The purposes of this study are to identify the level of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) and identify the relationships among different components of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) of mathematics teachers in primary schools. The instrument used in this study is TPACK survey instrument (Pamuk et al., 2013) to measure teacher's technological pedagogical content knowledge. The participants of this study consist of 173 mathematics teachers from 24 primary schools of five areas in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, Indonesia. The finding of descriptive analysis was that the majority of the respondents reported moderate level of TPACK's components. The structural model test results show that the value of chi square is 4.843; P-value is 0.184; CMIN/DF is 1.614; RMSEA is 0.063; GFI is 0.993; AGFI is 0.911; TLI is 0.989; and CFI is 0.999. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test all hypotheses. The finding of hyphothesis test shows that there are significant relationships exist among TPACK components. The implication of this study is to increase primary schools mathematics teachers' ability about technological pedagogical content knowledge. In addition, primary schools mathematics teachers should constantly be balance with the ability of technological pedagogical content knowledge components so that learning in classroom could be meaningful.


Attached we send our detailed reply to your review of our manuscript. We are grateful for your suggestions and recommendations, which we incorporated in the text. We extended description of new devices in Section 3 and modified throughout the text. We also corrected headings of tables, captions of figures and added one more figure suggesting an optimal workflow. Last but not least we tried to improve English grammar,


Background: Teeth can provide evidence about the nature and extent of variation among populations. Teeth are also valuable evidence in living and nonliving populations for anthropological, genetic, odontologic, and forensic investigations. It is known that dental traits are characterized by low sexual dimorphism. This study aims to analyze dental traits of permanent teethes within a group of related individuals on the basis of the frequency of dental morphological and metric traits. Methodology: 82 adult individuals were grouped according to relation and according to gender. Twenty-six dental morphological traits were scored from prepared dental casts of all individuals. Dental metric data were recorded for 14 bucco-lingual crown dimensions and mesio-distal dimensions. Results: The study showed high frequency of tuberculum dentale, carabelli's cusp and four-cusped mandibular second molars. Dental traits with low frequency included winging, interruption groove, congenital absence of incisors, four- cusped mandibular first molars, and six-cusped mandibular first molars. In addition to, statistically significant differences between the related and non-related groups with respect to the frequency of occurrence of the winging, accessory cusps of maxillary second premolars, hypocone, lingual cusp number of mandibular second premolars, anterior fovea, Deflecting wrinkle, Protostylid, groove pattern of mandibular first molars and cusp number of mandibular second molars. Regarding metric traits, the study demonstrated significant difference between means of buccolingual diameter of upper canines, upper second molars and lower first premolars of related and unrelated individuals and mesodistal diameter of upper lateral incisors. Conclusion: low frequency traits would be of great value for evaluation of kinships more than the common traits that be of limited value in kinship evaluation while due to their high frequency in different population.


The present study aimed at investigating the impact of Multiple Intelligences (MI)-based activities on developing the speaking skills and self-efficacy of second year preparatory stage students. The quasiexperimental design was used for conducting this research. A group of 2 year preparatory students were randomly selected from Nawsa ELBahr preparatory school for girls in the academic year 2018-2019, 42 students for the experimental group and 48 students for the control group. The instruments of the study were: 1) A speaking skills checklist; 2) A speaking skills pre-posttest; and 3) An EFL self-efficacy scale. Results of the study indicated that the MIbased activities proved to be effective in developing the target speaking skills, namely: fluency, vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar and comprehensibility, besides developing students' self-efficacy. Based on the findings, a set of recommendations and suggestions for further research were highlighted.


The crystal structure of dehydrated Cs5.8Al5.8Si90.2O192 has been determined by Rietveld refinement of synchrotron powder diffraction data. The structure was refined in the Pnma space group to Rwp = 2.52% and R(F2) = 5.32%. Cs ions were found with partial occupancy in three different positions. One of these, Cs1, is in the channel intersection, near the sinusoidal channel 10-ring system and adjacent to a four-membered ring. The second, Cs2, is in the straight channel 10-ring. The third, Cs3, is 3.18 A from the Cs1 and also in the sinusoidal channel 10-ring area. The total Cs occupancy is 5.32(3) Cs ions, which compares well with the Cs unit cell content of 5.8 calculated from the chemical analysis. Modeling of the effect of aluminum siting on the position of Cs+ ions in the zeolite channel indicates that the Cs+ ion has its closest interaction with an oxygen atom attached to the aluminum atom for Al substitution at each of the 12 ZSM-5 T-sites. From this result we conclude that Cs+ ion positioning provide...


These Stones of the Belluga were collected by Dr. Cook at Astracan, and sent to Dr. Sanches at Petersburgh, by whose Favour they came to me.


Dense network deployment is an important approach to meet the requirements of the future mobile communications. LTE-Advanced Heterogeneous Networks (HetNets) has been introduced by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to increase cell throughput, offload data from macro-cell and improve indoor coverage. However, it also brings serious inter-cell interference with the co-channel deployment. Although the Almost Blank Subframes (ABS) scheme, one solution of Enhanced Inter-Cell Interference Coordination (eICIC), mitigates the interference, it results in undesirable fairness, huge difference of users' throughput in the system and even the incapability of communication. To address this problem, we introduce Dynamic Subframes Assignment Guaranteeing Fairness (DSAGF), in which the ABS pattern is set to mitigate inter-cell interference while guaranteeing fairness. As demonstrated in the simulation results, DSAGF significant decline in outage ratios of user equipments, narrowing difference of users' throughput, and improvement for fairness with inter-cell interference mitigation.


The utility model relates to a feeding device of a pasting machine, in particular to a single component silica gel feeding device, which comprises a box body. A groove is arranged at one side of the box body, a silica gel tank is arranged inside the groove, a piston barrel is inserted in the silica gel tank, an air cylinder used for glue extraction is arranged at the upper part of the silica gel tank, a piston rod is connected at the lower end of the air cylinder, one end of the piston rod is extended into the piston barrel, and a sealing cover is arranged at the upper end of the piston barrel; the air cylinder is fixed on a flat plate, a supporting rod arranged at the bottom part of the flat plate is connected with the sealing cover, and the two ends of the flat plate are respectively connected with a lifting air cylinder; a glue outlet head is connected at the upper part of the piston barrel, and is connected with a guide tube, the other end of the guide tube is connected with a glue suction pump in the box body, the other end of the glue suction pump is connected with a first buffer tank through the guide tube, a second buffer tank is also arranged at the upper part of the box body, and is connected with the first buffer tank. In the utility model, the glue can be continually and smoothly supplied and the glue is evenly extruded. In addition, the structure of the utility model is simple and the maintenance is convenient.


The paper describes an approach for extending the potential to estimate unsteady flow rate through oil hydraulic pipelines and components in real time, in combination with two previously proposed approaches. In this method, unsteady flow rate at an arbitrary point along the pipeline is estimated by using hydraulic pipeline dynamics and only two measured pressures at two distant points along the pipeline. This method has some advantages, that is, it is more convenient to install without disturbance and highly responsive to flow rate changes. We proposed the following two minor methods: an interpolation method and an extrapolation method. This paper mainly describes the interpolation method. In the interpolation method, unsteady flow rate at an arbitrary internal point between two points to measure the pressures is given by convolutions between the weighting functions and the two measured pressure values of the two distant points. High-speed operations of the convolutions in real time using a microcomputer can be simply achieved with the use of only software. Under unsteady laminar oil flow conditions, good agreement between the estimated and directly measured flow rate waveforms illustrates the validity of the method proposed here.


Ubiquitous applications require hybrid continuous query processing which processes both on-line data stream and spatial data in the disk. In the hybrid continuous spatial query processing, disk access costs for the high-volume spatial data should be minimized. However, previous indexing methods cannot reduce the disk seek time, because it is difficult that the data are stored in contiguity with others. Also, existing methods for the space-filling curve considering data cluster have the problem which does not cluster available data for queries. Therefore, we propose the region storage structure for efficient data access in hybrid continues spatial query processing. This paper shows that there is an obvious improvement of query processing costs through the contiguous data storing method and the group processing for user queries based on the region storage structure.


Secondary school teachers contribute to the development of food-literate citizens among adolescents in food and nutrition curricula in many countries. (1) Their dissemination of sound food and nutrition information towards the promotion of healthy food practices is vital for the success of food education, alongside nutritional and health goals. Prior research suggests that secondary school teachers with varied educational backgrounds such as teaching outside their area of subject expertise may affect their exposure to sound food and nutrition knowledge with detrimental consequences on their con fi dence to teach food curricula. (2) Inquiry into teachers ' food and nutrition professional learning requirements is necessary for the design of suitable professional development. This qualitative study explored the perspectives of food and nutrition professionals including academics and pre-service teacher educators; professional development providers; and food education curriculum developers. The study aimed to explore teachers ' food and nutrition learning requirements and provide rich data for subsequent research into their professional development needs. Purposive sampling was used to recruit eligible volunteers n = 19 from food and nutrition education professional networks in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, Korea, and the United Kingdom. The interviewees participated in a one-on-one, in-depth, semi-structured interview. Each interview was audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Codes were assigned to the transcripts in the process of inductive the-matic analysis using NVivo software. There were three themes constructed from the data: adolescent food, nutrition, and health dilemmas; the value of food and nutrition curricula enactment; and in fl uences on teachers ' access to food and nutrition education. Participants reported that adolescents ' exposure to health risks such as obesity and dental caries are likely associated with the market-ing and consumption of ultra-processed products, and their socioeconomic circumstances. They af fi rmed the potential for school-based food curricula to develop critical food literacy that can help students to mitigate health risks. Participants described the potential for


The invention provides a multi-end heat supply first type absorption type heat pump, which belongs to the technical field of afterheat utilization and heat pump/refrigeration and mainly consists of a first generator, a second generator, a first absorber, a second absorber, a first condenser, a second condenser, an evaporator, a first throttle valve, a second throttle valve, a first solution pump, a second solution pump, a first solution heat exchanger and a second solution heat exchanger, wherein the first absorber provides solution for the second absorber, the second absorber provides solution for the first generator, the first generator provides solution for the second generator, the second generator provides solution for the first absorber, the first generator provides coolant steam for the first condenser, the second generator provides coolant steam for the second absorber and the second condenser, the first condenser and the second condenser provide coolant liquid for the evaporator, the evaporator provides the coolant steam for the first absorber, and the multi-end heat supply first type absorption type heat pump is formed.


WO3–Bi2WO6 heterostructures were synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method using WO3 nanorods and Bi(NO3)3 solution as raw materials. The Bi2WO6 nanosheets uniformly anchored onto the surface of the WO3 nanorods. The photocatalytic activity of the samples was assessed for degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) and phenol under solar light irradiation. The WO3–Bi2WO6 heterostructures showed higher photocatalytic activities than pure WO3 and Bi2WO6. As the content of Bi2WO6 increased, the photocatalytic activity of the WO3–Bi2WO6 heterojunction was enhanced and the optimal sample was WO3–Bi2WO6 with a nWO3 : nBi3+ mole ratio of 5 : 3. The efficient separation of electron–hole pairs because of the staggered band potentials between WO3 and Bi2WO6 may account for the higher photoactivity of WO3–Bi2WO6 hybrid structures. Radical scavenger experiments indicate that holes (h+) and superoxide radicals (˙O2−) were the main active species for RhB degradation during the photocatalytic process.


Today's world is full of competition. Peoplesacrifice many things just to be in the race.Luxury has the foremost priority in every person"s life .This luxury of human being has lead to various problems in the society. It had caused a great threat to the environment in which we live. Solutions are necessary to be found for these problems.The complete study of surroundings at the institute lead to the knowledge of difficulties faced by the students as well as the staff and other people those who arrive at the institute for one or the other reason.Various problems faced by the bike riders as well as other personal vehicle users where keenly observed and studied thoroughly. Problems faced by the people arriving at an institute using their private vehicles are noise pollution ,air pollution ,accidents due to rush ,insufficient parking area ,improper and unmanaged parking system available at the institute,damage caused to the vehicle while parking and imparking the vehicle and excess use of the non renewable natural resources like petrol ,diesel ,CNG gas etc.


Public acceptance has become a decisive factor for promoting technical progress. This is especially true in Germany, due primarily to political pressure to ensure checks on ecological consequences and on the integrity of technical products and processes. As a consequence, sophisticated testing procedures have been developed to prove engineering integrity. Stress analysis and materials testing procedures are typical examples of such developments. However, modern testing procedures require the employment of the computer, not only for the control of the testing process, but also for data acquisition and analysis. These will be outlined for the modern versions of well known classical materials testing procedures such as the tensile test and the impact bending test. The difficulties of obtaining results acceptable by German authorities for approval to build and employ new technical apparatus and materials are discussed. The concept of developing simple test procedures which are transparent and easy to check is emphasised.


The usage of machine learning in finance has been increased a lot in the past decade. Machine learning is a new methodological innovation. Finance uses many machine learning methods (supervised, unsupervised, reinforcement learning, and others) to solve fundamentally different problems than traditional economic approaches. Process automation is the most appreciated application of machine learning in finance. Machine learning technology can automate repetitive tasks and replace manual labor, as well as increase productivity. Machine learning allows companies to optimize their costs, enhance customer experiences, and scale-up services.


Experiments have been carried out to understand the effects of several factors on the adhe rence of enamels. Microstructure of the steel-enamel interface of the fired enamel was also investigated. It is confirmed that enamelling steel (extra low carbon rimmed steel) containing 0.023% copper is suitable for the base of the direct-on enamel and also provides good adherence to the regular ground coat enamels. It is shown that the pretreatment is effective in most cases. Concentration profiles of iron across the steel-enamel interface show simple decreasing curves in all cases. There is no correlation between such a profile and the adherence index of the specimen. An "interlocking" structure was observed in the steel-enamel interface. During the firing process, the thickness of this structure increased probably by the action of local electric cells on the steel surface whose cathodes are com posed of "smut" (pickling residue) and precipitates from nickel flashing or adherencepromoting agents. As the thick structure develops, the adherence index increased. In conclusion, the mechanical joint through the "interlocking" is the main contributor to the adherence of enamel within an area of practical conditions. Although several chemical reactions take place in the enamelling process, a chemical force mediated by the melting of the iron oxide is universal, but it may be less important. [Received September 20, 1982]


The interpretation of statistics in sociology, in particular in data analysis, faces the problem of realistic interpretations or not of the ideal-types that the researcher can identify. With an investigation of school willingness of children from immigrant families, we show how one can hesitate in choosing a realistic interpretation or a constructivist interpretation of the results. We broaden the discussion by a fictitious dialogue between supporters of each camp.


The quantification of percolation processes and deep drainage rates in cracking clays is challenging due to the existence of multiple flow pathways, including desiccation crack networks, and the effect of variability in antecedent soil moisture and rain event properties. While most previous research on this topic focuses on long‐term average rates, this study focusses on inter‐event dynamics. The study uses data from soil moisture sensors distributed vertically down 4 m profiles of Vertosol and Chromosol soils across 13 sites over an area of approximately 20 km2. The objectives were to estimate the temporal and spatial variability of deep drainage rates and to investigate the effect of antecedent soil moisture conditions and rain event properties on deep drainage rates and percolation dynamics. 35 deep drainage events over a 40‐month period contributed 78 % of the total deep drainage of 254 mm at 4 m depth. Average deep drainage estimates were about 15 % (ranging from 0 – 80 % between sites) of total rainfall and irrigation in the Vertosol and 8% (0 – 24 %) in the Chromosol. The event water travel times at 4 m depth were 0.25 – 38 hr and 14 – 39 hr in the Vertosol and Chromosol respectively. The event deep drainage rates averaged across sites were associated with event rainfall volumes (linear regression R2 = 0.40), with the effect of antecedent conditions evident only when looking at inter‐site differences. The percolation response time was strongly associated with higher rainfall intensities (R2 = 0.33) with no evidence from the linear regression of an antecedent moisture effect.


LAMP(Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification) as a novel method has been used to rapidly detect pathogenic bacteria in raw milk and dairy products.Its advantages include easy operation,rapid detection and strong specificity,which is the reason to be widely used to detect pathogenic bacteria in dairy at present.This paper reviewed the principle,identifying and detection methods of LAMP,as well as its applications in raw milk and dairy products detection.


It discloses a method of making a light active device. In particular, the method comprises integrating by a printing method, an epitaxial lift-off solar a small parabolic concentrator array. Therefore, the method comprising preparing a growth substrate, and depositing at least one protective layer on a growth substrate, and depositing at least one sacrificial layer on the protective layer, at least one photoactive cells on the sacrifice layer host depositing a, the method comprising: etching at least two parallel grooves of the pattern extend sacrificial layer from at least one photoactive cell, and depositing a metal on at least one photoactive cell, the metal and be bonded to the substrate, the method discloses that includes removing the sacrificial layer, the using one or more etching steps. Host substrate may be a siloxane, when rounded to form a stamp that is used to integrate the solar cell concentrator array. Also disclosed a method of making a growth substrate, and the growth substrate manufactured thereby. .FIELD 1


On November 15 and 16, 2011, the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) North America Hydration Committee organized a second international conference on hydration and health in Miami Beach, Florida. (A first conference on hydration and health promotion was held in November 2006.) The 2011 conference featured experts in the field of hydration from the United States, Europe, and Asia, and attracted attendees from government, industry, professional organizations, and academia. The conference reviewed the available science on hydration and related health issues, highlighting new and recent research. The conference also provided a scientific discussion of the compilation of data on fluid intake as it relates to health, well-being, disease, and human performance. The meeting format featured …


Modern large-scale infrastructure systems have typical complicated structure and dynamics, and extensive simulations are required to evaluate their performance. The probabilistic collocation method (PCM) has been developed to effectively simulate a system's performance under parametric uncertainty. In particular, it allows reduced-order representation of the mapping between uncertain parameters and system performance measures/outputs, using only a limited number of simulations; the resultant representation of the original system is provably accurate over the likely range of parameter values. In this paper, we extend the formal analysis of single-variable PCM to the multivariate case, where multiple uncertain parameters may or may not be independent. Specifically, we provide conditions that permit multivariate PCM to precisely predict the mean of original system output. We also explore additional capabilities of the multivariate PCM, in terms of cross-statistics prediction, relation to the minimum mean-square estimator, computational feasibility for large dimensional parameter sets, and sample-based approximation of the solution. At the end of the paper, we demonstrate the application of multivariate PCM in evaluating air traffic system performance under weather uncertainties.


The invention discloses a cross-channel scheduling method and apparatus for RTT (round trip time) measurement positioning. The method includes the following steps that: the working channel of each access point (AP), a measured terminal (STA) list and measurement channels in a network are obtained, the measurement of STAs being required by each AP, the measurement channels being working channels of the STAs; and all measurement channels in the network are traversed, and the following actions are executed for each measurement channel: with the working channels of the APs adopted as indexes, all the working channels are traversed, APs on traversed working channels are switched to measurement channels, and the switched APs are instructed to perform RTT measurement on STAs working on the measurement channels, the measurement of the STAs being required by the APs, and the working channels of adjacent APs are different. With the method and device of the invention adopted, the technical problem of the shortage of high-frequency resources can be solved.


An automatic rhythm performing apparatus capable of simultaneously producing a plurality of rhythmic tones having the optimum volume relationship irrespective of the total volume of the rhythmic tones. A plurality of rhythmic tone signal generating devices generate a plurality of rhythmic tone signals corresponding respectively to a plurality of rhythmic musical instruments. A combining device combines the rhythmic tone signals to provide a combined output signal as an output of this apparatus, the level of which can be varied by a signal level varying device. There are provided a detecting device for detecting the level of the combined output signal and a controlling device for separately controlling respective signal levels of the rhythmic tone signals in accordance with the detected level of the combined output signal, thereby making the volume relationship of the plurality of the rhythmic tones optimum.


We derive an effective low-energy theory for a ferromagnetic $(2N+1)$-leg spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ ladder with strong $XXZ$ anisotropy $\left|J_{\parallel}^z\right|\ll \left|J_{\parallel}^{xy}\right|$, subject to a kink-like non-uniform magnetic field $B_z(X)$ which induces a domain wall (DW). Using Bosonization of the quantum spin operators, we show that the quantum dynamics is dominated by a single one-dimensional mode, and is described by a sine-Gordon model. The parameters of the effective model are explored as functions of $N$, the easy-plane anisotropy $\Delta=-J_{\parallel}^z/J_{\parallel}^{xy}$, and the strength and profile of the transverse field $B_z(X)$. We find that at sufficiently strong and asymmetric field, this mode may exhibit a quantum phase transition from a Luttinger liquid to a spin-density-wave (SDW) ordered phase. As the effective Luttinger parameter grows with the number of legs in the ladder ($N$), the SDW phase progressively shrinks in size, recovering the gapless dynamics expected in the two-dimensional limit $N\rightarrow\infty$.


Ecotin is a pancreatic serine protease inhibitor which is found in the periplasm of Eschenchia coli and is remarkable in its ability to inhibit chymotrypsin, trypsin, and elastase equally well (3). We recently cloned and sequenced the 486-bp ecotin gene and determined its reactive site (7) and have overexpressed ecotin to facilitate determination of an X-ray crystal structure (6). The function of ecotin remains unknown, but since it resides in the periplasm and does not inhibit any E. coli proteases or esterases thus far tested (3, 10), it may be a defensive molecule (2). We propose the name eco for the ecotin gene. The position of the eco gene was determined by using a gene-mapping membrane, kindly provided by Akihiro Noda, which contains the 476-clone miniset that includes the entire E. coli genome (4). A 448-bp DNA fragment was used as the probe; it consists of 273 bases 5' to the initiating ATG codon and 175 bases encoding the N-terminal region of the protein. The probe hybridized to clones 372 (19D1) and 373 (22A6), placing it between kb 2308 and 2318 on the physical map, which corresponds to approximately 48 min on the genetic map (1, 11). The eco gene contains sites for


The paper reports our computer-assisted dictionary-making system for English-Chinese learner's dictionary. The system aims to enhance language quality and format consistency in dictionary compilation, which is realized by a number of linguistic analyzing modules and editorial assistant tools. The system embeds a) a concordancer of equivalent words in English-Chinese bilingual corpora based on probability coefficients, b) a collocation extraction tool over grammatical relations by shallow syntactic parsing, and c) a colligation finder based on part-of-speech tagged corpora. All these lead to better language quality of learner's dictionaries. In addition, a desktop publishing tool and database human-machine interface are implemented to ensure format consistency in the entries produced by different lexicographers, thereby contributing to the quality of the dictionaries. The system streamlines and optimizes the processes of compiling, revising, editing, proofreading and type-setting. It distinguishes itself from other similar systems in that it pays more attentions to learners with much information derived from bilingual and learner's corpora by statistical techniques and shallow parsing.


In this paper, we address the problem of the feasible SNR region for a multicast MIMO downlink channel. We characterize the feasible SNR region for a multicast group consisting of two mobile users. Based on this characterization, we propose solving the max-min SNR problem over the smallest convex and downward comprehensive superset of the feasible SNR region. We show, that the max-min SNR transmit beamformer is achievable via maximization of a weighted sum of SNRs. Both transmitter and the receivers are equipped with multiple antenna elements. The receive beamformers are fixed but arbitrary and each transmission is a single-mode transmission (no multiplexing and parallel transmissions of symbols).


Acute polyradiculoneuritis (Guillain-Barre syndrome – GBS) is a multifocal autoimmune form of neuropathy. This neuropathy has its classicalforms – acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuritis (AIDP) affects myelin sheath and primary axonal form is characterizedby pure motor disorder AMAN or severe mixed sensory-motor form AMSAN. Among the variants or focal forms can be differentiatedMiller-Fisher syndrome with clinical trias – ophthalmoplegia, ataxia and areflexia – and pharyngo-cervico-brachial form with dysphagia,weakness of neck and brachial muscles. Besides these two most frequent variants there some other forms – Bickerstaff brainstemencephalitis, paraparetic form of GBS (Guillain-Barre syndrome), cranial neuropathies, acute pandysautonomia, pure sensory form ofGBS. The individual variants are charactrized by clinical symptoms, the course, by abnormal neurophysiological investigations, therapy.


Understanding internet problems and finding a uniform angle is very important.This paper puts forward the Internet problems under the views of time,space and human behavior,because there are problems in time dimension,problems in space dimension and problems in human behavior dimension.Consequently,the paper sorts out systematically the analytical frame of Internet problems,and attempts to construct an operative categorial construction of Internet problems.


Tetraphenyl-butadiene is the wavelength shifter most widely used in combination with liquid argon. The latter emits scintillation photons with a wavelength of 127 nm that need to be downshifted to be detected by photomultipliers with glass or quartz windows. Tetraphenyl-butadiene has been demonstrated to have an extremely high conversion efficiency, possibly higher than 100% for 127 nm photons, while there is no precise information about the time dependence of its emission. It is usually assumed to be exponentially decaying with a characteristic time of the order of one ns, as an extrapolation from measurements with exciting radiation in the near UV . This work shows that tetraphenyl-butadiene, when excited by 127 nm photons, re-emits photons not only with a very short decay time, but also with slower ones due to triplet states de-excitations. This fact can strongly contribute to clarifying the anomalies in liquid-argon scintillation light reported in the literature since the 1970s. Precision measurements of the properties of TPB, when excited by Vacuum Ultra Violet photons are being carried on at the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory in Campinas (State of São Paulo).


Concerning a lack of spatial effects analysis in the current studies, this paper adopts the analysis method in spatial econometrics to study the convergence of China's interprovincial international trade. Spatial autocorrelation


This preface contains a summary of the contents of the volume. We start with a rough description of the main theorems. We then give short descriptions of the contents of the various chapters. At the end, we will add a couple of remarks on the overall structure of the proof, notably our use of induction. The preface can serve as an introduction. The beginning of the actual text, in the form of the first two or three sections of Chapter 1, represents a different sort of introduction. It will be our attempt to motivate what follows from a few basic principles. A reader might consider going directly to these sections after reading the first half of the preface here. One could then return to the more technical second half (on the organization of the volume) only as needed later. Automorphic representations for GLpNq have been important objects of study for many years. We recall that GLpNq, the general linear group of invertible pN ˆNq-matrices, assigns a group GLpN,Rq to any commutative ring R with identity. For example, R could be a fixed number field F , or the ring A " AF of adèles over F . Automorphic representations of GLpNq are the irreducible representations of GLpN,Aq that occur in the decomposition of its regular representation on L2 `


We describe four methods to capture Kelp Gulls (Larus dominicanus) and estimated its efficiency in Talcahuano, Chile. The four methods were: (i) hand-net, (ii) sliding bow lasso, (iii) pliable arch, and (iv) adapted Bal-chatri. The most successful method was the adapted Bal-chatri followed by the sliding bow lasso. The hand-net and the pliable arch were the least efficient methods. The efficiency of these methods diminished after the first capture seemingly due to rapid learning by the gulls. We also comment on the gull's behavioral displays during capture events. Manuscrito recibido el 7 de enero de 2010, aceptado el 16 de marzo de 2010. Editor asociado: Guillermo


THE LOGIC OF UNCERTAINTY: INTERORGANIZATIONAL COORDINATION IN INTERNATIONAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE Louise K. Comfort Institute of Governmental Studies University of California, Berkeley and Graduate School of Public and International Affairs University of Pittsburgh AX-Y WSTITUn df SOVE NMENTAI STUDIES LIBR RY 0CTl2t; 88 UNiwusmr OF ai fornia Working Paper 88-22 INSTITUTE OF GOVERNMENTAL STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY


The invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit device and a capacitor, as well as corresponding manufacturing process. According to the invention a dielectric hybrid layer for the semiconductor integrated circuit device and the capacitor is provided that includes a lower dielectric layer (7a), hafnium (Hf) or zirconium (Zr), an interlayer dielectric layer (9a) on the lower dielectric layer with a lower voltage-dependent change in capacitance than that of the lower dielectric layer and an upper dielectric layer (11a) containing hafnium or zirconium, includes on the interlayer dielectric layer. Using z. As for semiconductor integrated circuit devices with capacitor structures.


The market economy is credit economy, the credit relationship of each economic unit is the base of all economic activities. The credit is a kind of resource, which can be used to attract fund, manage fund and adjust resource,etc.For credit industry, the credit is the base of existence and development. So no doubt, the Chinese credit industry has its important function under the special historic background. But all knows the difficulties and frustrations during its process of development. As for its reason, partly because of various factors relating to economic system, but mainly because of the lack of credit nowdays in China and bad credit, which also being the main reason of the hard task confronting Chinese credit industry.So,to consolidate the basic construction of social credit and furthmore to better the system of credit is the key point to rebuild the Chinese credit industry.


A detailed comparison of HERA data at low Bjorken-$x$ and low four-momentum-transfer squared, $Q^2$, with predictions based on $\ln{Q^2}$ evolution (DGLAP) in perturbative Quantum Chromo Dynamics suggests inadequacies of this framework. The standard DGLAP evolution was augmented by including an additional higher-twist term in the description of the longitudinal structure function, $F_{\rm L}$. This additional term, $F_{\rm L}~A_{\rm L}^{\rm HT}/Q^2$, improves the description of the reduced cross sections significantly. The resulting predictions for $F_{\rm L}$ suggest that further corrections are required for $Q^2$ less than about 2 GeV$^2$.


proveedores, cuestionable la reglamentación de su cuantificación; This paper studies critically the punitive damages regulated by law n.° 19496, with the objective of detect and evaluate the positive and ques tionable aspects of its regulation in the framework of consumer pro tection, through a dogmatic methodology based on regulations, biblio graphy and national and foreign jurisprudence, which allows a qualitative ana lysis of such sources in order to present and elaborate the hypothesis, theoretical frame work, reflections and conclusions. In sections i and ii , a theoretical frame work is formulated, represented by an approach to punitive damages on the basis of national and comparative backgraunds, through the spe cific study of their nature and function, and it application in Chile by reviewing the discussions that have taken place in this regard, particularly regarding the alleged problems of constitutionality and the reparatory nature of civil liability. The hypothesis is that the regulation of puniti ve damages in the aforementioned law is positive because it contributes to sanctioning, deterring and preventing serious supplier miscon duct, but questionable with respect to the regulation of its quan tification; aspects that are developed in section iii .


Once upon a time, not so very long ago, before restriction enzymes were ordered from a New England Biolabs catalog and vectors arrived in neat packages from Promega, and before molecular biologists added patents or a company to their CV, there was Herb Boyer. One can almost define the revolution in molecular genetics by Herb's story alone—the discovery of the iconic restriction enzyme EcoR1 and the definition of its sticky ends, the collaboration with Stan Cohen that produced recombinant DNA, and the genesis of the enduring gold standard in biotechnology, Genentech. I had been fascinated by Herb's story for many years, as I myself had the good fortune to do a post-doc at Genentech in the early 1980s. Much has been written about Herb Boyer (Image 1), so I chose not to talk with him about his role in the founding of Genentech in 1976, nor the landmark Boyer-Cohen patent, nor the mid-1970s moratorium on recombinant DNA research. Instead, I was interested in what came before all of that—how Herb developed as a scientist, how he become interested in restriction enzymes and in vitro recombination—and by what came later. I'm sure you'll agree, this is equally rich reading. Gitschier: I know you grew up in the little town of Derry, Pennsylvania. What role do you think your upbringing played in some of the choices you made in your life? Boyer: My mother graduated from high school, and she immediately married my father at the age of 18. My dad was 12 years older than she. My dad left school after the 8th grade and went to work. He came from a large family with six siblings. He was the oldest boy, so the story was he quit school to help support his family. I'm trying to write my memoirs now, so I've been thinking a lot about my early childhood. My upbringing was in a town of about 3,000 people and the principal industries were the railroad and a Westinghouse manufacturing facility. I went to a small school, only 32 in my graduating class, and I loved sports and the outdoors. I used to hunt and fish with my father. Gitschier: Where did your father work? Boyer: He worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad. My father never owned a car, never had a driver's license. He'd walk to work at the dispatch station, which was about a hundred yards away from our house. He was a brakeman on the freight trains and would live on a caboose for a couple of days at a time. I always thought that was rather romantic. He worked in terrible winter weather and stifling summer heat. By the time he retired, at age 72, he was a conductor, and at that point he was making $12,500 a year. That was my starting salary at UCSF [University of California San Francisco]. High school for me was football, basketball, baseball, girls, hunting, and fishing. And I worked at odd jobs. I dug ditches, mowed lawns for 50 cents, painted houses, distributed door-to-door advertisements, and of course I was a newspaper boy. Gitschier: Was your father encouraging about your staying in school and going to college? Boyer: I can never remember getting encouragement from my mother or father to go beyond a high school education, though they weren't opposed to it. I just knew I had to get out of Derry, and that was the only way I knew how to do it! Gitschier: Your father lived at least 10 years after you became an assistant professor at UCSF.


Purpose: Using ACR MRI phantom testing to evaluate the change of image quality caused by k‐space‐ and image‐based parallel imaging techniques in a 3‐Tesla MRI scanner. Method and Materials: All phantom images are acquired from a 3 Tesla Siemens Tim‐Trio MRI scanner. Four sequences, namely ACR T1, ACR T2, Site T1 IR‐TSE, TR/TE/TI=2200 ms/11 ms/900 ms, ETL=5 and Site T2 TSE, TR/TE=4280 ms/88 ms, ETL=15, are scanned with each of the conventional, GRAPPA (iPAT=2) and modified SENSE (mSENSE, iPAT=2) modes. Images are analyzed according to standard ACR MRI QC procedures on a PC‐based workstation. Results: The results derived from the phantom images indicating that both of the tested parallel imaging techniques make no significant changes in the degree of the geometric distortion, the high contrastspatial resolution, the measured slice thickness and position accuracy, and the percent image uniformity. The signal‐to‐noise ratios (SNRs) obtained from all scans are lower while using parallel imaging techniques (SNR_conventional / SNR_GRAPPA = 1.18 +/− 0.08, SNR_conventional / SNR_mSENSE = 1.11 +/− 0.19). The averaged scores of low contrast object detecting test in conventional, GRAPPA, and mSENSE group are 39.3 +/− 0.5, 35.0 +/− 4.4, and 34.3 +/− 3.9, respectively. The percent signal ghosting (PSG) of GRAPPA and mSENSE images are 1.57 +/− 0.72 and 2.26 +/− 1.47 times of that measured in the conventional images. In addition, there is an obvious aliasing artifact observed in the mSENSE groups that cannot be demonstrated by the above data analysis.Conclusion: The ACR QC test is able to detect the lower SNR, lower contrast detectability, and higher PSG caused by both k‐space‐ and image‐based parallel imaging techniques. More accurate measurement of SNR reduction and improved artifact detection require repeated phantom imaging and additional image analysis.


This paper looks at the theory underlying the science of materials from the perspectives of physics, the history of science, and the philosophy of science. We are particularly concerned with the development of understanding of the thermodynamic phases of matter. The question is how can matter, ordinary matter, support a diversity of forms. We see this diversity each time we observe ice in contact with liquid water or see water vapor (steam) rise from a pot of heated water. The nature of the phases is brought into the sharpest focus in phase transitions: abrupt changes from one phase to another and hence changes from one behavior to another. This article starts with the development of mean field theory as a basis for a partial understanding of phase transition phenomena. It then goes on to the limitations of mean field theory and the development of very different supplementary understanding through the renormalization group concept.
Throughout, the behavior at the phase transition is illuminated by an "extended singularity theorem", which says that a sharp phase transition only occurs in the presence of some sort of infinity in the statistical system. The usual infinity is in the system size. Apparently this result caused some confusion at a 1937 meeting celebrating van der Waals, since mean field theory does not respect this theorem. In contrast, renormalization theories can make use of the theorem. This possibility, in fact, accounts for some of the strengths of renormalization methods in dealing with phase transitions. The paper outlines the different ways phase transition phenomena reflect the effects of this theorem.


In modern multimedia databases, objects can be specified by a large variety of feature representations. In this paper, we present a novel technique for multi-represented similarity estimation. We transform the distance between two objects in each representation into so-called similarity and dissimilarity estimates which are used to derive a meaningful similarity score. To determine the parameters for our new similarity measure, we present methods with and without user feedback.


While an ionization during laminar or turbulent combustion has been studied quite well, the ionization processes in pulsating combustion of gases not so well known. In this paper, pulsating combustion of propane-butane mixture with air and gas ionization in the vortex chamber is considered.


The maturing designs of moving microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) make it more-and-more important to have precise measurements and visual means to characterize dynamic microstructures. The Berkeley Sensor&Actuator Center (BSAC) has a forefront project aimed at developing these capabilities and at providing high-speed Internet (Supernet) access for remote use of its facilities. Already in operation are three optical-characterization tools: a stroboscopic-interferometer system, a computer-microvision system, and a laser-Doppler vibrometer. This paper describes precision and limitations of these systems and discusses their further development. In addition, we describe the results of experimental studies on the different MEMS devices, and give an overview about high-speed visualization of rapidly moving MEMS structures.


The Department of Energy proposes to issue revised regulations for administration of the grant programs providing financial assistance for schools, hospitals, buildings owned by units of local government, and public care institutions for the purpose of reducing energy consumption through technical assistance and energy conservation measure projects. In so doing, the Department proposes to amend 10 CFR 455 by making revisions to regulations published in the Federal Register on April 2, 1979 (44 FR 19340) and April 17, 1979 (44 FR 22940). Written comments are requested with respect to these proposed regulations, and public hearings will be held on the dates and in the locations specified below.


The memory characteristics of nanodot-type floating gate memory with high-k tunnel oxide were investigated by measuring the memory characteristics of metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) capacitors with biomineralized inorganic nanodots. Biomineralized iron bio nanodots (Fe-BNDs) accommodated in ferritin were utilized as a storage charge. High-density and monolayer Fe-BNDs were absorbed by high-k tunnel oxide. Fabricated MOS capacitors showed clear hysteresis in capacitance–voltage (C–V) characteristics. The observed hysteresis in C–V characteristics was occurred by charging and discharging to Fe-BNDs. A large memory window and good retention characteristic were obtained using high-k as tunnel oxide. This is caused by the difference in the charging mechanism to Fe-BND. This research confirmed that the combination of bio nanodot floating gate memory with high-k film is promising for next-generation memory devices.


The value of the d-xylose test in the investigation of malabsorption in children has recently been discussed (Clark, 1962; Jones and di Sant' Agnese, 1963). Clark (1962) employed it in five untreated, and four treated, children suffering from coeliac disease


We performed copper mapping for copper-stained lithium ion compensated, Si(Li), wafers by micro-beam X-ray fluorescence(p-XRF) method. Positional distribution of copper across a cross section of the wafers treated at 120 I C for 20 hours with no bias applied after complete compensation clearly showed deviation from those not given the thermal treatment. It was also found that surface barrier detectors fabricated from the so treated wafers exhibited better energy resolutions for both, conversion electrons from 207Bi and - particles from 24'Am. Correlation between performance of the Si(Li) detectors and lithiumdistribution in the intrinsic region was studied on the basis of the experimental results. 1 .I


The purpose of this study was to describe how a teacher's stance of wonder, curiosity, and exploration during the use of hypothetical inquiry situations served as a way for the teacher to address her goals for students to be more vocal members of the learning community; to encourage critical and creative thinking in the students; to provide them with meaningful, context-rich opportunities for synthesizing personal past experience with ongoing classroom instruction; to enhance socialization skills in the middle school environment; and to provide an improvisational atmosphere for both learning and teaching.


The nonlinear two-wave interaction in a medium endowed with a quasi-periodic structure is theoretically studied using a simple perturbation method, and the reflection coefficient of wave's energy is numerically calculated in order to confirm the theoretical result that the reflection coefficient of one wave depends not only on its own amplitude but also on that of the other wave. We apply a method employed in the study of the propagation of nonlinear waves through a medium endowed with a periodic structure 1) to the present problem.


A method for detecting a biomarker that is associated with prostate cancer in a patient, the method comprising: obtaining sequence substantially all free DNA circulating cells having a length between 50 and 400 consecutive nucleotides isolated from a sample derived from blood, serum, or plasma of a patient who has been diagnosed with prostate cancer or suspected of having prostate cancer; comparing each sequence, free of repetitive elements, with the sequences shown in Table B to determine whether a sequence of a DNA free of circulating cells is in a chromosomal region it is presented in Table 3; wherein the detection of a sequence in the nucleic acids in circulation is attributed unambiguously to a chromosomal region is presented in Table 3 is indicative of a increased likelihood of prostate or recurrence of prostate cancer.


Selection from a network event counter pool, selects a plurality of candidate counter associated with performance metrics, the candidate counter, grouped into similar counter cluster, each cluster, one or more representative counters and, a representative counter selected, be adapted to the model of the performance metrics by determining a set of representative counter most associated with performance metrics, to identify the cause of the change of performance metrics in a network which is a method and system.


One of the advantages of the Province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam is the Shari'a legal framework included in Law No. 11 of 2006 governing Aceh's administration. This study examines the role of the Indonesian Islamic Bank  Lhokseumawe Area in the implementation of Qanun Number 11 of 2018 concerning Islamic Financial Institutions. Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI) Lhokseumawe Area contributed to applying the Qanun for Islamic Financial Institutions starting from account migration, socialization of sharia products, sharia services and also signing of cooperation agreements with partners to use products from sharia banking. One of the focuses of BSI Lhokseumawe Area in the process of integrating service operational systems in the Aceh region is the customer migration process from the original bank to Bank Syariah Indonesia. This migration process can be done online through BSI Mobile or face-to-face. ATM cards, mobile and internet banking. In this process, the convenience and security of customer data are prioritized. The implementation of the qanun does not necessarily go well, there are obstacles faced in the process of implementing the qanun. Implementing Islamic financial services requires the attention and hard work of all parties and not only the bank. Stakeholders and citizens can continue to be patient and continue to encourage, and provide support to these financial institutions in correcting the weaknesses that occur so that with the presence of the Indonesian Sharia Bank, they can improve sharia economic growth and also for the benefit of the people.


Purpose: To evaluate the expression of Her2-neu in benign and malignant gallbladder lesions, and to establish correlations with clinico-pathologic parameters. Materials and Methods: Retrospective and prospective analysis was conducted on formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) 154 tissue sample included Premaligant and premalignant like lesions (including dysplasia, metaplasia and xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis)(n=47) and malignant gallbladder (n=85) with 22 cases of chronic cholecystitis as control. Hematoxylin and eosin stained slides of each case were reviewed for: type of malignancy (whether adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma or any other type), grade (well, moderate, and poor). Immunohistochemistry for Her 2 neu was performed and data analysis was conducted using SPSS 15.0 software. P value of ≤0.05 was considered significant. Results: The difference of Her 2 neu expression between benign and malignant groups was found to be statistically significant. Her2/neu positivity did not have any significant correlation with various clinicopathological parameters. Conclusions: The present study demonstrated overexpression of Her2-neu in gallbladder cancer. A trend of decreasing Her2/neu expression with increasing grade of tumor was observed. The results however are encouraging and suggest evaluation of Her2/neu as a candidate for targeted therapy.


Theoretical models of surface plasmon-polariton (SPP) refractive index sensors with Bragg grating and long period grating (LPG) are presented and comprehensively investigated for fiber and planar structures. The main principle of operation of these devices is based on high efficiency energy transfer between a guided mode propagating in a waveguide layer of the structure and counter- or co-propagating SPP supported by a metal layer separated from the waveguide layer by a buffer. The high efficiency energy transfer is realized by means of a properly designed Bragg grating or LPG imprinted in the waveguide layers of the structures or engraved on the top of the metal layer. These devices are compact, free from any moving parts and can be easily integrated into any fiber or planar schemes. Our simulations are made for telecom wavelengths in the 1500nm window.


Coupled-line and coupled three-line resonators are pro- posed to design dual-wideband bandpass fllters. Compared with the shorted and open stubs shunt at the same locations of the main line, in addition to saving the circuit area, these resonators provide alter- native ways to the design of dual-wideband fllters, with larger possible bandwidths and difierent frequency ratio of the two center passbands. The geometric parameters of the coupled-line and the coupled three- line structures are determined by deriving their equivalent circuits to a shunt open stub in parallel connection with a shunt shorted stub. To extend the upper stopband, a cross-shaped admittance inverter is devised to play the role of the 90-degree transmission line section at the center frequency and to create transmission zeros at the spurious passbands, so that the upper stopband of the fllter can be extended. It is a quarter-wave section with two open stubs of unequal lengths shunt at its center. For demonstration, two dual-wideband bandpass fllters operating at 900/1575MHz and 900/2000MHz are fabricated and measured. Measured results of the experimental circuits show good agreement with simulated responses.


One electron oxidation of cobalt(II) can occur from either the cobalt d or porphyrin {pi} orbitals depending on the choice of porphyrin and reaction media. Oxidation of (octaethylporphyrinato)cobalt(II), (OEP)Co{sup II} (1), in the presence of ligands such as H{sub 2}O and CO produces diamagnetic five and six coordinate complexes of cobalt(III). In the absence of additional ligands to coordinate with Co(III) the first oxidation of [(OEP)Co{sup II}]{sup +} (2). Metalloporphyrin {pi} cation radical complexes and dimers of the OEP derivatives have been extensively investigated. This article reports on the interconversion of the paramagnetic (S = 1) monomer, [(OEP)Co{sup II}]{sup +} (2), with a diamagnetic dimer, [(OEP)-Co{sup II}]{sub 2}{sup 2+} (3), in dichloromethane solvant. {sup 1}H NMR shift and line width studies in CD{sub 2}Cl{sub 2} are applied in evaluating the thermodynamic and activation parameters for homolytic dissociation of the diamagnetic dimer (3).


Democracy seems to be on the march in the modem world. This has been a remarkable trend in the last two generations or so. The victory of the Allies in the Second World War put an end to the Nazi empire in Europe, and crushed the Japanese Empire in the Pacific. Germany, Italy, and Japan were set on the path to democracy. In the post-war period, all of the traditional empires disintegrated-the British Empire, the French Empire, and others. Dozens of colonies became free. Some of them, too, became democracies, most notably India. In the 1970's, Franco died and democracy triumphed in Spain. Later, there was a trend away from military dictatorship in Latin America. South Korea and Taiwan then joined the club of democracies. The Soviet Union collapsed, near the end of the century. Democracy took hold in parts of this shattered empire too: in some former "satellites" (the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary), and in some of the national fragments spun off from the Union (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania). Large parts of the world, of course, remain securely under the control of autocrats. But the United States is (or claims to be) committed to spreading the joys of democratic government all over the world. It even uses this idea as the reason, or excuse, for the American presence in Iraq. Of course, "democracy" is not a simple concept; and no two systems that claim to be democracies are exactly the same. The "rule of law" is if anything an even more contested concept. For the purposes of this paper, we do not really need to define democracy rigorously. A society with a reasonable dose of freedom of speech and the press, freedom of religion, more or less fair elections, and the customary package of basic human rights, respected (on the whole) by the government, qualifies as a democracy. These will also tend to be societies that respect the rule of law. "Rule of law" is another concept, which is hard to define; the phrase has many possible meanings. For our purposes, however, it simply means a system in which rights and duties can be enforced through an independent and reasonably impartial system of courts. A court system is "independent" when the government or regime has no power or inclination to affect the outcome


Since the report by Kawai1 that polyvinylidenefluoride could be made piezoelectric by the temporary application of a high electric field, there has been renewed interest in producing a piezoelectric polymer with a large piezoelectric coefficient and long lifetime. The search for the optimum chemical and physical properties and the optimum poling conditions would be greatly enhanced by a knowledge of the mechanism responsible for piezoelectric and pyroelectric response in polymer films. This paper will briefly review a theory developed for amorphous polymers which attributes piezoelectric and pyroelectric response to the effect of a volume change in the polarization resulting from frozen-in dipole alignment achieved during the poling process. In addition, the pyroelectric coefficient includes a contribution from a change in the amplitude of oscillation of dipoles about a fixed mean position. Experimental results for a semicrystalline copolymer of vinylidenefluoride and tetrafluoroethylene will then be compared with values expected from the model. Mopsik and Broadhurst2 applied an Onsager cavity approach to calculate the polarization in a system in which a polarizable dipole interacts with aligned dipoles in the surrounding dielectric. In such a case, they find the polarization P given by: P = (ε∞ + 2 / 3) Nμ0/V <cos θ> (1) in which ε∞ is the relative permittivity for immobilized dipoles, μo is the vacuum dipole moment, N is the number of dipoles in the volume V, and <cos θ> is the averaged cosine of the angle between the individual dipole moments and the total sample moment.


Five years observational study (2006-2010) of a cohort of patients with NSCLC-AD (1st line monotherapy excluded). Epidemiology, histology, performance status (PS), therapy, response – disease control (DC) or progression (n-DC), progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) after each therapy were evaluated. We also tried to assess predictors for DC and OS. Results: We included 276 patients, 77.9% men, mean age 63.1 years (±10.9), most of them smokers (36.6%) with PS 1 (89.1%). The most frequent histology was adenocarcinoma (59.8%). Metastasis in 1, 2 or 3 organs was found in 65.2%, 31.2% and 3.6% of the patients. All patients were initially treated with a platinum-based duplet; Pemetrexed or Erlotinib were the most used in 2 nd -line setting (53,9% of the patients) and Erlotinib in 3 rd (15.6% of the patients). There was a progressive reduction of the DC rate along the 3 lines- 71.7%, 67.1% and 51.2%. The median PFS and OS for each line were: 1st- 4.53M ± 0.22 and 10.12M ± 0.55, 2nd- 4.17M ± 0.21 and 9.1M ± 0.66, 3rd- 4.47M ± 0.68 and 10.42M ± 3.35. Prognostic factors were: smoking status ( HR 1.54, p-value 0.016 ), the presence of metastasis> 1 organ ( HR 1.50, p-value 0.003), PS2 ( HR 3.62, p-value HR 2.71, p-value p-value > 0.05), but the PFS after 1st line correlates with the following PFS ( p-value 0.001). Conclusions: There is an increase in OS and PFS in the 3rd line, probably reflecting the influence of new biological treatments. Strong predictors for a poor outcome were PS 2 and n-DC after 1st line.


Surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters were fabricated using a multilayer structure of ZnO/diamond-like carbon (DLC)/Si and frequency response characteristics were analyzed. DLC films were deposited with varying preparation conditions (substrate bias, deposition time, and N/sub 2/ doping flow rate). The sp/sup 3/ fraction, thickness, surface roughness, and resistivity of DLC films were measured as a function of deposition conditions. The center frequency of SAW devices with DLC-buffer was measured to be about 575 MHz, which was much higher than that (340 MHz) of ZnO/Si(100) SAW devices. The variation of center frequencies of DLC-buffer SAW devices showed almost the same trend as that of sp/sup 3/ fractions of DLC films. By decreasing the thickness of DLC buffer layers, higher electro-mechanical coupling coefficient (K/sub eff//sup 2/), lower insertion loss (IL), and larger side-lobe rejection (SLR) levels were obtained.


Objective: Serum pleiotrophin(PTN) is closely related to tumor,particularly to lung cancer.Many studies focused on PTN recently.This study is to evaluate the diagnostic value of PTN,Cyfra21-l and CEA tests independently or in a combined style in lung cancer.Methods: Sixty-one patients with lung cancer and 17 patients with benign lung lesion disease all received PTN,Cyfra21-l and CEA tests before the treatment.They were compared with pathological results,and then we calculated the diagnostic value of each method and the combined styles.Results: The sensitivity of PTN together with Cyfra21-l and CEA tests is 95.08% and it is the highest among the methods.Conclusion: PTN together with Cyfra21-l and CEA tests has a important diagnostic value through mutual complementation in detecting lung cancer.


Nowadays, research in speech technologies has gotten a lot out thanks to recently created public domain corpora that contain thousands of recording hours. These large amounts of data are very helpful for training the new complex models based on deep learning technologies. However, the lack of dialectal diversity in a corpus is known to cause performance biases in speech systems [5], mainly for underrepresented dialects, for example [6] or [7]. In this work, we propose to evaluate a state-of-the-art automatic speech recognition (ASR) deep learning-based model, using unseen data from a corpus with a wide variety of labeled English accents from different countries around the world. The model has been trained with 44.5K hours of English speech from an open access corpus called Multilingual LibriSpeech [4] (MLS), showing remarkable results in popular benchmarks. We test the accuracy of such ASR against samples extracted from another public corpus that is continuously growing, the Common Voice [2] dataset (CV). Then, we present graphically the accuracy in terms of Word Error Rate (WER) of each of the different English included accents, showing that there is indeed an accuracy bias in terms of accentual variety, favoring the accents most prevalent in the training corpus. The MLS corpus [4] is a larger version of the LibriSpeech dataset [1] derived from the LibriVox audio books, this time with transcribed recordings of 8 languages. As suggested in the LibriVox wiki1, there might be a higher representation of accents from America (48 speakers between US and Canada) and the UK (26 speakers), than from other countries like India or Philippines (1-2 speakers). As opposed to the MLS dataset, the CV corpus used for evaluation does have accent labels, at least in 321K samples out of its total. The data consist of around 900 hours of recorded speech from volunteers reading scripted texts. The ASR model pretrained with the MLS dataset (see architecture details in [4]) is used for transcribing the audio utterances in the CV corpus. To continue with, the WER is used to assess the accuracy of the neural ASR. This metric is the summation of word substitutions (S), deletions (D) and insertions (I) in the ASR transcript, divided by the total number of words in the ground truth transcript (N):


The aim of this paper is to address some of the questions on how the completion of the process of globalization has affected the art market and its main sectors: the galleries, fairs, biennials and museums, taking particular account of the influence of the capitalist system.


The article considers the issue of building the culture of management of training high performance athletes instriking martial arts. The characteristic of the management system of training is given from the perspective of itsrationality and optimization. Special attention is paid to the socio-cultural representation of the success of an athleteseeking sole leadership in striking martial arts.The relevance of this study is determined by the insufficient generalization of the theoretical and practical experienceof teaching high performance athletes. The accumulated knowledge about the training system, communicationwith the coach, nutrition, the psychological climate of the sports organization, and medical service makes it correctto consider it as a culture of training an athlete.The purpose of the study is to consider the system of training a top-level athlete as a culture of his or her developmentmanaging. This goal is achieved by solving the following tasks: 1/ Descri be the training system of toplevelathletes. 2/ Characterise the degree of rationality and optimality of the training system of a top-level athlete.3/ Describe the system of top-class athlete training as a culture of his or her development management. 4/ Considerthe issue of creating the leadership qualities in a top-level athlete in the process of his or her socio-culturaldevelopment.Materials and methods of research. The study is based on scientific works of theoretical and empirical kind onmartial arts athletes training. The research methods are analysis and synthesis.The results of the research are the formation of the category "management culture" for the top-level martial artistdevelopment, which broadens our understanding of the training system of a top-level athlete, and consideration ofhis or her leadership qualities development in the process of socio-cultural activities.Conclusion. The article suggests the category "management culture", which expands the understanding of thetraining system of a top-class martial artist. The justification of the socio-cultural factor impact on the trainingresults of a martial arts athlete and the development of his or her leadership qualities is given.


The influence of CRF on testosterone production in primary mouse Leydig cell cultures was studied, and the type of CRF receptor (CRF-R) involved in this activity was determined. CRF directly stimulated testosterone production in mouse Leydig cells, but did not influence the maximum human (h)CG-induced testosterone production. The effect was time- and dose-dependent, saturable with an EC50 of 2.84 nm for hCRF, antagonized by the CRF antagonist α-helical CRF9–41, and accompanied by intracellular cAMP elevation. The rank order of potency of the natural CRF agonists, hCRF, ovine CRF, sauvagine, and urotensin, corresponded to that of their activities on CRF-R1 in rat pituitary cells and also to that reported for this receptor, but not for CRF-R2, when transfected into various cell lines. Furthermore, the difference in response of mouse Leydig cells to[ 11-d-Thr,12-d-Phe]- and[ 13-d-His,14-d-Leu]-ovine CRF corresponded to that measured when COS cells expressing CRF-R1 were activated, but was considerably smalle...


A new pipeline protection system, based on polyolefin and fusion bonded epoxy has been developed and applied in the United States. This new plant coating system incorporates the desired performance characteristics of the multi-layer coating systems but at a reduced application cost. A polyolefin outerlayer is spirally applied over partially cured fusion bonded epoxy coated pipe. The heat retained in the pipe initiates a reaction in the polyolefin outerlayer that produces a chemical bond to the epoxy and fuses the outerlayer to itself at the spiral overlap. The new coating system and application will be described. Laboratory and field data will be presented that illustrates the performance characteristics superior to the traditional, stand alone fusion bonded epoxy coating.


Photovoltaic systems are expected to play a key role in the planning and operation of future distribution systems due to the benefits associated with their use. Unfortunately, a great problem is involved in photovoltaic power utilization, i.e., the unpredictability of the solar source. Thus, many forecasting methods have been developed in order to provide tools with adequate consistency, quality, and value. The methods can provide either deterministic or probabilistic forecasts; the latter seem to be the most appropriate for taking into account the unavoidable uncertainties of the solar source. In this paper, a new probabilistic method based on a competitive ensemble of different base predictors is proposed for the short-term forecasting of photovoltaic power. Three probabilistic methods were selected and trained as base predictors in order to obtain an ensemble of the predictive distribution with optimal characteristics of sharpness and reliability. Numerical applications based on actual data were performed to test the effectiveness of the proposed method with respect to single predictors and to a benchmark method.


The article considers the main results of scientific research of the Russian philosopher A.D. Ursula in the field of studying the phenomenon of information and philosophical problems of society informatization. It is shown that these results are of fundamental nature and of high scientific and methodological significance for the further development of Russian and world science. The article highlights the decisive contribution of A.D. Ursula in the formation of the Russian scientific school of philosophy of information, as well as in the development of social informatics and information cultural studies, in which Russia is the world leader today. Some further promising directions for the development of these studies and their significance for science and education are presented.


Dr. Mather Cordiner died at his home in Harley House on April 8, 1957. He was in his late fifties. He qualified at St. Andrew's University in 1922 and soon afterwards became interested in radiology, taking the D.M.R.E.(Camb.) in 1924. After visiting distinguished gastro-intestinal radiologists abroad, he brought back to this country many new ideas, upon which he based his own techniques. He quickly became one of the leading gastro-intestinal radiologists in this country and at the time of his death was pre-eminent in this field.


A dither is a high frequency signal introduced into a non-linear system in order to improve its performance. It is shown that the stability of a dithered system can be predicted rigorously by establishing the stability of its corresponding smoothed system when the dither has a sufficiently large amplitude as well as high–enough frequency, and the transfer function of the 'linearized' feedback system has a high-frequency attenuation property. A generally parametrized controller, advanced by Youla et al., and a dither as its auxiliary are simultaneously introduced to augment the stability of the non–linear feedback system, where the controlled plant are not necessarily stable. The main feature of this study is that the technique of robustness optimization is used to find a lower bound on the dither amplitude for stabilization of the non–linear feedback system. Furthermore, there arc no stable, square, and minimum-phase constraints on the controlled plant.


Fractional calculus and generalised norms provide a powerful toolkit for analysing vibration from rotating machines. They have been used effectively in the condition monitoring of immobile machines. A harsh environment and varying operating conditions complicate the reliable condition monitoring of mobile machines in underground mining industry. In this paper, we focus on the condition monitoring of the front axle of a load haul dumper and the numerical calculation of complex order derivatives and integrals. Measurements are performed with accelerometers, which measure horizontal and vertical vibrations near the planetary gearboxes. A tachometer records the rotational speed of the drive shaft, which is essential for recognising different operation stages of the machine. We describe how the mentioned difficulties can be overcome and what real order derivatives and generalised norms can reveal about the condition of the axle. An improved algorithm for the numerical calculation of complex order derivatives and integrals is given.


The ethics in the 21th century must be transformed from the traditional to the modern as the traditional society is transforming to the modern in China.this paper has reviewed the formation and development of the traditional ethics in 3 stages,and analyzed the problems in 4 ways, prospected its systemationally perfecting problems and other emphasized problems.


Objective To evaluate the myocardial mechanical pattern of left ventricle(LV)before and after acute myocardial ischemia during right atrial appendage pacing(RAA-P)and right ventricular apical pacing(RVA-P)using ultrasonic speckle tracking imaging(STI).Methods Left anterior descending coronary artery was ligated for acute myocardial ischemia in open-chest beagle canine models(n=14).The two dimensional apical views in LV were acquired during normal sinus rhythm(NSR),RAA-P and RVA-Pbefore and after acute myocardial ischemia.The longitudinal global strain(e),18 segmenal peak strain,time to peak longitudinal strain(Te)and 18 segmental time to peak longitudinal strain-standard deviation(Te-18SD) of LV were measured and calculated.Reproducibility correlation analysis was performed.Results ①Before acute myocardial ischemia:the global e of LV during RAA-P and RVA-P were lower than that during NSR(P<0.05).The peak e at interventricular septum during RVA-P was lower than that during NSR and RAA-P(P<0.05);Te of anterior septum at apical and middle level during RVA-P was shortened than that during RAA-P(P<0.05).Te-18SD of LV increase progressively between NSR,RAA-P and RVA-P(P<0.05).②After acute myocardial ischemia:the global e of LV during RAA-P and RVA-P were lower than that during ischemical sinus rhythm(ISCH-SR)(P<0.05).The peak e of interventricular septum at middle and basal level during RVA-P was lower than that during ISCH-SR and RAA-P(P<0.05).The Te of interventrieular septum at middle and basal level during ISCH-SR and RVA-P was shortened than that during RAA-P(P<0.05).There was no significant difference of LV Te-18SD during ISCH-SR,RAA-P and RVA-P.③There was a reasonable reproducibility for the measurement of LV segmental peak e for both interobserver(r=0.810,P<:0.001)and intraobserver(r=0.837,P<0.001).Conclusions Both RAA-P and RVA-P couldn't achieve a normal LV mechanical pattern before and after myocardial ischemia.

Key words:
Echocardiography; Myocardial ischemia; Cardiac pacing; artificial; Speckle tracking imaging


The connecting rod close to the motor end in water injection pump of a hydrogenation cracking unit was broken.Macro-examination,scanning electricity mirror (SEM) on the break,chemical composition analysis and metallographic examination have been applied to conduct a comprehensive analysis on the connecting rod fracture.And the results indicate that the cause of the fracture was that the carbon content in the cast nodular iron was on the low side;the structure of the graphite pebble was nonuniform;the content of pearlite in the matrix was little;the edge strength was below the standard requirements;the connecting rod had to bear an alternating stress over a long term.The above causes led to the fracture of the connecting rod eventually.


OBJECTIVE
This study was undertaken to quantitatively estimate the effect of a rapid introduction or withdrawal of on-demand epidural analgesia on the cesarean delivery rate.

STUDY DESIGN
MEDLINE and meeting abstracts were searched for studies reporting the cesarean delivery rate immediately before and after a rapid change in the availability of epidural analgesia. Nine studies reporting data on 37,753 patients were selected. Meta-analysis was performed to estimate the means and 95% confidence intervals for the changes in rates of total cesarean deliveries, cesarean deliveries among nulliparous women, cesarean deliveries for dystocia, and operative vaginal deliveries.

RESULTS
There was no significant change in the overall cesarean delivery rate with an increase in the availability of epidural analgesia. Similarly, the rates of cesarean deliveries among nulliparous patients, of cesarean deliveries for dystocia, and of operative vaginal deliveries did not significantly differ between periods of high and low epidural analgesia availability.

CONCLUSION
A rapid change in the availability of epidural analgesia is not associated with any increase in the cesarean delivery rate.


: As one of the four famous brocades in China, Shu Brocade has a history of more than 2,000 years, and it is the treasure of silk culture in China and even in the world, which has a very high historical and cultural value. Under the background of globalization, culture is becoming more and more an important part of determining the influence of a country, so publicity translation has become the most important work of spreading culture. However, there are still many problems in China due to the late start of publicity translation. This study discovers some problems in the publicity translation of Shu Brocade and proposes corresponding countermeasures to improve the quality of publicity translation of Shu Brocade, so as to enhance the influence of Chinese culture in the world.


Antonio Caballero y Gongora was an important ecclesiastical and political figure of the Spanish Enlightenment who, after a life marked by his progressive concern for art, devoted much of his activity as bishop of Cordoba to the patronage of training and artistic creation. A work that, on the basis of the artists promoted and protected by the prelate during the aforementioned period, meant the introduction of academic aesthetic values in the Cordoba Diocese.


This paper describes the modernization of numeric control of ordinary roller lathe C84125 and its application.In addition,the numeric control system of roller lathe is also introduced.


The internet is playing an increasingly important role in the transformation of social structure.One of its effects is on the division of online social groups.The key factors for stimulating division of the online society are: netizens' choice of media,netizens' technical skills,the function of social network,the effect of online subculture,and the competition of online discourse levels.Of course,these factors always work together.The individuals on the internet usually belong to several different groups,which affect their attitudes and behaviors as a whole.


Semantic matching is important in research areas including databases, e-Business, case-based reasoning (CBR), information retrieval, information integration, web services and natural language processing. In particular, semantic concept matching using taxonomies is an important technique in these areas. We present a survey of semantic concept similarity algorithms that can be used for concept matching in taxonomies. We also propose a new approach that provides a finer concept granularity measure.


An enterprise must be able to conduct in-depth analysis of the existing data as the information has certain grey characteristics, if it wants to occupy a dominant position in the fierce market competition. In this paper, a compound three-dimensional grey Lotka–Volterra model is developed to carry out the grey transformation of the original data, so that the data can have better simulation accuracy, and the observation noise of the original data can be reduced. The competitive situation analysis based on the three-dimensional grey Lotka–Volterra model can help enterprises better understand the market situation. This paper takes the luxury brand automobile market in mainland China as an example to conduct a competitive analysis and a balanced development simulation. It can be found that, based on Three Species System Analysis, there is a symbiotic relationship among automobile enterprises and that the three species model can be adopted in analyzing the competition and cooperation among enterprises. Through balanced development of a Symbiotic System Analysis, the results of symbiotic optimization under the achievable equilibrium state of three populations are obtained and they show that the proposed method can be used effectively to conduct the market competition analysis. It is thus of great importance to study the relationships among enterprises as it is helpful for enterprises to make strategic policies.


After a fire at Uppark, a 17th-century house owned by the National Trust, the remains of the 1840s flock wallpaper from the Red Drawing Room were saved. Conservation of the wallpaper and reproduction of it for lost areas are described. -- AATA


AbstractBased upon previous treatments of the recovery-creep theory a model. has been formulated that takes into account the separation of the applied stress into an effective stress and an internal stress and the experimentally determined stress-dependence of the activation area. The model describes the time- and stress-dependence of the creep rate in the primary and the secondary stages. It is shown that the theory adequately simulates the experimental creep curves. The attainment of constant true and apparent activation energies, and of a constant exponent in the creep rate/stress power law, are interpreted as different consequences of the internal stress being approximately equal to the applied stress at low stresses and high temperatures. The physical significance of the apparent activation energy is discussed in terms of the model.


Performing America provides fresh perspectives on the development of visions of both America and "America" -- that is, the actual community and the constructed concept -- on a variety of theatrical stages. It explores the role of theater in the construction of American identity, highlighting the tension between the desire to categorize American identity and the realization that such categorical uniformity may neither be desirable nor possible.The topics covered include the links between politics and the stage during the Federalist period, the appropriation of "Indian" artifacts, an exploration of early gender roles, and the metaphorical connections between the theater and western expansion. Other essays treat vaudeville's artistically colonized cultures; Chautauqua's attempt to homogenize culture and commercialize American ideals; W. E. B. Du Bois's pageant, The Star of Ethiopia, as a strategy for constructing "African-American" as "Other" in an attempt to promote a vision of black nationalism; and how theater was used to help immigrants form a new sense of community while joining the resident culture.The collection then turns to questions of how various ethnic minorities through their recent theatrical work have struggled to argue their identities, especially in relation to the dominant white culture. Two final essays offer critiques of contrasting aspects of the American male.Throughout, the collection addresses questions of marginality and community, exclusion and inclusion, colonialism and imperialism, heterogeneity and homogeneity, conflict and negotiation, repression and opportunity, failure and success, and, above all, the relationship of American stages at large.


There are several ways to prevent pregnancy during pregnancy when the mother and baby are in a healthy condition and the delivery process is normal, including prenatal yoga, a modification of yoga that is adapted to the condition of pregnant women by preparing pregnant women physically, mentally and spiritually for the birth process. The study was conducted at the Depok Regional Health Center which aims to determine the effect of prenatal couple gentle yoga and birth ball on the mental readiness of the mother and the duration of labor, presumably as a confounder variable, namely the mother's age, education, occupation, parity and husband's support, conducted interviews and observations on the implementation of the intervention. in pregnant women and the delivery process. The research design was quasi-experimental with a post-test control group approach, the sample was quota sampling of 35-36 weeks pregnant women as many as 30 respondents in the intervention group and 30 respondents in the control group. The analysis test was carried out by linear regression. It was found that the results of the exercise of Couple gentle yoga and birth ball were significant for the maternal mental readiness of the mother and the length of labor with a P value = 0.0001. Confounding variables are the variables of mother's age, occupation and parity, the determination coefficient R2 (R square) = 0.897, meaning that the other variable implementation of exercises.
Keywords: Prenatal couple, gentle yoga, birth ball, maternal mental readiness


Caravaggio´s painting "Amore dormiente" is subjected to a diagnostic exercise. Our impression has been that of a toddler with severe rickets. It has been challenged by others, who assert a diagnosis of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. A semiotic analysis of the physical features of the model is attempted.


Previous studies have shown cost e®ectiveness and quality-of-life bene ̄t of pneumatic compression therapy (PCT) for lymphedema (LE). Insurers, such as the Centers for Medicare/Medicaid (CMS), however, desire visual proof that PCT moves lymph. Near-infrared °uorescence lymphatic imaging (NIRFLI) was used to visualize lymphatic anatomy and function in four subjects with primary and cancer treatment-related LE of the lower extremities before, during, and after PCT. Optically transparent and windowed PCT garments allowed visualization of lymph movement during single, 1 h PCT treatment sessions. Visualization revealed signi ̄cant extravascular and lymphatic vascular movement of intradermally injected dye in all subjects. In one subject with su±cient patent lymphatic vessels to allow quanti ̄cation of lymph pumping velocities and frequencies, these values were signi ̄cantly increased during and after PCT as compared to pre-treatment values. Lymphatic contractile activity in patent lymphatic vessels occurred in concert with the sequential cycling of PCT. Direct visualization revealed increased lymphatic function, during and after PCT therapy, in all LE-a®ected extremities. Further studies are warranted to assess the e®ects of PCT pressure and sequences on lymph uptake and movement.


This paper focuses on adaptive control of non-affine nonlinear systems with zero dynamics using multiplayer neural networks (MNNs). Through neural network approximation, MNNs are used as the emulator of the implicit desired state feedback control. The closed-loop system is proved to be stable based on Lyapunov stability theory. It is shown that the tracking error converges to an adjustable neighborhood of the origin.


The dilemmas and barriers that providers encounter daily in clinical practice in attempting to maintain confidentiality for their adolescent patient while simultaneously protecting the adolescent from potential harm are daunting for providers as there are no nationally recognized, evidence-based standards addressing adolescent confidentiality and privacy issues in the delivery of quality healthcare to adolescents.


Two studies investigated the validity of the Re mote Associates Test (RAT) in predicting produc tivity in brainstorming groups. In Study 1 groups of high and low RAT scorers discussed two problems relevant to social concerns (energy conservation, rape prevention). In Study 2 Alternate Uses and Consequences problems were discussed by groups composed of heterogeneous RAT scorers. In each study the RAT was significantly related to fluency, flexibility, and originality of ideas generated by group members, with these effects appearing con sistently across problems. In addition, Study 2 indi cated that the RAT relationships to creativity in dices were independent of verbal intelligence. Pre liminary data were also gathered regarding RAT re lationships to idea generation while working indi vidually and to the potential value of the Marlowe- Crowne Scale as a predictor of brainstorming pro ductivity.


One disconcerting feature of Scott's case is that progress seems to halt in the final quarter of the 20th century; while pointing out some loose ends, he offers what sounds like a eulogy, a celebration of the accomplishments of an agent now deceased. Very little of the work of the last 20 years is reviewed and incorporated – unsettling since I would guess that more than half of all the world's sociological output must have been completed during that period. Moreover, Parsons seems to be the pivotal figure, in the sense that his work receives the most copious citation and explication. Since the repudiation of normative functionalism is widely believed to have produced the unruly theoretical pluralism lamented by Scott, a convincing account is required of why so many of his peers have conspicuously failed to detect the shared common principles lying behind apparently persistent centrifugal disputes. I can conceive of explanations to that effect, including perverse institutional incentives, competition for research reputation, the logic of generational succession within the sociological profession, and distortion of perspective due to insufficient historical distance. Scott at one point does suggest that most scholarly activity is experienced and observed within specialized domains of investigation, which might induce myopia regarding the broader and lasting achievements of the discipline. However, such mechanisms await compelling documentation, and when attempted it is to be hoped that they will not be reducible to pig-headedness, vanity and fashion. So, while I applaud the ambition of the project in its quest for synthesis, and I have learned a great deal en passant, particularly about the ways in which sociology abuts onto and might usefully engage with developments in other social and physical sciences, I fear that the intellectual unification of sociology is being exaggerated. My hunch is that its prolific institutional growth in recent decades is subtended more by a loosely shared sense of what to disagree about than by any concurrence over a set of substantive and positive propositions. However, I look forward to this book stimulating further critical debate to clarify whether, or in what ways, sociology might be cumulative.


Tinea pedis and onychomycosis are a public health problem due to a high worldwide incidence and prevalence and due to the risk of spread of fungal elements to others [1–3]. Warm, humid climates and occlusive clothing and shoes are among other well-recognized relevant risk factors [4]. Professional ice hockey players, wearing occlusive skates around often sweat-saturated socks for several hours per day during training and competition with possible coldness-induced pedal vasoconstriction seemed to be a perfect model for a mycotic high-risk group. The necessity to share wardrobe, showering facilities and gym with other team members at different places during the season as well as the burden to stay often in various hotels are thought to be additional risk factors. Fortunately, we had the opportunity to examine 28 players of the professional ice hockey team 'Munich Barons', winner of the German 2000 championship, clinically and by culture, for pedal mycotic affection after informed consent had been given by each player. The players' age range was 18–28 years (average age 23.5 years). To our surprise, neither a single case of tinea pedis nor onychomycosis was detected. At first glance, this interesting result may reflect only incidentally high personal as well as institutional hygiene standards encountered in that special team at a certain time point. Nevertheless, at a closer look, our results fit well the outcome of a recent study, conducted by the European Nail Society [1, 5]. Herein, 10,339 patients in 20 countries underwent a foot check made by dermatologists. Culture-positive mycotic affection of the feet was found in 31.6% of all patients (tinea pedis: 8.2%; onychomycosis: 10.1%; tinea pedis + onychomycosis: 11.7%). Tinea pedis was detected in 20.5% in the age group from 18 to 65 years, compared to onychomycosis, which was seen in 19.9% of persons [1, 5]. Multivariate regression analysis found a family disposition towards pedal dermatophyte infection as the single most important risk factor for fungal affection, followed by foot deformity, attendance of public swimming facilities, male gender, foot trauma, peripheral neuropathy, diabetes and impairment of vascular supply [1, 5]. Although a positive risk factor with regard to attendance of wet sanitary rooms, sex as well as trauma to the foot with possible effects on the neuronal, vascular and osseous apparatus was encountered, a family disposition or diabetic disease had been absent in all cases by history. In addition, the young players presented in physical top condition without signs of impairment of the immune system. A further point is the fact that nearly 2 out of 3 players were born and raised in the USA, Canada or Scandinavia, where individual sanitary precautions appear to be more elaborated than in other countries. To support this assumption, for example we did not observe any single player walking barefoot in the wardrobe or gym area. In conclusion, although circumstances point towards an increased risk in acquiring pedal fungal infection in professional ice hockey players, personal physical condition as well as individual and institutional provisions seem to build a substantial counterbalance against mycotic affection.