A beam forming apparatus for forming a beam in a forward direction including a first reflector arranged to receive light from a light source and to reflect it rearward, and a second reflector arranged to receive light from said first reflector and to reflect it forward through an aperture in said first reflector. The rearmost reflector is hyperbolic in form, and the front reflector is advantageously parabolic. This arrangement offers multiple different beam patterns of varying and controllable concentration to be achieved in a consistent and predictable manner.


Aims Root interactions between neighbour plants represent a fundamental aspect of the competitive dynamics in pure stand and mixed cropping systems. The comprehension of such phenomena places big methodological challenges, and still needs clarification. The objectives of this work were (i) to test if a species with coloured roots can be used to examine the interaction in a legume-non-legume intercropping system; (ii) to verify the importance of initial root growth on the successive root development of mixture component plants; (iii) to test if the root interaction in the shallow layers has consequences for deep root growth and (iv) to compare the effect of intraspecific and interspecific competition on root development and biomass growth. Methods A detailed study on root growth and interaction was carried out using rhizotron tubes where two legume species were grown in pure stands or were intercropped with red beet, a variety of Beta vulgaris L. with clear red roots. Within the rhizotrons, the three species were grown either without competitors, with two plants of the same species to measure intraspecific competition or with one legume and one red beet plant to study interspecific competition. The use of mixtures where one component has clearly coloured roots, together with several scalar measurements of root depth and proliferation, allowed the measurement of the root system of each species when grown in the mixtures. Important findings The use of rhizotron tubes coupled with species with coloured roots represented a valuable method to study the belowground interaction in mixed cropping systems. The initial root growth was a very important feature for the subsequent dominance of a species and it was not related to seed dimension. Initial root growth was also important because the root interactions in the shallower soil layers were found to influence the root growth in deeper soil. The root system of the red beet showed much faster and deeper growth than that of the legumes, and made red beet the dominant component in the mixtures while the legume root system was confined to the shallower soil layer. Intraspecific competition was well tolerated by the legumes, but it was limiting for the highly competitive red beet. The outcome of root interaction between neighbour plants was confirmed to be speciesspecific as it changed according to the intensity of the competitive effect/response of each species of the mixture: both legumes were slightly affected by the intraspecific and highly affected by interspecific competition while red beet was more affected by intraspecific competition but strongly dominant when intercropped with legumes.


Alternative therapies can take a while to gain acceptance, but for some veterinary patients (and their owners) acupuncture is producing good results with minimum stress, says Mike Dale. Here, he looks at the conditions which respond best to this form of therapy, and answers some common questions


In the year 2013, the percentage of elderly people is forecasted to be 25 percent of the total population in Japan. Moreover, the number of elderly people who have a disease or a physical disability is increasing. So, the need of new rehabilitation methods and systems having high therapeutic effect is also increasing. For this reason many rehabilitation support systems and robots have been developed for upper limbs (Kerbs et al., 1998, Reinkensmeyer, et al., 2000, Jezernik et al., 2003, Colombo et al., 2005, Furusho et al., 2005, Furusho et al., 2007, Kikuchi et al., 2007, Beer et al., 2008). The advantage using the robots and the systems are that the patients can perform effective rehabilitation trainings and the therapeutic effect can be evaluated quantitatively. We also have developed a rehabilitation support system for various resistance trainings of upper limb motor function as shown in Fig. 1 (Morita et al., 2007a, Morita et al., 2009). This system supports the occupational therapy for recovering physical functions. This system equipped with the teaching/guided function for personalized rehabilitation. The teaching/guided function enables the therapists to easily make not only training trajectories but also training programs to suit the individual needs of the patients. Moreover, we have proposed a quantitative evaluation method of the therapeutic effect of sanding training (Morita et al., 2007b, Morita et al., 2008). This method is used to evaluate the cooperative movement of forearm and upper arm that is one of the therapeutic effects. In the future the final aims of our research are to quantitatively evaluate the therapeutic effect of upper limb motor function during the training from the standpoint of the establishment of EBM (Evidenced Based Medicine) and to develop a new rehabilitation training support system with the quantitative evaluation function of therapeutic effect. In this chapter three kinds of evaluation methods of upper limbs during sanding training are proposed. These evaluation methods are used to evaluate the achievement level of sanding training, the cooperative movement of healthy and paralyzed arms, and the cooperative movement of forearm and upper arm. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed methods, we measure the upper limb motion of healthy people and patients with hemiplegia during the sanding training by using Shape Tape and the force/torque sensor. Then we examine the validities of the proposed evaluation methods using the patients' data, and the relationship between the evaluation results and the Brunnstrom Stage.


Active learning allows models to choose training instances in an online setting. One unexplored domain where this comes into practice is in adversarial learning. As well as a number of new theoretical considerations, using active learning in adversarial domains may give valuable insight into how to design security systems to deter malicious users. Applying active learning in an adversarial setting results in a number of new considerations when designing a query method. We evaluate a number of query methods that may have value in the adversarial problem domain of network intrusion detection, and present a new method, k-Safe Axes. K-Safe Axes simulates a malicious user by attempting to find network attacks which could bypass a network intrusion detector. Our results are inconclusive, but show the need for further exploration of k-Safe Axes and other active learning query methods in this domain.


Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 130 requires companies to report comprehensive income in a primary financial statement, but allows its presentation in either a statement of comprehensive income or a statement of stockholders' equity. In an experiment, we examine whether and how alternative presentation formats affect nonprofessional investors' processing of comprehensive-income information, specifically, information disclosing the volatility of unrealized gains on available-for-sale securities. The results show that investors' judgments of corporate and management performance reflect the volatility of comprehensive income only when it is presented in a statement of comprehensive income. We provide evidence consistent with our psychology-based framework that these findings occur because format affects how nonprofessional investors weight comprehensive-income information and not whether they acquire this information or how they evaluate it. Key Words: Comprehensive income; Nonprofessional investors; Presentation format; Volatility


The degree of permanence of set (to release in boiling water) in single wool fibres which have been dyed whilst held stretched, varies widely with the method of dyeing.

Dyeing under neutral to slightly alkaline conditions and dyeing by afterchrome methods produce high degrees of permanent set, but supercontraction can occur after the use of strongly acid or acid chrome-mordant methods with sexivalent chromium. All dyeing processes give temporary set, but this can be much less with certain processes carried out at low temperature or under strongly acid conditions. The steaming of tufts of fibres, previously dyed (or chrome-dyed) by different methods under tension, produces marked differences in length and crimp. Twist is set more completely than extension and is less affected by subsequent steaming.


A detailed history and description of the REMARC project, which is carrying out the conversion from the LC Shelf list of all records not on USMARC. This is an undertaking on a very large scale, and has the co‐operation of the LC Automated Systems Office, which takes the tapes produced in Scotland and adds the MARC tags to the raw data. The records are then available for any library which wants to converts its catalogue to machine readable form and the project includes search programs. The article includes examples of how this works, and concludes with a list of tags and data included.


We find a class of electrically charged exact solutions for a toy model of metric-affine gravity. Their metric is of the Pleba\'nski-Demia\'nski type and their nonmetricity and torsion are represented by a triplet of covectors with dilation, shear, and spin charges.


The development status of die casting process and mold design theory and method have been outlined firstly, and a fundamental framework of design technique in which the study highlights and ways of implementation for optimum and intelligent practice have been also provided. Self-creativity level of die casting processing and its mold technique can be prompted effectively by the modern design theory and method.


ABSTRACT Pareuchaetes pseudoinsulata is reported for the first time in Togo and widespread in south-western Nigeria, albeit in low densities and difficult to detect. Country-wide surveys are warranted in both countries, with the intention of renewing efforts in the biological control of Chromolaena odorata in western Africa, where the socio-ecological impact of the weed is significant.


Emerging paradigms for evaluating research, innovation and technology policies in the US and Europe, Stefan Kuhlmann, Philip Shapira the academic policy analyst as reporter - the who, what, and how of evaluating technology programs, Irwin Feller societal challenges for R&D evaluations, Arie Rip frameworks for evaluating science and technology policies in the US, Susan Cozzens evaluation of research and innovation policy in Europe - new policies, new frameworks?, Luke Georghiou the expanding role of peer review processes in the US, David Guston the evaluation of university research in the UK, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria, David Campbell challenges for the evaluation of complex research programmes, Terttu Lukkonen evaluation of the BRITE/EURAM program, Laurent Bach, Marc-Jacques Ledoux, Mireille Matt assessing the RTD program portfolios in the European Union, Ken Guy factors affecting technology transfer in industry - US federal laboratory partnerships, James Dietz benchmarking university-industry relationships - a user-centered evaluation approach, Louis Tornatsky evaluation of regional innovation policies in Europe, Patries Boekholt evaluating industrial extension services in the US, experiences and insights, Phillip Shapira evaluating the impacts of grants on women scientists' careers - the curriculum vitae as a tool for research assessment, Elizabeth Corley, Barry Bozeman, Monica Gaughan recognizing the competing values in science and technology organizations - implications for evaluation, Gretchen Jordan, Devon Streit real options for evaluating public sector R&D investments, Nicholas Vonortas, Mat Lackey evaluation as a source of "strategic intelligence", Stefan Kuhlmann.


Objective To explore the clinical efficacy on anovulatory infertility treated with wenshen huoxue decoction combined with clomiphene citrate(CC)and discover the mechanism on the improvement of endometrial receptivity.Methods One hundred and twenty-nine patients of anovulatory infertility were randomized into A group(CC),B group(wenshen huoxue decoction+CC)and C group(aspirin+CC),43 cases in each group.After treatment for 1~3 menstrual cycles,the ovulation rate,LUFS incidence rate,periodic pregnancy rate,endometrial type and intima thickness on the day of HCG injection were observed.Results The proportion of A+B endometrial type in B group was higher significantly than that in A group and C group respectively(P0.05)and the mean thickness of intima in B group was higher significantly than that in A group(P0.05).For the periodic ovulation rate:B groupC groupA group,but the differences were not significant statistically in comparison among the groups.For LUFS incidence rate:B groupC groupA group,the difference was significant between B group and A group(P0.05).For the periodic pregnancy rate:B groupC groupA group,the result in B group was higher significantly than that in A group(P0.05).Conclusion Wenshen huoxue decoction increases significantly the clinical pregnancy rate after ovulation induction by CC,reduces LUFS incidence rate and improves endometrial receptivity.The results of it are better than those in CC group and aspirin+CC group.This research provides the counterevidence on infertility due to uterine coldness after CC ovulation induction.


Eight medicinal plant extracts (Bidens pilosa Linn, Eysenhardtia polystachya Sarg, Lepidium virginicum L., Litsea glaucescens H.B.K., Mirabilis jalapa Linn., Satureja macrostema Brieq., Sophora secundiflora Lag, and Tagetes micrantha Cav.) were tested for their effect on jejunum muscular contractility. All showed inhibitory activity and extracts of M. jalapa and S. macrostema exhibited highest activity with inhibitory concentrations (IC50) of 18 and 73 µg/mL, respectively. Thus, we could corroborate some common traditional uses afforded to these plants. Flowers (petals, calices, and buds) of M. jalapa were the most active part of the plant. We obtained a semipurified sample of the flowers that was more or less five times more active than the crude extract. Furthermore, β-sitosterol, a compound reported as constitutive of M. jalapa, showed no effect on jejunum contractility.


A circularly polarized rectangular dielectric resonator antenna is presented. Circular polarization is obtained by introducing a cross slot to generate two near orthogonal degenerate modes having similar amplitudes and 900 phase difference. Four pin diodes are placed across the slots to switch between two polarization states namely, Right Hand Circular Polarization (RHCP) and Left Hand Circular Polarization (LHCP). The antenna yields a measured impedance bandwidth of 26.3% in case of LHCP and 28.2% in case of RHCP. The antenna radiates with a gain of 4.21 dB exhibiting an axial ratio bandwidth of radiate with an acceptable gain over the entire band.


A robust algorithm for decoding MPEG-2 video bitstreams not entirely free of transmission errors will be presented, describing steps taken for error detection, reaction on detected errors, error concealment, resynchronisation and header evaluation.


A large body of literature shows that the emotional health of rural elders in China is negatively affected by the migration of their adult children. However, the precise mechanism that underpins this relationship has yet to be fully uncovered. This paper introduces two new dimensions of analysis to expand the understanding of this 'left behind' phenomenon, and offers statistical insights, theoretical explanations and policy recommendations, as well as suggestions for further study. Firstly, in this paper, rural elders have been distinguished based on whether all, or any, of their adult children have migrated. This distinction leads to the finding that rural elders suffer more adverse mental health impacts when all adult children from a household move away. Secondly, the temporal dimension of migration is investigated, finding that there is a 'turning point' after which the mental health of rural elders appears to recover after the migration of their adult children. Comparison of the two groups shows that rural elders who see any of their adult children migrate recover from depression twice as quickly as those who see all of their children migrate. Receiving financial support or providing child care can only partly mediate the negative influence of migration. Also, the level of depression and wellbeing of rural elders can be significantly moderated by the emotional closeness between them and their adult children. Providing (grand)child-care assistance and receiving economic support is shown to have smaller mitigating effects. This paper concludes with a discussion of how the notion of 'filial piety' could, directly and indirectly, play a role in the emotional health of rural elders, with policy implications provided.


Policy planners in Africa confront an interesting puzzle. At the same time that many African societies are changing social norms and indigenous rights in property to more individualistic systems approaching privatization, we find increasing numbers of societies backing away from government sponsored formal systems of freehold land tenure. Even more curious, we often find that the very same societies that evolved indigenous privatization are now shunning government programs. Obviously, something about the supply of formal rights proposed by governments is not meeting the demand for property right change at the local level. Some simple economic explanations provide partial answers: the transaction costs of the registration process are high and lagging markets in essential complementary factors of production (particularly capital) may be constraining growth rather than land. But these explanations are not the whole story. Most agricultural production in Africa is still kin-based and highly risky. Lineages are not just kinfolk, they share some the characteristics of corporations: they cooperate in labor, risk management, and investment. Fundamental to the high level of trust and cooperation that such systems enjoy are basic guarantees of subsistence in the short run -- through access to land-and the long-run -- through inheritance of that land. Property right changes that violate this complex of complementary interdependencies are doomed to fail. One need not interpret this failure as violation of a sacred "moral economy"; one can as well impute a cost-benefit calculus to farmers' demands for property rights. But one must include in this equation the costs and benefits as they are realized by the farmer, that is, filtered through the calculus of kinship. The fit between formal and informal institutions is key to the former's success.


The electron density in the ionosphere usually continuously decreases during nighttime due to the vanishing of sunlit ionization. However, it sometimes increases unexpectedly, which has been called nighttime ionospheric enhancement. Previous researches studied this type of phenomenon mainly in the low‐to‐middle latitude regions. Here, we investigate the nighttime ionospheric NmF2 enhancement at middle‐to‐high latitudes in the northern hemisphere (NH) during solar cycles 23–24 by analyzing the ionosonde observations at Chilton (51.1°N, 359.4°E, geomagnetic 48.5°N), Juliusruh (54.6°N, 13.4°E, 51.7°N), Tromsø (69.9°N, 19.6°E, 66.9°N), and Qaanaaq (77.5°N, 290.8°E, 84.3°N), as well as comparing with the Empirical Canadian High Arctic Ionospheric Model (E‐CHAIM). The observations show that the nighttime NmF2 enhancement occurs mainly in the winter solstice months (November–February), and the occurrence rate and relative amplitude of the enhancement are inversely related to solar activity. The observed results are in good agreement with the results obtained from E‐CHAIM. Furthermore, the model shows the spatial distribution of the enhancement at the middle‐to‐high latitudes in NH in winter, most obvious in geomagnetic latitude between 50°N and 65°N, and have longitudinal minima centered at 30°W and maxima centered at 120°W and 75°E. From these results, this unique phenomenon at middle latitude is explained probably by the plasma flux from the higher altitudes (e.g., topside ionosphere and plasmasphere) diffusing downward into the ionospheric F2 layer. However, at polar regions, under the influence of the abundant high‐density structures such as polar cap patches, auroral blob, particle precipitation, etc., the F region plasma density enhancement becomes more complicated.


One of the major impacts of the Earth's ionosphere on spaceborne radar signals is the rotation of the polarization vector, also called the Faraday rotation (FR) effect. The FR effect increases with decreasing frequency. It is reported [1] that estimated maximum FR values under peak ionospheric total electron content (TEC) conditions range from 2.5 degrees (C-band) to more than 320 degrees (P-band). The FR effect depends on the electron density along the propagation path, the Earth's magnetic field, the radio frequency and the path direction of the signal, all of which vary in space and time. Low-frequency radars – radars operating at L-band and lower – must therefore be well calibrated not only for system distortion terms, but also for FR. Several recent techniques have been proposed for estimating FR and removing its effects from radar signals, though in most cases the range of applicability of the techniques has been small. In this paper we present a method for direct estimation of FR, along with several other system distortion parameters, which is applicable to a large range of Faraday rotation angles and can therefore be applied to low frequency radars. The solution is posed as a nonlinear optimization problem for the polarimetric radar system model. The applicability of the model is demonstrated through several examples and sensitivity studies.


Knowledge survey and mapping system, investigated the topic, mutual relationship of those topics with each other, related to the response that has been searched in the process such as natural language query or Boolean format queries that are sent automatically to the database from the knowledge search tool, automatically build a knowledge survey map that represents the.


Congenital hydrocephalus (CH) is a major cause of childhood morbidity. Mono-allelic mutations in Trim71, a conserved stem-cell-specific RNA-binding protein, cause CH, however, molecular basis for pathogenesis mediated by these mutations remains unknown. Here, using mouse embryonic stem cells as a model, we reveal that the mouse R783H mutation (R796H in human) significantly alters Trim71's mRNA substrate specificity and leads to accelerated stem-cell differentiation and neural lineage commitment. The mutant Trim71, but not the wild-type Trim71, binds Lsd1 (Kdm1a) mRNA and represses its translation. Specific inhibition of this repression or a slight increase of Lsd1 in the mutant cells alleviates the defects in stem cell differentiation and neural lineage commitment. These results determine a functionally relevant target of the CH-causing Trim71 mutant that can potentially be a therapeutic target and provide molecular mechanistic insights into the pathogenesis of this disease.


There are errors in the Funding section. The correct funding information is as follows: This study was supported by grants from the intramural program of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.


The paper aims to provide some empirical evidence to strengthen the debate around the project-based organisation, which tends to qualifies the latter as the dominant organising form among the creative industries. Our focus is the performing music industry. We recur to an unique database we have built on the basis of data provided by ENPALS (Ente Nazionale di Previdenza e di Assistenza per i Lavoratori dello Spettacolo) in Rome (Italy), which collects the pension contributions for the workers of performing arts among all Italian public and private organisations. The output of our descriptive analysis confirms that the project based organisations, that in our case of the performing music regard primarily the event management, are the most diffuse form in this field. Moreover, our research gives some interesting hints on the characteristics of the performing music labour force, asserting the project based workers as the category that includes the majority of workers in the industry.


ABSTRACT The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) hosted the 2002 SONS Gulf National Incident Commander (NIC) Exercise in New Orleans, Louisiana on 23–25 April 2002 and the 2002 SONS Gulf Executive Seminar in Washington, D. C. on 26 April 2002. This massive effort was accomplished through almost two years of planning by a government/industry workgroup representing the USCG, Texas General Land Office (TGLO), Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator's Office, ExxonMobil, Stolt-Nielsen Transportation Group, and Environmental Protection Agency Region VI. The original SONS exercise was scheduled to exercise the Nation's ability to respond to a SONS in a two-part format. The terrorist attacks at the Pentagon and the World Trade Center in September 2001 required that the original SONS exercise plans be delayed and amended. The final SONS exercise format was a three-part series. The first part involved tabletop discussions with port-level responders to determine what actions and issues would result from the exercise scenarios. The sec...


The article presents an analysis of a clinical case of unrecognized gallstone disease with perforation of the gallbladder complicated by peritonitis in a patient of the old age group. Difficulties in diagnosing the underlying disease that led to the death of the patient were associated with pathological syndromes and features of their course characteristic of the elderly age group, as well as with the use of multidrug therapy, which masked the clinical picture of the disease. However, the crucial role in the adverse outcome of the disease in this patient was played by the errors in the provision of medical care, due to the underestimation of the results of diagnostic clinical, laboratory and instrumental tests, as well as the formal maintenance of medical records.


1414 Objectives The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of time of flight (TOF) technique applied in PET detector in the elimination of "hot trachea" artifacts occurred during hybrid PET/MRI scanning and the improvement of PET/MRimage quality. Methods NEMA IQ phantom was used as well as 35patients were recruited for GE Signa PET/MR scanning with TOF technique. The total radioactivity of the NEMA IQ phantom is 3.0 mCi, the radioactivity ratio of target versus background is 4:1. There is a cylinder in the center of the phantom filled with low density materials and gas. PET/MR scan began 4 hrs after the phantom was prepared and lasted for 11 mins. Within 35patients, 22of them were diagnosed with tumors, 13 were diagnosed with other diseases, 19 of them were male, and 16 of them were female. The median age of all 35 patients was58.31 ± 10.67 and the media BMI was 23.81 ± 3.34. Each patient was injected with3.7 mBq/kg18F-FDGand the PET/MR began scanning 120 mins after injection, the average scanning speed was 3.5 mins/bed for PET scanning.MRI information was used for MR attenuation correction (MRAC)for PET images, and PET images were reconstructed with TOF or non-TOF techniques for comparison. Two experienced physicians reviewed the images and defined the "hot trachea" and "hot intestine" artifacts independently. Volume of interest (VOI) was measured for maximum value of standard uptake value (SUVmax) of 18F-FDG. Results (1) With non-TOF reconstruction,"hot trachea" artifacts appeared clearly on PET images of NEMA IQ phantom, however, when applied TOF technique could eliminate the artifacts no matter whether included MRAC. (2) "hot trachea" artifacts were found in 31of total 35patients (88.6%), and SUVmax of the artifacts were 1.2 ± 0.4 g/ml with TOF technique and 1.9±0.6 g/ml with non-TOF reconstruction (p Conclusions The "hot trachea" artifacts were not associated with MRAC, and could be eliminated with TOF technique. Thus, the TOF techniqueis essential in achieving high quality PET/MR images.


Infertility is the most gynecological problem which is increasing all over the world.Many studies were done and many theories were tried to put the pathophysiology andcauses of infertility in order to find solutions to this problem. The aim of this study is:-1. To study the distribution of the problem all over Tikrit governorate.2. To study the relation between some hormones, biochemical parameters and infertility.Patients and Methods: 600 infertile patients were enrolled .The study conducted atobstetrics and gynecology out-patient of Tikrit Teaching Hospital. The primaryinvestigations of infertility were done to all women. Seventy two patients complained ofovarian cause infertility were taken randomly as a group -1- and 18 normal fertilewomen as a control group or group -2- to study FSH, LH, prolactin, insulin, leptin, TSH,T3, T4, blood sugar, lipid profile, BMI ,Glutathione (internal anti-oxidant) andMalondialdehyde ( oxidative stress product). Results: infertility increased in Iraq after2003 war. The primary infertility is more than secondary infertility. Many factorsassociated with it such as: age, BMI, blood groups, blood sugar, lipids profile andhormones. Different relations between study's hormones, Glutathione andMalondialdehyde. Conclusion: The environmental factors can participates in infertilitysince 2003 in Iraq. Different hormones such as FSH,LH,Prolactin,Insulin, TSH, T4, T3,Leptin and others play a role in pathogenesis and different mechanisms of infertility.These hormones and infertility at the end result would be affected by oxidative stress ofthe body.


"The cranberry has many insect enemies, but some of them are of importance only on dry bogs. The foliage is attacked by three species of "fireworms," the tipworm, spanworms, army worms, and the cranberry fleabeetle; the fruit is eaten by the fruitworm , blossom worm, cranberry katydid, and grasshoppers; the vine is attacked by the girdler, toadbug, vinehopper, spittle insect, mealybug, and Putnam and oyster-shell scales; and the roots are destroyed by the rootworm and white grubs. This bulletin gives brief descriptions of these pests, their life histories, and the means found most effective, in each case, in preventing their ravages and destroying them." -- p. 2


In this paper, preparation methods of nano-TiO2/polyurethane composite were briefly introduced,and then its application status in leather finishing was concluded. Finally, the main problems and the future prospect were pointed out.


The in vivo headspace extraction of volatile organic compounds from Micro-Tom tomato flowers was investigated using multiple solid phase microextraction (SPME) fibers of different properties to maximize the extraction selectivity for a nontargeted analysis. The three fibers used in this work were polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), PDMS/divinylbenzene (DVB), and carboxen (CAR)/PDMS. Two sources for tomato flowers were used: Micro-Tom wild type (WT) and transgenic Micro-Tom overexpressing the carotenoid cleavage deoxygenase 1 gene. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) results demonstrated that the largest amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were observed with the PDMS/DVB fiber for both wild type and transgenic plants, but the CAR/PDMS and PDMS fibers contributed to the detection of selective compounds. Data revealed the presence of 45 VOCs from transgenic plants and 35 from the wild type when all three fibers were used together. Of the total VOCs identified, 30 were common to both types of plant...


Thermodynamics relates measurable quantities such as thermal coefficients and specific heats. The first law, which implies that the enthalpy is a function of state, yields a relation for the pressure derivative of the specific heat cP. The second law gives a simpler and well-known relation for this pressure derivative. We compare the values of the pressure derivative of cP obtained from the first and second laws to the values obtained from measurements for water at different pressures. The comparison illustrates the scope and methodology of thermodynamics.


It analyzed the concept and content of design management and the similarities and differences between the multiple definitions.Through the evolution of design management and the view of industrial design,to parse the design management strategy of Apple and Ikea,as two internationally renowned company,it discussed the nature of design management and its role and status in industrial design.On this basis,it described the content of design management in industrial design and the nine issues which must be considered,pointed out the drawbacks of vague understanding of design management,proposed that design management also should play a role in the fields of ethical,moral and value.


The paper addresses article 1560 of the Civil Code, concerning the interpretation of contracts. There is a suspicion that this provision lacks application. The paper tackles the issue first by analyzing the provision pragmatic side of language (what is it for?), and then its semantic side (what does this provision mean?). The paper identifies symbolic, technical, conceptual, and interpretative features of the provision under study. Under such framework of analysis, it is emphasized, among other things, i) the usefulness of the provision to determine what does judges must interpret (not how), ii) the contribution of the provision to the understanding of what literality stands for in interpretation, and iii) to focus on the intentional actions of parties –rather than their state of mind– so as to face the hard issue of knowing the intention of the contracting parties.


Abstract The study aimed at investigating the role of the family in the emotional growth of the adolescent in the light of the Islamic education. The analytical descriptive method was used. The findings indicated that the Muslim family has an effective role in the emotional growth of the adolescent sons and daughters by feeding their needs of security, appreciation, religion, independence, caring, warmth and passion. The study showed the best Islamic educational strategies used by the family in controlling their adolescent son's emotions, such as love, boasting, arrogance, anger and fears. The study recommended the necessity for coming back to Holy Quran and Prophet's Sunna to know the best educational methods in raising the adolescents according to the method of our creator, Allah that will help them achieve the best in life and in life ever after.


Non ionogenic emulsions of the artificial rubber polymer polyisobutylene were effective for control of the cabbage gall midge, Contarinia nasturtii, on cauliflower and cabbages under both field and laboratory conditions. Additional tests with these emulsions demonstrated excellent effectiveness in preventing feeding injury by onion thrips, Thrips tabaci, on onions in the greenhouse. These tests provide the first results for the use of these polymers to modify leaf surfaces for protection from insects.


The explosive growth of wireless network users and the existence of various wireless services have demanded high rate throughput as well as user's QoS guarantees. Towards this, this paper proposes QoS-oriented subcarrier allocation scheme considering the QoS provisioning of multiple users, which is major requirement for wireless network design point of view. This paper introduces joint RR/K&H combined with M-LWDF(Modified Largest Weighted Delay First) scheme throughout observing statistical channel behavior and real time queuing analysis for appropriate resource allocation tightly connected to multiuser scheduling. Accordingly, the system throughput can be enhanced, and the QoS demanded for delay sensitive services can be satisfied. Furthermore, the proposed scheme is applied for OFDMA(Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) systems to allocate sub-carriers in optimal way. The simulation results verify plausible performances of proposed resource allocation scheme via showing superior effective capacity under time-varying physical-layer channel behaviors.


Aim: We compared the ulcerogenic effects of aspirin (ASA) and indomethacin in the rat gastric mucosa depending on the route of administration, together with the expression of COX-2. Methods: Animals fasted for 18 h were given ASA or indomethacin, either p.o. or s.c., and the stomach was examined 4 h later. Results: Indomethacin decreased mucosal PGE2 level, increased gastric motility, and caused gastric lesions with the up-regulation of COX-2 expression, irrespective of the route of administration. ASA induced both damage and COX-2 expression in the stomach when given p.o. but not s.c., despite decreasing the PGE2 level similarly via either route of administration. Gastric motility was temporarily increased and gastric potential difference (PD) was markedly decreased by ASA given p.o. PGE2 and atropine, although preventing ASA-induced gastric lesions as well as hypermotility, affected neither the COX-2 expression nor PD reduction induced by p.o. ASA. By contrast, the COX-2 expression induced by indomethacin was prevented by both PGE2 and atropine. Conclusion: ASA given p.o. caused damage in the stomach, together with the up-regulation of COX-2 expression, and this expression may be due to the topical irritative action, rather than being a result of PG deficiency. The expression of COX-2 after indomethacin is associated with gastric hypermotility due to PG deficiency.


The invention discloses a method and a system for detecting the reliability of a service provider (SP) site. A main technical scheme is that: the method comprises the following steps of: determining a uniform resource locator (URL) to be detected; acquiring wireless application protocol (WAP) contents provided by the SP site corresponding to the URL according to the URL, and detecting the WAP contents; and determining the reliability of the SP site corresponding to the URL according to a WAP content detection results. By the technical scheme, the WAP contents are not required to be audited manually, thereby improving network content monitoring efficiency and accuracy; moreover, content detection can be performed based on an access request of a user, and relatively higher real-time performance and universality are achieved.


Negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic appear to disproportionately affect different population groups by outweighing the risks in socially and environmentally marginalized segments of society. The aim of the current study is to review on how environmental health inequities have negatively impacted the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as on challenges and perspectives in the post-pandemic transition context. The saturation of health services at tertiary level, difficulties in getting access to treatment for chronic morbidities, as well as the centuries-old unequal supply of essential environmental sanitation services are determining factors for inequity and pandemic severity levels. Strategies used to minimize disparities in the access to healthcare services have been directed towards integrating primary healthcare services to the health surveillance sector, as well as further developing digital health actions. It is possible concluding that the multidimensionality of the pandemic crisis must be understood based on the socio-environmental systemic perspective, with emphasis on its potential to worsen pre-existing environmental health inequities and to produce new inequities in the future in regions and populations affected by health and environmental vulnerability.


The aim of this article is to study the ideal class monoid $\mathcal{C}\ell(S)$ of a numerical semigroup $S$ introduced by V. Barucci and F. Khouja. We prove new bounds on the cardinality of $\mathcal{C}\ell(S)$. We observe that $\mathcal{C}\ell(S)$ is isomorphic to the monoid of ideals of $S$ whose smallest element is 0, which helps to relate $\mathcal{C}\ell(S)$ to the Ap\'ery sets and the Kunz coordinates of $S$. We study some combinatorial and algebraic properties of $\mathcal{C}\ell(S)$, including the reduction number of ideals, and the Hasse diagrams of $\mathcal{C}\ell(S)$ with respect to inclusion and addition. From these diagrams we can recover some notable invariants of the semigroup. Lastly, we prove some results about irreducible elements, atoms, quarks and primes of $(\mathcal{C}\ell(S),+)$. Idempotent ideals coincide with over-semigroups and idempotent quarks correspond to unitary extensions of the semigroup. We show that a numerical semigroup is irreducible if and only if $\mathcal{C}\ell(S)$ has at most two quarks.


This work deals with rejection of inaccessible signals in discrete-time linear switching systems, with the requirement that the compensated system be quadratically stable under arbitrary switching. A constructive condition is provided for devising a switching state feedback achieving zero output for any admissible inaccessible input sequence and any initial state in a certain subspace, while attaining quadratic stability under arbitrary switching of the closed-loop dynamics. The constructive condition is twofold, since structural and stability issues are considered independently of each others. The methodological bases consist of both classic and novel ideas of the geometric approach, enhanced with the notion of quadratic stability under arbitrary switching. The theoretical results are supported by a complete computational framework, developed in Matlab by using the algorithms of the geometric approach and the LMI solvers.


The conductivity of a low voltage electrical current passed through Hyalomma ( Hyalommasta ) aegyptium (L.) nymphs feeding on tortoises at 15°, 20°, 25°, 30° and 35°C was measured on an oscilloscope and changes in the pharyngeal sucking action and in the secretion of saliva were recorded photographically. Comparable observations were made on a nymph on the belly of a rabbit at 35°C and for another nymph towards the tip of the ear of the same host where the surface skin temperature was 25°C. The standard components making up a single feeding complex were the same for the nymphs regardless of the type of host. These consisted of a period of inactivity, pharyngeal pumping activity, salivary ejection, inactive open salivarium, and a period of flexing of the salivarium. Some flexing of the salivarium was also sometimes apparent during the pharyngeal period, particularly just before the ejection of saliva. Other electrical pulse patterns were observed but their significance in feeding was too tenuous to interpret seriously.

Nymphs completed their engorgement at 20°C and above. A single feeding complex at 20°C and above took about 1 min. with the exception of the nymph on the abdomen of the rabbit at 35°C which took less than 1/2 minute. This was primarily attributable to a short period for the flexing of the salivarium. Both the rate of pharyngeal sucking and the rate of flexing of the salivarium increased with temperature even though their periods remained more or less unchanged. At 15°C the nymphs were unable to complete their engorgement, not because of a qualitative change in feeding dynamics, but because the feeding process was lowered to such a slow rate that death ensued before sufficient time had elapsed to permit complete engorgement.


Tire pressure is one of the most important parameters in the car.Driving on a significantly under-inflated tire not only causes the tire to overheat and can lead to tire failure,but also reduces fuel efficiency and tire tread life,and may affect the vehicle's handling.It is necessary to equip your car with a tire pressure monitoring system that illuminates a low tire pressure telltale when one or more of your tires is significantly under-inflated.A self-identifying car tire pressure monitoring system(TPMS)was designed.Based on wireless sensor and control area network(CAN) bus,the overall control scheme,its hardware design,software control strategyand communication protocol were presented.The bench test of the TPMS in the lab and the road test of the TPMS on vehicles prove that the CAN bus communication is stable,the wireless communication is reliable,and the tire position self-identifying is correct.


With the high proportion of renewable energy sources (RESs) connected to the power grid, the short-circuit current characteristics are altered by the RESs. It may lead to mal-operation of the conventional pilot differential protection. To solve this problem, the differences in fault current characteristics between the RESs and the traditional generators are analyzed. Further, a new novel protection scheme is proposed based on cotangent similarity. The principle of cotangent similarity is introduced in order to differentiate the fault current waveforms between the RESs and the traditional generators. Compared with the protection strategy based on the cosine similarity, the proposed protection algorithms can correctly distinguish the internal or external faults even when the short-circuit current contributed by RESs is zero. Finally, the simulation tests were carried out based on PSCAD/EMTDC. The test results show that the proposed protection scheme is effective for the power grid connected with the RESs.


In this paper the saturation of Abel Poisson means and Guass weierstrass means on compact Lie groups be discussed in the space C(G), and the characterization of saturation classes of the two kinds of spherical means be given out.


This paper describes experiences with two incidents of overseas shipments of uranium hexafluoride (UF{sub 6}) cylinders. The first incident involved nine empty UF{sub 6} cylinders in enclosed sea containers. Three UF{sub 6} cylinders broke free from their tie-downs and damaged and contaminated several sea containers. This paper describes briefly how decontamination was carried out. The second incident involved a shipment of 14 full UF{sub 6} cylinders. Although the incident did not cause an accident, the potential hazard was significant. The investigation of the cause of the near accident is recounted. Recommendations to alleviate future similar incidents for both cases are presented.


The X. Jubilee Symposium was introduced by Prof. Boris V. Afanasyev who has presented a short introduction into history and current activities of R.Gorbacheva Memorial Institute of Children Oncology, Hematology and Transplantology. Among recent advances, he mentioned novel approaches to treatment of refractory/relapsed lymphomas, large studies in haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), and special features of lymphoma therapy in HIV-infected patients.


From the Publisher:
May, 1997. It was the match that stunned the world: Chess Champion Garry Kasparov was beaten by the massively parallel computer, Deep Blue - an opponent Kasparov had vanquished in 1996. But unlike his human opponent, Deep Blue could be redesigned in the intervening year. The result: the first "player" - computer or human - ever to win a match against the chess genius. Kasparov's own move-by-move analysis of these games in A New Era shows just how much IBM has improved the breed, and how they were spoiling for a fight in this momentous rematch. Yet not all the World Champion's rivals are machines. Two years before, Garry Kasparov defeated challenger Viswanathan Anand in eighteen demanding and gripping games. Here, for the first time, are move-by-move analyses by International Grandmaster Leonid Shamkovich and by Master - and Kasparov second - Michael Khodarkovsky, which provide insight into the mind of the World Champion as he prepared for his matches against Deep Blue.


A method and a device for optical data transmission are proposed. Incoming optical signals having respective incoming waveguide modes are mapped into outgoing optical signals having respective outgoing waveguide modes, by using optical spatial modulators, whose multiplicative patterns correspond to the respective electrical field patterns of the respective incoming or outgoing waveguide modes. An incoming optical signal, whose respective incoming waveguide mode is of an azimuthal order equal to zero, results in an outgoing optical signal, whose respective outgoing waveguide mode is of an azimuthal order equal to zero. Furthermore, two incoming optical signals, whose respective second incoming waveguide modes are of a same azimuthal order greater than zero, of the same radial order, and orthogonal to each other result in respective outgoing signals, whose respective outgoing waveguide modes are off a same azimuthal order greater than zero, of the same radial order and orthogonal to each other.


Post-concussion sleep disturbances can be debilitating and may influence days to symptom recovery, but evidence is minimal. The purpose of this study was to explore relationships between days to symptom recovery and aspects of sleep, as measured by actigraphy and subjective sleep questionnaires in a concussed sample. Thirty-one college students were physician-diagnosed with a concussion and asked to complete a daily sleep symptom checklist. Participants (n=14) were excluded based on lack of compliance/early termination (22.6%), recorded <5 nights of data (12.9%), and protracted recoveries (3.2%). Final concussed sample included 17 college-aged students (varsity student-athletes; n=5, university students; n=12). A wrist-worn ActiGraph GT9X Link was provided during initial evaluation (within 72 hours post-injury) and worn continuously until symptom recovery (follow-up evaluation; 14.3±5.9 days post-injury). The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) were also completed at follow-up. Pearson's correlations were conducted to determine relationships between days to symptom recovery and actigraphy sleep outcomes (sleep onset latency, wake after sleep onset (WASOnorm), total sleep time, sleep efficiency (SE), and number of awakenings) across recovery stages (2-3 days post-injury, mid-point, and end). Spearman's rho correlations were used to determine relationships between subjective sleep (PSQI global), sleepiness (ESS total), and sleep cluster symptom severity and days to symptom recovery. At recovery mid-point, individuals who were awake longer throughout the night (24.1±9.0%) and/or were less efficient at sleeping (73.7±9.7%) took longer to recover (WASOnorm:r=0.58, p=0.015; SE:r=-0.51, p=0.035). Poorer post-concussion sleep quality (based on PSQI) was correlated with longer recovery (rs=0.70, p=0.001). Post-concussion sleep-wake disturbances at recovery mid-point and overall poorer sleep quality may be associated with longer symptom recovery. Our findings provide preliminary guidance on identifying those who may be at risk for longer recoveries based on poorer sleep post-injury.


A metal wiring process is provided to simplify a wiring process by forming the wiring made of the single metal like copper without using an additional device like a plating device. A diffusion barrier layer(160) is formed in a layer to form a metal wiring. A first metal layer(165) is formed by using the first metal with the oxidation potential higher than the hydrogen standard potential. The metal wiring is formed by inducing the substitution reaction of the first metal and the second metal by exposing the first metal layer in the electrolyte solution of the first metal with the lower ionization tendency than the first metal and the lower oxidation potential than the hydrogen standard potential. A diffusion preventing layer includes at least one of Ta and TaN.


The population and samples in this study is all employee about 75 people. The data recourses used were primary and secondary data. The data accumulation technique used were taken by doing interview and questionnaire. The method of analysis used were the method of quantitative descritive and multiple regression analysis (simultaneously and partially analysis) with the help of SPSS 17 version. Based on the results of multiple regression analysis, simultaneously test showed that motivation (X1) and discipline (X2) had a significant effect on labor performance (Y). The influence of each independent variables on dependent variable could be seen by doing partial test, the results showed that motivation (X1) and discipline (X2) had a significant effect on labor performance (Y). And for that, writer suggested for the company to watch another factors that can influence on labor performance, because the company and the labor are both work partner that needed each other for the welfare of the company. Keywords: motivation, discipline, and labor performance.


Application of the modified Ebers-Moll model to low-frequency nonlinear harmonic distortion analysis of transistor amplifiers is discussed. The calculated values for two types of transistor amplifiers are compared with measured values and are found to be in good agreement. Therefore the model can be used in design of low-distortion audio amplifiers.


Quantum Computing lies at the frontier of computing, offering a radically different and unconventional model of computation. In the absence of practical quantum computers today, we must simulate their execution. This creates a performance problem, as quantum computing simulation is very costly. However, quantum computing simulation does contain an abundance of parallelism. The research question becomes: how to expose this parallelism? Although it is easy to show the problem inherently contains a large amount of parallelism, the type of parallelism is non-trivial to exploit in a scalable way using current mainstream parallelization techniques. This paper presents the formulation a virtual machine for quantum computing as a finegrained dataflow schema, which aims to expose and exploit the abundance of parallelism in a way that avoids the observed scalability issues. We present the formal mapping from the linear algebra description of elementary quantum operations to dataflow graphs, analyze its theoretical parallel characteristics and present experimental performance results of a prototype implementation.


Analogy-based estimation has, over the last 15 years, and particularly over the last 7 years, emerged as a promising approach with comparable accuracy to, or better than, algorithmic methods in some studies. In addition, it is potentially easier to understand and apply; these two important factors can contribute to the successful adoption of estimation methods within Web development companies. We believe therefore, analogy-based estimation should be examined further.This paper compares several methods of analogy-based effort estimation. In particular, it investigates the use of adaptation rules as a contributing factor to better estimation accuracy. Two datasets are used in the analysis; results show that the best predictions are obtained for the dataset that first, presents a continuous "cost" function, translated as a strong linear relationship between size and effort, and second, is more "unspoiled" in terms of outliers and collinearity. Only one of the two types of adaptation rules employed generated good predictions.


(1S-{1α,1[3R * ,5R * (R * )],2α,5β})-5-[1,2-Bis(benzyloxy)ethyl]-4,5-dihydro-3-[1-hydroxy-2-methyl-5-(1-methylvinyl)cyclohexyl]-2(3H)-furanone, C 30 H 34 O 7 , M r =506.3, monoclinic, P2 1 , a=12.780 (1), b=6.478 (1), c=16.832 (2) A, β=93.00 (1) o , V=1391.6 (3) A 3 , Z=2, D x =1.209 g cm -3 , λ(Mo Kα)=0.71069 A, μ=0.9 cm -1 , F(000)=540, T=298 K, R=0.0504 and wR=0.0584 for 2177 reflections [I≥2σ(1)]. Crystal chirality was assigned on the basis of the two components coupled to form the title compound. The carbohydrate lactone, L-gulonic-γ-lactone, was utilized as a precursor to the tetrahydrofuran ring and the dibenzoate appendage


Aiming at the problem of target reaching and avoiding obstacles in the nonlinear motion planning of autonomous mobile robots, a new motion planning method is proposed. Due to the uncertain factors brought by the unknown environment and modeling errors to the control system, the performance of the precise controller is poor and the design requirements are high. Designed an adaptive fuzzy neural network planning method based on extreme learning machine (Extreme-ANFIS), which combines the easy-to-express characteristics of fuzzy control and the self-learning of neural network, and introduces the theoretical idea of extreme learning machine, which reduces the computational complexity of the traditional adaptive fuzzy neural network. The simulation experiment results show that the designed controller based on the fuzzy neural network can achieve the expected effect through the learning of training samples.


Explains the importance of concurrent engineering and its impact on product development success. Several cases studies of how Sun Microsystems practices concurrent engineering are presented. Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation is the world's largest leading supplier of open client-server computing solutions. The headquarters is located in Mountain View, California and Sun Microsystems has manufacturing plants in Milpitas, California; Linlithgow, Scotland and Westford, Massachusetts. The Company was founded in 1982 and has grown to multi-billion dollar corporation in ten years. Despite these difficult economic times, Sun Microsystems has continued along a successful path. Revenues and sales have grown steadily. Why Is Sun Microsystems doing so well? This paper answers this question as well as illustrating the effects of applying various concurrent engineering principles. It focuses on the operations of the "East Coast" division of Sun Microsystems.<<ETX>>


A die for punching narrow slots in the inner thick wall of the cone_shaped hole of the nozzle part has been designed.The design principle,the structure and working process of the die and the main points for designing the key parts of the die are stated.The method for verifying the punch strength is introduced briefly.


This article investigates an emerging class of contemporary machines: the robot companion. It is introduced as a robot that will accompany 'us' in 'our' human everyday lives. This article analyzes one example of how robot companionship is realized while querying how this realization might imply a change in how 'we' conceive of human/machine relations. Drawing on central insights into the making of the humanoid Armar, the author develops an approach to emerging human/machine relations through affects, more precisely through the affective strategies and affective labors taking place in the robotics laboratory. She furthermore suggests taking a posthumanist perspective on the analysis, which entails becoming attentive to the intra-active co-production between human and machine. Importantly, this also allows her to tweak the powerful differentiation between success and failure at work in this specific setting, the robotics laboratory. How can 'we' rethink human/machine relations of humanlike interaction through queering success and failure at the robot/human interface? Finally, the author suggests establishing an understanding of laboratory work on the project of the humanlike companion that takes into account the queering potential of failure – centrally by emphasizing the interweaving of knowing and affects, rather than neglecting their connection. At stake seems to be the possibility to develop visions of how to turn the capitalist endeavor of increasing rationalizations of 'human everyday lives' into a more responsible and accountable practice of technologization that takes into account the largely neglected dimensions of human/machine relations beyond the success/failure binary.


The palm oil industry is currently growing rapidly and generating large amounts of biomass waste that is not utilized properly. Palm empty fruit bunch (PEFB), by product of palm oil industry is considered as a promising alternative and renewable energy source that can be converted to a liquid product by pyrolysis process. In this work, pyrolysis of PEFB was studied to produce bio-oil. Pyrolysis experiments were carried out in a bench scale tubular furnace reactor. The effects of pyrolysis temperatures (400–600 °C) at heating rate of 10 °C/min to optimize the pyrolysis process for maximum liquid yield were investigated. The characteristics of bio-oil were analyzed using FTIR and GC–MS. The results showed that the maximum bio-oil yield was 44.5 wt. % of the product at 450 °C. The bio-oil products were mainly composed of acids, aldehydes, ketones, alcohols, phenols, and oligomers. The chemical characterization showed that the bio-oil obtained from PEFB may be potentially valuable as a fuel and chemical feedstock.


In this paper,Tieguanyin tea leaf and tea stems the proanthocyanidins content determination.Using ultrasonic extraction method,90% ethanol as extraction agent,with 1% vanillin HCl solution as the chromogenic agent,on the proanthocyanidins content determination.With proanthocyanidins standard linear regression equation:A=8.301 3 x C-0.047 3,correlation coefficient R=0.999 6,proanthocyanidin concentration in the 0.020~0.120 mg/mL range,the absorbance of A and concentration of C showed good linear relationship.Method of standard addition recovery rate was 96.5%~101.5%,the variation coefficient was 0.01%,the accuracy and precision of this method are high.According to the standard curve method in quantitative analysis.


World demand on menthol is so high and it is also a chalenge for organic synthetic chemist to develop new method of synthesis and conversion from another sources. Tandem cyclization-hydrogenation reaction towards citronellal is one important mechanism recently. Within the mechanism, hydrogenation of isopulegol is rate determining step. Considering green chemistry principles, this research deals with the use of heterogeneous catalyst in hydrogenation, Nickel (Ni) and also the use of microwave assisted organic synthesis method. An effort to improve activity and reusability of nickel in the reaction was conducted by dispersion in pillared clay materials, Ni-saponite.Nickel immobilized zirconia pillared saponite (Ni/Zr-Saponite) was prepared using pillarization-impregnation method. The composite, Zr-Saponite and Saponite were characterised by Scanning Electron Microscopy-energy dispersive x-ray (SEM-EDX), x-ray diffraction (XRD), surface acidity and surface area parameter based on nitrogen adsorption-desorption method. Catalytic hydrogen transfer of isopulegol hydrogenation was used as reaction model to show the comparison of catalytic activity.The XRD and SEM-EDX results of the composite indicate that zirconia was successfully distributed as pillar and nickel was dispersed within the pillared material. Both modifications increased the specific surface area, pore volume and surface acidity as a result of pillar formation and homogeneous distribution of the particles. Compared to raw saponite and Zr-Saponite, the composite exhibits significant improvement on total conversion of isopulegol. The presence of nickel affect the hydrogenation mechanism as showed by the product of menthol by catalytic hydrogen transfer.


This paper deals with quality of service in mobile ad hoc networks. It aims at admission control schemes in this kind of networks. The state of the art is summed up and open problems are identified in this paper. Then, our proposed new QoS model for MANETs called QMMAC is presented. We provide the architecture of the model, its features and parameters. The paper also describes the process of fine-tuning models parameters. Finally, we provide an evaluation of proposed QoS model based on simulation experiments.


The study of personal and behavioral factors of academic adaptation of students with chronic diseases is necessary for the development of a strategy for the socio-psychological and psychological-pedagogical support of such individuals at the university. The purpose of the study is to investigate the role of personality characteristics and social activity in the academic adaptation of conditionally healthy students and students with chronic diseases. The study involved 419 undergraduate university students aged 17–26 years, average age M=19,6, SD=2,8 (men 18,4%), 34,8% of them have chronic diseases (visual system, combined disorders, disorders of the musculoskeletal system, emotional and volitional disorders, etc.). The samples were balanced by gender, age, and academic level. The following questionnaires were used: 5PFQ by R. McCrae and P. Costa in the adaptation of A.B. Khromov (2000), the Scale of academic adaptation (R.M. Shamionov et al., 2020), the Scale of commitment to various forms of social activity (Shamionov R.M. et al., 2018). It was found that students with chronic diseases are characterized by a weaker expression of extraversion and a stronger emotional instability. The relationship between the components of academic adaptation and personality traits attachment–isolation, self- control–impulsivity, emotional stability–instability is universal regardless of the state of health. Socio-political and Internet search activities are associated with the adaptation of students with chronic diseases. Emotional stability–instability is a moderator of the directed connection of age and chronic diseases with academic adaptation, weakening the direct causal relationship. The obtained data allow us to outline the ways of socio- psychological and psychological-pedagogical support of students with chronic diseases at the university.


Here a novel paradigm of fiber optics 3D shape sensing is presented. Fiber optics technology offers a great potential for minimal invasive medical applications. The approach is supported by two basic cornerstones: the first is the Optical Backscattering Reflectometry (OBR), which gives the possibility of distributed strain sensing along the length of fiber sensor installed on the needle; the second is the principle of simultaneous scattering-level multiplexing (SLMux), which permits to interrogate a parallel of optical sensor in the same OBR scan. SLMux, which overtakes the OBR limitation to the interrogation of a single optical sensor, is possible by using a custommade MgO nanoparticles doped fiber (NPDF), which presents a core doped with a randomly distributed pattern of particles. NP-fiber shows a backscattering power of more than 40 dB higher than a standard single-mode fibers (SMF). By splicing NP-fiber cuts with different SMF pigtail it is possible to achieve a parallel where the higher NP-fiber backscattering can be effectively discriminated. With this approach it is possible to pack several sensors along the needle length to detect all the strain components. Experimentally, a parallel of four sensors has been fixed along the length of an epidural needle at 90 degrees from each other. 3D shape sensing is achieved by strain measurement from each fibers and distributed strain sensing along the needle. As a result of strain elaboration, shape deformation and bending of the needle during its insertion into a custom-made phantom, which mimics human spine anatomy, have been obtained.


ABSTRACT A thermogravimetry analyzer was employed to investigate the effect of the shale core on the combustion reactions of the tight oil from the Wolfcamp shale reservoir for the air injection process (AIP). The result indicated that the shale cuttings show strong catalytic effect on tight oil combustion process. A considerable amount of coke was formed at the end of the fuel deposition stage after the addition of shale cuttings. This phenomenon could be beneficial for the combustion process at the high-temperature combustion stage, which is favorable for the implementation of the AIP with a shale oil reservoir.


Transition-metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions involving a carbene migratory insertion process have been developed rapidly during the past ten years. Such a type of coupling reactions provides useful methodologies for the construction of carbon–carbon and carbon–heteroatom bonds. On the basis of the carbene migratory insertion process, catalytic cascade reactions have also been designed and developed, affording versatile methods for the construction of complex molecules. In this review, four types of transition-metal-catalyzed cascade reactions involving the carbene migratory insertion process are discussed.


Vapour pressure was estimated for 142 alkanes and 44 alcohols by the 0.5 MAM method, using components of the autocorrelation vector. Surface S, calculated from Bondi's surface areas. Other methods (Wiener, Kier, AMP, UNIFAC, ad hoc) were compared with MAM. For alkanes, five components of the Surface vector gave a good correlation (r=0.998, s=0.045). Fewer variables gave results similar to those of the other methods, but the method of Wiener with ΔW and ΔP gave better results (s=0.03). For alcohols, MAM (using two vectors: Lipophilic Surface SL and Functional Surface SF) and ad hoc were the most effective methods. Using more variables improved the results (r=0.996, s=0.11 with four variables and r=0.999, s=0.05 with seven variables). When alkanes and alcohols were joined, only MAM and UNIFAC gave correct results. Five MAM variables gave the equation log P υ =-1.29 SF 0 -0.52 SF 0 +0.08 SF 3 -0.31 SL 0 -0.058SL 1 +5.61 n=186, r=0.994, s=0.10, F=2,792


In this article I will review the film Dogville by Lars von Trier through the perspective given by Hamid Naficy in his book An Accented Cinema: Exilic and Diasporic Filmmaking. The main purpose is to understand how identity is described and performed through the allegory of Grace and the image of the refugee, and the role homelessness and displacement play both for the filmmakers and the content of diasporic films. I will demonstrate how the relationship between minority (Grace-the refugee) and the majority (the population of Dogville) is a topic of transnational cinema, and which conclusions can we make by taking into account the role of identity and sense of belonging for transnational productions.


Politicians have long mobilised emotion in order to gain voters' support. However, this article argues that the politics of affect is also implicated in how citizens' identities, rights and entitlements are constructed. Examples are drawn from the positions of UK, US, Canadian and Australian politicians, including Tony Blair, David Cameron, Kevin Rudd and Barack Obama. Emotions analysed include love, fear, anxiety, empathy and hope. The article argues for the importance of a concept of 'affective citizenship' which explores (a) which intimate emotional relationships between citizens are endorsed and recognised by governments in personal life and (b) how citizens are also encouraged to feel about others and themselves in broader, more public domains. It focuses on issues of sexuality, gender, race and religion, and argues that the politics of affect has major implications for determining who has full citizenship rights. The Global Financial Crisis has also seen the development of an 'emotional regime' in which issues of economic security are increasingly influencing constructions of citizenship.


Summary Two tumor-associated antigens were detectable in Hodgkin9s disease and identified as F (fast)- and S (slow)-migrating antigens dependent on their migration and precipitation in immunoelectrophoresis. Samples of cells from Hodgkin9s infiltrates were fractionated on bovine serum albumin gradients and analyzed histologically, and the distribution of F antigen was determined. A summary of the results of these samples and the antigenic analysis of extracts of cultured Burkitt9s lymphoma, normal peripheral lymphocytes, and a variety of other tissue samples were reviewed. This study reports these results and relates them to the possible pathogenic significance of these antigens.


The cross section for photoneutron production in 181Ta has been measured from threshold to 28· 8 MeV using bremsstrahlung and direct neutron detection. Integrated between these limits, the absolute value of the cross section has been determined to be 2 '47 ±O' 35 MeV. b. An examination of the cross section variation with excitation energy reveals the existence of the giant quadrupole resonance lying on the high excitation edge of the dipole peak. This provides additional evidence for the validity of the dynamic collective model. The present data do not support the existence of extensive fine structure below 17 MeV, as proposed by Ishkhanov et al. (1969).


High-strength steel as transverse reinforcement is seldom used for confining steel in high-strength concrete columns. The behavior of structural components as a consequence of the use of a combination of high-strength concrete and steel is still not well known. To obtain an accurateductility of high-strength concrete confined columns, it requires an analytical stress-strain model of
confined concrete which is capable of describing an actual strength and ductility behavior. In this paper, an analytical stress-strain relationship for confined high-strength concrete is proposed. The model is found to provide a reasonably good prediction of the available experimental data of circular and square high-strength concrete column specimens confined by high-strength transverse steel with various configurations. The proposed model is based on the extensively obtained data from tests of column specimens subjected to concentric compression loading. The model can also be used for concrete columns confined by spirals or circular hoops, rectilinear hoops, crossties, and combinations
of these reinforcements.


Our skin represents an exquisite feat of bioengineering. The surface provides an easily accessible imaging environment containing the vascular, gland, and nervous systems, hair bulbs, and rapidly multiplying stem cells that proliferate to replenish the epidermis. We must protect ourselves from the outside world with this organ and remain free of cancer. Observation of its microscopic physiology must be achieved through imaging to understand the system or assess and treat any skin disease. Noninvasive inspection of morphological structure and development in the skin's dynamic setting requires synthesis of optical engineering fundamentals with clinical research. Ongoing research focuses on building tools to image the skin system. The ultimate goal is to treat disease armed with biological understanding gained by technology-enabled vision, improving on the current histopathological standard, and enabling detection of cancer earlier and more completely than previously possible. Two of our main research projects involve confocal microscopy to detect cancer: noninvasive detection of melanoma (differentiation from benign nevus or blemish) and rapid surveillance of biopsy margins to detect residual tumor sites.


The Java Developers Almanac 1.4 is the most up-to-date and complete quick reference for the Java Class LibrariesJDK1.0, 1.1, and J2SE v1.2, v1.3. (Due to space constraints, the javax.swing.plaf. packages are not included.) No other quick reference includes as much information in a single convenient volume. Information from 2,100 classes and 24,000 members is carefully formatted and arranged for easy lookup. In this book you will find: * More than 300 examplets that succinctly demonstrate the most common operations for a package * More than 300 examplets that succinctly demonstrate the most common operations for a package * More than 300 examplets that succinctly demonstrate the most common operations for a package * An extensive cross-reference section * Detailed analysis of API changes for each major release * Quick reference information for the language, the virtual machine, Java Native Interface, PersonalJava platform, and more. No matter what level programmer you are, you will find this book an invaluable tool for everyday developments.


A mathematical model is developed to determine the force impacts that are formed when the electromagnetic field is transformed into a field of ultrasonic oscillations in the skin layer of an electrically conductive ferromagnetic material of an anisotropic magnetic permeability. The main factors determining the excited acoustic field with allowance for permissible limitations are established. It is shown that the main contribution to the acoustic vibrations energetics is made by the magnetostrictive component of the skin layer material, in which the high-frequency electromagnetic field is transformed into an acoustic field.


From quantitative content analysis of the Frente Amplio programs, this paper seeks to describe the position of the party in terms of left and right in the historical evolution as well as the issues that were emphasized in each election. The paper provides new evidence to the thesis that explains the Frente Amplio's electoral victory in the 2004 elections as a result of ideological moderation of its manifestos. Quantitative analysis of the Frente Amplio programs, in light of the votes obtained by the party in each election, from 1971-2009, allow to appreciate a clear partisan adaptation strategy, according to which the most radical postulates of the old programs was not functional to capture an electorate concentrated in the center of the ideological spectrum and become in ruling party.


IL-2 is a four-helix bundle cytokine that was initially identified as a T cell growth factor more than two decades ago. Since then, extensive investigations have led to the discovery of additional cytokines, including IL-4, IL-7, IL-9, IL-15 and IL-21, which display many similarities with IL-2 and have been grouped, together with the latter, as a distinct IL-2 cytokine family. These cytokines are all globular proteins that contain two sets of short-chain α-helical domains. They all play major roles in promoting and maintaining T lymphocyte populations, albeit in non-redundant and often complementary manners, whilst acting on other cell lineages as well. Most remarkably, their cell surface receptor complexes, which consist of two or three subunits, including a cytokine-specific private subunit, all use a shared subunit called the common γ chain (γc). This common subunit was shown to be mutated in X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency and to uniquely recruit the Janus kinase, Jak3. Accordingly, IL-2 family cytokines all utilise Jak3 in their mechanisms of intracellular signalling, together with more ubiquitous kinases. Owing to their prominent roles in lymphocyte development and homeostasis, IL-2 family cytokines have been the focus of much interest for the purpose of therapeutic applications. They may provide tools to bolster immune responses for the treatment of neoplastic diseases, viral infections and immunodeficiencies. Conversely, their blockade may help achieve immunosuppression for the treatment of transplant rejection, as well as inflammatory, autoimmune and allergic disorders. Here, the patent literature of the past four years pertaining to these important cytokines will be reviewed in the context of the current understanding of their biological significance.


 Rational Design of Nanoporous Catalysts: bio-inspired approaches are used to selectively tailor zeolite properties. We use in situ AFM to examine surface growth in real time and quantify modifiercrystal interactions. We seek to exploit these approaches for the rational design of catalysts with improved performance. This work is also part of a synergistic initiative with faculty in the Texas Diesel Testing and Research Center to optimize zeolite activity for NOx-SCR and biofuel production.


Incest is an iceberg phenomenon that is muted as it involves cultural, legal, economic, moral, psychological and human rights, where one and the other are interrelated, making it difficult to describe it. The purpose of this research is to observe the problem of incest from theological and cultural studies broadly concerning aspects of human life, both economic, social, educational, and biblical truth. The method used descriptive qualitative with theme analysis which will produce perspectives on incest broadly from cultural and theological studies based on Imago Dei's self-image, holiness and family according to God's design, the Creator of the household as a divine institution based on the Bible as the truth that absolute. The Old Testament records the emergence of cases of incest in the lives of the figures of faith which have the potential to cause ambiguity in adolescents, if Christian Education does not design the theme of incest in the curriculum as the context of teaching texts about holiness.


The effect of impurities on the electrical conductivity of aluminum has been studied in detail. The electrical conductivity of aluminum is 65.45% of that of copper. The tensile strength of aluminum wire is 150–170 MPa which, at equal conductivity, is about 65% of the strength of copper wire. This strength of aluminum wire is sufficient for bearing the wire's own weight but may be too low in case of snow, ice or wind overloads.
 One way to improve the strength of aluminum wire is to use aluminum alloys having higher strength combined with sufficiently high electrical conductivity, e.g. the E-AlMgSi alloy (Aldrey). The key strengthening agent of the E-AlMgSi alloy (Aldrey) is the Mg2Si phase which imparts high mechanical strength to aluminum.
 In this work we present experimental data on the kinetics of high-temperature oxidation and electrochemical corrosion of indium doped E-AlMgSi aluminum conductor alloy (Aldrey). Thermal gravimetric study has shown that indium doping and high temperature exposure increase the oxidation rate of E-AlMgSi alloy (Aldrey), with the apparent alloy oxidation activation energy decreasing from 120.5 to 91.8 kJ/mole. Alloy oxidation rate data determined using a potentiostatic technique in NaCl electrolyte media have shown that the corrosion resistance of the indium doped alloy is 20–30% superior to that of the initial alloy. With an increase in NaCl electrolyte concentration the electrochemical potentials of the alloys decrease whereas the corrosion rate increases regardless of alloy composition.


The accompanying Practitioner Review by Munafo et al. (2014) presents two main arguments: (1) that there are few (if any) examples of G × E in psychiatry so it cannot aid gene discovery, and (2) that genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are already yielding important findings. With respect to the supposed weakness of G × E research, they fail to mention any of the substantial body of evidence in support of G × E – see various chapters in Dodge and Rutter (2011).


In order to promote the learning and application of the Linux and open source software and push on the development of the domestic proprietary intellectual property rights,in accordance with the problem of Windows teaching platform in the application process for current information technology,research and analyze the feasibility of the Linux teaching platform which can adapt to cross-platform teaching of information technology of the current university and meet the requirement of national computer rank examination.Present the solution of Linux-based operating system,through the Wine to achieve mainstream application software cross-platform,use the virtual machine to support the Windows operating system environment.The course uses innovation,sums up the proposals and initiatives in the application process,that has verified the feasibility of platform,and a preliminary plan for the construction of Linux platform has been developed.


Change in species' climatic niches is a key mechanism influencing species distribution patterns. The question of which factors impact niche change remains a highly debated topic in evolutionary biology. Previous studies have proposed that rates of climatic niche change might be correlated with climatic oscillations at high latitude or adaptation to new environmental conditions. Yet, very few studies have asked if those factors are also predominant in aquatic environments. Here, we reconstruct the climatic niche changes of fish species on a new phylogeny encompassing 12,616 species. We first confirm that the rate of niche change is faster at high latitude and show that this association is steeper for freshwater than for marine species. We also show that freshwater species have slower rates of niche change than marine species. These results may be explained by the fact that freshwater species have larger climatic niche breadth and thermal safety margin than marine species at high latitude. Overall, our study sheds a new light on the environmental conditions and species features impacting rates of climatic niche change in aquatic habitats.


Finding aid for a collection. Collection description: A diploma, ephemera related to George Peabody College for Teachers, and photographs. Hazel Greene received a Bachelor of Science degree from George Peabody College for Teachers in 1933 and later taught in the mountains of western North Carolina.


The machine learning algorithms play an important role in current spam filter,but a single machine learning algorithm has its own drawback which restrains it from further application in E-mail filter.This paper introduces some typical machine learning algorithms,and constructs a voting E-mail filter model based on multi-machine learning algorithms.The experiments show that this method makes use of every machine learning algorithm's advantage,and offsets its disadvantage,and achieves better filter performance than a single algorithm.


Human behavior analysis is a hot topic in computer vision and is applied widely in many applications. Human behavior retrieval is another frontier technology in the area of multimedia information retrieval, which is related to human behavior analysis but holds several differences because of its special application purpose. Human behaviour retrieval to some extent is similar to human behaviour analysis, but the technology used for human behavior analysis cannot be used for human behavior directly. This paper will address such kind of differences and review several technologies including video retrieval, feature extraction, similarity measure and human behavior analysis. This paper will also address the importance of human behaviour retrieval. The ideas unveiled by this paper will benefit the research community and indicate a direction of human behavior retrieval research


One hundred and fifty years ago, at 4.30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, artillery batteries under the control of the newly formed Confederate States of America opened fire on federal troops in Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. Decades of growing tension had culminated in the secession of seven Southern slave states and the Confederacy was moving quickly to seize control of federal government facilities in its section. Fort Sumter was a great prize but had been holding out and now the guns were called upon to resolve the issue. Huge crowds had joyously welcomed secession and now they clambered onto rooftops and other vantage points to watch the bombardment, which continued for thirty-six hours until the federal forces surrendered to the jubilant Southerners.


In this paper, we use the concept of dual generalized order statistics dgos which was given by Pawlas and Syznal (2001). By using this, we obtain the various theorems and some relations through ratio and inverse moment by using exponentiated-Weibull distribution. Cases for order statistics and lower record values are also considered. Further, we characterize the exponentiated-Weibull distribution through three different methods by using the results obtained in this paper.


Modeling and simulation of structural impacts into soil continue to challenge analysts to develop accurate material models and detailed analytical simulations to predict the soil penetration event. This paper discusses finite element modeling of a series of penetrometer drop tests into soft clay. Parametric studies are performed with penetrometers of varying diameters, masses, and impact speeds to a maximum of 45 m/s. Parameters influencing the simulation such as the contact penalty factor and the material model representing the soil are also studied. An empirical relationship between key parameters is developed and is shown to correlate experimental and analytical results quite well. The results provide preliminary design guidelines for Earth impact that may be useful for future space exploration sample return missions.


The realised niche of the helmeted honeyeater, in terms of the floristic and structural attributes of the vegetation, was determined using logistic discrimination. The vegetation was divided into two communities, Eucalyptus camphora swampland and E. viminalis-dominated riparian forest, based on differences observed in other studies on foraging behaviour within these two communities. The variables describing the realised niche of the helmeted honeyeater in the E. camphora community were a high bark index, a large number of E. camphora stems and the presence of surface water. The results for the E. viminalis community were less conclusive, but suggest that a deep eucalypt canopy may be important. These variables relate to the feeding and breeding biology of the helmeted honeyeater. Habitat models of this form will allow appropriate habitat management strategies for Yellingbo State Nature Reserve to be developed, as well as allow the suitability of potential helmeted honeyeater release or relocation sites to be assessed.


A size-controlled synthesis of gold nanoparticles has been developed by the thermolysis of AuCl(SMe2) in the presence of alkylamines at 120 °C. In the procedure, the key intermediate was [Au(NH2R)2]Cl, detected by electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry. This thermally unstable intermediate was reduced by alkylamines under mild conditions to produce alkylamine-capped gold nanoparticles. The average diameters of the gold nanoparticles could be regulated in a range from 4.3 to 6.1 nm by applying primary alkylamines with alkyl chains of different lengths. Larger gold nanoparticles with diameters from 10 to 22 nm were prepared by a combination of alkylamines and alkylcarboxylic acids with various lengths of the alkyl chains. The gold nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV/Vis absorption spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS), and thermogravimetric and differencial thermal analyses (TG/DTA) Graphical Abstract Size-controlled Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticles by Thermolysis of a Gold(I)-Sulfide Complex in the Presence of Alkylamines


Abstract : In the Yampa River, stream habitat needs and life history requirements of Colorado squawfish (Ptychocheilus lucius), humpback chub (Gila cypha), razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus), and other native Colorado River fishes are presently maintained by flow regimens approximating natural conditions. Yampa River flows are also important in reducing adverse water management practices in the downstream Green River. Management for recovery of endangered fishes in the Yampa River will require specific flows to provide seasonal requirements at different locations: high spring flows associated with the initiation of Colorado squawfish spawning migrations, humpback chub and razorback sucker spawning, and maintenance of spawning bars and eddy habitats; descending summer flows associated with Colorado squawfish spawning, downstream transport of larvae, and creation of nursery habitat; stable winter flows to remove the threat of ice damage to shoreline areas used by many species. Acquisition of Yampa River water rights may be the decisive factor in conservation of endangered fish species in the Green River basin.


Data collected over the last three years as part of a continuing study of the Quaternary volcanic rocks of the southern Cascade Mountains are presented. Whole-rock chemical analyses, selected trace element geochemistry, volume approximations, specific gravity determinations, and locations are provided for most of the 103 samples collected, and 21 radiometric age dates are included. In addition, partial information, including names and flow-volumes, are presented for 98 additional samples, collected for related studies. The study extends from the Columbia River north to the Cowlitz River and Goat Rocks Wilderness area, and from the Klickitat River west to the Puget-Willamette Trough. The volcanic rocks are all younger than 3 million years and consist primarily of tholeiitic and high-alumina basalts and basaltic-andesites erupted from numerous shield volcanoes and cinder cones. A few analyses of more silicic rocks, including hornblende and/or pyroxene andesites and dacites characteristic of the stratovolcanoes of the region, are also presented. However, systematic sampling of the stratovolcanoes in the study area, Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens, was not conducted. A map of the areal extent of Quaternary volcanic units and sample locations is included. It has been based on the 1:125,000 reconnaissance geologic map of the southern Cascademore » Range by Hammond (1980).« less


A b s t r a c t. To develop a new microbial control method for microwave-freeze dried sea cucumber, nano-silver coating is tested as a potential technique. According to the experimental results, a 0.3 mg l -1 nano-silver coating can control over 99% of Bacillus subtilis in the process of microwave-freeze drying. To ensure a total microbial control effect, the nano-silver coating technique was combined with the microwave-freeze drying process. Nano-silver coating treatment was found to be effective in lowering the microorganism count and had no significant effect on drying efficiency. K e y w o r d s: nano-silver coating, sea cucumber, microbial control, microwave-freeze drying


The authors are highly qualified remote sensing scientists with particular expertise in the remote sensing of snow. This is reflected in their understanding of the issues and products germane to the manuscript being reviewed here. However I do not feel that this manuscript demonstrates a significant step forward in the understanding of snow water equivalent derived from microwave satellite data. The major finding is that a 7-day running mean bias correction method works better than a 5-year mean bias correction. Though perhaps it is better to say the 7-day adjusts the microwave estimates to SWE estimated from station observations of snow depth. To say it is a correction implies that the station SWE estimate is correct when in fact there is limited evidence presented that this is the case. SWE is only estimated using two different


The process of segmentation is a vital part in any script/character recognition technique. Devanagari is mostly useful Script in India for number of officials and banking applications. Segmentation of Devanagari script is difficult because of presence of large character set which include vowels, consonants, compound characters and modifiers. This paper focus on the line, word, character segmentation of handwritten Devanagari script for efficient script recognition.


The purpose of this study was to assess the nature of participation in a hybrid Community of Practice; exploring how teacher efficacy influenced participation; and how participation impacted both technology teacher leadership and technology integration practice. The researcher addressed the following research questions: What is the nature and frequency of the activities and interactions evidenced by participation in a hybrid CoP? What types of knowledge capital were found in a hybrid CoP? Does teacher efficacy influence participation in the online component of a hybrid CoP? How does participation in a hybrid CoP impact teachers' technology integration and the development of their technology leadership ability? Participants included 31 teachers enrolled in an Innovative Teacher Leaders (ITL) program. The researcher implemented a mixed methods comparative case study, collecting data via participant observations, monthly self-reports, and semi-structured interviews. A survey instrument was administered to collect data on Teacher Efficacy and Teacher Leadership. Frequency data were collected based on interaction logs and face-to-face training observations of the CoP. Findings of this study pointed to the need for time to practice, implementation support, and peer coaching/discourse as necessary factors for successful professional development. Participation in this hybrid CoP was found to have a positive impact on teacher technology integration and technology leadership ability. 1 Chapter One Introduction Overview This chapter describes the purpose of this dissertation study. It provides a background and justification for the research. It introduces the literature relevant to teacher professional development, communities of practice, teacher beliefs and teacher leadership. It delineates the plan for collecting data, introduces the instruments to be used in this process, and explains how the data will be analyzed upon collection. During the 2014-2015 Academic Year (AY), the researcher worked as an agent of eMINTS National Center studying and assessing participation in an Innovative Teacher Leaders (ITL) program in a medium-sized school district in the southern United States. This study provided a formative assessment of a small part of a government-funded grant designed to spur innovation and reform in state and local district K-12 education. Specifically, the researcher explored the nature of participation in a hybrid community of practice (CoP) to include a private online Google+ community designed for use by the ITLs to support their development as teacher leaders in technology integration across their campuses. The researcher employed a mixed methods comparative case study, collecting data via observation, survey data, participant monthly self-reports, and interviews. Background The 21 century has seen the "flattening" of the global economy (Friedman, 2005). As a result, educators today are being tasked with both preparing learners for jobs that do