A comprehensive experimental study of drift emissions and downwind deposition from a mechanical draft cooling tower is planned for early spring 1978. The objective of the experiment is to develop a data base which can be used for validation of drift deposition models. The key aspects of the study are to measure the characteristics of the drift emitted from the tower, the ambient meteorological conditions responsible for the transport and dispersion of the drift, and the downwind deposition and near surface air concentration patterns of the drift. The source characteristics, including air temperature and velocity profiles at the tower exit, and the transport parameters are to be used as inputs to the models, while the deposition patterns are to serve as comparisons to the outputs of the models.


Rising drug resistance, in pathogenic parasites and fungi, has become a major public health threat (reviewed in [1]). In endemic areas, substantial morbidity and mortality are caused by drug-resistant (DR) species. Resistant pathogens may also complicate treatments for noncommunicable conditions such as cancer chemotherapy and organ transplantation. The problem of drug-resistance is heightened by a lack of investment in novel antibiotic drug discovery by the pharmaceutical industry, in part, because there is a low rate of return for such drugs, compared with those used to treat chronic illnesses. While the development of new antimicrobial drugs is one approach in countering the DR phenotype, the discovery of useful drug combinations represents an alternative tactic that may expedite alternate clinical treatments. Using 2 or more drugs simultaneously does not guarantee that efficacy will exceed singleagent treatments. Pairwise drug interactions can be classified as either antagonistic, additive, or synergistic. Antagonism occurs when 2 drugs inhibit the therapeutic effects of each other. Additivism occurs when 2 drugs cause the combined predicted effect for both individual drugs. Synergism occurs when the combination of drugs exceeds the predicted effect of the combination [2]. Additionally, an inert agent, without an individual effect, can potentiate the action of a second drug [3]. Combination treatment regimens are often determined empirically but are based on a mathematical understanding of pairwise relationships, which is often calculated through isobologram, combination index, and/or curve shift analyses (Fig 1). In designing combination therapies, synergism is an important goal as it has the highest potential to lower off-target effects by decreasing doses (synergistic potency) and to improve clinical outcome by increasing desired effect (synergistic efficacy) [4]. Many combination therapies are used clinically to treat infections caused by eukaryotic pathogens, including giardiasis, cryptococcal meningitis, malaria, and trypanosomiasis [5,6]. In particular, combinations of either 2 artemisnin-derived compounds or atovaquone with proguanil have been instrumental in combatting DR malaria strains in endemic areas [7]. Furthermore, the trypanosomiasis combination therapy, elflornithine and nifurtimox, required only 8 years of development to reach clinical approval, which demonstrates the potential for rapid treatment development from combining drugs [8]. In light of this, the purpose of this article is to highlight advances (�5 years) in identifying new combination therapies for DR parasites and fungi. Table 1 summarizes the combinations discussed and includes information about whether the combinations were found to be additive (+) or synergistic () and whether the combinations were assessed in vitro (), in vivo in animal models (), or in human patients (). PLOS PATHOGENS


[.'or t!xamrlc, while Schur arId Itickards (1) reported in 1957 that there i!l a sif{nificant volume chango during puffing of cigarettes, Mitchell (2) reported in 1962 that there is no volume change2 and Newsome and Keith (8) rerx>rterl in 1957 that there i~ NOme volume change which is about half of that reported by Schur and Rickards. It is aJKO posKible to deduce the existence of such a volume clIange from. the reported J(RR comrJOsition of smoke (3-8). For example, the pl"OlJQrtion by volume of nitrogen in smoke is reported by Keith and Tesh (4) fx} be 67.2%. The corresponding valu(' for nitrogen in dry air is 78%. Alisuming that only negligible amounts of nitrogen are consumed by combustion reactions, this indicates at least a 16% increa.~ in the total volume due to combustion. There has been no attempt heretofore to study how this volume change depend Ii on time during a puff or how it varies with experinlenuu procedures. The purpose of the work reported here waR to ascertain whether there iR actually allY volume change and also to obtain, uRing fast-responding and sensitive instrument8~ the instantaneous volUme changes during the t' .


Field practice is an important process of the course education of zoology, and a procedure for students to strengthen and deepen their learning. At the same time, it also plays a significant role for student's operational ability and normative working in their learning areas. This article briefly analyzed the main problems in the teaching course of field practice of zoology, and summarizes the educational reform in recent years.


AIM To investigate the effects of α 1 and α 2 adrenoceptors (α 1 AR, α 2 AR) in the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) and locus ceruleus (LC) on carotid sinus baroreceptor reflex (CSR) resetting induced by intracerebroventricular injection (icv) of histamine (HA). METHODS The left and right carotid sinus regions were isolated from the systemic circulation in 45 Sprague Dawley rats anesthetized with pentobarbital sodium. The intracarotid sinus pressure (ISP) was altered in a stepwise manner. ISP mean arterial pressure (MAP) relationship curve and its characteristic parameters were constructed by fitting to the logistic function with five parameters. The changes in CSR performance induced by icv HA and the effects of pretreatment with α 1 AR or α 2 AR antagonist into the NTS or LC on the responses of CSR to HA were examined. RESULTS icv microinjection of HA (60 μmol·L -1 in 5 μl) significantly shifted the ISP MAP relationship curve upwards ( P 0 05) and moved the middle part of ISP Gain relationship curve downwards ( P 0 05), and reduced the MAP range and maximum gain ( P 0 05). The pretreatment with phenoxybenzamine (PBZ, a selective antagonist of α 1 AR, 3 μmol·L -1 in 500 nl) or yohimbine (YOH, a selective antagonist of α 2 AR, 2 5 μmol·L -1 in 500 nl) into the LC could obviously intensify the above mentioned changes in CSR performance induced by HA, but the intensive effect of PBZ was less remarkable than that of YOH ( P 0 05). After microinjection of PBZ or YOH into the NTS with the respectively corresponding dose and volume, the responses of CSR to HA were similar to those after microinjection of PBZ or YOH into the LC, but after microinjection of YOH into the NTS, the change in the threshold pressure resulted from HA was significantly increased ( P 0 05). CONCLUSION The intracerebroventricular administration of HA results in a rapid resetting of CSR and a decrease in reflex sensitivity, and the functions of both α 1 AR and α 2 AR in the LC and NTS may attenuate CSR resetting induced by icv microinjection of HA. Furthermore, α 2 AR in the LC, especially in NTS might play an important role in mediating the responses of CSR to HA.


A uniform dispersion of reactants is necessary to achieve a complete reaction involving multiple components. Using a combination of infrared spectroscopy, thermal analysis, and low field NMR, we have elucidated the role of a new class of nonreactive plasticizers on the crosslinking reaction between hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) and phenol formaldehyde resin. These two seemingly dissimilar reactants are responsible for the exceptionally high mechanical strength in a number of organic–inorganic composites. The efficiency of the curing reaction is characterized by the changing functionality of HMTA. Infrared active vibrations are used to characterize the changing molecular structures as a function of temperature. The T1 spin-lattice relaxation time is used for the characterization of segmental dynamics of the chains in the formation of the crosslinked product. The segmental mobility depends on the amount of crosslinking and the stiffness of the chain. This study shows that this new class of nonreactive plasticizer can induce highly crosslinked structures without any of the environmental impact of the current technology. An efficient crosslinking reaction in phenolic resin can be achieved by using methyl benzoate as a nonreacting plasticizer. Low field NMR, in conjunction with infrared spectroscopy (mid and near) and DSC, clarified the crosslinking reaction mechanism and the ensuing structure. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016


The ITS Decision website was created to provide Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) information and analysis tools. Phase IV of the research project focuses on the design, updating of information, and tool development for the ITS Decision website. The website provides a comprehensive overview of the deployment of ITS technologies, products and services at local, state, national, and international locations where they have been deployed. ITS Decision provides extensive information on project costs and benefits, risks and lessons learned. This project continued the development of ITS decision making tools namely: the Expert System, Case Based Reasoning and the Cal-ITS Benefit-Cost model. Informational sections of the website were updated with recent information and data. To facilitate deliberation and dialog regarding ITS, this project also developed a wiki-based web tool that provides information, addresses ITS related comments, and collects feedback from transportation professionals who contribute to the ITS knowledge base. Overall, this project produced a comprehensive, robust, practical and user-friendly website that contains valuable information about ITS as well as decision support and analysis tools.


Abstract : The HAMA/MINCAP subnetwork architecture was demonstrated in an Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) in September 1990. The following subnetwork protocols were included: the Hand-off Assigned Multiple Access (HAMA) channel access protocol, the Minimum Cover Approximation (MINCAP) broadcast routing protocol, and the Backwards Learning (BL) point-to-point routing protocol. HAMA is an adaptive Time Division Multiple Access based protocol. HAMA allows a node to temporarily hand-off a time slot to a neighbor with higher priority traffic. MINCAP uses a two hop connectivity matrix and a message history table to select relays. The three or fewer nodes which provide the best coverage of nodes who have not yet received the packet are designated as relays. BL uses a table containing delay information to each node in the network via the various relays available. The relay with the minimum path length is selected.


We applied the method of continuous wavelet-transform to high-quality time-frequency analysis to the sets of observations of relative sunspot numbers. Wavelet analysis of these data reveals the following pattern: at the same time there are several activity cycles whose periods vary widely from the quasi biennial up to the centennial period. These relatively low-frequency periodic variations of the solar activity gradually change the values of periods of different cycles in time. This phenomenon can be observed in every cycle of activity.


During their brief history, all political ideologies have been escorted by Propaganda and, hence, the Grand Public perceived them as mere symbolic products spread out of a propagandist kernel. Accordingly, the critical insights into the question of binding ideology and Propaganda enclosed a great deal of ethical issues. In spite of good intentions, the conceptual inaccuracy generated and lead to confusions. This is the reason why my endeavour shall clear away from any value judgements and strictly follow the dull realisation of two Cartesian conditions of knowledge: clarity and distinctness. In the first place, we need to determine what meanings of "ideology" and "Propaganda" can possibly allow an objective frame of analysis; up to the moment, the scholarly sources have negotiated and changed a legion of definitions. Thus, we intend to establish the scientific core of Propaganda messages, all related to the causes that lead to the rise and development of this phenomenon. Once settled the terms of our theoretical viewpoint, the proper definition for such a concept would be the following: Propaganda represents a communication technique, systematically decreed and sustained by an institutional structure which, through symbolic anchors, activates and manipulates the irrational dimension of group movements, seeking to trigger actions that aim to maintain or shift the power scheme, within the group or in the mutual relationships with other groups; the efficacy is quantified by the way Propaganda fulfils the Agent"s aim, and not by its responsiveness to some moral ideal. Therefore, Propaganda represents a dynamics of ideology, the ideology in action, and conjoins both democracy and the technical society. I assume that ideology cannot exist without Propaganda, parties cannot exist without ideology, and democracy cannot exist without parties. All these anticipations prevail over the chief hypothesis of this paper: there is no democracy without Propaganda.


Root water uptake is a key element for analysing the evolution of soil water content, which regulates crop transpiration. Our objective was to design a model taking into account the vertical water redistribution and the root water uptake in order to assess the regulation of plant transpiration induced by the effective soil water availability. To do so, the root water uptake is described with a microscopic-scale model integrated within a classical model of vertical water redistribution. For root water uptake, the root water potential, leading the water transfer from soil to roots, is calculated in order to satisfy the climatic demand... By coupling the microscopic and macroscopic approaches to soil water transfer, the regulation of transpiration can be directly linked to soil hydraulic properties and to effective soil water availability: the numerical model is applied to simulate soil water movement with root water uptake, and simulation results are compared with a series of findings on plant functioning obtained by previous work. Qualitatively, simulated transpiration in response to the soil water content is reasonably consistent with the description of crop behaviour in drying soils and in soil with vertical water heterogeneity. The results are also compared with experimental results in order to evaluate the usefulness of this model: with conventional measurements under field conditions, the prediction of water balance evolution is rather consistent with experimental results.


OBJECTIVE: To review the drug therapy for the treatment of itching associated with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP). DATA SOURCES: A comprehensive literature search was conducted in MEDLINE (1966–July 2002) using the following MeSH terms: pregnancy, itching, intrahepatic cholestasis, cholestyramine, ursodeoxycholic acid, and phenobarbital. Current Contents (1966–July 2002), International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (1970–June 2002), and Cochrane Database were also searched using those terms. Web of Science search was used to search references found in articles. DATA SYNTHESIS: Eight clinical trials and several observational studies were identified evaluating the safety and efficacy of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in the treatment of ICP. Although these studies were small and inconsistent, improvement in maternal and fetal morbidity was demonstrated. Observational studies suggest that cholestyramine may be associated with improved maternal morbidity without a documented improvement in fetal outcome. Two observational studies evaluated the efficacy of phenobarbital for ICP treatment. Phenobarbital use was not associated with improved maternal or fetal morbidity/mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Data from large, well-designed, randomized, controlled trials of treatment of ICP are lacking. Data that are available support the use of UDCA as a first-line agent and cholestyramine as a second-line agent for treatment of ICP. There is little evidence to recommend phenobarbital in the treatment of itching associated with that condition.


Zschille, J.; Heidecke, D.; Stubbe, M.: Distribution and ecology of feral American mink Mustela vison Schreber, 1777 (Carnivora, Mustelidae) in Saxony-Anhalt (Germany). - Hercynia N.F. 37 (2004): 103–126. The feral American Mink ( Mustela vison ) - a native species of North America - was introduced in Europe and Asia in the early 20th century for fur breeding. During the years, many animals escape fur farms or were released into the wild. Therefore, free-living populations have been established also in Germany, especially in the eastern part. But there are only a few investigations about the influence of this carnivorous newcomer on the indigenous biocoenosis. A questionnaire was handed out to different people (hunter, forester, angler and voluntary coworkers of nature conservation) in Saxony-Anhalt in order to locate the current range of feral mink in the study area. As the established screen map shows, the mink could be verified mainly in the great river meadow areas (Elbe and Mulde) in the eastern part of Saxony-Anhalt. In this area we registered also many observations of juveniles. But there also were some mink-records in the Helme-Unstrut-region and the Saale-Elster-region. These results confirm a preference of this species to water bank habitats. Altmark, Harz and Harzvorland are regions without many evidence of mink. The delayed colonisation in these areas is probably caused by suboptimal habitats, poor in water systems. Nevertheless, there also can be estimated a colonisation of all nearby natural lakes and rivers within the years to come. Furthermore, 113 mink carcasses were collected in the study area during a period from 11/1999 to 3/2002. They either were caught or found already dead. Stomach contents and reproduction status were analysed, the age of the minks was determined by counting the cementum annuli of canines and biometrical datas were taken. Measures of body, skull and organs confirm a typical sexual dimorphism of mink. The results of the stomach analysis (food biomass) demonstrate, that fishes (38 %), small mammals (23 %) and birds (23 %) represent the main prey groups, whereas amphibians (8 %), crustaceans (7 %), insects (<1 %) and molluscs (<1 %) play a secondary role in the diet of investigated animals. That opportune diet of the feral mink corresponds to another similar investigations in Europe. The potential mean litter size, derived from the number of placental scars, was 5,5 juveniles per female. But not all investigated adult females took part in reproduction, so this is a first indicate of intern regulation of population density. The age class distribution of the investigated minks is characterised by a low portion of juveniles (28 %), a comparatively high average age and a maximum age of eight years. These results are first indications of stable mink populations with relative high density and with tendency of expansion, at least in habitat with good quality like the river meadow areas. Altogether a strongly negative ecological impact of feral mink on native prey populations could not be found. But other studies indicate, that there is a negative impact, specially on water bird populations. Thus, there is urgent demand for research on this subject. Keywords: Mustela vison , mink, distribution, biology, nutrition, predation, population ecology, biometry


The paper presents the analysis and comparison of known experimental and calculation (direct numerical simulation) results of investigation of gravitational turbulent mixing from the common positions on the basis of semi-empirical turbulent mixing model of diffusive type. In the process of analysis the value of mixing constant α1 was determined, which describes intensity of light substance penetration into heavy. Unfortunately, a scatter in determination of α1 remains significant. Uncertainty in value α1 by most of experimental and calculation results is 1 0.02 0.08 α = ÷ .


Bioinspired masks, created by merging sol-gel chemistry with biotemplating, were used as local chemical reactors to grow aligned arrays of gold nanoparticle-like wires.


The Monge–Kantorovich problem arises as a special case for linear cost functionals in optimal transportation problems. It leads to a convex minimization problem with limited regularity properties. The convergent finite element discretization and iterative solution of the problem and its dual are addressed. Based on these approximations a computable upper bound for the primal-dual gap is derived which is suitable for efficient local mesh refinement. Numerical experiments reveal a significant improvement of related adaptive methods.


The effects of superconducting SMFs up to 7-tesla on antioxidation system of wheat seedling (SOD, CAT activity and MDA content) and the expression pattern of SOD isoenzyme with different metal prosthetic groups were investigated. Increasing total SOD activity and CAT activity were induced by HSMFs. These activities were enhanced gradually with magnetic flux density and reached the highest at 3 and 5T under 1 and 5h exposing time, respectively. The enhancement of T-SOD activity under low intensity was mainly due to the increase of CuZn-SOD activity, while at the moderate and high intensity, the increase of T-SOD was mainly attributed to the high expression of Mn-SOD activity. Malondialdehyde (MDA) content varied apparently with different magnetic flux density, showing that it decreased at low density and shorter treating time, but increased gradually with prolonging treat time and increasing magnetic flux density. Under different treating conditions, the peak values of antioxidative enzymes varied between 3~5T.


The present study investigates the effect of polyphosphazene elastomer and halloysite nano tubular fillers in the blend of poly(phenylene oxide) and liquid crystalline polymer. Fabricated materials were extensively investigated with field emission scanning electron microscope, high resolution transmission electron microscope, thermogravimetric analyzer, rheometer, universal testing machine, and dynamic mechanical thermal analyzer. Significant changes in morphology were observed when fillers were added along with the compatibilizing agent polyphosphazene. Filler-matrix adhesion improves in the presence of polyphosphazene that results in the reduction in the average domain sizes of the dispersed phase where the interfacial phenomena controls the size of the dispersed phase. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


Review(s) of: Advances in biological psychiatry volume 28 Alzheimer's disease - modernizing concept, biological diagnosis and therapy, Edited by H. Hampel and M.C. Carrillo, Karger, Hard cover VI + 194 p, ISBN: 9783805598026, USD $79.00.


Many artists working with computers have drifted in and out of Silicon Valley's computer industry in the past two or more decades, and many have influenced the tools and software in one way or another, whether through icon design or participation in user testing. This cohort has sought to add gracefulness to the service of productivity and to promote, through technology, elegant visual, audial and behavioral solutions. These artist-designers (which include myself) always appreciate a good history of the early days of the computer-human interface field. Thierry Bardini provides one in his book on Douglas Engelbart. Engelbart was born 1925 in Oregon and served in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946 before returning to attend Oregon State University. He then obtained a Ph.D. in engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was exposed to the early days of computers, realizing that he did not feel drawn towards a career in academia. He briefly had his own consulting company, then went to work for Stanford Research Institute (SRI) in 1957. At SRI, Engelbart's Augmentation of Human Intellect Project explored the technical and social aspects of computing. Not only did he see this as a way to improve human capability, but as an exploration of the philosophy of language and the body. Engelbart is known for many technical innovations that contemporary computer users take for granted: the outline processor, the windowed user interface, the mouse, and one with which his name has not generally been associated—electronic mail. He also explored some technologies that have not yet blossomed into common use, as when he came to advocate a chording keyset (he saw this as superior to the conventional, hegemonic "QWERTY" keyboard). Engelbart's invention of the mouse built upon the 1950s light pen as well as Ivan Sutherland's Sketchpad (Sutherland's 1963 Ph.D. thesis project). The mouse finally appeared on a successful commercial product, the 1984 Apple Macintosh. Work applying Fitt's Law soon established the relation between distance and size of an onscreen target, when using hand movement for pointing at it. I remember a presentation by the man who was then Apple's interface evangelist, Bruce Tognazzini (whose name appears mangled in this book), on Fitt's Law and the Mac mouse at SIGGRAPH '89. Bootstrapping is also valuable for its glimpse into the political and somewhat Machiavellian world of government research funding. Engelbart's work was a rival to that of J.R. Licklider, whose projects in artificial intelligence sought "man/computer symbiosis" rather than mere augmentation. The well-placed Licklider was the director of the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency Information Processing Technology Office (ARPA-IPTO) in 1962. After 1967, Licklider's office funded Engelbart's projects, including one called "H-LAM/ T Sys" (Human Using Language, Artifact Methodology), in which he was trained. Like the hypertext visionary Ted Nelson, Engelbart's thought was influenced by Vannevar Bush's "As We May Think" essay. Engelbart's NLS (which stood for "oN Line System"), at SRI in the 1960s, was established for group communication and collaboration employing natural language links. His influential demos at the ACM/IEEE Computer Society Fall Joint Computer Conference in San Francisco in December 1968 were videotaped by Stewart Brand, who had just edited the Whole Earth Catalog. Engelbart had a profound influence on the "baby boomer" generation of computer scientists and theorists, which included Nelson, Larry Tesler, Ivan Sutherland, Alan Kay and Brenda Laurel. In a picture taken around 1970, Engelbart is, in his midforties, a handsome presence with dark eyebrows, sporting longish silver hair like a southern senator, the white shirts and ties of the 1960s put aside for turtleneck sweaters. The reader is treated to rarely published images of Engelbart's various team presentations and experiments, like a knee-controlled mouse rigged up (and here photographed) under the table, or a system in which the user was seated cross-legged on the floor. During this time the science of user testing as a part of interface design had developed, and the muchdiscussed "users" progressed from hypothetical ones to users of real computer products. Engelbart was captivated by the human potential movement and the rigidly controlled EST organization in the 1970s, which some of his critics think muddled his work in technology and led him into managerial missteps. Yet it may have been his own philosophy that was no longer right for the personal computer development of the times: Engelbart was an advocate of the sometimes long and difficult process of co-evolutional learning rather than user-friendliness. Alan Kay, who championed computers usable by children, said "Engelbart, for better or worse, was trying to make a violin." Not everyone wants to take to the time to learn a violin—the learning curve demands commitment and early mistakes are discouraging. From the spread of the personal computer in the 1970s and 1980s, to multimedia CD-ROMs and the Web, power users, dot-com entrepreneurs and a generation of computer-savvy children and students, Engelbart has lived to see a world transformed. Engelbart's admitted laxity in office politicking, presenting and packaging his work and ideas is the reason he is neither more widely recognized outside of the computer field nor wealthier. The story of Xerox Corporation's failure to successfully market the Star computer, the one that embodied many of Engelbart's innovations and inspired the Apple Macintosh, is well-known. Anyone who has worked in computer-human interface or in and around Silicon Valley institutions such as SRI, Xerox PARC, IBM Almaden Research Center or Apple Computer will certainly relish this book. Moreover, those in a private, government or non-profit office filled with the fruits of contemporary productivity technology will appreciate Bardini's tales of politics, committees, funding and grants, demos to funders and skeptical management, and all those fascinating projects at PARC and SRI. My biggest complaint about the book is a small but highly visible one: I make a distressed face at an overly complicated back cover image designed by Janet Wood that makes its text nearly unreadable. I hope this graphic


data field's tube "International", the General hydrogeological characteristics of brines tolbachinskii Suite. Considered the intensity and duration of the movement of highly mineralized formation water in marginal composed of fractured dolomite reservoirs tolbachinskii Suite. The results obtained indicate about the dependence of the spout of highly mineralized formation waters from a structural-tectonic and lithological-facial features of water-bearing rocks. It is established that the changing intensity of water inflow to wells due to the peculiarities of the structure of hydrous collectors tolbachinskii Suite with extremely low parameters of conductivity and extremely low stocks the natural high-pressure high-mineralized produced waters and brines.


The invention discloses an object serialization method and device. The object serialization method includes the steps that a target object is acquired; a Json object corresponding to the target object is built, wherein the Json object is a class used for operating the attribute of the target object; the target object is converted into the Json object; a serialization character string of the target object is generated through the Json object. Due to the object serialization method and device, rigid mapping between a serialization result and the target object in structure does not exist, and the sterilization result can be freely controlled.


adequate of been a was The response was and the patient delivered seven hours later by manual rotation of a persistent posterior followed by low forceps.


The extremely high melting point and excellent resistance to oxidation and corrosion offered by iridium suggest numerous applications of this transition metal in static components at high temperatures and in aggressive environments. However, the mechanical and physical properties of f.c.c. Ir exhibit numerous anomalies when compared to other metals that crystallize in the f.c.c. structure. Notable examples include a negative Cauchy pressure, 1/2 (C12 – C44), brittle transgranular cleavage after a period of plastic flow even in pure single crystals and anomalous [ΆΆ0] branches in the phonon spectra. Atomistic studies of extended defects are needed to elucidate the origin of anomalous mechanical properties, such as brittleness. For this purpose we developed a Bond-Order Potential (BOP), an O(N) tight-binding formalism, employing physically transparent parameterizations that use experimental and ab initio data, generated in this study using the Full Potential Augmented Plane Wave plus Local Orbitals (APW+lo) method. The constructed BOP reproduces then both equilibrium as well as a variety of nonequilibrium properties of Ir and represents an excellent description of cohesion in f.c.c. Ir. This description of interatomic interactions is imminently suitable for studies of defects, such as dislocations and grain boundaries, that control plastic deformation and fracture.


We propose a new approach towards particle swarm optimization named agent-based PSO. The swarm is elevated to the status of a multi-agent system by giving the particles more autonomy, an asynchronous execution, and superior learning capabilities. The problem space is modeled as an environment which forms clusters of points that are known to be non-optimal and this transforms the environment into a more dynamic and informative resource


We study a one-dimensional SDE that we obtain by performing a random time change of the backward Loewner dynamics in $\mathbb{H}$. The stationary measure for this SDE has a closed-form expression. We show the convergence towards its stationary measure for this SDE, in the sense of random ergodic averages. The precise formula of the density of the stationary law gives a phase transition at the value $\kappa=8$ from integrability to non-integrability, that happens at the same value of $\kappa$ as the change in behavior of the $SLE_{\kappa}$ trace from non-space filling to space-filling curve. Using convergence in total variation for the law of this diffusion towards stationarity, we identify families of random times on which the law of the arguments of points under the backward $SLE_{\kappa}$ flow converge to a closed form expression measure. For $\kappa=4,$ this gives precise characterization for the random times on which the law of the arguments of points under the backward $SLE_{\kappa}$ flow converge to the uniform law.


This paper describes a method for estimating a reflection model from a color image of an object taken by a multi-band CCD camera. The Torrance-Sparrow model is used for modeling light reflection on an object surface. We propose algorithms for estimating model parameters from a single image by the multi-band CCD camera. To estimate the surface roughness, we propose the use of the brightness image and the reflectance map in the neighborhood of a highlight peak point. An algorithm is presented for finding a particular solution of the surface orientation. The feasibility of the method is demonstrated in an experiment using a painted object. The estimation accuracy of the whole model is confirmed based on computer graphics images.


The participation of teachers and students in relation to the problem of water sources contamination near their school could be established in this work. . The research was carried out with 10 and 11 grade students in the specialty of water source management at the technical education high school level in the Educational Institution (EI) Valle de Tenza Technical in the Guateque Municipality, from 2007 to 2010. Action Research (AR) was the strategy taken into consideration as the pedagogical strategy. To apply it , some didactic activities in the Ecology and Hidrology subjects included in the yearly plan for technical high school education. Each of the participant "academic generations", provided conceptual and methodological advance contributions to those continuing the project. Reports from the work carried put are currently available which have served another group of students and teachers to continue working on it.


The distributed optimal output consensus problem for high‐order multi‐agent systems has been studied recently. In this article, we further focus on the same problem for high‐order multi‐agent systems subject to parametric uncertainties and aim at distributed robust controllers by measurement output feedback. We first develop a dynamic compensator to estimate the expected optimal consensus point and convert the problem into several decentralized robust tracking problems. Then, by combining the integral control technique and dirty derivative observer technique, we constructively propose a distributed output feedback integral controller to solve this problem under a mild graph connectivity condition.


A pressurized catalytic gasification process, operated at 600{degrees}C, 34.5 MPa, efficiently produces a hydrogen rich synthesis gas from high-moisture content biomass. Glucose was selected as a model compound for catalytic biomass gasification. A proprietary heterogeneous catalyst X was extremely effective for the gasification of both the model compound and whole biomass feeds. The effect of temperature, pressure, reactant concentration on the gasification of glucose with catalyst X were investigated. Complete conversion of glucose (22% by weight in water) to gas was obtained at a weight hourly space velocity of 22.2 (g/h)/g in supercritical water at 600{degrees}C, 34.5 MPa. Complete conversion of whole biomass feeds including water hyacinth, depithed bagasse liquid extract, sewage sludge, and paper sludge was also achieved at the same temperature and pressure. The propriety catalyst X is inexpensive and extremely effective.


Sensor technologies have been advanced and it is used in many fields and one of the prominent field is clinical diagnosis. It can be used to identify the specific components of an odor and analyze its chemical makeup. An electronic nose (e-nose) consists of a mechanism for chemical detection, such as an array of electronic sensors, and a mechanism for pattern recognition, such as a neural network . The e-nose can be used to identify many deadly diseases such as cancer, respiratory diseases, urinary


A video codec comprising a processor configured to compute an average of a plurality of reconstructed chroma samples located in neighboring blocks of a chroma block and adjacent to the chroma block, compute an intermediate variable by applying an integer function on the average of the reconstructed chroma samples, and generate a predicted chroma sample for the chroma block based on the intermediate variable.


Photoreflectance (PR) was used to study the direct-gap interband transitions in strain-compensated Ge/SiGe multiple quantum well (MQW) structures with Ge-rich SiGe barriers grown by low-energy plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The PR spectra revealed a wide range of possible optical transitions in the MQW structure. Detailed lineshape fits to the PR spectra and comparison to a theoretical calculation based on the envelope-function approximation with conduction band-offset and stain compensation factor as adjust parameters led to the identification of various interband transitions. The results demonstrated that PR is a powerful technique for nondestructive optical characterization of Ge/SiGe MQW structures.


Confinement magnetic field of a field-reversed configuration (FRC) plasma is reduced by a factor of about 10 and plasma density is decreased by a factor of about 100 without lowering the temperature seriously by translating a theta-pinch produced FRC plasma axially into a large bore metal vessel. Reduced magnetic field brings the lower-hybrid frequency into a range easily detected by magnetic probes. Search for wave activities in the FRC plasma for a wide frequency range disclosed magnetic field fluctuations in the lower-hybrid-drift frequency range for the first time in the FRC plasma. The identification of the mode is not done yet but the fluctuation level is close to the values predicted by theories on the LHD instability. This fluctuation level is not large enough to account for the transport rate of the particles from the FRC plasma. 11 refs., 3 figs.


following properties of the mixture: survivability, compressive strength after 1 hour, after 3 hours, after 24 hours, crumbling. The mechanisms of chemical reactions that lead to the process of mixture curing are described and the possibility of obtaining qualitative characteristics of the mixture is substantiated by analyzing the chemistry of the process. An analytical description of the response surface in the stationary region in the factor space transformed after the standard procedure «liquid glass content – propylene carbonate content» is obtained in canonical form. Such a transformation allows to estimate the nature of the response surface by analyzing the ratios of the eigenvalues included in its canonical description in terms of size and sign. Such an approach used has an important feature, since it allows one to directly determine the behavior of the properties of the mixture in the event of deviations from the optimal values of the content of liquid glass and propylene carbonate. This makes it possible to determine measures or technical solutions for the work or to improve the systems for regulating dosing processes in automated systems for the production of a mixture in foundries. At the same time, adaptation to any known dosing systems of binder and hardeners of cold-hardening mixtures is possible. This opens up prospects for stabilizing the quality of the molding or core mixture and improving the quality of shaped castings for mechanical engineering, in particular, responsible and basic cast parts of internal combustion engines (ICE).


Washington, D.C. - Most disputes between patients and HMOs involve coverage
of elective procedures and access to doctors and services outside a plan's
network, and not issues related to life-saving care, according to a new
analysis of health plan appeals decisions.


To address the problem of serious groundwater contamination,two biologically permeable remediation systems filled with waste tire rubber particles coupled with sulfate reducing bacteria(RP-SRB) and activated sludge(RP-AS) were developed based on the permeable reactive barrier(PRB).The feasibility and efficiency of RP-SRB and RP-AS biologically permeable remediation systems for treating the contaminated ground water containing COD,SO2-4,NH+4-N,Fe2+ and Mn2+ were studied.The results showed that the removal rates of the pollutants by RP-SRB and RP-AS columns were different due to their different biological active materials.The average removal rates were 69.5%,82.5%,25%,92.6% and 70% by RP-SRB column and 73.2%,63.1%,68%,95.2% and 54.2% by RP-AS column,respectively.Considering pollutant removal efficiency and reclamation of rubber particle and sludge,the RP-AS system is feasible for remediation of contaminated groundwater.


Purpose: To compare the effects of IVTA with focal laser photocoagulation, for cystoid macular edema and sponge-like macular edema categorized by findings of optical coherence tomography (OCT). Methods: This study comprised 104 eyes of diabetic macular edema. OCT findings were used to divide the eyes into one group with sponge-like macular edema, and one group with cystoid macular edema. Each group was then divided into two subgroups, one with eyes treated with IVTA, and the other with eyes treated with laser photocoagulation. Visual acuity and macular thickness were compared between the subgroups at 1, 2, and 3 months after therapy. Results: Regardless of the type of macular edema, the group treated with IVTA showed a more rapid improvement of visual acuity (P0.05), but patients who definetely had focal leakage showed better improvement and consistency of visual acuity when treated with focal laser photocoagulation. Conclusions: The correct therapeutic method, depending on the type of macular edema, grouped by OCT and FAG, should result in better improvement of visual acuity. Further study is needed to determine the optimal combination therapy depending on the type of macular edema.


AbstractIncreased system complexity, changes in technology, complex interaction between reliability and performance of systems, and complex system behavior require a systematic approach to provide accurate analysis and prediction of system reliability and availability. The paper presents basic concepts, approaches, and features of the modelling for complex availability and reliability processes of computer systems utilizing Markov Models. Among the basic items of discussion are combinations of different types of failures, coverage, transition-reconfiguration processes, and repair dependencies. The paper focuses on the practical aspects of modelling and the interpretation of the results of analysis, which can be applied to a large class of fault-tolerant systems and local area networks.


The chemical composition of the liquid water and interstitial trace gases and aerosols was measured in liquid water stratiform clouds. The cloud water was found to exhibit pH generally between 3 and 4. The major fraction of the acidity appears associated with SO/sub 4//sup =/, rather than NO/sub 3//sup -/, since the majority of samples had values of the ratio (NO/sub 3//sup -/):2(SO/sub 4//sup =/) of less than 0.5. Cloud-water samples were significantly more acidic than typical clear-air aerosol. It is concluded that acidification, processes in addition to dissolution of ambient aerosol, must be operative to account for cloud-water acidity. Composition of the cloud-water samples was found to be influenced by cloud liquid water content and by the concentrations of trace gases in the interstitial cloud air. Interstitial aerosol components were generally found at concentrations that were low in comparison to those in the cloud water. Composition of the interstitial aerosol was also different than the cloud water, with the relative acidity being much less; many samples were even slightly basic. Interstitial trace gases were found at concentrations consistent with their chemical and physical properties. Concentrations of relatively insoluble gases such as nitrogen oxides and ozone were comparable to thosemore » found under clear-air conditions. Highly soluble gases such as nitric acid and ammonia were never detected in cloud. Sulfur dioxide was found in some but not all samples. The limited number of cloud water H/sub 2/O/sub 2/ measurements that were made suggested that this compound is present at sufficient concentrations to cause rapid and quantitative conversion of ppB levels of SO/sub 2/ to sulfuric acid, and that the reaction is more rapid than oxidation caused by O/sub 3/.« less


In this contribution, we discuss our recent results on GaAs-based quantum cascade lasers. In general, we strive to achieve high-power room temperature operation. The best performance in GaAs-based Fabry-Perot quantum cascade laser diodes (pulsed operation) show peak powers of more than 3W at liquid nitrogen temperatures and more than 300 mW at room temperature at an emission wavelength of 9 microns. Lasing up to 100/spl deg/C lattice temperature was detected. Single mode emitting distributed feedback lasers show more than 80mW optical peak power at room temperature. Furthermore, to explore the spectral behavior of the lasers, we processed cavities of different geometries, that is, disk- and ring-shaped cavities.


Background  Quality of life (QOL) issues in patients with non‐metastatic skin cancer are not satisfactorily demonstrated when using existing QOL questionnaires.


An abstract of the thesis of Kathryn Marie Mohror for the Master of Science in Computer Science presented November 13, 2003. Title: Infrastructure For Performance Tuning MPI Applications Clusters of workstations are becoming increasingly popular as a low-budget alternative for supercomputing power. In these systems, message-passing is often used to allow the separate nodes to act as a single computing machine. Programmers of such systems face a daunting challenge in understanding the performance bottlenecks of their applications. This is largely due to the vast amount of performance data that is collected, and the time and expertise necessary to use traditional parallel performance tools to analyze that data. The goal of this project is to increase the level of performance tool support for message-passing application programmers on clusters of workstations. We added support for LAM/MPI into the existing parallel performance tool, Paradyn. LAM/MPI is a commonly used, freely-available implementation of the Message Passing Interface (MPI), and also includes several newer MPI features, such as dynamic process creation. In addition, we added support for non-shared filesystems into Paradyn and enhanced the existing support for the MPICH implementation of MPI. We verified that Paradyn correctly measures the performance of the majority of LAM/MPI programs on Linux clusters and show the results of those tests. In addition, we discuss MPI-2 features that are of interest to parallel performance tool developers and design support for these fea-


In the last years, the worldwide sales volume of electric vehicles increased and almost all well-known automobile manufacturers now have special departments for developing autonomous vehicles. This development leads to new challenges in the automobile sector. Besides the development of necessary components, one big challenge is the compliance with safety requirements. Autonomous vehicles need a large number of information for the calculation of the required brake force, to avoid crashes, or for the automatic lane change. One important information is the vehicle mass. Furthermore, this parameter is essential for a precise range prediction of electric vehicles, for the monitoring of the maximum loaded vehicle weight or some further advanced driver assistance systems. Therefore, this paper presents a survey of current vehicle mass estimators to meet the requirements of new mobility concepts and to increase the safety and the comfort of the individual road users (e.g. driver, pedestrian).


In order to improve the management of Physics Chemistry laboratory,the Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 was chosen for exploiting base,while the Microsoft Access 2000 was used to store dates.with this,the computational management software of Physics Chemistry laboratory was explored.The programme was applied to the systematic manage of instruments,reagents,the examination scores of students and so on.In this way,we can make good use of cabor and resources,and in heace improve the efficiency.


MMWR / May 3, 2013 / Vol. 62 / No. 17 331 Walking contributes to total physical activity and is an appropriate activity to increase overall physical activity levels among adults with arthritis. Walking also is the most preferred exercise among arthritis patients (1,2) and has been shown to improve arthritis symptoms, physical function, gait speed, and quality of life (3–5). To estimate the distribution of average weekly minutes of walking among adults with arthritis by state and map the prevalence of low amounts of walking (<90 minutes per week) among adults with arthritis, CDC analyzed data from the 2011 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). This report describes the results of that analysis, which indicated that among adults with arthritis in the 50 states and the District of Columbia (DC), the median prevalence of walking was 53% (range: 44.3%–66.2%) for 0 minutes per week, 13.1% (range: 9.3%–16.2%) for 1–89 minutes per week, 5.3% (range: 3.2%–6.8%) for 90–119 minutes per week, 5.6% (range: 2.6%–8.3%) for 120–149 minutes per week, and 23.2% (range: 16.0%–30.6%) for ≥150 minutes per week. A state median of 66% of adults with arthritis walked <90 minutes per week, ranging from a low of 58.0% in California to a high of 76.2% in Tennessee. The large number of persons with arthritis who are not getting the full benefit of regular walking might benefit from community interventions aimed at increasing access to walking as well as specific programs that offer social support. BRFSS is a random-digit–dialed telephone survey conducted annually in all 50 states, DC, and U.S. territories. Data collected in 2011 from 50 states and DC (497,967 respondents; 166,417 with arthritis) were used to assess the distribution of average weekly minutes of walking and the prevalence of walking <90 minutes per week among adults with self-reported, doctor-diagnosed arthritis. After excluding responses from respondents with missing data on key variables (e.g., arthritis status and physical activity), the analytic sample size was 153,688 respondents with arthritis. Response rates for BRFSS are calculated using standards set by the American Association of Public Opinion Research response rate formula no. 4.* The response rate is the number of respondents who completed the survey as a proportion of all eligible and likely eligible persons. The 2011 median survey response rate for all states and DC was 53.0%; response rates ranged from 37.4% in California to 66.5% in South Dakota.† Respondents were classified as having arthritis if they answered "yes" to the question, "Have you ever been told by a doctor or other health professional that you have arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, lupus, or fibromyalgia?" Respondents who reported they had participated in physical activities or exercise (excluding occupational and transportation activities) in the past month were subsequently asked to recall the frequency, duration, and type of activity for the two activities they did most often. Walking was one of approximately 60 activities listed, and the most common activity reported. For adults who reported walking, the time spent walking per week was calculated by multiplying the frequency (times per week) by duration (minutes per session). Based on the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, time spent in vigorousintensity walking (walking is a vigorous-intensity activity for some older adults) was multiplied by two.§ The average number of minutes walked per week was grouped into five categories: 0, 1–89, 90–119, 120–149, and ≥150 minutes per week. Walking minutes were dichotomized to <90 minutes per week and ≥90 minutes per week to assess the state-specific prevalence of low amounts of walking. The 90-minute threshold was based on the minimum amount of weekly walking shown in a randomized controlled trial to lower pain (27% decrease) and improve function (39% increase) among adults with arthritis (5) and the typical amount of walking achieved in the Arthritis Foundation's Walk With Ease (WWE) program, which is 3 days per week with approximately 30 minutes of total walking time per session (3). Unadjusted prevalence estimates, 95% confidence intervals, medians, and ranges for all 50 states and DC were calculated (Table). Ageadjusted prevalence estimates, categorized by tertiles, also were calculated (Figure). All estimates use sampling weights (raking methodology) to account for the complex sample design, nonresponse, noncoverage, and cellphone-only households; this method of weighting sample BRFSS data is new in 2011; therefore, 2011 estimates should not be compared to estimates from previous years.¶ Among adults with arthritis in the 50 states and the District of Columbia (DC), the median prevalence of walking was 53% (range: 44.3%–66.2%) for 0 minutes per week, 13.1% (range: 9.3%–16.2%) for 1–89 minutes per week, 5.3% State-Specific Prevalence of Walking Among Adults with Arthritis — United States, 2011


The article presents the results of the study of probability category in the popular science fiction novels "The Expanse" by James S. Corey and "Blindsight" by Peter Watts. According to the author, the pragmatic realization of probability category in the area "reality / unreality" is to analyze the pragmatic content of a particular communicative situation of interaction of communication participants. The analysis of the pragmatic content of the language units is focused on establishing those elements that carry information about the future. Pragmatic realization of probability category in the area "reality / unreality" occurs not only in a semantic-functional way of sentence construction, but also through modality. The research material showed that the semantic division of modality is determined by two criteria: quantitative and qualitative assessment of the speaker's knowledge. Selected cases of modal probability are transmitted by units of different language levels: lexical, lexical-grammatical, lexical-syntactic and syntactic. The position of probability markers is significant to determine the degree of probability of information in the English-language utterance. The author believes that this problem requires a multifaceted study. There are still a number of issues that require more detailed study, namely, semantics of expressing degrees of probability, the plurality of means of expressing modal relations, and so on.


Warming - up exercise in sports is of great imporance to adjust the function of the muscles of the body , to adjust and control the working condition of respiratory and circulatory systems , and to coordinate physical movements and activities. Warming - up exercise can be divided into ordinary warming - up exercise special warming - up exercise and comprehensive warming - up exercive . If one wants the warming - up cxcrcivc to function to the fullest extent , and to inerease the sports level form time to time , he must put great emphasis on the chicc of the exercise program.


TX76-40-2 (Reg. no. GP-399, P1 557538) is a soft red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) breeding line developed by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. It originated from a segregating bulk from Ron Barnett's wheat breeding program at the North Florida Research and Education Center at Quincy. TX76-40-2 is an F4 sib-line to 'Florida 302' and resembles that cultivar in several characteristics. From 125 F7 head rows grown in 1977-1978, several were bulked to form the experimental line TX76-40-2. The pedigree is 'Coker 65-20'//Purdue 4946 A4-18-2-10-1 /'HaddenV3/'VogelY5/'Ander sonV/Purdue 4946A4-18-2-10-l/Hadden. TX76-40-2 was tested from 1980 to 1991 and increased for possible release as a new cultivar, but it lacks adequate test weight, and perhaps adequate yield potential, for release as a cultivar. TX76-40-2 produced grain yields in excess of 5170 kg ha" (77 bu acre") in East Texas in 1991, compared with 5220 kg ha' for Florida 302. The mean yield of TX76-40-2 at Aberdeen, ID, and Ladisville, PA, in 1991 was 7054 kg ha", compared with 7861 kg ha' for Florida 302, when they were tested in the Uniform Southern Soft Red Winter Wheat Nursery. When averaged over 13 year-locations in East Texas and compared with Florida 302, TX76-40-2 has yielded 174 kg ha' (2 bu acre") less, had 25 kg m~ (2 lb bu") lower test weight, was 3 d later, and 10 cm shorter. Coleoptile color is slightly reddish and seedling anthocyanin normally is present. Juvenile plant growth is erect, and the line tillers profusely. Seed shape is elliptical, cheeks are rounded, brush size is large and is not collared. Shoulder shape is oblique. Seeds normally are about 6 mm in length and 3 mm in width. Kernel weight varies between 30 and 36 mg. Plant color at booting is green. Anther color is yellow. Anthocyanin pigment is normally absent in stems. Waxy bloom on stems is absent. Internodes are hollow and there usually are four nodes above ground. The internode length between the flag leaf node and the leaf below is »18 cm at Overton, TX. The leaf below the flag leaf is normally about 10 mm in width and 20 cm in length. The spike is mid-dense, tapering, and apically awnletted (awns 1 to 2 cm long). Spikes normally are yellow, about 7 cm in length and 11 mm in width; there are usually three seeds per spikelet. TX76-40-2 should be useful germplasm because of its superior resistance to glume blotch [caused by Phaeosphaeria nodorum (E. Miiller) Hedjaroude], field resistance to powdery mildew (caused by Erysiphe graminis DC. f. sp. tritici Em. Marchal), lodging resistance, and good yield potential. TX7640-2 has been one of the more glume blotch-resistant wheat lines tested at Overton; the only line which has been consistently more resistant has been 'Coker 762'. The resistance to glume blotch is expressed in both seedling and adult plants. It is more evident in the seedling stage when inoculated in greenhouse tests. Research on components of partial resistance to glume blotch at Overton (1) indicated that TX76-40-2 had a latent period longer than that of Coker 762 in the seedling stage, and an above-average length of latent period in the adult stage. TX76-40-2 has not been subject to attack by powdery mildew in Texas; however, it has been susceptible at several other locations in the southeastern USA, perhaps due to different area biotypes. TX76-40-2 has appeared to be moderately resistant to endemic races of leaf rust (caused by Puccinia recondita Roberge ex Desmaz.) present in Texas. Research at the leaf rust laboratory at Dallas indicated that TX76-40-2 has Lr 9, as well as one or more other resistance genes, probably Lr 10. The resistance generally appears similar to that of Florida 302, whose resistance has been overcome under field conditions in Texas. However, in variety tests at both Dallas and Prosper in 1991, TX76-40-2 had significantly lower leaf rust ratings than Florida 302. Ratings at Prosper were 5MR for TX76-40-2 and 80MS for Florida 302; At Dallas, the leaf rust ratings were 1R and 40MS, respectively. Apparently, TX76-40-2 has an additional Lr gene not possessed by Florida 302. Data from D.V. McVey at the USDA-ARS Cereal Rust Laboratory in St. Paul, MN, for 1991 indicate that TX76^0-2 had stem rust (caused by Puccinia graminis Pers. :Pers.) resistance genes 10, 17, and possibly one other gene. TX76-40-2 has no resistance to Hessian fly (Mayetiola destructor Say), according to research by R.H. Ratclifte and G. Safranski, USDA-ARS at West Lafayette, IN. Milling and baking analysis at the Soft Wheat Quality Laboratory (USDA-ARS) at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center at Wooster, OH indicate that TX76-40-2 has poor soft wheat quality. Seed will be maintained by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station at Overton.


In order to reduce non-specific adsorption caused by hydrophobic attraction, the hydrophilic polymer EVAL was chosen as the fiber substrate to form matrix of fiber adsorbents. Incorporated with resin powder in fiber matrix, the resin CNP80ws filled EVAL fibrous adsorbents with some extent of open pore on its surface were prepared by the method of controlled phase transition with some external liquids. The more open structure on its surface was obtained with higher resin loading. The behavior of adsorption and desorption with model protein BSA was studied. The results showed that the resin CNP80ws filled EVAL fibrous adsorbents had good adsorption capacity and desorption. The adsorption capacity of resin CNP 80ws filled EVAL fibrous adsorbents were in the range of 53.9~54.8 mg BSA/(g adsorbent) (50% resin loading).


This paper attempts to evaluate the importance of inertia in the mechanics of the large low-angle thrust faults. Because of a lack of precise information many assumptions have been necessary, involving both the mechanics of thrusting and the numerical values of the factors involved. The analysis indicates that under certain hypothetical conditions inertia may be a factor of great importance. Further field data will have to be obtained before it can be determined to what extent these principles can be applied in nature.


The photodetectors based on the wide bandgap semiconductor (WBS)/Si heterojunction have attracted more and more attention in recent years due to their excellent photoelectric characteristics and easy integration capabilities. In this work, we have demonstrated a self-powered solar-blind ultraviolet (UV) photodetector based on the ZnGa2O4/Si heterojunction. A typical rectification characteristic with a rectification ratio exceeding 103 within ±5 V can be obtained. At 0 V bias, the −3 dB cutoff wavelength of ∼255 nm and the UV-visible rejection ratio of ∼3 × 102 show that the device has excellent self-powered solar-blind UV detection performance. In addition, the responsivity and the response speed of ZnGa2O4/Si heterojunction can be efficiently enhanced by a transient spike current at 0 V bias when turning on and off the 254 nm UV light. The interface pyroelectric effect of the ZnGa2O4 film should be responsible for this transient spike photocurrent phenomenon. Our findings in this work pave a feasible way to realize high-performance WBS/Si heterojunction self-powered solar-blind photodetectors.


In this paper, we propose a building recognition algorithm for the next generation navigation system which is to use captured video from the camera equipped in moving vehicle. After masking out the road area and vehicles on the road, we used edge segments of small size blocks within an image frame to remove background objects, trees, etc. Search range determination and edge tracing technique were also developed to determine the building area as the final step. The experiments show promising results such as 88.9 % detection rate on the average and 95.9% for navigation video without trees and signs. The proposed algorithm can be also applied to point-of-interest (POI) detection for various telematics applications.


Primary Sjogren′s syndrome (pSS) is a kind of chronic autoimmune disease affecting many organs of the body. The pathogenesis of pSS is still debated. Epstein-Barr virus(EBV), also called human herpesvirus-4, belongs to the herpesviridae family. Researchers have found that EBV is associated with pSS. With the deepening of researches, more evidences and opinions about the participation of EBV in the pathogenesis of pSS have emerged. EBV can cause the development of pSS in multiple ways. In this review, we summarize the roles of EBV in the pathogenesis of pSS.

Key words:
Sjogren′s syndrome; Epstein-Barr virus; Interferon; Lymphoma


This paper proposes an active auxiliary commutation circuit (AACC) to achieve zero voltage switching (ZVS) in DC-AC power converters. The switching strategy implemented and the AACC make it possible for these power converters to operate with soft commutation of their main switches from no load up to full load, without increasing their voltage or current ratings. Due to commutation under zero voltage conditions, the main switches are implemented as a dual thyristor. The RMS current value carried by auxiliary switches is very low. To verify the feasibility of the proposed AACC, it is applied to a half-bridge inverter. Operation principle, commutation analysis, switching strategy and features are described and verified experimentally. These results have been obtained from a laboratory prototype operating at 30 kHz and rated at 300 W.


Image time series of high temporal and spatial resolution capture land surface dynamics of heterogeneous landscapes. We applied the ESTARFM (Enhanced Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model) algorithm to multi-spectral images covering two semi-arid heterogeneous rangeland study sites located in South Africa. MODIS 250 m resolution and RapidEye 5 m resolution images were fused to produce synthetic RapidEye images, from June 2011 to July 2012. We evaluated the performance of the algorithm by comparing predicted surface reflectance values to real RapidEye images. Our results show that ESTARFM predictions are accurate, with a coefficient of determination for the red band 0.80 < R2 < 0.92, and for the near-infrared band 0.83 < R2 < 0.93, a mean relative bias between 6% and 12% for the red band and 4% to 9% in the near-infrared band. Heterogeneous vegetation at sub-MODIS resolution is captured adequately: A comparison of NDVI time series derived from RapidEye and ESTARFM data shows that the characteristic phenological dynamics of different vegetation types are reproduced well. We conclude that the ESTARFM algorithm allows us to produce synthetic remote sensing images at high spatial combined with high temporal resolution and so provides valuable information on vegetation dynamics in semi-arid, heterogeneous rangeland landscapes.


This paper takes Wujing Township of Shanghai as a typical case to examine the process and dynamics of the production of rural space in China. Although Shanghai has generally become more urbanised a...


The kinetic data obtained by differential scanning calorimetry for the isothermal crystallization from the melt of unreinforced poly(phenylene sulfide) (PPS) and of model carbon, aramid, and glass fiber-reinforced PPS composites has been analyzed and modeled on the basis of the Avrami equation. The classical Avrami model provided a good description of the volume fraction crystallized for PPS and for those composites that did not exhibit transcrystallinity in thin-film specimens. Nonlinear Avrami behavior was observed for those composite systems that did exhibit transcrystallinity, for which parallel and series dual Avrami models were used. A series crystallinity model, which corrects the volume fraction crystallized for structural, imperfections, was applied to all the systems, providing a reasonable modeling of the data. In this model, we postulate an initial primary crystallization followed by a secondary crystallization. The temperature dependencies of the Avrami rate constants were analyzed through Arrhenius relationships, and the resultant activation energies and frequency factors were interpreted in terms of nucleation and growth phenomena. We found the frequency factor for primary crystallization to be indicative of the nucleating abilities of the fiber surfaces and to correlate with the presence of transcrystallinity.


Three simple, quick and sensitive methods are described for the spectrophotometric determination of pregabalin (Pgb) in pharmaceutical preparations. Among them, the first two methods are based on the reaction of Pgb as n-electron donors with 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone (DDQ) and 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) as π-acceptors to give highly colored complex species. The colored products were quantitated spectrophotometrically at 494 and 841 nm for DDQ and TCNQ, respectively. Optimization of the different experimental conditions was conducted. Beer's law was obeyed in the concentration ranges 2.0–30.0 and 1.5–10 g·mL−1 for DDQ and TCNQ methods, respectively. The third method is based on the interaction of ninhydrin (NN) with primary amine present in the pregabaline. This reaction produces a blue coloured product in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) medium, which absorbs maximally at 573 nm. Beer's law was found in the concentration range 40.0–180.0 µg·mL−1. The methods were applied successfully to the determination of this drug in pharmaceutical dosage forms.


The invention provides a bedside fixing support for a hemodialysis tubing. The fixing support comprises a strip-shaped knitted cloth belt, a snap adherent fastener (female fastener) is attached to the middle position of the strip-shaped knitted cloth belt, snap adherent fasteners (male fasteners) are attached near the two end positions of the strip-shaped knitted cloth belt, one side of the middle part of the strip-shaped knitted cloth belt without the adherent fastener is fixed on a support bearing plate; the midpoint of the back side of the support bearing plate is provided with a cylindrical jack post, the cylindrical jack post penetrates through a midpoint hole on the top panel of a support stationary fixture, the hole size of the midpoint hole is slightly greater than the cylindrical jack post; the tail end of the cylindrical jack post is provided with an anti-fall round disc greater than the diameter of the cylindrical jack post; the back side of the top panel of the stationary fixture is provided with a right side plate and a left side plate with an adjustable space between; the opposite inner sides of the left and right side plates are provided with elastic spring leaves; and a connecting plate with a groove is mounted at the connecting part between the left and right side plates and the back side of the top panel of the stationary fixture and is connected through adjustable bolts. The bedside fixing support for a hemodialysis tubing solves the problem that because a blood tubing lead out from a dislysis machine to a patient body has no stationary fixture during hemodialysis, the blood tubing is randomly placed on a treatment table surface and is easy to fold and slide off the table. The bedside fixing support for a hemodialysis tubing is suitable for fixing the blood tubing on the bedside during hemodialysis treatment.


The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to explore and understand how the Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS) affect teachers' perceptions toward their career and parents' perceptions toward their child's education. This study sought to answer the following research questions: What are parents' perceptions of the impact of the CCLS on their child's learning? What are the teachers' perceptions of the CCLS on their teaching? Data sources included six interviews of parents with a child in Kindergarten through seventh grade and five interviews of general education teachers of Kindergarten through fifth grade classrooms. This study concluded the Common Core Learning Standards are perceived in a generally negative manner by parents and teachers.


This work uses the canopy height
model (CHM) based workflow for individual tree crown delineation from LiDAR
point cloud data in an urban environment and evaluates its accuracy by using very
high-resolution PAN (spatial) and 8-band WorldView-2 imagery. LiDAR point cloud
data were used to detect tree features by classifying point elevation values.
The workflow includes resampling of LiDAR point cloud to generate a raster
surface or digital terrain model, generation of hill-shade image and intensity
image, extraction of digital surface model, generation of bare earth digital
elevation model and extraction of tree features. Scene dependent extraction
criteria were employed to improve the tree feature extraction. LiDAR-based
refining/filtering techniques used for bare earth layer extraction were crucial
for improving the subsequent tree feature extraction. The PAN-sharpened WV-2
image (with 0.5 m spatial resolution) used to assess the accuracy of
LiDAR-based tree features provided an accuracy of 98%. Based on these
inferences, we conclude that the LiDAR-based tree feature extraction is a potential
application which can be used for understanding vegetation characterization in
urban setup.


Scholarly discussions on transdisciplinarity have largely been centered on theoretical and conceptual questions. Empirical studies conducted on this topic frequently result in rather negative conclusions as to the degree to which transdisciplinary research projects can live up to their normative expectations. The in-depth analysis of two so-called bioregional assessments indicates that many of the characteristics that make up a 'successful' transdisciplinary research effort cannot be determined empirically by merely looking at 'the project' itself, but it rather needs a broader conceptual and empirical framework. A distanced look at transdisciplinarity eventually enables one to draw conclusions on what can be expected of the now so popular calls for more and better management and evaluation of transdisciplinary research. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.


The present invention discloses a heat pump with a drying and dehumidification function washing and drying machine, comprising a drying air circulation passage between the outer cylinder, an inner cylinder coaxially arranged inside the outer tube, the heat pump system, heat pump system with the outer tube, sequentially through the drying cycle air pump outlet passage, an outer tube air inlet, inside the outer tube, the outer tube outlet, the pump inlet, the heat pump system to pump outlet and then, in the drying cycle air passage, respectively, with communication with the outside moist air inlet and dried air outlet, the humid air sequentially through the intake air from the outside, the heat pump air inlet, the heat pump system, heat pump outlet, the air outlet and then dried to form a desiccant outside the circulation duct, the drying air circulation the switching mechanism is provided between the passage and the circulation duct in order to achieve the dehumidification switch laundry drying function of the desiccant, the dehumidifying duct drying cycle circulating air passage is provided with the same double lint filter. Washing and drying machine according to the present invention, a multi-function, both clothes, and the room can be dehumidified and dried.


Local-area networks (LANs) had their beginning at Xerox PARC in 1976 with the development of the Ethernet system. As Ethernet was being embraced by industry, the IEEE formed the 802 committee to standardize LAN (and later MAN) technology. The first mass-produced Ethernet systems operated with a data rate of 10 Mbps (million bits per second). Today standards and products exist for 100 and 1000 Mbps data rates with 10 Gbps in the final stages of standardization and 40 Gbps as the next target. Wireless Ethernet is also readily available. Although originally targeted to short distances, varieties of Ethernet have been developed for longer point-to-point, full-duplex connections that are competing with long-established technologies such as SONET and ATM. Finally, the use of Ethernet to the home is being addressed—the "Ethernet in the first mile" activity. Thus Ethernet is becoming ubiquitous for all varieties of networking.

Keywords:

Ethernet;
IEEE 802.3;
computer networks;
local area networks;
distributed computing


THE: DEVELOPMENT of civilization has transformed mankind from a species consisting of a multitude of small endogamous groups into a species composed of very large and only imperfectly isolated Mendelian populations. As pointed out by many authors, especially by Dahlberg (1929, 1938), Boyd and Boyd (1941), and Neel, Kodani, Brewer and Anderson (1949), this process has a number of very important genetic consequences, one of which is a decrease of the frequency of marriages between relatives. A review of the available data on the frequencies of consanguineous marriages in various European countries and in Japan is contained in the paper of Neel et al. just referred to. The purpose of the present article is to put on record some preliminary data on the frequencies of marriages between relatives in certain Brazilian populations.


Replacement of a diseased heart valve with a prosthetic heart valve exchanges the native disease for prosthesis-related complications. Valve thrombosis can occur in mechanical prosthetic valves. The significant morbidity and mortality associated with this condition permits rapid diagnostic evaluation. A combination of transthoracic and transoesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is required to assess the haemodynamic effect of thrombosis, leaflet motion and thrombus size. Mechanical valves offer excellent haemodynamic performance and long-term durability, but the need for anticoagulation increases maternal and foetal mortality and morbidity, and the risk of major cardiac events during pregnancy.

 A 23-year-old gravida 0 woman was admitted to the emergency obstetric care. At the age of 18 months, she underwent valve replacement surgery in the mitral position (St. Jude Medical Standard size 25mm), this requires use of warfarin after surgery. Although she was advised otherwise; the patient became pregnant. She had an increased risk of maternal cardiovascular complications [Modified World Health Organization classification (mWHO) III] and obstetrics complications. The warfarin treatment was discontinued, and it was started low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) 100IU, twice daily subcutaneously, on gestation 36 week. The last administration was 2 days before the admission (>48h before delivery). So, on gestation week 39, she was admitted to the department of Obstetrics. Then, as cardiotocography showed decreased foetal heart rate, an emergency caesarean section was performed. A healthy baby was delivered. After delivery, we perform an immediate two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography (2D TTE), as there was a high-risk of valve thrombosis, and it showed an apparent normal prosthetic excursion but a high mean pressure gradient (25mmHg) – elevated transprosthetic gradient. It was not well visualized the occlude motion of the mechanical valve by 2D TTE, so we perform a TEE to answer the clinical question, if there was a dysfunction due to an acute process (i.e. thrombus). It revealed an obstruction – reduced mobility of one disc and elevated velocities by CW doppler (30mmHg), and a presence of thrombus (1.3X0.8mm). The anticoagulation with intravenous UFH was started immediately, but anticoagulation failed, and she underwent valve replacement surgery (St. Jude Medical standard size 27mm.

 Our patient had a very-high risk of complications maternal cardiovascular complications - WHO risk classification III - because the risk of valve thrombosis is markedly increased during pregnancy. The risk is lower with adequate dosing of anticoagulant therapy, but our patient was not which increased the risk of thrombosis. Finally, it is important to notice that it is recommended to manage pregnancy in women with mechanical valves in a centre with a pregnancy heart team.
 Abstract 508 Figure. Valve thrombosis


180 Background: A practice based clinical leadership team (PBCL) was created in the outpatient cancer center to identify, evaluate, and implement initiatives to improve safety, quality, and patient satisfaction. A quality leader facilitates the team which includes nursing, physician leaders, as well as subject matter experts from throughout the cancer service line.

METHODS
Key focus areas include data review/analysis, facilitating performance improvement teams to enhance patient satisfaction and patient safety; and to reduce variations in care. PBCL members participate in Performance Improvement in Action (PIIA) program that includes just-in-time process improvement training while completing projects in a 90-day period. The PIIA approach embeds quality/lean tools in the organization. The training provides structure, common terminology, and stresses the use of data to make decisions, relying on the voice of the customer and clear articulation of the problem statement before jumping to solutions. The methodology incorporates six sigma/lean tools and plan-do-check-act.

RESULTS
The PBCL structure has resulted in several specific improvement projects. The patient throughput project team implemented recommendations that increased the percentage of patients who arrived and completed lab tests before their scheduled appointment time by 36%. In addition, a simulation model was created which quantified a 28 minute reduction in total time in the department by increasing the number of patients seen independently by advanced practice providers and removing the room assignment constraint by assigning providers to a "pod of rooms" rather than a specified room(s). An infusion fast track program was implemented for selected medications to expedite patient throughput resulted in an 18 minute (52%) reduction of time in the department.

CONCLUSIONS
Incorporating clinical leadership in a structured framework for quality improvement increases the buy-in to change while maintaining an objective, data driven approach. The team approach and use of performance metrics provides the opportunity to expedite pilot project testing while raising awareness of key metrics to inform of additional opportunities.


In this paper, wepresent anapproximate solution forthe asymptotic behavior ofrelatively general queueing networks. Inthe particular caseofnetworks withgeneral service timedistributions (i.e., fixed routing matrix, oneormanyservers perstation, FIFOdiscipline), theapplication ofthemethod gives relatively accurate results inavery short time.Theapproximate stationary state probabilities areidenti- fied withthesolution ofanonlinear system. Theproposed methodis applicable toalarger class ofqueueing networks (dependent routing matrix, stations withfimite capacity, etc.). Inthis case, thestructure ofthenetwork studied mustsatisfy certain decomposability conditions. IndexTerms-Approximate solution, equilibrium distribution, per- formance evaluation, queueing networks, queueing theory, service time distribution.


To ensure an overall reliability of an integrated software system, software components of the system have to meet certain reliability requirements, subject to some testing schedule and resource constraints. The system testing activity can be formulated as a combinatorial optimization problem with known cost, reliability, effort and other attributes of the system components. In this paper, we consider the software component reliability allocation problem for a system with multiple applications. The failure rate of components used to build the applications are related to the testing cost through various types of reliability growth curves. We achieve closed-form solutions to problems where there is one single application in the system. Analytical solutions are not readily available when there are multiple applications; however, numerical solutions can be obtained using a nonlinear programming tool. To ease the specification of the optimization problem, we develop a GUI front-end to existing mathematical software. We present a systematic outline of the problem formulation and solution, and apply this to an example of a telecommunication software system.


The purpose of this study is to contribute to the development of Urban-type of Elderly Housing to improve the quality of life for seniors in response to the senior dominant society. The Elderly Housing have the purpose of supporting for flawless social exchanges to make new communities for seniors and provide pleasant environment within the building in a way of finding the user convenience of users. Therefore, the theoretical consideration is made for the Elderly Housing and green design, and formulate the elements of green design to consider when planning for Elderly Housing. On this basis, the survey was made for the status of urban-type of Elderly Housing in Korea, and the applicability of the green design was very low. They made some effort to secure green area, but most of it was not systematic without much implication that the use by the residents was not high at all. Lastly, in the part of 'health, pleasance, and convenience' aspect, there is a much needed desire for design method. Green design makes effort not to be harmful to nature and human that it would be helpful not only physiological, psychological, social and even economical ways for seniors that it should be applied in most of the plans for the Elderly Housing.


Multi-letter {\it quantum finite automata} (QFAs) were a quantum variant of classical {\it one-way multi-head finite automata} (J. Hromkovi\v{c}, Acta Informatica 19 (1983) 377-384), and it has been shown that this new one-way QFAs (multi-letter QFAs) can accept with no error some regular languages $(a+b)^{*}b$ that are unacceptable by the previous one-way QFAs. In this paper, we study the decidability of the equivalence of multi-letter QFAs, and the main technical contributions are as follows: (1) We show that any two automata, a $k_{1}$-letter QFA ${\cal A}_1$ and a $k_{2}$-letter QFA ${\cal A}_2$, over the same input alphabet $\Sigma$ are equivalent if and only if they are $(n^2m^{k-1}-m^{k-1}+k)$-equivalent, where $m=|\Sigma|$ is the cardinality of $\Sigma$, $k=\max(k_{1},k_{2})$, and $n=n_{1}+n_{2}$, with $n_{1}$ and $n_{2}$ being the numbers of states of ${\cal A}_{1}$ and ${\cal A}_{2}$, respectively. When $k=1$, we obtain the decidability of equivalence of measure-once QFAs in the literature. It is worth mentioning that our technical method is essentially different from that for the decidability of the case of single input alphabet (i.e., $m=1$). (2) However, if we determine the equivalence of multi-letter QFAs by checking all strings of length not more than $ n^2m^{k-1}-m^{k-1}+k$, then the worst time complexity is exponential, i.e., $O(n^6m^{n^2m^{k-1}-m^{k-1}+2k-1})$. Therefore, we design a polynomial-time $O(m^{2k-1}n^{8}+km^kn^{6})$ algorithm for determining the equivalence of any two multi-letter QFAs. Here, the time complexity is concerning the number of states in the multi-letter QFAs, and $k$ is thought of as a constant.


Objective:To explore the clinical features,diagnosis and treatment of acute lung injury induced by ammonia inhalation for providing the help of disease assessment,prognosis and follow-up.Methods:Thirty-two cases with acute lung injury induced by ammonia inhalation were treated with oxygen inhalation and keeping the unobstructed of respiratory tract.Three cases with laryngeal obstruction were tracheotomied.In acute stage,glucocorticoid,prevention of infection,nutrition support and symptomatic treatment were applied.Results:Thirty-two cases were treated successfully.Eight cases appeared slight pulmonary fibrosis after 6 months of follow-up.Conclusions:The results of the bronchoscopy are important for disease assessment and prognosis of acute lung injury induced by ammonia inhalation.The early application of corticosteroids,preventing secondary infection,the full atomization to promote expectoration and timely tracheostomy to maintain airway patency are the keys to ensure successful treatment.


The World Wide Web (WWW) is becoming one of the most important ways to access information and promote interaction. Also, the concept of telemedicine captures much of what is developing in terms of technology implementation, especially if it is combined with the growth of the Internet and WWW. However, there is a need for standards. A standardised telemedical information system is being developed by the EC supported EUROMED project, for a 21/sup st/ century healthcare environment. The proposed standard is called "Virtual Medical Worlds" which uses hypergraphics and hypertext to homogeneous access patient medical data and Java to initiate manipulate and interact with reconstructed 3D/4D and VR models. Various applications are provided through local and remote services. This paper presents the infrastructure aspects of Virtual Medical Worlds that allows Web-based telemedical services to be run locally within a hospital or remotely to support a global uniform level of healthcare.


ABSTRACT This paper examines sub-regional patterning in New England and the Canadian Maritimes to investigate whether Paleoindian settlement behaviors indicate the broad territorial range of one macroband or multiple macroband territories. These alternate hypotheses will be investigated by comparing sub-regional patterning in settlement behaviors to general models of residentially mobile caribou hunters that employ "herd following" caribou hunting strategies. I attempt to minimize the effects of time averaging by focusing my analysis on Middle Paleoindian sites with Michaud-Neponset fluted points.


According to the shrimp survey data of four seasonal months in the Northeast Fujian outer-sea (26°00′~28°00′N,120°00′~125°30′E), this paper studied and analyzed the quantitative distribution and biological characteristics of Solenocera alticarinata. The results showed that the average density of its resource in May, August, November and February were 34.7,13.8,4.55 and 2.89 kg·km~ -2 ,respectively. The quantitative distribution was obvious different from the seasons with May and August being more and November and February being less.The area of high biomass density occurs in the northeast waters of the survey sea and the highest occurs in the waters at depth of 80 to 100 m (27°00′~28°00′N,122°30′~124°30′E). The body length varied between 41 and 129 mm, the dominant were between 80 to 100 mm occupying 44.7%. The female was obviously larger than the male with the sex ratio 1:0.66, the average body weight was 12.0 and 8.3 g, respectively. There was no obvious difference for feeding intensity from the seasons or between different sex.


This study investigates the microstructure, optical absorption and photoelectric properties of nanostructured composites of TiO2 nanotube arrays and SrTiO3 or CeO2 nanoparticles. The composites were fabricated by anodization and hydrothermal methods and their UV-visible and ultraviolet photoelectron spectra (UV-Vis and UPS) were measured to determine the band structures of the TiO2-SrTiO3 and TiO2-CeO2 heterojunctions. The heterojunctions are designed to promote the separation of photo-induced electron and hole (e-/h+) pairs when the nanostructured composites are adopted in photocatalytic or photoelectrode applications. Approximately 1.0 and 0.8 eV shifts in conduction band position were determined for the TiO2-SrTiO3 and TiO2-CeO2 heterojunctions, respectively. The photocurrent densities of the TiO2- SrTiO3 and TiO2-CeO2 composites were about 20 to 40% larger than that of the TiO2 nanotube arrays under identical irradiation conditions. The size of the SrTiO3 and CeO2 nanoparticles, which could be controlled by the hydrothermal temperature and time, and the concentration of oxygen vacancies within the TiO2 nanotubes were identified to be the key factors governing the photocurrent densities of the nanostructured composites.


To the Editor.— Recent experimental and clinical evidence suggests that the narcotic antagonist naloxone may play a role in reversing the hypotension of septic shock.1,2 Report of a Case.— We recently treated a 66-year-old man who had undergone multiple operations for ruptured diverticulitis. He arrived at the surgical intensive care unit (ICU) in septic shock. Despite adequate resuscitation and monitoring of his condition, the patient exhibited refractory hypotension of 24 hours' duration, requiring dopamine to maintain systolic BP greater than 90 mm Hg. During this 24-hour period, he received a total of 18 mg of morphine sulfate. Three hours after the last subcutaneous injection of morphine sulfate (6 mg), the patient was treated intravenously (IV) with 0.4 mg (1 ampule) of naloxone hydrochloride. He immediately clutched his epigastrium and chest and appeared to be experiencing severe pain. His BP rose to 145/70 mm Hg and remained at this level


Since the deregulation of prices in 1999 discrepancies in prices for public dental care exist across counties in Sweden, which cannot only be attributed to differences in cost. The political process differs across counties and this paper explores the possibility that the complexity of the political processes in a county has an increasing effect on prices for public dental care. The results show a positive correlation between the number of political steps in the price setting process and public dental prices. Further these public prices have a positive correlation with private prices, showing an effect that carries across into all actors within the Swedish dental care market. Therefore, it is proposed that a delayering organizational strategy can reduce prices for both public and private dental providers and thus reduce cost for the end consumer.


Summary The anaesthetic steroid combination alphaxolonealphadolone is a well-established short-acting injectable agent for cats and primates. It can be recommended for intravenous administration to rats, rabbits, neonatal pigs, mice and hamsters. It has limited value in mice and hamsters by the intraperitoneal route, but provides sedation in ferrets and neonatal pigs when injected intramuscularly. It can be given repeatedly or continuously to maintain anaesthesia for long periods without the development of tolerance or cumulation. In the course of a number of studies carried out in this laboratory to investigate the interraction between high atmospheric pressure and anaesthesia (Bailey, Green, Halsey & Wardley-Smith, 1977; Green, Halsey & Wardley-Smith, 1977), it has been necessary to maintain surgical anaesthesia in rats for periods up to 8 h. The anaesthetic agents were administered by continuous or pulsed iv injection using equipment which was housed within a highpressure chamber but which was remotely controlled and monitored. Since the anaesthetic requirements were necessarily very demanding, and since a number of injectable agents were to be investigated, it seemed an opportunity to collect data which might be valuable to other workers faced with the problem of anaesthetising laboratory animals for long periods without significant physiological deterioration. In pilot studies thiopentone, methohexitone, propanidid, ketamine and the steroid combination alphaxolone-alphadolone were each assessed. Particular note was taken of their ability to produce full surgical anaesthesia as measured by failure to respond to electrical stimulation of the tail, the degree of respiratory and cardiovascular dysfunction engendered, and the degree of tolerance or cumulation which was encountered. When it became apparant that alphaxolone-alphadolone (12 mg/ml total steroids; 'Saffan' or 'Althesin', Glaxo Ltd, Greenford Road, Greenford, UB6 OHE) produced neither tolerance nor cumulation (Bailey et al., 1977) and was suitable for long periods of iv anaesthesia even though it is a short-acting drug, it was extensively studied in rats and in subsidiary experiments in mice, hamsters, guinea-pigs and ferrets. The cu.:cumulated data was pooled with that already obtained in neonatal pigs and in rabbits


While Information Systems (IS) has strong ties in practice, it is extremely important that academic and practice perspectives share the same ground in research and education. While there are different research communities in IS which are called communities of practice and knowing (CoP&K), there exists a gap between academic CoP&K and practitioner CoP&K in doctoral IS education. This paper describes a working approach on boundary spanning between academic- and practitioner CoP&K's in doctoral education. In presented case example, a doctoral program has been organized in the field of IS for professionally qualified doctoral students with significant industry experience. This doctoral seminar program has been going on for over twenty years and has produced numerous doctors for the field among other things. Based on this example a research model for studying the exchange of knowing and knowledge between different CoP&K's in doctoral education in Information Systems and research questions for further research are presented. This article suggests that the gap between academia and practice does not need to be as deep as it appears to be, and that there is an understudied field in the intersection between CoP&K's in the IS research field. Thus authors propose a research agenda, where focus is on narrowing the gap between academia and practice in IS through proper use of CoP&K's in doctoral education.