This paper is concerned with the overall design of the Terabit File Store — a network storage facility based on a Braegen Automated Tape Library. The characteristics of the tape library — in particular its large capacity and slow access — provide both challenges and opportunities for the system designer. The use of disc cache and the optimization of file placement have been used to provide reasonable performance in the face of substantial tape handling times. Catalogue facilities have been tailored to cater for the support of large file holdings and user file back‐up applications. It has been possible to automate the back‐up of essential file‐store information which together with automatic integrity checks, helps to minimize the damage that can be caused by faults. Considerable attention has been given to facilities that automate much of the management of the system in a network environment. Other aspects of the design discussed in the paper include protection, housekeeping and host interfacing.


The process of image segmentation is how to divide images into regions with similar properties. Threshold-based image segmentation is a multidimensional optimization problem that has been highlighted as one of the most significant image pre-processing approaches. This paper proposes an efficient technique for optimizing real time image segmentation. The approach of image thresholding may be regarded an optimization objective, and it will be discovered by using Otsu's technique in conjunction with Particle Swarm Optimization basics (PSO). For real-time validation, the suggested technique was tested on several images in real time using the PSO algorithm. The simulation results showed that, when compared to Otsu's approach, the PSO algorithm gives the most efficient outcomes in real-time applications with an improved execution time.


Summary Bilateral ovariectomy was performed on 22 dairy animals at 55–143 days of pregnancy. Exogenous progesterone in the form of Delalutin (17-alpha-hydroxy-progesterone-17-n-caproate) and repositol progesterone (progesterone in propylene glycol) was administered at various dosage levels and time intervals to try to maintain pregnancy. Pregnancy was maintained following ovariectomy after 88 days with daily injections of 125mg of Delalutin when the treatment was started at least eight days before surgery. Daily injections of 50mg of repositol progesterone beginning 0–12 days before ovariectomy maintained pregnancy after the 66th day. Smaller daily injections of either repositol progesterone or Delalutin were more satisfactory in maintaining pregnancy than larger, less frequent injections. Neither repositol progesterone nor Delalutin maintained pregnancy when 500mg were injected weekly. When repositol progesterone was withdrawn more than six days before parturition (expected at 279 days), the placentae were retained in all cases and were very difficult to remove 48 to 60 hr later. When repositol progesterone or Delalutin was withdrawn at 274–278 days, normal parturition occurred in two to six days. Total progesterone and its concentration in the corpus luteum was significantly increased (P 4 -pregnene-20- β -ol-3-one was unaffected, being slightly higher in the untreated cows. There was also a consistent increase in progesterone concentration in the ovaries minus the corpus luteum for the treated cows, as compared with untreated cows (P


Statistical relational learning (SRL) constructs probabilistic models from relational databases. A key capability of SRL is the learning of arcs (in the Bayes net sense) connecting entries in different rows of a relational table, or in different tables. Nevertheless, SRL approaches currently are constrained to use the existing database schema. For many database applications, users find it profitable to define alternative "views" of the database, in effect defining new fields or tables. Such new fields or tables can also be highly useful in learning. We provide SRL with the capability of learning new views.


A health and social care recruitment agency is to continue advertising nursing jobs in Bahrain despite political unrest in the country.


WHEN aluminium alloys are subjected to elevated temperatures their mechanical properties arc affected not only by the temperatures but also by the time of exposure. In order to illustrate the effect of such exposure the most widely adopted practice is to describe the change in properties by means of heat factors representing the ratio of property level after exposure to that obtained in the unhcated condition. Typical carpet plots of such heat factors against temperature and time are shown in fig. 1, and represent strength reductions after exposure to constant temperatures for the indicated times. Stiffness data at elevated temperatures arc usually confined to plots of elastic modulus against temperature and time and occasionally a few stress‐strain curves or tangent modulus curves for specific thermal conditions.


'To picture [the islands], imagine that the continental US were to conveniently disappear leaving only Baltimore and a vast swath of very blue ocean in its place. Now chop up Baltimore into thirty-three pieces, place a neighborhood where Maine used to be, another where California once was, and so on until you have thirty-three pieces of Baltimore dispersed in such a way so as to ensure that 32/33 of Baltimorians will never attend an Orioles game again. Now take away electricity, running water, toilets, television, restaurants, buildings, and airplanes (except for two very old prop planes, tended by people who have


Market-based instruments are believed to create more efficient incentives for firms to adopt new technologies than command-and-control policies. We compare the effects of a direct technology regulation and of an adoption subsidy under asymmetric information about the costs of technological advances in pollution control. We show that the policy maker may want to commit to her policy. The reason is that uncertainty about adoption costs induces the policy maker to set subsidy levels that increase over time; firms, expecting higher subsidies in the future, postpone investment. Direct regulation offers a commitment possibility that allows to prevent firms from postponing investment.


This work is a translation of fourteen selected stories translated from the Yiddish from a book entitled "Der Maggid fun Koznitz". Introductory remarks give insight into the Hasidic movement of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, as well as a focus on Hasidic thought and practice. A brief biographical sketch on the Maggid of Koznitz is included.


Self-testing refers to a way of uniquely identifying an uncharacterized quantum device based solely on certain extremal quantum correlations. It is known that in the ideal case of a two-qubit singlet all the extremal points that can be obtained by measuring the singlet form the whole criteria for self-testing the singlet and the associated measurements. To make these self-testing criteria more suitable for practical applications, relevant robustness bounds are necessary to discuss. However, the previous robustness analyses for these criteria were obtained by the swap method, which may not be guaranteed to be tight. In this paper, we construct a general extraction map applying to all self-testing criteria of the singlet state with two binary measurements for each party and derive analytic robustness bounds for a self-testing singlet in different regions of the boundary of the extremal quantum correlation set. The comparison shows that our robustness bounds are better than the known results and close to optimal for these self-testing criteria of a singlet state with two binary measurements.


In recent years,the medical disputes are more and more year after year,medical disputes caused a lot of troubles in the relationship of doctor and patient.What was worse,there have been violence and other events which are difficult to resolve.It has serious impact on medical and health development and social harmony.Administrative mediation as the intervention of administrative power in the civil disputes resolution system has incomparable advantages that other solutions don't have.This article set out the administrative mediation to resolve medical disputes the advantages and existing problems in China,come up with the idea about administrative mediation system reform and perfection from our national circumstances.


Introduction. Despite modern advances in diagnostic technologies, the problem of Wilson (WD) disease prevalence remains relevant in the world; clinical and scientific interest in epidemiological studies varies in the Russian Federation and in different countries.The aim. To study the prevalence of WD in the population of the Russian Federation and foreign countries at the present stage.Materials and methods. The paper presents an analysis of the results of domestic and foreign epidemiological studies of WD published in the eLibrary, Google Scholar, PubMed, Springer, Scopus, Elsevier, Oxford Press, Clinical Case, Cochrane, Science Direct databases from January 01, 2018 to June 01, 2023 year.Results. In total, 14 epidemiological studies were analyzed. In the countries of North and South America, the prevalence of WD is from 4.1 per 100,000, up to 6.4 per 100,000 and in European countries from 1.44 per 100,000 to 9.0 per 100,000, in Asian countries – from 1.793 per 100,000 to 4.81 per 100,000.Conclusion. Results of epidemiological studies prevalence of WD depended on design and methodology: with using the method of genetic screening of the population for WD, the prevalence rates were much higher and reached 40 per 100,000 in Europe, 19.6 in Asia due to detection of early stages of disease development (asymptomatic forms).


The Zeeman and hyperfine splittings of the emission spectra from mercury vapor lamps are investigated through the use of a Fabry-Perot interferometer. In the absence of a magnetic field, a low-intensity peak near the major 5461 Å emission line can be observed; this yields a hyperfine shift of frequency 12.70 ± 0.19 GHz, consistent with the bHg emission shift of 12.21 GHz. In the presence of different magnetic fields, the major green line is observed to split into three peaks; from this, the electron charge to mass is found to be (2.17 ± 0.29) · 10 C kg . Each yellow line in the 5769


A system of difference equations that arises in population dynamics is studied. Criteria are given for the existence of equilibria lying in the positive cone and for the existence of periodic cycles lying on the boundary of the cone. These equilibria and cycles arise from a bifurcation that occurs as a fundamental parameter R 0 increases through the value 1. Under monotone conditions on the nonlinearities and for R 0 near 1, we derive criteria for the stability of the equilibria and we determine the global dynamics on the boundary of the cone. We show that boundary orbits tend to periodic cycles (all of which we classify into four types). A dynamic dichotomy is established between the equilibria and the cycles, which asserts that one is stable and the other is unstable. We also establish a dynamic dichotomy between the equilibria and the boundary of the cone.


Skin crackers are a very profitable business of skin crackers when run, but many skin crackers entrepreneurs are overwhelmed in calculating the purchase of skin crackers. This study uses the Fuzzy Sugeno Method which is a method used in decision making as well as determining the income of an agency. For that, the Sugeno method is very suitable in solving the problem of determining the purchase of skin crackers


Objective To evaluate the histocompatibility of the hair keratin artificial material and its effect on the organism. Fifty-four healthy Wistar albino rats were randomly divided into 3 groups.Deal hair keratin artificial material,general hair and normal saline were injected into abdominal cavity of rats.On the 15th,30th,45~(th) day,blood was sampled for examination. The effect of different materials on leucocytes and blood plates was significant.Blood plates and leucocytes increased obviously in general hair group.Hair keratin and normal saline groups had no significant difference.No significant difference were found among the three groups on heart and liver function.They all increased in initiatal phase and then fell down to normal.After 30days the activity of GSH-Px increasead obviously and then decnned to normal afer 45 days. The counting of plate and leucocyte maybe used as an index of early rejection.


Sperm cryopreservation technique is a basis of assisted reproduction. However,the additional reactive oxygen species(ROS) was produced in the freezing-thawing process,which damaged the physiological structure and function of spermatozoa,and lowered sperm quality and fertility. At present,there were some studies on the protective roles of antioxidants in the sperm cryopreservation. Some natural antioxidants derived from plants are widespread,high efficient and low toxicity. These natural antioxidants can significantly inhibit ROS production,eliminate the sperm damage caused by ROS,and protect sperm activity and genetic stability. In future,these natural antioxidants may be used as additional ingredients in cryoprotective agent for improving sperm cryopreservation.


Background and Aim:  The question of whether fatty liver might predict impaired fasting glucose or type 2 diabetes mellitus in a longitudinal manner was assessed in Japanese subjects undergoing a health checkup.


Fraud can be a criminal offense, a cause for recovering money damages, or a basis for avoiding or rewriting a contract, will or trust. This encyclopedia entry attempts to define and explain the essence of fraud in everyday language.


Abstract Nanosponges, porous nanocarriers were explored for encapsulation of carboplatin by employing a quality by design approach. Nanosponges were prepared by double emulsion solvent evaporation using the central composite design. Ethylcellulose, 450 mg, polyvinyl alcohol, 2.3% (w/v) and phase evaporation rate, 760 rpm yielded the optimized spherical particles of size 272.92 ± 12.31 nm, PDI 0.390, with zeta charge of −22.3 mV. The entrapment efficiency of carboplatin-loaded nanosponges was 56.27 ± 2.52%. A sustained carboplatin release of 79.03% and 95.94% within 12 h at pH 4.5 and 6.8, respectively suggested that nanosponges could be promising carriers for sustained release of hydrophilic therapeutic candidates. Graphical Abstract


The main aim of this paper is to compare two recent approaches for investigating the interspace between the union of Gevrey spaces Gt(U) and the space of smooth functions C∞(U). The first approach in the style of Komatsu is based on the properties of two parameter sequences Mp=pτpσ, τ>0, σ>1. The other one uses weight matrices defined by certain weight functions. We prove the equivalence of the corresponding spaces in the Beurling case by taking projective limits with respect to matrix parameters, while in the Roumieu case we need to consider a larger space than the one obtained as the inductive limit of extended Gevrey classes.


In this study, amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a-C:H) and Si-doped diamond-like carbon (Si-DLC) films were prepared using microwave sheath voltage combination plasma (MVP) deposition. The thermal stability of the a-C:H and Si-DLC films were investigated by performing an annealing test (100-700oC) in ambient air. Furthermore, the in situ high-temperature tribological properties on the films were investigated by performing a sliding test against a Si3N4 ball at high temperatures (100, 200, and 300oC). Hardness measurements and a tribological test showed that Si-DLC has better thermal stability than a-C:H; however, Si-DLC has a higher friction coefficient and undergoes more wear than does a-C:H in the in situ high-temperature tribological test. Therefore, the failure of Si-DLC is due to adhesive wear, whereas that of a-C:H is due to abrasive wear.


A turbulent entrainment model for the turbulent combustion process in spark-ignition engines is described. The model uses the basic quantities of turbulent flow, i.e., the integral length scale, micro length scale, and turbulent intensity. The characteristic reaction time for a large eddy tau was calculated using the characteristic reaction time tau/sub c/ for the microscale, lambda/S/sub l/, where S/sub l/ is the laminar flame speed and propagation of ignition sites within a coherent turbulent structure. Tau is related to the flame kernel development time and shows similar trends to the ignition delay time. The combustion model is demonstrated by calculations showing the typical trend behavior of combustion duration with equivalence ratio, exhaust gas recirculation, spark timing and engine speed.


Flexoelectricity has become an emerging tool to tailor the material properties. The flexoelectric modulation of ferroelectric photovoltaic (FEPV) properties is of particular interest, because it offers an opportunity to boost the photovoltaic efficiency. In most previous studies, the flexoelectric effect is generated by local pressing or macroscopic bending, which, however, results in a local or weak modulation of the FEPV behavior. Here, a significant modulation of the FEPV effect by the strain‐relaxed epitaxy (SRE)‐induced giant macroscopic flexoelectric effect is demonstrated. Using SRE, giant strain gradients (>107 m−1) are generated and tuned in ferroelectric Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 epitaxial films. Tuning the giant strain gradient can significantly modify the switchable FEPV properties. Particularly, a photovoltage enhancement as large as ≈0.5 V is achieved. It is suggested that the flexoelectric modulation of FEPV behavior may originate from the flexoelectric polarization‐induced depolarization field. This study highlights the immense application potential of the SRE‐induced flexoelectricity in the engineering of functional thin‐film devices.


Tropospheric ozone will increase during the next decades and will reach the critical threshold concentration of 40 nl 1 -1 more often in rural regions than in urban areas. Damage inflicted on plants by ozone can be divided into chronic and acute damage, reflecting different defence strategies of the plants. Chronic damage, somewhat similar to a premature senescence, follows disturbances in sugar metabolism, inhibition of photosynthesis, disbalances in the redox-status and ROS-production in the chloroplast stroma. The acute damage resembles the hypersensitive response which occurs after a pathogen attack. Either the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) or the efficiency of scavenging systems in the apoplast may govern the spread of cell death. Probably, different signalling pathways mediate the plant responses, such as ethylene, salicylate and ROS. ROS production and lipid peroxidation take place either on the plasma membrane or in the chloroplastic membrane and lipid hydroperoxides and derivatives, such as jasmonate, can act as signals for subsequent plant reactions. Both kinds of plant responses, i.e., acute as well as chronic damage, can affect the plants' abilities to respond to further stress attacks.


We analyze (2 + 1)-dimensional gravity with a Chern–Simons term and a negative cosmological constant, primarily at the weak field level. The full theory is expressible as the sum of two higher derivative SL(2, R) "vector" ChernSimons terms, while the physical bulk degrees of freedom correspond to a single massive scalar field, just as for Λ = 0. The interplay of Λ and the mass parameter μ can be studied, and any physical mass—including the conformal value with null propagation—is accessible by tuning μ. The single bulk mode yields a complete set of normalizable positive energy wave packets, as long as one chooses the usual, "wrong" sign of G necessary to connect smoothly with the known Λ = 0 limit. The chiral Chern–Simons coupling leads to gauge invariant linearized curvatures propagating with chirality-dependent masses. Linearized metric fluctuations have a finite asymptotic Fefferman–Graham expansion about the Poincaré metric for any mass value greater or equal to a "critical" one, where various amusing effects appear, such as vanishing of one of the two "vector" Chern-Simons terms and an equivalence between tensor and vector excitations. We also find a set of chiral, pp-wave metrics that exactly solve the full nonlinear equations.


Marx' ideas about law-centred civilizations are mainly reflected in his classification of Asianic Mode,Ancient Mode and Germanic Mode.The first mode features collective ownership of land,autarchy and "village system";the second is characterized by the institution of states,the presence of privatized property and democratic politics;and the third typically pertains to such features as property privatization,"house-economy" system and "federal family." The difference between the western civilizations and their eastern counterparts is derived from their diversified modes of production,and their merging and unification can be explained by the common law in world development as well as the western invasion into the eastern countries.


This paper will demonstrate how microprogramming affects the FFT. An interactive simulator is used to draw comparisons between an assembler FFT, a microprogrammed FFT, and a microprogrammed FFT with a hard-wired multiply.
 The FFT is analyzed in detail and the bottlenecks involved with microprogramming are graphically displayed.


The distributed hierarchical control based on multi-agent system(MAS) is the main control method of micro-grids.By allowing more flexible interactions between computing components and their physical environments,cyber physical system(CPS) presents a new approach for the distributed hierarchical engineering system,with micro-grids included.The object of this paper is to integrate the CPS concept with MAS technology and propose a new control framework for micro-grids.With the analysis of the operating mode and control method of micro-grids,the cyber physical control concepts of ontologybased semantic agent are discussed.Then an MAS-based architecture of cyber physical micro-grid system and an intelligent electronic device(IED) function structure are proposed.Finally,in order to operate and test the cyber physical micro-grid concept,an integrated simulation model is presented.


Madam, World health organization defines oral health as ''being free of chronic mouth and facial pain, oral and throat cancer and other diseases and disorders that affect the mouth and oral cavity."[1] Oral health is essential to the health and well‐being of both the pregnant mother and her baby.[2] The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System reported that just 23‐43% of the pregnant women receive dental care during pregnancy. The rate is a half to two‐thirds of the pregnant in the united states (67%).[3] There is an id a significant differences among the women during pregnancy and after delivery; concerning the gingival condition also it was observed that existing gingival problems are aggravated during pregnancy.[4]


Based on the reconstruction of the chaotic dynamic space and the updating capability of adaptive techniques with nonlinearity of Volterra series. A third-order Volterra filter which is used to detect weak target signal in chaos is investigated. And its SVD- PARAFAC approach is proposed. The method of using the singular value decomposition (SVD) and parallel factor (PARAFAC) decomposition to factor second and third order kernels is introduced in detail. The experimental results show this method has much better prediction performance for chaotic flow than nonlinear normalized least mean square (NLMS) adaptive Volterra filter and can detect out a very weak target signal in chaos when SNR gets to-70 dB. (Abstract)


Hepatic steatosis is the abnormal retention of lipid within the hepatocytes in the form of vesicles. The vesicles can be micro vesicular or macro vesicular. Various factors such as metabolic, nutritional, alcoholic and drugs can induce hepatic steatosis. Drugs such as Amiodarone, methotrexate, diltiazem, expired tetracycline, HAART, tamoxifen, etc. can induce hepatic steatosis over a period of time. Drug induced hepatic steatosis will remain a problem that carries both clinical and regulatory significance as long as new drugs come into the market.


This paper considers the main CO2 power cycle configurations based on the Allam and JIHT cycles. In particular, the authors of the article have proposed new configurations of the power cycle. The efficiency of these cycles is studied as a function of the initial temperature and pressure of the working fluid. The thermodynamic efficiency can reach 65–66%. It is shown that the presence of regenerative heat transfer and the properties of supercritical carbon dioxide have a great influence on the thermal efficiency.


The invention relates to a noise control device which effectively reduces noise of a broad frequency band, including a noise detecting part (11) for detecting the noise from a noise source, a stimulus source control signal device (12) for outputting the stimulus source control signal corresponding to the noise frequency detected by the noise detecting part (11), a stimulus source feeding device (13) for supplying to the stimulus source applying the stimulus based on the stimulus source control signal output from the stimulus source control signal device (12), and a sound absorptivity variable member (14) for receiving the stimulus source supplied by the stimulus source feeding device (13) and changing the sound absorptivity against the noise responsive to the stimulus source.


Introduction: Intermittent systolic overload proved to be superior to traditional PA banding, with a more efficient ventricle hypertrophy, even with less exposure to pressure overload. There is a great interest on the adaptive mechanisms of the retrained ventricle. Hypothesis: This study sought to assess vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in the subpulmonary ventricle (RV) retraining of young goats submitted to continuous versus intermittent systolic overload. Methods: Twenty one21 young goats were separated into 3 groups: sham (no systolic overload), continuous (continuous systolic overload), and intermittent (four 12-hour periods of systolic overload paired with a 12-hour resting period). During a 96-hour protocol, systolic overload was adjusted to achieve a 0.7 right ventricle/aortic pressure ratio. Hemodynamic evaluations were performed before and after systolic overload every day in the postoperative period. Echocardiograms were obtained in the preoperative period and at the end of protocol. After the study period, the animals were humanely killed for morphologic and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression assessment. Results: Both groups had increased right ventricular and septal masses compared with the sham group (P Conclusions: Intermittent systolic overload promotes a greater neoangiogenesis signaling. The association of RV hypertrophy and increased VEGF expression has important implication on the ability of the heart to adapt to pressure overload by promoting a compensatory growth of the coronary vasculature, allowing for a more efficient hypertrophy.


According to physical property of super - heavy fuel oil and current conditions and requirement of oilfield surface gathering process , a burning system has been developed for fault block Du 32 processing station, including XQ - Z/300T burner nozzle, control system, pipe system of fuel oil and atomized medium, and signal interactive processing within the system. Two years' production practice has showed that this burner has performed well, thus providing experience to similar oilfield surface construction and expanding the application scope of super - heavy oil.


A powdered activated carbon-ultrafiltration system was examined as an alternative to conventional treatment for removal of bacteria, turbidity, and organic compounds


This article reviews the major events concerning the "Retailer-Supplier" relationship which happened since 2001,pointing out that the fundamental trend of this relationship lies in the shift from 'contending for benefits' to 'creating benefits'.In addition,the article explains the origin of Slotting Allowance and presents the opinions of domestic and foreign experts toward this issue.The authors also present their viewpoint that the "Retailer-Supplier" relationship issues should be thoughtfully and cautiously approached.


The Impact of Web Text-Back-ground Readability, Retention, Aesthetics, Purpose: This study will be a basic research providing data which can reduce eye strain using monitor and electric media by measuring legibility of text color on monitor. Methods: Total experimental subjects who don't have color anomaly and best corrected visual acuity was over 1.0 were 50 and their mean age was 22.83 ± 1.47. Reading speed test were carried out with 163 words and subjects who could read over 123 words were selected for legibility examination. Monitor background color was white and letter colors were black, blue, red, and yellow for the legibility examination. Results: In case of text color of black, blue, red, and yellow, Event duration(sec) was measured to 41.89, 42.89, 45.32, and 56.28, respevtively, and reading error (number) was measured to 1.94, 2.74, 3.36, and 5.14. Average of fixation duration(sec) was measured to 0.25, 0.26, 0.27, and 0.32. Conclusions: In this paper, event Duration, reading error and average of fixation duration which can measure the legibility was reduced in a sequence of black blue, red, and yellow.


Objective To understand the status of the current basic-stage teaching of 7-year medical program,analyze existing problems,offer solutions,and provide evidence for teaching reform so as to improve the teaching quality.Methods Totally 819 students(grade one to grade three) of 7-year medical program of a college in Henan Province were surveyed by questionnaire to collect their comments on the current teaching status.Results The higher grade the students were in,the less interested they were in bilingual teaching and laboratory classes,and they skipped classes significantly more.Among all the students,only 10.1 percent paid close attention to the latest medical information,42.5 percent of students felt satisfied with the 7-year program.Students expected to have problem-based learning and communicate more with the teachers.Conclusion Schools should reform bilingual teaching and laboratory teaching according to different grades,try problem-based learning,enhance more student-teacher communications,guide students to broaden their horizon and pay more attention to new medical information.


DC electronic current transformer is the data source of the system control and protection device, so its measurement delay has always been concerned. In this paper, the DC current transformer is modelled equivalently and the key factors affecting the delay of shunt and the remote module are analyzed. A field test method for the delay characteristics of the DC electronic current transformer is proposed. Moreover, a complex multi-state large current generator and integrated test system are developed. On the basis of the IEC 60044-8 standard transmission protocol, the accuracy of standard signal acquisition with the shunt is better than 0.2%. The maximum output current of the established testing system is 600 A. Based on the field test in an actual HVDC project, transient step and various frequency signal components are applied for analyzing.


To understand what organizations do which brings about successful digital transformation (DX), a review of representative literature was performed. From a total of 89 articles, 16 single-case articles which sufficiently documented end-to-end DX success stories of 10 exemplar organizations were selected. Within case content analysis and asking the questions analytical procedure were employed to code each exemplar case, where a total of 174 attributes were found. Making the comparisons procedure was employed to build thematic higher-level categories by grouping similar attributes. Cross case content analysis was employed to determine presence strength of attributes in the category groupings. A list of 7 success factors and 23 subfactors emerged from the thematic groupings. These success factors constitute the initial steps towards building a DX framework which organizations seeking to embark on successful digital transformation journeys can adopt.


General methods of detection or determination of gelatin in yogurt are the qualitative test of the AOAC and the determinative test of hydroxyproline. However, these methods are only qualitative or time consuming. The electrophoretic determination of gelatin in yogurt on cellulose acetate strips was studied as an easier method for direct detection and determination, and the following results were obtained. It was possible to determine the gelatin content accurately by the following procedure. After removal of casein from yogurt by isoelectric precipitation with sodium acetate solution, the filtrate was spotted on a cellulose acetate strip. Electrophoresis was conducted in 0.05M Na2B4 O7-NaOH buffer (pH 10) and stained by Coomassie Brilliant Blue R-250. After destaining and drying, the gelatin content was determined by densitometry at 550nm. It was able to distiguish between alkali processed gelatin and acid processed gelatin from their electrophoretic mobilities by this method. The recoveryies of gelatin added to yogurts were 80~110%. The calibration curve gave linearity in the range of 0.1~1.0% of gelatin in yogurt. (Received May 4, 1984)


In view of the synchronous motor variable-frequency adjustable-speed system of large-scale coal mine hoist equipment,this thesis conductes the thorough research to the direct torque control system of high power synchronous ma-chine,and carries on the performance test to the actual system.The test result expressed this system performance is excel-lent;the lifting efficiency obviously is higher than the same type equipment,and the energy consumption drops large scale.In order to digest and assimilate advanced variable-frequency adjustable-speed technology of import equipment better,the paper provides the theory and the technical support for new built mine hoist electrical control system as well as its do-mestic manufacture.


Government imposes impact fees and exactions on the land development process in order to pay for public facilities needed to service a particular project. To the extent that the fee or exaction exceeds the land developer's proportionate share of the facility's cost, the levy is an unconstitutional taking of property. Courts scrutinize the calculations for imposing such fees and exactions by government, particularly if they are "ad hoc". It is therefore useful, if not necessary, for government to "regularize" the land development condition process through appropriate local ordinances.


In this article, we propose a strategy for the design of a wireless power transfer system consisting of a class-E inverter, a half-bridge class-DE rectifier, and two coupled coils. The system is optimized for maximum power transfer efficiency. The design is validated via a case study, for which a wireless power transfer link to a neuroprosthesis was designed. After circuit simulations, a prototype was realized and measured. There is a good agreement between the calculated, simulated and measured voltages and currents. The prototype delivers <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\text {80}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> mW, <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\text {7}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> V to a biomedical implant at <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\text {6.78}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> MHz, the transfer efficiency is <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\text {52}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> to 68%, depending on the alignment. The end-to-end efficiency, with the controller and gate driver also taken into account, is <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\text {39}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> to 57%. Electromagnetic and thermal simulations were performed to verify compliance with relevant safety regulations on specific absorption rate (SAR) levels, magnetic field strength, and heat generation in the implant, for separation distances between the coils of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\text {8}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> to <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\text {15}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> mm, and transverse misalignment from <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\text {0}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> to <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text {15}$</tex-math></inline-formula> mm.


The research on standard indicators processing and service system is an important exploration of the knowledge management and service of standard literature.Based on the investigation on business of standard indicators processing and retrieval,this paper elaborates the system design,system deployment and apphcation of standard indicators processing and retrieval.


Pump and treat (PT in the second tier, we used multivariate analysis include principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least square regression (PLSR) to identify the spatial and temporal pattern in the monitoring data, and to construct a statistical model to predict future contaminant levels; in the third tier, we used MODFLOW, a USGS developed finite-difference flow module for aquifer simulation, and interpretation of the hydraulic capture of extraction wells and contaminant migration. Based on the tiered analysis, we designed an improved groundwater monitoring program and pumping strategy. The RPO is expected to save 68% groundwater monitoring cost, and 30% P&T operation and maintenance (O&M) cost.


Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) has established itself as the most preferred and secured cryptography algorithm for the secure data transfer and secure data storage in embedded system environment. Efficient implementation of point multiplication algorithm is crucial activity for designing area efficient, low footprint ECC cryptoprocessors. In this paper, an area efficient implementation of double point multiplication algorithm over binary elliptic curve is presented. Area analysis of double point multiplication algorithm based on differential addition chains method is carried out and area report is generated. Area optimization is achieved by using pipelined structure and by reutilizing idle resources from previous stages in processing unit. The proposed architecture for double point multiplication is implemented on Xilinx Virtex-4 FPGA device. Architecture is modeled in verilog-HDL and synthesized using Xilinx ISE 14.1 design software and is found to be more efficient in terms of area than the existing such architectures.


IMPACT STATEMENT
The higher regenerative capacity of fetal articular cartilage compared with the adult is rooted in differences in cell density and matrix composition. We hypothesized that the zonal organization of articular cartilage can be engineered by encapsulation of mesenchymal stem cells in a single superficial zone-like matrix followed by sequential addition of zone-specific growth factors within the matrix, similar to the process of fetal cartilage development. The results demonstrate that the zonal organization of articular cartilage can potentially be regenerated using an injectable, monolayer cell-laden hydrogel with sequential release of growth factors.


tag=1 data=Asean's trade bloc poses a threat. by Narelle Hooper

tag=2 data=Hooper, Narelle

tag=3 data=Business Review Weekly,

tag=6 data=7 February 1992

tag=7 data=26-28.

tag=8 data=TRADE

tag=10 data=When Australian exporters to the region could be left to flounder, the only common advice is to act quickly.

tag=11 data=1992/4/3

tag=12 data=92/0154

tag=13 data=CAB


The hard magnetic properties of melt‐spun Nd(Fe,M)12 nitrides and carbides were studied. The highest coercivity was obtained in NdFe10Mo2Nx with values of 8.8 kOe at room temperature and 33.7 kOe at 10 K. Other Nd(Fe,M)12N(C)x compounds had similar intrinsic magnetic properties but a lower coercivity than NdFe10Mo2Nx. The low coercivities were attributed to the three soft sources; α‐Fe, non‐ThMn12 structure, and insufficient nitrogenation or carbonation.


Based on the bamboo vinegar,different cold-resistance agents of tea plants were formulated.Through simulating the natural air cooling,the biochemical and physiological indexes related to the ability of cold-resistance were determined after spraying six kinds of cold-resistance agents on three tea cultivars(Wuniuzao,Anji white tea and Longjing 43).The results showed a remarkable correlation between the change of the electric conductivity,soluble protein content,proline content and the cold-resistance in three tea cultivars.Furthermore,the physiological indexes of tea plants in lab and field trial were measured.Formulation B2 could obviously increase the cold-resistance of the tea plants,and maintain the yield of tea plant under cold stress.The results revealed that bamboo vinegar cold-resistant agents could enhance the cold-resistance of tea plant in some extent,reduce the freezing injury of tea plant,and prevent the tea from the reduction of yield caused by spring cold.


This study examined classroom assessment practices of 3rdthrough 12th-grade teachers in a Midwestern state. In addition to determining the frequency with which specific assessment item formats were utilized, the level of use of selected "best practice" approaches to assessment was considered (performance-based assessment, teacher-made tests, and formative assessment). Essays and written assignments were the most common assessment formats reported. There is substantial use of performance-based assessments across grade levels and subject, but traditional paper-and-pencil testing remains the predominant classroom assessment format. Female teachers choose performance-based assessment more often than male teachers. Performance-based assessment is used much more frequently by language arts teachers than by those who teach other subjects and is more common at higher levels than at the elementary level. Though teachers design their own classroom assessments, they routinely rely on tests or items written by others. Formative assessment is not common, as only about 12% of assessments do not affect student grades and 3 out of every 4 assessments are administered after instruction is completed. Implications for promoting quality classroom assessment are discussed.


In the present investgation an overview of face recognization system is presented. An outllook of related work, commonly used image database, face recognization process and application is presented.


ii DEDICATION iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv HAWKING AND BERGER v CHAPTER I – INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Statement of the Problem 2 CHAPTER II – PARADIGM AND THEORETICAL FOUNDATION 4 2.1 Epistemology and Ontology of the Study 4 2.2 Social Conflict and the Death Penalty 5 2.3 A Functionalist Approach to State-Sanctioned Death 7 2.4 Social Construction of Deviant Institutionalized Violence and Labeling 12 2.4.1 The Normative Definition of Deviance 14 2.4.2 Strategies in Legitimizing Deviant Institutionalized Violence 19 2.4.3 Dramaturgics and Privatization 20 2.4.4 Dramatugics and the Reduction of Risk 23 2.4.5 Dramaturgics and the Machinery of Death 23 2.5 The Contributions of Denno (1997) 25 CHAPTER III – METHODS AND SELECTION OF DATA 28 3.1 The 1930s 29 3.1.1 Newspapers 29 3.1.2 Government Documents and Reports 32 3.1.3 Personal Collections and Papers 36 3.2 The 1980s 39 3.2.1 Newspapers 39 3.2.2 Government Documents and Reports 40 3.2.3 Witness Affidavits and Declarations 41 3.2.4 Personal Interviews 41 3.2.5 Personal Collections and Papers 42 3.2.6 Location Analyses 43 CHAPTER IV – UNITED STATES EXECUTION METHODS IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT 44 4.1 Execution Methods in the Pre-Industrial United States 44 4.2 Riding the Lightning: The Electrical Age of Execution 46 4.3 Disfigurement and the Advent of Lethal Gas 52 4.4 The Age of Lethal Injection 55


Rare-earth activated oxynitride or nitride luminescent materials have attracted considerable attention due to their potential applications as phosphors and pigments. Eu2+-doped -sialon has been reported to represent a new class of green phosphors with high efficiency. In this study, -sialon phosphor was synthesized by reduction nitridation of a zeolite. Eu ion-exchanged zeolite was fired at 1400 °C for 1 hour under NH3 gas containing 0.5 vol%C3H8. As a result, formation of -sialon with green emission under UV irradiation was confirmed.


The purpose of this paper is to construct a turning system based on STEP-NC,then to study the implement methods of the two key technology-feature recognitions and program interpretations.According to the STEP-NC basis theory,this paper uses MFC classes,STIX database,ACCESS database etc.for the system construction and program data processing in the VC++6.0 and ST-Developer integration environment.The turning system based on STEP-NC that is built using opening module design,and its basic function includes automatic feature recognition,STEP-NC program generation and program interpretation etc.The feature recognition technology is implemented by using a method based on feature profile and the program interpretation is implemented by using STIX database for the AP238 information pick-up and storage.It's more convenient to use STIX database for the AP238 file date processing in the VC++6.0 enviorment,and the method that used for the feature recognition can recognize simple revolved feature easier,but also has its restriction.


We consider the problem of analyzing the performance of distributed filters for continuous-time linear stochastic systems under certain information constraints. We associate an undirected and connected graph with the measurements of the system, where the nodes have access to partial measurements in continuous time. Each node executes a locally optimally filter based on the available measurements. In addition, a node communicates its estimate to a neighbor at some randomly drawn discrete time instants, and these activation times of the graph edges are governed by independent Poisson counters. When a node gets some information from its neighbor, it resets its state using a convex combination of the available information. Consequently, each node implements a filtering algorithm in the form of a stochastic hybrid system. We derive bounds on expected value of error covariance for each node, and show that they converge to a common value for each node if the mean sampling rates for communication between nodes are large enough.


Using a vision-inspired keyword spotting framework, we propose an architecture with input-dependent dynamic depth capable of processing streaming audio. Specifically, we extend a conformer encoder with trainable binary gates that allow us to dynamically skip network modules according to the input audio. Our approach improves detection and localization accuracy on continuous speech using Librispeech top-1000 most frequent words while maintaining a small memory footprint. The inclusion of gates also reduces the average amount of processing without affecting the overall performance. These benefits are shown to be even more pronounced using the Google speech commands dataset placed over background noise where up to 97% of the processing is skipped on non-speech inputs, therefore making our method particularly interesting for an always-on keyword spotter.


This paper overviews the role of the sports coach is hugely varied, but it mainly involves: Teaching rules, techniques and tactics to beginners. Providing an objective view to help teams and individuals enhance performance. Helping those involved in top level sport deal with enormous pressures faced in a highly competitive environment. Through expert tutoring, constructive criticism, motivation and on-hand support, sports coaches can help individuals focus their minds, hone their bodies and learn their disciplines inside-out to ensure they have the best possible chance of succeeding. Diverse information technologies that are used to provide athletes with relevant feedback. Examples taken from various sports are used to illustrate selected applications of technology-based feedback. Several feedback systems are discussed, including vision, audition and proprioception. Each technology described here is based on the assumption that feedback would eventually enhance skill acquisition and sport performance and, as such, its usefulness to athletes and coaches in training is critically evaluated.


Several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been identified that affect folate and homocysteine metabolism, which in turn are implicated in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease (1), neural tube defects (2), and colorectal cancer (3). These SNPs include methylenetetrahydrofolate ( MTHFR ) C677T (1), MTHFR A1298C (4), methionine synthase ( MTR ) A2756G (5)(6), and methionine synthase reductase ( MTRR ) A66G (7).

To determine the relationships of these and other SNPs with the risk of chronic diseases, along with possible interactions with environmental factors, large population-based epidemiologic studies are necessary. This requires high-throughput methodologies for SNP determination.

SNP genotyping can generally be divided into two steps: sample preparation, e.g., purification of DNA from blood, and allele detection. To date, great advances have been made in allele detection because novel technologies for DNA analysis have been developed (8). The DNA purification step is required because the enzymes used for manipulation of DNA (e.g., polymerases) are susceptible to inhibition by substrate impurities. Purification of DNA is often labor-intensive, time-consuming, and costly and enhances the risk of back- or cross-contamination of samples. The development of automated DNA purification methods has been aimed at alleviating some of these problems (9), but may increase the need for expensive equipment. Other researchers have investigated the feasibility of PCR amplification without prior DNA purification (10)(11)(12).

Allele-detection methods based on real-time PCR are attractive because signal amplification and allele detection are accomplished in a single, closed tube (13). For this type of assay, DNA purification seems mandatory because blood constituents such …


Denture stomatitis disease that occurs in elderly prevented by maintenance and cleaning dentures. Denture stomatitis caused plaque and microorganisms C. albicans that accumulate on surface acrylic resin denture base. Alpinia galanga (L) Willd contains essential oils that are antifungal compounds. This study to determine effectiveness of Alpinia galanga extract to the C. albicans growth on acrylic resin denture plate. This study there was acrylic resin plates 10x10x2 mm soaked in solution of Alpinia galanga (L) Willd extracts concentration 70%, 80%, 90%, and 100% for 8 hour and clorhexidine 0,2% as the positive control. Taken 0.01 ml dripped on petri dishes that is containing SDA and incubated for 48 hours. Next, C. albicans colony counting and data analyzed with Kruskal-Wallis and Mann Whitney. The results Kruskal Wallis showed no significant difference from Alpinia galanga (L) Willd extract concentration 70%, 80%, 90%, and 100% of the growth of C. albicans. Mann Whitney showed difference between the control (+) with every Alpinia galanga (L) Willd extract. The results of this study concluded that extracts Alpinia galanga (L) Willd concentration 70% is the minimum concentration to inhibit the growth of C. albicans maximally. Keyword: Denture stomatitis, Alpinia galanga (L) Willd, C. albicans.


Quite often scholars are divided when it comes to ancient themes. This is especially so with regard to the historical claims made in the Bible. In this article, I shall demonstrate that ancient history and biblical narrative need not be so juxtaposed. Rather, since they both describe the cultural, social, and political context of humanity's common ancient heritage, it is imperative that we bring them together in a more serious way to better understand that heritage. Hence, the historical claims made in the Gospel of Luke in regard to the census which was carried out at Jesus' birth are examined through historical methods, using both ancient literary and archaeological evidence. By doing so the New Testament and ancient historical records will be brought together to show that Luke's account is more solid than some might think.


In 1910, when specialization was the exception rather than the rule, Sir William Osier, perhaps the foremost would-be ophthalmologist, addressed the Ophthalmological Congress in Oxford. He praised the ophthalmic surgeons, one of the first group of physicians to specialize, for the great achievements in their field, but warned them of the specialist's "tendency to develop a narrow and pedantic spirit." In 1975, when super-specialists in our own field seem to be unacquainted with the rest of the eye, much less the rest of the body, what Osier said then is even more relevant. In the introductory chapter of this book, William Bean, a noted Osier scholar, quotes liberally from the old Master to remind the readers that "the eyes have a head, and the head has a body . . . and these are all part of a greater unity." This book is the result of a conference held at


Multimedia scenarios have multimedia content and interactive events associated with computer programs. Interactive Scores (IS) is a formalism to represent such scenarios by temporal objects, temporal relations (TRs) and interactive events. IS describe TRs, but IS cannot represent TRs together with conditional branching. We propose a model for conditional branching timed IS in the Non-deterministic Timed Concurrent Constraint (ntcc) calculus. We ran a prototype of our model in Ntccrt (a real-time capable interpreter for ntcc) and the response time was acceptable for real-time interaction. An advantage of ntcc over Max/MSP or Petri Nets is that conditions and global constraints are represented declaratively.


This research presents a study on the scenario of primary energy production in Brazil over the period from 1970 to 2018, as well as the main sources that contributed to the national energy matrix. To map trends in primary energy production, Social Network Analysis was applied. Also are presented the mathematical models that represent the variation in the centrality and density of primary energy production. Based on the results and the literature on the economy of Brazil in the period between the years 1970 to 2018, it discuss the movements carried out by public policymakers that culminated in a reduction of investments in the sector, even that demand would always be growing. However, it would continue to be linked to the results of small increases in GDP and HDI. Another result was the evolution and of oil as a non-renewable primary source offer for the entire period of the research. Was perceived the alternation of offers from non-renewable sources that, starting with the predominance of firewood, passing on to the generation of hydraulic energy, the most important for two decades, and the substitution by-products derived from sugarcane, which extends until the year 2018. It was also observed that in the period from 2010 to 2018, the share of supply from renewable primary sources, in percentage terms, it is no longer so distant from the share of offers from non-renewable primary sources, almost even dividing availability for the composition of the Brazilian matrix.


The extended tube‐model was presented by KALISKE & HEINRICH (RCT 72, 602‐632) in 1999 as a novel approach for isothermal hyperelasticity of rubberlike materials. This contribution is dedicated to its further development to finite non‐linear thermo‐viscoelasticity. A non‐linear evolution law and a thermo‐mechanical coupled free energy formulation are the kernel of the phenomenological approach where the elastic material response is inspired by statistical‐mechanical theory. The representation of viscoelasticity is based on a multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient. The Helmholtz free energy of the material is formulated in terms of isothermal free energy functions multiplicatively coupled with non‐linear temperature evolution functions. The non‐linear evolution law for the viscous material branch is solved by applying a predictor‐corrector algorithm with an exponential mapping scheme. In today's literature, several sophisticated thermo‐mechanical material models are available. However, they are built upon a considerable number of material parameters governing the mechanical and thermal material response which need to be identified for practical application. Therefore, particular emphasis is given to an appropriate parameter identification technique for the thermal field. For the latter, a uniaxial extension test is carried out where the recorded data of the temperature field of the rubber specimen under cyclic loading is used for parameter identification. (© 2011 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


Refractory or recurrent infections of skin, nails, and the mucous membranes are clinical signs of chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis, frequently associated with immunological defects. Here we describe a 39-years-old female patient, with familial CMC, that presented with an extensive infection caused by an azole-resistant Candida albicans isolate, successfully treated with posaconazole.


In this paper some key concepts, such as fortune, virtu, and glory, are considered in order to seek clarification regarding the problem of the relation between morality and politics in Machiavelli. The Machiavellian virtu certainly includes a good deal of energy and talent, but does not completely lack moral components. From the concept of fortune we can derive a number of criteria for political action, which form a part of the Machiavellian virtu, which, though distant from the Christian morals of his time, places him within a republican conception of morality. Starting from an inquiry into the concept of glory, we discover how glory is a reward for virtu, but it is not awarded to every politician who is successful in his ventures, but only to those who are able to save their country by benign means.


Summary Needle cast infection caused by Lophodermella sulcigena on Scots pine was inventoried in a fertilization experiment. The nutrient concentration of the needles was also analysed. Some fertilization combinations increased the length of needles. High concentrations of nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, correlated positively with disease incidence compared with the control plots or with the plots on which only wood ash was broadcast.


This article is the result of research carried out with reference to one of
the lexicographical products most relevant to language scholars, philologists
and translators.
Attention in this case is drawn to (historical and current) monolingual
and bilingual dictionaries in the French and Spanish languages to try to put in
place a classification of such lexicographical works.
Knowing what dictionary is in one�s hands facilitates the work of
consultation for linguistic and/or translational purposes. As a consequence, the
object of this article is to provide criteria to the user of dictionaries for
establishing a preference for one work or another according to the search aims
and purpose of activity.


ABSTRACT Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) patterns are used in Evaporative Pattern Casting (EPC). The cost of EPS pattern-making through moulding cannot be justified for small batch production. As 3D printing or Additive Manufacturing (AM) is suitable for small volumes, several efforts have been made to develop these machines for EPS including Segmented Object Manufacturing (SOM) of the authors. EPS is typically processed through ablation or traditional machining, the former using hot tools in the form of profiled axisymmetric shapes, blades or wire. The efficacy of SOM machine relies on the performance of the individual sub-systems, so in the present work, the ablation studies of hot wire slicing of the machine is performed. The kerfwidth and surface roughness determine the quality of the pattern produced by ablation. The objective of the paper is to investigate the ablation process by introducing novel mathematical model to predict the kerfwidth for different power inputs and feedrates, which is further validated with experimental data. Subsequently, an empirical relationship is established to predict the surface roughness (Ra) of the sliced surface by performing regression analysis of collected experimental data. The different cutting zones have also been classified, which gives an overall understanding of slicing mechanism. The average error in surface roughness prediction is found to be around ±10%. With the help of these models, the SOM machine can produce better quality EPS patterns in terms of kerfwidth and Ra value, which finally depicts the quality of final casting produced by EPC process.


In this article, the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and multiconfiguration gas-turbines are used to predict the optimal gas-turbine operating parameters. The principle formulations of gas-turbine configurations with various operating conditions are introduced in detail. The effects of different parameters have been analyzed to select the optimum gas-turbine configuration. The adopted ANFIS model has five inputs, namely, isentropic turbine efficiency ( ), isentropic compressor efficiency ( ), ambient temperature ( ), pressure ratio ( ), and turbine inlet temperature (TIT), as well as three outputs, fuel consumption, power output, and thermal efficiency. Both actual reported information, from Baiji Gas-Turbines of Iraq, and simulated data were utilized with the ANFIS model. The results show that, at an isentropic compressor efficiency of 100% and turbine inlet temperature of 1900 K, the peak thermal efficiency amounts to 63% and 375 MW of power resulted, which was the peak value of the power output. Furthermore, at an isentropic compressor efficiency of 100% and a pressure ratio of 30, a peak specific fuel consumption amount of 0.033 kg/kWh was obtained. The predicted results reveal that the proposed model determines the operating conditions that strongly influence the performance of the gas-turbine. In addition, the predicted results of the simulated regenerative gas-turbine (RGT) and ANFIS model were satisfactory compared to that of the foregoing Baiji Gas-Turbines.


As part of my work, I spend a fair amount of time reading through the websites of educational technology offerings. The other day, while on


The energy industry is facing technological, societal and regulatory pressures. Business Model Innovation (BMI) is regarded as a means to withstand the challenges of the changing industry by leveraging competitive advantages stemming from novel, innovative Business Models (BM). However, BMI theory has largely been developed based on empirical data from the e-commerce and internet industries. Thus, the question arises whether BMI can reach its envisioned potential in a regulated industry such as the energy industry. By addressing the question of how BMI functions in the energy industry in light of its regulatory impediments, we uncover that BMI is hampered by different industry- and firm-level factors. Based on these results, we suggest that BMI theory should be adapted to better account for boundary conditions such as regulation and the type of the firm (incumbent vs. start-up). We contribute to practice by revealing different kinds of impediments to BMI and we contribute to BMI theory by suggesting a research agenda.


A compact Circular Ultra wide Band (UWB) strip line fed antenna with dual band for wireless applications is presented. A low profile antenna contains a circular patch with a truncated ground plane for covering UWB band (3.1 – 10.6 GHz). By embedding a circular arc in the middle portion of the circular patch, additional lower band can be integrated covering Bluetooth (2.4–2.48 GHz). The proposed antenna is designed and built on a FR-4 substrate with a dielectric constant of 4.4 and loss tangent of 0.02, with overall size of 35mm × 24mm. The designed antenna is simulated using CAD-FEKO simulation software of version 6.3 based on Method of Moments. The simulated results are presented and show that the proposed compact antenna has S11 ≤ −10dB with stable bidirectional and omnidirectional radiation patterns across all the relevant bands.


Reputational elite in this article is considered to be not only the most famous, authoritative, "the most meritorious men of the state and nation", the most influential "famous people" (Men of Fame) in the society, awarded in prizes, medals and other evaluational attributes, but every person who has entered the encyclopaedias and "who is who" type of publications. In Western Europe, from the beginning of the twentieth century biographical reference books became a "canonization" form of the most prominent national and state actors in emerging "small" nations, as well as a sign of modern nationalism in the era. The main source of research of Lithuanian state reputational elite in the 1930s is Lietuviskoji enciklopedija, which is the best and only Lithuanian encyclopaedia from inter-war period. The idea for it was first introduced in 1907, but it was realized only in 1931. This encyclopaedia contains fragmentary and some vast and informative biographical articles. Unfortunately, because of the Soviet and Nazi occupations, this encyclopaedia was not finished (10th volume had only reached letter L). Both sources from this period, Lithuanian Encyclopaedia and unpublished Dictionary of Celebrities, intended to include "all distinguished people, without any distinction of nationality, religion, political views", but in fact, Lithuanian ethnical and Catholic confessional criterions of selection dominated. Selection of "prominent people" in Soviet encyclopaedias depended not only on ideological background, but also on profession. Technocrats had much more advantageous positions than "cultural workers". After re-establishment of the independence of the Lithuanian Republic in 1990, the very first "who is who" biographical dictionaries were released. These publications are a source of modern Lithuanian reputational elite research, which possibly would begin in future.


Introduction: An isolated unilateral pleural effusion as the only presentation of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is very rare. This case is an unusual presentation of OHSS after a confirmed respiratory tract infection, with no other coexisting risk factors identified for this syndrome. We also imply that the presence of Haemophilus influenzae in bronchial fluid can increase local reaction to vasoactive cytokines. Case Report: A 32-year-old woman presented at the Department of Reproductive Medicine and Gynaecology of the Pomeranian Medical University after 10 years of infertility with diagnosed hyperprolactinemia followed by bromocriptine treatment. The patient had three IUIs but no pregnancy was achieved. Therefore, ICSI was proposed. After an ovarian hyperstimulation, oocyte aspiration gave 8 oocytes. Although ICSI was performed in all of the oocytes there were 3 fertilizations. The ET of 3 embryos was carried out following 3 days of culture. Three weeks before the gonadotropin administration and a week before GnRH administration the patient had a respiratory tract infection with the most typical syndromes. The infection was treated successfully with over-the-counter medications and antibiotic .Three days after ET the patient was admitted to the ICU with signs of severe dyspnoea. The chest X- ray showed a large pleural effusion over the right lung. Upon admission, thoracocentesis was preformed and 1600 ml of clear fluid was aspirated. The bronchial aspirate showed evidence of Haemophilus influenzae and leukocytes. After three days of standard treatment the chest X-ray revealed no pathology. The patient was discharged asymp- tomatic on the 4th day of treatment. Serum beta-hCG level was negative on day 12 after ET.


Mobility regarded from a Quality of Service (QoS) point of view can be provided by future wireless access technologies with an efficient management of the handover process. The aim of this work is to present a comparative analysis of handover mechanisms in 3G access technology UMTS, Wireless LAN 802.11-g, as well as in proposed hybrid integrated architecture UMTS-WLAN, in terms of QoS parameters: delay, jitter, throughput and packet loss. The obtained results should be useful considering that future unified architectures aim at integrating different types of access architectures for overall better performance.


From the perspective of city, Jiangsu province enterprise energy conservation and emission reduction in the evaluation of performance is studied. First, the energy conservation and emission reduction of performance comprehensive evaluation index system is established. Second, using the principal component analysis method to 13 major cities have the empirical analysis and comparative study. Finally, a comprehensive and three classification evaluation list is given.


Distributed models are generally viewed as the best type of model for evaluating the erosional response of a drainage basin to changes in land use, climate, and other controlling factors. In many instances, however, information about the spatial variability of the model parameters is not available so that, even though the model is spatially explicit, parameters are treated as though they were uniform across the basin. The objective of this study was to compare the results of model runs with spatially variable parameters with those of model runs with uniform parameters. The model used is Cascade 6, a grid-based erosion model which requires data on elevation, saturated conductivity, surface roughness, and soil cohesion for each grid cell. The model was applied to the 45-ha Catsop basin located in the province of South-Limburg, The Netherlands. This loess-covered basin has a gently to moderately sloping topography, and land use is predominantly agricultural. The model is calibrated for peak discharge and sediment rating curve, and calibration is carried out separately with spatially variable and uniform runoff and erosion parameters. Model results indicate that erosion rates for individual grid cells modelled with variable parameters can be predicted from the erosion rate modelled with uniform parameters for grid cells with a drainage area from 1 to 1000 grid cells. Thus, the spatial pattern of erosion in the basin can be modelled over 85% of the basin area even in the absence of information about the spatial variability of the runoff and erosion parameters.


FIELD: chip-cards engineering. SUBSTANCE: antenna on substrate has at least one coil of electric-conductive paint, applied to antenna by template method, two card bodies on each side of substrate, each of which has at least one plastic layer, a micro-chip or module, connected to antenna. Substrate is made of paper and has slits in each corner, on level of which by soldering two card bodies are connected, which allows card to divide in layers in place of greatest bending load. EFFECT: higher efficiency. 11 cl, 6 dwg


Dear Editor, We read with a great interest the article of Scheiner et al. [1] about the association of platelet count and mean platelet volume (MPV) with the overall survival in patients with cirrhosis and unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). They reported that thrombocytopenia and a higher MPV were associated with better outcomes in patients with advanced HCC. We would like to comment on the MPV results of their study. First, the data in the study covered a very long time interval (1995–2016), and in the Materials and Methods section, the authors specified that the Sysmex XE-2100 hematology analyzer was used for MPV measurements. However, this instrument has only been used since 1999 for complete blood counting, and therefore, some data must have been obtained with different hematology analyzers. This is an important issue because it was shown that the various techniques of the different instruments for measuring the complete blood count lead to variations up to 40% in MPV results [2]. More importantly, the measurement times after venipuncture were not standardized due to the retrospective design of the study. After exposure to ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, the MPV increases progressively up to 30–45% within the first 2 h after venipuncture usage with impedance method in complete blood count [3]. The MPV measurements by the MPV measurement times varied up to 12.5% in a meta-analysis study including the 1,181 studies about MPV indexed in the PubMed database since 2012, and this difference was notified as 2–50% in the review by Jackson and Carter [2, 3]. Additionally, Noris et al. [4] concluded that MPV has presently no role in making a diagnosis and defining the prognosis in any acquired illness due to the number of physiological variables such as platelet count, sex, age, and ethnicity affecting platelet size and the poor standardization of MPV measurement. Second, the authors suggested that MPV was associated with platelet aggregation. This is not correct. The correlation between platelet parameters including MPV and the platelet aggregation results obtained with turbidimetric platelet aggregometry was not shown in various studies [5]. Furthermore, there was a statistical difference between the derivation cohort and validation cohort groups according to gender comparison (χ2 statistic; p = 0.006). This must not be ignored because the MPV values may exhibit variations according to age and sex [4]. As a result, a higher MPV may not be related with survival in cirrhotic patients with unresectable HCC. Published online: August 17, 2018


Since 1993 plans have been made by the city of Amsterdam to decrease the number of cars in the inner city, improve the Park & Ride system and develop a system that informs about and guides traffic to available parking space. This Integrated Dynamic Parking guidance system (IDP) will combine the existing dynamic parking guidance system in the inner city (opened in 1994) and the dynamic parking guidance at the Arena Transfer ium/AJAX-stadium (opened in 1996 and complemented in 1998) and will be based on actual parking- and traffic information. For the covering abstract see IRRD E102946.


Underwater gas jet produces a complex unstable multiphase flow field.For establishing the methods to predict the structure of gas flow field,and revealing the development of transient flow and interaction of gas and water.The VOF multiphase flow model was adopted to simulate the flow field of gas jet into water,the structure of flow field had been studied.The results show that some bubbles moved backward along with the reverse swirl in the early time.A peak pressure region was generated which rapidly decayed to ambient pressure arround the pipe exit.During the jet process, complex compression and expansion waves and vortex movements appeared in the two-phase flow field.


What is the vision of the Convergence of Bioscience and Information Technologies? Scientists probe Nature closer than ever before making an information deluge that if managed with computer power will deliver a deep understanding of Nature. Bio-inspired Computation and Bio-mimetic exploit the insight to thrive with real problems that life solved in its history. Understanding of information processing in biological systems is key to the 'Bio-ICT convergence', e.g., novel computing paradigms derive from the information representation and processing capabilities of biological systems or from the computational interpretation of biological processes. Materials Science people also use the knowledge to create new biosensors, immune sensors and Bio-MEMS. The Bio-ICT convergence is hugely powerful but successful only when you participate and present your field of expertise: automatic control theory, cell biology, mathematics, computational science, physics, chemistry or medicine. A fusion of knowledge builds to create new industries in areas as disparate as humanoid robotics, computer science, synthetic biotechnology, and biomedicine.


Southern region growers and advisors were recently given the chance to brush up on irrigation knowledge through the Smartcane BMP program with SRA's adoption officer (irrigation) Andres Jaramillo and irrigation consultant Steve Attard.


The method presented earlier [T. Kikuchi, G. Némethy, and H.A. Scheraga, (1986) J. Comput. Chem. 7, 67] for the classification of patterns of the three‐dimensional folding of a covalently crosslinked polypeptide chain has been extended to nonplanar proteins. The procedure described earlier was applicable only to proteins termed planar, i.e., with a connexity of the crosslinks (e.g., disulfide bonds) that can be represented in a planar diagram. The procedure described in the present work is applicable to any (planar or nonplanar) pattern of crosslinking. The classification is based on a systematic and objective method of enumeration of spatial geometric arrangements of loops (SGAL) using no information other than the location of the disulfide bonds in the amino acid sequence. Various SGAL classes correspond to the presence of different ways of mutual penetration of loops, called thrustings and entanglements. Information on SGAL classes can be of use in structural predictions of folding patterns of proteins.


In the paper,the sorption behavior of monocrotophos on marine sediment was investigated.The sorption behavior of monocrotophos was mainly influenced by the organic carbon contents of se- diments .Partition effect of sediment organic carbon had a major role on the sorption of monocrotophos.Its sorption behavior was fit with linear isotherm very well;therefore its sorption behaviors were preferably simple.Ionic strength(salinity) of seawater strongly influenced the sorption behavior of monocrotophos.Partition coefficients in seawater were obviously much greater than those in fresh water.Temperature has some function on the sorption behavior of monocrotophos.Partition coefficients of isotherms slightly reduced as the temperature increased.


A brief review of experimental facts regarding ac electronic and ionic conduction in disordered solids is given followed by a discussion of what is perhaps the simplest realistic model, the random barrier model (symmetric hopping model). Results from large scale computer simulations are presented, focusing on universality of the ac response in the extreme disorder limit. Finally, some important unsolved problems relating to hopping models for ac conduction are listed.


1 Department of Biochemical Engineering, Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia 2 Laboratory of Neurooncology, Croatian Institute for Brain Research, Department of Biology, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia 3 Department of Oncology, Rebro University Hospital Center, Zagreb, Croatia 4 Ljudevit Jurak Department of Pathology, Sisters of Mercy University Hospital, Zagreb, Croatia


As a typical cardiovascular disease, stroke is the world's second most deadly disease with the characteristics of high mortality, incidence, recurrence rate and disability rate. To improve the stroke predicting accuracy is a necessary measure for reducing the happening of stroke. As a non-invasive and portable method? Transcranial Doppler (TCD) can provide valuable information in diagnosis of cerebrovascular disease by measuring the blood flow speed in intracranial arteries. How to improve diagnosis accuracy performance based on TCD data set is a necessary demand for realizing cerebrovascular disease TCD intelligent diagnosis system. But TCD data set often presents an imbalanced phenomenon for less patients' data over all examiners. This imbalanced phenomenon easily makes a lower predicting accuracy of cerebrovascular patients. In this paper, an improved fuzzy support vector machine model is proposed by combining class center distance and information entropy. The model efficiently utilizes the advantages of class center distance and information entropy. Moreover, the imbalanced fuzzy support vector machine is used by combining an adaptive imbalanced regulator. The different influence of the imbalance regulating factor value on the classification effect were discussed in detail for finding a suitable regulating factor value. A practical clinical imbalanced TCD dataset is used by collecting clinical TCD data for identify the performance of the proposed method. The experimental results showed that the proposed method can get a better classification performance with higher accuracies and G-means over imbalanced TCD dataset than other benchmark methods.


The invention relates to a mechanical recovery horizontal well preset produced fluid profile testing method and a special wellhead testing device thereof, mainly aiming at solving the problem of the downhole testing of a mechanical recovery horizontal well. The invention is characterized in that: the special wellhead testing device comprises an eccentric type tubing hanger body connected with a tubing string, wherein, the side wall of the tubing hanger body is divided into a body and splits which are completely matched with each other, and the splits are fixed on a locking arm which is fixed on the body though bolts; and a corresponding matched cable penetrating a channel is arranged at the splitting seam of the body and the splits, the channel is internally provided with a cable gasket, a spacer and a pressing cap. By being matched with a special wellhead support, under the condition that a testing cable and a tester are pre-arranged in the horizontal well to test a target layer, an oil pipe does not touch the cable during the up and down process of the oil pipe. The method and the special wellhead testing device can realize the produced fluid profile testing of the mechanical recovery horizontal well, and ensure the accuracy of normal testing and data of the mechanical recovery horizontal well with simple and reliable operation method.


This article brings stories of teaching and learning to teach in China into conversation with Aristotle's intellectual virtue techne and its reinterpretations. The intent is to challenge the overwhelming trend of instrumental rationality in teaching and teacher education in both China and Canada. I explore and thicken the concept of techne, one of the Aristotelian intellectual virtues, to understand what is at stake in today's technical approaches to teaching and to imagine alternative possibilities. Aristotelian conception of techne is often translated as technical expertise, craft or skills and could to some extent justify today's enthusiasm around technical concerns in teaching and teacher education. However, some of its contemporary re-appropriations critique and extend the restricted understanding of techne and offer educators a richer, more ethical view of techne and technical thinking in education. An interplay of Aristotelian intellectual virtues of techne and phronesis (practical wisdom) may reconnect techne to the rough ground of experience, challenge its preoccupation with instrumental ends, and assert its moral dimension.


This research has been done during two years and with studying and consistent referring to almost thirty villages of region called" Mukerian" located in south of west Azarbaijan Iran. Data's of this research considering socio-cultural peculiarities of studied rural by using qualitative methods and grounded theory and applying techniques like; deep interviews, oral history and field participation. Theoretically, new theories of modernization and some of theories which related to interpretive sociology have been our guidance and especially Engelhard's theory of values evolution, new theory of modernization and reflexive modernity of Giddens have formed our conceptual frame work. Anyway, observation, studies and " lived experience" of researcher shows the happening of different "objectivesubjective" kind of changes in the " life world" of Kurdish rural under influence of environmental conditions, locating in border age and neighboring with Iraq and Turkey, historical, political and cultural conditions of geographical region called" Mukerian", in different fields; "religious and spiritual values" , all show "modernizing of rural man .In fact we in one side observing " creation of some new and modern traditions' and in the other " modernizing of some old traditions" in Iranian rural community and so in Kurdistan. All such changes guided us toward our field theory which we have called it "rural pseudo-modernism with Kurdish Iranian characters".


Electrical tree, one of the main cause of breakdown in insulating materials, was affected by temperature, applied voltage, frequency, etc. In this study, the toughness of epoxy resin system was improved as GN was introduced to DGEBA/MDA system and the phenomena and mechanism of electrical tree in DGEBA/MDA/GN system under various voltages and temperatures were investigated. As voltages were applied to epoxy resin system, the growth rate of electrical tree showed the sigmoid shape. The growth rate of electrical tree increased with the increment of applied voltages. As temperature increased, the growth rate of electrical tree increased and the phenomena of tree mere more complex.


Summary.  PAI‐1 and α2‐antiplasmin (α2AP) are the principal direct inhibitors of fibrinolytic proteases. Thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI), a plasma procarboxypeptidase activated by thrombin–thrombomodulin to form TAFIa, also regulates fibrinolysis by modulating fibrin. In this study, the relative contributions of PAI‐1, α2AP and TAFIa to inhibition of lysis were assessed. In platelet‐poor plasma clots, α2AP, TAFIa and PAI‐1 all inhibited lysis, as shown by the addition of neutralizing antibodies to α2AP and PAI‐1 ± CPI, a potato carboxypeptidase inhibitor. α2AP played the largest role in regulating plasma clot lysis, but neutralization of inhibitors in combinations was more effective in shortening lysis times, with a maximal effect when all three inhibitors were neutralized. In platelet‐rich clots, a larger contribution of PAI‐1 was evident. Tissue plasminogen activator induced lysis of model thrombi, made from whole blood, was approximately doubled on incorporation of CPI, illustrating a substantial contribution of TAFIa to inhibition of thrombus lysis. Similar increases in thrombus lysis were observed on inclusion of neutralizing antibodies to PAI‐1 and α2AP, with α2AP playing the dominant role. Maximal thrombus lysis occurred upon neutralization of all three inhibitors. These observations suggest that, despite the differences in concentrations and activities of inhibitors, and the different modes of action, the roles of the three are complementary in both plasma clot lysis and thrombus lysis.


In this paper a fast edge detection algorithm based on a simple logic has been implemented for road boundary detection in non-uniform light condition. Road images taken in the campus have been used to test the algorithm. First the image samples are segregated into different segments depending on the intensity. Subsequently standard edge detectors are applied to extract the edges in each of the segments. A logical operation between the edges of the different segments brings out the edges of the final image.


The invention relates to a high-porosity foamed ceramic mainly prepared from silica sand tailing and fly ash and a preparation method thereof. The foamed ceramic is prepared from the following components in percentage by mass: 25-45% of silica sand or quartz sand tailing, 40-60% of fly ash and 15-20% of additive; and the additive comprises 5-10% of sintering assistant, 5-10% of foaming agent and 2.5-5% of adhesive. The preparation method comprises the following steps: weighing the substances according to the designed formula, carrying out ball milling, screening, and adding the adhesive to prepare the admixture; and pressing the admixture into block billets, sintering, and cooling to obtain the high-porosity foamed ceramic. The density of the foamed ceramic is 0.59-0.73 g/cm , the porosity is 65.7-69.8%, the bending strength is 4.0-4.7 MPa, the compression strength is 10.9-12.9 MPa, the acid resistance is 98.1-98.3%, and the alkali resistance is 99.1-99.4%. The foamed ceramic can be used as a building material with the functions of heat shielding, thermal insulation, sound insulation and fire resistance.


This special issue, titled "In and Out of Norden: Dance and the Migratory Condition," focuses on dance moving in and out of a specific location in the world—more specifically the geopolitical region in Northern Europe known as "Norden" in the Scandinavian languages. In the context of dance, the concept of migration has always been relevant. Professional dancers, teachers, and choreographers have been travelling people, and in many cases this professional mobility has neither been voluntarily nor casually chosen. But more generally, whether for economic, political, religious, or other reasons, the mobility of people in the world has been an important factor in the diasporic patterns of all dance genres and forms. In the context of dance scholarship, the issue of migration was brought to the fore when, in 2008, two separate publications highlighted the issue. The essays in the winter issue of Dance Research Journal focused on "ways in which the experience and conditions of migration inform dance performance and reception" (Scolieri 2008, v) in the context of Mexican danzas chuscas, taxi dance halls, and works of choreographers such as Jerzy Starzyriski, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro, and Bill T. Jones. In Migrations of Gesture (Noland and Ness 2008), the contributors addressed ways in which gestures migrate from body to body, from one medium to another, and between cultural contexts of dance practices such as ballet and classical Indian dance. Characterizing the notion of "migration" as opposed to "gesture," Ness stated that migration denotes a kind of movement that necessarily covers ground. "While a gesture may involve no change of the gesturer's place whatsoever, migrations, by definition, are movements that progress through territory, in and through realms that, regardless of their actual size, are relatively vast with respect to the entities doing the traveling" (Ness 2008, 260). More important, the chapters inMigrations of Gesture highlighted that migration may occur in the actual world as well as in a virtual realm such as filmic worlds or the Internet. The years surrounding 2008 were actually a time in which the World Wide Web was increasingly discussed—not least at the annual Web 2.0 Summit 2004–2011 (originally known as the Web 2.0 Conference) in San Francisco, California, US. In line with these discussions, dance scholar Harmony Bench introduced the concepts of "Screendance 2.0: Social Dance-Media," identifying "viral choreographies" as specific dancing in viral videos in which social media users contribute with re-performances of specific choreography (2010). Thus, focusing on ways in which technologies facilitate the circulation and transmission of movements and gestures, Bench pointed to the importance of encounters between bodies and media technologies as an important factor of a general migratory condition.


The chapter is devoted to the legal difficulties military missions face when fighting crime in times of armed conflict. Organized crime is a destabilizing factor that often interlinks with and is particularly prevalent in situations of armed conflict. Multinational military operations are therefore frequently simultaneously engaged in genuine military operations as well as traditional law enforcement and policing tasks and thereby operate at the intersection of the laws of armed conflict and IHRL. The question which law governs law enforcement operations such as counter-drug operations in the context of an armed conflict, that is, in a scenario in which the laws of armed conflict undoubtedly apply, remains contested. What lessons can be learned and how has this problem been dealt with in practice? Can these lessons be transposed to contemporary multinational military operations?


In the context of an intercultural approach in teaching foreign languages, communicative competence is viewed as a complex polymorphic concept that integrates a number of competencies. Sociolinguistic competence (SLC) is one of the most important components for future English teachers. Sociolinguistic competence is the ability of communicating effectively with others at the level of his/her development, aware of non-traditional factors such as the culture, lifestyle, general norms, history and other social situations of the representatives of the language with which he/she communicates, plays a role in ensuring successful communication. The article is devoted to developing the sociolinguistic competence of future English teachers acquired in case studies. And various types of case studies, its components and the conditions of language learning adaptation are considered.


KEATING, PHILIP L. (Department of Geography and Regional Studies, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124-2060). Chronically disturbed paramo vegetation at a site in southern Ecuador. 127:162-171. 2000. The characteristics of paramo (tropical alpine) vegetation were investigated at a chronically disturbed site in Podocarpus National Park, southern Ecuador. Located at 2950 m elevation, this site was most likely covered with forest 500 years ago, but it has experienced frequent anthropogenic disturbances during the past several hundred years. Nine 2 X 2 m plots were inventoried to determine the diversity and floristic composition of this vegetation, and the results are compared to those obtained for other paramo communities examined in southern Ecuador. Approximately 60 vascular plant species occurred, most of which are common in paramo communities located at higher elevations. This community exhibits characteristics of both grass and shrub paramo vegetation, and shrubs are as important as any of the other six life forms present. Finally, I discuss the vegetation of this site in relation to disturbance ecology and other environmental factors.


Currently, we are witnessing the significant impact of industrial activity on the environment. A recent study shows that construction is the third largest industry sector in terms of environmental pollution. One option to reduce these negative effects is environmental assessment of buildings, as well as the used building materials. One of the most comprehensive environmental assessment methods is LCA (Life Cycle Assessment), which includes the assessment of impacts within mode "Cradle-to-gate" which is focused on assessment of a partial product life cycle from resource extraction (cradle) to the factory gate (i.e., before it is transported to the consumer). The aim of this paper is a comparison of the environmental impact of selected material variants applied within modern methods of construction. The comparison will be processed through the results of the case study containing three material variants of family houses construction in term of three selected parameters - embodied energy, global warming potential and acidification potential.


I begin with two confessions. First, music was not my favorite class at school. I cannot even recall what we did there. It did not at all connect with the powerful, meaningful place that music had in my private life, where I loved to sing with my family, and play and sing in ensembles in classes at a private music school. The private piano lessons were fine, but I found no joy in practicing on my own. Music was for me–and still is–a communal experience, associated with personal choice. School did not, and probably could not, provide that. Second, during a recent marketing meeting at the college where I teach and work, I finally said aloud, "I am not sure that I can market a product in which I don't believe." Being a teacher in overcrowded, resource-poor schools where parents are less involved yet more interfering and being expected to conform to standards and to act more as a producer of school ceremonies and festivals and less as a music educator is not a profession I would recommend entering. BoyceTillman's paper offers a model for music education in which the corrective emotional experience, in my own case, becomes a remedial object lesson in the setting of the music classroom and a reason to recommend music school teaching as a rewarding profession. Boyce-Tillman calls us to conceive of music "as intimately related to human society and the environment rather than as a discrete and separated category of knowing." Her position is in tune with Christopher Small's coined term "musicking":


The TESLA Test Facility (TTF) is a user facility for intense VUV-FEL light. The facility is densely equipped with diagnostics, essential in obtaining the necessary beam parameters, in particular the low emittance. However there is no dedicated component for alignment of the beam in the accelerating modules, each containing eight superconducting cavities. Large beam offsets can lead to an increase of the beam emittance. The centering of the beam in these modules is therefore important, mostly at the low energy end. A misalignment of the first TTF module with respect to the gun axis has already been observed using cavity dipole modes. This paper presents the experimental results of the optimization of the beam injection into the first module, based on the monitoring of dipole modes through the couplers installed for wakefield damping. For this we use a spectrum analyzer together with a multiplexer. By scanning the beam position and tilt with two pairs of steerers, we can find the trajectory which minimizes the dipole modes amplitude. The impact of the beam steering in the module on the beam is discussed. A time domain setup is also being presented.