The art of piano playing has been continuously entering into people's life. However, with the continuous improvement of science and technology and living standards, the traditional teaching mode can no longer meet the piano teaching mode. The teaching of piano is different from traditional subjects, such as Chinese and mathematics. It requires students to experience the artistic characteristics and the live atmosphere of the players brought by the piano. This study integrates video and image teaching methods with piano teaching. Videos and images can more intuitively show the live atmosphere brought by piano players and musical artistic features brought by the piano. At the same time, this study uses the convolutional neural network (CNN) method to study the relevant features of videos and images of piano teaching. These features are mainly the characteristics of piano music, the behavior of players, and the basic knowledge of a piano. The research results show that the clustering method can effectively classify the features of videos and images in piano teaching, and the maximum classification error is only 1.89%. The CNN method also has high performance in predicting the relevant features of piano teaching videos and images. Accuracy. The largest prediction error is only 2.23%, and the linear correlation coefficient also exceeds 0.95. This set of the piano teaching mode that combines videos and images is beneficial to both teachers and students.


Intrinsic and n-type microcrystalline silicon thin films were deposited on intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon by the layer-by-layer technique. The growth of the samples has been analyzed in situ by kinetic ellipsometry, spectroscopic ellipsometry, and dark conductivity measurements. This in situ analysis has shown that the process of deposition can be divided into four phases: incubation, nucleation, growth, and steady state. Moreover we have found striking differences between the growth of undoped and n-type samples in both the kinetics of the formation of crystallites and the zone where the nucleation of crystallites takes place. According to our in situ conductivity measurements, the percolation threshold occurs for a crystalline volume fraction higher than 20% in both cases. Moreover, we can produce very thin (6 nm) and highly conductive (σd≈0.2 S cm−1) n-type microcrystalline silicon films on intrinsic amorphous silicon.


Trichobezoar is an underdiagnosed condition that should be considered in children and teenagers, particularly girls. According to a late diagnosis, trichobezoars can result in gastrointestinal bleeding or perforation. In this report, we discussed a 14-year-old girl who presented with severe abdominal pain with a well-defined mass in the Epigastrium; a CT scan revealed a giant mass with stomach distension which was removed through Gastrotomy. Gastric bezoars that are misdiagnosed could have life-threatening effects. Effective screening is necessary for early diagnosis. It is crucial to receive medical counselling to avoid a recurrence of bezoar.


We have theoretically studied the effect of chirping one-photon incident laser pulses on (I) the branching ratio of the HOD molecule in the photochemical reaction D+OH←HOD→H+OD and (II) the UV photodesorption dynamics of NH3 and ND3 from Cu(111). As was predicted in our previous 1D model, wave packet calculations have demonstrated that it is possible, in practice, to control the branching ratio of reaction (I) and to greatly enhance the desorption probability of the photodesorption reaction (II) by negatively chirped laser pulses. It was found that two characteristics of (negatively) chirped laser pulses contribute to this remarkable effect; the mechanism of adiabatic rapid passage for the population transfer between the ground and excited states, and the intrapulse pump-dump process for determining the branching ratio and photodesorption yield.


This article aims to describe experiences from research projects entitled "Children's calendar incompleteness and racial inequality: birth cohorts (BRISA) in northeastern and southeastern Brazil and" Spatial analysis of the children's calendar in São Luís "that took place from 2016 to 2019 in the Graduate Program in Public Health (PPGSC) of the Federal University of Maranhão. This report consists of the perceptions of the scholarship holders involved and the techniques produced by them that aimed to apply spatial analysis techniques in GIS and geoprocessing to analyze variables that influence childhood vaccination, while maps were produced to discuss the themes covered. Therefore, these experiences are fundamental in educational institutions, especially to broaden the horizons of future specialists in geosciences and geotechnologies, as it allows to take from theory to future technical praxis concomitant with their professions.


Background. Uremia is associated with impairment of different cognitive functions. However the pathogenesis of this cognitive dysfunction is unknown. Objective. In this study, long-latency event related potentials (ERPs) were used to assess changes in cortical function due to hemodialysis treatment. Methods. In this cross-sectional study, we measured event related potentials in 15 end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients maintained on hemodialysis, two hours before and two hours after they underwent hemodialysis and compared their data with a strictly age and sex matched healthy control group. The P3 was elicited by using standard auditory "odd-ball" paradigm and the data obtained was statistically analyzed (Wilcoxon signed ranks, Mann Whitney). Results. Before hemodialysis, the patients' P3 latency (347.73 ± 39.47 ms) was significantly increased as compared with that of healthy control group (308.4 ± 13.73 ms) (p = 0.001). After hemodialysis, P3 latency of the patients showed a significant decrease (347.73 ± 39.47 ms to 325.20 ± 37.15 ms, p = 0.001). P3 latency after dialysis was not significantly different from controls. No significant correlation was noted between various biochemical parameters (hemoglobin, blood urea, creatinine, uric acid and calcium) and P3 latency or amplitude. Conclusions. Removal of uremic toxins by hemodialysis leads to an improvement in cognitive processing.


This chapter highlights several instances where NATO failed to provide sufficient information, or provided inaccurate statements regarding operations that caused civilian destruction and/or civilian casualties. It provides a general assessment of the NATO intervention, and examines critical questions with regards to accusations that NATO exceeded its mandate, violated its own rules of engagement and failed to adhere to the specific laws of war while carrying out its operations. The chapter presents a factual overview of the NATO campaign and the events that gave rise to the authorization for foreign intervention. Then, it concludes with an examination of a sample of NATO airstrikes conducted during the conflict, and closes with an assessment of NATO's operations and whether its humanitarian remit was exceeded. The use of force by NATO militarily benefitted the thuwar against the regime - which goes beyond the Security Council's authority to limit action to humanitarian purposes are showed. Keywords:Libyan conflict; NATO campaign; security council


A technology named active damping is commonly adopted to eliminate the resonance peak of LCL filters.Many active damping strategies have been proposed in the literatures before.However,the control mechanism of active damping has not been involved yet,also the theoretical basis for the proposed strategies.In this paper,a thorough research on active damping has demonstrated that the essence of active damping is the feedback control at the frequencies where the resonance peak lies.Moreover,a better damping effect is obtained when the control is negative feedback,and the deeper the feedback the better the inhibition of the resonance peak.Based on this,the essence of the existing control strategies based on inverter-side inductor current,filter capacitor current and voltage was analyzed;the principles for the design of active damping control through filter capacitance,inverter-side inductance or even grid-side inductance were proposed,as well as the feasible active damping control strategies in systems with LCL filters.Experimental tests validate the analysis.


A new 3D model retrieval approach based on shape distributions was proposed,which represented a 3D shape as three D2 shape histograms.Firstly,a sufficiently large number of random sample points on surface of 3D model was taken and the normal direction of each point was recorded.Secondly,the D2 shape function was adopted to measure the distance between two random points on the surface of the model,at the same times,calculate the angles between the normals of the points and the line segment which was formed by the two random points.Lastly,according to the angles,the line segments were sorted into three sets.For each set,shape distribution histogram was calculated associating with the D2 shape distribution function.By comparing each pair of shape distribution histograms using well-known curve matching techniques and adding the three weighted results,the sum was regarded as the similar coefficient of the two models.Experiments showed that this algorithm could effectively illustrate the similar degree of the two models and as well reflecting human perceptual similarity.


Pcychoactive drug addiction treatment and rehabilitation programmes world wide are facing with the difficulty of successfully treating and rehabilitating drug dependents because this rate of success is very much determined by the rate of slips, lapse and relapse (recidivism).The success rate for the rehabilitation of drug dependent ranges from 50 to 70 percents, and specifically,in the case of Malaysia,around 60%.Popular current treatment modalities have been employed in Malaysia since 1983, namely detoxification, physical, pyschososial and psychological treatment via various modes such as full time in-house treatment schedules (the serenti programme),therapeutic community,and the out-patient programmes.The only modality being excluded or being practiced is the methadone maintainance programme and other similar treatment procedures using substitute mood altering agents.However, another treatment approach which has been neglected by research is the traditional modality such as the homeopathy approach, the religious (Islamic-spiritual) method and other spiritual approaches, since the number of drug addicts being rehabilitated at these centres are small, and where approaches and procedures differ greatly from one centre to the next.This study looks at one of the traditional approaches, identifying the underpinning philosophical assumptions,processes, procedures and modes of implementation.The paper also report preliminary finding in terms of its effectiveness in treatment and endow observation on its future prospect as an alternative method of rehabilitating drug addicts.


In this article at first logical switching table has been improved which in addition to steady state, transient state has also been paid attention. Then a controller has been proposed for Vienna rectifier which does not require D-Q transform and it is real time and one cycle controller. Suggested controller is sliding mode controller with linear controller that can be controlled output voltage by zero dynamic. And finally a new control approach has been proposed that can control neutral point.


FIELD: agriculture, plant selection. SUBSTANCE: plant material that contains either incomplete or single wax-like mutant allele should be treated with a mutagen that causes point mutation of at least one wax-like allele. Treatment of plant material with a mutagen leads to the development of inactivated immobilized protein in it. As a mutagen one should apply ethylmethane sulfonate. EFFECT: higher efficiency. 11 cl


Abstract Several methods were used to evaluate the potential role of bimolecular mechanism in skeletal isomerisation of n -butene to isobutene. Dimers of n -butene were prepared and their reaction monitored. Product distributions of these reactions were compared with those obtained with n -butene. Comparison was performed with different catalysts at 1 bar total pressure in an apparatus which makes both continuous flow and pulse experiments possible. Compositions of products of the reactions of n -butene and of dimers were found to be very different on catalysts selective to isobutene. On highly acidic catalysts, which form isobutene nonselectively and show a high formation of by-products (C 3 = and C 5 = ), distributions were similar. Skeletal isomerisation is suppressed by a higher pressure of butene while the rate of formation of by-products increases with increasing pressure. Optimum temperatures of dimerisation and of skeletal isomerisation differ considerably. All these results indicate that bimolecular mechanism is responsible mainly for the by-products. It is concluded that the skeletal isomerisation of n -butene to isobutene runs via a monomolecular mechanism whereas the by-products are formed by cracking of dimers of n -butene. Another source of the by-products seems to be dimers arising from isobutene, the latter being first formed by a monomolecular skeletal isomerisation of n -butene. The formation of by-products is suppressed when 10-membered ring zeolite is used as a catalyst.


: The thermophysical properties of metal alloys are often investigated via molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. An exact and reliable estimation of the thermophysical parameters from the MD data requires a properly and carefully elaborated methodology. In this paper, an improved two-phase sandwich method for the determination of the metal melting temperature is proposed, based on the solid-liquid equilibrium theory. The new method was successfully implemented using the LAMMPS software and the C++11 Standard Libraries and then applied to aluminum and copper systems. The results show that the proposed procedure allows more precise calculations of the melting temperature than the widely used one-phase boundary methods.


Second-order correlation functions for photon pulses associated with exciton-biexciton cascades are theoretically derived. A finite efficiency in photon detection and statistical distribution in exciton numbers are taken into account. It is found that the bunching peak height of photon statistics (g(2)(0)) depends on the mean number of excitons, N, and significant bunching is only detectable at very low excitation, N<<2.


The study of the bathymetrical characteristics of lake basins aroused interest long ago, leading to a continuous evolution of the investigation methods. Technical instruments and processing of data gathered on site have evolved and the results can be observed in the accurate reproduction of lake basin morphology. The lakes in the Danube Delta have suffered spectacular changes throughout the years, both in their number and the morphometrical characteristics. The morphometrical analysis of the lakes can offer the premises for identifying their developing tendency.


This position paper is not based upon direct experience with the design and implementation of a "non-normat ive" n a t u r a l language system, but r a t h e r draws upon our work on cascade [11] architectures for understanding systems in which syntactic, semantic and discourse processes cooperate to determine the "best" interpretation of an utterance in a given discourse context. The RUS and PSI-KLONE systems [I, 2, 3, 4, 5], which embody some of these principles, provide a strong framework for the development of non-normatlve systems as illustrated by the work of Sondhelmer and Welschedel [8, 9, 10]and others.


Free-living amoebae (AVL) of the genus Acanthamoeba are distributed worldwide and inhabit a wide variety of environmental niches. Acanthamoeba can be considered an important vehicle for human pathogens harbor numerous bacteria endosymbionts. This study aimed to characterize the pathogenic potential of Acanthamoeba isolates from 12 previously isolated from contact lens cases and air conditioning ducts using assessed by osmotolerance and temperature tolerance as well as identify and characterize the community of endosymbionts present, using two techniques molecular biology, PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) and DGGE (Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis). Among the isolates studied 1⁄4 these were considered potentially pathogenic from tests osmotolerance and temperature tolerance. All strains when subjected to PCR demonstrated the presence of endosymbionts, all of which contained bacteria of the genus Pseudomonas spp. It was not possible to confirm the presence of microorganisms of family Legionellaceae and order Chlamydiales. The DGGE enabled characterization of bacterial diversity in the strains of Acanthamoeba, however the identification of bacteria using this methodology appeared compromised, with only two bacterial species, Paenibacillus glucanolyticus and Candidatus Protochlamydia amoebophila were identified in isolates A2 and A12 respectively. The other bands showed similarity to sequenced uncultivable bacteria, without which species or genus could be identified. The results of this first study of identification and characterization of endosymbionts in Acanthamoeba isolates deriving from the city of Porto Alegre / RS confirm the presence of strains of Acanthamoeba endosymbionts of carrier and show that different bacterial populations are internalized these amoebae.


In this paper we propose new large-update primal-dual interior point algorithms for P * (κ) linear complementarity problems(LCPs). New search directions and proximity measures are proposed based on a specific class of kernel functions, ψ(t) = t p+1 -1/p+1+t -q -1/q, q>0, p∈[0, 1], which are the generalized form of the ones in [3] and [12]. It is the first to use this class of kernel functions in the complexity analysis of interior point method(IPM) for P * (κ) LCPs. We showed that if a strictly feasible starting point is available, then new large-update primal-dual interior point algorithms for P * (κ) LCPs have the best known complexity 0((1+2κ)√2n(log2n)logn/e) when p = 1 and q = ½(log 2n) - 1.


The effect of a MLD of total body irradiation on the "embryonic" thymus of the opossum was analyzed. The destructive effect depended on cell types in the thymus when irradiated. Small lymphocytes immediately after formation were more sensitive to irradiation than older small lymphocytes. Hassall's corpuscles and epithelial cells were most resistant to the destructive effect of irradiation. Mitoses were most suppressed at 16 hours after irradiation. The suppressive effect was greatest when the thymus was filled with small lymphocytes at the time of irradiation. "Embryos" irradiated when the mitotic index was highest had an elevated mitotic index. Irradiation of epithelial thymus delayed first appearance of lymphocytes about 2 days. The sequence of appearance of lymphocytes in the "embryonic" thymus after irradiation recapitulated normal embryogenesis. Regeneration of lymphocytes in older "embryos" was modified because of the persistence of small lymphocytes after irradiation. These cells eventually disappe...


OBJECTIVE To explore the effect of regular training on improving the awareness of infection knowledge of the operating room staff so as to improve the awareness of the infection control of the operating room staff.METHODS The operating room staff of the hospital received the regular training,and examination was taken before and after the training,and the pass rate was recorded.The on-site operation skills were randomly tested after the training.RESULTS Totally 82 subjects took the exam before the training,57 passed the theory operation exam with the pass rate of 69.5%.Of totally 82 subjects who took the exam after the training,78 passed the theory operation with the pass rate of 95.1%;76 passed the skill operation exam with the pass rate of 92.68%;the pass rate was significantly improved after the training,the difference was statistically significant(P0.05).CONCLUSION The regular training can improve the awareness of the infection control of the operating room staff,it is necessary to strengthen the operation skill so as to reduce the incidence of nosocomial infections.


Researchers seek improved ways to measure separately the surface‐ and bulk‐absorption coefficients of highly transparent materials. The case in which a laser beam modulated at angular frequency ω passes through the weakly absorbing windows of a gas cell which contains a nonabsorbing gas is investigated in this paper. In particular, the frequency dependences of the acoustic stresses in the gas which arise from the surface and bulk absorption are derived. An intermediate range of frequencies exists for which the acoustic stress due to surface absorption varies as ω−1 and has a 90 ° phase shift relative to the modulated laser beam and for which the acoustic stress due to bulk absorption varies as ω−3/2 and has a 45 ° phase shift. In addition, expressions for the acoustic stress and phase shift which are valid for all frequencies are given. These expressions enable one to develop numerical procedures by which the surface‐ and bulk‐absorption coefficients may be determined separately. Numerical examples for a ...


Color measurements were carried out in September, 1981, and again in January, 1982, on a total of 102 color zones in 12 different figures in the polychromatic roof of the Paintings Room of the Altamira Cave. The comparative study was carried out to evaluate any seasonal variations in reflectance and color between these two months, in which the humidity of the rock base for the paintings differs widely. No differences outside of experimental error were found.


Study Design: Prospective non-randomised. Objective: To evaluate radiation exposure using fluoroscopy compared to x-rays in the monitoring of a growing rod system. Background: The integrity of implants in the treatment of early onset scoliosis (EOS) is usually monitored with repeated plain x-rays. The cumulative dosage of ionizing radiation may be high. Children are highly sensitive to the carcinogenic effects of radiation and have a longer life span in which to reflect this risk. Fluoroscopy is commonly used to obtain focused images in other areas of orthopaedics. It has the advantage of less radiation intensity due to flash exposure. We have used fluoroscopy to monitor the lengthening of a non-invasive growing rod system in the treatment of EOS. We report on the results. Methods: The technique was initially refined in vitro by performing an audit in which 10 radiographers screened a phantom spine (Plastic dummy) with an implanted non - invasive growing rod device. Pulse rate setting was 3. Average exposure time was 0.01 seconds. Average radiation dose was 0.04 µGym2. A plain x-ray of the same phantom spine yielded a radiation dose of 0.5 µGym2. Radiation exposure using fluoroscopy was compared to that received using plain radiographs in ten consecutive patients treated for EOS. There were 8 males and 2 females. Average age 5.2 years. Results: Mean radiation exposure using fluoroscopy was 0.0046 mSv compared to an average radiation exposure of 0.115 mSv using standard x-rays (p<0.003). Mean cancer induction risk was calculated to potentially reduce from 1:225,000 to 1:4.9 million. Conclusion: We would recommend fluoroscopy as a useful technique to monitor the lengthening of a non-invasive growing rod system due to the significantly smaller radiation exposure.


ABSTRACT Science teachers in culturally diverse classrooms need support to plan and enact an inclusive relationship between the epistemology of science and traditional epistemologies. Two Intercultural Teaching Practices for Science Education (ITPSE) potentially solve this problem. The ITPSE are teaching supports that embody the 'epistemological bridge'. The epistemological bridge is a didactic process through which teachers engage students in producing explanations of a phenomenon from different epistemologies. This study aims to discuss the design of the ITPSE using evidence of how a high school teacher uses them. The method is Design-Based Research to inform the ITPSE empirically. The analysis consists of a suite of a priori categories and identifying teacher performance patterns. Results reveal the need to redesign the ITPSE to support teachers in better connecting the content to the students' learning output. Therefore, the ITPSE redesign includes an auxiliary framework and a new task.


Objective:To explore the pathology of manifestation on CT and MR of primary brain lymphoma.Methods:CT and MRI findings in 9 patients with pathologically proved primary brain lymphoma were retrospectively analyzed.The findings were compared with pathologic results.Results:Of 9 cases,single lesion was seen in 5 and multiple lesions in four.Of the total 15 lesions,the lesion in 13 patients were superior to tentorium and that in 2 patients were inferior to tentorium.The 7 lesions located in para-ventricular deep white matter(46.6%),4 at encephalic surface and white-gray matter junction(26.6%),and two in the cerebellum(13.3%).Usually,the lesion was presented as an oval mass or nodule with slight para-tumorous edema and space-occupying effect.On plain CT scans,the lesions presented as iso-or slightly hyper-density masses,and showed homogeneous mass-like or nodular enhancement after contrast injection.On plain MRI,the lesions presented as iso-or slight hypo-signal on T1WI,as hyper-intensity on T2WI.Obvious homogeneous mass-like or nodular enhance was seen on Gd-DTPA-enhanced MRI.Pathologically,the tumor cells were diffusely distributed and same-sized with less cytoplasm and larged nucleus,chromatin granules in which were thick.Tumor cells infiltrate around the vessel,and no calcification,haemorrhage or piece of necrosis were seen.The tumor was rich in fibers.This kind pathologic histology characteristics comes to a decision the lymphoid lump to have the certain imaging to learn the characteristics.Conclusion:Primary brain lymphoma carries certain CT and MRI features,which are in accord with its corresponding pathologic characteristics.Correct diagnosis can be made in most cases when imaging findings are combined with clinical information.


This project developed a 3D virtual reality model to simulate the flooding of an urban space in real time. Showing how a built-up area is likely to flood can help emergency services, local governments and community leaders to consider how a flood might unfold in their local area, helping them to be better prepared for future contingencies in the event of extreme weather. The project took as its basis the town of Ballater, and used available data to construct a 3D virtual reality model of the effects of Storm Frank over 2015-16 on the town. Findings from social science research carried out at the start of the project were used to feed stakeholders' information requirements—and lessons learned from the 2015-16 events—into the development of the model, and a feedback session was held in Ballater to shape the direction for future collaboration.


ABSTRACT The chimeric simian-human immunodeficiency virus SHIVKU-1, bearing the envelope of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), causes fulminant infection with subtotal loss of CD4+ T cells followed by development of AIDS in intravaginally inoculated macaques and thus provides a highly relevant model of sexually transmitted disease caused by HIV-1 in human beings. Previous studies using this SHIV model had shown that thevpu and nef genes were important in pathogenesis of the infection, and so we deleted portions of these genes to create two vaccines, ΔvpuΔnefSHIV-4 (vaccine 1) and ΔvpuSHIVPPc (vaccine 2). Six adult macaques were immunized subcutaneously with vaccine 1, and six were immunized orally with vaccine 2. Both viruses caused infection in all inoculated animals, but whereas vaccine 1 virus caused only a nonproductive type of infection, vaccine 2 virus replicated productively but transiently for a 6- to 10-week period. Both groups were challenged 6 to 7 months later with pathogenic SHIVKU-1 by the intravaginal route. All four unvaccinated controls developed low CD4+ T-cell counts (<200/μl) and AIDS. The 12 vaccinated animals all became infected with SHIVKU-1, and two in group 1 developed a persistent productive infection followed by development of AIDS in one. The other 10 have maintained almost complete control over virus replication even though spliced viral RNA was detected in lymph nodes. This suppression of virus replication correlated with robust antiviral cell-mediated immune responses. This is the first demonstration of protection against virulent SHIV administered by the intravaginal route. This study supports the concept that sexually transmitted HIV disease can be prevented by parenteral or oral immunization.


A loading system combined with multi-level distributing girders and hydraulic jacks is designed for model testing of the roof structure of the Gymnasium of Shenzhen Universiade Sport Center.The virtual constrain method is proposed to determine the distribution of the applied loads,in the condition that numerous loading points are employed in the model test,and that the loading magnitudes vary from points to points.Further more,iteration calculation is conducted to value the arm proportion of the distribution girder in order to consider the self weight of the girder into the loading system.The designed distributing girders are compactly arranged in the space under the roof model.The loading system,as well as the model structure,is simulated in one model to verify its loading validity.Numerical analysis and loading practice indicate the designed loading system has good performance and reliability to realize the model test objective,and can be generalized to similar model test of large-span space structures.


ABSTRACT Urban growth boundaries (UGBs) have been applied in many rapid urbanizing areas to alleviate the problems of urban sprawl. Although empirical research has stressed the importance of ecological protection in UGB delineation, existing UGB models lack a component for the assessment of ecologically sensitive areas. To address this problem, we develop an innovative method that is capable of simulating UGB alternatives with economic and ecological constraints. Our method employs a patch-based cellular automaton (i.e. SA-Patch-CA) for simulating future urban growth, constrained by the ecological protection areas produced by an agent-based land allocation optimization model (AgentLA). The delineation of UGBs is also based on the estimated future urban land demand derived from support vector regression (SVR). The proposed method is applied in the Pearl River Delta (PRD), China. Three scenarios are designed to represent different objectives of future industrial transitions. The results indicate that increasing the shares of low energy consumption industries and tertiary industries can effectively reduce urban land demand. By overlapping the simulations, we found that the areal agreement of the simulated UGBs among the three scenarios accounts for approximately 88% of the total area. These areas can then be considered as the primary locations for establishing the UGBs.


Although Keynes believed that his book, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money would 'largely revolutionise — not, I suppose, at once but in the course of the next ten years — the way the world thinks about economic problems' (Keynes, 1973a, p. 492), most of the analytical methods that he used were hardly new. His mentor in this regard was Alfred Marshall, and The General Theory can be viewed as utilising Marshallian analysis to demonstrate that a modern capitalist economy can get stuck in a situation of less than full employment. Keynes concentrated on short-period situations, and made selective use of equilibrium in the two senses of that term — equilibrium as a position of 'rest',1 and equilibrium as a 'chosen' position.2 It was the level of employment that was in equilibrium according to the former definition in that there was no tendency for it to change given the values of the parameters. Consumption and investment expenditures, and the outputs of firms with their predetermined productive capacity, were in equilibrium according to the latter definition. Their values were those which were preferable to the possible alternative values in the particular short-period.


The yeast one hybrid system is the new type system deriving from the yeast two hybrid system to study the interaction between DNA and protein.The principle and the technical line of this system was briefly introduced,and the progress of this system on the research of plant transcription factor gene resistant to osmotic stress was particularly summarized,such as cloning the transcription factor genes of osmosis resistance type;confirming the interaction between known DNA and protein;making sure the localization of the confirmed DNA binding domain with the interaction;also validating the transcription activation of the transcription factor gene.Furthermore,the problems existing in this system on the research of plant transcription factor gene resistant to osmotic stress was analyzed,and the development prospect according to the research was forecasted.


The utility model discloses an anti-swing hoisting mechanism for a container handling crane. The anti-swing hoisting mechanism comprises a hoisting trolley, wherein an eight-rope winding system composed of a driving motor, a winding drum, a steel rope and a pulley is arranged on the hoisting trolley; the driving motor is connected with the winding drum through a planetary gear equipped with a T-shaped input shaft; the planetary gear is arranged inside the winding drum; disc brakes are respectively assembled at two input shaft sides of the T-shaped input shaft; and an emergency motor is arranged on the hoisting trolley, and an output shaft of the emergency motor is connected with the T-shaped input shaft through a chain wheel and chain transmission mechanism. The anti-swing hoisting mechanism provided by the utility model is reasonable in structural arrangement, good in anti-swing effect, and high in safe reliability, and can meet the requirements on high efficiency and high safe reliability of the modern container transportation for cranes.


This paper presents a novel intelligent system based on graph convolutional neural networks to study road crack detection in intelligent transportation systems. The visual features of the input images are first computed using the well-known Scale-Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) extraction algorithm. Then, a correlation between SIFT features of similar images is analyzed and a series of graphs are generated. The graphs are trained on a graph convolutional neural network, and a hyper-optimization algorithm is developed to supervise the training process. A case study of road crack detection data is analyzed. The results show a clear superiority of the proposed framework over state-of-the-art solutions. In fact, the precision of the proposed solution exceeds 70%, while the precision of the baseline methods does not exceed 60%.


The Australian freight task has grown fourfold since the 1970s, and is anticipated to double again over the next two decades. The risk of damage to sprayed seal surfacings through increased heavy vehicle loading thus represents a serious challenge for the Australian road network. ARRB was commissioned by Austroads to determine how the loading impacts of heavy vehicles could best be incorporated into the Austroads sprayed seal design method. Heavy vehicles have a large effect on the aggregate packing and performance of sprayed seals. This effect could be expressed through a damage factor (DF) which relates to the reduction in surface texture as measured by mean profile depth. An associated measure is equivalent heavy vehicles based on the damage factor (EHVDF). Weigh-in-motion (WIM) data from rural regions totalling 126 million vehicles, obtained during the period from 2007 to 2011, were provided by Australian jurisdictions. These data were analysed using procedures developed in an earlier survey, and errors associated with incorrect classification were identified and eliminated. It was found, as anticipated, that the trends in annual average mass, DF and EHVDF were strongly intercorrelated. The EHVDF was determined for the 12 vehicle classifications used by Austroads. The concept presented in this paper has not been adopted by Austroads at this time. However, the procedure could be readily applied in a future review of the Austroads sprayed seal design method. It would assist in focusing the future direction of the design method on the loading impacts of heavy vehicles rather than passenger cars.


The aim of this study was to examine how fifth grade students' critical thinking and problem-solving skills can be developed using practices based on Newman and Weglage's (1993. Five standarts for authentic instruction. Educational Leadership, 50(7), 8–12) authentic learning standards (high-order thinking, depth of knowledge, relation with the world beyond the classroom, constant conversion and social support for student achievement). The main aim of the study was to offer different perspectives on mathematics education by focusing on development of critical thinking skills needed to understand mathematics. The study was carried out in six cycles via an action research model. The data consisted of unconstructed observations (camera recordings), students' scores on CTR (Critical Thinking Rubric), and their journals and written documents. The research results showed that practices based on authentic learning standards improved such critical thinking skills as comprehending, comparing, proving, suggesting new solutions, and reflecting on problem solving processes of the students who were included in the target study group.


Power modules including IGBT are widely used in the applications of motor drivers in Electric Vehicle. The thermal behavior of these modules becomes more important to choose the optimum design of cooling system. In this paper, we propose a RC thermal model of the dynamic electro-thermal behavior of IGBT PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) inverter modules. This model is used to estimate the maximum junction temperature of the module. The thermal behaviors of the junction and power dissipation are studied with and without influences between the module components. The electro-thermal model is implemented and simulated with MATLAB simulator.


Monodisperse calcite microparticles were fabricated by using biomacromolecule-gelatin as template.Spheric and flower-like calcite spherules were obtained.The SEM results indicate that both the temperature and the added SDS effectively influence the shape of the obtained calcite particles.The pure phase of calcite of all samples was validated by using XRD and IR analyses.IR results also indicate that a certain amount of gelatinous molecules have been hybridized into the obtained calcite microparticles.


Combining and re-organizing the functions of multiple traditional transmitters and power amplifiers into a single unified multi-mode non-linear system results in improved performance and high efficiency. This in turn decreases the transmit chain footprint and lowers the bill of materials for applications such as mobile voice, data terminals, and femtocells. With this approach, RF designers will no longer be forced to choose between performance and efficiency, or reliability and cost, freeing them to design more optimal wireless systems.


The relation between the local Lipschitz regularity of a function f and the asymptotic decay across scales of the wavelet transform is derived.And the decay is bounded by the value of the modulus of the wavelet transform.The formula of image edge curve singularity detection with one-dimensional wavelet transform and the example are given.


The VHDL code generator of the GRAPE rapid prototyping and design environment has been extended to support a much wider range of data dominated applications. We describe the approach taken to implement CSDF applications on FPGAs, including the automatic code generation for task communication and scheduling on FPGAs alone or in conjunction with DSP processors. The implementation choices are discussed, and a comparison to manual code generation is made.


Objective: to verify the follow-up of cases of leprosy reactions in Primary Health Care in the city of Cajazeiras - Paraiba. Method: it is a field research, with a descriptive character and quantitative approach. Result: regarding the follow-up by the Family Health Strategy (FHS), 59.1% were instructed to return to the unit after discharge if any sign or symptom of reaction appeared and 54.5% reported receiving guidance from professionals about leprosy reactions. However, 63.6% were diagnosed in a reference unit, despite knowing to return to FHS to perform follow-up. Conclusion: therefore, there is a need for professional qualifications for better monitoring. Thus, it is possible that the reactions are diagnosed early and that conducts are performed to monitor neural damage and prevent physical disabilities, preventing deformities that compromise the quality of life of these people.


of complement by the alternative pathway really play in the panoply of acute and chronic pathophysiologic effects of hemodialysis? Acute symptomatology experienced during dialysis is probably more related to sodium dysequilibrium, acetate intolerance, and dialysate temperature than to the membrane. Indeed, recently no relationship between acute symptoms experienced during routine hemodialysis and the type of membrane used (cuprophane, Hemophan, or polyamide) was reported. The key factor influencing symptomatology was the ultrafiltration volume (8); the authors concluded that biocompatibility was not a determinant of acute side effects of hemodialysis. Previously, attempts to incriminate cuprophane were very frequent in the early 1980s, when a spate of publications associated the first-use syndrome with cuprophane. This was subsequently shown to be largely due to sensitization by ethylene oxide residues in capillary dialysers and not a membrane phenomenon. Another case of post hoc ergo propter hoc, or was it a marketing strategy to favor reuse at the time? The idea was that if more C5a was formed in the effluent blood using cuprophane the patient would therefore have more symptoms with cuprophane dialysis (9). However, the mechanism was speculative, and no association was found between symptomatology, ethylene oxide sensitization, and complement activation ( 10). Thus, one may conclude that at the moment the case against cuprophane remains unproven. While hemodialysis can be improved by a better understanding of sodium and acid-base balance, the use of bicarbonate dialysate with controlled ultrafiltration, and the improvement in bacteriological and pyrogen contamination of dialysate, the abandonment of a membrane that has been used in hemodialysis for 30 years is not yet justified.


Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is an unexpected death caused by a sudden loss of cardiac function, which is currently a global public health problem. Evaluation of the agonal cardiac function of the deceased is a quite important task for the diagnosis of SCD in forensic medicine. Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N‐terminal proBNP (NT‐proBNP) are currently considered as significant biomarkers for the diagnosis of heart failure in both clinical and forensic practices. To investigate the postmortem evaluation roles of postmortem BNP and NT‐proBNP levels for SCD, the present study meta‐analyzed eight related studies from Embase, Cochrane Library, PubMed, China Biomedical Literature Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wanfang Data. Newcastle–Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale was used to assess the quality of the included literature, and the meta‐analysis was performed by RevMan 5.3.5 software. Postmortem NT‐proBNP in pericardial fluid showed higher levels in the SCD group than that of the non‐SCD group with the weighted mean difference = 3665.74, 95% confidence interval: 1812.89–5518.59, and p = 0.0001. However, postmortem levels of BNP in pericardial fluid and NT‐proBNP in serum revealed no statistical difference between SCD and non‐SCD subjects. The results of present meta‐analysis demonstrated that postmortem NT‐proBNP in the pericardial fluid could be used as an ancillary indicator for evaluation of agonal cardiac function in forensic medicine.


Recently, a number of watermarking-based intellectual property protection techniques have been proposed. Although they have been applied to different stages in the design process and have a great variety of technical and theoretical features, all of them share two common properties: they all have been applied solely to optimization problems and do not involve any optimization during the watermarking process. In this paper we propose the first set of optimization-intensive watermarking techniques for decision problems. In particular we demonstrate how one can select a subset of superimposed watermarking constraints so that the uniqueness of the signature and the likelihood of satisfying an instance of the satisfiability problem are simultaneously maximized. We have developed three watermarking SAT techniques: adding clauses, deleting literals, push-out and pull-back. Each technique targets different types of signature induced constraint superimposition on an instance of the SAT problem. In addition to comprehensive experimental validation, we theoretically analyze the potentials and limitations of the proposed watermarking techniques. Furthermore, we analyze the three proposed optimization-intensive watermarking SAT techniques in terms of their suitability for copy detection.


The use of coherent Cherenkov radiation as a diagnostic tool for longitudinal distribution of an electron beam is studied in this paper. This method will be employed for the 7th harmonic bunching experiment at Neptune linear accelerator facility at UCLA. Coherent Cherenkov radiation is produced in an aerogel with an index of refraction close to unity.


Hyperpolarized nuclear magnetic resonance (HP-NMR) can probe the reaction kinetics of metabolic enzymes in vivo (1), and the translation of this technology into human patients based on the most commonly used tracer 13 C-pyruvate has been initiated in recent years (2). Currently the metabolite signal ratios are used as indicators for biological processes in healthy and diseased status. For example, to probe the reaction of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) with hyperpolarized 13 C-pyruvate, the peak, mean, or integrated (area-under-curve) signal ratios of 13 C-lactate to 13 C-pyruvate are used to differentiate tumor and normal tissues, and to evaluate treatment response (3-5). However, these ratios do not have clearly defined biochemical meaning, and it is desirable to quantify the reaction rate constants.


All Rights Reserved iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Firstly, I would like to express the deepest appreciation to my advisor, Professor Dr. Mitch Thornton, for giving me the opportunity to work in a very interesting area of CAD, and for his support throughout my graduate studies at Southern Methodist University. This thesis would not have been possible without his continuous encouragement and guidance. Secondly, I would like to thank Dr. Coyle, for sharing with me his knowledge regarding the time measurement, which was the critical factor in my research. His insightful suggestions helped me perform the time measurements to the maximum accuracy. I would also like to thank Dr. Ping Gui for her invaluable help in suggesting a robust and exact method to measure the time in my research. Thirdly, I would really like to appreciate Prof. Jingbo Ye's help in allowing me to work in the department of Physic's laboratory, to perform the time measurements on the hardware. I am also grateful to Mr. Tiankuan Liu for offering me his help with any technical difficulties during my lab visits. My special thanks to Nikhil, my fiancé and Prajna, a good friend of mine, for their suggestions, which helped me tackle number of difficulties during my experimentation. I admire their ever lasting support and continuous encouragement throughout my research. Character string matching, which involves finding all the occurrences of a pattern of length 'm' in a string of length 'n', is a very well known problem in the field of information systems. The strings may represent names of persons, postal addresses, number plates of vehicles, DNA sequences, or music notes, depending upon applications, and accordingly, the string matching can either be exact or approximate. Numerous algorithms like KMP [30], Boyer Moore [29], Wagner and Fischer [5], Ukkonen's [3], and CASM [11] have been developed so far to solve this problem efficiently. As the string lengths increase, the overall algorithm complexity in time and space also increases. There has been a huge amount of efforts put forth in the research community to increase the efficiency of such algorithms. This thesis presents a very simple, efficient and fast implementation method for performing different string operations. The proposed method of implementation is to map the string matching operations into digital hardware. In this thesis, we used a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) to perform the string operations at the lowermost level by representing strings in terms …


Summary 1. Salt, exclusive of its antiseptic property, hastened the deterioration of the butter. 2. When stored at —15°F., unsalted butter kept as well as salted butter. 3. The bacteria in the unsalted butter decreased more rapidly at —15°F., than they did in the salted butter and increased more rapidly at 58°F. 4. The acidity of the unsalted and the salted butter increased uniformly at —15°F. but at 58°F. the increase was greater in the unsalted butter. 5. Moisture was lost from the salted butter but not from the unsalted at —15°F. 6. Little if any relationship existed between the bacteria, the acidity, and the score in this butter.


Aberrant expression of microRNA‐497 (miR‐497) is associated with tumor progression, but the molecular mechanisms in tumorigenesis remain largely unknown. Here, we report that miR‐497 expression is downregulated in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) clinical samples. Consistently, upregulation of miR‐497 inhibits ESCC cell malignant properties and tumor growth in vivo. Importantly, we uncovered that miR‐497 upregulation suppressed ESCC cell growth and tumor growth by inhibiting Smurf2. Mechanistically, we showed that Smurf2 was a target of miR‐497, and mediated YY1 expression to elevate HIF2α expression, thereby enhancing the malignancy of ESCC cells. Together, our study uncovered the role of the miR‐497‐mediated Smurf2/YY1/HIF2α axis in tumor growth and metastasis, which might provide potential therapeutic targets for human ESCC.


The 24th International Symposium on Computer-Based Medical Systems, CBMS 2011, took place at the University of the West of England, Bristol, UK, on 27th to 30th June 2011. As a special feature, instead of the traditional (since 2005) special track on "healthgrids", i.e. grid computing for biomedicine and healthcare, latterly encompassing cloud computing also, the conference HealthGrid 2011 colocated with CBMS to the benefit of both. This was the culmination of a hope that those of us working at UWE had entertained since 2008. The invitation to CBMS was first made in Jyvaskyla in 2008, became a formal proposal in Albuquerque in 2009 and was confirmed in Perth in 2010. As for HealthGrid, it seemed an opportunity not to be missed to colocate with CBMS in Bristol, only the second time the conference has been awarded to a British city (after Oxford in 2005).


ABSTRACT The environments of public organizations have become substantially volatile due to economic and societal changes, requiring organizations to continuously adapt and to develop an innovation-oriented culture. In response to the multitude of challenges posed by this volatile environment, politicians in inter alia the executive and parliament impose structural reforms upon public organizations, implying that these organizations might be confronted with a series of structural reforms over their lifetime. This paper advances that a history of repeated and frequent structural reforms, irrespective of the underlying drivers of these reforms, has a negative effect on the innovation-orientedness of the organizational culture. We explore the link between an organization's history of structural reforms and the degree to which the culture within these organizations is innovation-oriented. Results indicate that organizational turmoil generated by repeated structural reforms reduces innovativeness and suggest that too many structural reforms imposed in a too short time span will have detrimental side effects.


This paper reports a method for micrometer-scale linear and angular displacement measurement based on a gradient grating period guided-mode resonance (GGP-GMR) filter. When the filter is mounted on a moving or rotating object, the displacement on the object can be observed through the changes in the resonant wavelength, which are detected by the GGP-GMR filter. In this paper, the GGP-GMR filter comprised grating periods from 250 to 550 nm with 2-nm increments. Each period comprised 100 repeated cycles, resulting in a total length of 6 mm. For linear displacement, we achieved an average sensitivity of 67 nm/mm for a detection range of 6 mm and a theoretical limit of detection of  $3~\mu \text{m}$ . To demonstrate the measurement of angular displacement, the GGP-GMR filter was attached to a cylinder with a diameter of 8 cm. The experimental results revealed an average sensitivity of 51.7 nm/° for a range of 7° and an experimental limit of detection of 0.002°.


In order to surmount the shortcomings of the standard water cycle algorithm in solving the non-convex optimal power flow (OPF) problem, a multi-objective Gaussian water cycle algorithm (MOGWCA) is proposed. Three multi-objective OPF simulation experiments are used to demonstrate the property of the MOGWCA, which improves the global development capability and population diversity through the Gaussian mutation mechanism. Test cases considering fuel cost, emissions, active power loss and voltage deviation are applied on IEEE 30 and IEEE 57 test systems. A large number of outcomes display that the MOGWCA algorithm can get a well-distributed Pareto front (PF) and effectively solve the multi-objective OPF problem.


We welcome the comments on our article "Associations of statin use with glycemic traits and incident type 2 diabetes" by Sansome DJ et al, which express the importance of bile acid (BA) as an important metabolic regulator in the association of statins and glycaemic control in type 2 diabetes (T2D). As such, the authors highlighted the potential interactions of statins particularly at high doses in combination with glucose-lowering therapy, namely, metformin, which leads to impaired glycaemic control in patients with T2D. The effect of statins on regulating BA homoeostasis in patients with T2D has been shown by several studies. It has been known that BA sequestrants may also reduce serum glucose in patients with T2D. A recent meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCT) suggests that BA intake substantially improves HbA1c and fasting glucose levels. In our study, we investigated the association of statin use in two ways, first cross-sectionally with glycaemic traits and second longitudinally with incident T2D, both among the general population, therefore free of diabetes at the time of statin use. As we described in the methods section of our manuscript, during follow-up, we classified each participant into current use, past use and never use of statins based on incident dates of T2D. From the date of baseline centre visit and during follow-up, prevalent and incident T2D cases were defined as a fasting serum glucose concentration of ≥7.0 mmol/L or the use of glucose-lowering medications. We excluded all prevalent T2D cases at baseline (n = 1165), and only individuals with available data on statin use and baseline glycaemic values (n = 9535) were included. Moreover, in a sensitivity analysis, we examined the association between statins and risk of incident T2D only in a subset of individuals (n = 6787) with normal baseline fasting glucose concentrations (<6.1 mmol/L) by excluding cases of impaired fasting glucose or prediabetes (n = 2748). Most importantly, to decrease the effect of reverse causality on our findings, we further investigated the association of cumulative statin use with incident T2D until one year before the onset of diabetes, where the results still showed significant associations. Therefore, the design of our study did not allow any possibility of including patients with diabetes before starting statins. This design per se does not allow using glucose-lowering medications either. Hence, there was no concurrent use of statins and metformin in our study population. Theoretically, there are some potential underlying mechanisms for the effect of statins in a population free of diabetes as we highlighted the most important ones in our manuscript. We endorse other potential underlying mechanisms as we have recently provided evidence of DNA methylation as a possible mediator in the association of statin use and T2D. Statins are widely prescribed to prevent cardiovascular diseases. However, yet there is no reliable biomarker to predict the diabetogenic effect on vulnerable patients. Complementary to genome-based studies, serum biomarkers discovery is an emerging technology platform that offers the next level of information needed to extend our pathophysiological insight into medication response to treatment. Since genes, RNAs and proteins converge onto the terminal downstream metabolome, metabolomics offers a rich source of information in a complex and convoluted presentation. The causal paths between different types, duration and dosages of statins, metabolites and incident T2D remain unclear, though the effect of statins on metabolites could also be explained by the altered gut microbiome. A shred of recent evidence suggests that the modulation of the gut microbiome by statins could partly explain the response to this medication. In conclusion, we believe that further efforts should disentangle the molecular effects of statin therapy on multiple metabolic pathways. Metabolomics together with multi-omics data, for example, gut microbiome, might provide new insights into statins mechanism of action and development of diabetogenic effects in the general population.


type="main" xml:id="obes12036-abs-0001"> We quantify the impact of government spending shocks in the US. Thereby, we control for fiscal foresight, a specific limited information problem (LIP) by utilizing the narrative approach. Moreover, we surmount the generic LIP inherent in vector autoregressions (VARs) by a factor-augmented VAR (FAVAR) approach. We find that a positive deficit-financed defence shock raises output by more than in a VAR (e.g. 2.61 vs. 2.04 for peak multipliers). Furthermore, our evidence suggests that consumption is crowded in. These results are robust to variants of controlling for fiscal foresight and reveal the crucial role of the LIP in fiscal VARs.


A criterion for the Fredholmness of singular integral operators with Carleman shift in LP(Γ) is obtained, where Γ is either the unit circle or the real line. The approach allows to consider unbounded coefficients in a class related to that of quasicontinuous functions. Applications to Wiener-Hopf-Hankel type operators and operators with linear fractional Carleman shift on IR are included.


A simple method of refractive index sensor is proposed using dielectric Bragg reflectors. The refractive index sensor is based on the cavity modes formed in an analyte (cavity) region sandwiched between dual dielectric Bragg reflectors.


Through the statistical analysis of the articles published in History of Universities from 1981to 2005,the paper shows that the application of cliometrics method in the research on the history of western universities is very common;and the articles were mainly involved in such four fields as the university and the social mobility,the economy and finance of university,the university and the political and religious power,and the development of knowledge and ideas in university.The application of cliometrics method has the function to expand and revise the research on the history of western universities,but the threshold of the application must be concerned especially.


Introduction: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of combination therapy with sertraline and compassion-enriched act on depression, stress, and anxiety in opioid abuse patients treated with methadone compared to intervention based on compass-enriched acceptance and commitment treatment alone.Methods: This study was a clinical trial with a pre-test and post-test design. Forty people were selected by voluntary sampling method; after matching, they were divided into two groups with 15 participants. The first group received compassion-enriched acceptance and commitment treatment and the second group received combination therapy with compassion-enriched acceptance and commitment treatment and sertraline for 28 days. Patients were evaluated based on the Anxiety-Stress-Depression Questionnaire (DASS-21). Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16, multivariate analysis of covariance test at the level of 0.05.
Results: The results showed that both interventional methods effectively treat depression, stress, and anxiety (p<0.01), while the combined treatment of enriched acceptance and commitment treatment with compassion plus sertraline has the most significant effect on the studied parameters (p<0.01).
Conclusion: Acceptance and commitment treatment enriched with compassion plus drug therapy effectively reduces depression, stress, and anxiety in opioid addicts under methadone maintenance treatment and can be used as an effective method in the treatment of addiction.


The amount of digital data has been increasing exponentially. There is a need to reduce the amount of storage space by storing data efficiently. De-duplication tends to save a lot of storage space in commercial applications like backup. De-duplication suffers from a serious disadvantage that data cannot be referenced across various locations. Soft links can be established only within a single disk that has been used for storage. In this paper we discuss cross level links that can be established across data which in turn is stored in a distributive manner. When user level data is stored across various volumes separated geographically a medium is required to reference data at the same time saving storage space. We implemented at file level de-duplication, a significant reduction in storage space was observed.


Necrotizing Fasciitis (NF) is an aggressive, rapidly pro - gressing and life-threatening infection characterized by spreading necrosis of subcutaneous tissue and fascia. NF of the breast is a very rare entity. We present a case of NF of the breast occured in a 22-year-old breastfeeding woman after topical application of traditional herbal medicine. As far as our knowledge is concerned, it is the first case docu - mented in the literature occuring after topical application of traditional herbal medecine and the first case of breast's NF documented in Africa in a woman with no comorbidity under 25 years of age. It is critical to sensitize women on the subject because NF is a life-threatening disease and mas - tectomy is both an aesthetic and psychological tragedy for a young woman in a context in which breast reconstructive procedures are not commonly performed.


The characterization of the exponential distribution via the coefficient of the variation of the blocking time in a queueing system with an unreliable server, as given by Lin (1993), is improved by substantially weakening the conditions. Based on the coefficient of variation of certain random variables, including the blocking time, the normal service time and the minimum of the normal service and the server failure times, two new characterizations of the exponential distribution are obtained.


Abstract
Purpose
The measurement of gender in health research often consists of the substitution of the word "gender" in a question that is really asking about sex (physiological characteristics). When gender roles and expressions are actually measured it is normally with a tool such as the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), which is time-consuming to complete and requires expertise to analyze. This study introduces a brief gender measure: a categorical, single-item, self-report, gender measure (SR-Gender), and demonstrates the validity and usability of this new tool.

Methodology/approach
The SR-Gender was validated in two studies. Participants in Study One were 137 undergraduates. Concurrent criterion validity was assessed by an analysis comparing responses to the SR-Gender and the BSRI and an open-ended gender question. The goal was to ascertain whether the gender identities that these students reported in the SR-Gender were consistent with the classifications obtained on other gender measurement tools. In the second study, the SR-Gender was used with a group of adults over 65 years old in a study of aging with illness.

Findings
This study established that the SR-Gender classifications of gender identity were consistent with the results obtained by the open-ended gender question and more complex BSRI measure. The SR-Gender was easily understood and used by younger and older adults, and resulted in nuanced gender classifications.

Research limitations/implications
The SR-Gender takes seconds to complete and provides health researchers with categorical gender classifications that can then be used in analysis of health outcomes, separately or in tandem with physiological sex. It treats masculinity and femininity as independent constructs and includes the potential for androgynous and undifferentiated responses. It is not recommended for in-depth gender research due to the simplicity of the tool.

Originality/value
This chapter introduces the SR-Gender, a simple, quick, and easy-to-use gender measure that could transform health research from paying lip service to gender to actual gender classification, allowing researchers to directly explore the impact of gender identity on health, separately or interacting with other social determinants of health.


Path and site effects deduced from transfrontier Internet macroseismic data of 2 recent M4 earthquakes in NW Europe Review by R. Bossu This ambitious paper covers 2 different topics. It proposes a way how to spatially merge different Internet macroseismic data and it proposes an explanation of the obtained macroseismic maps in terms of path and site effects. It is a rather long article with a rich list of references and is generally well written article. It covers an important topic which is how to merge Internet macroseismic data collected at national level for transfrontier earthquakes (as explained below this issue is not fully


■ This study identified variables for defining and measuring the antecedent factors that explicitly or implicitly, affect Western-Chinese business negotiations in the China context. Six factors (Economic Conditions, Etiquette, Social Harmony, Political Pervasiveness, Constituent Shadows, and Face Savings) and 19 variables were retained by using exploratory factor and comparative validity analyses on Chinese negotiator data (n = 478). Comparative analyses also were conducted to examine the influences of respondents' region, gender, management level and firm type (state-owned enterprises vs. joint ventures) on the antecedent factors and variables.


Lands across Africa's Sahel region are gradually drying up, turning to sand and dust. In other areas of this semi-arid belt that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, increasingly frequent and violent floods are wreaking havoc on livelihoods and the environment. Indeed, drought and desertification are forcing Sahelian pastoralists south in search of land and water, but vast swathes of grassland and savanna are already occupied by local farmers eking out a meager existence as they fear rising competition for increasingly scarce resources. The scale of hardship in the Sahel underscores the urgent need to better understand climate trends and to identify how such changes impact people's lives.


When developing and validating algorithms and protocols for wireless sensor networks, simulations provide valuable insights that would be impractical to gather from real world experimental deployments. For these simulations to be meaningful, realistic models of the way energy is consumed in the targeted sensor devices need to be produced. A number of inaccuracies are identified to avoid when constructing simulation energy models and in doing so draw attention to a device specific behaviour with the potential to invalidate research assumptions.


Security of the support to the old-aged farmers should be paid much attention. The most feasible and emergent task is to set up a system for support to the old-aged with its feature of social relief. Such a system will ask the government to fulfill its responsibility for protecting the support to the old-aged poor farmers. Through setting up a protective system of least living qualification and medical help, the government should be able to structure the last safe line for the support to the old-aged farmers.


This resealrch wals conducted with the alim of knowing alnd obtalining in-depth informaltion albout the performalnce of educaltion stalff alt Kalryal Bundal Middle School als seen from 4 indicaltors through questionnalires distributed to respondents. This resealrch is qualntitaltive descriptive. The plalce thalt becalme the object of resealrch wals Kalryal Bundal Middle School. The time of the resealrch stalrted from Jalnualry – Malrch 2023. The subjects of this study were 14 educaltion stalff consisting of 5 men alnd 9 women with severall positions, nalmely: aldministraltion coordinaltor/sallalry trealsurer, inventory malnalger, boss trealsurer, 5 stalff aldministraltion, 2 libralry malnalgers, security gualrds (security gualrds), school gualrds, palrk/clealning officers, jalnitors. This type of resealrch is al descriptive resealrch method with al qualntitaltive alpproalch. The tools used for daltal collection in this study were questionnalires, observaltion alnd interviews. Daltal collection methods used interviews, questionnalires, observaltion, alnd documentaltion. The findings show thalt the quallity of the performalnce of tealching stalff alt Kalryal Bundal Middle School, on the indicaltors of performalnce quallity alnd timeliness, 1 educaltion stalff (7.14%) is in the good caltegory alnd 13 educaltion stalff (92.85%) alre in the very good caltegory. On the qualntity indicaltor of performalnce alnd cooperaltion, 3 educaltion stalff (21.43%) alre in the good caltegory alnd 11 educaltion stalff (78.57) alre in the very good caltegory.


Experimental differentiation between pure CN double bond rotation and nitrogen inversion in N1-arylimines is possible with a single compound (13b) under the proviso of slow rotation about the N–aryl single bond. Labelling by 1H and 13C nuclei at the diastereotopic faces of the CN moiety as well as of the N–aryl group is the clue to a successful stereodynamic analysis, as performed by variable-temperature NMR spectroscopy of 13b, a sterically congested and chiral model compound. Interpretation of similar measurements on a second model (13d) is less straightforward. The experimental observation of time-averaged Cs symmetry by NMR coalescences is only compatible with a mechanism of (E/Z) stereomutation either by pure inversion at sp2 nitrogen or by a contribution from CN rotation together with a synchronized (geared) controtation about the N–aryl single bond. However, the latter combination is concluded to be predominantly inversion-like by comparisons with related imines.


The purpose of this study is to conceptualise the term 'luxury brand charisma', and thus provide a working definition and identify key themes and sub themes that can be used to inform the secondary stage of this research, being scale development. The research paradigm chosen was pragmatic as this study is part of mixed methods research and pragmatism allows for inductive and deductive reasoning through qualitative and quantitative methods (Saunders & Thornhill 2012). As part of a mixed methods research, the qualitative phase investigates the phenomenon from a consumer perspective. This research employed a qualitative methodology utilising 2 semi-structured focus groups with a sample size of 9 participants, utilising a convenience sampling method from general consumer population. Data was coded using NVivo and analysed using narrative and thematic analysis techniques, by analysing the words and meanings across various sets of data (Braun and Clarke 2006, p. 86). Findings have shown two key emergent themes from the focus groups, which are supported through the findings within the luxury and charisma literature. The limitations of this research is that it is only using a limited sample comprising of 9 participants from an Australian sample. This research adds value by making significant contributions by extending and building theory; holds managerial implications for policymakers and brand managers in shaping and communicating brand charisma; additionally findings can be used in the early stages of scale development and research framework.


Using electron paramagnetic resonance two types of ${\mathrm{Ti}}^{3+}$-related centers are identified in BaTi${\mathrm{O}}_{3}$, which are attributed to ${\mathrm{Ti}}^{3+}$-${V}_{\mathrm{O}}$ and to ${\mathrm{Ti}}^{3+}$-${V}_{\mathrm{O}}$ associated with Na or K, respectively. This assignment is based on the chemical and illumination conditions leading to the detection of the defects. It is furthermore supported by the Ti hyperfine structure, resolved for ${\mathrm{Ti}}^{3+}$-${V}_{\mathrm{O}}$-Na(K). The symmetry of the centers is broken in the sense that an electron is localized near one of the two equivalent ${\mathrm{Ti}}^{4+}$ ions next to ${V}_{\mathrm{O}}$. Also the observed Ti hyperfine structure points to electron capture at one Ti site. The ${V}_{\mathrm{O}}$-type centers are contrasted to isolated ${\mathrm{Ti}}^{3+}$, representing a free small polaron in crystals containing ${\mathrm{Nb}}^{5+}$ and no oxygen vacancies. The participation of the ${V}_{\mathrm{O}}$ centers in photochromic processes in BaTi${\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ is studied. In crystals doped with Na or K an optical absorption precursor of the fundamental absorption is identified and attributed to the creation of an exciton bound to the ${V}_{\mathrm{O}}$-Na(K) complex.


At the Universidad Nacional of Colombia, students of Medicine that belong to the neonatal attention team go through a practical and theoretical process that needs to be taught in the same way it occurs in reality. The simulation devices are an important tool that allows students to get closer to this environment before their previous practices with patients on hospitals. Nowadays, training mannequins are part of the models used to achieve this task; however they have limited functions related to the emulation of some procedures such as the physical reactions due to drugs prescription. This project shows an adapted solution to this restriction of actual mannequins: the implementation of a RFID based module where is possible to program a drug that can be recognized by the mannequin, and then, with this information some signals will take place to demonstrate its effect in the behavior of the simulator.


Semiconductor devices are assembled in a variety of package configurations, and are they used in various applications. The quad flat no lead (QFN) package is useful for improving the reliability of the package. Generally, thermal cycle tests (TCTs) are applied to under development electronic packages in order to prove their reliability. At the early stage, however, a more effective test is desirable because of the TCTs are time-consuming. A new mechanical fatigue test for the QFN package, namely the three-point assembly fixture with a rounded contact surface test method, was proposed and it is the subject of this paper. This fixture test method is a test assembly that supports a specimen on two anvils or rollers, and symmetrically loads the specimen on the opposite surface with an anvil or roller using micro tester; a micro tensile tester incorporating a deflection measuring device shall be used to generate a controlled board deflection rate. The validity of the mechanical test method can then be verified based on the stress analysis results and also these obtain in the experiments. Considering the QFN package delamination, lead cracking, package body cracking, and cracking between the various lead statistically based on the experimental, it was shown that the probability during cycle loads and the maximum load for the QFN package for delamination can be estimated.


† Professor of Law, Associate Dean for Clinical Education; Director, Bluhm Legal Clinic, Northwestern University School of Law. †† Associate Professor of Law, former Head of the Department of Law, Coordinator, Clinic Legal Education Programme, University of Botswana. The idea to write this article was conceived when Prof. Quansah paid a two week visit at the invitation of Prof. Geraghty to the Bluhm Legal Clinic at Northwestern University School of Law from April 10-21, 2006. The authors would like to thank Charles Majinge, LLM 2007, Northwestern University School of Law, and former Director of the Legal Clinic at the University of Dar es Salaam School of Law, and Alex Aixala, J.D., 2008, Northwestern Law School for their research support. The authors also thank Taddese Lencho, Professor of Law and former acting Dean of the Faculty of Law, Addis Ababa University, and Adam Stapleton, Visiting Clinical Professor at the Bluhm Legal Clinic, Northwestern Law School and Consultant to Penal Reform International, for their comments on drafts of this article. 1 See THE STRATEGIC PLAN FOR NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW, 2 (2001), available at http://www.law.northwestern.edu/difference/Strategic_Plan.pdf (last visited Feb. 25, 2008). 2 See American Bar Association, http://www.abanet.org (last visited Feb. 25, 2008). 3 See Ben W. Heineman, Jr., Lawyers as Leaders, 116 Yale L.J. Pocket Part 266 (2007), available at http://yalelawjournal.org/images/pdfs/102.pdf (". . .law schools should more candidly recognize the importance of leadership and should more directly prepare and inspire lawyers to seek roles of ultimate responsibility and accountability than they do today.") (last visited Feb. 25, 2008).


It has been said that man is the only animal who can laugh at itself. This is because mankind has learned to recognize and express ridiculous behavior in self and others. Most civilizations have valued the ability to identify and laugh at the absurdities of life—and to apply these insights to personal and social improvement and even to survival. Humor is the distinctly human faculty of perceiving, speaking, and writing what is amusing or funny. The purposes of expressive humor are to decrease tension and anxiety, and to increase interest in the varied meaning of words and ideas communicated. When we describe humorous situations through jokes, tall-tales, puns, or satire, we are playing with ideas which are representations of reality. Such representative thought is truly a product of our creative imagination. Because a good sense of humor facilitates communication, it is something to be treasured and nurtured. Most learning disabled children have an undeveloped sense of humor. This is often due to dysfunctions in the psycholinguistic associative processes which result in syntactical and semantic problems. For example, dyslexics commonly express confusion with word meanings and sentence structure.


Dear Editor:

I very much appreciate the work that the Community Paediatrics Committee of the Canadian Paediatric Society puts into setting out guidelines for practising paediatricians and recognize that it is hard to please everyone with these recommendations. However, I would take issue with this recommendation for children with metatarsus adductus in infancy where passive stretching does not work. Wheaten splints are extremely effective and do not require input of a paediatric orthopaedic surgeon. In rigid forefoot adductus, clearly casting would be considered a primary intervention strategy; however, travelling to a paediatric orthopaedic surgeon to have this done may not, at times, make much sense. Similarly tibial torsion is a common childhood event. I again, am totally unsure as to why, even with functional impairment, one would refer to a paediatric orthopaedic surgeon when this could be handled in a local setting.

What I object to regarding the recommendations is the notion that paediatric orthopaedic surgeons are easily available to the vast majority of paediatricians in Canada. In reality, I think there are very few if any, paediatric orthopaedic surgeons outside major teaching centres.


Summary The most important dose-limiting acute toxicity during radiotherapy for thoracic malignancies is radiation esophagitis. The combined modality treatment's (chemoradiotherapy) becoming a standard treatment approach for these malignancies has also increased the rate of esophagitis. Generally the first symptoms of radiation esophagitis that are dysphagia and odynophagia are seen 2-3 weeks after the beginning of radiotherapy and the incidence of severe acute esophagitis > or = grade 3 in patients treated with once-daily radiotherapy alone is 1.3%, increasing to 14% to 25% with the addition of concurrent chemotherapy, and 24% to 34% for the combination of hyperfractionated radiotherapy plus concomitant chemotherapy. In order to minimize this complication that can lead to treatment interruptions, three-dimensional (3-D) conformal radiotherapy, varying treatment schedules and doses of chemotherapeu tics, radiosensitizers and radioprotectors are tested in several trials. In this review predictive factors and treatment strategies for radiation esophagitis are discussed.


This volume comprises contributions on the Enforcement Order Regulation, the Small Claims Regulation, the Payment Order Regulation, and the Account Preservation Order Regulation. Rolf Wagner provides insights into the political backgrounds of these instruments. The practical experiences of the District Court Wedding in Berlin as the exclusively competent court for Germany with the Payment Order Regulation are presented by Johanna Richardt, while Robert Magnus focusses on the payment order procedure from an academic perspective. Wolfgang Hau discusses the Small Claims Regulations. Finally, the Account Preservation Order Regulation is dealt with by Peter Kreutz.

With contributions by
Christoph Blüm, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Hau, PD Dr. Peter Kreutz, Prof. Dr. Robert Magnus, Johanna Richardt, Louis M. Roer and Prof. Dr. Rolf Wagner.


This work has been conducted to investigate the behavior of pesticides in ginseng(Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer) cultivation environment, with a fungicide procymidone as a model pesticide. Procymidone adsorption on ginseng cultivating soil was studied and persistency of procymidone in soil was monitored in indoor incubation experiments at 25 and 10. The soil adsorption coefficients() of procymidone were in the range of 513743 suggesting the mobility of procymidone in soil is relatively low. Procymidone showed higher persistency in soil under indoor incubation condition than outdoor field condition. The half lives estimated from the first order reaction kinetics were 248 days and 330 days at 25 and 10, respectively.


Porous coordination networks have two distinctive characteristics: robust coordination frameworks and fluid pores wherein molecules are mobile. These characteristics allow solution chemistry to be ...


A structure of tunable magnetorheological mechanical topological insulator that uses magnetorheological elastomers as matrix and pure iron as scatterer is designed. By changing the external magnetic field, the elastic modulus of the matrix is affected, and the size and width of the bandgap are adjusted to give the structure adjustability. The waveguide characteristics, the adjustability of topology edge state, the effect of point defects, and the time-domain characteristics of the structure are studied by the finite element method. The tunable range of the structure is increased by 446%; the elastic wave can propagate well in the linear channel and Z channel, there is a certain loss of the elastic amplitude at the output; the point defects have a great influence on the transmission loss, and the abrupt peak value is easy to appear, and there is a "transition region" near the upper and lower boundaries.


The ability of B cell populations in the chicken to respond in vitro to LPS was evaluated. Chromosomally marked embryonic bursal cells were transferred to B cell depleted chicks and allowed to differentiate in vitro for several weeks. Subsequent evaluation of host and donor cell proliferation in LPS-stimulated spleen and peripheral blood lymphocyte cultures of cell recipients established that bursa-derived donor cells (B2 cells) in spleen and blood were capable of responding to LPS. The results furthermore suggested a weak response of host T cells to LPS. Lymphocytes within the bursa (B1 cells) failed to respond to this stimulant.


The new and an innovative method was developed to quantify the sun protection factor (SPF) in sunscreen formulations. This method developed based on the MED equation for UVB sunscreen substances, the method validated as per ICH guidelines and found robust, accurate and linear. Method optimized by using UV- VIS spectrophotometry concentration level of 2 mg/ml for clear formulations/solutions. . The proposed spectrophotometric method is simple and rapid.


Before the advent of skeletal anchorage distalisation of the lower arch was considered cumbersome. Individual lower molar distalisation followed by retraction into the distalised space created is very time-consuming. Therefore, to reduce the treatment duration lower arch distalisation can be attempted by using buccal shelf screws. Here we present a case of Angle's Class III malocclusion which has been treated effectively with distalisation of lower arch using 2 buccal shelf screws (2x12mm) with elastic chains following lower third molars extraction. We achieved full arch distalisation of 3.5mm bilaterally in a span of 1.5 months into a class I molar and canine relationship with normal overjet and overbite. Total treatment duration was of 17 months. These results were stable. There were no changes in vertical facial dimensions.


A study based on FPGA controller, is used to solve the problems of control mechanism of this kind of dynamic process of coal chemical distillation process complex, process variables, controlled variables, it is difficult to establish mathematics model.


Hydrofluoric acid is a water solution of hydrogen fluoride (HF). Hydrofluoric acid is used widely in diverse types of industrial applications; traditionally, it is used in pickling solutions in the metal industry, in the fabrication of chlorofluorocarbon compounds, as an alkylation agent for gasoline and as an etching agent in the industry of glass. In recent years, hydrofluoric acid has extensively been used in the manufacture of semiconductors and microelectronics during the wet chemical cleaning of silicon wafers. Hydrofluoric acid can be considered a reducing acid and although it is chemically classified as weaker than, for example, sulfuric or hydrochloric acids, it is extremely corrosive. This acid is also particularly toxic and poses greater health hazard than most other acids. The corrosion behavior of metals in hydrofluoric acid has not been as systematic studied in the laboratory as for other common inorganic acids. This is largely because tests using hydrofluoric acid cannot be run in standard equipment and because of the toxic nature of this acid. Moreover, short-term weight loss laboratory corrosion tests in hydrofluoric acid can be frustrating since the results are not as highly reproducible as in the case of other acids such as sulfuric or hydrochloric. Onemore » of the reasons is because hydrofluoric acid commonly attacks the coupons used for testing in a non-uniform manner. That is, the corrosive power of this acid is not aimed to uniform thinning but mostly to localized penetration below the skin of the metal in the form of thin cracks, voids, pits, trenches and sometimes intergranular attack. Figure 1 shows the cross section of a coupon of Alloy 600 (N06600) exposed for 336 h to the vapor phase of a solution of 20% HF at 93 C. In cases where internal penetration occurs such as in Figure 1, it may not be recommended to use corrosion rates based on weight loss for material selection.« less


In this paper, we consider the problem of constructing partial state and input observers for linear systems with unknown inputs. Specifically, we develop a design procedure that characterizes the set of all linear functions of the states and inputs that can be reconstructed through a linear observer. Our design procedure directly produces the corresponding observer parameters, and also encompasses delayed observers, which increases the number of linear functionals that can be reproduced. In comparison to previous work on partial state and input observers, the main contributions of our work are (i) an algebraic procedure to design delayed linear observers with dimension no greater than that of the system, and (ii) a unified treatment of both state and input observers, along with a characterization of the stability of these observers. The observers obtained using our procedure can be used in applications such as fault diagnosis and control system design for uncertain systems.


The structure of their neural and biomechanic systems allows animals and humans to walk smoothly with minimal involvement of conscious control, even though locomotion is a highly complex motor task [1]. Locomotion is controlled in a hierarchical way: the spinal level generates muscle excitation patterns by combining feedforward pattern generators with sensory feedback [2], while the brain modulates the spinal control based on desired gait characteristics (e.g. speed and direction) [3] [4]. However, little is known about the exact role of different brain areas in control of human locomotion and the interaction between descending pathways and spinal network. Yet, the pathological gaits resulting from brain lesions (e.g. stroke and cerebral palsy) show that abnormal descending pathways may lead to muscle weakness and spastic behavior [5]. Therefore, the brain contribution is essential to achieve efficient walking patterns.


This paper gives an insight into designing of numerical directional over-current relay for distribution system using real time signals. For fault detection differential sampling method is used. Real time signals are converted in discrete form using an advanced analog to digital conversion device Advantech USB 4711/A. User interfacing is designed using visual basic software which generates the characteristics and performs the relay action. The relay is tested under various conditions and satisfactory results were obtained.


Background: The present study was designed to investigate the possible influence of chest shape, noninvasively assessed by modified Haller index (MHI), on ventricular-arterial coupling (VAC) parameters in a population of term infants with pectus excavatum (PE). Methods: Sixteen consecutive PE infants (MHI >2.5) and 44 infants with normal chest shape (MHI ≤2.5) were prospectively analyzed. All infants underwent evaluation by a neonatologist, transthoracic echocardiography, and MHI assessment (ratio of chest transverse diameter over the distance between sternum and spine) within 3 days of life. Arterial elastance index (EaI) was determined as end-systolic pressure (ESP)/stroke volume index, whereas end-systolic elastance index (EesI) was measured as ESP/left ventricular end-systolic volume index. Finally, VAC was derived by the Ea/Ees ratio. Results: At 2.1 ± 1 days after birth, compared to controls (MHI = 2.01 ± 0.2), PE infants (MHI = 2.76 ± 0.2) were diagnosed with significantly smaller size of all cardiac chambers. Biventricular systolic function, left ventricular filling pressures, and pulmonary hemodynamics were similar in both the groups of infants. Both EaI (4.4 ± 1.0 mmHg/ml/m2 vs. 3.4 ± 0.6 mmHg/ml/m2, P < 0.001) and EesI (15.1 ± 3.0 mmHg/ml/m2 vs. 12.7 ± 2.5 mmHg/ml/m2, P = 0.003) were significantly increased in PE infants than controls. The resultant VAC (0.30 ± 0.10 vs. 0.30 ± 0.08, P > 0.99) was similar in both the groups of infants. Both EaI (r = 0.93) and EesI (r = 0.87) were linearly correlated with MHI in PE infants, but not in controls. On the other hand, no correlation was found between MHI and VAC in both the groups of infants. Conclusions: Chest deformity strongly influences both Ea and Ees in PE infants, due to extrinsic cardiac compression, in the absence of any intrinsic cardiovascular dysfunction.


The study aimed to identify the thinking methodology of Ali Alwardi in his book "A Sociological Analysis of ibn Khaldun's Theory A study in Sociology of Knowledge". To achieve this goal, the study followed the descriptive-analytical approach, through an analytical reading of what Alwardi wrote in this book in the context of the concept of metacognition, which is practically represented in answering three questions: questions of understanding, solution, and connection. The study showed the extent to which the methodology of Alwardi's answer agrees with those metacognitive questions, and this in turn provides us with a mature model of thinking to deal with issues and problems that can be added to the scientific heritage presented by Alwardi. The study recommended further research regarding the concept of metacognition, in addition to the importance of addressing this topic in a practical way through the analytical reading of the scientific production in this context.


A planar extremely-wide-band antenna is designed and simulated. The proposed antenna is a printed elliptical slotted monopole antenna with a triangular ground plane, fed by semi-ring triple feed followed by a tapered CPW line. The frequencies covered for a VSWR ≤ 2 extends from 0.65 GHz to 12 GHz with stable radiation patterns to guarantee minimal pulse distortion. This configuration has been achieved by analyzing the currents on the antenna by means the characteristic mode theory. Both numerical and experimental results are presented. This miniaturized antenna (largest dimensions of the order of 0.14 λ) is a good candidate for wide band spectrum sensing in the context of cognitive radio applications.


Introduction. Currently, Russia does not have a scientifically grounded medical and psychological support system for disabled children (DC), which allows involving them in classes in children and youth schools of adaptive physical education, preparing the country's Paralympic DC reserve. Aim of the study. To develop and create a medical support system for the Paralympic DC reserve, capable of improving their quality of life and forming a medical and social lift. Materials and methods. Children aged from 1 year to 18 years had cerebral palsy (CP) with impaired motor functions of levels I and II according to the global motor function assessment system and the Manual Abilities Classification system and their families were monitored. A comprehensive assessment of the somatic, neurological, mental and nutritional status of CP children) was carried out, and a wide range of comorbid pathology was described. After the rehabilitation treatment with the use of complex personalized rehabilitation programs, dynamic monitoring of the condition of patients with cerebral palsy was carried out, followed by an assessment of the effectiveness of rehabilitation treatment and the impact on it the psychological readiness of patients, their parents to engage in Paralympic sports, as well as the socio-economic level of the family. The attitude of CP children and their parents to participate in the Paralympic movement was studied. All patients underwent a comprehensive study of somatic, neurological, orthopaedic, psychological and nutritional status. The socio-hygienic characteristics of families and the rehabilitation potential of DC and their families have been determined. Results. Children with cerebral palsy have a wide range of comorbid pathology, which requires the involvement of specialists of different profiles in the curation of patients. The use of complex personalized rehabilitation programs allows achieving positive dynamics after 14 days of rehabilitation treatment. Early introduction of botulinum therapy in the rehabilitation program of CP patients provides higher efficiency of rehabilitation treatment. Treatment of protein-energy deficiency in CP children should include correction of the diet using specialized products, metabolic therapy, enzyme and complex vitamin preparations. Differentiated medical, psychological and pedagogical counselling of parents of CP children will allow optimizing the solution of the state problem regarding the timely inclusion of persons with disabilities in adaptive physical education classes. Conclusion. The development and creation of a comprehensive medical and psychological support system solve an urgent medical and social problem, ensuring the integration of DC into society and improving the quality of life of both a sick child and his family members.


Ovarian inununity is important for hygienic egg production and nomlal ovarian functions in poultry. Recent studies indicated the presence of macrophages, antigen presenting cells with major his to compatibility complex class II. T cell subsets and B cells in the ovary. The population of these immunocompetent cell in tile ovary increases during sexual matutation and decreases with aging thereafter. Probably the changes in the popwation of ovarian immunocompetent cells are affected by estrogen because stimulation by estrogenic compound increases their population. The decline of immunity with aging may be responsible for the increase of susceptibility to pathogenic agents in the ovary and may affect tile other ovarian functions including folliculogenesis. In this paper, effects of age and sex steroids on the ovarian immnunocompetent cell localization and significance of ovarian immunity in egg production will be discussed.