The invention discloses a catalyst for greenly synthesizing halogenated arylamine by means of catalytic hydrogenation of a halogenated aromatic nitro compound. The catalyst comprises a carrier and anactive component and is characterized in that TiO2, ZrO2, neutral Al2O3 or active carbon is used as the carrier, and a bi-component metal consisting of Au and Pt, Pd, Ir or Ru is used as the active component, wherein the metal accounts for 0.1-2.0% of the carrier in terms of weight percent and the two metal elements (the Au and the Pt, Pd, Ir or Ru) in the bi-component metal keep a weight ratio of1.0:0.1-0.5. The catalyst is highly active and selective during the preparation of the halogenated arylamine by means of catalyzing the hydrogenation of the halogenated aromatic nitro compound, can achieve 100% of raw material conversion rate and 100% of target product selectivity in conditions of normal temperature, 1MPa and H2 and causes no dehalogenation reaction. In addition, the catalyst hasstable activity, can be repeatedly used for a plurality of times and can conveniently cause the catalyst to be separated from a product after the reaction. The adoption of the process for preparing the halogenated arylamine can lead to low cost and zero pollution, and has relatively great implementing value and social and economic benefits.


Ojective To research the clinical application of serum prostate specific antigen(PSA),free-prostate specific antigen(f-PSA)and(f-PSA)/(PSA)ratio for the diferential diagnosis of prostatic carcinoma(PCa).Methods Serum samples were obtained from 62 normal men,42 patients with prostatic carcinoma(PCa)and 84 patients with untreaded benign prostate hyperplasia(BPH).The levels of PSA and f-PSA in serum were determined by auto-immunochemieal luminescence method,and the ratio of f-PSA/ PSA was calculated.Results The various indexes of the PCa group were signifieamly higher than those of the control group.The difference of PSA had no statistical significonce between the PCa and BPH groups(P0.05).The FPSA/PSA ratio had statistical difference between PCa group and BPH group(P0.01).Conclusion The ratio of PSA/PSA is superior to simple PSA in the diagnosis of prostatic carcinoma(PCa).


Product development of Japanese companies has changed greatly from the post-war revival period, when it was promoted mainly to provide low-cost, high-quality products. In recent years, it has become necessary to develop products and services that correspond to social issues. Research and development has shifted from a technological basis to a perspective based on societal trends for developing next-generation products. According to Kubo (2011) and Asai (2013), scenario planning is an effective method for considering the future environment in R&D. Furthermore, the functions and roles of the information section, because of the contributions of information services, have changed along with the use of the R&D situation. Based on findings from questionnaires and interviews of Japanese companies, this paper presents a discussion of the importance of information collection and intelligence generation for scenario planning along with the role of an information section in the area of research and development.


Insulin therapy is associated with the most substantial A1C reductions of any diabetes treatment available. New insulin analogues and alternate delivery methods offer improved safety, efficacy, convenience, predictability, and greater ease of administration. Furthermore, recent evidence indicates that early, intensive insulin therapy may contribute to β-cell rest and provide a cardioprotective benefit. Patients and practitioners, however, often remain hesitant to initiate insulin treatment. This article will discuss frequently encountered barriers to insulin use and suggest strategies that can be incorporated at various time points to facilitate the transition to insulin therapy.


Chestnut Hill, Mass. - Dermatologists who have successfully mastered liposuction and do the procedure routinely may want to consider using the subcutaneous fat removal technique for breast reductions, Michael S. Kaminer, M.D., said.


This paper proposes a fully unsupervised anomaly detection strategy in hyperspectral imagery based on mixture learning. Anomaly detection is conducted by adopting a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) to describe the statistics of the background in hyperspectral data. One of the key tasks in the application of mixture models is the specification in advance of the number of GMM components, the determination of which is essential and strongly affects detection performance. In this work, GMM parameters estimation was performed through a variation of the well-known Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm that was developed within a Bayesian framework. Specifically, the adopted mixture learning technique incorporates a built-in mechanism for automatically assessing the number of components during the parameter estimation procedure. Then, Generalized Likelihood Ratio Test (GLRT) is considered for detecting anomalies. Real hyperspectral imagery acquired by an airborne sensor is used for experimental evaluation of the proposed anomaly detection strategy.


Review of the monograph: Miller, Michelle Ann, Rebellion and Reform in Indonesia – Jakarta's Security and Autonomy Policies in Aceh, London/ New York: Routledge, 2009, ISBN 13: 978-0-415-45467-4, 240 pages.


The determination of energy and protein requirements for maintenance and growth of beef cattle is very important for an efficient animal production. Nellore and crossed breeds like Brangus are very used in Brazil, but the main source of information about nutritional requirements is the NRC, whose data was obtained with different breeds and environments. The objective of this experiment was to determine the energy and protein requirements of Brangus and Nellore bulls through the comparative slaughter technique, with body and gain composition estimated from the 9-10-11a rib cut of these breeds fed diets with different concentrate proportions. The fed intake and digestibility of these diets were also determined. Fifty-six young bulls were utilized, 28 of each breed, with 212 kg of shrunk body weight and 8 months of age. Four Brangus and four Nellore bulls were slaughtered in the beginning of the experiment to estimate the initial body composition. The other animals were fed diets with increasing levels of concentrate (20, 40, 60 and 80% of the dry matter). The animals were weighted at 28 days intervals and the daily feed intake individually controlled through Calan Gate equipment. After 145 days of feeding the animals were slaughtered. A completely randomized design with factorial arrangement (2X4) was utilized. Four animals of each breed were utilized in a digestibility trial with total feces collection. The experimental design was the Latin square. The shrunk body gain, empty body gain and hot carcass gain were different for breeds (P<0,01), and for concentrate levels (P<0,01). The Brangus animals were heavier than the Nellore. The Brangus and Nellore breeds showed the best performance with 40% and 60% concentrate diets, respectively. The digestibility of the crude protein and mineral matter was different for breeds (P<0,02), and the Brangus bulls were heavier than the Nellore. The total digestible nutrients also was different for breeds ((P<0,09) the Nellore bulls showed the greatest means), and for concentrate levels (P<0,01). The digestibility of crude fiber and neutral detergent fiber, digestible and metabolizable energy of the diets was different for concentrate levels


AbstractOver the last decade, the abundance of Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides has increased in many northern Wisconsin lakes, causing concern among anglers and biologists regarding the potential for Largemouth Bass to negatively affect populations of Walleye Sander vitreus through predation or competition for prey. Our objectives were to determine whether (1) diet overlap and predation occurred between adult Walleyes and Largemouth Bass in four northern Wisconsin lakes and (2) the use of DNA barcoding to reduce unidentifiable fish in diet samples affected conclusions regarding diet overlap. A single occurrence of Walleye predation was observed in the diets of 945 Largemouth Bass. Moderate to high diet overlap was observed between Largemouth Bass and Walleyes throughout much of the study period. The use of DNA barcoding reduced the amount of unidentified fish in diets to <1% and showed that failure to identify fish or fish parts can affect conclusions regarding diet overlap. Largemouth Bass predatio...


The World Health Organization (WHO) has released new guidelines [1] for reducing health care associated infections related to surgery. The new guidelines include 29 concrete recommendations distilled by 20 of the world's leading experts from 26 reviews of the latest evidence. The recommendations are designed to address the increasing burden of health care associated infections on both patients and health care systems globally. The guidelines include 13 recommendations for the period before surgery, and 16 for preventing infections during and after surgery. They range from simple precautions such as ensuring that patients bathe or shower before surgery and the best way for surgical teams to clean their hands, to guidance on when to use antibiotics to prevent infections, what disinfectants to use before incision, and which sutures to use.


The Saccharomyces cerevisiae protein Ynl010wp possesses similarity to phosphoserine phosphatases and has been previously shown to interact with core histones. The deletion of YNL010W results in 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole (3AT) sensitivity, hence it is required for the full activation of transcription of the HIS3 gene by Gcn4p. The cylcoheximide chase showed that the proteolytic stability of Gcn4p was not affected by the YNL010W deletion. CUE5, WHI2 and HOT1 were isolated from a multi-copy suppressor screen and could provide more information on the role of YNL010W in gene activation. Certain serine-alanine point mutations in core histones have also been shown to suppress the 3AT sensitivity of S. cerevisiae cells lacking YNL010W.


Contents: Introduction General Topics: The grammatical tradition and the rise of the vernaculars Grammar and rhetoric in the Renaissance Renaissance grammar Renaissance grammar, rebellion or evolution? Guarino of Verona: The historical sources of Guarino's Regulae grammaticales: a reconsideration of Sabbadini's evidence Textual problems in the Latin grammar of Guarino Veronese A working edition of the Carmina differentialia by Guarino Veronese NicollA^2 Perotti: The place of the Rudimenta grammatices in the history of latin grammar Early editions of NiccolA^2 Perotti's Rudimenta grammatices The influence of Perotti's Rudimenta in the cinquecento Antonio de Nebrija: Nebrija and the medieval grammatical tradition Italian affiliations of Nebrija's Latin grammar Nebrija's syntactic theory in its historical setting Nebrija's linguistic A"uvre as a model for missionary linguistics Other Figures: The Artis grammaticae opusculum of Bartolomeo Sulmonese: a newly discovered Latin grammar of the quattrocento The Orthographia of Gasparino Barzizza Lorenzo Valla and the criterion of exemplary usage Index.


Compilers perform code transformations in order to expose the maximum amount of parallelism to the target processor. While these techniques can be effective, they are often limited by the fact that the compiler must ensure semantic correctness of the program. This is especially true for memory accesses: if the compiler cannot guarantee that memory locations are independent it must enforce strict ordering of accesses to these locations. This is known as the problem of memory anti-aliasing or disambiguation. As noted in the paper, the ability to perform accurate disambiguation of indirect references (pointers) is crucial for a parallelizing compiler. Prior parallelizing compilers, such as Bulldog, use purely static or compile-time techniques for memory disambiguation. However, the authors are quick to point out the shortcomings and potential computational expense of these methods to produce results, if they produce results at all. This observation motivates run-time disambiguation in which the burden of disambiguation is partly shifted from compile-time to run-time. All decisions are still performed statically, but run-time tests ensure correctness. In essence, rather than requiring the compiler to be always right, run-time disambiguation weakens this condition, so that the compiler only needs to be usually right. Two issues with run-time disambiguation were discussed in class: (1) semantic cor-rectness and (2) code explosion. Ensuring semantic correctness guarantees that the program will execute the same before and after run-time disambiguation optimizations


AIM: To evaluate the effects of epidural administration of 60 g/L hetastarch on the spinal cord and spinal nerve roots in rats. METHODS: Twenty-four adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 4 groups with 6 rats in each group after successful epidural catheterization. Group Ⅰ was not injected anything, while 0.2 mL normal saline, 60 g/L hetastarch or 400 mL/L alcohol was injected into epidural space via the epidural catheter in groupⅡ, Ⅲ and Ⅳ, respectively, once daily for 3 consecutive days. Body weight, Pinch-Toe Test and Motor-Deficit were measured once daily for 3 consecutive weeks. Three weeks later, all rats were killed and the lumbar segments of the spinal cord and spinal nerve roots below L1 spinous process were removed immediately for light and electron microscopic examination. RESULTS: There was no statistical significance in increase in body weight, Pinch-Toe Test and Motor-Deficit between group Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ(P0.05). Increase in body weight was significantly less in group Ⅳ than in group Ⅰ and Ⅱ(P0.05). Positive rates of Pinch-Toe Test and Motor-Deficit in group Ⅳ were significantly higher than those in group Ⅰ and Ⅱ(P0.05). No significant structural changes of the spinal cord and spinal nerve roots were observed by microscopic examination in group Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ. In group Ⅳ, disorder, isolation and edema of some myelin appeared, with distension of Golgi body in several motor-neurons. CONCLUSION: Epidural administration of 60 g/L hetastarch 0.2 mL doesn't have an obvious influence on the spinal cord and spinal nerve roots in rats.


The invention provides a method for preparing alumina prefabricated block used for dental repair by gel casting method which consists of mixing two types of aluminium oxide powders of different particle sizes, deionized water and gel monomer, charging initiator and catalyst gel for forming, then proceeding partial sintering.


The segregated and selective nature of the schooling system in Northern Ireland effectively ensures that Northern Ireland has eleven sizeable sectors to provide for. It currently offers in theory therefore more scope for parental choice than any other part of the United Kingdom. However, in reality choice is constrained by a series of factors including religious attitudes, socio economic circumstances and free home-to-school transport eligibility criteria. Currently the Northern Ireland Government is trying to implement a number of policy reforms for its education system. These reforms have generated much heated debate and division along political party lines. However, none of the controversy has addressed the implications of current or future arrangements for travel and sustainability In the absence of a clear acceptable model for future post-primary education it is important to explore and analyze the realities of the different models proposed. Using Geographical Information Systems (GIS), stated preference survey data and discrete choice modeling, this research aims to develop a range of tools to inform policy makers on future school travel patterns in response to the ongoing program of reforms in education.


Summary Cholestyramine decreased the intestinal absorption of radio–B12 as measured by the double label hepatic uptake test in 10 consecutive normal adult volunteers, and in a patient with pernicious anemia. The mechanism of this inhibition was explored in vitro using the guinea pig intestinal mucosal homogenate assay. The in vitro studies suggested that cholestyramine decreased intrinsic factor–mediated B12 absorption probably by binding to a portion of the same binding sites on the intrinsic factor molecule which normally bind B12. This would impair the formation of the intrinsic factor–B12 complex.


Summary. —Evidence is brought forward to show the associa-tion of a long continued septic process in the skull with insanity, probably of similar duration. suspected, examination


14 Humans tend to value things not on their absolute values, but relative to reference points such as 15 former experience or expectations. People rate the quality of a new salary relative to their previous 16 salary and the salaries of their peers, instead of appreciating its absolute value. Here, we demonstrate 17 a similar effect in an insect: ants, which had previously experienced a low quality food source, showed 18 higher acceptance of medium quality food (e.g. 0.1M then 0.5M; positive contrast) than if they had 19 received the medium food all along (e.g. 0.5M then 0.5M; control), and vice versa for high expectations. 20 Further experiments demonstrate that these contrast effects arise from cognitive rather than mere 21 sensory or pre-cognitive perceptual causes. Pheromone deposition also correlates with perceived 22 reward value, and ants showed successive contrasts in their pheromone deposition. Relative value 23 perception can therefore be expected to have strong effects not only on individual behaviour, but also 24 on collective decision-making. Contrast effects were also social: the quality of food received from other 25 ants affected the perceived value of food found later. Value judgement is a key element in decision 26 making, and thus relative value perception will strongly influence how animals interact with their 27 environment.


Background
We report the transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 across different settings from the first COVID-19 cluster in Brunei arising from a super-spreading event (SSE): the Tablighi Jama9at religious gathering in Malaysia.

Methods
Epidemiological and clinical information of all cases and close contacts were collected. All suspected cases and their close contacts were tested with RT-PCR, regardless of symptom presentation. Incubation period and serial interval (SI) were calculated. Attack rates (AR) and mean reproductive numbers were calculated for five different settings, and risk factors of infection were identified using log-binomial regression.

Findings
Nineteen out of 75 identified Talbighi attendees in Brunei tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. They infected 52 other individuals, bringing the cluster size to 71. Among them, only 40 (56.3%) reported symptoms from diagnosis to discharge. Median incubation period is 4.5 days (IQR= 2.75) and mean SI is 4.26 days (SD= 4.27). Contact tracing identified 1755 contacts. The highest non-primary AR were observed at a local religious gathering (14.8% [95% CI: 7.1, 27.7]) and in the household (10.6% [95% CI: 7.3, 15.1]. Household ARs of symptomatic cases were higher (14.4% [95% CI: 8.8, 19.9]) than asymptomatic or presymptomatic cases (5.4% [95% CI: 1.2, 9.6]). Low ARs (< 1%) were observed for workplace and social settings.

Interpretation
Our analysis highlights that SARS-CoV-2 transmission varies depending on environmental, behavioural, and host factors. We identify 9red flags9 of potential SSE development, and propose differentiated testing strategies that account for transmission risk.


The stationary one dimensional Schr\"odinger-Poisson system on a bounded interval is considered in the limit of a small Debye length (or small temperature). Electrons are supposed to be in a mixed state with the Boltzmann statistics. Using various reformulations of the system as convex minimization problems, we show that only the first energy level is asymptotically occupied. The electrostatic potential is shown to converge towards a boundary layer potential with a profile computed by means of a half space Schr\"odinger-Poisson system.


We estimate, for each nonprofit organization (NPO) in a sample of 606 US arts NPOs, whether the NPO's level of fundraising is 'excessive,' 'insufficient,' or neither, relative to the level that maximizes net donations. We find that the effect of a 1% increase in fundraising on net donations varies widely across the arts NPOs in our sample—from an increase in net donations of 8.91% of gross donations to a decrease of 3.82% of gross donations. Of the 100 NPOs in our sample with the highest donations, the estimated effect of a 1% increase in fundraising on net donations varies more narrowly—from an increase in net donations of 0.27% of gross donations to a decrease of 0.32% of gross donations. Of these 100 NPOs, we estimate that only 3 engaged in 'excessive' fundraising, but 83 engaged in 'insufficient' fundraising, and 14 did not engage in 'excessive' or 'insufficient' fundraising.We also provide evidence that reported organizational efficiency does not affect donations to arts NPOs. This finding may be useful to managers and directors of US arts NPOs who believe that organizational efficiency does impact donations and who, therefore, incorporate the effect on efficiency in their decisions to allocate resources across fundraising, administration, and program objectives.

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


With the development of the traffic construction in the west, the southwest and the sea area, the traffic network will gradually run through the densely animals-populated areas, even through the wildlife refuge, the criss-cross roads make the animal's habitat divided into blocks, easily resulting in the decrease in number of wild animals, population dispersion, habitat fragmentation and other adverse consequences. In order to ensure the stability of the ecosystem, the "eco-transportation" has gradually become the target of many national transportation constructions. Combining with engineering examples at home and abroad, the research analyzes the ill effects of highway construction on wildlife, and then expounds the preventive and remedial measures to be taken in the design, building and operation stages of traffic construction, in which emphasis is placed on the corridor for wildlife crossing on the road, including its common types, influencing factors and detail design. This paper can provide reference for the related engineering constructions and codes.


A satellite is considered to be moving relative to a nominal elliptical orbit, whose dynamics are usually described by the Tschaunner-Hempel equation (T-H equation). In this paper, we propose to transform the second-order time-varying system represented by the linear T-H equation with a second-order matrix form into a first-order time-varying system. Then, the controllability of the first-order time-varying system is investigated with the matrix sequence method including

 e
 =
 0

 . Meanwhile, we study the observability of the first-order time-varying system with a specific form of measurement. The advantages of the matrix sequence method for controllability and observability analysis are tested by numerical examples, respectively. Dual theory is used to investigate the controllability and observability of the corresponding dual system of the T-H equation. The corresponding conclusions are obtained.


We thank van Lent and Out for highlighting the distinction between industry sponsored and industry supported trials.1 2 We acknowledge that multiple approaches are used to categorise trials by funding source, and we were pleased to see the authors' …


Sparse approximation attempts to find an efficient signal representation by adaptively building a signal vector space from elements of a usually redundant and over-complete dictionary of atoms. Often, however, representations produced by iterative descent methods, such as orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP), will contain atoms that are poorly chosen and might later be confused as features of the signal. Poorly selected atoms bring about the selection other atoms that serve to correct for previous choices using destructive interference. This behavior diminishes the efficiency of a representation. In this paper, we propose and study a modification of the atom selection in OMP that takes into account the aforementioned effects. We find that a pursuit adapting to the interference between atoms can create a more efficient representation than that created by OMP, and one that is more representative of the signal and its features and less a reflection of the decomposition process.


ELFIDA. Spatial Pattern Analysis of Public Tin Mining as A Suggestion in Determination of Spatial Arrangement Policy in Bangka District. Supervised by BABA BARUS, ATANG SUTANDI and BUDI MULYANTO. Recently small scale tin mining (Inconventional Mining) is an alternative activity for some communities in Bangka District. The activity may create positive impact through providing high income, but incontrast, it may create negative impacts such as environmental degradation, social change, and spatial inapropriate utilization regarding its spatial planning and carrying capacity. The objectives of this research were : 1) To describe inconventional tin mining location in Bangka District, 2) To inform socio-economic community due to inconventional tin mining, 3) To know possibility of area utilization discrepancy due to inconventional tin mining, and 4) to provide suggestions to Bangka District Government in spatial arrangement policy in relation to inconventional tin mining activity. Generally, the research methods used GIS and description analysis. The spatial data base was derived from GIS analysis such as digitations, correction, and integration of spatial data and attribute. Analysis for inconventional mining location was conducted through overlay process, legal location mining status identification, total amount and SD value of quarry mining, mining distance category to subdistrict, and scoring. GIS analyses were implemented to identify the discrepancy of area utilization, inconventional mining distribution regarding with land use, and spatial utilization, and description analysis to community socio-economic condition. The scoring results for the total sum and SD value of mining distribution of each village produce very bad environmental category for six villages i.e Bintet, Gunung Pelawan, Lumut, Cit, Riau, and Silip. Most of the community stated that the inconventional tin mining activity increased community economic livelyhood, but they also realized that there were negative impacts such as environmental degradation and accident in mining location. It was identified that discrepancy of area utilization due to mining activity were 8.67 % of preservation area were used as mining area. Furthermore, suitability analysis produced that coconut crop with the highest suitability compared to oil palm, pepper and rubber. Meanwhile the highest community preference crops was devoted to rubber, following by vegetable, and the other crops has lower tendency. The research recommendation for improvement of the spatial utilization plan were 10.12 % of preservation area, 6.58 % rehabilitation area, and 83.30 % cultivation area, including 16.20 % mining area and 33.95 % plantation area.


In the description given above, the faunal record is the basis for understanding the climatic changes in the Skagen Well, supplemented by the observation on the changes in the sediments. However, the changes found during the Holocene are most likely to be connected with changes in facies, and here the changing depth is the most prominent agent, ending up with the last event represented by the depositional history of the Skagen Spit. Based on the dating of the Holocene and the Late Weichselian, the descriptions have been given in terms of episodes. Especially the Holocene strata points to a development from deeperto shallow-water facies from Preboreal to Subatlantic. In this development there appears to be a facies change that can be compared to the bottom communities as known from the Skagerrak–Kattegat region when going from the deeper-water communities of the present day, the so-called Maldane-Ophiura sarsi community, to the Venus community of the more shallow seas. The mollusc assemblages in the Skagen sequence indicate a deeper-water facies during the Eemian, the Weichselian and the older Holocene in contrast to what hitherto was known in other parts of the Danish area during the Late Quaternary. The Skagen Well has a record of the changing seas during the Late Quaternary, from the Eemian through the Weichselian (although only in parts) and the Holocene. For the first time within the Danish area, the full record of the marine environmental transition from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene can be demonstrated on the basis of molluscs. However, not all the episodes known from the Skagen Well can be found in marine facies of the other regions, but thanks to the new records from the North Sea around the Jydske Rev area, a near to full Holocene marine record is at hand, including part of the Preboreal (Petersen 1998).


This paper presents a simplified analytical model for simulating hysteretic moment-anchorage slip-rotation relationship of RC frames. The primary curve of the moment-anchorage slip-rotation relationship is constructed by computing the extension of tension reinforcement in the beam-column joint and the bond decay under cyclic loading is considered based on test data. A series of hysteretic rules are obtained from experimental hysteretic curves. A comparison of experimental and analytical hysteretic relationships indicates good agreement.


In online role plays, students are asked to engage with a story that serves as a metaphor for real-life experience as they learn and develop skills. However, practitioners rarely examine the characteristics and management of this story as factors in the students' engagement in and learning from the activity. In this paper I present findings from a recent case study which examines these factors in an online role play that has been named as an exemplar and has been run for 19 years in Australian and international universities to teach Middle East politics and journalism. Online role plays are increasingly popular in tertiary education, in forms ranging from simple text-based role plays to virtual learning environment activities and e-simulations. The role play I studied required students to communicate in role via simulated email messages and draw on real-life resources and daily simulated online newspaper publications produced by the journalism students rather than rely on information or automated interactions built into an interface. This relatively simple format enabled me to observe clearly the impact of the technique's basic design elements. I studied both the story elements of plot, character and setting and the non-story elements of assessment, group work and online format. The data collection methods include analysis of student emails in the role play, a questionnaire, a focus group, interviews and the journal I kept as a participant-observer in the role play. In evaluating the qualities and impact of story elements I drew upon established aesthetic principles for drama and poststructuralist drama education.


In this paper, we will present a multiple time step Monte Carlo simulation technique for pricing options under the Stochastic Alpha Beta Rho model. The proposed method is an extension of the one time step Monte Carlo method that we proposed in an accompanying paper Leitao et al. [Appl. Math. Comput. 2017, 293, 461–479], for pricing European options in the context of the model calibration. A highly efficient method results, with many very interesting and nontrivial components, like Fourier inversion for the sum of log-normals, stochastic collocation, Gumbel copula, correlation approximation, that are not yet seen in combination within a Monte Carlo simulation. The present multiple time step Monte Carlo method is especially useful for long-term options and for exotic options.


The synthesis method of polyvinyl acetate modified emulsion was described in the paper.The water based coating has many of advantages,for example: good adhesive,water resistant,cheap,easy synthesis and construction.


Objective To investigate the lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood of syphilis patients with negetive HIV and evaluate its clinical significance.Methods T-lymphocyte subsets and NK lymphocyte of peripheral blood were measured with Flow cytometry(FCM) from 25 cases of untreated latent syphilis patients(A group) and 23 cases of latent syphilis patients treated for several courses of treatment with persistently positive RPR for more than two years(B group).Moreover,30 normal specimens were taken as controls(C group).Results 1.The percentage of CD_3,CD_4 and NK lymphocyte showed no difference between A group and C group or between B group and C group ( P 0.05),but the percentage of CD_8 in A group was markedly higher than C group ( P 0.001) and in B group was higher than C group ( P 0.05);the ratio of CD_4/CD_8 in A group was notably lower than C group ( P 0.001),which was no difference between B group and C group ( P 0.05).2.Compared A group to B group,the percentage of CD_3,CD_4 and NK lymphocyte and the ratio of CD_4/CD_8 had no difference( P 0.05);On the contrary,the percentage of CD_8 in A group was striking higher than in B group ( P 0.001). Conclusion The results indicate there was an imbalance for cellar immunity or immunity inhibition in untreated latent syphilis patients or in treated latent syphilis patients with persistently positive RPR for more than two years,which may weaken the ability of resistance and clearing treponema pallidum infection and be associated with the persistence of positive RPR or the repetition of clinical symptom.


The analysis of first-order CIDNP multiplet spectra can be easily carried out on a semi-quantitative level with the help of a graphic procedure which is summarized in a set of simple rules.


Stavely Minerals Ltd has made a bright start to 2016, identifying a promising new porphyry drill target at one of its projects in Western Victoria.


Objective: To characterize clinical, histopathologic, and radiologic features in 32 patients with gliomatosis cerebri (GC). Background GC is a rare primary tumor of the central nervous system, characterized by diffuse neoplastic glial cell infiltration of more than two cerebral lobes and relative preservation of the surrounding brain architecture. Although primarily astrocytic in origin, cases with oligodendroglial and mixed oligoastrocytic features have been described. Radiologically, GC is defined by no or minimal contrast enhancement on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Design/Methods: We identified 32 subjects from the neuroradiology and neuro-oncology database at the Massachusetts General Hospital who met the diagnostic criteria of GC. Clinical, histopathologic, and imaging characteristics were assessed. Results: Most common clinical symptoms at presentation were seizures (63%), cognitive dysfunction (28%) and headaches (16%). Tumors were classified as WHO grade II and WHO grade III with equal distribution, and most commonly were diagnosed as astrocytomas (n=20), oligodendrogliomas (n=4), and mixed oligoastrocytomas (n=3). Forty-four percent had bihemispheric T2/FLAIR hyperintensity on MRI, with frequent involvement of the temporal (n=31) and frontal (n=25) lobes as well as the subventricular zone (n=24). Treatment involved surgery (n=13), radiation (n=15), chemotherapy (n=26), and combined chemo-radiation (n=10). Median overall survival (OS) for all patients was 32 months from the time of radiologic diagnosis (ranging from 20 days to 231 months). Median time to progression after the first (TTP1), and second (TTP2) treatment regimen were 15 and 9 months, respectively. Conclusions: Patients with GC present with heterogeneous clinical, pathologic, and imaging findings. Some patients demonstrate prolonged overall survival of more than 10 years suggesting subpopulations of GC patients with significantly better prognosis. Further detailed characterization of molecular and histopathological features of GC and advanced neuroimaging techniques may help to identify distinct subgroups of GC and guide further treatment decisions. Supported by: The American Brain Tumor Association and the American Academy of Neurology Foundation. Disclosure: Dr. Ly has nothing to disclose. Dr. Pine has nothing to disclose. Dr. Stemmer-Rachamimov has nothing to disclose. Dr. Hochberg has nothing to disclose. Dr. Dietrich has nothing to disclose.


The rapid development of digital technology and social media has had a huge impact on the business world, including medium-sized businesses. The strategy for trade promotion through digital media and multimedia products is more prospective because it attracts potential customers to obtain information about products being sold and transactions via the internet. So far, the partner namely Warung Miso Medan requires buyers to come directly to the location or order via WhatsApp. The purpose of this activity is to accompany and provide training to Warung Miso Medan on promotional strategies through digital media. The stages of the activity are: (1) Introduction to social media (2) Introduction to marketplace (3) Documentation of multimedia products (4) Receiving orders and sending (5) Designing banners. The results of Community Service activities are partners who have social media, are registered on the marketplace, and have an understanding of promotion strategies through social media and are able to manage them.


The population of bound (\ensuremath{\gamma}-decaying) states of the projectilelike fragments from the $^{14}\mathrm{N}$${+}^{164}$Dy reaction at 20 MeV/nucleon was studied by measuring coincidences between these fragments and \ensuremath{\gamma} rays detected with large volume bismuth germanate detectors. The results indicate that products of pickup and exchange reactions are more likely to be excited than products of stripping reactions, particularly in fast, peripheral collisions.


Today in the United States, there is considerable discourse about the importance of healthcare to all citizens. While the exploits of for-profit enterprises such as Enron are quite well known, frauds that have occurred in the healthcare industry have not been as widely reported. Losses due to healthcare fraud are estimated to range between 20 and 60 billion dollars per year, representing a significant portion of total healthcare expenditures. The purpose of this study is to offer some case studies of frauds taking place in healthcare organizations. As the public becomes more aware of these frauds, it is hoped that all sectors of society will demand better accountability.


The co-existence of different autoimmune disorders in the same individual is known as multiple autoimmune syndrome (MAS), which was described by Humbert and Dupond in 1988. Pathogenesis in the immune system occurs with more recurrence in patients with a background marked by another immune disorder. Around 25% of patients with immune system sicknesses tend to foster more immune disorders. In MAS, patients frequently have, at any rate, one dermatological condition, usually vitiligo or alopecia areata. Herein, we report a case of MAS in a sixteen-year-old male suffering from vitiligo with Crohn's disease and thyroid disease.


The article contains a review of problems in Beijing's large scale urban renewal. The author also presents a case-study with an alternative, incremental, form of upgrading in an Old City neighbourhood. A scheme which considers economy as well as the existing context.


Abstract : In fielding the AH-64, the army used contractor and organic logistics support for this program. This study examines the lessons learned from this logistics effort in the areas of supply and maintenance. This study recommends revision of future logistics support based upon these lessons. Keywords: Attack helicopters; Logistics management.


This paper proposed a main circuit topology of cascaded compound current quality compensated device. Compared to the conventional topology, it used double PWM converter technology. PWM rectifier provided a stable DC voltage for the device, implemented input power factor approximately 1 and also achieved decoupling control of DC voltage and output current. PWM inverter used harmonic and reactive compound compensation control strategy and adopted PI closed-loop feedback control of output current directly to ensure good current tracking result. Finally, a low-pressure experimental prototype was designed to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of this control strategy and main circuit topology.


This chapter provides a brief overview of the pathogenic strategies of some bacteria that infect the mucosal surface of the intestinal tract. It focuses on two model systems for the study of bacterial pathogens that cause disease by colonizing (enteropathogenic Escherichia coli [EPEC]) or penetrating (Salmonella species) the intestinal epithelium. Mucosal surfaces have many physiological defenses against pathogenic bacteria. These include entrapment in a thick blanket of mucus and clearance by peristalsis in the gut or ciliary movement in the airways. Adhesins on the bacterial surface provide specificity for interaction with target host cells. For example, M cells of the intestinal epithelium have cell surface glycosylation patterns that vary between species and tissue location. Adhesion is often a prerequisite for penetration of the mucosal surface, though different pathogens penetrate this barrier by different means and with different ends. EPEC provides a suitable model for understanding A/E pathogens and has largely been studied in vitro by infection of epithelial tissue cell cultures. Salmonella species infect a broad range of animals and can cause different diseases in different hosts. For example Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi causes typhoid fever in humans, which can be fatal. Recent progress has revealed the mechanisms by which the translocated effectors of SPI-1 mediate invasion by Salmonella serovar Typhimurium. Pathogenic bacteria have evolved different strategies to initiate infection at mucosal surfaces.


Present article investigates pattern synthesis of large number beam-steered linear array. Multiple objectives of side lobe level reduction and beam-width narrowing have been considered as pattern synthesis objectives. Excitation amplitude and uniform inter-element spacing have been considered as design parameters to be optimized. Optimum values of the design parameters have been obtained using restricted search particle swarm optimization. Effectiveness of the optimization algorithm has been illustrated using design instances of 48 and 51 elements linear array. Further superiority of restricted search particle swarm optimization over conventional particle swarm optimization has been established through comparison.


Single crystals of ${\mathrm{Sr}}_{2}{\mathrm{Mn}}_{3}{\mathrm{As}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ have been grown for the first time, for which we show a possible layer-selective Mott insulator behavior. This compound stands out as a hybrid structure of ${\mathrm{MnO}}_{2}$ and MnAs layers, analogously to the active ${\mathrm{CuO}}_{2}$ and FeAs layers, respectively, in the cuprate and iron-based high-temperature superconductors. Electrical transport, neutron diffraction measurements, together with density functional theory calculations on ${\mathrm{Sr}}_{2}{\mathrm{Mn}}_{3}{\mathrm{As}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ single crystals converge toward a picture of independent magnetic order at ${T}_{1}\ensuremath{\sim}79$ K and ${T}_{2}\ensuremath{\sim}360$ K for the two Mn sublattices, with insulating behavior at odds with the metallic behavior predicted by calculations. Furthermore, our inelastic neutron-scattering studies of spin-wave dispersions for the Mn(1) sublattice reveal an effective magnetic exchange coupling of $SJ\ensuremath{\sim}3.7$ meV. This is much smaller than those for the Mn(2) sublattice.


The aim of this research is to analyze uric acid (UA) concentration using Ultraviolet (UV) spectrometer. Absorption technique was proposed in the application to detect different uric acid concentrations. Current practice is commonly done by using enzymatic or colorimetric technique which may drag take a lot of times especially at the analysis phase. By this proposed spectroscopic technique, every concentration can be contemplated into UV absorption wavelength displaying on Spectrasuite. It shows fast time response i.e., 1s. Each value of diluted uric acid concentration indicates a different absorption potential. Absorption cross-section of uric acid can be calculated by Beer's Lambert law formula. The experiment proves that different concentrations of uric acid were successfully detected using UV spectrometer at wavelength, 294.46 nm, every concentration showing a different absorbance value. Meanwhile, the absorption cross-section of uric acid molecules shows the close values for the different concentrations.


The present innovative research continues a series of scientific articles on a) the theory of the firm in the nonlinear dynamic financial and economic systems in the classic economics science, b) the information theory of the firm in the classic economics science, c) the quantum microeconomics theory in the quantum economics science, presenting the groundbreaking theoretical research results: 1) the quantum theory of firm in the frames of the quantum microeconomics theory in the quantum econophysics science is proposed; 2) the formulas (1, 2) to compute the firm's discrete-time EBITDA (the firm's value) changes at the different time moments are derived; 3) the formulas (3, 4) to calculate the distribution of a number of the firms' excited business processes of certain value at the selected firm's state in the economy of scale and scope are presented; 4) the notion on the wave function in the quantum econophysical time-dependent/time independent wave equations is introduced; 5) the formulas (5, 6) to predict the firm's discrete-time EBITDA (the firm's value) state changes in the national/global economies at the certain time moment, using the wave functions in the quantum econophysical time-dependent/time independent wave equations, are derived; 6) the quantum phenomena, including the possible weak/strong interactions between the firms in the national/global economies are described; 7) the comparative analysis between a big number of the classic theories of the firm and the quantum theory of the firm is completed, explaining the main characteristic differences and existing similarities; 8) the evolutionary shift from the classic theory of the firm to the quantum theory of the firm is described; 9) the perspectives on the application of the quantum theory of the firm with the aim to solve the various economic problems in the real- and speculative- sectors of economic markets are discussed.


A methodology for rapid design optimisation of omnidirectional antennas is presented. In order to reduce the computational cost of the geometry parameter adjustment process the authors exploit coarse discretisation electromagnetic (EM) simulations of the antenna structure under consideration as its low-fidelity model. A fast response surface approximation (RSA) model of the sampled EM data is created using kriging interpolation. The RSA model is subsequently used in the surrogate-based design process with the adaptively adjusted design specification (AADS) technique utilised as the optimisation engine. AADS allows us to account for the discrepancy between the surrogate and the high-fidelity EM antenna model. The optimised designs can be obtained at a low computational cost corresponding to a few evaluations of the high-fidelity antenna model as demonstrated through examples. Comparison with the benchmark technique indicates that using the RSA surrogates results in substantial reduction of the overall optimisation cost.


Queues with a Single Server. Jackson Networks. Extensions to Queues with a Single Server. Baskett, Chandy, Muntz and Palacios Networks. Approximate Methods. Flows in Networks. G-Networks: Positive and Negative Customers, Signals and Batch Removal. G-Networks with Multiple Classes of Signals and Positive Customers. Discrete-Time Queueing Systems. Bibliography. Appendix. Index.


The Chinese scholass have come under the profound influence of Confucianism,not excepting the secretarial personnel.The ideas of benevolence and harmony,which are in the key position of Confucianism,have the deepest influence upon the secretarial personnel.The ideas are of high borrowing significance for the secretarial personnel to appropriately handle interpersonal relations,strive for ethical self-attainments and accomplish their assignments with flying colours.


PURPOSE: A silver-ceramic nano composite material is provided in which nanometer sized metal phase silver particles are bonded onto the surface of micrometer sized ceramic particles, and a method for manufacturing the silver-ceramic nano composite material is provided. CONSTITUTION: The method for manufacturing silver-ceramic nano composite material comprises a step of preparing a ceramic suspension by dispersing ceramic powder into water; a step of preparing positive electrode and negative electrode in the ceramic suspension; a step of agitating the ceramic suspension to an agitation speed of 200 to 500 rpm in the temperature range of 30 to 100 deg.C; and a step of applying a voltage of 2 to 120 V to the electrodes, wherein the method further comprises a step of drying the filtered and washed suspension in the temperature range of 80 to 100 deg.C after filtering and washing the suspension after the step of applying voltage to the electrodes, wherein the ceramic powder is on powder selected from the group consisting of silica powder, alumina powder, titania powder and zeolite powder, wherein the ceramic suspension has pH of 8 to 10, wherein the positive electrode is a pure mercury, and wherein the negative electrode is a pure aluminum or an aluminum alloy in which aluminum is mixed with one or more of elements selected from the group consisting of Ag, Fe, Cu, Mg, Zn, Ni, Cr, V, Mn, Ti and Sn.


The aim of this paper is to assist the selection of the expander for small-scale organic Rankine cycles, based on an experimental comparison of piston, screw, scroll, roots expanders and Tesla turbine, the latter investigated by a specifically developed simulation model. First, based on a literature review, a comparison of these five expansion machines technologies is performed. Afterward, four expanders [24 kW] were tested in a small-scale ORC unit with R245fa as working fluid. The calibration of models based on the measurements allows the prediction of the isentropic efficiency under optimized conditions, in spite of the operating range of the test-rig. A 2D validated model simulates the performance of the machine Tesla Turbine. A comparison of costs and compactness of the 5 investigated expander technologies is also performed. Finally, based on the working charts achieved with the simulation models and on experimental and practical aspects, some guidelines are drawn to help the reader in the selection of the most suitable expander technology for a given application.


Oliver Smithies, who passed away in January 2017 at 91 years of age, was a highly accomplished scientist, Nobel Laureate, and Member of the National Academy of Sciences. However, for those who had the opportunity to know him, collaborate with him, or attend one of his lectures, he was also an endearing, inspirational, and entertaining figure, with a deep love for science and a complete lack of pretension. Oliver had a profound curiosity and an inventor's spirit.

During his long career, Oliver made several contributions to science, 2 of which particularly stand out. The first was the development of starch gel electrophoresis as a simple and reliable method for separating proteins by molecular size. Oliver's invention of this technique, which was a precursor to modern polyacrylamide gel separation, was inspired by his recollections of his mother using starch as she was doing laundry at home, remembering that starch dissolved in water and heated, developed a jelly-like consistency. After perfecting this technique, Oliver defined common inherited polymorphisms of haptoglobin and other human plasma proteins. This work was his gateway into genetics, which would become a lifelong passion, and he was an active participant in the revolution of molecular biology and genetics in the 1950s and 1960s.

Oliver's second major contribution was the development of an approach for specifically modifying the mammalian genome using homologous recombination in embryonic stem cells, commonly referred to as gene targeting, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2007 along with Mario Capecchi and Martin Evans. This discovery had broad impact on biological research, making it possible to induce precise alterations in a …


The appropriate post- chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) cleaning solution for an advanced nonporous polymer, ultralow-k fluorocarbon film is proposed. While decrease in fluorine content measured by high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and increase in dielectric constant were observed after additives cleaning with oxalic acid, no significant change of fluorine content and dielectric constant were found after citric acid with different additives and acids without additives cleanings. This reveals that additives play an important role in degradation of the fluorocarbon film. An appropriate selection of additives is important to clean the fluorocarbon film in post-CMP cleaning in advanced large-scale integrated generations. To complete successful integration of the post-CMP cleaning on new dielectric materials such as nonporous low-k fluorocarbon film, an appropriate solution and additives should be carefully selected to avoid electrical degradation in subsequent process.


An oxygen generation system comprises a temperature swing adsorption oxygen generation device (7); the temperature swing adsorption oxygen generation device comprises a heating system (42), a cooling system (43), an air chamber (14) and an absorption chamber (15); the absorption chamber (15) has an absorption structure (18); the absorption structure (18) comprises an absorption material (19), a heating pipe (20) connected with the heating system (42), a cooling pipe (21) connected with the cooling system (43), and a heat-conducting fin (22) respectively connected to the heating pipe (20) and the cooling pipe (21); the absorption material (19) surrounds the heat-conducting fin (22). An electric car comprises the oxygen generation system.


The last decade was characterised by the rapid development of satellite communication and broadcasting systems all over the world. It has caused the introduction of systems with frequency reuse and systems whose channel separation is based upon space selection, into the field of antenna technology. The development of such antennas and research of singularities of their radiation performances shaping is the task which is considered in the given work.


In the present paper, an intensive study has been paid to analyze the effect of the boundary layers on the fluid motion; as a result of this, an effective technique named "wall element technique" based on the finite element method (FEM) has been modified and adopted in a zone close to the solid wall to simulate developing turbulent flow in a smooth straight channel. Significant results were obtained and well compared with other conventional techniques for determination of confined turbulent flow with a one equation model used to model the turbulent viscosity. Key-Words: Developing turbulent flow, Modified wall element technique, Pressure flow, FEM.


In the European fusion programme, safety and environmental issues are of great importance in the continuing development of power plants. In support of this programme, a sound, complete and reliable neutron-induced cross section data library is required. The European Activation File (EAF) project has been an ongoing process performed through European and world-wide co-operation that has led to the creation of succeeding EAF versions. The latest release, EAF-2005, in a significant change from previous versions has an upper energy limit of 60 rather than 20 MeV. EAF2005 has benefited from the generation and maintenance of comprehensive activation files and the development of the processing code SAFEPAQ-II. Cross section validation exercises against both experimental data and systematics, which were started on the EAF-4 file, enable a comprehensive assessment of the data. SAFEPAQII is used to apply a series of modifications to the original source data. A very important set of modifications concerns renormalisation and branching using experimental or systematic data. A total of 7,268 reactions have been so changed; 12% of all the reactions. These are challenging tasks when the source contains nonthreshold reactions with an energy dependent branching ratio. Although EAF-2005 is the best-validated cross section library in the world, currently less than 3% of all the reactions can be compared with experimental information, and sometimes then only for very limited, and not always fusion relevant, energy ranges. As with EAF-2001 and -2003, results of integral experiments have been used to correct, adjust and validate data. This can be done using SAFEPAQ-II by inputting the measured effective cross sections. Validation using integral data has been performed by means of direct comparison with measurements of various materials under fusionrelevant neutron spectra. Irradiations have been carried out at ENEA FNG, FZK Isochron-cyclotron, Sergiev Posad SNEG-13, TUD, Řež and JAERI FNS and integral C/E comparisons made (C/E is the ratio of the library to the experimental value). The results of these benchmarking exercises have indicated, in conjunction with differential data, where modifications to the data can be applied. The EAF-2005 library contains 62,637 excitation functions involving 775 different targets from H to Fm, atomic numbers 1 to 100, in the energy range 10 eV to 60 MeV. The 3,472,000 lines that make up the point-wise file are then processed into numerous group-wise files with different micro-flux weighting spectra to meet various user needs. Uniquely, an uncertainty file is also provided that quantifies the degree of confidence placed on the data for each reaction channel.


We present the main recommendations of the Copyright Law Review Committee in its submission to the Australian Government in 1995 in relation to the protection of computer software in Australia and the intellectual property of software developers in this country. The implications of these recommendations to the academic and industry computer science community are presented, as well as comparisons with European and US legislation.


1 Gooderham MJ, Hong HC, Eshtiaghi P, Papp KA. Dupilumab: a review of its use in the treatment of atopic dermatitis. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2018;78(3 Suppl 1):S28–36. 2 Geskin LJ, Viragova S, Stolz DB, Fuschiotti P. Interleukin-13 is overexpressed in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma cells and regulates their proliferation. Blood. 2015;125(18):2798–805. 3 Steck O, Bertschi NL, Luther F, Berg J, Winkel DJ, Holbro A, et al. Rapid and sustained control of itch and reduction in Th2 bias by dupilumab in a patient with S ezary syndrome. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2021;35(6):1331–7. 4 Espinosa ML, Nguyen MT, Aguirre AS, Martinez-Escala ME, Kim J, Walker CJ, et al. Progression of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma after dupilumab: case review of 7 patients. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2020;83(1):197–9. 5 Miyagaki T, Sugaya M. Immunological milieu in mycosis fungoides and S ezary syndrome. J Dermatol. 2014;41(1):11–8.


As the continuous development of technology, the establishment of intelligent transport system has became the trend for development of transport management in the future. In order to constitute a modern three-dimensional urban transport system, there is an urgent need of intelligent management in important traffic hubs inside of a city or for external transport. This paper, by means of integrating advantages of multiple technologies, aims at designing and constituting an intelligent transport management system for traffic hubs, and discussing issues such as design, framework and functional modules in order to increase the level of utilization, safety and comfort, as well as the governmental' capability of decision making.


Fragile histidine triad(FHIT) gene,a number of histidine triad gene Family,encodes a diadenosine AP3A,is a candidate tumor suppressor gene.The gene encompasses the common fragile site FRA3B on the chromosome 3.In a variety of tumors in particular environmental carcinogens are often caused by tumors of the FHIT gene abnormalities.FHIT gene may control the cell cycle,apoptosis induced by tumor play a role in the mechanism of its inactivation is mainly expressed in the promoter region of CPG island methylation,deletion and abnormal transcription.This article will introduce the relationship between FHIT gene and colonic carcinoma were reviewed.


Quadrats of 1 m×1 m were used for the investigation of summer weeds communities in the orchard of Pomology Institute of Shanxi Academy of Agricultural Science in Taigu County during Summer 2009.Meanwhile,two-way indicator species analysis(TWINSPAN) and detrended correspondence analysis(DCA) were conducted to the summer weeds.There were 73 species of summer weeds belonging to 27 families and 62 genera in the orchard.The main families were Compositae(14 species) and Gramineae(11 species).A total of 66 quadrats were divided into 11 groups by TWINSPAN.The classification results better reflected the relationships between the 11 summer weeds communities and environmental gradients,and had been tested by DCA-dimensional map.DCA first axis mainly reflected changes in soil moisture,gradually increasing soil moisture from left to right.The second axis mainly reflects the trend of soil nutrients,gradually reducing the soil nutrient from the top.DCA illustrated the close relationship among the distribution patterns of the summer weeds communities,soil moisture and soil nutrient.The results showed that the dominant species of summer weeds in the orchard can objectively reflect the communities' habitat characteristics.


Purpose - – This paper aims to explore internal and external organizational factors affecting electronic commerce or e-commerce systems adoption by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Jordan. Design/methodology/approach - – The authors developed a model containing factors that might support e-commerce adoption. The model was tested using confirmatory factor analysis and then used to explore the relationships between factors. The authors used qualitative and quantitative approaches, including interviews, to explore awareness and adoption of e-commerce systems by Jordanian SMEs. SMEs in Jordan were identified from the Annual Handbook Index of 2012, compiled by the Jordanian Chamber of Commerce, and 500 in the industrial and services sectors were randomly selected as the study sample. Findings - – The effect of the adoption of e-commerce systems by SMEs is affected by both internal and external organizational factors, particularly readiness, strategy, managers' perceptions and external pressure by trading partners. Readiness and external pressure are most important for achieving maximum benefit from e-commerce adoption. Research limitations/implications - – The relative importance of factors affecting e-commerce adoption may vary depending on local business conditions. SME managers in Jordan who wish to benefit from e-commerce introduction must therefore invest in activities to improve SME readiness, especially information technology infrastructure. Originality/value - – This study is the first to explore both internal and external organizational factors important for e-commerce adoption by Jordanian SMEs. It tells SME managers which factors are likely to affect e-commerce adoption.


The paper adopts the statistical method of limited amount analysis,and analyzes the amplification and the narrowing of the meaning of words by the theory of prototype categorization. Both the amplification and the narrowing of the meaning of words and the vertical development of the individual word and the horizontal amplification of the whole part are a process of categorization,and fuzziness is the objective attribute of them.


FIELD: physics, video. SUBSTANCE: invention relates to minimised latency streaming video. The method includes selecting a fragment size for breaking down each image into a series of images based on a given type of the used encoding algorithm for encoding fragments, wherein M fragments are encoded for each image, wherein each fragment is encoded according to a first encoding format or a second encoding format with a specified location of the fragment within each image and specifying the cyclic shift scheme. EFFECT: faster video stream processing. 20 cl, 55 dwg


On February 11, 2020, the World Health Organization officially named the infection caused by the new coronavirus "Coronavirus disease 2019" (COVID-19). On February 11, 2020, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) officially named the infectious matter "severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2" (SARS-CoV-2). Emergence of severe complications with new coronavirus disease is due to the development of hypercytokinaemia, also known as "cytokine storm". These complications comprise acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), respiratory failure and death. Emerging data point to the logic of using extracorporeal haemocorrection to normalise cytokine levels and reduce the severity of organ disorders. The analysis of the literature indicates that to date, a certain positive experience has been accumulated in the world in the application of extracorporeal methods in clinical practice in patients with COVID-19.


Preliminary data are presented based on 45 percent of the sample, from a simultaneous study of ..pi../sup -/p ..-->.. eta'n, eta' ..-->.. eta..pi../sup +/..pi../sup -/, eta ..-->.. ..gamma gamma.., (1770 events) and ..pi../sup -/p ..-->.. etan..pi../sup 0/..pi../sup +/..pi../sup -/ ..-->.. ..gamma gamma.., (3250 events) at 8.4 GeV/c, covering a range of momentum transfer t' from 0 to 1.7 (GeV/c)/sup 2/. Both charged pions and both ..gamma..'s from each reaction were measured in the charged and neutral spectrometer at the Argonne ZGS. Backgrounds are 2 to 5 percent. The shapes of dsigma/dt for the two reactions are found significantly different, the eta' having considerably less forward turnover. The ratio of dsigma/dt at t' = 0 is (within present understanding of the systematics) consistent with a simple quark model and quadratic mixing angle approximately -10/sup 0/.


him that Mosaic Law is not only the prime cause of Jewish survival but an invaluable daily guide to "integrity" and "pleasure." And he tellingly demolishes the fallacy of delaying a child's religious education until a personal choice can be made merely by pointing out that it is usually too difficult for an adult to recapture those intellectual and emotional ties so natural to the young. But if Wouk's personal experience enables him to speak knowingly of religion's inherent social values, he answers modern rationalism's more penetrating inquiries less successfully. Obviously few religious readers will cavil at a casual dismissal of Freudian, Marxian, and atheistic arguments as philosophic "crutches," but certainly equally few "rationalists" will be converted by a repeated reliance upon a biblical or talmudic phrase whenever a disquieting question is posed. And both believers and doubters may well be unsettled by Wouk's acceptance of only those scholarly findings supporting his fundamentalist tendencies. For example, he heartily approves recent archaeological conclusions affirming the Bible's historical accuracy, but rejects vociferously the analyses of textual scholars who hold that many of the Torah's religious and legal concepts evolved over centuries and accrued to Moses merely as symbolic lawgiver. He surprisingly cites such researchers as Albright, Kaufman, and Rowley in support of his unqualified conclusion that "the Torah is now taken as certainly Mosaic in origin and context."


For many years, Poland was a country of emigration, not immigration and even the 'refugee crisis' of 2015 did not affect the reality on the ground in any real way. However, the situation changed as a result of the activities of the Belarusian regime backed by Russia, which in 2021 began to transfer migrants to the borders with the European Union as part of its hybrid operations. As a result, thousands of people have crossed the borders and hundreds have been stranded in the border zone. In response the Polish authorities reacted by introducing a pushback policy, a state of emergency in the border area and the construction of a border wall. The attack of the Russian Federation on Ukraine forced over 14 million people to leave their homes, about 6 million of whom fled to other countries, including Poland. In the face of the exodus of the Ukrainian population, Poles spontaneously rushed to help them, and the previous anti-immigrant discourse of the ruling party changed dramatically – these refugees became 'poor' and worthy of help. The article analyses two language corpora from scratch referring to the crises in question, which consist of speeches by members of the Law and Justice party (pol. Prawo i Sprawiedliwość) during the meetings of the lower house of parliament. A combination corpus linguistic and Critical Discourse Analysis methodologies was used. The results indicate the differences in the discourse of the ruling party in the face of each of these crises, as well as the political motivations related to them.


ABSTRACT This paper investigates the evolution of wages and wage inequality in four European countries during the economic crisis in light of important shifts in the occupational structure. Through recentered influence function regression for quantiles of European Union Survey on Income and Living Conditions data, this analysis links research on the primary forces of both wage and wage inequality to the decomposition of their changes between 2005 and 2013 into the composition effect and the wage structure. France and Germany show decreasing wage inequality despite having opposite changes in wages, whereas the United Kingdom and Italy show increasing wage inequality while maintaining opposite changes in wages. The wage structure has a greater influence on generating variation in the real salary, and the composition effect mostly explains the change in wage inequality with varying intensity throughout the distribution. Italy is the only country whose wage structure significantly contributes to wage inequality.


Who, over the age of 20, hasn't experienced a serendipitous event: unexpected information that yields some unintended but potential value later on? Sitting next to a stranger on a plane who becomes a business partner? Stumbling onto an article in a journal or newspaper that helps tackle a nagging problem? Creating a new drug by accident?


Fuzzy aggregation is the way in which different contributions to the same fuzzy fact are merged together to obtain a possibility distribution representative of the acquired knowledge. The choice of the aggregation function is a fundamental step in the definition of inference framework. In most cases aggregation has some monotonicity property and this can lead to saturation problems in complex frameworks, particularly in stateful rational agents. In this paper, we propose an extension to the fuzzy aggregation to handle these cases and apply fuzzy reasoning to complex KBs. We especially focus on Mamdani inference framework, where aggregation is implemented by a triangular conorm.


Background and objectives: the length of stay is the main determinant of the cost of hospitalization, must implemented strategies to reduce conventional hospital stay keeping quality levels. Short Stay Units (UEC) are born with the aim of reducing hospital stay in a group of patients and pathologies. The aim of this is paper is to evaluate the literature on the evidence of decreased length of stay, efficiency, readmisions in the emergency department, cost-effectiveness, and mortality of these units.
 Methods: We performed a systematic review of the literature, using the MeSH terms "Observation Unit", "Short-Stay Ward", "Monday to Friday Clinic" , "Monaday to Friday Surgery Ward", "Short Stay hospitalization "," Alternative to Conventional hospitalization "," Alternative Admissions "in MEDLINE database and Cochrane Library from January 1, 1960 to November 30, 2011. The studies reviewed were selected according to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Protocol.
 Results: The UEC allowed in certain group of patients, reduce the period of stay, maintain efficiency, showing no increases in emergency readmissions or mortality.
 Conclusions: The UEC can be an instrument to reduce the cost of health process in a certain group of pathologies.


The tsunami of video services brings huge pressure on communication systems, especially on some bandwidth-limited scenarios like wireless networks. Represented by H.264, current video compression approaches can save the transmission bandwidth by reducing the intra- and inter-frame redundancy. However, the huge amount of video content redundancy (VCR) in the transmission is still existing. In this paper, we propose a novel Content-Slimming System (CSS) framework based on the convergence of Computing, Communication and Cache to avoid the transmission of VCRs. The main idea of CSS is to detect VCRs, generate VCR models and clip them from the original frames by Computing, then transmit the necessary video content and semantic difference description by Communication, finally reconstruct the full video based on the received video content, semantic difference description and VCR models stored by Cache. Moreover, we also investigate the Video Monitoring application based on the CSS framework (CSS-VM) in which the background of monitoring frames is modeled, detected and sheared to reduce the transmission bandwidth consumption. The simulation results show that the bandwidth consumption of CSS-VM can be reduced at least by half compared to H.264, while the video quality and visual experience of CSS-VM are even better.


A process standardised for the preparation of shelf-stable intermediate moisture (IM) meat from spent hens consisted of dipping dressed carcass in 2% lactic acid for 2 min., dicing of meat into chunks, soaking for 12 hr in an infusion solution containing humectants, rubbing with 2% garlic-turmeric (1:1) paste andoven-drying (80±1°C; 4hr).The keeping quality of finished product packaged in low density polyethylene (LDPE; 300 G), high density polyethylene (HDPE 300 G), polypropylene (PP; 250 G) film and PFP (12 μm polyester-90 μm Al foil--38μm LDPE) laminated pouches was evaluated during 2 months ofambient (24±2°C) storage. Meat chunks gained 22.5% weight during soak equilibration and the yield of semi-dried meat averaged 44.3% of raw weight. The IM meat had an initial pH of 6.32 and 49.5% moisture with 0.82 water activity. Samples stored in PP showed maximum weight loss (3.6%) followed by LDPE (2.1%), HDPE (1.8%) and negligble in PFP laminated pouches (0.07%). Although a gradual increase in TBA value, bacterial count and a decrease in sensory quality occurred with storage time, samples packed in LDPE, HDPE or PFP laminated pouches remained failly acceptable upto 6 weeks of ambient storage.


SCRLC provides services to libraries and library systems in a large area in south central New York State. Our programs and services include resource sharing, education and training, information technologies, and consulting. Because we have a very flat, small organization, our team consisted of all of the Council staff. Our ftrst CACI effort was to improve the process for creating the annual individual member "report cards" in which we show what each member gave the Council in terms of money, resource sharing, and volunteer hours, and what the Council gave each member in services and money. This product shows the benefits for and return on the membership dues from our 75 members. We followed the various steps of the continuous improvement five block systen1 starting with reviewing and strengthening the Council Mission statement:


JEL classification: C32 G15 Keywords: Multivariate GARCH model Time-varying stock market linkages China's stock market reforms Stock market liberalisation a b s t r a c t This paper investigates how China's stock market reforms have affected the stock market linkages between China and Korea, Japan and the US respectively. We firstly use a 4 × 4 asymmetric GARCH-BEKK model and a series of likelihood ratio tests to uncover China's regional and global linkages between 1992 and 2010 and during three sub-periods representing the stages of the Chinese reforms. The results show that Chinese stock market is linked to these overseas markets and the reforms permit spillovers to these markets from China. The subsequent regression analyses of the time-varying conditional correlations, in the presence of growing economic integration, exchange rate risk and financial turbulence, further indicate that the interdependences between China and the regional markets increase due to the implementation of liberalisation policies. However, the correlation between China and the global market remains weak even though this correlation responds positively to the institutional reforms on China's stock market additionally.


This article reviews the Sintaxis del griego antiguo, a two-volume syntax of Ancient Greek drawing largely on the Functional Grammar approach. Accordingly, constructions are organized more by their synchronic function than by their diachronic origin, and considerable attention is paid to the wider context in which linguistic examples appear.


With respect to the disputable argument of the origin of the story of Liang Shaobo and Zhu Yingtai, this article researches into the related historical records, the historical relics and the spread of the story and concludes that the origin is in Ning-bo.


Vibration is an available source of energy to supply electrical power demand of the freight wagons as it is one the most important challenges in railway engineering. Here we propose an efficient bistable mechanism with linear power take-off and nonlinear stiffness for energy harvesting of freight wagon vibrations. Design parameters of the bitable systems is optimized by genetic algorithm (GA) and simulated annealing (SA) to extract maximum power. It is shown that remarkable enhancement can be achieved in comparison with conventional linear energy harvesters. The reason for this enhancement is harmonic oscillation between stable equilibrium points of the system which is very well matched with the nature of random excitation exerted by the rail irregularities.


Summary Rat anterior pituitary halves incubated in vitro release prolactin at a comparable rate in 2 incubation media. Addition of hypothalamic extracts of bovine, ovine or porcine origin inhibited release of prolactin in vitro.


The multiconfiguration Dirac-Hartree-Fock (MCDHF) method was employed to calculate atomic electric dipole moments (EDM) of the superheavy element copernicium (Cn, $Z=112$). The EDM enhancement factors of Cn, here calculated for the first time, are about one order of magnitude larger than those of Hg. The exponential dependence of enhancement factors on atomic number $Z$ along group 12 of the periodic table was derived from the EDMs of the entire homolog series, $^{69}_{30}$Zn, $^{111}_{\phantom{1}48}$Cd, $^{199}_{\phantom{1}80}$Hg, $^{285}_{112}$Cn, and $^{482}_{162}$Uhb. These results show that superheavy elements with sufficiently large half-lives are good candidates for EDM searches.


Thirty-six pigs, weaned at 3 weeks of age, were depleted until their blood plasma vitamin A concentrations had decreased to less than 12%g/100 ml £ tly ^f%the,n suPP^mented f°r75 ± 1 days with vitamin A or vitamin A add or both. Blood plasma vitamin A increased with vitamin A intake but decreased and was unrelated to any level of vitamin A acid fed. Liver vitamin A increased wA¼h vitamin A and vitamin A acid intake although values for the pigs fed vUarAAn A le d were low In addition, those pigs fed a combination of vitamin A and v aS n A ac d had considerably higher liver vitamin A concentrations than those pigs fed viA¯amrn A alone, indicating that vitamin A acid had a sparing effect on liver vitamin A i^t>T Pig. No vitamin A acid could be detected in the plasma or Sver A sirSTr Decrease in cerebrospinal fluid pressure occurred with an increase in vitamin A or acid intake, suggesting that vitamin A acid was effective in meeting this requirement Cerebrospinal fluid pressure proved to be an adequate cri e uring the vitamin A status of the pig when fed either vitamin A or vitam"n


Background: Useful communication between patients and nurses and improvement of the quality of care occur following partnership care, resulting in an improvement in the general condition of patients. Objectives: Regarding the cancer patients' need for education and the important role of nurses in education and care, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of nursing interventions based on the partnership care model on the life expectancy of cancer patients in teaching hospitals of Shahrekord. Methods: The present quasi-experimental study was conducted on 60 cancer patients in Shahrekord educational hospitals in 2021. The subjects of this study were first selected according to inclusion criteria and then randomly divided into the intervention and control groups by random allocation software. The educational intervention based on the partnership care model was carried out in four individual stages, including the creation of motivation, preparation, involvement, and evaluation. The researcher used demographic information questionnaires and Schneider's Life Expectancy Questionnaire as data collection instruments. Using SPSS 24 software and independent t-test, chi-square test, and analysis of variance, the mean scores before, 48 hours after intervention, and two months after intervention were compared. Results: There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of mean life expectancy scores before the intervention (P > 0.82), but the scores immediately and two months after the intervention showed a statistically significant difference between the control and intervention groups (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Implementing the educational intervention based on the partnership care model can increase the life expectancy of cancer patients. Due to this program's effectiveness, low cost, and safety, hospital managers are recommended to use this program to promote health and enhance the patient's knowledge.


Many countries have been much concerned for the digitalization of cadastral map and information, and expedited its pilot projects. In early 1900s, the first graphic cadastral map was drawn up with the purpose of fare levying on land tax. And then graphic cadastral map has made practical application to many fields as a base map. But recently, as the information society has come, the better cadastral services and reestablishment of cadastral system (especially cadastral maps) are required. The digitalization of cadastral map is the only and most important solution for these needs. The digitalization of cadastral system can improve the accuracy of boundary survey, protect land ownership more reliably and provide a base map for computerized land and urban information. The existing studies on the digitalization of graphic cadastral map have been made slow progress. But the more accumulation of studies on that is indispensable for the modernization of cadastral survey. Therefore, this study aims to seek for the most appropriate way of the digitalization of graphic cadastral map in our land, and to contribute to the national digitalization of cadastral map and the construction of the national geographic information system.


Apodization is the key technique to improve the performance of Chirped Fiber Bragg Grating (CFBG). In this paper, the theoretical analysis on apodization by dithering method is presented. For comparison, CFBGs are manufactured respectively in dithering and scanning method, while employing the same apodization function. The result shows the former is more competent for its outstanding characteristics such as symmetrical reflection spectrum, low group delay ripple, and flexibility.


A 126-d study utilized 72 Angus-cross steers (411 ± 16 kg) in a 3 × 2 factorial to examine the effects of Zn source and implant strategy on performance, carcass characteristics, and tissue Zn concentrations. All steers received 70 mg Zn/kg dry matter (DM) from ZnSO4 + 30 mg Zn/kg DM from one of three sources: zinc hydroxychloride (ZnHC), zinc glycinate (ZnG), or zinc sulfate (ZnS). Implant (IMP) strategies included: no implant (NoIMP) or Component TE-IS and Component TE-200 (IS/200) on d 0 and 57, respectively. Steers were blocked by weight into pens of 6 and fed a dry rolled corn-based diet via GrowSafe bunks. Data were analyzed using ProcMixed of SAS, with fixed effects of Zn, IMP, and the interaction. Liver and muscle collected on d -5, 14, 71, and 120 were analyzed for Zn concentration and data were analyzed as repeated measures (repeated effect = day). Steer was the experimental unit (n = 12/treatment). Final body weight and overall average daily gain tended to be decreased for ZnHC compared to ZnS, with ZnG intermediate within IS/200 (Zn × IMP; P ≤ 0.07). No interaction was observed for overall G:F or DM intake (P ≥ 0.41), but both were greater for implanted steers (P ≤ 0.01), while overall G:F was improved for ZnS compared to ZnHC and ZnG (P = 0.02). Carcass characteristics were unaffected by Zn × IMP or Zn source (P ≥ 0.12), but IS/200 improved HCW, DP, and REA (P ≤ 0.01). Implant increased liver Zn (P = 0.02) concentrations. Within IS/200 ZnG tended to have greater muscle Zn than ZnS while ZnHC was intermediate (Zn × IMP; P = 0.09), potentially indicating differences in availability of Zn source to growing muscle. These data suggest Zn source and implant influence performance and tissue Zn concentrations.


We present a toolbox to shape the spectral content of terahertz (THz) frequency combs almost arbitrary. Our method merges the well-established technologies of electro-optic (EO) frequency comb generation in the near-infrared and difference frequency conversion (photomixing) to the THz range. The utilization of multiple EO modulators opens a huge parametric space for the comb spectral design and the fiber integration of the optical system provides robust operation and straight-forward handling.


Since the turn of the century, the Government has played a major role in the country's industrial scene. The interest of successive governments has focussed on two principal areas. First, it has reflected the community's concern that the level of strike activity be minimised and that strikes, when they do occur, are resolved speedily. Second, and more recently, it has been concerned to ensure that the wage bargaining decisions of the parties are consistent with broader economic objectives.


Abstract. Putranto HD, Nurmeilliasari, Harahap AS, Brata B, Sutriyono, Yumiati Y. 2023. The evidence of cloaca display as an indicator to validate breeding behavior during the matchmaking phase on local Indonesia female White-rumped Shama (Copsychus malabaricus). Biodiversitas 24: 486-491. White-rumped Shama bird, which Indonesian bird lovers call the Murai Batu bird (Copsychus malabaricus), has been a favorite bird for almost a decade. This bird is well-known among bird keepers for its colors and male singing voices. Generally, we recognize some biological behaviors that are trusted as avian behaviors. However, some specific behaviors in wild and domesticated birds are still not detected and unclear. The objective of this study was to validate and analyze the scientific evidence, frequency, and duration of cloaca display appearance as indicators of the female White-rumped Shama birds breeding behavior during the matchmaking phase. By animal focal sampling method, 18 sexually mature females of local White-rumped Shama captivated and observed by the research peer team were observed intensively for cloaca display activity during 22 days of matchmaking observation duration. Those 18 female samples were treated for matchmaking with another 8 males. For the cloaca display frequency and duration parameter, a time sampling method was used by dividing a total of 6 hours of daily behavior observation into 3 hours of observation duration, 2 times a day with 6 hours of distance between one observation and to next observation. Daily behavior observation conducted between 06.00 am to 09.00 am continued from 03.00 pm to 06.00 pm. Cloaca display frequency was counted as how often a female shows a cloaca exposure to her male matchmaking partner during the daily observation period. Then, a cloaca display duration was measured in the unit of seconds for each cloaca display behavior confirmed. Seventeen (17) female White-rumped Shama birds (94% samples) exhibited motion of cloaca display, with 21 motions of cloaca display behaviors confirmed. The earliest cloaca display behavior was confirmed on day 15 after matchmaking began, and the latest behavior was confirmed on day 22 after matchmaking began. These behaviors were seen on average of day 18.9±2.256 after matchmaking began. The shortest duration of cloaca display behavior lasted for 1.62 seconds, and the longest lasted for 6.26 seconds, with an average duration of 4.37 seconds for each motion. The average daily confirmed cloaca display frequency among that female White-rumped Shama was 0.053 times in 22 days of matchmaking observation duration. Cloaca display motion is seen daily (21 days) during 22 days of observation conducted, and the relative frequency percentage of cloaca display behavior was 95.45%. There is no proven info about the breeding behavior of this bird, and based on our scientific results, we strongly believe cloaca display motion can be validated as the main indicator of Indonesia's local female White-rumped Shama birds' breeding behavior. It can be read from the relative frequency percentage of cloaca display motion of female White-rumped Shama, which is overtopped 95% or dominant motion in its breeding behavior.


The basic properties of mixed paste composed of sodium alginate(SA) and carboxymethyl cellulose(CMC) were studied,including rate of paste yield,rheological property(viscosity and printing viscosity index),reactivity with reactive dyes,compatibility with chemicals,embracing water performance,strength of membrane,storage stability and filament dragging ability.The practical printing effect of the mixed paste was also compared with the single two paste.The results indicated that the properties of mixed paste met the general demands of printing paste when m(SA)∶m(CMC)≥4∶6.The mixed paste could be used in reactive printing and has good printing effect.The disadvantages of CMC like poor permeability,paste removal,filament dragging ability and blur design figure were improved.The shortcoming of sodium alginate not appropriate to big area printing and rotary screening due to its high PVI value was also improved.


The magnifications as given in the figures for the article by Bachrach and Schwerdt (Purification Studies on Lansing Poliomyelitis Virus. II.) in this Journal, 72:31–38, 1954, were incorrect, due to a change in the size of the figures in printing. The correct magnifications are as follows.


The suitability of local quartz sand in the production of bath crucibles is a study that was carried out in order to impart overall strength on bath crucibles, hence reduce breakages during fettling. Therefore, this research constitutes a study to enhance the efficiency of production of bath crucibles by addition of quartz sand in slip preparation. The steps taken in the beneficiation of quartz sand for the production of bath crucibles are comminution which entails crushing and milling, classification, washing, liquid dispersion, sizing and reduction of iron content by magnetic separation. The slip contains materials like plastic clay, feldspar, kaolin, talc, sodium silicate, water, quartz sand, etc. These were all milled in the ball mill for slip production, casting and fettling, glazing and sintering to get final bath crucibles as the end products. Quartz sand is used in a variety of products essentially as raw material for the foundry casting and glass industries and also in chemicals, water filtration and ceramics, the heat resistance nature of quartz sand makes it an excellent refractory substance for these industrial processes. Slip can be prepared for production of bath crucibles without the inclusion of quartz sand; however the addition of quartz sand is needed to improve the mechanical performance of the slip in the production of bath crucibles.


A surface casted thinly polymer (PVAC for experiment) on Au layer deposited on a PET film was overlaid to a reflection surface of a germanium prism at an incident angle of 22°. Absorbance of reflection spectra by P polarized radiatioa from these configuration was 2.5 times more than one of reflection-absorption spectra at an incident angle of 80°. Gains of absorbance by overlaying metal surfaces to the reflection surface of the germanium prism decreased at large incident angles, when coarse surfaces of metals were applied. It was due to an air layer between the metal surface and the reflection surface of the germanium prism, whose thickness exceed a penetration depth of the electromagnetic field from the refrection surface. Spectra of the PVAC film on the reflection surface of the prism by the S poralized radiation suggested how thick the air layer was in comparison with the penetration depth.


The debate about what happiness is has been raging on for more than a century now. Without unanimity of definition though, the importance of happiness has manifested itself in the increase in happiness studies in journals and even in public policies. The study aims to bring a more unified definition by bringing together the main components involved in defining happiness. It also aims to highlight the importance of a working definition in happiness research. An outline of the operational definition helps identify whose happiness is being analysed. Findings from the systematic review of existing literature indicate that the debate still stands. Economists and positive psychologists, however, seem to concur that utility is a defining concept in happiness studies. Lastly, a group of authors seem to relegate to the peripheries the importance of the working definition of happiness in research yet this improves study evaluation. Thus, the misunderstanding of happiness is sometimes exacerbated by lack of the working definitions in some studies. The absence of operational definitions makes the question on whose happiness an important one to answer. The importance of indicating working definitions for controversial terms like happiness is recommended in this study.


A electromechanical gel, which could be driven in air by a DC electric field, was developed using poly(vinyl alcohol)/dimethylsulfoxide gel. When the applied electric field exceeds a certain threshold, the gel exhibited a continuous and linear crawling motion. The result indicated that, under the applied electric field of 275 V/mm, the maximum crawling velocity of the gel could reach v = 1.63 mm/s, which is about 80 times larger than that reported in earlier works. At a proper range of the driving time, the average crawling speed and crawling direction could be well controlled by the external electric field. Furthermore, some factors, which have influence on the critical driving electric field of the gel, such as the swelling degree of the gel and the apparent contact area between the gel and substrate, were studied. For the first time, a mechanism based on the strong electrostatic interaction between the external electric field and the charges accumulated in the gel–air and substrate–gel interfacial regions was put forward to explain the novel motion. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 1187–1197, 2007


Abstract Increasingly within industries voluntary codes (standards) are being developed and subsequently used by firms to address social and environmental issues. On any particular issue multiple competing codes may be available for adoption by firms. Given a choice of codes, which ones will firms adopt? Building on existing institutional and economic research pertaining to voluntary codes this paper proposes a theoretical model as to why some codes are perceived as legitimate by firms and hence are widely adopted while others are not. This model proposes that, in addition to the role of the code's content, the characteristics of the adopting firm, and environmental factors, the origins of a voluntary code, including the characteristics of the developer creating it, the development process, and the opportunity for firms to engage in formalized 'normative conversations' regarding the code subsequent to its adoption, will influence whether potential firm adopters perceive the code as legitimating and hence decide to adopt it. Rather than code adoption simply reflecting institutional mimicry or a rational transaction by adopting firms this model suggests that both the creation and the maintenance processes surrounding codes play important roles in the perceptions of legitimacy and subsequent adoption of codes by firms.


Psychologists increasingly provide psychotherapeutic services to patients receiving concomitanl pharmacotherapy. Ongoing experience with the relatively new selective serotonin TCuptake inhibitors and other atypical antidepressants has revealed a discontinuation syndrome that emerges following abrupt or lapered withdrawal from these agents. The syndrome has both somatic and psychological characteristics, which tend to be mild and transient but can also be more distressing and become temporarily debilitating. Psychologists need to be aware of the potential for these events, as they are in an optimal posilion 10 collaborate with physicians and other prescribing clinicians to prevent or manage this syndrome.