Zinc deficiency has an estimated prevalence of 31% globally, and can lead to poor pregnancy outcomes, immune dysfunction, and increased risk for chronic disorders. A barrier to elucidating the exact role of zinc in human health is a lack of reliable clinical biomarkers for zinc status in humans. Currently used plasma zinc levels, lack both sensitivity and specificity to zinc status. To probe for novel biomarkers, metabolome profiles were studied in healthy, adult male subjects that underwent dietary zinc depletion and repletion. Plasma samples were analyzed following baseline (2 wk, 11mg Zn/d), zinc‐depletion (0.6mg Zn/d for 1 wk and 4mg Zn/d for 5 wk), and zinc‐repletion (4 wk, 11mg Zn/d) phases using untargeted, unbiased metabolomic LC‐MS/MS. Principle component analysis demonstrated metabolite clustering during each dietary phase of the study. A total of 12 different metabolites were significantly (P<0.05) up or down regulated (log2 fold change) during dietary zinc depletion relative to baseline and were reversed with zinc repletion. Methylhistidine was identified as the most significantly altered metabolite (8.59‐fold change) and may indicate protein degradation to replenish plasma zinc. This research is a significant first step in utilizing metabolomics to establish novel consequences and biomarkers of zinc deficiency. Funding: USANA Health Sciences, T32 ES007060 & P30 ES000210


Daily image guidance for helical tomotherapy prostate patients is based on the registration of pretreatment megavoltage CT (MVCT) images and the original planning CT. The goal of registration, whether manual or automatic, is the overlap of the prostate; otherwise prostate misplacement may compromise the efficacy of treatment or lead to increased toxicity. A previous study demonstrated that without the aid of implanted fiducials, manual registration results in inaccurate prostate positioning. The objective of this work is to quantify prostate misplacement that results from automatic bone matching (BM) and image matching (IM) registration algorithms. 204 MVCT images from eight high‐risk tomotherapy prostate patients were incorporated into this retrospective study. BM and IM registration algorithms – based on maximization of mutual information of bony anatomy only and the entire image, respectively – were used to independently register MVCT images to their respective planning images. A correlation coefficient based algorithm that uses known planning CT contour information was used for automatic prostate localization in each MVCT image. Daily prostate misplacement was determined by repositioning as calculated from the BM and the IM algorithms. Mean (±SD) and maximum 3D prostate positioning errors were 3.7±2.1mm and 11.8 mm for bone matching, and 4.6±2.3mm and 11.5 mm for image matching. In terms of translational directions, IM would lead to prostate positioning error ≥3mm in any of the LR, AP or SI directions in 62% of treatment fractions. The corresponding value for BM is 51%. The values for positioning errors ≥5mm were 29% and 17% for IM and BM, respectively. This data suggests automatic daily image guidance for tomotherapy prostate patients should be based on bone matching instead of image matching. PACS number: 87.19.xj, 87.57.nj


A novel photochemical sensor (FQ-5) based on quinoline-functionalized phenazine derivatives was designed and synthesized. The FQ-5 showed a good response to certain pH values in a wide pH range (from 2.0 to 13.0). Particularly, at pH = 12 and 13, the fluorescence emission showed obvious enhancement, the fluorescence quantum yields could reach 80.9% and 77.0%, respectively, and the color of solution changed from yellow to purple. Meanwhile, the sensor not only showed a rapid response toward CO2, but also showed high selectivity and sensitivity for the detection of L-Arg in buffer solution (pH = 7), and the limit of detection (LOD) was 8.1 × 10−8. Furthermore, the FQ-5-based fluorescent writing material and CO2 gas reaction device were developed for the rapid detection of L-Arg and CO2. Therefore, this work will provide a new approach for photochemical sensing in the detection of multiple substrates.


The case describes the problems in human resource management of Nuo'er City Investment Company (NCIC)and their solutions in the backgrounds of the company's strategic transformation. The diversification of employee's indentity,employment forms,and payment standards in NCIC could lead to the sense of unfairness and lower job performance and satisfaction. Recently,NCIC is planning to introduce a new payment and performance appraisal system to construct a uniformed human resource management framework.


A high strength material which consists essentially of one or more reactive metals in major proportion and one or more alloying elements in minor proportion, wherein the material is controllably reactive and degradable under defined conditions. Examples of such materials are alloys of Ca-Mg, Ca-Al, Ca-Zn, Mg-Li, Al-Ga. Al-In and Al-Ga-In. These alloys may additionally comprise one or more of Zn, Cu, Ag, Cd and Pb. The material may be used to in diverter balls, opening valves, seals, floatation apparatus, sensors, actuators switches and moisture getters, particularly for oilfield, medical, automotive or aerospace applications, or in fuel cells. Objects made of this material may be coated with a degradable layer to prevent premature reaction of the material.


With the capitalisation of PepsiCo surpassed that of Coca Cola for the first time in 112 years, more attention is attracted on this 100 years ongoing Cola War. Most analyzers indicated that PepsiCo surpassed Coca-Cola in profitability and operation revenue are due to the differentiate strategies and the wisdom of dealing with the public relationship. The purpose of this study is to examine whether young consumers are beneficial to PepsiCo to build the brand loyalty in order to maintain the world market leadership and increase their revenue in UK. There was one method used in this research which was to set up a questionnaire with 24 multiple choice questions based on the research objectives; and the questionnaires were distributed to 70 respondents. The aim of this project was to discover how significant the soft drink and convenience food for youngest in the UK. The investigation indicated that teen consumers were strongly loyal on the brand which they interested in. It might be suggested that build up the brand loyalty within the young consumers seems to very significance. Finally, the study recommends how to attract the young consumer in the UK market and suggestions were given to PepsiCo.


This Law requires most health insurance contracts, plans, or policies delivered, issued, or renewed in Rhode Island to include coverage for medically necessary expenses of diagnosis and treatment of infertility if they include pregnancy-related benefits. Under these contracts, plans, and policies a subscriber can be required to pay up to 20% of the costs.


Objective The effects of mercury (Hg) and selenium (Se) on the total anti-oxidative capacity (T-AOC) of liver and gill tissues and the antagonistic effect of Se on the change of T-AOC of liver and gill in swordtail (Xiphophorus helleri Heckel) initiated by Hg were investigated in order to test if the liver or gill T-AOC change in fish can be considered as a valid biomarker for environmental risk assessment (ERA). Methods Swordtails exposed to Hg with 0,0.21 and 0.42 mg/L, Hg plus Se with (0.21+0.0664) and (0.42+0.0664) mg/L, Se with 0.0664 mg/L using the addictive index method, the changes of T-AOC of liver and gill tissues in 5 days were determined quantitativelly. Results The T-AOC of liver and gill tissues were decreased in different level when swordtails were exposed to Hg during the experimental period; high Hg concentrations could remarkably (P0.01) decrease the T-AOC of gill and liver tissues to 39% and 30% of the control group at fifth day, however, the T-AOC of gill and liver tissues were significantly increased (P0.05) when swordtails were exposed to Se first day after exposure. Compared to the single Hg treated, the mixed exposure (low Hg concentration plus Se) could restrain the fall of the T-AOC in gill tissues all through the exposure period; however, the T-AOC in liver tissues was significantly decreased (P0.05) at fifth day. High Hg concentration plus Se the mixed exposure could only restrain the fall of T-AOC in gill and liver tissues at first day, and then the T-AOC of gill and liver tissues were significantly decreased (P0.05 or P0.01) as the time increased. Conclusion The Se could prevent the decrease of T-AOC in liver and gill tissues from the poisoning of Hg in fish at a certain extent. In addition, the T-AOC of gill and liver tissues in swordtails could be considered a valid biomarker for environmental risk assessment (ERA).


Newlase F, a crude enzyme containing lipase and protease, can be used in the synthesis of peptide conjugates; the hydrolysis conditions were optimized to increase lipase activity and suppress protease activity and in addition, N-terminal protecting groups and peptide bonds were not affected.


In this paper we present a straightforward procedure of EMQF (elliptic minimal Q-factor) analog filter design and a detailed step-by-step design algorithm. The main feature of EMQF filters is that the magnitude response in the passband and stopband is insensitive to variations of the element values and, thus, the implementations in analog circuits are very robust with higher element tolerances.


Leucotrofina administration in Wistar rats induced in thymus an increase of total protein content and of protein synthesis from 14C-leucine, simultaneously with a raise in the AlAT activity. Adrenal glands were not affected. Leucotrofina administration on the background of Cyclophosphamide induced modifications restored at normal values some of the thymic parameters (total protein content and RNA content) but the ascorbic acid content in the adrenals remained lowered.


The performance of a content based image retrieval system strongly depends on its testbed. A theoretical framework is proposed for modeling image database complexity. The goal is to investigate the relationship between a given indexing technique and a given image database. As an analogy to the concept of perplexity of a text corpus, the complexity of an image database is introduced. This is a quantitative measure of the quality of an image database for the task of content access to the database. The complexity of an image database is an intrinsic property of the database and can be used to distinguish the difficulty of image retrieval on different databases. On the other hand, the measure can be used to compare the effectiveness of different indexing techniques.


Data about the habitats and food habits of Gibbiinae beetles are rather abundant but
they appear quite dispersed in the literature. In the present paper a compilation of all the
information available on this topic is given.
The species reviewed have been: Gibbium psylloides, G. aequinoctiale, G. boieldieui,
G. punctaticolle, Mezium affine, M. americanum, M. sulcatum, M. giganteum, M. andreaei,
M. namibiensis, Lepimedozium natalense, Meziomorphum echinatum and Stethomezium squamosum .
Gibbiinae beetles are mainly scavengers. In addition, many species are closely associated
with human habitats and they can easily become pests of a wide variety of stored
products.
Other kinds of habitats and food habits include: nests or excrement of vertebrates
(in urban environment or in caves), decaying wood and different plant substrates.


The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of liquidity, profitability, solvability, and history of dividend-payment on dividend policy. This study focused on sample manufacturing firms, that shared dividend between 2007-2011 or not shared which listing in Indonesia Stock Exchange. To analyze the relationship, this study used logistic regression because the measurement of dependend variable is binary. This study found an empirical prove that history of dividen-payment impacted on dividend policy. The possibility of dividend-payment by company had history one year ahead dividend-payment greater 64 times than company that not paid. The another independend variables, that is liquidity, profitability, and solvability, not impacted on dividend policy. Signalling devidend theory provided the answer to explain this result study.


Sound ontologies are fashioned on a daily basis from input that we are able to hear. We usually classify them in encompassing categories with evaluative implication, such as "music," "silence," or "noise." This paper addresses some of the ordinary uses of the term "noise" in its critical load and its dimension of uncertainty. It provides a useful resource in identifying sound events–"often by shuffling causes and effects–"so that we can reveal the state of inconvenience noises can produce.


Schizophrenia is a widely known mental disorder that can cause severe life struggles if not being treated properly. According to its diagnose, patients suffer from delusions, hallucinations, and other disorders. For treatment, antipsychotics are commonly used, but their efficiency cannot be promised due to the lack of knowledge about this illness. In previous studies, scientists had suggested neuronal, genetic, epigenetic, and immunological factors. However, to fully understand the mechanism of schizophrenia, there is still a long way to go for understanding how these factors interact and induce dysfunction.


Commissioners have been told to improve spending on mental health services locally or face sanctions from NHS England.

A letter was sent on 4 April by NHS England's national mental health director, Claire Murdoch, to all clinical commissioning groups and sustainability and transformation partnership leads.

The letter follows up the Refreshing NHS Plans for 2018-19 guidance issued in February,1 which emphasised that CCGs must meet the Mental Health Investment Standard, meaning that their 2018-19 investment in mental health services …


In 1993, the Texas Legislature created the Edwards Aquifer Authority (the Authority) to manage the Edwards Aquifer in south central Texas and bring closure to nearly one-half century of conflict over the use of this special natural resource. The Edwards Aquifer is one of the most unique aquifer systems in the United States. To achieve regional harmony over water resource management, the Authority must accomplish an ambitious list of water management programs. At the top of the list of requirements for the Authority is development of a permit system of water use. In the five years since the Authority was established, it has promulgated a comprehensive set of rules to address groundwater withdrawals. Limitations on aggregate withdrawals established in the Authority's enabling Act, along with the permit system, created a water rights market, a new phenomena for groundwater in a State where the basic groundwater law is the Rule of Capture. Since the Edwards Aquifer is a limestone system with numerous faults, voids and solution cavities, the water within the aquifer responds quickly to rainfall or the lack thereof. Consequently, development o f a drought management program is a fundamental tool in the over all management of the aquifer. However, developing a program that is both equitable and effective requires good science, patience and diplomacy. The primary indicator of the effectiveness of the Authority, from a federal perspective, is its ability to successfully provide for the continued existence of endangered species whose habitat is fed by two springs discharging from the aquifer; springs that dried up for six months during the drought of 1956. However, the Authority is developing a Habitat Conservation Plan that should be completed in 2002. The goal is to produce an agreement that, when fully and properly implemented, will sustain the protected species for the 50-year term of the plan. The Authority is endeavoring to concurrently implement several water management initiatives that, when completed, will provide for integrated management of one of the most unique aquifers in Texas.


Physics borders onto metaphysics; in particular, it gives insight into the nature of physical reality. This nature is described by quantum mechanics; the chapter aims to show what kind of picture quantum mechanics provides. Physical existence is much more subtle than one might guess. Ordinary objects such as cups and tables are conglomerates not of brick-like particles but of interweaving oscillations like waves on an ocean. A significant aspect is a limit to the validity of reductionism in physical science, seen in the phenomenon of quantum entanglement. Entanglement is described through its experimentally observed nature. It plays a role in some natural phenomena, and it has technological applications to error-correction coding and quantum computing. The main features of these are introduced, in terms accessible to a general reader. A possible role for quantum entanglement in brain function is not established, but neither is it excluded.


Rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM) has been commonly used to assess the viscoelastic properties of the blood clotting process in the clinic for patients with a hemostatic or prothrombotic disorder.


Good listening skill is the key to piano practice and works manifestation.Good listening skill makes good sense of touching and the correct use of the footboard and the accurate manifestation of the music works.


The transformation of the material flow to information flow is a process of ecological flow. This paper discusses the effect of the translation of the material flow to information flow on the books purchasing and analyzes the phase of the translation.


Nitric oxide is a potent signaling molecule, a key determinant of endothelial function, metabolic and vascular health. The correct function of the endothelium depends on the nitric oxide generation rate. Diabetes mellitus type-2 contributes to atherogenesis by inducing endothelial cell injury and dysfunction. The study was conducted to measure the effect of resistive training on the level of nitric oxide (Nox) in type 2 diabetes. The values were measured before and after the program. Twenty subjects volunteered to follow a program of 12 weeks of moderate resistive training 3 times per week. Results revealed that there was a significant improvement in the values of nitric oxide at the end of the exercise program. In conclusion, the resistive exercises had a significant effect on the nitric oxide level in types 2 diabetes.


Abstract This report highlights the recent advances in direct C–H bond functionalization of 5,5- and 6,5-fused heterocycles containing at least two nitrogen atoms. Besides C–C bond formation, C–N, C–S, C–P, and C–Si bonds can also be created via a metal-catalyzed process. Some examples, where a C–H functionalization approach was applied for the synthesis of drug candidates, will be presented as well. 1 Introduction 2 C–H Functionalization Reactions of N-Containing Heterocycles 2.1 Imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines 2.2 Pyrrolo[1,2-a]pyrazines 2.3 Imidazo[1,2-b]pyrazoles 2.4 Imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidines 2.5 Imidazo[1,2-a]pyrazines and Imidazo[1,5-a]pyrazines 2.6 Imidazo[1,2-b]pyridazines 2.7 Imidazo[4,5-b]pyridines and Imidazo[4,5-c]pyridines 2.8 Pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridines 2.9 Pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidines 2.10 Pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidines and Pyrrolo[3,2-d]pyrimidines 2.11 Imidazo[1,2-b][1,2,4]triazines 2.12 Imidazo[1,2-b][1,2,4,5]tetrazines 3 Outlook 4 Conclusion


The device performance of organic polymer:fullerene bulk heterojunction solar cells strongly depends on the interpenetrating network of the involved donor and acceptor materials in the active layer. Since morphology formation depends on the conditions of film preparation, the final morphology varies for different deposition methods. In order to understand and optimize industrial coating processes and, therefore, the performance of the solar cells produced, a deeper understanding of structure formation is important. In situ measurements of slot‐die printed polymer:fullerene active layers are presented that reveal insights into the evolution of the structure. Polymer crystallization and ordering is monitored by in situ grazing incidence wide angle X‐ray scattering (GIWAXS), and in situ grazing incidence small‐angle X‐ray scattering (GISAXS). The development of the morphology exhibits five stages independent of the drying conditions. Two growth rates are observed, an initial slow formation of poly(3‐hexylthiophene‐2,5‐diyl) crystallites in well‐aligned edge‐on orientation followed by a rapid crystal growth. By combining the GIWAXS and GISAXS measurements, a five‐stage growth and assembly process is found and described in detail along with a proposed model of the structural evolution. The findings are an important step in tailoring the assembly process.


With the further reform of new curriculum and the development of teachers specialization,education scientific research in middle schools and primary schools is becoming the soul of school education,and the impetus of improving the level of teachers specialization.However there are still many problems to be solved in the process of education scientific research.Thus educators need calmly think.By analyzing analyse current situation,some education scientific research suggestions are raised to promote the healthy development of education scientific research.


Modelling Stochastic Systems.- Probabilistic Automata: System Types, Parallel Composition and Comparison.- Tutte le Algebre Insieme: Concepts, Discussions and Relations of Stochastic Process Algebras with General Distributions.- An Overview of Probabilistic Process Algebras and Their Equivalences.- Model Checking of Stochastic Systems.- Verifying Qualitative Properties of Probabilistic Programs.- On Probabilistic Computation Tree Logic.- Model Checking for Probabilistic Timed Systems.- Representing Large State Spaces.- Serial Disk-Based Analysis of Large Stochastic Models.- Kronecker Based Matrix Representations for Large Markov Models.- Symbolic Representations and Analysis of Large Probabilistic Systems.- Probabilistic Methods in State Space Analysis.- Deductive Verification of Stochastic Systems.- Analysing Randomized Distributed Algorithms.- An Abstraction Framework for Mixed Non-deterministic and Probabilistic Systems.- The Verification of Probabilistic Lossy Channel Systems.


a film-forming composition comprising a) a saccharide-siloxane copolymer; b) a crossl inking agent; c) one or more active/inactive ingredients; and d) optionally, a solvent, or solvent mixture, wherein the the saccharide-siloxane copolymer has the following formula: R2aR1(3-a)SiO-[(SiR2R1O)m-(SiR12O)n ]y-SiR1(3-a) R2a that is further formulaically defined and wherein the saccharide-siloxane copolymer is a reaction product of a functionalized organosiloxane polymer and at least one hydroxy-functional saccharide such that the organosiloxane component is covalently linked via a linking group to the saccharide component; films; and methods related thereto. The invention also provides articles of manufacture including topical and transdermal agent delivery patches comprising the novel film-forming composition and/or films.


Car manufactures have been asked to avoid the unnecessary waste of energy and reduce pollution. Replacing steel with lightweight materials on car bodies is considered as one method to reduce the vehicle weight to achieve these requirements. Therefore, in this study, we selected a modified metal inert gas welding-brazing process to join aluminum to zinc coated steel on the lap geometry. The main purpose of this research was to reveal the relationship between weldability and various process parameters such as Zn coated thickness, kind of coated treatment type, filler wire type and welding condition. Metallurgical observations and mechanical testes were carried out to evaluate the weld quality. Based on these results, we could find that the weldability of dissimilar materials were depend on sufficient and regular wetting by heat input and gap condition. The tensile-shear test results, all the fracture occurred in the HAZ of aluminum and the strength was up to 70% of base metal of aluminum. However zinc coated thickness in the range of 10㎛ to 30㎛ was no related with welded strength. Also we could find that silicon content of filler wire is very important to minimize the thickness of intermetallic compound layer. Silicon might be disturbed to the growth intermetallic compounds.


The 2005 supplement includes the following updates: Legislative proposals and a new chief at the helm of the IRS Exempt Organization (EO) Division signal serious change in the regulation and oversight of tax-exempt organizations in the future. The four key initiatives the division will focus on during its 2005 fiscal year include credit counseling, antiterrorism, excess compensation, and abusive schemes. Details of the plans for fiscal 2005 are set out in the IRS Exempt Organizations Implementing Guidelines issued November 2, 2004. New Form 1023 has also been significantly redesigned. The good, challenging, and missing aspects of the format are presented in new Chapter 18.1A. Proposals to enhance governance of tax-exempt organizations have come from several sources this year: the IRS's compliance studies, state attorney generals and legislatures, and the Senate Finance Committee.


Abstract Infiltration intensity, seasonal variation of leaching of relevant cations (Ca2+, Mg2+, and K+) and anions (NO3−) and nutrient budgets for the most common eight types of Lithuanian soils (2 Albeluvisols, 2 Luvisols, 3 Cambisols and Arenosol) are discussed. The lysimetric tests covered a period of three years. Infiltration intensity on various soils tested ranged from 199.7 mm (on Cambisols) to 316.3 mm (on Arenosol). Peak values were recorded during the spring period between soil defrosting and physical maturity. Seasonal regularities of nutrient leaching have different tendencies on various soils. Soil nutrient balances (at average annual level of mineral fertilizing N50P70K70) indicated accumulation of P and K, and depletion of N, Ca and Mg in all soil groups tested. Annual depletion of N resources reached a maximum value of −112.1 kg ha−1 in loam on loam Cambisol, −163.9 kg ha−1 for Ca in the same soil and −63.6 kg ha−1 of Mg in silty clay loam on heavy clay Luvisol.


The subject of this thesis is a determination of the sensitivity of the Durham Mk6 ground based Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope (lACT), an instrument which uses the imaging atmospheric Cherenkov technique to detect Very High Energy (VHE) gamma-rays. The first three chapters are introductory: Chapter 1 describes the basics of Very High Energy (VHE) gamma ray astronomy. Chapter 2 describes the properties of Extensive Ak Showers (EAS). Chapter 3 describes the detection of these EAS on the ground by lACTs, Chapter 4 details the Durham Mk6 lACT and includes a description of the Cherenkov imaging technique for background discrimination. Chapter 5 describes the MOCCA and SOLMK simulation codes. Chapter 6 contains a description of the details of the simulations produced for this diesis. This chapter continues to its logical conclusion and presents a revised VHE gamma-ray flux of 2.5 ± 0.7(_stat) [+0.5 or -1.6](_syst x lO(_7) photons m(^-2) s(^-1) for a sub set of a previously published data set which gave a 6.8σ detection of the close X-ray selected BL Lac PKS 2155-304. Chapter 7 discusses the importance of PKS 2155- 304 and presents 3σ flux limits for another seven Southern hemisphere AGN observed between 1996 and 1999 using the Durham Mk6 IACT. Finally there is a short discussion on the future of VHE gamma-ray astronomy.


PURPOSE: An index structure of meta data is provided to execute composite condition search of information as to contents valuably. CONSTITUTION: A key_index_list section(110) supplies a list of all transmitted multi keys. The list includes multi key information which defines each multi key, position information in a meta data fragment of the multi key, and an identification as to a key index section(120). The key index section(120) supplies a list of all sub_key_index sections(130). The list includes information which displays ranges of multi key values included in each sub_key_index section(130) and an identification as to the sub_key_index section(130) related to each representative value. The sub_key_index section(130) supplies a list as to multi key values included in a corresponding sub_key_index section(130). The list includes multi key values included in the corresponding sub_key_index section(130), an identification as to a meta data fragment having the multi key values, and identifier information(handle_value) of the meta data fragment.


INTRODUCTION The participation of laboratories in interlaboratory programmes is one of the mechanisms of quality control of their expected results in NBR ISO/IEC 17025 (Association of Analytical Communities, 1993). These types of comparative testing laboratories can assist in detecting and, therefore, correcting possible sources of error. According to the statement of that rule, to maintain the quality of a laboratory's results, they must be obtained by a validated method, followed by the estimation of measurements of uncertainty, that is, an assessment of accuracy and precision. Proficiency testing is one of the types of interlaboratory programmes that allow the performance of a laboratory to be determined by comparing the use of measurements in materials that are homogeneous or similar in at least two laboratories under predetermined conditions. For the process of maintaining accreditation, the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) requires the participation of seed laboratories in proficiency tests. The purpose of the ISTA proficiency tests is not to identify the best seeds analysis laboratories in the world, but rather to highlight those that do not meet the minimum performance that is reasonably expected of an accredited laboratory and to determine whether the laboratory is actually taking corrective actions so that its performance will reach at least the minimum level (ISTA, 2007). The statistical technique used by ISTA in evaluating the results of a proficiency test is the Zscore method. In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate whether the technique of cluster analysis could also be appropriate for analysing the performance of twelve laboratories in a proficiency test in the area of seeds, more specifically for the germination test.


Objective:The purpose of this study is to determine levels of Ghrelin,TNF-α,IL-1 and IL-6 in peripheral blood of patients with chronic hepatitis B,liver cirrhosis,and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease which diagnosed at different extent of damage,and based on it to have a further study on the relevance between Ghrelin and inflammatory cytokines in peripheral blood in above diseases.Methods:Ghrelin,TNF-α,IL-1 and IL-6 in peripheral blood were determined by ELISA method.Results:In patients with chronic hepatitis B andhepatic cirrhosis,Ghrelin level increased significantly as compared with that in normal control group(P0.05,P0.01).Ghrelin levels in decompensated liver cirrhosis(degree B and C)groups were much higher than in chronic hepatitis B group(P0.05).Ghrelin level in group of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease decreased significantly as compared with that in normal control group(P0.01).Ghrelin and inflammatory cytokines,including TNF-α,IL-1 and IL-6 showed a positive relevances in groups of chronic hepatitis B and liver cirrhosis,but not in NAFLD group which showed a negative correlations.Conclusion:Ghrelin has a higher level in peripheral blood of patients with chronic hepatitis B and liver cirrhosis,but it has a lower level in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease,suggesting correlation of Ghrelin level with the occurrence and the procession of chronic liver diseass.


Special benefits of linear traveling systems into the other sprinkler irrigation systems include resolve problems related to the runoff and lack of irrigation in corners of the field (center pivot systems), has led to the popularity of these systems. More detailed design of linear traveling irrigation systems, while raising the water use efficiency (WUE) can be considered a step to development sustainable agriculture. In this paper, using PivNoz software (USDA-ARS-NWISRL) values of required flow, nozzle diameter, and wetted area for linear traveling laterals optimized. The most changes to reach to the optimal values were related to the required flow 56% caused by the system gross capacity changes, then wetted area 49% due to the nozzled length changes, and then required flow 43% caused by the nozzle spacing. However, nozzle diameter was the only parameter that its values not remained constant for changes of system design factors.


The article provides an overview of methods used in research of the personal value-semantic sphere. It gives the typology of methods of studying the personal value-semantic sphere. On the example of specific methods it analyses the problem of the choice of psychodiagnostic tools for study of values and personal meaning as the parameters of personal development.


The modern coffee shop culture is relatively an emerging concept in Colombo, Sri Lanka and a competitive atmosphere has been created over the years. It is discovered that coffee shops are visited by individuals for different purposes including dine-in, take-away food and beverages, studying, socialization, relaxation, and business meetings/ work. Having countless alternative places to fulfill these objectives, preference in coffee shops is a choice made by the consumers, and in contrast a challenge for coffee shop managers to overcome. In building a competitive edge towards uniqueness, coffee shops substantially invest in sensory branding techniques as a value creator. Consequently, the research problem of this study is to identify the impact of sensory branding on consumer preference with regards to choosing coffee shops in Colombo, Sri Lanka over the alternatives for different purposes. The study is conducted as a survey with a sample of 300 coffee shop visitors following a hypothetic deductive approach testing the hypothesis developed based on sensory branding. The results of the study reveal that sensory branding is a successful marketing tool in promoting people to choose coffee shops among other alternatives for purposes such as dining, relaxation, studying and meetings.


Double Skin Composite (DSC) plates are subjected to impact required to cause complete perforation and the accompanied failure modes are investigated. The amount of energy absorbed is calculated by capturing the residual velocity of penetrator after perforating the lower plate. The difference in initial kinetic energy and residual kinetic energy is the amount of energy absorbed by the panel. In the present paper a non-linear threedimensional finite element models for Double Skin Composite panels subjected to dynamic loading is introduced. Pilot model is used to investigate the failure pattern in the composite panel when subjected to impact loads by rigid steel penetrator, while the other models are used to analyze the energy absorption capacity of such system when perforated. Results showed that such elements have good ability of absorbing energy when subjected to perforation, due to ductility of lower plate skin and vertical stiffness of lower shear studs.


Background— It has been speculated that the conflicting results demonstrated across poststroke aphasia therapy studies might be related to differences in intensity of therapy provided across studies. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between intensity of aphasia therapy and aphasia recovery. Methods— A MEDLINE literature search was conducted to retrieve clinical trials investigating aphasia therapy after stroke. Changes in mean scores from each study were recorded. Intensity of therapy was recorded in terms of length of therapy, hours of therapy provided per week, and total hours of therapy provided. Pearson correlation was used to assess the relationship between changes in mean scores of outcome measures and intensity of therapy. Results— Studies that demonstrated a significant treatment effect provided 8.8 hours of therapy per week for 11.2 weeks versus the negative studies that only provided ≈2 hours per week for 22.9 weeks. On average, positive studies provided a total of 98.4 hours of therapy, whereas negative studies provided 43.6 hours of therapy. Total length of therapy time was found to be inversely correlated with hours of therapy provided per week (P =0.003) and total hours of therapy provided (P =0.001). Total length of therapy was significantly inversely correlated with mean change in Porch Index of Communicative Abilities (PICA) scores (P =0.0001). The number of hours of therapy provided in a week was significantly correlated to greater improvement on the PICA (P =0.001) and the Token Test (P =0.027). Total number of hours of therapy was significantly correlated with greater improvement on the PICA (P <0.001) and the Token Test (P <0.001). Conclusions— Intense therapy over a short amount of time can improve outcomes of speech and language therapy for stroke patients with aphasia.


This paper explores the first delivery of an introductory module, 'What is Social Work' to a Year 1 cohort of students on a B.A Social Work programme. Unusually, this module is delivered in an immersive format. Delivery of teaching via the vehicle of an 'immersive module' lies under an umbrella term for shortened, intensive courses. The immersive module is constructed with an aim of achieving double/triple loop learning via auto ethnographic practice. Specifically, with relation to Social Work education, auto ethnography is utilized within this accelerated teaching space to assist students to assimilate a rigorous form of critical reflection. Auto ethnography also provides the educator with a form of data collection and method of analysis. My findings reveal how this method of teaching provides an opportunity to model practice that is contextualised and relationship-based. This is in contrast to a current U.K practice background of largely statutory based de-politicized, individualistic Social Work.


The program at the National Bureau of Standards to establish reference tab les of temperature versus emf for thermocouples of iridium-rhodium a lloys versus iridium has bee n extended to cover a ll three of the currently used thermocouples of this type. In add it ion to the values published in 1962 for the 40 Ir-60 Rh versus Ir thermocouples, tables now a re available for t hermocouples of 60 11'-40 Rh a nd 50 Ir-50 Rh versus Ir. These tables give emfs for t emperatures in degrees Celsius from 0 to 2150 °0 and in degrees Fah renheit from 32 to 3900 OF, and temperatures in these uni ts with emf in millivolts as the a rgum ent . In addition to the reference ta bles for these t herm ocoup les, t emperature-emf relat ionships a re presented for other a lloys containing 10, 25, 75, and 90 percent iridium versus irid ium . It a ppears from th e information obtained on all of t he a lloy versus iridium comb inations test ed that th e 50 Ir-50 Rh a lloy versus iridiu m gives about the maximum thermal emf (12 .2 millivolts at 2150 00) , and as a r esult m ay provide t he optimum thermocouple co mbination of th is type.


In our dialogues over the nature of archetypes, essence, psyche, and world, I further respond to Erik Goodwyn's recent foray into establishing an ontological position that not only answers to the mind-body problem, but further locates the source of Psyche on a cosmic plane. His impressive attempt to launch a neo-Jungian metaphysics is based on the principle of cosmic panpsychism that bridges both the internal parameters of archetypal process and their emergence in consciousness and the external world conditioned by a psychic universe. Here I explore the ontology of experience, mind, matter, metaphysical realism, and critique Goodwyn's turn to Neoplatonism. The result is a potentially compatible theory of mind and reality that grounds archetypal theory in onto-phenomenology, metaphysics, and bioscience, hence facilitating new directions in analytical psychology.


The management of patients taking aspirin or non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) who require colonoscopy remains controversial because of concerns over bleeding after biopsy or polypectomy.


In this paper we conduct an empirical investigation of the determinants of airline alliances. The results of the analysis show that well-established airlines with large passenger volume are more likely to participate in an alliance, and are essential for its sustainability. In line with these findings, older airlines have a higher probability of being part of an alliance. Moreover, the decision to join or form an alliance is fostered by the aggregate market share of the alliances. Interestingly, our analysis suggests that the airline's main decision is not to choose a specific alliance, but whether to join or form an alliance at all. © 2012 LSE and the University of Bath


Abstract Existing studies estimate the negative effects of family dissolution; however, evidence regarding when such effects appear is lacking. The effect is hard to isolate for at least two reasons: families select into dissolution; and effects might be observed before, during and after the dissolution. This paper presents evidence regarding the timing of dissolution effects. Family fixed effects (FEs) and a value-added model handle selection; timing is addressed by exploiting repeated observations of student performance before and after dissolution. I present evidence of weaker performance among students from dissolving families, an effect mainly driven by the deterioration of family relations before the break. The divorce itself seems to be less important.


The invention relates to a non-solvent type high-temperature resistant strippable protection ink and a preparation method of the ink. The ink comprises the following raw materials by weight parts: 55 to 65 parts of vinyl chloride-acetate copolymer, 35 to 45 parts of plasticizer, 0.2 to 0.5 parts of epoxy resin, 0.5 to 1 part of heat stabilizer, 1 to 2 parts of fumed silica, 0.3 to 0.5 part of toner, 0.6 to 1 part of flatting agent, 0.6 to 1 part of de-foaming agent, and 0.6 to 1 part of surfactant. The ink prepared by the invention uses the non-solvent formula, has no volatile substances in the printing and film-forming processes, and is of non-reaction type; and in addition, the film forming condition is simple and the property of the film is excellent.


In this paper, we propose a new shape descriptor, Multi-scale Fuzzy Shape Context (MFSC), highlighted by its robustness to deformations. A novel multi-scale fuzzy model is presented and applied on the widely used shape descriptor Shape Context to generate MFSC. The multi-scale fuzzy model can handle shape deformations of different scales, which makes MFSC robust to various deformations. Experiments on an articulated shape dataset demonstrate performance improvement gained by MFSC over existing methods. We also applied MFSC on a real-world application, Content-Based Product Image Retrieval, and the experimental results further validate its effectiveness. We make our code and experimental data publicly available for future reference.


Switchable transflective reflector (1) has a suspended particle device (SPD). Transflective reflector (1) it can be switched by applying one or more electric field to the particle suspension (2) permeability state, the reflective state or intermediate state. Increased reflectivity of the state can be achieved by simultaneously applying two orthogonal electric field to each other. Intermediate state can be achieved by applying two or more alternating or non-saturated electric field electric field in accordance with the timing scheme. Transflective reflector (1) can be maintained in a predetermined state by applying a voltage pulse in a short interval than the relaxation time associated with SPD (1). Transmittance characteristic and reflectance characteristic of the transflective reflector (1) can be adjusted according to the output of the light sensor (14). Transflective reflector (1) may be incorporated into the semi-transmissive reflective display (15) having a display device such as LCD (16). To illuminate the LCD (16), the semi-transmissive reflector (1) is provided to reflect that transmits light emitted and / or ambient light (21) by the light source (17). The relative proportions of the transmissive illumination and reflective illumination can be determined by the output of the optical sensor (14).


The study summarizes the performance of a large PV system, a 150 kWp plant, during 14th February and 16th April in Falun, Sweden. It has been in operation since the end of January 2008. It feed the ...


Abstract The Gates Formation forms part of a northerly prograding wedge of marine and nonmarine sediments of Albian age which was deposited in the Rocky Mountains foreland basin. Details of the facies developed during a fourth-order transgressive/regressive cycle in the "upper Gates" were derived from outcrops in the Foothills and from coal company borehole data, including more than 4800 m of core. Linear bodies of conglomerate and sandstone, up to 40 m thick and 0.4 to 2 km wide, occur at the base of the "upper Gates", overlying the D coal seam. Evidence of a tidal influence is provided by landward dipping crossbedding, reactivation surfaces, and herringbone cross-stratification. In outcrop, this unit exhibits large-scale bedforms which include 1.5 to 3 m thick sets of crossbedding and low-angle (less than 17 degrees) lateral accretion surfaces up to 20 m apart. These deposits are interpreted as having formed in an estuarine setting during the transgressive part of the "upper Gates" cycle. Specific depositional environments in the estuary mouth included laterally migrating channels and shoals with chute bars, and tidal deltas. Other transgressive facies include a thin marine lag, and shelf sandstone storm deposits. Stillstand sediments are represented by lagoon, coarse grained barrier bar, and channel-fill deposits preserved at the landward limit of the marine transgression. The regressive sequence includes shelf sandstones, distributary channel and shoal sandstones, tidal flat, and coastal plain deposits. The linear conglomerate body at the base of the "upper Gates" is an example of an estuarine deposit formed during a marine transgression and relative rise of sea level. Together with other linear conglomerate bodies (e.g., lowstand channel deposits of the Cardium Formation) it forms part of a variety of linear conglomerate bodies in the Cretaceous Interior Basin of Western Canada whose origin is best understood in terms of sequence stratigraphy and relative sea-level changes.


The article reviews the definition of individualised elaboration of drugs and its regulation. The present role is compared to the past one. The opportunity generated with the regulation is highlighted, mainly centred in the improvement of the service offered to the patients. As threads for the profession raised by the publication of the Royal decree and the autonomic regulation, the differentiation of categories among the pharmacy offices and a high social and economical cost are pointed out.


In this paper a model representing a group of three-phase induction motors, with terminal power-factor correcting capacitors, following disconnection of the group with its terminal capacitors as one unit from the supply, is derived. From this model the transient behavior of the motors of the group and the interaction between them, following supply disconnection is investigated, and the effect of the terminal capacitors on the transient behavior of each motor of the group, regarding terminal voltage, stator currents, airgap powers, is shown.


Nowadays, wireless indoor positioning systems have become very familiar, and widespread all over the world. They are successfully used in many applications including tracking objects e.g. Firemen who usually face life-threatening situations. Indoor positioning systems become critically convenient in such scenarios. This paper deals with the tracking of a group of firemen during their mission in order to have a real-time visibility of their coordinates. These firemen are armed by smart sensors and are, at the same time, active in a smart environment containing referenced nodes. This paper will propose two approaches: 'Centralized Emission', and 'Broadcast Emission' and will describe the proposed method to calculate the firemen's coordinates.


The electron transport properties in short polyyne nanochains lying between two semi-infinite cumulene leads are investigated using tight-binding Hamiltonian of the Harrison's model and the Landauer-Buttiker formalism. The presence of all kinds of atomic orbitals occurring in the monatomic system one by one is studied and proven. The effects of dimerization on the density of states, electron transmission, and current-voltage characteristics of a linear chain of carbon atoms (carbyne) are discussed. Our results show that the polyyne exhibits a semiconducting behavior because of dimerization. In the absence of dimerization, the carbon nanochain behaves as a conductor. Actually, under mechanical strain due to dimerization, a metal-to-semiconductor transition occurs. Moreover, it is found that the band gap in polyyne nanochains is never a constant value, but highly depends on bond length alternation. Thereby, a polyyne nanochain via strain can be exploited as a nanodevice with tunable band gap. The influences of increasing length of the finite polyyne nanochain on the transport properties regarding all atomic orbital types are studied. The nonlinear behavior of the current-voltage curve for different temperatures of the metallic leads is calculated and interpreted. Our theoretical results are in a good overall agreement with the most recent experimental findings.


Shallow-water transmission loss measurements taken in 1988 and 1993 along the same cross slope track on the New Jersey shelf are examined for the frequency interval 50-1000 Hz. Computed results, using a geoacoustic model based on a linear frequency dependence of the sediment volume attenuation, showed less loss than the measured data at the higher frequencies. A two stage, least squares procedure, is developed as a means of quantitatively examining the differences between the measured and computed results. The procedure focuses on the frequency dependence of the sediment volume attenuation and allows the comparison between measurements and computations to be formulated as a statistical test of hypothesis. A geoacoustic model, using a nonlinear frequency dependency and reasonable uncertainty for the sediment volume attenuation, provides a good fit to the data.


Loss of the coenzyme NAD+, which is required for many energy‐dependent cellular processes, has emerged as a potentially unifying mechanism for age‐related conditions. A study in this issue of The EMBO Journal identifies a novel link between depletion of NAD+ and age‐associated loss of proliferating adult neural stem/progenitor cells in the murine brain (Stein & Imai, ). These data have important implications for how brain function might decline with age.


For many generations of integrated circuit technology optical lithography has been used for patterning. Given this dominance the possible limits of optical lithography are examined and the challenges towards reaching these limits are set out. The present and near future technologies are investigated in detail and the more long term technologies are looked into and finally a possible optical lithography exposure system roadmap is constructed.


Ethnicity represents a challenging category of selfhood, even for societies sharing a material lived reality. In cyberspace, ethnicity becomes even more confusing. If ethnic affiliation truly depends upon material phenomena such as body or place, what scope, if any, is there for construction of "real ethnicity" in the deterritorialized disembodied virtual spaces of the Internet? In this paper, I present arguments for the recognition of virtual identities as "real," and I also argue that the material world is, in itself, interwoven with elements of virtuality. I go on to consider the ways in which new virtual communities may attempt establish virtual ethnic identities in cyberspace.


Background: There are increasing concerns about job satisfaction in healthcare settings because it has potential roles in staff turnover and the quality of the healthcare services provided. During the COVID-19 pandemic, several healthcare systems worldwide have suffered shortages in healthcare workers attributed to turnover from job dissatisfaction, which raised the need to comprehensively assess job satisfaction among healthcare workers. Saudi Arabia is among the countries that suffered shortages of healthcare workers, especially in primary healthcare settings, during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, job satisfaction in Saudi Arabia has not been widely discussed regarding its prevalence and associations. Aim: This study aimed to systematically review studies that assessed job satisfaction among healthcare workers in primary healthcare settings in Saudi Arabia. Methods: In this systematic review, I searched multiple databases (PubMed/Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL, The Cochrane Library, Portal of Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia (in English), and Google Scholar) to identify studies assessing job satisfaction among healthcare workers in primary healthcare settings in Saudi Arabia. Healthcare workers included physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, physical therapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, community health practitioners, and social workers. From each included study, the following information was extracted: the last name of the first author, the year of publication, occupational and sociodemographic characteristics of the included healthcare workers, study design, study setting, methods used to assess job satisfaction, and results. Only studies published in English were considered and no limits were set for the publication year. Results: A total of 8 studies were included. All studies had a cross-sectional design. The studies were published between 2001 and 2020, yet most of these studies were published during the past 3 years. Most of the studies were conducted in one center or one hospital. The sample size of included studies ranged from 143 to 508 healthcare workers. Overall, the systematic review included 741 nurses, 526 physicians, 498 dental assistants, 380 physicians, 325 pharmacists, and 161 orthodontists. Prevalence of job satisfaction varied widely across studies by job role: 92% among nurses, 80.7% among orthodontists, 76.5% among dental assistants, 73.7% among pharmacists, and only 7.3% among physicians. Most investigated sociodemographic characteristics were not associated with job satisfaction, yet some workplace characteristics related to salary, the flexibility of working hours, and having the chance to select the specialty were associated with job satisfaction. Conclusion: Job satisfaction among healthcare workers in primary healthcare centers in Saudi Arabia was scarcely investigated. The included studies showed heterogeneous results that make concluding a single job satisfaction rate highly inconclusive. The variations in these studies could be attributed to the facts that most studies were conducted one or two regions, the studies were conducted on healthcare workers with different roles and job descriptions (physicians, nurses, etc.), the studies used different data collecting methods to assess job satisfaction, and the studies were published throughout a long period (2001 and 2020). However, many of the included studies detected worrying job satisfaction prevalence rates that job in the health settings.


Organizational learning (OL) has been considered to be an effective developmental initiative in organizations that have a mission to develop, to sustain and to advance. There is a wide range of beliefs of thinking about what organizational learning is, how it occurs, and how it is applied and how it influences organizational development. Different perspectives are used to study OL by researchers from different disciplines. There is no clear and widely accepted depiction of the linkage between OL and its enabling factors. Such a comprehensive concept covering so many aspects is difficult to achieve. The authors introduce a variant of a classic approach to analyze the OL process¿the DELO (Driving-Enabling-Learning-Outcome) model, by describing OL as a continuous process. The model not only describes OL as a continuous goal-driven process, but also allows the picturing of the relationships with various influencing factors and facilitating effect of the of an OL framework.


A pharmaceutical composition stable clear aqueous propofol autoclaving, suitable for parenteral administration comprising propofol and 2 that hydroxypropyl â- cyclodextrin (HPBCD) in a ratio of propofol: HPBCD from 1:30 to 1:60 by weight.


A 2 D horizontal numerical model is used to simulate maximum and mean tidally induce near bed shear stresses and the corresponding mobile layer thicknesses in the Bohai Strait region. At the same time, the critical near bed shear stress was calculated using the grain size parameters. An analysis of the results shows that: (1) the seabed sediment types are related to the difference between the tidally induced shear stress and the critical shear stress (a larger difference is associated with a coarser bed material); (2) in some places (e.g. the northeastern part of the Strait and the near shore areas of the northern Shandong Peninsula) the tidally induced shear stress is smaller than the critical shear stress, but the seabed sediment is relatively coarse, indicating that the sediment may represent relict materials (this hypothesis should be tested by the results from future investigations into the Holocene sea level changes, paleo hydrodynamic conditions and the evolution of the sedimentary environment); and (3) a good correlation between the mobile layer thickness and the sediment type exists, i.e., a large mobile layer thickness is associated with relatively coarse sediments, and a small thickness is associated with fine grained sediments.


The intercommunity of ethnic art taste value is a common existence.The consistency of human being and the consistency of practical relationship that each ethnic groups faced,together with the exchange and amalgamation of ethnic cultures and arts form a foundation of the intercommunity of ethnic art taste value.The springhead of the intercommunity of aesthetics of human being is the biological inheritance,social evolution and cultural amalgamation.


Background and Purpose: Cognitive deficits following stroke are common and are associated with poor rehabilitation outcome. Computerized Progressive Attentional Training (CPAT) has been tested and found effective in children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and there is evidence also for similar training effects on healthy older adults (Anguera et al., 2013). This pilot trial explored the potential effectiveness of CPAT for improving cognition in stroke survivors with cognitive deficits within 2 months of their stroke. Methods: Eight sub acute stroke participants underwent the CPAT protocol for 10 sessions during a period of two weeks and were compared with controls (who did not receive training) on both attention tasks (eight healthy controls) and general cognitive assessments (eight other sub acute patients). Attention was assessed before and after training using four lab-based attention tasks while cognitive impairment was assessed using the Birmingham Cognitive Screen (BCoS). Results: The CPAT intervention resulted in improvements on both attention functions (specifically sustained attention) and non-attention functions (e.g., language, memory, number skills and praxis). These improvements could not be simply attributed to the passage of time or repetition of the test (as evident from healthy and the neuropsychological control group performance). Conclusion: While the small sample size and the pilot nature of the study should be taken into account, the results indicate that CPAT is potentially an effective and valuable instrument that can be applied to help ameliorate attentional deficits following stroke.


This paper describes the process by which a SPICE model has been developed to simulate the DC and AC electrical response of top‐emitting PIN‐OLED stacks. The design of the model was informed by I‐V and impedance spectroscopy measurements made on test devices. The SPICE model is for use in the design of drive circuits for top‐emitting PIN‐OLED devices such as AMOLED displays and microdisplays.


The purpose of this study was to examine the agreement between body fat percentage (%Fat) estimates derived from a standardized ultrasound protocol (%FatIASMS), a commonly used skinfold (SKF)‐site‐based ultrasound protocol (%FatJP), and a criterion four‐compartment (4C) model (%Fat4C). For the ultrasound protocols, all measurement sites were marked, measured and analyzed by the same evaluator. Subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) thickness was measured manually at the region where the muscle fascia was parallel to the skin and the average value per measurement site was used to calculate body density and subsequently %Fat. A repeated‐measures analysis of variance with a priori planned contrasts was used to compare %Fat values between the 4C criterion and both ultrasound methods. Small nonsignificant mean differences were observed between %FatIASMS (18.82 ± 14.21%Fat, effect size [ES] = 0.25, p = 0.178), %FatJP (18.23 ± 13.32%Fat, ES = 0.32, p = 0.050) and the %Fat4C criterion (21.70 ± 7.57%Fat); however, %FatIASMS did not yield a smaller mean difference than the %FatJP (p = 0.287). Additionally, %FatIASMS (r = 0.90, p < 0.001, standard error of the estimate [SEE] = 3.29%) and %FatJP (r = 0.88, p < 0.001, SEE = 3.60%) were strongly correlated with the 4C criterion, however, %FatIASMS did not yield better agreement than %FatJP (p = 0.257). Despite slightly underestimating %Fat, both ultrasound techniques demonstrated Good—Very Good agreement with the 4C criterion, with comparable mean differences, correlations, and SEE. The International Association of Sciences in Medicine and Sports (IASMS) standardized protocol using manual calculations of SAT was comparable to the SKF‐site‐based ultrasound protocol when compared to the 4C criterion. These results indicate that the IASMS (with manually measured SAT) and SKF‐site‐based ultrasound protocols may be of practical use to clinicians.


Goląb M.J., Lipinska A.M., Cmiel A.M.: The consequences of water release from a dam reservoir for freshwater mussel survival: recommendations for improved management. ekologia (Bratislava), vol. 29, no. 4, p. 454–459, 2010. dam reservoirs may play an important role in threatened freshwater mussel conservation. However, the restoration works on a dam and their consequences can threaten whole mussel populations. This study investigates the consequences of water release in the Czorsztyn reservoir in order to improve management of dam reservoirs. The analysis shows that the reservoir's water releases caused massive death of freshwater mussels. The main threat for mussel survival was probably flat slopes that disturbed both their ability to perceive slope gradient and the possibility to escape. in order to decrease the losses of freshwater mussel populations, it is necessary to remodel a part of the reservoir bowl's shore and to create a refugium for the mussels. if terracing across the slopes is necessary, the steps should not be entirely plain, but tilted towards the water.


In order to capture the influence of the cavity expansion velocity, this paper presents a semianalytical solution for dynamic spherical cavity expansion in modified Cam Clay (MCC) soil. The key problem is solving the six coupled partial differential equations (PDEs) of cavity expansion, in which the dynamic term is considered in the stress equilibrium equation. The similarity transformation technique is used to transform the PDEs into ordinary differential equations (ODEs). Subsequently, the numerical method using the function "ODE45" in MATLAB is selected to solve the ODEs, which allows the stress and excess pore pressure around the expanding spherical cavity wall to be obtained. The proposed semianalytical solution for dynamic spherical cavity expansion was validated by comparting the degenerate solution with the published quasistatic solution for the MCC model. Parametric study was then conducted to capture the influence of the cavity wall velocity on the cavity expansion response. The proposed solution has potential application to geotechnical problems such as dynamic pile driving, the dynamic cone penetration test, and so forth.


A cladistic analysis of the shell microstructures of Recent Vetigastropoda demonstrates, it is more parsimonious to assume crossed lamellar shell structures, rather than nacreous, are plesiomorphic. The clade Vetigastropoda is characterized by having intersected crossed platy shell structure. The analysis suggests resolution of the internal phylogeny of the Vetigastropoda, particularly separation of a crown group with nacreous shells, composed of Haliotidae, Pleurotomariidae, Seguenziidae, Stomatellidae, Trochidae, and Turbinidae, separated from an unresolved grade with cross lamellar structures, Fissurellidae, Osteopeltidae, and Pseudococculinidae. It is also suggested, that Phasianellidae is neither part of nor sister taxon to Turbinidae.


Abstract Communication skills are critical to the success of every physician; for this reason, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education lists interpersonal and communication skills ...


Some of the problems, discussed recently, with the idea that every molecule has a structure can be removed by adopting the idea that some molecules have several structures with probabilities of transfer between them. This is supported theoretically by using diabatic energy surfaces and wave functions. Since these are not easy to define in general, their definition is given in the special case where the surfaces permute into one another. Two kinds of permutation operations are required. The analysis is given more fully for two intersecting diabatic surfaces. The analogy to the double-valued property of the wave function near a conical intersection is given.


In an effort to define the desirable airfoil characteristics for large variable-speed wind turbines, a systematic study was performed using a series of airfoils designed to have similar aerodynamic properties, except for the amount of lift, which varied over a wide range. For several airfoil combinations, blade shapes were designed for a 750-kW wind turbine with a 48.8-m diameter rotor using the optimization code PROPGA together with PROPID, which is an inverse design method for horizontal-axis wind turbines. Roughness effects, including the consideration of dirty-blade performance in the blade-shape optimization process, were also considered and are discussed. The results and conclusions reveal practical design implications that should aid in the aerodynamic blade design of not only large but also other sizes of variable-speed wind turbines.


This is part 7 of a series of contributions by the critical properties group of the IUPAC Commission I.2 on Thermodynamics, Subcommittee on Thermodynamic Data. It presents all known experimental data for the critical constants of oxygen compounds other than alkanols and cycloalkanols. Experimental data and recommended values are given together with their uncertainties. The uncertainties are relatively small for the compounds of low molar mass that are stable at the critical temperature but are greater for many of the compounds, particularly those of higher molar mass, because they are unstable at the critical temperature. Where appropriate, critical temperatures have been converted to the ITS-90 scale.


In ∠0 a polarizing film on the both side of the liquid crystal cell °, pressure sensitive adhesive for a polarizer to be used when putting the face at 90 ° to the crossed-Nicol (crossed Nicols), film composition, a (meth) acrylate ester and a crosslinkable functional group in each molecule and a monomer comprising an acrylic copolymer (a) and the crosslinking agent (B) to the monomer component, cross-linking after 0 and storage modulus of the composition of 10 at 50 ℃ When the pressure-sensitive adhesive composition to be used for putting in Cross face the polarizing film in ∠0 °, 90 °, a high temperature and under a high humidity condition floating separation of the film (floating peeling) a very good light leakage does not cause resistance grant It can provide a functional optical film.


Pt/C catalyst plays an important role in hydrogen-water isotopic exchange reaction.Small Angle X-ray scattering(SAXS)is applied to investigate the structure of three kinds of Pt nanoparticles which were produced by three processes,Glycol synthesis,Soakage-reducing and Microwave heating.The SAXS analysis of size,shape,surface and the aggregates of primary Pt parti- cles is reported here.Additionally,Transmission Electron Microscope(TEM) measurements also carried out,the results of TEM are in agreement with SAXS conclusions.It is shown that three processes produced different sizes and surface area of Pt aggregations.


This study aimed to produce fermented soy-powder milk (FSPM) with Lactobacillus plantarum P1201 and to evaluate its anti-obesity activity. Isoflavone and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) of unfermented soy-powder milk (UFSPM) and FSPM and were analyzed via high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography (GC). Their inhibitory activities against α-glucosidase, α-amylase, and pancreatic lipase were assayed. Their anti-obesity activities were evaluated on the basis of their inhibitory effects on adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 cells, and the expression of mRNAs associated with adipogenesis and lipid metabolism were analyzed via real time-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and quantitative PCR (qPCR). FSPM with L. plantarum P1201 increased the isoflavone aglycones (daidzein, glycitein, and genistein) content and produced CLA in soy-powder milk (SPM), both of which possessed bio-activity. Both UFSPM and FSPM showed dose-dependent inhibitory activity for α-glucosidase, α -amylase, and pancreatic lipase. FSPM, but not UFSPM, suppressed adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 cells and reduced their triglyceride content by 23.1% after treatment with 1,000 μg/mL of FSPM, compared with the control group. The anti-obesity effect of FSPM can be attributed to CLA and isoflavone aglycones, which targeted CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α (C/EBP-α) and down-regulated lipoprotein lipase (LPL), adiponectin, adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein (aP2), fatty acid synthase (FAS), and acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACC) mRNA. Furthermore, FSPM enhanced the inhibitory activity of glucosidase and pancreatic enzymes and anti-obesity activity. Further studies are required to investigate whether the anti-obesity effect of FSPM persists in an in vivo mouse model of diet-induced obesity.


In this paper, we used an emulsion system as the continuous medium of electrorheological (ER) fluid and investigated the effect of emulsion on the ER behavior. The emulsion system, composed of dimethyl silicone oil and dimethyl sulfoxide, was prepared by the means of ultrasonic technique. Dielectric measurements showed that the dielectric constant, conductivity and dielectric loss tangent of the emulsion system increased with the content of dimethyl sulfoxide. The shear stress of ER fluid in the dc electric field was examined. A more optimal ER performance was found when Ce doped TiO 2 or BaTiO 3 particles were dispersed in this emulsion system comparing with dispersed in pure silicone oil.


Introduction Millions of rolls of microfilm contain valuable genealogical information, yet remain largely inaccessible. A titleboard (see Figure 1) contains semi-structured metadata about the genealogical records that follow the titleboard on the roll of microfilm. This metadata may include the geographical origin of the records (i.e. city and country), the record type (i.e. birth records, marriage records), and relevant dates. We propose a system to automatically segment, extract, index and search digitized titleboards. Titleboards, the input to our system, pass through three modules (preprocessing, text recognition, and indexing) to produce an index over a digitized microfilm library. The index is accessed through a graphical user interface via boolean and regular expressions. The research we present here focuses on a necessary step in the indexing process: method identification. Method identification is the process of determining whether text is machine print or handwriting.


In this work, a system for creating a relightable 3D portrait of a human head is presented. Our neural pipeline operates on a sequence of frames captured by a smartphone camera with the flash blinking (flash-no flash sequence). A coarse point cloud reconstructed via structure-from-motion software and multi-view denoising is then used as a geometric proxy. Afterwards, a deep rendering network is trained to regress dense albedo, normals, and environmental lighting maps for arbitrary new viewpoints. Effectively, the proxy geometry and the rendering network constitute a relightable 3D portrait model, that can be synthesized from an arbitrary viewpoint and under arbitrary lighting, e.g. directional light, point light, or an environment map. The model is fitted to the sequence of frames with human face-specific priors that enforce the plausibility of albedo-lighting decomposition and operates at the interactive frame rate. We evaluate the performance of the method under varying lighting conditions and at the extrapolated viewpoints and compare with existing relighting methods.


Fish welfare and their health depend on a large extent on the water quality where they live. Variation in physical, chemical or biological characteristics, in limits too high or very short time, represent serious stress factors for fish. Stress factors reduce the animal's overall resistance to pests and diseases and increase the virulence of some pathogenic biotic agents or conditioned pathogens. This research has proposed emphasizing the impact of medial water parameters situated at the limit of discomfort, or even normal limits by point of view by Order 161/2002, correlated with fish welfare assessed by relationship with some morbid states occurring in fish populations in lakes and ponds studied. Our observations have led to identification and description of interesting episodes caused by the impact of physical-chemical parameters of water and some biotic pathogenic agents, and their action over fish health. Mortality of fish was found in summer season when water quality depreciation noted in terms of main indicators: increasing water temperatures, decrease of dissolved oxygen levels, increases in pH and organic matter decomposition which led to the installation of hypoxia. Haemorrhagic septicemia was favored by conditions of biotic stress and abiotic factors, being recorded in the case of Asian cyprinids: Ctenopharyngodon idella and Hypophthalmichthys molitrix. Due to the lack of quarantine ponds, prophylactic bathing conditions and due to other technological neglects, several frequent problems were observed, such as: bleeding and skin lesions, infestation of entire fish stock in lakes or ponds with Argulus foliaceus, infestation with Saprolegniaceae. Excessive administration of manure to ponds led to water degradation in short time and installation of mortality in juvenile carp at 21 days.


The production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) requires implication of a large number of plasticizers. Ester compounds are the most suitable for plasticization. Currently the existing range of industrial plasticizers does not satisfy a need of the polymer industry and it is of great importance to develop new plasticizers that meet modern requirements. Therefore, the elaboration of new ester compounds with effective plasticizing properties, is relevant and has not only scientific value, but also practical one. One of the basic requirements for ester plasticizers is their resistance to thermal oxidation. Accordingly, we considered the effect of oxygen at 150оC (the temperature of conversion of PVC-plastic compounds) on a wide range of oxyalated alcohol phthalates developed earlier. The first group consisted of aromatic alcohols, the second group – phthalates of oxyalkylated aliphatic alcohols. The first group showed high thermal stability, the latter should be stabilized by the addition of antioxidants. It is known that aromatic hydrocarbon derivatives are widely used as stabilizers of thermooxidative disrupture. The main function of the mentioned compounds is to suppress the catalytic action of air oxygen in energy impacts on polymers and plasticizers. Consequently, we investigated the effect of Agidol-1 on increasing the stability of phthalate plasticizers to thermaloxidative degradation.


This paper concerns singular perturbation problems such as those of slow viscous flow past a cylinder. A nonlinear second order differential equation with a small parameter is used as a model to discuss the validity of the method of inner and outer expansions (MIO) for treating such problems. Based on a regular perturbation procedure by Finn and Smith, it is shown that the formal asymptotic expansions constructed by MIO are indeed in some sense the asymptotic expansions for the exact solution of the problem.


Smart vision sensor systems enable many computer vision applications such as autonomous drones and wearable devices. These battery-powered gadgets have very stringent power consumption requirements. Close-to-sensor feature extraction compressing the full image into descriptive keypoints, is crucial as it allows for several design optimizations. First, the amount of necessary on-chip memory can be lessened. Second, the volume of data that needs to be exchanged between nodes in Internet of Things (IoT) applications can also be reduced. This work explores the usage of an Application Specific Instruction Set Processor (ASIP) tailored to perform energy-efficient feature extraction in real-time. The ASIP features a Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW) central core comprising one RV32I RISCV and three vector slots. The on-chip memory sub-system implements parallel multi-bank memories with near-memory data shuffling to enable single-cycle multi-pattern vector access. As a case study, Oriented FAST and Rotated BRIEF (ORB) is used to evaluate the proposed architecture. We show that the architecture supports VGA-resolution images at 140 Frames-Per-Second (FPS), for one scale, reducing the number of memory accesses by 2 orders of magnitude comparing to other embedded general-purpose architectures.


The Chinese iatrology is a wonderful embodiment of the Chinese philosophy's wisdom on the field of iatrology,it is non-scientific.There can not be contrasted between the western iatrology and the Chinese iatrology,the former was born out of the tradition of modern western philosophy and advocates the research method used in the physical science,but the latter was born out of the wisdom which everything on earth is holistic and advocates the method of dialectic treatment.That the Chinese iatrology is denied repeatedly,is a necessary result of the phenomenon which the view that the western culture is most uppermost in all cultures on world and the scientism overspread in China.


The main objective of this work was to analyze the transformation of two dairy sheep farms from conventional herd management to organic management. To achieve this objective, we specified a linear equation of income according to the fixed and operative costs for each of the two production systems. The estimation method was the Ordinary Least Square method. This method quantifies the causal relationship between variables and it was applied to information collected on two farms over a period of four years (2003 to 2006). Estimation was checked using several tests. The obtained results enabled us to make a comparative analysis of the two different production systems, and demonstrated how their structure had been changed to adapt to organic production. The following comprise some of the main results: • Operative costs have a significant direct impact on the income function, reaching a causal factor of 2.02 for the conventional system, while in the organic system it drops to 0.3. • The importance of fixed costs is crucial to the income structure of the organic system and the relationship has a positive correlation with a coefficient close to unity. • Fixed costs show a negative relationship with income for the traditional system, which means that fixed assets and machinery do not explain the farm's income. • The obtained functions reveal a deep structural change in production schedules, which has enabled us to formulate proposals for future development.


MFOI/PCO2 Plus Postage. Elementary Secondary Education; *Field Experience Programs; Higher Education; *Instructional Effectiveness; Observation; Practicums; *Preservice Teacher Education; Student Educational Objectives; *Teaching Experience; *Tutorial Programs; *Tutoring This paper reports on a study of early teacher training field experience to assess what was happening and the extent to which the objectives of the field experience were met. Objectives included a greater understanding of how students think and learn, improved ability when choosing tutoring strategies, and enhanced observation skills. Data were gathered from case records written by 88 preservice teachers during the field experiences. During the field experience, preservice teachers attended a 3-credit hour course on learning and development and simultaneously participated in a 1-credit field experience course, the second of six field experiences in the curriculum. Results question the usefulness of tutoring as an early field experience assignment, even though final evaluations from pr-service teachers and cooperating teachers were overwhelmingly positive about the field experience. It is suggested that laboratory activities in the classroom, rather than field tutoring, may better benefit preservice teachers. The field experience did not address the realities of teaching as measured by reform literature or the stated objectives of the course. (Contains 17 references and 10 figures.) (NAV) ***************************************************i ' * Reproductions supplied by EARS are the best that can be made from the original document. * * **********************************************************************h ASSESSING EARLY FIELD EXPERIENCES: DO WE REALLY WANT TO KNOW? Tom Oppewal East Tennessee State University Paper presented at the Mid-South Educational Research Association Annual Meeting lijow;1,,I(4,;qUATION Ilh,AlagiA1,011(JSIN,-(MMAlk. CVPHItLiMI ..111.. 1..tlift,bt if. n..t 1....11, , (li r,aa Nashville, November, 1994 BEST COPY AVAILABLE PENMISSION 10 REPROm 1. 7 His MATFRIAL HAS REIN GRANT LD Rs7 / 10 THE DUCATIONAI !;0014015 INFORMATION T.E NIL R NI7j


The present invention provides a soybean plant and seed comprising a specific DNA molecule into transformation event MON89788 and these events. The present invention also provides a method for detecting the presence of these DNA molecules in the sample.


A millimeter-wave radar that measures true ground speed of wheeled vehicles is described. The tradeoffs associated with such a sensor are discussed. The device uses a single-channel receiver, a dual-beam antenna, and a zero-crossing detector to convert the signals reflected from the road surface to an analog DC output voltage proportional to speed. It is shown that the antenna is critical to the sensor design. Theoretical and simulation results are in good agreement with data collected with the sensor. Road tests have shown the device has an error on the order of about 1%.<<ETX>>


festivals and carnivals in pre-industrial societies. The most substantial chapters cover some of the more traditional themes in the history of tourism and recreation. Thus, chapter 4 examines the growth and use of spa resorts in a broad-ranging discussion before concentrating on a case study of Bath. Similarly, chapter 5 presents a detailed perspective of the 'European Grand Tour' (p. 96). This is used to outline the development of travel culture in Britain, within which the author draws together some of the ideas from earlier chapters. Here, for the first time, he also makes tentative reference to work within tourism studies on tourist types using Cohen's ideas. Unfortunately, this is all too superficial, and Towner misses an important opportunity to develop some interesting perspectives on the well-trodden theme of the Grand Tour. The discovery of wilderness, or at least 'wild places' (p. 39), forms the basis of chapter 6. Once again the read is treated to some familiar discussion such as changes in landscape tastes and the ideas of wilderness in North America. This is followed by a long chapter on the development of seaside resorts, which ranges from detailed discussions of British resorts to developments in mainland Europe and the United States. Some of the discussion is rather dated and certainly misses recent studies by Morgan and Travis. The final substantive chapter acts almost as a catch-all one in that it attempts to 'characterize the geography of recreation and tourism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries' (p. 217). Attention is given to popular recreation in countryside and town, thereby echoing earlier discussions in chapter 2. Finally, there is an all too short Postscript which somewhat fails to act as a meaningful conclusion. This book has many limitations, partly because of its broad-ranging nature. The period covered is very long and it would have certainly been better to focus on western Europe, rather than the western world. However, it is a welcome addition to the growing literature on the geography of tourism, in that it is a good synthesis and well structured. It should serve as an accessible textbook and, as Towner states, stimulate others to write a 'fuller historical geography of leisure' (p. 4).


Mao Zedong's concept of learning could be roughly summarized into the following six aspects,namely,learning objectives,learning principles,learning content,learning attitudes,learning approaches and learning aims.Mao Zedong's concept of learning offers important enlightenment for today's building of a "learning Party".It requires us to adhere to the political direction of socialism with Chinese characteristics,to combine the building of learning party with the parctice of the people,to focus on solving practical problems,and to the building of "learning Party" with spirit of reform and innovation.


AbstractThin black layers often occur on building stone in polluted areas. Various techniques including scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-radiography, electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis, Mossbauer spectroscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry have been used to analyze these layers in samples from Sweden and some other European countries. The layers mainly consist of various iron oxides and iron oxide hydroxides, sulphates, soot and silicate minerals, with smaller amounts of metal, rubber and asphalt particles, and numerous organic constituents in low concentration. Air pollutants, and to some degree minerals from the interior of the stone, are the main source of the components which form the black layers.


This comment letter addresses Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden's International Tax Reform Framework Discussion Draft released August 25, 2021 (with Senators Brown and Warner) (the WBW Draft). The comment discusses why U.S. multinationals have competitive advantages compared to international competitors because of access to a favorable cost of capital in U.S. capital markets and other benefits of being based in the United States. Accordingly, it supports adopting the Biden Administration's proposed international tax reforms. The comment explains why the United States should not wait for completion of the G20/OECD global minimum tax agreement. Finally, the letter makes comments directed at strengthening the WBW draft.


Let s_q(n) denote the base q sum of digits function, which for n alpha(q-1)log_q x}| >>x^{2(1-alpha)}e^{-c(log x)^{1/2+epsilon}} for 1/2<alpha<0.7375. To attain this lower bound, we note that the multinomial distribution is sharply peaked, and apply results regarding primes in short intervals. This proves that there are infinitely many primes with more than twice as many ones than zeros in their binary expansion.


Abstract Abstract Governments and development agencies in Sub-Saharan Africa are experimenting alternative approaches within the innovation systems paradigm to enhance relevance of agricultural research and extension to the poverty eradication agenda. Uganda, for example, has recently shifted from the supply driven to demand-led agricultural research and extension. This paper discusses the competence challenges associated with this shift based on experiences from a capacity building initiative for a demand-led agricultural research system and a synthesis of experiences in a demand-led extension. Consequently, key competences for the supply and demand sides are suggested. For a demand-led system to work, the supply side will have to be able to facilitate action learning and experimentation; broker information and knowledge exchange; develop and support empowerment of local organisations; think systemically; develop teams and work in teams; develop and manage partnerships and enhance enterprise development. The demand side too will have to be able to self-organise; lobby, advocate and negotiate; have visionary and accountable leadership; learn and experiment; and have entrepreneurial abilities. While in the short-term service providers have to be assisted to acquire these competences, the meta-challenge lies in a long-term strategy to integrate them in the training of professionals working in the value chain.


The prime goal of professionals in the built environment is to develop cost effective sustainable buildings which contribute to the attainment of climate change mitigation goals, facilitate the achievement of indoor thermal comfort and reduction of building energy demand. This work focuses on the viability of passive solar design strategies of UK conservatories and shows that passive solar energy utilization in building design can contribute to the reduction of dwelling energy consumption and enhancement of indoor thermal comfort. Synergetic passive design strategies that seek to optimize solar energy gains through thermal simulation analysis of design criteria of varying future climatic conditions, variable occupant behaviour, building orientation, adequate provision of thermal mass, advance glazing, appropriate ventilation and sufficient level of shading which influence the potential thermal performance of conservatory is performed. The balance energy benefits of reduction of energy consumption through the application of these principles of passive solar design for space heating in winter and the challenge of reducing excessive solar gains in summer is analysed using the CIBSE adaptive thermal comfort criteria and statistical methods of the data collected from the thermal simulation. The results show that the judicious integrated of the passive solar design strategies in conservatories with increasing conservatory size in elongated south facing orientation with an aspect ratio of at least 1.67 could progressively decrease annual energy consumption, building emission rate and annual gas consumption when the conservatory is neither heated nor air-conditioned.


Leakage of personal information in conversations raises serious privacy concerns. Malicious people or bots could pry into sensitive personal information of vulnerable people, such as juveniles, through conversations with them or their digital personal assistants. To address the problem, we present a privacy-leakage warning system that monitors conversations in social media and intercepts the outgoing text messages from a user or a digital assistant, if they impose potential privacy leakage risks. Such messages are redirected to authorized users for approval, before they are sent out. We demonstrate how our system is deployed and used on a social media conversation platform, e.g., Facebook Messenger.


Objective To investigate the infectious status of human cytomegalvirus (HCMV) in patients with sexually transmitted infections (STI) and infertility and to explore the relationship between STI HCMV infections and infertility. Method Specific HCMV-IgG and IgM in STI, infertility and control groups were detected by means of ELISA and the active, previous infections and total infection rates were determined. Result The total infection rates of HCMV in the STI and infertility groups were 94.73% and 90.22%, respectively showing significant difference as compared with control group (P0.01). The total infection rates in the three groups were 97.14%, 94.67% and 94.64%, respectively all showing significant difference as compared with the control group (P0.01). The total infection rates of HCMV in patients with STI and patients without STI in the infertility group were 94.73% and 83.15%, respectively, and significant differences were observed between the two groups as well as respective compared with the control group (P0.01). Conclusion Close relationships were observed among the patients in STI, HCMV infection and infertility groups. HCMV can be transmitted through sexual activities and may result in infertility. Thus sexual health education be strengthened, detection HCMV infection in nonporous women, STI patients and population at high risk to STI be carried out for enhancement of infertile quality.


The invention concerns a pantograph for wipers, especially automotive wipers. The pantograph comprises a main arm designed for fastening to a main shaft, and an auxiliary arm designed for fastening to an auxiliary shaft. The auxiliary arm comprises an auxiliary rod and an adapter for fastening the auxiliary rod to the auxiliary shaft. The pantograph is characterized in that: the adapter (6) has a socket (9) for fitting the auxiliary shaft (5) in it, and an undercut (8) made in the lateral surface of the adapter (6) and connected to the aforethe socket (9), wherein the undercut (8) is of the a size that it can contain the auxiliary shaft (5). The invention also includes an adapter for the pantograph for wipers, especially automotive wipers. The adapter is characterized in that: the adapter has the socket (9) for fitting the auxiliary shaft (5) in it and has the undercut (8) made in the lateral surface of the adapter (6) and connected to the aforethe socket (9), wherein the undercut (8) is of the a size that it can contain the auxiliary shaft (5). The invention also includes an auxiliary rod (7) designed for snap-connection to the adapter.


I Abstract For many companies with complex and discrete production systems, shopfloor reality shows that finding a good approach to production control is still an important challenge. Therefore, a practically applicable framework to engineer production control strategies (PCS) is developed. It provides an integrated answer to the most prominent questions of PCS engineering: limiting work-in-process (WIP), positioning the order penetration point (OPP), and coping with demand uncertainty upfront the OPP under the optional presence of unreliable forecasts. Starting from a systems engineering perspective on the design drivers, a generic PCS is formulated as queuing network model, whose parameters are optimized to derive a customized PCS. The optimization is performed numerically, leveraging a discrete-event-simulation framework. To explore the large solution space, complexity reduction techniques and a branch-and-bound-like optimization procedure are proposed. The generic PCS enables the construction of new hybrid make-toforecast/make-to-stock (MTF/MTS) strategies to cope with demand uncertainty. Under certain conditions, the hybrid approach significantly outperforms pure strategies. The mechanics behind it are explored by structured experiments and closed-form solutions for some of its parameters are developed. The framework and especially the hybrid MTF/MTS approach are applied to a real-life case study from electronics manufacturing, where a significant improvement potential is identified.


Liver transplant is a life‐saving treatment, but due to the limited availability of suitable liver donors, ABO‐incompatible liver transplants (ABOi‐LT) are conducted to increase the availability of liver donors. Perioperative desensitization for ABOi‐LT is an established strategy to circumvent the risk of graft rejection. A single prolonged session can be performed to achieve the desired titers to avoid using multiple immunoadsorption (IA) columns or off‐label reuse of single‐use columns. This study retrospectively assessed the effectiveness of a single prolonged plasmapheresis session using IA as a desensitization strategy in live donor liver transplant (LDLT).