Tailings failures are on the radar screen of regulators, engineers and the media at least since the mid 70s. The Authors of this paper have performed quantitative risk assessments of mines, often featuring multiple active tailings dams, for over 20 years and have reviewed numerous qualitative and semi-quantitative risk assessments (FMEA etc.), oftentimes paired with peer reviews and inspections. After each failure the mining community sees codes evolve and imposes tougher criteria and dam specifications while FMEA remains the common practice risk assessment methodology. FMEA lacks the finesse needed to predict the progress "toward zero failures" goal. The effects of today's risk mitigation programs will only slowly become visible because the world-portfolio will contain mitigated and unmitigated (legacy) dams. During that time the public will perceive at best a status-quo. It will be very difficult to evaluate progress, as factors such as climate change, seismicity and increase in population will further complicate the situation. Thus public outcry and hostility toward the mining industry, fueled by the diffusion of Information and Communication Technology will likely increase. In this paper we present a systemic approach of the "failure chain process" of tailings dams using a probabilistic causality analysis based on publicly available incident and accidents data from the last 60 years. The pre dictive model, geared toward filling the gap between common practice and "path to zero failures" requirements, accommodates data-mining analytics. The model "constructs" the probability of failure of a dam which is consistent with factual historical world-data. The causality of various factors entering in the dam's service life can then be individually discussed with a sensitivity analysis. We then show where and how mitigative actions can benefit the most with practical example. Attention is focused on Common Cause Failure (CCF) in operations, risk assessment, peer reviewing and inspections of tailings dams. on publicly available incident and accidents data from the last hundred years. The predictive model, geared toward filling the gap between common practice and the "path to zero failures" goal (Independent Expert Engineering Investigation and Review Panel, 2015), accommodates data-mining analytics. The model "constructs" the probability of failure of a dam which is consistent with factual historical world-data. The causality of various factors entering in the extended IDC process (e-IDC) and other elements in the dam's service life can then be individually discussed with a sensitivity analysis. We then show where and how extended IDC process mit igative actions can benefit the most, with practical example. Special attention is spent on Common Cause Failure (CCF) in operations, risk assessment and peer reviewing and inspections of tailings dams. CCF means that a "hidden" shared cause may lead parallel components to fail, annihilating the theoretical redundancy they have (or were designed for) (Mahesh, 2014). 2 PRIOR PAPERS ON PREDICTIVE PERFORMANCES OF TAILINGS DAMS Past and future probabilistic failure behavior of tailings dams has been studied and published respectively in 2013, 2014 and 2015 at the Tailings and Mine Waste conferences (Oboni, Oboni, 2013; Oboni et Al, 2014, Caldwell et Al, 2015) to provide quantitative measures to the predictive performances and various mitigation measures and levels of risk of tailings dams. As this paper constitutes the logical extension of the prior ones it seems useful to summarize the previous steps. At Tailings and Mine Waste TMW 2013 (Oboni, Oboni, 2013) we attempted the first estimate of the rate of failure of major tailings dams and compared their risks to human life to well known social tolerance. After stating the limitations of the available data and the lack of clear definition of what constituted a major failure in commonly available statistics, we found rates varying between 10-3 (decade around 1979) to 2*10-4 (decade around 1999) major failures per dam year. In the same paper we showed quantitatively how, over time, multiple hazards hit would significantly increase the probability of failure of a dam and lead to intolerable future risks. The paper concluded "... Especially in the case of TDs located in areas where demographic pressure leads to settlements in the downstream areas, social and legal consequences of a failure will dramatically increase. This will particularly be the case if the methodologies used to perform the risk assessments prove to be in disconnect with the needs of our modern society." The theme of the long term survivability of TD was further detailed at TMW 2014 (Oboni, Oboni, Caldwell 2014) where attention was focused on modeling the aging process of a geostructure as a series of discrete hits by hazardous conditions (these could be anything, from an earthquake to flooding, etc.). In that paper an attempt was drafted at multidimensional estimate of future consequences. The paper stated that "... Should the value of consequences increase, ... then the "excellent dam" would soon pose a societally unacceptable risk even for shorter terms. Any dam that starts its life with a small initial FoS or reduced standards of care (...) would see its risk evolve towards intolerable societal risks faster, even if its consequences of failure remain constant. ... the methodology developed in this paper enables us to "measure" and give a sense to a complex problem, to transparently compare alternatives, to discuss rationally and openly the survival conditions, or to evaluate the premature failure of a structure. The only way to slow down the increase of the probability of failure is to repair damage occurring as a result of each hazard hit, or to entirely avoid the damage. The second is generally "not feasible" for economic and constructional reasons. Risks, especially long term ones, can never be reduced to nil." Finally, at TMW2015 (Caldwell, Oboni, Oboni, 2015) we were delighted to examine the result of a new study of tailings dam historic failures (Bowker, Chambers, 2015) which used detailed data and actuarial techniques to define historic rate of failures of tailings dams after attempting to define what constitutes "serious" and "very serious" TD failures. We stated that "... The common practice approach of using oversimplified consequence functions (with "and/or" clauses as just defined above) is often used in research papers because of scope/budget limitations, but should not be accepted for a rational world-wide approach to decision making and tailings risks management for an industry that has significant societal impacts like mining. Tailings accidents generate multiple direct and indirect consequences on the environmental, human, H&S, operational and reputational areas and we believe it is time for the mining industry as a whole to adopt a uniform consequence function." Our paper concluded that "... It is comforting that the results of the "quick and dirty" 2013 (Oboni & Oboni) study reached globally comparable results to the 2015 (Bowker & Chambers) very deep and solid analytical approach. We note that the selection of the time frame has a large influence on the conclusions of the 2015 study and therefore we recommend these comparative studies to be performed with constant duration (for example decade by decade) to avoid the hazard of drawing misleading conclusions. "Averaging" over 70 years, during which so many conditions have changed, may indeed mask decennial spikes. To prove this it is enough to note that the accident rates have actually decreased by 15%-24% from the 1990-1999 to the 20002009 decades using the 2015 study's own data." The paper concluded "... We reiterate that the aim of zero tailings failures is impossible to achieve. Tailings dams will continue to fail. In fact, in the long term all tailings facilities will spiral to ward significant increases of their probability of failure and when they fail the tailings will go to downstream rivers, lakes, and the ocean as they did at every failure to date. We have demonstrated that consequences are not necessarily correlated, in one way or another, with dam height or pond volume. As in many industries the "scary stuff" is not necessarily the riskier one. Our practice and research have shown that the probability of failure is, or will be, often way higher in smaller structures than in major ones, simply because more care is taken for larger structures than for "insignificant ones". Examples like Stava or Bafokeng are there to show that "extreme" consequences can actually occur. We have also demonstrated that the rate of fatalities in the tail ings "industry" lies way above the generally accepted "safe" thresholds for hazardous industries. The number of existing, operational, and closed tailings storage facilities around the world makes it necessary to prioritize the mitigation tasks, if we want to achieve a higher quality, be it at corporate or at national levels." 3 DESIGN PROCESS AND COMMON PRACTICE RISK ASSESSMENT After each failure the mining community sees codes evolve and imposes tougher criteria and dam's specifications (TSM Tailings Review Task Force 2015). Factors of Safety (FoS) are eventually increased by empirical consensus among experts, whereas risk assessment methods have generally remained unchanged over almost half a century. The relation between FoS and the probability of failure is often misunderstood, together with the multidimensional nature of potential damages to the environment, infrastructure and human beings. Codes that allow designers to use, for example, FoS=1 under some pseudo-static seismic condition (CDA 2014, Table 3-5) actually accept that a tailings dam undergoing that seismic event would have the same chance of surviving/failing than a coin toss (p f =0.5). If the considered quake has a probability of 1/100 then the estimate of the risk under seismic loadi


Drug hypersensitivity reactions are adverse reactions to drugs that were administered at a dose that is tolerated by normal subjects, but produce symptoms that, from a clinical perspective, resemble an allergy. The revised nomenclature for allergies classifies hypersensitivity reactions to drugs as either allergic or non allergic. Drug allergies occur when immunologic mechanisms have been demonstrated. Allergic reactions caused by antifungal drugs are not frequently reported in clinical practice. Until now, the pathogenesis of hypersensitivity reactions to ketoconazole and other azole derivatives is unknown. Herein, we report an immediate reaction to ketoconazole and review the usefulness of a drug provocation test for diagnosis.


Improving Learning: Professional Practice in Secondary Schools is an ambitious and very readable book. It is made up of 10 separate chapters each focusing on an aspect of learning drawn from a combination of current education literature and examples of school based practice. Chapter One sets the scene by outlining the current educational context, from the 1988 Education Reform Act to the 1998 to the 1998 School Standards and Framework Act and beyond. It covers the centralising agenda, developments in school improvement, a consideration of what makes successful schools, culture, leadership, management planning and teachers—all in fewer than 18 pages, and including examples of a teacher's work diary, as well as 'discussion point' boxes which suggest a practical activity or issue for reflection to the reader. The authors explain that the book has grown from an extensive programme of research which set out to explore what 3000 students in 10 secondary schools thought about the context and process of their learning experience. The researchers, through reflecting on this research, have attempted to capture what really works in securing effective teaching and learning. The book then distils the good practice arrived at through the research, along with individual examples of good practice collected from teaching staff. The research team itself comprises six educationalists with a wide range of experience in schools and higher education, and this gives the book an authority that is very much rooted in practice, but which at the same time provides a reasonably comprehensive overview of recent and relevant policy developments, educational research and suggestions for further reading. Chapter Two focuses on perceptions about teaching and learning, and draws largely on the research described above. It includes an analysis of pupil responses to a range of learning contexts including aspects of the learning environment, teaching and learning styles and curriculum, and the accompanying text draws out issues and comments upon them. There are sections relating to teaching and learning styles, teacher-student relationships, gender, age and subject differences. The chapter concludes with a discussion about school differences, illustrated by examples from the schools taking part in the research. Chapter Three examines the teaching and learning environment and Chapter Four looks at expectations. This latter chapter is illuminated by a real life 'cameo' and explores the difficulties of putting enhanced expectations into practice. The inclusion of 'check points' and 'possible action' sections to stimulate discussion offers helpful professional development material. Chapters Five, Six and Seven could be considered as the core section of the book. Chapter Five includes discussions on preferred learning styles, with reference to Kolb, and Chapter Six begins by focusing on different teaching approaches and gives an overview of some of the recent literature and examples of different teaching methods. Chapter Seven, on relationships, looks at the relationship between teaching and learning and touches on issues of motivation and learning culture. The following chapter covers curriculum, discussing briefly different curriculum models (Tyler, Bloom and Skillbeck), a consideration of key skills and issues to do with relevance and learning.


Aim. To review and analyze publications devoted to non-waste technologies for processing propolis and bee pollen. Materials and methods. The research material was foreign and domestic publications on processing bee products. The methods of information retrieval, analysis and generalization were used in the work. Results and discussion. The literature data on the development of technological methods for processing propolis and bee pollen have been presented. The technology of propolis purification from wax components and the optimal conditions for obtaining phenol fractions of propolis (hydrophilic and hydrophobic) have been considered. The non-waste technology for processing the raw propolis and the complex processing of bee pollen are represented on examples. The optimal parameters of the process for obtaining the enzyme substance from bee pollen and the feasibility of its use as a protein feed additive have been analyzed. Conclusions. A review of scientific publications on the development of non-waste technologies for processing bee products has been conducted. The analysis of the studies has shown that the production of medicines based on bee products remains an urgent area of modern pharmacy. A great contribution to the development of this problem was made by the work of O. I. Tikhonov scientific school on the integrated waste-free processing of the raw propolis and bee pollen in order to obtain standardized biologically active substances required for the creation and production of medicines.


Most small public organizations lack experience, skills or the knowledge of how to manage the human resource component of a downsizing process. Although downsizing is a stressful process for everyone, there are ways of managing the process that can reduce the stress and make the process more acceptable for the victims and the survivors This report presents the results of a survey conducted at three Conservation Authorities about their recent experience in a major downsizing process, and compares these findings with the literature on the subject, and with the experiences and opinions of Human Resource Practitioners. In addition, this report includes suggestions on how to manage downsizing in small public sector organizations to reduce the negative impacts of downsizing on the efficiency and productivity of the organization. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I express my appreciation to the board and staff members of the Ausable Bayfield, Saugeen Valley, and Upper Thames River Conservation Authorities for their willingness to complete the downsizing survey in such difficult times. Through their willingness to cooperate, others will hopefully benefit from the recommendations of this paper. Thanks also goes to my advisor, Carol Agocs, for her direction and assistance in the development of this paper, the work, and thought that increased my knowledge and awareness of the subject of downsizing; to Andres Perez for his encouragement and as a reader; to Andy Sancton and all of the staff of the MPA program for their assistance and advice over three years. To my family for their patience and support!


In the solid-containing iron oxide, particularly those containing ilmenite, for example ilmenite, reduction reaction, the solid was added to the reactor, they are in the presence of a carbonaceous reducing agent in the reactor It is reduced at a temperature of 800 ~ 1200 ℃. To improve the efficiency of the reduction reaction, steam will be added to the reactor.


In this paper, a fundamental switched area equalization modulation strategy (AEMS) is presented for a multilevel converter (MLC) used in large-scale battery-energy storage (BES) systems. In AEMS, the switching angles are computed by equalizing the area under the reference voltage signal and carrier signal. In this BES system, the AEMS provides simple and reasonably good voltage harmonics performance for MLC with higher numbers of the level. Matlab/Simulink model of a 13-level cascaded H-bridge (13-level CHB) with storage is developed to validate the concept, and various performance results under steady-state and dynamic conditions are obtained.


Idiopathic retroperitoneal hematoma is a rare condition, affecting apparently histopathological normal retroperitoneal blood vessels. In cases of idiopathic retroperitoneal hematoma no definite cause can be identified. We report on a patient idiopathic retroperitoneal hematoma presenting as acute abdomen.


shields Vickers) including the plastic collar cut from the mask is inserted into the side of a Thermal Humidifying Filter for tracheostomies (Portex) from which the paper has been removed. Forty centimetres of disposable anaesthetic tubing is attached to the other side with holes punched at the exit to prevent obstruction (Fig. 1) . We have investigated the performance of this device at various gas flows and found that all the flow meters we connected into this system caused back pressure on the venturi and changed the entrainment ratio. We have, therefore, calculated the flow from the measured oxygen concentration for a 28 and 35% venturi as well as directly measuring the flow with a Wright Respirometer (Table I ) . Theoretically the fresh gas flow to a T-piece should be two to three times the patient's minute volume to prevent rebreathing, so a total flow of 10 to 15 litres/minute should be adequate for the average patient. We then investigated the minimum oxygen flows required to prevent rebreathing in five patients who were recovering from anaesthesia by CO, analysis, sampled from between the airway and the T-piece, with a 28% venturi, and found that a t oxygen flows greater than 2 litres/minute inspiratory carbon dioxide was zero in all patients. Thus for the average patient we use oxygen flows of 4 litres/ minute with the 28% venturi and 6 litres/minute with the 35% venturi. This device is easy to use, has a very low resistance to respiration, gives a fixed inspiratory oxygen percentage at an economical oxygen flow, is light-weight so does not drag on the airway and is safe even if there is a fresh gas supply failure as the patient can breath air via the holes in the venturi.


The purpose of this study was to describe the nature of primary nursing by using five core elements under which nurses' activities were described by observing nurses on a unit and interviewing them over a period of three months. -- The study was based on the ethnographical approach. Through the method of participant observation, the interactions taking place between the nurses and their patipnts, the family, members, peers and other health care personnel were examined. The main focus was placed on the nurse-patient interaction as occurred on the unit. Documents, such as Progress Notes (Nurses' Notes), kardex and communication books, which were related to patient-care delivery, were also examined. From the literature review, the following five core elements were identified. These core elements were: Responsibility, accountability, autonomy, caring and decentralized communication. The data were analyzed on an ongoing basis to identify, sort and categorize the nurses' activities under appropriate core elements. -- Each participant practised her primary nursing care delivery mode with definite, identified constructs which formed a conceptual framework to guide her practice. While the constructs identified and the outcome of care delivered by the participants were similar, the mode of patient care delivery was found to be unique to each individual nurse. -- Despite each participant's diverse approach to patient care, a similar pattern of activities and behavior occurred consistently among all participants under the identified constructs and the pattern was examined as a group behavior to derive a definition of primary nursing. Based on the data obtained from this study using these constructs to describe the nature of primary nursing, the following definition of primary nursing emerged. -- Primary nursing is a nursing care delivery system whereby each primary nurse is assigned to a group of four to six patients. The primary nurse is responsible and accountable for her patients' individualized total care. She carries out a comprehensive patient care in an autonomous and caring manner by coordinating and collaborating with the family and other health care members through direct and open communication. As a multidisciplinary member of the health care system, the primary nurse acts as the patient advocate. She is empowered to delegate responsibility, in her absence, to her peers by the nursing care plan. In this way, continuity of care on a 24-hour basis is ensured throughout the patient's hospitalization.


Total variation regularization functional is often used to restore an image from blurred image. TV-based method is a nonlinear image reconstruction method. The schemes to handle TV nonlinearity require the solution of a system of linear equations. The systems which arise in TV-based deblurring present some very serious numerical challenges. In this paper, we present a new solver which is block SSOR-based preconditioned conjugate gradient scheme. It allows for the fast solution of these very large linear systems. Our experiments indicate that our method is capable of producing highly accurate solutions and preserving more edge and object boundaries.


This study was conducted to determine the physiological and psychological benefits of integrating software coding and horticultural activity. Participants included 30 adults in their 20s. The subjects randomly engaged in activities—namely, connecting Arduino components, coding, planting, and a combined coding and horticultural activities. During the activity, two subjective evaluations were conducted at the end of each activity, and participants' brain waves were measured. The spectral edge frequency 50% of alpha spectrum band (ASEF50) and ratio of sensorimotor rhythm from mid beta to theta (RSMT) were activated in the prefrontal lobe as participants performed combined coding and horticultural activities. When performing these combined activities, relative beta (RB) increased, and relative theta (RT) decreased in the prefrontal lobe. In addition, ASEF50, relative low beta (RLB), and relative mid beta (RMB) were activated during plant-based activities (planting and a combined coding and horticultural activities). The subjective evaluations revealed that the plant-based activities had a positive effect on participants' emotions. This study shows that activities combining coding and horticulture had a positive impact on physiological relaxation and increased concentration in adults compared with other activities and was also linked with positive subjectively reported emotions.


Canonical models of urban politics largely ignore the role of political parties. Recent empirical analyses also conclude that the partisanship of elected officials cannot explain differences in policy outcomes in American cities. In this paper, we propose a new method for identifying the influence of political parties in local government: the systematic analysis of elected officials' behavior. In applying this method to several hundred roll call votes cast by members of the city council in San Diego, one of America's largest cities, we conclude that parties do indeed play an important role in structuring local politics. Contrary to critiques of urban democracy, our results suggest that party labels provide significant information about candidates' future behavior in office and can help voters make more thoroughly reasoned decisions in local elections.


The 2 step analysis method is the most widely used one in the statistical analysis for constant stress accelerated life testing under Weibull distribution. Aiming at the deficiency of the 2 step analysis method, this paper develops a new analysis method based on constructed data. The method takes the relativity between Weibull distribution parameters into account, and introduces the 2nd. estimation for characteristic life of Weibull distribution. The method exceeds the 2 step analysis on model fitting optimization, and it improves the precision of estimation for accelerated life testing in turn. Moreover, the method is more convenient for software realization and engineering application.


Safety analysis of complex technical systems currently operating in the transport sector is an urgent challenge for the global maritime industry, which suffers from a lack of information about the levels of risk and the consequences of their incorrect assessment. Among the requirements for vessel management and operations the importance of having a highly professional crew and up-to-date navigational equipment. Navigational safety is one of the components of the integral concept of "safety" for a seagoing ship. Assessment of integral safety is based on assessments of the individual safety components. In this study, the focus is on "navigational safety", which is primarily understood as ensuring safe operation of a vessel in specific navigation conditions, ensuring safe control and maneuvering of the vessel, ship position monitoring, heading control, sufficient depth margin under the keel along the route, taking into account its actual draft and subsidence in shallow water, and sea disturbance. In the offered research on the basis of the identified states of navigational safety, the graphic model of process and matrix of transition probabilities in the general form with use of homogeneous Markov model of change of navigational safety of a vessel, with discrete time and presence of absorbing state is formed. The proposed Markov process model can be used to assess vessel navigational safety when establishing possible states of navigational safety with significant probability to assess ship safety and make decisions to ensure safe vessel operation.


A Memorandum of Cooperation signed by representatives of the agencies responsible for evaluating and recommending alternative toxicity testing methods in the United States, the European Union, Japan, and Canada represents a major step foward in the use of improved alternatives to animal testing. The agreement will enhance international cooperation and coordination in the validation of alternative test methods, the execution of independent peer-review meetings and reports, and the development of harmonized test method recommendations for regulatory consideration.

"Early and consistent cooperation in these three critical areas will greatly enhance the likelihood of international acceptance of alternative test methods determined to be useful for safety evaluations," says William Stokes, director of the National Toxicology Program Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods (NICEATM) and executive director of the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM). "Most importantly, there will be international discussion and agreement on the design of validation studies, including test method protocols and chemical selection, before studies are initiated."

Linda Birnbaum, director of the National Toxicology Program and the NIEHS, signed the agreement 27 April 2009 on behalf of NICEATM, along with representatives for the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods, the Japanese Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods, and the Environmental Health Science and Research Bureau of Health Canada. "It's a big step to have agreement between the Europeans, the Japanese, the Canadians, and us in terms of approaching the evaluation of alternative test methods," says Birnbaum. "There will be more sharing of information because of the agreement, and hopefully that will lead to more rapid decision making."

That's not to say that enhanced international cooperation and leveraging of resources will guarantee acceptance of new test methods. "Because each regulatory agency has different legislative authority within their own country, I don't foresee this as being an automatic, across-the-board acceptance," says Jodie Kulpa-Eddy, vice chair of ICCVAM and a senior staff veterinarian with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "Each group is going to have to take a look at the data and determine whether or not a test is going to be applicable under their umbrella."

Still, speedier and more coordinated consideration of new test methods is expected to increase the likelihood that methods will be accepted by individual regulatory agencies. The benefits, says Stokes, will include a reduction in the use of animals for product safety testing and improved public health with the availability of more predictive toxicity tests achieved through advances in understanding of toxic mechanisms and incorporation of new technologies. He adds that the initiative has received "very positive support and feedback" from all stakeholders, including the animal welfare community and industry.

Many companies with a global focus stand to benefit from the international cooperation. "Instead of having to validate test methodologies multiple times, you can now potentially do it once and have it applied to multiple markets," says Syed Ahmed Mustafa, director of sales and marketing at CeeTox, Inc., an in vitro safety testing company in Michigan. "This will enable multinational companies to only have to do one test to cover all of their operating regions."

According to Birnbaum, this agreement and other recent advances in the field have brought about substantial progress in the development of alternative test methods. "It took a long time to get to this point; there was a great deal of evaluation that needed to be done," she says. "And now we're at the point where I think things are beginning to move much more rapidly."


Rh antibodies and the kinetics of their reaction with Rh-positive erythrocytes are usually measured by direct radioiodination, a method developed by Hughes-Jones,', The method assumes uniform labeling, univalence of antibody bonding by red cells, minimal elution near O"C, and a constant and standard amount of antigen per Rh-positive erythrocyte regardless of the source of labeled antibody being evaluated. Nonantibody IgG also binds to erythrocytes and this value, derived from parellel studies of Rh-negative cells, must be subtracted from the total bound radioactivity. Scatchard distribution plots3 are used to estimate total antibody, and Sips plots4 are made to estimate KO and a. The method is only useful for the assay of strong Rh antibodies; an indirect assay, using iodinated anti-IgG, was developed to measure weaker Rh antibodies.5 Both methods are intrinsically sound, but their assumptions in regard to both the number of Rh antigenic sites per cell and the amount of nonspecific uptake of either labeled IgG or labeled anti-IgG by cells from different individuals need further evaluation. There is an alternative approach to this problem. Some Rh antibody can be recovered free of other serum proteins in eluates prepared at pH 3.0 from washed digitonin stroma.6 IgG of similar antigenic constitution was found in eluates from different Rh antisera, whereas eluates prepared either from normal Rh-positive cells or from Rh-negative cells exposed to Rh antisera were free of IgG.6 Well-equilibrated quantitative agglutination, augmented for sensitivity with both a protease (bromelain) and asymmetrical macromolecules (PVP K-90), appeared actually to measure Rh antibody.; Nineteen eluates prepared from three different Rh-positive cells used for the sequential adsorption of three different Rh antisera displayed agglutinating activity, as measured by AutoAnalyzer, that was parallel to their IgG content determined by quantitative precipitin reactions. It appeared, therefore, that evaluation of Rh antibody directly from its agglutinating activity was possible and a single Rh antiserum (Mrs. Heym.) was used as a standard reference serum to measure pg N IgG Rh antibodylml of unknowns. Quantitative agglutination studies of maternal Rh antibody gave values that appeared to assort positively with the clinical severity of fetal disease.*


In Ecuador it is common to observe how politicians every certain time communicate with all the citizens throughout huge advertising campaigns in order to achieve a public sector position; this paper analyzes the meaning of the right to receive truthful information, using the induction method from the legal political advertising phenomenon to obtain general premises so that the voter receives quality information and don't be fooled by the candidate. The right to receive information is the porpoise of the first chapter, then continue with the political information in Ecuador, subsequently the veracity information is analyzed, culminating with the diagnostic of some campaign proposals never fulfilled. This paper concludes that the political information that deceives the citizen is publicized due to lack of state regulation, which causes an infringement of the citizens' rights to receive truthfully and verified information in the political campaign.


Helicobacter pylori is a spiral-shaped gram-negative bacteria and is recognized as a human pathogen that infects 50% human population worldwide. Several human stomach diseases, such as gastric ulcer, gastroduodenal ulcer, gastric adenocarcinoma and mucosa-associated lymphatic tissue (MALT) lymphoma, appeared to be related with H. pylori infection and colonization. The lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of H. pylori is thought to be one of the most important factors in pathogenesis. This structure enables H. pylori to escape from host immune response. LPS is present in the outer membrane and composed of O-chain, core oligosaccharide and lipid A. This study focused on the HP0859 gene. According to the bioinformatic data, the HP0859 product is predicted to catalyze the interconversion of ADP-D-glycero-D-mannoheptose and ADP-L-glycero-D-mannoheptose. ADP-L-glycero-D- mannoheptose is the major component of inner core LPS. The conserved domains of HP0859 protein also suggested that this enzyme is a NAD(P) + or FAD binding protein. To further characterize the properties of this protein, we cloned HP0859 gene and overexpressed its product. The molecular weight of recombinant HP0859 protein is 39.6 kDa and the native molecular weight is 257.7 kDa, indicated that HP0859 protein is a hexamer. The cofactor of HP0859 protein is NADP+. We also constructed the HP0859 knockout mutant. The LPS produced by knockout mutant showed a truncated LPS structure. The knockout mutant also exhibited reduced growth rate, ineffective adhesion, weak motility and more susceptible to detergent and antibiotic.


and C. Michael Hart. Peroxynitrite causes endothelial cell monolayer barrier dysfunction. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 281: C1064–C1075, 2001.—Nitric oxide ( z NO) attenuates hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 )-mediated barrier dysfunc- tion in cultured porcine pulmonary artery endothelial cells (PAEC) (Gupta MP, Ober MD, Patterson C, Al-Hassani M, Natarajan V, and Hart, CM. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 280: L116–L126, 2001). However, z NO rapidly combines with superoxide (O 2 2 ) to form the powerful oxidant peroxynitrite (ONOO 2 ), which we hypothesized would cause PAEC monolayer barrier dysfunction. To test this hypothe-sis, we treated PAEC with ONOO 2 (500 m M) or 3-morpholi-nosydnonimine hydrochloride (SIN-1; 1–500 m M). SIN-1-me-diated ONOO 2 formation was confirmed by monitoring the oxidation of dihydrorhodamine 123 to rhodamine. Both ONOO 2 and SIN-1 increased albumin clearance ( P , 0.05) in the absence of cytotoxicity and altered the architecture of the cytoskeletal proteins actin and b -catenin as detected by immunofluorescent confocal imaging. ONOO 2 -induced barrier dysfunction was partially reversible and was attenuated by cysteine. Both ONOO 2 and SIN-1 nitrated tyrosine residues, including those on b -catenin and actin, and oxidized proteins in PAEC. The introduction of actin treated with ONOO 2 into PAEC monolayers via liposomes also resulted in barrier dysfunction. These results indicate that ONOO 2 directly alters endothelial cytoskeletal proteins, leading to barrier dysfunction.


Detection of chemical vapors with a remote sensor is a requirement for both military defense and civilian pollution control. The FLIR is a natural instrument from which to build a chemical sensor since most chemical vapors of interest are spectrally active within its operating wavelength range, it is widely distributed in the battlefield, and it is becoming a standard surveillance tool in police departments. Additionally, the output image provides a 2D concentration map of the cloud which is easily interpreted by a lightly trained operator. A system has been designed to provide the spectral sensitivity in a dedicated instrument or to place a chemical detection capability as an adjunct function in a military thermal imager. In the latter case an additional detector array which is spectrally filtered at the focal plane is added to the imager. Real-time autonomous detection and alarm is a military requirement and is desired for commercial use. A detection system model based on a Gaussian vapor concentration distribution has been the basis for detection algorithms. Image processing and analysis methods have been based upon information theory. These techniques extract the cloud image from a clutter scene and perform a limited vapor classification. These methods are suited to hyperspectral imagery.


Slovenian regions have gone through different phases of gaming regulation. The article thus discusses historical development of gambling regulation on the territory of the Republic of Slovenia, when it was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire through being a part of the socialist federation of Yugoslavia and finally as an independent state. Nevertheless, since the country joined EU it must adapt its gambling regulation to the EU internal market principles as interpreted by the EU Court of Justice, which poses significant challenges for the Slovenian authorities working in the field of gambling regulation.


Abstract : The assessment of crew performance capability under conditions of sustained intensive air operations requires the use of specialized measures of operator workload which are matched to the nature of the investigation and to the environment in which the workload evaluation must be conducted. In many cases, the effects of severe combined stressors and of aircrew performance requirements on mental workload cannot be studied in the laboratory, and must be addressed in high fidelity simulation or during operational test exercises. This paper examines the advantages and limitations of traditional subjective report and behavioral measures of workload for application in operational environments. In addition, recent efforts at the U.S. Air Force Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory to develop improved field-usable subjective and behavioral secondary task metrics are described.


This paper proposes a continuous auditing model that provides external auditors the opportunity to audit clients continuously or on a more frequent basis while reducing the possibility of compromising auditor independence. The model requires the auditor's system to be separated from the auditee's system so that the two systems do not interfere with each other. The auditor's system must also communicate smoothly and effectively with the auditee's system to continuously process data captured from that system. We show how the new technology using XML (eXtensible Markup Language) and CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) can help effectively connect the auditor's system to the auditee's system, thereby supporting smooth communication between the two independent systems. We also introduce the concept of continuous auditing cycle, which helps define the engagement period between client and auditor and makes the audit within each cycle continuous.


The Strategic Choice Approach (SCA) is a method meant to deal with operational decision in a strategic way and to manage different sources of uncertainty in decision-making processes. The paper describes how SCA can deal with the future in the specific realm of urban planning in current cities, which represents a typical example of Wicked Problem, taking into account the three different levels of uncertainties that the method aims to manage (Uncertainties about the working Environment, UE; Uncertainties about Related decisions, UR; Uncertainties about guiding Values, UV). We argue that these three types of uncertainties are referred to the 'ordinary' problems of modern and contemporary cities. The project of an architectural/urban transformation has to do with this kind uncertainties and implications – in overcoming a series of approvals of different institutional order – and, with this purpose, takes the form of a contract. Instead, this categorisation doesn't conceive some new and uncertain challenges of future cities, around climate change, infrastructural disruption, insecurity, pandemics, at local and global scales, that are currently under debate in the cities. In this study we suggest that this character of uniqueness can imply the exploration of a new category of uncertainty in the SCA scheme, the 'uncertainty about disruptive events (UD)', a type of catastrophic or just unknown in their effects. First of all, we define the PSMs (Problem Structuring Methods) as methods of structuring the «wicked problems». Secondly, we examine the SCA as «a strategic choice process through time», taking into account the three different levels of uncertainty that the method intends to manage.


Multiple pregnancy is considered as high risk pregnancy due to associated high maternal morbidity and perinatal mortality. The incidence of multiple gestation is on rise due to inadvertent use of ovulation induction drugs in assisted reproductive techniques. This observational study was carried out to find the maternal and perinatal outcome in all cases of multiple pregnancy delivered at our institute over a period of one year. It was observed that the incidence of twins was 4.38% with most common risk factor being use of ovulation induction drugs (24.34%). The commonest maternal complications were anaemia (76.95%), preterm labour(61.73%), early rupture of memebranes (39.99%) and hypertensive disorders(19.56%).The rate of caesarean section was 32.66% and only 32.61% women delivered after 37 weeks. Placenta was dichorionic-diamniotic in 60.43% cases. The incidence of prematurity and low birth weight among neonates was 65.53% and 75.05% respectively. Overall perinatal mortality was 27.21%.


The design thinking for the whole structure and individual hierarchy of the distribution automation system is discussed. The system should be of reasonability, advance, and expansibility so as to be adapted to re_construction in the future.


Timbre and orchestration are neglected parameters in analytical writing, partly because analysis traditionally privileges pitch organisation as the primary structural parameter in music, but also because timbre appears more resistant than pitch to theoretical abstraction and systematisation. Yet, in the music of early twentieth-century Viennese composers such as Schreker, Zemlinsky and Schoenberg, timbre often assumes a pre-eminent place in musical design and formal architecture. In such works, timbre often moves from what Robert Hopkins (1990) describes as a 'secondary parameter' to the forefront of a listener's consciousness. Conventional analytical approaches—including Schenkerian, Neo-Riemannian or pitch-class set theories—arguably have little to offer at such moments. This thesis begins by examining the 'crisis of response' to timbre in fin-de-siecle Austro-Germanic circles and, in particular, to the increasingly complex timbral constructions of many Viennese composers, such as Franz Schreker and Arnold Schoenberg. The crisis of response appeared to stem from an inherited nineteenth-century view of orchestration as ornamental in function, as well as the lack of an appropriate analytical framework and meta-language with which to critique the growing importance of timbre as a musical parameter. This thesis contributes to the discussion as to the how the area of timbral analysis might develop: firstly, by treating timbre as an 'emergent' property rather than an absolute analytical category (i.e., that timbre often results from a complex interaction of multiple musical parameters); secondly, by considering the effect of timbre's spatial properties within the auditory scene on subject-position through examination of contemporary and more recent theories on the convergence of the visual and auditory arts; and thirdly, through timbre's ability to function as an agent of immanent musical critique through disjunctive juxtapositions, or by historically-contextualized responses to codified orchestral tropes as found in Alexander Zemlinsky's 'Der Zwerg'. Timbre certainly was not always the secondary parameter some fin-de-siecle critics suggested it was, or wanted it to be. The joint purpose of this thesis is to offer historically-engaged analytical readings of neglected works from twentieth-century Vienna (alongside a few better-known works whose timbral construction had been left unanalyzed), and to reflect on the benefits of applying recent research to contemporary theories of timbre. These two aims are set in productive counterpoint rather than a straightforward synthesis, with the adoption of recent cognitive research and theories of subject-position feeding into analyses of historical work in order to try to mediate the gap between theory, text, and musical practice.


An integral involving the product of two associated Legendre polynomials and inverse powers of (1−X2) is carried out using the operator form of Taylor's theorem and an integral over a single associated Legendre polynomial.


Demand Response (DR) events are initiated by utilities during peak demand periods to curtail consumption. They ensure system reliability and minimize the utility's expenditure. Selection of the right customers and strategies is critical for a DR event. An effective DR scheduling algorithm minimizes the curtailment error which is the absolute difference between the achieved curtailment value and the target. State-of-the-art heuristics exist for customer selection, however their curtailment errors are unbounded and can be as high as 70%. In this work, we develop an Integer Linear Programming (ILP) formulation for optimally selecting customers and curtailment strategies that minimize the curtailment error during DR events in SmartGrids. We perform experiments on real world data obtained from the University of Southern California's SmartGrid and show that our algorithm achieves near exact curtailment values with errors in the range of 10-17 to 10-5, which are within the range of numerical errors. We compare our results against the state-of-the-art heuristic being deployed in practice in the USC SmartGrid. We show that for the same set of available customerstrategy pairs our algorithm performs 10-3 to 10-7 times better in terms of the curtailment errors incurred.


Chiral molecules with broken parity symmetries can be modelled as quantum systems with cyclic-transition structures. By using these novel properties, we design two-step laser pulses to distinguish left- and right-handed molecules from the enantiomers. After the applied pulse drivings, one kind of chiral molecule is trapped in a coherent population trapping state, while the other is pumped to the highest states for ionization. Then the different chiral molecules can be separated.


In this thesis,the correlation of modal frequencies and stochastic physical parameters in random structural system are studied by means of Monte-Carlo stochastic finite element method.The results of numerical experimentation indicate that the modes become sparse,and cross-correlation coefficients between modal frequencies and stochastic physical parameters are varied with the increasing(1% to 30%)of variability of physical parameters.


To evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic yield of a comprehensive protocol involving clinical and broad genetic testing in consecutive sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) population.


The Angoff standard setting method depends fundamentally on the conceptualisation of an anchor statement. The precise wording and consequent interpretation of anchor statements varies in practice. Emphasis is often placed on standard setting judges' perceptions of difficulty for a candidate subgroup. The current review focusses on the meaning of anchor statements and argues that when determining the required standard of performance it is more appropriate to consider: (1) what it is important to achieve, and not how difficult it is to achieve it; (2) what all candidates should achieve, and not what a subgroup of candidates would achieve. In summary, current practice should be refined by using an anchor statement which refers to estimating the 'minimum acceptable performance by every candidate' for each item being tested, and then requiring each judge to score the relevant aspects of importance which could then be combined to derive a cut-score.


125 Years. The Physical Society & The Institute of Physics. By E. L. LEWIS, 2000, £15.00, $25.00 (pbk), pp. xiv+ 243. Institute of Physics, ISBN 0 7503 0609 2. A Philosopher's Understanding of Quantum Mechanics: Possibilities and Impossibilities of a Modal Interpretation. By P. VERMAAS. 2000, £45.00, $69.95 (hbk), pp. xi + 295. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0 521 65108 5 (hbk). Against the Tide: An Autobiographica l Account of a Professional Outsider. By L. C. WOODS, 2000, £26.00, $40.00 (hbk), pp. xiii+ 319. Institute of Physics, ISBN 0 7503 0690 4. An Introduction to Fluid Dynamics. In the series Cambridge Mathematical Library. By G. K. BATCHELOR. 2000, £18.95, $29.95 (pbk), pp. xviii + 616. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0 521 66396 2 (pbk). Antimatter: The Ultimate Mirror. By G. FRASER, 2000, £16.95, $24.95 (hbk), pp. 210. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0 521 65252 9. Autoparametric Resonance in Mechanical Systems. By A. TONDL, T. RUIJGROK, F. VERHULST and R. NABERGOJ. 2000, £35.00, $59.95 (hbk), pp. ix + 197. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0 521 65079 8. Basic Maths for Physical Sciences. By R. LAMBOURNE and M. TINKER, 2000, £19.99 (pbk), pp. xiv+ 673. Wiley, ISBN 0 471 85207 4 (pbk). Biomimetic Sensor Technology. By K. TOKO. 2000, £45.00, pp. viii + 211. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0 521 59342 5 (hbk). Bose± Einstein Condensation of Excitons and Biexcitons and Coherent Nonlinear Optics with Excitons. By S. A. MOSKALENKO and D. W. SNOKE, 2000, £55.00, $85.00 (hbk), pp. xiii+ 415. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0 521 58099 4. Coherent States, Wavelets and Their Generalizations. In the series Graduate Texts in Contemporary Physics. By S. T. ALI, J.-P. ANTOINE and J.-P. GAZEAU. 2000, price not given, pp. xii + 417. Springer, ISBN 0 387 98908 0. Computer Architecture and Implementation. By H. G. GRAGON, 2000, £24.95, $44.95 (hbk), pp. x+ 318. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0 521 65168 9 (hbk). Continental Drift. Colliding Continents, Converging Cultures. By C. ROMAN, 2000, £26.00, $40.00 (pbk), pp. xv+ 211. Institute of Physics, ISBN 0 7503 0686 6. Cosmological Inflation and Large Scale Structure. By A. R. LIDDLE and D. H. LYTH. 2000, £21.95, $34.95 (pbk), £57.50, $80.00 (hbk), pp. xiii + 400. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0 521 57598 2 (pbk), 0 521 66022 X (hbk). Crystal-Field Engineering of Solid State Laser Materials. In the Cambridge Studies in Modern Optics. By B. HENDERSON and R. H. BARTRAM. 2000, £75.00, $120.00(hbk), pp. xv + 400. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0 521 59349 2. Electronic Concepts. An Introduction. By J. KRENZ, 2000, £24.95, $49.95 (hbk), pp. xiii+ 450. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0 521 66282 6 (hbk). Elementary Lectures in Statistical Mechanics. In the series Graduate Texts in Contemporary Physics. By G. D. J. PHILLIES, 2000, DM139.00 £48.00, $69.95 (hbk), pp. xvi+ 430. Springer, ISBN 0 387 98918 8. Exploring the Art and Science of Stopping Time: A CD-Rom Based on the Life and Work of Harold E Edgerton. By H. E. EDGERTON, 2000, £23.50, CD-ROM. MIT Press, ISBN 0 262 55031 8. Foundations of Modern EPR. By G. R. EATON, S, S. EATON and K. M. Salikhov. 1998, price not given (hbk). World Scientific, ISBN 9810232950 . From Galaxies to Turbines. Science Technology and the Parsons Family. By W. G. SCAIFE, 2000, £35.00, $45.00 (hbk), pp. xi+ 278. Institute of Physics, ISBN 0 7503 0582 7. Fundamentals of Accoustics. By L. E. KINSLER, A. R. FREY, A. B. COPPENS and J. V. SANDERS, 2000, £29.95 (hbk), pp. xii+ 548. Wiley, ISBN 0 471 84789 5. Further Mathematics for the Physical Sciences. By M. TINKER and R. LAMBOURNE, 2000, £60.00 (hbk), pp. xv+ 730. Wiley, ISBN 0 471 86691 (hbk). GCSE Physics, Biology and Chemistry. Written by Students for Students. In the series Oxford Revision Guides. By THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL, 2000, £7.00, pp. 128. Oxford University Press, ISBN 019914743 4 (Physics), 0 19 914742 6 (Biology), 0 19 914742 6 (Chemistry). Heavy Quarks Physics. The Cambridge Monographs on Particle Physics, Nuclear Physics and Cosmology. By A. V. MANOHAR and M. B. WISE, 2000, £40.00, $64.95, pp. ix+ 190. Cambridge University Press. Helmet Mounted Displays and Sights. In the series The Artech House Optoelectronics Library. By M. VELGER. 1998, £71.00 (hbk), pp. xix + 291. Artech House, ISBN 0 89006 822. High Power Laser Interactions. Isotope Separation, Nuclear Fusion Control, Elementary Particles Selective Creation. By J. ROBIEUX, 2000, price not given (hbk), vii+ 1150. Lavoisier Publishers, ISBN 2 7430 0332 4. High Speed Flow. In the series Cambridge Texts in Applied Mathematics. By C. J. CHAPMAN, 2000, £19.95, $29.95 (pbk), £52.50, $74.95 (hbk), pp. xii+ 257. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0 521 66647 3. Contemporary Physics, 2000, volume 41, number 5, pages 355± 357


Jeno et al., Interna Sequences from proteins digesed in polyacrylamide gels. Anal. Chem. 224, 75-82, 1995.* Morpugo et al., N-hydroxysuccinimide carbonates and carbamates are useful reactive reagents for coupling ligands to lysines on pro teins. J. Biochem. Byophys methods, 38, 17-28, 1999.* Carret al., "Selective Detection and Sequencing of Phosphopeptides at the Femtomole Level by Mass Spectrometry." Analytical Biochem istry, vol. 239: pp. 180-192 (1996). Catsimpoolas and Wood, "Specific Cleavage of Cystine Peptides by Cyanide." The Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 241, No. 8: pp. 1790-1796 (1966). Cole, David, "S-Aminoethylation." Methods in Enzymology, vol. 11: pp. 315-317 (1967). Gerken et al., "Determination of the Site-specific O-Glycosylation Pattern of the Porcine Submaxillary Mucin Tandem Repeat Glycopeptide." The Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 272, No. 15: pp. 9709-9719 (1997). Greis et al., "Selective Detection and Site-Analysis of O-GlcNAc Modified Glycopeptides by B-Elimination and Tandem Electrospray Mass Spectrometry." Analytical Biochemistry, vol. 234: pp. 38-49 (1996). Havlis et al. "Fast-Response Proteomics by Accelerated In-Gel Digestion of Proteins." Anal. Chem. vol. 75: pp. 1300-1306 (2003). Helmbrechtet al., "Chaperones in cell cycle regulation and mitogenic signal transduction: a review." Cell Prolif vol. 33:pp. 341-365 (2000). Huang et al., "Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spec trometry compatible f-elimination of O-linked oligosaccharides." Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, vol. 16: pp. 1199 1204 (2002). Hunziker et al., "Peptide Fragmentation Suitable for Solid-Phase Microsequencing." Biochem.J., vol. 187: pp. 515-519 (1980). Kawata et al., "Amino-acid sequence of ribonuclease T from Aspergillus oryzae," Eur: J. Biochem... vol. 176: pp. 683-697 (1988). Masaki et al., "Hydrolysis of S-2 Aminoethylcysteinyl Peptide Bond by Achromobacter Protease I." Biosci. Biotech. Biochem... vol. 58, No. 1: pp. 215-216 (1994). Meyer et al., "Sequence analysis of phosphoserine-containing peptides." FEBS Letters, vol. 204, No. 1: pp. 61-66 (1986). Rademaker et al., "Mass Spectrometric Determination of the Sites of O-Glycan Attachment with Low Picomolar Sensitivity." Analytical Biochemistry, vol. 257: pp. 149-160 (1998). Rall et al., "The Amino Acid Sequence of Ferredoxin from Clostridium acidi-urici," Biochemistry, vol. 8, No. 6: pp. 2486-2496 (1969). Rusnak et al., "Identification of Phosphorylated and Glycosylated Sites in Peptides by Chemically Targeted Proteolysis," Journal of Biomolecular Techniques, vol. 13, No. 4: pp. 228-237 (2002). Schwartz et al., "N-(B-lodoethyl)trifluoroacetamide: A New Reagent for the Aminoethylation of Thiol Groups in Proteins." Analytical Biochemistry, vol. 106: pp. 43-48 (1980). Steen and Mann, "A New Derivazation Strategy for the Analysis of Phosphopeptides by Precursor Ion Scanning in Positive Ion Mode".J. Am. Soc. Mass Sepctrom. vol. 13: pp. 996-1003 (2002). Thompson et al., "Characterization of Protein Phosphorylation by Mass Spectrometry Using Immobilized Metal Ion Affinity Chroma tography with On-Resin B-Elimination and Michael Addition." Anal. Chem., vol. 75: pp. 3232-3243 (2003). Tomita and Marchesi, Amino-acid sequence oligosaccharide attach ment sites of human erythrocyte glycophorin." Proc. Nai. Acad. Sci. USA, vol. 72, No. 8: pp. 2964-2968 (1975).


Boiler was heavy equipment that can lead to accidents in the workplace. To reduce the work accident, then the suitability of operator compliance with the operation of such devices must be appropriate to the use of the boiler can be properly and safely.
The purpose of the study was to complately the operator's compliance boiler Per.01/MEN/1988 in accordance with the operation efforts boiler at PT. Pupuk Kalimantan Timur.
This research was a descriptive observational study. The population was all boiler operators in PT. Pupuk Kalimantan Timur, for the study sample using purposive sampling to obtain 50 operators Boler.
The results of this study indicate that respondents who had the highest number of respondents who were older have a group of 28 people, most educational level was high school that was 32 people, longest service life was the operator with a new working period as many as 38 people and obtained lack sesuaiaan results obtained using the boiler because the company was a labor shortage that has the ability as a operator senior, operator training was often held, but to improve the quality of carrier junior operator to senior operator was rarely done.
Advice for companies was a boiler operator senior propagated, so that at each different work shifts have 4 or more operator senior by providing training for operators of junior Should monthly reports for boiler operation were always in P2K3 report on the meeting to keep can be monitored if the boiler was still working properly or when an error occurs operation of the boiler can be caught early.


Nickel and composite nickel coating are compared by methods of stereomicroscope, Tafel curve,electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS),electrochemical noise,etc.It is found that in the composite coating,most pores originally in nickel coating have been sealed by inert particles;Tafel curves are also somewhat different between the two coatings.The composite coating has more positive corrosion potential and smaller corrosion current than nickel plating.In the Bode plots of nickel-plating,there are two time constants,but only one for the composite coating.The polarization resistance Rp of the composite coating is twice as that of nickel plating.This shows that the composite coating has better corrosion resistance than nickel plating,which is in a good agreement with the time-domain analysis of electrochemical noise.


This study presents a computational investigation of tensile behavior and, in particular, necking due to material inhomogeniety of cardiovascular stent struts under conditions of tensile loading. Polycrystalline strut microstructures are modelled using crystal plasticity theory. Two different idealized morphologies are considered for three-dimensional models, with cylindrical grains and with rhombic-dodecahedron grains. Results are compared to two-dimensional models with hexagonal grains. For all cases, it is found that necking initiates at a significantly higher strain than that at UTS (ultimate tensile stress). Two-dimensional models are shown to exhibit an unrealistically high dependence of necking strain on randomly generated grain orientations. Three-dimensional models with cylindrical grains yield a significantly higher necking strain than models with rhombic-dodecahedron grains. It is shown that necking is characterized by a dramatic increase in stress triaxiality at the center of the neck. Finally, the ratios of UTS to necking stress computed in this study are found to compare well to values predicted by existing bifurcation models.


Iron chelation rather than supplementation would be beneficial to patients with heart diseases. More effort should be devoted to the development of iron chelators that could target mitochondrial iron.

Iron is an essential trace mineral for normal mammalian physiology. It is incorporated into iron/sulfur (Fe/S) clusters that serve as important cofactors for many enzymes, including the mitochondrial respiratory chain, and it gives blood and muscle their signature red color through its presence in heme.1 Because of its involvement in many important cellular processes, dysregulation of iron often causes disease. There are 2 broad categories of diseases associated with iron dysregulation—iron overload and iron deficiency. Each category can be further subdivided based on whether the changes in iron occur at the cellular or at the systemic level.

Iron is critical for developmental processes, and studies have linked severe systemic iron deficiency to impaired brain development in children.2 However, most of these studies were conducted in developing countries where iron deficiency tends to be more severe. In developed countries, the major disorder associated with iron deficiency is anemia. Although systemic iron deficiency and anemia may have been used interchangeably, these 2 terms refer to different conditions. Systemic iron deficiency refers to low amounts of iron in circulation because of limited iron absorption or excess iron loss. Anemia is defined as low hemoglobin content within red blood cells and can be caused by low systemic iron, mutations in hemoglobin genes, vitamin B12 deficiency, or underlying chronic diseases. Limited oxygen-carrying capacity secondary to anemia can cause fatigue; however, it generally does not cause mortality or major damage to vital organs. Except for high-output heart failure (HF) associated with severe anemia, iron deficiency and anemia are not associated with any other major cardiac disorders.

Cellular iron deficiency is a rare phenomenon, and except …


Of current interest, in nonlinear optics, fluid dynamics and plasma physics, the paper commented (i.e., Phys. Scr. 95, 095207, 2020) has investigated a (2+1)-dimensional extended Calogero-Bogoyavlenskii-Schiff system. Hereby, we make the issue raised in that paper more complete. Using the Hirota method and symbolic computation, we construct three sets of the bilinear auto-Bäcklund transformations for that system, along with some analytic solutions. As for the amplitude of the relevant wave in nonlinear optics, fluid dynamics or plasma physics, our results depend on the coefficients in that system.


The forms of writing of the history of sport ideology of China have formed 3 types logical venation,namely,the rules followed form of writing that bases it clue on the study of sport ideology of social elites,the speech style form of writing that bases its center on the study of social sport thoughts,and the constructive form of writing that bases its path on interpreting sport ideology from the perspective of multi-theory,constituted the pros-pect of the study of the history of modern sport ideology in China.The study of the history of modern sport ideology in China should be logically reconstructed,constantly expanding,differentiating and regrouping problem domains,realizing the autonomic construction of research norms and theory consciousness.


In order to market its gas reserves, Israel has until now relied on exports to Egypt and Jordan. Through regional networking in the energy sector – for example, within the framework of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), which was founded at the beginning of 2019 – the Israeli government hopes to improve its political relations in the region. At the same time, Israel is investing hope in the building of the EastMed gas pipeline. Its construction would create a direct export link to Europe, but it would thereby also undermine energy cooperation with its Arab neighbours. The European Union (EU) should promote regional energy cooperation, as this could promote partnerships in other areas. Accordingly, the EU should not support the construction of the EastMed pipeline.


In this study, some population parameters of the painted comber (Serranus scriba) of Black Sea was investigated. In June 2017, a total 15 individuals (14 female and 1 male) were sampled with trammel nets in the Middle Black Sea region. The mean length and the mean weight of the specimens were determined as 20.3 cm + 3.8 (Min:11.3 - Max:25) and 139.6 g + 57.6 (Min:16.4 - Max:220), respectively. The gonads of 13 individuals were mature and the average fecundity was estimated as 7735.8/1g. The mean egg diameter was measured as 507.2 μm + 86.9 (Min:380.5 – Max:744.3). The length - weight relationship was described by the following formula W = 0.0052L3.3478 (R² = 0.9809) with a positive allometric growth.


The article considers the approach to scanners testing. It is shown that a scanner includes two main channels: channel of photoelectric conversion and channel of measurement of objects spatial co-ordinates. Despite the fact that both channels include virtually the same elements, channel parameters testing should be separated. For this purpose, a special structure of a two-dimensional reference signal is proposed where the fields intended for different scanner parameters testing are spatially separated. Information losses during transformation of the document into a digital form are linked with the scanner characteristics. The reference signal parts forming and working out of the methods for measuring information processing to test the grayscale transmitting ability, resolution and aberrations level are considered.


ObjectiveTo analyse the influence of epileptic seizures on sleep configuration and epileptic discharges in different stages of sleep in rats. MethodsWith the stereotaxic technology, kainic acid (KA) was microinjected into CA3 area of the right hippocampus to establish an epileptic animal model, while the same volume of normal saline was microinjected into the same site as control group. The rats were monitored in regular time after KA injected. The PSG was performed by an electroencephalograph on the 8th week after the model established. ResultsThe rats of epileptic model performed status epilepticus after recovery from anesthesia, which would last almost 6 hours and faded in one week. However, the onset of spontaneous seizures reappeared at the 4th week after KA administration. After 8 weeks, all of rats were performed with PSG. The slow wave sleep 1 (SWS1) was decreased from (11.15±0.93)s to (6.00±0.98)s (P<0.05) and the paradoxical sleep (PS) was decreased from (9.80±0.66)s to (2.69±1.00)s (P<0.05). The frequency of epileptic discharges in epileptic animal models was increased during sleep in (108.3±42.5)%. ConclusionEpileptic seizures play an important role in the configuration of sleep architecture. In epileptic animal models,the wake is enhanced,SWS1 and PS are declined,and the frequency of epileptic discharges is increased.

Key words:
Epilepsy; Polysomnography; Slow wave sleep; Paradoxical sleep; Sleep disorder


results of this research show that KembangDewa Retna is a symbol of the ape power that has the strength of the Magi and fights the Battle of Awrath. The power of the deity Retna was awarded the deity to uphold the virtue, truth, and Justice depicted on the character of Rama.


The Lessepsian invasive fish Etrumeus teres was recorded for the first time off Crete, Greece in July 2005. Their abundance suggests that the species may become of commercial importance in the south Aegean Sea.


In the past decades disadvantageous changes in lifestyle caused a steady increase in average body weight, especially in the economically developed countries. Excessive adipose tissue deposition, particularly in visceral location may be regarded as a metabolically active endocrine organ inducing dysmetabolism and associated hormonal imbalances. Gender related similarities and differences in overall and site specific obesity related cancer incidence may provide revelation of associations among fatness, sexual hormone imbalance and cancer initiation. Male to female ratio of adiposity related cancer incidence may be highly influenced by the types of included malignancies, the age distribution of cases and controls and the ratio of examined preand postmenopausal women. Obesity and overweight cause deleterious metabolic and hormonal alterations in both male and female patients. In women, obesity associated excessive androgen and defective estrogen synthesis seem to be strong cancer risk factors in both preand postmenopausal cases, especially for the female organs. These organs exhibit active cell proliferation, which requires strict hormonal survaillance against mitotic failures and cancer initiation. In men, obesity associated insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia are high risks for cancer at several sites. At the same time, obesity related diminished estrogen exposure exhibits no conspicuous additive carcinogenic effect on the male organs as their physiologic function requires much lower serum estrogen concentrations as compared with female organs. Recognition of dangerous alterations in the male to female sexual steroid levels in obesity may open new possibilities for the prevention and treatment of obesity by the compensatory restoration of metabolic and hormonal equilibrium.  Corresponding author: Prof. Dr. Zsuzsanna Suba. National Institute of Oncology, Surgical and Molecular Tumor Pathology Centre, Address: 1122 Ráth György str. 7-9, Budapest, Hungary. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com. No part of this digital document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted commercially in any form or by any means. The publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this digital document, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained herein. This digital document is sold with the clear understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, medical or any other professional services.


Children's health in great extent depends on quality of family life and friendly environment for child's growth and development. In Latvia there are several centres of crises and family consulting centres, in which inter-professional intervention is applied in order to render psycho-social support in cases of conflict situations in families, rehabilitation of the children having suffered from violence, as well as assistance and support to children with behavioural problems, etc. Children who attend these centres most commonly are with negative identity, communication difficulties, "scapegoats", personalities without boundaries, or just opposite, suffering from violence, shy, secluded, depressive and deeply hurt personalities. Application of different art methods for their psycho-social rehabilitation is adopted by social workers. In the process of rehabilitation of "problem children" resistance to verbal communication often can be noticed. The main advantage of art therapy is use of imagination, possibilities of thought and self-expression, substitution of verbal communication by symbols. Means of art help the child to get rid of negative emotions and stress, different techniques of visual work are a good way of starting conversation with children, creating atmosphere of trust and rendering emotional support. Integration of art therapy in practical social work has become an innovation. In comparison to verbal methods, it has its own advantages in social rehabilitation of children, as well as in creating of "social intelligence". Corresponding author: • Prof. Dr. phil. Lolita Vilka, Riga Stradins University, Faculty of Rehabilitation, Academic School of Social Work, 16 Dzirciems str., LV-1007, Riga, Latvia, Tel.: (371) 26377266, Fax: (371) 7471815 email@example.com 1 Riga Stradins University, Faculty of Rehabilitation, Academic School of Social Work, Riga, Latvia A bs tra ct Sp ec ia la re as ©2007 Vilka; licensee GMS Zeitschrift für Medizinische Ausbildung. This is an Open Access article: verbatim copying and redistribution of this article is permitted in all media for any purpose, provided this notice is preserved with the article's original URL. This article is freely available from http://www.egms.de/en/journals/zma/2007-24/zma000459.shtml Please cite as: Vilka L. Art therapy in social work with families and children. GMS Z Med Ausbild. 2007;24(4):Doc165.


We carried out the first national survey to understand the actual situation of computing education at Japanese universities in 2016. In this paper, we report the survey result of educational computer system. The survey question contains various aspects of the computer system such as rental fee, rental period, the number of terminals, educational software and contents, maintenance staff, committee. We obtained 569 answers from 449 universities (69.0% of the registered universities). 40.4% of the system is equipped by purchase so that these systems will not be updated. Average number of terminals/PCs is 503.4. 65% of the terminals are installed at computer training rooms. Learning management system is commonly introduced at more than 50% of the universities. Administrative and maintenance tasks are increasingly outsourced due to insufficient number of staffs within the university.


Following letter introduces a theoretical approach to investigate the effect of two-step GaN barrier layer growth methodology on the performance of InGaN/GaN MQW solar cell, in which a lower temperature GaN cap layer was grown on top of each quantum well followed by a higher temperature GaN barrier layer. Different growth conditions would cause changes in the concentration of trap level density of states and imperfection sites. The simulation and comparison of 3 samples each with different cap layer thickness, reveals the fact that increasing cap layer thickness results in higher quantum efficiency, improved short circuit density of current and 3.2% increase of the fill factor.


This paper presents a novel architecture optimized for realizing efficient absolute difference circuits in Virtex-5 FPGA devices. The proposed structure efficiently uses the 6-input look-up-tables available within the chosen devices family to maximize speed performance and to minimize the amount of occupied resources. In comparison with the DSP- and the LUT-based absolute difference circuits automatically synthesized and mapped by the ISE development tool the proposed structure is up to 40% cheaper and up to 61.5% faster.


This paper presents the results of an analytical study of steady state heat conduction in multiple rectangular domains. Any finite number of domains that are equally sized (in plane) may be considered in the current analysis. The thermal conductivity and thickness of these domains may be different. The entire geometry composed of these connected domains is considered as adiabatic on the lateral surfaces and can be subjected to a wide range of thermal boundary conditions at the top and bottom. For example, the bottom of the stack may be adiabatic, while the top of the stack may be exposed to a uniform heat transfer coefficient. Spatially varying heat generation rates can be applied in each of the domains. The solutions are found to be in agreement with known solutions for simpler geometries. The analytical solution presented here is very general in that it takes into account the interface resistances between the layers. One application of this analytical study relates to the thermal management of three-dimensional stacks of computer devices and interconnect layers. The devices would have spatially nonuniform power dissipation within them, and the interconnect layers would have a significantly lower thermal conductivity than the devices. Interfacial defects, such as delamination or air voids, between the devices and the interconnect layers may be included in the model. Another possible application is to the study of hot spots in a chip stack with nonuniform heat generation. Many other potential applications may also be simulated.


METHODS A randomized-controlled design was used. Three groups were recruited in this study (VI group (n=15, 69.5±3.9 years), ET Group (n=13, 68.5±4.0 years), CON Group (n=15, 69.9±3.3 years)). Ultrasound was used to measure the architecture parameters (pennation angle, fascicle length and muscle thickness) in the triceps surae muscles. And also, circumference of the lower leg was measured. During the 8-week exercise protocol, elderly women performed exercise program using their body weight on a whole-body vibration device (Pro6 power plate, Power plate International Ltd, UK). Changes in the muscle architecture and circumference were compared between groups by two-way repeated measures of ANOVA (2 groups x 4-time points, 3 groups x 2-time points), and an LSD post-hoc test and t-test were performed to determine significant differences between pairwise comparisons. The significance level was set at ⍺=.05.


Summary The amino acid 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazineëthanesulfonic acid (HEPES) has been evaluated as a tissue culture buffer. HEPES has a molecular weight of 238.3, a pK a2 of 7.31 at 37°, a δpK/° of —0.014, exhibits no metal binding and is soluble to the extent of 2.25 M at 0°. HEPES (0.01 M) produced adequate buffering in all cell systems tested. HEPES was not toxic to primary monkey kidney, chick embryo fibro-blasts or puppy salivary gland cells, human embryonic lung, BHK-21/4, BS-C-1, Detroit 6-YT, GPS. HEp-2 KB, LM, MA-134, or RK-13 cells. The GPS cells were grown in suspension in HEPES and NaHCO3 buffered media. Although the population doubling times were not significantly different, a higher maximum cell density and viability were seen in the HEPES buffered system. HEPES had a minimal effect on the oxidation-reduction potential of well-poised media. HEPES had no effect on rubella virus titrations or on hemagglutination assays of polyoma or Sendai virus. The formulation of a HEPES buffered salt solution is presented.


This study develops a hierarchical indicator system for measuring the transport sustainability of Taiwan. An indicator generator is constructed to generate 89 initial indicators. Subsequently, 26 key indicators are selected using rough sets theory (RST). Two-stage principal component analysis (TSPCA) is applied to aggregate the information from 19 key indicators using available historical data to determine the transport sustainability of Taiwan from 1993 to 2010. The results reveal that transport sustainability fluctuated from 1993 to 2005, and then gradually moved toward sustainability after 2005. However, analysis reveals that sustainability in social aspect is in a long-term decline.


A real-time system is any information processing system that has to respond to externally generated input stimuli within a finite and specified period: the correctness depends not only on the logical result but also on the time it was delivered; the failure to respond is as bad as the wrong response [1]. Real-time systems can be constructed out of sequential programs but are typically built from concurrent programs called tasks. A real-time task is an executable entity of work that, at a minimum, is characterized by the worst-case execution time (WCET) [2] and time constraints [3]. The WCET is estimated as the maximal time required by the processor to execute the task. A typical timing constraint of a real-time task is the deadline, which is defined as the maximal completion time of a task without causing any damage to the system [4–6]. There are two main classes of real-time system: (1) hard and (2) soft real-time systems. The hard real-time must meet its deadlines. In case of failure, its operation is without value and the system for which it is a component is of no use. Embedded systems are often hard real-time systems. Such systems have practical applications 1


SCHOOL LAW is much too broad a field for even the specialist to master completely. Certainly the classroom teacher, subjected to the rigid preparatory requirements for certification and later shouldered with a heavy in-service schedule, is limited in the amount of time which he can devote to the study of school law. Nevertheless, there are certain general aspects of school law which should be understood by everyone engaged in the teaching profession. Misdirected criticisms, grievances, and demands would be minimized greatly if there were a more common under-


Editor, Acinetobacter baumannii has emerged as a major multidrug-resistant nosocomial pathogen.[1] Carbapenems are often the only available therapeutic option. European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) and Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI) guidelines are the widely accepted interpretative criteria for antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST).[2,3] However, the interpretation for carbapenems varies with these two guidelines. Currently, CLSI clinical breakpoints for both disc diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) have undergone significant revisions and doripenem breakpoints have been published recently. Consequently, AST reports in diagnostic laboratories have significant change based on the new guidelines and breakpoints.


Macromolecules bearing stable radical groups have emerged as extremely useful active materials in organic electronic applications ranging from magnetic devices to flexible batteries. Critical to the success of these open-shell polymers has been the readily tunable nature of their molecular architectures; this important molecular structure–property–performance design paradigm has allowed for significant device performance metrics to be achieved. In this Perspective, the recent advancements regarding the design and device functionality of a common class of open-shell macromolecules, radical polymers, are discussed. Here, radical polymers are defined as macromolecules with nonconjugated carbon backbones, whose optoelectronic functionalities arise due to the presence of stable radical sites on the pendant groups of macromolecular chains. This class of materials provides a unique platform for the design of unique optical and electronic properties in soft materials; however, as with many organic electronic mate...


A method of a substrate for a fluid ejection device includes forming an opening through the substrate, the opening cross-section having a major axis and a minor cross-sectional form, including a cross-sectional major axis extending from a minimum cross-sectional dimension of the major axis to the first side of the first portion of the substrate and a major axis extending from the minimum cross-sectional dimension to a second portion of the second side of the substrate opposite the first side. The method further includes forming a protective layer on the sidewall of the second portion of the major axis and the cross-sectional opening of the protective layer is removed from the sidewall of the first portion of the major axis of the cross-sectional opening.


This paper shows, using only elementary mathematics, that, for a pin-jointed structure with non-linear elastic members, the classical minimum principles can be derived from one fundamental inequality. This is constructed from: (1) Young's inequality, which is applied to the force–extension law, which has been expanded to include terms for thermal expansion or lack of fit; (2) the principle of virtual work, which is first demonstrated using a compact version of an existing proof. The method clearly shows why the theorems of minimum total potential energy and minimum complementary energy are extremum principles and not just stationary ones. The energy theorems of Castigliano and Engesser are also derived from the same inequality. The case of Hookean behaviour is particularly simple, as Young's inequality reduces to the sum of the squares of the error in satisfying the force–extension law. The stiffness method for linear elastic pin-jointed frames is established without the need to use rotation matrices to generate the set of equations for the full frame. Matlab code for the analysis of a three-dimensional pin-jointed frame is included in an appendix.


The Shuttle-Wallace(S-W) energy conservation model is applied to simulate the evaportranspiration variation of populus in Otindag sandy land region with one hour as the calculation period.The evapotranspiration estimated is verified by the measurement data obtained by Dynagage Probes and micro-lysimeters.The analysis on diurnal evaportranspiration shows that it tends to increase in the morning and reaches a peak value at 9∶00 to 12∶00 AM if the day is sunny,but it tends to decrease slowly afterward and reaches a minimum at night.In case the day is alternatively changing between sunny and cloudy the evapotranspiration will fluctuates obviously.The evaportranspiration of cloudy or rainy day cannot be estimated from the S-W model since remarkable error will appear due to the low solar radiation.The diurnal variations of Populus evaportranspiration in different growing season will not be the same due to the differences of stomatal mediation.A peak value is also exists in the variation curve of soil evaporation and exhibit a variation tendency similar to that of evaportranspiration.It is suggested that using one day as the calculation period is more suitable for investigating the water assumption of Populurs since the computation time will be greatly reduced.


The article presents the results of the efficiency of complex methods of physical rehabilitation in children with scoliosis in a polyclinic. The study involved 174 preschool children with I degree scoliosis. The plan of treatment and remediation activities included: all-day compliance with orthopedic regimen, daily therapeutic exercises (special symmetrical, asymmetrical and detorsion exercises), therapeutic massage with elements of acupressure, therapeutic swimming, muscle electrostimulation, medical choreography, corrective exercises after day sleep (gaming exercises in the initial prone position in order to prepare the muscles for active and effective work in the upright stance). The complex of rehabilitation measures made it possible to normalize the functionality of the spine in 24.1 % of children, to improve posture in 42.6 % of patients and to stabilize the scoliotic process in 28.7 % of patients.


Abstract The law of start-up, acceleration profile and leave-out for queuing vehicles at signal intersections is a fundamental question for the queuing theory, traffic simulation and etc in traffic engineering. This paper investigates the vehicular flow at two protected left-turns by video cameras installed at signal intersections, and checks the accuracy of speed processing software. Based on the statistical analysis and the method of curve fitting, the research team establishes the model of start-up and speed-time profile for the queuing vehicles in the protected left-turns at signal intersections. Then the leave-out time of vehicles is calculated based on the established formulas in these models, which is consistent with the observed leave-out time of vehicles by the video. The developed models proved to be accurate. The paper concludes that the queuing vehicles follow by a linear start after the green light, and the speed-time profile indicates an "S" shape from vehicles starting to reach the stable saturation flow. The speed and the queue sequence of first vehicle of saturation flow are different at different intersections, but the law of start-up of vehicles is the same: The same reaction time for the first vehicle and the same linear start-time interval for the adjacent vehicle in the queue. The relationship of leave-out time and the queue sequence of vehicle is nonlinear before the saturation flow. According to the models developed in this paper, the queue sequence of first vehicle of saturation flow and the law of leave-out time of vehicles can be calculated accurately, which is the fundamental for the queuing theory and the traffic simulation.


Objective To study the clinicopathological characteristics of Epstein-Barr virus negative aggressive NK cell leukemia(ANKL) and to improve our knowledge of the disease. Methods An unusual case of ANKL was analyzed in terms of clinical data,histological morphology,immunohistochemistry and EBER in situ hybridization,with a review of the relevant literatures for studying its clinicopathological characteristics and differential diagnosis. Results The patient of ANKL first presented with the hepatosplenomegly and cytopenia,later with a fever and lymphadenopathy.Tumor cells involved finally in spleen,liver,lymph nodes,bone marrow and blood.The neoplastic cells specifically expressed CD2,CD3 and CD56,but not cytotoxic molecules such as granzyme B.EBER was not detected in the samples.Clinical course of the case was relatively longer with a duration of 28 months as comparied with typical ANKL. Conclusion EBV negative ANKL shows a feature of relatively slow clinical progress,suggesting that it may be a special subtype of ANKL.


The Administrative Tribunal of Quebec (Tribunal administratif du Quebec or TAQ) established, a conciliation process encouraging the settlement of proceedings. This chapter explains the different conciliation models offered, it is useful to situate the Administrative Tribunal of Quebec within the Quebec judicial system and identifies the various mediation and conciliation processes offered in Quebec by other tribunals. Articles 151.14 to 151.23 of the CCP set forth the applicable rules on judicial mediation in first hearing, which is referred to as a settlement conference. The settlement conference aims to help parties communicate, negotiate and find solutions with a view towards settling their dispute. The constantly growing number of cases settled at the TAQ as a result of conciliation confirms without any doubt that conciliation as a dispute resolution mechanism remains a key to the fulfillment of the TAQ's objectives of affordability, accessibility and quality justice. Keywords: Administrative Tribunal of Quebec (TAQ); conciliation process; judicial mediation; justice; settlement conference


Abstract. Breast imaging techniques have received renewed attention as a proved means for earlier detection and diagnosis of breast cancer. Due to the extremely high image quality requirements in mammography, all aspects of the imaging process must be optimised. With this purpose new imaging systems have been incorporated. The aim of this paper is to present results of patient dose comparison in different digital and conventional imaging systems. The sample size was 240 patients (2 mammogram per patient) and 8 mammography units participated in the study: 3 G.E. Senographe. DMR, 2 G.E. Senographe 600T(with film-screen system Fuji UMMA HC/Agfa Detail R, HDR/Agfa Detail R, Agfa Mamoray HT/Agfa Detail R), 1 G. E. Senographe 500 T and 1 General Merate MSM with computed radiology system (Fuji FCR 5000 MA plus and Fuji IP / DI-HL photostimulable phosphor), and 1 G.E. Senographe 2000 d with flat-panel system. Radiographic technique (kVp, mAs, focus-image receptor distance, filter /anode combination and compress breast thickness) were recorded for each projection. By using the post exposure mAs (when was possible) and the output measured in the quality control programme, the entrance surface dose (ESD) was calculated. All results obtained (except in equipment num.7,MLO projection) were lower than ESD reference values, but mean values in digital modalities were higher than in conventional ones. However other aspects that contribute to the global patient dose, as the reject rate, were significantly lower in digital systems.


In these snapshots, an unknown story and alien institution provoke surprise not hostility, curiosity not indifference. The story fascinates; the institution is intriguing. Total ignorance of church and Christianity may not yet be widespread, but it is becoming more common, especially in our inner cities. Over the coming decades, as the last generation who are familiar with the Christian story and for whom churches still have cultural significance dies, the change of epoch from Christendom to post-Christendom will be complete.


Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck and has been a common method of capital punishmentsince medieval times. Hanging is also a common method of suicide/homicide worldwide as also in India. We report a case ofattempted suicidal hanging admitted in our intensive care unit. The patient, a 32-year old male, presented with poor clinical status,in gasping condition, hypoxemic and required immediate intubation, resuscitation, assisted ventilation and intensive care treatment.He received standard supportive intensive care and made a full clinical recovery without any neurological deficit. The purpose of thecase report is to emphasize that the cases of near-hanging need to be aggressively resuscitated and managed irrespective of dismalinitial presentation.


F Television photographers and video editors follow a series of conventions in their daily activity of photographing and assembling stories. Some of the most important rules that have evolved over the years in the film and television industries deal with the problem of continuity. Each time the camera stops and restarts o r someone edits a shot, the action is cut, producing a discontinuity called a "jumpcut." A number of procedures exist for solving the problem. They all basically work by distracting the viewer with a major change in perspective.' One of the most common ways of dealing with a jumpcut is to change angle, distance, or both each time the camera stops. Television and film people follow these conventions because they assume jumpcuts would disturb the viewer. The classroom, however, provides evidence to the contrary. In television news and film production courses students must learn to recognize jumpcuts which professionals spot immediately. Thus, students have to be taught t o perceive a n editing cut that is supposed to bother those in the viewing public. Despite the widespread use and teaching of these visual continuity rules, there has been virtually no empirical explora-


A novel approach for color image watermarking is proposed in this communication. The aim of the work is to combine robust and fragile watermarking in order to construct a multipurpose watermarking scheme. Watermarking methods are com- plementing each other such that under any circumstance at least one of them may survive and prove the identity of the owner or the authenticity of the image content. A robust watermark is embedded into the frequency domain; the watermark is made adaptive to the cover image. A semi-fragile watermark is embedded into the spatial domain of the color image. Authentication is achieved by means of embedding an approximation of the image into itself. Specifically, the luminance of the image is inserted into the three color channels, using a mapping function. For image copyright protection, higher robustness can be achieved whereas for image authentication tampered regions can be detected and reconstructed. Both of the goals are accomplished in an oblivious manner. Experimental verifications indicate that the proposed unified image watermarking is an appropriate choice.


We first get an existence and uniqueness result for a nonlinear eigenvalue problem. Then, we establish the constant rank theorem for the problem and use it to get a convexity property of the solution. AMS subject classifications: 35J15, 35P30, 52A99