To fill this gap, this paper conducts the first comprehensive evaluation on updatable learned indexes. Our evaluation uses ten real datasets and various workloads to challenge learned indexes in three aspects: performance, memory space efficiency and robustness. Based on the results, we give a series of takeaways that can guide the future development and deployment of learned indexes.


The rapid development of the residential area in Duhok City and the new trend of housing policy towards high density and multifamily housing complexes affect the urban social life of the residents. The urban public open and green spaces in housing complexes create places for residents to come together and to strengthen their social networks. This research aims to investigate the outdoor space design approach in the new developed housing project (Avro city) as an example for high density multifamily housing complex due to its outdoor space design characteristics to identifying design features and elements that promote the quality of urban life and increase the user satisfaction in residential area. The researcher used qualitative data collection methodology using case study approach. The data collection method based on three sources namely the analytical study of the outdoor space design features from the available maps and site visiting, the on-Site observations of the residents, how they use the outdoor space, and the questionnaire survey results with the residents to measure their satisfaction about the outdoor space living environment. The findings of the research indicate that the design quality of the physical features such as landscape design, artificial water, landscape furniture, a proper pedestrian and greenery encourage people to use the outdoor space for social activities. Finally, the research provides guidelines for housing developers, urban designers and related governmental institutions to incorporate effective outdoor space design quality for successful urban living environment.


: CoFe 2 O 4 nanofibers with fishbone-like structure were prepared by a electrospinning method followed with high temperature calcination, using polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), iron nitrate nonahydrate (Fe(NO 3 ) 3 •9H 2 O) and cobalt nitrate hexahydrate (Co(NO 3 ) 2 •6H 2 O) as raw materials. Results show that the crystallinity and grain size of nanofibers become larger with increasing the calcination temperature. Meanwhile, the surface morphology of CoFe 2 O 4 nanofibers changes from smooth to rough and porous. The morphology of CoFe 2 O 4 nanofibers exhibits a fishbone-like structure with calcination temperature exceeding 800 ℃ . The diameter of the fiber is gradually decreased with the increase of calcination temperature, and the average diameter of CoFe 2 O 4 nanofibers calcined at 900 ℃ reaches 80.3 nm. By vi-bration sample magnetometer (VSM) test, the saturation magnetization ( M s ) of CoFe 2 O 4 nanofibers increases with the increase of calcination temperature, and the M s of CoFe 2 O 4 nanofibers calcined at 900 ℃ is 87.13 A·m 2 /kg. In a result of vector network analyzer (VNA) analysis, the microwave absorption performance is significantly different with calcination temperature changing. Among them the fibers calcined at 800 ℃ have the highest wave absorption ability. The microwave absorption mechanism of CoFe 2 O 4 nanofibers mainly includes hysteresis loss and eddy current loss. The morphology of porous and fishbone-like generated by calcination can increased the reflection loss, for the reason that this morphology is beneficial for microwave reflection multiple times on the fiber surface.


Transgender and non-binary people are one of the most marginalized groups in the society, exposed to different forms of violence and discrimination, both on the structural and individual level. The aim of our research is to provide a better understanding of the position of transgender and non-binary people in Serbia. In addition to overall socio-demographic characteristics, we explore the experiences of violence and discrimination in public space, during education, at work, as well as the difficulties with legal gender recognition, experiences within the health care system and needs for different forms of support. In this explorative study we used an online questionnaire consisting of closed and open-ended questions. The convenience sample comprised 71 respondents and included both transgender men and women and the non-binary people. Our results confirm that transgender people in Serbia are exposed to violence and discrimination in different life periods and different areas of life, that they do not feel safe and often hide their gender identity. When it comes to medical gender affirmation procedures, respondents are divided between rating them as satisfactory and non-satisfactory. As the main priorities, they see the regulation of hormone shortage, training of health providers on working with transgender and nonbinary people, individualization of the treatment, and decentralization of services. They also voice out the need for psychological support, which can be regarded as an invitation to mental health experts to work towards a better understanding of the specific aspects of everyday lives of their transgender clients.


Recent developments in time‐resolved photoacoustic calorimetry (PAC) are discussed. An equation is derived relating the amplitude of the maximum photoacoustic signal to parameters of a photoacoustic cell, to physical properties of the solvents, and to the energy deposited as heat. The equation is validated by a series of scaling experiments: it correctly correlates the dependence of the PAC signal on cell thickness, on energy deposition, and on solvent properties. The dominant sources of background signal have been determined and the background signal reduced substantially relative to previous work. It is now possible to measure energies and lifetimes of transients in solutions with optical densities as low as ∼5×10−4. Data are presented for the energy of 2‐cyclopentenone triplet, a transient for which interpretable PAC measurements were previously not possible. Its triplet energy is 73.1±1.1 kcal/mole. With reduced background and a faster digital storage oscilloscope, a quite short transient lifetime, 7....


Objective To investigate the present situation of medicine consultation in outpatient pharmacy for guiding the future pharmaceutical care and rational drug use.Methods The data of medicine consultations from 2006-2008 were collected(phone window)and analyzed.Results Simple medicine consultation by window decreased by 13.0% and 8.0% year by year.Over 60% of medicine consultation was about dosage、indications and taking time.Medicine dosage and indications was a decrease trend year by year,but a increase trend for taking time.The main medicine consultation came from the aged people and women.The first 4 kinds of medicine consultation were cardiovascular,incretionary,neurotic and paediatric system,which were accounted for 80.8%.Conclusion The spread of medicine consultation service will be able to promote rational and safety medicine usage,and should be enhanced,to increase our hospital service standard.The medical and pharmaceutical knowledge of pharmacists remain to be improved.Service standard should be raised.


Abstract Background: The aim of this study was to describe the results of the Auditory Behavior in Everyday Life (ABEL) questionnaire adapted to Hebrew and to Arabic and its association to clinical test results in children with cochlear implants. As assessment of hearing by audiometry does not always adequately reflect performance in daily life, questionnaires have been developed to assess functioning in natural surroundings and to track progress. In order to evaluate cochlear-implanted children's verbal and communicative abilities, the parental ABEL questionnaire was developed in 2002. The advantages of the ABEL questionnaire are that it is intended for a wide age range, is quick to administer, and is filled out by parents themselves. Methods: The ABEL questionnaire was translated into Hebrew and into Arabic and routinely used in the clinic. A total of 61 questionnaires were thus filled out by parents of children with cochlear implants (ages 3.9–14.3 years) when they came for routine mapping. Retrospectively, data were analyzed and questionnaire results were compared with performance with the implant on several clinical tests: audiometric thresholds, discrimination (percentage) of vowel-consonant-vowel nonsense syllables, and results of speech perception tests with monosyllabic and bisyllabic words and with sentences in quiet and in noise. Results: A correlation was found between the different sections of the questionnaire, and age at implantation had a significant effect on questionnaire scores. However, correlations between questionnaire score and clinical tests were found only for speech perception tests in noise and not in quiet or to audiogram and speech reception threshold. Conclusions: As has been reported previously, self-evaluation or parental evaluation does not always correlate with all measured results of hearing performance. However, the subjective information collected through questionnaires can be valuable for evaluation of progress, for counseling and rehabilitation training, as well as for mapping.


The literature often has assumed, explicitly or implicitly, that entrepreneurs use networks to develop opportunity, access resources, and gain legitimacy in order to perform and achieve success. Entrepreneurs' networks have become a powerful explanation of success and performance in academia, in the business world, and in the popular press. However, research so far predominantly has relied on static pictures of entrepreneurs' networks, which potentially provide incomplete and inadequate understanding of what actually occurs. Rather than relying on such static pictures of networks, research should rely on and build on a more social-interactive and dynamic understanding of networks. This chapter develops a social-interactive network dynamics framework that outlines various theories, perspectives, and empirical results related to network agency and network dynamics. Thus, this network dynamics framework becomes the core of the authors' entrepreneurship-as-networking perspective. The chapter ends with discussions of potential avenues for future research.


EuS/Co multilayers are hybrid structures composed of a model ferromagnetic semiconductor EuS (Curie temperature Tc=16.5 K) and a ferromagnetic transition metal Co. Recent investigations of these multilayers revealed variety of important spintronic effects, such as an antiferromagnetic interlayer coupling in EuS/Co bilayers [1] and a very efficient spin filtering by EuS electron barrier in Al/EuS/Co tunneling structures [2]. These effects are expected to originate from the exchange interactions across EuSCo interface. In previous studies, polycrystalline or amorphous EuS/Co multilayers were grown on glass or on Si substrate with Pt/Co metallic buffer layer. In this work, we exploit the technological method developed for the epitaxial growth of EuS/PbS multilayers on KCl and BaF2 substrates, in order to study the magnetic properties of EuS/Co multilayers with monocrystalline EuS layer. EuS/Co/EuS trilayers and Co/EuS bilayers were grown on cleaved KCl (001) and BaF2 (111) substrates using high vacuum deposition technique employing electron guns for Co and EuS. Epitaxial 20-60 nm thick PbS buffer layer was deposited on the substrates from heated tungsten boat. The layer thickness covered the range 35-55 A for EuS and 40-250 A for Co. The structural properties of the layers were examined by xray diffraction method revealing monocrystalline PbS buffer and bottom EuS layer. Co and top EuS layers are expected to be polycrystalline. Magnetic properties of the layers were examined using magneto-optical Kerr (MOKE) and superconductor (SQUID) magnetometry techniques. In the case of MOKE experiments, the linearly polarized light from He-Ne laser was used in longitudinal MOKE geometry. Measurements of magnetic hysteresis loops were performed in temperature range T = 4-250 K and in external magnetic fields up to 2 kOe applied in the plane of the multilayer. All the investigated multilayers showed ferromagnetic properties at room temperature due to Co layer with the ferromagnetic transition in EuS layer clearly marked upon cooling below 16 K. In EuS/Co/EuS trilayers grown on KCl substrate the antiferromagnetic alignment of magnetization vectors of Co and EuS layers was experimentally observed as a characteristic low field plateau on magnetic hysteresis loops and a decrease of multilayer magnetization below 16 K. In contrast, no interlayer coupling was found in multilayers grown on BaF2 substrate. In Co/EuS bilayers, the characteristic temperature dependent shift of the magnetic hysteresis loops was found indicating the well known exchange bias effect. We assign this experimental finding to the exchange coupling between Co layer and an ultrathin (about 2 nm) top antiferromagnetic CoO layer known to spontaneously form on Co layers in the air.


This case report describes the endodontic treatment of an isolated canine with a talon cusp. The tooth presented with multiple roots and an associated odontogenic abnormality. This took the form of a dens invaginatus, and may be the first case of its kind to be formally recorded. The successful treatment involved both conventional and surgical endodontic therapy.


"Low-wage employment has increased considerably in Germany in recent years due to the erosion of the collective bargaining system. At the same time the structure of the low-wage sector has changed. It has moved to the periphery of the labour market and career development prospects have decreased. Compared with countries that have minimum wages, the downward wage differentiation is very large. This can be corrected by means of a minimum wage without employment losses. Economic theory sees scope for minimum wages by means of productivity increases or when the firms have buyer power (monopsony, oligopsony). The empirical studies on minimum wages show that the employment of adults is not impaired and that there are slight risks in the case of young people. By introducing a minimum wage gradually, as was done in Great Britain, and with parallel evaluation, it is possible to reduce the risks in Germany too. As regards minimum wages it is not only a matter of 'whether or not' but also a matter of 'how'. Minimum wages are a necessary corrective on labour markets with an unequal distribution of power such as those which have developed in Germany." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))


Objective:To explore the value of RBP for detection of early renal damage in patients with T2 DM.Method:A total of 60 patients with type 2diabetes were enrolled,and excretion rate of urinary albumin within 24 hours were detected in all patients.And all the patients were divided into group A(normal albuminuria group),group B(microalbuminuria group),and group C(Clinical albuminuria group).Another 32 healthy people who got regular check during the same period were chosen as the control group.The BMI,FPG,FINS,TG,LDL-C,UAER as well as RBP in blood and HbA1 Cfrom all patients were detected in all patients.Results:Serum and urine RBP increased with the increase of UAEG showing significant difference among group A,B and C(P0.05).Correlation between Serum RBP and urine RBP showed they were not correlated with patients' age,HbA1 Cas well as LDL-C but they were correlated with UAER、FPG as well as HOMA-IR.Conclusion:RBP can be used for detection of early renal damage in patients with type 2diabetes.Therefore,RBP detection should be carried out in patients with type 2diabetes as early as possible.


ABSTRACT The study compared the academic achievement of 12 children who had attended a public school kindergarten in a rural school in Appalachia with the academic achievement of 12 children who had not attended public school kindergarten. Criteria for selection of the groups were: they entered first grade in the fall of 1969, had been in the same school for three consecutive years, and were approximately the same age. Instruments used were the "Harper and Row Pre-Reading Test of Scholastic Ability to Determine Reading Readiness" and the "Metropolitan Achievement Test, Primary Battery, Form F". Data were recorded for a three -.year period,, 1969 to 1972. First grade test scores were used as the dependent variable and the third grade test was used as the independent.Variable in the analysis of covariance. Findings revealed that at both the first and third grades, the kindergarten group placed above the non-kindergarten group in differences in means. The kindergarten group was primed for first grade, showing a higher mean on the first_grade test than the non-kindergarten group. A higher .mean on the third giade test was revealed for the kindergarten group. However, there was no significant difference at the 0.05 level of significance between the two groups. (NQ)


The article entitled "A critical commentary on followup studies and "desistence" theories about transgender and gender non-conforming children" by Temple Newhook et al. (2018) is a plea to abandon longitudinal studies on the development of gender variant children as they do not respect children's autonomy. A few relatively recent studies are criticized and it is concluded that conducting longitudinal psychosexual outcome studies and acknowledging the children's feelings are contradictory. We agree that the longitudinal studies currently available have their limitations. We do, however, strongly disagree with the authors that studies on gender variant children's development should be abandoned and that our studies do not take children's needs and voices seriously or are unethical. Before we address and discuss a number of specific criticisms in their paper, we first have two general, but crucial, remarks. The authors claim in the very beginning of their paper that the 80% desistence rate of gender dysphoria (GD) is a number that is largely drawn on estimates from four follow-up studies: one from Canada (Drummond, Bradley, Peterson-Badali, & Zucker, 2008) and three from the Netherlands (Steensma, Biemond, de Boer, & Cohen-Kettenis, 2011; Steensma, McGuire, Kreukels, Beekman, & Cohen-Kettenis, 2013; Wallien & Cohen-Kettenis, 2008). Unfortunately, the authors do not seem to be entirely aware of the history behind the prevalence numbers. The first comprehensive and inclusive summary of historical follow-up studies on the psychosexual outcome in gender variant children was provided by Zucker and Bradley (1995). Later, these numbers were updated in Steensma et al. (2011) and updated again and further discussed in Ristori and Steensma (2016). Important to mention here is that in the calculation of the overall persistence rate in the literature the two studies by Steensma et al. (2011, 2013) were never used. Including the two Steensma et al. studies in the discussion about persistence rates by the authors (particularly in Table 1 in Temple Newhook et al. 2018) is in our view an odd choice and a methodologically incorrect one. The reason why both studies were not included is obvious: both studies did not aim to report on the prevalence of desistence or persistence of GD. The qualitative study in 2011, conducted among 25 participants, aimed to:


ABSTRACT The PSI-Cell model is used to predict flow patterns and drying rates for laboratory-scale spray dryers. The liquid feed is water, with atomization producing a spectrum of droplet sizes. An analysis of the cause-and-effect relationships determining droplet trajectories, temperature fields, the location and magnitude of the backflow recirculation effect, and drying rates provides insight into the factors governing spray-air contacting and dryer performance. Independent effects are assessed for spray angle, dryer column diameter, initial droplet size distribution and droplet velocity (separately and as linked through atomizer pressure), air/water flow ratio, and liquid volatility. Inferences are made for effective dryer design, selection of operating conditions, and logic for scale-up.


This article deals with beekeeping, which is a very important element of agriculture. The most important role of bees in the environment is plant pollination. Bee colonies produce honey, propolis, bee's wax and bee bread. The situation in beekeeping in Poland worsened in the middle of the eighties. The number of apiaries decreased 4 times, whereas the number of bee hives decreased 3 times by the end of the nineties. Almost 60% of apiaries have 20 or less bee colonies. Such apiaries cannot become the base of the beekeeper's family livelihood. Only beekeepers that have at least 100 colonies and can get income outside the apiary may have income high enough to fully support their families. They also have to sell honeybees' products directly to customers. Authors' estimates and calculations prove that Polish bee keeping has a chance to develop in the future. On one hand, Polish beekeepers have a chance to get subsidies from the EU. On the other hand, they also have a possibility to gain profits selling their products.


Piezoelectric ceramic transducers (PCTs) are used as the vibration sources for the ultrasonic cleaner. However, PCTs have a narrow operational region and sensitive to load variation. This paper presents the operational region of a class E resonant inverter for extending the PCT operational range. The class E resonant inverter is operated at the suboptimum mode to minimize switching losses of the power switch. The power switch operates the zero voltage switching (ZVS) operation by using the presented condition. Simulation result shows that the frequency response of the class E resonant inverter with the PCT and operational region, compare a current and voltage output at the operational frequency (fm) and resonant frequency (fr) of the class E resonant inverter. Finally, the presented system is verified by experimental result. The PCT can generate the ultrasonic wave for the ultrasonic cleaner at the operational region. The class E resonant inverter works on ZVS operation while the operated duty cycle is regulated.


【Objective】 To probe the therapic experience of transurethral lithotripsy endoscopic incision of ureteroceles.【Methods】 A total clinical documents of 16 cases ureteroceles treated with transurethral lithotripsy endoscopic incision were analyzed retrospectively.【Results】 All the cases were diagnosed confirmly by IVU,ultrasonography and endoscopy and tbe opertation were performed successfully.All the patients have been followed up 5~84 months then the hydronephrosis relieved,clinic symptom disappeared and no vesicoureteral reflux happened.【Conclusion】 Transurethral lithotripsy endoscopic incision of ureteroceles was a simple and effective minimally invasive method and could shorten the operation and hospital time.


In order to respond to the call of the national energy-saving emission reduction,and development and utilization of new energy sources,a set of solar LED lamp lighting system was designed,around the solar photovoltaic technology and LED lighting technology.It introduced the select principles of solar power and the matching methods of battery capacity,and focused on the research of the solar controllers and LED drivers in solar lighting systems which was based on ATmega128 MCU and XLT604 drive chip.At the same time,it made a brief analysis on the selection of chip's power and combinations for LED.The system design has good illuminance and green energy,meeting the demand of the road lighting.


The field of recognition of prior learning (RPL) in Quebec continues to develop with the incorporation of distinct terminology and policies based on the reality of contemporary Quebec society. In an analysis of the thematic nature of the RPL literature, it became evident that certain recommendations and conclusions from past research continued to repeat and remain unresolved challenges in the eld of practice. At the same time, a new stream of research related to RPL and immigrant settlement and integration is beginning to be more prominent. This article is written with the aspiration that the conclusions from the consolidated RPL research will be of benefit to the emerging field of RPL research. As well, this review identifies gaps in the current research and suggests areas for further study. The inherent link between the practice and research of RPL and the field of adult education is that both areas focus on the adult learner. In this respect, this article contributes to the field of scholarly endeavours of RPL, which is based on the philosophical tenets of andragogy.


In this article, we study the mathematical characteristics of the inverse power Pranav distribution. The proposed distribution has three special cases namely Pranav, inverse Pranav and inverse power Pranav distributions. In addition with the basic properties of the distribution, the maximum likelihood method was employed in computing the parameters of the distribution. The 95% confidence interval was estimated for each of the parameters and finally, the distribution was applied to 128 bladder cancer patients to illustrate its applicability, and compared to Pranav distribution, inverse power Lindley distribution and inverse Ishita distribution. However, the inverse power Pranav distribution proved superiority over the competing models.


This paper contributes to the nascent literature on the Community Benefits Agreement (CBA), a contractual agreement between a community coalition and developer that specifies labor and employment standards for a proposed development project. The study presents three case studies on the "California model" of the CBA, emphasizing the conflicts that can arise between CBA coalitions and oppositional forces and how these tensions affect organizing strategies and outcomes of community benefits campaigns.


Understanding spatio-temporal phenomena is a fundamental challenge in the field of Data Mining with applications ranging over a myriad of domains. One such challenge arises from spatio-temporal databases of time-varying data that can be represented by an evolving thematic map. Several approaches aiming at describing spatio-temporal data and predicting future values have already been proposed. Among them, we find propositional approaches that work on a single table, and relational approaches with the ability to work on multiple related tables. We review both types of approaches to association rule learning and regression problems, and enumerate the challenges faced. Our motivating application concerns wildfires in Portugal, which every year have a strong socio-economical and environmental impact in the country. We adapt a notion of spatio-temporal neighbourhood to include spatial direction, propose a concept of simplified border for heterogeneous spatial objects, build spatio-temporal indicators based on these notions, design relational predicates that deal with numerical attributes and include the temporal and spatial dimensions, and deploy a re-sampling tecnhique to improve regression under an imbalanced domain. We apply a relational and a propositional approach to the problems of understanding and predicting wildfires in mainland Portugal, and draw comparisons between the two. We are able to find strong association rules and accurately predict the yearly percentage of burnt area in each Portuguese civil parish in spite of the several challenges posed by this problem.


We introduce curvature continuous regular free form surfaces with triangular control nets These surfaces are composed of quartic box spline surfaces and are piecewise polynomial multisided patches of total degree which minimize some energy integral The B ezier nets can be computed e ciently form the spline control net by some xed masks i e matrix multiplications x Introduction Most methods known for building G free form surfaces need polynomials of relatively high degree namely O k see for example Only recently in this high degree was beaten by two methods giving G free form surfaces of bidegree k with singular and regular parametrizations respec tively These low degree surfaces can be represented by a control net or a quasi control net and can be designed so as to allow for subdivision In this paper we will transfer the method given in to triangular box splines Here we restrict ourselves to G surfaces which are the most important for practical applications besides G surfaces Further details and the general case are presented in This paper is organized as follows In paragraph we introduce n sided G patches These patches are used together with generalized C box spline surfaces to build surfaces of arbitrary topology How the free parameters in the construction can be used to generate G splines that minimize certain energy functionals and how these G splines can be generated e ciently will be discussed in paragraph x P Patches The simplest C box splines are those over the three directional grid of total polynomial degree four In this paper we consider only these box splines A quartic box spline surfaces has a regular triangular control net and each of its polynomial patches is determined by vertices called control points which are arranged as in Fig Furthermore we can identify in any triangular net regular subnets of the form of Fig These subnets determine patches forming a generalized box spline surface A generalized box spline surface has holes corresponding to the H Prautzsch G Umlauf Fig Schematic illustration of a quartic box spline patch gray and its control net Fig A triangular net with a vertex of valence left and the cor responding generalized quartic box spline surface with an sided hole right irregular vertices in the net An example is shown in Fig The control net left contains an irregular vertex of valence and the generalized box spline surface right has an sided hole If every irregular vertex is surrounded by at least three rings of regular vertices every irregular vertex corresponds to exactly one hole in the general ized quartic box spline surface In this case an n sided hole is surrounded by a complete surface ring consisting of n patches How to ll such holes with regular G surfaces is described in the follow ing First for any n n we de ne a special generalized box spline surface that lies in the xy plane and has the control net shown in Fig left for n Its control points are the points cijk j ci si k ci si for i n and j and k j where ci cos i n and si sin i n Thus this surface consists of n patches say xn x n which are shown schematically in Fig right Second we construct n patches x xn lling the hole left by the patches xn x n see Fig right Let xl u v w X blijkB ijk u v w Triangular G Splines


This study provides a data‐rich analysis of the dynamics of government debt and economic growth for a longer period (1960–2009). It spans across different debt regimes and involves a worldwide sample of countries that is more representative than that of studies confined to advanced countries. This study observes a negative relationship between government debt and growth. The point estimates of the range of econometric specifications suggest that a 10‐percentage point increase in the debt‐to‐gross domestic product ratio is associated with 23 basis point reduction in average growth. The results establish the nonlinear relationship between debt and growth. Further, by employing panel vector autoregressions approach, this study decomposes the cause and effect relationship between debt and growth and offers an answer to the question—Does high debt lead to low growth or low growth leads to high debt? The results derived from the impulse–response functions and variance decomposition show the evidence of the long‐term effect of debt on economic growth. The results indicate that the effect is not uniform for all countries but depends mostly on the debt regimes and other important macroeconomic variables like inflation, trade openness, general government final consumption expenditure, and foreign direct investment.


One of the sucess indicator of village is it can provide the population database and the village profile. Tanete Village, in Simbang district, Maros regency is one of village that realize that by providing aplication of population database. Nowdays, the application is so important to provide some information about the population (based on population needs). This research is aimed to create data base model to make the application. The method used is waterfall method which consists of need analysis stage, system plan/program, program by using PHP and MYSQL, program testing, system testing, upgrading, and maintenance. The research result is progam prototype computer base, that the aplication that can provide tho whole population data report. The strenght of this program is it can find the population data based on their address, family card (KK), birth, moving, coming, death, and others. Beside making the report, the application also can provide information letter needed by Tanete village population automatically such as birth information letter, death infomation letter, moving and coming information letter to the another village. Superficial of this research is the sotware application and journal.


As research continues in active networks, the need for security cannot be over emphasised. To successfully maintain an active network it is essential that node operators be able to protect their node and code running on their node. However with the dynamic nature of these networks, a system based on static security would severely limit that dynamism. This paper looks at an approach to providing flexible security management in application level networks (ALAN) in the context of the EU/IST project ANDROID (Active Network Distributed Open Infrastructure Development). We also look at a way of making the system adaptive based on immunological modelling.


We show that the boost-invariant and cylindrically asymmetric hydrodynamic equations for baryon-free matter may be rewritten as only two coupled partial differential equations. In the case where the system exhibits the cross-over phase transition, the standard numerical methods may be applied to solve these equations. An example of our results describing non-central gold on gold collisions at RHIC energies is presented.


This paper developed a 3D physical model of the hydraulic end of a high-pressure liquid hydrogen reciprocating pump to research the dynamic characteristics of the pump valve system. Based on dynamic mesh technology, we analyzed the coupling characteristics of pump valve and plunger motion and spool force considering the leakage model, closure model of valve gap, and compressibility of liquid hydrogen. Further, we analyzed the effect of the spring stiffness and preload force on the laws of motion of the pump valve. Finally, a liquid hydrogen pressurization test was conducted to revise the simulation model and verify the accuracy of the simulation. The results of the simulation and test show that the simulation method in this paper can simulate the liquid hydrogen pressurization process more accurately and obtain the motion law of the suction and discharge valves. Both the suction and discharge valves have an opening hysteresis angle of about 40°, and there is a strong coupling relationship between the spool motion and the piston motion and forces. The greater the preload force of the suction valve, the more obvious the oscillation effect of the suction valve. As the preload of the discharge valve increases, the opening hysteresis angle of the discharge valve increases significantly and the closing hysteresis angle decreases. The results of the research can provide some useful reference for the design of pump valves of high-pressure liquid hydrogen reciprocating pumps.


Abstract In this study, we report the development and characterization of fire-resistant non-intumescent polymeric resin for aluminized (E-glass-based) and non-aluminized (basofil/nomex/carbon-based) firefighting suit fabrics. The prospective coating resin is synthesized via two-step polymerization of polyimide using dimethylacetamide (DMAc) as a common solvent. 3-Aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) is used as a coupling agent and is added just before coating. All the coating samples are prepared by hand layup technique and are allowed to cure (known as imidization) under the oven with increasing the temperature step-by-step from 80 to 350 °C. The imidization of coating resin is confirmed by FT-IR spectra analysis. Furthermore, all the samples are characterized with flammability, adhesion, thermal protective index, heat char and ignition, and thermal shrinkage as per BS 3120, MIL-C-29143, BS 3791, D-5537, and NFPA 1976 standards, respectively. The observed results confirmed that the prospective resin could be a better choice as fire-resistant coating for carbon-blended aluminized and/ non-aluminized fabric.


OBJECTIVE
We aimed to perform a meta-analysis of the literature concerning histopathologic findings in the placentas of women with SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy. Methods and material Searches for articles in English included PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar and reference lists (up to April 2021). Studies presenting data on placental histopathology according to the Amsterdam consensus group criteria in SARS-CoV-2 positive and negative pregnancies were identified. Lesions were categorized into: maternal (MVM) and fetal (FVM) vascular malperfusion, acute placental inflammation with maternal (MIR) and fetal (FIR) inflammatory response, chronic inflammatory lesions (CILs) and increased perivillous fibrin deposition (PVFD). Results A total of 15 studies reporting on 19,025 placentas, n=699 of which were derived from women who were identified as being infected with SARS-CoV-2 and 18,326 as SARS-CoV-2 negative controls, were eligible for analysis. No significant difference in incidence of MVM (OR: 1.18, 95% CI 0.73-1.90), FVM (OR: 1.23, 95% CI 0.63-2.42), MIR (OR: 0.66, 95% CI 0.29-1.52) nor FIR (OR: 0.85, 95% CI 0.44-1.63), CILs (OR:0.97, 95% CI 0.55-1.72) was found between placentae from gravidae identified as being SARS-CoV-2 infected. However, placenta from gravidae identified as being infected with SARS-CoV-2 were associated with significantly increased occurrence of PVFD (OR: 2.77, 95% CI 1.06-7.27). After subgroup analyses based on clinical severity of COVID-19 infection, no significant difference was observed in terms of reported placental pathology between symptomatic or asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 gravidae placenta.

CONCLUSIONS
Current evidence based on the available literature suggest that the only pathologic finding in the placentae of women who are pregnant identified as having been infected with SARS-CoV-2 was an increased prevalence of PVFD.


A conductive membrane is synthesized by dipping PVA/AgNO3 composite membrane with polyvinyl alcohol as substrate into NaBH4 solution and Ag+ was reduced to metallic Ag.Electrical property of the conductive membrane was characterized by surface resistance.The influences of composite membrane composition,NaBH4 concentration,reduction reaction time and temperature on surface resistance were investigated.The better condi-tion is: temperature is 20~25℃,reaction time 3~4min,mass ratio of AgNO3 to PVA 0.15~0.25,NaBH4 concentra-tion is 0.06%.


In the indoor environment,the biochemical composition(protein,glycogen and lipid)in liver after starvation and refeeding on Rana chensinensis David was studied,and the change of primarily energy in term of compensatory growth of Rana chensinensis was analysed.The result showed that the frog used glycogen of liver as primary energy in term of starvation,and then the protein.


ee Median (range) nodule size (mm) 17.0 (9e28) 13.0 (8e23) <0.001 Growth on serial CTs/CT and PET <0.001 Yes 27 (26.2%) 12 (29.3%) No 19 (18.4%) 24 (58.5%) Data not available 57 (55.3%) 5 (12.2%)


Purpose To study the relationship of MRI features and pathologic types of intracerebral ependymoma.Materials and Methods MRI manifestation of 18 cases of intracerebral ependymoma confirmed by surgery and pathology were retrospectively analyzed.All patients underwent plain and dynamic contrastenhanced MR scan,and the relationship between MRI manifestations and pathologic types were analyzed.Results 10 cases were cystic ependymoma which located at the supratentorium,the cystic regions with low signal intensity on T1WI and high signal intensity on T2WI,and the solid regions with iso-intensity on both T1WI and T2WI.Pathologic types of these 10 cases were ependymomas.Eight cases were solid tumors.Five of them located at the supratentorium with heterogenous signal intensity on both T1 and T2 weighted images which were confirmed to be anaplastic ependymomas.Three cases of infratentorial solid ependymomas represented long T1 signal and were heterogenous on T2WI.Two of them were ependymomas and one was anaplastic ependymoma.After contrast enhanced,15 cases were peripheral enhancement and three were heterogenous enhancement.Conclusion Most of ependymomas with cystic and solid component have characteristic MRI features and are consistent with the pathologic type.


The Argentine shortfin squid Illex argentinus is the most important commercial squid species in the South West Atlantic and one of the target species for Spanish demersal trawlers operating on the High Seas of the Patagonian Shelf, i.e. on the edge of shelf and slope of 4547° S and 41-42° S outside the Argentine EEZ. Catch data showed a very high level of biomass in 1999-2000 and the collapse of the fishery in 2003 and 2004. We examined whether these fluctuations can be attributed to environmental variation. Analysis of fishery catch data collected by scientific observers aboard commercial vessels was made to assess relationships between abundance variability of the slope-oceanic winter spawning group of Illex argentinus (CPUE) and environmental parameters. GIS and remote sensing data were used to study the influence of anomalies in sea-surface temperature (ASST) and oceanic circulation. Preliminary results show that relationship between sea surface temperature and abundance is non linear being the highest CPUE found at temperatures between 7 to 15o C. Sky, moon and sea state parameters explain a very low proportion of variation in the Illex abundance.


Abstract The gas-phase pyrolysis of cyclohexeno-1,2,3-selenadiazole and cycloocteno-1,2,3-selenadiazole has been investigated by variable temperature photoelectron spectroscopy and matrix IR spectroscopy. The ring contracted, highly reactive products cyclopentylidenselenoketene (cyclopentylidenmethanselone) and cycloheptylidenselenoketene (cycloheptylidenmethanselone) - which had not been found in liquid phase thermolysis experiments - have been detected. Additionally HeI photoelectron and IR spectra of analogous ketenes and thioketenes are presented for comparative reasons.


Objective To evaluate the value of real-time three-dimensional echocardiography(RT-3DE)in patients with alcoholic cardiomyopathy(ACM).Methods 33 patients with ACM(observation group)and 30 healthy adults(control group)were enrolled.Left ventricular end-diastolic volume(LVEDV),left ventricular end-systolic volume(LVESV),left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF),left ventricular mass(LVM),left ventricular mass index(LVMI)and left ventricular capacity-time curve parameters including Tmsv16-SD,Tmsv16-Dif,Tmsv16-SD/R-R(%)and Tmsv16-Dif/R-R(%)were measured by RT-3DE and two-dimensional echocardiography(2DE).The parameters in two groups and measured by two methods were compared respectively.Results Compared with the control group,LVEDV,LVESV,LVM and LVMI measured by RT-3DE were significantly increased in ACM group(P0.05).LVEF measured by RT-3DE was significantly decreased in ACM group(P0.05).Tmsv16-SD,Tmsv16-Dif,Tmsv16-SD/R-R(%)and Tmsv16-Dif/R-R(%)measured by RT-3DE were significantly increased in ACM group(P0.05).LVMI,LVEDV and LVESV measured by RT-3DE had negative correlation with LVEF measured by RT-3DE(r=-0.864,-0.808,-0.862;all P0.01).LVMI,LVEDV and LVESV measured by 2DE also had negative correlation with LVEF measured by 2DE(r=-0.635,-0.507,-0.698;all P0.01).Conclusions RT-3DE is able to reflect left ventricular dysfunction and asynchrony in alcoholic cardiomyopathy,and provide a reliable method for clinical diagnosis.


Don Watson, Death Sentence: The Decay of Public Language, Knopf, 2003, hb $29.95, ISBN 1740512065. Spencer Zifcak, Mr Ruddock Goes to Geneva, UNSW Press, 2003, pp 92, pb $16.95, ISBN 0868404551. Frank Brennan, Tampering with Asylum: A Universal Humanitarian Problem, University of Queensland Press, 2003, pp 234, pb $30.00, ISBN 0702234168. Geoffrey Barker, Sexing it Up: Iraq, Intelligence and Australia, UNSW Press, 2003, pp 112, pb $16.95, ISBN 0868404799. Susan Ryan and Troy Bramston (eds), The Hawke Government: A Critical Retrospective, Pluto Press, 2003, pp 512, pb $39.95, ISBN 1864032642. Henry Reynolds, North of Capricorn: The Untold Story of Australia's North, Allen and Unwin, 2003, pp 220, hb $49.95, ISBN 1865080306. Christine Choo and Shawn Hollbach, History and Native Title, UWA Press, 2003, pp 276, pb $25.00, ISBN 1740520734. Stephen Kinnane, Shadow Lines, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 2003, pp 414, pb $29.95, ISBN 1863682376. Val Attenbrow, Sydney's Aboriginal Past: Investigating the Archaeological and Historical Records, UNSW Press, 2003, pp 264, pb $49.95, ISBN 0868406783. Martin Thomas, The Artificial Horizon: Imagining the Blue Mountains, Carlton, Melbourne University Press, 2003, pp 314, hb $49.95, ISBN 0522850723. Graham Seal and Rob Willis, Verandah Music: Roots of Australian Tradition, Curtin University Books, 2003, pp 160, pb $49.95, ISBN 1920731970. Shane Homan, The Mayor's a Square: Live Music and Law and Order in Sydney, Local Consumption Publications, 2003, pp 210, ISBN 0949793302. Jan Ryan, Chinese Women and the Global Village, University of Queensland Press and API Network, 2003, pp 210, pb $30.00, ISBN 0702234214. Clare Wright, Beyond the Ladies Lounge: Australia's Female Publicans, Melbourne University Press, 2003, pp 240, pb $34.95, ISBN 0522850715. Ian Burnley and Peter Murphy, Sea Change: Movement front Metropolitan to Arcadian Australia, UNSW Press, 2003, pp 272, pb $49.95, ISBN 0868407720. Robin Haines, Life and Death in the Age of Sail: The Passage to Australia, UNSW Press, 2003, pp 366, pb $49.95, ISBN 0868405493. Melissa Butcher and Mandy Thomas (eds), Ingenious: Emerging Youth Cultures in Urban Australia, Pluto, 2003, pp 220, pb $29.95, ISBN 1864032243. Germaine Greer, The Boy, Thames and Hudson, pp 256, hb $90.00, 2003, ISBN 050023809X. M T C Cronin, beautiful, unfinished, Salt, 2003, pp 104, pb $21.95, ISBN 1876857293. Martin Duwell and Bronwyn Lea (eds), The Best Australian Poetry 2003, University of Queensland Press, 2003, pp 126, pb $19.95, ISBN 0702234206.


Fracture of the distal femoral condyle on the coronal plane (Hoffa fracture) is rare. It can involve either femoral condyle but is more common on the lateral side. A bicondylar type of this fracture is even more rare. This study was carried out on three dogs, which brought to Ankara University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Orthopedics and Traumatology Clinic. Two unicondylar medial and one bicondylar Hoffa fracture were diagnosed radiographically. After clinical and radiological examinations open reduction was performed and the fractured fragments were fixated with cortical screws. After two month the screws were removed.


This aspect of radioactivity measurements makes it possible, by using the data connected with the half lives of the elements measured, to shorten considerably the time necessary for the evaluation of the quantity of a given radioelement in a mixture of many. Several possible aspects of the measurements are considered, and the case of a mixture of the two types of radioactivity (natural and artificial) present on a filter, was examined from the point of view both of the BETA and the gamma measurements. The measurement method proposed remains general, however, and is applicable each time that the half lives of radioactive substances in a mixture are known and are fairly diiferent from each other. (auth)


Based on the properties of polyester-covered polyurethane core yarn,the reasonable process conditions and parameters of dyeing and finishing technology were introduced in details,that is the fabric preshrinking first,pre-setting 30 s at 175~180 ℃,deweighting with caustic soda 4 g/L,and then one bath dyeing with small molecular weight and evenness disperse dyes,and finally softening and setting at 185~190 ℃.As a result,the satisfactory product quality was obtained.


Chinese spelling check (CSC) is a task to detect and correct spelling errors in Chinese text. Most state-of-the-art works on the CSC task adopt a BERT-based non-autoregressive language model, which relies on the output independence assumption. The inappropriate independence assumption prevents BERT-based models from learning the dependencies among target tokens, resulting in an incoherent problem. To address the above issue, we propose a novel architecture named Dynamic Connected Networks (DCN), which generates the candidate Chinese characters via a Pinyin Enhanced Candidate Generator and then utilizes an attention-based network to model the dependencies between two adjacent Chinese characters. The experimental results show that our proposed method achieves a new state-of-the-art performance on three human-annotated datasets.


A PIC code to simulate high intensity beams in hadron circular accelerators, BNL-Orbit, has been implemented on parallel computers already in 1999. The issues of full 6-dimensional tracking and the relevant approximations are discussed, as well as solvers for the space charge problem in the presence of walls.


Recent dental treatments have been changed from tissue removal methods to remineralization improvement of caries lesions by flouride varnishes, mouthwashes and toothpastes applications. But performing this new approache requires the accurate caries diagnosis in early stages, in addition the effectiveness of all this therapeutic regimens can be evaluated only by periodic monitoring of changes occurred in the tooth mineral structure.Optical coherence tompgraphy which abbreviated to OCT is a quantitative non invasive method for dental caries diagnosis that provides high quality cross sectional images of turbide dentin and healthy tissues within the tooth and also it shows the amount of caries remineralization by therapeutic regimens.This device can be used as a chair side machine.According to the studies OCT devices have axial resolutions ranging from 1-3µm that offers more higher resolutions than conventional radiographs and ultrasound images.The aim of the study is to review carries diagnosis in early stages by optical coherence tompgraphy method.


The mechanism of reforming the existing system of international payments and the introduction of international settlement currency for the providing transaction between the countries, rather than freely convertible national currency, are proposed in the article. The name of the international settlement currency –  "Geo" and the title of 1/100 of this currency – "Conti" are proposed too.


A guide to resources of interest to Linguistic students and staff at the University of New England, Australia. Umbrella page for specific assignment help pages for units


Floristically rich exposures near Handapa Village in Hinjrida Ghati have been explored by various geologists and palaeobotanists ever since they were first located and mapped by Subramanian & Rao (1960). Based on the fossil plants the entire area has been assigned various ages such as Mahadeva (Early Triassic). Raniganj and Kamthi formations (Late Permian) by different workers. A new and rich collection of plant fossils from the Madhupur area revitalise the age of the beds and provides additional information to the fossil flora. Glossopteris species dominated the vegetation. Based on the fossil plants Madhupur beds are assigned age equivalent to Lower Kamthi Formation (late Late Permian).


Base fl ow is crucial to maintaining river fl ow during low rainfall periods. The base fl ow estimation is important to water supply and ecological environmental protection in the Yellow River Basin (YRB), China. This paper comprehensively assessed the applicability of four single-parameter digital fi ltering, recursive digital fi ltering, and HYSEP (Stream fl ow Hydrograph Separation) methods across four typical catchments in the Yellow River Basin: Zuli River Basin, Kuye River Basin, Tuwei River Basin, and Jingle sub-basin. We also investigated annual and monthly variations in base fl ow. We found the standard deviation and coef fi cient of variation of base fl ow index through recursive digital fi lter were relatively small. And the base fl ow process line was smoother and more reasonable in typical year and typical storm- fl ood events, which conformed to the damping and hysteresis effect of underlying surface. Thus the recursive digital fi lter method had the best performance, which was recommended for base fl ow separation in the YRB. The estimated base fl ow index of typical basins were between 0.354 and 0.502. In addition, inter-annual base fl ow showed a decreasing trend and intra-annual base fl ow was characterized by uneven distribution, which was subject to the characteristics of each basin. As base fl ow is important for the YRB, suitable assessment of base fl ow is crucial to ef fi cient management of water resource.


Amorphous poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) composite films with titanium dioxide (TiO2) particles were prepared by solution-casting using methylene chloride as a solvent, followed by quenching from the melt. The effects of surface treatment, volume fraction, size, and crystalline type of the TiO2 particles on the mechanical properties and enzymatic hydrolysis of the composite films were investigated. The tensile strength of the PLLA composite films containing TiO2 particles except for anatase-type ones with a mean particle size of 0.3–0.5 μm was lowered and the Young's modulus became higher with increasing the content of TiO2 particles. The tensile strength of the composite films containing anatase-type TiO2 with a mean particle size of 0.3–0.5 μm at contents of 20 wt % or less was almost the same as that of the pure PLLA film. The enzymatic hydrolysis of PLLA matrix was accelerated by the addition of the hydrophilic anatase-type TiO2 particles (nontreated or Al2O3 treated) with a mean particle size of 0.3–0.5 μm at relatively high contents such as 20 wt %. On the other hand, the enzymatic hydrolysis of PLLA matrix was inhibited by composite formation with the hydrophobic rutile-type TiO2 particles (Al2O3-stearic acid treated, or ZrO2-Al2O3-stearic acid treated). These results suggest that the mechanical properties and enzymatic hydrolyzability of the PLLA can be controlled by the kind and amount of the added TiO2 particles. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 96: 190–199, 2005


The elastic constants of tungsten-rhenium alloy single crystals were calculated by simulation atomic method using embedded method atom of interatomic potential. The found results show that elastic constants are proportional to the rhenium concentration up to 25 at% Re at room temperature. By following, we observed the elastic constant C44 dependency of temperature and decreased of elastic constant C'=1/2(C11-C12) when the Re atom addition increases. We have found that a growing instability of the bcc crystal structure. Our parameter calculation model is in good agreement with experimental data.


Tourism in recent years has become one of the most important activities in the world, therefore, the research problem, has been aimed at analyzing some needs of this sector, specifically in Guamote Canton , Chimborazo Province , because even though this place has many tourist attractions, it has had insufficient attention by the Guamote Municipality and the Ecuador Tourism Ministry , hence , the overall objective is to make sustainable tourism development plan in order to convert this place into a national and international tourist destination. The sustainable tourism development plan for the Canton Guamote, has the following objectives as: Realizing scientifically based theoretical foundation of the tourism sector, we conducted a demand analysis by market research; and also conducted a strategic review in which it was possible to analyze the internal and external situation of the canton, achieving determine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats thus developed the SWOT matrix, and then define the business philosophy through the mission, vision, objectives, policies and strategies conducive to the proper management of the tourist attractions.


The influence of misfit dislocations on the surface morphology of partially strain relaxed Si1−xGex films is studied by atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Surface steps arising from the formation of single and multiple 60° dislocations are identified. The role of such steps in the development of a cross‐hatch pattern in surface morphology is discussed.


According to Holcomb and Michaelsen (1996), the goal of education technology (ET) in any discipline is to improve education. In taxation, educational technology can be useful in creating a visualization of the transaction allowing students a better understanding of the tax consequences for all parties involved. Students need a visual picture of what they are studying (Holcomb & Michaelsen, 1996) and that is even more important for the 21 century learner. This essay will diagnose an educational problem specific to taxation courses offered via a distance learning format, determine a solution, and discuss how an innovative educational technology can solve the problem.


The age of big data, combined with novel uses of cutting-edge technologies, has opened a new landscape for emerging businesses in the financial services. Modern finance applications are just emerging and there are divergent expectations of what will happen. In this post Mike Laven, CEO of The Currency Cloud, presents his view of the emerging financial services in light of the research that we have been conducting at the LSE under a NEMODE (RCUK Digital Economy) grant. Mike suggests that we shall expect to see disruptions and changes, mostly on the retail banking sector.


........................................................................................................................................... i Résumé ............................................................................................................................................ ii Executive summary ......................................................................................................................... v Sommaire....................................................................................................................................... vii Table of contents ............................................................................................................................ ix List of figures .................................................................................................................................. x List of tables .................................................................................................................................... x Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ xi Objective .........................................................................................................................................


Listening tests and Mean Opinion Scores (MOS) are the most commonly used techniques for the evaluation of speech synthesis quality and naturalness. These are invaluable in the assessment of subjective qualities of machine generated stimuli. However, there are a number of challenges in understanding the MOS scores that come out of listening tests. Primarily, we advocate for the use of non-parametric statistical tests in the calculation of statistical significance when comparing listening test results. Additionally, based on the results of 46 legacy listening tests, we measure the impact of two sources of bias. Bias introduced by individual participants and synthesized text can a dramatic impact on observed MOS scores. For example, we find that on average the mean difference between the highest and lowest scoring rater is over 2 MOS points (on a 5 point scale). From this observation, we caution against using any statistical test without adjusting for this bias, and provide specific non-parametric recommendations.


mid-μrst century .. Zaccaria also notes (pp. 196–7) that many of the names found in early private inscriptions from Aquileia suggest that its population originated in central Italy. Monika Verzár-Bass conμrms this picture in her study (undertaken with Flaviana Oriolo) of the earliest funerary monuments from Aquileia (pp. 261–83, at 262–4). In addition to the focus on Altinum (and, inevitably, Aquileia), there are studies of the preand early Roman phases of settlement elsewhere in the eastern Veneto that seek to ·esh out our picture of the processes of 'Romanization'. Luigi Malnati examines new evidence for pre-Roman housing at Opitergium (mod. Oderzo) that suggests the in·uence there of regions further south in Italy well before the Roman conquest (pp. 171–91). Pierangela Croce Da Villa catalogues evidence for cultural change from along the route of the Via Annia, laid down in 153 or 131 .. (pp. 211–28). Of particular importance are traces of vici and pagi, sometimes dating to the period before the foundation of urban centres (pp. 214–15). Such details seem to belong to an ongoing process of developing settlement patterns in the Veneto that precedes the arrival of the Romans. A similar picture emerges in Elena Di Filippo Balestrazzi's paper on the origins of Iulia Concordia (pp. 229–57). Two μnal papers (by Gino Bandelli and Ezio Buchi) present the history of the eastern Veneto between the Gallic wars of the late third century .. and the early Augustan period in the light of the archaeological material. They provide a satisfying conclusion to a thought-provoking and valuable set of papers.


Tight-banding approach was found to be an effective approach to gain the main feature of a coupled-cavity structure, frequency and general distribution pattern for example. A two-cavity-coupled system was shown as an example.


Selection indices were formulated in soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merril) using discriminant function technique. The maximum relative efficiency of 106⋅41 per cent over straight selection was recorded when number of pods per plant, days to maturity and number of primary branches were considered with yield. When yield and primary branches were retained and rest of the variables dropped, a comparable relative efficiency of 106% was obtained. Among selection indices consisting of components of yield only, the maximum relative efficiency of 104% was obtained when seed weight and number of pods per plant were combined with primary branches. This was followed by selection index consisting of plant height, pods per plant and days to maturity with a relative efficiency of 103%. Selection based on selection index was as good as selection based on yield itself in terms of efficiency.


In all eukaryotes, the large DNA molecule must be packed into the nucleus of a cell in a very compact manner. The compacted structure consisting of histones, non-histone proteins and nucleic acids is called chromatin. To transcribe, repair or replicate the DNA, chromatin must be regulated in a highly dynamic manner. The regulators are mostly proteins that can remodel and assemble chromatin by altering the accessibility for DNA-templated processes.

Acquired results in this thesis show temporal changes in protein binding using an in vitro reconstitution system based on Drosophila melanogaster embryos for 15 min, 1 h and 4 hrs of chromatin assembly.
In addition, newly synthesized DNA and its associated proteins were isolated after replication by nascent chromatin capture (NCC) in human cell lines and quantified at various times of chromatin assembly. Results from a comparison of both systems indicate that the principles of chromatin assembly are conserved between Homo sapiens and Drosophila melanogaster. In addition, results from both approaches show the association of proteasomal proteins with chromatin that are well-known for their function in protein degradation. Proteasome inhibition causes protein aggregates to form during assembly indicating an important role of the proteasome during chromatin assembly.

Both experimental methods rely on the analysis of proteins with mass spectrometry. Comparative experiments using different mass spectrometric techniques show that using a data-independent acquisition method (SWATH-MS) greatly improves the number of identified and quantified proteins in comparison to classical data-dependent techniques, thereby facilitating the downstream statistical analysis.

Data presented here, contribute new insights about the binding kinetics of proteins during chromatin assembly and suggest that the proteasome functions as a quality control during chromatin assembly.


Films of amorphous aluminum oxide were deposited from vaporized alkylaluminum alkoxide compounds and oxygen. For example, a gaseous mixture of triethyldialuminum tri-sec-butoxide vapor and dry air deposits amorphous aluminum oxide films on substrates heated to temperatures around 400 o C. Transparent, smooth, adherent films of aluminum oxide were formed on silicon, glass and metal substrates. The new precursors display a number of advantages over previously used sources for aluminum oxide. They are non-pyrophoric, low-viscosity, low-cost liquids. High deposition rates, over 0.2 m/min, were observed. The coatings have high purity, high electrical resistivity and high transparency to light. They are excellent barriers to diffusion of water and of ions, such as sodium. These films are useful in optical coatings, as wear-resistant hard coatings, and as diffusion barriers that protect flat panel displays, computer microcircuits, solar cells and metals from corrosion and degradation by impurities. SOME APPLICATIONS OF TRANSPARENT AMORPHOUS ALUMINUM OXIDE Aluminum oxide is an electrical insulator and is transparent to light over a wide range of wavelengths. It is a strong, hard material, with a high melting point and high thermal conductivity. It resists attack by most chemicals and forms good barriers against diffusion of many materials. When an alumina film is placed on the surface of a sodium-containing glass, such as common soda-lime glass, it forms an outstanding barrier to diffusion of sodium ions, preventing their entry into devices such as liquid crystal displays, electroluminescent displays, electrochromic windows


Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the frequency of common ABO discrepancies among patients and blood donors at Chughtai Institute of Pathology (CIP) and the measures taken to resolve them. Thus, enabling timely prevention of undesirable events during transfusion of blood components. Material and Methods: It was a Retrospective observational study analyzing disparity in routinely encountered ABO blood group tests at blood bank of Chughtai Institute of Pathology between Year July 2019 to June 2020. These were detected serologically in blood donors and patients, where discordant results of forward and reverse method of blood group or both were recorded and interpreted by agglutination viewer and microscopic analysis. Results: A total 20,401 blood groups were performed in blood bank of Chughtai Institute of Pathology, Lahore from the year July 2019 to June 2020. Both male and female patients were included for ABO blood group testing. The male to female ratio was 0.96:1 and age ranges from 6 months to 80 years. ABO blood group discrepancies were detected in 33 patients out of 20,401(0.161%). Most common type of discrepancy encountered was weaker reactions in forward group particularly A type blood group due to variable antigenic distribution on red cells Conclusion: It is essential to identify and resolve various blood group discrepancies to avoid acute hemolytic transfusion reactions. Key Words: ABO discrepancies, Forward group, Reverse group.


A method for the simultaneous separation of fluoroquinolones(FQs) by solid phase extraction(SPE) high performance capillary electrophoresis(HPCE) was developed,and in this way,165 samples from 33 large-scale farms in Anhui were determined.The effects of several factors such as the ion concentration,pH value of running buffer,the voltage and the temperature on separation of samples were investigated.The optimal condi-tion was found by orthogonal experiment.The optimal conditions were as follows.UV detection wavelength,215 nm;running buffer,40 mmol·L-1 Na2HPO4-20 mmol·L-1 citric acid;pH 8.10;separation voltage,20 kV.The re-sults showed that the fluoroquinolones residues can be separated within 7 min,and each had a good linear rela-tionship between concentration and peak area(R2=0.9977-0.9997).The average recoveries were between 71.00%-84.58%%.The RSDs were 0.22%-0.67 %(transition time) and 5.41 %-9.75 %(peak area).The posi-tive rate was 9.1%,and the method for detection of antibiotic FQs in large-scale farms of Anhui was set up.The monitoring and management on milk-producing households should be enhanced.


The paper presents a brief survey of the methods for solving systems of linear equations (linear solvers), which could be useful in application to WCDMA network optimization. The methods are scored with respect to their computational cost when base stations are equipped with traditional antennas as well as with smart antennas. Preconditioning in the conjugate gradient square (CGS) method is discussed. We also analyze the technique, which without any loss of accuracy, may reduce dimensions of the power control problem in a multi-service network but is limited only to traditional antennas the smart antenna case must be solved with conventional solver. Theoretical considerations are confirmed experimentally


Three large-scale BFS-HPC (high-performance-concrete with blast-furnace-slag) shear walls are tested and studied in fire under the axial loading of approximately 20% of the ultimate concrete load capacity. The test concerns different maximum temperatures of the side exposed to fire, different time of fire exposure, and with/without polypropylene fiber. By describing and analyzing the deflection-temperature relationships, stress-temperature relationships and temperature field figures, this paper investigates the fire-response behavior of BFS-HPC shear walls under different conditions. The test results show that BFS-HPC shear wall still possess preferable integrality, stability and thermal insulation, in spite of cracking, peeling and local spalling on the fire exposure surface. It is concluded in this paper that the polypropylene fiber can enhance the fire-resistance behavior of HPC shear walls very well.


Nicotinic acid and pyridoxine, adsorbed on electrochemically prepared copper substrates, were studied by Surface-Enhanced Infrared Absorption (SEIRA) spectroscopy. Assignment of the bands in SEIRA spectra to appropriate vibrational modes was based on results of DFT calculations. The role of dissolved gas in deposition solution was elucidated for adsorption of nicotinic acid. Temperature dependence of SEIRA spectral features of both nicotinic acid and pyridoxine was studied in the temperature range 15–50 °C. In order to evaluate the temperature-induced changes of SEIRA spectra of both two adsorbates, the bands were fitted with Voigt profiles and their heights and widths were compared. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression were applied. It was found out that heating even to 50 °C does not induce any observable changes in molecular structure of adsorbates. However, noticeable changes of band intensities and widths were detected and assigned to the partial reorientation...


Internet plays an important role to deliver information worldwide. But the available huge amounts of online information are not all appropriate for children. This paper presents the design and implementation of PIAK, a Personalized Internet Access system for Kids. It aims to assist and teach children about using the Internet in one single and safe environment. PIAK features four personalized components: cross-platform user interface, multilingual support, educative and assistive mediums, and web content filtering. Its design is based on the children's needs inferred from a survey finding. This will enable the Internet access to be more appealing to the children as they can explore the Internet in a controlled environment.


Hard-hitting advice from a principal is the substance of this article. The writer not only profiles the irrev erent, arrogant youngster; but also suggests how the school administrator can deal with his parents, with supportive staff members, and with the student himself.


Three different kinds of glassy carbon (GC-R, GC-K, GC-G) were equally pretreated, further modified with electrochemically deposited Prussian Blue and used as sensors for hydrogen peroxide at an applied potential of -50 mV (vs. Ag|AgCl). Their performance was evaluated with respect to the following parameters: the coverage and electrochemistry of the electrodeposited Prussian Blue, the sensitivity and the lower limit of detection for hydrogen peroxide, and the operational stability of the sensors. GC-R showed the best behavior concerning the surface coverage and the operational stability of the electrodeposited Prussian Blue. For this electrode the sensitivity for hydrogen peroxide (10 M) was 0.25 A/M cm2 and the detection limit was 0.1 M. Scanning electron microscopy was used to study the surfaces of the three electrodes before and after the electrodeposition of Prussian Blue and to search for the reason for the three different behaviors between the different glassy carbon materials. The Prussian Blue modified GC-R was also used for the construction of a glucose biosensor based on immobilizing glucose oxidase in Nafion membranes on top of electrodeposited Prussian Blue layer. The operational stability of the glucose biosensors was studied in the flow injection mode at an applied potential of -50 mV (vs. Ag|AgCl) and alternatively injecting standard solutions of hydrogen peroxide (10 M) and glucose (1 mM) for 3 h. For the GC-R based biosensor a 2.8% decrease of the initial glucose response was observed. (Less)


Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images are used in craniofacial research for diagnosing dentofacial deformities, skeletal malocclusion severity and to assist in virtual surgical planning. There is a need for automated guidance in predicting regions that could most benefit from surgical intervention. As a part of the effort to conduct such experiments, it is preferable to remove soft tissues in the craniofacial region in CBCT images. However, this front end "data preparation" step is non-trivial for CBCT images due to the inherent fluctuations in the intensity of tissues and bones caused by photon scattering of cone beam shaped X-rays during image acquisition. In this paper, we describe our automated segmentation approach for segmenting anterior tissues in more than 600 3D CBCT images with good result, by combining a selected set of 2D image processing techniques in conjunction with certain facial biometric parameters.