Abstract Spaceflight is ingrained in the imagination as a state-of-the-art technology. Its level of sophistication and intricacy is unparalleled.The space industry, with its large budgets and few producers, has been able to maintain a craft mentality in the face of the hi-tech ethos of mass production. One striking example of this craft mentality is a relative lack of industry-wide standards for the design and operation of satellites. This article discusses standards-setting in the space industry, suggesting that thus far the industry has often resisted imposing standards in favor of customization. Given the maturation of on-orbit servicing technology and future shift from astronautassisted repair to semi-autonomous robotic repair, the lack of interoperability standards is increasingly problematic. How, what, and when to standardize, as well as who makes this decision, is an organizational question that has significant consequences for the future of satellite design and the operation of the space industry. It is thus important to be mindful of the current context of outer space and spaceflight, as well as to consider which lessons from human on-orbit servicing may provide insights for the development of a robotic on-orbit servicing infrastructure.


A technique is presented that allows any classical gradient method (Davidon-Fletcher-Powell. Broyden-Fletcher-Shanno, conjugate gradient, etc.) to be made invariant to any non-linear scaling. This transformation can be implemented with only minor changes to an existing code. The method is applied to the conjugate gradient algorithm and numerical experiments are reported which show the improved efficiency of the transformed version compared with the non-transformed one.


In this paper, we consider the development and analysis of a new explicit compact high‐order finite difference scheme for acoustic wave equation formulated in divergence form, which is widely used to describe seismic wave propagation through a heterogeneous media with variable media density and acoustic velocity. The new scheme is compact and of fourth‐order accuracy in space and second‐order accuracy in time. The compactness of the scheme is obtained by the so‐called combined finite difference method, which utilizes the boundary values of the spatial derivatives and those boundary values are obtained by one‐sided finite difference approximation. An empirical stability analysis has been conducted to obtain the Courant‐Friedrichs‐Levy (CFL) condition, which confirmed the conditional stability of the new scheme. Four numerical examples have been conducted to validate the convergence and effectiveness of the new scheme. The application of the new scheme to a realistic wave propagation problem with a Perfect Matched Layer is validated in this paper as well.


Introduction 2 Acknowledgments 2 1. Lecture 1: The Lüroth problem and Noether's factorization 2 1.1. Rationality and unirationality 2 1.2. Factorization of planar Cremona maps 4 2. Lecture 2: The method of maximal singularities 8 2.1. Fano's intuition 8 2.2. Cubic surfaces of Picard number one 8 2.3. The Noether–Fano inequality 11 3. Lecture 3: Multiplicities 13 3.1. Multiplicities 13 3.2. Bezout-type multiplicity bounds 15 3.3. Pukhlikov's multiplicity bound 16 4. Lecture 4: Singularities of pairs and log canonical thresholds 17 4.1. Log discrepancies 18 4.2. Log canonical thresholds 19 4.3. Proof of Iskovskikh–Manin's theorem 22 5. Lecture 5: Multiplier ideals 22 5.1. Multiplier ideals 22 5.2. Nadel vanishing theorem 23 5.3. Colength of multiplier ideals 24 5.4. Birational rigidity of Fano hypersurfaces 25 6. Lecture 6: Hypersurfaces with ordinary double points 27 6.1. Log discrepancies over singular varieties 27 6.2. Singularities under generic projections 29 6.3. Birational rigidity of singular hypersurfaces 29 7. Lecture 7: Rationality in families of varieties 32 7.1. Countable constructibility of the rational locus 33 7.2. Smooth specializations of rational varieties 34 8. Lecture 8: Singular degenerations of rational varieties 37 8.1. B-rational singularities 37 8.2. Rationality in families of threefolds 39 8.3. A higher dimensional example 40 References 41


Financial crisis reflects that the value of enterprise is the key to lead the development of the enterprise. Combining with the vacancy of the enterprise culture, insufficient innovation of the Enterprise culture, and ineffective measures of the enterprise culture construction, and so on, this paper comes up with some countermeasures such as the enterprise should correct understanding of the enterprise culture, strengthen the construction of enterprise's learning organization, fully exert the entrepreneurial spirit of enterprise leaders so as to improve the competitiveness and the ability of dealing with the crisis.


This paper proposes a direct power control for doubly fed induction machine for variable speed wind power generation. It provides decoupled regulation of the primary side active and reactive power and is suitable for both electric energy generation and drive applications. In order to control the power flowing between the stator of the doubly fed induction generator and the network, a decoupled control of active and reactive power is synthesised using PI controllers. The obtained simulation results show the feasibility and effectiveness of the suggested method.


Abstract Leptin is a protein involved in the regulation of feed intake, fat metabolism, whole body energy balance, reproduction and hematopoiesis. In cattle Leptin gene has been considered a potential QTL influencing several production traits like meat production, milk performance and reproduction. Several studies on bovine leptin gene have found association between polymorphisms and traits like milk yield, feed intake, fat content, carcass and meat quality. With the aim to assess the presence of sequences polymorphisms in the Buffalo leptin gene, we sequenced the entire coding region and part of the introns on a panel of Italian River Buffalos. In this study we identified a new set of SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism) useful for association studies.


Forty-two patients with a primary or recurrent involutional entropion were treated with a combined procedure of a transverse lid split and everting suture of the posterior lamella together with a blepharoplasty. No recurrence and good functional and aesthetic results are reported: the follow-up varied from two to 24 months.


One person's smut is another person's sensuality. Similarly, distinguishing between erotica and pornography has been a topic of great debate among historians of sexuality. Problems with defining the material, to a large extent, result from attempts to fit the material into a cultural and sociological pigeonhole which did not exist when it was written. Erotica has been seen to be written as 'a matter of intent in that the authors and publishers had in mind to provide the reader of their wares with sexual stimulations of one sort or another'. Pornography has been described as that which is prohibited, 'the written or visual representation in a realistic form of any general or sexual behaviour with a deliberate violation of existing and widely accepted moral and social taboos'; 'the explicit depiction of sexual organs and sexual practices with the aim of arousing sexual feeling'. The terms for erotica and pornography have even been used interchangeably, which denies the differentiation between graphic descriptions of sexual acts and suggestive innuendo or sexual parodies. This corpus of work has also been described as 'sexual fiction'.1 Yet not all pornographic descriptions can be described as fiction, as we can see by trial reports. Definitions of erotica and pornography within this body of writing have proved problematic, and many of the arguments are not always helpful. They confuse the issues which are important by continually querying characterisation. Certainly, the eighteenth-century reader did not use the same categorising faculty that we use today. No boundary was made between pornographic, erotic, libertine, gallant or licentious images, or differentiation from other forms, such as philosophical, political or moral genres.2 Writings of a sexual nature have been labelled somewhat indiscriminately as pornography, erotica, smut, obscenity, clandestine or forbidden texts, sexual fiction and libertine literature – different terms often applied to the same works. To add to the confusion, many of the arguments have been applied within the conceptual framework of the twentieth century, which blurs the real issues that were important in the erotic writings of the eighteenth century. Furthermore, French and English erotic writings have frequently been lumped together, ignoring the important distinctions which need to be made between the two sets of material. An artificial delineation between mainstream literature and erotica has been made in today's world which


Silicon oxide films with water repellency were prepared by microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition using multiple gas mixtures of five organosilicon compounds, fluoro-alkyl silane (FAS-17) and Ar as source gases. We studied the effects of methyl and perfluoro-alkyl groups in the reactants on the water repellency of the films. Films of different compositions were prepared by controlling the partial pressures of the reactants. High water repellency was obtained when tetramethylsilane and trimethylmethoxysilane were mixed with FAS-17/Ar. Water repellency depended on the number of methyl groups in the organosilicon compounds and did not depend directly on the fluorine concentrations at the surfaces of the films. The decomposition process of reactants in the plasma was analyzed by optical emission spectroscopy.


The intertive information wall with high definition, wide viewpoint extension and intertive convenience is introduced. Its structure components, display technology and man-machine intertive technology, expecially the touch and non-touch intertive ways are described. The tradeoff and applying situations are analysed.


A series of symmetrical and inherently chiral water-soluble calix[4]arenes bearing one, two or four proton-ionisable dihydroxyphosphoryl groups at the narrow rim of the macrocycle has been synthesised by consecutive treatment of appropriate diethoxyphosphoryl derivatives with bromotrimethylsilane and methanol. The calix[4]arene phosphoric acids synthesised possess pKa-values 2.85–3.10 (CH3OH–H2O 70 : 30) and form salts with L-(−)-α-phenylethylamine or (1S,2R)-(+)-ephedrine in methanol solution. The salts of the inherently chiral calixarene phosphoric acids with chiral amines are easily separated into diastereomeric forms by the RP HPLC method on Separon SGX C18 or Partisil 5 ODS 3 achiral columns.


Wedge (or line) acoustic waves, propagating along the tip of an elastic wedge waveguide, are generated by pulsed YAG laser impact and detected by a wideband optical interferometer. In an ideal infinitely sharp and tall wedge guide, the antisymmetrical flexural (ASF) modes are nondispersive and their energies are mostly confined near the wedge tip. The displacement measurements with the optical probe on metallic wedges show broadband pulsed wave forms of ASF modes. Dispersive behavior of these wave forms, which are not predicted by the theoretical models, are clearly demonstrated. The dispersion curves of the phase velocity are quantitatively deduced by a phase analysis method.


Emissions from commercial shipping are currently the subject of intense scrutiny. Various analyses of many aspects of the problem have been and are being carried out and a spectrum of measures to reduce emissions is being contemplated. However, such measures may have important side-effects as regards the logistical supply chain, and viceversa. Industry circles have also voiced the concern that low-sulphur fuel in SECAs (the so-called "sulphur emissions control areas") may make maritime transport (and in particular short-sea shipping) more expensive and induce shippers to use land-based alternatives. A reverse shift of cargo from sea to land might ultimately increase the overall level of CO2 emissions along the intermodal chain. This paper takes a look at various tradeoffs and may impact the cost-effectiveness of the logistical supply chain and present models that can be used to evaluate these tradeoffs. One of the key results is that speed reduction will always result in a lower fuel bill and lower emissions, even if the number of ships is increased to meet demand throughput. Another result is that cleaner fuel at SECAs may result in a reverse cargo shift from sea to land that has the potential to produce more emissions on land than those saved at sea. Various examples are presented.


ALTHOUGH the number of patients admitted to The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, with the syndrome of acute larvngotracheobronchitis (tracheitis) has increased steadily from 267 in 1953 to 615 in 1958, and despite a negligible mortality rate due to the institution of active therapeutic measures such as sedation and moist oxygen in a special tracheitis ward, the etiology of this condition in Toronto children has remained relatively obscure. The tracheitis syndrome comprises coryza, croupy cough, inspiratoiv stridor and dyspnea often accompanied by a hoarse voice or cry, indrawing of the thoraco-abdominal wvall around the rib cage and fever ranging between 99 and 1040 F. Although cases have occurred during all months of the year, characteristically the incidence of tracheitis is highest between November and March.1'3 While children of all ages are affected, tracheitis was encountered most frequently in children between 12 and 23 months of age during the 1952-53 and 1953-54 winters.8


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of Shariah-compliant status and the presence of information asymmetry on investors' demand for initial public offerings (IPOs) in Malaysia.

Design/methodology/approach
The data regarding 260 IPOs dated for a duration of 11 years were acquired from the websites of Bursa Malaysia and Malaysian Issuing House. In evaluating the association between IPO oversubscription and the independent variables in this study, multivariate and quantile regression analyses were implemented.

Findings
It was found that Shariah-compliant status (DSHARIAH) had a significant positive relationship with IPO oversubscription. With this, it was indicated that Shariah-compliant status gains investors' interests in subscribing to IPOs as these shares could be distributed to a wider group of investors. In the case of the proxies of information asymmetry, although firm size posed significant effects on IPO oversubscription, the effects were negative. Meanwhile, institutional investors posed significant positive effects on IPO oversubscription. Furthermore, it was indicated from the negative effects of firm size that less subscription is received by large firms which are perceived to possess lower information asymmetry from the investors. This is owing to the less underpricing provided by the issuers for their IPOs. However, it was indicated from the significant positive association between institutional investors and IPO oversubscription that the participation in the IPO among institutional investors would enhance the enthusiasm of investors for a specific stock and increase the probability of IPO oversubscription. With this, the winner's curse hypothesis was supported.

Research limitations/implications
It is recommended that future studies investigate the compliance aspect, specifically the financial and nonfinancial aspects which may affect investors' decision-making process for their investment.

Practical implications
With the availability of this study's indicators in the prospectus, the findings of this study have provided useful insights for an issuer and underwriter to ensure a good subscription of its issuance.

Social implications
The findings of this study have provided further comprehension to investors regarding the essential information found in the prospectus during the decision-making process done for IPO subscription.

Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is one of the first articles which have proven the effects of Shariah-compliant status and the presence of information asymmetry on IPO investors' demand.


Objective Explore the feasibility of provides the basis with CT quantitative measurement bronchial in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) diagnosis and classification.Research the relationship between emphysema area and lung function for the patients with COPD.Methods Collect 60 cases for clinical diagnosis in patients with COPD,64-slice spiral CT scaning and lung function testing Within a week,Using MRP technology to reconstruct these bronchial vertical level's cross-section image of apical segmental bronchus of the right upper lobe,apicoposterior segmental bronchus of left upper lobe,posterior basal segment of the right lower lobe,and posterior basal segment of the leftt lower lobe.Measure these bronchial lumen area,section area,lumen radius,and section radius.Then Calculation ratio of bronchial lumen area with bronchial the sectional area(AI/AO),and the ratio of Wall thickness with section radius(TDR).Analysis the relationship between these ratios with lung function testing(PFT) index.Results Segmental bronchus measurement data and PFT index has correlation;And the correlation of inferior lobe of right lung is best.Conclusion Segmental bronchus quantitative measurement can reflect the patients with COPD reduced lung function degree;The influence of lesions located in the lower lobe of right lung is biggest for Patients with COPD;CT of segmental bronchus quantitative measurement can be made up of COPD lung function of the shortcomings of the diagnosis.


The storing releasing energy control way and its control equipment on hydrostatic transmission system with secondary regulation under variable pressure rail were introduced.The storing releasing energy process has been expatiated.The structure,the working theory and the characteristics of the flow-coupled transmission system with secondary regulation and the bus parallel connection hybrid transmission system were analyzed.It has come to an conclusion that by controlling the hydraulic accumulator,the control of energy-reclaim and energy-recycle has been realized,the working range of the system pressure has been increased,and the energy-recycle effect and the energy-recycle efficiency have been improved.


Commentary on : Lord A, Field S, Smith IC. The experiences of staff who support people with intellectual disability on issues about death, dying and bereavement: a metasynthesis. J Appl Res Intellect Disabil  2017;30:1007–21.

Research studies evidence that staff in both intellectual disability and palliative care services lack confidence, knowledge …


Based on the charateristics of load control of the unitthis paper describes principle of the expert coordination control cystem and control process of expert self-learning.The basic structure form of expert coordination control system is discussed.Simulation results show that the expert coordination control system not only maintains the main steam pressure within a set limit when the unit load is running up or running down but also quickly adjusts the unit load to the desired valueIt can meet the demand of load change on the different load leveland has high adaptive capability.It is for reference in the actual project.


Single nucleotide polymorphism(SNP) refers to the change of single nucleotide in DNA sequence.SNP is the third generation of DNA markers after restriction fragment length polymorphism(RFLP) and Microsatellite.It is usually referred to as biallelic polymorphism with characteristics of high density,widely distribution,huge information,easy to detect and statistics analysis.The application of SNP in chicken growth and development was reviewed,which aimed to provide reference for study and application of SNP in chicken growth and development.


Simple Summary The prevalence of colorectal cancer (CRC) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasing worldwide. Understanding what factors foster these diseases' development can help reduce their burden. Viral infections have been suggested to be involved in the genesis of these diseases, but the data is contradictory. The present study analyzed 11,413 articles on the topic and identified 196 that could provide information on the relationship between a viral infection and these gastrointestinal diseases. The Epstein–Barr virus (EBV, HHV-4) was strongly associated with IBD, and cytomegalovirus (HHV-5) with both CRC and IBD. Abstract Gastrointestinal diseases (GDs) include colorectal cancer (CRC), gastric cancer (GC), and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). CRC and GC are typically diagnosed at later stages of development, reducing patients' chances of survival. IBD is characterized by chronic intestinal inflammation and is a significant risk factor for the development of CRC. Chronic bacterial infections have been shown to promote some GDs, but the role of viruses in the etiology of these diseases is less clear. The present meta-analysis retrieved literature on the viral prevalence in GD patients, measuring the GD risk in odd ratios. By quantifying the study heterogeneity, the literature bias was fundamentally included in the analysis. The analysis also included 11 metagenomic studies. Our meta-analysis retrieved 11,413 studies, with 196 suitable for analysis. HHV-4 (Epstein–Barr virus) was identified as a significant risk factor for the development of IBD, and HHV-5 (cytomegalovirus) as a risk factor for both CRC and IBD. Polyomaviruses and the Hepatitis B virus were also, less strongly, involved in the risk of CRC and IBD. No relations withstanding the literature bias were identified for GC. The study discusses these findings, as well as the role of other viruses in the etiology of CRC and IBD.


This study was conducted to find out the frequency of clinical and subclinical
hypothyroidism in pregnant women in our population, the prevalence of anti-TPO
positivity in those with clinical and subclinical hypothyroidism and to compare
obstetric and perinatal outcomes in these subgroups. Six hundred and fifty consecutive pregnant women were screened for hypothyroidism. Anti TPO antibody was tested in the hypothyroid women. They were followed up for pregnancy outcome separately. Incidence of hypothyroidism in pregnancy was 3.69%. Incidence of clinical and subclinical hypothyroidism was 0.61% and 3.07% respectively. Five out of twenty four (20.8%) were TPO-antibody positive and rest nineteen women (79.2%) were TPO-antibody negative. Maternal complications like hypertension, pre-eclampsia, and GDM as well as fetal complications like abortion, IUGR were more common in antibody positive women. Pregnancy with hypothyroidism is associated with increased maternal antenatal and fetal complications, more so in those with positive TPOantibody. Hence besides screening with TSH, TPO antibody should be done in all cases if possible.


A new prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) derivative, the 16 phenoxy-omega-tetranor PGE2 methylsulphonylamide of Sulprostone, was administered to 56 patients to induce preoperative cervix dilatation (1st trimester) and termination of pregnancy for missed abortion (1st and 2nd trimester), or fetal death (3rd trimester). Different dose schedules have been administered intramuscularly. Hourly side effects were recorded. Among 46 patients, Sulprostone induced cervical dilatation (8 mm or more) in 36 subjects. In the others, the cervix dilated at least 6 mm. With regard to the termination of pregnancy, uterine contractions and discharge occurred within a short time. The incidence of side effects was minimal. Our study seems to indicate the usefulness, efficacy, and acceptability of Sulprostone in the management of different obstetric conditions. (author's modified)


Abstract : This report provides synopses of FY81 IR/IED (Independent Research/Independent Exploratory Development) projects, the IR/IED funding profile, and a list of publications and presentations on IR/IED projects. It also includes extended articles on IR or IED efforts that have been developed over several years.


This paper presents the experience from 7 years existence of Faculty of Information Technology at Czech Technical University in Prague with respect to today Computer Engineering specialization trends. Our education process and study methods are based on programmable hardware, embedded systems and design style intended for such devices. All our courses have both parts; theoretical lectures and practical labs. Here the structure and methods how to prepare our bachelor students for both practice and for the further master study is presented.


Gene duplication is a major genetic event that can produce multiple protein isoforms. Comparative sequence and functional analysis of related gene products can provide insights into protein family evolution. To characterize the Caenorhabditis elegans troponin I family, we analyzed gene structures, tissue expression patterns and RNAi phenotypes of four troponin I isoforms. Tissue expression patterns were determined using lacZ/gfp/rfp reporter gene assays. The tni‐1, tni‐2/unc‐27 and tni‐3 genes, each encoding a troponin I isoform, are uniquely expressed in body wall, vulval and anal muscles but at different levels; tni‐4 was expressed solely in the pharynx. Expressing tni‐1 and ‐2 gene RNAi caused motility defects similar to unc‐27 (e155) mutant, a tni‐2 null allele. The tni‐3 RNAi expression produced egg laying defects while the tni‐4 RNAi caused arrest at gastrulation. Overlay analyses were used to assay interactions between the troponin I and two troponin C isoforms. The three body wall troponin I isoforms interacted with body wall and pharyngeal troponin C isoforms; TNI‐4 interacted only with pharyngeal troponin C. Our results suggest the body wall genes have evolved following duplication of the pharynx gene and provide important data about gene duplication and functional differentiation of nematode troponin I isoforms.


Objective:To analyse and evaluate the trend of antituberculosis drugs resistance for tuberculosis and provide base for tuberculos is control Methods: To collect in-patient case in different years,ie.1990~1992,1993~1995,1996~1998, 1999~2001.The trend of drug resistance was analysed. Results:Th e prevalence o f primary drug resistance was 27 8%,22 7%,22 1% and 17 3% i n four periods,respectively.The prevalence of primary MDR-TB drug resistance was 2 5 %,3 6%,6 5% and 2 7%,respectively.The prevalence of acquired drug resistance was 66 7%,71 7% ,65 5 % and 58 2%,respectively.The prevalence of acquired MDR-TB drug resistance was 25 5%,31 3%,25% and 24 6%,respectively.The prevalence of primary drug resistanc e was decreasing and the prevalence of acquire MDR-TB drug resistance was decreasing since 1996 as well.Conclusion:The key of cortrolling drug re sistance is to diagnose early,take corresponding measure,prevent the spread of pulmonary tuberculo sis,implement DOTS and improve the evaluation work of drug resistance.


PURPOSE
The latest clinical implementation of the Siemens Artiste linac allows for delivery of modulated arcs (mARC) using full-field flattening filter free (FFF) photon beams. The maximum doserate of 2000 MU/min is well suited for high dose treatments such as SBRT. We tested and report on the performance of a prototype Eclipse TPS module supporting mARC capability on the Artiste platform.

METHOD
our spine SBRT patients originally treated with 12/13 field static-gantry IMRT (SGIMRT) were chosen for this study. These plans were designed to satisfy RTOG0631 guidelines with a prescription of 16Gy in a single fraction. The cases were re-planned as mARC plans in the prototype Eclipse module using the 7MV FFF beam and required to satisfy RTOG0631 requirements. All plans were transferred from Eclipse, delivered on a Siemens Artiste linac and dose-validated using the Delta4 system.

RESULTS
All treatment plans were straightforwardly developed, in timely fashion, without challenge or inefficiency using the prototype module. Due to the limited number of segments in a single arc, mARC plans required 2-3 full arcs to yield plan quality comparable to SGIMRT plans containing over 250 total segments. The average (3%/3mm) gamma pass-rate for all arcs was 98.5±1.1%, thus demonstrating both excellent dose prediction by the AAA dose algorithm and excellent delivery fidelity. Mean delivery times for the mARC plans(10.5±1.7min) were 50-70% lower than the SGIMRT plans(26±2min), with both delivered at 2000 MU/min.

CONCLUSION
A prototype Eclipse module capable of planning for Burst Mode modulated arc delivery on the Artiste platform has been tested and found to perform efficiently and accurately for treatment plan development and delivered-dose prediction. Further investigation of more treatment sites is being carried out and data will be presented.


The purpose of this study is to study the organization and the main stages of the activities of the central and regional bodies of Soviet power to solve the problem of the administrative-territorial structure of Siberia in the 1920– 1930. Objectives of the study: 1. To reveal the relationship of Sibrevkom with the central and local bodies of Soviet power. 2. To investigate the project of Sibrevkom on the administrative-territorial division of Siberia. 3. To analyze the main stages of the transformation of the administrative-territorial structure of Siberia in 1920–1930. The object of the study is the administrative-territorial bodies of Soviet power on the territory of Siberia in 1020–1930. The subject of the research is the activities of the party and Soviet bodies to solve the problem of the administrative-territorial structure of Siberia in the first post-revolutionary decades of Soviet power. The article notes that the beginning of solving the problem of the administrative-territorial structure of Siberia was laid by the creation, by decision of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of August 27, 1919, of the Siberian Revolutionary Committee (Sibrevkom) as the authorized body of Soviet power to maintain revolutionary order in Siberia and lead all administrative-territorial bodies local authorities. The activities of the central bodies of the party and Soviet authorities in the search for optimal forms of government in Siberia are revealed in the main stages, determined by economic and political factors. At the first stage in 1923–1924. volosts were transformed into districts, which made it possible to bring authorities closer to the population and take into account their general economic needs. At the second stage (1924–1925) districts were created as administrative units, which included several districts each. The stage ended with the formation of the Siberian Territory, the highest administrative body of which was the Siberian Regional Executive Committee. In order to more effectively manage the territories of Siberia, at the third stage, which ended in 1930, Sibkrai was divided into the West Siberian and East Siberian territories. Taking into account the interests of Soviet, economic and public organizations, at the fourth stage in 1934, territories and regions were created, including the Krasnoyarsk Territory on December 7, 1934. Thus, the changes in the administrative-territorial structure of Siberia were based on socio-economic and national factors. The process of searching for optimal forms of governance in Siberia was completed with the formation of regions and territories, and thus an attempt was made to find the balance of power between the regions and the center necessary to solve the problems of a particular time.


A series of biodegradable crosslinking agents, di-acrylate of polyethylene glycol and polylactides (PLA-b-PEG-b-PLA)tri-block copolymer, were synthesized. And then the novel biodegradable crosslinked PVP membrane materials were prepared by radical polymerization with biodegradable crosslinking agents and N-vinyl pyrrolidone (NVP) using azoisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as initiator. The performance of PVP membrane materials was investigated. The results showed that the intrinsic viscosity of crosslinking agents would be regulated by changing the ratio of lactide to PEG. The water absorption would decrease, while the contact angle and the tensile module would increase with increasing the content of crosslinking agents, but extension at break would increase at first and decrease at last. The water absorption and the contact angle would increase with increasing the molecule weights of crosslinking agents. In the degradation process, the mass-loss rate of the materials showed specific original kinetic in the initial duration, but it increased dramatically at last.


Compressive sensing (CS) reconstruction of a spectrum-sparse signal from undersampled data is, in fact, an ill-posed problem. In this paper, we mathematically prove that, in certain cases, the exact CS reconstruction of a spectrum-sparse signal from undersampled data is impossible. Then we present the exact CS reconstruction condition of undersampled spectrum-sparse signals, which is valuable for digital signal compression.


A method to estimate energy input for the manufacture of dried marine products is presented. In regard to drying fish processes, the data collected through field surveys on commercial scale equipment showed a relationship between the required energy per unit weight of dried product (dry matter) and the moisture content of the dried product. This relationship was used to estimate the energy requirement for drying fish processes. The energy requirement for catching the raw materials of each dried product was also estimated. Using census data on the production of dried marine products in Japan, the total energy requirement for the manufacture of individual item of dried products in 1980 was estimated. The grand total of energy requirement for dried marine products manufactured all over Japan was estimated to be 1.25×1013 kcal, which favorably agreed with an estimation given by an Input-Output analysis.


Reading skill is very important because most of the materials taught in learning English are in written form. Thus, students need to master reading skill to be able to comprehend the material correctly. Teaching reading has become a challenge to English teachers to find a suitable and effective way to make students become enthusiastic and motivated in learning reading. The aims of this study are to find out the effectiveness of Ice-Breaker as a media towards students' reading achievement in descriptive text and also to show the significant improvement in students' achievement that are given Ice-Breaker in learning compared with the one taught without conventional method. This study is a quantitative research using quasi-experimental method. The subjects of this study were the tenth grads students of SMA Negeri 5 Purwokerto. There were two groups given treatments; experimental and control group. Class X MIPA 5 as the experimental group was given Ice-Breaker as a treatment while class X MIPA 2 as the control group was treated using conventional method. Both groups were given pre-test, treatment and post-test. The researcher used t-test analysis to find out the significant difference of the students' achievement. The result showed that there is a significant difference between the control and experimental group's achievement. The pre-test's mean score of the control group was 73 and the experimental group was 77.17. While the mean score of the control group's post-test was 79.5 and the experimental group was 87.83. The independent sample t-test analysis of post-test from both groups shows the value of Sig. (2-tailed) was 0.002 which is lower than 0.05. It means Ho is refused and Ha is accepted. Ha means there was a significant difference between students who were given Ice-Breaker and students who were not or who were taught using conventional method. The experimental group got a higher achievement than the control group. It can be concluded that using Ice-Breaker is more effective than using conventional method to improve students' reading achievement in descriptive text.


Summary Ground lucerne was treated with different concentrations of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and potassium hydroxide (KOH) in a 'dry crystal' process, prior to pelleting. Data for feed characteristics and related utilization by sheep fed these diets are reported. NaOH and KOH had effects of different magnitude on the digestibility of cell-wall constituents (CWC). An increase of nitrogen (N) in the cell wall (CWN) induced by tha alkali treatments, resulted in depressed nitrogen digestibility. The residual alkali and high electrolyte intakes produced higher rumen pH, but values were more stable than for sheep fed the control diet.


Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly developed based on computer technology, which can perform tasks that customarily require human intelligence by building intelligent software or machines. As a subfield of AI, machine learning (ML) can learn from the intrinsic statistical patterns and structures in data through algorithms to predict invisible data. With the increasing interest in aesthetics in dentistry, zirconia has drawn lots of attention due to its superior biocompatibility, aesthetically pleasing, high corrosion resistance, good mechanical properties, and absence of reported allergic reactions. The evolution of AI and ML led to the development of novel approaches for the biomedical applications of zirconia in dental devices. AI techniques in zirconia-related research and clinical applications have attracted much attention due to their ability to analyze data and reveal correlations between complex phenomena. The AI applications in the field of zirconia science change according to the application direction of zirconia. Therefore, in this article, we focused on AI in biomedical applications of zirconia in dental devices and AI in zirconia-related applications in dentistry.


Michael Krausz's Dialogues on Relativism, Absolutism, and Beyond: Four Days in India 1 is a delightful and dialogical examination of the classical philosophical debate between relativism and absolutism about truth. The book is by far one of the best introductions to the debate for philosophers and non-philosophers. As a philosopher I was left wondering: why did 20 th century philosophy ever leave the dialogue format as a way of conveying philosophy to the masses? Krausz's work reminded me of Arend Heyting's dialogue Disputation. In this dialogue Heyting introduces the intuitionist theory of mathematics. He does this through a character that is involved in a casual debate with other mathematicians at a bar. Each of the interlocutors represents a different position in the foundations of mathematics, such as Formalism and Logicism. A great contribution of Krausz's dialogue is that it is cross-cultural. It engages ideas from well-known philosophers in both Western and Eastern philosophy. However, and to the benefit of non-philosophers, the book makes no name-wise reference to key philosophers from either tradition. Instead, the knowledgeable reader can see insights from Parmenides, Plato, Nagarjuna, Wittgenstein, Davidson, Putnam, Hinduism, and Buddhism all at play. While the novice reader is introduced to complex ideas, such as reference frame, universalism, foundationalism, absolute relativism, bivalence, and self-realization without the excess jargon and namedropping that often makes presentation of these ideas inaccessible. The work is ostensibly a dialogue between four discussants: Adam, Ronnie, Nina, and Barbara who all knew each other in college, and are meeting for a reunion in India on the banks of the Ganges River. The dialogue takes place over four days, each day being a continuation and further examination of the debate between relativism and absolutism about truth. In what follows, I will give a short synopsis of the topics that are discussed on ________________________


The present invention is directed to addressing structure for parallel processing of recursive data. The basic idea of the invention is a new path metric storage location in the old to the new path metric calculated using the metric to be used on. If the metric values m and m is read metric values are calculated simultaneously in parallel, it is possible to save the old metrics stored in the new memory location, the computed metric. The present invention is advantageous, as compared with the prior art Viterbi having about the same properties in terms of area ratio storage path metric calculated using the decoder, the path metric for the size of the storage area is reduced to half.


This paper presents a Finite-Volume Technique (FVT) to calculate coastal flows in complex geometry. Cartesian unit-width discharge components are chosen as dependant variables, and are placed with collocated Node-Center arrangements. A treatment of the Poisson's equation is used to avoid the pressure oscillations. We present here some test cases to validate our model.


Multiorganometallic compounds were used to prepare high-purity submicron-size lead lanthanum zirconate-titanate (PLZT) powders which can be consolidated at low sintering temperatures to high-density piezoelectric and electrooptic ceramic bodies. Simultaneous hydrolytic decomposition of lead isoamyloxide, lanthanum isopropoxide, and zirconium and titanium tertiary amyloxides produced quaternary titanate powders with particle sizes of 75 to 300 A and analyzed purity of 99.92%; the major contaminant was Na from an intermediate reaction product. Homogeneity and stoichiometry of the powders before and after processing were demonstrated by electron microscopy and chemical analysis. High-temperature X-ray diffraction indicated an amorphous material up to ∼600°C, where the crystalline phase was first observed. Powders prepared in this manner sintered to high-density fine-grained transparent bodies with uniform microstructure. The experimental results suggest that less rigorous consolidation methods are required with high-purity homogeneous precursor materials with fine particle size.


With whole genome sequencing it is still rather expensive to achieve sufficient read coverage for example for the detection of genomic variants. Further, in some cases one might be interested only in some fraction rather than the whole genome, for example linkage regions or the complete exome. Target capture (target enrichment, targeted sequencing) experiments are a suitable strategy in these situations. The genomic regions of interest are selected and enriched previous to next-generation sequencing. A frequently used application for the enrichment of the target sequences is based on hybridization with pre-designed probes, either on microarrays or in solution. The hybridized molecules are then captured (eluted from the microarrays or pulled-down from the solution, respectively), amplified and sequenced. Besides quality control of the sequencing data, it is also crucial to assess whether the capture had been successful, i.e. if most of the sequenced reads actually fall on the target, if the targeted bases reach sufficient coverage, and so on. This package provides functionalities to address this issue. Quality measures comprise specificity and sensitivity of the capture, enrichment, per-target read


This paper presents a digital signal processing system that produces the SEASAT synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) imagery. The system consists of a SEL 32/77 host minicomputer and three AP-120B array processors. The partitioning of the SAR processing functions and the design of softwae modules is described. The rationale for selecting the parallel array processor architecture and the methodology for developing the parallel processing scheme on this system is described. This system attains a SEASAT SAR data reduction speed of 2.5 h per 25-m resolution 4-look and 100 km X 100 km image frame. A prelininary performance evaluation of this parallel processing system and potential future applications for remote sensing data reduction are described.


Here we consider some non-autonomous ordinary differential equations of order n and present some results and theorems on the existence of periodic solutions for them, which are sufficient conditions, section 1. Also we include generalizations of these results to vector differential equations and examinations of some practical examples by numerical simulation, section 2. For some special cases that extendibility of the solutions can be verified and under other suitable conditions, we show that the frequency of the periodic solutions can be arbitrary small † .


A series of new 5-substituted thiobarbituric acid derivatives 5-acetyl-3-aryl-2-thioxo-dihydropyrimidine-4,6(1H,5H)-diones (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e, 2f, 2g, 2h) were synthesized by one pot cyclocondensation of 1-aroyl-3-arylthioureas with malonic acid in the presence of acetic anhydride. These compounds exist in equilibrium with their enolic tautomeric forms 5-(1-hydroxy ethylidene)-3-aryl-2-thioxo-dihydropyrimidine-4,6-(1H,5H)-diones. The structures were confirmed by spectroscopic data, elemental analyses and in case of the 2d by single crystal X-ray diffraction data. A plausible mechanism for the formation of products is also proposed. Compounds (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e, 2f, 2g, 2h) were evaluated for their preliminary antibacterial activity against a representative panel of Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria using levofloxacin as the reference drug and were found to exhibit promising activity. The tested compounds displayed different levels of inhibitory effects on bacterial strains. Compound 2b showed the maximum efficacy against pathogenic bacteria and was identified as the lead molecule for further structural modifications.


Article history: Received December 10, 2013 Received in revised format 25 June 2014 Accepted July 27 2014 Available online July 29 2014 The improvement in manufacturing process is never ending effort, which is being derived by the culture of the organization. Therefore, an attitude of perfection, innovation and devotion is an essential part for the process improvement of an organization. Recently, innovations in the field of engineering help an entrepreneur sell the products through competitive environment. Moreover, the timely delivery of goods and cost effective product is the yardstick, which contributes to the performance index. These improvements resulted from continued performance enhancement efforts, helps in producing right quality in the right times which means providing stability to the organization performance. The role of lean thinking and supply chain characteristics is to create an effective marked on the organizational performance including bonding of all the participants where-so-ever possible. The purpose of this work is to examine the challenges, which integrate the Lean Principles to Supply Chain Characteristics for the real world situation to achieve better utilization of resources, timely delivery to the customer, and deletion of non-value added items including the control on all type of wastages as linked with supply chain systems. © 2014 Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved.


We show how a suitable interval halving and parametrization technique can help to essentially improve the sufficient convergence condition for the successive approximations dealing with solutions of nonlinear non-autonomous systems of ordinary differential equations under integral boundary conditions. 2010 Mathematics Subject Classification: 34B15


Numerous aspects of hospitalization are inherently stressful to young children. The stress immunization techniques of systematic desensitization, cognitive rehearsal, and modeling can be used by nurses to promote behavioral and cognitive controls in pediatric patients, thereby reducing the child's level of stress.


The generation of 40 GHz Nyquist pulses of pulsewidth less than 5ps, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) more than 23.8 dB and timing-jitter below 189 fs with a dual parallel Mach-Zehnder modulator is experimentally demonstrated.


Myxomas are the most common primary cardiac tumors, rarely found in the right atrium. Myxomas usually seen in women, typically between the ages of 40 and 60. We present a case of giant right atrial myxoma that prolapsing through the tricuspid valve into the right ventricle, in a 37-year-old man with constitutional symptoms. There was a discrepancy between atrial mass and intensity of symptoms. Our patient underwent surgical treatment with excision.


Relative DNA contents of active, inhibited, or reactivated buds of Polypodium vulgare L. were determined by staining the nuclei with the Feulgen reagent and measuring their optical density with a microspectrophotometer; from the obtained data, percentages of nuclei in G1 or G2 phase were calculated. In active buds, the majority of cells of the axial zone were in G2 phase and cells of the lateral zone were essentially in G1 phase. In inhibited buds, nuclei of the axial zone were blocked in G2 phase as were the greatest number of the nuclei of the lateral zone. The 6-benzylaminopurine (6-BAP) treated axillary buds exhibited the same evolution with 24 h of delay as those reactivated by decapitation of the terminal bud. Cells arrested in G2 phase passed synchronously through M and then G1. The reactivation cell cycle was peculiar; it was not in agreement with that of a normal active cell. These data point out the great peculiarity of Pteridophytes compared with what it is known about apical dominance in Angio...


Background

Pinellia ternate (Thunb.) Breit. ( P. ternate ), a weed species distributed in Eastern Asia, has been widely used as a Chinese herbal medicine. Currently, four genotypes of P. ternate have been identified according to their different leaf shapes, including Shaoye, Taoye, Zhuye and Liuye Type. In addition, the total alkaloids and organic acids content in tuber, tuber yields and other physiology and agronomic characteristics were significant difference. However, little is known about the evolution and genetic diversity of four genotypes of P. ternate . Moreover, the genomics of P. ternate remains uncharacterized. The recent development of RNA-Seq, a next generation sequencing technology, provides an opportunity to expand the identification of P. ternate genes through in-depth transcript profiling.

Methods

In this study, we presented a comprehensive landscape of the transcriptome profiles of four genotypes of P. ternate using Illumina paired-end sequencing technology.

Results

Totally, 70,491,871, 72,819,035, 73,159,913 and 71,612,115 reads were achieved in four genotypes of P. ternate , respectively. A total number of 126,391 assembled unigenes were identified. After aligning the sequences to the public protein databases, 82,998 unigenes were annotated. Among these, 15,534 were assigned to Gene Ontology categories, 41,216 to Clusters of Orthologous Groups, and 46,053 to Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways. In addition, 23,678 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and 65,527 Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) variations were detected.

Conclusion

This study provides abundant genomic data and comprehensive transcriptome for P. ternate . We envision that these transcriptome datasets will serve as an important public information platform to accelerate further studies of the P. ternate and the identification of genes that potentially involving in the biosynthesis of total alkaloids, acid and other active ingredients among different genotypes P. ternate .


The concept of "equivalent quasi-static force" between the tamper and the ground was proposed for the analysis of dynamic compaction,and the basic expression to compute the "equivalent quasi-static force" was deduced from the work-energy principle.By introducing the 1D stress-strain relation of cohesionless soil and the stress distribution,together with the empirical relations between the designations of in-situ tests and the engineering properties of granular soils,a simplified approach(quasi-static analysis) and the values of related parameters in this model were proposed for the evaluation of the improvement effect of dynamic compaction for granular soils,which could predict the crater depth,the relative density and SPT blows at different depths under the tamping points in the process of tamping.It was indicated by case studies that the proposed method and values of parameters,regardless of its high simplification,were practically feasible.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to examine the in vitro activity of daptomycin using an optimal calcium (Ca2+) concentration (50 mg/L) against a diverse collection of enterococcal and Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolates, including glycopeptide-resistant enterococci (GRE) and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA).

METHODS
The activity of daptomycin was compared with the activities of seven other agents against 1483 enterococcal and S. aureus clinical isolates, including 303 GRE and 193 methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains. Susceptibility testing was performed by the NCCLS broth microdilution method, with one exception: Mueller-Hinton (MH) broth was supplemented to a physiological level of 50 mg/L Ca2+ when testing daptomycin. Daptomycin zone diameters were determined by disc diffusion with MH agar plates containing Ca2+ 50 mg/L.

RESULTS
All staphylococcal isolates tested, and the majority of enterococcal isolates (96.5%), would be considered susceptible to daptomycin if the breakpoint previously proposed of </=2 mg/L was applied. The activity of daptomycin against MRSA and methicillin-susceptible S. aureus was essentially equal. Daptomycin also had similar activity against GRE and glycopeptide-susceptible enterococci. Every S. aureus isolate had a daptomycin zone diameter > or = 20 mm, and all of the enterococcal isolates had daptomycin zone diameters > or = 17 mm.

CONCLUSIONS
Overall, daptomycin showed potent activity against S. aureus and enterococcal isolates, comparable to quinupristin-dalfopristin and linezolid.


Part of literature and medicine's growth in the past few years has occurred in the area of bearing witness to suffering. Private and public, individual and cultural, the giving of testimony and bearing witness to it have occupied clinicians, activists, scholars, teachers, and writers who are coming gradually to see the urgency of telling and the diffi culty of listening in the face of trauma and loss. Whatever memory might end up to be, it seems critical to respect its needs and recognize its bounty by stoking it or nourishing it with language, and language that must be heard in order to be uttered. It seems a natural gesture for our doubled fi eld to perform textual acts as a direct response to others' suffering. We listen, we attend, we perceive, we take in the multiple meanings of the recounted experiences of the survivor of catastrophic trauma—rape, war, September 11, the Holocaust—and of uncatastrophic trauma—migraines, heart attacks, depression. Because we are writers or literarily driven clinicians, we represent that which we behold in some form that tries for an authentic record of the testimony—a videotape, an oral history transcript, a documentary account of what was heard, a medical note faithful to as many dimensions of suffering as can be captured in the clinical genre. The urgent question is whether, in fact, such attention and representation matter to the teller and, secondarily, to the listener. We think it does, for both, and may lead to a sturdy and healing affi liation. Practitioners of literature and medicine and narrative medicine have found themselves inviting college students to write of illness as a method to metabolize or comprehend their past experiences. Some have started writing programs for health-care professionals with the


A technique is described for welding uniform sized fine thermocouples, that are producible even by unskilled workers. Junctions welded using this technique showed a very uniform time response.


Appropriate masking sound is necessary for reaching acceptable speech privacy in open offices. However, the electronic masking systems have not become very popular although the importance of masking is emphasized in design guidelines worldwide. One reason may be that very few scientific field experiments have been published in this area. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the effects of artificial masking sound on workers in a small department of 15 workers. Measurements and questionnaires were conducted before and after launching the system. Masking sound 44 dBA was produced using centralized pink noise generator and ceiling loudspeakers. The spectrum reminded ventilation noise. Initial background noise level was 36 dBA. Acoustic measurements showed that masking sound reduced the radius of distraction rD from 15 m to 7 m, i.e. acoustic privacy improved significantly. The questionnaire revealed several positive changes attributable to masking. Distraction caused by speech and other varying off...


In maximizing the growth and development of children, the medical record data processing needs to be done optimally. This study aims to improve the quality of Posyandu cadres and KMS literacy through optimization of Posyandu medical record data processing. The research design used is quantitative research. The population is the cadres of Posyandu and the community in Kedungori Village, Dempet Demak as many as 78 people. Research variables include: Quality of Posyandu cadres (X) and KMS Literacy in mothers of children under five (Y). Data were analyzed using descriptive analysis and Wilcoxon test for variables X and Y. The results showed that optimization of medical record data processing was able to improve the quality of posyandu cadre services and KMS literacy in mothers. The most significant improvement in the quality of cadre services is active cadres providing health information on the results of measurements of baby's weight and height to the mother. The most significant increase in KMS literacy is being able to read the KMS chart and find out the meaning of the KMS chart. Keywords: Cadres, Literation, Medical Record, Posyandu, Quality


The author reveals the evolution of the aesthetical reflection, the mechanism of its forming from the standpoint of philosophical analysis. In the author`s reasoning the man is his highest expression spiriture and creative activity.


With the inherent defects of the inverter side thyristor converter commutation failure and the IGBT voltage source converter poor overcurrent capability, this paper analyzes the engineered applicability of multiple fully-controlled power electronics, presents the controllable switching converter that based on reverse blocking IGCT. A triggering strategy that based on the non-full cycle reverse phase locked loop technology is demonstrated, concurrently, the steady-state control strategy of controllable switching line-commutated converter and the AC fault crossing strategy with additional bypass valve are put forward. Finally, a hybrid-HVDC transmission simulation model which use the conventional thyristor converter and controllable switching line-commutated converter is taken for an example within RTDS. The simulation results show that the DC line fault process is same as the conventional thyristor converter, during AC fault at the inverter side, the commutation failure and AC overvoltage near rectifier station can be avoided.


A variety of micro forming processes has been invented, and the size effects have become a research hotspot at home and abroad. Micro bending molds with different feature sizes were designed. Quasi-static tester loading and dynamic laser shock loading with soft punch for micro bending forming was studied by numerical simulation respectively based on ANSYS implicit analysis and LS-DYNA explicit analysis. The constitutive models of workpiece are bilinear kinematic hardening model and Johnson-cook model respectively. The effects of different loading conditions and feature sizes of the die on the forming depth, equivalent plastic strain and equivalent plastic strain rate were studied. The results of numerical simulation show that, with the increasing of feature size of the mold, the forming depth under two kinds of loading conditions shows a tendency to increase. In dynamic laser shock loading, the equivalent plastic strain and equivalent plastic strain rate of the key position of the bent part would decrease with the increasing of the feature size of the die. While in quasi-static loading, the opposite law is shown. The research shows that, the flexible micro-bending processes with different loading models showed similar size effect. However, compared with quasi-static loading, in dynamic loading, the strain of forming parts is more centralized, and there is a high strain rate and better formability of the workpiece.


AbstractIn this paper we revisit fundamentals of modeling and discuss the notions of models, representations,validation and verification, and many other basic concepts. We argue that the key notions about modeland simulation quality, i.e. of what constitites valid simulations, can be understood and also classifiedusing the simple concept of comparison. To arrive at this conclusion, we first discuss our basic under-standing of modeling and that of the simulation process. Throughout the paper we will discuss issuesrelated to computer simulation in full generality, but occasionally we will also refer to particular pointsconcerning our own domain of work, agent-based simulations. Keywords: models, simulations, validation, verification, prediction, retrodiction, comparison framework 1 Introduction Computer simulation has a long history in many disciplines in natural science, and recently it is gainingfocus in various fields of computational science [2, 12] and social sciences [7, 6] as well. Naturally,and quite desirably, this is accompanied by a renewed interest in the methodology of computationalmodeling in general, and a discussion about what constitutes valid and accepted results of modelingin particular [8]. This debate is important, because the apparent differences in the way of thinking(or "modes of thought") of the natural, engineering and social sciences makes it sometimes difficult tosimply import the validity concepts used in one disciplines to another, even if relying on disciplines witha long history of computer simulation.In this paper we argue that the key concepts about valid simulations can be understood and alsoclassified using the simple concept of comparison. To arrive at this conclusion, we first discuss ourbasic understanding of modeling and that of the simulation process. Throughout the paper we willdiscuss issues related to computer simulation in full generality, but occasionally we will also refer toparticular points concerning our own domain of work, agent-based simulations [10].


Web data repository contain large data it is may not possible to get the appropriate search result in efficient time, new technique is introduce to extraction of data to solve such problem. Data extraction is retrieving meaningful data from large data sources or data repository technique. Establish new method for extraction of data and alignment from web pages by using combine tag and value similarities in which uses the clustering technique for data extraction and alignment. Advance combine tag and value similarities technique is introduce to perform the data extraction to gives the search result efficient and the more appropriate. Apart from such data extraction technique also introduce to measure the system performance, to know whether the system works properly or not, performance of the system is measure on the basis of generation of cluster. Clustering technique clustering the similar data regions in order to perform efficient identification of web pages and similar Query result pages and result shows in comparison form.


The electronic properties of strained hydrogen-passivated Si nanosheets are investigated using the first-principles density functional theory. Asymmetrical strain has been found to cause a direct-t...


Abstract

Aim: Metformin is an anti-diabetic drug associated with lactic acidosis as a rare side effect which is thought to be due to drug-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in the liver and other tissues. In this study, the mitochondrial toxicity of metformin and its now withdrawn predecessor phenformin was assessed in human peripheral blood cells.
Methods: Platelets and peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated and their integrated mitochondrial function was studied in intact and permeabilized state using high-resolution respirometry. Using different concentrations of metformin (0.1 – 100 mM) or phenformin (25-500 μM) the dose- and time-dependent effect on routine respiration, as well as the effect on respiratory states and respiratory function of complex I, II and IV was assessed.
Results: In intact platelets, routine respiration and maximal uncoupled respiration were decreased by 83.27 % and 56.86 % after 60 minutes incubation with 100 mM metformin compared to control. The same dose of metformin caused a drop of 81.22 % in routine respiration during 60 minutes exposure compared to at administration. 10 mM metformin induced a dose-dependent inhibition of complex I-dependent oxidative phosphorylation capacity up to 92.04 % in permeabilized platelets and up to 81.47 % in permeabilized peripheral blood mononuclear cells. A dose of 0.5 mM phenformin caused a 5.32-fold more pronounced complex I inhibition than metformin.
Conclusion: Metformin and phenformin impair mitochondrial function in human peripheral blood cells through inhibition of complex I in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Respirometry of peripheral blood cells may be a suitable assay to predict mitochondrial toxicity of drugs in humans.


This article contains a complete derivation of necessary and sufficient conditions which a given sequence of intervals must satisfy in order that a Hill differential operator , with real, periodic potential , exist, whose spectrum coincides with this sequence of intervals. The proof is based on a specific representation of entire functions such that the equation has only real roots, conformal mappings having properties associated with this representation, and refined asymptotic formulas for the eigenvalues of certain boundary value problems.Bibliography: 17 titles.


Search and recommendation systems, such as search engines, recruiting tools, online marketplaces, news, and social media, output ranked lists of content, products, and sometimes, people. Credit ratings, standardized tests, risk assessments output only a score, but are also used implicitly for ranking. Bias in such ranking systems, especially among the top ranks, can worsen social and economic inequalities, polarize opinions, and reinforce stereotypes. On the other hand, a bias correction for minority groups can cause more harm if perceived as favoring group-fair outcomes over meritocracy. In this paper, we study a trade-off between individual fairness and group fairness in ranking. We define individual fairness based on how close the predicted rank of each item is to its true rank, and prove a lower bound on the trade-off achievable for simultaneous individual and group fairness in ranking. We give a fair ranking algorithm that takes any given ranking and outputs another ranking with simultaneous individual and group fairness guarantees comparable to the lower bound we prove. Our algorithm can be used to both pre-process training data as well as post-process the output of existing ranking algorithms. Our experimental results show that our algorithm performs better than the state-of-the-art fair learning to rank and fair post-processing baselines.


This paper presents a novel double paddle-shaped radiation pattern reconfigurable antenna using shorting probe. The antenna consists of a central circular patch and two paddle-shaped parasitic patches with U-shaped slot. The parasitic patches are connected to the shorting probe via two PIN diodes. By switching the diode states (ON or OFF), the radiation pattern of the proposed antenna can be reconfigured into two modes. The designed antenna works in 5.2GHzWLAN frequency band. The simulated and measured results of the return loss and radiation pattern are presented and demonstrate a good agreement.


The present study on farmers perception towards crop insurance scheme was conducted in the year 2015-16 in Amravati district. For this study 100 respondents were purposively selected from two tahsils of district with the help of random sampling method. Frequencies, mean, standard deviation, correlation of co-efficient analysis were employed for interpreting the results. Findings of relational analysis revealed that education, subsidiary occupation, extension contacts, social participation, benefits availed, crops covered in crop insurance were positively and significantly correlated with perception and age, annual income, farming experience, source of information were negatively but significantly correlated with perception except land holding and loan availed from bank which were non-significantly related with perception. Crop diversification, forward marketing, adjustment of investment, timeliness of the field operations were the important risk management strategies adopted by the farmers in view of loss occurred to crop failure.


In this issue of Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews, the article ''Task-Dependent Postural Control Throughout the Lifespan'' by Haddad et al. (2) promotes two major ideas: 1) Postural control is highly task dependent and 2) Postural variability is functionalV it reflects the availability of multiple solutions (resulting from kinematic and neuromuscular redundancy) and may play an exploratory role by generating sensory information. These ideas are central to an ecologicaldynamical perspective on postural control. Haddad et al. (2) make important contributions to that perspective by summarizing recent findings on postural control across the lifespan and by emphasizing the relevance of this approach for clinical and rehabilitation applications. Postural stability typically is described in terms of minimizing spontaneous postural sway and counteracting perturbations that displace the center of mass away from a single reference point centered within the base of support. The alternative proposed by Haddad et al. (2) is that successful postural control amounts to achieving body configurations that fall somewhere within a stable subspace of the postural configuration space (depicted graphically in Configuration Space Diagrams). Variability within the stable region of the configuration space is acceptable and will not lead to falls. The boundary of the stable region is the reference for upright stance; there is not just one body configuration that is most desirable or stable. The boundaries are dynamic; they change on a moment-to-moment basis as the actor moves, the environment changes, or task demands arise and dissolve. What is ''stable'' reflects suprapostural task goals and the behavioral (including social) and environmental contexts. Configuration space diagrams potentially are useful, but there is a need to develop the idea beyond its current qualitative descriptive form. The uncontrolled manifold (4), goalequivalent manifold (1), and the Tolerance-Noise-Covariation (3) methods may be well suited for that purpose. These methods differ in important ways yet share in common the idea that motor performance can be understood by describing how relatively microscopic motor system degrees of freedom (DF) map onto relatively macroscopic task variables. In redundant systems, many combinations of the microscale DF preserve a value of the task variable. This is equivalent to saying that there is a stable subregion (or manifold) of the configuration space, whose dimensions are the microscale DF, within which the task variable remains constant. Variations within that manifold can remain unchecked without leading to task failure. For quiet stance, joint angles can serve as the microscale DF and center of mass position can serve as the task variable, but expanding this idea to incorporate the approach of Haddad et al. (2) requires defining the task variable in terms of the functional goals of the suprapostural task. Postural variability is informative for postural control; Postural sway generates information (visual, somatosensory, vestibular, etc.) that is specific to the changing position of the body and thus can be useful for controlling posture. A challenge that remains for researchers is to determine whether (and when) postural sway is explicitly exploratory (i.e., it is an intentional information-seeking act) rather than performatory (in the service of a behavioral goal) or unintended noise. At some level, this may not matter; regardless of intent, postural sway may provide information useful for postural control. But the term ''exploratory'' connotes an intention, and, if this is indeed the case, then efforts to model postural control will benefit from fleshing out this idea more definitely. Lastly, the authors raise important implications for rehabilitation. Models that account for properties of the actor, task, and environment may be more useful in clinical settings than models based on quiet stance. Quiet stance may lack the sensitivity and specificity desirable in a diagnostic tool for clinical applications because the absence of an explicit suprapostural task leaves postural control underconstrained. Potentially fruitful directions for clinical research may be to identify the limits to which an actor's postural control system is appropriately adaptive so as to support a variety of suprapostural task goals and to track the evolution of the stable region during the course of rehabilitation. Authors for this section are recruited by Commentary Editor: Russell R. Pate, Ph.D., FACSM, Department of Exercise Science, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208 (E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com).


Though all-or-nothing oblivious transfer and one-out-of-two oblivious transfer are equivalent in classical cryptography, we here show that a protocol built upon secure quantum all-or-nothing oblivious transfer cannot satisfy the rigorous definition of quantum one-out-of-two oblivious transfer due to the nature of quantum cryptography. Thus the securities of the two oblivious transfer protocols are not equivalent at the quantum level.


Article 690-5 of the National Electrical Code (NEC) 1990 Edition requires that photovoltaic (PV) power systems mounted on the roofs of dwellings be equipped with a device that will detect ground faults in the array, interrupt the fault current, and disable the array. The design of a ground fault indicator and array disabler device that meets the requirements of the NEC for stand-alone and grid-tied systems is described. Preliminary testing revealed a low-voltage oscillation and excessive power consumption at voltages below the operating window. These problems have been resolved by a voltage monitoring relay.<<ETX>>


A 2-D cellular automaton(CA)-finite-element(FE) model in CALCOSOFT2D was used to predict the solidification microstructure evolution Al-Si(w(Si)=7%) alloy.Gaussian distribution of nucleation sites was adopted in the presented CA-FE model.Then the Kurz-Giovanola-Triedi model was used to account for the growth kinetics of the dendrite tip.The predicted grain structures were validated at various casting conditions,such as nucleation parameter,casting temperature and heat transfer coefficient.It shows that this simulation is feasible.


This dissertation proposes to evaluate the impact of institutional development on the financial development in the Central Africa Economic and Monetary Community (CAEMC).An econometric and statistical approach is used in order to realise this objective. According to the methodology suggested by Demirguc-Kunt & Levine (1996) and by Chouchane Verdier (2004), the statistical approach makes it possible to build the financial development indice of the countries of the mentioned zone. This statistical approach reveals the delay by these countries in term of financial development compared to other countries. Following the methodology proposed by Demetriades & Luintel (1996)and by Ito (2005), the econometric approach, with the aid of sargan test and the Arrelano & Bond (1991)test on our dynamic panel data, highlights the negative impact of the weakness of the level of institutional development on the financial development.It can explain why financial liberalization is only slightly beneficial with the financial development.


There is very little information and there are only a few publications on TBE in Kyrgyzstan. A survey by Atkinson1 references the following: In humans and birds low seropositivity has been demonstrated as early as 1973. In 1978 the TBEV was isolated from ticks, and twelve human cases were reported between 1976–1981.


The EU's structural reform agenda attaches a considerable weight to the establishment of efficiently working and integrated EU financial markets. While there is a firm consensus that a well-functioning financial sector is a precondition for the efficient allocation of resources and the exploitation of an economy's growth potential, the economic literature is less consensual on how and to what extent finance affects economic growth. This paper reviews the economic theory and available evidence with particular focus on three questions: how does financial development affect economic growth; what are the features of a growth supportive financial structure; how are financial structures related to structural change and technical progress?Â


Multivariate empirical mode decomposition (MEMD) method is explored in this paper to perform modal identification of structures using the multisensor vibration data. Due to inherent sifting operation of empirical mode decomposition (EMD), the traditional MEMD results in mode‐mixing that causes significant inaccuracy in modal identification and condition assessment of structures. Independent component analysis, another powerful blind signal decomposition method, is integrated with the MEMD to alleviate mode‐mixing in the resulting modal responses. The proposed technique is verified using a suite of numerical, experimental, and full‐scale studies (a building tower in China and a long‐span bridge in Canada) considering several practical applications such as low‐energy frequencies, closely spaced modes, and measurement noise. The results confirm the improved performance of the proposed method and prove that it can be considered as a robust system identification tool for flexible structures.


Combining with the current situation for special building of some school in Changsha,the paper sums up the structural shortages of the buildings and the lag between the situation and the current seismic regulation and requirements,points out the seismic and intensification principles,the intensification technology and the application of the methods,so as to have the reference role for the identification for similar buildings in similar periods and the application of the seismic and intensification reconstruction.


The problem of distributed estimation in energy-harvesting wireless sensor networks (EH-WSNs) is studied. In general, the energy state of an energy-harvesting sensor varies dramatically. Existing efforts mainly concentrate on the problem of distributed estimation for battery-powered WSNs, ignoring the crucial issue of energy harvesting. Therefore, the unpredictable energy harvesting, the energy storage device, and energy consumption are modeled in a unified way to jointly address the energy harvesting and distributed estimation problem. In this paper, combining with the classical adaptive distributed estimation scheme, the problem of parameter estimation in EH-WSNs is formulated as a game of complete and perfect information. Each player decides its strategy according to the others' energy states and actions. The subgame perfect equilibrium (SPE) is derived by backward induction. Simulation results show that the proposed SPE makes full use of the harvested energy and improves the estimation performance.


Magneto‐optical effects are at the heart of modern technologies providing opportunities for polarization control in laser physics and optical communications, metrology, and in high‐density data storage. Here a new type of a hyperbolic magneto‐optical metamaterial based on Au–Ni nanorod arrays is developed. The metamaterial exhibits an enhanced magneto‐optical response with large rotation of the polarization plane and nonreciprocal light transmission. The effective medium model that incorporates both plasmonic and magneto‐optical phenomena in complex multicomponent nanorod media is proposed and validated. The experimental and theoretical results indicate that the magneto‐optical response of the nanostructured metamaterial is drastically enhanced and spectrally modified with respect to bulk ferromagnetic media due to interplay between strong anisotropy and magnetic field induced polarization rotation.


Submitted for the APR18 Meeting of The American Physical Society Superconducting cavity in CAPP's dark matter axion experiment DANHO AHN, Korea advanced institute of science and technology, Department of Physics, Daejeon, Korea, OHJOON KWON, Center for Axion and Precision Physics Research, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon, Korea, DOJUN YOUM, Korea advanced institute of science and technology, Department of Physics, Daejeon, Korea, WONJUN JANG, Center for Quantum Nano Science, Institute for Basic Science, Seoul, Korea, WOOHYUN CHUNG, Center for Axion and Precision Physics Research, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon, Korea, DOYU LEE, JINSU KIM, Korea advanced institute of science and technology, Department of Physics, Daejeon, Korea, YANNIS SEMERTZIDIS, Center for Axion and Precision Physics Research, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon, Korea — The IBS Center for Axion and Precision Physics Research (CAPP) in Korea searches for axions using a tunable resonant cavity to enhance axion to photon conversion rates to a detectable level when the cavity resonates at the axion mass. The superconducting coat on the inner surface of the cavity could raise the Q-factor significantly, among other possible improvements to enhance the sensitivity of the experiment, but the presence of the high magnetic field prevents it since the type I superconductor loses superconductivity easily even with a small amount of field. I will present the results of measuring Q-factors of the cavity by coating NbTi with RF magnetron sputtering method and applying YBCO tapes to the inner surface of the cavity.


This article take the grinding compound water jet flow compound electrolysis processing equipment as a platform,Develops set of tests systems.The test system uses the LabVIEW hypothesized instrument technology,applies in the grinding compound water jet flow compound electrolysis processing the condition test,realizes involves to the processing process in to the parameter(pressure,current capacity,temperature,voltage and electric current and so on)carry on function and so on data acquisition,memory,demonstration,this design uses American NI Corporation to produce based on PCI main line data acquisition card PCI--6024E,E series product senior fixed time function and the multi-boards synchronizing capacity,may satisfy the many kinds of systems the need,strengthened the data acquisition system flexibility and the compatibility.This set of test system needs after the replacement the sensor,after only revises the software procedure to be possible again to apply in other processing equipment condition tests,thus achieved one machine multipurpose,reduces the test cost,the enhancement measuring accuracy goal.


Self-concept is a often studied concept among children and youth in relationship with social- behavioural problems, as a predictor of future functioning or as a base of intervention planning with youth. The comparison of data is often difficult since different instruments are used for measurement. This paper will summarise the experience of three different researches of self-concept conducted with children and youth (age 11-21) in Croatia with different intensity of social-behavioural problems. Participants in researches were: secondary school youth (F=560, M=432), children in children's homes (F/M=301) and boys and young men in conflict with law (non-institutional measures M=146, institutional measures M=126). The aim of this paper is to analyze the contribution of specific self-concept instruments used in three different researches in explaining social- behavioural problems of children and youth. Social self-concept was measured by using three types of instruments: 1. Marsh's Self- Description Questionnaire (45 items) 2. Offer's Self-Image Questionnaire (28 items) and 3. Coppersmith's Self-esteem Questionnaire (25 items) Challenges faced in analysing and comparison of data were: different measurement instruments, too long instruments for younger age groups, differences in self-concept depending on their age (some self-concept instruments were for age groups 11 to 18 years or, 13 to 19 years), participants with more intensive social-behavioural problems had more difficulties in understanding and answering questions. All this has an impact on the validity and sensitivity of the results. Therefore better planning and preparing of researches, especially instruments of self- concept in children and youth with social- behavioural problems is necessary in order to get more reliable and valid results. In this presentation contribution of results and practical suggestions for self-concept researches in children and youth will be critically discussed.


Abstract 1629 Background: With the widespread use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), the prognosis of HIV infected subjects has been improved, even if with AIDS-related lymphoma. Burkitt lymphoma progresses very rapidly, but highly intensive chemotherapy (e.g. CODOX-M/IVAC, hyper-CVAD/MA) has been shown to be a promising strategy. In this time, AIDS-related lymphoma is treated with similarly to non AIDS lymphoma, nevertheless it is not clear whether the highly intensive regimens are feasible and beneficial for AIDS-related Burkitt or not. We conducted nationwide retrospective survey to clarify the clinical outcomes of AIDS-related Burkitt lymphoma, especially in context with the usage of rituximab. Materials and Methods: All AIDS-related Burkitt lymphoma newly diagnosed at center hospitals for HIV/AIDS in Japan during the period 2002–2010 were serially registered. The chart review was performed for all identified patients (pts) to obtain the following information; age, PS, CD4 count, previous AIDS, clinical stage, disease site, chemotherapy regimen, tumor response, and clinical outcomes. The effects of treatment and the clinical variables on overall survival (OS) were assessed. Results: We identified 33 pts; the median age was 41 (range, 26–70 years) and the male gender accounted for 97% of the pts (32/33). Twenty-three pts (70%) had history of AIDS and the median CD4 count was 205/mm 3 (range, 3–488/mm 3 ). Twenty-nine (88%) were diagnosed in advanced stage (III/IV), with bone marrow (BM) involvement in 16 (48%) and central nervous system (CNS) infiltration in 7 (21%). Nineteen (58%) were treated with rituximab-contain regimen and 14 (42%) were not. As chemotherapy regimen, 6 (18%) were treated with CODOX-M/IVAC, 22 (67%) with hyper-CVAD/MA and 5 (15%) with other regimens. Of 19 pts treated with rituximab-contain regimen, none were treated with CODOX-M/IVAC. Response at the end of treatment among 32 assessable pts was as follows: complete response (CR): 24 (73%); partial response (PR): 2 (6%); stable disease (SD): 1 (3%); progression disease (PD): 5 (15%). The median follow-up was 17 months. Two-year OS of total pts was 68.1%. There was no significant difference between chemotherapy regimens with/without rituximab ( p =0.367). Two-year OS was 66.7% in CODOX-M/IVAC and 71.6% in hyper-CVAD/MA ( p =0.724). There was no significant difference in OS by BM involvement and CNS infiltration, respectively. There were a few pts with treatment-related death. Conclusions: The favorable overall outcomes of AIDS-related Burkitt lymphoma were shown in this study. Highly intensive chemotherapy regimens were feasible and brought high remission rate and long OS. The addition of rituximab to highly intensive chemotherapy has not shown to be beneficial for AIDS-related Burkitt lymphoma. We now conduct prospective a clinical trial to optimize the treatment strategy for AIDS-related Burkitt lymphoma. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


The wireless sensor network is a new kind of wireless Ad hoc network and highly applications prospects. The efficient routing protocol is the focus of researching. Now we request the sensor network more and more strictly demand with the deepening research and application. However, the congestion will make decrease performance of network quickly with the increase of data load in wireless sensor network. The network performance will be improved according to the self-adapt flow control mechanism for wireless sensor network, which calculates and judges virtual price in congestion nodes at first, and sends virtual price to sending nodes, then controls flow in sending nodes. This will promote the transmission quality of network data frequency to a new higher level.


Ketamine is a drug derived of the phenciclidine and has been used in veterinary anaesthesia for a long time. Its (+) isomers, s-ketamine, was recently introduced in the clinical practice and has been used mainly in human anaesthesia. So, this experiment was performed to evaluate comparatively possible electrocardiographic changes in dogs anesthetized with S-ketamine or ketamine and also evaluate heart rate, respiratory rate, oxihemoglobine saturation and arterial pressure. Ten adult male and female dogs were used in this study. All dogs were healthy and mix breed. The animals were divided in two equal number groups (G1 and G2). The G1 received 20mg/kg of S-ketamine intra-muscularly and G2 received the same dose of ketamine with the injection protocol. The electrocardiographic changes started immediately before the drug administration (M1) and were repeated every 10 minutes (M2, M3 and M4, respectively). The numeric data were submitted to Tukey test for analysis of the repetitions in the group to verify if the averages were statistically significant or not in the several moments with significant value of 5% (p<0.05). The presented results were heart rate elevation with both drugs, mild arterial pressure changes could also be observed. No changes in the SpO2 were detected and no electrocardiographic changes with clinic importance could be identified. Consequently it is possible to assume as a conclusive hypotheses that S-ketamine and ketamine have similar effects over the miocardium electrical conductivity.


This work aims to provide effective strategies and practical tools to control the diameter of fibers, a long-lasting challenge in the application of free surface melt electrospinning, mainly by hig...


The establishment of the quantitative precipitin reaction as an analytical-chemical procedure by Heidelberger and Kendall (1) was followed in 1937 by Kendall's original use of the method in the estimation of human serum proteins in health and disease (2, 3). A major drawback to the use of this immunochemical method for obtaining meaningful human serum protein values has concerned the purity or homogeneity of the specific protein used as the antigen (4). In particular, the heterogeneity of the human gamma globulin fraction, as defined electrophoretically, has been pointed out (5). Cohn, Deutsch and Wetter have demonstrated distinctive immunochemical behavior in various subfractions of the human serum gamma globulins (6). In these studies, however, the principal differences in immunochemical behavior of the subfractions were noted in zones of antigen excess; this zone is not employed in the studies reported herein. Although numerous physical, chemical and immunological criteria have been set forth for the establishment of protein purity, the lack of information regarding protein structure does not permit a clear definition of a single human protein species. In general, the proteins comprising the human serum gamma globulins separated by ethanol fractionation have an isoelectric distribution of pH 5.7 to 7.5; their electrophoretic mobilities range from 0.97 to 2.64. The marked antigenic similarity, indeed almost antigenic identity, of the members of this family of proteins in


Hydrazidines, V. — Synthesis and Reactions of Aromatic and Aliphatic Hydrazidines and Their N1-Substituted Derivatives

Aromatic hydrazidines 3 have been synthetized by reaction of aromatic orthocarboxylates 4 with tert-butyl carbazate (5) and reaction of the protected hydrazidines 7 with HCl/methanol or HBr/acetic acid. Aliphatic N1-methylhydrazidines 8 have been prepared by methylation of bis (tert-butoxycarbonyl)-hydrazidines 7 and deprotection with HBr/acetic acid. Aromatic N1-methylhydrazidines 8 have been obtained by methylation of N1-methyl(thiohydrazides) 11, reaction of 12 with tert-butyl carbazate (5) and deprotection of 13 with HCl/methanol. — Attempts to remove both protecting groups in N1-alkyl-N2,N4-bis


Theoretical constructs, such as the information gap theory and compression progress theory, seek to explain how humans practice curiosity. According to the former, curiosity is the drive to acquire information missing from our understanding of the world. According to the latter, curiosity is the drive to construct parsimonious mental world models. To complement the densification and simplification processes inherent to these frameworks, we propose the conformational change theory, wherein we posit that curiosity builds mental models with marked conceptual flexibility. We formalize curiosity as a knowledge-network-building process to investigate each theoretical account for individuals and collectives. In knowledge networks, gaps can be identified as topological cavities, compression progress can be quantified using network compressibility, and flexibility can be measured as the number of conformational degrees of freedom. We find that curiosity fills gaps and constructs increasingly compressible and flexible knowledge networks. Across individuals and collectives, we determine the contexts in which each account is explanatory, clarifying their complementary and distinct contributions. Our findings offer a novel networks-based perspective that harmonizes with (and compels an expansion of) the traditional taxonomy of curiosity.


Autonomous English learning is of great importance for college undergraduates.The problems have been analyzed and countermeasures have been suggested for improving students' comprehensive competence of using English language by raising the awareness of autonomous learning.


With the rising costs of a good education, paying for your education is not that easy any longer and may require a study loan. Some employers and families will help to cover the cost of education, but you can not always count on others to help with your...


Furyl- and thienylacrylates (8-14) and acrylic acids (8a,10a-14a) are prepared in moderate yields by palladium catalysed coupling of substituted bromofurans and bromothiophenes with ethyl acrylate


The influence of the electron-phonon coupling on the energy of low-lying states of the barrier D- center, which consists of a positive ion located on the z-axis at a distance from the two-dimensional quantum dot plane and two electrons in the dot plane bound by the ion, is investigated at arbitrary strength of magnetic field by making use of the method of few-body physics. Discontinuous ground-state energy transitions induced by the magnetic field are reported. The dependence of the binding energy of the D- ground state on the quantum dot radius is obtained. A considerable enhancement of the binding is found for the D- ground state, which results from the confinement of electrons and electron-phonon coupling.


A number of spatio-temporal data models have been proposed in the geographic information system (GIS) since Langran (USA 1989). Most of them are general models. So very few have been actually implemented without considering the specific application domain. Cadastral information system (CIS) is a typical temporal geographic system (TGIS). Besides the general problems in TGIS, there are many difficulties in the research on CIS such as data redundancy, low query efficiency and the relationship problem between the father parcel and the son parcel. A spatio-temporal data model based on the parcel is proposed to overcome above problems in this paper. This model is directed by base state with amendments (BSA) and the unique aspects of the cadastral data. The basic entities in the cadastral such as the boundary point, the boundary line and the land parcel are analyzed. Furthermore, the parcel is the primary object studied. Temporal and spatial attributes can be concentrated on the parcel object. BSA is extended to decrease the data redundancy greatly. And for the purpose of improving the query efficiency, a data structure with a linked list is introduced in the database designing. In the end a rudimentary CIS is developed for the implementation of the proposed data model. It emphasizes the capability of dealing with the tracing of the land parcel and the query between the father parcel and the son parcel. These functionalities will be developed with VB6.0 and combined through dynamic linked library with Oracle9i. This model and the prototype will make an offer of help for the future study in CIS.


Our results show that difference in resistance to infection with VHS virus is associated with differences in gene expression profiles. This genetic variation indicates that it is possible to breed for increased resistance in rainbow trout. We need further analyses of the function of gene products to understand the mechanisms that confer resistance in rainbow trout to VHS and other diseases.