TOPSIS is a usual analytic techniquefor multiple attribute decision with finite alternativesand it has been widely used because it is comprehensive and objective.The application of TOPSIS can attribute to reasonable decision which all decision makers are satisfied with.


Objective To investigate CT manifestations of congenital pulmonary bronchogenic cysts.Methods CT features of 57 patients with pulmonary congenital bronchial cysts confirmed by pathology after operation were reviewed retrospectively.Results The lesions located in single lobe in 48 patients,in multi lobes of single lung in 3,and multi lobes of bilateral lungs in 6 patients.Pulmonary nodular opacity was detected in 21 patients,air-filled cyst in 19 patients,irregular mass attenuation in 8 patients and honeycomb-like cyst in 9 patients.Aspergilloma was seen in 13 patients.Spotty or curved calcification of the cystic wall was found in 5 patients.Pericystic emphysema and bandlike linear attenuation presented in 15 and 24 patients,respectively.Segmental pulmonary atelectasis by mass effect was seen in 4 patients,while proximal bronchiectasis and hydrops in 9 patients.Conclusion Most congenital pulmonary bronchogenic cysts show characteristic CT signs,which are helpful to preoperative diagnosis.


Abstract : The Disintegration of the Soviet Union and the disenfranchisement of its former surrogates, may increase the need for an effective military deterrent to combat terrorism. A review of Rogers Rangers during the French & Indian War (the first use of crisis-response type forces in 'America') is used for historical reflection. Rogers interdicted 'terrorists' with great strategic success. The key to their operational success was: the flexibility, special training, precise planning and excellent leadership. An comparison of the Mayaguez Incident in 1975 and the Achille Lauro Hijacking in 1985, is used to chart the direction of U.S. crisis response after Desert One. The Mayaguez, represented an ad hoc approach using theater based forces. The Achille Lauro, represented a relatively mature approach following lessons-learned from Desert One. Both the Mayaguez and Achille Lauro incidents required such a rapid response that positioning a military force (regardless of training or location) proved nearly impossible. Complications include host nations sensitivities, lack of flexible transportation, and the arowing sophistication of terrorists. Intelligence remains the key limiting factor. Crisis-response forces must continue to develop fast, flexible transportation, access to timely intelligence and concise detailed planning. The historical window for success is the 5 to 7 day point --not the 48-60 hour window of the Mayaguez or Achille Lauro. U.S. policy should look towards the interdiction of such terrorists as Rogers Rangers did on the American Frontier.


In the Future, the UAVs require enhanced capabilities, like long range cruising, reconnaissance, avoiding dangerous obstacle and tracking moving targets, tolerating unpredicted flight conditions, communicating with other UAVs. Cross-platform commonality to simplify system integration and new system development is also desired. A reconfigurable embedded flight control system (FCS) has been developed and tested. It employs system on programmable chip (SOPC) technology to satisfy the requirements for more advanced vehicle behavior in a small package, light weight, and low power consumption. The soft kernel processors and other programmable function units in SOPC enable variable custom interfacing and high performance parallel data processing. This paper focuses on the design aspects of the hardware and the software of the FCS.


Dental trauma is common in the UK, with more than one in ten children having experienced some form of dental trauma. In addition, one in ten patients have been reported to have experienced dental trauma before orthodontic treatment. A recent survey of orthodontists' knowledge and experience of orthodontic management of traumatised teeth has highlighted large inconsistencies in management of traumatised teeth among UK orthodontists, highlighting the need for further information or training on orthodontic management of traumatised teeth. Therefore, the following guidelines have been developed in order to provide an evidence-based approach to treat this cohort of patients. The following guidance is based on the available literature, expert opinion and UK orthodontists' consensus drawn from a recent survey.


The intersection of epidemics of tuberculosis and the HIV, termed as "the syndemic", is a rising health concern. It has resulted in a striking increase in the incidence of TB worldwide.


Virginia Woolf's most iconic writing A Room of One's Own not only suggests women to follow the path of creative faculty but also puts light on the necessity of having the required needs essential for the physiological and psychological development of a woman as an artist. Woolf's style of demonstrating the proper growth of an artist gets its finality in the last four paragraphs of A Room of One's Own where the rhetoric, very interestingly, follows the pattern of American psychologist, Abraham Maslow's  ̳Hierarchy of Needs'.


OBJECTIVES
To describe the diagnosis and outcomes of tuberculous lymphadenitis in a low HIV-seroprevalence population at a hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

METHODS
Retrospective case series of tuberculous lymphadenitis from 1983 to 1998 were examined.

RESULTS
There were 99 cases with a median age of 38 years and a female preponderance (female/male ratio of 1.3 : 1). Eighty per cent had cervical involvement and 36% had systemic symptoms. Eighty-nine per cent had their lymphadenopathy for more than 1 month. The diagnostic yield of tuberculin skin testing was 83%, of chest X-ray was 27%, of fine-needle aspiration was 46%, and of excisional lymph node biopsy was 97%. Only one-third of patients received a tuberculin test. There was no significant difference in outcome between 6 and 9 months of chemotherapy, and paradoxical enlargement of nodes occurred in only 6%.

CONCLUSIONS
Tuberculous lymphadenitis in our study population was predominantly cervical in location. The diagnostic yield of FNA was lower than that reported in the literature, and might be improved by more frequent tuberculin skin testing, multiple aspirations of lymph nodes, or use of excisional biopsy as the initial diagnostic procedure. Most patients responded well to chemotherapy, with few complications.


Business intelligence can be said to be techniques and tools as acquisition, transforming raw data into meaningful and useful information for business analysis purposes. This study aims to build business intelligence in optimizing large-scale data based on e-metrics. E-metrics are data created from electronic-based customer behavior. As more and more large data sets become available, the challenge of analyzing data sets will get bigger and bigger. Therefore, business intelligence is currently facing new challenges, but also interesting opportunities, where can describe in real time the needs of the market share. Optimization is done using adaptive multivariate regression that can be address high-dimensional data and produce accurate predictions of response variables and produce continuous models in knots based on the smallest GCV value, where large and diverse data are simplified and then modeled based on the level of behavior similarity, basic measurements of distances, attributes, times, places, and transactions between social actors. Customer purchases will represent each preferred behaviour and a formula can be used to calculate the score for each customer using 7 input variables. Adaptive multivariate regression looks for customer behaviour so as to get the results of cutting the deviation which is the determining factor for performance on the data. The results show there are strategies and information needed for a sustainable business. Where merchants who sell fast food or food stalls are more in demand by customers.


1 MSc, Department of Nursing, Student Research Center, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran 2 MSc, Department of Islamic Education, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran 3 MSc, Department of Psychiatric Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran 4 MS, Department of Statistics, Saman City Education, Chaharmahal and Bakhtyari, Iran 5 MS, Nursing Graduated, Head of Dormitory, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran * Corresponding author: Tayebe Mehrabi, MSc, Department of Psychiatric Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran E-mail: email@example.com Received: 31 Jun 2016 Accepted: 21 Sep 2016


Concrete structures such as bridges, pavement, and offshore structures are normally subjected to repeated load. Because highway and airfield pavements are to resist tension in bending, fatigue failure behavior is very important the fatigue life of materials. Therefore, in this paper was carried according to the fatigue test method and experiment variables for pavement concrete. The fatigue tests were applied split tension( in size) and flexural( in size) beam fatigue test method. Major experimental variable in the fatigue tests in order to consideration of fatigue life were conducted loading frequency of 1, 5, 10, 20Hz and loading shape of block, sine, triangle and moisture condition of dry and wet condition and curing age of 28day and 56day. The test results show that the effect of loading frequency increasing the frequency increased fatigue life, decreased significant at frequencies below 200 cycles. The effect of loading wave form on fatigue life show that a block decreased, triangular increased in comparison with sine. The effect of moisture condition decreased in wet condition in comparison with dry condition. The effect of curing age increased in 564ays in comparison with 28day.


Ensuring ethical robot behavior requires complex represen- tations and methodologies designed to guarantee it. Our approach extends frameworks already used by the U.S. military to ensure human ethical and doctrinal behavior by human beings. These have built in advantages of being able to express complex plans and constraints, yet remaining intelligible to humans, a requirement for ethical responsibility and liabil- ity. To extend the framework to machines, mission constructs are expressed using an Autonomous Vehicle Command Lan- guage (AVCL) expressing mission actions and outcomes that can readily be translated to runnable source code in several programming languages. Missions written in AVCL can be validated via translation to an RDF/OWL Mission Execution Ontology (MEO) supporting queried proofs of ethical cor-rectness. MEO ensures that missions are both semantically valid and compliant with ethical constraints. These technologies implement a simulation, testing, and certification regime that can serve as a foundation for human authority over and trust in robots capable of lethal force. work, especially regarding future lines of investigation.


Objective To study the value of helical multi-phase contrast scanning in the preoperative evaluation of cholangiocarcinoma hilar.Methods Pre-and post-contrast CT scanning of upper abdomen were performed in 26 cases with hepatic portal cholangiocarcinoma.Arterial phase scan of the whole liver began at 30 s after initial injection of contrast medium and the portal venous phase scan started at 70 s.15 of 26 cases underwent additional delayed phase scans began at 3~4 min.Thin thickness(3~5 mm)scanning of hepatic portal was used in each post-contrast phase scanning.The location,size,enhancement patterns of the lesions and the extent of the tumor involvement were observed and surgical resecetability was evaluated.Results All of 26 lesions were detected in helical multi-phase contrast scanning. 16 lesions enhanced on the arterial phase. On the portal venous phase, all lesions were enhanced and marked enhancement was seen in 19 lesions. Prolonged enhancement was seen in 15 lesions on the delayed phase scanning. The accuracy of evaluating surgical respectability was 84.62%. Conclusion Multi-phase contrast scanning combined with thin thickness scanning can demonstrate obviously the location and enhanced patterns of hepatic portal cholangiocarcinoma, the accuracy in evaluating surgical respectability is improved, and it is helpful in choosing the preoperative treatment program and assessing the prognosis.


By anatomising the systemic characteristics of knowledge sharing from the perspective of System Thinking after rethinking the previous research results,an integrated knowledge sharing analyzing framework is proposed.The framework is illuminated deeply through three aspects of motivation structure,subjective mechanisms and system boundary.Motivation structure is considered to be the primary determinant of individual knowledge sharing behaviours,and system boundary have moderating effect on the individual selection among subjective mechanisms of knowledge sharing.Finally,two strategies to promote knowledge sharing are suggested,which are optimizing motivation structure to keep it balance and properly adjusting the system boundary of knowledge sharing.


This essay describes the application of project teaching aspects concerning a foreign language terminology acquisition. The application of these aspects increases significantly the efficiency of the learning process. Project teaching develops foreign language terminology skills together with the actual speaking interaction; at the same time professional needs and preferences of students are respected. This paper summarises the benefits of project teaching where it meets fundamental language and extra linguistic requirements set by professional terminology training for future economists.


The fact that some verbs can be used as adverbial modifier is a developing phenomenon in modern Chinese. Some types of V-V combination, which were manner-action SVCs initially have further developed as compound words. In the evolution some verbs have grammaticalized as function words: pure adverbial modifier.


The mechanical response of soft amorphous materials is characterized by a global elasticity perturbed by plastic events. Such behavior is encountered in a broad variety of systems, from earthquakes to metallic glasses. We report experimental evidence that knitted fabrics exhibit all the attributes of those systems. A knit consists of a regular network of frictional contacts, linked by the elasticity of the yarn. When deformed, the fabric displays extended avalanche-like stick-slip events at inter-yarn contacts. We measure the size distribution of these avalanches, at the stitch level from the analysis of non-elastic displacement fields, and globally from force fluctuations. The two measurements yield consistent power law distributions compatible with similar analysis in other soft amorphous materials. Furthermore, the elastic response of the network to a single, local event allows to retrieve the direction of propagation and intrinsic properties of the avalanches. Our study introduces knitted textile as an original example of soft amorphous material that proves to be a handy experimental tool to explore the properties of these systems.


Selenate, a sulfation inhibitor, blocks the synthesis of heparan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate by cultured endothelial cells. In contrast, selenate does not affect the production of hyaluronic acid, a nonsulfated glycosaminoglycan. No differences in molecular weight, [3H]glucosamine/[35 S]sulfuric acid ratios, or disaccharide composition were observed when the heparan sulfate synthesized by selenate‐treated cells was compared with that of control cells. The absence of undersulfated chains in preparations from cultures exposed to selenate supports the concept that, in the intact cell, the polymerization of heparan sulfate might be dependent on the sulfation of the saccharide units added to the growing glycosaminoglycan chain.—Dietrich, C. P.; Nader, H. B.; Buonassisi, V.; Colburn, P. Inhibition of synthesis of heparan sulfate by selenate: possible dependence on sulfation for chain polymerization. FASEB J. 2: 56‐59; 1988.


Under the assumption that an incident e+or- interacts with an atom via an effective one-body potential for r d, the authors have derived an exact and practical phaseshift formula for the analysis of low-energy e+or--atom elastic scattering.


Inspired by cooperative foraging behavior in goose flocks, this paper proposes a distributed least-informed (DLI) method to achieve energy-efficient flocking control by selecting the least required informed agents. To avoid the fragmentation issue when applying the DLI method, three new concepts about the informed path, cycle, and tree are proposed. Based on the properties of the proposed new concepts, a theorem of fragmentation prevention is developed for multi-agent systems with a portion of informed agents. Utilizing the developed theorem of fragmentation prevention, the initialization and updating principles of the selection of the least informed agents in the DLI method are described. Simulation results demonstrate that by using the DLI method, a multi-agent system of 10 agents can successfully achieve energy-efficient flocking control without fragmentation. Namely, a collective motion around a (virtual) leader with velocity consensus (flock formation) is achieved by a total 15.9% energy reduction, compared with the completed informed method.


Abstract Background: Patients undergoing colorectal surgery are at risk of developing venous thromboembolism (VTE), including deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). Knowing predictors of VTE could help preventing this life-threatening complication. Methods: We collected data of patients undergoing colorectal surgery at our Unit between 2009 and 2014. Baseline characteristics, type of surgery, and postoperative complications were gathered. A univariate regression analysis was performed with symptomatic VTE as outcome. Pre-, intra-and postoperative clinical factors were separately tested. All variables significantly associated with VTE occurring within three months from the discharge were entered in the final multivariate regression model. Results: A total of 476 patients were included. Symptomatic VTE occurred in 13 patients (2.7%). Six (46.1%) occurred after hospital discharge. Preoperative variables associated with VTE were: advanced age at surgery (OR 2.3, 95%CI 1.8–5.6), smoking (OR 1.7, 95%CI 1.2–2.5), inflammatory bowel diseases (OR 2.1, 95%CI 1.5–4.3), advanced pelvic malignancies (OR 2.4, 95%CI 2.0-4.2), and obesity (OR 1.5, 95%CI 1.1-2.1). Prolonged pelvic manipulation (OR 1.8, 95%CI 1.1-4.3) and steep Trendelenburg position (OR 2.4, 95%CI 1.9-5.0) were intraoperative predictors of VTE, while stockings significantly reduced the risk (OR 0.8, 95%CI 0.4-0.9). Late mobilization (OR 2.5, 95%CI 2.0-4.6) and septic complications (OR 1.4, 95%CI 1.2-3.7) were postoperative predictors of VTE, whereas anticoagulants administered for at least 3 weeks after discharge were associated with lower VTE risk (OR 0.5, 95%CI 0.2-0.8). Conclusions: We observed several modifiable predictors of VTE. Patients with > 2 risk factors undergoing colorectal surgery could benefit from a more intensive VTE preventive pathway.


Background Despite the knowledge that contaminated hands play an important role in the transmission of healthcare-associated pathogens, and that hand hygiene (HH) reduces the transmission of these organisms, healthcare worker's adherence with HH is poor. Objective To understand the common beliefs and attitudes held by paediatric residents about HH. Design Qualitative study design. Setting Tertiary care paediatric hospital in Edmonton, Canada. Methods Semistructured interviews were conducted and themes were identified from interviews. Participants 22 paediatric residents. Results Paediatric residents self-reported their HH adherence at 70–99% and perceived hospital-wide adherence at 45–80%. Four major themes were identified during interviews including the importance of role modelling, balancing time spent on HH with other competing factors, self-protection as a driving factor for HH and cues as an important part of habit that stimulate HH. Conclusions Staff physicians were viewed as integral to initiating group HH events, but at times, the first person in the room acted as a role model for the rest of the group. In certain instances, such as a cardiac arrest, decreased adherence with HH was viewed as acceptable. Residents engaged in HH to protect their own health. Residents relied on personal cues, which they integrated into their own HH habit. Future HH adherence strategies should ensure that the physician training environments permit the formation of good attitudes and habits towards HH. There are no additional data available.


SUMMARY Regional players among the MNCs operating in Central and Eastern Europe have to decide if they should regard their businesses as a collection of individual markets or as a homogeneous region. The purpose of this paper is to examine if and how regionalization concepts have actually been implemented by foreign MNCs in CEE. The analysis focuses on the preconditions for the emergence of a regional strategy, on the identification of the main areas of regional integration, and the relationship between strategy and organizational structure. By using a longitudinal case study approach a better insight is gained on how regional strategies have emerged during the internationalization process of the firm and, if they have emerged, in which way they have manifested themselves in business decisions. The findings raise new questions about the regionalization construct with regard to the operationalization of regionalization, the relationship between strategy and structure, and its applicability to services.


We characterize and compare the private and social incentives to collect consumer data by a vertically-integrated online intermediary who competes with third-party sellers listed on its platform and is required by regulation to share with rivals all the information it gathers. With linear intermediation fees and price competition, the intermediary over-invests in accuracy compared to the social optimum when the intra-platform competition is sufficiently weak and when demand is not too responsive to quality. By contrast, the intermediary tends to under-invest in accuracy when the intra-platform competition is strong enough, and demand is sufficiently responsive to quality. With quantity competition, the intermediary always over-invests in accuracy. Importantly, when consumers exhibit privacy concerns, the over-investment problem worsens, whereas the under-investment problem mitigates. We also investigate the impact of alternative (non-linear) contractual arrangements.


Parallel architectures have yet to achieve the generality of sequential processing, particularly in areas such as image processing and vision. The main reason why parallel processing does not exhibit the same generality as sequential processing is because a large number of new degrees of freedom have been introduced for both the compiler writer and programmer. They include class of architecture, topology, programming paradigm reconfiguration, and the number of processors to be used. The complex relationship between these factors in typical real-time vision applications, makes performance estimation almost impossible and thus encourages a heuristic design philosophy. The authors approach is to fix some of these degrees of freedom to constrain the parallel architecture so that performance estimation is feasible. In this paper it is shown that, although not optimal in all areas, tree topologies of distributed processors with point-to-point communication links (e.g. the transputer) offer the best compromise between generality, performance and cost.


Currently, modern CAE programs like ANSYS, LS-DYNA, ABAQUS, Simcenter 3D etc. are widely used to develop each engineering product. CAE reduces development costs and speeds up product launches. Computer modelling allows eliminating unsuccessful design options at early design stages and minimising or eliminating critical design changes at the prototype testing stage. Computer simulations are especially needed for the development of high-performance perfection designs like jet engines. The use of composites in the engines requires the availability of appropriate design tools to assess the mechanical behaviour of structural elements made of such materials under operational loads and in an emergency. Predictive modelling of the deformation and fracture of the composite fan blades and fan case subjected to dynamic loading cause considerable interest of engineers. As in the case of simulation of shock loading of metals, a model of a composite material must be verified. However, the problem is that the fibrous composite material itself is already a structure and can be modelled in various ways: without considering the layered structure (homogeneous approach) taking the mesostructure into account (at the ply-level or at the yarn-level) taking the microstructure into account (at the filament level). The requirements for the initial data, the number of parameters determined during the verification process, the complexity of creating geometric models will differ in each case. This paper briefly describes the main approaches to the numerical simulation of composite elements under high-velocity impact loading. The main advantages and disadvantages of these approaches are also considered. On the example of the meso-scale approach, the main parameters of the computational models that affect the results of calculations are shown. Based on the obtained data, the main recommendations were formulated on the validation of meso-scale models of composites.


An off-grid sparse direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation algorithm, namely, iterative reweighted linear interpolation (IRLI), is proposed to avoid the declination of the DOA estimation precision present in unknown spatial coloured noise. The authors start by developing an off-grid sparse model based on linear interpolation with reweighted coefficient, which is a trade-off between tangent and secant offset, to guarantee an optimal approximation for off-grid signals. Next, the authors formulate the DOA estimation problem as solving the off-grid sparse model and, finally, the off-grid sparse model is addressed under the general framework of sparse Bayesian learning (SBL). Additional noise in IRLI is spatially coloured for calculating its statistical properties, which is different from SBL relying on the spatial white noise assumption. Numerical results with the limited snapshots and the low signal-to-noise ratio validate the algorithm by comparing with other algorithms.


A new adaptive comb filtering algorithm, capable of tracking the fundamental frequency and amplitudes of different frequency components of a nonstationary harmonic signal embedded in white measurement noise, is proposed. Frequency tracking characteristics of the new scheme are studied analytically, proving (under Gaussian assumptions and optimal tuning) its statistical efficiency for quasi-linear frequency changes. Laboratory tests show that the proposed algorithm can be successfully used for active control of MRI noise.


Low rainfull volume suggests the promise of long paths using higher microwave frequencies for radio communication in desert areas. The pursuit of this promise gives rise to the need for understanding the effects of sandstorms on microwave propagation. First, a distinction should be made between large sand grains and fine sand dust1 Sand grains of greater than about O.2-mm diameter are driven by the wind as a low-flying cloud with a height of les than about 2 meters above the ground. This limited height is expected to be lower than most antenna heights of a microwave station. On the other hand, dust-like sand particles can rise in dense clouds to a height of one kilometer or more. This latter type of sandstorm, which is essentially a misnomer for dust storm, may lie in the terrestrial and earth-space paths of microwave radio; hence, path attenuation data are required. Precise calculation is hampered by the uncertainty about the dielectric constant and the size distribution of sand particles. However, useful analysis and frequency dependence of the sandstorm effects can be obtained without precise knowledge of these parameters.


To ensure a good reputation for the producers and to guarantee the basic quality of wine for the consumers, an electronic tongue (E-tongue) coupled with a chemometric method was applied to rapidly discriminate the wine age of Chinese rice wine. Amino acid profiles analyzed by an amino acid analyzer together with principal component analysis (PCA) was used for validation of the wine age of the Chinese rice wine samples sourced from 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year. E-tongue responses collected by a potentiometric E-tongue together with discriminant analysis (DA) were used for the rapid discrimination of the wine age. The correlation between the E-tongue responses and the amino acid profiles was established by partial least squares regression (PLSR). The results showed that the calibration and validation samples were all correctly discriminated by the E-tongue coupled with DA. The E-tongue could be used for screening isoleucine (Ile), aspartic acid (Asp), tyrosine (Tyr), and valine (Val), with a residual predictive deviation (RPD) of greater than 2.0. The results indicated that using an E-tongue combined with DA was a reliable method for the discrimination of the wine age of Chinese rice wines.


The practice of error-prone profiling to select applicants for various entitlement programs has made use of a variety of prediction techniques, from multiple linear regression to logistic regression to regression tre3s. In most programs, data exists where a random sample of applicants or participants have been audited, and a resulting outcome can yield a disposition indicating whether the original data provided by the program participant was in error. In the Student Financial Aid system, one only has access to administrative records indicating if a person was selected to be audited or not, if their data changed and if he was paid. But students change their data spontaneously or drop out for reasons unrelated to the error or the audit. This paper examines various methodologies that have been explored to derive profiles from administrative data under these constraints.


This paper considers a class of activities labelled soft innovation that relate to changes in products that are aesthetic in nature or impact on their intellectual appeal. Having been little studied in the economics of innovation, this paper initially clarifies a number of definitional and measurement issues, such as the distinction between horizontal and vertical innovation, illustrates soft innovation in both the creative and other industries, considers its production and addresses related intellectual property protection issues. Using measurements based on counts of intellectual property registrations and new product launches (with an emphasis being placed upon the distinction between innovations with and without market impact) the extent of such innovation is clarified in terms of both national intensity and international spread. Related policy issues are also discussed. Recommendations are made for improvements in the definition of innovation, its measurement and policy advice.


The present invention relates to an optical treatment device and a method of controlling the same. The present invention provides the optical treatment device, which includes: a light source for generating light; a light path unit including a light path changing element for forming a path along which the light generated by the light source proceeds and refracting the input light to convert the progress direction of the light; a driving unit for rotating the light path changing element such that a location where the light is radiated may be changed; and a control unit for controlling the driving unit such that light may be radiated according to a preset pattern and a method of controlling the same.


This paper presents an accurate flux observer used in distributed multi-processor (DMP) adjustable speed drive systems. The stator flux linkage is estimated with a full-order observer, while the rotor speed is identified by using Lyapunov theorem. In order to improve the system performance in a wide speed range, the stator resistance is estimated simultaneously. In this paper, the structure of the DMP system, the principle of the full-order observer and the method for identifying the rotor speed and state resistance are all described in details. Relevant simulation results based on MATLAB/SIMULINK are given to prove the performance of the method. Experiments of a real system also verify the feasibility of this scheme


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze and access the extent that emotion contagion (EC) affects the passenger aggressive behavior, and then reveal key factors triggering the passenger mass violence event (MVE) under an irregular flight situation. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents the group behaviors simulation framework based on multi-agent. The EC model is put forward to explore the EC effect among passengers, integrating the influence of intervention measures, power difference and intimacy. Moreover, the authors propose the aggressive behavior decision-making model tailed to the passenger MVE by combining the improved social force model and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system. Findings – The experiment results show that the method proposed in this paper can simulate the realistic evolution process of passenger MVE .The EC effect among passengers is the catalyst for the quick spreading of MVE. The intervention measures, such as providing food and endorsing service, can effectively prevent from the MVE situation deterioration. Originality/value – The research of this paper has important practical significance for the evolution analysis of passenger MVE and provides the basis for airport safety management.


We usually think of bullous pemphigoid as a blistering skin disease, but it can present without bullae. In this report from a specialty skin clinic in


Chocolate spot causes substantial yield losses in various cropping seasons in Ethiopia and in many parts of the world wherever faba bean grows. Thus, integrated management of faba bean chocolate spot (Botrytis fabae Sard.) was studied using the moderately tolerant variety, 'Degaga' (R-878-3) and local cultivar during the 2012/13 main cropping season at Bekoji and Kulumsa Agricultural Research Centers in Arsi, Ethiopia. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design in a factorial combination of two faba bean cultivars, two cropping systems (Degagaand Local-barley intercropping in 1:1 ratio) and four spray intervals of fungicide (Chlorothalonil) applied at 7, 14 and 21 days after the onset of disease at a rate of 2.5kg a.i ha-1 and unsprayed control with three replications. Chocolate spot infection was more prevalent at Kulumsa with a significant (P<0.001) amount of disease observed as compared with Bekoji (P < 0.05). Applications of fungicide and cropping systems considerably reduced disease incidence, severity, area under the disease progress curve, disease progress rate, and increased faba bean grain yield and system productivity by a mean relative yield advantage of 31 and 39% at Bekoji and Kulumsa, respectively. Reduction in disease severity was observed in all fungicide sprayed intercropping systems and sole crops compared with the corresponding unsprayed intercrops and sole controls, with a general disease reduction from 35.4 to 23.4% at Bekoji and 68.9 to 40.9% at Kulumsa. However, considering the economics of fungicide application against the faba bean chocolate, maximum net profit was recorded from medium spray intervals (Local FB:BA 14-days) as compared with the other treatments at both locations. Faba bean-barley integrated management practice proved to help in reducing chocolate spot and increasing productivity and income especially under subsistence farming conditions in the country.


This paper describes the ADAM4000 serial modules used to build the ADAM data acquisition and control network so as to implement the communication between a control computer and several maching centers in a workshop.The paper also discusses the design method of the ADAM network and the system software.The system is high reliable,easy to configure and expand.


Charles Murray's account of human excellence, from the age of Homer to our own time. Murray compiles inventories of the people who have been essential to the stories of literature, music, art, philosophy, and the sciences - a total of 4,002 men and women from around the world, ranked according to their eminence. The heart of Human Accomplishment is a series of descriptive chapters: on the giants in the arts and what sets them apart from the merely great; on the differences between great achievement in the arts and in the sciences; on the meta-inventions, 14 crucial leaps in human capacity to create great art and science; and on the patterns and trajectories of accomplishment across time and geography.


The paper analyzes the linkages between the reform strategies in transition countries and economic performance. We focus on agriculture because of the sharpness of the policy changes, fundamental differences among countries, and relative simplicity of agricultural relationships. We document post reform performance in the transition countries of Asia and Europe. We show how: a.) pricing reform and subsidy reductions; b.) land rights reform and policies that affect farm restructuring; and c.) the presence institutions that facilitate exchange (either markets or market substitutes) affect output and productivity. The paper ends with general lessons on reforms and transition.


are today being devoted to this subject. They express a wide variety of opinion. A Senator announces that youth is the hope of the Nation. An editorial writer looks with alarm upon the &dquo;radical&dquo; speeches of certain college students, believing that they represent the viewpoint of American youth as a whole. An author, analyzing the attitudes and beliefs of her youthful but bored intellectual associates, wonders where the young rebels are. A journalist, after touring the country for several months, concludes that our young people are a &dquo;lost generation,&dquo; that they are &dquo;runners delayed at the gun. They have lost so much time at the start that only the exceptional can challenge the finish.&dquo; 1 And a social worker finds in the mounting proportion of young people among the unemployed and those arrested for crimes a most serious and discouraging problem. In European and certain other foreign countries the problems of modern youth have been apparent for many years, and a survey of what has happened and what has been done in these countries throws considerable light upon the problems of youth in the United States.


This article delivers a theoretical overview of the gravity model and some of its main applications. The goal is as well to provide some criticism and to discuss the effectiveness of this widely used model. The model, in fact, not only did not lose its appeal over time but, on the contrary, it continued to develop and to become more reliable and relevant. It becomes clear that, although it has some problems and limitations, the gravity model is still a widely used and compelling tool, especially in the trade flow area.


An ideal gear box would produce no vibration at all because all energy would be channeled into the work to be done; but a well‐designed gear box will produce low levels of inherent vibration. As the gear teeth wear, however, backlash between meshing teeth increases and this is reflected in an increase in the vibration energy. As the vibration energy is dissipated through the gear box, it excites resonances and exerts extra dynamic loads on gear teeth. It is of great interest to the maintenance engineers to predict the occurrence of backlash between gear teeth. The fact that vibration signals carry much information relating to running conditions of gear boxes can be used to solve this problem. In this study, a mathematical model was formulated to simulate the effect of backlash between gear teeth on the vibration spectrum of gear boxes. A single stage helical gear box was used to demonstrate this model. In this simulation, the transmission shafts were treated as lumped parameter systems. The elasticity of shafts, bearings, and gear teeth were also included. The grounded‐chair representation was used to obtain the equations of motion that were solved using the Runge‐Kutta method. The vibration spectra of the gear box system were obtained using fast Fourier transform (FFT). These spectra can be used to construct a vibration chart which, in turn, can be used to determine the proper times for maintenance of gear boxes to avoid failure of such units.


Based on biological survey data,the key indexes of various species are calculated in Huizhou reach of the Dongjiang main river,and the keystone species are identified by comparing the keystone index of various species,according to the food structure of aquatic ecosystem.The conservation priority of key species is determined through computing the threatened coefficient,the genetic coefficient and the specific value coefficient.The results show that fish is the key species,and there are 1,3,7 and 38 species to be given priority conservation separately for the first,the second,the third and the fourth class protection.The Dongjiang main river carp has the maximal protection order coefficient in aquatic ecosystem of Huizhou reach of the Dongjiang main river.Moreover,Chinese carps should also be regarded as the species of priority of conservation.


Purpose: Osteoarthritis is a serious condition that can significantly reduce a person's quality of life, causing pain and stiffness in the knees and limiting their mobility. The condition progressively worsens over time, emphasizing the importance of early diagnosis. This study implemented a computer-aided classification approach to reduce the time and effort required for diagnosing knee osteoarthritis while minimizing human errors.
Materials and Methods: Data analyzed in this study was obtained from the Osteoarthritis Initiative. A total of 165 samples were used in the study. All abnormal samples were graded as severe osteoarthritis. While 78 samples were used to test the implemented algorithm, the training process of the algorithm was completed with 87 samples. The proposed approach involves three main stages: segmenting the cartilage region through a series of image-processing operations, extracting morphological features from the defined region, and classifying samples based on these features. In the classification stage, morphological features characterizing the cartilage region were classified in the observation space, and the k-nearest neighbors algorithm was applied for automated discrimination. Accordingly, the computer utilizes the previously classified sample features to estimate the presence of pathology.
Results: Test classifications were completed with 78 samples; 28 were previously diagnosed with osteoarthritis. Morphological measures of the training samples were accepted as a reference for abnormality. The applied classification scheme can distinguish severed cartilage regions with a 0.95% accuracy.
Conclusion: This study demonstrates the potential effectiveness of a computer-aided approach in diagnosing knee osteoarthritis with high accuracy. The developed approach offers a promising solution for early and efficient diagnosis, enabling more timely and effective treatment strategies for osteoarthritis patients. The progressive nature of the disease makes these advancements in diagnostic methods invaluable. Future studies may focus on expanding the sample size and further refining the model for enhanced precision and broad applicability in clinical settings.


This Commentary assesses the report by the high-level group on financial supervision, chaired by former IMF Managing Director and Bank of France Governor Jacques de Larosiere. The author, CEPS CEO Karel Lannoo, finds that the group's recommendations offer a useful first step, but that its proposals need to be clarified and simplified, and their implementation accelerated. In his view, the report should lead to a clear roadmap to be adopted by the EU Council and some choices need to be thought through more carefully, procedures more fully specified and structures elaborated. Moreover, he advocates amending the EU Treaty to establish a European System of Financial Supervisors – a question carefully avoided by the report.


BACKGROUND
increasingly, markers of systemic inflammation like C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and white blood count (WBC) are being used for assessing the prognosis of patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). However, their predictive value has not been validated in populations of elderly patients.

OBJECTIVE
to evaluate the prognostic value of CRP and WBC in comparison with the CURB score and the pneumonia severity index (PSI) in elderly, hospitalised patients with CAP.

METHODS
the charts of all patients, aged 65 years and older, who were consecutively admitted to the Department of Geriatrics, Marienhospital Herne, Germany, for treatment of CAP between January 2001 and September 2005, were reviewed. CRP, WBC, CURB and PSI were analysed in relation to 30-day mortality.

RESULTS
in a total of 391 patients, median age 80 years, no association was found between CRP or WBC and mortality. In contrast, the CURB score and PSI were significantly associated with mortality and treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU).

CONCLUSION
in elderly, hospitalised patients with CAP, admission CRP and WBC are not predictors of the prognosis.


A method for inhibiting platelet aggregation in a patient in need thereof, comprising 1) administering to the patient a bolus injection of an active drug, in an amount of about 25 mug/kg, and 2) administering to the patient, after the bolus injection, an intravenous infusion for a period of between about 12 hours and about 72 hours, of the active drug, in an amount of about 0.15 mug/kg/min, wherein the active drug is tirofiban or a salt thereof.


under the Internet + "Vision, the Hybrid Teaching Method of Primary School English Can Focus on the Advantages of" Online and Offline "to Meet the Learning Needs of Each Student. the Application of the Internet is Conducive to the Design of Students' Pre-Learning, Paying Attention to the Development of Students' Personality and Making English Learning Full of Interest. the Learning Way of "Internet +" is Simple and Easy, Which is Conducive to the Expansion of English Learning and the Overall Improvement of Students' Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing Abilities.


The idea of superhero programs for children was pioneered by the Japanese and took shape with Astro Boy, aired first on New Year's Day,1963. Its popularity skyrocketed in no time, making children's television superhero program a global phenomenon. This dissertation looks into the cultural aspects like nationalism of the Indian variety through the superhero program, that made its debut with Shaktimaan on September 13,1997 following the trend set by American superhero programs aired previously on Indian television. The intention is also to throw a searching light ontoShaktimaan as a cultural product, with special emphasis on the socio-historical context,this is done through a comprehensive analysis of its motifs, taking Shaktimaan as a text.


Subtitle: Bad lease options and lease-purchase programs are leading drivers down the path to heartbreak and financial ruin--leaving most with no truck, no credit and a black mark on their work history.


This article introduced that it is important to increase the quality education of professional teachers in lab of college and university.The main part is to analyze the problems exiting in the quality building and give some advices to those problems.


Many audio applications make use of electronic pass-through listening devices that intercept the signals entering a listener's ears and electronically process them in real time. An important issue in designing such devices is ensuring that they maintain the listener's natural ability to localize sound sources. Previous research suggests that optimal localization requires a completely-in-the-canal (CIC) design with a system bandwidth of at least 13 kHz. However, most practical designs have to make engineering compromises in terms of bandwidth and/or microphone placement that cause some degradation in localization performance. The paper compares open-ear localization to localization with seven different pass-through devices: five custom-molded earplugs with different microphone configurations; a CIC hearing aid; an electronic earmuff. The results show that earplugs interfere substantially less with localization than earmuffs, but that the frequency response has a larger impact on performance than does physical configuration in earplug systems that are bandlimited to frequencies below 6 kHz.


Abstract In this article we obtain the asymptotic distribution of the first iterate of iterated two stage least squares; we demonstrate that this distribution is different from that of the usual two stage least squares estimator. Moreover, we show that the difference in the covariance matrices of their respective asymptotic distributions is, generally, neither positive nor negative semidefinite. In particular, we produce examples in which for some parametric configurations this difference is positive semidefinite while for others it is negative semidefinite.


We study the effect of magnetic field on the dominant neutrino emission processes in neutron stars. The processes are first calculated for the case when the magnetic field does not exceed the critical value to confine electrons to the lowest Landau state. We consider here magnetic fields up to ~1019 Gauss. We find that fields of strength 1015-1016 Gauss have significant effect on the neutronization process, for the direct URCA process the effect of the magnetic field becomes significant only at ~1019 Gauss. In order to estimate the effect we derive the composition of cold nuclear matter at high densities and in beta equilibrium, a situation appropriate for neutron stars. The hadronic interactions are incorporated through the exchange of scalar and vector mesons in the framework of relativistic mean field theory. In addition the effects of anomalous magnetic moments of nucleons are also considered.


The crude oil of H oilfield contains wax and asphaltenes, and the formation water salinity is up to 160000-220000mg/l, so there is a tendency that the asphaltenes and scale will be deposited in the wellbore during the course of well production, which will influence the normal production greatly. It is necessary to make clear the sedimentary law and corresponding measures. The content of organic and inorganic of wellbore deposits of H oilfield is analyzed through a series of laboratory tests. On the base of the test results, integrated with comparison of conventional deposit prevention and removal technologies, chemical and mechanical methods are recommended. Moreover, formulation of the acid cleaning agent is determined and the principle and process of mechanical removal method is presented.


Cancer cells undergo genetic or epigenetic changes that result in uncontrolled proliferation and escape from apoptosis. Cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks) are the master regulators of cell division. RO-3306, a selective small-molecule inhibitor of CDK1, has been shown to inhibit proliferation, induces a G2/M cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in cancer cell lines. The mechanism of action of RO-3306 involves binding to the ATP pocket of CDK1 and it also affects p53 downstream targets. The purpose of the present study was to investigate additional ef fects of RO-3306 through screening for changes in mRNA expression of genes known to be involved in human carcinogenesis in the human hepatocarcinoma cell line HepG2 using the RT2 Prof ilerTM PCR Array. In the present study, RO-3306 reduced the viability, inhibited colony formation assay, induced a G2/M cell cycle phase arrest, as well as apoptosis in HepG2 cells. On the mRNA level RO-3306 increased the expression of the two cell cycle inhibitors p21 and p16 , as well as the expression of tumour necrosis factor (tnf) relative to control and it downregulated the expression of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 3 (timp3). We conf irmed the increased expression of p21 and p16 on the protein level by Western blot. Furthermore, RO-3306 induced the expression of p53 protein, while it did not alter the protein levels of CDK1 or its inhibitory phosphorylation on tryrosine 15. In conclusion, our study conf irms the previous results that RO-3306 has multiple anticancer ef fects, and it provides further insight into the molecular events associated with these effects including the induction of the expression of cell cycle inhibitory and apoptotic genes.


Hypoglycaemia: A Serious Prob- lem in the Management of Diabetes. In the 2001 Claude Bernard Lecture of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, Philip Cryer named hypoglycaemia "the limiting fac- tor in the glycaemic management of type-1 and type-2 diabetes". Hypoglycaemia affects all people managing their diabetes with insu- lin or insulinotropic oral medications. Many experience hypoglycaemia as one of the major burdens of diabetes treatment. Many diabetic patients develop problems with hypoglycaemia over time, e. g., worsening of hypoglycaemia awareness or the occurrence of severe hypogly- caemia which requires third-party assistance. The development of hypoglycaemia problems is directly associated with the treatment goal of normoglycaemia. In diabetic patients with a near-normoglycaemic control and frequently low blood glucose levels counterregulatory hormonal responses decline over time. These defi cien- cies are the physiological base of the concepts of hypoglycaemia-associated autonomic failure and hypoglycaemia unawareness. This review describes the relevance of hypoglycaemia prob- lems in the treatment of people with diabetes, increases the understanding of the pathophysio- logical concept of hypoglycaemia unawareness, and shows options for an effective treatment with the focus on type-1 diabetes. J Klin En- dokrinol Stoffw 2011; 4 (3): 18-24.


Laser-induced plasmas of dual-pulse fiber-optic laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy with different pulse energy ratios are studied by using the optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and fast imaging. The energy of the two laser pulses is independently adjusted within 0–30 mJ with the total energy fixed at 30 mJ. The inter-pulse delay remains 450 ns constantly. As the energy share of the first pulse increases, a similar bimodal variation trend of line intensities is observed. The two peaks are obtained at the point where the first pulse is half or twice of the second one, and the maximum spectral enhancement is at the first peak. The bimodal variation trend is induced by the change in the dominated mechanism of dual-pulse excitation with the trough between the two peaks caused by the weak coupling between the two mechanisms. By increasing the first pulse energy, there is a transition from the ablation enhancement dominance near the first peak to the plasma reheating dominance near the second peak. The calculations of plasma temperature and electron number density are consistent with the bimodal trend, which have the values of 17024.47 K, 2.75×1017 cm−3 and 12215.93 K, 1.17 × 1017 cm−3 at a time delay of 550 ns. In addition, the difference between the two peaks decreases with time delay. With the increase in the first pulse energy share, the plasma morphology undergoes a transformation from hemispherical to shiny-dot and to oblate-cylinder structure during the second laser irradiation from the recorded images by using an intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD) camera. Correspondingly, the peak expansion distance of the plasma front first decreases significantly from 1.99 mm in the single-pulse case to 1.34 mm at 12/18 (dominated by ablation enhancement) and then increases slightly with increasing the plasma reheating effect. The variations in plasma dynamics verify that the change of pulse energy ratios leads to a transformation in the dual-pulse excitation mechanism.


The spontaneous lifetime and quantum efficiencies of dipoles placed close to a metal mirror are calculated. The importance of these effects is demonstrated in the recent experimental work on InGaAs-GaAs quantum-well light-emitting diodes (QW LEDs) in which the modulations rates were varied from 0.8 GHz to 1.4 GHz through the placement of a QW next to a Ag mirror (D.G. Deppe et al., 1990). Classical energy transfer theory is used to treat the spontaneous radiation of a QW in a semiconductor system. The spontaneous radiative lifetime and internal quantum efficiency are strongly affected by the location of the QW, which confines the dipoles, by the orientation of the dipole in the well, by the metal reflector material, and by the metal mirror thickness. In general, the internal quantum efficiency decreases when the dipole is closer to the metal, because of the nonradiative energy transfer from the dipole to the absorptive metal. The overall effect of closely spaced metal mirrors on the measurable external quantum efficiency, which is important for fast light emitting diode design, is presented. >


(Lactuca sativa L.) has been observed in major lettuce-producing areas of the world, including North America, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Roots of infected plants develop yellow to brown lesions that later become longitudinal corky ridges. In severely infested fields in California and Florida, yield losses from reduced head size can reach 30% to 70 0/0. The pathogen most commonly isolated from diseased roots is the bacterium Sphingoinonas suberifaciens (Yabuuchi et al., 1999), formerly RhLomonas suberifaciens, although several other bacterial species have been isolated (van Bruggen, 1997). The incidence of corky root may be reduced by soil fumigation (O'Brien and van Bruggen, 1990) and by using lettuce transplants instead of direct seeding (van Bruggen and Rubatzky, 1992), but these practices may not be economically feasible for the Salinas Valley, the major lettuce production area in California (Patterson et al., 1986). The use of cultivars resistant to S. suberifaciens has been and should continue to be an important management strategy for corky root. The resistance to corky root is conferred by a recessive allele (cor) at a single locus (Brown and Miehelmore, 1988), which has been deployed in most resistant lettuce cultivars. Lettuce mosaic virus (LMV) causes serious disease problems in the production of lettuce worldwide. Plants susceptible to LMV exhibit systemic symptoms of vein clearing, mottling, leaf recurving, leaf margin frilling, distortion, stunting, and occasional necrosis. LMVis primarily transmitted by the green peach aphid (Myzus persicae Sulz.) and can cause losses of up to 100% (Ryder, 2002). In California, the disease is generally controlled by the use of virus-free seeds in a seed certification program. In


Objective To study the relation between Child Turcotte classification and pathology, diagonsis, prognosis and fibrosis index as well as its significance. Methods The levels of hyaluronic acid(HA), type Ⅲ procollagen(PCⅢ), Laminin(LN) and type Ⅳ collagen(Ⅳ C) were detected by enzyme linked immunoadsordent assay(ELISA) or radioimmunoassay(RIA). Pathomorphology was observed in 68 patients with cirrhosis. Results Level of HA in serum was positively correlated with cirrhotic severity, but other fibrosis indexes could not reflect cirrhotic severity. Child Turcotte classification was concordant with the pathological changes. The concordance rate of Child Turcotte classification B or C patients with pathologic diagnosis was up to 97.8%. The recovery rate of Child Turcotte classification A patients was up to 95.5%. Fatality rate of Child Turcotte classification C patients was up to 96.9%. Conclusion Child Turcotte classification is closely correlated with the severity of hepatic fibrosis, severity of pathological changes in liver and prognosis of patients. It is of clinical value in the reflection of severity of hepatic cirrhosis.


C ONSUMER S surplus analysis originated with Jules Dupuit and Alfred Marshall in the last century, and ceased long ago being a novelty, but it is fair to say that it is still viewed widely with a certain skepticism. Recently Arnold Harberger has attempted to provide the basis for a concensus on consumer's surplus in the form of several basic postulates that are held to be impelling [5, 1971]. Perhaps he is right in assuming that it is through such a reduction to axiomatic fundamentals that persisting doubts can be resolved one way or the other, but to obtain such a result, I believe it is also necessary for those concerned with consumer's surplus (and who in economics can afford not to be?) to face more squarely than they often seem to have done issues posed long ago by this much quoted passage in Paul Samuelson's Foundations:


VICTORIAN STUDIES either failed at the Bar, or who had succeeded but become worn out by the demands of practice. Despite criticisms in the legal press, the county court bench appeared to encourage idiosyncrasy. Among Polden's examples is the judge who was reputed to come to court with two authorities to assist his deliberations: Everyman's Guide to the Law and Ruff's Guide to the Turf. Another, in 1919, criticised a husband for failing to try the effect of physical chastisement on his drunken, quarrelsome wife. Perhaps the conditions in which justice had to be administered had a deleterious effect on some judges. One observer in 1852 described litigants and witnesses as "[roaring] at each other like bull-calves, while the judge in vain commands silence" (qtd. 48). Another observer said that he was tired of comedies and farces at the theatre; nothing was equal to the amusement and fun to be found in county court proceedings. In 1878 the President of the Law Society declared that "a man of position cannot go into the county court" (qtd. 48). In the 1870s in Lambeth the layout of the court building meant that both judge and registrar had to hold court simultaneously, one at each end of the room. In the 1890s the Bar Council protested at the conditions in some courts where, on the morning of a busy day, it was practically impossible to pass in or out of the court, impossible to get a seat, and so cramped that conferences had to take place in the street. (A modest building programme was brought to a halt by the slump in the 1930s, and the Second World War brought closures of courts and bomb damage. Makeshift provisions continued after 1945.) For some time after 1846 the status of county court judges was unclear. Some of the first judges to be appointed sat unrobed and discouraged advocates who did not follow their example. It was only from 1884 that judges were entitled to be addressed as "Your Honour." (This in itself emphasised their inferiority to High Court judges, and the common law judges before them, who were addressed as "My Lord.") The judicial robe of purple and black that is now a familiar sight in the courts was not designed until the Great War; even then it remained unofficial. Although there were some promotions from the county court to the High Court bench, they were very few. Some county court judges decided after a short taste of the bench that they could not endure what Judge Parry described in 1903 as a "dull, grey life" and returned to practice. It was only in the 1960s that the Bar Council finally blocked this escape route. Polden casts light incidentally on a number of wider social issues, such as imprisonment for debt, attitudes to divorce, the introduction of Rent Act protection for tenants, and the introduction of legal aid. His research is supported by some useful statistical tables and by an admirable bibliography and index. Christopher Allen City University, London


Drawing on multimodal analysis of graffiti in male public restrooms at the Faculdade de Letras of the Universidade Federal do Rio
 de Janeiro, this paper investigates how notions of place and gendered/sexualized subjects are discursively (re)constructed in
 interactions with the materiality and historicity of the public realm. The analysis focuses on the indexicalities of public
 signage and the ways they (in)form understandings of and access to certain spaces. By investigating the fragmented history of
 entextualizations of these toilet graffiti as well as the indexicalities of their lexical, graphic, and co(n)textual aspects, we
 argue that places can be queered since they are semiotically constructed and discursively
 performed. The paper illustrates how static assumptions about place, gender, and sexuality can be disrupted and
 ressignified which highlights the pornoheterotopic character of these public restrooms in which semiotic processes that
 (de)regulate gender and sexual dissidence are emplaced.


The organizational transformation that happened in the world economy recent decade was accompanied by the concepts of less-profitable production and flexible system. The concepts implicitly provide a production and working capacity that is consistent with demand and current capacity of acceptance. The origin of limited management was higher according to efficiency and imbalance between resources and demand for the resources. There are double restrictions for the private institutions and in all Irish economic fields. Methodology: The international institutions face with the global limitations about less-profitable productive models. The non-commercial institutes are facing new problems that are related to the lack of employees and other resources while there were a recession and low efficiency about resources. Goldratt in her book providing theories about constrains provides new fields in economic perspective (Goldratt and Cooks, 1993). These managing ideas of best salesman are describing as an exciting story that describes the manager's attempts to prevent the loss caused by performance and the bankruptcy of the company. Results: In the story, Goldratt and Descooks attacked to the price finished accounting as an "enemy to productivity" rather than using developed holistic techniques as on-time production and statistic control of the process. In this article, the relative usefulness of the theory of constraints related to accounting business managing methods is explained to use the resources and decision-making. Conclusion: The article, also examines the spread and evaluation of constrains and reactions that cause accounting and managing culture. Survival of the price finished management that is explaining against the continuous attacks is consistent with the probabilities by Goldratt relating to regulations ability to make changes and obligatory developments as training programs.


Abstract Because of the nature of the diesel engine combustion process, such engines produce more toxic emissions, more visible smoke and odour than gasoline engines. This has led to an increasing concern about the possible effects of diesel emissions on the environment and human health. This study examines emissions form two experimental diesel powered vehicles pilot schemes at a Dubai municipality; an inspection and maintenance experiment and a diesel particulate filter experiment. Comparing the two experiments with a baseline vehicle, the results indicate that after the inspection and maintenance experiment, a significant reduction in emissions was achieved in carbon monoxide (300%), nitrogen oxides (500%) and hydrocarbons (88%). The implementation of a diesel particulate filter lead to even better emission reductions but at a higher cost, with hydrocarbon emissions decreasing by 150%, carbon monoxide by 500% and nitrogen oxides by 700%. The results are promising for both experiments for future investigation.


To understand the three different pension modes( family,community,organization) information needs of the elderly of Chongqing City,the daily life of the elderly information needs of different pension mode under the law were explored. Using stratified cluster sampling method,we designed the questionnaire combined with demand of the old people's daily life information of different endowment pattern in Chongqing city under the old people to investigate,using statistical methods related to carry on the statistical analysis of survey data. Results show that,different pension mode in elderly patients,weather,news attention are higher for entertainment information,health information,concern the second,needs of different pension mode of traffic,tourism,shopping,economy,social welfare,scientific knowledge,information and each has its characteristics. We should pay attention to different endowment mode of old people's information needs,and take an active response measures according to thecharacteristics of information demand of their own to meet the different endowment mode of old people's information needs and improve the quality of life.


The Metachromatic Leukodystrophy (MLD) is an autosomal reces sive lipidosis caused by the deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme ar ylsulfatase A (ARSA), the clinical course of MLD evolves primarily with neurological dysfunction. Objective. describe the characteristics and clinical evolution of two brothers who have a diagnosis of MLD infant. Method. a case report of two brothers, one child was female with eight years of age and one male with six years of age. The medical history was collected through analysis of medical records, interviews, physical examination, physical therapy evaluation, assessment of muscle tone through Modified Scale Ashoworth, assessment of gross motor function through Classification System Gross Motor Function in MLD (GMFCS-MLD) old photos and current photos. Results. the clinical outcome in both cases began with gradual loss of postural support, increasing muscular hypertonia, muscle shortening and musculoskeletal deformities, loss of functionality and total dependence to perform activities of daily living. Conclusion. the clinical condition of the two brothers is similar and consistent with descriptions in the literature, however, the younger brother has shown clinical deterioration fast.


Introduction: In childhood, recurrent upper respiratory tract infections are the most common reason for visiting a general practitioner. (GP) The complexity and similarity in the symptoms of these infections are a challenge for their differentiation as well as for the selection of appropriate therapy. Aim : The aim of this article is to present the diagnostic and therapeutic challenges for GPs related to recurrent upper respiratory tract infections in childhood. Materials and Methods: Review of medical literature from recent years has been conducted. Results: GPs need to be aware of the possibility of immune deficiency in children causing recurrent infections and to investigate this possibility, if necessary. Some of the upper respiratory tract infections, often treated surgically, also have good conservative treatments that, when applied in a timely manner, will lead to fewer relapses. Conclusion: The multidisciplinary approach in the treatment of children with recurrent upper respiratory tract infections will reduce their episodes and improve the quality of life of these patients.


A simple and fast algorithm is presented, whlch extracts in tonational contours over long speech segments with laryngo graph-like quality. The al~orithm operates in the time do main, is resistant against tnon-periodic) noise, and detects pitch reliable in a range between 50 Hz and 1000 Hz without parameter adjustments or voice/voiceless pre-segmenting. The algorithm is divided into four major steps. First, a speech signal is reduced to positive and negative peaks that represent (possible) glottal pulses. Second, the amplitude and frequency variation of the peak train is reduced. Third, a way with minimal frequency variation through the remain


The analysis of Rader signal that have non-linearity variable phase is signal that contact easily in several fields such as radar, telecommunication, seismic, sonar and biomedical applications. In generally, Non-stationary signal means that spectral characteristics are varying with time and instantaneous frequency is only one frequency or narrow range of frequencies varying as a function of time. Therefore, Instantaneous frequency is vary important variable that understanding physical characteristic of signal. This paper was describes continuous wavelet transform to determine instantaneous frequency at non-staionary signal and compare to existing method. When white noise or various frequency is overlapped each other in sign, existing method was can not decide corrected instantaneous frequency, but when used continuous wavelet transform, very well decide correctly frequency regardless of component of signal.


Objective:To study the expression of P27 and Rb in gallbladder carcinoma and explore their relationship.Methods:Immunohistochemical technique was used to detect the expression of P27 and Rb in gallbladder carcinoma.Results:The positive rates of P27 and Rb in gallbladder carcinoma were 43.9% and 34.2% respectively,and were significantly higher than those in gallbladder adenoma and chronic cholecystitis.The positive correlation was found between the expression of P27 and that of Rb.The positive rates of P27 and Rb were significant higher in cases of well-differentiation,Neivin Ⅰ、Ⅱ、Ⅲ and negative lymph nodes than in those of poor-differentiation,Neivin Ⅳ、Ⅴ and lymph node metastasis.The expression of P27 and Rb were not related to patients' age and sex.Conclusion:The expression of P27 and Rb might be related to the carcinogenesis and development.Abnormality in the feedback regulatory pathway of P27/Rb might be involved in the mechanism of gallbladder carcinoma.


To evaluate effectively the characteristics of firing frequency and projectile velocity measurement system of the high firingfrequency weapon system,a programmable control method based on programmable logic controller(PLC)is proposed.The components,control procedure and soft design method of the simulated programmable emission system are given.The error of time sequence is analyzed.The time offset of projectile firing is measured through a light screen.The operating time offset of firing mechanism is modified.Programmable linkage emission of a three-single emission device launching is realized.Launching characteristics of a high firingfrequency weapon is simulated effectively.The examination method provides a test platform for checking the characteristics of high firingfrequency velocity measurement system.


The North Slope of Alaska has significant methane hydrate resource potential, and previous studies suggest that gas hydrates exist in the Barrow area. Currently, gas from three producing fields provides heating and electricity for Barrow, the economic, transportation, and administrative center of the North Slope Borough. As energy demands grow, it is important to characterize, quantify, and evaluate the potential impact of the postulated gas hydrate accumulation to guide future development. The Barrow Gas Fields (BGF) provide an excellent opportunity to study the interaction between a producing free gas reservoir and an overlying hydrate accumulation. A phased research program is underway, funded jointly by the U.S. Department of Energy, NETL and the North Slope Borough to prove the existence of hydrate accumulations associated with the free gas fields, quantify the size of postulated accumulations, and drill and production test a dedicated hydrate test well.


Material collected during surveys of the Atlantic Frontier Margin (north-east Atlantic) in 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2002 includes ten species of the cumacean family Lampropidae belonging to three genera. A new species of the genus Hemilamprops, H. pterini, is described. Hemilamprops cristatus is partially re-illustrated from specimens sent to A.M. Norman by G.O. Sars. A key to the North Atlantic species of Hemilamprops is provided. A new species of the genus Mesolamprops, M. hartleyi, is described from the Atlantic Frontier Margin and the North Sea. The first record of Mesolamprops denticulatus from the Atlantic is reported. A key to the species of Mesolamprops is provided. Two species of the genus Platysympus were also found. A list of other lampropid species found in the Atlantic Frontier Margin is given.


The increasing use of repositories of integrated learning objects in e-learning environments, whether as a complement to the traditional education (blended learning), or as a common tool in distance learning by means of new technologies (virtual learning), is a clear indicator of the importance given to the organization of the educational resources, with a clear common objective, as it is the reusability of these resources in different educational experiences. Any educational experience requires the use and generation of educational resources that are candidates to be reused in a later experience [1].


Veronika Makarova, ed. Russian Language Studies in North America. New Perspectives from Theoretical and Applied Linguistics. London, New York, and Delhi: Anthem Press, 2012. xix, 269 pp. Bibliography. Index. List of Tables and Figures. $99.00, cloth.Russian Language Studies in North America, edited by Veronika Makarova, brings together work by eleven prominent scholars from different backgrounds and at various stages in their careers. This collection will both complement linguistic seminars and linguistic survey courses, as well as provide an enjoyable read for anyone with an interest in the Russian language, linguistics, and language pedagogy. Russian Language Studies (RLS) will be of source for both graduate students and advanced undergraduate students interested in Russian linguistics as well as instructors of Russian.The variety of research and the individuality of the researchers' voices make this collection thought-provoking, engaging, interesting, and informative. RLS is organized around two themes and consists of two sections: (1) Language Structures and Their Interface, and (2) Applied Linguistics and Sociolinguistics Analysis. The papers are written in English with Russian examples and English translations. In her extremely helpful overview to each chapter, the editor discusses the status of Russian in North America among both Russian-speaking immigrants and heritage speakers, examines new disciplines that have developed since 1980, and summarizes research conducted on heritage learners.The first part of the volume brings together interdisciplinary studies in "traditional structural branches of theoretical and experimental" (p. xiv) linguistics with an emphasis on interdisciplinary studies, language structure, and language phonology. To orient the reader and provide easier navigation, chapters are labelled by subject, for example, phonetics, phonology, morphology, and so on. The second section presents research on Russian language maintenance and acquisition in Canada and the US. Areas included are applied linguistics, teaching Russian to heritage learners, language maintenance and identity, and a study of Doukhobor Russian.Chapter 1, "Phonetics. Tracing Emotions in Russian Vowels," by Makarova and V. Petrushin examines, through study of acoustic parameters, how six emotional states influence the production of Russian stressed and unstressed vowels. The article is suitable for advanced students in linguistics with previous knowledge of reading and working with graphs and statistics tables.Chapter 2, "Phonology. Vowel-Zero Alternations in Russian Prepositions: Prosodie Constituency and Productivity," by L. Blumenfeld will be of interest to linguists studying generative phonology and teachers of Russian. Using data drawn from Google and the Russian National Corpus the author investigates the so-called Unity Paradox presented by Russian prepositions and prefixes, then examines the contexts of "the distribution of prepositional variants with and without the final" vowel -o (p. 67). Many of us who teach Russian as a foreign language, and who have to explain vowel-zero alternations in prepositions, will benefit from this article.Chapter 3, "Morphology and Lexicology Interface. Latest Russian Neologisms: The Next Step Towards Analytism?" by J. Rochtchina examines neologisms that entered Russian written and oral discourse in the past decade, their orthographic representations, and their effect on the structure of modern Russian.Chapter 4, "Syntax. Bi-nominative Sentences in Russian," by I. Mel'cuk seeks to answer the question how to determine the syntactic subject and syntactic predicate in sentences without the overt predicate "to be." At times the text is complicated by transliteration, linguistic abbreviations, notes at the bottom of the page, and multiple fonts making it difficult for readers to focus on a specific point, formula, or diagram. …


A study designed to determine the age at which children receive their first vaccinations in India revealed a wide disparity between male and female children a finding that goes along with other reports of the countrys gender-based discrimination. The study involved 1000 children who were brought by their parents to the immunization clinic of the general hospital in Udaipur city. The study sought to determine: 1) the childrens age at 1st vaccination; 2) their sex and nutritional status; 3) their socioeconomic status; and 4) maternal literacy. The study found the 48.8% of the children were brought for their 1st vaccination between the ages of 6-10 weeks the ideal age at which to begin immunization. 21% received their 1st vaccination after age 9 months. The mean age was 3.4 months for male children and 6.1 months for female children -- a statistically significant difference. 84.8% of children in the highest income group received their first vaccine between the ages of 6-10 weeks while only 52.5% of the children in the middle income group and 24.2% of the lowest income group received their vaccinations during the ideal period. The study also found a direct correlation between maternal literacy and the age at 1st vaccination. 79.5% of children with literate mothers received their 1st vaccine during the optimal period a figure that decreased to 20.5% for children with illiterate mothers. 25.5% of all the children were suffering from malnutrition; for males the rate of malnutrition was 15.8% and for females 36.6%. The study concludes that in order for India to have a successful immunization program (currently the immunization coverage is a dismal 58%) parents must be instructed on the optimal immunization age and gender biases must be abolished.


In this paper, the consensus problem for a class of interconnected systems with different cyber‐physical topologies is investigated. A two‐layer control framework is proposed where two different connections exist among the systems in physical and cyber layers, respectively. The former directly reflects the physical coupling among systems, while the latter uses the states' information transferred by communication channels to generate control. The physical and cyber topologies are undirected and not required to be connected. An event‐triggered protocol based on cyber local sampled information is designed with no need to solve any matrix equation or inequality. Theoretical sufficient conditions for consensus are derived in terms of algebraic inequality and Zeno behavior is excluded. A novel expandable construction scheme is proposed to construct switching topologies for cyber layer. Numerical simulation and comparison show the effectiveness of the proposed control method and the advantage on saving communication network constructions.


Clinical measurements using LiF dosemeters in radiotherapy are complicated by deviations from a linear dose response at typical doses per fraction (exceeding I Gy). In the present study, two TLD materials - LiF:Mg,Ti and LiF:Mg,Cu,P - were utilised to investigate the effect of time between irradiation and evaluation on dose linearity. TLDs were irradiated to doses of 0.01, 0.1, 0.5, 2, 5 and 20 Gy using a 6 MV photon beam from a medical linear accelerator and evaluated one hour, one week, one month and six months after irradiation. Assuming linear response at 0.1 Gy, the ratio of the response at 5 Gy and 0.1 Gy, R 5 0.1 , was taken as a measure of response variations with dose. LiF:Mg,Ti retained stability of dose response over time; however, LiF:Mg,Cu,P showed a 16% and 13% increase in R 5 0.1 for the slow and fast cool down, respectively. Overestimation could occur in clinical dose evaluation after storage longer than between one week and a month after the measurement was taken.


: University Office as a primary school administrative institutions, plays a vital role in normal operation to the overall work of the school from the point of view of position and functions. How to improve the quality and the level of work has thus become the key to the better consultation, coordination and service the office shall perform. However, there are some outstanding problems in the office management of universities, such as imperfect management system, Low utilization rate of intelligent information system and low comprehensive literacy. The main influencing factors are functional factors, system factors, personnel factors and technical factors. In order to promote the optimization of university office management function, we should proceed from the following four aspects. The first is to strengthen team building and improve the overall quality of office staff; the second is to increase funding to strengthen the guarantee of office working conditions; the third is to perfect the system construction, improve the office management work operation guarantee; the fourth is to improve information construction, improve the efficiency and quality of office management.


Photoacoustic tomography (PAT) exploits optical contrast and ultrasonic detection principles to form images of absorbed optical energy density within tissue. Based on the photoacoustic effect, PAT directly and quantitatively measures specific optical absorption. A full-ring ultrasonic transducer array based photoacoustic computed tomography (PACT) system was recently developed for small animal whole-body imaging with a full-view detection angle and high in-plane resolution (100 µm). However, due to the band-pass frequency response of the piezoelectric transducer elements, the reconstructed images present bipolar (both positive and negative) pixel values, which is artificial and counterintuitive for physicians and biologists seeking to interpret the image. Moreover, bipolar pixel values hinder quantification of physiological parameters, such as oxygen saturation and blood flow speed. Unipolar images can be obtained by deconvolving the raw channel data with the transducer's electrical impulse response and applying non-negativity during iteration, but this process requires complex transducer modeling and time-consuming computation. Here, we present a multi-view Hilbert transformation method to recover the unipolar initial pressure for full-ring PACT. Multi-view Hilbert transformation along the acoustic wave propagation direction minimizes reconstruction artifacts during envelope extraction and maintains the signal-to-noise ratio of the reconstructed images. The in-plane isotropic spatial resolution of this method was quantified to 168 μm within a 20 × 20 mm2 field of view. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm was first validated by numerical simulations and then demonstrated with ex-vivo mouse brain structural imaging and in-vivo mouse wholebody imaging.


SiUk F., M. GoiS, F. Kuksa: Passive and Active Protection Against the Development of Pathological Changes in Piglets Infected with Bordetella bronchiseptica. Acta vet. Bmo, 48, 1979: 85-94. Active and passive immunization of piglets against Bordetella bronchiseptica restricted the development of gross changes in the nasal turbinates and lung after intranasal or contact infection. Gnotobiotic piglets were used to test the effect of specific hyperimmune serum against B. bronchiseptica in relation to the concentration of intranasally administered organisms: infection with 10' colony-forming units (CFU) of B. bronchiseptica/ml did not produce turbinate atrophy in any of 6 serum-treated piglets, but did soin6of7 controls; infection with 10' CFU/mlproduced turbinate atrophy in 2 and lung lesions in 1 of 5 serum-treated piglets as against turbinate atrophy and lung lesions in 4 and 2 animals, respectively, out of 4 controls; infection with 108 CFU/ml produced turbinate atrophy in 3 and lung lesions in 4 of 5 serum-treated piglets as against atrophy and lung lesions in 5 and 4 animals, respectively, out of 5 controls. Intraperitoneal vaccination of piglets from a herd with minimum morbidity with two doses of inactivated B. bronchiseptica failed to yield convincing results: turbinate atrophy was found in 4 out of 6 vaccinated animals and in all 6 controls. After double vaccination of 4 conventional piglets into the nasal submucosa, slight turbinate atrophy was found in 1 experimental animal as against 2 out of 4 controls. After double subcutaneous vaccination of 6 conventional piglets, all experimental animals had normal turbinates where as 3 of 6 -controls showed turbinate atrophy. The numbers of B. bronchiseptica in the turbinate mucosa and lung were generally higher in the controls than in actively or passively immunized piglets. Piglets immunized actively by any of the three routes employed produced specific agglutinating antibodies. Atrophic rhinitis, immunization, inactivated vaccine, specific antiserum. Bordetella bronchiseptica is one of the most common initiators of the processes resulting in "turbinate atrophy and other changes in the nasal cavities of pigs. Mild forms of turbinate atrophy after experimental infection with B. bronchiseptica alone have been reported by a number of investigators (Ross et a!. 1967; Harris and Switzer 1968; Shimizu 1971; Kemeny 1972; Logomarsino et at 1974; GoiS et a!. 1974; Brassinne et a!. 1976; Edington et a!. 1976; Tornoe and Nielsen 1976). The earlier view that Pasteurella multocida has an aetiological relation to atrophic rhinitis (AR) (Gwatkin et al. 1953) has recently been shared by a number of other writers (Dirks et al. 1973; Nielsen et at 1976; de J ong et at 1976), although some investigators failed to produce experimentally pathomorphological changes reminiscent of AR (Harris and Switzer 1968; Nakagawa ·et at 1974; Gois et at 1975). The present study demonstrates the possibility of passive and active protection against B. bronchiseptica infection under experimental conditions.


The invention discloses an environmentally-friendly controllable degradation agricultural film. The agricultural film is prepared from the following raw materials in parts by weight through melt blending and extrusion film blowing: 25-50 parts of polyvinyl alcohol, 72-87 parts of starch, 10-20 parts of micro-molecular plasticizer, 0.2-2 parts of modified inorganic nano auxiliary agent, 0.5-1.5 parts of antioxidant, 0.5-1.5 parts of compatibilizer and 0.2-1.5 parts of ultraviolet ray absorbent. The invention also discloses a preparation method for the agricultural film. A certain amount of inorganic nano auxiliary agent which is subjected to surface treatment is added while the micro-molecular plasticizer which can easily form a hydrogen bond with the starch is adopted as a nano composite modifier included in the agricultural film provided by the invention, so that the using amount of the micro-molecular compatibilizer can be greatly reduced to reduce cost and avoid a problem of reduced mechanical property at the later stage of a thin film after PVA (Polyvinyl Alcohol) is modified by the compatibilizer, and the controllable completely biodegradable agricultural film with plastic thin film mechanical property and later stage service performance can also be obtained.


Is science our most precious possession or has our culture elevated science into a false idol? Is technology a useful servant or a malign genie? These questions are at the centre of the 'science wars' currently being waged over the role and future of science and technology in our society. This balanced selection of a variety of perspectives on the hotly contested role of science and technology in contemporary society will clarify this vital debate for both specialists and non-specialists.


Abstract : Over the past four years, the use of color-display technology in military aircraft has received a significant amount of attention; to date, the question of how to use color effectively has not been answered. With high-quality color cathode ray tubes (CRTs) now being manufactured in the United States, Japan, France, and England, additional questions concerning the display performance requirements need to be answered prior to their introduction into the fighter cockpit. Weapon systems of today and those planned for the near term demand more effort from the pilot. A judicious application of color displays is considered to be one of the prerequisites to overcome this additional workload. This paper discusses the selection process being applied to available color display technology, the flight simulator evaluations and some of the uses of color displays. As a result of simulator evaluations, future work will be directed toward optimizing color CRT technology and the use of color displays in the cockpit of advanced fighter/attack aircraft. (Author)


Abstract : This chapter discusses various materials having the following common properties: ability to block the transfer of thermal energy, or offer a high resistance to heat flow (thermal insulation), or prevent the action of thermal fluxes of high specific density on the object being protected (thermal protection), etc. Such materials are widely employed in many areas of technology, particularly in shipbuilding, as thermal insulation materials providing protection from thermal shocks, fire retardants, and other materials of this type. A brief discussion of some of these materials follows. (Author)


....................................................................................................................................3 Acknowledgements ..........................................................................................................................4 List of Tables ...................................................................................................................................8 List of Figures ..................................................................................................................................9 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................10 Background ........................................................................................................................10 Problem Statement .............................................................................................................14 Purpose Statement ..............................................................................................................15 Significance of the Study ...................................................................................................16 Research Questions ............................................................................................................17 Definitions..........................................................................................................................17 Summary ............................................................................................................................18 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................20 Introduction ........................................................................................................................20 Theoretical Framework ......................................................................................................22 Constructivist Theory.............................................................................................22 Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development .........................................................23 Progressive Educator John Dewey.........................................................................24 Review of Literature ..........................................................................................................26 National Initiatives .................................................................................................27 Home Literacy Environments ................................................................................34 Home Literacy Environments and Preschool-Aged Children ...............................38


HumanEra was commissioned to write this book by the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering's (IFMBE) Clinical Engineering Division (CED) to support biomedical technology professionals in using human factors methods to improve the safety of health technology within a range of organizations. For the purposes of this book, a biomedical technology professional refers to any person, regardless of their title (e.g., clinical engineer, biomedical engineer, biomedical equipment technician, medical technology manager, materials manager, health technology manager, administrator, clinician), responsible for managing technology in a healthcare setting. While they are not explicitly referenced throughout the book, the intent is to support patient safety leaders of all roles and titles in their efforts to improve health technology safety, as well as students learning to master human factors methods for applications in healthcare. Show full item record