While adaptive control theory has been used in numerous applications to achieve given system stabilisation or command following criteria without excessive reliance on mathematical models, the ability to obtain a predictable transient performance is still an important problem – especially for applications to safety-critical systems and when there is no a-priori knowledge on upper bounds of existing system uncertainties. To address this problem, we present a new approach to improve the transient performance of adaptive control architectures. In particular, our approach is predicated on a novel controller architecture, which involves added terms in the update law entitled artificial basis functions. These terms are constructed through a gradient optimisation procedure to minimise the system error between an uncertain dynamical system and a given reference model during the learning phase of an adaptive controller. We provide a detailed stability analysis of the proposed approach, discuss the practical aspects of its implementation, and illustrate its efficacy on a numerical example.


A frame to support a malaise trap in the forest canopy, and an apparatus by which the frame and trap can be easily lifted and lowered for the removal of trapped insects, are described.


Unemployment is one of the biggest problems of today's Turkey. In the report "Labor Force Status of University Graduates", published by TUIK in 2018, it is seen that graduates of social work programs are the most affected group by this problem (24.3% unemployment rate). The purpose of this study is to examine the metaphors of recently graduated social workers regarding the concept of unemployment. Phenomenology, one of the qualitative research models, was used in the research. The working group of the research consists of 80 social workers who graduated from the social work departments of different universities in 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 academic years. Research data was obtained by completing this sentence: "Unemployment is like/as ....... because ......". The research data were analyzed using the content analysis method. At the end of the study, it was seen that recently graduated social workers stated 58 metaphors about the concept of unemployment. They produced metaphors that can be grouped into 7 different categories as "Reflection of Emotional" (f=16), "Natural Disaster/Occurrence" (f=16), "Disadvantage Situation" (f=15), "Description of Space" (f=13), " Dysfunction Causing Situation" (f=12) and "Object" (f=8). According to determine the results, recently graduated social workers have very negative and hopeless views about unemployment. In this context, it is recommended to increase the employment opportunities in our country for the social work profession and to develop practices especially for new graduates who are in the process of unemployment.


Among the contributions to this Newsletter there are several based on recent PhD work, a promise for the continuation of Brunswikian research, applied to new topics. This year's contributions cover a remarkable range of different subject areas like semiotics, prescription of antibiotics, aviation and process control, aging, sport, farming, forestry etc. On the methodological side the usefulness of Brunswik's Lens Model paradigm and Hammond's Cognitive Continuum Theory have been exemplified and learning studies have enriched our understanding of the effect of varying feedback conditions and our respect for the human being's amazing capacity for vicarious functioning with aging.


Motor vehicle crashes account for nearly half of all deaths among 16- to 19-year-olds, and this group is responsible for about five times as many deaths per license holder as drivers aged 35 to 64. What do we know about the causes of vehicle crashes among the teenage and young adult population? What further information, if any, is needed to design intervention programs? This paper will briefly review what is known about the causes of youth vehicle crashes, will describe some choices we face in designing intervention programs, and will outline the information that is needed to design intervention programs.


Binary vapor−liquid equilibrium data were measured for the difluoromethane (HFC-32) + dimethyl ether (DME) and 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (HFC-134a) + dimethyl ether (DME) systems at temperature from (313.15 to 343.15) K. These experiments were carried out with a circulating-type apparatus with on-line gas chromatography. The experimental data were correlated well by Peng−Robinson equation of state using the Wong−Sandler mixing rules.


Fire safety hazards would occur with the renovation of open floor,which indicates the necessity of fire safety reappraisal. It is necessary to improve the fire safety strategies if the current design could not meet the requirement of fire safety. Took the open floor renovation of Wuchang Railway Station as example,the strategies of strengthening fire separation and smoke exhaust equipment,addition of sprinkler system could ensure the safety of evacuation. This paper could be provided as a reference for the design of fire safety in the renovation of open floor.


Introduction: Ankle sprain is a widespread impairment in sport groups; this impairment leads to an absence from the workplace. The ankle sprains incidence rates are induced by height, weight, BMI, physical fi tness, level of match, classifi cation of sport, and personal exposure to sport. Methods: A longitudinal case-control study was executed to verify the outcome of risk factors for ankle sprain at a Military Male School between 2012 and 2013 of 4987 people at risk for ankle sprain, a total of 234 cadets sustained new ankle sprains during the study, 432 non-injured cadets randomly selected as the control group. Results: Regarding to the total people at risk in our study the incidence rate was approximately 5/1000 ankle sprain-years. Cadets with ankle sprains had higher weight, BMI and higher scores in Army Physical Fitness test than the control group. Ankle sprain occurred most commonly during athletics (51.4%). Ankle sprain incidence rate did not signifi cantly vary from different athletic competitions after controlling for athlete-exposure. Soccer and Ball Games had the highest ankle sprain incidence rate. Conclusion: Higher weight, increased BMI, greater physical conditioning and athlete exposure to selected sports were all risk factors for ankle sprain. Research Article The Risk Factors for Ankle Sprain in Cadets at a Male Military School in Iran: A Retrospective Case-control Study Farzad Najafi pour1*, Farshad Najafi pour2, Mohammad Hassan Majlesi3 and Milad Darejeh4 1Allameh Tabatabai University, Department of physical education and sport Sciences, Mac in Sport Injury and Corrective Exercises, Tehran, IR Iran 2Department of Epidemiology, AJA University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran 3Faculty of Physical Education and Sport science, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran 4Health Management and Economics Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran *Address for Correspondence: Farshad Najafi pour, Department of Epidemiology, AJA University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran, Email: drnajafi firstname.lastname@example.com Submitted: 14 December 2016 Approved: 21 March 2017 Published: 23 March 2017 Copyright: 2017 Najafi pour F, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


: Alternative methods of selection to increase litter size in mice have been practiced for 21 generations followed by six generations of relaxed selection. Three replicates were used with four selection criteria: index of components (IX: I = 1.21 x total ovulation rate + 9.05 x ova success), uterine capacity (UT), litter size (LS), and an unselected control (LC). In IX, ovulation rate and ova success were measured by number of corpora lutea and number of pups bornlnumber of corpora lutea, respectively. In UT, uterine capacity was measured and defined as number of pups born to unilaterally ovariectomized (right ovary excised) females. Selection in LS was based on number born to unaltered dams. In all cases, number born was fully formed, live or dead pups. Pups from 16 randomly chosen LC dams and from the top 16 dams in IX, UT, and LS were selected to produce the next generation in each criterion-replicate line. for IX were quite . only slightly + selection uterine capacity in UT) on cumulative selection differential for IX, LS, and UT were .10 f .01, .10 f .01, and .08 f .01, respectively. During the relaxed selection, mean responses for litter size in IX, LS, and UT criteria were 3.17, 4.09, and 1.67 pups, respectively.


and stimulating ideas, I question whether these ideas will revitalize the study of leadership. Mitroff and Pondy in some "after-thoughts" indicate that the conference was a step toward a revolution in social science research methods and not merely a reconsideration of the study of leadership. The summary chapter reviews the major conceptual issues of the conference and states five underpinnings of an approach to leadership research. Then after discussing some neglected variables in leadership research McCall and Lombardo return to the question of methodology, pointing out that current researchers need to take a new look at their methodology because they are using wrong or ill-conceived approaches to studying leadership. I do not disagree completely with the reason for this conference or with some of the conclusions expressed. I do, however, think the editors and participants are too pessimistic and not sufficiently concerned with the real issues underlying the importance of leadership as a concept in the social sciences. Certainly we may have overdissected the variables and the concepts of leadership, as some of the authors state. Certainly we may need methodological improvements, including "subjective" approaches similar to case studies. On the other hand, it seems to me to be a poor time to look for new approaches or new variables or, especially, to "throw away the baby with the bath." Rather, it seems time to develop appropriate theory that pulls together what we have learned so that we then can seek new directions. For all serious students of leadership, I certainly recommend this book for it takes a thoughtful approach that may indeed stimulate their creative juices. For beginning students of leadership or for those with only a casual interest, however, I do not recommend it. I think one needs to know thoroughly what has been happening before one can afford to reject past contributions to follow the steps suggested by the participants in this conference. Peter Weissenberg Professor School of Management SUNY at Binghamton


Land use and land cover change (LULC) monitoring is an important remote sensing application and research field. This paper aims to research the land use and land cover change of Bagua Island, Nanjing, China from 2015 to 2017 by using GF-1 satellite image data. Specifically, a new classification methodology based on collaborative representation is proposed, in which extended multi-attribute profiles (EMAPs) is used to model spatial context information, and the spatial information are taken as inputs features for the collaborative representation of Tikhonov classifier (EMAPs-CRT). The EMAPs-CRT uses the spatial features during classification process instead of the original spectral bands, which can provide better performance in the experiment. Through the quantitative statistical analysis of classification results from 2015 to 2017, it can be seen that the farmland land in Bagua Island decreased sharply, the building land increased sharply, and the urbanization process accelerated obviously.


Through the constitutional jurisprudential analysis method it can be said that based on the C-108 Sentence of 1994, there is a constitutional precedent that recognizes in a reiterated way the competence of the Colombian Constitutionalist Court for performing, through an unconstitutionality action, the abstract constitutionality control of the relative legislative omissions, which is a competence that has progressively widen its audit margin and has allowed the constitutionality control to not be exclusively restricted to constitutional scenarios of infringement to the equality principle, but also to be performed to any incomplete legislative development that turns out to be incompatible with the Constitution. For this reason, once this constitutional precedent is analyzed, this work proposes and understands the unconstitutionality by relative legislative omission as the lack of appropriate and timely legislative development of the Constitution that is verified in the partial non-compliance of a concrete constitutional duty and binding to be legislated, which is derived from the evolutionary and systematic interpretation of a discriminatory legal disposition, deficient or incomplete, that produces the infringement of the equality principle, the transgression of the right to due diligence or another constitutional guarantee; thus restricting or making difficult the enforceability, direct application and material efficacy of the Constitution.


WE cannot help having nostalgic thoughts about river boats. A considerable part of our childhood was happily spent in or near Hudson River towns. We knew every boat from the famous old Mary Powell down the list. We frequently traveled in them and never ceased to get a thrill at the sight of the graceful river queens majestically moving in midstream, monarchs of a vast and beautiful territory. When we moved to Washington, the Washington-Norfolk Line revived earlier memories. One of the first expeditions of the family was a visit to Williamsburg via the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay in the District of Columbia , last of the Potomac River queens. We always referred to river steamers as boats until we left for Bikini in the S. S . Appalachian ("The Big Apple") in 1946. Before we passed through the Golden Gate the executive officer reminded us politely, but firmly, that we were on a ship, ...


The icing problem affect the flight safety of aircraft,to explore the icing effect on aerodynamic performance for multi-element airfoil is very important.In the research,three different ice shapes are constructed:sharp-angled ice,blunt nosed ice and double horn ice.The multi-block technology was used to generate grid,two methods are used to simulated the flows of multi-element airfoil by solving the Navier-Stokes equations.The calculated results are in good agreement with test data and show preliminarily that our method of icing research is feasible.


The paper discusses an approach to construct discrete abstractions of hybrid systems by means of qualitative reasoning. The work is performed in the context of a modeling language for hybrid systems CHARON. We introduce a qualitative version of the language and describe the abstraction technique using a motivational example. The resulting abstract model is conservative and can be used to analyze properties of the original hybrid system.


Abstract In this paper, Fe3O4@PS magnetic nanospheres were synthesized by miniemulsion polymerization under different reaction conditions, and their microstructures were observed by transmission electron microscopy. The results show that the shape of magnetic nanospheres changes with temperature and stirring rate. The appearance will also change. We obtained the best morphology when the temperature is 70 °C and the stirring rate is 200 rpm. The particle size of Fe3O4@PS nanospheres with superparamagnetism is about 120 ∼ 150 nm.


CARCINOMA OF THE ESOPHAGUS. DR. T. C. GALLOWAY. CASE1.—Transpalatal approach for diathermy of a carcinoma of the vault of the nasopharynx. This operation is an adaptation of the old method of pituitary gland approach in dogs. In this case an epithelioma arising high on the left side of the nasopharynx could not be reached by retracting the palate, so the soft palate was split in the midline, leaving intact the uvula and the posterior border. The hard palate was split with a chisel to the left of the vomer. Through the 4 cm. hole provided, it was easy to apply the diathermy electrode. Closure was easy, and healing by first intention took place except in an area of 1 cm., which closed in two weeks. The function of the palate was normal at the time of presentation. CASE2.—Surgical diathermy combined with laryngofissure after the St.


Accurate estimation of current and voltage transient parameter is critical for efficient and accurate fault location computation. In this paper, a new fault location scheme is proposed for transmission systems using Gabor transform for signal processing purposes instead of the conventional Fourier methods. The transform is distinctive with more accurate performance specially when dealing with some certain circumstances such as sudden signal changes, dc decaying, non integer harmonics and non stationary quantities for fault signals. For a better extraction of Gabor coefficients, a dedicated artificial neural network is employed. The contribution of this new transform to power system fault location is evaluated through various simulation tests using the Electromagnetic Transient Program EMTP. Simulation results show the potential of the proposed transform in accurate estimation of phasors for more accurate fault location estimation.


The article develops processes of increase the durability of parts operating under repeated loads, by justifying the parameters of surface plastic deformation (SPD) and cold gasdynamic coating. The influence on the depth of the reinforced surface layer, the nature of the distribution of the stress-strain state of the material and residual compressive stresses, as well as the value of the used plasticity of the metal, the parameters of the SPD process. The hypothesis is substantiated that the main factor in the formation of residual compressive stresses during SPD is the decrease in metal density, which is associated with the use of the plasticity resource. The model of definition of the used resource of plasticity of metals at SPD is developed, that allows to provide qualitative characteristics of a surface layer of details. Methods for shifting the layer with maximum hardening and residual compressive stresses to the surface of the part by using a deformable tool of smaller dimensions in subsequent passes and gas-dynamic coating before SPD. The vast majority of traditional gas-thermal coating methods occur at significant temperature effects on the surface of the part, which is unacceptable for the surface treated by SPD methods. Cold gas-dynamic spraying provides an allowable temperature regime for the creation of special auxiliary coatings while maintaining the properties of the surface treated by SPD methods. The technology of gas-dynamic coating includes heating the compressed gas (air), feeding it into the nozzle and forming a supersonic air stream in this nozzle, introducing a powder material into this stream, accelerating this material in the nozzle by a supersonic air flow and directing it to the surface of the workpiece. As a result, a special auxiliary coating is formed on the surface of the product, which provides optimal parameters of the SPD process.


Difficulties of remote observations of NQR spectra are largely due to the necessity of registering weak radiofrequency signals whose intensity is much smaller than the noise level. The maximum distance of the sensor at which N NQR in nitrogen compounds can still be registered does not exceed 35 cm [1]. To increase this distance, some physical laws of the behavior of the examined objects should be investigated. The main factors limiting the sensitivity of NQR-spectrometers are fluctuations of the measurable parameters. They bring the main contribution to the external noise component F(x, t) determined from the Langevin generalized equation [2]:


An improving process of the future teachers training increases the effectiveness only under the condition of making important changes in the quality of teacher training.


The inspiring story of urban children stressed out by an overly demanding education system that emphasizes academic perfection. The main character, Tin-Tin, choose to escape reality by stretching her imagination and disappearing into fantastical adventure.


We have seen (Stellmacher, 1996) that the long-period terms for Hyperion's motion are very well represented by a second kind and second genius periodic orbit, after Poincare's classification.


Los Angeles water was investigated as a possible source of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infection in patients with AIDS. MAC consists of M. avium (MA), M. intracellulare (MI) and Mycobacterium X (MX) (positive for MAC by DNA probe but not MA or MI). The study included 13 reservoirs supplying 90% of the water to the City of Los Angeles, ten major hospitals and 58 dwellings. Water samples were filtered through 0.45 μm Millipore filters and decontaminated with either sodium hydroxide and/or oxalic acid and cetylpyridinium chloride. The decontaminated filters were placed on selective Middlebrook 7H10 medium and observed for growth at three and eight weeks. Coccobacillary acid‐fast bacilli were subcultured; Tween and nitrate negative isolates were identified by DNA hybridization probes. Eight morphotypes were observed and nontubercu‐lous mycobacteria (NTM) were recovered from 12 (92%) reservoirs, 54 (95%) homes, and ten (100%) hospitals. Twenty‐six (34%) of the NTM were probe positive for MAC. MA was isol...


The investigation of the flow field at the nozzle exit of a full scale aero-engine using Stereo Particle Image Velocimetry (SPIV) aims at providing important reference and validation data required for reliable modeling and prediction. Furthermore, the turbulent jet engine exhaust flow is of prominent interest for the aerodynamic and -acoustic characterization of an aircraft engine. Especially the development of the free shear-layer between fan-bypass flow and outer flow is an important source of high-frequency noise as well as of big interest for modeling the turbulence of a jet flow correctly by advanced RANS methods. The SPIV measurements have been performed at free running fan phase positions and with a large number of statistically independent samples enabling a turbulence characterization of the fan-bypass and corresponding shear layer flow based on mean- and RMS-fields of all three velocity components, POD analysis and two-point-correlation functions.


In this paper, we develop a novel method of obtaining very sparse representation of Kernel Distribution Function Estimation (KDFE) and Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) exploiting Sparse Bayesian Regression (SBR) technique with the aidance of regularization by jittering. SBR introduces a parameterized sparsity-inducing prior on the unknown parameters of the linear model. After reviewing the existent methodologies of fast kernel density estimation, we adapt SBR to the problem of construction of sparse KDFE and KDE. Numerical results of preliminary simulation studies on synthetic data demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithm which can achieve sparser representation of KDE than SVM-based algorithm and can produce more precise estimate than traditional full-sample KDE algorithm.


This paper presents an event-based simulation framework designed specifically for applying activity-based transportation models to a variety of problems. General concepts of activity-based travel modeling are discussed followed by a specification of abstract concepts common to most activity modeling approaches. A simulation framework is developed and implemented in two examples to demonstrate the feasibility of the concepts presented.


In recent years, the Indian smartphone market has grown rapidly, and Xiaomi's expansion in this market has never stopped. However, Xiaomi India has and would face even more changes and challenges due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper focuses on how Xiaomi India can adhere to its ethical business practices in changes and developments that will improve its distribution layout.


An analysis is made of ω1+ω2=ω3 sum-frequency generation in a nonlinear crystal and also of twophoton absorption under the action of "biphotons," i.e., correlated two-photon fields formed as a result of spontaneous parametric scattering of the initial pump field in another crystal. It is shown that at low pump powers, the biphoton efficiency in two-photon processes is considerably higher than the efficiency of classically correlated fields of the same intensity. It is found that in the case of coherent pumping, the regenerated sum-frequency field is also coherent.


This chapter seeks to reflect on the deep relation that copyright law and consumer law have today. In order to do so, he takes advantage of the basic notions of copyright, and then makes a relationship with consumer law, especially in relation to the main elements of the consumer contract and the notion of the consumer. There is also an allusion to the importance of the creative industries in this relation.


The conversion of root carbon (C) into soil organic matter (SOM) is regarded as the "hidden half" of the terrestrial C cycle. Nevertheless, recent evidence shows that root C inputs exert an important role in SOM formation , although the reasons behind these results are not understood. Roots create two temporally separated hotspots for carbon cycling in the soil: the rhizosphere, which is shaped by living roots C inputs, and the detritusphere, which is formed after root death. The succession between rhizosphere and detritusphere can affect the incorporation of these C inputs in MOS and can be an important mechanism to explain the high efficiency of root C inputs to form SOM. The general objective of this work was to gain knowledge about the processes that control the conversion of rhizodeposition and root litter C into SOM. To this end, we designed two complementary studies that simulate the sequential root C inputs in the soil, f rom the rhizosphere (Chapter 1) to the rhizosphere-detritusphere transition (chapter 2). We employed isotopic techniques (double labeling of 13 C and 15 N) to follow the fate of Eucalyptus spp. rhizodeposits and root litter in a Rhodic Ferralsol. Our results show that the persistence of rhizodeposit-derived C (rhizo-C) and root litter C is given by distinct mechanisms. More than 70% of recovered rhizo-C present in the soil was retained in the mineral-associated fraction (MAOM), and about 90% of this fraction persisted in the soil after 166 days of incubation. This result attests that rhizodeposits are capable to form persistent SOM through mineral associations. However, we observed that only a minor quantity of rhizo-C was incorporated with organo-metallic complexes and short-range order phases of iron and aluminum. In contrast to rhizo-C, the majority of root litter C remained in particulate fractions and about 10% of decomposed root litter C was incorporated in to SOM. Further, we observed that rhizo- C concentrated more closer to roots, but was detected even up to 25 mm away. This result is evidence that rhizo-C can have a wider distribution in the soil volume in comparison to root litter, whose transfer was restricted to the first 4 mm from its surroundings. The root litter inputs tended to favor the fungal community, which is more adapted to process more complex C sources and can directly assimilate C from the litter layer. Furthermore, from the NanoSIMS (Nanoscale Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry) results, we provide direct evidence for the incorporation of root litter into microbial structures and the formation of mineral-associated SOM at the detritusphere. Still, we observed that the decomposition of root litter and rhizo-C occurred independently in the rhizosphere-detritusphere transition. This result suggests that different microbial groups are responsible to process each type of root C input. Overall, our holistic approach reveals the intricate dependence between plant, soil, and microorganisms in the formation of SOM, and reinforces the importance of rhizodeposits as a source of C stable SOM formation. Keywords: Eucalypt. Soil organic matter. Isotopes. NanoSIMS. Legacy effects. Phospholipid fatty acids.


We argue here that the four factors we identify as constituting the foundation for being a leader and the effective exercise of leadership can also be seen as the foundations not only for great leadership, but also for a high quality personal life and an extraordinary organization. One can see this as a "value free" approach to values because, 1) authenticity is a purely positive phenomenon (being and acting consistent with who you hold yourself out to be for others and who you hold yourself to be for yourself), 2) being cause in the matter as a declaration of the stand you take for yourself regarding everything in your life is a purely positive phenomenon, 3) being committed to something bigger than oneself is also a purely positive phenomenon (that says nothing about what that commitment should be other than it be bigger than oneself), and 4) integrity as we define it (being whole and complete) is a purely positive phenomenon. Background: This address is based on our leadership research program (conducted with Steve Zaffron, Kari Granger and Jeri Echeverria over the last eleven years). That research is designed to discover what it actually takes to create leaders – that is, to leave participants at the end of the course being leaders and effectively exercising leadership as their natural self expression. Access to the full set of course materials including the Slide-Deck Textbook and other course materials for the most current Leadership Course can be found at:Course Materials for: Being a Leader and the Effective Exercise of Leadership - An Ontological/Phenomenological Model (by Erhard, Jensen, Zaffron and Granger) http://ssrn.com/abstract= 1263835.


A novel design of polarization-independent surface plasmon multiplexer- demultiplexer (MUX/DEMUX) based on dual-core photonic crystal fiber with a central gold wire is proposed and analyzed. The cladding air holes are infiltrated with a nematic liquid crystal of type E7 with rotation angle φ, and the background material is a soft glass of type SF57 (lead silica). The simulation results are obtained using full-vectorial finite-difference method and coupled mode theory. At φ = 900, the suggested MUX/DEMUX has a short device length of 953.254 μm for x-polarized modes with broad bandwidths of 235 and 175 nm around wavelengths of 1.3 and 1.55 μm, respectively, with low cross-talk better than -20 dB. For y-polarized modes, the reported MUX/DEMUX has short device length of 1322.86 μm with broad bandwidths of 193 and 170 nm around 1.3 and 1.55 μm, respectively. Moreover, the polarization independence is achieved with short device lengths of 1138.06 and 1180 μm at φ = 90° and 0°, respectively.


Sir David Brewster in 1816 discovered that an isotropic transparent solid, such as glass, behaves as a temporary crystal under stress, and when examined in the polariscope between crossed Nicols exhibits the characteristic colours of crystalline plates. Since Brewster's day this property has been studied by a number of observers. Clerk Maxwell showed that isinglass jelly would show the colours under stress when in its soft state, and retained them, more or less permanently, when allowed to harden under strain. To him is due the first attempt to apply this effect to the exploration of the stress system in the plane of a strained plate; experimental investigations of this nature were afterwards carried out by Carus Wilson, by Major Filon, and by Prof. E. G. Coker, F.R.S. Neither glass, however, nor isinglass jelly forms a suitable material for the investigation by this means of stresses in engineering structures. Glass does not lend itself readily to the construction of such models as regards shape and jointing.


The peculiarities of biomechanical parameters of walking of two groups of women were studied in a comparative analysis. The first group consisted of female soccer players of 18–25 years old, having the first sports category or the category of Candidate Master of Sports; the second group included people engaged in cyclic sports (skating, cross-country skiing). At the first stage we took measurements of the test subjects, which were then entered into a computer program. At the second stage, marker sensors were attached to the head, upper and lower extremities of the subjects so that the parameters could be read by Vicon devices in different planes (XYZ). In the third stage, the markers were tracked during the dynamic tests. Comparative analysis of the results and conclusions of the work were made.


Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a polygenetic inheritance tumor. It has very high incidence in southern China and among immigrants and their offspring from south Chinese, and has done a great harm to the health of south Chinese. As a malignant tumor with obvious tendency of familial aggregation and regional difference, it is suggested that the etiology and pathogenesis of NPC are relevant to the coeffects of genetic and environmental factors. It is the main point to focus on the elucidating of the pathogenesis of PNC as a polygenetic inheritance tumor, primarily establishing of the concept of susceptibility gene groups in NPC and the carcinogenesis model of the multi-step Domino effect involved in the molecular mechanisms of NPC dominated by susceptibility gene groups in order to lay out a substantial foundation for finding the high-risk susceptibility factors of NPC, screening the high-risk population of NPC and exploring the targetic and individual measures in diagnosis and treatment of NPC.


Charles Taylor's conception of the relationship between democracy and social creativity developed through a critical synthesis of various traditions, including the Romantic Movement and liberal political philosophy. However, it is argued that Taylor's understanding of the implications of religion and revolution significantly differentiates his standpoint from that of pragmatism and theories of democratic creativity. Taylor's defence of religious transcendence is shown to give rise to tensions with the latter perspective. The theorists of democratic creativity suggest that democracy originates in the rupturing of religious significations and their closure of meaning. Taylor essentially inverts these arguments and perceives that the loss of transcendence may lead to a closed world structure. Taylor claims that the dilemmas of the modern immanent frame were prefigured in the French Revolution's inability to generate an institutional form consistent with its understanding of democracy and that social creativity should be qualified in light of this historical experience.


The aim of this desertation is the estimation of the market value of a single family residential house in the Kostanjevica na Krki municipality, where the real estate market is generally inactive. The estimation was made on the basis of the sales comparison approach method and cost approach method. The two approaches have been compared and analysed in order to find out which of the two methods is more suitable. The method of the sales comparison -has resulted to be the most suitable method for estimating the value of a real estate of the area in question.


Diet manipulation of growth rates is a critical aspect of livestock management as a means of improving both production efficiency and financial returns Although a great deal of attention is paid to optimal growth, the impacts underlying restricted postnatal growth remain unclear Reducing the growth rate in pigs may have negative consequences on behavior, systemic hormone levels and ultimately meat quality Slowing the growth of pigs during periods of disease outbreak, including the recent COVID-19 pandemic, may be necessary to better meet the demands for slaughter facilities Helm et al examined the effectiveness of several dietary strategies at limiting finishing pig growth while maintaining carcass quality Results provide new information using diet to influence both the amount and composition of weight gain


Abstract The human body is a mildly corrosive environment with a certain salt level and a low oxygen content. High corrosion resistance is demanded for implants to obtain biocompatibility and because even minor corrosive attack and low failure frequency are unacceptable. Degradation processes of the commonly used implant materials titanium, cobalt alloys, and 316L stainless steel are described.


Background: Respecting patients' dignity has been described as a fundamental part of nursing care. Many studies have focused on exploring the concept of patients' dignity from the patient and nurse perspective, but knowledge is limited regarding students' nursing perceptions and experiences. Objective: To explore the issue of patients' dignity from the perspective of nursing students. Research design: A qualitative study was employed with the formation of four focus groups and the participation of nursing students. Data were analysed via a thematic content analysis of the discussions. Participants and research context: Thirty-four nursing students of a Cyprus University participated in the four focus groups. Each group was homogenous in terms of the year of study and heterogeneous in terms of clinical practice in various wards. Ethical consideration: The study's protocol was reviewed and approved by the Cyprus National Bioethics Committee. Ethical standards were followed throughout the study. Findings: Several factors that maintain or compromise patients' dignity emerged. These factors were grouped into five themes: (a) patients' preferences, verbal abuse and regarding a patient as a unique person; (b) privacy and confidentiality; (c) loss of autonomy and need for help; (d) discrimination and (e) attribution and reciprocity. Discussion: Different understandings of the perceived concept of dignity and the factors that maintain or compromise patient's dignity were expressed through the eyes and the feelings of nursing students. Students highlighted the importance of promoting patient dignity as an important component of nursing care. Conclusion: Nurse educators can use the findings of this study in order to tailor nursing programmes to emphasise the importance of respecting patients' dignity. In addition, nurse ward managers can use the findings as means for persuading nurses to change current behaviour.


Objective: To analyze if there is any association between ligation of inferior thyroid artery and early hypocalcemia and its related complications after subtotal thyroidectomy. Methodology: This quasi-experimental study was conducted in surgical units of Benazir Bhutto and Holy Family Hospitals Rawalpindi over a period of six months from 20th March to 3rd August 2008. A total of 60 patients undergoing subtotal thyroidectomy were divided into two treatment groups, i.e. A and B, with 30 patients in each group. In Group A, inferior thyroid artery was not ligated, while in Group B, inferior thyroid artery was ligated. Results: In group A, mean pre-operative serum calcium level was 9.207mg/dl + 0.430 SD and in group B it was 9.303 + SD mg/dl. Comparison of baseline calcium levels showed no significant difference between the 2 groups. Post-operative calcium levels on day 3 in group A and B were 9.023 + 0.621 and 8.327 + 0.627 SD mg/dl, respectively. Day 7 post-operative calcium levels in group A were 9.303 + 0.390 SD mg/dl and 9.260 + 0.424 SD mg/dl in group A and B, respectively. There was no significant change in calcium levels observed on day 3 and on follow-up at day 7 in both the groups. Conclusion: The subtotal thyroidectomy is a safe and effective procedure for simple goiter and ligation of the inferior thyroid arteries does not have any significant effects on the parathyroid functions postoperatively.


We shall be concerned with the optimization problem of semi-Markov decision processes with countable state space and compact action space. Defined is the generalized reward function associated with the semi-Markov decision processes which include the ordinary discounted Markov decision processes of discrete time parameter and also the continuous time Markov decision processes. Main results are (a) the existence of an optimal stationary policy and (b) the relation between the maximal expected reward and the optimality equation. Also (c) some properties of the optimal staionary policy and the principle of optimality are obtained.


Recently investigations of the technologies using self-organization and phase layering occur more and more frequently. Considerable simplifications of processes, self-alignment of elements and reduction of stage quantity are the reasons of that. In this work we present results of computer simulation and experimental study of CoSi2/TiO2/SiO2/Si gate structure formation technology which uses solid-phase diffusion and phase-layering. The bilayer of TiO2 and SiO2 was chosen as gate dielectric because titanium dioxide is possessed of extremely high dielectric permittivity and silicon dioxide has large band gap and high quality interface with Si. Because of its low resistivity CoSi2 is considered now as one of the most prospective material for metal gate electrodes. The technology which was simulated in this work allows to form such a gate structure during the sole annealing process. To compute the technology parameters the program, which take into account diffusion properties of Co, Ti, Si and O was realized. Also the same structure was formed by rapid thermal oxidation and magnetron sputtering, with following rapid annealing. Simulation and experimental results show that the technology can be used for gate structure formation.


One of the most economically and ecologically important issues related to coastal engineering is the preservation of the coastal areas. The mean to do so, is the good understanding of the sediment transport mechanisms that are involved in the transformation of coasts. In order to protect these valuable areas, man-made structures have been developed, such as permeable pile groins which are among the oldest, but also to the most interesting coastal structures. They constitute of wooden piles driven into the seabed perpendicular to the shore and thus they allow both water and sediment to pass through them, acting as a hydraulic roughness on the longshore current leading to a reduced littoral current velocity in their vicinity. However, although permeable pile groins have been constructed along many world's coastlines through the years, the research done on how they affect the coastal system is still limited. The aim of this study is to bridge the existing knowledge gap and provide a clearer view on the factors that influence the nearshore hydraulics at Domburg coast. The evaluation of permeable pile groins is going to be done by means of a process-based model in SWASH. The SWASH model will be used for the examination of several hydraulic conditions, and will be afterwards validated using the results from the experiments that Hulsbergen carried out. The validation of the model is done in several steps, in order to make the understanding of the influence of each parameter easier. First, only the wave induced current is examined, followed by the tide induced current. The combination of wave and tide induced current follows and last but not least two (2) different types of permeable piles groins are implemented. By this method, not only the influence of permeable pile groins is examined, but also the capability of SWASH itself to capture the real phenomena and give accurate results. The results of the present study revealed that SWASH model is very capable of capturing the real behavior of the current, since high correlation with the experimental results can be observed for all the test-cases examined. The results also showed a clear retardation of the current due to the presence of the pile groins which in turn leads to a reduction in the capacity of the current to transport sediment.


Social live streaming services (SLSSs) are a worldwide rapidly growing kind of synchronous social networking services. Most of the SLSSs are highly gamified to increase the users' engagement and to change their behavior, what consequently drives users to continue the usage of a service. This study examined 21 different SLSS websites on what gamification elements are used in each system. A literature review as well as a content analysis were conducted to gather the SLSS websites as well as game elements. Which gamification elements are implemented on social live streaming service websites? And, how many game mechanics can we find on each SLSS? Nearly every SLSS offers the opportunity to follow users and their activities, leaderboards to compare one's ability and performance with other streamers, and gifts to reward others. SLSSs websites with the top browsing location China are the most gamified.


Some properties of the Fresnel diffraction field produced by one-dimensional regular fractals, like Cantor bars, are analyzed in the frame of the Walsh-Hadamard formalism. The self-similarity degree of both the diffracted intensity and the Walsh-Hadamard spectrum of this distribution are obtained.


The gravitational field equations are solved numerically in the Rosen bimetric theory for spherically symmetric configurations whose matter is in a state described by the polytropic equation. The integrated properties and internal structure are calculated for configurations with a polytropic index n=1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, for selected values of the relativistic parameter ..cap alpha... The configurations obtained in the bimetric theory are more compact than the corresponding configurations in general relativity.


The thesis presents a feasibility study of a proposed combustion methodology by means of two-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics on the application of Flameless Combustion to an aircraft engine with the objective to achieve ultra-low pollutant emissions. The geometrical design started from scratch while taking the philosophy of the proposed methodology into account. The combustor's entry conditions and global size were estimated based on a conventional turbofan engine and corrected at atmospheric pressure. The most important parameter to achieve flameless combustion was considered to be the recirculation ratio in order for it to be sustained. Therefore a cold flow simulation was carried out first with the objective to fulfil this requirement by using RANS-based turbulence models. The models were first validated by attempting to reproduce the measured flow velocities of three wind tunnel cases with similar geometry. All models under predicted maximum recirculation. The k-? Realizable model was closest to determine maximum recirculation and its axial position. This model also showed a similar linear trend in maximum recirculation ratio with respect to different channel-to-inlet area ratios, and also the reattachment point was well predicted, which aided in the prediction of the flow paths. Attempts were also made to reproduce the measured velocity profiles with the Large Eddy Simulation derived models. The Embedded Large Eddy Simulation model did not give better results, probably due to the mesh resolution still being too coarse and the Detached Eddy Simulation model even performed worse which made it not suitable for such flow cases. Within the engine's size limits the annular type combustor could achieve a maximum recirculation ratio up to a value of 1.3 in the cold flow while a can type combustor could achieve a value of 3.2. In the literature a value of at least 3 was required. The simulations of the reacting flow were first applied to the can combustor and were carried out with the Eddy Dissipation Concept model, using a detailed reaction mechanism. Combustion reduced the cold flow's recirculation ratio by a factor 2. By studying the results and understanding the reacting flow, the combustion could be controlled with qualitative refinement of the combustors geometry and repositioning of the inlets of the fuel and secondary air. With the help of using vitiated air as oxidant, these rough alterations led to CO emissions to reduce to less than 50 ppm and NOX to less than 2 ppm, both for cruise and take-off conditions. The more realistic annular combustor did not perform as good when using the final geometry of the can combustor, which led to an increase of CO emissions by an order of magnitude. Due to the area ratio of the annular combustor being roughly six times smaller than that of the can combustor, the velocity of the recirculated flow increased from 24 m/s to nearly 140 m/s, which led to high heat dissipation and a residence time five times as short. Further geometry improvement was more difficult making the emissions harder to control. However CO emissions were eventually reduced to below 200 ppm and NOX below 65 ppm. The annular combustor was also tested to simulate actual flight conditions by also pressurising the inlet air. This led to an improved reaction rate and the CO emissions were further reduced to below 100 ppm. The NOX emissions reduced to below 20 ppm and the pressure loss was less than 3% which was below the imposed requirement of an aero engine combustor.


This article provides an account of the 'depoliticization' of political economy, which centres on the definition of the discipline by subject matter. Such definition rests on a bipartite division of the discipline into science and art - a division that determines the scope of political economy. In fact, the development of French political economy between 1750 and 1850 shows that, unlike their predecessors, J.-B. Say and his followers succeeded in keeping economics separate from politics. In so doing, they did not regard the progressive exogenization of political variables as merely instrumental and transitory. To the contrary, Say and his followers believed that such exogenization remains the best way to build and develop economic science without having its autonomy threatened. Identifying political economy with its subject matter, they acknowledged that strict limitations may exist in the use of economic tools.


We reported LnRuSi as a B5-site-free Ru catalyst for ammonia synthesis, and its activity enhanced 2–4-fold by selective etching with EDTA-2Na.


This paper reviews the pressures towards globalisation reshaping the corporate law sector. It uses Yip's [Yip, G.S. (1996). Total global strategy (2nd ed.). Englewood-Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall] framework of global industry drivers. The dominant view has been that the globalisation potential of the legal industry is low since there are few global legal products and many regulatory differences between markets. However, within the corporate law sector, strong regulatory differences between countries are outweighed by the combined impact of market, competitive and cost drivers. Evidence from this research shows that the balance of industry drivers is towards there being benefits to the pursuit of global strategies within this sector. In practice, a small number of very large corporate law firms are implementing global strategies in pursuit of specific sources of future competitive advantage. Thus a small 'super-elite' of globalising firms is emerging.


The rise of new social movements in Western Europe has led to the formulation of several models that attempt to explain why mass publics support these movements. Macro models emphasize the social location (e.g., new middle-class membership or social integration) of individuals as a source of public support for new social movements; psychological models focus on postmaterial values or problem perceptions as explanations of why citizens support protest movements. Despite the proliferation of explanatory models, however, research in this area suffers two shortcomings. First, several models remain untested, leaving it uncertain to what extent they are empirically valid. Second, most of the models remain disintegrated. Analyzing public opinion toward environmental groups in four nations, this research employs a Eurobarometer (1986) to test and synthesize various models. Postmaterial values, left policy orientations, and the perception of national pollution problems have the strongest direct influence on public evaluations of environmental organizations. Attributes that reflect the social integration of individuals indirectly influence environmental group evaluations via psychological factors. New middle-class explanations receive no support from my analyses.


PurposeMuslims have several religious obligations; the payment of a defined sum to the deprived part of the society is one of their financial obligations called Zakat. The institutionalization of this obligation has been the focal point of several research studies, however the Moroccan context has been studied by very few researchers. Therefore, this research aims to study the institutionalization of Zakat in the Moroccan context. Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, the authors try to drive focus to the determinants of the payment of Zakat to a specialized institution in Morocco (institutions whose main activity is the management of zakat funds), through 302 questionnaires that have been administrated on Moroccans and partial least square (PLS) approach.FindingsThe results show that the intention and payment behavior of Zakat by Moroccans depends on the quality of the zakat institution's quality of services, its location, the competence and availability of personnel, the use of technology, the shari'ah compliance of the institution's activities and the trust by showing professionalism in the management of Zakat funds and disclose information.Research limitations/implicationsThe lack of relevant data covering the number of Zakat payers in Morocco, their potential contributions and the amounts paid each year, slows down the progress of this project as it hinders the ability of state officials and decision-makers to assess the potential zakat funds that are currently in circulation, and thus makes it hard for them to attribute financial support to such project. It also makes it hard for researchers to get direct access to Muzzakis.Practical implicationsThe existing literature shows immense interest in the implementation of institutions who can manage the Islamic social instruments especially zakat. However, the lack of relevant payer data of Zakat in Morocco and other jurisdictions who have not yet institutionalized zakat slows down the progress of this project and hinders any progress. Thus, the initiating point of such institutions in Morocco and in other countries who have not yet launched this project, requires knowing what determines the behaviour of Zakat payers and their choice of paying zakat to an institution. The results of our research help give insights on the determinants of zakat institutionalization from zakat payers point of view. These results are useful to the state policy makers.Social implicationsLike other neighboring countries, Morocco must introduce Zakat into its social system in order to better manage the funds that will enable the tackling of serious social problems such as poverty.Originality/valueIn contrast to the widespread and extensive literature available in analyzing the determinants of donations and volunteering from a conventional perspective, the parallel analysis of these same concerns in social Islamic systems is still in its infancy and so is the implementation of institutions related to zakat and other traditional Islamic social instruments such as waqf.


The method of production of peanut paste with blended fruit and vegetable semi-finished products of high degree of readiness based on Jerusalem artichoke and cranberry obtained under conditions of low-temperature concentration has been improved. The production method is characterized by the process of concentration in a rotary-film apparatus at a temperature of 45...50 °C to a content of 28...30 % of dry substances within 1.75...2.00 minutes. The organoleptic evaluation of various recipe ratios of the selected raw materials revealed its optimal content in the semi-finished product (Jerusalem artichoke 65 %, cranberry 35 %), which has a uniform structure, a pleasant aroma of cranberry and Jerusalem artichoke, and its color is red-orange. The obtained fruit and vegetable semi-finished product of a high degree of readiness can be used as a base or additive in various food products of special purpose to increase their nutritional value and provide the products with a health-improving effect.
For the production of health-prophylactic peanut paste, a technological manufacturing scheme is proposed with the addition of Jerusalem artichoke and cranberry fruit and vegetable paste to its composition, which will further increase the health-prophylactic properties of the finished product, eliminate the use of sugar and other synthetic stabilizers in comparison with classical technology. The organoleptic evaluation of the received samples of peanut paste with blended fruit and vegetable semi-finished product of a high degree of readiness revealed a rational amount of the semi-finished product at the level of 25 %, while the product has a structured, homogeneous consistency and a pleasant yellow-orange color. The obtained product can be recommended for therapeutic and preventive purposes, as a cholesterol-lowering and immunomodulating agent


PURPOSE: A method for regenerating a catalyst for manufacturing metacrylic acid and a method for manufacturing the metacrylic acid are provided to manufacture the metacrylic acid for a long period of time based on superior conversion rate and selectivity. CONSTITUTION: A method for regenerating a catalyst for manufacturing metacrylic acid includes the following: aqueous slurry containing a catalyst for manufacturing metacrylic acid, ammonium ions, nitrate ions, and water is dried to obtain a catalyst precursor; the catalyst precursor is primarily plasticized at a temperature between 360 and 410 deg C under oxidative atmosphere; and the plasticized catalytic precursor is secondarily plasticized at a temperature between 420 and 500 deg C under non-oxidative atmosphere. The catalyst for manufacturing metacrylic acid includes a heteropoly acid compound containing phosphorus and molybdenum.


Phytochemical examination on the petroleum ether extract of Shorea robusta root bark led to the isolation of Asiatic acid (1), 3,25-epoxy-1,2,3,11-etrahydroxyurs-12-en-28-oic Acid (2), 3,25-epoxy-1,2,3-trihydroxyurs-l2-en-28-oic Acid (3), Phayomphenol (4) and 3,7-dihydroxy-8-methoxyflavone 7-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→4)-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→6)-βD-glucopyranoside (5). The structure of these compounds was elucidated on the basis of different spectroscopic techniques.


Have you ever experienced a mirror that not only "sees" how you see yourself, but tells you how others perceive you? May such a smartmirror help not only adapt/improve oneself externally (look) but also internally (mood, emotions)? What are the expectations, fears (privacy)? The acceptance of such a smart thing requires approaches that go beyond technology-driven designs. In this paper, we report on the construction of an affective emotion-sensitive smartmirror as a smart piece of furniture for smarthomes and explorative studies with that system which address somaesthetics and aims to help inhabitants in self-reflection. The paper presents and discusses the prototype implementation and the results of a study in which the ideas, concerns, and experiences for/with the self-reflection capabilities of the affective smartmirror were explored by participants using the prototype as a technology probe.


In this article, we propose an efficient atomic packing cluster-based composition protocol to help design Al-based metallic glasses. Its validity is verified by some typical experimental data from the literatures. Furthermore, with this understanding, the Al–Ni–Y alloy system is re-evaluated. As a result, the best glass former Al86Ni9Y5 in this system, with the critical thickness of about 500 µm, is successfully fabricated by wedge casting.


Laboratory experiments were performed to study the removal of dye from textile effluent using the seagrass Cymodocea rotunda beads in calcium alginate. The present experiment was conducted to know the effects of pH, beads density, retention time and biomass dosage in beads on dye removal from textile effluent. Algal uptake and adsorption on alginate gels were the major principals involved in the removal of nitrate and phosphate from effluent. Increasing cell stocking in beads did not cause any improvement in the efficiency of treatment, but caused some leakage problems. Also, the increased beads concentration in effluent caused reductions in light penetration and enhanced self-shading effects besides the beads settled at the bottom of the reactor. The experiment inferred that the 75 numbers of algal beads with pH 8 in the biomass dosage of 0.1 g and 120 minutes retention time were found to be suitable factors for the effective removal of dye from the textile effluent.


The paper discusses the rationale for, and describes a proposed framework for systems engineering in the context of a discipline. This framework, the Hitchins-Kasser-Massie (HKM) framework has already facilitated postgraduate teaching of systems engineering and has provided reasons why systems engineers have a plurality of views concerning the scope and nature of systems engineering. The contribution of this paper is to place the HKM framework in the context of Kline"s definition of a discipline.


This paper presents a new approach to text‐independent speaker recognition. The technique, developed to perform with short unknown utterances, models the spectral traits of a speaker with multiple sub‐models rather than using a single statistical distribution as done with previous approaches. The recognition is based on the statistical distribution of the distances between the unknown speaker and each of the speaker models. Only frames that are close to one of the speaker's sub‐models are considered in the recognition decision, so that speech events not encountered in the training data do not bias the recognition. The technique has been tested on a conversational data base. Models were generated using 100 s of speech from each of 11 male talkers. Unknown speech was obtained one week after the model data. Recognition accuracies of 96%, 87%, and 79% were obtained for unknown speech durations of 10, 5, and 3 s, respectively. The use of multiple sub‐models to characterize spectral traits results in improved discrimination between speakers, particularly when short speech segments are recognized. [Work supported by U. S. Air Force, Rome Air Development Center.]


The significance and factors of innovation capabilities training are expounded.Based on the analysis of the existing conditions of computer science undergraduates' innovation capabilities,the methods of innovation consciousness training and innovation thinking in operating system theory teaching are proposed.The means of innovation skills training in operating system practice teaching are presented.The proposed solutions are implemented in teaching.The undergraduates' innovation capabilities are extraordinarily improved.


The future of space exploration and development will be determined by our ability to safely access and return from space. Steady improvements in the prediction of atmospheric entry phase conditions have occurred through comparisons of results obtained in the windtunnel and from computer simulation. In this study, computer simulations are presented using the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method for hypersonic rarefied flow and compared to existing windtunnel data. Modified Newtonian and free molecular flow methods are employed to compliment the DSMC aerodynamic analysis. There is close agreement between the DSMC and windtunnel data for a blunted-cone windtunnel model. The computed aerodynamic properties are largely insensitive to modest changes in accommodation coefficients. For ballistic capsule models, there is significantly greater disagreement between the DSMC and windtunnel data. The DSMC numerical procedures are verified with results from an independent code and the windtunnel data are therefore considered suspect.


AN ENORMOUS need exists for health planners, health administrators, and health service evaluators. Health agencies and universities across the land are handicapped by having too few personnel that are academically trained in these fields. The demand shows no signs of tapering off; indeed, there are indications of increased demands due to legislative and executive recognition of the need for expanded and new programs and for better yardsticks in allocating resources. Widespread adoption of the planning-programing-budgeting (P-P-B) system is likely to increase the demand for planners and evaluators. P-P-B has to date focused largely on budgeting, but increased attention to planning will come about. Planning is a continuous process and must address itself to some purposeto the development of programs to achieve certain goals or objectives. Implicit in planning is evaluation; evaluation of direction and achievement is inevitable. A further indication of the demand for plan-


Being a kind of occupation,university counselors should have some personality in the work-mature self-consciousness,distinct occupational complex,fine personal characteristics,enduring innovative power,stable emotional condition.Based on this,personality moulding of university professional counselors should start with role localization,psychological education and incentive mechanism.


Embolization with micron-sized particulates is widely applied to treat uterine fibroids. The objective of this work was to develop mixture designs to predict materials composition–structure–property relationships for the SiO2–CaO–ZnO–La2O3–TiO2–MgO–SrO–Na2O glass system and compare its fundamental materials properties (density and cytocompatibility), against a state-of-the-art embolic agent (contour polyvinyl alcohol) to assess the potential of these materials for embolization therapies. The glass structures were evaluated using 29Si MAS NMR to identify chemical shift and line width; the particulate densities were determined using helium pycnometry and the cell viabilities were assessed via MTT assay. 29Si MAS NMR results indicated peak maxima for each glass in the range of −82.3 ppm to −89.9 ppm; associated with Q2 to Q3 units in silicate glasses. All experimental embolic compositions showed enhanced in vitro compatibility in comparison to Contour PVA with the exceptions of ORP9 and ORP11 (containing no TiO2). In this study, optimal compositions for cell viability were obtained for the following compositional ranges: 0.095–0.188 mole fraction ZnO; 0.068–0.159 mole fraction La2O3; 0.545–0.562 mole fraction SiO2 and 0.042–0.050 mole fraction TiO2. To ensure ease of producibility in obtaining good melts, a maximum loading of 0.068 mole fraction La2O3 is required. This is confirmed by the desirability approach, for which the only experimental composition (ORP5) of the materials evaluated was presented as an optimum composition; combining high cell viability with ease of production (0.188 mole fraction ZnO; 0.068 mole fraction La2O3; 0.562 mole fraction SiO2 and 0.042 mole fraction TiO2).


The growth and development of Xinjiang ethnic minority college students is special,and they show some features such as distinctive national characteristic,the influence of Islam,strong national consciousness,simple thought and uneven levels of literacy,and so on.Ideological and political theory teaching of Xinjiang ethnic minority college students has some problems.For example weak orientation of the course content and curriculum organization,rigid teaching method,monotonous teaching method,and so on.If we want to improve the efficiency of ideological and political theory teaching to Xinjiang ethnic minority college students,we must fully tap on the moral education resources of the cultures of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.We must be close to social life,explain profound theories in simple language.We must improvethe evaluation mechanism,Take the students as the focus in research-based teaching.We must enhance the communication between students from various nationalities,so that the students approve in their mind and are genuinely convinced.


We explored the associations of collective self-esteem and parent educational practices with school engagement in a sample of 128 Samoan middle and high school students in an urban school district. Simultaneous regression analysis revealed that each of these independent variables contributed to significant variance in school engagement. Specifically, the overall regression model accounted for 22% of the variance in school engagement. Collective self-esteem was the most significant association, followed by parent educational practices. Implications discuss how we must consider Samoan and other marginalized youths' cultural worth and perceptions of parental practices as critical factors influencing their school connections.


Objective:To analyse retrospectively the medical treatment and clinical outcomes for 128 patients with pulmonary embolism(PE).Methods:We reviewed the effect of therapy in 128 cases of PE treated in Tongji hospital from 2005 to 2010.Results:All 128 patients with PE received appro-priate clinical treatment.Of 16 cases who received thrombolytic therapy,13 cases survived.(81.3%).There were 11 patients who received catheter-based thrombus fragmentation in combination with local fibrinolysis,10 of who survived(90.9%).Among 101 cases who received anticoagulant therapy,86 patients survived(79.2%).There was no difference in survival rate among these three methods(P0.05).Conclusion:Prognosis of patients with PE could be improved by optimal treatment.


A study investigated what kind of expectations former GDR (German Democratic Republic) journalism students have about their futures as journalists and what their general perceptions of journalism are. About 80 journalism students in their last semester at Leipzig University were administered surveys during the two days directly preceding the official (re)unification of Germany. A total of 58 students responded, but not all students answered all of the questions. Results indicated that (1) 837. of the students passed a one-year journalism trainee program at a media organization or had professional experience via journalism internship programs; (2) 63% of the students said they would choose to work in print media rather than television or radio; (3) the students were not very willing to work for non-political magazines; (4) 36 of the 58 students refused to respond when asked to indicate the main influence on their decision to study journalism; (5) the two classic modelE of journalists as "critic/controller" or as "educator" were the most important or played the biggest role for the students; and (6) 977. of the students felt that the possibility to apply individual abilities and individual expertise were very important, while compatibility of job and family life was more important for females than males. Findings suggest that after nearly a year of experience with the new society and the system of freedom of the press, the journalism students, perhaps more than ever, see their role as journalists as an altruistic one. (One table and 26 references are included.) (RS) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** Coping with the new system: Self-Assessment, Role-Definition and Professional Expectations of Journalism Students in former GDR after Democratization


Previously, we generated genetically fused dimers and trimers of subunit c of the Escherichia coli ATP synthase based upon the precedent of naturally occurring dimers in V-type H+-transporting ATPases. Thec 2 and c 3 oligomers have proven useful in testing hypothesis regarding the mechanism of energy coupling. In the first part of this paper, the uncoupling Q42E substitution has been introduced into the second loop of thec 2 dimer or the third loop of thec 3 trimer. Both mutant proteins proved to be as functional as the wild type c 2 dimer or wild type c 3 trimer. The results argue against an obligatory movement of the ε subunit between loops of monomeric subunit c in the c 12 oligomer during rotary catalysis. Rather, the results support the hypothesis that the c-ε connection remains fixed as thec-oligomer rotates. In the second section of this paper, we report on the effect of substitution of the proton translocating Asp61 in every second helical hairpin of thec 2 dimer, or in every third hairpin of thec 3 trimer. Based upon the precedent of V-type ATPases, where the c 2 dimer occurs naturally with a single proton translocating carboxyl in every second hairpin, these modified versions of the E. coli c 2 andc 3 fused proteins were predicted to have a functional H+-transporting ATPase activity, with a reduced H+/ATP stoichiometry, but to be inactive as ATP synthases. A variety of Asp61-substituted proteins proved to lack either activity indicating that the switch in function in V-type ATPases is a consequence of more than a single substitution.


Abstract Background Previous studies have shown that Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection is associated with erectile dysfunction (ED), but the mechanism is unclear. Aim To assess the relationship between ED and Hp, folic acid (FA), vitamin B12 (B12), and homocysteine (HCY). Methods This study included 84 patients with ED and 42 healthy men. We adopted an IIEF-5 score <21 (5-item International Index of Erectile Function) as the diagnostic criterion for ED, and the RigiScan monitoring device was used to preliminarily screen for and rule out psychogenic ED. Outcomes Levels of Hp immunoglobulin G (Hp-IgG) titer, FA, B12, and HCY were compared between the ED group and the non-ED group, and the correlation between the indicators was evaluated. Results The median Hp-IgG titer was higher in the ED group than the control group (32.34 vs 20.88, P < .001). The ED group had lower median levels of B12 (195 vs 338, P < .001) and FA (4.66 vs 10.31, P < .001) and a higher median level of HCY (12.7 vs 8.1, P < .001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the level of FA (odds ratio, 0.111; 95% CI, 0.031-0.399; P < .001) was an independent risk factor for ED. Specifically, FA level was significantly higher in the moderate ED group than the severe ED group, which had a higher median Hp-IgG titer and lower level of B12; although not significant, this was still a clinical trend. Hp-IgG titer was negatively correlated with levels of FA (r = −0.601, P < .001) and B12 (r = −0.434, P < .001) and with the IIEF-5 score (r = −0.382, P < .001) and positively correlated with HCY (r = 0.69, P < .001). Clinical Implications The ED group had higher levels of Hp-IgG titer and HCY and lower levels of B12 and FA. Strengths and Limitations This study is the first to link Hp infection, FA, B12, and HCY and further explain the relationship between these indicators and the underlying pathologic mechanisms that jointly cause ED. The limitation is that our study was based on Hp-IgG titers, which do not necessarily represent the full extent of Hp infection, despite the avoidance of invasive testing. Conclusion Hp infection might lead to decreased FA and B12 and then increased HCY, which might be a mechanism leading to ED. Hp eradication or FA and B12 supplementation might have certain clinical value in the treatment of vascular ED.


A methodology was developed and tested in six case studies at four medium-sized manufacturing companies within the machine engineering industry. Existing and planned work environments and production processes were described with the aid of computer-generated pictures. The pictures were used within the framework of an action research methodology in which managers and those employees affected, together with trade unions and company health care representatives, cooperated to establish the preconditions for improved planning from the point of view of both productivity and work environment. The picture methodology using animated pictures, developed to create and present two- and three-dimensional views of a computer model with manipulable objects, was tested both in a workshop with 20 participants from manufacturing companies and corporate health care and in an experimental study with 30 psychology students as experimental subjects. At a Community College with an artistic bet, the way in which different groups within the college described its organization with the aid of pictures and symbols was studied. (Less)


The limitation of fresh water and the exorbitant cost of land to grow such plants, algae are the most optimum organisms for CO2 bio-sequestration and also microalgae cultures avail many characteristics that make them an arguable option for higher productivities as compared to higher plants. The aim of this study was the sequestrate CO2 by Spirulina platensis and Chlorella vulgaris under the different levels of salinity and CO2. The highest growth rate obtained during the first 4 days and higher biomass concentration at CO2 concentration from0.03% to 10% respectively. The significant (p<0.05) biomass productivity, growth rate and CO2 sequestration rate under different level of CO2 and EC between Spirulina platensis and Chlorella vulgaris were detected. The ultimate CO2 sequestration rate of Spirulina platensis and Chlorella vulgaris were 0.49 and 0.152 g/L/d in natural water respectively, although in artificial sea water 0.419 and 0.097 g/L/d were recorded at 10% CO2 concentrations respectively.


Objective: To study the biocompatibility evaluation of porous carbonate calcium ceramics(PCCC) and to provide experiment basis for the clinical application.Methods: PCCC was immersed into physiological saline and culture fluid to acquire PCCC solution,the experiments include acute toxicity testing,minute nucleus test and muscle implant test.Results: PCCC had no gene mutation,and no significant immune reaction of foreign body was observed by histochemistry technique after it was implanted into muscular pocket.Conclusion: According to the tests,the porous carbonate calcium ceramics showed no inflammatory reaction and good tissue biocompatibility.


In this paper, we propose a scheme for accessing document images using ontology. We make use of an extension of OWL (ontology language for Web) to allow encoding of ontologies for document images. We experimentally demonstrate that reasoning with the concepts defined in ontology and their observation models provide a mechanism to support conceptual querying and automated hyperlinking of document images.


Modelling of demand response is beneficial to remote power grid operators when handling operational planning related activities with minimal user interactions and less-advanced bi-directional communication infrastructure. A probabilistic fuzzy system based prediction model is designed to estimate demand response in a day-ahead framework for the remote off-grid power systems of Northern Canada. Special concern is given to capture both the deterministic and stochastic uncertainty prevailing in the consumer decision making process. Studies for both winter and summer seasons are presented while incorporating several site-specific load features and consumer characteristics.


Confucius's thought on the military physical education is one of his thoughts on the education.His thonght about that military physical education is the important aspect on fostering students',ensuring victory of War and serving for morality.Basing on the dissertation of Confucius、his students and different educators,the author presents a systematic analysis on Confucius's thought on the military physical education and practice.


The paper investigates the Relative Advancement Degree of Difficulty (RAD2) problem to evaluate the feasibility and effectivity of the technology. Firstly, the study reviews concept of Technology Readiness Level (TRL), Earned Value Management (EVM). Then, an improved method was developed by integrating the impact on cost, schedule and technical performance to calculate the RAD2. With the result of RAD2 and acceptable RAD2 threshold, we can easily decide whether the technology is worth further investment. Finally, an illustrative example is given to verify the developed method.


The apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele carries an increased risk of a patient developing Alzheimer's disease (AD) while the ε2 allele carries a decreased risk. We compared survival from the onset of AD in subjects with different numbers of ε4 alleles and evaluated changes in genotypic frequencies with age. Two subject groups were investigated: unrelated AD case and control subjects, and affected and unaffected members from 74 multiplex AD families. In both subject groups, survival from onset decreased with increasing onset age, was longer in women, and was unrelated to ε4 gene dose. The ε2/ε3 genotype became more common with age (p = 0.004). The ε4 allele decreased in frequency with age in all patient groups but, unexpectedly, remained unchanged in control subjects. We conclude that the progression of AD is not strongly related to ε4 gene dose, that the higher prevalence of AD in women may involve the longer survival of affected women, and that AD and death are competing risks involving APOE that change over time.


NEPHRECTOMY COMBINED WITH PARTIAL RESECTION OF INFERIOR VENA CAVA IN TREATMENT OF RENAL TUMOR Hisao Takayasu, Isao Hirokawa & Koji Shiga From the Department of Urology, Niigata University School of Medicine, Niigata (Director: Prof. H. Takayasu) A case of renal tumor, in which radical nephrectomy with partial resection of the inferior vena cava was performed, is presented with a review of the literature. Indications, clinical manifestations and development of collateral veins in case of vena cava ligation are discussed.


The University of Antioquia in Medellin, Colombia, was the scenario for holding what can be regarded now as a tradition in Latin America: an International Symposium on Georg Simmel. This review attempts to share the result of the third symposium outlining how simmelian categories were revisited and used as research keys for understanding the Latin American context. It is worth to mention that after the event not only the initiative of publishing the proceedings was achieved, but also the formalization of a Latin American simmelian studies network. This valuable experience of gathering around Simmel's work will return to its initial point when the Fourth Symposium will be hold in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on November 2015.


We model corruption in a society as a result of bargaining for bribes between private citizens and public officials. We investigate the role that incomplete information with respect to the intrinsic moral cost of one's potential corruption partner plays out in his or her propensity to engage in bribery, and, consequently, the equilibrium level of corruption in the society. We assume that the cost of engaging in corruption is subject to strategic complementarities, which may lead to multiple corruption equilibria. We find that corruption is lowest when potential bribers and potential bribees are uncertain regarding each other's "corruptibility" and have asymmetric bargaining powers. Our uncertainty result provides theoretical support in favor of anti-corruption strategies, such as staff rotation in public offices, aimed at decreasing the social closeness of bribers and bribees. Our bargaining power result suggests that, under uncertainty, monopolistic public good provision has the same corruption-reducing effect as competitive public good provision.


In order to improve the fluidity retention performance of cement, monomers containing ester groups were introduced into slow-release polycarboxylate superplasticisers (PCEs). Four slow-release PCEs...


The 'Invisible Poles' project looked at how British-born people of Polish descent have experienced the recent increase in the Polish population of the UK, as well as easier access to Poland since Poland joined the EU in 2004. The twenty-eight interviewees came forward because they had stories to tell about becoming more 'visibly' Polish – visible to Polish-born Poles in the UK and Poland, but also to their families and friends. Their stories are gathered together in Invisible Poles: a Book of Interview Extracts, an open access book which can be downloaded here.


monarchical power, among other topics. The second part, entitled A Wider World, contains six chapters. Here the principal goal is tracing connections between Europe and its overseas territories from the sixteenth century. Chapters six and 10 form an overview that sketch the Mediterranean and medieval origins of the European overseas expansion and the tensions which emerged between Europe and America. Chapters eight and eleven provide a very accurate comparison between the Spanish and British empires in the Americas. These empires had many shared elements and problems, such as their providential origins, and the differing opinions about the relations between the indigenous people and the settlers. Chapters seven and nine then explore further the political relationship between Spain and its American possessions. Chapter seven focuses on the impact of the empire of the Indies on metropolitan Spain. Chapter nine identifies the elements in the constitutional structure that supported the inclusion of the American territories in the Spanish monarchy, such as the monarchical figure, a complex bureaucratic apparatus, a shared religion and the recognition of the traditional laws or privileges added to these territories. The third part, entitled The World of Art, contains three chapters. It concerns itself with the cultural history of art. El Greco, Rubens and Velázquez's courtesan life are used to understand the political world in which these artists were part. Elliott pursues the same sort of comparative analyses here. Focusing especially on the court, he describes the material and social contexts in which court culture and artistic patronage were used in order to build the royal majesty. Chapter 12 is centred on the relation between the worlds of classical scholarship and Counter-Reformation spirituality. Here El Greco's itinerary through Candia, Venice, Rome and Toledo serves to show the coexistence of the Latin West, the Greek Orthodox world and the civilisation of Islam as influences on this painter who was formed in the Greek tradition and lived in contact with the art and artists of the Latin West. Chapter 13 is a fascinating study of court society in seventeenth-century Madrid, Brussels and London. Here Rubens's perceptions are used to identify the political and artistic mechanisms which were operating in these three courts. Finally, Chapter 14 focuses on the relationship between Spain's cultural achievements and its social basis. Here Velázquez's politics of reputation and honour is used to illustrate the path he took in founding his career as a noble and courtier. In summary, Professor Elliott's book is a readable and valuable volume. It can serve both as an introduction for the historian in general and a book for specialised scholars of early modern history and the colonial history of the Americas. In brief, this book is a useful exercise in comparative history that attempts to make a methodological contribution by dealing with a rich compilation of case studies.


A great deal of research has been focused on the development of database machines. In parallel to this work some vendors have developed general purpose machines with database function built directly into the machine architecture. The IBM AS/400 is one of the principle examples of this approach. Designed with a strong object orientation and the basis functions of the relational database model integrated into it's architecture, the AS/400 has proved to be a commercial success. In the present work we look at the database component of the AS/400.


Implementation of a neuron like information processing structure at hardware level is a burning research problem. In this article, we analyze the modified hybrid spiking neuron model (the MHSN model) in distributed delay framework (DDF) for hardware level implementation point of view. We investigate its temporal information processing capability in term of inter-spike-interval (ISI) distribution. We also perform the stability analysis of the MHSN model, in which, we compute nullclines, steady state solution, eigenvalues corresponding the MHSN model. During phase plane analysis, we notice that the MHSN model generates limit cycle oscillations which is an important phenomenon in many biological processes. Qualitative behavior of these limit cycle does not changes due to the variation in applied input stimulus, however, delay effect the spiking activity and duration of cycle get altered.


The cultivated cereals, members of the Poaceae family of the angiosperms, provide about half of the calories consumed by humans and a growing share of biofuel. Together with their economic importance, the Poaceae are an attractive group for comparative genomics because they include many important crops with diverse native distributions and at least 35-fold variation in genome size (e.g., rice = 420 Mb; wheat = ~ 15,000 Mb). The independent domestication of rice in both Africa and Asia, sorghum in Africa, maize in America, and wheat in the Near East has provided an excellent study system in which to explore the genetic complexity of adapting plants to human use (for example, see Paterson et al. 1995; Paterson 2002). Recent efforts to characterize Poaceae genomes better are reflected in their expansion from 1% to about 6% of the DNA sequence resources in GenBank (Paterson et al. 2003). This is exemplified by the nearly finished sequencing of each of two Oryza subspecies (see below), supplemented by exploratory genome-wide efforts in maize (Whitelaw et al. 2003) and sorghum (Bedell et al. 2005), and large EST and STS-based DNA marker collections for many others. Collectively, genomic resources for diverse Poaceae promise new insights into molecular evolution, botanical diversity, and agricultural productivity. The power of any family or clade as a system to answer fundamental questions depends largely on the number of whole-genome sequences available, the exact branch lengths and positions of these data sets in the phylogenetic tree, and the positions of whole-genome duplications...


Solidago microglossa DC, popularly known as arnica bush, is a medicinal plant widely used in South America because of its anti-inflammatory, analgesic and healing properties. Despite its widespread use, there are few studies about its chemical composition and the characterization of its biological and toxicological activities. In this context, the goal of this paper is to provide these requirements, and contribute to the quality control of a medicine based on arnica. This is possible by developing an analytical method by HPLC-DAD. Based on the phytochemical characterization of this species, a substance was isolated. It was analyzed by ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance of H and C NMR and mass spectrometry. It was identified as quercetin-3-rhamnosidic (quercitrin). This flavonoid has proven anti-inflammatory properties, a fact that may justify the popular use of its extract. Because of these properties and the large quantity of this substance found in medicinal extracts, this was considered the phytochemical marker of this species. To the quantification, a rapid and sensitive method was developed using as stationary phase Zorbax Bonus RP column (100 x 3.0 mm, 3.5 mm in particle). The mobile phase consisted of a linear gradient of acetonitrile (A) and a solution of 0.5% formic acid (B) starting with 10% A to 60% A in 8 min. The flow was 1.3 mL min-1 and the injection volume was 10 uL. The oven temperature was maintained at 35 ° C and the detection was performed at 346 nm. Validation parameters indicated that the method is linear, precise and accurate within the range from 10 to 100 g.mL. The biological activities test revealed a potent antioxidant capacity of the crude extract and chloroform, ethyl acetate and water-alcohol fractions, by the method of reducing the phosphomolybdenum complex and DPPH radical. The crude extract also demonstrated a positive influence on the activity of tyrosinase enzyme, indicating the possibility to use the extract in the treatment of pigmentary disorders. Besides the beneficial effects, toxicity studies revealed that the crude is inactive against brine shrimp. Low toxicity was also observed in pre-clinical trials involving the ingestion of the extract by rats. In this case, there were no significant changes in biochemical and hematological parameters, confirming its safety in cases of acute exposure to the herbal medicine.


215 mental maps collected in 1998 indicate that Watts is Los Angeles' epicenter of fear. Spatial cluster analysis provides evidence that this fear is most closely associated with the 1965 "Watts" riots. The role played by television in constructing spatial fear is proposed as a possible explanation for the persistence of this collective memory. Analysis of phone survey data and of a set of mental maps indicates that the greatest fear of Watts is found among respondents with stronger dependency relations with television.


With the deep economic crisis we face since 2008 also the interest in Marxian theories increased worldwide. This was not really surprising: while in Marx's economic theory crises play an important role, they are nearly neglected in mainstream economics. They appear there as mere accidents, which could be prohibited by flexible markets (this is the belief of neoclassical economists) or by an appropriate economic policy (the belief of the Keynesians). But talking about Marxian economic theory, we should always have in mind, that there is a certain development in Marx's thinking as well as there are certain ambivalences in basic theoretical concepts. In traditional Marxism, which mostly tried to present Marxian theory as a complete and perfect building, especially such ambivalences were often negIected or even denied. In the following I will give a short overview about the main stages of Marx's theoretical development, and then I will focus on the ambivalences of Marx's mature theoretical work.


While a number of models exist to estimate nitrogen (N) losses from agricultural fields, they mostly pertain to temperate climate conditions and annual crops. Few models are available for tropical crops [1], [2], and even fewer for perennial crops [3], [4]. The lack of robust N-flux inventories is particularly critical for LCA of perennial and tropical crops. Oil palm is the most rapidly expanding tropical perennial crop, which raises environmental concerns. Beside land-use change and peatland, oil palm agricultural production impacts the environment mainly through the use of synthetic fertilisers, notably nitrogen [5], [6]. The latter is associated with pollution risks of ground and surface water, and emissions of greenhouse gases. Accurate estimation of N losses is critical to assess the environmental impacts of palm plantations. In this study, we reviewed currently-available models for oil palm cultivation, and appraised their capacity to assess the N balances of oil palm agro-ecosystems. We identified various operational and process-based models that could be applied to oil palm, although most of them were not specifically adapted for tropical perennial crops. To our knowledge, APSIM is the only available process-based model of oil palm cultivation that includes N losses [7], but the accuracy of its N loss estimates was untested. Other means of assessment were based on statistical models [8]–[10] or other approaches [11]–[13]. Nitrogen balance assessments have shown important uncertainties (Figure). Estimates of N20 and NO3 - rely on very uncertain and sensitive parameters, such as the clay content for instance with the SQCB-NO3 model [13]. These uncertainties are due to a lack of understanding of processes. In particular, it is difficult to study and understand N dynamics over the whole lifespan of oil palm crops (20-25 years) and to account for varying agricultural practices. Adequate data to characterise various cropping systems is often lacking. Further research is required to develop a procedure that provides a robust assessment of the environmental impact of N management in oil palm cultivation. Particularly, this procedure should have the capacity to account for a range of soils, climates, and management practices over the whole cycle. One track to be pursued is the development of an agro-ecological indicator based on Indigo concept [14], [15]. Such an indicator could help to reduce uncertainties in LCA of tropical perennial crops.


ABSTRACT The morphogenetic changes of the bud meristem during floral initiation in gooseberry were examined by scanning electron microscopy. Six floral stages, similar to those reported for black currants, were identified. We also studied the environmental control of shoot growth and floral initiation of cvs. Mucurines, Pax and Xenia in two experiments in daylight phytotron compartments at 12, 18 and 24°C. Under natural daylength conditions at Ås, Norway (69°40'N), shoot growth started to decline by mid-August and ceased in early September. Cessation of growth was associated with floral initiation at 18 and 12°C, while at 24°C, only 'Mucurines' initiated floral primordia. Floral Stage 2 was reached by 3 September in 'Mucurines' and 'Xenia' at 18 and 12°C and nearly 2 weeks later in 'Pax'. In a second experiment with controlled photoperiods, all cultivars ceased growing and initiated flowering in 10-h SD within 2–3 weeks, while in 20-h LD, growth continued for 8 weeks without floral initiation. Under 10-h SD conditions, all cultivars initiated flowers also at 24°C. Flowering performance in the following spring verified these results. We conclude that gooseberry is an obligatory SD plant with a critical photoperiod of 15–16 h.