Both normal and neoplastic cells are surrounded by fluid, dynamic plasma membranes which are involved in a variety of important physiological processes. Although several modifications in composition, organization, dynamics, enzymology and immunology have been found in transformed and tumor cell membranes when compared to their untransformed and normal cell counterparts, few of these changes may be important in the actual survival, growth and spread of tumor cells in vivo. One of the most important characteristics of malignant cells in vivo-the ability to metastasize to distant host sites-provides an important approach for studying in vivo tumor cell properties. We have been using several types of selection procedures to obtain variants of animal tumor cell lines that show enhanced metastatic potential and abilities to spread to specific host sites by blood-borne routes. Using these selected variants we hope to learn more about the cell surface properties that determine the location and fate of metastatic tumor cells in vivo.


The aim of study was to investigate the role of attribution style on overt-covert narcissism and forgiveness. Even though covert narcissists exhibit high degrees of psychological symptoms, the literature on the relationship between forgiveness and narcissism had almost exclusively focused on overt narcissism. Many previous studies suggested that both causal and responsibility attributions are robust predictors of forgiveness as well as important variable for narcissism. Therefore, it was hypothesized that overt-covert narcissism show different patterns in the relation of forgiveness, and that the association between overt-covert narcissism and forgiveness will be mediated by causal and responsibility attribution. Participants were 286 undergraduate students who completed self-report measurement assessing overt-covert narcissism (NPI, CNS), causal attribution (ASQ), responsibility attribution (RAM), and state forgiveness (EFIK). The findings of this study demonstrated that only covert narcissism is associated with forgiveness, which indicates that covert narcissists are less forgivable than overt narcissists. Besides, this study provides evidence that causal attribution plays a mediating role in association between covert narcissism and forgiveness, while responsibility attribution mediates the relationship between genuine factor of covert narcissism and forgiveness. This study has the significance in the sense that it explores a possible mechanism between covert narcissism and forgiveness.


The global prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its associated components (high fasting glucose, waist circumference, blood pressure, triglycerides, and low HDL) have increased over the past few decades. In addition, abnormal thyroid hormone levels have been found to manifest in a cascade of metabolic dysfunction, which may be linked to MetS in youth. PURPOSE: The purpose of the study is to investigate the association between MetS, its components, and markers of thyroid function in a nationallyrepresentative sample of adolescents. METHODS: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (1988-1994) collected data on the components of metabolic syndrome and thyroid function in 1,322 adolescents aged 12-18.9 years (613 males and 709 females). Participants were grouped based on MetS status, number of MetS components, and markers of thyroid function using ageand sex-specific reference values (including thyroid stimulating hormone [TSH], thyroxine [T4], antimicrosomal antibody [AMA], and anti-thyroglobulin antibody [TgAb]. Logistic models were used to predict the status of the thyroid markers (as high/low) from MetS status, controlling for age, sex, and race/ethnicity. RESULTS: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 5.4% in the full sample. The logistic models indicated the MetS positive group had a significantly lower odds of having a low TSH (OR = 0.06, 95%CI [0.01, 0.5], p = 0.005) compared to the MetS negative group. However, follow-up analyses revealed adolescents with ≥ 2 MetS components were more likely to have high TSH (OR = 5.0, 95%CI [1.4, 18.2], p = 0.013) and be positive for AMA (OR = 2.6, 95%CI [1.1, 6.7], p = 0.042), while being less likely to have low TSH (OR = 0.07, 95%CI [0.01, 0.31], p < 0.001) compared to those with 1 or 0 components. No associations were found between high/low T4 or TgAb and MetS or MetS components (all p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: In this nationally-representative sample of adolescents, those with multiple MetS components were more likely to have elevated TSH and be positive for AMA, while being less likely to have low TSH. T4 and TgAb values were similar, regardless of MetS status. Even in adolescence metabolic dysfunction appears to be associated with some markers of thyroid function.


The model of three-terminal coupled multi-quantum-dot system is designed.We have obtained the current formula of the system through the use of Dyson equations and equations of motion method for Green functions.Electron transport property through the system is investigated.Some interesting results are found: first,the resonance peak lying at the single-dot energy level begins to split with the increasing of the number of quantum dot when the number of quantum dot in the side-coupled quantum-dot wire is odd number;second,one resonant peak always lies at the single-dot energy level once that the number of quantum dot in the side-coupled quantum-dot wire is even number.


The price of a single product can vary significantly from one retail store to another in the Hong Kong market. The gap between the wealthy and the poor in Hong Kong continues to be large, leading to much of people having to look for bargains daily. While one may be able to search the web for the lowest price, the information on the web is scattered, and it is necessary to compare product names word-for-word. This process is exceptionally inconvenient for some older adults and people with disabilities. The Hong Kong society is pressing for an application that can tackle this problem. In this paper, we propose a framework to recommend the optimal price of the product in the Hong Kong market. The framework aims to speed up the price search with high accuracy. The problem is decomposed into name recognition and database query. The former is accomplished by utilizing the VGG-16 Convolutional Neural Network model pre-trained on the ImageNet dataset via transfer learning and feature matching with Scale-Invariant Features Transform (SIFT) and the colour histogram. The latter is performed on a daily updated MySQL database. The results of the recommendations were satisfactory in the experiments, with the accuracy of validating the CNN model reaching 90.614%.


A qualified nursing care is mandatory in patients after SAH. Clinical and instrumental monitoring are basilar to assure the rapid control of dangerous ICP or CPP changes and of epileptic crisis. Prophylaxis of infections is greatly minimized when coherent treatments are applied to any invasive devices, patient body, patient bed and UTI area. Many drugs can be useful to avoid ICP increases by tracheal suctioning and other sensorial stimulations. Having a trained staff, patient outcome can be improved.


This paper aims at evaluating the role of serotonin (5-HT) and noradrenaline in the nervous control of urinary continence. Both α1-adrenergic and 5-HT2 receptors in the Onuf's nucleus help the guarding reflex; therefore the pharmacologic agents enhancing the effects of 5-HT and noradrenaline represent a promising choice in treating stress urinary incontinence. Duloxetine, a dual 5-HT/noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor, improves the external urethral sphincter contractility while increasing the activation of 5-HT2 and α1-adrenergic receptors thanks to the high concentrations of these monoamines in the Onuf's nucleus; it also plays a significant role in the management of stress urinary incontinence.


It has recently been investigated that ball milling can improve the magnetic properties of natural  iron sand significantly. In this work, we present the phase composition and magnetic behavior of  iron sand from Syiah Kuala Beach, Banda Aceh. Samples were prepared by mechanical alloying  method using a Fritsch planetary ball mill for 20 hours. As the results, it was shown by XRD test that Fe 3 O 4 (magnetite) appears as the majority phase and the magnetic properties observation  shown that the magnetization saturation (Ms) and remanent (Br) was decreased with the increasing  of the coercivity (Hc).


Several hours after an hypoxic-ischemic injury to the developing brain, hyperemia, then seizures, edema, and infarction can develop. The roles of nitric oxide (NO) synthesis and excitotoxin accumulation during these later phases of injury are not known. The time course of extracellular levels of amino acids within the parasagittal parietal cortex were measured with microdialysis during and for 3 d after 30 min of cerebral ischemia in nine chronically instrumented near-term fetal sheep (119-133 d). Cortical electroencephalographic (EEG) activity and extracellular space (ECS) were quantified simultaneously with real-time spectral analysis and cortical impedance measurements, respectively. Amino acid concentrations were measured using HPLC. During ischemia, citrulline (by-product of NO synthesis), glutamate, glycine, and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentrations rose to 147 ± 18%, 180 ± 20%, 290 ± 50% and 4800 ± 1300% of baseline respectively (p < 0.05). The excitotoxic index([glutamate] × [glycine]/[GABA]) decreased to 15 ± 8%. Upon reperfusion, the cytotoxic edema and amino acid accumulation largely resolved within 1 h, and the EEG was depressed. Citrulline began to rise again by 4 h(p < 0.05), reaching a maximum (273 ± 21%) at 32 ± 2 h. Seizure activity developed at 7 ± 2 h, and impedance plus the excitotoxic index then rose progressively and peaked at 32 ± 2 h (480± 170%). At 72 h, there was severe neuronal loss and laminar necrosis within the parasagittal cortex. These data suggest that, several hours after a severe hypoxic-ischemic injury, NO synthesis increased, then seizures arose, and edema developed concomitantly with the accumulation of excitotoxins.


— The aim of the study was to examine the features of adaptive reactions of the female organism under the influence of the urban environment during their study at the University. On the basis of a comprehensive study of psychophysiological indicators of urban and rural girls, for the first time psychofunctional differences among students of all study groups were established. In comparing the functional indicators of rural and urban girls, the following priority data were obtained: rural girls showed higher values of the functional state of both the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, as well as muscle development than the urban girls did. The consequence of differences in functional measurements is a level of body's adaptation possibility. The obtained data of the functional and psychological status of female students studying in higher education institutions, as well as their adaptive capabilities can be applied to develop regional standards, improve the efficiency of the educational process at the University and provide conditions for gentle adaptation of first-year students to new social conditions, also, serve as a basis for planning health preservation measures in the training process at the University.


The shedding of ectodomains is a crucial mechanism in many physiological and pathological events. A disintegrin and metalloprotease‐17 (ADAM17) is a key sheddase involved in essential processes, such as development, regeneration, and immune defense. ADAM17 exists in two conformations which differ in their disulfide connection in the membrane‐proximal domain (MPD). Protein‐disulfide isomerases (PDIs) on the cell surface convert the open MPD into a rigid closed form, which corresponds to inactive ADAM17. ADAM17 is expressed in its open activatable form in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and consequently must be protected against ER‐resident PDI activity. Here, we show that the chaperone 78‐kDa glucose‐regulated protein (GRP78) protects the MPD against PDI‐dependent disulfide‐bond isomerization by binding to this domain and, thereby, preventing ADAM17 inhibition.


Purpose Endotracheal intubation is a lifesaving procedure for airway management but is more complex when performed in patients lying on the ground and requiring cervical spine immobilization. This study aims to compare the optimal technique between prone and kneeling positions in increasing intubation success rate on these prehospital trauma patients. Patients and Methods This study was an experimental study on a mannequin. Paramedic students performed intubation on the supine mannequin, which was applied with a rigid cervical collar and manual in-line stabilization. The participants were randomly assigned to intubate in a prone or kneeling position as the first method, then perform another method seven days later. Study outcomes include the percentage of successful intubation, time to perform intubation successfully, and Cormack and Lehane's classification of laryngeal view. Results Thirty-nine participants were enrolled in this study; 22 were male (56.41%). The mean age, weight, and height were 23.15 ± 4.75 years, 67.38 ± 17.39 kg, and 167.36 ± 8.70 cm., respectively. The percentage of successful intubation in prone (37 [94.90%]) was higher than kneeling position (35 [89.74%]), but there was no statistically significant (p-value = 0.675). Time to intubation successfully, the number of attempts, and Cormack & Lehane's laryngeal view classification were not significantly different between prone and kneeling groups (p-value = 0.808, 0.814, and 0.948, respectively). Conclusion Intubation with the prone or kneeling position on a mannequin, lying on the ground with cervical spine immobilization, has no statistical difference. Both intubation approaches appear to be effective in successful and rapid intubation, proper glottic visualization and low attempts.


Microbial deterioration of monuments and facades of heritage buildings is a well-known and a widely recognized problem in India and the world over. Several stone monuments of archaeological importance, belonging to period from the 1st to 12th century AD in many regions of India have become obliterated, defaced and disfigured due to the colonization of blackish/brownish growth of biofilms on their exposed surfaces, causing aesthetic/structural disfigurement and damage. The main species of these biofilms thriving on Indian monuments are cyanobacteria, which are stress-tolerant and can survive in the adverse condition of desiccation and extreme temperature of stones. During the onset of monsoon, these blackish/brownish biofilms become greenish after absorbing moisture and utilize the minerals present in the stone substrata to grow. This is the main cause of deterioration of these important monuments. Certain species of cyanobacteria which dominate these biofilms, develop survival strategies by secreting a thick sheath of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) resulting into crust formation under adverse conditions and desiccation. These cyanobacteria are also rich in UV-sunscreen pigments like scytonemin and mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) which act as a protective mechanism against desiccation and intense solar radiation. Earlier research on the diversity of cyanobacteria colonizing Indian stone monuments was based on traditional morphological studies. However, the mode of their diversity analysis and taxonomy is changing with recent information and techniques, including different phenotypic features (e.g. biochemical and ultra-structural characteristics) and genotypic characterization. The protection of culturally important monuments is of great concern to all mankind with the aim to contribute to the conservation of these universal heritage art treasures for future generations. The present study describes a novel cyanobacterial species, i.e. Hassallia lithophila from stone monuments of Santiniketan, West Bengal, India. Blackish-brown biofilm was collected from a stone-made elephant sculpture (Figure 1 a) in Santiniketan (23°40.427′N, 87°40.581′E, 56 m amsl). Culture was grown in BG 11 medium at 25° ± 1°C under continuous light with fluorescent tubes at an intensity of 7.5 W m. Microscopic study was performed (Nikon microscope Ni–11 attached with Nikon Digital Camera DS–Ri1–U3 and Nikon Imaging Software NIS–D+EDF) and the type specimen was deposited at the Central National Herbarium (CAL), Howrah. Genomic DNA was extracted following a bacterial genomic DNA isolation protocol. PCR amplification of 16S rRNA genes was carried out using CYA359F and CYA781R (equimolar mixture of CYA781R-a and CYA781R-b) primers specific for cyanobacteria. The products were purified and sequenced (GCC Biotech, Kolkata). The sequence of H. lithophila was deposited in GenBank with accession no. JX523945 (initially mislabelled as Scytonema sp.). The phylogenetic tree was constructed using Mega-6.0 software. Taxonomy – Hassallia lithophila N. Keshari, Sudipta K. Das & S.P. Adhikary sp. nov. (Figure 1). Thallus rounded bushy mats, blue– green or black–green in colour; filaments heteropolar, cylindrical, fasciculated, 7– 20 μm width; sheath slender, hyaline, non-lamellated, colourless in younger filaments, golden-yellow in mature ones (Figure 1 b–d); sheath parallel throughout the filament, but diffused towards the


The excluded grid theorem, originally proved by Robertson and Seymour in Graph Minors V, is one of the most central results in the study of graph minors. It has found numerous applications in algorithmic graph structure theory, for instance as the basis for bidimensionality theory on graph classes excluding a fixed minor.

In 1997, Reed [22] and later Johnson, Robertson, Seymour and Thomas [16] conjectured an analogous theorem for directed graphs, i.e. the existence of a function f: N → N such that every digraph of directed tree-width at least f(k) contains a directed grid of order k. In an unpublished manuscript from 2001, Johnson, Robertson, Seymour and Thomas gave a proof of this conjecture for planar digraphs but no result beyond planar graphs is known to date.

In this paper we prove the conjecture for the case of digraphs excluding a fixed undirected graph as a minor. For algorithmic applications our theorem is particularly interesting as it covers those classes of digraphs to which, on undirected graphs, theories based on the excluded grid theorem such as bidimensionality theory apply. We expect similar applications for directed graphs in particular to algorithmic versions of Erdos-Posa type results and the directed disjoint paths problem.


Recently the Web gives us a universal interface and platform independent functionality. An important part of web browser is providing a format for representing 3D medical data. In this paper we classified 3D medical information into 3 types; 3D medical volume data, 3D medical image, volume rendering application. And then we represented each of them with XML. It enables us to understand the 3D medical data much more. In addition we represented direct volume rendering application based on text map with SVG and viewed the results on the SVG viewer. The results showed that it is possible to script volume rendering application with SVG and to look at the 3D medical image on the SVG viewer.


Solar radio burst type III and II is the subject matter that we are focusing on because type II and III burst are seem to have relation to each other. The most common of type III burst is called isolated type III burst which is produced by energetic electron from small scale energy release site on the sun and it is ranging from small bright point to large active region. This stage can be considered as a pre-flare stage that could be a signature of electron acceleration. Nevertheless, the most important is that the nonlinear wave-wave interaction which involving interaction of electrostatic electron plasma that called as Langmuir waves active region radio emissions is believed to be a main subject that relevant with a type III burst. In this study, solar radio bursts are observed by using the CALLISTO spectrometer. The log Periodic Dipole Antenna (LPDA) involved in this search over a broad region centered on the Sun and it covered the range of frequency from 45 MHz-870 MHz and it is connected to the CALLISTO spectrometer. At certain period of time, when the Sun launches billons tones of electrically conducting gas plasma into the space at millions of miles per hours it is assigned that CMEs begin to launches. At this time, the appearance of SRBT III was observed and followed by SRBT II within the time interval of 15 minutes. During flares, large scale of magnetic field structures can be destabilized and be repelled into the interplanetary medium; along with the large mass it contains to form so-called CMEs. Based on the result obtained, the SRBT III is followed by SRBT II which only in short period. During the SRBT II, the solar flare was also appearing and same goes to the CMEs


Abstract The Schirmacher Oasis is a small, ice‐free area, some 18 km by 1.8 km, located in Dronning Maud Land and lying between the Lazarev Ice Shelf to the north and the Antarctic Ice Cap to the south. The climate is quite variable with a mean annual air temperature of ‐10°C, a mean temperature of ‐18.1°C for the coldest month and ‐0.7°C for the warmest month. Annual precipitation is approximately 300 mm. The entire area is underlain by permafrost. Active layer depths range between 80 cm in dry, fine‐grained materials and 7 cm in areas of ice‐rich algal accumulations. The author investigated in detail the depth of the active layer in a stony polygon. In unconsolidated materials the commonest variant of cryogenic structure is a massive subtype with no lenses or layers of ice; a streaky subtype occurs in some fine‐grained sediments. Segregation ice is relatively rare and no wedge ice was reported. The only massive ground ice is buried glacier ice near the ice cap margin. Frost shattering is the most widesp...


Media and popular culture have an enormous influence. There's been some discussion of popular culture and critical media literacy (CML) related to adult learning at recent adult education conferences, such as AERC (Armstrong, 2005; Tisdell, Guy, Sandlin, Wright, & Thompson, 2008; Miller, 1999; Sandlin, 2007), and at SCUTREA (Armstrong 2007; Miller, Armstrong & Edwards, 2005; Tisdell, 2007; Wright, 2006). In addition recent journal articles and publications in the field have discussed research that explored what type of entertainment media adult educators consume and how they use it in their teaching (Tisdell & Thompson 2007; Tisdell, 2008); how adults learn, and construct further meaning about work through The Office (Armstrong, 2008); about gender from The Avengers (Wright 2007) or Buffy, the Vampire Slayer (Jarvis 2005); about identities related to race, gender, and class (Guy, 2007) or ways anti-consumption activists have turned media on its head in the form of culture jamming (Sandlin 2007). In fact, Wright and Sandlin (2009) did an excellent literature review of the research and publication that has been done in the field relating to popular culture that appeared in recently in the Adult Education Quarterly.


We define a propositional substring logic (PS) in which atomic sentences represent substring properties of strings. We also investigate the following variation of the boolean function synthesis (BFS) problem: given a sample of classified strings, find a PS formula in disjunctive normal form with the minimum number of clauses and consistent with the sample. We call this problem PS formula synthesis (PSFS). The advantages of using PS is that it is as expressive as first-order logic (FO) over strings with the successor relation, and PS formulas are more succinct than FO formulas. We show that PSFS is NP-complete, and we propose an algorithm to solve PSFS via a reduction to the BFS problem.


The interactions between phospholipids and protein have been studied by nuclear magnetic resonance and circular dichroism techniques. Egg phosphatidylcholine (PC) did not affect the protein structure of ovalbumin (OA). However, lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) changed the conformation of OA to increase the α-helix and to reduce the β-sheet content by interaction with the protein. The heat stability of OA was enhanced by coupling with LPC and linoleic acid. The results of 31 P and 13 C NMR spectra and T 2 * relaxation times of the complexes showed that the molecular motion of acyl chain and glycerol carbons of LPC was restricted by interaction with ther protein


Copper metabolism is profoundly altered in human cancer and in tumor-bearing animals. The level of ceruloplasmin, the principal copper-transporting protein, increases four-to eight-fold during malignant progression, often before tumors become palpable. Serum copper levels correlate with tumor incidence, tumor burden, malignant progression, and recurrence in a variety of human cancers. Preclinical and in vitro studies have determined that copper is an important factor stimulating tumor angiogenesis. It seems reasonable that copper inhibitors (tetrathiomolybdate, penicillamine, zinc and/or low copper diet) could be good candidates for the inhibition of tumor angiogenesis. The following topics will be discussed in this lecture:-physiological and pathological neovascularization: vasculogenesis and angiogenesis;-the degree of vascularization in the different tumor types;-the monitoring of the effectiveness of antiangiogenic treatment;-the steps of the tumor angiogenesis process (from a delivery of proteolytic enzymes from endothelial cells up to blood flow in the new tumor vessels);-the changes in the extracellular matrix (ECM) facilitating the migration and invasion of both tumor and endothelial cells (from a secretion of chemotactic factors up to intra-and extravasation);-the regulation of tumor angiogenesis (the importance of balance between activators and inhibitors);-endogenous regulators of tumor angiogenesis (growth factors and their inhibitors, proteases and their inhibitors, trace elements, oncogenes, cellular signal transducing enzymes, cytokines and others);-the role of copper in tumor progression and angiogenesis;-the influence of copper on the activity of angiogenic growth factors;-the mechanisms of angiogenesis control by copper;-the inhibitors of copper in clinical trials;-the clinical effects of copper reduction;-penicillamine, tetrathiomolybdate and zinc – pre-and clinical studies;-concluding remarks.


The purpose of this study is to present the implications by comparing empirical studies on the relationship among national image, tourist destination image and revisit intention. The effect of national image on tourist destination image was the highest in political image, followed by economic image and social image. In addition, the explanatory power that constitutes the national image indicates that the political image is larger than the economic and social image, and consequently the political image has the greatest influence in forming the tourist destination image. On the other hand, the social image has the strongest influence on the national image that influences the intention to revisit, followed by the political image and the economic image. These results suggest that the factors that determine the revisit intention are the stronger social experience related to tourism by foreign tourists, but the political and economic factors that are not directly related to tourism are relatively less influential.


Abstract Categorization of profiles in social networks represents one of the most interesting current challenges. Indeed, nowadays social networks have an inevitable role in the decision-making of Internet users. Detecting categories of profiles, which can play the role of influencers, can make a difference in understanding the structures and the functions of networks. With the exponential growth of data, and since we are talking about machine learning methods, classical techniques have become of poor efficiency. In this article, we introduce Weighted Categories Propagation (WCP), an improvement of existing methods which benefit from the labels propagation to consider the influence of social relationships on profile categorization. The efficiency of WCP is experimentally validated. Experiments carried out on the data set of RepLab 2014 indicate that WCP outperforms similar methods.


The objective of this program is to develop various cold-cathode electron guns to demonstrate that they have properties suitable for application to e-beam lasers. The plasma cathode electron gun has been the subject of study for the previous periods of this program. The source of electrons in the plasma cathode e-gun is a plasma generated within a low voltage, cold surface, hollow cathode discharge. The device is characterized by durability, low cost, low power consumption, small size, and fast turn-on in comparison with thermionic e-guns. (GRA)


The invention provides a dried-fruit-bagging-and-sealing-integrating automatic packaging machine based on a rotary controllable quantitative feeding system. The automatic packaging machine comprises a machine frame, the rotary controllable quantitative feeding system, a packing system integrating bag grabbing, bag opening, bagging and bag sealing, a boxing system, a sealing system, a control system and a transmitting system. The rotary controllable quantitative feeding system is located at the uppermost end of the machine; the packing system integrating bag grabbing, bag opening, bagging and bag sealing is located below the rotary controllable quantitative feeding system; the boxing system and the sealing system are located at the bottom end of the machine; the control system supplies power to the machine; the transmitting system is located at the connecting portions of the systems.


A collection of essays which grapple with the idea of what ancient history is, and in particular how the discipline can advance in a world that is no longer as tied to the exclusively literary methods of study epitomised by Classics . Whilst some of the papers are purely theoretical, most are demonstrative of future directions by taking a multidisciplinary approach to a particular issue. Interestingly, given the aim of moving away from a eurocentric view of the ancient world, a significant number of the contributors are from Brazilian or other non-European universities.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explain how internal and external sources of knowledge influence the innovation performance (IP) in Italian manufacturing firms and how different these relationships are for low-technology (LT) and high-technology (HT) firms.

Design/methodology/approach

The study proposed a model relating external knowledge, internal knowledge and IP that was tested using Bayesian structural equation modeling with a sample of Italian manufacturing firms of Community Innovation Survey 2010. It was run separately for high-tech firms (including HT and medium-HT aggregations of manufacturing industries of NACE Rev. 2) and low-tech firms (including LT and medium-LT aggregations).

Findings

The results showed a difference between high-tech and low-tech manufacturing firms in Italy. The investments to leverage internal knowledge sources are important for high-techs and not significant for low-techs. On the other hand, the level of external KS improves significantly the IP of low-techs and has a negative effect for high-techs. The level of absorptive capacity is central to improve the positive effect of the external knowledge on the IP for all firms, but it is still underdeveloped.

Originality/value

The effects of 2008 economic crisis hit the Italian manufacturing industry specifically hard and are still felt. Innovation is a solution for firms' growth and Italy is considered a below-average innovator country in Europe. The study could identify important gaps in Italian manufacturing firms that hinder their innovative performance improvement.


Abstract Dislocations and stacking faults in a pseudo-one-dimensional crystal of hexagonal Nb3Te4 have been examined by conventional and high-resolution electron microscopy for cleaved and ion-thinned samples. Dislocations introduced by slip on {1010} planes have the Burgers vector either of (⅓)'1210', [0001] or (⅓)'1213'; the last one being produced as reacted segments of the first and the second dislocations. Zigzag stacking faults on {1010} planes, which are observed only in samples prepared by ion-thinning, have the fault vector of (l/6;)'20232'. A mechanism is proposed in which the zigzag fault is created by climb and glide of a dislocation due to segregation of interstitial atoms produced during the ion-thinning process. A possible atomic configuration in the stacking fault is suggested.


In this paper, we present a single-inductor triple-input–triple-output (SITITO) buck–boost converter in a 0.18- $\mu \text{m}$  CMOS process for dual-source energy harvesting. The converter operates in the single-source mode, dual-source mode (DSM), and backup mode automatically by detecting the input and output conditions. Converter operation in the proposed DSM enables extraction of power from both a photovoltaic cell and a thermoelectric generator in one switching cycle for efficient power extraction. The cycle-by-cycle source-tracking approach selects the appropriate input source according to the maximum power point of the energy transducers. The adaptive on-time circuit with the proposed adaptive peak-inductor-current (APIC) control adjusts the on-time of power transistors to obtain high conversion efficiency under different input voltages. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed SITITO converter has a peak efficiency of 84.4%. When compared with the conventional constant peak-inductor-current control, an efficiency improvement of 11% is obtained via the proposed APIC control.


Objective:To explore the diagnosis and management of the syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH) after thoracotomy.Methods:The clinical data of three patients with SIADH after thoracotomy (1 radical operation of esophageal carcinoma,1 radical operation of cardia carcinoma,1 pulmonary lobectomy) were analyzed retrospectively.Results:All 3 patients were males with an average age of 71.4(67.5~74)years.Psychiatric symptoms (the state of delirium) were manifestated by all patients during 3rd to 4th day after thoracotomy,and meanwhile their serum sodium decreased significantly(125~126mmol/L);urine sodium increased abnormally(74.9~101 mmol/L);plasma osmolality decreased(255~280mosm/kg H_2O) and osmolality of urine rised(540~695mosm/kg H_2O).The psychiatric symptoms of 3 patients disappeared and their serum sodium,urine sodium,plasma osmolality,osmolality of urine reversed to normal after water restriction(800~1000ml/24h) for 4 to 6 days.Conclusion:The causes of SIADH after thoracotomy may be related to positive pressure respiration,fierce mental stress,and severe pain that can cause ADH secretion.


The high adoption rate of cloud computing technology is changing the strategic, operational and functional aspects of businesses. Though, as cloud computing is seeing massive global investment, the ...


Sexual dysfunction is one of the most common and troubling side effects from selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), leading some patients to discontinue treatment. This study examined whether weekend "drug holidays" during treatment with SSRIs improved sexual functioning in 16 women and 14 men treated as outpatients.

The patients averaged 42 years old, were receiving SSRIs …


We have seen the appearance of some papers which extended techniques traditionally used in the study of the existence of solutions of nonlinear differential equations to solve problems of control, state estimation and parameter identification of nonlinear systems. These techniques often require some topological adjustments of either the space of admissible input functions U (the control space) or the state space X of the system. These topological adjustments became possible with the use of matched sets introduced by the author in [3, 4, 5]. The present work places its emphasis on how the matched sets can be used to adjust the spaces U and X for the problem of nonlinear control as formulated below. A summary of the theory of complete matched sets is also shown. Moreover, the semigroup approach is used so that the distributed parameter systems and delay systems can be considered as well as lumped parameter systems.


Lingqiang Meng (孟令强), Pengyang Zhao (赵芃杨), Fanchao Meng (孟范超), Long Chen (陈 龙), Yong Xie (谢 永), Yikun Wang (王义坤), Wei Bian (边 伟), Jianjun Jia (贾建军), Tao Liu (刘 涛), Shougang Zhang (张首刚), and Jianyu Wang (王建宇) 1 School of Physics and Photoelectric Engineering, Taiji Laboratory for Gravitational Wave Universe, Key Laboratory of Gravitational Wave Precision Measurement of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou 310024, China 2 Key Laboratory of Space Active Opto-Electronics Technology, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200083, China 3 Key Laboratory of Time and Frequency Primary Standards, National Time Service Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710600, China 4 School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China


The formation of belief in law is a process of autonomous choice in which a subject constantly understands and fulfills the law.From this perspective,it can be concluded that a subject's contact with the law begins from his foremost access to certain rules or even a particular convention or custom.Subsequently,with the increase in the understanding,the subject gradually accepts and internalizes his understanding and lives it out in daily practice.Based on the above understanding,it can be argued that the cultivation of rule consciousness in family education lays a foundation which directs the formation of children's belief in law.Inappropriate behavior in family education will,however,brings about obstacles hindering the formation of children's belief in law,which will prevent the ultimate formation of their belief in law.


In this issue we present seven peer-reviewed research articles covering differ-ent aspects of vocational education and training in the Nordic countries. There are three articles from Norway, two from Finland, and two from Sweden. To make the findings accessible to a broader audience, we encourage publication in English, and in this issue three of the articles are written in English –one from each of the three countries represented. In addition to this, we have four articles in Nordic languages –two in Norwegian and two in Swedish. It should be noted that also the articles in Nordic languages have a translated title, abstract and key words in English, to make even these texts accessible to some extent to you who are not able to read Norwegian, Swedish, or Danish.


This study is concerned with a kind of oil-free mechanical vacuum pump with spiral grooved rotors. To improve the performance of the pumps at pressures above 1000Pa, sleeves which have triangular or rectangular grooves were tested instead of the smooth ones ordinarily used. The pressure difference between suction and discharge sides was measured for various pairs of rotors and sleeves. The measured values were normalized and plotted against the Reynolds number defined as Re=4ρUm/μ(U : peripheral speed, m : hydraulic mean groove depth, ρ : density, μ : viscosity). Grooves on sleeves serve as paths for leakage in the laminar regime (Re<1000), but they activate the generation and conveyance of vortices when the flow becomes turbulent, and thus improve the performance. The improvement becomes marked as the groove pitch on the sleeve decreases and as the helix angle of the groove on the sleeve increases.


Prior research on individual-level drivers of protest has primarily focused on legal protest. However, less is known about what makes people engage in unlawful protest activities. Building upon previous literature on the collective action dilemma, socialization on violent and high-risk social movements, and political psychology, we expect that illegal protest frequency varies at different levels of authoritarianism. We explore the relationship between authoritarian values and illegal protest by analyzing a two-wave panel survey data gathered in the US. The results of cross-sectional, lagged, and autoregressive ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models show that when controlling for legal protest and other relevant variables in protest behavior, authoritarianism predicts illegal protest following an inverted U-shaped relationship. In other words, average levels of authoritarianism predict more frequent engagement in illegal protest, while this frequency decreases as approaching the poles of the authoritarianism scale.


A set of conjugated polymers based on poly(triphenylamine-phenothiazine) with carboxylic acid side groups have been synthesized and utilized as sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The polymers feature a conjugated side-chain consisting of a thiophene unit (PPAT4), alternating with either 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT, PPAT5) or EDOT–thiophene (PPAT6) as the π-bridge. This methodology constitutes a consolidated step to adjust the molecular HOMO and LUMO energy levels of dyes, hence red-shifting and broadening the absorption spectra of a conjugated polymer. Compared with the model compound (PAT), the polymers exhibit a higher molar extinction coefficient throughout the visible region, and a better photovoltaic performance in DSSCs with I−/I3− electrolyte. Interestingly, depending on the Suzuki coupling reaction, we obtain a fairly high degree of polymerization (DP values are 58, 46, and 38 for PPAT4, PPAT5 and PPAT6, respectively) based on the three polymers. More encouraging is that when using the high DP polymers as sensitizers, photoelectrochemical tests based on the DSSC format demonstrate a power conversion efficiency of 4.7%, 3.7% and 4.1% for PPAT4, PPAT5 and PPAT6, respectively, under the illumination of AM1.5G and 100 mW cm−2. This presented a considerably high photo-to-electric conversion efficiency in polymer dye-sensitized solar cells, outperforming all polymer dye-sensitized solar cells previously reported.


This study aims, is description of exhausting and organizational commitment universities, by separating of full-time and tuition-fee masters of physical education, comparing these two groups, even their relation between organizational commitment and burnout in an analyzed way for each group, comparing the balance of variants in both groups. This research is a kind of description one, and done as arena. the statistical community is included all masters (full-time and tuition-fee), statistical model is equal to statistical community. For assigning burnout, the questionnaire of maslach burnout (1996), for assigning organization commitment the questionnaire of organizational commitment of meer Allen (1991) and personal questionnaires are used. The results showed that the abundance and intensity of devoid personal purities of full-time masters, had a meaning full relation to feeling commitment. There was a significant difference between Abundance and intensity of devoid personal parting of tuition fee had a meaning full relation to feeling commitment and their manner. Between feeling commitment and abundance of feeling deprecation, and feeling commitment and abundance of devoid personal purities, at both groups, there is a meaningful difference that organizational commitment in full-time masters is more than tuition-fee ones. Only the feeling commitment can be a factor for burnout.


Image reconstruction of an object by detecting the non-imaged speckle intensity pattern is addressed. The problem arising from incomplete intensity measurement is solved by an algorithm that allows analytic continuation in the Fourier transform domain.


*Japan Agency for Marine–Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka 237–0061, Japan **PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Kawaguchi 332–0012, Japan ***Department of Geology and Mineralogy, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606–8502, Japan †Earthquake Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan ‡Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan


This study aims to implement practical management accounting on nipah water by looking for inputs and outputs for other commodities. The main problem in this study is how accounting can raise environmental problems in the form of green accounting practices. The review is seen from management accounting to determine cross production between nipah water production as capital input for other commodities. Environmental accounting practices dealing with the problem of pricing agricultural products become increasingly complex in agricultural locations. The data source is primary data taken directly from 30 nipah farmers located on the banks of the Moncongloe Lappara River, Moncongloe District, Maros Regency, South Sulawesi during 2020. The analytical method used is to measure input-output commodities with the Social Accounting Matrix. The results of this study indicate that the total contribution index of sap water production from Nipah is 456.66 to other commodities, while commodity B is 1236.04 and commodity C is 851.66. With this contribution, farmers can manage their own sources of funds sourced from nipa palm water in a sustainable manner, not only farmers in the Lappara Moncongloe River area, but also the condition of nipa palm farmers in other parts of Indonesia


The implementation of CLIL in Spanish education is a natural consequence of the global use of English as a 'lingua franca'. This affects not only primary and secondary education but also university, where a wide range of degrees are being taught in English as a medium of instruction (aka EMI). However, in contrast to Spanish primary and secondary education, which have received more attention (Sierra, 2011; Llinares and Whittaker, 2009; Halbach, 2009, inter alia ), there is still a considerable lack of studies focusing on the Spanish university context and the attitude of both lecturers and students to the implementation of these EMI courses (Dafouz, 2011; Dafouz and Nunez, 2009; Dafouz et al, 2007; Munoz 2001). The aim of this paper is to analyse students' response to pro-CLIL implementation in the degrees offered by the Economics and Business Administration schools at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. The data used in the study have been collected by means of a questionnaire addressed to students where aspects like the effects of FL instruction on their own linguistic competence or their general attitude towards instruction in English are considered.


Religion is often cited as a source of conflict and violence, but it also serves the cause of peace in significant ways, including its calls for non-violence, unselfishness, forgiveness, reconciliation, and just war theory. The European Enlightenment caused many to discount religion's role in public affairs, but this is changing for multiple reasons, including the fact that attempts to build a good society without religion have been unsuccessful.This article draws attention to the more recent "post-secular" thought of Jurgen Habermas, a leading intellectual dedicated to "the Enlightenment project." He represents a significant post-secular development in social theory with his awakening to religion's significance in his ideal of the public sphere. The United Nations, too, is reassessing the role of religion. Approaches to peace that remain religiously illiterate will fail to yield either accurate assessments or fruitful outcomes.If we consider the quest for peace throughout history, we should not ignore the role of religion. While religion is often cited, quite accurately, as a frequent contributor to conflict and violence, it has also, and more substantially served to advance the cause of peace in many profound and substantial ways, including its calls for practices such as non-violence, restraint of acquisitiveness, forgiveness, reconciliation, and just-war theory. The human aspiration for peace has roots in religious ideals that are widely shared among the world's religions, and which long pre- dated modern secular movements or ideologies.There are two good reasons to recognize religion's role in matters of peace and security. First of all, it is simply more truthful and scientific to acknowledge the power of religion in world affairs. Secondly, by recognizing and understanding religion's role, one is better positioned to mitigate religion's negative impact and, at the same time, encourage its positive potential.If we attribute the discounting of religion's role in public affairs to the European Enlightenment, and that intellectual and social movement's legacy, as expressed in Marxism, Darwinism, scientific reductionism, positivism, methodological atheism and secularization theory, it may be said that the widespread denial of religion's significance is a fairly recent phenomenon, dating back only a few hundred years.Moreover, recent trends, since the end of the Cold War Era, have been precisely moving in a direction that acknowledges religion's ongoing role in human affairs. This new emphasis has multiple causes; two are obvious. First of all, perspectives which attempted to build the good society without religion have been unsuccessful, or at least equally as unsuccessful as attempts by religious believers. Secondly, there is the obvious empirical fact that religion continues to be a major force in the lives of individuals and, taken in the aggregate, in world affairs. Statistics show that there arc aPProximately 2 .2 billion Christians, 1.6 billion Muslims, 1 billion Hindus and 400 million Buddhists in the world. One would have to live in a state of serious denial to fail to observe this reality. Moreover these believers are active in the world as citizens, government leaders, scientists, educators, intellectuals, artists, and more. They impact the social, political, and economic world.Stated a bit differently, predictions of the withering away of religion as a necessary consequence of the rise of science and rationality have not proven to be prophetic. In fact, post- Cold War classics such as Samuel Huntington's The Clash of Civilizations1 are illustrative of the formidable presence of religion in the fabric of ordinary life. For billions of people, religion continues to shape social, cultural, ethnic and national identities; as well as moral values and, in turn, human practices in the world. Consider also Francis Fukuyama's recent study of the Origins of Political Order. Fukuyama underscores the religious origins of the rule of law in the West. …


Efficiency properties of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Kuiper, Cramer-von Mises, and Anderson-Darling statistics with truncated data are investigated. For these statistics, the approximate slopes are determined, and the equivalence of ratios of limiting approximate slopes to limiting Pitman efficiencies is established. Efficiencies for certain parametric families of distributions incorporating both location and scale alternatives are evaluated as the amount of truncation increases.

Le rendement des statistiques de Kolmogorov-Smirnov, de Kuiper, de Cramer-von Mises et d'Anderson-Darling dans le cas de donnees tronquees fait l'objet de cet article. Afin d'evaluer le rendement de ces statistiques, on determine leur pente approximative et on compare les quotients de ces pentes approximatives aux rendements asymptotiques de Pitman. On evalue egalement leur rendement en fonction du nombre de donnees tronquees, et ce dans le cas de certaines familles de distributions parametriques caracterisees par des modifications de location et d'echelle.


Abstract The objective of current work is to design and analyzed 96×10 Gbps DWDM system taking EDFA, SOA, and RAMAN amplifier as an inline amplifiers up to a fiber length of 300 km. The performance of EDFA, SOA, and RAMAN amplifier is measured on the basis of power received, Q-factor, probability of error and BER for various values of fiber distance. In this paper it has been proved that for 96 channels DWDM system at 10 Gbps bit rate, EDFA reveals superior performance as far as the amount of power received is concerned. The value of quality factor (Q-factor) for RAMAN amplifier is almost identical to that of the Q-factor for EDFA and is higher than the Q-factor for SOA till a fiber length of roughly 80 km thereafter SOA reveals somewhat better Q-factor than EDFA and RAMAN amplifier. As far as BER is concerned EDFA and RAMAN amplifier show roughly identical and somewhat lower BER than SOA till a fiber length of roughly 80 km, afterwards SOA reveal somewhat lesser BER till the fiber length of 210 km. In relation to the probability of error P(E), It is analyzed that P(E) remains more or less same for the entire set of optical amplifiers(OAs) but beyond the fiber length of 240 km EDFA shows somewhat lower P(E) than the other two OAs. At the end the Eye diagrams for the three OAs are also figure out.


Currently telemetry seismometers have become a mainstream device in seismic exploration and achieved good results in a variety of exploration and engineering geological of the field.there many advantages of telemetry seismometers,including multi-channel acquisition,high collecting rate,digital transmission,strong anti-interference ability.In this paper,we first give out a kind of classification(cable,radio seismic acquistion system)for cable telemetry seismometers according to data's transfer mode,then introduce and compare mainly the specifications of the cable telemetry seismometers of domestic and overseas.In the end,this paper summarizes the shortages of telemetry seismometers of domestic and prospects its future development direction.


Each vertex of an arbitrary simple graph on n vertices chooses k random incident edges. What is the expected number of edges in the original graph that connect different connected components of the sampled subgraph? We prove that the answer is O(n/k), when k ≥ c log n, for some large enough c. We conjecture that the same holds for smaller values of k, possibly for any k ≥ 2. Such a result is best possible for any k ≥ 2. As an application, we use this sampling result to obtain a one-way communication protocol with private randomness for finding a spanning forest of a graph in which each vertex sends only O (√n log n) bits to a referee.


The Feedback control system connected to a real time network through which the control process takes place are called network control system(NCSs).Features of NCS is the information like reference input, plant output, control input is exchanged between sensors, controllers, actuator using a network like CAN bus. The system wiring is reduced, easy to maintain and increases the system reliability. In the conventional control theories uses some ideal assumptions like equal distance sensing, synchronized control and non-delayed sensing and actuation. But in time varying systems this assumption fails due to transmission delay or packet dropout. In this paper Stability of NCS is analysed by considering transmission delay for a computer controlled system using scheduling algorithm The In direct digital control systems, computerized control replaced all analog instrumentation for the process control. Example system is shown in the figure 1 with a summary of several modular manufacturing system integrated control networks like FireWire, DeviceNet and Ethernet. In the example system, FireWire are used for the job requires high data throughput and high bandwidth. DeviceNet are used for the jobs which require low bandwidth like short, periodic messages signals transmission. Ethernet is preferred for the job like information exchange between the upper supervisory workstation and the controller is high volume but not time critical. Sensors with analog outputs and actuators with analog inputs are point to point connection with the digital computers. Sensing, actuating and control signal are deadline based since speed of all digital control CNC machines are high due to accuracy of the product manufacture in the system. Some of the constraints in the design of the system which affects the performance is choosing good scheduling algorithm, either constant or time varying network induced delay between the sensor to controller and controller to actuator in the shared medium, unreliable transmission path, packet dropouts due to packet size, bandwidth and busy path. Depending on the systems environmental condition while analysing some parameter are kept constant. Fundamental issues like time varying transmission period, network scheduling, network induced delay, single packet or multiple packet transmission of plant inputs and output and dropping of the network packets are basic problems in NCSs. In this paper we have considered time delay factor as variable since message transmitted between devices are either control data, which is time critical or information data which only needs guaranteed delivery.


Effects of swirling oxidizer flow on the performance of a HTPB/N2O Hybrid rocket motor were studied. A hybrid propulsion laboratory has been developed, to characterize internal ballistics characteristics of swirl flow hybrid motors and to define the operating parameters, like fuel regression rate, specific impulse, and characteristics velocity and combustion efficiency. Primitive variables, like pressure, thrust, temperature, and the oxidizer mass flow rate, were logged. A modular motor with 70 mm outer diameter and variable chamber length is designed for experimental analysis. The injector module has four tangential injectors and one axial injector. Liquid nitrous oxide (N2O) as an oxidizer is injected at the head of combustion chamber into the motor. The feed system uses pressurized air as the pressurant. Two sets of tests have been performed. Some tests with axial and tangential oxidizer injection and a test with axial oxidizer injection were done. The test results show that the fuel grain regression rate has been improved by applying tangential oxidizer injection at the head of the motor. Besides, it was seen that combustion efficiency of motors with the swirl flow was about 10 percent more than motors with axial flow.


G.H. Mead stated in 1 896 that there are three general types of human activity: work, play and art. Play, work and art are the cornerstones of the kind of social experience the Chicago pragmatists (Mead, Dewey and Addams) had in mind and the basis of any democratic education. These are also three ways to enrich and diversify the patterns of social interaction in any given community, the social conditions for which keep changing in a social environment with growing complexity. The first aim of the paper is to present the conception of game and play due to G.H. Mead as intrinsically linked to the other two types of human activity. The second aim of the paper is to critically examine the possibilities for a pragmatist social philosophy in the current global world.


SUMMARY 1. Despite the ubiquity and abundance of water striders (Hemiptera: Gerridae) in temperate streams and rivers and their potential usefulness as sentinels in contaminant studies, little is known about their feeding ecology and lipid dynamics. 2. In this study we used stable isotopes of carbon (d 13 C) and nitrogen (d 15 N) and elemental carbon to nitrogen ratios (C ⁄ N) to assess dietary habits and lipid content, respectively, for water striders. 3. To determine diet-tissue fractionation factors, nymphs of the most common species in New Brunswick, Canada, Aquarius remigis were reared in the laboratory for 73 days and exhibited rapid isotopic turnover in response to a switch in diet (C half-life = 1.5 days, N half-life = 7.8 days). Their lipid content increased towards the end of the growing season and resulted in lower d 13 C values. Diet-tissue fractionation factors were established after correction of d 13 C data for the confounding effect of de novo lipid synthesis (strider d 13 Cadj – diet d 13 Cadj = 0.1&, strider d 15 N – diet d 15 N = 2.7&). 4. Water striders from the majority of 45 stream sites (83%) in New Brunswick had less than 50% contribution of aquatic carbon to their diets but showed a gradual increase in the contribution of this carbon source to their diet with increasing stream size. 5. These data indicate that striders exhibit a strong connection to terrestrial carbon sources, making them important users of energy subsidies to streams from the surrounding catchment. However, this dependence on terrestrial organic matter may limit their utility as indicators of contamination of aquatic systems by heavy metals and other pollutants.


WWW has rapidly evolved from a technological into a social medium. Web 2.0 has become a metaphor for the distributed and decentralized collaboration networks on a global scale. With the recent trends of new media development, the sources available have reached a critical mass resulting in an unprecedented information overload. The urgent challenge to all information professionals, in this case law librarians, is no longer availability and direct provision of resources, but rather the filtering and highlighting the ubiquitous Infosphere. The recent transformation of legal information has had more drastic consequences than in many other cases. The Cornell Law Library recognizes the new role of law librarians as advocates of free access and open source and, in parallel, as guides through the information overload and coaches of critical thinking of IT. I. Web 2.0: Changing Culture in Libraries Web 2.0 has emerged as a magic word for everything that is related to networked humancomputer interactions and technology-mediated social communications. Library 2.0 is a metaphor for the return to the substantial rethinking of the mission, goals and meaning of our profession. Web 2.0 is a kind of platform for purging the excuses and technological alibis that have been preventing librarians from doing our core missions of: 1. Serving/reaching our patrons immediately where they are and where they need and 2. being a generic part of the educational-academic-research process. Laura Cohen (2006) has summarized how librarians should embrace Web 2.0 in her widely-read Librarian 2.0: A Manifesto. In it, she urges librarians to educate themselves about how users work with increasing amounts of information, to "be courageous" about implementing new kinds of services, to find better ways of performing work and to continuously improve/change service offerings. Users, contrary to popular belief, are often not aware of the information resources available to them. Knight (2005) describes how information overload can even lead to a reduction in mental abilities. Users often lack a context or conceptual framework for approaching complex research tasks (Germain 2007). Librarians, in such an environment, can serve as "torch-bearers" through the dark forests of too much information,


This study develops a new boundary control design for a class of distributed parameter systems. A two-dimensional (2D) heat equation is considered and the controller expression is derived for two different types of boundary conditions. The principles of dynamic inversion and optimisation theory are combined to develop an analytical expression for boundary control. To extend the applicability of the controller design to real-life systems, adaptive control theory is used to ensure stability in the presence of parameter uncertainty in the system. L 2 stability is proved using Lyapunov stability theory, which assures that the control drives the system trajectory to the desired temperature profile with uncertainty in the system parameter. Numerical results are presented for a square shape and also a model problem of a 2D cavity.


A good way to learn Special Relativity is to take the Postulates as the starting point, and derive everything from there. This is approach adopted in this book. Therefore you can regard the logical sequence as "postulates ⇒ invariance of interval⇒ Lorentz transformations and other results." This semi-popular book presents, a geometrical approach of the essentials of relativity from the Minkowski point of view , that is , in terms of the geometry of space-time, where the imagined experiments of Einstein are presented in a geometrical coherent sequence. The main emphasis of the book is on the development of the basic ideas in geometrical formulation rather than special applications that gave the theory its importance. Some 4-vectors changed the world! The material is divided into four parts, the diagrams in space-time and the kinematics, the Minkowki vectors in space-time, the new mechanics and the relativity in electromagnetics.


Upward Sun River 1, an individual from a unique burial of the Denali tradition in Alaska (11500 calBP), is considered a type representative of Ancient Beringians who split from other First Americans 22000–18000 calBP in Beringia. Using a new admixture graph model-comparison approach resistant to overfitting, we show that Ancient Beringians do not form the deepest American lineage, but instead harbor ancestry from a lineage more closely related to northern North Americans than to southern North Americans. Ancient Beringians also harbor substantial admixture from a lineage that did not contribute to other Native Americans: Amur River Basin populations represented by a newly reported site in northeastern China. Relying on these results, we propose a new model for the genomic formation of First American ancestors in Asia. One Sentence Summary Ancient Beringians do not form the deepest American lineage, but harbor admixture from Amur River Basin populations.


This article proposes to study the fears that surround the migratory process of Mexicans to the United States, through the analysis of two religious practices: 1) the orisons related to migration, which are difussed by different means; 2) the ex-votos that have been deposited for the last decades in two sanctuaries located at the municipality of Totatiche, Jalisco. This paper brings us near to the study of popular religious practices and the history of the present time.


Abstract. Wheat is one of the most important food supply and food security globally, especially in developing countries. Therefore, predicting the performance and determining the factors that affect the production of this product is very important. Biomass is one of the crop's most important biophysical parameters, and its correct estimation can help improve accurate monitoring of growth and crop performance forecasting. With the recent advances in remote sensing, access to aerial images taken by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for monitoring crops has been provided. This study investigates the potential of visible UAV images and the resulting vegetation indices to estimate the dry biomass of two types of Brazilian wheat. For this purpose, the performance of three regression algorithms, including Random Forest (RF), eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGB), and Gradient Boosting Machine (GBM), to estimate wheat biomass was evaluated. Also, to improve the performance of regression models, Bayesian optimization (BO) was used to adjust the Hyper-parameters, and random forest feature selection was used to select the optimal subset of features. Based on the results, the XGB algorithm with the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of about 911.86 (Kg/ha) and coefficient of determination (R2) of about 0.89% showed better performance in biomass estimation than other algorithms.


Objective: To discuss the role of ultrasonography in the follow up of reconstructed anterior cruciate ligament (ACLs). Methods: 31 patients with ACL reconstruction underwent ultrasonography scan for 1-9 months after operation. The reconstructed ACLs were scanned.and the function of knee joint was evaluated . Results: The thickness of reconstructed ACLs was reduced from 1.5 cm to 0.9 cm. Fibers of ACLs were characterized by a hyperechoic linear appearance. The quantity of fibers was aggressively increased. The hypoechoic layers between the fibers became narrowed. ACLs and fat tissue could be clearly separated by a thickened hyperechoic line. The scoring system showed that the function of knee joint could recover wonderfully. Conclusion: Ultrasonography can roughly reflect the histological reconstruction of ACLs. It can offer assistant information to doctors in the postoperative rehabilitation training.


Adjustment of the mechanical vibration parameters (frequency, amplitude, direction, expose time) lead to the elimination the negative effects that the vibrations have on the human body, which can be used with positive effects on the labor force, by improving muscle, bone density, as well as for the quality of life by reducing backache and the decrease in risk of falling. This article contains the results of an experiment in which is the aim of lower limbs muscles reaction when the body is in an environment with vibration parameters checked, while aiming at first tonic vibration reflex, in view of the use this reflex in training on the vibrating plate. Key words : Electromyography, vibrating plate, reflex tonic to vibrations.


This lesson guide is written for teachers who have little or no knowledge of the language and are not trained to teach a foreign language. Since the purpose of First Step Espanol is exposure to the Spanish language, the major portion of the ten video lessons is totally in Spanish. Use this lesson guide and the other accompanying components to take the greatest advantage of the First Step series and to maximize your student's learning.


WHILE SOCIETY IN GENERAL has embraced the Internet to obtain information and facilitate communication, its use in long-term care has been limited. Although Web-based technologies are gaining momentum in younger populations, such technology has been slow to catch on in nursing homes, many of which lack infrastructure to support computerization and Internet access. This is especially true in rural areas. A 2007 study of 64 nursing home administrators in a national chain found that only 14% of homes provided computers for residents and only 11% had Internet access.1 Although nursing homes have


Curiosity of people leads to traveling for pleasure to new places where they can visit and learn about historical buildings, natural beauty and anythi


Beginning with this issue the American Institute of Physics will send Physics Today to its entire membership. This includes all who are members of the Institute automatically because they are members of the American Physical Society, Optical Society of America, Acoustical Society of America, American Association of Physics Teachers, or Society of Rheology, as well as associate members of the AIP and members of Student Sections. This service will be rendered without adding in any way to the financial burdens of the Societies or their members. The achievement of general circulation at no extra cost has been made possible by the Institute's successful efforts to increase outside income, largely advertising and circulation income of the Institute‐owned journals.


Sir, Last night, in sweeping over a part of the heavens with my 5-feet reflector, I met with a telescopic comet. To point out its situation I transcribe my Brother's observations upon it from his Journal.


Abstract Ambient air pollutants have detrimental effects on human health and ambient air quality in central Taiwan is worsening. The aims of this study are as follows: (1) Measure the ambient air concentrations and dry deposition fluxes of particulates at a mixed commercial, urban and traffic sampling site in Luliao. (2) Identify the metallic elements that are attached to the particulates at this mixed sampling site. (3) Discuss the effects of ambient air pollutants (metallic elements that are attached to the particulates) on the health of local people using contamination factors and degrees of contamination [Ghosh et al. (2018). Source and chemical species characterization of PM10 and human health risk assessment of semi-urban, urban and industrial areas of West Bengal, India. Chemosphere 207:626–636]. The mean total suspended particulate concentrations were highest in the winter and lowest in the summer. The deposition fluxes were highest in the autumn and lowest in the summer. ANOVA results revealed no significant seasonal variation in the concentrations or dry depositions of particulates and metallic elements (Al, Cd, Cr, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) at the sampling site. Cu was the only exception, as its concentration varied seasonally. Degrees of contamination and contamination factor values for metallic elements Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn were low. Most of the metallic elements – Zn, Cr, Ni, Cd, Pb and Al – were locally emitted. Local residents close to the site faced no immediate carcinogenic or other health-related risk. Taichung World Flora Exposition was held in Taichung city and lasted as long as six months, and traffic flow increased significantly during this period. Hence, high density traffic flow during the Taichung World Flora Exposition might have been responsible for the high concentration and seasonal variations concentrations of metallic elements Cu and Mn at this time.


Background and Objectives Prevention, control and treatment of cancer using natural materials currently have been considered as the promising strategy. In this regard, caffeine as a purine alkaloid found in various plants, including coffee, cocoa, cola and tea has recently attracted great interest because of its remarkable multifunctional inhibitory effects on cancers such as leukemia. Regarding the anti-cancer effects of caffeine, we sought to investigate the effectiveness of this methylxanthine alkaloid against NB4 acute promyelocytic leukemia cells. Materials and Methods In order to examine the effects of caffeine in APL, NB4 cells were cultured in the presence of different concentrations of caffeine; subsequently, MTT, Caspase 3 activity assay, BrdU cell proliferation assay and quantitative real-time PCR were performed to assess the effect of caffeine on cell viability and the possible mechanisms of inducing cell death. Results Evaluation of DNA synthesis and cell survival using BrdU and MTT methods indicated that caffeine reduces proliferation and survival of NB4 cells in a dose and time dependent manner. The results of this study showed that elevation in the dose of caffeine induces caspase-3 activation and increases Bax and p21 gene mRNA expression levels. Conclusions Overall, our data illustrate that caffeine inhibits cell proliferation and induces apoptosis in acute promyelocytic leukemia NB4 cells. Thus, it can be concluded that caffeine as a substance in tea may be a useful agent for induction of cell death in malignant cells of patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia.


The museum as a commercial product, the shopping mall as a symbol of the museum of the future, the architect as international star – these are the images conjured up by Claus Kapplinger, who describes how contemporary museum architecture has contributed to the dramatic change in the public perception of the museum. The author is a German architect who lives and works in Berlin.


PURPOSE While dental implants have displayed high success rates, poor mechanical fixation is a common complication, and their biomechanical response to occlusal loading remains poorly understood. This study aimed to develop and validate a computational model of a natural first premolar and a dental implant with matching crown morphology, and quantify their mechanical response to loading at the occlusal surface. MATERIALS AND METHODS A finite-element model of the stomatognathic system comprising the mandible, first premolar and periodontal ligament (PDL) was developed based on a natural human tooth, and a model of a dental implant of identical occlusal geometry was also created. Occlusal loading was simulated using point forces applied at seven landmarks on each crown. Model predictions were validated using strain gauge measurements acquired during loading of matched physical models of the tooth and implant assemblies. RESULTS For the natural tooth, the maximum vonMises stress (6.4 MPa) and maximal principal strains at the mandible (1.8 mε, −1.7 mε) were lower than those observed at the prosthetic tooth (12.5 MPa, 3.2 mε, and −4.4 mε, respectively). As occlusal load was applied more bucally relative to the tooth central axis, stress and strain magnitudes increased. CONCLUSION Occlusal loading of the natural tooth results in lower stress-strain magnitudes in the underlying alveolar bone than those associated with a dental implant of matched occlusal anatomy. The PDL may function to mitigate axial and bending stress intensities resulting from off-centered occlusal loads. The findings may be useful in dental implant design, restoration material selection, and surgical planning.


Introduction: Melatonin (MLT) is a known antioxidant. We present here the changes of serum melatonin levels in adult patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI)-induced coma. Material and methods: Sixty-one adult patients with TBI-induced coma, assessed according to Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores on admission, were divided into very severe injury, severe injury and moderate injury groups . Thirty-one adult healthy volunteers were selected as the control group. Blood samples were collected twice at day 1, day 3 and day 7 after admission. The prognosis of these patients was evaluated 3 months after TBI. Results: The serum MLT levels of each TBI group at each time point were significantly lower than those of the control group ( p < 0.05). The MLT levels of very severe and severe TBI groups were significantly lower than those of the moderate TBI group ( p < 0.05). The MLT level of the very severe group was significantly lower than that of the severe group ( p < 0.05). The lower the serum MLT level, the more severe was the condition of TBI (by GCS scoring), and the lower were the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) scores. Conclusions: Lower serum MLT levels may indicate worse condition, and serum melatonin levels may correlate with the severity and prognosis of patients with TBI.


Secondary data analysis of a California statewide sample of nearly 7,000 entering MSW students between 1991 and 1999 sought to find out whether MSW students are less motivated by social work's traditional mission of serving the poor and whether students of color are more motivated than Caucasian students by this mission. Results indicate that (1) MSW students are highly attracted to clinical practice but are simultaneously attracted to traditional, non-clinical domains of social work; and (2) they are least attracted to private practice and psychotherapy relative to other areas of social work. MSW students of color and Caucasian students are also generally more alike than different in professional philosophy; however, students of color, especially American Indians, express views more consistent with social work's traditional mission.


Obtaining stack gases from these old units for salvage of the carbon dioxide presented many problems to both the designer and the operator of the recarbonation equipment. The fuel frequently burned was coal of various grades, depending upon availability. Later, crude oils were used and then the finer grades of fuel oil. Finally, natural gas became almost universally available. Combustion controls on the older units were


Yampa Canyon, northwest Colorado, was incised in the southern flank of the Uinta Mountain arch by Yampa River. Modern topographic and geologic maps and aerial photographs of the canyon and vicinity have disclosed unusual features, among which are: natural division of the canyon into three sections; marked change in river pattern from the middle to the lower section; in the middle section, radical differences in topography and geology on its two sides; also in the middle section, but only north of the river, several scallopshaped erosion surfaces or scars partly rimmed by cliffs and with moderately sloping floors; in the lower section, still different topography and general absence of scars; geographic and geologic relations between Yampa River and the Yampa, Red Rock, and Mitten Park faults. The observed features give further clues to the origin and development of the canyons and anomalous courses of Green and Yampa Rivers across the Uinta Mountains. South of and crudely paralleling Yampa Canyon is the Yampa fault and its branch the Red Rock fault, both with downthrow on the north. Apparently the Red Rock fault ends at the Mitten Park fault, which has downthrow on the southeast. Thus the Yampa River joins the Green within a westward-pointing triangular graben between these two faults. The upper section of Yampa Canyon, nearly 2 miles long, cuts stratigraphically downward through the Weber sandstone and Morgan formation, both of Pennsylvanian age, at right angles to the northeast strike and against the southeast dip of about 12° that mark the end of the Uinta Mountain arch. The river's course is fairly simple, and topography and geology on the two sides are similar. The middle section of the canyon is nearly 20 miles long; its fall is 333 feet, an average of about 17 feet per mile. Near the point where the middle section begins, the strike of the beds swings sharply to a direction north of west, parallel to the axis of the arch; the dip is predominantly 6° SW. This changed structure extends westward to and beyond the end of the canyon. The lower section of Yampa Canyon is nearly 24 miles long. Descent of the river surface is 176 feet, an average of less than 7% feet per mile. In the middle section the river's course is marked chiefly by open meanders and straight stretches. An exception is a "half-turn" meander, convex southward. The south wall is prevailingly simple and uniform a steep slope ending upward in a cliff. Its height and width average a quarter of a mile each, and it follows and fits closely each. curve of the river. Its intersection with the adjoining upland is sharp. Except in the "half-turn district," the north wall is wider, less steep, and of irregular shape. It consists chiefly of adjoining scallop-shaped erosion surfaces or scars. Southward, however, these moderately sloping surfaces end in a steeper slope down to the river, making a break in slope convex upward. The Untermanns' geologic map of Dinosaur National Monument shows conspicuously that the south wall serves as a formation boundary. The upper part of the south wall and the upland immediately south of it consist of the Weber sandstone, about 900 feet thick, which is loosely cemented and highly jointed. The lower part of the south wall, the north wall, and the adjoining belt of upland expose beds of the next older Morgan formation (except in the "half-turn district" where the Weber sandstone remains). The Morgan is about 1,200 feet thick, of sandstone and limestone; the lower part is more resistant to erosion. The hypothesis is advanced that the scallops north of the river are "meander-migration scars" formed by the progressive downdip (southward) migration and lowering of early meanders of Yampa River, by an unusual form of homoclinal shifting on more resistant beds in the lower part of the Morgan formation. In the middle section of the canyon five such scars are distinguished; because they differ somewhat from each other they are named and separately described. The lower section of the canyon differs markedly from the middle section in several ways, the most striking and significant of which are: (a) A notable change in river pattern. Meanders are more numerous and more intricately curved, (b) Topography of canyon walls and of adjoining uplands generally different from the two types in the middle section. Cross profiles are asymmetric but alternating because of interlocking spurs with slipoff slopes, (c) An abrupt change in the relation between river and geology. The canyon is predominantly cut in the Weber sandstone, whose contact with the underlying Morgan is mostly north of the river, (d) An almost complete lack of "meander-migration scars." The exception is the Warm Springs (sixth) scar where the Morgan formation is again exposed to and along the river. I am convinced, for the following reasons, that at one time the site of the present Yampa Canyon was buried under the Browns Park formation of Miocene(?) age: (a) The thickest deposits of the Browns Park formation, perhaps 1,700 feet of which still remain, were in the southeastern half of Browns Park and its extension to Little Snake River, (b) Continu-


Objective To study the effect of silencing ATF5 on in-vitro proliferation and apoptosis of ovarian cancer SKOV-3cells and explore a new way of gene therapy for this malignancy. Methods The lentivirus carried with RNA interference was infected with ovarian cancer SKOV-3cells,and compared with an empty vector transfection SKOV-3cells and SKOV-3cells.The growth of the cells was detected by MTT;and the apoptosis by Cell Death Detection Kit.Three kinds of SKOV-3cells were respectively inoculated subcutaneously in nude mice to observe the mouse survival in each group and the growth of implanted tumors.The expressions of ATF5 mRNA and ATF protein in tumor tissue were respectively detected by RT-PCR and Western Blot,HE staining was used to observe the morphologic changes of the tumor tissue. Results After transfection with ATF5 mRNA,the differences of cell proliferation and biologic modality between the three groups-with same cultivation time-were not significant,while the amount of apoptosis was much more in the experimental group than the other two.After inoculation,there was no significant difference between the three groups versus the control and the specificity transfection groups.The expressions of both ATF5 mRNA and ATF5 protein in transplanted tumors declined,cell division decreased,and apoptosis obvious. Conclusion Silence ATF5 shows an inhibition on the growth of transplantation tumor of human epithelial ovarian cancer in nude mice,which is likely to become a new target in gene therapy of ovarian cancer.


A vertical beam loss on the extraction elements of the K500 cyclotron has been observed during commissioning of the Coupled Cyclotron Project. The cause was found to be the misalignment of coils, and the coil shift vertically about 1 mm made a correction. The vertical displacement of a 9.5 MeV/u Ar beam prior to the correction was roughly 4 mm at a magnetic focusing bar. The effect of coil misalignment seems to be pronounced during beam extraction because the gradient of coil field is high in the extraction region and the magnetic elements employed for radial focusing are misaligned with the coil field. The observed off-center of the Ar beam could also be partly explained by a coherent beam oscillation prior to the extraction if assuming the coil was tilted as the vertical focusing tune approaches one. Balancing of the electromagnetic forces on the coil support links is a usual method of alignment for superconducting coils. In reality a fine adjustment of the coil position may be needed with a beam because readings of the forces on the links could be imprecise indication of the coil position as the coil is supported by the matrix of support links. The coil alignment issue is discussed also for a superconducting separated-sector cyclotron.


This paper describes the methodology underlying the actuarial cost estimates for the Social Security program and the assumptions needed therefor. With this as a background, the use to which these estimates is made in developing legislation is described, with emphasis on the current financing problems. Finally, various possible solutions to these problems are discussed. These solutions involve either increasing the income of the program or decreasing the rate of growth of its outgo. Increased income could be derived by increasing the payroll tax rates, by injecting general revenues (either directly or indirectly, such as taxing Social Security benefits and putting the proceeds in the trust funds or financing part of all of the Hospital Insurance program from general revenues and moving some of its payroll tax rate to the cash-benefits program), or by covering government employees who are not now covered. The growth of outgo could be reduced by changes in the cost-of-living adjustments of benefits, by gradually increasing the normal retirement age, or by gradually decreasing the relative benefit level Copyright 1983 Western Economic Association International.


This article proposes a powerful ultra‐high‐speed technique for earth fault distance protection of double‐circuit power transmission lines. The proposed technique uses the zero and positive sequence of the current signals. The technique presents a discriminating method based on the appearance of zero sequences, the zero sequence magnitude, and the time arrival instants of zero and positive sequence at the relaying point. The suggested technique consists of three stages. Stage 1; the polarity technique, which is designed to detect and classify faults within the protected zone. Stage 2; the ratio technique, which is designed to identify in which circuit the fault is involved. Stage 3; it is employed to calculate the distance of faults. Extensive numbers of simulations were conducted to test the action of the proposed technique. Results show that the technique provides a speed, secure, and dependable protection technique of double‐circuit transmission lines even for remote fault, high resistance fault, and a low inception time fault. They also avoid the unbalanced load‐switching effect and the current transformer (CT) saturation problems. © 2019 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


This paper explores the need for and importance of fostering and maintaining responsible conduct in public or- ganizations. The author uses a case study approach by looking at ethical misconduct by several board members, adminis- trators, and managers in one of the nation's largest public school districts. Education is seen as one of the most important public goods and the need for ethically responsible conduct in educational organizations at the public school district and school board levels underscores the important role of an institution seen as vital to ethical progress, well-being, and pos- terity. The causes of ethical failure are explored from the perspective of leadership and culture, and the author recom- mends strong ethical and strategic leadership, trust-building, and ethical monitoring as important steps toward fostering and maintaining ethical conduct in the particular case in question, and for public organizations in general.


Fabricated in a 0.18-µm CMOS technology, a wide-range fractional-N frequency synthesizer with a phase-compensated technique is presented. While using a 630–960 MHz LC-type VCO, the synthesizer can provide the range of 55 to 960 MHz with a band-selecting structure to satisfy the ATSC applications. Using the phase-rotating concept, the synthesizer can achieve the fractional functionality, instead of the conventional ΔΣ interpolation. The measured results show phase noise is −123 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset. The lock time is below 6 µs from 640 MHz to 930 MHz.


Effect of chitosan oligosaccharides on the ACE (angiotensin I converting enzyme) inhibition and antihypertension in SHR (Spontaneously hypertensive rat) was examined. The ACE inhibition activity was observed in all the chitosan oligosaccharides used in this study, and chitosan trimer exhibited the highest inhibitory activity compared with other chitosan oligosaccharides . The results suggested that chitosan trimer was a good inhibitor of ACE in molecular level. When the single oral dose (2.14 mg/kg, similar to dose level of Captopril, known as strong ACE inhibitor) of chitosan trimer was given to 8 or 21 week aged SHR, the blood pressure reduction of both SHRs in 4hrs were , respectively. Therefore, it was suggested that chitosan trimer could be applicable as natural ACE inhibitor related to antihypertension.


We report the observation of a pronounced high zero-bias conductance peak (ZBCP) in the conductance spectra of (110)-oriented YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7{minus}{delta}} epitaxial thin-film surfaces by low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy at 4.2 K. On films with very low surface roughness, both the superconducting gap structure and the ZBCP could be clearly observed in the spectra and neither depended on the measurement position or on the distance between the tunneling tip and the sample surface. This result is in agreement with the recent theoretical prediction of the formation of bound states on surfaces of d-wave superconductors that lead to a ZBCP with a maximum for (110)-oriented surfaces. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}


The present invention relates to a polyvinyl alcohol polarizing film that is formed from the production process and in which the polyvinyl alcohol polarizing film. According to the production method of the present invention, T-during casting of polyvinyl alcohol aqueous solution from the discharge port of the die in a row on a casting drum surface, when facing the discharge film casting drum to the aqueous solution of the discharged immediately from the discharge port formation and the discharge port direction hameuroseo place the steam suction apparatus in the region between the extension line and the surface of the casting drum to the, sucks the steam discharged from the lower discharge of the membrane. Since the polyvinyl alcohol film produced by the production process according to the present invention is excellent in surface uniformity, such as the speckles on the surface does not occur good working property as yeomchakseong and stretchability, a polarizing film prepared therefrom is polarized light over a large area this property is excellent. Polyvinyl alcohol polarizing film, uniformity, yeomchakseong, stretching, polarization


Making use of multiple sensors is crucial for improvement of mobile robot navigation performance. The article introduces a problem of integrating noisy range data by data fusion on signal/pixel level. This is performed for multiple sensors and different sensor positions into a common description of the environment. The article deals with grid models, which are used as low level representations of sonar range measurements as well as for data fusion process. A short overview of used methods for the grid representation is shown and different fusion methods for various sonar models are discussed. Special attention is paid to the influence of sonar modeling on robustness of the data integration process. The article deals with methods for improvement of fusion robustness. Novelty of the presented approach stands in a sonar model which is designed as dependent on measured distance. The other improvement is an optimal feature selection for doorway recognition. The designed methods are illustrated by examples and test runs on an experimental mobile platform with a sonar sensor system.


The aim of this retrospective observational study was to evaluate if performing fetal growth scans once or twice in the third trimester impacts on stillbirth rates in low risk pregnancies. The study was performed in a tertiary centre with 6,000 deliveries per annum. Data on all deliveries was collected via the National Maternity System Database and high risk pregnancies were excluded to calculate the stillbirth rate before and after 2011 when ultrasound assessment was performed twice and once in the third trimester. Between 2009-2012 there were 18,856 low risk-pregnancy deliveries with 45 stillbirths, (average stillbirth rate 0.26%). The stillbirth rate in 2009/2010 was 54/9423 (0.25%). The stillbirth rate in 2012 was 13/5615 (0.27%). [p = 0.897; chi square = 0.017; df = 1]. There was no statistical difference in the stillbirth rate when low risk women were scanned once or twice in the third trimester.


The contribution of this article demonstrates how to identify context-aware types of e-Learning objects (eLOs) derived from the subject domains. This perspective is taken from an engineering point of view and is applied during requirements elicitation and analysis relating to present work in constructing an object-oriented (OO), dynamic, and adaptive model to build and deliver packaged e-Learning courses. Consequently, three preliminary subject domains are presented and, as a result, three primitive types of eLOs are posited. These types educed from the subject domains are of structural, conceptual, and granular nature. Structural objects are responsible for the course itself, conceptual objects incorporate adaptive and logical interoperability, while granular objects congregate granular assets. Their differences, interrelationships, and responsibilities are discussed. A major design challenge relates to adaptive behaviour. Future research addresses refinement on the subject domains and adaptive hypermedia systems.