To the editor We thank Dholaria and colleagues for their letter1 in response to our manuscript titled, "Comparison of Hypersensitivity Rates to Intravenous and Intramuscular PEG-Asparaginase in Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: A meta-analysis and systematic review."2 Dholaria and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study inclusive of children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia in a single Australian institution, and participating in a Children's Oncology Group trial from 2004 to 2014. They found that hypersensitivity rates were not significantly different (P = 0.53) between patients treated with pegylated asparaginase delivered by intravenous (IV) and intramuscular (IM) routes (27.1% [95% CI 16.4–37.8%; N = 70] vs. 22.8% [95% CI 14.0–31.6%; N = 92], respectively). This is in contrast to our findings where we found pooled hypersensitivity rates of 23.5% (95% CI 14.7–33.7%) and 8.7% (95% CI 5.4–12.8%) for IV (N = 261) and IM (N = 491) administration, respectively. Of note, our pooled rates were calculated separately for eachgroupand, therefore, each studywasnot assigned equivalentweights given thediffering sample size between IV and IM groups. Based on the sample size in the Dholaria study, they are able to detect an absolute risk difference greater than 0.22, assuming an alpha of 0.05 and a power of 0.80 based on the chi-squared test. Thus, their study was not sufficiently powered to detect a minimal clinical important difference of 0.10, a value we consider appropriate. Additionally, the authors do not present the clinical, treatment, or demographic characteristics of theparticipants included in the IVand IMgroups and, thus, we are unable to assess the degree to which their estimates are affected by confounding variables. In the light of the evidence presented by Dholaria and colleagues, we performed an update of our meta-analysis using the same methods outlined in our manuscript.2 We identified six additional reports, two of which were referenced by Dholaria and colleagues,3,4 all of which were deemed unfit for inclusion in our meta-analysis for the following reasons: Data was already included in our meta-analysis from an abstract which is now formally published,5 inclusion of relapsed patients6 or young adults,4,7 insufficient data reported to conduct meta-analysis (i.e., only grades 3–4 hypersensitivity reactions reported)4,7,8 and both study arms did not use pegylated asparaginase.3 We, therefore, performed a meta-analysis without5,9–11 and with1,5,9–11 the data reported by Dholaria and colleagues, which is presented in Figure 1, to calculate the absolute risk difference of IV versus IM. Our analysis reveals that inclusion of the findingsbyDholaria and colleaguesmarginally shifted the absolute risk difference from 0.12 (95% CI 0.06–0.18) to 0.11 (95% CI 0.06–0.16) and remained significant. However, as Dholaria and colleagues, along with others, have demonstrated, the rate of hypersensitivity is confounded by risk type among other factors. This has been detailed in our manuscript2 and in other reviews.12,13 Thequality of ourmeta-analysis findings aredependenton thequality of the observational studies included and, thus, the evidence we present should be interpreted accordingly. With the aforementioned in mind, our meta-analysis is a synthesis of the evidence available, and additional studies are needed to better understand the differences in hypersensitivity between pegylated asparaginase delivered via IVe and IM.


We report zero-field muon-spin-rotation studies on single crystals of Sr{sub 2}CuO{sub 2}Cl{sub 2} between 5 and 300 K. Magnetic order below the Neel temperature is observed, and the results are compared with those of neutron diffraction measurements. The temperature dependence of the muon precession frequencies exhibits properties characteristic to two-dimensional spin-1/2 systems with a dominant Heisenberg interaction and very small anisotropy. The splitting of the muon precession frequency below 60 K indicates either a magnetic phase transition or a change in the {mu}{sup +} site. By comparing the observed static internal field with the calculated dipolar field from Cu{sup 2+} moments in the crystal we found that the moun sites are located near the center of CuO{sub 2} planes.


Objective: This study aimed to compare the efficacy of long-acting risperidone and zuclopenthixol in subjects with schizophrenia and substance abuse. Method: A total of 115 subjects with schizophrenia and substance use disorders were enrolled for an open, randomized, controlled, 6-month follow-up study. Fifty-seven subjects were selected for treatment with long-acting injectable risperidone, while another 58 were treated with zuclopenthixol-depot. Results: Long-acting risperidone patients presented fewer positive urine tests (8.67 compared with 10.36, P = 0.005), showed improved scores on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, and showed better compliance with the Substance Abuse Management program. The use of long-acting risperidone and less severe dependence explained the outcome at the end of the follow-up. Conclusions: Long-acting injectable risperidone was more effective than zuclopenthixol-depot in improving substance abuse and schizophrenia symptoms in subjects with dual diagnosis.


In this paper we analyze the effects of social security policies in an unfunded, earnings-related social security system on the incentives to education investment and voluntary retirement, on growth and on income inequality. Growth is endogenously driven by human capital investment, individuals differ in their innate (learning) ability at birth, and the pension scheme includes a minimum pension. More skilled individuals spend more on education, minimum pensions reduce low skill individuals' incentives to invest in human capital, there is no monotonic relationship between per capita growth and income inequality.


Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are worldwide contaminants that can reach toxic concentrations that are detrimental to the environment and human health. In this study, three different isolates (Klebsiella oxytoca, Klebsiella pneumonia and Acinetobacter sp.) from crude petroleum oil samples were found to be PAHs utilizers. They are able to utilize four different PAHs, phenanthrene, fluoranthene, pyrene, and benzene. K. oxytoca is the most efficient utilizer of the PAHs rather than K. pneumonia and Acinetobacter sp. It can utilize almost 83% of benzene after 48 h of shaking, if supplemented with nitrogen source. The isolates have been molecularly identified by partial sequencing of the 16S rDNA gene (approximately 900 bp) and the results demonstrated a high degree of homology to K. oxytoca (up to 99% similarity), K. pneumonia (from 97 to 99% similarity) and Acinetobacter sp (up to 99% similarity).


Aligned nano-ZnO arrays are prepared on the silicon and Al2O3 substrates with CVD method in the temperature range of 750-1 050 ℃.The morphology and microstructures of aligned nano-ZnO arrays are researched with SEM,TEM,and PL analytic technologys,respectively.It is found that the deposition temperatures are very importante on the morphologies and microstructures of aligned nano-ZnO arrays.Growth properties of the aligned nano-ZnO arrays are discussed and analyzed in different synthetic conditions.


Abstract This paper describes an experimental exploration of droplet–droplet and droplet–flame interactions in a self-sustained rectilinear monodispersed droplet stream flame. Fuel droplets in the stream have an initial diameter of approximately 1OOµm and travel at an average velocity of 1Om/s (Reynolds number approximately 100) vertically upward. The initial center to center droplet spacing is between 2 and 10 droplet diameters. The droplet stream ignites as it passes through an electrically heated coil of bare nickel–chromium wire. Vaporization rates are computed from changes in droplet size that are measured from photographs. The results indicate that, as the spacings examined, droplet vaporization rates in the stream flame differ from isolated droplet vaporization rates. In this spacing regime, the decrease in the vaporization rate is almost linear with decreasing droplet spacing. At a constant mass flow rate in the droplet stream, the total mass vaporization increases as the initial droplet size and ...


Penetration testing (or "pentesting") is critical to both maintaining and increasing the reliability of computer networks while lessening their vulnerability. The number, importance and value of these networks has been growing over the past decade, and their capabilities and respective uses have been integrated into many aspects of our lives. Without penetration testing, our networks can fall victim to a myriad of malicious mayhem which has the potential for serious, large-scale ramifications, and when these networks are not operating as expected it is often individuals who suffer. However, penetration testing poses its own new and diverse set of problems to security analysts. Due to the abstract nature of performing a pentest, the near complete lack of design geared toward effective collaboration and teamwork in many widely used penetration testing tools can create a notable hindrance for security teams. This paper describes a software project surrounding network penetration testing from a collaborative standpoint and the problems associated with team-based efforts utilizing present network analysis tools and technologies.


The paper analyses approaches to defining the notion of "educational process" and to developing a model of a system of upgrading civil employees', its main components are defined. Programme – methodical component is chosen as the one that forms the system, it is developed with regard to the pedagogical conditions singled out.


The paper briefly describes a one-dimensional dynamic model of plastic shear deformation in a material surface layer in sliding friction, giving grounds to the problem dimension reduction from 3D to 1D. A selection of simulation results is presented to illustrate the peculiarities of plastic deformation under the action of two competitive processes — work hardening and thermal softening due to frictional heating. Presented also are experimental data on which to base the conclusion on the possibility of surface layer flow similar to flow of viscous liquid. To assess from the Reynolds number whether turbulization of the surface layer is feasible, simulation results are used.


There is abundant experimental evidence supporting the high degree of action which sulfadiazine, streptomycin and hyperimmune rabbit serum manifest against Hemophilus influenzae. 1 Moreover, it has been shown that combinations of these agents have provided the best results in the treatment of meningitis caused by this gram-negative bacillus. Improvement has been apparent from the point of view of reduction of fatality and morbidity, in addition to lessening the complications resulting from this virulent form of meningitis in children. We have become increasingly interested in single forms of therapy with the newer antibiotics in acute microbial infections for several reasons: 1. Their range of activity is wider, leading to fewer superinfections. 2. They provide a simple therapeutic regimen. 3. The therapeutic action on the causative organism and the striking clinical improvement have been of sufficient degree to render it unnecessary to employ supplemental agents. 4. The problem of bacterial resistance has


This paper proposes a solution for dynamic model validation and calibration leveraging measurement data. The proposed solution is designed to meet key engineering challenges associated with implementing a generic and scalable solution, and can work across multiple dynamic simulation engines with minimal exchange of information. A nonlinear least squares based parameter estimation formulation is considered and its benefits over some of the variants of Kalman filters are discussed. The efficacy of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated on realistic dynamic models of a variety of power plants and measurement data provided by NERC. Finally, an envisioned product implementation accounting for practical implementation challenges is presented.


Introduction: Evidence based practice (EBP) is an essential in nursing education. Several factors affect the adoption of education and practice that Rogers's Diffusion of Innovation explains them. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between perceived attributes of EBP and its adoption in baccalaureate nursing students based on Rogers's Diffusion of Innovation. Methods: A this descriptive correlational study was conducted on all senior nursing students of faculty of nursing and midwifery Tehran University of Medical Sciences in Tehran (n=170). Students completed the questionnaires of EBP adoption and its perceived attributes through self report method. Data was analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and linear regression. Results: The results showed that there was significant positive relationship between adoption of EBP and its attributes (P<0.01). Liner regression showed that perceiving relative advantages, being observable, and being practicable features of EBP are all predictors for adoption of EBP (P<0.05) and 40% of the variance in adoption of EBP could be predicted by the variables. Conclusion: According to the findings, we recommend pay attention to Rogers's Diffusion of Innovation in EBP education and in order to enhance the adoption by students, it is necessary to regard the attributes being deeply perceived.


One of the essential elements for the growth of living organisms, and one of the most naturally abundant elements in the environment, Manganese has also a large range of anthropogenic sources, especially in industrialized urban areas. Perhaps because of the high tolerance of humans to Mn toxicity, the number of studies in Romania regarding it as a possible pollutant is very low, with none published for Bacau City. The data from 89 top soil samples dispersed across the entire area of the city and nearby surroundings were analysed using geostatistical Kriging interpolation in order to identify possible pollution sources and their range of influence. Three potential covariates, land use, road traffic and the height of buildings, were identified and their influence on Mn concentration was modelled using multiple regression. To represent the effect of road traffic, two potential sources of pollution were predicted based on spatial analysis of the road network: (i) gas dispersion based on a 1 km spatial kernel smoother and (ii) mechanical friction based on a 10 m spatial kernel smoother. Land use was found to explain 50%, road traffic (both components were significant) 20.9% and the height of buildings 15.8%, of the variance in Mn concentration.


We are very proud to introduce this special issue of the Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia. The papers included are the best papers we received for a Symposium on Learning Objects that we organized in 2003, as a pre-conference Symposium to ED-MEDIA 2003 (Duval, Hodgins, Rehak, & Robson, 2003). The use of learning objects promises to increase the effectiveness of learning by making content more readily available, by reducing the cost and effort of producing quality content, and by allowing content to be more easily shared. However, the development and deployment of learning objects also present new challenges to designers of learning experiences and technology alike. For that reason, we took the initiative to organize this symposium to explore the benefits and challenges of learning objects. ********** THE INTRODUCTION Initial Observations From the original 51 submissions we received for the Symposium, this special issue includes nine reworked and extended papers. In the introduction to the Symposium proceedings (Duval, Hodgins, Rehak, & Robson, 2003), we mentioned that we were struck by a number of issues: * There is a diversity of contexts where learning objects are being employed. Even though most submissions referred to applications in academia (no doubt influenced by the overall EdMedia focus), we also received submissions that dealt with industrial and military training. As far as the domain is concerned, submissions addressed similarly varied themes, including sign language, mathematics, poetry, and Chinese. * Many groups seem to be grappling with issues that relate to the pedagogically sound use of learning objects. Few papers included clear guidelines or methodologies, or analyzed in any detail what had worked and how or why it worked. It seems as if there is more agreement on the nature and relevance of the questions than on approaches to making progress with answering these questions. * Similarly, quite a few papers devoted considerable space to a discussion of the exact definition or nature of learning objects as a concept. Authors often complained about the vague or fuzzy definition of learning objects, and then proceeded to give their own definition or interpretation. Our impression is that many of these attempts for a more precise definition are somewhat simplistic and that a more promising approach would be to develop a (set of) taxonomy(ies) for different kinds of learning objects or their components. In fact, this theme could be further developed into component architecture for learning objects (Duval & Hodgins, 2003). * There were a number of attempts to analyze, in an empirical way, how learning objects are being employed; this pleased us. Often, however, the analyses remained somewhat superficial. It is of course quite difficult to separate issues that are caused by the (not always very satisfactory) state of tools from those that relate to the context of use or from those that are inherent in the notion of learning objects itself. * Somewhat surprisingly, the number of papers that focused on technical interoperability issues was rather low. Possibly this reflects the somewhat less technical focus of the EdMedia context, or perhaps it suggests that this is not the area where the most pressing problems reside (anymore). Overall, as individuals who have been involved with some of the efforts related to the development of the learning objects paradigm, we are often struck and encouraged by the diversity of applications that people find for them. On the other hand, we are somewhat concerned by some of the misconceptions and over-hyped expectations that people project onto this field. A Side Note on Presentation Versus Dialogue One of the original goals for the Symposium was to emphasize dialogue, by putting more focus on discussion rather than presentation. This proved to be a key factor in the success of this event. …


The present invention provides a device for estimating the wheel grip characteristic of the vehicle to the ground plane, the device having an input section and an output. It sets a type that represents the ratio of the wheel force and wheel slip degree of the wheel acting on the wheel in the input portion the ground plane. The output unit outputs the determined representing the grip characteristic parameter representing the grip characteristic of the wheel based on the input. Lateral load, slip angle, tires, grips, wheels


Up to now, almost all many-body theoretical calculations on the ground state of atoms took the Hartree-Fock (HF) model as zeroth order approximation. In this paper, zeroth order Hamiltonian is taken to be Hartree-Fock-Slater (HFS) type, in the double excitation approximation, many-body calculation on the ground state exchangecorrelation energy of beryllium atom is made, the result is in good agreement with experiments and other many-body theoretical calculations, which take HF model as zeroth order approximation. Our calculation shows that, take the HFS model as zeroth order approximation instead, successful many-body calculation on the ground state property of closed shell atoms can also be made.


A cross sectional study was carried out during February 2013 in order to investigate the seroprevalence of brucellosis in goats and sheep in East Shewa Zone of Oromia Regional State,Ethiopia. The study was conducted in five Peasant Associations (PAs). The study population comprised of small ruminants (goats and sheep) managed under the pastoralist production system. A total of 384 blood sera were collected and screened for Brucella antibodies by Rose Bengal plate test (RBPT). A total of 211 (54.9%) goats and 173 (45.05%) were involved in the study. The screening test was conducted in Asella Regional Veterinary laboratory (ARVL) , and n=6 (1.56%) sera samples were found to be positive .The test revealed that 5(2.3%) goats and 1 (0.5%) sheep were found to be positive. Among the total sampled animals, the maximum sero-positivity (2.3%) was observed in goats. The screening test result of this study showed that brucellosis is an endemic and distributed among small ruminants in the study area. The RBPT is useful for screening of goat and sheep sera for antibodies to B. melitensis. The test is less sensitive than in cattle, and may not detect some of the infected animals. Complement fixation test (CFT) is often used as a second test for confirmation of the RBPT positive sera. Since the current investigation focused only on the findings of RBPT, the positive results of this screening test needs to be further confirmed by CFT.As brucellosis in a major bacterial anthropozoonosis, care must be exercised when dealing with the seropositive animals. Moreover, the people in the study area should be educated not to consume raw milk as it can pose risk to many zoonotic infections including brucellosis.


..............................................................................................................................0 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY .........................................................1 1.1 Background to the Study .......................................................................................................1 1.2 Statement of the Research Problem .......................................................................................3 1.3 Objectives of the Study .........................................................................................................4 1.4 Literature Review ..................................................................................................................4 1.4.1 Foundations of Regional Integration in Africa .........................................................5 1.4.2 Rationale of Regional Integration in Africa .............................................................7 1.4.3 National Interests in the EAC ..................................................................................9 1.4.4 National Interests in the European Union .............................................................. 12 1.4.5 National Interests in Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) .............. 15 1.4.6 Managing Economic Disparities in the EAC ......................................................... 16 1.5 Significance/Justification of the study ................................................................................. 18 1.5.1 Policy Justification ................................................................................................ 18 1.5.2 Academic Justification .......................................................................................... 18 1.6 Theoretical Framework ....................................................................................................... 19 1.7 Hypotheses .......................................................................................................................... 21 1.8 Research Methodology ........................................................................................................ 22 1.8.1 Secondary Sources ................................................................................................ 22 1.8.2 Primary Sources .................................................................................................... 22 1.9 Scope and Limitation of the Study ....................................................................................... 22


We address the distribution regression problem (DRP): regressing on the domain of probability measures, in the two-stage sampled setup when only samples from the distributions are given. The DRP formulation offers a unified framework for several important tasks in statistics and machine learning including multi-instance learning (MIL), or point estimation problems without analytical solution. Despite the large number of MIL heuristics, essentially there is no theoretically grounded approach to tackle the DRP problem in two-stage sampled case. To the best of our knowledge, the only existing technique with consistency guarantees requires kernel density estimation as an intermediate step (which often scale poorly in practice), and the domain of the distributions to be compact Euclidean. We analyse a simple (analytically computable) ridge regression alternative to DRP: we embed the distributions to a reproducing kernel Hilbert space, and learn the regressor from the embeddings to the outputs. We show that this scheme is consistent in the two-stage sampled setup under mild conditions, for probability measure inputs defined on separable, topological domains endowed with kernels, with vector-valued outputs belonging to an arbitrary separable Hilbert space. Specially, choosing the kernel on the space of embedded distributions to be linear and the output space to the real line, we get the consistency of set kernels in regression, which was a 15-year-old open question. In our talk we are going to present (i) the main ideas and results of consistency, (ii) concrete kernel constructions on mean embedded distributions, and (iii) two applications (supervised entropy learning, aerosol prediction based on multispectral satellite images) demonstrating the efficiency of our approach.


A comprehensive study of the nodal and leaf anatomy of Bonnetiaceae was completed in order to provide evidence for evaluation in relation to systematics. Nodal anatomy is trilacunar, three-trace or unilacunar, one-trace. Basic leaf anatomical features of the family include: complete or incomplete medullated vascular cylinder in petiole; paracytic mature stomata with encircling ridges; large mucilaginous cells in the adaxial surface of mesophyll; periclinal divisions in upper surface layers; and discrete patches of phloem within the vascular bundles. Especially noteworthy is the presence in some genera of foliar vascular bundles enveloped by a sheath composed of two concentric regions, i.e., an inner region consisting of multiple layers of fibers and an outer specialized endodermis composed of thin-walled cells with Casparian strips. Leaves are variable with respect to lamina and cuticle thickness, relative amount and number of palisade and spongy layers, venation of lamina, and the presence or absence of sclereids and crystals in the mesophyll. A major feature in the evolution of Bonnetiaceae is development of a highly divergent, essentially parallel, leaf venation that is superficially similar to that of some monocotyledons and apparently unique among dicotyledons. Foliar anatomy provides important characters for the recognition of subgroups within Bonnetiaceae and is consistent with the segregation of Bonnetiaceae from Theaceae.


In recent years,typical effective contents of Chinese medicine for treating ischemic cerebral injury include alkaloids,flavonoid,saponins,polysaccharide,terpene,volatile oils and others.Chinese medicine can inhibit free radical generation,apoptosis and reduce toxicity of calcium ion by multi-ways and multi-targets when treating ischmeic cerebral injury so that it can relieve the damage of cerebral tissues as well as nerves.There are abundant resources of natural drugs in China and lots of them have been used in clinic.Screening effective contents from natural drugs has become the trend of research and development of new medicine.Thus,this article reviewed literatures about effective contents of Chinese medicine treating ischemic cerebral injury in recent years.


This paper describes a developmental character-printing tube for use in nonmechanical high-speed printers for computers and data-processing machines. This tube is capable of writing several thousand characters per second. Because the characters are generated photoelectrically by projection of a lantern slide upon a photocathode, type styles may be changed at will. The high resolution of the tube permits the display of characters 0.028-inch high at high instantaneous brightness levels. The elementary theory of the device is outlined briefly, and then the design and the performance characteristics of the tube are described. The tube parameters and necessary light requirements for specified character beam currents are discussed. Character brightness curves for different modes of operations are given, and photographs of the tube and a schematic arrangement of the character formation are shown. The tube operating conditions and parameters involved in a photographic recording system for high-speed recording are outlined.


Path search is designed to find a path by traversing the state spaces from the initial state to the target state. Given enough memory and run time, the A* algorithm can find an optimal solution, but it expends much time to distinguish similar paths. Therefore, many scholars have proposed variants of the A* algorithm that find a suboptimal solution to speed up the searching efficiency. In this paper, the A* algorithm is improved and a new anytime dynamic heuristic search algorithm (ADHS) is proposed. It can find a solution quickly and then continuously optimize the quality of the solution to find the suboptimal solution until the end of time. The ADHS includes two stages, in the exploration stage, given an arbitrary cost bound, the solution is quickly obtained; in the update stage, where no setting parameters are required, reuses the previous search results. According to the cost of the latest solution, the dynamic weight factor w is introduced, which is half of the error between the current cost bound and the current solution. The next cost bound is dynamically adjusted, and the suboptimal solution is output. We tested the performance of the ADHS on the grid maps, and the experiments demonstrated that the performance of the ADHS was better than other algorithms.


Gastroent Question: A 24-yearold woman presented with epigastric pain which began about 2 years ago and progressively worsened over the past 6 months. The pain occurred intermittently but usually began after a meal, lasted for about 1 hour, and radiated to the back. The patient said that she also had lost 4 kg during the past 3 months. Her past medical history was unremarkable and physical examination was positive only for mild epigastric tenderness. Laboratory test results at admission were as follows: amylase, 208 U/L; lipase, 261 U/L; total serum bilirubin, 0.48 mg/dL; direct serum bilirubin, 0.1 mg/dL; aspartate transaminase, 14 IU/L; alanine transaminase, 6 IU/L; alkaline phosphatase, 49IU/L; g-glutamyl transferase, 12 IU/L; carbohydrate antigen 19-9, 7.7 IU/mL; a-fetoprotein, 1.0 ng/mL; carcinoembryonic antigen, 1.0 ng/mL; and cancer antigen 125, 7.1 U/mL. To evaluate the cause of epigastric pain and weight loss, an abdominal CT was taken and revealed a 4.8-cm mass in the tail of the pancreas. On pre–contrast-enhanced image, the hypoattenuated central portion had a focal high attenuated lesion (white arrow), suggesting the presence of both hemorrhage and necrosis (Figure A). This pancreatic mass showed peripheral enhancement as it progressed from the arterial phase (Figure B) to the portal phase (Figure C). In addition, there was infiltration around the pancreatic mass (the splenic vein was also obstructed by the mass, evidenced by the presence of gastric fundal varix formation (black arrow; Figure D). Laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy was performed on this pancreatic mass. What is the diagnosis in this young female patient?


Social work has an important role to play in remote, rural and regional Australia in combating social disadvantage like poorer health, lower education standards, fewer employment opportunities and lower wages. The future of rural social work in Australia can be guaranteed by supporting those wishing to live and work in rural communities through education programs, industry support programs and ongoing professional programs.


Phenobarbital (PB) reduces pruritis in children with cholestasis. Individual bile salts were determined before and during PB treatment in 3 children with intrahepatic cholestasis (2 with benign recurrent cholestasis, 1 with paucity of intrahepatic bile duets) and in 3 with extrahepatic bilary atresia. In intrahepatic cholestasis the cholate/chenodeoxycholate ratio in serum, bile and urine was 2.5–10. Total serum bile salt concentration was 100–400 μg/ml. After 4 days on PB (10 mg/kg/day) total serum bile salts decreased dramatically to 1–10 μg/ml with concomitant disappearance of pruritus. Daily urinary bile salt excretion declined concomitantly from 15–40 mg to 1–2 mg. In contrast, in extrahepatic cholestasis, the cholate/chenodeoxycholate ratios were 0.1–0.4 in blood, bile and urine. Total serum bile salt concentration was 60–130 μg/ml. Treatment with PB did not lower serum or urinary bile salt concentrations. Thus, the ratio of cholate/chenodeoxycholate is different in intrahepatic and extrahepatic cholestasis. PB greatly enhances the removal of bile salts from blood in two types of intrahepatic cholestasis, but is ineffective in extrahepatic cholestasis. The simultaneous decrease in serum and urinary bile salt concentrations suggests that PB stimualtes the biliary excretion of bile salts.


The gas station monitoring system based on Web conquers the limitation of traditional C/S application and is better to meet the needs of the modern digital gas field information managing.However,in the gas station monitoring,data's real time is the most important characteristic.In order to construct such a system,the first problem is to solve monitor page's frequently refreshing.It adapts the newest Web technique to solve such problem by through discussing a series of related technical schemes,which guarantees the real time of the monitoring and offers the better flexibility,expansion and adjustability for the system.


thought, ed. M. Gattis, 203–222. Cambridge: MIT Press. Gentner, D., B. Bowdle, P. Wolff, and C. Boronat. 2001. Metaphor is like analogy. The analogical mind: Perspectives from cognitive science, eds. D. Gentner, K.J. Holyoak and B.N. Kokinov, 199–253. Cambridge: MIT Press. DEVELOPMENT OF METAPHORICAL THINKING / 17 Gentner, D., and P. Wolff. 1997. Alignment in the processing of metaphor. Journal of memory and language 37(3): 331–355. Gould, S. and E. Vrba 1982. Exaptation—a missing term in the science of form. Paleobiology 8: 4–15. Grady, J. 1999. A typology of motivation for conceptual metaphor: correlation vs. resemblance. Metaphor in Cognitive Linguistics, eds. G. Steen and R. Gibbs, 79–100. Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Johnson, C. 1999. Metaphor vs. conflation in the acquisition of polysemy: The case of see. Cultural, psychological, and typological issues in cognitive linguistics, eds. H. Massako, C. Sinha, and S. Wilcox, 155–170. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Lakoff, G., and M. Johnson. 1980. Metaphors we live by. Chicago: Chicago University Press. Lakoff, G., and M. Johnson. 1999. Philosophy in the flesh: the embodied mind and its challenge to western thought. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Lourenco, S. F., and M. R. Longo. 2011. Origins and the development of generalized magnitude representation. Space, time, and number in the brain: searching for the foundations of mathematical thought, eds. S. Dehaene and E. Brannon, 225–244. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Meier, B. P., and M. D. Robinson. 2004. Why the Sunny Side Is Up Associations Between Affect and Vertical Position. Psychological Science 15(4): 243–247. Merritt, D. J., D. Casasanto, and E. M. Brannon. 2010. Do monkeys think in metaphors? Representations of space and time in monkeys and humans. Cognition 117(2): 191–202. Núñez, R. and E. Sweetser. 2006. With the future behind them: Convergent evidence from Aymara language and gesture in the crosslinguistic comparison of spatial construals of time. Cognitive Science 30: 401–450. Ouellet, M., J. Santiago, Z. Israeli, and S. Gabay. 2010. Is the future the right time? Experimental Psychology 57: 308–314. Piaget, J. 1927⁄1969. The child's conception of time. New York, NY: Ballantine


An image forming apparatus includes: a receiving portion that receives an authentication print job sent by a user; a comparison portion that compares identification information received through the user's input with identification information included in image data; a job execution portion that executes the authentication print job in the case where the comparison between the received identification information and the identification information included in the image data has succeeded; and a password storage portion that stores identification information in the case where the authentication print job is in the process of being received in order to enable the comparison made by the comparison portion with respect to the authentication print job that is being received.


Accurate background velocity estimation is crucial to pre-stack depth migration and full waveform inversion. Traditionally, it is implemented in the image domain, such as the ray-based tomographic MVA and wave-equation MVA. Recently, reflection full waveform inversion method is presented, which aims to invert the background velocity model with reflection waves. Inspired by the reflection wave inversion method, we present a Gaussian packet reflection traveltime inversion theory. The scatterer is calculated using scatter Gaussian packet firstly. Then the reflection waves are simulated with scatter Gaussian packet, too. With the observed and simulated scatter waves, the objective function is defined as the L2 norm of traveltime residual. Instead of calculating the partial derivative of objective function with respect to background model, the gradient of the objective function is expressed by the total derivative. Compared with the reflection tomography using wave equation, Gaussian packet inversion shows advantages of higher efficiency and better flexibility.


This article describes how a new participant-centered facilitation method developed because the workshop facilitators wanted a process that was more culturally responsive to the perspectives of immigrant participants. Because conventional workshop methods focus on teaching immigrants about how things work in the United States, they often fail to make space for immigrants to talk about how they respond to this information or develop their own bicultural understandings. The participant-centered, Dialogical Facilitation Method emerged when participants were given more time and opportunities to reflect on their own values and share how they responded to the prevailing U.S. values. By shifting away from an expert-centered facilitation approach with a set curriculum to a participant-centered approach promoting emergent dialogues, the workshops evolved from an assimilation perspective to a bicultural approach. New knowledge about immigrant life emerged because participants were encouraged to discuss topics even if the concerns were not explicitly part of the original workshop theme or curriculum. Immigrants with longer experiences in the United States were encouraged to share their learned wisdom about how to be bicultural. Facilitators did not judge nor evaluate what participants said, but instead encouraged a diversity of perspectives and strategies, and encouraged participants to be the experts. The Dialogical Facilitation Method provides social service professionals with a rapid method to identify contemporary issues and strategies than allowed by conventional research methods or programming practices.


The impact of the PvuII polymorphism of the oestrogen receptor gene on litter size has been discussed by many authors since the mid nineties. Nevertheless, the effect of approximately 0.4 piglets born alive per copy of the favourable allele B in Large White populations reported in the large studies of Rothschild et al. (1995, 1996) and Short et al. (1997) was not confirmed in many smaller studies. The aim of the present investigation was to analyze the effect of the ESR gene on litter traits using a large data set of Czech Large White sows.


The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the acute effects of small changes in crank-arm length and pedalling power on crank torque-angle profile during seated cycling. Twelve amateur cyclists participated and performed 12 sets of 5-min submaximal pedalling on a special cycle ergometer (4 intensities x 3 crank lengths). Principal Component Analysis technique was used to analyse ten crank torque-angle curves of the right leg. A longer crank increased the crank torque of the front leg (30-125o) in order to lift the rear leg (200-320o), contrary to the effect of increasing pedalling power. Furthermore, pedalling with the longest crank required higher torque values after reaching peak torque (110-170o) compared to the shortest ones. In conclusion, contrary to the lore, a longer crank requires a higher mechanical effort compared to a shorter crank for pedalling at the same intensity.


In this paper, a modified 3D computational reconstruction method in the compressive 4D-spectro-volumetric snapshot imaging system is proposed for better sensing spectral information of 3D objects. In the design of the imaging system, a microlens array (MLA) is used to obtain a set of multi-view elemental images (EIs) of the 3D scenes. Then, these elemental images with one dimensional spectral information and different perspectives are captured by the coded aperture snapshot spectral imager (CASSI) which can sense the spectral data cube onto a compressive 2D measurement image. Finally, the depth images of 3D objects at arbitrary depths, like a focal stack, are computed by inversely mapping the elemental images according to geometrical optics. With the spectral estimation algorithm, the spectral information of 3D objects is also reconstructed. Using a shifted translation matrix, the contrast of the reconstruction result is further enhanced. Numerical simulation results verify the performance of the proposed method. The system can obtain both 3D spatial information and spectral data on 3D objects using only one single snapshot, which is valuable in the agricultural harvesting robots and other 3D dynamic scenes.


This study set out to elucidate the mechanisms structuring ant species composition in an Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis) forest on Mount Carmel, Israel, and to reveal the forces that maintain species diversity on the macroand micro-scale levels. Ants were sampled by pitfall traps during all four seasons at three forest stands that differed in time elapsed since the last forest fire. The studied macro-environment factors were fire and season, while the micro-environment factors were plant species, leaf litter, and microclimate conditions. Fires had a shortand medium-term positive effect on ant species richness by promoting ant biodiversity and maintaining habitat heterogeneity. Cluster analysis revealed that the effects of fire were far less important predictors of ant community structure than seasonality when comparing 1and 14-year post-fire stands, but that the time elapsed since the fire was much more important than season when comparing unburned to burned stands. Different ant functional groups responded to fire in strikingly opposite ways: opportunistic species (e.g., Tetramorium spp., Aphenograster spp.) were affected more severely than other functional groups and their proportion decreased with post-fire succession. Generalist Myrmicinae (e.g. Pheidole spp., Monomorium spp.), on the other hand, benefited from fire and their proportion increased with post-fire succession. A novel finding in this study was that the microhabitat beneath the canopy of different plant species (P. halepensis, Cistus sp., Quercus calliprinos, and Pistacia lentiscus) in the unburnt forest provided different environmental conditions and was thus inhabited by unique ant communities. We conclude that maintaining habitat heterogeneity on both the microand macro-scale levels is essential for the restoration of ant biodiversity on Mount Carmel.


Abstract Using a Monte Carlo simulation, this study addresses the question of how traditional risk measures and immunization strategies perform when the term structure evolves in a Heath-Jarrow-Morton (1992) manner. The results suggest that, for immunization purposes, immunization strategies and portfolio formation strategies are more important than interest rate risk measures. The performance of immunization strategies depends more on the transaction costs and the holding period than on the risk measures. Moreover, the immunization performance of bullet and barbell portfolios is not very sensitive to interest rate risk measures.


From the mid-1800s to the present, the philosophy of oil and gas exploration has had three major breakthroughs. The first breakthrough--from oil seepage to the anticlinal theory; The second breakthrough--from the anticlinal theory to the trap theory; The third breakthrough--from the trap theory to the petroleum system. The philosophy of oil finding promotes the petroleum geosciences and exploration technology.


25-period Ga0.5In0.5P/(Al0.7Ga0.3)0.5In0.5P quantum well structure was grown by MOVPE on GaAs substrates misoriented by 100 from (001) to (111)A and fabricated into a microcavities with dielectric oxide mirrors. The structure period and mirror design were chosen to provide resonant periodic gain. A non-uniformity of 5% in the total structure thickness across the 2 inch wafer was used for studying laser characteristics depending on mismatching structure period from resonance condition. The laser wavelength, threshold and output power was found to depend critically on the alignment of QW period with both the cavity and the MQW gain spectrum. Lasing in the 625–650 nm spectral range with output power up to 9 W (0.45 MW/cm2) was achieved under scanning electron beam longitudinal pumping at room temperature. The minimum threshold current density for a 40 keV electron energy was 8 A/cm2 (0.32 MW/cm2). In order to control the lasing threshold to within 10 % of its minimum, the MQW period should be tuned to the optimum value with an accuracy of about 1 %. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


The multilevel system 55 Mn 2+ is used to generate two pseudoharmonic level systems, as representations of the same electronic sextuplet at different nuclear spin projections. The systems are coupled using a forbidden nuclear transition induced by the crystalline anisotropy. We demonstrate Rabi oscillations between the two representations in conditions similar to two coupled pseudoharmonic quantum oscillators. Rabi oscillations are performed at a detuned pumping frequency which matches the energy difference between electronuclear states of different oscillators. We measure a coupling stronger than the decoherence rate to indicate the possibility of fast information exchange between the systems.


There is a long‐standing interest in the relationship between patients affected by psychosis and their families. Previous research also suggests that perceived family dysfunction is a factor commonly associated with psychological problems in adolescence. The current study examined the role of self‐reported family perceptions in the context of adolescents with an At‐Risk Mental State (ARMS) for psychosis.


The innovative project for college students is a novel educational mode to cultivate the innovative talents.In this paper,some suggestions about the project selection and implement of innovative project for pharmaceutical college students were summarized.


An experimental study was completed to assess the impact of sampling methods, contaminant levels, and subsurface temperatures on the quantification of tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE) in source zones contaminated by dense non–aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs). Intact cores of clean aquifer solids (fine‐grained uniform sand with low foc) from a DNAPL site in Florida were spiked with neat PCE and TCE to yield concentrations such that DNAPL‐phase contamination would be absent or present. Three methods characterized by different levels of media disaggregation and atmospheric exposure (MDE) were used to obtain samples from intact cores, which were at temperatures of 2°C, 20°C, and 38°C. The results of this study demonstrated that sampling of intact cores can yield negative bias, ranging from 0% to 98% or more, in the concentrations of PCE and TCE measured. Larger negative bias was correlated with higher MDE methods, presumably due to elevated volatilization losses during sample collection and containerization. Larger negative bias was also correlated with higher temperatures but only during sampling using higher MDE methods. The results of this study suggest that intact core sampling procedures may or may not lead to erroneous conclusions about a DNAPL source zone. For example, sampling data may lead to a conclusion that a potential source zone has no DNAPL‐phase contamination present when in fact it is present, or that remediation has achieved source zone cleanup to a residual concentration goal, when in fact the goal was not met. Conversely, if a remediation goal is to achieve a specified mass depletion level (e.g., 90%), measurement bias may not result in an erroneous conclusion. Further research is planned to examine a wider range of aquifer properties and sampling conditions and to assess the impacts of measurement errors on DNAPL source zone characterization and assessment of remediation performance.


He was discharged home reasonably well on 23 Dec., although still passing small amounts of pus into the colostomy bag and occasionally per rectum. On 5 Jan., 1961, a barium-enema examination demonstrated a rigid and contracted descending and pelvic colon and upper rectum. The transverse colon and splenic flexure were normal. These appearances are typical of this condition (Selby and Bergan) (Fig. 568). Sigmoidoscopy on 9 Jan., as an out-patient, revealed a stricture 3 in. from the anal verge, and digitally one was able to feel above this a small rigid abscess cavity lined by granulation tissue. On 16 March, more than four months after the first abdominal symptoms, the patient was readmitted in extremis and died. At post-mortem the cause of death was a localized small-bowel adhesive obstruction. The descending and pelvic colon were completely destroyed and the inferior mesenteric artery wholly occluded by thrombosis within the large aortic aneurysm.


Four optically active isomers (I) of tricholomic acid were synthesized by the method reported previously for the synthesis of its racemates starting with the corresponding optically active isomers of β-hydroxyglutamic acid (VII). A new resolution technique was used for the synthesis of the starting materials.


Aiming at the influence of stochastic volatility of wind power on the stable operation of power grid, a method based on variational mode decomposition (VMD) and hybrid energy storage system to stabilize wind power grid-connected power fluctuation is proposed. Firstly, according to the typical wind power output scenes, the VMD decomposition of the original grid-connected power of wind power. Combined with wind power grid-connected power fluctuation standards, the primary power distribution is realized.; Then the HESS primary power instruction will be given secondary modification using fuzzy control inside HESS according to the state of charge (SOC) of super capacitor, and the final HESS power distribution instruction can be determined. Simulation results show that the proposed method can effectively smooth the fluctuations of wind power output effectively by taking full advantages of HESS so as to keep SOC stable; the primary power instruction will be given secondary modification based on fuzzy control, ensure the SOC of HESS working within the reasonable range, extend the service life of energy storage component greatly.


a brief consideration of the idea of trusteeship in its widest form, I varied the issue by suggesting that advantage was to be gained by asking, "How does my manner of life affect my neighbour ?" and in that connexion examined the place of comfort and the fact of social stratification. After summing up this general discussion by quoting some tests of the rightness of consumption, I made an attempt to state the principles of Jesus in regard to the use of wealth, and to show how there is need for Christian thought-directed intuition if there is to be conviction in the application of these principles to particular cases. Nothing striking has come out of my study of this subject-that is probably due as much to my incompetence for the synthesis it demanded as to anything else; but certain general convictions have gradually shaped themselves in my mind, and with their shaping has gone that piecemeal discontent with which I began. For the big effect on me has been to make me think in terms of my use of what is within my control, and with the shift from others' need to my opportunity, the inwardness of the challenge of Christian living has come home to me. It seems, then, (I) that there is no satisfactory way out so long as things are as they are-" there's no discharge in the war "-and that the pressure of conscience in this matter is part of the cost of trying to be a Christian in an evolving and sinful world; (2) that, as Sidgwick says, "a society from which luxury was effectually excluded would be lazier [and poorer] than a society which admitted it"; (3) that much expenditure when considered by itself and in terms of units appears unjustified, but that when it is considered collectively and in a context it is right, as being part of a social order which has positive value; and (4) that" we are compelled to leave it to the individual conscience . . . to decide how far each is justified in exceeding the average expenditure of the community." The test is not" ought I to do without this ?", "must I renounce this consumption ?" but "how can I offer this to God?", "is it such that He will consecrate it ?" H. C. L. HEYWOOD.


In the 1970s banks began selling mortgages to public and private mortgage funds that sell shares to investors. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, many mortgages to "subprime" borrowers with low credit ratings and modest income were approved because banks and mortgage brokers made money by making loans and then selling them, and didn't care if borrowers defaulted. Matters were complicated by financial engineering and compliant rating agencies. The Great Recession resulted from many people falling into several of the pitfalls of data science. They fooled themselves, they worshipped mathematics, they used bad data, they tortured data, and they did harm.


Based on the software MIKE 11 and FEFLOW, a coupling surface water-groundwater interface has been developed to investigate the interaction for river branches, polders and wetlands. Its functionality covers the exchange of boundary conditions during runtime and the synchronisation of the temporal discretisation. The system has been applied to simple benchmark cases and complex field conditions. One project focused on the optimisation of a polder flooding system which prevents flooding in the downstream regions of the river Elbe. Due to the coupling, the influence of groundwater storage could be estimated and an optimised flooding strategy could be developed.


In the field of education, the process of implementing information technology has begun. New technologies diversify the didactic process and increase the motivation of students. They also carry certain risks. The article presentsd selected possibilities of using new media in teaching foreign languages, mainly Polish as foreign language.


Pain is an uncomfortable feeling that tells you something may be wrong. It can be steady, throbbing, stabbing, aching, pinching, or described in many other ways. Sometimes, it's just a nuisance, like a mild headache. Other times it can be debilitating. Pain can bring about other physical symptoms, like nausea, dizziness, weakness or drowsiness. It can cause emotional effects like anger, depression, mood swings or irritability. Pain can change your lifestyle and impact your job, relationships and independence. Pain is classified as either acute or chronic. Acute pain is usually severe and short-lived, and is often a signal that your body has been injured. Chronic pain can range from mild to severe, is present for long periods of time, and is often the result of a disease that may require ongoing treatment. When we sense pain, we pay attention to our bodies and can take steps to fix what hurts. Pain also may prevent us from injuring a body part even more. If it didn't hurt to walk on a broken leg, a person might keep using it and cause more damage. If your throat is really sore, you'll probably go to the doctor, who can treat the infection if you have one. Pain itself often modifies the way the central nervous system processes pain, so that a patient actually becomes more sensitive and gets more pain with less provocation. This is called "central sensitization." (And there's peripheral sensitization too.) Sensitized patients are not only more sensitive to things that should hurt, but also to ordinary touch and pressure as well. Their pain also "echoes," fading more slowly than in other people. This phenomenon is usually superimposed over other problems, but it can also occur acutely and be the primary issue, as in complex regional pain syndrome, or amplified pain syndrome, which disporportionately affects everyone.


ICOOPMA 2008 is the third in the ICOOPMA series, an International Conference on Optical, Optoelectronic and Photonic Materials and Applications (also known as The International Conference on Optical and Optoelectronic Properties of Materials and Applications), originally sponsored by Springer, that was held for the first time in Darwin, Australia, in July 2006. The ICOOPMA series arose from a need for such a conference for those researchers who sought a truly international conference that covered a wide range of materials and applications in optics, optoelectronics and photonics. One of the goals is to provide discussions between re-searchers working on different classes of materials that have similar applications; or have been character-ized by similar techniques. The conference has a large number of invited speakers to allow such cross-fertilization between researchers working on different classes of materials. The conference also seeks papers in interesting or novel applications, or papers that enhance material properties for applications. The In-ternational and Local Organizing Committees have the responsibility of ensuring an in-depth scientific coverage with invited and contributed papers from various countries and in various disciplines; and en-suring an enjoyable scientific program. The Second ICOOPMA was held in London, England, 29 July–3 August 2007, and had over 250 participants, and five plenary lectures. The Third ICOOPMA was held in Edmonton, Canada, 20–25 July 2008, and again had nearly 250 participants and had seven plenary talks. TRLabs in Edmonton was responsible for organizing and man-aging the conference and there were a number of ma-jor sponsors without whom this conference would not have had the success it deserves. We thank TRLabs for their organization, and our sponsors for their gra-cious contributions and commitment to the ICOOPMA. There were three parallel oral sessions from Monday to Thursday, and a poster session on Tuesday to cover all the 300 papers. The current Pro-ceedings represent a collection of papers that have been presented at the conference, and have been fully refereed for inclusion in the proceedings. With the agreement of the journal's Chief Editor and the authors, a selection of papers have been transferred to physica status solidi (a) 206(5) (May 2009). The papers in both issues cover not only topics on fundamental concepts, including various optical properties (luminescence being the most popular) of a wide class of materials, e.g. organics, glasses, semi-conductors, nanocrystals, quantum wells, wires and dots etc., but also a number of interesting applications from photonics modulators to X-ray detectors. There were four best poster prizes that were given during the conference to J. E. Cunningham and Edmund Lin-field et al. (University of Leeds, UK) on "Terahertz imaging and spectroscopy using on-chip systems"; Shabnam Homampour et al. (McMaster University, Canada) on "Thermal tuning of planar Bragg gratings in silicon-on-insulator rib waveguides"; Mamiko Kujiraoka et al. (National Institute of Information and Commu-nications Technology, Japan) on "Ensemble effect on Rabi oscillations of exciton in quantum dots"; Osamu Kojima et al. (Kobe University, Japan) on "Lengthening of photoluminescence decay time owing to expansion of electron envelope functions in stacked quantum dots".

Timely publication of conference papers in an easily accessible journal is one of the attractions in presenting one's latest work at conferences. It allows the work to appear relatively quickly after it has been discussed at the conference. The papers in the proceedings were therefore prepared in publica-tion-ready form. However, it is also important to en-sure that proper refereeing has been done before a paper has been accepted. We specifically allowed pa-per submissions to continue well after the conference date to ensure that the papers included discussions during the conference. We thank the many referees who have unselfishly dedicated their valuable time in reviewing some ninety-five manuscripts and, in many cases, reviewing the revised versions as well. We are grateful to the editorial team at Wiley-VCH, in par-ticular Stefan Hildebrandt in Berlin, for their help in getting the proceedings out as soon as possible once the refereeing of the papers were complete (© 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


Quality improvement personnel are best served when they use appropriate quality tools for sustaining continuous quality improvements. Most of the quality problems can be solved by seven basic quality tools. The purpose of this study is to build a model for performance measurement and improvement with regard to the appropriate utility of quality tools. Our model was developed using statistical approach, rather than from the management point of view. In this paper, incidence of patient falls were analyzed and reduced using appropriate quality tools. Pre intervention fall rate was reported as 7.83 per 1,000 patient days, whereas post intervention fall rate was measured as 0.86 per 1,000 patient days (89.02% reduction) after implementation of the seven basic quality tools. In conclusion, this study demonstrates a model for performance measurement and results in improvement when appropriate quality tools are used at the proper time. This model also assists the quality management personnel to work efficiently and effectively toward improvement.


A new discretization procedure for the agglomeration equation is presented. The intrinsic problems caused by discretization of the particle-size distribution are mitigated by using proper probability functions. Thus, the new discretized equation predicts the same total number of particles as its continuous counterpart and guarantees conservation of mass. This general method can correctly predict any two properties simultaneously and is not limited to number and mass. Simulation results with various agglomeration kernels show that the new method provides significant improvements over the conventional discretization method. Furthermore, the new method allows the user to choose equal-size intervals or geometric-size intervals with any geometric ratio to cover the particle-size range. In addition to flexibility, the latter feature leads to better accuracy in particle-size distribution predictions.


Size of colloidal CdS particles in aqueous medium was controlled by adding thiols in the procedure of the preparation. The change in optical absorption spectra and the quantum yield of photoinduced electron transfer were measured for these size-controlled CdS colloids.


The JC method combined with Monte Carlo simulation procedure(called Monte Carlo-JC method) was applied to conduct a systematic reliability assessment of flexural capacity of FRP reinforced concrete beams designed by the report ACI 440.2R-02(called ACI guideline).Several programs were made by utilizing the inherent random number generators of Matlab software.The results indicate that the concrete strength f′c,CFRP reinforcement ratio ρf and CFRP mechanical properties are the most significant influencing factors on the mean values and the standard deviations of the strength ratio M/(Mn).The results show that the averaged reliability indexes decrease with increasing the resistance reduction factor  and load effect ratio Ln/Dn.The global reliability index for flexural design was found to be 4.40,based on all reliability indexes.The reliability level of ACI guideline is rather conservative.The resistance reduction factor  is suggested as a fixed value of 0.90,regardless of the strain level of the tensile steel reinforcement.ACI guideline is the most typical one among all current relevant guidelines.The reliability assessment of this guideline is of general significance.


Objective To test the university students' attitude to suicide as well as their condition of mental health,to analyze the relation between the attitude to suicide and the condition of mental health.Method Select 200 university students randomly,use QSA and SCL-90 to test.Results Mean of QSA is 2.65,the nine factors of SCL-90 is made by independent variables while the attitude to action of suicide in QSA is made by dependent variables,after the regression,it is found that the depression,anxiety and interpersonal sensitivity are higer than the other factors.Conclusion More than half of the subjects are neutral of suicide;The factor of depression,anxiety and interpersonal sensitivity may work on the attitude to suicide.


The prevalence of dementia can vary by region and there is a cluster of more than 10 modifiable risk factors for dementia. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of dementia in Xiamen, China, and identify independent risk factors associated with dementia.


You can imagine my surprise when I first read the paper by Matsaniotis et al, which appears in this issue of Infection Control. I was stunned. Here, a full decade after the massive American epidemic of infusion-related sepsis, the same tragedy was unfolding right before my eyes, but with a Greek cast. The same all-too-familiar characters — Enterobacter agglomerans and E. cloacae, the screw-top bottle, the relatively low-risk pat ients with sudden nosocomial gram-negative sepsis, the baffled clinicians, the delayed recognition of the cause of the problem, the tardy recall. Somehow this Aegean drama passed virtually unnoticed in the US until the report from the Aghia Sophia Children's Hospital in Athens reached this Journal. It is a fascinating story, deserving of careful study. Based on the manuscript and correspondence with colleagues in Greece, it is possible to portray the full scope of the problem. From the epidemic curve, it appears that the outbreak of enterobacter bacteremia may have started as early as January 1981. Physicians at the Aghia Sophia Hospital first suspected an outbreak in March, and by April it was clear that an epidemic was in progress. There was abundant evidence to suggest that contaminated fluid was at the root of the problem. Indeed, virtually all of the classic indicators were present . Large numbers of pat ients who were not par t icular ly high risk for nosocomial sepsis abruptly became ill. The precipitous onset, with high fever, rigors, hypotension, and abdominal signs, was highly suggestive of gram-negative bacteremia, and there was no obvious source of infection other than the intravenous infusion system. Discontinuation of the infusion resulted in prompt clinical improvement in almost all cases. The pathogens recovered from blood cultures, E. agglomerans and E. cloacae, are both well known for their ability to proliferate in dextrose-containing intravenous fluids, and both were implicated in the nationwide epidemic in the US. Finally, all of the isolates of each enterobacter species had the same antibiogram. In the case of E. agglomerans, the strain was susceptible to many first-line antibiotics, which suggested that it was not a typical endemic nosocomial pathogen.


Consideration is given to HST observations of late-type stars, molecular absorption in the UV spectrum of Alpha Ori, EUV emission from late-type stars, Rosat observations of the Pleiades cluster, a deep ROSAT observation of the Hyades cluster, optical spectroscopy detected by EXOSAT, stellar photospheric convection, a structure of the solar X-ray corona, magnetic surface images of the BY Dra Star HD 82558, a Zebra interpretatin of BY Dra stars, optical flares on II Peg, a low-resolution spectroscopic survey of post-T tauri candidates, millimeter and sub-millimeter emission from flare stars, and activity in tidally interacting binaries. Attention is also given to modeling stellar angular momentum evolution, extended 60-micron emission from nearby Mira variables, the PANDORA atmosphere program, the global properties of active regions, oscillations in a stratified atmosphere, lithium abundances in northern RS CVn binaries, a new catalog of cool dwarf stars, the Far UV Spectrograph Explorer, and development of reflecting coronagraphs.


Cooperative technology constitutes a breakthrough in the design of wireless communication
systems. This is due to its relatively simple implementation and its significant
performance gains in terms of link reliability, system capacity, and transmission
range. In cooperative communications, multiple terminals in a network
cooperate by relaying each other's information, forming a virtual antenna array,
and, thus realizing spatial diversity in a distributed fashion. It is not surprising
that cooperative communications have become a strong candidate for many wireless
applications, such as cellular networks, wireless local area network, mobile
ad-hoc networks, and wireless sensor networks. However, cooperative technology
is not without challenges. A major problem in this technology is the reduction
in spectral efficiency, which results from the half-duplex constraint at the relays
and orthogonal relay transmission. This has spurred researchers to investigate cooperative
strategies to recover the spectral efficiency loss. Such strategies can be
classified into three main categories.
One category supposes that each source transmits a 'superimposed' signal,
which consists of its own data and relaying information. This superposition can
be performed in code or in modulation domain. Obviously, if the relay does not
have its own data, a full-rate transmission can not be achieved.
The second category is to employ adaptive modulation techniques where the
spectral efficiency is improved by changing modulation size with fixed symbol
rate. However, the transmitter needs to know the channel signal-to-noise (SNR)
such that the best suitable modulation is chosen and the receiver must be informed
on the used modulation in order to decode the information.
This leads to an increased overhead in the system as compared with a fixed
modulation system, and will increase the complexity of the receiver too.
The third one utilizes two-relay, which alternatively transmit and receive. A
key feature of this category is that the source continues to transmit data, while the
two relays take turns in receiving and transmitting the data from the source. Due
to the simultaneous transmission of the data streams through both direct and one
of relay channels, harmful interference occurs at the relays and destination. The
interference occurred at the relays and destination represents a drawback in this
case, though.
According to our best knowledge, no previous research was done to develop
the optimal detectors for alternate-relaying cooperative (ARC) systems. Further,
all the previous works for ARC systems have in common that they do not exploit
any properties of the underlying error correcting codes. It is therefore necessary to
propose optimal detection techniques for uncoded and coded two-relay systems.
This motivated us to do this research. In this thesis, we proposed optimal and
suboptimal detectors to mitigate the influence of the interference signal for the uncoded
and coded decode-and-forward (DF) ARC systems.


Spatially distributed arrays of permanently attached ultrasonic sensors are being considered for structural health monitoring systems. Most algorithms for analyzing the received signals are based upon change detection whereby baselines from the undamaged structure are subtracted from current signals of interest, and the residual signals are analyzed. In particular, delay‐and‐sum algorithms applied to the residual signals have been shown to be effective for imaging damage in plate‐like structures that support propagation of guided waves. Here we consider minimum variance processing of the residual signals, which is an adaptive beamforming method in common use for processing of radar signals where the weights are adjusted at each pixel location prior to summation based upon actual and expected signal amplitudes. Experimental results from a sparse sensor array show that this processing method can provide a significantly improved signal‐to‐noise ratio by suppressing unwanted sidelobes in the image.


The paper describes the status of the laser-based alignment-system for the luminosity detector, LumiCal, taking into considerations the conditions of the International Large Detector in the International Linear Collider project. The design of the system comprises two parts: the first one containing semi-transparent silicon sensors used to deliver simultaneous position measurements in the X,Y directions of the monitored object, and the second one in which the interferometric technique, i.e. the Frequency Scanning Interferometry (FSI), is proposed. Two laboratory prototypes for both components of the system were built and the preliminary measurements of the DUT displacements demonstrated their utility in the design of the final alignment system. The alignment of the LumiCal detector will allow us to monitor the detector displacements and possible deformations in its internal structure. Lack of information of the displacements will introduce a systematic effect which will have an impact on the accuracy of the final luminosity calculations. According to the requirements of the comprehensive research program prepared for the ILC, such a luminosity uncertainty should not be worse than 10 -3 .


During the mid-1950s, the Air Force sponsored work on the feasibility of building large, single-chamber engines, presumably for boost-glide aircraft or spacecraft. In 1956, the Army missile development group began studies of large launch vehicles. The possibilities opened up by Sputnik accelerated this work and gave the Army an opportunity to bid for the leading role in launch vehicles. The Air Force had the responsibility for the largest ballistic missiles and hence a ready-made base for extending their capability for spaceflight. During 1958, actions taken to establish a civilian space agency, and the launch vehicle needs seen by its planners, added a third contender to the space vehicle competition. These activities during 1958 are examined as to how they resulted in the initiation of a large rocket engine and the first large launch vehicle.


This paper considers a set aggregation control problem for continuous-time multi-agent systems guided by multiple leaders.It is assumed that each follower-agent can measure the relative states of its neighbors in a time-delay and directed communication channels.A neighbor-based control rule is designed to realize local control strategies for these continuous-time agents.By Lyapunov method and the linear matrix inequality technique,we derive sufficient conditions for all follower-agents to aggregate in a polytope region formed by the leaders.In addition,this result is extended to a more general case with time-delay and noise perturbation.Numerical examples are given to validate the correctness and effectiveness of the theoretical results.


2 Abstract: Intrusion detection is an effective approach of dealing with problems in the area of network security. Rapid development in technology has raised the need for an effective intrusion detection system as the traditional intrusion detection method cannot compete against newly advanced intrusions. In this paper we proposed a feature based intrusion data classification technique. The reduced feature improved the classification of intrusion data. The reduction process of feature attribute performs by DAG function along with feature correlation factor. The proposed method work as feature reducers and classification technique, from the reduction of feature attribute also decrease the execution time of classification. For evaluation purposes, this model is applied to KDD "99 dataset.


A new vehicle steering control algorithm is presented. Unlike the traditional methods do, the algorithm uses a sigmoid function to describe the principle of the human driver's steering strategy. Based on this function, a human simulating vehicle steering model, human-simulating steering control(HS) algorithm is designed. In order to improve the adaptability to different environments, a parameter adaptive adjustment algorithm is presented. This algorithm can online modify the value of the key parameters of the HS real time. HS controller is used on a vehicle equipped with computer vision system and computer controlled steering actuator system, the result from the automatic vehicle steering experiment shows that the HS algorithm gives good performance at different speed, even at the maximum speed of 172 km/h.


To compare the characteristics and outcome data of the students from a single institution with two tracks ,case-basod discussion and learning(CBDL) and traditional teaching method in clinical teaching for otorhinolaryngology. We used the CBDL in 2000, and the students were randomly divided into two groups. 15 students were trained with CBDL, and the other 15 students were trained with traditional teaching method. The average score of the students in theory test had no difference. The results showed that the students of CBDL team were better on clinical skill test. By studied this learning methods, we demonstrated that CBDL may have positive effect in clinical teaching for otorhinolaryngology. The teaching effect was enhanced through the combination of teaching with clinical practice and the learning skills and the ability in problem solving and analyzing were improved.

Key words:
Case-basod discussion and learning;  Teaching method;  Otorhinolaryngology


Subtree exchange crossover which is usually used in Genetic Programming (GP) can not control the search properties such as global or local search, because crossover points in parental individuals are selected at random. To overcome the problem, crossover based on semantic distance of subtrees has been studied recent years. If similar subtrees in semantic space are exchanged, the local search can be performed. In contrast, dissimilar subtrees are exchanged, the global search can be performed. In Semantic Control Crossover (SCC), the global search can be performed in early generations, and the local search can be performed in later generations. In this paper, we propose a new SCC based on the ranking information of parents, Rank-based SCC. The method controls search properties according to not generations but ranking information of parents. In case of the crossover to a pair of parents with higher ranks, similar subtrees should be exchanged for local search around the parents. In contrast, in case of the crossover to a pair of parents with lower ranks, dissimilar subtrees should be exchanged for global search. We compared the search performance of three methods, standard crossover, conventional SCC and Rank-based SCC, and showed the effectiveness of our method.


The population pyramid is inverting in the Western world, and this demographic transition brings new challenges. The search for healthy aging has made the use of new technologies for assistance, not only in specialized centers but also in the home itself. In recent years, many advances have been made in medical devices at home, with particular emphasis on devices to help take medication. The poor (or not) following of the instructions given by the medical personnel to the patients for taking medication causes thousands of avoidable deaths every year. In this work, a new approach to smart pillbox is proposed, combining the power of voice assistants with telecare devices. An smart pillbox with integrated Alexa was developed, and the foundations are laid for the use of voice assistants in healthcare.


Road traffic accidents are a major problem for the safety, well-being and economies of Southeast Asian countries. In Thailand, many accidents are caused by environmental or road conditions. Poor visibility on wet pavement is a major cause of accidents. Accumulated water on wet pavement surfaces creates the 'splash and spray' effect, resulting in visibility loss. The main objective of this study is to develop simple methods for measuring and comparing visibility loss between conventional dense-graded asphalt, stone mastic asphalt (SMA) and porous asphalt (PA) pavements. The light reduction method (LRM) and the colour changing method (CCM) were found to be the most appropriate tests for the measurement of visibility loss. Test results from both methods reveal that visibility loss is significantly greater for the conventional dense-graded pavement than for the SMA and PA pavements. Models for predicting the percentage of visibility loss were also developed and can be useful for improving road safety.


Convalescent phase non‐A, non‐B (NANB) human and chimpanzee sera were utilized in a solid‐phase radioimmunoassay (RIA) in an attempt to identify a specific NANB antigen in human plasma, plasma‐derived pellets and NP‐40 disrupted pellets proven to transmit NANB infection to chimpanzees. RIA reactivity was noted in 5 of 8 pedigreed NANB infectious plasmas, but did not appear to be virus‐specific. The RIA reactive fraction: (i) had a density of 1.27 to 1.32 gm per cm3 in cesium chloride; (ii) showed immunoreactivity corresponding to normal IgM, but peak RIA activity coincided with an aberrant IgM having a peak sedimentation coefficient of 56 S, and (iii) eluted at higher pH (5.6 to 5.0) than normal IgM on chromatofocusing columns. The reactant shared properties with rheumatoid factor in that it was absorbed by aggregated IgG and was unstable to 2‐mercaptoethanol, but it did not react in standard agglutination tests for rheumatoid factor. The reactant was detected in both the acute and chronic phase of NANB infections in chimpanzee and man. By reacting with IgG in presumptive NANB convalescent sera, this aberrant rheumatoid factor could simulate a NANB antigen and represent a cause of false‐positive reactions in putative NANB assays.


The purpose of this research is to analyze the effect of transformational leadership and working motivation on the performance of the workers. In this research, the researcher analyzes the performance of the workers on Financial Management Board of Kendal County by using independent variable, such as transformational leadership and working motivation. This research was conducted on Financial Management Board of Kendal County. Samples were selected by applying Saturated Sampling method (Census Sampling). Data was obtained by directly giving questionnaires to 100 employees of Financial Management Board. The analysis of data used double linear regression method by SPSS (Statistic Product and Service Solution) 16 program. The result of the analysis shows that transformational leadership has positive and significant impacts to the workers' performance. Researcher suggests to increase more variable and extend the population in the future research.


Diabetes is one of the most common non-communicable diseases and a serious life-long condition appearing worldwide. The objective of the study is to demonstrate the antidiabetic activity of the alcoholic extracts of Momardica Charantia, Aloe Barbadensis and Trigonella Foenum-Graecum and their combination were used in alloxan-induced diabetic albino rats. The powdered leaves of Momardica Charantia, Aloe Barbadensis and Trigonella Foenum-Graecum were successively extracted in 100-150ml each of alcohol by using a soxhlet apparatus. The rats after alloxination were given 5%w/v glucose solution in feeding bottles for the next 24hrs in their cages to prevent hypoglycaemia. After 72hrs, rats with fasting blood glucose levels greater than 200mg/dl were selected and used for the study. The blood samples were collected through tip of tail vein at 0, 1, 2, 4 and 8 hrs respectively after administration. The treatment was continued for next 22days. The blood glucose level was estimated at various intervals by using glucometer. The difference observed between the initial and final fasting blood glucose levels of extract treated hyperglycaemic rats revealed the antihyperglycemic effect of Momardica Charantia, Aloe Barbadensis and Trigonella Foenum-Graecum and their combination throughout the period of study. The effect of three different extracts and their combinations are compared to that of reference standards, glibenclamide was found to be significant. In conclusion, these extracts showed significant anti-diabetic effect in diabetic rats after I.P administration. The drug has the potential to act as an anti-diabetic drug in combination therapy.


Background: Plasma active renin (AR) reflects load volume in hypertensive patients and therefore influences therapy. Our study's purpose is to compare the use of plasma B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) level with AR level in load volume assessment in patients suffering from non controlled essential hypertension without heart failure. Methods: We studied 60 patients suffering from essential non controlled hypertension patients, without systolic or diastolic Heart failure, renal failure, left ventricular hypertrophy or inadequate sodium intake. AR and BNP levels were measured in blood samples obtained after replacing their usual treatment by alternative drugs that do not interfere with the assay. Results: Median age was 58 years and 56% were women. Levels of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were respectively 146.6 ± 19.2 and 85.8 ± 12.6 mmHg. In univariate analysis, age (r = -0.27; p = 0.04), heart rate (r = 0.30; p = 0.018) and BNP (r = -0.39; p = 0.02) were associated with the level of AR. After adjustment for age, sex, SBP, sodium intake and heart rate, low BNP levels were associated (p = 0,014; IC[0.14–0.8]) with a high AR level (> or = 4th quartile). Only low heart rates appeared related (p = 0.03; IC [0.83–0.99]) to low AR levels (< or = 1st quartile). Conclusion: The outcome of our study suggests that low BNP levels are associated with normal load volume. BNP level may provide an interesting mean for adjusting therapy in non controlled hypertension patients. Further studies should be done to assess the efficiency of BNP oriented therapy.


The investigation on "Genetic diversity studies in safflower germplasm (Carthamus tinctorius L.)" was undertaken to estimate the extent of diversity and to estimate the contribution of each character towards genetic diversity. The set of 63 genotypes along with three checks 'A-1, PBNS-12, PKV Pink' were evaluated at the field of Oilseeds Research Unit, Dr. PDKV, Akola during rabi 2018-2019. Based on measurements of genetic diversity by Mahalanobis D distance and grouping by Tocher's method, these genotypes were grouped into ten clusters. Clusters VI and VIII (3896.92) had maximum average inter cluster distance followed by clusters X and VIII (3096.12), clusters III and VI (2772.88), clusters II and VIII (2383.65), clusters V and IV (2296.31). Seed yield per plant (25.69%) contributed maximum towards genetic divergence followed by days to maturity (18.41%), days to 50% flowering (16.08%), number of seeds per capitulum (12.82%) and plant height (10.58). The present investigation projected the importance of GMU-7363, GMU-5135, GMU-5134 as parents for higher heterosis in F1 and potential transgrassive segragants in subsequent generations for earliness as they have least mean for days to maturity whereas high mean of GMU-7448, GMU-5136, GMU-2648, GMU-2928, GMU-667, GMU-1798 GMU-2830 and GMU-7355 for characters viz plant height, number of branches per plant, number of capitula per plant, number of seeds per capitulum, 100 seed weight, volume weight, oil content and seed yield per plant respectively.


The main purpose of spinal fixation is to provide conditions for vertebral fusion at the level of injury. Bone fusion is associated with many factors including stability of injured segment, restoration of the anterior support column, condition of the bone tissue and other aspects. The timing of bone formation can be affected by soft tissue inflammation at the site of the rods of the external fixation system. Peri-implant infection is reported to occur in 0.7-20 % of cases with external transpedicular fixation. The timing of the complication and the dependence of the frequency of the occurrence on the patient's treatment strategy are debatable. Another topical issue is the study of the consequences of peri-implant infection with the need to establish the validity of the assumption about the effect of peri-implant infection on the rate of bone formation using a clinical model. This would allow the findings to be used for new methods of treatment considering the risk of possible complications, giving preference to low-traumatic semi-closed methods of spine fixation. Nevertheless, external transpedicular fixation is practical for open spinal injury or significant vertebral displacement with the need of significant reduction efforts to be applied. The purpose was to explore the effect of soft tissue inflammation on the timing of bone formation with spinal fusion surgery using different surgical methods of treatment of uncomplicated spinal fractures. Material and methods The review included 111 patients with uncomplicated fractures of the lower thoracic and lumbar spine. Based on a retrospective analysis the participants were assigned to three groups depending on the presence/absence of peri-implant infection and the timing of the occurrence: 81 patients experienced no complications, 16 had serous-purulent inflammation of soft tissues at the site of the rods of the external fixation device that developed on average after 20 days with 14 patients seen with pin tract infection after 2 months of anterior fusion surgery and failed bone formation. Results Peri-implant infection rate was found to be higher with external fixation (14.4 %) than that with anterior fusion surgery (12.6 %). The complication rate was 1.85 times less with one-stage surgical treatment as compared to two-stage treatment. Peri-implant infection developed later (after 21‑63 days) with one-stage treatment as compared with two-stage procedure (after 12-24 days). Infection associated with the external fixation led to increase in timing of bone formation by 6-7 %, by 2-4 weeks on average. Bone formation failed in 35 % of cases (p < 0.0002) due to peri-implant inflammation caused by Staphylococcus aureus, as the common pathogen and the bacteria detected resulted in ineffective antibacterial therapy. Immunological parameters (IgM and haptoglobin) were quantified to assess the risk of peri-implant infection. Discussion Peri-implant infection rate associated with external transpedicular fixation was shown to be comparable with the previously obtained data. Sharply defined notions were reported earlier to differentiate between infectious peri-implant osteolysis and mechanical loosening. We compared the data on the duration of bone formation and the timing of peri-implant infection and developed a model that with high sensitivity (73 %) and specificity (100 %) allowed description of cases with impaired osteogenesis. Changes in some immunological parameters (immunoglobulins, acute-phase proteins) were shown to affect both bone formation and stability of bone fixation.


One-dimensional hexagonal LaPO4 ∶Tm nanowires with width of 5-10nm and length of 500-1000 nm were successfully prepared using ethylene glycol/water complex solvent.At the same time,monoclinic LaPO4 ∶ Tm nanorods with width of 10-20nm and length of about 100nm were obtained via the heat treatment of hexagonal nanowires at 600 ℃.Results showed that hexagonal LaPO4 ∶Tm nanowires hardly possessed luminescence,while strong UV(348nm)and blue emissions(454nm)could be observed for monoclinic LaPO4 ∶Tm nanorods.Further investigation on blue emission mechanism of the monoclinic samples showed that 1 D2 state of Tm3+could absorb strongly UV light and then the transitions from1 D2 to 3F4 and 3 H5 occurred,which could emit 454nm and 520nm light,respectively.Since the blue emission was far stronger than the green emission,the monoclinic LaPO4 ∶Tm nanorods can be regarded as potential blue phosphor.


The License Plate Location(LPL) from the vehicle images is the key step in the Automatic License Plate Recongnition (ALPR). This paper proposes a new algorithm for vehicle license plate location based on improved Roberts operator combining with mathematical morphology. Traditional Roberts operator is improved by added two templates in other directions. Then image edges are detected by selecting the appropriate threshold for Roberts operator and mathematical morphological analysis is utilized to get connected regions which contain the candidate plate region with appropriate size. Finally analyze candidate regions by connected component and position plate region. Experiments have been implemented on images taken from different background: lightening conditions (night and day), license angles, illumination, reflected light, dynamic conditions, The experimental results show that this method is effective in quickly and reliably detecting and locating the vehicle license plate region.


Using the gantry crane on the telescopic operation (1) (19) enables the substrate holder (5) for rocking in the raising direction, if by shaking the substrate holder (5) is raised, the substrate holder (5) in the hinge linear guide (15) of the moving block (10) provided on the (14) slides out of the base (3) an edge portion (11) forward, while the substrate holder (5), as the lower end edge portion of the base edge side from the carriage (1) (3) (11) lowered down.


In this paper paramedial, co-medial and co-paramedial binary multiquasigroups are considered and a characterization of the correspond- ing component operations of these multiquasigroups is given.


This study aimed to evaluate the influence of perception towards insurable risks on the general Takaful demand via risk-taking propensity among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. This study presented essential insights that would benefit Takaful operators in determining and enhancing general Takaful demand among SMEs. Studies have identified two major factors of risk behaviour that influence general insurance demand, which are the perception towards insurable risks (independent variable) and risk-taking propensity (moderator). This study presented theoretically significant information on the incorporation of perception towards insurable risks and risk-taking propensity to explain the general Takaful model. For this study, a total of 278 SMEs in Malaysia were sampled. All gathered data were analysed using AMOS for the testing of hypotheses. The results of structural equation modelling (SEM) revealed perception towards insurable risks as the key factor that drives the general Takaful confidence in decision making and risk-taking propensity as a moderator in the relationship between the perception towards insurable risks and general Takaful demand. Apart from providing a clearer overview of Takaful demand among SMEs in Malaysia, the obtained findings of this study also highlighted the significance of healthy and ethical behaviour in decision making in order to protect the organisational resources and accomplishments.