At present the uniform methodology that focuses on possibilities of cost reduction in liquid metal production is being developed, so called "technical and economic analysis". The methodology builds on earlier works in this area almost since the sixties of twentieth century. The aim of the article is to familiarize professional public with development and application of the method that focuses especially on determination, monitoring and evaluation of cost and chosen technological characteristics in liquid metal production in electric furnaces (EAF, EIF). The method should be a tool for uncovering of cost reserves, possible savings and their analysis in partial periods of liquid metal production. The applied production process is being considered in order to find a way to costs reduction and at the same time preserving all of the functions. To assess a liquid metal production method are used especially the tools of statistical analysis. Individual phases of the "technical and economic analysis" are in detail described in the following paragraphs of the article.


ABSTRACT We recorded Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) flock size on the Seattle University campus across multiple seasons in order to characterize the timing of pair formation prior to nest building in Washington state and compare it to that of California and Arizona. We also collected autumn and winter foraging locations, specifically vegetation types and foraging heights. We found the disbanding of large flocks (15–20 birds) into nest-building pairs occurred 1–2 months later in the northern part of the Bushtit's range than what is reported in more southern states. Bushtits spent a similar percentage of time foraging in deciduous trees, evergreen trees, and mixed shrubs in fall and winter, often moving along garden strips at heights of 3–4.5 m off the ground. Contrary to published reports, groups of Bushtits repeatedly visited fixed food sources, specifically the yellow flowers of the exotic leatherleaf mahonia (Mahonia bealei) for over 2 weeks on early winter mornings.


A novel tetrahedral coordinated zinc polymer was hydrothermally prepared and characterized. It was crystallized in the monoclinic system, space group P21/c with a = 12.8437(1)A, b = 5.9596(1)A, c = 17.2934(2)A, β = 104.057(4)°, V = 1284.06(18)A3 and Z = 4. The structure of the title complex consists of extended two-dimensional double helix chains.


Ethylaminobisdifluorophosphine complexes of chromium, molybdenum, and tungsten EtN(PF2)2M(CO)4(M = Cr, Mo, W) have been synthesised by displacement of norbornadiene from the corresponding olefin–metal carbonyl complex. 19F and 31P N.m.r. spectra, analysed as XX′AA′X″X‴ spin systems, enable accurate values for 1J(PF), 3J(PF′), 2J(PMP′), and 4J(FF′)(two types) to be obtained. The n.m.r. studies confirm the bidentate nature of the ligand and phosphorus to metal co-ordination.


Recently, spatial keyword query services have been widely deployed in real-life applications, such as location-based services and social networking. Several privacypreserving spatial keyword queries solutions were proposed to guarantee data security and query privacy on outsourced data. However, those solutions are either based on broken cryptographic tools or support a single query type, and hence cannot meet the security and functionality requirements in practical applications. In this paper, we propose a Secure Spatial Keyword Queries (SSKQ) construction supporting expressive query types. Specifically, we present a secure index structure for spatial-textual data based on the encrypted Quadtree and Bloom filter, which can prune the index tree dynamically and only reveal the files associated with a set of keywords. The security analysis and the experiments conducted on real-world datasets demonstrate the security and performance of our construction.


Removal and degradation of microplastics are often carried out separately. In this work, hydrophilic bare Fe3O4 nanoaggregates allowed efficient removal of the most common microplastics including high-density polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, and polyethylene terephthalate. Full extraction was achieved using Fe3O4 at 1% of the mass of microplastics. Hydrogen bonding is the main force for the adsorption of Fe3O4. Unlike the more commonly used hydrophobically modified Fe3O4 nanoparticles, the bare Fe3O4 benefitted from the peroxidase-like activity of its exposed surface, enabling further catalytic degradation of microplastics with nearly 100% efficiency and easy recovery of the Fe3O4.


Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) is increasingly being used as a tool to gain mechanistic insights into homogeneous metal-catalyzed reactions. Here we briefly discuss the advantages of ESI-MS for studying solution-phase reactions and review the work that has been conducted in the area to


In this paper, we present a method for segmenting illuminants in non-uniformly lit scenes. Here, we view the illuminant colour at an image location as a mixture of the segmented illuminants. Based on the dichromatic structure of the image radiance space, we perform soft-clustering on the set of dichromatic planes corresponding to the neighbourhoods of pixel-sites in the image. We solve the soft-clustering problem with a deterministic annealing approach where the cost function is formulated based on the maximum entropy principle. We show results on real-world imagery and provide comparisons to an alternative method.


5'-Deoxy-5'-methylthioadenosine (MTA) is formed in the course of the synthesis of polyamines from S-adenosylmethionine (SAM). Tumors lack the enzyme methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP), which metabolizes MTA, and should accumulate MTA. In a first step, a method for quantification of MTA by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was developed and the postulated accumulation of MTA in tumors and tumor cell lines lacking MTAP could be demonstrated. To elucidate further consequences of a lack of MTAP in tumor cells, the method was expanded to most of the metabolites in the methionine and polyamine pathways. With this method it could be shown, that MTA, putrescine and SAM correlate in concentration. So, the accumulation of MTA has a direct influence on the synthesis of the polyamines. This correlation could be observed in different tumor species, e.g. malignant melanoma, HCC, renal carcinoma and brain tumors, as well as in different liver diseases (fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma). To clarify a relation between MTA concentration and MTAP abundance a mass spectrometry based activity-assay for MTAP has been set up, using stable isotope labeled MTA as substrate. The decrease in stable isotope labeled MTA was measured over time by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and rate constants were determined. For mice with fatty liver disease an inverse correlation of MTA concentration and MTAP activity (both normalized to tissue weight) was observed. The assay works also in human tumor biopsies, but the analysis of the results is much more difficult because the control tissue is cirrhotic. Normalization to tissue weight is not possible due to the different nature of both tissue specimens.
In a next step MTAP protein should be quantified by AQUA peptides and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry for a better understanding of the still measured activity.


This project explores the relationship between worship, discipleship, and evangelism within the missional church movement by looking closely at the role of worship in cultivating an evangelistic character among God's people. Engaging contributions from liturgical theology, Christian ethics, and post-Christendom evangelism, this project proposes a missional approach to worship that, when integrated with a praxis-oriented discipleship, cultivates Jesus' character among God's people. Along the way, the project attends to the Holy Spirit's transformative presence, the liturgical rhythms of remembering and anticipating, and the practices of hospitality and compassion. In the end, the thesis argues that the Spirit works through this integration of worship and discipleship to form communally embodied expressions of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In other words, God's people become evangelistic, or as Newbigin said, "the hermeneutic of the gospel."


Depositional environments that change dramatically over short lateral distances are represented by exposures of the Laborcita Formation. A siliclastic source area lay to the east and southeast, in the Pedernal Mountains. To the west, a shallow marine sea filled the orogrande basin. Alternating cycles of marine and nonmarine sedimentation resulted from fan-delta lobe shifting and eustatic sea level movements. In clear-water areas not affected by fan-deltaic sedimentation, deposits become increasingly calcareous. Various carbonate facies resulted from organisms adapting to changing environmental conditions. Mud-cracked algal mats, digitate algal stromatolites, and small phylloid red algal mounds and rhodoliths indicate deposition in shallow-water subtidal to supratidal settings. Large buildups (20 m thick) of phylloid green algae associated with abundant submarine cement occurred in a position near the edge of the narrow shelf. Widespread skeletal detritus beds overlie and extend hundreds of meters away from the massive buildups. Influx of terrigenous mud and silt in advance of a prograding fan-delta system terminated growth of the buildups. The next transgression is represented by a carbonate grainstone exhibiting characteristics of shallow-water marine, storm-dominated shelf bars. The shelf bars migrated in a northwest-southeast direction.


Venus has been scrutinized for 35 years by ground based telescopes and an armada of spacecraft, but it took just eight minutes of exposure for the high-resolution spectra to yield an important discovery, namely the first evidence for atomic oxygen on the night side of Venus.


Abstract: The LAMP1 gene in humans produces the lysosomal-associated membrane protein 1 (LAMP-1), also known as lysosome-associated membrane glycoprotein 1 and CD107a (Cluster of Differentiation 107a). The human LAMP1 gene is found in region 3, band 4 of chromosome 13's long arm (q). These glycoproteins, which are typically found across lysosomal membranes, have a long, heavily glycosylated end on the luminal side of the membrane with N-linked carbon chains and a short, cytoplasm-expose C-terminal tail. A structure resembling a hinge exists in the extracytoplasmic region, and it is capable of forming disulphide bridges that are similar to those found in human immunoglobulin A Cancer cells frequently express LAMP1 and LAMP2 on their cell surfaces, especially tumours with a high propensity to metastasize, such melanoma and colon cancer, which has been found to be correlated with the propensity to metastasize. Danon disease, which is brought on by a change (mutation) in the LAMP2 gene. Currently, case reports and databases have identified approximately 160 distinct LAMP2 gene variants that have the potential to cause Danon disease. The prognosis has been shown to be most adversely affected by mutations that result in the total lack of the LAMP2 protein.


A mechod of hollow cathode arc welding technology is presented. In detail. In vacuum condition, hollow penetrating arc welding technology differs from fusion arc welding technology in better welding formation, narrower welds, as well as a larger technology margin. The weld formation of titanium alloys is preliminary analyzed. Also, the welding technology margin si calculated and compared. Finally, initial study conclusions arc addressed.


Objective To explore the distribution of high-arsenic drinking water and prevalence of endemic arsenism in Gansu Province in order to provide basis for prevention. Methods According to State Screening Project of High-arsenic Drinking Water in 2006, 12 counties were investigated to determine the content-arsenic in Gansu Province. The level of arsenic content in drinking water was determined by silver dithyldithiocarbamate spectrophotometric method and atomic fluorescence method. Patients with endemic arsenium were diagnosed with The Standard of Diagnosis for Endemic Arsenium(WS/T 211-2001). Results A total of 11 360 samples of 540 villages, 145 townships, and 12 counties were surveyed. Twenty two high-arsenic wellsprings were found in Chenxian and Xiahe Counties and the rate was 0.19%( 12/11 360). The highest content-arsenic in Sasuoma Village of cool-wellspring was 0.970 mg/L. The endemic arsenium was studied in 17 high-arsenic villages. In Xiahe, 4 patients were diagnosed, the morbidity rate of endemic arsenium in Wangtang, Wanken, Wananang Villages was lower 10%. Detection rate was 49.68%(77/155) in Sasouma Village, 1 case of Boweens was found. The youngest patient was only 2 years old, and the oldest one 82 years old. The highest Detection rate of Han population was 81.25% (13/16), Hui 50.56%(45/89), and Zang 38.00% (19/50). According to The Standard for Determining Affected Area of Endemic Arsenism, the village was claimed to be seriously affected area in the type of cool-wellspring of drinking water arsenic. No patient was found in other villages. Conclusions High-arsenic areas are broadening in recent years. In some places, the prevalence of this disease is very serious. The affected area belongs to drinking water arsenic of cool-wellspring type.

Key words:
Arsenic poisoning;  Drinking;  Data collection


Defects can be accidentally introduced into the insulation system of cable joints during manufacture, due to the manual nature of the jointing process. Any defect introduced can have an affect on the working lifetime of the cable, therefore, it is necessary to detect and remove these defects. Detection of defects can be achieved by using conventional X-ray techniques, however, there are problems with this method of joint inspection that are associated with the development, inspection and storage of the photographic film. These problems have been removed by the conversion to a digital CCD array X-ray camera. The digital images produced using the camera can be inspected for inclusions and voids using the changes in the pixel intensity distributions caused by such a defect. The result of this inspection is a binary image of the defects found. This image can then be superimposed back onto the original image in order to locate the defects found


This article outlines the development of a project-based capstone marketing course, specifically designed to provide marketing students with an international community service learning experience. It differs significantly from previous studies, which focus on integrating service learning into existing marketing courses and on helping local nonprofit organizations. The focus of the course outlined in this article is on strengthening marketing-related competencies acquired through earlier coursework; developing broader work-related competencies, such as cross-functional thinking, teamwork, communication, and cultural sensitivity; and operating a collegiate chapter of a nonprofit engaged in international community service. The course described is well aligned with other significant trends in undergraduate business education: it is multidisciplinary, it emphasizes collaborative learning, it is founded on carefully articulated learning outcomes, and learning success is assessed. It provides a transformational experience and prepares students for a global and diverse workplace. A framework for course design is presented, and a set of pedagogical materials is provided that other marketing educators can use to develop and launch a significant international, multidisciplinary community service learning course.


We examine the relation among average returns, market beta, firm size, and book‐to‐market value for Canadian stocks during 1975–92. We document a negative relation between average return and the market capitalization of firms, but find no relation between average return and market beta. While the small firm effect is significant during a period of reduced capital gains tax, it is noticeably lower than during the period leading up to the change. We find that average returns are positively related to book‐to‐market value especially during the period of lower capital gains tax.


The Rhetoric of Pope John Paul II begins to fill a considerable gap in communications scholarship about this rhetor, one of the most powerful and influential in the twentieth century. Examining Pop...


Background: Silent sinus syndrome (SSS) is a spontaneous, asymptomatic collapse of the maxillary sinus and orbital floor associated with negative sinus pressure. It is also known as the imploding antrum syndrome. It typically presents with a 'sunken' eye (enophthalmos), asymmetry of the level of the eyes (hypoglobus) and downward bowing of the orbital floor causing a reduction in the size of the maxillary sinus. Methods: A retrospective analysis of clinical notes and radiological data of 11 patients with spontaneous SSS were reviewed. Their endoscopic and radiological findings were studied. Results and conclusion: Spontaneous SSS is a rare condition characterized by unilateral enophthalmos, hypoglobus with radiological findings of ipsilateral depression of the orbital floor, reduction in volume and opacification of the maxillary sinus. Pathogenesis of this condition remains unclear. The fixed sign is the laterally displaced uncinate process which could be detected in all eleven cases, leading to obstruction of the infundibulum. It may have a direct relation in the development of maxillary sinus atelectasis. ORIGINAL ARTICLE


Introduction: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is one of the most commonly performed operations worldwide and gold standard treatment for
benign gall bladder pathology. Increasing practice of lap cholecystectomy demands concurrent advancement in anaesthetic technique and
monitoring standard.
Objectives: Comparison of haemodynamic and ETCO2 changes intraoperatively during laparoscopic and open cholecystectomy and evaluation
of any additional effects of insufated CO2.
Study Design: Hospital based observational study done over 24 months
Subjects and methods: 60 patients of both sex scheduled to undergo elective cholecystectomy under general Anaesthesia, selected on the basis of
the inclusion criteria , were included in this study. Patients are assigned into two groups namely Group O[ planned for open cholecystectomy] and
Group L[laparoscopic cholecystectomy], each group having 30 patients. Heart rate, systolic BP, diastolic BP, mean arterial pressure, EtCO2, SpO2
and ECG monitored continuously and record maintained before surgery, during induction, intubation, extubation and every 10 min interval up to
the completion of surgery in both group.CO2 insufation and exsufation time also noted in laparoscopic cholecystectomy cases.
Result: Age, sex, weight, height, ASA grade and duration of surgery of all the patients of both the groups were comparable. The HR, MAP and
ETCO2 of group L started increasing during the intraoperative period and P values these were statistically signicant from t=20 minutes after
intubation to t=60 min. In our study CO2 insufation done within 8 to 15 minutes after intubation. .It is clear from our study that
pneumoperitoneum created during laparoscopic cholecystectomy might have caused this increase in HR,MAP and ETCO2. There was a decrease
in SpO in Group L during the intraoperative period i.e from t=20 minutes after intubation to t=80 min after intubation and the P values during this 2
period were statistically signicant.
Conclusion: From our study we come to the conclusion that in laparoscopic cholecystectomy there is signicant increase in HR, MAP, ETCO2 and
decrease in SPO2 following insufation of the abdomen with CO2 and institution of the reverse Trendlenberg position.


We developed a method of quantitatively assessing a pilot's flight-simulator performance to improve simulation-based education using flight-training devices (FTDs). As a quantitative index of performance, we focused on the pilot's line-of-sight while scanning flight instruments, and tried to characterize his/her performance level based on visual focus tendencies. Two experiments were conducted. The first was a comparative analysis of line-of-sight data recorded for flight instrument-rated (IR) pilots and noninstrument-rated (NIR) pilots in order to verify that line-of-sight data can be used as a quantitative assessment benchmark. The second was conducted to verify the effectiveness of reviewing and reflecting on a NIR pilot's own recorded line-of-sight data – as well as that of a IR pilot – in the form of recorded images, for improving his/her flying skills. In each experiment, a steep turn, which is a common in-flight maneuver, was conducted using a flight-training device (FTD). Six cockpit instruments were chosen as the targets of line-of-sight measurements. The number of times that the pilot's eyes became fixated on each instrument was measured and the cumulative fixation time was calculated. In this study, we observed different visual focus tendencies for IR pilots and NIR pilots. Flying skills were found to markedly improve by reflecting on the pilot's own line-of-sight, as well as that of an IR pilot using recorded images.


VARIATION and dissociation in the enteric group of bacteria are accompanied by changes in antigenic properties 1, 2, 3; and such changes may, in turn, affect the value of these variants or dissociants for prophylactic purposes. Relative virulence of these organisms also may be associated with dissociation and correlated with antigenic activity. The lack of sensitive and convenient methods for determination of virulence and of antibody relationships in antisera produced against typhoid bacilli of established virulence has led to the following experimental work. Particular emphasis has been placed on the measurement of protective action of the antisera in an attempt to determine whether there is a correlation of such activity with some known and easily determinable property of the antisera and whether this property may be correlated with antigenic components of the organisms being studied. Methods for determination of virulence of typhoid bacilli and for measurement of protective action of antityphoid sera are presented, together with preliminary data obtained by these methods.


The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of advertising and brand image on buy ing decisions Timeless Deluxe pomade in Gresik. This research is quantitative research, by using data collecting technique by distributing questionnaires to 80 respondents of Timeless Deluxe pomade consumer in Gresik. For data analysis using multiple linear regression analysis. The results showed that brand image variables have greater influence than on advertising variables. These results show that consumers have an orientation towards the brand image performed by Timeless rather than advertising. So Timeless must maintain their brand image and increase their advertising to produce effective advertising.


A description is given of the current development of a novel, non-destructive, experimental method which allows the determination of 3-D stress distributions in birefringent materials. A conventional polariscope is used through which to view the model with the addition of a component positioning device. A minimal set of measurements has been devised which can be easily and efficiently realized in an actual laboratory arrangement, and which produces precisely the sufficient amount of data in order to tomographically reconstruct the full stress tensor within the bulk matter of the medium.
The paper includes an outline of the mathematical procedure, the results of numerical tests of the algorithms and a discussion of further work necessary to realise a truly practical technique.


Most of the biodiesel produced today is made the base catalyzed reaction due to high conversion and no intermediate product during reaction. The experiments were carried out using methanol and two alkali catalysts i.e., Sodium hydroxide and Potassium hydroxide to transesterification of rapeseed oil were carried out for the production of biodiesel. The effect of catalyst concentration, methanol oil ratio, temperature, reaction time and stirring rate on the yield and quality of biodiesel was studied. The result of the study suggested that 0.6 % sodium hydroxide and 0.8 % potassium hydroxide catalyst concentration, 6:1 methanol oil ratio, 60 °C reaction temperature, 30 min reaction time and 300 rpm stirring rate were optimum for biodiesel production from rapeseed oil.


This study proposes a switchless dual-power-mode (DPM) power amplifier (PA), which operates independently in high-powermode (HPM) and low-power mode (LPM) to improve the efficiency. The DPM PA optimizes the output impedances using bias control of the PA and the proposed bidirectional output matching structure with a transformer (TF) for each power mode with no switches for isolation between the LPM and the HPM with high passive efficiency. The proposed output structure realizes a high impedance in the nonoperating mode network to ensure that the operating mode network realizes the optimal impedance by utilizing bidirectional matching of the OFF characteristics of transistors and TF output for each mode. The differential DPM PA is implemented using a 2- $\mu \mathrm {m}$ InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) process on a nine-layer printed circuit board with low insertion loss to demonstrate the proposed structure. The HPM and LPM, operating independently, achieved the gains of 24–25.5 and 11.4–12.9 dB and the saturated output power of 34.2–34.8 and 23.2–23.5 dBm, with a peak power-added efficiency (PAE) of 44.4%–49% and 32%–34.4%, respectively, under a continuous-wave (CW) signal test of over 5.15–5.925 GHz. The proposed PA error vector magnitude (EVM) is tested with 160 MHz of a 64-quadrature amplitude modulator (QAM) signal and achieves the average output powers of 24.5 and 14 dBm (EVM = −32 dB) and a PAE of 10.5% and 10.1% for HPM and LPM with digital predistortion, respectively.


This purpose of this case study is to present the challenges facing a public pension fund director of real estate. Most pension funds rely on a small internal staff charged with executing the real estate portfolio strategy approved by the Board of Trustees. In this case, the director of real estate has been informed that the agenda of the next Board meeting will be devoted entirely to real estate strategy. Issues of legacy properties, Board disagreement over the need/role of consultants, the number of real estate investment managers, the role of public versus private real estate strategies, and the appropriate role of core, value add, and opportunistic private strategies all come into play.


In the study,63 eight-year program medical students of Grade 2003 in Peking University Health Science Center were surveyed and the results showed that self-study by utilizing internet resources was an important learning style for the students.It indicates that self-study by utilizing internet resources,as a supplement of classroom teaching of internal medicine,is worthy of our advocation.


A comprehensive discussion of a dedicated device for serial complex multiplication is presented, covering architectural, reliability and fault tolerance properties. The pipelined architecture is briefly described. It is optimized w.r.t. several figure of merits: clock rate, external pipelining and pipeline filling degree. Testability features are analyzed under functional fault models by means of graph-theoretic methods, showing full testability of the device. Error detection is introduced by means of arithmetic codes and the tradeoff between error detection and cost is evaluated. Eventually on-line reconfiguration is introduced through the Diogenes approach and the tradeoff between fault tolerance and cost is also discussed. Discussion are based on analytic interpolation software simulation and the evaluation of prototypal layouts in CMOS technology.<<ETX>>


In the present paper we study the mode spectrum of an FMS wave in a cylindrical metal waveguide filled with a cold collisionless plasma. The plasma density profile is parabolic and the waveguide is located in a uniform axial magnetic field at the ion cyclotron resonance (ICR) frequency. We report the results of calcultions of the field profiles for the L-2 stellarator, which have important implications for this heating method. (AIP)


The design of a automated system for photoelastic analysis of complex components is described, and an outline of the theory used in its operation is given. The potential of the system for providing detailed data over the full field of view is demonstrated by the analysis of a slice from a model of a bolt.


Objective: To compare the effectiveness and safety of oxytocin and a cervical ripening balloon in women with unfavorable cervices for inducing labor. Material and Methods: A total of eighty pregnant women between 37-41 gestational weeks having singleton pregnancies and intact membranes with unfavorable cervices were randomized into two groups, cervical ripening balloon (n=40) and oxytocin infusion (n=40). The primary outcomes were the labor time and the route of delivery. Secondary outcomes were the effect of parity on time of labor, and obstetric and perinatal outcomes. Results: The median time to delivery was 9.45 hours in cervical ripening balloon group and 13.2 hours in the oxytocin group in multiparous women. The differences were statistically significant (p<0.001). The median time until delivery was 11.48 hours in cervical ripening balloon group and 13.46 hours in the oxytocin group; the differences were statistically significant (p<0.001). Cesarean delivery ratios were similar in both groups (p=0.431). Conclusion: The results of the present study are promising for balloon use, especially in multiparous women. It is beneficial to support these data with wide ranging population-based studies.


HyStOH Within the framework of the joint HyStOH project, a self-aligning wind turbine has been developed. The concept, consisting of a simple, cost-effective, lightweight installation with low environmental impact, was optimised at the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) by extensive numerical simulations and model tank tests. The project is funded by Germany's Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy. In the following article, project partners Jens Cruse, Cruse Offshore GmbH; Moustafa Abdel-Maksoud and Alexander Düster, TUHH; Andreas Bockstedte, DNV GL; Gerrit Haake, Jörss – Blunck – Ordemann GmbH; and Sönke Siegfriedsen, aerodyn engineering GmbH, present the concept.


Environmental archives and carbon cycle models suggest that climate warming during the last deglaciation (the transition from the last glacial to the Holocene) caused large-scale thaw of Arctic permafrost, followed by the release of previously freeze-locked carbon. In addition to changing oceanic circulation and outgassing of CO2 trapped in the deep glacial ocean, organic carbon (OC) release from thawing permafrost might have contributed to the rise in atmospheric CO2 by 80 ppmv or ~200 Pg C between 17.5 and 11.7 kyr before present (BP). The few Arctic sediment cores to date, however, lack either temporal resolution or reflect only regional catchments, leaving most of the permafrost OC remobilization of the deglaciation unconstrained.

Our study explores the flux and fate of OC released from permafrost to the Siberian Arctic Seas during the last deglaciation. The Arctic Ocean is the main recipient of permafrost material delivered by river transport or collapse of coastal permafrost, providing an archive for current and past release of OC from thawing permafrost. We studied isotopes (Δ14C-OC, δ13C-OC) and terrestrial biomarkers (CuO-derived lignin phenols, n-alkanes, n-alkanoic acids) in a number of sediment cores from the Siberian Shelf and Central Arctic Ocean to reconstruct source and fate of OC previously locked in permafrost.

The composite record of three cores from the Laptev, East Siberian and Chukchi Seas suggest a combination of OC released by deepening of permafrost active layer in inland Siberia and by thermal collapse of coastal permafrost during the deglaciation. Coastal erosion of permafrost during the deglaciation suggests that sea-level rise and flooding of the Siberian shelf remobilized OC from permafrost deposits that covered the dry shelf areas during the last glacial. A sediment core from the Central Arctic Ocean demonstrates that this occurred in two major pulses; i) during the Bølling-Allerød (14.7-12.9 kyr BP), but most strongly ii) during the early Holocene (11-7.6 kyr BP). In the early Holocene, flooding of 80% of the Siberian shelf amplified permafrost OC release to the Arctic Ocean, with peak fluxes 10-9 kyr BP one order of magnitude higher than at other times in the Holocene.

It is likely that the remobilization of permafrost OC by flooding of the Siberian shelf released climate-significant amounts of dormant OC into active biogeochemical cycling and the atmosphere. Previous studies estimated that a pool of 300-600 Pg OC was held in permafrost covering Arctic Ocean shelves during the last glacial maximum; one can only speculate about its whereabouts after the deglaciation. Present und future reconstructions of historical remobilization of permafrost OC will help to understand how important permafrost thawing is to large-scale carbon cycling.


Abstract : Partial contents: Filovirus Background, ELISA setup and optimization, Effects of Ebola proteins on VLP release, Effects of VP40 mutants on VLP release, Therapeutic compound screening.


The focus of this contribution is to investigate fatigue behaviour of I cross-section beam. Stainless steel IPE beam with initiate concentrator is loaded in three point bending and the crack growth rate is analysed for various crack front shapes. Stress intensity factor size in the crack tip is being investigated in relation to growth rate of discontinuity. Load number of cycles is predictable basing on hypothesis of fatigue behaviour of material and the results are compared to experimental results of studies performed on compact tension specimen made from the similar material.


To the Editor:

We read with great interest the article by Kallikazaros and coworkers1 in the May 1999 issue of Stroke in which the authors analyzed clinical data in an attempt to elucidate whether carotid artery disease can be a clinically useful marker for the presence of severe coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients evaluated for chest pain. They found that carotid disease (lumen diameter stenosis of ≥50%) was present in 24.5% of patients with 3-vessel disease and 40% of patients with left main stem disease, and they concluded that carotid disease was significantly correlated with severe CAD.

Our study in Japanese patients with both carotid and coronary artery disease has led us to similar conclusions. We recently reported2 the surgical results of staged or combined carotid endarterectomy (CEA) and coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) to treat such patients. Indications for CABG in our hospital are the following: patients with left main stem stenosis, or 3-vessel disease with severe proximal stenosis of a large left anterior descending coronary artery.2 3 Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasties (PTCA) were performed in symptomatic patients with 1 or 2 diseased coronary vessels.4 Between January 1989 and December 1997, 90 CEA and 404 CABG procedures were performed. Among them, 11 patients received staged or combined …


Photo-ESR and optical absorption measurements were done on annealed neutron irradiated GaP crystals. The position of paramagnetic gallium antisite level in GaP energy gap has been determined. Additionally, the position of paramagnetic phosphorus antisite level, earlier determined in the paper of Kruger and Alexander, has been confirmed. Moreover, unusual in ESR experiments temperature dependence of phosphorus antisite amplitude in neutron irradiated GaP crystals has been explained.


In today's digitalized world, people leave trails of data about themselves when operating online. While marketers are eagerly utilizing this data for marketing insights, many consumers have a growing fear of their personal data ending up in the wrong hands and losing their privacy. The aim of this study was to understand the role of ethics in current marketing based on consumer data and to examine how data could be used ethically in marketing. The empirical research was conducted by analyzing secondary data from a 2018 survey about the use of digital services in Europe. The main conclusions that can be drawn from study findings are that the need for ethics is even more apparent in marketing than ever before, because of the broad access to personal data. Giving the consumers the ability to opt‐out from data use and data selling without it affecting the use of services can create an enormous competitive advantage for organizations in the future.


This paper presents a balun with more than ten octaves. The novel balun is an implanted conductor plane multilayer double-sided parallel-strip line. To isolate the various circuits on the upper and lower layers and convert into two immediate microstrip circuits, a conductor plane is inserted into the centre of the platform of the double-sided parallel-strip line in the multilayer construction. The method results in an extremely simple balun construction with superior broadband performance. From 1 GHz to above 10GHz, the developed switch circuit exhibits mismatch in degrees and amplitude of less than $\pm 1.8^{\circ}$ and $\pm 0.17\text{dB}$, respectively. The balun measures 29 $\text{mm}\times 20 \text{mm}\times 1.128$ mm in size.


The correlation between olfactory receptor cells (ORCs) population and olfactory sensitivity in juvenile red (RSB) and black sea breams (BSB) of wild and cultured stocks was investigated using electron microscopy and electrophysiology. Mean density/lamella of ORCs in wild RSB (41000), cultured RSB (37000), wild BSB (84000) and cultured BSB (85000) were different between the two species. Detection thresholds for the sea breams were between ca. 2.1•~10-7-10-8M for amino acids and ca. 2.1•~10-106-10-7 g/mL for food pellet solution. Concentration-response curves of tested odorants were not similar between the fish of different stocks and between the two species.


Exploration of high‐efficiency agents for near‐infrared‐II fluorescence imaging (NIR‐II FI) promotes the development of NIR‐II FI in life science. Despite the extensive use of organic semiconducting nanomaterials for NIR‐II FI, the fluorescence efficiency is barely satisfying, and the molecular guideline to improve the imaging quality has not been clarified yet. This contribution designs self‐brightened organic semiconducting polymers (OSPs) for improved NIR‐II phototheranostics of cancer. The amplification of NIR‐II brightness is realized by incorporating a weak electron‐donating unit (5,5′‐dibromo‐4,4′‐didodecyl‐2,2′‐bithiophene, DDB) into the semiconducting backbone with strong electron donor–acceptor alternated structure, which exhibits 6.3‐fold and 25‐fold fluorescence enhancement compared with the counterpart OSP at the same optical concentration and mass concentration, respectively. The broadband femtosecond transient absorption spectra experimentally elucidate the DDB doping‐induced suppression of vibrational relaxation as the underlying reason for the NIR‐II fluorescence amplification. Biocompatible nanoparticles fabricated from the optimal OSP12 exhibit excellent NIR‐II phototheranostic performance both in vitro and in vivo. Our research not only reveals the mechanistic insights for fluorescence enhancement of the designed OSPs from the essential view but also highlights an effective molecular methodology to guide the rational design of imaging agents with enhanced NIR‐II brightness for improved phototheranostics in living subjects.


Abstract My parents' death struggle, my clinical work with dying patients, the euthanasia of Freud, and a fear of dementia form the background to my reflections on dying patients, hospices, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. The change in public opinion has resulted in a displacement from Nazi crimes to the present focus on the right to self-determination. Consequently, a law allowing assisted suicide or euthanasia has been adopted in several locations, such as Oregon in the USA, the Benelux countries, Switzerland, and Canada. The fear of suffering, hopelessness, and inability are strong arguments to allow euthanasia and aided suicide. A compelling case against it is its negative social consequences, the infringement into the private sphere when the sick person and their family must decide if they are willing to accept assisted suicide or euthanasia. Although the "right to death" provides freedom to some, for others it is a forced choice that interferes with the dying process. I conclude by highlighting the palliative model, wherein death is perceived as a part of an individual's life and as a normal process, although this task is hard for the family to contain, especially when the dying person is in pain and agony. Dying is not merely an individual process. It affects the whole family as well as the future generations' views on reciprocity and responsibility.


We investigated visuo-manual pursuit tracking in 10 adult subjects. The main features of the experiments were as follows: (a) The targets to be pursued were planar trajectories. (b) Targets were based on actual human hand movements. A set of five different movements (scribbles) were rear-projected on a digitizing table. (c) Targets were presented both as originally recorded (Condition N) and after a numerical manipulation that made the tangential velocity constant (Condition T). Individual performances were analyzed to characterize both the features common to all subjects and the idiosyncratic differences. The main results of the study were as follows: (a) Performances are extremely consistent across repetitions. (b) The single most characteristic descriptor is the instantaneous delay between target and pursuit. (c) The operating strategy is significantly modified in Condition T. (d) A simple formal scheme based on the notion of a delayed velocity feed-back accounts quite accurately for the experimental results. This is in contrast with most classical models of pursuit tracking.


A moment analysis of dipolar-decoupled 19F NMR spectra of deformed polytetrafluoroethylene leads to an expansion which approximates the crystallite orientation distribution function. The resulting distributions are then interpreted in terms of this polymer's known mechanical properties, and an attempt is made to model these functions.


In the interaction of ethics,souls,peace and harmony,native culture and spiritual state are homogeneous in the rich and deep soil of folk literature.They,intermingling,together constitute the unique native spiritual state of the folk literature.By interpreting the native spiritual state of Xinjiang minorities' folk literature,we learn that,with respecting Nature and life as the medium,its four elements reach a dynamic dialogic relation and interact with each other through this relation.


The study investigates the viscosity of clarified beetroot juice as dependent on temperature and soluble solids content. Rheological research was carried out using a rotational rheometer with a system of coaxial cylinders. Flow curves were obtained in the temperature range from 10 to 60°C and at the soluble solids content of 50° to 67.1°Bx. The concentrate under study showed a Newtonian behaviour. Dynamic viscosity ranged from 5.2 to 320 mPa·s and depended on soluble solids content and temperature of measurement. The effect of temperature was described using an Arrhenius equation. Activation energy values were between 24.68 and 39.96 kJ/mol. The effect of soluble solids content was described employing a power-law function and an exponential function. In addition, two equations were proposed to describe the combined effect of temperature and soluble solids content on the viscosity of beetroot juice concentrate.


Electroencephalographic changes were examined in the caudate nucleus and accumbens nucleus during limbic seizure development in eight kindled cat preparations. The emergence of self‐sustained after‐discharge and interictal discharge was demonstrated in tbe accumbens nucleus during limbic seizure development. This finding suggests secondary epileptogenic functional alterations in the mesolimbic dopamine neuron systems. Moreover, the epileptiform re‐spouses triggered from the accumbens and caudate nuclei increased markedly with progressive limbic seizure development. These results suggest that a limbic seizure could produce a secondary.functional reorganization of the brain dopaminergic neuron systems, especially of the mesolimbic dopamine neuron systems that has been reported to play an important role in the manifestation of psychotic symptom.


This research aims to determine the purpose of pursuing the technology, the level of internet and smartphone usage, which are important in technology, and the effects of innovation on their lives of the university students who are expected to keep up with innovative exchanges and developments. Data were collected through the technology usage scale developed by different researchers in the research. Firstly, the validity and reliability of the scale were tried to be tested on the obtained data and then the questionnaire data were evaluated through various statistical analyzes in accordance with the purpose of the study. As a result, it has been seen that the level of technology usage of university youth has changed according to the current conditions. Considering the answers of students have participated in the research, it is possible to state that their answers to the questions about technology and innovation concepts are at the medium level. It can be said that students see technology as a lifestyle rather than madness and they see technology as a part of their lives. It has been also determined that the results of the study overlap with the results of previous researches.


In this paper, we present a performance of bit error rate detection in air-to-ground (A2G) wireless communication over Rician K-factor fading channel for massive the internet of things (IoT) connectivity network. The massive IoT connectivity deploys to the cyber-physical system (CPS). We analyze the BER by using the asymptotic simulation of zero-forcing (ZF) and minimum mean square error (MMSE) detection. The system model employs the effect of Rician K-factor channel between the transmitter antenna (drone) and IoT users. Finally, we discuss the performance of BER curves.


Landscape is an integral part of man's environment and the term in relation to a place may invoke the creation and experience of multiple meanings. This research investigates the relationship between landscapes in Nigeria during the precolonial, colonial and the twenty-first century. It looks at the influences of colonialism on landscape design, which seeks to find out how Nigeria has fared in its land use planning. The research highlighted the continued importance of historically constituted landscape upon which present-day activities in Nigeria are performed, and also considered the existing relationships of the present to the past. This paper through intensive review of relevant literature - books, journals and seminar papers amongst other documents, critically examined the factors that best answer the objectives of the study. The paper also outlines outdoor spaces that connect individuals to their social, economic and religious or cultural activities. It reviewed reasons that necessitate the proper organisation or arrangement that landscape design is concerned with. The paper recommended adequate implementation of town planning laws such as the active participation of the masses. Keywords: architecture, cultural landscape, design, environment DOI : 10.7176/CER/11-2-08 Publication date :March 31 st 2019


During 2001 to 2002,dormant buds of four grapevine cultivars grown in the region of Panzhihua were treated immediately after pruning with budbreaking chemicals.Then the sprouting rate and time were surveyed.The result indicates that CaCN_2,H_2CN_2 and H_2CN_2+Tween 80 have apparent effects to promot sprouting.The best time to treat is in winter with the lowest temperature (Jan.10) and the most effective chemical is 10 g/L H_2CN_2+Tween 80.Moreover,four wine grape cultivars with different maturity phase have different effects to promot sprouting when treated with budbreaking chemicals.The list of cultivars from the first to the last is Chardonny,Gamay,Merlot and Fox according to the effects to promot sprouting.Chardonny and Fox have worse uniform of sprouting than in control.The data of next year's sprouting percentage indicated that the treatment of 10 g/L H_2CN_2+Tween 80 in Jan.10 had the best (effects to) improve sprouting percentage.


Oxygen-17 labeled peroxy radicals were produced in polypropylene by electron-beam irradiation in the presence of enriched oxygen gas. Subsequent exposure to normal air did not reduce the extent of labeling. This finding suggest that the chain reactions RO/sub 2/ + RH ..-->.. ROOH + R and R + O/sub 2/ ..-->.. RO/sub 2/ are not important in this system.


In this paper, we describe methods designed to segment objects from 3D cell nuclei and cell membrane images and we point out several possible applications in analysis of the zebrafish cell image data. We show how we can segment the cell nuclei, the inner boundaries of the cells, the outer boundary of an organism and the intercellular borders. We also present a method for detection of approximate nuclei centers that is a necessary preliminary step for the segmentation. All methods that we mention are based on numerical solution of partial differential equations. We describe all mathematical models and we sketch the principles of the time and space discretization. The explanation of all methods is accompanied by illustrations and suggestions of applications in biology.


From the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic, to the 2009 swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) pandemic, to the projected highly pathogenic avian influenza A event, emerging infectious diseases highlight the importance of computational epidemiology to assess potential intervention policies. Hence, an important and timely research goal is a general-purpose and extendable simulation model that integrates two major epidemiological factors—age group and population movement—and substantial amounts of demographic, geographic, and epidemiologic data. In this paper, we describe a model that we have named FLUed for Four-layer Universal Epidemic Dynamics that integrates complex daily commuting network data into multiple age-structured compartmental models. FLUed has four contact structures for simulating the epidemic dynamics of emerging infectious diseases, assessing the potential efficacies of various intervention policies, and identifying the potential impacts of spatial-temporal epidemic trends on specific populations. We used data from the seasonal influenza A and 2009 swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) epidemics to validate model reliability and suitability and to assess the potential impacts of intervention policies and variation in initial outbreak areas for novel/seasonal influenza A in Taiwan. We believe that the FLUed model represents an effective tool for public health agencies responsible for initiating early responses to potential pandemics.


The generalized Nyquist stability criterion is one of the important theorem in multivariable feedback system theory ([1]2] and references therein). The generalized Nyquist diagrams are a fundamentally important indicator for the stability of closed-loop systems [3](4]. When a compensator is added to the system, the generalized Nyquist diagrams will usually change. So it is useful to investigate the effects of a compensator on the generalized Nyquist diagrams. This can be done in terms of groups of operators [5]. As a first step, we concentrate here on two-input two-output systems, which nevertheless exhibit some fundamental properties of multivariable systems.


A case of oxyphilic cell adenome (Hurthle cell adenoma) of thyroid demonstrating a specific scintigram is reported. A 41-year-old woman with the complaint of an anterior neck tumor visited our hospital. She had no symptom of hyperthyroidism, but slight elevation of serum T3 and T4 were observed. The tumor was imaged as kot by 99mTc scintigram and warm by 123I scintigram. The discrepancy observed between the two scintigrams was revealed due to that of thyroglobulin secretion into the follicular cavity by an immunohistochemical staining with anti-thyroglobulin. The tumor situated in the upper portion of right lobe of the thyroid with distinct capsule was removed by partial resection of right lobe of the thyroid. The tumor was 1.5cm in diameter and no swelling of regional lymph nodes was observed. Histological diagnosis was oxyphilic cell adenoma (Hurthle cell adenoma).


Introduction As you all know, this lecture was to have been given by Donald Dewar. He more than anyone else was the founding Father of the Scottish Parliament: a campaign to which he devoted his political life from the 1970s onwards. And when his dream was finally realised, he said "I count myself lucky indeed to be playing my part in the hard work of turning a vision into reality: a working constitutional settlement not just here in Scotland but for the United Kingdom as a whole". It was the changes in the constitutional settlement for the UK as a whole that I had asked Donald to talk about tonight, and which it now falls to me, as a very inadequate substitute, to address in his place.


The abrasion of stilling basin slabs which is caused by waterborne particles is one of the main surface damages in the operation of hydropower station. For determining whether to repair the stilling basin slabs, periodic inspections of erosion condition of stilling basin slabs are required. The practical problem is how to get the underwater image without unwatering and how to analyse the abrasion though the images. This paper developed a novel underwater inspection system named UIS-1 which consists of a customized underwater robot and special quantitative analysis method for this situation. Firstly, the integrated component was designed for the underwater robot that partially removes the siltation and obtains the image of the concrete surface of stilling basin slabs in the desired position. Secondly, the paper proposed an image algorithm to obtain aggregate exposure ratio for quantitative abrasion analysis. This image algorithm used SLIC superpixel and the SVM machine learning method to detect the coarse aggregate exposure automatically. Then, the aggregate exposure ratio was calculated to analyse the degree of abrasion. Finally, the UIS-1 system was evaluated in the field experiments of a dam in Sichuan, China, and its performance was discussed by comparison.


The fiber morphology and extractive content of Aquilaria cumingiana (Decne.) Ridl. wood collected in Davao Oriental, Philippines were determined to gather pioneering information about the properties of A. cumingiana for better characterization and classification. Wood samples were classified according to color with the aid of a Nix Mini 1 Color Sensor and labeled as A, B, C, and D. The result of the study showed an increasing trend of color lightness percentage from samples A (32.74%) to D (74.96%). Morphologically, both samples C and D (1.03 mm) showed the longest fiber, sample A showed the largest fiber (35.41 μm) and lumen diameter (27.77 μm), and sample C showed the thickest cell wall (4.71 μm). On the other hand, the highest Runkel ratio, slenderness ratio, and flexibility ratio were shown in samples B (0.49), C (33.00), and A (78.13), respectively. The amount of extractives obtained in the study decreases from samples A to D regardless of the solvents used. Statistically, the color lightness, morphological properties, and extractive content were significant across sample classifications. Among solvents used, the extractive content showed a significant result. The color lightness and extractive content showed a negative relationship, which signifies that the color lightness may be used to evaluate the amount and quality of extractives in A. cumingiana wood. Based on the morphological properties, A. cumingiana fibers are found favorable in pulp and paper production. The classification and characterization of A. cumingiana wood properties along the infected portions of a tree and chemical profiling of the extracts would be relevant information to consider.


Few studies have investigated so far the collapse capacity of buildings with base-isolation. In such studies, preliminary considerations have been drawn based on a number of assumptions regarding: (i) the methodology used for assessing the collapse capacity, (ii) the collapse conditions and failure modes assumed for both superstructure and isolation system, and (iii) the numerical modeling assumptions. The main results pointed out that the collapse conditions of base-isolated buildings may occur for intensity levels slightly higher than those associated with the design earthquake. In this paper, further developments are made through the use of enhanced models for the description of the behavior of a rubber-based isolation system and the assumption of more rational collapse conditions. Collapse fragility functions, in terms of mean and dispersion values, are proposed for two archetypes representative of existing buildings retrofitted using the seismic isolation technique. The collapse margin ratio (median collapse capacity Sa,C, namely the spectral acceleration associated to a probability of exceedance equal to 50%, divided by the design spectral acceleration at the collapse prevention limit state) has been evaluated for each examined case-study. Values ranging from 1.10 to 1.45 were found.


Objective Goal: Appraises Tanzania rope Rosin to treat the ureter lower segment stone the clinical effect.Methods Divides into two groups stochastically 108 example ureter lower segment stone's patient:Control group and treatment group each 58 examples.2 group of patients take orally left oxygen fluorine sand star 0.2 g,2 d;The traditional Chinese medicine kidney stone passes powder 4 g,2 d;The treatment group gives Tanzania(happily rope Rosin)0.4 mg,1 d,takes orally for 2 weeks.Finally: Two groups in the stone rate of discharge,the stone discharge the time,the strong mitigative utilization ratio,the surgical department intervention rate aspect comparison,the difference have statistics significance(P0.05 or P0.01).Occur during treatment control group 2 cases of minor drug discomfort,treatment group,four cases of minor drug discomfort,stuffy nose symptoms,dizziness,tolerance can not stop the two groups no significant difference(P0.05).Conclusion Tamsulosin treatment of ureteral calculi under paragraph safe,effective and can improve Paishi rate,shorten Paishi time,decrease the application of analgesic drugs.


A comparison is made of four different models for predicting the unsteady loading induced by a vortex passing close to an airfoil. 1) The first model approximates the vortex effect as a change in the airfoil angle of attack. 2) The second model is related to the first but, instead of imposing only a constant velocity on the airfoil, the distributed effect of the vortex is computed and used. This is analogous to a lifting surface method. 3)The third model is to specify a branch cut discontinuity in the potential field. The vortex is modeled as a jump in potential across the branch cut, the edge of which represents the center of the vortex. 4) The fourth method models the vortex by expressing the potential as the sum of a known potential due to the vortex and an unknown perturbation due to the airfoil. The purpose of the current study is to investigate the four vortex models described above and to determine their relative merits and suitability for use in large three-dimensional codes.


Security in computational Grids is mainly based on Grid Security Infrastructure (GSI) for authentication and Virtual Organization Membership Service for authorization. Although these mechanisms provide the required level of security, they lack in performance due to their dependence on public key cryptography. In our proposed security architecture we use a Kerberos-based approach (symmetric cryptography) to establish common secrets between grid services (exposed as web services) and clients. The architecture does not nullify GSI and VOMS, but allows a full mapping of GSI-VOMS to Kerberos credentials. The security architecture was designed to meet the specific quality of service (QoS) for nearly real-time control of distributed instruments that belong to different organizations by minimizing the impact of security processing. It is based on GSI and VOMS certificates for the initial login, translates them into Kerberos credentials for authentication and provides message level security implementing the OASIS Kerberos Token Profile. The security performance of our implementation, as shown in our measurements, outperforms the one when X509 Token Profile is used.


The As the disease requires long-term care, an establishment of an effective preventative program creates a major armament in management. As part of this effort, we established a primary study to determine the types of thalassemic patients based on family medical history, age, region, blood groups and consanguineous marriages. The results showed that the recruited patients (120) were distributed in nine different regions of Basrah province with high percentage (43.33%) in central city with age 8-12 years (30.7%), O+ blood group (40%) and 80.83 % of the investigated patients had consanguineous marriages. Based on the present findings, the molecular basis of fifty four thalassemic patients were investigated, using ARMS-PCR (Amplification Refractory Mutation System), to determine the most common types of thalassemia mutations in the region. Seven mutation types were detected (IVS1nt.5, Codon 8/9, Codon -88, Codon 8, Codon 15 Asia Indian, Codon 41/42, Codon 30). The results showed that codons 30, -88 and IVS Int 5.mutations were the highest frequent compared with other mutations studied in the thalassemic samples. pathological mutations result either in absence (βº-thalassemia) or in reduction of β globin chains synthesis (β+ -thalassemia). The types of β-thalassemia mutations, in middle and northern parts of Iraq, have been investigated by numerous studies (10-15). These investigations showed the geographical and social distributions of thalassemia mutations in different regions of Iraq (10-15). However none of those studies fully covered the southern part of Iraq especially Basrah province. The objectives of this study were to study the socio-demographic profile of β-thalassemia and to investigate the molecular basis of this disease to determine the most common types of mutations in Basrah province, using Amplification Refractory Mutation System (ARMS), with the aim of establishing a proper preventive program.


The cableway transport system is very important for the Slovenian tourist economy. Within the Slovene transport system, the cableway transport subsystem has a specific role because it allows and ensures access to regions which are difficult to access or completely inaccessible by other transport subsystems owing to the configuration of the area. The quality and development of transport services are directly linked to the introduction of new cableways. New technical achievements, which are nowadays used in cableways, all provide greater capacity and higher speed of cableways, which, however, results in their higher maintenance and exploitation costs.

The cableway transport system is being developed in Slovenia, but not on principles of sustainable development. This paper presents a model of sustainable growth and development of the cableway transport system in Slovenia based on which it is possible to determine assumptions for future growth so that the Slovene cableway transport system would approach standards of such highly developed systems. The new model includes ten essential elements of this system for which growth rates were calculated.


Abstract Chinamiris Woodward (Mirinae: Mirini) now contains far more species than any other New Zealand mirid genus. Twenty-nine new species of Chinamiris: acutospinosus, aurantiacus, brachycerus, citrinus, cumberi, daviesi, dracophylloides, elongatus, fascinans, guttatus, hamus, indeclivis, juvans, marmoratus, minutus, niculatus, nigrifrons, opacus, ovatus, punctatus, quadratus, rufescens, secundus, testaceus, unicolor, virescens, viridicans, whakapapae, and zygotus are described and figured. Calocoris laticinctus (Walker, 1873) is transferred to Chinamiris. Limits of this endemic New Zealand genus are set and a key to distinguish the 31 species now known in Chinamiris is provided. Taxonomic characters are listed and general morphology illustrated. Distribution maps of the six most abundant species are provided, and biological information on host plants is given.


Abstract The Children's Law Centre, which was established in September 1997, focuses on the key areas of education, children in care and leaving care, juvenile justice, discrimination and human rights, and the provision of services for children. The Centre operates an advice, information and casework service together with a training programme on domestic and international laws affecting children and young people. In addition, it carries out research and makes submissions on policy and legislation affecting children and young people from a children's rights perspective. The Centre also provides a freephone advice line specifically for children and young people, which aims to improve their access to information about their rights and provide access to the legal system where necessary.


This paper describes the indirect field orientated control method in a high power application. Due to the low switching frequencies, the stator currents have to be controlled through the stator voltages to take into account the stator dynamic behaviour. To detect accurately the rotor flux vector, an estimator is used associated with a parameter compensation scheme. An experimental drive is being studied to validate the proposed schemes


With global integration of economy and finance, especially in recent years, frequent occurrence of monetary and financial crisis, the stability of financial market as well as the stability of price and full employment has become the goal of the government. So, selection of the exchangte rate policy has become the focus of study. The authors analyses the present exchange rate policy of China, and come up with a new exchange policy for reference.


Notably, most individuals do not develop such psychiatric disorders after experiencing stressful life events. The ability to adapt positively in the face of stress and adversity is resilience. Although previous studies have explored the relationship between mindfulness and resilience, the underlying mechanism of the relationship remains unclear. This study explores the theoretical mechanisms by which mindfulness affects resilience, to better utilize mindfulness training to improve people's resilience. Taking mindfulness based stress reduction and mindfulness in motion as examples, this study finds that mindfulness training affects mindfulness through physiological pathways (such as cerebral cortex, brain waves and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis) and psychological pathways (self-regulation and self-efficacy). Future empirical research can explore the two paths of "mindfulness-self-regulation-resilience" and "mindfulness-selfefficacy-resilience", while future theoretical research can systematically study mindfulness and psychological A theoretical model of resilience. The findings of this study not only extend the theoretical progress on mindfulness and psychological resilience but also have implications for the practice of psychological resilience intervention.


Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the causes of consumer stockpiling by Muslim consumers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic Specifically, this paper examines exposure to COVID-19 information and its relationship with panic buying directly, indirectly through anxiety and as moderated by resilience Design/methodology/approach: In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study surveys 1,006 Muslims from a sample of 1,392 UAE citizens and residents about their exposure to COVID-19 information, anxiety, resilience and panic buying Findings: Greater exposure to COVID-19 information had a direct effect on panic buying yet a much weaker indirect effect through increased anxiety This mediating effect is only significant at moderate to high levels of resilience, suggesting panic buying is a particular coping response of resilient individuals who experience anxiety after greater exposure to COVID-19 information Anxiety was found to increase panic buying above that directly related to COVID-19 information exposure Social implications: Findings provide some guidance for policymakers where a nuanced approach to building and directing resilience and in directing information flows are needed to curtail panic buying within their Muslim populations Originality/value: While the phenomenon of consumer stockpiling is referred to as panic buying, the findings suggest that anxiety plays a smaller role in the process than preparedness prompted by crisis-related information exposure Furthermore, this is the first study to date to specifically examine COVID-19 related panic buying among a Muslim population © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited


Abstract:When children engage with the natural world, they experience myriad benefits to their health and well-being. Play in outdoor and natural environments is critical for children's healthy social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development. Developing high-quality, engaging natural play spaces may be one strategy to afford children greater access to the outdoors and nature-based play. Additional research on children's play in nature is needed to inform the design of nature play spaces. Behavior mapping is a flexible observational research method that can effectively capture both children's behavior as well as its social and environmental context, or "milieu." The authors outline a customized behavior mapping protocol tailored to explore children's play behaviors in outdoor play spaces and provide examples of its value from a recent study in a naturalized play space.


Method A communication unit 200 of the optical communication interface 100 communicates the outdoor unit 300a using the communication method A, b and the indoor units 310a, is b, centralized remote control 600 includes a optical communication interface 100 using the same communication method A as well as communications and manages the outdoor units 300a, b and the indoor units 310a, a b the communication system a. Method B communication section 205b of the communication method B indoor unit 311 of different manufacturers to communicate with system B communication section 205c of the communication method B outdoor unit 301 using a different communication scheme B is a communication scheme A. Indoor 311 communication method B with the optical communication interface 100 of the communication method A may exchange information with optical communication with each other using respective optical communication section 202a and the optical communication portion 202b. Centralized remote control 600, by using the optical communication interface 100, etc. perform energy saving control by changing the set temperature of the air conditioner, the centralized management of a plurality of equipment.


Lively debates on hydrogen desorption from the amide−hydride system via either ion migration or NH3 mediated mechanisms have been ongoing since the discovery of the amide−hydride system for hydrogen storage. In this work, we employed kinetic analyses to demonstrate that the mechanism of hydrogen desorption depends on the sample morphology and desorption conditions. Upon the formation of Li amide bromide (Li2NH2Br), the LiNH2 unit is confined in the cage of Br, resulting in less mobility of ion. Hydrogen desorption from the Li2NH2Br−2LiH system appears to follow the NH3 mediated mechanism even if the two starting chemicals have been intensively ball milled. On the other hand, the migrations of Li + and H + play important roles leading to H2 formation from the direct combination of H + (from −NH2) and H − (from LiH) when LiNH2 and LiH are intimately in contact.


(DES) to the cardiologist's therapeutic arsenal has undoubtedly been one of the most important developments in interventional cardiology in recent years. It has been described, with some justification, as the third great revolution in percutaneous coronary procedures, following simple balloon angioplasty and the implantation of metallic stents. The efficacy of these devices in the short, medium and long term, as described in recently published randomised and carefully designed clinical studies, has pushed interventional cardiologists to use them in a variety of anatomical and clinical conditions, many of which have not been investigated or studied adequately before now. The main benefit from the use of DES in the interventional, non-surgical treatment of coronary artery disease lies in the significant reduction of in-stent restenosis in the lesions being treated. The commercially available DES are the Cypheri stent, which releases rapamycin locally, and the TAXUSi stent, which releases paclitaxel. The first randomised, clinical trial of the Cypher stent, the RAVEL study, included 238 patients with single-vessel coronary artery disease and de novo lesions that were selected very carefully (short length <10 mm, low or medium risk, in vessels with reference diameter ≈3.0 mm). The frequency of angiographic restenosis at six-month follow up was 0% in the DES group and 26% in controls who were treated with bare metal stents (BMS). The larger SIRIUS study evaluated the use of Cypher stents in a group of 1058 patients with more complex de novo lesions. That study found that DES had a beneficial effect in patients with higher risk coronary lesions, such as long stenoses in relatively small-diameter vessels, but were less beneficial in diabetic patients, while there was a need for target vessel revascularisation (TVR) in only 8.9% of the DES group, compared with 21% of controls. However, the study population was comprised of patients who underwent angioplasty only in a single vessel, in vessels 2.5-3.5 mm diameter and for lesions 5-30 mm in length. Excluded were patients with stenoses in venous grafts, in bifurcated vessels, with chronic total occlusions or restenotic lesions, as well as patients with acute myocardial infarction, severe unstable angina or chronic renal failure, as was the case in all randomised DES trials. The combined study New-SIRIUS, which included the populations of the E-SIRIUS and C-SIRIUS studies for a total of 452 patients, reported a restenosis rate of 5.1% in the group who received a Cypher stent, compared with 44.2% in controls who received a BMS, in spite of the fact that the former group had longer lesions in smaller diameter vessels.


[Problem] To protect the gas-inlet-side edge surfaces of a catalyst support having an offset structure from wind erosion.
[Solution] A base for supporting a catalyst for exhaust gas purification, the base including a honeycomb structure obtained by superposing a metallic flat foil and a metallic wavy foil, characterized in that the wavy foil has offset portions where any adjoining two of the wave phases arranged in the axial direction of the honeycomb structure are offset from each other. The base is further characterized in that an oxide coating film has been formed in a given range of these offset portions which includes exposed edge surfaces that are exposed on the gas-inlet side, that the oxide coating film includes 30-99.9 mass% first alumina, with the remainder comprising at least one of second aluminas, Fe oxides, and Cr oxides, that the first alumina comprises α-alumina, that the second aluminas comprise one or more of γ-, θ-, χ-, δ-, η-, and κ-aluminas, and that the given range extends from the exposed edge surfaces to a distance of at least 2 mm therefrom along the gas flow direction.


MR angiography techniques have recently been applied to evaluation of peripheral vascular disease, both phase-contrast and time-of-flight techniques have been used. Preliminary clinical experience has shown promise in identification of angioplasty candidates, preoperative evaluation in iliofemoral occlusive disease, and identification of tibial run-off vessels.


The tire (10) is provided with a resin tire frame member (17), the tire frame member (17) having: a bead portion (12); a side portion (14), said side portions (14) and the bead portion (12 ) is connected to the tire radial direction outer side, and the side portion (14) upwardly spaced apart from the hole portions are formed (40) in the tire circumferential direction; and a crown portion (16), and a crown portion (16) and the side portions (14) inside the tire width direction of the continuous and disposed tread (30) in the crown portion (16).


Ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs) are designed to be used below 10 MHz, but interest is growing in studying the response of agents to high-frequency ultrasound (HFU). In this study, we analyzed the sub-harmonic response of polymer-shelled UCAs with a mean diameter of 1.1 mum excited with 40-MHz tone bursts of 1 to 20 cycles. UCAs were diluted in water and streamed through a flow phantom that permitted single-bubble events to be acquired at peak-negative pressures from 0.75 to 5.0 MPa. At each exposure condition, 1000 single-bubble-backscatter events were digitized. Sub-harmonic content at 20 MHz was screened using a conventional method and a singular-value-decomposition (SVD) method. The conventional method evaluated each event spectrum individually while the SVD method treated the 1000-event dataset at one time. A sub-harmonic score (SHS) indicative of how much sub-harmonic content a 1000-event dataset contained was computed for both methods. Empirical-simulation results indicated that SHSs obtained from the two methods were linearly related. Also, experimental data with both methods indicated that sub-harmonic likelihood increased with pulse duration and peaked near 2 MPa. The SVD method also yielded quantitative information about UCA physics not available with the conventional method.


The benefits to Florida orange growers of generic orange juice advertising are assessed using additive, nonlinear, regional econometric models, measuring the impact of category and brand marketing efforts on category demand while controlling for pricing and various other factors. The study shows that generic marketing efforts increased orange juice category demand by 8.3 percent, resulting in increased orange prices and a benefit-to-cost ratio to Florida growers of 3.5 to 1. Branded promotional activity was found to primarily fuel brand switching and pantry-loading, with only modest impacts on overall category demand.


Having recently been asked by Victor Ritter von Tschusi-Schmidkoften to express au opiniou in regard to the races of Nucifraga caryocatactes, I shall not attempt a full analysis of the whole question, but only review the material in my hands, as it may throw some light on the subject. Brehm was the first to clearly define the two races of Nutcrackers, which most ornithologists who have studied the question are now willing to admit. He was, however, unable to assign to them definite and distinct habitats, and partly because the shape of the bill, which is the principal characteristic of the two races, is in itself subject to great individual variation as well as to considerable changes on account of wear and tear, partly on account of the unreasonable prejudice of ornithologists concerning the forms described by Brehm, the races or subspecies


As a region with one of the most important terrestrial ecosystems, the Tibetan plateau is both sensitive to and vulnerable to climate warming. Locusta migratoria tibetensis Chen, an endemic species on the Tibetan plateau, is likely to be affected by climatic warming. In our studies, accumulated degree‐days (ADD) of L. Migratoria T.C. were calculated based on data from 90 weather stations over the Tibetan plateau from 1961 to 2005. Trend lines show that across weather stations, ADD increased at a rate of 1.17 DD/a during climate warming. The majority of weather stations (82.2%) showing increases in ADD were located towards the west of the Tibetan plateau. At higher elevations, the increase in the ratio of annual ADD to the station mean ADD was higher relative to those at lower elevations. A linear regression model between ADD and geographical position was established to create raster maps of ADD in ArcGIS 9.2. The area of potential locust distribution (APD) was estimated to be 42 420 km2, mostly distributed along major rivers on the Tibetan plateau. In warmer years, the APD increased sharply over study periods. A new area of potential distribution would appear in the north Tibetan plateau if the climate warming continued. In the south‐east Tibetan plateau, the locust would expand its range northwards or westwards along the river valleys, and the locust APD would also rise in elevation.


Zero-order reactions occurring in porous catalysts have been either ignored or handled incorrectly in major textbooks. In this work, the long-held misconception of dc/dx =0 at x=0 (center of the catalyst) is corrected by placing c=0 add dc/dx =0 at a critical position xc for cases of Thiele modulus > 1, where c is concentration and x is the distance measured from the center plane of a slab or the center of a cylinder or sphere. Exact solution for xc is presented for the slab geometry and numerical solutions for the cylindrical and spherical geometries. Effectiveness factors are also calculated. It will be shown that the condition of dc/dx = 0 at x = 0 yields erroneous results and the numerical scheme presented in this work accurately predicts xc and effectiveness factor for Thiele modulus> 1.


It is a pleasure and a privilege to have this opportunity for endless learning in an environment so rich and so different from my own. I am grateful to Mr. Drinko, to the firm he represents, to Dean Steinglass, and to the faculty of the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law for the honor of being the first non-lawyer to occupy this chair. Not only am I not a lawyer, it is even worse. My training is as a philosopher. When asked to pick a topic, I first considered two that I had independent reasons to be working on. One was the Food and Drug Administration's regulation of tobacco, a subject I was to address in November. The other was physician assisted suicide, an issue on which I have been working for the New York State Task Force on Life and the Law. I tried to decide between these two issues, and then realized that I ought to address what they have in common. They both raise the question of the role of law in health-related decision making. Thus, I titled this lecture, "Is Law the Prescription that Can Cure Medicine?" Why even ask such a question? What ails medicine that I should suggest that it is in need of a cure? To answer that question, I have to make a brief historical comment about the development of health care capacities. Medicine as a human social enterprise is old. It has probably gone on in one form or another for tens of thousands of years. For most of its history, until extremely recently, medical intervention had no significant capacity to achieve its objectives. It is only very recently, primarily in our time--or if one wants to take the long view, since the 19th century, which is just a couple of minutes ago in terms of the development of human history and human social institutions--that medical intervention has had the capacity to achieve a significant proportion of its objectives. Physicians used to attend to the ailing and the dying with a repertoire of interventions which, viewed in retrospect, we understand ranged primarily from the innocuous to the lethal. Some have claimed, with considerable credibility, that only in our time has medicine on balance done more good than harm. A few even argue that it has not quite gotten there yet Most acknowledge that in times past some medical interventions did help but that much of that help was simply the effectiveness of a caring presence, of the physiological consequences for the patient of trusting in a figure presumed to have powers and authority. Here and there the odd herbal remedy had an active ingredient, some of which we are now identifying. Set against that was all the leeching, bleeding, and administration of toxic substances. It was all relatively simple. Now medical care has been transformed. We recognize that the human organism is a complex interaction of many different systems--respiratory, circulatory, neurological, digestive, and so on. Some of them can fail and create both problems and opportunities we did not formerly have. One of the opportunities we now have is that we can keep people alive who in an earlier era would not have survived. And one of the problems we now have is also that we can keep people alive who in an earlier era would not have survived. Some of them are kept alive with such diminished capacity that we are not sure that on balance it is what we ought to do. Indeed, often we have the capacity to keep people alive who are sure themselves that it does them no benefit. That one possibility transforms the relationship between physicians and patients. Instead of patients hoping that medical intervention can do for them some part of what they want, patients now confront the question, "How much of what doctors can do do I want done?" That is a new kind of question, and it has changed the distribution of decisional authority. Some cases of physicians wanting to do more than the patients want done have even lead to litigation. An evolution of models of clinical decision making parallels this transformation in the nature of health care. …


This article discusses the etymology of the concept of risk, the characteristics of its research, estimates and methodology acceptable level of risk management in transport.


ABSTRACT This special issue comprehensively researches China's financialization and examines the transformation of its development model, state development corporations, local government bonds, productivity, and the extent and characteristics of financialization. While it is widely known that the state plays an important role in enabling and constraining financialization, these papers further reveal that China's financialization originates from the state's deployment of financial approaches to urban and regional development under state entrepreneurialism. Through internalizing financial logic into the state development system, the expansion of financial operations reflects the state's developmental intention and increases its governance capability. Thus, financialization is not a unidirectional process but involves extensive state involvement and participation in finance, to such an extent that it often simultaneously evolves into greater interference and de-financialization.


The geographer can be particularly interested in two specificities of the 23 James Bond films : a globalization of their audience and a schematic or even caricatured representation of well-known sites (monuments, tourist attractions). What are these sites and what is the logic behind their representation ? More than a data listing, this text highlights the fact that James Bond films reveal not only a certain cultural globalization conveyed by Hollywood, but also spatial practices increasingly impacted by mobility.


T hree years ago an article1 in this publication discussed the relationship between housing and the "R" word—"R" meaning recession, a term no one wanted to use (lest they jinx the economy) but nevertheless were thinking about. Now, after the worst recession since the Great Depression, we consider a different "R" word—recovery. The fact that many of the same concerns in the housing market remain raises this question: How important is housing in an economic recovery? Somewhat surprisingly, the housing component of GDP (more formally known as residential investment) tends to be a solid contributor to GDP growth during a recovery. Historically, residential investment has contributed only about 5 percent of GDP—a small share considering the consumption component is close to 70 percent. Neverthe less, smaller components such as residential investment do at times punch above their weight, which is evident when their effects are measured using growth rates rather than levels. That is, although residential investment is a small component of GDP in levels, it can contribute substantially to the GDP growth rate for short periods of time. The chart illustrates the relationship between residential investment and the business cycle over the past 35 years. It plots the rolling 4-quarter percentage contribution of residential investment to GDP growth. Over the period, residential investment contributed on average a meager 3 basis points to GDP growth. In contrast, excluding the recent recession, residential investment typically contributes at least 50 basis points to GDP growth within two years following a recession. This suggests that, although residential investment is not a major component of GDP growth on average, its growth typically helps during an economic recovery. However, a year and a half after the official end of the recent recession, residential investment has yet to make a sizable contribution to GDP growth and is, in fact, presently making a negative contribution. To some degree this should be expected. The dramatic declines in housing prices during the recession created a glut of existing homes either already on or waiting to be put on the market once prices stabilize and start increasing. This "shadow inventory" of existing homes substantially dampens the need for new home construction.


1. multipurpose kitchen utensil, particularly serving as a cutting tool and also as a scraper blade, characterized by comprising a sheet (2) of rectangular, almost square configuration, which has, on one side, with an edge (3) and, on the opposite side, with gripping means (4), so that by the edge (3) is capable of cutting and by the flat surface (2a) which determines the blade (2), it is capable of collecting and conveying elements.


Research reports across the globe revealed that domestic violence was prevalent though largely under-reported due to the hidden and private nature of the phenomenon. Most studies however came to the conclusion that domestic violence among the low income group was more prevalent. This does not suggest that those in the upper income group are excluded from abuse. The study therefore investigated the prevalence social context causes dimension and nature of domestic violence among the middle and upper income class of the society. Two sets of instruments were used for the study. The results of the investigations confirmed that domestic violence was prevalent among the target group studied with implications for the spread of HIV/AIDS and decline in productivity. The paper strongly recommended advocacy programmes through the media public lectures and seminars and domestication of international agreements on Women Rights to change societal attitudes to women.


The aniticonvulsant properties and toxicities of benzilic amide and a series of its N-substituted derivatives were studied. The parent compound and its methyl, ethyl and isopropyl analogues had marked activity in protecting against maximal electroshock seizures. These agents, with the exception of N-methyl benzilic amide, also demonstrated similar activity against pentylenetetrazol (Metrazol) convulsions. Unsubstituted benzilic amide was the most potent against both types of seizures, while the N-ethyl and N-isopropyl derivatives, due to their lower neurotoxicities, had optimal protective indices w-hen measured against both convulsions.

With the aid of an anualytical method developed for the estimation of N-ethyl benzilic amide, its physiological disposition was investigated in rats and mice. Approximately one-third of an oral dose could be accounted for in the urine, but the nature of the urinary excretory products was incompletely known. One of these products of metabolism was demonstrated to be benzilic amide. The role of benzilic amide in the pharmacodynamic activity of N-ethyl benzilic amide and the importance of N-dealkylation in the production of tolerance to the action of the amide were discussed.


The Metal electroplastic effect is a multiple variable gray nonlinear system.It is very difficult to analyse the influence of various external factors on the electroplastic effect and the microstructure of the metal,also difficult to set up the relative equations.Artificial neural network(ANN) is characterized with self-studing,self-organizing,self-adapting and nonlinear dynamic treat-ing,and it is easier to approach the actual mathematical model through the simulation.Explores how to simulate the metal electroplastic effect through ANN and how approach the nonlinear model after many trainings.Then,also studies how to to give a set of input data for adaptive predicted output,compares and evaluates the actual measured experimental data with the predicted results,obtains a satisfactory simulation effect.


Most of the advanced microprocessors today incorporate on-chip hardware performance counters. These counters are capable to count various events in a non-invasive way, while executing real workload ...


This article reviews hospital accreditation from 1989 to 1998 in China. And then, the authors analyze the index in7 fields, including hospital management, quality management and continuous improvement, medical safety, hospital services,hospital performance, some statistic index and standard for tertiary hospitals. The authors believe that it is the time for the newround hospital accreditation in China. They also address to follow the principles of " quality, safety, service and performance".The beginning point of hospital accreditation should be to ensure medical quality and patient safety.


Monitoring of underwater radiated noise is an integral aspect of the maintenance routine of marine platforms for keeping vibrations and acoustic emissions within acceptable limits. Hence, sources of radiated noise and their origin on the platform need to be precisely localized. An algorithm is proposed for imaging of tonal sources along the length of the platform. The radiated noise of a ship is dominantly composed of several tonal frequencies corresponding to the machinery fitted at various locations along the ship's length embedded in broadband noise. The proposed algorithm determines the number of tonal sources and their individual bandwidth due to the Doppler spread. To ensure that only tonal sources present for the entire observed duration are processed, signals that do not exist for a sufficient duration are filtered out. The signal corresponding to each tonal source is band-pass filtered and its instantaneous frequency obtained. The observed IF is fitted to the expression modeling the expected non-linear variation in IF and is numerically solved for estimating the various unknown parameters: time at CPA, tonal rest frequency, speed of the platform and sensor depth corresponding to CPA. As a further check, using the estimated tonal rest frequency, a matched filter is designed for estimating time at CPA in case there happen to be multiple sources having identical tonal rest frequency. Hence imaging of all tonal sources on the platform may be carried out using estimated values of time at CPA and platform speed. The algorithm has been implemented in MATLAB and performance of the algorithm for various SNRs is presented in this paper.


With the precarious state of the national economy, the future of graduate medical education (GME) seems to be hanging in the balance — and neurology residency programs, which are already small in number (126 to be exact), may feel the predicted cutbacks more than other specialties. Federal funding for GME will be reduced, that much is apparent, said Neurology Today Editorin-chief Steven P. Ringel, MD, professor of neurology and vice president for clinical effectiveness and patient safety at the University of Colorado-Denver in Aurora. "Just how they will do this is less clear, but likely they'll go after indirect medical education," the additional payments that teaching hospitals receive to offset higher patient care costs relative to nonteaching hospitals, he said. Dr. Ringel discussed the future of GME funding as part of a special forum organized by the Association for University Professors INSIDE 12/15/11


Perfusion vascularity mismatch is characteristic of liver cavernous hemangiomas. The large blood volume and slow perfusion are responsible for this pattern. Often a large lesion demonstrate «cold» areas within the hemangioma, which are explained by slow or absent perfusion due to localized thrombosis. The authors present a polyvinyl-chloride worker with a large liver lesion whose Tc-99m RBC scintigraphy was consistent with cavernous hemangioma with a «cold» area. The lesion was diagnosed at surgery as hemangiosarcoma. It is concluded that malignant vascular lesions of the liver cannot be differentiated from the benign lesions by RBC imaging alone, because they may demonstrate similar patterns


The objective of this demonstration is to prove the benefits of utilizing P2P ad hoc networks for Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) applications. The demonstration highlights the integration of a geo information system with a P2P live content delivery system for car infotainment services. Assuming mobile network access as the default connection, geo information is used to detect situations where offloading via P2P ad hoc networks (IEEE 802.11a/b/g) may be useful to relieve the mobile radio network. The developed prototype consists of a geo information backend, a modified P2P tracker and the peer devices. At least one peer serves as a bridge between the mobile access and the ad hoc network.