A Study of Progression in Irish Higher Education by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) in 2010 highlighted the issue of high attrition rates among first year Computer Science students (Chantler et Al, 2010). The importance of improving retention in Computer Science programmes is recognised and extensive research has been carried out to identify contributing factors (Kuh et al, 2007, Braxton, 2006).

Braxton 2006 identifies Student Course Learning as a fundamental contributor to success in higher education
encompassing 6 key areas including: academic attainment, acquisition of general education, development of academic
confidence, development of cognitive skills and intellectual disciplines, occupational attainment and preparation for adulthood and citizenship.

This paper presents the effects of a pilot project in which first year Computer Science students participated in a week long induction programme aimed at improving first year student retention through early student engagement. The induction programme had two key aims:
- Integrating new students into the School of Computing, giving them a sense of identity as Computing students
- Kick starting a series of transferable skills SWAT (Study Weapons and Tactics) workshops

The key focus of the programme was a week-long Problem Based Learning (PBL) project supported by faculty through
transferable skills workshops. Here, students competed in teams to plan a Fresher's Week event for first year students
in conjunction with the Students' Union. This activity was further supported by interactive introductory lectures, career talks and past project presentations. The week culminated in Dragons Den style presentations of the three finalist ideas where the winning team was chosen and prizes were awarded.

This paper is structured as follows. Section 1 describes the challenges faced by Computing Departments in third level
institutes in tackling student retention. Section 2 outlines the induction programme introduced by the Computing Support Service at NCI. Section 3 is a discussion of the outcomes of the programme followed by the plans for future development of the programme in Section 4.


Incidences of food shortage and poverty are highly reported on Africa specifically sub-Saharan part, despite having a large number of the population engaging in agriculture residing in the rural area. Different scholars have managed to associate food security which involves food availability, food access, food utilization and stability at the household level with various factors. The study takes a similar root in pinning down factors related to the food shortage in Singida. Taking into account socio-economic characteristics of household in analysis, it is indicated that food shortage in Singida area is more pronounced during farming season, that is November to March and it is associated with gender, marital status, education level, occupation and place of residence of the household head. Meanwhile, age of head of household, total manpower in the household, amount of maize harvested, the use of fertilizer, farm size and household expenditure on food had no significant effect in determining food shortage at the household level. Since education has shown a significant positive effect of not having food shortage, and community in Singida depends much on rain-fed agriculture system, the problem of food shortage may be tackled through extension services toward creating awareness on improved agriculture practice for more farm yield given the small piece of land available, and improvement in storage mechanism.


This paper reviews the highlights of the high intensity laser-plasma experiments achieved with the six-beam and the 100 TW LULI laser facilities, as well as the progress of the LULI 2000 project. This covers fields of laser fusion, equations of state, hgih energy particle emission, atomic physics, X-ray production and laser developments.


This thesis describes an investigation into near-shore headland-associated sandbanks that used process-based modelling techniques. The modelling experiments involved tidal, wave, sediment transport and morphological modules. The motivation came from a need to understand the dynamics of near-shore headland sandbanks which are valuable resources of raw material, ecology and coastal protection. An idealised model of a coastal headland was first used in which the physical system was simplified in order to quantify the influence of individual variables on sandbank initiation and growth. This approach provided a number of useful insights into headland sandbank dynamics. Firstly, the relative impact of the Coriolis force was shown to be minor in comparison with parameters including the seabed slope, headland geometry and tidal forcing. It was shown that a causal relationship between sandbank initiation and headland eddies does not exist. For certain headland geometries, however, the model suggested that the eddies become important in the long term maintenance of the associated headland sandbanks. The initiation and potential growth mechanisms of a real near-shore sandbank in the central Bristol Channel have also been investigated. The results confirmed many of the ideas obtained from the idealised investigation and provided a number of new insights into the complex physical system in which the bank exists. The presence of a wave- induced mechanism was detected, capable of replenishing sandy material in the large coastal embayments and supplying the headland sandbanks of the central Bristol Channel. The work also suggested that the sandbank itself was initiated, and its position controlled, by large gradients in the tidal currents produced by the headland. Its further maintenance and development was shown to be the result of a self- sustaining feedback mechanism, detected in the surrounding flow field.


The mid-Maastrichtian event (MME), ~69 Ma, represents a global negative δ 13 C excursion which is linked to the extinction of inoceramid bivalves and latitudinal migration of planktonic foraminifera. While the actual extinction of inoceramids was diachronous across the globe, the decline of this important fossil group is generally linked to environmental changes across the mid-Maastrichtian interval. The MME is potentially related to changes in oceanic circulation. While the MME, and associated decline of inoceramids, has been recorded from a variety of deep-sea sites, little is known about the MME signature in shallow epicontinental environments.


The accurate reconstruction of a signal within a reasonable period is the key process that enables the application of compressive sensing in large-scale image transmission. The sparsity adaptive matching pursuit (SAMP) algorithm does not need prior knowledge on signal sparsity and has high reconstruction accuracy but has low reconstruction efficiency. To overcome the low reconstruction efficiency, we propose the use of the fast segmentation sparsity adaptive matching pursuit (FSSAMP) algorithm, where the value of K estimated in each iteration increases in a nonlinear manner instead of undergoing linear growth. This form can reduce the number of iterations by accurate signal sparsity degree evaluation. In addition, we use signal segmentation strategies in the proposed algorithm to improve the algorithm accuracy. Experimental results demonstrated that the FSSAMP algorithm has more stable reconstruction performance and higher reconstruction accuracy than the SAMP algorithm.


For agricultural production and food safety, it is important to accurately and extensively estimate the heavy metal(loid) pollution contents in farmland soil. Remote sensing technology provides a feasible method for the rapid determination of heavy metal(loid) contents. In this study, the contents of Ni, Hg, Cr, Cu, and As in the agricultural soil of the Suzi River Basin in Liaoning Province were taken as an example. The spectral data, with Savitzky–Golay smoothing, were taken as the original spectra (OR), and the spectral transformation was achieved by continuum removal (CR), reciprocal (1/R), root means square (R), first-order differential (FDR), and second-order differential (SDR) methods. Then the spectral indices were calculated by the optimal band combination algorithm. The correlation between Ni, Hg, Cr, Cu, and As contents and spectral indices was analyzed, and the optimal spectral indices were selected. Then, multiple linear regression (MLR), partial least squares regression (PLSR), random forest regression (RFR), and adaptive neuro-fuzzy reasoning system (ANFIS) were used to establish the estimation model based on the combined optimal spectral indices method. The results show that the combined optimal spectral indices method improves the correlation between spectra and heavy metal(loid), the MLR model produces the best estimation effect for Ni and Cu (R2=0.713 and 0.855, RMSE = 5.053 and 8.113, RPD = 1.908 and 2.688, respectively), and the PLSR model produces the best effect for Hg, Cr, and As (R2= 0.653, 0.603, and 0.775, RMSE = 0.074, 23.777, and 1.923, RPD = 1.733, 1.621, and 2.154, respectively). Therefore, the combined optimal spectral indices method is feasible for heavy metal(loid) estimation in soils and could provide technical support for large-scale soil heavy metal(loid) content estimation and pollution assessment.


Bone is a complex material composite of collagen, an organic protein that makes up much of mammalian connective tissue, and mineral, the inorganic calcium phosphate that provides stiffness. In nature bone is subjected to a number of forces that can differ drastically depending on the animal species and location in the body, hence bone material has adapted to suit particular functions through a series of modifications to its composition either in quality or in quantity. The exact nature of the relationship between the mineral and collagen phases are not well understood in terms of the impacts on material properties, nor is the process of mineralisation. Therefore the subject of this thesis is examining the nature of this relationship with a view to increasing our knowledge of bone material to better facilitate clinical treatment of bone disorders, the greatest of which is osteoporosis, estimated to affect 3 million individuals in the UK, the cause of 500,000 fractures yearly. To this end the following studies utilise two emerging in-vivo technologies, Spatially Offset Raman Spectroscopy (SORS) and Reference Point Indentation (RPI). The results of the experiments show that bone properties, and indeed mineralisation is highly related with aspects of collagen cross-linking and fibre organisation. They also revealed that mineralisation levels do not correlate well with local bone properties, suggesting that the current approach to fragility evaluation which relies on analysing mineral content and distribution, is not adequate. It provides evidence that suggests Raman spectroscopy can detect specific collagen modifications which correlate with bone properties. The work presented here aids our understanding of the relationships between mineral, collagen and material properties and furthers the use of in-vivo technologies which is of great significance in their respective developments as potentially widespread clinical tools. The ability to access the organic phase of bone and the bone properties both directly and locally could enable a more accurate, immediate and without ionising radiation alternative to current detection of bone defects and fragility.


The semiclassical theory of collision‐induced electronic transitions is extended to describe tunneling and the effect of energetically inaccessible states. The powerful technique of analytic continuation is utilized to yield very good agreement with exact quantum mechanical results on some model systems. The inaccessible states have a significant effect on transmission coefficients and thus can be important in semiclassical studies of molecular reactions.


Multiphase flow is a common phenomenon in hydraulic engineering. At present, VOF model is usually used to simulate multiphase flow, but this model is only suitable for large-scale interfacial stratified multiphase flow. VOF model is powerless for multiphase flow in which bubbles, droplets and stratified flow exist simultaneously in the fluid domain. In this paper, the Eulerian extended model, Large Scale Interface, is used to simulate the multiphase flow in which bubbles and stratified flows coexist. The model is used to simulate the aeration phenomenon in the actual three-dimensional complex water conveyance project, and compared with the model test results. It was found that the numerical simulation results of the inlet flow rate, the pressure along the shaft and the maximum submergence depth of the air mass basically coincide with the model test, which shows that the model can reasonably simulate the multi-phase flow coexisting in the actual hydraulic engineering.


Tests to investigate and document residual and inter-cycle ice accretions of current design pneumatic deicing boots at lower airspeeds were conducted in the Goodrich De-icing and Specialty Systems Division Icing Wind Tunnel in Uniontown, Ohio, in May 2005. These tests can be viewed as a continuation of tests conducted in March 2000. This paper briefly reviews the test procedures and selected results.


Objective To analyze the cause,features and prognosis of endogenous endophthalmitis.Methods The clinical data of 3 patients(4 eyes)with endogenous endophthalmitis was retrospectively analyzed.Results 3 patients were admitted because of flare and pain of eyelids,impaired vision or visual loss.With a history of upper respiratory tract infection,all the patients were diagnosed as EE by eye examination and other detections.No bacterial growth was found in vitreous body cavity fluid cultivation and hemoculture.2 patients with poor body conditions lost eyesight without vitrectomy,and 1 patient had lost her eyesight before being admitted,and showed no improvement after incision and drainage.Conclusion EE can cause quick visual loss in a short time.Effective measures should be taken immediately after diagnosis.


Many D. ovis are found more than 1/4 in. from the skin of the sheep, and 30-50% of a louse population may be lost when the sheep is shorn. The lice near the tip of the fleece come to the tip quickly when it is shaded and warmed, particularly when the fleece is short, and consequently lice, mainly adults and stage III nymphs, spread rapidly from sheep to sheep which are in close contact. All nymphal and adult stages of D. ovis were killed when exposed to 48°C for 60 min, 50°C for 30 min, or to 55 or 60°C for 5 min. Some lice died when exposed to 45°C for 4 hr but the main effect was on oviposition, and females exposed for only 2 hr laid fewer eggs. Most eggs were killed when exposed to 45°C for 4 hr, 47°C for 2-4 hr, or 49°C for 4-1 hr. The intensity of solar radiation during the summer in Australia can result in a temperature gradient within the fleece of sheep from c. 45°C near to the skin to 65-70°C at the tip of the fleece within 5-10 min of exposure. Many lice in the distal parts of the fleece are killed as lethal temperatures develop, and the number of eggs laid by survivors may be reduced. On newly shorn sheep even lice and eggs near the skin may be killed, as the temperature near the skin can rise to 45-52°C. Reasonably heavy infestations may be maintained on sheep kept permanently in the shade, and it appears that the cumulative effect of repeated mortalities due to solar radiation prevents an increase in numbers of D. ovis during the summer.


The European Union takes various measures aimed at creating a better business environment for small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). These are policies developed by the Community that have not only overall impact on the whole development of SMEs in the European Union, but also they have their regional aspect and implications on individual countries or regions in the Union. One of the main principles underlying the European Union policy for small and medium-size enterprises is "Think Small First". This principle is an expression of the understanding that the requirements for small and medium-size enterprises can be accomplished by the big ones but the vice verca is not always true. Small and medium-size enterprises are much more limited than large companies, putting them at a much more difficult position and reducing their competitiveness.


Objective:To observe and evaluate the value of the improved RCI and LPT in diagnosing to diagnose cervical precancerous lesions,and search for the ideal screening method of cervical precancerous lesions.Methods:Patients from this department who wanted to screen the cervical precancerous lesions were detected by LPT and colposcopy.All cases were diagnosed by histopathology.Results:To contrast RCI with histopathological outcome,coincidence was 54.13%,including one grade deviation,the rate increased to 93.58%,the sensitivity was 86.49% and the specific was 45.83%.37 patients were diagnosed precancerous lesions,32 cases were positive in colposcopy,while 12 cases were in LPT,the difference of sensitivity was distinct.Conclusion:The combination of LPT and colposcopy can reduce the rate of missed diagnosis,as is effective method to screen cervical precancerous lesions.


The Chinese yellow rice wine,the domination most,however such is brew beer that water in source mirrors lake water thanks to deteriorateing of environment quality,the water quality pollution is more and more grave.ClO_2's disinfectant is one kind of new pattern water tratment means,and previous else sterilize it than gets up that the means possess even more advantage,and are universally having a good prospect at the moment to have actual popularization value the sterilizeing technique.Not only ClO_2's disinfectant may act as the disinfectant,may act as the oxidant once more,and fling plusing before may filtering,but also flinging to plus afterwards may filtering;The amount to be used of the amount to be used oridinarily in the interest of when sterilizeing behind the 0.5~1.5mg/L is oridinarily in the interest of 0.5~3.0mg/L when acting as beforehand the oxidate to handle.


In this paper the simultaneous localization and map building (SLAM) problem, for a robot navigating in indoor environments, is addressed. A line-based representation of the environment is adopted. Line parameters are extracted from range scans, and the corresponding covariance matrices are computed from the statistical characteristics of the raw data. An Extended Kalman Filter is then used to simultaneously estimate the robot pose and update the line-based map. Feature matching is enhanced by separately keeping track of the segment associated to each line. The proposed technique is validated through numerical simulations and experimental tests, featuring the mobile robot Pioneer 3AT within a realworld indoor environment.


Objective: To identify the blood pressure (BP) measuring method, home, 24 h ABPM and clinic, that can better predict early vascular ageing (EVA) and to create a new predictive model for EVA from BP measurements and other risk factors. Design and method: 282 consecutive subjects (39.7% male) aged 56.8 ± 15.8 years were included in the study. BP was measured at office and out of office with 24h-ABPM on a usual working day and seven days home BP monitoring. Pulse wave velocity (PWV) was measured after 15 min of rest in the supine position. EVA represented carotid-femoral PWV values higher than the expected for age average values. Results: In the univariate analysis, EVA correlated with office systolic BP, average 24 h systolic BP, 24 h diastolic BP, average 24 h and home heart rate, and office heart rate (p < 0.05). The area under the curve for the diagnosis of EVA was 0.620 (90% CI 0.55, 0.69), 0.559 (90% CI 0.48, 0.64) and 0.565 (90% CI 0.49, 0.64), for 24 h, home and clinic systolic BP, respectively. The 24 h systolic and diastolic BP, 24 h heart rate and risk factors such as body mass index, gender, age, creatine clearance, diabetes mellitus, were used to develop a new prediction score with Random Forest algorithm for the prediction of EVA providing a total accuracy 0.82 and high rates of sensitivity and specificity. Conclusions: In conclusion, 24 h systolic BP from ABPM is a better predictor for EVA than home and clinic systolic BP. A new risk assessment tool for EVA was created by 24 h ABPM variables, age, sex, body mass index, diabetes mellitus and creatine clearance.


This article reviews the literature on the contrasting-groups standard-setting method and describes 2 versions of the method—the person-focused version and the response-focused version. Of the 2, the response-focused version is preferable. It can be enhanced by adopting some practices of the modified Angoff method.


The optimum conditions for the most effective precipitate of surfactant complex of sodium alkylsulfate with cetylpyridinium chloride were studied in the aqueous solution. The parameters such as the alkyl chain length of anionic surfactants, molar ratio of two surfactants, te mperature and the concentration of added NaCl in the aqueous solution were correlatively studied for the productivity of the precipitate formation. By the productivity, the optimum conditions to produce complex of anionic surfactant with cationic surfactant were the longer alkyl chain, equivalent molar ratio between anionic and cationic surfactants, 0 o C and 1.5 M NaCl.


In this paper, we present a semi-supervised learning method for web page classification, leveraging click logs to augment training data by propagating class labels to unlabeled similar documents. Current state-of-the-art classifiers are supervised and require large amounts of manually labeled data. We hypothesize that unlabeled documents similar to our positive and negative labeled documents tend to be clicked through by the same user queries. Our proposed method leverages this hypothesis and augments our training set by modeling the similarity between documents in a click graph. We experiment with three different web page classifiers and show empirical evidence that our proposed approach outperforms state-of-the-art methods and reduces the amount of human effort to label training data.


CHARLES D I C K E N S described for the readers of Bentley's Miscellany the pitiful story of little Oliver Twist. The Times reprinted it, and launched a campaign against the working of the Poor Law based on atrocity stories, some true, some exaggerated, and most false. Mr Roberts has nailed many of the lies and exaggerations put about by the opponents of the new law. He has attempted an overall balanced judgement of the 1834 Poor Law and has, on the whole, come down on the side favourable to its proponents. ' Mr Roberts has performed a service; and he is no doubt right to contradict the legend that the Poor Law Commissioners were cruel monsters who encouraged beating and starvation. The difficulty is to hit an exact balance in judging this complex matter. Opponents of the new law failed to do so, and their frustration in opposition impelled them into exaggerations and false charges which, when disproved, helped to perpetuate the system. Yet the law was oppressive in ways which were real, if less sensational than they were made out to be. Nor can all its shortcomings be blamed on the survival of abuses from the old dispensation. Its faults were the fruit of certain characteristic attitudes on the part of its originators and supporters. Mr Roberts has omitted to consider these, although any evaluation of the New Poor Law ought surely to take them into account. Sadistic cruelty is one thing, insensitivity is another. Sir George Nicholls had introduced at Southwell workhouse in 1820 the bone-crushing as work for paupers which, after the Andover workhouse scandal the Commissioners had, reluctantly, to prohibit. This was suitable' less eligible' labour; profitable, heavy, repellent, and not in competition with 'free' labour outside. The discontent at Andover was as much about the nature of the work as about the diet (it was below the Commissioners' authorized scale) which drove the paupers to eat the bones. Fourteen years later, Nicholls, in his History of the Poor Law, attributed the incident to the 'depraved appetites' of the paupers. The Commissioners could be parsimonious in self-defeating ways. One of these was their refusal to allow Boards of Guardians to continue an earlier custom of paying for tool outfits for men and women trying to set up in trade. This must have kept many in the workhouse who might have been made self-respecting and taken off the rates for a small initial outlay. True, as Mr Roberts says, ' workhouses might seem like prisons, but no one ever had to stay in them'. Yet those who wanted


Objective:To observe the effects of low frequency electrical stimulation at paravertebral point on spinal cord injury(SCI).Method:All 112 cases were designed into two groups: control group(56 cases) and observation group(56 cases).All patients were given the conventional rehabilitation,and the patients in observation group were given to low frequency electrical stimulation at the paravertebral point additionally.Degrees of spasm and functional assessment were compared in the two groups.Results:After treatment for 90 days,the scores of Ashworth,tendon reflexes and clonus in observation group were higher than pretreatment and in control group after treatment(all P0.01).Only the tendon reflexes were significantly improved after training in the control group(P0.01).The motor and sensation scores in both two groups were obviously increased(P0.05,0.01),more significantly in observation group than in control group(P0.05,0.01).Conclusion:The low frequency electrical stimulation at paravertebral point combined with conventional rehabilitation can obvisouly improve spasm and sensorimotor function.


Due to the strong capacity of computing and storage, more and more hackers choose to attack cloud systems for their own use to obtain illegal benefits. In order to prevent the occurrence of this phenomenon, when a cloud user enters into the cloud system, their identity must be verified to protect the security of cloud platform and the interests of legitimate users. Then, we propose a new ECC dynamic password-based authentication scheme for cloud computing in this paper. The proposed scheme provides mutual authentication and identity management. A user also can change his/her password whenever demanded. Furthermore, the scheme has the resistance to possible attacks in cloud computing.


Recent studies have demonstrated that the interaction between a structure and fluid can have a significant influence on the response of the overall system when subjected to certain dynamic loadings. This observation is especially true for the steel torus in Mark I Plants subjected to condensation oscillation and other hydrodynamic loads due to loss of coolant accident. The effect of such loads are evaluated on a concrete torus of a Mark I Containment system. A fluid structure interaction factor is defined and calculated for the concrete torus to show the effect of the fluid interaction on the torus. The finite element method is used to calculate the frequencies and mode shapes of the torus with and without the fluid. The direct frequency response analysis is used to measure the effect of fluid structure interaction due to condensation oscillation loading. The NASTRAN Program is used for all the analyses. It is found, as expected, that the interaction between the fluid and the structure is not significant in calculating the responses of the concrete torus. Typical results of the analyses are presented and discussed.


the starting points and are not themselves discovered in the process of division, nor are they syllogistic premises. The definitions are apprehended by perception (etio0~o~g), memory (l~v~tTI) and intuition (vogg), that is, "by the process of general concept formation, which is available to all humans" (48). They are deployed on a field of inquiry which will reveal any given subject-genus as "a hierarchy whose constituent necessary, immediate connections are expressed by (and so give rise to) the ultimate atomic premises of the demonstrative syllogism-chains within the science which studies that genus" (36). Part Two is about the explanatory context of demonstrations and the kind of connections Aristotle permits between terms. Ferejohn uses parts of the Categories and the Topics as well as the Analytics when he considers the different types of predication. He concludes that definitional predications may occur as demonstrative premises; that predications of differentiae, of properties and of for-the-most-part truths may occur as demonstrative conclusions. Negative predications are permissible provided that a genus is sufficiently specific "that all the terms, negative and positive, employed in demonstrations conducted within it have determinate meanings" (t 38). The book is well argued, and in true Aristotelian style Ferejohn considers the views of his predecessors and contemporaries. The lack of an index of Aristotelian passages cited is a pity, but could presumably be remedied in a further edition. NOREZN F o x University of Liverpool


Increased lipid peroxidation has been commonly observed in diabetic patients as compared to control subjects. However, studies on the relationship to metabolic control have yielded conflicting results and no data are available on the relationship of hyperinsulinaemia to lipid peroxidation. We investigated, in well‐characterized groups of 93 patients with non‐insulin‐dependent diabetes mellitus, 22 subjects with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and 96 subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT), the determinants of plasma lipid peroxidation measured by plasma thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). These were significantly higher in subjects with IGT (1.04 ± 0.48 μmol I‐1) and in NIDDM patients (1.00 ± 0.48 μmol I‐1) than in those with NGT (0.75 ± 0.46 μmol I‐1; p < 0.05). The glucose tolerance status was the major determinant of increased lipid peroxidation even after controlling for the effects of age, sex, body mass index, physical activity, use of alcohol, smoking, and the use of diuretics. In regression analyses the major determinants of plasma TBARS were fasting plasma glucose, insulin, and apolipoprotein A1 (inversely) levels. To conclude, plasma TBARS were increased in impaired glucose tolerance and in diabetes and they were related to prevailing plasma glucose and insulin levels, suggesting a role for insulin resistance in increased lipid peroxidation process. On the contrary, apolipoprotein A1 may have protective effects in this respect.


Rapid reduction of pain using parenteral medications for patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) during vaso-occlusive crises (VOCs) might permit


In a common currency area, the common central bank sets a uniform rate of inflation across countries, taking into account the area's economic conditions. Suppose countries in recession favor a more expansionary policy than countries in expansion: when national business cycles are not fully synchronized, a conflict of interest between members arises. If member governments have an informational advantage over the state of their domestic economy, such conflict may create an adverse selection problem: national authorities overemphasize their shocks in order to shape the common policy towards their needs. This creates an inefficiency over and above the one-policy- fits-all cost discussed in the optimal currency area literature. In order to minimize this extra-burden of asymmetric information, monetary policy must over-react to large symmetric shocks and under-react to asymmetric shocks of different sizes.


Abstract. We studied the autumn (September–November) food habits of the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) by sampling the stomach contents of 64 individuals (male, n = 31; female, n = 33) killed on national roads in Ibaraki Prefecture. Our aim was to examine sex differences in the autumn food habits of raccoon dogs in suburban area where human related disturbances can occur on the raccoon dogs. The frequency of occurrence (FO) and the percent volume (PV) of fruits and insects were high for both males and females and FO and PV of garbage were low for both males and females. There were no significant differences between the sexes for food items. FO and PV were not significantly different between sexes for adults and yearlings. This is likely because males and females may use the same area even in suburban area, and they likely both forage on the most abundant food resources that are easily accessible within their habitats.


The methamphetamine has been studied theoretically at the MP2 [1]/6-31G[2] level in gas phase. Methamphetamine has been investigated Via NMR, Frequencies Calculation and NBO analysis. The structure of methamphetamine was designed primarily using of Chem. Bio Draw and it geometry has been optimized at the MP2/6-31G computational level. The present work consists the study of the methamphetamine reported in Fig1. Frequencies calculations have been carried out to confirm that the structure obtained correspond to energetic minima. The all calculations have been performed with the Gaussian-03 program [3].


condition elicited smaller N1m amplitude than the incongruent condition. In both hemispheres, the stepwise multiple regression revealed that the reduction rate of N1m amplitudes between the presented conditions correlated significantly with the source activities in motor and superior temporal areas. The present study suggested that some sensorimotor mediated prediction modulated auditory activity when one observed the other vocalizing. And the correlation between the change rate of N1m amplitudes and the visual evoked responses suggests that the activation of motor areas mediates predictive perception of vowel sounds.


Isolation bearings have become a standard tool for engineers designing bridges in seismic regions. However, the added complication of cold weather has raised concerns with rubber isolators and their performance in northern regions. As a result, bridge designers are migrating towards Sliding Isolation Bearings (SIBs) in these regions. SIBs have been proven to be cost effective and high damping devices on numerous projects to date. In addition, their outstanding performance in cold temperature testing has proven their efficacy in cold weather regions. This paper delves into the research that led to the development of SIBs. Several case histories are also reviewed in an effort to demonstrate SIB capabilities in low temperature environments.


On the 3rd November 1984 there appeared in The Guardian newspaper (London and Manchester) an article entitled 'The earth lay gloog, the cattle bollowed deep'. It was the work of MAGGIE COOK, the founder of the Boscobel Poets of Hastings, and lies squarely in the tradition of English literate nonsense. The article is reproduced below, with a commentary by TOM McARTHUR.


Preface. Foreword. 1. The Experience of Childhood Deafness. 2. Behavioural and Emotional Disorders. 3. Self-concept, Self-Esteem and the Development of Identity. 4. Specific Learning Difficulties. 5. Disorders of Communication. 6. Paediatric Cochlear Implantation. 7. Tinnitus. 8. Professional Issues. References. Index.


My doctoral thesis aims at analysing the suburbs of Helsinki as the urban space where the social, economic, cultural and linguistic transformations of the Finnish post-war society took place.
Starting with the neo-marxist discourse elaborated by Marshall Berman in his essay "All that is solid melts into air", and taking into account contributions from the neo-marxist school, such as Pierre Bourdieau's, Terry Eagleton's and Rickard Graneau's, my thesis explores a selection of the works by the Finnish-Swedish writer Kjell Westo (1961), where the transformations of Helsinki during the second half of the century seem to reflect the country's opening to post-war capitalism.
After a survey about Finnish modern history,my study focuses on the linguistic contraposition between the Finnish-speaking majority and the the Swedish-speaking minority as it has evolved during the Nineteenth and Twentieth century, trying to re-consider the concept of official language as a reliable means to help different communities to live side by side in the same space.


Abstract Gallium is extracted with di-2-ethyl hexyl phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) from acidic solutions (pH > 0.4–0.5) by a cation exchange mechanism predominantly as GaR3·HR; the stoichiometry of the reaction has been determined and the apparent equilibrium constant (for I = 0.5) is found to be 0.757 mol l−1. The presence of sulphates in the aqueous solution has a significant negative effect on gallium equilibrium distribution. Using the available literature data on mass-stability constants of gallium complexes present in such solutions, a program for calculation of species distribution has been developed. Its predictions are used in interpreting the experimental results for the effect of sulphates on gallium extraction. Resume Le Gallium est extrait de solutions acides (pH > 0.4–0.5) au moyen de l'acide di-2-ethyl hexy phosphorique (D2EHPA) et principalement par un mecanisme d'echange cationique du type GaR3·HR; la stoichiometric de la reaction a ete determinee et la constante apparente d'equilibre (pour I =...


There has been an increased interest in sustainability in recent times and both business organizations as well as consumers have shown a rising concern for environmental issues. Construction industry in particular has been criticized for its contribution to environmental degradation. The study is based on a questionnaire survey of 100 customers in Delhi and their views regarding sustainability issues in residential real estate was analyzed to determine their preferences and analyze their views regarding the benefits that LEED certified sustainable residential real estate provides. Green construction projects have been found to be reducing carbon emissions , managing waste , use of cleaner fuels , low electricity bills , better quality of air etc. There is improved quality of lives and comfort for the occupants on account of the fact that there is better ventilation and good air quality. Based on the findings it could well be said that there seems to be a lack of awareness among people about the various certification schemes but the consumers have shown a growing interest in purchasing residential units that offer sustainable attributes. Environmental benefits have been perceived to be the strongest .


Graph databases with the property graph model are used in multiple domains including social networks, biology, and data integration. They provide schema-flexible storage for data of a different degree of a structure and support complex, expressive queries such as subgraph isomorphism queries. The exibility and expressiveness of graph databases make it difficult for the users to express queries correctly and can lead to unexpected query results, e.g. empty results. Therefore, we propose a relaxation approach for subgraph isomorphism queries that is able to automatically rewrite a graph query, such that the rewritten query is similar to the original query and returns a non-empty result set. In detail, we present relaxation operations applicable to a query, cardinality estimation heuristics, and strategies for prioritizing graph query elements to be relaxed. To determine the similarity between the original query and its relaxed variants, we propose a novel cardinality-based graph edit distance. The feasibility of our approach is shown by using real-world queries from the DBpedia query log.


School is an educational institution that has an important role in changing the behavior or abilities of students in the teaching and learning process, as well as instilling a culture of achievement in students. Organizational culture is related to achievement culture, because the advancement of organizational culture is a culture that leads to increased organizational performance, so that the goals set are achieved. The focus of the problem raised is the inculcation of the main values (core values) for students to have a culture of achievement, leadership strategies, their implementation in building a culture of achievement in students at MTs Negeri 1 Lumajang. This research uses descriptive qualitative method, with a case study approach. The results of implementing the madrasa principal's leadership strategy in building a culture of achievement include an increased ethos, a conducive work climate, increased achievement and increased educational productivity.


Abstract We tested the usefulness of self-presentational concepts in describing the linkage between the context of an anticipated evaluation and an individual' performance effort. Undergraduate students who performed a complex problem-solving task were told that an outstanding performance would result in a better chance at getting a job with the accounting firm that employed the evaluators of their work. Instructions varied the attractiveness of the accounting firm as an employer and the evaluator' influence over its hiring practices. The subjects' ability to produce work that would impress the evaluator was varied by the description of competitors who were performing the task. Results indicated that performance effort is directly related to the self-presentational concerns of an individual.


PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the extent and impact of gender diversity and intellectual capital on compliance with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability reporting standards by Uganda manufacturing companies.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from manufacturing firms in Uganda using a questionnaire survey to find out their perception of compliance with the GRI standards. Data were analyzed using statistical package for social sciences, Microsoft Excel and smart partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS–SEM).FindingsThe results indicate that on average, manufacturing firms in Uganda comply with GRI sustainability reporting standards to the extent of 59%. The results further indicate that manufacturing companies comply more with the GRI 200 (economic performance disclosures) to the extent of 63% as compared with 55% for GRI 300 (environmental performance disclosures) and 58% for GRI 400 (social performance disclosures). The results also indicate that intellectual capital has a significant impact on the GRI-based sustainability performance disclosures in Uganda. However, board gender diversity has no significant effect. In terms of the control variables, only firm size is significant, while firm age, capital structure and auditor type are not.Originality/valueThis study provides first time evidence of the extent of compliance with the GRI sustainability reporting standards using evidence from Uganda – an African developing country. This study widens the understanding of the usage of GRI standards in the preparation of sustainability reports by manufacturing firms in an emerging economy. This study also provides first-time evidence on the role of gender diversity and intellectual capital in GRI-based sustainability performance disclosures using evidence from Uganda's manufacturing sector.


users. During a 30-month run-time, the consortium de-velops, implements and validates an object-based end-to-end media chain for audio content in a re-al-life broadcast environment. ORPHEUS is driven by two pilots to demonstrate both linear and non-linear audio experiences using an IP-based custom-built broadcast chain. This article presents an overview of the basic architecture, explains the challenges in developing this system and outlines the innovative tools that were created for recording, mixing, monitoring, storing, distributing, playing-out and rendering of object-based audio.


Two systems for automating surface irrigation are described. One uses pneumatic valves remotely controlled by tone telemetry to open and close turnouts at timed intervals. The other uses waterpowered cylinders activated by float valves to operate center pivot gates. Large fluidic diverters have also been evaluated for irrigation applications. The automation components can be adapted to furrow, border dike, and basin irrigated fields supplied by open ditches or buried pipelines. Several field systems have been installed and evaluated.


The invention belongs to the technical field of robots, and provides a mini-type soft modularized reconfigurable robot unit module. The mini-type soft modularized reconfigurable robot unit module comprises a steering mechanism, a driving mechanism, a supporting mechanism, a driving connecting mechanism and a driven connecting mechanism. The steering mechanism comprises a front steering panel, a rear steering panel and four shape memory alloy (SMA) silks. The driving mechanism comprises a front driving panel, a rear driving panel, a direct current motor, a gear driving reducing mechanism, a worm, a swing link, two guide columns and a rear cover. Shape memory alloy is used for a steering driver for the robot unit module, by coordinately controlling the four shape memory alloy silks, the steering mechanism can be flexible or bent towards the random direction, the mechanisms can reach the most positions in the working space, a single module can flexibly and stably move and rotate on the ground in a straight mode, and multiple modules can be regularly assembled into a mechanical snake or a mechanical arm.


Photovoltaics is the most elegant technology to attain electrical power directly from solar energy. But those semi-conductors as "cold" solid bodies not only lose efficiency with increasing temperature, they never reach 2400 to 2600 Kelvin, which would be the optimal absorber temperature for maximal energy conversion. But solar energy can be absorbed by solid bodies, liquids such as electrolytes, gases and also by plasma. After an introduction of thermodynamics, comes a review of photo plasma converters published to date. This paper explains a new concept based on two ground-breaking ideas. In a first innovative step, the noble gas xenon is identified as an absorber candidate, although its high ionization energy cannot be reached with direct photo-ionization. It is necessary to invest energy into a plasma discharge as a receiver, which is a minus point for the energy balance. Secondly, with the help of that energy input, a structure is generated to promote the energy output. The plausibility of this speculative approach is based on interpretations of high intensity discharge lamp physics. The paper discloses the concept of a plasma-based solar cell and presents the advantages in the physical processes with the potential of high efficiency energy conversion. The principles are discussed in detail with the help of well-known plasma physics, providing a basis for critical discussion. The functionality is introduced by means of several concrete design proposals of the plasma solar cell, which could, in future, function as a roadmap toward a proof of concept.


Millions of women in the United States experience intimate partner violence (IPV) which can lead to devastating physical and psychological problems. Intimate partner violence is the leading cause of injury to women of childbearing years. Approximately 1200 women are murdered every year by their husband or boyfriend. Children who witness IPV are 3 times more likely to be abused than children who do not witness IPV. The economic burden to the individual and society as a whole are enormous. Despite endorsements by several health care and professional organizations, only 10% of healthcare providers screen for IPV routinely. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates the costs of IPV to society are over 8 billion dollars each year. Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) working in rural primary care settings face unique challenges to routine screening for IPV including geographical and social isolation, limited IPV resources, and a culture that values self-reliance and may normalize IPV. The purpose of this project is to write a manuscript that is suitable for publication which will identify strategies for the successful implementation of routine IPV screening in rural primary care settings.


An investigation was made of the energy characteristics of stimulated Raman scattering (STRS) and of stimulated scattering in the Rayleigh wing (STSRW) of YAG laser pulses of 25 psec duration in benzene, carbon disulfide, and toluene. It was established that when the active-layer thickness was of the order of the spatial length of the laser pulses, the forward and backward STRS and STSRW processes were in the form of an amplified spontaneous noise of intensity which varied stochastically from one shot to another. The STRS and STSRW thresholds were governed by the relaxation times of the molecules in the active medium. When the thickness of the scattering layer was much greater than the spatial length of the laser pulses, the nature of the energy dependence of the forward STRS approached the energy dependence of the STRS excited by pulses of nanosecond duration.


The effects of transcription factors on the maintenance and differentiation of pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) have been well studied. However, the importance of post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms, which cause the quantitative dissociation of mRNA and protein expression, has not been explored in detail. Here, by combining transcriptome and proteome profiling, we identified 228 post-transcriptionally regulated genes with strict upregulation of the protein level in PSCs. Among them, we found that 84 genes were vital for the survival of PSCs and HDFs, including 20 genes that were specifically necessary for the survival of PSCs. These 20 proteins were upregulated only in PSCs and not in differentiated cells derived from the three germ layers. Subcellular fractionation of the mRNA showed that the expression of most of the 20 proteins was regulated at the mRNA localization stage from the nucleus to the cytoplasm, but their translation efficiency was constant. Together, these results revealed that post-transcriptionally regulated genes have a crucial role in PSC survival.


As its title indicates, this article deals with two aspects of Cervantes's work. Its ultimate and probably unachieved goal is to link them. The first part focuses on Cervantes's peculiar way of indirectly addressing his reader with comments that underline his personal involvement with the subject of the narrative. This manera de narrar has no equivalent in 15th-, 16th-, or 17th-century Spanish literature, but reminds the critic of Montaigne's autobiographical style. The second part of the article concentrates on the double novella of Casamiento-Coloquio in order to 1) discuss its position within Cervantes's art; 2) explore its autobiographical content; and 3) explain the meaning of the profecía about the dogs' origin. To this author, the oracle, together with the last section of the Coloquio, articulates Cervantes's final and very personal statement about man's fate and the role of storytelling in it. The work of other critics who have written about the same subject is discussed as my own arguments touch upon what they wrote.


The Bragg Curve Spectrometer (BCS) is an ionization chamber long enough to stop particles of interest. Particles enter through the cathode window and leave an ionization track parallel to the electric field. The ionization electrons drift through a Frisch grid and are collected on an anode. The anode current, as a function of time, is split and used as input for two amplifiers, one with a long integration time constant for energy measurement, and one with a short time constant to pick off the maximum ionization or Bragg peak. The Bragg peak, which is proportional to the nuclear charge, is used for particle identification. We have constructed and tested several versions of the BCS. The results are described.


Abstract Aims To verify the accuracy of two common absorbed dose calculation algorithms in comparison to Monte Carlo (MC) simulation for the planning of the pituitary adenoma radiation treatment. Materials and methods After validation of Linac's head modelling by MC in water phantom, it was verified in Rando phantom as a heterogeneous medium for pituitary gland irradiation. Then, equivalent tissue-air ratio (ETAR) and collapsed cone convolution (CCC) algorithms were compared for a conventional three small non-coplanar field technique. This technique uses 30 degree physical wedge and 18 MV photon beams. Results Dose distribution findings showed significant difference between ETAR and CCC of delivered dose in pituitary irradiation. The differences between MC and dose calculation algorithms were 6.40 ± 3.44% for CCC and 10.36 ± 4.37% for ETAR. None of the algorithms could predict actual dose in air cavity areas in comparison to the MC method. Conclusions Difference between calculation and true dose value affects radiation treatment outcome and normal tissue complication probability. It is of prime concern to select appropriate treatment planning system according to our clinical situation. It is further emphasised that MC can be the method of choice for clinical dose calculation algorithms verification.


Craig M. Crews was sifting through back issues of the Journal of Antibiotics when he stumbled upon a molecule that piqued his curiosity. The compound—a microbial natural product called epoxomicin—was a tetrapeptide with an unusual epoxy ketone group at one end. At the time, in the late 1990's, Crews was an assistant professor at Yale University on the hunt for a good project. But last month when an analog of epoxomicin, called carfilzomib (Kyprolis), was approved by the Food & Drug Administration for the treatment of recurrent multiple myeloma, Crews was elevated to the elite club of academics whose work has led directly to a drug. "I confess that we didn't set out to make a drug," Crews says. "My research interests are trying to understand how biologically active compounds work." Epoxomicin fit that bill nicely: The researchers from Bristol-Myers Squibb Research Institute in Tokyo who discovered the compound knew ...


The sagittal spine of children with Arnold-Chiari I malformation with or without syringomyelia and associated scoliosis (ACS) has been poorly studied. A retrospective review of scoliosis secondary to ACS from three centers was undertaken. Sagittal and coronal plane variables were measured from standing radiographs. There were 30 ACS children (19 girls, 11 boys) with an average curve of 50 ± 20° and age of 11.2 ± 3.2 years. Syringomyelia was present in 26 (87%). The scoliosis was thoracic in 25, thoracolumbar in 3 and lumbar in 2; 18 curves were right and 12 were left. A positive correlation was noted between cervical lordosis (CL) and thoracic kyphosis (TK). The 30 children with ACS scoliosis were compared with 26 children with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AID). The ACS group had more left curves (40% vs. 0%, P = 0.0002), more boys (37% vs. 8%, P = 0.01), and was younger (11.3 ± 3.7 years vs. 14.2 ± 1.8 years, P = 0.004). TK and CL were increased in ACS (TK: 40 ± 13° vs. 30 ± 13°, P = 0.005; CL: 16 ± 21° vs. −5 ± 12°, P < 0.0001). The ACS and AID groups were subdivided by CL >0° and <0°. In the ACS group, 19% (5 of 21) had CL <0°, in the AID group 77% (20 of 26) had CL <0° (P = 0.0001). When cervical lordosis is >0° or thoracic kyphosis is >40° (Cobb method), the clinician should strongly suspect the presence of an Arnold-Chiari I malformation with or without syringomyelia.


Introduction: Gestational malaria is a major public health problem because it is a threat to pregnant women and their children. As Kisangani is a stable malaria transmission area and there is a paucity of data on the status of gestational malaria in our settings, we have found it appropriate to determine the prevalence of gestational malaria and its determinants in Kisangani City. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analytical study in Kisangani from January 1 to September 30, 2017. Our population study consisted of 1248 parturients recruited at delivery. We made the thick drop in peripheral blood from parturients at the admission and at the level of placental impressions after delivery. Results: The average age of the respondents was 25.3971 ± 6.2452 years; the overall prevalence of gestational malaria was 27.56% including 12.66% peripheral parasitaemia, 12.34% placental parasitaemia and 2.56% parasitaemia level and placental and peripheral blood impressions. Youngest age ≤ 18 years [OR (95% CI) = 2.44 (1.75 - 3.41), p < 0.001], primiparity [OR (95% CI) = 2.94 (2.00 - 4.32), p < 0.001] and positive HIV serology [OR (95% CI) = 3.01 (1.23 - 7.43), p = 0.008] increased the risk of gestational malaria; the use of mosquito net impregnated with insecticide [OR (95% CI) = 0.29 (0.14 - 0.61), p < 0.001] reduced this risk. Conclusion: The prevalence of gestational malaria is 27.56% in Kisangani. The youngest age ≤ 18 years, the primiparity and positive HIV serology of pregnant women were the most associated risk factors.


This manuscript developed two methodologies of mapping energy flows of coal utilization in the form of Sankey diagrams: one was energy allocation diagram without illustrating any energy losses and the other was energy efficiency diagram illustrating main energy losses. Based on the methodologies, energy flow diagrams of China's coal utilization in the year 2005 and 2010 were presented. The two diagrams divided coal utilization into four stages from raw coal supply, by coal products supply and coal conversion, to energy end-use. Comparing with previous studies, some technical details were further introduced into the mapping, including coal preparation and the distribution of end-use energy such as electricity, heat and coke etc. Based on the results, the main characteristics of coal utilization in China and its main changes from 2005 to 2010 were discussed.


To develop a model for predicting emergency cesarean for fetal distress (ECFD) at term using a combination of maternal and late pregnancy ultrasound parameters measured at more than 36 gestational weeks.


Bioinformatics programming skills are becoming a necessity across many facets of biology and medicine, owed in part to the continuing explosion of biological data aggregation and the complexity and scale of questions now being addressed through modern bioinformatics. Although many are now receiving formal training in bioinformatics through various university degree and certificate programs, this training is often focused strongly on bioinformatics methodology, leaving many important and practical aspects of bioinformatics to self-education and experience. The following set of guidelines distill several key principals of effective bioinformatics programming, which the authors learned through insights gained across many years of combined experience developing popular bioinformatics software applications and database systems in both academic and commercial settings [1]–[6]. Successful adoption of these principals will serve both beginner and experienced bioinformaticians alike in career development and pursuit of professional and scientific goals.


The Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) is rich in natural and marine resources, and it is scientifically valuable to study the evolution patterns and driving mechanisms of the ecosystem service values (ESVs) of the GBA for the governance and conservation of its ecosystems. Based on the land use changes in the GBA from 2000 to 2020, the ESVs in the GBA were measured at the grid scale, and the Markov model was used to predict the ESVs in 2030; the calculated results were used to analyze the spatial and temporal variation characteristics of the ESVs during the 30-year period, while the driving role of the topographic factors on the ESVs is revealed through the construction of the geographically weighted regression model (GWR). The results show the following: (1) During the 20-year period, the area of arable land and water in the GBA fluctuated greatly, with the area decreasing year by year and shifting mainly into construction land; in terms of shifting the center of gravity of the land, and the center of gravity of the grassland and unused land shifted the greatest distance due to the expansion of construction land, with the center of gravity shifting westward as a whole. (2) The ecosystem services (ESs) in the GBA show obvious aggregation in the spatial distribution, with the total ESVs decreasing year by year. Among them, the areas with an increasing total value are mainly located in the cities of Zhaoqing and Huizhou in the GBA, accounting for 27%, and the areas with a decreasing total value year by year are mainly located in the dense urban areas in the central part of the GBA, accounting for 35%, and the area is increasing, indicating that the habitat quality is deteriorating, and the model prediction shows that the value of ecosystem services in 2030 have a decreasing trend under the development of the natural state. (3) Topographic factors have a significant influence on the ESVs, and in terms of spatial distribution, the areas with the strongest effect are distributed in the northwestern and northeastern parts of the GBA, and the main uses for the land are wood land, arable land, water and the area of the water–land intersection near the sea.


In the modern world,knowledge and advanced technology has influenced on the people's life deeply ever recorded.In the new situation of knowledge economy,the great changes have taken place in the employment structure and employment form.This paper discuss about the development of employment structure,which arises from the evolution of the industrial structure and introduces a rising employment form,which is called the informal employment and suitable for the employment situation of knowledge economy.


Rheingold made the point that the future of the Internet is linked to the future of community, as well as the respective futures of democracy , education, science and intellectual life in general, and vice versa. Many of the traditional units of social organization, such as the church, are less powerful than they were in the past. Increased mobility has also contributed to the breakdown of a sense of rootedness and community. The Internet transcends geography, and offers a sense of connect-edness in a timely way. As a result, it has become a tool that is transforming some units of organization, and facilitating the development of new ones, fostering the creation of virtual communities based on common or shared interests. Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase " the global village " long before the Internet and the world wide web. Michael Dertouzos, director of the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science, built on that analogy to describe a world of connected computers as an information marketplace forming the nexus of a global community. The key to a global digital community – or a neighborhood within the community , such as chat groups or game playing – is interaction. Two-way communication is perhaps the single critical success factor in creating a sense of community. Organizations that recognize the power of the Internet as a means for creating a virtual community can facilitate communication with, between and about members. Associations are groups that can reap significant benefit from the Internet, which offers improved access to information , thereby enhancing visibility and accountability. It offers " digital democracy " by providing a channel for dissemination of information to members. It also makes organizations more accessible to non-members, allowing them to highlight their mission, goal and objectives , and also put key messages on record. Associations, societies and a range of organizations face twin challenges. They feel an increasing need to demonstrate their value to members. In addition, they face an unprecedented need to reach out into other communities. This can best be done by communicating important information in a timely manner. A growing number of organizations are finding that a website can help them balance their dual need for internal and external communication. This has particular value in healthcare, where there has been a recent surge of interest in both collaboration and accountability. Communication is a critical tool for healthcare, which is complex and highly …


Background: Myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasms (MDS/MPN) with ring sideroblasts and thrombosis (MDS/MPN-RS-T), include the dysplastic features of Refractory Anemia with Ring Sideroblasts (RARS) and the myeloproliferative features of essential thrombocythemia (ET) and are characterized by a high rate (50%) of JAK2 V617F mutations or rarely by the presence of mutations in exon 10 of the MPL (myeloproliferative leukemia) gene or in exon 9 of the calreticulin gene. We previously demonstrated that RARS-T differed from RARS and ET from a clinical, biological and prognostic point of view and that the presence of high rates of splicing factor 3B subunit 1 (SF3B1) mutations in RARS-T and the absence of these mutations in ET strengthened the hypothesis that RARS-T was a distinct entity. We also reported in a large series of patients (n=200) that the risk of thrombosis was higher in RARS-T than in RARS patients without a high platelet count, leading clinicians to reduce the platelet count in almost 33% of RARS-T patients. However, due to the presence of anemia, the use of the cytoreductive agents usually used in ET is limited since they worsen the cytopenia. This explains why it is difficult to treat patients who harbor both anemia and thrombocytosis. Lenalidomide, an immunomodulatory agent frequently used in low-risk MDS, has very rarely been tested in MDS/MPN-RS-T patients, with conflicting results. Objective : To test the effect of Lenalidomide on MDS/MPN-RS-T Patients: Here, we report our experience using lenalidomide in two women who presented with JAK2 V617F negative MDS/MPN-RS-T. Results: The first patient was a 78 year-old woman, with a complete blood count (CBC) showing hemoglobin 80 g/L, platelet count 686 G/L and leukocytes 6 G/L. The second was a 58 year-old woman whom initial CBC showed hemoglobin 113 g/L, platelet count 1,600 G/L, leukocytes 8.2 G/L. In both cases the bone marrow aspirates showed erythroid hyperplasia with myelodysplasic features and 64% and 24% of ring sideroblasts respectively, associated with marked dysmegakaryopoiesis, leading to the diagnosis of MDS/MPN-RS-T. No excess of blast cells was noted. Bone marrow cytogenetics showed in both cases a normal 46XX karyotype. A Lys700Glu SF3B1 mutation was noted for one patient (not tested for the second), without the JAK2 V617F or MPL exon10 or CALR mutations. In the first patient, blood transfusions were initiated for one year, however, due to an increase in dependence on red blood cell transfusions, treatment with lenalidomide (5 mg daily 21/28days) was started and led to a decrease in the platelet count from 686 to 220 G/L associated with an regular improvement in hemoglobin levels from 80 to 100 g/L within the first 28 weeks of lenalidomide (only 6 units of red blood cells were transfused along this period). Finally, no transfusion was required in the subsequent 47 weeks since the hemoglobin level was above 90 g/L. However, due to a low hemoglobin level, red blood cell transfusions were reinitiated, but with a lower frequency (2 units of red blood cells every 2 months), in association with lenalidomide. Altogether, over the 20 months of treatment with lenalidomide, the red blood cell requirement was drastically reduced. However, grade IV neutropenia was observed (granulocytes 0.5 G/L) but without any infectious disease, leading to stop the treatment. In the second patient, a watch-and-wait strategy was initiated, but due to an increase in the platelet count > 2,000 G/L, hydroxyurea (500 mg/day) was started, worsening the anemia to 108 g/l then 84 g/l leading to the use of erythropoietin once/week. Hydroxyurea was then stopped due to its adverse effects on hemoglobin, leading to the increase in the platelet count to 3,622 G/L. A treatment with lenalidomide (5 mg daily 21/28days) was then started and secondarily improved to 10 mg daily 21/28days since very well tolerated. A marked decrease in the platelet count was noted, from 3,622 to 985 G/L whereas hemoglobin level rised up from 92 to 115 g/L. Off note, for this patient erythropoietin treatment was maintained every 2 weeks in combination with lenalidomide. Conclusion: This two-cases experience confirms the partial efficacy of lenalidomide in MDS/MPN-RS-T in normalizing (case 1) or markedly reducing (case 2) the platelet count and allowing of independence from blood transfusion (at least for 10 months in case 1). Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


The utility model relates to a waste gas treatment device of a simple anaesthesia machine. The waste gas treatment device comprises a mounting seat, a gas inlet pipe, a second gas chamber, a third gas chamber, a first gas chamber, a gas collection spacer and a sensing device. The mounting seat is provided with a gas passage penetrating through the mounting seat. The gas inlet pipe is arranged on one side of the mounting seat. One end of the second gas chamber is communicated with the gas inlet pipe, one end of the third gas chamber is communicated with the gas inlet pipe, the third gas chamber sleeves the second gas chamber externally, a non-connecting end of the third gas chamber extends out of the second gas chamber, and the first gas chamber is arranged on the outer side of the second gas chamber in a sleeving manner. The gas collection spacer is arranged at the non-connecting end of the third gas chamber, a gas collection hole is formed in the gas collection spacer, and an isolating gas cavity is partitioned in the bottom of the first gas chamber through the gas collection spacer. The sensing device is arranged in a shell through a connecting module, and is communicated with the gas passage and a negative-pressure exhaust pipe. By the waste gas treatment device, pressure change in the device can be reduced, gas expired by a patient is effectively buffered, the gas is well prevented from directly entering an operating room, and safety of medical staff and the patient is protected to the utmost degree.


Similarity solutions are determined for the turbulent wake of a self-propelled body (thrust = drag). The momentumless wake is shown to behave in a manner intermediate to homogeneous grid turbulence and more familiar free-shear flows such as the drag wake or jet. In essence the decay of momentumless-wake turbulence is similar to that of grid turbulence, but proceeds at a somewhat greater rate owing to lateral diffusion. The mean velocity difference is coupled to the difference $\overline{u^2}-\overline{v^2}$ between the axial and radial components of the mean-square fluctuating velocity. It is necessary to consider governing relations for various second-order turbulence quantities. Previously developed closure approximations yield far-wake decay rates that agree well with available measurements. Production of turbulent energy is negligible asymptotically; thus there is no balance between production and dissipation, and the far-wake behaviour does not become independent of the initial (near-wake) conditions. Even the radial profiles depend on the initial conditions, and there is no natural length scale with which to characterize the far wake.


Objective: In this study, the correlation between the level of nerve growth factor (NGF) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and transcranial Doppler (TCD) results has been investigated during preoperative and postoperative periods of hydrocephalic infants. Methods: In the study, 27 patients (11 males and 16 females, aged 0–6 months) with congenital hydrocephalus were studied. CSF levels were obtained from the patients preoperatively and on postoperative days 3 and 30, and TCD was applied. The level of NGF was investigated in CSF by the ELISA method. The pulsatility index (PI) and resistive index (RI) were examined in the right middle cerebral artery by TCD. Results: The mean NGF level (0.27 ± 0.48 ng/ml) on the 3rd (NGF3) postoperative day was observed to be higher than the preoperative mean NGF level (NGF0; 0.15 ± 0.16 ng/ml; p < 0.05). The mean NGF level on postoperative day 30 (NGF30; 0.13 ± 0.13 ng/ml) was lower than the mean NGF3 level (p < 0.05). While the mean PI value on postoperative day 30 (PI30; 1.06 ± 0.068) was observed to decrease compared to the preoperative PI (PI0; 1.26 ± 0.83) and the PI on postoperative day 3 (PI3; 1.09 ± 0.063), the mean PI3 value exhibited a drop compared to the PI0 value (p < 0.05). Whereas the mean RI value on postoperative day 30 (RI30; 0.63 ± 0.023) showed a decrease compared to both preoperative mean RI (RI0; 0.70 ± 0.025) and RI on postoperative day 3 (RI3; 0.65 ± 0.021), RI3 displayed a drop compared to RI0 (p < 0.05). Conclusion: In this study, no correlation was determined between preoperative and postoperative NGF levels and preoperative and postoperative RI and PI values obtained from TCD examination. However, a positive correlation was found between the following results: preoperative PI and preoperative RI (r = 0.848); PI on postoperative day 3 and RI on postoperative day 3 (r = 0.690), and PI on postoperative day 30 and RI on postoperative day 30 (r = 0.707).


In this paper, the wireless communication at 433 MHz with different polarization modes in a rectangular tunnel has been analyzed. Based on the theoretical analysis, it is found that if the height of the rectangular tunnel H is greater than the width W, the performance of the wireless communication by means of vertical polarization is better than that of horizontal polarization, but when H < W, horizontal polarization is better than vertical polarization. To prove this point, a measurement has been carried out in a rectangular tunnel. The height of the tunnel is 3 meters and the width is 2 meters. In the experiment, the transmitting power is from -30 dBm to -25 dBm, the receiving sensitivity is -105 dBm, the gain of the linear polarization antenna is 2dBi, and the transmitted data is uncoded. The experimental results show that communication distance of the vertical polarization is better than that of horizontal polarization in the tunnel.


We studied, in this work, the charge exchange between atoms and surfaces involved in the dynamical collision process by using the theoretical frame provided by the Anderson model. The effect of the fine details of the electronic band structure (surface energy gaps, surface states) on the charge exchange process is analyzed within a localized description, and different approximations to the Coulomb repulsion in the atom site are discussed. The projector language is used for introducing the atomic configurations which have an appreciable probability of occurrence in the atom–surface interaction. The dynamical evolution of the interacting system is described by appropriate Green–Keldysh functions, and these ones are solved by means of the Equation of Motion method. The Anderson Hamiltonian parameters are obtained from an ab–initio model calculation that takes into account the chemical properties of the involved atoms.


Knowledge of intra-annual tree growth dynamics allow a better understanding of tree reaction to short term climate variation. The main objective of our study was modelling intra-annual dynamics of basal area increment (BAI) in four level II plots in Romania, composed of pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.), sessile oak (Q. petraea (Matt.) Liebl.), Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), which are placed in representative forest ecosystems, as well as in climatic and altitudinal conditions. Between 2010 and 2014, for a number of 60 trees (15 for each plot and species), the growth variations of the selected trees were recorded bimonthly using permanent girth bands. Seasonal dynamics of radial increment were modelled using Gompertz functions. Results confirm that each year the growing season period is different for each location. For pedunculate and sessile oak a common onset of the growth was observed during the whole period, except 2012. The same situation was emphasized for European beech (situated at 1300 m altitude) and Norway spruce. For these species located in mountainous regions the maximum growth rate is recorded in the same period (late of June). In general, in all studied plots the values recorded on permanent girth bands regarding the onset and maximum growth rate are confirmed by the data recorded on continuous point dendrometers.


To investigate the 5‐year patency rates and predictors of restenosis after self‐expanding nitinol stent implantation for chronic total occlusion (CTO) in superficial femoral and proximal popliteal artery (SFPA) lesions.


T HE POSSIBLE RELATIONSHIP between some of Ramon Lull's views and the Jewish Kabbalah has already been discussed by several scholars; according to J. M. MillaisVallicrosa, Lull might have been influenced by the Kabbalistic conception of the Sefirot in his doctrine of dignitates Dei.' A more cautious opinion can be found in Charles Singer's statement:2 'Lull was under strong Neo-Platonic influence, and into NeoPlatonic thought he was able to fit Cabalist


ABSTRACT.  This study aims to know the effect of concentrate and UMB woof giving on cow body weight increase. the research method is based 2 treatments, first treatment is UMB woof giving and second treatment is concentrate woof giving. Each treatments are based of 5 cows. Data were analyzed by T test (t- Test Independent Sample). Based on the results of analysis showed that effect of UMB and concentrate woof giving does not affect to body weight increase of cows.


The Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) is seeking to implement Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service in the New York (NY) 5 corridor, which runs for 16.5 mi between Albany and Schenectady. The benefits of BRT will be to improve service for current riders, draw new riders to the system, help spur economic revitalization in the corridor, provide key nodes for new development, and improve the image of transit in the Capital District as a whole. When fully in place, the key features of BRT on NY 5 will include limited-stop service, substantial passenger facilities and amenities at each station, real-time passenger information, improved pedestrian environment, park-and-ride opportunities, priority treatment at intersections, queue jumpers at key points, off-vehicle fare collection, and a specific brand image to distinguish BRT from other bus services. The cumulative impact of these types of improvements—in travel time, passenger comfort, passenger information, and image—will lead to an increase in transit ridership in the NY 5 corridor. Based on experience at other North American transit agencies that have implemented BRT, an increase of 22% to 29% is expected, depending on the ultimate travel time savings that is achieved.


This paper discussed the characteristic impedance and its non-uniformity of radio frequency coaxial cable used in wireless base station, and analyzed the facts which affect the characteristic impedance of radio frequency coaxial cable as well.


Introduction In the world of poverty reduction initiatives, few projects have engendered as much enthusiasm as microfi nance. Th e movement has changed the lives and captured the attention of millions of people. As the industry continues to grow and develop, it is worth examining the ways in which it can be advanced. Scaling up is one change that has the potential to signifi cantly increase the welfare impact of microfi nance.Th e intent of this paper is to demonstrate that the African context provides fertile ground for microfi nance initiatives, and that African microfi nance institutions can apply best practices and scale up to meet the objective of substantial welfare impact. An analysis of a case study from Kenya illustrates this point.


The quantity, seasonality, and sources of flow were analyzed for two segments of Four Mile Branch, a small stream on the Coastal Plain of South Carolina using data obtained from USGS gauging stations. Flows in the upstream segment, a 12.6-km{sup 2} watershed comprising the head waters of Four Mile Branch, averaged 0.129 m{sup 3} s{sup {minus}1} and showed a distinctly seasonal pattern, with maximum flows in February and March and minimum flows in September and October. Inflow to the downstream segment, a 2.2-km{sup 2} watershed associated with the main channel, averaged 0.059 m{sup 3} s{sup {minus}1} and showed no seasonal patterns. Discharges per unit area of watershed were greater for the downstream segment, 0.83 m{sup 3} per year per m{sup 2} of land surface, than for the upstream segment, 0.32 m{sup 3} per year per m{sup 2}. The differences in discharge rates and seasonalities between the two segments reflect differences in aquifers supplying the different segments. Analyses of streamflow by hydrograph separation and streamflow partitioning methods indicated that greater than 90 percent of the flows in the upstream and downstream segments were due to ground water-driven base flows.


In recent years, the Table-Top games are favored and concerned by people in Taiwan, due to it is in phase of import, people usually don't like to accept new things, and in short of information, how the seller make Product value up to customers in promotion and selling, create all of the flavour and long-term relationship with customers to increase the purchase by products and services. Therefore, to retain loyal customers are the very important thing of the Table-top games operators . This paper aimed to investigate consumer service quality, customer involvement, experiential value, relationship quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty effects in Table-top games; to store Table-top games for the survey of consumers .Questionnaire was used to collect data. A Total of 302 responses were analyzed via SPSS and LISREL. Empirical results show the following:(1) Service quality of Table-top games store will be positive influence with value of experience to consumer;(2) Service quality have the positive influence on relationship quality;(3) Customer involvement have the positive influence on the value of experience; (4) Customer involvement have positive influence on relationship quality;(5) Experiential value and relationship quality has positive influence on customer satisfaction;(6) customer satisfaction has positive influence on customer loyalty. Finally, this study based on the above findings, the specific theoretical andpractical implications.


Rapid weight loss has been shown to result in greater reductions in the lean body mass (LBM) than slow weight loss, suggesting that less body energy is lost with rapid weight reduction due to the lower energy content of lean tissue compared with fat tissue. The aim of this study was to compare the changes in the LBM, fat mass (FM), and body energy loss between rapid and slow weight reduction. Male Sprague‐Dawley rats were divided into a rapid weight reduction group (Rapid, n = 5), which was fasted for 3 days, or a slow weight reduction group (Slow, n = 5), which had its food intake restricted for 13–21 days to achieve a final body weight comparable to that in the Rapid group. All rats were maintained individually in a metabolic chamber to measure energy expenditure. The initial body weight was 688.0 g (standard deviation [SD] 78.1) in the Rapid group and 693.6 g (SD 34.5) in the Slow group. The body weight reduction and total energy expenditure during the experiment were 63.7 g (SD 12.0) and 183.0 kcal (SD 12.8) in the Rapid group and 63.3 g (SD 11.3) and 1241.2 kcal (SD 245.6) in the Slow group, respectively. The metabolizable energy (absorbed energy minus expended energy and excreted energy into urine) during the experiment in the Slow group was 235.3 kcal (SD 90.7). Consequently, the calculated energy loss for body weight loss by 1 kg did not differ significantly between the Rapid group (2943.3 kcal [SD 405.2]) and the Slow group (3628.9 kcal [SD 1072.6]). The estimated decrease in the LBM and FM based on the energy density of lean tissue (1.1 kcal/g) and fat tissue (7.6 kcal/g) was 46.4 g (SD 12.3) and 17.4 g (SD 1.0) in the Rapid group and 37.8 g (SD 10.1) and 25.5 g (SD 12.6) in the Slow group, respectively, with no significant differences observed between the groups. In conclusion, neither the decrease in the LBM or FM nor in the body energy loss due to body weight loss differed significantly between the rats experiencing rapid and slow weight reduction.


A stopper member rotatably supported in the following manner, the stop member limiting insertion leading end of the donor sheet on the tray, preventing the sheet toward the supply into the paper path, the following way: the stop member may be transferred to restriction placed in the first position of the tip for the sheet on the tray, the second position by the carriage mechanism the carriage of the sheet passing, and a third position between said first and second positions, from a position toward the third position by transferring accompanying from the feed tray carriage drop carriage mechanism of the sheet and the operation way, from the transfer of the third position towards the second position by the front end by the carriage mechanism carriage paper get on. This prevents placed in a case where the document sheet supply tray due to the stopper member injury simple obtained structure, and the lower the price of the device.


Contemporary Austria habitually presents itself as the « cultural nation, or Kulturnation, where the promotion of culture is both of national and economic importance. In 1999, the government stated the value of culture in Austria as follows: « Our cultural heritage, contemporary culture, and art constitute major factors for both our own definition of cultural nation as well as the foreign perception of Austria. Since the 1950s, Austria has nurtured a romantic attitude toward its past glory and embraced a cultural conservatism that hindered many Austrians from developing an open mind toward - and interest in - cultural criticism, artistic experimentation, and innovation. Therefore, most state funding continues to be channeled toward Austria's established theaters and artists rather than the writers and filmmakers, who make significant contributions to the public discourse on cultural amnesia and historical revisionism by challenging with varying intensity and on differing aesthetic platforms Austria's misguided self-promotion, such as Kulturnation par excellence.


Recently, OpenCL, a new open programming standard for GPGPU programming, has become available in addition to CUDA. OpenCL can support various compute devices due to its higher abstraction programming framework. Since there is a semantic gap between OpenCL and compute devices, the OpenCL C compiler plays important roles to exploit the potential of compute devices and therefore its capability should be clarified. In this paper, the performance of CUDA and OpenCL programs is quantitatively evaluated. First, several CUDA and OpenCL programs of almost the same computations are developed, and their performances are compared. Then, the main factors causing their performance differences is investigated. The evaluation results suggest that the performances of OpenCL programs are comparable with those of CUDA ones if the kernel codes are appropriately optimized by hand or by the compiler optimizations. This paper also discusses the differences between NVIDIA and AMD OpenCL implementations by comparing the performances of their GPUs for the same programs. The performance comparison shows that the compiler options of the OpenCL C compiler and the execution configuration parameters have to be optimized for each GPU to obtain its best performance. Therefore, automatic parameter tuning is essential to enable a single OpenCL code to run efficiently on various GPUs.


In today's shipping, various organisms attached to the bottom of the ship do great harm to the ship, including increasing fuel loss, hindering the operation of electronic instruments and accelerating bottom corrosion. In the process of removing the organisms attached to the bottom of the ship plays a vital role in the operation. The underwater image recognition system will carry out the visual detection of underwater attachments based on the underwater robot and assist the robot in cleaning. In this paper, we propose a underwater attached organism detection method based on an Enhanced YOLOv4. We apply the Retinex theory to enhance the underwater images to overcome the influence from turbidity and illumination. We deploy our proposed method and do experiments in the underwater attachments, e.g., starfish, barnacle, shell, sea urchin, sea rainbow, coral, etc. The experiment results show that our enhanced YOLO method achieve much better performance than the original YOLOv4 method.


In view of the problems in SINS performance test, such as uncertainty and too many indices etc., a comprehensive evaluation algorithm of the SINS performance test is proposed based on three-level multi-source information fusion structure. The proposed index system of the SINS performance test includes accuracy, stability and reliability performance testing index and 16 performance testing bottom subindices. Many experts are invited to evaluate the credibility of the bottom subindex data in order to obtain the fuzzy assessment corresponding to subindex and construct the mass function of each expert's evidence. The structural framework of the SINS performance testing and evaluation is built. The improved combination rule based on local conflict distribution can be used to obtain the results of SINS performance comprehensive testing and evaluation by three-level evidence fusion. The simulation results show that, compared with the traditional Dempster-Shafer theory(DST) method, the proposed algorithm can not only evaluate the SINS performance, but also enhance the reliability of the evidence combination results.


Objective: To investigate the value of anal swabs positive for 2019-nCoV in patients with COVID-19 and the clinical features of the patients. Methods: Throat swabs, sputum and blood samples, and anal swabs were collected from 104 patients with COVID-19 at admission to test for 2019-nCoV nucleic acid. Clinical characteristics and hematological indexes were compared between viral nucleic acid-positive and -negative groups of different sample types. Fifteen patients whose anal swabs were positive for viral nucleic acid were selected to analyze the length of time before the nucleic acid turned negative in different specimens. Results: Compared with the patients having negative anal swab test results, those having positive test results showed decreased lymphocytes, increased lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (HsCRP), and higher incidence of severe COVID-19. The levels of HsCRP and IL-6 and the incidence of severe COVID-19 were significantly higher in patients with positive throat swab test results than in those with negative results. No significant difference in hematological indexes or the proportion of severe cases was detected between the patients with positive and negative sputum test results. Only 1.92% of the patients had positive blood test results, but all of them were severe patients. The positive rate of sputum test was the highest, which was 46.15%. Patients with positive results of both throat and anal swab test had significantly decreased lymphocytes, increased HsCRP and IL-6 levels, and higher incidence of critical COVID-19. It took longer time for patients to have negative anal swab and sputum test results. Moreover, it should be noticed that the viral nucleic acid in sputum might become positive again after it turned negative. Conclusions: Patients with positive anal swab test results had reduced lymphocytes, enhanced inflammatory response and higher incidence of severe COVID-19, suggesting that a positive anal swab test might be an indicator of severe COVID-19. Moreover, the time of 2019-nCoV nucleic acid turning negative in anal swabs was longer than that in throat swabs. The combined detection of throat swabs and anal swabs would help to predict the occurrence of severe COVID-19.


This paper proposes a new approach for extracting features from face images that offer robust face identification against image variations. We combine the K-L expansion technique with two new operations that transform the face pattern into an invariant feature space. The two operations are the affine transformation which yields a standard face view from the input face image, and its transformation into the Fourier spectrum domain, which develops the property of shift-invariance. Although the basic idea of applying the K-L expansion to extract features for face recognition originates from the eigenface approach proposed by Turk and Pentland our scheme offers superior performance due to the transformation into the invariant feature space. The performance of the two schemes for face identification against various imaging conditions is compared.


An engine without the cylinder liner comprises a cast member defining a bore having an inner surface and a central longitudinal axis. The casting is formed of a castable aluminum-silicon alloy comprises the silicon particles, which are present in a range of about 11 to about 12.5 parts by weight. The inner surface has a height variation which is defined by at least some of the silicon particles, which protrude in the direction of the axis for about 0.6 microns to about 1.5 microns. The engine without the cylinder liner has a piston which is slidably disposed in the bore and adapted to move along the axis, wherein the piston is formed of an aluminum alloy and a body having a skirt portion coated with a first coating, and at least one ring which surrounds the body and is in contact therewith. The ring is coated with a diamond-like coating, which is free from degradation when in contact with at least some of the silicon particles.


Abstract : More than two hundred and sixty journalists have proudly attended the National Conference of Representatives of Advanced Cultural and educational Workers. Among them were editors, correspondents and announcers of various newspapers* magazines news agencies and broadcasting systems from the national capital, province and municipalities, special districts and hsien, including representatives of the organizations of non-professional correspondents and writers. They had collected data and reported to the conference the activity of each news outlet to show that journalism in our country, depending upon the leadership and full strength of the Party, has already become the Party's loyal eyes, ears and tongue, and is an important bridge for daily contact between the party and innumerable people and a powerful tool for the Party to guide the revolutionary struggle and construction.


The effects of dopamine, synthetic docosahexaenoyldopamine (DHA-DA) and GABA – DHA-DA conjugate (OXL1220) on the blood circulation in intact and ischemic rat brain were studied. The differences in cerebrovascular and antiischemic effects of these compounds have been revealed. Both dopamine and DHA-DA increased blood flow both in intact and ischemic brain, which was accompanied by pronounced hypertension reaction. The latter compound, while exhibiting the inhibitory properties of synaptosomal dopamine uptake with IC 50 = 29 μM, was almost inactive as a ligand for dopamine receptors. OXL1220 produced selective vasodilatory effect on the blood supply in the brain upon transient global ischemia. Moreover, only the OXL1220 competed for specific binding sites of [ 3 H]-gabazine on GABA-A receptors in rat cortical membranes in vitro . Therefore, the conjugation of GABA molecule to the DHA-DA neuromediator structure changes the dopaminergic activity to GABA-ergic with respect to vascular tone in ischemic brain.


Acknowledgements. Preface. Financial Innovations and the Dynamics of Emerging Capital Markets L.L. Jacque. Part I: Financial Innovations and Systemic Risk. Fads and Fashions in the Policy Response to Financial Market Crises A. Persaud. Towards a Global Financial Architecture P. Christoffersen, V. Errunza. The New Capital Adequacy Framework and the Need for Consistent Risk Measures for Financial Institutions M. Crouhy, D. Galai, R. Mark. Systemic Risk S.A.C. Gould, S.A. Naftilan, S.J. Khoury, D.J. Wright. Part II: Financial Innovations and Capital Market Integration. The Secondary Market for Latin American Debt R. Grosse. The Role of American Depositary Receipts in the Development of Emerging Markets A. Moel. Screening for Blue-Chip Potential during the 'Genesis' of Equity Markets O.S. Kratz. Privatization and Business Valuation in Transition Economies R. Aggarwal, J.T. Harper. Part III: International Securitization Innovations. Cross-Border Securitization T. Frankel. A Tale of Two Citis P.M. Vaaler. The Promise and Limits of Financial Engineering in Emerging Markets C.A. Hill. Engineering a Way around the Sovereign Ceiling A. Zissu, C. Stone. Chargeurs Wool: A Case Study in Securitization A. Hyafil. Part IV: Financial Derivatives Innovations. Insurance: From Underwriting to Derivatives E. Briys, F. de Varenne. Insurance Derivatives M.S. Canter, J.B. Cole, R.L. Sandor. Credit Derivatives and Emerging Markets R. Neal. Contributors. Index.