The Wisconsin Personality Disorders Inventory (WISPI) is a self-report questionnaire derived from an interpersonal perspective on the DSM-III-R personality disorders. Internal consistency for 11 personality disorder scales was very high in a sample of 1230 normals and patients. Two-week test-retest reliability in 80 patients and nonpatients was also high. Interscale correlations were higher than desirable but were reduced by corrections for response bias. A clinician sort of WISPI items to DSM-III criteria and independent coding of items for interpersonal content indicated good validity vis-a-vis both frames of reference. Patients scored higher than nonpatients on most scales, and patients with current clinical diagnoses of any personality disorder scored higher than those with no Axis II disorders. Other indicators of concurrent validity were high to moderate correlations with Personality Disorders Questionnaire, MMPI Personality Disorder Scales, and Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory self-reports; and...


The common use of generic strategy typologies in strategic human resource management (SHRM), such as the typology proposed by Michael Porter (1980), is inaccurate and probably obsolete. SHRM research that examines the performance effects of human resource (HR) systems does not need to invoke the strategy construct in order to fulfill its goals. SHRM research that uses organizations' strategies to predict their HR practices or which explore the effects of fit between HR systems and strategies should use measures of strategic content which are well grounded in issues pertinent to their specific empirical contexts. Alternatively, SHRM research can embrace dynamic perspectives of strategy, which will shed light on how human resource systems become strategically valuable organizational capabilities. Alternatives to Generic Typologies in SHRM 4 It is fashionable to raise questions about the viability of Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) as a research field because, while the topic is provocative, the research stream has had mixed results. One of the most common complaints is that empirical studies lag far behind SHRM's theoretic underpinnings (e.g., Dyer and Reeves 1995). Such situations are common for complex topics, of course, where it can be easier to craft models than to test them. However, the extent to which SHRM's problems lie simply with designing better empirical tests may be overstated. There are important problems with the theoretic underpinnings of SHRM research that have contributed to significant shortcomings in empirical research, particularly in how the strategy construct has been used to achieve SHRM's goals. SHRM research usually attempts to 1) include human resource practices in performance models predicting organizational outcomes, often incorporating concepts of internal synergies across practices, 2) include organizational strategies in models predicting organizations' sets of human resource practices, and 3) to use the degree of fit between human resource practices and organizational strategy to predict organizational outcomes. In our view, a major conceptual problem within the SHRM field lies in its view of strategy as a summary of either the competitive environment or of organizations' strategic positioning within it. This has led SHRM researchers to use excessively simplistic generic typologies to operationalize strategy. Essentially, SHRM researchers have been looking Alternatives to Generic Typologies in SHRM 5 for simple independent variables which will neatly encapsulate the insights of the strategy field for inclusion in SHRM models. As we argue below, this approach is misleading both in general and in the particular typologies which are commonly used. To assume that a generic typology summarizes the range of insights from strategy is akin to researchers in the strategy field believing that they had captured the collective effects of a set of human resource practices with a single typology, such as the extent to which practices are "participative" or "inclusive." Human resource scholars would rightly object that such an approach could be inaccurate in its details and, more importantly, would ignore important viewpoints from the rest of what constitutes HR. Moreover, excessive use of a static, content-oriented typology could blind researchers to dynamic processes which could generate understanding of the causal mechanisms linking key constructs. THE GOALS OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF SHRM RESEARCH Part of this difficulty in SHRM is that researchers are using the term "strategic" to mean very different things. Some research under this label explores how human resource practices, such as selection mechanisms, training programs, and autonomous work teams, affect organization level performance outcomes. Research in this tradition is loosely synonymous with concerns about organizational performance, and the term strategic is presumably used because it relates to the strategic level of thinking within Alternatives to Generic Typologies in SHRM 6 organizations, i.e., the top executives and their concern with the bottom line. Recognition of the goals of capital-providing stakeholders, primarily through increased emphasis on bottom-line, financial performance, has been a major conceptual departure for researchers interested in employment relationships. This shift in emphasis is appropriate because management's power to shape the arena in which tactical maneuvering between management and labor occurs is impressive (Kochan, McKersie, and Cappelli 1984), and this power is usually aligned with the interests of capitalproviders. Pressures for HR and other corporate staffing functions to demonstrate the value of their contributions to the bottom-line became increasingly insistent in the era of intensified international competition that began in the 1980s (Dyer and Reeves 1995) and accelerated with the rise of strategic renewal movements such as total quality management (TQM) and reengineering, which took a systemic approach toward evaluating the worth of organizational activities. Similarly, all types of SHRM research focus on interlinked sets of HR policies and practices and their relationships with their broader organizational and competitive contexts, rather than on individual HR policies or practices. In contrast, the traditional approach toward measuring the performance impact of Human Resource Management (HRM), utility analysis, which only measures costs Alternatives to Generic Typologies in SHRM 7 and benefits within a single functional area within HRM, may be too narrow to address organizational performance questions (Hackman 1985). While adopting a systemic point of view, some performance-oriented SHRM research simply aims to demonstrate that HRM influences organizational performance (e.g., Koch and McGrath 1996) and does not require the strategy construct at all. Likewise, when practitioners use the SHRM label, they often mean approaches that reveal the bottom line impact of sets of human resource practices. A second use of the term "strategic" in SHRM applies to examining how organizations' strategic choices affect the evolution of their human resource practices. In the past, "strategic" thinking about choices in individual human resource practices usually meant little more than long-range planning, such as succession planning in a human resource development program. In contrast, SHRM researchers examine how the evolution of interlinked sets of human resource practices is influenced by organizational strategies and environmental contingencies. Strategy represents fundamental choices about organizational intentions and implies the capabilities and resources, including employees and human resource practices, needed to realize those intentions. Thus, it is often assumed that organizations' human resource practices should reflect their strategies. What SHRM scholars mean by an organization's strategy is a summary of its approach to managing its competitive environment. Also, by extension, SHRM scholars Alternatives to Generic Typologies in SHRM 8 tend to treat strategy as a summary of the selection pressures in an organization's competitive environment. In other words, SHRM scholars sometimes use strategy as a lens through which they can view the effects of organizations' competitive contexts on the contents of their sets of human resource practices. A third distinct use of the strategic label ties human resource practices to performance by examining the degree to which organizations' sets of human resource practices are matched to the requirements of their general strategies, a type of external fit argument. External fit is expected to amplify the effects of organizational strategies, whether these effects are positive or negative, though the positive interactions have received the most attention in SHRM literature. These arguments include configurational approaches, where similarity to a small set of theoretically predetermined optimal configurations of human resource policies and organizational strategies, such as those in Miles and Snow's generic strategy typology (Miles and Snow 1978), are expected to be associated with higher levels of performance. Both of these latter versions of SHRM explicitly use strategy in their models in the sense that researchers in other areas of management use it: to describe an organization level approach to competitive markets. SHRM theorists also argue that synergies (or internal fit) between human resource practices will positively enhance organizational outcomes, and supporting Alternatives to Generic Typologies in SHRM 9 evidence for this is beginning to emerge. Indeed, one of the most provocative emerging findings in current SHRM empirical research is that the impact of sets or "bundles" of interrelated HR practices can be distinctly greater than the additive impacts of the individual practices comprising the bundle (Arthur 1992; Huselid 1995; Ichniowski, Shaw, and Prennushi 1997; MacDuffie 1995)--i.e., that synergies among HR practices can exist. Synergy concepts have wide application in SHRM research. Along with systemic perspectives, a complementary interest in internal and external fit issues is a second defining characteristic of all kinds of SHRM research. Strategy is a complex construct, and SHRM researchers create unnecessary confusion when they do not clearly specify the type of strategy they are using. Moreover, confounding more than one type of strategy in a study's empirical and theoretic pieces is a hazard which can undermine the ability to make inferences, leading to theoretic conclusions which are not supported by the analysis. SHRM scholars need to be clear what they mean when they discuss strategy, beyond simply acknowledging the importance of human resource practices for organizational performance. Here, we can learn a lot from the strategy field's struggles with different conceptualizations of the strategy construct, especially in it


Brooke Spiegler syndrome is rare autosomal dominant hereditary disease with variable penetration. It is more common in females, usually in the second and third decades of life. The syndrome manifests with the appearance of three types of tumors: multiple cylindromas, trichoepitheliomas and spiradenomas. We presented a female patient, 54 years of age. The first changes occurred at the age of 22, first on the forehead and then on the scalp. She has a positive family history for this condition, obtained by anamnesis (mother, two sisters, brother and daughter). We presented a dermatologic status before and after surgical intervention. Pathohistological finding of the removed tumors: cylindroma. New surgical procedures are planned.


Hip resurfacing arthroplasty (HRA) is a bone conserving alternative to total hip arthroplasty. We present the early 1 and 2-year clinical and radiographical follow-up of a novel ceramic-on-ceramic (CoC) HRA in a multi-centric Australian cohort.Patient undergoing HRA between September 2018 and April 2021 were prospectively included. Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMS) in the form of the Forgotten Joint Score (FJS), HOOS Jr, WOMAC, Oxford Hip Score (OHS) and UCLA Activity Score were collected preoperatively and at 1- and 2-years post-operation. Serial radiographs were assessed for migration, component alignment, evidence of osteolysis/loosening and heterotopic ossification formation.209 patients were identified of which 106 reached 2-year follow-up. Of these, 187 completed PROMS at 1 year and 90 at 2 years. There was significant improvement in HOOS (p< 0.001) and OHS (p< 0.001) between the pre-operative, 1-year and 2-years outcomes. Patients also reported improved pain (p<0.001), function (p<0.001) and reduced stiffness (p<0.001) as measured by the WOMAC score. Patients had improved activity scores on the UCLA Active Score (p<0.001) with 53% reporting return to impact activity at 2 years. FJS at 1 and 2-years were not significantly different (p=0.38). There was no migration, osteolysis or loosening of any of the implants. The mean acetabular cup inclination angle was 41.3° and the femoral component shaft angle was 137°. No fractures were reported over the 2-year follow-up with only 1 patient reporting a sciatic nerve palsy.There was early return to impact activities in more than half our patients at 2 years with no early clinical or radiological complications related to the implant. Longer term follow-up with increased patient numbers are required to restore surgeon confidence in HRA and expand the use of this novel product.In conclusion, CoC resurfacing at 2-years post-operation demonstrate promising results with satisfactory outcomes in all recorded PROMS.


Magnesium ion is important in the body's electrolyte ions,which is the second abundant cation contents of cells within the human body. It has complex regulatory mechanism and plays an extremely important role in maintaining body metabolism and other physiological function. At present,we have found that it is involved in the role of more than 300 enzymes in the body,including enzymes Na+-K+-ATP enzymes,Ca2 +-ATP,and so on. So we use magnesium to regulate the activity of these enzymes in the clinic,and use it as a prevention and treatment of arrhythmia drug in many ways. But its standardized application remain to be further clarified. The application of magnesium ion in cardiac arrhythmias are as follows.


This paper describes a real-time multi face detection technique for color video sequences. A 3D rational skin color model and a positive-negative lines-of-face template are proposed to improve signal to noise ratio (SNR) in face detection. Steady state genetic algorithm (SSGA) is employed for lines-of-face detection from the entire image. Hardware architecture is optimized for high-speed operation and small hardware resources. An experimental system is developed in field programmable gate array (FPGA), with only 40 k gates for logic and 240 k gates for memory. It detects 6 faces in real-time (30fps:every 33 ms) from 320/spl times/240pixels (QVGA) color video sequences. Detection rate of 98% is achieved for 89 images including 205 faces from daily scenes.


Islamic bank has to perform well in order to deliver better return in compensating depositors money. This paper is conducted to identify the relative significance assigned to macroeconomics variables for maximizing depositor's opportunity. Furthermore, it becomes very necessary to have a prediction of future rate of return to get a clear picture in making deposit decision. This research uses some key macroeconomic variables such as; Jakarta Stock Indices (JSI), inflation rate (INFR), central banks interest rate certificate (INTR), exchange rate (ER), and money in circulation (MIC). Since these variables are characterized as nonlinearities time series data, Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) is employed using back propagation algorithm as learning algorithm. From observation resulted that central bank's interest rate certificate (INTR) and Money In Circulation (MIC) could be used as leading indicators to face the problem with 94.95% accuracy.


Scientific interest in poisoning by synthetic opioids, in particular Methadone, is due to a significant increase in their number in Kyiv over the past 15 years and fatal consequences.

The Aim of the Research. Is to identify the causes of fatal poisoning associated with methadone and to determine measures to prevent them.

Materials and Methods. A retrospective analysis of medical data of 1340 patients with Methadone poisoning who were treated at the Toxicology Center in Kyiv in the period 2005–2019; including 38 fatalities cases.

Results. The share of drug poisonings registered at the Kyiv Toxicology Center has increased from 15% to 42% over the past 30 years. The top five drugs and psychotropic substances in 2019 were Benzodiazepines, Methadone, Barbiturates, Amphetamines, and Marijuana. The number of Methadone poisonings in 2005–2014 increased 150 times. The main cause of poisoning is the use of illegal Methadone. There is a direct relationship between the growth of hospital mortality and the appearance of combined poisonings: Methadone-Ethanol (r = 0,79); Methadone-Ethanol-Amphetamines (r = 0,69); Methadone-Ethanol-Benzodiazepines (r = 0,61); Methadone-Ethanol-Cocaine (r = 0,43). According to the results of forensic medical studies of 38 patients who died as a result of Methadone poisoning, the following were identified: toxic hepato-nephropathy – 12 cases (31,57%); long-term soft tissue compression syndrome – 10 (26,31%); acute kidney damage – 4 (10,52%); aspiration of gastric contents – 7 (18,42%); apallic syndrome – 4 (10,52%). The direct effect of polymorbidity on mortality has been confirmed, which justifies the need for a personalized approach to intensive care.

Conclusions. Today in Ukraine, combined illegal methadone poisoning is the most common type of drug poisoning, which has a severe course, high mortality, and requires long and complex treatment.

Key Words: acute poisoning, methadone, combined poisoning, mortality.


In this short note we will present two stability properties of the Chernoff-Ou-Pan inequality, newly obtained in [6], which states that if K is a convex domain in the plane R2 with area a(K) , then one gets a(K) 1 k ∫ π k 0 ωk(θ )wk ( θ + π k ) dθ , where wk(θ ) is defined in [6] (see also §3 below), and the equality holds if and only if K is a circular disc. Mathematics subject classification (2010): 52A38,52A40.


An Ad-hoc network is a cooperative arrangement of the collection of mobile nodes without any centralized control. A central challenge in Ad-hoc networks is the design of routing protocols that can adapt its behavior with the frequent and rapid change in the network. The performance of the protocols varies with network characteristics and one protocol outperforms the other in some different network conditions. The optimal routing strategy is one that can adapt itself with the changing network topology and traffic pattern.This paper introduces DSDV based new proactive routing protocol. In this protocol the nodes only maintains information about their neighbors and neighbors-of-their-neighbor proactively. Each node stores only up to 2-hop nodes, thus reducing the total number of control traffic flowing in the network. When a node sends a packet to another node in the network, the neighbor node, which is closest to the destination, is selected to forward the packet.


1 Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy, 2 Department of Translational Medical Sciences and Center for Basic and Clinical Immunology Research (CISI), University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy, 3 Immunodeficiency Centre for Wales, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, United Kingdom, 4 Department of Immunology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil


An electrical conduction model was developed by understanding the microscopic conduction between the Ag flake particles and macroscale conduction explained by the percolation theory. The contact resistance between Ag flakes is mainly contributed by constriction resistance and tunneling resistance. The constriction resistance is controlled by the actual contact spot area (metallic contact), which is dependent on the contact force between flakes. The tunneling resistance is dependent on a barrier film thickness. Large contact pressures may cause a break of the tarnish or organic films on the flakes and induce new metallic contacts. The material hardness, pressure between particles and particle contact sizes are important parameters controling the contact resistance. Computer simulations were performed to predict the percolation threshold and particle size effects. Resistivities of the composites were calculated by resistor network simulations incorporating contact resistance and particle size distribution effects. The model predicts that the resistivity decrease with the stress developed during the cure process of the conductive adhesives and with broad particle size distributions.


We studied the beam dynamic behavior of the RF power coupler of the TESLA superconducting cavities. It is found that the transverse RF kick is not negligible. A transverse beam wandering of 1 to 2 mm was predicted and subsequently observed on the TESLA Test Facility. Two proposals are presented to reduce the kicks.


Recently, the detailed experimental data about the unidirectional filling of high density polythene in a uniformly elongated flat cavity by Amano (1971) became available. In the present study, the filling length, Λ, or the linear rate of filling, V(≡dΛ/dt), has been related to the filling time, t, by a scheme similar to that proposed by Shibayama (1971) originally for the processes involving amorphous thermoplastics.The present scheme assumes, along with several other assumptions, YU/Y=Υexp(-mEtU/tE) over a small segment of the cavity, where YU is half the thickness of the molten layer and plays the role of YII (that of the flowing layer) in the original scheme, and Y is half the thickness of the cavity. tU is the time measured from the instant when the flow front passed the segment. Υ, mE and tE are constants. In the outset of the filling, the rate stays higher than predicted, perhaps owing to the constant-rate behavior of the hydraulic system during this period. This condition is different from the constant-pressure one assumed in the prediction. The rate approaches gradually to the prediction. A small discrepancy between the measured and the predicted is possibly due to the errors in fitting a curve to the Λ-t data and in differentiation. Also the applicability of other scheme by Grinblet (1970) has been tested.


Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine technique using short-lived positron emitters such as 15O, 13N, 11C and 18F. PET can measure quantitatively tissue metabolism in living humans. Then, PET can be one of the best technique for the visualization of human brain function. Using PET, we can visualize and quantify blood flow, glucose (energy) metabolism and neuroreceptor binding of the human brain. For that purposes, 15O-labeled water, 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose and 11C or 18F-labeled receptor ligand are used.One of the applications of PET for brain research is a functional mapping of the human brain. Changes of cerebral blood flow is measured under physiological conditions or some sensory or behavioral task and then we can localize areas responsible for the specific function. As examples of this approach, motor control of hand movement and sensation and discrimination of salty taste will be introduced. As examples of neuroreceptor studies, visualization and quantification of dopamine receptor will be also introduced.


Examines the legal policy of the Russian state in support of the family. Examines crime against minors and families. We investigate domestic criminal law in the protection of the rights and freedoms of man and citizen.


The chitosan conduct a kind of biomaterial has an extensive application.The application in the medicine,the biochemistry,material,liquid waste processing,food,the agriculture herding industry and cosmetic etc.has been reviewed.


To many physicists, "Tsallis entropy" has been a revolution in statistical mechanics. To others, it is merely a useful fitting technique. Jon Cartwright tries to make sense of this world of disorder.


The invention relates to a long-acting emulsion-type antirust fluid used for metal rust prevention. Every 100 parts of the antirust fluid include the following components according to parts by weight: 3-15 oil soluble surfactant, 1-10 alcohol ether type couplant, 1-10 oily-type rust preventive and the balance base oil, wherein the oil soluble surfactant is any one of petroleum sodium sulfonate with molecular weight ranging from 300 to 800, sodium heavy alkylbenzene sulfonate and sodium sulfanilate, the alcohol ether type couplant is any one of ethyl alcohol, ethyl ether, butyl ether, diethylene glycol monobutyl ether, diethylene glycol propyl ether, butyl glycol ether and ethylene glycol propyl ether, the oily-type rust preventive is any one of barium petroleum sulfonate, dinonyl naphthalenesulfonic acid barium salt and barium soap of petroleum ester oxide, and the base oil is any one of cycloalkyl base oil and paraffin base oil. The long-acting emulsion-type antirust fluid has the advantages of meeting the demands of short-term rust prevention of metal and having lower using cost.


The following annotated bibliography of materials on orienting users to libraries and on instructing them in the use of reference and other resources covers publications from 1981. A few items from 1980 have been included because information about them was not available in time for the 1980 listing. A few items have not been annotated because the compiler was unable to secure copies of these items.


A technological breakthrough is occurring dramatic change of leadership development. Instant download, television quality, audio-video transmission are commonly available to leaders around the world. People are connected, synchronously and asynchronously through both wired and wireless networks. There is a challenge to introduce the areas that can be positive important, but also an obstacle. We have to identify how the design, selection and usage rapidly changing technologies affect leader's relationship, communication process, trust and interactivity among team members.


We consider semilinear parabolic equations with nonlinear boundary conditions. We give conditions which guarantee global existence of solutions as well as blow-up in finite time of all solutions with nontrivial initial data. The results depend on the behavior of variable coefficients as $t \to \infty.$


Mo5Si3 particle reinforced Si3N4 matrix composite was fabricated by sintering molybdenum solutioninfiltrated porous Si3N4, and the microstructure, mechanical properties, sliding wear and microtribological behaviors of 2.8 massMo5Si3Si3N4 composite were studied. Because the grain boundary glass phases protruded from the surface approximately few nanometers compared with the Si3N4 grain after polishing, the grain boundary phases contacted with the sliding pair and failed earlier than the Si3N4 grains during the sliding wear. The failures of the grain boundary phases decreased the bonding of the Si3N4 grains, and accelerated the failure of Si3N4 grains. The severe failure of grain boundary phases indicated that the wear of the Si3N4 composite mainly depend on the grain boundary. By incorporating the Mo5Si3 particle to the grain boundary phases of Si3N4, not only the mechanical properties, but also the wear behaviors were improved. The friction coefficient and the wear rate of the Mo5Si3Si3N4 composite were 0.52, 8.9×10-9 mm2/N, respectively, under dry condition, both values ~15 lower than those for the normal sintered Si3N4. The microtribological behavior of Mo5Si3Si3N4 composite was evaluated using the friction force microscope, and the results indicated that the friction coefficient of Mo5Si3 was about 0.34~0.47, lower than that of the Si3N4 grain. Mo5Si3 particle showed the lower friction resistance, and exhibited the selflubricant behavior during the sliding wear.


PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a detergent composition enabling a component made of a tin-containing alloy to be subjected to water-based washing without causing discoloration caused by oxidation, attachment of nitrogen-based heterocyclic compound, or the like when the component is washed; and to provide a washing method by using the detergent composition. SOLUTION: The detergent composition for the component made of the tin-containing alloy contains (A) an organic carboxylic acid salt, (B) the nitrogen-based heterocyclic compound and (C) an organic solvent as active ingredients. The washing method involves washing the component made of the tin-containing alloy by using the detergent. COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI


A method and device for recognizing a user behavior, so as to recognize a malicious behavior more efficiently and accurately. The method comprises: acquiring an access behavior of a terminal in a preset time sliding window (101); evaluating the access behavior in the time sliding window according to the access behavior in the time sliding window (102); and determining whether the access behavior of the terminal is a malicious access according to the evaluation result (103).


Following my arrival in Taiwan yesterday afternoon (June 9, 2005), I'm writing this column from my faculty guest room at the National Taipei College of Nursing, "home sweet home" for the next 2 mon...


Two-phase loop system using the latent heat capacity of their working fluids can meet the increasing power requirements and are well suited to thermal management systems of future large applications, due to its abilities to handle large heat loads and to provide them at uniform temperatures regardless of the changes in the heat loads. Therefore some experiments on the effect of the gas and liquid superficial velocities, jG, jL on flow pattern transition, The fraction and frictional pressure loss were performed on a co-current air-water flow in an adiabatic horizontal tube. The flow patterns were depended on the superficial velocity of each phase. It showed that the increasing jL resulted in a significant increase in the frictional pressure loss for all flow patterns, at a constant jG. The experimental results were also evaluated with some of existing models and correlations.


Validity of high-stakes examination scores involves collecting and organizing evidence to support a specific test score interpretation or use in some specific context. A primary type of validity evidence derives from the item development process and item responses. An ideal process is identified that documents how items are developed and how responses to the items are studied to ensure that the basic building blocks of tests, test items, are sound. This ideal process includes both qualitative and quantitative forms of evidence. A checklist is provided to help high-stakes examination developers assess the types and quality of item-level validity evidence required in validation.


Generating self-adjusting multiscale models is necessary to analyze the complex behavior of biomolecular systems in an accurate, yet timely manner. The model transitions are achieved by effectively imposing or releasing certain systems constraints from a fine scale model to a reduced order model or vice versa. In the process of model reduction of such molecular systems, naturally existing higher modes are frozen out in the modeling because the internal metric had previously indicated these modes of motion as less relevant. In the transition from a coarse model back to a finer one, the appropriate amount of energy must be put back to the system. Herein, the non-uniqueness or even the presence of infinite number of solutions in this transition is addressed. Optimization and non-optimization methods are proposed to arrive at the finite number of solutions.Copyright © 2009 by ASME


MARITAL discord seldom if ever descends as a bolt from the blue upon a family in response to uncontrollable external factors and circumstances. Instead it emerges from within the family relationships as a natural and sometimes inevitable outgrowth of needs which each individual has brought to the marital situation. Chance circumstance appropriately timed may serve as a precipitating or reinforcing factor, that is, may intensify or bring to the surface discords which might otherwise have remained relatively dormant or negligible. In helping people in the area of marital discord, therefore, the social worker's services, focused upon the relief of adverse circumstances, may ease the marital relationship in some instances. Once the discord has occurred, however, needs and conflicts of basic import have been activated and expressed so that the relationship may be no longer the same as formerly, nor may it be easily restored through dealing merely with circumstantial factors; for example: Mrs. L., age twenty-nine, an overburdened mother and wife, has had four children in seven years and is again pregnant. Today, as she applies to a private family agency for relief, she complains about her nagging husband, who demands his meals on time, who criticizes her housekeeping, and who recently has been withholding money with accusations of her poor management. Lately, also, he has been seeking recreation outside the home, hobnobbing with fellowworkers and spending on himself. As she tells her story it is clear that she feels unjustly treated, for she maintains that she is managing as well as she can with all her burdens and an income which has been decreasing as the family has increased. "I have all the work and no fun You would think the children were all mine—not his—the way he blames me for the work and expense they make" were complaints she made. She also brought out that he has changed. "He didn't use to be that way." She described a happy first two years of marriage when he was regularly employed, when the income was adequate, when she could keep a good house and they had time and money for recreation to-


This paper presents the preliminary findings of a study conducted with pre-service special education elementary teachers taking the graduate level course Integrating Technology in Mathematics and Science Instruction in Special Education and Inclusive Classrooms in a New York City public college. The purpose of this exploratory study was to analyze a) whether the TPACK-based course affects basic domains of pre-service special education elementary teachers' knowledge: TK - technological knowledge, PK - pedagogical knowledge, and CK - content knowledge in Math and Science, and b) how does the course affect teachers' Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK). A single group pre- post-test design was used to answer the research questions. The paired sample t-test indicated preliminary findings show significant gain in teachers' TPACK, however, there were no significant changes in PK, TK, and CK. These results suggest that the basic domains of the TPACK framework are independent of TPACK domains.


The present research entitled Coaching program in the management of the human talent of the teachers in the Educational Institution Santa Anita Huaral 2016. Its general objective was to determine the influence of the coaching program in the management of the human talent of the teachers of the Santa Anita Educational Institution Huaral, 2016. This investigation was carried out within the quantitative approach; the type was applied, quasi-experimental design. The study population was 30 teachers from the Santa Anita Educational Institution,, where it was sought to demonstrate that coaching influences the management of human talent, for the collection of data in the variable human talent management the survey technique was applied and instrument the questionnaire of a polytomic scale and its reliability of Alfa Cronbach (0.726), the validity of the instruments was provided by two thematic and a methodologist who agree in determining which instruments are applicable, to measure program coaching in the management of human talent of Teachers at the Santa Anita Educational Institution Huaral 2016. The results obtained after the processing and analysis of the data indicate that: the coaching program has a positive influence on the management of the human talent of the teachers of the Santa Anita Huaral Educational Institution 2016. This is demonstrated by the U de Mann test Whitney 0.000 (p-value = 0.000 <.05).


Undernutrition is complex, with interacting factors that both precipitate or exacerbate each other, leading to a vicious cycle in which the patient's condition spirals downwards. This chapter aims to discuss the broad range of complications that can arise from undernutrition with or without disease. Some of the common clinical consequences of undernutrition are shown in Box 1.5.1. However, many of these are also implicated in the causes of undernutrition. This means it is difficult to find clear evidence of causal relationships between undernutrition and these listed consequences. Most evidence is observational or epidemiological, so although associations may be established, it can be difficult to untangle which event came first. In addition, it is difficult to ascertain the effect of different nutrients from one another; vitamins and minerals play a role alongside macronutrients. To prove cause and effect, intervention trials are required, of which there are few. However, a range of studies have provided evidence of a link between poor outcomes and undernutrition. There are several recent systematic reviews of disease‐related undernutrition and nutrition support, and although nutrition interventions improve energy and protein intake, and body weight, the data remain equivocal on clinical and functional outcomes such as physical function, gastrointestinal function, wound healing, complications, length of stay and mortality [1,2]. Observational data suggest associations between undernutrition and these outcomes but the evidence is insufficient to demonstrate causality [3]. Undernutrition may simply be a marker of the severity of disease. There is a consensus that large‐scale, well‐designed randomised intervention studies able to clarify these issues need to be carried out. Other systematic reviews in specific patient groups (such as hip fracture and liver transplant patients) have found low‐quality evidence for the use of nutrition support in reducing unfavourable outcomes such as complications and mortality [4,5]. Evidence from starvation studies quantifies the effects of undernutrition on the human body. Periods of famine and acts of hunger strike have provided further insight into the mechanisms associated with prolonged fasting. Keys' Minnesota experiments created a model of semi‐ starvation, allowing researchers to study the processes and consequences of weight loss in a controlled environment [6]. In Keys' study, 32 lean male participants lost an average of 25% body weight over 24 weeks, following a diet designed to produce a deficit of approximately 1 kg per week. Total abstinence from food has generated more acute weight losses, with 18% body weight loss seen over a 43‐day period in eight Brazilian prisoners on hunger strike [7] and at 60 days the average weight loss was 38% in 30 Irish hunger strikers [8]. Keys proposed Consequences of undernutrition Mary Hickson1 and Anna Julian2 Plymouth University Institute of Health and Community, Peninsula Alllied Health Centre, Plymouth, UK Nutrition and Dietetic Research Group Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK Chapter 1.5


An overview of results obtained in the Combustion Model Evaluation research program is presented. The characteristics of a bluff body research combustor used in this program are described. Data obtained with a laser Doppler anemometer system and a coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering system are presented. These results and those obtained with conventional probe devices and flow visualization techniques are compared to both time averaged and time dependent calculations of the near wake region of the bluff body flow field. The results of computer model experiments of the flow field for different diameter bluff bodies are also presented.


A historical dictionary is a dictionary which deals with the detailed history of words since their first appearance in language as well as the evolution of their meaning and use throughout history. To create such a dictionary, we are bound to follow many steps. As part of these steps, the extracting of the appropriate meaning of a given word occurring in a given context, named also word sense disambiguation (WSD). This article proposes a word embedding based method to solve the problem of WSD. The main idea is to exploit vectors as word representations in a multidimensional space in order to capture the semantic and syntactic properties of words. The experiments show that the proposed system achieved an accuracy of 78%.


Categorial Grammar is a collection of papers more or less closely related to the topic which the title suggests. It includes a few historical papers which are milestones in the history of categorial grammar. Most of the remaining papers deal with the mathematical aspects of categorial grammar formalisms. Among these are several ones which are worth reading for logicians and computational linguists. In spite of one of the interpretations which the titel of "categorial grammar" allows for, the volume does not contain more recent contributions concerning the use of categorial grammar as a formalism to describe natural language syntax.


A specific class of poly(ethylene-co-methacrylic acid) copolymers and ionomers (EMAA) possesses a unique ability to instantly self-heal following ballistic projectile puncture. The present study has comprehensively explored the relationship between ionic content, morphology and the self-healing property response to high energy impact, using a range of EMAA copolymers which vary from non-ionic to highly neutralized. DSC, DMA, FTIR and rheological methods were used to understand the thermal, rheological, chemical and microstructural responses which can occur during temperature variations experienced during high energy impact. Ballistic puncture testing probed the self-healing response over a wide range of temperatures, from −50 °C to 140 °C, allowing the production of a self-healing "phase-style diagram" identifying regions of self-healing success or failure as a function of ionic content and impact temperature. Moderate ionic content proved the most beneficial to healing for tests below the order–disorder transition (Ti = 40 °C); while above and into the melt (Tm = 90 °C) healing improved with increasing ionic content. Finally, a previously established, instrumented non-ballistic puncture method was used to record the tensile forces and displacements during a simulated puncture experiment allowing delineation of elastic vs. elastomeric (flow) properties as a function of ionic content. Overall, the relative mobility and strength of the associative regions whether arising from hydrogen bonding in the case of the non-ionic species, or ionic association in the case of the neutralized ionomers, was demonstrated to control the self-healing performance when subjected to high energy impact.


Starting with the observation that the beginning of the European Enlightenment coincided with the military defeat of Ottoman armies that threatened Central Europe and with the Western colonial expansion into Muslim territories, the introduction reviews how earlier generations of Western scholars have thought about philosophy in Islam. The earliest academic studies of philosophy in Islam were dominated by the Hegelian assumption of a Weltgeist that moved from Greece to Western Europe. It assumed that the philosophical tradition ended in Islam the moment it was passed unto Western Europe during the 12th century. Yielding a strong influence on the study of Islamic philosophy during the 19th and 20th centuries, this idea also determined the widespread conviction that books like al-Ghazali's (d. 1111) Precipitance of the Philosophers (Tahafut al-falasifa) are not works of philosophy, rather they are directed against it. The introduction suggests to accept these works as books of philosophy and to draw the full consequences of that insight. It means that many books of philosophy were written in Islam after the 12th century, of which a certain kind is the subject of this study.


This paper presented an approach that uses a combination of neural network classifiers is applied to human face recognition. but for rapid extraction of features, we present Regional Feature Extraction for Rapid Recognition . In this way for system composed of several separate networks, we can reduce a nominal time for Training the Networks. Decomposing the complex problem into sub-problems for solving them by a binary base classifier is also presented. Each of that learns to recognize a subject of the complete set of training database. Combining the results of sub-problems with max rule accomplished to achieve better performance. The recognition rate of 100% -and fast- for ORL database was obtained using the mentioned devised algorithm.


The present paper aims to present a parametrical analysis from polygonal tubes under dynamical compressive loads, representing an impact collision between a barrier and an impact absorber. The finite element simulations are performed for quadrilateral and hexagonal cross sections, considering solid standard tubes as well as tubes with openings in their side walls, the so called windowed tubes. The parametric analysis asses the total absorbed energy, the specific energy absorbed (SEA) in addition to the initial peak load. Keywords—impact loading, dynamical analysis, FE simulation, polygonal tubes, energy absorption


It is of great significance for safe driving to study drivers' eye movement and driving operation behavior when they encounter other road users violating traffic rules. The underlying reason is that most drivers are unable to process the unexpected visual stimulation, which is more likely to lead to driving accidents, especially in a hybrid situation. In this study, a driving simulator is used to design driving scenarios and study the driving performance of drivers with different driving experiences when other road users violate traffic rules. The experimental results show that some novice drivers ignore the position of their own vehicle when they encounter traffic violations which will lead to the collision with other road users. Moreover, some novice drivers can only perform one of the operations between steering and braking to avoid collision in these emergent situations. They cannot reasonably combine braking and steering to complete emergency driving operations like experienced drivers. Finally, when the driving difficulty increases, experienced drivers spend less time looking and more time scanning their surroundings to ensure that they can cope with the more complex driving environment while novice drivers do the opposite. This study reveals the difference between novices and experienced drivers, which paves a useful reference for the future advanced driving assistance system.


a Manifesto" by Michael Beard illustrates the significance of showing war stories neutrally in news media, maps, and eyewitness accounts rather than telling or judging them. While the entire book intends to give the lie to the propagandist narratives of the Iran–Iraq War, section two of the book most crucially brings to light the importance of neutrality in constructingwartime narratives. Interlacing propagandist productionswith non-partisan ones, the contributors disclose the sites of silence and the grey areas. Even so, no collection about cultural responses to the Iran–Iraq War can cover every silenced voice and site. Whereas the book includes women's and minorities' participation in the war in various chapters—for example, Mardin Aminpour's chapter addresses the participation of the IranianKurdish population in thewar—the perspective of women and other religious or ethnic minorities is understated in this volume. Further research in these areas would add nuance to our understanding of this war and its treatment in art, film, and literature. In addition, while the book does justice to discussing the two paradoxical war narratives—the government sponsored and the silenced—various chapters have overlapping material, themes, and arguments. Perhaps a reduction in these redundancies could have left more room for other lines of discussion. Yet,Moments of Silence is a valuable historical, ethnographic, literary, visual, and cultural source. While the book will be of significant interest to scholars of Iranian andMiddle Eastern studies, itwill also be of interest to specialists of law, anthropology, sociology, political science, and human rights studies. This book should be adopted in social sciences and humanities courses dealing with the wars within the Middle East and the conflicts with the West.


While cilia are generally found in viscosity-dominated regimes, those of a comb jelly, the longest motile cilia in nature, are used for propulsion and feeding in inertia-dominated flows. Motivated by the effective fluid transport of cilia at relatively high Reynolds number, the characteristics of vortex formation and fluid transport are investigated numerically for a simple two-dimensional model of rigid plates in Re = O(10 − 102). The small plates oscillate symmetrically on both walls of a channel. Under some conditions, the vortical structures generated by the plates become asymmetric notably with respect to the channel midline. In relatively narrow channels, the interaction of counter-rotating vortices shed directly from the plates near the midline causes symmetry breaking, and thus the mixing of fluid particles across the midline is enhanced greatly. Meanwhile, in relatively wide channels, the diffused weak vortices that persist after previous strokes become asymmetric first. When the number of oscillating plates on each wall increases, the vortex generated by a plate is confined between two plates, and it is annihilated by the counter-rotating vortex generated by a neighbor plate during stroke reversal, thereby keeping them from propagating toward the midline. This collective motion of multiple plates hinders the vortices from undergoing symmetry breaking even at the relatively high Reynolds number of Re = 200, and mixing is suppressed accordingly.


The utility model discloses an internal fixing steel needle which is composed of a needle body. The internal fixing steel needle is characterized in that both ends of the needle body are respectively provided with fixing holes. After the patella is fractured, the internal fixing steel needle is used for firmly fixing the patella. The internal fixing steel needle has the advantages of difficult slide and simple operation.


In the context of takeovers, this paper examines the trading behavior of investors around a salient reference point, the 52-week high, and its effect on asset prices. Using a large sample of institutional trade-level data the paper documents a 50% increase in institutional investor exit at the announcement date for offer prices exceeding the 52week high. The increased selling pressure leads to significant stock price underreaction and explains a large part of the returns in risk arbitrage. A risk arbitrage strategy exploiting the underreaction generates annual alphas of up to 11.9% with a sharpe ratio of 1.63 in the US and in a large sample of over 7000 international takeover transactions. Consistent with limits to arbitrage, the trading strategy's profits vary negatively with the available capital in the arbitrage sector. I rule out several alternative explanations for my results and finally, using trading costs estimated from institutional trade-level data and a parametric portfolio policy approach, the paper demonstrates the economic significance of the effect controlling for other behavioral and rational return predictors in risk arbitrage. ∗I thank Francesco Franzoni, Eric Nowak and Alberto Plazzi for helpful discussions and suggestions and Carlo Sommavilla for his precious help with the Ancerno Data. †University of Lugano, Institute of Finance. Email: email@example.com


Type of funding sources: None.

 Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging can identify the underlying substrate in patients with ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) and normal echocardiography. Myocardial strain has emerged as a superior index of systolic performance compared to ejection fraction (EF), with an incremental prognostic value in many cardiac diseases.

 To assess myocardial deformation using 2-D feature-tracking CMR strain imaging (CMR-FT) in patients with frequent VAs (≥500 ventricular premature contractions (VPC)/24 hours; and/or non-sustained ventricular tachycardia), and structurally normal hearts on echocardiography without evidence of coronary artery disease.

 Sixty-eight consecutive patients (mean age 46 ± 16 years; 54% female) and 72 healthy controls matched for age and body surface area were included in the study. CMR imaging was performed on a 1.5T Magnetom Avanto (Siemens, Erlangen, Germany) scanner using a standard cardiac protocol.

 CMR showed normal findings in 30 patients (44%), while 16 (24%) had previous myocarditis, 6 (9%) had a diagnosis of non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy (NICM), 15 (22%) were diagnosed with VPC-related cardiomyopathy, and 1 patient had subendocardial infarction [excluded from strain analysis]. Mean left ventricular EF (LVEF) in patients was 62% ± 6% and right ventricular EF 64% ± 6% (vs. 65% ± 3% and 66% ± 4% in controls, respectively). Compared to control subjects, patients with VAs had impaired peak LV global radial strain (GRS) (28.88% [IQR: 25.87% to 33.97%] vs. 36.65% [IQR:33.19% to 40.2%], p < 0.001) and global circumferential strain (GCS) (-17.73% [IQR: -19.8% to -16.33%] vs. -20.66% [IQR: -21.72% to -19.6%], p < 0.001, Panel A). Peak LV GRS could differentiate patients with previous myocarditis from patients with NICM and those with VPC-related cardiomyopathy (Panel B). Peak LV GCS could differentiate patients with previous myocarditis from patients with NICM (Panel C). Peak LV GRS showed excellent diagnostic accuracy in detecting patients from control subjects (Panel D). In a multivariable regression model, subjects with a low GRS (<29.91%-determined by the Youden's index) had 5-fold higher odds of having VAs (OR:4.99 [95%CI: 1.2-21.95]), after adjusting for LVEF, LV end-diastolic volume index, age, sex, BMI, smoking, hypertension, and dyslipidaemia. Peak LV global longitudinal strain (GLS) and RV strain indices were not statistically different between patients and controls.

 Peak LV GRS and GCS are impaired in patients with frequent idiopathic VAs and can detect myocardial contractile dysfunction in patients with different underlying substrates. Our findings suggest that LV strain indices on CMR-FT constitute independent markers of myocardial dysfunction on top and independently of EF.
 Abstract Figure.


This project explores the experiences associated with infertility in Ireland in the early twenty-first century. An inability to conceive produces human dilemmas, challenges to notions of self and identity, and crises of faith in religion, science and nature. In Ireland, reproduction has been part of a complex of social, religious, and family politics that incorporates assumptions about womanhood as synonymous with motherhood and essential gender roles. This project locates the meaning of reproduction and fertility in relation to people's perceptions of a changing social climate in which the politics of reproduction is negotiated. It has been my contention throughout, that a study of the meaning of reproduction, from the point of view of people who have faced challenges in conceiving children, is a critical source of information about Irish social, cultural and political life. -- This research was conducted at a point in time when the state was grappling with the need to regulate assisted reproduction technologies (ART). In the wake of a decline in the moral authority of the Catholic Church in Ireland, this project shows how people negotiate moral and ethical uncertainties by incorporating aspects of religion, medicine, nature and science in their decisions about in vitro fertilization, gamete donation and embryo freezing. Through the lens of infertility the research portrays the very real dilemmas that emerge from inconsistencies and contradictions in attempts to define, categorically, the place of nature in reproductive decision-making. I also explore the politics of choice in relation to adoption and potential childlessness. -- This project employs infertility experiences to challenge the determinism of the reproductive body, deconstructing the meanings of gender and sex that are consolidated in rigid definitions of procreation as heterosexual. Through the use of narratives and interview- based research I show how such rigidities, essentialisms and gender identities are contested and affirmed in light of current social and political conditions. I combine a feminist poststructuralist approach with an emphasis on embodiment, focusing on the meanings associated with an identity of motherhood and the rigidity with which it is linked to biological conception and birth. -- The project aims for an ethnographic empathy that conveys the complexity in people's lives where infertility experiences simultaneously contest, contradict and reaffirm the dominant meanings of procreation from biological, medical, social and religious viewpoints.


In this paper, we classify the velocity as Galilean and relative. The Galilean velocity can have any value between 0 and ∞ as in Newtonian/classical mechanics, whereas, the relative velocity follows Lorentz – Einstein (L-E) transformation law for addition and cannot exceed the speed of light c. We present the transformation law from Galilean to relative velocity and vise versa. We consider that the velocity in the relativity factor of non-Einsteinian relativistic case is Galilean, since it does not put any restriction on any particle's velocity being equal to or greater than that of light. On the other hand, using the relativistic multiplication rule of velocities, we demonstrate that the velocity in the relativity factor of Einsteinian relativistic case is relative. Hence, it will remain within the limit of c, even if the corresponding Galilean velocity is much higher than c. We believe that CERN scientists have measured the Galilean velocity of neutrino being slightly higher than c. We demonstrate that the transverse relative mass of neutrino traveling at that speed remains finite in both views of relativity. Thus, in this paper, the dilemma concerning neutrinos traveling faster than light has been resolved.


Date Author Mirjam Juvonen Degree programme International Business Report/thesis title B-to-C Digital Marketing Plan for ONAR Studios Number of pages and appendix pages 38 + 16 Traditional marketing methods are losing their impact in this continuously more digital world. Most customers are online and businesses need to be there, too. Through a creative plan for digital marketing, businesses can gain an advantage over their competitors, which is highly needed especially in the extremely competitive fashion industry. The objective of this product-based thesis is to create a B-to-C digital marketing plan for the case company, ONAR Studios, a small Finnish fashion brand. By creating the plan, the aim is to increase the visibility of the brand and its sales. The outcome of this thesis is an action plan in the form of a handbook. A theory framework for digital marketing was conducted as secondary research and consists of three key elements: the platforms for digital marketing, the use of content marketing, engage customers, and the role of search engine optimization in marketing. The unifying element here is the content that plays a part in each stage of the theory. Chapter three studies how digital marketing affects the fashion business. The chapter also includes interesting companies for benchmarking that have been doing creative digital marketing and are successfully using various digital platforms. The digital marketing plan was created by using PR Smith's SOSTAC marketing planning model, which consists of first establishing the situation and the objectives, followed by strategy, tactics and actions and finally followed by control measures after a given period of an ongoing plan.


body weight: 50 kg+2.3 kg/each inch >5 feet=78 kg), was admitted with a diagnosis of cellulitis of the left leg and possible osteomyelitis of the medial toes of the left foot. Past medical history included hypertension, type II diabetes, diabetic neuropathy, and iron-deficiency anemia. A fundoscopic examination after admission revealed the presence of inflammation and hemorrhage probably representing sequelae from hypertensive/diabetic disease. The ulcers had been treated with oral antibiotics on an outpatient basis but had become refractory to therapy. The purpose of this admission was to begin treatment with intravenous antibiotics and to consider surgical management, including amputation, if the antibiotics did not produce a satisfactory outcome. An X-ray of the left foot on admission revealed a possible area of cortical degeneration at the second toe of the left foot that was presumptive of osteomyelitis. The patient was started empirically on a regimen of iv nafcillin and gentamicin pending results of the ulcer culture and sensitivity, which subsequently revealed the presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and beta-hemolytic streptococcus. Based on the sensitivity results, ceftazidime was added to the regimen and the aminoglycoside was changed to tobramycin. After ten days of aminoglycoside therapy, pharmacy was consulted and asked to design a regimen that would increase tobramycin peak levels without a corresponding increase in trough levels. A dosing regimen was individualized to the patient based on pharmacokinetic data derived from serum concentrations of tobramycin. A computer program, described elsewhere,7•8 was used to design the regimen based on the assumption of a one-compartment model and firstorder kinetics. An increased tobramycin elimination half-life was noted and dose adjustment to 240 mg q24h was used to produce a tobramycin peak of 5 mg/mL and trough of 1.5 mg/mL. The patient responded to this regimen favorably and it was continued for two weeks. At that time the dosing interval was changed to 36 hours due to rising trough values. The continued progress of the patient obviated further increases in peak concentrations. This regimen was maintained for the next ten days at which time the patient was discharged. A serum creatinine concentration obtained prior to discharge was similar to those during the patient's stay in spite of the prolonged aminoglycoside therapy of 34 days. Follow up-serum creatinine concentrations after discharge were not available. Although bedside surgical debridement was performed on this patient, amputation was unnecessary and the ulcers had completely healed at discharge. The patient was treated with oral ciproftoxacin upon discharge as a precautionary measure to minimize chances of relapse. The case described in this report represented an unusual challenge in designing an appropriate aminoglycoside dosing regimen due to the combination of such factors as morbid obesity and impaired renal function, both of which may affect kinetic parameters. The probable presence of osteomyelitis with the potential for amputation of the affected limb necessitated maintaining therapeutic serum concentrations throughout the course of therapy. Individualizing the dosing regimen based on the patient's pharmacokinetic data was necessary throughout the prolonged course of therapy.


. The article considers the methodology of demonstrating complex spelling and speech work in the subject "Russian language", in particular dictations and written reproductions with a debatable continuation of the original text. Originality, volume and subject matters of debatable statements on the source texts are foregrounded. The study takes a Russian-language translation of the Chinese folk tale "The Pledge" as a textual didactic material. The modern rendition of this old folk tale involves a debatable interpretation of its content and main idea. Going


Background: Antipseudomonal agent (APA) therapy is recommended for certain patients with non-Hospital acquired pneumonia (non-HAP). However, evidence of the initial use efficacy of APA is lacking and randomized controlled trials are difficult because of ethical restraints. Objectives: To clarify the difference in mortality between pneumonia patients who underwent initial APA therapy and those who did not, we conducted a retrospective cohort analysis using propensity scores. Methods: All non-HAP patients admitted to our hospital from April 2007 to June 2012 were eligible for this study. We calculated the propensity score using 69 potential confounding variables. The primary outcome was defined as the 30-day mortality of non-HAP patients and the secondary outcome as 30-day mortality for healthcare-associated pneumonia (HCAP) patients. Using the inverse probability of treatment weights, we estimated mortality in non-HAP patients using the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) method. For HCAP patients, we used the ATT and average treatment effect (ATE) methods. Results: A total of 1783 non-HAP patients were enrolled in our study. In the non-HAP patient cohort, the mortality of the initial treatment and non-treatment groups were 22.2% vs 5.7% (P Conclusions: Our analysis suggests the initial use of APA may worsen the prognosis for non-HAP and HCAP patients. Randomized control trials are required to evaluate the role of initial use of APA.


The aim of the Front End Test Stand (FETS) project is to demonstrate that chopped low energy beams of high quality can be produced. FETS consists of a high power Penning Surface Plasma Ion Source, a 3 solenoid LEBT, a 3 MeV RFQ, a chopper and a comprehensive suite of diagnostics. This paper briefly outlines the status of the project, hardware installation and modifications. Results from experiments running the H− ion source at 2 ms pulse length are detailed: the discharge current is varied between 20 A and 50 A. The discharge repetition rate is varied between 12.5 and 50 Hz. Hydrogen and Caesium vapour flow rates are varied. The effect of electrode surface temperature and beam current droop are discussed. Peak beam currents of over 60 mA for 2 ms pulse length can be achieved. Normalised r.m.s emittances of 0.3 πmm.mrads at the exit of the LEBT are presented for different source conditions.


This study investigated the relationship between financial inclusion and financial performance of deposit money banks in Nigeria from 2011 to 2021. The specific objectives were to investigate the relationship between customers loan and return on assets of deposit money banks in Nigeria; determine the relationship between customers deposit and return on assets of deposit money banks in Nigeria; evaluate the relationship between bank branches spread and return on assets of deposit money banks in Nigeria; ascertain the relationship between online banking and return on assets of deposit money banks in Nigeria; and investigate the relationship between agent banking and return on assets of deposit money banks in Nigeria. The study employed ex post facto and correlation research design with secondary data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria and financial institutions of deposit money banks. The population of the study consisted of all listed deposit money banks and a sample size of ten (10) was employed for data analyzing using univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis. The results indicated a positive and significant relationship between loans to customers, deposits by customers, bank branches, mobile banking and agency banking on return on assets of deposit money banks. The study concluded that financial inclusion positively influences the level of financial performance of deposit money banks. On the basis of the conclusion, the paper recommended amongst others that financial inclusion innovation methods should be stressed in the financial sector through Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regulatory and advisories since it leads to improved financial performance and efficiency. In addition, the study also recommends that deposit money banks in Nigeria should invest more on agency, internet banking and ATM services to include the excluded people in financial services and products throughout the country since they provide significant influence on the financial performance of deposit money banks.


This special issue of Comparative and Continental Philosophy germinated in the days and weeks after a symposium held at Kennesaw State University in March 2013 on the theme "Decolonizing Comparative Methodologies." The two-day program had three goals. First, it aimed to deepen awareness of colonial dimensions of scholarly engagement with non-Western theoretical traditions. Second, it sought to provide a space for discussion about implications of theoretical and methodological innovations proposed by scholars within postcolonial and decolonial studies for cross-cultural philosophical research. Finally, it considered how comparative philosophers might contribute to decolonial projects and theories. We believe the articles that we have collected in this issue can contribute productively to a growing dialogue within philosophy about the need to pluralize the discipline. By highlighting the historically colonial origins of the field's current lack of diversity and by drawing attention to obstacles that any effort to pluralize the field might need to confront, this collection can be construed as a friendly response to Jonardon Ganeri's recent call for an "Institute of Cosmopolitan Philosophy" structured through a network of culturally and geographically distant "micro-communities" (Ganeri 2014, 9), or as a critical response to one prominent philosopher's recent conflation of general ignorance of non-Western philosophies within the discipline with the occasional neglect of Continental philosophies by Anglophone philosophy departments (Leiter 2014). Particularly useful, in our minds, is the way in which this issue brings together allied fields of academic inquiry that have traditionally been kept apart—namely, comparative philosophy, on the one hand, and postcolonial and decolonial studies, on the other. Hope for an ongoing conversation between these fields runs through all of the featured essays, and our intention is for this dialogue to be productive for both sides. Among the themes developed in the essays collected here are the following: the relationship between colonialism and coloniality, the potentially productive exchange to be had between comparative philosophy and postcolonial and decolonial studies, and finally, various practical strategies for decolonizing methodologies in fields of scholarship that engage and represent non-Western theories and philosophies. comparative & continental philosophy, Vol. 7 No. 2, November 2015, 122–123


Solvent schemes are governed by Section 899 of the Companies Act 2006, of England and Wales, though previous statutes have included provisions allowing them for over 100 years. Initially they were used in corporate reorganizations and reconstruction outside of the insurance arena. From the early 1990s they became the preferred method of resolving liabilities in nonlife insurance insolvencies. The KWELM Companies paved the way in 1993 with a proposal to run-off $9bn of liabilities under its scheme of arrangement. This was followed by a number of other insolvents—English & American, Orion, Sovereign, etc. In large part these schemes of arrangement were (and in some cases continue to be) effective in returning incremental value to creditors over the life of the scheme, with a final cutoff and valuation of IBNR (incurred but not reported) claims after some ten to twenty years allowing for a calculation of final dividend percentage to be paid to creditors. However, from around 2002 insurance companies and their advisors began to use schemes of arrangement to allow closure of solvent insurers. They are attractive to insurers as they avoid the long, slow run-off and uncertainty of paying policyholder claims as they fall due, which in respect of books with significant long-tail business (asbestos, pollution, etc. written on occurrence policies in particular) could be until 2040 or 2050.


Background and purpose: Vaccination against hepatitis B is one of the most important ways to prevent this viral disease. However, some individuals vaccinated against hepatitis B do not show adequate defense. This study was designed to investigate the immune response towards this disease by assessing the level of hepatitis B antibody in vaccinated health care workers (HCWs) in north of Iran . Material and Methods: This descriptive– cross sectional study was carried out in 2013 in which 117 HCWs of Amol 17 Shahrivar Hospital were studied. Levels of hepatitis B surface antibody were measured in serum samples using ELISA kit. The results were analyzed considering elapsed time of vaccination, and age and gender of the subjects. Results: Among the studied HCWs 79 (67.5%) had complete vaccination while 38 (32.5%) had incomplete vaccination. Immune response was found in safe level in 98 (83.3%) and non-safe in19 (16.2%) (titer below 10mlu/ml). There was a significant correlation between hepatitis B surface antibody levels and elapsed time of vaccination (p 0.05). Conclusion: Findings suggest that vaccination against hepatitis B does not guarantee a complete immunity and the level of immunity is very much affected by elapsed time of vaccination. Although women were found with higher antibody titers in this study.


The objective of this work is to model and simulate molecule transport in a novel AND nanofluidic logic gate. A nanochannel was placed between two reservoirs with asymmetric target molecule concentration, controlled by independent electrical gates at both openings. When the dimension of the fluidic channel was comparable to the thickness of the electrical double layer (EDL), the potential generated by gating became significant, which allowed for control of charged molecule diffusion through the nanochannel modulated by electrostatic repulsion and attraction. Using two independent gates, the simulations show that the stacked gate structure implemented a nanofluidic AND logic gate for the charged molecule transport. The gated nanochannel structures were modeled in the finite element software (COMSOL Multiphysics).


LIQHYSMES, the recently proposed hybrid energy storage concept for variable renewable energies, combines the storage of LIQuid HYdrogen (LH2) with Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES). LH2 as the bulk energy carrier is used for the large scale stationary longer-term energy storage, and the SMES cooled by the LH2 bath, provides highest power over shorter periods and at superior efficiencies. Both together contribute to the balancing of electric load or supply fluctuations from seconds to several hours, days or even weeks. Here different spectral power distributions of such imbalances between electricity supply and load reflecting different sources of fluctuations in the range between 1 sec and 15 minutes are considered. Some related implications for MgB2-based 100 MW-SMES operated at maximum fields of 2 T and 4 T, are considered for these buffering scenarios. Requirements as regards the storage capacity and correspondingly the minimum size of the LH2 storage tank are derived. The related loss contributions with a particular focus on the ramping losses are analysed.


The rapid emergence of AR led to many contemporary designs aiming for engagement such as AR storytelling and interactive tourism applications. The VirtuScope is such a device that merges these concepts to revolutionise the traditional binoculars stands that can often be seen in locations for tourism. This report documents the process of researching an intuitive approach to design a tutorial for the VirtuScope so the device and its interactive functions can be more accessible to the general public. With a focus on finding ideal visual elements and engaging ways to provide guidance for potential users utilising tools such as storytelling, a final framework is devised based on the user evaluations of the mobile prototypes dedicated to explore each element that forms an effective interactive tutorial for the designated platform.


he realities of current scholarly and fiscal environments sometimes make multi-institutional projects preferable to single institution undertakings. It makes sense, after all, that complicated projects are best tackled by a diverse team of experts who bring the collective resources of their employing institutions to bear on the work of the joint project. I have been engaged in major multi-institutional projects throughout the past decade and have had the opportunity to observe characteristics of successful and of ultimately unsuccessful multi-institutional collaborations.


Combined lower thoracic (T9) and upper lumbar (L1) SCS may be a useful method to restore an effective cough mechanism in tetraplegic patients. In previous studies in dogs, we demonstrated that SCS at the T9 level resulted in direct activation of the spinal cord roots in the vicinity of the stimulating electrode and also more caudal roots via spinal pathways. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the mechanism of expiratory muscle activation during upper lumbar (L1) SCS. In 3 anesthetized dogs, expiratory muscle activation was monitored by evoked compound action potentials (CAP) from the intercostal muscles in the 7th and 9th interspaces (T7, T9) and portions of the external oblique innervated by the T13 and L2 motor roots. SCS applied with single shocks resulted in short latency CAP at T13 and L2 but not more rostrally. SCS resulted in long latency CAPs at T7 and T9, suggesting activation via spinal cord pathways. SCS at L1 was also applied before and after sequential section of the dorsal columns (DC), lateral (LF) and ventral funiculi (VF) at the T11 spinal cord level while monitoring airway pressure under conditions of airway occlusion. DC section did not affect short latency CAPs but abolished long latency CAPs at T9 and T7 and also resulted in a fall in airway pressure generation from 26 ± 6 cmH2O to 18 ± 5 cmH2O (NS). Section of the LF and VF resulted in further decrements in airway pressure (17 ± 6 and 11 ± 2 cmH2O respectively, NS). We conclude that SCS at the L1 level results in direct activation of the spinal roots in the vicinity of stimulating electrode and more rostral roots via spinal pathways. (HL34143).


In the present work, mass and position sensitivity of a nanocantilever is simulated using finite element analysis. Changes in resonant frequency of various modes of a polysilicon cantilever, with a gold coating of different thickness, area, and spatial distribution is simulated. It is found that for a uniform increase in gold coating thickness, torsional mode gives an order higher mass sensitivity than vertical bending and lateral bending modes. In other cases, sensitivity is highly dependent on the position of the coating and is explained on the basis of flexural rigidity. Apart from this, simulations were performed for a point mass (gold cube) loading at various positions along the length and width axis of the cantilever. Further, for localized mass loading, cantilever was tailored for enhanced sensitivity. It is found that by introducing a step discontinuity in thickness of the cantilever, the mass sensitivity increases by two orders of magnitude and it depends on the position of step from free end, step thickness, and step width.


Cryptochrome is one of the UV-A/blue light photoreceptors.A part of gene cry1 was inserted into the T-DNA of the binary plant expression vector with pBI121 plasmid,which contained specific fruit promoter.The cotyledon of tomato was transformed with agrobacterium tumefaciens EHA105,some regenerated tomato plants were obtained through the tissue culture.


Abstract : The purpose of the paper is to determine if our tactical nuclear weapons can be considered as a credible deterrent to general conventional war. Two basic tests for deterrence are used: would the use of tactical nuclear weapons to oppose a general conventional attack create conditions unacceptable to the enemy, and do the US and other NATO nations have the will to use tactical nuclear weapons. The destructive potential, timing and use of nuclear weapons are examined.


2 shared by researchers. One concern with Raman scattering that must be controlled is the potential background fluorescence from the samples while FTIR has interferences from water vapor and CO 2 that must be removed via purge or background subtraction. In this application note, we present the theory of Raman scattering, describe a simple and easy-to-implement experimental Raman setup, and show the results on several liquids and some organic compounds to exemplify the sensitivity and resolution of the system. Theory A classical treatment is presented here to elucidate the essential phenomena of Raman scattering 5. To begin with, notice that the scattered field E S (t) originates from the induced oscillatory polarization P S (t) of the sample after the interaction with the input field, E i (t). It can be expressed as: ;(1) where is the polarizability tensor of the molecule, and X, Y, Z is the lab reference coordinate system. is a function of electron clouds and nuclei of the molecule and is influenced by the molecular vibrations. Considering a vibrational mode specified by the normal coordinate, Q k , can be expanded as: + higher order terms; (2) Equation (2) shows that the displacement of the vibration directly influences the polarizability. In addition, the vibration of a mode and the input field can be expressed as: (3) In equation (3), k is the vibrational frequency and is the frequency of the light source. Substituting (3) and (2) into (1), we arrive at: (4) Using the trigonometric identity,


Fabricating porous structures is an effective method to improve its performance in heavy metal adsorption.In this study,copper oxalate with different morphologies was prepared by precipitation method.After calcination at 500 ℃,CuO porous microspheres were obtained and showed great adsorption property.The influences of the mol rate of Cu2+ to C2O2-4 and reaction temperature on the phase,morphology and size were investigated.Their adsorption activities were determined using Cr(Ⅵ) aqueous solution.Compared with CuO copper oxalate particles,CuO porous spheres exhibited a better Cr(Ⅵ) adsorption property.We studied the kinetic removal of Cr(Ⅵ) and the equilibrium adsorption isotherm.


The human erythrocyte anion-exchange protein (band 3 or AE1) was cloned from a fetal liver cDNA library. Three overlapping clones, encompassing 3637 nucleotides, were analyzed in detail. These encode a 911-amino acid protein (Mr 101,791) and detect a single 4.7-kilobase species in human reticulocyte RNA. The corresponding gene is located on chromosome 17. The protein is similar in structure to other anion exchangers and is divided into three regions: a hydrophilic, cytoplasmic domain that interacts with a variety of membrane and cytoplasmic proteins (residues 1-403); a hydrophobic, transmembrane domain that forms the anion antiporter (residues 404-882); and an acidic, C-terminal domain of unknown function (residues 883-911). The N-terminal domain contains several conserved sections (e.g., residues 57-86, 102-164, 219-347, and 375-403), some of which may contribute to binding sites for ankyrin, protein 4.1, or protein 4.2. The membrane domain is highly conserved with the exception of a single segment (residues 543-567) that contains several sites for cleavage of the protein by extracellular proteases. Based on hydropathy analyses and the wealth of available topographical and functional data, a model is proposed in which the protein crosses the membrane 14 times. bacteriophage DNA and was subcloned into Bluescribe and Bluescript-KS(+) plasmid vectors (Stratagene) and amplified by standard procedures (11). cDNA Sequencing. Selected clones were sequenced either by "shotgun" (12) or exonuclease III/Sl nuclease deletion (13) methods. The deletion method was modified so that deletion plasmids of the desired size were isolated by electrophoresis in low-melting-point agarose, religated in agarose, and used to transform Escherichia coli NM522. Doublestranded plasmid templates were prepared by the method of Kraft et al. (14). In both cases sequencing reactions were performed by the dideoxy method as modified by Biggin et al. (15) and Bankier (16), using, as needed, Klenow or modified T7 DNA polymerase (Sequenase; United States Biochemical) for elongation reactions. 7-Deaza-GTP was substituted for GTP as needed for refractory sequences. Sequence data were compiled and analyzed using the University of Wisconsin Genetics Computer Group (UWGCG) programs. Chromosomal Location of Band 3 Gene. The EcoRV-Xba I fragment of pHB3-22 was labeled with [a-32P]dCTP (10) and hybridized to human chromosomes separated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (17). Band 3 (anion exchanger 1 or AE1)¶ is the major protein of the human erythrocyte membrane and one of the best studied of all membrane proteins. It is a chimeric molecule composed of two dissimilar and functionally distinct domains (1). The N-terminal portion forms a 43-kDa water-soluble cytoplasmic domain that has multiple binding functions, while the C-terminal transmembrane region is the physiologically important anion exchanger. Since the initial publication of mouse erythrocyte band 3 (AEl) in 1985 (1), the sequence of chicken erythrocyte AEl (2, 3), the sequences of truncated renal forms of mouse and rat AEl (4, 5), and the sequences ofhuman (7) and mouse (8) band 3-related protein (AE2) have appeared. However, almost all functional and topographical studies of band 3 have been performed with proteins from human erythrocytes. In this paper we report the cloning and sequencing of a cDNA for human erythrocyte band 3.11 Following completion of this work, Tanner et al. reported similar studies (6). MATERIALS AND METHODS cDNA Cloning. 32P-labeled cDNA probes were prepared by the random priming method (10) and used to screen human fetal liver Agtll cDNA libraries that had been transferred to duplicate nylon filters (Biotrans, 1.2 ,m; ICN) by standard plaque-lift procedures and fixed by UV bonding. The filters were prehybridized, hybridized, and washed as described (8). DNA was prepared from plate lysates of plaque-purified RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Band 3 Cloning. Clones were obtained from two different fetal liver cDNA libraries. Both libraries were prepared from livers obtained at a stage in gestation ("20 weeks) where the liver contains large numbers of erythroid precursors. The initial library, in the plasmid pKT218 (a gift of S. Orkin, Harvard Medical School), was screened with a full-length cDNA (pB3SP4) to murine erythrocyte band 3 (1) and yielded a single positive clone (pHB3-HFL9; Fig. 1A). Because no further clones were obtained on rescreening, a larger fetal liver cDNA library (2 x 107 recombinants; gift of B. Forget, Yale University School of Medicine) was examined using the 915-bp Pst I fragment of pHB3-HFL9 and the 5' end of one of the recovered clones (pHB3-9) as probes. The 3 largest clones of the 45 detected, pHB3-9 [1.94 kilobases (kb)], pHB3-22 (2.48 kb) and pHB3-45A/B (3.13 kb), were chosen for further characterization. Size of Band 3 mRNA. Northern blot hybridization of human reticulocyte total and poly(A)-selected RNA, using pHB3-HFL9 as a probe, showed a single band of 4.7 kb (data Abbreviations: G3PD, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase; H2DIDS, 4,4'-diisothiocyanato-1,2-diphenylethane-2,2'-disulfonate. tTo whom reprint requests should be addressed. §Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305. IBy convention AE1 (anion exchanger 1), AE2, and AE3 refer to the products of the AE1 gene (band 3) (1-6), AE2 gene (band 3-related protein) (7, 8), and AE3 gene (brain anion exchanger) (9), respectively. 'The sequence reported in this paper has been deposited in the GenBank data base (accession no. M27819). 9089 The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. §1734 solely to indicate this fact. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86 (1989)


Domestic violence in aboriginal settings should not be seen in isolation from the history of colonisation of aboriginal peoples in Canada and the effects of this history on family structure. The few studies on the subject have focused mostly on women and social workers, with little documented evidence of the views and experiences of men. The small number of studies carried out among aboriginal men suggests that they tend to be seen as the main instigators of violence, leading inevitably to the perpetuation of mass incarceration. This article presents the results of a qualitative study conducted among 39 aboriginal men with experience of domestic violence living in Quebec. Analysis of semi-structured interviews reveals the wide range of roles played by aboriginal men in incidents of domestic violence, and highlights the importance of focusing on interactional dynamics and the influence of a range of factors governing their experience, the wider aim being to break down the barriers between the different social measures targeting this population.


It is generally accepted that the equation mW = W/c2, which relates the energy W with its massmW, is a consequence of EINSTEIN's theory. The author shows that this equation may be obtained from MAXWELL 's equations without invoking the principle of relativity. The mass of a moving particle, whose mass when at rest is mr , becomes m= mr +T/c2. From this equation, combined with the principle of conservation of energy, PLANCK 's expression for the kinetic energy T = mrc √ 1−u2/c2 −mrc 2,


Atwood's novels reflect the female body politics which is micro-politics of female gender.The oppression of women is rooted in male's domination of female body.Female body is passive object of the patriarchal gaze,engraved and admonition.However,female body which is not silent and humble does not show only a purely internal and physical nature as the patriarchal culture.Women often resist the patriarchal power yielding on the silent but powerful body.The awakening and struggle of the female body reflect the awakening of women consciousness.


Ribonucleotide reductase (EC 184.108.40.206 -2) catalyses the direct reduction of ribonucleotides to the corresponding deoxyribonucleotides. This reaction enabled the evolution from the early 'RNA world' to the present 'DNA world'. Storage of genetic information as DNA instead of RNA is much more stable and this was a prerequisite for the later development of multiple, separate, species [l] . Ribonucleotide reduction is a chemically difficult reaction and requires free radical chemistry. We now know of three different classes of ribonucleotide reductases [ 11. Catalysis in all three classes is dependent on an enzyme-centred free radical, which in the class I enzymes is an iron-centre-generated tyrosyl free radical. Class I1 uses adenosyl cobalamin as a cofactor, which generates a transient radical during catalysis. Finally, class I11 uses a glycine radical which is generated in a reaction that requires S-adenosylmethionine. All plant and eukaryotic ribonucleotide reductases described so far belong to class I. Here the enzyme consists of two non-identical homodimeric subunits, proteins R1 and R2. This is very similar to the extensively studied Escherichiu coli nrd AB enzyme [2-41. The 2 x 90 kDa mouse R1 protein contains the ribonucleoside diphosphate substrate binding sites as well as two different types of nucleoside triphosphate effector binding sites. It also contains a number of redox active disulphides that participate in electron transfer from NADPH/thioredoxin/ glutaredoxin. There is only one enzyme catalysing the reduction of all four different ribonucleotides, but both the overall activity and the substrate specificity are controlled by allosteric regulation. This control ensures a balanced supply of the four deoxyribonucleotides during DNA replication and repair to prevent misincorporation and mutagenesis [3,5]. Each 45 kDa polypeptide of the mouse R2 protein contains a binuclear iron centre which, during its formation, generates a stable tyrosyl free radical that is essential for activity [6,7]. The iron centre was shown to be labile at physiological temperatures, resulting in a loss of about


The results of a 2-year international prospective study on the effectiveness of the Sympto-Thermal method of family planning are reported. The overall failure rate was 7.5 pregnancies/100 woman-years (Pearl formula). The cumulative failure rate was 10.4% at the end of the 1st year and 14.2% at the end of the 2nd year. In the Canadian sample (168 couples) the cumulative failure rate was 8.2% at the end of the 1st year and 11.8% at the end of the 2nd year. The most significant variable affecting the reliability of the method was the purpose for which the method was adopted. Those couples who practiced the method for the purpose of delaying the next conception had a pregnancy rate of 14.9/100 woman-years with a cumulative rate of 14.1% for the 1st year and 27.7% for the 2nd year. In contrast those who adopted the method to prevent any future conceptions had a cumulative pregnancy rate of 1% at the end of the 1st year and 2.1% at the end of the 2nd year. This difference underscores the influence of motivation on the use-effectiveness of the Sympto-Thermal method of family planning.


We create and analyze a stochastic heterosexual agent-based bipartite network model to help understand the spread of chlamydia trachomatis. Chlamydia is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States and is major cause of infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease, and ectopic pregnancy among women. We use an agent-based network model to capture the complex heterogeneous assortative sexual mixing network of men and women. Both long-term and casual partnerships are modeled with different sexual contact frequencies and condom use. We use simulations to compare the effectiveness of intervention strategies based on randomly screening people for infection, treating the partners of infected people, and rescreening for infection after treatment. We compare the difference between treating the partners of an infected person both with, and without, testing them first for infection. The highest prevalence is among young sexually active individuals. We calibrate the model parameters to agree with recent survey data showing chlamydia prevalence of 14% of the women and 9% of the men in the 15 — 25 year-old African American residents of New Orleans, Louisiana. We observed that although increased chlamydia screening and treating most of the partners of infected people will reduce the incidence, these mitigations alone are not sufficient to control the epidemic. The model predicts that the current epidemic can brought under control once over half of the partners of infected people are tested and treated.


In this paper, we present an extensive study of leakage current mechanisms in diodes to model the dark current of various pixel architectures for active pixel CMOS image sensors. Dedicated test structures made in 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS have been investigated to determine the various contributions to the leakage current. Three pixel variants with different photodiodes-n/sup +//pwell, n/sup +//nwell/p-substrate and p/sup +//nwell/p-substrate-are described. We found that the main part of the total dark current comes from the depletion of the photodiode edge at the surface. Furthermore, the source of the reset transistor contributes significantly to the total leakage current of a pixel. From the investigation of reverse current-voltage (I-V) characteristics, temperature dependencies of leakage current, and device simulations we found that for a wide depletion, such as n-well/p-well, thermal Shockley-Read-Hall generation is the main leakage mechanism, while for a junction with higher dopant concentrations, such as n/sup +//p-well or p/sup +//n-well, tunneling and impact ionization are the dominant mechanisms.


Pre-treatment experiment on OnGuard Ⅱ Ag column to the pore water was carried out. Influence of the OnGuard Ⅱ Ag column to the main ions in pore water was investigated. Through pre-treatment process,results showed that the retention of OnGuard Ⅱ Ag column was strong for chloride ion and lithium ion,sodium ion,ammonia ion,etc., which can be removed completely. On the contrary,the OnGuard II Ag column almost had no retention for the sulfate ion and parts per million's fluoride ion,nitrite ion,nitrate ion,and the recoveries were better than 98%,and it had some retention for the bromide ion and iodide ion.


Case management is recommended in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis care, but the added value to multidisciplinary care is unknown. The authors performed a randomized controlled trial on the effect of case management and showed no benefit on quality of life and caregiver burden. This research design facilitates future studies on case management.

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Using a proven driving simulator setup, 2 main analyses were performed among 23 patients with deep brain surgery, 21 patients without surgery, and 21 controls. Deep brain stimulation was associated …


Acknowledgments Prologue Chapter 1: The Politics of Witchcraft Accusations and Witch Hunts: An Introduction Chapter 2: Theory and Literature on Witchcraft Accusations and Witch Hunts Chapter 3: Two Leaves and a Bud: The Beginning Chapter 4: Categorization of Witch Hunts Chapter 5: Women, Moral Boundaries, and Gossip in the Plantation Chapter 6: Tea Plantation Politics, Oppression, and Protest Chapter 7: Towards a New Direction: Activism and Protests Appendix A: Outline of Interview Guides Appendix B: Selected List of Participants for the Interviews Appendix C: List of Abbreviations Appendix D: Glossary Bibliography Index About the Author