We investigate the exclusive semileptonic B{sub c}{yields}(D,{eta}{sub c},B,B{sub s})l{nu}{sub l}, {eta}{sub b}{yields}B{sub c}l{nu}{sub l} (l=e,{mu},{tau}) decays using the light-front quark model constrained by the variational principle for the QCD-motivated effective Hamiltonian. The form factors f{sub +}(q{sup 2}) and f{sub -}(q{sup 2}) are obtained from the analytic continuation method in the q{sup +}=0 frame. While the form factor f{sub +}(q{sup 2}) is free from the zero mode, the form factor f{sub -}(q{sup 2}) is not free from the zero mode in the q{sup +}=0 frame. We quantify the zero-mode contributions to f{sub -}(q{sup 2}) for various semileptonic B{sub c} decays. Using our effective method to relate the non-wave-function vertex to the light-front valence wave function, we incorporate the zero-mode contribution as a convolution of the zero-mode operator with the initial and final state wave functions. Our results are then compared to the available experimental data and the results from other theoretical approaches. Since the prediction on the magnetic dipole B{sub c}*{yields}B{sub c}+{gamma} decay turns out to be very sensitive to the mass difference between B{sub c}* and B{sub c} mesons, the decay width {gamma}(B{sub c}*{yields}B{sub c}{gamma}) may help in determining the mass of B{sub c}* experimentally. Furthermore, we compare the resultsmore » from the harmonic oscillator potential and the linear potential and identify the decay processes that are sensitive to the choice of confining potential. From the future experimental data on these sensitive processes, one may obtain more realistic information on the potential between the quark and antiquark in the heavy meson system.« less


We present a new form of optical microscope. An evanescent field is produced in the lower index medium of an ATR system and modulated by a sample deposited on the hypotenuse of the prism. A sharpened fiber optic probes this field and gives information about the topography of the surface.


For the energy absorption of atomic clusters as a function of the laser pulse duration we find a similar behavior as it has been observed for metallic clusters [K\"oller et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 82}, 3783 (1999)]. In both situations there exists an optimum radius $R_{o}$ of the cluster for energy absorption. In the metallic case the existence of $R_{o}$ has been interpreted as a consequence of the collective oscillation of a delocalized electron cloud in resonance with the laser frequency. Here, we give evidence that in the atomic cluster the origin of $R_{o}$ is very different. Based on field assisted tunneling it can be related to the phenomenon of enhanced ionization as it occurs in small molecules. The dependence of $R_{o}$ on the laser frequency turns out to be the key quantity to distinguish the processes.


A university in one of the rising central cities faces both the challenge from a galaxy of key universities and that all over the world in the competition for qualified personnel. It is imperative to have a keen understanding of the significance of characteristic education to the existence of a university. And to achieve characteristic education it is necessary to change educational ideology, to establish the subject position of running the university and to bring off the change of government function, making clear its service aim, setting up new modes of cultivating competent personnel, bringing its advantages into full play along with making innovations continuously.


By means of an inner tube forming an extension of the ordinary discharge jet of a pipette, a fixed quantity of liquid is retained and can be recovered by pouring out from the top of the pipette. Pipettes of this pattern have been found useful for purposes where definite fixed quantities of water or other liquid have to be measured rapidly and accurately.


Learning management systems are routinely used for presenting, solving and grading exercises with large classes. However, teachers are constrained to use questions with pre-defined answers, such as multiple-choice, to automatically correct the exercises of their students. Complex exercises cannot be evaluated automatically by the LMS and require the coordination of a set of heterogeneous systems. For instance, programming exercises require a specialized exercise resolution environment and automatic evaluation features, each provided by a different type of system. In this paper, the authors discuss an approach for the coordination of a network of eLearning systems supporting the resolution of exercises. The proposed approach is based on a pivot component embedded in the LMS and has two main roles: 1) provide an exercise resolution environment, and 2) coordinate communication between the LMS and other systems, exposing their functions as web services. The integration of the pivot component in the LMS relies on Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI). This paper presents an architecture to coordinate a network of eLearning systems and validate the proposed approach by creating such a network integrated with LMS from two different vendors.


A comprehensive bibliographical reference to international, national, and local literature on plant conservation - with over 10,000 references, arranged by country. A standard reference tool for anyone dealing with any aspect of plant conservation.


A new simple expression for the circular velocity of spiral galaxies is proposed and tested against HI Nearby Galaxy Survey (THINGS) data set. Its accuracy is compared with the one coming from MOND.


Using proprietary data on equity lending supply, loan fees and quantities, we examine the link between institutional ownership structure and the market for equity lending and stock prices. We find that both total institutional ownership and ownership concentration (measured by the Herfindahl index, single largest holding and number of investors) are important determinants of equity lending supply and short sale constraints. More concentrated ownership structures increase short sale constraints (including loan fees, recall risk and arbitrage risk) and force arbitrageurs to decrease demand for equity borrowing and demand greater compensation for borrowing stock. The results suggest that the impact of institutional ownership structure in the equity lending market may create limits to arbitrage.


This study investigates the information flow between U.S. Dollar-Ringgit spot, forward and Nondeliverable Forward (NDF) exchange rates during the pre and post-U. S. Quantitative Easing (QE) exit. Our results show: First, there is a robust unidirectional causality from NDF to spot and NDF to forward in the post-QE period; Second, Malaysian Government Securities (MGS) has a vital role during the QE period while international reserve precedes the spot, forward and NDF exchange rates in the post-US QE exit. Our results reaffirm the policy measures taken by the Central Bank in regulating the NDF market. Our finding suggests that: First: MGS and Reserve are essential variables that can be used to counter speculation from the offshore NDF market; and Second, right policy stance must be communicated by the Central Bank to the market participants to avoid excessive volatility to the domestic currency which will affect the real economy


The authors have developed a frequency-domain method for the measurement of hard-transition peak-shifts, using the intensities of spectral peaks as measured by a spectrum analyzer. They review the conventional overwrite environment, where a lower frequency old CW (continuous-wave) pattern is overwritten by a higher frequency new CW pattern. They then define a new overwrite parameter (OWQ) that can be shown from theory to relate in a simple manner to the hard-transition peak-shift and shape-broadening effects. To study the validity of this approach, the authors have performed time- and frequency-domain measurements over a wide range of writeability conditions for thin-film inductive heads on both a thin and a thick metal-film disk. Results show that for the thin disk, the frequency-domain results agree well with the time-domain results. >


For many reasons—its narrative complexity, its obscure message, its proverbial slowness—Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) provokes bewildered reactions among audiences. At the time of its release, one such reason was the innovative use of contemporary and Western classical music in a science fiction film; in the crosshairs were the two extensive scenes of traveling spaceships musicalized with the An der Sch€onen, Blauen Donau (The Blue Danube) Viennese waltz of Johann Strauss II. Due to the other pieces' relative anonymity at the time—the Sunrise introduction of Strauss' nine-part symphonic poem Also Sprach Zarathustra, an adagio of Soviet composer Aram Khachaturyan's Gayaneh ballet, and atonal works by Hungarian contemporary composer Gy€orgy Ligeti (Atmosph eres, Lux Aeterna, Requiem, and Aventures)—the French musicologist and scholar Michel Chion estimates that "it is only with the Blue Danube that Kubrick produced culture shock." This shock was rejected by various audience members, provoking "scattered laughs throughout the audience" and inspiring Pauline Kael to write about "the comic moment when the gliding space vehicles begin their Johann Strauss walk;" or producing in the audience the desire "to scoff at the Blue Danube," a waltz played "until the banality undoes the stunning photography." So what was the problem? Resumed by a Cue magazine critic: "Blue Danube [is] too redolent of old Vienna and inconceivably so of a spaceport." The audio–image association has such a contrast that it pushed Chion to admit that the waltz shows an "ostensible indifference to the situation on screen, implacably continuing no matter what"—an effect that the French musicologist calls anempathetic. Such disconnect—as well as the perplexity by part of the audience—could easily be explained by the violation of the "time, place and stock characterization," one of the "principles of composition, mixing, and editing" of the "classical film music" as established by Claudia Gorbman, thus: 1) the obvious temporal incompatibility between the old waltz and the futuristic spaceships; 2) a "social" disparity opposing a venerable and well respected musical genre, and a cinematographic one affected by a "reputation of puerility," still synonymous of "monsters and sex" in


The Bijigou V-Ti magnetite deposit in Shaanxi Province occurred in the upper and middle portions of the layered basic-ultrabasic complex, and was formed by the crystallization differentiation of tholeiitic magma that intruded into the existing space. At the early stage of magmatic evolution,the olivine and plagioclase underwent fractional crystallization,which led to the enrichment and mineralization of the elements Fe,Ti and V in the residual magma. The age of single minerals and the whole rock Sm-Nd isochron of the ore-bearing rock is 1061 ± 7Ma,indicating that the diagenesis and minerali- zation tectonic environment was a Mesoproterozoic rift,and the magma source was in the slightly depleted mantle.


Authorship attribution, the task of identifying the author of a document, has been applied to works of historical value such as Shakespeare's plays or the political Federalist papers but is still highly significant today. We introduce the novel problem of authorship attribution in multi-authored documents and focus on scientific publications. Multi-authored documents present hard challenges for authorship attribution. We propose several ideas how these can be addressed and evaluate when such models perform well. To this end we present a sentencebased prediction model that also allows to estimate which sentences were contributed by which author. We demonstrate using a stylometric approach that paper authors can be predicted with significant accuracy by exploiting authors' stylistic idiosyncrasies. This challenges the assumption that simply removing names from a paper submission ensures anonymity in a double-blind process.


It is well known that the thickness of anodic oxide films on Al formed at low current densities is limited by chemical dissolution of the films in the bath during anodization. On the other hand, when anodizing at high current densities, the occurrance of burning limits the film thickness, which decreases with increasing current density.Based on the above facts, the maximum film thickness obtained under galvanostatic anodization was analyzed and calculated using both the chemical dissolving rate for oxide films and the burning occurrance curve. It is theoretically and experimentally demonstrated that the critical thickness of oxide film can be formed on Al only by using a high speed anodizing process, in which, after initial galvanostatic anodization at high current density, current density decreases with time along the burning occurrance curve.


1. An experimental study was made of the effects of high temperature applied to the excised anthers of Tradescantia paludosa, and in each experiment, the initial meiotic stage of the anther was tested.2. Various abnormal figures previously reported by many workers were reinvestigated with special reference to the relationships between the treated meiotic stages and the chromosome aberrations.3. Some characteristic behaviors of the meiotic chromosome were also discussed.


We propose a method for generating synthetic medical images using deep learning Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs). We show that the generated medical images can be used for synthetic data augmentation, and improve the performance of CNN for medical image classification. Our novel method is demonstrated on a limited dataset of computed tomography (CT) images of 182 liver lesions (Cysts, Metastases and Hemangiomas). Using synthetic data augmentation we achieved an improvement of ∼ 7% in accuracy for the liver lesion classification task. This work was recently submitted for journal publication [1].


Objective To analyze effect of MPCNL in the treatment of upper urinary tract stones. Methods 50 patients from September 2010 to September 2013 were chosen to undergo the treatment of upper urinary tract stones in the author's hospital. They were randomly divided into two groups of the control group B and the treatment group A, with 50 cases in each one. The group B was treated with ureterolithotomy laparoscopic surgery and the group A was treated with MPCNL, the treatment effect of two groups were compared with serval indicators. Results Serval indicators of the treatment group was significantly better than the control group(P 0.05). Conclusion MPCNL in treatment of ureteral calculi of upper urinary has the advantage of trauma, quicker recovery, stones take the net rate, fewer complications,which worth of promotion.


Developing perspectives concerning the future in adolescence has been associated with several adaptive behaviors in school context. However, a need to understand how these prospects are build remains. In this paper, two studies on adolescents' future time perspective (FTP) are presented, highlighting its connection to the present experience. Participants were adolescents, aged 14 to 18. In the first study (N = 551), it is analyzed the factorial structure of a questionnaire designed to assess FTP in school context. A significant association of academic performance with FTP was found. In the second study (N = 11), through an analysis, based on Grounded Theory, to qualitative data derived from interviews, it was found that adolescents think considerably about their future, despite showing to be predominantly focused on career related dimensions. The influence on prospective thinking of both educational agents of the participation in multiple activities was also identified.


The aim of this study is to analyze the loyalty as a part of the character building reflected in the children illustrated book entitled Magic Toyshop My Magical Toyshop by Jessie Little (2010) in which friendship between the main character and her doll is portrayed. This study used qualitative method to examine the forms of words and pictures. The narrative elements in the story were analyzed by using Abrams' theory and the function of the pictures elaborated with Fang's, (1996). The issue of loyalty was discussed by using Adheenam's character building concepts (2015).

Keywords: Character building, Illustrated Book, Loyalty, Picture.


The question of the influence of genes on behavior raises difficult philosophical and social issues. In this paper I delineate what I call the Developmentalist Challenge (DC) to assertions of genetic influence on behavior, and then examine the DC through an indepth analysis of the behavioral genetics of the nematode, C. elegans, with some briefer references to work on Drosophila. I argue that eight "rules" relating genes and behavior through environmentally-influenced and tangled neural nets capture the results of developmental and behavioral studies on the nematode. Some elements of the DC are found to be sound and others are criticized. The essay concludes by examining the relations of this study to Kitcher's antireductionist arguments and Bechtel and Richardson's decomposition and localization heuristics. Some implications for human behavioral genetics are also briefly considered.


Over a field of characteristic p>2, firstly, the structure of Kac modules of Lie superalgebra $\tilde{P}(2)$ and the weight space decompositions are given. Secondly, the weight-derivations of $\tilde{P}(2)$ to its Kac modules are computed. Finally, the first cohomology of $\tilde{P}(2)$ with coefficients in Kac modules is determined.


The pathogenesy of Alzheimer's disease(AD) is complex and unclear.The drug therapy for AD currently is principally to improve the symptoms.This review describes the common and new drugs for AD to provide some references for AD drug therapy in clinic.


Abstract This study examines the impact of teacher feedback on seven students' presentations on social and cultural topics held in a German-as-a-foreign language classroom in Japan. Following the submission of self-recorded presentation drafts on an online learning platform, students received explicit feedback on how their spoken commentary related to the visible information on slides derived from the theoretical insights of social semiotics and systemic functional linguistics. After allocating one class to revising their work, students presented their finalized presentations, which were video recorded, cut, and prepared for analysis. Subsequently, a total of 14 sections that underwent alterations in both the draft and in-class presentation were scrutinized following a qualitative multimodal discourse analytical framework. By demonstrating the differences between two students' early drafts and their final in-class presentations, this study shows how adding verbal language that extended a slide's content strengthened audience engagement through interpersonal functions in language, gaze, body orientation, and gesture. Further, restructuring and inserting additional entities on the PowerPoint slide helped emphasize the talk's ideational components. The findings of this study have implications for multiliteracies pedagogy in a foreign language context, highlighting the importance of a holistic approach that considers language and other modes as complementary aspects of communication.


Closeness and direction of asynchronous connections between the thermal regime of the North Atlantic in the end of summer (August) and the conditions of the thermal regime in the following January in the Republic of Tatarstan are investigated with the use of the long-term data archive (1966-2009) of the average January air temperatures in the Republic of Tatarstan and the reanalysis data on average monthly sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) in the North Atlantic. We analyze the physical basis of the mechanism underlying these relationships, the connecting role of the atmospheric circulation and the results of testing the possibilities of using the informative field properties of SSTA in August for the long-term forecasting conditions of January thermal regime in the Republic of Tatarstan. It is shown that the overall accuracy of forecasts of the thermal regime in the Republic of Tatarstan by the method of linear discriminant analysis was 73 %, and by the method of nonparametric discriminant analysis 80 %.


Satellite-linked depth recorders (SDRs) were attached to 47 harbor seals in Prince William Sound, Alaska, during 1992-1996. Parameters describing diving effort, diving focus, and focal depth (depth bin to which diving was focused) were calculated from binned data on maximum dive depth and time spent at depth, and analyzed using repeated-measures mixed models. This analysis method accounted for individual variability, temporal autocorrelation, and the binned nature of SDR data, which are often ignored using standard statistical techniques. Results indicated that diving effort remained steady from September to April, when seals spent 68%-75% of their overall time in the water. Time spent in the water declined to 60% in May and to about 40% in July. Seals spent the most time in the water at night and the least in the morning. The diving of all seals in all months was highly focused. Overall, diving was focused to one depth bin approximately 75% of the time. Diving was more focused for females than for males and subadults. Focal dive depth was deepest in winter and shallowest during May-July. Focal depth and diving focus varied by region. Collinearity between month and region in the focal depth model suggests that seals move in winter to regions where prey are found deeper in the water column. Variations in diving behavior presumably result from combinations of regional bathymetry, seasonal cycles


There is a group of Medusa monuments that seems to have escaped attention. This is the more peculiar because it is a fairly numerous and homogeneous group. It is the gorgoneion with vegetation. Probably the reason for the neglect is that this juxtaposition of the gorgoneion is found almost without exception in connection with tombs; sometimes on the architecture of the tombs themselves, but much more often on sarcophagi and urns. As all critics have taken the Medusa in connection with the tomb as an emblem of suffering and death, they have found it convenient to ignore the almost constant use of vegetation symbolism with the gorgoneion in this entire class. I shall describe the monuments first, and reserve any general considerations till the end. The earliest work is a series of terracotta antefixes in the Etruscan Museum of the Vatican.2 They are archaistic in style and belonged, apparently, to a temple of the close of the fifth century B.C. Nine of these antefixes are preserved. In each one the head of Medusa, winged and with snakes knotted under her chin, is framed quite closely in three juxtaposed pairs of acanthus leaves that curve upward on either side. This became a classic type. There is nothing "horrible" in the type of face. The bulk of the material of this class with which I am familiar is, however, not earlier than the third century B.C., descending to the second or third A.D. There is a wealth of it among the later works of Etruscan art, especially in chamber tombs and :sepulchral urns. The most interesting instance is in the tomb of the Volumnii near Perugia. The pediment over the inner door-


Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) will soon become a prominent part of the medical and economic burden on many Western countries' healthcare systems. This review will discuss some emerging scenarios concerning the different classifications of HCC from the clinical, histological, and molecular perspective and to what extent they are integrated with each other. Beginning with an overview of the current numbers and facts regarding HCC, it touches upon the latest development of the epidemiological scenario. It is noteworthy that besides viral hepatitis infection, the fast growing rate of individuals affected by metabolic syndromes represents an additional influential factor on the rising incidence of HCC. However, despite recognised epidemiological evidence, too little is known about the molecular mechanisms that favour HCC development and progression. For instance, long non-coding RNAs playing a major role in the HCC carcinogenesis process have only recently been recognised. Although high cure rates are achieved for clinically asymptomatic patients when small tumours are detected, HCC is typically silent with few severe symptoms until its advanced stages. Patients with severe clinical signs are seldom good candidates for any type of curative therapy. Microscopically, HCC cells resemble normal liver cells to a variable degree, depending on the tumour differentiation status. Pathologists often use a panel of markers to assist HCC differential diagnosis. From a molecular perspective, HCC presents as a highly heterogeneous tumour entity. Despite considerable research efforts, to date no molecular classification has been introduced in clinical practice. A number of classifications have been suggested to stratify HCC patients by the likelihood of survival, with the aim of identifying those with the best chance of being successfully treated. These different systems do not seem to work well in conjunction and the various involved disciplines have so far failed to achieve their common goal. Co-ordinated initiatives involving clinicians, pathologists, biologists, and bioinformaticians are needed to achieve a comprehensive classification of HCC.


The purpose of this research is a comprehensive evaluation of climate change effects on temperature, precipitation and evapotranspiration over the country of Iran in next time periods of 2010-2039, 2040-2069 and 2070-2099, and under scenarios of A2 and B2. After preparation of measured temperature and precipitation data and calculation of evapotranspiration for the base time period of 1960- 1990 in 46 meteorological stations (with a nationwide distribution), it was tried to have initial zoning of these three parameters over the country. Then after receiving of maximum and minimum temperature and the values of precipitation from HadCM3 model under scenarios A2 and B2 for the mentioned next three time periods, these data were downscaled. By evaluation of uncertainties, most critical parts of the country that would be affected by climate change were specified. Results show that the highest increase in temperature occurs in west parts of the country, but the highest increase of evapotranspiration belongs to central regions of Iran. However, variation of precipitation is different in different parts of the country depending on the used scenarios and the selected time periods.


Abstract : Mutations in at least two hedgehog signal transduction network genes leads to defects in mammary gland development. These mutations can cause enhanced hedgehog signaling in some organs. If this mechanism is functioning in the mammary gland, defects should be inhibited or reverted by treatment with specific inhibitors of hedgehog signaling. One such inhibitor is called cyclopamine which causes birth defects in sheep when ingested during pregnancy. We are using slow release pellets containing cyclopamine to test whether Smo, Ptcl or Gli2-induced developmental defects are inhibited or reverted by treatment. As controls we are also testing the in vivo effect of cyclopamine treatment of preneoplastic growths presumably caused by genetic alterations independent of hedgehog signaling. The effect of cyclopamine on normal mammary development and function is also being examined. Finally, we are testing the effect of cyclopamine on a series of human mammary epithelial cell lines for changes in their growth behavior. If cyclopamine can slow or prevent neoplastic growth, this class of inhibitors may be useful in breast cancer treatment or prevention.


Treatment of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is a major strategy for tuberculosis control in the United States, Canada, and selected resource-intensive countries (1, 2). Given the decline in tuberculosis cases in the United States since 1992, interest in treating patients with LTBI is renewed in order to eliminate the large reservoir of individuals at risk for progression to tuberculosis (1, 3). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, such professional organizations as the American Thoracic Society and the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and others (13) recommend targeted testing of persons at increased risk for tuberculosis and provision of therapy for LTBI after active tuberculosis disease has been excluded. Persons at greatest risk for progression to active tuberculosis disease after infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis include those with HIV infection (the greatest single risk factor for progression) or recent tuberculosis infection, immigrants with LTBI from high endemic areas (especially within their first year in the United States), and those with LTBI and selected underlying illnesses (for example, silicosis, diabetes mellitus, chronic renal failure, some malignant conditions, and immunosuppressive medications) (1, 3). A major limitation to this strategy is poor acceptance and adherence to treatment regimens for LTBI (typically ##lt##50%) (4). Poor adherence is not surprising because treatment is arduous (9 months of isoniazid therapy is the preferred regimen [1]) and patients have no symptoms of infection. There was initial excitement about a 2-month, short-course regimen of rifampin and pyrazinamide for the treatment of LTBI, which was as efficacious as isoniazid in a narrowly defined HIV-infected study sample and had better adherence (5). However, when applied to the general population of patients with LTBI, rifampinpyrazinamide led to an unacceptably high rate of severe hepatotoxicity and death (the estimated mortality rate was 1 in 1000 uses), and the recommendation to use this short-course regimen was subsequently withdrawn (6). Four months of rifampin therapy is a recommended alternative to isoniazid for treating LTBI (1). It has been most commonly used among patients who are intolerant of isoniazid or are known to have been infected with M. tuberculosis strains that are resistant to isoniazid but susceptible to rifampin. Only 2 randomized trials have been on LTBI, and only 1 of these assessed efficacy. Thus, data are limited. Among patients in Hong Kong with silicosis and LTBI, 3 months of rifampin was similar in efficacy to other regimens (6 months of isoniazid and 3 months of isoniazid plus rifampin) and more efficacious than placebo (7). Therefore, the multicenter, open-label, randomized study in this issue by Menzies and colleagues (8), which compared 4 months of rifampin therapy with 9 months of isoniazid therapy for LTBI, is an interesting and welcome addition to the literature. In the study, carried out in Canada, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia, 427 and 420 persons with LTBI were randomly assigned to isoniazid therapy and rifampin therapy, respectively. Given the rate of progression from LTBI to active tuberculosis (5% to 10% lifetime risk in patients without HIV infection), the sample size was too small to assess efficacy. The primary end point was adverse effects, in particular more severe hepatotoxicity (grade 3 to 4), because both isoniazid and rifampin can cause hepatotoxicity. There were no significant differences between rifampin and isoniazid in drug-related adverse events. However, grade 3 (aspartate aminotransferase [AST] and alanine aminotransferase [ALT] levels 3 to 10 times the upper limit of normal [ULN] plus symptoms or 5 to 10 times ULN with no symptoms) or grade 4 (ALT and AST levels ##gt##10 times ULN) hepatotoxicity was significantly less common among patients in the rifampin group (0.7%) than among those in the isoniazid group (3.8%) (risk difference, 3.1% [95% CI, 1% to 5%). It is unclear how many patients had symptoms associated with increases in levels of AST or ALT. The authors also found that patients in the rifampin group were significantly more likely to complete treatment (78% for rifampin vs. 60% for isoniazid). The current recommendations for treatment of LTBI (1, 6) often seem more faith-based than evidence-based. Despite substantial data on the use and efficacy of isoniazid for treating LTBI (##gt##20 randomized, controlled trials involving ##gt##100000 persons [4]), the recommendation for 9 months of isoniazid (1) does not come directly from any randomized trials (for example, comparing 9 months with 6 or 12 months of therapy), but from reanalysis of data collected 50 years ago (9). Use of 4 months of rifampin as the preferred regimen for treatment of LTBI is not indicated on the basis of Menzies and colleagues' findings. Very limited data are available on the efficacy of rifampin (7) for treating LTBI, with most reports being small case series or programmatic evaluation of the use of rifampin in nonrandomized studies with sample sizes that are inadequate to evaluate efficacy (1012). The evidence from Menzies and colleagues' study (8) suggesting that rifampin is less hepatotoxic than isoniazid is consistent with a very limited body of evidence in other reports that had small sample size or nonrandomized study design (7, 12). However, the present study (8) does not resolve all questions about safety, and additional and larger studies are needed, especially in light of the recent unfortunate experience with rifampin plus pyrazinamide for LTBI. Menzies and colleagues excluded patients with potential drug interactions with rifampin. Potential study limitations include that it was open-label and not blinded. Investigators measured AST and ALT levels routinely at baseline and 1 and 2 months after treatment rather than monthly throughout the study. The article does not say if study participants who were at increased risk for hepatotoxicity had monthly ALT and AST levels measured, as recommended by current guidelines (1, 2). In addition, almost 20% of patients had missing ALT or AST values during the first 2 months of the study. Finally, the study was too small to measure the frequency of very serious but rare rifampin-related side effects that are thought to be immune-mediated, such as renal failure, thrombocytopenia, hemolytic anemia, or thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (13). The severe hepatotoxicity associated with the combined use of rifampin and pyrazinamide to treat LTBI has been suggested to be due to pyrazinamide (14); however, more data are needed on potential rifampin toxicity when used for treatment of LTBI, given the potential impact when thousands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of patients are treated. Furthermore, rifampin is not the perfect or ideal drug for the treatment of LTBI given that a major limitation is the many drug interactions associated with its use. Rifampin is a potent inducer of cytochrome P-450 oxidative enzymes as well as the P-glycoprotein transport system, both of which lead to enhanced clearance of important drugs (15). Examples of well-documented, clinically significant interactions include warfarin, oral contraceptives, cyclosporine, azoles, clarithromycin and trimethoprimsulfamethoxazole, digoxin, calcium-channel blockers, statins, oral hypoglycemic agents, benzodiazepines, and HIV-related protease inhibitors (15). Menzies and colleagues state that drug-induced hepatotoxicity [from isoniazid] is difficult to detect and can be fatal. Early detection of hepatotoxicity can be difficult if patients are followed only for clinical symptoms, as the current guidelines (1) recommend for most patients. However, obtaining monthly ALT and AST levels in adults receiving isoniazid therapy is a sensitive and effective mechanism for ensuring that treatment of LTBI is delivered safely by detecting substantial hepatotoxicity before clinical symptoms arise (16) and discontinuing therapy when grade 3 or 4 hepatotoxicity occurs. The risk for drug-induced hepatitis from isoniazid was higher in Menzies and colleagues' study than in many but not all previous reports. A large study conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service involving nearly 14000 participants, as well as a more recent multicenter study, reported rates of isoniazid-induced hepatotoxicity in the range of 1% (14, 17). Mortality rates associated with use of isoniazid for LTBI are reported in the range of 0 to 0.3 death per 1000 persons (median, 0.04 death per 1000 persons) (6). These are preventable with biochemical monitoring. Menzies and colleagues rightly conclude that a large-scale trial is indicated to assess the efficacy of rifampin monotherapy for the treatment of LTBI. Other regimens for the treatment of LTBI, such as 3 months of isoniazid plus rifampin therapy (which has been evaluated in 3 randomized trials [8, 18, 19] but never recommended for use in North America by public health officials [1, 2]), also need to be studied. The best hope on the horizon for a shorter treatment regimen for LTBI rests with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tuberculosis Trials Consortium Study 26, which is evaluating weekly rifapentine (a long-acting rifamycin) plus isoniazid for 12 weeks by directly observed therapy versus daily self-administered isoniazid for 9 months (20). The enrollment target of 8000 patients was reached in February 2008, and study results are anticipated in late 2010. At least 11 million persons have LTBI in the United States (21), and about 300000 to 400000 persons start therapy for LTBI each year, resulting in prevention of between 4000 to 11000 active tuberculosis cases (22). Despite these substantial numbers, public funding of research to develop the new tools needed to further tuberculosis control by addressing LTBI is woefully inadequate. For the first time in more than 30 years, several promising new agents for tre


SYNOPSIS The use of cooling towers for concrete-core-cooling in building technology enables energy saving possibilities, which are based on evaporative cooling. Therefore, the necessity of separate cooling devices is obsolete in this type of building. This technique may only be realised with the use of dynamic simulation tools that support the design of the system. The operation concept for these systems works in a way that they cool down the concrete-core during niaht time and use this potential for cooling the building during day time. Besides the principle, examples that demonstrate the energy saving capacity are presented.


To perform a‐proof‐of principle experiment of a SASE based Free Electron Laser a permanent magnet undulator has been installed in the TTF linac phase 1. The magnets used (NdFeB) are known to be sensitive to radiation damages if exposed to high energy electrons. Already beam losses in the order of 10−6 of the nominal TTF beam current (64μA) are critical for the undulator and could have cause an irreversible damage of its magnets after a few months of operation. The protection of the undulator against radiation has been attacked twofold: first, a two stage spoiler‐absorber collimation system has been installed and second, a beam loss detection system of high sensitivity has been added to the machine protection system. The performance and the operational experience of the active and the passive protection system are discussed.


Under the condition of slow strain rate tests method(SSRT),the susceptive indexes of the stress corrosion cracking for 316L stainless steel in wet hydrogen sulfide service were calculated.Among the environmental factors,the separate and interactive effects of H2S concentration,Cl-concentration,temperature and pH values on the susceptibilities of the stress corrosion cracking are considered.By means of the stepwise regression analysis to test results,the equations between the susceptive indexes and the medium parameters are obtained.The affected notabilities of four parameters are also indicated.


In order to know the shelf life of pancakes prepared from wheat fl our (50% HT) and carrot (50% Z), was used as an indicator of the product acidity, expressed as % lactic acid (LA) in addition to the microbial load. The pancakes were stored without packaging at three temperatures: 8, 32, and 36 °C; % of the AL was measured daily for 5 days and data were analyzed to determine the kinetics of the reaction of degradation and its relationship with temperature. The results indicated that the pancakes had a shelf life of 4, 1 and 1 days respectively, measured in terms of the acidity of the product which is directly proportional to the storage temperature, the reaction kinetics of degradation was an order dependent on storage temperature as the interrelation of the Arrhenius equation, with correlation with the results of microbiological analysis, presence of aerobic mesophiles from six days (8 °C) and two days (32 and 36 °C). Storage conditions at low temperatures, guaranteeing a longer period of life: up to 4 days refrigerated at 8 °C. The increase of temperature and storage time predispose the microbial load. The tests were conducted in the Laboratory of Food Technology, school of Zootecnology, Universidad de Oriente, Campus of Monagas, Venezuela.


Extracted from text ... 384
Book reviews
Title: September 11: Trauma and human bonds
Editors: S.W. Coates, J. L. Rosenthal and
D. S. Schechter
Year: 2003
Publisher: The Analytic Press
ISBN: 0-88163-381-X (hardcover, 293 pages)
At first blush it may appear that a book focusing on
September 11 and the impact of the attacks on the World
Trade Centre in New York has little relevance to contemporary
South Africa. However, a closer inspection of this
book reveals not only signifi cant relevance to South Africa,
but also a volume that focuses its gaze not merely on trauma
and its sequelae, but importantly, on ..


A recently proposed approach for avoiding the ultraviolet divergence of Hamiltonians with particle creation is based on interior-boundary conditions (IBCs). The approach works well in the non-relativistic case, i.e., for the Laplacian operator. Here, we study how the approach can be applied to Dirac operators. While this has successfully been done already in one space dimension, and more generally for codimension-1 boundaries, the situation of point sources in three dimensions corresponds to a codimension-3 boundary. One would expect that, for such a boundary, Dirac operators do not allow for boundary conditions because they are known not to allow for point interactions in 3D, which also correspond to a boundary condition. Indeed, we confirm this expectation here by proving that there is no self-adjoint operator on a (truncated) Fock space that would correspond to a Dirac operator with an IBC at configurations with a particle at the origin. However, we also present a positive result showing that there are self-adjoint operators with an IBC (on the boundary consisting of configurations with a particle at the origin) that are away from those configurations, given by a Dirac operator plus a sufficiently strong Coulomb potential.


Researching the soft-state fi lms of the blood serum in 50 soft tissues sarcoma patients has allowed to reveal particular changes under development of the distant metastases. The generalization of the process was attended with anomalous, mainly irradial types of facies being formed. An increase of markers of the pathological processes of infl ammation, intoxication, hypoxia etc. has been established. Some «glass» type inclusions, whose autowave nature may be due to presence of alien tumour proteins, has been detected. Including such researches in the dispensary monitoring increases the sarcomas metastatical growth forecasting.


The present study applied an impression transferring method to such higher-order impressions as "elegance" or "attractiveness" to manipulate the facial impressions and confirmed the validity of this method. First, impression ratings were performed by the semantic differential method on synthesized faces utilizing potent physical information by the principal components. Then we chose several principal components that had larger effects for modifying the impressions related to the Evaluation factor (e.g. elegant, attractive, etc.) in Experiment 1. Next, based on the results of the impression ratings of actual faces, we chose two sets of sample faces: high Evaluation and low Evaluation (Experiment 2). In Experiment 3, we successfully derived the impression transfer vectors that modified the evaluative impressions based on the results of Experiments 1 and 2. We discussed the potentiality of the impression transfer vector method to render higher-order impressions more dynamically and this technique's applicability to various fields.


In very young apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) seedlings, cotyledon dry weight decreased during the 14-day period following cotyledon separation and development. Removal of both cotyledons at the tim...


of the Focused Ion Beam Hard Mask (FIBHM) method in the to pattern nano-scaled structures of ion lithography, number of emerging processing in technologies


Denial-of-Service attacks are a major concern in static Wireless Sensor Networks. Malicious nodes can attack the network by jamming, selectively forwarding packets, black-hole attack and spoofing. In the case of statically deployed, dense Wireless Sensor Networks which use flat routing, alternate path for secure transmission on packets across such malicious nodes have to be found. Scattering multiple copies of the packets in order to reach the sink, leads to more network and energy inefficiency. Moreover, collusion of malicious nodes is addressed vaguely by literature. In this paper, we propose a secure routing methodology which semirandomly propagates a packet in the shortest path to the Sink by circumventing the malicious nodes. Extensive simulations show that the number of broadcast hops, activity of network and the packet drop ratio are significantly lesser for the proposed routing technique. Simulations also prove that the proposed technique handles collusion of malicious nodes more efficiently.


We report the thermoelectric transport properties of n-type Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 compounds prepared by oxide-reduction process. The oxide-reduction process is a recently developed method that can synthesize Bi2Te3-based compounds using only oxide starting materials, which is advantageous in terms of the diversity of the starting materials and cost efficiency. In this study, starting materials of Bi2O3,TeO2 and SeO2 were ball-milled for homogenous mixing, and then oxidized to prepare mixed oxide powders. The mixed oxide powders were reduced at different reduction temperatures (573, 603, 633 and 663 K) for 7 h under hydrogen atmosphere. A single phase of Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 could be achieved when the reduction temperature was higher than 603 K, and the shape of the particles changed from granules to flakes with increasing reduction temperature. Furthermore, the formation of antisite defects of BiSe was promoted by increasing reduction temperature, which strongly affected the electrical and thermal transport properties of the Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 compounds, which were prepared by spark plasma sintering of the reduced powders. The anisotropic microstructures in the sintered bodies were significantly influenced by the shape of the reduced powders, which was also controlled by the reduction temperature. The thermoelectric transport properties were characterized at room temperature, and the detailed effects of the reduction temperature on these properties are discussed in terms of the anisotropic microstructure and antisite defects. (Received March 16, 2020; Accepted April 7, 2020)


The asymptotic behaviour of a class of elliptic equations with highly oscillating coefficients, in a perforated periodic domain, is analyzed. We consider, in each period, two types of holes and we impose, on their boundaries, a Signorini and, respectively, a Neumann condition. Using the periodic unfolding method, we prove that the limit problem contains two additional terms, a right-hand side term and a "strange" one.


This paper describes the design, implementation, and evaluation of Amoeba, a context-sensitive context detection service for mobile devices. Amoeba exports an API that allows a client to express interest in one or more context types (activity, indoor/outdoor, and entry/exit to/from named regions), subscribe to specific modes within each context (e.g., "walking" or "running", but no other activity), and specify a response latency (i.e., how often the client is notified). Each context has a detector that returns its estimate of the mode. The detectors take both the desired subscriptions and the current context detection into account, adjusting both the types of sensors and the sampling rates to achieve high accuracy and low energy consumption. We have implemented Amoeba on Android. Experiments with Amoeba on 45+ hours of data show that our activity detector achieves an accuracy between 92% and 99%, outperforming previous proposals like UCLA* (59%), EEMSS (82%) and SociableSense (72%), while consuming 4 to 6× less energy.


Laura Jacob, president of the IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology (SSIT), first became interested in engineering when she was a young girl. "I was always interested in how things work," she says. Savvy with technology, Jacob says she always knew she could excel at it and thought it would be a great career field to pursue. She went to the University of Connecticut and transferred to Pace University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in computer science. After college, Jacob explains that she stayed involved in IEEE, partly because her professors encouraged her to do so. "Being involved in the IEEE has been very good for my career, it's a great place to meet other professionals and share ideas," she adds.


Abstract Various benzofuran bromides were dehalogenated using the palladium catalyst and phosphine ligands in the present of 5 equiv water. This set up a new and efficient protocol for the palladium-catalyzed dehalogenation of benzofuran bromides, which could tolerate the presence of water and have selective debromination. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


Natural gas hydrate is an ice-like compound composed of mainly methane molecules and water molecules under proper high pressure and low temperature, and is being studied as a strategic energy resource. This paper first introduces the research advance of reservoir formation and classification of hydrate formation, and then systematically summarizes the current methods and their applicable conditions for hydrate exploitation. A new concept i.e. mechanical-thermal hydrate recovery method is presented based on the geological-mechanical characteristics in China and the technological process and scientific principles were introduced and overiewed. Hydrate mining mainly involves four effects of heat conduction, phase change, seepage and stress change. Through the analysis of the four characteristic time, the problem is decoupled and the characteristics of the evolution of the physical quantities in the process of hydrate mining can be determined, which can provide theoretical guidance for the practical exploitation of hydrates. Finally, the research progress of field trial production is analyzed and the future research direction of hydrate mining is pointed out.


The past, as they say, is another country, and these days it may be difficult to appreciate that less than ten years ago the study of terrorism was barely more than a minority pursuit. This, of course, stands in contrast to the era following the attacks on New York and the Pentagon by groups linked to the jihadist alQaeda network on 11 September 2001. Ever since 9/11 terrorism studies has very much been the plat du jour. According to current urban academic myth, a book on terrorism is published somewhere in the world every few minutes. Since its inception as a field of inquiry in the 1970s, the study of terrorism has enjoyed a mixed reputation. No better illustration of how established scholarly opinion viewed this area can be garnered than from the words of the military historian Michael Howard, who declared that terrorism studies had 'been responsible for more incompetent and unnecessary books than any other outside . . . of sociology'. He went on: 'It attracts phoneys and amateurs as a candle attracts moths'. Three decades ago, when Professor Howard passed his scorning judgment, the issue of terrorism played little role in the academic mainstream, where the prevalence of Cold War diplomacy and inter-state


Abstract The article presents Observations of Catholic moral teaching from the perspective of Protestant theology in the form of theses. In a first section, main traits and distinctions, especially in the tradition of the claimed Magisterium of the Catholic Church, are outlined. The second section deals with typical Protestant critiques and misunderstandings of the Catholic approach. Following this article they are caused by confounding different Ievels of argumentation: the Ievels of a) the doctrines of teaching, b) the acting of teaching and c) the comprehensive cultural practice. Unfolding these distinctions and their particular functionings the article draws the surprising conclusion that Protestant theology and ethics often do not match Catholic thinking although they think they do by using the same words. This conclusion may have a huge impact on ecumenical ventures and the Protestant self-understanding. A third section, a brief outlook on these questions, completes the train of thoughts.


The supersonic-assisted extracting technology of glycyrrhizic acid from liquorice was researched. Combined artificial neural network(ANN) with traditional orthogonal design, a new method of test data analyzing, processing and optimizing was put forward. With this method the test information can be fully used, the change regularity of each factor can be analyzed and the optimum combination can be found. By using this new method, the optimum extraction condition was obtained as follows: ethanol concentration 40%, supersonic time 50min, extracting temperature 20℃, extracting time 20min, supersonic frequency 13kHz and ratio of solid-liquid 1:10. Optimizing extraction technology by ANN, the experimental information could be dig out completely. Applying this preferable extracting technology, the costs of production was reduced, the energy consuming was decreased, and the glycyrrhizic acid content was increased. The results showed that this new method was reasonable and practicable.


Working in close collaboration with the client, this architectural firm working mainly in concrete, created silos, a grinding plan, kiln, and conveyor belt to produce this powerful complex which shows how an industrial plant can become a design event.


The 'Golden Age' refers to an era of rapid economic growth which led to dramatic changes within European society. The steady rise in income coupled with recently introduced paid holidays encouraged the new middle classes to emulate the lifestyle of the glamorous and privileged trendsetters of the Belle Epoque and the 1920s. The outward trappings of this included the purchase of a car and annual holidays in the Mediterranean, amounting in the 1950s to a sort of yearly pilgrimage. In the Balearic Islands and the Costa Brava an ample tourist sector flourished against a political background that was essentially in opposition to it – the autarchic stage of the Franco regime. Tourism, in the end, became one of the determining factors which provoked radical changes to this regime, leading eventually to complete abandonment of its militant isolationism.


Introduction: Cholelithiasis is a chronic recurrent disease of the hepatobiliary system. The impaired metabolism of cholesterol, bile acids and bilirubin are characterized by gall stone formation. Materials & Methods: In present study, apart from studying the clinical presentation, it also looks at improvement in attributable and non-attributable symptoms of gall stone disease following cholecystectomy. Result: In this study, 100 cases of cholelithiasis who were admitted in Guru Nanak Dev Hospital and Government Medical College, Amritsar, for cholecystectomy during November 2017 to October 2019 were studied. At present, available literature on cholelithiasis is reviewed and the results of study are compared with those of other authors. Conclusion: The highest age incidence of cholelithiasis was in the 5 th decade, with female preponderance. 100% cases became symptoms free from vomiting after 6 months of cholecystectomy.93% (hyperacidity) cases, 92% (flatulence) cases, 85% (Heartburn) cases, 82%(dyspepsia), 80%(right upper abdominal pain and non attributable symptoms) cases became symptoms free after 6 months of cholecystectomy. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date of Submission: 02-12-2019 Date of Acceptance: 18-12-2019 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Ecology
Anthropogenic nutrient enrichment of the global environment has been proceeding for many decades. Nitrogen deposition in particular leads to higher ecosystem productivity at the expense of biodiversity. In a global experiment spanning 45 sites, Tognetti et al. investigated how the addition of nitrogen affected the leguminous plants in grassland. Legumes under natural conditions compete successfully in low-nutrient conditions because of their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen using their rhizobial symbionts. However, excess nitrogen deposition places them at a competitive disadvantage, leading to declines in their biomass and abundance. In turn, these declines may have adverse consequences for grassland biodiversity and food webs more generally as nitrogen deposition continues.

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 118 , e2023718118 (2021).


T EHE PERSONAL POSSESSIONS of emperors, kings, and princes carry with them an inherent mystique purely by virtue of former royal ownership. Few items evoke the presence and portray the tastes of a long-dead ruler more palpably than his armor. In this regard the Department of Arms and Armor is particularly fortunate to have four finely made and relatively well-preserved royal armors. In chronological order the earliest is a field armor dated 1549 and made for Ferdinand I (1503-1564), king of Bohemia and Hungary from 1526, king of the Romans from 1531, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1556.1 Next, and the most elaborately decorated armor in the collection, is the sumptuous pageant armor made about 1555 for Henry II (1519-1559), king of France. Following this by more than a century, and the principal subject of this essay, is the harquebus armor of Dom Pedro II (1648-1706), king of Portugal, made about 1685 (Figure 1). Last in this distinguished line, and perhaps the last royal armor made in Europe, is a child's armor dated 1712 and thought to have been made for Luis (1707-1724), prince of Asturias, who reigned briefly as Luis I, king of Spain, in 1724. The armors of Henry II and Luis I represent aspects of the symbolic and ceremonial characteristics of kingship. The sheer artistic virtuosity of Henry's armor-the finest then available-was intended not


The effects of prenatal diagnosis on the birth frequency of Down syndrome are considered through a review of recent literature. Both present and possible future effects are discussed and brief mention of some psychological aspects of prenatal diagnosis is made. The incomplete uptake of amniocentesis is noted; ranging from 20% to over 40% of eligible women in recent British studies; reasons for this are explored. A consideration of reported changes in age specific incidence and their relationship to the introduction and continued use of prenatal diagnosis is given. Reductions in incidence of between 5% and 18% have been reported in the past. The maximum future effects, as predicted by studies using age in conjunction with biochemical screening methods, are noted; detection of up to 60% of affected foetuses is theoretically possible. However, problems of introducing this type of scheme may prevent such effective screening methods being widely adopted. This being the case, it seems unlikely that more than 15% of births affected by Down syndrome will be prevented by prenatal diagnosis in the foreseeable future.


In this article, the author comes to the conclusion that the expressionist tradition in cinema quite adequately reflects the laws of the cultural development of society: creative figures throughout the twentieth and first 20 years of the twentyfirst century. periodically return to the Golem theme; his image remains relevant, since it embodies the idea of sometimes the only defense (from the outside) of a person helpless before the collisions of the surrounding world, which means that this latent fear of the world cannot be considered exclusively the property of the modernist worldview of the early twentieth century. Unshakable to this day, however, remains the moral law: in every film product, the Golem is subject to destruction as a godless substance, as an unsuccessful attempt by a person to stand on the same level with the Creator. At the same time, the image of the Golem in the history of cinematography is influenced by the historical situation and the constantly changing spiritual and aesthetic demands of the viewer associated with it. Mythological Golem in the XXXXI centuries. ceases to be slow and clumsy, and for its revival, neither an ecstatic mystical experience, nor a righteous man, nor a whole group of such (obviously, because in modern reality it is very problematic to find them): for more than 100 years in cinema, the mythical Golem from an earthen image, thanks to the director's vision, she gradually follows the path of her increasing "incarnation" and eventually turns into a fragile girl, now into an unhappy child.


We present techniques to determine the optimal body bias (forward or reverse) to minimize leakage current and compensate process variations in scaled CMOS technologies. A circuit trades off sub-threshold leakage with band-to-band tunneling leakage at the source/drain junctions to determine the optimal substrate bias for different technology generations and under process variations. Using optimal body bias results in 43% and 42% savings in leakage for predictive 70 nm and 50 nm NMOS devices, respectively. This technique also reduces the effects of die-to-die and intra-die process variations in transistor length and supply voltage by 43% and 60%, respectively, in 50 nm NMOS devices, resulting in improved yield.


Share of population (all) with convictions: ~17% Share of population (Black) with convictions: ~60% Share of population (all) with convictions eligible for set-aside: ~42% Share of population (Black) with convictions eligible for set-aside: 41% People with convictions eligible for set-aside: ~295K Uptake rate of any records relief: ~5.5% Cases given expungement and set aside relief in last year of data: ~3.8K (2019) Years to clear the backlog based on current rates: 77 *Does not include consideration of fines and fees


The present invention, electrical conductivity and to provide a carbon black excellent battery dispersibility. Cell carbon blacks of the present invention, the number average primary particle diameter of at 20nm or more 40nm or less, the ratio of the DBP absorption to compression DBP absorption 2.2 or less, and the compression DBP absorption 100 mL / 100 g or more is less than or equal to 200mL / 100g.


Abstrak Academic motivation showed inner drive within every students to achieve highest achievement. They were internal and external factor that influence ones academic motiation.  This research aime to explore and describe academic motivation in high school student in West Borneo.   Using cluster disproportionate stratified random sampling , 184 highschool student from three different area in West Borneo selected as the sample. Academic motivation measured using the LOMOT (Low Motovation) dimension of SMALSI (Student Motivation and Learning Style Inventory (SMALSI). Result found that student academic achievement in West Borneo is in medium level. Result alsho showed  there was a significant different in academic motivation between student in the Pontianak city,Singkawang region and Kembayan districk.   Kata kunci : academic motivation, highschool student, West Borneo


In summary, experimental observations and consideration of the features specific to power lasers have led us to conclude that the emergence and subsequent lasing of multiple coherent lateral modes are responsible for the beam steering commonly seen in these devices. A physical model was developed and implemented in a 2D numerical model. Support for the hypothesis of coherence was provided by an observation of structure in the electroluminescence from the back-plane of fabricated laser diodes.


Until recently, the lower to middle cloud region of Venus had been supposed to be dynamically quiet, accommodating nearly steady superrotating westward flow. However, observations of the regions by Akatsuki, the latest Venus orbiter operating since 2015, have revealed a variety of cloud features indicative of vortices and waves. Here we report another, and arguably the most conspicuous, example. Akatsuki's near‐infrared imager IR2 captured gigantic vortices rotating cyclonically on 25 August 2016. By using winds estimated by cloud tracking, the feature is shown to be quantitatively consistent with barotropic instability. The size of the vortices (∼1,000 km) and their spacing (∼2,500 km) are more than several times greater than the vortex‐like features reported previously from the observations of Venus, and they are also greater than the largest barotropic instability observed in the Earth's troposphere.


Selecting which graduate school to attend is an important decision that can have a major impact on a student's professional trajectory. There are many factors to consider when choosing a graduate school, such as the availability of specific programs, location, potential advisor's research interests, and reputation of the school. Although there are some resources available to help individuals make their decision (e.g., faculty and program websites, Maclean's magazine rankings), these resources have limitations. For example, Maclean's magazine has provided global rankings of Canadian universities since 1991, including faculty qualifications, student characteristics, and library resources (Cramer & Page, 2007), but the validity of the rankings is often criticised (e.g., an overall university rank does not necessarily reflect specific programs; see Page, Cramer, & Page, 2010). Moreover, Maclean's rankings do not provide any information on scholarly activity such as faculty research productivity and impact (Carleton, Peluso, & Asmundson, 2010; Cramer & Page, 2007), nor do they include information on departments or specific programs within departments, which may be more useful than assessments of the university as a whole for a student selecting a career in a specific discipline.The lack of information on overall research activity about specific graduate programs is surprising considering that research training is a key component of many graduate programs, including psychology (Carleton et al., 2010). Beyond the essential task of gathering information about the research productivity and impact of potential advisors, prospective students also need to assess the breadth of research activity across faculty in the program. Although faculty and program websites, as well as software programs such as Google Scholar, provide access to a listing of the research activity of individual faculty members, they do not offer any assessment of the research activity of graduate programs across Canada (Carleton et al., 2010). However, knowledge about the program as whole has several implications for graduate students, including allowing for an assessment of the potential for gaining publications and research experience during graduate school, as well as gauging the likelihood of obtaining postdoctoral and research positions (Matson et al., 2005).Recently, a few studies have attempted to address the gap in information about research activity for psychology graduate programs, with Carleton and colleagues (2010) examining research activity across Canadian psychology departments as a whole, as well as specifically within Canadian clinical programs (Carleton, Parkerson, & Horswill, 2012), while Nosek and colleagues (2010) compared research activity in social-personality programs in both the United States and Canada. To the best of our knowledge, however, there have been no studies that provide this information on developmental psychology programs across Canada. It is important to have studies on separate streams within a department, including developmental psychology, as the strength of different streams may vary within a department. Additionally, students admitted into graduate psychology programs are often admitted into a specific stream. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to provide a summary of recent research activity of faculty in Canadian developmental psychology programs.One common way to measure research activity in many disciplines, including developmental psychology, is through metrics associated with publications in peer-reviewed journals (Carleton et al., 2010, 2012; Nosek et al., 2010). These metrics include publication count, citation count, and impact factor assessed through the Hirsch index (h-index; Hirsch, 2005). These metrics reflect both research productivity (i.e., how "much" research faculty members produce), and impact (i.e., how "useful" the research is to others in the field; Feist, 1997; Krampen, Becker, Wahner, & Montada, 2007; Matson et al. …


Multiresolution terrain representation (LOD level of detail) is a hotspot for creating realtime dynamic interactive rendering of a large scale terrain data in computer. On the basis of comprehensively analyzing the characteristics of multiresolution terrain representation model, the paper presents a new realtime interactive terrain visualization model according to the viewpoint based on bintree data structure. First, the bintree data structure and algorithm realization procedure are analyzed in detail. Secondly some improvements and extensions to key technological characteristics of multiresolution terrain are presented, including temporal continuity, priority queue, and error judgment rule. Some source codes for the algorithm are provided. Finally, a prototype based on the model is implemented, which has shown to accelerate graph rendering and maintain a stable frame rates. The model and algorithm is simple and efficient, which can support the interactive real time dynamic rendering of terrain model, and the results is also very useful for future correlation research. 


This research was conducted based on online learning during the pandemic. The use of learning media that is less innovative has an impact on students' interests and understanding. Therefore, it is necessary to develop innovative learning media that can increase students' interest and understanding. This study aims to describe the process of designing learning videos and to find out the results of the acceptance of learning videos on the content of science lessons for grade IV Elementary Schools to determine the acceptance of the products developed. The type of research used is development research, design on video development using the Powtoon application. The data collection method used is the subject questionnaire method in this study is the acceptability of the product which is assessed by 2 lecturers and 2 teachers. The instrument used to measure the acceptability of learning videos is a rating scale in the form of a learning video assessment sheet from an expert. The data obtained were then analyzed using the Gregory formula of 2x2 cross-tabulation to determine the acceptability of the developed learning video. The results of the analysis show that the value obtained from the four experts is 1.00 with a very high product acceptance qualification. Based on this analysis, it can be said that the learning videos developed are valid and can be used in the learning process in the fourth grade of elementary school.


・ 7Al 2 O 3 electride is one of the outstanding materials expected to be applied in various fields such as electronics and catalyst, and generally fabricated by sintering high purity CaCO 3 and Al 2 O 3 . We attempted to fabricate 12CaO ・ 7Al 2 O 3 electride using limestone as a raw material instead of using high purity CaCO 3 aiming at further industrial use, and investigated the gas adsorption properties of the fabricated samples. Three samples, two from limestone and one from high purity CaCO 3 , were prepared and exposed to the atmosphere for about 9 hours, and then the gas adsorption properties of them were analyzed by Py-GC/MS. As a result, desorption of N 2 and O 2 which are abundant in the atmosphere was not observed by heating the samples exposed to the atmosphere up to 700 ℃ , while desorption of CO and CH 4 was identifi ed. It is implied that the desorbed CO originates from CO 2 in the atmosphere. This result indicates these samples might selectively adsorb CO 2 and CH 4 as compared with N 2 and O 2 . Furthermore, for the limestone derived samples, the selectivity of CO 2 and CH 4 adsorption was improved and this result indicated the possibility that the CO 2 adsorption capacity of these samples is higher than that made from high purity CaCO 3 . One reason of this phenomena is inferred the changes in the electronic state of material surfaces due to the doping of impurities contained in limestones, such as Mg, Sr, and Cu, into the Ca sites of the cage-like structure in 12CaO ・ 7Al 2 O 3 electride.


Abstract This study focuses on the impact of more stringent border security measures implemented in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S. border trade with Canada and Mexico. Utilizing trade model based on a simple gravity equation, the impact of this heightened border security regime on merchandise trade is quantitatively analyzed. The results confirm the initial hypotheses: trade with Canada was more negatively impacted than trade with Mexico; imports experienced a sharper decline than exports; trade via trucks was more severely affected than rail traffic; and inherently dangerous commodities and goods conducive to housing destructive devices experienced greater downturns in trade volume. Introduction A vital component of U.S. foreign trade consists of merchandise trade with Canada and Mexico, where goods shipments must pass through border checkpoints and security infrastructures. The relevance of U.S. trade with these NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) participants is vividly reflected in the following salient statistics: With respect to Canada: ** the largest U.S. trading partner with peak trade exceeding $400 billion in 2000, tapering off to about $380 billion in 2001 due in part to mutual sluggish economies. ** 83% of Canadian exports go to the U.S.--equivalent to approximately 38% of Canadian GDP. ** 72% of Canadian imports originate from the U.S.--equivalent to about 30% of Canadian GDP. ** the U.S. provides 64% of foreign direct investment in Canada. With respect to Mexico: ** the second-largest U.S. trading partner, surpassing Japan in 1999. The value of merchandise trade peaked at about $248 billion in 2000, before tailing off to approximately $233 billion in 2001--again partly due to soft mutual economies. ** 84% of Mexican exports go to the U.S. equivalent to about 21% of Mexican GDP. ** 68% of Mexican imports originate from the U.S.--equivalent to about 18% of Mexican GDP. ** the U.S. provides 84% of foreign direct investment in Mexico. Additionally, of the total North American trade in 2001,72% was transported by truck, followed by rail (17%), and pipeline (5%) (with air and water transport comprising the remaining portion). Unquestionably, the heightened and intense border security measures imposed in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks particularly impacted truck trade (although rail traffic was also affected), and consequently generated significant negative repercussions with respect to the overall trading volume of the NAFTA participants. Excluding the immediate period of severe curtailment of border trade in the weeks following September 11th (henceforth designated as simply 9/11), a period of unprecedented trade distortion occurred in the January through August eight-month period, with U.S. trade with Canada in 2002 down by 6.43% relative to the comparable eight-month period of 2001 (prior to the September attacks); and U.S. trade with Mexico was off 2.87% in these identical comparison periods. (These percentage trade reductions are based on data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Division for 1-digit SITC commodities.) This deterioration of trade post 9/11 is particularly striking since in the 1994 through 2000 post-NAFTA period, U.S. trade with Canada grew at an 8.9% average annual rate, and U.S. trade with Mexico grew at a robust 16.0% average annual rate. Note that trading volume had already slowed in 2001, mainly due to the sluggishness of the economies in all three countries--merchandise trade with the U.S. between 2000 and 2001 was off4.9% for Canada and Mexico combined, with Canadian trade falling by 5.1%, and trade with Mexico dropping 4.7% (data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics). Of course, a portion of the 2002 downturn in border trade can be attributed to the lingering effects of these 2001 slowing economies, but each of these economies had returned to modest GDP growth in 2002 (expected 2002 GDP growth: U. …


This thesis is compiled in two parts. Each part is an independent piece of work intended for separate publication. Consequently each part has separate page numbering. The lirst part is a literature review with relevant appendices attached. The second part is a research report incorporating the collection and analysis of data. This research report also has its own appendices. A general appendices section at the end of the thesis supplies documentation not included in either the literature review or the study. The literature review is to be submitted to the Clinical Psychology Review. and the research report to the Journal of Family Psychology. Each of these Journals require American Psychological Association (APA) formatting and American spelling. which have therefore been adopted throughout both pieces of work. For further information concerning the required fonnatting for submissions to the Clinical Psychology Review, please refer to "Instructions to Authors" in appendix G of the general appendices at the end of the thesis. For further information concerning the required fonnatting for submissions to the Journal of Family Psychology, please refer to "Instructions to Authors" in appendix H of the general appendices at the end of the thesis.


Abstract : KCu4S3, prepared by the high temperature reaction of copper, potassium carbonate, and sulfur, crystallizes with a unique layered structure. Double layers of tetrahedrally - coordinated (by S) copper ions are separated by layers of potassium ions. Although formally a mixed-valence Cu(I,I,I,II) complex, all copper ions are crystallographically equivalent. Consistent with its Robin and Day Class III designation, KCu4S3 exhibits electrical conductivity characteristic of a metal. Room temperature compaction conductivities of ca. 4000/Ohm/cm increase to ca. 60000/Ohm/cm at 20K. The metallic nature of this two-dimensional material is supported by the temperature independent paramagnetism and the metallic reflectivity through the visible and near ultraviolet region of the spectrum. (Author)


Abstract (B)ELF research has highlighted the consensual and co-operative nature of (B)ELF interaction, i.e., the presence of comity or harmony. This paper aims to explore the role of stance markers in achieving comity within a business context. The study of stance markers has broadened its scope considerably in recent years, notably focussing more on spoken interaction in context, yet linguistic stance in (B)ELF remains a largely unexplored field. This paper will analyse the use of stance markers, which comprise a range of lexical and grammatical features of language, in authentic audio-recorded BELF interaction in meetings. Stance markers are of interest in that they reflect the multifunctional nature of language in contributing to the dynamic enactment of both interpersonal and transactional functions of language. In expressing opinions, evaluation, and affect, stance is also intrinsically linked to facework and relational work, which are important for nurturing and maintaining comity. Fine-grained analysis of the data, focussing in particular on the use of hedges and boosters, illustrates the way stance markers contribute to the achievement of comity, for example in negotiating tasks, dealing with disagreement, or clarifying understanding. The data also reflect the way business conventions, knowledge, and relations impact on communication.


Four cases of possible microgeodic disease were treated in the last three years. Three cases were followed up from a half year to three years.Case 1, a 7-year-old boy, had swelling and pain in his left middle finger after pressure injury which occurred in January, 1987. On examination there was spindle-shaped swelling of the affected finger. Blood count was within normal limits. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 15 to 40mm in one hour. Radiological examination revealed small, rounded lacunae in the middle phalanx of his middle finger. The oral antibiotics was given under the diagnosis of osteomyelitis for three weeks. Pain and swelling gradually improved After a half year, his symptom and radiographic changes subsided.Case 2, a 3-year-old boy, was unable to walk because of foot pain. His parents noticed swelling and redness in his right first and third toe in November, 1986. Therefore on admission, antibiotics therapy was administrated by pediatrician. Retrospectively the case was suffering from microgeodic disease. Radiologically lesions were visible in the distal phalanx of the great toe and the middle phalanx of the third toe. Ten months after, lesions were unvisible.Case 3, a 7-year-old girl, was seen in January, 1985. The right middle finger was affected. Radiological examination of the right hand revealed small geodes in the middle phalanx. At the age of ten years, radiologic findings were normal.137 Japanese cases reported in the literature, including our three cases, have been studied.


Heavy industry, industrial plants and technology facilities use really big manufacturing units or assemblies with the weight of tens of tons. In case of rotary kilns, the weight can reach hundreds of tons. During the production process, those units move, creating, in addition to considerable static effects, big dynamic effects. Industrial facilities often face failures of the reinforced concrete foundation which is loaded dynamically by a rotating machine. Such failures typically result in cracks and failures of any of the foundation cross-section. Thus, a part of the foundation starts deviating, the rigidity goes down, geometry of the machine position is changing and an accident may occur - for instance, bearings may fail or malfunctions may occur in the machine. This has also happened in the case described in this article. The subject of the article is the large foundation structure of the rolling device in the Block Mill I in Třinecké železárny a.s. The slab of the foundation structure is approximately a T-shape, which has nearly 43 m in one direction and over 30 m in the other direction. The monolith foundation slab will be 2.0 m thick, the whole foundation structure will be 2.0 - 8.0 m thick. With such an extensive foundation, considerable attention must be paid not only to the design and realization, but also to the effect of the hydration heat.


Electrolysis (electrodiffusion, sweeping) in vacuum has been shown to reduce the sensitivity of quartz resonators to pulsed radiation. Vacuum-sweeping is expected to remove the alkalis associated with the aluminum and the hydrogen associated with the growth-defects and replace them with electronic holes. The process is not very well understood and is often incomplete. It has been suggested that sweeping in the presence of ionizing radiation would speed the release of the trapped ions and hydrogen from the defect sites by enhancing the availability of electronic charge carriers over those generated at the electrodes. Quartz subjected to this process should not show any OH-related infrared absorption. Several blocks of Sawyer Special Premium Q quartz were vacuum-swept while being irradiated. Bremstrahlung (continuous) x-rays produced by colliding 1.5 MeV electrons with a Mo target were used for the irradiation. Low-temperature FTIR profiles showed a complete removal of all of the OH-related absorption bands from two of the three blocks that had been vacuum-swept in the radiation-field. Control blocks were vacuum-swept without the radiation-field. FTIR profiles made on these control blocks showed that the sweeping front had moved only a fraction of the way through the blocks. Low-temperature FTIR measurements showed that the block that was only partially swept in the radiation field was less pure than the other blocks. It was also inhomogenous. The removal of hydrogen by vacuum-sweeping in a radiation-field appears to be permanent; annealing a sample in air at 500/spl deg/C did not reintroduce any OH-related absorption bands.


Plants are the main resources of natural antioxidant whose components can be divided into six classes such as flavonoids, phenols, saponins, tannins,alkaloids and others. They exist in various parts of plants, which can be divided intosix groups by their functions, e.g., Chinese medicine herbs, vegetables, spices, fruits,plant beverages and grains. Their antioxidative components and effects were summarizedin this article.


Disclosed is a cold start valve for a hydraulic circuit, in particular for a closed hydraulic circuit. The cold start valve has a valve spool having two counteracting control surfaces, wherein the first control surface with a control pressure and the second control surface are acted upon by a feed pressure. In addition, the first control surface is acted upon by the spring force of a valve spring. For damping a stroke movement of the valve slide, a damping space is provided, which is delimited by a valve slide formed on the damping surface, which is oriented according to the first control surface. The damping surface can be acted upon via the damping chamber with a damping pressure for damping the stroke movement. The damping chamber is throttled connected to a pressure chamber through which the second control surface of the valve spool can be acted upon by the feed pressure.


Measurements of standard candles and measurements of standard rulers give an inconsistent picture of the history of the universe. This discrepancy can be explained if photon number is not conserved as computations of the luminosity distance must be modified. I show that photon number is not conserved when photons mix with chameleons in the presence of a magnetic field. The strong magnetic fields in a supernova mean that the probability of a photon converting into a chameleon in the interior of the supernova is high, this results in a large flux of chameleons at the surface of the supernova. Chameleons and photons also mix as a result of the intergalactic magnetic field. These two effects combined cause the image of the supernova to be brightened resulting in a model which fits both observations of standard candles and observations of standard rulers.


When grown at high light intensity, more than a quarter of the total carotenoids in the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis consists of myxoxanthophyll, a polar carotenoid glycoside. The biosynthetic pathway of myxoxanthophyll is unknown but is presumed to involve a number of enzymes, including a C-3 (cid:1) ,4 (cid:1) desaturase required to add one double bond to generate 11 conjugated double bonds in the monocyclic myxoxanthophyll. A candidate for this desaturase is Slr1293, which was identified by genome similarity searching. To determine whether Slr1293 is a desaturase recognizing neurosporene and lycopene, slr1293 was expressed in Escherichia coli strains accumulating neurosporene or lycopene. Confirming such a desaturase function for Slr1293, these E. coli strains accumulated 3 (cid:1) ,4 (cid:1) -didehydroneurosporene and 3 (cid:1) ,4 (cid:1) -didehydrolyco-pene, respectively. Indeed, deletion of slr1293 in Synechocystis provides further evidence that Slr1293 is a desaturase recognizing neurosporene:


For defence ministries an era of austerity has begun. Observers and policymakers suggest that the rational response to having to deal with reduced levels of defence expenditure would be to increase European cooperation. On the other hand, there is concern that financial pressure might lead governments to reduce their commitments to multinational initiatives as they retrench to the national level. Ultimately, policy choices will result from a complex interplay of budgetary constraints, political concerns, the demands of military operations as well as alliance obligations, and industrial considerations. A likely development is that governments chose to pursue interestbased, needsbased and flexible cooperation rather than fullfledged integration or renationalisation.


During wastewater transportation, chemical and biological transformations may occur. Aerobic, anoxic, and anaerobic conditions exist depending on the presence or absence of dissolved oxygen and oxidized nitrogen compounds. The occurrence of anaerobic conditions has a negative effect on wastewater transportation because of the usual subsequent sulfide generation process. In Tenerife, Spain, reclaimed wastewater used for agricultural purposes is transported via a completely filled gravity pipe, 0.6 m in diameter and 61 km long. Because of the long residence time (approximately 30 to 40 hours), anaerobic conditions typically occur after 5 to 10 hours of flow. Field studies during transportation were conducted from November 1994 to July 1997. This paper describes a study of the evolution of septic conditions (aerobic, anoxic, and anaerobic) and the relationship between septicity and oxidation–reduction potential (ORP), which can predict the occurrence of anaerobic conditions.


The regulation by thyroid hormone of phosphate transport in primary cultured chick renal cells was examined. The more physiologically active L‐analogs of triiodothyronine and thyroxine, but not the D‐analogs of the hormones, stimulated the Na+ ‐dependent phosphate uptake system. Na+ ‐independent phosphate uptake and Na+ ‐dependent uptakes of α‐methylglucoside and L‐proline were unaffected. The increase in Na+ ‐dependent phosphate uptake was concentration dependent, exhibited an induction period, and was blocked by inhibitors of RNA and protein synthesis. The stimulation of phosphate uptake by triiodothyronine was due to an increased Vmax rather than to an altered affinity for phosphate. These findings demonstrate that thyroid hormone acts directly on renal cells to modulate phosphate transport and suggest that the renal cell system may serve as a model to examine the mechanism by which thyroid hormone controls gene expression and regulates plasma membrane transport function.


As one of the emerging industries which are developing most rapidly in the world,tourism industry has the characteristics of strong driving force for industry,high rate of return on investment,great long- term and comprehensive social benefits,and green and environmental protection,and is also known as the"sunrise industry".Tourism is an important part of tertiary industry,which plays a significant role in promoting urbanization and consumption,expanding domestic demand,transferring surplus rural labor,and integrating urban development with rural development. Based on a case study of Taizhou,Jiangsu,the article analyzes the situation and problems of industrial cluster and puts forward the development strategy of tourism industrial cluster,aiming to transform the mode of destination tour in traditional tourism industry into the new human- centered and interest- sharing tourism mode to conform to the sustainable development of regional tourism industry and improve the level of urbanization.


Chinese fir (Cunningharoia lanceolata), a type of subtropical fast-growing conifer tree, widely distributed in South China, and its plantation area in China is more than 7×10^6 hm^2, accounting for 24% of total area of plantation forest in China. In recent decades, the system of successive plantation of Chinese fir is widely used in the southern china for an anticipated high economic return. However, recent studies have documented that the practice of this system led to dramatic decreases in soil fertility and forest environment as well as in productivity. Some forest ecologists and managers recognize the ecological role performed by broadleaf trees growing in mixtures with conifers, and a great deal of studies on mixtures effects have been conducted, particularly on mixture species of temperate and boreal forest, but these research results were not completely consistent. Maybe the mixtures effects depend in large part on specific site conditions, the interactions among species in mixtures and biological characteristics of species, etc.. Although some researchers also studied the effects of mixtures of Chinese fir and broadleaf tree species on soil fertility, forest environment and tree growth status, little information is available about the effects of Chinese fir and its mixtures with broadleaves on carbon and nitrogen stocks. The experimental site was situated at Huitong Experimental Station of Forest Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hu'nan Province (N 26°40′~27°09′ latitude and E 109°26′~110°08′ longitude). It locates at the transition zone from the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau to the low mountains and hills of southern bank of Yangtz River at an altitude of 300~1100m above mean sea level and at the same time, it is also a member of the Chinese Ecosystem Research Network (CERN), sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). This region has a humidmid-subtropical monsoon climate with a mean annual precipitation of 1200~1400mm, most of the rain falling between April and August, and a mean temperature of 16.5℃ with a mean minimum of 4.9℃ in January and a mean maximum of 26.6℃ in July. The soil of the experimental field is red-yellow soil. After a clear-cutting of the first generation Chinese-fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) plantation forest in 1982, three different plantation forest ecosystems, viz. mixture of Michelia macclurei and Chinese-fir (MCM), pure Michelia macclurei stand (PMS) and pure Chinese-fir stand (PCS), were established in spring of 1983. Comparative study on C and N stocks under these three plantation forest ecosystems was conducted in 2004. The results showed that, the carbon stocks were greater under the mixtures than under the pure Chinese fir forest and the pure broad-leaved forest, and the broadleaves and the mixtures showed higher values in the nitrogen stocks compared with the pure Chinese fir forest. The spatial distribution of carbon and nitrogen stocks was basically consistent, the value being greater in soil layer, followed by tree layer, roots, understory and then litter layer. The carbon and nitrogen stocks in soil layer were, respectively both highly correlated with the biomass in understory and litter layer, indicaing understory and forest litterfall exerted a profound effect on soil carbon and nitrogen stocks under plantation ecosystems. However, correlations between soil carbon, nitrogen stocks and belowground biomass of stand have not been observed in this study.


The abstract is like a classified ad for your work. An NPS thesis abstract is no more than 1,500 characters, including spaces (around 200 words). It should briefly state the background, research problem, purpose, methods, results, and recommendations. Terrain is an important factor for autonomous ground vehicles (AGV), potentially ruining a mission or the platform itself. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a method for an AGV to identify and avoid hazardous terrain. This work builds on a previously developed system that uses artificial potential fields to avoid obstacles and navigate to a goal. Terrain was identified by developing a random forest machine-learning algorithm, classifying terrain as hazardous or traversable. The random forest was grown using data from images collected during this work. The classification of hazardous terrain was used to generate a repulsive force for use with artificial potential fields. The system was designed to avoid known areas of hazardous terrain using path planning, developing paths using approximate cell decomposition and the A* search algorithm. Tests of the developed random forest revealed accurate classification capabilities for all terrain types, but a tendency to misclassify certain terrain types. Portions of the navigation solution were simulated and confirmed the path planning capability. Trials conducted in a real-world environment revealed the solution stopped the AGV from entering hazardous terrain, and successfully planned routes around hazardous terrain. Improvements to the localization solution will allow the AGV to perform more consistently and over longer ranges.


In recent years, with the wide application of information technology in teaching, the role of Flash multimedia coursewarein the classroom are also increasingly significant. Multimedia courseware based on Flash set text, pictures, animations, sounds inone, with vivid and interesting animation, beautiful voice, magical and unique interactive, intuitive demonstration classroom into anew realm, effectively stimulate students interest in learning, improve classroom efficiency. The Flash software itself is simple, powerful, has the code, can achieve a variety of interactive function. Through the Flash courseware to improve teaching efficiency hasbecome a trend.