Adult male Japanese quail and, to a lesser extent, adult females were likely to approach a member of the opposite sex which they had not seen before in preference to one with which they grew up. However, they only did this if the group in which they were reared when young contained a particular number of the opposite sex: two females in the case of males and three males in the case of females. The result is explained in terms of the likelihood of the novel member of the opposite sex being slightly different from those with which the birds grew up. If the number of individuals of the opposite sex is small, a novel one is likely to be unacceptably strange, and if the number is high any novel bird from a limited laboratory stock is likely to resemble one or other of the familiar birds. A functional explanation for the quail's behaviour in terms of optical outbreeding is discussed.


Poverty increased significantly in US suburbs during the 1990s. What we know about suburban poverty is largely limited to demographic and economic information. Building off of the organizational perspective approach, I use in-depth interviews with nonprofit, antipoverty organizations in eight Pennsylvania suburbs to better understand the suburban poverty experience. My focus is on how organizations compete for external resources. By working directly with the poverty problem while also working in broader metropolitan political and economic fields of decision making, this "middleman" role (Marwell 2007) gives us insights into contemporary poverty dynamics for suburbs. I find that how suburban organizational leaders perceive the challenges that they face, and what strategies they adopt to confront such difficulties, revolves around symbolic dilemmas posed by the history, distribution, and politics of poverty in the suburbs. Symbolic dilemmas cluster around three different situational contexts of poverty in the suburbs. I use this to develop a three-part typology of suburban poverty: symbiotic suburbs, skeletal suburbs, and overshadowed suburbs. This typology has implications for future research and for policy makers interested in developing tools to appropriately address this pressing issue.


Vibrating strings are known to be nonlinear. Transverse vibrations induce axial motion as well as a modulation of the string's tension. An overview of the nonlinear models of the vibrating string has been presented at the 150th Meeting of the ASA. It has been shown that if temporal considerations are prevalent from an acoustical point of view, the involved coupling mechanisms are mainly ruled by the spatial shape of the modes. The purpose of this communication is to investigate the specific case of transverse‐axial interactions and to examine the possible generation of axial modes through transverse vibrations. It also gives the opportunity to discuss the common hypotheses. Despite the complex modal couplings that can occur, this results enable to avoid or favor axial modes in the design of the string itself or of the boundary conditions i.e. the bridge.


Software-defined network (SDN) has been considered as a promising paradigm for next-generation network architecture. Thanks to its flexibility and programmability, SDN enables more flexible routing deployments over networks. However, with the emergence of new applications with differentiated demands, traditional routing strategies are difficult to meet QoS requirements from diversified applications while maintaining high performance due to the lack of interaction with their external environment. In this paper, a QoS-aware routing algorithm based on deep reinforcement learning (DRL) is proposed, termed as DRNet. Specifically, the traffic demand matrix, as well as the current network state, is fed into the DRNet model to train a DRL agent by DQN, which can decide a feasible optimal path from a set of available loop-free paths in the network. To reduce the exploration space of DRNet agent, only a portion of the candidate paths with the same source-destination are selected in each training step, so that only part of the Q-table would be updated. To verify the effectiveness of DRNet, we design and implement a simulation platform using OMNET++ and evaluate QoS metrics. The simulation results confirm that our algorithm outperforms existing shortest path routing method based on the Dijkstra algorithm and can achieve better performance than the Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG) algorithm while learning.


Over the past few decades, the gap between rapidly increasing computational power and almost stagnating memory bandwidth has steadily worsened. Recently, 3D die-stacking in form of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) enabled the first major jump in external memory throughput in years. In contrast to traditional DRAM it compensates its lower clock frequency with wide busses and a high number of separate channels. However, this also requires data to be spread out over all channels to reach the full throughput. Previous research relied on manual HBM data partitioning schemes and handled each channel as an entirely independent entity. This paper in contrast also considers scalable hardware adaptions and approaches system design holistically. In this process we first analyze the problem with real world measurements on a Xilinx HBM FPGA. Then we derive several architectural changes to improve throughput and ease accelerator design. Finally, a Roofline based model to more accurately estimate the expected performance in advance is presented. With these measures we were able to increase the throughput by up to 3.78× with random and 40.6× with certain strided access patterns compared to Xilinx' state-of-the-art switch fabric.


OBJECTIVE To study risk factors of urinary tract infections in ICU patients so as to find out an effective way to reduce the incidence of urinary tract infections.METHODS From Jan 2008 to Dec 2010,a total of 623 patients who were discharged from the ICU were retrospectively investigated,and the statistical analysis was performed for the sex,age,catheterization duration,hospital stay,complication of diabetes mellitus,the use of antibacterial drugs,and etiology of the bacteria causing urinary tract infections.RESULTS Among 623 ICU patients,48 cases suffered form the hospital infections,accounting for 7.7%.The urinary tract infection rate of the female patients(15.68%) was significantly higher than that of the male patients(2.84%).The infection rate of the patients with more than 60 years of age was 12.24%,significantly higher than 3.86% of the patients with less than 60 years of age.The infection rate of the patients with indwelling urethral catheterization(9.66%) was obviously higher than that of the patients without indwelling urethral catheterization(1.36%).The infection rate of the patients with the catheterization duration more than 5 days was 22.46%,significantly higher than 1.38% of the patients with the catheterization duration less than 5 days.The infection rate of the patients with the hospital stay more than 20 days was 34.21%,significantly higher than 2.18% of the patients with the hospital stay less than 10 days.The infection rate was significantly higher in the patients who used antibiotics(8.58%) than those who did not(1.33%),the differences were all statistically significant(P0.05).CONCLUSION The gender,age,indwelling urethral catheterization,catheterization duration,hospital stay,and use of antibiotics are the main risk factors for the urinary tract infections in the ICU patients.It is necessary to improve the hand hygiene,pay attention to the aseptic operation,strengthen the nursing of indwelling catheterization,and use antibiotics reasonably so as to prevent and reduce the incidence of the urinary tract infections in ICU.


Following the demonstration in Part I that the Ising mogel with three-spin interactions on a triangular lattice is equivalent to a colouring problem on a hexagonal lattice, and that a generalized Bethe ansatz can be used to obtain equations for the eigenv


Abstract: A radiometric assay for ornithine aminotransferase was developed using [1‐14C]α‐ketoglutarate as the labeled substrate and glutamate decarboxylation as a linking step. This assay gives near total measurement of ornithine aminotransferase activities that are, respectively, about 1.5 and 10 times larger than those obtained by the spectrophotometric assay and the radiometric assay using [1‐14C]ornithine. It is also the most sensitive of the three assay procedures.


Abstract The momentous changes that have affected European cities over the last two centuries have had profound consequences for the configuration of urban space. Urban planning and architecture, torn between the dialectically opposed forces of permanence and change, particularly in building practices and the use of urban space, have had an important influence on the material construction of cities. The outcome was a strong focus on the individual architectural artefact and, at the same time, the spread of a process of atopical fragmentation of urban space and the gradual loss of status of contact space. The latter suffered a process of deterioration due to disaffection and abandonment of the practice and a rapid shift of interest towards space decontextualised and standardised by the networks. The recent experiences of Barcelona and Berlin have been a reaction to this impoverishment of the meaning of the city, drawing on the heuristic contribution of the Italian school of urban analysis to recover the constituent elements of urban space and the conventions that have determined the appearance of European cities and are part of the tacit understanding of their inhabitants.


The lon protease of Pyrococcus abyssi (Pab) is interrupted by an intein. The Pab lon intein can promote efficient protein splicing although it has Lys in place of the highly conserved penultimate His. Mutations that block individual steps of splicing generally do not lead to unproductive side reactions, suggesting the intein tightly coordinates the splicing process.


To evaluate the potential use of biochar in crop production, two years experiments were conducted in 2013 and 2014. The experiment consisted of three factors namely: (1) Biochar (0, 25 and 50 ton ha), (2) FYM (5 and 10 ton ha) and (3) nitrogen (75 and 150 kg ha). A control treatment (no application of either treatment) was included in the experiment for comparison. All the treatments were replicated three time in RCB design at New Developmental Farm of the University of Agriculture Peshawar Pakistan. Experimental evidence indicated that BC, FYM and N significantly delayed all growth stages of maize such as days to taseling, silking and maturity. Biochar application significantly improved maize oil content by 12 and 29% over no BC plots (plots receiving other treatments) and control plots respectively. An increase of 27% and decrease of 11% was observed in maize protein and starch content in BC treated plots over control. FYM application of 10 ton ha improved maize protein content by 12% but reduced oil content by 15% over 5 ton FYM ha. Likewise, N application resulted in higher protein content and starch content but reduced oil content significantly. Overall, application of BC showed convincing results as sole application of N and FYM, however, problems associated with BC production in Pakistan are needed to be addressed in future research.


© Medical Communications Sp. z o.o. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (CC BY-NC-ND). Reproduction is permitted for personal, educational, non-commercial use, provided that the original article is in whole, unmodified, and properly cited. The effects of aerobic training on the functional status, quality of life, the level of fatigue and disability in patients with multiple sclerosis – a preliminary report Wpływ treningu tlenowego na stan funkcjonalny, jakość życia i zespół zmęczenia u chorych ze stwardnieniem rozsianym – doniesienie wstępne


In this paper we attempt to address a critique of transmission as a part of the tragedy of contemporary education. We live in learning societies that among other things involve the primacy of the notion of learning and the subsequent decline of the concept of teaching and transmission (Biesta, 2005). In this framework teaching increasingly becomes the coaching of pupils and education becomes an entrepreneurial practice called to provide opportunities and/or


This paper investigates the pre-modern urban development of Medina during the Ottoman reign within the framework of the Ottoman administration of the Arab provinces. Specifically, the spatial organization of Medina is investigated based on multiple visual, cadastral and historical sources. Although Medina was remote from the center of political power, it maintained an articulated significance for the Ottoman state structure, as much as the major provincial cities. This is evident in the continuous Ottoman role in staging its own image in Medina by introducing typical Ottoman hallmarks of urbanization. However, the spiritual significance of Medina, in turn, molded the applied methods of spatial organization, which had to be attuned to the religious sanctions and sensitive loci of worship. By the end of the Ottoman presence in Arabia, the resulting urban character and texture of the city reflected a fusion of spatial innovations with deep-rooted tradition, which shaped a lasting historical image of Medina.


In order to reinforce the Slab-Column connection,according to its basic influence factors,we can improve the concrete intensity,increase the muscle amount longitudinally and the thickness of the board,expand the sectional size of the column,and reduces the span of the board.But these traditional methods are limited by the requirement of architecture.Moreover,these parameters changes(such as increase the Ratio of Longitudinal reinforcement) may improve bars anti-curved performance.So it is unable to realize the ductile design,it will cause great waste even if anti-punching performance is enough.The paper sums up a number of other anti-Cutting measures,comparing the measures,it gets the conclusion that we can improve the anti-Cutting performance effectively by using Anchors and Flat steel hoops.Moreover,a new type of anti-Cutting measure is proposed.


A new method for saliency detection is presented. Based on the sparse coding model, we propose a power spectral filter to eliminate the second-order residual correlation, which suppress the global repeated items effectively. In addition, aim to modeling the mechanism of the human retina prior response to high-contrast stimuli, the effect of color context is considered. Experimental result indicates that our method has high-quality detection performance with respect to the ability not only to highlight the salient objects in complex environment but also to pop up them uniformly.


Aboveground biomass (AGB) of trees refers to the dry weight of organic matter per unit area. Estimating the AGB of urban trees is helpful for urban ecosystem assessment. Due to the high heterogeneity of urban land use, the AGB of trees is greatly affected by geographical location, which brings difficulties to the estimation of AGB of urban trees. In this study, we use geographically weighted regression model(GWR) to take the geographical location into account in the regression model. In order to obtain a large number of samples, high-resolution optical data and airborne LiDAR data are used in combination. Taking Hengqin in Guangdong Province as an example, the experimental results show that the GWR model has good performance in estimation accuracy.


This study examined the barriers and facilitators to the provision of consumer medication information leaflets (CMIL) by community pharmacists in Malaysia and assessed the relationship between the participants' characteristics and provision of CMIL.


This study evaluated seven inbred lines of maize (Zea mays L.), three testers and 21 hybrids produced by line × tester mating design. Stomatal conductance, chlorophyll content, photosynthetic efficiency, and transpiration rate traits of parents and progenies were observed. The study was conducted in Konya, in the mid-Anatolian region of Turkey. The mean values of the stomatal conductance, chlorophyll content, photosynthetic efficiency, and transpiration rate measurements were evaluated using Duncan's multiple range test for grouping parent and offspring groups. The variance for general combining ability, the variance for specific combining ability, the relative variance, additive variance, dominance variance, √D / A, narrow-sense heritability and broad-sense heritability parameters of the population, along with the heterosis rates of the progenies, were calculated for each trait. The parental general combining abilities and specific combining abilities of the progenies were determined. We observed parents with significant and positive general combining abilities [3.4 (stomatal conductance, transpiration rate); 14.20 (photosynthetic efficiency, transpiration rate)] and their progenies with significant and positive specific combining abilities [3.4 × FRMo 17 (stomatal conductance, transpiration rate); 3.4 × ADK 451 (transpiration rate); 14.20 × FRMo 17 (transpiration rate)]. Results of the study showed the possibility of using physiological properties as selection criteria.


In the time of internet librarians play parts of collector and manager of literature information, information guider, information expert, information broker and the part of making education publicity. Their vocational concepts have been introduced into new contents such as sense of service, sense of intellectual property right, sense of keeping secret, sense of law as well as sense of protecting environment, etc.


As the adoption of cloud continues to grow, organizations are faced with the challenge of migrating legacy applications into the cloud, or at least evaluating whether a migration is worthwhile. The simple solution of a fresh application reinstallation in the cloud is often labor intensive and has a high risk of running into unknown problems. On the other hand, importing already-installed images requires intimate application knowledge to perform reconfiguration, e.g., pointing one component to the new IP address of another component. The purpose of the paper is to present the migration problem to the research community. We devise a methodology for defining the migration solution space, and propose two techniques, AppCloak and PseudoApp, that hopefully can help advance the state-of-the-art of migration.


Most of the well-known modeling and simulation (M&S) methodologies state the importance of conceptual modeling in simulation studies, and they suggest the use of conceptual models during the simulation model development process. However, only a limited number of methodologies refers to how to move from a conceptual model to an executable simulation model. Besides, existing M&S methodologies do not typically provide a formal method for model transformations between the models in different stages of the development process. Hence, in the current M&S practice, model continuity is usually not fulfilled. In this article, a model-driven development framework for M&S is presented to bridge the gap between different stages of a simulation study and to obtain model continuity. The applicability of the framework is illustrated with a prototype modeling environment and a case study in the discrete event simulation domain.


Grain protein content of wheat is important for bread making and pasta quality. Wild tetraploid wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var. dicoccoides) has some genes for high protein content as a promising source. Three winter wheat cultivars of Colorado (Halt, Yuma, Akron) and one experimental line (CO99508) and one accession of T. dicoccoides were crossed to obtain backcrosses. The objective of this study was to determine higher protein content, SDSsedimentation and hardiness values in backcrosses T. aestivum x T. dicoccoides. Analysis of variance showed that highly significant differences were found among parents and backcrosses. The minimum and maximum values of grain protein content of all backcross populations changed from low protein parents (bread wheat cultivars) to high protein parent (T. dicoccoides). This increase in grain protein content of backcrosses is most likely due to the transferring of the high protein genes from the T. dicoccoides to the hexaploid cultivars. Although T. dicoccoides has high grain protein content, bread making quality of T. dicoccoides has lower than bread wheat cultivars. This situation has also been observed in all backcross populations. However, based on the results of this study, it could be concluded that high protein genes in the wild tetraploid wheat (T. dicoccoides) could possibly be transferred to the bread wheat cultivars.


The objective of this study is to analyze the role of women on the household economy of the traditional fisheries in West Sumatra. The study was conducted in mid year of 2012 to the-90 respondents of women; consisting of fish products processors, traders and women workers for each 30 respondents in the 2 (two) locations of Padang Municipality and Padang Pariaman District, West Sumatra. Analyses were performed by using descriptive, qualitative and GAP analysis.The results of study indicated that women (wife of fishermen) working in the traditional fishery spent most of their time for about 5.80 hours per-day (or of about 139 hours/months). They were able to give contribution to household income on average 27.33% of the total. There are several factors that effects on the contribution to household income, namely; level education of women and working time allocation. To increase the household economic activities of the traditional fisheries in the coastal line areas, endorsement from the government and private sectors in terms of employment and other business opportunities are very important, both fishery sector and other sectors.


Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided biliary drainage has been used for more than a decade as an alternative to percutaneous drainage. It offers a minimally invasive option for patients in whom conventional endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is unfeasible. A 45-year-old woman with a history of cholecystectomy for cholecystitis, complicated by common bile duct transection with a subsequent Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy was admitted with recurrent cholangitis. A previous attempt at balloon enteroscopy-assisted ERCP had failed and therefore EUS-guided biliary drainage was performed. The echoendoscope was used to identify the left intrahepatic duct (LIHD) and a 19-gauge needle was used to access the duct. Cholangiogram showed a dilated LIHD with an anastomotic stricture (●" Fig.1a, ●" Video1). A guidewire was advanced into the LIHD under fluoroscopic guidance. Multiple attempts to cross the stricture with the guidewire were unsuccessful. A plastic double-pigtail hepaticogastrostomy stent was placed (●" Fig.1b,●" Video1) and the patient was discharged home. On follow-up endoscopy 2 months later, the guidewire was advanced across the anastomotic stricture via manipulation of a swing-tip catheter. Dilation of the stricturewas performed and a transanastomotic hepaticogastrostomy stent was placed (●" Fig.1c, ●" Video1). At 1-year followup, the patient had experienced no further episodes of cholangitis. This case highlights a two-step antegrade approach to treat recurrent cholangitis and an anastomotic stricture in a patient with surgically altered anatomy [1]. EUSguided biliary drainage constitutes the least invasive approach in patients with surgically altered anatomy [2,3].


Drug-eluting stents (DES) were approved in the United States in 2003 for patients with simple de novo stenosis, but by 2005 95% of patients were treated with DES. Moreover, 50% of patients were receiving DES for what was considered an "off-label" indication, including small vessels (SV), long lesions (LL), restenotic, ostial, bifurcation, and occluded vessels. Despite the relatively higher risk of adverse events, the relative benefit of DES on reducing target vessel revascularization was maintained in these high risk lesion subsets when compared to bare metal stents (BMS) [1]. Over the past decade, with amassing data on DES outcomes, there has been a shift to newer and safer DES. Technologic advances such as thinner struts, smaller, longer, and more deliverable stents are particularly suited for complex lesion subsets. The outcomes of patients with SV and LL treated with contemporary DES are of significant interest given the prevalence of these lesion types and association with unfavorable clinical characteristics such as diabetes mellitus. In this issue of the journal, Terstein et al. [2] report on the 1and 2-year clinical outcomes of patients receiving the platinum chromium everolimus-eluting stent (PtCr-EES) in two nonrandomized, single arm, multicenter cohorts: the SV and LL groups. The parent study, the PLATINUM (a Prospective, Randomized, Multicenter Trial to Assess an Everolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent System [PROMUS Element] for the Treatment of Up to Two de Novo Coronary Artery Lesions) clinical trial, compared the PtCr-EES to the approved cobalt chromium-EES in patients with less complex lesions. To be eligible for the SV and LL registries, patients were required to be symptomatic or have documented ischemia. Patients with acute MI, ejection fraction <30%, left main or ostial lesion location, major bifurcation disease, chronic total occlusion, and thrombus were excluded. The SV study enrolled 94 patients and implanted 2.25 mm stents while the LL study enrolled 102 patients and used 32-mm stents (42%) and 38-mm stents (48%). The mean reference vessel diameter in the SV cohort was 2 mm and the mean lesion length in the LL group was 24 mm (total stent length 37.5 mm). Most patients received one stent and post dilatation was performed in 50% of cases. More than one-third of the patients had diabetes, reaching 43% in the SV group. The primary endpoint, target lesion failure (TLF) at 12 months, compared very favorably to a performance goal based on historical outcomes from the paclitaxel eluting stent (PES) used in the TAXUS V study. The TLF in the SV study was 2.4% compared to the 21.1% from TAXUS V (P< 0.001). Similarly, the LL study showed a significantly lower TLF (3.2% compared to a goal of 19.4%, P< 0.001). Although underpowered for safety endpoints, there were no cases of stent thrombosis or MI in the setting of 50% use of dual antiplatelet therapy by 2-year follow-up. While not independently adjudicated, no instances of stent deformation or longitudinal


Transmission characteristics of electromagnetic wave in 1D rectangle photonic crystal are obtained with restrictions condition of electromagnetic wave and the characteristics of mode are studied.Transmission characteristics of electromagnetic wave are calculated by the dispersion method.The new characteristics of electromagnetic wave in 1D rectangle photonic crystal are obtained.The bandgap of 1D rectangle photonic crystal is determined by quantum number of mode.The center and width of the bandgap are determined by the quantum number of mode and the side length of rectangle.


Although there are so many internal and overseas pedagogues that have a common in enhancing the medical ethics quality education for the medical students,the education contents,modes and methods in medical ethics education are very different. Relative to the foreign medical ethics education, medical ethics quality education in our country is immature, many problems exist in the progress of medical ethics education, and the effect of education is not perfect. From the actuality, I try to analyse the emphases and difficulties of medical ethics quality education issue in our country.


The case is described of a 6 1/2-year-old child with pseudohyperaldosteronism due to excessive and prolonged liquorice ingestion. The authors debate its differential diagnosis, its physiopathological mechanism (glycyrrhetinic acid, the active metabolite of liquorice, inhibits the conversion of cortisol in cortisone) and its unusual association with haemorrhagic gastritis never observed in the course of liquorice intoxication.


The multiple-choice questions exam is, nowadays, widely used especially in large-scale language testing. However, many people criticize this kind of tests as lacking validity and not fully ensuring reliability, as well as because of its negative backwash effect on foreign language teaching and learning. This article is divided into two main sections. Section one takes a look at the concepts of validity and reliability in relation to testing, more exactly as they are approached in an MCQ exam. It also presents some general views on the advantages and disadvantages of the MCQ mode of testing. The second section reports on an empirical research into the attitudes of Moroccan EFL university students towards MCQ tests. The study, which is of an exploratory ex-post facto design, is addressed to explore the learners' testing mode preference, as well as to look at their attitude towards the newly adopted MCQ test. Several issues related to this MCQ form of test are investigated in an attempt to come up with a general multi-faced view of the topic. 150 university students from three proficiency levels represent the subjects of the study. One major set of data yielded from a 22 item questionnaire is examined. Data are quantitatively analyzed through frequency distribution counts. Findings show that MCQ exams are most preferred by students as a testing mode. Yielded results also show an interrelationship between students' proficiency level and their testing mode preference. However, all the groups were found not to differ statistically in their general attitudes towards the fairness, simplicity and acceptability of MCQ tests, as well as their influence on their study habit. The electronic/soft feature of the currently adopted MCQ test shows, surprisingly, an ambivalent attitude of students who think computerized correction can yield a fair grade, but feel more comfortable with a professor's correction.


The aim of this work is to develop an efficient method for computing pulsed laser bending. During pulsed laser bending, thousands of laser pulses are irradiated onto the target. Simulations of the thermomechanical effect and bending resulted from all the laser pulses would exceed the current computational capability. The method developed in this work requires only several laser pulses to be calculated. Therefore, the computation time is greatly reduced. Using the new method, it is also possible to increase the domain size of calculation and to choose dense meshes to obtain more accurate results. The new method is used to calculate pulsed laser bending of a thin stainless-steel plate. Results calculated for a domain with a reduced size are in good agreement with those obtained by computing all the laser pulses. In addition, experiments of pulsed laser bending are performed. It is found that experimental data and computational results are consistent. ©2002 ASME


Preliminary results are presented of a study of the spatial resolution performance of a system which produces transmission images of highly scattering objects by recording and discriminating between the times-of- flight of transmitted photons. This system is being developed as a possible means of screening for breast cancer using harmless doses of visible or near-infrared radiation.


Prospect and information-momentum theories predict that insiders can offer fewer shares in an initial public offering (IPO) to create informational momentum and obtain higher prices in follow-on offerings. I find that dilution and insider participation in the IPO are negatively related to the number and size of follow-on offerings, consistent with the prediction. However, insider selling in follow-on offerings is positively related to IPO selling, contrary to the theories. Returns around follow-on offering announcements are more negative for newly public firms than older firms, but for newly public firms do not differ by whether the announcement comes before or after the lockup expiration date. Copyright 2005 by the Eastern Finance Association.


The invention relates to a bullet-proof, explosion-proof, highly heat-insulating and sound-proof glass, including at least a vacuum layer, there is a shore and a getter provided in the vacuum layer, the two side surfaces of the vacuum layer are both provided with a glass layer and there is edge-sealing solder arranged around the two glass layers, and its characteristic: the outer surface of at least a glass layer compounds with another glass layer by a doubling layer. It has simple structure, simple process steps, good vacuum of product, good properties of heat insulating and sound proofing, higher explosion-proof property index, and high yield of product.


Chronic rejection is among the most pressing clinical challenges in solid organ transplantation. Interestingly, in a mouse model of heterotopic heart transplantation, antibody‐dependent, natural killer (NK) cell‐mediated chronic cardiac allograft vasculopathy occurs in some donor–recipient strain combinations, but not others. In this study, we sought to identify the mechanism underlying this unexplained phenomenon. Cardiac allografts from major histocompatibility complex (MHC) mismatched donors were transplanted into immune‐deficient C57Bl/6.rag−/− recipients, followed by administration of a monoclonal antibody against the donor MHC class I antigen. We found marked allograft vasculopathy in hearts from C3H donors, but near‐complete protection of BALB/c allografts from injury. We found no difference in recipient NK cell phenotype or intrinsic responsiveness to activating signals between recipients of C3H versus BALB/c allografts. However, cardiac endothelial cells from C3H allografts showed an approximately twofold higher expression of Rae‐1, an activating ligand of the NK cell receptor natural killer group 2D (NKG2D). Importantly, the administration of a neutralizing antibody against NKG2D abrogated the development of allograft vasculopathy in recipients of C3H allografts, even in the presence of donor‐specific antibodies. Therefore, the activating NK cell receptor NKG2D is necessary in this model of chronic cardiac allograft vasculopathy, and strain‐dependent expression of NK activating ligands correlates with the development of this disease.


Objective To investigate prevention of the common complications of piggy-back orthotopic liv- er transplantation(PBOLT).Methods Four cases(5 times)of PBOLT were performed for the benign end-stage liver diseases.Two cases among them were combined transplantation of liver and kidney,one of which was liver retransplantation for the transplanted liver because of chronic rejection.Rusults The liver function restored satis- factorily postoperation in all patients.No complications relaed to the piggy-back technique were found.The longest survival was one year and got good life quality war adieved in the patient.Conclusion The piggy-back technique can be used routinely in all patients with benign end-stage liver diseases and facilitate retransplantation,and one recults in few surgical complications.It is important for preventing postoperative complications to take care of man- agement of the third porta hepatis,use the patch obtained by joining the three hepatic veins for the anastomosis and maintain stable hemodynamics during operation.


This paper deals with a solution procedure for solving linear fuzzy fractional transportation problem (LFFTP) which is a special type of linear fuzzy fractional programming problem (LFFPP). Fuzzy version of improved Vogel's approximation method and Fuzzy version of Modi method are used to obtain the fuzzy optimal solution to the given LFFTP by without reformulating the original problem into an equivalent crisp problem. Also a numerical example is discussed for supporting the solution theory developed in this paper.


An arrangement for and a method of automatically selecting substrate alignment marks on a substrate in a lithographic apparatus or overlay metrology targets in an overlay metrology apparatus. The apparatus has a processor and a memory connected to the processor. The memory stores locations of one or more sets of substrate alignment marks or overlay metrology targets available for selection and selection rules to select suitable substrate alignment marks or overlay metrology targets from this at least one set. The selection rules are based on experimental or theoretical knowledge about which substrate alignment mark or overlay metrology targets locations are optimal in dependence on one or more selection criteria.


Age changes taking place in the epidermis of Kulundin shaggy-wool sheep from their birth to the age of the year are considered. A comparative description of histological parameters of 4 months-old Kulundin sheep and hybrid ewe lambs is given. As result of studies it has been established that the general skin depth and follicula diameters are really increasing up to the age of eight months. In one year old sheep the skin depth increase is not quite certain and the diameters of follicula are being thinned.


We have proposed a tunable OADM which has a vertically stacked and contra-directionally coupled InP based semiconductor waveguide structure and demonstrated its wide tuning range and stable tuning characteristics. In this paper, we confirm its tuning response speed of 30 /spl mu/s in the case of a 1 nm wavelength shift, and a tunable demultiplexing experiment with 4 WDM signals and the results of bit error rate (BER) measurement of 5 Gbit/s are also successfully demonstrated.


The nineteenth century social reform movements were the first organised, all-India response to the challenges posed by colonial rule. They were initiated by the urban educated elite who, although they were a small proportion of the population, made extensive use of modern means of communication and thus came to acquire a widespread social, political and ideological hegemony. In this paper, I will focus on the hegemony this elite acquired in defining the 'women's question' in large parts of north India. While focusing on the women's reform movement in Punjab, led by the Arya Samaj, I will address the question of why the women's issue came to be one of the central issues for reformers; why women's education came to occupy such an important place in the social reform movement; and the state of women's education in Punjab before the Arya Samaj started its reform activity. I will also deal with the question of women's own response to the process of social change. I have tried to show that women were not


This introductory chapter provides a background of Chinese and Indian tea. It was in early imperial China where tea was first ritually imbibed as a medicinal and religious drink, and it was eighteenth-century Chinese merchants who helped popularize it as a global commodity, enabling it to become the most consumed commercial beverage in the world today. And yet, over the course of the next century, the Indian tea industry—operated by British colonial planters and based in the northeast territory of Assam—suddenly overtook China as the world's top exporter. British and, later, Japanese propagandists seized upon this inversion in the global division of labor. Propagandists dismissed Tang- and Song-era (618–1279) records of tea in China as unreliable, asserting instead that the true "birthplace of tea" must have been in India or Japan. This book presents the histories of Chinese and colonial Indian tea as a dynamic, unified story of global interaction, one mediated by modern capitalist competition. Their implications challenge many of the conventional assumptions about capitalism in China and India—or its absence thereof—and in so doing, they provocatively contribute to a more global conception of capitalism's history as a whole.


Wound treatment is a huge challenge for healthcare systems, especially when the wound suffered infection. Therefore, it is essential to develop materials with antibacterial properties for wound repair. Herein, we integrated antimicrobial peptides with self-healing hydrogel for infectious wound treatment. The synthetic hydrogel was made by polymerizing N-acryloyl glycinamide (NAGA) monomers and doped with antimicrobial peptide Polymyxin E. Additionally, because of the bisamide structure of the side chains of the NAGA monomers, the hydrogen bond was formed and caused the supramolecular structure. The resulted hydrogel showed excellent self-healing property, biocompatibility, and antimicrobial property, which allowed it to be used as hydrogel dressing. In vivo experiment demonstrated that the hydrogel had the significant capability in promoting infectious wound healing. Therefore, this type of antibacterial self-healing supramolecular hydrogel is expected to serve as infectious wound dressing for medical healthcare applications.


Features of mechanical behavior of ultrafrne-grained (UFG) titanium and aluminum alloys under quasi-static and shock wave loading with amplitudes up to 10 GPa were studied by the numerical simulation method. To describe viscoplastic behavior of alloys, a multilevel model is offered. The model takes into account several structural factors influencing the mechanical behavior of coarse-grained and UFG alloys. The results display that the strain rate sensitivity of the yield stress of UFG and poly crystalline titanium alloys is significantly different in the range from 10-3 to 106 s-1. The visco-plastic behavior of UFG FCC and HCP alloys is shown to be different at high strain rates.


The connection of the Museum in the educational process promotes the formation of historical, psychological, pedagogical competence of future specialist. In article references to researches of the European scientists A.Verniu, E. Medvedeva, A. Likhtvark, G. Kershenshteyner, G. Froydental, J. Dewey, etc. are used. At the international level there is a serious theoretical material and the practical experience connected with specifi cs and opportunities of realization the educational function of the museums. Possibilities of its use are presented in the article in work with children and teenagers, and also competence of the museum expert having the biggest responsibility for development the educational capacity of the museum and its educational activity. The proof of needing such expert and his qualifi cation remains a problem of modern time. Considered historical aspects of development of museums with educational specifi cs in Germany, USA, Austria, Russia, Bulgaria. Also in article the perspective of the questions connected with why less attention is paid to discipline
«Museum Education» is investigated. Findings are presented in the conclusion about emergence and development of museum and pedagogical thought, the historical prospect of the museum, pedagogical theory and practice. Article discusses the problems of issues related to implementation and development of the course – discipline «Museum pedagogic».


The innovation and entrepreneurship education as one of the key indicators of evaluation of college students training quality, to carry out innovation and entrepreneurship education of college students, to cultivate the entrepreneurial spirit and the practice ability of college students in the new period, make it in a complex environment with life skills is important. Starting from the importance of implementing innovation and entrepreneurship education in colleges and universities, this paper puts forward a series of methods to optimize innovation and entrepreneurship education in colleges and universities through the existing problems of innovation and entrepreneurship education in colleges and universities.


This paper introduces a backscatter link frequency (BLF) algorithm featuring high stability for passive UHF RFID tags, which is fully compatible with Information technology -Radio frequency identification- Air interface protocol at 800/900 MHz(GB/T 29768-2013) called National Protocols. Not only are constraint conditions of backscatter link communication taken into account, but also influences of system clock error, counting errors and dividing errors are considered. What's more, the certain range of clock frequency is provided by the proposed algorithm and the BLF keeps stable. Simulation results show that the produced backscatter link frequency errors is less than 20% with the system clock from 1.2MHz to 4MHz.


. Optical CCD spectra are used to determine the Fe abundances at several positions inside seven bright Galactic H ii regions. The observed [Fe iii ] line ratios are compared with the predictions of di(cid:11)erent sets of collision strengths and transition probabilities for this ion to select the atomic data providing the best (cid:12)t to the observations. The values found for the Fe ++ and Fe + abundances, along with ionization correction factors for the contribution of Fe 3+ , obtained from available grids of photoionized models, imply that the Fe/O ratio in the ionized gas is between 2% and 30% of solar. The Fe abundances derived for each area are correlated both with the degree of ionization and the colour excess. A possible explanation is suggested, namely the presence of a population of small grains, probably originating from the fragmentation of larger grains. These small grains would release Fe atoms into the gas after the absorption of energetic photons; the small grains surviving this destruction process would be swept out of the ionized region by the action of radiation pressure or stellar winds. An indication of a further and more e(cid:14)cient destruction agent is given by the high Fe abundance derived for a position sampling the optical jet H 399 in M 20, where dust destruction due to shock waves has presumably taken place.


of Kant's notion of spontaneity. The sheer number of texts and sources from the various stages of Kant's development that Sgarbi presents and catalogues is indeed impressive. However, this study also exemplifies what I consider to be one of the most worrying trends in recent Kant scholarship: the tendency to put interpretative focus on unpublished Reflexionen or lecture notes from Kant's students rather than attempting careful, sustained analysis of Kant's published writings. But other readers may not share my philological qualms about this widespread interpretative practice. Kant on Spontaneity is an interesting treatment of a neglected topic in Kant scholarship that can be commended for its breadth of scope and its attempt to connect various sub-fields of Kant's philosophy. However, for the reasons given, the interpretation that Sgarbi proposes does not seem plausible, at least not without further clarifications whose absence hampered this reader's attempt to fully profit from the potential of his study.


Resistance to antibacterial drugs is a major health problem because of its impact . It is important to study the prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes in order to understand.Twenty five Salmonella enterica isolated from human and animal diarrhea. Traditional culture methods, biochemical methods, and molecular methods were used to characterize the samples during December to September 2020  to 2021. Disk diffusion method was used to determine antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of isolates identified as MDR by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI). The PCR amplification was used to show presence of class 1, 2 and 3 integrons. Class 1 integrons and class3  were detected in 100% of the multidrug-resistant Salmonella isolates,whlie class2 detected among 40%. RAPD-PCR fingerprinting regarded successfully as a reliable, reproducible, accurate and sensitive discriminatory method to Salmonella enterica. The results of RAPD-PCR amplification of Salmonella enterica  isolates revealed that 24 isolates (96.%) also showed about one to six amplification bands per isolate, except one isolates  were untypeble. The most frequent band was a 1400bp band (72%), while the lowest frequent band was 400bp (8%) among an individual isolates.


Based on the concept of product image and the relationship between product image and brand image, and through the analysis of the five key elements in the visual image of machine tool products, which are continuously applied to the visual image design process of single products, series products and family products, a visual image design system of machine tool products is consequently constructed in the end, which is of practical significance in enhancing enterprises' brand image and market competitiveness.


Nuts contain oligosaccharides which can function as prebiotics. Prebiotics are fibers that the body cannot digest and become food for probiotics. This study aimed to analyze the bacterial population, enzyme activity and feed conversion ratio of milkfish after being given various prebiotics from legumes in the feed. Milkfish measuring 4.13 ± 2.75 g are reared in a glass aquarium measuring 50 × 45 × 45 cm filled with water with a salinity of 15-20 ppt. Fish are maintained at a density of 15 individuals/aquarium for 60 days and are fed 5% body weight/day. The study was designed in a completely randomized design with 5 prebiotic treatments of soybeans, peanuts, green beans, kidney beans, and control. The results showed that the treatment had a significant effect (p <0.05) on the bacterial population, as well as the protease and amylase enzyme activity, but not on FCR. The highest bacterial population was red bean prebiotics (2,082 × 103 CFU/mL), followed by green beans (2,001 × 103 CFU/mL), soybeans (972 × 103 CFU/mL). The highest activity (0.243 u/mL) and amylase enzyme (0.745 u/mL) was the prebiotic kidney beans, followed by soybeans (0.236 u/mL) amylase enzyme (0.506 u/mL), peanuts, protease enzymes (0.129 u/mL) amylase enzyme (0.554 u/mL) and green bean protease enzyme (0.156 u/mL) amylase enzyme (0.543 u/mL). Meanwhile, the FCR ranges from 1.43 ±.0.85 to 2.87 ±.1.70. It can be concluded that the best type of prebiotic is red beans.


1. Introduction: a comprehensive examination of Japan's aid 2. Japan's Remarkable Catch up and the Founding Principles of its ODA Policy 3. The Role of ODA in Japan's Economic Success Story 4. Case Studies of Japan's ODA, Exports and Diplomatic Relations in Developing Asia 5. The Aid Discourse and the Evolution of Japan's Aid Policy 6. The Influence of ODA and Economic Ties on the Perception of Foreign Governments 7. Japan's Aid: its effects on economic growth in recipient countries with a comparison to other donors 8. Lessons and Implications of Japan's Aid


The presented final thesis is devoted to the application of art therapy in art tuition,
particularly for students with special educational needs. The main interest is focused on
the function of art therapy and its objectives. Why is this kind of therapy so much
desired today? And why is it being paid attention to in different social spheres? Part of
this work is interpretation of the meaning of the colours, which shades have the pluses
and minuses and what kind of relation they have. We explained a term student with
special educational program, which is one of the main points in the overall context. The
result of the work should be the completion of this topic, the introduction of several
methods and forms of art therapy in art tuition and objective comparison between theory
and practice.


The utility model relates to the technical field of sectional fracturing of reservoirs of horizontal wells, in particular to a ball injection opening self-locking sliding sleeve, which consists of an upper joint, a self-locking mechanism, a side channel component, a sliding sleeve ball seat and a lower joint. The upper joint, the side channel component and the lower joint are successively in screwed connection with each other, the self-locking mechanism and the sliding sleeve ball seat are mounted in the sliding sleeve, the sliding sleeve ball seat is connected with the self-locking mechanism and provided with an 'O'-shaped sealing ring, and the channel component is provided with a side channel. The ball injection opening self-locking sliding sleeve realizes effective sealing of the side channel before opening and effective sealing of a well completion tubular column after opening, and the side channel is always in a safe opening state during production after compression by the aid of self-locking of the sliding sleeve. The ball injection opening self-locking sliding sleeve overcomes shortages that a well completion tubular column is low in sealing property after an existing ball injection opening sliding sleeve is opened, and a side production layer channel of the sliding sleeve is easy to be closed due to impact of yielded fluid during blowout production in a horizontal well.


Abstract Underground CO2 injection is susceptible to bypass, viscous fingering, and premature breakthrough which reduces the efficacy of CO2 storage. Hence, this work explores the usage of a natural polymer (Guar Gum) for promising control in mobility of injected CO2 in subsurface. Guar gum solutions of varying concentration (500–4000 ppm) were prepared in deionized (DI) water, and CO2 absorption (by pressure decay method) tests were performed at varying pressure (2–20 bar). CO2 absorption experiments were performed by pressurized CO2 in a stirring pot and kept the confined gas (pressure reduces as gas molecules get entrapped in the body of fluid) till equilibrium pressure (no further decrease in pressure) was reached. Rheological analysis confirmed that increasing polymer concentration yielded an increase in viscosity. This increase in viscosity showed two effects on CO2 absorption; (1): reduced CO2 absorption (in polymer solutions, compared to pure water) and (2): higher retention of entrapped CO2 inside the body of polymer solution. Maximum CO2 retention (≈9 h) was observed in 4000 ppm solution. Furthermore, pH and temperature tolerance tests indicate superior stability of guar gum solutions for pH >3 and temperature <75 °C. This study proposes the use of natural polymer as mobility control agents in geo-sequestration of CO2.


The problem of the correlation between educational research and pedagogical preparation has been studied by several authors. It is essential to conducting research to contribute to the development of pedagogy and the effective realization of the educational process in the current transformations of Higher Education. It is presented a diagnosis about educational research for teachers of Primary Health Care and characterization of Baracoa. It was applied in 3 teaching areas of Health, surveyed 56 of the 68 teachers of basic work groups in order to determine the level of educational preparation of teachers. Even when you manage an increase in participation of teachers in Basic Education courses, Higher Education and Research Methodology. There are deficiencies in the preparation of teachers causing insufficient number of educational research and publication.


The present invention relates to a method in a radio base station and the user equipment for controlling downlink transmit power of the F-DPCH in a multi-carrier HSPA system by using the concept of the TPC commands (used in single carrier systems) and about the configuration. The method and arrangement is adapted to support various types of multi-carrier scenario. User equipment, defines the N or less of at least one of the TPC commands for adjustment of the N transmission power of the F-DPCH of the downlink carriers (203), M-number of uplink carriers (201, 202) of at least on one carrier in transmitting the TPC command. The radio base station receives the TPC commands on the M uplink carriers from the user equipment to adjust the transmit power of the F-DPCH of the N downlink carriers based on the received TPC commands . .FIELD 2f


Abstract We derive generating functions counting signed permutations by two statistics, using a hyperoctahedral analogue of the binomial poset technique of Stanley [7].


Fine‐grained image classification is a challenging topic in the field of computer vision. General models based on first‐order local features cannot achieve acceptable performance because the features are not so efficient in capturing fine‐grained difference. A bilinear convolutional neural network (CNN) model exhibits that a second‐order statistical feature is more efficient in capturing fine‐grained difference than a first‐order local feature. However, this framework only considers the extraction of a second‐order feature descriptor, using a single convolutional layer. The potential effective classification features of other convolutional layers are ignored, resulting in loss of recognition accuracy. In this paper, a multilayer feature descriptors fusion CNN model is proposed. It fully considers the second‐order feature descriptors and the first‐order local feature descriptor generated by different layers. Experimental verification was carried out on fine‐grained classification benchmark data sets, CUB‐200‐2011, Stanford Cars, and FGVC‐aircraft. Compared with the bilinear CNN model, the proposed method has improved accuracy by 0.8%, 1.1%, and 5.5%. Compared with the compact bilinear pooling model, there is an accuracy increase of 0.64%, 1.63%, and 1.45%, respectively. In addition, the proposed model effectively uses multiple 1×1 convolution kernels to reduce dimension. The experimental results show that the multilayer low‐dimensional second‐order feature descriptors fusion model has comparable recognition accuracy of the original model.


Copper flue dusts, or copper Cottrell dusts, from three types of copper smelting furnaces were leached with different ammonia-based reagents (ammonium chloride, ammonium carbonate and aqueous ammonia solutions) to dissolve the oxidised copper species via the formation of copperammonia complexes, so that most of the copper-accompanying metals, especially iron, remained in the solid residue. Such copper-bearing dusts are not only valuable secondary source of copper but also are considered as hazardous materials and cannot be dumped as such. Therefore, two procedures for copper dust treatment are proposed, one of them includes ammonium-based leaching, liquid-liquid extraction with LIX 860 (aldoxime), LIX 84 (ketoxime) or LIX 54 (β-diketone) and electrowinning to grade A copper cathode. The other one covers also ammonium-based leaching followed by cementation with zinc to copper cement as a final product.


It is shown theoretically, that observed in experiments the strong low threshold feedback in the resonator with a high pressure gas (Xe) cell of the CO2 laser, in which the frequency interval between axial modes is equal to frequency Stokes shift at Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) in Xe, can arise owing to nondegenerate four-wave mixing in a gas cell on generated as at SBS running phase gratings.


This paper reports investigation of the role of spin fluctuations (paramagnons) in the superconductors Nb and V. For this purpose, experimental data on specific heat and magnetic susceptibility are reanalyzed. Furthermore, the Eliashberg equations including the particle-hole t matrix are solved numerically. It is found that in Nb and V, spin fluctuations substantially reduce T/sub c/, while their contribution to the mass enchancement m*/m is typically of order 0.2.


This study is supposed to introduce a valid strategy for increasing the sensitivity of chipless radio frequency identification (RFID) encoders. The idea is to properly select the dielectric substrate in order to enhance the contribution of the sensitive layer and to maximize the frequency shift of the resonance peak. The specific case of a chipless sensor suitable for the detection of humidity in low-humidity regimes will be investigated both with numerical and experimental tests.


Color has been shown to be useful in the context of texture classification. However, since under different illuminations color is not stable, color invariant descriptors should be defined when the illumination of the query is unknown. In this paper, we propose to characterize color textures by analyzing the rank correlation of color planes between pixels locally close to each other. Thus, considering one distance and one direction in the image space, we obtain a correlation measure which i) is related to the colors of the pixels, ii) is illumination invariant, iii) represents the spatial interactions between different color components of neighbored pixels. Furthermore, we show how this measure can be very fast extracted from co-occurrence matrices. The discriminative power of this descriptor is assessed on a public color texture database. INTRODUCTION: In this paper, we specifically address the problem of color texture classification across illumination changes. For this purpose, we consider images of color textures acquired with the same viewpoint and the same scale factor but under three different illuminations [33]. In this context, there exist different approaches for color texture For example, the structural approach consists in analyzing the relative positions of features extracted from the image [12]. One other approach tries to model the spatial repartition of the colors in the image. In this aim, one can use Markov Random Fields [30, 27] or Local Binary Pattern [32, 31].


In subarctic and arctic areas, large and heavy skid-steered robots are preferred for their robustness and ability to operate on difficult terrain. State estimation, motion control and path planning for these robots rely on accurate odometry models based on wheel velocities. However, the state-of-the-art odometry models for skid-steer mobile robots (SSMRs) have usually been tested on relatively lightweight platforms. In this paper, we focus on how these models perform when deployed on a large and heavy (590kg) SSMR. We collected more than 2km of data on both snow and concrete. We compare the ideal differential-drive, extended differential-drive, radius-of-curvature-based, and full linear kinematic models commonly deployed for SSMRs. Each of the models is fine-tuned by searching their optimal parameters on both snow and concrete. We then discuss the relationship between the parameters, the model tuning, and the final accuracy of the models.


As the military medical trauma care system continues to improve and become more effective at preserving the lives of veterans wounded in combat, recreation therapists are confronted with an increasing number of individuals facing rehabilitation for complex injuries that were once fatal. This article explores the literature surrounding the use of sports programming in improving self-efficacy perceptions among individuals with physical disabilities. In addition, the relationship between improved self-efficacy perceptions and attitudes toward rehabilitation will be examined. Grounded in the existing evidence, implications for the therapeutic recreation treatment process are presented.


A method to functionally annotate structural genomics targets, based on a novel structural alignment scoring function, is proposed. In the proposed score, position‐specific scoring matrices are used to weight structurally aligned residue pairs to highlight evolutionarily conserved motifs. The functional form of the score is first optimized for discriminating domains belonging to the same Pfam family from domains belonging to different families but the same CATH or SCOP superfamily. In the optimization stage, we consider four standard weighting functions as well as our own, the "maximum substitution probability," and combinations of these functions. The optimized score achieves an area of 0.87 under the receiver‐operating characteristic curve with respect to identifying Pfam families within a sequence‐unique benchmark set of domain pairs. Confidence measures are then derived from the benchmark distribution of true‐positive scores. The alignment method is next applied to the task of functionally annotating 230 query proteins released to the public as part of the Protein 3000 structural genomics project in Japan. Of these queries, 78 were found to align to templates with the same Pfam family as the query or had sequence identities ≥30%. Another 49 queries were found to match more distantly related templates. Within this group, the template predicted by our method to be the closest functional relative was often not the most structurally similar. Several nontrivial cases are discussed in detail. Finally, 103 queries matched templates at the fold level, but not the family or superfamily level, and remain functionally uncharacterized. Proteins 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


CDC has teamed up with Participation Works to create this guide which provides information and ideas about how you can enable children and young people with a range of communication impairments to participate in decisions about their lives. It also includes case studies to illustrate examples of good practice from different settings.


Through experiment designed by the orthogonal rotation regression method of 5 factors(planting density,pure nitrogen,K2O,CaO,P2O5),the results showed: the 5 factors influencing the yield of Puhua 3 successively was planting densityCaOpure nitrogenK2OP2O5;the best optimization grouping scheme which could make the yield of Puhua 3 exceed 4500kg/hm2 was the base seedlings 2.6271×105~2.7369×105/hm2,pure nitrogen 149.46~153.21kg/hm2,P2O5 87.48~91.05kg/hm2,K2O 177.66~181.32kg/hm2 and CaO 56.04~57.87kg/hm2.


The ABS is a copolymer formed by Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene used in industry whose surface can be coated with a metallic deposit. The traditional process for depositing metallic films in an auto-catalytic way is know as "Electroless", However, this process uses a sulfo-chromic mixture in the preliminary stage of the surface treatment containing Cr (VI) which is a toxic, polluting agent that needs to be replaced. Therefore, it is necessary to develop new surface modification procedures with a lower environmental impact. Three new techniques for ABS surface modification have been developed in this study. The first two allow a general surface modification and the third one a specific surface modification. The first method, using a dry system, is based on alternating a corona discharge with ultraviolet radiation and is called the "Optophysique Treatment". The second method involves the application of the photocatalytic properties of TiO2 nanoparticles in a suspension on the polymer surface under ultraviolet radiation and is called "Photocatalytic Treatment". The third method allows a selective modification using thermal laser ablation which is accomplished with the ABS sensibilization with palladium and silver particles and is called "Optothermal Treatment". After the "Optophysique" or "Photocatalytic" treatments, the substrates were treated either by the ¨Electroless¨ method or by the "Dynamic Chemical Deposit" method. Unlike the "Electroless" method, the "DCP" method does not need a preliminary step to activate the surface sites with palladium ions. The final metallic coating is accomplished by a conventional electrolytic method. The pre-treated surfaces were analyzed by Contact Angle Measurements and with the spectroscopy techniques FT-IR and XPS. The presence of surface changes was evaluated by Potential Measurement and Photocarrier Radiometry. The surface morphology was observed and measured by the following techniques: SEM, AFM, and AFAM. The surface roughness analysis was performed by Mechanical Sensors, Optical Interference and AFM. The adherence of the metallic deposits was measured by the Cross Cut Tape test (ASTM D-3359), and the Pull Off test (ASTM D4541-02) and the Peel Off test (ASTM B533 A). The deposits with greater adhesion were obtained with the "Optophysique" treatment using a pre-coating done by "DCP". The adherence values obtained were higher than those for deposits obtained by the traditional "Electroless" process. The Optothermal treatment allowed the selective etching on the ABS surface using low power lasers.


Abstract : The electromagnetic properties of the surface and subsurface materials of the Evans, Wayside, and Deal Areas of Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, are described. The object of the investigation was to provide engineers and scientists with supplementary data to aid in assaying experimental observations or equipment performance when there is significant interaction between the propagated energy and the near-surface soil material.


Copyright infringement is often merely the result of ignorance or confusion rather than a deliberate or even malicious act. CAL (Copyright Agency Limited) has launched a range of commercial copyright licences for institutions unable to rely on statutory licences so that they may also benefit from a clear and centralised licensing structure. One of CAL's new commercial licences is a licence for business and associations known as CopyrightAccess, covering the use of both hardcopy and digital materials.


Background and Hypothesis: Temporal spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid (sCSF) leaks occur when spinal fluid leaks through defects in the skull base bone. Patients with sCSF leaks have approximately 22% thinner skulls but no change in extracranial bone thickness, suggesting an intracranial process causes skull thinning and the development of sCSF leaks. Approximately 83% of sCSF leak patients have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as measured by the apneahyponea index (AHI) and OSA is associated with spikes in intracranial pressure. We hypothesize that AHI is associated with isolated skull thinning in the general population.


Recent studies on the so-called EEEE (extended, embodied, embedded, and enacted) cognition have demonstrated that the "environmental situatedness" of human cognition and its evolutionary component may be used to better understand cognition in general. This indicates that humans do not keep in their memory ample representations of the surroundings and their variables, but instead, they richly manipulate it by picking up information and resources, when possible and needed, that are already accessible, or that are extracted/created: it is in this perspective that we can conceptualize in a useful and deep way the concept of possibility. Information, resources, cognitive opportunities, and possibilities are actively pursued for and even created: in light of this, we may consider human cognition to be a possibility-seeking mechanism. In particular, new possibilities can be usefully seen as new "affordances": for example, environmental anchors that enable us to more effectively utilize external resources. Of course, the availability of the proper affordances, which in turn offer cognitive possibilities, is connected to important new found concepts of discoverability and diagnosticability. Abduction is still significant in these cognitive processes because it refers to all those hypothetical inferences made by human and non-human animals that are based on deft manipulations of their surroundings, either to merely "detect" affordances or to "create" manufactured external objects (e.g. artifacts) that in turn provide new affordances and cues and so new cognitive possibilities.


The utility model discloses a crawler crane combined rotary table, which comprises a standard rotary table on which a counter weight suspension loop is arranged, and also comprises an additional rotary table; the combined rotary table is formed by the connection of the standard rotary table and the additional rotary table, and the additional rotary table is also provided with the counter weight-installing suspension loop. In the combined rotary table, the center of gravity of the finished automobile is changed through changing the installing position of the counter weight, and the stable moment is increased so as to improve the hoisting performance. In the utility model, the traditional single rotary table structure is changed, the rotary table is designed into a combined one, and is formed by the standard rotary table and the additional rotary table. The completely self-hoisting of the long main jib can be realized; the hoisting height is increased, and the hoisting weight is increased; the gyration radius is small, so the rotary table can operate in a smaller space; and the user can select the rotary table as required; the transportation and transition are easy, the work efficiency is high, and the use cost is reduced. The utility model is reasonable in design, convenient to manufacture, and particularly suitable for the large tonnage crawler crane.


The clinical course and expression of dementia in persons with Down's Syndrome (DS) are poorly understood. While longitudinal studies are rare they provide the most accurate data since standardized psychological tests yield performances which show pronounced 'floor effects', except with mildly to moderately retarded persons. A review of the main psychological observations is provided along with reference to some of the major problems involved in assessment. A discussion is provided of the relationships between dementia and the Alzheimer disease (AD) process in DS.


For various reasons,the annotations after the Qing Dynasty on "Lao Tzu" had some mistaken divergences.Taken the original copy of "Lao Tzu" on silk in the tombs of Han Dynasty in Mawangdui excavated in modern time as the copy for the record,the paper checked and compared with the annotations on the other copies handed down from ancient times,among which three expressions-"粪","握固","加人" are examined in particular.The paper,after selecting the best from among many and finding out the new interpretation,works out the new annotations that the three expressions mean "to fertilize the field","to hold fist tightly",and "to bring to bear" respectively.


Important differences have been reported in several countries about the level of concern in connection with food additives. In order to better understand the consumer preferences related to foodstuffs containing food additives, five hypotheses were tested with the help of a choice-based conjoint analysis. The study was performed in three European countries (Hungary, Romania, and Spain) having different risk perceptions concerning food additives. Two "model foodstuffs" were involved in the analysis: pre-packed sliced cheese (natural image) and chips (artificial image). For the creation of the conjoint cards, three attributes were selected: "preservatives" (natural/artificial), "packaging gases" (contains/does not contain) and "price" (average based on market data/+10%/+20%). Results were collected via Internet simultaneously and a total of 500 valid questionnaires were received in case of pre-packed cheese and 468 regarding chips. In the analysed countries "preservatives" had an outstanding importance — ma...


After reviewing previous attempts to quantify delay, a composite stress intensity parameter, (Kl m a x /K h m a x ) ΔKl, is proposed to correlate the number of delay cycles in simple two-level variable-load amplitude tests for various combinations of stress levels. Its application is restricted in the present investigation to room temperature tests in an air environment. Delay (cycles) is defined herein as the period of apparent zero crack growth after the overload, and the stress intensity factors, Kl m a x and K h m a x refer to the stress intensities accompanying the lower and higher load levels, respectively. It is hypothesized on the basis of experimental observations that material under different two-level block loading sequences, but having equal values of the parameter, will experience the same delay. Good correlations for data on aluminum alloys, titanium alloys, and carbon steel taken from the work of several investigators are obtained using the parameter. An empirical model relating the delay to a power function of the parameter is suggested. Limitations of the model are pointed out and discussed. The engineering significances of the parameter with respect to the determination of crack propagation life and crack arrest conditions are discussed.


(57) Abstract: The present invention includes an anode electrode holding plate (17) and the cathode electrode holding plate (19) disposed between the membrane electrode assembly (16), adjacent to the anode electrode and the cathode electrode holding plate porous water transport plate to (84 ', 86') and a fuel cell power plant comprising a fuel cell (12) containing (10). Porous water transport plate has a flow path of interdigitated stream flowing through the reactant gas stream (110), a flow path of a conventional flow flowing through the refrigerant flow and (98), the. Furthermore, fuel cell power plants, the pressure of the reactant gas flow comprises means for creating a pressure difference between the way higher than the coolant flow, reactant gas flow and the refrigerant flow. A porous water transport plate in incorporating the flow path of the interdigitated flow, by operating the fuel cell in a pressure difference, the refrigerant water to saturate the water transport plate, thereby the anode electrode and cathode electrode holding plate the reaction gas forcibly pushed. This, in turn, increases the mass transfer of such gas into the holding plate, thereby improving the electrical characteristics of the fuel cell. Current density of about 1.6 amps per square meter is achieved by air stoichiometry does not exceed 2.50.


A structurally diverse library of 14 gold(I) cationic bis(NHC) and neutral mono(NHC) complexes (NHC: N‐heterocyclic carbene) was synthesized and characterized in this work. Four of them were new cationic gold(I) complexes containing functionalized NHCs, and their X‐ray crystal structures are presented herein. All of the complexes were investigated for their anticancer activities in four cancer cell lines, including a cisplatin‐resistant variant, and a noncancerous cell line. Seven of the cationic gold(I) complexes were found to display high and specific cytotoxic activities toward cancer cells. Two of them were even able to overcome cisplatin resistance. Two highly potent cationic complexes (11 and 15) were also submitted to the NCI‐60 cancer panel for further cytotoxicity evaluation. Complex 15 showed a surprisingly high potency toward leukemia among the nine examined cancer subtypes, particularly toward the CCRF‐CEM leukemia cell line with a concentration for 50 % inhibition of growth down to 79.4 nm. In addition, cationic complex 13, which demonstrated a remarkable cytotoxicity against hepatocellular carcinoma, was selected to obtain insight into the mechanistic aspects in HepG2 cells. Cellular uptake measurements were indicative of good bioavailability. By various biochemical assays, this complex was found to effectively inhibit thioredoxin reductase and its cytotoxicity toward HepG2 cells was found to be reactive oxygen species dependent.


In this work we studied the evolution of ventricular repolarization dispersion (VRD) in the ECG during ischemia induced by Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty (PTCA). We hypothesized that at early ischemia stages the endocardium action potential duration (APD) is slightly reduced or unchanged while the epicardium one is reduced in a larger proportion and afterwards the APD at the epicardium returns to the normal values as ischemia evolves. This has been previously reported in isolated cat cardiac tissue studies. T-wave width (Tw) is measured by an automatic delineator and proposed as indicator of this repolarization dispersion increase. Results showed a significant widening of 11.5 ms of the T-wave during the first minute of occlusion at RCA occluded patients, with recovery to non-significant widening values after the second minute. No significant changes were observed for LAD or LCX patients. These results are in accordance with APD reported at cellular level on animal experiments.


The Maillard reaction products were prepared by refluxing D-xylose and L-lysine at 100 o C and pH 9.0 for 10 h and then fractionated into various molecular weight (MW) ranges by membrane filters. The most antimutagenic effect toward 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline was observed in the fractions of MW 30 000-50 000 and MW 50 000-100 000 toward S.typhimurium TA98 and MW 50 000-100 000 toward TA100, whereas the fraction of MW 50 000-100 000 showed the strongest activity against 2-amino-6-methyldipyrido[1,2-a:3',2'-d]imidazole


Garment production is one of the most globalized industries and has a predominantly female workforce. It would seem relatively untouched by technological development, since most clothing is still produced by women sitting at sewing machines which hardly differ from those Žrst invented in the 1850s. However what has changed is the technology of control. The development of computer technology has enabled companies in Europe and North America to exercise direct control over garment production anywhere it the world. It is important to look at how this impacts on the lives of workers. It is also important to look at how this same technology can be used to develop new forms of resistance.


Computer-based approaches to clinical guidelines are gaining an increasing relevance within the medical community. We discuss the specific advantages of adopting the GLARE system


Translation has become an important tool for modernization all over the world. Through translation, Japan and Korea have been able to introduce Western institutions, cultures and knowledge about sciences, philosophy, and so on. Especially in modem times, the role of translation was prominent in both nations. They enlightened their people and enriched their languages with new words and expressions by the way of translation. However, modernizations in Japan and Korea have been evaluated differently. Academics have considered Japan's modernization successful, while they have not made this assumption for Korea. The aim of this paper was to find translation differences related to the topic of modernization between Japan and Korea. The result of this study showed significant distinctions. Japan had begun modernization before the modem age: It had institutions responsible for translation activities run by the government, well-educated translators, interest in Western academic knowledge and culture, translation aids which were dictionaries, and an enlarged language with new words using Chinese characters and borrowed Western languages. Korea did not do this. Japan proceeded with modernization without the intervention of great powers such as Russia, France, England, Austria, Italy, and Germany. They were in a war respectively. Korea faced invasion from many countries including Japan. Korea had been undergoing modernization with high pressure from outside.


Positioning itself first in the difficult space of personal tragedy (the terminal diagnosis of the author's infant daughter), this paper explores the emotional, physical and intellectual experience of grief, and in particular the intimate relationship between mourning and narrative. Working from Freud's theories of object-relations, particularly as he theorizes them in Beyond the Pleasure Principle, and the more contemporary work of neuro-psychoanalysts Mark Solms and Oliver Turnbull, the essay reflects in ways both literal and abstract on the manner in which concepts of space are central to both mourning and narrative. The essay is also the story of a remarkable relationship between a doctor and a patient, a story of medical wisdom and the physical and emotional healing that wisdom facilitated.


Objective To explore the principles of the perioperative management of gynecological patients with diabetes. Methods The clinical data from 72 gynecological patients with diabetes undergoing gynecological operation were analyzed retrospectively. Results The blood sugar levels of 72 patients increased within 24 h after operation. Effects of general anesthesia with operation time longer than 120 min on the blood sugar levels of patients were more significant than those of epidural anesthesia with operation time shorter than 120 min. Transient positive acetone in the urine after operation was found in 18 patients, and acidosis and hypokalemia were found in 4 patients. Recovery was achieved after regulation with insulin. Satisfactory prognosis was found in all 72 patients. Conclusion The epidural anesthesia is proper for patients with diabetes. Operation finished within 120 min can avoid high blood sugar after operation.


When I studied at primary school,I learned the ways to calculate the surface area and the volume of rectangle,square and cylinder,and the volume of cone.I knew rectangle and square are measured by the unite square ;we calculate the volume of the cylinder by cutting cylinder into pieces and putting the pieces together approximates the rectan-


The solar energy has became one of the most promising alternatives for classical sources based on fossil fuels and represents a beneficial option in the global energy crisis, being an actual priority in world energy development. Considering all the non-conventional energy sources, of ecologic and renewable energy, the solar energy is considered the most important, being also inexhaustible. The direct conversion of solar energy in electric energy is possible using the photovoltaic devices, especially solar cells, working of which is based on photoelectric effect. AFORS–HET is a freely available numerical program used for heterojunction solar cells simulation. AFORS–HET is a shortly name for 'automatic for simulation of heterostructures' and uses different ambient condition (temperature) and calculation modes to simulate the solar cell structure and measurements. Some of the most important parameters of silicon solar cells, derived from current–voltage characteristics, such as open circuit voltage, shortcircuit current density, fill factor, efficiency, photoelectroluminescence, the quantum efficiency, transient photoelectroluminescence, impedance, voltage dependence of surface photovoltage, can be determined by AFORS–HET, also providing us information about the incident photon beams.


Title: Adaptation to the Cultivation and Valorizati on of Lavandula luisieri Studies were performed in several endemic populatio ns of Lavandula. luisieri (Rozeira) Rivas-Martínez of the Iberian Peninsula (Beira Inte rior, Castilla-la-Mancha and Andaluzia; accesses of Casal da Fraga, Mata, Penam acor and Vila Velha de Ródão – Portugal; Toledo and Sevilha – Spain), in order to compare the content and quality of their essential oils, and their insecticidal activi ty against insect pests ( Spodoptera littoralis, Mysus persicae R. padi ). Depending on their composition and biological activ ities, two populations were chosen (Penamacor and Toledo) and adapted in two productiv e fields in Castelo Branco and Saragoça, in order to evaluate their production pot ential in terms of biomass production, essential oil yield and biological activities and t he influence of the location on these variables .Technical information will be supplied a bout the installation of these fields.


The utility model discloses a scraping type variable digital holographic anti-forgery label which sequentially comprises a transparent upper basic layer, a connection layer and a lower basic layer from top to bottom, wherein a variable digital layer is arranged between the upper basic layer and the connection layer; the variable digital layer is a holographic grating layer or a non-holographic coloration grating layer; a data system randomly generates variable digits which penetrate the variable digital layer and are embedded onto the variable digital layer; and a scrapable covering layer capable of covering the variable digits is arranged on the upper basic layer. Under the normal condition, the holographic variable digits are covered by the scrapable covering layer and cannot be presented; after the scrapable covering layer is scraped, the holographic variable digits can be presented; and a user can scrape the scrapable covering layer to confirm the authenticity. The label has low cost and no pollution and is easy in operation; the digital information cannot be removed; the serial number label can be achieved, so that the variable digits on marks, printed matters and article packages can present the holographic effect, and the mass production can be achieved.


Background: Multiple myeloma (MM) is described as an increase in malignant plasma cells in the bone marrow (BM), which is linked with end-organ damage including kidney failure, lytic bone lesion, anemia, and immunosuppression. This study evaluated the degree of tumor-associated macrophages infiltration and its diagnostic value in newly identified multiple myeloma cases.
Methods: This retrospective study included 100 patients who had multiple myeloma. Patients were classified as follow: Patients with low Tumor associated macrophages, patients with high tumor associated macrophages, cases with low grade micro vessel density and patients with high grade micro vessel density. All cases underwent to detailed history taking, Clinical assessment, bone scan and laboratory tests including Immunohistochemistry of BM biopsy samples to confirm diagnosis of abnormal plasma cells (CD138 and monoclonal light chain).
Results: There was a strong positive correlation between CD163 and CD68. There was a strong positive correlation between MVD and CD68. There was a strong positive correlation between MVD and CD163. There was decreased overall survival with increased CD 68 TAMs content with median OS (50 months) in low CD 68 TAMs vs. (16.5 months) in high CD 68 TAMs. There was decreased overall survival with increased CD163 TAMs content with median OS (49.3 months) in low CD 163 TAMs vs. (25.6 months) in high CD 163 TAMs. There was decreased overall survival with increased MVD with median OS (54.6 months) in low MVD vs. (25.6 months) in high MVD.
Conclusions: Important role of TAMs expression and MVD in the prognosis of the multiple myeloma, as the elevated TAMs expression and high grade MVD associated with poor prognosis.


The article describes some new ways in which the Brazilian middle classes fit socially into the "world of neoliberalism". In recent years these layers of so...


This study aims to explore the effects of five factors, i.e., price, food quality, ambiance, service quality, and online order on the performance of the Japanese restaurant of Kenzo in Iran. In this research, the required data were collected through a mixed-method involving both quantitative (with 81 participants) and qualitative (2 participants) approach. Data analysis was performed using the SPSS software. With the use of Lewin's Model of Change, the study's intervention plan was suggested. The Wilcoxon test results showed that the performance of the restaurant enhanced after the intervention. Foreign restaurants, especially Japanese ones, need to pay close attention to service quality and employees' behaviors. This factor cannot be changed or improved overnight; it takes time and investment to grow. The findings of this study help the managers and policymakers of the restaurant to gain a deeper insight into the influence of the above-mentioned factors on customer satisfaction and, consequently, the revenue of the restaurant. Additionally, it was found that food quality, price, online order, and service quality are the most important common problems of Japanese restaurants in Iran. Two phenomena limited this study: sanctions posed by the U.S on Iran and the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the results of this study may not be generalized in the post-sanction time and post-pandemic time. Due to the pandemic, most customers prefer not to be present in the restaurant, which limits the results of the research. On the other hand, for future studies, researchers can study how to guide restaurant owners to use social media to increase the number of customers and attract new customers, which can be one of the unique factors that can directly affect the restaurant's performance. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this issue has not been studied in the Middle East region yet.


The present research aims to study the understanding of children's and parents' buying behavior in relation to financial savings. 300 subjects were taken from the age group 8-12 years belonging to middle and upper middle-class income group. The results show that there is no difference in children in the initial stage as well as the parent's initial stage buying behavior but in case of a final stage the difference were found in the decision-making of the parents. Saying no to their children is very difficult for the parents, but the results show that in the initial stage, parents agree to whatever demand created by the children, but when it comes to the fulfillment of the demand they think twice before purchasing any product. As per the result, most of the time they try to avoid it, but any product related to the education, eatables, clothes, etc., parents generally buy for their children without considering the cost of the product. It is also found that a lot depends upon the convincing power of children or the attachment of the children has been seen or judged by the parents with the related product.


The purpose of this paper is to evaluate stress and coping strategies in two workers group: the first one is composed by health workers from a Hospital in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil and the second one by bank workers from Vale do Paraiba region, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. We use the Toulousaine Stress Scale (ETS – Echelle Toulousaine de Stress) and the Toulousaine Coping Scale (ETC – Echelle Toulousaine de Coping), which was developed within a social and psychological framework, with low emphasis in stress physiological aspects. These tools enable a multidimensional characterization of stress and coping phenomena. The results show a stress level below the Brazilian average for the health workers group, with high level of negative coping (refuse dimension), higher than Brazilian average. The bank workers group presents a mix of high stress level, low level positive coping strategies, and high level negative coping strategies indicating a poor stress management.


Naert and Bultez have examined the logical consistency of market share models [3]. They raise serious questions about the logical consistency of my previous study, a market share model of the sales of several competing brands [1, 2]. I believe their criticism is misplaced. There are two basic questions: (1) whether a linear stochastic process could have generated the sum-constrained data, and (2) whether a linear model can predict sum-constrained estimates of the dependent variable. After resolving these two questions, the uses of logically consistent models and the implications for my original study will be considered.


The present invention provides a heat sheet processing apparatus. Wherein the fins processing apparatus comprising: upper stamping die (1) and the lower side of the stamping die (2), separated from each other, capable of approaching to and separating; corrugating mechanism (3), which is arranged in the press mold ( between 1 and 2), as a flat panel from the member to be processed (Fo) is formed continuously with a continuous corrugated member (Fa of the) a predetermined number of the plurality of peak portions; coining means (4), which is arranged in two stamping die ( between 1 and 2), while forming the continuous wavy coining member (Fa of the) portion of a plurality of peaks and valleys, corrugating mechanism (3) and the coining means (4) is set to one.


Playas collect sediments from different transported processes, producing grain‐size distributions (GSDs) reflecting changes in environment. End‐member mixing analysis (EMMA) was used to derive end‐members (EMs) from 256 sediment samples from Rimrock Lake (Harney Basin, Oregon, USA) and a nearby relict channel. EMMA identified six EMs representing deposition in fluvial, lacustrine, littoral and colluvial environments. Stratigraphy was time‐correlated using nine radiocarbon dates. Results show that Rimrock Lake existed by ∼ 18 535 cal a BP. A relict playa surface also was exposed along its margin and indicates lake contraction ∼ 6190–5990 cal a BP. In the relict channel, a dominant eolian environment is identified at ∼ 8000 cal a BP. These results represent a shift to a more arid environment in the Harney Basin beginning around the mid‐Holocene and are in general agreement with other studies reported in the Great Basin. This study demonstrates the application of EMMA for analyzing complex playa sediments and for linking environmental response across separate but related geomorphic environments. Our results provide a paleoenvironmental record along Harney Basin's western margin between ∼ 18 500 and 6000 cal a BP and demonstrate the use of small playas in the basin as environmental archives.


A carbon paste electrode containing diphenyl ether (dp-CPE) as a paste liquid was prepared and the preconcentration of various electroactive aromatic compounds at this electrode was studied and compared with the commonly used carbon paste electrode containing Nujol as paste liquid (nu-CPE). All compounds tested showed a much greater tendency for preconcentration at the dp-CPE than the nu-CPE, and many compounds proved to be readily preconcentrated exclusively at the dp-CPE, thus allowing their sensitive determination by adsorptive–extractive stripping voltammetry (typical concentration range 0.6–4 µmol dm–3). The selectivity of these determinations was enhanced by applying the 'medium-exchange' procedure. Based on these findings, a simple procedure was developed for the electrochemical determination of vanillin in food samples.


We observe an ever growing need for integration in today's research agendas across a variety of organisations. The proliferation of ontologies and other similar knowledge-rich and labour-intensive structures as well as their exposure to a distributed environment like the Web, and eventually its successor, the Semantic Web, justifies the need. Although a plethora of solutions have been proposed and used, there are many issues which remain unclear. The most striking one is the antithesis in the availability of solutions for semantic integration as opposed to the abundance of techniques and methods for syntactic integration. In this paper we make the first step towards semantic integration by proposing a mathematically sound application of channel theory to enable semantic interoperability of separate ontologies representing similar domains.