With the rapid growth of e-commerce markets the need for recommendation engine and efficient algorithms are becoming the need of the hour for business models of the companies to generate a huge amount of profit. This paper proposes a hybrid algorithm to benefit apparel retailing market which gives the benefits of both, semantics based search and frequency based search. Later this paper compares results of the proposed hybrid algorithm with the other known algorithms used to recommend products.


The authors presented the formalized theory for identification of genotypes on phenotypes in modern breeding technologies. As a base the authors proposed the mathematical models of «genotype—environment» interaction, for which they solves an inverse informational problem during the estimation of sizes of no observed action of seven genetic-physiological system on selected quantitative traits to be improved.


Objective. We sought to determine whether the standard diagnostic methods for vaginitis behave similarly among HIV-infected and at-risk seronegative women. Materials and Methods. We performed pairwise comparisons over time (1994-2003) for the different diagnostic methods for bacterial vaginosis (BV) (Nugent score and Amsel criteria), vulvovaginal candidiasis (potassium hydroxide smear and Pap smear), and trichomoniasis (culture, wet mount, and Pap smear) among HIV-infected and at-risk HIV seronegative women in the Women's Interagency HIV Study cohort. We stratified subjects by HIV status and among the HIV-infected women by CD4+ cell count strata. Results. For BV and trichomoniasis, κ statistics comparing clinical diagnostic methods to laboratory-based methods improved after the first year. Significant differences in overall κ statistics between HIV-infected and at-risk HIV-seronegative women were found only for vulvovaginal candidiasis where potassium hydroxide smear and Pap smear findings were more tightly correlated among HIV-infected women than among at-risk HIV-seronegative women; among these HIV-infected women, concordance was highest at lower CD4 cell counts. No significant differences in κ statistics were found for the diagnostic methods of BV or trichomoniasis neither by HIV status nor CD4+ cell count strata. Conclusions. The standard diagnostic tests for BV, vulvovaginal candidiasis, and trichomoniasis behave similarly in HIV-infected and at-risk seronegative women. Training and experience are critical for the accurate performance of the diagnostic methods that require clinician interpretation.


PURPOSE: A mixing unit of a device for disposing food waste is provided to improve the efficiency of decomposing food by using agitating blades of the various types. CONSTITUTION: A stirring unit(200) of a food garbage disposal apparatus includes a plurality of stirring chamber(210-230). A mixer(240) is arranged in the stirring chamber. The mix includes a rotary shaft and also includes a plurality of stirring wheels(242a,242b,242c) which are arranged in the stirring chamber. A plurality of small rods(244) and large rods are at least one stirring wheel.


The modern social contract theory emerging in the 16th century had been dominating western political trends for two centuries.This paper focuses on the subject of state building in modern western world and takes the rise and decline of the social contract theory as clues.Meanwhile,it focuses on the history and philosophical development of the social contract theory.It also analyses social contract theory and its significance to political development of modern western.


A method for tracking the three-dimensional position and computing the three velocity components of a micro-particle using information encoded in the ring structure of the particle image is introduced. The proposed technique can be employed in most existing micro-particle image velocimetry systems without any additional hardware and details of the optical train are not required. The technique utilizes a set of calibration images of a particle at various known distances from the focal plane (in the out-of-plane direction) in order to create a calibration curve. The calibration curve, which relates the radius of the outermost ring to the distance of the particle from focus is used to deduce the out-of-plane location of particles in experimental images. From successive images the particle's velocity is computed. The in-plane particle velocity is deduced from traditional particle tracking methods.


Genetic screening programmes may benefit individuals, their families and society, but they may also cause harm. As such, screening programmes should meet certain important requirements before they are routinely implemented.

Keywords:

genetics;
screening;
ethics


Sustainable development is based on environmental, social, economic, and technical dimensions. In this study, the sustainability of wastewater treatment techniques in urban areas of Iraq was assessed using a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA)/the weighted sum model (WSM). The analysis was performed on 13 operating wastewater treatment plants in 10 provinces, Iraq, using a questionnaire sheet with the assistance of 52 specialists in the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works, Iraq. Four types of wastewater treatment techniques (Conventional Treatment, Oxidation Ditches, Aeration Lagoons, and membrane bio-reactor (MBR)) were assessed. The environmental, social, economic, and technical dimensions were represented by 11, 5, 7, and 4 indicators, respectively. The main results of this study indicate that the sustainability of MBR recorded the highest total importance; the order of the total importance from the highest to the lowest was: MBR > Oxidation Ditches > Aeration Lagoons > Conventional Treatment. The environmental dimension proved its dominance in the four studied treatment techniques' sustainability as it recorded the maximum contribution to sustainability. While the technical dimension recorded the least contribution to sustainability, the order from the highest to the lowest was: Environmental Dimension > Economic Dimension > Social Dimension > Technical Dimension.


This paper investigates the pollution effect, and explores the feasibility of a local spectral method, the discrete singular convolution (DSC) algorithm for solving the Helmholtz equation with high wavenumbers. Fourier analysis is employed to study the dispersive error of the DSC algorithm. Our analysis of dispersive errors indicates that the DSC algorithm yields a dispersion vanishing scheme. The dispersion analysis is further confirmed by the numerical results. For one‐ and higher‐dimensional Helmholtz equations, the DSC algorithm is shown to be an essentially pollution‐free scheme. Furthermore, for large‐scale computation, the grid density of the DSC algorithm can be close to the optimal two grid points per wavelength. The present study reveals that the DSC algorithm is accurate and efficient for solving the Helmholtz equation with high wavenumbers. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The application of new media technology in the Internet era has become a new force that breaks the discourse power of traditional media in the past. Under the background that new media gradually integrates newspapers, televisions, and radio stations and completes the centralized dissemination of information, network hosts act as the times require. The emerging careers of students cannot be ignored for the development and impact of new media platforms. The audience market of network media is rising step by step, various network video programs and network radio programs are emerging in an endless stream, and network hosts are also increasingly entering the audience's field of vision. Clarifying the background of the emergence of this new career as a web host and making effective expectations for its development will play a vital role in the integration and development of the current hot web program. 1. Motivations and conditions for network moderators Web host can be divided into virtual host and real host. The so-called virtual network host is to use computer digitally simulated animated characters as the appearance of the host, and then give the animated characters character and moderation function through the voice acting of real people, and act as host in the network program. The world's first virtual web host named Ana Nova was a computer-simulated newscaster launched by the British Press New Media Company in 1999. The first TV virtual host in China was launched by Beijing TV station "Science and Technology News Weekly" in January 2001. It is an animated character named "Bill Deng". The other kind of web host is the real host. As various portals invest in video platforms and build teams to create new media video content, the status of the web host has risen and developed in various forms. The identity mode of the web host. The essence of the new media revolution brought by the Internet is an information explosion. How to efficiently find the information content that meets your needs in the numerous and varied information database is a basic problem in front of the online audience. The massive nature of Internet information and the diversity of communicators have created obstacles for online audiences to find information. This practical need of Internet users requires an information guide to guide them, save time and improve efficiency. Find your interests from online content. This practical source of demand and online audiences regard the new Internet media content as a communicator, which in turn creates a demand for information screening services. Internet audiences regard network media as a bridge and media for communicating with others. At this time, the audience becomes a communicator, and the communication portal required by the network media when acting as a communication bridge also requires a network host to check and maintain. The expression needs of the audience need a living person with affinity to translate and communicate, rather than the cold interface and software. Such needs are closer to the emotional needs of human beings. Network media has become a tool for humans to communicate emotions and communicate with each other. As a social person, facing the pressure of work and the troubles of life, in the network society, we need to vent and resolve our own soul and emotions. Only the network host 2020 International Symposium on Education and Social Sciences (ESS 2020) Published by CSP © 2020 the Authors 294 who is a real person can expect the role of interactive communication to meet the network. This demand from users. At the same time, the virtual network host has gradually been used by the traditional media program production process. In more and more TV programs, we can see the construction of virtual scenes, virtual animation characters and traditional media host debut mode . For example, during the 2014 World Cup broadcast, CCTV Sports Channel's special program for the World Cup not only set up a virtual reality studio in Brazil where the World Cup is held, but also cooperated with the virtual animation host to show the audience the wonderful picture of the World Cup in all directions. With the game. 2. The development trend of web host As a professional communicator on the network platform, the network video program host has some of its own significant advantages and disadvantages compared with the traditional radio and television program host.


Based on the study of the principle of smoke screen against a laser-guided bomb,obscuring performance of smoke screen made up of RP,YP and other new modified against a laser-guided bomb has been tested with a laser-guided weapon system bombing,results also has been discussed and analyzed.Based the work done,some proposals relating to the laser-guided band are put forward.


The pKa values of the title compounds have been determined spectrophotometrically as a function of temperature in a number of buffer systems. In all cases pKa is a linear function of substituent constant. σx, and ranges from 5.8 to 8.7 at room temperature. From the pKa values of 4-(2-hydroxystyryl)-N-methylpyridinium iodide and the corresponding N-benzyl compound apparent ortho substituent constants, σ–ortho, for the 4-vinyl-N-alkylpyridinium groups were assigned (+0.61 ± 0.04 and +0.70 ± 0.01, respectively) and compared to the para-substituent constant (+0.61 ± 0.02) for the 4-vinyl-N-methylpyridinium group evaluated from published data. Differences between thermodynamic parameters (ΔH° and ΔS°) in borate-containing buffers and those in other buffers are attributed to specific interaction with boric acid. All the results are consistent with a significant contribution from quinonoid forms involving the pyridyl ring to the ground states for these compounds and their solvatochromic conjugate bases in aqueous solution: however, this contribution increases upon excitation.


Abstract Despite the fact that hospitality web sites are proliferating and opportunities to complete sales transactions via the Internet increase daily, no research exists on meeting planners' use of the Internet to plan group meetings. Guided by Hoffman and Novak's (1994) Model of Planned Behavior this study focused on determining what variables are related to a meeting planners' intent to use and current use of the Internet to plan group meetings. Three hundred sixty-two planners of the Chicago Chapter of Meeting Professionals International were surveyed via a faxed instrument. Planners' attitudes, beliefs about norms, and perceived behavioral control were found to be significantly related to their usage of the Internet. Additionally, results confirmed that meeting planners view the Internet as having positive qualities and benefits in planning group meetings and that it is a cost effective planning tool.


This study reports on a nation-wide survey of a randomly selected group of child psychiatrists and examines their prescribing practices for a wide range of psychotropic medication in a wide range of disorders. Despite 98% of the sample valuing medication as a treatment modality, one third of clinicians prescribed rarely or not at all. More than three-quarters felt insufficiently competent in this area, a finding which was significantly associated with less frequent or no prescribing. Half of the sample believed that if they were better informed they would prescribe more and 91% requested regular psychopharmacology seminars.


Multiple choice questions in dental sciences with explanatory answers , Multiple choice questions in dental sciences with explanatory answers , کتابخانه دیجیتال جندی شاپور اهواز


The inflammatory cascade after spinal cord injury (SCI) causes necrotizing apoptosis of local stem cells, which limits nerve regeneration. Therefore, coordinating the inflammatory immune response and neural stem cell (NSC) functions is key to promoting the recovery of central nervous system function. In this study, a hydrogel "perfusion" system and electrospinning technology are integrated, and a "concrete" composite support for the repair of nerve injuries is built. The hydrogel's hydrophilic properties activate macrophage integrin receptors to mediate polarization into anti‐inflammatory subtypes and cause a 10% increase in polarized M2 macrophages, thus reprogramming the SCI immune microenvironment. Programmed stromal cell‐derived factor‐1α and brain‐derived neurotrophic factor released from the composite increase recruitment and neuronal differentiation of NSCs by approximately four‐ and twofold, respectively. The fiber system regulates the SCI immune inflammatory microenvironment, recruits endogenous NSCs, promotes local blood vessel germination and maturation, and improves nerve function recovery in a rat SCI model. In conclusion, the engineering fiber composite improves the local inflammatory response. It promotes nerve regeneration through a hydrophilic programmed cytokine‐delivery system, which further improves and supplements the immune response mechanism regulated by the inherent properties of the biomaterial. The new fiber composite may serve as a new treatment approach for SCI.


Background: Awake craniotomy aims to remove most of the brain tumour while preserving the eloquent area of the brain, many factors affecting hemodynamics and respiration during awake craniotomy especially sedative drugs: Type and doses. Aim: To detect hemodynamics and respiratory effects of dexmedetomidine-based sedation and propofol-based sedation in patients undergoing awake craniotomy for resection of brain tumours, which has encroachment on eloquent area of the brain. Patients and Methods: Randomized, prospective, comparative clinical trial study was carried out on 28 patients of both sexes undergoing elective surgery for brain tumor resection in the routine surgical lists in Suez Canal University


In order to investigate the influence of the sound intensity probe itself on the accuracy of measurement, a diffraction of the plane progressive wave by two finite-length cascade cylinders is calculated by the boundary element method (BEM). The sound pressure distribution around the cylinders is compared with the measured one. Both results agree well with each other. Frequency characteristics of the force that acts on the surface facing the gap between two cylinders are calculated for various probe model geometries. The force response shows deviations at high frequencies where the probe size becomes comparable to the wave length. This deviation mainly depends on the diameter of the probe.


Combined with Jilin Tuhui three standards bridge concrete construction,it summarizes the common problems and main reasons in concrete construction from construction organization,construction technique,raw material,construction environment and construction equipment and make a simple analysis,so as to accumulate corresponding experience.


The objective of this paper is to reexamine the monetary mechanism, that is the mechanism through which the monetary authority by controlling certain financial variables achieves (more or less) effective control over nominal income. We propose to argue that the view of the monetary mechanism which has been widely accepted, at least until very recently, by both monetarists and Keynesians and which focuses on the role of the money supply has in reality but limited applicability since it neglects many other possible and practical forms of this mechanism. We will be concerned with the nature of such alternative mechanisms and how their functioning is related to the structure of financial markets and with deriving implications from this analysis for the choice of intermediate targets for monetary policy. The need for a careful reexamination of the monetary transmission mechanism has become evident in the light of recent developments in both the practice and theory of monetary policy and in the presence of pervasive and continuous changes in the structure of financial markets. An important development in monetary policy in recent years has been the gradual adoption of monetary and credit aggregates as the primary targets in the formulation and implementation of policy by the monetary authorities of most major countries. The inflationary environment of the '70s impaired the usefulness of interest rates as instruments and/or targets of monetary policy and contributed to the shift towards greater emphasis on monetary aggregate targets. The abandonment of the system of fixed exchange rates also motivated the formulation of policy in terms of aggregates which were often viewed as conditioning, at least in part, the inflationary expectations of the public. The adoption of monetary targets has not proved a panacea either for achieving the major policy goals of eliminating inflation and fostering output growth or for improving the formulation and implementation of monetary policy. Most monetary authorities have, in fact, followed a rather flexible approach both in selecting specific quantitative targets and in pursuing them. The flexibility or eclecticism of central bank policies reflects two major con-


A succinonitrile (SCN)–3.6 wt% acetone (ACE) alloy was unidirectionally solidified with a constant temperature gradient G = 5.7 K mm−1 in the growth rate ranges V = 6.5–113 µm s−1 and a constant growth rate V = 6.5 µm s−1 in the temperature gradient ranges G = 3.5–5.7 K mm−1. The primary dendrite arm spacings, secondary dendrite arm spacings, dendrite tip radius and mushy zone depth were measured as a function of growth rate and temperature gradient. Theoretical models for the dendrite arm spacing and tip radius have been compared with the experimental observations, and a comparison of our results with the current theoretical models and previous experimental results has also been made. The stability constant (σ) for this alloy system was measured and this result was compared with various similar organic transparent alloys.


To the Editor: Our ischaemic cardiopathy study group read with interest the article written by Wurtz et al ,1 regarding the effect of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) on the antiplatelet effect of aspirin …


Looking back the achievements and experiences at the development of agricultural mechanization during the "Eleventh Five-Year" in China,to explain the development situation and objectives during the "Twelfth Five-Year" in China,put forward the development priorities and ideas of agricultural mechanization during the "Twelfth Five-Year" in China.


We present the design and demonstration of an 8-bit flash all-optical A/D converter whose attractive features include 1) direct optical sampling of the input RF signal, 2) optical quantization, 3) flash architecture allowing for post electronic signal processing, and 4) low-power consumption.


This article presents the design and the conception of an ultra-compact Fabry-Pérot cavity which will be used to develop an ultra-stable laser. The proposed cavity is composed of a 25 mm long ULE spacer with fused silica mirrors. It leads to an expected fractional frequency stability of 1.5 x 10-15 limited by the thermal noise. The chosen geometry leads to an acceleration relative sensitivity below 10-12 /(m/s2) for all directions.


Objective:To investigate p57Kip2 and Ki-67 expression in human carcinomas and adenomas of the ampulla of vater. Methods: We examed the expression of p57Kip2 and Ki-67 immunohistochemically in 8 normal ampullas,4 adenomas, and 46 adenocarcinomas of the ampulla of vater by using avidin - biotin complex method. Results: The p57Kip2 labeling index (LI) in adenocarcinomas of the ampulla of vater was 44. 8% ± 24. 6% averagely, and was significantly lower than in normal ampullas (64.9% ± 11.3%,P = 0.017). The p57Kip2 LI in adenomas was 62.3% ±2.8% averagely, and was not significantly changed compared to the normals. p57Kip2 LI was significantly reduced in cases with lymph node metastasis (33.2% vs 57.5%; P = 0. 001), invasion of duodenal wall (40. 8% vs 59. 3% ; P = 0. 04), invasion of pancreatic parenchyma (38. 9% vs 55. 9%;P = 0.019) and advanced TNM stage (Ⅲ and Ⅳ vs Ⅰ and Ⅱ ,33.2% vs 57. 5%; P = 0.001). However, high Ki-67 LI was significantly correlated with tumor lymph node metastasis (69. 7% vs. 49. 2% ;P = 0. 0012) .invasion of duodenal wall (64. 7% vs. 42. 6%;P= 0. 006),invasion of pancreatic parenchyma (65. 8% vs. 48. 8%;P = 0. 012) and advanced TNM stage (Ⅲ and Ⅳ vs. Ⅰ and Ⅱ ,69. 7% vs. 49. 2% ;P = 0. 0012). The expression of p57Kip2 was inversely correlated with Ki-67 expression (P = 0. 001). Conclusion: The down-regulation of p57Kip2 is a common event in carcinogenesis of the Ampulla of Vater. Dysfunction of p57Kip2 is a late event contributed to tumor malignant progression and lymph metastasis in this kind of tumors. The Ki-67 index is a useful marker for tumor progression of carcinoma of the Ampulla of Vater.


In this research, we devised a low cost and low voltage arc-fault detector. The circuit detection method is to measure peak current from the current transformer and make the comparison between non-arc-fault state and arc-fault state. Since the output current peak created by the current sense transformer in arc-fault state has certain jagged edge, voltage output from the transformer is substantially lower than that of normal state. Such a voltage variation causes into changes of magnetic flux in the current transformer. It is expected that the large voltage difference between arc fault and non-arc fault state appears. It can be used to detect and identify the arc-fault even if arc-fault influence on the supplied voltage is quite low. In this report, we are able to detect the direct pattern difference between non-arc fault and arc fault state. The detection setup for proposed method can be created successfully.


"The purpose of the research work is to develop and form the concept of "Entertainment 4.0" and determine its characteristics, as a basis for its further study. The method system analysis that allows displaying the current situation within the framework of the issue under study; the method of abstraction, taken as the basis for separating the concept under study from already existing terms and characteristics in other areas, formed as a result of the fourth industrial revolution; the method of analogy, due to the insufficiency of the theoretical base; as an additional analysis mechanism, a marketing tool for identifying environmental factors ‒ PEST-analysis was used. The results of the current scientific work are the formulation of the definition of the new concept of "Entertainment 4.0", which creates the basis for the possibility of further in-depth study of the issue under consideration. The significance of the results obtained is presented in defining the characteristics of the term "Entertainment 4.0", as well as in finding ways for the development of the industry and options for further application of the formulated term in practice and its subsequent implementation in "Industry 4.0"."


Objectives : The aim of this report was to investigate the effects of Korean medical treatment on facial nerve paralysis with sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus caused by traumatic temporal bone fracture. Methods :We treated a patient with acupuncture, herbal medicine and physiotherapy. The effect of these treatments was evaluated by House-Brackmann facial grading scale, Yanagihara's unweighted grading system and by Digital Infrared Thermographic Image. Results : After 21 days of Korean medical treatment, House-Brackmann facial grading scale changed from III to II and Yanagihara's unweighted grading score increased from 14 to 27. Digital Infrared Thermographic Image also improved. Conclusions : These results suggest that Korean medical treatments were effective in treating facial nerve paralysis with sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus caused by traumatic temporal bone fracture. We hope that a more efficient application of this treatment will be the result of clinical data accumulated in future studies.


Variations in past climate are of interest because
they help explain and predict climate anomalies.
Independent, quantitative information regarding past
climate change is needed to place recently observed
changes and predictions for the future into a longer
perspective. Trees represent the best-dated archive
of climate information for the Holocene in Europe.
Climate reconstructions based on tree rings operate
under the assumption that the relationship between
climate and stable isotopic ratios in tree rings
remains stable over time. However, environmental
changes themselves may alter the sensitivity of this
relationship, causing time-dependent changes,
complicated by the fact that trees are living systems
that actively modify isotopic ratios during
incorporation of raw materials. Here we investigated
the long-term relationship between tree isotope
chronologies (δ13C and δ18O), and climate, for trees
located at two ecologically non-extreme and
climatologically non-limiting sites. In addition,
δ18O in tree compartments was studied to help
understand the influence of intra-annual variations
in temperature and relative humidity on a tree ring
archive.


This paper identifies four approaches to resource allocation decisions in public services from the literature: a rational approach using devices such as budgets, cost-benefit analysis, statistical techniques, etc.; non-rational approaches such as satisficing, muddling through, and garbage can models of decision making; expectations analysis based on what managers believe is expected of them; and heuristics based on experience and values.Our research question was to understand, at the micro or operational level in public sector settings, how managers faced with finite resources and uncertain demand actually make resource allocation decisions and which of the approaches (or combinations of approaches) were used.A multimethods approach is adopted, comprising qualitative data collection and the analysis of timesheet data using statistical techniques and self-organising maps to identify how resource allocation decisions are made where resources are limited but demand is unpredictable and uncontrollable.The research findings are that rational devices, heuristics (informed by norms and values) and expectations (incorporating the non-rational approach) can be seen as complementary and mutually reinforcing, and are difficult to separate. Individual approaches (rational, non-rational, expectations, or heuristics) to resource allocation decisions provide an inadequate explanation for complex resource allocation decisions in a public sector setting.This is a model of resource allocation decision making that is useful both theoretically and practically, and is particularly pertinent to public sector settings where finite resources must be allocated to uncontrollable demand.


Abstract Community involvement in decision making is relatively new in the health field but is being attempted in some neighborhood health centers. Participation may be handled in one of three ways...


HE modernist is likely to err by underestimating the importance of typology for literature," Earl Miner remarked in 1977.' Readers of early American literature are not likely so to err, thanks to a recovery of typological knowledge. A generation ago, biblical typology was a sadly esoteric subject for most literary scholars. As Sacvan Bercovitch observed in I972, "Nothing more clearly reveals the parochialism of colonial studies than the fact that in 1948, when introducing Jonathan Edwards' Images or Shadows of Divine Things, Perry Miller felt it necessary to explain the nature and meaning of typology. . . ."2 And not only colonial studies. In I957, Northrop Frye noted crisply: "Biblical typology is so dead a language now that most readers, including scholars, cannot construe the superficial meaning of any poem


Economicgrowth, inflation, and unemployment are threeindicatorsthat are important concerns of the people of the world economy. Over the pasthalf century, public interest in the world economy has led to ways to accelerate national economicgrowth. This studyempiricallyanalyzes the causal relationshipbetweeneconomicgrowth, inflation, and unemployment. The results show that there is a one-way relationship between unemployment and economic growth, and inflation and unemployment, but there is no causal relationship between economic growth and inflation.


This article presents, four tilted slot milled on the single side of broad-wall in a twist slotted waveguide. The presented design consists of a WR-90 waveguide for X-band applications. A twist is provided with 360 degree in the WR-90 waveguide. The depicted twisted waveguide slot array shows return loss bandwidth of 8.12–9.1GHz. The average gain of presented antenna is more than 8.0 dBi in the return loss bandwidth.


We demonstrated a four-mode multi/demultiplexer using an LP11 mode rotator and a parallel waveguide with a uniform height on one chip for mode division multiplexing transmission. Four-mode (LP01, LP11a, LP11b, and LP21a mode) multi/demultiplexing was successfully achieved with a fabricated PLC.


I explore nationalism within popular United States' history and analyze the nationalistic rhetoric within a popular novel, film, television documentary, and computer game that use the Battle of Gettysburg as their subject. With these examples I argue that popular history and entertainment cultivate social conditions amenable to war. Rather than strictly focusing on overtly and officially sanctioned political arguments, I interrogate recurring defenses of United States' nationalism within popular history and entertainment using the concepts of sociological propaganda and collective memory to further my argument. By focusing on popular representations of a seminal event in United States' history, I contend that such an event has been used to affirm nationalistic hegemony in the present.


Antifungal activity of the novel fungicide pyrimorph,(E)-3-[(2-chloropyridine-4-yl)-3-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-acryloyl]morpholine,was investigated.The results of bioassay of pyrimorph against plant pathogens in vitro proved antifungal activity of pyrimorph in inhibiting the mycelium growth of Phytophthora infestans,Phytophthora capsici,Rhizoctonia solani and in inhibiting the zoosporangia gernination of Pseudoperonospora cubensis.The EC50 values were 1.38±0.06,0.72±0.05,4.44±0.03 and 5.33±0.05 μg/mL,respectively.However pyrimorph showed a weak inhibition against Fusarium oxysporum f.sp.vasinfectum,Macrophthoma kawatsukai and Gibeberlla zeae etc.The control efficacy of pyrimorph against tomato late blight,when applied 1 d,3 d and 8 d at the concentration of 400 μg/mL before inoculation with zoospore suspension of Phytophthora infestans,were 94.2%,90.8% and 78.1%,respectively.It indicated that pyrimorph had excellent preventive efficacy and persistence activity against tomato late blight.


Isotope exchange was used to investigate the reaction of CO with Pd, Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/, and Pd/Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/. The supporting of Pd on X-Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ at the 0.13-1.2 wt.% levels had no significant effect on the reaction of CO with the Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ surface in the temperature range 300-400/sup 0/C. At low temperatures (-38 to 50/sup 0/C), the rate of homomolecular isotopic exchange of CO on the Pd/Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ catalyst having an average crystal size of 30 and 60 angstrom is significantly lower than on Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/, which is caused by the interaction of the supported metal with electron-acceptor centers on the support surface.


An analytical model for determining the free vibration characteristics of advanced composite turbopropellers (prop-fans) is presented. The blade is modeled using a number of straight beam-type finite elements, where the elastic axis of each element is a piecewise straight representation of the curved line of shear centers of the swept blade. The finite-element model is obtained from Hamilton's principle with allowances for: generally anisotropic material behavior, arbitrary cross-sectional properties, large pretwist angles, out-of-plane cross-section warping, and geometrically nonlinear behavior based upon moderate deflection theory. The natural frequencies and mode shapes of the rotating blade are calculated assuming linear perturbations about the nonlinear static equilibrium position of the blade. This model is sufficiently general to analyze other advanced composite aerospace structures. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the versatility of the method by applying it to 1) a conventional propeller (TRW-Hartzell 101/16) and 2) a highly swept and pretwisted isotropic turbopropeller (NASA SR-3). Excellent agreement with experimental test results is obtained for the lower modes of both the conventional propeller and the advanced turbopropeller.


Abstract Quality of life (QoL) is a difficult concept to define, particularly in children and adolescents. Within paediatrics the main focus of QoL assessment is health-related, but its measurement is difficult and there are important limitations in the measurement of QoL which are well documented and need to be addressed. Nonetheless without the ability to assess QoL, systematic assessment of issues which may have a negative impact on the QoL of the child may be overlooked and it will also not be possible to evaluate interventions aimed at improving QoL. There are difficult challenges ahead in the development and refinement of QoL measures for use in this setting, and many research opportunities exist in this important and expanding field.


Curriculum reform is the key point and breach to implement diathetic education. The meaning is to construct a scientific curriculum system, to execite the organic combination of national, local, school-compiling courses and to form its own characteristics. By way of simplifying the courses offering, regulating the period arrangement, putting up school-compiling courses, improving the teaching methods, reforming the formula of estimation, etc., the changeless period arrangement at schools can be turned into flexible one, the unitary course structure into multiform one, the narrow teaching contents into rich ones, the traditional teaching methods into modern ones and the passive class atmosphere into active one.


Endogenous fires are significant hazard in the Polish and global underground mining industry. These fires are result of spontaneous combustion of coal due to the inability to discharge heat from the oxidation process. One of the main places of occurrence of endogenous fires are goaves in longwalls. By endogenous fire we mean self-ignition of coal, caused by a process of self-heating of coal (leading to increase in temperature), and under endogenous fire hazard possibility of coal self-ignition as a result of its self-heating process in mining heading or its surroundings. Hazard of endogenous fires in these goaves are formed due to the airflow with determined velocity and specified chemical constitution. The velocity of air stream mainly depends on the type of rocks forming the stroke and applied longwall ventilation system. In the paper results of numerical research of airflow through goaves ventilated in U-type system from borders and U-type system to the borders are presented. The aim of the analysis was to determine in these goaves a oxidation zone. For determined mining-geological conditions, the critical value of velocity of airflow and oxygen concentration in goaves, conditioning initiation of coal oxidation process were determined. Modelling studies carried out basing on the developed methodology included in its scope the study of spatial models of exploitation longwalls being ventilated on the U-type system from the borders and U-type system to the borders and its goaves. Results of tests and analyses, as well as conclusions presented in this article should be a valuable source of knowledge, and could be used in the practice of choosing exploitation longwall ventilation system and ventilation parameters of the air.


The lanthanum manganite-strontium manganite system has been examined as a function of the lanthanum content. The perovskite phase is stable from 23% to 100% lanthanum. At the lower limit of stability it is of cubic symmetry the unit cell becoming rhombohedral between 50% and 60% lanthanum. In the lanthanum manganese oxygen system of general formula LaMnox the value of x has been varied between 3 24 and 3 07. Over the entire range the structure is of the perovskite type with small type of cell. At the oxygen rich end of the system the symmetry is rhombohedral while at the other end it is cubic. In both systems the relations between the lattice parameters and composition and magnetic Curie temperatures are indicated.


Aim: To assess the effect of three lining materials; flowable composite, flowable compomer, and light-curing glass ionomer cement (LCGIC) on microleakage in Class V restoration using packable composite restorations. Materials and Methods: A standardized class V cavity was prepared on buccal surface of 40 young premolar teeth with the cervical margin extending 0.5 mm below the cementoenamel junction, into the dentin. All the samples were randomly divided into 4 groups according to the lining material used: Group IControl; Group IIflowable composite; Group IIILCGIC and Group IVflowable compomer. The restored teeth were thermocycled and immersed in 2% methylene blue solution for 24 hours. Each tooth was then sectioned along buccolingual direction. The dye penetration of the occlusal and gingival margins of each section was evaluated by a single observer using a stereomicroscope and statistically analyzed using Kruskal Walis Test and Mann-Whitney U Test. Result: Maximum dye penetration score for Group 1, Group 2 was 3 and Group 3, Group 4 was 1. (p<0.05) Conclusion: Flowable compomer and light cure glass ionomer cement as intermediate lining material can reduce microleakage under packable composite.


In modern Chinese history of ideology and the history of social development,Marxism's Sinicization has been an important theoretical proposition and the most brilliant and glorious chapter.The theoretical manifestations are just the formation and development of Mao Ze-dong thought,Deng Xiao-ping theory and the important thought of "Three Representatives",all of which display Chinese characteristics and style.Their essence and core are adapting Marxism to the reality in China and integrating itself with the national features of China.The introduction of Marxism into China was a revolution in its true sense in Chinese ideology and culture.Chinese communists' practice of Sinicizing Marxism has succeeded in making the tree of Marxist theory ever green.


The present study has analyzed the microorganism characteristic in soil sample of seven provinces which is the main distribution region of waterlogged soil in China.Compared with high-yield fields soil in the same area,some results were found as below: The contents of microbial biomass carbon(70.98~356.61 mg/kg) in the waterlogged soil were lower than that in high-yield field soil,and a significant difference was found between them(P0.05);the average value of cultivable bacteria,fungi,actinomycetes,nitrogen-fixing bacteria,ammonification bacteria,cellulose decomposer in the waterlogged soil were 53.93%,43.33%,47.32%,51.98%,44.83%,47.80% of those in high-yield field soil.The above microorganism characteristic indicated that the total quantity of microorganism and the microbial activity were all lower in waterlogged soil.But the quantity of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria(16.21×106 per gram of the sample) and iron-reducing bacteria(9.28×107 per gram of the sample) were higher than the quantity of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria(13×106 per gram of the sample)and iron-reducing bacteria(7.32×107 per gram of the sample) in high-yield field soil.The result indicated that the concentration of ferrous iron and hydrogen sulfide were higher in waterlogged soil.In conclusion,only after a series of improvement which focused on the diversity in soil microorganism community structure and function in the waterlogged soil,the fertility of waterlogged soil will be enormously improved.


Objective To explore the role of innate immunity in the pathogenesis of leptospirosis by comparing the viability of Leptospira in mononuclear macrophages of human and mouse origin. Methods Human monocytic cell lines(THP-1) treated with phorbol myfismte acetate(PMA) to be differentiated into macrophages and murine mononuclear macrophages cell lines(RAW264.7) were infected with Leptospira interrogans serovar Autumnalis strain autumnalis #56606(56606v) and avirulent strain(56606a) in vitro.Laser scanning confocal microscopy was employed to determine the percentages of cells with intracellular leptospires in these two cell lines with immunofluorescence staining 2 h,24 h and 72 h after infection,and Real-Time PCR was used to detect the expression of 16S rRNA of leptospires in these two cell lines 2 h,12 h,24 h,48 h and 72 h after infection,which indirectly reflected the viability of intracellular Leptospira. ResultsThe percentages of THP-1 and RAW264.7 cells with leptospires decreased with time of infection.Real-Time PCR revealed that the expression of 16S rRNA of leptospires in these two cell lines decreased with time of infection,and the numbers of intracellular viable leptospires also decreased with time of infection. Conclusion Leptospira can not survive and replicate within macrophages of human or mouse origin,which indicates that anti-degradation of macrophages by pathogenic Leptospira may not be the major pathogenic mechanism of leptospirosis.Further studies are required to interpret the pathogenesis.


Abstract This paper reports that the history of Kazakhstan is a structural part of world history, it forms a stateimage at the international level, and through that, national history. The proclamation of Kazakhstan independenceand new social and political conditions made definite changes in peoples and society consciousness. Viewpointsregarding its people and their history have changed as well. Before, Kazakhstan history was understood as a part ofUSSR and now history of Kazakhstan is considered as a part of world history, Eurasia history, nomads' civilization,history of Turkic people and Central Asia. Creating a real image of the past history is one of the factors formingnational unity, state image of the Republic of Kazakhstan and building of civil and patriotic qualities. History ispeoples' mind, they receive energy from it, and they receive a spirit that leads to social creativeness and a brightfuture.


A guinea pig of the second generation transmitted to its own offspring (third generation) small amounts of antitoxin originally derived by active immunization of the first generation. Previous reports of failure of transmission were probably due to quantitative inadequacy of the immunity originally transmitted to the females of the second generation to persist to the time of birth of the third generation.


This study explored individual, family, and school-related factors contributing to underachievement among gifted preadolescents. We explored three simple models of factors contributing to underachievement as well as a complex model provided the best fit for the data, yet each of the three simple models was significant, suggesting the importance of an ecological approach to problems of underachievement among gifted students. Intervention approaches deriving from each model were discussed.


Network literary criticism is marked by the characteristic of romantic charm just like ancient Chinese literacy criticism,which includes three aspects:(1) the means of criticism is decided by the life attitude;(2) the means of mastering literature works is set by the subjective awareness instead of some logic and systematic analysis with objectiveness;(3) the means of expression in the criticism is the language of poetic sentiment.


The Error Polygon Method (EPM) of Heezen and Tester (1967) is used most frequently to quantify telemetry error. Complete scientific reporting for this method should include the confidence arcs with associated confidence levels, a measure of distance from the receiver to the estimated location, and a measure of the angle of intersection. The EPM assumption ofa normal distribution of bearing errors was rejected with a large data base (n = 940) collected on 13 transmitter locations that resulted in 388 estimated locations. Empirical data of actual error demonstrated the EPM's ability to delineate 90% error polygons that contained the actual location >90% of the time, although both the area and longest diagonal ofthe error polygons were 6.3 and 7.4 times, respectively, larger than actual error. The EPM did not give an accurate measure of location error. Int. Conf. Bear Res. and Manage. 8:251-256 The scientific method demands the reporting of accu? racy and precision be complete so future research can be built on a solid base. Wildlife researchers commonly use radiotelemetry in the study of elusive or far-ranging species, such as bears. If telemetry is used to estimate an animal's location through triangulation, complete report? ing ofthe error associated with such an estimated location is necessary. There are 5 primary sources of telemetry error: system error, topographic error, reading error, movement error, and map error. System error is the result of inaccuracies inherent in the receiving system under standard field conditions. For example, once the receiving system is in the field, the directional sensitivity of its antennas can change through twisting by the wind, cable wear, or bent elements. Topographic errors arise from the radio signals being absorbed, deflected, or reflected by landscape components (Lee etal. 1985). Topographic errors are the most significant source of telemetry error, especially in mountainous terrain. Reading errors result from misreading the compass, the rosette bearing, or from incorrectly recording a bearing and can differ between observ? ers. Reading errors are usually considered negligible or included in the angle error. Movement errors result when bearings on a moving animal are not taken simultane? ously from different receiving stations. The time lag between bearings allows a radio-collared animal to move some distance, thereby giving single bearings on differ? ent actual locations. This type of error depends on the time lag and the activity of the animal between conseeu? tive bearings (MacDonald and Amlaner 1980). Mech (1983) mentioned map error, which normally is not included in discussions of telemetry error. Plotting locations of receiving stations on maps will vary in accuracy and precision depending on the scale and accu? racy ofthe maps used. An estimated location read from hand-plotted line bearings, as done in some field work, is influenced by the width of the marked lines and the placement of the compass rosette. These sources of error affect angle error and location error. Springer (1979), MacDonald and Amlaner (1980), and Lee et al. (1985) described methods of data collection to minimize overall error. All locations should be on an x-y grid system (e.g., the Universal Transverse Mercator [UTM] system). Computer triangulation should be used to prevent increasing the effect of map error. The most common method used to quantify radiotel? emetry error is the Error Polygon Method (EPM). Heezen and Tester (1967) developed the concept of error poly? gons to allow improved locations for fixed receiving towers. They did not originally apply it to error assoei? ated with estimated locations, but to delineate a study area within which their estimates would have a known confi? dence. Springer (1979) discussed error polygons in depth. Currently, the EPM is used to report error in telemetry studies that often use the estimated location as a location without error in the subsequent analyses. The standard reporting of EPM includes a measure of bias and precision of bearings. Empirical data will show this is incomplete reporting. I collected data on the actual error of several hundred estimated locations. I was then able to compare actual error to the predicted error ofthe EPM. My purpose was to investigate: 1) if an EPM 90% error polygon encompasses the actual location 90% ofthe time when applied to a comparable data set; and 2) if the 90% error polygon is effective in reflecting telemetry location error. I appreciate the hours J.D. Hole, M.A. Horner, and E.O. Jones devoted to data collection and the support from my wife and son. Special thanks go to R.A. Powell and D.E. Seaman for their support and discussions of


The researches of qeometrical parameters of the conductive laser channels and electrical discharqes used with various optical systems are carried out. The schemes of EDM with the use of conductive laser channels are offered. Conditions for electrical discharqe machin-inq with the conductive laser channels are created. The quality of a surface after EDM is researched and exampl es of the machi ninq are qi ven.


In this paper we present theoretical and experimental results for the linear electronic response of Ag. The calculations are performed within time-dependent density-functional theory. They are based on a pseudopotential scheme with and without the inclusion of semicore states and a plane-wave expansion of the wave functions. The influence of the semicore states is shown and discussed. The results for the ground-state calculation are furthermore compared to those of all-electron calculations. The theoretical results are then compared to electron-energy-loss spectroscopy spectra obtained by using a transmission electron microscope. Although we achieve good agreement in many aspects, it is shown that even for such a supposedly simple material as crystalline Ag, the results cannot be fully understood.


Urbanization is a powerful global trend. Today, over half the world's population lives in cities and within a few decades estimated that 70 percent of the world population will be urban dwellers (UN 2005). Along with urbanization
we need smart ways to meet human needs with a better quality of life.
That the city can offer an attractive living environment is therefore of great importance to the city's ability to attract both residents and businesses. As
cities grows, develop and become denser, the public spaces become important to bring people with both similar and different interests together. Public spaces such as green and blue areas in the city are seen as positive for all
three components of sustainability, economic, social and ecological (Jansson, M. 2012). The values created by these places support that people are happier, less stressed, feel better physically and mentally, feel more connected
with others, experience security and creativity and that the climate of the city is improved and contains greater biodiversity. All this means that fewer resources need to be put on technical solutions or medical institutions.
Urbanization is also a big trend in Kosova. A housing boom in Kosova began to flourish after the war in 1999, because of people seeking better life quality in cities. Many multistory apartments and blocks had just began to rise, in other site few took parks, public spaces and recreation areas into consideration, they were pushed outside and forgotten. There was some fine public parks from the old times, but they were not enough to keep up with population grown and urbanization.
During the end of 2013 I visited Kosova, I saw the lack of development in almost all branches that has to do with urban planning and it was then I got my eyes opened. I decided to do my thesis in the newborn country of Kosova
and contribute with some of what I have learn during my studies in Sweden.
The idea of the thesis was established in January after a meeting and discussion with the professor and urban planner/architect Ilir Gjinolli. He mentioned an ongoing project of an undeveloped area in the city of Gjilan
were also a park of 6.5hectar is going to be made in the future. The vision of this area is to build and develop an entirely new neighborhood with a mixture of apartments, workplaces, cultural attractions, a new school and a new
city park. The park area consists mainly of wild meadows, few available trees and piles of bricks, concrete and other used construction debris. The time to start creating a new and regenerated parks, is at the very beginning of the
process of change.


Objective To study the effects and advantages of fasciocutaneous flap with adipotascial-flap pedical in repairing refractory wounds on extremities. Methods Fasciocutaneous flaps with adipotascial-flap pedical which were used to repair the refractory wounds on extremities added up to 36 cases (truma 32 cases, burns 3 cases, tumor 1 case). The patients' age ranged from 18 to 45 years. Refractory wounds were characterised by severe destroy of soft tissue and scar around the wounds, which were difficult to deal with. The area of these wounds were about 2 cm×3 cm to 3 cm×9 cm. The survival rate was evaluated, and the appearance and fuctions of these flaps were observed after operation. Results The area of repairing flaps were about 2 cm×4 cm to 4 cm×10 cm. Twenty-nine cases survived, and only 7 were necrotic partly, which were cured with dressing and skin-grafting. Thirty cases were followed up. The appearance of these flaps, such as good colour, contour and ideal flexibility, and their protected fuctions were satisfied. Conclusion Using fasciocutaneous flaps with adipotascial-flap pedical to repair the refractory wounds on extremities is a new choice, because of its less injury in donor area, good blood supply and high rate of survival.


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when some of the j) may be negative), a situation which appears rarely, if ever, to occur in practice, the distributions (3.3) and (3.5) reduce to the conditional distribution of ~0 when only the five magnitudes (1.1) of the first neighborhood are given, so that nothing is gained by going to the second neighborhood of qg. Since the same phenomenon has already been observed for quartets (Hauptman, 1976), it is beginning to appear that the condition a3 ~ 0 may be a necessary one for a solution of the phase problem to exist; but a final resolution of this question will have to await further developments. (There is some evidence which suggests that the more stringent requirement (3a 2 6264)/63 > 0 may in fact be necessary.) In the X-ray diffraction case there is no problem since then every j~ is positive, and 0"3 is therefore also positive. Furthermore, in the applications to neutron diffraction the condition 2 3 a3/a 2 = 0 appears rarely, if ever, to be fulfilled, so that the results derived here are almost sure to be useful for neutron diffraction as well. Finally, the initial applications of quintets have been made (Fortier, Fronckowiak & Hauptman, 1977; Fronckowiak, Fortier, De Titta & Hauptman, 1977). These show that quintets will be at least as important in the applications as quartets or triples, and strongly suggest that the use of all available invariants and seminvariants will be more useful still.


The privacy control is vitally discussed in context-aware environments. They focus on the static personal information gathered from many kinds of sensors. This research focuses on action logs. The action logs may be useful to provide context-aware services because they have much more implication than the static information. However, they may have a higher risk of privacy leak than the static information. This paper proposes a privacy control method in action logs.


Subspace clustering (SC) refers to the problem of clustering high-dimensional data into a union of low-dimensional subspaces. Based on spectral clustering, state-of-the-art approaches solve SC problem within a two-stage framework. In the first stage, data representation techniques are applied to draw an affinity matrix from the original data. In the second stage, spectral clustering is directly applied to the affinity matrix so that data can be grouped into different subspaces. However, the affinity matrix obtained in the first stage usually fails to reveal the authentic relationship between data points, which leads to inaccurate clustering results. In this paper, we propose a universal Three-Stage Subspace Clustering framework (3S-SC). Graph-Based Transformation and Optimization (GBTO) is added between data representation and spectral clustering. The affinity matrix is obtained in the first stage, then it goes through the second stage, where the proposed GBTO is applied to generate a reconstructed affinity matrix with more authentic similarity between data points. Spectral clustering is applied after GBTO, which is the third stage. We verify our 3S-SC framework with GBTO through theoretical analysis. Experiments on both synthetic data and the real-world data sets of handwritten digits and human faces demonstrate the universality of the proposed 3S-SC framework in improving the connectivity and accuracy of SC methods based on $\ell_0$, $\ell_1$, $\ell_2$ or nuclear norm regularization.


Recent work has shown that relativistic time dilation results in correlations between a particle's internal and external degrees of freedom, leading to decoherence of the latter. In this note, we briefly summarize the results and address the comments and concerns that have been raised towards these findings. In addition to brief replies to the comments, we provide a pedagogical discussion of some of the underlying principles of the work. This note serves to clarify some of the counterintuitive aspects arising when the two theories are jointly considered.


PURPOSE: To provide a mirror correcting antenna which can produce a desired beam forming independently of two different frequencies or polarized waves of a corrected reflector antenna. CONSTITUTION: A reflector antenna consists of a corrected reflector, two primary radiators 91 and 92, and a frequency selecting plate 2 or a polarized wave separating plate. In such constitution, the working ratio waves of both radiators 91 and 92 are separated from each other by the plate 2 or the polarized wave separating plate. Then a dielectric plate 3 is provided between one of both radiators 91 and 92 and the plate 2 or the polarized wave separating plate to serve as a means which varies the phase distribution of the radio wave. Thus it is possible to obtain a mirror correcting antenna which has the compact and simple constitution using a corrected reflector and can produce a desired beam forming independently of two frequencies or polarized waves. COPYRIGHT: (C)1993,JPO&Japio


The disciplinary authority of the State must be assigned by the Political Constitution or Act of Congress under the principle of legal reserve.


OBJECTIVE: This Report of Experience aims to present the organization process of the 2nd University Journey in Defense of Agrarian Reform (JURA), held at the Federal University of Mato Grosso in Brazil, which was built following the principles of Popular Education and Community Social Psychology, and aimed to constitute a space for discussion of issues related to the agrarian issue and social transformation, enable the insertion of traditional populations and social movements in the university and provide an approach between traditional knowledge and scientific knowledge. CASUISTIC: The theoretical-methodological approach adopted for the organization and realization of JURA allowed the construction of a space that fostered the participation in equal and dialogical conditions between members of the academic community and participants of social movements, which composed the committee organizing the event. FINAL REMARKS: It is concluded by the validity of applying the principles and methodologies of Popular Education and Community Social Psychology to the processes of construction of activities in the academy, considering that these enabled the enhancement of dialogue and collective strengthening around the objectives of the event, in a process that was configured as educational and emancipatory.


Objective To explore the difference of executive function among patients with anxiety, depressive disorders and comorbidity of anxiety and depression . Methods Patients with depression (n = 35) , anxiety disorder ( n = 30 ) , depression comorbid of anxiety (n = 30) and normal controls ( n = 30) were tested using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ( WCST), Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) and Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA). And the patients were re-measured after 6-week treatment. Results The patients with depression, anxiety, and comorbidity of anxiety and depression, both pre- and post-treatment, performed significantly worse than the controls on the total sorting cards, persistent errors and random errors of WCST ( P 0. 05 or P 0. 01) , and patients with depression comorbid of anxiety performed worst All groups of patients made progress on the WCST scores after treatment ( P 0.05 ) . There were no relationships between reductions of HAMD, HAMA scores and reductions of WCST total sorting cards, persistent errors and random errors after treatment Conclusions It is suggested that the executive functions in patients with depression, anxiety, and depression comorbid anxiety be impaired.


Small lens arrays are processed on methyl meth-acrylate plate by the irradiation of a stepped-scanning YAG-laser focused beam. The localized refractive-index change distribution of each lens produced by the optical damage looks like the hypabolic secon shape, and the maximum refractive-index difference of the lens is 0.002. The lens radius is 0.85 mm. Those small lenses have been formed with the 5×1 and 4×3 lens arrays at 2 mm intervals.


This document will establish a working standard for testing optical fiber and unshielded twisted pair cables included in the Lab-wide telecommunications cabling system. The purpose of these standard testing procedures is to deliver to all Sandians a reliable, low-maintenance, state-of-the-art, ubiquitous telecommunications cabling infrastructure capable of satisfying all current and future telecommunication needs.


The lack of knowledge of dental and oral health and the limited number of dentists causes low public awareness of dental and oral health. This condition makes some people put aside efforts to prevent and treat dental and oral diseases. Therefore, this study has created an expert system for early diagnosis of dental and oral diseases, so that it can help the public to find out about the dental and oral diseases they are suffering from and overcome the problem of scarcity of dental and oral experts. As for designing the decision support system are use the Expert System method for evaluating criteria and sub-criteria, with the Personal Home Page (PHP) programming language, MySQL as a database server, APPSERV as a web server. The results of this information system design are web applications. to input data on the symptoms of the disease suffered by the patient, then carry out the process of selecting the symptoms of the disease and produce a diagnosis result in the form of disease and healing solutions.


The effect on the physico-chemical properties of introducing the sulfur atom into the molecular structure of liquid crystals is discussed and rationalized in terms of existent theories; a comparison is made with the corresponding hydrocarbon and oxygen derivatives.


Runways are exposed to significant burdens and other external factors that cause their deformation. Monitoring runway deformities and determining the resulting damage is a complicated procedure which requires a rapid and accurate assessment of these deformities and evaluation of the damage they cause. In this study, an optimized process to determine this damage based on geodetic measurements was developed. A novelty of our research is a prototype model for the maintenance of smaller airport runways with an emphasis on damage detection. The model is also intended for sustainable development, as it is open source in which we can enter various data. A model and algorithm that enables tabulation and graphical display of surface anomalies were developed for the detailed analysis of the collected data. This model allows monitoring of runway deformities to determine the resulting damage, thus facilitating timely planning of necessary maintenance. As a result, unexpected runway closures and related high costs can be prevented. In this study, we also compared the obtained results with those obtained using the open-source program Quantum GIS (QGIS) to confirm the accuracy and applicability of the algorithm.


The existing procedure for regulating property relations, built on the basis of the concept of market equilibrium, requires updating on the basis of a mechanism for preparing and making fair decisions, taking into account the wide opportunities for analysis through the use of artificial intelligence. We continue and develop the presented research by describing the implementation of the decision-making preparation mechanism based on the creation of a financial digital twin of the marine infrastructure property complex. The purpose of this study is to consider options and digital mechanisms for making management decisions on the development of infrastructure property complexes that are justified from an economic point of view, as well as from the point of view of public efficiency. The following tasks are solved: define a regional marine property complex as a type of infrastructure property complex; create criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of the regional marine infrastructure property complex; describe the implementation of the mechanism for preparing for decision-making based on the creation of a financial digital double of the research object. Mechanisms of support for managerial decision-making using artificial intelligence based on neural network construction are considered. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that the study offers an effective mechanism for preparing and making decisions, implemented on the basis of creating a financial digital double of the marine infrastructure property complex.


Proper and consistent condom use has been proved to decreases the risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) transmission and unintended pregnancy to almost 100%, however Condom use remain low among youths and Statistics shows that the number of abortions is high .It is estimated that Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya have recorded 2.4 million abortion cases in 2016. In Kenya, Kirinyaga University has embarked on health education and supply of condoms to its students as an intervention to reduce STDs and unwanted pregnancies. Despite this intervention the students continually contracted STIs and unwanted pregnancies leading to abortions and high use of emergency contraceptives according to the institution's clinic medical report, 2015/2016.The study targeted 132 respondents. From the study, 109 respondents filled-in and returned the questionnaires making a response rate of 82.7%. The study noted the following 95.4% of the respondents indicated condoms have an expiry date, 93.6% knew condom offer protection against HIV/ AIDs and pregnancy, condoms are free and available in University and public health facility, 56% had attended a seminar on condom use, 75.2% indicated that condom size is fit for use for all people and condom should be stored in a cool place. Majority 85.3% of the respondents indicated that condom should not be reused. Over three quarters 80.7% of the respondents indicated that they had information on how to use condom where 33% got information on condom use from social media, 19(17.4%) from TV, radio and newspapers. Further, the findings showed that 15.6% of the respondents obtained information on condom use from seminars, 13.8% from churches and mosque 12.8% from social studies, 7.3% from parents and guardian. The findings shows respondents had adequate knowledge on condom use but failed to use condoms consistently due to several reasons more important one being unplanned sex. The study focused relationship between knowledge of proper condom use and use behavior among students of Kirinyaga University only, thus the same study should be done in other universities and in the rest of 47 Counties to enable generalization of


Objective To do some comparative study on the contents of anthraquinones between the cultivated and wild samples of Rheum Palmatum.MethodsA reversed-phase HPLC method was established for the determination of contents of aloe-emodin,rhein,emodin,chrysophanol and physcion in cultivated and wild Rheum Palmatum from different regions.The classification was carried out by using the Hierarchical clustering analysis.The correlation analysis was used to study the effect of altitude on the contents of anthraquinones.ResultsThe content range of aloe-emodin,rhein,emodin,chrysophanol and physcion in wild Rheum Palmatum were 0.29%~0.67%,0.47%~1.33%,0.25%~0.87%,0.55%~1.00%,0.06%~0.48%,respectively.The content range of aloe-emodin,rhein,emodin,chrysophanol and physcion in cultivated Rheum Palmatum were 0~0.07%,0~0.06%,0~0.15%,0~0.34%,0~0.08%,respectively.According to the result of classification,all samples collected were divided into two grades the cultivated and the wild.The result of correlation analysis showed that the altitude had significant influence on the contents of anthraquinones in Rheum Palmatum.ConclusionThe contents of aloe-emodin,rhein,emodin,chrysophanol and physcion in the wild Rheum Palmatum are higher than those in the cultivated Rheum Palmatum.with the increase of altitude,the contents of anthraquinones show the tendency of increase.


With the proliferation of smart devices, disaster responders and community residents are capturing footage, pictures and video of the disaster area with mobile phones and wireless tablets. This multimedia disaster situation information is critical for assisting emergency management (EM) personnel to effectively respond in a timely manner. Currently, however the data is not integrated in incident command systems where situation reports, incidence action plans, etc. are being held. Therefore, we have designed and developed a Multimedia-Aided Disaster information Integration System (MADIS), which utilizes advanced data mining techniques to analyze situation reports and pictures as well as text captured in the field and automatically link the reports directly to relevant multimedia content. Specifically, a dynamic hierarchical image classification approach is proposed to categorize disaster images into different subjects by fusing image and text information. Situation reports are analyzed using advanced document processing techniques and then associated with processed multimedia data. In order to seamlessly incorporate user interactive activities for improving information integration, a user feedback processing scheme is proposed to refine the association between situation reports and images as well as the affinity among images. The system is developed on Apple's mobile operating system (iOS) and runs on iPad tablets, and its usefulness is evaluated by domain experts from the local EM department.


In 1959, in his first paper about parapsychology, ''The Uncomfortable Facts about Extrasensory Perception,'' published in Harper's Magazine, Ian Stevenson referred both to spontaneous cases and to experiments as primary sources of evidence for the existence of ESP. He summarized aspects of the work of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR), as well as the work of J. B. Rhine and his associates at Duke University. In the same year Stevenson visited Rhine and had a conversation with his wife, Louisa E. Rhine, about spontaneous case research. As Stevenson wrote years later:


Abstract Alcohols and phenols are tetrahydropyranylated in the presence of sulfuric acid adsorbed on silica gel in high to excellent yields in solvent free conditions and is expedited by microwave irradiation. Addition of methanol performs the complete deprotection.


This paper models an hybrid system for providing a typical electrical load for a family. The system consists of a photovoltaic (PV) array, a wind turbine (WT), and a fuel cell. The fuel cell produces complementary power and is able to satisfy the load. An electrolyzer, using PV or WT energy not consumed by the load, produces hydrogen for the fuel cell. At the beginning of operation, the hydrogen stock is sufficient to satisfy a given number of days of autonomous operation. The data used are the typical hourly load, the hourly solar radiation in the plane of the PV array, and a local meteorological station estimate of the hourly wind speed averaged over 18 years. The objective was to optimize the system, in terms of power for each component.


Tube bulging process is a relatively complex manufacturing process because of this process depends on the part shape, kind of materials, boundary conditions and etc. Due to this complex manufacturing process, optimization parameters of tube bulging process has been investigated using finite element method analysis. In this paper, optimized bulging pressure curve is proposed which to bulge complex shape such as a head-tube of bicycle frame. Simulation is performed with commercial FE analysis program FORGE ® and the result compared with the experiment result. It was found that the experiment and simulation results were in good agreement.


The advent of photopheresis by Edelson et al. [1] in 1987 revolutionized the treatment of erythrodermic MF and Sézary patients with a complete response rate of 10 – 15% and overall responses of up to 50% [2]. Photopheresis appears to improve overall survival, possibly because they are not immunosuppressed, and responders show improvement in IgG levels [3]. In this issue, Girardi et al. [4] report data from a small Phase I study of 'improved photopheresis' or 'transimmunization'. The hypothesis is that, like photopheresis, transimmunization results in damage and death to malignant T-cells but improves or prolongs the ingestion of T-cells by monocytes and allows their maturation to occur by holding the bag of cells over-night before reinfusion. This hypothesis has been supported by the translational studies of Berger et al. [5] of the same group. The major dangers of transimmunization are safety issues regarding holding a bag of cells in tissue culture media overnight and reinfusion into the correct patient. There was one episode of staphylococcal sepsis in this study which initially escaped detection by the treating center. The authors addressed safety by culturing cells from each patient but this remains a potential pitfall if the procedure becomes widely used. It is interesting that among all patients treated with photopheresis at MD Anderson Cancer Center, all complete responders had manifested repeated staphylococcus aureus infection/ colonization as a key component in their disease exacerbation [6,7]. The authors of this article have not considered the possibility that photopheresis may also be presenting staph super-antigens to dendritic cells in small quantities. Transimmunization was effective in patients who had failed traditional photopheresis, suggesting improved efficacy. However, photopheresis may require months of therapy to be effective and often requires additional biological response modifiers, such as alpha interferon or bexarotene for full efficacy [8]. For transimmunization to be widely embraced it will require a head-to-head comparison of photopheresis vs transimmunization in patients with similar phenotypes who are randomized to one therapy or the other. We look forward to a future randomized trial of the transimmunization procedure.


Women now have the option to use contraceptive methods to suppress menses for months or years. But how acceptable do they find this concept? Investigators conducted a survey on attitudes toward menses and menstrual suppression; valid surveys were completed by 292 women (age >18; mean age, 27) at family planning or OB/GYN clinics in Portland, Oregon, and Atlanta, Georgia, during a 6-month period. Most Oregon respondents (83%) were white, and …


Figure 1. The reaction structure assumed for this simulation. The hyperpolarised molecule P is injected with input function Pin. When the reaction of interest is the conversion of P to Mi only red terms need to be considered for the AUC ratio analysis method. Kinetic modelling requires fitting of all terms depicted here. ri is the hyperpolarised relaxation rate, kpi and kip are the forward and reverse apparent rate constants for conversion between P and Mi. P may also react with other metabolites (e.g. Mf, Mg, Mh above) but we assume these do not react with Mi. Figure 2. Errors in the change metric (X) as a function of change in kpi. The different coloured plots correspond to different changes in kip, where greater changes in kip results in a larger error in X. The plot was generated using q = 0.1 and shows that errors in X are independent of changes in kpi. The data were generated using the assumption that ri is constant pre/post treatment. The dots show the mean of the Monte Carlo estimates and the lines show the prediction of eq. 4. Figure 3. Errors in the change metric (X) as a function of change in kip for a range of q values and assuming no change in kpi. Errors in X increase with greater change in kip. Dots show the Monte Carlo estimates and the lines show the prediction. The black dotted line represents 10% error in kip and q=0.35, which are taken from published in vivo data from [2], in this case the fractional bias in X incurred from using the AUC ratio method is <10%. On the Accuracy of AUC Ratio Method for Detecting Treatment Changes with Hyperpolarised C Dynamic Spectra Deborah K. Hill, Matthew R. Orton, Martin O. Leach, Yuen-Li Chung, and Thomas R. Eykyn CR-UK and EPSRC Cancer Imaging Centre, The Institute of Cancer Research and Royal Marsden NHS Trust, Sutton, Surrey, United Kingdom, Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, Kings College London, St Thomas Hospital, London, United Kingdom


In determining the seismic performance of reinforced concrete (RC) structures in national and international seismic code, it is desired to use effective section stiffness of the cracked section in RC structural elements during the design phase. Although the effective stiffness of the cracked section is not constant, it depends on parameters such as the dimension of the cross-section, concrete strength and axial force acting on the section. In this study, RC column models with different axial load levels, concrete strength, longitudinal and transverse reinforcement ratios were designed to investigate effective stiffness. Analytically investigated parameters were calculated from TBEC (2018), ACI318 (2014), ASCE/SEI41 (2017), Eurocode 2 (2004) and Eurocode8 (2004, 2005) regulations and moment-curvature relationships. From the numerical analysis results, it is obtained that the axial load level, concrete strength, longitudinal and transverse reinforcement ratios have an influence on the effective stiffness factor of RC column sections. The calculated effective stiffness for RC columns increases with increasing transverse reinforcement ratio, longitudinal reinforcement ratio and concrete strength. Due to the increase of axial force, effective stiffness values of concrete have increased.


Antibiotic is a type of medication that helps in fighting bacterial infection. Treating bacterial infections in clinical setting become more complicated and costly due to drug resistance. This study was conducted to determine the antibacterial potential of Psidium guajava Linn leaf extracts against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. P. guajava Linn leaf was obtained from Research Orchards at University Putra Malaysia (UPM). Leaves were extracted using three types of extracts; hot, cold and methanol extract. Freeze dried was used in this study and temperature was set at -104°C for 24 hours. Antibacterial testing was determined using disc diffusion and well diffusion method. Antibacterial activity was evaluated by measuring the inhibitory zone of the tested bacteria. Phytochemical analysis was conducted by adding few drop of diluted NaOH (Sodium Hydroxide) solution to detect the active flavanoid from leaves extract. Antimicrobial activity showed all extracts were effective against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Phytochemical analysis of P. guajava Linn leaf extracts showed the methanol extract indicating the presence of tannins, phenols, flavonoids, terpenoids, glycosides and saponins. Results showed that P. guajava Linn leaf was effective against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, and pythochemical analysis also exhibited a few active compounds that were determined. P. guajava Linn leaf had potential natural product that may be used for further analysis in the future research.


The market for wind energy systems has grown tremendously during the past 15 years and is expected to keep growing in the next decade. However, the industry faces some major challenges, mainly concerning costs, reliability and energy capture. As the wind blade is a critical component to the overall performance, cost and reliability of a wind turbine, this study has been focused on identifying the needs within wind blade manufacturing in order to enable manufacturing plants to deal with future challenges. Empirical data indicate that cost reduction is the main priority among blade manufacturing plants within Europe. Historically, these plants has focused more on improving quality but reduced subsidies within the industry has forced manufacturers to decrease production costs in order to reach the competitive threshold and be able to compete with conventional energy forms. In order to reduce the production costs, manufacturers is looking for economically justified manufacturing solutions, which enable an increased productivity rate. The material removal process is considered as the most or one of the most time consuming parts of the blade manufacturing processes and all visited plants expressed a will to increase the efficiency within these steps in order to reduce the manufacturing time. Furthermore, the time consumption regarding material removal processes is a growing problem as the blades continuously increase in sizes. Thus, there is a need for more efficient material removal solutions. Furthermore, as the wind energy sector keeps growing along with the number of workers enrolled in the industry, safety and health aspects become a prime concern. Unsustainable ergonomic conditions do not only increase the risk for injuries but also affects the quality and time needed to perform certain tasks. Thus, there is a need for tools which can be operated in ergonomic positions as well as tools with a decreased weight, decreased vibration levels and a decreased exposure to dust. The implementation of automated solutions could enable wind blade manufacturers to deal with future challenges as it contributes to cost reduction, increased productivity and improved quality as well as improved health conditions for operators. As wind blade manufacturing plants most likely will continue to produce at least two blade modules within the same plant, there is a need for flexibility within the process. Thus, a semi-automated solution is considered to be more applicable than a fully automated solution. Furthermore, as the blades become increasingly difficult to move due to their size, there is a need for mobile material removal solutions, which can be transported between different blades. Key-words: Wind Blade Manufacturing, Material Removal Tools, Automated Solutions, Ergonomics. Examensarbete INDEK 2017:103 Utveckling av bearbetande verktyg inom vindbladstillverkning Parmis Bonyadlou Anna Larsson


The general objective of this thesis is the use of single-molecule fluorescence (SMF) techniques to study the dynamics and stability of different chemical and biochemical systems. Most of its content is focused on the optimization of Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) technique and its application to investigate host-guest systems. Several studies were carried out on the interaction between fluorescent dyes or dye-labelled molecules of different nature and macromolecules of interest such as cyclodextrins, micelles or DNA oligonucleotides. Single-molecule FRET is also used in combination with Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy (smFRET/TIRF) to study the folding of ARN aptamers, which are too slow to be addressed by FCS.
This thesis is presented in the style of a series of published papers. Five original publications are reproduced in full to form the core or part of some chapters.


Peatlands are a large carbon reservoir. Yet the quantification of their carbon stock still has a large uncertainty due to lacking observational data and well‐tested peatland biogeochemistry models. Here, a process‐based peatland model was calibrated using long‐term peat carbon accumulation data at multiple sites in North America. The model was then applied to quantify the peat carbon accumulation rates and stocks within North America over the last 12,000 years. We estimated that 85–174 Pg carbon was accumulated in North American peatlands over the study period including 0.37–0.76 Pg carbon in subtropical peatlands. During the period from 10,000 to 8,000 years ago, the warmer and wetter conditions might have played an important role in stimulating peat carbon accumulation by enhancing plant photosynthesis. Enhanced peat decomposition due to warming slowed the carbon accumulation through the rest of the Holocene. While recent modeling studies indicate that the northern peatlands will continue to act as a carbon sink in this century, our studies suggest that future enhanced peat decomposition accompanied by peatland areal changes induced by permafrost degradation and other disturbances shall confound the sink and source analysis.


India is the world's largest agricultural country and the world's it is on second position in the list of tomato producers. There is a need for lots of advancement in technology. Tomato yields differ based on how they are produced. The most important factor that affects the crop production quality and quality is the Leaf disease in these tomato plants. As a result, it's vital to correctly diagnose and characterise these diseases. Tomato production is influenced by a variety of diseases. Early detection of the tomato plant diseases would help us to minimize the impact of the disease on tomato plants and maximize the production of crop. Various novel methods of diagnosing certain diseases have been widely used. The existing research has shown that the Convolution Neural Network-based approach gives us impressive results compared to traditional approaches. This work will address the same problem of disease detection. In the proposed methodology, CNN will be used along with image segmentation for detecting multiple or overlapping diseases in the same leaf. The proposed model will first use a image segmentation module for generating multiple instances of the same image, then we will use the some of trained CNN model to find the affected disease in the given leafs. By using the above results, we will suggest the disease control methods to the end-user.


An intimate connection between the Pomeranchukon and the $f$ and ${f}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ Regge trajectories is derived in the context of a specific multiperipheral model, embodying duality. The explicit dependence of the Pomeranchukon couplings on the $f$ (and ${f}^{\ensuremath{'}}$) Regge poles clarifies certain features of diffraction scattering data.


The study considers the conceptual approaches and basic principles of strategic communications. It is noted that the term «strategic communications» has recently become actively used in the scientific and practical sphere of public activity and is now an integral part of the sphere of social communications, actively used in regulations and research of domestic and foreign researchers. The article notes the importance of researching conceptual approaches to the interpretation of the concept of «strategic communications» in connection with the need to develop a unified communication strategy that would combine a full range of communication methods and tools to promote public / corporate interests. Since the concept of «strategic communications» at the beginning of the XXI century was used mainly in military, political and scientific circles of the United States and Western European countries – it is natural that the theoretical component of developing concepts of strategic communications and their practical application deserve special attention and research. That is why the article considers the research of such foreign researchers as R. Brooks, D. Нavra, D. Gage, E. Goldman, K. Paul, M.Price, K. Tikhomirova, K. Hallahan. Also mentioned are the works of domestic scientists studying various aspects of strategic communications as a modern tool for achieving goals in public institutions, including D. Dubov, V. Lipkan, G. Pocheptsov, S. Solovyov and others. The article describes the basic principles of strategic communications, taking into account the adapted classical provisions of military strategy, as well as identifies modern principles due to the development of the information society and the constant transformation of the information and communication space.


We use both mass and internal energy specified rubidium atoms to jointly test the weak equivalence principle (WEP). We improve the four-wave double-diffraction Raman transition method (FWDR) we proposed before to select atoms with certain mass and angular momentum state, and perform dual-species atom interferometer. By combining $^{87}$Rb and $^{85}$Rb atoms with different angular momenta, we compare the differential gravitational acceleration of them, and determine the value of Eotvos parameter, $\eta$, which measures the strength of the violation of WEP. For one case ($^{87}$Rb$|\emph{F}=1\rangle$ - $^{85}$Rb$|\emph{F}=2\rangle$),the statistical uncertainty of $\eta$ is $1.8 \times 10^{-10}$ at integration time of 8960 s. With various systematic errors correction, the final value is $\eta=(-4.4 \pm 6.7) \times 10^{-10}$. Comparing with the previous WEP test experiments using atoms, this work gives a new upper limit of WEP violation for $^{87}$Rb and $^{85}$Rb atom pairs.


Abstract Single crystals of CuBr with the zincblende structure, grown by the Bridgman method with KBr flux, have been deformed in compression between room and liquid-nitrogen temperatures. The resolved yield stress at room temperature is as low as 1.0 MN m−2, but increases steeply below about 130K with decreasing temperature. The activation volume for plastic deformation decreases to less than 10 b3 (b is the magnitude of the Burgers vector) at shear stresses higher than 10 MNm−2. These facts suggest that the Peierls mechanism controls the deformation at low temperatures. Illumination with light during plastic deformation causes almost reversible hardening, the amount of which is undetectable at room temperature, increases with decreasing temperature and levels off below about 130 K. The effect is maximum for a wavelength slightly longer than the fundamental absorption edge. Below 130 K, illumination brings about another effect, namely irreversible softening, which is possibly caused by enhanced cracking.


Sea cucumbers in Malaysia have been overexploited for decades, and their stock status in both Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah has dropped to an extreme low, resulting in direct impacts on both coastal communities and marine ecosystems. As a result, the Malaysian government is now looking for alternatives such as fisheries management, conservation and aquaculture to manage the depleting wild stocks. This project is a product of fruitful collaboration between the Malaysian government and an Australian-based private company. Since its inception in July 2014, a hatchery, nursery and broodstock rearing facility has been set up. The first spawning trials were done in February 2015 followed by nine other successful spawning events over a period of nine months. Overall, the spawning success rate was about 60% and the fertilisation rate was 85%. Broodstock are now being conditioned in tanks, with some male and female individuals kept separately. Spawning events produced around 4,300,000 larvae with a survival rate of over 30% during the larval stage. Settlement occurred at day 12 after fertilisation, and about 30,000 juveniles (3–5 mm long) have been produced so far. at the commercial level. A survey undertaken in 2012 by a local marketing company revealed at least 13 registered Malaysian companies claiming to be involved in research and development activities to develop derivative products from sea cucumbers, mainly species in the genera Stichopus (BioSys Consulting Pty Ltd 2012; Purcell et al. 2014). The Malaysian government is now looking for alternatives such as fisheries management, conservation and aquaculture to manage the depleting wild stocks. This project is a product of fruitful collaboration between the Malaysian Department of Fisheries (DOF), AADCo Projects Malaysia Sdn Bhd6 (spinoff from research conducted by an Australian-based company, Asia Aquaculture Development Co. Pty Ltd) and a local engineering company (Sesaga Engineering Snd Bhd). The project, led by the spin-off company, aimed at developing and commercialising a sea cucumber aquaculture system for producing premium quality trepang (beche-de-mer). This project is developed under the business incubator programme of the Fisheries Research Institute (FRI), Pulau Sayak, Kedah, Malaysia. Our aim within the next three years is to implement a commercially viable sea cucumber aquaculture facility that will: • allow a continuous production of good quality trepang; 1 Asia Aquaculture Development Company Pty Ltd, Suite 4.1/105 Kippax street, Surry Hills, 2010 NSW, Australia 2 AADCo Projects Malaysia Sdn Bhd, 2980-02 Kompleks Chai Leng, Jalan Baru 13700, Prai, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia 3 Sesaga Engineering Sdn Bhd, 2980-02 Kompleks Chai Leng, Jalan Baru, 13700, Prai, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia 4 Fisheries Research Institute Langkawi, Pejabat Perikanan Daerah Langkawi,Bukit Malut, 07000 Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia 5 Fisheries Research Institute Pulau Sayak, Kampung Pulau Sayak, 08500 Kota Kuala Muda, Kedah, Malaysia 6 Sdn Bhd is an abbreviation for sendirian berhad, a Malaysian term meaning "private limited". * Author for correspondence: email@example.com 68 SPC Beche-de-mer Information Bulletin #36 – March 2016 • allow a better quality control on final products; • achieve higher production rates; and • supply the increasing worldwide demand with a labeled premium quality product. Since its inception in July 2014, a hatchery, nursery and broodstock rearing facility has been set up. The first spawning trials were conducted in February 2015 and were followed by several other successful spawning events over a period of nine months. An overview of the project's achievements thus far is described in the following sections.