Summary The investigation of the non-starter bacterial flora of Cheddar cheese during the first few weeks of the ripening period is rendered difficult by the great preponderance of starter streptococci in the bacterial population. It was found that the starter streptococci could be eliminated from agar plates containing various dilutions of the emulsified cheese by the use of phage specific for the pure culture starters used to make the cheese or alternatively by the use of α-bromopropionic acid. The successful use of the phage method of eliminating lactic streptococci from bacterial mixtures in poured agar plates depends on the use of single strain starters, and on the absence of phage-resistant forms in the culture used. The latter objective may be achieved by use of starter strains showing a low proportion of resistant cells in a normal culture and by taking precautions to avoid excessive phage development during the cheesemaking process.


Summary Experiments on rats indicate that gastric ulcers produced by various stressors (as part of alarm reaction) differ qualitatively from those induced by histamine liberator 48/80. The latter lesions as well as. the anaphylactoid inflammation and shock produced by 48/80 can actually be prevented by stressors or Cortisol, although these same agents are, in themselves, capable of producing the alarm-reaction type of gastric erosion.


Academic, social and intellectual identities attached to Students have not been substantially understood. As such are recognized when such identities are related to students morality in which their morality are viz a viz to modern life which full of rationalism and pragmatism. This research is carried out to understand such tendency and this research is conducted through applying field research with qualitative approach. The result shows that first, in students labile psyche condition, void of values, unstable identity, and lack of experiences upon the meaning of life, religion can be functioned as the protector which gives coolness and quietness in students lives. Second, student identity as an intellectual critic has been vanished due to their incapability to understand their own function and role in the society. Third, students in now time forget their own existence and they have experienced goal disorientation especially to the aim of their university education. Therefore in this context the significance of students' identity reorientation is important.


We present a theoretical analysis of the optical properties of quantum-dot aggregates with diagonal and ofi-diagonal disorder. Dot-to-dot exciton energy transport by the resonant dipole-dipole interaction is dealt with in the system of semiconductor nanocrystals embedded in a conjugated polymer matrix fllm. In order to investigate the absorption spectrum of the aggregates and excitation transport among quantum dots, we consider both the diagonal disorder due to dot size disparity and the ofi-diagonal disorder due to conformational and inter-dot-distance randomness.


The method for stabilizing a solution with the enveloped virus-based virus-like particles containing an influenza antigen, and describe such stabilized solutions. Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a method of treating or preventing influenza, the subject, the immunogenic amount, by any of the embodiments and their various embodiments of the preceding, the influenza antigen enveloped viruses based virus-like particle preparation, or stabilized in accordance with any of the embodiments and their various embodiments of the preceding methods, the immunogenic amount, enveloped viruses based virus-like particle preparation influenza antigen the method comprising the step of administering a solution containing.


The prospects for growing HP Ge crystals of increased size and purity are examined. One interesting approach is to grow dislocation-free crystals, which must then be annealed to reduce the concentration of V2H traps. The phenomena which occur during annealing are discussed and compared with experiment. Hydrogen, present in atomic form at the growth temperature, forms H2 molecules during cooling, causing the effective diffusion coefficient to decrease rapidly. Models representing the reactions between H and the V2H, A(H, Si), and D(H, O) complexes are presented and analyzed.


Background: Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is a condition in which the heart is unable to pump blood normally, causing disturbed venous return pressure to cause edema. The problem that arises is hypervolemia or intracellular fluid resuscitation to the interstitial that causes edema so that can be arranged nursing intervention one of them is giving diuretic and monitor fluid balance. Describes nursing care performed in Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) patients with hypervolemia. Method: This study uses data analysis method that is conducting the nursing process of two patients Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) who suffered from Hypervolemia disorder and then compared with case study journal as well as other sources. Result: After nursing action in both patients the Hipervolemia problem is equally partially resolved by fluid restriction nursing interventions, and the administration of diuretics. Conclusion: In providing nursing care to patients with Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) should pay attention to fluid restriction and appropriate diuretic administration to reduce edema.


The electrical characterization of high speed digital links discontinuities, such as via transitions in printed circuit boards (PCBs), has been widely investigated and numerous modelling attempts can be found in the literature. Among these, so-called "physics based" models are of special interest. Physics based models use only few elements and a realistic topology to obtain a circuit model that represents with good accuracy the discontinuities the signal undergoes when transitioning layers. In this article a physics based via model is presented with parallel plate impedance included and compared to measurements utilizing a recessed probe launching technique. Comparison of S-parameter data obtained by simulating such models with measured data shows good correlation up to 40 GHz. Measurements and simulations were conducted at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.


We present our experiences in developing, and user responses in experimenting with, virtual environments that can dynamically incorporate (visualize and interact with) real objects. We have found hybrid environments can enable natural interaction, extremely rapid development, and an effective platform for conducting tasks with a substantial manual component. We hope this article will encourage more research into incorporating real objects into virtual environments. This would improve interaction, enhance effectiveness, and increase the applicability of virtual environments to a broader range of tasks.


Functional MRI and transcranial magnetic stimulation data are helping to explain the aetiology of conversion disorder.

Conversion disorder occupies some unusual niches within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV).1 It is one of the very few conditions where the manual makes reference to aetiology, invoking emotional conflict or other stressors as an initiating or exacerbating factor in the symptom production. Furthermore, the typical symptoms of conversion disorder, like loss of sensation, paralysis or, as in the case reported by Chastan et al (see page 94) , aphonia, are deemed "pseudoneurological."2 It is for these reasons that conversion disorder is …


Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the role that institutional shareholders play in acquisition decisions using micro data in the Chinese stock market during 2003‐2008.Design/methodology/approach – Acquisition decision is the selection and coordination process of shareholders as strategic alliances, which is determined by corporate acquisition ability, composition of institutional shareholders and concentration of tradable share (TS) in China. The paper uses the Heckman selection model to surmount the selection biases in acquisition decision.Findings – The paper finds that institutional shareholders, including qualified foreign institutional investors (QFII), social security funds (SSF), security firms (SF) and security investment funds (SIF), as well as TS concentration, affect acquisition probability rather than annual acquisition scale. SSF, SIF and TS concentration can increase acquisition probability while QFII decreases it.Research limitations/implications – This paper suggests a strategic all...


The main results are presented for the analysis of the process of falling of the in-object transportation packaging set (ITPS) in case of fracture of the fixing or slinging elements and estimation of the consequences of ITPS falling during transportation and processing (handling) operations. The ITPS is permitted to transfer to the limiting condition in the result of falling, when its further operation is not acceptable, and recovery of its functional condition is not expedient, excluding the possibility of falling out of the nuclear fuel (NF) or distortion of the relative position of the NF in the ITPS. To reduce the costs at the design stage the following representative calculation research of the ITPS was carried out for dynamic impacts to identify weak points of the design in case of an emergency situation. The computational analysis of falling was carried out using the module for dynamic analysis LS DYNA of ANSYS software, certified by the Rostekhnadzor authorities. LS-DYNA module is designed for computational analysis of highly nonlinear dynamic processes using an explicit integration scheme for dynamic equations.The completed full-scale mathematical 3D modeling permitted to carry out sufficiently deep and detailed analysis of dynamic processes, reducing the design duration, and it permitted to reduce the self-cost of the developed design. The results obtained for different variant of the ITPS falling permitted to analyze the collision process, to determine the values of the plastic deformation appearing in the ITPS elements and to provide recommendations for its modification.


The purpose of this study is to improve our former research, planning factors of the housing for the disabled and aged based on the inclusive housing, to respond by people with various severe disabilities. To carry out this purpose, we should process as follow: First, to setting up a framework for study through concept of daily activities and previous study's result. Second, to establishing the daily activities stream for the movable disabled, and investigate the various severe disabled's life scene in their housing for previous setting of daily activities. Third, to drawing the housing planning for the severe disabled form the survey's results. Finally, to suggest incursive housing planning factors for severe disabled though reinterpreting the formulated housing planning for them based on study framework. As an outcome, we could be improved and given the essential factors and flexible factors of inclusive housing planning according to as following contents; electric wheelchair's storage, unlocking the gate, ceiling-driving lift, shower assist activities space, switch and outlet's operating, and so on.


The synthesis problem of separation sequences that separate several multicomponent feed streams into several desired multicomponent product streams is addressed. A superstructure is proposed for this separation problem that has embedded all the alternative separation configurations of interest. This superstructure, which has as separator units the separation tasks that are defined for each separation breakpoint, involves options for series and/or parallel sequences, as well as stream splitting, mixing, and bypassing. Formulating and solving this superstructure as a nonlinear programming problem that has as unknowns the stream interconnections, results in an optimal separation sequence. This sequence, which may involve fewer separator units than those included in the superstructure, is shown to be a realistic and practical one. The synthesis approach is illustrated with four example problems.


In recent years, paratransit services have been a crucial development for serving people with disabilities. However, the operators face difficulties in efficiently monitoring a paratransit vehicle and passengers are difficult to know the arrival status of the vehicle. This study proposes a moving context-aware and location-based paratransit system. With the support of WAVE/DSRC vehicular communication systems and internet access, our system can integrate the paratransit operator centre, paratransit vehicle and passenger to provide real-time services. Moving context analysis is performed to evaluate the impact of gender, device size and the ways to hold the device and the results are integrated into the development of our prototype system. Visual and audio notification services can be provided adaptively to a passenger based on the behaviour state of the passenger and the location of the paratransit.


Membrane mirrors are advantageous in several applications due to their light weight and potential for deployability. Desired optical performance often requires dynamic actuation, however, and electrostatic actuators are frequently employed for this purpose. This paper investigates a variable area/constant voltage method for electrostatic actuation of small circular membrane mirrors designed to meet specified performance requirements for a beam steering and focus/defocus application. The proposed technique involves selective application of a constant voltage to area segments that together make up an electrode pad. The paper shows that a lumped parameter model for this system also has the property of differential flatness (similar to variable voltage/constant area systems), based on which the reference trajectory for membrane deflection can be specified in phase space. The phase space trajectory is derived from the required transient response characteristics (rise time, settling time, etc.). A closed loop system comprised of a controller and an observer is devised using a Lyapunov function-based approach. A `quad cell' beam position finder is used to detect the beam angular deflection and intensity. The overall system is simulated numerically in this paper. The control system is found to provide efficient trajectory tracking for both symmetric and antisymmetric mode excitation. Although the area changes for the proposed system are discrete, the present simulations only consider continuously-variable area actuation.


In a particular embodiment, a method includes a first pixel region in the mobile device to generate a first evaluation results. The method further comprises the result to produce a second evaluation device in the second pixel region at the mobile. Based on the difference between the threshold and the first result and the second comparison result, a determination is made the second pixel region corresponding to the background portion of the scene or the scene foreground portion.


This paper presents a neural network-based method for image super-resolution. In this technique, the super-resolution is considered as an ill-posed inverse problem which is solved by minimizing an evaluation function established based on an observation model that closely follows the physical image acquisition process. A Hopfield neural network is created to obtain an optimal solution to the problem. Not like some other single-frame super-resolution techniques, this technique takes into consideration PSF (point spread function) blurring as well as additive noise and generates high-resolution images with more preserved or restored image details. Experimental results demonstrate that the high-resolution images obtained by this technique have a very high quality in terms of PSNR (peak signal-to-noise ratio) and visually look more pleasant


In this study a novel adsorbent of discarded tires with activated carbon nanocomposite was prepared for the removal of toxic metals from industrial wastewater. Removal of pollutants such as lead, Arsenic etc from wastewater can be easily accomplished by focussing on efficient adsorbent, such adsorbents must be waste generated in abundance, economic and greener for simple removal of pollutants in water. This work has encouraged by the fact that tires that are thrown away and eventually becomes a health hazard to the environment. Researchers have found that tires are a low-cost adsorbent and convenient to use for the sorption of metals by batch adsorption technique. Therefore, the main objective of the present review is to research nanocomposites, adsorbent materials obtained from waste tires and further applied for the removal of persistent and residual toxic pollutants (heavy metals).


Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute, self-limited febrile disease that predominantly affects young children and is characterized by systemic smalland medium-vessel vasculitis. The etiology is unknown. A recent study showed that KD occurs in genetically predisposed patients mainly following exposure to airborne triggers. Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) plus aspirin is the global standard for the initial treatment of KD. However, it is not well understood why immunoglobulin is effective in KD. Several studies have shown multiple possible mechanisms, including Fc receptor-mediated mechanisms, neutralization of cytokines and chemokines, Fas-mediated effects, and regulatory T-cell regulation. The recent therapeutic trend has been to add anti-inflammatory therapies, such as infliximab, prednisolone, and ciclosporin, to conventional IVIG for high-risk patients or IVIG-refractory cases. This approach is supported by good clinical trial evidence. In this volume of the journal, He et al. report a randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing the effects of a 1 g/kg per day regimen with those of a 2 g/kg per day regimen. The IVIG 2 g/kg regimen is considered the current standard therapy based on the findings of a RCT evaluating varying IVIG doses (2 g/kg 9 1-day versus 0.4 g/kg 9 5 days) conducted by Newburger et al. and subsequent studies that support the results. I feel that the RCT conducted by He et al. was particularly challenging, as reducing the dose may lead to patients not achieving the efficacy they had previously enjoyed. Even in the current clinical setting, 5%–10% of patients receive initial treatment at doses lower than 2 g/kg, and by appropriately administering an additional 2 g/kg to refractory patients in the study, the authors may have been able to overcome the ethical issues. The results show no significant difference in the efficacy rate or the complication rate of coronary artery lesions (CAL) between the 1 and 2 g/kg groups in the initial treatment. This is an interesting result, although I have concerns about the high percentage of cases with CAL at Week 2 compared to other reports. In particular, it should be noted that there were no significant differences in the efficacy rate of the first IVIG treatment but the number of cases refractory to the second IVIG treatment was significantly higher in the 1 g/kg group than in the 2 g/kg group, suggesting that the effect of immunoglobulin may be dose dependent; in many cases, however, the level obtained with a single 1 g/kg dose may be sufficient. I would like to know whether there were any marked differences in the clinical symptoms or laboratory data of the refractory patients between the groups, although I recognize that it would be difficult to obtain adequate information from this study because of the small number of refractory cases in the first IVIG treatment. If there is a difference in the inflammation intensity parameters, then this proves that the effect of immunoglobulin in KD is dose-dependent. If there is no such difference, then this might lead us to select a different medication for the following steps in IVIG-refractory patients. Acute treatment of KD has been controversial, especially concerning additional strategies to prevent CAL. The study conducted by He et al. raises questions about the current development of treatment strategies, which tend to be biased toward "addition" and may also serve as a method of screening highrisk patients with CAL. Kawasaki disease researchers and clinicians around the world should collaborate to develop a treatment method that maximizes cost-effectiveness while ensuring patient safety (i.e. no complications of CAL).


The stability and dynamics of a free magnetic polaron are studied by Monte Carlo simulation of a classical two-dimensional Heisenberg model coupled to a single electron. We compare our results to the earlier mean-field analysis of the stability of the polaron, finding qualitative similarity but quantitative differences. The dynamical simulations give estimates of the temperature dependence of the polaron diffusion, as well as a crossover to a tunnelling regime.


This paper presents a taxonomic study of the genus Manettia Mutis ex L. in Parana state (southern Brazil). Identification keys, geographic distribution maps, conservation status according to IUCN criteria, illustrations and photographs are presented. Ten species were reported for the state: M. chrysoderma Sprague, M. congestoides Wernham, M. cordifolia Mart., M. glaziovii Wernham, M. gracilis Cham. & Schltdl., M. paraguariensis Chodat., M. paranensis Standl., M. pubescens Cham. & Schltdl., M. tweedieana K. Schum., M. verticillata Wernham. Of these, M. congestoides is recorded for the first time for the southern region of Brazil.


College and university police chiefs and directors share many common daily objectives. They include pursuing financial resources, seeking technologies that best suit and support their organizations, or facilitating the application of what seems like a never-ending array of new and more complex legislation on behalf of the institutions they serve and protect.


Cholinesterase activities (ChEs) were investigated in tissues of Pecten jacobaeus (Linnaeus, 1758) Class: Bivalvia, to gain preliminary knowledge of their suitability for monitoring marine pollution. The high sensitivity observed in vitro to organophosphorous pesticides and heavy metals suggest that ChE activities may be sensitive biomarker in marine pollution monitoring.


Objective To explore the effects of epigallocatechingallate(EGCG) on vascular calcification.Methods Calcific vascular smooth muscular cells(VSMCs) were induced by β-glycerophosphate in rats.Rats were invided into four groups:the control,the calcification,EGCG and EGCG intervention groups(10-7,10-6,10-5 and 10-4 mol·L-1 subgroups).Von Kossa staining,the Ca2+ content and the alkaline phosphatase(ALP) activity in VSMCs were measured.Results Lots of gathered black granules were found among the smooth muscle cells and its matrix by Von Kossa staining in VSMCs calcifacation group;more Calcium contents and ALP activities were observed in calcification group than those in control group;after treated with EGCG 10-7~10-4mol·L-1,the calcification in VSMCs was also attenuated and the total Ca2+ content and ALP activity in VSMCs showed decrease and a concentration-dependent manner.Conclusion The results indicated that EGCG can significantly attenuate the VSMCs calcification.


EXPECTATIONS of discoveries, relating chromosome aberrations in tumour cells to the type of growth, benign or malignant, have not often been justified. Cultures from most tumours have normal karyotypes and in leukemias, for example, the abnor- malities found, except for the famous Philadelphia deletion in the chronic myeloid type, are not consistent or characteristic. Moreover, a mongol with leukaemia remains an ordinary trisomic mongol. However, a direct relationship between somatic disease and chromosomal aberration is sometimes demonstrable by investigating other types of problems which arise in clinical medicine. Four examples have been chosen.


Vadim Z. Rogovin. 1937: Stalin's Year of Terror. Translated by Frederick S. Choate. Oak Park, MI: Mehring Books, Inc., 1998. xxx, 550 pp. Illustrations. Notes. Name index. Subject index. $29.95, cloth. This book, the fourth of a six-volume series, published in Russian, is the first one to have been translated into English. It covers the nightmarish events of 1937 that marked the height of Stalin's campaign to liquidate the leading lights of the Soviet intelligentsia and working class. As Rogovin explains in his introduction, "1937 became crucial in a profoundly tragic sense. It caused losses to the communist movement both in the USSR and throughout the world from which the movement has not recovered to this very day." Rogovin's study begins with a consideration of the secret preparations undertaken by Stalin and Yezhov in early 1935 to "prove" the existence of a Trotskyist conspiracy in the Soviet Union from the beginning of the 1930s and to organize a trial of the "Trotsky-Zinoviev Center." The convenient backdrop to these preparations was the trial and execution of the organizers of Kirov's murder during the so-called "Leningrad Center" case, and the conviction of Zinoviev, Kamenev and other leaders of the "Moscow Center" case. The trial of the "Trotsky-Zinoviev Center" which began with the Trial of the Sixteen in August 1936 was but the first in a series of efforts to perfect the quintessential Stalinist political show trial, In the Trial of the Sixteen, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Smirnov, and others were charged with sabotage, espionage, treason, and a host of other stupendous crimes against the Soviet Union and the world communist movement. The experience gained during this process was applied in the September 1936 Kemerovo Trial of Kuzbas wreckers, the January 1937 Trial of the "Anti-Soviet Trotskyist Center," and the July 1937 Tukhachevsky Trial. The overall objective of these trials was to denigrate the reputation of Trotsky and any communist who dared to disagree with Stalin's ideological interpretations of Leninist thought. Citing Trotsky, Rogovin argues that the principal function and aim of terror was to physically annihilate within and without the Soviet Union all opposition to Stalin's bureaucratic regime. He further notes that the basic difference between Bolshevism and Stalinism lay in the degree to which Stalinism did not satisfy the material and moral needs and interests of the popular masses. Citing Trotsky, Rogovin states that the perversion of Bolshevism into Stalinism (read rule by a bureaucratic elite) stemmed in the main from the backwardness and poverty of the country which permitted a bureaucratic minority to emerge and pursue its own sectarian interests at the expense of the masses. During the Coyoacan hearings of early 1937, Trotsky noted that the merging of the bureaucracy's social interests with Stalin's personal motives guaranteed both the possibility and the success of political repression in the Soviet Union: "The revolutionary struggle for social equality against the old [Tsarist] privileged classes was replaced by the establishment of a new system of social inequality and reactionary terror needed for the defense of this system. It was, in essence, a counterrevolutionary revolt, the success of which in no small measure was due to the fact that it was camouflaged with the defensive flag of Bolshevism, of defending the gains of the October Revolution" (pp. 321-322). The measures that the Soviet government undertook to control Spain's Republican government in 1936-1937 amply demonstrate Stalin's cynicism and manipulation of Bolshevik thought and the world communist movement. Soviet interference in the internal affairs of the Republican government did not further the Spanish revolutionary cause. Rather, it exacerbated political factionalism and paralyzed the Republican government. …


The purpose of this article is to provide a mathematical model of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) non-isothermal flow of an incompressible Jeffrey fluid as it goes through a minimal gap between the two counter rotating rolls. The dimensionless forms of governing equations are obtained by using appropriate dimensionless parameters. The LAT (lubrication approximation theory) is utilized to simplify the dimensionless form of governing equations. Analytical solutions for the velocity, pressure gradient, flow rate, Nusselt number and temperature distribution are presented. How the Jeffrey parameters, MHD and velocities ratio influence on the flow patterns and heat transfer rate are explored. Outcomes of some significant engineering quantities such as flow rate, power input, pressure distribution and roll separation force are obtained numerically in tabular form and some are displayed graphically. We found that the MHD parameter served as a controlling parameter for different engineering quantities like velocity, temperature, flow rate, and coating thickness. Moreover, the coating thickness on the web decreases by increasing the values of velocities ratio.


This study attempted to investigate the influence of psychological healing experiences through travel on individuals' subjective well-being and quality of life. To achieve the purpose of this study, a field survey was conducted on Koreans with travel experiences within the past year, and a structural equation modeling analysis was conducted. As a result, hypothesis 1(emotional healing experience→subjective well-being) and hypothesis 4(cognitive healing experience→quality of life) were statistically significant. Specifically, the emotional healing experience through travel has a positive effect on subjective well-being, and the cognitive healing experience has a positive effect on quality of life. It was found that the two psychological healing experiences have a positive effect on those two variables, subjective well-being and quality of life respectively. As a result, it was confirmed that both emotional and cognitive healing experiences are important in improving an individual's well-being through healing-related travel experiences. In addition, since the influence relationship between subjective well-being and quality of life is not significant, it can be seen that it is necessary to discover evaluation factors that can contribute to improving an individual's quality of life through travel healing experiences. Academic and practical implications for this were discussed in more detail in the conclusion.


The purpose of this article is to review the common MRI signs of musculoskeletal pathology. In this article, 15 classic MRI signs used in musculoskeletal radiology are presented and described. These signs incl ude the anterior drawer sign, bone bruise sign, bow tie sign, celery stalk anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), cyclops lesion, deep lateral femoral notch sign, double line sign, double Oreo cookie sign, double posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) sign, fat - bloo d interface (FBI) sign, fragment in notch sign, split fat sign, T - sign, target sign, and yo - yo on a string sign. It is important to recognize common signs in musculoskeletal MRI and understand the underlying pathologies for accurate image interpretation.


In this paper, a resilient control problem is investigated for a class of stochastic nonlinear systems under denial-of-service attacks. First, the unknown nonlinear noise strength is approximated by a neural network. Then, an event-triggering mechanism is designed to save resources and a sufficient condition is given to guarantee the system state semi-global mean-square uniformly ultimately bounded. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy is demonstrated by a numerical example.


This paper proposes an end-to-end delay optimization algorithm for distributed networks based on BEB algorithm. Aiming at the requirements of distributed two-level cooperative control on the communication quality and sampling period of wireless sensor networks, the end-to-end delay optimization method to maximize the packet arrival rate is adopted to obtain the minimum sampling period of the control system under the premise of ideal wireless communication soft QoS guarantee. The simulation results show the influence of network parameters such as packet arrival rate, maximum backoff window size, multi-hop number and packet size on the end-to-end delay performance of the network, and obtain the optimal packet arrival rate under the premise of satisfying the ideal wireless communication soft QoS guarantee.


Since its first description in 1995, bilateral uterine artery embolization has become an increasingly popular alternative to surgery for treatment of


8 n invitation to deliver the Prof. Venkataswamy Oration is a great honour and the list of speakers of previous years starting with such "greats" as Dr. Kleinert attests to that. I am thankful to those responsible for bestowing this honour on me. However, it also implies relentless passage of time and a subtle change in one's status to that of "an elder" who should be having profound and precious things to say about the past and future. To quote an eminent physiologist, 'I must confess at the outset that the pearls of wisdom within my shell have been slow to mature, and they are still too small to spread' before this young, eager and learned audience and 'I can only use them as decorations for a personal narrative.


Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is an appealing topic for aeronautical researchers due to its tremendous application in the world. To make controller design possible for a novel UAV design, dynamics modeling-a process of deriving a set of differential equations governing the motion of the aircraft-is essential. In this paper, we present a conceptual approach to obtain the parameterized dynamics equation based on application of Newton's second law and approximations of aerodynamics effects on the UAV. From there, two identification methods are introduced, one bases on maximum likelihood while the other employs linear regression to estimate the aircraft's dynamic parameters such as aerodynamic and control and stability derivatives through an example involving our new hybrid UAV developed from fixed wing aircraft and a tricopter. Wind tunnel tests for a one-third scaled model are carried out to receive outputs of the model, such as Euler angles and rotation rates, from prescribed input signals, which are rotors' speeds, then pitching parameters are identified. Estimated model would then be validated to another set of experiment to show the fitness, hence remarks regarding the accuracy of the dynamics model and the parameters themselves can be made. The articles show that for the derived mathematical model, the estimation results were well fitted, and cross-validation also indicates that the model was fine enough. The methods have strong implications about its generality that is applicable to other novel vehicle designs.


This report will cover a 20kHz bandwidth oversampled analog - to - digital converter with a digital filter. Triple integration noise shaping based on multistage delta sigma quantizers sampled at 2.5MHz has been achieved. The device has been implemented in 2μ CMOS with a 5.4×9.0mm die.


A sender with private information often tries to influence the decisionmaker through well-informed intermediaries such as experts or critics. Both the sender and the intermediary may be independently objective or biased: the objective type passes on the most accurate information, while the biased type wants to push a particular agenda but also to appear objective. Although using one's own information is a sign of objectivity, the biased intermediary selectively incorporates the sender's information to push his agenda. The intermediary's truth-telling incentives always decrease in those of the senders. Thus regulations and laws aimed at improving truth telling of the sender lead the intermediary to distort more, which may strictly lower the decisionmaker's payoff. In contrast, the sender and the intermediary's truth-telling incentives are strategic complements if they report simultaneously and independently. JEL classification: C70, D82, M31, M38


We investigated the relationship between regional myocardial blood flow (MBF) and segmental shortening in 17 open-chest dogs. The left anterior descending coronary artery was cannulated and perfused from the left carotid while measuring perfusion pressure. Graded occlusion was produced by a screw clamp. Extent of occlusion was monitored by perfusion pressure. Percent systolic shortening (%ΔL) was measured using ultrasonic crystals implanted in normal and ischemic endocardium and ischemic epicardium. MBF was measured in ischemic and normal endocardium and epicardium with tracer microspheres. Dogs underwent 1 to 4 grades of coronary stenosis. Myocardial blood flow both to endocardium and epicardium was found to be linearly related to diastolic perfusion pressure below 50 mmHg (r = 0.803 and 0.748, respectively). Normalized %ΔL (N%ΔL) was best related to fraction normal zone MBF in the endocardium by the sigmoidal equation, N%ΔL = e9.01 MBF - 4.03/l + e9.01 MBF - 4.03. %ΔL was only weekly related to myocardial blood flow in the epicardium (r = 0.584), and, in four dogs, %δL was zero in the epicardium despite normal regional blood flow. However, %ΔL in the epicardium was linearly related to %ΔL in the endocardium (r = 0.78). Thus, endocardial wall motion is related to MBF by a sigmoidal relationship while epicardial wall motion is tethered to endocardial wall motion. Circ Res 48: 430-438, 1981


In industrial applications, such as pump and compressor systems, pipe vibrations can exceed an acceptable level. Periodically spaced masses added to the piping are an appropriate method of attenuation, and investigations to develop valid prediction models and measurement techniques has been initiated in the Danish Makunet network. The present investigation concern the effect of three masses attached periodically to a pipe of small diameter. The pipe is small enough that it can be treated as a beam. The masses are eccentric to the center of the beam, to achieve a large change in the moment of inertia by the added elements. The theoretical model is formulated as a system of boundary equations, which describe propagation of flexural, axial and torsion waves within each segment of a tube between periodic elements. An exact solution of this system is obtained and the power transfer is dramatically reduced in some frequency 'stop bands' regardless the excitation conditions. Transfer impedance measurements betwe...


The causes for the deactivation of Pd/C during the course of synthesizing 4,6-diamino-resorcinol were investigated.The active component content,BET surface area,pore volume,pore average diameter,thermogravimetry and crystal structure of the deactivated catalysts were analyzed by the methods of atomic absorption,physisorption,DSC-TGA and X-ray diffraction.The results showed that carbonaceous deposits happened during the course of hydrogenation and which could be partly cleaned up by washing the catalysts with basic solution or organic solvent;in the post-treatment,nearly half of the metal Pd dissolved in the solution by reacting with HCl and the leaching of Pd was the main cause for the deactivation of Pd/C catalysts.


A filter cartridge comprising: a filter medium; and a a valve actuating projection which is positioned so as to actuate a valve of a filter housing with which the insert is to be used, wherein the valve actuating projection has a sliding surface that is configured such that it engages in the valve, wherein the sliding surface is conical, so that a first part of the sliding surface which engages the valve, is wider than a second portion of the sliding surface which engages the valve, and the sliding surface is configured such that the first part against the second part in engages the valve.


Shared decision‐making (SDM) as a multicollaborative approach is vital for facilitating patient‐centred care. Considering the limited clinical practice, we attempted to synthesize the motivations and resistances, and investigate their mutual relationships for advancing the implementation of SDM.


The rheology of solutions of a series of styrene–butadiene diblock copolymers dissolved in a highly selective solvent, n-tetradecane, was examined in relation to the molecular dimension of the block copolymers. Micelles with precipitated S cores and dissolved B cilia are formed in the solution. Above a certain concentration and below a certain temperature, micelles in the solution are spontaneously arranged to form a regular three-dimensional array referred to as a macrolattice. Solutions having macrolattice structures exhibit nonlinear viscoelastoplastic flow, and those having no macrolattices exhibit linear viscoelastic flow. The critical concentration, at which transitions in rheology and morphology occur, may be predicted from the structural characteristics of the micelles, i.e., their size and number of molecules making up a micelle. The relationship of dynamic moduli and the molecular dimensions was examined in detail. The shorter the length of dissolved B blocks, the larger the storage modulus and the smaller the loss modulus. Two mechanisms, being the delayed relaxational motions of the dissolved B blocks and deformation of the macrolattice itself, seem responsible for the stress in the solution. The mechanism of the lattice disordering caused by heat is also discussed. A diffuse interphase between the S core and B cilia seems to play a key role in the lattice disordering.


Video moving object segmentation is a basic problem of computer vision and video processing.In the video sequences of a dynamic scene which has global(camera) motion,accurate moving object segmentation is still a key and hot research topic.A novel video moving object segmentation algorithm based on global motion compensation and non-parametric kernel density estimation is proposed in this paper.Firstly,an efficient and accurate global motion compensation method is used to remove the motion of the background.Then the non-parametric kernel density estimation is applied to establish foreground/background probability models.Finally,the moving object can be obtained by comparing the foreground/background probability and morphological post-processing.The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm has good results and reduces the complexity of moving object segmentation in dynamic scenes.


A theoretical model for the statistical distribution of surface‐generated noise in a stratified, laws medium has been developed. The model is strictly wave theoretic, with the source of the surface noise taken to be a plane of statistically distributed monopoles. Expressions for the intensity depth profile and spatial correlation function of the noise in the water column are derived. An important result is that the correlation function is spatially nonstationary in the vertical, due to the inhomogeneity in the vertical structure. Sample calculations in shallow water environments indicate that the velocity profile and bottom properties are important in determining the structure of the correlation function. In the companion paper these correlation functions are used to predict conventional and optimum array gains in detecting shallow water sources. For this application the wave theoretic model is necessary to accurately represent both the noise field structure and the propagation of the noise signals.


It was shown in experiments with mice and dogs that bacterial preparations (vaccinum proteus, prodigiosanum, bificolum and bificolum-f) administered before or after gamma-irradiation have a stimulating effect on hemopoiesis. It is supposed that bacterial polysaccharides play an important role in this action.


A multi-period spatial residual Cokriging model combining Stochastic Hydrology with Geomathematics,was used to analysis hydrology data with spatial and temporal random function. The model can take optimal estimation and extrapolating forecast to more hydrology variables located at local area in terms of variogram model which has been obtained from multivariate hydrology time series at limited station describing multivariate time-space correlative properties at one time period.


Declining oyster (Crassostrea virginica) production in the Chesapeake Bay has stimulated aquaculture based on floats for off-bottom culture. While advantages of off-bottom culture are significant, the increased use of floating containers raises public health and microbiological concerns, because oysters in floats may be more susceptible to fecal contamination from storm runoff compared to those cultured on-bottom. We conducted four commercial-scale studies with market-size oysters naturally contaminated with fecal coliforms (FC) and a candidate viral indicator, F-specific RNA (FRNA) coliphage. To facilitate sampling and to test for location effects, 12 replicate subsamples, each consisting of 15 to 20 randomly selected oysters in plastic mesh bags, were placed at four characteristic locations within a 0.6- by 3.0-m "Taylor" float, and the remaining oysters were added to a depth not exceeding 15.2 cm. The float containing approximately 3,000 oysters was relaid in the York River, Virginia, for 14 days. During relay, increases in shellfish FC densities followed rain events such that final mean levels exceeded initial levels or did not meet an arbitrary product end point of 50 FC/100 ml. FRNA coliphage densities decreased to undetectable levels within 14 days (16 to 28 degrees C) in all but the last experiment, when temperatures fell between 12 and 16 degrees C. Friedman (nonparametric analysis of variance) tests performed on FC/Escherichia coli and FRNA densities indicated no differences in counts as a function of location within the float. The public health consequences of these observations are discussed, and future research and educational needs are identified.


The creation of parameter study suites has recently become a more challenging problem as the parameter studies have now become multi-tiered and the computational environment has become a supercomputer grid. The parameter spaces are vast, the individual problem sizes are getting larger, and researchers are now seeking to combine several successive stages of parameterization and computation. Simultaneously, grid-based computing offers great resource opportunity but at the expense of great difficulty of use. We present an approach to this problem which stresses intuitive visual design tools for parameter study creation and complex process specification, and also offers programming-free access to grid-based supercomputer resources and process automation. 1 Motivation and Background Only a decade ago, the solution of the partial differential equations required for the evaluation of aerospace vehicle flow-fields typically involved a single discretization zone and was performed on a single processor of a high-speed compute engine that was usually situated locally. These compute tasks were so costly in CPU cycles that the notion of performing parameter studies was usually ignored. Now, however, the flow-solvers are typically parallel codes, and the problems to be solved involve large numbers of interrelated discretization grids. The compute engines are frequently large parallel machines with multi-gigabyte memories and terrabyte disk farms. Researchers have available the resources not only of their own laboratories but also those of other laboratories and the shared resources at large computer centers which are accessible via fast networks. Parameter studies are now quite feasible and are being performed on a regular basis by many researchers who require solution information throughout a given aerospace vehicle flight regime. The difficulties now have shifted to the manual creation of these parameter studies and to the difficulties associated with launching and managing the large number of jobs required by these studies. Modern aerospace flow-solvers frequently require large sets of discretization grids which describe the geometry of the aerospace vehicle. Subsequently, these solvers produce as output large collections of date files. Up to now, most parameter studies were performed with 2-dimensional flow solvers, but researchers are now starting to use 3-dimensional solvers for their parameter studies. Recent developments in grid-based "metacomputing" such as Globus [ret] and Legion [ref] have created opportunities for running parameter studies on remote networked high-performance compute servers which constitute a shared resource for participants. But these opportunities come at a price, and that price is the proliferation of job control language to support these capabilities. This has placed an onus on users of these "Information Power Grids" who are typically engineering and research code users but who are not generally well prepared or enthusiastic about learning or creating the requisite control language scripts for managing parameter studies on a metacomputing grid. We briefly describe the notion of a "'parameter study" by giving two general examples. Simulation codes produce results which are the solution to a scientific or engineering problem defined for some set of values ("parameters") which are the input to the code and which define the original problem. Varying these parameters typically produces https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20010083465 2020-01-08T04:53:41+00:00Z


15 varieties or pure lines were used to investigate the chlorophyll content, photosynthetic rate, intercellular CO2 concentration, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate during filling stage, and ear weight, harvest index, biomass when harvested. Statistic analyse showed that photosynthetic rate, intercellular CO2 concentration, stomatal conductance and transpiration rate were higher to the varieties with ear weight less than 1.6g and harvest index less than 46% at early filling stage, but lower to the same varieties at later filling stage. These photosynthetic characteristics were lower to the varieties with ear weight more than 1.6g and harvest index more than 48% at early filling stage, and higher to the same varieties at later filling stage. The results indicated that higher photosynthetic rate at later filling stage and longer time of photosynthetic rate played more important role in increasing ear weight and improving the transpotation of photosynthetic to ear. Photosynthetic rate had relationship or no relationship with ear weight and harvest index at early filling stage. But it had significant relationship with the two treats at later filling stage. The authors also found that photosynthetic rate was correlated with intercellular CO2 concentration at later filling stage, and with stomatal conductance both at early and later filling stages significantly, but it was not correlated with transpiration rate. The results above meant that the changes of photosynthetic rate were affected by stomatal factors but not affected by nonstomatal factors. Key works: wheat varieties;photosynthetic rate;spike weight;harvest index


We present asymptotically faster approximation algorithms for the generalized flow problems in which multipliers on edges are at most 1. For this lossy version of the maximum generalized flow problem, we obtain an additive ǫ approximation of the maximum flow in time Õ ( m log(U/ǫ) ) , where m is the number of edges in the graph, all capacities are integers in the range {1, . . . , U}, and all loss multipliers are ratios of integers in this range. For minimum cost lossy generalized flow with costs in the range {1, . . . , U}, we obtain a flow that has value within an additive ǫ of the maximum value and cost at most the optimal cost. In many parameter ranges, these algorithms improve over the previously fastest algorithms for the generalized maximum flow problem by a factor of m and for the minimum cost generalized flow problem by a factor of approximately m/ǫ. The algorithms work by accelerating traditional interior point algorithms by quickly solving the linear equations that arise in each step. The contributions of this paper are twofold. First, we analyze the performance of interior point algorithms with approximate linear system solvers. This analysis alone provides an algorithm for the standard minimum cost flow problem that runs in time Õ ( m log U ) —an improvement of approximately Õ ( n/m ) over previous algorithms. Second, we examine the linear equations that arise when using an interior point algorithm to solve generalized flow problems. We observe that these belong to the family of symmetric M-matrices, and we then develop Õ (m)-time algorithms for solving linear systems in these matrices. These algorithms reduce the problem of solving a linear system in a symmetric Mmatrix to that of solving O(log n) linear systems in symmetric diagonally-dominant matrices, which we can do in time Õ (m) using the algorithm of Spielman and Teng. All of our algorithms operate on numbers of bit length at most O(log nU/ǫ). This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. CCF-0707522 and CCF-0634957. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.


Let $x=(x_1,x_2,\cdots,x_n)^T$ be a vector of non-zero algebraic numbers, the set $\mathcal{R}_x:=\{(k_1,k_2,\cdots,k_n)^T\in\mathbb{Z}^n\;|\;x_1^{k_1}x_2^{k_2}\cdots x_n^{k_n}=1\}$ is called \emph{the multiplicative dependence lattice} of $x$. This paper develops an efficient incremental algorithm to compute a basis of $\mathcal{R}_x$. This algorithm constructs inductively a basis of the lattice as the dimension increases. This is the very first algorithm for computing the basis of the lattice, although a lot of efforts have been made to understand this lattice. In this paper we propose the conception of the \emph{rank} of a finite sequence of non-zero algebraic numbers, which turns out to be closely related to the rank of the lattice, and as well as to the complexity. The complexity of the algorithm depends not mainly on the dimension $n$ but on the rank of the sequence $x_1,x_2,\cdots,x_n$, which can be much smaller than $n$.


Particle energization due to magnetic reconnection is an important unsolved problem for myriad space and astrophysical plasmas. Electron energization in magnetic reconnection has traditionally been examined from a particle, or Lagrangian, perspective using particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. Guiding-center analyses of ensembles of PIC particles have suggested that Fermi (curvature drift) acceleration and direct acceleration via the reconnection electric field are the primary electron energization mechanisms. However, both PIC guiding-center ensemble analyses and spacecraft observations are performed in an Eulerian frame. For this work, we employ the continuum Vlasov-Maxwell solver within the Gkeyll simulation framework to re-examine electron energization from a kinetic continuum, Eulerian, perspective. We separately examine the contribution of each drift energization component to determine the dominant electron energization mechanisms in a moderate guide-field Gkeyll reconnection simulation. In the Eulerian perspective, we find that the diamagnetic and agyrotropic drifts are the primary electron energization mechanisms away from the reconnection x-point, where direct acceleration dominates. We compare the Eulerian (Vlasov Gkeyll) results with the wisdom gained from Lagrangian (PIC) analyses.


Automated adversary emulation is becoming an indispensable tool of network security operators in testing and evaluating their cyber defenses. At the same time, it has exposed how quickly adversaries can propagate through the network. While research has greatly progressed on quality decoy generation to fool human adversaries, we may need different strategies to slow computer agents. In this paper, we show that decoy generation can slow an automated agent's decision process, but that the degree to which it is inhibited is greatly dependent on the types of objects used. This points to the need to explicitly evaluate decoy generation and placement strategies against fast moving, automated adversaries.


Children play a part in family food shopping, but their roles are often underestimated. In contrast to earlier studies focusing on "who wins" in parent/child negotiations, in this study I focus on emotional and cooperative ways of negotiating food in the supermarket. Through unobtrusive observation of Danish and American parent/child groups, I found that children—even from a very young age—also appear interested in and knowledgeable about healthy eating. Just as importantly, I observed parents not only being sensible and focused on healthy eating but also immersed in habits and desire, at times bending their own rules and using their notion of health arbitrarily. The concepts of "healthy" and "unhealthy" were used to decipher food in collaborative ways, and health was a core concept that parents tended to use negatively and children positively. Both children and parents must be considered as competent and incompetent consumers to understand family food negotiations.


Tyler, James C , and Lorenzo Sorbini. New Superfamily and Three New Families of Tetraodontiform Fishes from the Upper Cretaceous: The Earliest and Most Morphologically Primitive Plectognaths. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology, number 82, 59 pages, 25 figures, 2 tables, 1996.—Fishes of the order Tetraodontiformes previously have been known with assurance from as early as the Lower Eocene, about 55 MYA. Two Upper Cretaceous taxa, Protriacanthus d'Erasmo (1946) from Comen, Slovenia, about 90 MYA, and Plectocretacicus Sorbini (1979) from Hakel, Lebanon, about 95 MYA, were referred by their authors to the tetraodontiforms, respectively in the vicinity of triacanthoids and ostracioids. Both of these taxa were originally based on single specimens in which insufficient details of critical osteological features were exposed, and their familial and ordinal placement were open to question. Based on additional specimens now available, including acid preparations of several specimens of both species, we believe that they represent two new families (Protriacanthidae and Plectocretacicidae) of tetraodontiforms with numerous features that are more primitive than previously reported for the order. We describe a third taxon, the new genus Cretatriacanthus (and new family Cretatriacanthidae), based on a single specimen from the Upper Cretaceous of Nardd, Italy, about 70 MYA. It shares most of the numerous primitive features of Protriacanthus and Plectocretacicus. Although many of their features are primitive, all three of these Upper Cretaceous taxa possess the most salient derived features of tetraodontiforms (e.g., reduced number of vertebrae, no anal-fin spines, reduced number of pelvic-fin rays, absence of certain skull bones, and, when present, long posterior process of pelvis with its halves in close contact or fused). The three Upper Cretaceous taxa share four derived features (absence of teeth, modified scales around base of pelvic spine, presence of subocular shelf, and diminutive size) that unite them in a clade herein recognized as the superfamily Plectocretacicoidea, whereas all other tetraodontiforms (those from the Lower Eocene to present) are united by seven derived features. Within the Plectocretacicoidea, five derived features support the sister-group relationship of Protriacanthus and Plectocretacicus. Each of the three Upper Cretaceous taxa has a mosaic of primitive and specialized features, with some of the latter being independently derived relative to similar features of triacanthoids, balistoids, and ostracioids. The evidence indicates that the Plectocretacicoidea (presently known from 70 to 95 MYA) are the morphologically primitive sister group of all other tetraodontiforms (presently known from 55 MYA to Recent). OFFICIAL PUBLICATION DATE is handstamped in a limited number of initial copies and is recorded in the Institution's annual report, Smithsonian Year. SERIES COVER DESIGN: The trilobite Phaecops rana Green. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Tyler, James C , 1935New superfamily and three new families of tetraodontiform fishes from the Upper Cretaceous . the earliest and most morphologically primitive plectognaths / James C. Tyler and Lorenzo Sorbini. p. cm. — (Smithsonian contributions to paleobiology ; no. 82) Includes bibliographical references. 1. Cretatriacanthus guidotti. 2. Plectocretacicus clarae. 3. Protriacanthus gortanii. 4. Paleontology— Cretaceous. 5. Fishes, Fossil. I. Sorbini, Lorenzo. II. Title. III. Series. QE701.S56 no. 82 [QE852.T48] 560 s—dc20 [567\5] 95-46251 © The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.48—1984.


Couples travelers grow exponentially and tend to visit more exotic destinations. Yet, the existing literature has largely concentrated its investigation on the context of Western destinations. A better understanding of couples travelers' hotel satisfaction in the Southeast Asia context would help scholars to understand a holistic picture of couples travelers' hotel satisfaction and assist hoteliers to prepare their hotels to welcome and serve such guests. This study extends the existing hospitality literature by investigating and identifying the attributes of couples travelers' hotel satisfaction in Thailand. A total of 695 couples-travelers feedback on the TripAdvisor website were reviewed and content analyzed. Our study indicates that couples travelers' hotel satisfaction is determined by 10 common themes and two new emerging themes. Among these themes, staff attitude was found as the most important attribute while privacy was noted as the least important attribute to generating couples-travelers' hotel satisfaction.


A field experiment to clarify the characteristics of temperature distribution near an asphalt road was carried out at the Meteorological Instruments Center in Tsukuba, Japan. Fifteen thermometers equipped with artificially ventilated radiation shields were installed within a distance of 10 m from the road, and the results showed that the road's presence caused a significant positive bias at a height of 0.5 m on its leeward side. Thermometers nearer the road showed larger positive biases. The biases tended to be larger in summer than in winter, with greater temporal variations in cases of lower wind speed. At a height of 1.5 m above the ground, small positive biases were seen near the road. At a height of 2.5 m, smaller negative biases were seen with distance from the road. Biases showed diurnal variations with slightly negative values at around daybreak and positive values from late morning to midnight as well as an evening peak in summer. In winter, positive biases were observed throughout the night, while negative biases were seen during the day.


The Indian stock market is considered to be one of the earliest in Asia, which is in operation since 1875. However, it remained largely outside the global integration process until 1991. A number of developing countries in association with the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank took steps to establish and revitalize their stock markets as an effective way of mobilizing and allocation of funds. In line with the global trend, reform of the Indian stock market also started with the establishment of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), although it became more effective after the stock market scam in 1991. With the establishment of SEBI and technological advancement Indian stock market has now reached the global standard. The major indicators of stock market development show that significant development has taken in the Indian stock market during the post-reform period. This paper seeks to examine in this context whether reform in the Indian stock market has led to integration with the developed stock markets in the world. The study finds that contrary to general belief, Indian stock market is not co-integrated with the developed market as yet. Of course, some short-term impact does exist, although it is found to be unidirectional for obvious reasons. That is to say, the developed stock markets, viz., USA, UK and Hong Kong stock markets Granger cause the India stock market but not vice versa. However, the study does not find any causality between the Japanese stock market and Indian stock market. It is derived from the study that although some positive steps have been taken up, which are responsible for the substantial improvement of the Indian stock market, these are perhaps not sufficient enough to become a matured one and hence not integrated with the developed stock markets so far.


So far, we've learned a bit about ruled surfaces, and seen the part of the classification theorem that deals with them. We've also learned about their closest relatives, the elliptic and (in characteristic 2 and 3) quasi-elliptic surfaces. Today, we'll look at the rest of the classification. I want to start by writing down the invariant that's been pulling some of the strings from behind the curtain.


This paper provides an overview of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) applications in managing water-related disasters (WRD). Although MCDA has been widely used in managing natural disasters, it appears that no literature review has been conducted on the applications of MCDA in the disaster management phases of mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Therefore, this paper fills this gap by providing a bibliometric analysis of MCDA applications in managing flood and drought events. Out of 818 articles retrieved from scientific databases, 149 articles were shortlisted and analyzed using a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) approach. The results show a significant growth in MCDA applications in the last five years, especially in managing flood events. Most articles focused on the mitigation phase of DMP, while other phases of preparedness, response, and recovery remained understudied. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) was the most common MCDA technique used, followed by mixed-method techniques and TOPSIS. The article concludes the discussion by identifying a number of opportunities for future research in the use of MCDA for managing water-related disasters.


The paper aims at contributing to a better understanding of the linkage between supply chain performance and possible performance improvement with respect to food quality and safety. Therefore, the paper addresses the question whether the level of collaborative planning and close supply chain relationships could help improve quality and safety of organic supply chains. The three main weaknesses in the performance of European organic supply chains identified are high logistic and transport costs, the level of input costs and low expenditure on research and product development. While we found a high level of collaboration for information sharing, there is almost no collaboration with respect to joint decisions on optimal order quantity and inventory requirements as well as for all cost relevant issues of the supply chain. As the potential to benefit from economics of scale on a company level is often limited in organic supply chains, we suggest to make use of the cost reducing potential of collaboration.


Unlike so many co-edited volumes, this one is brilliantly organized, tightly edited, and carefully presented in the English language. The co-editors reach an intriguing conclusion for their team, noting that, "One thing is certain: any attempt to discontinue the authoritarian muddling through in all important fields, even for a while, carries the risk of discrediting the revolution, ridiculing the 'supreme revolutionary,' and may result in the exor implosion of his regime" (418).


The actuating cylinders of an aero engine are often broken down.The fractography of a representative actuating cylinders is observed and analyzed.Results show that the failure is due to stress corrosion.Then the microstructures and energy spectrometer are investigated,which demonstrates the material of actuating cylinder is up to the relevant parameters and the corrosion is mainly caused by the medium in working environment.These results are very significant for failure analysis and prevention of compressor blades.


In this paper, we present a novel path planning strategy for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a non-gimbaled video sensor to track a ground mobile target. A 3-dimensional UAV dynamic model is used in the proposed optimization strategy to incorporate the coupled relationship between the camera line-of-sight and UAV motion. Two mathematical formulations are proposed to derive the objective function used in a Model Predictive Control (MPC) technique. We also develop a dynamic window based technique to take agile target motion into account when determining the receding horizon time period used in the MPC. In addition, the in uence of di erent sensor placements and time horizons toward generating desired UAV trajectories are studied. Simulation results are presented to show the e ectiveness of the proposed approach in tracking a target moving with di erent trajectory patterns.


Introduction. Reformations of the image 1. Lollard iconographies 2. Hoccleve's spectacles 3. Lydgate's refigurations of the image 4. Capgrave's material memorials 5. Pecock's libri laicorum Coda. Words for images.


LBL-10435 LIFORNIA T To be presented at the 11th Annual Meeting of the World Mariculture Society, New Orleans, LA, March 3-7, 1980 SMALL SCALE MASS CULTURE OF DAPHNIA MAGNA STRAUS John T. Rees and Joan M. Oldfather February 1980 TWO-WEEK LOAN COPY This is a Library Circulating Copy which may be borrowed two weeks. For a personal retention copy, call Info. Division, Ext. 6782. Prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract W-7405-ENG-48


According to Jonathan Edwards, there are the spiritual sense and spiritual knowledge in the true faith. These definitely distinguish the saint from the natural man. Both the saint and the natural man can know God. But the saint knows God in completely different method and direction in comparison with the sense and knowledge of the natural man. These method and direction are ultimately involved in the moral holiness and beauty of God. However interestingly Edwards don`t deny the continuity of the sense and knowledge in the saint and the natural man. Both of them can`t be same but at least he admits similarity of them. A simple summary of the meaning of Edwards`s spiritual sense can be found below. First, it is a supernatural sense, generated in the soul of the saint through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Second, it is the sense working as the new principle of the human nature. Third, it is the sense affected by the beauty of holiness of God. Forth, the spiritual sense is the foundation that makes the spiritual knowledge generated. On the other hand, spiritual, knowledge is formed as the integrated operation of the intelligence and emotion and will. And it knows the divine things are beautiful. Further it apprehends intuitionally without the process of the long reasoning and is not a doctrinal but saving knowledge. Virtually my aim is of help to explicate the real essence of the true faith by searching the contents and the meaning of Edwards` spiritual sense and spiritual knowledge.


Background A study of five cases of linear IgA dermatosis (LABD) in a referral hospital in South India is presented.


The dictionaries are considered as references in the rules of certain French linguistic games. That is why players see them as referees. This way of using dictionaries appears totally aberrant considering they are aimed at describing the language, whereas being referees they eventually act as prescribers. We interviewed players, who are also fine experts of the dictionaries, and we observed that their linguistic universe and feelings were warped by the game. For example, a word which is not in the dictionary is regarded as a word that does not exist. We will describe these disturbances, and discuss solutions so as to correct them.


Edward II presided over a turbulent and politically charged period of English history, but to date he has been relatively neglected in comparison to other fourteenth and fifteenth-century kings. This book offers a significant re-appraisal of a much maligned monarch and his historical importance, making use of the latest empirical research and revisionist theories, and concentrating on people and personalities, perceptions and expectations, rather than dry constitutional analysis. Papers consider both the institutional and the personal facets of Edward II's life and rule: his sexual reputation, the royal court, the role of the king's household knights, the nature of law and parliament in the reign, and England's relations with Ireland and Europe. Contributors: J. S. HAMILTON, W. M. ORMROD, IAN MORTIMER, MICHAEL PRESTWICH, ALISTAIR TEBBIT, W. R. CHILDS, PAUL DRYBURGH, ANTHONY MUSSON, GWILYM DODD, ALISON MARSHALL, MARTYN LAWRENCE, SEYMOUR PHILLIPS.


Fine-grained Entity Typing (FET) has made great progress based on distant supervision but still suffers from label noise. Existing FET noise learning methods rely on prediction distributions in an instance-independent manner, which causes the problem of confirmation bias. In this work, we propose a clustering-based loss correction framework named Feature Cluster Loss Correction (FCLC), to address these two problems. FCLC first train a coarse backbone model as a feature extractor and noise estimator. Loss correction is then applied to each feature cluster, learning directly from the noisy labels. Experimental results on three public datasets show that FCLC achieves the best performance over existing competitive systems. Auxiliary experiments further demonstrate that FCLC is stable to hyperparameters and it does help mitigate confirmation bias. We also find that in the extreme case of no clean data, the FCLC framework still achieves competitive performance.


Maestrazgo Cultural Park is an integral rural development project which central goal is the revalorization of the natural and cultural heritage of an almost uninhabited territory. European initiatives have had a very important role in this project because fore more than 15 years they have been helping to point Mestrazgo in the European map characterizing it as a place on innovation in the heritage management. Lately, territorial planning, in the wider context of the public politics of Aragon region, is making necessary to modernise and reformulate the management of the Park to let it continue to be a reference in its activity.


The purpose of this study is to know Lingzhi Mushroom extract (Ganoderma Lucidum) has antimicrobial activity against Propionibacterium acnes using Ethanol Solvent, the method used is the disc diffusion method using 6 repetitions, the concentration used is 20 μg / ml, 40 μg / ml, 60 μg / ml / ml, 80 μg / ml and 100 μg / ml, Lingzhi mushroom was extracted using ethanol solvent with the Soxhlet method. The results of the research data showed that the largest inhibitory zone was shown at a concentration of 100 μg / ml of 6.91 mm with a medium inhibitory category. The conclusion of this research is the Lingzhi mushroom is able to inhibit the activity of Propionibacterium acnes in the medium category.


A scrap recycling method and system, comprising the steps of: Waste 1) Ren Chufen, crop residues and other fermentation by anaerobic treatment, the biogas produced to be stored after processing and provide farmers with gas; 2) the above-mentioned anaerobic fermentation slurry treated further aerobic treatment, biogas residue after treatment to form organic manure for fertilizing farmland; 3) the above slurry was filtered through a multi-stage delay processing techniques for processing and after processing to give agricultural irrigation water directed . Ren Chufen the conversion of wastes, crop residues as the residue, biogas slurry, gas, irrigation water, to maximize the use of renewable resources, a new approach to irrigation water, recycling of waste utilization and a high degree of processing high promoted farmer production and improve living conditions in rural areas is a waste recycling system capital increase savings, environmental protection, energy saving.


Solving the Gross–Pitaevskii (GP) equation describing a Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) immersed in an optical lattice potential can be a numerically demanding task. We present a variational technique for providing fast, accurate solutions of the GP equation for systems where the external potential exhibits rapid variation along one spatial direction. Examples of such systems include a BEC subjected to a one-dimensional optical lattice or a Bragg pulse. This variational method is a hybrid form of the Lagrangian variational method for the GP equation in which a hybrid trial wavefunction assumes a Gaussian form in two coordinates while being totally unspecified in the third coordinate. The resulting equations of motion consist of a quasi-one-dimensional GP equation coupled to ordinary differential equations for the widths of the transverse Gaussians. We use this method to investigate how an optical lattice can be used to move a condensate non-adiabatically.


This paper addresses the procedure of modeling the indoor situation in buildings in order to understand the behavior of key parameters which affect the thermal comfort of the occupants. The mathematical models of the indoor environment of a classroom have been designed with the concentration of carbon dioxide. Changes in this parameter over time have been simulated. Then, a new control strategy has been proposed in order to keep the carbon emissions under the appropriate conditions of the occupants. Through mathematical methods, some optimization methods has been proposed for Demand Controlled Ventilation using PID tuning in order to reduce energy consumption without affecting the permissible limits. Validation process of the model has been carried out by Mat lab/Simulink and the suitable results are shown.


The invention provides a film of fluoropolymer having glass microspheres dispersed in said fluoropolymer. The addition of glass microspheres to the fluoropolymer can overcome the behaviour of the fluoropolymer to stick to itself in a stack or when wound on itself in a roll. Hence an additional intermediate sheet or like material is not needed. Additionally, it has been found that the glass microspheres can be used during normal manufacturing of fluoropolymer films by melt-extrusion and moreover, films can be obtained in which other desired properties of the fluoropolymer are not adversely affected or any adverse effects are minimal.


Introduction: Postpartum pain is the pain caused by uterus intermittent contractions after placenta leaves the uterus that sometimes needs narcotics to relieve it. Due to the harmful effects of the drugs, tend to use herbal medicines has been increased. This study was performed with aim to compare the effects of dill essence and Mefenamic acid on postpartum pain. Methods: This clinical trial study was performed on 108 multiparous women who had vaginal delivery and postpartum pain in 2015. They were randomly divided into two groups of dill essence (n=54) and mefenamic acid (n=54). Two hours after delivery, postpartum pain severity was measured by pain ruler. If they had score≥ 3.1, they were studied and if the pain continued, they received dill essence (1.5 mg per kg of body weight/20) or mefenamic acid (250 mg) up to 4 times each six hours. Data was analyzed by SPSS software (version 22) and Chi-square, t-test and repeated measure tests. PResults: Mean of postpartum pain decreased after the intervention, but no statistically significant difference was observed between two groups (P>0.05). Conclusion: Dill essence decrease postpartum pain like as mefenamic acid, therefore, it can be used as an anti-pain plant in mothers with postpartum pain.


The fluid factor (ΔF), Poisson Impedance (PI) and lambda-rho (λρ) are three seismic attributes commonly used for pore-fluid discrimination. While it is debated that one attribute is a better pore-fluid discriminator than the other, their sensitivity to pore fluid is not significantly different because the sensitivity of the three attributes are directly related to PI. In addition, the sensitivity of the three attributes is increased if attribute calibration is finalized in the horizon domain. The effectiveness of each attribute was tested for unconsolidated sediments in the Gulf of Mexico and consolidated sediments in the Southern Gas Basin of the North Sea. However, in the Paleozoic consolidated sediments of SGB, the extra sensitivity of the impedance attributes (PI andλρ) appear to be needed for a robust estimate of pore fluid.


The Science Center for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA, is now accepting proposals for observing flights from February 2017 to January 2018.


Language is a symbolic system, whose basic units are arbitrary and conventionalized pairings of form and meaning. In fact, in light of substantive empirical evidence, Construction Grammar approaches advocate the view that not only words but all levels of grammatical description – from morphemes, words, and idioms to abstract phrasal patterns as well as larger discourse patterns – comprise form-meaning pairings, which are collectively referred to as constructions. In this paper, I will discuss the status of multimodal usage-events (multimodal constructs) for the potential entrenchment of multimodal constructions and their implications for human cognition in general. As I will argue, constructionist approaches need to pay more attention to the role of the working memory in assembling and interpreting constructions. Drawing on verbal as well as gesture constructions, I will show that it is essential to distinguish entrenched constructions that are stored in the long-term memory from form-meaning pairings that are assembled in the working memory (online constructions). Once this distinction is made, the precise role of multimodal constructs and the nature of multimodal constructions can finally be disentangled.


The causes about the difficulties in deinking of water-based ink printing waste paper arising from the composition of water-based ink and the conditions of redeposition were described,and the difficuties about the treatment of deinking effluent also introduced.


1. Changes in density of Lehmann lovegrass and native grasses, and the proportion of lovegrass present along a livestock grazing intensity gradient were measured on six occasions in permanent plots during 1972-90, on the Santa Rita Experimental Range, Arizona, USA. The gradient included grazing exclosures and plots radiating away from a cattle watering point. Lehmann lovegrass spread from sowings done during 1945-59 4km from the water point and an average 1 8 km from the exclosures. 2. Lovegrass density increased with time but was not affected by different grazing intensities. Native grass density decreased, and lovegrass relative abundance increased with time and as grazing intensity increased. Lovegrass density and relative abundance did not differ between adjacent ungrazed and grazed areas. 3. Livestock grazing was not necessary for Lehmann lovegrass to spread, but the lovegrass relative abundance was greater at higher grazing intensities.


On 10 August 2007, four round table discussions were held for the first time during the General Assembly to allow small groups of Council delegates to debate subjects of mutual interest in a setting conducive to the easy exchange of ideas. A consensus emerged among the 67 participants that IUPAC should assume a leading role in ensuring that 2011 is proclaimed the International Year of Chemistry by the United Nations. Doing so, participants felt, would help IUPAC meet a number of other objectives, including generating publicity, increasing public appreciation of chemistry, encouraging students to pursue chemistry, and increasing interactions and linkages between IUPAC and governments.


Federated learning (FL) offers a promising paradigm that empowers numerous Internet of Things (IoT) devices to implement distributed learning on the premise of ensuring user privacy and data security. However, since FL adopts a synchronous distributed training mode, the heterogeneity of participating IoT devices and limited communication resources make FL encounter serious issues of low training efficiency in actual deployment. In this article, we propose an excellent FL policy for the heterogeneous IoT-edge FL system to improve distributed training efficiency. Specifically, first, by borrowing the idea of clustering, we explore an iterative self-organizing data analysis techniques algorithm (ISODATA)-based heterogeneous-aware client scheduling strategy to alleviate the issue of low training efficiency incurred by the heterogeneity of clients. Subsequently, to tackle the challenge of limited communication resources in FL, we first analyze the characteristics of the optimal resource block allocation solution theoretically and then introduce a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP)-based strategy to judiciously allocate resource blocks for scheduled clients. Comprehensive experimental results demonstrate that, compared with benchmarking strategies, our proposed FL policy can achieve up to 55.22% accuracy improvement in a relaxed time scenario, and attain up to $3.62\times $ acceleration for reaching the specific expected accuracy.


We find significant evidence of mean reversion in closed-end fund premiums. Previous studies understate the magnitudes of arbitrage profits. Capitalizing on mean reversion, we devise a parametric model to estimate expected fund returns. Our strategy of buying the quintile of funds with highest expected returns and selling the quintile of funds with lowest expected returns yields an annualized arbitrage return of 18.2% and a Sharpe ratio of 1.918, higher than corresponding figures produced using extant methods. Results are robust to a wide range of tests. They greatly deepen the puzzle and pose a challenge to market efficiency in these products. JEL Classification: G01, G11, G12


The paper considers the possibility of the formation of contact plugs filled with copper instead of conventional tungsten (Fig. 1). There are increased requirements for diffusion barrier layers due to the proximity to transistor structures. Several candidate films based on TaN, TiN have been evaluated as diffusion barrier layers in terms of adhesion to copper, electrical properties, and filling contact plug. As a result, device structures with copper contact plugs have been obtained, and corresponding to the specification results have been confirmed.


The subambient behaviour of mannitol solutions is of considerable relevance to the preparation of freeze dried formulations in which it is commonly used as an excipient. However, it tends to crystallise during the process which can cause problems (Williams & Dean 1991; Izutsu et al 1993). In this study the properties of 3% w/v mannitol solutions were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), cold stage microscopy (CSM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) in order to identify the subambient structural transformations undergone by this system. The effects of annealing at –308C were investigated by DSC (TA Instruments DSC 2920) by cooling (108Cmin) to –308C before annealing for time periods between 10 and 80min before further cooling (108Cmin) to –608C and reheating (28Cmin) to 08C. To investigate annealing during reheating, samples were cooled (108Cmin) to 7308C and held for 30min before further cooling (108Cmin) to 7608C and reheating (28Cmin) to the required annealing temperature (range –408C to –258C) then annealing (30min) before reheating. SM was performed (Linkam BCS 196 biological cryostage, Olympus BX50 microscope, X10 magnification, differential interference contrast) using temperature protocols mimicking those used in the DSC studies as was XRD (Bruker D8 X-ray diffractometer with Cu tube radiation source and PSD). Upon reheating a small endotherm followed by an exotherm were observed (7298C and 7248C, respectively) using DSC. Increasing annealing time (to 40min) at 7308C upon cooling caused simultaneous increased thickness of an excluded band (CSM) and subsequent increase in enthalpies of both transitions (Table 1). XRD revealed that initially there was no detectable crystalline mannitol but that after 6min this had begun to appear in the b form. Heating to –308C before cooling and reheating had no effect on either transition, prior heating to –258C reduced the exotherm enthalpy while prior heating to –208C removed it completely. These observations corresponded to the growth of an excluded phase (CSM) and the appearance of b-mannitol (XRD).


When two nurseries were looking for reliable new owners they knew who to go to, strengthening a chain. Karen Faux reports.


When moment-preserving auto threshold algorithm is used to segment image whose histogram is unimodal or monotonic function, there is serious background interference, and the segmentation accuracy is greatly affected by the size variance of the object, so this paper puts forward an improved moment-preserving auto threshold algorithm. Aiming at the original algorithm's shortage of neglecting image details, this algorithm takes advantage of the feature that the grey level difference between object borders and adjacent background is great while the difference among pixels in an object region or background region is small, and then adds gradient adjustment based on object edge pixels to moment-preserving auto thresholding, in order to look after both the whole and the details of image in segmentation result. This algorithm needs no iteration or search, and it is fast enough to satisfy the demand for real time. As simulation results show, this algorithm can segment object image effectively.


There is a strong need to enhance conceptual and practical training for pre-service teachers to support multicultural children's KSL learning. The current study aims at constructing a co-teaching method of dual language education for multicultural classroom environments. Two pre-service teachers, based on CLIL, developed an integrated curriculum which combined Korean and English language with the content subject of Social Studies. Throughout the process of devising a curriculum, the dyad mediated each other's difficulties and co-generated comprehensive outcomes. Yet, they showed conservative attitudes towards transformative ways to improve multicultural education and limited awareness for students with multicultural backgrounds. Systematic approaches as well as individual efforts to broaden the perception are needed to create interactive L2 classroom environment encompassing learners with linguistic and cultural diversity.


This research investigates the effects of cellulose particle contamination on the breakdown voltage (BDV) and thermal profiles of palm fatty acid ester (PFAE) under lightning impulse (LD with DC voltage superimposed. Commercial cellulose microcrystalline powder was dispersed into the transformer oil as a contaminated by-product to replicate a bridge with 0.004 wt% particle concentration. A+10kV DC power supply is placed between the electrodes to artificially create and retain the cellulose bridge skeleton, with the occasional LI voltage waveforms ofl.2/50 $\mu$ s shot in accordance with the IEC 60230 test setup. The lightning impulse breakdown voltage (LIBDV) was determined using the IEC 60897 rising-voltage method. The LIBDV results were analysed and compared with clean oil (CO) using Weibull cumulative breakdown probability. The electrical field distribution was determined using finite element analysis (FEA), and the thermal profile was obtained via numerical calculation. The breakdown voltage decreased by 3% when the cellulosic particles were contaminated with PFAE. The cellulose particles become more prominent during bridge formation with a further reduction of 16%. The FEA results show that the electrical strength of the bridge contaminated process sample (B_CPS) has exceeded the critical field of CO, causing the breakdown events in the PFAE. The lightning impulse thermal generated (LITG), which was influenced by the electrical field strength, has contributed to the heat releases in the liquid. In conclusion, the presence of cellulose particles and their bridge structures has a detrimental effect on liquid strength, reducing the LIBDV by up to 19% and releasing the LITG by 53% of the PFAE. The findings can be used as a guideline for diagnosis, condition monitoring and assessment of insulation integrity to help extend the life span of transformers.


Research question: What is the extent of Exclusive Breast Feeding (EBF) in Indian Mothers. Objectives: (1) To know all types of breast feeding behaviour in mothers. (2) The extent of EBF practice. (3) Urban/Rural comparison of breast feeding practice. (4) The relationship of breast feeding and other social variables like income literacy age at marriage and parity of mothers. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Urban and rural areas of Latur and Osmanabad districts of Maharashtra (India). Participants: Urban and rural mothers: 314 medical students : 32. Two Lecturers from Deptt. Of Community Medicine. Study variables: (I) EBF practices in urban and rural mothers. (2) Other types of breast feeding. Almost exclusive partial and token feeding. (3) EBF and social factors. Statistical method: (1) WHO 30 cluster sampling technique. Results: (1) EBF practice was inadequate (39.5%). (2) EBF practice improved with increasing parity and with marriage between 19-25 yrs. (3) There was no relation of EBF with literacy status or income of mother. (4) Almost exclusive type breast feeding was found in 19% of mothers whereas partial breast feeding 38% and token feeding 3.6% mother. Conclusion: (1) There is a need for intensifying IEC activities in CSSM programme to increase EBF practice (2) There is a need for community involvement. (authors)


The interpolation analysis of the optimum model fitted by semivariance functions was conducted by the spatial analysis module to study spatial distribution pattern of Cr,Cu,As,Cd,Hg and Pb heavy metals in soil of Shibing P.heterophylla base and to divide districts of pollution control.The results showed that the semivariance functions fitting of six heavy metals content is good,which indicates that the spatial structure is better and there is no obvious mutual effect between different heavy metals.There are no correlations between Hg,pH and other heavy metals.There are significant positive correlations between Cr and Cu and between Cd and Pb,a significant negative correlation between Cu and Cd,very significant positive correlations with lower correlation coefficient between As and Pb and between Cu and Pb The spatial distribution of soil heavy metals showed that Cr content gradually increases from inside to outside by a round divergence pattern based on the center of Demonstration Area 2,Cd content gradually reduces from Northwest and Southeast to the center,Hg content gradually increases from Northeast to Southwest,Pb content gradually reduces from inside to outside by a round divergence pattern based on the center of Demonstration Area 2and there is no obvious law in other element space.


GaN nanodots were fabricated by thermal decomposition of GaN in H2 atmosphere at high temperatures. By varying annealing time and temperature, it was found that dot size and density were highly dependent on annealing conditions. Surface morphology of the sample indicates that the dot formation mechanism is chemical erosion under H2 flow. The etching proceeds in lateral directions, and the dots are formed in hexagonal pit areas. The fitted activation energy of GaN decomposition agrees well with the chemical properties of GaN in the experimental conditions.


ABSTRACT The development and testing of a general purpose soil-moisture-plant model is presented. The model incorporates soil, plant and hydrometeorological factors, and simulates daily variations in both leaf suction and the soil moisture deficit in each of three soil layers. A fourth soil layer permits the simulation of deep percolation and the rise and fall of a shallow water table. Two important features of the model are its unsaturated flow and root abstraction algorithms which are essential to the accurate modelling of moisture changes within layers. Actual transpiration is automatically reduced below the potential rate by the root abstraction algorithm when flow through the soil-plant system is unable to meet the demand. The physical characteristics of the soil layers are represented by mathematical functions relating soil suction to moisture content and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity. The model is calibrated and tested against field data obtained using the neutron probe technique. It is propos...


Advances in imaging technology allow clinicians to diagnose osteoporosis before a clinically significant fracture occurs. In addition, advances in pharmacology give clinicians a broad range of estrogens and nonestrogen treatments for osteoporosis. These advances in imaging technology and treatment are timely. As the population ages, a large increase in osteoporotic fractures is expected. It is key that women at increased risk are identified. Premenopausal and menopausal women should be encouraged to exercise and maintain adequate calcium intake. Menopausal women should be encouraged to consider estrogen replacement therapy, and those with risk factors who decline estrogen replacement therapy should be recommended for bone density measurements. Women with low bone density or established osteoporosis should be offered estrogen replacement, alendronate, or calcitonin therapy. Application of these new tools and treatments by obstetrician-gynecologists may reduce the number of osteoporotic fractures experienced by our aging population.


December 23, 2010 — In an unprecedented sinister gesture to the beleaguered people of Darfur, the Sudanese Justice Ministry transferred its notorious judge, as seen in the YouTube video film of the public flogging of a woman, to Darfur (N. Hamid, Sudaneseonline.com,12-15-2010). The film caused national and international outcry and was viewed worldwide by an estimated 10 million people. If the Khartoum authority wanted to emphasize its contempt for the people of Darfur, it could not have done any better. For the irony in the transfer, is that the Ministry of Justice in Sudan is currently held by none other than Minister Bishara Dosa, a son of Darfur, whose ethnic group, the Zaghawa, have been bombed back to the stone age.