Objective To establish a method of RP HPLC for determination content of 5 anthraquinone compourds in Cemen cassiae from different sources. Methods HPLC system consisted of Symmetry C 18 column(4.6×250 mm, 5 μm), methanol water(0.1%phosphoric acid)(90∶10) mixture as mobile phase, with detection wavelength at 440nm, flow rate 0.8 ml/min and column temperature at 25 ℃.Results The calibration curves of 5 anthraquinone compounds were linear(r0.998 4). The precision was perfect ( RSD 1.8). The samples were stabilization during 6 h.Conclusion The study provide a reference basis for evaluate and control the quality of Cemen cassiae Material Medica.


This report on the Black White Coloured and Asian populations of South Africa contains tables of selected demographic information including size of population and estimates of fertility mortality and migration by race. Specifically annual estimates of total population by sex and race are shown beginning in 1950. An adjusted distribution of the population by age sex and race is given for the 1970 census year as well as projections for selected years 1980 to 2010. The data on fertility measures "include crude birth rates age-specific fertility rates and gross and net reproduction rates. Mortality is shown in terms of crude death rates life expectancies at birth infant mortality rates and other life table functions by age and sex. Migration measures include the net number of migrants and age-sex-specific migration rates for the international component." Summary data are also included on family planning marital status and selected health indicators. "Other related items are included such as religion; school enrollment and completion; literacy; labor force by industry and occupation; gross national product; and number and size of households." (EXCERPT)


The effects of a 2—year drought on native grasses in South Texas were investigated on the Welder Wildlife Foundation Research Area during the summer of 1963. The percentage mortality on Victoria clay, Nueces fine sand, and Miguel find sandy loan was determined for seacoast bluestem (Andropogon scoparius Michx. var. littoralis (Nash) Hitch.), silver bluestem (Andropogon saccharoides Swartz var. longipaniculata Gould), filly panicum (Panicum filipes, Scribn.), buffalograss (Buchloe dactyloides (Nutt.) Engelm.), Pan American balsamscale (Elyonurus tripsacoides Humb. and Bonpl.), and brownseed paspalum (Paspalum plicatulum Michx.). Mortality ranged from an average low of 3407% for silver bluestem on Victoria clay to an average high of 76.8% for seacoast bluestem on Miguel fine sandy loam. Differences in percentage mortality between soils and between species on given soil types were highly significant. Mortality among individual clones ranged from 0% to 100%. In some instances a significant positive correlatio...


In this paper, we proposed a work onrhetorical corpus construction andsentence classification model experiment that specifically could be incorporated in automatic paper title generation task for scientific article. Rhetorical classification is treated as sequence labeling. Rhetorical sentence classification model is useful in task which considers document's discourse structure. We performed experiments using two domains of datasets: computer science (CS dataset), and chemistry (GaN dataset). We evaluated the models using 10-fold-cross validation (0.70-0.79 weighted average F-measure) as well as on-the-run (0.30-0.36 error rate at best). We argued that our models performed best when handled using SMOTE filter for imbalanced data


Economics is a social science that deals with the study of production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. It's the study of scarcity and its implications for the use of resources, production of goods and services and other complex issues of concern to society. Economists often use data science in their work and likewise data scientists sometimes consider economic figures. Economics as a statistical and mathematical subject is heavily dependent upon data. The basic premise of Economics is to find helpful insights from datasets that reveal information about the financial state of an organisation, especially big business firms, in order to make better budgetary decisions. In May 2023, I sent out an online questionnaire to understand the importance of data in a 21st century firm and the advantages associated with it. I received responses from 203 people from different genders, age groups, locations, and fields of work.


This note is a summary of the results of my Ph.D. thesis (plus slight modifications), completed May 9, 2003, under the supervision of Professor Paul Goerss at Northwestern University. Let En be the Lubin-Tate spectrum with En∗ = W (Fpn)[[u1, ..., un−1]][u], where the degree of u is −2 and the complete power series ring over the Witt vectors is in degree zero. Let Gn = Sn o Gal(Fpn/Fp), where Sn is the nth Morava stabilizer group (the automorphism group of the Honda formal group law Γn of height n over Fpn), and let G be a closed subgroup of Gn. Note that Sn, Gn and G are all profinite groups. Morava's change of rings theorem yields a spectral sequence (1) H∗ c (Gn; π∗(En ∧X)) =⇒ π∗LK(n)(X), where the E2-term is continuous cohomology and X is a finite spectrum (see [7], [1], [5]). Using the Gn-action on En by maps of commutative S-algebras (work of Goerss and Hopkins ([3], [4]), and Hopkins and Miller [8]), Devinatz and Hopkins [2] constructed spectra E n with strongly convergent spectral sequences (2) H∗ c (G; π∗(En ∧X)) =⇒ π∗(E n ∧X). Also, Devinatz and Hopkins showed that En n ∧X ' LK(n)(X). When K is a discrete group and Y is a K-spectrum, there is a homotopy fixed point spectrum Y hK = MapK(EK+, Y ), where EK+ is a free contractible K-space. Also, there is a conditionally convergent spectral sequence E 2 = H (K; πt(Y )) =⇒ πt−s(Y ), where the E2-term is group cohomology [6, §1.1]. Such a spectral sequence is called a descent spectral sequence. This scenario also occurs in another context. Let K be a profinite group. We say that Y is a discrete K-spectrum, if Y is a K-spectrum of simplicial sets such that each simplicial set Yk is a simplicial discrete K-set (that is, for each l ≥ 0, the action map on the l-simplices of Yk,


Objective To explore the correlation of serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3[1,25(OH)2D3]with level of interleukin-10(IL-10)and lung function in children with asthma and then to provide clinical theory for Treating.Methods 36healthy children were chosen as control group,and 92cases of children with asthma without treatment were considered as asthma group,which were consist of 12cases of mild intermittent,18cases of mild persistent,33cases of moderate persistent and 29cases of severe persistent.The levels of 1,25(OH)2D3and IL-10 in the serum in two groups were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).Peak expiratory flow(PEF)and the first second(FEV1)were used as indexes to functional evaluate the lung in asthma group.Results The level of 1,25(OH)2D3and IL-10in the Asthma group was significantly lower(P0.05)than those in the control group.In serious condition with different degree,except the 1,25(OH)2D3,IL-10and PEF in mild intermittent and mild persistent,there were strong positive relativity(P0.05)between 1,25(OH)2D3and IL-10,1,25(OH)2D3and PEF,1,25(OH)2D3and FEV1.Combined with PEF and FEV1,these four were significantly higher in the higher grade of mild intermittent,mild persistent,moderate persistent and severe persistent(P0.05).Conclusion The level of serum 1,25(OH)2D3and IL-10in healthy children were higher than that in children with asthma,and 1,25(OH)2D3can up-regulate the level of IL-10and thus improve the lung function.


Background Readmission to hospital is frequent among older patients and reported as a post-discharge adverse outcome. The effect of treatment in a geriatric ward for acutely admitted older patients on mortality and function is well established, but less is known about the possible influence of such treatment on the risk of readmission, particularly in the oldest and most vulnerable patients. Our aim was to assess the risk for early readmission for multimorbid patients > 75 years treated in a geriatric ward compared to medical wards and to identify risk factors for 30-day readmissions. Methods Prospective cohort study of patients acutely admitted to a medical department at a Norwegian regional hospital. Eligible patients were community-dwelling, multimorbid, receiving home care services, and aged 75+. Patients were consecutively included in the period from 1 April to 31 October 2012. Clinical data were retrieved from the referral letter and medical records. Results We included 227 patients with a mean (SD) age of 86.0 (5.7) years, 134 (59%) were female and 59 (26%) were readmitted within 30 days after discharge. We found no statistically significant difference in readmission rate between patients treated in a geriatric ward versus other medical wards. In adjusted Cox proportional hazards regression analyses, lower age (hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) 0.95 (0.91–0.99) per year), female gender (2.17 (1.15–4.00)) and higher MMSE score (1.03 (1.00–1.06) per point) were significant risk factors for readmission. Conclusions Lower age, female gender and higher cognitive function were the main risk factors for 30-day readmission to hospital among old patients with multimorbidity. We found no impact of geriatric care on the readmission rate.


ABSTRACT Context. Bromus diandrus Roth is a serious weed of cereal-based cropping systems in South Australia. Its adaptation to local climate and production systems, prolific seed production and evolution of herbicide resistance have made this weed difficult to manage. Aims. Studies were undertaken to determine genetic variation in seed dormancy within B. diandrus populations and its association with genes involved with gibberellic acid and abscisic acid synthesis. Methodology. Seeds from five B. diandrus populations were sampled during 2017 from commercial fields and planted during 2018 in pots. Protracted seedling emergence in these populations allowed selection of low and high dormancy cohorts. Seeds produced by these cohorts from each population were evaluated for variation in seed dormancy in the following year. The process of cohort selection and seed dormancy evaluation was repeated. The mechanism regulating seed dormancy was investigated in 2020 by assessing seeds of low and high dormancy cohorts concurrently for dormancy and for expression of ABA1 and GA20ox genes, using quantitative real-time PCR. Results. There was at least a two-fold difference in seed dormancy among populations collected from different farms. Low and high dormancy cohorts within each population maintained consistent differences in seed dormancy in both years of assessment, suggesting genetic control over this trait. Differences in seed dormancy between low and high dormancy cohorts were significantly correlated with ABA1 and GA20ox gene expression. Conclusions. Large differences in seed dormancy exist between individuals in B. diandrus populations. The study has provided evidence of genetic variation for seed dormancy within B. diandrus populations, which was associated with ABA1 and GA20ox gene expression. Implications. Presence of genetic variation for seed dormancy could play an important role in adaptation to escape pre-sowing weed-control tactics, meaning that B. diandrus could become an even greater problem in field crops grown in this region.


The reactions of (silylmethyl)cyclopropanes with haloboranes, such as BBr 3 and BHBr 2 , result in desilylative ring opening to give homoallylboranes and boracyclopentanes, respectively. Coupled with subsequent oxidation procedure, these reactions provide ready access to homoallylic alcohols and 1,4-diols


Industrial designers often present their initial concepts as design sketches. Rapid creation of new product conceptual images that meet users' affective preferences remains challenging in real design environments. However, few published works in affective design directly assist industrial designers in creating product conceptual images. Thus, we propose a product concept generation approach framework based on deep learning and Kansei engineering (PCGA-DLKE) to assist industrial designers. Our work focuses on dataset collection, pre-processing, affective preferences recognition, conceptual image generation model and product style transfer networks. To mark users' affective preferences, we established an affective recognition model by Kansei engineering and deep convolutional neural networks. To address the product conceptual image generation problem, we proposed a product design GAN model (PD-GAN), generating product conceptual images with affective preferences. An improved fast neural style transfer network was successfully trained to meet users' style preferences. This study aims to assist industrial designers in finding innovative concepts with affective preference. The Kansei evaluation shows that the innovation of the new product concept has been enhanced, indicating that the approach can better assist industrial designers in creating designs that meet users' emotional needs. Hand drill design and bicycle helmet design are taken as a case study.


Abstract : Pargyline-HCl is of interest as a possible therapeutic agent in the treatment of decaborane intoxication. Decaborane in low doses is known to have severe disruptive effects upon instrumental behavior. Pargyline, in order to qualify as a therapeutic agent, must not itself lead to severe behavioral disruption. In this study each of five monkeys was given a single intraperitoneal injection of buffered suspension of pargyline, the dosage being equivalent to 45 mg pargyline-HCl/kg of body weight. Their behavior was evaluated for four days following injection on a concurrent free-operant avoidance schedule with two superimposed discriminated avoidance tasks. In no cases were pargyline-induced changes in behavior of sufficient magnitude to affect the efficiency of shock avoidance. It is concluded that the effect of pargyline on these behaviors is quantitatively slight in comparison to the effects of decaborane recorded in the literature, and that behavioral disruption from pargyline itself need not be the major consideration in decisions relevant to the therapeutic use of pargyline-HCl for decaborane induced behavioral intoxication. (Author)


Aim. Assessment of environmental plasticity zoned and promising spring durum wheat. Materials and Methods. Accounting yield 13 spring durum wheat for the period 1999-2012 years tested in contrasting soil and climatic conditions on 11 state grade stations located in 5 areas Cultivated Orenburg Oblast. Results. The article was first performed on the basis of assessment of the ecological plasticity zoned and promising spring durum wheat in all state grade stations in Orenburg region, the authors identified the most productive varieties of spring durum wheat. Conclusion. It is proposed in the evaluation of varieties in the state variety trials focus not only on the average yield, but also on the parameters of their ecological plasticity. This will increase the objectivity of tolerance grades to their zoning.


In the Netherlands, each municipality is strongly encouraged to write an Integral Safety Plan (ISP). An ISP is a document that contains problems, goals, and priorities related to safety. This research proposes a method to select an effective and relevant ISP for a municipality out of all available ISPs. It focused on the ISPs of the 390 municipalities in the Netherlands, and aimed to determine ways to assist/support a new written ISP by suggesting relevant ISPs to municipalities in order to learn effective methods from the suggested ISPs. This was done by scoring all currently existing ISP's to get the best performing plans, focusing on crime statistics. Two dimension-reduction techniques were applied to descriptive statistics of the municipalities, and the best performing technique (t-SNE) was used. The municipalities were then clustered with K-means in the t-SNE space to retrieve groups of similar municipalities. In addition, k-nearest neighbor algorithm was used to find the K most similar municipalities from a starting point. This research showed a solution to score ISPs and two solutions to find similar municipalities in order to suggest relevant ISPs. The results showed groups of similar municipalities, where several groups could be identified for their similarity (e.g. student cities). Domain experts have to be consulted for further validation. August 17, 2017


The optimization of trial functions consisting of a product of a single determinant and simple correlation functions is studied. The method involves minimizing the variance of the local energy over a finite number of points (sample). The role of optimization parameters, e.g., sample characteristics, initial trial function parameters, and reference energy, is examined for H2, Li2, and H2O. The extent to which cusp conditions are satisfied is also discussed. The resulting variational Monte Carlo energies 〈ΨT‖H‖ΨT〉 recover 46%–95% of the correlation energy for the simple trial function forms studied. When used as importance functions for quantum Monte Carlo calculations, these optimized trial functions recover 90%–100% of the correlation energy. Time‐step bias of the computed quantum Monte Carlo energies is found to be small.


An HPLC-MS/MS method has been developed for the determination of niflumic acid in human plasma. This application note demonstrates the use of Thermo ScientificTM SOLATM WAX SPE products, which allow mixedmode extractions to be carried out with strong acids, giving improved removal of matrix interferences and reproducible results. The use of a Thermo ScientificTM AccucoreTM HPLC column provided fast and efficient separation without the need for an ultra high pressure system. MS/MS detection was performed on a Thermo ScientificTM TSQ VantageTM mass spectrometer. into the SOLA SPE range. SOLA WAX polymeric SPE utilizes a hydrophobic backbone functionalized with a primary amine with a pKa of approximately 6. This allows users to control the ionization of the stationary phase by modifying the pH. As a result, it is possible to develop simple and effective SPE methods for strong acids that take advantage of the additional matrix cleanliness mixed-mode extractions can offer and the reproducibility benefits of SOLA SPE. SOLA solid phase extraction products introduce next generation, innovative technological advancements, giving unparalleled performance characteristics compared to conventional SPE, phospholipid, and protein precipitation products.


Traditional teaching management in Chinese high school is on the basic of extrinsic coercion,which pays attention to regularity and stangards that normalize teachers .as aresult ,it canconstyain the individuality,activity and creatitity of them.futhermore,this kind of magament can limit their development and teaching plan can not be put into practice.In order to solve these problems,the author of this article discusses how to establish a humanistic teaching management in colleges.


A large area AlN films were synthesized on Si[100] substrate by ion-beam-enhanced deposition (IBED). Spreading resistance profile (SRP) results suggest that the spreading resistance decreased with the increase of Al evaporation rate. If the evaporation rate of Al is higher than 2.5 /spl Aring//s, the quality of AlN film will greatly deteriorate. The spreading resistance of the best quality film deposited at 0.5 /spl Aring//s rate of Al was bigger than 10/sup 8/ /spl Omega/. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) measurements indicate the formation of AlN films at 0.5 and 1.0 /spl Aring//s evaporation rate of Al. With increasing evaporation rate of Al, the ratio of N to Al decreased. When deposited at 0.5 and 1.0 /spl Aring//s evaporation rates of Al, the ratio of N to Al was 0.402:1 and 0.250:1, respectively.


James S. Williams, who focus on films made by diasporic women in Western Europe and the representation of queer and diasporic identities, respectively. Though simplifications are pervasive, diversity is celebrated in both cases. Deniz Göktürk investigates the celebration of otherness achieved in the form of a positive Balkanisation by the melodramatic soundtracks in Fatih Akın's Turkish German films. The oscillation between dramatic empathy and ironic estrangement mark their aesthetics as irresistibly hybrid (p. 232). The genre of the diasporic youth film is discussed in Daniela Berghahn's chapter, which adds the intersection of age differences to the already complex picture of migrant and diasporic selfhood. She also argues that genre conventions should not be dismissed tout court, as they play a vital role in channelling alternative questions from niche to mainstream audiences (p. 252). Finally, Claudia Sternberg's analysis of meta-cinematic reflection in a wide selection of films stresses the film-makers' awareness of the social function that their works play in the lives of migrants. The final remarks made by the film-maker Gareth Jones underscore the importance of the field of migrant and diasporic cinema from an insider's vantage point. European Cinema in Motion succeeds in providing a nuanced account of the subject. The (self-)critical reflections of this collection point to the challenge of questioning preexisting boundaries, ultimately exactly those circumscribing Europe, cinema, migration and diasporas.


Response: I have attempted to use units that will help clarify to the reader the content of the argument. Mostly these are consistent SI units. In a few places I have opted for other units to contextualize the result in terms of processes or events with which the reader is likely familiar. In the example from the ms highlighted above by the referee, the ratio of times, 100/0.1=1000 is indicated, which is the fundamental point, and is unit-free. This happens to work out to 1000 hours when expressed in units for the particular exampe, which I believe for most readers conveys the message about transport times more clearly than using , which the reader will in any case likely translate back into the units normally used when one person tries to explain to another how long his automobile trip took. So I hope to be excused in the particular usage on this point, but agree with the referee as a general principle re the use of SI units.


This paper reports the analysis of Esterase isoenzyme from eight species of the family Oedipodidae by discontinuous polyacylamide gel electrophoresis method. The results show that there are 30 different mobility bands in the eight species. According to the relative mobility, the bands can be divided into five kinds. Meanwhile, based on the dendrogram of the EST isoenzyme, the classification of eight species has been discussed.


A series of techniques which included the analysis of variance,~2 test,the association coefficient,Ochiai,Dice,Jaccard,point correlation coefficient,a new formula of interspecific association measurement and the t-test of correlation coefficients,together with a 2×2 contingency table,was used to analyze the interspecific association of dominant species of lower subtropical monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forest and coniferous broad-leaved mixed forest at Dinghushan,south China.The analysis of variance,the ~2 test,the association coefficient and Ochiai are suitable techniques for the measurement of interspecific association for several different forest communities at Dinghushan.If AC is +1 or-1,then a,b,c and d values must be weighted as 1,the result will be even better.


Abstract : A femtosecond Ti:Sapphire laser has been constructed for an investigation of the transport of nonequilibrium, nonthermal, electronic carriers in metallic thin film nanostructures.


The Destruction of Ancient Civilizations.-In Sitz. Preuss. Akad., 1928, pp. xxix-xxxviii, WIEGAND writes discursively of the various forces that through the ages have resulted in the destruction of the monuments and records of ancient civilizations and the modern scientific methods of recovering, restoring, and aiding the imagination to picture anew the life of the ancient peoples. We sometimes think of war, invasion, and attendant conflagrations as bringing about sudden catastrophe and destruction, but purposed ruin played little part in ancient times, and such means of wholesale destruction as dynamite and powder were unknown. Earthquakes have, however, ruined whole cities and islands. A scientist has affirmed that Asia Minor has been subjected to 10,000 earthquakes since the beginning of our era. The weathering of columns, particularly at their base, has resulted in many temples falling, roof and all, and in the later quarrying of these remains for ordinary building purposes. The diversion of streams or their flooding has sometimes destroyed and sometimes preserved ancient structures or works of art. So, too, sand storms have necessitated most expensive excavation, while volcanic lava is even harder to deal with. Among the worst destroyers have been the lime kilns of an ignorant peasantry and the destructive religious fanaticism of Saracens, Arabs, Turks, and Moors. The article closes with a eulogy of modern excavating methods which have given up the trial-trench and proceed by uncovering vast extents, layer by layer, leaving what is found in situ and at its original level through the building of structural supports. Notes on Ruler Cult, I-IV.--Under the headings Alexander and Dionysus, Neos Dionysos, Ptolemy Epiphanes, and Zeus Seleucios, A. D. NOCK discusses the beliefs implied in the nominal attributions of divinity to human beings in the ancient world, and the origin and use of certain of these titles. The meanings were very vague and fell far short of identification. Nios and via especially were often a mere expression of comparison, like our "a second Caesar," implying the possession of similar qualities or achievements. To a certain extent the career of Alexander influenced the mythology of Dionysus, with which it was compared. The title Epiphanes, implying occasional manifestations of divine power, was


To investigate the dynamic behavior of laminated plates with nonlinear elastic restraints, a varied constraint force model and a systematic numerical procedure are presented in this work. Several kinds of typical relationships of force-displacement for spring are established to simulate the nonlinear elastic restraints. In addition, considering the restraining moments of flexible pads, the pads are modeled by translational and rotational springs. The displacement- dependent constraint forces are added to the right-hand side of equations of motion and treated as additional applied loads. These loads can be explicitly defined, via an independent set of nonlinear load functions. The time histories of transverse displacements at typical points of the laminated plate are obtained through the transient analysis. Numerical examples show that the present method can effectively treat the geometrically nonlinear transient response of plates with nonlinear elastic restraints.


Urban problems such as energy shortages, congestion, and increasing highway costs are prompting communities to reassess the need for public transportation. A solution can be achieved if citizens are encouraged to rely less on the automobile and more on public modes for intracommunity travel. However, achieving user shifts in mode preferences is not easy because of the automobile's popularity. Consequently, if public transportation is to realize its potential, effective planning is essential, and it must begin with the setting of appropriate goals for community transportation services. Among the complexities that add to the difficulty of setting goals are the differing needs of existing and potential user groups, the variety of transportation service alternatives, community role structure, environmental constraints, and limited resources. A promising approach to setting community transportation goals is the policy Delphi method. Through this technique information is collected independently from various individuals and groups concerning future events and policy issues. Opinions and information are gathered without the participants' having to interact. Moreover, feedback of information from other participants is provided to each Delphi panel member. The paper examines the community transportation goal-setting task in the context of a complete transportation planning process. Major attention is given to applying the policy Delphi method to generating community transportation goal information and assessing the extent of agreement among policy makers.


This paper investigated the influence of surface internal energy instability caused by the gravitational tilt angle on solutocapillary convection. The results showed that the spatio-temporal evolution of solutocapillary convection in a non-axisymmetric liquid bridge was divided into three stages under different gravitational tilt angles, "the initiating stage near the upper corner", "development to the intermediate height", and "shrinking toward the bottom corner". The non-equilibrium of the left or right interface curvature caused by internal energy instability promotes the distortion of the cell flow structure. The concentration gradient on the far-earth side increases first, due to the gravitational tilt angle. With the increasing gravitational tilt angle, the lateral extension of the cell flow is inhibited. The transverse/longitudinal velocity components are suppressed; however, the velocity gradient near the boundary is increased, and the uniformity of the velocity distribution in the center of the liquid bridge is improved. The axial component of the Bond number decreases in a small range (Bo′ = 1→0.98) with the internal energy instability, however, which has a significant effect on surface flow. Therefore, in the initiation and development stages of solutocapillary convection, the decay rate of the Marangoni number respectively decreases and increases with the increasing Bond number. The axial component of the Bond number decreases in a small range with the internal energy instability, which has a significant effect on the solute Marangoni number (Mac). In the initiation stage of solutocapillary convection, the decay rate of the Mac decreases with the increasing Bond number. Its change law is the opposite in the development stage of solutocapillary convection.


Doppler echocardiographic techniques are particularly useful in evaluating valvular regurgitation. For this application, Doppler echocardiography provides information that complements two-dimensional echocardiographic imaging (2-D echo) for assessing regurgitant valvular lesions. In a patient with suspected or known valvular regurgitation, two-dimensional echo generally indicates the etiology of regurgitation, but it provides only indirect clues about its existence and severity. In contrast, Doppler echocardiography allows direct demonstration of retrograde flow across the regurgitant valve and provides a number of methods for assessing the severity of regurgitation. This paper reviews the Doppler echocardiographic techniques that currently can be used to detect and quantify the severity of valvular regurgitation.


In order to systematically evaluate different gamut mapping algorithms, we have simulated gamut mapping on a CRT using simple rendered images of colored spheres floating in front of a gray background. Using CIELab as our device-independent color space, cut-off values for lightness and chroma, based on the statistics of the images, were chosen to reduce the gamuts for the test images. The gamut mapping algorithms consisted of combination of clipping and linearly mapping the original gamut in piecewise segments. Complete color space compression in RGB and CIELAB was also used. Each of the colored originals (R,G,B,C,M,Y, and Skin) were mapped separately in lightness and chroma. In addition, each algorithm was implemented with saturation (C*/L*) allowed to vary or remain constant. Using a paired-comparison paradigm, pairs of test images with reduced color gamuts were presented to twenty subjects along with the original image. For each pair the subjects chose the test images that better reproduced the original. Rank orders and interval scales of algorithm performance with confidence limits were then derived. Certain algorithms were found to perform best consistently over image color. For chroma mapping, clipping of all out-of-gamut colors while keeping lightness constant was the most preferred method. For lightness mapping at the top of the gamut, a particular piecewise mapping technique while keeping saturation constant was preferred. For lightness mapping at the bottom the results gave an indication of the type of algorithm that might be best while keeping chroma constant. The choice of device-independent color space may also influence the choice of gamut mapping algorithm.


The population of older adults is growing rapidly worldwide, but technical communicators have not accounted for the needs of these audiences nor drawn from the wide range of research on aging. This article suggests four challenges practitioners, educators, and researchers must undertake to accommodate older adults' physical, cognitive, and emotional needs: refine the demographic variable of age, operationalize age to enrich current methods of audience analysis, investigate multidisciplinary sources of aging research, and participate in research on aging by offering our expertise in document design and communication strategies.


An intrathecal bleed is an exceedingly rare, yet potentially devastating consequence of accessing the epidural space for lead placement during a spinal cord stimulator trial. We present a case of radiologic evidence of intrathecal blood products and the neurologic consequences thereof following a percutaneous spinal cord stimulator trial. A 34-year-old man with a primary diagnosis of failed back surgery syndrome underwent percutaneous spinal cord stimulator lead placement. During the trial, the patient experienced paresthesia with initial right-side lead placement at T12-L1. The lead and needle were removed and placed at L1-2 where the patient did not report any problems. The patient reported right calf pain in the postanesthesia care unit following the trial that improved with intravenous hydromorphone. However, following discharge the patient experienced worsening dysesthesia with edema of the right lower extremity to the calf. Magnetic resonance imaging of the lumbar spine confirmed the presence of blood products within the intrathecal space. Spinal cord stimulator placement may be viewed as a safe and effective treatment modality despite the incidence of several neurologic, mechanical, and biologic complications. A few case reports discuss the occurrence of spinal epidural hematoma formation but none present a case of an intrathecal bleed following percutaneous spinal cord stimulator lead placement. This case report highlights the need to further elucidate the incidence of neurologic sequelae after spinal cord stimulator placement.


We give here a review of the experiments that we performed in the last few years to conclude that mentals states follow quantum mechanics. As theoretical basis we give explanation of the contextual dependence of probabilities in the theoretical basis that was introduced by A. Khrennikov. In this case the classical formula of total probability does not hold true in quantum systems unless an interference terms is added that moves in analogy with quantum mechanics in which the formula of probability is violated inducing the well known effects of interference. All the experiments were carried out on normal subjects during perception and cognition of ambiguous figures. All they confirmed the presence of such quantum like interference also for mental states. From here our unequivocal conclusion that mental states follow quantum mechanics. A position of quantum mechanics as Giano Bifronte, the two faced God of mythology, is discussed with respect to its role in the analysis and characterization of mental entities.


We introduce a search problem for finding a regular bi-partite graph of maximum attainable girth for specified degree and number of vertices, by restricting the search space using a series of mathematically rigourous arguments from [1] and [2]. The goal of this paper is to derive the enumeration search algorithm for finding a girth maximum (m, r) BTU, which is notation for regular partite graph that has been introduced in [1], using the optimal partition results from [2] as a starting point, and also understand the structure of the search space and the computational complexity of the algorithm.


Relevance of the research topic. The concept of state youth policy in the Republic of Kazakhstan emphasized, "Building the democratic society with a socially oriented economy is impossible without moral and spiritual development of young people, formation of the younger generation in Kazakhstan qualities such as patriotism, professionalism, responsibility, youth development socio-cultural experience of past generations, achievement world civilization." Of particular interest is the legacy of one of the most prominent educational thinkers Kazakhstan Ibrai Altynsarin, who continued the philosophical tradition of the Kazakh people, and also to rethink the process of formation of the Kazakh youth in light of the current socio-political situation. In our time, it is necessary to appeal to the historical basis of education, because without comprehension of the historical heritage of pedagogical impossible communion of the younger generation to human values. Multifaceted and fruitful activity Ibrai Altynsarin to educate people to take its rightful place in the history of the Kazakh culture, being the foundation that made possible its further development. Life and career of Ibrai Altynsarin, individual pages of his biography, his philosophical position and pedagogical views are of particular interest and contribute to the spiritual and moral development of a modern personality. In the 1800s, Altynsarin stressed the need to achieve success in the use of special educational activities and pedagogical knowledge. The degree of a problem. Legacy problems of Ibrai Altynsarin always were in the focus of educators and psychologists, the different aspects of this problem were considered in the study: Djumagulov K. T. "Creativity of Ibrai Altynsarin" (1959), Derbisalin A. "Literary Heritage of Ibrai Altynsarin" (1954), Shotanova S. "Altyn-sarin's Prose" (1996), Rysbekova G. E. "Development of pedagogical ideas and outreach of Ibrai Altynsarin in Kazakhstan in the second half of XIX and the first quarter of the twentieth century", Aldibekova Dj. "Socio-political and legal views of Ibrai ltynsarin" (1993), Kalkeeva K. R." Scientific and pedagogical bases of Ibrai Altynsarin's textbooks" (2000), etc. However, the problem of cultural-educational activities of Ibrai Altynsarin in the second half of the XIX-th century did not find enough fully reflected in educational theory and practice. However historiographical survey showed that pedagogical science has accumulated a certain capacity to study the problem of realization of cultural and educational I. Altynsarin's ideas in the educational space of Kazakh schools, but it is fragmentary and heterogeneous. Recognizing the value of research above authors, it should be noted that the problem of cultural educational activities of Ibrai Altynsarin in the educational process to date is almost neglected. No conducted specific studies aimed at the realization of cultural and educational ideas of the teacher-educator in modern teaching. All this suggests that the study of the problem of cultural and educational activities of Ibrai Altynsarin under transformation of society is actual and perspective. Relevance of the designated problem emphasizes the contradiction between the objective need of spiritual moral education of youth using Ibrai Altynsarin heritage in the educational process and the lack of scientific advice on the organization of the process. Selected contradiction defined semantic content-border research problem: what is the content of the main trends and directions of cultural and educational activities of I. Altynsarin and what pedagogical conditions for the implementation of cultural and educational I. Altynsarin's ideas in activities of the modern museum. Insufficient development of this problem in science and teaching practice needs to identify its relevance and determine the choice of the research topic "Pedagogical designing of cultural and educational activities in the museum institutions." Object of research: educational value potential of cultural and educational ideas of Ibrai Altynsarin. Subject of research: pedagogical conditions for the implementation of cultural and educational activity ideas of Ibrai Altynsarin in modern museum. The purpose of the study: to identify, justify and experimentally verify the effectiveness of the implementation of pedagogical conditions of cultural and educational heritage of Ibrai Altynsarin in the education of youth, redefining ideas of Altynsarin in the light of the requirements of the new challenges of time. Hypothesis of the study: cultural and educational ideas of I. Altynsarin will contribute innovative renewal activity of the modern museum, if: understanding teachers cultural and educational ideas of I. Altynsarin flows during productive reflection own teaching activities; young people formed positive motives to the museum and educational activities; educators and youth actively rely on the experience of using the cultural-educational ideas of I. Altynsarin activities in a modern museum. Purpose, subject and research hypothesis led research objectives: 1. Identify the origins of moral values in the cultural and educational activities of Ibrai Altynsarin in youth work. 2. Develop a model for the implementation of cultural and educational activity ideas of Ibrai Altynsarin in activity of modern museum. 3. Develop the concept of socio-cultural activities of Ibrai Altynsarin, educator of Kazakhstan in the second half of the nineteenth century and its realization in modern teaching. 4. Pedagogical conditions determine the success of the cultural and educational ideas of Ibrai Altynsarin in activities of modern museum.


Most DTA models take time-dependent origin/destination (OD) matrices as inputs and equilibrate time-dependent route flows [Peeta and Ziliaskopoulos, 2001]. Yet, they ignore the feedback of changing network conditions on higher–level choice dimensions such as departure time choice, mode choice, activity schedule choice, and such. It appears natural to extend the feedback to all choice dimensions, which also requires to consistently account for them at the assignment level.


We describe a new scheme for enabling concurrent read and exclusive write access to a shared document while maximizing concurrent collaboration and removing the need to merge multiple disparate versions of the document. We employ a multi-granular, hierarchical locking mechanism by breaking the shared document into sections and subsections and representing these using a tree structure. The algorithm presented supports deadlock-free concurrent access through pipelined insertion and deletion of users from root down to the leaves. The lock obtained is maximized to the largest permissible sub-hierarchy of the document to minimize communication costs. Our insert and delete algorithms allow for locks to be dynamically promoted or demoted depending upon the requests made by other users in the collaborative space.


DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY HIGHTOWER, EDWARD 0. B.A. MORRIS BROWN COLLEGE, 1994 CONVICTED AND RAILROADED: RUFUS B. BULLOCK AND GEORGIA CONVICT LEASiNG, 1868-1971 Committee Chair: Richard Allen Morton, Ph.D. Thesis dated May 2011 This is an examination of Governor Rufus B. Bullock and his management of the state's convict lease system between the years of 1868-187 1, a period associated with Radical Reconstruction before the introduction of the "New South" era. Georgia's majority black convict population was leased out to private railroad companies under Bullock's Administration. They experienced harsh and brutal treatment at times, and even death. Many were arrested for minor offenses and handed excessive sentences, which provided a consistent and dependable cheap labor force. This labor resource was exploited in rebuilding Georgia's rail system to foster trade. The study uses primary and secondary sources to ascertain Bullock's culpability in a penal system so heinous that it rivaled slavery itself. Bullock abandoned the ideals of the Republican Party, which advocated liberty for all men, and acquiesced to the principles of industrialism and capitalism, clinging to the tenets of "free labor" at the expense of Georgia's newly freed slaves. The implications of this study point to why Reconstruction failed and it excavates the etiology of contemporary penitentiary trends. CONVICTED AND RAILROADED: RUFUS B. BULLOCK AND GEORGIA CONVICT LEASING, 1868-187 1


This paper analyzes the performance of a direct-conversion receiver (DCR) with AC coupling when the received signal is a BPSK. Although a DCR with AC coupling is extremely attractive from an implementation perspective, it Is employed most exclusively with "DC-free" modulation schemes such as binary frequency-shift keying (BFSK). More spectrally efficient modulation schemes, such as BPSK, are believed to suffer from significant performance loss because of the large signal bearing spectrum near dc. However, our analysis shows that by including an equalizer, the performance of a DCR with AC coupling when receiving BPSK signal is orders of magnitude better than previously reported. An equalizer is employed to mitigate the effects of intersymbol interference introduced by AC coupling. Compared to an ideal receiver, the SNR loss of a typical DCR with AC coupling and a linear equalizer is less than 2 dB for AC coupling corner frequencies as large as 30% of the symbol rate.


Artificial pollution tests have been carried out to study AC flashover performances of various types of porcelain, glass, and polymeric insulators in this paper. The experimental results show that the polluted flashover voltage Uf is affected by equivalent salt deposit density rhoESDD and nonsoluble deposit density rhoNSDD, the influences of which are independent of each other. Based on the analyses of the flashover voltages, the correction formulas of the flashover voltages Uf of various insulators at various rhoESDD and rhoNSDD levels are pointed out. The experimental results also show that there is a distinct difference among the flashover voltages of various types of polluted insulators. At the same pollution degree, the antipollution performance of the fog-type glass insulator is better than those of the outer-rib porcelain insulators. In terms of the effectiveness of creepage distance of insulators, the antipollution performance of polymeric insulators is superior to those of porcelain and glass insulators.


The diagnosis and prognosis of skin tumors is an important problem. A key part of tumor image analysis is the segmentation of the tumor from the surrounding skin. This means detecting which part of the skin belongs to the tumor and which part is just normal healthy skin. A typical example of such a skin tumor image and a possible segmentation of the tumor is shown in Figure 1. Recognizing the tumors from such images is hard, since a tumor may


The effects of increasing acquisitions and gradient directions on fractional anisotropy (FA) at 1.5T versus 3T were investigated using an operator-independent methodology (tract-based spatial statistics) by minimizing technical differences in image acquisition between the two magnetic resonance imaging platforms and also FA values at roughly equivalent signal-to-noise ratio and data acquisition time were compared. Five healthy subjects underwent this experiment. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was performed at 1.5T and 3T. Gradient schemes were 6, 30, and 96 directions. The numbers of acquisitions were 5, 10, and 15 for 6-direction; 1, 2, and 3 acquisitions for 30-direction; and 1 acquisition for 96-direction scheme. FA values in the callosal genu (CG), callosal splenium (CS), posterior limb of the internal capsule (PLIC), and the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) bilaterally were assessed. For 6-direction scheme at 5 acquisitions, FA values were higher at 1.5T than at 3T. FA values derived using 30-direction scheme were higher at 3T than 1.5T in the left SLF and PLIC bilaterally. In the CG and CS, FA values at equivalent signal-to-noise ratio derived from different acquisitions and gradient directions differed by 11% at 1.5T. DTI data acquired at 3T are not always comparable to that at 1.5T. The center of the brain does not appear to be affected but the peripheral white matter appears to be affected by field strengths, number of acquisitions, and gradient directions. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Concepts Magn Reson Part B (Magn Reson Engineering) 43B:41–48, 2013


Abstract The lowest order sigma-transformed momentum equation given by Mellor takes into account a phase-averaged wave forcing based on Airy wave theory. This equation is shown to be generally inconsistent because of inadequate approximations of the wave motion. Indeed the evaluation of the vertical flux of momentum requires an estimation of the pressure p and coordinate transformation function s to first order in parameters that define the large-scale evolution of the wave field, such as the bottom slope. Unfortunately, there is no analytical expression for p and s at that order. A numerical correction method is thus proposed and verified. Alternative coordinate transforms that allow a separation of wave and mean flow momenta do not suffer from this inconsistency nor do they require a numerical estimation of the wave forcing. Indeed, the problematic vertical flux is part of the wave momentum flux, thus distinct from the mean flow momentum flux, and not directly relevant to the mean flow evolution.


Method for preventing a high voltage circuit form generat ing excessive high Voltage, wherein the method comprises the following steps: a) reading a digital representation of a reference value associated with one of a plurality of operation modes stored in a memory; b) verifying the integrity of the representation of the refer ence value; c) providing a sensed signal representing the output voltage of the high voltage circuit; d) comparing the sensed signal with the reference value; e) inhibiting the generation of the high Voltage output if the comparison in step (d) indicates excessive high Voltage.


This thesis describes some studies of mono- and bis(andpi;-cyclopentadienyl)titanium and bis(andpi;-cyclopentadienyl)niobium systems. In Chapter I, publications which are relevant to work discussed later in the text and which have appeared in the literature since 1967 are reviewed. At the end of the chapter, a formal method for the classification of covalent compounds of an element in terms of electron number, valence number, and ligand bond number is described and its usefulness illustrated. In Chapter II, the preparation and some properties of several complexes of trivalent titanium with nitrogen- and phosphorus-donor ligands are described, as well as two new preparations of [(andpi;-C 5 H 5 ) 2 TiCl] 2 and a preparation of [(andpi;-C 5 H 5 )TiCl 2 ] n . The new complexes are of the form: (andpi;-C 5 H 5 ) 2 TiClandsdot;L (L = a monodentate ligand), [(andpi;-C 5 H 5 ) 2 Tiandsdot;Landprime; 2 ]A (Landprime; 2 = a chelating bidentate ligand; A = Cl or PF 6 ), [(andpi;-C 5 H 5 ) 2 TiCl] 2 andsdot;LandPrime; 2 (LandPrime; 2 = a bridging bidentate ligand), (andpi;-C 5 H 5 ) 2 TiCl 2 andsdot;2L and (andpi;-C 5 H 5 ) 2 TiCl 2 andsdot;Landprime; 2 . These compounds were characterized by analysis, i.r. and in some cases e.s.r. spectroscopy. In some cases, cryoscopic molecular weight determinations and solution conductivity studies were made. From the occurrence of these compounds, certain conclusions about the electronic and steric environments of andpi;-cyclopentadienyltitanium species are drawn and the implications of these conclusions, concerning the ability of such systems to function as nitrogen fixation catalysts, are discussed. In Chapter III, several attempts to prepare trivalent organo-titanium compounds, (andpi;-C 5 H 5 ) 2 TiR or (andpi;-C 5 H 5 )TiR 2 , that contain the metal bonded only to carbon are described. It seems that such compounds are unstable with respect to disproportionation and as a result, certain conclusions are drawn concerning the structure of the compound currently formulated as (andpi;-C 5 H 5 ) 2 TiPh. The divalent and tetravalent titanium-containing products of several disproportionation reactions have been examined and the tetravalent ones of general formula (andpi;-C 5 H 5 ) 2 TiR 2 , or (andpi;-C 5 H 5 )TiR 3 have been identified. A mechanism is proposed for the disproportionation reactions and some studies in support of the proposed mechanism are reported. The reversible fixation of molecular nitrogen by a system similar to that described by Vol'pin and Shilov is also described briefly. As a result of the conclusions reached in Chapter III concerning the instability with respect to disproportionation of trivalent organo-titanium compounds, an attempt was made to obtain information concerning the structure of the stable trivalent titanium compound, (andpi;-C 5 H 5 ) 2 Ti(andsigma;-C 5 H 5 ) This initially involved oxidation of that compound with ferric chloride, silver hexafluorophosphate and silver tetrafluoroborate, in hopes of obtaining the cation [(andpi;-C 5 H 5 ) 2 Ti(andsigma;-C 5 H 5 )] + . The product of these reactions was, however, (andpi;,-C 5 H 5 ) 2 TiX 2 , X having been derived from the anionic part of the oxidizing agent. The structure of tris(cyclopentadienyl)titanium was therefore determined and a unique type of bonding between the metal and only two carbon atoms of one of the three planar cyclopentadienyl rings was discovered. In Chapter IV, new preparations of (andpi;-C 5 H 5 ) 2 NbCl 2 , (andpi;-C 5 H 5 ) 2 NbBH 4 , and (andpi;-C 5 H 5 ) 2 Nb(H)PR 3 in high yield are described. The properties of the hydrides as Lewis bases have been examined and as a result, the dihydride cation, [(andpi;-C 5 H 5 ) 2 Nb(H) 2 PMe 2 Ph] + , has been isolated and characterized. Investigation of phosphine exchange is reported as is the preparation of a highly reactive substance believed to be (andpi;-C 5 H 5 ) 2 Nb(CN)TCNE. Exchange of the hydride ligand for a halogen to give (andpi;-C 5 H 5 ) 2 Nb(Br)PMe 2 Ph is reported, as well as the ease with which the phosphine hydrides are oxidized to the corresponding dihalides, (andpi;-C 5 H 5 ) 2 NbX 2 , by substances containing halogen atoms or pseudohalogen functional groups. This property has led to the preparation, inter alia, of (andpi;-C 5 H 5 ) 2 NbBr 2 and (andpi;-C 5 H 5 ) 2 Nb(NCS) 2 . Finally, brief comparison between niobium, molybdenum, and titanium chemistry relevant to the work in this thesis is made. In Chapter V, details of instrumentation and experimental procedure are given while in the Appendix tables of analytical, molecular weight, conductivity, i.r., and decomposition point data are presented, as well as the preparation and a few reactions of {[andpi;-C 6 Me 6 )TiCl 2 ] 3 }Cl.


In this article, a new approach for smoothing junction temperature fluctuations through active thermal control is proposed. By utilizing a current-source gate drive and controlling switching transition, switching losses can be regulated in a way to control junction temperature swing which is a dominant reason of wear-out failure mechanisms in MOSFETs. The simulation results indicate a 29% increase in lifetime. Additionally, the experimental results demonstrate the capability of this approach to control the junction temperature of a MOSFET effectively.


Full-scale fire tests on upholstered sofa were conducted in the ISO 9705 room (3.6 m×2.4 m×2.4 m). Parameters such as heat release rate of sofa, temperature fields of ceiling and doorway in the room were recorded,and relationship between heat release rate and upper-layer temperature was discussed. Meanwhile, numerical simulation method was applied to simulating combustion behavior of the upholstered sofa,of which the combustion was dominated by the burning of PUF materials. Numerical data such as heat release rate,temperature fields and hot/cold smoke layer height were obtained, and compared to experimental data and the results were favorable.


Abstract : Science teams from APL-UW, MPL-SIO, and URI deployed a constellation of instruments from the R/V Melville to measure acoustic propagation and scattering over a broad frequency range (100 Hz to 20 kHz), and environmental acoustic variables in the East China Sea (ECS). This work was completed from 29 May 2001 to 9 June 2001 as part of the Asian Seas International Acoustics Experiment (ASIAEX). From 2 to 5 June, operations from the Melville were coordinated with those of the Chinese research vessels Shi Yan 2 and Shi Yan 3 in order to conduct studies in wide-band propagation and reverberation using explosive charges deployed from both Chinese vessels. The ASIAEX ECS 2001 experiment produced a remarkable set of measurements on acoustic propagation and scattering in an Asian littoral sea, along with environmental measurements required for its interpretation.


In allusion to the complicated and comfortable characteristic,elevator is controlled with PLC and smoothly timing with transducer.With the design of software and hardware,it effectively advances control level,greatly ameliorates cosiness degree.And then it establishes the stakeout system combined configuration sofeware.It not only designs blooey back-check system for elevator control system,but also offers guarantee credible for security work.


A novel approach of dynamic path planning for a mobile manipulator whose end-effector travels along a given path is presented.Such a task-consistency motion planning is widely used in practical applications such as painting and welding.But this problem in dynamic environments is rarely considered.A general method which consists of a preprocessing and a dynamic planning stage is proposed.The mobile manipulator can avoid not only static obstacles but also dynamic obstacles.The effectiveness of the proposed approach is illustrated through simulation experiments.


To reduce incidents related to human action, it is important to enhance human reliability by evaluating human characteristics as people execute their jobs. The purpose of this study is to develop a method of monitoring human characteristics to design effective countermeasures during operations and maintenance at nuclear power plants. This paper describes some findings derived from experiments designed to examine how work load (physical and mental) affects human characteristics such as heart rate, galvanic skin response, etc., and the development of the Total Human Performance Monitoring System (THURMOS).


For years I asked my father to buy me a bicycle. My father, who had come to Canada from the former Soviet Union, was skeptical, but when I turned 12, as a Hanukkah gift, he bought me a second-hand CCM Glider. It was blue with chrome mudguards. I named it Rocket.

"But I wanted a new racer," I


S Presented at the Forty-seventh Annual Meeting ofthe American Radium Society, New Orleans, Louisiana, April 8-io, ij6 . From the l)epartmcnt of l'ta(IIo!ogv, Division of Radiotherapy, State University ofNew York, l)ownstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York. I. lnMtructor, the Department of Radiology, Stanford ['niversity School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California. :1:l)Irt'ctor of the l)ivision of Radiothera1w, State t'niversitv ofNew lork, l)ownstate Me(Ilcal Center, Brooklyn, New lork. \OL. 96, No. I


Thank you very much for reading the winning of the soul and other sermons. Maybe you have knowledge that, people have look numerous times for their favorite readings like this the winning of the soul and other sermons, but end up in harmful downloads. Rather than reading a good book with a cup of coffee in the afternoon, instead they cope with some harmful bugs inside their desktop computer. the winning of the soul and other sermons is available in our book collection an online access to it is set as public so you can download it instantly. Our digital library saves in multiple countries, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Kindly say, the the winning of the soul and other sermons is universally compatible with any devices to read.


Let C(A) be the closed additive semigroup generated by a set A z En. A simple necessary and sufficient condition on A for C(A) to be a group is derived. An example which arose in the theory of random walks and stimulated these purely geometrical considerations is discussed at the end. For an arbitrary subset A of the n-dimensional Euclidean space El (n>1) let S(A) denote the smallest additive semigroup containing A, Athe closure of A with respect to the Euclidean topology, and C(A):= (S(A))-. Obviously, C(A) is the smallest closed additive semigroup containing A, i.e., the closed additive semigroup generated by A. DEFINITION. A c En is called omnilateral, if A $ 0 and for every hyperplane H through the origin with A t H there are points of A in each of the two open half-spaces produced by H. In other words, A is omnilateral if A $ 0 and u e En, x e A and ux> 0 imply the existence of an x* E A with ux* <0. Some immediate consequences are listed in the following lemma. LEMMA. (1) A is omnilateral if and only if S(A) is omnilateral. (2) A is omnilateral if and only if Ais omnilateral. (3) An additive group A is always omnilateral. (4) The image of an omnilateral set AC E under a linear transformation from En to Em is an omnilateral set in Em. We say a set A c En is genuinely n-dimensional if there is no hyperplane through the origin 0 containing A. A0 denotes the convex hull of A. THEOREM 1. A genuinely n-dimensional set A is omnilateral if and only fO is an inner point of Ac. PROOF. The if-part is trivial. Suppose, on the other hand, 0 is an exterior or a boundary point of Ac. There would be a hyperplane through Received by the editors August 31, 1971. AMS 1969 subject classifications. Primary 20M99, 50B99; Secondary lOE05, 52A20, 60J15.


Two recent articles have again piqued our interest in the subject of physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. As noted by Chambaere et al, Belgium and the Netherlands in 2002, and Luxemburg in 2009, have decriminalized physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. The issue is currently being debated in Canada. Two states in the United States have legalized physician-assisted suicide, namely, Oregon in 1997 and Washington State in 2009. In addition, the Montana Supreme Court has recently ruled that state law protects doctors in Montana from prosecution for helping terminally ill patients die. As reported in the New York Times, the Court sidestepped the larger landmark issue of whether physicianassisted suicide is a right guaranteed under the state's constitution. In 2007, Chambaere et al conducted a large scale study of death certificates in Flanders, Belgium, where euthanasia is legal. Flanders is the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, which has about 6 million inhabitants and 55 000 deaths per year. A stratified sample of all death certificates from June to November 2007 was obtained consisting of 6927 death certificates. This represented 25% of deaths during the study period and approximately 12% of all deaths in Flanders in 2007. A 5-page questionnaire was sent to the attending physician in each case with 58.4% responding. Physicians were asked about end-of-life issues concerning the use of life-ending drugs with (assisted suicide or euthanasia) or without the patient's explicit request. The investigators identified 208 assisted suicide or euthanasia deaths (weighed prevalence 2.0%) with an explicit request from the patient and 66 (weighted prevalence 1.8%) without an explicit request. The following is a summary of the patients' characteristics and study results of the 2 groups:


Abstract In this research paper, we describe 0.85[0.94Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3-0.06BaTiO3]-0.15[Na0.73Bi0.09NbO3] (BNT-BT-NBN) ceramics fabricated by the solid-state combustion technique. The phase evolution, microstructure, dielectric, ferroelectric and energy storage properties were examined. The BNT-BT-NBN powders and ceramics were calcined and sintered between 650–900 °C and 1100–1175 °C, respectively, for 2 h. All samples showed a typical perovskite structure, as revealed by X-ray diffraction. The Rietveld refinement analysis of the ceramics suggested the samples sintered between 1100 and 1150 °C had coexisting R + T phases, while the R + T+C phases were observed in the ceramics sintered at 1175 °C. The average grain size of the samples increased from 0.52 to 1.39 μm with increased sintering temperature. The density of the ceramics increased from 5.12 to 5.45 g/cm3 when the sintering temperature increased from 1100 to 1150 °C, and then decreased. Increasing the sintering temperature from 1100 to 1150 °C caused the dielectric constant at T s (ε s) and the dielectric constant at T m (ε m) to increase from 1727 to 1945 and 1564 to 1750, respectively, and then ε s and ε m declined. All BNT-BT-NBN ceramics had good dielectric temperature stability with only a±10% change when the temperature ranged from room temperature to ∼300 °C. The optimum energy-storage properties (W rec = 0.62 J/cm3 and η = 83.2%) were obtained from the BNT-BT-NBN ceramics sintered at 1150 °C for 2 h. This data indicates that BNT-BT-NBN ceramics can be useful as lead-free materials for high density energy-storage capacitors.


Maxwell, Daniel and Nisar Majid. Famine in Somalia: Competing Imperatives, Collective Failures, 2011–12. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. Review by Angel R. Ackerman.


The coal module of the PILOT model was developed for the purpose of reflecting in a simplified (but realistic) way the rising marginal expenditure of effort required to extract, transport and scrub the coal consumed by the economy. The pronounced differences in extraction costs, transportation costs and sulphur content between eastern and western coal dictated a development of a bi-regional module. Each region is characterized by its coal mining supply curve (reflecting the capital cost of mining, scrubbing and reclamation), its mining productivity and its share in the total demand for non-electric coal. Operating and maintenance cost (excluding direct mining labor) are charged through the total inputs to the coal sector, and transportation costs, within and between the two regions, are charged directly to the transportation sector. Coal mines development capital costs are based in the PIES data which considers 102 types of mines (according to size, deepness, etc.) in 12 regions.


Nowadays Fault Injection is the main threat for any sensitive applications being executed on embedded devices. Indeed, such an attack allows one to efficiently recover any secret or to gain unauthorized privileges if no appropriate countermeasure is implemented. In the context of Java Card applications, the main method to counteract Fault Injection consists in adding redundancy for sensitive operations and integrity verification for sensitive variables. While being efficient from a security point of view, such a method substantially impacts the performance of the application. In this article we introduce a new pragmatic approach to counteract Fault Injection by dynamically increasing the security level of the application. This methodology, based on upgrading the Java Card Virtual Machine, allows us to optimize the performance of sensitive applications in every day life while providing a strong security level as soon as an attacker tries to disturb their executions.


This study was aimed to develop an ELISA method for detecting concentration of E1S.E1S.-BSA complex was first prepared and was used as coating antigen so as to develop the indirect ELISA to detect E1S..Results showed that the standard curve was constructed as y =9E-5X +0.0998.The sensitivity of the assay was 0.69ng.mL-1,and the coefficients of variation of intra-assay and inter-assay were 9.10% and 10.33 % respectively.The cross-reactivity with progesterone,ethinyloestradiol and testosterone were not significant.It is concluded that the indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was developed.


Key Points Question Is the coadministration of a COVID-19 vaccine with a seasonal influenza vaccine safe and efficacious? Findings This prospective cohort study included health care workers vaccinated against COVID-19 and/or influenza. Compared with COVID-19 vaccination alone, the risk of systemic symptoms was lower and statistically insignificant in the coadministration group. Lower, statistically insignificant anti-spike IgG titers were found in the coadministration group. Meaning In this study, both reactogenicity and immunogenicity were mostly unchanged with coadministration of the COVID-19 and season influenza vaccines compared with the administration of COVID-19 vaccination alone.


Objective: To know the usefulness of a therapy system based on negative pressure topically applied on a complicated surgical wound. Setting: General Surgery Service, third level health care hospital. Design: Pilot study, prospective, longitudinal and descriptive. Statistical analysis: Central tendency measures. Patients and methods: We present six post-operated patients with open complicated surgical wounds. All with infection demonstrated by culture and output of purulent material: three patients with open abdomen due to abdominal sepsis, one with post-traumatic thoracic injury, one with an supracondyle infected stump, and the last with complicated surgical wound due to dermolipectomy, all of them with treatments of the surgical wound before applying negative pressure. We included consecutive patients coursing with complicated infected wounds, prolonged in-hospital stay, and who did not improve with traditional medical treatment. Results: The time of negative pressure application for the six patients ranged from 6 to 26 days, with satisfactory evolution, obtaining the expected improvement of the surgical wound and the abdominal cavity. In the three patients with open abdomen and previous treatment with Bogota pouch, the abdominal cavity could be closed between 14 and 26 days of negative pressure treatment; in the other three patients with more superfi cial wounds, closure of the wound was achieved between the 6th and 14th day. All patients were followed for more than 5 months, the Resumen Objetivo: Conocer la utilidad de un sistema de terapia basado en presion negativa topica, aplicado en la herida quirurgica complicada. Sede: Servicio de Cirugia General, hospital de tercer nivel de atencion. Diseno: Estudio piloto, prospectivo, longitudinal y descriptivo. Analisis estadistico: Medidas de tendencia central. Pacientes y metodos: Se presentan seis pacientes postoperados, con herida quirurgica abierta, complicada. Todos con infeccion demostrada por cultivo y con salida de material purulento, tres pacientes con abdomen abierto por sepsis abdominal, uno con lesion toracica postraumatica, uno con munon de amputacion supracondilea infectado y el ultimo paciente con herida quirurgica complicada posterior a dermolipectomia; todos ellos con tratamientos previos sobre la herida quirurgica antes de aplicar la presion negativa. Se incluyeron pacientes consecutivos que presentaban: herida complicada, infectada, con estancia hospitalaria prolongada, quienes no presentaban progreso con el tratamiento medico tradicional. Resultados: El tiempo de aplicacion de la presion negativa para los seis pacientes estuvo entre 6 y 26 dias, con evolucion satisfactoria, obteniendose la mejoria deseada de la herida quirurgica y de la cavidad abdominal. En los tres pacientes con abdomen abierto y tratamiento previo con bolsa de Bogota, se pudo cerrar la cavidad abdominal entre los 14 y los 26 dias posteriores al tratamiento con presion negativa; en los otros tres pacientes, con lesiones www.medigraphic.org.mx


Shallow borehole drilling has been conducted at the Sarni area of Betul Belt, Central India to understand the subsurface geology and nature of mineralization. The predominant lithounits are ferruginous quartzites, felsic volcanic rocks, and with minor intrusions of amphibolites. The encountered felsic volcanic rocks are rhyolites varying from pink (rich in K‐feldspar) to grey (rich in Na‐feldspar and amphiboles). The rhyolitic rocks have undergone intense hydrothermal alteration. The alteration zones are defined by the presence of biotite‐chlorite‐garnet‐gahnite; biotite‐sericite‐chlorite‐anthophyllite and anthophyllite‐actinolite‐tremolite‐carbonate mineral assemblages. Sulphide pits, highly leached zones with occasional bluish tinges, limonitic patches are present in the felsic volcanic rocks, followed by semi‐massive to disseminated sulphide mineralization indicative of Kuroku‐ type Zn–Cu–Pb volcanic‐hosted Massive Sulphide (VHMS) mineralization. Scanning electron microscope and energy‐dispersive x‐ray spectroscopy studies documented sphalerite, pyrite, chalcophyrite, arsenopyrite, pyrrhotite, and minor Au–Ag phases. The Sarni rhyolites exhibit chalcopyrite disease in sphalerite, replacement, and overgrowth ore‐textures. The high HFSE, low Zr/Y ratio, pronounced negative Eu anomalies characterize the felsic volcanic rocks as FIIIb type with high zircon saturation temperatures of 856–931°C. These rhyolites are formed at a back‐arc rift setting in an ensialic island‐arc tectonic regime. The synvolcanic structures facilitated the magma ascent to the surface. The hydrothermal circulation due to adequate heat flow in the back‐arc rift environment, in an episodic multicyclic process provided sufficient time for accumulation of sulphides from the seafloor, which was later deposited to form a VHMS mineralization. We also report tungsten (W) mineralization in the quartz veins of these felsic volcanic rocks. It is suggested that the felsic magma has interacted with metasedimentary sequences and assimilated W‐ore bearing fluids, and during remobilization in the later stages of tectonic activity enabled the deposition of tungsten in these quartz veins.


The assumption that entrepreneurship is a critical factor in expanding employment, creating wealth and reducing poverty at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) in developing countries has led to the development of many initiatives to strengthen the entrepreneurial activities of poor people. Despite the fact that entrepreneurship is seen as a strategy in combating poverty, however, the entrepreneurial dynamics at BoP settings are still unclear. Based on focus group discussions and interviews we conducted with people engaging in vegetable farm businesses in Benin, we inductively analyse the entrepreneurial process at the BoP. We learn that the process trigger can be exogenous factors such as challenging situations and disruptive events. Based on this, we elaborate on the characteristics of the process and on the dimensions that influence, how opportunities are developed and exploited. We provide a process-based view of entrepreneurship at the BoP, suggesting the need for consistency between individual, behavioural strategies and contextual elements.


Historically, researchers studying contaminated sites have used grab sampling to collect soil samples. However, this methodology can introduce error in the analysis because it does not account for the wide variations of contaminant concentrations in soil. An alternative method is the Incremental Sampling Methodology (ISM), which previous studies have shown more accurately captures the true concentration of contaminants over an area, even in heterogeneous soils. This report describes the methods and materials used with ISM to collect soil samples, specifically for the purpose of mapping subsurface contamination from site activities. The field data presented indicates that ISM is a promising methodology for collecting subsurface soil samples containing contaminants of concern, including metals and semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs), for analysis. Ultimately, this study found ISM to be useful for supplying information to assist in the decisions needed for remediation activities.


Ultrasonic irradiation largely accelerated ceric salt initiated grafting of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) on regenerated cellulose film (cellophane thickness = 20 μm) at 60°C in air. The grafting under ultrasonic irradiation was characterized by a higher percent of grafting and graft efficiency and a lower density of GMA-grafted chains in the surface layer of the grafted films compared to the unirradiated system, which was obtained by attenuated total reflectance IR measurements. The grafted films were subjected to amination with ethylenediamine (En) at 70°C for 3 h in N,N-dimethylformamide. The amount of epoxy groups in the grafted films, which participated in the reaction with En, reached about 50–60 mol % and was slightly lower for the grafted film prepared in the irradiated system than that prepared in the unirradiated one. Adsorption of cupric ions with the aminated samples was performed at pH 5.0 using Clark–Lubs buffer solution and cupric chloride. The adsorption was extremely retarded for the aminated sample prepared using the unirradiated sample compared to that prepared using the irradiated one. The retarded adsorption phenomenon is discussed in terms of a larger formation of crosslinked structures on the surface layer of the former sample during the amination. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 74: 2462–2469, 1999


Introduction. The article concentrates on the religious policy of the Russian Empire in the Early Modern Time. For the first time in historiography, a study was carried out concerning the place of Catholic missionaries who settled on the southern outskirts of Russia, in the religious policy of Russian secular and spiritual authorities. Materials and methods. The base of the study was the correspondence of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs with the Holy Synod, as well as other institutions and officials, characterizing the scale of the presence and direction of activity of Catholic orders on the territory of Russia. The methodology of the study has been determined by the structural and functional approach to the system of state bodies of Russia. In combination with this approach, a historical-genetic method was used, which is optimal for understanding the evolution of the structure of power in the Russian Empire from the time of Peter the Greatto the middle of the reign of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna. The results of the research are presented in the section "Catholic missionaries in the south of Russia by the middle of the 18th century: political and diplomatic aspects". In it, the Capuchin Order is designated as the most active force of Catholic missionary work in the Russian south, which managed to prevail over others Catholic orders in dispute for influencing on the ethno-confessional groups of the studied region. It has been determined that the Capuchins in Russia gained constant diplomatic support from the Austrian monarchy. The activity of missionaries in Astrakhan and Nizhyn was traced, the place of the Armenian communities in the missionary plans of the Capuchins on the territory of Russia is shown. The influence on the position of the Capuchins of Russian-Austrian relations is emphasized, in particular of the "Austrian system" — the orientation of Russian diplomacy towards the Austrian court. The idea is carried out that the attitude of the Russian authorities in the capital and in the localities towards the Capuchins in such conditions was indifferent or patronizing, while in fact the Russian secular authorities did not take into account the violation of the prerogatives of the ruling Orthodox (Greek-Russian) church. In order of discussion (part "Missionaries in the Russian Borderlands: source study andhistoriographical observations" of the abovementioned section of the article), the main interpretations of Catholic missionaryism, found in the literature on Catholicism in Russia, have been identified. Conclusion. The author states that the reasons for the interest of Catholic missionaries to the southern Russian outskirts and their population were objective. The reaction of the Russian secular authorities to such an interest was little, and their awareness of the legal necessity of appropriate regulatory measures developed slowly.


Clinical skill training center construction was a systematic engineering, including buildings, teaching equipment, subject design, teaching methods and teaching content. To cope with the tendency of internationalization medical university education, modern simulate technology was imported in Nanfang Medical University. Medical simulate training place with international standard was built. Series of reform and temptations such as teaching mode, teaching content and teaching methods of clinical teaching were explored.


Abstract Variation in morphology and flavonoid chemistry is appraised in populations of H. albicans, H. recurva, and the tag name entity H. "glaucophylla NW Nelson", which together comprise the H. albicans complex. Morphological comparisons include a morphometric study of leaf variation. Comparisons in flavonoid chemistry are made with several other species of "Subcarnosae" and small‐leaved "Occlusae". It is proposed that members of the H. albicans complex be included within a single species, H. albicans, and that no subspecific taxa be recognised. Hebe albicans, as treated here, is a glaucous‐leaved shrub of rocky places in NW Nelson. Its has a decumbent to upright habit, and variable leaf shape. Two chromosome numbers (2n = 40, 80) have been recorded.


The TM wave propagation in a corrugated dielectric slab has been studied using a singular boundary perturbation procedure, which is supported subsequently by experiments in the millimeter-wave region.


Rapid mutation of airborne pathogenic viruses, e.g., SARS‐CoV‐2, and their similar symptoms with flu or influenza, raises an urgent demand for the development of biomolecule‐less nanosensors capable of rapid, sensitive, specific, and differentiable detection of viruses in a single potential window to distinguish infected people from healthy ones through a precise and prompt manner that do not require highly purified biological receptors. To address this vital requirement, a label‐free, and biomolecule‐less nanosensor is designed and developed based on the modified graphene oxide (GO) with NHS/EDC activated β‐cyclodextrin/8 hydroxyquinoline (8HQ) complex toward rapid (in 1 min) and differentiable detection of betacoronaviruses (viz., SARS‐CoV‐2) and influenza viruses (viz., H1N1 and H3N2) in a single potential window. The outcome of the process shows that the employed process leads to considerable soar in the electrical conductivity, porosity, active surface area, available active sites for trapping viruses, and sensitivity of the nanosensor that leads to rapid, sensitive, specific, and simultaneous detection of selected pathogenic viruses with a superiorly low detection limit (DL) and high sensitivity. Obtained results highlight the potential of the developed nanoplatform as a capable screening tool for quick detection of infected people.


This paper reconceptualizes grammar knowledge, making it more applicable to grammar education for the improvement of communication ability among Korean learners. The paper examines various types of grammar knowledge and identifies the ways in which it can be represented. In addition, the paper investigates how one type of grammar knowledge can be transferred to another. The results indicate that grammar knowledge does not exist objectively outside but is constructed by learners according to the constructivist perspective. Thus, the paper distinguishes grammar information from grammar knowledge. Further, the paper extends the denotation of grammar knowledge as educational content from procedural/implicit knowledge to declarative/explicit knowledge; two knowledges interact with each other. Based on this concept of grammar knowledge, the paper discusses the process of grammar knowledge. For this, the paper discusses the process of grammar knowledge formation by considering a series of steps from the input to the output and presents some issues associated with `comprehending`, `structuring` and `internalizing`. (Kookmin University)


A strategy for developing ferrimagnetism through B-site cation ordering in thermodynamically stable ferroelectric complex perovskites is described, with the aim of realizing both a spontaneous polarization and magnetization at room temperature. Specifically, solid solutions of the complex perovskites Pb(Fe2/3W1/3)O3, Sr(Fe2/3W1/3)O3, and Ba(Fe2/3W1/3)O3 with BiFeO3 are considered. Preliminary data on the 0.75Pb(Fe2/3W1/3)O3–0.25BiFeO3 ceramic show promising results.


Preliminary data from a fi rst-in-human study of the Revita duodenal mucosal resurfacing (DMR) procedure suggest the approach might well result in signifi cant improvement in hyperglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes. The study by Rajagopalan et al. (p. 2254) presents an interim analysis of data at 6 months postprocedure from 39 type 2 diabetes patients with the suggestion of potent glycemic effects including large reductions in mean HbA1c.The endoscopic procedure involves hydrothermal ablation of the duodenal mucosa, which in short means applying heat to the mucosal cells of the duodenum. Effi cacy of the treatment was then assessed via various relevant measurements including HbA1c conducted prior to the procedure and at various time points up to 6 months. Due to the workup of the procedure during the study, patients received either so-called short segment or long segment ablation. According to the authors, reductions in fasting plasma glucose were noted at 1 week and HbA1c reductions at 1 month. The effects were still reportedly present at 6 months in a majority of patients. More potent glycemic effects were present in patients that received longer segments of ablation. While the study is uncontrolled and nonrandomized, the authors rightly urge caution but remain optimistic with the study scheduled to continue for a few more years. At this stage, they say that mechanisms remain unclear but are likely linked to altered signaling following the procedure. Commenting more widely on the study, Harith Rajagopalan told Diabetes Care: "We believe these early studies show evidence of safety as well as early signs of a mechanism of action that could be a new treatment approach for people with type 2 diabetes who have failed oral medications. As we proceed with randomized clinical trials we hope to learn more about the role the duodenum plays in insulin resistance and how we can alter the progression of type 2 diabetes. Hopefully the result of this work will be a scalable alternative for patients who are frustrated by their current options."


Scientists at BioGenes GmbH, Berlin and Greenovation Biotech GmbH, Freiburg, have cooperated to develop a novel host-cell protein (HCP) assay for Greenovation's Physcomitrella patens expression system. The data have been published in the Journal BioProcess International in February 2016 by DabrowskaSchlepp and colleagues (http://www.bioprocessintl.com/analytical/upstream-validation/development-of-anovel-host-cell-protein-assay-supporting-the-physcomitrella-patens-expressionsystem/ ).


In this paper, according to the basic theory of balanced scorecard, the meaning and appraising requirement of resource -saving society, we put forward a logical theory model for appraising resource - conserving society system from four aspects including the resource - saving thought, the institution and organization, the process, and the comprehensive performance. On the base, a multi -level and comprehensive indicator system for evaluating resource - saving society has been set up, and then, as an example, it was applied to evaluate and analyse the situation of Fujian province.


In this paper, we propose a novel receiver structure for cancelling self-mixed interferences in direct conversion receivers. The proposed receiver structure is based on the adaptive interference cancellation (IC) using an adaptive algorithm such as a least-mean-square (LMS). The reference signal for the adaptive IC is obtained from the received signal itself. Thus, the proposed method can mitigate the self-mixed interference without any additional information on the self-mixed interference. Moreover, the signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) performance of the proposed cancellation method is theoretically analyzed. The simulation results indicate that the numerical SIR performance is well matched with the theoretical SIR performance. Also, the proposed cancellation method cancel the self-mixed interference almost perfectly even when the power of the received interference signal is 50dB larger than that of the received desired signal.


It is time to order the North Ridge Yearbook. This book is for EVERYONE – Kindergarten through Second Grade. We include photos from the most special and many everyday school events as well as group shots of all classes and all grade levels. We have pages devoted to all special classes and grade-level specific activities printed in FULL COLOR. Your child can have a keepsake of all the wonderful things he/she did at North Ridge each and every year.


of a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy BACTERIAL LEACHING FROM DAIRY SHED EFFLUENT APPLIED TO A FINE SANDY LOAM UNDER FLOOD AND SPRAY IRRIGATIONS


Knowledge of seed desiccation sensitivity is the beginning for seed storage which plays a decisive role in seed conservation. Experiments of two deciduous tree species (P. pterocarpum and S. mombin ) have done to determine the type of seed, to apply the successful seed storage and determine their seedling behavior. The study was conducted in April 2016 until July 2017 at Purwodadi Botanic Garden. The seeds through the desiccation process and 2 types of storage : freezer (-16 0C) and at refrigerator (16 0C) during 7 months. One hundred eighty seeds of a species in each treatment were planted in pod filled with sand in a greenhouse. The germination traits were identified, including GP (Germination Precentage), GR (Germination Rate), RGR (Relative Growth Rate), VH (Velocity of plant height increase), VL (Velocity of leaves number increase. Those species are more classified as intermediate rather than orthodox seeds. Each treatment brought significant difference in growth parameters, except RGR. In general, storage treatments decrease the seedling growth. However, the seedling stored in cold temperature has better performance in growth than seeds stored in freezing temperature. Storage in higher temperature are more successful in the seed conservation of P. pterocarpum and S. mombin.


Agrotourism represents the most important way for developing the rural area, generating income and creating jobs. The aim of the paper is to analyze the economic importance of tourism and agro-tourism, between the periods 2001 – 2011, for the top 10 leading countries by tourism receipts, according to Data World Bank: USA, China, Germany, France, England, Italy, Spain, Australia, Turkey and Austria, plus the main countries witch Romania is in competition, Hungary and Bulgaria, by the contribution of tourism and agro-tourism sector in accomplishment of GDP, by average made on the analyzed period and by annual growth rate, analyze that place Romania on the position 150 of 176 countries surveyed with an annual growth rate of 1.52% from GDP.


Background: Hepatotoxicity is historically the 3rd most common reason for ART toxicity related discontinuation. Liver toxicity generates medical visit, work plan exams, and frequent hospital admissions all of which increases expenses. In addition, hepatotoxicity hampers the maintenance of HIV suppressions over time. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of hepatotoxicity and identify the major predictors that may cause hepatotoxicity in Adama hospital, Adama City, Oromiya, Ethiopia.
Methods: A case-control study was conducted by reviewing charts of TB/HIV co- infected patients. All Patients on HAART and TB treatment and in ART follow up clinic of Adama Hospital of the last two years were included in the study. A total of 105 patients' charts were included in the study considering a 4 to 1 control to case proportion. A systematic random sampling method was used to collect data from patients' chart.
Results: Of the total 105 patients included in the study, 21(20%) were developed hepatotoxicity. Fifty four (51.43%) of the participants were females. The mean CD4 count of the patients was 205.1 + 96.18 cells/µL and ranges from the lowest count of 51 cells/µl to the highest recorded count of 559 cells/ul. The most frequent anti-TB regimen prescribed was 2(INH, RIF, ETM, PZA)/4(INH, RIF). Ninety five (90.5 %) of the participants were on the primarily prophylactic drugs. Of this figure, 49(46.7%) were on cotrimoxazole. Relatively more female patients 12(57.1%) were vulnerable for the development of hepatotoxicity. Most of the patients who had developed hepatotoxicity were on WHO clinical stage 3. Social drug use was significantly associated with development of hepatotoxicity (P=.005) with a 95% CI (0.01-311). Patients on TDF/3TC/EFV (OR= 121.7, P=.010) and D4T/3TC/NVP (OR= 47.4, P=.009) ART regimen were found to be more prone to develop hepatotoxicity compared to patients on D4T/3TC/NVP regimen and similarly patients on 2(ERHZ)/4(RH) anti-TB regimen (OR= 575.96, P=.002) with a 95% CI (0.02-3.8), was found to be more prone to develop hepatotoxicity compared to the other types anti-Tb regimens. Spearman correlation analysis of age, weight and/or CD4 count with of hepatotoxicity showed no statistical association. Conclusions: The prevalence of hepatotoxicity in TB/HIV coinfected patients can be due to a number of factors among which sex, the WHO clinical staging, use of Social drugs, type of ART regimen and type of anti-TB regimen are the major, according to the findings of this study.


Pre-clinical studies showed that in the presence of the selective pressure of a R5 HIV infection, ZFN modification conferred significant survival advantage and real protection to the treated T cells in humanized mice. Moreover, CCR5-negative HSCs retained full functionally and provided long-term resistance in all hematopoietic linage, even in critical compartments. Additionally, the combined disruption of both coreceptors gave protection in front of all tropism strains. Clinical trials make evident the therapeutic potential of the strategy. The infusion was generally safe and most of the patients showed increasing CD4 T cells counts, significant persistence of modified cells and their accumulation in the mucosa. Furthermore, the viral load importantly decreased even during the HAART interruption. The results suggest that viral eradication would probably require increased input and sustained generation of T cells carrying biallelic CCR5 disruption. Other improvements include the depletion of endogenous T cells before the infusion and the use of RNA electroporation to administrate the ZFNs into the lymphocytes.


In contrast with the large literature on firms' dividend policy, mutual fund dividend policy has received little attention. Mutual fund dividend policy is not as flexible as firms', since mutual funds are required by law to pay out nearly all dividends each year. However, mutual funds can still decide the frequency of dividend distributions. I show that multi-dividend policy hurts mutual funds and their shareholders, and therefore, ask the question why some mutual funds distribute dividends more frequently than the mandated. I find that mutual funds trade off the interests of new and existing investors as well as the different interests of existing investors with different dividend preferences. The first tradeoff between new and existing investors is related to the agency problem. To increase fee revenues, funds seek to increase fund size and might favor new investors at the expense of existing ones. The second tradeoff within existing investors with different dividend preferences is, however, potentially associated with a successful delegation of investment decisions. Mutual funds might adopt the dividend policy following some existing investors' preference. The author finds empirical evidence that dividend policy is associated with fund characteristics that measure the severity of conflicts of interest.


Introduction The European Alps are one of the few places that allow comparisons of natural climate proxies, such as tree-rings, with instrumental and documentary data over multiple centuries. Evidence from local and regional tree-ring analyses in the Alps clearly showed that tree-ring width (TRW) data from high elevation, near treeline environments contain substantial temperature signals (e.g., Buntgen et al. 2005, 2006, Carrer et al. 2007, Frank and Esper 2005a, 2005b, Frank et al. 2005). This sensitivity can be evaluated over longer timescales by comparison with instrumental temperature data recorded in higher elevation (>1,500 m asl) environments back to the early 19th century, and, due to the spatially homogenous temperature field, back to the mid 18th century using observational data from stations surrounding the Alps (Auer et al. 2007, Bohm et al. 2001, Casty et al. 2005, Frank et al. 2007a, Luterbacher et al. 2004). Further, the combination of such instrumental data with even older documentary evidence (Pfister 1999, Brazdil et al. 2005) allows an assessment of temporal coherence changes between tree-rings and combined instrumental and documentary data back to AD 1660. Such analyses are outlined here using TRW data from a set of Pinus cembra L. sampling sites from the Swiss Engadin, and calibrating these data against a gridded surface air temperature reconstruction integrating long-term instrumental and multi-proxy data (Luterbacher et al. 2004).