Hydrogeology condition and water prevention project with curtain of a karst inundation iron mine are introduced in this paper.Through comprehensive analysis of drills water inflow,grouting capacity,grouting pressure,effect of inspection holes,surface water level variation and displacement variation in rock under grouting curtain,the grouting curtain of nearly orebody in iron mine is deduced to have high water plugging rate and steady surrounding rock.And the grouting curtain solves the problem of water disaster,and provides security of mining safety and efficiently.


Most cities in our country faced some problems such as physical disruption. These studies have been shown that the recent physical expansion of the city is because of the natural growth of the population, immigrations from villages and finally exceeding to farms and garden that located around the cities. In this research, we are looking for the most usable existing capabilities of Sanandaj by emphasizing on population structure and future needs to housing. The method research of this study is descriptive-analytic by using official data and urban development plan documents. In addition to applied methods for predicating the housing and population considering needs of housing in Sanandaj, population structure and the physical parameters of Sanandaj. Based on findings, infill lands and recycled lands of Sanandaj supporting all needs of housing services and horizontal development in mountainous cities with hard slope are unappealing for us.


The design of intelligent management plans for marine fisheries requires recognition of the uncertainty of marine systems when assessing fishery performance through the use of bio-economic indicators. The uncertainty causing variability in the estimated values of the bio-economic indicators is incorporated through the use of Monte Carlo analysis to estimate the probability of exceeding limit reference points. To account for natural variability and other sources of uncertainty, estimates of appropriate fishery bio-economic indicators are needed in order to re-evaluate the fishery periodically and establish new reference points and corresponding management strategies. This paper concentrates on this aspect of the management process. It presents a classification of indicators in accordance with the level, change and structure framework. Alternative approaches to deal with risk and uncertainty in data-limited management contexts are discussed.


Background: The objective of this article was to focus on the application of harmonic decomposition to continuous glucose monitor (CGM) measurements. We show evidence of an attenuation of fast variations of interstitial glucose when compared to blood in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and, using information theory, propose optimal sampling schedules associated with the use and study of CGMs. Method: Using a cohort of 26 T1DM subjects, wearing two Navigator™ sensors for 1 to 3 days, we analyzed the frequency content of each glucose signal and derived across subject frequency cutoffs using discrete Fourier transform and common signal processing techniques. Results: We observed a significant difference in the frequency content of blood glucose compared to interstitial glucose in T1DM, providing evidence toward the existence of a diffusion process between blood and interstitial glucose, acting as a low-pass filter. Furthermore, we obtained a 15-minutes sampling schedule for optimal comparison of CGM values to blood reference. Conclusion: Blood glucose and interstitial glucose have different dynamics, as shown by harmonic analysis, and these differences have consequences on advisable schedules for accuracy studies of CGMS.


Background and Objectives: Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) offers isotropic voxels of various sizes. The smaller the voxel size, the greater the spatial resolution, rendering better precision for measurement. On contrary, smaller the voxel size, greater is the amount of radiation. Literature offers few studies on image acquisition protocol measuring thin structures such as buccal and lingual bone plate. Thus, this study was conducted to evaluate the accuracy of the measurement of bone crest level, buccal and lingual bone plate thickness in images obtained with voxel sizes 0.2 mm and 0.4 mm. Materials and Methods: Fifteen partially dentulous mandibles with three posterior consecutive teeth were taken for the measurement of alveolar crestal bone height. Fifteen edentulous sites with posterior sockets were taken for measuring buccal and lingual bone plate thickness, which were scanned by CBCT using 0.2 mm and 0.4 mm voxel size. Direct measurements were done using digital Vernier caliper. Results: There was no statistical significance on comparison between 0.2 mm voxel and 0.4 mm with direct measurement for alveolar bone thickness and crestal bone height. On comparison between 0.2 mm and 0.4 mm voxel measurements, there was a statistical significance. Conclusion: The study concluded that 0.2 mm voxel was precise and had a good accuracy in measuring small anatomical structures.


A simple methodology to simulate the mixing layers that occur between nozzle exhaust jet and the external air is proposed. The method is based on a simplified model of the plume, that replaces the mixing layer with a contact discontinuity surface, thus avoiding the cumbersome calculation of the turbulent mixing of two flows with different chemical composition. The contact discontinuity is numerically treated by an advanced fitting technique, capable of tracking the discontinuity by points floating over the computational grid. The numerical method is discussed and its capability is demonstrated with validation tests, as well as with a discussion of some practical applications for underexpanded nozzle flows


A low carbon economy can not be developed without low carbon technology support,Britain,the United States,the European Union and Japan put emphasis on development of low carbon economy and low carbon technology,China has also taken some corresponding measures.To set up a technical support system for a low carbon economy,the following measures can be adopted: one is to accelerate research,development and spread of the energy saving and low carbon technology,the other is to promote the development and utilization of new energy,the third is to strengthen development and popularization of emission reduction technology,and the fourth is to quicken the pace of introduction of low carbon technologies and international cooperation on this aspect,the fifth,strengthen the supporting system construction for the low carbon technology.


A multiple quantum-well (MQW) layer was designed to support a single slab mode for both the TE and TM polarizations. Strain-induced waveguides were fabricated by plasma-enhanced vapor-phase deposition and etching of silicon nitride to leave stripes of the film 2000 Å thick and widths ranging from 4 to 10 μm on the surface of the MQW layer. A schematic drawing of the waveguide cross section is shown in Fig. 1. The processed layer was cleaved at the two ends to leave waveguides that were approximately 1 mm long. The narrowest waveguides only allowed for the propagation of the fundamental mode under the center of the stripe, whereas the wider waveguides were found to support two edge modes under the inside edges of the SiN
 x
 film. The two edge modes were strongly coupled through the overlap of their evanescent tails and the structure exhibited directional coupler properties with a critical coupling distance of approximately 1 mm.


A parabolic equation and, more generally, parabolic inequality is considered in the cylinder QT = Ω × (0, T), where Ω ⊂ Rn is a bounded domain. Cauchy data, i.e., both Dirichlet and Neumann data are given at the lateral surface ST = ∂Ω × (0, T). Logarithmic stability estimates are obtained for the unknown initial condition at {t = 0}. These estimates enable one to establish the convergence rate of a numerical method for the inverse problem of the determination of that initial condition.


Presented in this paper are the results of microwave energy influence upon rye-white bread. Microwave energy application is efficient for prolongation of bread storage time, without worsening of its properties.


Practice of processing of new types of wheat is widespread in the world, but it's almost unknown in the CIS countries, because selection for many years aimed at obtaining exclusively high-protein bread-baking varieties of wheat. But not known what technological properties of flour possesses from wheat types of a special intended purpose, and that it's necessary to consider when conducting varietal grinding of such raw material. The alveograph measures the viscoelastic properties of wheat flour. According to the standard method ISO 27971 the amount of added water is initially calibrated directly as a percentage of dough moisture. This method is designed for standard types of flour and may not be suitable for evaluating the rheological properties of flour with different water absorption capacity. To find out the properties of new types, standard methods may not be suitable, therefore, methods should be studied and adapted if necessary. To investigate the relationship between water absorption capacity and viscoelastic properties of the dough, alveograph tests were conducted on eight flour samples obtained from different types of wheat. The studies were performed using a standard test (calculated for WAC of flour = 53%) and a test with adaptive moistening, for which the amount of added water was calculated according to the water absorption capacity (WAC) of the flour, which was determined on mixolab. Flour from common red wheat (Kuyalnik) is the benchmark of common bakery wheat and according to the results of standard alveogram has the highest strength (W) and elasticity (Ie) of all samples. The wheat with W= 43910J corresponds to strong wheat (W>20010J). The addition of water in accordance with the WAC softens the dough W=26010J, but it`s still optimal for bakery purposes. The results of studies of common black wheat (Chornobrova) correlate with the results of wheat Kuyalnik, but the baking properties were worse. For waxy wheat (Sofiika), the test on the alveograph with adaptive moistening gave her more water, which led to an increase in elasticity (Ie=52.4%) and extensibility (L=77 mm) and became closer to an optimal P/L ratio (0.74) that was more suitable for the bake bread (0.8-1.2). Flour from soft wheat is expected to have average baking properties (W>15510J), but in all respects it is slightly better than Chornobrova. Adaptive moistening, unlike the sharp deterioration of rheological characteristic of Chornobrova, does not alter the properties of the Belyava and Oksana dough, due to the low WAC value (53.8% and 54.0%). Spelt wheat flour has low strength (W<6210J), lower P/L ratio 0.25-0.50 and unsuitable (fluid, sticky) test consistency. All samples of Spelt with adaptive moistening showed similar result – its decrease of P indicator and increase of extensibility (L). In a result we observe decrease of P/L ratio to 0.18-0.29, thus indicating extremely extensible doughs with very little elasticity. For all samples, with adaptive moistening a decrease in resistance to extension (P) and an increase in extensibility (L) are observed, in a result of the decline in the P/L ratio. Adaptive moistening for common wheat (Kuyalnik) will show the change in P and L and the P/L ratio in real cooking conditions, since the standard alveograph test assesses only the potential of wheat. By adjusting the amount of water, we can achieve optimal dough characteristics for different products. For soft and spelt wheat, adaptive moistening is not necessary, because the WAC and moisture content are the same, and according to the standard of the experiment. It is advisable to carry out an alveograph test with adapted moistening for waxy wheat, that giving it more water, which leads to an increase in elasticity and extensibility, as a consequence, and leading to an optimal P/L ratio that was more suitable for the bake bread (0.8-1.2). Based on its special application, it is necessary to develop specific recommendations for determining its properties on the alveograph.


Sport is an area of culture, which owes its place in the social consciousness largely to medial charm. We often witness the birth of a star or a new idol, a social figure, a symbol with which we identify ourselves. The question then arises: what is the role of idol in the life of the individual, whether it is a model personality, pattern of conduct that can be put as an example for ourselves and others? The aim of this study was therefore to try to define the terms "idol" and "model personality" and to capture the relationship between the idol, a model personality, and the process of shaping the sense of human identity.


Regarding the positioning of home nursing care in basic nursing education, "home nursing care was added to basic nursing education in response to an "Interim report of the investigative commission for improvement of curriculums, etc, regarding the training of nursing staff" in 1996. Then, with an indication that it is important to promote home-visit nursing that supports home-care patients and to secure nursing staff responsive to the advancement of medical care, home nursing care was positioned in an "integrated field" along with the suggestion of a "Report of the investigative commission for improvement of nursing basic education" in 2007. Nursing education is diverse and covers an integrated field. An "Investigation on the integrated field and home nursing care education" of Tanigaki et al. of 2008 indicated that the integrated field was created for the provision of nursing care similar to bedside nursing care, and each university exploited its characteristics in creating subjects nurturing the ability to practice nursing care, so that there is a wide variety of subjects. Home nursing care aims to provide education in anticipation of the cultivation of human resources capable of assuming a role in nursing care in regional societies in the future. In relation to the subject lineup in the integrated field and public health nursing, a clear image is required to learn home nursing care. Pointing out that nursing students are unlikely to have images of home nursing care, Yoshikawa et al. compared students before and after home nursing care practice to assess their changes. Hishitani also pointed out that, Strong capacity to imagine regarding an image and the capacity to imagine a weak capacity low unifying power. On the basis of the study results of Yoshikawa et al. we clarified the images that nursing students have to understand the subject so as to obtain suggestions beneficial for developing a teaching method and improving teaching materials. We investigated the images of home nursing care of 95 participants who were nursing students at the same university. As a result of analysis, six categories were obtained as their images of home nursing care. These categories were : [home nursing care subjects], [places and measures for home nursing care], [roles and tasks in home nursing care], [relationships with family members and related persons], [qualities required for home nursing care], and [characteristics of home nursing care]. As for the home nursing care subjects, heath stages and daily life conditions were extracted and the students had images of concerning the terminal phase, cancers, a bedridden state, persons with a low ADL, etc. Concerning the roles and tasks in home nursing care, the students imagined various roles and tasks such as treatment/medical care, daily life aid, assistance for families, etc. Furthermore as for the attitudes and abilities required for home nursing care, a wide variety of abilities and required attitudes were extracted, such as cooperation with many different types of procession communication, judgment, knowledge, the patient coming first, respecting their will, etc. As for the characteristics of home nursing care, the students had images of daily life advantages, the care burden, and dilemmas of nurses. Regarding developing and improving learning in order to expand and develop the images of home nursing care that the nursing students had, the following four items were suggested: 1. Emphasizing characteristics of subjects by ages, diseases, disorders, and home care conditions, 2. Associating the understanding of social resources for home-care patients to live at ease with team medical care and cooperation, 3. Intervening so that students can identity roles of home nursing care in both medical care and daily life, and 4. Necessity of associating characteristics of home nursing care with accidents in the home and with risk management.


The application of the barrier architecture exhibits the potential in reducing the noise current and improving the performance of photodetectors. However, the development of mid-infrared InSb barrier detector is lagging far behind its III-V counterparts due to the problem of lattice mismatch. In this paper, we proposed two InSb barrier detectors that have reduced dark current and raised operating temperatures with the help of commercial software APSYS platform. The incorporation of a In0.72 Al0.28Sb barrier architecture to the InSb absorber offers a significant dark current reduction over the conventional InSb photodiode, regardless the presence of strain-induced defects within the barrier layers. At 150 K, the InSb bulk barrier detector has a cutoff wavelength at <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$5.65 \mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. With a barrier design, the dark current, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$9.96\times 10^{-3}\text{A}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>/cm2 at −220 mV, is about 77 times lower than the InSb photodiode and the specific detectivity is about <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2.07\times 10 ^{11}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> cm Hz<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{1/2}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>/W with a–220 mV bias voltage, which brings approximately an order of magnitude of performance improvement.


Ileum diverticulitis is a rare disease that may lead to an acute abdomen mimicking appendicitis. It is not Meckel diverticulitis nor other true diverticulum rather an acquired condition possibly due to the same causes as colonic diverticular disease ie pseudodiverticula. These diverticula are usually multiple and occur at the mesenteric border, sometimes hidden in the mesentery and overlooked during surgery. Most patients are asymptomatic and diagnosis is made on routine imaging studies or at autopsy. The acute complications of ileal diverticula including inflammation are very rare. The management of ileal diverticulitis is similar to that of colonic diverticulitis, i.e. treated conservatively if recognised on imaging prior to laparotomy. For those who present with complications such as bleeding, obstruction or perforation, surgical intervention is required. Our patient had a rare presentation of multiple ileal diverticula and in the antimesentric border which is very rare.


The author discusses the various climatic factors which influence the incidence and affect the treatment of psoriasis. Particular emphasis is given to the role of ultraviolet light and the degree of humidity as they affect various metabolic factors and, consequently, psoriasis.


In the history of British literature,women's writing has a perfect tradition. This article makes a contrast discourse analysis on both traditional women's writing and contemporary feminist writing to illustrate that contemporary feminists have range their writing to the essence and effects of the ideology and to some ubiquitous questions such as social ideology and cultural language environment.This article also points out that contemporary feminist writers have challenged the double-sex esthetics of the traditional criticism with a bold hand,and that contemporary feminist are trying to remodel and over throw the accustomed western patriarch ideological patterns.The contemporary feminists have launched a new impact against the traditional female sex-role definition.


The paper presents the principles of constructing Decentralized Multi-Agent System of compromising regulation of voltage in electric grids with the voltage of 0,4 – 110 kV by distributed means of compensation of reactive capacity, the possibilities of its modeling and the results of research of its operating capability and efficiency on a concrete example, including the one with the use of innovative patented devices of Demand Side Management – the Normalizer of AC voltage.


We quantified the implementation of WA state's domestic violence (DV)‐related firearm prohibitions (RCW9.41.800) by the courts and the Regional Domestic Violence Firearms Enforcement Unit (RDVFEU), a regional approach to compliance promotion. We measured implementation, vetting, compliance, and enforcement of firearm prohibitions before (2014–2016) and after (2018–2020) the RDVFEU was implemented using a 55% random sample of granted domestic violence protection orders (DVPOs) in King County, WA (n = 3543). We evaluated differences in judicial orders to surrender firearms and other dangerous weapons (OTSWs), respondent documented compliance, and respondent weapon and/or firearm relinquishment before and after implementation. Compared to DVPOs granted prior to RDVFEU implementation, granted DVPOs after RDVFEU implementation were at least 4.5 times more likely to include an OTSW. RDVFEU implementation was also associated with at least 3.4 times the odds of respondent documented compliance and at least 3.3 times the odds of respondent relinquishment of at least one firearm and/or other dangerous weapon. These findings demonstrate RDVFEU implementation was associated with benefits at each stage of the protection order process with improvements in both judicial enforcement and respondent compliance. Overall, RDVFEU implementation was associated with improvements in granted orders to surrender weapons, respondent compliance, and relinquishment.DV‐related firearm prohibitions can be supported by interdisciplinary teams within the legal system to promote respondent compliance and enhance safety planning for DV victim–survivors.


Adaptation to visual or auditory motion affects within‐modality motion processing as reflected by visual or auditory free‐field motion‐onset evoked potentials (VEPs, AEPs). Here, a visual–auditory motion adaptation paradigm was used to investigate the effect of visual motion adaptation on VEPs and AEPs to leftward motion‐onset test stimuli. Effects of visual adaptation to (i) scattered light flashes, and motion in the (ii) same or in the (iii) opposite direction of the test stimulus were compared. For the motion‐onset VEPs, i.e. the intra‐modal adaptation conditions, direction‐specific adaptation was observed – the change‐N2 (cN2) and change‐P2 (cP2) amplitudes were significantly smaller after motion adaptation in the same than in the opposite direction. For the motion‐onset AEPs, i.e. the cross‐modal adaptation condition, there was an effect of motion history only in the change‐P1 (cP1), and this effect was not direction‐specific – cP1 was smaller after scatter than after motion adaptation to either direction. No effects were found for later components of motion‐onset AEPs. While the VEP results provided clear evidence for the existence of a direction‐specific effect of motion adaptation within the visual modality, the AEP findings suggested merely a motion‐related, but not a direction‐specific effect. In conclusion, the adaptation of veridical auditory motion detectors by visual motion is not reflected by the AEPs of the present study.


This article examines political dimensions of the train metaphor in selected Southern African poems, some of them in English translation. Exploring work by Mongane Serote, B.W. Vilakazi, Demetrius Segooa, Phedi Tlhobolo, Thami Mseleku, Jeremy Cronin, Alan Lennox-Short, Anthony Farmer, Freedom T.V. Nyamubaya, Abduraghiem Johnstone and Mondli Gwala, the argument shows some of the ways in which the technological character of trains and railways is made to carry a message of political insurrection and revolution. The author shows that the political potential of the railway metaphor builds on the general response to railways evident in poems indebted to traditional African praise poetry. The article also demonstrates that political contention within different strands of the Southern African liberation movement could also find expression using the railway metaphor.


The enhancement project of the Roman fish-salting production centre of Troia began in 2006 with a strong component of cultural mediation answering the demand of the public. This mediation continued as a natural development of the investigation and valorization of the site, opened to the public in 2011, and became a proposal of cultural activities and a strong investment in heritage education. Several "carts" have been pulling this cultural mediation, such as the visit of the site, and specially the guided tour, but also school programs and thematic animations for children and adults through small and large events. The main goal is the knowledge and the recognition of the monument as cultural inheritance to be respected and preserved


Abstract Analysis of recent substantive coastal land use management laws shows that their main thrust is to provide for protection of the coastal environment from adverse impacts of uncontrolled development. The four purposes cited most frequently among laws of 17 states were: Protection of wildlife and fisheries, protection of ecosystems or the natural environment, control of development, and enhancement of esthetic values. Other purposes were to: Protect life and property, enhance public recreation, conserve soil, and protect water resources. Development and economic purposes were cited in relatively few laws.


A phloroglucinol derivative(agrimophol)was isolated from the petroleum ether extract of the root sprouts of Agrimonia pilosa Ledeb.,and shown to have with significant anthelmintic activity.The 1H and 13C chemical shifts of the compound were assigned and its structure was elucidated.


Background. The increasing incidence and prevalence of obesity is a global health issue. In obesity, inadequate adipose tissue vascularization has been associated with vascular rarefaction, leukocyte chemotaxis and inflammation, thus contributing to the transition to metabolic dysfunction. However, the underlying mechanisms that regulates angiogenesis in adipose tissue are still largely unknown. In the present study, we investigated the role of the chemokine receptor CXCR3 and its chemokine ligands CXCL10 and CXCL11 on adipose tissue angiogenesis in morbid obese patients. Methods. The study group comprised 50 morbid obese patients with a mean age of 44 years undergoing laparoscopic Roux Y gastric bypass surgery. We measured circulating levels of CXCL10 and CXCL11, and their expression in paired subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue samples. Additionally, we evaluated ex vivo the functional role of the CXCR3 axis on capillary growth in AT explants from morbid obese patients. Results. Plasma CXCL10 and CXCL11 levels were significantly higher in morbid obese patients than in controls, and correlated positively with body mass index. Furthermore, in morbid obese patients, visceral adipose tissue exhibited blunted angiogenic growth when compared with subcutaneous adipose tissue, which was associated with a marked upregulation of CXCL10 and CXCL11 expression. Interestingly, blockade of CXCR3 with a neutralizing antibody significantly increased capillary sprouting in visceral fat deposits from morbid obese patients. Conclusions. Our findings suggest that pharmacological blockade of CXCR3 could represent a novel therapy to prevent adipose tissue dysfunction in obesity. This study was supported by grants, CPII13 00025, PI15 00082 and PIE15 00013 from the Carlos III Health Institute, the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competiveness, and the European Regional Development Fund


There is little doubt that the MRI, and its cousin the cine MRI, are the imaging tools of choice in diagnosing Chiari and syringomyelia. However, a group of researchers from the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences in India, led by Dr. Arora, recently used a different technique to closely examine patterns of cerebrospinal fluid flow in a group of patients with Chiari and syringomyelia. They published their findings in the February, 2004 issue of the journal Acta Neurochirurgica.


In order to understand and evaluate the rationality of the use of antibiotics by patients with respiratory tract infection in communities and put forward the related intervention measures to promote the proper use of antibiotics;A questionnaire was delivered to 100 outpatients with respiratory tract infection for investigation and the related laboratory tests are devised to evaluate the rationality of the use of antibiotics to the patients according to the principle of 3R.The results showed that 89 out of the 100 outpatients had already used antibiotics before they came to the hospital.78 patients did not use the antibiotics properly to different degree and their long-standing mistaken ideas about antibiotic knowledge and results in the voluntary use of it.Therefore the phenomenon is severe that antibiotics were improperly used by patients with respiratory tract infection in communities and intervention measures should be given increasingly to promote the proper use of antibiotics and to reduce the harm caused by the improper use of antibiotics.


The Effect of Temperature and Operating Time for Making Liquid Potasium
Sulfate Fertilizer (K2SO4) from Palm Oil Shell Ash with Addition of Gypsum
(Ibrahim, 2014: 73 Pages, 14 Tables, 21 Pictures, 4 Attachments)
Palm oil shell is one of agriculture waste. Therefore, it needs to do the research
about using of this waste. The aim of this research is to get liquid potassium
sulfate fertilizer from palm oil shell ash with addition of gypsum. Sulfate
contained in gypsum was reacted with the potassium from the ash of palm oil
shell. Cleansed palm oil shell, which is burned in the furnace at 450oC, mixed
with the pulverized gypsum, at 150 mesh. Parameter variatons which is used in
this research is feed ratio: 10:1, 11:1, 12:1 and 13:1, and stirring speed: 200rpm,
300rpm, 400rpm and 500rpm. The product, liquid potassium sulfate fertilizer is
earned by filtration process. The content of potassium sulfate is analyzed. The
optimum feed ratio and stirring speed is 12:1 and 500 rpm, with result of
potassium content 2,18%, sulfate content 1,85% and free acid as shulpuric acid
content 0,0018%. Based on the research can be concluded that the liquid
potassium sulfate fertilizer which made from palm oil shell ash and gypsum has
meet the standard, based on SNI 02-2809-2005.
Key Words: Ash, Fertilizer, Gypsum, K2SO4, Palm Oil, Shell


The possible combined effects of the initiator diethylnitrosamine (DEN) with X-rays on cancer induction in infant C57BL/Cnb mice were evaluated. Preliminary data show that a dose of X-rays administered 7 days before a single injection of DEN was more effective in inducing liver nodules than when administered 7 days after DEN administration.


In classical general relativity, the values of fields on spacetime are uniquely determined by their values at an initial time within the domain of dependence of this initial data surface. However, it may occur that the spacetime under consideration extends beyond this domain of dependence, and fields, therefore, are not entirely determined by their initial data. This occurs, for example, in the well-known (maximally) extended Reissner–Nordström or Reissner–Nordström–deSitter (RNdS) spacetimes. The boundary of the region determined by the initial data is called the 'Cauchy horizon.' It is located inside the black hole in these spacetimes. The strong cosmic censorship conjecture asserts that the Cauchy horizon does not, in fact, exist in practice because the slightest perturbation (of the metric itself or the matter fields) will become singular there in a sufficiently catastrophic way that solutions cannot be extended beyond the Cauchy horizon. Thus, if strong cosmic censorship holds, the Cauchy horizon will be converted into a 'final singularity,' and determinism will hold. Recently, however, it has been found that, classically this is not the case in RNdS spacetimes in a certain range of mass, charge, and cosmological constant. In this paper, we consider a quantum scalar field in RNdS spacetime and show that quantum theory comes to the rescue of strong cosmic censorship. We find that for any state that is nonsingular (i.e., Hadamard) within the domain of dependence, the expected stress-tensor blows up with affine parameter, V, along a radial null geodesic transverse to the Cauchy horizon as T VV ∼ C/V 2 with C independent of the state and C ≠ 0 generically in RNdS spacetimes. This divergence is stronger than in the classical theory and should be sufficient to convert the Cauchy horizon into a singularity through which the spacetime cannot be extended as a (weak) solution of the semiclassical Einstein equation. This behavior is expected to be quite general, although it is possible to have C = 0 in certain special cases, such as the BTZ black hole.


This chapter presents selected practical issues of rule modeling. This field combines both classic artificial intelligence methods and software engineering. The chapter gives a concise presentation of selected relevant methods, and approaches, put in an engineering perspective. The modeling language used in the communication between business analysts and experts for analyzing the system requirements should not be too technical. It should allow for visual rule expressions, which can be understood by experts without an extensive technical training. The main goals of this chapter are: to summarize the formal foundations of rules found in the field of AI, including decision tables and trees; discuss main challenges in practical rule design, and modeling; introduce selected recent research in the field of rule design, focusing on visual modeling; and observe some important future trends in rule design and integration. In the chapter it is argued that efficient visual rule modeling methods are crucial for developing complex rule systems.


Design needs to be completed in a multidisciplinary environment. Severe issues about data acquisition and management arise during the design development due to the complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity. BIM is a foundational tool for a team based lean design approach. it can enable the intelligent interrogation of design; provide a quicker and cheaper design production; better co-ordination of documentation; more effective change control; less repetition of processes; a better quality constructed product; and improved communication both for the architectural practice and across the supply chain. Although BIM has been im-plemented by large design and construction practices, it is not widely (if at all) used by SMEs (Small, Medium Enterprises). Besides, implementation of BIM systems through lean design process brings changes and new challenges for stakeholders. This paper discusses BIM implementation with lean thinking in design via the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project with John McCall Architects in Liverpool.


With the recent revolution in sequencing, we revisit the unresolved question of what influences the range and values of genetic diversity across taxa.


e21560 Background: Prognosis in melanoma with brain metastasis is poor with a median survival of four months and a one-year survival rate of 10–20%. There is an unmet need for surveillance methods that can supplement imaging at regular intervals. Serial analysis of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) may aid surveillance and prognostication. A PCR-based, "specimen in/result out" testing device was employed to detect BRAF variants in plasma-derived ctDNA to evaluate the utility of rapid biomarker detection in the management of melanoma with brain metastasis. Methods: Serial blood samples from patients diagnosed with BRAF mutation-positive metastatic melanoma were collected at regular intervals. We employed a real-time PCR-based automated mutation detection system (Idylla; Biocartis, Belgium) to interrogate the plasma samples. The ctDNA mutation detection trend was analyzed relative to disease progression. Results: 39 patients with BRAF mutation positive melanoma were enrolled. 29 patients were treated in the metastatic setting, 10 in the adjuvant setting. 18 of the 29 patients with metastatic disease (62%) had brain metastases. Circulating BRAF mutation was detected in 17 of the 29 (59%) patients with metastatic disease, and was not detected in any patients treated adjuvantly. In the group with metastatic disease, this circulating biomarker changed from undetectable to detectable in eight (28%) and detectable to undetectable in three (10%). No change in circulating mutation status occurred in 18 (62%). In the eight patients who had an initial negative test that later became positive, seven (87%) had brain metastases. In three patients, ctDNA mutation detection occurred before the diagnosis of brain metastases on imaging, with a median lead time of five weeks (range, 3-12 weeks). In one patient with de novo metastatic disease admitted to the ICU, tissue was unavailable for BRAF testing but plasma was found to be positive for ctDNA BRAF detection. BRAF/MEK targeted therapy resulted in a sustained objective response. Five of six (83%) patients that had persistent ctDNA positivity had brain metastases. Among patients with brain metastases, median overall survival (mOS) of patients demonstrating >50% test positivity was numerically longer than those with <50% positivity (mOS 12.3 vs 53.5 months; p = 0.133). Conclusions: Plasma-based, rapid ctDNA testing may be useful as an aid in detecting progression and gauging prognosis in patients with melanoma treated in the metastatic setting. The dynamics of ctDNA test positivity may indicate a need for more urgent imaging, particularly of the brain. Blood-based, semi-automated ctDNA detection may serve as an attractive adjunct to scheduled imaging surveillance in melanoma.


The invention relates to a computer graphic and discloses a realization method for the exhibition of an electronic landscape sand table. The method comprises the following steps: displaying a landscape scene through a man-machine interaction interface, wherein the landscape scene comprises one or more exhibition model press buttons; receiving operation information input by a user in the landscape scene through the exhibition model press button; analyzing a control command corresponding to the operation information according to a corresponding relationship between the predetermined exhibition model and the control command; and controlling the exhibition model for landscape selected by the user according to the control command.


This work considers a cognitive radio network (CRN) model that consists of a secondary transmitter-receiver pair and operates in an underlay mode on two non-overlapping time slots in presence of an eavesdropper ($E_{av}$) and multiple cooperative jammers. In the first time slot, the secondary transmitter ($SU_{\mathcal{T}}$) and the jammers harvest energy from the interference signal of the primary user (PU). During the remaining slot, $SU_{\mathcal{T}}$ transmits its data to its receiver maintaining a target interference threshold to the primary receiver ($PU_{\mathcal{R}}$). The jammer with the minimum signal-to-interference ratio at $E_{av}$ is selected to countermeasure eavesdropping. Closed form expressions for the total power budget, the optimal power fraction used by $SU_{\mathcal{T}}$ and the fraction of the time slot for energy harvesting are derived to minimize the secrecy outage probability under the constraints of secondary outage probability, interference to $PU_{\mathcal{R}}$ and energy causality for both $SU_{\mathcal{T}}$ and the jammers. Simulation results show that the minimum value of the secrecy outage probability is ∼ 18.69% less for the proposed method compared to the existing work.


2519 Background: Human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTRT) is expressed in the majority of human tumor cells (>90% of PC) but is absent from most normal adult cells, identifying it as a potential immunotherapeutic target (PNAS 97:4796, 2000). We developed a new approach to induce T cell responses in vivo based on the injection of primary B lymphocytes genetically programmed to serve as antigen presenting cells with the dual function of antigen synthesis and presentation. This is done ex vivo by exploiting the phenomenon of spontaneous B cell transgenesis (Gene Therapy 11:42, 2003), using a plasmid with a modified immunoglobulin heavy chain gene incorporating 3 inserts: two HLA-A2-restricted hTRT peptides: p540 (PNAS 97:4796, 2000) in CDR 3, p572 (PNAS 99:12275, 2002) in CDR1; and a 12mer malarial peptide acting as a Th cell determinant in CDR2.

METHODS
HLA-A2(+) subjects had androgen-independent PC with (8) or without (1) overt metastases, PS<3, life expectancy >6 months, no current steroid treatment. The median pretreatment PSA value was 248. Prior treatment, except immunotherapy, was allowed. Mononuclear cells were separated from peripheral blood and incubated overnight with plasmid DNA. Nine subjects (3 in each of 3 cohorts) were reinfused once with 104, 105, or 106 autologous transgenic B cells.

RESULTS
All subjects remain alive with followup of 6 months-cohort 1, 3 months-cohort 2 and 1 month-cohort 3. No infusion-related events or dose-limiting toxicities were seen. No PSA responses were seen. Tetramer staining of hTRT-specific CD8 T lymphocytes was seen in 1/3 pts in cohort 1 and 3/3 in cohort 2. Cohort 3 is too early to assess.

CONCLUSIONS
single-dose TLI is feasible, safe and capable of inducing a T cell response against hTRT. A 4th cohort is planned with 2 infusions 1 month apart using frozen cells for the 2nd dose. [Table: see text].


We study the periodic boundary value problem for semilinear fractional differential equations in an ordered Banach space. The method of upper and lower solutions is then extended. The results on the existence of minimal and maximal mild solutions are obtained by using the characteristics of positive operators semigroup and the monotone iterative scheme. The results are illustrated by means of a fractional parabolic partial differential equations.


This article takes a fresh look at political brokerage as a complex, provisional and contested phenomenon. Although brokerage has received little recent attention, I show how it remains critical to understanding the urban poor's involvement in electoral politics. The article focuses on how local community leaders in a Recife slum, Brazil, operate as brokers during elections. Here, they have to deal with the different interests of their patrons (politicians) and their clients (their fellow slum dwellers), and also with the latter's contradictory views on electoral politics. Slum dwellers combine a positive image, in which electoral politics provides access to resources, with a negative image, in which it contaminates all those involved, including the brokers. Further, by showing how these slum dwellers perceive electoral politics as coming from 'another world', this study counters the still prevalent functionalist understandings of brokerage which depict brokers as the forgers of a shared moral universe.


On 24 February 2022 the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled in the case Viva Telecom Bulgaria EOOD v. Direktor na Direktsia Obzhalvane i danachno-osiguritelna praktika – Sofia (Case C-257/20) (ECJ, 24 February 2022, Case C-257/20, Viva Telecom Bulgaria EOOD v. Direktor na Direktsia Obzhalvane i danachno-osiguritelna praktika – Sofia, ECLI:EU: C:2022:125), inter alia, that fictitious interest payments do not enjoy withholding tax (WHT) exemption neither under the Interest and Royalties Directive (2003/49) (Council Directive 2003/49/EC of 3 June 2003 on a common system of taxation applicable to interest and royalty payments made between associated companies of different Member States, OJ L 157, 26 June 2003) (IRD) nor under the Parent-Subsidiary Directive (2011/96) (Council Directive 2011/96/EU of 30 November 2011 on the common system of taxation applicable in the case of parent companies and subsidiaries of different Member States, OJ L 345, 29 December 2011) (PSD) (together referred to as the directives). This article questions this finding and argues that fictitious interest and dividends should fall under the IRD and PSD respectively.
IRD, PSD, EU corporate taxation, fictitious interest, fictitious dividends, CFC, tax avoidance, transfer pricing adjustment


Governance has since long been a real challenge for the European Union (COM (2001) 428 final) White Paper on European Governance). With the inclusion of territorial cohesion in the EU Treaty (Lisbon Treaty, 2009), territorial governance was also acknowledged as a major issue at stake (Barca report on Cohesion policy reform, 2009; CoR 89/2009fin, White Paper on multilevel governance). Territorial governance can be understood in two ways: governance of territories (how is a territory organised) and/or territorial dimension of governance (referring to wider understanding of governance, and how this larger perspective integrates the territorial dimension – or not)(ESPON 2006, report 2 3 2 on territorial governance). Both includes at least two aspects: a)the legal, institutional and juridical framework in which it takes places, b) the governance organisation based on more informal grounds. In this paper we want to investigate those different paths, with a focus on the new European juridical tool to organise territorial cooperation: the European grouping for territorial cooperation (EC1082/2006), and in particular which potential this instrument provides for a better governance on the EU territory. Elaborating further on our work for TERCO report (ESPON 2013) we will first concentrate – through desk research - on the current implementation of European grouping for territorial cooperation, which illustrate a large range of governance arrangements: in this case, we analyse at a certain moment how cooperation operates in different contexts in all EU, mainly on crossborder territories(current EGTCs settled are in large majority crossborder cooperation). In a second step, we will investigate more in depth – using the result of long interviews with major relevant stakeholders from the area - the governance of the French/Belgium border territory, from the North sea until the Lille- Kortrijk-Tournai (LIKOTO) Eurometropole . The cooperation in this area – which is now organised through two EGTCS, has a long history, and is extremely interesting to analyse as it shows an evolution both in time, in scale, in objectives, in partners involved and in governance arrangements: in this case, we follow one area of cooperation along a time scale of three decades. From this analysis, we will then provide some territorial governance 'toolbox', having in mind that 'one size does not fit all' (Barca, id), and that our hypothesis is that there is no universal – neither European - 'best model' of governance.


A recent circular of ABI, the Italian Banking Association, offers a critical survey of the regulation relating to certificates of deposit, with particular attention to those based on a cash deposit


growing group of pyridine nucleotide-dependent oxidoreductases that metabolize carbohydrates, steroids, prostaglandins, and other endogenous aldehydes and ketones, as well as xenobiotic compounds. Aldose reductase (AR), which belongs to the AKR1B subfamily, is a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate reduced form (NADPH)-dependent enzyme that catalyses the first step in the polyol pathway and has been implicated in the onset of secondary complications of diabetes in humans. AR shows broad substrate specificity for various aldehydes and aldoses, and is involved in various physiological roles, including the metabolism of retinoids, steroids and xenobiotics, and defensive mechanisms for oxidative stress. Beside AR, multiple AR-like proteins (ARLPs) that show high sequence similarity (67—71%) to ARs have been identified in human and rodent tissues. While one ARLP (AKR1B10) is ubiquitously expressed in human tissues, two ARLPs, androgen-dependent vas deferens protein (AKR1B7) and fibroblast growth factor-inducible protein (AKR1B8), are distributed tissue-specifically in mice. The two mouse ARLPs reduce aldehydes, but are clearly distinct from mouse AR in their poor efficiency in reducing glucose. AKR1B7 and AKR1B8 differ in their substrate specificity and inhibitor sensitivity. Compared to AKR1B7, AKR1B8 exhibits high catalytic efficiency for cytotoxic 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE) derived from lipid peroxidation, but has poor reactivity towards isocaproaldehyde resulting from the side chain cleavage of cholesterol during steroidogenesis. AKR1B7 is insensitive to AR inhibitors (ARIs) and exhibits prostaglandin (PG) F2a synthase activity, which is not detected in the ARI-sensitive AKR1B8. In rats, two ARLPs, AKR1B13 and AKR1B14, have been identified, and are thought to be orthologs of mouse AKR1B8 and AKR1B7, respectively, based on high sequence identity of 95% (AKR1B13 versus AKR1B8) and 87% (AKR1B14 versus AKR1B7). AKR1B13 is distributed in almost all rat tissues, and exhibits similar substrate specificity and inhibitor sensitivity to AKR1B8. AKR1B14 and AKR1B7 are similar in their high expression in the adrenal glands and induction by adrenocorticotropic hormone, but differ in their distribution and gene regulation in other tissues. AKR1B7 is also expressed in mouse vas deferens, intestine and liver, and is up-regulated by androgen, pituitary tropic hormones and agonists of nuclear receptors (liver X receptor-a , pregnane X receptor and constitutive androstane receptor). In contrast, AKR1B14 is highly expressed in female rat liver through female-specific secretion pattern of growth hormone, and its expression in male rat liver is up-regulated by oxidative stress. Thus, these differences have suggested that AKR1B14 plays a physiological role distinct from its mouse ortholog, AKR1B7. However, there is no report on the detailed properties of AKR1B14, except for its role as a PGF2a synthase in rat adrenal cells. 23) Recently, we have established the bacterial overexpression system of recombinant AKR1B14, which provided high yield of the enzyme and subsequently lead to successful crystallisation attempts. In this study, we examined the substrate specificity of recombinant AKR1B14 in both the reduction and oxidation directions in order to elucidate the enzyme function related to the hepatic expression induced by oxidative stress.


In recent year, society is faster than before, and many people cannot be properly released under high pressure, resulting in a steadily increasing suicide and crime rate. To prevent the increasing pressure index, it is necessary to properly release the pressure. Therefore, how to release the pressure quickly and conveniently is an important issue for today's society. In order to improve the accuracy of the therapist's selection of the correct music genre when performing music therapy, we propose the use of a visual spectrogram, and apply the YOLOv4 for "Spectrogram based on Mel spectrum using MFCC conversion", and using mAP as our scoring standard. We get the average accuracy by 10 times experiments, and obtain 92.4% in the highest mAP value, and 91.33% in the average mAP value.


Messenger RNA was isolated from simian virus 40 (SV40)-infected and mock-infected cells by chromatography on poly(U) sepharose. When added to cell-free extracts from Chinese hamster ovary cells or rabbit reticulocytes, RNA from the infected cells, but not from mock-infected cells, stimulated synthesis of the major SV40 capsid protein. Identification of this species was done by sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis, peptide mapping, and immunoprecipitation. The in vitro synthesized capsid protein was slightly different from virion assembled capsid protein, as shown by separation upon chromatography on hydroxylapatite and by minor differences in the peptide map.


The plan of La Rochelle et al. (1970) showing the concentration of landslides at several localities throughout the St. Lawrence Lowlands is a most useful contribution in directing concerted geotechnical efforts toward an understanding of the mechanism of landslides in these "unstable areas." The authors pointed out that no obvious cause for the concentration of landslides could be found in the factors of topography, geological history, clay mineralogy, or pore-water salinity. Such may well be the case in terms of the gross aspects of these factors. However, in the absence of readily identifiable external factors that could increase the shear stress on a particular slope, one is then directed toward a detailed examination of the internal factors that could produce a decrease in the shearing resistance of the slope materials. From the text and figures it is apparent that the authors have attempted to make just such an examination. In all areas of landslides both the stratigraphy and spatial geometry of the geological materials, in conjunction with hydrogeological conditions, are fundamental factors in the consideration of slope stability. The authors' descriptions of the local stratigraphy at the three sites (viz. Desbiens, St. Vallier, and St. Louis) show that differences in geological detail exist between these sites. It is unfortunate, however, that the figures do not show a detailed geological log at each site, which could be compared with the soil index properties and the shear strength properties at each site and between the sites. Since the clays contain interstratified fine sands and silts a knowledge of the area1 distribution and continuity of these layers would be most helpful in assessing their significance either as drainage layers contributing to increased slope stability or as zones of high pore pressure and thus subject to liquifaction under shock loads.


The development of data communications technology has provided basis for the workflow technology under the multi-group cooperative work,the deepened researches on software engineering and the development of software technology have injected direct vitalities to the arising of workflow technology.The workflow management system software tends to manage a series of actual work activities and related persons,resources and information technology information by automated control of the business processing procedure,define,manage and execute the workflow by the computer software.


Information is a power. It is a key factor of any kind of development. Today, there is a very special and powerful right as RTI (Right to Information Act, 2005) in common hands to get information from any authority and official for the sake of individual a nd social interest. This Act can be a very effective tool to explore concerned information which can help anyone to make decision and take required action to solve the problem facingby him, community or the society. We have also the powerful media in our s ociety.But the reality is this, with having both facilities of RTIand Media, rural peoples are still not very much aware about the RTI Act and its uses. They have no good information about the running programs, schemes, planning and projects by the governm ents in the rural areas for the rural peoples. They are also not so much active and interactive towards their progress and development. They are still living a very poor and below standard life. Since, creating awareness, educating the rural population an d motivating them for active participation in the development process are also the prime objectives of the print media.And in this regard, print media and RTI both can play a very pivotal role to empower the rural society for their positive changes and improvements. But there is a general perception about our media, especially Hindi Daily Newspapers that they don't pay proper attention and give adequate space to cover the RTI messages. The present study examined Hindi daily newspapers i.e. Dainik Jagaran, A mar Ujala, Hindustan and Rastriya Sahara on various parameters like quantity of news coverage, types of news, allotted space and tone of RTI stories, etc. The results showed that Hindi Daily newspapers have no good interest, focus and priority for publishing RTI stories and they are very poor in coverage of RTI messages. DainikJagaran, Amar Ujala, Hindustan and Rastriya Sahara were taken and analyzed during a year i.e. from 1st July 2015 to 30th June 2016. These newspapers were analyzed on a day to day basis. The analysis and interpretations of the research study showed that the national Hindi daily newspapers are very poor in the publication of RTI stories. They have no good interest, focus and priority for publishing RTI stories. The study also indicates clearly that the coverage of RTI contents is very low. It is far away from a satisfactory stage and almost negligible in Hindi daily newspapers


The invention discloses a fully-prefabricated assembled balcony and a manufacturing method thereof. A balcony plate is a prefabricated member, wherein steel bars extend out of the section of the prefabricated balcony plate, go deep into the cast-in-situ layer of a floor, and are fixedly connected in a cast-in-situ way; and a certain space is formed between the prefabricated balcony plate and a main body structure, and the prefabricated balcony plate and the main body structure are fixedly connected in a cast-in-situ way. The manufacturing method has the advantages of safe site operation, relatively simple operation, higher construction speed, shortening of the entire construction period, high structure strength, good building quality and increase in the economic benefit.


Title: "How to use country-of-origin as a potential success factor when strengthen a brand on a foreign market" -a case study of Swedish high-quality design brands Date of the seminar: 2010-06-03 Course: BUSM08. Degree Project in International Marketing and Brand Management Authors: Emilie de Craene, Madeleine Larsson and Charlotta Samsson Advisor: Ulf Elg Keywords: country-of-origin, country image, brand identity, brand associations and internationalisation. Thesis purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how Swedish high-quality design brands can use country-of-origin as a potential success factor when strengthen their brand on a foreign market. Methodology: A qualitative case study with an iterative approach. Our data collection has primarily been conducted by interviews and document studies. Theoretical framework: We have divided out theoretical framework in three different parts, where we have used various theories within branding, country-of-origin and internationalisation. Empirical data: We have conducted a case study with six semi-structured interviews in combination with our secondary data collection. Interviews have been conducted with the sales manager and the key account manager of Svenskt Tenn, the sales manager and an international sales representative of Skultuna, the marketing director of Kosta Boda and the owner of Just Scandinavian. Conclusion: In our conclusion, we have presented a model answering our research question. The model is divided into three different parts, which are all integrated with country-of-origin. Firstly, the model touches upon entry strategies, which include incremental steps, psychic distance and networks. Secondly, we describe activities such as corporate storytelling, collaborations and brand ambassadors. Thirdly, we discuss the importance of brand associations. By focusing on these potential success factors, the brand can be further strengthened.


When the fiber fuse phenomenon occurs in a single-mode optical fiber (SMF), there is a threshold incident optical power. The optical power threshold required to generate a fiber fuse has been investigated for various SMFs by several research institutes [1]–[13]. In the conventional measurement method, a fiber fuse is generated by applying a high incident power beforehand. The incident optical power is gradually decreased, and the optical power at the time when the fiber fuse disappears is set as a threshold value. In this method, the rate of reduction of the optical power has not been decided, and since different research institutions have used different values, variation has been observed in the reported threshold values [14]. In contrast, Todoroki proposed the generation of a fiber fuse by injecting a laser beam kept at a constant power in increments of 0.01 W, and setting the threshold as the minimum value at which the fuse stably propagates [9]– [13]. Using this technique, Todoroki found that the optical power threshold of SMF-28e, which is a typical SMF, varies with the coating condition [9]. In addition, it has been reported that the optical power threshold has a strong correlation (proportional relation) with the mode field radius ω of the optical fiber [1]–[5]. It is considered that the stopping (disappearance) of the fiber fuse is related to the thermal balance in the optical fiber. The heat source Q̇ in the following heat conduction equation represents the magnitude of heat generation due to light absorption,


Tensile tests are performed for several reasons. The results of tensile tests are used in selecting materials for engineering applications. Tensile properties often are used to predict the behavior of a material under forms of loading other than uniaxial tension. Elastic properties also may be of interest, but special techniques must be used to measure these properties during tensile testing, and more accurate measurements can be made by ultrasonic techniques. This chapter provides a brief overview of some of the more important topics associated with tensile testing. These include tensile specimens and test machines; stress-strain curves, including discussions of elastic versus plastic deformation, yield points, and ductility; true stress and strain; and test methodology and data analysis.


Invited Talks.- Termination by Abstraction.- Answer Set Programming and the Design of Deliberative Agents.- Regular Talks.- Abstract Domains Based on Regular Types.- Termination of Logic Programs Using Various Dynamic Selection Rules.- Improving Prolog Programs: Refactoring for Prolog.- Smodels with CLP and Its Applications: A Simple and Effective Approach to Aggregates in ASP.- The Refined Operational Semantics of Constraint Handling Rules.- Compiling Ask Constraints.- Constraint Handling Rules and Tabled Execution.- Possible Worlds Semantics for Probabilistic Logic Programs.- Limiting Resolution: From Foundations to Implementation.- Generalised Kernel Sets for Inverse Entailment.- On Programs with Linearly Ordered Multiple Preferences.- Splitting an Operator.- Simplifying Logic Programs Under Answer Set Semantics.- On Acyclic and Head-Cycle Free Nested Logic Programs.- Fast Query Evaluation with (Lazy) Control Flow Compilation.- Speculative Computations in Or-Parallel Tabled Logic Programs.- ?Prolog: A Logic Programming Language with Names, Binding and ?-Equivalence.- Implementation Results in Classical Constructive Negation.- On Hybridization of Local Search and Constraint Propagation.- Arc-Consistency + Unit Propagation = Lookahead.- The period Constraint.- Non-viability Deductions in Arc-Consistency Computation.- Compiling Prioritized Circumscription into Answer Set Programming.- Enhancing the Magic-Set Method for Disjunctive Datalog Programs.- Rectilinear Steiner Tree Construction Using Answer Set Programming.- Adding Domain Dependent Knowledge into Answer Set Programs for Planning.- Multi-agent Coordination as Distributed Logic Programming.- Logic Programs with Annotated Disjunctions.- Poster Presentations.- Abstract Interpretation-Based Mobile Code Certification.- Labeled Logic Programs.- Xcerpt and XChange - Logic Programming Languages for Querying and Evolution on the Web.- Protein Folding Simulation in CCP.- Applying CLP to Predict Extra-Functional Properties of Component-Based Models.- Main Results of the OADymPPaC Project.- FDBG, the CLP Debugger Library of SICStus Prolog.- Development of Semantic Debuggers Based on Refinement Calculus.- A Tracer Driver to Enable Debugging, Monitoring and Visualization of CLP Executions from a Single Tracer.- Grid Service Selection with PPDL.- Concurrent Constraint Programming and Tree-Based Acoustic Modelling.- MProlog: An Extension of Prolog for Modal Logic Programming.- Probabilistic Choice Operators as Global Constraints: Application to Statistical Software Testing.- Constraint-Based Synchronization and Verification of Distributed Java Programs.- JmmSolve: A Generative Java Memory Model Implemented in Prolog and CHR.- Agent Oriented Logic Programming Constructs in Jinni 2004.


This article aims to analyze the procedures of decoding a music score in braille. Accordingly, we analyze the procedures for reading and writing the signs and symbols for notes and rhythm, octaves, intervals and chords, and writing in more than one voice. In addition, we also analyze the opportunities to develop more simplified scores for the early stages of learning. To carry out the research, a survey was conducted of experts in braille music code to verify the strategies used to improve the teaching process of these procedures. The results contribute to the teaching and learning process, as well as the transcription of braille music scores.


Abstract : Plasma environments constitute powerful tools in materials science due to their operation as thermal and chemical reactors. A microwave, atmospheric argon plasma driven by surface waves has been used for synthesizing carbon nanostructures by passing vaporized ethanol through the plasma. Graphene sheets and carbon nanoparticles have been selectively synthesized through the control of the outlet plasma stream temperature.


Sixty-six children aged between 5 and 7 years participated in the event, 'Visiting the Pirate', and were interviewed about it at one of five delays, namely, no delay (immediate interview), or at a 1-week, 1-day, 1-month or 6-month delay. For open-ended recall, a significant decrease in the amount of information reported was detected only at the 6-month delay, although forgetting functions indicated forgetting was most rapid at the shorter delays. Accuracy of open-ended recall was maintained over all delays. In contrast, in response to specific, leading and misleading questions, accuracy had decreased significantly by the 6-month delay. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings regarding the effects of delays on children's event reports are discussed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Language: en


Nuclear propulsion has many potential advantages in terms of reduced emissions, as nuclear fission itself has zero CO2, NOx, SOx and PM emissions, although the whole nuclear fuel cycle has an amount of emission associated with it. An overview of current and future reactor technologies suitable for marine propulsion is presented. A comparison in terms of efficiency and technology used is performed and technical and constructional aspects for surface non - military applications are discussed. A debate of feasible ship types is made and proposals of propulsion layouts are highlighted including the use of all electric ship concepts. The actual engine loading and the efficiency of propulsion components have great importance in propulsion behaviour and fuel consumption, which imply further constraints in merchant nuclear propulsion applications in terms of refuelling intervals. The social impacts and constraints in operation of such vessels, orients the designers towards large DWT vessels that can load and unload outside the ports.


'In the long term, multidisciplinary rehabilitation is more effective than cognitive behavioural therapy in reducing the amount of fatigue experienced by patients diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome.' This was the core conclusion of this dissertation. For this study, 122 patients were divided into two groups. One group (62 patients) received multidisciplinary rehabilitation treatment and the other (60 patients) received cognitive behavioural therapy from a cognitive behavioural therapist/psychologist. After six months of treatment, both methods proved to effectively reduce fatigue and improve quality of life. However, twelve months after treatment began, the group that received multidisciplinary rehabilitation experienced less fatigue and the group that received cognitive behavioural therapy experienced more fatigue. Both groups retained the same quality of life.


The conodont record supports the intended threefold subdivision of the Givetian as envisaged by the International Subcommision on Devonian Stratigraphy into Lower, Middle and Upper Givetian substages. The lower boundary of the Lower Givetian Stage coincides with the lower boundary of the Givetian and it is recognized with the entry of Polygnathus hemiansatus. The lower boundary of the Middle Givetian is identified with the entry of either P. varcus or P. rhenanus. The base of the Upper Givetian is defined with the entry of Schmidtognathus hermanni. The historical review shows the conceptual evolution from a stage with just one and a half zones to one with ten zones that are the basis for the threefold Givetian subdivision. This zonation is mostly based on evolutionarily related conodont genera that are common in pelagic environments. An alternative conodont zonation for shallow-water facies for the Lower and Middle Givetian can also be widely applied. The proposal of subdividing the disparilis Zone into three subzones is not accepted.


This paper is a preliminary attempt at a history of the western world's interest in Chinese currency and numismatics. It focuses on Western language publications of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and pays particular attention to the backgrounds of the authors of those publications on the grounds that they were the first people to shape the field in Europe and the USA. 西方如何開始了解中國的貨幣和中國的錢幣學? 本文對此問題做出初步研究 。 作者着重介紹在歐洲 、 美國十八世紀和十九世紀出版的書和文獻,并特別注意這些出版物的作者的背景,因爲西方對中國貨幣和中國錢幣學的知識和了解是由它們決定的 。


ABSTRACT The calibration of photoacoustic aerosol optical absorption measurements through simultaneous photoacoustic spectroscopy of the oxygen A-band absorption is demonstrated. While aerosol absorption shows no sharp spectral structures for size-distributed aerosols, the molecular oxygen A-band has sharp absorption lines in the near-infrared (i.e., 760–770 nm) spectral region. Line-strength, shape, and broadening of these lines are well known and molecular oxygen is ubiquitous with a constant concentration in the troposphere. Simultaneous photoacoustic spectroscopy of aerosol and molecular oxygen A-band absorption with a tunable, external cavity diode laser yields a convenient calibration for the photoacoustic measurement of aerosol absorption coefficients without the need for pressurized and potentially toxic calibration gases.


The Gulf of Nabil is one of the largest shallow-water lagoons of the east coast of Sakhalin Island. It is located in the central part of the Katanglinsko-Nabil zone of commercial oil-gas accumulation. See Fig. 1. Within this zone the Katanglin subzone includes three local folds, the Noglik, Uyglekut, and Katanglin; related to these are oil pools of the same name. The Imchin subzone includes the Imchin, Zapadno-Katanglin, and Pribrezh folds, which are host to gas pools. In the southern part of the zone is the Staryy Nabil anticline, which contains a non-commercial oil pool. The Katanglin and Imchin anticlinal zones possibly extend on to the southeast offshore into the Gulf of Nabil. See Fig. 2. A regional fault that passes along the west flank of the Katanglin zone has a displacement up to 150-200 m, and there is no reason to believe that it dies out offshore. Seismic surveys in the gulf indicate that near this fault in the presence of transverse cross faults closed traps may be present.


This chapter analyzes the disciplines established by Article 5.7 of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures. The analysis is based both on the text of the SPS Agreement as well as on the existing case law with the special consideration given to the panel's ruling in EC - Biotech Products. The chapter criticizes the approach of the case law to the issue of applicability of Article 5.7 as it confuses the applicability with the consistency. The article argues that it is more appropriate to view the SPS Agreement as providing for three mutually exclusive paths of compliance (i.e. Articles 3.1, 3.3 and 5.7). On the substantive level, the chapter points out the deficiencies of panel's approach to insufficiency of scientific evidence (insufficiency as the absolute term). This chapter claims, consistently with the case law under Article 2.2, that the task of a panel under Article 5.7 should be limited to the assessment of plausibility of scientific opinions on sufficiency of scientific evidence rather than deciding which scientific view is better. The chapter also recognizes several issues that still need to be resolved under Article 5.7 (the extent of the exclusion under Article 2.2, meaning of pertinent information, applicable standard of Article 5.7, second sentence). In this context, the possible interpretations are discussed.


Act-and-wait control is a special case of time-periodic control for systems with feedback delay, where the control gains are periodically switched on and off in order to stabilize otherwise unstable systems. The stability of feedback systems in the presence of time delay is a challenging problem. In this paper, we show that the act-and-wait type time-periodic control can always provide deadbeat control for first-order unstable lag processes with any (large but) fixed value of the time delay in the feedback loop. A full characterization of this act-and-wait controller with respect to the system and control parameters is given based on performance and robustness against disturbances.


amorphous carbon films on the contribution to n-C:P/p-Si solar cells l Mohamad Rusop, Hiroshi Ebisu, Mitsuhiro Adachi, Tetsuo Soga and Takashi Jimbo l 1Department of Environmental Technology and Urban Planning; 2Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan Email: firstname.lastname@example.com l The control of the pand n-type doping as well as optical band gap, residual defects and chemical bonding must be achieved to realize high performance electrical and optical devices [1]. We have performed a systematic study of growing phosphorus (P) doped ntype amorphous carbon (n-C:P) films by 13.56 MHz radio frequency (r.f.) plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) techniques from hydrocarbons using solid P target that put in the distance of 20 mm on the top of the substrates. The distance between substrate stage and top plate was set at 49 mm. Substrate temperature was kept at 25 C. Base vacuum was typically set at the pressure of lower than 2 x 10 Pa using a turbomolecular pump and oil diffusion pump. The chamber pressure was allayed at setting pressure of 20 Pa and the flow rate of feed source gas mixtures of CH4 and H2 respectively was optimized at 5 and 50 Sccm. The r.f. power (Prf) was the variable condition from 100 to 300 watt. The undoped a-C film was also deposited using the above deposition procedure without solid phosphorus target for comparison. The changes in the physical and microstructure properties of n-C:P films as a function of Prf has been determined and the photovoltaic properties of fabricated n-C/p-Si solar cells are also investigated. The paramagnetic defects in the films were studied by electron spin resonance (ESR) [2]. The effect of p-doping on the ESR parameters of a-C:P reveals that there is a decreased in the g value from 2.0036 to 2.0021 and increased of ESR linewidth (△ HPP) with increase of Prf from 100 to 300 W. The increase in △HPP of n-C:P films with increase of △HPP is attributed to spins which are no longer localized at a single C-P cluster but able to pass to neighboring C-P clusters as the ESR peak is shown unsaturation behavior [3]. The optical gap (Eg) is obtained from the extrapolation of the linear part of the curve at the absorption coefficient α = 0, using the Tauc relation [4], (αhv) = B(Eg-hv), where, B is the Tauc parameter. The Eopt is almost unchanged when increased of Pr.f. up to 200 W. There are step decreases of Eg from approximately 2.0 to 0.8 eV as Pr.f increase from 200 to 300 W (Fig. 1). It is known that, the Eg influenced by the hybridization state of carbon atoms. The larger Eg of a-C film reveals more diamond-like nature and hence more spbonded structure.


Pollutants emitted from wood processing factories may be harmful to the health of the population. The aim of this prospective cohort study was to evaluate whether proximity to wood factories was associated with the risk of hospital admissions in children living in the Viadana district (Italy), where two big chipboard industries and other smaller wood factories (sawmills, multi-strata layer manufacturing) are located. In 2006, children (3–14 years) living in the Viadana district were surveyed through a parental questionnaire ( n = 3854), their home/school addresses were geocoded and the distances to the wood industries were calculated. Hospital discharge records for the years 2007–2009 were obtained. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to estimate the association between hospitalization rates and distance to the factories, adjusting for sex, age, nationality, parents' education, exposure to passive smoking and reported traffic near home. During the 3-year follow-up, the risk of hospitalization for all diagnoses (Hospitalization Hazard Ratio, HHR = 1.55; 95% CI: 1.24–1.95) and for respiratory diseases (HHR = 1.80; 95% CI: 1.14–2.86) was greater in the children living close (<2 km) to the chipboard industries, with respect to the children who lived at ≥ 2 km from any wood factory. The children living close to the smaller wood factories were also at increased risk of hospitalization for respiratory diseases (HHR = 1.74; 95% CI: 1.06–2.85). This study highlights a health problem for the children living close to chipboard and wood factories in the Viadana district. Further research should develop accurate exposure models based on objective measurements of air pollution in order to confirm these findings. © 2013 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.


We discuss an adaptive resolution system for modeling regional air pollution based on the chemical transport model Stem. The grid adaptivity is implemented using the generic tool Paramesh, which enables the grid management operations while harnessing the power of parallel computers. The computational algorithm is based on a decomposition of the domain, with the solution in different sub-domains being solved at different spatial resolutions. Numerical experiments confirm that adaptive resolution leads to the decrease in spatial error with an acceptable increase in computational time. Advantages and shortcomings of the present approach are also discussed.


It has become a challenge to find effective treatments and preventive strategies to reduce obesity and diabetes (T2DM). There are several approaches to treating these diseases, including nutrition therapy. Diets high in protein are linked with weight reduction and improved insulin resistance. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the effects of a long‐term, high protein (pro) diet (40%) vs a moderate pro diet (20%) on body composition and metabolism using a genetic model of obesity/T2DM. Male, lean (L) and obese (O) Zucker rats (n = 8‐10 per group) were housed 2/cage and placed in one of four groups: L20, L40, O20 or O40. Animals were provided ad libitum access to diet and water for 12 weeks. At 12 weeks, animals were fasted for 8 hours, then trunk blood and tissues were collected. L had lower food intake (P < 0.05) than O, and O40 had significantly lower food intake (P < 0.05) than O20. Animals fed 40% pro had significantly lower weight gain (P < 0.05) than those fed 20% pro. L had more muscle mass and lower fat mass than O (P < 0.05). However, L40 had significantly lower fat mass than L20. O40 had lower liver weights (P < 0.05) than O20. There was no difference in fasting glucose and O had higher fasting insulin. Fasting free fatty acids were higher in animals fed the 20% pro diet. There was no difference in basal phosphorylation of Akt, AMPK, mTOR or 4E‐BP1. There was no difference in basal BCAA between L20 and O20. L40 and O40 had significantly higher basal levels of BCAA (P < 0.05). We conclude that higher protein diets have the potential to reduce weight gain and alter metabolism in obese rats. Funded by Arkansas Biosciences Institute.


McGarvey, R., Matthews, J. M., and Feenstra, J. F. 2009. Estimating mortality from times-at-large: testing accuracy and precision using simulated single tag-recovery data. - ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 573-581.Single tag-recovery data are available for many commercial and recreational fish stocks. However, the use of tag-recovery data has been limited by the unknown proportion of tagged recaptured animals that fishers report back to researchers. Tag underreporting causes underestimation bias in commonly applied Petersen-based estimators of fraction harvested. Using simulated data, we tested the claim that estimates of total instantaneous mortality rate (Z) based on mean time-at-large are unbiased by tag non-reporting, and by short-term (type 1) tag shedding and tag-induced mortality. The Chapman time-at-large estimator produced unbiased estimates of Z. Non-reporting and short-term tag losses produced no detectable bias in estimates of Z. Standard errors of the Chapman Z-estimate decreased with , as predicted. Non-constant-Z scenarios of fishery closure and seasonal cycling gave time-at-large Z-estimates that closely approximated the true population time averages when tag releases were spread evenly across time. Ongoing (type 2) tag shedding and tag-induced mortality biased Z-estimates upwards by the respective ongoing loss rates. When tag-recovery experiments are cut short, accurate estimates of Z are provided by Deemer and Votaw's 'truncated' estimator, which had wide standard errors for short experimental length, precision becoming acceptable for tag-recovery experiments run longer than approximately two or three times Z −1 .


In this work, a novel superconducting (SC) inductor topology for an axial flux synchronous machine is presented and tested. The proposed device combines HTS YBaCuO bulks and coils supplied with DC current to create a variable air gap flux density distribution. In fact, the two SC bulks modulate and redirect the flux lines produced by the coil thanks to their magnetic field shielding property. This results in a periodic space variation of the axial component of the flux density. A 3D electromagnetic modeling based on a finite element solution is developed to demonstrate the relevance of using the magnetic shielding properties of SC bulks. In order to verify the screening properties of the SC bulk, a prototype of the proposed inductor was constructed and tested in the laboratory.


Here we introduce some new concepts appeared in post-genomic era,such as genomics,structural genomics,proteomics and functional proteomics etc,and new techniques as well as its applications.


This paper presents experimental investigations of the effect of Lamb wave excitation frequency on detection of a given delamination in composite plates. Typical aerospace type composite plates are used and integrated piezoelectric transducers function as both actuator and sensor. Also, a scanning Laser Doppler Vibrometer (LDV) is used for preliminary sensing of structural responses when excited by a single PZT actuator. Results in time domain are quantified by a damage index calculation based on modified L2 error norm. Phase difference calculations based on complex continuous wavelet transform (CWT) and Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT) are presented. Experimental results show a significant effect of incident Lamb waves on delamination signature.Copyright © 2011 by ASME


Bacterial cytochrome cbb3 oxidases are members of the haeme‐copper oxidase superfamily that are important for energy conservation by a variety of proteobacteria under oxygen‐limiting conditions. The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa is unusual in possessing two operons that each potentially encode a cbb3 oxidase (cbb3‐1 or cbb3‐2). Our results demonstrate that, unlike typical enzymes of this class, the cbb3‐1 oxidase has an important metabolic function at high oxygen tensions. In highly aerated cultures, cbb3‐1 abundance and expression were greater than that of cbb3‐2, and only loss of cbb3‐1 influenced growth. Also, the activity of cbb3‐1, not cbb3‐2, inhibited expression of the alternative oxidase CioAB and thus influenced a signal transduction pathway much like that found in the α‐proteobacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Cbb3‐2 appeared to play a more significant role under oxygen limitation by nature of its increased abundance and expression compared to highly aerated cultures, and the regulation of the cbb3‐2 operon by the putative iron‐sulphur protein Anr. These results indicate that each of the two P. aeruginosa cbb3 isoforms have assumed specialized energetic and regulatory roles.


The relevance of the work is due to the growing influence of the processes of globalization and the need for a systematic and theoretical understanding of the interdependence of different levels of development and adaptation of the political system in the modern world. The situation of the COVID pandemic, which began in 2020 and demonstrated the dominance of global attitudes and rules over regional and local attitudes and rules, gives special relevance to this article. The purpose of the work is to clarify the essence and possibilities of applying system analysis to the process of public administration at the level of global integration, regional and local levels of public administration. At the same time, the essence of system analysis is not reduced to solving problems of management and decision-making on very complex problems, but a complete system and methodology for analyzing the adaptation practices of modern political systems at the global, regional and local levels is built. The author comes to the conclusion that it is the local level that is the basis for the formation of the modern political system, and it is worth focusing on it, and not on the global and regional levels, when carrying out certain political changes and transformations. The regional level is an add-on to the local level, and can include multiple local levels. The task of the regional level is to prevent conflict between multiple localities, to ensure their harmonious coexistence and development. Due to the spread of digitalization, the regional level loses its function as an intermediary between the local and the global. The global level of formation of the political system today, in turn, is an "umbrella" level. It appears as a categorical imperative of the political system, but it is not its mandatory guide or guide of development.


Since its founding, NASA has been dedicated to the advancement of aeronautics and space science. The NASA Scientific and Technical Information (STI) Office plays a key part in helping NASA maintain this important role. The NASA STI Office provides access to the NASA STI Database, the largest collection of aeronautical and space science STI in the world. The Office is also NASA's institutional mechanism for disseminating the results of its research and development activities. Specialized services that help round out the STI Office's diverse offerings include creating custom thesauri, building customized databases, organizing and publishing research results ... even providing videos.


Objective To investigate the effects of spironolactone on the myocardial fibrosis and left ventricular remodeling during the development of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in renovascular hypertension rats. Methods Two-kidney, one-clip (2K1C) renovascular hypertension was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats. The rats were randomized to non-intervention group (N group), spironolactone group (S group) that gorged spironolactone 50mg·kg-1-d-1. The sham-operated rats served as control group (C group). The changes of heart structure and function in all groups were observed with echocardiogram. The concentration of angiotensin Ⅱ (Ang Ⅱ) and aldosterone (ALD) in left ventricle were assessed by radioimmunoassay. The Woessner's method was used to estimate the collagen content in left ventricle. Results After 8 weeks treatment, blood pressure, LVEDD, LVPWD, RWT , LVM, LVM1, MESS and mFS in S group decrease slightly compared with N group (P0.05). The concentration of Ang Ⅱ in S group is much lower than in N group (5.86±3.50 ng/g vs 8.10±2.64 ng/g; P0.05). The collagen content (4.49±0.98 mg/100mg vs 5.46±1.12 mg/100mg; P0.01), PVCA(24.68±4.62% vs 35.28±5.80%; P0.01) and CVF (2.18±0.20% vs 3.26±0.28%; P0.01) in S group are much lower than in N group. Conclusion: (1) Renovascular hypertension, LVH, myocardial fibrosis and left ventricular dysfunction can be developed in 2K1C rats. (2) Spironolactone is very effective in reducing myocardial fibrosis, but has weak effects on blood pressure and suppressing the changes of structure and function of left ventricular in renovascular hypertension rats.


Sequential IgE-binding epitopes were identified on the molecular surface of the Pis v 1 (2S albumin), Pis v 2 (11S globulin/legumin) and Pis v 3 (7S globulin/vicilin)—major allergens from pistachio (Pistacia vera) seeds—using the Spot technique. They essentially consist of hydrophilic and electropositively charged residues well exposed on the surface of the allergens. Most of the epitopic regions identified on Pis v 1 and Pis v 3 do not coincide with the putative N-glycosylation sites and thus are not considered as glycotopes. Surface analysis of these epitopic regions indicates a high degree of conformational similarity with the previously identified epitopic regions of the corresponding allergens Ana o 1 (vicilin), Ana o 2 (legumin) and Ana o 3 (2S albumin) from the cashew (Anacardium occidentale) nut. These results offer a molecular basis for the IgE-binding cross-reactivity often observed between pistachio and cashew nut. They support the recommendation for prescribing pistachio avoidance in cashew allergic patients. Other conformational similarities were identified with the corresponding allergens Ses i 1 (2S albumin), Ses i 3 (vicilin) and Ses i 6 (legumin) from sesame (Sesamum indicum), and Jug r 1 (2S albumin), Jug r 2 (vicilin) and Jug r 4 (legumin) from walnut (Juglans regia). Conversely, conformation of most of the epitopic regions of the pistachio allergens often differs from that of epitopes occurring on the molecular surface of the corresponding Ara h 1 (vicilin), Ara h 2 (2S albumin) and Ara h 3 (legumin) allergens from peanut (Arachis hypogaea).


The paper introduced the third-party satisfaction measurement and refined appraisal for quality continuous improvement programs launched by the hospital, and the PDCA management tools which optimized quality of care and patient satisfaction. The hospital is thus recommended to leverage databases for big data comparison, and carry out refined management on such basis, for the purposes of better performance management, higher doctor-patient friendship and patient trust.

Key words:
Total quality management; Third-party measurement; Patient satisfaction; Service optimization


Persian narrative sources provide a colorful picture of Mughal courtly life, but in order to zoom in on cultural practices one has to turn to the artefacts of cultural pursuits. This article studies one specimen of the empirical treasure trove of Arabic manuscripts in South Asia in order to approach a lacuna in Mughal scholarship: the role of Arabic at the Mughal court. In the following, I will analyze the different paratextual layers of a manuscript of the thirteenth century Arabic grammar commentary Sharḥ al-Radī by Radī al-Dīn al-Astarābādhī to study its reading and transmission. The manuscript version represents a written artefact, which emerged out of a series of intellectual engagements. On the one hand, these textual engagements offer a perspective on the manuscript's initial owner, Saʿd Allāh Khān (d. 1656), and his intellectual pursuits, as well as the scholarly framework in which he was brought up and worked in. On the other hand, the history of this manuscript's circulation highlights the treatment of Arabic written artefacts at Shāh Jahān's court. In an exemplary manner, the manuscript's history of circulation demonstrates how courtly elites engaged with Arabic during the seventeenth century.


Topology optimization in the field of automotive development strives for conceptual car components which are efficiently designed for multiple, partly conflicting loadings. Structures designed to manage nonlinear loading conditions which are often seen in crash events typically require a maximization of energy absorption while static loadings typically require a minimization of compliance of the structure. The hybrid cellular automata algorithm, which aims for a uniform distribution of the internal energy density, offers an efficient solution for the single objective problems but may fail where large energy differences occur in different load cases. Recently, it was demonstrated that a multi-objective optimization can be performed by linearly weighting and careful scaling of the load case energy levels. In this paper the approach is applied to the practical example of a vehicle control arm structure which is subject to two compliance load cases and an energy maximization load case and compared to a sequential optimization approach of the disciplines. Results demonstrate the practical feasibility of the proposed methods. Particularly, the scaled weighting approach yields a set of non-dominated trade-off solutions, facilitating the selection of a suitable balance between energy absorption and stiffness requirements.


The astounding ability of plants to make smart decisions in response to environment is evident. As they have evolved a long list of complex and unique processes that involve photosynthesis, totipotency, long-distance signaling, and ability to restore structural and metabolic memory, recognition, and communication via emission of the selected class of volatiles. In recent years, use of metabolite profiling techniques in detection, unam - biguous identification, quantification, and rapid analysis of the minute quantity of cel lular micromolecules has increased considerably. Metabolomics is key to understand the chemical footprints during different phases of growth and development of plants. To feed the ever-increasing population with limited inputs and in a rapidly changing environment is the biggest challenges that the world agriculture faces today. To achieve the project genetic gains, the breeding strategies employing marker-assisted selection for high-yielding varieties and identifying germplasm resistant to abiotic and biotic stresses are already in vogue. Henceforth, new approaches are needed to discover and deploy agronomically important gene/s that can help crops better withstand weather extremes and growing pest prevalence worldwide. In this context, metabolic engineering technol - ogy looks viable option, with immense potential to deliver the future crops. leaves and early flowering. The Arabidopsis At-LBD37/ASL39-overexpressor plants showed similar morphological leaf changes (i.e., hyponastic leaves), and had increased levels of amino acids and metabolites related to nitrogen metabolism. Subsequent profiling of metabolites and transcriptomes of the rice Os- LBD37/ASL39 -overexpressing lines ascertained the same function of Os- LBD37/ASL39 in rice and Arabidopsis . The analysis revealed notable features in rice overexpressor plants including early heading, metabolite alterations (related to nitrogen metabolism), and advanced leaf senescence. These findings established a close association between Os- LBD37/ ASL39 and nitrogen metabolism in rice. for small compounds, including primary metabolites; ultra-pressure liquid chromatography-quadruple-TOF-MS (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) for hydrophilic compounds; capillary electrophoresis-TOF-MS (CE-TOF-MS) for ionic compounds; and liquid chromatography-ion trap-TOF-MS (LC-IT-TOF-MS) for polar lipids. The study defined a correlation between genetic diversity metabolite trait a amylose/total samples, rice varieties, and the two mutants, high-, middle-, low-amylose/ total starch ratios, respectively. The amylose/total starch ratio was found to be associated with metabolites in rice kernels of the cultivars. this association was not observed in the mutants. The two loss-of-function mutants- e1 , a starch synthase IIIa ( SSIIIa )-deficient mutant and


ABSTRACT This study examines the effects of Middle East conflicts on the returns of national and international oil companies. We apply an event study method to assess the impact of such conflicts on the abnormal returns of 33 oil companies. We categorize 20 conflicts into three types—international, interstate, and intrastate—for the period of 1990–2013. Our results suggest that these conflicts have more positive effects on national oil companies (NOCs) than on international oil companies (IOCs). In addition, the effects on IOCs and NOCs statistically differ by the three conflict types. More specifically, while international and intrastate conflicts have positive and long-lasting effects on NOCs, these affects are not significant for IOCs. Interstate conflicts present higher cumulative abnormal return after the event for NOCs than IOCs. In conclusion, the impact of conflicts manifests differently among the various types of oil companies and depend on conflict type.


The GPRS link level performance has been usually assessed considering the allocation of a single slot per TDMA frame. However, multiple slots may be allocated to a single user in order to increase the transmission bandwidth. This paper compares the GPRS multislot link level performance under two interference scenarios that can be associated with performance bounds. Numerical results show that the interference pattern can have an impact on the link level performance.