Only recently it was realized that there is a difference between the mean PT of fresh individual samples and the PT of the pooled plasmas. The mean clotting time of a plasma pool is shorter than the mean of the individual plasmas used to prepare the pool (6). Therefore, when the plasmas were assayed against a pool of themselves the mean PT% was approximately 95% rather than the expected 100% (6). The percentage activity scale based on dilutions of a fresh normal plasma pool should be avoided to report the intensity of oral anticoagulant treatment, and there is no need to equate 100% activity to INR = 1.0. Strictly speaking, INR = 1.0 is a contradictio in terminis because INR is defined only for patients in the steady state of oral anticoagulant treatment. In this respect, the tabil: shown in the ICTHIICSH recommendation (3) was a bad example and may have caused confusion. At present, there are many PT systems using whole blood or citrated blood (7, 8, 9) in addition to the classical PT systems using citrated plasma. For calculation of the INR, it is important that the test system for determining the normal PT is identical with that for determining the patient's PT. It is clear that a fresh normal plasma pool cannot be used for blood PT systems without corrections for hematocrit and citrate concentration. The errors involved in these corrections are probably greater than the variability of the mean PT of at least 20 normal individual blood samples. The use of a reference preparation of lyophilized normal pooled plasma has been proposed to improve the reproducibility of PT ratio and INR. A candidate reference preparation (coded R82A) was tested in a pilot project of VDGH (10}, and compared to fresh normal plasma pools. It appeared that the ratio [PT R82A (s)IPT fresh normal plasma pool(s)] was 1.06 for plain thromboplastins, but 1.02 for combined thromboplastins (10). R82A was also tested in an independent study (11 }, and compared to fresh normal individual plasmas. The ratio [PT R82A (s)lmean PT of fresh individual plasmas (s)] was 1.02 for plain thromboplastin but 0.99 for combined thromboplastin (11). The mean PT -ratios in the second study ( 11) were based on meaurements in 400 normal individual samples. The difference of PT -ratio between the two studies is probably due to the use of fresh normal pools in the first study (10) and fresh normal individual samples in the second (11 ). If this lyophilized plasma is to be used for the calculation of PTratio and INR, a correction factor must be used and the value of this factor depends on the type of thromboplastin. Furthermore, if this lyophilized plasma is to be used for the calculation of percentage activity, it must be labelled with a value different from 100%. The value of the correction factor for the PT -ratio and the value of the percent activity can be based on different definitions of normality, respectively. The PT-ratio of R82A should be based on measurements in normal individual samples (11) an the percentage activity of R82A ©F. K. Schattauer Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (Stuttgart) 72 (3) 481-90 (1994)


Deep learning (DL) models for spatio-temporal traffic flow forecasting employ convolutional or graph-convolutional filters along with recurrent neural networks to capture spatial and temporal dependencies in traffic data. These models, such as CNN-LSTM, utilize traffic flows from neighboring detector stations to predict flows at a specific location of interest. However, these models are limited in their ability to capture the broader dynamics of the traffic system, as they primarily learn features specific to the detector configuration and traffic characteristics at the target location. Hence, the transferability of these models to different locations becomes challenging, particularly when data is unavailable at the new location for model training. To address this limitation, we propose a traffic flow physics-based feature transformation for spatio-temporal DL models. This transformation incorporates Newell's uncongested and congested-state estimators of traffic flows at the target locations, enabling the models to learn broader dynamics of the system. Our methodology is empirically validated using traffic data from two different locations. The results demonstrate that the proposed feature transformation improves the models' performance in predicting traffic flows over different prediction horizons, as indicated by better goodness-of-fit statistics. An important advantage of our framework is its ability to be transferred to new locations where data is unavailable. This is achieved by appropriately accounting for spatial dependencies based on station distances and various traffic parameters. In contrast, regular DL models are not easily transferable as their inputs remain fixed. It should be noted that due to data limitations, we were unable to perform spatial sensitivity analysis, which calls for further research using simulated data.


This report completes one of the most extensive reviews of shopping behaviour and shopping policy ever carried out in the UK. Nearly 4,000 people were interviewed to evaluate the shopping centre improvement schemes carried out under the Urban Programme in the West Midlands. The results of this survey have national significance. National policy and recent trends in inner city shopping areas are followed by the West Midlands programme with full details of the research project. The West Midlands results are considered in relation to other innner city areas in Britain. The repoert should be of interest to retailers, local authority planners, and researchers.


A single phase power quality improved EV charger using zeta function-based converter is presented in this paper. A constant current EV charging scheme with source side power factor correction (PFC) is achieved with a single converter in this scheme. The use of single converter for both PFC and charging operation reduces the number of elements in the system. The results of the system have been presented for performance validation of the scheme in simulink environment. The system is tested for both steady state and dynamic operations.


The paper analyzes the reasons for the tunnel collapses,and indicates the collapse prevention measures in the tunnel construction from the tunnel geological forecasting,the construction methods,the support methods,the blasting control,and the supervision and measurement,so as to direct the practice and ensure the safety and construction quality of the projects.


clinical trial, the use of PUFAs was associated with a 65% reduction of postoperative AF. Subsequently, multiple smaller trials evaluated the role of perioperative supplementation with PUFAs and the effect of this on postoperative AF, but the results were far from convincing [5, 8–10] . Recently, Mozaffarian et al. [12] studied 1,516 patients scheduled for cardiac surgery, the largest trial to date. Patients were randomized to receive PUFAs or placebo. The primary end point, i.e. postoperative AF lasting longer than 30 s, occurred in 30.7% patients assigned to placebo and in 30% assigned to PUFAs. In this large, international, multicenter trial, perioperative supplementation with PUFAs did not reduce the risk of postoperative AF. In a recent issue of Cardiology , Bjorgvinsdottir et al. [5] have assessed the effects of PUFAs on postoperative AF. In this elegant study, the investigators quantified PUFAs in the cell membrane of red blood cells (RBC) and also quantified certain surrogate inflammatory markers (IL1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12, IL-18, IF-γ, TNF-α, TNF-β, MIP-1α, IL-10, TGF-β and hs-CRP). Approximately 50% of the patients who underwent surgery developed AF afterward. While it was expected that the total RBC membrane PUFA levels would differ between the AF and the non-AF groups, it was surprising that these levels were actually higher in the AF group. Even more surprising was that there was no correlation between postoperative AF and Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), commonly found in fish oils, have exhibited many beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system including a reduction in the incidence of arrhythmias [1] . Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a rhythm disturbance commonly encountered in patients recovering from open-heart surgery as well as in the population as a whole. This rhythm disturbance increases patient morbidity following open-heart surgery [2] . PUFAs are well tolerated, and several studies have reported that they have a possible beneficial effect in reducing AF [2–4] . Investigators have implicated the antiinflammatory properties of PUFAs and their integral role in cell membrane function (e.g. their effect on the action potential and automaticity) as possibly contributing to their beneficial effects. With the reduction of postoperative AF being highly desirable and the administration of PUFAs being associated with few, if any, side effects, the use of PUFAs for reducing the postoperative AF burden would be a very useful intervention. Multiple clinical trials have studied the role of PUFAs in preventing AF in patients undergoing cardiac surgery (coronary artery bypass surgery and/or valve replacement). Results have shown either a beneficial effect or no benefit. Calo et al. [3] were the first authors to show that the use of PUFAs significantly reduced the incidence of AF in patients who had undergone coronary artery bypass surgery. In this open-label, prospective, randomized Received: October 15, 2013 Accepted after revision: October 21, 2013 Published online: January 17, 2014


ABSTRACT Background Polysynthetic languages can be roughly defined as languages which have an extreme morphological complexity. They present a range of challenges to linguistic and neurolinguistics theories that are based on standard average European languages. Yet, no studies exist on aphasia in such languages, and the communities that speak them have little or no access to assessment and language therapy. Aims The aim of this paper is to provide a first attempt at a characterisation of aphasia in a polysynthetic language, West Greenlandic. Methods and procedures We recorded semi-spontaneous speech from five participants with aphasia and compared their speech on several parameters with that of matched non-brain-damaged control participants. These parameters included standard production measures, measures of morphological complexity, and measures of syntactic complexity. Outcomes and results Our findings indicate that non-fluent aphasia in West Greenlandic is not associated with morphological impairment; instead, participants with aphasia produce shorter utterances, and there are trends indicating lower complexity across measures of syntax. Conclusions While somewhat surprising from the point of view of research on aphasia in standard average European languages, our findings align well with findings from other languages with complex morphology such as Finnish, Turkish, and Japanese. Our study highlights the need for a diverse range of crosslinguistic studies to inform linguistic and neurolinguistic theories.


day-old broilers were randomly divided into two groups .There were 5replications in each treatment and400broilers in each replication.The experiment lasted49days.The control were fed basal diets and commercial premix,the additives were5mg/kg Virginiamycin and50mg/kg salinomycin;The test group were fed basal diets and self-made premix,the non-nutritive additives were300mg/kg Saccharicterpenin ,0.3%Micro-probiotics - enzyme and 0.06%GD-biotics before21day-old, while it became 200mg/kg Saccharicterpenin and 0.2%Micro-probiotics - enzyme and 0.05%GD-biotics after21day-old.The results showed that the weight gains increased14.11%,the feed-gain ratio decreased8.13% ,the profits of each broiler increased1.29Yuan,and the bioassay value increased7.96%than that of the control respectively.


IT IS A pleasure to begin this issue with two feature articles that were accepted for publication under the editorship o f James Kauffman. I believe that I speak for many RASE readers when I say that the fields o f remedial and special education have truly benefited from Dr. Kauffman's leadership in the development o f RASE. The first feature article, by Naomi Zigmond, Mary M. Kerr , and Alice Schaeffer, is a research study that describes classroom behavior patterns o f three groups o f adolescents: one with learning disabilities, one with behavior difficulties, and one o f randomly selected control students. RASE readers will be interested in reading about group similarities that center on all observed students exhibiting rather passive learning behaviors, as well as some striking differences suggesting that learning disabled students were ill-prepared and nonattending. The second article, by Harold J . Burbach and Charles E. Babbitt, describes physically disabled young adults attending college. Again, similarities have been found among these students and other groups o f students, although the special adjustment problems physically disabled students may have are discussed. In this issue I am also pleased to continue a topical strand o f study presented in RASE Volume 9, Issue 1 on the teaching o f reading comprehension. The first article is a study designed to assess the criterion, construct, and concurrent validity o f four informal reading comprehension measures: question answering tests, recall measures, oral passage reading tests, and cloze techniques with mildly and moderately handicapped students. This paper was also accepted for publication by Dr. Kauffman. The second article is a report o f some very interesting research being conducted under the direction o f John Frederiksen: the authors, Beth Warren and Ann Rosebery, discuss their attempts to improve word recognition and reading speed o f poor readers by using computerized instruction that is tied to cognitive learning theory. The third article is a comparative study o f good and poor readers and their ability to understand both literal and metaphoric language when reading and is authored by Pearl L. Seidenberg and Deena K . Bernstein. The fourth article comes to RASE from Frans R. Hoogeveen and Paul M. Smeets o f The Netherlands. They have studied sound blending and word reading skills o f students with trainable mental retardation, demonstrating that with direct and explicit instruction these skills can be successfully taught to such students. The final article in the topical section on the teaching o f reading is a series o f recommendations for organizing and implementing collaborative reading programs. The authors, Lorna Idol, Fred West, and Sandra Lloyd, provide procedures and examples for assisting classroom, remedial, and special education teachers in offering well-coordinated instructional programs for poor readers. Dr. Wes t presents a decision-making framework for determining type(s), extent, and content o f instructional modification, as well as relative reponsibilities o f teachers in providing these services for various types o f low achieving students. The authors place emphasis on the use o f the collaborative consultation process.


Road ecology is a science to study the interactions among traffic roads, vehicles and natural environments around it. It combines human-vehicles-road, man-made system and ecological environment, is an interdisciplinary branch of ecological science, earth science and engineering science. In this paper, based on the comprehensive analysis on the research literatures related with road ecology, we summarizes the research theories and methods, scale and content of road ecology, formulates the research framework for road ecology, then discusses the road ecology development planning in China in the future from research range, long-term and located observation, application of information technology, policy measures, experiment and demonstration, etc.


Clinical efficiency estimation of XeCl-excilamp application for psoriasis curing in comparison with other methods of phototherapy for has been carried out for the first time. Curing psoriasis by XeCl-excilamp assistance is shown to be an effective and present-date method. Such a phototherapy advantages suggested are the good tolerance, and absence of intact skin irradiation. The use of chemicals is no longer relevant, and the total doze of irradiation happens to be rather low.


This paper presents novel techniques for source-controlled variable-rate wideband speech coding. These techniques have been used in the variable-rate multimode wideband (VMR-WB) speech codec recently selected by the Third-Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) for wideband (WB) speech telephony, streaming, and multimedia messaging services in the cdma2000 third-generation wireless system. The codec utilizes efficient coding modes optimized for different classes of speech signal including generic coding based on AMR-WB for transients and onsets, voiced coding optimized for stable voiced signals, unvoiced coding optimized for unvoiced segments, and comfort noise generation for inactive segments. Several innovations enable very good performance at average bit rates below 8 kb/s for active speech coding. The article presents an overview of the codec and describes in detail some of the codec novel features: Robust pitch tracking algorithm, coding-mode dependent prediction of linear prediction (LP) filter quantization, and novel frame erasure concealment techniques including supplementary information for reconstruction of lost onsets and improving decoder convergence. Selected results from the Selection and Characterization tests of the codec illustrate its performance


"Detection of Viscoelasticity in Aggregating Dilute Protein Solu tions through Dynamic Light Scattering based Optical Microrheol ogy' to Larsson et al., Annual Transactions of the nordic rheology society, vol. 20, (2012).* (Continued) Primary Examiner — Tarifur Chowdhury Assistant Examiner — Mohamed KAmara (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — Quarles & Brady LLP (57) ABSTRACT Volumetric distribution of a micromechanical parameter of a biological tissue, such as Viscoelastic parameter or tissue stiffness, is determined, with microscopic resolution, from optical data representing light scattered by sequential layers of the tissue and, optionally, displayed to visualization. A particular layer of the tissue is defined through coherence gating of light received at the optical detector. Coherence gating is achieved with the use of an interferometer the sample arm of which contains the tissue, illuminated with defocused light, and an optical length of a reference arm of which is repeatedly adjusted, within a coherence length of used light, to ensure that each of the sequential optical interferograms represents light scattered only by a particular tissue layer a position of which is re-defined through the tissue via Such adjustment. 33 Claims, 6 Drawing Sheets


A similar state of well-being held within the province of surgery. For thirty years and more the boon of anaesthesia had been scattered more and more widely. Many operations had been devised for the relief of conditions hitherto incurable, and it seemed to some that the acme had been reached, that surely no more could be expected of surgery. Against this satisfying prospect there had loomed up a dark shadow, met before in human history, mainly however in the trail of war, when the wounded were many and the hospitals crowded, for it was a disease of hospitals. There were many names for it in various tongues, for it was to be met in many lands, hospital gangrene, phagedena, pourriture a Vhopital and So on ; diseases very full of death, decimating the hospitals. Moreover, it was only in these, and where patients were closely gathered together, that hospital gangrene appeared. Surgeons did not commonly see it in private practice. In hospitals it did not confine itself to major operations. A man might come Jn for a slight operation, a simple tumour, an " imposthume "


The phenomena of globalization and fragmentation of production drive countries to face a double challenge of catching up: economic upgrading coupled with improvement in living standards. Meanwhile, insertion and upgrading within global value chains (GVCs) deeply affect national economies in multiple ways. In this paper, we explore the research agenda on the distributional outcomes of the integration of countries into GVCs, with special attention paid to developing countries. A critical review of both the existing literature on the relationship between economic and social upgrading and the methodological approaches to GVC integration and their distributional outcomes are undertaken, in order to improve understanding and to help orient policy strategies. We highlight the relevance of institutions as well as the role of governments and MNE initiatives to ensure that the achievement of sustainable economic gains are translated into social benefits. This can be attained by the reinforcement of welfare and labour institutions, the strengthening of innovation systems, and support for and densification of local chains. There is a pressing need for further research on this topic founded on accurate knowledge of metrics and indicators for analyzing the insertion of countries into GVCs as well as their distributive outcomes.


In this paper, the distributed cooperative control for a class of nonlinear multi-agent systems connected by undirected graph is investigated. The dynamic of each agent is first order with unknown mismatched parameters and external disturbances. To reduce the communication burden between each agent and decrease the update frequency of the controllers, the fixed threshold event-triggered mechanisms are considered during the states's broadcasting and the control signals. Based on the adaptive method, the event-based cooperative control protocol is constructed. The asymptotically consensus tracking of all agents are guaranteed and the signals in the closed-loop system are bounded, meanwhile the Zeno behavior is excluded. Simulation results of four agents show the effectiveness and performance of the proposed method.


The Craniometric and Prosoprometric study is of great value to establish data that may become a key to identification of the species. Morphometric and descriptive data of psittacine skulls are scarce in the literature. The present study aimed to describe the main bones and to establish measures of the skull of "Blue-winged parrotlet" (Forpus xanthopterygius). Two heads of adult specimens, one male and one female, were donated by the Paraíba Wild Animals Triage Center (CETAS PB). These were subjected to maceration and to the identification, characterization and measurement of structures and component bones of their respective skulls. Although the natural process of fusing the bones made it difficult to identify the bones, it was possible to identify the frontal, square, jugal, maxillary and mandible bones. These bones are characteristic and easily identified, serving as a basis for locating and identifying others. The maximum length of the skull was


RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES.Interstitial laser photocoagulation (ILP) destroys tumors thermally, using laser energy delivered from implanted optical fibers. The objectives of the study are to identify a fiber tip/delivered energy combination which produces lesions of useful size, visible on ultrasound (US) during ILP, and to compare ILP lesions and their US images. METHODS.Hepatic ILP was performed at laparotomy in six pigs, using three different fiber tips (cylindrical diffusing, spherical diffusing, plane-cut). US images were obtained during ILP, immediately after ("early" images), and before the animals were killed (2-2.5 hours, "late" images). Actual lesions were assessed histopathologically. RESULTS.Few US changes were seen around cylindrical diffusing and spherical diffusing tips until tip destruction. Plane- cut tips, at 1.5 to 2.0 W, produced prominent US images of the 1- to 2-cm thermal lesions. Early images tended to overestimate necrosis. Late images approximated necrosis. CONCLUSION.For US-controlled ILP, plane-cut tips are better than currently available cylindrical diffusing or spherical diffusing tips. Lesion image growth periods might enable control of lesion size. Further studies are needed to determine the consistency of the described relationship between lesion images and actual lesions.


In the present work, a polymer electrolyte blend containing polymers Poly ethylene oxide (PEO) and Poly (vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) was prepared. The polymer blend was complexed with potassium trifluoromethanesulfonate (KCF3SO3), and titanium oxide nanoparticles (TiO2) (10nm size) were dispersed in to the complex at different weight percentages. The conductivity due to ions in the blend is determined by Ac impedance measurements in the frequency range of 10Hz-1MHz. The nano composite polymer blend containing 5wt% of TiO2 shows a conductivity of 7.95×10−5Scm-1, which is almost 1.5 orders more than polymer electrolyte with PEO as a polymer. XRD studies show a decrease in the coherence length of XRD peaks on addition of nanoparticles, which is due to increase the amorphous phase in the systems. Temperature dependence conductivity studies of the systems shows that, activation energy decreases with increase in the percentage of nanoparticles in the blend.In the present work, a polymer electrolyte blend containing polymers Poly ethylene oxide (PEO) and Poly (vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) was prepared. The polymer blend was complexed with potassium trifluoromethanesulfonate (KCF3SO3), and titanium oxide nanoparticles (TiO2) (10nm size) were dispersed in to the complex at different weight percentages. The conductivity due to ions in the blend is determined by Ac impedance measurements in the frequency range of 10Hz-1MHz. The nano composite polymer blend containing 5wt% of TiO2 shows a conductivity of 7.95×10−5Scm-1, which is almost 1.5 orders more than polymer electrolyte with PEO as a polymer. XRD studies show a decrease in the coherence length of XRD peaks on addition of nanoparticles, which is due to increase the amorphous phase in the systems. Temperature dependence conductivity studies of the systems shows that, activation energy decreases with increase in the percentage of nanoparticles in the blend.


The invention relates to a method for producing a freeze-thaw stable, aqueous dispersion, to a freeze-thaw stable, aqueous dispersion, obtainable according to the method according to the invention, to the use of the freeze-thaw stable, aqueous dispersion as a binding agent, to a method for producing a shaped product using said dispersion, and to a freeze-thaw stable formulation.


In this paper we will analyze the efficiency of three ways of energy recovery from a PMSM motor used as an electric generator according to the mechanical power applied to its shaft, explaining the advantages and disadvantages of each method. Regenerative braking energy recovery can be effectively achieved in electrical system by combining the permanent magnet synchronous motor driving system with the storage system. In the paper a detailed analysis of each method is carried out in respect with the schematic and functional stage of electronic system. The paper is a survey and represent the preliminary work in achieving the knowledge for developing a practical solution.


Canonical quantization of a regularized string model taking into account changes in the type of constraints is performed. It is shown that a standard Hamiltonian analysis of this model leads to a renormalization of the critical dimension obtained in Refs. 4–9 by different methods.


Mandarin (Citrus reticulata var. unshiu Tan.) is grown in the subtropical zone of the Krasnodar region in Russia as one of the most winter-hardy citrus taxa. RRIFSC is the holder of citrus crops collection, which is the basis of breeding research since 1997. Currently, the C. reticulata hybrid collection has more than two hundred accessions, 150 of them have been characterized as valuable for further breeding programs to develop new elite cultivars. As a result of a comprehensive assessment of promising seedlings, 21 elite forms of mandarin were selected. These forms of mandarin were under assessment in the germplasm collection and possess a complex of valuable traits: high yield, low and medium growth, early terms of fruit ripening, increased winter hardiness, fruits qualities, which allows using them as a parental material in breeding work for the development of qualitatively new mandarin cultivars for commercial cultivation in the humid subtropics of the Black Sea coast. The selected forms differ in the fruits size, fruit mass varied from 68 g to 110 g. A highest fruit mass was found in forms 99-4; 99-2; 2-2; YuT-2005. Fruits of the following selected forms 97-1; 2-8; M2-23-1; M2-1-2; YuG-2005; YuG-2008 were characterized by its uniformity and small size. Forms F200-4; F200-6; F206-1 derived from cross-breeding combinations with Fortunella margarita resulted smaller fruits. In recent years four mandarin forms have been selected: 2-8; 99-4; 2-5; UG2008 with uniform not large (from 70 to 100g), seedless fruits, high fruit quality, bright orange color which are in demand in Russian market.


Decision trees are very important machine learning algorithms used for the classification and predictive analytic purposes in computer science and related disciplines. ID3 decision tree algorithm was designed by Quinlan in 1986.The algorithm is based on Hunt's algorithm and was serially implemented. ID3 tree is constructed in two phases: tree building and tree pruning. Data is sorted at every node during the tree building phase to choose the best splitting single attribute. The main ideas behind the ID3 algorithm are: 1) each non-leaf node of a decision tree corresponds to an input attribute, and each arc to a possible value of that attribute. In this paper, ID3, a machine learning algorithm is used to predict weather condition for an out tennis match. The paper demonstrates the use of ID3 decision tree to predict weather conditions with outlooks such as sunny, overcast, and rain; temperature conditions such as hot, mild, and cool; humidity conditions such as high and normal; wind conditions such as weak and strong and the necessary conditions such as yes or no. Based on the results computed using the entropy and information gains, a decision tree is constructed thus providing information for tennis and other sports athletes who wish to play out-door games. Keywords— Decision trees, ID3, Decision trees, machine learning, entropy, information gain.


Objective To assess effects and security of the insertion of sacroiliac screws by the bi-planar navigation robot system. Methods In a simulated surgical setup, 12 AO cannulated screws were placed into the S1 vertebral bodies of 4 human pelvic bone under the guidance of the bi-planar navigation robot system which was developed jointly by Beijing Aeronautics and Space University and our hospital. To compare this new technique with the conventional technique, another 12 cannulated screws were placed into 4 Synbone pelvic models under fluoroscopic control. The fluoroscopic times, the radiation exposure time and operation time between image acquisition and guide-wire insertion were recorded. Results With the guidance of the bi-planar navigation robot system, the average fluoroscopic times were 2.5, the average radiation exposure time was 1.5 seconds, and the average operation time was 253 seconds. All the screws were in the safe area. Under the fluoroscopic control, the average fluoroscopic times were 20.3, the average radiation exposure time was 13.7 seconds, and the average operation time was 246 seconds. Two screws (16.7%) were misplaced. The fluoroscopic times and the radiation exposure time were reduced significantly when the bi-planar navigation robot system was used (P 0.05), but no significantly difference was found in operation time (P 0.05). Conclusions The bi-planar navigation robot system can provide precise navigation for insertion of sacroiliac screws within several minutes, and reduce the radiation exposure to the patient and the staff significantly. The results of this prospectively controlled experimental study are encouraging for further clinical trials.


The objective of this paper is to establish new variational principles for symmetric boundary value problems. Let V be a Banach space and V ∗ its topological dual. We shall consider problems of the type Λu = DΦ(u) where Λ : V → V ∗ is a linear operator and Φ : V → R is a Gâteaux differentiable convex function whose derivative is denoted by DΦ. It is established that solutions of the latter equation are associated with critical points of functions of the type Iλ,μ(u) := μΦ ∗(Λu)− λΦ(u)− μ− λ 2 〈Λu, u〉, where λ, μ are two real numbers, Φ∗ is the Fenchel dual of the function Φ and 〈., .〉 is the duality pairing between V and V ∗. By assigning different values to λ and μ one obtains variety of new and classical variational principles associated to the equation Λu = DΦ(u). Namely, Euler-Lagrange principle (for μ = 0, λ = 1 and symmetric Λ), Clarke-Ekeland least action principle (for μ = 1, λ = 0 and symmetric Λ), Brezis-Ekeland variational principle (μ = 1, λ = −1) and of course many new variational principles such as I1,1(u) = Φ ∗(Λu)− Φ(u), which corresponds to λ = 1 and μ = 1. These new potential functions are quite flexible, and can be adapted to easily deal with both nonlinear and homogeneous boundary value problems.


The DNA methylation inhibitor 5‐Aza‐2′‐deoxycytidine (5‐Aza‐CdR) has significant therapeutic value for the treatment of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). The demethylating effect of 5‐Aza‐CdR has been well characterized. In contrast, less is known about the molecular events downstream of the methylation inhibition. Here, 5‐Aza‐CdR induced apoptosis in AML cells (both p53 mutant and wild‐type) but not in epithelial or normal PBMCs. Cell death was accompanied by activation of the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway, as shown by release of cytochrome c and AIF and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm). Activation of caspase‐3 (but not −6 and −8) was detectable using Western blot analysis and measurement of caspase enzymatic activity. 5‐Aza‐CdR treatment resulted in the induction of p21, which correlated with the arrest of AML cells in the G1 cell cycle phase. Induction of p21 expression was independent of its promoter methylation status but mediated by 5‐Aza‐CdR‐induced reexpression of the tumor‐suppressor p73, a known upstream regulator of p21. The p73 promoter was hypermethylated in AML cell lines and in primary AML cells but not in epithelial cells, which were resistant toward 5‐Aza‐CdR. Therefore, 5‐Aza‐CdR‐mediated specific killing of myeloid cells might be dependent on its ability to revert p73 promoter methylation and to reexpress p73 mRNA. In addition, exogenous expression of p73 rendered epithelial cells sensitive to apoptosis induced by 5‐Aza‐CdR or other cytostatic drugs. We therefore conclude that p73 is a relevant target for methylation‐dependent efficacy of 5‐Aza‐CdR in AML cells. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Content delivery is a key technology on the Internet to achieve large scale, low-latency, reliable, and intelligent data delivery. Replica placement (RP) is a key machinery in content delivery systems to achieve efficient and effective content delivery. This work proposes a novel decentralized algorithm for the replica placement in peer-assisted content delivery networks with simultaneous considerations for peer incentives. By applying techniques from the algorithmic mechanism design theory, the authors show the incentive compatibility of the proposed algorithm. Experiments were conducted to validate the properties of the proposed method and comparisons were made with the state-of-the-art RP algorithms.


Objective: To study on the therapeuticc effect of acupoint injection on vertebral basilar artery insufficiency. Methods: 35 cases were treated by acupoint injection of compound Danshen, and the contral group was treated with oral administration of nimodipine. Result: The acupoint injection group had significant therapeutic effects, especially in improvement of dizziness, which were superior to that of nimodipine. Conclusion: The acupoint injection therapy has a definite therapeuticc effect on vertebral basilar artery insufficiency.


In this paper a multi-scale approach to design planar antennas and circuits is used in the scope of wave concept iterative procedure (W.C.I.P.). This wave formulation is improved for a full modeling of large-scale structures where connections are made through subdomains (layers) in the spectral domain. In the case of circuits integration the usually used elements - via holes and air bridge - are connections introduced to ease their integration in a circuit geometry between two and three dimensions, commonly named 2.5-D. A particular model is used to treat the electromagnetic behavior of these elements. For example, via-holes are treated with the longitudinal components, while air bridge are notably simplified by the introduction of "magnetic carpet". The simulation results presented are in accordance with the electromagnetic theoretical behavior of these connections.


Canadian Literature  / Autumn  Theories of legitimacy restrict much analysis of Dionne Brand's writing. These arguments depend on a self-other split. An authoritative "Black and Female" self arises in the colonizer's language (Sarbadhikary ), and a resisting subject emerges in the silences of sexist and racist narrative (Gingell ). Both arguments rely on Western notions of a split self: essential being struggles against its objectification in language. The belief that language, a social construct, misrepresents pre-linguistic or pre-colonial origins makes the subject's struggle legitimate. In No Language Is Neutral, Brand begins to trouble originary displacement through painful belonging in "exile" (Zackodnik ), although exile still suggests longing for origin. Such resistance to Western neo-colonialism remains bound to the self-other binary intrinsic to European modernism, so Brand jettisons both the self and the other in In Another Place, Not Here. Breaking the Western deadlock for resistance, the characters reject the legitimacy of origin, community, and self-identity: "And belonging? They were past it. It was not wide enough, not gap enough, not distance enough. Not rip enough, belonging. Belonging was too small, too small for their magnificent rage" (). In In Another Place, Not Here, Brand criticizes two things: the colonization of bodies and identity politics, which recolonizes resistance. In a fusion of Western deconstruction and postcolonial analysis, Brand uses absent originary subjects, an acknowledged illegitimacy of representation, and disunified social relations to criticize neo-colonial values of legitimacy and create alternative subjectivities. Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari's anti-Oedipal theory of the rhizome helps to elucidate part of Brand's non-essentialist methodology. In A E l l e n Q u i g l e y


A double gas puff with a solid fill inner shell and an annular outer shell with axial magnetic field is proposed as a possible load configuration for a plasma radiation source for K-shell radiation production of high-Z materials. This load configuration is investigated in the experiments with neon gas puffs on the IMRI-5 generator (400 kA, 430 ns) and with argon gas puffs on the GIT-12 generator (2.5 MA, 300 ns). Influence of the axial magnetic field on z-pinch stabilization and K-shell radiation yield is studied.


The first acyclic diaminocarbene (ADC) featuring N-aryl groups, as well as two complexes containing this ligand, (ADC)RhCl(1,5-cis,cis-cyclooctadiene) and (ADC)RhCl(CO)2, were synthesized and characterized. Insight into controlling conformational diversity in acyclic diaminocarbenes with N-aryl groups through judicious N substitution was also explored.


Based on the methods of electromagnetic transient simulation and vector qualitative analysis,this paper analyses the phase relationships between zero-sequence current and voltage under the conditions of non-electrical connections,electrically weak and magnetically strong connections and strong electromagnetic connections.The analysis leads to the conclusion that when there is no electrical connection,malfunction will occur on the protection with transmission line under normal conditions;malfunction will much more probably occur when lines without faults are under magnetically strong and electrically weak connections;and malfunction will not occur when lines without faults are under strong electromagnetic connections.In addition,zero-sequence voltage or current of the non-fault lines which have magnetically strong and electrically weak connection may be zero or close to zero.


The primary descriptor of moisture transport in concretes is sorptivity, which represents the moisture intake through the capillary pores at early times. Although the effectiveness of this parameter in quantifying the near surface characteristics is well established, it is also necessary to consider the effect of long-term moisture transport through the smaller pores at later periods of time (diffusion) in order meaningfully to compare the durability of different mixtures and to arrive at more accurate indicators of service life. The present paper uses a combination of the exponential equation for sorption and a solution of Fick's second law for diffusion to estimate the moisture transport parameters in lightweight aggregate concretes. Lightweight aggregate concrete specimens are subjected to different pre-conditioning regimes before being subjected to moisture transport tests in order to understand the influence of moisture conditions on the transport parameters. A 'saturation index' is used to quantify ...


The desorption of carbon monoxide from surfaces in a vacuum under photon irradiation has been studied. As the coverage on tungsten approaches completion, thermal desorption from a very weakly bound phase dominates. Negligible photodesorption from quartz is found. Desorption from borosilicate glass is found to be dependent upon the CO pressure and history.


This paper presents a new initialization technique for clustering. Genetic algorithm has been used for optimal centroid selection. These centroids act as starting points for k-means. Previous researches used GA initialized K-means (GAIK) for clustering. In this paper some modification is done and a partition based GA initialized K-means (PGAIK) technique is introduced in order to improve the clustering performance. To measure the cluster compactness a within cluster scatter criteria has been used. Experimental results show that PGAIK yields more compact clusters as compared to simple GAIK.


4215 Background: Overall 5 year survival for patients with pancreatic cancer is <1%, but with resectable disease ranges from 11%-24%. In units with an aggressive policy of surgical exploration, resection rates are only 50-60%. The greatest impact on survival will be achieved by increasing the resection rate. Preoperative chemotherapy may improve operability and therefore survival.

METHODS
50 patients were randomized between 2 regimens of neoadjuvant therapy. 24 patients were randomized to gemcitabine (1000mg/m2) (G) every 7 days for 43 days. 26 patients were randomized to gemcitabine (1000mg/m2) and cisplatin (25mg/m2) (GC) every 7 days: 7 patients received an original schedule omitting day 22; due to neutropenia, the subsequent 19 patients received a revised schedule of GC omitting days 15 and 36. All patients had radiological and clinical evidence of pancreatic cancer considered resectable on CE-CT scan and were suitable for surgical exploration.

RESULTS
22/24 G patients underwent treatment receiving a median (range) of 85% (71-100%) planned gemcitabine dose. 24/26 GC patients underwent treatment receiving a median (range) of 88% (40-109%) and 92% (40-100%) planned gemcitabine and cisplatin doses respectively. Grade III/IV hematological toxicity was experienced by 9 patients in each group. 27 (54%) patients underwent pancreatic resection: 9 (38%) G, of whom 7 had adenocarcinoma, 1 other carcinoma and 1 non-malignant; 18 (69%) GC, of whom 13 had adenocarcinoma, 3 other carcinomas and 2 non-malignant. 18 patients had a bypass procedure (14 G, 4 GC), and 5 patients had no surgery due to progressive disease (1 G, 4 GC). To date, 30 (60%) patients have died. 12-month survival from randomization was 46% and 61% for G and GC respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy can be safely administered prior to pancreatic surgery. Combination therapy with gemcitabine and cisplatin appears more efficacious than gemcitabine alone in pancreatic cancer. A phase III trial of neoadjuvant GC vs. immediate surgery is planned. No significant financial relationships to disclose.


Correlation is to integrate depictions of fundamental microscopic phenomena of solidification, cooling, grain growth, segregation, metallurgical developments and its significance on mechanical properties for AISI 304 steel. When formulating the susceptibility of to cracking, segregation is not generally accountable, despite being a significant factor. Segregation is originated by incomplete mixing in the weld pool which promotes the dendrite envelope motion governed by the growth of dendrite tips. The growth model for dendrite tips can be obtained by solute transport near the tip progressed by tip stability. Due to high segregations of chromium and molybdenum, secondary ferrite is known to be susceptible to the formation of intermetallic phases such as sulfur or carbon. But segregation of nickel, chromium and molybdenum can be lowered with the use of nitrogen in the shielding gas. Competing factors add to the intricacy of the phenomenon, hence the main objective of this scanty literature is concerned with metallurgical behavior of this class of engineering materials under the influence of segregation.


The article describes the contradictory process of initiation of modern China to the values of deliberative democracy. Despite the fact that this model of democracy was born in the West and is now seen as a complement to liberal democracy, in China liberal values are rejected and deliberative resources are used in accordance with national specifics. While China's nascent civil society and Chinese intellectuals consider deliberative procedures and public dialogue as a path to a democratic transformation of the current regime, the Chinese authorities use deliberation to draw resources necessary for their own legitimation and self-reproduction.


W T tHAT a contrast exists between books published shortly before the turn of the century and those published today! In the earlier publications yellow paper, bad type, gray ink, and poor bindings were often combined with other faults. Some books had rivers of white which led the eye up or down the page; others, published about I900, had such distracting illustrations and ornaments that the author and his message were quite forgotten. Today, however, even the seventy-five cent reprint invites one to read because the jacket is attractive, the type legible, the ink good, and the paper not displeasing to the eye. Decorations and illustrations are usually unobtrusive, and the reading matter is properly imposed on the page. It might be supposed that competition among publishers has been responsible for the improvement during the past forty years. However, this is not the case. Great quantities of type prevented publishers from making better books until an insistent demand had been created. This was done to a great extent through the work of a man little known in America, who has been content to remain in the background while those he inspired to create beautiful books have been acclaimed. Without Sir Emery Walker three monuments of modern typographythe Kelmscott Chaucer, the Doves Bible, and the Ashendene Dante of I909-would not have been created. The renaissance of fine bookmaking might have been postponed. The beginnings of typography in England were not particularly auspicious. The father of English printing, William Caxton, who was governor of the English Merchant Adventurers at Bruges, finished the translation of Raoul Lefevre's Recueil des histoires de Troie in 1471. Because, even with the help of scribes, enough copies could not be written to satisfy the de-


For the consideration of the environmental and economic issues, retrieved packaging waste polyethylene and waste rubber powder were selected as modifiers to modify the ordinary oil asphalt, and the rotating film oven test was adopted to study the aging process of the modified asphalt. The results showed that the performance of the modified asphalt deteriorated, as indicated by the increase in the softening point and the reduced ductility and penetration. However, compared with nonmodified asphalt, the rangeability of the performance indicators of the modified asphalt before and after aging became narrow, indicating that the aging properties of the modified asphalt were improved. In the modified asphalt system, the swelling of the polymer modifiers was caused by the absorption of the light components of the asphalt, thereby reducing the formation of asphaltenes in the aging process. The polymer modifiers absorb the light oil of the asphalt, which can reduce the content of free radicals and improve the aging properties of the asphalt. In addition, the waste rubber power containing antioxidants and anti-ozone agents effectively improves the antiaging properties of the asphalt. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Bionics is a kind of method and technology which can obtain good ideas from living things.It can improve the efficiency of resolving problems with computer.Bionic technology has given a good idea to the research on Agent.This paper gives an overview on the bionic technologies used in intelligent agent,mobile agent and multi agent systems.It focuses on three different sides: mimicking human and mimicking animal,bionic organism.This survey tries to find emphases and future tendency of bionics technology used in agent research.


This study addresses quality of life as a subjective and individualized concept which is not adequately captured by those quantitative methods that dominate gerontological research. It focuses on an under- researched sub-group of older people and the ways in which quality of life is related to social and cultural variations in family care. Four older Chinese women and one older couple were recruited to participate in in-depth life history interviews. The interviews were conducted in Cantonese, recorded, translated and transcribed in full. The data were analysed in two ways. Content analysis yielded four main themes: dependence, social isolation, grandparenthood and filial piety. Narrative analysis of the women's interviews produced five distinct storylines about the gendered nature of growing old as a member of a Chinese immigrant family. The findings of this small study are discussed in relation both to the way they can enhance gerontological understandings of quality of later life and to their implications for community aged care policy and nursing practice.


This article considers the academic and practical implications of culturally responsive teaching and whiteness studies for the studies and practice of immigrant education in Japan. By reviewing what has been found and discussed about the teachers' roles and their privileges in the studies of immigrant education in Japan, I argue that Japaneseness has been unnamed and made invisible, as well as culturally neutralized by the majority in the educational system. As the population becomes more diverse, I suggest that it is required to study how the image of "Japanese" and "Japanese culture" have been imagined and constructed in education, to deconstruct them and to put them into practice in teacher training.


Let $\mathcal{D} =\Omega \setminus\bar{\omega} \subset \mathbb{R}^2$ be a smooth annular type domain. We consider the simplified Ginzburg-Landau energy $E_\epsilon(u)=\frac{1}{2}\int_{\mathcal{D}} |\nabla u|^2 +\frac{1}{4\epsilon^2}\int_{\mathcal{D}} (1-|u|^2)^2$, where $u: \mathcal{D} \rightarrow \mathbb{C}$, and look for minimizers of $E_\epsilon$ with prescribed degrees $deg(u,\partial \Omega)=p$, $deg(u,\partial \omega)=q$ on the boundaries of the domain. For large $\epsilon$ and for balanced degrees, i.e., $p=q$, we obtain existence of minimizers for {\it thin} domain. We also prove non-existence of minimizers of $E_\epsilon$, for large $\epsilon$, in the case $p\neq q$, $pq>0$ and $\mathcal{D}$ is a circular annulus with large capacity (corresponding to "thin" annulus). Our approach relies on similar results obtained for the Dirichlet energy $E_\infty(u)=\frac{1}{2}\int_{\mathcal{D}}|\nabla u|^2$, the existence result obtained by Berlyand and Golovaty and on a technique developed by Misiats.


LNG carrier through the evaporation of liquefied natural gas re-liquefaction of gas analysis and comparison of performance,and explore the ship LNG gas evaporation and a new way to deal with the direction of development.


A model of multi-part asset with dependent maintenance cost is presented. The problem is to minimize the long-run average cost per time unit. To share some costs, a good policy may jointly replace multiple parts when an asset is maintained. However, it is difficult to obtain an optimal joint replacement policy in view of combinatorial explosion of the states and stochastic system dynamics. To obtain optimal policies for small problems, a novel method is built by recent developed time aggregation Markov decision approach, which leads to analytical and computational simplifications as compared with traditional Markov decision approaches. One-stage and two-stage analysis methods are developed for large problems. The upper bound of one-stage analysis method for single part problems is obtained to show the insight that it can achieve near or true optimal policy. For multi-part problems, they are proved to satisfy certain necessary optimality conditions. These conditions can significantly simplify their implementation. Numerical results show that they are more efficient and effective than other near optimal methods.


In the case of Korea, urbanization, which started since the Korean War, has increased the number of urban residents, which in turn caused a serious housing problem. Accordingly, the Korea Land and Housing Corporation has attempted to resolve the housing shortage problem partially, by constructing a series of small-scale modern urban housing complexes. Based on such planned housing complexes, private construction companies started to build housing, resulting in the expansion of residential areas. Since then, due to lack of the surrounding convenience facilities appropriate for social changes, as well as due to the indiscriminate development of urban areas, the housing environment has been gradually deteriorated, and Seoul city tried to solve this problem through several redevelopment projects. However, such projects resulted in destructing residents' familiar living environment and discontinuing urban history. This study was conducted to investigate and analyze the physical characteristics of the national housing development complex, particularly focusing on Jangwi-dong, which was one of the several urban housing areas that were being developed under the supervision of the Korea Land and Housing Corporation. This study also investigates the characteristics of architectural change in the urban housing complexes that have been formed since the 1960s. The findings of this study could be used as a basis for suggesting housing types that be applicable to the existing urban housing areas.


Wind speed is receiving greater attention in the design and study of wind energy conversion systems (WECS). Using meteorological data, this paper studies the availability of wind energy potential at four sites in Ireland: Malin Head, Dublin Airport, Belmullet and Mullingar. An analysis is made of mean wind speed data collected at a height of 50 m above ground level at each site over a period of seven years. A two parameter Weibull distribution model is used to analyze wind speed pattern variations. Weibull parameters are calculated by the Least Squares Method (LSM). The results relating to wind energy potential are given in terms of the density function. Analysis shows that coastal sites of Ireland such as Malin Head, Dublin Airport and Belmullet have good wind power potential.


Nearly a decade ago, we published the first Annual Review of Anthropology article on tobacco ( Kohrman & Benson 2011 ). Since then, much has happened, and much has persisted regarding human-tobacco relations. Here, we present a stocktaking of how scholars drawing on anthropological methods have responded.


Enhanced geothermal system has been successfully able to increase the permeability of the reservoir and hydro-fracturing is the conventional method of creating artificial fracture system. But more precise technique is required to reduce the cost of the geothermal energy extraction and this will require proper understanding of the thermo-mechanical behaviour of the reservoir rocks i.e. Granites. Current research work has focused on the thermo-mechanical properties of granites under various temperature and strain rate condition. Granites of two different areas i.e. Bundelkhand granite, India and Harcourt granite, Australia have been investigated for the research work. 4 different strain rates i.e. 0.05 mm/min, 0.5 mm/min, 5.0 mm/min and 50 mm/min at 3 different temperatures i.e. room temperature (25 °C), 200 °C and 400 °C were considered for experimental analysis. It was observed that at room temperature, with increasing strain rate the uniaxial compressive strength of the rock increases and the same trend is also observed at higher temperatures conditions. Whereas at low strain rate the compressive strength decreases with increase in temperature, while the trend is irregular at higher strain rates. Bundelkhand granites have thermal conductivity values between 3.1 to 3.6 W/m.K whereas that of Harcourt granite is 2.4 W/m.K. Sieve analysis of the fragmented particles due to UCS test suggested that there is no effect of strain rate on particle size distribution whereas higher temperatures produces more finer particles. It was observed that more than 75% of the fragmented particles are having diameter of greater than 11.3 mm. Effective size i.e. D10 was analysed and found that at room temperature (25 °C) 10% of fragmented particles are finer than 3.0 mm whereas at 200 °C and 400 °C 10% of finer particles are finer than 1.9 mm and 1.5 mm respectively. Numerical simulation results of the numerical simulation are quite analogous to the lab experimental data.


Four new coumarins, 1–4, and two new triterpenes, 5 and 6, along with nine known compounds have been identified from the leaves of Calophyllum inophyllum on the basis of spectroscopic analyses and chemical methods. The structure of apetalolide (7), previously reported from C. apetalum, was revised by means of 2D-NMR, and the absolute configuration of the known compound inophyllum D (8) was established by a modified Mosher's method.


This work presents a GEANT4 application (version 9.3.p01) for the calculation of gamma/neutron dose on a AMISC5 flip-flop target from a proton/deuteron Be neutron source. For comparison purposes, a gamma irradiation campaign using aCo standard irradiation source was also simulated. In all cases we consider energy rate per unit volume for comparison in future experiments in order to establish differences between radiation effects on electronics due to neutron/gamma and pure gamma beams.


A new peroxyacid-ester series has been obtained and used in the destruction of toxic agents. These structures oROCOC6H4CO3H and ROCO(CH2)nCO3H are more stable than the unsubstituted compounds. The reaction with paraoxon (0,0-diethyl 0-paranitrophenylphosphate) and HD (2,2′-dichlorodiethylsulfide) goes to completion in a very short time. The influence of the R group and the length of the chain (n = 2……12) has been studied. The addition of some long chain tetraalkyl-ammonium salts enhances the rate of the reaction by micellar catalysis.


Due to the demand for green technology, the development of fibre reinforced composites has built-up an interest in finding out new and reliable composites. The natural fibre reinforced composites produced by the pultrusion technique may eventually replace the conventional fibre composite production technique used today. In considering outdoor application, experiments have been performed to study the effects of weathering exposure on pultruded natural fibre reinforced composites. Kenaf fibre reinforced composites (KFRC) were produced using the pultrusion technique at 70% fibre loading. The composites were then subjected to natural aging, which involved exposing specimens to an outdoor natural environment for a period of time. After a few weeks, the specimen showed some degradation and discolouring. Subsequently, compression and flexural tests were carried out with the aim of determining the mechanical properties after exposure. The decrease in the value of these properties was verified and discussed. The repeated process of sun-heating and the invasion of moisture from natural atmosphere such as rain and dew everyday had led to debonding and weakening in the fibre-matrix interfaces of the composite.


Graphic design course is one of the important basic courses for the design teaching.The impact of the traditional mode of education has long been the teaching of teachers,emphasis on design skills to the neglect of the cultivation of students to design innovative thinking,leading students to understand how to think in the case of a lot of imitation,so that graphic design has become a source of water.According to the characteristics of graphic design courses,combined with the characteristics of innovative thinking,to explore graphic design curriculum development for innovative thinking and effective way for innovative thinking training.


This article examines the use of blogs to mediate the experiences of citizens during a violent election in Zimbabwe. It focuses specifically on how people disseminated and shared information about their tribulations under a regime that used coercive measures in the face of its crumbling hegemonic edifice. The article frames these practices within theories of alternative media and citizen journalism and argues that digitization has occasioned new counter-hegemonic spaces and new forms of journalism that are deinstitutionalized and deprofessionalized, and whose radicalism is reflected in both form and content. I argue that this radicalism in part articulates a postmodern philosophy and style as seen in its rejection of the elaborate codes and conventions of mainstream journalism. The internet is seen as certainly enhancing the people's right to communicate, but only to a limited extent because of access disparities on the one hand, and its appropriation by liberal social movements whose configuration is elitist, on the other. I conclude by arguing that the alternative media in Zimbabwe, as reflected by Kubatana's bloggers, lack the capacity to envision alternative social and political orders outside the neoliberal framework. This, I contend, is partly because of the political economy of both blogging as a social practice and alternative media as subaltern spaces. Just as the bloggers are embedded to Kubatana's virtual space to self-publish, Kubatana is likewise embedded to a neoliberal discourse that is traceable to its funding and financing systems.


Introduction: Proper functioning of the luteinizing hormone/chorionic gonadotrophin receptor (LHCGR) is essential for male sexual differentiation and maintenance of normal testosterone levels, as well as for ovarian function and fertility in females. Completely inactivating mutations of the LHCGR gene in 46,XY individuals lead to Leydig cell hypoplasia type 1, characterized by a female phenotype without signs of pubertal development, presence of testicular intra-abdominal remnants and absence of Mullerian duct derivatives. Due to their important role in reproduction, inactivating mutations of the LHCGR gene are very rarely encountered in clinical settings.


In a study of the reaction of children to Dr. Larsen's ricinoleated scarlet fever antigen, as determined by the Dick test, a wide diversity of response has been noted. Frequently children with positive Dick tests developed negative skin reactions, sometimes as early as 4 days, following the administration of antigen, but a return to the original state of skin sensitivity was observed in the majority in 6 to 8 weeks. Only a very few remained negative for as long as 6 months. The variation in response is partially indicated by the following cases: Following antigen administration a decrease in reaction was noted in almost all who originally showed a markedly positive test. In a small number of cases 2 doses of antigen or even 3 failed to produce a negative test, or at least one which persisted over periods varying from 3 weeks to 3 months. An increase in reaction was noted frequently after the giving of antigen, which as a rule tended later to decrease, but in individuals who were originally slightly sensitive might be marked and persistent. Infants very rarely gave a positive reaction and were frequently negative to as much as 20 skin test doses. One infant, 2 weeks old, whose skin reaction was negative to 50 S. T. D., developed temporarily a positive Dick test, 16 days after the last portion of 900 S. T. D. of scarlet fever toxin (so-called) had been given. The diversity of skin reaction, as indicated by the Dick test, following antigen administration, seems to find no parallel in the phenomena of true toxin reactions and antitoxin production. Nor does the development of a positive test in an infant previously negative, in response to treatment with scarlet fever streptococcus filtrate find its explanation on any but an allergic basis.


This paper presents robust change detection in SAR (Synthetic aperture radar) images are based on image fusion and reformulated fuzzy clustering. The proposed approach is used both mean-ration and log-ratio for to generate image to generate the DI (difference image) by image fusion technique. The wavelet technique is used to enhance the information of changed region is extracted form background information by using difference image is based on wavelet fusion. The proposed reformulated fuzzy local c means clustering algorithm is used for differentiating both changed and unchanged regions in fused image and it is insensitive to the noise reduce the effect of speckle noise. From this method we get efficient results and lower error than compare to existing techniques.


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The authors analyse the present situation of small-scale hydro in Austria as reflected by the new electricity industry organisation act (EIWOG 2000). As, due to the implementation of the tradable certificate system, there is little incentive in case of failure to reach the 8 % quota to construct new small-scale hydro plant, the authors try to find out which stable promotion strategy is the most efficient economically for a continued development of small-scale hydro. The authors suggest investment grants tied to a bidding procedure financed from a fund administering the income from the compensatory taxes.


This paper reviews research that studies the principle of self-support (PSS) in some control systems and proposes a fractional-order generalized PSS framework for the first time. The existing PSS approach focuses on practical tracking problem of integer-order systems including robotic dynamics, high precision linear motor system, multi-axis high precision positioning system with unmeasurable variables, imprecise sensor information, uncertain parameters and external disturbances. More generally, by formulating the fractional PSS concept as a new generalized framework, we will focus on the possible fields of the fractional-order control problems such as practical tracking, -tracking, etc. of robot systems, multiple mobile agents, discrete dynamical systems, time delay systems and other uncertain nonlinear systems. Finally, the practical tracking of a first-order uncertain model of automobile is considered as a simple example to demonstrate the efficiency of the fractional-order generalized principle of self-support (FOGPSS) control strategy.


This paper presents a methodology for eco-innovation that integrates examples of effective energy-efficient practices in the machine tool industry, case-based reasoning (CBR) and TRIZ in energy saving design of green machine tools. An index system that combines the eco-design and function performances of green machine tool and energy saving technology is proposed. Designers can easily utilize prior cases to redesign a new product and satisfy the both performances. the knowledge for solving energy-saving problem can be supported by examples of effective energy-efficient practices in the industry. Then, TRIZ tools are introduced to modify the knowledge to obtain new designs. A case study is used to explain the capabilities of the proposed methodology.


Abstract : The present report, as a part of the research on the ecology of rice leaf blight, is the result of an investigation to determine whether there was a difference in the occurrence of rice leaf blight on the post-winter crop-fields according to the variety of winter crops. In order to make comparisons under similar environmental conditions including such topographic features as rice plant variety which was thought to have a relationship to the outbreak of rice leaf blight, cultivation procedures, flooding, wind and drainage systems, the winter crops were different from each other, two adjoining paddy fields were taken as one specimen and comparison was made on the extent of blight outbreak on the two paddy fields as a group.


In this paper, we investigate the problem of medium access control in mmWave wireless personal area networks (WPAN), within which directional antennas are used to combat the high path loss incurred in the 60GHz frequency band. The conventional CSMA/CA protocol does not work well with directional antennas due to impaired carrier sensing at the transmitters. We explain why existing directional MAC protocols do not work well at 60GHz and propose a novel directional CSMA/CA protocol designed specifically for 60GHz WPANs. Instead of relying on physical carrier sensing, the proposed protocol adopts virtual carrier sensing and relies on a central coordinator to distribute network allocation vector (NAV) information. Both performance analysis and simulation study show that the proposed mechanism incurs low overhead and has robust performance even when the network is heavily congested.


In this paper, the strict and accurate theoretical calculation of the Fourier transform of the pure Voigt function is presented, without any approximation, which is very important for the optimal optical detection of upper atmospheric wind measurement by passive techniques. The two-point Gauss–Hermit orthogonal algorithm is widely used and is thought to be the best approximation of the pure Voigt function up to the present, so to show the accuracy of the result, we then compare the result with the result obtained by a two-point Gauss–Hermit orthogonal algorithm, and we find that the difference between them is only about 10−6 cm, which shows that the result of the pure Voigt function is more precise. Finally, we point out its significance for upper atmosphere wind measurement.


Higher frequency harmonics in ring oscillators are problematic in both data acquisition and analysis. The origin of these undesirable harmonics and a circuit scheme for effectively eliminating them are described. Controlled generation of higher harmonics, on the other hand, enables unique applications in determining circuit power performance trade-offs.


We describe the application of pulsed X-ray excitation to X-ray fluorescence spectrometry as a method for increasing the output counting rate of the system by a substantial factor. Using a pulsed X-ray tube that is immediately turned off when a signal is detected, and held off during the pulse processing time, it is possible to eliminate the need for a pulse pile-up rejection. We have achieved output counting rates significantly greater than with conventional operation for equivalent shaping networks. No significant degradation in spectrometer resolution was observed at the increased counting rates.


(57) Abstract: The magnetic recording medium exhibiting improved glide characteristics and contact start stop characteristic of the metal layer 21 in the non-magnetic substrate 20, for example, attached by sputtering, the thus deposited metal layer 21 is textured surface It is prepared by having. In one embodiment, the alloy layer is non-magnetic substrate 20 based on titanium having a textured surface comprising a plurality of relatively uniform protrusions, for example, aluminum coated with Ni-P - magnesium alloy substrate , or directly to the sputter adhering to the magnetic layer 22 attached to the sputtered metal layer 21 either with or without the associated conductive graphite substrate and chromium underlayer.


Metamorphosis is frequently cited as an inherent feature of animation, but scholars who make this claim have routinely disregarded the influence of Goethean morphology on animation practice and theory. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's initial conception of morphology, as outlined in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, has had a significant effect on our understanding of the transformative nature of animation. In this article, the author engages with the theory and practice of figures including Sergei Eisenstein, André Bazin, Alla Gadassik, Caroline Leaf and others in order to insist upon animation's critical but hitherto unacknowledged role in an ongoing history of morphological reception. Morphology's sensitivity to the continuous coming-into-being of form allows us to think through, in newly productive ways, the intrinsic practices, aims and intimations of animation, not to mention the sometimes vexed discourse about its place in cinema studies.


Traffic simulation is computer simulation technique's application in traffic engineering area,its aim is to build up a kind of computer model as the substitute of real or virtual traffic situation,which can help to evaluate the quality of traffic control plan and the reasonability of traffic design scheme.This paper first introduces the concept of traffic simulation,then gives its classification followed by traffic development situation in world and three typical simulation software explanations : CORSIM.PARAMICS and VISSIM.At last,the prospect of traffic simulation in the future is briefly predicted.


Since the end of the Goethezeit and the advent of large-scale destruction of the biosphere, the way we observe nature has changed. While it holds true that the emphatic gaze at nature has become something of an anachronism, the synchronization of esthetics and science has not lost relevance. In Briefe aus der Schweiz: Zweite Abteilung, Goethe achieves this balance by anxiously keeping his subjective impression in check while pointing out the particularly 'pure' feeling it elicits. Later, in the Farbenlehre, the author means to extend this eudaimonological concern to his readership while simultaneously establishing a rigid division between right and wrong perceptions. The colorblind and the melancholic are met with particular suspicion, since they threaten the entire project. Furthermore, as the quest for an untroubled mindset is imperative, the Campagne in Frankreich 1792 shows how natural observation can be exercised even in war-torn surroundings. Eventually, marching soldiers and even the shelling of Verdun become mere objects of optical study. This euphemistic gaze connects Goethe's natural observation with contemporary attitudes towards the destruction of the biosphere, as exemplified by the photography of Daniel Beltrá.


Many systems, particularly those which present relational information, include a graph drawing function. Such systems have motivated a great deal of research on algorithms for drawing graphs; a recent survey lists over 250 references. Almost all this work has been oriented toward two-dimensional drawings. This paper describes an investigation of mathematically fundamental aspects of three-dimensional graph drawing. In particular we give three results concerning the space required for three-dimensional drawings.We showhow to produce a grid drawing of an arbitrary n-vertex graph with all vertices located at integer grid point, in an n × 2n × 2n grid, such that no pair of edges cross. This grid size is optimal to within a constant. We also show how to convert an orthogonal two-dimensional drawing in a H × V integer grid to a three-dimensional drawing with ⌈√H⌉ × ⌈√H⌉ × V volume. Using this technique we show, for example, that three-dimensional drawings of binary trees can be computed with volume ⌈√n⌉ × ⌈√n⌉ × ⌈logn⌉. We give an algorithm for producing drawings of rooted trees in which the z coordinate of a node represents the depth of the node in the tree; our algorithm minimizes the footprint of the drawing, that is, the size of the projection in the xy plane.Finally, we list significant unsolved problems in algorithms for three-dimensional graph drawing.


This paper deals with the formal properties and discourse features of "A es com B" ("A is like B") similes in Catalan. In contrast with most previous approaches, the examples are naturally-occurring and the whole text has been analyzed so that their context, and not only the similes, is considered. The analysis of similes in interaction puts forward that: (i) a simile is a three-slot comparative construction, including a target and a source belonging to different conceptual domains, and an optional but frequent and highly significant elaboration; (ii) a simile is a figurative comparison between a source and a target (grammatically expressed by noun phrases or clauses) generally considered completely distinct or non-comparable; (iii) similes are powerful mechanisms to catch the addressee's attention and put in a nutshell someone's opinion, and (iv) they tend to have a prominent text status and are often found as headlines.


methodology at the University of Virginia, Kirkland does research in children's linguistic, cognitive/social and personality development. Selden is an Education Policy Fellow with the National Institute of Education, Teaching and Learning Program. He conducts research in reading, and syntax related to readability. ■ The McCall-Crabbs Standard Test Lessons in Reading (McCall and Crabbs 1925a, 1925b, 1961) have had a long and useful history in readabilty work. Since their publication in 1926, these graded test lessons have provided the criterion of reading comprehension difficulty for the readability formulas of Lorge, Flesch, Dale-Chall, and Gunning and for other formulas which were derived from these. In 1961 a revised version the test lessons was published. Since the revision, E.B. Coleman has conducted a continuing line of res arch on readability (prose complexity) which is primarily based on cloze scores of the revised tests, and Harris and Jacobson's continuing readability research is partially based on this revision.


High-quality spectra acquired at three different observatories point to the presence of a new diffuse interstellar band (DIB) at 5069 Å. The spectral profile of this DIB matches published laboratory measurements of the diacetylene cation A2Πu–X2Πg (0–0) low-temperature gas-phase optical absorption. HC4H+ is approximately 60–80 times less abundant than CH along the analyzed lines of sight. Only an upper limit could presently be inferred from the search for an analogous band of the triacetylene cation HC6H+, expected at 6001.1 Å, which implies the HC6H+ to HC4H+ ratio of less than ∼1/3.


We demonstrate operation of a high-power quantum fountain unipolar laser relying on intersubband emission in optically pumped GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells. The collected power per facet is as large as 2.3 W at 20 K and 1.5 W at 120 K, which translates into 6.6 W optical power per facet at low temperature accounting for collection efficiency. The maximum operating temperature is 135 K. We also demonstrate that the lasing wavelength can be tuned by as much as Δλ/λ≈2.5% simply by tuning the pump wavelength.


The invention provides an abstract method and device of road network topology, belonging to the technical field of map data processing. The method comprises the following steps: reading attribute information of an internal node and attribute information of an internal segmental arc in original road network data; respectively generating attribute information of an abstract node and attribute information of an abstract segmental arc according to the attribute information of the internal node and the attribute information of the internal segmental arc; determining a node to be deleted in the original road network data according to the attribute information of the abstract node and the attribute information of the abstract segmental arc, and deleting the node to be deleted in the original road network data; and according to the attribute information of the abstract node and the attribute information of the abstract segmental arc, carrying out reconstitution processing on a road network the node of which to be deleted is deleted, thereby reducing the number of directed segmental arcs in the road network on the premise that the road network topology relation does not need to be changed,and therefore, the road calculating efficiency is effectively improved.


Research question: Is there any difference between the morbidity pattern of elective emergency LSCS and vaginal delivery? Settings: Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute Hospital a rural tertiary care centre in Pondicherry from March 2013 to February 2014. Study Design: A prospective observational study. Participants: 1650 inborn term babies were studied. Neonates with major congenital anomalies were excluded. Methodology: Intranatal & postnatal information about inborn term babies were collected using a data collection format based on the type of delivery. Results: Among a total of 1650 births 58 % were SVD 35% were emergency LSCS and 7 % were elective LSCS. Maternal request & previous LSCS together contributed 73% of the indication for elective LSCS. 70% of elective LSCS was done before 39 completed weeks of which the risk for NICU admission between elective category and normal delivery was almost the same (Odds ratio 0.937). The incidence of respiratory morbidity necessitating NICU care is high (34 %). Most common cause for mortality was perinatal asphyxia (50%).


Abstract Population declines in songbirds are often attributed to regional habitat loss and fragmentation caused by land-use practices, which might be further aggravated by climate change. These concerns are particularly evident in the Intermountain West, where riparian areas are considered a priority for conservation because of predicted reductions in winter precipitation and increases in spring temperatures. These climatic changes might increase the susceptibility of species reliant on riparian areas to regional extirpation from loss of habitat. The Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii) is a California species of concern because of precipitous population declines in the past three decades. In 1997, we established a long-term research program to determine population demographics and the effects of weather events and regional-scale meadow distribution and vegetative structure on nesting success of Willow Flycatchers. We monitored territory establishment and reproductive success of 786 territories and 850...


An existing Ferm type passive sampler technique has been further developed to measure concentrations of formaldehyde gas in indoor air. Formaldehyde forms a derivative after reaction with a filter coated with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (2,4-DNPH). The formaldehyde 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine derivative (formaldehyde-2,4-DNPH) is extracted from the filter, and the concentration is determined by high performance liquid chromatography. The technique has been validated against an active sampling method, and the agreement is close when the appropriate laminar boundary layer depth is applied to the passive measurement. For this technique an exposure period of 3 days is equivalent to a limit of detection of formaldehyde of 3.4 ppbv and a limit of quantification of 7.6 ppbv. To test the performance of the passive samplers ambient formaldehyde measurements were carried out inside homes and in a range of workplace environments.


Reliability of power systems is a key aspect in modern power system planning, design, and operation. The ascendance of the smart grid concept has provided high hopes of developing an intelligent network that is capable of being a self-healing grid, offering the ability to overcome the interruption problems that face the utility and cost it tens of millions in repair and loss. In this work, we develop a MATLAB code to examine the effect of the smart grid applications in improving the reliability of the power distribution networks via Monte Carlo Simulation approach. The system used in this paper is the IEEE 34 test feeder. The objective is to measure the installations of the Automatic Reclosers (ARs) as well as the Distributed Generators (DGs) on the reliability indices, SAIDI, SAIFI, CAIDI and EUE, and make comparisons with results from a previous study done by the authors using another approach. The MATLAB code should provide close results to the output of the previous research to verify its effectiveness.


We represent the optical fiber output beam as linear superposition of orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes to quantify its purity. We present single shot modal decomposition methodology and verify the method for different test cases using simulations.


Background : Body temperature is a vital sign and 37°C is the mean core body temperature of a healthy human. Core body temperature is normally tightly regulated and maintained within narrow range. Perioperative hypothermia is one of the major problems during surgery and anesthesia that can affect operated patients. Methods: Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted. Patient interview, chart review and temperature measurement were employed for data collection. Temperature was measured using tympanic membrane thermometer. SPSS version 20 software was used for analysis. binary logistic regression was used to look at associations anda p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Result :The overall magnitude of preoperative, intra and post-operative hypothermia in this study was 16.2%, 53.2% and 31.3%, respectively. Age (AOR=7.15, 95% CI, 1.16, 43.99), coexisting illness (AOR, 3.32, 95% CI, 1.06; 10.36), preoperative hypothermia (AOR; 57; 95% CI; 7.1, 455.4), operation room temperature (AOR=1.91; 95 % CI, 1.04; 3.5) and crystalloid fluids administered (AOR; 2.3; 95% CI, 1.07, 4.9) were found to be factors associated with intraoperative hypothermia.
Conclusion and recommendation: The magnitude of perioperative hypothermia remains high. Measures should focus on improving room temperature and warming up fluids. Susceptible patients like the aged and those with coexisting disease should be given extra attention.


Carbon at metal nanoparticles (NPs) plays a fundamental role in heterogeneous catalysis. However, as experimental detection of small amounts of carbon is difficult, in particular when occupying subsurface sites, reaction mechanisms involving absorbed carbon are highly debated. Here, we show that the work function (WF) of metal NPs can be used as a measure of carbon adsorption and absorption, which we demonstrate by Kelvin probe force microscopy and density functional theory calculations for (111)-faceted palladium NPs (PdNPs) on graphite. Growth of PdNPs between 150 and 480 °C leads to carbon etching of the graphite steps and carbon absorption into the first subsurface layer below the NP's facets. This strongly reduces the WF of Pd(111) by up to -1 eV. During a 1 h long postannealing at 650 °C, more carbon is etched from the graphite steps, leading to a carbon precursor structure adsorbed on the NP's facets, as verified by scanning tunneling microscopy. The carbonaceous structures are replaced by graphene upon further annealing (1 to 2 h), followed by a decrease in the WF by ∼-1.4 eV. Similar phenomena are observed after short-time ethylene decomposition at PdNPs at 650 °C. Apart from subsurface carbon, we suggest that the large WF shifts observed experimentally could be attributed to structural defects on NP's facets.


The circular hydraulic jump in the presence of a soluble surfactant can display unexpected static ripple features in the inner super-critical flow region. These ripples are likely capillary surface waves pushed inward from the region of the hydraulic jump by surface tension gradient Marangoni stresses, therefore able to exist in a region thought to be without surface features. The additional surface drag requires modifications to the Watson theory of circular hydraulic jumps in order to predict jump location and inner ripple radius. We have developed a first order correction to the theory that qualitatively explains the surfactant concentration on the location of the jump and the inner ripple ring; the theory shows reasonable agreement with experiment.


The present paper aims to investigate the atomization process of a liquid that turns into very small drops due to high pressures. Liquid drops in motion encounter a coaxial gas flow of different speed and temperature. It is of interest to study the way the liquid jet first breaks into droplets in the vicinity of the nozzle, and then how the droplet atomization process occurs. The evolution of droplet size and velocity throughout the flow must be determined. It is necessary to make a connection between the mechanisms which start the atomization process and the corresponding environmental conditions. The influences of average droplet diameter, gas velocity and liquid surface tensions in the atomization process are analyzed. It was hypothesized that Rayleigh-Taylor instability occurs as the dominant mechanism for the formation of primary droplets. The present work seeks to eliminate the empirical correlations adopted for the atomization, and to determine droplet size by analytical calculation, based on the working environment parameters.


I want to compare three different filmed versions of Hamlet: Laurence Olivier's (1948), Richard Burton's (1964), and Richard Chamberlain's (1970). In a strict sense, only the first of these is a true film version. Burton's is really a filmed record of a theatrical performance of the play as directed by John Gielgud. Chamberlain's was directed by Peter Wood and adapted for television by John Barton. Nevertheless, by comparing all three, we can get a clearer notion. I believe, of how Shakespeare's tragedy translates into the medium of film, if we carefully bear in mind the different purposes for which each film was made. The first point to be made concerns establishing the text of the play for the shooting script. Obviously, something must be cut: but how much, and what? Moreover, what principles govern the cutting of the text as it has come down to us in modern editions (actually a conflated text longer than any version of the play Shakespeare ever saw or perhaps hoped to see)? Here two major principles operate. The first involves the particular interpretation of the play that the director has adopted to guide him in making his representation. The other involves the translation of parts of the text into cinematic effects (mainly visual ones, but including such non-verbal aural effects as music, offstage sounds, etc.). It will come as no surprise, therefore, that of the three versions we are considering. Burton's shows the least cutting - only about 500 lines, or approximately 1 2% of the text. This is because the theatrical presentation depends far more than cinema upon the verbal text itself. Olivier's version, besides transposing a number of scenes and passages, cuts about 1900 lines; Chamberlain's slightly more (roughly 2100 lines); each, that is, eliminates about half the total lines in the play. In both of these versions, whole scenes, or huge sections of several long scenes, are eliminated. For example, Olivier cuts all of the dialogue of the first two scenes in Act IV; Chamberlain does also, except for the last five lines of IV.ii. Both versions depend entirely upon the Dumb Show for the play within the play and omit the dialogue of "The Murder of Gonzago." Olivier eliminates Rosencrantz and Guildenstern completely from the play, along with Reynaldo and Fortinbras. Chamberlain, not quite so drastic, keeps all except Reynaldo but eliminates all of II. i as well as IV.iv, which contains Hamlet's final soliloquy ("How all occasions do inform against me"). By contrast, the only unit cutting that Burton makes is the omission of IV.vi, where Horatio receives a letter from Hamlet relating his adventure at sea. The reasons behind these cuts and others are various and instructive. Quite clearly, Olivier and Chamberlain need to compensate for the time taken for purely cinematic effects - the opening shots of Elsinore castle, Hamlet's following the Ghost to a different part of the set, the lively entrance of the players, the pursuit of Hamlet after his killing of Polonius, and so forth. Although this might be an overriding concern, it could not be the only operative one affecting any particular cut. Apart from a general need to shorten a play otherwise over four hours long, other considerations also have to be taken into account, principally that of the basic interpretation of the play. Both Olivier and Chamberlain simplify Shakespeare's Hamlet a good deal, but both attempt, at the same time, to develop a new and integral pattern from the abundant richness of the original / Olivier tries to emphasize the tortured soul of Hamlet anguished as much by sexual revulsion, compounded by suppressed oedipal feelings, as by the terrible duty of revenge. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who help develop the political dimension of the play and the theme of ambition, could then be disposed of, although with them (as with Reynaldo) much of the spying motif is necessarily sacrificed, too. 2 Chamberlain's passionate, idealistic Hamlet gains from the contrast with the toadying "fellow students," and, by retaining them, the great "What a piece of work is man" speech, which Olivier cuts, is preserved. …


Pervasive computing middleware, to support the spatially and socially situated activities of users, has to effectively support both self-organizing spatial activities and social models of interactions. In this paper, we present the solution that we are going to integrate in the SAPERE middleware to tackle this problem. The basic idea is to exploit the graph of a social network (e.g., Face book), in conjunction with relations deriving from spatial proximity, to drive and rule the actual topology of interactions among devices, users, and services. The approach can facilitates the autonomous and adaptive activities of pervasive services while accounting for both social and spatial issues, can support effective service discovery and orchestration, and can enable tackling critical privacy issues.


The probabilistic-statistical and spectral-temporal description of a random process complement each other. The main relation interesting for the automatic control system developer is that the noise dispersion - a characteristic determined by the probabilistic-statistical method - is equal to the average noise power. Knowing the noise power, it is easy to determine its standard deviation by deriving the square root from the average power. And the root-mean-square deviation of the controlled value of the automatic control system is the root-mean-square control error, the knowledge of which is necessary for the developer and technologist to characterize the accuracy of the automatic control system. Ultimately, the developer of the automatic control system for ship systems is interested in the value of the root mean square control error. The peculiarity of the emergence and propagation of impulse interference (noise) in ship electric power systems (random processes) is that it is impossible to explicitly write down the dependence of their magnitude as a function of time, since noise values change in different ways at each time interval. It is possible to indicate some average values that give a fairly detailed idea of the noise as a whole. The noises often encountered in ship systems are ergodic, i.e. the ensemble averaging coincides with the time averaging, so the statistical characteristics of such noises can be obtained by averaging their observed values over time.