Objective: Carotid pulse pressure (cPP) and carotid pulse wave velocity (cPWV) are increasingly used in clinical practice as biomarkers of cardiovascular disease. The diameter-velocity loop (lnD-V loop) could represent a valid approach for cPWV evaluation since it requires the use of the ultrasound equipment only. Aim of this study was to assess cPP from the elaboration of ultrasound images. Design and method: Common carotid artery ultrasound scans were obtained from 27 healthy subjects (44.1 ± 17.8 years, 44.4% males, BMI 25.5 ± 3.9 kg/m2). The lnD-V loop was achieved plotting together diameter and flow velocity values obtained elaborating B-mode and PW-Doppler images. cPWV was assessed from the slope of the systolic linear reflection-free part of the loop which was determined identifying the points within the 20% and the 80% of the maximum velocity value (cPWV20/80) and, alternatively, locating the first peak of the Wave Intensity Analysis (WIA) (cPWVwia). Standard tonometric-derived carotid stiffness (CS) was also evaluated. cPP values were obtained from cPWV20/80 and cPWVwia calculations using the Bramwell-Hill equation (cPPbh-20/80, cPPbh-wia) firstly, and a model based on the Laplace law (cPPl-20/80, cPPl-wia) alternatively. A carotid pressure waveform was obtained linearly scaling the diameter instantaneous values according to cPP extreme values. cPP assessments and the corresponding pressure waveforms (Pbh-20/80, Pbh-wia, Pl-20/80, Pl-wia) were compared with the same parameters obtained by applanation tonometry (cPPton, Pton). Results: cPWV20/80 and cPWVwia values were in good agreement with CS assessments (r = 0.84 and r = 0.88, respectively). Comparison between cPPton calculations and cPPbh-20/80, cPPbh-wia, cPPl-20/80, cPPl-wia provided a correlation coefficient equal to 0.63, 0.81, 0.66 and 0.81, respectively. The biases obtained through the Bland-Altman analysis were all significant (-13.7 ± 13.1 mmHg, -11.2 ± 9.6 mmHg, -16.5 ± 12.4 mmHg, -14.2 ± 9.4 mmHg). Pbh-20/80, Pbh-wia, Pl-20/80 and Pl-wia were in good correlation with Pton (r = 0.94 ± 0.04 for all) while the root-mean square error values obtained were 9.4 ± 4.4 mmHg, 8.04 ± 3.5 mmHg, 10.01 ± 4.5 mmHg and 8.56 ± 3.9 mmHg, respectively. Conclusions: In addition to cPWV calculation, the lnD-V loop could also lead to a usable cPP evaluation. The best results were achieved calculating the cPWV through WIA and obtaining the cPP assessment using Bramwell-Hill equation.


Compact diode-pumped Q-switched lasers with pulse repetition rate of tens kHz are of practical importance for diverse materials processing applications. Currently the most popular active media for such commercial systems are Nd-doped crystals (YAG, YVO4 or YLF). High quantum defect of Nd ions leads to significant thermo-optic aberrations that restrict the possibilities of power scaling, especially at high repetition rates. In order to obtain relatively high output powers, sophisticated cooling systems and powerful 808 nm AlGaAs diodes are used, which results in the drop of the cost efficiency. The utilization of Yb-doped material could improve the performance and cost of Q-switched laser system because of the substantial reduction of the thermal effects due to low quantum defect and high availability of InGaAs diodes. Here we present the results of experimental study of Yb:KGW diode-pumped actively Q-switched laser.


Cao Yu's stage play Thunderstorm expresses people's deep thought on their bad luck and manifests in the first 20 century, Chinese people's strong hope of trying to grasp their own fates .It's a further deepening of people's self-consciousness.


The diversity of terms applied to proliferative and cystic changes in the breast since the recognition of such changes over a century ago illustrates the efforts made to interpret the varied clinical, pathologic and anatomic findings. The condition was first described by Cooper1in 1829, in the chapters on "hydatid," "irritable" and "chronic" mammary tumor in his "Illustrations of the Diseases of the Breast." Included in the early nomenclature are such terms as "abnormal involution of the breast,"2"cystic disease of the breast (Reclus' disease),"3"sero-cystic tumors of the breast,"4"chronic cystic mastitis,"5"chronic cystic mastopathia,"6"cystadenoma (Schimmelbusch's disease)"7and "senile parenchymatous hypertrophy."8aLater, Bloodgood wrote of "shotty breast" and "bluedomed cyst."8bCheatle and Cutler9added "mazoplasia" and "cystiphorous desquamative hyperplasia"—conditions of the breast which, they concluded, differ biologically and morphologically from one another and which together represent the condition


feminist groups. The divide between mainstream feminist and younger activist groups hampers attempts to create a united front to address the long-standing problem. The book's eight chapters provide a gripping account of hardship suffered by women in Nepal, both during and after the armed conflict. It offers a fascinating – if jarring – narrative of the turbulent transitions and of the strategies adopted by the state to address issues of sexual violence. However, the lack of a comparative geographical perspective curtails attempts at situating Nepal's case in a wider context. Despite this shortcoming, this book remains of immense value for scholars of gender and conflicts in South Asia.


A computer code, developed to predict stability and quench phenomena in internal-cooled, cabled superconductors (ICCS), has been applied to a single wire model ICCS. The code, slightly modified, is shown to be useful in determining stability and voltage propagation in the limited application of the code to experiments to date.


Given the high albedo and low thermal conductivity, snow on sea ice is regarded as one of the key reasons for the amplification of the warming in polar regions. This study focused on the retrieval of snow depth on sea ice from brightness temperatures of the Microwave Radiation Imager (MWRI) on board the FengYun (FY)-3B satellite. After cross calibrated to the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS (AMSR-E) Level 2A data, the MWRI brightness temperatures were applied to calculate the snow depths on sea ice according to the proportional relationship between the snow depth and the surface scattering in 18.7 and 36.5 GHz. The results were compared with the snow depths from two data sets: IceBridge ICDIS4 data set and the AMSR-E Level 3 Sea Ice products. It is proved that the method taken in this study is feasible and the results are reasonable.


Abstract The morphology of the hitherto unknown female of Somatochlora borisi is described and illustrated basing upon eight adults from Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. A key is provided which allows the determination of the females of all West Palaearctic Cordulia and Somatochlora spp. A list of the presently known localities and a distribution map show the range of the species as currently known. The species is new to Turkey.


For many years, various colleges and universities have found it difficult to measure student satisfaction in online courses. This study examined the growth of math courses that are delivered in the online format. This study looks to address the gaps in the research literature concerning online, hybrid, and traditional education. In particular, it is the intention of this study to investigate satisfaction and its effect on the performance of students as a result of enrolling in online mathematics courses. Many researchers have sought to find ways to determine student satisfaction in online courses. Satisfaction and performance in distance education have always been seen in comparison with traditional education that implements instruction through face-to-face interactions. This study will extend the comparison to include online and hybrid education. An examination of the research literature shows that researchers measure satisfaction and performance in various ways. This situation may well be responsible for the inconsistencies regarding satisfaction and performance found among empirical studies. Although the present study found that older students were not as satisfied in online mathematics courses as younger students, it is not equipped to investigate the reasons driving their lower satisfaction. Future research should look into possible reasons.


We present results on the ionospheric structure around Titan observed during numerous deep (<1000 km) flybys by the Cassini spacecraft. Our results are based on measurements by the radio and pla ...


With the current development of mobile devices, short range wireless communications have become more and more popular, and research on short range wireless communications, such as Bluetooth, has gained increasing interest, in industry as well as in academy. This paper analyzes capacity allocation issues in Bluetooth network as convex optimization problem. We formulate the problem of maximizing of total network flows and minimizing the costs of flows. The hybrid distributed capacity allocation scheme HDICA is proposed as an approximated solution of the stated optimization problem that satisfies quality of service requirements and topologically induced constraints in the Bluetooth network, such as node and link capacity limitations. The proposed scheme is decentralized and complies with frequent changes of topology as well as capacity limitations and flow requirements in the network. Simulation shows that the performance of Bluetooth network could be improved by applying the hybrid distributed iterative capacity allocation scheme.


Belitung Island has a strategic geographical location, which is directly bordered with Sumatera and Kalimantan also Karimata and Malacca Straits. Those conditions make the waters productivity being high due to the support from the biogeochemical cycle, nutrient runoff, and upwelling. This study aims to determine the seasonal variability of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) around Belitung waters. The method used in this study was spatial analysis with IDW (inverse distance weighted) to interpolate the Chl-a surface distribution. Sea Surface Temperature (SST) acquired from Aqua-MODIS were retrieved from NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and wind data were obtained from ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts), data were analyzed statistically and spatially. The Chl-a concentration in the northeast monsoon ranged 0.38-3.5 mg.m-3, in the southwest monsoon ranged 0.15-18.7 mg.m-3, and in the transitional season ranged 0.29-9.04 mg.m-3. The Chl-a concentration during southwest and 1st transitional monsoons were higher due to the maximum sunlight intensity stimulating photosynthesis of autotroph biota. The condition of SST is indicating the upwelling event that involves wind-driven motion of dense, cooler, and usually nutrient-rich water towards the ocean surface. Seasonal SST variability ranged 22.6-28.3oC, 27.3-32.1oC, 30.7-32.3oC, and  29.1-32.8oC during northeast, 1st transitional, southwest, and 2nd transitional monsoons respectively. The existence of ENSO (El-Nino Southern Oscillation) contributes to enhance the Chl-a concentration. During ENSO years, the Chl-a concentration was higher than non-ENSO years due to the great impact of ENSO inducing upwelling and higher nutrient availability. Chl-a and SST conditions can be used to predict fishing ground and upwelling area.


The d-ary Sidel'nikov sequence S = s ; s . . . of period q 1 for a prime power q = p is a frequently analyzed sequence in the literature. Recently, it turned out that the linear complexity over of the d-ary Sidel'nikov sequence is considerably smaller than the period if the sequence element s is chosen adequately. In this paper this work is continued and tight lower bounds on the linear complexity over of the d-ary Sidel'nikov sequence are given. For certain cases exact values are provided. Finally, results on the k-error linear complexity over of the d-ary Sidel'nikov sequence are presented.


Abstract A highly fluorinated analogue of poly(1,6-hepta-diyne) has been prepared and characterized. The two-stage synthesis involved the preparation of a precursor polymer via free radical initiated bulk polymerization of 3-methylene-octafluorocyclohexene; the soluble film and fibre forming precursor polymer was thermally dehydrofluorinated to give poly(1,7-7H heptafluoromethylenecyclohexenylene). Characterization of the precursor polymer (gpc, ir, 1H 19F and 13C nmr spectroscopy) indicates that the monomer is incorporated exclusively via a 1,4-head-tail addition process. The product of the thermal dehydrofluorination is a fluorinated analogue of poly(1,6-heptadiyne) which shows a significantly higher intrinsic conductivity than the hydrocarbon and enhanced oxidative stability.


In outline, the present working paper aims at presenting, analysing and systematising key issues of the complex analysis on a country's competitiveness. Competitiveness is a multidimensional feature of an economic entity operating in a market economy. Therefore different aspects of competitiveness are explored. The meaning of competitiveness for different economic entities is determined and a thorough discussion is given on national competitiveness. The major stages of development of competitiveness concepts are presented. The manageability and features of factors forming national competitiveness are analysed. Finally, the problem of choosing national competitive strategy is addressed.


This paper probes into some problems related to the construction of library culture from four aspects of the meanings, functions, contents and paths of the construction of library culture.


Our country has stepped into an aging society since the turn of the century, and accordingly,the one-child family has replaced the more than one-child family, becoming the major force to take the responsibility to care for the aged. With the increasing burden of caring for the aged, the home-based care for the aged has been accepted by the society. In this new period, the government not only need to strengthen the existing system of elderly care service, but also need to build new system of care service to let the old people live with dignity in their older life.


We explore thermoelectric spin transport and spin dependent phenomena in a noncollinear quantum dot spin valve setup. Using this setup, we demonstrate the possibility of a thermoelectric excitation of single spin dynamics inside the quantum dot. Many-body exchange fields generated on the single spins in this setup manifest as effective magnetic fields acting on the net spin accumulation in the quantum dot. We first identify generic conditions by which a zero bias spin accumulation in the dot may be created in the thermoelectric regime. The resulting spin accumulation is then shown to be subject to a fieldlike spin torque due to the effective magnetic field associated with either contact. This spin torque that is generated may yield long-time precession effects due to the prevailing blockade conditions. The implications of these phenomena in connection with single spin manipulation and pure spin current generation are then discussed.


Objective Sepsis,severe sepsis,and septic shock are frequently encountered and highly lethal conditions among children treated in ICU; however,no many reports on research on serum albumin levels of children under these conditions are available in literature and little is known about the relationship between serum albumin level and prognosis.In this prospective study,the author observed the levels of serum albumin of children with sepsis/severe sepsis/septic shock,and explored the relationship between serum albumin level and severity of illness or prognosis.Method For sepsis/severe sepsis/septic shock patients admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) during the year 2008,serum albumin concentration in peripheral blood was examined within 24 h after admission. According to the diagnostic criteria,hypoalbuminemia was defined as serum albumin level of < 35 g/L.Result A total of 247 cases of sepsis/severe sepsis/septic shock children were enrolled.In the order of sepsis/severe sepsis/septic shock group,there were 143,65 and 39 cases.Overall rate of hypoalbuminemia was 72.9% (180/247).The rate of hypoalbuminemia in children with sepsis,severe sepsis or septic shock was 59.4% ( 85/143 ),86.2%(56/65) and 100% (39/39),respectively.The mortality of hypoalbuminemic patients in sepsis,severe sepsis and septic shock group showed significant difference (P < 0.001 ).The rates of hypoalbuminemia of the survived cases (69.5 % )was significantly lower than that of the non-survived cases (94.1% ).Pediatrics critical illness score (PCIS) and serum albumin concentration was positively correlated (P < 0.001 ),and the mortality was negatively correlated with serum albumin concentration (P < 0.05 ). ConclusionHypoalbuminemia is common among children with sepsis/severe sepsis/septic shock and serum albumin level is closely related to prognosis.Serum albumin level monitoring on the basis of PCIS scoring has important clinical prognostic significance in evaluating the prognosis of severe sepsis/septic shock patients.


Now the developing of internet applications refers the spatial data mostly, namely using GIS functions. When using visual software tools and commercial GIS software separately, some problems were existed. The method of integration visual software tools VB and commercial software MapInfo was discussed. The method made full use of the two software strongpoints and avoided disadvantages. It is a good method for developing internet applications. At the same time, an example of flood control decision supporting system was presented.


Significance: It has long been known that adding fluoroalkyl groups to heteroaromatics can have significant effects on their physical and biological properties as therapeutic agents. Examples of such heterocyclic entities include fluoroalkyl-substituted azoles. Existing methods for the synthesis of fluoroalkylated isoxazoles possess several disadvantages, such as harsh reaction conditions, the need to handle unstable reaction intermediates, and poor regioselectivity and efficiency. The current report describes a novel, mild, regioselective, scalable, and operationally simple one-pot protocol for the synthesis of fluoroalkylated isoxazoles from commercially available amines and alkynes. Comment: Fluorinated diazoalkanes (RfCHN2) have previously been used to synthesize fluoroalkylated pyrazoles through a [3+2] cycloaddition (see, for example: F. Li et al. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, 6255). Here, a copper-catalyzed cascade reaction was developed in which commercial amines are used for the generation in situ of diazoalkanes (RfCHN2) and the formation of a zinc–acetylide species. The reaction involves a copper carbenoid species of the acetylide, which is subsequently captured by nitrosonium ions. Phenylacetylenes (3a–i′ and 4a–i′), bicycloarylacetylenes (3a′′ and 4a′′), heteroarylacetylenes (3b′′–e′′ and 4b′′–e′′), and aliphatic alkynes (3f′′–h′′ and 4f′′–h′′) were all successful substrates. Additionally, two other fluoroalkylamines were also used to prepare 3i′′ and 4i′′ in good yields. XCF2CH2NH2 t-BuONO (3 equiv), ZnBr2 (3 equiv) CuI (10 mol%)


A PID-Proportion combined arithmetic is introduced by analyzing the main disturb in the system.This arithmetic overcomes the shortage of PID arithmetic which used in the process with large pure delay.Some curves came from a running system in union station is shown.Conclusion can be made from the curves that the arithmetic run well in waster water process.


From the 1840s chess was a popular game among the middle classes in Britain, commanding great respect because it was regarded as being an 'improving' recreation. In 1851 London staged the world's first international chess tournament, and from then until the 1880s large numbers of players, both British and foreign, endeavoured to earn their living from the game. These 'professionals' were gradually undermined by two attacks on the game's respectability. Foreign players were attacked on simple xenophobic lines, but more broadly all professional chess players were also undermined by a disapproval of the financial element of the game. The paper pays particular attention to two professionals, Staunton and Steinitz, who embodied the transformation in attitudes towards professional chess.


Psychotherapists in training assessed their own skills. Three different measures of change were used: (a) the difference between skills rated at the beginning of training and skills rated at the end of training, (b) the difference between skills rated at the end of training and retrospectively-rated skills, and (c) the difference between skill ratings performed at the beginning and retrospectively-rated skills.There were significant changes in all three comparisons. Most interestingly, the trainees considered themselves as rather competent already at the beginning of training, while at the end of training they remembered themselves as incompetent and insecure. This result is interpreted as an expression of fluctuations in self-esteem, necessary for learning to take place.


Little or nothing is known about the physiological activities of the sulfonylurea compounds other than their hypoglycemic effect. In the course of recent investigations it was found that both tolbutamide (Orinase) and insulin produce a marked depression of phosphate excretion by the kidney. In addition, it was found that tolbutamide depresses liver function in the dog, as measured by bromsulphalein (BSP) clearance; no comparable effect was observed in the normal, diabetic, or cirrhotic patient. Finally, as has been reported previously, tolbutamide does not influence peripheral glucose utilization in normal or diabetic patients.' In the present paper, these findings are presented in the reverse order.


Purpose of reviewTo examine the recently recognized association between bariatric surgery-induced weight loss and postprandial hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia. Recent findingsPostprandial hypoglycemia following gastric bypass for obesity is generally considered a late manifestation of the dumping syndrome and can usually be managed with dietary modification. A rare syndrome characterized by more severe postprandial hypoglycemia and hyperinsulinemia, accompanied by diffuse pancreatic islet hyperplasia and expansion of beta-cell mass, however, has recently been identified. In our experience, the therapeutic approach to these patients is guided by the severity and frequency of hypoglycemia, and includes nutritional modification to reduce postprandial glycemic excursion and stepped medical management, including acarbose, octreotide and diazoxide. Other therapeutic agents previously used to inhibit insulin secretion or action, including calcium channel blockade, β-blockers and anticholinergics, have been minimally effective. For life-threatening hypoglycemia refractory to medical management, partial pancreatectomy may be necessary, but hypoglycemia has recurred in some patients. These findings suggest that gastric bypass-induced weight loss may unmask an underlying beta-cell defect or contribute to pathologic islet hyperplasia. SummarySevere postprandial hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia may be regarded as a rare, late complication of bariatric surgery. Management of these patients may require nutritional, pharmacological and, on occasion, surgical intervention. The pathophysiology remains incompletely understood.


In the present report a series of problems has been considered, arising from all the current problems connected with flexible pavements. In connection with pavement design, we have discussed the most economic intervals for strengthening pavements with the conditions pertaining in Poland, pavement design by different methods (elastic deflections, PJ-1BD or Asphalt Institute) and the compilation of model specifications for the stengthening of pavements. The analytical tests on the influence of paraffin on the properties of bitumens indicate that the qualitative differences between bitumens with a variable paraffin content are the result of the different compositions of these bitumens and the different properties of the various constituent groups (oils, resins). Bitumens extracted from paraffinic crude oils, have been used for 10 years to construct road surfaces in moulded asphalt and bituminous concrete, with satisfactory results. In the report we have given a brief description of the use of these bitumens in road works. At the same time, we have discussed the experimental work being carried out at present on soil stabilisation with liquid bitumen with a high paraffin content. We have also considered the requirements made on the materials and on engineering technology in carrying out the work. As regards charges in the mechanical properties of the base courses of bituminous coated materials, according to the type of binder, of aggregate and the temperature, the results obtained from analyses have been discussed. In the report, we have also indicated the results of analyses concerning the influence of theshape of the particles of the aggregate on the properties of bituminous coated materials, and the results of analyses undertaken on the properties of mixtures of bitumens with mineral fillers. /Author/


INDIA: Konkan (the coast between Bombay and Goa) Stocks s.n. (K, holotype; BM, isotype), the only gathering known. The most distinctive feature of Sphenostylis E. Mey., the stiff twisted glabrous style, broadening out to a flat spathulate pubescent apex, and the characteristic narrow linear pods with prominent sutures are clearly seen in S. bracteata which is, indeed, quite closely related to the most widespread of the African species, S. stenocarpa (Hochst. ex A. Rich.) Harms, a variable plant which is frequently cultivated, though not yet, apparently, outside Africa. S. bracteata is however clearly specifically distinct from S. stenocarpa, being larger in all its parts, with much broader obovate leaflets, much larger racemes, upcurved pods (whereas those of S. stenocarpa are very straight), and much larger bracteoles. Sphenostylis was described by E. Meyer in 1896 on the basis of a South African species. However Harvey (1862), followed by Bentham (1865) and Taubert (1894), attaching too much attention to the narrow fruits and too little to the remarkable style, sank the new genus into Vigna Savi. It was not until 1899 that Harms showed that Sphenostylis should be restored and enlarged to include a number of closely related tropical African plants which had hitherto been unnaturally separated from one another, some in Dolichos L. and others in Vigna. In the present century all botanists dealing with the Phaseoleae of tropical and southern Africa have upheld Sphenostylis as a well defined natural genus. It is, probably, most closely related to Lablab Savi.


Infection of epithelial cells by the intracellular pathogen, Chlamydia trachomatis, leads to activation of NF‐κB and secretion of pro‐inflammatory cytokines. We find that overexpression of a dominant‐negative Nod1 or depletion of Nod1 by RNA interference inhibits partially the activation of NF‐κB during chlamydial infection in vitro, suggesting that Nod1 can detect the presence of Chlamydia. In parallel, there is a larger increase in the expression of pro‐inflammatory genes following Chlamydia infection when primary fibroblasts are isolated from wild‐type mice than from Nod1‐deficient mice. The Chlamydia genome encodes all the putative enzymes required for proteoglycan synthesis, but proteoglycan from Chlamydia has never been detected biochemically. Since Nod1 is a ubiquitous cytosolic receptor for peptidoglycan from Gram‐negative bacteria, our results suggest that C. trachomatis and C. muridarum do in fact produce at least the rudimentary proteoglycan motif recognized by Nod1. Nonetheless, Nod1 deficiency has no effect on the efficiency of infection, the intensity of cytokine secretion, or pathology in vaginally infected mice, compared with wild‐type controls. Similarly, Rip2, a downstream mediator of Nod1, Toll‐like receptor (TLR)‐2, and TLR4, increases only slightly the intensity of chlamydial infection in vivo and has a very mild effect on the immune response and pathology. Thus, Chlamydia may not produce sufficient peptidoglycan to stimulate Nod1‐dependent pathways efficiently in infected animals, or other receptors of the innate immune system may compensate for the absence of Nod1 during Chlamydia infection in vivo.


Railway construction projects due to extent of dimension and nature of activities related to the preparation, implementation, maintenance and exploitation of these projects and effects from how we execute them and considerable utilization of economic resources are of particular importance and they typically are considered of the most important and influential infrastructure projects in countries such as Iran. Hence making any significant improvement in the construction of railway projects results in significant benefits in national economy. One of the most important and strategic factors in success of infrastructure projects is Delivery System Selection Process. Thus the identification of effective criteria for the selection of a proper delivery system in railway projects is of utmost importance which if properly be selected, proper progress in the implementation of these projects will be reached. The survey purpose is to present a model for choosing a proper delivery system for railway projects. In this paper 15 influential criteria on selection of proper delivery system for railway projects were obtained in three main Delivery Systems: Design and Build (DB), Design-Bid-Build (DBB), and Construction Management (CM) using theoretical studies, questionnaire and personal interview and impact of each criterion on alternatives was measured. Then a model for choosing the optimal delivery system and ranking criteria were designed by AHP technique and


As pointed in Twelfth Five-year Plan,water saving irrigation and low energy consumption should be ensured at the same time.So,the micro-irrigation technology with low pressure and low energy consumption will be the core of water saving irrigation development in the future.Two different types of drip irrigation tapes,which are used frequently in autonomous region key automation drip irrigation demonstration base,are selected as research objects in this experiment to study the effects of different laying slope,length and inlet pressure on the irrigation uniformity of drip irrigation tapes.The results show that both the two kinds of drip irrigation tapes in this automation drip irrigation demonstration base can satisfy the irrigation requirements,and the irrigation uniformity is well.It is also found in this experiment that the irrigation uniformity of A-tape drip irrigation tape is well under low pressure condition,and its energy consumption is lower than that of B-tape.The A-tape can match the requirement of low energy consumption micro-irrigation technique.


Effects of material and process parameters on the diameter of electrospun polyacrylonitrile fibers were experimentally investigated. Response surface methodology (RSM) was utilized to design the experiments at the settings of solution concentration, voltage and the collector distance. It also imparted the evaluation of the significance of each parameter on the resultant fiber diameter. The investigations were carried out in the two-variable process domains of several collector distances as applied voltage and the solution concentration were varied at a fixed polymer molecular weight. The mean diameter and coefficient of variation were modeled by polynomial response surfaces as functions of solution concentration and voltage at each collector distance. Effect of applied voltage in micron-scale fiber diameter was observed to be almost negligible when solution concentration and collector distance were high. However, all three factors were found statistically significant in the production of nano-scale fibers. The response surface predictions revealed the parameter interactions for the resultant fiber diameter, and showed that there is a negative correlation between the mean diameter and coefficient of variation for the fiber diameter. A sub-domain of the parameter space consisting of the solution concentration, applied voltage and collector distance, was suggested for the potential nano-scale fiber production. 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


It is disadvantage to joint grouting that the transverse joints are jam-packed by water pressure after impounding. The formula estimating closure of transverse joints aperture under water pressure are deduced. In order to demonstrate the effect of different impounded water level on transverse joint aperture, the transverse joints aperture under different impounded water level is predicted by simulation analysis. It is concluded that the influence of water pressure on closure of transverse joints becomes significant when the impounding water reaches the level lower than the grout compartment from 30 to 40m.


EACH SET of building blocks for life on Earth has a signature handedness, and researchers have speculated that circularly polarized light (CPL) from outer space is one potential source of that uniformity. Inspired by that possibility, Dutch researchers have demonstrated its feasibility by combining CPL and mechanical grinding to determine the chiral fate of a small molecule ( Nat. Chem. , DOI: 10.1038/nchem.416). The team believes the work has implications for origin-of-life research studies and could lead to a better understanding of how organic molecules interact with light. Shining CPL, which corkscrews either left or right, on an equal mixture of a chiral molecule's two mirror-image forms generates a tiny excess of one form, or enantiomer. Researchers have previously amplified that CPL-generated imbalance to obtain a pure sample of one enantiomer. However, the process is far from systematic. Now, Wim L. Noorduin and Elias Vlieg of Radboud University, in Nijmegen; Bernard Kaptein of DSM Pharmaceutical ...


In recent years there has been a move towards a competency‐based model for assessing the performance of practical procedures in clinical medicine rather than the traditional assumption that competency is achieved with increasing experience. For such an assessment to be valid, the necessary competencies comprising that skill must be identified. Our aim was to map the individual competencies necessary to perform a given procedural skill using spinal anaesthesia as the example, and to explore the relationship of individual competencies with each other.


Objective To establish a method for determining the content of total flavone in Rosa chinensis Jacp. Methods The total flavonoid in Rosa chinensis Jacp was determined by ultraviolet spectrophotometry at 510 nm, with rutin as a reference substance. Results The standard curve was linear in the concentration range of 5-50 μg/ml.Linear regression equation was Y=0.084A-0.002 0,r=0.999 6.The average recovery of total flavones was 99.97%.The content of flavones was 0.930% in Rosa chinensis Jacp,RSD=0.6%. Conclusion The method is simple, rapid and accurate.It can be used for determining the content of total flavone in Rosa chinensis Jacp.


Complex biological systems can be understood by dividing them into hierarchies. Each level of such a hierarchy is composed of different subunits which cooperate to perform distinct biological functions. Single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) has emerged as a powerful technique to quantify gene expression in individual cells and is being used to elucidate the molecular and cellular building blocks of complex tissues. We developed a novel Bayesian hierarchical model called Cellular Latent Dirichlet Allocation (Celda) to perform bi-clustering of co-expressed genes into modules and cells into subpopulations. This model can also quantify the relationship between different levels in a biological hierarchy by determining the contribution of each gene in each module, each module in each cell population, and each cell population in each sample. We used Celda to identify transcriptional modules and cell subpopulations in publicly-available peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) dataset. In addition to the major classes of cell types, Celda also identified a population of proliferating T-cells and a single plasma cell that was missed by other clustering methods in this dataset. Transcriptional modules captured consistency in expression patterns among genes linked to same biological functions. Furthermore, transcriptional modules provided direct insights on cell type specific marker genes, and helped understanding of subtypes of B- and T-cells. Overall, Celda presents a novel principled approach towards characterizing transcriptional programs and cellular and heterogeneity in single-cell data.


Abstract Enzyme levels during ripening and germination of castor bean seeds. — During the development of the endosperm of castor bean seeds two distinct phases can be recognized: pre-maturation and germination. The former is characterized, metabolically, by the rapid conversion of carbohydrates into lipids, and storage proteins. The latter is characterized by the reconversion of these storage materials into sugars. Both these processes are dependent upon the activity of the glycolytic pathway; for this reason the behaviour of some enzymes of this pathway and, in general, of the carbohydrate metabolism have been studied during the two phases. The changes (during the evolution of the seeds) of the following enzymes have been studied: Gl-6-P-dehydrogenase, 6-P-gluconate dehydrogenase, P-glucomutase, Hexokinase Hexoseisomerase, Aldolase, alcaline and acid Phosphatase, Pyrophosphatase and ATP-ase. All these activities have been measured in the 20.000 × g supernatant fraction of cell homogenates. The results sh...


Reproducible results may be obtained by the procedure given for conducting the mouse-protective test with antipertussis serum.
 This has made it possible to establish a provisional standard unit for use in the evaluation of antipertussis rabbit-serum by the mouse-protective test.
 A provisional standard unit is defined as that amount of standard serum which will protect 50 per cent of the mice against 2 MLD of a virulent strain of H. pertussis suspended in 4 per cent gastric mucin.
 Antipertussis rabbit-sera may be standardized in terms of a control serum using White's formula.
 This method of conducting the mouse-protective test in the potency-determination of antipertussis sera is practical and assays specific protection in terms of provisional units.


An accurate knowledge about air quality shall mainly form the foundation of the Atmospheric Protection
Action Plan and Strategy. In order to create a reliable decisional basis for the measures required by the maintenance of a high level of the air quality, qualified measurements, based on an adequate technical support become compulsory. It is for the provision of this technical support that the Guidelines for the functioning of the Romanian Air Quality Monitoring System have been created and drafted, guidelines which include all the aspects required by the implementation and functioning of an efficient air quality monitoring system.


This article reports the results of an exploratory study of a cross section of nonprofit human service organizations that examined whether and to what extent a glass ceiling exists for women in this sector. The findings substantiate the existence of the glass ceiling phenomenon among the agencies studied. Men are disproportionately represented in management, particularly upper-level management, and they earn higher salaries than women at all hierarchical levels of the organization.


In this note, we present few examples of Piecewise Deterministic Markov Processes and their long time behavior. They share two important features: they are related to concrete models (in biology, networks, chemistry,. . .) and they are mathematically rich. Their math-ematical study relies on coupling method, spectral decomposition, PDE technics, functional inequalities. We also relate these simple examples to recent and open problems.


The objective of this paper is to propose an approach for smart distribution transformer (TR) management to help implement emergency demand response (DR) at a TR. In this paper, a DR algorithm embedded in a multiagent system is presented. The proposed algorithm ensures that an instantaneous power demand at a TR is kept below a certain demand limit during a DR event while the impacts of demand restrike are minimized. At the same time, homeowners' goals of securing critical loads, mitigating comfort level violation, and minimizing appliance's compensation time during a DR event are taken into account. To validate and evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed DR algorithm, a case study of a TR serving three homes is demonstrated.


This paper investigates the synthesis of sufficient conditions for finite-time stabilization of nonlinear quadratic systems via a nonlinear static state controller. For this purpose, we consider polytopic domains rather than ellipsoidal domains, and we investigate the usefulness of combining the notion of annihilator with a version of Finsler's Lemma. The design conditions obtained are expressed in term of state-dependent Linear Matrix Inequalities.


Theoretically, the central research question of this article pertains to the way in which national institutional arrangements, namely educational systems, and related modes of labour markets and welfare provisions, affect the aggregate effectiveness of youth labour market integration in the new EU member states in comparison to the old EU countries. The study utilizes the European Union Labour Force Survey 2004. Results of the cluster analysis provide substantial support for distinct patterns of labour market entry in terms of the stratification of labour market exclusion, downgrading risk and labour market mobility of LM entrants in different CEE countries. Furthermore, the article reveals also new aspects of labour market entry in the EU-15 countries while considering not only educational signalling but also the labour market flexibility dimension.


In our country,the informer in the visual of law has been the important strength,which plays a significant role in tracking down the special cases,such as in organized crimes,drug crimes,and so on.Informer is superior to officer of investigation organization in numbers and there are some full-time informers in specific area.However,the defect in legislation for informers exposes many problems to be solved urgently in underground investigation by informers.It has become an important task for the constructing an informer system with distinguishing feature of China.


Objective To study the safety reference value of blood glucose for preventing diabetic nephropathy.Methods A total of 311 diabetic patients was collected and divided into two groups,diabetic nephropathy group and non-diabetic nephropathy group,and the fasting blood glucose was then detected.According to the values of blood glucose,the subjects were divided eaqually into 5 levels.Ordinal regression analysis were used to get the cumulative probabilities and regression coefficents of suffering diabetic nephropathy or not.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC) method were used to analyze the sensitivity and false positive rate,and diagrams of curves of ROC were constructed and drawed to get the safety reference value of blood glucose for preventing diabetic nephropathy.The negatively predictive value for a diabetic without suffering from diabetic nephropathy was calculated accrding to the safety reference value.Results The safety reference value of blood glucose for preventing diabetic nephropathy is 8.4 mmol/L,and the 95% confidence interval is between 8.1 mmol/L and 8.8 mmol/L.If the blood glucose could be controled in this range,the possibility or the negatively predictive value of a diabetic without suffering diabetic nephropathy is between 71% and 62%.Conclusion The safety reference value of blood glucose and the negatively predictive value of a diabetic suffering diabetic nephropathy obtained by establishing ROC curve equations can be used to control the blood glucose of diabetic and make a prognostic evaluation for preventing diabetic nephropathy complication.


The Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire was developed as a comprehensive measure of dysfunctional beliefs, which cognitive models consider to be etiologically related to obsessive‐compulsive disorder. Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire subscales tend to be highly correlated, which raises the question of whether obsessive‐compulsive‐related beliefs are hierarchically structured, consisting of lower‐order factors loading on 1 or more higher‐order factors. To investigate the nature and relative importance of these factors, a hierarchical factor analysis was conducted (n = 202 obsessive‐compulsive disorder patients), using a Schmid‐Leiman transformation. Results indicated a higher‐order (general factor) and 3 lower‐order factors: (i) responsibility and overestimation of threat, (ii) perfectionism and intolerance of uncertainty and (iii) importance and control of thoughts. The high‐order factor accounted for more variance in Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire scores (22%) than did the lower‐order factors (6–7%), thereby underscoring the importance of the higher‐order factor. Despite the importance of the higher‐order factor, the lower‐order factors significantly predicted unique variance in measures of obsessive‐compulsive symptoms, including severity ratings of compulsions. These finding suggest that cognitive models of obsessive‐compulsive disorder should take into consideration the hierarchic structure of obsessive‐compulsive‐related beliefs.


This project implements an autonomous mobile robot platform that performs a series of simple reactive behaviors and adapts to local environmental conditions. Since oscillatory motion under cornered conditions appears to be an inherent characteristic of purely reactive obstacle avoidance mechanisms in autonomous robots, a robot agent will require memory to enhance overall obstacle avoidance efficiency. In this study, a robot remembers previously encountered nearby obstacle sites by means of a selfgenerated local map in its short term memory. The map provides sufficient information for the robot to avoid becoming trapped in corners and oscillating endlessly.


Following Neel's calculations of fluctuations in intermolecular field, a model is suggested in which there is a mutual repulsion of elementary magnets, so that spontaneous magnetization is affected...


Abstract The dynamic response of a single-degree-of-freedom elasto-plastic oscillator with kinematic hardening is analyzed in this paper under two kinds of periodic impulse forcing: (a) direct and (b) parametric. In the first case, impulses of constant amplitude are applied periodically to the system and the resulting motion is analyzed using eigenvalues of the linearized Poincare map, and a boundary curve separating the stable and unstable periodic oscillations is obtained in the forcing parameter space. In the second case, the impulse-amplitude is proportional to the displacement of the oscillator. The forced response is extremely complex in this case. The motion undergoes numerous bifurcations, from periodic to quasi-periodic to chaos-like motions.


Expressions are obtained for the total cross sections of transitions between discrete levels of a relativistic hydrogen-like system in interactions with the atoms of matter. Numerical values are given for the cross sections of allowed transitions between levels with principal quantum number n< or =5 for targets with Z = 6, 13, and 74. Transitions of orthopositronium into parapositronium in the ground state are discussed.


Polarized reflectance data of different dry soils under certain water content were collected with a bi-directional reflectance detection instrument. The specialties of this instrument lie in its ability to measure the polarized reflectance of targets at various zenith viewing angles, incidence light zenith angles and azimuth angles with band A (630-690nm) and band B (760-1100nm). Hence, analysis according those characteristics listed above was done. It was found that soil polarized reflectance characteristics have direct relation with soil water content,soil property and sensor's viewing geometry. This study on polarized reflectance of soil not only helps to find a new way for soil moisture detection remotely,but also provides a theoretical basis for further research on the polarized light remote sensing.


When it is attempted to invert, or eliminate the influence of, a single-channel system such as a loudspeaker response or a room response, some frequencies are usually boosted by an excessive amount by the inverse filter. In particular, inversion of experimentally measured data tends to cause an excessive boost of frequencies just below the Nyquist frequency. A similar problem is encountered when designing digital filters for a multichannel virtual source imaging system such as the stereo dipole. A digital filter design method is presented that allows selective attenuation of unwanted peaks in the spectrum of the reproduced sound by using frequency-dependent regularization.


and concrete benefits from educating women in his arguments: knowledge not only makes women morally upright, but also allows women to contribute to the nation's welfare. Such a dramatic change in position on girls' schooling opened up the school gate to many young women. In the 1920s-1930s, more than 40,000 girls were able to attend public or private institutions, which was about 10 percent of the total elementary students, and at least an equal number received some kind of basic reading instructions at home.27 We have looked at the evidence of an increase in the level of women's education in early twentieth-century Vietnam. Let us turn our attention to possible impact s of this progress. I suggest that a considerable number of suicides by educated Vietnamese women in the early twentieth century demonstrate the connection between their educational level and their predisposition to selfdestruction. While most of the suicides were usually reported in a hundred words or less, there were a few extraordinary cases that received extensive coverage. For example, in January 1932, Duoc Nha Nam (Southern Torch), a daily that focused on reporting the latest international and domestic events, and Phu Nu Tan Van both reported extensively on the case of Ms. Nguyen Thanh Van, a twenty-something woman who attempted suicide several times. 28 Abandoned by her father who remarried after her mother had passed away, Thanh Van lived with her brother and sister-inlaw, with whom she often had disagreements. Because of a minor dispute with her sister-in-law, she tried to burn herself to death with gasoline, but was discovered in time by relatives. In the hospital, a doctor, moved by her good looks, took good care of her. Thanh Van, an orphan without much familial love, soon consented to marry the doctor without knowing that he already had a wife. Thanh Van became his second wife and suffered from the inferior treatment reserved for concubines, which was manifested in a popular saying: "eating leftovers and sleeping in the outer quarter" (an com nguoi, ngu nha ngoai).29 Unable to get a divorce and start a new life, she drank a bottle of iodine on the way back from the pharmacy where she had just obtained it. She then hired a rickshaw in order to sit down upon feeling the effects of the drug. Thanh Van was, however, rescued by the rickshaw puller, who saw her fading away in his vehicle and took her to the hospital in time. Too determined to die, a few days later the young woman jumped from the second floor of a hostel and injured her legs. She was again brought to the hospital where they had to cut off one of her legs in order to save her life, but the extreme pain finally got to her. She left behind a note lamenting how in the modern world money corrupted people's minds and pushed young women to despair, which, according to the article, "shows that although having been born into a poor family, she had significant formal instruction and an intellect higher than that of the common people."30 Nam Chuc, a prominent contributor to Duoc Nha Nam, wrote a eulogy for Ms. Nguyen Thanh Drowned in Romances, Tears and Rivers 38! EXPLORATIONS a graduate student journal of southeast asian studies Van, lamenting the waste of a resolute and attractive woman who, because of chronic poverty and excessive affection, met an unfortunate end (bac menh). 31 Six months later, Phu Nu Tan Van reported two other women committing suicide: one was a female teacher from Cao Bang, a northern province, who had been living happily with her husband (also a teacher), her in-laws, and their five children. On Saturday, May 7, 1932, Mrs. My went home early from school, ate lunch, and got into bed pretending to sleep. 32 Under the covers, she cut her nipples and throat, which caused her to bleed profusely, soaking the shirt she was wearing. Probably affected by the extreme loss of blood, she then called out to her mother-in-law to help her change into another shirt. When the mother-in-law walked in and uncovered the blanket, she saw that womna's throat had been severed halfway through, her head and body were also separated, and blood from an artery kept flooding out. The old woman was extremely terrified and called for Mrs. My's husband, who unbuttoned her shirt to discover that her nipples were missing. It turned out that she tried to commit suicide by cutting off her nipples, but she soon found out she could not die from such wounds so she slit her throat as well. Mrs. My finally died after the mother-in-law had finished changing her in a clean shirt. The other woman from the same report was Mrs. Ty, a secretary (ki luc) and schoolteacher from Lai Thieu, a southern province, who left her job and family without a word. Later, her husband heard that she had jumped into the Binh Loi River. Her body mysteriously floated back to Lai Thieu province where her mother lived. There were rumors that she might have chosen death because of a huge gambling debt, rather than an unrequited love or a family dispute. The anonymous author of this article criticized her thus: "for those who are country bumpkins with little education, it is understandable if they commit suicide because of pentup feeling about something; however, for those who have some education and even have attained the position of a teacher, it is inexplicable and blameworthy if they commit suicide just because of some minor discontent."33 Incidents like these clearly show the pervasive presence of educated, young, urban women among the victims of the suicide epidemic. While educational opportunities and textbooks were still limited to the wealthy, newspapers and journals were more accessible to everyone because of their low cost, availability, and coverage of social issues that concerned people from all walks of life. Publishing houses tried to meet the demand for more reading materials as the number of literate people rose. Hence, the changes in terms of printed materials in fact had an even greater influence than the increase in educational opportunities in Vietnamese society. In the next section, we will examine the role of newspapers and journals in shaping the life of women in twentiethcentury Vietnam.


IN introducing the discussion on mydriatics and myotics, after consideration, I have determined, remembering the time at my disposal, to proceed as follows. I thought that, to make this discussion practically useful to the general profession, as well as to more special practitioners, it would be desirable, in the first instance, to summarise all that I find recorded on the action of the alkaloids, eserine, duboisine, pilocarpine, and gelsemine, to this date; and secondly, to briefly give the results of


Administration of oestrogenic substances to chicks, pullets or roosters results in rapid and extensive proliferation of membraneous and ribosomal components of the endoplasmic reticula (E.R.) of their livers in preparation for the synthesis of yolk proteins. Under such circumstances, the liver microsomes initially display many of the chemical and enzymatic characteristics previously delineated for rapidly expanding E.R. in the livers of chicken embryos. In addition, it was found that the microsomal fraction (mostly E.R.) is enzymatically related to, and is possibly in equilibrium with, a 'post-microsomal' lipoprotein fraction which does not present the same morphology as the conventional membrane. 600R of whole body X-irradiation was found to quickly inhibit proliferation of both liver E.R. and 'post-microsomal' elements, as detected by inhibition of normally occurring enzyme changes provoked by oestrogen administration and, in the case of rough E.R., by a reduction in the net synthesis of ribosomal RNA.


Objective To investigate the imageing characteristic and qualitative diagnostic value of CT enhancement scanning to carcinomatous nodus on lungs.Methods 104 cases of imageology data that had been maken a definite diagnosis with lung cancer were collected and were readed once more to common CT scaning and enhancement scanning,detecting rate of distinctive imageing characteristic and rate of qualitative diagnosis was contrasted.Results Imageing characteristic of carcinomatous nodus on lungs was low density focus in CT common scaning,sublobe and barb sign than was typical in malignant tumor was infrequent,mostly tumor was reinforced in CT enhancement scanning,rabbit-ear sign,triangle sign,vascellum cluster sign and cleavage sign was frequent.detecting rate of distinctive imageing characteristic and rate of qualitative diagnosis was higher in CT enhancement scanning than CT common scaning.Conclusion Mostly CT enhancement scanning on carcinomatous nodus of lungs had distinctive imageing characteristic,and could provide reference for qualitative diagnosis.


Software-defined networking (SDN) is an emerging network design and management paradigm that offers a flexible way for reducing the complexity of the network management and configuration. SDN-based wireless sensor networks (SDWSNs) consist of a set of software-defined sensor nodes equipped with different types of sensors. In SDWSN, sensor node is able to conduct different sensing tasks according to the programs injected into it and functionalities of these nodes can also be dynamically configured by injecting different application-specific programs. SDWSNs adopt the characteristics of SDN and can provide energy efficient solutions for various problems such as topology management, sleep scheduling, routing, and localization, etc. This chapter discusses how to apply SDN model in the design of an energy-efficient protocol for wireless sensor networks and also presents an overview of SDN model proposed for wireless sensor networks and SDN-based resource management, routing, sleep scheduling algorithm, localization for SDWSNs. Finally, open research challenges are summarized. Software-Defined Networking Paradigm in Wireless Sensor Networks


ABSTRACT: This descriptive-exploratory study aimed to investigate the requirements of self care in the health deviations associated with chronic kidney diseases in children and teenagers based on the theoretical framework of Orem; to identify nursing diagnoses in self care deficitswith the support of the International Classificationfor Nursing Practice; and to develop interventions with the child/adolescent in order to identify deficitsin the self care requirements. A semi-structured interview was applied with four children/adolescents, aged between 8-13 years, from October to December/2009. The deficitswere found in the universal, development and health deviations self care requirements. Diagnoses were formulated, such as risk for nutritional deficit,ineffective management of therapeutic regimen and deficienthealth knowledge. The study showed that it is difficultfor the child/adolescent to live with the alterations required by the disease. As the child/adolescent is not completely capable of responding to the healthcare process, their caregivers need to assume the condition of self care therapeutic agents.


India is one of the countries, which experiences frequent natural disasters like floods, cyclones, landslides, earthquakes, forest fires, etc. affecting the life and property in the Indian subcontinent. Under Disaster Management Support (DMS) Programme ISRO proactively provides space-based information and services on a reliable and timely basis for strengthening India's commitment towards efficient disaster management in accordance to the Sendai Framework. Critical disaster products from a suite of satellite sensors, which include optical, microwave and space-based radiometers, are being extensively utilized by the stakeholders for monitoring and managing different disasters in India. NISAR satellite, which has a SAR instrument operating in the L and S-band in single, dual and quad-pol configuration, will provide regular products for disaster response. It is expected to meet the needs of the end-user disaster community with new science products for crop flood damage assessment, improved monitoring of floods and cyclones, estimation of forest fuel moisture and stand damage, landslide monitoring and damage assessment, surface deformation, subsidence and oil spill detection and monitoring. This paper describes the NISAR mission operations, capabilities, requirements and its advantage for monitoring the natural disasters.


1 Center for Translational Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University, 13 Durham, North Carolina, United States Of America 14 2 Alan Edwards Centre for Research on Pain, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada 15 3 Center for Pain Research and Innovation, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel 16 Hill, North Carolina, United States Of America 17 4 Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North 18 Carolina, United States Of America 19 5 National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States Of America 20 6 Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada 21 7 Division of Epidemiology, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Food and Drug 22 Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States Of America 23 8 National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Durham, 24 North Carolina, United States Of America 25 9 Department of Restorative Dentistry, Periodontology, Endodontology, Preventive Dentistry and 26 Pediatric Dentistry, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany 27 AC CE PT ED


Objective To compare the efficacy and safety of dexmedetomidine versus midazolam in conscious sedation during diagnostic cerebral angiography. Patients and methods This prospective randomized, double-blind, comparative study was conducted on 66 patients scheduled for diagnostic cerebral angiography, who were randomly allocated into two equal groups: group I (dexmedetomidine group), in which patients received infusion of dexmedetomidine 1 mcg/kg administered over 10 min followed by continuous infusion of 0.2-0.7 mcg/kg/h; and group II (midazolam group), in which patients received midazolam 0.05-0.15 mg/kg administered over 10 min followed by infusion of 0.02-0.1 mg/kg/h. Intraoperative sedation levels were titrated to achieve a bispectral index score between 70-80 and Ramsay sedation score between 3-4. Hemodynamic variables (heart rate, mean arterial pressure) and ventilation (respiratory rate, peripheral oxygen saturation) were recorded at 15 min before drugs were administered, 5 min after the infusion of the bolus dose, and then every 10 min until 1 h after the end of the procedure. The onset of sedation and the recovery time were also recorded. Results Group I showed significant decrease in heart rate, but this decrease did not require treatment. No other significant differences between groups were found with regard to main blood pressure, ventilation parameters, and the onset of sedation. Group I showed significant decrease in recovery time in comparison with group II. Conclusion Dexmedetomidine is a good alternative to midazolam for intravenous sedation during diagnostic cerebral angiography, because it seems to be reliable and safe, providing a satisfactory sedation level without any serious side effects.


According to the frequent fire accidents in residential housing estates,the paper illustrates the necessity of enhancing and improving the fire-fighting safety of urban residential housing estates,analyzes the problems in the fire-fighting safety management in the estates,and points out the respective prevention measures for the fire-fighting safety by combining with the current situation of the fire-fighting in urban residential housing estates,so as to improve the capacity to prevent and resist fire accidents.


In 2014/15 a pilot project within the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Computing at Kingston University used "clickers" for a novel monitoring and engagement process, aiming to encourage in-class engagement and attendance. We briefly describe the project and its rationale, present some findings from initial evaluation and focus groups and finish with some general recommendations for future practice that are potentially applicable beyond the pilot project.


Pressure sensors are ideal candidates for implementing portable digital music instruments. Existing commercial pressure sensors, however, are not optimized to meet both timing and precision requirements for acoustic uses. In this paper, we demonstrate a portable multi-pitch electronic drum (e-drum) system based on large-area (≫ 15cm in diameter) ring-shaped pressure sensors made with low-cost screen-printing process. This e-drum system, which can accurately generate six different pitches of sounds in the current prototype, has the following key advantages: 1) a light-weight, flexible, bendable, and robust human-instrument interface, 2) real-time sound responses, 3) comparable acoustic sound quality with the conventional drums, and 4) easily expandable to a much larger number of sound-pitches. The digital music synthesis is implemented using a TI-DSP board and can be easily re-configured to realize other percussion instruments such as pianos and xylophones. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first successful demonstration of a portable e-drum based on large-area ring-shaped flexible sensors, whose success could open up many new applications.


Frugal innovation is a resource scarce solution for emerging market firms. Based upon the resource-constrained innovation perspective, this research theoretically explores and empirically examines the drivers and consequences of frugal innovation. The results of a firm-level survey show that two types of frugal innovation (cost innovation and affordable value innovation) positively affect the performance of emerging-market firms. We also address the issues of how emerging-market firms deal with institutional, technological, and market constraints in emerging markets, and we show how these constraints drive frugal innovation. We find that emerging-market firms with higher levels of capability for institutional leverage and bricolage, and firms that face perceived dysfunctional competition, tend to generate more affordable, value-added new products. Overall, these findings have important implications for emerging-market firms seeking to conduct frugal innovation in resource-constrained emerging markets.


Plantain powdery mildew (Erysiphe cichoracearum) is an important disease in plantain.The pathogen survives the winter period in the from of mycelia and cleistothecia in plantain seedlings. In the following spring, condia which develop from the mycelia and ascospores which are released from the cleistothecia spread and cause new infection.It is harmful to plantain's leaves and fringes.The leaves get it in middle April and its peak occurs in middle May, but the fringes get it in early May and its peak is in early June. The disease develops quickly on sunny, cloudy or occasional slight rainy day with the temperature of 20~25℃, but it will be controlled on heavy rainy day with the temperature above 28℃.Overusing nitrogenous fertilizer will lead to a heavy disease.The experiment indicated that 25% tilt's curative effect was 89.9%,which was the most effective, 60% Fang Mei Bao with curative effect of 74.3% was the second.


One measure of market efficiency is the speed at which prices adjust to fundamental value with the arrival of information. This paper examines this issue by estimating speed of adjustment coefficients using three methodologies for eight currencies for the entire year of 1996 using half hourly non-overlapping return intervals. We find that the bulk of adjustment to fundamental value for all currencies occurs within the hour but then quickly deteriorates. Within the hour adjustment is sufficiently quick to be considered efficient but the lack of full adjustment to fundamental value is not what would be predicted within an efficient market. There is no evidence for any of the currencies studied of a tendency to over react. There is also little difference in the speeds of adjustment between actively and less actively traded currencies. There is however a definite difference in the speed at which currencies adjustment depending on whether they are free floating or managed exchange rates. Free floating rates adjust much quicker. Government intervention slows adjustment to fundamental value.


The fiction format seems to work successfully within a series of remix-remake practices, such as cinema remakes in their direct (Druxman, 1975) or acknowledged forms (Greenberg, 1998). A source text introduces a narrative world made up of events and existents; another text reintroduces that narrative world, with the same events and existents. Drawing on Chatman (1978), the story is the same, the discourse is not. However, some of the components of the story may change, though not all of them, otherwise we would not be talking about remake. If we move to the field of TV shows, we realise that, as a source text, the format can dictate only part of the rules: the new version can follow these rules only up to a certain point in its development. Then, there is complete autonomy and the rest of the narrative world must be built independently. The two series take different paths, as they are structured in seasons: the format of BeTipul provides a story map for two seasons. Therefore, from the third season on, the other version, In Treatment, can no longer follow the remake strategy. In fact, the pattern of resuming (Barbieri, 2006) should be employed. According to this pattern, the story that goes on beyond the limits of the format develops as follows: 1 – the same characters; 2 – in the same contexts; 3 – act in similar ways; 4 – tackling different situations; 5 – to reach the same goals, believing in the same values. When series end, the Urtext might have been shorter than its remakes ( BeTipul ends before In Treament ; the story arc of Polseres vermelles is now shorter than that of Braccialetti rossi ), or longer ( Life on Mars UK has one season more than its US remake). If one of the most problematic and interesting issues regarding contemporary series is the crisis of the ending, the fiction format works in such a way that it is possible to postpone the ending indefinitely, in a system of narrative multiverses where the characters somehow keep on existing, although with different names and different faces, as if continually reincarnating, following a format law that can be identified with a sort of karma, i.e. an eternal cause-effect mechanism.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I wish to thank Rachael Pastor, my fiance and motivational speaker. The weekend coffee shop study sessions certainly helped bring this document line by line to its completion. Your support has been unwavering even though a large section of my brain has been taken over by grad school for the past two and half years. I only hope that I can reciprocate such support when you decide to enter the life of postgraduate projects. for this project. Dr. Watkins' support throughout my graduate studies has been phenomenal. Our simultaneous arrival at Georgia Tech was serendipitous and gave the chance to work on instructive and pragmatic projects, from this thesis to the most engaging course projects I have had the opportunity to work on. Discussions with Dr. Klein helped to inspire and refine many of the ideas presented in this research, especially those in which I was the farthest from my comfort zone. The gracious support that Dr. Welch provided as a new member to my thesis committee is much appreciated. Graduate studies and the production of this thesis were influenced greatly by all of the wonderful colleagues at Georgia Tech, both in SCaRP and Civil Engineering. Thanks to all who contributed to the Urban Transportation Information Lab (UTIL) led by Dr. Watkins, which provided a great environment to learn, share ideas, and gather honest and helpful feedback. Thanks especially to James Wong and Aaron Gooze. These two in particular fulfilled multi-faceted roles in my graduate studies. Transportation Center at Georgia Tech. Both of these organizations continue to provide support to important and innovative projects in the field of transportation. I would also like to acknowledge the interviewees who generously gave their time and expertise to understanding the standards development processes analyzed in this thesis. Another thank you to the open transit community for pushing the boundaries in this area. One such member of this community, Dr. has been a wonderful collaborator on this and other projects during my time here at Georgia Tech. He and other members of this community work to promote open standards in the transit industry by not only implementing and using these standards, but by leading research efforts to better understand this complex ecosystem. A final thank you goes to my whole family. All of your support and love throughout my life have brought me to this achievement and will continue to …


A whole-system designer, fire fighter, mediator, and jack-of-all-trades, the system architect brings unity and continuity to a development project—offsetting the inevitable compartmentalization of modern modular designs.


Abstract Numerical computation of shielding effectiveness (SE) of electromagnetic shielding fabric (EMSF) is a research difficulty, making no a suitable model for it at present. This paper proposes a partition method based on the yarn diameter and fabric weave structure. The fabric is divided into overlapping region, lateral single yarn region, longitudinal single yarn region, and interstice region according to the weave feature. A fabric structure model for FDTD numerical computation of the SE is constructed. The electromagnetic parameters of each region are tested according to the transmission and reflection method. The Yee's grid discretization method of the structure model is given, and the absorption boundary and the excitation parameters are set to determine the physical model of the fabric. The numerical computation of the physical model is done by the East FDTD electromagnetic computation software. The computation data are compared with the actual testing data, and the results show that the computation results of the SE of the EMSF with the proposed model are satisfied. The research in this paper provides an important reference value for the design, production, evaluation, and theoretical study of the EMSF.


................................................................................................................ I DECLARATION.......................................................................................................... II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.......................................................................................... III TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................ IV LIST OF TABLES....................................................................................................VIII LIST OF FIGURES .....................................................................................................X CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH PROBLEM............................... 1 1.1 PROBLEM DEFINITION ............................................................................. 1 1.2 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY ..................................................................... 6 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................... 9 2.


Twin-screw extrusion was evaluated as a pretreatment for the enzymatic hydrolysis of cassava starch to glucose. Extrusion temperature and pH affected the key parameters associated with the enzymatic hydrolysis of starch such as the water solubility index, the water absorption index, the apparent viscosity, and the susceptibility of the extruded starch to glucoamylase. The glucose concentration of extruded and enzyme-hydrolyzed cassava starch was approximately 5% greater than that of acid-liquefied and enzyme-hydrolyzed cassava starch.


An amazingly easy to formulate but rich in consequences property of Fermat pseudoprimes to base 2 (Poulet numbers). A formula for generating primes I studied Fermat pseudoprimes for quite a while (I posted on OEIS few series and properties of Carmichael numbers and Poulet numbers) and I always believed that in the structure of pseudoprimes resides a key for obtaining primes. Here I expose such a formula that generates primes and products of few primes. I first noticed that the first Poulet number, 341, can be written as (2^10 – 1)/3 and after that I found other Poulet numbers that can be written as (2^k – 1)/3: 5461, 1398101, 22369621, 5726623061, 91625968981, respectively for k = 14, 22, 26, 34, 38 (I conjecture that there are infinite Poulet numbers of this form). I then noticed that the third Poulet number, 645, can be written as (2^4*11^2 – 1)/3 and after that I found other Poulet numbers that can be written as (2^k*q^2 – 1)/3, where q is prime: 2465, 2821, 8321, respectively for q = 43, 23, 79 (I conjecture that there are infinite Poulet numbers of this form too). From the first 23 Poulet numbers, 19 can be written as (2^k*q – 1)/3, where q is prime or square of prime! So the formula to generate numbers q that are primes, squares of primes and products of few primes or squares of primes is simply q = (3*P + 1)/2^k, where P is a Poulet number and k is the biggest natural number for that q is an integer. I list below few values of N = 3*P + 1, for 9 consecutive Poulet numbers with 12 digits taken randomly (I note generically with s the squarefree semiprimes and with r the products of 3 distinct prime factors):


Background and aim: The ligand-receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) pathway is involved in liver injury and animal testing have highlighted that the RAGE blockade attenuates the extent of the liver injury. A truncated isoform of the RAGE (endogenous secreted RAGE, esRAGE), consisting of the extracellular ligand-binding domain only, is detectable as circulating soluble form (sRAGE) in the blood. These latter, acting as decoy, can contribute to the removal of circulating RAGEligands.Objective of this study is understand the hepatic expression of both RAGE isoforms (full-length and truncated), and kinetics of the RAGE-ligands and sRAGE plasma levels in patients undergoing liver transplantation (LT) and compared them with healthy donors. Methods: We prospectively included twenty four adult LT recipients (52.7 ± 9.2 years) of primary whole-size grafts by deceased donors (60.4 ± 17.9 years). On both LT recipients and donors, we measured the transcriptional expression of hepatic tissue RAGE and esRAGE, the plasma levels of the RAGE-ligands N(epsilon)-carboxymethyllysine (CML) and high-mobility group protein 1 (HMGB-1) and circulating sRAGE. In LT recipient CML, HMGB-1 and sRAGE plasma levels were measured before LT, after graft reperfusion, 1, 7, 30 and 90 days after LT. Results: In LT recipients the hepatic RAGE and esRAGE mRNA levels were higher than in healthy donors (p< 0.01 and p=0.02 respectively). The tissue full-length RAGE inversely correlated with antithrombin III (β= 0.58, p = 0.013) and cholinesterase plasma levels (β= -0.717, p= 0.0018) and tended to directly correlate with MELD score (β= 0.422, p= 0.063). Basal plasma levels CML, but not sRAGE and HMGB-1, were higher in LT recipients than in healthy donors (p< 0.05). At follow-up CML levels decreased after graft reperfusion (p = 0.0001) while returned progressively to basal values during the follow-p. Instead, HMGB-1, increased after graft reperfusion (p = 0.0001) and returned suddenly to basal values one day after LT. The basal HMGB-1 correlated directly with MELD score (β= 0.448, p= 0.05). The plasma levels of sRAGE did not change significantly soon after LT while decreased seven days after LT (p = 0.0001) and remained constantly low during follow-up. Conclusions: The high levels of RAGE and esRAGE tissue expression in the end-stage liver failure highlight the involvement of the RAGEligand axis in liver injury. The circulating CML accumulation and the rapid increase of HMGB-1 followed by a dramatic decline of the protective sRAGE could have deleterious consequences on graft survival and long term outcomes in LT recipients. 448


Changes in circulating levels of gonadotropins were measured in immature mice neonatally treated with antisera to luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). On Day 5 of life the animals were injected with .1 ml antiserum to ovine FSH or .1 ml antiserum to ovine LH. LH levels in intact neonatal females peaked at about Day 14 of age and FSH levels were highest between Days 10-14. When antiserum to ovine LH was injected circulating levels of LH did not become detectable until Day 14 of age when about 47% of the circulating LH was neutralized. LH levels then gradually declined but remained higher than those in controls. When antiserum to ovine FSH was administered on Day 5 FSH levels were undetectable until Day 14 when 54% of plasma FSH was neutralized. FSH levels then increased about 3-fold over Day 14 levels on Days 17 and 21 and were 8 times greater than those in control animals at Day 21 of age. The results agree with histological observations that ovarian development at Day 14 of age is inhibited in similarly treated mice.


This paper presents a hierarchical key establishment scheme called HIKES. The base station in this scheme, acting as the central trust authority, empowers randomly selected sensors to act as local trust authorities authenticating, on its behalf, the cluster members and issuing private keys. HIKES uses a partial key escrow scheme that enables any sensor node selected as a cluster head to generate all the cryptographic keys needed to authenticate other sensors within its cluster. This scheme localizes secret key issuance and reduces the communication cost with the base station. HIKES provides an efficient broadcast authentication in which source authentication is achieved in a single transmission and a good defense for the routing mechanism. HIKES defends the routing mechanism against most known attacks and is robust against node compromise. HIKES also provides high addressing flexibility and network connectivity to all sensors in the network, allowing sensor addition and deletion. Simulation results have shown that HIKES provides an energy‐efficient and scalable solution to the key management problem. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The research in the field of sugar-free zephyr production with the use of milk whey by-products - whey permeate powder and whey protein dry concentrate - is presented. The quality indicators of the ingredients used are investigated, their characteristics and nutritional value are presented. The foaming properties of dry whey protein concentrate were evaluated in order to establish the optimal content of dry substances of the protein solution for its further use in the production of confectionery masses of foamy structure. The greatest maximum value of the foaming ability (403%) was observed when using solution with a mass fraction of dry substances (24%) with the addition of citric acid in the amount of 0.8% (pH of the solution - 4.1). When replacing white sugar with permeate in zephyr production and using molasses in greater amount than in the control sample, the viscosity of zephyr mass decreases to a greater extent, the volume of foam, its stability and dispersion increase. The developed samples of zephyr, in comparison with the control sample, have a lower density 1.2-1.3 times. Also, they do not contain white sugar, have a reduced total carbohydrate content 1.2-1.3 times. The content of easily digestible carbohydrates is reduced 1.5-1.7 times, which in turn made it possible to obtain products of moderate sweetness, increased protein content 1.1-1.6 times, reduced calorie content 1.5-1.6 times, decreased glycemic index 1.5-1.6 times.


In this study, we correlate the land cover changes in the Sri Lankan capital city of Colombo with bioclimate trends in the region during the last 30 years. Land cover is measured in terms of "hard" cover (buildings, paved areas and roads) and "soft" cover (trees, green areas and waterbodies). Generally, the relationship between land cover and thermal comfort is stronger at night than at day. An increasing trend in thermal discomfort at night is seen, especially at the suburban station and it correlates well with hard land cover changes. The rural station witnesses the weakest correlation between land cover and thermal comfort. The study also brings out the relative importance of land cover in the city center vs. rural areas (e.g.: hard cover has more effect on thermal discomfort in the city center than in rural areas). Based on these findings, we postulate an outline for a climate-sensitive urban design policy for tropical cities.


This article introduces the application background of public-private partnership in constructing public facilities,and then analyzes the opportunism behaviors in public-private condition. It is found that the public sector and private sector both have opportunism behaviors and motivations to carry out opportunism behaviors. In order to prevent the risk of behavior of this kind,we should enforce the fellowship construction,work hard to perfect the institutional contract,and set up risk management and supervision mechanism in the whole process of project.


The circumstances of available water to many Distri cts in Ghana reflect the global situation where water supplies needed for development are scarce and often polluted. This has prompted the digging of numerous boreholes in many rural communities in Ghana. Though the numbers of boreholes are impressive, there is t he need to determine and monitor the quality of water that is being drawn for human acti vity. This work determined physicochemical parameters of water from 21 boreholes from 13 communities in the Ejisu-Juaben (EJ) and 17 boreholes in 11 communities in the BosomtwiAtwima-Kwanwoma (BAK) districts of the Ashanti Region of Ghana (West Africa) within the period of November 2004 to June 2005 with the aim of accessing the quality. Water samples were analysed for pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Turbidity, Colour, Total Hardness, Total Alkalinity TDS, SO 4 2- , Cl - , PO 4 3- , NO 2 - , Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Cd, Na, K and Pb. The UV-Visible Spectrophotometer was used to determine SO 4 2- , PO 4 3- and NO 2 concentration. An atomic Absorption Spectrophoto meter was used to determine Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb. A flame photometer was used for the det ermination of Na and K, and titrimetry was employed to measure Alkalinity, Hardness and Chloride content. The data showed the variation of the investigated p arameters in samples as follows: pH 4.0-8.0, Electrical Conductivity (EC) 44 - 1114 µScm -1 , Turbidity 0.11 - 45 NTU, Colour <560 HU, TDS 31 -779 mgl -1 , hardness 3-402 mgl -1 , alkalinity 10-365 mgl -1 ,Cl - 5.0 - 92 mgl -1 , SO 4 2- 0.25-17.0 mgl -1 , PO 4 3- 0-2.4 mgl -1 and NO 2 - 0-0.08 mgl -1 . The rest were Fe 0.01-3.4 mgl -1 , Mn 0-1.65 mgl -1 , Cu 0.01 -1.3 mgl -1 , Zn 0-3.3 mgl -1 , Cd 0 - 0.059 mgl -1 , Pb 0-0.038 mgl -1 , Na 4-87.0 mgl -1 and K 0.2-68 mgl -1 . With the exception of isolated cases of trace metal contamination and turbidity, the general results showed that water from the borehole s in the two districts had acceptable chemical quality for household activities


The aim of this paper is to offer overview of the potential judicial instruments and mechanisms which are available in the current state of EU legal system and which are thinkable as means of the enforcement of rights included in the EU Charter in relation to acts and omissions of the EU bodies. The paper deals with theoretical options and practical examples of using the Charter and the source of review within different types of proceedings before General Court and Court of Justice.


A library of novel 1,3,4-oxadiazole substituted imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine based molecular hybrids have been synthesized and evaluated against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. Out of 59 compounds synthesized, ten compounds show activity in the range of 3.125-12.5 M. Compound 8p is found to be most active with MIC99 value of 3.125-6.25 M. Further, these ten compounds have also been tested for their toxicity against THP-1 cell line and are found to be non-toxic with TC50 value in the range of (10 >50 M) concentration.


Abstract Zinc has a relatively low abundance in nature (10−6 of the earth's crust) but the chemistry of zinc compounds has been extensively investigated, and the relation-ships between structure and biomedical activity are of major importance. Zinc appears to bc one of the more biologically important metals,1 second only to iron among the heavy metals (i.e. excluding sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium).


The results of simulations of Fe recovery from steel slag containing iron oxides with C reducer dissolved in liquid slag and gaseous CO were presented in the paper. The simulations were performed with the use of a commercial program FactSage, and the calculations followed the procedure of dosing the reducer to slag in portions, each time reaching the state of thermodynamic equilibrium. The calculation procedure was realized sequentially, and the equilibrium composition of gaseous phase, nonmetallic phase and separated Fe was established at each calculation step. Gaseous products of CO and CO2 reduction were removed from the system with each successive calculation step. The simulation revealed that reaching comparable results of reduction requires using a considerable amount of CO. Moreover, the CO2 content in the gaseous phase and amount of separated Fe depend on the type of reducer. It was observed that the main mechanism was the reduction of iron with C. In this case the composition of gaseous products was mainly dominated by CO-CO2.


It is important to assess periodically how introductory textbooks portray our discipline because introductory psychology is the most popular psychology course, almost all teachers use textbooks for it, and textbooks play a major role in defining the course for students. To do so, past studies have used textbook citation analyses. We analyzed current textbooks to update the citation findings of these studies for the most cited articles, books, and psychologists. Many highly cited articles and books have decreased in citation frequency, likely due to a currency bias and authors' citation preferences. Freud had the highest citation page count, reinforcing students' misconception of his importance in contemporary scientific psychology. Our findings should help teachers in making choices about course content and emphases.


Location WSC '07 will be held at Marriott's flagship hotel, the J.W. Marriott, on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. Only two blocks from the White House, you will be in the heart of D.C. action with its museums, restaurants, and theatrical, musical and shopping attractions. The Washington, D.C. location traditionally produces the largest attendance for WSC, so this will be wonderful networking opportunity.


In this paper a two dimensional MHD boundary layer nanofluid flow as a result of stretching surface is explored. Nanofluid play an important role in heat transfer systems and hence the researchers have used copper-water and silverwater nanofluid in this study. Similarity transformation is used to nondimensionalize momentum, temperature and concentration equations which describe this flow physically. The reduced coupled partial differential equations (PDEs) are linearized using finite volume method (FVM). The impact of stretching parameter and time parameter on velocity, temperature, concentration, skin friction, Nusselt and Sherwood number is studied then results are illustrated graphically. It is observed that stretching parameter increase velocity of nanofluid. In addition, increase in time parameter results to increase in temperature and concentration.


The basic principles of physical effect of coherent population trapping (CPT) were studied as a basis for the development of devices for modulation and demodulation of multi-frequency radiation into the modern DWDM (dense wavelength-division multiplexing) systems that will significantly increase the volume of transmitted data.


In this article I lay groundwork for a theory of practice related to organization members' dependency on change agents. A promising place to begin such a theory of practice is attachment theory, a framework developed in child developmental psychology that focuses on how relationships between children and attachment figures (typically parents) facilitate or undermine children feeling secure. Using material from an organizational diagnosis and change project I conducted from multiple theoretical perspectives, I show how I as a change agent created and undermined a secure attachment with organization members. I then offer implications about how change agents-as temporary attachment figures-may undermine or facilitate fundamental change in organization members' patterns of relating.


The purpose of this paper is to show how tmta (Turing Machine Task Analysis), as a new model for an ecological approach to task analysis, can be applied to a complex task that involves the coordination of several separated components. Whereas cognitive engineering underlines the importance of modelling both ecological and cognitive constraints for designing a work system, only the first stage of the cognitive engineering framework (termed Work Domain Analysis), describes ecological constraints. tmta (Morineau et al., 2009) is a framework in which work domain affordances, patterns of information specifying affordance and agent operations were modelled with the help of Turing Machine formalism. Through Abstraction and Part-Whole Hierarchies (ah/pwh), the domain is described as a hierarchy of affordances. An agent who must perform a task picks up patterns of information from affordances. Information can take a value according to its relevance for the current task. On the basis of information, the agent can undertake three types of operation to change mental state through navigation in the Abstraction Hierarchy, make a transformation on the work domain objects, or move the object or itself. This model can simulate a task sequence and outline degraded situations in which information patterns cannot allow for progression in task achievement.
 We present the application of tmta to the task of making a cup of tea. In neuropsychology, this task is used to assess action disorder syndromes with the help of a hierarchical task model that involves attainment of a sequence of goals and sub-goals. By comparing a simulation of the task with tmta and the usual hierarchical model, it can be seen that the tmta model is able to point out the complexity involved in such a routine task. In comparison with other methods of task analysis, tmta models constraints that arise from the sequencing of work domain affordances. In this way, this method provides the analyst with an operational definition of Gibson?s ecological concepts in order to understand a task.


Thermally stimulated luminescence (TSL) of x-ray-induced defects in R -Ba–Cu–O ( R = Gd, Ho, and Eu) has been measured. In the interval 25–400°C, Ho- and Eu-doped samples exhibit similar TSL with peaks at 65, 135, and 185°C. The GdBa_2Cu_3O_ x has, in addition to the three aforementioned peaks, a maximum at 310°C. All TSL peaks are attributed to recombination of F^+_s – and F ^−_s center electrons with V _ s -type holes, requiring typical thermal activation energies 0.5–1.0 eV. Spectral emission data support this conclusion. Irreversible quenching of TSL is found to occur in each sample. It is postulated that adsorbed oxygen molecules interact with radiation-induced F ^ + _ s and F _ s centers to produce O^−_2 and O^2−_2 molecular ions, respectively, thereby reducing the surface oxygen vacancy concentration and quenching the luminescence. In addition to activation energies, other TSL parameters are extracted from the data. It is suggested that surface TSL in these oxide superconductors is independent of rare-earth dopant.


In recent years, with the rapid economic development of the China, the railway construction also experiences a fast growth. State Department adopts The Twelfth Five-Year Plan of Transportation in 2012, and plans to build a batch of great railway projects. The construction program of Beijing-Shenyang Passenger Line is one of them. The main content of this article is to design the pile foundation of the Liaohe Bridge in Beijing-Shenyang Passenger Line. Using the large diameter bored piles, and design the pile foundation in detail according to the standard, including the settlement of pile, the bearing capacity and the design of the pile caps. Furthermore, it also used FLAC3D to simulate. Through the comparison of simulation results and calculation results, it found that simulation of the ultimate bearing capacity of the pile has little different than the calculation results, the error is 7.1%, settlement rule is also consistent with reality, but the settlement has certain differences, the error is 63.5%. Overall the results of the numerical simulation have played a certain reference role for the design of pile foundation. Keywords—bored piles; Pile foundation design; Numerical simulation


By manipulating the couplings in a flexible topological waveguide lattice with multiple nontrivial dispersion bands, we demonstrate the independent control of edge states associated with different quantum numbers through ultrafast heterodyne measurements.