This study was conducted to analyze the effect and level of indigofera leaf flour as a substitute for soybean meal and rice bran in the ration on qualitative and quantitative properties. This research was conducted on March 30, 2021 to April 27, 2021. The study was conducted experimentally using a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). This study consisted of five types of treatment in the form of ration formulations, namely P0 = without the addition of indigofera leaf meal (TDI) as control feed, P1 = 25% addition of TDI, P2 = 50% addition of TDI, P3 = 75% addition of TDI and P4 = 100% the addition of TDI was given to 80 muscovy duck placed in cages that had been divided into 20 parts, each part was filled with 4 muscovy ducks. The variables observed in this study were qualitative traits including coat color, beak color, shank color, caruncle color and skin color and quantitative traits included body weight, body circumference, beak length, chest length, femur length, tibia length, tibia circumference, length shank and wing length. The data from the qualitative research were analyzed descriptively, while the quantitative traits were analyzed using the Analysis of Variance or Anova (Analysis of Variane) and further tested using the Duncan Multiple Range Test. The results showed that the provision of indigofera leaf flour in the ration at P4 showed a shiny and thicker coat color and had a significant effect on tibia circumference (P<0.05)


The emergence of complex social interactions is predicted to be an important selective force in the diversification of communication systems. Parental care presents a key social context in which to study the evolution of novel signals, as care often requires communication and behavioral coordination between parents and is an evolutionary stepping-stone towards increasingly complex social systems. Anuran amphibians (frogs and toads) are a classic model of acoustic communication and the vocal repertoires of many species have been characterized in the contexts of advertisement, courtship, and aggression; yet quantitative descriptions of calls elicited in the context of parental care are lacking. The biparental poison frog, Ranitomeya imitator, exhibits a remarkable parenting behavior in which females, cued by the calls of their male partners, feed tadpoles unfertilized eggs. Here, we characterized and compared calls across three social contexts, for the first time including a parental care context. We found that egg feeding calls share some properties with both advertisement and courtship calls but also had unique properties. Multivariate analysis revealed high classification success for advertisement and courtship calls but misclassified nearly half of egg feeding calls as either advertisement or courtship calls, suggesting additional signal modalities play a role in parental communication. Egg feeding and courtship calls both contained less identity information than advertisement calls, as expected for signals used in close-range communication where uncertainty about identity is low. Taken together, egg feeding calls likely borrowed and recombined elements of both ancestral call types to solicit a novel, context-dependent parenting response. Significance Statement Parental care has evolved independently in every major animal lineage and represents a major step in the evolution of complex sociality. Communication systems may need to increase in complexity. To explore these ideas, we characterized calls associated with trophic egg feeding, a unique cooperative parental behavior in the biparental mimic poison frog and compared them to calls associated with mate attraction (advertisement and courtship calls). Our analysis revealed some distinct, but many shared properties of signals elicited during egg feeding, suggesting that signals deployed in a novel social context evolve via modification and recombination of existing signals. These findings deepen our understanding of the relationship between complexity of social and communication systems.


The influence of four experimental phage preparations, designed based on non-transducing E. coli bacteriophages on pigs with post-weaning diarrhea studied. The influence of these phages in depending by methods of its applying (per os and intra cutis) on coli-titer and coli-phages titer studied. It is established, that the best survival rate and the clinical condition showed animals treated with the E. coli phage T4-type with lab. number «8» (till 5,52 lg CFU/g at 37-days age) in parallel with an increase in titer of phages (till 5,73 lg CFU/g at 40-days age). Intradermal (intra cutis) method of applying of experimental phage preparations (constructed on basis of phage 6 and phage 8) showed the some positive effects on correction of negative dynamics of coli-phages titer in control group


T his article reviews the causes and imaging appearances of lesions involving the corpus callosum (Table 1). The corpus callosum consists of densely bundled white matter tracts connecting the two cerebral hemispheres, with a compact structure that largely blocks interstitial edema and tumor spread. Isolated lesions of the corpus callosum are rare and may represent transient responses to injury or myelination abnormalities. More common butterfly lesions involve the corpus callosum and both cerebral hemispheres—a pattern associated with aggressive tumors, demyelination, and traumatic brain injury. Unenhanced CT is a first-line neuroimaging modality. Although soft-tissue contrast enhancement is limited, CT can help characterize hemorrhage, edema, mass effect, calcification, and necrosis. MRI provides more detailed information regarding tissue structure and composition, using various pulse excitation sequences, such as FLAIR, to distinguish abnormal signal in the corpus callosum from adjacent CSF in the lateral ventricles. Administration of IV contrast material is useful for characterization of neoplastic and vascular lesions, which may show characteristic patterns of enhancement.


Proponents of school reform and educators do not always see eye to eye about the roles of schools and educators in our society. The two groups must unite to establish a common mission and a common bath toward educational excellence.


Abstract The book edited by Patricia McCarney and Richard E. Stren includes two introductory chapters with overviews of recent debates in research on urban governance. The case studies from Asia, Africa and Latin America are rich in detail and will be extremely useful to other researchers interested in the particular cities under scrutiny. They also have obvious policy implications, both for the individual cities studied and for how research on urban governance should be conducted in order to contribute to urban development. The book also provides fascinating glimpses into the workings of a genuinely global knowledge network, the Global Urban Research Initiative (GURI).


This comprehensive book is designed to facilitate diagnosis of disease from the appearance of the chest radiograph. The provision of a review copy of volume III alone (from a text extending to four volumes) presents the reviewer with an almost impossible task; but consultation with the first edition in the local library has helped to put this volume in perspective. The complete text is a summary of the vast experience of the two authors in interpretating chest radiographs, and must be a required book of reference in radiological departments of all large hospitals. The tables of differential diagnosis constitute volume IV and refer the reader to descriptions of disease contained in volumes 1 and III. Volume I is concerned with radiographic techniques, the normal radiograph, and developmental diseases. Volume III contains descriptions of pneumoconioses, chemically induced lung diseases, and diseases of the pleura. By and large it is only these conditions that are of interest to the occupational physician, and he will find their discussion to be rather sketchy and superficial; but copious references, numbering nearly 10 000 in all, are given in the text. The occupational physician, however, is not faced with the problem of deducing an occupation from a chest radiograph, which is the purpose of this book. Thus, excellent though this book is, it cannot be recommended for purchase by occupational physicians. On the other hand, it can be said to give the radiologist a competent and succinct introduction to occupational causes of abnormal chest radiographs.


www.ccmjournal.org Critical Care Medicine • Volume 46 • Number 1 (Supplement) Learning Objectives: Sepsis is characterized by initially exaggerated systemic inflammatory response to infection followed by immune dysregulation and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). Microvascular dysfunction is a hallmark of sepsis and contribute significantly to the mortality of septic patients. The endothelial cell lining along the microvasculature is the first line of defense against organ injury and its activation plays an important role in microvascular inflammation and leakage during sepsis. Metformin, a widely used antidiabetic drug, is reported to activate AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and show its benefit in sepsis, which is not fully understood yet. Therefore, we here aimed to investigate the underlying mechanisms for metformin in regulating sepsis-induced endothelial activation. Methods: In the present study, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) to mimic endothelial activation in sepsis. The expression of endothelial activation molecules, vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM1) and angiopoietin 2 (Ang2), was analyzed by Quantitative PCR and western blot. The functional study of endothelial activation was achieved by leukocyte adhesion assay and Evans Blue assay. Results: We demonstrated that the pretreatment of HUVEC with metformin effectively diminished the up-regulation of VCAM1 and Ang2 induced by LPS/TNFα both at mRNA and protein level. LPS/TNFα-induced increase of leukocyte adhesion to endothelial cells was significantly inhibited by metformin. The Evans Blue assay results showed that metformin inhibited the increased permeability of endothelial barrier induced by LPS/TNFα. In the meantime, Kruppel like factor 2 (KLF2), the upstream transcription factor that regulates endothelial function, was significantly increased by metformin pre-incubation, while KLF2 silencing partially abolished the inhibitory effect of metformin on LPS/ TNFα-induced up-regulation of VCAM1 and Ang2. Furthermore, the increased phosphorylation of AMPK by metformin was accompanied with the nuclear export of overexpressed histone deacetylase 5 (HDAC5), resulting in KLF2 upregulation. Conclusions: Our data indicated that AMPK activator metformin ameliorate LPS/TNFα-induced upregulation of VCAM1 and Ang2 via the HDAC5 nuclear export-associated KLF2 upregulation in endothelial cells, suggesting the potential of metformin for the treatment of sepsis.


We calculated the chord length distributions and average chord lengths of particle incident into a cylindricalsensitive volume depends on the concrete geometrical condition, Monte Carlo method was used in the calculation, the particles were emitted from a disk-shaped source.The calculated procedure


more study. The book also shows us very little of how a national labor movement like the KMU has responded to the globalization process. It appears that there is very little discussion within the ranks of this radical movement on issues like ease with which global capitalist enterprises could readily shift their production processes from one country to the other when economics dictate or when the political environment becomes hostile to capital. Is it perhaps because KMU leaders, who are strongly influenced by the CPP's Leninism, may be content simply with reading Lenin. His manuscript, Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism, was one of the must-read works for Filipino radicals during the Marcos period. I think this remains the case even during the Aquino era). But as neo-radical theories like dependencia have shown, the character of imperialism had changed as far back as the 1970s. Similarly, West has nothing to say about KMU's position regarding Filipino migrant labor. According to reports, over four million Filipinos are in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and East Asia, supplying cheap labor for a variety of services, from domestic work to accountants, from engineers to middle-level managers of various firms. In 1995, this labor force has funneled back to the local economy over $3.6 billion in remittances, and is responsible for the Philippines being able to survive one economic crisis after the other since the last days of Marcos. The exclusion of this significant labor force in the KMU's economic and political calculations is quite surprising. Is it because the workers' altered economic standing (higher paid, when compared to local labor) diluted class contradictions, or is it because their transnational character (working abroad) created more puzzles than resolutions to the KMU's nationalist project? These are issues that one wishes the book could have covered. Prof. West herself appears uncomfortable trying to keep an academic objective in a highlypoliticized circumstance. Her political sympathies, however, have not clouded her analyses. The book is not only a good addition to the rich literature on social movements dealing with transitions from authoritarian rule, it is also singular for being able to tell at least parts of the story of a labor federation whose substantial segment of its political life is lived in the underground.


Abstract In mammals, medetomidine causes reliable sedation and can be quickly and smoothly antagonized by atipamezole, allowing smooth and rapid recovery. However, doses of up to 1 mg/kg of medetomidine reportedly do not immobilize avian species. In this study, the sedative and cardiopulmonary effects of medetomidine administered intramuscularly was evaluated in 2 dosage groups (1.5 mg/kg and 2 mg/kg) of 4 domestic pigeons (Columba livia) each and 2 dosage groups (1.5 mg/kg and 2 mg/kg) of 2 yellow-crowned Amazon parrots (Amazona ochrocephala ochrocephala) each. Ten minutes after medetomidine injection, the reflex score of anesthetic level was determined in each bird, and the heart and respiratory rates were measured while birds were manually restrained. Results were compared with values obtained before sedation and 5 minutes after atipamezole injection. Although all birds showed signs of sedation, a desired reflex score for sedation was not obtained in all birds. The reflex score of sedation in domestic pigeons receiving 2 mg/kg medetomidine was not significantly lower than that of birds receiving 1.5 mg/kg, indicating no increase in sedation with the higher dose. However, the Amazon parrots that received the higher dose had a significantly lower reflex score than those that received the lower dose, indicating an increase in sedation with the higher dose. In both species and at both doses, a decrease in heart rate and in respiratory rate were observed, with no significant differences between the groups. Antagonism with atipamezole at both 2.5 and 5 times the medetomidine dose caused a smooth, rapid, and complete recovery. In these 2 species, although medetomidine did have a sedative effect and was reliably antagonized, it did not reliably induce a desirable state of sedation, even at the high doses investigated. Therefore, medetomidine alone as an anesthetic agent is not recommended for routine use in avian practice.


Controlling access to data is one of the primary purposes of security, especially when it comes to dealing with safety critical systems. In such systems, it is of paramount importance to rigorously define access control models. In this article, a correct-by-construction specification of RBAC using the Event-B formal method is proposed. The specification defines closely the model properties with the behavior aspect of RBAC as guards of events, which allows applying a priori verifications. Accordingly, the resulted specification is correct-by-construction and avoids the combinatorial explosion problem. As well, a number of refinement operations are performed leading to a specification with several abstraction levels, where each level implements selected RBAC entities. The approach is illustrated by an instantiation of a healthcare system.


'. .: Compressible flow' over a laser turret causes'variation in density and the index of refraction. As a result, a laser beam develops a phase distortion. Phase distortion has been calculated for both blunt and small perturbation turrets. For the blunt turret,the Janzen-Rayleigh technique was used to determine the flow field. Phase distortions of 2.2 wavelengths at 3.8 microns were calculated for the blunt turret. For small perturbation turrets a versatile analytical model was developed for a turret on a fuselage with circular cross section. With a two-dimensional Fourier series representation of the turret, any shape can be considered. Both subsonic and supersonic flows can be calculated. Phase distortions of 1.2 wavelengths at 3.8 microns were calculated for one turret at high subsonic Mach number. In addition to being of value for laser turrets, the methods are applicable to reconnaissance aircraft using photographic equipment and :. ., cruise missiles using celestial navigation.


Ultrafine metal particles (copper, silver, and gold) have been prepared by UV irradiation of their salts dissolved in ethanol. The photoreduction of their metal salts is greatly accelerated by using benzoin as a photoinitiator. Highly dispersed copper and silver particles are obtained through the photoreduction. In the case of gold, the average diameter of the gold particles increases from 7 to 17 nm with increasing benzoin concentration. This method has been applied to obtain silver/copper and silver/gold composite particles. The optical spectra and HRTEM show that the silver/copper composite particles are phase-separated composites of silver and copper, whose observed spectra are very similar to the theoretical spectra of silver/copper alloy particles. In the silver/gold system, the observed spectra are in good agreement with the theoretical spectra of the alloy particles since that the surface plasmon band remains as a single peak and shifts continuously by varying the silver/gold composition. This strongly suggests the formation of silver/gold alloy particles.


This paper presents the design and simulation of a W-band gyrotron backward wave oscillator (Gyro-BWO) with a helically corrugated waveguide as the beam-wave interaction region and a cusp gun as the electron beam source. The electron beam system and the beam-wave interaction were optimized through numerical simulations for optimized output power and frequency bandwidth. A 3 dB bandwidth of ~ 84-104 GHz and output power ~10 kW were achieved using a 40 kV, 1.5 A, pitch alpha 1.6 axis-encircling electron beam from the cusp gun. Furthermore, the W-band helically corrugated interaction region was manufactured with dispersion from 76 GHz to 11 GHz measured in good agreement with simulations and theory.


Computer simulation is a key solution to high development cost and long manufacture cycle of Engine, so it is a crucial task to establish a simulation platform which is capable of integrating the present simulation software and developing new simulation applications. High Level Architecture (HLA) is a new generation of distributed simulation structure which is able to promote interoperability of simulation applications and reusability of simulation resources. In this paper, HLA has been introduced into the Engine simulation platform as its design and development foundation, and corresponding development scheme of cooperative simulation platform is framed. Four levels of the material tasks and functions have been developed according to the tasks and functions of the simulation platform. The feasibility of applying HLA in engine simulation platform is demonstrated and an advanced architecture and development environment is provided.


Drawing from institutional theory, this article explores `boundaryless' careers and the nature of career boundaries in the information and communication technology (ICT) industry in Nigeria. The specific objectives are to explore: 1) whether career mobility in Nigeria reproduces or challenges contemporary projections of the `boundaryless' career (i.e. as characterized by increased inter-firm mobility) and 2) the structural boundaries (barriers) that constrain individuals' ability to enact the boundaryless career in this context. Findings of the interviews with 50 technical professionals in the Nigerian ICT industry challenge contemporary projections of `boundaryless' careers by providing evidence to support the continuing existence of career boundaries and traditional career patterns (i.e. as characterized by hierarchical and progressive movement within a single organization). Findings also suggest that ethnic allegiance, personal connections, gender discrimination, perceptions of educational qualifications and the nature of work biography constrain individuals' ability to enact the boundaryless career in the ICT industry. Overall, the article contributes the Nigerian perspective on boundaryless careers and career barriers to the growing consideration of career phenomena in different national contexts.


This investigation was aimed at assessing agricultural scientists€ perceptions regarding climate change in the context of agriculture. The study was conducted in MPKV, Rahuri and DBSKKV, Dapoli agricultural universities and random sampling procedure was followed in selection of respondent scientists and total sample size was 60. Agricultural scientists€ perceptions were assessed through a summative rating scale which consisted of five dimensions: scientific understanding of climate change, its causes, changes in climatic parameters, impacts on agriculture and adaptation and mitigation strategies to climate change in agriculture. During the investigation, significant and positive relationship was observed between age, education, professional experience, information sources accessed and the trustworthiness of the information source. Regression analysis indicated that work experience and source of information were high predictors of climate change science consistent perceptions and 37 per cent of the variance in climate change perceptions was explained by the regression model.


When the laws are becoming inhospitable, in our consultations, we are unintentionnally caught in the execrable atmosphere of inhospitability. With some clinical examples, it appears that hospitality is the driving force and the condition of the therapeutic relation.


In order to point out the value of arc-shaped specimen tests in best reflecting the high-temperature fracture toughness property,the synthesis stress of furnace tube in service and its sampling methods were analyzed.It was found that some difficulty wound be faced and there would be a great measurement error when the high-temperature extensometer with ceramic-benchmarked had been applied to measuring crack opening displacement.To solve these problems,the specific arc-shaped specimen was designed,and the corresponding correction factor of compliance method was derived.By using a case,where the specimen geometry parameters and the correction coefficient calculation formula were given,and the procedures was developed to calculate the relationship V—M curve between crack opening displacement and correction factor.Thus the specific numerical error of experimental value was obtained relying on the combination of V—M curve and the pilot system collected load-displacement P—V curve.The results show that accuracy test date of high-temperature fracture toughness can be obtained by designing a suitable specimen,using the sophisticated test equipment and providing the corresponding amended test methods.It can provide significant data for safety assessment of high-temperature furnace tube.


ABSTRACT

This research study aimed at studying and sequencing the needs of nursing competencies towards ASEAN. The samples were nurse administrators responsible for human resource management working in the hospitals of 12 health regions of Thailand and Bangkok. These hospitals were public and private and were classified as the largest and second largest hospitals. The samples were recruited from 4 hospitals of each health regions. The researchers recruited 2 nurse administrators from each hospital which totally included 67 samples. The research tool consisted of needs assessment questionnaire survey of nursing competencies towards ASEAN. The reliability testing for Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.978. The questionnaires were sent to the participants by post. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Modified Priority Needs Index technique (PNImodified) for sequencing the needs.
The findings of this research study revealed that 1) the needs assessment of nursing competencies towards ASEAN had PNImodified between 0.14-0.51 and the mean score was 0.31. There were 27 nursing competencies that PNImodified scores were higher than the mean scores.  2) the sequencing of the needs of nursing competencies toward ASEAN was 2.1) using the research methodology to improve the work (PNImodified 0.51),  2.2) participating in research studies which had been approved by relevant ethics committees  (PNImodified 0.42),  2.3) participating in the innovation activities or research to improve the work (PNImodified 0.41),  2.4) researching new knowledge from a variety of resources (PNImodified 0.40),  and 2.5) synthesizing knowledge from people's experiences and transferring it to others (PNImodified 0.38), respectively.
Nursing colleges should have different activities that would help nursing students improve their competencies focusing on this research results in order to build up the core knowledge required in nursing profession.


Diarrhea is recognized as an important cause of death among children in the developing world, but this review of U.S. mortality data from 1973 to 1983 indicates that it is a surprisingly important cause of …


There is a major effect of using educational apps on learning performancefor nursing students. Educational apps help students by providing different and effective education tools which can increase student success in their subjects. On the other hand, technology assists students in managing their time through apps, whichcan refine the quality of the student's life. In this study, we want to measure the effect of educational apps on nursing students. Previous research is proving there is a relationship between educational apps and nursing students' learningperformance.Technology is providing techniques that help many students in the health field. Many researchers conclude that apps have a positive effect on nursing students' skills and knowledge. This descriptive study uses an online survey sent to nursing students at different levels and universities in Jeddah city to test the changes in their academic achievement after using educational apps for nursing subjects. Nursing students from different universities in Jeddah city (Jeddah University, King Abdul-Aziz University, and King Saud University) responded positively to our survey, and the result shows most nursing students in 2nd year started using the apps and tablets. GPA (grade point average) has significantly improved for students who use a tablet.


A prototype educational framework for modeling, analyzing and visualizing the Ancient Greek Myths has been developed. Special attention has been given to the spatio-temporal dimension of the events composing the myths, as well as to the corresponding geo-visualization issues. The Web Client Interface incorporates geographic mashups and makes the user capable to interact with the space and the places where the myths occurred. The paper presents the prototype architecture, the software packages and tools used, and the functionality of the Web Client Interface.


As an authorized textbook of the imperial civil examinations in the Tang Dynasty, the Wenxuan(a well known anthology of literature compiled by prince Zhao Ming in the Liang Dynasty) was highly valued and very popular among those who were eager to pass the examinations. But Du Fu, one of the greatest Tang poets, took a different attitude. In his poem dedicated to his son's birthday, Du Fu directed him "to be well versed in the governing principle of the Wenxuan". In the poet's opinion, for young people to study Wenxuan should not just aim at the imperial civil examinations, but mainly inherit and carry forward the academic tradition of the family. As the poet did not give any interpretation on the "governing principle", there have ever since been discrepancies between the arguments of scholars of the past dynasties. If one approaches the "governing principle" both in line with Du Fu's poetics and from a theoretical and practical point of view, one will not fail to find that its basic meaning should be interpreted in two perspectives. One is "shizi" (poetic diction) and the other is "shifa" (poetic rule). The former refers to imagery and artistic conception, while the latter concerns the forms and skills of writing. It was from these two perspectives that Du Fu studied the Wenxuan. Although the book, a collection of the best literary works of the pre Tang period, serves as an indispensable reference for literary creation by later generations of literary men, there is in it something which is inappropriate to the further development of literature, for it consists of those works selected from different dynasties with different esthetic standards and different compiling standards. If one did not make use of it in the proper way, that would produce negative effects. In Du Fu's opinion, therefore, what is the most essential for those who take the Wenxuan as a model, is to adopt a critical approach to the literary heritage in selecting its essence to enrich one's own knowledge. This is the way based on Du Fu's ideas of developing literature and to introduce innovations which will benefit poetry writing. The way he did, including "writing prose like poetry" and "introducing the ancient style and form to the regular verses", in fact, is what he learned from the "governing principle" of the Wenxuan.In conclusion, Du Fu's attitude towards the Wenxuan was dialectical, namely, selecting its positive elements while discarding its negative ones. So the poet's "being well versed in the governing principle of the Wenxuan" shows what he acquired from his life's experience. The "governing principle" in particular is well worth pondering.


Any interventional cardiologist worth his/her salt (especially those interested in structural heart disease) has closed atrial septal defects (ASDs). It is unusual, however, to be referred an elderly patient who has had the diagnosis for many years and has not had a hemodynamically significant defect closed surgically. Before the advent of transcatheter closure devices, surgical closure was the gold standard and most patients had hemodynamically significant ASD's closed with minimal risk and good outcomes. Arguably, in the Far East surgical closure has not been as popular and perhaps fewer patients agreed to this option, leading to a pool of elderly patients with ASD's. In this issue of CCI, Nakagawa et al. from Okayama, Japan report on transcatheter closure of ASD's in a relatively large number (30) of patients with a mean age of 76 6 4 years [1]. To summarize their findings, patients were followed for a mean period of slightly more than 1 1⁄2 years (the shortest about 8 months) during which New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class significantly improved in 3=4 of the patients, as did plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels, systolic pulmonary artery pressure, amount of tricuspid regurgitation, and cardiac remodeling. In younger patients symptoms of congestive heart failure, severe tricuspid regurgitation, and high NYHA class are rarely seen. Most young patients with ASD's are diagnosed either by the presence of an asymptomatic heart murmur and incomplete right bundle branch block on ECG or the onset of rather vague symptoms (dyspnea, fatigue) or paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (uncommonly). These lead to an echocardiographic diagnosis. Then the question arises whether to close an ASD with a relatively small shunt (1.5:1 or less). I would wager that most ''borderline'' ASD's are closed because of enlargement of the atria and right ventricle without the patient having much in the way of symptoms, and in the young patient that is adequate reason. Closure does improve atrial and ventricular size. Avoidance of the development of atrial fibrillation is another reason for closure, though that has not been tested and likely will never be. In contrast, 30% of the elderly patients in the Nakagawa report were hospitalized for heart failure, more than 75% were in NYHA Class 2 or 3, and more than half had pulmonary artery hypertension and were being treated with diuretics. I would wager that such patients are truly a rarity. Nonetheless, closure in such patients achieved remarkable improvements. What are the lessons to learn from this report? First and foremost, faced with the complex issues that elderly patients with ASD's always present because of comorbidities such as elevated pulmonary artery pressures, associated systemic hypertension (and its secondary effects on left ventricular function), chronic lung disease, right heart failure and tricuspid regurgitation, etc., closure seems to produce remarkable improvement in the majority of patients. Perhaps the most important lesson is that the heart is indeed never too old to be repaired and to ''repair'' itself. Even in the elderly, ventricular remodeling occurs once a volume load is reduced by ASD closure and tricuspid regurgitation decreases. In addition, these improvements come at as low cost—the risk of the procedure seems low and there is a high procedural success rate (>90%). There are caveats that this report points out as well, which should serve as additional lessons not to forget. The pathophysiology of elderly patients is quite different from those that are young. Left ventricular compliance decreases with age, and if hypertension or other afterload issues are present (aortic stenosis, for example) left atrial pressure can rise with time. This increases the amount of left to right shunting and potentially makes closure more beneficial, but if left ventricular end-diastolic pressure is high and preload is increased, ASD closure may lead to an unacceptable increase in left atrial pressure. This issue is accentu-


During the routine fingerprinting of outbreak strains of Bacillus anthracis of European and African origin by means of a 31‐marker multi‐locus variable number of tandem repeats analysis (MLVA), four cultures, two from the Etosha National Park (ENP), Namibia, and two from an outbreak in the Pyrenees in 1997, were found to harbour different genotypes (GTs). To investigate this further, isolates from 10 samples of blood‐soaked soil from beneath anthrax carcasses and 18 clinical swabs taken from carcasses in the ENP were examined by a 31‐marker MLVA. While only a single GT was found in any one of the 10 soil samples, four of the 18 swabs (22%) yielded different GTs. Two GTs were isolated from each of a zebra and a springbok and three GTs from each of a second zebra and an elephant. These animals had died in a region of the ENP where deaths caused by anthrax regularly occur every year. The results confirm the indications noted previously that co‐infection with more than one GT is probably not especially uncommon. The results show that, for the purpose of analysing genotypes involved in an outbreak, it is important to examine more than a single colony from a clinical sample.


: This utility model reveals a wearable gesture-detection system for basketball dribbling that consists of a motion-sensing glove and a gesture-detection terminal. The gesture detection terminal comprises a Bluetooth signal receiver, the main Arduino controller, buttons, a power source, and a display screen. This technique provides a practical and valuable supplemental tool for basketball training and performance improvement by precisely capturing gesture movements during dribbling. Athletes can track and evaluate their dribbling motions in real time using the motion-sensing glove and terminal, leading to more accurate technique correction and progress. Basketball players will have improved training and performance opportunities thanks to this wearable, which will actively advance the sport.


Abstract The Student Poster Competition (SPC) has been an integral component of OCEANS meetings since 1989. This enduring program continues to play a valuable role in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education and professional development, providing
 an international forum for undergraduate and graduate students to showcase their efforts and interact with future colleagues, mentors, and employers. As a sponsor of the SPC since 1999, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) relies on programs like SPC to help inspire, foster, and develop talent
 across the diverse workforce needed to address the complex marine technology challenges of today and tomorrow.


The lifetime of the 5s5p6 2S1/2 state in Xe II has been calculated using an eigenvector for the 2S1/2 state determined by parametric fitting to the lowest even configurations. Due to the extreme destructive interference in the line strength, the lifetime is very sensitive to the eigenvector composition. An earlier non-relativistic multi-configuration Hartree-Fock calculation gave a lifetime of 9.5 ns which is increased to about 35 ns in the present calculation. The latter value is in good agreement with a recent measurement. It has been noticed that the branching ratio in Xe II, which experimentally is known only approximately at present, appears to be even more sensitive to the eigenvector composition than the lifetime.


The article discusses the design considerations for components which exhibit nonlinear phenomenon for an offshore floating platform housing energy and desalination plants. It gives an account of specific cases where such analyses were carried out. National Institute of Ocean Technology, MoES has been working in the area of developing large capacity offshore-based desalination plant. Various platform configurations were studied for housing the plant components. First case study deals with the numerical investigation of an inter-connection system between two floating platforms, semi-submersible and spar platform. Second case describes the methodologies for studying the effects of crucial vortex-induced vibration for estimating the fatigue life of the long-sea-conduit independently and when bundled.


SARS-CoV-2 researchers faced the problem of specificity for ACE-2 receptors. In mice and rats, ACE-2 has a low affinity for this virus. In contrast, the Syrian hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) when infected with SARS-CoV-2 show clinical signs of infection with this virus. Therefore, it is necessary to assess the severity of pathological lesions and immune response for relevance to preclinical new drugs against SARS-CoV-2. In this study, we studied blood counts, serum levels of Il-6, TNF-?, IFN-? and IFN-? and the histological state of the lungs of Syrian hamsters. In our study Syrian hamsters showed clinical signs of COVID-19. In infected animals, a decrease in the level of leukocytes and granulocytes was noted. There was some suppression of the immune response, without an increase in the main biomarkers of ARDS. The exception was high levels of TNF-?. Histological examination showed an early exudative phase of moderate ARDS. There were no significant gender differences in the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. In this study, it was shown that infection with COVID-19 in young Syrian hamsters is modeled with moderate severity, and can be applied in preclinical studies.


This paper proposes a double sourced converter which performs both rectifier (ac to dc) and chopper (dc to dc) actions in a single circuit instead of two separate converters. Switching signals for two different modes are simulated by designing a controller to get the desired output from the proposed converter. In both modes of operation the output is dc. All necessary simulations are performed in PSIM.


A B S T R A C T In an attempt to develop biocontrol system for management of Fusarium wilt in groundnut, Trichoderma viride, Trichoderma harzianum, and Pseudomonas fluorescens were evaluated for their antagonistic activity against Fusarium oxysporum in vitro .Fusarium wilt diseases caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum lead to significant yield losses of crops. Experiments were conducted on the effect of culture filtrates of T.viride (1%), T.harzianum (1.5%), and P. fluorescens (2%) on the in vitro inhibition of Pectinolytic enzymes of Fusarium oxysporum. The activity of Poly Methyl Esterase (PME), endo polymethylgalacturonase (PMG), and exopolymethylgalacturonase (PMG), Pectin transeliminases (PTE) produced by Fusariumoxysporum was higher, when compared to control . Maximum inhibition of above pectinolytic enzymes (PME, endo , exoPMG, endo and exo PTE) was shown by T. viride treatment was followed by T.harzianum and P.fluorescens. Of all the treatments, T. viride treatment showed higher rate of inhibition of Pectinolytic enzymes of Fusarium oxysporum followed by that of T.harzianum and P.fluorescens.This present study indicates that culture filtrate of T.viride(1%) is the best biocontrol agent in the inhibition of Fusarium oxysporum causing Fusarium wilt of Arachis hypogaea .L K e y w o r d s


A series of well-defined brush polyimide (PI) composed of two 4-n-alkyloxyphenyloxy bristles per repeat unit on a semi-rigid poly(4,4′-methylenyldiphenylene pyromellitimide), Cm-PMDA-MDA PIs, were synthesized and their nanoscale thin films prepared by conventional spin-coating of their soluble poly(amic acid) precursor solutions and subsequent drying and thermal imidization in a nitrogen atmosphere. All the PIs were determined to be a positively birefringent polymer. The surface morphology and molecular orientation of each PI in films before and after rubbing were investigated in detail by atomic force microscopy, optical retardation analysis, and linearly polarized infrared spectroscopy. The sequence of the rubbing-induced polymer segmental orientations was further investigated in detail. In addition, the liquid crystal alignment and pretilt ability of the rubbed PI films were examined, and their thermal stability investigated. The present study provides important information on the sequence of the polymer segmental orientations induced by rubbing and additionally the mechanisms of the alignment and pretilt of liquid crystal molecules in contact with the rubbed PI film surface.


Abstract : Contents: Relativistic Concepts; Notations The Klein-Gordon Equation The Wave Equation and The Electromagnetic Field The Dirac Equation The Role Of The Propagators In Quantum Field Theories.


The process by which organizations incorporate technological innovations into existing routines and use them on a regular basis persists as a central concern in the literature. Although we now have a fairly robust understanding of the drivers of innovation adoption, the use of innovations is less understood. In this paper, we draw on two streams of literature, managerial and organizational sensemaking, and organizational capabilities that have hitherto been used independently, to investigate organizational use of information technology (IT)-based innovations. Building on and extending prior work, we posit that organizational capabilities serve as complements to managers' technological frames related to an innovation. We focus on the use of an important technological innovation---business-to-business (B2B) electronic markets for procurement. We examine interactions between three technological frames---benefits frame, threat frame, and adjustment frame, and two organizational capabilities---technological opportunism and technological sophistication, and their relationship with the use of B2B electronic markets in firms. We test our research model using survey data collected from 292 firms. Results largely support the proposed conceptualization and shed new light on the key factors associated with firms' use of B2B electronic markets. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.


The Project Missions - Graphical Computation, recoups in a graphical and digital the pictures of the Church and the Reduction of Sao Miguel Arcanjo/RS/Brasil, allowing to the public a virtual stroll through the set at the time of its foundation in 1687. Initiate in 1990, the design refers the appropriation and implementation of the new computational technologies. The 3D model allows the dynamic visualization of the set, through aerial sights and walkthrough animations into the main streets and the inward of the central ship of the church. For the generation of the model, it was followed the principles of the architectural composition to decompose the parts, to be shaped, defining the architectural and composition elements. This COMPACT DISC, is one of the some midias of the Design Missions - Graphical Computation. In this proposal, the music was developed especially for the COMPACT DISC, looks for to reflect the poetical aspect of the interaction between light, shadow, of the inwards and exteriors, attenuating the technology of a virtual environment. In the integration between the art and the technology its recovered virtually, the poetical way, the memory of one of the icons of the identity of the Rio Grande do Sul, with the objective to keep alive, for the new generations, a patrimony that practically in ruins would have the souvenir of its lost real picture in the time.


The utility model discloses a bracket device for a dust remover filter element. The bracket device comprises a support mechanism arranged below the dust remover filter element, wherein a height adjustment component used for fixing the dust remover filter element is arranged on the support mechanism; the upper part of the dust remover filter element penetrates through the tubesheet of the dust remover or is arranged on the tubesheet of the dust remover through a positioning baffle; the support mechanism adopts a rhombus-shaped net structure; the height adjusting component is arranged at a node of the rhombus-shaped structure net. The bracket device comprises the support mechanism arranged below the dust remover filter element; the height adjusting component used for fixing the dust remover filter element is arranged on the support mechanism; during use, the height adjusting component is utilized to realize positioning and compressing on the dust remover filter element; the dust remover filter element forms an integral whole with the support mechanism through the positioning on the upper part of the dust remover filter element; the stability is improved, the dust remover filter element is prevented from vibration, the soot cleaning service life of the dust remover filter element is prolonged, and the bracket device has very high popularization and application values.


Our objective in this study is to understand how a company's resources and competences are articulated in order to create an innovative business model. To achieve this, we have examined the entrance of a new Brazilian company into the domestic air travel market. Gol Linhas Aereas was the object of the research and the period studied was 2001 to 2003, which covers the period of the company's entrance into and consolidation in the market place (the focus of this study). The theoretical foundation used was the Resource Based View (RBV). A qualitative methodology was adopted, which focused on the analysis of documents and interviews with industry experts and the company's senior executives. In our discussion, we developed the model that we named 'Resource Net', through which we demonstrate how a combination of organizational resources creates an innovative business model. In the conclusion of the study, we describe how the 'Resources Network' analysis advances the RBV theoretical body.


We investigate the impact of collaborative filtering recommender algorithms (e.g., Amazon.com's "Customers who bought this item also bought"), commonly used in e-commerce, on sales volume and diversity. We use data from a randomized field experiment on movie sales run by a top retailer in North America. For sales volume, we show that different algorithms have differential impacts. Purchase-based collaborative filtering ("Customers who bought this item also bought") causes a 25% lift in views and a 35% lift in the number of items purchased over the control group (no recommender). In contrast, View-based collaborative filtering ("Customers who viewed this item also viewed") shows only a 3% lift in views and a 9% lift in the number of items purchased, albeit not statistically significant. For sales diversity, we find that collaborative filtering algorithms cause individuals to discover and purchase a greater variety of products but push users to the same set of titles, leading to concentration bias at the aggregate level. For managers, our results inform personalization and recommender strategy in e-commerce. From an academic standpoint, we provide the first empirical evidence from a randomized field experiment to help reconcile opposing views on the impact of recommenders on sales diversity.


Instructional rubrics are used as important elements of evaluation made to support and monitor student development. The purpose of this study is to reveal the reflective thinking of pre-service math teachers on instructional rubrics as a factor that affects the materials development process. This study was conducted among 70 second-year students attending the Department of Mathematics Education in a state university within the context of the Instructional Technologies and Materials Development Course. The data of the study were collected through a questionnaire and interviews. The results of the study revealed many advantages of using instructional rubrics from the point of pre-service teachers. In addition, difficulties experienced in writing rubrics were addressed from different perspectives such as preparation of rubrics related to tasks promoting different skills and the role of mastery of student profiles in the rubric development process. This study can provide valuable insights about research investigating what can be done to support the development of pre-service teachers for rubric use with the design of a lesson and implementation stages.


The paper will present most recent achievements using satellite and airborne passive remote sensing of atmospheric concentrations of the greenhouse gases Methane (CH4) and CO2 to quantify point source emissions of both gases.


When philosophers, poets or astronomers have tried to comprehend the vastness of the universe, from early times to the present days, the possibility of an infinite universe has appeared as an appealing speculation. Although, we do not yet have a compelling answer to the question: "is the universe infinite?" our present cosmological knowledge provides us with some clues to delineate which is the most likely answer. This contribution aims to address this question from the point of view of the history of thought, from the ancient philosophers to the present astronomers, taking into account the interweaving relationship between scientific knowledge and culture. Its connection with the solutions to the so–called Olbers' paradox will be analysed in detail, including those appearing in literary works, like the prose poem Eureka (1848) by Edgar Alan Poe.


A content analysis based medical images fusion with fuzzy inference is presented. For well design fuzzy inference rules, the contents of two source images are analyzed with histograms. In the calculation of histograms, section is determined by two source images. Inference rules are designed based on fusion target and histograms of CT image and MRI image. Experiment results comparison from subject and object point of view show that content analysis based medical images fusion with fuzzy inference method is better than ordinary 3 gray-level (dark, medium, bright) fuzzy inference fusion method, the fused image can provide more information.


The bachelor work defines the importance of motivation in geriatric patients after intertro-chanteric fracture to restore mobility for rehabilitation. The theoretical part explains the basic concepts, geriatric patient, geriatrics, gerontology, per-tro-chantericka fracture, motivation geriatric patients. In the practical part is the method of quantitative research, working with technology questi-onn-ku. The questionnaire was given to fill in patients who are hospitalized gerontological department-tion after surgery pertrochanteric fracture. The aim of this work is to define best practices for medical staff in motivation geriatric pati-ents after intertrochanteric fracture to restore mobility, rehabilitation and on-site returns to normal life.


Three methods are described for measuring the impedance at the eardrum. Two methods are psycho‐physical and one is purely physical. Although the physical method seems to be more appropriate for this kind of measurement, all three methods yield comparable results. The final results agree with some of the measurements made in the past on the reactance at the eardrum up to 1000 cps. They disagree on reactance above 1000 cps and on resistance. The new data seem to fit the general picture of sound conduction in the ear better than did values obtained earlier. They could lead to corrections in the coupler cavities used for miniature earphones and in calculations the sound attenuation afforded by some ear protectors.


The propellant ignition mechanism has become a central issue in the electrothermal chemical (ETC) launch technology, and the pre-ignition plasma–propellant interactions are critical in determining the ignition characteristics. In this work, both an open-air ablation test and an interrupted burning test are conducted for three different propellants. A fused silica window, which is transparent in all relevant wavelengths, is utilized to investigate the role of the plasma radiation. Surface pitting of the propellants after interaction with the plasma is analyzed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The effect of pits on the plasma ignition is then studied and a possible formation mechanism of pits is proposed. The input heat flux and the surface temperature of the propellants are obtained by solving a pre-ignition plasma–propellant interaction model. The results shed light on the pre-ignition plasma ignition mechanisms and will assist in the development of propellants for an ETC launcher.


The isothermal oxidation of sputtered NiCrAlY coatings was performed in air at 900℃,1000℃ and 1100℃.Transient alumina θ-Al 2O 3,with fast growing rate,was formed on the surface of the coatings in the initial stage of oxidation.With oxidation time increasing,θ-Al 2O 3 transformed into α-Al 2O 3,and hence the parabolic rate constant decreased.The higher the temperature,the faster the transformation of θ-Al 2O 3 into α-Al 2O 3.A pre-heat treatment of the sputtered NiCrAlY coatings in vacuum can accelerate the transformation of θ-Al 2O 3 into α-Al 2O 3,and there with the protective α-Al 2O 3 scale is formed more rapidly on the surface of the coatings.


Purpose – This paper aims to critically examine the care clusters descriptors now being introduced in mental health care in England and to discuss them in the context of trying to further approaches to co‐production (and related concepts), and social inclusion and recovery. The paper seeks to introduce a revised set of cluster descriptors that are more lay friendly and that, hence, would be likely to encourage more service user engagement in care.Design/methodology/approach – The care cluster descriptors are critically examined within the context of desires to engage service users in care and encourage staff to explicitly consider individual strengths as well as needs, i.e. co‐production of care between active service users and providers.Findings – The implementation of care clusters and the development of new organisations of care based on these present opportunities to further develop in progressive ways how care is planned and developed. The cluster descriptors, however, are not an ideal basis for this...


-Anisotropic dipolar and quadrupolar hyperfine interactions caused by first and second neighbor atoms are considered in a model description of Mossbauer spectra for fee and bee alloys. Two examples are given. The temperature dependences for the quadrupole interaction in two different Fe-Ni alloys are presented.


In the compound leaf of potato, Solanum tuberosum `Russet Burbank,' phloem anastomoses occur throughout the petiole-rachis-midrib axis and are common in both the adaxial and abaxial phloem. Xylem anastomoses occur much less frequently. The frequency of anastomoses between the upper portions of the median bundle and the lateral bundles shows that the median bundle is not structurally disjunct from the lateral bundles in the midvein of the terminal leaflet. The width of the midvein fluctuates in relation to the divergence of the secondary veins in the terminal leaflet. An increase in width prior to the divergence of a secondary vein is accompanied by an increase in the number of phloem strands and tracheary elements. The first three orders of veins (midvein, secondary, and tertiary) are always major veins, i.e., associated with rib tissue. Quaternary veins may be either major or minor veins, i.e., embedded in mesophyll tissue. Most quinternary veins and all sexternary and septernary veins are minor veins. Abaxial phloem is found in all vein orders. Adaxial phloem is found in the midvein, all secondary and tertiary, many quaternary, some quinternary, and a few sexternary veins. Although both adaxial and abaxial phloem may be found in the next to highest vein order in any portion of a leaflet, the vein endings always lack adaxial phloem, regardless of their vein order. The two fimbrial veins are minor veins, contain phloem only intermittently, and converge with the midvein very near the tip of the terminal leaflet to form a hydathode.


Purpose: To study and compare the demographic and clinical profile of acute ocular burns (AOB) in children and adults. Methods: This retrospective case series included 271 children (338 eyes) and 1300 adults (1809 eyes) who presented to two tertiary eye care centers within one month of sustaining AOB. Data regarding demographics, causative agents, severity of injury, visual acuity (VA), and treatment were collected and analyzed. Results: Males were more commonly affected particularly among adults (81% versus 64%, P < 0.00001). Among children, 79% sustained domestic injuries, whereas 59% of adults had work-place injuries (P < 0.0001). Most cases were due to alkali (38%) and acids (22%). Edible lime (chuna, 32%), superglue (14%), and firecrackers (12%) in children, and chuna (7%), insecticides, lye, superglue (6% each), toilet cleaner (4%) and battery acid (3%) in adults, were the main causative agents. The percentage of cases with Dua grade IV-VI was greater in children (16% versus 9%; P = 0.0001). Amniotic membrane grafting and/or tarsorrhaphy were needed in 36% and 14% of affected eyes in children and adults, respectively (P < 0.00001). The median presenting VA was logMAR 0.5 in children and logMAR 0.3 in adults (P = 0.0001), which improved significantly with treatment in both groups (P < 0.0001), but the final VA in eyes with Dua grade IV-VI burns was poorer in children (logMAR 1.3 versus logMAR 0.8, P = 0.04). Conclusion: The findings clearly delineate the at-risk groups, causative agents, clinical severity, and treatment outcomes of AOB. Increased awareness and data-driven targeted preventive strategies are needed to reduce the avoidable ocular morbidity in AOB.


In two infants who had been immersed in ice water as treatment for neonatal asphyxia, subcutaneous fat necrosis and severe calcification without hypercalcemia appeared 2 to 5 weeks after the procedure. Growth and development have been normal. This complication must be taken into account in assessing the value of hypothermia as treatment for neonatal asphyxia.


This article proposes a critical reflection about globalization. The question is the relevancy of the concept of globalization as a useful category to understand and then to explain the complex situation of the world capitalism in the last 30 years. This essay criticizes the relevancy of the concept of globalization through a careful revision and considering a long term perspective. Instead I propose a more elaborated analysis of the contemporary crisis of civilization faced by the capitalist world system for the last three decades.


Given a vector bundle V of rank n on a variety X, together with two complete flags of subbundles, there is a degeneracy locus Xw C X for each w in the symmetric group Sn. With suitable genericity hypotheses, the class of Xw in the Chow group of X is given by a double Schubert polynomial in the first Chern classes of the quotient line bundles of the flags [9]. In this note we give similar formulas for corresponding loci when V has an orthogonal or symplectic structure and the flags are isotropic; there is one such locus Xw for each w in the corresponding Weyl group.


The authors have developed a basic, easily learned behavioral systems framework from which to conceptualize, evaluate, and plan treatment for distressed couples. This article describes the seven Cs of marriage primarily from conceptual and evaluation perspectives and is written for beginning therapists who work with couples. The seven Cs is a clear and heuristic model for understanding couple functioning, as well as an effective framework for presenting treatment-planning feedback to the couple. A brief overview of behavioral systems marital therapy and an outline of seven Cs based interventions are included.


DECLINING WITH PURPOSE: PSYCHOSOCIAL PREDICTORS OF RESILIENCE S. Halpin, Emory University Emotional disturbances are common in people living with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease (MCI/ AD). Those who remain self-aware frequently experience a unique set of emotional disturbances, such as depression, as a reaction to expectations regarding cognitive decline and non-ideal social environments. Yet a subset of these individuals are resilient, progressing through their condition without emotional pathology. The current study represents a secondary analysis of patient/care partner dyads (N=6) from the Alzheimer's and Emotions study who were found to exhibit resilience. Patients had a range of educational achievement from high school graduate to graduate degree, all lived with their care partner spouses, and experienced mild levels of cognitive impairment (median MMSE= 24; Functional Assessment Staging of Alzheimer's Disease-FAST score= 3.5). Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis was used to delve deeper into the characteristics surrounding these participants. Persons with MCI/AD utilized various strategies to adapt to and find meaning in their life despite their declining cognitive and physical functioning. Adaptation was defined by decisions that participants and their care providers made which aided in their adapting to their changing condition (e.g., appraising one's current abilities, reappraising abilities and putting things into perspective, and adjustment to current level of functioning). Participants found meaning by reminiscing about the things that made their life meaningful in the past, embracing their current identity as someone with MCI/AD, and maintaining familial and non-familial social support relationships. These non-pharmacological strategies might be helpful in developing resilience among a population of persons with MCI/AD despite their changing needs.


In the study of mediaeval European literature, especially that of France and Germany, the terms chanson de femme and Frauenlied have come to be conventional designations for a distinct type of poem—more broadly defined than a genre: a female-voice love-lyric in a popular rather than a courtly mode. To use the language of Pierre Bec, femininity here is "textual" rather than "genetic." Most of these "women's songs" are attributed to male authors, although there has been a tendency to trace the type back to preliterate songs actually composed by women. Goethe, Jakob Grimm, and others saw in the early German and Balkan Frauenlieder and Frauenstrophen the traces of "das alteste Volkspoesie." The use of this terminology to designate a lyric in the female voice—irrespective of its authorship—goes back to Alfred Jeanroy, at the end of the last century, who defined chanson de femme as a woman's monologue, usually sad, relating to love (158). Theodor Frings, whose description of the Frauenlied is probably the one that has been the most influential, makes clear that it is a universal, not merely a mediaeval, type. Although he focusses on Middle High German, Provencal, and Old French poetry, he includes examples ranging from Greek to Chinese.


Abstract We study Poincaré recurrence for flows and observations of flows. For Anosov flow, we prove that the recurrence rates are linked to the local dimension of the invariant measure. More generally, we give for the recurrence rates for the observations an upper bound depending on the push-forward measure. When the flow is metrically isomorphic to a suspension flow for which the dynamic on the base is rapidly mixing, we prove the existence of a lower bound for the recurrence rates for the observations. We apply these results to the geodesic flow and we compute the recurrence rates for a particular observation of the geodesic flow, i.e. the projection on the manifold.


For a vertex property 𝒫 and a graph G, a set S of vertices of G is a 𝒫-set of G if S ∈𝒫. The maximum and minimum cardinality of a 𝒫-set of G are denoted by M𝒫(G) and m𝒫(G), respectively. If S is a 𝒫-set such that its cardinality equals M𝒫(G) or m𝒫(G), we say that S is an M𝒫-set or m𝒫-set of G, respectively. In this paper, we obtain such numbers of generalized lexicographic product graphs in some vertex properties.


The control software of manufacturing systems has to interact with the mechanical and electrical machine parts, hence, their engineering is closely interrelated. A high-level model of this system can provide an abstract view on the system's behavior and is therefore beneficial for any engineering discipline. The language GRAFCET was developed as a domain-specific tool for specifying the operation of a production system. GRAFCET models can be structured hierarchically to regulate the behavior of a subsystem with forcing orders and enclosing steps. Based on a Grafcet, control software can be implemented in the executable modeling language IEC 61499. In this paper, we describe a step-by-step approach for implementing hierarchical features of GRAFCET with IEC 61499 models. The resulting application is well-structured and thus maintainable.


AC surface photovoltage (SPV) responds to damaged layers in n-type silicon (Si) wafers with depleted or inverted surfaces. Excited carriers recombine at broken bonds in a damaged layer, and the ac SPV is then reduced depending on whether slight or heavy damage exists at the Si surface. The ac SPV is related to the thermally modulated reflectance signal and, thus, is qualitatively applicable to nondestructive evaluation of the damaged layer.


She required an implanted pulse generator change after 5 years. At that time, her settings were as described in Table 1. Alteration in the globus pallidus/substantia nigra pars reticulata complex due to imbalance between direct and indirect motor pathways led to hyperkinetic orolingual movements [1]. Drug-induced Parkinsonism (DIP) is the second most common cause of PD and is known to occur in patients on tetrabenazine [1]. Though DIP is bilateral, it can be asymmetric and unilateral [1]. The diagnosis can be made by the chronology of the appearance of the symptoms and the use of dopamine transporter imaging. In our patient, PD started 2 years after tetrabenazine, and dopamine transporter imaging also confirmed the diagnosis of DIP. She was highly dependent on tetrabenazine and hence had to be offered some solution that could control both symptomatologies. It is known that GPi stimulation is effective in dyskinesias secondary to neuroacanthocytosis and controlling symptoms of PD [2, 3]. Miquel et al. [4] showed that there was long-term improvement in gait disturbances and orofacial movements following GPi stimulation in patients with choreaacanthocytosis. This is the first case report of GPi stimulation showing long-term sustained benefit in controlling the symptoms of chorea-acanthocytosis and DIP. Contracted red cells with a number of irregularly spaced, thorny surface projections, often with terminal bulbs, are defined as acanthocytes. Acanthocytosis is generally related to 3 hereditary neurological disorders: abetalipoproteinemia, chorea-acanthocytosis (ChAc), and Hallervorden-Spatz disease. Here, we present the case of a 77-year-old female who had been suffering from orofacial and neck dyskinesias secondary to neuroacanthocytosis for 3 years. Two years later, she started having difficulty in walking and showed body stiffness. On examination, she was found to have orofacial dyskinesias, dyskinesias of the neck, and tremors in the right upper limb. She had slurred speech, walked independently but with difficulty, and dragged her right foot. Her off-phase Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) motor score was 36. Her laboratory findings were suggestive of neuroacanthocytosis. The orofacial dyskinesias, for which she was treated with tetrabenazine, started 3 years back. After 2 years of treatment, she developed asymmetric, Parkinsonian symptoms, as described above. At the time of admission, she was on 37.5 mg tetrabenazine, 3 mg trihexyphenidyl, and bendroflumethiazide 75 mg/day. However, none of these medications could control her symptoms. She had also been given a trial of levodopa, but it worsened her orofacial symptoms. Her medical management was getting increasingly difficult, as medical treatment for PD would worsen the orofacial dyskinesia and vice versa. We offered her left globus pallidus internal (GPi) deep brain stimulation, as it was thought to be beneficial for both pathologies. After thorough evaluation, the patient underwent left GPi deep-brain stimulation. Following the surgery, her dyskinesias were completely resolved, and there were minimal signs of residual PD. The patient continued to do well, and her symptoms were well controlled for up to 5 years of follow-up. During this time, there was a gradual increase in her Parkinsonian symptoms, requiring increased stimulation parameters (from 3.0 V initially to 5.3 V) and the introduction of levodopa. At the last follow-up, she was on 300 mg levodopa, 37.5 mg tetrabenazine, and 1.5 mg pramipexole. Received: July 10, 2018 Accepted: July 18, 2018 Published online: August 28, 2018


The development of natural language processing tools for dialects faces the severe problem of lack of resources. In cases of diglossia, as in Arabic, one variant, Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), has many resources that can be used to build natural language processing tools. Whereas other variants, Arabic dialects, are resource poor. Taking advantage of the closeness of MSA and its dialects, one way to solve the problem of limited resources, consists in performing a translation of the dialect into MSA in order to use the tools developed for MSA. We describe in this paper an architecture for such a translation and we evaluate it on Tunisian Arabic verbs. Our approach relies on modeling the translation process over the deep morphological representations of roots and patterns, commonly used to model Semitic morphology. We compare different techniques for how to perform the cross-lingual mapping. Our evaluation demonstrates that the use of a decent coverage root+pattern lexicon of Tunisian and MSA with a backoff that assumes independence of mapping roots and patterns is optimal in reducing overall ambiguity and increasing recall.


Sign language is usually spoken by the deaf and dumb community. However, there are many available constraints in this. The first being that there are around 138 to 300 total sign languages that are currently in use around the world so there is no cohesiveness between them all. This elongates the already huge communication gap not only between the non-sign language speakers but also the people who are part of this community. Secondly, not many people or rather the majority of the people capable of speaking and listening, don't bother to pick up and learn sign language. This distances people and prohibits them from communicating and connecting. People using sign languages also are unfortunate when it comes to modern and evolving technologies. What we hear today is "Voice-controlled", "Voice-activated", "Speak to control", these are the new buzzwords of this century. The entire development of comfort technologies revolves around this idea of ease of use, replacing the old capacitive buttons with the voice as the trigger. It is uncommon for developers to think about those who don't share the luxury of speaking and rely on their hands for communication. Pondering and researching about the feasibility of this concept of bringing the Internet of things for the people who talk through or whose voice is the Sign language, a new model is being discussed.


The 5 chapters in part one of the book explore the different styles of leadership, followership and management. Traits attributed to effective leadership includes clinical competence, sound knowledge, effective communication, flexibility and being supportive. A new theory of congruent leadership where leaders have to match values and beliefs in their actions is discussed. Simply put, leaders have to walk the talk.


Abstract : The bibliography is a 1971 supplement to previous annotated reaction time bibliographies published by the Human Engineering Laboratory. It is a compilation of 232 abstracted references dealing with reaction time in selected human information processing tasks. Most of the references are from the 1971 open literature and are arranged in alphabetical order by author. An alphabetic indes of pertinent parameters of investigation is also provided.


Background: Although at times small amounts of pleural fluid is detected on the lateral decubitus chest radiograph, this may be impossible to obtain in severely ill patients. Because of its ready availability and ability for bedside imaging, ultrasonography has become a crucial imaging modality not only in detecting the presence of pleural fluid but also as a guide to aspiration. Aims: To sonographically determine the nature of pleural effusions. To analyze predictability of both benign and malignant pleural effusions and to study statistical value of various ultrasound characteristics in differentiating exudative and transudative as well as benign and malignant effusions in correlation with thoracocentesis. Material and Methods: Sonographic feature as well as fluid cytology was evaluated. Following categorization into exudates or transudate as well as benign or malignant the diagnosis was then correlated biochemically. Results: Transudates were anechoic, while an anechoic effusion may be either a transudate or an exudate. Complex septation, internal echoes, thickened pleura or homogeneously echogenic patterns were always exudates. Sonographic findings of pleural nodules and associated parenchymal lesions in the lung and liver were indicative of malignancy. Conclusions: Ultrasound in addition to being highly sensitive for pleural effusion also aided in characterizing the nature and minimizing the complications during thoracocentesis. Pleural effusions were categorized into exudates and transudate as well as benign and malignant with a certain degree of confidence based on sonographic findings.


Principal axes technique and multiplicative elastic and plastic decomposition of deformation gradient are used in discussing a rate-theory of elastic-plastic behaviour. A z-rate (Zaremba time-rate) is introduced: it results in a polar decomposition of the z-rate of deformation gradient in terms of rotation and stretch-rate(s). It is also found to result in a yield survace Vertex-like effect.


There was vast research on the effectiveness of audit committees as part of the mechanisms in safeguarding shareholders' interest and also ensuring effective financial reporting by companies. However, studies on the efficacy of audit committees as governance tools in a niche area relating to social enterprises namely cooperative societies in Malaysia is still scarce. Hence, this study intends to investigate the association between audit committee attributes namely audit committee expertise and experience, audit committee meeting frequency and audit committee size to the timeliness reporting compliance among Malaysian cooperative societies. Using qualitative research methods, 158 usable questionnaires from 59 cooperative societies were successfully gathered and analysed using SmartPLS 3 Version 3.2.8. The results obtained provided support to the notion that there is a significant positive relationship between the frequency of meetings on the timeliness reporting compliance and a significant positive relationship between audit committee size on the timeliness reporting compliance. However, the notion expecting a significant positive relationship between the expertise of the audit committee on the timeliness reporting compliance proved to be insignificant. Conclusively, the study provides theoretical and practical support to both literature and practitioners on the importance of having optimum audit committee size and high frequency of meeting in ensuring the timeliness compliance of financial reporting of cooperative societies.


The orbital fat deformation visualization pipeline, see figure 1, was developed using the C++, OpenGL, GLSL and CUDA programming tools, and binaries are available for Linux and Windows. It consisted of three phases: (1) data acquisition and processing, (2) specification of a ROI, and (3) visualization of sliding and deformation. Each of these phases in turn consisted of a number of steps, together comprising a hierarchical framework that we used to investigate fat deformation in the orbit.


Microfinance has become the latest buzzword in the credit markets where it shoulders the responsibility of alleviating poverty coupled with socio-economic development. Dealing with microfinance coupled with the issue of poverty reduction, the first concern is to handle the twin objectives of poverty alleviation and achievement of financial self-sufficiency, which are often at loggerheads. To begin with, the present chapter constructs a five-dimensional human poverty index (HPI) in terms of the rate of unemployment, state wise illiteracy rate, state-wise infant mortality rate, state-wise percentage of population below the poverty line, and the percentage of population not having an access to electricity for the states across India. Thus, this will serve as an index for the extent of poverty. Consequently, a fall in the value of the index actually implies poverty alleviation. This empirical model does not justify the hypothesis that "microfinance reduces poverty" at the macro level using cross-state panel data for India.


EW views of America—its history, its culture, and especially its literature—are now emerging from a renewed inquiry into the methods, the moral purposes, and the historical consequences of Puritanism. In The American Jeremiad, Sacvan Bercovitch reassesses the Puritan sermon or "jeremiad," detecting there a rhetoric that endures well beyond the decline of the Puritan state and, indeed, well beyond the influence of puritanical morality. Sepatable from any specific moral value, the rhetoric of the jeremiad establishes a moral injunction to fulfill a social task: the Puritans were to fulfill the prophecy of an American Eden, a New Jerusalem to be created out of the wilderness of the New World. Thus the jeremiad offered the promise of the future as the guide and purpose of present actions and made the pursuit of a more perfect world a religious duty. Promising not only eternal salvation but also an earthly paradise, this rhetoric constitutes an especially powerful version of the Protestant ethic. It expresses an "unshakable optimism" whereby "God's punishments were corrective not destructive"; thus any disparity between the American Eden and the Ametican reality indicates not an impossible task but a lack of effort and commitment to duty and purpose (Bercovitch 7). In short, the American jeremiad "inverts the doctrine of vengeance into the promise of ultimate success"


Chronic Kidney Disease is a worldwide health problem with an increasing incidence and prevalence. Abnormalities in the structure and function of
the thyroid gland and in the metabolism and plasma concentration of thyroid hormones are common in patients with Chronic Kidney Disease.
Patients with CKD having many signs and symptoms suggestive of thyroid dysfunction like sallow complexion, edema, dry skin, cold intolerance,
decreased BMR, asthenia and hyporeexia. So in cases of CKD, it is difcult to exclude thyroid dysfunction on mere clinical background. Total
number of 100 patients with Chronic Kidney Disease were selected in this prospective study. 100 patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)
fullling the criteria for CKD who were on conservative management were studied, among these 100 patients 70 were male and 30 were female
Among the 100 patients in our study 55 of them had low serum T3 levels (55%), 17 patients among the low serum T3 level also had high TSH value
of >20 ILIU/m1 with low T4 levels and also symptoms suggestive of hypothyroidism.


ATPase family AAA‐domain containing protein 3A (ATAD3A) is a nuclear‐encoded mitochondrial membrane protein, which is essential for cell growth and metabolism. The mechanism by which ATAD3A acts is still not fully understood. In this study, we explored the regulatory role of ATAD3A on milk biosynthesis and proliferation of bovine mammary epithelial cell. We showed that ATAD3A is localized in mitochondria and the expression of ATAD3A was up‐regulated in response to extracellular stimuli such as amino acids and hormones. We observed that ATAD3A positively regulated milk protein, fat, and lactose biosynthesis, and cell proliferation. We further revealed that ATAD3A promoted the expressions of mTOR, SREBP‐1c, and Cyclin D1, and triggers mTOR phosphorylation. In summary, our data reveal that ATAD3A regulates the mTOR, SREBP‐1c, and Cyclin D1 signaling pathways for milk biosynthesis and cell proliferation.


The conception of safety level and its deter- mination method for counter- blower system of poly- olefine bunker were introduced, to avoid the occurring of fire and explosion accident caused by static dis- charge because of ventilation dead zone.


Baoquanling Bureau is situated in severe cold disrict,fifteen to thity percent irrigation and water conservancy project structures were injuried by freezing in this bureau.This aricle explains the main reasons,forms of expression and peotective measurses of freeze injury of irrigation and water conservancy project structures in Baoquanling Bureau.


In vitro bioassays were carried out to evaluate antagonistic behavior of seven species of Trichoderma namely T. pseudokoningii , T. harzianum, T. reesei, T. koningii, T. hanatus, T. viridi and T. aureoviridi, against two highly problematic soil-borne plant pathogenic fungi viz. Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici (Sacc.) Snyder & Hansn and Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Goid . All the Trichoderma species exhibited pronounced antagonistic behavior against the target fungal pathogens in dual cultures resulting in 45–65% and 59–74% reduction in radial growth of M. phaseolina and F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici , respectively . T. harzianum was found to be the most effective biocontrol agent against both the fungal pathogens followed by T. aureoviridi and T. hanatus .


ROMAN VERGIL. By W. F. JACKSON KNIGHT. Faber and Fuber, 1944. pp. VIII, 348. 15s. Mr Knight has now followed up his earlier studies with a full-scale work on Virgil ; it is of interest not only to the classical scholar but to all for whom the working of a great poet's mind bears its own universal message. The book is, however, far more than a summary and re-statement of the author's previous conclusions. M r Knight possesses an imaginative approach, subtlety of observation, sensitive understanding of sound and rhythm, and a deep knowledge of the text of Virgil; all these qualities, aided by familiarity with a wide range of Virgilian literature from many countries, have enabled him to produce a modern Guide to Virgil of exceptional scope. He deals with the poet's philosophic, religious, and literary background ; his diction, expression, and style ; his syntax and metre ; his artistic method ; his Weltunschauung and its significance for his own world and for our own. If we are to attain even faintly near to a true vision of ' Virgil ', Dante's guide and master, all these complex aspects of study, which are themselves interdependent and complementary, must each be given separate consideration, and the whole must then be welded together. I t is M r Knight's great merit that he has realized this. The main value of the book lies in the penetration with which the author has used Virgil to illustrate Virgil. He shows us the poet's mind, absorbing into itself, often unconsciously, impressions derived not only from contemporary life, thought, and experience, but from all the inherited literary tradition of Rome and Greece. Even enlightened commentators have been slow to see the fallacy, and the meanness, of the attitude according to which Virgil is said to ' copy Homer ' or to ' copy Lucretius ' in this or that passage ; and M r Knight is at his best in interpreting the mental processes that lie behind such reminiscence, which is really neither copying nor borrowing, but independent fusion, transmutation, and creation. T h e method makes possible a re-examination of many of the famous Virgilian phrases and many problems of Virgilian thought, and the discovery of new truths and new beauties in them ; and thus, by a wider extension, leads to a clearer understanding of the pattern of Virgil's art, and of the apocalyptic majesty of the Latin language in his mouth. Linguistic and metrical discussion supports and widens Mr Knight's conclusions. But the method is not always safe ; such a book cannot help being highly subjective, and the dangers of subjectivity are increased in a writer of M r Knight's temperament, trend, and interests. He presents a psychological study of Virgil which must be accepted with the greatest possible reserve ; it is a private, personal picture and must be plainly understood as such. This warning is needed if the non-professional reader is to be saved from thinking that he is being shown objective truths. The book abounds in observations which illuminate what has hitherto been obscure, or which deepen and enrich already familiar colours ; but it also contains many hazardous statements and theories which rest upon very insubstantial evidence. No one yet knows enough Latin to be justified in making or believing many of the inferences which M r Knight has made about Virgil. The layman should and will read the book ; but he must go warily, and not accept all that he is told in it, or assume, as he might well do, that Virgil is own brother under the skin to James Joyce or M r Ezra Pound. T h e classical scholar will not need this warning ; but he will be uneasy at the necessity for it, and his misgivings will be increased by a surprising number of factual inaccuracies and unscholarly deductions which should never have found their way into a work of this kind. Apart from this, the book needs much revision ; there are many needless and irritating repetitions, far too much obscure and mannered English, too much overloading with extraneous opinions


The application place based education in the formal education, namely opening competency program at the vocational high school. Place based vocational high school is one of the efforts to develop potential area. The purpose of this study is to know the effectiveness of place based vocational high school by using Balanced Scorecard and to know the influence factors of place based vocational high school development. Besides, this study is aimed to formulate the strategy of place based vocational high school development. The research method of this study is mix method with qualitative study priority. Based on balanced scorecard concept, this study indicates that the existance of agribussines and agrotechnology skill competency in SMKN 1 Pujon has not run fully effective. Besides, there are many factors that influences the development of place based vocational high school, both internal and external sides. Therefore, the strategy can be developed such as facilitating production unit establishment in each school, building school networking which can be accessed by the public, and adding the new program (skill competency) based on potensial area, cultural values, and development policy.


Synthesis results are presented for a general discrete-time dynamic output feedback controller and its anti-windup augmentation for operation under bounded actuation. The approach is then adopted for the leader-follower tracking problem for a multi-agent system. We consider the l2 gain from the disturbances to a general output, and obtain upper bounds for such gains. The scheme developed includes sufficient conditions, in the form of LMIs, for both controller design and anti-windup synthesis. Numerical examples are presented to show the effectiveness.


The fire department is still using inefficiency traditional methods,such as manual alarm,manual recording and artificial search,which are difficult to catch up with the current urban development on fire requirement.Considering those situations,we proposed Qingdao city fire emergency systems based on GIS.The establishment of this fire emergency system combined the theoretical analysis of GIS,the function modules based on the user requirements of the system,and the server distributed design with spatial database theory together.The tools used to develop the Qingdao fire emergency systems included the C#language,SQL Server 2005and ArcSDE spatial database engine,also,the developed system realized a three-dimensional visualization of disaster scheduling deployment and disaster prediction.Finally,the design examples demonstrated the feasibility of the systems.


& IEEE INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS is promoting young and aspiring AI scientists via its biennial "AI's 10 to Watch" special section. The 2020 group consists of 10 young stars who have demonstrated outstanding AI achievements. In April 2020, IEEE Intelligent Systems called for nominations worldwide, with the requirement that nominees with doctorates must have received their PhDs since 2014. The selection committee, made up of IEEE Intelligent Systems editorial and advisory board members, finally had to select from a pool of 20þ highly competitive nominations. After a careful and detailed selection process, they voted on a short list of 10 top candidates. This final selectionwas based on scientific quality, reputation, impact, expert endorsement, and diversity. The vote for the final winners was unanimous. This year's 10 to Watch are as follows (in alphabetical order).


In this paper, I explore a natural experiment of organizational change from decentralization to centralization in a leading Chinese newspaper. Using a dierences-in-dierences approach, I …nd that centralization substantially increases the journalists'performance in the dimension desired by the newspaper. I provide evidence that the journalists whose jobs are potentially associated with larger private bene…ts respond more to the centralization reform and the journalists whose incentives are more aligned with the newspaper's goal respond less to the reform. The main …ndings are consistent with recent eco- nomic theories of organization that emphasize the tradeos between


Starting with the quest for the meanings of the tetralemma overlooked so far, we consider a logic of argumentation based on the tetralemma. It allows for Eastern arguments as well as Western arguments, promoting the fusion of Eastern and Western reasoning in argumentation.


Internationally Fire Protection Associations (FPAs) have emerged as an effective structure for wildfire management. It serves as a basis to formalize collaboration between stakeholders across landscapes from which Integrated Fire Management (IFM) best practice can be applied. Fire is also a critical element in terms of shaping as well as maintaining landscapes, as many South East Asian forest types are of pyrogenic origin. In the Indonesian context, disastrous fires resulting from poor peat landscape management, in the 2015 season alone, caused 2.6 million hectares of land to burn. It cost Indonesia an estimated USD 16.1 billion (IDR 221 trillion) equivalent to 1.9 percent of 2015 GDP. Haze has also contributed to the death of 19 people and more than 500,000 cases of acute respiratory infections. Immediate health costs totaled USD 151 million. Around 15.95 million tons of CO2 emissions were released into the atmosphere per day. About 33 percent of the total area burned was peatland, leading to noxious haze that blanketed parts of Indonesia and the region, disrupting transport, trade, and tourism, forcing school closures and negatively affecting health. In the immediate response to the unfolding 2015 disaster, over USD 300 million was spent on aerial firefighting aircraft and 22 000 military and police troops were mobilised to fight the fires. Unfortunately, without adequately trained and equipped ground forces, applying appropriate strategy and tactics to compliment the aircraft and, lacking the required coordination and command structures for ground and aerial fire suppression operations, these responses did not have optimal effect. Recent insights in peat fire behaviour, underline the need for a collaborative and more integrated formal approach to peat wildfires by revealing the various fire transition phases. Hence the importance of effective Integrated Fire Management applied through a formal collaboration mechanism which has become known as Fire Protection Associations (FPAs) or also called Klasters in Indonesia. The following aspects will be covered: What is a Fire Protection Association, Role and functions of FPA's; Funding of FPA's; Role and functions of the Provincial and National FPA's; Establishing FPA's in Indonesia as a most recent example.


Public networks are facing ever increasing challenges to keep up with the needs of current and future users. At the same time local and state government support for public networks is declining and pressure to increase services is increasing due to the potential economic development opportunities these kinds of networks can bring about. An exploratory review of the Illinois Century Network using content analysis for the years 2004–2006 of the Advanced Engineering Taskforce reveals that the digital divide issue has not been focused on in the 2005 and 2006 reports. However, an impressive set of significant tasks to improve the network's operation and performance have been accomplished over the last three years. In particular, the increases in bandwidth and network reliability are impressive. Audio and video traffic with low cost Quality of Service has also been added. A major policy question is, given the fact that state support for public networks is generally declining and pressure to increase services is increasing what alternatives exist to fund the expected additional services? Is it time for the private sector to provide financial support for this public network and if so at what cost?


In recent times, at the turn of the 21st century, there have been significant developments in the use of technological advances for teaching languages. Following the use of traditional language laboratories, and then the emergence of computer-assisted forms of language teaching, language-oriented social networks such as YouTube and Facebook and other types of language applications have been used for that purpose, particularly in teaching English. Learners' attitudes are aroused in significantly different ways compared to feelings about traditional forms of language teaching, including learner-centered approaches. One aim of this paper is to elicit learners' interest in Internet use and to consider the degree to which social media and language applications enhance in-class formal learning. This study brings forth learners' digital experience in the use of social media and we argue that it will raise awareness as to the importance of these media in improving their language skills. We thus attempt to explore the extent to which language learners benefit from their out-of-class Internet use. A small-scale survey, based on an online questionnaire addressed to Algerian students of English at Tlemcen University, reveals increasing interest in using such applications and social networks outside the class and their positive attitudes towards English in virtual spaces, particularly when having the possibility of discussing with native speakers. The results also show that communicating with others allows them to share intercultural aspects and mutual understanding. Indeed, respondents' positive attitudes towards mixed-culture conversation are attention-grabbing and significantly encouraging. However, it is believed that such informal, non-systematic methods of teaching/ learning a foreign language can only complement formal teaching in class with non-virtual teachers.