From the literary inception of what would eventually become the cowboy, his portrayal was not natural. Rather, it was as carefully constructed as Frederick Jackson Turner's social evolutionary settlement theory, set forth in his 1894 essay, "The Significance of the Frontier in American History." So how did America come to the belief that the cowboy was uniquely American, and why was the belief necessary? The connection between the English knight of the Middle Ages and the American cowboy of the late nineteenth century provides answers to these questions, for the connection demonstrates the ideology underlying the mythologization of both icons. The archetypes were essential ideological and hegemonic elements in England's and America's paradigmatic cultural shifts as the countries moved toward nationalism, industrialism, and capitalism.In his essay, Turner makes two significant rhetorical moves that contribute to the creation of Ernest Gellner's nationalist sentiment. First, he details the settlement pattern of the region in the West that he specifies as the frontier, immediately then declaring the frontier gone; and second, he asserts that the future of the country will be "decided in the West" (Turner 38). Turner writes of the "salt trail" as the natural evolutionary route of the settling of the American frontier. According to Jackson's theory, the animals followed the salt, the Native Americans followed the animals, the trappers followed the Native Americans, and so on until, decades later, the farmer arrived and the frontier was gone (24). Once the frontier is an historical relic, it can become a space for historical reconstruction through nostalgia for its existence. Thus, Turner's rhetorical moves open a space for the mythologization of the American West and one of its primary inhabitants: the American cowboy.In the same way that Turner depicts westward movement as a natural social evolution, so have western writers portrayed the western hero very naturally as a man who sought "movement, isolation, change,...fresh beginnings," according to William Bevis' "Region, Power, Place" (29). Furthermore, in The American Adam: Innocence, Tragedy and Tradition in the Nineteenth Century, R.W.B. Lewis coined the term "American Adam" in reference to the cowboy and noted, "It is the birth of an archetypal, still finely individualized character, which [D.H.] Lawrence identifies as 'the essential American soul...an isolate, almost selfless, stoic, enduring man'" (104). Lewis claimed that the archetype - the American Adam - was "birth[ed] on American soil" and in the American imagination the late nineteenth/turn of the century cowboy came to be perceived as a uniquely American creation. Hence, the mythological construction of the cowboy, built on the foundation of the medieval English knight, was a crucial element in the creation of nationalist sentiment in post-Civil War America.A "nation" and all of its accompanying ideals does not occur either naturally or by accident. It is framed by design, according to Gellner in Nations and Nationalisms (125). Gellner contends that nationalist movements have specific requirements, such as "congruence" between the political/national system and social and cultural structures (125). He defines the conditions under which nationalist movements occur: "Nationalist sentiment is the feeling of anger aroused by the violation of the [nationalist] principle, or the feeling of satisfaction aroused by its fulfillment. A nationalist movement is one actuated by a sentiment of this kind" (1). To put it in Raymond William's terms, the knight and the cowboy are hegemonic cultural figures, meaning that they offer "adequate organization and interconnection of otherwise separated and even disparate meanings, values and practices," and that they serve as "living resolutions - in the broadest sense, political resolutions - of specific economic realities" (7). The knight and the cowboy, as archetypes, evoke images of what the nation should be and appeal to disparate - and would-be warring - cultural factions and economic classes. …


Gratings with variable periods (chirped gratings) have been fabricated by recording the interference pattern of a collimated laser beam with a converging beam generated by a cylindrical lens. An analysis is presented for the behavior of the chirped gratings as a function of wavelength, the angle between the illuminating beams, the F number of the lens, and its position. To calculate the power radiated into air, the coupled-mode equations are solved for the case of a waveguide with chirped surface corrugation. Experimentally, chirped gratings have been etched on the surface of an optical waveguide and used to couple light out of the waveguide. It was found that the light was focused outside the waveguide, and the fraction of the power radiated into air compared favorably with the theoretical calculation. The focal point outside the waveguide was found to move by about 1 cm when the wavelength was changed by 500 A-in agreement with theoretical estimates.


A mobile transducermeshwork is a wireless transducermeshwork where panel points can moveflexibly and interact with the physical environment. Mobile panel points have the ability tosense, compute, and communicate with static panel points. Compared with traditional staticmeshworks, the biggest feature of mobile wireless transducermeshworks is the mobility of panelpoints. The main function of transducers is to sense and collect multiple types of datainformation from the surrounding environment. Transducers can be divided into two types:mobile transducers and static transducers. Mobile transducers can collect the surroundingenvironment information collected by static transducers, and then upload them to First-levelpanel points. At the current stage, due to technical limitations, the battery capacity of thetransducer is limited. How to effectively use the energy of the transducer to extend the life cycleof the meshwork is an important research challenge. The main content of this paper is to balancethe energy consume of each mobile transducerpanel point, thereby extending the life cycle ofthe meshwork. In order to balance the energy consume of each mobile transducer, amulti-mobile transducer multi-panel point path planning arithmetic based on genetic arithmeticis used to plan a reasonable data collection route for the mobile transducer. Simulation resultsshow that the panel point path planning arithmetic based on genetic arithmetic can effectivelybalance the energy consume of multiple mobile transducers, and can meet the requirements oftimeliness.


Based on the influence on library from the virtual reality technology, the paper narrates the meaning of the virtual reality technology and its technical advantages, discusses its influence on digital library, and puts forward the development strategy virtual reality technology in digital library.


We prove the following results concerning the combinatorics of list decoding, motivated by the exponential gap between the known upper bound (of O(1/γ)) and lower bound (of Ωp(log(1/γ))) for the list-size needed to decode up to radius p with rate γ away from capacity, i.e., 1− h(p)− γ (here p ∈ (0, 1/2) and γ > 0). • We prove that in any binary code C ⊆ {0, 1} of rate 1 − h(p) − γ, there must exist a set L ⊂ C of Ωp(1/ √ γ) codewords such that the average distance of the points in L from their centroid is at most pn. In other words, there must exist Ωp(1/ √ γ) codewords with low "average radius". The motivation for this result is that it gives a list-size lower bound for a strong notion of list decoding; this strong form has been implicitly been used in the previous negative results for list decoding. (The usual notion of list decoding corresponds to replacing average radius by the minimum radius of an enclosing Hamming ball.) The remaining results are for the usual notion of list decoding: • We give a short simple proof, over all fixed alphabets, of the above-mentioned Ωp(log(1/γ)) lower bound due to Blinovsky. • We show that one cannot improve the Ωp(log(1/γ)) lower bound via techniques based on identifying the zero-rate regime for list decoding of constant-weight codes (this is a typical approach for negative results in coding theory, including the Ωp(log(1/γ)) list size lower bound). On a positive note, our Ωp(1/ √ γ) lower bound for the strong form of list decoding does circumvent this barrier. • We show a "reverse connection" showing that constant-weight codes for list decoding imply general codes for list decoding with higher rate. This shows that the best possible list-size, as a function of the gap γ of the rate to the capacity limit, is the same up to constant factors for both constant-weight codes and general codes. • We give simple second moment based proofs that w.h.p. a list-size of Ωp(1/γ) is needed for list decoding random codes from errors as well as erasures, at rates which are γ away from the corresponding capacities. For random linear codes, the corresponding list size bounds are Ωp(1/γ) for errors and exp(Ωp(1/γ)) for erasures. ∗Research supported in part by NSF grants CCF 0953155 and CCF 0963975. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com, firstname.lastname@example.com ISSN 1433-8092 Electronic Colloquium on Computational Complexity, Report No. 17 (2012)


Introduction: Feand Al-rich basaltic systems are prevalent in the Solar System. This work experimentally determines clinopyroxene-melt trace element partitioning in variably aluminous and magnesian ferrobasaltic systems to better understand the partitioning behavior of Fe-rich pyroxenes. The partition coefficients can be applied to understand igneous processes on, and evolution of e.g., Mars, the Moon, and the Angrite parent body. Among major minerals in planetary interiors, clinopyroxene has a favorable structure to host incompatible trace elements. Clinopyroxene, with a general formula of (M2)(M1)T2O6, readily hosts trace elements because of the large size of the M2 site in the crystal structure, and the propensity of the mineral for accepting charge balancing coupled substitutions. The M2 site normally houses Ca2+ (1.00 Å in 6-fold or 1.12 in 8-fold coordination [1]) and is sizeable enough to fit cations with larger ionic radii e.g., the REEs [e.g., 2-5]. Clinopyroxene-melt trace element partitioning studies have mainly focused on terrestrial-relevant, Mgrich systems [e.g., 6-9]. These studies have found that in addition to the compositions of the mineral and melt, fO2, and pressure (P) and temperature (T), substitution of Al onto the tetrahedral site (AlT), which can charge balance substitution of tri-, tetra-, or pentavalent elements on the M sites, appears to have the largest effect on the trace element partitioning for Mgand Fe-rich clinopyroxene endmembers. However, Fe-rich systems are understudied and existing data suggests Fe may play a similarly important role [5,10]. Deconvolution of the effects of Al and Fe on trace element partitioning requires experimental investigation. To isolate the controls of Fe and Al we measured pyroxene-melt partition coefficients in high-Fe and low-Al, and low-Fe and high-Al systems. Methods: Materials. Two synthetic base compositions were utilized in this study (Table 1). The compositions are modified versions of an Fe-rich ferrobasalt representative of end-stage lunar magma ocean solidification (FR1290; [11]). An Fe-rich composition was prepared with a very low Al content, and an Al-rich composition was prepared with a lower Fe content, Mg# of ~50. Both compositions were spiked with a REE+HFSE+alkali earth element dopant by about 1 wt% (total). They were ground in an agate mortar for 6 hours before being conditioned to IW-1 in a gas mixing furnace at Brown University. Experiments. Experiments were conducted using a piston cylinder apparatus at the University of Tennessee in graphite lined Mo capsules. Three successful experiments are presented, one using the Fe-rich endmember (ferrobasalt), one using the Al-rich endmember (intermediate basalt), and one with a 50-50 mixture of the ferrobasalt and intermediate basalt compositions.


Several formal tools exist that can be exploited to validate early system designs, and that are applicable to problems of the railway domain. In this paper, we present an experience in formal modelling and verification using six di↵erent formal environments, namely UMC, Promela/SPIN, NuSMV, mCRL2, CPN Tools and FDR4. In particular, we model and verify an algorithm that addresses a typical railway problem, namely deadlock avoidance in train scheduling. The algorithm is designed according to a prototypical architecture, the socalled blackboard pattern, in which a a set of global data is concurrently and atomically updated by a set of concurrent guarded agents. Our experience shows that the design of the algorithm can be translated into the different formalisms with limited e↵ort, while deep proficiency with the tools is required to optimise the performance. The current paper establishes the preliminary foundations for the concept of formal methods diversity in the development of railway systems. The concept is based on the idea that, if di↵erent non-certified formal environments are used to verify the same design, this increases the confidence on the verification results. The industrial application of this promising concept requires further research, and appropriate guidelines shall be established to identify the proper formal environments to use for a specific railway problem, and to define an industrial process in which formal methods diversity can be exploited at its full benefits. The paper presents the different models developed, compares the tools employed in terms of ease-of-use and performance, and discusses the industrial implications of the concept of formal methods diversity in the railway domain. Send o↵print requests to:


Many Classical authors such as Plutarch, Seutonius, Lucan, and even Julius Caesar himself have discussed Caesar's conquests of his political opponents/enemies in the Roman senate and other lands. Modern authors such as Dodge, Goldsworthy, Gruen, and others have concentrated on Caesar's personality, his victories and many others. Others have, in analysing this great leader, described him as a strategist, colossus, a military commander, gentle, assertive, cunning and authoritative, among many others. This paper aims to examine his strategy with regard to his securing his position as consul, his defeat of his political enemies in the Roman Senate, and other peoples. This paper argues that Julius Caesar's philosophy of dealing devastating blows on his enemies, not only placed him on a pedestal of victory, it also placed Rome on a platform bereft of incursions from neighbouring peoples, especially the Gauls who were formidable enough to have sacked Rome in 390BC. The paper concludes with the argument that Julius Caesar would have died earlier than 44 BC if he had not adopted necessary measures to destroy his opponents, bringing honours upon himself and the Roman State.


With the development of science and technology,the popularity strength of the network technology continues to increase,the acquisitioning and cataloging mode of university library is gradually changing to the modern mode, which makes the acquisitioning and cataloging be increasingly diversified. This paper, from multiple angles, expounds the changes of and existing problems in university library's acquisitioning and cataloging work, and puts forward some improvement countermeasures for providing the better services for readers in the future.


To date, several mutations that induce constitutive activation of integrin αIIbβ3 have been identified in congenital macrothrombocytopenia. Of these, αIIb(R995W) is the most prevalent mutation observed in Japanese patients with αIIbβ3‐related congenital macrothrombocytopenia.


With its judgment of 29 July 2019 in Case C-451/18,Tibor-Trans (the 'Judgment'), the EU Court of Justice (the 'CJEU') clarified the competence of national courts to hear damage actions relating to…


The risk of pharmaceutical contamination is a growing ecological issue that affects every region of the globe. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate an energy-efficient fabrication of neodymium vanadate integrated with boron-doped carbon (NdVO4/B–C) hybrid composite for the selective electrochemical determination of nilutamide (NT– anti–androgen drug). The choice of neodymium among rare earth metals has significant impact on the electrochemical redox processes. In addition, rapid electron mobility for well separated peaks and defined current potentials implies for an improved active surface area in NdVO4. Therefore, the incorporation of B–C displays substantial enhancement in electronic conductivity, identifying the nanocomposite as a remarkable detecting candidate. The presence of multiple oxidation states of rare earth vanadate embedded on boron doped activated carbon results in high synergistic interactions and advanced matrix structures that facilitates superlative electrocatalytic characteristics including the minimal Rct value (81.32 Ω.cm2), wide linear-range responses (0.001–344 µM), low limit of detection (0.0002 µM), high sensitivity (5.56 µA·µM-1·cm-2), good stabilities, and excellent selectivity. It is noteworthy that the NdVO4/B–C modified electrode provides an outstanding recovery range (±99.91–99.94%) for real sample analysis, thus marking it to be a competitive sensor option for commercial usage.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of emotional intelligence (EI) training and development on the EI profile scores of individual cricketers. 24 players attending the South African National Cricket Academy were randomised to an intervention group (EI training and development intervention program) or control group (no intervention). The experimental design was executed in 2007 and 2008 with different cohorts of players. The EI of the players was measured pre and post intervention using the Mayer, Salovey & Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT). In 2007 the baseline Total EI score for the intervention group was 84.9 and the post intervention Total EI score was 96.6, giving a relative increase of 13.7%. By comparison, the baseline Total EI score for the control group was 81.8 and post intervention the Total EI score was 83.4, giving a relative increase of 2%. In 2008 the baseline Total EI score for the intervention group was 89.4 and the post intervention Total EI score was 101.7, giving a relative increase of 13.8%. By comparison, the baseline Total EI score for the control group was 87.4 and the post intervention Total EI score was 84.8, a relative decrease of 3.1%. The estimated intervention effect for the percentage change in Total EI score over both years is 14.5% (95% CI: 11.9 to 17.2%) and is significant, indicating EI training and development may contribute to increasing the EI profile of individual cricketers.


In attempting a summary such as this one is almost dismayed by the great gaps in our knowledge of even the commonest species. Doubtless many of the gaps in what follows could be filled by a more careful scrutiny of the literature; many more, I am sure, could be filled from unpublished records and observations of the members of this Society; but when all this is recorded we shall find that very much more investigation must be performed before we can so much as give a comprehensive statement for all the species of a single family or for a single species of each family.


Weathering plays a critical role in our daily lives and the global climate cycle. It provides the soils which we depend on to grow food, and over longer timescales, it consumes atmospheric CO 2 which regulates the Earth's climate. Many studies have been completed to understand the rate that weathering occurs at the Earth's surface, including field studies and laboratory studies. However, there is a consistent discrepancy between rates measured in the lab and those measured in the field, sometimes the difference is several orders of magnitude. Despite many attempts to reconcile this difference in rates, we still do not fully understand the mechanisms that create the observed large discrepancy. these differences are a result of unrealistic lab as high water to rock ratios, fluids far from equilibrium, or enhanced available reactive surface area. proposed that the flow path of water through the subsurface provides the main control on weathering in the field; however, lab weathering experiments are typically done in batch reactors or in homogeneously packed columns that eliminate the flow path component. This study investigates how heterogeneous flow paths in fractured bedrock control the weathering rates observed at the hillslope scale using reactive transport simulations. Fractures are modelled discretely and as equivalent porous media to investigate the level of complexity needed to understand the importance of the heterogeneity in the subsurface. Ultimately this research has (1) determined that heterogeneous flow paths in fractured rocks can account for at least some of the orders of magnitude difference between lab and field measured weathering rates, (2) defined fracture orientation and density as important fracture network parameters that determine observed weathering rates, and (3) provided evidence that suggests that many field sites are transport limited.


Laser ablation electrospray ionization mass spectrometry is an ambient ionization technique applicable to plant and animal tissue imaging, live-cell imaging (bacterial and fungal colonies), and most recently to cell-by-cell imaging. This ambient pressure technique uses a mid-infrared (mid-IR) laser with a wavelength (2.94 µm) that is strongly absorbed by water to ablate samples. The resultant ablation plume contains a population of neutral molecules from the sample. Ionization occurs via coalescence of the sample molecules with an electrospray plume above the sample, and the sample ions pass into a mass spectrometer for detection. This direct analysis of the tissues alleviates the need for sample preparation, such as rinse steps, the application of a surface coating or matrix, or solvent extraction, all of which adds time to the analysis and may result in sample contamination or loss. The use of the natural water content of tissue enables both 2D and 3D imaging of plant and animal tissue sections, cell colonies on agar plates, and contact lenses. This chapter discusses the advancements in LAESI-MS technology for imaging applications, and describes the Protea LAESI DP-1000 Direct Ionization System, the first integrated commercial instrument system using LAESI technology for imaging.


Using an in silico (electronic database) subtraction, we identified a new member of the Ret Finger Protein-Like gene family, Rfpl4. Rfpl4 encodes a 287 amino acid putative E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase with a RING finger-like domain and a B30.2 motif. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and Northern blot analyses reveal that Rfpl4 encodes a 1.7 kb mRNA detectable exclusively in the gonads of adult mice. In situ hybridization localizes Rfpl4 transcripts within the ovary to oocytes of primary and later stage follicles and in the testis to elongating spermatids. The Rfpl4 gene comprises three exons and maps to mouse chromosome 7. We have identified the human ortholog, which maps to 19q13.4. These studies suggest that RFPL4 mediates protein degradation pathways important for gametogenesis or early embryonic development. q 2002 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Results and discussion We discovered Rfpl4 in a search for oocyte-specific transcripts important in mammalian oogenesis. We used in silico subtraction to identify transcripts expressed preferentially in oocytes (Rajkovic et al., 2001) and found that expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from the publicly available Unigene cluster Mm.28764 are present exclusively in unfertilized egg libraries (i.e. the sequence did not appear in other EST or non-redundant public databases). We later named this sequence Ret Finger Protein-Like 4 (Rfpl4). Analysis of the Rfpl4 cDNA sequence reveals a 1581 nucleotide transcript predicted to encode a 287 amino acid protein (Fig. 1). The putative RFPL4 protein has a tripartite structure consisting of a cysteine-rich RING finger-like region (C3YC4), a coiled–coiled motif, and B30.2 domains, common features of other members of the RING-B30 family, including MID1, RFP and Ro52. However, RFPL4 shares closest homology with a newly described family of human Ret Finger Protein-Like genes (RFPL1, RFPL2, and RFPL3). RFPL1, RFPL2 and RFPL3 proteins include RING finger-like motifs lacking a histidine residue (i.e. substitution of a cysteine for a histidine) common to RING finger proteins described earlier (Seroussi et al., 1999). The RFPL4 protein encodes a Ret finger-like domain that also lacks this histidine residue that normally exists in the classical C3HC4 RING finger domains (Fig. 2A). A tyrosine residue is substituted in this position in both the mouse RFPL4 and the human RFPL4 ortholog (Fig. 2A,B). Although RING finger domains are known to be important in ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis, as described below, the significance of the RING finger-like domains found in RFPL4 and other RFPL proteins is unclear. The B30.2 domain is a conserved region of approximately 170 amino acids found in RING finger proteins, butyrophilin, stonustoxin and otherwise unrelated proteins (Henry et al., 1997, 1998; Seto et al., 1999). The function of the B30.2 domains is also unknown. Ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation pathways play important regulatory roles in diverse cellular processes, modulating cell cycle progression, intracellular signaling cascades, transcription, and apoptosis (Freemont, 2000; Joazeiro and Weissman, 2000). Degradation enzymes target proteins for proteolysis by the covalent addition of ubiquitin polymers. There are three major classes of enzymes that act sequentially to ubiquitinate, a target protein. E1 (ubiquitinactivating) and E2 (ubiquitin-conjugating) enzymes prepare the polyubiquitin. RING finger proteins function as E3 ubiquitin-protein ligases, transferring ubiquitin polymers from E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes to recipient Mechanisms of Development 112 (2002) 173–177 0925-4773/02/$ see front matter q 2002 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S0925-4773(01)00635-9 www.elsevier.com/locate/modo * Corresponding author. Tel.: 11-713-798-6451; fax: 11-713-798-5838. E-mail address: email@example.com (M.M. Matzuk). A. Rajkovic et al. / Mechanisms of Development 112 (2002) 173–177 174 Fig. 1. Rfpl4 cDNA and its translation. The Rfpl4 cDNA is 1581 nucleotides long, and encodes a 287 amino acid protein. The amino terminus is cysteine-rich; cysteine residues and the tyrosine, which are part of the RING finger-like domain, are demarcated in bold font and tyrosine is boxed. The B30.2 domain is underlined with a solid line. Amino acid numbering is displayed on the left-hand side of the figure, and nucleotide numbering is displayed on the right-hand side. proteins that are thus marked for proteolysis. Few E1 enzymes, several E2 enzymes, and hundreds of E3 enzymes, which determine the specificity of the system (i.e. the proteins to be degraded) have been identified. The RING finger motif, which is characteristic of E3 ubiquitin-protein ligases, is defined by a series of conserved cysteine and histidine residues. These motifs are critical to E3 enzyme functions. Mutations within the RING finger-coding portion of the X-linked MID1 gene lead to Opitz G/BBB syndrome, a defect in midline development (Quaderi et al., 1997). Mutations affecting the BRCA1 RING finger domain lead to misregulated cell division and familial carcinomas (Wu et al., 1996; Thai et al., 1998). Mutations in the E3 RING finger protein Parkin result in autosomal recessive juvenile parkinsonism (Zhang et al., 2000). The effects of these mutations in vivo demonstrate the importance of these E3 proteins. Although it is clear that protein turnover is exquisitely regulated during gametogenesis and early embryonic development, to date no components of a germ cell-specific ubiquitination pathway have been identified. To determine the tissue distribution of Rflp4 expression, we undertook reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Northern hybridization analyses. Oligonucleotide primers specific for Rfpl4 transcripts amplified an intervening sequence only from cDNA of adult ovaries and testes (Fig. 3A). Northern blot analysis revealed that the 1.7 kb Rfpl4 transcript is predominantly expressed in the ovary; the technique was not sensitive enough to detect expression in the testis (Fig. 3B). In situ hybridization shows that Rfpl4 antisense riboprobes hybridized to oocytes in one-layer (primary) follicles and oocytes of multi-layered follicles including antral follicles (Fig. 4A,B). Ovaries from Gdf9 knockout mice are small and contain an abundance of oocytes in follicles arrested at the primary stage of development (Dong et al., 1996); Rfpl4 is expressed abundantly in oocytes of Gdf9 knockout ovaries (Figs. 3B and 4C,D). Since Rfpl4 expression can be detected in testes by semiquantitative RT-PCR, we analyzed the Rfpl4 mRNA distribution there by in situ hybridization. Rfpl4 transcripts are present at later stages of spermatogenesis and are abundant in elongating spermatids (Fig. 4E,F). The genomic structure of the Rfpl4 gene is shown in Fig. 5. It is composed of three exons (258, 295 and 1028 bp in length) and two intervening introns (1.1 and 5.9 kb in length). The ATG translation start is at position 268 in exon 2. Rfpl4 ESTs have been mapped previously to the proximal portion of mouse chromosome 7, corresponding to position 4.0cM (Ko et al., 2000). The human RFPL4 ortholog maps to 19q13.4. In summary, we have identified and characterized the expression pattern of a new putative E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase, Rfpl4. RFPL4 is categorized in a newly discovered family of Ret Finger Protein-Like proteins that contain RING finger-like domains. Rfpl4 is preferentially expressed in adult gonads, and by in situ hybridization, Rfpl4 mRNA is found in oocytes and spermatids. Targeted disruption and over A. Rajkovic et al. / Mechanisms of Development 112 (2002) 173–177 175 Fig. 2. (A) Alignment of RING finger-like domains. We aligned the mouse RFPL4 (mRFPL4) and human RFPL4 (hRFPL4) RING finger-like domains with human RFPL1 (hRFPL1), RFPL2 (hRFPL2), RFPL3 (hRFPL3), as well as mouse ret finger protein (mRFP) which contains a 'classical' RING domain. The conserved cysteines of the C3NC4 RING finger-like domains are boxed. An arrow indicates the position of the conserved histidine encountered in mRFP but substituted in the RFPL1, RFPL2, and RFPL3 with cysteine and substituted in the RFPL4 with tyrosine. (B) Mouse (mRFPL4) and human (hRFPL4) alignment. Human RFPL4 is 271 amino acids long based on virtual translation of genomic database sequences homologous to the mouse RFLP4. The conserved cysteines are indicated with short arrows, and the conserved tyrosine is indicated with asterisk. Fig. 3. Rfpl4 expression in adult gonads. (A) RT-PCR analysis of Rfpl4 transcripts. First strand cDNA from multiple tissues were amplified by RTPCR with Rfpl4L (5 0-gggtgggagggaaaataaaa-3 0) and Rfpl4R (5 0-ggtacccatggagcacaaag-3 0) oligonucleotides as described earlier (Rajkovic et al., 2001). cDNA from ovary and testis was exclusively amplified by Rfpl4L and Rfpl4R oligonucleotides. Actin amplification served as a control. (B) Tissue-specific expression of Rfpl4 transcripts. Fifteen micrograms of total RNA was loaded in each lane and hybridized to either Rfpl4 or 18S cDNA probes labeled with [P]dATP as described earlier (Rajkovic et al., 2001). We detected a signal only from RNA extracted from the 9-week-old ovaries. The 1.7 kb size of the Rfpl4 transcript was deduced from RNA molecular size standards run on the same gel (not shown). expression of the Rfpl4 gene will allow us to understand better its functions in mammalian gametogenesis and development. 2. Materials and methods 2.1. In silico subtraction EST sequences, 3499, from fertilized and unfertilized egg libraries were downloaded from the NCBI database and used to perform BLAST searches of the entire EST database and the non-redundant (nr) sequence database (Rajkovic et al., 2001). Two hundred and fifty-eight of these sequences (7.4%) were shown to match only the original egg libraries or preimplantation embryo libraries. These included the Unigene cluster Mm.28764, later termed Rfpl4. 2.2. Sequen


An artistic concept of a multi-user space is introduced, focusing on the notion of virtual space as a stage setting and on behaviours and interactions of people in an extended gallery space. The notion of user representation is replaced by the notion of user enactment and avatar is treated as an extended body of communication. Several artistic interaction scenarios are presented accompanied by an instinctive and invisible interface environment.


This paper outlines the history of translations of twentieth century Chinese literature in Spain both in Spanish and in Catalan. Not only direct translations, but also indirect versions are the object of study. The evolution of indirectness is used as an indicator to examine the relationship between these two literary systems and to consider the trends of the present globalized literary polysystem. The mediation of Anglophone and Francophone literary systems in the reception of this literature in Spain is examined and questioned. The assumption that indirect translation is a practice that diminishes with the development of cultural exchanges will be proved false. This paper raises such questions as: What was the development of modern and contemporary Chinese literature translations in the 20th century? How have "power" positions developed? What kinds of text are received in Spain? In which direction is the relationship between these two literary systems evolving? Ultimately, my interest extends to the norms that govern the transmission of texts and the nature of the new literary global system.


This article reviews some new directions in the history of writing practices, concentrating on Western Europe and the Americas in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I identify some major intellectual influences on the field, deriving from historiography, anthropology and literary studies. I indicate some important archives specialising in popular writings which sustain the study of the writings of ordinary and semi-literate people. A few selected topics in which the history of writing practices makes a contribution are then briefly reviewed. These are, firstly, the history of correspondence and letter-writing instruction manuals, which introduces two important concepts: the 'epistolary pact' and 'epistolary literacy'. Secondly, I introduce three new works on the development of postal services, stressing their role in forging national cohesion. Thirdly, I indicate how the study of emigrants' writings has contributed to a shift of focus in the study of emigration in general. I conclude that the history of scribal culture can make a significant contribution to socio-cultural history, provided that writing is analysed in its material form, and as a text, not simply as a source of information. Writing practices deserve serious study as a social and cultural phenomenon in their own right.


We characterize the operation of self-pulsating sources made of two optical regenerators in cascade, namely a first regenerator of the type self-phase modulation spectral broadening and offset filtering, followed by a second regenerator of the type supercontinuum generation and offset filtering. The range of operation of this laser is explored as the wavelength and bandwidths of the band-pass filters are adjusted. We also provide experimental evidence that soliton self-frequency shift emanating from modulation instability triggers bursts of pulses at the repetition rate of the cavity. The stochastic nature of sources based on this concept leads to shot-to-shot pulse fluctuations in the cavity, which on average result in a flat supercontinuum extending beyond 1900 nm. Finally, a seed pulse can be sustained efficiently via this laser architecture, and the cavity consequently generates subpicosecond pulses at one of its output.


Family planning has always received some emphasis in the Indian Five Year Plans. Under the Fourth Five Year Plan it receives priority and expanded funding. The program should not proliferate administrators. It is better to function with well-motivated volunteers. There is still a legitimate question as to whether family planning should be considered basically a public health or a medical program. The IUD program should have been established in the gynecological outpatient department of every hospital instead of hiring gynecologists to staff every family planning clinic with its own gynecologist. Then the rest of the program especially the motivational aspects could have been left to volunteer workers and social workers. Training for family planning personnel is discussed. There is also a discussion of the motivational work of family planning personnel.


Power Electronics converters are finding growing applications in industries and house hold devices. The growing automation in industrial applications needs highly complex power electronics systems to process the electric power. The controls of power electronic converters are still posing challenges due to their required precision. Several control strategies are developed and reported in the literature including Pulse Width Modulation (PWM), model predictive control, sliding mode control etc. The development of computational intelligence techniques are artificial intelligence, fuzzy logic, adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system, genetic algorithms etc. The basic idea is to incorporate the human intelligence in the control system so it makes intelligent decisions. The paper presents an over-view of the application of computational intelligence techniques for control of power electronic converters. Computational Intelligence (CI) has been in focus for quite long time, and it is well known that CI techniques c...


Contiene: 1. Introduction -- 2. Land cover in the Greenbelt -- 3. Ecosystem values: Southern Ontario Greenbelt -- 4. Summary of the Greenbelt's ecosystem services -- 5. Conclusions -- 6. Recommendations


Published data indicate that the method of Regge poles can be used for determining asymptotic relations between cross sections of various scattering processes at small angles. Similar relations for scattering processes at large angles were postulated by Pomeranchuk. An attempt was made to develop such relations for certain specific processes --Compton effect on nucleons, photoproduction of pions, and pi -N scattering. (R.V.J.)


The results of corrosion properties research of aluminum alloy AW 7020 (AlZn5Mg1) welded by friction stir welding (FSW) and MIG were presented. Friction Stir Welding (FSW) – a new technology can be successfully used for butt welding of different types of aluminum alloy sheets. In the paper, the parameters for friction stir welding of sheets made of AlZn5Mg1 [7020] alloy were presented as well as parameters for MIG. Metallographic analysis of bonds showed a proper structural construction of both, the FSW and MIG welded 7020 aluminum alloys.The study was carried out in accordance with the requirements of the ASTM G 106. EIS measurement was performed in three-electrode system in artificial seawater (3.5% NaCl). Impedance studies were carried out at the corrosion potential. Changed voltage signal amplitude in the range ±10 mV and frequency range of changes was as follows: 100 kHz – 0.1 Hz. Atlas 0531 EU & IA potentiostat was used for studies.The results of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy are presented in the form of parameters characterizing the corrosion process. Obtained results were statistically analyzed.The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy studies have shown that the joint welded by FSW has better electrochemical corrosion resistance than the joint welded by MIG and the native material – AW-7020 alloy.Original value are received results of the corrosion properties of new method friction stir welded AlZn5Mg1 alloy compared with traditional MIG method and the native material.


Tor](M, N) 0 (respectively, has finite length) for j > i. Moreover, in [3] it is shown that if R is an unramified regular local ring and Torf(M, N) has finite length, R M > 1, then Xi ( N) > 0, and that if > 2 or M or N is torsion-free, then xf(M, N) 0 if and only if Tor](M, N) O, j > i. Thus, the theorem is new only. in the case 1. As usual, we may reduce at once to the case where R is complete and then assume R V[[x2, x,]], where n dim R and V is a complete discrete valuation ring with maximal ideal xV. We abbreviate x x. We write M @v N and TOrV(M, N) for the complete tensor product and complete Tori, respectively, of M and N over V (see [4, p. V-6].) Let S R @yR. S is regular and if we map S R by


An impact of the exciting radiation frequency on the fluorescence spectra parameters of adsorbed molecules has been investigated. Observed effects are interpreted in the belief that electronic spectra of the dye molecules within nanoporous glass undergo an inhomogeneous broadening. In some cases, the found dependences demonstrate a non-monotonic character, that's why inhomogeneous broadening not always might be described with simple Gaussian function. It has been proved that in present case the inhomogeneous broadening appears due to potential variations of intermolecular interactions between adsorbate and adsorbent. The mentioned variations take place due to variable local curvature of the pore surface and coexistence of certain stable molecule orientations on the surface.


The purpose of this field evaluation was to monitor the installation procedures and field performance of a preformed silicon bridge deck joint sealing system, known by the trade name "Silicoflex" (Trademark). This system consists of a preformed silicon strip seal, which is locked in place by a non-sag, high modulus silicon adhesive. The preformed seal is bonded directly to concrete, elastomeric concrete or steel joint headers. One of the projects in this report utilized an elastomeric header as an interface, known by the trade name "Flexcon A/C" (Trademark). Silicoflex (Trademark) is being considered as an alternative, temporary repair maintenance option for existing deteriorated bridge deck expansion dams systems in Pennsylvania. Three project sites were constructed in Pennsylvania for the purpose of this evaluation. One project was monitored at regular intervals over a two-year period. The other two projects were monitored over a one-year time frame. The visual monitoring noted the performance of each expansion dam system relative to debonding, deterioration, tearing, watertightness and surface damage. The performance evaluation demonstrated the system's ability to perform as designed and provides a rapid, cost effective repair option for existing failed bridge deck expansion dams systems. Silicoflex (Trademark) is being recommended for use in Pennsylvania as a temporary repair maintenance option for existing deteriorated bridge deck expansion dams systems.


Let λ* > 0 denote the largest possible value of λ such that the system \begin{equation*}\Delta^2u=\frac{\lambda}{(1-u)^{p}}\text{~in~}\mathbb{B},\qquad0 <u\leq1\text{~in~}\mathbb{B},\qquad u=\frac{\partial u}{\partial n}=0\text{~on~}\partial\mathbb{B},\end{equation*} has a solution, where $\mathbb{B}$ is the unit ball in ℝn centred at the origin, p > 1 and n is the exterior unit normal vector. We show that for λ = λ* this problem possesses a unique weak solution u*, called the extremal solution. We prove that u* is singular when n ≥ 13 for p large enough and actually solve part of the open problem which Dávila et al. left unsolved.


The Cu II atom in [Cu(C 7 H 5 O 3 ) 2 (C 6 H 6 N 2 O)2(H 2 O)) 2 is octahedrally coordinated by N atoms from two nicotinamide ligands [at 2.018(2) and 2.019 (2) A], by O atoms of two salicylate ligands [at 1.9656(19) and 1.9762(19) A], and by trans water molecules at considerably different distances [2.373 (3) and 2.894 (4) A]. Neutral monomeric units are held together by hydrogen bonds through water molecules and N and O atoms of the CONH 2 group of nicotinamide and carboxylate groups.


This paper presents experimental results and model predictions on power harvesting/sensing capabilities of magnetic shape memory alloys (MSMAs). The theoretical predictions are made using a refined thermodynamic based constitutive model, developed initially by Kiefer and Lagoudas. In an attempt to better predict the observed experimental response of the material at high frequencies, dynamic effects are included in the simulation. Furthermore, internal magnetic and external Lorentz forces are also included in the analysis and their effect on the material's overall response is discussed. The experimental program is carried out at frequencies of up to 40Hertz in two control modes, i.e. load and displacement control. A comparison between the simulated and experimental material response and measured voltage outputs, over a range of frequencies, is presented and discussed.Copyright © 2011 by ASME


An electric arc welding device for performing a pulse welding process by a current between an advancing electrode and workpiece where the welder comprises a short detecting circuit for creating a short signal upon occurrence of a short circuit between the advancing electrode and the workpiece and a boost circuit to create a plasma boost pulse after the short circuit is cleared during the time period when the welder is not outputting the peak pulse current. The peak pulse current to background current ratio is high and the duration of the peak pulse is short.


Vagotomy alters regional blood flow distribution by interrupting the tonic central inhibitory effect of cardiopulmonary vagal afferent nerves on sympathetic outflow predominantly to the renal, splanchnic, and cutaneous circulations. We hypothesized that the alteration of blood flow distribution by vagotomy would lead to disruption of the oxygen consumption-oxygen delivery relationship (VO2/DO2), increase critical DO2 (DO2Crit), and decrease whole-body oxygen extraction ratio (O2ER). Nineteen chloralose-anesthetized, paralyzed, splenectomized dogs were submitted to either bilateral vagosympathectomy (n = 7), bilateral vagotomy (n = 6), or sham denervation (n = 6) following baseline cardiorespiratory parameter measurement. VO2 was measured by indirect calorimetry and carotid blood flow by ultrasonic flow probe. Incremental hemorrhages (1–5 mL/kg) were performed to determine the VO2/DO2 relationship. Cardiorespiratory parameters were measured after each hemorrhage at steady-state VO2. DO2Crit was derived from the VO2/DO2 relationship using a best-fit regression analysis technique. The average DO2Crit values of the vagotomy (9.1 ± .54) and vagosympathectomy (11.5 ± 1.2 mL/min/kg) groups were significantly greater than the control group (7.72 ± .43). After hemorrhage had been performed to a point that decreased mean arterial pressure to approximately 70 mmHg from baseline values, carotid blood flow in the vagosympathectomy group was significantly greater than the control group. We conclude that vagotomy disrupts the VO2/DO2 relationship. Vagosympathectomy causes a severe disruption of the VO2/DO2 relationship, probably by the combined effect of vagotomy and interruption of sympathetic nervous system control of blood flow to the head and neck.


In this paper based upon reasons analysis of the hollowing and cracks in mortar floated coat some corresponding prevention measures are proposed. And in view of those failures three materials are also introduced. Author points out that development effort of those new materials and products should be paid more attention.


Magnetooptic (MO) interactions between guided-optical waves and magnetostatic waves (MSW) in Ytmum Iron GarnetGadolinium Gallium Garnet (YIG-GGG) waveguides has become a subject of increasing interest in recent years. As in acoustooptic (AO) Bragg diffraction in which the resulting modulator is called the A 0 Bragg cell, the resulting MO modulator may be called the MO Bragg cell. In this paper, a progress report on the realization of wideband MO Bragg cells with electronically tunable center frequency (ranging from 2 to 12 GHz in separate bands) in pure and bismuth-doped YIGGGG waveguides, and their applications to wideband light beam scanning and RF spectral analysis is presented. I . l > T R O I ) U C T l O ~ A ~ W A V E MAGSE'IOOFTC BKAGG CF1.I. Stmilx to guide&u.;ws acoJ!tnoptic (AO) 1nter3ctions in which the surtace xouctic u'iavej (SAW] induces 3 moving optical grating through the photoelastic effect (I), guided-wave magnetooptic interactions (MO) result from the moving optical grating induced by the magnetostatic waves (MSWs) through the Faraday and Cotton-Mouton effects (2). MSWs are slawpropagating electromagnetic .waves which result from propagation of electron spin precession around a DC magnetic field in a thin film of ferromagnetic material such as Yrdum Iron Gamet (YIG) on a suitable substrate such as Gadolinium Gallium Garnet (GGG). MSWs have their energy confined in a small depth beneath the ferromagnetic film, and can be readily and efficiently generated by applying a microwave signal to a shon-circuited metallic s d p brought into close proximity. The center frequency of the MSW can be tuned, typically from 1.0 to as high as 20 Ghz simply by varying the DC magnetic field. The periodicity of the resulting optical grating is determined by the dispersive relation between the velocity and the frequency of the MSW as a function of the DC magnetic field. Of particular interest to us is a noncollinear coplanar geometry as shown in Fig. 1 in which a portion of an incident guidedIight wave is Bragg-diffracted and mode-converted (TEto TMmode and vice versa) (2). The Bragg-diffracted light is scanned in the waveeuide nlane as the freouencv of the MSW I s tuned. As in the A'O Bra& diffraction i;whiih ;he re&& modulator is called the A 0 Bragg cell, the resulting MO modulator is called the MO Bragg cell (3.4). We have recently realized wideband MO Bragg cells using magnetostatic forward volume waves (MSFVW) in pure YIG * Invited paper. waveguides, and single microsmp line transducers together with fixed homogeneous DC magnetic fields. For example, a 3dB bandwidth of 1.03 GHz with the tunable carrier frequency centered at 6.0 GHz was obtained at the optical wavelength of 1.317 km (3). We have also used the resulting wideband MO Bragg cells to perform light beam deflection and FLF spectral analysis, and have obtained large numbers of deflected light spots and frequency channels (4). In a continuing effon, we have most recently succeeded in the realization of X-band MO Bragg cells of superior performances in Bismuth-doped YIG waveguides (5 ) and the fsst fabrication of waveguide lenses in the YIG-GGG Substrate by using ion-milling technique (6). In this paper, a review on the measured perfomance of such guided-wave MO Bragg cells and their applications to W signal processings is given. 11. MAGNETOOFTIC BRAGG CELL PERFORMANCE


Airway hyperresponsiveness is a principal characteristic of asthma. Although the etiology of increased airway reactivity is not established, the severity of asthma is reflected in its bronchial responsiveness. During viral respiratory infections, airway responsiveness increases in many patients with asthma and even in some subjects without underlying pulmonary disease. Furthermore, these changes in airway reactivity remain altered for weeks beyond the viral illness. This suggests to us, and others studying asthma, that the mechanisms of virus-induced wheezing may relate to underlying features of asthma. In addition, we have found, and will discuss in this article, that a viral respiratory infection can change the airways' response to antigen and promote the appearance of late-phase asthma. Wheezing with viral infection is therefore an important clinical problem and possible model to understand the basic mechanisms of asthma.


THE JOURNAL OF CLINICAL HYPERTENSION 651 A previously healthy 50-year-old Vietnamese female presented May 4, 2004 with vaginal bleeding and new-onset hypertension. She was gravida 5, para 3 with her last menstrual period April 13, 2004. Vaginal bleeding and cramping had been occurring daily for 3 weeks. A May 4, 2004 blood pressure (BP) was 190/90 with a heart rate of 76; 2+/4 peripheral edema was noted and lower extremity reflexes were absent. There was no tremor or skin warmth. Her thyroid was not enlarged or tender. A May 4, 2004 uterine ultrasound revealed a 17-week uterus having grown from 13 weeks since April 15, 2004, representing a 4-week growth in a 2.5-week span. Laboratory showed 2+/4 proteinuria, alanine aminotransferase 88 (normal 5–35 U/L), alkaline phosphatase 177 (normal 42–121 U/L), bilirubin 0.7, platelet count 178,000 and thyroid stimulating hormone was 0.1 (normal 0.35–6.0 international U/mL) with free T4 2.56 (normal 0.62–1.76 ng/dL). Propanolol 100 mg t.i.d. was started on May 4, 2004, before dilation and curettage that same day. Pathology demonstrated a complete hydatidiform mole with grape-like chorionic villi distended with cistern formation in most of the villi, along with moderate trophoblastic proliferation (Figures 1, 2). An echocardiogram showed a minimal pericardial effusion with normal left ventricular size and function. She received a 24-hour perioperative magnesium infusion with a 4-g loading dose and a 2-g/ hour drip. BP, which had decreased to 130/60 mm Hg on IV magnesium, rose again to 174/84 mm Hg. The patient was discharged 2 days later; (May 6, 2004), on propylthiouracil 100 mg t.i.d., lisinopril 10 mg q.d., and clonidine 0.1 mg b.i.d. On May 8, 2004 her physician-husband brought her to the emergency department because of a BP of 200/95 mm Hg (no symptoms were present). Lisinopril was advanced to 10 mg b.i.d. and clonidine to 0.2 mg b.i.d., maintaining propylthiouracil at 100 mg t.i.d. On May 9, 2004, her husband brought her back to the emergency department because of elevated BPs. The patient did not have any complaints and specifically denied any pulmonary symptomatology. She appeared comfortable with BPs of 203/81, 201/76, and 215/81, and a heart rate of 46. Her peripheral edema had spontaneously improved to 1+/4, and she still lacked lower extremity reflexes or tremor. Platelet count was 193,000 with normal hepatic transaminases. A β-subunit human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) from May 4, 2004 of 448,300 mIU/mL (normal <5 mIU/mL) became known on May 9, 2004. Abdominal, pelvic, chest, and brain computed tomography imaging were normal with the exception of 12 bilateral pulmonary modules, the largest measuring 1 cm in the right lower lobe consistent with metastatic disease, along with small bilateral pleural effusions. A total body thyroid scan showed no abnormal uptake but was performed following the iodinated contrast dye accompanying her computed tomography scan. Her antihypertensive medication was changed to hydrochlorothiazide 25 mg q.d., lisinopril 20 mg q.d., metoprolol 50 mg b.i.d., and nifedipine extended release 30 mg q.d., while continuing propylthiouracil 100 mg t.i.d. Methotrexate 50 mg IM weekly was initiated on May 9, 2004. BP on May 10, 2004 was 203/80 with a heart rate of 46. Figure 3 depicts the course of β-hCG, FT4 and BP related to molar evacuation Presentation With Vaginal Bleeding and Hypertension


The briefing objectives are: (1) Explain the SLS current baseline architecture and the SLS block-upgrade approach. (2) Summarize the SLS evolutionary path in relation to the Advanced Booster and Advanced Development NASA Research Announcements.


This paper constructs the continuous-Young optimal weighted arithmetic averaging (C-YOWA) operator and the continuous-Young optimal weighted geometric (C-YOWG) operator based on definite integral and Young inequality. A series of special cases and main properties of the proposed aggregation operators are also investigated. In order to integrate heterogeneous interval data and obtain more accurate prediction results, the heterogeneous interval combination prediction (HICP) model based on C-YOWA operator, C-YOWG operator and Theil coefficient is proposed. The HICP model consider not only the existence of both additive and multiplicative interval information, but also the preference information of experts. Finally, the model is applied to the empirical analysis of wind energy prediction. The comparison of results shows that the established model can effectively improve the accuracy of prediction.


Cerebrovascular disease is the 4 th leading cause of death and the most prominent cause of disability in the United States. While plethora of studies have examined gender differences in terms of stroke risk factors, stroke presentation, acute treatment, and mortality, little research has focused on differential response to post-acute rehabilitation interventions. This study investigated the improvements in adaptive functioning of 358 participants with a recently diagnosed cerebrovascular accident. The Mayo-Portland Adaptive Inventory – 4 and the Community Integration Questionnaire were used to assess the participants at the time of admission and discharge. The differences in pre- and post-treatment scores revealed that female participants were as likely to benefit from rehabilitative services as their male counterparts. Women exhibited statistically significantly greater change (treatment effect) scores than men, but the absolute gender difference was small and may not be clinically meaningful. While current literature indicates that female stroke patients tend to achieve less complete recovery than men, our findings show that they derive equal benefits from post-acute multidisciplinary rehabilitation treatments. In this sample, women participants exhibited more difficulty with psychosocial adjustment (as measured by the MPAI-4), at admission and at discharge from rehabilitation, but did show more treatment gains than men. Though the main research hypothesis was that there would be significant gender based differences in adaptive functioning (MPAI-4) during stroke rehabilitation, the only significant gender based differences were in psychosocial adjustment.


Leasing has been increasingly used by airlines to obtain aircraft. It represents a significant portion of the airline's costs. The leasing cost is substantially associated with exchange rate fluctuations because most contracts are made with foreign leasing companies. In this work, Brazilian airlines' leasing cost was modeled according to, among other variables, the exchange rate. As conclusion, a "exchange rate-elasticity" of leasing cost equal to 0.24% was estimated. Thus, it can be said that a percentage increase in the exchange rate implies an increase of 0.24% of the airlines' leasing cost.


This sociological study investigates how the process of vertical occupational segregation by sex is maintained at the end of the 20th century. It explores the secretarial role and opportunities for career advancement beyond this "pink-collar" occupation within four organizations in England that were self-identified as promoting equal opportunities. The evidence stems from case studies conducted at the BBC in 1992 and at the BBC, Channel Four, Rank Xerox, and Unilever in 1994. Data were collected in three forms: (i) semi-structured interviews; 18 with mid- to senior-level secretaries, 10 with managers, and 13 with personnel representatives; (ii) office observations; and (iii) materials related to the individual companies, Opportunity 2000, and the European Community. Secretaries' opportunities for advancement were found to be rare. A pink-collar wall, rather than a glass ceiling, was discovered, due to a combination of structural constraints and the actions, or agency, of secretaries. This research extends the dual-systems model of occupational segregation by using the case study methodology and by including women's experiences and behaviour within the theoretical framework. This study expands current knowledge about the lives of ordinary working women and the persistent phenomenon of occupational segregation.


An Na+/Ca2+-deficient layer is observed to form on the glass surface region up to a depth of hundreds of nanometers when a soda-lime-silicate glass is heat treated under an N2 atmosphere near its glass-transition temperature. The measurements were performed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy with C60-ion sputtering (C60-XPS) and dynamic secondary-ion mass spectrometry (D-SIMS) with consideration of the mass and charge balances. The increase in the amount of hydrogen is substantially less than the decrease in the total charge due to the loss of modifier cations in the Na+/Ca2+-deficient layer; furthermore, the oxygen concentration in this layer is lower than the bulk value, suggesting that the silanol groups in the surface layer of the glass are dehydrated. A high-concentration layer of Ca2+ is also confirmed in the dehydration layer of the glass heat treated under an N2 atmosphere, suggesting that Na+ and Ca2+ ions migrate inward into the glass via an ion-exchange reaction with protons, which migrate toward the surface from the bulk. We also confirmed that a thicker Na+/Ca2+-deficient layer is formed on glass surfaces with higher water content. Our results suggest that the dehydration of the silanol groups is the driving force of the inward migration of Na+ and Ca2+ ions.


Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (Pst DC3000) produces a chlorosis-inducing phytotoxin coronatine (COR), which has multiple virulence functions in planta. One of the hallmarks of bacterial speck disease on tomato leaves is the formation of necrotic lesions surrounded by chlorosis. The physiological significance of COR-induced chlorosis in disease development is still unknown. In our recent publication in New Phytologist, we demonstrated that COR-induced effects on photosynthetic machinery resulted in the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Tomato seedlings inoculated with Pst DC3000 and incubated in light showed more disease-associated necrotic cell death than inoculated seedlings incubated in either dark or low light conditions. Furthermore, COR suppressed the expression of thylakoid-localized Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn SOD), but not the cytosolic-localized Cu/Zn SOD. In this addendum, we propose a model for the function of COR as a regulator of plant ROS production in different cellular sites leading to disease-associated necrotic cell death during bacterial speck of tomato.


Correct evaluation water resources sustainability of a city or an area is one of the most important way to understand the development potential of it. The paper introduced the concept of social adaptive ability, established a social index system and evaluation method of water resources scarcity, and took Tianjin as a case to evaluate water resources sustainability of it from 1998 to 2006. The results showed that during this period Tianjin was in an extreme shortage of water resources, but due to the social adaptive ability support, the condition of water scarcity had been improved a lot.


An 'artificial' haemophilic plasma for one-stage factor-VIII assays is made by incubating human plasma with EDTA, Na2 to destroy factor VIII, and afterwards removing the anticoagulant by dialysis. Bovine factor V is then added to a given level. In the assay, contact activation is controlled by adding contact product. It was confirmed that factor-VIII activity was destroyed and that the EDTA, Na2 was subsequently removed. The fibrinogen in the treated plasma clotted normally with thrombin. Likely variation in factor-V activity would not be critical. The concentration of fibrinogen and other factors was adequate. Variation between batches was small. The artificial plasma yielded assay results closely comparable to haemophilic plasma in samples with factor-VIII activities in the range 0.01-20.0 iu/ml.


fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) in55families affected! byretinoblas- tomahavebeenstudied usingrecombinant DNA probes derived fromwithin theretino- blastoma predisposition gene.Onlysixfami- lies wereuninformative foranyoftheDNA polymorphisms. Theremaining 49families canbeoffered prenatal screening. Noobligate recombinations between anyofthepolymor- phiclociandtheretinoblastoma phenotype wereobserved. Fourpreviously unknown cases ofnon-penetrance wereidentified. Pre- natal testing fortheinheritance ofmutant alleles wasperformed intwocases andperina- talscreening intwoadditional cases. One fetus inherited thenormalallele fromthe affected parent andistherefore notatrisk of retinoblastoma; thesecond fetus inherited the mutant allele andwill require frequent screen- ingforearly detection ofretinoblastoma. Both perinatal testsshowedtheabsence ofthe mutantallele.


Aim: To affirm that autologous platelet rich plasma is a useful adjunct to early tangential excision and skin grafting to enhance wound epithelization rates and improve scar quality. Methods: The study was conducted in JIPMER Tertiary Burn Care Centerfrom November 2017 to February 2018. The study was purely descriptive in nature and no statistical analysis was performed.A total of 12 patients were included with burn wounds involving 10% to 25% total body surface area. Results: There was 100% epithelization noted at the end of 2 weeks for all the 12 participants. Skin graft take was faster with mean 85.4% take for all the 12 patients within 5 days. Conclusion: Since it is an autologous component, platelet rich plasma is extremely safe and free of antigenic components. It is relatively simple to prepare, less time taking, cost effective and highly efficacious in improving wound healing and improving the efficacy of the traditional techniques like tangential excision and skin grafting in burn patients.


Iff is of the first degree in y', we have the problem already treated. We have seen that the most essential feature of the results obtained is the existence, in general, of limiting cycles: every trajectory which does not end a t a singular point, if not closed, is asymptotic to a closed trajectory or "limiting cycle" (and we can even consider a certain class of singular points, namely, foci, as a special kind of limiting cycles). It would appear a t first sight t ha t if j is of higher degree in z =y ' , we must have something entirely different, but this is not the case. I n a very large class of cases, the new problem is not different from the old. It is solved in the same way and by use of the same principles; the character of the solution does not depend upon the degree of the surface either with respect t o z alone, or t o x,yy and z. It depends upon the properties of the surface, represented by equation (l), with respect t o Analysis Situs. I hope I need not dwell long on what Analysis Situs is. It is concerned with properties which remain unchanged when arbitrary continuous transformations are made. Two surfaces (or geometric beings of any kind) which by continuous smoothing, without any tearing or fastening (think


There are two kinds of academic books: those which are performative of their own argument (like concept albums in popular music; in international politics, RBJ Walker's Inside/Outside may serve as ...


The relation between sudden deafness and viral infection has not been established, though the latter is regarded as one of the causative agents of the former. Six viruses, i.e. herpes simplex, varicella zoster, influenza A and B, mumps and adenovirus are examined with respect to the titers of the complement fixation test in 103 patients (106 ears) for six years from 1976 to 1981. The results are analyzed according to the year of examination, sex and age off the patients, hearing level and prognosis. For comparison, the same examination and analysis were performed in 298 Bell's palsy patients during the same period. Numerous similar results were found between these two diseases. Herpes simplex and influenza A viruses were the main viruses in these diseases. Male patients suffered more severely from these diseases. There are statistically significant differences between the patients above 50 and those below 49 years of age with respect to the prognoses of both diseases.


A number of water balance models are available that use climatological data. Several research workers have used models of this type for irrigation planning. It is shown that this method, which, in effect, synthesizes an irrigation program for the entire period of climatological record, is a powerful tool for predicting irrigation requirements and the economic feasibility of supplemental irrigation. Irrigation requirements are often stated in terms of the probability that not more than a certain quantity will be required in a given year. A procedure is considered by which a confidence level may be assigned to such a statement. Figures and tables are provided to enable a research worker to compute the minimum size of sample required so that a probability statement can be made with a specified confidence coefficient.


Objective To study the accuracy in detecting white blood cell (WBC) by using Diasys R/S2003 urinary sediment workstation and UF-100 urinary sediment automatic analyzer. Methods WBC weretested in 1080 urinary samples by using Diasys R/S2003 urinary sediment workstation and UF-100 urinarysediment automatic analyzer separately. Data were analyzed to get positive rate and it's influencefactors. Results The positive rates of WBC detected by two methods were 37.6% and 45.9% separately.There was significant difference between them (P0.05). The false positive rate was 8.3% by using UF-100 urinary sediment automatic analyzer. Conclusions The accuracy of detecting WBC in urine couldincrease by applying two combined methods or using automatic analyzer to assist microscope examination.


Nematode membrane preparations contain high amounts of low-affinity specific L-glutamate binding sites. The numbers of these sites were increased in 2 isolates, one field-derived and the other laboratory-derived, of ivermectin-resistant Haemonchus contortus and a field isolate of ivermectin-resistant Telodorsagia circumcincta, when compared to control, drug- sensitive isolates. Specific [3H]ivermectin binding to these membrane preparations showed no differences between ivermectin-sensitive and resistant isolates and the number of ivermectin binding sites was approximately 100-fold less than the number of L-glutamate binding sites. Kinetic analysis of L-glutamate binding suggested the presence of at least 2 classes of binding site. L-Glutamate binding was blocked by ibotenic acid, kynurenic acid and β-hydroxyaspartate, but not by ivermectin, argiopine, kainate, quisqualate or NMDA. Competition assays with ibotenic acid suggested that there were 2 distinct populations of glutamate binding sites and that the site with the lower affinity for ibotenate was upregulated in the ivermectin-resistant nematodes. In the field isolate of resistant H. contortus we found no coding changes in the cDNAs encoding glutamate-gated chloride channel subunits HG2, HG3 and HG4, nor were any changes in channel expression detected using subunit-specific antibodies. The low-affinity binding site is unlikely to be associated with the ivermectin receptor in these nematodes.


Seeing from A Visit to Russia and A Record of Ecstasies,we can find that reportage should not express passion in an excessive way,for reportage is limited literature and art creation.Variety is not arbitrariness;reportage can only demonstrate and report one event,one person,one place,one problem and one phenomenon.To make sublimation and creation in the joining point of history development and actual society development and make the reportage marked by the history and time is to gasp the spirit of reportage creation.


Polycarboxylate(PC) superplasticizer was synthesized.And it was applied in different grade concrete and cement-metakaolin-fly ash-blast furnace slag system.It is considered that different grade concrete can be prepared using the superplasticizer synthesized successfully.With grade increasing,the dosage of PC enlarges slightly,but in C30~C50 its fraction is approximate,which is perhaps because that the large chemical structure and retarding functional groups in PC delay absorption process.Metakaolin(MK) can be applied to replace silica fume to prepare C60~C70.In C60 that has low MK fraction,dosage of PC is the same to that of silica fume concrete.However,in high MK fraction(C70),it is necessary to increase dosage of PC.And this is perhaps because of formation of ettringite at very early age of hydration.And this PC was applied in construction of Jing-Jin express railway and D-train line in Beijing successfully.


A profoundly retarded adult, who walked only with assistance and typically scooted on her buttocks or used a wheelchair, was trained to walk without support through priming, prevention of scooting, fading of an apparent support object, and reinforcemenr. The 4.6-m criterion distance was reached in 10 20-trial training sessions; walking was extended to other settings and employed in regular activities. Reasons for the failure to eliminate scooting and a strategy for doing so were discussed.


We propose a codimension two warped braneworld model within the teleparallel $f(T)$ gravity. By assuming a global vortex as the source, we found a $l=0$ vortex solution that yields to a thick string-like brane. Asymptotically, the bulk geometry converges to an $AdS_6$ spacetime whose cosmological constant is produced by the torsion parameters. Furthermore, the torsion induces an $AdS-dS$ transition on the exterior region. Inside the brane core, the torsion produces an internal structure even for a single complex scalar field. As the torsion parameters vary, the brane undergoes a phase transition leading to the formation of ring-like structures. The bulk-brane Planck mass ration is modified by the torsion. The analysis of the stress energy condition reveals a splitting brane process satisfying the weak and strong energy conditions for some values of the parameters. In addition, we investigate the behaviour of the gravitational perturbations in this scenario. It turns out that the gravitational spectrum has a linear behaviour for small masses and is independent of the torsion parameters for large masses. In the bulk, the torsion keeps a gapless non-localizable and stable tower of massive modes. Inside the brane core the torsion produces new barriers and potential wells leading to small amplitude massive modes and a massless mode localized around the ring structures.


Grafting with sheath is an effective measure to increase survival rate of graft tree of masson pine. Using sheath in grafting, the moisture between scion and stock would be close to saturation, and so procedure of healing accelerated and survival rate increased. The results showed a 20% increase in survival rate of graft tree with sheath over without sheath.The growth of tip was heavily out of that of lateral branch, which was one of the most important cause of hindering growth of new tip of graft tree. Thus, if it did no harm to the growth of new tip, nutritive branches of stock would be controlled and pruned.


The electron transport layer (ETL) has an important influence on the power conversion efficiency (PCE) and stability of n‐i‐p planar perovskite solar cells (PSCs). This paper presents an N‐type semiconductor material, (CH3)2Sn(COOH)2 (abbreviated as CSCO) that is synthesized and prepared for the first time as an ETL for n‐i‐p planar PSCs, which leads to a high PCE of 22.21% after KCl treatment, one of the highest PCEs of n‐i‐p planar PSCs to date. Further analysis reveals that the high PCE is attributed to the excellent conductivity of CSCO because of its more delocalized electron cloud distribution due to its unique −O=C−O− group, and to the defect passivation of the Cs0.05(FA0.85MA0.15)0.95Pb(I0.85Br0.15)3 (denoted as CsFAMA) perovskite through the interaction between the O (Sn) atoms of CSCO and the Pb (halogen) atoms of CsFAMA at CSCO/CsFAMA interface, while the traditional ETL materials such as SnO2 film lack this function. In addition to the high PCE, the optimal PSCs using CSCO as ETL show remarkable stability, retaining over 83% of its initial PCE without encapsulation after 130 days of storage in ambient conditions (≈25 °C at ≈40% humidity), much better than the traditional SnO2‐based n‐i‐p PSCs.


Summarizing research conducted from 1994 to 1996 with on-line National Issues Forums, this chapter describes group learning on the Internet and how it can be facilitated.


Introduction: Paediatric injuries have been a leading cause of death for 14% of infants and children under the age of 5 years in SaudiArabia. Objective: The aim of this study is to analyse and rank children injuries commonly seen in an emergency department at King Fahad Medical City (KFMC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during the years 2008-2009 Methods: This retrospective-descriptive chart review study was carried out in a tertiaryhospital (KFMC) in Riyadh. Study sampling is compréhensive. All database of paediatric cases under the category of injury and poisoning who visited the ER during the period (Jan,2008-Oct,2009) were reviewed. The study included 7522 patients. SPSS (version 17) was used for data cleaning, management, and analyses. Results: This study included 7522 patients ages between (0-12). The mean age was 4.4 Years. 62% of injured cases were males. 39.3% of the sample falls between the age 1-3 years. Head-neck-face injury represent the high frequency in which 2872 patients had this injury (38.1%), followed by the upper limb injuries which was 30.3% the lower limb injuries (17%). The lowest frequency for electrical burn in which only two patients were recorded. Admitted cases accounted for 5.4%. Conclusion: Results of this study showed that males have significantly higher predominance of injuries than females. Head, face and neck injuries showed the highest rate of injuries. Were commend an establishment of ED-based injury surveillance that may lead to a national injury surveillance database. ISSN: 2652-4422


has been 17-18 billion m 3. The goals for increasing gas reserves during the Seven Year Plan were not met; however, very important discoveries were made during this period in the northern regions of West Siberia and in Central Asia, i n the eastern regions of West Siberia, and in East Siberia. All this allows us to speak with assurance as to the creation here of a broad base for a gas industry in the near future.


The coach-athlete relationship is considered as the most important interpersonal factor that influences the athlete's training and life.Through the research of the cross cultural CART-Q testing,the Chinese version of the data was obtained.The CART-Q was proved to be practical and reliable in China and valid for studying the relationships between the coach and the athlete.


This article focused on improving student's writing skill and promoting students' good character through Indonesian culture-based story. The objectives are to know how Indonesian culture-based story gives contribution in promoting students' good characters and improves student's writing skill in the second semester students of IKIP PGRI Semarang. This study useD true experimental design. The population is the second semester students of IKIP PGRI Semarang. Then, the samples are 67 students as the samples. The instrument of this study are questionnaire and test; which are given as pre-test and post-test. The goal of questionnaire is to know the students' reflection of good character and the aim of test is to measure the student's writing skill of the second semester of IKIP PGRI Semarang. Based on data analysis, there were some significance improvements of the student's score both of students' reflection of good character and student's writing skill. It means that Indonesian culture-based story can promote students' good character and also improve students' writing skill. From the result of this study, the writer concludes that using Indonesian culture-based story as material is effective and had good effect of students' good characters and also improve students' writing skill. Then, this study is expected to be useful for the teachers/lecturers, students, and the readers. The writer proposes to use Indonesian culture-based story as an alternative material in promoting students' good character and to improve students' writing skill.
Keywords: Indonesian culture-based story, good characters, writing skill


In this paper, we propose a novel design of bandstop frequency-selective structure with ultra-wide stopband based on corrugated structure. The proposed three-dimensional (3-D) structure is a periodic structure composed of narrow metal strip lines printed on regular triangular prisms. The effects of structural parameters on stopband performance are investigated. The simulation results show that the -10 dB fractional bandwidth (FBW) of stopband is 80%, and the angular stability of the structural response is up to 60 degrees for both TE and TM polarization. Moreover, the period of the corrugated structure is 0.2λ, and the thickness along the wave propagation is 0.26λ.


Abstract : This paper discusses the Independent Verification, Validation and Accreditation Process as applied to Extended Air Defense Testbed (EADTB). The process covers logical verification and code verification techniques and both structural validation and output validation techniques. Specific examples from EADTB are included to demonstrate application of the techniques.


The article analyzes the views of the modern Ukrainian historians of the agrarian problem in the Russian Empire in the beginning of the twentieth century. The emphasis is on the question of Pro-government agrarian initiatives. Attention is drawn to the works devoted to various aspects of the history of the peasantry, namely: the analysis of the land relations in the Ukrainian village, the reorganization of the agrarian sector of the economy of the country, social-economic and legal status of the peasants and others. The conclusion is that the modern Ukrainian historiography marked by stable interest of scientists to the Pro-government agrarian initiatives in the Russian Empire in the beginning of XX century, as well as to persons, who took an active part in the solution of the agrarian question in the present time. Considerable attention is given to the works, which is considered the activities of such reformers as S. Witte and P. Stolypin. It was noted that not less actively modern Ukrainian historians to study issues relating to the formation in Ukraine in the late 19th - early 20th century private peasant farm (farm type) in the context of the Pro-government agrarian initiatives in the Russian Empire in the early 20th century, financial aspects of the operation of farms. An analysis of the studies of the modern Ukrainian historiography and the thesislevel. The serious positive changes in the development of modern Ukrainian historiography, that were in the updated methodology of scientific historical knowledge, which is denoted by anthropocentrism, pluralism etc. Much wider than it became the research field, separated, the scientific directions, in particular, agrarian history. Attention is drawn to the fact that touched on in the article the problems still remains poorly understood. In most historians are interested in the socio-economic situation of the peasantry in the early 20th century, its legal status, peasants everyday life, Stolypin's agrarian reform. Pro-government agrarian initiatives in the Russian Empire in the early 20th century are investigated mainly in passing, in the context of other topics.


A male child of South‐Asian descent, the first issue of a nonconsanguineous union, presented to us at 10.5 years age. The child was born full term, without any significant perinatal red flags. Frequent falls and gait instability were first noted at 2 years of age. The child also had history of poor grip over footwear, bilaterally, suggesting distal symmetrical weakness of the lower limbs. He gained the subsequent motor milestones with delay of 8–10 months. He did not achieve urinary or stool continence. There were no hearing or visual deficits, although he was noted to have convergent squint at 3 years of age. The distal‐predominant weakness had a chronic progressive course to gradually involve the hand grip too, over the next 1 year. Further worsening of symptoms was noted at 9 years, following an intercurrent illness, to involve the proximal upper and lower limbs. He was now unable to lift his hand over the shoulders or get up from squatting position. The squint was noted to worsen too. At 10 years, following an episode of acute diarrheal illness, he regressed further. He was subsequently unable to self‐feed, climb stairs or walk unassisted. Since the last 2 months, the child reported feeding and swallowing difficulties. Throughout the course, there were no seizures or sensory symptoms.


A liquid crystal display (LCD) capable of improving display quality and a method of driving the same are provided. The LCD comprises an LCD panel including a plurality of data lines and gate lines and liquid crystal cells arranged in a matrix at crossings of the gate lines and the data lines, a driving circuit for supplying a data voltage to the data lines and for supplying a scan pulse to the gate lines, a timing controller for generating a gate start pulse for indicating a start horizontal line in which scanning starts in a one frame period where one screen is displayed, a control clock generator for counting the number of frames using the gate start pulse and for generating a control clock whenever an accumulated count value becomes a multiple of a predetermined value, and a common voltage generating circuit for generating control data of a specific bit based on the control clock and for generating a common voltage whose level varies in stages per predetermined interval using the control data to supply the common voltage to the LCD panel.


The distribution of respiratory neural drive to phrenic motoneurons appears to be primarily monosynaptic during quiet breathing. Anatomical studies, however, indicate a population of cervical interneurons which is synaptically coupled to the phrenic motor pool. We hypothesize that these cells may be part of the neural substrate which drives plasticity in the phrenic motor system. In this study we used a multi‐electrode array approach to characterize the bursting patterns of cervical interneurons (C3/4) during and following a 4 min period of respiratory stimulation with hypoxia (arterial partial pressure of oxygen ~ 40 mmHg). A total of 95 neurons were recorded from 15 anesthetized, paralyzed, vagotomized and mechanically ventilated adult rats. Interneurons were classified as either phasic (n=13) or tonic (n=82) based on bursting patterns relative to the inspiratory cycle. Based on the hypoxic response, tonic bursting interneurons were classified as 1) excited (n=38), 2) inhibited (n=36), 3) insensitive (n=6) or 4) recruited (n=2). Following hypoxia, 43% of interneurons showed short term potentiation of activity that was manifest by a progressive increase in discharge rate after the acute hypoxic response and a gradual decrease in discharge on termination of hypoxia. Non‐linear regression analyses showed a strong relationship between the baseline firing rate and magnitude of short term potentiation in both the hypoxia‐excited and hypoxia‐inhibited interneurons (P<0.001). In other words, interneurons with a low firing rate during baseline were more likely to show persistent changes in bursting following hypoxia. Our results indicate that hypoxia‐induced plasticity is not limited to phrenic motoneurons but can also be expressed in cervical interneurons.


ABSTRACT This article seeks to explore the British government's perception of the role of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as a method of strengthening cohesion amongst the Commonwealth community, and in particular delves into the constitutional and diplomatic challenges that the British government faced in its attempt to utilise the Judicial Committee in order to maintain close ties with its former Southeast Asian colonies in the 1960s. Suggestions were made by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Privy Council Office from the mid-1960s that newly-independent republics such as Singapore and Malaysia should be allowed to send its citizens to London as members of the Judicial Committee in order to dilute the prejudice against the Committee as a remnant of colonial rule. However, the proposals were rejected by the Lord Chancellor's Office on the grounds that Asian judges were of insufficient calibre to sit as members of the Judicial Committee, and that citizens of republics were unable to swear an oath of loyalty to the British monarch as was required for all Privy Counsellors. The Privy Council Office were of the opinion that a new system could be introduced whereby the Judicial Committee member would not have to be a fully-fledged Privy Counsellor and therefore would not have to swear the oath, while the Commonwealth Secretariat put forward its argument that Asian judges were good enough to ensure standards of the Judicial Committee would not be lowered. However, the Lord Chancellor's Office argued that such non-Privy Counsellors would only be 'second-class' constituents of the Judicial Committee whose rulings would be unacceptable to countries such as Australia and instead proposed the creation of a Commonwealth Court of Appeal which the Foreign Office deemed unrealistic. In the end, no judges from the Asian republics were allowed sit on the Judicial Committee, resulting in Malaysia and Singapore abolishing their appeals to the Judicial Committee in 1984 and 1994 respectively.


Objectives Myopia has a higher prevalence rate in eastern countries, which also have a higher rate of educational fever compared to western countries. Considering this, social costs paid for myopia will increase rapidly in Korea. Although the development of myopia treatment is necessary, there has b...


Experiments to evaluate the optimum plant population density and sowing date for winter peas, semi-leafless cv. Rafale, were sited on free draining sandy loam soils at Thornhaugh, Cambridgeshire in 1993/94 (Expt 1), 1994/95 (Expt 2) and 1995/96 (Expt 3). Peas were sown at the end of October, in mid-November and early December, at seed rates to achieve final plant densities in spring of 50, 70 or 90 plants/m2. Seed rates were calculated allowing for 20% seedbed loss and plant loss due to winter kill in Expt 1, and 15% in the other two years. Peas sown in warmer seedbeds in October emerged in early December or before, November-sown peas did not emerge until mid-January and December-sown peas from late February to mid-March. The growth stage of October-sown peas was thus more advanced than the later sowings over the winter and spring period. Winters were mild for Expts 1 and 2, but there were more frost periods during Expt 3. The yield of winter peas was dependent on sowing date. Yields of Rafale sown in October were highest in Expt 1, but lower than November-sown peas in 1995 (Expt 2), as a result of damage from late frosts during flower initiation in April, and in 1996 (Expt 3) due to plant losses after a more severe winter, frost periods and very cold winds in March. In Expts 1 and 2, yields of December-sown peas were significantly lower than November-sown peas, probably because they were adversely affected by drought stress during the sensitive flowering period. Therefore the optimum time for sowing winter pea cv. Rafale to achieve reliable yields appears to be mid-November. In some years, however, conditions may be too wet for late drilling, particularly on heavier soils. The highest plant population densities of 90 plants/m2 gave the highest yields in Expts 2 and 3, but there was little increase between 75 and 90 plants/m2. Bearing in mind financial return and seed costs, the optimum target suggested is 75–80 plants/m2.


Background: This article considers whether South African banks should utilise the credit ratings provided by US-based credit rating agencies when assessing the creditworthiness of corporate borrowers.Aim: A review is conducted of the relevant literature and specifically the methodologies used by the credit rating agencies for ranking corporates in emerging markets.Setting: The three largest international credit rating agencies are Fitch Ratings, Moody's Investor Services, and Standard and Poor's. These agencies' credit ratings cover the global spectrum of corporate, sovereign, financial and other public entities and the securities and obligations they issue. The analytical frameworks used to produce these ratings are referred to as credit rating methodologies.Method: A review of Moody's ratings for South African corporate entities was undertaken to examine claims of a sovereign ceiling influencing the external ratings obtained by these institutions in emerging markets.Results: Only 14 of the 200 global South African ratings pierced the sovereign ceiling.Conclusion: The study concludes that the use of unmodified external ratings by banks to assess a corporate borrower should be discouraged. High-level suggestions are provided on how the methodologies and data used by the external agencies may rather be used to arrive at more suitable internal ratings.


An unusual γ-selectivity was observed in the arylation of α-zincated γ,δ-unsaturated O-carbamates, which arose from the haptotropic rearrangement of the palladium–diene intermediate.


The fluid flow and heat transfer in porous media has wide applications in oil industry and air conditioning system. In this study the momentum and energy transport processes in a porous medium are numerically simulated. The Brinkman-Forchheimer-extended Darcy equations and energy equation are solved using single lattice-Boltzmann method (LBM). As a first attempt, a benchmark problem is studied, i.e., momentum and energy transfer in a rectangular enclosure with differentially heated vertical walls. The effect of permeability on the critical Rayleigh numbers, the temperature distribution and flow field is discussed.


The ion optical design of a beam transport line from a 10 MeV injector linac to a 10-75 MeV racetrack microtron is given. The bending section in the beam line consists of a two step doubly achromatic system to bring the beam down from the linac axis to the median plane of the mi crotron. This achromatic system comprises four identical 50 degree dipole magnets. A quadrupole triplet between linac and bend section and a quadrupole doublet with elec tron steering capability downstream the bends are also in corporated.


Objective To investigate the significance of screening irregular antibodies among healthy blood donors for clinical blood transfusion.Methods 3 029 blood samples of healthy donors from Augst 2011 to October 2012 were collected.Saline medium method and Coombs test were used for irregular antibodies screening.The positive samples of the screening tests were further evaluated to analyze their antibody specificity.Results Among the 3 029 healthy donors,17 cases(0.56%) were positive for irregular antibodies screening,including 9 cases for anti-D antibody,4 cases for anti-E antibody,1 case for anti-e antibody,2 cases for anti-M antibody and 1 case for anti-A1 antibody respectively.The positive rates of male and female were 0.43%(6/1 397) and 0.67%(11/1 632).The difference had no statistical significance(P0.05).The positive rate of irregular antibody in healthy donors who had history of blood transfusion or pregnancy was significantly higher than that in healthy donors without history of blood transfusion or pregnancy(1.48 % vs 0.1%,P0.05).Conclusion It might be with great significance to conduct routine screening and identification of irregular antibody among healthy donors,which could ensures clinical transfusion safety and prevent hemolytic transfusion reaction.


As international law struggles with the question of sovereignty, it also suffers from the question of recognition. So, it is very important to understand the various kinds of recognition which are concurrent to the question of sovereignty. Even after 65 years since the establishment of United Nations and various conventions, International community is again and again blanked by the question of 'Recognition'. Incidents of civil war in Rwanda, Sierra Leone or question of recognition of Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Palestine as independent state, or internal disturbance like Naxalism in India, LTTE in Sri Lanka, or Secession demand by the states like Chechnya, Tibet recurrently imposes the question mark on the effectiveness of International Law.Answering this question is important but first it is necessary to discuss the need of recognition. Why it is required? In simple terms, Recognition is required as it signifies that the entity has attained the required qualifications[1] for state and is entitled for privileges and immunities within the domestic legal order[2].This research paper will try to analyse aforementioned issue in context of various types of recognition. Recognition in International Law is divided into 8 types, which are:a) Recognition of States; b) Recognition of Government; c) De Facto and De Jure recognition; d) Premature recognition; e) Implied recognition; f)Conditional recognition; g) Collective recognition; h) Withdrawal of recognition.Subsequent to the above discussion, paper will also dwelve upon the idea of Non-Recognition and Legal consequences of recognition and non-recognition.[1] Nurullah Yamali, "What is Meant by State Recognition in International Law", General Directorate of International Law and Foreign Affairs,Turkey, http://www.justice.gov.tr/e-journal/pdf/LW7081.pdf[2] International Law, "Recognition", http://web.wits.ac.za/NR/rdonlyres/E0A48346-CB0B-4BEC-95B1-DD3FD4DEDD58/0/Overhead15.doc