I address the need to look at marriage behavior by both males and females in developing societies. Using event history analysis, focus on gender differences in rural, as opposed to urban, Central Java and argue that modern social contexts are not necessarily more egalitarian with regard to the marriage process and gender roles than are traditional social contexts. The findings support the conclusion that, in Java, modern urban settings may be responsible for increased gender role differentiation. Although urbanization has meant better educational access and later, more self-choice marriages for women, it has also meant lower rates of participation in the labor force and the adoption of conjugal norms supportive of women's economic dependence on men. Thus, in rural areas there are the greatest similarity in the determinants of marriage timing for Javanese men and women, particularly with regard to their economic roles: Participation in any type of work delays marriage for both sexes. In contrast, employment facilitates marriage for urban men and indicates their provider role, whereas it has no effect on the timing of marriage for urban women, who are more influenced by the ideologies imparted through schooling. Key Words: gender roles, Indonesia, marriage, modernization. Research on marriage timing in developing countries has been motivated largely by a demographic interest in the initiation of reproduction, and thus it has been largely limited to women. Descriptive research on age at marriage for men is rare, and studies that examine its determinants are practically nonexistent (Casterline, Williams, & McDonald, 1986; Xenos & Gutliano, 1992). Entry into the marital state is not only an important life course transition for men, but, as is the case for women's age at marriage, it is a fundamental reflection of family structure, gender relations, and social change (Caldwell, Reddy, & Caldwell, 1983; Cherlin & Chamratrithirong, 1988; Fricke, Syed, & Smith, 1987; McDonald, 1985; Smith, 1980; Thornton, Chang, & Sun, 1984). When, why, and how men begin their married lives is likely to define their sexual activity, fertility behavior, as well as their family obligations, conjugal roles, bases of financial and social support, and future options, although it may do this in a manner different from women (Cherlin & Chamratrithirong, 1988; Rindfuss & Morgan, 1983; Thornton et al., 1984). In addition, focusing on the differences in marriage processes for men and women can give us insight into gender roles and expectations in the society under consideration. This focus is especially necessary in light of the emphasis placed by most theories of social change on marriage as an important route through which the processes of modernization make gender relations more egalitarian (Caldwell, 1982; Domingo & King, 1992; Goode, 1963; United Nations, 1988). Under the influence of urbanization and Westernization, it is argued, family concerns diminish, and exposure to education and employment increases, resulting in greater independence for the younger generation, especially women. The more substantial gains made by young women are thought to be reflected in more egalitarian and conjugally oriented marriages. Empirical research has rarely tested the validity of these arguments by comparing marriage behavior of males and females in developing countries, however. And the limited research that does exist lends doubt to the universal applicability of these arguments (Malhotra, 1991; Mason, 1986; Safilios-Rothschild, 1988; Williams, 1990). I address this void by examining the determinants of marriage timing for both men and women in Central Java. Using data from the 1980 Indonesian Asian Marriage Survey, I examine the role of family status, education, and employment in determining when men and women enter their first marriages in two contrasting social contexts: a rural area with a predominantly agrarian economy and traditional cultural values and a middleclass urban setting with a more complex market economy and greater exposure to modern and Western influences. …


SYNOPSIS A new line-transect technique for monitoring woody litterfall in forests is described. In indigenous, evergreen coastal forest at Harkerville, southern Cape, branches and trees which fell and accumulated across 50 m lengths of twine over a period of seven years, were counted and measured. Small stems (11–50 mm) were the most numerous component of the woody litter, but branches 110–300 mm in diameter contributed more to litter volume. Accumulated woody litterfall for the seven-year period ranged from 0,8 m3/ha to 38,9 m3/ha on different transects. Mean woodfall was estimated to be 1,72 (se 0,15) m3/ha per annum. The implications of woodfall monitoring for firewood gathering under a multipurpose forest management system are discussed.


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Significance Vitamins are often precursors for the biosynthesis of organic enzyme cofactors, as exemplified by the ubiquitous vitamin B2-derived flavins. Enzymes employ flavins, e.g., to oxygenate organic substrates with the help of covalent flavin–oxygen adducts that serve as oxygenating species. However, details of the preceding reaction of O2 with the reduced flavin cofactor that gives rise to these oxygenating species remain scarce. We have now shown how a flavoenzyme interacts with O2 and controls the formation of an oxygenating species as key to oxidative catalysis. This knowledge will be useful for the bioengineering of flavoenzymes and fine-tuning of their O2 reactivity. The reactions of enzymes and cofactors with gaseous molecules such as dioxygen (O2) are challenging to study and remain among the most contentious subjects in biochemistry. To date, it is largely enigmatic how enzymes control and fine-tune their reactions with O2, as exemplified by the ubiquitous flavin-dependent enzymes that commonly facilitate redox chemistry such as the oxygenation of organic substrates. Here we employ O2-pressurized X-ray crystallography and quantum mechanical calculations to reveal how the precise positioning of O2 within a flavoenzyme's active site enables the regiospecific formation of a covalent flavin–oxygen adduct and oxygenating species (i.e., the flavin-N5-oxide) by mimicking a critical transition state. This study unambiguously demonstrates how enzymes may control the O2 functionalization of an organic cofactor as prerequisite for oxidative catalysis. Our work thus illustrates how O2 reactivity can be harnessed in an enzymatic environment and provides crucial knowledge for future rational design of O2-reactive enzymes.


The MCAO Assisted Visible Imager and Spectrograph (MAVIS) is a new instrument being built for the ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT). It will operate at the Nasmyth focus of "UT4" telescope and it is composed of two main parts: a Multi - Conjugate Adaptive Optics (MCAO) module and two post focal scientific channels, an imager and an integral field spectrograph, both operating in the visible spectrum. The project is approaching the final steps of the preliminary design phase and it is expected to have the first light in 2027. We present the status of the Instrument Control Software (ICSS). In particular, we focus on the software architecture and the interaction between ICSS and real-time computer (RTC), telescope control system (TCS) and VLT Laser Guide Stars Facility (4LGSF). Besides the complexity of the instrument, we present a software architecture that is simple and still maintains modularity, guaranteeing the overall functionality of the instrument.


Diagnostics and treatment of patients often involve several different clinics. When improving quality and efficiency in health care we therefore need to consider the entire pathway from the patient's first contact with a health institution until the final discharge from the hospital and rehabilitation after the end of treatment. A system view is needed to consider the stochastic nature of acute patient arrivals, the variety of pathways through the clinics, and the stochastic time needed for diagnostics and treatment. A balancing of the capacity at the different clinics, in order to deliver health care services in due time, to improve the overall productivity or use of capacity, calls for a reallocation of resources. A successful accomplishment of such a process requires a common insight and agreement by the clinics and therefore representatives from the clinics participating in the analytical process. The clinician participation enables elucidation and use of information on organisational behaviour of importance for the daily operations. This type of information does not appear from the registered patient data and implies analytical tools, which are both simple and intuitive and capable of handling and displaying the type and amount of information needed in a trustworthy and consistent way.


NEGOTIATING WITH IRAN: WRESTLING THE GHOSTS OF HISTORY. John W. Limbert Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace, 2009 215 pages. Cloth $40.00.; Paper. $14.95John W. Limbert is a retired U.S. State Department officer, who was assigned to Teheran just prior to the takeover of the American Embassy there. He and 5 1 others were held hostage for 444 days, from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 198 1 . Prior to joining the State Department, Limbert had served as a Peace Corps volunteer ( 1964-66) in Iran and as an English instructor at Pahlavi University ( 1969-72, now Shiraz University). Shortly after the publication of Negotiating with Iran, the Obama administration named Limbert Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iran in the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. After only nine months in that position, however, Limbert resigned out of frustration with the US's lack of diplomatic progress with Iran. He resumed his position as Professor of International Affairs at the U.S. Naval Academy.The basic premise of this book is that Iran is difficult to negotiate with. It regards the US as the great Satan, and can't move on beyond 1953 when the CIA overthrew a popular Iranian government, reinstalled the Shah, and supported him until his downfall in 1979.Limbert begins Negotiating with a chapter on Iranian history, even though he warns that this background knowledge may not help one comprehend why Iranians take certain negotiating stances. He follows this with four case studies of Iranian negotiating experience, a chapter entitled "The Lessons: Fourteen Steps to Success," and a conclusion entitled "Overcoming Mutual Myth-Perceptions.The first of the four cases deals with the Azerbaijan crisis of 1947 in which the Iranians, working with the West, were able to negotiate the Soviet exit from the northwestern province of Azerbaijan. The second case, and probably the most important from an Iranian perspective, is the 1953 coup organized by the CIA to topple populace Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, who planned to end Britain's unfair exploitation of Iran's most important natural resource by nationalizing the oil industry. The US then reinstalled the dreaded Shah, who compensated his rescuers with lucrative oil concessions. Mosaddegh and his popularly elected parliament may have been Iran's best chance to achieve democracy. Iranians of all political persuasions have resented American interference in their internal affairs ever since.The US Embassy hostage crisis (case three) began in 1979, shortly after the Shah fled the country in the face of a popular uprising and successfully sought permission from President Jimmy Carter to enter the US for medical treatment. Militant students, fearing the US would once again defeat the revolution and reimpose the Shah, invaded the US Embassy in Teheran and held Americans present there hostage. According to Limbert, Washington simply did not realize the historic parallel between 1953 and 1979. Given the chaotic governmental situation in Iran, Washington found it had no one with whom it could fruitfully negotiate. Ayatollah Khomeini was in charge, but he refused to meet with Satanic Americans. According to Western rationale, the prolonged holding of American Embassy personnel in violation of international law, made little sense, given the economic sanctions and reputation damage that Iran would experience. To the Iranians, however, it may have been a case of upholding their pride and challenging a perceived American threat to their revolution. Ultimately, Washington worked with German and Algerian interlocutors - "the right people at the right time," writes Limbert - to negotiate the hostages' release.The fourth case involved a clumsy American attempt to buy Iranian influence to free American hostages held in Lebanon. This, the "IranContra" debacle of the mid-1980s, involved the US, Israel, and Iran. It was played out by Ronald Reagan advisers Mcfarlane, North, Poindexter and S ecord, who worked with dubious private party interlocutors. …


Cannabis sativa L. (marijuana) has been cultivated at the University of Mississippi since 1968 under contract support from the National Institute of Mental Health. The primary objective is to provide fully defined standardized marijuana for research. Confiscated marijuana of unknown history is often adulterated. C. sutiva was grown on three sites in Mississippi in 1968 and on two sites in 1969 and 1970. The soil types were loess (clay) on campus (site A), sandy loam some 300 miles south of campus (site B), and clay loam in the delta region of the state (site C) . Site C was used only in 1968. Land was prepared by conventional agricultural methods and treated with slag at the rate of two tonslacre. Seeds were planted mechanically or by hand at depths of about one-half inch in 40-inch-wide rows with a side dressing of 13-13-13 fertilizer at the rate of 300 pounds/acre. Plantings were made in May, June, and July. Seeds germinated in less than one week if the soil was moist. Weeds were controlled by cultivators and hand hoes. No herbicides or insecticides were used. Weed control was especially important to the young plants, since their growth was greatly inhibited by competition for light, water, and soil nutrients. Plants were watered at least once a week when it did not rain. Plants were usually thinned to 12-18 inches apart when 12-24 inches high. This was best accomplished by clipping an inch above the ground, since uprooting frequently set back or killed neighboring plants. This method allowed greater branching and leaf and flower development. Plants were also side-dressed one or two additional times during the growing season. Many seed types have been planted in this study. One cannot help being amazed at the many morphological variations observed among plants produced by these seed types, and it must be concluded that Cannabis is either a genus composed of more than 100 species or a single species that has not stabilized and that has many variations. We prefer to look upon these plants as a single species, Cannabis sutiva, as first named by Linnaeus. Plants within a given seed type tended to resemble each other and grow at similar rates, although some marked differences were occasionally observed. Plants grew as rapidly as two feet a week during peak growth and were three to eighteen feet in height at maturity. Branches measured from a few inches to eight feet in length and leaves from two to twelve inches across, and the number of leaflets per leaf ranged from one to eleven, almost always odd in number (FIGURES 1, 2, and 3). Plants of several variants were observed to contain many


The matched inkjet ink and alternatives in printing paper by Hp,Canon and Epson were determined by attenuated total reflectance of FTIR.According to the characteristic absorption of infrared spectrum,three kinds inkjet ink were distinguished and identified.The method is rapid,accurate and nondestructive.It provides a new method for the detection of inkjet ink.


This paper sets out some key principles for project management. Managers should be focused at all times on the goal of their project and the risks that threaten them. Projects need to manage goals, not activities to ensure work is done, deliverables are delivered and they are acceptable. The Project Intelligence concept aims to give project and stakeholder management visibility of project risks, their intermediate and final goals and progress towards them. Project and stakeholder management are the main customer of Project Intelligence. Early goal and risk analysis enables management to have influence over the way projects are tested and how the gathering of intelligence will be performed. Intelligence is gathered throughout the project lifecycle, from early reviews to final acceptance testing. The intelligence gathered, enables project and stakeholder management to judge how and whether progress is being made. Further, when problems do arise, the intelligence gives an insight into how the current challenges can be overcome. No longer does the project manager have to make a case for slipping a task, accepting or rejecting a deliverable or releasing into production. The intelligence should make those cases self-evident. Management must learn to appreciate what Project Intelligence can do for them. It dramatically enhances the value of testing to their projects and enables them to manage their projects with more confidence. Project Intelligence gives management better visibility of progress and enables them to make significantly better-informed decisions. Finally, Project Intelligence is usable in ALL development methodologies. There is an overhead perhaps in the early goal and risk analysis, but this is simply better test practice anyway. The intelligence concept integrates well with risk-oriented project management methods, as these methods pay more attention to the test activities associated with all project deliverables. Project Intelligence simply aims to enhance the understanding of the test process and improve the reporting done by all test activities.


Introduction Lithium is well known for its therapeutic effect in affective psychosis. The side effects are peculiar and the mode of action is not well understood. The most serious side effect is the induction of the clinical and EEG picture of diffuse encephalopathy. A case of deep coma has been reported with serium lithium of 1.76 mEq/L and cerebrospinal fluid level of 0.90 mEq/L,l . The effect of lithium in epilepsy is still debatable. Jus et al. 2 had randomly selected eight temporal lobe epileptics. The patients were kept on the traditional antiepileptic medications and lithium was added. It was concluded, that, "because the number of seizures increased in three patients, the behavior became impaired in four and the EEG pathology was augmented in five, the treatment was interrupted about two weeks following the administration of 600 mg. of lithium carbonate". The opposite conclusion was drawn by Erwin et al.:3 , who tried lithium on 17 epileptics. Nine patients showed reduced discharge rate, seven patients did not change and one patient had an increase in frequency of EEG seizure activity, Gershon and Yurnllenreported, that, of 49 epileptics treated with lithium, 60% showed a decrease in seizure frequency. Others implicate lithium in the onset of status epilepticus in nonepileptic patients, when the lithium was used within the therapeutic range 5,6.


The earliest Greek narrative of descent into the underworld (as opposed to summoning the dead among the living) is in a comedy, Aristophanes' Frogs, performed in 405 BC. Dionysus "himself", wearing a lion skin over his saffron robe travels there to bring back the recently deceased Euripides, and Charon, ferryman of the dead, whose name Diodorus Siculus (1, 96, 8) claims is Egyptian for "boatman", makes his stage debut. If Charon is a stock figure in comedy, as is sometimes assumed, his presen...


The method of factorization [3], [4] is used for determining the distributions of the first positive value $\chi ^ + $ and the maximum $\eta ^ + $ in the sequence $S_0 = 0$, $S_1 ,S_2 \cdots $, $S_n = \sum\nolimits_{k = 1}^n {\xi _i } $, $n \geqq 1$, where $\xi _1 ,\xi _2 , \cdots ,\xi _n , \cdots $ is a sequence of independent identically distributed random variables. The distribution of the first jump $\chi _x^ + $ over a level $x > 0$ and its limit as $x \to \infty $ are expressed in terms of the distribution of $\chi ^ + $. Formulas are given for evaluating these distributions by means of the distribution of $\xi _1 $. The results presented supplement those in [8], [9] and [7].


In 1913 the Gordon Bennett race, one of the major international airplane competitions, was held at Reims. France as the world center of aircraft manufacturing and flying at this time attracted flyers from many countries and drew the attention of all those interested in the new sport and industry. The race itself marked another breakthrough, for on September 29 Marcel Prevost shattered the 200 kilometers per hour speed barrier and set a new record of 204 kph. When the race ended, winner Pr6vost sent a telegram of triumph to Armand Deperdussin, the owner of his plane and of the factory where it had been constructed. But Deperdussin read the message behind bars. He had been jailed eight weeks earlier, and his career as an airplane builder was over. So, Deperdussin suffered a great disaster and enjoyed a great triumph at almost the same moment. This aviation pioneer's arrest and subsequent conviction have clouded his name and reputation in the annals of French aviation and business, where he has been almost completely forgotten. Nevertheless, his career was an exciting and important one: he launched one of France's greatest aircraft designers on the path of success, and he supported significant advances in airplane design. From the conjunction of these two factors came France's best fighter planes in the First World War. Little is known about Armand Deperdussin's early life. Probably born in Liege, Belgium, in 1860, he spent his early years engaged in a variety of commercial activities. He worked in a pharmacy. He traveled for a Belgian chocolate firm, but his employment ended one fine day when he grew hungry and ate all his samples. This childish behavior is of more than anecdotal interest, for the same pattern repeated itself later. The year 1896 found him singing in a Brussels night


We obtain results for the spectral optimisation of Neumann eigenvalues on rectangles in R2 with a measure or perimeter constraint. We show that the rectangle with measure 1 that maximises the k th Neumann eigenvalue converges to the unit square in the Hausdorff metric as k→∞ . Furthermore, we determine the unique maximiser of the k th Neumann eigenvalue on a rectangle with given perimeter.


An experimental study has been performed on the single phase flow and convective heat transfer in trapezoidal microchannels. The microchannel was about 270 ㎛ wide, 800 ㎛ deep. and 7 ㎜ long, which might ensure hydrodynamically fully-developed laminar flow at a low Reynolds number. The experiments were conducted with R113 and water, with the Reynolds number ranging from approximately 30 to 5000 for friction factor and 30 to 700 for the Nusselt number. Friction factors in laminar are found to be in good agreement with the predictions of existing correlation suggesting that a conventional analysis approach can be employed in predicting flow friction behavior in microchannels. However turbulent friction factors are hardly predictable by the existing con-elations. The experimental results show that the Nusselt number is not a constant but increases almost linearly with the Reynolds number even the flow is fully developed (Re<100). The dependence of the Nusslet number on the Reynolds number is contradictory to the conventional theory. At a Reynolds number greater than 100, the Nusselt number increases slowly with the Reynolds number, where thermally developing flow is responsible for the increase of the Nusselt number with the Reynolds number.


OBJECTIVES
To describe the creation, implementation, and evaluation of a case-based, interdisciplinary course that highlights laboratory principles for students who have selected a career in obstetrics and gynecology.

METHODS
We developed four case-based modules with questions that emphasize laboratory principles required to establish a diagnosis and treat and monitor each case-based scenario. The cases were offered as a 4-hour elective course during the medical school capstone. A clinician and a clinical pathologist pair facilitated the case discussions with groups of six to nine medical students during 2 consecutive years. Pre- and postknowledge quizzes were given to the students. In addition, a structured evaluation of the course was performed.

RESULTS
Twenty-two students participated in the courses. Most found the format effective and the information useful. There was a significant increase in their related knowledge as established by pre- and posttesting.

CONCLUSIONS
Case-based discussions gave learners a better understanding of the function and complexity of the clinical laboratories, and multidisciplinary facilitation highlighted the value of interacting with laboratory professionals to enhance clinical care.


In a method for automated determination of the electrical energy consumption of a drive system, the drive system includes an electric motor (20), a converter (10) for driving the electric motor (20), a to be driven component (40) and a transmission (30) interposed between the electric motor is looped (20) and the driven component (40), wherein the driven component (40) performs a predetermined kinematic profile. There is a loss model (20a) for the electric motor (20), a loss model (10a) for the inverter (10) and a loss model (30a) for the gearbox (30), wherein the respective loss models (10a, 20a, 30a) various operating conditions into account, the set due to the predetermined kinematic profile, and the electrical energy requirements of the drive system is determined during a predetermined time period using the loss models (10a, 20a, 30a) and the predetermined kinematic profile.


F. L. Kreysig was born on the 7th July, 1770, at Eilenburg, where his father was a practising physician. In his twelfth year he was sent to the public school of Gritnma, where he laid the foundation of his scholarship, and where he remained until 1785, when he went to the university of Leipsig, to study medicine. After four years' residence here, having obtained what we would term a travelling fellowship (Das Kregel-Sternbachsche Stipendium), he went to Pavia, in 1792, and had the benefit of the instruction of Peter Frank, Scarpa, Paletta, and Spallanzani. Returned to Leipsig, he took the degrees of Master of Philosophy, and Doctor of Medicine; and, for some time, exercised himself as


This study was designed to understand parents' attitude towards the education of their visually impaired children attending special and integrated schools. The study was conducted on parents of 140 visually impaired children aged 11-13 years, attending special and integrated schools in the selected districts of Karnataka State, India. The survey method was used to elicit information about their children in the area of daily living skills, recreation and socialisation, concept of special and integrated education, adjustment at home, social and emotional behaviour and sibling attitude etc. Data were collected using the attitude scale developed and standardised by the investigators. Results indicate that there was a significant difference in the attitude of the parents towards their visually impaired children in the area of social and emotional behaviour, sibling attitude and towards the concept of integrated education.


Forty piglets(28-day-old)were divided randomly into 5groups treated with virus and negative group(Ⅰ),positive group(Ⅱ),0.5%(Ⅲ),and 1.0%(Ⅳ).Group Ⅲ andⅣ were given drug(Zhukangsan)at 0.5% and 1.0%in the forage at 36 to 39-day-old,respectively,then all groups except groupⅠ were inoculated PRRSV SCM at 40-day-old.Four piglets from each group were selected randomly to obtain blood samples from the jugular vein for immune globulin analysis at 40,45,50,55 and 53days of age.The results showed that the levels of IgG,IgM,IgA in 0.5% and 1.0% "Zhukangsan"group significantly greater(P0.01)than those of negative group and positive group,and the effects of 1.0% "Zhukangsan"group was the best.The results indicated that 0.5% and 1.0% complex Chinese crude drug"Zhukangsan"in the forage could enhance the humoral immune responses by improving the levels of IgG,IgM,IgA of pigletsartificially challenged by PRRSV,thus build up resistance of piglets to PRRSV.


The invention relates to a steam iron (10) comprising a housing (12), a soleplate (14) and a regulating means (30) for steam regulation, comprising a drip valve (32) connecting a water tank (20) with an evaporator chamber (22), wherein the drip valve (32) comprises a housing-fixed valve seat (36) and cooperating therewith, axially shiftable between two extreme positions the valve rod (34) having a valve axis (28), and an actuator (70) for a steam quantity, (with the drip valve cooperates 32), wherein the actuator (70) comprises a control surface (74), the movement of the drip valve (32) controls, characterized in that the actuator (70) (with its control face 74) (in operative connection with a lever 50) is that pressurizes relative the valve rod (34) depending on a position of the control surface (74) on an active surface (52) of the lever (50) with pressure. Further, the invention relates to a regulating device (30) and an actuator (70) of a regulator (30).


Energy and technology are regarded as two important factors for the development of economy. Under the background of low-carbon economy, growth of energy consumption has become a serious problem and the friction caused by contest over energy resources has also grown in intensity and frequency. Therefore, improvement of energy efficiency has become an urgent task for a nation which is willing to develop its economy. Take the BRICS ( Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) for example, they have become a group with rapid economic development and significant role in economy field. At the same time, the demand of energy has also been increasing rapidly with economic development. Therefore, it is meaningful to do some researches on how to improve the energy efficiency of BRICS. With consumption of primary energy, capital stock, total employees and technology as input indices and GDP as output index, this paper has selected the BRICS'panel data from 2003 to 2010 to evaluate the total-factor energy efficiency in the five countries by using input-oriented super-efficiency DEA model and compare the differences among their energy efficiencies. Then, it has analyzed the influences of technical progress, industrial structure and structure of energy consumption to the total-factor energy efficiency of BRICS from the viewpoints of technology, economic structure and energy factor based on Tobit model. The empirical results show that: 1) The BRICS'total-factor energy efficiency exhibits a low level on the whole but there are significant differences among them, i.e. Brazil's total-factor energy efficiency is the highest among the five nations, followed by South Africa and India, China and Russia are positioned in the third, the fourth and the last respectively; 2) There exists significant negative correlations between energy efficiency and industrial structure and structure of energy consumption, i.e. the higher the ratios of the secondary industry and raw coal consumption are, the lower the total-factor energy efficiency is; 3) Structure of energy consumption has relatively greater impact on all the five countries, and optimizing economic structure only has relatively greater impact on China and India. In general, BRICS have great potential of energy saving and their total-factor energy efficiency can definitely be further improved. In addition, BRICS should improve their total-factor energy efficiency from the aspects of technical progress, economic structure and energy factors based on their own conditions, thus strengthening their economic competitive advantages under the background of low-carbon economy.


To explore the possibility of using electroacupuncture to prevent injury of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra of rats with Parkinson's disease (PD), Wistar rats were randomly divided into a control group, model group, drug (Medoba) group, and an electroacupuncture group.
 Rotenone was injected into the right substantia nigra to induce a PD rat model with single side substantia nigra injury. A rotation behavior observation method was used to observe changes in rotation behavior and apoptosis of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra after electroacupuncture.
 Total RNA was extracted using nano-magnetic beads and retrieved from the DNA using a MagBeads Total RNA Extraction Kit. Rotenone can induce PD symptoms in Wistar rats, and we explored the effect of electroacupuncture in improving these induced Parkinson's symptoms in PD rats. The effect was
 similar to that of Medoba. Electroacupuncture reduced the α-synuclein (α-SYN) levels in the substantia nigra of the PD rats to some extent. We concluded that the content and inhibition of aggregation electroacupuncture can protect dopaminergic neurons in the substantia
 nigra of PD rats. Additionally, electroacupuncture can effectively prevent injury of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra of rats with PD.


Abstract The institutional setting of regional and local government in Italy appears to be characterised by an ongoing process of reform and adjustment ever since Regions were created in 1970. More recently, provinces and Municipalities gained wide autonomy in 1990, and the constitution itself was revised in 2001 to set up what is sometimes referred to as a 'quasi-federal' system of intergovernmental relations. In this context, inter-municipal cooperation also has witnessed several phases and dynamics, ranging from (very rare) fusions, through single-purpose cooperation, to integrated service management (Public-public partnership, and consortia for the management and/or regulation of public utilities). More recently, and most notably over the past decade, inter-municipal cooperation has taken on a new form, consisting in the shared ownership in joint-stock companies. The so-called 'corporatisation' of public bodies, i.e. the creation of public-owned (or mixed public-private), private-law companies and corporations for the fulfilment of public-interest activities, has come to constitute a network of inter-municipal cooperation that appears to represent a shift from an institutional intergovernmental structure of cooperation, to one that is pre-eminently played out in the arenas of public-private forms of governance. The article analyses the literature and overarching trends in inter-municipal cooperation in Italy, and draws on very rich original data on the companies owned by Municipalities in six Italian regions to show how these companies represent the locus of inter-municipal (and multi-level) relations that go well beyond the formal boundaries of local administrations, and are often brokered by powerful private partners.


Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of severely calcified lesions is known to result in lower procedural success rates, higher complication rates, and worse long‐term clinical outcomes compared to noncalcified lesions. Adequate lesion preparation through calcium modification is crucial in ensuring procedural success and reducing adverse cardiovascular outcomes. There are numerous calcium modification devices currently available whose usefulness depends on the nature of the calcific disease and its anatomical distribution. It can be challenging for the interventionists to decide which device is best suited for their patient. There is also emerging evidence for intravascular imaging in guiding selection of calcium modification devices using parameters such as calcium distribution and depth that directly impact on procedural success and clinical outcomes. In this review we aim to discuss the pathophysiology of coronary calcification, evaluate strategies and technologies of calcium modification and propose an A‐M‐A‐S‐A algorithm in managing calcified coronary lesions.


We report an in situ measurement of the interaction of an imidazolium-based room temperature ionic liquid with both pure silver and a graphene-over-silver electrode under an applied electrochemical potential. At a negative applied potential, overall signal intensity increased indicating enhanced ionic liquid concentration at both silver and graphene electrodes. Vibrational modes associated with the imidazolium ring exhibited greater intensity enhancements and larger peak shifts compared with the anion indicating that the cation adsorbs with the ring and alkyl chain parallel to the electrode surface for both silver and graphene. In contrast to the silver, the surface enhanced Raman spectra of the ionic liquid near graphene showed shifts in the cation peaks even at no applied potential because of the strong π–π interaction between the ionic liquid and the graphene. Furthermore, the intensity of the graphene peak decreased in the presence of ionic liquid possibly due to the interaction between the ionic liquid and graphene. In conclusion, these results illustrate the effectiveness of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy to investigate electrolyte interactions with graphene at the liquid/electrode interface.


Vehicular energy network (VEN), as an important part of the Internet of Things for the smart city, can facilitate the renewable energy (RE) transportation over a large geographical area by means of electric vehicles (EVs) through wireless power transfer technology. However, due to the potential security vulnerability in VEN, EV users can be attacked by external or internal adversaries. In addition, owing to the selfishness of EVs, it is a great challenge to optimally schedule the charging/discharging behaviors of EVs to realize regional energy balance in VEN. To tackle the above issues, this paper proposes a blockchain-based secure incentive scheme for energy delivery in VEN. First, a novel permissioned energy blockchain system is introduced in VEN to implement secure energy delivery services for EVs and energy nodes through the use of distributed ledgers and cryptocurrency. Second, a proof of reputation consensus protocol is proposed to efficiently reach consensus in energy blockchain, where the reputation derivation is constructed based on the local trust computing and credibility computing. Third, motivated by the pricing mechanism, an incentive model is developed to stimulate EVs to cooperatively deliver RE to various areas with different electricity loads while maximizing EVs' utilities. Finally, extensive numerical results are provided, which demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed scheme through the comparison with conventional schemes.


The objective of this study was to produce a polyol from spent coffee grounds via acid liquification process that meets performance requirements for use in polyurethane applications. The spent coffee grounds based polyol was characterized and evaluated on a fully catalyzed model rigid polyurethane foam system. The pH of the polyol was 6.8, acid value 4.12 mg KOH/g, and hydroxyl value 302.6 mg KOH/g, which are in the range of polyols used in rigid polyurethane foams. The reactivity study confirmed enhanced reactivity of the spent coffee grounds polyol compared to standard sucrose-glycerol initiated polyether polyols, which can be attributed to higher content of primary reactive hydroxyls. Scanning electron microscopy microphotographs of the foams prepared with 10%, 20%, and 30% spent coffee grounds polyol based on total polyols in the formulation revealed a drained dodecahedron type cell structure with intact cell windows as a clear indication of the closed cell structure typical for the rigid polyurethane foams used in thermal insulation applications. Results of this study confirmed the feasibility to produce polyols from spent coffee grounds with performance characteristics suitable for polyurethane application. The fact that spent coffee grounds are readily available industrial waste generated in instant coffee manufacturing, makes this biomass residue a sustainable source of raw materials for scalable production of polyols for polyurethanes.


Abstract Polyazophenylene (PAF) with a system of conjugated double bonds was synthesized from benzidinetetrazonium chloride (BTC). PAF gave an EPR signal and showed anomalous viscosity behavior on dilution of its solutions. Copolymers of PAF and isoprene were synthesized by emulsion polymerization by the Gomberg reaction from BTC and isoprene. The copolymers show high thermal and oxidative stability.


Objective: This study aims to improve human performance by analyzing the operators" tasks and providing input data on the composition of future SMART operators. Background: SMART is a nuclear reactor for export which needs operators who can satisfy both safety and economic feasibility. Therefore, this study is fundamental research on the composition of operators and this research analyzed SMART tasks in terms of human safety performance. Method: After analyzing 10 SMART EOG in hierarchical task analysis, this study classified task performance types according to task requirements of NUREG-0711 (Rev.3). Results: This study found the task frequency of SMART EOG and 12 operating task types. Conclusion: This study expects that human performance can be improved by analyzing the personal errors, which have the highest task frequency among 12 operating task types. Application: The results of this study can be applied as base data when licensing needs to be acquired.


The cautionary tale about Hans Eysenck is as much about hubris as hypothesis.1 Hypothesis based research is widely thought to be superior to the "fishing expeditions" of hypothesis-free research. But neither is better than the other.

The problem with hypothesis based research is that the originator of …


Summary form only given. In this talk we present a self-consistent model for calculating the lattice thermal conductivity in semiconductor thin films and nanowires. The model is based on the solution of the phonon Boltzmann equation. It rigorously takes into account modification of the acoustic phonon dispersion in low-dimensional structures with the lateral feature size of 10 nm - 30 nm, and change in the non-equilibrium phonon distribution due to partially diffuse scattering from rough boundaries and interfaces. It is shown that the presence, of distinctive boundaries in such structures leads to a transformation of the acoustic branches of phonon dispersion to quasi-optical branches characterized by a low group velocity and different cut-off frequencies. This transformation affects both in-plane and cross-plane thermal conduction in low-dimensional structures. In this talk we also analyze three-phonon Umklapp scattering processes in thin films and nanowires and compare them with those in bulk semiconductors. The predictions. of the thermal conductivity. values based on our model are in good agreement with available experimental data for silicon thin films and nanowires. The described changes in phonon transport in semiconductor thin films and nanowires bear important consequences for nanostructure and device simulation since neither Fourier beat theory nor Debye approximation are accurate at nanometer length scale. The observed modification of the thermal resistance of the low-dimensional structures has to be taken into account in simulation of thermal transport in deep-submicron devices since, it strongly affects the electrostatic, discharge voltage (EDS) and other reliability characteristics. The change in the acoustic phonon dispersion and group velocity may be partially responsible for the experimentally observed drop of EDS in devices based on thin-film silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers.


India, have all combined to reduce very materially the reserves of the drug held in this country, f In these days the production of quinine and other cinchona derivatives is very largely in the hands of the Dutch Government of Java. Against this powerful monopoly we have in India the cinchona plantations in the Darjeeling District and, to a lesser degree, those in the Nilgiris of Madras Presidency. Up to the present the cinchona plantations in India have been left too dependent on the 'purchase of bark, mainly from Java. In the years 1887-J892, when the demand for quinine was small, no foreign bark was purchased, and the annual supply of 300,000 lb. of bark, which produced 2,600 lb. of quinine, sufficed for the then needs of India. As the demand increased,


Advancing studies of neural network dynamics and developments of closed-loop neural interfaces requires the ability to simultaneously stimulate and record the neural cells. Recording adjacent to or at the stimulation site produces artifact signals that are orders of magnitude larger than the neural responses of interest. These signals often saturate the recording amplifier causing distortion or loss of short-latency evoked responses. This paper proposes a method to cancel the artifact in simultaneous neural recording and stimulation on the same electrode. By combining a novel hardware architecture with concurrent software processing, the design achieves neural signal recovery in a wide range of conditions. The proposed system uniquely demonstrates same-electrode stimulation and recording, with neural signal recovery in presence of stimulation artifact 100 dB larger in magnitude than the underlying signals. The system is tested both in vitro and in vivo, during concurrent stimulation and recording on the same electrode. In vivo results in a rodent model are compared to recordings made by a commercial neural amplifier system connected in parallel.


Nine inside beef rounds of USDA Good grade were divided into thirds and randomly assigned to one of three treatments: control (c), mechanically tenderized with 1.9 mm blades (1.9) and mechanically tenderized with 3.2 mm blades (3.2). Raw and cooked proximate composition, thaw and cooking loss percentage, Instron Warner-Bratzler Shear (WBS) values, and sensory panel evaluations were determined. Steaks were oven-roasted to an internal temperature of 70°C. No significant differences (P<0.05) due to mechanical tenderizing or between 1.9 and 3.2 treatments for raw proximate analysis, thaw loss, cooking loss, WBS yield peak force and distance or sensory juiciness and flavor were demonstrated. A highly significant (P<0.01) improvement in tenderness was found due to mechanically tenderizing. The 3.2 mm blade treatment was found to have significantly higher initial and overall tenderness scores than the 1.9 mm blade treatment. The 3.2 mm blades are recommended as they improve tenderness and at the same time may provide additional strength to prevent occassional bent needles.


Group techniques have been widely employed, particularly in situations where there are intentions to change behavior or knowledge. Research evaluating the success of group experiences associated with encounter groups, T-groups and sensitivity groups has been undertaken. However, lack of baseline data, failure to use control groups for comparison, and infrequent follow-up of group members are some of the methodological problems in this research (Diamond and Shapiro, 1975). Generally, the success of the group experience is assessed by various personality tests (DeJulio et al., 1977; Greene et al., 1980) or, less frequently, by evaluation of the observations and impressions of the participants (Shapiro and Klein, 1975; Bramlette and Tucker, 1981). A problem created by the use of personality tests and participant reports is that neither give adequate information about the ongoing group events even though these events seem to be the determining features of group success (Lieberman et al., 1973; Hartley et al., 1976). Further, participants may respond to the demand characteristics of the evaluation by giving false or biased reports about the group experience.


Several key parameters of use to characterize the spatial behaviour of arbitrary partially coherent beams are reviewed. A number of the existing open problems and physical aspects, in which the up-to-date formalism is not completely satisfactory, are briefly discussed.


The invention controls the lost mobile phone from a remote location seupdeukja that prevents unauthorized access to private information of a portable terminal and a portable terminal, the portable terminal to track the current location of the terminal to facilitate the recovery of the lost mobile phone privacy and relates to a system for tracking, since the terminal tracking client device that controls all of the resources of the mobile terminal to the mobile terminal, and transmits a remote command to the terminal tracking client device through a server device, via the terminal tracking client device from a remote location it is implemented to control the mobile terminal. Mobile devices, lost, BREW, applets, remote command,


The separation safety of wedged self-locking anti-vibration mechanism was analyzed and the checking methods were given in this paper.Through the detailed analysis on the principle of the mechanism and the biggest deformation calculated by dimension chain as so as the maximal positive pressure calculated by using finite element method,the analysis method of the separation safety of wedged self-locking anti-vibration mechanism was put forward by the calculation and analysis of the maximal positive pressure.The numerical example shows that the method is correct and with the calculated results,the applicable scope of the mechanism is given.


A differential amplifier circuit is provided to improve an operation reliability by arranging two MOS(Metal Oxide Semiconductor) transistors with different polarities in parallel to each other to operate one of the transistors normally even when the other is defective. One end of a first load(54) is connected to a first reference voltage. A first MOS transistor(51) has a drain which is connected to the other end of the first load. One end of a second load(55) is connected to the first reference voltage. A second MOS transistor(52) has a drain which is connected to the other end of the second load. A first constant current source(53) is connected between a source of the first MOS transistor and a second reference voltage. A third MOS transistor(56) has a source which is connected to the other end of the first load. A fourth MOS transistor(57) has a source which is connected to the other end of the second load. A second constant current source(58) is connected between a drain of the third MOS transistor and the second reference voltage.


This study aimed to investigate the efficiency of the electro-persulfate process in removing acid blue 25 from aqueous solution. In order to optimize the parameters, the OFAT method was used, and the effect of three main parameters, including pH, sodium persulfate salt concentration, and current intensity was investigated. According to the results, the optimal removal efficiency of 94% in 60 minutes was obtained under conditions of pH=5, the initial concentration of sodium persulfate=250 mg / L, and the current=500 mA. According to the results of this study, the electro-persulfate process sulfate process can be an efficient process for dye removal from industrial effluents.


Abstract A finite element model for the analysis of a beat-up process is proposed. One of the main purposes of the analysis is to find the beat-up force required for a plain weave of some given density. The proposed weave model includes one warp and two wefts. Both the warp and wefts are modeled as elastic bodies. Compared to the previous models in the literature, the proposed model simulates the real beat-up process most precisely. Almost all the parameters contributing to the beat-up process, including basic warp tension, shed angle, Young's moduli of warp and wefts and friction between the yarns, are included in the model. Three steps for the analysis of the proposed model using typical FE software are suggested. The proposed method is applied to an example problem to show a limitation of the rigid weft model frequently used in literature. Also, additional example problems are demonstrated to show the usefulness of our proposed method of analysis.


Bedload grains in consecutive meandering bends either move longitudinally or across the channel centerline. This study traces and quantifies the grains' movement in two laboratorial sine-generated channels, i.e., one with deflection angle θ0 = 30° and the other 110°. The grains originally paved along the channels are uniform in size with D = 1 mm and are dyed in various colors, according to their initial location. The experiments recorded the changes in the flow patterns, bed deformation, and the gain-loss distribution of the colored grains in the pool-bar complexes. We observed the formation of two types of erosion zones during the process of the bed deformation, i.e., Zone 1 in the foreside of the point bars and Zone 2 near the concave bank downstream of the bend apexes. Most grains eroded from Zone 1 are observed moving longitudinally as opposed to crossing the channel centerline. Contrastingly, the dominant moving direction of the grains eroded from Zone 2 changes from the longitudinal direction to the transversal one as the bed topography evolves. Besides, most building material of the point bars comes from the upstream bends, although low- and highly curved channels behave differently.


Currently,the study of fantasy fiction has just been unfolding.On the basis of the research production in the modern fantasy fiction,the paper make a carding to the style definition 、the writing actuality and criticisms of modern fantasy.It is about the fantasy through the literature-anthropology,and point out that "tabu" and " Secondary World" was the key to get the major characteristic and significance of fantasy.The existence of fantasy has great significance not only to the literature history,but also to the human's ideology.


31 Objectives: Mental health disorders are major contributors to disease burden in older 32 people. Deficient status of folate and the metabolically related B-vitamins may be 33 implicated in these conditions. This study aimed to investigate folate, vitamin B12, 34 vitamin B6 and riboflavin in relation to depression and anxiety in aging and also 35 considered the role of fortified foods as a means of optimizing B-vitamin status and 36 potentially reducing the risk of these mental health disorders. 37 Design: The TUDA aging study was a cross-sectional cohort study. 38 Setting and Participants: Community-dwelling adults (n = 5186; ≥ 60 years) recruited 39 from two jurisdictions within the island of Ireland from 2008 to 2012. 40 Measures: Depression and anxiety were assessed using the Centre for 41 Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) and the Hospital Anxiety and 42 Depression (HAD) scales, respectively. The following B-vitamin biomarkers were 43 measured: red blood cell folate, serum total vitamin B12, plasma pyridoxal-544 phosphate (PLP; vitamin B6) and erythrocyte glutathione reductase activation 45 coefficient (EGRac; riboflavin). 46 Results: Biomarker values in the lowest 20% of status for folate (Odds Ratio (OR) 47 1.79; 95% CI 1.23-2.61), vitamin B6 (OR 1.45; 1.01-2.06) or riboflavin (OR 1.56; 1.1048


Nowadays, organizations of all forms and sizes are facing many challenges with regards to protecting their data, systems and devices, and one of the alarming concernsis the Insider threat. Insiders try to misuse their privileges to compromise the privacy, integrity and accessibility of the data or the device. An Insider attack leads to immense loss to the company in terms of integrity, trust and revenue. There are many Machine Learning approaches to detect malicious insiders that provide solutions to these attacks. At the same time, they demonstrated short-comings with regards to performance and Accuracy. Therefore, in this paper, a novel machine learning model is proposed using XGBoost algorithm to address these problems. XGBoost is a decision-tree based ensemble machine learning algorithm that uses a gradient boosting framework that improves speed and performance. Hyper-parameter optimization using Grid Search was applied to enhance the performance of the model using the CERT 4.2 dataset to detect the insider. The model has generated the desired results with a high accuracy rate of 98.6%. A webform was also created using Flask Micro Web Framework that takes user attributes as an input and detects insider activity using the XGBoost model.


There were several episodes of metamorphism in the Cathaysia Block. The Caledonian metamorphism occurred over the most area, and the highest grade was up to granulite facies. The granulites scatter over the Cathaysia Block with NE direction parallel to orogeny belt. It is proposed that the metamorphism took place in the orogenic setting, which likely resulted from the assembling and colliding of the Yangtze Block to the northern Gondwanaland, leading to deformation and metamorphism of sediments in the passive continental margin of the northern Gondwanaland. According to LA ICP-MS zircon U-Pb dating results of the Meixian gneiss and Xingning migmatite in eastern Guangdong Province and geochronological data of the monazites from nearby metamorphic rocks, the Hercynian metamorphism in the Cathaysia Block mainly took place at 260~280 Ma, younger than the typical Hercynian orogeny event in the central European continent. The Hercynian metamorphism in the Cathaysia Block was locally distributed, and probably occurred under the extension setting. The Indosinian metamorphism was wider in the Cathaysia Block, and the metamorphic grade in the Darongshan-Shiwandashan area at southwestern Cathaysia might reach granulite facies. The metamorphism in other regions was characterized by middle-low pressure faceis series, which might be related with the extension setting in late Indosinian orogeny. LA ICP-MS zircon U-Pb isotope analyses indicate that the Indosinian metamorphism in the central Cathaysia occurred at 231~232 Ma. The Yanshanian metamorphic rocks, which are distributed along the coastal area of southeastern China and Central Range of Taiwan, show the feature of paired metamorphic belts. It probably suggests that the metamorphism be closely related with the subduction of Pacific Ocean under the southeastern China. The directions of metamorphic belt were different from Indosinian to Yanshanian events, indicating that tectonic regime influencing the Cathaysia Block was transformed in these two episodes.


The present study analyses the role of NREGA in managing water resources in Mayiladuthurai block, Nagapattinam district. NREGA aims at reducing rural poverty and unemployment in India. Simultaneously, the programme focuses on water and soil conservation. The present study analyses the contribution and changes created by NREGA in managing water resources. The funds of NREGA have served for managing water resources to some extent and limited towards other infrastructure creation in the Mayiladuthrai Block. As a result, the depth water reservoirs and ground water level has increased to meagre level. The present study suggests to the panchyat to discuss with the local people before implementation NREGA works and record the same for the reference. Besides, allocation of more funds can make wider changes and the Government has to sanction more funds to achieve wider development. NGOs and local institutions have to come forward to create the awareness among the local people about the Act and its regulations.


Some of the most significant computational ideas in neuroscience for learning behavior in response to reward and penalty are reinforcement learning algorithms. This technique can be used to train an artificial intelligent (AI) agent to serve as a virtual assistant and a helper. The goal of this study is to determine whether combining a reinforcement learning-based Virtual AI assistant with play therapy. It can benefit wheelchair-bound youngsters with Down syndrome. This study aims to employ play therapy methods and Reinforcement Learning (RL) agents to aid children with Down syndrome and help them enhance their abilities like physical and mental skills by playing games with them. This Agent is designed to be smart enough to analyze each patient's lack of ability and provide a specific set of challenges in the game to improve that ability. Increasing the game's difficulty can help players develop these skills. The agent should be able to assess each player's skill gap and tailor the game to them accordingly. The agent's job is not to make the patient victorious but to boost their morale and skill sets in areas like physical activities, intelligence, and social interaction. The primary objective is to improve the player's physical activities such as muscle reflexes, motor controls and hand-eye coordination. Here, the study concentrates on the employment of several distinct techniques for training various models. This research focuses on comparing the reinforcement learning algorithms like the Deep Q-Learning Network, QR-DQN, A3C and PPO-Actor Critic. This study demonstrates that when compared to other reinforcement algorithms, the performance of the AI helper agent is at its highest when it is trained with PPO-Actor Critic and A3C. The goal is to see if children with Down syndrome who are wheelchair-bound can benefit by combining reinforcement learning with play therapy to increase their mobility.


A method' of grading men according to their physical performance is described. The ,results obtained in the case of 238 men in Category Al are presented. Five main grades and five intermediate grades are suggested, based on the results of three tests. The method is simple and could be readily applied to large numbers. If, after a more extensive trial, the results were found to be reliable, it is suggested that the physical grade would be of considerable value in determining the branch of the Service to which a man should be posted. •


We studied the effect of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication in 43 consecutive H. pylori-infected patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. H. pylori was eradicated with antibiotics in 41 of them (95.3%). The difference between the mean platelet count before and after therapy was statistically significant (54.3 × 109/l vs. 119.1 × 109/l; P < 0.001). A sustained remission was observed in 20 patients (48.8%), after a median follow-up of 31.2 months. None of the patients still infected by H. pylori after therapy reached normal platelet values. The long-term follow-up confirms the efficacy of H. pylori eradication in H. pylori-infected ITP patients.


By Laplace transforming the Fourier expansion of the odd periodic extension of the square wave and then taking inverse transforms on the result, we arrive at a representation of this periodic function as an infinite combination of delayed step functions. This helps to clarify the connection between solutions obtained for constant coefficient linear differential equations with periodic step forcing functions, when using, on the one hand, the Fourier Series approach and on the other, the Laplace transform [1], [2].


C ontinuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) induces substantial morphological meso thelial cell changes, as shown by ultrastructural studies (14). Cell injury occurs mainly because the composition of dialysis solutions is far from that required to keep the mesothelium within the limits of homeostatic physiology (5). Cultured human mesothelial cells, incubated for 18 hours in commercially available solutions, also developed severe morphological changes (6). However, in this experimental setup the chemical composition of the fluid used for incubation never changes, at least at a rate comparable to that observed during peritoneal dialysis (7). The present investigation was designed to overcome this limitation. Observations were made by using the en face or imprint technique (8,9) to obtain a flat monolayer of cells from the visceral mesothelium covering the surface of the liver. Briefly, after ether anesthesia, the abdominal walls of mice were opened, and slides coated with 0.50/0-1% agar were applied for 15-20 seconds on the liver surface, peeling off the monolayer. After flXation with methanol, samples were stained with the appropriate technique. Consequently, the mesothelial cell monolayer was kept in its normal habitat group during the experimental period.


Background. An increase in a quantity of children with acute renal insufficiency associated with infectious diseases, including COVID-19 is a growing problem in nephrology. Such insufficiency is often expressed in pyelonephritis. Due to a lack of specific signs or obvious clinical symptoms and their correct interpretation, acute renal insufficiency against the background of COVID-19 is first identified in the period of steady worsening of the kidney functioning. An accurate non-invasive diagnostic test is yet to be fully developed, therefore, determination of the mechanisms of complications is considered to be challenging and can contribute to the formation of irreversible renal injury.Objective — to determine and evaluate characteristics of the renal status in children with acute pyelonephritis against the background of COVID-19.Methods. A retrospective observational cohort clinical study of 65 children with acute pyelonephritis was carried out. The study also included a control group of 20 healthy children, who were observed during routine health checkup. The patients were observed at the Nephrology Unit, Samarkand Regional Pediatric Multidisciplinary Medical Center, Uzbekistan. Laboratory examination was carried out on the basis of Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory, Samarkand Regional Pediatric Multidisciplinary Medical Center, Uzbekistan, and Laboratory of Innova Clinic, Uzbekistan. The study was conducted from January 2021 to December 2022 and involved participants with the history of COVID-19 before treatment. Thus, two cohorts were formed: group 1 comprised 30 children with acute pyelonephritis and without a history of COVID-19; group 2 consisted of 35 patients with acute pyelonephritis against the background of COVID-19. In order to evaluate the renal status, examination of the glomeruli, proximal and distal tubules was carried out. The study included investigation of "urinary syndrome" indicators — leukocyturia of neutrophil origin, microhematuria, proteinuria, and bacteriuria. The obtained laboratory data were analyzed using variance and given in SI System — the International System of Units. The calculations were carried out using StatPlus 7 (AnalystSoft Inc., USA).Results. Renal function is decreased in an acute period due to reduced functionality of concentration and distal tubule, which were more significantly affected in group 2. Inflammatory changes in the renal tissue due to the toxic effects of coronavirus infection underlie the abnormalities detected. The history of COVID-19 is reckoned from the date of admission and ranges from 3 weeks to 2 months. Renal insufficiency in children with COVID-19 history is manifested irrespective of their clinical polymorphism, due to impairment of its tubular structures (reabsorption, acidogenesis and ammoniogenesis, osmotic concentration) and glomerular filtration. A statistically significant reduction in acidogenesis (p = 0.001) was recorded in patients with acute COVID-associated pyelonephritis.Conclusion. Children with COVID-19 respiratory symptoms require monitoring their renal functions for early diagnosis and treatment. Long-term monitoring of patients with isolated urinary syndrome in the acute period is needed to detect the underlying renal disease.


Abundant dialectical ideas are contained in calculus .The article, according to the epistemology of dialectical materialism, based on the unification between theory and practice, demonstrates the abundant dialectical ideas in it, through the analysis on the differential and the integral, the finite and the infinite, the discontinuous and the continuous, straight line and curve, the exceptive and the general in specific cases.


Based on the gravity field model EGM2008(with degree 2190)and the digital elevation model SRTM,under the frame of Molodensky theory,a 15'×15' quasi-geoid of Xinjiang area was determined.By comparing with 15 GPS/leveling points distributed separately in Xinjiang area,it is demonstrated that the accuracy of the determined 15'×15' quasi-geoid of Xinjiang area is 0.2m.


I present theoretical calculations for Higgs-boson and top-quark production, including high-order soft-gluon corrections. I discuss charged-Higgs production in association with a top quark or a W boson, as well as single-top and top-antitop production. Total cross sections as well as transverse-momentum and rapidity distributions of the top quark or the Higgs boson are presented for various LHC energies.


This research analyzes the implementation of a Mediation Program in a high school in Madrid, taking into consideration the group participants' perception of the difficulties. During the academic year (2011-2012) meetings and training activities, as well as several focus groups were developed. Once the process was over some difficulties at different levels were observed (lack of involvement, internal and external coordination difficulties, among others aspects). On the other hand, the participants also expressed their satisfaction with the Mediation Program (as it facilitated a better coexistence in their school or the development of personal skills). Furthermore, some participants' suggestions to improve the Mediation Program are presented. Finally, the necessity of contextualizing these projects within a long term perspective is pointed out. It seems a key factor to be able to prioritize short term objectives, and to consider at least a period of two years for a successful implementation of the program and to carry on with the process in spite of difficulties.


The contents of cell wall substance,(total) cellulose,pectin and lignin in 88 samples of flue-cured(tobacco) from six provinces in China were measured. The findings were as follows: 1) the contents of cell wall substance,(total) cellulose,pectin and lignin were in the ranges of 26%-35%,13%-18%,5%-9% and 3.5%-(7.5%,) respectively;2) there were little differences of cell wall substance,total cellulose,pectin and lignin(levels) between the same grade tobacco leaves from different areas,except that the tobacco leaf from Bijie City in Guizhou Province showed slightly higher levels and the tobacco leaf from Mile County in Yunnan Province showed slightly lower levels;3) the contents of cell wall substance,total cellulose and pectin were lower in higher grade(tobacco) of the same cultivar and growing area,while the lignin content was contrary;4) the stalk positions in the(order) of the content of cell wall substance were lower leaves upper leaves cutters,the content of pectin(increased) and the contents of total cellulose and lignin decreased with the rise of stalk position;5) the color of leaves of the same stalk position in the order of contents of cell wall substances,total cellulose and lignin was lemon (orange,) while for pectin,it was contrary;6) the content of cell wall substance in moderate body leaf and that of total cellulose in the leaf with thicker body were the lowest,the pectin content increased and lignin content decreased with the increase of tobacco thickness;7) the contents of cell wall substance and total cellulose in the leaves with rich oil were the least and those with poor oil were the highest,the lignin content was slightly increased with the(decrease) of leaf oil,there was no significant relationship between the pectin content and leaf oil.


In sensory neurons (SNs) of adult Aplysia, serotonin (5-HT)-induced spike broadening has long been implicated as important for synaptic facilitation [spike duration–dependent (SDD) facilitation], particularly at nondepressed synapses. At depressed synapses, spike broadening has less impact on synaptic facilitation; under these conditions, 5-HT induces a spike duration–independent (SDI) form of facilitation (Byrne and Kandel, 1996). It has been difficult to dissociate clearly the cellular mechanisms underlying these two forms of facilitation. However, the observation that a major form of spike broadening emerges late in juvenile development (Marcus and Carew, 1998) provides a unique opportunity to examine the relationship between spike broadening and synaptic facilitation in juvenile Aplysia. We have identified three forms of synaptic plasticity in juvenile Aplysia: homosynaptic depression, SDD facilitation, and SDI facilitation. We show that homosynaptic depression is fully developed in the juvenile and that 5-HT reliably induces synaptic facilitation at depressed synapses. However, in nondepressed synapses, 5-HT–induced facilitation is not reliable. Further analysis revealed that the relationship between spike broadening and synaptic facilitation for nondepressed synapses is the inverse of that in adults. Surprisingly, in juveniles, minor spike broadening induced by 5-HT results in significant synaptic facilitation, whereas major spike broadening, when it occurs, does not. These results suggest a model in which juvenile synapses predominantly use SDI facilitation, and with the emergence of major spike broadening, a developmentally transient inhibitory process emerges. This inhibitory process seems to be independent of major spike broadening induced by 5-HT because directly broadening the spike with 4-aminopyridine induces adult-like SDD synaptic facilitation. Finally, in the adult, the inhibitory process is either lost or masked, and SDD facilitation predominates at nondepressed synapses.


This paper addresses the condition monitoring and diagnostics of twelve-pulse load commutated inverter drive systems, focusing on the occurrence of faults of the open-switch type in the power converters. The results presented are based on different monitoring techniques, namely, mechanical vibrations, axial leakage flux and temperature measurements. The goal of this study is to analyse the variations imposed by a fault in some critical parameters, related to the operating conditions and electromechanical limits of the drive, in order to introduce fault-tolerant characteristics and, therefore, increasing its survivability.


This paper introduces an electrocardiogram beat classification method based on deep belief networks. This method includes two parts: feature extraction and classification. In the feature extraction part, features are extracted from the original electrocardiogram signal: including features extracted by deep belief networks and timing interval features. Several classifiers are selected to classify the electrocardiogram beat, and nonlinear support vector machine with Gaussian kernel achieves the best classification accuracy, reaching 98.49. Compared with other similar methods on electrocardiogram beat classification, our method can improve the recognition performance of some types of electrocardiogram beats.


Abstract We study the problem of controlling chaotic behavior of a two parameter laser system.We give different equations for controlling chaos with different parameters and compare their effects. Numerical results show that chaotic states of laser output can be controlled to 1P,2P,…2 n P,P standing for period.We find that each equation obeys a definite rule.Finally,we analyze and discuss some related problems.


Abstract During the past century, traditional ownership, control, and use of coral reef habitats in the U.S.‐affiliated islands in the Pacific have declined, exposing them to increased construction for plantation, transportation, military, urban, aquaculture, fisheries, mineral, and resort development. Dredging, filling, and other construction in coral reef and related ecosystems are expected to continue at high levels. Collectively, these activities have resulted in major adverse ecological impacts, many of which can be avoided or reduced to minor levels. Improvements in the design, siting, and construction of coastal projects can be accomplished by early integration of environmental objectives. Ecological baseline surveys; environmental impact assessments; regulatory conditions; guidelines and standards during construction; monitoring of construction; post‐construction evaluation; and long‐range research, planning, and management are among the most useful of the environmental tools to describe reefs and...


Osteoporosis, or porous bone, is a disease characterized by low bone mass and structural deterioration of bone tissue, leading to bone fragility and an increased susceptibility to fractures of the hip, spine, and wrist. Osteoporosis is a disease that can often be prevented and treated. Bone is living, growing tissue. It is made mostly of collagen, a protein that provides a soft framework, and calcium phosphate, a mineral that adds strength and hardens the framework. This combination of collagen and calcium makes bone strong yet flexible to withstand stress. More than 99% of the body calcium is contained in the bones and teeth. The remaining 1% is found in the blood.


Ainslie T. Embree is Professor emeritus of History at Columbia University. He is currently teaching at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. His books include India's Search for National Identity; Imagining India: Essays on Indian History; and Utopias in Conflict: Religion and Nationalism in India (California, 1990). He was Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of Asian History (4 vols.) and Sources of Indian Tradition (2 vols.).


At the beginning of the Romantic period, representations of gypsies change: gypsies remain strange, but are becoming English; they 'gain a greater aesthetic right to be in that landscape, and become legitimate parts of it' and during this period they become a relevant issue in constructing English identity3. Houghton-Walker also concludes to a 'dramatically different attitude to gypsies' in English literature of the Romantic period, compared to German literature4. She pays ample attention to the German representations because during the period she is focusing on, these were mainly positive, at least in 'high' literature. There even developed the 'category' of Zigeunerromantik (Gypsy romanticism) which is absent in English romantic literature. Only in the Victorian period in England gypsies became an object of 'nostalgia and longing' (2014: 24). Houghton-Walker refers to a


Global land-atmosphere energy and carbon fluxes are key drivers of the Earth’s climate system. Their assessment over a wide range of climates and biomes is therefore essential (i) for a better understanding and characterization of land-atmosphere exchanges and feedbacks and (ii) for examining the effect of climate change on the global water, energy and carbon cycles.

Large-sample datasets such as the FLUXNET2015 dataset (Pastorello et al., 2020) foster the use of machine learning (ML) techniques as a powerful addition to existing physically-based modelling approaches. Several studies have investigated ML techniques for assessing energy and carbon fluxes, and while across-site variability and the mean seasonal cycle are typically well predicted, deviations from mean seasonal behaviour remains challenging (Tramontana et al., 2016).

In this study we examine the importance of memory effects for predicting energy and carbon fluxes at half-hourly and daily temporal resolutions. To this end, we train a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM, Hochreiter and Schmidthuber, 1997), a recurrent neural network with explicit memory, that is particularly suited for time series predictions due to its capability to store information over longer (time) sequences. We train the LSTM on a large number of FLUXNET sites part of the FLUXNET2015 dataset using local meteorological forcings and static site attributes derived from remote sensing and reanalysis data.

We evaluate model performance out-of-sample (leaving out individual sites) in a 10-fold cross-validation. Additionally, we compare results from the LSTM with results from another ML technique, XGBoost (Chen and Guestrin, 2016), that does not contain system memory. By analysing the differences in model performances of both approaches across various biomes, we investigate under which conditions the inclusion of memory might be beneficial for modelling energy and carbon fluxes.

References:

Chen, Tianqi, and Carlos Guestrin. "Xgboost: A scalable tree boosting system." Proceedings of the 22nd acm sigkdd international conference on knowledge discovery and data mining. 2016.

Hochreiter, Sepp, and Jürgen Schmidhuber. "Long short-term memory." Neural computation 9.8 (1997): 1735-1780.

Pastorello, Gilberto, et al. "The FLUXNET2015 dataset and the ONEFlux processing pipeline for eddy covariance data." Scientific data 7.1 (2020): 1-27

Tramontana, Gianluca, et al. "Predicting carbon dioxide and energy fluxes across global   FLUXNET sites with regression algorithms." Biogeosciences 13.14 (2016): 4291-4313.


The wake characteristics of a rotorcraft are affected by the proximity of a rotor to the ground surface, especially during hover. Ground effect is encountered when the rotor disk is within a distance of a few rotor radii above the ground surface and results in an increase in thrust for a given power relative to that same power condition with the rotor out of ground effect. Although this phenomenon has been highly documented and observed since the beginning of the helicopter age, there is still a relatively little amount of flow-field data existing to help understand its features. Joint Army and NASA testing was conducted at NASA Langley Research Center using a powered rotorcraft model in hover at various rotor heights and thrust conditions in order to contribute to the complete outwash data set. The measured data included outwash velocities and directions, rotor loads, fuselage loads, and ground pressures. The researchers observed a linear relationship between rotor height and percent download on the fuselage, peak mean outwash velocities occurring at radial stations between 1.7 and 1.8 r/R regardless of rotor height, and the measurement azimuthal dependence of the outwash profile for a model incorporating a fuselage. Comparisons to phase-locked PIV data showed similar contours but a more contracted wake boundary for the PIV data. This paper describes the test setup and presents some of the averaged results.


The Pre-Qin and Han Dynasties are the crucial period for the evolution of JIE Zi-tui's story.In this period,recorders has completed the creation of JIE Zi-tui's hermit image by adding new elements to the story.It is also the beginning for the combination of JIE Zi-tui's story into folklore.JIE Zi-tui's story was changed from historiographer narrative into folk narrative.It was the folk narrative that made the JIE Zi-tui story vigorous and the meaning renewable.


Nanometer antimony trioxide powder has been prepared by vapor flow condensation from lead anode slime that is a by-production in refining lead by electrolysis without any other separating process.A certain quantity of carbon powder was mixed into the lead anode slime powder to reduce Sb_2O_5 to Sb_2O_3 in the preparing process.The powders obtained are pure cubic antimony trioxide,as determined by XRD,morphology of near spherical shape,as determined by SEM.The average particle size is 66 nm,geometric standard deviation(GSD) 1.67,as determined by laser particles sizers.And the content of antimony trioxide powder in the product is larger than 97.5% by chemical analysis.


Thank you for downloading hogarth and the times of the day tradition. Maybe you have knowledge that, people have look numerous times for their favorite novels like this hogarth and the times of the day tradition, but end up in infectious downloads. Rather than enjoying a good book with a cup of tea in the afternoon, instead they are facing with some malicious virus inside their computer. hogarth and the times of the day tradition is available in our book collection an online access to it is set as public so you can download it instantly. Our book servers hosts in multiple locations, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Kindly say, the hogarth and the times of the day tradition is universally compatible with any devices to read.


Exercise electrocardiography is a widely used diagnostic modality for diagnosing coronary artery disease. This method has been used for both sexes; however, its diagnostic accuracy in women is limited.


The construction of a microbial fuel cell without any mediator and membrane is presented in this paper,and domestic wastewater is used as inoculants and sodium acetate as its fuel.The effects of acetate concentration,oxygen and nitrate on the cell are investigated with the kinetic characteristics of the microbial in the cell analyzed.The results show that:①it is the microbial adsorbed on the anode,not the one which existes in the solution,that transfers the electron to anode;②the COD degradation features a model of onegrade reaction;③oxygen and nitrate is adverse to voltage output because the former makes electron transfer to oxygen and the latter makes the nitrification occur during the course of metabolism;④the preferential microbe is judged as Pseudomonas SP.partial by 16S rDNA gene analysis.


Just as in ordinary metals, defects in intermetallic compounds fall into three basic categories: point defects (vacancies, substitutional and interstitial atoms), line defects (dislocations), and planar defects (stacking faults, interfaces, grain boundaries). Also like ordinary metals, many important physical and chemical properties of intermetallic compounds are governed by the presence of these defects and the effects on them from temperature, composition, chemical environment, elastic stress state, and so on. What ultimately distinguishes an intermetallic compound from ordinary metals is its superlattice crystal structure. A two-dimensional analogue of the actual three-dimensional superlattice structure is shown in Figure 1a where the superlattice (unit cell marked by full lines) is made up of two identical sublat-tices (unit cells marked by dotted lines). A property of the sublattice is that it is exclusively occupied by one atom species, and accordingly sublattices are named after the atoms that occupy them, for example, the A and B sublattices in Figure 1a. In three dimensions, a super-lattice may consist of several sublattices. For example, the L1 2 superlattice of Ni 3 Al consists of four interpenetrating cubic sublattices, one occupied by Al atoms (Al sublattice), the other three by Ni atoms (Ni sublattices). When the sub-lattices are occupied exclusively by their designated atoms, the crystal is said to be fully ordered. The crystal will be partially ordered if a certain fraction of the sublattice sites is taken up by atoms that would otherwise sit at other sublattices; this fraction is used to describe the degree of long-range order.


The present invention relates to a method for the distribution of the data packets (MBMS Data) to the at least one user terminal (UE) from the access network node (aGW) via at least one base station (eNB) in a single frequency mobile communication network, it the data packets in an access network node (aGW) by (MBMS data) at least one user terminal (T1 (tx), the information indicating in which time intervals that should be sent to (UE) from at least one base station (eNB), T2 ( is added to the data packets (MBMS data) tx)) is, the data packets in an access network node (aGW) (information (SN) indicating the order of the distribution of the MBMS data), the data packets (MBMS data), therefor the access network node (aGW), is added to the base station (eNB) and a single frequency mobile communication network. A single frequency mobile communication network, a network node, the data packets


A temperature gradient can induce solutes to migrate from a hot to a cold region, and vice versa, in solution. This process, termed thermophoresis, has been applied to manipulate, transport, and separate various macromolecules and colloids by exploiting a microscale temperature gradient. Here we describe using a single gold nanoparticle (AuNP) as an efficient nanoscale heating source to promote thermophoresis. Moreover, on introducing a substrate with high thermal conductivity such as sapphire, a strong local temperature gradient can be shaped in the medium near the AuNP under continuous wave laser illumination. We observed molecules such as polyethylene glycol and sodium dodecyl sulfate being transported toward the AuNP and attaching to its surface, forming a gold core–organic shell structure within several tens of seconds of illumination. Spectroscopically, because of the gradual increasing encapsulation, progressive red shifts with enhanced scattering intensities were seen for the localized surface pla...


1. The directed‐dispersal (DrD) hypothesis constitutes one of the main explanations for the adaptive value of seed dispersal in spatially heterogeneous environments. Traditionally, the DrD hypothesis asserts non‐random arrival to specific sites where establishment conditions are independently favourable. Yet, enhanced arrival might negatively affect the establishment in otherwise favourable sites through enhanced density‐dependent mortality (DDM). Since both density effects and habitat suitability might differ among establishment phases, assessment of habitat suitability should encompass the entire establishment process.


Objective To study the influence of anxiety on seamen's hypertension prevalence rate and its relationship with hypertension susceptible factors. Methods An unified blood pressure measurement and a questionnaire were carried out in 4048 seamen. A self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) was filled by every seaman. Results (1) With the increase of SAS score, the hypertension prevalence in seamen was elevated (P0. 001). With the increase of every 10 points, the systolic pressure grew 1. 8 - 1. 9 mm Hg, and the diastolic pressure 1.1 - 1.2 mm Hg. (2) Anxiety was positively related with smoking, drinking, family history of hypertension,heart rate and sailing life (P0. 01). Conclusions Anxiety score and hypertension prevalence rate have quantitative interrelationship in seamen. Anxiety has significant influence on the hypertension prevalence rate in seamen and is correlated with many hypertension susceptible factors.


from 30,940 to 109,790 (Dental Estimates Board Annual Report 1980 and 1987). This is in keeping with the Dental Strategy Review (1981) 'Goals for Dentistry' published in DHSS Guidelines for the future, where the need ofmaintenance of social and personal well being of an individual as well as the biological functions was stressed. It would appear that psychologically and socially the provision of a bridge is more acceptable to the patient than a removable partial denture. Notwithstanding the benefits of a fixed prosthetic replacement, 'Bridge Failures' do occur resulting in considerable financial and bio-


Migration of the Bugis-Makassar people is well-known for a
long time. They have migrated in many territories within the
modern Indonesian state as well as to several countries in the
world. This article discusses the adaptation strategy of
"Makassar" (a collectively name of South Sulawesi) migrants
within the society of Alor Kecil, in the district of Alor, Nusa
Tenggara Timur Province, which consisting of many ethnical
groups. Some aspects to discuss regarding with adaptation
process are economic activities, local politics, agricultural
efforts, cultural equivalent, and kinship relationship. All those
aspects contribute as push-factors to accelerating the
adaptation process. The children of South Sulawesi or
Makassar migrants had been acknowledged as one of eight
ethnical and cultural groups and they live among them
peacefully.
Keywords: Migration, adaptation, Makassar people


A new six-step divergent strategy was developed allowing access to pyrrolobenzazepine structures from pyrrole. This strategy was based on a regioselective Friedel-Crafts acylation followed by a Pictet-Spengler cyclization.


Phytophthora cinnamomi is listed as a "Key Threatening Process to Australia's Biodiversity" by the Commonwealth Government, consequently there is a national threat abatement plan (TAP) in place. The TAP establishes a national framework to guide and coordinate Australia's response to P. cinnamomi. It sets out the actions necessary to abate impacts of this key threatening process, and identifies the research, management and other actions needed in Australia's response to this pathogen. The success of this TAP depends on a high level of cooperation between all key stakeholders. We will discuss how different stakeholders have met the challenges of identifying and mapping the pathogen across the landscape, taking into account other Phytophthora species, global change, other environmental priorities, the need for prioritizing areas that are "protectable" over the next 50-100 years and the importance for societal engagement to ensure uptake. A number of case studies from the Commonwealth, State, non-government organizations, "friends of groups" and industry will be provided to show how different stakeholders have engaged in attempts to meet the objectives of the TAP. We will discuss how research can help guide and invigorate different stakeholders in the process of managing and containing the spread and impacts of this pathogen across different landscapes. Lastly, examples of the importance of working with community to ensure uptake of processes and procedures will be highlighted, together with the associated challenges.


The current issue of the Journal des Africanistes hosts a selection of papers from the 7th Conference of the International Society for the Oral Literatures of Africa (ISOLA), held at the University of the Salento, Lecce, Italy, 1115 June 2008. Interculturality as a leitmotif of our times has emerged as a constant perspective in the approach of the scholars who contributed to the conference, in spite of the great differences in their cultural backgrounds, geographic positionings and areas of i...


The paper discusses issues related to financing regional projects. One of possible methods for such funding is "Pacman modified method" that considers the interests of all participants of a potential investment project.


Abstract Active Queue Management (AQM) applies a suitable control policy upon detecting congestion in networks. In this paper, an adaptive Proportional-Integral (PI) controller based on Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) is applied to AQM for the objective of congestion avoidance and control in middle nodes. The proposed controller is simple and can be easily implemented in high-speed routers. Neural Network PI (NNPI) dynamically adapts its parameters with respect to changes in the system. It is anticipated that this results in better response compared to linear controllers due to the nonlinear nature of NNPI. We simulated our method in ns2 and compared its performance with the conventional PI controller. The simulation results show NNPI yields better performance.


The reaction of 2,3-dimethylbuta-1,3-diene with an equimolar amount of chlorine in carbon tetrachloride at –20 °C gives mainly trans-1,4-dichloro-2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene and 2-chloromethyl-3-methylbuta-1,3-diene. Chlorination in methylene chloride at –78 °C with gaseous chlorine yields initially a mixture of the same compounds and 1-chloro-2,3-dimethylbuta-1,3-diene in comparable amounts, together with the hydrogen chloride adducts 3-chloro-2,3-dimethylbut-1-ene and 1-chloro-2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene; further chlorination affords 1-chloro-3-chloromethyl-2-methylbuta-1,3-diene, 2,3-bis(chloromethyl)buta-1,3-diene, and 1,4-dichloro-2,3-bis(chloromethyl)but-2-ene and then a mixture of trichlorides, 1,2,3,4-tetrachloro-2-chloromethyl-3-methylbutane, and unidentified polychlorides. Bromination of trans-1,4-dichloro-2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene followed by dehydrobromination of the adduct gives 1,4-dichloro-2,3-dimethylbuta-1,3-diene in high yield. The reaction of 2,3-dimethyl-buta-1,3-diene with iodine monochloride affords, as the only identified product, 1,2,3,4-tetrachloro-2,3-dimethylbutane.