This study presents a low-complexity soft-interference cancellation equaliser (SICE) for the turbo detection of multiple-input–multiple-output systems operating in time dispersive channels. The SICE contains three time-invariant linear filters: a feedforward filter, a causal feedback filter and an anti-causal feedback filter. The feedforward filter is designed to suppress the intersymbol interference because of channel time dispersion and the multiplexing interference from multiple transmit antennas. The causal (or anti-causal) feedback filter is developed to remove the residual interference caused by the symbols transmitted before (or after) the symbol under detection. The filters are designed by analysing the statistical properties of soft decisions. The performance of the proposed SICE is verified through both extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) chart analysis and computer simulations. The EXIT chart analysis shows that, because of the inclusion of the anti-causal soft decision, the SICE performance approaches the ideal matched filter bound as the iteration progresses. Consequently, the proposed SICE achieves significant performance gains over conventional equalisers.


. The article attempts to study a political interview as part of political and ideological media content. The purpose of a political discussion is to explain and promote a specific political ideology. The politician also aims to shape the image of the party he/she represents. The interviewer is a journalist whose task is to monitor the changing roles of communicants. In such an interview, a politician tries to win the initiative. The interviewer strives to ensure that the addressee perceives the discourse of the interviewed politician. The politicians expect that they will be allowed to substantiate their position. The ultimate goal of political interviews is to reach an understanding with the audience on critical issues related to domestic and foreign policy issues. Among the main types of political communication, let us single out political communication, which is carried out by journalists and with the help of journalists. Such communication is also designed for a mass audience. Examples include interviews and analytical articles in the press written by journalists, political scientists or politicians (often with the help of media specialists). In this case, journalists draw the audience's attention to the current issue, suggest ways to solve it, report on the attitude of political organisations and their leaders to it, and help politicians achieve their goals. In this case, journalists draw the audience's attention to the existing problem, propose ways to solve it, report on the attitude of political organisations and their leaders to it, and help politicians achieve their goals. Politically passive citizens perceive political information mainly in the form presented in the media.


Maryland's 20 year experiment with the "tough on crime" approach of automatically sending youth into adult criminal courts, jails and prisons for certain offenses has failed. National studies show that youth who are sent to adult facilities go on to commit more — and more violent — crimes than those who received rehabilitative services in the juvenile system. This costs taxpayers much more in the long run. Automatically charging youth as adults has been politically popular. But the data shows that when their cases are individually considered, most cases in Baltimore are dismissed or sent back to the juvenile system, raising the question of whether they should have been put in the adult system in the first place. The Just Kids Partnership — formed by the Public Justice Center, Community Law In Action, Inc., and United Parents of Incarcerated Children and Youth — spent a year conducting research, interviewing stakeholders, and following the cases of over 100 youth to understand and assess the impact of Maryland's laws, policies and practices charging and prosecuting youth as adults. We urge Maryland policymakers to read the results of this research. Our communities deserve no less than thoughtful, data-driven policy rather than ill-informed and politically expedient rhetoric. Maryland is currently planning to spend over 100 million state taxpayer dollars to build a new pre-trial facility ("jail") to lock up Baltimore youth who are awaiting their trials in adult criminal court. Given the fact that nearly 70% of the youth charged as adults and locked up in the current Baltimore City jail are either released outright or sent back to the juvenile system for treatment, this costly new facility is unnecessary and unwise. Maryland officials have heard many of these warnings before but failed to take any meaningful action. In 2001, a legislatively appointed commission on juvenile court jurisdiction released a report making several recommendations for change. For example, the Commission recommended that the State assess why Maryland's waiver laws have a disproportionate effect on African-American youth, but the State never completed such a study, and nearly 10 years later the State has made little or no progress on this and other concerns. Research Results Despite being admonished 10 years ago by a legislatively-appointed commission to do so, the State still collects very little information on the outcomes of its treatment of youth who are charged as adults. To fill this data void, the Just Kids Partnership followed 135 individual cases of youth charged as adults in Baltimore City and found, among other things: • 68% of youth charged as adults are either transferred back to the juvenile system or have their cases dismissed outright; • A youth will spend almost 5 months in adult jail before he has a hearing to consider whether he should be sent to the juvenile system; • Only 10% of the youth charged as adults actually receive sentences of time in adult prisons; • Thirteen of the 135 study sample cases that began between January and June of 2009 have yet to be resolved as of August 2010, meaning those youth have been held in adult jail for at least 16 months without having been convicted of a crime. Meanwhile, they are not required to receive rehabilitative services or other crucial support while in adult jail. Findings 1. A child charged as an adult, more often than not, will have his case dismissed or returned to the juvenile system. When judges and attorneys look at the cases of individual youth, the majority of the time they decide to send the child to the juvenile system or not to prosecute at all. However, youth face irreparable harm from the separation from their lives in the community while they endure pre-trial incarceration in adult jails and then must face the burden caused by having an adult criminal arrest record. 2. Charging youth as adults does not reduce crime; rather, it makes crime worse. A child in the adult criminal system is more likely to commit future crimes — and more violent crimes — than a child in the juvenile system. If anything, a youth in adult prison will become hardened by the experience. A child in adult prison is more likely to be raped, beaten, or commit suicide than if he was in a juvenile facility. 3. Providing rehabilitative services to youth reduces crime and costs less in the long run than charging youth as adults. Experts have estimated that overall every $1 spent on older teens in the juvenile justice system results in $3 of savings in the criminal justice system. 4. Treating a youth like an adult is contrary to scientific evidence. The part of the brain that deals with decision-making and risks and consequences is not fully developed in a youth. Once a child matures, he will likely age out of crime. 5. African-American youth are disproportionately impacted by laws charging youth as adults. African-American youth are severely overrepresented among youth charged as adults. All other things being equal, an African-American youth is more likely to be charged and convicted as an adult than his white peer. 6. Adult court transfer hearings are untimely and judges' decisions are based on unreliable and incomplete information. Children spend months or even years in adult jails while they wait for the criminal court judges to make a decision about their cases. Frequently, judges who are not specially trained in child development or familiar with services available in the juvenile justice system make life-altering decisions in a young person's case based on unreliable and inadequate information. 7. Maryland state and local agencies are not keeping track of crucial information about the effectiveness of its policy of charging youth as adults. Recommendations It is time for Maryland to abandon the failed "tough on crime" strategy of automatically charging youth as adults and, instead, move to a "smart on crime" approach. We must adopt policies that actually reduce crime committed by youth. Research shows that redemption is possible for many young people if they are given the help they need. The Just Kids Partnership recommends that the State improve the system in the following ways: 1. Reduce the inappropriate and unnecessary prosecution of youth in adult court. A child should stay in the juvenile court system unless and until the State proves and a judge concludes that the youth is not going to be receptive to any rehabilitative intervention services. 2. End the placement of youth in adult jails while they wait for their trials. Maryland should instead hold a youth charged as an adult in a juvenile facility while he waits for his trial. 3. Reduce court hearing and trial delays and ensure reliability of information presented to the judge during waiver and transfer hearings. 4. Ensure that treatment opportunities are available for older teens (17-20) in the juvenile system. 5. Ensure the safety of youth who are convicted as adults and are sent to adult prison. 6. Strengthen data collection efforts in order to determine the effectiveness of responses to youth crime.


A stochastic picture of the baryon number violation in the standard model is presented. The earlier results have been reproduced and clarified.


In the present study, two new compositions of convergence order six are presented for solving nonlinear equations. The first method is obtained from the third-order one given by Homeier using linear interpolation, and the second one is obtained from the third-order method given by Traub using divided differences. The first method requires three evaluations of the function and one evaluation of the first derivative, thereby enhancing the efficiency index. In the second method, the computation of a derivative is reduced by approximating it using divided differences. Various numerical experiments are performed which demonstrate the accuracy and efficacy of the proposed methods.


This article investigates the production of textiles in Thrace during the first millennium BC. It presents a functional analysis of textile-production tools from three towns in Thrace: Koprivlen, Adzhiiska Vodenitsa near Vetren, and Seuthopolis, and from Kastanas in Macedonia. The analysis shows that over the course of the Iron Age, textile production became more diversified and intensive. This process unfolded parallel to the emergence of opulent elite burials and urban communities. By examining a wider range of archaeological, iconographic, and textual data, the article contributes to our understanding of how the demand for textiles, and their consumption in different socially meaningful ways, connects to changes in production.


Recently, freeform surface widely using to the optical system; because it is have advance of optical image and freedom available to improve the optical performance. For freeform optical fabrication by integrating freeform optical design, precision freeform manufacture, metrology freeform optics and freeform compensate method, to modify the form deviation of surface, due to production process of freeform lens ,compared and provides more flexibilities and better performance. This paper focuses on the fabrication and correction of the free-form surface. In this study, optical freeform surface using multi-axis ultra-precision manufacturing could be upgrading the quality of freeform. It is a machine equipped with a positioning C-axis and has the CXZ machining function which is also called slow tool servo (STS) function. The freeform compensate method of Zernike polynomials results successfully verified; it is correction the form deviation of freeform surface. Finally, the freeform surface are measured experimentally by Ultrahigh Accurate 3D Profilometer (UA3P), compensate the freeform form error with Zernike polynomial fitting to improve the form accuracy of freeform.


Photograph of the home of Athol Estes, wife of William Sydney Porter, known in literary circles by his pen name O. Henry. The two-story house is white, and trees and a birdbath are visible on the small front lawn. Two young children hold hands on the front walk. A car is parked on the street in front of the house. The narrow driveway on the left side of the house appears ill-cared for.


1. i n t r o d u c t i o n The geoacoustic properties of gassy sediment not only differ greatly from that of gas-free sediment, but present a strong frequency dependence. These properties are normally measured in situ using acoustic sensors embedded in the seabed, or in laboratory by examining pressurized core samples through CT scans, for example (Anderson et al., 1989; Tuffin, 2001). The first objective of this study was to assess the possible use of a Bayesian inversion algorithm to remotely (and cheaply) estimate the geoacoustic parameters of a gassy seabed at frequencies below 500 Hz. The effectiveness of the studied algorithm has already been proven for various environments including shallow-water, multi-layered seabeds. However, its use for gassy sediment is complicated by the frequency-dependence of the geoacoustic parameters and its effectiveness needed to be assessed in this particular environment. This assessment was done through simulations, focusing on environments similar to the central basin of St. Margaret's Bay. The results from these simulations provided basic guidelines describing some limiting factors for which the inversion of gassy geoacoustic parameters may be possible. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the geoacoustic profile of the deep central basin of St. Margaret's Bay, using the inversion algorithm and field data.


Progress is reported on research conducted by the High Energy Physics Group of the Univrsity of California, Irvine during the contract year beginning October 1, 1973. Work was performed on three major projects: (1) Analysis and preparation of reports on a study of proton-antiproton interactions between 0.7 and 1.1 GeV/c incident antiproton momentum. (2) Analysis of an exposure in the 30 inch BNL chamber with deuterium fill and antiprotons beam. (3) Small angle K/sub L//sup 0/p and K/sub L//sup 0/p scattering using a hybrid spark chamber/bubble chamber apparatus at the Stanford Linear Accelerator.


This study is aimed at describing: (1) the implementation of animation clips as a media in teaching writing to the eleventh grade students of Madrasah Aliyah (MA) Sunan Giri Gondang in academic year 2017/2018, (2) how is the students' writing score after being taught using Animation clips, (3) problems faced by the teacher in teaching writing using animation clips. This research is a descriptive qualitative research. The subjects are the teacher and the eleventh grade students of MA Sunan Giri Gondang in academic year 2017/2018 totally 20 students. The instruments used in this research are test, observation checklist, and interview guide. The result shows that the implementation of animation clips in teaching writing is successful. The students' writing score is getting better after being taught using Animation clips. The mean score in pre-test is 74 while in post-test is 79. Applying Animation clips in writing class has many advantages such as the class is easy to manage, the students feel free to select the writing topic, etc. However, there are some problems faced by the teacher which result the disadvantages of this media in teaching writing such as the teacher and the students should be very familiar with ICT, the activity should be conducted at computer lab, the teacher finds difficulties in creating animation herself, etc.


An Electron Beam Ion Trap and Source has been installed at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune. The source, manufactured by Dreebit GmbH, will provide ions up to Ar16+ at energies up to 30 keV/q. These will be used for studying ion-molecule collisions in the non-perturbative regime.


ABSTRACT Background: The existing literature supports the application of the principles of andragogy on patient education. But there is a lack of a suitable tool for assessing patient education's conformity with these principles. Purpose: This study was conducted to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of a questionnaire that measures the degree to which the patient education adheres to the principles of andragogy. Methods: The primary instrument, consisting of 70 items, was developed after the literature review. The psychometric properties of the instrument were determined. The content validity of the items was assessed by an expert panel review. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was performed to test the construct validity. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to assess the internal consistency of the scale. A sample of 300 hospitalized adult CVD patients with a mean age of 54.93 ± 13.59 in 2 heart hospitals, were selected through convenience sampling method. The data were analyzed using SPSS 16 statistical software. Results: After determining face and content validity, the questionnaire items decreased to 59. The exploratory factor analysis indicated the existence of 6 factors that accounted for 53.37% variance of the questionnaire. The confirmatory factor analysis revealed a good fit to a predetermined send of constructs. Analyses also indicated acceptable results for the internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha value (0.72 to 0.93). The final questionnaire was approved; this comprised of six factors with 40 items. Discussion: The psychometric evaluation of the APEQ resulted to a reliable and valid instrument. Translation to Health Education Practice: This instrument is helpful in assessing the adherence of patient education to the principles of andragogy, eliminating deficiencies and promoting the performance of health education providers in patient education.


A wide-band fiber-optic true-time-delay array receiver capable of receiving multiple independent beams simultaneously is demonstrated for the first time. The receiver is based on a dispersive prism technique and exhibits squint-free /spl plusmn/60/spl deg/ azimuthal steering of two simultaneous beams with no observable beam squint over a microwave component-limited bandwidth of 6-18 GHz.


The aim of the research is to determine the effectiveness of non-traditional feed additives in the rearing of young goats. To conduct the scientific and economic experiment, three groups of young goats were formed. Average daily rations of young goats met the feeding requirements in terms of exchange energy, dry matter, crude protein, except digestible protein, copper, and cobalt. The data analysis of live weight dynamics showed that there was no significant difference between the groups of animals at the beginning of the experiment. However, the animals of the experimental groups that consumed feed additives exceeded the live weight of goats from the control group starting from the age of 6 months. Upon reaching the age of 6 months, the animals from the control group were inferior in live weight to the goats of the experimental groups by 3.51% and 4.39%, at 8 months - by 3.72% and 6.69%, at 10 months - by 3.61% and 6.89% (P> 0.95), and at the age of 12 months - by 3.59% and 7.78%, respectively (P> 0.99). Data analysis of the average daily gains of the experimental animals showed the superiority of the goats of the experimental groups over the control group in terms of growth intensity. Animals of the experimental groups surpassed animals of the control group in terms of average daily gains of live weight at the age of 4-6 months by 20.93% and 25.58%, in the period of 6-8 months - by 4.89% and 19.52%, at 8-10 months - by 2.78% and 8.33%, and in the period of 10-12 months of age by 3.46% and 17.11%, respectively. Thus, application of non-traditional feed additives in rations of goats contributes to improvement of growth and development parameters without negative affect on the body.


Although the molecular structure of the title compound, C22H32N4O8, displays a twofold symmetry of the molecule including the methoxy and methyl substituents, no crystallographic twofold symmetry is observed in the X-ray structure analysis. The carbonyl O atoms alternately point to different sides of the plane defined by the carbonyl C atoms. Two methoxy groups are oriented inside the molecules cavity. The H atoms of two methyl groups are disordered over two orientations and were refined using a split model.


A Carboxymethyl Cellulase (CMCase) has been isolated and purified from the edible mushroom, Stropharia rugosoannulata. The molecular weight of CMCase was estimated to be 54 kDa by SDS polyacryl amide gel electrophoresis. The maximum activity of the purified CMCase was observed at pH 4.0 and , and stable for pH 3.0 to 11.0 to maintain 40% activity. The CMCase activity was activated by . However, its activity was inhibited by 1,10-phenanthroline, KCN and L-cysteine. Also, the enzyme activity was decreased by the addition of EDTA, suggesting that the purified CMCase is metalloenzyme.


The use of public-key cryptography is complicated in a nomadic computing era. Private keys are typically huge numbers that are impossible to memorize or even to write down and have to be stored electronically. Therefore a mobile user has somehow to keep its private key with him at all time (it is senseless to imagine that the private key is downloaded through a public network). It is neither realistic nor safe. Indeed the mobile device must be protected, which is usually done through password mechanisms. At the end of the day all the cryptosystem relies on this password. In this paper we propose a generic way to produce keys from a password using secure hashing functions. We have done an implementation of a nomadic PGP as a proof of concept: the software is a java applet, thus platform independent, providing a complete solution for mail encryption based on public-key cryptography. In the end the user just has to remember its password, and no longer has to rely on specific software/operating system/hardware settings.


Pitfall traps are widely used for catching surface-active arthropods, such as spiders and carabid beetles. The traps consist of cups buried flush with the soil surface. They are inexpensive, time-efficient, and provide large species-rich samples (Topping & Sunderland, 1992). To prevent the escape of arthropods from pitfall traps, a fluid is used, which also serves as a preservative (Topping & Luff, 1995). Trap fluids may attract or repel certain species. For example, Curtis (1980) found that pitfall traps with formalin and detergent catch more spider individuals than traps filled only with water and detergent. However, Waage (1985) demonstrated that a similar finding in carabids occurred only in plastic pitfall traps, from which male carabids could escape if they were not rapidly killed by formalin. Glass containers could not be climbed by the male beetles and caught similar numbers irrespective of fluid. Thus, the difference between formalin and water is due to better retention of arthropods in formalin rather than to different attraction to formalin or pure water. Schmidt et al. (2006) found that trap fluids with a specific gravity larger than 1 showed reduced capture efficiency, which can be explained by the fact that arthropods will float on the surface of a trap fluid of higher specific gravity. Differences between some of the most widely used trap fluids are still sparsely documented, especially with respect to quality of preservation (Sasakawa, 2007). Schmidt et al. (2006) found large differences in preservation between trap fluids, which influence the accuracy and time needed for species identification. Preservation is also influenced by the presence of mucus of slugs (Gastropoda). Because of the sweet taste and toxicity of ethylene glycol, quinine sulphate has been proposed as bitter agent to prevent vertebrates from drinking trap fluid (Hall, 1991). However, to our knowledge, the influence of quinine sulphate on capture efficiency and preservation of spiders has never been tested. The aim of this study was to compare formalin, ethylene glycol, and propylene glycol with respect to preservation and capture efficiency of spiders. Additionally, we were interested in possible influences of dilution of the glycols with water and of the use of a bitter agent on preservation and capture efficiency.


1 Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, Nalanda Medical College, Patna 2 Professor and HOD, Department of Pathology, Nalanda Medical College, Patna *Corresponding Author Dr Manohar Lal Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, Nalanda Medical College, Patna, India Abstract Objective: In the assessment of unexplained infertility the evaluation of seminal characteristics is primary and Paramount, as far as the male is concerned .Present study was undertaken to determine the role of seminal examination in cases of male infertility. Material and Methods: A total of 124 male infertile patients were included in the studies. The collection of semen samples and examination were according to standardized methodology as per the current recommendation of CAP and 5 th edition of WHO guidelines. Sample collection through masturbation after 3 to 5 days of abstinence periods. Physical parameters examined were volume, appearance, viscosity, contaminants, PH, coagulation and Liquefaction. Quantitative and Qualitative analysis were done. Result: Majority of infertile men were 25 to 35 years of age and had been married for 13 years, when they were submitted themselves for fertility assessment. Physical parameters were important cause, depletion in semen volume, altered color and PH changes were found informative. We also found the microscopic arm of semen analysis very useful in pin pointing existing deficits in the male. Some significant correlation was also observed between abnormal microscopic parameters and clinical conditions. Conclusion: Semen analysis is the preliminary screening procedure which if carried out with standard methodology and criteria, is very valuable in separating a significant percentage of infertile male who would benefit from routine medical and surgical intervention for restoration of their infertility.


The development of new management solutions is needed to generate great changes in the health sector, especially in addressing the current collision course between growing health care demands, rising costs, and limited resources. One of these solutions is the hospital at home (HAH). This article aims to explore the existing literature, regarding possible health gains and economical outcomes in HAH programs versus traditional inpatient hospitalization. A search of literature was conducted to identify papers regarding HAH programs and their respective health and economical outcomes. The concept of HAH encompasses different levels or care schemes. Several examinations and treatments can be carried out at home. Hospital at home may optimize patient flow and relieve pressure on hospital bed availability. However, questions are raised regarding the uncertainty of the efficacy of HAH and the limited evidence on which model setting is most appropriate.


We have designed a Linear Fresnel-type Reflector (LFR) to reduce the area of light concentration based on the caustic surfaces produced by reflection. The LFR is designed by a set of planar mirrors, which appropriately have slopes in such a way that input energy can be focused at predefined absorber area. Also, losses due to riser steps were obtained from a geometrical point of view, to reduce and reconfigure the LFR shape in order to facilitate its manufacture. Finally, a LFR prototype will be fabricated on a single aluminum sheet where their grooves will be molded through CNC machine.


Video camera systems monitoring a diffuse reflecting target for measuring the flux distribution of concentrated solar radiation are quite common. This technique cannot be used if parts of the experimental setup screen the surface of the target. The development of a new measurement system with a compact geometry and a new optical design is described. With this system it is possible to measure the flux distribution behind parts of an experiment and at any position of the plane of measurement, without any alteration of the setup. The sources of error, especially those of the target and the camera, are described and discussed, and finally a comparison to the existing FATMES-System, which has been performed at the solar furnace of the DLR in Cologne, is presented. Due to its measurement principle the new system is called 'Scanning Camera and Target Measurement System' (acronym: SCATMES).


Potentially, reputation systems in online markets are ways of safeguarding hazardous single-shot transactions between traders, by artificially creating a network of connections between all users of an online marketplace. Given that online markets exist and use such reputation systems, this has triggered the question how large the value of reputation is. This question has been analyzed in previous research with mixed results. After introducing the issue in some more detail, the chapter posits two arguments that may put research into the value of reputation in a somewhat different light: (1) the fact that the most often used "hedonic regression" method, which considers actual sales only, does not lead to estimates that can be straightforwardly connected to the value of reputation, neither for the seller nor for the buyer, and (2) the empirical evidence from the experimental literature on the effects of semantic feedback, which suggests effect sizes that may well be an order of magnitude larger than the effects found in reputation research. The chapter concludes with some implications for research in the field.


An analytical solution of the scattering problem of a plane electromagnetic wave scattered by a dielectric spherical scatterer residing or partially buried in an infinite perfectly conducting groun...


The postnatal development of the rat dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGn) during tetrodotoxin (TTX)‐induced monocular impulse blockade was investigated by quantitative Golgi techniques Intraocular injections of 1 × 10‐4M TTX were repeated every 2 days in rats aged 5–21 days postnatal dpn. . Beyond 14 days postnatal (dpn), the effectiveness of TTX was monitored by loss of the pupillary light reflex. By 21 dpn, Golgi analysis indicated that TTX had no effect on the pattern of dendritic branching of class A or class B neurons, although the number of dendritic spinous protrusions was reduced. No evidence of any TTX‐induced loss of optic axons or neuronal degeneration in the dLGn was found, despite a 16% decrease in the size of the nucleus, suggesting a reduction in the growth of neuropil. These data indicate that optic impulses are important in mediating the proper growth of postsynaptic specializations in the dLGn during ontogenesis, but that the postnatal development of the dendritic arbor of neurons in the dLGn appears to be independent of retinal impulse activity.


The electrical properties and stability of the varistors composed of ZnO-Pr 6 O 11 -CoO-Cr₂O₃-Dy₂O₃ system were investigated with sintering time in the range of 1~3 h at 1350℃. As the sintering time was increased, the varistor voltage and leakage current increased, but the nonlinear exponent decreased. The varistors sintered for 1 h exhibited excellent nonlinearity, with a nonlinear exponent of 55.3 and a leakage current of 0.1 μA, whereas presented relatively low stability. The varistors sintered for 2 h exhibited not only high nonlinear exponent of 46.3, low leakage current of 0.3 ㎂, low dielectric dissipation factor of 0.0431, but also the highest stability, in which the variation rates of varistor voltage, nonlinear exponent, leakage current, dielectric constant, and dielectric dissipation factor were -3.0%, -4.1%, +3056.2%, +5.1%, and -12.5%, respectively, after DC accelerated aging stress state of 0.95 V 1mA /150℃/24 h. On the whole, the nonlinearity and stability of these varistors are greatly affected by the sintering time.


Abstract The total syntheses of isoxazolo and pyrazolo-derivatives (steroid-type compounds) derived from the tricyclic ketone, 5,9-dithia-6-oxo-4,5,6,7,8,9-hexahydronaphtho [2,1-b] thiophene are described.


Background: In acute HIV-1 infection, STI may induce immunologic control of HIV-1 replication. Several prospective trials of STI in chronic HIV-1 infection have been less encouraging. A previously presented retrospective analysis of our patients showed that in those with a significant CD4 increase (>200 cells) on antiretroviral therapy (ART), 2 or more interruptions may significantly lower viral set point. This prospective study describes STI in a cohort of patients. Methods: 10 patients with either a positive response to therapy interruption retrospectively or those expressing interest in the strategy who met inclusion criteria (VL BLQ on ART, good adherence, robust CD4 response) were selected. Interruptions analyzed were prospective and supervised. Timing of STI cycles was based on CD4 and Viral Load (VL) responses not a predetermined schedule. Data collected included demographics, ART, VL, CD4, and illnesses during STI. Results: Of 7/10 patients with data at 4 weeks off ART, the mean VL was 1.78 log10 copies/ml below baseline (BL). In 10 patients > 8 weeks off ART, the mean VL was 1.38 log10 below BL. 7/10 maintained VL 8 weeks off ART (mean 27 weeks, 1 > 2 years). 4/7 with data during more than one STI showed an increase in time to reach 5000 copies/ml. None developed resistance-conferring mutations nor HIV-related illnesses during interruption. ART regimen or Hepatitis C seropositivity were not statistically significant factors affecting response to STI (duration 0.05). Conclusions: Although no consensus exists concerning the effectiveness of STI in chronic HIV infection, a majority of our subjects were able to stop ART and maintain viral control for a period of time. Closely monitored STI was associated with lowered viral set point during the interruption in most cases. A larger prospective study is warranted but we recommend future trials measure additional parameters and avoid using the same STI schedule for all subjects.


Two dimensional wind tunnel tests were conducted on NACA aerofoils with simulated battle damage. The first set of tests showed that positive deflection of a trailing edge flap increased the strength of the flow through the damage For a given incidence, increasing flap deflection increased the drag coefficient relative to the undamaged aerofoil and reduced the lift coefficient. The second set of tests demonstrated that similar effects can be obtained by increasing camber. The final set of tests investigated the effectiveness of battle damage repair schemes. Realistic schemes, incorporating both upper and lower surfaces repairs, were shown to achieve reductions in drag coefficient and increases in lift coefficient, which in both cases were significant. Repairs to only one surface (i,e, upper or lower) were also shown to make significant aerodynamic improvements, which were attributed to the lack of flow through the damage.


Multiple Degree of Freedom (MDOF) vibrations is found in many cases of vibration phenomenon. The evaluation of the vibration is important for structural stability and fatigue investigation. However, the evaluation often requires a complicated calculation step due to the complex system that makes the process is not straightforward and time-consuming. This paper aims to provide a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that can be used to analyze the vibration of the MDOF system with two, three, and four degrees of freedom. The system is simplified by mass-spring-damper elements to model the interaction of components in the industry. The algorithm is developed using an open-source computational programming language named GNU Octave. The GUI is used to ease the user to simulate the vibration response based on given initial parameters. The GUI also provides features to calculate the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the system and present them on the spectrum. The algorithm is verified in the previous study to establish the simulation result. Based on the result, the amplitude of the time-domain displacement reaches a precise value as the reference. It is proven by the displacement amplitude of the first and second mass of the 2 DOF system are 0.05 m and 0.06 m. The calculation of the natural frequency also proved by the value of the first, second, and third natural frequency of the 3 DOF system which are 64.89 rad/s, 108.13 rad/s, and 281.06 rad/s respectively. Moreover, the mode shape shows a proportional value compared to the related study. It can be inferred that the proposed GUI is verified and ready to use to evaluate the vibration of the MDOF system.


Gentry took a key role in the process of education modernization of towns andvillages in Jiangnan area. With the development of modern education, traditional gentry split up according to their attitudes towards modern education. Being confronted with the great social change,they undertook consciously the duty of initiating new education and established kinds of elementary school in towns and villages where national educational investment cannot reach.


The purpose of this brief note is to present a discussion of the first two sessions of a poetry group conducted with moderately to severely cognitively impaired adults in a nursing home. Exercises and techniques used with this population are discussed. Poetry groups such as this may provide joy those who suffer, a chance to re-experience memories, to connect to others, and the creation of moments of increased value and meaning.


In the modern era, tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality resulting from an infectious disease (1). In fact, recent global estimates suggest that almost 11.6 million new cases of TB have been diagnosed and approximately 1.3 million people succumbed to the disease-related complications in the year 2012 (1). In addition, the health status of the masses has been further endangered by the emerging epidemic of multi-drug-resistant TB, extensively drug-resistant TB, extra-extensively drug-resistant TB, and even total drugresistant TB (1, 2). (Published: 23 October 2014) Citation: Infection Ecology and Epidemiology 2014, 4 : 25265 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/iee.v4.25265 Responsible Editor: Erik Salaneck, Uppsala University, Sweden.


New HPLC-UV method (method A), for simultaneous determination of metformin (MET) and canagliflozin (CANA), was developed and compared to another novel UPLC-UV method (method B) in their tablet combination. Concerning method A, isocratic separation was done by C18 column (100 mm × 2.1 mm, 3 μm) using methanol and 0.03 M phosphate buffer (75 : 25, v/v) at pH 3.2 as a mobile phase. Meanwhile, chromatographic separation in method B was achieved via Hypersil® gold (50 mm × 2.1 mm, 1.9 μm). Mobile phase was methanol and 0.03 M phosphate buffer at ratio of 80 : 20  v/v. In both, detection was done at wavelength of 240 nm. Method A showed satisfactory linearity results over 1–50 μg·mL−1 and 0.5–100 μg·mL−1, while method B linearity was at 0.1–50 μg·mL−1 and 0.25–100 μg·mL−1 for CANA and MET, respectively. In terms of accuracy and precision, method A accuracy was 99.81 ± 0.73 and 99.37 ± 0.54, while method B gave accuracy of 99.47 ± 1.03 and 99.73 ± 0.89 for CANA and MET, respectively. For precision, the % RSD was found to be less than 2% for three concentrations analyzed three times. The two methods are convenient for quality laboratories, yet the UPLC method offered the advantage of shorter run times and higher sensitivity.


The utility model discloses an intra-cavity natural circulation drying machine. The intra-cavity natural circulation drying machine comprises a box body, a heating chamber, a cleaning cavity, a heating unit, a suction impeller, a power plant, an exhaust pipe and a unidirectional relief valve, wherein the exhaust pipe communicated with the cleaning cavity is arranged outside the box body; the unidirectional relief valve is arranged in the exhaust pipe; the heating chamber and the cleaning cavity are arranged in the box body; the heating device is arranged in the heating chamber; an air outlet of the heating chamber is communicated with the cleaning cavity; an air inlet of the heating chamber is communicated with the cleaning cavity through the suction impeller; the suction impeller is connected with the power plant outside the box body through a shaft. The drying machine utilizes the internal circulation air to heat until the instrument is completely dried, does not produce secondary pollution, reduces energy consumption, and obtains a good drying effect.


An experiment was carried out to examine the effect of rumen protozoa on feed utilization, nitrogen balance and urinary excretion of purine derivatives (PD) in faunated and defaunated lambs fed a hay and concentrate diets. There was no change in digestibilities of dry matter (DM) and organic matter (OM) with or without protozoa, however the digestibilities of crude protein and crude fibre tended to decrease in defaunated lambs, but not significantly (P>0.05). Defaunation decreased nitrogen (N) balance and urinary N excretion. Consequently, retained N was higher (P<0.05) in defaunated than in faunated lambs. Mean plasma allantoin concentration was higher (P<0.05) in defaunated (41.2 fj,mol/l) than in faunated lambs (25.5 umol/1). Total urinary PD excretion and allantoin excretion were higher (P<0.05) in the defaunated than in the faunated lambs. From the above results, it can be concluded that rumen protozoa have an important role in N utilization, plasma allantoin levels and total PD excretion in lambs.


To estimate the overall frequency of epilepsy in children with congenital Zika syndrome (CZS) and describe the profile of seizures and the response rate to anti‐epileptic treatment in this group of patients.


One of the important classes of sparse signals isthe non-negative signals. Many algorithms have alreadybeenproposed to recover such non-negative representations, whereveravaricious and convex relaxed algorithms are among the mostpopular methods. The covetous techniques have been changedto incorporate the non-negativity of the depictions. Onesuch modification has been proposed for Extranious EquivalentDetection (EED), which first chooses positive constants and usesa non-negative optimization technique as a replacement for theorthogonal projection onto the nominated support. Which graduallybuilds the sparse representation of a signal by iterativelyadding the most correlated element of the lexicon, which iscalled an atom, to the set of selected elements. A disadvantageof ED is that the depiction found by the algorithm isnot the best representation using selected atoms. It may alsoreselect already selected atoms in the later iterations, whichslows down the junction of the algorithm. Asa result, we present a novel fast implementation of the Nonnegative EED, which is based on the QR decomposition and aniterative constants apprise. We will empirically show that such amodification can easily accelerate the implementation by a factorof ten in a reasonable size problem. We explain how the non-negativityconstraint of the coefficients stops us of using the canonical EED and how we can modify the algorithm to not onlyhave a more intuitive atom selection step, but have a lowercomputational complexity.


We present a digital neural decoder integrated circuit (ND-IC) to detect, compress, and classify the neural signals on-the-fly without supervision. This IC is incorporated within a tiny electro-optic headstage for closed-loop (CL) optogenetics, allowing us to report one of the first in vivo results obtained in a CL experiment with a freely moving animal. The ND-IC processes neural activity data using 3 digital cores: 1) The Detector core detects and extracts the action potential (AP) of individual neurons utilizing an adaptive threshold, 2) the data Compression core compresses the detected AP using an efficient Symmlet-2 discrete wavelet transform (DWT) processor for decreasing the amount of data to be wirelessly transmitted, 3) the Sorting core sorts the compressed AP into separated clusters according to their wave shapes. Our headstage is using a new technique to close the loop between the neural data acquisition module and the optical stimulator using the AP classification and timing information. The headstage along with the ND-IC are validated in vivo in freely-moving CL experiments involving a mouse virally expressing ChR2mCherry in inhibitory neurons of the prelimbic cortex.


Significant progress has been made in understanding of carbohydrate (starch) biosynthe - sis through molecular biology and genetic engineering techniques. Genetic modification of plants has a great potential to produce novel carbohydrates with unique properties that cannot be generated by conventional breeding approaches. Starch is the predomi nant carbohydrate in potatoes and serves as an energy reserve for the plant. Genetic engi - neering of potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.) tuber can revolutionise the synthesis of unique starches with altered physical and chemical properties that are engineered to meet the specific industrial requirements. In addition to expression of foreign genes involved in carbohydrate biosynthesis, genes regulating the carbohydrate metabolism, transport and resource partitioning have also been achieved. Here we summarise the recent progress made towards modifications of the biosynthetic pathways by which potato can produce novel carbohydrates. Further, we discuss the prospects of engineering potatoes for pro duction of structural and non-structural carbohydrates.


Abstract Automatic headspace gas chromatography was used to assay volatile compounds in fermented milks, including diacetyl, which is of particular interest because of its aromatic properties. α-Acetolactic acid, produced by lactic acid bacteria, is an unstable compound that is chemically transformed to acetoin and diacetyl during incubation at 85°C in the headspace sampler, leading to an overestimation of diacetyl concentrations in fermented milks. The oxidative decarboxylation of synthetic α-acetolactic acid to diacetyl during the assay decreased as the pH increased: at pH 4.0, 40% of the α-acetolactic acid present was transformed to diacetyl, but this reaction was limited to 6% at pH 7.0. When the assay mixture was degassed and heated to 100°C before analysis, the reaction was limited to 2%, leading to a more precise assay of diacetyl in the presence of α-acetolactic acid. The method for assaying diacetyl was applied to a mixed culture of Leuconostoc mesenteroides ssp. cremoris and Lactococcus lactis ssp. lactis in milk. Acetoin (1.07m M ) and α-acetolactic acid (.18m M ) were produced, but not diacetyl. In our culture conditions, the redox potential dropped rapidly at the beginning of fermentation, which prevented diacetyl production by the oxidative decarboxylation of αacetolactic acid. When the same fermentation was carried out with agitation, the redox potential remained high, and diacetyl production was significant, reaching .032m M (2.8 mg/L).


Semantic collocation in wording and phrasing came into being in ancient times.People in remote ages collocated semantic imitative words and fake semantic imitative words which actually belong to rhetoric wording and phrasing on the basis of grammatical wording and phrasing.Wording and phrasing environment,people's cognition activities as well as linguistic laws comprehensively affect semantic wording and phrasing.


Extended Reality as a consolidated game platform was always a dream for both final consumers and game producers. If for one side this technology had enchanted and called the attention due its possibilities, for other side many challenges and difficulties had delayed its proliferation and massification. This paper intends to rise and discuss aspects and considerations related to these challenges and solutions. We try to bring the most relevant research topics and try to guess how XR games should look in the near future. We divide the challenges into 7 topics, based on extensive literature reviews: Cybersickness, User Experience, Displays, Rendering, Movements, Body Tracking and External World Information.


PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To compress the pulse width of a received signal under the application of a relatively simple circuit configuration. SOLUTION: An advanced received signal generation part 10 delays a received signal f(t) by a time (-τ0 ) (or by advancing a phase by τ0 ), thereby generating an advanced received signal f(t+τ0). Also, a delayed received signal generation part 12 delays the received signal f(t) by a time τ0 , thereby generating a delayed received signal f(t-τo ). Then, the advanced and delayed received signals are respectively weighted with a weight factor and added to the received signal f(t) in an adder part 14. As a result of this adding process, the pulse width of the received signal is compressed.


[Extract] The 'Let's Stay Put for Literacy and Numeracy Learning' two year pilot aims to trial a 'systematic response' (Prout, 2008) to the reality of Indigenous temporary mobility practices across a range of Queensland school sites.

The 'Let's Stay Put for Literacy and Numeracy Learning' project has a two pronged approach:
1. The professional development of teachers to understand student needs and intervention strategies – as they pertain to mobile students, mobile Indigenous students.
2. The case management of individual students – that is, mobile students, and in particular mobile Indigenous students.

The aims of the 'Let's Stay Put for Literacy and Numeracy Learning' project will build an understanding of student mobility and its impact on learning, particularly in literacy and numeracy, through:
- Developing innovative student centred approaches and interventions to address issues of mobility.
- Lifting teacher capacity by building professional development networks and resources.
- Implementing whole-of-school strategies that can be used and applied across the school/s.
- Building the evidence-base on mobility and its impact on student learning.

Long-term objectives are to:
- Improve student literacy/numeracy data for mobile students.
- Increase teacher, school and system knowledge and skills of the needs of mobile students.
- Reduce rates of student mobility.


Managing Department of Defense (DoD) research and development (R&D) portfolios is a challenging task today. Not only do defense R&D managers have limited resources to spend on pursuing new technologies, but there is also an active civil and commercial market for some technologies the DoD is interested in. How can the DoD better understand what areas it must pursue on its own and what areas it might be better off collaborating with non-DoD organizations? This article presents a straightforward approach for managing DoD R&D portfolios that can help DoD managers understand how their R&D efforts are allocated, and how they might more efficiently manage them to take advantage of scarce resources and technological capabilities elsewhere. After describing the approach, the authors illustrate it using the example of the basic research technologies part of the U.S. Army's R&D portfolio.


To actualize the information sharing and data integration of many manufacturing enterprises, a platform based on web services for integrated manufacturing system was brought forward. Based on the architecture and the basic characteristics of web services, a solution of web services based integrated manufacturing system was generated. Finally a platform based on the solution had the initiative effect in automobile industry.


We propose and demonstrate a new method of optical code-division multiple access (CDMA) based on self-heterodyne filtering. As compared to most CDMA systems, low spectrum spreading is required, thus enabling longer reach transmission capability.


The anesthetic and some cardiopulmonary effects of FentanylKetamine (FK) and XylazineKetamine (XK) combinations were studied and compared in rabbits. A sixteen rabbits were randomly assigned to (2) different group FK and XK groups. The rabbits in FK group (n=8) were injected 0.02 mg/ kg B. W of fentanyl and 40 mg/ kg B. W of ketamine. The XK group was given 4 mg/ kg B. W of xylazine and 40 mg/ kg B. W of ketamine. All drugs in two different groups were mixed in one syringe and injected intramuscularly. Respiratory and heart rates were recorded at 2 minute before anesthesia and 5, 10, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90 and 120 minute after anesthesia. Both groups showed depression in respiratory and heart rates after administration of anesthetic agent, but the depression in respiratory rates in FK group was significantly more than in XK group at (5-60) minutes after injection (P<0.05). While the depression in the heart rate in FK group was significantly lower than in XK group at (45-75) minutes after injection (P<0.05). Data on reflexes (righting, pedal withdrawal for front and hind limb, ear pinch) were recorded to be utilized in determination of different stages of anesthesia. Mean duration of loss of pedal withdrawal reflex for both front and hind limb and ear pinch reflex were significantly longer in the XF group than in the FK group (P<0.05). The duration of surgical tolerance was significantly longer in XK group than FK group (P<0.05). While the stage of early recovery and late recovery lasted significantly (P<0.05) longer in XK group than in FK group. We concluded that anesthesia with XK or FK was suitable for common surgical produce in rabbits and the providing of oxygen is recommended in order to overcome the hypoxia. Introduction Rabbits are now the third most commonly anaesthetized pet (1). However, their preanesthetic mortality rate (1 in 72) is still higher than that of dogs (1 in 601) (1). There are number of surgical interventions such as dental procedures, castration and fracture repair should be performed under anesthesia. Intubation of the rabbit and use of a volatile anesthetic agent, possibly in combination with muscle relaxants, may be too complicated and timeconsuming (2). As a result of these problems an injectable technique is needed for use in rabbits that gives adequate depth of anesthesia and also a good quality and rapid recovery (3). Several injectable drugs were used in rabbits as ketamine, which when use as a sole anesthetic agent in rabbits it tends to cause hyper tonus, poor يرطيبلا بطلا مولعل ةيسداقلا ةلجم ثلاثلا يملعلا رمتؤملا ثوحبب صاخ قحلم Al-Qadisiya J. Vet. Sci.Supplement of 3 conference 62 muscle relaxation, persistent pain, reflex responses and violent recovery from anesthesia (4). Therefore, several drugs are combined with ketamine such as xylazine (well known α2 agonist drug), in order to overcome ketamine side effects. For the same previous reasons we used fentanyl, opioid agonist in combination with ketamine to potentiate the anesthetic properties of ketamine in rabbits. The fentanyl has 80 times the analgesic potency of morphine and it used in anesthesia (5), also it is widely used in veterinary medicine as its use to produce surgical anesthesia in dogs (6) and satisfactory anesthesia in rabbits after its combination with midazolam and medetomidine (7). There is a need to perform study aimed to: 1Evaluation the anesthetic activity of fentanylketamine combination and investigate its effect on some cardiopulmonary variables and then compare with xylazineketamine combination in rabbits. 2Assessment of anesthetic stages and depth by determination of certain reflexes in rabbits for the above two different combinations. Materials and Methods Animals and drug dosage: The study was performed on 16 adult rabbits of either sex with a mean of body weight 2.02 ± 0.21 Kg. The rabbits were randomly assigned to (2) groups. The first was FentanylKetamine mixture (FK) group and the second was XylazineKetamine mixture (XK) group. The rabbits in group FK (n=8) were given 0.02 mg/kg. B. W. I. M of fentanyl (F) (fentanylJanssen, 0.05 mg/ml; Janssen pharmaceutics) and 40 mg/kg. B. W. I. M of ketamine (K) (Tekam, 50 mg/ml; Hikma pharmaceuticals, Amman, Jordan). In group XK the rabbits were given 4 mg/kg. B. W. I. M of xylazine (seton, 20 mg/ml, Laboratories Caller, Barcelona, Spain) and 40 mg/kg. BW I/M of ketamine. All drugs of the different combinations were mixed in one syringe and injected into the femoral quadriceps muscle. The animals were breathing room air during anesthesia. A standard clinical examination proceeded general anesthesia. Parameters: The following parameters were measured: 1Assessment of some cardiopulmonary variables included: Respiratory rates (RR, breath/ minutes): based on counting thoracic movement (7). Heart rate (HR, beats/ minute): by using of stethoscope. Baseline recordings of RR and HR were obtained at 2 minute before injection of drugs, then they were recorded at 5, 10, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90 and 120 minute during anesthesia. 2Depth of anesthesia was assessed by recording the presence or absence of the following reflex responses: يرطيبلا بطلا مولعل ةيسداقلا ةلجم ثلاثلا يملعلا رمتؤملا ثوحبب صاخ قحلم Al-Qadisiya J. Vet. Sci.Supplement of 3 conference 62 Righting reflex: the animal showing the ability to spontaneously right itself after being placed on its back (8). Toe pinch reflex (pedal withdrawal reflex): in the front and the hind legs, pressure on the basis of the claw resulted in withdrawal of limb in response to claw pinching (9). -Ear pinch reflex: shaking the head or vocalization when the pinna was pinched using investigator's fingernails (8). 3Evaluation of different stages and planes of anesthesia: were assessed according to criteria suggested by Heneke et al., (10) explained as follow: Stage of induction: from time of injection (t=0) to completely loss of righting reflex. Stage of hypnosis: from loss of righting reflex to loss of toepinch reflex in front and hind legs and loss of earpinch reflex. Stage of surgical tolerance (Surgical anesthesia): from loss of toe pinch reflex in front and hind legs and loss of the earpinch reflex to smooth recurrence of earpinch reflex. Stage of early recovery: from smooth recurrence of earpinch reflex to recurrence of toepinch reflex at front and hind legs and more forceful earpinch reflex. Stage of late recovery: from recurrence of toepinch reflex in front and hind legs and even more forceful earpinch reflex to recurrence of righting reflex. Results and Discussion Table (1) Respiratory and heart rates per minute (Mean ± SE) for rabbits after injection of FK or XK combination. Time (minute) RR (breaths/ minute) HR (beats/ minute) FK group XK group FK group XK group 0 188.25±4.25 186.12±7.51 198±5.32 202.25±5.49 5 36.25±2.09 49±5.08 * 200±9.68 189.12±6.07 10 31±2.32 45±2.76 * 185.87±7.25 178.75±9.15 15 27.25±1.66 40±2.11 * 182.12±3.96 170.87±9.36 30 24.25±1.71 32.12±2.58 * 180.37±4.78 155.12±11.82 45 22.87±2.15 37.62±3.50 * 186.62±6.54 156±8.98 * 60 34.25±2.95 45.25±3.26 * 193±5.56 158±13 * 75 48.12±4.07 57±3.32 193.25±5.59 162±9.62 * 90 61.37±4.34 59.87±4.74 192.62±9.908 162.87±10.23 120 63.25±1.77 61.62±2.84 194±14.90 162.37±11.80 *: The values are highly significant at (P<0.05) performing t. test. يرطيبلا بطلا مولعل ةيسداقلا ةلجم ثلاثلا يملعلا رمتؤملا ثوحبب صاخ قحلم Al-Qadisiya J. Vet. Sci.Supplement of 3 conference 62 All rabbits were tachypneaic before induction, the RR varying between 188.25 ± 4.52 and 186.12 ± 7.51 breaths per minute, then became below the baseline value during anesthesia in both groups. The RR in the FK group was significantly lower (P<0.05) compared with the XK group between 5 and 60 minutes after administration of drugs (table 1). The most prominent effects on respiration were seen in the FK group in which RR fell markedly, however the lowest RR during anesthesia was 22.87 ± 2.15 recorded in FK group at (45) minutes after administration of drug mixture. The short period of apnea occurring in some animals in FK group could probably be attributed to the opioid constituent (10). It should be noted that the respiratory depression is not unique to the use of FK or XK, but also occurs with other injectable anesthetic regimens in rabbits (11) and (3), therefore, it advisable to administer oxygen during anesthesia. Rabbits in both group of FK and XK showed lowest HR after injection of anesthetic combinations (table 1). The α2agonist are known to produce marked bradycardia (12). Therefore, the animals which received xylazine showed evidence of bradycardia. The extent of HR decreases in this study agrees with value reported by (13) and (14). Also it known that opioid causes bradycardia as a result of its stimulation to the vagal center (15). Therefore, animals which received fentanyl also show bradycardia and this came in accordance with fact reported by (7) that fentanyl potentiate the fall in HR when mixed with other anesthetic agents. The significantly higher HR in the rabbits anaesthetized with FK compared with the rabbits anaesthetized with XK between 45 and 60 minutes could have been due to the shorter bradycardiac effect of fentanyl. Although the stimulatory cardiovascular effects of ketamine are less marked in rabbits compared with other species (16), ketamine able to temporary counteract the breadycardia produced by fentanyl and xylazine. Table (2): The times (mean± SE) of loss of the righting reflex, duration of loss of pedal withdrwal reflex (for front and hind limb) and duration of loss of ear pinch reflex, after injection of FK or XK mixture. Anaesthetic combination FK XK Time to beginning of loss of righting reflex (minutes) 2.87 ± 0.29 2.25 ± 0.36 Duration of loss of pedal withdrawal reflex (for front limb)(minutes) 26 ± 1.26 39 ± 1.45 * Duration of loss of pedal withdrawal reflex (for hind limb)(minutes) 25 ± 1.56 37 ± 1.23 * Duration of loss of ear pinch reflex (minutes) 24.37 ± 1.77 34 ± 1


In this paper, an empirical method to estimate cloud liquid water from Indian Remote Sensing P4 (IRS-P4) Multi-frequency Scanning Microwave Radiometer (MSMR) measurements is presented. MSMR brightness temperatures are collocated with concurrent observations of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI)-derived cloud liquid water. The multiple-correlation coefficient between TMI-derived cloud liquid water and logarithmic of MSMR-derived brightness temperatures, and their differences at 18- and 21-GHz channels, is found to be about 82.4%. The relationship thus obtained has an rms error of 8.75 mgcm/sup -2/ in the measurements of cloud liquid water from MSMR with respect to TMI measurements. Verification of the algorithm is carried out with another set of concurrent measurements from MSMR and TMI. Further, the MSMR-derived cloud liquid water over the global oceans and for extreme weather conditions (cyclone) are compared with that from TMI and the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) for independent verification. The cloud liquid water from MSMR is further used to successfully delineate rain events for quantitative estimation of rain rate from MSMR.


It is significant that oligopeptides promote the digestive system early development and maintain animal intestinal health in that it's full nutrition and easy absorption.In this paper,hydrolysis conditions of CGM was obtained through single-factor-analysis,pH 9.0,amount of enzyme 2 mL,denaturant A 0.5 g and hydrolysis for 1 h under 55℃.The results showed the degree of hydrolysis was up to 30.85%.


Background. To investigate the mortality from cancer of the corpus uteri in relation to parity and age at first and last birth.


Grains have become an integral part of the human diet due to their nutritional values, thus any form of contamination especially by heavy metals is of great concern. This research evaluated the level of Cadmium, Chromium, Lead and Mercury in the commonly consumed foods (Rice and Beans) across Yobe State, North-eastern Nigeria. A composite sample from each of the three Senatorial Zones was collected from farm harvests and designed as ZAR, ZAB, ZBR, ZBB, ZCR and ZCB for Zone A Rice, Zone A Beans, Zone B Rice, Zone B Beans, Zone C Rice and Zone C Beans respectively. The metal Concentration was determined using atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). Results in mg/Kg across the local governments indicates respective ranges for Hg, Pb, Cd, and Cr of 0.30 - 4.04, 0.16 - 0.92, 0.03 - 0.05 and 0.02- 0.52 in Rice, 0.14-3.73, 0.05-0.33, 0.05-0.07 and 0.00-0.14 in beans. Comparison of the results showed that with the exception of mercury, all metals are within the tolerable ranges set by International Standard Tolerable Limits and European Regulatory Standard. Potential hazards may be speculated because the detected levels are on the higher side of the tolerable ranges. A higher level of mercury in samples collected from Zone C might be associated with the reported cases of chronic kidney diseases from those areas.


The current-voltage characteristics of Au/n-Si Schottky barrier diodes were measured in a wide temperature range of 70-310 K. The forward current-voltage characteristics have been analyzed on the basis of standard thermionic emission (TE) theory and assuming Gaussian distribution (single) of barrier height. Findings are investigated to explore TFE-mechanism with high value of characteristic energy. The high values of ideality factor are analysed for interfacial layer and density of interface state. The temperature dependence of ideality factor was found to obey the "To-effect" and the true barrier height (φbη) obtained is almost independent of temperature. 1.0 Introduction For an ideal Schottky diode, the current flow is only due to thermionic emission mechanism and the ideality factor should be equal to unity (η=1). However, due to various factors such as device temperature, dopant concentration, device area, density of interface states, structural properties of interface etc., the current-voltage characteristics of Schottky contact exhibit deviations from TE-mechanism with temperature dependent ideality factor [13,9]. Generally, the ideality factor increases with decrease in temperature, the phenomena is commonly referred as "To-effect" and was first proposed by Padovani and Sumner [10]. Whereas, the barrier height for these diodes is found to be decreases with fall in operating temperature. It is shown for the To-effect that the error may be connected either with the lateral inhomogeneity of barrier height [11, 12], or with the role of recombination and tunneling current components [12], or with the anomalous high level of thermionic field emission dominating the current [13]. In the present work, an attempt has been made to study the anomalies observed in the temperature dependent I-V characteristics of Au/n-Si Schottky contact on the basis of well established models mentioned above. 2.0 Experimental The Schottky diodes used in this study were fabricated on n-type Si wafer of (100) orientation and n/n configuration. The nregion comprising of 8.2 μm thick epitaxial nlayer (ND=1.35×10cm) of resistivity 2.6 Ω cm over the heavily doped n silicon substrate. Prior to fabrication, sample was first degreased with soap solution and then thoroughly cleaned with organic solvents. Finally, the sample was etched using dilute HF (HF:H2O≈1:10) followed by washing in deionized water. Ohmic contact was made by depositing 200 nm thick Al layer and than annealed in vacuum (10 mbar) at 450 C for 30 minutes. Sample was again cleaned from the epitaxial n-layer (i.e. front) side by using the cleaning processes as mentioned above. Finally, a gold (Au) film of thickness 80 nm was deposited on epitaxial n-layer. All depositions were carried out in a HHV coating unit using thermal evaporation source under vacuum 5×10 mbar. For I-V measurements, diodes were mounted and bounded on To-39 header. The forward I-V characteristics from 70-310K Journal of Electron Devices, Vol. 8, 2010, pp. 286-292 © JED [ISSN: 1682 -3427 ] Journal of Electron Devices www.jeldev.org Received 30 September 2010, accepted 18 October 2010


Nanofiltration technology is being investigated as a cost-effective and environmentally acceptable mechanism of sustaining industrial and public water systems. Nanofiber membranes are part of the family of filtration devices being used to remove inorganics and organics from water systems. This study investigates the use of the natural material, Opuntia ficus-indica (Ofi) cactus mucilage, as a tool for nanofiber membrane filtration. Mucilage is a natural, non-toxic, bio-compatible, biodegradable, inexpensive and abundant material. Mucilage is a clear colorless substance comprised of proteins, mono-saccharides, and polysaccharides. It also contains organic species, which give it the capacity to interact with metals, cations and biological substances promoting flocculation for removing arsenic, bacteria, E. coli, and other particulates from drinking water. This natural material has the potential to be used as a sustainable method for water filtration and contaminant sensing. Therefore, mucilage nanofiber membranes were electrospun with volume ratios of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polystyrene (PS) to mucilage comparing the interaction of non-polar solvents. Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry (AFS) from PSAnalytical was used to evaluate electrospun nanofiber membranes made from volume ratios ranging from 30:70 to 70:30 of mucilage: polyvinyl alcohol, mucilage: polystyrene-D-limonene, and mucilage: polystyrene–toluene in different proportions. The mucilage nanofiber membranes were used as filtration devices for 50 ppb arsenic solutions. Arsenic, being a toxic substance, acts as a deadly poison in water systems and has plagued societal preservation for centuries. The total arsenic content in the samples were measured before and after treatment. Comparative tests were also performed using 1) coated and non-coated GVWP 0.22 µm and 0.45 µm filters from Millipore and 2) columnar flow through Pasteur glass pipets filled with 0.5 g of pre-washed sand from Fisher Scientific and 0.01 g of mucilage nanofibers. Results show mucilage: polystyrene nanofiber membrane filters were capable of removing arsenic from test solutions, in terms of the percentage of arsenic removed. These data elucidate that mucilage nanofiber membranes have the potential to serve as the basis for the next generation of economically sustainable filtration devices that make use of a natural non-toxic material for sustainable water systems.


Green Flags are today flapping proudly at four of Wyre's parks.

An honour roll of open spaces that meet Keep Britain Tidy's high standards was unveiled this morning (Monday 28 July).


Put forward an available method aimed at the requirements of CCD visible light camera with high frame rate.Driving schedules of VCCD512H CCD sensor produced by Sarnoff corporation have been examined.The design takes the FPGA XQ2V3000 which produced by Xilinx corporation as the schedule generator and data cache.Xilinx-ISE9.1i has been chosen as the software design platform.Driving schedule generator is described with VHDL.The designed generator has been successfully fulfilled the requirements though simulation by Modelsim SE6.2b.


This article proposes to analyze the civil responsibility of the physician as a liberal professional, as well as the importance of the duty of information in the physicianpatient relationship, and to promote a detailed study on the role of the burden of proof. It is a review article, based on extensive bibliographical research, with the search and analysis of scientific articles, books and specialized magazines, predominantly national, focused on the subject of medical civil liability and, also, within the scope of the Code of Defense of the Consumer. From the study, we intend to reflect on the distinction between the medical obligation between means and result, and to analyze, in practice, its relevance.


We have studied the characteristics of the retarding grids in a low energy electron diffraction apparatus by measuring the impact spectra of a tungsten (100) crystal with 66 to 200 eV electron beams. Our results indicate that the retarding field method when properly adjusted is useful for analyzing scattered electrons of energy loss which is small compared to the beam energy. At large energy loss, however, field penetration and scattering from grids may contribute considerably to the measured secondary electron energy distribution which makes the measurement less reliable.


The design and operation of a cryogenic pellet generator is described. The device is capable of producing spherical solid hydrogen pellets of sufficient size and repetition rate to meet prospective refueling requirements of near term tokamak fusion machines. It accelerates pellets to speeds in excess of 102 m/s by gas dynamic drag techniques and has achieved initial injection into the APEX tokamak at Argonne National Laboratory. A discussion of gas dynamic drag acceleration techniques is presented with an evaluation of their significance to pellet acceleration technology.


A fiber optic sensor based on two concatenated LPGs with a fiber segment in the inter-grating spacing used as a sensing probe is presented for refractive index sensing systems. The single mode fiber probe section is more robust compared to the LPG section itself. A typical structure is experimentally and theoretically studied for its use as a refractive index sensor.


Objective: The aim of this study was to assess and quantify the independent and joint associations of maternal body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain (GWG) with macrosomia. Methods: PubMed, ELSEVIER Science Direct and Springer Link (up to May. 2015) were searched, and the reference list of retrieved articles was reviewed. Four authors independently extracted the data. Rev Man 5.2 and Stata 11.0 were used to perform all statistical analyses. Fixed-effects or random-effects model was used to pool the results of individual studies (expressed as odds ratios [ORs] accompanying 95% confidence intervals [CIs]). Results: The systematic review and meta-analysis included 31 studies. The independent effects of maternal pre-pregnant overweight (the pooling OR was 1.62 [1.47, 1.78], reference by normal weight), obese (2.31 [2.05, 2.59]) and excessive GWG in overall (2.12 [1.92, 2.34], reference by adequate GWG) were at significantly odds of giving birth to a macrosomia. The joint effects of maternal excessive GWG in four classes (2.85 [2.36, 3.45], 2.07 [1.94, 2.22], 2.10 [1.93, 2.27] and 1.90 [1.62, 2.22], respectively, according to order of increasing BMI, reference by adequate GWG within the class) were at significantly odds of giving birth to a macrosomia. Conclusion: The results of our study showed that increasing maternal BMI and GWG were independently associating with an increasing risk of macrosomia and jointly associating significantly with macrosomia, but the association between maternal excessive GWG and macrosomia tend to be decreased with the increasing of pre-pregnant BMI.


The prawn cracker industry is one of the most common types of food industry in Indonesia. The existence of this industry has a positive impact in maintaining and improving the Indonesian economy, but it can also have a negative impact on the environment in particular, because this industry produces wastewater which can have a negative impact on the aquatic environment if the wastewater is directly discharged into the river. Based on the results of the analysis of the quality of wastewater from one of the shrimp cracker industries, it is known that wastewater contains Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) which is 3446 mg/L, Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) 1118.9 mg/L and acidity (pH) 5.88 – 6.13. Referring to the wastewater quality standards for the shrimp cracker industry, namely COD: 120 mg/L, BOD: 50 mg/L, and acidity pH: 6-9, the shrimp cracker industrial wastewater must be treated first before being channeled into the body. river receiving water. In this study, the treatment process used is an aerobic biological process with a modified contact-stabilization method. This method is the development of the contact-stabilization method, where in this modified method the wastewater from the treatment is recycled to the stabilization tank and together with the bacteria is transferred to the contact tank. Variations carried out in this study are the incoming wastewater flow rate (liters/hour): 4,5 ; 5.5; 6.5 ; 7.5 and 8.5 and flow rate of recycled water from treatment to stabilization tank (%) : 10 ; 20 ; 30 of the incoming wastewater flow rate. The best results were obtained at the wastewater flow rate of 5.5 liters/hour and the recycled water flow rate from the treatment to the stabilization tank 20% with a decrease in the COD value of 97.3% and BOD of 98.4% and the pH of the treated water 6.9.©2021 JNSMR UIN Walisongo. All rights reserved.


Abstract: We investigated the mechanism of increases in cyclic GMP levels in bovine superior cervical ganglion (SCG) in response to muscarinic receptor stimulation. Acetylcholine increased cyclic GMP levels in SCG. This increase was inhibited by NG‐methyl‐L‐arginine (NMA), and the inhibition was reversed by L‐arginine. Soluble nitric oxide (NO) synthase was partially purified from bovine SCG using 2′,5′‐ADP Sepharose affinity chromatography. The resulting enzyme activity was Ca2+/calmodulin dependent and required NADPH and tetrahydrobiopterin as co‐factors. Superoxide dismutase protected and oxyhemo‐globin blocked the effect of NO formed by the enzyme. NMA inhibited the activity of the NO synthase. In western blots, an antibody generated against rat brain NO synthase specifically recognized the NO synthase from SCG as a 155‐kDa protein band. Immunohisto chemistry using the same antibody demonstrated that NO synthase was localized in postganglionic neuronal cell bodies of the SCG. Immunofluorescent labeling showed that some of the cells staining positive for dopamine‐β‐hydroxylase also contained NO synthase. Thus, NO is synthesized in specific cells within bovine SCG, including sympathetic neurons, and mediates the acetylcholine‐induced stimulation of soluble guanylyl cyclase.


This article explores the political meanings of the cultural practices among the mulattos of the Mexican archbishopric during half a century. Our reflections about the spreading of rumors, lampoons and menaces of conspiracy from 1608 to 1665 tries to explain why the mulattos in Mexico City threatened to rise up in the cabalistic year of 1666. The answer is strongly connected with the presence of eschatological hopes among the mulatto people in the city, which reveal at the same time their concern for the local political life. The announced 1666 conspiracy was probably related to the diffusion of other prophetical expressions which mobilized different groups of people in Europe, in the Middle East and in the Portuguese America. From this point of view an event that until now has been considered as anecdotic by the current historiography could become a relevant historical one from the political-cultural perspective. The sources used to realize this article are mostly from the Archivo General de Indias and the Archivo General de la Nacion in Mexico City and from 17th century bibliographical resources.


The vascular theory of embryopathogenesis for Mobius syndrome is proposed in a case report of a 3-month-old boy from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM.


Abstract : When a full, or partially full, aircraft fuel tank is penetrated by a high velocity projectile, a phenomenon known as hydraulic ram effect, created by the passage of a projectile through the fluid often causes massive damage to the tank. This study was conducted to continue experimental investigation of the attenuation of the hydraulic ram effect through addition of a gas to a fuel-foam mixture. The tests were conducted using two types of projectile (1/2 in. steel spheres and 0.50 caliber ogival projectiles) which were fired into a test tank. The tank was filled first with water and then a water/Pneumacel mixture. Four pressure transducers were located in the back wall of the tank and two pressure transducers were located inside the tank to measure the pressure pulses.


Background: Exposure to greenspace has been proposed to be beneficially associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Many studies have explored this topic, but the results remain conflicting. We aimed to evaluate the epidemiological evidence on this topic by performing a systematic review with meta-analysis.

Methods: We searched PubMed, Web of Science and Embase for studies on the green space-cardiovascular disease (CVD) relationship that were published till May 12th, 2021. Two authors independently performed study selection, data extraction, quality assessment, and risk of bias assessment. For studies providing detailed numeric data, we conducted quantitative meta-analyses and calculated the pooled odd ratios (ORs) for associations between the most commonly used greenspace exposure (normalized difference vegetative index [NDVI]) and six CVD events: CVD mortality, ischemic heart disease (IHD) mortality, stroke incidence/prevalence, and coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence/prevalence. Sensitivity analyses and publication bias tests were also conducted.

Findings: Of the 6229 records identified, 48 studies were eligible for inclusion. These studies covered 18 countries and included data from more than 100 million persons. Meta-analyses showed that a 0∙1 increase in NDVI was associated with 2-13% lower odds of CVD mortality (OR 0∙97, 95% CI 0∙96-0∙99, I2 95∙8%), IHD mortality (OR 0∙98, 95% CI 0∙96-1∙00, I2 90∙7%), stroke incidence/prevalence (OR 0∙97, 95% CI 0∙96-0∙99, I2 29∙6%), and CHD incidence/prevalence (OR 0∙87, 95% CI 0∙83-0∙91, I2 0∙0%). The pooled estimates were not substantially different in sensitive analyses. No evidence of publication bias was detected.

Interpretation: We provide strong and robust evidence for beneficial effects of greenspace exposure on cardiovascular health. More prospective studies and mechanistic studies are needed.

Funding: The Natural Science Foundation of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China; the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Declaration of Interests: We declare no competing interests.


The study was conducted to know the risks on the  lump sum and unit price projects, and to know the influence of risk factors on various construction projects and ways of handling them. The research method used was descriptive qualitative with lump sump sample project contracts: Indosat Building Semarang , Cakung Township Road and Bridge Phase II and Dock 21 Nusantara , Jakarta .  The s amples with unit price system contract s were the addition of the South - lane segment Sentul Bogor Interchange A and B Jagorawi lines , hospital and Pekalongan Dock Marina . Data collected by interviews , questionnaires and field surveys as the addition to data already available . Risk analysis was done by using Risk Breakdown Structure and calculate the value of the level of risk on risk factors . The results obtained from RBS analysis were further analyzed for risk response , a comparison of risk and  risk importance level . The results of this study show that the level of risk at each stage of the lump sum contract or unit price depends on the type of project , location , complexity of the work and the ability of the contractor . Based on the importance level project , it is proved that the risk with unit price contract is not always lower than the lump sum ones .


Discontinuation of the treatment occurs in some cases for paclitaxel due to peripheral neuropathy. Although there have been several reports regarding the risk factors of peripheral neuropathy associated with this drug, there have been no such reports in Japan. Therefore, we conducted a retrospective survey to clarify risk factors of peripheral neuropathy among patients administered PTX. The subjects comprised all the patients in whom the administration of PTX was initiated at the Breast Center of Juntendo University Hospital between July 2004 and July 2008. PTX dosage, period of initial treatment, and severity of peripheral neuropathy were collected from the medical charts. Peripheral neuropathy developed in 82 out of 111 patients (73.9%), and 9 of them (8.1%) were assessed as Grade 3 or higher. A previous history of diabetes mellitus was identified as a risk factor of grade 3 or higher peripheral neuropathy (Hazard ratio 5.98, 95% confidence interval: 1.03-34.82; p=0.047). The rate of cases with peripheral neuropathy of Grade 3 or higher was lower than described in previous reports, and a history of diabetes mellitus was suggested as a risk factor. Because peripheral neuropathy is a problem for treatment, it is necessary to study treatment methods through a prospective controlled trial.


We, humans, have invented many technologies in the past few decades to enhance our lifestyles. Some of them induce the invention of electronics like cell phones, better cooking apparatuses, plastics, and insecticides for better farming. These inventions are utilitarian at first look, but the other side of them greatly goes missing. We are still manufacturing tons of cell phones, whereas the old disposed phones are not properly recycled, hence they stay in the landfills polluting the environment. The toxic elements required to manufacture such electronics also have similar effects. Moreover, the convenient cooking apparatuses are coated with chemicals that are harmful to humans. Similarly, the insecticides, used for better farming are actually deleterious in the long run.


There is a lot of faith in the idea of providing rhetorical structure and/or background and content information as a pre-reading activity. On the...


A novel scheme for a digitally tunable laser requiring only P+Q+1 optical amplifiers for a device with in total P×Q wavelength channels is presented. A 32-channel InP/InGaAsP based device is fabricated. An optimised active layer and low on-chip losses result in a high optical output power.


A 4-band X 4096-element IR-CCD has been developed with Schottky-barrier detectors operating at 80 K. The device is a monolithic quadruple-band image sensor in the short wavelength infrared (1.6 pm - 2.35 }gym) band. This imager has a stagger detector layout. The detector size is 10 μm X 10 μm and the effective fill factor is 100 %. A package for the SW IR-CCD has been also developed. The package is a SiC-Al203-SiC structure. The device is assembled with epoxy. The epoxy mounting does not degrade after 9000 times heat shock experiments (77 K - 333 K). The measured performance of the device includes the transfer inefficiency of the CCD, signal to noise ratio, dynamic range, uniformity and power dissipation of the device.


Periodic sets of points model all solid crystalline materials (crystals) by representing atoms as labeled points. Crystal structures are determined in a rigid form and are considered up to rigid motions or isometries. Modern tools of Crystal Structure Prediction output thousands of simulated structures, though only few of them can be really synthesized. The first obstacle is the presence of many near duplicate structures that can not be efficiently recognized on the fly by past tools. To continuously quantify a similarity between periodic sets, their isometry invariants should be continuous under perturbations when all discrete invariants such as symmetry groups can break down. This paper studies the isometry classification problem for periodic sets with the new continuity requirement and introduces the Average Minimum Distances, which form an infinite sequence of continuous isometry invariants. Their asymptotic behaviour for a wide class of sets is explicitly described in terms of a point packing coefficient. All results are illustrated by experiments on large datasets of crystals.


This study probes the ethics of intrusive technologies for experimental research in tourism, through the lens of collaborative ethnography. Amidst the increasing uptake of technology to assess participant responses, the role of ethics in an experimental setting has received scant attention in tourism and hospitality. While intrusive technologies such as eye tracking, skin sensors and neuroscience headgear become more ubiquitous, the ethical boundaries of using such equipment are increasingly blurred and inconsistently approved. Seeking convergence of ethics concerning intrusive technologies is complicated when framing political spaces, target audiences and management of data obtained. Rather than view the role of intrusive technologies as a dichotomous outcome of ethical or unethical approaches, this paper argues that ethics needs to be contextually embedded with increased collaboration and co-creation in the application preparation and approval process.


During accumulation of coal-formed gas,the fault envelopment and conduction are discussed. Firstly,persistence of fault activity that affects time of traps forming and fault envelopment is researched. Secondly,according to stratigraphic contact relation around faults,seven fault envelopment models are established to qualitatively analyze the advantages and disadvantages of fault envelopment and conduction of each model. And fault envelopment and conduction in 3D are discussed. If there are the principal components about source-reservoir-seal,researches on fault envelopment and conduction have great significances for selection of exploration target of coal-formed gas.


Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a global pandemic in the world. Some treatments, including vaccines and potential drugs, are still developed. This study investigated the bioactive compounds of Zingiber officinale, Kaempferia rotunda, and Curcuma zedoaria as a potential inhibitor for ACE2 and RdRP proteins. Molecular docking was used for screening the bioactive compounds as ACE2 and RdRP inhibitors. Shogaol (CID 5281794), zingerone (CID 31211), chalcone (CID 637760), Ar-turmerone (CID 558221), bisdemothxycurcumin (CID 5315472), and curcuminoid (CID 101341353) interacted with angiotensin-converting enzyme receptor-2/ACE2 (PDB ID 2xd3) and RNA dependent RNA polymerase/RdRP (PDB ID 6xqb), then analyzed using Discovery studio v.19 program. Shogaol, zingerone, chalcone, ar-turmerone, bisdemethoxycurcumin, and curcuminoid bound to ACE2 and RdRP protein in some active sites. Zingerone, chalcone, and ar-turmerone are attached to the ACE-2 and then RdRP protein in similar active sites, suggesting those compounds stabilize the complex ACE-2 and RdRP protein. Shogaol interacted with the RdRP and ACE2 protein amino acid residues in the Shogaol-RdRP+ACE2 complex, indicating shogaol blocks the RdRP-ACE2 interaction. Then, bisdemethoxycurcumin and curcuminoid change the binding sites of ACE2 and RdRP protein when both compounds are bound to RdRP protein. This study suggested that shogaol, bisdemethoxycurcumin, and curcuminoid are potential drugs for COVID-19 prevention.


In this paper, we study two new methods for approximating the viability kernel of a given set for a Holderian differential inclusion. We approximate this kernel by viability kernels for discrete dynamical systems. We prove a convergence result when the differential inclusion is replaced by a sequence of recursive inclusions. Furthermore, when the given set is approached by a sequence of suitable finite sets, we prove our second main convergence result. This paper is the first step to obtain numerical methods.


Hypertension is the most important risk factor for cardiovascular events associated morbidity and mortality, affecting more than one billion people worldwide (1). Although anti-hypertensive drug therapy is very effective in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and death, approximately 10% of patients suffer from resistant hypertension despite at least three maximally tolerated doses of anti-hypertensive drugs including a diuretic (2).


It was found that 2,6-dithiopurine isolated in low-temperature argon and nitrogen matrixes adopts only one tautomeric form: dithione-N7H. The UV (λ > 345 nm) induced reactions converting this tautomer into dithiol-N3H and dithiol-N7H isomers were observed in Ar and N2 matrixes. The first of these reactions represents a novel type of photoinduced double-proton transfer, whereas the second is analogous to that previously observed for 2,4-dithiouracil (Lapinski, L.; Nowak, M. J.; Kolos, R.; Kwiatkowski, J. S.; Leszczynski, J. Spectrochim. Acta A 1998, 54, 685). The assignment of the form initially present in the matrix to the dithione-N7H isomer and of the photoproducts to the dithiol-N3H and dithiol-N7H isomers was based on the good agreement between the experimental IR matrix spectra and the spectra theoretically simulated at DFT(B3LYP)/6-31G(d,p) level.


The accurate identification of tea varieties is of great significance to ensure the interests of tea producers and consumers. As a non-destructive or micro damage detection method, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been widely used in the quality detection or classification of agricultural products and food. The objective of this research was to automatically select optimal spectral peaks from the full LIBS spectra, and develop effective classification model for identifying tea varieties. The LIBS spectra covering the region 200-500 nm were measured for 600 Chinese tea leaves including six varieties (i.e. Longjing green tea, Jinhao black tea, Tie Guanyin, Huang Jinya, White peony tea, and Anhua dark tea). A total of 50 optimal spectral peaks were automatically selected from full LIBS spectra (6102) by using the uninformative variable elimination (UVE) and partial least squares projection analysis, and the selected spectral peaks mainly represent the elemental difference in C, Fe, Mg, Mn, Al and Ca. Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) was used for developing classification model using selected optimal spectral peaks, and yielded the 99.77% classification accuracy for 300 test samples was reached. The results indicate that the proposed method can be used to identify leaf varieties in various tea products.
Keywords: LIBS, tea varieties classification, feature selection, PLS projection algorithm, UVE, PLSDA
DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20181103.3482

Citation: Zhang H Y, Zhu Q B, Huang M, Guo Y. Automatic determination of optimal spectral peaks for classification of Chinese tea varieties using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2018; 11(3): 154–158.


Exudative dermatitis which caused by Staphylococcus is an acute infectious disease,fat-like exudate appears to form a scab and fall off the skin,even lead to dehydration and death and other major symptoms.It mainly harm to the piglets within 4 weeks,1—2 week′s age piglets are often invasion.After clinical examination,autopsy pathology and bacterial culture,microscopic examination,a diagnosis of staphylococcal infection of pigs exudative dermatitis.To isolation,disinfection,safe disposal,treatment,feeding and management conditions to improve,it can be eradicated.Stress of constant hot and humid climate,poor health conditions sheds are major causes of invasion,maintaining an effective drug concentrations in blood is the key of treatment.


IN THIS NOTE we examine whether one can improve interest-rate forecasts by knowing the inventory positions of government security dealers, both concurrently and later when the information becomes publicly available. We begin with the consideration of the factors that influence such inventory positions. This is followed by the hypothesis to be tested, the sample and methodology, and the results with their implications. I. The Inventory Positions of Dealers The inventory position of a government security dealer in a security is affected by expectations about the volume of trading in the security, the bid-ask spread, financing costs associated with carrying inventory long, and interest-rate expectations and uncertainty.1 The desired net inventory is an increasing function of the expected volume and of the profitability per transaction as represented by the bid-ask spread, ceteris paribus. However, spreads tend to vary inversely with volume and directly with maturity. Spreads also widen or narrow with changes in interest-rate expectations and with uncertainty in the market.2 The combination of trading volume and spread determine a dealer's gross trading profit in a particular security. Trading profits also depend on financing costs. Two principal sources of financing are available for a dealer's highly levered balance sheet; repurchase agreements, or repos, and collateral loans from banks. The interest-rate cost of both tends to parallel closely the Federal funds rate, with the typical overnight repo somewhat below it and the typical collateral loan somewhat above it. The higher the financing costs of a dealer in relation to the interest return on the securities held, the lower the desired net inventory position. Dealer's inventories also are affected by expectations about future interest rates. If interest rates are expected to rise, dealers will tend to reduce their long positions and go short, particularly in longer term securities. If interest rates are expected to fall, the opposite will occur; long positions will be increased and short


Because of the screening effect formed by large area low-layer gas above the Penglai A structure,Bohai Bay,the seismic imaging can not correctly reflect the features of subsurface geologic structure.Therefore,on the basis of multiwave seismic tests,an offshore 3D four-component(4-c) seismic exploration and an offshore 2D four-component(4-c) seismic acquisition were performed above the structure.Having considered the particularity in converted-wave processing we pay much attention to main links such as the generation of CCP trace gather,the azimuth angle rotation of horizontal component etc.,and better converted-wave profiles have been obtained.