The World Robot Summit (WRS) Industrial Robotics Category tries to evaluate the performances of assembly robot systems using a task board. The task board comprises an assembly board (task board or board) and a set of parts assembled to the board. Utilizing an appropriate task board expects to facilitate the development of assembly robot systems. This paper examines the components necessary for the design of the task board through the results and analyzes of the task board competition in the WRS 2020 (held in September 2021). The task board will serve as a benchmark in developing an assembly robot system that can assemble the belt drive unit, an assembly model for the WRS 2020 assembly competitions. The success rate of each part of the competition and the correlation with assembly competitions reinforces the validity of the task board design. This paper describes that the WRS 2020 task board had a larger correlation with the belt drive unit used in the assembly competitions than that of the WRS 2018 (0.54 vs. 0.29). The design in the WRS 2020 is more appropriate than that in the WRS 2018 as a benchmark for assembling the belt drive unit. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


This paper studies the feasibility of applying TDD technique to a conventional FDD-CDMA system. This is achieved by creating a TDD-CDMA picocell underlaying the existing FDD-CDMA macrocellular network. The system performance is measured in terms of the outage probability. From the simulation results, we discover that spectrum sharing between TDD-CDMA and FDD-CDMA is feasible and that under our assumed interference scenario the performance of the TDD-/FDD-CDMA frequency sharing cellular network is bound by the FDD forward link frequency.


Since the avidity of MgATP2formation is more than 100 times that of MgHATP-, addition of Mg2+ to a mixture of HATP3and ATP4effectively increases its ionization; that is, we move from left to right, with consequent liberation of H+. Conversely, with limiting concentrations of Mg2+, change in pH will change not only the HATP3-/ATP4ratio but also the relative levels of the different MgATP complexes. This only applies with limiting amounts of Mg2+ because with excess cation at pH 7 everything is effectively pulled in thedirection of MgATP2 -. There is in fact more magnesium than ATP in the cell, but on the other hand ATP is not the only compound able to chelate magnesium, though it does so more strongly than most. Magnesium can also be bound by citrate and other carboxylic acids, ADP, AMP, inorganic phosphate and creatine phosphate, not to mention proteins and nucleic acids, and all these together are present in concentrations in excess of the total magnesium. Calculations (Kerson et al. 1967) and indirect observations (England et al. 1967) suggest that there is likely to be very little free Mg2+ present in the cell. Moreover, it is likely that what there is will be subject to variation by the demands of different metabolic conditions and, as pointed out, change in free Mg2+ will change amounts of chelate complexes from which a host of variations will follow. Thus, under physiological conditions, we have the possibility of a very complicated fluctuation in the concentrations of various chelate forms which are going to be subject to regulation by pH and could themselves affect the pool of H+. The more acid the intracellular pH (see, for example, papers by Butler et al. 1967, and Carter et al. 1967, for differing estimates) the more complex the interactions. The possibilities for enzyme regulation are thus enormous. One might have been forgiven for thinking a few years ago that metabolic pathways were well worked out. However, elucidation of the precise functioning of homeostatic control mechanisms raises a variety of new questions which should provide sufficient research to keep us all going for many years to come. REFERENCES Atkinson D E (1966) Ann. Rev. Biochem. 35, 85 Bock R M (1960) In: The Enzymes. Ed. P D Boyer et al. New York; 2, 3 Butler T C, WaddellW J & Poole D T (1967) Fed. Proc. 26, 1327 CarterN W, Rector F C, Campion D S& Seldin DW (1967) Fed. Proc. 26, 1322 Dunn A, ChenowethM& Schaeffer LD (1967) Biochemistry 6, 6 England P J, Denton RM& Randle P J (1967) Biochem. J. 105, 32C Hales C N (1967) In: Essays in Biochemistry. Ed. P N Campbell & GD Greville. London; 3,73 Katz J& Dunn A (1967) Biochemistry 6, 1 Kerson L A, Garfinkel D & Mildvan A S (1967) J. biol. Chem. 242,2124 Krebs E G, Love D S, Bratvold G E, Trayser K A, Meyer W L & Fischer E H (1964) Biochemistry 3, 1022 KrebsH A (1964) Proc. roy. Soc. B 159, 545 (1966) Advanc. Enzyme Reg. 4, 339 Krebs H A, Gascoyne T & Notton B A (1967) Biochem. J. 102, 275 Kuby S A & Noltmann E A (1962) In: The Enzymes. Ed. P D Boyer et al. New York; 6, 515 LardyH A (1965) HarveyLect. 60, 261 LardyH A, Foster D 0, Young J W, Shrago E& Ray P D (1965)J. cell. comp. Physiol. 66, Suppl. 1, 23 Larner J, Rosell-Perez M, Friedman D L & Craig J W (1964) In: Control of Glycogen Metabolism. Ciba Foundation Symposium. Ed.W J Whelan & M P Cameron. London; p 273 Lowry 0 H& Passonneau J V (1966) J. biol. Chem. 241, 2268 Manchester KL (l967) Hosp. Med. 1, 1023 Numa S, BortzWM& Lynen F (1965) Advanc. Enzyme Reg. 3,407 Sols A, Sillero A & Salas J (1965)J. cell. comp. Physiol. 66, Suppl. 1, 23 Stadtman E R(1966) Advanc. Enzymol. 28, 41 Steele R (1966) Ergebn. Physiol. 57, 91 SteinerD F& King J (I1963) J. biol. Chem. 239, 1292 Trivedi B & DanforthW H (1966)J. biol. Chem. 241,41 10 Utter M F& Keech D B (1963) J. biol. Chem. 238,2603 Uyeda K& Racker E (1965) J. biol. Chem. 240,4682 Walker D G (1966) In: Essays in Biochemistry. Ed. P N Campbell & GD Greville. London; 2, 33 Weber G, Singhal R L& Srivanastava S K (1965) Advanc. Enzyme Reg. 3,43 Weber G, Singhal R L, Starum N B, LeaM A& Fisher E A (1966) Advanc. Enzyme Reg. 4, 59 Williamson J R, Kreisberg R A& Felts PW (1966) Proc. nat. Acad. Sci. (Wash.) 56, 247


The article discusses aspects of the moral and legal obligations towards animals in the context of ancient and contemporary China. In ancient China, animals were regarded as part of the cosmos and life cycle by ancient Chinese philosophers who saw no strict delineation between humans and animals, all part of the ethical and moral concerns of the exemplary humans. In modern and contemporary China, the situation has been rather different for animals where animals have been mainly viewed as a tool to serve human purposes. There is no animal welfare or anti-cruelty law in China, one of the few countries in the world today that do not have such laws. Notwithstanding, more than a thousand years ago in imperial China, during the Tang dynasty, as part of the imperial legal code, there were legal provisions governing the treatment and management of working animals. The paper cites and discusses some of provisions and what they may mean. The main argument of the paper is that the proposed law for anti-cruelty law for China and the idea of animal protection is not a foreign or western import as the traditional Chinese law and philosophical thought demonstrate, and that it is imperative that domestic animals for various purposes are protected in law as part of the progressive Chinese society in the twenty-first century.


purified by DE-52 cellulose column chromatography and hydroxylapatite column chromatography. SDS-PAGE showed that AAO had been purified to a main band of 67 kDa. The optimum pH value was 4.95, and the Km value for ascorbic acid was 1.25 •~ 10-4m. The enzyme activity was inhibited by salts, the order of effectiveness being sodium citrate •"NaCl•"KCl•"sodium malate•"NH4Cl•"(NH4)2SO4. Sodium citrate and NaCl inhibited the enzyme activity non-competitively with Ki values of 50 mm and 130 mm, respectively.


This paper is aimed at investigating the effects of mentoring on teachers' beliefs and teachers' pedagogical practices and whether the former has significant influence on the latter. To maximize the results and establish consistency, both 2013 and 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) findings from lower secondary school teachers were used. Drawing from previous literature and three mentoring models, this paper offers a clear framework to better understand the elements where mentoring has impacts on and the dispositions by which mentors and mentees develop. This dyadic relationship supports the transfer of different fundamentals such as pedagogical, academic knowledge, psychosocial, attitudes and behaviors throughout the mentoring process. This perspective accentuates the significance of an ongoing relationship between mentors and mentees. Also, the statistical findings of this analysis suggest practical implications for school organizations and school leadership to design and align appropriate mentoring programs to support teachers' professional development.


Engineering Materials 2 An Introduction To Microstructures Processing And Design International Series On Materials Science And Technology V 2 [Free] Engineering Materials 2 An Introduction To Microstructures Processing And Design International Series On Materials Science And Technology V 2 [EPUB] [PDF] Buy Engineering Materials 2: An Introduction to Microstructures, Processing and Design: v. 2 (International Series on Materials Science and Technology) 3 by D.R.H ... za, 27 apr 2019 09:02:00 GMT Engineering Materials 2 ???? Engineering Materials 2 Fourth Edition An Introduction to Microstructures and Processing Internation Amazon.com: Engineering Materials 2: An Introduction to ... Amazon.com: Engineering Materials 2: An Introduction to Microstructures, Processing and Design (International Series on Materials Science and Technology) (v. 2 ... Engineering Materials 2 An Introduction To Microstructures ... Download Books Engineering Materials 2 An Introduction To Microstructures Processing And Design International Series On Materials Science And Technology V 2 , ... Engineering Materials 2 (4th ed.) by David R. H. Jones (ebook) Engineering Materials 2: An Introduction to Microstructures and Processing (4th ed.) (International Series on Materials Science and Technology series) by David R. H ... PDF Engineering Materials 2 An Introduction To ... Title: PDF Engineering Materials 2 An Introduction To Microstructures Processing And Design International Series On Materials Science And Technology V 2 Materials Science and Engineering: A Journal Elsevier Materials Science and Engineering A provides an international medium for the publication of theoretical and experimental studies related to the... 0080325327 Engineering Materials 2: an Introduction to ... Engineering Materials 2: An Introduction to Microstructures, Processing and Design (International Series on Materials Science and Technology) (v. 2) by Ashby, Michael ...


Milkfish (Chanos chanos, Forskal) juveniles were fed with different feeds namely water flea, Artemia flake and Artemia nauplii in fiber glass tanks at densities of 50 fish/tank or 0.5 fish/liter for 60 days. Average initial length and weight of fry were 25 .00±0.70 mm and 0.18±0.01 g, respectively. After 60 day nursing trials, growth parameters of milkfish by fed with water flea and Artemia nauplii were not significantly different (P>0.05) i.e. average lengths (46.02±2.90 and 46.40±5.97 mm, respectively), average weights (1.45±0.37 and 1.36±0.19g, resp.), ADO-length (0.35±0.05 and 0.35± 0.10 mm/day, resp.), ADG weight (0.021±0.06 and 0.019±0.003 g/day, resp.), SGR length (1.01±0.11 and 1.02±0.20 %/day, resp.), and SGR weight (3.41±0.48 and 3.34±0.24 %/day, resp). These figures were significantly higher (P<0.05) than those obtained from milkfish fry fed with Artemia flakes. The same trend is exhibited in survival rates, at 76.66±5.03 and 82.00±5.29 % for those fed with water flea & Artemia nauplii, respectively. These rates are significantly higher than that of fry fed with Artemia flakes (61.33±9.86 %). The cost of milkfish juvenile production was 0.44, 1.53 and 5.54 Baht/fish with water flea, Artemia flake and Artemia nauplii as feed, respectively. This study recommend that water flea can be used as an economical feed for milkfish juveniles production.


This paper argues that the "superstar" phenomenon, as a natural outcome of features of knowledge-based products, has important relevance for - and has so far been overlooked by - endogenous growth theory. By modelling superstar phenomena as outcomes of winnertake-all contests in an innovation-driven endogenous growth model, where productivity growth as well as the structures of the winner-takeall contests are jointly determined, this paper provides a framework that simultaneously accounts for changes in income disparity observed in recent decades, the rise of the superstar phenomenon, the intensification of winner-take-all contests, and the "paradox of happiness".


The classication of simple Lie superalgebras in prime characteristic is far from being known. In this paper a simple Lie superalgebra in characteristic 3, obtained as a Cheng-Kac superalgebra, is studied and its dimension is found.


Because of his religious and moral convictions, Leibniz was forced to react against Spinoza's ideas. But at the same time since early youth he had felt strongly attracted to the Spinozist conceptual system. An ambivalent interest for the feared Dutch thinker and his radically new philosophy was the result.


Most croppers have a desire to apply a fertilizable prescription to soil, the precondition of which is to measure accurately soil composition and the nutrients in individual plants. This paper introduces simply the organization and the functions of an instrument for analyzing rapidly soil composition based on microcontroller,and describes measuring principles on soil composition and the nutrients in individual plants, and two demands on light intensity.Then,the paper mainly analyzes important factors which influence measuring precision. According to the results of analysis and research,the authors have taken corresponding steps, controlled the size of light intensity for different measured items and kept the dynamic stability of light intensity. It has been proved to be an effective method to improve measuring precision of soil composition.


AbstractPurpose: To explore the advantages and disadvantages experienced by professionals in interdisciplinary consultation involving the user, prescriber and technician in the prescription of assistive technologies for mobility limitations.Method: Cross-sectional study. Prescribers (N = 39) and orthopaedic technicians (N = 50), who were regularly involved in an interdisciplinary consultation completed a questionnaire about advantages and disadvantages of the interdisciplinary consultation.Results: Advantages of the interdisciplinary consultation were mentioned within all CanMEDS areas of medical practice, including better and quicker prescription of the assistive technology, shared knowledge of medical diagnosis and device possibilities, shared decision making of the device prescription and clear communication rules. Disadvantages were mentioned in the CanMEDS areas management and collaboration, including planning problems (financial) reimbursement of this type of consultation, and time efficiency. On a ...


On the basis of the monitoring data of water quality during the period of 1990s,this paper presents the assessment of water quality in Honghu Lake by the grey-mode identification model.And the water quality comprehensive index isolines of Honghu Lake's different seasons are drawn by applying the surfer8.0 software.From the isolines,it can analyze the spatial distribution features of water quality in Honghu Lake.The research results indicate that the water quality of Honghu Lake remains between the grade 3-4 in criterion of surface water and in mesotrophic state.In autumn,the water quality of Honghu Lake is better,but in spring it is the worst.And in different seasons,it changes greatly.The difference of water quality between fish-screen regions and intake-outlet water areas is very obvious.


A DVM standalone system from TI is used to first resize and then compress a sequence of video frames prior to transmission over a built-in Ethernet network interface for live streaming of in-vehicle entertainment movies. The issue of bandwidth-delay product and quality impairment due to resizing is compared with standard compression techniques using video clips of varying content. We observe that while two to four times better compression ratios are achieved, signal to noise ratios are deteriorated by 3 to 5 dB only and the difference in visual quality is hardly noticeable to viewers. In our setup, available bandwidth is limited to 11Mb/s. To stream out audio/video contents in real-time, standard video resolution frames (720×480×16 bits) are resized to one-fourth using a horizontal and vertical Gaussian filter. At the receiver end, the reverse process is applied in a manner that optimizes the signal to noise ratio. This enables us to stream out audio/video contents in real-time.


We use computer simulations of tidal interactions of spiral galaxies to attempt to understand recent discoveries about infrared(IR) emitting galaxies by Telesco (MSFC), Wolstencroft and Done(Royal Observatory, Edinburgh). We find that the stronger the tidal perturbation by a companion the more disk gas clouds are thrown into nucleus crossing orbits and the greater the velocity Jumps crossing spiral arms. Both these tidally created characteristics would create more IR emission by high speed cloud collisions and more IR via effects of recently formed stars. This expectation at greater tidal perturbation matches the observation by Telesco et al. of greater IR emission for spiral galaxies with closer and/or more massive companions. The greater collision velocities found at stronger perturbations in our models will also result in higher dust temperature in the colliding clouds as Telesco et al. also observe. In the IR pairs that Telesco et al. examine, most have only one member, the larger, detected and when both are detected, the larger is always the more luminous. In our simulations and in a simple analytic description of the strong distance depencence of the tidal force, we find that the big galaxy of a pair is more strongly affected than the small in comformity with the


Behavior of micromachined membrane deformable mirrors under continuous laser load has been investigated experimentally and theoretically. It was shown that load-induced variation of the membrane temperature and mechanical tension result in addition thermal deformation of the deformable mirror figure. Modeling the membrane tension and thermal deformation as functions of beam diameter, optical power and mirror design parameters, we found that the thermal resistance of the mirror substrate is critical for high- power operation. According to our estimations an optically- designed membrane mirror with 99.8 percent reflectivity can be safely loaded with up to 500W of optical power in a 10mm- diameter beam. This model was compared with experimental data obtained for micro-machined membrane deformable mirrors with five different types of reflective coatings loaded with up to 70W beam with power density of up to 20W/mm2. We also demonstrated operation of a multilayer membrane mirror in a stable resonator of a diode-pumped YAG:Nd laser with output power of up to 4.5W.


In this article, we performed a new application of fractional variational iteration method (FVIM) for solving nonlinear fractional coupled-KDV equations with modified Riemann-Liouville derivative. The effects of fractional derivatives for the time-fractional coupled-KDV equations under take into account conditions are examined. It is indicated that the solutions obtained by the FVIM are reliable and effective method for strongly nonlinear partial equations with modified Riemann-Liouville derivative. In this method, to obtain analytic and approximate solutions of different types of fractional differential equations can be used as an alternative.


In 1933 the seven remaining members of the Bauhaus faculty decided to close the school definitively rather than to comply with the terms proposed by the Third Reich. Exile was the only option for Josef Albers and Wassily Kandinsky, who from that point on were considered "undesirable" artists in Germany. The forty-six letters in this volume are an intimate exchange between two colleagues and friends in this period when the world as they knew it was coming apart. Yet it is more a celebration of the staying powers of art than a lament. Each wrote to the other of his continuous creative evolution, while at the same time providing rich impressions of his new world. For Kandinsky, it was France, where his wife Nina enjoyed the stylishness of Paris as he entered a new avant-garde milieu but also faced the resistance of a conservative society. For Albers and his wife Anni, it was the United States, as they came to know it at the recently founded Black Mountain College in North Carolina, as well as in the lively galleries and museums of New York. The letters between Kandinsky and Albers reveal the perpetual hunger for new adventures in painting, as well as the warmth and humour of two of the most pioneering, groundbreaking artists of the twentieth century. The different environments in which these two independent, original, and determined artists persevered are vividly brought to life. So are the two men's personalities. Whether content or anxious, Albers and Kandinsky both dropped their guard in these letters. The correspondence is unique in revealing the strength of these creative geniuses in coping with new and unexpected circumstances in life, and in elucidating the sustaining force of their artistic energies.


Computational chemistry methods and tools have enabled studies of biological processes and chemical reactions to get insights from detailed atomic structures and reaction mechanisms. In this thesis, two biological problems are attacked by the classical force fields simulations and two homogeneous catalysis problems are studied by quantum chemical calculations. In all four problems, new insights have been revealed by the computational results. Chapter 1 briefly reviews the computational chemistry theories and methods developed and popularized in the past few decades. Chapter 2 addresses the protein-protein interaction problem in the onset of meningitis where E. coli OmpA interacts with FcγRI α-chain (FcγRIa) to invade macrophages. Computationally predicted three-dimensional structure of the OmpA-FcγRIa complex showed the role of three N-glycans in FcγRIa in the interaction. Chapter 3 studies the molecular origin of the bitter aftertaste of a kind of natural sweetener called steviol glycosides. By examining the predicted binding complexes between the human bitter taste receptors 2R4 and 2R14 which could be activated by steviol glycosides, a general activation model is proposed to explain the structure-function relationship and to predict new natural sweeteners with less bitterness. Chapter 4 investigated the reaction mechanisms of methane to methanol conversion by a biomimetic tricopper cluster compound. An unusual exchange-stabilized multiradical state is found to be responsible for the hydrogen abstraction reactivity and a methyl radical rebound mechanism is proposed for methane oxidation. Calculations also show interesting spin crossing during the reaction cycle with high spin state forbidden for methyl rebound. Chapter 5 examines the reaction mechanisms in olefin hydrosilylation by the Pt-based Karstedt's catalyst. An unexpected rate-determining step of agostic bond dissociation is found in between the elementary reaction steps proposed previously. The regioselectivity of the products are studied. An alternative reaction cycle which is kinetically unflavored is proposed. Oxygen stability is studied.


In order to examine and analyze the effects of integration of land surface model SSiB with TOPMODEL on hydrological simulations,the coupled model(hereinafter SSiBT) which partitions the catchment into saturated and unsaturated zones is used to conduct hydrological simulations at basin scale using data from the Qingyijiang basin.By assessing SSiBT outputs against original SSiB outputs and using observational data sets of daily runoff and water balance of the basin the responses of hydrological simulations to incorporation of TOPMODEL into original SSiB are analyzed and the reasons for such responses are investigated.The study shows that comparing with the results from original SSiB simulations,the coupled model SSiBT predicts more strong vertical changes in soil wetness,higher soil wetness and evaporation and lower total runoff.The study also indicates that original SSiB produces unrealistic partition of runoff between surface runoff and baseflow.When the soil saturated hydraulic conductivity at surface is taken a small value it produces more unrealistic surface runoff and flood discharge while it produces more unrealistic baseflow and much lower flood discharge when the soil saturated hydraulic conductivity at surface is taken a large value.The study also shows that even if the value of soil saturated hydraulic conductivity at surface is so large that there is no overland flow,SSiBT still produces high enough flood runoff during the flood period.Because SSiBT can represent saturated area in the basin resulting from horizontally variations of soil moisture due to topography,it improves simulations of flood runoff during raining season.


This paper introduces an option-theoretical approach to value illiquidity securities discount and makes an empirical study about the close-ended fund discount by using a back-looking option to describe a simple analytical upper boundary on the cost of illiquidity.The authors expect to provide a benchmark for assessing the potential costs from non-marketability and thinly-traded market.


Research into the fundamental effects of aviation on the environment cannot be converted into improvements that would reduce those effects unless the recommended technologies are actually developed and deployed in the field. The pace and scope of deploying new technologies within the aviation enterprise in an increasingly complex future depends on numerous factors, many of which are not well understood. These factors include the following: How to introduce new technologies within the existing aviation system interface constraints; How to make new technologies marketable; How to determine costs and benefits of new technologies; How to develop optimal trade-offs; How to stimulate commercial risk-taking; How to approach risk-averse financial institutions; How to meet future demands; and How to address future issues. This paper discusses the current state of technology deployment in the aviation industry, outlines a future vision for technology deployment, and lists research needs in this area.


This study sheds light on a central yet under-investigated issue in the European Integration debate, namely, the role of FDI on the growth process of EU countries. Most of the relevant literature to date treats host economies as homogeneous and consequently doesn't allow for a differential impact of FDI on their growth. The paper employs a small open economy two-sector model where two types of goods are produced: a high value added and a low value added good to account for the differential impact of the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow. The FDI inflow enters the two sectors' production function as a bundle of tangible and intangible assets thus, influencing domestic capital and labor. The model is tested empirically using data for the 'core' and Cohesion countries of the EU for the last two decades (1980-2001) during which the FDI has registered an unprecedented increase. The empirical findings validate the predictions of the model. 1 Athens University of Economics and Business 2 American University of Armenia


Kindness and compassion are important for all of us, not least when working in healthcare. Patients inevitably tell us it is important to them, and we believe that most staff care deeply, but perhaps we lack the hard data to back up its impact; how to weigh sunshine? Lee et al followed up over a thousand members of the public (age range 27–101 years old) for just under 5 years, exploring their compassion towards others (CTO) and compassion towards self (CTS) across time. CTO was stable within individuals – one tends not to get more or less compassionate to others – but CTS changed with time in an inverse-U pattern (though peaking rather late at age 77). It might not surprise you that women tended to display greater CTO than men – it has been argued that there are evolutionary reasons for this, linked with typically greater child-rearing responsibilities – but, interestingly, there was no strong relationship between an individual's CTO and their CTS. Most importantly, greater CTO and CTS predicted better outcomes in one's own life and were associated with enhanced psychological and physical well-being, and reduced levels of loneliness. The study was not designed to determine causality, so it also remains possible that those with better physical and mental health will care more for themselves and others. Nevertheless, caring for others, as well as caring for yourself, appears to be good for you. The question for healthcare organisations is how we appropriately emphasise and appropriately recognise and reward these valuable and valued traits in our staff. There has been increasing focus on how implicit racial biases may be perpetuated within routine medical education. The data are not disputed – from textbooks that show the appearance of dermatological lesions exclusively on white skin, to some doctors giving lower doses of analgesia to black patients under the belief that their pain thresholds were different – clearly showing that we are not where we want to be. This requires a change from condemning racism to actively becoming anti-racist – andmaking this everyone's business, to which we all need to contribute. Brown et al suggest that the focus in the past has been largely on altering structural aspects of the curriculum, but nowwe need to better target clinicians and their implicit biases. Cognitive–behavioural therapeutic (CBT) approaches may offer an opportunity to teach clinicians to identify, respond to and correct 'problematic mental shortcuts' using clinical vignettes. The issue is compounded by our traditional use of quick implicit algorithms to jump from presenting symptoms to rapid management; this same system opens a door to prejudicial stereotyping. Teaching sessions that introduce cognitive dissonance – individuals learn they may have acted on implicit biases – may motivate individuals to seek out more information or alter their behaviour, as well as better understanding and managing these automatic responses. The authors helpfully provide sample scenario material, with automatic responses and consequences, and suggest some alternative responses. They emphasise that their approach is not prescriptive and needs more evaluation of effectiveness; perhaps supplemented with a greater contribution from those with lived experience.


Quinoa is a potential new crop for New England; however, its susceptibility to downy mildew, caused by Peronospora variabilis, is a key obstacle for cultivation. The objectives of this study were to: 1.) evaluate differential resistance within the Chenopodium genus; 2.) identify novel sources of resistance for use in future genetic studies and/or breeding programs; and 3.) investigate phylogenetic relationships of P. variabilis isolates from different Chenopodium hosts. The long-term goal of this research is to develop a resistant variety of quinoa to be grown in New England. Field trials conducted at UNH evaluated downy mildew disease severity on ten Chenopodium accessions representing four species. Disease severity for each treatment was compared and significant differences in disease severity were observed among accessions. C. berlandierivar. macrocalycium ecotypes collected from Rye Beach, NH and Appledore Island, ME exhibited the lowest disease severity over the growing season. P. variabilis was isolated from each accession and COX2 sequences were compared. Phylogenetic analyses suggest no effect of host species on P. variabilis sequence similarity; however, isolates are shown to cluster by geographic location. This research provides the first step in identifying potential New England native sources of resistance to downy mildew within the genus Chenopodium, and provides preliminary information needed to further investigate resistance at the genomic level in Chenopodium spp.


Archdeacon did not prevent the Chancellor from making such an order without the Archdeacon's intervention, but for abundance of caution he invited the Archdeacon to exercise his power to refer the matter to him for determination. At the second hearing, the Chancellor issued a faculty for the interim works proposed, subject to them being completed before the expiry of time for implementing the planning consent.


Aspect-oriented programming is a recently developed programming technology that can decrease the complexity and improve maintainability and extensibility of software systems by encapsulating crosscutting concerns into aspects.Aspect mining tries to identify crosscutting concerns in legacy systems and thus supports the adaptation to an aspect-oriented design.This paper presents a improved aspect mining approach based on event traces,which investigates for recurring method patterns in the method call traces based on different constraints,such as the requirement that crosscutting concerns have to exist in different calling contexts.Through the practical example,the improved aspect mining approach improves the recall of the aspect candidate.


The study of the Hymenoptera fauna associated with the Fabaceae is carried out in different environments in the Northern and Western Algeria. Insect sampling was carried out at seven sites representing three regions with different ecosystems and bioclimatic stages, namely: Algiers, Boumerdes and Tissemssilt. The results obtained show a total of 1022 individuals captured representing 59 taxa, distributed in 46 genera and 18 families. Qualitatively, the Boumerdes region is the richest with 648 individuals; it is followed by that of Algiers then Tissemssilt with respectively 191 and 181. In most of the stations, the dominant family in terms of individuals is that of Apidae whose the rate exceeds 60%. The honey bee Apis mellifera intermissa has a remarkable relative abundance varying between 50% and 89%.


Declining circulation and advertising revenue have led many newspapers to shrink their in-house staff and rely more on content sourced from external wire agencies. In this study, we analyze how the mix of in-house and wired content impacts online readers' subscription decisions using clickstream data from a large regional U.S. newspaper. To control for sample selection that may occur if readers visit the site on days with their preferred content, we use local precipitation as an excluded variable that indirectly randomizes their exposure to content from these two sources. We find that publishing 10 additional in-house articles a day would increase a reader's rate of subscription by 15% relative to the baseline subscription rate. Publishing 10 additional wired articles a day, on the other hand, would decrease the subscription rate by 11%. Effects of content in some categories within each source go against the overall trend. Producing more General News, Sports, and Entertainment articles, and wiring more Business articles increase subscription. In contrast, publishing more Lifestyle, Health, and Food articles do not encourage subscriptions, regardless of their sources. These results suggest that there exist opportunities for newspapers to increase subscriptions by carefully publishing the right content from the right source.


Several abnormalities of platelet haemostatic function that have been previously described, are summarized in this article. These include hypersensitivity to agonists such as adenosine diphosphate (ADP), adrenaline and arachidonic acid; increased loss of platelet lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and enhanced platelet production of thromboxane A2 (TXA2) found with enhanced but delayed prostacyclin (PGI2) production. Other features include marked reduction (by 36-62%) of total platelet sialic acid associated with shortened platelet life span. It was also observed that platelets that had interacted even for only one minute with Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes in culture, when challenged immediately afterwards with optimal concentration of ADP, had lost the usual platelet refractoriness after interaction with sub-optimal ADP concentration. The significance of this novel finding has not been investigated further.


A processable approach to fabricate suspended and aligned single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) beams and cantilevers is presented in this article. Suspended dense SWNT membranes were aligned and deposited by a controlled dielectrophoresis process. A gallium focused ion beam at 30 keV and 50 pA with an optimized dose bombarded the SWNT membranes to prepare them for suspended nanoscale beams and cantilevers. To demonstrate the application of this process to nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS), an SWNT switch was realized with a pull-in voltage of ∼7.8 V. Accordingly, the fabrication process of SWNT beams and cantilevers is believed to be very promising for prototyping of many NEMS devices such as switches, resonators, and biosensors.


CdS/InP heterojunctions are grown by chemical vapor deposition of CdS on InP in an open‐tube H2S/H2 flow system. The importance of H2S admixture for the etching and cleaning of the InP surface is demonstrated. The solar cell has an open‐circuit voltage of 0.78 V, fill factor of 0.75, and a power conversion efficiency of 13.5% for AM2 conditions.


The present invention relates to a device for positioning the electrical components can be adjusted for rotation, in particular a rotary switch or rotary resistor, which has a positioning means rests under spring force of a positioning profile (3, 19 ) on the leaf spring (4, 17), wherein the positioning contour (3) arranged in a symmetrical positioning of the disc (2, 18) and the leaf spring (4, 17) positioned circumferentially surrounds the disc (2) and radially positioning disk rests (2), the leaf spring (4) end portions (5, 6) substantially radial guide, and the leaf spring (4) in the other regions can be freely move.


.— In order to demonstrate vicarious classical conditioning, and to investigate the necessity of vicarious instigation for vicarious conditioning of skin conductance responses, two groups of 32 students each observed a performer (P) allegedly trying to solve easy and difficult number series displayed for both the P and the observers (Os). Difficult problems served as CS+ and easy ones as CS-for os in both groups; indicated shock to the P as unconditioned stimulus (UCS) for one group, and perceived threat of shock to P as UCS for the other. Within the two groups half of the os were instructed to empathize with the P, whereas the other half was instructed just to watch her movements. The results demonstrated vicarious instigation and conditioning for the group having indicated shock as UCS, and conditioning without instigation for the group having perceived threat of shock as UCS. Since results for the conditioned response and the vicariously instigated response go beyond earlier interpretations, a theoretical elaboration in the cognitive direction is argued for.


We present a fully Bayesian approach for the inference of radial profiles of impurity transport coefficients and compare its results to neoclassical, gyrofluid and gyrokinetic modeling. Using nested sampling, the Bayesian impurity transport inference (BITE) framework can handle complex parameter spaces with multiple possible solutions, offering great advantages in interpretative power and reliability with respect to previously demonstrated methods. BITE employs a forward model based on the pySTRAHL package, built on the success of the well-known STRAHL code (Dux 2003 Fusion Sci Technol. 44 708–15), to simulate impurity transport in magnetically-confined plasmas. In this paper, we focus on calcium (Ca, Z = 20) laser blow-off injections into Alcator C-Mod plasmas. Multiple Ca atomic lines are diagnosed via high-resolution x-ray imaging crystal spectroscopy and vacuum ultra-violet measurements. We analyze a sawtoothing I-mode discharge for which neoclassical and turbulent (quasilinear and non-linear) predictions are also obtained. We find good agreement in diffusion across the entire radial extent, while turbulent convection and density profile peaking are estimated to be larger in experiment than suggested by theory. Efforts and challenges associated with the inference of experimental pedestal impurity transport are discussed.


The present invention relates to an anti-idiotypic mono clonal antibody raised against amouse monoclonal anti body or fragments thereof specific to at least one diar rhetic shellfish poisoning toxin selected from the group consisting of okadaic acid and derivatives thereof. The anti-idiotypic antibody is characterized by reacting only with antibodies to okadaic acid and derivatives thereof but not with antibodies directed against any other com pounds. The anti-idiotypic antibody is further charac terized by being an internal image of okadaic acid and derivatives thereof. A hybridoma producing an anti idiotypic antibody in accordance with the present in vention has been deposited at the ATCC under acces sion number HB 10768. Competitive solid-phase assays for determining the amount of okadaic acid and deriva tives thereof in marine samples are also provided in accordance with the present invention. The present invention also relates to a kit for determining the amount of okadaic acid and derivatives thereof in ma rine samples.


Librarians were seldom called managers in the past. However, more and more librarians are named managers in the recent decade because librarians make an increasing number of management decisions that have long-lasting effects on libraries these days. This paper focuses on one kind of managers that is rarely discussed in library literature – marketing managers. In particular, the paper explores how librarians responsible for BI (bibliographic instruction), which is also called library instruction or user education, should think and act like marketing managers in business enterprises when planning and managing a library instruction program. The paper examines how BI librarians can make good use of the following ideas of marketing in building a high quality library instruction program: market segmentation, understanding customers' needs, cost and benefit analysis, demand forecasting, promotion, product excellence, and product innovations. A case study approach is taken when discussing the above ideas. Various examples of BI "products" at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) Library will be used including "Library Instruction for Freshmen", "Library Classes for Undergraduate Finance Courses", and "Library Research Workshops for Engineering Final Year Projects". The process of BI and the training of BI instructors are also covered. The paper ends with a discussion of the relationship between the success of a BI program and the image of a library and its librarians.


Understanding the origin of acid mine drainage (AMD) in a closed mine and groundwater flow system around the mine aids in developing strategies for environmental protection and management. AMD has been continuously collected and neutralized at Osarizawa Mine, Akita Prefecture, Japan, since the mine was closed in the 1970s, to protect surrounding river water and groundwater quality. Thus, water samples were taken at the mine and surrounding groundwaters and rivers to characterize the chemical properties and environmental isotopes (δ2H and δ18O). The results showed that the quality and stable isotope ratios of AMD differed from those of groundwater/river water, indicating that the recharge areas of AMD. The recharge area of AMD was evaluated as the mountain slope at an elevation of 400–500 m while that of the surrounding groundwater was evaluated at an elevation of 350–450 m, by considering the stable isotopes ratios. This indicates that the groundwater affected by AMD is limited to the vicinity of the mine and distributed around nearby rivers.


Abstract The present paper focuses on proposing a new method for determining the surface roughness of chemically etched polishing of Si (100) using double disk magnetic abrasive finishing (DDMAF). Based on chemical etching in KOH solution Vicker's hardness of Si (100) at different concentration of KOH was determined in context to chemical etching phenomenon. A mathematical relationship was established to relate Vicker's hardness of Si (100) as a function of the concentration of KOH. The penetration depth of abrasive particle into Si (100) workpiece was determined considering viz; the normal force acting on the abrasive particle under the influence of magnetic flux density and Vicker's hardness of etched Si (100). The other modeling variables such as wear constant, penetration area of the abrasive particle into Si (100) workpiece which is dependent on the penetration depth of abrasive particle was modified in terms of magnetic flux density and concentration of KOH. The process parameters such as working gap, abrasive mesh number and the rotational speed of the primary magnet were also considered in modeling the surface roughness. The results of surface roughness obtained by the model were also experimentally validated. The theoretical and experimental findings agreed well with each other.


One form of community based tourism that is currently being developed by the government in maintaining the preservation of local culture Nongan Tourism Village has been running the development program from 2014 together with the decree of Karangasem Regent NO / 658 / HK / 2014 together with the formation of pokdarwis in the framework of development Tourism through PNPM Mandiri, This study discusses the form of local community participation as well as the benefits of the pa-klipasi obtained in the development of Nongan Tourism Village in Karangasem Regency. This research was conducted in Nongan Tourism Village, in Rendang District, Karangasem Regency with the aim to know the shape and the benefit of participation in Nongan Tourism Village development. Data were obtained through questionnaires distributed to respondents consisting of 100 local people of Nongan Tourism Village by using accidental sampling. The collected data is analyzed qualitatively by using Likert Scale. The result of the analysis shows that the participation of local community in the development of Nongan Tourism Village are 3 forms, namely participation of mind, participation of personnel, participation of property, while the form of skills participation and skill with social participation of local community is never. While the benefits of community participation derived from the development activities Nongan Tour Village more socio-cultural benefits perceived by the community directly involved from the development activities Nongan Tourism Village Another perceived benefit is from economic benefits and environmental benefits in the form of interaction with tourists and support programs that Done by the government.


An efficient ruthenium-catalyzed direct C-H selenylation of aryl acetic amides and esters has been achieved via distal weakly coordination. Notable features of this protocol including broad substrate scope, wide functional group tolerance, and good regioselectivity. In addition, diaryl disulfides were also successfully applied to this reaction under slightly modified conditions.


The effects of different concentrations(20,40,80,160,320 μg/L and 640 μg/L) of aldrin on the life table demography of three successive generations of Moina macrocopa were studied,and the results showed that the aldrin affected significantly all the life table demographic parameters of three successive generations of M.macrocopa.Compared with the blank controls,aldrin at concentrations higher than 80 μg/L decreased life expectancy at birth and net reproduction rate of maternal generation of the cladoceran,and that at concentrations higher than 160 μg/L shortened generation time and decreased intrinsic rate of population growth.Aldrin at concentrations higher than 40 μg/L decreased life expectancy at birth of F1 generation of the cladoceran,that at 20 μg/L and 80-640 μg/L decreased net reproduction rate,that at 320 and 640 μg/L shortened generation time,and that at all the concentrations decreased intrinsic rate of population increase.Aldrin at 160-640 μg/L shortened life expectancy at birth and generation time of F2 generation of the cladoceran,that at 160 and 640 μg/L decreased net reproduction rate,but that at all the concentrations except for 40 and 320 μg/L increased intrinsic rate of population increase.In the rang of experimentally designed aldrin concentrations,all the life table demography of three successive generations of M.macrocopa except for the intrinsic rate of population increase of F2 were curvinearlly correlated with aldrin concentrations.In chronic toxicity tests,the effect of aldrin on the life table demography of M.macrocopa differed with developmental stages and exposed generations of the test animal.


This study is an informative case and aims to verify the adaptation of the FAIR method for healthcare CloudEcosystem, this paper presents a case study example of a medical cloud platform, but also the representations of risk information with enterprise architecture modeling tool: ArchiMate. Today, there is an increasing method and framework for analyzing risks, but these frameworks may not meet the needs of new advances in information technology; FAIR is one of those frameworks. The purpose of this paper is to answer these needs by verifying the applicability of FAIR with simple insights between risks and risk actors to enable enterprises to have a better choice in risk analysis in their IT architecture.


One of the most natural catastrophes in Malaysia, landslides, has resulted in several fatalities, infrastructure damage and economic losses. Over time, researchers have used various methods to forecast the vulnerability to landslides. Unfortunately, the most accurate algorithm which can be used to develop a landslide susceptibility model is still lacking. Therefore, the current study aims to evaluate how well Kota Kinabalu, Sabah's landslide susceptibility, can be predicted using three different machine learning techniques: K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), Random Forest, and Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost). The research areas had 242 landslide locations, and the inventory data was arbitrarily separated into training and testing datasets in a 7/3 ratio. As prediction parameters, ten spatial databases of landslides conditioning factors were employed. The area under the curve (AUC) was utilized as the models' performance metric. With an AUC score of 87.52 %, the final analysis showed that KNN had the highest prediction accuracy, followed by Random Forest (84.34 %) and XGBoost (78.07%). According to the AUC findings, KNN, Random Forest, and XGBoost performed consistently well in forecasting landslide susceptibility. The final forecast map can be a helpful tool for urban planning and development and for aiding the authorities in creating a strategic mitigation plan.


— The advent of industrialization has led to implementation various modern structures and mega construction but due to lack of good quality of soil it has become difficult for engineers to work or build on it. Ground improvement is required to change various properties of soil such as removal of air voids, increase in shear strength, reduction in compressibility etc. More over susceptibility to liquefaction, permeability etc can be also reduced by these techniques. Micro pilings, use of geotextile, use of reinforcement are some of such technique available. An attempt has been made to use bamboo mats in single layers in sub grade soil to improve the bearing capacity. Bamboo mats are cheap, locally available and may prove to be a sustainable solution in this field. At first bearing capacity of sub grade soil has been found out experimentally in the load test arrangement and the analytical values have been calculated by using Terzaghi (1943), Meyerhof (1963), Hansen(1957,1970), Vesic (1973), IS: 6403-1981. Proximity in experimental and analytical results ( Terzaghi) in particular validates the acceptability of the experimental results. Comparison was done for bearing capacity of the sub grade with and without usage of bamboo as reinforcement. The parameters studied in this experimental investigation included the effects of the location of the top reinforcement layer of the bamboo grid.


Abstract Immunomodulators are assigned as a robust tool for the treatment of various medical conditions like AIDS, cancer and autoimmune diseases. In this work, we have synthesized a series of fluoxetine-based small-molecule immunomodulators. Molecules were synthesized by a convergent strategy, where mitsunobu reaction was conducted to synthesize the common starting material. The novel analogues displayed immunomodulatory potential as indicated by the anti-inflammatory effect derived through the compound's T cell proliferation inhibitory property. The synthesized novel analogues manifested encouraging biological responses, assure their application as immunomodulators. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


This scientific research examines the issues related to the axiological aspect of the professional training of future teachers. The relevance of the stated research topic is determined by the urgent necessity to increase the importance of high-quality professional training of future representatives of pedagogical professions, in the context of changes taking place in the modern education system. The purpose of this research work is to identify and state the main components of the axiological aspect of the professional training of future workers in the pedagogical industry, which is able to impart integrity to the entire process of their training. The leading approach in this scientific study is a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodological approaches to the study of issues related to the axiological aspect of the professional training of future workers in the pedagogical industry, in order to determine the main components of the factors affecting the quality and effectiveness of this training and further professional activities of teachers. The main results of this research work were: a statement of the necessity to develop and take a set of measures to clarify the existing value criteria of the education system to future teachers at the stage of their university preparation, as well as the acceptance of the fact of the need for the constant practice of future teachers in instilling in students respect for existing values in the context modern education system. The applied value of this study is determined by the possibility and urgent need to apply in practice the recommendations obtained as a result in order to get practical outcomes expressed in a real increase in the quality of professional training of future teachers, primarily in terms of increasing the value of their profession and their awareness of the value orientation of their activities. Further scientific research within the framework of the stated topic will help to fully reveal the essence of the axiological approach to the system of professional training of future teachers and supplement the existing ideas about the value of teacher education, in the context of the real state of affairs in the modern education system in Ukraine.


An open-label, retrospective comparative clinical trial evaluated the efficacy of Temobel (RUP Belmedpreparaty) and Temodal (Schering-Plough, the Office of the Joint-Stock Company «Schering-Plough Central East AG») in 90 patients with high-grade (III–IV) glial brain tumors within a postoperative chemoradiotherapy course (a total target dose of 50–60 Gy). The compared groups, 45 patients in each, were fully matchable in prognostic factors affecting treatment outcomes. Median survival, 1and 3-year overall survivals with Temobel in the combination treatment scheme were 20 months, 72.7±6.7% and 23.7±9.5%, whereas with Temodal they were 17 months, 77.8±6.2% and 30.3±7.0% respectively (P=0.935). Meanwhile, progressive-free median survival and progressive-free 1and 3-year survival with Temobel and Temodal were 12 months, 51.0±7.5%, 21.3±6.4% and 11 months, 49.3±7.6%, 15.5±5,7% respectively (P=0.814). No statistically significant differences were found in the survival of patients in the compared groups.


The restorative justice is a judicial proceeding which requests the parties involved to participate in the case handling.What is stressed is to resume and integrate the impaired social relations caused by the crime and victimization and to restore the harmonious social relations and order. Foreign legislation and practice has proved that it is suitable to apply the restorative justice in the prison execution.Domestic trends of the humanization and socialization in prison execution and the need of the rights and interests protection for victims and the transformation and prevention of perpetrators has proved that the use of restorative justice in the prison execution has its own theoretical basis and practical significance.In the specific design,the restorative justice in the prison execution applies to all cases,applying to the perpetrators victim mediation model and presided over by the prison authorities. At the same time,in order to ensure the smooth implementation of the restorative justice in the prison execution,we should establish the corresponding safeguards such as the personal danger assessment mechanism of perpetrators,the information interactive "platform" of victims and perpetrators with the funds of restorative justice.


SocrAL structure, from a process point of view, may be seen as a set of constraints upon action. But the constraints themselves may be seen as vested in larger and more all-encompassing systems of constraints, i.e., a progressive broadening of structure. By this broadening of structure we do not refer to the simple statistical commonality of traits that decreases with increasing size of social unit. Instead, we refer to specific systems of constraints, with kinships and marriage rules providing the broadest constraints, community systems less broad, and formal organizations the smallest of the crystallized persistent social structures. Each of these systems of constraints deals with specific actions; yet we shall see that each system of constraints is itself constrained within the larger system. We defend this argument with a particular process theory of social structure. We assume that particular strategies of action can be described within a social structure. We focus our attention upon those particular strategies that are aimed at the maintenance or change of social distance-itself a psychological manifestation of social structure. In so doing we hope to side-step the distinction between formal and informal organization. Both aspects of this distinction may be represented as elements in strategies of action. Initially we may contrast our argument with some approaches to organization theory. Recent research in large-scale organizations or in formal authority systems have given a central focus to the concept of social distance. Seeman and Evans examined the effect of varying "degrees" of stratification upon performance of


Migration patterns across adrift fence with pitfall traps were studied between 1997 and 1999 at a breeding pond with populations of great crested newts, Triturus cristatus, and smooth newts, T. vulgaris, at a study site in south-central Sweden. Metamorphs and older newts emigrated from the pond non-randomly and seemed to avoid exiting where open fields adjoined, but were oriented towards a patch of forest immediately to the east of the pond. Movement patterns changed slightly over the years, but metamorphs were more dispersed and less concentrated than older newts, and did not choose directions identical to those of older newts. Older great crested and smooth newts showed similar directional orientation. Great crested newt metamorphs dispersed towards both edges of the forest patch, and possible explanations for this are discussed. The results suggest that orientation in relation to cues from the surroundings of a breeding pond may be used by newts to make migratory decisions.


We report a suite of enzyme redesign protocol based on the surface charge–charge interaction calculation, which is potentially applied to improve the stability of an enzyme without compromising its catalytic activity. Together with the experimental validation, we have released a suite of enzyme redesign algorithm Enzyme Thermal Stability System, written based on our model, for open access to meet the needs in wet labs. Lipk107, a lipase of a versatile industrial use, was chosen to test our software. Our calculation determined that four residues, D113, D149, D213, and D253, located on the surface of LipK107 were critical to the stability of the enzyme. The model was validated with mutagenesis at these four residues followed by stability and activity tests. LipK107 mutants D113A and D149K were more resistant to thermal inactivation with ∼10°C higher half‐inactivation temperature than wild‐type LipK107. Moreover, mutant D149K exhibited significant retention in residual activity under constant heat, showing a 14‐fold increase in the half‐inactivation time at 50°C. Activity tests showed that these mutants retained the equal or higher specific activity, among which noteworthy was the mutant D253A with as much as 20% higher activity. We suggest that our protocol could be used as a general guideline to redesign protein enzymes with increased stabilities and enhanced activities.


Introduction: The diagnostic yield of bronchoscopic lung biopsy for peripheral lung lesions is approximately 60%. Virtual bronchoscopic navigation (VBN) aims to improve diagnosis by using 3D CT-reconstruction to plan a route to the lesion. Objective: To assess the diagnostic yield of VBN compared to conventional bronchoscopy for peripheral lung lesions. Methods: Prospective non-randomized single-institution, case series of consecutive cases (n=200) from July 2013 to December 2016 Results: Patient/procedure characteristics of are shown in Table 1 In multivariate logistic regression, after adjustment for lesion size and presence of CT-Bronchus sign, VBN is associated with more positive diagnosis. (Odds ratio 2.3, 95% CI 1.2-4.6, p=0.01) Among the VBN cases, lesion size > 20 mm (81.7% and 48.8%, p=0.001) and positive CT-Bronchus sign (78.8% and 57.1%, p=0.019) were associated with further improvements in yield. The addition of lavage to biopsy increased the diagnosis from 68% to 82%. During VBN, no pneumothorax or care escalation occurred. Conclusion: VBN can improve diagnostic yield without compromising safety.


Awell-worn phrase is that nursing is about 'caring for the whole person', i.e. holistic care. This may be true in theory but, in reality, we still have much to achieve. The basic principles of holistic health care have been around for thousands of years, particularly in the healing traditions of Chinese medicine. Holistic health care can be defined as 'the art and science of healing that addresses the whole person, body, mind and spirit — by integrating conventional and alternative therapies to prevent and treat disease and to promote optimal health' (American Holistic Medical Association (AHMA), 2001).


Arising from the stimulus of the an Organisation Development World Congress Tom Kalliath set out to establish the New Zealand OD Network of practitioners and academics in New Zealand with the purpose of improving the OD capability in New Zealand. The stated mission of NZ OD Network was to provide a forum for OD professionals to (1) share innovations and best practices in OD, (2) network, provide and receive support, and (3) promote OD as an effective means of helping organizations function more effectively. This paper reports on work in progress to assess the effectiveness of the NZ OD Network as an action learning process. Using evaluative data from participants attending the 9th conference, and a broad analysis of abstracts of papers presented in the eight preceding conferences, we present some theoretical and practical reflections on the value of a professional network, and the organisational forms needed to sustain on-going learning. Based on our experience in establishing the NZ OD Network, and other related professional associations, we discuss a number of network characteristics that may be in creative tension with one another. Specifically we draw conclusions around the need for requisite variety, requisite connection, and issues of attraction, affiliation, and organisation.


Abstract A simple two-degree-of-freedom (2DOF) model is used to derive a number of analytical formulae describing the dynamic response of railway vehicles to random excitations generated by vertical track irregularities. The dynamic response is given in terms of standard deviations of a number of relevant performance indices such as body-bogie suspension stroke and body acceleration. The derived analytical formulae can be used either during preliminary design or for other special purposes, especially when approximated results are acceptable. An estimation of the degree of approximation offered by analytical formulae is attempted and the results seem satisfactory. By inspection of the analytical formulae a parameter sensitivity analysis may be readily performed. In the second part of the paper, an optimization method for the improvement of the dynamic behaviour of railway vehicles is introduced. The method, based on multiobjective programming (MOP), is a general one and can be exploited for many engineering purposes. In the paper the method has been applied with the aim of achieving the desired trade-off among conflicting performances such as standard deviation of the body acceleration versus standard deviation of the secondary suspension stroke. As a result, new analytical formulae defining the settings of some relevant vehicle suspension parameters have been derived.


ABSTRACT. Nymphs of Blaberus craniifer were exposed to a point source of light while walking on a servosphere apparatus. The initial response was a brief stop followed by running at a rate exceeding that in darkness. Their course was away from the light source and their direction became closer to 180° away from the light, as the light source approached the horizontal. The straightness of the course was controlled by both internal and external orientation information. If the source was overhead the course was more circuitous than with the directional light. Following a temporal switch from darkness to light, abrupt sharp turns of more than 90° led the animals back into a 'zone of darkness'. Stopping occurs immediately after the onset or offset of the light stimulus, but the duration of stops does not seem to be correlated with the time since a previous stop, nor with the length of the run prior to a stop. Responses to a sudden onset of a light stimulus seem to represent adaptations for re‐locating a 'zone of darkness' and for predator avoidance when a cockroach is disturbed during its photophase.


addition to the works reviewed or noticed in previous pages, we liave Reived a number of other treatises, which we propose at present merely 0 enumerate. We shall have occasion to return to certain of them more at length. In Medicine, there are numerous new books. "We may notice first, the ^miueucement of an elaborate work on'Pathology and Therapeutics,' edited . y Virchow,* who is assisted by fourteen other physicians, among whom V?gei (vv}10 undertakes kidney-disease), Lebert (who will treat of disease *7 the blood and lymphatic system), Hasse (who will write on diseases of ne nervous system, &c.) Hebra (who will discuss the cutaneous affections), aild others equally eminent. The first half of the first volume has alone appeared; it is entirely contributed by Yirchow, and treats of the common of disease, of fever, inflammation, congestion, dropsy, &c. The work be one of great extent, and will, doubtless, be of extreme value


Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar represents the fruits of a decade of research in feature-based syntactic theory. It belongs to a select company of linguistic monographs which are both monumental and intensely provocative, including among their number Chomsky (I965, I98I), Ross (1967) and Gazdar et al. (I985). Like other works in this elite group, Pollard & Sag's book addresses simultaneously a wide variety of grammatical phenomena and a set of fundamental questions about the nature of syntactic representations which have shaped the direction of theoretical work by investigators throughout the field, leading to hundreds of papers and new hypotheses, including, inevitably, challenges and counterproposals to the analyses proposed by the authors. There is, in addition, a second domain in which Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar has had major impact in linguistics the field of computational implementations, where the framework proposed by the authors that gives their book its name has rapidly become the theory of choice, a fact particularly evident in the European computational scene. The book's organization can be understood in terms of the syntax/ semantics dichotomy, and, within the syntactic discussion that takes up the first half of the book, the application of the technology outlined in the first chapter to progressively less local grammatical dependencies, insofar as locality was understood in the early generative era. Thus, after the first chapter, in which the feature-logic formalism of the theory is lightly sketched and the major constraints which the theory comprises are stated, or at least alluded to, we are given in chapter 2 a discussion of agreement. Chapter 3 is explicitly devoted to issues of subcategorization and complementation.


In an acknowledgement of its high level of ambition and comprehensiveness, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes that differences between countries' capacities and levels of development must be taken into account in its implementation. To that end, it states that each Government will decide how the aspirational and global targets should be incorporated into national planning processes, policies and strategies. The freedom accorded to Governments on how to achieve the universal and indivisible Sustainable Development Goals leads to the question of what is the best way for countries to adapt the 2030 Agenda to their unique circumstances.


Plastically extruded wires were heat treated in O{sub 2} or a mixture of O{sub 2}/3% O{sub 3}. The presence of O{sub 3} during the burnoff of organics resulted in measurable increases in critical current density(J{sub c}), while post-sintering annealing in the O{sub 3}/O{sub 2} mixture rather than in O{sub 2} had no effect. Maximum zero-field J{sub c} values exceeded 1000 A/cm{sup 2}. 14 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab.


The present invention relates to a watch-type swing measurer having an acceleration sensor that is capable of extracting and automatically driving a characteristic movement of a two-phase motion which occurs during the use of an arm or a leg in a ball game and to a method for automatically driving the swing measurer. The watch-type swing measurer according to the present invention is configured to have a main body (1) and a band (2) that can be separated from and coupled with each other. The main body is configured to have a case (3), a processing unit (4) and a sensor unit (5) built into the case, an input and output unit (6), and a power supply unit (7). The band (2) can be adjusted in length according to the thickness of a wrist, an ankle, or an exerciser grip. The processing unit (4) is configured to have a processor (11) and a memory (12). The sensor unit (5) is configured to have an acceleration sensor (13). The input and output unit (6) is configured to include at least one of an LCD (18) and a speaker. The power supply unit (7) is configured to have a battery (14) and a charging circuit (15). The processor (11) calculates a current measurement value according to a motion characteristic for a swing exercise based on an acceleration value from the acceleration sensor. When the current measurement value is larger than a memory-storage maximum value, the memory-storage maximum value is updated as the current measurement value and the input and output unit is controlled so that an event takes place for a user to be notified of the maximum value update.


The objective of this study is to reflect on the Spanish time expressions that function as deictic elements. Deixis is a phenomenon strictly related to aspects of a pragmatic nature since it depends on the situational context in which the participants of the communicative act are. We want to search, discover and describe the pragmatic conditioning that determines the appearance and operation of this type of element in Spanish. Our idea is to demonstrate that in time deictic expressions the semantic content is not enough for speakers to use these expressions properly. It is necessary to resort to information that exceeds the level of meaning and find guidelines for the good interpretation of the expression in the situational and personal context. The group of time deictics is not heterogeneous from the formal point of view. It includes simple elements (for example, adverbs) and more or less complex elements (noun and prepositional phrases). We will focus on this second group and, above all, on the nominal constructions that include determinants and temporal adjectives since in this type of structure each constituent element performs a different semantic-pragmatic function and only the combination of these allows us to discover the definitive value of the set.


While synthetic biology has advanced complex capabilities like sensing and molecule synthesis in aqueous solutions, important applications may also be pursued for biological systems in solid materials. Harsh processing conditions used to produce many synthetic materials such as plastics makes incorporation of biological functionality challenging. One technology that shows promise in circumventing these issues is cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS), where core cellular functionality is reconstituted outside the cell. CFPS enables genetic functions to be implemented without the complications of membrane transport or concerns over cellular viability or release of genetically modified organisms. Here we demonstrate that dried CFPS reactions have remarkable tolerance to heat and organic solvent exposure during the casting processes for polymer materials. We demonstrate the utility of this observation by creating plastics that have spatially patterned genetic functionality, produce antimicrobials in situ, and perform sensing reactions. The resulting materials unlock the potential to deliver DNA-programmable bio-functionality in a ubiquitous class of synthetic materials.


At present means of automatic fixing of violations of the rules of traffic work practically in all regions of Russia, Primorsky Krai and its capital – the city of Vladivostok don't stand aside. Main objective of work of complexes of automatic video fixing is the prevention of violations of the rules of traffic. First of all, installation of automatic complexes has to affect discipline of drivers, prevent possible offenses, and, therefore, and road accident which it can provoke.


This study investigated the different viscosity effects of natural isoprene rubber (NR) compared to the synthetic one (IR) on toughening of polylactic acid (PLA). Here, 15 wt% rubber was melt blended with PLA in an internal mixer at 180°C and 50 rpm. It was found that the addition of these rubbers led to a significant increase in the tensile toughness and impact strength. These rubbers were masticated at 50°C and at 200 rpm for various mastication times to reduce their molecular weights. A too-long mastication time was found to adversely affect the impact strength and tensile toughness due to the fast agglomeration of rubber particles. At a comparable viscosity, it was remarkable that the impact strength of PLA/NR was higher than that of PLA/IR regardless of the similar chemical structures probably because the presence of nonrubber components including proteins and lipids could enhance the interfacial interaction between NR and the PLA matrix.


A study was conducted on instructors at the Royal Australian Air Force's 1 Flying Training School to determine the effect of flying multiple sorties in a day on cognitive performance and subjective fatigue. Cognitive performance was measured with the Memory and Search Task (MAST) and the Baddeley logical reasoning task. Subjective fatigue was measured with a Fatigue Scale and the Profile of Mood States (POMS). Results indicate that the number of sorties flown in a day did not affect MAST performance. A trend for logical reasoning performance indicated that an increased number of sorties decreased performance. The number of sorties flown increased the ratings on some variables of subjective fatigue and there was a general trend for subjective fatigue to increase over the day.


From time-to-time, the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) rating engineer is called on by field personnel during flood events to make rapid decisions regarding bridge closures and pile capacity and stability when significant scour around pile bents is identified. To quickly make decisions regarding pile capacity and stability based on manual calculations, the rating engineer has historically had to make multiple, on-the-fly assumptions.


A development project at the University of Fort Hare, aimed at producing vegetables and other cash crops on a commercial basis using draught animals and a small low cost irrigation plant, has produced realistic figures, which indicate that small scale farmers, cultivating from one to five hectares under this system can realise a substantial net profit and an annual income, which will allow them an adequate living standard. The project, which has been run in a manner similar to the communal grazing system combined with small cultivated lands which is practiced in the communities surrounding the Fort Hare University, has shown that with comparatively low initial investment costs and minor running costs, such a system ensures that a small scale farmer can keep loan repayments down and realize substantial net profits on his cash crops as a result. The project, which has been operating for two years has had a strong developmental bias and has resulted in useful data being collected, which in turn has indicated the practicalities of farming in this way and furthermore has revealed the potential of the system for enabling small scale farmers to make a reasonable living. 1 Present address: Department of Agriculture and Rural Engineering, University of Venda, P/B 5050, Thohoyandou 0950, South Africa. Introduction Crop production in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa is currently at an all time low. Several factors favor the re-emergence of small scale farmers in the area, for example there is high unemployment and access to food products in the rural areas in the region depend largely on imports from other regions (Gebeda 1999). There are other factors which make food security difficult in the rural areas. Farmers are aging and most are retired, farming is not their profession, more of a part time occupation. Most of the youth have migrated to the urban, areas where expectations of employment are higher, they do not see agriculture as a viable career opportunity; they do, however, still return to the rural areas for food. Crop production in the rain fed areas is a high risk venture as rainfall is low, livestock encroachment on lands due to lack of adequate fencing is common, there is a lack of a proper agricultural infra structure, crime and particularly, theft of livestock and agricultural products, is rife and the land tenure system is insecure. The scope for irrigation in parts of the Eastern Cape is high. Many large rivers flow from the high mountain regions, where rainfall exceeds 1000 mm per annum, through relatively dry areas with low and erratic rainfall. On the banks of these rivers lie numerous arable areas of land ranging from a one to ten or more hectares in area, (Pearson et. al., 1999). An investigation into food plot production at irrigation schemes in the central Eastern Cape, (W van Averbeke et. al., 1998) has showed that irrigated plots of 2 ha are large enough for agriculture to be the major source of income provided farmers adopt farming systems, which suit small scale agriculture while at the same time generating adequate profits. The use of animal traction, is cited as a viable power option for such farmers. In an attempt to overcome some of the problems listed above the Animal Traction Centre (ATC) at the Fort Hare University initiated a project to consider ways to increase crop production by complimenting animal traction with a small scale irrigation plant. This paper reports on the initial investigations and the results obtained so far. Project purpose The project was undertaken with a view to ascertaining whether it would be possible to use draught animals together with a small scale irrigation plant to produce cash crops, mainly vegetables on a commercial basis but also maize and fodder crops for domestic use and for supplemental feeding of the draught animals. Method Crops were produced by preparing the lands using draught animals and sowing/planting by hand.


Stress is a common response for human beings, which, if chronic, can have detrimental effects on physical and mental well-being. While many laboratory studies have provided us with an association between physiological responses (e.g. electrodermal activity) and stress, little research has been done about this association in real life settings over longer periods of time. Additionally, most research focuses on general populations and their means, while wearable sensors increasingly available to the public demand individual applicability. This research's main aim was to explore the intra-subject relations between self-reported stress and arousal and electrodermal activity (momentary and retrospective) in real life through experience sampling. Therefore, 18 participants wore an Empatica E4 wristband for seven consecutive days, while reporting their stress level and emotion intensity (of the past two hours and past minute) every two hours using their smartphone (mQuest). Further results / conclusions are hidden


A systematic design method for product cellification is proposed during the course of mass customization, and a series of factors, affecting the interactive relationship of components as well as the generation of product in life cycle, are discussed. In addition, by using P-median algorithm the generated process of cells is subsequently optimized. A typical example is presented to show that this method is applicable and effective. And it gives another way of numerical analysis and evaluation for cellification manufacturing.


Abstract There is a serious problem of innocent people being sentenced to prison in the United States. According to a study by the Innocence Project organization, between 2.3% and 5% of prisoners are innocent. The lowest percentage of this figure would imply that over 46,000 innocent people are incarcerated. Eyewitness misidentification is the most common factor involved in miscarriages of justice. Although numerous studies have identified the reasons behind these errors, and various proposals have made to avoid misidentifications in photo lineups, there appears to be no research on the impact of the mugshot as an unmistakable type of image. This paper demonstrates, from the field of visual culture and with a historical semantic consideration of the advent of police portraiture in the United States, that mugshots carry a stigma of guilt. When a witness is shown such photographs, not only do they see the objective description of an individuals' physical features but juxtapose the mark of criminality to these portraits. This mark increases the likelihood of the witness choosing one of the pictures even though none of the individuals in them is guilty of the crime under investigation.


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Background and Significance: Individuals with chronic medical conditions are vulnerable to symptoms of anxiety and depression. Promoting healthy emotional functioning is important not only to psychological well-being, but also to physical health as it has been shown to impact adherence to medical regimens. Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder which requires lifelong intervention and may be associated with treatment and disease-related complications that impact both the length and quality of life for most who are affected.

While several studies have examined the prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms in patients with thalassemia, most have been conducted with small, homogeneous samples of children. In addition, the one study which examined psychological adjustment in adults included patients from only one medical center (Messina et al.; Intern Emerg Med, 3:339, 2008). Further, few studies have examined demographic, medical, and psychosocial variables possibly correlated with the occurrence of these symptoms. Understanding the factors that are related to the experience of depressive and anxiety symptoms may help us to identity individuals at risk and help in developing targeted interventions.

The current study aimed to (1) determine the prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms in adolescent and adult patients with thalassemia; and (2) explore possible demographic, medical, and psychosocial correlates of these symptoms. Specifically, we hypothesized that (1) anxiety and depressive symptoms in this sample would be similar to the rates of these symptoms in individuals diagnosed with other chronic medical conditions and higher than in individuals without chronic medical conditions; (2) symptoms of depression and anxiety would be inversely correlated with measures of adherence (i.e., subjective report, ferritin); and (3) symptoms of depression and anxiety would be inversely correlated with functional health and well-being.

Method: Data on quality of life and mental health self assessments were collected as part of the Thalassemia Longitudinal Cohort (TLC), a multi-center multinational study conducted by the NHLBI-sponsored Thalassemia Clinical Research Network. The current analysis included 281 participants (14-58 years old, M age=27.83; 52% female) who completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), a 14-item questionnaire examining presence of anxiety and depression symptoms. Participants also completed a measure of functional health and well-being (SF-36), as well as questions related to adherence to their medical regimen. In addition, as part of the larger TLC study, medical data such as ferritin and method of chelation was collected.

Results: 32% of participants indicated experiencing at least mild symptoms of anxiety and 11% at least mild symptoms of depression. While these rates are higher than rates of symptoms of depression and anxiety found in the general population, they are similar to rates found in other groups with chronic illness (e.g., diabetes). Older age, female gender, and chelation with deferoxamine (as compared to deferasirox) were factors that were significantly associated with anxiety and/or depression and were statistically controlled for in subsequent analyses. Symptoms of depression, but not anxiety, were inversely correlated with subjective reports of adherence (p<.05), although not with ferritin levels. However, a significant correlation in the expected direction between subjective report of adherence and ferritin was found (p<.01). Finally, as hypothesized, both symptoms of depression and anxiety were significantly and negatively correlated with functional health and well-being (p<.0001).

Conclusion: While the majority of patients with thalassemia do not report significant symptoms of anxiety and depression, the rates are higher than in the general population. Given that symptoms of anxiety and depression were associated with poor adherence and lower functional health and well-being, regular screening for anxiety and depression symptoms could help to identify at risk individuals in order to provide them with appropriate psychological support with the goal of improving both emotional and physical health.

Disclosures: Porter: Novartis: Research Funding. Thompson: Novartis: Research Funding. Neufeld: Novartis: Research Funding.


This study investigates the differences in the marital preferences of Indians in India and of Indian Nationals in the United States. The research is based upon a content analysis of a systematic random sample of 943 matrimonial advertisements in four regional newspapers in India and a systematic random sample of 936 matrimonial advertisements in the weekly India Abroad, published in the United States. The matrimonial advertisements in India and in the United States for the per iod 1974 to 1980 are analyzed. The results reveal that Indians in India view family background, region of origin, and skin color to be more import ant in mate selection than do the Indians in the United States. On the other hand, the Indians in the United States consider language similarity and shared interests to be more important in mute selection than do the Indians in India.


Taking the crankshaft of a low speed diesel as the object,based on the traditional dynamics calculation,the finite elements model of the crankshaft was established by UG and Ansys to calculate the fatigue of the crankshaft by the total life method.The safety factor and the total life of the crankshaft were obtained,so as to propose the structural and procedure measures to increase the strength in the dangerous areas.


Many researchers have indicated that the prior knowledge has great effects on students' performance in learning mathematics. The low prior knowledge (LPK) students were expected to have lower learning performance and achievement than those of high prior knowledge (HPK) students. To help the low prior knowledge students, researchers suggested that to provide a self-regulated learning (SRL) support may be effective and helpful. However, the prior knowledge might also affect students' self-regulated learning. Thus, the relationship among SRL, prior knowledge, and learning performance remain unclear. To deal with this issue, this study not only investigates whether an enhanced SRL is helpful for students to improve learning performance but also explored how HPK and LPK students behaved differently when interacting with the SRL environment. The results suggested the SRL environment offers opportunities to remove the gap caused by prior knowledge in long-term. Accordingly, further finding, and implications are discussed.


A new scheduling algorithm for waveform relaxation is presented. The algorithm is based on information about the circuit structure and the dynamic behavior of the circuit. As the new scheduling algorithm does not depend on the circuit technology, bipolar circuits can also be simulated using the waveform relaxation method. The examples presented show a speedup factor of two compared to other schedules. The reliability of the waveform relaxation method for the simulation of bipolar circuits is improved, too. In this context the dynamic overlapping algorithm results in a robust convergence, especially for bipolar circuits.<<ETX>>


Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures may resemble epileptic ones, but bioelectric activity is not recorded on the electroencephalogram. In some cases, psychogenic non-epileptic seizures and epilepsy are diagnosed simultaneously. The frequency of epilepsy in patients with diagnosed psychogenic non–epileptic seizures is 22%, and the incidence of psychogenic non-epileptic seizures among patients with epilepsy is 12%. The article describes a clinical case of a patient with diagnosed epilepsy, in whom psychogenic non-epileptic seizures were detected simultaneously with epileptic seizures. Polymorphic non-convulsive and convulsive seizures were observed in the clinical presentation. The patient received anti-epileptic therapy in high doses for a long time without significant effect. Convulsive seizures in most cases occurred during the day in crowded places in the presence of people. Most often, the patient managed to attract the attention of others and ask for help. A pathopsychological examination revealed a pronounced sharpening of hysteroid and epileptoid traits with excessive fixation on the state of the patient's health. For the first time in years of being treated by different doctors, the patient admitted during psychotherapy that convulsive seizures that occur with her are "useful". It was advantageous for her to take on the role of a person out of health in order to protect herself from her husband's aggression and get sympathy, feel special, get rid of extra burden at work. The article provides a differential diagnosis between factitious disorder, conversion disorder, simulation and aggravation. It is concluded that convulsive seizures in the patient occurred by the mechanism of a factitious disorder. The following facts speak in favor of this: motivation for this behavior is not clear to others and is of an internal nature, the desire to accept the role of a person out of health, awareness of seizures "usefulness", lack of attention in the family, hysteroid character traits. It is concluded that for the successful treatment of comorbidity conditions of psychogenic non-epileptic seizures and epilepsy, close interaction of a neurologist, a psychiatrist, a psychotherapist and a psychologist is extremely important.


Three-dimensional laser scanning technology has been more mature, and its application fields are expanding. It is being used in key projects and important work such as ancient building recording, restoration and reconstruction. In this paper, the technology is applied to the 3D scanning, data splicing and model simplification of Heping temple building complex in Beijing. After innovative research on ancient architecture, it is found that the group layout, single form and local components of Heping temple building complex in Beijing show symmetry everywhere, vividly reflecting the extensive and profound ancient architectural culture and order. This points out a new direction for the development and application of 3D laser scanning technology and opens up a new path for the in-depth study of the protection of ancient buildings in China.


A large amount of azo dyes are used for dyeing textiles. However, the dyes contaminate wastewaters and need to be treated. This is important because of the aesthetic, toxic and carcinogenic effects of the affected waters. Recently there has been an increase in interest in using white rot fungi (wrf) which degrade xenobiotic compounds including azo dyes. Wrf degrade lignin and others recalcitrant molecules using nonspecific extracellular enzymes. Four white rot fungi obtained from the Micoteca da Universidade do Minho (MUM) culture collection were used to screen for degradability capabilities. Reactice Black 5 (RB5) was selected in the present work because these dyes are most commonly used in the textile dyeing. Screening for RB5 decolourisation was carried out on solid medium in plates. Two wrf showed good growth and decolourisation abilities. These are now under study to determine which ligninolytic enzymes are produced.


The Minkowski‐space scalar wave equation is represented on a spatially compact manifold with an asymptotically retarded time. In this coordinate system, with hyperbolic space slices and space coordinates generated by a conformal map, the wave equation takes a simple time‐independent form which may form a model for numerical integration calculations with nonlinear wave equations.


Recent advances in ultrashort-pulse Ti:sapphire laser technology1-6 have made it possible to routinely generate optical pulses of ~10 fs duration using stable, reliable, and easy-to-use lasers. The Kerr-lens modulation mechanism for mode-locking in these lasers has been identified,7 and the effect of high-order dispersion on the pulse duration has also been demonstrated.1-4 However, a comprehensive theory covering the operation of these lasers has not been developed, and the ultimate limit of the obtainable pulse-duration is still unclear. We have made measurements demonstrating that sub 10-fs pulses can be produced from a mode-locked laser. We have also compared spectral measurements from the laser with calculations of the dispersion of the laser, and have concluded that even in the case of an 8-9 fs pulse, the primary limitation on even shorter pulse duration is dispersion, and not nonlinear effects. Thus, there remains the prospect of generating even shorter-duration pulses from a Ti:sapphire laser. We have also made measurements of the time-duration and chirp of the optical pulse at various points within the laser cavity. These measurements are also consistent with linear dispersion.


Statistics from the American Diabetes Association reflect that 20.8 million children and adults — 7% of the population in the United States — have diabetes. Of these, 14.6 million have been diagnosed, while the remaining 6.2 million are not aware that they suffer from the disease. The disease is one in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin, a hormone needed to convert sugar, starches, and other foods into energy. The major types of diabetes include type 1, type 2, gestational diabetes, and pre-diabetes.1 Landmark studies have demonstrated that tight management and control of blood glucose is a critical component of diabetes management and can significantly reduce the longterm complications of the disease. 2 Today, many diabetes patients monitor their blood-glucose levels at home, work, or school with a variety of blood-glucose meters. The convenience of checking blood-sugar levels aids patients in knowing whether or not they are taking the appropriate amount of diabetes medication at the appropriate time. It allows them to monitor the effects of meals on their blood-glucose levels. And it helps patients manage their exercise and/or activity levels and track how those affect their blood-glucose levels.3 Even people without diabetes who own diabetic pets have become cognizant of blood-glucose testing; entire websites are devoted to the dedicated owner of a diabetic pet.4