A cloud resolving 4-dimensional variational data assimilation system (4DVAR) based on the Japan Meteorological Agency nonhydrostatic model (JMA-NHM) is under development. One of the targets of this system is the analysis of mesoscale convective systems. Features of background error statistics for the model with a horizontal resolution of 2km (hereinafter abbreviated as 2km model) are much different from those with a 5km resolution (5km model). Thus, forecast error estimated by the scale-down method from that forecast error obtained from the 5km model was not applicable. To develop the cloud resolving system, background error statistics for the system with 2km horizontal intervals were calculated and a suitable set of control variables was designed. Using the new background error statistics and the new control variable set, a preliminary data assimilation experiment of the Global Positioning System (GPS)-derived precipitable water vapor (PWV) and radial wind observed by Doppler radars (RW) was performed. By assimilating GPS-PWV and RW, the convergence of horizontal wind was strengthened, and observed features of horizontal winds and PWV were reproduced in the analyzed field.


Refractory-grade bauxite production is estimated to be around 2m tpa. Guyana and China are the top producers of calcined bauxite for refractories. According to the USGS, Guyana produced around 1.6m tonnes bauxite, which includes refractory grade bauxite, in 2014. In 2012, global reported bauxite production peaked at 2.2m tonnes.

"Exports in 2012 totalled more than 610,000 tonnes at an average value of $308/tonne FOB China. By the end of 2013, exports increased to nearly 770,000 tonnes, but the average value fell to $261/tonne," she adds. "This trend continued into 2014, when exports surged again to nearly 870,000 tonnes, but values inched down slightly to $252/tonne. From January to August 2015, exports remained stable compared to the same period in 2014 at 560,000 tonnes, but average values have again slipped to $232/tonne."

Alan Roughead, CEO of Canada-based First Bauxite, concurs with [Gary Kolstad]. "Demand for sintered bauxite proppants is extremely weak following the decline


Relaxed control takes a crucial rule in existence theory of optimal control. In recent years, we used maximum principle that an optimal relaxed control satisfies to study the existence of optimal control, getting some sufficient conditions. Lately, we studied existence problem of optimal control for cost functional essentially having quadric form, getting some interesting results. In particular, we got some non-trivial examples of optimal control problems that admit no optimal control. In this paper, we will recall these results briefly.


Purpose The primary objective of this study was to develop and validate an AI algorithm as a screening tool for the detection of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Participants Images were collected from infants enrolled in the KIDROP tele-ROP screening program. Methods We developed a deep learning (DL) algorithm with 227,326 wide-field images from multiple camera systems obtained from the KIDROP tele-ROP screening program in India over an 11-year period. 37,477 temporal retina images were utilized with the dataset split into train (n = 25,982, 69.33%), validation (n = 4,006, 10.69%), and an independent test set (n = 7,489, 19.98%). The algorithm consists of a binary classifier that distinguishes between the presence of ROP (Stages 1–3) and the absence of ROP. The image labels were retrieved from the daily registers of the tele-ROP program. They consist of per-eye diagnoses provided by trained ROP graders based on all images captured during the screening session. Infants requiring treatment and a proportion of those not requiring urgent referral had an additional confirmatory diagnosis from an ROP specialist. Results Of the 7,489 temporal images analyzed in the test set, 2,249 (30.0%) images showed the presence of ROP. The sensitivity and specificity to detect ROP was 91.46% (95% CI: 90.23%–92.59%) and 91.22% (95% CI: 90.42%–91.97%), respectively, while the positive predictive value (PPV) was 81.72% (95% CI: 80.37%–83.00%), negative predictive value (NPV) was 96.14% (95% CI: 95.60%–96.61%) and the AUROC was 0.970. Conclusion The novel ROP screening algorithm demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity in detecting the presence of ROP. A prospective clinical validation in a real-world tele-ROP platform is under consideration. It has the potential to lower the number of screening sessions required to be conducted by a specialist for a high-risk preterm infant thus significantly improving workflow efficiency.


The three-dimensional currentless equilibrium code, HINT is revised so that it can handle equilibria with a net toroidal current, for example the bootstrap current. The revised HINT code is applied to Large Helical Device-like equilibria with good nested flux surfaces.


Purpose: To accurately verify the dose distributions for IMRT in an anthropomorphic environment, we investigated the accuracies of Gafchromic@EBT film measurements in heterogeneous media by comparing with Monte Carlo calculations. Method and Materials: Measurements were performed in a home‐made multilayer 20 × 20 × 20 cm3 polystyrene phantom with a cubic hole at the center for the inclusion of heterogeneities such as an air cavity or Teflon cube. 6 MV X‐rays (Primus, Siemens, USA) with two beams (3 × 3 cm2 and 9 × 9 cm2) were irradiated to the homogeneous and heterogeneous phantoms: (1) homogeneous polystyrene phantom, (2) polystyrene with a cubic air cavity, (3) polystyrene with a cubic Teflon block. Cube sizes of 1×1×1 cm3, 2×2×2 cm3, and 3×3×3 cm3 were used. The EBT film was sandwiched between the phantom slabs parallel to the beam axis through the inhomogeneity. The percentage depth dose and lateral distributions on the film were obtained by Epson 1680 flatbed scanner. Computations were performed with the BEAMnrc and PMCEPT Monte Carlo codes with a cell size of 0.1 × 0.1 × 0.1 cm3 in the phantom. Results: The errors of percent depth dose (PDD) and lateral profiles were about 2% in homogeneous phantom. With an air cavity, the PDDs were agreed with each other within 2%, but big fluctuations were observed in the air cavity due to the poor convergence of MC (error of ∼48%). The measured depth doses in the Teflon cube were higher than those of MC. The behavior of PDDs on the boundaries of the Teflon cube was very different to each other Conclusion: EBT film predicted accurately the dose distributions with the inclusion of an air cavity, but over estimated them in the high density/atomic number medium such as Teflon. Correction methods are under investigation and will be presented


In Band Full Duplex (IBFD) is an emerging radio technology that can double Spectral Efficiency (SE), one of the key enhancement item for 5G. Due to complex processing and hardware required to realize IBFD capability, it is generally not recommended for User Equipments (UEs), while the Base Stations (BSs) can accommodate these changes. This results in Hybrid IBFD Cellular Network (HICN) that restricts IBFD capability strictly to BS and continues with legacy Half Duplex (HD) UEs. Due to this IBFD capability mismatch, frequency allocation is a challenging task in HICN and, to the best of our knowledge, a generic allocation algorithm to maximize sum-SE of a cell and work across different cell sizes is not reported yet in literature. In this paper, we propose the frequency allocation algorithm for HICN that maximizes sum-SE of a cell and shown to work independent of cell size. An adaptive and robust UE grouping algorithm is introduced that, with the knowledge of location information of UEs, shares frequencies among UEs based on their distance separation. To characterize the performance of the proposed algorithm, we have used frequency reuse efficiency (î·) that signifies the amount of frequency reuse and sum-SE for the accumulated SE achieved by all UEs in UL and DL. We have obtained closed-form analytical expression for î· as well as bounds on number of frequencies required. Simulation results reveal that the frequency reuse is doubled with increase in number of UEs, leading to doubling sum-SE for Macro, Micro and Pico BS classes.


On the basis of novel insight in the physics of Majorana modes, the authors solve the microscopic mechanism of the anomalous proximity effect and propose an experimental setup for its observation.


A wide variety of novel complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) devices that are strong contenders for future high-speed and low-noise RF circuits have been evaluated by means of static elec ...


The youth dance club scene has emerged center stage as a global phenomenon. Despite this increasing globalization, our knowledge of the phenomenon is relatively restricted to single cultures and locales. Unfortunately, researchers may miss the extent to which similar processes are developing in a number of different locales. Instead of examining drug consumption and drug-using practices within only one culture, we need to compare two or more contrasting social and cultural contexts. This paper discusses both some of the global developments in the use of Ecstasy and club drugs and the social settings in which they occur, and the issues and obstacles that arise when cross-national research is contemplated. Using examples from our own current research in two contrasting cultures—San Francisco and Hong Kong—we provide the groundwork for understanding the dialectical process between global and local dimensions of the problem and the associated risks of use.


In this paper, an intelligent modeling approach is presented to predict the shear strength of the internal reinforced concrete (RC) beam-column joints and used to analyze the sensitivity of the influence factors on the shear strength. The proposed approach is established based on the famous boosting-family ensemble machine learning (ML) algorithms, i.e., gradient boosting regression tree (GBRT), which generates a strong predictive model by integrating several weak predictors, which are obtained by the well-known individual ML algorithms, e.g., DT, ANN, and SVM. The strong model is boosted as each weak predictor has its own weight in the final combination according to the performance. Compared with the conventional mechanical-driven shear strength models, e.g., the well-known modified compression field theory (MCFT), the proposed model can avoid the complicated derivation process of shear mechanism and calibration of the involved empirical parameters; thus, it provides a more convenient, fast, and robust alternative way for predicting the shear strength of the internal RC joints. To train and test the GBRT model, a total of 86 internal RC joint specimens are collected from the literatures, and four traditional ML models and the MCFT model are also employed as comparisons. The results indicate that the GBRT model is superior to both the traditional ML models and MCFT model, as its degree-of-fitting is the highest and the predicting dispersion is the lowest. Finally, the model is used to investigate the influences of different parameters on the shear strength of the internal RC joint, and the sensitivity and importance of the corresponding parameters are obtained.


Rhinitis is a global problem and is described as the presence of at least one of the symptoms, such as sneezing, rhinorrhea, nasal itching, and nasal obstruction. Gestational rhinitis is a common clinical condition found during pregnancy. Medical management options for pregnant women with rhinitis need careful consideration. It is often challenging to differentiate the causes of rhinitis as it often influences the treatment. Conservative treatment is an important option for patients with pregnancy-induced rhinitis and preexisting allergic or nonallergic rhinitis. Awareness about pregnancy-induced rhinitis and its resolve after pregnancy can provide some relief. Few options, such as exercises, nasal douching or lavage, positioning, and nasal valve dilators, are safe in pregnancy with rhinitis due to any etiology. Intranasal corticosteroids have often safe with budesonide. Oral corticosteroids can be used in pregnant women with moderate-to-severe disease and should be avoided in the first trimester. Second-generation antihistamines, such as loratadine and cetirizine, are the most well-studied drugs, and are often considered safe. The role of immunotherapy requires further research to establish its effectiveness. Hence, the treatment of rhinitis during pregnancy is considered a complex task. This review article aims to discuss the current medical treatment options for rhinitis during pregnancy.


The areas of increased primary productivity in a sea are the important component of marine ecosystems, the key link for the formation of the fishing areas. The paper presents the main mechanisms of formation of the zones of increased productivity and diagnostics of their development in the Barents Sea. Observations of zones are effectively carried out with the help of satellite techniques and ships except the periods of cloudy and stormy weather. For continuous monitoring of the evolution of the zones of increased productivity the methods of mathematical modeling of processes in the sea are used. In this paper with the help of the local hydrodynamic model the mechanism of the production zone at the Goose bank in the Barents Sea is reproduced. It is shown that during the passage of a cyclone over the bank there is a destruction of the thermocline and flood, containing plant nutrients necessary for the organic synthesis.


In Russia, increase in average air temperatures was noted in comparison with long-term data. Earlier it was shown that increase in average temperatures leads to a decrease in the productivity of plants for certain characteristics up to 90% and a yield of up to ten percent with an increase of 1 ° C. High temperatures above 30 ° C reduce the grain content, the total number and number of spikelets, weight grains from a plant, the mass of a thousand grains. A chromosomal region was established that reliably (at significance level 0.05) contributing to the formation trait mass of 1000 grains in domestic rice varieties in the region of localization of the RM 509 marker. A decrease significance level to 0.09 made it possible to identify another chromosome region with a possible localization of genes, determining the mass of 1000 grains at high temperatures. It is located in region of localization RM 13 marker. Four chromosomal regions have been identified that significantly contribute to the redistribution of plastic substances between grain and chaff under stress in domestic rice varieties on the first, fourth, ninth chromosomes (two loci) in the regions of localization of markers RM140, RM 261, RM 245, RM242 respectively.


The potential use of nanotechnology for hyperspectral (HS) and multispectral (MS) sensing and imaging is described in this article. It is noted how HS and MS sensors/imagers have great potential for a variety of applications important to the intelligence community; such applications range from monitoring chemical agent production to identifying geographical terrain. It is also noted that, by sensing the spectrum of reflectance/transmittance of the agents in different wavelength bands—as can be done with HS/MS systems—image analysis capability and detection probability can be greatly improved. However, traditional MS/HS systems are fairly bulky and expensive. The work described concerns advances in nanotechnology, which offer potential solutions to these drawbacks. In particular, the creation of spectrally adaptive focal plane arrays, based upon nanoscale quantum dots (QDs) in the midinfrared regime (3–14 µm), hold promise of producing compact and relatively inexpensive systems. Such sensors use electro-optics and, thus, do not involve moving parts. The spectral adaptability is mainly attributed to the quantum-confined Stark effect that results from the QDs being placed in asymmetrical quantum potential wells. As a result, QD detectors can sense information over different spectrally overlapping bands as the electrical bias applied across the detector is judiciously varied. Signal-processing-based algorithms are then developed and utilized to maximally exploit the bias-dependent and diverse spectral response of the QD detectors for the purpose of target-spectrum reconstruction and target classification. Examples of these applications are also given in this article.

Keywords:

quantum dots;
infrared detector;
DWELL;
spectral tuning;
algorithmic spectrometer;
feature selection


In this paper, an open resonator for permittivity measurement of curved materials is proposed. The resonator consists of the cylindrical cavity and the X-band point-focusing antenna, and the energy in the cavity is coupled into the antenna by hole coupling and then radiated into the free space. When the sample is placed in front of the antenna, the reflection coefficient of the antenna is affected, which in turn causes the resonant mode in the cavity to be perturbed, and the change of its resonant frequency and quality factor depends on the complex permittivity of the material. The variation of measurement results under the effect of different factors is analyzed by measuring samples with different curvatures and thicknesses. The results of the permittivity distribution measurement of the samples show that the method can effectively perform permittivity measurement of curved materials with an error of 10% or less under most measurement conditions, also data fluctuations in a few cases.


This paper analysis some important measures are taken by Jiangyjin City,a sample of developed area,to protect the arable land during the urbanzization in this region.These measures include city-town-village system planning,intensified development of center town and village and implement regulation of paying-fee land use.Some implication is summarized on the basis of above at the last of the paper.


The step of heat treatment for an effective time at an effective temperature in the step of implanting ions to a predetermined depth in the semiconductor substrate, the semiconductor substrate is ion-implanted defect is expanded implanted ions forming defects; Comprising: an ion-implanted and heat treatment the substrate attached to the polymer substrate, and how to transfer the semiconductor material on a polymer substrate to provide a flexible semiconductor material comprising the step of separating the semiconductor film, such as a single crystalline silicon film from said semiconductor substrate .; And polymer to an apparatus, directly or indirectly, having a single-crystal silicon film disposed on the film. Semiconductor, single crystal silicon, a display


The purpose of this work is to identify the ethnographic roots that have marked the Tsachilas gastronomy in order to create a registry with which the intangible heritage of this nationality can be saved. For them several topics will be tackled from its origin as a nomadic people through its congregation in the Yumbos country, its expansion and division after the arrival of the Spanish conquerors as well as highlighting its direct relationship with other cultures marking ancestral differences in terms of practices and worldview...


Object: This study was to investigate the effect of different human Menotrophin (hMG) initiation doses on in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes in aged poor ovarian response(POR) patients undergoing ovulation induction with Clomiphene Citrate (CC) combined with hMG; Method: The clinical data of 142 POR patients more than 40 years old were collected and were divided into 3 groups according to the initiation dose of hMG (Group A=75IU, Group B=150IU, Group C=225IU). The baseline characteristics and IVF outcomes were compared; Results: We found that with the increase of hMG initiation dose, the average number of oocytes retrieved increased, pair-to-pair comparison showed that the the average number of oocytes retrieved in Group Awas signi�cantly lower than that in the Group B and Group C(P<0.05). Compared with Group B, the fertilization rate and oocyte utilization rate of patients in Group C were signi�cantly lower (P<0.05). There was no signi�cant difference in MII oocyte rate, Cleavage rate, embryo formation rate, high-quality embryo rate and pregnancy outcomes among the three groups(P>0.05). Conclusions: For aged POR patients receiving CC combined with hMG, increasing hMG cannot improve patients' IVF outcomes and Pregnancy outcomes. 150IU of hMG initiation dose may be the better choice for aged POR patients.


Background and purpose: Ultrasonography is an accurate and non-invasive imaging tool for assessing a ruptured Achilles tendon. This study attempts to correlate the sonographic appearances of surgically repaired Achilles tendons with their clinical outcomes. Methods: Ten patients (3 men and 7 women) with surgically repaired Achilles tendons were enrolled in this study. All patients had unilateral Achilles tendon ruptures related to sports injuries. All were treated by the same orthopedic surgeon at a University Hospital, from January 1990 to September 2000. Patients had a mean age of 47.2 years (range: 22-66). Mean post-surgical duration was 6.0 years (range: 2.1-12.1). All patients had good Achilles functioning at their examinations. Ultrasonographic examination was carried out with a 10 MHz linear-array ultrasound transducer. Continuity, thickness, echogenicity, vascularity and mobility of the repaired tendons were assessed. The subjects' normal tendons were also examined as controls. Results: All repaired Achilles tendons showed good sonographic continuity. Most had reduced echogenicity, and focal hypoechogenic areas were noted in 4 cases. None had increased vascularity. However, the diameters of the repaired tendons were significant thicker than controls (8.48±1.96mm vs. 4.90±0.54mm, p< 0.01). Only one subject had ultrasonographic morphology similar to her uninjured side, and she also had excellent mobility in her repaired tendon. All 10 patients had good clinical Achilles tendon performance. Conclusions: Morphological changes in repaired Achilles tendons persist for many years. There was no correlation between sonographic appearance and clinical outcome.


The trace on the theft spot has the traits of association and objectivity.This decides it can reflect the crime's vocation.It has important effect to confirming spy limit and direction that discovering the trace on the theft spot.


. Let nr(a,q) be the least /--free number in the arithmetic progession a modulo q. Several results are proved that give lower bounds for n,.(a, q), improving on previous results due to Erdös and Warlimont. In addition, a heuristic argument is given, leading to two conjectures that would imply that the results of the paper are close to best possible.


Much has been said, written, and discussed concerning the Joseph Smith Papyri and the Book of Abraham. Indeed, it is somewhat difficult to separate these two topics in any religious or academic discussion. Less often discussed yet similarly relevant are the writings of Joseph of Egypt that were also said to have been on the papyri acquired by the Church of the Latter Day Saints in 1835.1 To my knowledge, these writings have never been published or preserved, leaving many questions unanswered about the writings of Joseph of Egypt from the papyri. This article explores two of those questions: "What were these writings said to have contained?" and, "Did Joseph Smith ever translate these writings?" My approach in this paper is to collect, evaluate, and compare what eyewitnesses contemporary


This presentation describes the introduction of a fault detection and predictive maintenance strategy into the Diffusion area of a semiconductor manufacturing facility. The goal of the fault detection and predictive maintenance strategy is to maximize tool availability for production while minimizing the risk to product. The predictive maintenance methods allow the user to increase the elapsed time between maintenance activities while minimizing the risk of unexpected equipment failure. The predictive maintenance methods are based on the use of a statistically based fault detection system. The selected equipment parameters are monitored throughout the run for drift beyond established threshold limits. Fault detection is reported directly to a maintenance planning and scheduling application which in turn sends a message to the operating personnel. An option is available which will inhibit the use of the tool until the maintenance activity has been completed. A major part of this project was the identification of equipment parameters for monitoring, the statistical methods used in the analysis and the determination of the threshold values at which t originate a maintenance activity. The decision process leading to the definition of these factors is discussed.


Solid waste has been recognized as a crucial environmental problem in many urban areas in Indonesia, particularly in Jakarta. In fact, an underperforming solid waste management (SWM) is also expected to result in an increased risk of water pollution. This research aimed at exploring past and current efforts of territorial water protection in Jakarta, Indonesia, which had been attempted by changing society's behavior in managing solid waste at household level. To do so, this study applied literature reviews and interviews to investigate solid waste management of riverbank communities. According to a report on Environmental Statistics, there were 1.81% of households in the country's capital in 2014 who managed their solid wastes by primarily throwing them into waterbodies. Apparently, un-transported solid wastes, which were those left lying on roadsides or empty lands, per day in the South Jakarta Region reached 8%. Those untreated wastes were expected to later end up in sewers, rivers, or the sea. In Srengseng Sawah, Jakarta, SWM has been conducted by non-governmental organizations, who received retributions from the people to transport household solid wastes. To overcome potential solid waste pollution in rivers, it is necessary to change community behavior to apply a more sustainable SWM in managing their household solid waste. This is strongly influenced by the availability of solid waste infrastructure and community awareness.


The structure of the complex, [[graphic omitted] C(CO2Me)Cl}Cl]2, obtained from reaction of dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate (dma) and Pd(PhCN)2Cl2, has been established spectroscopically and confirmed by X-ray analysis of the acetylacetonate; such complexes were also obtained by reaction of a σ-butadienyl complex with dma.


Vacuum gas oil (611-833)K was distilled from Kirkuk crude oil, which was obtained by blending the following fraction,light vacuum gas oil (611 - 650) K, medium vacuum gas oil (650-690)K, heavy vacuum gas oil (690-727)K and veryheavy vacuum gas oil (727-833)K.The vacuum gas oil was hydrotreated on a commercial cobalt-molybdenum alumina catalyst presulfied at specifiedcondition in a laboratory trickle bed reactor. The reaction temperature varied from (583-643)K over liquid hourly spacevelocity ranging between (1.5-3.75)h-1 , Hydrogen pressure was kept constant at 3.5 MPa with a hydrogen to oil ratioof about 250 L/LThe conversion results for desulfurization appeared to obey the second order kinetics. According to this model rateconstants for desulfurization reaction were calculated. Finally, the apparent activation energy (Ea), enthalpy ofactivation ( H*) and entropy (  S*) were calculated based on the values of rate constant (k). The calculated values ofEa, H* and  S* were 74.657 kJ/mole, 74.712 kJ/mole and 167.132 J/mole.k, respectively.


We study stochastic processes with age-dependent transition rates. A typical example of such a process is a semi-Markov process which is completely determined by the holding time distributions in each state and the transition probabilities of the embedded Markov chain. The process we construct generalizes semi-Markov processes. One important feature of this process is that unlike semi-Markov processes the transition probabilities of this process are age-dependent. Under certain condition we establish the Feller property of the process. Finally, we compute the limiting distribution of the process.


Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is a common complication after anaesthesia, which hinders the rapid recovery of patients. Aprepitant, one of neurokinin-1 (NK-1) receptor antagonists is mainly used to prevent nausea and vomiting by blocking the binding of substance P to NK-1 receptor. It has the advantages of high selectivity, strong affinity and long half-life, and its new antiemetic target provides a new choice for prophylactic treatment of PONV. This article summarize studies on the prophylaxis of aprepitant in treatment of PONV.

Key words:
Aprepitant; Neurokinin-1 receptor antagonists; Postoperative nausea and vomiting; Review


Pingli Damogou zinc-fluorite depositin in Shaanxi and metal minerals of gold,lead,zinc,niobium and tantalum and nonmetal mineral fluorite,etc,already found in this region,have a close relationship with the trachyte in this area and neighbor area. Mineralization is in contact with faulting of Middle Silurian Zhuxiqun Formation phyllite and trachyte,and is near the trachyte side and controlled by faulted structure,belonging to post-magmatic hydrothermal ore deposits. Regionally,a large area of rachyte exposed to the east wing of Pingli anticlinorium results in numerous ore-hosting rocks for minerals,having an important significance in prospecting.


Objective To explore the value of Bronchoalveolar lavage with pulmonary surfactant in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome(ARDS).Methods By means of high-performance thin-layer chromatography,the pulmonary surfactant in Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of patients was analyzed from ARDS group before treatment,ARDS group after 24 h treatment and control group.Blood pressure,heart rate,respiratory rate,Tc SaO2,arterial blood gas and ventilated parameters were recorded before lavage,6 h,12 h,18 h and 24 h.Results Total phospholipid did not differ between any category and controls,whereas total protein increased approximately in before treatment and in after treatment compared with controls(P0.01).The phospholipid profiles showed a significant reduction in the relative content of phosphatidylcholine(PC)、phosphatidylglycerol(PG) and lysophosphatidycholine(LPC)in before treatment compared with controls;After treatment,there was a significant increase of PC、PG(P0.05),but the others were no significant change(P0.05).PaO2 and PaO2/FiO2 after bronchoalveolar lavage dramatically improved in 6 h(P0.05),the significant improvement in PaO2 and PaO2/FiO2 was observed at the 12 h(P0.01).Conclusions The content and main active components of pulmonary surfactant should decrease with the development of ARDS.Brochoalveolar lavage administration of pulmonary surfactant may immediately improve the oxygenation index(PaO2/FiO2) on acute respiratory distress syndrome,but the improvement must not exceed 24 h.But its indications and correct dose in clinical use should be studied further.


The revisit intention of tourists is a major concern for rural tourist destinations. However, the previous studies have seldom explored the effects of the triggers of nostalgia on revisit intention in rural tourism. In this paper, a theoretical model is established based on the cue-priming theory, and used to explore how the triggers of nostalgia affect revisit intention. Besides, the authors examined the relationships between evoked autobiographical memory, place attachment and revisit intention. The results show that the triggers of nostalgia, namely, environment, spiritual experience and event, have significant impacts on evoked autobiographical memory and revisit intention; place attachment mediates the relationship between evoked autobiographical memory and revisit intention. The research contributes to the theories on nostalgia and the management of rural tourism.


Based on NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data,the interdecadal variations of atmospheric circulation,eddy growth rate maximum(σBI)and synoptic-scale transient eddy activity(STEA)over East Asian-North Pacific region are investigated.The air temperature,water vapor in the low troposphere and the Western Pacific westerly jet stream(WPJS)in the high troposphere over East Asian-North Pacific show obvious interdecadal variability.The WPJS interdecadal anomaly is closely related to the interdecadal changes of σBI.In summer the STEA is strengthened from the North Pacific to the Siberian Plateau on the interdecadal time scale.However,the associated low-level eddy thermal forcing and eddy moisture forcing do not show significant effect on the interdecadal anomalies of mean air temperature and water vapor in the middle latitude Pacific.In winter the WPJS is strengthened interdecadally accompanied with the increasing of σBI underneath the WPJS.This causes intensified STEA on the interdecadal time scale.The strengthened STEA delivers more energy to the westerly wind.Thus it reinforces the WPJS anomaly.In winter the low-level eddy thermal forcing and eddy moisture forcing show evidence of damping effect on the air temperature and water vapor anomalies in the lower troposphere on the interdecadal-scale.


Voltage sags, transients, and momentary interruption of power together constitute 92% of the PQ problems encountered by typical industrial customers. The series-parallel connected dynamic sag corrector (DySC) provides statistically significant protection at greatly reduced cost. The DySC is rated 1.5 kVA 1-phase to 2000 kVA 3-phase and features a patented single stage power conversion circuit with minimal stored energy. A unique circuit allows operation with opened upstream circuit breaker. The paper presents a detailed discussion of DySC operating principles and validation of performance. It also provides conditions under which this new category of product can be applied.


This paper studies the single machine scheduling with an availability constraint and deteriorating jobs.The objective is to minimize makespan for nonresumable case.The NP-hardness of this problem is shown.A dynamic programming algorithm is proposed to obtain the optimal solution.Then an exact worst-case error bound of the shortest normal processing time first rule is given.At last,a heuristic algorithm is provided for searching the near-optimal solution.Experiment results show that this heuristic algorithm is excellent not only in its running time but also in the quality of solution;Its average and maximum relative error compared with the optimal solution using dynamic programming are only 0.082% and 3.448%,respectively,and almost half of instances can obtain their optimal solutions.


This information system aims to make it easier for security officers to record residents who enter or leave the housing. This information system helps the housing admin get data on residents who enter and leave housing. There is no data collection system available for residents who will enter or leave the Graha Bakti Persada housing area. The unavailability of a support system that can be used as an effort to prevent crime. Building a Smart Security Information System with a web-based QR Code. Create a system that makes it easier for security officers. see the QR Code results based on the appropriate citizen ID in the database. The research methodology is to analyze the problems that occur, and design procedures. Suggestions that can be used as a reference for further system developers are the need to improve functions and menus in the application.


Translocation success of Frithia humilis Burgoyne, an endangered succulent plant : preliminary results
A Frithia humilis population, growing on a licensed mining plot near Witbank was saved from obliteration in 2009. It was translocated to three habitats, which have been monitored since 2010. Thus far, flowering has increased despite decreasing population numbers; the populations seem stable.


Introduction: Cancer Cervix is treated with a combination of external beam radiotherapy and intracavitary brachytherapy. With the recent American Brachytherapy Society consensus guidelines for locally advanced carcinoma of the cervix, at least Equivalent Dose 2 > 80 Gy for patients with complete response or partial response with residual disease less than 4cm is recommended. For non responders or those with tumors larger than 4cm at the time of brachytherapy, tumor dose escalation to an Equivalent Dose 2 of 85-90 Gy is recommended to point A. Present study was designed to see the feasibility of these guidelines in terms of local tumor control and toxicities to rectum and bladder in our group of patients.

Material and Methods: Fifty patients of biopsy proven cancer cervix were enrolled. After pre-treatment evaluation all patients were delivered external beam radiotherapy 50 Gy in 25 fractions at 200 cGy/day with concurrent cisplatin on weekly basis. Patients were then randomized into three applications (Group A), four applications (Group B) of HDR Brachytherapy of 6 Gy each so that total treatment time does not exceed 8 weeks. BED and LQED were calculated and assessment of response and complications were assessed. Statistical analysis was done using Chi square test.

Results: Mean age of the patients was 50 years. No significant hematological toxicities and radiation reactions were seen during external beam radiotherapy. The mean BED of group A for tumor, rectum and bladder was 137.3 Gy, 112.53 Gy and 103.23 Gy respectively and of group B was 155.3 Gy, 120.98 Gy and 111.95 Gy respectively. The mean EQD2 in group A at tumor, rectum and bladder was 74 Gy, 54.08 Gy and 61.94 Gy respectively and in group B was 82 Gy, 59.18 Gy, and 66.60 Gy respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in local response and early and late bladder reactions in both the groups.
Conclusion: In a follow up of six months we did not find any significant difference in toxicities of rectum and bladder. Long term follow up is needed to see for late rectal and bladder toxicities.


A high-level area model of Benes and crossbar networks in a VLSI environment is presented. The areas of both networks are then compared for different design parameters. The results are also compared to those obtained by Franklin [Fr81] for banyan and crossbar networks. The geometric chip layout employs two metal layers for the interconnection paths. It is show that both Benes and crossbar grow in area as O(N)2, where N is the network size.


career certainly qualifies him as a fitting contributor. As he was finishing this book he was about to leave the Department of Religion and Theology (where he had been a member for twenty-eight years) to become Chair of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Manchester. This volume is comprised of fourteen chapters, seven of which have previously appeared in print. This factor does not, however, detract from the book's development and overall coherency. Pailin's study is an assortment of various subjects brought together in an attempt to address what he believes to be some of the most important issues for consideration in theological studies. Pailin begins by situating the theological enterprise in its contemporary context. Namely, what is the theologian's response to the &dquo;post-modem,&dquo; &dquo;post-liberal&dquo; attack over truth and rationality? After a historical survey of the tension between faith and reason, and the contemporary critique of truth (chapters two and three), Pailin opts for a theology that keeps reason as its arbiter (albeit a reason that understands its limitations). Reinforcing his definition of reason, in chapter four, Pailin makes use of Schubert Ogden's criteria of appropriateness and credibility. Pailin, however, is far from being a rationalist. He argues that theology can be


Based on literature review,we established a theoretical framework of the pathway of successful business model innovation in retail enterprises. Using standardized case study approach,then we explored the pathway of HaiDiLao's successful business model innovation,involving interviews,second-hand materials collection,data encoding and analysis. The elements and specific pathway of successful innovation are revealed: the elements include many ingredients( in customer level,supplier level and internal level),in which the target-customer-cares-most one and the relevant ones are the key ingredients; the pathway could be classified as"from inner to outer"and"from outer to inner",the former refers to the path from customer value to marketing model,to key process and to important resource,the latter refers to the reverse order.


The aim of the paper is to present the results of research into component based software development by providing a specification mechanism allowing searching for components in a component repository. A new component classification framework is proposed based on which a Component Description Manager has been designed and implemented. The classification framework combines domain knowledge, ontological information and some semantics to allow descriptions of components to be constructed in a consistent, yet informative way. The Component Description Manager consists of the classification framework and a repository of component descriptions constructed using this framework. This new approach is compared to alternative component repositories and marketplaces.


1, Introduction For practical purposes we often need to know the water-table depth for a given area for a given period. From an isobath map, we obtained the distribution curve showing the relationship between the water-table depth and its corresponding area. Applying the log-normal-probability-distribution equation, we obtained the theoretical equation to estimate the relation stated above. 2. Theory There is an isobath map consisting of n-class water-table depth, Di, D2, ... D, and the whole study area A. The relationship between the n-class water-table depth and its corresponding areas, al, a2, , a," are defined in Eq. (1).


In this paper the development of the digital ad-hoc chip rate estimator (ACRE) is explained in relation to its similarities and contrasts to the chip rate detector (CRD). The effect of half-sine pulse shaping on chip rate detection is investigated. The components of the ACRE are described. The ACRE's performance for three categories of simulations are presented and briefly discussed. The three simulation categories are: standard-ACRE, ACRE with additional filtering, and ACRE with incrementing. ACRE with additional filtering trades chip rate search range for estimation performance. ACRE with incrementing combines subsets of processed data that overlap each other. This simulation approach shows the potential for parallel processing without loss of performance


Urban poor are engaged in waste picking in the city areas of Bangladesh, as it requires no skills and experience. Though several studies have been conducted on waste management, the livelihood of waste pickers remains unexplored. So, this study has been undertaken to investigate the livelihood and health status of the informal waste pickers living in the Sylhet City Corporation, Bangladesh using the five capitals of the sustainable livelihood framework. To achieve the study objectives, at first, purposively selected one hundred waste pickers were surveyed. Then, to substantiate quantitative data gathered by the survey, ten in-depth interviews and a focus group discussion (FGD) were conducted. This study found that the vulnerabilities of waste pickers in the city area are the consequences of their poor education and lack of skills, lower earnings, miserable living and working conditions, lower social status, and no access to social services. In addition, they face chronic injuries and occupational health risks, but they are not aware of this. As a result, they cannot maintain a standard of living by their efforts. So, Government and non-government organisations should recognise their contribution and take necessary steps for improving their livelihood and health status.


In the study of Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) composition, there is a lack of research on the quantitative form of wrongly written or mispronounced character (WWMC). This paper chooses the readability perspective to quantitatively study the influence of WWMCs in HSK compositions. Through the construction of HSK composition readability corpus, they are composed of 5498 HSK compositions carefully rated by experts. Through quantitative research, it is found that the lower the grade is, the more the number of compositions without WWMCs; With the increase of text readability, the proportion of WWMCs in the text decreases gradually, while the number of articles with WWMCs increases. With the help of the formula of HSK composition readability grade constructed by multiple linear regression, it is found that the WWMC's weight is -0.0250014, which has little effect on the readability grade of HSK composition. Although the WWMC feature does not play an important role in the readability formula, we can't ignore it in the reading and writing process of HSK compositions.


Two isomers(E and Z) of benzoin oxime and 2-hydroxy-1-phenyl-1-propanone oxime were catalytically hydrogenated by using palladium on charcoal and erythro amino alcohols were obtained in about 80% diastereomeric excess. The syn-anti isomerization of these oximes in the presence of palladium on charcoal was also studied in connection with the stereoselectivity of the catalytic hydrogenation of the oximes.


Glucomannan is one of the highest viscosity polysaccharides with high water absorbing capacity. This property limits glucomannan applications; hence, it requires modifications. Glucomannan has 5-10% acetyl group which confers its functional properties. Replacing the acetyl with alkali transforms the functional characteristic of modified glucomannan. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of deacetylation conditions on the functional properties of glucomannan of A. oncophyllus. Effects of concentration of Na2CO3 (0.1-0.5 M), reaction time (1-5 h) and temperature deacetylation (40-80°C) were studied on glucomannan solubility, viscosity and water binding capacity (WBC). Deacetylation conditions affected solubility, viscosity and WBC of deacetylated glucomannan differently. Concentration of Na2CO3 showed negative impact on solubility, viscosity and WBC of deacetylated glucomannan. Solubility increased with increasing temperature and extending duration of deacetylation. Meanwhile, temperature and re...


The present study reveals hidden patterns of group membership across cybercrime victims in European countries. We used a multilevel latent class analysis of data from the 2019 Eurobarometer, a regionally representative sample of 21,908 individuals from 28 countries, to identify such subgroups and patterns of cybercrime victimization. The findings suggest there are two overarching cybercrime victim profiles in Europe based on individuals' levels of "online activity" and "cybersecurity guardianship": the "at-risk class" (19%, higher risk) and the "cautious class" (81%, lower risk). Ten different types of cybercrime victimization were compared, and while individual-level predictors were primarily used to produce different groups of cybercrime victims, our findings suggest that researchers consider both individual- and country-level predictors to understand cybercrime victimization patterns in greater depth.


A popular method to evaluate earthquake induced settlements in dry sands is the approach proposed by Pradel (1998) which was based on standard penetration test (SPT) results and is only applicable to clean sands. A simple modification of the Pradel (1998) method is proposed based on cone penetration test (CPT) results and is extended to cover a wide range of unsaturated soils. A key parameter in the method by Pradel (1998) is the small strain shear modulus, G o , which can be estimated from the CPT or measured using the seismic CPT. The CPT can provide a continuous evaluation of seismic compression that allows the expeditious analysis of complicated soil profiles and a framework for sensitivity analyses. Soil parameters, such as soil type, fines content, and equivalent SPT blow count interpolated from CPTs, were compared with adjacent borings and related laboratory test results from a ground improvement site. Both vibro-stone columns and compaction grouting were adopted to mitigate the site seismic settlement. The proposed simple modification of the Pradel method provided a valuable tool to evaluate the effectiveness of ground improvement work.


Abstract:  It is not unusual for simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplantation (SPK) to be performed in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D), clinically classified as having type 1 diabetes (T1D). C‐peptide determination is useful to identify these patients. We describe the prevalence and characteristics of patients with C‐peptide levels >3 ng/mL, classified with T2D in 172 patients referred for SPK from 1998–2006. Nine patients (5.2%) fulfilled this criteria (mean free C‐peptide 9.08 ng/mL) and were older at diabetes onset (23.5 vs. 12 yr, p < 0.001) and at assessment (42.2 vs. 37.6 yr, p = 0.047) with shorter time between diabetes onset and renal failure (17.8 vs. 22.7 yr, p = 0.3) compared with T1D patients (mean free C‐peptide 0.24 ng/mL). In our experience the prevalence of T2D in candidates for SPK is not negligible. Despite some clinical differences with T1D these T2D patients can phenotypically be confounded with T1D in the absence of C‐peptide determination.


The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of school principal leadership, work discipline, and compensation to the job satisfaction of teachers of the 10th Vocational High School (SMK) Malang. This research is a type of quantitative research with ex post facto approach. The population in this study were all teachers of State Vocational High School (SMK) 10 Malang, totaling 78 teachers. Sampling uses saturated sample techniques so that all populations are sampled. Data collection techniques using a questionnaire or questionnaire. Data analysis techniques used are descriptive analysis techniques and multiple linear regression analysis with the help of a computer program SPSS 16.00 for Windows. The results of the data analysis showed that the leadership of the school principal, work discipline, and compensation had a positive effect on job satisfaction of teachers of the State Vocational High School (SMK) 10 Malang both simultaneously and partially. Principal leadership, work discipline, and compensation have an effect of 49.3% on the job satisfaction of teachers of the 10th Vocational High School (SMK) Malang, while 50.7% is influenced by other variables not examined, such as: work environment, organizational culture work motivation, work stress, etc.


Fossil-bearing sites containing predominantly mastodon, Mammut americanum, remains were discovered west of the Mississippi River on the Osage River in Upper Louisiana only a few decades after the discovery by Longueuil of similar remains at Big Bone Lick in Kentucky. The first excavations were conducted in the 1790s by Pierre Chouteau, a fur trader and member of the founding family of St Louis. Chouteau's work was documented by several early travelers, including Georges-Henri-Victor Collot and later by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, among others. It was from Chouteau's excavation that the first mastodon molar from west of the Mississippi River reached Baron Georges Cuvier in Paris, having been sent from Philadelphia by Benjamin Smith Barton. Early nineteenth-century travelers continued to mention the Osage River locality and, by 1816, William Clark displayed fossil specimens in his St Louis Museum. By 1840 the indefatigable fossil collector and museum entrepreneur, Albert C. Koch, began extensive dig...


Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology | Volume 84 | Issue 6 | November-December 2018 720 Declaration of patient consent The authors certify that they have obtained all appropriate patient consent forms. In the form, the patients have given their consent for their images and other clinical information to be reported in the journal. The patients understand that name and initials will not be published and due efforts will be made to conceal identity, but anonymity cannot be guaranteed.


The anterior pericardial wall or amebocyte-producing organ (APO) is a site of hemocyte formation in the schistosome-transmitting snail Biomphalaria glabrata. Histological sections of the APOs of adult schistosome-resistant Salvador strain snails, and two schistosome-susceptible M-line strains, BRI-M and USF-M, showed qualitatively differing amounts of hemopoietic tissue (HT), with Salvador>BRI-M>USF-M. Adult Salvador snails also had a significantly higher concentration of hemocytes in the hemolymph than the two M-Line strains. In juvenile snails of the same three strains, measurements of total APO HT volume confirmed the qualitative differences seen in adults, and differences between the three strains were statistically significant. Crosses between Salvador (large HT volume) and USF-M (small HT volume) show that a large HT volume is dominant in juvenile F1s. Analysis of the distribution of HT volume among F2s shows it to be a quantitative trait. Although USF-M juvenile F0s had a significantly lower APO HT volume than that of BRI-M F0s, they had a significantly higher mitotic index, possibly as a compensatory mechanism. Salvador APO allografts maintained HT volume and mitotic activity equally well in USF-M and Salvador recipients after 2 weeks, suggesting that the low HT volume in USF-M snails may result from a developmental defect rather than a lack of HT-supportive plasma factors.


In this paper, a research for the knowledge based configuration design software development of a train vehicle has been presented. Parametric design and knowledge based design concepts have been introduced for rapid design changes and analyses using a commercial CAD software, CATIA ⓡ Knowledgeware module. Positions and dimensions of door, small window, large window, and number of seats were used as design parameters. It is crucial for train vehicle design because it enables rapid conceptual design by instant configuration changes. The results of this research can be used as one sub module of the multidisciplinary train vehicle design software and provide a basic data for rolling stock behavior and driver cab ergonomics of a train vehicle.


The number of listed companies in the ceramic industry in China stock market is very small, but represents the development situation of the whole industry. Evaluation on the performance efficiency of the listed companies is very important. Traditional AHP and DEA evaluation methods face problems of subjectivity or lack of human factors. A combination method which integrates advantages of the two models can be used to evaluate status and efficiency of the listed companies in the ceramic industry. Input and output indicators are carefully selected. Data of input and output indicators are carefully ascertained and processed on basis of sourcing relative publicized financial report. Finally a ranking list of the seven companies is given.


Aims of Study Fesoterodine is a novel antimuscarinic drug, which is under development for the treatment of overactive bladder. Fesoterodine is rapidly and extensively hydrolyzed in humans [1] and rats to its active metabolite SPM 7605. Both, fesoterodine and SPM 7605 have demonstrated potent specific antimuscarinic activity in rat urinary bladder in vitro and in vivo studies [2]. SPM 7605 also showed antimuscarinic activity in humans [3]. In this trial safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of fesoterodine were investigated in populations of different age or gender.


1. Agarwal et al., 2008] Agarwal, A., Deepinder, F., Cocuzza, M., Short, R. A., and Evenson, D. P. (2008)., Efect of vaginal lubricants on sperm motility and chromatin integrity: a prospective comparative study.Fertility and sterility, 89(2):375. 2. American Society for Reproductive Medicine, 2008] American Society for Reproductive Medicine (2008). Optimizing natural fertility. Fertility and sterility, 90(5):1. 3. [Fernandez et al., 2005] Fernandez, J. L., Muriel, L., Goyanes, V., Segrelles, E., Goslvez, J., Enciso, M., LaFromboise, M., and Jonge, C. D. (2005). Simple determination of human sperm DNA fragmentation with an improved sperm chromatin dispersion test. Fertility and sterility, 84(4):833-842 4. Mowat, A., Newton, C., Boothroyd, C., Demmers, K., & Fleming, S. (2014). The effects of vaginal lubricants on sperm function: an in vitro analysis. Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics, 31(3), 333–9. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-013-0168-x The results of this study indicate that the Klick Silk Glide silicone-based lubricant is less detrimental for sperm in terms of motility and kinematic parameters which have been related to pregnancy rates.


A medical device system for delivering extra-systolic stimulation therapy to a patient's heart is provided. An implantable medical device, the heart chamber via the first electrode set, the ESS stimulation, or delivering pacing stimuli. Implantable medical device, via the second set of electrodes, sensing the electrical activity of the cavity. Implantable medical devices also sense amplifier coupled to the second set of electrodes can be applied a short blanking interval than is typical in the pacing art, the device has a higher arrhythmias and evoked response it is possible to detect with accuracy. Tip electrode, ring electrode, a coil electrode, the housing base electrodes, endocardial electrode, epicardial electrodes, pericardium electrodes, cardiac vein base electrode, subcutaneous electrodes, and / or including surface electrodes, various, but not limited to electrodes may be used. .Field


Purpose

By delineating electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) into numerical rating and opinionated review, the purpose of this paper is to advance a research model that articulates how the provision of e-WOM can aid in alleviating consumers' distrust of online service providers, a key determinant in the former's adoption of the latter. The authors also endeavor to uncover the role gender plays in moderating the aforementioned relationship between e-WOM and distrust.

Design/methodology/approach

The research model was validated via a field survey administered on 115 college students and faculty members, who had been exposed to a custom-developed online restaurant review website. SmartPLS 2.0.M3 was employed to verify both the measurement and structural properties of the research model.

Findings

Distrust reduces male consumers' perceptions of usefulness and ease of use toward an online service provider while increasing their adoption intention. For their female counterparts, distrust reduces both perceived ease of use and adoption intention for an online service provider. Additionally, for male consumers, only opinionated review aids in alleviating distrust. Conversely, both numerical rating and opinionated review aid in alleviating the distrust of female consumers. Moreover, in contrast to their female counterparts, male consumers are less susceptible to the influence of cognitive dissonance between numerical rating and opinionated review.

Research limitations/implications

This study integrates distrust with the technology acceptance model (TAM) in an attempt to gain a deeper appreciation of technology acceptance behavior. Furthermore, this study builds on the confirmation bias theory to delineate e-WOM into numerical rating and opinionated review in order to better explicate variations in how males and females react to these two distinct forms of e-WOM. Consistent with the cognitive dissonance theory, the distinction between numerical rating and opinionated review enables further exploration of the impact of cognitive dissonance between these two forms of e-WOM on male and female consumers' distrust of online service providers. Finally, this study unveils contrasting conflict resolution strategies adopted by male and female consumers to cope with cognitive dissonance in e-WOM.

Practical implications

Findings from this study yield prescriptions for practitioners in terms of how e-WOM can be harnessed to alleviate consumers' distrust of online service provider. Whereas it is crucial for online service providers to draw on opinionated review to reduce distrust for male consumers, numerical rating should be emphasized for female consumers. This study also sensitizes practitioners to the drawback of providing both numerical rating and opinionated review at the same time due to the potential for cognitive dissonance.

Originality/value

This study is the first to: position distrust within the well-accepted TAM in order to enrich the understanding of technology acceptance behavior; testify to the importance of delineating between numerical rating and opinionated review due to the possibility of cognitive dissonance between these two distinct forms of e-WOM, as well as; uncover contrasting conflict resolution strategies adopted by male and female consumers to cope with cognitive dissonance in accordance with the confirmation bias theory.


In the article are given the basic results of a dissertation study Molding of the readiness of the colleagues of penitentiary for educational work with those condemned (based on the example of the chiefs of forces). They are given to recommendation regarding a qualitative change of the educational process in the system of the additional vocational education of the chiefs of the forces of the penitentiary, which directly realize the problems, stated before them by society on the training and further the reverse socialization of those condemned.


A compact star in a detached binary system can accrete the matter from the stellar wind of the companion. In this case a more or less radial accretion flow is formed. By analogy to stellar winds from early type stars it is usually believed that the accretion of this sort should produce inverse P-Cygni profiles in resonance lines. However, there are physical differences between the wind and the radial accretion which can alter the outgoing profile significantly.


Discusses how patina samples from black incrustations found on the Pentelic marble from the Parthenon are characterised using different analytical techniques such as optical microscopy, scanning electron microscope coupled with energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX) analysis, laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and a novel hyper-spectral imaging (HySI) analysis for the characterization of coloured samples. SEM-EDX and LIBS measurements helped identify two main alteration layers. The external layer was mainly composed of alumino-silicates, gypsum, and particulates, while the internal layers had a more homogeneous distribution of sulphur with limited quantities of iron (II), silicon and aluminium. LIBS is shown to be an effective in situ instrument for revealing stratigraphic trends in the emissions of the elements found in black crusts. Using the results obtained from these measurements and historical documentation, the chemical and physical nature of these patinas and previous protective or aesthetic treatments applied on the marble, specifically alkali silicates, were identified. A table containing the results of the quantitative analysis of the black incrustation is provided.


Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is a disease that creates some changes in the retinal blood vessels. Blood vessels leaks fats or lipids in the yellowish color which is a cause of blindness and the aggregate yellowish color fat or lipid on the eye is known as exudates. In order to help the ophthalmologists for accurate detection of exudates hybrid CS-ACO is applied on the online dataset HEI-MED consists 169 images. Hybrid approach works in three steps first hybrid CS-ACO is performed to enhance the image second DWT is used to reduce the time elapsed in image enhancement and finally ACO is used for the detection of exudates. The performance of CS-ACO is better than ACO in the detection of exudates. The proposed model has attained mean values of 99.6%, 98.7% and 98.6% for sensitivity, specificity and accuracy respectively on online database.


The treatment of choice of warm antibody Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia is still corticosteroids. While many centres have now adopted rituximab as the 2nd line agent over splenectomy, there is also data on upfront use of rituximab in Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia / Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura. We report a case for the role of Rituximab in a patient of adult autoimmune haemolytic anaemia who was refractory to the conventional corticosteroid therapy. We have used rituximab early on in our patient with good response.


Abstract Maggu et al [4] presented a procedure to obtain an optimal schedule minimizing the total elapsed time for 2 × n sequencing problem with transportation times of jobs and under the restriction that some jobs are to be processed in blocks where the order of jobs in a block is known and fixed. This paper gives two alternate algorithms based on the already known results [2, 3, 5] in this direction for determining the optimal schedule. In addition the computational complexity in terms of time taken of the two proposed algorithms alongwith Decomposition Algorithm of Maggu et al [4] is also discussed in this paper.


According to the business characteristics and technical requirements of heavy military vehicles digital collaborative development, the paper proposes the dynamic federal collaborative development method for heavy military vehicles. To realize the method, the key is constructing the three-tier dynamic federal collaborative development environment. So the paper focuses on the research of the business, function and technical architecture of dynamic federal collaborative development environment. Applying the Web Service-Based cross-system collaborative flow controlling method and developing the integrated middleware, the three-tier federal collaborative environment realizes tightly integration. Finally, the application demonstration of a type-product inter-enterprise collaborative development based on the developed digital collaborative development platform verifies the effectiveness and feasibility of the method.


ABSTRACT Food insecurity (FI) is a public health concern that affects health status. In this study, we aimed to investigate the FI status, and the probable link between FI and a number of risk factors related to Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in Alborz Province, Iran. This was a cross-sectional study in which 983 housewives living in Alborz Province, with the age range of 18–65 years were selected randomly using a multi-stage cluster sampling method, between 2018 and 2019. Demographic Questionnaire, Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS), International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), Anthropometric Measurements (weight, body mass index (BMI), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and waist, hip, and Neck Circumferences (WC,HC, and NC)), and systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP) were measured. Multivariable binary logistic regressions were used to evaluate the association between mentioned variables and FI status. The prevalence of FI in the study population was 61.24 percent (95 percent CI: 58.11–64.30). In a Multivariable binary logistic regressions model, participants in the highest stages of FI had significantly lower risk of BMI (OR: 0.62 95 percent CI 0.45–1.10) (p .007), NC (OR: 0.51; 95 percent CI 0.28–0.95) (p .03), and WHR (OR: 0.50; 95 percent CI 0.29–0.88) (p .011) in comparison with food secure group. FI was highly prevalent in our study population. Despite the high prevalence of overweight and obesity, there were no significant differences in terms of weight between groups.


Introduction: Gastric cancer (GC) is the second and fourth most prevalent cancer in men and women, respectively, and is one of the leading causes of cancer death worldwide. Many studies have shown that heavy metal exposure and trace element levels in the body are the most critical etiologies for cancer development. As a result, the goal of our research was to assess the imbalances in the serum concentrations of selected elements (Cu, Co, Se, Ni, Cd, and Pb) in post-operative GC patients against healthy participants/ controls. Methods: The metal levels were determined using a nitric acid/perchloric acid-based wet digestion technique and flame atomic absorption spectrometry, Serum levels of CEA were measured using a two-site immunoenzymometric assay, which is performed entirely in the AIA-PACK SLa test cups. Results: Pb, Cd, and Ni concentrations were found to be significantly higher in the blood of GC patients than in the blood of controls, but Cu and Co levels were significantly lower in the blood of GC patients than in the blood of controls. In the blood of post-operative GC patients, correlation analysis revealed a positive association between CEA-Cd, CEA-Pb, and CEA-Ni, while the correlation was negative for CEA-Cu. These findings were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Conclusion: According to our findings, low Co and Se levels, as well as high Pb and Cd levels, may have a role in the development of stomach cancer.


Abstract Nocardia is an uncommon, opportunistic infecting organism. The radiographic appearance of pulmonary nocardiosis is most commonly cavitary or lobar infiltration. Particular attention is focused upon the acute necrotizing course of nocardiosis as experienced in 5 patients. Difficulty with laboratory diagnosis, the frequent use of steroid therapy, and the necessity of sulfonamide therapy require that clinicians and radiologists be aware of the disease process, especially in the clinical setting of malignant tumors and long-term adrenocorticosteroid therapy.


This study was carried out during three successive seasons 2011, 2012 and 2013 at a private orchard located in Al- Hello in Ajman Emirate (UAE). The experiment was designed to study the effect of organic manure and NPKS as soil application on yield, fruit quality, and fruit mineral nutrient content of Khenazi date palm cultivar grown in sandy soil. Fertilization treatments consisted of N1, 600g or N2, 1000g (urea 46%N), P 800g (triple superphosphate, 48% P2O5), K 1200g (potassium sulphate, 50% K2SO4) and S 700g sulphur (90% granular S), in addition to organic manure. Al experimental trees received 100g mixture of micronutrients, with the exception of the control. The results showed that combination treatments and organic manure significantly affected fruit weight, flesh weight, fruit volume, moisture content and fruit TSS. Application of different fertilization treatments significantly affected yield components of fruit, number of fruits/strand, fruit number/bunch, fruit set percent and total fruit yield / palm. The study revealed that combination of fertilizers improved fruit nutrient content of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, Mn and Cu. Moisture and TSS% content, number of fruits/strand, number of fruits/bunch, fruit nutrients content of Fe, Mn and Zn were significantly different due to the application of N1+K+S.


The dried blood spot (DBS) sampling technique is advantageous over the traditional liquid blood collection due to its minimal invasiveness, smaller sample volume, improved analyte stability, and ease of storage and transportation, resulting in its increasing usage in therapeutic drug monitoring and clinical toxicology. Here, we describe a fully automated workflow to rapidly extract and quantify a wide range of therapeutic drugs and drugs of abuse in DBS using the Thermo Scientific™ Transcend™ DSX-1 system, fulfilling the routine drug monitoring needs in the clinical laboratories.

 Calibrators in blood are spotted on the DBS cards, analytes are extracted with the innovative flow-through desorption technology, and their corresponding internal standards (IS) are introduced via an automated IS addition module in the dried spot autosampler. The 2-dimensional TurboFlow technology allows the removal of interferences from the extracted samples before analytical separation. An integrated software controls every step of the sample desorption and separation. Analyte quantitation is performed on the Thermo Scientific™ TSQ Altis™ Plus triple quadrupole mass spectrometer, and the data is analyzed in TraceFinder™ software.

 A total of 77 therapeutic and clinical toxicology drugs from eleven classes, including anticonvulsants, antidepressants, antihistamines, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, cocaine, dissociatives, opioids, and stimulants, are quantified in a single injection from DBS cards using a rapid automated method on a Transcend DSX-1 system. DSX-1 combines a dried spot module for direct analyte extraction with Transcend™ UHPLC for online sample separation using the TurboFlow technology. The method only takes 4.3 min from analyte extraction to MS detection. Good calibration curves with R2 > 0.98 are achieved using a weighting factor of 1/x, and the limit of quantification (LOQ) values are established with % RSD and % CV < 15, │% Diff│ < 20, and relative ion ratio < %20. The LOQ values are all in the low ng/mL levels, which largely meet the screening and confirmation sensitivity needs of analytical methodologies in routine clinical laboratories.

 A fully automated LC-MS-based workflow is developed to rapidly and reliably quantitate 77 compounds therapeutic and clinical toxicology drugs in dried blood spots.


This monograph is one of the publications sponsored by the British Journal of Ophthalmology . It is a handsome volume, profusely and beautifully illustrated. The subject of hydrophthalmia is exhaustively treated under the chapter headings of general etiology, differential diagnosis, the structure and development of the involved tissue, their embryology and comparative anatomy, the pathology of congenital glaucoma, pathogenesis, treatment, prognosis and general reflections. The terms congenital glaucoma and hydrophthalmia are preferred by the author. He suggests that the use of all other terms be abandoned. The author states that "the condition to be described is that of an eye which has become enlarged under the influence of increased tension." Subsequently, he says that "the ocular condition that we are to consider is that which is due to a rise in tension occurring at so early an age that the coats of the globe distend." The latter definition seems to be


This document presents a proposal marketing plan of information services to Documentation Centre of the Institute for Educational Research and Educational Development (IDEP, for its initials in Spanish). In proposal presented in detail the methodology and techniques used to perform the user study, the elements of a marketing plan for units of information, strategies and action plan that will ensure the positioning of Centre, through the provision of quality services that be geared to satisfaction of needs of users and potential users.


Abstract The relationship between product innovation intensities and the performance of European firms is assessed, assuming that the selection into different intensities is based on a set of observed covariates. Most studies only distinguish between the innovating and non-innovating status of firms within a binary treatment framework. Instead, we use a generalised propensity score to estimate a dose-response function, which connects the product innovation intensities of the firms to their labour productivity and profitability growth rates, as measures of performance. The results indicate that high levels of product innovation intensity have significant positive effects on the profitability rate, whilst no significant effects are found on productivity rate.


The invention discloses a voice broadcasting method of mobile phone calls. The voice broadcasting method includes steps: 1 detecting whether a mobile phone has a call signal, entering the next step if the mobile phone has the call signal, otherwise keeping the current detection state; 2 obtaining a call number of the call signal and searching whether a mobile phone address list stores the call number, entering the next step if the mobile phone address list stores the call number, otherwise broadcasting content of a strange call voice module; 3 judging whether a user-defined broadcasting module related to the call number exists, entering the next step if the user-defined broadcasting module related to the call number exists, otherwise broadcasting name information corresponding to the call number; and 4 starting to broadcast content of the user-defined broadcasting module. According to the voice broadcasting method, voice broadcasting is carried out through related information when the mobile phone has calls, a user can obtain related information of the call number without watching a mobile phone screen, and convenience is brought to the user; and simultaneously related information pre-edited and stored by the user when the user stores contact persons in the mobile phone address list can be broadcasted, and good experience is brought to the user.


New York-Charles D. Kelman, MD-the man who transformed surgery for cataracts-will be honored May 1 as an inductee into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.


This study ascertained the views of civil society and politicians regarding the need for state financing of political parties in Ghana. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the results. We found that that, while party executives endorsed state financing of political parties, civil society held a contrary view. Civil society also indicated that state funding of political parties could lead to political corruption whereas party executives disagreed on that score. Both civil society and party executives were of the opinion that political parties should be accountable to the public through disclosure of their sources of funds, expenditure and other activities.


The growing demand for light weight products for automotive industries has been increased due to global trend of environmental preservation. In recent several years, although production of magnesium has risen dramatically, production of magnesium alloy sheet remains still at a very low level in practical use. The major barrier to greatly increased magnesium alloy use has been in still primarily high manufacturing cost as well as poor workability of wrought magnesium sheet alloys. finite element method (FEM) has been conducted to examine the shapes of cross section, springback characteristics, bending strains and longitudinal membrane strain of magnesium alloy sheet during forming. The aim of our study is to establish a guideline for roll design in the roll forming for wrought magnesium alloy sheet with improved bendability.


"Slow journalism" is a term anthropologist and sociologists sometimes use to describe their empirical work, ethnography. To journalists and media observers, meanwhile, "slow journalism" signifies a newfound dedication to serious long-form journalism. Not surprisingly, thus, "ethnographic journalism"—a genre where reporters adopt research strategies from social science—takes "slow" to the extreme. Immersing themselves in communities for weeks, months and years, ethnographic journalists seek to gain what anthropologists call "the native's point of view". Based on in-depth interviews with practitioners and analyses of their journalistic works, this paper offers a study of ethnographic journalism suggesting that slow time operates in at least three separate registers. First, in terms of regimentation, ethnographic journalism is mostly long-form pieces that demand time-consuming research and careful writing and editing. Second, in terms of representation, practitioners report on the quotidian rather than urgent events. Third, deceleration is an essential tool for acquiring an insider's perspective. Ethnographic journalists describe a point during reporting at which their attitudes begin to change and they start to understand how things make sense to their sources. Their accounts reveal processes of "reorientation"—an added aspect of deceleration that must be included in the debate on "slow journalism".


Abstract : During the past ten years, NASA has sponsored programs to build a data base and establish confidence in the long-term durability of advanced composite materials. Flight service experience is being obtained on primary and secondary structural components installed on commercial aircraft and from material specimens exposed at different locations. Although commercial aircraft and helicopters may fly in the same environment the behavior of composite materials on each vehicle may differ substantially. Most of the projected usage for composites in helicopter fuselage is Kevlar-49/epoxy with selective reinforcement of graphite/epoxy using 250 F curing epoxies. Most commercial aircraft are using 350 F cure graphite/epoxy systems with very little use of Kevlar/epoxy. Considering only the effects of moisture, materials in the minimum gage structure in most helicopter fuselage would reach equilibrium moisture content in a short time whereas the heavier gage structure on a commercial aircraft could take months to reach an equilibrium condition.


Abstract The current investigation extends recent studies that have examined the degree to which various traits are preferred in a short-term sexual relationship versus a long-term romantic relationship. College students (N = 561) expressed their preferences for 23 traits or characteristics in a "short-term sexual" or a "long-term romantic" relationship partner (randomly assigned). Across relationship types, participants preferred internal qualities (e.g., personality, intelligence) to a greater degree than external qualities (e.g., wealth, physical attractiveness). In addition, two sex differences were found. As expected, men emphasized attributes related to sexual desirability more than did women, and women valued characteristics pertaining to social status more than did men. Finally, both men and women focused upon sexual desirability (e.g., attractiveness, health, sex drive, athleticism) when evaluating a short-term sexual partner, and placed more importance on similarity and on socially appealing personality characteristics (e.g., intelligence, honesty, warmth) when considering a long-term romantic relationship.


Adopting matrix management and the check pattern of risk mortgage,purchasing by the way of invitation for bid without base number of a tender,through optimizing design and construction plans,exploring the investing and financing ways and enhancing the process control of constructing quality and so on,the project investment is saved and the engineering schedule and the quality objects are assured.


The resumption of work and production is one of the key issues during the novel coronavirus (COVID‐19) post‐epidemic phase. We used location‐based service data of mobile devices to assess the work resumption of 22,098 hospitals in mainland China. The multiscale influences of the determinants on work resumption in hospitals, including medical‐service capacity, human movement, and epidemic severity, were examined using the multiscale geographically weighted regression technique. This study provides a novel insight into the assessment of work resumption in hospitals and its determinants, and is flexible to be extended to evaluate the work resumption of other industries. The findings can introduce helpful information for other countries to implement the strategies of work recovery during the post‐epidemic phase.


A number of applications including crowd-sourced labeling and peer review require aggregation of labels or evaluations sourced from multiple evaluators. There is often additional information available pertaining to the evaluators' expertise. A natural approach for aggregation is to consider the widely studied Dawid-Skene model (or its extensions incorporating evaluators' expertise), and employ the standard maximum likelihood estimator (MLE). While MLE is in general widely used in practice and enjoys a number of appealing theoretical guarantees, in this work we provide a negative result for the MLE. Specifically, we prove that the MLE is asymptotically inadmissible for a special case of evaluation aggregation with expertise level information. We show this by constructing an alternative estimator that we show is significantly better than the MLE in certain parameter regimes and at least as good elsewhere. Finally, simulations reveal that our findings may hold in more general conditions than what we theoretically analyze.


. For a completely reducible representation ρ : π 1 (Σ g ) → GL( n, C ) there is an energy functional E ρ : T g → R defined on Teichm¨uller space by taking the energy of the associated equivariant harmonic map into the symmetric space GL( n, C ) / U( n ). It follows from a result of Toledo that E ρ is plurisub-harmonic. We give a criterion for when E ρ is not striclty plurisubharmonic in some direction in T g , and relate this to the C ∗ action on the moduli space of Higgs bundles. As an application, we show that for n ≥ 2 and g ≥ 3, for a generic representation ρ and Riemann surface S , the energy functional E ρ is strictly plurisubharmonic at S . When n = 1, we show that directions of non-strict plurisubharmonicity of E ρ constitute a foliation of T g with holomorphic leaves of dimension 2 g − 3.


Major changes over the past decade have moved Kazakhstan and its university students out of the old Soviet model of education and into the realm of international scholarship. While students from this region are being prepared in new and innovative ways, their research needs are still unique and require a firm understanding on the part of academic librarians. With an eye to better serving students at Nazarbayev University, librarians undertook a usability of the library's web resources in February 2013. This article presents findings from the study, which address the distinct needs of university students from post-Soviet nations.


'Merit' lettuce was direct seeded into double row beds (12 inch spacing between rows) on 22 Aug and later thinned to 8 inches apart within rows on 12 Sep. Each plot consisted of two 25-ft long beds spaced 40 inches apart and bordered on, each side by an untreated bed. Treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design with 5 replicates. Application dates were 26 Sep and 11 Oct. Foliar treatments were applied in distilled water using a CO2-powered sprayer equipped with a 48 inch boom and 2 TX-8 nozzles/bed. Operating pressure was 60 psi delivering 20 gal/acre. Spreader-sticker (X-77) was included in all treatments at 0.25%. C. tenuis populations were evaluated by randomly examining 15 lettuce plants per plot for adults and nymphs on 26 and 29 Sep, and 3, 14, and 18 Oct.


Background: Endoscopic endonasal approach (EEA) for skull base tumor has been extensively developed in recent years.

Objectives: To review the demographic data, indications, clinical presentations and surgical outcomes of endoscopic endonasal skull base surgeries performed.
Methods: A retrospective analysis on all patients who had undergone endoscopic endonasal skull base surgery at the Skull Base Unit (ENT & Neurosurgery) from December 2013 to December 2015.
Results: A total 34 cases were operated on during the study period. Female patients account for 44% of patients while 56% were male patients, with ages ranging from 8 to 77 years, with the mean age of 51.88 years. Majority of the cases were pituitary tumors (41%), followed by sinonasal tumors (15%), meningioma (12%), clival tumor (8%), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak repair (8%) and frontal mucocoele (6%). Transsellar approach was the commonest approach (41%) followed by the transclival, transplanum, transfrontal approaches. In about 80% of cases, CSF leak was encountered intraoperatively
and was successfully repaired endoscopically with the Hadad-Bassagasteguy flap and with the insertion of a lumbar drain. Only one case (3%) of CSF leak was noted postoperatively which was then successful repaired endoscopically with a nasoseptal flap. Systemic complications and intracranial infections were seen in 3 cases (8%) and were managed accordingly. No cases of epitaxis requiring surgical intervention were noted post operatively.


To decrease the impact of an earthquake, it is critical to analyse the risk by assessing the hazard and vulnerability ahead of time. The goal of this study is to examine the seismic susceptibility of the Bukit Tinggi area and then categorise it based on the degree of risk. Eleven indicators belonging to different group parameters were used in this study. Final seismic vulnerability maps of the Bukit Tinggi area demonstrate a pattern of vulnerability degree with 12% of the area designated as very low vulnerability, 26% as low vulnerability, 35% as moderate vulnerability, 25% as high vulnerability and 7% as very high vulnerability. The findings of this research provide preliminary information on the seismic risk in the study region which may be useful to stakeholders in developing mitigation methods and risk-informed development plans for Bukit Tinggi's community resilience.


Abstract Laboratory population life tables of Amblyseius orientalis Ehara were constructed at three different constant temperatures and one natural variable temperature. The intrinsic rate of natural increase (r m), net reproductive rate (R o) and the finite rate of increase (&lgr;) reached maximum values at the constant temperature of 25°C and 85% RH: r m= 0.3246, R 0 = 42.93 and &lgr; = 1.3835. At natural variable temperatures with an average of 26.2°C and 85%RH, its mean generation time (T) was the longest: T = 14.75. It was concluded that temperatures from 25°C to 26°C and relative humidity of 85% are the most suitable conditions for the mass-production of Amblyseius orientalis.


BACKGROUND
Cryptosporidium species infection causes malabsorption and serious diarrhea in immunocompromised hosts. Association of Yellow Nail Syndrome (YNS) and Cryptosporidiosis is rare and has not been reported to date. Immunity is also affected in this case as YNS is associated with autoimmune disorders.

CASE PRESENTATION
Here, we describe a case of persistent diarrhea in an 8 months old YNS patient. Modified ZiehlNeelsen staining and Saffranine-Methylene blue revealed oocyts of Cryptosporidium species. Following appropriate treatment, the patient's symptoms improved and discharged in a hemodynamically stable condition.

DISCUSSION
Cryptosporidiosis is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients. YNS per se as well as treatment including steroids leads to immunosuppression in individuals making them susceptible host for opportunistic infections like Cryptosporidiosis.

CONCLUSION
Clinicians should be aware of the condition and screen for Cryptosporidiosis in any immunocompromised patients with diarrheal symptoms, as parasitic infections like this are opportunistic in them.


We derive, by introducing restrictions to the lesser self energy, a Monte Carlo scheme that solves the NEGF equations for electron transport. In doing so we formally prove that the Monte Carlo estimator has an expectation value equal to the lead current of the NEGF solution, and we provide a simple test of the Monte Carlo scheme by calculating conductivity in nanowires within Buttiker's approximation of scattering. Good agreement between the Monte Carlo simulations and the alternative approaches are obtained, and we also demonstrate the existence of a regime where the Monte Carlo method is the fastest method. In our tests this regime is to extreme to be of practical use. We discuss various ways in which to speed up our prototype and how it can be extended to include more physics. Although the full applicability range of our assumptions about the lesser self energy remains to be better understood, we argue that they should apply as long as the transport process can be considered stationary.


Summary form only given. Reconfiguration is a very helpful feature that can improve the design life cycle of an embedded system and its quality. Reconfiguration means that software and hardware parts may be updated in the field. The update of system hardware implies the use of FPGAs in a shipped system. Normally, the update is done server controlled, which means that the active role comes from an external instance. We present a new automatic reconfiguration approach that stores all system configuration data in XML format. The system itself searches for the related components, a component broker, and sets up during start up. A case study shows that especially when dealing with permanently connected devices, we achieve promising results while spending a reasonable price.


A short treatment is given of quadratic matrix equations, which are important for various applications (see, e.g., the literature cited in [4]). Conditions for solvability are listed and solutions are characterized by generalizing and improving upon certain results of Potter [6] and Kucera [5]. A splitting theorem for solutions is proved.


Taking the reinforcement and increase of the bearing capacity of Laoyuanhe Bridge(rigid-frame arch) in Yichun of Jiangxi province as the example,the paper according to the diseases of the bridge and their reasons,and the calculation and analysis results of the bridge structure theory before the reinforcement,researches the internal force influence of the settlement effect at chord pivot on all the controlling points of the main arches of the rigid-frame arch,have reference and values to similar bridges.


As part of a high-resolution observational study of feeding and feedback processes occurring in the vicinity of the active galactic nucleus in 40 galaxies, we observed the inner 3${^{\prime\prime}_{.}}$5 × 5 arcsec of the nearby spiral and Seyfert 2 galaxy UGC 2024 with the integral field unit of the Gemini-South Telescope. The observations enabled a study of the stellar and gas kinematics in this region at a spatial resolution of 0${^{\prime\prime}_{.}}$5 (218 pc), and a spectral resolution of 36  km s−1 over the wavelength range 4100–7300 Å. For the strongest emission-lines (H β, [$\rm{O\,{\small III}}$] λ5007 Å, H α, [$\rm{N\,{\small II}}$] λ6584 Å, and [$\rm{S\,{\small II}}$] λλ6717,6731 Å) we derived maps of the flux, radial velocity, and velocity dispersion. The flux distribution and kinematics of the [$\rm{O\,{\small III}}$] emission line are roughly symmetric around the nucleus: the radial velocity is close to systemic over the full field of view. The kinematics of the other strong emission lines trace both this systemic velocity component, and ordered rotation (with kinematic centre 0${^{\prime\prime}_{.}}$2 north-west of the nucleus). The stellar continuum morphology and kinematics are, however, asymmetrical around the nucleus. We interpret these unusual kinematics as the superposition of a component of gas rotating in the galaxy disc plus a 'halo' component of highly ionized gas. This halo either traces a quasi-spherical fountain with average radial velocity 200 km s−1, in which case the total nuclear outflow mass and momentum are 2 × 105 M⊙ and 4 × 107 M⊙ km s−1, respectively, or a dispersion supported halo created by a past nuclear starburst.


The objective of this study was to evaluate the economic viability of feedlot finishing of crossbred zebu, fed diets with 40, 60 or 80% concentrate (dry matter basis), by financial indicators. A total of 30 animals with age and initial weight average of 26 months and 348 ± 32 kg, respectively, fed for 90 days and slaughtered at an average weight of 449 ± 40 kg. The experimental design was completely randomized with three treatments and ten replicates, proceeding to the regression analysis. There was a linear increase in the total cost per animal with increasing concentrate level, arising from differences in some items of variable cost, being the cost with forage feed reduced and feed concentrate, other and opportunities on invested capital increased with increase in the level of dietary concentrate. As for financial indicators, the concentrate levels of 40, 60 and 80% had similar (P> 0.05), being the average estimates of R$ -119.77 to gross margin, R$ -129.63 to net margin, from R$ -162.14 to profit, R$ -144.01 to net present value, rate of 0.8994 for the benefit:cost and -10.06% for additional return on investment. The estimates were -3.84% for the internal rate of return, rate of 0.1370 to minimum rate of attractiveness: internal rate of return and discounted payback of 5.58 months. The financial indicators showed economic infeasibility of feedlot finishing, a lower return and higher risk with increased as the level of concentrate. There was agreement between the values of the indicators used, showing its relevance in decision making.


In this paper, we propose a new hand gesture recognition scheme using hand poses captured from a web camera. The key idea of this scheme is to extract skin color from the background-subtracted image. To extract skin color, in the first phase, we subtract background by repeatedly comparing the stored initial frame with next frames. And then we eliminate noise using dynamic table. In the second phase, we exactly recognize hand gesture by extracting skin color from YC b C r color region.