Measured by an increasing labor force participation rate for women, a falling dissimilarity index for occupational sex segregation, and a declining male/female earnings gap, there has been increasing integration of women into the workforce in the U.S. over the last fifty years. This increased diversity should lead to increased productivity, thus inducing profit-maximizing firms to encourage it. However, sexual segregation has persisted for so long that it must be beneficial for the capitalist system as a whole. By keeping women separate and subservient with lower wages than men, firms exploit sexual discrimination and are able to maintain higher profits.


Citrus genus is known as one of the world's major economic agricultural products. In the current research, a method is reported for artificial seed production technology by shoot tips in Citrus sinensis.var. Thamson navel. Alginate is one of the most efficient gelling agents in the production of capsule coating in artificial seeding technique. In the current research, impact of different constituents of alginate matrix was investigated on artificial seed germination. In order to produce artificial seeds, shoot tips of Thamson navel were coated by three alginate coating including SA1 containing liquid MS and BA and NAA hormones, SA2 with liquid MS without hormone, and SA3 with distilled water. Alginate coating with BA and NAA hormones was used as control environment. The artificial seeds were then stored in the refrigerator (4 ). Following passing storage period, seeds were placed in MS solid medium with BAP (10 mgl-1) and NAA (1 mgl-1) for conversion to seedlings. Using distilled water instead of MS medium for the preparation of alginate coating significantly reduced the percentage of conversion into seedlings.


Purpose: To provide an overview of insomnia, including identification and current treatments, as well as review the efficacy and safety of extended‐release sleep medication. Data sources: Published clinical research and review articles, DSM‐IV criteria, and clinical trials. Conclusions: Insomnia is a highly prevalent and debilitating sleep disorder, which may present with one or more of the following symptoms: difficulty initiating sleep, difficulty maintaining sleep, or waking too early without being able to return to sleep. Difficulty maintaining sleep throughout the night is the most common symptom of insomnia. The recently approved nonbenzodiazepine hypnotic, zolpidem extended‐release, can be taken as long as medically necessary to improve sleep‐onset and reduce sleep‐maintenance difficulties in insomnia patients, without negatively affecting next‐day functioning. Implications for practice: Insomnia continues to be an underdiagnosed and undertreated disorder. The nurse practitioner, through routine inquiry about patient sleep habits and consideration of the appropriate treatment of insomnia, can help restore the quality of life of patients experiencing the negative consequences of insomnia.


During 1977 and 1978, a Fission Neutron Water Factor Model was designed and constructed by Bendix Field Engineering Corporation (BFEC) for the United States Department of Energy (DOE) at the Grand Junction facility. This model features seven water-filled boreholes with different diameters. All of these boreholes penetrate, in order from the top of the model, a 5-foot-thick (1.52 m), uniform, concrete upper ''barren zone''; a 6-foot-thick (1.83 m), uniform, uranium-enriched, concrete ''ore zone''; and a 4-foot-thick (1.22 m), uniform, concrete lower ''barren zone''. The response of a fission neutron logging tool in a water-filled borehole is affected by variations in the borehole diameter. This diameter-dependent effect can be deduced from logs run in several different boreholes of the Fission Neutron Water Factor Model. This report describes the construction of the Fission Neutron Water Factor Model and also presents values for model parameters which are of interest in fission-neutron logging.


Teaching of software engineering using capstone projects has seen a steady growth over the years with overwhelmingly positive reported experiences. Discerning what students consider of value before and after a software project course, is crucial for developing a relevant curriculum. This paper reports on the affective learning outcomes of a Scrum based capstone course with industrial clients. We measured affective learning as changes in the attitudes towards the difficulty and importance of certain aspects present in software development, including technical, teamwork and customer interaction. Data was collected from 14 student teams of 7-9 members in the form of team interviews and individual surveys, with 86 students participating in the interviews and 86 valid survey answers. %corresponding to a 66% response rate. Our results show that students largely change their attitudes in the desired direction after the course regarding both importance and difficulty, with 57% reporting an increased understanding of the importance of collaboration and communication within the team and 44% reporting less than expected difficulty in learning new technologies/programming languages.


Collaborative communities of teachers have great potential for bringing about improvements in teaching and learning. But, as Mr. Supovitz and Ms. Christman found in their study of teacher communities in Cincinnati and Philadelphia, simply creating a community structure is not enough to change practice significantly. EDUCATION reformers have increasingly invested in developing collaborative communities within schools as a central strategy for improving teaching and student learning. This strategy comes in various guises, including small schools, small learning communities, and teacher teams. Several assumptions about how these communities will enhance instruction underlie the push for these more collaborative learning environments. Supporters assume that teachers will get to know their students and respond to their needs better. There is also the expectation that small communities will make it easier for teachers to share practices and will encourage them to create a culture for sustained instructional improvement, which will in turn enhance student learning. Are these hopeful assumptions warranted? Our work evaluating small community initiatives during the late 1990s in two urban districts, Philadelphia and Cincinnati, suggests that the key to widespread improvement in student learning through teacher collaboration is the formation of communities of instructional practice that are focused on improving the instructional core of schooling. District and school leaders must provide these communities with the necessary structures, strategies, and support to help teachers hone their instructional craft knowledge. The structures of the reforms in Philadelphia and Cincinnati were different, but their purposes were similar. Participating schools in Cincinnati featured small teams of three to five teachers working with students over multiple years. Small learning communities in Philadelphia, essentially schools within schools, consisted of larger groups of teachers working with students over several years. In both cases, reform leaders believed that teachers would benefit from the collective knowledge of their peers and form deeper, sustained relationships with students and their parents, thus becoming better equipped to meet students' learning needs. Furthermore, while reform leaders in both cities recognized that the new learning communities would need support, they believed that the new structures could flourish within existing school and district organizations. Our examination of the reforms showed these beliefs, typical of advocates for small communities, to be largely invalid. Both reforms did influence school environments positively. In Philadelphia, teachers felt their schools to be safer and more orderly, partly because learning community coordinators monitored student behavior and followed up with parents. In addition, students felt more connected to their learning communities and wanted to "show respect." Because of these improvements in the working environment, the reforms were extremely popular with teachers in both cities. Yet in neither locale did these improvements alone translate into greater instructional focus. In Philadelphia, each learning community had a unifying theme that provided opportunities for its teachers to plan and teach intellectually engaging units of study together. However, themes were most often addressed through isolated events, such as field trips and special assemblies, that did nothing to promote the intended collaboration around instruction. In Cincinnati, no significant differences in instructional practices appeared between team-based schools and other schools in the district. The reforms in these two cities failed to increase instructional focus, largely because the learning communities did not spend enough time discussing instruction. As one Cincinnati team member put it, "Team issues are administrative, not academic. It has nothing to do with planning instruction. …


The risk assessment period prior to a crisis is often replete with interacting arguments from various stakeholders asserting their interpretation of the risk. As the debate unfolds, stakeholders' messages converge and diverge. Converging points, whereby various stakeholders' messages overlap, allow the public to better comprehend the risk. This study examines the 2009 earthquake disaster in L'Aquila, Italy that killed 309 people, injured 1,500 people, and temporarily displaced 65,000 civilians. The failed risk communication of six scientists and one public official prior to the earthquake resulted in their being sentenced to six years in prison for manslaughter. This study applies the Message Convergence Framework, based on Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca's New Rhetoric, to analyze the risk communication prior to the earthquake. The analysis reveals that the convergence expressed by the scientists was not shared with the public. Instead messages of congruence and mutual exclusivity created a false sense of confidence prior to the disaster.


Computer monitoring system of Longyangxia hydraulic power station adopts bus type network with layered distributing and open structure,it's a completely high reliability control system of hydraulic power station with closed loop process,and can satisfy the requirement of unattended substation on computer monitoring system.The system adopts redundancy structure with stable operating performance,its function includes control,monitoring,protection communication etc.The paper mainly introduces applying situation and existing problems of Longyangxia hydraulic power station,and proposes some suggestions.


Stimulating primary school children's creativity is appointed as one of the essential keys to the educational system 's progress. The main purpose of the paper arrives from the necessity for different fields of the current society to stimulate primary school children's creativity, who are bound to lead to original and creative solutions. This subject highlights the importance of stimulating primary school children's creativity in the context of current education. The approach in the debate deals with the link between creative thinking and creative problem solving alongside the importance of stimulating primary school children's creativity. A great experience for primary school education development includes creative thinking and creative problem solving. Creativity involves the process of divergent thinking that includes the beginning of wonderful ideas, creating new connections, expanding the limits of knowledge and split of ideas, which are old. When the children's divergent thinking is boosted, it enormously helps to maintain children's motivation for extended learning.. In the same way, encouraging primary school children to keep on generating original and new ideas fosters their creative-thinking abilities. Personal characteristics of a child can influence a certain grade in stimulating the creativity. Children develop quite complex skills when they begin to be familiar with problem solving skills and develop creative thinking. Therefore, their creative characteristics should be developed and in the same way, provide creative learning opportunities and inspiring, original lessons. A variety of studies that contained creativity included stimulating primary school children's creativity. This aspect represents global educational progress to society and the current study provides a better view of creativity.


The vibration wheel ergometer has a wheel framework upper structure (17) along with a bottom bracket/crank lever (1) which is mechanically decoupled from the framework as well as a vibration unit consisting of vibration plate (2), vibration rack (18) and vibration engines (3). The damping elements (5,6) prevent the transmission of oscillations of vibration unit to the wheel framework upper structure.


A 10-year-old boy presented with right hip pain and a limp. The patient was taking no medications and had no personal or family history of disease. He denied a history of trauma.


Historians are invariably wiser after the event. Their approaches to the subject of this paper, the Société La Fuchsine, make no exceptions to this rule. That company was formed in December 1863 with the participation of the Crédit Lyonnais bank to exploit the patent monopoly on the synthetic dyestuff known as fuchsine, and its derivatives, of the Lyons firm of Renard frères et Franc. No one could have foreseen that before the close of the decade this whole adventure would end in utter failure. In the eyes of contemporaries La Fuchsine was one of the most impressive and awe-inspiring firms of the European dyestuffs industry in the 1860s. Yet by 1868 La Fuchsine was virtually bankrupt, although it dragged out its legal existence until 1875. However, in every other sense it was already dead well before that date.


China became the economic miracle of the world,with its annual growth rate of about 10% over the past three decades.Zhejiang's economic development could be called "the miracle of miracles," with its annual growth rate of 13% over the same period.There are various factors that contributed to this economic miracle.Its economic system converted from a government-planned only economy to a diversified market economy,dominated by private companies since 1978.It has coastal advantages and a unique business-oriented and an innovative regional culture.This paper analyses the time series during the period of 1978-2009.The multiple regression results show that the elements of total factor productivity(TFP) have changed and technology growth and endogenous efficiency were improving.Human capital,the total investment of assets,and industrialization had significant and positive effects on the growth of GDP in Zhejiang.Human capital had the largest effect,while the total investment of assets was the second and industrialization the third.During the period of 1978-1994,the total investment of assets had a positive and most significant effect on the growth of GDP in Zhejiang,while human capital had a positive,and the second most significant effect,and the dependence on foreign trade had a positive,and the third most significant effect.During the period of 1995-2009,urbanization played a positive and most significant role,whereas the human capital was the second,and industrialization was the third most important factor.Dependence on foreign trades had a surprisingly negative significant impact.Finally,this paper proposes new strategies and policy suggestions to sustain Zhejiang's high-speed economic development in the 12th five-year plan.


Abstract The purpose of this review is to provide a thorough analysis of existing research on the implementation of virtual reality (VR) in teaching Chinese as a foreign language (TCFL). In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the potential benefits of VR for language learning, and multiple studies have explored its application in TCFL. However, to date, no systematic reviews on the specific uses of VR in TCFL have been conducted. This study aims to bridge this gap by conducting a comprehensive review of empirical articles on the topic, identified from the Scopus and Web of Science databases. The search terms include "VR", "virtual reality", and "Chinese language". The findings of this review shed light on the current trends in VR-related publications in the field of TCFL, the research settings where VR is used to support learning, and the potential benefits and effectiveness of VR in enhancing Chinese language learning, such as linguistic growth, communication skills, motivation, and immersive and authentic learning contexts. The review also highlights the challenges and limitations of using this technology in TCFL. The significance of this review lies in its potential to inform educators, researchers, and practitioners interested in using VR in TCFL about the current state of research and its implications for language learning. It can also contribute to the development of best practices for the effective use of VR in TCFL, ultimately leading to improved language learning outcomes for students.


This study is being done to positively prove the relationship between Wu-Shu practitioner`s exercise emotion and the expectation of the result of the exercise depend on the expertise of the Wu-Shu director. To achieve the goal, this study extracted its target interviewers Wu-Shu practitioner in their gymnasium from all over Korea by using cluster random sampling. Among them, the study excluded 31 data who regarded that they were insincere or did not fill out the form and finally took the data of 269 interviewers and progress the process. Throughout this way, the study got conclusions. Firstly, depends on the demographical features, the expectation that Wu-Shu trainees have about their Wu-Shu director`s expertise and exercise emotion has a gap. For the part of director`s expertise, the result is different from depends on gender and the experience, for the part of exercise emotion, depends on the experience, the results of achievement is different. Secondly, the expertise of the Wu Shu director that trainees recognize statically affects to the emotion of the exercise. The directors` theoretical expertise affects to fun, vitality, purification, and achievement which are the lower rank of the exercise emotion. Thirdly, the expertise of the Wu-Shu director that trainees recognize affects statical effects to the expectation of the result of the exercise. Higher the trainees recognize the directors` theoretical expertise, higher the expectation of the result of the exercise. Fourthly, the emotion of the trainees statically affects to the expectation of the result of the exercise. Fun, vitality, and achivement which are the lower rank of the exercise emotion, affect to the result of the exercise. Also when the trainees recognize those factors higher, the expectation that the results of the exercise goes higher.


A stable, democratic, prosperous Pakistan actively working to counter Islamist militancy is considered vital to U.S. interests. Pakistan is a key ally in U.S.-led counterterrorism efforts. The history of democracy in Pakistan is a troubled one marked by ongoing tripartite power struggles among presidents, prime ministers, and army chiefs. Military regimes have ruled Pakistan directly for 34 of the country's 60 years in existence, and most observers agree that Pakistan has no sustained history of effective constitutionalism or parliamentary democracy. The United States has supported the government of President Pervez Musharraf, whose credibility and popularity have decreased markedly in 2007. The country is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections in February 2008. In 1999, the elected government of then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was ousted in a bloodless coup led by then-Army Chief Gen. Musharraf, who later assumed the title of president (in October 2007, Pakistan's Electoral College reelected Musharraf in a controversial vote). Supreme Court-ordered parlilamentary elections — identified as flawed by opposition parties and international observers — seated a new civilian government in 2002, but it remained weak, and Musharraf retained the position as army chief until his November 2007 retirement from that post. The United States urges restoration of full civilian rule in Islamabad, expecting the planned February 18, 2008, polls to be free, fair, and transparent. Such expectations became sharper after Musharraf's November 2007 suspension of the Constitution and imposition of emergency rule (nominally lifted six weeks later) and the December 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister and leading opposition figure Benazir Bhutto. Current political circumstances in Pakistan are extremely fluid, and the country's internal security and stability are under serious threat. Many observers urge a broad re-evaluation of U.S. policies toward Pakistan. This report provides an overview of Pakistan's political setting and current status, along with a discussion of the country's major political parties and figures.


Scholars agree that the literature is bursting with definitions of work-life balance (WLB). In contrast, little attention has been paid to the way laymen apprehend this concept. This article reports two studies carried out to better understand how laymen conceptualize WLB, i.e. how they define it, which criteria they use to assess it, and what constitutes in their opinion the minimum level of requirement to have a "good" WLB. Two online surveys were conducted with American (n=304) and French (n=1089) participants. They were asked to assess the WLB of four individuals from four life stories as well as to answer a series of questions about their own WLB. Among the findings, there is no more consensus on the definition of WLB among laymen than among scholars. However, the absence of work-life conflicts and a high satisfaction across multiple roles were the two main definitions provided both by the French and the American participants. Besides, they have a tendency to mistake WLB for well-being. As for their ...


The environmental impacts of a product can be reduced in the three phases of its life cycle: production supply chain, service and retirement. The reduction of production volume, especially by extending the service life of existing products would mitigate environmental impacts. Durability, maintenance and repair can prolong normal operation. However, if service requirements change, the product may be retired while still in working condition. In these cases, retirement could be postponed if the product is capable of "adapting" to the new requirements. This paper shows the scope of "postponing retirement" in environmental design research, and discusses the benefits of adaptable design.


The opinions of a member of ERA 2010 Humanities and Creative Arts Research Evaluation Committee, on the quality control of academic research institutions in journalism are presented.


The problem of diarization - identifying different speakers in a conversation stream - has not been sufficiently addressed for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in learning communities such as student design teams in engineering and related STEM disciplines. Though the accuracy of the latest automated real-time speech-to-text systems is now approaching usable low word error rates, the generated text output is an incomplete representation of a multi-party conversation; In short, it solves the "what" but not the "who." This creates barriers to our ideal of an inclusive and equitable learning community. Thus students who are deaf or hard of hearing are further marginalized and excluded from multi-party peer discussions with non-deaf participants because it is hard to visually follow who is speaking. To address these communication barriers, we utilized the Human Centered Engineering Design framework to identify a set of features that overcomes the above barriers. This paper explores computerized diarization techniques that utilize a wide set of algorithms and audio metrics to assist in speaker identification. These techniques include mel-frequency cepstrum coefficients (MFCC), volume, fundamental frequency identification, and deep learning of voice prints. For the goals described in this paper, a subset of existing algorithms that respected privacy and legal constraints was selected and evaluated for the purposes of identifying speakers using a live audio stream. Several visualization methods were also designed and evaluated. These included visualization of embedding mel-frequency cepstrum, speaker identifier, pitch, volume, and other voice characteristics into a live caption stream. Both diarization and visualization were integrated into a live captioning tool, ScribeAR, previously introduced in ASEE regional proceedings, and rendered using a lightweight Augmented Reality display. In order to facilitate captioning services in areas with limited network connectivity, whisper.cpp, a derivative of OpenAI's Whisper project, was also incorporated into the application. Links to the open source project are included so that other educators may adopt this inclusive practice. Some accessibility-related opportunities that could be used as motivating design projects for engineering students are described.


The incidence of diabetes, and in particular of diabetes type 2, has been rising dramatically over the past few decades. Currently, diabetes type 2 accounts for more than 90% of the diabetic population (1). Macroand microvascular disease, including diabetic nephropathy, with their clinical complications are the principal causes of morbidity and mortality in patients with diabetes. Due to the epidemic proportions of the rise in diabetes cases, the excessive morbidity and mortality and the high costs associated with the treatment of diabetic complications, the socio-economic burden of diabetic renal disease has become dramatic (2). About half of the patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes also have hypertension. The relationship between hypertension and renal disease in type 2 diabetes is different than in type 1 diabetes. Whereas in type 1 diabetes the presence of hypertension usually indicates renal involvement, many patients with type 2 diabetes are hypertensive even without microalbuminuria. Patients may even be hypertensive for years prior to the onset of diabetes, as part of a metabolic syndrome characterized by insulin resistance, obesity, dyslipidemia and hypertension. The combination of diabetes and hypertension strongly predisposes a patient to cardiovascular complications. It has been reported that 35-75% of diabetic cardiovascular and renal complications can be attributed to hypertension (3). Thus, aggressive blood pressure control has been advocated as a means of preventing or delaying the progression of these complications. Many different antihypertensive agents have been shown to be effective in reducing blood pressure in type 2 diabetes and there is general agreement that blood pressure reduction per se is beneficial for these patients. However, the choice of the antihypertensive drug may also affect the risk of clinical complications and some drugs may be more beneficial than others. The effects of different antihypertensive regimens on diverse end points in type 2 diabetes have been examined in numerous clinical trials, often with conflicting results. The present communication aims to discuss the renoprotective effects, as well as the effects on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality of different antihypertensive drugs and different blood pressure targets in patients with type 2 diabetes. This may help to formulate guidelines for clinicians to select the optimal anthypertensive therapy in this patient population.


For a long time, the secretive way of Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement( TPP) negotiations has serious drawbacks, which makes the issue of pharmaceutical patent become one of the most contentious items on TPP negotiation table, and which may bring the hidden risk of imbalance of interests. Through the analysis of the new rules, the paper finds that TPP negotiators have different interests and divergences in the fields of patent-granting standard, subject matter, opposition procedure, utility, patent term adjustment and drug test data protection. Therefore, China should take national interests as its fundamental starting point, actively construct the pharmaceutical patent discourse advocates to promote the balance and development between the protection of intellectual property rights and the interest of public health, put them into practice, and then in the process of implementation of the strategy of free trade agreements, strive for the international discourse right.


A total absorption scintillation counter for high‐energy photons has been developed with ±7% energy spread for 130‐MeV photons. The counter was built of enough plastic scintillator to contain most of the energy and maintain a high detection efficiency. We employed the technique of observing a statistical sampling of light from an integrating volume. The integrating volume was obtained by painting the surface of the counter with a diffuse reflector and detecting the light with a large number of photomultiplier tubes placed symmetrically about the counter. Use of a scintillator enabled us to work with a light source of high intensity, thus assuring optimum photon statistics.


1. Ciliary activity in the oviduct of the mud puppy Necturus maculosus was monitored by a photometric technique in normal, decalcified, and Triton X‐extracted preparations to investigate the regulatory role of calcium ions.


Several models for phage reproduction have recently been presented by Gani [1962, 1963]. In this paper we consider two similar, but slightly more general models which can be made to fit some of the available experimental data. Virus, by Weidel [1958], gives a more complete description of the following biological process with which we are concerned. Outside the bacterium, a phage exists as a core enclosed in a protein coat. Although more than one phage may attack the bacterium, only the case of a single infection is considered here. When the phage penetrates the bacterium the coat remains outside and only the core enters the cell, where it is replicated in great numbers. Since the core is actually a strand of DNA, the reproduction is thought to occur by means of a template mechanism. For our purpose this process can be considered to be birth by division. The protein coats required by mature phages are produced simultaneously with the DNA cores. Since a phage particle can no longer reproduce after being coated, this event corresponds to a death. Reproduction continues until the cell bursts releasing both infectious phages and uncoated particles which are incapable of attacking further bacteria. In section 2 we consider the intuitively appropriate model, a generalized birth-death process. This case unfortunately proves to be somewhat unmanageable. Accordingly, section 3 deals with a second process designed to approximate the first; in this case all quantities of interest are easily obtained. In the final section we discuss eclipse and show how both processes can be modified to account for this phenomenon. 2. APPLICATION OF THE GENERALIZED BIRTH-DEATH PROCESS


In natural conditions, the characteristics of surface water and river sediments are determined by geological formation. These can be changed due to human activities and interfere with maintenance of aquatic biota. Thus, identifying patterns of surface water and sediments in different geological areas can help to detect possible changes in orientation and contribute to decision-making within the maintenance and conservation of aquatic environments. The objective of this research was to identify changes in physical and chemical characteristics of surface water and geochemistry of sediments inserted catchments in three geological areas in Paraná: metasedimentary carbonate domain (MSCD), terrigenous-carbonate sedimentary domain (TCSD) and basic magmatic domain (MBD). The electrical conductivity, alkalinity, hardness, concentration of Ca and Mg in water were higher in MSCD. The concentration of SiO2 is more representative of the MBD and CO2 in the TCSD. In PCA, with the results of physico-chemical parameters of water, the first axis explained 99.43% of the variance between the sampling stations. In geochemical analysis of sediment and only Fe2O3 CaO showed statistically significant difference (ANOVA = p<0.05). The results suggest that the studied catchments are in good condition and reflect the natural conditions for each geological domain, demonstrating the need for adequacy of law inherent in assessing the quality of surface water. This work can be used as a reference for future studies and monitoring programs of the assessed catchments. Kewords: Water resources; River sediment; Environmental geology; Geochemistry; Surface water.


The effect of facial appearance, speech style, and handwriting on personality attributions was examined. The source consistency hypothesis predicted that an actor will receive consistent attributions across all three types of information. The differential information hypothesis predicted that different personality dimensions are used to differentiate the actors within each type of information. In a 3 X 6 multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) design, each judge rated a single actor/information combination on scales of social evaluation, intellectual evaluation, activity, potency, emotionality, and sociability. Photographs of actors were differentiated primarily in terms of positive social and intellectual evaluation; the speech of actors was differentiated primarily along an activity dimension; and the writing of the actors was differentiated primarily along a potency dimension. This study supported the differential information hypothesis and suggested that these three types of information about an actor may lead judges to use different personality dimensions. Person perception studies have shown that observers readily make attributions about the personality traits, abilities, and emotions of other persons based on limited information. Three types of information have been extensively studied: facial appearance, expressive noncontent characteristics of speech (such as pitch, tone, and tempo), and handwriting. Numerous studies have reported that facial features and expression influence attributions about the attractiveness, pleasantness, intellectual and social skills, and mental health of the target person (Adams, 1977; Berscheid & Walster, 1974; Bull & Stevens, 1979; Dion, Ber


The laser induced fluorescence spectra of the sym‐C6Cl3F3+ radical cation were observed and analyzed. The cations are generated in rare gas matrices by VUV photoionization of the parent halobenzene. They fluoresce in solid Ne and Ar with near unity quantum efficiency and exhibit a well resolved vibronic structure. A radiative lifetime of 29±5 nsec is found for the emission in Ne host. Both the totally symmetric a1 and degenerate e′ modes are active in the spectrum. Analysis of the ground state vibrational structure yields the Jahn–Teller distortion parameters for several e′ vibration modes.


Monitoring the dynamics of fish behavior is impactful both in the research for fisheries and aquaculture production. One of the most explored approaches to monitor the fish is tracking-by-detection along with computer vision. Presently, there are several challenges in this field, including underwater environment conditions and fish movement complexity. This study presents an initial investigation towards tracking the fish by predicting the trajectory 2D coordinates of fish from the sequential sampled frames in underwater videos. Here, the authors explored the Genetic Algorithm based on natural evolution selection and the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) algorithm. Results have shown tolerable trajectory prediction inaccuracies using the GA and LSTM. Specifically, it obtained the Mean Absolute Percentage Error at 2.8% to 30.5% and 3.33% to 17.74% for GA and LSTM, respectively. These results have allowed the authors and researchers to extend its study towards tracking the fish using these approaches.


There are considered the existing approaches to determining efficiency of enterprise's activity in the field of energy saving; disadvantages of these approaches are determined. To optimize evaluation of efficiency of enterprise's activity, it is suggested to use the concept of Balanced Scorecard ' implying introduction of key performance indicators of efficiency of the enterprise's system of energy saving. Particular set of performance indicators in the field of energy saving of the enterprise are proposed.


Antennas are an integral part of everyday lives and are used for a multitude of purposes. Antenna is one type of transducer that converts electrical energy into the electromagnetic energy in form of electromagnetic waves [1]. The UWB monopole antennas are sincerely developed from the standards of conventional UWB antennas, established on several procedures in phrases of bandwidth enhancement, omni-directional radiation improvement and size reduction, they can provide virtually the identical bandwidth and radiation performances as the traditional UWB antennas however with a lot smaller volumes.


This paper concerns the mechanism design for online scheduling in a strategic setting. In this setting, each job is owned by a self-interested agent who may misreport the release time, deadline, le...


A biological information measurement device for displaying results of measurement by various display modes. The biological information measurement device (2) has an input section (16) for inputting display mode data used to determine a display mode for items of biological information, a storage section for storing the display mode data, a measurement section (6) for measuring biological information relating to the items, a display section (18) for determining a display mode for the biological information measured by the measurement section (6), and a control section (10) for causing the display section (18) to display the biological information measured according to the display mode data stored in the storage section.


branches. The complexity is a clear limitation of the proposed classification system. The authors state in their article that 'malperfusion syndromes associated with acute aortic dissection represent only a small proportion of identified aortic branch compromises'. However, this statement questions the clinical implications of the presented classification system. Despite a significant number of high-risk perfusion patterns in a total of 61 aortic branches before the surgery, clinically overt malperfusion syndromes were present in only 16 (26%) patients (9 patients with cerebral malperfusion and 7 with lower limb ischaemia) preoperatively. A total of 92% of these high-risk perfusion patterns were resolved sufficiently by means of the central aortic repair, without any clinical evidence of postoperative end-organ ischaemia. High-risk perfusion patterns persisted in only five (8%) aortic branches (i.e. four cervical branches and one abdominal branch) postoperatively. However, only a single patient suffered a new-onset cerebral malperfusion event postoperatively. Therefore, the clinical relevance of asymptomatic high-risk perfusion patterns in the aortic branches, as defined by means of CT imaging, may not be definitely answered by the present study. Moreover, the persistence of asymptomatic high-risk perfusion patterns after the surgery precludes any clinical implications in this specific cohort of aortic dissection patients. Given the large proportion of aortic dissection patients with highrisk perfusion patterns and no deleterious end-organ malperfusion, the role of percutaneous endovascular interventions remain unclear. However, as fairly recognized by the authors, the study cohort is very small, with only a few cases of clinically overt end-organ malperfusion. Despite the above-mentioned limitations, this study provides a very detailed picture of the involvement of the aortic branches in the acute type A aortic dissection before and after surgery, which is followed by meaningful and sharable comments and conclusions. The authors were able to convincingly demonstrate the key role of central aortic repair in resolving the high-risk perfusion patterns in the aortic branches as well as the clinically overt malperfusion. Another important message derived from this article is that the II-b-2 perfusion patterns are not always static lesions and may be resolved by the central aortic repair, particularly in the cervical aortic branches. Incomplete decompression of the false lumen after central aortic repair may be encountered


Abstract Heaviside's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus heavisidii) is a coastal delphinid with a limited inshore distribution off the west coast of southern Africa. Knowledge of its habitat usage is an essential precursor to assessing its potential vulnerability to fisheries interactions. Six Heaviside's dolphins (1 male and 5 females) were fitted with satellite-linked transmitters in 2004, and tracked for up to 54 days. The 5 tags fitted to female dolphins transmitted continuously, allowing for analysis of movements at a fine temporal scale. Four dolphins showed an initial avoidance of the capture site by moving over a wider area in the first 2–5 days posttagging than later in the deployment period. All dolphins had used their full home ranges (determined as 100% minimum convex polygons) 5–20 days before tag failure, suggesting measured home ranges were stable at this temporal scale. Home-range estimates using local convex hulls ranged from 301.9 to 1,027.6 km2 (90% isopleths) and 875.9 to 1,989.6 km2 using the 100% isopleths and scaled positively with body size but varied in shape, usage, and number of core-use areas. Although the distance from shore and depth at which individual dolphins moved varied greatly, all dolphins showed a strong onshore–offshore diurnal movement pattern, generally being closest inshore between 0600 h and noon, and farthest offshore between 1500 h and 0500 h. This pattern is assumed to be related to the movements of their principal prey, juvenile shallow-water hake (Merluccius capensis), which migrate into the upper water column at night. Movements inshore may be associated with rest, socializing, and predator avoidance.


The mechanical properties of epoxy impregnated coils are critical to proper stress analysis of high field superconducting magnets. In order to identify the engineering properties of coil composites, mechanical test specimens of epoxy impregnated coil windings are prepared. The samples consist of multiple layers of superconductor separated with interlayer insulation and are epoxy impregnated. Mechanical tests are performed at liquid nitrogen and liquid helium temperature. Orthotropic elastic properties are measured for the composite and used for mechanical analyses. Properties in a direction longitudinal to the conductor (hoop direction) are measured in tension. The compression modulus is measured for properties transverse to the conductor, representing radial and axial directions.


Flag leaf architecture is a very important trait which ensures the yield bearing capacity of plants by providing excellent source for photosynthesis. In this study, quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for flag leaf length and other traits were identified using rice recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from HP2216 × Tetep. A total of 12 QTLs were identified for the four traits located on seven different chromosomes of rice and analysis of interaction among the QTLs revealed additive effect for the leaf length and epistatic main effect for panicle length. More interestingly a QTL qLL12.1 responsible for the flag leaf length was identified on chromosome 12 within the marker interval RM247-RM6296 consistently at three climatic zones in India. Furthermore to saturate the qLL12.1 interval, additional 58 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used for polymorphism survey which showed that qLL12.1 region was more conserved among parental lines. Finally, two polymorphic SSR markers were used for saturation of qLL12.1 region. Consequently, candidate gene approach was used to compliment QTL mapping. Co-localization of linkage map with physical map revealed 75 genes with evidence for expression. Functional annotation of these genes using in silico approaches and detailed literature search revealed nine candidate genes for flag leaf length. The stable QTL qLL12.1 identified in this study will provide starting point for map based cloning of leaf length related genes and tightly linked flanking markers can be used in marker assisted breeding programmes.


Customer satisfaction is one of the company's factors to gain high loyalty from its customers. Customer satisfaction has direct relevance to product quality, brand image and price perception. Customers whose expectations are met or even exceeded will spread positive news regarding the perceived performance to others. By being a satisfied customer, the value of customer interest in the products and services offered by Nissan will also increase. This is certainly very beneficial to the Nissan as a manufacturer, because customers will remain faithful to all forms of services provided by the Nissan car manufacturer. This study aims to analyze product quality, brand image and price perceptions of customer loyalty mediated by customer satisfaction Nissan in Semarang City in 2017. This research is a descriptive research. The number of samples is 100 respondents. The research instrument used questionnaire. Data analysis using multiple linear regression and path analysis. The results showed that product quality positively affects customer loyalty mediated by customer satisfaction. Brand image positively affects customer loyalty mediated by customer satisfaction. Price perceptions have a positive effect on customer loyalty mediated by customer satisfaction.

Keywords: product quality, brand image, price perception, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty.


There is now compelling evidence that macrophages bind IgE, and are involved in several IgE-dependent responses. The CD23 antigen mediates a mitogenic response in "primed" B-lymphocytes, although its expression is not confined to B cells, and CD23 is inducably expressed in many cells including macrophages. CD23 is also known to bind IgE, a property that leads to inhibition of the mitogenic response in B cells. In the present review, the possibility that CD23 mediates IgE-dependent responses in macrophages has been re-examined, and it is proposed that the functional receptor for IgE on macrophages may be quite separate from the CD23 antigen.


The invention relates to a device for testing ingot type rough yarn flyer characteristic parameters, which includes the three parts: a mechanical transmission part, a control part and a test part; the mechanical transmission part includes a test stage and a working bedplate thereon, a mechanism on the working bedplate for imitating tube diameter change, a jig mechanism for clamping ingot type rough yarn flyer, a differential mechanism, a mechanism for testing flyer arm deflection; the control part includes a PLC control led frequency converter and a motor, which is connected with a human-computer interface; the test part includes a force sensor and a displacement pickup, which is connected in sequence with a signal wire, a collector ring, a human-computer interface, a printer and so on. The invention testing device can achieve continuous dynamic overall test of flyer presser pressure in the whole process of rough yarn layer-by-layer reducing winding, and can achieve the flyer arm deflection test, and the device works well, the test is accurate, the operation is simple, the multi-use of one machine is realized.


Preface. Contributors. 1. Basic Acoustical Quantities: Levels and Decibels (Leo L. Beranek). 2. Waves and Impedances (Leo L. Beranek). 3. Data Analysis (Allan G. Piersol). 4. Determination of Sound Power Levels and Directivity of Noise Sources (William W. Lang, George C. Maling, Jr., Matthew A. Nobile, and Jiri Tichy). 5. Outdoor Sound Propagation (Ulrich J. Kurze and Grant S. Anderson). 6. Sound in Small Enclosures (Donald J. Nefske and Shung H. Sung). 7. Sound in Rooms (Murray Hodgson and John Bradley). 8. Sound-Absorbing Materials and Sound Absorbers (Keith Attenborough and Istvan L. Ver). 9. Passive Silencers (M. L. Munjal, Anthony G. Galaitsis and Istvan L. Ver). 10. Sound Generation (Istvan L. Ver). 11. Interaction of Sound Waves with Solid Structures (Istvan L. Ver). 12. Enclosures, Cabins, and Wrappings (Istvan L. Ver). 13. Vibration Isolation (Eric E. Ungar and Jeffrey A. Zapfe). 14. Structural Damping (Eric E. Ungar and Jeffrey A. Zapfe). 15. Noise of Gas Flows (H. D. Baumann and W. B. Coney). 16. Prediction of Machinery Noise (Eric W. Wood and James D. Barnes). 17. Noise Control in Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning Systems (Alan T. Fry and Douglas H. Sturz). 18. Active Control of Noise and Vibration (Ronald Coleman and Paul J. Remington). 19. Damage Risk Criteria for Hearing and Human Body Vibration (Suzanne D. Smith, Charles W. Nixon and Henning E. Von Gierke). 20. Criteria for Noise in Buildings and Communities (Leo L. Beranek). 21. Acoustical Standards for Noise and Vibration Control (Angelo Campanella, Paul Schomer and Laura Ann Wilber). Appendix A. General References. Appendix B. American System of Units. Appendix C. Conversion Factors. Index.


Many studies have investigated the effect of exercise on diabetes-related factors. The main purpose of the present study was to compare the effects of continuous and Interval endurance training on glycemic factors in type 2 diabetic patients in a systematic and metaanalysis review of Iranian studies. In the present study, databases of Science Direct, Scopus, science of the Web, SID, Magiran, and Scholar with special keywords from 1380 to 1398 years was searched. After initial screening, the full text of the articles was evaluated and Inclusion criteria were articles that were analyzed. Two hundred thirty-one articles were reviewed and 25 articles met the criteria for systematic review and metaanalysis. Accordingly, 908 diabetic patients were divided into two groups of control and experimental groups, respectively: 494 and 414, in the experimental group (301 females, 189 males) and the control group (247 females, 136 males). The mean age of the subjects in the present study was 50 years. The results of the meta-analysis showed that both interval and continuous exercise improved glucose indexes. (p = 0.001% CI = -1.24 -0.86, Z = -10) and insulin (p = 0.001; SE = 0.18, 95% CI = -1.62 -0.917, Z = -7) and insulin resistance (p = 0.001; SE = 0.05, 95% CI = -0.34 -0.13, Z = -4.52). There was a significant difference between continuous and interval exercise on glucose and insulin levels (p = 0.002 and p = 0.0001). But there was no difference in insulin resistance (p = 0.42) . Continues and interval endurance training improves blood glucose, insulin, and insulin resistance levels. Interval training is more effective in improving glycemic index, although further studies and higher quality are still needed .


Upgrades to the Brookhaven AGS are described. The AGS Booster which delivers proton beams of 1.5–1.9 GeV and the 200 MeV linac facilities are described. Space charge and beam emittance characteristics are discussed. (AIP)


A hardware VLSI implementation of the Viterbi algorithm is presented. The Viterbi algorithm is used to solve a word recognition problem using a hidden Markov model. In order to accelerate the speed of computation for real-time word recognition, the inherent parallelism in the recursion step of the algorithm is exploited. Details of the hardware implementation and experimental results are discussed.<<ETX>>


Closely related species share large genomic segments called syntenic regions, where the genomic elements such as genes are arranged co-linearly among the species. While synteny is an important criteria in establishing orthologous regions between species, non-syntenic regions may display species-specific features. As the first step in cataloging human- or primate- specific genomic elements, we surveyed human genomic regions that are not syntenic with any other non-primate mammalian genomes sequenced so far. Based on the data compiled in Ensembl databases, we were able to identify 10 such regions located in eight different human chromosomes. Interestingly, most of these highly human- or primate- specific loci are concentrated in subtelomeric or pericentromeric regions. It has been reported that subtelomeric regions in human chromosomes are highly plastic and filled with recently shuffled genomic elements. Pericentromeric regions also show a great deal of segmental duplications. Such genomic rearrangements may have caused these large human- or primate- specific genome segments.


An ECU (4000) transmits a pulsed operation command signal (SGl), indicating operation commands for an electric motor (2060) used as a VVT actuator, to an electric-motor EDU (4100). The electric-motor EDU (4100) recognizes the combination of the direction in which the actuator should be operated (actuator operation direction) and the control mode based on the duty ratio of the operation command signal (SGI), and the rotational speed command value based on the frequency of the operation command signal (SGI). The electric-motor EDU (4100) controls the electric motor (2060) according to the control commands. The duty ratio indicating the combination is set such that even if the duty ratio is falsely recognized, a false recognition concerning the actuator operation direction is prevented, such false recognition causing the valve phase to change in an undesirable direction, and even if the actuator operation direction is falsely recognized, the rate of change in the phase is restricted.


The initial rock of amphibolite in the Kuanping Terrane of West Henan Majukou areas in North Qinling is a basic intrusive rock(gabbro),and its isotime line age of whole rock Samarium(Sm)-Neodymium(Nd) isotope is 747.72±43Ma,and the initial Neodymium isotope ratio is e Nd (t)= -0.1 It has indicated that the basic intrusive rock formed in the late Late Proterozoic,the rock originated from the depleted upper mantle source region and the magma has suffered from differential pollution of crustal mass composition in the course of the form and emplacement.


The UE determines a second operation to the first user equipment UE operating in a first / second at stronger transmission mode / low mode and is assigned the same radio resources of the first UE. The UE determines a first transmission format for transmitting the second UE, and uses it to point to the second UE transmissions received at the radio resources and the elimination of decoding, further mitigating interference to transmissions directed to the first UE. It gives information about the following various examples: and means for determining a second UE operating in the same radio resources allocated specific resource allocation signaling in the second mode, such as by the particular downlink control instruction format implicitly It is given to the resource allocation or the first UE in an explicit indication. The first UE may determine the transmission format of the second UE according to the signaling network.


With the fast development of science and technology,hte traditional teaching mode can no longer meet the social needs for personnel training. According to the need of the construction of modernization,we have preformed a series of reforms in the teaching of "Principles of Chemical Engineering"by the traditional can improve teaching efficiency and teaching quality, which is a promising modern teaching method.


2(2,5dihydroxyphenyl)5,10,15,20tetraphenylporphyrin were synthesised by direct reaction of hydroquinon with 2nitroporphyrin.Their recognition to quinones were investigated by using UVVis spectroscopic,fluorescence spectroscopic and electrochemical methods.It was that 2(2,5dihydroxyphenyl)porphyrin had selective recognition to quinone.


In order to gain a better understanding of thin-film resonators fabricated at microwave frequencies a two-dimensional numerical analysis (finite-difference) formalism was derived and implemented. The formalism allows for arbitrary crystal anisotropy, rectangular material discontinuities, and two-dimensional variations in the thickness and width dimensions. Resonators are assumed to be of infinite extent in one dimension. The formalism has been extended to include additional electrodes for two-port devices such as monolithic filters. Computed results are given for aluminum nitride resonators and filters having finite thickness metallization.<<ETX>>


In this work it is developed one of the well-known Supervised Classification Methods, the Logistic Discriminant Analysis or Logistic Regression. The Supervised Classification Methods and the classification rules for two populations are commented in general form. Then, a brief summary of the Linear Discriminant Analysis Method is made as a nexus for the Logistic Discriminant Analysis development. All concepts used to express about this topic are applied to a sample of 66 bank entities of the Argentine Republic in order to explore the causes that divide the classification in efficient or inefficient.


Creeping bellflower (Campanula rapuncoloides L.) is a popular flowering plant commonly used in parks and gardens in northern Italy, belonging to Campanulaceae. In August 2016, plants of Campanula rapuncoloides grown in a garden located near Biella (Latitude: 45°36′00″N, Longitude: 8°03′00″E) showed leaf chlorosis followed by the appearance of orange pulverulent rust pustules irregularly distributed in the abaxial surface of leaves. Orange uredinia were circular to elliptic, 0.2 to 0.45 mm in diameter. Orange urediniospores were catenulate, ovoid or ellipsoid, ranging from 14.3 to 16.4 µm in length by 30.8 to 34.4 µm in width. Teleutospores were not observed. The morphological characteristics of the fungus corresponded to those of the genus Coleosporium (Cummins, 1978). The Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region of rDNA from urediniospores was amplified using the primers ITS1/ITS4 and sequenced. The 420 bp product was sequenced (Genbank Accession No. KY296542) and showed a 99% similarity with Coleosporium campanulae (KP017555). Pathogenicity was confirmed by spraying an urediniospores suspension at 1x105 /ml on three plants of C. rapuncoloides grown in 3 l-pot. The same number of control plants were sprayed with sterile water. Plants were kept at 20°C to 23°C for 5 days in a dew chamber. All inoculated plants developed typical rust symptoms with the uredinia appearing after 10 days. Although C. campanulae is reported in several European countries on different spontaneous native plants including the campanula host genus (Helfer, 2013), this is, to our knowledge, the first report of C. campanulae on cultivated C. rapuncoloides in Italy.


The objective of this review is to critically analyse the therapeutic advantages of Angiotensin II receptor (AT1) blockers. While different classes of anti-hypertensive drugs are effective in keeping the systolic and diastolic blood pressure within normal range, the blocking of Angiotensin II AT 1 receptors by ARBs provides additional therapeutic advantages. These beneficial effects are regression of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), activation of genes influenced by Peroxisome proliferator activator receptor gamma (PPAR gamma). and anti-ageing effects. Moreover it has been also observed that those essential hypertension (E-HTN) patients who were on ARBs recorded lowest incidence of T2DM compared to those who were on other classes of anti-hypertensive medications. The aforementioned therapeutic advantages of ARBs in specific clinical conditions have been discussed briefly, highlighting their potential therapeutic advantages.


Abstract : Ethnographic data suggest that the primary Native American use of the study area was for resource procurement. No records were found of early Euro-American settlement in the area. After 1860, the study area began to be settled by homesteaders who raised cattle and later sheep. Lifestyle and economic values have remained relatively constant in the 20th century. Owners have often had recreational motives for purchasing or maintaining their holdings, but ranches have been expected to pay for themselves. Construction of nearby Warm Springs Dam may have considerable impact on CHZ lands. Anticipation of increased land values due to the presence of Lake Sanoma has made the future of the CHZs uncertain. Maintenance of large ranches rests on the economic viability of alternative uses of the land and on the persistence of an undeveloped environment which permits land-owners to continue to enjoy an independent and solitary lifestyle.


Watermark is traditionally used for protecting copyrighted materials such as scripts, movies, images or sounds. Nowadays, the watermark is still widely used but more in a digitized environment. There are many ways of how the watermarks are being applied. In this paper, the watermark is not applied for the purpose of protecting copyrighted materials but more on digitally securing user authentication data used for accessing mobile application systems (mobile apps). A user authentication model is developed to improve the access control to mobile apps. The model introduces three protection techniques namely multi-factoring, ciphering and watermarking techniques. In multi-factoring technique, the number of user authentication factors is increased from having just username and password to raise the difficulty of guessing the authenticating data. The added factors are mobile IMEI number, mobile SIM card number, random number and time. In ciphering technique, the user authentication factors are not only encrypted but also hashed to ensure the encrypted data cannot be easily decrypted. Finally, in the watermarking technique, the authenticating data are concealed by blending them in such a way that they cannot be un-blended without knowing the blending formula. Although there are three protection techniques introduced, only watermarking technique is described in more details in this paper. The effectiveness of the introduced techniques is measured based on user acceptance level using a statistical analysis. The analysis shows that although ciphering technique is the highest contributor among other techniques, watermarking technique not only has the strongest relationship but also becomes the dominant factor in making them acceptable by users of mobile apps.


ABSTRACT The 2008 recession underscored public concern that financial illiteracy has costs that are not limited to the individual who makes poor financial decisions. Considering that college students with limited financial experience are making legally binding decisions, this study explored the personal finance literacy and behavior of Christian college students. The research involved administering an objective item financial literacy and behavior survey. Findings showed a significant positive correlation between financial literacy and behavior. Furthermore, there was no significant difference among Christian college students based on their secondary education experience—Christian, public, or home school. This finding implies that students enter college with similar financial literacy levels, and senior students with inadequate financial literacy demonstrate poor personal financial behavior.


The present invention generally encompasses the reaction of the step and acyclic diene coreactant ring-opening metathesis of cyclic olefins, to produce a macrocyclic olefin by ring expansion, or alternatively, regular repeating A, B on the synthesis procedure for generating an alternating olefin polymer. Ring expansion of a cyclic olefin is provided by three types successive olefin metathesis (ring-opening olefin metathesis, cross olefin metathesis and ring-closing olefin metathesis), and A, B alternating polymer is simply the reaction conditions and / or reaction varying the proportion of materials, only it is generated by using two types of olefin metathesis (ring-opening olefin metathesis and cross olefin metathesis), ring-opening metathesis polymerization rules through (ROMP) repetition ABAB ... polymers such as I will provide a.


Aggressive B-cell NHL In the last years therapy of aggressive B-cell Non-Hodgkin's-Lymphoma (NHL) has made considerable progress particularly due to advances in staging, classification and molecular-genetic characterisation of lymphomas. As a result new therapeutic drugs and innovative therapy strategies have been developed for many lymphoma typs and subtypes. In this article, some examples will be discussed.


In this note, we introduce and study a new version of neighbour-distinguishing arc-colourings of digraphs. An arc-colouring $\gamma$ of a digraph $D$ is proper if no two arcs with the same head or with the same tail are assigned the same colour. For each vertex $u$ of $D$, we denote by $S_\gamma^-(u)$ and $S_\gamma^+(u)$ the sets of colours that appear on the incoming arcs and on the outgoing arcs of $u$, respectively. An arc colouring $\gamma$ of $D$ is \emph{neighbour-distinguishing} if, for every two adjacent vertices $u$ and $v$ of $D$, the ordered pairs $(S_\gamma^-(u),S_\gamma^+(u))$ and $(S_\gamma^-(v),S_\gamma^+(v))$ are distinct. The neighbour-distinguishing index of $D$ is then the smallest number of colours needed for a neighbour-distinguishing arc-colouring of $D$.We prove upper bounds on the neighbour-distinguishing index of various classes of digraphs.


The implementation of structural health monitoring systems in civil engineering structures already in the construction phase could contribute to safer and more resilient infrastructure. Due to their lightweight, small size and high resistance to the environment, distributed optical fibre sensors stand out as a very promising technology for damage detection and quantification in reinforced concrete structures. In this article, the suitability of embedding robust distributed optical fibre sensors featuring a protective sheath to accurately assess the performance indicators, in terms of vertical deflection and crack width, of three reinforced concrete beams subjected to four-point bending is investigated. The results revealed that a certain strain attenuation occurs in embedded robust distributed optical fibre sensors compared to commonly used thin polyimide-coated distributed optical fibre sensors bonded to steel reinforcement bars. However, the presence of the protective sheath prevented the appearance of strain reading anomalies which has been a frequently reported issue. Performance wise, the robust distributed optical fibre sensors were able to provide a good estimate of the beam deflections with errors of between 12.3% and 6.5%. Similarly, crack widths computed based on distributed optical fibre sensor strain measurements differed by as little as ±20 µm with results from digital image correlation, provided individual cracks could be successfully detected in the strain profiles. Finally, a post-processing procedure is presented to generate intuitive contour plots that can help delivering critical information about the element's structural condition in a clear and straightforward manner.


In this paper, we study the question of the representation of random variables by means of frames or Riesz basis generated by stationary sequences. This concerns the representation of continuous time wide sense stationary random processes by means of discrete samples.


The purpose of this research is to know tendency facilities, environment, and result learning of IPA. In a correlative to know relationship facilities, environment, and result learning of IPA, both do together and alone. This research is correlative descriptive especially ex-post facto. Data collecting technique used questionnaire, documentation, and test. Data analyzing technique used double regression analysis, two predictors and then partial correlation. Prerequisite experiment analysis includes normality experiment of propagation and linearity relationship. The sample is all of the population and used population study technique. It can be shown the tendency of facilities and environment of learning is in the high category. The tendency of learning result of IPA is in the very high category. Correlatively is found value of Fcount = 48,922 > with p= 0,05. It means that there is a positive relationship that very significant between facilities and environments learning and result of learning IPA grade of VIII SMP Taman Dewasa in all Kecamatan Umbulharjo Yogyakarta 2015/2016, both do together and alone. Effective contribution from two predictors is 67.14%, learning facilities are 15.95% and learning environment is 51.19%.


There has been much research conducted on second language writing. In addition, there exists a significant amount of studies conducted with African American student writers. However, the fields of Second Language Writing and Composition Studies rarely if ever dovetail in the research literature. The purpose of this article is to argue how English language learners and bidialectal (English as a second dialect) learners share similar learning experiences and how sociocultural theories of English language pedagogy can inform composition theory, specifically as it relates to African American student writers. The study of writer identity provides insights into both bilingual and bidialectal learners' authorial identity constructions and their experiences in English language learning contexts. Based on these similarities, I argue the need for composition theory to integrate sociocultural theories of second language learning and identity to better address the needs of bidialectal learners.


This paper introduces the recent release v3.1a of BRTSim (BioReactive Transport Simulator), a general-purpose multiphase and multi-species liquid, gas and heat flow solver for reaction-advection-dispersion processes in porous and non-porous media with application in hydrology and biogeochemistry. Within the philosophy of the BRTSim platform, the user can define (1) arbitrary chemical and biological species; (2) arbitrary chemical and biological reactions; (3) arbitrary equilibrium reactions; and (4) combine solvers for phases and heat flows as well as for specialized biological processes such as bioclogging and chemotaxis. These capabilities complement a suite of processes and process-feedback solvers not currently available in other general-purpose codes. Along with the flexibility to design arbitrarily complex reaction networks, and setup and synchronize solvers through one input text file, BRTSim can communicate with third-party software with ease. Here, four cases study that combine experimental observations and modeling with BRTSim are reported: (i) water table dynamics in a heterogeneous aquifer for variable hydrometeorological conditions; (ii) soil biological clogging by cells and exopolymers; (iii) biotic degradation and isotopic fractionation of nitrate; and (iv) dispersion and biodegradation of atrazine herbicide in agricultural crops.


The ink-jet recording appts. has a carriage on which two ink-jet recording heads each having nozzle openings are mounted. A slider has two cap members which seal the nozzle openings of the two heads respectively. The slider is supported at a centre portion in a longitudinal direction by a support member which is rotatable amount a rotation shaft elongating in a direction perpendicular to a moving direction of the carriage. The support member is movable also in a direction opposing the recording heads in accordance with the movement of the slider. The support member includes a coil spring which buckles when the slider is moved to a capping position and generates a resilient force in the direction opposing the recording heads. A lever has an end which is swingably attached to a shaft of a base through a slot. The rotation shaft is rotatably supported by the other end of the lever.


Interactions between mammals and invertebrates remain a gap in our knowledge of the role of fossorial foragers in Australian ecosystems. This is probably because digging mammals disappeared from the majority of their former range before they could be studied and because of the difficulties associated with sampling invertebrates in foraging pits. Bilbies were reintroduced into a rangeland restoration program in Western Australia, providing an opportunity to compare invertebrates in their foraging pits with the undisturbed surface soil. The challenge was to develop a method for collecting invertebrates while minimising disturbance of the floor of the foraging pits. This study investigated the feasibility of using folding cardboard glue traps to sample the invertebrates. The traps proved to be easy to deploy and collect and concerns that the traps on the soil surface would collect more soil than those in the foraging pits, thereby biasing the invertebrate sample, were not realised. No firm conclusions can be...


One of the dominant death causes, which contributes significantly to the mortality of the Slovak population, is cancer mortality. In the presence of cancers, we can find geographical differences i.e. the cancer of different organs has a different frequency of occurrence in different parts of Slovakia. It may be agreed that the fight against cancers, if it is to be complex, must include a spatial aspect and this is best applied in the field of medical geography. The solution of the development of cancer mortality in Slovakia can be considered a relevant topic of geographic research. Data on cancer mortality at the district level were used from the database of the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. The aim of the article is to assess the spatial aspect of cancers in the districts of Slovakia applying the standardized mortality rate. The standardized mortality rate will be analysed in terms of gender structure of population. The time horizon for standardized mortality rate comparison was set for the periods of 2001-2008, 2009-2017 and 2001-2017. From the perspective of the research of this topic it is important to apply specific analytical methods which include, for example, spatial autocorrelation.


Aging is a major risk factor for cancer and many other life-threatening diseases due in part to a wide range of age-associated immune dysfunctions. In the context of cancer, chronic, low-grade inflammation seen with aging is thought to contribute to cellular transformation and tumorigenesis. Tissue resident macrophages (TRM) are key innate immune regulators of the inflammatory milieu in all tissues, and studies from our laboratory have shown that expression of the 5'-ectonucleotidase CD73 on macrophages suppresses inflammatory responses and promotes the resolution of tissue inflammation in the lung and peritoneum. However, the role of CD73 on TRM in modulating inflammation during aging or how age-associated changes in CD73 on TRM contribute to cancer development are not known. We have found that large peritoneal macrophages from aged mice (18+ months) show significantly increased levels of surface CD73 compared to young mice (<4 months). To test the role of CD73 in regulating inflammation in vivo, we utilized mouse models of ovarian cancer and peritonitis. Our preliminary studies suggest that blocking CD73 in aged mice reduces LPS-mediated production of TNF-a in vivo and ex vivo when compared to young mice. In addition, we found that treatment of ID8-Def29/Vegf-a tumor-bearing mice with anti-CD73 monoclonal antibody significantly prolongs the survival of aged mice compared to young mice. In ongoing experiments, we are utilizing conditional deletion approaches to address the role of CD73 specifically on macrophages in these models. Results from this study will provide insight into the immunoregulatory role of CD73 on TRM during aging and cancer, and will help refine therapeutic approaches targeting CD73 in cancer immunotherapy.
 Supported by NIH grants T32 AI007496 and R01 AI114554.


The availability of essential nutrients in the productive upper layers is one of the important factors governing the magnitude of organic production. The nutrients are brought up into the euphotic zone by the vertical mixing of the water caused by wind and wave action; processes associated with ocean currents and by upwelling of deep waters


ABSTRACT The environmental and societal impacts of tropical cyclones could be reduced using a range of management initiatives. Remote sensing can be a cost effective, accurate, and potential tool for mapping the multiple impacts caused by tropical cyclones using high-to-moderate spatial resolution (5–30 m) satellite imagery to provide data on the following essential parameters – evacuation, relief, and management of natural resources. This study developed and evaluated an approach for assessing the impacts of tropical cyclones through object-based image analysis and moderate spatial resolution imagery. Pre- and post-cyclone maps of artificial and natural features are required for assessing the overall impacts in the landscape that could be acquired by mapping specific land cover types. We used the object-based approach to map land-cover types in pre- and post-cyclone Satellite Pour l'Observation de la Terre (SPOT) 5 image data and the post-classification comparison technique to identify changes in the particular features in the landscape. Cyclone Sidr (2007) was used to test the applicability of this approach in Sarankhola Upazila in Bangladesh. The object-based approach provided accurate results for classifying features from pre- and post-cyclone satellite images with an overall accuracy of 95.43% and 93.27%, respectively. Mapped changes identified the extent, type, and form of cyclone induced impacts. Our results indicate that 63.15% of the study area was significantly affected by cyclone Sidr. The majority of mapped damage was found in vegetation, cropped lands, settlements, and infrastructure. The damage results were verified through the high spatial resolution satellite imagery, reports and pictures that were taken after the cyclone. The methods developed may be used in future to assess the multiple impacts caused by tropical cyclones in Bangladesh and other similar environments for the purposes of tropical cyclone disaster management.


...young people have no particular loyalty to or affection for free-market capitalism, the economic system that made America a great thing in history and a magnet for the world. There are two reasons. One is that in their short lives they've witnessed and experienced only capitalism's scandals—the 2008 crash, inequality. The other is that they've never heard capitalism defended—not in K through college, not in our entertainment culture. Peggy Noonan (2018)


The invention relates to white health-preserving milk. The white health-preserving milk comprises the following components in percentage by weight: 0.5 to 20 percent of white food raw material, 0.01 to 8 percent of sweet auxiliary material, 0.1 to 0.5 percent of stabilizer, 75 to 85 percent of milk, and the balance of water. The Chinese traditional white health food raw material is added into themilk, and the traditional food color health concept and the milk are combined to produce the milk having rich milk nutrition and meeting traditional five-element five-color health. The invention provides a nutrient and healthy health milk product for consumers.


The paper studies the performance of phase modulation through a fully saturated power amplifier and AWGN channel for broadband wireless systems. A nonlinear model for the fully saturated power amplifier is derived. The equivalent impulse response method is provided to analyze the SNR degradation. Both convolutional code and turbo code are used. Viterbi decoding and iterative decoding are employed, respectively. Near optimal BER performance is achieved employing either convolutional code or turbo code. The simulation results match the derivation. Therefore, it is practical to employ phase modulation and fully saturated power amplifiers in broadband wireless/satellite networks and sensor networks for ideal battery life, low cost and high terminal reliability.


It is now common for a pharmacist to be stationed in the emergency department (ED). Investigators retrospectively assessed the frequency of dosing


Abstract In 1889, The British Medical Journal published a piece titled, "Detective Medicine," which describes feats of medical detection performed by physicians attending malingering prisoners. Though simulating illness had a long history, the medicalization of malingering at the fin de siècle led to a proliferation of such case histories and cheerful records of pathological feigners thwarted.


The angiotensin-converting-enzyme-2 (ACE2) receptor is expressed in many extrapulmonary organs: eyes (conjunctival, corneal, and limbal epithelial cell, retina), nerves, vessels, small intestine enterocytes, kidney proximal tubules, with involvement by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, and positive conjunctival swab tests.1 The co-expression of ACE2 and the serine protease TMPRSS2 is in 6.6% of corneal epithelium and endothelium cells – less than that in lung and kidney tissues.2 Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19)-related uveitis and optic neuritis were recently reported.3 Furthermore, the inflammation of renal interstitial tissue and uveal tissue characterizes tubulointerstitial nephritis and uveitis (TINU) syndrome. However, the outcome of nephritis and uveitis can be different, making the diagnosis challenging. TINU syndrome usually shows bilateral anterior uveitis and may evolve into a chronic disease, or it recurs years after the first episode.4 Renal disease shows an acute onset and resolves spontaneously with full recovery or evolves into chronic renal insufficiency.


Change point problems are used in many application fields. A general approach to Bayes, hierarchical Bayes, and duplicate the results using non-Bayes approach, for random change point problem are presented. In Bayesian analysis, Markov Chin Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods have become a ubiquitous tool as the computer is more powerful. Although Spiegelhalter et al. 1996 propose code software using WinBUGS (standard Bayesian software's package freely available, Spiegelhalter et al. 2003) to detect the change point of normal datasets using WinBUGS, their results yield not investigated well. We argue that a more realistic description of random change point problem as will be resolved in this article in some details and duplicate these results from non-Bayesian perspective using some of R packages (R Development Core Team, 2011). Because of the statistical performances of the Bayes estimates for the random change points are so sensitive for the prior elicitation that we should duplicate our results using the non-Bayesian approach. Within these contexts we handle two textbook data examples to compare the results between two approaches, Bayesian and non-Bayesian statistics.


The NMR method is used to study the temperature variations of local fields on 57Fe nuclei in the octahedral positions 12k, 4f2, and 2a of the iron ions in the ferrite BaFe12O19. The possibility of applying Bloch's spin-wave theory to describe the temperature variations of the local fields on the iron nuclei is examined. Deviations from Bloch's 3/2 power law are found in the temperature range 4.2–77 K. These deviations cannot be described on the basis of the behavioral characteristics due to the presence of an energy gap in the acoustic magnon spectrum.


With the deepening of language teaching reforms the concept of language intuition is becoming more and more important to us. But so far we still have not had a satisfying theoretical definition and demonstration as to it. Starting from the opposition between conscious and unconscious mentality that is caused by the formation of language, this paper argues that unconscious mentality has an indispensable important role in activities of the whole human mind, demonstrates that language intuition is nothing but our unconsciousness of language, and explores further those expressions of intuition in students' linguistic competence and language learning.


Within the framework of the scientific work, the algorithm for formation of an optimal mix of the sold commodity items in the conditions of managing the risk of changing the capital structure and obtaining the required effectiveness of the financial and economic activity of an economic entity is investigated. A methodological algorithm for solving the problem is proposed using the tool of simulation modeling. Consideration of alternative approaches to financing the structure of commodity stocks of an organization taking into account possible scenarios of changing market conditions determining the efficiency of the company's operating activities served as the target for the formation of an array of simulation experiments. Based on the provisions of the corporate finance theory, a functional relationship was established between the productive and factor characteristics of the simulation model. Justification of the author's position on the specific features of the solution of the problem posed stipulated the inclusion in the methodological algorithm of the basics of ABC-XYZ analysis, as well as the VAR toolkit. Analytical processing of the results was based on the interpretation of descriptive statistics indicators, the most important of which was the share of experiments demonstrating the possibility of maintaining the required margin of financial strength, as well as the absolute amount of profit before tax, obtained as a result of the mathematical expectation of profit in conditions of optimistic, probable and pessimistic scenarios


Most of the previous studies analyzing the effect of gender label on adults' interactive behaviours with infants concluded that gender stereotypes affect adults' behaviours more than the actual behaviours or characteristics of the infants. These stereotypes and their ensuing behaviours would contribute to the differential socialization experiences of infants according to their gender. The objective of the present study was to investigate further the effect of gender label on adults' vocal communication with infants. Therefore, the prosodic and content features of the language addressed by young women to infants presented as girls and as boys were examined. Sixteen women were observed during two 5-minute sessions of face-to-face interaction with 3-to-4-month-old infants, one introduced as a girl, the other as a boy, in a counterbalanced order. Six girls and four boys served as stimuli. The number of utterances addressed to the infants, their duration and fundamental frequency, as well as the prosodic conto...


The article substantiates the relevance of the problem of forming tolerance to uncertainty in future police officers as a professionally significant quality of the individual, whose professional activity takes place in a socially aggressive environment in conditions of social, psychological and professional conflicts, which are characterized by a high level of uncertainty. In such cases, effective performance of official duties by police officers is possible only under the conditions of formation of conflict-related competence and tolerance for uncertainty as professional qualities of the individual. In this regard, the problem of training future police officers to work in conflict situations, the defining characteristic of which is a high level of uncertainty, is relevant. It is shown that one of the professionally significant personality qualities of law enforcement officers is tolerance for uncertainty.
Therefore, an important task facing higher education institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine is the formation of tolerance for uncertainty in cadets as future police officers. The conditions under which the professional activity of law enforcement officers takes place determine the peculiarities of the organization and content of professional training of cadets. The concept of "uncertainty tolerance" and personality qualities, which are manifestations of uncertainty tolerance, are defined. The formation of tolerance to uncertainty as a professionally significant personality quality of the future police officer requires the formation of not only certain knowledge, abilities and skills, but also certain attitudes as components of the defined personality quality. The formation of abilities, skills and attitudes is facilitated by the performance of special exercises by cadets. One of the promising and effective methods of forming abilities, skills, and attitudes are trainings and classes with training elements. The results of an experimental study on the formation of tolerance for uncertainty in future police officers in the process of their professional training are presented. A statistically probable presence of positive dynamics according to most indicators in the experimental groups after studying a special course, writing term papers and creative works on the specified problem and conducting training was revealed.


Existing research on cross-country differences in ownership concentration analyzes country averages of ownership concentration instead of firm-level data. This creates omitted-variable and aggregation biases. Most papers also use small samples of large firms. This makes inferences to country populations problematic because ownership concentration is inversely related to firm size and firm size varies across countries. When I analyze firm-level observations; control for firm-level determinants of ownership concentration, including size; and use a broad sample of firms from 32 countries, there is no support for the widely held theory that large shareholders are a response to weak legal protections for investors.


Objectives 99mTc-sestamibi is the current radiopharmaceutical of choice for the localization of hyperactive lesions of the parathyroid glands in patients with hyperparathyroidism. However, there are multiple factors that adversely affect the accumulation and retention 99mTc-sestamibi in the hyperfunctioning parathyroid tissue, resulting in a false-negative scan. The objective of this study was to investigate the possibility of an incremental diagnostic role of thallium-201 parathyroid scintigraphy in patients with presumably false-negative 99mTc-sestamibi scan results. Patients and methods The study comprised of 22 patients including 16 with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) and 6 with secondary hyperparathyroidism where 99mTc-sestambi scan was initially negative, inconclusive or where additional lesions were suspected on the single-photon computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) scan with the CT component identifying lesion(s) without significant 99mTc-sestamibi uptake. Results The results of our study show that in 22 patients (5 male, 17 female; age range 26–81; median age 53.4) further imaging with thallium-201 SPECT/CT scan showed 46.5% additional lesions in patients with hyperparathyroidism caused by an adenomatous or hyperplastic parathyroid lesion. In patients with PHPT caused by an adenomatous or hyperplastic parathyroid lesion, further imaging with thallium-201 showed 59% additional hyperactive parathyroid lesions. In patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism, further imaging with thallium-201 SPECT/CT showed additional 33.3% hyperplastic parathyroid lesions. Conclusion The results of this pilot study strongly advocate a role for thallium parathyroid SPECT/CT imaging in patients with primary and secondary hyperparathyroidism where the initial 99mTc-sestamibi scan is deemed to be false-negative in the presence of biochemical hyperparathyroidism.


The itinerant physician of mediaeval times used medicine as his passport. The idea of roving from country to country healing and learning came to me during a committee meeting. It might have come as a protest against being reduced to a bureaucrat from my own self-image of a healer of human ailments, but it was certainly triggered off by an advertisement that I glimpsed in my clandestinely opened BMJ. "Radio doctors wanted in all parts of Australia," the advertisement announced, and stipulated three months as the minimum period. "I could lump two annual leaves together," I thought, and answered the ad. My application was accepted without much ceremony on condition that I paid my own fares and travelling expenses. I was quite happy about this arrangement as in this way I could avoid being bonded.


The invention discloses a downhole hollow oil well pump. The downhole hollow oil well pump comprises a barrel body, wherein a hollow piston rod anchored down a well is arranged inside the barrel body; an upstream end of the piston rod is closed; a downstream end of the piston rod is provided with a well fluid inlet; a sealing sleeve fixed to the barrel body sleeves the piston rod; the sealing sleeve and a sealing structure of the piston rod divide an inner cavity of the barrel body into an upper chamber, a middle sealing chamber and a lower chamber; first oil introduction holes connected with the middle sealing chamber are formed in the side wall of the piston rod; the first oil introduction holes are coated with first elastic sealing parts; second oil introduction holes connected with the middle sealing chamber and a space outside the barrel body are formed in the sealing sleeve; and the second oil introduction holes are coated with second elastic sealing parts. According to the downhole hollow oil well pump, simulated production can be achieved, a stable working condition is reached, a testing tool is controlled through lifting and putting down a continuous oil pipe to test capacity conditions of all layers, a good sealing property is achieved, inner diameters are sufficiently guaranteed under the condition that outer diameters are the same, and the downhole hollow oil well pump is particularly applicable to production testing of high-inclination wells and horizontal wells.


This paper describes the existence of state in both concept and political reality in Islam. Discourse on state has been within the study of Islam since classical era. Muslim jurists, normatively position state as dharuriyat (things of importance), while some Muslim thinkers present their ideas on state and the ideal forms and systems of governance, even though there is no such firm and detailed regulations in the Quran and hadith on these issues. Historically, discourse on state may distinguish Islam from other world religions. Islam, since its initial establishment, has been involved with the issue of state and governance, even with political issues at large. Historical facts showed de facto fragmentation within the empire of Islam since 850. The characters of Muslim rulers had nothing to do with the ideal existence of Islamic state. Divisions, conflicts, and even bloodshed had been part of empirical Muslims at that time. It shows that there has been yet no synergy in matching normative Islamic state and historical Islam.


Mannose-specific cell-surface receptors on bacteria, which are not themselves antigenic, have been exploited by chemists at the University of California, Berkeley, to target antibodies to the bacteria, and thus, to activate immune system responses against the bacteria. The research suggests an approach for overcoming the genetic variation many pathogens exploit to avoid elimination by a host's immune system. The research was carried out by Mark D. Bednarski, an assistant chemistry professor at Berkeley, and Carolyn R. Bertozzi, a graduate student in Bednarski's lab. The Berkeley chemists reported their results in a series of three papers that have appeared this year [ Carbohydrate Research , 223, 243 (1992); J. Am. Chem. Soc , 114 ,2242,5543 (1992)]. Bednarski and Bertozzi point out that antibody binding to bacterial cells is necessary to activate subsequent immune system defense mechanisms. These include activation of complement, an immune system mechanism for lysing antibody-coated cells, and recognitio...


The Covid-19 pandemic is hitting low- and middle-income coun- tries, where health care resources are already stretched. This article describes the spread of a Covid- 19-like illness in M20 (a pseud- onym), an isolated village without medical facilities in Indonesia. M20 is situated at an altitude of 6,700 feet in the central mountain range of Indonesia's easternmost prov- ince, Papua. It is typically served on request by a small six to eight-seat aircraft, or reached by trekking on foot from other villages. The vil- lage consists of seven hamlets of two to six huts, separated by five to ten-minute walks. Villagers are closely related to inhabitants of other villages in the area, and visit each other often. In the villages of the Papuan highland, men and/ or families sleep together in one hut, and children sleep with their mothers or families (sometimes up to 30 people in one hut). The clos- est neighbouring village to M20 is about 1.5 hour by foot, with people visiting multiple times a week. The actual population varies with these interactions and ranges from 150 to 200 people. M20's gender distribu- tion is estimated at 60% women, and 40% men, due to a combina- tion of a higher life expectancy of women (66.8 years compared to 63.0 years for men) and men spend- ing most of their time in towns.[1] Approximately half of the popula- tion is under twelve years of age. There are four to six matriarchs, and others are teenagers, young adults and adults in their thirties to fifties. Most men smoke, and most people live in huts with central fire pits, which are used throughout the day for cooking and during the evening and night for heating.[2] The closest government health centre is about three hours by foot, but trained health workers are typically absent, as is common in this region.[3] In M20, lay health workers hold daily clinics where they perform primary health care and dispense medica- tion.


Objectives:  Exchange nailing (EN) for aseptic femoral shaft nonunion is currently a standard orthopaedic treatment modality. However, according to recent studies there is occasionally a high failure rate when EN is used. In the present study, augmentative locked plating and bone graft was used as an alternative method for treating such cases. The purpose of this study was to report the treatment outcomes of selected femoral diaphyseal nonunions that had initially been treated by nailing.