ii Acknowledgements iii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: Theoretical background 3 2.1: Previous studies in second-dialect acquisition 3 2.2: Previous research on the low-back vowel merger 6 2.2.1: The merger in American English dialects 6 2.2.2: Production and perception of the merger 8 2.2.3: The low-back vowel merger-in-progress 9 2.3: Theoretical issues addressed in this thesis 10 Chapter 3: Southwestern Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh English 12 3.1: Background on southwestern Pennsylvania 12 3.1.1: A brief history of the area 13 3.1.2: The intersection of historical and linguistic development 17 3.2: Phonological features of Pittsburgh English 19 3.2.1: Midland dialect features found in Pittsburgh English 19 3.2.2: Phonological features unique to Pittsburgh English 21 3.3: Summary 23 Chapter 4: Methodology 24 4.1: Overview of dialect study methodologies 24 4.1.1: Data in previous D1 and D2 studies 24 4.1.2: Careful versus casual speech data 27 4.2: Methodology used in this study 28 4.2.1: Study participants 28 4.2.2: Data and collection 32 220.127.116.11: Careful speech data used for acoustic analysis 32 18.104.22.168: Casual speech data 33 4.2.3: Acoustic analysis and presentation of data 34 Chapter 5: The low-back vowel merger 37 5.1: Low-back vowels in Pittsburgh English 37 5.2: Analyzing the low-back vowels 39 5.3: Results of the low-back vowel analysis 41 5.3.1: Retained split between /ɑ/ and /ɔ/ 43 5.3.2: Merger of /ɑ/ and /ɔ/ 48 22.214.171.124: Merger: acquired [ɔ] realization 49 18.104.22.168: Merger: retained [ɑ] realization 53 5.3.3: 'Other': no clear evidence of merger or split 54 5.4: Summary 57


To evaluate the current indoor air quality condition of private academic facilities in Korea and investigate its association with subjective symptoms of student residing at the same academic facilities, air quality monitoring was carried out in total of 20 academic facilities located in Seoul, Daejon and Chungnam from the beginning of January to the end of April, 2009. To assess the air quality condition of academic facilities, 6 air pollutants with temperature and humidity were measured simultaneously inside and outside of academic facilities. The rate of exceeding the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) guideline concentrations in 6 air pollutants were 5%, 85%, 15%, 5%, 10% and 30% for CO, CO₂, PM10, HCHO, TVOCs and TBC, respectively. A questionnaire on 16 subjective symptoms related to indoor air quality was given to 342 students who studied at the 20 academic facilities. The most frequent symptom of students was 'I feel easily tired or sleepy', and this was followed by 'I feel muscular pain or stiffness on shoulder, back and neck'. The association of net difference (subjective symptoms at the academic facility - subjective symptoms of the usual situation) with air pollutants was analyzed using spearman rank correlation. In logistic analysis using proportional odds method, the students whose indoor air concentration of HCHO was ≥60 ㎍/㎥ had significant odds of having more subjective symptoms of 'My eyes are dry or feel irritated or itching' (OR=5.026: CI=1.587-15.911), 'I feel easily tired or sleepy' (OR=2.956: CI=1.072-8.152), 'I lose my concentration and I feel my memory is falling' (OR=7.745: CI=1.938-30.955) and 'I feel dizzy' (OR=4.424: CI=1.292-15.149) than those of <60 ㎍/㎥.


Using a transmission probability formalism, we perform theoretical calculations for the current‐noise characteristics of a finite semiconductor superlattice with correlated thickness randomness in which the thicknesses of barriers are regular but those of wells are partially random. The transmission probability is calculated by the use of an exact Airy‐function formalism combined with a transfer matrix technique. We show that the tunneling resonance, owing to the existence of reflectionless electron waves in the absence of electric field, is sensitively suppressed by the applied field, leading to a special region of negative differential resistivity at low bias voltages in the I‐V curve. The current fluctuations near the peak of the I‐V curve are decreased from the usual shot‐noise values due to the large transmission of the reflectionless waves. The results may shed light on the possibility of exploiting the structure in designing resonant‐tunneling systems that require optimum sensitivity to applied ele...


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Background: Hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers for volume augmentation in the anteromedial malar region of Asians have been popular for many years. However, studies on their long-term effectiveness are lacking. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of HA fillers injected into the anteromedial malar region for volume augmentation for up to 52 weeks. Methods: Each anteromedial malar region of the subjects was treated with YVOIRE Contour (YVOC) in one side and Restylane Sub-Q (RESS) in the other and followed up at weeks 2, 14, 26, and 52. The volume using the mid-face aesthetic scale (MFAS) ranging from 0 (full) to 4 (very severely sunken) and the subject's satisfaction and adverse events were evaluated. Results: Total 83 subjects were randomized and treated with YVOC and RESS. The LS means (standard error) of MFAS score in the YVOC and RESS groups were both 2.56 (0.05) at baseline, 1.32 (0.07) and 1.39 (0.07) at week 26, and 1.84 (0.10) and 1.89 (0.10) at week 52, respectively. The difference in the LS mean of MFAS score between the groups at week 26 was 0.07 (95% confidence interval, 0.01–0.12), showing the non-inferiority of YVOC to RESS. About 70% of subjects were still satisfied with the results at week 52. No specific safety concern was detected. Conclusions: The HA fillers injected for the anteromedial malar augmentation maintained the volume well for up to 52 weeks. Additionally, both YVOC and RESS show similar effectiveness and safety profiles.


From the dawn of history, the spiritual came to India seeking wisdom, others came in search of either glory through conquest or wealth through commerce or both. For more than a thousand years, India was at the heart of an intricate trading system in the Indian Ocean. Persians, Uzbeks and Tajiks were followed by the Arabs and Afghans, and finally came the European seafarers. Columbus sought India and died in the belief that he had found in. Vasco Di Gama got his bearings a little more accurately and the. European inflow culminated in the British Raj. We celebrate diversity and pluralism. There are not many countries where a Muslim head of state, a Sikh head of government a Christian leader of the largest political party or a majority representative heading the armed forces would be so taken for granted as to barely cause comment. That is because we have a genuinely pluralistic culture, one when all faiths are equally respected.


Black PM. Brain death in the intensive care unit. Brain death is an increasingly important condition in the intensive care unit. In this issue of the Journal of Intensive Care Medicine, Powner reviews the most important element of brain death: making an accurate diagnosis. Specific protocols may vary from institution to institution: However, guidelines for brain death criteria in the United States have been firmly established by the report of the President's Commission [ 1 ]. In this formulation brain death is a clinical diagnosis with certain preconditions and confirmatory tests. The clinical criteria that form the core of the diagnosis are those that establish unresponsiveness and brainstem areflexia. Apnea testing is the most important of the tests of brainstem reflexes and should be done carefully, as Powner describes. The preconditions are primarily (1) that the cause of the coma be known and (2) that the cause be adequate to explain the coma. Drug intoxication, hypother-mia, and other conditions must be excluded as much as possible. Confirmatory tests are in most cases the electroencephalogram or some test of blood flow, most recently isotope angiography. Blood flow tests are preferred if there is a question of drug intoxication. Institutional tradition is continued within the guidelines for acceptable diagnosis. Given the general nature of the recommendations of the Presi-dent's Commission, however, it is important that specific critieria be defined for each institution and for the critical care units within it. Each hospital's executive committee and legal counsel should approve the specific criteria as well. With the plural-istic medical care tradition of the United States, it is unlikely that a universally accepted set of criteria will be established nor is such standardization desirable ; changes in technology will continually mandate guideline modification. Three specific modifications of the Commission's guidelines have been adopted at our institution. If circumstances such as facial injury preclude testing of pupils and eye movements, an isoelectric elec-troencephalogram and apnea are considered adequate criteria. If the patient has been in barbiturate coma and the other criteria are met, a barbiturate level of less than 1 mg/ml is considered adequate to exclude drug intoxication. Finally, the criteria for diagnosing brain death in infants and children are the same as those for adults; however, at least one physician with expertise in this area should be consulted. These are somewhat arbitrary refinements of the criteria of the President's Commission, but they were necessary …


A semiconductor device with an isolation layer is provided to improve the current driving capability of a FinFET by including an isolation layer having substantially the same upper surface as an active region in a FinFET suitable for minimizing an electrical potential between a gate pattern and an active region electrically unrelated to the gate pattern. An isolation layer is disposed on a semiconductor substrate(5). Active regions(33) are two-dimensionally disposed along the row and column directions(I-I', II-II') of the semiconductor substrate, surrounded by the isolation layer. Gate patterns(90) are disposed on the isolation layer, crossing the active regions and running in parallel with the column direction. The isolation layer is composed of first and second isolation layers(37,39). The first isolation layer has substantially the same upper surface as the active region between the active regions in the row direction. The second isolation layer has an unevenness part(A,B) between the active regions in the row and column directions. The gate patterns are disposed so as to cross the first and second isolation layers. The unevenness part of the second isolation layer is filled with the gate pattern.


An image processing device 100 includes a mode selection processing portion 50 capable of selecting a desired operational mode, a program registration processing portion 51 for storing in a program memory portion 57 the selected operational mode as a piece of program information, a program selection processing portion 52 capable of selecting a desired piece of program information from a plurality of pieces of program information stored in the program memory portion 57, a program call processing portion 53 for setting the operational mode on the basis of the piece of program information selected by the program selection processing portion 52, and a program information search processing portion 54 for searching a piece of program information from the plurality of pieces of program information stored in the program memory portion 57 on the basis of a piece of search key information corresponding to an individual operational mode.


The quickness of youth's response to social change makes parents and other adults nervous, and triggers the expectation that a change in youthful manners will lead inevitably to a change in morals. Since this expectation can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, adults can create the problems they seek to avoid if they communicate to their children their expectations of antisocial behaviour. To counterbalance the sanctions of a permissive society, youth needs adult confidence in its capacity to set its own limits. If adults have confidence in youth in a world of change, youth will have confidence in itself.


Synthesis gas is reacted in the presence of a catalyst in Fischer-Tropsch reactor (4) to produce hydrocarbons. A catalyst precursor comprising cobalt oxide is charged in a reduction reactor (2) and reduced by contacting with a reducing gas comprising hydrogen and/or carbon monoxide, and the reduced catalyst is filled in the reactor (4).


ABSTRACT The clinical development of nonsusceptibility to the lipopeptide antibiotic daptomycin remains a serious concern during therapy for infections caused by vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREfm). The long-acting lipoglycopeptide oritavancin exhibits potent in vitro activity against VREfm, although its safety and efficacy for treating clinical VREfm infections have not been established. In this study, novel dosing regimens of daptomycin and oritavancin were assessed against both VREfm and daptomycin-nonsusceptible VREfm isolates in an in vitro pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic model.


All over the world, it is largely believed and accepted by most of scientists that nuclear energy is a cheap source of energy for generating electricity. Also, it is widely held that nuclear energy is pollution free, therefore, it must be spread because it helps in mitigating the global climate change threat. Apart from the civilian purposes, nuclear energy is also used for manufacturing nuclear warheads for security purposes or avoiding major wars between the rival states. This study tries to explain the dilemma in Indian context that despite nuclear energy is an element of pollution and a threat to biodiversity, the government is planning to construct more breeder reactors in India. In addition, this study highlights that nuclear energy is expensive than other sources of energy. The nuclear industries are selling nuclear equipment to states which are even outside of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). This study argues that the nuclear commerce is a new form of capital accumulation in the name of development which might result into the destruction of the globe.


Owing to the unique merits benefited from the two-dimensional (2D) geometry, graphene has been often chosen as an attractive strength enhancer during the design of metal-graphene structural composites. In spite of the improved mechanical properties with the assistance of graphene, it is still challenging to fit the strength requirements for these metal-graphene composites in the practical applications. To address this issue, metal-doping and carbon-vacancy engineering, in this work, are first proposed to manipulate the dual-phase interfaces between metal and graphene in order to further strengthen the mechanical properties in metal-graphene composites based on the first-principle calculation. It can be concluded that a single-carbon-vacancy graphene or a Ti, Mn-doped metal matrix in metal-graphene composites delivers the best interfacial binding capability, resulting in an obvious strength increase of over 110% for Cu-graphene composites. Finally, the deformation mechanisms of metal-graphene composites are discussed via the evaluation on tensile deformation processes, electron densities, and stacking fault energies. This work offers us an alternative solution for the effective reinforcement on mechanical properties of metal-graphene composites by manipulating the dual-phase interfaces using doping or vacancy engineering.


Recently, representative sparse representation based classifiers, namely dictionary learning and collaborative representation based classifier (CRC), has been introduced into software defect prediction (SDP) and demonstrated to be effective for SDP. The dictionary learning based SDP method needs relatively large computational cost, while collaborative representation based method can significantly reduce the computational cost and achieve comparable prediction effects as the former. In this paper, we aim to preserve the desirable efficiency of collaborative representation based SDP method and further improve its prediction effect. We propose a cost-sensitive local collaborative representation (CLCR) approach for SDP. CLCR firstly efficiently finds the neighboring modules of a given test (query) module using CRC. Then CLCR represents the test module as a linear combination of its neighbors and uses the representation error for prediction. To solve the class-imbalance problem, CLCR further incorporates the cost-sensitive factor into the representation coefficients in the prediction phase. Experiments on five projects of the NASA dataset demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach as compared with several related SDP methods.


Taking advantage of recent progress in neutron instrumentation and in the understanding of magnetic-field-dependent small-angle neutron scattering, here, we study the three-dimensional magnetization distribution within an isotropic Nd-Fe-B bulk magnet. The magnetic neutron scattering cross section of this system features the so-called spike anisotropy, which points towards the presence of a strong magnetodipolar interaction. This experimental result combined with a damped oscillatory behavior of the corresponding correlation function and recent micromagnetic simulation results on spherical nanoparticles suggest an interpretation of the neutron data in terms of vortex-like flux-closure patterns. The field-dependent correlation length Lc is well reproduced by a phenomenological power-law model. While the experimental neutron data for Lc are described by an exponent close to unity (p = 0.86), the simulation results yield p = 1.70, posing a challenge to theory to include vortex-vortex interaction effects.


A practical test was carried out for six months at thirty collieries in Scotland, and 963 per cent. of eye-injuries were treated with no loss of working time. In the hospital treatment of thedeveloped hypopyon ulcer the tmethodof application of Albucid Soluble is still inthe experimental stage, but the results appear to be satisfactory. Acknowledgments.-We have pleasure in making the following acknowledgments. The bacteriology of the Edinburgh cases was done by Dr. A. J. Rhodes, and of the Glasgow cases by Dr. WV. B. Kyles. We are indebted to Professor T. J. Mackie of Edinburgh University for h-is interest and guidance in this part of the work. Dr.J. M. Robson and Major G. I. Scott conducted the research on Albucid Soluble at the Pharmacology Department, Edinburgh University. We have to thank Dr. H. M. Traquair and Dr. E. H. Cameron of the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, and Dr. S. S. Meighan and Dr. John Marshall of Glasgow Eye Infirmary for their courtesy in making available all clinical material in their eye wards. Our thanks are also due to Dr. P. L, McKinlay df the Department of Health for Scotland for his valuable help in the statistical work.


U3Si2 nuclear fuel is corroded in deuterated steam with in situ neutron diffraction. Density functional theory is coupled with rigorous thermodynamic description of the hydride including gas/solid entropy contributions. H absorbs in the 2b interstitial site of U3Si2Hx and moves to 8j for x  0.5. Hydriding forces lattice expansion and change in a/c ratio linked to site preference. Rietveld refinement tracks the corrosion reactions at 350-500 °C and preference for the 8j site. Above 375 °C, formation of UO2, U3Si5 and USi3 take place in the grain boundaries and bulk. Hydriding occurs in bulk and precedes other reactions.


In this paper, we describe a recommender system that enables personalized search on Scholar Google. This kind of system is needed to support learning process, because teachers and learners can make the right choices from an expansive list of options. One of main advantages of the system "Ponto com Filtro" is to create the user profile in a implicit way without user's interaction. The system was used by a users group aiming to verify its applicability. Our studies show that the implemented solution enables users to find relevant resources and improves relevancy of results.


In this work the fluid dynamics behavior of a draft tube continuous spouted bed with particle bottom feed was studied through experimental data of static pressure, fountain height, and fluid mass flow in the annulus, as well as using the computational fluid dynamics. Experiments using glass beads as solid phase were carried out in two different velocity inlet conditions, 20 and 22 m/s. The inlet solid mass flow rate was 0.087 kg/s for the first case and 0.097 kg/s for the second one. Static pressure measurements were done in axial and radial coordinates for the entire equipment. The fountain height and fluid mass flow in the annulus were also evaluated during experiments. The Eulerian-Eulerian multifluid modeling approach was applied to predict gas-solid flow behavior. The Gidaspow (1994) drag model and the granular kinetic theory derived by Lun et al. (1984) were adopted here. A commercially available program, FLUENT 6.3, was chosen to carry out computer simulations. CFD simulations were able to predict very well the static pressure profile, fountain height, and fluid mass flow in the annulus.


Abstract With the entire world plunged into the COVID-19 pandemic, Tokyo 2020 '+1' became a symbol of people passing through a dark tunnel into the light. If a historical period can be regarded as liminal, special attention must be paid to the thoughts and practices in this period. Based on previous liminality/liminoid research by Gennep and Turner, this study explored the behaviour and performance of five communitas – the IOC, the TOC, the Government of Japan, athletes, and Japanese people in the process of separation and tunnel crossing. (1) The separation state of the five communitas differs from the category included in previous theories. Liminoids may not necessarily have been designed in advance, but can also spontaneously arise as a force for changes in major events or disasters. (2) As a liminoid event, the tunnel functions as a liminal experience and exhibits a special ontological status and state of 'reinforced structure'. (3) The IOC may hold a special 'X + Tokyo2020' Olympics in the future to bring those involved out of the liminality. (4) The idea of a tunnel could help the Olympic Games or other sports events open up new ideas and form a creative mode of resistance to uncertainty.


TRAIAN RUS1, IOSIF LINGVAY2, ALINA RUXANA CARAMITU2, ADRIANA MARIANA BORS3, DANUT IONEL VAIREANU1* 1 Politehnica University of Bucharest, Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, Department of Analytical Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, 1-7 Polizu Str., 011061, Bucharest, Romania 2.National Institute for Research and Development in Electrical Engineering INCDIE ICPE-CA , 313, Splaiul Unirii, 030138, Bucharest, Romania, 3The National Institute for Research and Development in Environmental Protection (INCDPM), 294 Splaiul Independentei, 060031, Bucharest, Romania

https://revmaterialeplastice.ro/count_redirect.asp?RevPlID=4931&pdfArticle=pdf/24 RUS T 4 17.pdf


The article argues that the impeachment occurred in Brazil in 2016 configures a political crisis. Among other factors, the text highlights the politicization of the Judiciary and the conservative alliance between parties and right-wing social movements. Offering a kind of democratic reconstruction agenda, we affirm the urgency of a broad-based progressive coalition to contain the advance of setbacks in Brazil today. In such a coalition, it is fudamental the hability for the inclusion of diverse social cleavages, democratic voices and multiple social classes.


Flexible pipes are being installed and operated in more marginal and challenging offshore conditions related to deep-water environments. Especially important is the accurate assessment of the remaining life of a flexible riser so operators can avoid costly premature change outs. So, emerging inspection and monitoring technologies are being several developed to achieve a comprehensive flexible pipes integrity approach.For unbonded flexible pipes, the primary challenges include fatigue life, collapse, axial compression loading of the tensile armor wires and end fitting development.This paper is related to end fitting development area, due to necessary folding/unfolding process on the tensile armor wires during pipe assembling. This mechanical forming generates high levels of plastic strain on the wires, which may therefore reduce the fatigue life of the flexible pipe in the field.This paper presents an analysis of the high strain level involved in the folding and unfolding process along tensile armour wire, using the strain gages and fiber Bragg grating techniques.Besides that, this paper describes a comparison analysis, which correlates the performance of both methods to assess high strain levels.Copyright © 2014 by ASME


The paper describes 2 cases of correction of portal vein stenosis after pediatric liver transplantation using interventional radiology techniques. Its long-term result is analyzed. X-ray endovascular correction of portal vein stenosis after left lateral liver bisegment transplantation demonstrates a high clinical efficiency, yielding good long-term results.


BIODIVERSITY OF OILS AND OLEORESIN PLANTS IN PUMAT NATIONAL PARK AND EXPLOITATION, MANAGEMENT Dao Thi Minh Chau , Tran Minh Hoi Biology Department, Vinh University,192 Le Duan, Vinh city, Nghe An Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, VAST, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Ha Noi Email: firstname.lastname@example.com Pu Mat is considered to be the biggest National Park in Northern Vietnam, core zone accounts for 94.804.4 hectares, and buffer zone accounts for 86.000 hectares, in which 94 % of the area is still covered by forest and about 22 % are primary forests. According to the survey results, Đào Thị Minh Châu, Trần Minh Hợi 394 there were 136 species that produce oils and oleoresins within 96 genus, 43 families of higher plants in Pu Mat National Park. The most remarkable is that 7 rare and precious species named in Vietnam Red Book (2007) and IUCN Red List being overexploited in Pu Mat National Park for China market. Acknowledge of local people about oils and oleoresins plants' value is limited, they are interested to exploitation without management and conservation. This phenomenon causes many species become scarce and lead to exhaustion.


Preliminary results of producing Cu–Y–Ba metallic precursors to high T _c superconductors by high energy ball milling are reported. Mechanical alloying of Cu, Y, and Ba powders (various stoichiometries) produced either amorphous, mixed crystalline/amorphous, or fine grained crystalline powders, as shown by their x-ray spectra. None of the powders exhibited flux exclusion down to a temperature of 1.4 K. The YBa_2Cu_3 precursor consisted of a mixture of crystalline phases. After being pressed into a pellet and sintered, it was found to be superconducting at liquid nitrogen temperatures.


We have synthesized and characterized a water-soluble gold(III) corrole (1-Au) that is highly toxic to cisplatin-resistant cancer cells. Relative to its 1-Ga analogue, axial ligands bind only weakly to 1-Au, which likely accounts for its lower affinity for human serum albumin (HSA). We suggest that the cytotoxicity of 1-Au may be related to this lower HSA affinity.


Asymmetric hydrogenations of prochiral olefines by means of chiral rhodium(I) complexes of the type [Rh(L)(PP*)]A (L = COD, [(Z,Z)-cycloocta-1,5-diene], or NBD (norborna-2;5-diene), PP* = chiral bisphosphane forming seven-membered chelate rings, A = anion like BF4−) are often associated with induction periods caused by partial blocking of the catalyst. NBD complexes are hydrogenated faster than the corresponding COD complexes. Catalytic hydrogenation of COD/NBD mixtures and the determination of the ratio of the Michaelis constants showed that the steady-state concentration of the COD complex under hydrogen is higher than that of the NBD complex. However, under argon the NBD complex predominates owing to its higher thermodynamic stability compared with that of the COD complex as determined by 31P-NMR spectoscopy. This complete reversion of the ther-modynamically determined ratios of COD to NBD complex concentration under hydrogenation conditions was proven by means of UV/Vis spectroscopy.


Water quality conditions in three oxbow lakes were examined from before and after "Best
Management Practices (BMPs)" implementation within the Mississippi Delta. Experimental design called for
the development of structural and cultural treatments to reduce sediment and associated pollutants entering
watershed oxbow lakes. Three watersheds were selected and developed with different levels of BMPs.
Changes in lake water quality and fisheries characteristics were used as measures of management success.
Analyses of water quality prior to the implementation of BMPs indicated lakes that were stressed and
ecologically damaged due to excessive in-flowing sediments. Significant improvements in water quality were
realized through the use of cultural and structural BMPs. Sediments were decreased 34 to 59%, while Secchi
visibility and chlorophyll generally increased. The most dramatic improvements in water quality occurred in the
two watersheds that featured cultural practices and combinations of cultural and structural practices,
respectively. Reducing suspended sediment concentrations in these oxbow lakes resulted in conditions
favorable for phytoplankton production. Increases in phytoplankton production resulted in increased
chlorophyll concentrations and higher concentrations of dissolved oxygen, leading to improved secondary
productivity. Results further indicated that cultural BMPs may play the more vital role in improving lake water
quality and are needed in addition to structural measures to ensure improved water quality in oxbow lakes
receiving agricultural runoff.


This paper presents a new concept of the robots dedicated to small farming activities. A walking robot is remote controlled in order to perform agricultural operations in small farms or peasant household. The robot should perform all operations during crop development respectively tilling seeding, fertilization, harvesting, etc. The robot structure is conceived in order to achieve low energy consumption criteria by gravitational decupling and static gait. The power of the robot is calculated robot power is calculated by reference to the power of a man or a horse. The purpose of this work is to approach some aspects of a robot according with the requirements of work environments: energy consumption, influence to the environment, the proper locomotion method, etc.


Diversity Array Technology(DArT)is a hybridization-based genotyping method which uses microarray technology to type and identify DNA polymorphism.DArT has advantages of high quality,high throughput,low cost and the independence on prior sequence information.In this paper,we reviewed the methodology of DArT and improvement on its procedure,application in genetic map construction and crop variety identification.


A summary accessible for the general audience is part of this dissertation. Genetic evidence indicates that specific combinations of accessory proteins and ligands mediate vascular Frizzled (FZD) signaling via beta-catenin in different CNS structures. Accessory proteins in FZD receptor complexes are thought to determine ligand-selectivity and signaling amplitude. In the retina, TSPAN12 is an essential coactivator in Norrin/FZD4 signaling to mediate angiogenesis. The genes encoding mediators of Norrin/FZD4 signaling are linked to familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR), an inherited retinal disease that can lead to blindness. Yet, the molecular function of TSPAN12 and the specific cell type in which TSPAN12 functions in the retina remains poorly understood. Here, I utilized binding experiments and cell-based assays to demonstrate that TSPAN12 is an essential component of the Norrin receptor complex and physically interacts with FZD4 and Norrin via its extracellular loops, consistent with an action as co-receptor that enhances FZD4 ligand-selectivity for Norrin. I established that FEVR-linked missense mutations in TSPAN12 prevent the incorporation of TSPAN12 into the Norrin receptor complex. In vitro and in Xenopus embryos, TSPAN12 alleviates defects of FZD4 M105V, a mutation that destabilizes the Norrin/FZD4 interaction. Results from mouse conditional genetic studies reveal the requirement for iv TSPAN12 function in endothelial cells and for endothelial cell/mural cell interactions, artery-vein specifications, and blood-retina barrier maintenance. This study sheds new light on the poorly understood function of accessory proteins as mediators of ligandspecificity in FZD signaling.


A ring passive resonator has been developed and studied which utilizes optical channel waveguides formed on a K8 glass substrate by diffusion ion exchange in the potassium nitrate melt. Coupling between external devices and channel waveguides was implemented by coupling prisms and end joints. Experiments have been performed on the transfer function of the ring resonator which illustrate its resonant properties. The ultimate sensitivity of the light gyroscope has been estimated and ways for its improvement have been envisaged.


Business rules are closely associated with events. This paper describes how events in use cases can be the basis for identifying classes and business rules. A process known as event scripting is used to document the event and from it objects and their relationships are identified. Business rules identified with the events are attached to objects as part of their definitions in class specifications. The event scripting process is described in detail in this paper.


Having a relational understanding of the equal sign is seen as important to students in algebra in lower secondary school. The basis for their understanding of the equal sign is laid in elementary school. This paper presents results from two studies in Norway, a quantitative survey and a qualitative task-based interview. In both studies, students in 5th and 8th grade solved an equal sign task. 1230 students participated in the survey and 8 students were interviewed. These latter students also responded to questions about the meaning of the equal sign. Results from both studies show that a majority of the students in 5th grade have an operational understanding of the equal sign, while a majority of those in the 8th grade have a relational understanding of the equal sign.


1. Wong GW, Miravitlles M, Chisholm A, Krishnan J. Respiratory guidelines—which real world? Ann Am Thorac Soc 2014;11: S85–S91. 2. Prieto-Centurion V, Rolle AJ, Au DH, Carson SS, Henderson AG, Lee TA, Lindenauer PK, McBurnie MA, Mularski RA, Naureckas ET, et al.; CONCERT Consortium. Multicenter study comparing case definitions used to identify patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2014;190:989–995. 3. Zwarenstein M, Treweek S. ACP Journal Club. What kind of randomized trials do patients and clinicians need? Ann Intern Med 2009;150: JC5-2, JC5-3. 4. Treweek S, Zwarenstein M. Making trials matter: pragmatic and explanatory trials and the problem of applicability. Trials 2009; 10:37. 5. Murgia N, Brisman J, Claesson A, Muzi G, Olin AC, Torén K. Validity of a questionnaire-based diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in a general population-based study. BMC Pulm Med 2014 21;14:49. 6. Tashkin DP, Fabbri LM. Long-acting beta-agonists in the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: current and future agents. Respir Res 2010;11:149. 7. Price D, Yawn B, Brusselle G, Rossi A. Risk-to-benefit ratio of inhaled corticosteroids in patients with COPD. Prim Care Respir J 2013;22: 92–100. 8. Au DH, Udris EM, Curtis JR, McDonell MB, Fihn SD; ACQUIP Investigators. Association between chronic heart failure and inhaled beta-2-adrenoceptor agonists. Am Heart J 2004;148:915–920. 9. Hawkins NM, Wang D, Petrie MC, Pfeffer MA, Swedberg K, Granger CB, Yusuf S, Solomon SD, Ostergren J, Michelson EL, et al.; CHARM Investigators and Committees. Baseline characteristics and outcomes of patients with heart failure receiving bronchodilators in the CHARM programme. Eur J Heart Fail 2010;12:557–565. 10. Cooke CR, Joo MJ, Anderson SM, Lee TA, Udris EM, Johnson E, Au DH. The validity of using ICD-9 codes and pharmacy records to identify patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. BMC Health Serv Res 2011;11:37. 11. Walters JA, Hansen E, Mudge P, Johns DP, Walters EH, Wood-Baker R. Barriers to the use of spirometry in general practice. Aust Fam Physician 2005;34:201–203. 12. Kaplan A, Cosentino L. Alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency: forgotten etiology. Can Fam Physician 2010;56:19–24. 13. Williams MV, Baker DW, Honig EG, Lee TM, Nowlan A. Inadequate literacy is a barrier to asthma knowledge and self-care. Chest 1998; 114:1008–1015. 14. Kaplan A, Small I. Our patients' fears may be getting the better of them: how do we deal with it? Prim Care Respir J 2011;20:233–234. 15. Enright P, Schermer T. Don't pay for poor quality spirometry tests. Prim Care Respir J 2013;22:15–16. 16. Calderón-Larrañaga A, Carney L, Soljak M, Bottle A, Partridge M, Bell D, Abi-Aad G, Aylin P, Majeed A. Association of population and primary healthcare factors with hospital admission rates for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in England: national cross-sectional study. Thorax 2011;66:191–196.


Using ultrasonic wave process,the nano-silica powder was dispersed in epoxy resin efficiently,then the diversion scene was observed through TEM.the relation of frequency with dielectric constant(e r )and dielectric loss factor(tanδ)were researched.The results indicate that thee r of nano-silica/epoxy composites decrease with the increase of frequency;tanδincrease with the content increase of nano-silica in nano-silica/epoxy composites,but become flat in the high-frequency region.


X. Chen , C. Sun, P. Laborda, Y. He, Y. Zhao, C. Li and F. Liu* Institute of Plant Protection, Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Food Quality and Safety – State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base of Ministry of Science and Technology, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014; School of Medicine, Yangzhou Polytechnic College, Yangzhou 225009; and State Key Laboratory Breeding Base for Zhejiang Sustainable Pest and Disease Control, Institute of Virology and Biotechnology, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 198 Shiqiao Road, Hangzhou 310021, China


We will discuss recent progress in combining microstructured fiber, highly-doped active glasses, and novel laser cavity designs to enhance the performance of very compact fiber lasers.


Now,with the rapid developing information era,people can learn all kinds of information through the network media.As a form of media,online media is different from traditional media,it has a lot of features such as spread fast,more interactive and so on.In this paper,starting with the era of Internet media,through the analysis of the characteristics of dynamic Flash elements in the Internet media and then explain the importance of the dynamic Flash element in the Internet media.


Housing for a gearbox, in particular a planetary gear 4, comprising at least one structure exhibiting a gehauseversteifende gear housing part, further comprising at least one shaft and transmission gears, wherein the shaft is mounted in the housing. According to the invention a housing for a transmission is provided which is optimized with respect to its weight and strength. This is achieved in that the gehauseversteifende structure is aligned in the circumferential direction of a gear housing part shaft structure 12 and an aligned in the radial direction of a gear housing part 13 reaches bead structure.


This work of bibliographical revision focuses on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) as one of the most widespread manifestations of violence against women, of a historical and transcultural nature. It is analyzed what impact it has on the identity and self-esteem -as its value componentof the women who are in this situation. The objectives are: (a) to know how the IPV affects the identity and self-esteem of the women who experience it; (b) identify and describe intervention strategies that facilitate the reconstruction of identity and self-esteem. Among the results found that the situation of IPV produces a great deterioration in the identity and self-esteem of the women who suffer it. Likewise, intervention strategies are gathered based on cognitive-behavioral current as well as art therapy through group work with battered women. The revision has shown how the identity and self-esteem of women, shaped as a result of differential socialization, are affected by a IPV situation. The reconstruction of identity and self-esteem is considered very important for the recovery of this group, shaping the path towards freedom from oppression. Looking to the future, it is proposed to investigate to a greater extent the process of deconstruction of identity and self-esteem as a consequence of IPV. It is also proposed to guide the intervention from a gender perspective, planning the sessions and contents according to the needs of the participants.


An experimental result may affect pre-experimental belief in two ways: it can agree or disagree with experimental belief. Such aspects were considered using two concepts of information provided by an experiment: the first due to Lindley, the second to Kullback-Leibler. It can be seen that the Lindley's information is in favour of results which agree with prior belief, while the Kullback-Leibler's information considers more useful results which disagree with prior belief. Finally it is noticed that the maximum likelihood estimator maximizes the Kullback-Leibler information.


This study examined the financial risk disclosure practices in Malaysia and content analysis is employed to analyze the level of financial risk disclosure. In order to reduce the information asymmetry with more disclosures in annual report, the financial risk disclosure practices can be subject to investigate. The importance of financial risk disclosure Include mandatory and discretionary is revealed after the Asian financial crisis in 1997 in order to reduce uncertainties for investors. The main element of focus is on financial risk disclosure which is foreign exchange rate risk, interest rate risk, commodity risk, credit risk, and liquidity risk. It was found that the level of financial risk management disclosure has a score of 38 out of one hundred. There is potential to provide proposals which can explain and introduce how the firms can manage and disclose financial risks in their annual reports as a guideline in Malaysia. Another important reason is due to the regulations that cover all the elements of financial risk in mandatory disclosure in detail at the end of 2010 by accounting standards in Malaysia (FRS 132, FRS 139and FRS 7). There is no proposal to provide a detailed guideline on all the elements of financial risk disclosure even voluntarily until the end of 2011 such as (AICPA, 1994; ASB, 2003; CICA, 2002; ICAEW, 1997, 1999b, 2002) which explains the narrative of risks and good practices in annual reports in Malaysia.


Collision is a major type of accident in maritime transportation, which in the downstream of Yangtze River is even more pronounced due to specific features that have significant impact on the collision consequence, including a special lane for small-sized ships, traffic intensity variation with the tide period, many restricted areas, and emergency resources spread along the river. This article models the collision consequences in the downstream of Yangtze River using Bayesian Networks, considering the causation factors and including a novel approach for the emergency management of maritime accidents. The graphical structure lies on domain experts and on previous works, while the conditional probability tables are developed from historical data. Both the graphical structure and parameters are validated using the well-known methods, which reflects that the developed model is reasonable. The merits of the proposed consequence estimation model that considers emergency management includes (1) a detailed description of the collision accident development and (2) consequence estimation result with good accuracy.


A simple and reliable analytical method is proposed for the spectrophotometric determination of hexazinone in water and soil leachates, where spectral interference from organic matter is avoided by means of a chemometric tool. Binary mixtures containing from 0.5 to 14 µg mL -1 of the herbicide and from 0 to 30 µg mL -1 of sodium salt of humic acids were prepared for the calibration set. The limit of detection was of 0.1 and the limit of quantification of 0.4 µg mL -1 ; a precision of 2.0 % was estimated, expressed as a relative standard deviation in percentage. Satisfactory mean recoveries ± confidence limits were obtained in synthetic mixtures (102 ± 2 %), as well as in tap water (102 ± 1 %), well water (103.8 ± 0.3 %) and soil leachates (96 ± 5 %). Unfortunately, a smaller mean recovery was found for sea water (66 ± 15 %), probably due to the high salinity of the matrix reduces the solubility of hexazinone.


The gateway radio wave penetration technology was applied to survey the small geological structure of the fully mechanized coal face in Jurassic seams of Datong Mining Area.Based on the data collection from the designated location observation,statistics on the maximum,minimum,mean value and variance variation coefficient were analyzed to the results.The reaction and law of the mine gateway penetration and survey for the washout zone,sink hole,fault,igneous rock,curtain rock and other small geological structure in the fully mechanized coal mining face in Jurassic System seam of Datong Mining Area were obtained.The results showed that the mine radio wave penetration method could be accurately to explore the geological small structures in the fully mechanized coal mining face,which could provide the geological protection for the safety production of the coal mining face.Good economic and technical results were obtained from the applications.


Abstract Chlorination of a thermoplastic styrene-butadiene-styrene rubber (S0) with a solution of 2 wt% trichloroisocyanuric acid (TCI) in ethyl acetate improved its adhesion to polyurethane adhesives. The analysis of the failed surfaces (obtained after T-peel test of S0/PU joints) showed that the locus of failure in the rubber/polyurethane joints progresses from adhesion (in non chlorinated-S0/PU joint) to cohesion in the chlorinated layer (for chlorinated-S0/PU joint). The composition of this chlorinated layer differed from the composition of the non bonded-chlorinated rubber, i.e. the failure of the joint was located in a chlorinated layer with a distinctive chemistry. On the other hand, the analysis of the chlorinated rubber/PU adhesive interface showed that chlorination with TCI produces a crosslinking of the rubber surface as well as strong interactions between the uppermost-chlorinated layer and the PU adhesive.


Marxism is the hypothesis under which education historians conduct their researches.We should not only adhere to this theory,but also need to construct Marxism educational historiography in the new period,so as to insist on and develop better Marxism in the study of history of education.Under the circumstances of globalization,the author discusses the western Marxism education historians,reinterprets Marxism,summaries and analyzes experience of the study of history of education in China.Then the author puts forward some proposals for the routes of construction of Chinese Marxism educational historiography theory system.


ABSTRACTA new method has been developed for direct measurements of unsaturated and saturated gain in las-ing media as well as optical losses in laser resonators. The saturation parameter can be determined if single-frequency laser performance is acchieved. This method has been succesfully applied to measure andcompare lasing features of the media created in sputtered hollow cathode discharge (HCD) copper ionlasers operating on 780.8 nm transition. 1. INTRODUCTION Lasing features of an active medium are determined by the small-signal gain and the gain saturation pa-rameter, which depends on the kind of interaction of laser radiation with the atomic system, for whichthe population inversion has been obtained. The latter is described as homogeneous or inhomogeneousbroadening. When the active medium is placed inside an optical resonator, the laser output power dependsstrongly on mirror transmission and optical losses in the resonator cavity.Some of the above parameters can be measured or calculated by using the following methods:1a) The amplifier method, for which a stable, single-frequency laser oscillator is required. The frequency ofthe signal-laser has to be tuned to match the center of the gain curve in the amplifying medium.b) The attenuator method, in which calibrated losses are inserted in the laser resonator. The attenuatorusually consists of two fused silica plates, which can be tilted in sinchronism to deviate from Brewster'sangle thereby introducing known losses by reflection of light out of the resonator cavity. Measurements ofthe output power extracted from the resonator (including power reflected by the attenuator plates) versusoptical coupling of the resonator give the values of optimum and maximum coupling. From them, and forknown type of line broadening, the unsaturated gain and one-pass losses in the optical resonator can becalculated. 2


Using novel fungicide 40% flusilazole EC、40% pyarimethanil SC、250g/L Cabrio EC、20.67% flusilazole + famoxadone EC、 10% difenoconazoleWG、50%Cantus WG、70% propineb WP to make an experiment of fungicidal activity in controlling Alternaria sp.The results showed that the seven above fungicides had strong fungicidal activity in controlling Alternaria sp..EC50 were 1.857 2 μg/mL、 30.804μg/mL、26.319 μg/mL、3.154 1 μ g/mL、0.8218 6 μg/mL、76.326 μg/mLl and 15.657 μg/mL respectively.The results of this study provided a evidence for controlling leaf spot disease of Aconitum coreanum and alternately using pesticides.


The synthetic ammonia production is synthesed by the Nitrogen and the Hydrogen in the semi-water gas.Because the coal dust,the tar and so on seriously influence the systematic production,which are in as soon as enters in the semi-water gas,so the semi-water gas must be purified through using the gas washing tower.Not only the desulphurization effect may be enhanced,but also production of the synthetic ammonia compressor may be raised,its eletricity and energy can be saved,then big load production may be ensured.


An interesting alternative to fossil fuel for the diesel engine is the use of diesel like oil from the tire wastes. Such a solution yields a double advantage of recovering the valuable energy content of the wastes as well as reducing the disposal problem of large quantity of tire wastes. The main aim of the present paper is to produce the novel blend (TDB-30) from waste scrap tires using calcium oxide as catalyst and then compare the emission profile with the diesel and water-emulsion blends. The emission study is carried out using kirlosker single cylinder diesel engine and the emission was analyzed using portable gas analyzer. From the study, it is to be concluded that nitrous oxide emission is lower for both novel blends when compared to diesel fuel. The blend can be used as a future fuel source and provides a way for better waste management.


An attempt was made on the development of a commercial scale storage method of garlic by irradiation. Irradiated garlics with 50, 100 and 150 Gy were stored at natural low temperature storage room and the physicochemical properties during the 10 months storage were investigated. The unirradiated garlic was mostly sprouted after 8 months storage, whereas the sprouting of all irradiated groups was completely inhibited until 10 months storage, The rotting rate and weigh loss of garlic after 10 months storage were reduced by 25 to 54% at 100 Gy irradiation compared with those of an unirradiated group. The moisture content remained relatively constant during the whole storage period. The total sugar content was increased with storage period. Ascorbic acid content was also decreased until 8 months storage but its content was rapidly increased along with sprouting. Garlic was marketable after 10 months storage by 100 Gy irradiation combined with natural low temperature.


The accuracy of the determination of the structure factors from a powder diffraction measurement is studied in light of a representative example: nickel with Cu Kct radiation. Various sources of error in the absolute measurement and methods of sample characterization are discussed. The contributions of various extraneous scattering mechanisms are assessed. From these considerations it is possible to separate the Bragg scattering, providing measurements are made through virtually the entire angular range. Results are given in detail for a standard sample, a duplicate of which can be made available to interested workers. The relationship of these results to the structure factors of the sample is discussed in terms of a model calculation, in terms of line shape analysis, and in terms of some comparative measurements on various samples of Ni and MgO. All these analyses indicate the impossibility of preparing a single sample which is ideally mosaic. Thus it is incorrect to relate the measured integrated reflection to the structure factor with the customary simple formula when high accuracy is required.


Lidar observations at Aberystwyth (52.4°N, 4.1°W) have shown layers of enhanced backscatter at heights just below the mesopause during four nights in late June and early July, 1993. The characteristics of these layers and their association with noctilucent clouds indicate that they are comprised of ice crystals. An examination is made of the temperature prior to the formation of a layer, the rates of descent of layers, and their integrated backscatter coefficients. The results are discussed in terms of the size of the crystals giving rise to backscatter, the ambient water mixing ratio, and the equivalent water vapour represented by these crystals.


The purpose of this note is to summarize recent results [6, 4, 5] on stochastic games by the author and his collaborators. These results have appeared or will appear in proceedings of computer science conferences. The intended reader of this note has an interest in finite stochastic games, but no particular interest in computation, that is, the computational aspects of the results obtained have been weeded out. We consider two-player zero-sum finite (but infinite duration) stochastic games G with N positions and at most m actions available to each of the two players in each position. The reward to Player I when Player I plays i and Player II plays j in position k is denoted aij . Transition probabilites are denoted p kl ij . We assume stopping probabilitites are 0, i.e., for all k, i, j we have ∑ l p kl ij = 1. To be able to state our results as simply as possible, we shall also assume throughout that for all k, l, i, j, we have aij , p kl ij ∈ {0, 1}. In particular, we assume deterministic dynamics of nature and non-negative payoffs. By G we denote the game with limiting average (undiscounted) payoffs, i.e, payoff lim inft→∞( ∑t−1 i=0 ri)/t to Player I, where ri is the reward collected by Player I at stage i. By Gλ we denote the game with payoffs discounted with a discount factor of 1− λ, i.e., with payoff λ ∑∞ i=0(1− λ)ri to Player I. By GT we denote the finite game with T stages and payoff ( ∑T−1 i=0 ri)/T to Player I. We shall be interested in the special case where G is a recursive game in the sense of Everett [3] . In a recursive game, all non-zero rewards occur at absorbing states with only one action available to each player ("terminal states"). When G is recursive, we let GT denote the finite game with payoff rT−1 to Player I (i.e., the payoff is the reward Player I collects at the last stage of play). Note that when rewards are non-negative, val(GT ) ≤ val(GT ). The seminal result of Mertens and Neyman [7] states:


The thesis deals with the Burnout Syndrome among the Labour Offices Workers, specifically at the two offices, namely at the Labour Office of the Czech Republic-contact workplace Brno-city and at the Labour Office of the Czech Republic-concact workplace Karvina. The theoretical part is focused on the definition, causes, phases, coping and the possibilities of burnout prevention. It also contains the characteristic and the work description of the labour offices workers at these two workplaces. The part of this thesis is the questionnaire research, which deals with the rate of burnout with regard to the age and the length of the work exprerience and tries to figure out their work satisfaction. It also deals with their view of the prevention provided by the employer.


As obesity becomes more common, it is important for all maternity care clinicians to understand the risks and associated management of obesity in pregnancy. Elevated prepregnancy weight increases the absolute risk of many adverse fetal and maternal outcomes.


Article history: Received 15 May 2020 Revised 20 May 2020 Accepted 25 May 2020 Abstract Nowadays, as more and more people work to protect and preserve our environment, the importance of trees and tree plantings is also coming to the fore. The environmental benefits of trees are obvious, as they have a positive effect on the microclimate of a given area, be it a park, a public area covered with trees or a road lined with trees. Their important role in filtering out contaminants and dust can not be neglected.


Abstract : This report describes the development of supplementary design information to help Army Service School managers support changes in school training programs. It describes a detailed process for collecting facility management and reference data for 21 types of school spaces. The facility management process is divided into three phases: Identifying quantitative and qualitative problems by comparing what is needed to what exists. Organizing problems into improvement projects; and Initiating improvement projects and monitoring their progress as they are executed by others. This process can help the school administration detect deficiencies early and tell installation and Army organizations responsible for school improvement projects precisely what improvements are needed. Reference data are for school facilities (in general), training spaces, training support spaces, offices, and shared spaces. These data include typical requirements as well as design criteria and guidance. They can be used to help identify deficiencies within existing spaces and facilities and to define what improvements should be made. (Author)


Much like humans, a growing number of software-controlled systems must cope with uncertainty and disruption through self-adaptation. However, while humans achieve this feat by changing both the means through which they pursue their goals and-when unavoidable-the goals themselves, self-adaptive systems are often only using the former adaptation mechanism. In this 'research ideas' paper, we argue that exploiting the latter mechanism is equally important, and we propose a new goal modelling paradigm that supports reasoning about goal change, and the use of probabilistic model checking tools to synthesise goal-management control software for self-adaptive systems.


Broadly stated, the objective of the National Third Party Access Code for Natural Gas Pipeline Systems is to promote competition in natural gas markets. For the National Access Code to achieve this objective in a meaningful way, it must allow prospective gas suppliers to gain ready access to pipeline systems. This paper considers two particular aspects of the National Access Code which may cause difficulties for new gas suppliers who wish to compete with incumbent gas aggregators. The first issue relates to the ease with which a new gas supplier can identify what spare capacity is available in a pipeline. The second issue is what type of capacity a new gas supplier can hope to obtain.


Functionally Graded Material (FGM) defines a unique variety of advanced material in the category of composite materials which has variation in properties as per volume ratio. it is used in wide variety of applications and it is expected to decrease the cost of the material processing and also the manufacturing processes. In our work we focussed to produce FGM by powder metallurgy processes followed by sintering process and also applying material specific processes. Research studies are mainly focussed on the processing and applications of functionally graded materials. New processing routes for metalmatrix functionally graded materials (FGMs) and structures through combinations of powder metallurgy are described. Pure Aluminium of 98% purity with 150 microns size with good fluidity and corrosion resistance is taken as matrix material and Silicon carbide, magnesium oxide are considered to be the reinforcing agents and Zinc sterate is opted as the bonding agent. The specimens are blended elementally using compaction machine followed by sintering through tubular furnace using Aluminium, silicon carbide, magnesium oxide and zinc stearate. The specimens are then tested for their mechanical properties and after then the suitable material is to be selected in the above combined mixtures. KeywordsFunctionally graded material, Powder metallurgy, pure aluminums and mechanical properties.


General relativity may be an effective theory with higher curvature correction terms in the action. Inclusion of these terms leads to exciting new possibilities, e.g., gravitational and electromagnetic perturbations following different geodesics; leading to a time delay. Such a time delay was observed between the gravitational wave event GW170817 and its electromagnetic counterpart GRB 170817A. We describe how this effect can be used to constrain the coupling of the higher curvature term. Our method is sufficiently general and applicable to any higher curvature theory.


AbstractWe study general cordial Volterra integral equations of the second kind and certain singular fractional integro-differential equation in spaces of analytic functions. We characterize properties of the cordial Volterra integral operator in these spaces, including compactness and describe its spectrum. This enables us to obtain conditions under which these equations have a unique analytic solution. We also consider approximate solution of these equations and prove exponential convergence of approximate solutions to the exact solution.


Electromagnetic Induction Launchers (EIL) have been receiving great attention due to their advantages of noncontact between the coils and a projectile. This paper describes the modeling and design of 3-stage EIL to accelerate a copper projectile of 50 kg with 290 mm diameter. Our EIL consists of three independent driving coils and pulsed power modules to generate separate driving currents. To find efficient acceleration conditions, the appropriate shape of the driving coils and the position of the projectile have been calculated by using a finite element analysis (FEA) method. The results showed that the projectile can be accelerated more effectively as the gap between the coils is smaller; a final velocity of 45 m/s was obtained. The acceleration efficiency was estimated to be 23.4% when a total electrical energy of 216 kJ was discharged.


We present a $W$ -band four-stage power amplifier (PA) in a 65-nm CMOS using a push–pull configuration with inductive feedback neutralization which achieves the highest figure of merit (FOM) compared to the recently reported CMOS PAs. The device was gradually tapered from the output to the input stage to optimize the power-added efficiency (PAE) while achieving high power gain with compact impedance matching with a transformer (TF). Interstage conjugate matching was also carried out with a TF to design a compact high-gain PA. Working under a supply voltage of 1.2 V, the proposed PA achieves a power gain of 28.2 dB with the 3-dB gain bandwidth of 7 GHz (76.8–83.8 GHz), a saturated output power of 16.3 dBm, and a peak PAE of 14.1% at 81.6 GHz with power dissipation of 234 mW. The total chip size is 0.714 mm2, and the core size excluding pads is only 0.121 mm2.


Unintentional overuse of commonly prescribed medications can prove catastrophic. A 30-year-old man presented with difficulty in speaking and walking since 10 days. Examination revealed ataxic gait and bilateral cerebellar signs. During a recent admission for amoebic liver abscess, he was managed with the percutaneous aspiration of abscess and metronidazole which he continued for more than 2 weeks. During the current presentation, brain imaging showed confluent hypodensities in the bilateral dentate nucleus suggestive of metronidazole toxicity. Two weeks after discontinuation of the offending agent, the patient improved clinically with complete radiological resolution of lesions.


With the increasing environmental problems caused by carbon dioxide (CO2) emission and the ultimate carbon resources needed for the development of human society, CO2 hydrogenation to methanol with H2 produced with renewable energy represents a promising path forward. Comprehensive analysis shows that the production of methanol by thermal catalytic CO2 hydrogenation is the most promising technology for large-scale industrialization. This review highlights current developments and future perspectives in the production of methanol from CO2, as well as the main existing problems based on a thorough techno-economic analysis. Moreover, the utilization status and future role of methanol as a platform molecule in the energy system is analyzed. Finally, in this review attention is paid to the development of new catalysts, new routes and new technologies for CO2 conversion aiming to clarify the future direction.


To reduce the energy consumption for WSN is always the problem to be solved. Through research on the energy comsumption distribution of node for WSN,discover that making the nodes of WSN sleeped can decrease the energy consumption. As for the question of reducing the energy consumption of WSN node,had constructed an adaptive sleep algorithm for WSN( AHP sleep algorithm) which had been based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process of multi-factor,multi-level hierarchy. The experiments showed that this algorithm could adaptively control network nodes in sleep or transceiver. The algorithm also could improve node energy utilization and extend the network lifetime after compared with the traditional RS sleep and timing sleep algorithm.


A 29-year-old man was admitted for acute chest pain and electrocardiography showing ST segment elevation in the inferior leads. The patient was sent for cardiac catheterization, but attempts at passing the guidewire past the ligamentum arteriosum were unsuccessful. Transthoracic echocardiogram was performed showing possible dissection flap in the ascending aorta. Transesophageal echocardiogram revealed coarctation of the aorta rather than dissection. Magnetic resonance imaging confirmed this diagnosis (Figure 1) with a long segment of interruption of the aorta, proximal to the expected origin of the left subclavian artery (arrow). Coarctation of the aorta occurs in 7% of all congenital heart defects with a male predominance.1 The adult type of coarctation is more commonly distal to the left subclavian artery2 rather than proximal, as with this patient. Magnetic resonance imaging also demonstrated markedly enlarged and tortuous intercostal arteries primarily on the right side of the chest (Figure 2, arrows). In patients with coarctation of the aorta, intercostal arteries supply blood to the descending aorta rather than conducting blood from the descending aorta.2 Enlarged intercostal arteries are usually present bilaterally in patients with coarctation of the aorta causing rib notching, but when the interruption involves the left subclavian artery, they may be present exclusively on the right.2 This patient was scheduled for surgical intervention for his aortic coarctation.


The title page of Chapter 9 in Fundamentals of Physics (Halliday, Resnick, and Walker, 8th Edition, p. 201) shows a dramatic photograph of two Big Horn sheep butting heads and promises to explain how sheep survive such violent clashes without serious injury. However, the answer presented in sample problem 9-4 (p. 213) errs in presuming an interaction time of 0.27 s which results in an unrealistically long stopping distance of 0.62 m. Furthermore, the assertion that the horns provide necessary cushioning of the blow is inconsistent with the absence of concussions in domestic breeds of hornless sheep. Results from traumatic brain injury (TBI) research allow acceleration tolerance of sheep to be estimated as 450 g facilitating an analysis of sheep collisions that is more consistent with available observations (stopping distance less than 1 cm, impact time of roughly 2 ms).


Introduction. The infection for cytomegalovirus (CMV), is one of the main causes of morbi-mortality in the transplanted patient. Clinical case. Masculine of 49 years with renal transplant 72 days ago, he presents liquid evacuations and hemorrhages digestive. Positive antigenemia for CMV. Ganciclovir began. Endoscopic low: dug lession in oval way of 4 cm in sigmoid. Three days later, he presents hemorrhages digestive again, for what is carried resection of sigmoid for bleeding ulcer. Histopatologic: Active chronic colitis ulcerated by cyitomegalovirus. Discussion. The digestive affectation, is second in frequency after the lung one, it is a process erosive or ulcerative that it studies with a clinical presentation that is keeps relationship with the affected area. The affectation in colon is characterized by watery diarrhea or with blood. Conclusion. Therefore in transplanted patients, when it exists diarrhea and hemorrhages digestive it should be suspected in infection by CMV and it should be begun specific treatment as soon as possible Ganciclovir that have effectiveness of more than 80% and in extreme cases the surgical intervention should be carried out.


Strengthening the construction of socialist spiritual civilization in West China is objective requirement of representing the development of China's advanced social productive forces ,the necessary measure of representing the orientation of China's advanced culture ,the important reflection of representing the fundamental interest of the overwhelming majority of the people in China.


Background: Medical male circumcision (MMC) is a recommended strategy for HIV prevention, but attendance for scheduled MMC is often suboptimal. We assessed the impact of cell phone and in-person reminders on uptake of MMC. Methods: Between October 2010 and June 2011, men participating in the Rakai Community Cohort Study (RCCS) were educated about the risks and benefits of MMC and those who wished to receive free MMC were referred to the Rakai MMC program. Cell phone reminders (calls and/or short message service (SMS)) and in-person renotification or persons without phone contacts were used to remind clients two days before the surgical appointment date. Proportions of men coming for scheduled surgery before (control period) and after the reminders were computed and logistic regression used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (AdjOR) and 95% confidence intervals of attendance for scheduled MMC. Results: Approximately 66.7% of men had cell phone contacts. Overall, the intervention increased attendance for scheduled MMC from 20.5% to 32.4%, AdjOR 2.01 (95%CI, 1.42, 2.83), p<0.001. Among men with no phone contacts, uptake increased from 22.2% to 31.9%, adjusted AdjOR 1.71 (95% CI, 0.97, 3.01) p=0.064, compared to an increase from 19.4% (40/206) to 32.6% (92/282), AdjOR 2.15 (95%CI, 1.39, 3.32) p=0.001 among men who had cell phone contact. Conclusion: Cell phone and in-person reminders of surgery appointments increased MMC uptake, but cell phone reminders are cheaper than in-person re-notification.


The NASA Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) program is developing a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) for ground measurements. A key element for the success of this program is a Platform Precision Autopilot (PPA). An interim vehicle (NASA C-20AJGlll) was selected to carry the radar pod and develop the PPA. The PPA interfaces with the C- 20AIG Ill aircraft by imitating the output of an Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach. This technique retains the safeguards in the aircraft's autopilot. The PPA entered initial flight testing in early 2007. The PPA uses a Kalman filter to generate a real-time position solution with information from the C-20AIGIII and a real-time differential GPS unit designed by JPL. The real-time navigation solution is used to compute commands (Guidance and Control subsystems) which in turn drive two modified ILS testers. The ILS tester units produce modulated RF signals fed to the onboard navigation receiver. These correction signals allow the C-20NGIII autopilot to fly a simulated ILS approach that meets the PPA requirements for UAVSAR applications. The PPA requirement is to make repeat pass flights within a ten meter tube over a 200 kilometer course in conditions of cairn to light turbulence. Flight test results are expected to be available at the time of the NASA Science Technology Conference 2007


The microstructure and superhydrophobicity of the moth wing surfaces were investigated by a scanning electron microscope (SEM), an atomic force microscope (AFM) and a contact angle (CA) meter. The relationship between superhydrophobicity, self-cleaning performance and microstructural characteristic was discussed. The wing surface is of low adhesion (sliding angle 1~4°) and high hydrophobicity (CA 151~158°). The removal rate of CaCO3 pollution from the wing surface is as high as 86.7%. There is a good positive correlation (R 2 =0.8883) between pollution removal rate and roughness index of the wing surface. The coupling effects of hydrophobic material and rough microstructure contribute to the complex wettability and remarkable self-cleaning property of the wing surface. Moth wing can be used as a template for design of micro-controllable superhydrophobic surface and nano self-cleaning material. This work may offer inspirations for preparation of novel interfacial material with multi-functions.


This essay argues that globalization, in the locale of the international political economy, is a created mechanism for the management of developing states (and their respective economies) by a global elite including financiers, international and national bureaucrats and corporate leaders. It argues that not only is that so but that it has tended to work, as in the case of colonialism, to the detriment of the developing states and their economies. This essay also stresses the influence of transnational companies and the transnational economy through corporatism in this context. Globalization has effectively been the rationale of the Neoliberal orthodoxy so influential in the United States in particular since the 1980s. There has been a proliferation of actors (with China becoming increasingly influential) and various alliances and convergences of nation-states up to the present time to complicate the dynamic and effects of globalization further into the future.


This paper estimates the impact and adjustment costs for Mauritius of eliminating tariffs on imports from the EU under an EPA, considering trade, revenue, welfare, production and employment effects, and considering the potential benefit of preserving preferential access to the EU market. Assuming 'immediate' complete elimination of all tariffs on imports from the EU, there is a small welfare loss (-0.17% of 2002 GDP) unless we include potential production gains (generating a welfare gain of 0.06% of GDP). Excluding up to 20% of imports as sensitive products, the overall welfare loss is -0.19% of GDP. However, potential adjustment costs are much greater than these low welfare effects suggest: tariff revenue will fall by 33-52% of 2002 levels, domestic (non-export) production will decline by almost a quarter and direct employment by 12% (about 11,000 jobs lost overall). Preferences under an EPA are unlikely to support any growth in the major export sectors (sugar and garments), so absorbing the adjustment costs will be difficult.


The invention relates to a high-temperature flue gas recoverer with a vent hole. Air in a water circulation system can be exhausted timely through the high-temperature flue gas recoverer, a water circulation is smoother, the contact of a heat pipe and the water circulation is more sufficient and the heat exchange is more complete, and therefore, heat loss can be reduced and energy can be saved. The high-temperature flue gas recoverer comprises a closed flue gas passage and a closed water circulation passage, which are connected with each other through a heat transfer tube; the water circulation passage is provided with a water inlet and a water outlet respectively; the top part of the water circulation passage is provided with a tail end exhaust port; the flue gas passage is provided with a flue gas inlet and a flue gas outlet respectively; a plurality of groups of partition plates are arranged in the water circulation passage; the upper parts of all groups of partition plates are respectively provided with limber holes and vent holes; the limber holes and the vent holes in the partition plates are in staggered arrangement so as to make a water flow circulated in an S-shaped flow direction; the interval between every two of the partition plates is 200-2000 mm; and diameters of the limber holes are 30-200 mm.


Abstract: In this paper a non-repairable multi-state system with imprecise probabilities and performance rates are taken, representing imprecise probabilities by interval valued probabilities. These intervals are evaluated by computing bound of interval valued ordinary differential equation of the system. For imprecise performance rates random fuzzy variables are introduced. The proposed method is based on hybrid universal generating function (universal generating function representation of random fuzzy variable) and probability intervals to incorporate the uncertainty problem in availability assessment of the system. Finally, availability p-boxes of the system have been evaluated along with a numerical example.


This study was performed from December ٢٠٠٤ to March ٢٠٠٥ to investigate the prevalence rates of intestinal parasites and blood picture of patients who were suffering from different intestinal parasite in hospitals of ALHilla city center. This study included ٥٤٠ patients from both sexes and different ages. Stool samples examinations were performing for these cases, which include direct smear method and the Scotch Cellulose Tape Technique for examination about Enterobius vermicularis in children. Certain examinations of blood picture were conducted, which included total white blood cells count, Eosinophil count and Hb determination for ٢٧٣ cases. The results of this study show that the total infection rate with intestinal parasites was ٥٠.٥% .This study record the prevalence rate of intestinal parasites as following Entamoeba histolytica ٩١(١٦.٨٥%), Giardia lambtia ٨٦(١٥.٩٢%), A .lumbricoides ٢٥(٤.٦٢%), H.nana ١٠ (١.٨٥%) , E. vermicularis ٦١(١١.٢ %). In relation with blood picture examinations, there was significant increasing of each of total number of W.B.Cs and number of Eosinophils for patients of parasitic infections in comparison with standard normal values. In addition, there was nonsignificant decreasing tofrHb values for the patients' less than normal level of hemoglobin (Hb). Introduction Intestinal helminthes and protozoa have global prevalence, though they considerable variation both in place and in time. The distribution of parasites over the surf j of the earth is dependant on the presence of wttble hosts, the habits, and environmen conditions [١]. Estimates of the global prevalence of intestinal parasitic diseases are at b extremely rough. Although many studies have been doae, aid others are still going on, over the world, to study intestinal infection of parasitic name, still morbidity reporting essentially non-existent in many parts of the world, in which these dbeases do occur [٢]. Materials and Methods The Patients: This study included ٥٤٠ patients of both sexes clinically confirmed intestinal parasite.


Introduction: Iron deficiency is a common condition, especially among patients with kidney and heart failure and inflammatory bowel disease. Intravenous iron is the preferred method of treatment in these patients, but it usually requires prolonged iron polymaltose infusions or multiple administrations of alternative preparations. The aim of the study was to confirm the safety and patient acceptance of ultrarapid iron polymaltose infusions as an alternative to slower treatments and ferric carboxymaltose. Method: An open-label, phase 4 safety study was conducted at a tertiary hospital, with consenting participants diagnosed with iron deficiency and requiring iron polymaltose up to 1,500 mg receiving the infusion over 15 min. The acute adverse event (AE) rates and their severities were compared to historical controls of 1- and 4-h iron polymaltose infusions from a retrospective study of 648 patients from the same study site. Delayed AEs as well as participant infusion acceptability were also studied. Results: Three hundred participants over a 2-year period received ultrarapid infusions of iron polymaltose with an acute AE rate of 18.7% and severe AE rate of 1.0%. The total and mild infusion AE rates were higher compared to those of slower infusions (p < 0.001), but comparable for moderate and severe AEs. Delayed reactions occurred in 12.5% of participants, with over 95% of them preferring repeat ultrarapid infusions if required again. Conclusion: Iron polymaltose can be safely infused at ultrarapid rates when compared to slower infusions, with similar safety to ferric carboxymaltose, offering greater convenience for patients and reduced healthcare costs.


Using the 2001 California Health Interview Survey, this study compared health status, medical insurance, and having a usual source of care for 2,230 ethnic minority adolescents based on language use at home: Group 1, English only; Group 2, both English and another language; and Group 3, exclusively another language. Adjusting for demographic variables, adolescents in Group 3 were more likely to report fair or poor health (OR=2.37, p=.012) and to not have medical insurance (OR=4.61, p<.001) compared to adolescents in Group 1. Young adolescents in Group 3 were more likely to have no usual source of care (OR=4.07, p=.029). Interventions need to consider language barriers in the context of an adolescent's age. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


This study proposes a methodology for the calibration of combined sewer overflow (CSO), incorporating the results of the three-dimensional ANSYS CFX model in the SWMM one-dimensional model. The procedure consists of constructing calibration curves in ANSYS CFX that relate the input flow to the CSO with the overflow, to then incorporate them into the SWMM model. The results obtained show that the behavior of the flow over the crest of the overflow weir varies in space and time. Therefore, the flow of entry to the CSO and the flow of excesses maintain a non-linear relationship, contrary to the results obtained in the one-dimensional model. However, the uncertainty associated with the idealization of flow methodologies in one dimension is reduced under the SWMM model with kinematic wave conditions and simulating CSO from curves obtained in ANSYS CFX. The result obtained facilitates the calibration of combined sewer networks for permanent or non-permanent flow conditions, by means of the construction of curves in a three-dimensional model, especially when the information collected in situ is limited.


Aim: to evaluate the role of CT scan in evaluating hospitalized patients for suspected orbital cellulitis. Method: this retrospective study was conducted at prince Rashid Bin Al Hassan Military hospital and Princess Haya Military hospital. All patients who were admitted to the hospital for suspicion of orbital cellulitis and underwent orbital and sinuses CT scan with and without contrast were included in the study. The results of the scans were recorded and analyzed. The medical records of the enrolled patients were reviewed regarding age, gender, medical treatment received and type of surgical intervention. The CT reports were analyzed regarding its effect on the management plans and were compared with other studies performed worldwide. Results: 16 patients with a mean age of 9.3±3.2 years were enrolled in the study. 81.3% of patients were ≤ 15 years of age. Sinusitis was present in (87.5%) of patients with orbital cellulitis, while dacryocystitisand trauma were responsible for the remaining cases. ethmoiditis was the most common etiology implicated in the development of cellulitis (71.4%). Fever and lid swelling were the most common presentations of orbital cellulitis. Post-septal orbital cellulitis was the most common CT findings among patients with sinusitis based on Chandler classification (69.2%). Conclusion: CT showed was very effective in identifying the etiology of orbital cellulitis and determining its extent. It allows accurate staging of the orbital cellulitis which will be positively reflected on the disease outcome by helping the clinician in establishing appropriate therapeutic guidelines.


In November 2010, European Central Bank (ECB) the then Governor, Jean-Claude Trichet, opened the ECBs flagship annual Central Banking Conference. He challenged the scientific community to develop radically new approaches to understanding the economy: 'When the crisis came, the serious limitations of existing economic and financial models immediately became apparent. Macro models failed to predict the crisis and seemed incapable of explaining what was happening to the economy in a convincing manner. As a policy-maker during the crisis, I found the available models of limited help. In fact, I would go further: in the face of the crisis, we felt abandoned by conventional tools.'


Hyperspectral imaging systems capture information in multiple wavelength bands across the electromagnetic spectrum. These bands provide substantial details based on the optical properties of the materials present in the captured scene. The high cost of hyperspectral cameras and their strict illumination requirements make the technology out of reach for end-user and small-scale commercial applications. We propose MobiSpectral, which turns a low-cost phone into a simple hyperspectral imaging system, without any changes in the hardware. We design deep learning models that take regular RGB images and near-infrared (NIR) signals (which are used for face identification on recent phones) and reconstruct multiple hyperspectral bands in the visible and NIR ranges of the spectrum. Our experimental results show that MobiSpectral produces accurate bands that are comparable to ones captured by actual hyperspectral cameras. The availability of hyperspectral bands that reveal hidden information enables the development of novel mobile applications that are not currently possible. To demonstrate the potential of MobiSpectral, we use it to identify organic solid foods, which is a challenging food fraud problem that is currently partially addressed by laborious, unscalable, and expensive processes. We collect large datasets in real environments under diverse illumination conditions to evaluate MobiSpectral. Our results show that MobiSpectral can identify organic foods, e.g., apples, tomatoes, kiwis, strawberries, and blueberries, with an accuracy of up to 94% from images taken by phones.


General theory of PN-surfaces (surfaces with rational offsets) is developed using dual Laguerre geometry and a universal rational parametrization of the Blaschke cylinder. This approach allows to construct new PN-blendings between two natural quadrics in many positions, and demostrate improved shape and lower parametrization degree than earlier proposed canal surface solutions. The construction can be extended via inversion to blendings between natural quadrics and Dupin cyclides as well.


Communicative competence of English Subject teachers is essential for teaching English effectively. The present study aimed to explore the communicative competence of female English Subject Teachers of Public Secondary Schools in District Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The main objectives of the study were to find out the existing level of the communicative competence of English Subject teachers in Secondary Schools, investigate the ongoing practices of English Subject Teachers in their classrooms, and explore problems of female English subject teachers in developing communicative competence in secondary school students. A quantitative research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study consisted of 130 Public Schools of District Mardan, where 364 female English subject teachers are working. The study was conducted in 86 randomly selected sampled Public Schools of District Mardan by contacting 191 English subject teachers. A questionnaire comprising 49 questions was administered to the 191 English subject teachers. The main findings of the study show that a majority of the English Subject teachers did not possess the required communicative competence; almost all of the teachers did not adopt the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach. For developing the communicative competence of learners, physical resources and facilities were not available for developing the listening and speaking skills of the students.


From the modulus of longitudinal elasticity of specimen, the crushing extension index. the true density of specimen and the other crushing conditions, the specific surface increase and the size distribution of the crushed products in the ball-mill at 70% of the critical speed were evaluated by using the author's equations.The author presented the relations among total crushing efficiency, initial crushing efficiency, crushing efficiency due to total number of blows, rate of crushing and the crushing conditions of the ball-mill.


Research based on the conditions of the COVID -19 pandemic and government policies in reducing unemployment through vocational training. However, the vocational training program at the Ministry of Manpower during the COVID -19 pandemic period in 2021 did not have a significant impact. This study aims to evaluate the ministry of workforce's vocational training program during the COVID -19 pandemic in 2021. The research was conducted through a qualitative approach using the CIPP guidance theory. Data collection methods using observation and unstructured and semi-structured interviews, documents, and literature studies. The research uses data analysis techniques with three stages, in the form of data condensation, data presentation, and conclusion and verification. The results of the study concluded that the vocational training program at the Ministry of Manpower had not been successful in terms of input, process, and product aspects. From the input aspect, the vocational training program's resources are insufficient. From the process aspect, there are still constraints on the realization of the training, supervision, and instructor skills. Meanwhile, from the product aspect, it cannot be ensured that the participants will be placed after training.


In this study we developed self-administered versions of modified baseline and transition dyspnea indexes and compared the scores obtained by this method with the mean value obtained by two trained interviewers. Twenty-five patients (14 males/11 females) with chronic obstructive disease who had a chief complaint of ''breathlessness'' were tested. Age was 66±11 years; forced expiratory volume in one second was 48±23% predicted. The baseline total scores were 5.0±1.8 for the interviewers and 5.4±2.0 for the self-administered method. For the baseline dyspnea scores the correlations were 0.83 (p<0.0001) between self-administration and the mean value of two interviewers and 0.75 (p<0.0001) between the two interviewers. The transition total scores, obtained an average of 102 days (range, 7–377 days) later, were 0.1±3.0 for the interviewers and 0.4±3.0 for the self-administered method. For the transition dyspnea scores the correlations were 0.94 (p<0.0001) between selfadministration and the mean value of two interviewers and 0.83 (p<0.0001) between the two interviewers. The self-administered dyspnea scores had similar correlations with measures of lung function as did the interview dyspnea scores. We conclude that self-administered versions of the modified baseline and transition dyspnea indexes provide comparable scores as those obtained by trained and experienced interviewers. *Correspondence: Donald A. Mahler, M.D., Section of Pulmonary and Critical Medicine, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, One Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, NH 03756-0001, USA; Fax: (603) 650-0580; E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com.


Multiple formulations of nano-sized particles, capsules, dendrimers, lipids, ceramics and genetic materials are being investigated in multiple labs for delivery of therapeutic moieties to targeted tissues. Interest is driven by reducing health care costs while increasing therapeutic efficacy and cost of treatment. One technology, magnetic targeting, incorporates iron oxide nanoparticles, to target nanomedicine payloads, down the gradients of external magnetic fields. When iron oxide crystal domains are less than ∼20–40 nm, particles become superparamagnetic (SPION), that is exhibit no remanent induction but very high magnetic susceptibility in the presence of an external magnetic field. Thus, targeting can be vectored by magnetic lines of flux. Particles can be pulled out of the microcirculation and across membranes into tissues. Two target organs that can employ magnetic targeting are the heart (epicardium) and inner ear (cochlea).Copyright © 2010 by ASME


Management in relation to medical education, as in relation to clinical practice, arouses different thoughts in different minds. For example, it has a lot to do with the planning of courses, and one hopes that the devoting of some part of this year's annual Conference of the Association for the Study of Medical Education to this theme will be welcomed. At least we should have reached a stage where mere mention of the word 'management' is not likely to discourage potential participants. There is also the much larger and more general question of the education of doctors for their actual or potential management functions. In health services there has been increasing concern over the adequacy of doctors' 'management skills'. Indeed, this phrase has become so much a routine part of conversation in the United Kingdom since the reorganization of the Health Service in 1974 thatlike most jargon-we hardly stop to wonder what it means, if anything. Apart from their daily work on the wards. doctors become involved in many decision-making committees. At the level of District Health Authorities, management teams and project teams, some doctors find themselves involved in management concerns beyond those of their own profession. The skills required may therefore range from the allocation of priorities in patient management to those concerned with the design of whole hospitals and with national strategies for particular groups of the population. The ethics of medical decision making in relation 'to treatment, health economics, manpower planning. industrial relations, personnel management within a University department or clinical laboratory, clinical unit budgeting


Foreword The Role of Families in Long-Term Care: Research and Practice Perspectives The Family Council in Nursing Home Care Support for Families in Nursing Homes Family-Care Partnership Agreements The Family Stories Workshop The Family Involvement in Care Program The Partners in Caregiving Program Family Roles in the Eden Alternative Program Promoting Family Involvement in Nursing Homes: Looking Towards the Next Generation of Programs


Castrated adult female rats with subcutaneous ovarian autografts were killed at 3-day intervals for 30 days after grafting. Plasma estradioI-17� (E2), progesterone (P), FSH, and LH values were determined by radioimmunoassay, and follicular development was evaluated histologically. Eighty-two percent of all animals developed cycling vaginal smears by 7.9± 0.5 days after receiving the autografts. Cycle lengths were 4 or 5 days in 76 percent of the animals and 6 days in20 percent. There was no decrease in the number of follicles>150 urn per graft up to 30 days after grafting. However, there were more follicles>150 �rn at proestrus (17.1 ± 1.0) than either metestrus (3.2 ± 1.1) or estrus (3.3 ± 1.1). Corpora lutes (CL) were formed by luteinization of intact follicles. Plasma E2, P, and uterine weight in this model were not different from the intact rat. E2 peaked at 18 days after grafting (88 ± 17 pg/ml), and then gradually decreased until Day 30 (23 ± 7 pg/mI). P reached a plateau at 15 days after grafting (41 ± 7 nglml) and did not change for the remainder of the experiment.On Days 3,6,12 and 15, FSH levels were comparable to castrate values. FSH decreased from Day 15 (1012 ± 178 ng/ml) until Day 27(359 ± 71 ng/ml) but never decreased to diestrous values in the intact rat. The standard errors of the means of LH were large, and LH only decreased significantly below castrate levels on Day 27 (59 ± 14 ng/mI). Analysis of the data accordingto day of estrous cycle at autopsy, showed thatE2, P, and FSH didnotvaryat proestrus, estrus, or metestrus. However, there was asurgeof LH (2393 ± 741 ng/ml) atproestrus. In order to study the effectof the time the graftwas placedrelativeto pubertyon graft function, female rats were castrated and received ovarian autografts before (Group 1) or after (Group 2)puberty. Grafts werepresentforthesame length of time in both groups but the grafts in ratsinGroup 2 were exposedtopostpubertalgonadotropinslongerthan grafts in rats in Group 1 were.There was no difference in E2 between Groups 1 and 2 (35.7 ± 3.6vs.33.1 ± 4.1 pg/mI), but P was decreasedinGroup 2 (28.3 ± 1.6 vs. 15.2 ± 2.0 ng/ml). These data show that ovarian autografts in castrated female rats function like intact, in situ ovaries in many respects. The grafts produce E2 and P which suppress pituitary gonadotropins