Technical definition is not sole. The definition of technology can be determined by several different points of view which are the technical source, correspondence of technology and science, the relationship between technology and people and system theory. All definition above mentioned has showed the technical innate character from the different sides and they have themselves uses as well as their sphere of application. Such method being defined for technology also will give the good use as a source of reference and edification for the other concept being defined.


ABSTRACT: Introduction: The pathogenic and consistent effect of discrimination on mental health has been largely documented in the literature. However, there are few studies measuring multiple types of discrimination, evaluating the existence of a dose-response relationship or investigating possible effect modifiers of such an association. Objective: To investigate the association between experiences of discrimination attributed to multiple reasons and common mental disorders, including the adjustment for potential confounders, assessment of dose-response relations, and examination of effect modifiers in undergraduate students from southern Brazil. Methods: In the first semester of 2012, 1,023 students from the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina answered a self-administered questionnaire on socio-demographic characteristics, undergraduate course, experiences of discrimination and common mental disorders. Associations were analyzed through logistic regression models, estimation of Odds Ratios


The present paper aims to propose an efficient methodology to match aerodynamically a 1.5 l, three cylinders downsized Diesel engine, with a selected turbocharger to boost its performance based on 1D codes and CFD simulation. In this aspect, a radial turbine's stage was sized and designed applying 1D preliminary design in-house codes. Then, a CFD simulation was established to investigate the flow field through its components and to predict its performance. Based on the simulation data, a turbine's map was generated via gas-dynamic simulation software. On the other hand, a turbocharger compressor was selected from a database. Therefore, the performance maps of the designed turbine and the selected compressor were matched with the engine simulation model. From the findings, the new turbocharged engine developed an operating area far from the compressor limits at the entire engine speed range, with a surge margin of 23.37% at the engine rated power. The engine thermal efficiency, brake specific fuel consumption, compressor and turbine isentropic efficiencies measured on the new turbocharged engine expressed an enhancement at the engine rated speed of about 6.79%, 6.36%, 19.91% and 3.86%, respectively, compared with the original engine. Furthermore, maximum deviations of 7.43% and 0.47% were measured between the new and the original turbocharged engines in terms of in-cylinder pressure and temperature, respectively, which guarantee the engine's thermodynamic strength. Finally, the developed methodology reported satisfactory results in terms of the engine's secure functioning and predicted performances, which can be considered as an important basis before initiating any detailed conception.


Counterappeal is the mere way of supervision organs in supervising civil judgment definitely provided in Chinese current laws.In this article,at the premise of admitting to the necessity and rationality of the existence of the power of investigating evidence of supervision organs in civil counterappeal procedure,the author tries to define the concrete scope of its power of investigating evidence in order to offer the theoretical reference for the practice of supervision organs.Meanwhile the author analyses the shortages of our current law and presents some better ideas in theory.


Given an initial-boundary value problem as model of a heated rod of unknown length, we consider the inverse problem of determining this length from temperature and heat flux measurements at one end of the rod. This models the situation where one end of the rod is inaccessible. We derive and test two different algorithms to numerically estimate the length of the rod, and demonstrate their performance through numerical examples.


The LAB, a program of The Education Alliance at Brown University, is one of ten educational laboratories funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Our goals are to improve teaching and learning, advance school improvement, build capacity for reform, and develop strategic alliances with key members of the region's education and policy-making community. The LAB develops educational products and services for school administrators, policymakers, teachers, and parents in New England, New York, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Central to our efforts is a commitment to equity and excellence. Spanish is the primary language of instruction in Puerto Rico (though bilingualism is a high school graduation goal) asking how Puerto Rico has responded to ELLs within its CSRD program is a fundamentally different issue than it is for other jurisdictions in the LAB region. A question that would better parallel the CSRD/ELL study would ask how Puerto Rico schools were accommodating the needs of Spanish Language Learners. However, we decided the logistics of such a study were more complicated than we could resolve in the limited time period for the main ELL study. Yet, we are also cognizant that, even though the island comprises the third largest school district in the U.S. and there are over 850,000 K–12 students, 40,000 teachers, and 1547 public schools in Puerto Rico, because Puerto Rico differs from other U.S. jurisdictions on a number of educational issues it is often simply skipped and, in effect, silenced by a lot of educational research. Not wanting to 'skip' Puerto Rico, we decided to prepare this overview of CSRD implementation there instead. We hope this report will simultaneously be useful to CSRD implementers in Puerto Rico (from the Department of Education level to the school level) and to federal education policymakers concerned with CSRD. Reflecting the lead author's greater adeptness with English, this report has initially been prepared in English, but it will be subsequently translated into Spanish to make it more broadly accessible in Puerto Rico. Materials brought back to the LAB (from second site visit)


Population aging and other factors are propelling healthcare spending on a perpetually increasing trajectory. More than ever, we must carefully assess the economic impact of adopting new medical technologies into clinical practice. Recently, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has emerged as a remarkable advance in the treatment of aortic stenosis. Studies have shown that TAVR in patients with aortic stenosis at extreme and high surgical risk provides good economic, as well as, clinical value.1–3 As the role of TAVR is now considered for intermediate-risk patients, questions about value must be asked and answered again.

To understand the cost-effectiveness of TAVR in intermediate-risk patients, it is helpful to consider the lessons learned in higher-risk patients. First, it is apparent that the major offsets for the increased technology cost of TAVR in comparison with surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) are decreased hospital length of stay (LOS) and a reduced need for postacute rehabilitation services. With TAVR prices currently in excess of $30 000 per device in the United States (in comparison with ≈$5000 per surgical valve), reductions in LOS must be quite large for TAVR to pay for itself. If the costs of TAVR are higher than SAVR, the cost-effectiveness of TAVR from a societal perspective is strongly affected by the presence or absence of a mortality benefit with TAVR. In the absence of a survival difference, the advantages of TAVR …


This text brings together the reoperative experience of many seasoned surgeons and a through review of the pertinent, current literature. the second edition covers all reoperations performed by general surgeons. There are new chapters on anesthetic concerns, reoperative vascular surgery, reoperation after minimally-invasive surgery, reoperations after sever, acute trauma, and reoperation for necrotixing soft tissue infections.


A kind of hydro-pneumatic suspension with controllable damping is designed.A complex nonlinear mathematic damping model of hydro-pneumatic suspensions is set up on the basis of comprehensive analysis of its working principle and structure.The effect of parallel orifice of the valve on the hydro-pneumatic suspension damping characteristics is simulated using Matlab/Simulink.Comparing the result of simulation and bench test showed that the mathematic model is authentic,and the test sound.According to this method,the effects of other parameters of the valve,such as the size of the series orifices,the maximum opening capacity and the spring pre-compression of the one-way valve,on the hydro-pneumatic suspension damping characteristics were simulated.The simulation results showed that perfect damping characteristics of hydro-pneumatic suspension can be obtained through rational selection of the parameters.


Objectives: Basic science and clinical studies suggest that sleep disturbance may be a modifiable risk factor for postoperative delirium. We aimed to assess the association between preoperative sleep disturbance and postoperative delirium. Data Sources: We searched PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Cochrane from inception until May 31, 2017. Study Selection: We performed a systematic search of the literature for all studies that reported on sleep disruption and postoperative delirium excluding cross-sectional studies, case reports, and studies not reported in English language. Data Extraction: Two authors independently performed study selection and data extraction. We calculated pooled effects estimates with a random-effects model constructed in Stata and evaluated the risk of bias by formal testing (Stata Corp V.14, College Station, TX), Data Synthesis: We included 12 studies, from 1,238 citations that met our inclusion criteria. The pooled odds ratio for the association between sleep disturbance and postoperative delirium was 5.24 (95% CI, 3.61–7.60; p < 0.001 and I2 = 0.0%; p = 0.76). The pooled risk ratio for the association between sleep disturbance and postoperative delirium in prospective studies (n = 6) was 2.90 (95% CI, 2.28–3.69; p < 0.001 and I2 = 0.0%; p = 0.89). The odds ratio associated with obstructive sleep apnea and unspecified types of sleep disorder were 4.75 (95% CI, 2.65–8.54; p < 0.001 and I2 = 0.0%; p = 0.85) and 5.60 (95% CI, 3.46–9.07; p < 0.001 and I2 = 0.0%; p = 0.41), respectively. We performed Begg's and Egger's tests for publication bias and confirmed a null result for publication bias (p = 0.371 and 0.103, respectively). Conclusions: Preexisting sleep disturbances are likely associated with postoperative delirium. Whether system-level initiatives targeting patients with preoperative sleep disturbance may help reduce the prevalence, morbidity, and healthcare costs associated with postoperative delirium remains to be determined.


APECULIARITY of Canadian conditions is the importance of external trade in the national life. To some extent a raw material country which must send her products abroad; to some extent devoid of certain essential articles; to some extent disjointed geographically, so that the parts tend to trade with foreign neighbors instead of with more or less separated fellowprovinces; of recent years vigorous in pushing the sales of her manufactures: in all these cases her commercial operations are prone to extend across her borders. This seems a constant charac-


This research focuses on one of the strategies for the development of the core subject in Social Education 'Practicum II'. We will try to determine the feasibility and educational results of using virtual seminars for UNED students who can't attend the 'Associated centers' and be helped personally by the tutors. Also, the virtual technology allows the student to learn and take part in the analysis of professional behaviour within different areas of Social Education, developing skills and making use of technological tools and strategies of the Society of Knowledge in order to allow the integration of the disadvantaged.


This article analyses the representation of the Norwegian Sámi in local and regional tourist brochures and at tourist sites. The argument put forward is that these representations give an impression of the Sámi that perpetuates their image as radically different from Norwegians. The main reason for this is the conceptual difference between tradition and a single all embracing modernity found in Western thought. To become something to see, a tourist attraction, indigenous peoples have to keep alive an image where features assumed to be modern have no place. This is not an image that only relates to a global discourse. By analysing the sites tourists encounter, it is shown how these exposures are embedded in different local and national discourses that still have consequences in the contemporary everyday life.


The success of neural language models (LMs) on many technological tasks has brought about their potential relevance as scientific theories of language despite some clear differences between LM training and child language acquisition. In this paper we argue that some of the most prominent benchmarks for evaluating the syntactic capacities of LMs may not be sufficiently rigorous. In particular, we show that the template-based benchmarks lack the structural diversity commonly found in the theoretical and psychological studies of language. When trained on small-scale data modeling child language acquisition, the LMs can be readily matched by simple baseline models. We advocate for the use of the readily available, carefully curated datasets that have been evaluated for gradient acceptability by large pools of native speakers and are designed to probe the structural basis of grammar specifically. On one such dataset, the LI-Adger dataset, LMs evaluate sentences in a way inconsistent with human language users. We conclude with suggestions for better connecting LMs with the empirical study of child language acquisition.


E Cutter is a harvesting tool dedicated for oil palm fresh fruit bunch (FFB). It employed rapid chopping method and bunch harvest as it harvesting method. The E Cutter development was inspired by the usage of CantasTM which currently efficient tool for oil palm FFB harvesting. However, due to height limitation that influences the operation of CantasTM, the development of E Cutter was seen as a breakthrough to at least maintaining the performance of CantasTM in harvesting higher palm tree. Both of E Cutter and CantasTM comprise three major parts. There are energy provider part at the bottom, actuator part at the top and energy transmitter in the middle. Compared to CantasTM that totally applies mechanical system, the E Cutter is applies the electrical system especially in the actuator and energy transmitter part. However, in this paper, the progress of the E Cutter actuator development was focused. The previous achievement of the actuator and future planning for improvement will be explained. In the end part of this paper, the design target and type of future actuator will be developed for E Cutter also has been stated.


Objective:To explore the value of laparoscopy in the treatment of ovarian cyst.Methods:The clinical data of85cases with laparoscopic surgerywere retrospectively analyzed.Results:Eighty-five patients with ovarian cyst un-derwent laparoscopic oophorocystectomy,among them,19cases were performed by hand-assist laparoscopy.The average blood loss during operation was70ml,the mean operation time was50minutes,the mean hospitalization was4days.No one converted to open prodecure,no visceral injured,no chemical peritonitis occurred.Conclusions:If the indications are well selected,laparoscopic operation is feasible and safe in treating most ovarian cysts.By hand-assisted laparoscopic sur-gery dexterously,the intact cyst can be removed to prevent implantation of the cyst content and to avoid contamination of pelvic cavity.


In short, I wholeheartedly recommend this book to all undergraduate and postgraduate students who are struggling with Schleiermacher. Indeed, I also recommend this book to those who are already quite familiar with his work for one read of this text will certainly lead to a deeper understanding of Schleiermacher's key themes. It is rare to find an introductory text that is truly introductory but Vial's Schleiermacher: A Guide for the Perplexed really is such a text and should be placed at the top of the diligent student's 'must purchase' list.


This paper presents a compensation method in which the phase margin and unity gain bandwidth of an Operational Transconductance Amplifier (OTA) is improved by addition a(n) active/passive resistive to the frequency compensation circuit. This improvement is achieved without changing the power consumption of the OTA. Based on the proposed strategy, three different compensation structures including RHC, RRHC and composite are introduced. Simulation results in a 180nm CMOS technology show that for power consumption of about 6 mW and DC voltage gain of 100 dB, the conventional Hybrid Cascode Compensation structure shows unity gain bandwidth (UGBW) and phase margin (PM) of about 310 MHz and 60°, respectively. For the same power and DC voltage gain, the proposed RHC and RRHC structures demonstrate UGBW/PM of about 405 MHz/60° and 425 MHz/65°, respectively. The proposed composite structure with active compensation path shows DC voltage gain of 105 dB, UGBW of 345 MHz, and PM of 60° while its power consumption is about 6 mW.


On 21 June 2013, the British Association of Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) Sexual Violence Group held a training day on managing sexual violence (SV) in response to training needs identified in a national survey of genitourinary medicine (GUM) trainees.1 The day consisted of lectures and workshops on managing adolescent and adult survivors of male and female sexual assault (SA), domestic abuse (DA), human trafficking (HT) and sexual exploitation, vulnerable adults and those with learning difficulties.

To assess the success of the day, pre-course and post-course questionnaires were devised to elicit delegate …


There is a lack of standard benchmarks for Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning (MARL) algorithms. The Starcraft Multi-Agent Challenge (SMAC) has been widely used in MARL research, but is built on top of a heavy, closed-source computer game, StarCraft II. Thus, SMAC is computationally expensive and requires knowledge and the use of proprietary tools specific to the game for any meaningful alteration or contribution to the environment. We introduce SMAClite -- a challenge based on SMAC that is both decoupled from Starcraft II and open-source, along with a framework which makes it possible to create new content for SMAClite without any special knowledge. We conduct experiments to show that SMAClite is equivalent to SMAC, by training MARL algorithms on SMAClite and reproducing SMAC results. We then show that SMAClite outperforms SMAC in both runtime speed and memory.


We argue that animal temperament is an important concept for wildlife conservation science and review causes and consequences of evolutionary changes in temperament traits that may occur in captive‐breeding programmes. An evolutionary perspective is valid because temperament traits are heritable, linked to fitness and potentially subject to intense selection in captivity. Natural, sexual and artificial selection can cause permanent shifts in temperament, reducing the diversity of temperament traits, diversity that may be critical to reintroduction success. Breeding programmes that ignore temperament risk leading the captive population towards domestication. Furthermore, shifts in temperament may involve alterations in linked morphological and physiological traits, and selection may even change functional relationships between traits. Captive‐breeding programmes can reduce changes in temperaments by closely monitoring temperament traits, equalizing reproductive success between temperament morphs and using environmental enrichment to reduce captive stress. Under certain circumstances, knowledge about temperament may also provide a useful tool to optimize captive reproduction and to increase reintroduction success. Outside reintroduction programmes, temperament can mediate responses to human contact, hunting, exploitation, habitat fragmentation and disease transmission. Consideration of temperaments could strengthen both captive and wild conservation efforts.


The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine enrollment in string orchestra instruction across Texas. Three central research questions guided the investigation: (a) How well is orchestra represented in districts and schools across the state of Texas? (b) What are the characteristics (FRPL eligibility, locale, student race/ethnicity, size/UIL classification) of schools with orchestra programs in Texas? and (c) How do program enrollment and UIL participation vary among these characteristics? Using 2015–2016 enrollment data collected by the Texas Education Agency, we examined string enrollment within secondary traditional public schools in the state. Major findings were that more than two-thirds of schools offering strings were Title I eligible campuses and enrollment on urban, Title I eligible, and African American or Hispanic majority campuses had lower string enrollments than their suburban, non-Title I, and White majority counterparts.


Ineffective approaches for teaching with print may prevent textbook reading from being a useful learning resource in middle school. University faculty mentored a middle school science teacher as he implemented a textbook study-reading approach, PLAN (Caverly, Mandeville & Nicholson, 1995), in 2 classes (n=33). PLAN orchestrates 4 strategies through student-created mapping. After 3 months of strategy use, students gained in a self-report of strategic reading and in comprehension as reflected by maps. Post-assessment interviews revealed that the teacher had changed his instructional routine, moving through stages of strategy awareness, understanding, and adaptation. The teacher changed his expectation that students would complete textbook reading and that it increased student learning. The students changed their expectation that they could read and learn from the textbook.


A polymerase chain reaction and sequence analysis of cry1 gene was established. Based on the analysis of the conserved region of cry1 gene ,two oligonucletide primers were designed to amplify a 277bp of genes. The amplified products were send for sequencing and single nucleotide variations were observed. Cry1 gene were the most abundant and cry1 gene sub classes were present in 45 local isolates and 4 in reference strain obtained from Bacillus genetic stock centre (USA).


This church has room for 972 churchgoers on the main floor level, and a further 231 seats on the overhanging balcony. The short distance between the rear seats (32.80 m) and the altar, and the inclination of the floor contribute to the establishment of a good communication between the priest and the faithful.
Close to the altar is the choir, with accommodation for 3' people, and also the organ, and the sacristy, which in turn communicates with the rector's home and the parochial house.
Special features of this church are the formal aspect of the structure —especially the side walls, which are hyperbolic paraboloids— the richness of constructive details, and the original and up to date architecture of the interior and external elevations.


SUMMARY 1. In oligotrophic lakes, phytoplankton and bacteria growing in the deep chlorophyll maximum in the cool metalimnion of lakes often dominate biomass and production, but the importance of this source of food for zooplankton is unknown.

2. During much of the day, Daphnia rosea in two mountain lakes inhabited deep chlorophyll layers where food availability was at least equal to that in the epilimnion.

3. To determine the importance of the two strata (epilimnion and metalimnion) for Daphnia, we used a cross-classified factorial experiment to measure how epilimnetic and metalimnetic food and temperature (10 and 16 °C) influenced survival, growth and reproduction.

4. Daphnia survived and grew better when fed seston from the epilimnion of one lake, although chlorophyll, particulate nitrogen and particulate carbon were 2–2.5 times greater in the metalimnion.

5. Temperature had no significant influence on Daphnia survival or growth. Similar results were obtained with food from the second lake, with Daphnia surviving and reproducing better when provided with epilimnetic, rather than metalimnetic food, although the quantities of chlorophyll and carbon in the two strata were similar.

6. Food quality, rather than quantity or temperature, appeared to be the most important determinant influencing survival, growth and reproduction, and the greater food quantity in the metalimnia was not used effectively by the Daphnia.


PurposeWithin the emergent professional field of carbon accounting, we analyse the institutional work that gives birth to a nascent profession in a multi-actor arena. We therefore contribute to enhancing our understanding of the birth of professions – in their very first steps and infancy.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs a qualitative approach. We collected data from 1999 to 2015 and conducted 15 semi-structured interviews. One of the researchers was active in the field for two years and participated in carbon accounting events in France as a "participant observer".FindingsOur research contributes to an understanding of the dynamic professionalization process in which the different actors mobilize both creative work and sabotage work. We further theorize how nascent professions structure their project around knowledge, identity and boundary work. At the same time, we develop the notion of sabotage work, which is comprised of two sub-categories of institutional work: counter-work and the absence of work.Originality/valueTo our knowledge, this is one of the first attempts to analyse the birth of an environmental accounting profession. We emphasize both creative work and sabotage work in the professionalization project. We conclude on further research that could be performed on environmental accounting professions.


The discovery of stem cells in dental and oral tissues widens the possibility of work and study for dental surgeons, as tissues that were usually discharged can now be used as basis of scientific research and for future use in clinics. Advances in the knowledge of stem cells and tissue engineering represent opportunities for the study of new strategies to regenerate damaged or missing tissues of the oral cavity. AIMS: to evaluate the presence of stem cells in the pericoronal bag tissue of human permanent teeth underlying deciduous teeth at their final stage of root resorption and exfoliation, as well as to isolate, expand and characterize these stem cells. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Tissue from the central region of the pericoronal bag covering the crown of permanent teeth, underneath exfoliating deciduous teeth, was collected with the aid of a scalpel. Additionally, pulps of the corresponding deciduous teeth were collected for isolation of stem cells from exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED). Samples of pulp and pericoronal bag tissues were separately put in culture medium and stem cells were isolated through the explant technique. The isolated cells were expanded and underwent both phenotypical and differentiation analyses. RESULTS: It was possible to obtain stem cells from the pericoronal bag of permanent teeth underlying exfoliated deciduous teeth (SUED), which proliferated in standard culture


The judgment under comment is of particular interest to those interested in the question of the treatment of the sanction for the abrupt termination of a commercial relationship established in an…


This paper introduces a method of OSD(On Screen Display) design on a digital set-top boxes,as well as the method of image and character display.On this basis,it proposes optimization methods of OSD display to overcome the problem of display flicker,improve display efficiency and reduce the occupation of storage resources.Finally,an efficient management of characters display about multi-languages is given,which finds the characters strings by ID.These design and optimization methods have been used in practical projects and the result is very good.


Under the request of the new curriculum reform in basic education,each elementary school pays great attention to the development of the school-based curriculum day by day,but,at the outset stage,without experience we need to try to explore the development of the school-based curriculum,so some problems occurred such as teachers lower motivation,the lack of teaching materials of school-based curriculum,bad management and so on.The basic reasons should be discussed from the following aspects,people's thought and cognition,ambient pressure,teachers' professional quality,and the exploitation of curriculum resources etc.Therefore,the elementary school of urban areas should exploit the school-based curriculum from such aspects as people's thought and cognition,training teachers,optimizing management,and making full use of curriculum resources etc.


In this paper I argue that Beall and Restall's claim that there is one true logic of metaphysical modality is incompatible with the formulation of logical pluralism that they give. I investigate various ways of reconciling their pluralism with this claim, but conclude that none of the options can be made to work.


The article is devoted to the geopolitical situation in the Balkans and the historical development of integration processes of Western Balkan countries with the world leaders — EU, USA, Russia, China. The authors consider the problem in international and regional contexts. Particular attention is paid to the prospects for the development of a hybrid version of integration in the Balkans.


Project Based Learning (PBL) is a student-centered method of teaching where the students are required to be active in completing the project. Lecturers in English Language Teaching Management classes (ELTM) at the English Language Education Program, Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana (ELE-UKSW) implement PBL in their classroom project called Expo-Project. This study described students' experiences in doing an Expo-Project through an in-depth interview. The data analysis showed that the students' language skills developed, students acquired communication and organization' skills from teamwork, and the type of consultations that the lecturers' gave did help the students. Finally, this study revealed that the implementation of the project in the classes continued the positive trends of PBL, particularly in English as a Foreign Language Context.


This paper reports a method to enable, for the first time, reconfigurable control of resonance splitting of one or multiple arbitrarily selected azimuthal orders in a microring resonator. This is a...


Objective:To study the effects of combined general-epidural anesthesia on the endocrine and circulatory function during thoracic surgery.Methods:Twenty patients suffering from esophageal cancer scheduled for thoracic surgery,were randomly divided into two groups. Combined general-epidural anesthesia was used in group GEA,and general anesthesia alone in group GA. BP,HR and SpO2 were monitored,and blood samples were taken before anesthesia,before incision,and at 30,60 ,120 min following the incision for the measurements of cortisol,blood glucose and insulin. Results:Cortisones were higher significantly in group GA than those in group GEA at 30、60、120 min following the incision.Insulin was higher in group GA than that in group GEA at 120 min following the incision. Blood glucoses were higher in group GA than those in group GEA at 30,60 min following the incision.SBPs were higher in group GA than those in group GEA at 30 ,60 min following the incision. Conclusion:Combined general-epidural anesthesia has a less effect on the endocrine and circulatory function,and is a good choice of anesthesia thoracic for surgery due to its inhibition to stess response.


Significance Understanding the thermal state of magma reservoirs before supereruptions is crucial for interpreting the processes leading to such catastrophic events. Here, we show that the two supereruptions of Toba were preceded and followed by protracted magma influx at relatively constant average volumetric rate over the past 2.2 My. This suggests that increased magma flux is not essential before supereruptions. Instead, long-term thermal maturation of the magma reservoir related to significant magma pulses primes the system for eruption. Importantly, our results indicate that significant variations of monitoring parameters, such as increased surface deformation or degassing, may not occur before supereruptions. Our method can be widely applied to other large silicic magmatic systems to evaluate their potential to feed a supereruption. The Toba volcanic system in Indonesia has produced two of the largest eruptions (>2,000 km3 dense-rock equivalent [DRE] each) on Earth since the Quaternary. U–Pb crystallization ages of zircon span a period of ∼600 ky before each eruptive event, and in the run-up to each eruption, the mean and variance of the zircons' U content decrease. To quantify the process of accumulation of eruptible magma underneath the Toba caldera, we integrated these observations with thermal and geochemical modeling. We show that caldera-forming eruptions at Toba are the result of progressive thermal maturation of the upper crustal magma reservoir, which grows and chemically homogenizes, by sustained magma influx at average volumetric rates between 0.008 and 0.01 km3/y over the past 2.2 My. Protracted thermal pulses related to magma-recharge events prime the system for eruption without necessarily requiring an increased magma-recharge rate before the two supereruptions. If the rate of magma input was maintained since the last supereruption of Toba at 75 ka, eruptible magma is currently accumulating at a minimum rate of ∼4.2 km3 per millennium, and the current estimate of the total volume of potentially eruptible magma available today is a minimum of ∼315 km3. Our approach to evaluate magma flux and the rate of eruptible magma accumulation is applicable to other volcanic systems capable of producing supereruptions and thereby could help in assessing the potential of active volcanic systems to feed supereruptions.


Abstract : The objective of the study is to propose a new learning medium, which takes advantage of the latest developments in computer based training (CBT) and the World Wide Web as an innovative mode for delivering education. The key research focus of this thesis is the design of the framework to best combine hypertext technology, computer based training functionality's and interactive multimedia to enhance learning effectiveness. This research also focuses on the interactive multimedia to enhance learning effectiveness. Additionally, this research incorporates the migration and enhancement of a multiple criteria decision support textbook from print media to electronic media. Lessons learned from this development effort will be used to derive a general framework for developing integrated web based CBT tools. A multimedia training module prototype developed during this research can be viewed at HTTP://WWW.CIMNET.NPS.NAVY.COM/COOP.


Introduction and Aim: In India, the primary health centres, urban health centres and privatized small-scale laboratories use basic laboratory services like point of care testing (POCT) and quantitative results obtained from semi-auto analysers for diagnosis and treatment. Our objectives were to analyse biochemical parameters in the autoanalyzer and the semi-autoanalyzer and to compare the test performance of analysed biochemical parameters in the semi-autoanalyzer and autoanalyzer.

Materials and Methods: One hundred samples (10 patient samples and 90 internal quality control values), tested for 15 biochemical parameters were retrospectively studied. They were processed with the same reagent, methodology and environmental conditions in autoanalyzer Mindray BS 390 and semi-autoanalyzer KLS BA 200. Statistical analysis was carried out using independent student t test, Pearson correlation, Bias percent and Bland-Altman plot analysis

Results: Our study showed strong positive correlation for the 15 biochemical parameters between semi-autoanalyzer and autoanalyzer except for calcium, which showed moderate positive correlation (r=0.879). Bias % were all in acceptable limits except for SGOT and Albumin. Bland Altman analysis for ALP and Triglycerides also showed high variability between the two measurements with a mean difference of -6.23 and 4.48 respectively.

Conclusion: The test performance of biochemical parameters measured in the semi-auto analyser and fully automatic analyser were highly related and comparable, with a significant positive correlation. Semi-auto analysers could be an efficient alternative in peripheral setups to provide quality laboratory services. During the breakdown of any autoanalyzer, the semi-autoanalyzer acts as backup for analysing routine chemistry tests in some laboratories.


In the traditional Harsanyi transformation, the virtual player "Nature" assigns the type of a real player according to the historical data with a certain probability distribution. However, sometimes it is difficult to obtain historical data. Therefore, this paper proposes a FA-XGBoost model to predict the probability distribution of a real player's type based on a large number of relevant data. In order to eliminate the increase of the computational complexity caused by the large data dimension, factor analysis is firstly utilized to decrease the data dimension, and then the XGBoost algorithm is used to learn the probability distribution of real player's type. "Nature" finally allocates the player's type according to the predicted probability distribution. This paper makes an empirical analysis based on the real loan data of Lending Club. The results show that the method can well guide the decision-making of P2P loan enterprises.


The present invention provides a method of manufacturing a torque detecting apparatus, an electric power steering apparatus. Torque detecting means having magnetic flux collecting unit (40) and a sensor housing (60). Magnetic flux collecting unit (40) comprising: a holder (50), which is formed in a ring shape by resin molding, a through hole (. 53A) has a radially therethrough; so as not to cover the through-hole (. 53A) is mounted on the holder and a magnetic shield to cover the through hole (. 53A) is attached to the holder (50) of the outer circumferential surface; frame (50) a first set of inner circumferential surface of the ring (41) and the second ring set (42) body. A sensor housing (60) are integrally molded by resin and magnetic flux collecting unit (40) flows into the magnetic flux collecting unit (40) outer peripheral side.


The temporal dominance of sensations (TDS) method measures the time-evolving changes in subjectively reported sensations. This method has been used to obtain average experiences among panels, and there has been no method to analyze individual differences in such dynamic experiences. Therefore, we proposed a dissimilarity index to quantitatively judge how two TDS tasks deviate and then successfully screened an outlier among 51 TDS tasks for strawberries. The task judged as an outlier was semantically different from the average task.


The traditional education industry has undergone rapid changes to keep learning alive and unaffected during the pandemic. There was a lot of uncertainty and fear among the teachers as they had to change the pedagogy to suit the current requirements. Many studies in the past revealed that the performance of teachers is dependent on their well-being. This is an empirical study wherein primary details were collected from B-school faculty working in various B-schools in India. To analyze the effect of well-being on subjective happiness two instruments were used. Employee well-being was measured using a scale consisting of 33 items and four core dimensions such as psychological, social, workplace, and subjective well-being items. A self-evaluation scale on The Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) was used to measure the subjective happiness of B-school faculty. The questionnaire was administered to B-school faculty. The analysis revealed that psychological, social, and subjective well-being had an effect on the happiness of B-school faculty, but workplace well-being did not have any effect on subjective happiness as most of the B-school faculty were trying to sustain the pandemic and get adjusted to the rapid changes. They did not have many expectations from their employer as they were amidst fear and uncertainty.


Research ethics committees (REC) are considered essential tools in the search for ethics in clinical research. The requirement of submission of projects involving human beings to a REC was only introduced with the Resolution 196/96, 1996, considered a major guideline on the issue of ethics in research in Brazil. This study aims, through a literature survey, analyzing the expansion of the Ethics Committees in Brazil, with emphasis on the state of Bahia. There was an increase in the number of ethics committees which indicates a search for adaptation to new guidelines presented by the National Board of Health, both by the institutions, as well as researchers. It is observed however that the distribution of these committees is uneven, with greater concentration in Southern and Southeastern regions of the country.


The aerodynamic performance of low Reynolds airfoils with a Reynolds number less than 105 is critical for a variety of applications, including unmanned aerial vehicles, micro air vehicles, and low-speed/high-altitude aircraft. In general, most airfoils with Reynolds numbers less than 106 cannot be considered to have constant lift and drag characteristics. XFLR5 is a tool for analysing low-Reynolds-number airfoils, wings, and aircraft. It comes with XFOIL's direct and inverse analysis tools. The lifting line theory, the vortex lattice approach, and the 3-D panel method are all used to build and analyse wings. The lift coefficient (Cl) and pressure distribution (Cp) are fundamental metrics that determine the behaviour of airfoils. The cornerstone of aerodynamic analysis during aircraft development is pressure distribution data.


Later professor Yingzhong Liu started to explore the new research field of hydroelasticity after his retirement at the age of 70.He has carried out researches on hydroelasticity theory and its applications and helped the author to complete many research projects related to hydroelastic responses of marine structures including a key project from National Natural Science Foundation of China and co-supervisored many postgraduate students and one young staff.He has made significant contributions to linear and nonlinear hydroelastic responses of very large floating structures,effects of nonuniform environment and fluid compressibility on the hydroelastic responses of very large floating structures,hydroelastic responses of floating bridges and vortex-induced vibration(VIV) of risers.Many papers have been published in various journals and conferences.The main purpose of this paper is to make a brief summary of these works and to express our memory to late professor Yingzhong Liu.


This paper reports the occurrence of spontaneous pressure changes in human small veins recorded by retrograde venous catheterization and experiments on the effects of norepinephrine and cold.


Introduction Grain trade presents a number of contentious issues for the United States and Canada. While both countries are traditionally net exporters, the United States has imported large amounts of Canadian wheat and barley in recent years--to the consternation of many U.S. producers. Differences in market organization between the United States and Canada and changes in the policy environment for agricultural trade have left plenty of room for public confusion about the causes of U.S. grain imports and whether anything can be done about it. This paper presents a summary and critique of U.S. perspectives on the "Canadian grain problem." To be clear, it is the wheat and barley producers in northern-tier states (and their congressional representatives) who are most concerned about Canadian grain imports. While other U.S. groups have a stake in the evolution of continental grain trade--specifically, millers, maltsters, grain merchants, and their trade associations--there are overshadowed in public discourse and political influence by the concerns of grain producers. Hence, much of this critique is addressed to the perceptions (and misperceptions) of U.S. wheat and barley producers and their political advocates. Popular Views of the Canadian Grain Problem Some complaints by U.S. producers are misguided. An example is the assertion that Canadian producers reap an unfair advantage because of the exchange rate. It is true that changing exchange rates can shift the competitive advantage between countries. However, a Montana farmer's letter to the Joint Commission on Grains (included in Volume II of its Final Report) reveals misunderstanding on a more basic level: "A Canadian farmer told me last week that the price of a bushel of wheat in Canada and here were comparable, but if he sold it down here he could get a 35% premium because of money differences. In other words, I sell my wheat and I get $3.50 per bushel. The Canadian dumps his load in the same pit with mine and he gets 35% more, or $4.77 in his money." To the Montana farmer, it appeared that "money differences" led to a higher return for his Canadian counterpart. (Presumably, part of the problem is that Canadians stubbornly refuse to change the name of their currency. If the Canadian farmer earned 4.77 loonies instead of dollars, the U.S. farmer would worry less about being cheated.) From an economic perspective, what matters is changes in exchange rates and how these are passed through to costs of goods and services, rather than the levels of exchange rates per se. When the Canadian dollar loses value (depreciates), as it did during 1992-94 and most spectacularly during 1998, Canadian goods become more competitive in U.S. and offshore markets. But, at the same time, the Canadian farmer's depreciated dollar buys him less. Although Canada's competitive position has been enhanced by currency depreciation, this is properly viewed as a result of market forces. In an era when most governments (including Canada's) do not directly control their exchange rates, the "fairness" of currency fluctuations for U.S. producers is not really at issue. (1) One of the most widely repeated, but (as yet) unsubstantiated, claims is that Canada unfairly subsidizes its grain exports to the United States. This is an almost reflexive allegation--that is, a "knee-jerk" one--by some U.S. farmers and politicians. It seems to stem from the identification of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) as a state trading enterprise and the conviction that the CWB does not "play fair" in international competition. Farmers are also perplexed by the fact that the United States imports any wheat. After all, one-half of the U.S. wheat crop is typically exported; why should a surplus producer be importing grain from Canada? Answer: It must be subsidized. In fact, "subsidies" are a slippery concept, admitting different interpretations and means of measurement (Huffbauer and Erb 1984, 9-13). …


Objective: To optimize the extraction technique of Xiaoxianggou total flavonoids(XGTF) by Box-Benhnken design.Methods: The method of response surface analysis with 3 factors and 3 levels was adopted with the extraction rate of XGTF(%) as the response value according to the Box-Benhnken center-united experimental design principles.The factors influencing the technological parameters were determined by means of regression analysis.Response surface and contour were finally graphed with the extraction rate of XGTF(%) as the response value.Results: The factors which affect the extraction rate of XGTF(%) according to priority was ethanol concentration,ultrasonic extraction time,and liquid-solid ratio.The optimum extraction conditions of XGTF(%) were concluded as follows: ultrasonic extraction time of 40.0 min,ethanol concentration of 65%,liquid-solid ratio of 46:1.Under these conditions,the yield of XGTF was up to 3.50% and its experimental value was 3.41%.Conclusion: The mathematical model that the present study established is significant(P0.0001),and it might be applied to analysis and prediction the extraction technique of XGTF.


Image denoising can be described as the problem of mapping from a noisy image to a noise-free image. In Burger et al. (2012), we show that multi-layer perceptrons can achieve outstanding image denoising performance for various types of noise (additive white Gaussian noise, mixed Poisson-Gaussian noise, JPEG artifacts, salt-and-pepper noise and noise resembling stripes). In this work we discuss in detail which trade-os have to be considered during the training procedure. We will show how to achieve good results and which pitfalls to avoid. By analysing the activation patterns of the hidden units we are able to make observations regarding the functioning principle of multi-layer perceptrons trained for image denoising.


For the shear strengthening of masonry walls, different configurations for FRP sheets are currently used in real application, such as vertical, horizontal or diagonal strips. In the last configuration the FRP sheet is inclined with respect to the direction of mortar joints. In the experimental campaign presented in this paper, it is investigated whether the FRP-masonry bond could be affected by this inclination. In order to analyze this issue, three different typologies of masonry panels (with different textures) retrofitted by FRP sheets, inclined of 45 degrees with respect to the vertical axis of the specimen, are subjected to single-lap shear tests. Results of shear tests are presented in terms of maximum debonding forces, force-elongation curves, failure modes and strain profiles along the specimens. The use of Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technique allowed to obtain complete strain maps on the surface of the specimens tested, with the purpose of investigating possible variations in the strain field within the bonded area.


Plato in the " Utopia " discussed the three aspects of gender equality,public control of women and children,the philosopher as king in Volume V.In ancient Greece,it is difficult to make gender equality,women and children in the public,the seemingly absurd theories,but contains a Platonic ideal on how to build a beautiful city of the key.This assay will be discussing the status of women to explore women's issues on Plato's ideal city-state and the role that is played by the establishment in order to understand the purpose of Plato women's issues.


We report the growth of Zn1−yCdySe1−xTex alloys by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs substrates. The optical properties and the band structure of this new material have been investigated. The compositional dependence of the quaternary band gap was studied using photoconductivity measurements and is well described by a third degree function of x and y. Photoluminescence spectra at low temperature show a single broad band, which narrows with increasing Te composition. We discuss the applicability of this new material for ZnSe/ZnCdSeTe heterostructures and predict a region of optimal band offsets for useful confinement of both electrons and holes.


Radioactive tracer 82Br in the form of KBr‐82 with activity ± 1 mCi has been injected into steel pipeline to qualify the extent dispersion of water flowing inside it. Internal diameter of the pipe is 3 in. The water source was originated from water tank through which the water flow gravitically into the pipeline. Two collimated sodium iodide detectors were used in this experiment each of which was placed on the top of the pipeline at the distance of 8 and 11 m from injection point respectively. Residence time distribution (RTD) curves obtained from injection of tracer are elaborated numerically to find information of the fluid flow properties. The transit time of tracer calculated from the mean residence time (MRT) of each RTD curves is 14.9 s, therefore the flow velocity of the water is 0.2 m/s. The dispersion number, D/uL, for each RTD curve estimated by using axial dispersion model are 0.055 and 0.06 respectively. These calculations are performed after fitting the simulated axial dispersion model on the experiment curves. These results indicated that the extent of dispersion of water flowing in the pipeline is in the category of intermediate.Radioactive tracer 82Br in the form of KBr‐82 with activity ± 1 mCi has been injected into steel pipeline to qualify the extent dispersion of water flowing inside it. Internal diameter of the pipe is 3 in. The water source was originated from water tank through which the water flow gravitically into the pipeline. Two collimated sodium iodide detectors were used in this experiment each of which was placed on the top of the pipeline at the distance of 8 and 11 m from injection point respectively. Residence time distribution (RTD) curves obtained from injection of tracer are elaborated numerically to find information of the fluid flow properties. The transit time of tracer calculated from the mean residence time (MRT) of each RTD curves is 14.9 s, therefore the flow velocity of the water is 0.2 m/s. The dispersion number, D/uL, for each RTD curve estimated by using axial dispersion model are 0.055 and 0.06 respectively. These calculations are performed after fitting the simulated axial dispersion model on th...


ceremonials, and the clerics involved acted in the person of the Pope and his entourage, attempting to extend Rome's special spiritual dispensation over the whole European empire. I therefore also came to Rome determined to get to know the city as the Carolingians saw it. I visited the foundations and churches that would have been visible to the pilgrims and liturgical researchers who came to Rome to experience the special blessings of Saint Peter. I followed the pathways of liturgical processions and pilgrim routes, reconstructed with the help of the BSR library's collection on Roman topography. Such an experience of early medieval Rome helped me to enter more into the mindset and world view of those who wrote and used the texts, which is, in the end, the key to understanding them.


Linoleate isomerase gene was amplified by PCR from chromosome of Lactobacillus reuteri PYR8,then the gene was cloned into Pichia pastoris expression vector pPIC9K.The recombinant plasmid pPIC9K-LI was transformed into P.pastoris GS115 by electroporation and was induced with 1% methanol,it was demonstrated by SDS-PAGE that a 67 kD protein which was equall to LI in molecular weight was expressed in supernatant culture.The recombined LI protein with purity up to 95% was finally obtained after purification through two-step chromatography:SP Sepharose Fast Flow and Phenyl Sepharose Fast Flow.The analysis of gas chromatography showed that the recombinant LI protein exhibited the specific activity of conveting linoleic acid to conjugated linoleic acid,which was 6.8 U·mg~(-1).


The bleeding time test can aid in the diagnostic evaluation of patients with clinical hemorrhagic disorders or a history of bleeding. However, its low positive predictive value in predicting perioperative bleeding should force one to abandon it as a routine preoperative screening test.


Bacillus cereus T and F4810/72, B. stearothermophilus ATCC 1518, and Clostridium perfringens NCTC 8798 spore inactivation by 20, 50, and 80 mg chlorine dioxide (ClO2)/L at three pH values (4.5, 6.5, 8.5) were evaluated. ClO2 concentration, species and sporulation medium significantly (p < 0.001) affect spore sensitivity. B. cereus T sporulated in Modified G medium and B. stearothermophilus ATCC 1518 are similarly ClO2 sensitive, and each is significantly more sensitive than Fortified Nutrient Agar-sporulated B. cereus T and F4810/72. The Bacillus spore populations are more ClO2 sensitive than C. perfringens spore populations. Treatment pH affects C. perfringens but not Bacillus inactivation. Spores lacking intact coats are significantly more ClO2 sensitive than the strains with coats intact.


In the article based on the result of simulation modeling there are maximum one time concentrations of carcinogens, released to the air with emission of stationary sources. We did comparative analysis of the air pollution levels in the service districts of children's city polyclinics according to annual mean concentrations of individual carcinogens in the air and percentage of the receptor points where their calculated concentrations did not comply with the hygienic norms.


The present invention provides a method for determining the tripod type constant velocity joint limit slip curve, comprising the steps of: establishing a right-angle line coordinate system; establishing contact with the outer end surface of the intermediate shaft and the housing groove, the joint operating angle and when establishing contact with the inner bottom surface of the groove and the spherical roller shell, and the joint operating angle equation coordinate center point gimbal section;; equation gimbal center point coordinates of the spherical roller slipping when creating extreme position, Wan section equation and the working angle coordinate center point gimbal section; establishing joint operating angle is 0 °, the constraint equation of the coordinates of the center point of the joint; working constraint equation established joint angle; and simultaneous All of the above equation, the composition of equations, solving equations of the envelope, to give ultimate slip curve. The method of determining the limit of the slip curve according to the invention can be quickly and easily determine the limiting slip curve tripod constant velocity joint.


Why did Zhuang Zi use a descriptive way to construct the xiang of fables? Is it just a kind of metaphor? Or does it embody profound philosophical ideas? There always exist the myth that we can have new insights each time when read Zhuang Zi.Not concerned about precise logic and systemic analysis,Zhuang Zi focused more on the holistic state and the strange xiang of fables.It is the construction of the xiang of fables that he accomplished his creation of thinking and reached the climax of philosophy.Zhuang Zi's xiang of fables is full of symbolism,metaphoricalness,strangeness,mystique and enlightenment.It is the intuition of xiang and the art of understanding,which interprets the essence of Oriental culture.Zhuang Zi's fables embodies delicately in "xiang",but are interpreted in "xiang".Therefore,xiang is more creative and enlightening than dialectical analysis.


Purpose of this study is to determine primary teachers' views about assessment methods which are used by them. Semi-constructed interview which consists of five open-ended questions has been used as data gathering instrument. While the scope of research is the teachers who are teaching in primary schools in Rize, the samples are twenty-five primary schools teachers who were selected from the five schools. In conclusion, teachers are using both traditional assessment methods and alternative assessment methods. But, they don't think that all of the assessment methods which in new curriculum are useful in their school because of lack of time and source. Teachers have used these methods which are changed according to environment conditions. Based on this conclusions, importance should be given to alternative assessment approaches in classes which are given to students in university and information should be presented about how use this assessment methods. Summary Developing of a country in both economic and social areas and maintaining of this development are related to a generation that is trained with a quality education. Reaching contemporary civilization level is only possible with teachers implementing their tasks in a real effective way. In education-teaching process, an important feature which teachers need to have is to possess adequate assessment knowledge and put it into practice. Therefore, assessment has an important role in teaching process. Because, assessment provides feedback for teacher about students' learning in the education-teaching process. The primary education curriculum which was renewed in 2004, is based on constructivist approach. Constructivist approach emphasizes on learning and teaching strategies focusing on student and it takes personal differences into consideration. In this approach, new information that is taken by


Although analyzing and mining user's trajectory data can provide outstanding benefit, data owners may not be willing to upload their trajectory data because of privacy concerns. Recently, differential privacy technology has achieved a good trade-off between data utility and privacy preserving by publishing noisy outputs, and relevant schemes have been proposed for trajectory release. However, we experimentally find that a relatively accurate estimate of the true data value can still be obtained from the noisy outputs by means of a posterior estimation. But there are no practical mechanisms against current schemes to verify their effectiveness and resistance. To fill this gap, we propose a solution to evaluate the resistance performance of differential privacy on trajectory data release, including a notion of correlation-distinguishability filtering (CDF) and a privacy quantification measurement. Specifically, taking advantage of the principle of filtering that independent noise can be filtered out from correlated sequence, CDF is proposed to sanitize the noise added into the trajectory. To conduct this notion in practice, we attempt to apply a Kalman/particle filter to filter out the corresponding Gaussian/Laplace noise added by differential privacy schemes. Furthermore, to quantify the distortion of privacy strength before and after filtering, an entropy-based privacy quantification metric is proposed, which is used to measure the lost uncertainty of the true locations for an adversary. Experimental results show that the resistance performance of current approaches has a degradation to varying degrees under the filtering attack model in our solution. Moreover, the privacy quantification metric can be regarded as a unified criterion to measure the privacy strength introduced by the noise that does not conform to the form required by differential privacy.


Wet sprayed concrete is especially suitable for the support of high bank slope or tunnel excavation. The construction principal and technique of wet sprayed concrete is introduced in view of the characteristics of domestic TK961 type injector and utilization experience.


"Just as one cannot grow Washingtcn apples in the Philippines or Guimaras rnarJfJX!S in the Arctic hrause of jimdamentd envi:ronrnentaldijfrrences, neither can the NieJney!r fanmJa be transplantir1 in toto here hrauseof essentialutriana!s betuxen the twJ party-list malels. ... It is mw obviars that the Philippine style party-list system is a unique pttrcdign 7ihidJ demands an equally uniquefmmu1a. "


(57) Abstract: and one or isocyanate-terminated prepolymers made from more substantial polyoxypropylene polyols and / or polyol component comprising the polymer polyols in the main portion of the low internal unsaturation, water and by reacting the foam / chain extension stream comprising an amine and an alkanolamine as needed, to produce a molded polyurethane seat foams with low resonant frequencies and low ball rebound.


A series of nanoindentation tests has been carried out with TiO2 films produced by physical vapour deposition (PVD) under different conditions. Films with different microstructures and crystallographic structures have been prepared by changing experimental parameters such as the temperature of the substrate, the deposition angle (by the so-called glancing angle physical vapour deposition, GAPVD) or by exposing the growing film to a beam of accelerated ions. The obtained results of hardness and Young's modulus depict interesting correlations with the microstructure and structure of the films providing a general picture for the relationships between these characteristics and their mechanical properties. Different models have been used to extract Young's modulus and hardness parameters from the experimental nanoindentation curves. The obtained results are critically discussed to ascertain the ranges of validity of each procedure according to the type of sample investigated.


In this article an object-integrating approach to interaction in the mathematics classroom is proposed. Accordingly, not only human beings, but also non-human objects are considered as participants in the course of action. Symbolic interactionism and Actor-Network-Theory both serve as a theoretical basis for the development of the object-integrating approach to classroom interaction outlined in this article.


Abstract : In a series of experiments, significant improvements were found in ocular pursuit tracking with practice. These improvements, which held for various directions of tracking, endured beyond the training period. Also, the effect of ocular pursuit training on subsequent performance in a variety of visualmotor tasks was studied. In two transfer of training experiments, a high degree of positive transfer was found in the first but not in the second study. (Author)


To bring New Curricula effectively into practice,it is necessary to train broad rural teachers in proper consciousness of cooperative communication and construct an open and cooperative teacher professional culture. The investigation shows that the status quo of rural teachers' cooperative communication is to a certain degree isolated and conservative and technology-oriented. The following strategies are recommended to reconstruct the rural teacher's professional culture,including depending on the diversity and difference in their professional development,giving play to the active factors in the teacher's individualism,nurturing the common belief of the teachers as a social group,and establishing a consistent and effective motivation mechanism.


The system of higher education has not yet developed verified and reasonable criteria for evaluating the effi ciency of the teaching staff. The mentioned problem affects not only the field of management theory in higher education, but also has a quite visible practical implementation. Th e current state of affairs and prospects for the development of Russian higher education largely depends on the extent to which the system of performance indicators will create impetus for the professional growth of university teachers. The correctness and validity of the practical methods used in the implementation of these indicators is a factor that determines the social reputation and professional authority of scientific and pedagogical staff in higher education institutions. In the modern Russian system of higher education, there is a search for the most reasonable, objective and fair criteria for evaluating the activities of the teaching staff. The main of these methods presents visible innovations in the employment relations based on a system of effective contracts. At the same time, the large-scale changes that this system brought to the sphere of employment relations could not objectively enter into everyday life bypassing problems and contradictions. The objectives of this article are to summarize and show the positive experience in application of the system of indicators for evaluating the efficiency of scientific and pedagogical staff accumulated at St. Petersburg State University. The experience allowed us to evaluate the most significant and important elements of this system, which, being tested in practice, have shown their effectiveness as motivation for the professional growth of the teaching and scientific staff and, at the same time, confirmed their importan ce as a mean of achieving the goals of the St. Petersburg State University's development program. The research relevance of this article is to point out the practical foundations available at St. Petersburg State University for the development of universal provisions on the creation and implementation of an effective system of incentives regulating the work of scientific and pedagogical staff.


The objective of this short paper is to examine two of the most interesting (and ongoing) developments in Latin American constitutionalism: the doctrine of implicit limits to constitutional reform and the validation of constitutions of 'dubious' legal origins through the theory of constituent power. Particular emphasis will be given to Article 411 of the new Constitution of Bolivia, as it nicely captures both of these developments. The doctrine of implicit limits to constitutional reform provides judges not only with the power to strike down unconstitutional legislation, but also constitutional amendments that are deemed inconsistent with certain fundamental principles or with the constitution as a whole. The theory of constituent power posits that the people possess an extralegal constitution-making power, which may be exercised at any moment and even in violation of the established constitutional order. Although mostly confined to academic discussions since the French Revolution, in Latin America (unlike in the Anglo-American world) constituent power has long been present in constitutional discourse. Nevertheless, the theory has been playing a central role in the rebalancing constitutionalism and democracy that has taken place during the last decades in several countries in the region.


This paper will describe "lessons learned" by the County Los Angeles Department of Public Works (Public Works) to deploy a hybrid communications system comprised of fiber, twisted wire pair, leased telephone lines and wireless radios to support the communications requirements for real time monitoring of traffic signals and closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) installed over a large noncontiguous geographical area, containing many jurisdictions, with the ultimate goal of providing an integrated solution to coordinate traffic signals and enable real time monitoring of traffic signals and CCTV cameras. Typical traffic signal system deployments are for a small, contiguous geographic area. The uniqueness of the deployment of communications in Los Angeles County is that it covers an expansive region and requires an infrastructure that supports communications for individual cities, Public Works' maintained traffic signals (which includes both the unincorporated area as well as individual cities), and agencies who have elected to have the Public Works host their traffic signal systems. In addition, communications must be provided/supported for Public Works' Information Exchange Network (IEN), which provides a mechanism to monitor the operation of traffic signals from different traffic signal systems and controller types across jurisdictional boundaries. This paper will focus on the numerous methods used by Public Works to deploy communications and that has included high speed licensed microwave and unlicensed broadband radios to provide both localized control and long distance backhaul functionality. The paper will focus on methods use, hurdles overcome, and lessons learned in the process.


We use the example of the allocation of tours to mailmen to illustrate the general idea that interactive evolutionary computation (IEC) can be applied to a range of task allocation problems where the task performers are humans. In this application of IEC, each participant is presented only with the portion of solution corresponding to his/her task (tour). In addition to the subjective evaluation of solutions by the participants, the solutions presented to the participants are pre-optimized according to objective criteria.


A spectrophotometric study has been made of an aqueous solution of silver(II) containing nitric acid and an excess of 2,2′-bipyridine over the wavelength range 350–550 nm. The data are consistent with the existence of only two complexes related by the equilibrium [Ag(bipy)2]2++ H+⇌[Ag(bipy)]2++ Hbipy+. At I= 1.00 mol dm–3 and at 25 °C, Kh for this equilibrium is found to be (3.3 ± 0.5)× 10–3. From the variation of Kh with temperature the values for the enthalpy and entropy of the above reaction are found to be 11.5 ± 2.6 kJ mol–1 and –9 ± 10 J K–1 mol–1 respectively.


Summary. The intron of the plastid rpsl6 gene was sequenced for 13 species in 11 genera of Burseraceae and three genera of Anacardiaceae. Parsimony analysis produced just three strongly supported trees. Canarieae and Protieae are shown to be monophyletic with 100% bootstrap support. Bursereae, however, are paraphyletic with two distinct clades corresponding to the subtribes. The hypothesised, but never formally recognised, close association between the genera Garuga and Boswellia is reinforced. The close association between the South American genus Bursera and African genus Commiphora is clearly demonstrated. The position of the recently discovered Beiselia is resolved as a distant sister to the rest of


An outstanding mystery in biology is why some species, such as the axolotl, can scarlessly heal and regenerate tissues while most mammals cannot. Here, we demonstrate that rapid activation of protein synthesis is a unique, and previously uncharacterized, feature of the injury response critical for limb regeneration in the axolotl (A. mexicanum). By applying polysome sequencing, we identify hundreds of transcripts, including antioxidants and ribosome components, which do not change in their overall mRNA abundance but are selectively activated at the level of translation from pre-existing mRNAs in response to injury. In contrast, we show that protein synthesis is not activated in response to digit amputation in the non-regenerative mouse. We further identify the mTORC1 pathway as a key upstream signal that mediates this regenerative translation response in the axolotl. Inhibition of this pathway is sufficient to suppress translation and axolotl regeneration. Surprisingly, although mTOR is highly evolutionarily conserved, we discover unappreciated expansions in mTOR protein sequence among urodele amphibians. By engineering an axolotl mTOR in human cells, we demonstrate that this change creates a hypersensitive kinase that may allow axolotls to maintain this pathway in a highly labile state primed for rapid activation. This may underlie metabolic differences and nutrient sensing between regenerative and non-regenerative species that are key to regeneration. Together, these findings highlight the unanticipated impact of the translatome on orchestrating the early steps of wound healing in highly regenerative species and provide a missing link in our understanding of vertebrate regenerative potential.


Background:Elective ovariossalpingohysterectomy is a common surgery that causes mild to moderate pain. Aiming at the treatment of pain in these patients, analgesia should be balanced from pre-anesthetic, transoperative and postoperative medication, with α-2-agonists and opioids being commonly used, especially dexmedetomidine that has sedation, relaxation muscle and analgesia. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the postoperative analgesic efficacy of dexmedetomidine alone and associated with morphine when used in the preanesthetic medication of bitches submitted to elective ovarian oysterectomy using the modified Glasgow pain scale and the Melbourne pain scale.Materials,Methods & Results:Twenty bitches were used in this study, all of them submitted to ovarian oysterectomy, and were clinically healthy according to laboratory and clinical exams. During the experiment, bitches were randomly distributed into two groups, which received preanesthetic medication (MPA) with 5μg/kg dexmedetomidine alone (GD) or associated with 0.3 mg/kg morphine (GDM) intramuscularly (IM). In both groups, anesthetic induction with dose-effect propofol was performed and maintained with isoflurane diluted in 100% oxygen administered through a calibrated vaporizer and appropriate anesthetic system based on the weight of the animal and maintained on spontaneous ventilation. After stabilization of the patient the surgery was started, which lasted 45 min. The bitches were evaluated by the Modified Glasgow Scale (GSM), the Melbourne Scale (MS) and the Dobbins Sedation Scale (DS), previously administered MPA (T0) and the others performed in 1h (T1), 2h (T2), 4h (T3), 8h (T4), 12h (T5) and 24h (T6) after extubation. If the GSM score was greater than the value of 3.3 an analgesic rescue of 0.5 mg/kg of morphine intramuscularly would be administered. An increase in the scoring of pain scales in both groups can be observed from the T1, with significant difference only of the T1 in relation to the T0 in the GSM of the GDM. Two rescues were performed in T1 of GD and three rescues in T1 and a rescue in T3 of GDM. There was no significant difference between the groups in relation to this variable, as a result of P = 0.62.Discussion:Based on the results of this study, dexmedetomidinedoes not have adequate analgesic effect for use in preemptive analgesia of bitches submitted to elective OSH due to the high number of analgesic rescues. A small increase in GSM and MS scores from T1 can be expected compared to values prior to the surgical procedure since there was no nociceptive stimulation. This increase was only significant in T1 of GDM, moment of greatest rescue number (n = 3). The absence of significant difference between the groups proves that the analgesic effect of dexmedetomidine was not potentiated by the association with morphine at the dose and route used in this experiment. Although morphine is widely used and proven to be effective for the surgical procedure of ovariossalpingohysterectomy, both when used alone and in combination with other drugs, this fact has not been proven in the present study. This fact may have occurred due to the low dose of dexmedetomidine used or due to its short duration. Therefore, dexmedetomidine at the dose used as preanesthetic medication did not produce an adequate analgesic effect in the postoperative period of bitches submitted to elective ovariossalpingohysterectomy. The effects of the same were not potentiated by the association with morphine, at the dose used. Not being recommended for postoperative analgesic control of electiveovariossalpingohysterectomy in bitches. However, further studies are needed to better evaluate the analgesic effect of this α-2-agonist.


The silicone (abbreviated Si) extracted from rice hull ash by base-dissolving acidification method was used to analyse its effect on rice seed germination and growth with different concentrations through germination and pot culture experiment. Results showed that within a Si concentration range from 4 to 16%, both total absorption area and active absorption area of rice roots increased with the decreasing of Si concentration, the highest value of absorption area was at treatment B with Si content 8% diluted 300 times, followed by diluted 400 times and the lowest value was at treatment D diluted 100 times. Leaf chlorophyll content also showed similar trends as root absorption area when the Si content was lower than 8%. By foliar spraying of two materials – one (Si) was from rice hull ash and the other (Si fertiliser) was from Si liquid – the characteristics of rice growth changed from control: the heading stage of rice advanced two to three days and yield increased by 19.6% on average, which were significant differences. Extracted Si from rice hull ash has the same molecular structure as the conventional Si liquid fertiliser, increasing one or two dumbbell Si cells on the surface of a leaf. The results showed that when the level of Si reached 8% and the dilution was from 300 to 500 times, it could promote the seed vigour, and it was beneficial to seed germination and rice growth. It was found important to reuse rice hull ash for agriculture.


These are preliminary notes written for a course on black holes and quantum gravity given at the LACES 2019 school. They cover the following topics: 1. Black hole thermodynamics. Bekenstein-Hawking entropy. 2. QFT in curved space. Hawking radiation. 3. Euclidean Quantum Gravity. Saddles of the gravitational path integral. 4. Black holes in AdS. Hawking-Page phase transition (and its CFT dual). 5. Including higher-derivative corrections: Wald's formula. 6. Quantum entropy of extremal black holes. 7. Black hole microstate counting. The course is aimed at early graduate students. It is assumed knowledge of General Relativity (including basic notions of di↵erential geometry and black holes), Quantum Field Theory (including the path integral formulation) and Statistical Mechanics (in particular, the microcanonical, canonical and grand-canonical ensembles).


BACKGROUND
Identification of factors related to colorectal cancer screening (CRC) and intent to obtain fecal occult blood tests (FOBTs) among low-income persons are important because CRC incidence and mortality are higher among socioeconomically disadvantaged populations.

METHOD
Participants were 193 individuals 50 years of age and older. CRC screening and intent to obtain FOBTs were dependent measures. Demographic variables, objective risk factors, and health beliefs were independent measures.

RESULTS
Digital rectal examinations and FOBTs were obtained by 41% and 22%, respectively, during the previous year. Flexible sigmoidoscopies were obtained by only 19% of those 55 years of age and older during the previous five years. Multivariate analyses showed that family history of CRC, personal history of polyps, and physician recommendation were the strongest predictors of CRC screening. Family history of CRC and self-efficacy were related to intent to obtain FOBTs.

CONCLUSIONS
Results suggest the importance of physician assessment of personal and family CRC risk factors, as well as recommendation of CRC screening, to all patients as part of routine medical care.


PURPOSE: Provided is a fermenting agent for hygienically producing safe feeds from food wastes, thereby preventing the growth of pathogenic microorganisms, increasing enzyme activity and reduced sugar level and maximizing coefficient of utilization of food wastes. CONSTITUTION: The fermenting agent for hygienically producing safe feeds from food wastes is characteristically composed of 5-15 wt.% of microbial powder and 85-95 wt.% of excipient. It further contains 5-15 part by weight of oligosaccharide, referred to 100 part by weight of the fermenting agent. Wherein the microbial powder is prepared by mixing at least one selected from the group consisting of Bacillus circulans(ATCC 9500), Bacillus megaterium(ATCC 10778), Lactobacillus amylophilus(ATCC 49845), Weissella confusa(ATCC 14434), Bifidus sp.(ATCC 11863), Candida utilis(ATCC 9950) and Candida sp.(ATCC 90238); the excipient is at least one selected from the group consisting of corn flour, rice bran and wheat bran; the oligosaccharide is at least one selected from the group consisting of glucomannan-oligosaccharide, inulo-oligosaccharide, fructo-oligosaccharide and mannan-oligosaccharide.


A famous result of Kostant's states that the universal enveloping algebra of a semisimple complex Lie algebra is a free module over its center. An analogue of this result is proved for the class of special filtered algebras. This is then applied to show that the restricted Yangian and the universal enveloping algebra of the restricted current algebra, associated with the general linear Lie algebra, are both free over their centers. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification 13A02, 16W70, 17B37, 81R10.


This study investigated factors influencing trust of social media news . Adopting online survey, this study collected 276 valid responses from Mainland China's largest social media "Sina weibo". Results revealed that, psychology factors indeed influence users'trust towards the social media. In terms of of message sender, relation closeness towards the senders and the strength of senders' influence are proved to be significant factors affecting users' trust. In terms of message content, news with more abrupt nature,higher sensitivity and stronger negativeness earn more trust in social media. In terms of media platform, users with higher media exposure and higher levels of satisfaction have more trust in social media; reversal mindsets are indeed found in the process of social media news communication in Mainland China's online environment..However, higher self-efficacy does not cause more credibility of social media news. All in all, most results accorded with hypothesis of the research, which confirmed that psychological factors influence in the reception of social media information. In addition, the relationship between social media and traditional media reveal to be a positive rather than negative pattern. Considering accuracy, unbiased, compeleteness, trustworthiness, traditional media still win over social media in the dissemination of news information.


Focuses on Paul Schrader's process of adapting two novels—Paul Theroux's The Mosquito Coast and Nikos Kazantzakis' The Last Temptation of Christ. Draws on the Harry Ransom Center's collection of Paul Schrader's papers, Schrader's annotated copies of The Last Temptation of Christ and The Mosquito Coast, the outlines that he created for both films, and the multiple script drafts. Argues there is an inherent dilemma with The Mosquito Coast because the voiceover structure distances the viewer from the protagonist, Allie Fox, instead telling the story through the eyes of his son, Charlie. However, in Last Temptation (1978), Jesus undergoes trials that challenge his followers while remaining the audience's touchstone. The shifting use of voiceover as a technical tool in screenwriting therefore serves as a gauge for demonstrating how Schrader envelops viewers in his characters' worldviews. The last section of the chapter reflects on how Schrader's presentation of such themes is informed by his own critical concept of transcendental film style.


We read with interest the recent paper by Fukunaya in this journal regarding a case of cutaneous spindle cell carcinoma following a basal cell carcinoma (BCC). The author comments on the presence of BCC elements in 8 of the 19 previously reported cases of cutaneous metaplastic carcinoma (''carcinosarcoma or sarcomatoid carcinoma''). We completely agree with the case that he described. We call attention to the omission of 2 additional cases, recently reported by our group. The first report, published in 1998, describes an 82-yearold male with a 2.5-cm cutaneous lesion arising on the supraclavicular area; the second case, published in 2003, reports on a 64-year-old male presenting a 1.2-cm lesion on the right ear. Both lesions showed an exophytic and ulcerated clinical appearance and a fast growth before surgery. The histologic study revealed a mixture of a typical BCC and a sarcomatoid neoplasm with spindle cells in a storiform pattern (case 1) and embedded in a myxoid stroma (case 2). Despite the sarcomatoid component seemingly developed from the BCC, epithelial differentiation with positive cytokeratin (AE1/AE3) could only be demonstrated in the second case. However, immunohistochemistry disclosed positive p53 immunostain in both cellular components of both cases, supporting a common pathway of both the epithelial and sarcomatoid elements. Moreover, Yada et al recently investigated the expression of CD10 in BCC with 86% of the tumors studied showing positive stain for this antigen. In line with these results, the authors suggested a possible role of CD10 overexpression in stromal cells as a marker of tumor invasiveness. In our 2 cases, the positive CD10 stain in both tumoral components allowed us to explain the aggressive behavior of the lesions. In summary, in view of these findings and in an attempt to avoid confusing nomenclature we consider the use of ''sarcomatoid basal cell carcinoma'' as the most appropriate term for these uncommon tumors.


Deposit of Korean Civil law means thing for performance of obligation as extinction cause of claim. The Civil law of deposit has several points of construction as the following. 1. The provision of the latter part of the Civil law article 487 enacts "… where the obligee cannot be ascertained …". What does this provision mean? And how does obligee demand thing deposited? 2. The Civil law article 489, clause 1 enacts "So long as the obligee has given his consent to the deposit or has been notified to receive the thing deposited in the Deposit Office or a judgement declaring the deposit effective has become final and binding, the depositor may recover the thing deposited …". How and when does an obligation lapse regarding this rights of withdrawal? 3. What is nature of rights of withdrawal? And the Civil law article 489, clause 2 enacts "The provisions of the preceding Paragraph shall not apply where a pledge or a mortgage has been extinguished by making a deposit". Then I wonder what has become of other security rights except for a pledge and a mortgage. A system of deposit settles an interest of parties and a state merely is custodian ought to having none of an interest in a legal act. So, to demand thing deposited can't directly bring a civil action against a state. An obligation once lapses by deposit, but if thing deposited is withdrawn, an obligation is considered that it wasn't retrospectively lapsed as from the time of deposit. Namely, obligation lapses on condition that exercising rights of withdrawal is a condition subsequent at the time of deposit. According to the Civil law article 489, clause 2, rights of withdrawal shall not be acknowledged when only a pledge or a mortgage has been extinguished by making a deposit. But other security rights except for a pledge and a mortgage are not all that different from a pledge and a mortgage. Thus, the Civil law article 489, clause 2 must be applied to other security rights as well as a pledge and a mortgage.


The patient, whom I have chosen as the subject of our today's discussion, immediately stops attention on herself by her external appearance. You see a 1012 year old girl, not very tall, thin; Apparently, there are still no traces of the era of formation on her, and between the dark of our patient she is 20 years old and she has been married for quite a long time. Such a discrepancy between external appearance and age even more catches the eye with detailed examination, which showed that the mammary glands are completely childish, the external genital organs are poorly developed, not covered with vegetation, the sleeve is barely passable for the finger, the uterus is childish.


Imagine a computer plugged into your television at home or in a foreign hotel. In the morning, it can barely transcribe one out of two words correctly, but by evening, it can provide a largely correct transcript of the evening news show, based on what it learned during the day from the TV. This seems like the core of familiar science fiction shows, but the research described here brings this vision closer to reality by exploiting the multimodal nature of the broadcast signals and the variety of sources available for broadcast data. Our proposed technique gathers large amounts of speech from open broadcast sources and combines it with automatically obtained text or closed captioning to identify suitable speechtraining material. George Zavaliagkos and Thomas Colthurst worked on a different approach to this method that uses confidence scoring on the acoustic data itself to improve performance in the absence of any transcribed data, but their approach only yielded marginal results. Our initial efforts also provided only limited success with small amounts of data. In this article, we describe our approach to collecting almost unlimited amounts of accurately transcribed speech data. This information serves as training data for the acoustic-model component of most high-accuracy speaker-independent speech-recognition systems. The errorridden closed-captioned text aligns with the similarly error-ridden speech-recognizer output. We assume matching segments of sufficient length are reliable transcriptions of the corresponding speech. We then use these segments as the training data for an improved speech recognizer.


Semisolid casting of aluminum alloy is an advanced casting technology for the foundry industry. The advantages of semisolid casting are ease of casting at low temperature and high fluidity of the semisolid slurry, which have to contain granular, fine and homogeneous crystals. Conventional semisolid slurry processing is performed by electromagnetic stirring or mechanical stirring, both of which involve large equipment and high costs. In this investigation, we developed a simple semisolid process of AC4CH aluminum casting using an inclined cooling plate. Numerous a aluminum granular crystals nucleated on the inclined cooling plate during its flow, and the semisolid slurry ran into an isolated tundish. The crystals then became granular grains in the tundish. The semisolid slurry was cast into a horizontal continuous casting machine. The billet was 60 mm in diameter and 1000 mm in length and the casting speed was between 2 and 4 mm/s. The finest grain size of 50 mm could be obtained by casting at 897 K with a casting speed of 4 mm/s, an angle of 60°, and a length of 160 mm.


This paper illustrates the discipline of Intelligence Science and Technology through its background.Base on the summary the Teaching Practices in a year,some important issues on constructing of the discipline of Intelligence Science and Technology in Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications are discussed,planning and construction of course,the cognition of discipline by the students,employment prospects,etc.


Part of the WUGNET Windows Computing Secrets Series, this book offers broad-based coverage of Windows configuration issues. The book covers everything from DOS issues, to Windows installation, to memory configuration, and peer-to-peer networking. Three bonus disks provide Configuration Tools and utility programs, including WUGNET's own System Engineer package, plus many others.


On the 50th anniversary of the ISSA and IRSS, a foundational scholar in the development of the sociology of sport in the Czech Republic and Eastern Europe, Irena Slepičková, reflects on the relationship between sociological understandings and local sport policy. Even with considerable interest in sport across the social sciences, the development of an explicit sociology of sport was hindered by discouraged engagement with Western bourgeois sociology, resulting in stifled theoretical development and bias towards scientific research linked to priorities of administration. Key challenges for the field's development can be seen in the needs to prioritize theory and scientific method over "linguistic equilibristics" and subjective advocacy. Key areas for development in the future for the sociology of sport center on issues of social stratification and remedying problems of social exclusion in and through sport. Future research on the sociology of sport needs to focus on laying a scientific basis for the implementation of public policies that can make a healthy difference in everyday lived experience.


Abstract By reaction of arylazo-substituted aryl halides with mercaptides, new arylazo-substituted arylsulfides are formed. These compounds are deeply coloured and exhibit an intense absorption band in the visible region, which can be reproduced quantitatively and interpreted satisfactorily by means of quantum chemical calculations in the framework of the PPP and LHM methods, respectively.


The sampling variability of spectra of wind-generated waves is tested against the predictions of the theory of waves as a stationary random quasi-Gaussian process. Both laboratory data, in which stationarity was prescribed, and field data, in which the external conditions were remarkably steady, were treated in the same way. It is demonstrated that the theory of stationary Gaussian processes provides accurate estimates of the sampling variability. For a record length of 17 min, commonly used in wave monitoring at sea, the uncertainties in the significant height and peak frequency estimates are approximately ±12% and ±5% respectively at the 90% confidence level. Furthermore, the height of the peak of the spectrum is generally overestimated.


The European Union (EU) currently faces various political challenges surrounding questions of the Union's self-understanding with regards to processes of enlargement and constitutionalization. This article analyzes the newly created communication strategy devised by the European Union Commissioner for Institutional Relations and Communication and contrasts the mismatch between theoretical concepts of transnational communication in the social sciences on the one hand and the problematic nature of the EU's communicative approach relating to the national public spheres on the other. I argue that while some theorists propagate idealistic-normative expectations rather than empirically based policy recommendations, the Commission has begun to listen to academics and politicians who rightfully call for more transparency and interaction with the national-levels of governments and media. Based on an analysis of the communication and information deficits between the Union's institutions, the national governments and the mass media, I discuss suggestions as to how the Commission could improve its communication policy and thus aid in the creation of a European public sphere.