The invention provides lamp caps for an LED fluorescent lamp and the LED fluorescent lamp. The LED fluorescent lamp comprises a lamp tube. Each lamp cap comprises an insulating tube and a magnetic conductive metal piece, wherein the insulating tube is used for being arranged at the end of the lamp tube in a sleeving mode; the magnetic conductive metal piece is fixedly arranged on the inner circumferential surface of the insulating tube; and a hot melt adhesive covers the inner circumferential surface of the magnetic conductive metal piece. According to the lamp caps for the LED fluorescent lamp and the LED fluorescent lamp, the magnetic conductive metal pieces are arranged on the lamp caps, thus, when the lamp caps and the lamp tube are bonded, bonding of the lamp caps and the lamp tube can be achieved through the electromagnetic induction technology, bonding is convenient, and the efficiency is high.


In the present work, sedimentary microbial fuel cells (s-MFC) have been proposed as effective tools to power remote sensors in different aquatic environments, thanks to their ability to produce renewable and sustainable energy continuously and autonomously. The present work proposes the optimization of cylindrical sedimentary microbial fuel cells (s-MFC) as a compact and cost-effective system suitable to be integrated as a payload in an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). To this purpose, a new AUV payload, named MFC-payload, is designed to host the cylindrical s-MFC and a data acquisition system to collect and store information on the voltage produced by the cell. Its overall performance was evaluated during two field measurement campaigns carried out in the Mediterranean Sea. This investigation demonstrates the power production by s-MFC during operation of the AUV in seawater and analyzes the actual influence of environmental conditions on the output power. This study demonstrates that energy production by s-MFCs integrated in AUV systems is decoupled by the navigation of the autonomous vehicle itself, showing the effectiveness of the application of MFC-based technology as a power payload for environmental analysis. All these latter results demonstrate and confirm the ability of the devices to continuously produce electricity during different AUV operation modes (i.e., depth and speed), while changing environmental conditions (i.e., pressure, temperature and oxygen content) demonstrate that cylindrical s-MFC devices are robust system that can be successfully used in underwater applications.


External demand was the main driver of growth in Thailand in 2006 and 2007. However, WEO projections indicate moderating foreign demand in 2008, with U.S. growth being revised downwards to reflect the turmoil in housing and credit markets, and high oil prices. While the share of Thai exports to the US has fallen in recent years, the US remains Thailand's largest export destination. We use a small structural model and Bayesian estimation to assess the possible impact of a U.S. slowdown on Thai growth. We find that a 1 percent slowdown in U.S. growth in 2008 - relative to the baseline forecast - could have an upper-bound impact on Thai GDP growth of 0.9 percentage points.


The study assesses service quality and competitive advantage in Pan African Company Nigeria Limited in Abuja. The study seeks to find out how service quality, e.g. reliability, assurance, responsiveness and empathy, helps the firm to gain competitive advantage within the industry. Data were collected from the primary source. The population was 95 and was used as the sample.  The study used the survey research design, analysis of data was done using regression, and data obtained from administration of questionnaire were analysed using a t-test and f-test with a software, statistical package of e-view 7.0. The findings reveal that the relationship between service quality and competitive advantage in Pan African Company Nigeria Limited in Abuja is significant at 5% level. The study concluded that there is a significant relationship at 5% level between reliability and competitive advantage in Pan African Company Nigeria Limited in Abuja. There is a significant relationship between responsiveness and competitive advantage in Pan African Company Nigeria Limited, Abuja. There is a significant relationship between assurance (ASS) and competitive advantage in Pan African Company Nigeria Limited in Abuja. Therefore, it is suggested that Pan African Company Nigeria Limited in Abuja should continue to embrace service qualities like reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy since they significantly lead to competitive advantage within the industry. Pan African Company Nigeria Limited in Abuja should try to educate the employees about these service quality determinants since they lead to competitive advantage within the industry where it operates.


The project of "Hunan getting purple soil hills area comprehensive administration agriculture ecological test and study" was conducted during 1996~2005 at the gonglian village of Hengnan county,in order to establish the efficient ecology agricultural demonstration.According to the ecological principle,2 ecological projects were carried out(agriculture's ecological project and ecological project of courtyard);3 ecological agriculture modes(grain combine into modes,the management mode,compounding type ecological mode of agriculture and animal husbandry that the fruit-the grain(fat) compounds) were optimum selected,and 5 items of efficient ecological agricultural technologies(contour cultivation technique,returned straw and cover technology,prescription apply fertilizer technology,tree-shrub-grass technology,integrated pest management) were popularied to construct the demonstration village of efficient ecolgical agriculture in hilly areas of purple soil.


Single event upset (SEU) is one of the major factors affecting the reliability of digital signal processor (DSP) cored software system in aerospace equipment. The current methods of DSP mitigation involve  ${N}$ -modular redundancy refresh, Hamming code, and so on. Based on the idea of modular redundancy, this paper turns the SEU mitigation of DSP codes into an optimization problem to find out the multi-level redundant allocation solution considering the structure division, cost evaluation, and reliability modeling of DSP codes. The optimal mitigation solution is determined by optimized memetics algorithm (OMA) with modified crossover operator and local search operator in order to improve the optimization speed and convergence stability. At the same time, by distributing the redundancy of every module according to the optimal solution of the OMA, the DSP projects can get a higher degree of reliability under cost constraints.


Family communication can be studied using a variety of methodologies, such as self-report, observational and experimental. In this chapter, we discuss the various ways these methodologies can be employed, and the issues related to each of them. Although we provide examples of studies using the various methodologies, we do not claim to cover the field in any comprehensive way, but rather to use illustrative examples, including some from our own work. Research can also involve a quantitative or a qualitative perspective, although both types of data are sometimes collected in the same study. Quantitative methodologies involve individuals receiving scores-for example, on a questionnaire, as a reaction time in an experiment, or as the frequency with which a particular behavior was observed. These scores can then be analyzed statistically. In contrast, qualitative methodologies tend not to be based on numbers, and may involve intensive interviews, or content analysis of utterances or written statements. Qualitative methodologies focus on the experience of participants, often as recorded in their own words. All methods (whether basically quantitative or qualitative) have advantages and disadvantages. Hence, the key issue is the appropriateness of a methodology for answering a particular research question, and different methods may be usefully combined to provide more comprehensive analyses. Self-report methods are often used to study family communication, either alone or in combination with other methodologies. Self-report methods include questionnaires, diaries, and other experience-sampling techniques. Interviews also involve self-report, facilitated by the interviewer.


The T-box control system is a very common mechanism that Gram+ bacteria use to regulate the transcription of a variety of genes, like those involved in tRNA aminoacylation, in response to amino acid starvation. This regulation system is based on the stabilization of an antiterminator structure by the interaction with a cognate uncharged tRNA. Analysis of Gram+ Clostridium acetobutylicum (Cac) genome revealed an aberrant redundancy for the genes putatively involved in asparagine (Asn) and AsntRNAAsn synthesis. Through our investigations using various approaches, we showed that Cac only uses the indirect pathway to form Asn and Asn-tRNAAsn. We demonstrated that an entire transamidation pathway is organized as an operon under the control of a tRNAAsn-dependent T-Box riboswitch. One of our important findings gave some explanation to the function of this gene redundancy, which might be interconnected to control tRNA-dependent Asn synthesis, which might in turn be involved in controlling Cac metabolic switch from acid to solvent production. Moreover, we gave new exciting explanations on how the T-Box recognizes its cognate tRNA. Our work brought some evidences that a T-Box can use more than one codon to control gene expression and that; therefore, they have more than one tRNA ligand. Finally, we demonstrated that one antitermination event can be reprogrammed through a synchronization mediated by a protein effector, and guided by another T-Box. Thanks to this process, a T-Box would be able to adequately respond to the level of two metabolically related amino acids. This finding paves the way for a better understanding of the antitermination mechanism in Gram+ bacteria.


Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction (XFZYD), a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) decoction mainly for treating blood stasis syndrome, has been widely investigated and applied in clinic and in laboratory. XFZYD contains 11 herbs and has been identified to promoting blood circulation to remove blood stasis for cardiovascular disease. Meanwhile, blood stasis is directly related to malignant tumor according to TCM basic theory. However, the effects of XFZYD on tumor metastasis and the underlying mechanisms are still largely unknown. Here, we employed well-established Drosophila cell migration and tumor invasion models to explore whether XFZYD has the anticancer activity on tumor metastasis in vivo. Our work has demonstrated that XFZYD could suppress cell migration and tumor invasion at the moderate concentrations. In addition, XFZYD altered the expression of MMP1, β-integrin, and E-cadherin to impede cell migration. Moreover, XFZYD inhibited ocular tumor invasion presumably by reducing the activity of Notch signaling. Together, these evidences reveal a positive role of XFZYD in suppressing cell migration and tumor metastasis, providing the potential drug targets and key clues for cancer clinical treatment strategies.


type="main" xml:id="jage12102-abs-0001"> The Russian food system has undergone substantial changes. However, knowledge on how economic transition has affected the structural parameters of food demand is lacking. Based on a two-stage LES-LA/AIDS model and annual panel data from the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (1995–2010), we provide a comprehensive set of food demand elasticities for Russia along two dimensions. First, we estimate demand parameters for three characteristic time periods in order to trace changes during transition. Second, to account for the Russian population's diversity, we derive elasticities for five different consumer segments. These groups are established by a cluster analysis based on households' food purchases. Our findings suggest that demand for food is far from satiated in Russia. We find generally high unconditional expenditure and own-price elasticities for food. Both expenditure and own-price elasticities show slight decreases in absolute terms over time. Low expenditure elasticities for staple foods like bread or cereals and high values for luxury goods such as meat, alcohol and tobacco suggest considerable changes in the composition of food baskets with further income growth. Results indicate that food production at home loses in importance while more affluent households in particular increase their demand for food consumption away from home.


The influence of additions of 0, 2, 3.5, and 5% LiF on the sintering kinetics of MgF2 were studied using microcylindrical samples on a hot-stage microscope. The sintering rate of MgF2 was markedly enhanced, doubling at 650°C when the LiF was increased from 3.5 to 5 mol%. An approximate model is suggested explaining the observed sintering enhancement based on the increased concentration of fluorine ion vacancies.


A large throughput, low latency network switch (RHiNET-2/SW) has been developed for a distributed parallel computing system. This switch has a new architecture to support low latency "zero-copy" communication in multi-tasking environments. Eight pairs of 800-Mbit/s/spl times/12-channel optical interconnection modules and a CMOS ASIC switch are implemented on a compact circuit board. To achieve large-throughput (64 Gbit/s) and low-latency network performance, the SW-LSI has a customized high-speed LVDS I/O interface, and high-speed internal SRAM memory in a 784-pin-BGA one-chip package. Also, we have developed the device implementation technologies to overcome the electrical problems (crosstalk, skew, reflection and noise). These implementation technologies are applicable for switches used in other high-speed networks such as GSN, 4 Gbit/s Fiber Channel or 10 Gbit/s Ethernet.


According to characteristics and regulations of the higher instition,the public affair administration explicited the the concept of the public house,and built the new management system of the public house including the scientific planning,reasonable disposition,quota index,classify management and the compensable use,which has achieved a satisfied result.Then the four relationships of the administrative management and market mechanism,systems executions and incentive mechanism,the quantity and rational function,pressure transmission and the realization of potential,which administrative department should handle corredtly in the management of the public house were probed in the paper.


Quantum adiabatic passages can be greatly accelerated by a suitable control field, called a counter-diabatic field, which varies during the scan through resonance. Here, we implement this technique on the electron spin of a single nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond. We demonstrate two versions of this scheme. The first follows closely the procedure originally proposed by Demirplak and Rice [J. Phys. Chem. A 107, 9937 (2003)]. In the second scheme, we use a control field whose amplitude is constant but whose phase varies with time. This version, which we call the rapid-scan approach, allows an even faster passage through resonance and therefore makes it applicable also for systems with shorter decoherence times.


Image segmentation is a classical problem in the field of computer vision. Fuzzy [Formula: see text]-means algorithm (FCM) is often used in image segmentation. However, when there is noise in the image, it easily falls into the local optimum, which results in poor image boundary segmentation effect. A novel method is proposed to solve this problem. In the proposed method, first, the image is transformed into a neutrosophic image. In order to improve the ability of global search, a combined FCM based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) is proposed. Finally, the proposed algorithm is applied to the neutrosophic image segmentation. The results of experiments show that the novel algorithm can eliminate image noise more effectively than the FCM algorithm, and make the boundary of the segmentation area clearer.


In translating text, translators have to be able to transfer one language into another language based on the culture, grammar and idiom in order to make the translation accurate. Hence, this research analyzed idiomatic expressions in the subtitles of Beauty and the Beast movie. It aimed to identify the types of strategies used by the translator and the meaning of idiomatic expressions found in the movie. The writer designed this research as descriptive qualitative research. In the process of analyzing the data, the researcher focuses on Baker's idiomatic translation strategies applied by the translator to translate idiomatic expressions in the subtitles of Beauty and The Beast movie, which are similar meaning and form strategies, similar meaning but dissimilar form, translation by paraphrasing and by omission. The results of this research showed that there were 10 data of idiomatic expressions, which are 3 data used idiomatic translation by similar meaning and form, 2 data used idiomatic translation by similar meaning but dissimilar form, 3 data used idiomatic translation by paraphrase, and 2 data used idiomatic translation by omission.


This paper probes into the biological literature retrieval teaching based on information literacy from aspects of paying attention to the theoretical foundation knowledge teaching of literature retrieval, strengthening the literature retrieval ability and improving students' scientific research ability.


The biotransformation of the aromatic amino acids phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan originates a number of bioactive compounds. Yeasts are the most used microorganisms for the transformation of (L)-phenylalanine into the flavour phenylethanol. Here, we reported a study on the biotransformation of the proteogenic aminoacids phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan by yeast strains belonging to Yarrowia genus. We found that the latter microorganisms, in high aerobic conditions, metabolise the aromatic amino acids (L)-phenylalanine and (L)-tyrosine with the almost exclusive formation of phenylacetic acid and 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid, respectively. Differently, the biotransformation of (L)-tryptophan with Y. lipolytica, gave anthranilic acid as the main product. As stated by the European and USA legislations concerning natural flavour production, phenylacetic acid obtained by microbial conversion of phenylalanine of natural origin can be commercialised as a natural flavour. Accordingly, our findings were exploited in a new process, based on the Yarrowia strains-mediated biotransformation of natural (L)-phenylalanine, that allows the large-scale preparation of the high-value, natural flavour, phenylacetic acid.


During the last 15 years a renewed interest and growth in renewable energy (RE) processes emerged. It was driven by strong environmental movements, oil dependence/depletion concerns and lately national security concerns. Several RE technologies such as wind, niche photovoltaic and biodiesel are presently very competitive in certain applications versus their oil counterparts especially in Europe and certain locations in the mainland United States. Others are slowly penetrating certain markets such as fuel cells. In the discussion section an overview of the most mature RE technologies will be given focusing on their potential implementation in Puerto Rico. The discussion section will also include findings from an ongoing study at the municipality of Caguas who is becoming the sustainable model for Puerto Rico including energy. The overall analysis includes some elements of social, technical, cultural, political and economic criteria. In the latter capital, operating costs and foot print will be considered. Also sensitivity analyses will be performed regarding the energy generation potential of these processes. The technologies included are photovoltaic, wind energy, fuel cells, concentrated solar power and solar thermal water heating. These are referred to as near term implementation technologies. Other medium/long term ocean energy technologies will be discussed including tide, waves and ocean thermal. The last discussion subsection will briefly consider the area of transportation fuels (gasoline and diesel). In the last section an implementation plan will be presented for these processes including the University of Puerto Rico @ Mayaguez (UPRM) capabilities and potential role in this puertorrican SAGA (Sol, Aire, Gente and Agua).Copyright © 2007 by ASME


Purpose – The aim of this study is to evaluate rugby fans' attitudes toward financial sponsorship, specifically event sponsorship and Dove Men+Care and its association with the Welsh Rugby Union. The study examines four issues: How do rugby fans perceive event sponsorship? How does such sponsorship affect consumption choices? Do fans engage in long-term relationships with the event's sponsoring brand? Are relationships affected by the event sponsor's engagement with other international teams and rugby events? Design/methodology/approach – This paper is a theory-building, exploratory study that utilised a qualitative framework. Data were collected over a 12-month period, incorporating the autumn internationals of 2012 and 2013, with 198 fans participating in focus groups before and after games. Findings – The results reveal a distinct lack of brand awareness on the part of the participants, a collective perception of the sponsor as incongruent given the event and a demonstration of enmity arising from riva...


Piaget argued that knowledge developed through cognitive structures known as schemas. Schemas are mental representations of the world and how the individual interacts with it. As a child develops, his or her schemas develop as a result of his or her interaction with the world. Piaget proposed four stages each child moves through in sequential order during cognitive development. Each stage is more sophisticated than the last and is the result of biological maturation and an active interaction with the environment. The sensorimotor stage (0–2 years) is characterized by the infant having no formal schema for the world or itself. It can only know the world via its immediate senses and the motor or movement actions it performs. This stage is illustrated by concepts such as profound egocentrism and a lack of object permanence. The pre-operational stage (2–7 years) shows a child who cannot rely on internal logical rules and is still dominated by the cognitive limiting effects of egocentrism as he or she has a limited ability, or in some cases no ability, to see, think, feel or imagine the world from another's point of view.


As the basis and material source of human production and life, land is an important part of natural resources. With the deepening of the concept of sustainable development, more and more attention has been paid to the sustainable development of land use. Reasonable assessment of land resources and environment is the premise of accelerating agricultural infrastructure construction, optimizing ecological environment construction, and rationally disposing land use structure. This paper proposes an evaluation method of rural land resources and environment based on the improved GIS system and takes Lingshan County as an example, based on the powerful spatial processing and rich spatial query and analysis capabilities of GIS, to analyze the current situation and sustainable development of its land use. It has established a representative and operable evaluation index system, which has certain reference significance for rural land and environmental evaluation.


"In the context in which the teaching, learning, and assessment processes take place in the online environment, the question arises whether the currently organized learning situations are as effective as the learning situations carried out in the classroom, before the beginning of the pandemic. One of the disadvantages of online learning is related to the teacher's low control over students' activity. Factors such as initiative, creativity, efficient time management, intrinsic motivation, responsibility, and intellectual curiosity play an important role in students' success in learning activities. Attendance at courses should not be formal and superficial and should be a process that involves the active and interactive participation of the students in the learning process. Providing high-quality educational opportunities to all students is a goal that is increasingly difficult to achieve in the context of the absence of face-to-face interactions. Also, applying a curriculum focused on the needs of the learner is becoming hard to achieve. Through this research, we aim to investigate issues related to how online learning takes place and to establish ways in which we can increase the efficiency of current teaching and learning processes. The study revealed that in the opinion of most of the students, the current epidemiological context has influenced in a negative way the quality of teaching and the student-teacher educational relationship.

Keywords: Interactive learning, eLearning, independence in learning, higher education, efficient strategies
"


FIELD: physics, acoustics. SUBSTANCE: group of inventions relates to acoustics and aviation engineering and is intended for use as a sound-absorbing panel. The sound-absorbing panel for an ejector nozzle has an external skin containing sound-absorbing holes, an internal skin, a sound-absorbing structure having a cellular core situated between the internal skin and the external skin. At least one main component selected from the external skin, the internal skin and the sound-absorbing structure is formed by a composite material and the sound-absorbing structure is in contact with at least one of the internal skin and the external skin by compression using elastic means. At least part of the elastic means includes at least one fibrous element which completes the sound-absorbing structure and is able to compress in thickness, wherein the fibrous element is made of material selected from heat-resistant graphite and carbon felts integrating porosity of the felt, tortuosity of the fibres, aspect ratio, average size of the fibres and/or an entanglement rate, dampers which are a continuation of the wall of at least part of the elements with a cellular core of the sound-absorbing structure, or a coil spring able to apply pressure on the sound-absorbing structure such that said structure is in contact with the external skin. The sound-absorbing panel is part of the ejector nozzle and the body. EFFECT: high strength of the structure. 9 cl, 9 dwg


In order to investigate the effect of indium tin oxide (ITO) on the performance of graphene functional coating on cotton fabric, different contents of ITO were added to the graphene coating system, and the effects of ITO content and curing time on various properties of graphene coating were studied. The results showed that the ITO particles adsorbed on the graphene sheets and filled the gaps between the graphene sheets, forming a dense conductive network, which could further improve the conductive performance of the functional coatings. When ITO content was 1.2%, the resistivity of the coating reached the lowest 1.8 Ω·cm, and the overall ultraviolet transmittance and reflectance were the lowest. With the increase of ITO content, the infrared reflectance will first decrease and then slowly increase, but the infrared reflectance is all below 0.5%. When the curing time reached 90 s, the resistivity and UV transmittance of cotton fabric coating decreased. With the extension of curing time, the coating on infrared reflectivity gradually increased, but the infrared reflectivity of the overall < 1%.


Preface The principles of occupational therapy established by our pioneer occupational therapists, and most particularly Eleanor Clarke Slagle, have given us the foundation upon which to build advanced techniques and approaches. Although pre-vocational occupational therapy is a recognized part of our work, it seems apparent that there is still a need for a discussion of the basic principles and practices essential to such a program. The essentials which will be considered today are the expression not only of myself, but also of the members of the work evaluation team of the May T. Morrison Center for Rehabilitation. The recognition you have given to me must, in truth, go to this team as a whole.


This work demonstrates that AuBr2– can serve as a suitable AuI precursor in the galvanic replacement reaction with Ag nanoparticles (NPs), especially for preparing citrate-capped Au–Ag alloy nanostructures. A cost-effective recipe for stable AuBr2– solution was presented by the reduction of AuBr4– derived from the ion exchange between AuCl4– and optimal amount of Br–. This recipe successfully suppressed the disproportionation of Au+ without the aid of concentrated salt solution, ensuring the colloidal stability of the citrate-capped Ag NPs during the replacement reaction. A comparative study was then performed on the structural evolution of citrate-capped Ag NPs during the replacement reaction with AuBr2– and AuCl4–. Uniform Au–Ag nanoshells were gradually formed when AuBr2– was employed, while porous Au–Ag nanoframes are generated by using AuCl4–. Moreover, the as-obtained AuBr2– solution can also be extended to the synthesis of complex nanostructures, such as Au@Au–Ag nanorattles. Finally, an improved s...


On the basis of mechanics theory of special large-span shell structure, a new type of shell shotcrete was studied and designed. It can improve the bend resistance of the shotcrete, and make the shell shotcrete structural compressibility. The new structure has an ability to sustain the great soil pressure and dynamic force. The practical test in the soft rock tunnel indicate that the new structure can economize on materials and play an important part in yield and supporting capacity.


TNF-mediated fibroblast-like synoviocyte (FLS) activation is important for inflammation and joint destruction in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The role of TNF-receptor 1 (TNFR1) in FLS activation has thoroughly been characterized. The functions of TNFR2 are, however, largely unknown.To investigate the contribution of TNFR2 to the TNF-mediated activation of FLS.RA-FLS were transfected with TNFR2-targeting siRNA pools and transcriptional changes were determined by RNA-seq. QPCR, ELISA and immunoblotting were used to confirm the RNA-seq results and to gain insights into the pathways that regulate TNFR2-mediated changes in FLS.TNF stimulation of FLS resulted in a strong upregulation of proinflammatory cytokines, chemokines, tissue-degrading enzymes and other genes that are associated with synovial inflammation in RA. Silencing of TNFR2 markedly diminished the TNF-response of RA-FLS. Especially, "interferon"-stimulated-genes (ISGs) including putative master regulators of joint inflammation, such as the CXCR3 chemokines CXCL9, CXCL10 and CXCL11 were affected by the knockdown of TNFR2. Consistently, immunoblots showed that TNFR2 was required for the TNF-induced phosphorylation of the transcription factor STAT1, which is known to mediate the transcription of ISGs, such as CXCR3 chemokines.TNFR2 regulates proinflammatory gene expression in RA-FLS via STAT1 and thereby contributes to the detrimental effects of TNF in synovial joint inflammation.None declared


Cold recycled asphalt mixture (CRAM) has been reported to be able to provide a cleaner method to rehabilitate damaged asphalt pavement. This work used the CRAM containing emulsified asphalt (AE) and cement to investigate the methods of improving its early-age strength by considering mixture composition, including the types of AE and cement and the contents of AE, cement, and moisture. The curing conditions, such as temperature and humidity, were also involved. The results show that the mixture should be carefully designed to determine optimum AE and moisture content. Also, high cement content was helpful to increase the early-age strength. By changing the curing environment, it was found that raising curing temperature and applying a relatively low humidity contributed to the early-age strength improvement. The interaction of cement hydration and AE demulsification was investigated using microimage and laboratory experiments. The results show that AE particles were easy to cluster because of the negative ions released by cement hydration. AE delayed the early cement hydration but improved the later intensity of cement hydration. The coupling effect of AE and cement resulted in higher early-age strength than those of the mixtures only with cement or only with AE. The results presented in this work are expected to give guidance for preparing a CRAM with high early-age strength.


The effects of the dietary inclusion of live bacteria mixtures on feedlot beef cattle ruminal papillae morphology were evaluated. Crossbred-Angus yearling steers (n = 192; initial BW = 409 kg ± 8 kg) were blocked by body weight (BW) and randomly assigned into 48 pens (4 steers/pen; 16 pens/treatment) following a randomized complete block design. A steam-flaked corn-based fishing diet was offered ad libitum once daily during 153 d containing the following treatments: 1) Control, in which no direct-fed microbial (DFM) was offered (lactose as carrier only); 2 and 3) Probiotic mixtures at distinct concentrations [Mixture A and B, at 2g/animal-daily (lactose used as carrier)]. Upon harvest at a federally inspected slaughter facility, epithelium samples were collected from the cranial sac of the rumen, immersed in a 70% alcohol, and preserved under refrigeration (5°C). Ruminal tissue fragments were trimmed (1cm2), in which papillae were completely counted within the fragment, followed by the removal of 12 random individual papillae for further area measurement using electronic scanning (ImageJ). Data were analyzed using the GLIMMIX procedure of SAS and pen was considered the experimental unit with the fixed effect of treatment and the random effect of block. Regardless of treatments, average papillae area in cm2 (P = 0.39; control: 0.38, DFM mixture-A: 0.40, DFM mixture-B: 0.37), papillae number within fragment (P = 0.70; control: 47, DFM mixture-A: 52, DFM mixture-B: 49), absorptive surface area in cm2/fragment cm2 (P = 0.87; control: 37, DFM mixture-A: 39, DFM mixture-B: 38), and ruminal absorptive surface area (P = 0.74; control: 97%, DFM mixture-A: 97%, DFM mixture-B: 97%) were not affected compared with control. The addition of DFM mixtures did not seem to affect ruminal papillae physical aspect, although the long-term effects of dietary inclusion of live bacteria on ruminal morphology needs to be further evaluated.


Department of Biology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122(Dated: August 12, 2011)We model the formation of stable heteronuclear molecules via pulsed Raman photoassociationof a two-component Bose-Einstein condensate near a strong Feshbach resonance, for both counter-intuitive and intuitive pulse sequencing. Compared to lasers alone, weak Raman photoassociationis enhanced by as much as a factor of ten ( ve) for a counterintuitive (intuitive) pulse sequence,whereas strong Raman photoassociation is barely enhanced at all{regardless of pulse sequence.Stronger intra-atom, molecule, or atom-molecule collisions lead to an expected decrease in conver-sion eciency, but stronger ambient inter-atom collisions lead to an unexpected increase in theeciency of stable molecule production.


In the last decades biology scientists have relied on their own resources and tools to run the experiments and store the results of the analysis. However, the explosion of big data and the growing availability of computational methods find an obstacle in the lack of computational and storage resources. Cloud computing platforms are emerging as potential solution to overcome these limitations, but adaptation of the applications to enable scientific users to benefit from resources acquired on demand is a complex process requiring multidisciplinary expertise. The EUBrazilOpenBio initiative is implementing an e-Infrastructure that provides biodiversity community with a rich set of computational and data resources exploiting existing cloud technologies from EU and Brazil. This paper presents the implementation of one of the two use cases selected, the environmental niche modeling by means of implementing such workflow through the COMPSs framework and its deployment on the EUBrazil OpenBio platform. The proposed approach has been evaluated on a Cloud test bed managed by the VENUS-C middleware.


This paper proposes the use of parallel approximate sorting networks in Non-Binary LDPC decoders and quantifies their impact in terms of performance and complexity. Motivated by the messages truncation concept of the Extended Min Sum (EMS) algorithm and the reduction it induces on the decoding complexity, we seek for an approximate parallel sorting strategy for the Elementary Check Node (ECN) Unit processing in the EMS algorithm. We quantify the impact of parallel approximate sorting on both error correction decoding performance and hardware complexity. Bubble check sorting methods are compared to proposed parallel approximate sorting techniques in terms of BER vs. noise plots. Furthermore hardware synthesis results are provided to demonstrate the effects of parallel sorting networks on area and throughput. In certain cases of practical interest, a modest degradation of 0.2 dB in coding gain is imposed; however due to proposed parallel approximate sorters, the latency of ECN can be reduced by up to a factor of two or be logarithmic to the input sequence length, in certain architectures. To better illustrate the impact of the proposed techniques, a complete NB-LDPC decoder has been implemented and used for evaluation; it is found that a substantial reduction in the number of clock cycles required per decoding iteration is achieved by the proposed techniques, more than 50% in certain cases.


Angela M. Smith's monograph Hideous Progeny: Disability, Eugenics, and Classic Horror Cinema opens with the reaction of Colonel Jason S. Joy, overseer of Hollywood's newly established Production Code, to the emergence of a horror as a genre. Smith recounts how Joy communicated his concerns about the latest batch of horror films–Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), Island of Lost Souls (1932), and Freaks (1932)–to various Hollywood executives, ending one memo with the question: "Is this the beginning of a cycle that ought to be retarded or killed? " (p. 1). Smith uses this question–notably similar to contemporary criticisms of multimedia horror productions–to introduce the twin themes of her monograph: how eugenic attitudes and concerns permeated horror films of the early to mid-twentieth century, and the close connections between horror, eugenics, and disability. Smith suggests that while classic horror, like melodrama, is typically considered a conservative genre–introducing extremes of plot, physical appearance, and sound to shock the viewer into emotional excesses, before allowing them a cathartic return to normalcy–it can also be a destabilizing influence, foregrounding that which society would prefer to be concealed, and critiquing many of the key tropes of the "normalizing" features of horror. Smith pays particular attention to the cinematic treatment of the "mad scientist," and posits that the criticisms, implicit and explicit, leveled at characters such as Fritz and Victor Frankenstein in Frankenstein, Dr. Moreau in Island of Lost Souls, and Jekyll in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, are a challenge to the science-driven polemics of the eugenics movement.


SYNOPTIC ABSTRACTPercentile points of the chi-square distribution can be approximated by functions of the corresponding percentiles of the standard normal distribution. We show that the Wilson-Hilferty approximation gives accuracy to at least one decimal place even when the degrees of freedom are ≤ 10. Also, we provide a new and simple approximation which is nearly as accurate as the Wilson-Hilferty approximation for most percentiles commonly used by statisticians, and which is slightly better than the Wilson-Hilferty approximation when the percentile p is .95 (which corresponds to significance level .05). These approximations are particularly useful for sample size determination since they give simple analytic expressions for the percentiles as a function of the sample size and a single standard normal percentile.


It is remarkable that although the importance of depth is firmly rooted in the discipline of marine ecology, so little is understood about depth-related patterns of invertebrates in kelp forests, particularly in temperate Australia. We tested for the existence of broad scale patterns in depth-related diversity and abundance of mobile invertebrates in kelp holdfasts (Ecklonia radiata) across several spatial scales along 500 km of coastline. There was a greater abundance and richness of common taxa in holdfasts from shallow relative to deep waters. Strikingly, a disproportionately large percentage (60%) of species was unique to holdfasts from shallow reefs, suggesting that shallow environments create conditions that facilitate a rich biodiversity of invertebrate fauna. We conclude that depth-related variation in kelp forests may not be completely idiosyncratic, and coherent research programs of a broader scale and scope may unify subsets of fragmented knowledge that previously provided little insight into general depth-related patterns of invertebrate assemblages.


The common cracks appeared in full cast-in-situ pumping concrete structure are summarized in this paper and cracks' reason is analysed in some aspects of design,construction,temperature influence and useage of premixed conerete.The relating countermeasure is also compiled.


...................................................................................................................... ii DECLARATION ............................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... v CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 2 1.1 Globalisation............................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Internationalisation and the eclectic paradigm...................................................... 3 1.3 Commercial Property ................................................................................................ 7 1.4 Research Scope ...................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 2: THEORY AND LITERATURE REVIEW............................................. 12 2.


ABSTRACT Beginning with a historical examination of the definition and study of psychological trauma, this article places trauma and abuse within a relational theoretical context to explore new understandings that can arise from this framework. Working within this framework and stressing the power of cultural narratives, the paper highlights the delegitimization of emotions and emotional pain and explores the ways in which a widespread failure of empathy contributes to a lack of understanding with regard to the validity of emotional trauma. The paper suggests that because evidence of suffering must often be in a physical form, mirroring early understandings of the causes of trauma, the tendency to rely on the courts for direction only serves to further undermine the credibility of emotional pain.


The entire FASEB community is saddened by the death of The FASEB Journal former Editor-in-Chief, on July 10, 2019. The FASEB Journal's current Editor-in-Chief Thoru Pederson said: "In all ways of the mind, Gerry was a true renaissance individual. His sterling qualities as a physician, scientist, and mentor, and as a gifted author, were widely known. His leadership as the Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal was an outstanding contribution in his later career, and his editorials on those pages were both eloquent and elegant. We shall not see the likes of him again anytime soon." Amore comprehensive memoir of Dr. Weissmannwill appear in the October 2019 issue of the journal.


Synopsis A method of manufacturing a bobbin-shaped specimen for testing concrete in direct tension is described. Direct tensile strength is related to tensile and compressive strengths as determined by standard tests and their changes with age are described. Data on the modulus of elasticity in compression and in tension at two exposure conditions are given, and the influence of age upon creep and creep recovery is established. The differences in behaviour of strength, modulus of elasticity, creep and creep recovery are discussed by considering the effects of load and storage environment upon the adsorbed water of the cement paste, and the suggested creep mechanism is a combination of the seepage and viscous shear theories.


Submitted for the MAR09 Meeting of The American Physical Society Chaotic three particle dynamics in a viscous liquid filled rotating drum JAMES E. DAVIDHEISER, ERIC R. WEEKS, PHIL SEGRE, Physics Dept., Emory University — We conduct experiments to study the motions of three heavy spheres moving within a viscous liquid filled rotating cylindrical drum. Numerous works, in other geometries, demonstrated that assemblies of non-Brownian particles in viscous liquids have the potential to exhibit chaotic motion. We find that as the drum rotation rate ω is varied, there are several distinct periodic states as well as fully chaotic states. We track the motion of the spheres using a digital camera and custom particle tracking software. From our data, we characterize the chaotic trajectories as ω is varied. James E. Davidheiser Physics Dept., Emory University Date submitted: 19 Nov 2008 Electronic form version 1.4


Background: The aim of this study was to compare patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) included incenters participating of two registries in Argentina.Methods: STEMI patients included in the 54 centers participating in the SCAR (2011) registry and in the ARGEN-IAM-ST (2015)registry were compared.Results: A total of 676 STEMI patients were analyzed: 222 in the SCAR registry and 454 in the ARGEN-IAM-ST registry. There wereno significant differences in age and sex. The use of fibrinolytic agents was significantly lower and the use of primary percutaneouscoronary intervention was significantly increased. The incidence of cardiogenic shock was 50% lower. There were no differences inmortality and reinfarction during hospitalization.Conclusions: The indication of primary percutaneous coronary intervention increased and the use of fibrinolytic agents decreased.Cardiogenic shock decreased significantly in the last 5 years without significant changes in in-hospital mortality.


James Neilson, of the Class of 1866, deposited in the Rutgers Library a large collection of manuscript letters and business papers belonging to his family.  Among these letters are correspondences among Johm Neilson, Eleazer Knowles and Abraham Lott that give insight into the Federalists and Antifederalist conflicts in a case related to the claimants to an estate of land located south of Albany, New York known as Coeyman's Patent.


Academics are not generally interested in the application of the results of their research but a simple idea can sometimes give rise to a multi-billion dollar industry as a spin-off. Hence there is an urgent need for developing good links between academia and industry for a symbiotic relationship. An institutional linkage, a departmental linkage and an individual linkage with special reference to a developing country like India are presented. This model may successfully be adopted in other developing countries.


office of the Blessed Virgin. It is certainly the ground of the peculiar prerogative attributed to her in the title ' Destroyer of all Heresies,' which is, in fact, merely an extension to times subsequent to the Incarnation of the words ipsa coitteret caput trrrrrrr ; and, further, it is the only biMical authority for the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, in support of which it has been, and still is, extensively used. Compare, for example, such an admirable work as Schouppe's Elellle1lta Tlreol<<;ice, where it is advanced without note or comment as the first and practically sole scriptural proof of the doctrine. And yet not Cardinal Franzelin alone, as Messrs. Addis and Arnold allow in their C~~Z~'/<7//~, but all competent Roman Catholic critics, as shown by Dr. I'usey in his Eireiiicoii, on the authority of the learned De Rossi, acknowledge that it must be surrendered as a false reading in .


The paper makes an attempt to measure the relative Technical Efficiency (TE) of twelve multi-brand retail firms in India, using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). An input oriented DEA under the assumption of Variable Returns to Scale (VRS) has been proposed for the study and analysis has been conducted for the period 2012–13. The study has relied on secondary source for data on the input and output variables. Based on the method and the choice variables, it has measured technical efficiencies and identified the efficient and relatively less efficient firms in the group. DEA revealed that five multi-brand retail firms, Out of the twelve, Are on the efficiency frontier and the remaining seven were found to be below it. For the relatively less efficient firms, the input slacks have been calculated which has important managerial implications for efficient resource utilization through better management practices. It was also found that among the twelve brands, Brand house Retails Ltd. and GIVO Ltd. are the most efficient multi-brand retail firms in the group.


Balloon laryngoscopy was reported to improve glottic view. The authors studied Macintosh, McCoy's3 and Balloon laryngoscopy 7,8. They compared the Macintosh blade with optimal external laryngeal manipulation (OELM) 2 versus the McCoy's blade with lever activation and Balloon laryngoscope with Balloon inflation with 3 cc of air. Method: A series of 120 adult patients who underwent general anaesthesia and tracheal intubation in neutral position with Rigid Cervical neck collar was studied. Laryngoscopy was carried out using a Macintosh no.3 (15 patients) or 4 (15 patients) or McCoy's no. 3 (15 patients) or No. 4 (15 patients) or Balloon laryngoscope (R1L2) no. 3 (15 patients) or 4 (15 patients) or Balloon laryngoscope (L1R2) no. 3 (15 patients) or 4 (15 patients). The best glottic view was recorded for each approach with and without OELM in case of Macintosh or with and without lever activation in case of the McCoy's blade or with and without inflation of balloon in Balloon laryngoscopy. Head extension Angle and Laryngoscope Blade Levering Motion Angle were also measured with the help of Goniometer. Results: The McCoy's blade gives better glottic visualization on laryngoscopy than other laryngoscopes. The balloon laryngoscope blade proved better than the Macintosh laryngoscope blade in glottic visualization. In balloon laryngoscopy, L1R2 group performed slightly better than R1L2 in glottic visualization. Head extension angle and laryngoscopy blade levering motion angle were almost same in all types of laryngoscopy Conclusion: McCoy's blade was superior for glottic visualization followed by balloon laryngoscope blade pressure response was significant in all approaches of laryngoscopy. There was significant change in pulse rate, and systolic blood pressure in McCoy's laryngoscopy group as compared to other groups.


A fine example of the early and extremely rare finger-woven blankets produced by the Tlingit people of the North West Coast of America, which has been in the collections of the British Museum since the middle of the nineteenth century, has recently been the subject of preservative treatment by the author. The specimen (Fig. 1), which measures approximately 1-5 x 1-2 m (including the fringe), was woven into a near semicircular shape. Strands of beaten-out cedar bark, some twisted, others not, form the warp, while the single-strand wefts, used in pairs, pass under and over alternate warps and each other; a technique identical to that called 'twining' in basketry. The extensions of both warp and weft threads, beyond the extremities of the main woven section which forms the blanket, were formed by the weaver into an openwork edging strip


Information Aggregation Markets, often referred to as prediction markets, are markets that are designed to aggregate information from a disparate pool of human individuals to make predictions about the likely outcome of future uncertain events. This paper looks at how Information Aggregation Markets can be incorporated into the standard body of decision making theory. It examines how Information Aggregation Markets can be used as decision support systems, and provides empirical evidence from a wide variety of sources as to the effectiveness and practicality of Information Aggregation Markets. Finally, this paper details some future research questions to be addressed in the area of Information Aggregation Markets.


Abstract It is important to maintain on operational availability of aircraft during wartime. The KF-16 fighter, the backbone of the ROKAF(Republic Of Korea Air Force), has a single engine. Therefore, the engine has a critical influence on operational availability. The purpose of this study is to estimate optimal levels of spare part inventories concerning both engines and modules. That is provided by linear programmin g methods utilizing a developed meta-model. For drawing out the meta-model, we develop a simulation model which can consider wartime demands. In the previous study, 2 k factorial design method is used to check the influence of each independent variable. That method requires relatively many scenarios because every extreme value combinati on of independent variables should be checked. However, this study adopts NOLH (Nearly Orthogonal Latin Hyperc ube) as an experimental design. By adopting NOLH, this study increases not only efficiency but also accuracy. Tha t is proven by comparing the validity of the developed meta-model on both experimental designs. This study also utiliz es the OptQuest simulation tool in ARENA to derive the optimal level of spare stocks. By comparing the result of O ptQuest to that of the developed meta-model, the validity of this study is secured.


There is a good deal of strong theory, yet a relatively limited assortment of empirical studies, which suggest that when students perceive that they are provided opportunities to express their voices in their schools and their opinions are valued, benefits accrue to both the schools and the students. The present study employed survey methodology (N=19,011) to explore whether demographic differences exist in the degree to which students perceive that their schools promote student voice, and whether such perceptions predict greater student engagement in school. It further posits and tests a conceptual model in which relations between student voice and student engagement are mediated by a sense of belonging in school. The results revealed a number of demographic differences in mean levels of student voice, and moderate-to-strong positive relations between student voice and engagement. Sense of belonging significantly mediated these relations. Limitations and practical implications are discussed. 146 words


In this study, the public administration system of the Republic of Tajikistan has been analyzed and studied since the period of independence and the creation of a new political system with national characteristics of the 90s of the last century. The processes of formation, development of the public administration system of the period of independence of the Republic of Tajikistan and the management activities of public administration bodies are analyzed and shown. The public administration system in the Republic of Tajikistan is in a state of transition and a number of important activities have been completed at this stage. First of all, the construction of a new political system of society and its gradual improvement and development are one of the important research issues.Aim. The main purpose of the study is to determine the role of the «National Development Strategy of the Republic of Tajikistan for the period up to 2030» in strengthening the public administration system of the Republic of Tajikistan.Tasks. Highlight the results and strategies in the development of the public administration system of the period of independence of the Republic of Tajikistan and the management activities of public administration bodies.Methods. With the help of logical and comparative methods, determine the results of the reform and political transformation of the public administration system in the Republic of Tajikistan.Results. This important document shows the prospects for sustainable development of Tajikistan as a whole. The new strategy covers all spheres of public life, reforms in the field of public administration are one of its main points. Measures in the direction of the public administration system are taking into account the real life of the country and the requirements of the time, their implementation is aimed at a new level and quality of life for citizens in the country. The development of all sectors, including the economy, social and culture, largely depends on an effective system of public administration.Conclusions. In this regard, its reform is timely and makes it possible to turn the Republic of Tajikistan from an agro-industrial country into an industrial-agrarian one. characteristics of the 90s of the last century. The processes of formation, development of the public administration system of the period of independence of the Republic of Tajikistan and the management activities of public administration bodies are analyzed and shown. The public administration system in the Republic of Tajikistan is in a state of transition and a number of important activities have been completed at this stage. First of all, the construction of a new political system of society and its gradual improvement and development are one of the important research issues. Aim. The main purpose of the study is to determine the role of the «National Development Strategy of the Republic of Tajikistan for the period up to 2030» in strengthening the public administration system of the Republic of Tajikistan. Tasks. Highlight the results and strategies in the development of the public administration system of the period of independence of the Republic of Tajikistan and the management activities of public administration bodies. Methods. With the help of logical and comparative methods, determine the results of the reform and political transformation of the public administration system in the Republic of Tajikistan. Results. This important document shows the prospects for sustainable development of Tajikistan as a whole. The new strategy covers all spheres of public life, reforms in the field of public administration are one of its main points. Measures in the direction of the public administration system are taking into account the real life of the country and the requirements of the time, their implementation is aimed at a new level and quality of life for citizens in the country. The development of all sectors, including the economy, social and culture, largely depends on an effective system of public administration. Conclusions. In this regard, its reform is timely and makes it possible to turn the Republic of Tajikistan from an agro-industrial country into an industrial-agrarian one.


Motion canceling bilateral control (MCBC) is a method to synchronize motion of a teleoperation robot and a target, while an operator can obtain tactile sensation of the remote target. This interface helps the operator by taking a task and reduces his/her workload. However, the delay caused by the sensors deteriorates the synchronization performance and transparency of the MCBC. Therefore, synchronization performance improving method for MCBC utilizing an extended dual sampling rate observer (EDSR observer) is proposed in this research. The target motion is modeled as a motion with constant acceleration and the EDSR observer is utilized to estimate the present position of the target. The experimental results indicated that the synchronization performance was improved by 12.2 % in maximum error ratio and 14.8 % in root mean square error ratio. The experimental results indicate an improvement of the target operationality, which suggests the clear tactile sense transmission was achieved.


Cf = skin friction coefficient D = hydraulic diameter H = channel height k = turbulent kinetic energy ks = roughness height keq = equivalent sand roughness height k = normalized turbulent kinetic energy, k=u k eq = normalized equivalent sand roughness height, u keq= k s = normalized roughness height, u ks= Re = Reynolds number Re = Reynolds number based on momentum thickness Rt = turbulent Reynolds number, k=" t = time U = mean velocity Ue = edge velocity U = normalized velocity, U=u u = friction velocity uv = Reynolds shear stress u v = normalized Reynolds shear stress, uv=u W = channel width y = normal distance from the wall y = normalized distance from the wall, u y= U = roughness function = boundary-layer thickness " = dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy = momentum thickness = kinematic viscosity


Destructive disease caused by invasive fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus led to a critical situation of ash population in most of the European countries especially Nordic and Baltic regions. Researchers agree that the only way to save the ash population is breeding of resistant trees. Seed is fundamental to broad scale plant restoration when the goal is to re-establish species and ecosystems. Nordic and Baltic forest geneticists already ten years ago, demonstrated large genotypic variation among native ash trees in their susceptibility to the ash dieback pathogen (see review in McKinney et al 2014). While some advances have also been made towards developing a more resistant population with selected and tested ash trees, coordinated efforts are urgently needed in order to achieve successful reforestation and restoration across the region.


Due to globalization and the development of multimedia technology, the use of Korean-English subtitled movies and dramas has dramatically increased around the world, and especially through the Internet. However, the importance of Korean- English subtitling has been under appreciated in the field of translation. It is not difficult to find grammatically misused forms in Korean-English subtitled materials. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of Korean-English subtitling and the necessity of an academic use to subtitling and translating tasks. The subtitling errors in a selected Korean movie and drama currently available on Internet websites in the U.S. were collected and analyzed. Errors in he data were then divided into two groups: Grammatical Errors and Lexical Errors. This paper focuses on the grammatical errors, which were subcategorized into six grammatical groups: Articles, Pluralization, Capitalization, Prepositions, Verbs, and Pronouns. This study hopes to help reduce occurrence of the most common errors made by Korean translators in Korean-English subtitling.


Deep learning neural network (DNN) can provide efficient approaches to process the increasing unstructured data, such as images, audio, and video. To improve the computing power and the energy efficiency of data processing in DNN, a universal and reconfigurable computing paradigm with the hardware implementation scheme including the convolution, pooling, and fully connected layers is developed based on nanoscale flash computing arrays, which can be massively fabricated. Via precisely tuning the threshold voltage, the fabricated 65 nm nanoscale flash cells can exhibit 16 levels (four bits) of storage states. To confirm the feasibility of the computing paradigm, an exemplary five‐layer DNN is simulated based on the measured data from the nor‐type (NOR) flash memory and exhibits 97.8% recognition accuracy of Modified National Institute of Standards and Technology (MNIST) handwritten digit database with the speed of 4.2 × 105 fps at 104 MHz operating frequency. The proposed paradigm with low energy and chip cost shows great promise for future energy efficient and massively parallel data processing of DNN.


This paper focuses on the scalability effects on key specifications (including specific power and efficiency) of surface permanent magnet machines. Therefore, a 500 kW and 10,000 rpm (geared), 36/30 slot/pole combination SPM machine with hollow conductor coils and integrated heat pipes for hybrid/electric propulsion for aerospace applications is proposed in this work. The proposed machine in this paper achieves 40.7 kW/kg active specific power with a 2kV DC link voltage. In order to determine the benefits of the final optimized design, and assess scalability, a comparison is conducted between the proposed machine and two other machines different in speed and slot/pole combination. The comparison with a 250 kW and 5,000 rpm (direct-drive) and 36/30 slot/pole combination machine shows 65.4% increase in specific power while the efficiency reduced by 3%. The comparison with 250 kW and 10,000 rpm (geared) and 24/20 slot/pole combination machine shows that the proposed design offers significantly higher specific power at the same rotational speed.


The selected results on QCD jets measured in pp collisions at s = 1.96TeV at the Tevatron Collider at Fermilab are presented in this conference note. The experimental data from CDF and DO detectors are compared against perturbative QCD calculations.


We demonstrate first to our knowledge analog coherent engine (ACE). Simulations show power consumption under 2W for 400Gb/s ACE. Combination of ACE with CMOS direct detection unit is good candidate for short reach communications.


Background:  This prospective randomized controlled trial examines the effect of combination of Dai‐kenchu‐to (DKT), a traditional Japanese herbal medicine, and polyethylene glycol electrolyte (PEG) lavage in precolonoscopic preparation.


The equivalence of representations of symmetry groups operating upon wavefunctions in configuration space is studied with regard to the (intuitive) notion of physical equivalence. A refinement of the usual projective equivalence relation is introduced, called gauge equivalence, for which the allowed unitary equivalence transformations are gauge transformations. For a Euclidean as well as for a Newton-Hooke symmetry group the gauge equivalence classes of unitary multiplier representations are determined. These examples support the assertion that equivalence from a physical viewpoint corresponds better to this new gauge equivalence concept than to the usual notion of projective equivalence.


A novel approach to vibration attenuation, based on the eddy current principle, is described. The combined effects of all magnetic forces acting in the oscillatory system attenuate frame vibrations and, concurrently, decrease the damped natural frequency. A mathematical model of the forces balance in the oscillatory system was derived before. Some experimental results from a mock-up machine frame excited by an asynchronous motor are presented.


Automatic 3-D reconstruction of city scenes from ground, aerial, and satellite imagery is a difficult problem that has seen active research for nearly two decades. The problem is difficult because many algorithms require salient areas in the image to be identified and segmented, a task that is typically done by humans. We propose a pipeline that detects these salient areas using low-rank texture patches. Areas in images such as building facades contain low-rank textures, which are an intrinsic property of the scene and invariant to viewpoint. The pipeline uses these low-rank patches to automatically rectify images and detect and segment out the patches with an energy-minimizing graph cut. The output is then further parameterized to provide useful data to existing 3-D reconstruction methods. The pipeline was evaluated on challenging test images from Microsoft Bing Maps oblique aerial photography and produced an 80% recall and precision with superb empirical results. Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to those who have taught me, guided me, supported me, and without whom this thesis would not be complete. First, I would like to thank my mentor, Yi Ma, for imparting onto me many golden nuggets of wisdom. I would also like to thank my groupmates, Zhengdong Zhang and David Wipf, for assisting me with their technical prowess. Second, I would like to thank my supervisor, Bill Freeman, for his enthusiasm in my work, and his generosity and patience in giving me feedback. I would also like to thank my Mom, my Dad, and my sister Janice for their continued support during my half a year of research abroad. I would like to thank Barbara, my true soulmate, who believed in me as I hacked away night and day. Finally, I would like to thank my friends at MIT, a truly amazing group of people, who have given left me with experiences that I will never forget.


There exists abundant literature on business strategy topics. Yet very few of these examine the role of business mission and vision statements and their influence on strategic objectives. It is this apparent gap in the literature that this paper aims to cover. The paper aims at highlighting the importance of business vision and mission statements and how these dictate the strategic goals and objectives of the organization - both short term as well as long term. The paper consists of three sections. The first section provides a quick overview of business strategy. The remaining sections discuss the mission statement and vision statement. It provides guidelines including templates on how to develop effective mission and vision statement. Finally, it applies the learning's to a case study - that of a hotel. My aim is to highlight how the three - mission statement, vision statement, and strategic objectives - are intertwined. It is necessary to first define the mission and vision statement prior to defining the strategic objectives. The mission and particularly the vision statement provide the foundation upon which strategic objectives are framed.


Nash equilibrium is a solution concept in non-strictly comp etitive, non-cooperative game theory that finds applications in various scientific and e gineering disciplines. A non-strictly competitive, non-cooperative game model is p resented here for two qubit quantum computations that allows for the characterization of Nash equilibrium in these computations via the inner product of their state space. Nas h equilibrium outcomes are optimal under given constraints and therefore offer a ga me-theoretic measure of constrained optimization of two qubit quantum computation s.


Purpose – In 2004, the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) commissioned a survey to find out the current state of digitization in university libraries in sub‐Saharan Anglophone Africa. This paper aims to report some findings of the survey.Design/methodology/approach – Questionnaires were sent to 107 libraries in 20 countries, with a 72 per cent response rate. Site visits and interviews took place in five countries, followed by a focus group discussion with librarians from four countries.Findings – The study finds that university libraries in Africa have progressed towards establishing digital library services at very different speeds and levels. Libraries therefore have very different needs and ambitions. For the majority of libraries e‐resources are available but facilities for access are poor. The acquisition and implementation of a library management system would appear to be an essential building block in the construction of a digital library. All e‐developmen...


ABSTRACT A thermal diffusivity tube of similar design to that described in the literature was used to determine the thermal diffusivity of the components of a petfood product by the log method. Benchmarking experiments with commercial corned beef (α=1.09 ± 0.09 ×10−7 m2/s) over the temperature range 25–50°C were in good agreement with previously reported values. That for mashed potato (α =1.52± 0.07×10−7 m2/s) was larger than expected, although the mash had a low density (77% w/w water, 780 kg/m3). The carageenan gel component of the petfood was stable up to 65°C, and its value of 1.57±0.05×10−7 m2/s was close to that for water between 30–50°C. The meat solids, containing 10–15% (v/v) gel, gave a value of 1.25±0.12×10−7 m2/s over this temperature range.


This paper is focused on the integration of case base and relational database management system (RDBMS). We believe the organizational and commercial impact will be far greater if the case-based reasoning (CBR) system is integrated to main stream information system, which is exemplified by RDBMS.We discuss how to implement a flexible and succinct case template, and propose the mapping model between case template and RDB. The key idea is to build the case as the virtual view of underlying data.


The world is full of objects with complex reflectances, situated in complex illumination environments. Past work on full 3D geometry recovery, however, has tried to handle this complexity by framing it into simplistic models of reflectance (Lambetian, mirrored, or diffuse plus specular) or illumination (one or more point light sources). Though there has been some recent progress in directly utilizing such complexities for recovering a single view geometry, it is not clear how such single-view methods can be extended to reconstruct the full geometry. To this end, we derive a probabilistic geometry estimation method that fully exploits the rich signal embedded in complex appearance. Though each observation provides partial and unreliable information, we show how to estimate the reflectance responsible for the diverse appearance, and unite the orientation cues embedded in each observation to reconstruct the underlying geometry. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our method on synthetic and real-world objects. The results show that our method performs accurately across a wide range of real-world environments and reflectances that lies between the extremes that have been the focus of past work.


In 1990 of the twentieth century, the western media started paying more attention to the incidents the in Iraq and the Middle East due to the destabilized political situation of the region, especially after the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. The Iraqi invasion was against the interests of the US and its allies; therefore, the media was very interested in the news of the region. When the allies attacked Iraq, the Kurds, who were represented by revolting political parties in the mountains, were attempting to find their place in the changes and become a part of the international agendas. Even though British Newspapers widely published news and articles about Kurds and Kurdistan since a long time ago, but the British media coverage of Kurdistan significantly increased after the uprising of the Kurdish people and the liberation of their areas. This study is an attempt to critically analyze the portrayal of the uprising of the Kurdish people and its incidents in the British Newspapers to understand their perspective of the Kurdish people and the incidents before the uprising, during the uprising, and after the Baath Party's attack and reoccupation of some part of Kurdistan. The study is divided into two chapters. The first chapter is about the British Newspapers' coverage of the situation of Iraq and Kurdistan before the uprising. The second chapter is about the British newspapers' coverage of the incidents of the uprising in Iraqi Kurdistan.


Secure operation of distance relays is of utmost importance to ensure the integrity of a power system. Mal-operation of distance relay's unblocking function during power swing is possible in case of transmission lines along the same right of way. An attempt is made in this paper to make the distance relay robust by utilising the available synchronised measurements. A differential active power approach is proposed to securely unblock the distance relay of the transmission line on which the fault occurs. The single phase instantaneous active power is computed for this purpose using the orthogonal signal generator. With the differential active power as input, the generalised likelihood ratio test reliably detects the faulted transmission line along with the faulted phase. The proposed secure unblocking algorithm is tested on transposed/untransposed, compensated/uncompensated lines with varying fault resistance, fault location, fault inception time. The performance of the proposed scheme is compared with the existing unblocking algorithms. The exhaustive simulations prove the superiority of the proposed scheme.


Abstract A novel topology optimization method is proposed based on particle moving, in which the topological optimization results can be obtained by moving particle instead of "soft delete" or "hard delete". The relation between particle coordination and its density is built. The moving of particles can be controlled according to its density value, that is, with the particle density values change in the optimal iteration, the particle will be moved from a location to the other one in accordance with given step. The density gradient is derived. As the compliance, the particle density is chosen as the objective function and the design variables, respectively, the topology optimization model of particle moving based on EFGM is built by using the SIMP material model, and calculating flow chart is given. Combined OC method, the two topology optimization examples are achieved. The results obtained verify that the presented optimal method is feasible.


In this paper, we report on the findings of our exploratory research investigating how the similarity or difference of the partners' love styles could be related to dyadic and familial satisfaction. The empirical literature outlines how love styles are differently associated with various couple dimensions. While most studies employ an individual approach, we assessed whether the similarity of the prevalent love style in each couple was associated with greater dyadic satisfaction. In our sample, comprising 146 heterosexual couples (all married or cohabitating), no such association emerged. Storge and Pragma were the most prevalent love styles; moreover, there was a similar prevalence of the similarity in these two love styles between partners. Hence, the love styles similarity does not show a direct association with marital satisfaction. To establish whether there is some relationship between these variables, it would be useful for future research to investigate the impact of further individual and relational factors and of their interaction.


Ultrasonic sensors are often utilized to perceive the outside world. In this paper, we propose the construction of an object identification system that utilizes the ultrasonic waves reflected from a measured object. This identification system also detects the position and posture of an object. The system consists of an ultrasonic sensor array and a neural network. The ultrasonic sensor array is made up of plural ultrasonic transmitters and receivers that are arranged on the same plane. The receiver outputs the peak values of ultrasonic sound pressure waves. Their values are input into the neural network, which identifies the shape of the object and detects its position and posture. We have designed and built a prototype system and carried out numerous experiments using objects with primitive shapes or transparent bottles (PET bottles). The experimental results showed almost perfect shape identification and a measurement accuracy of up to one-half of one wavelength of the ultrasonic wave.


In a series of 25 Japanese patients with Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome, we screened, by high-resolution GTG banding and fluorescence in situ hybridization of a cosmid probe (RT1, D16S237), for microdeletions associated with this syndrome. In one patient, a microdeletion was demonstrated by in situ hybridization, but none were detected by high-resolution banding.


Using a new purification method, coatings, varnishes, and other products have been developed which exhibit low outgassing under vacuum conditions, that is, which have a total weight loss of less than 1% and which have less than 0.1% volatile condensable material. The coatings (black paint S2; aluminum paint PSG173FD; and white paints PSG120 FD, SI, and Sll) have also been space qualified for storage, thermal cycling, radiation (ultraviolet, e-, and p+), etc. Using these products, several electrical conductive coatings have also been qualified: black conductive paint (PNC), aluminum conductive paint (PAC), and white conductive paints (PCB4, PCB14, and PCB20). The thermo-optical properties of the coatings before and after the qualification tests are given.


A Smart Grid is an electricity network that can intelligently integrate the actions of all users connected to it - generators, consumers and those that do both – in order to efficiently deliver sustainable, economic and secure electricity supplies. It integrates innovative tools and technologies from generation, transmission and distribution all the way to consumer appliances and equipment. This paper reviews the researches and studies on Smart Grids (SGs); one can see variety of problems and challenges in the field of Smart Grid.


In this paper, we present an algorithm that minimizes the mutual information between the outputs of a multilayer perceptron (MLP). The neural network is then used as separating system in the nonlinear blind source separation problem. It has been reported that MLPs with one hidden layer are sufficient to achieve desirable performance. However, in some cases, we may prefer approximating nonlinear mappings by using networks with several hidden layers. For the sake of simplicity, the present paper is focused on MLPs with two hidden layers. The performance is illustrated by some experiments.


An accessory for use on a guitar or similar stringed instruments comprises the combination of a rigid member adapted to be manually held against the strings of the instrument along the finger board, there being a vibration-responsive electrical pickup fixedly secured to the rigid member and adapted to be connected to an electrical audio amplifier.


Introduction: Fear and anxiety experienced by children during dental treatment may cause them to decline further treatment. Digital tools like interactive mobile games could be explored further for altering child behavior. Aim: To compare effect of interactive mobile game with Tell-Show-Do technique on behavior in 6-12 year-old children. Methodology: Thirty healthy children aged 6-12 years requiring restorative treatments were recruited in this parallel arm trial. Facial Image scale (FIS) score, Frankl Rating (FR) and Pulse Rate (PR) were analyzed at baseline and post-restorative treatment. FIS scores and FRs were compared using Mann Whitney U test and PRs using paired t test. Results: Intergroup comparison revealed no significant differences between interactive mobile game and Tell-Show-Do on FIS scores (0.4+0.065, p=0.116), FRs (0+0.136, p=0.757) and PRs (0.1+0.509, p=0.978). Conclusion: There was no difference between the effect of interactive mobile game and Tell-Show-Do on behavior in 6-12 year old children.


The Hardy-Littlewood majorant problem has a positive answer only for exponents p which are even integers, while there are counterexam- ples for all p = 2 2N. Montgomery conjectured that there exist counterex- amples even among idempotent polynomials. This was proved recently by Mockenhaupt and Schlag with some four-term idempotents. However, Mockenhaupt conjectured that even the classical 1 + e 2ix e 2i (k+2)x three-term character sums, should work for all 2k < p < 2k + 2 and for all k 2 N. In two previous papers we proved this conjecture for k = 0;1;2;3;4, i.e. in the range 0 < p < 10, p = 2 2N. Here we demonstrate that even the k = 5 case holds true. Renements in the technical features of our approach include use of total variation and integral mean estimates in error bounds for a certain fourth order quadrature. Our estimates make good use of the special forms of functions we encounter: linear combinations of powers and powers of log- arithms of absolute value squares of trigonometric polynomials of given degree. Thus the quadrature error estimates are less general, but we can nd better constants which are of practical use for us.


Surface electromagnetic modes supported by metal surfaces have a great potential for use in miniaturized detectors and optical circuits. For many applications, these modes are excited locally. In the optical regime, surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) have been thought to dominate the fields at the surface, beyond a transition region comprising 3–4 wavelengths from the source. In this work, we demonstrate that at sufficiently long distances SPPs are not the main contribution to the field. Instead, for all metals, a different type of wave prevails, which we term Norton waves (NWs) for their resemblance to those found in the radio-wave regime at the surface of the Earth. Our results show that NWs are stronger at the surface than SPPs at distances larger than 6–9 SPP absorption lengths, the precise value depending on wavelength and metal. Moreover, NWs decay more slowly than SPPs in the direction normal to the surface.


A minimally invasive fractional radiofrequency microneedle (FRM) device has been used in skin rejuvenation and acne scars, and a recent pilot study demonstrated the positive therapeutic effect on acne. We evaluated the efficacy of FRM device for acne vulgaris in Asians and conducted objective measurement to assess its effect on sebum production.


A total of 68385 live pin-worm eggs from adhesive scotch tape were exposed to different detergent powders in under to compare method of detergent washing clothes with the boiling method for the control of family enterobiasis. Results show that: a) 80.4-100 percent of eggs are destroyed after hatching within 6-8 hours of exposure to 0.25 gr% detergent at 10-250C. Exposure for less than 6 hours had no noticeable effect, but after 8 hours the maximum effect was observed; exposure for more than 8 hours was not any more beneficial. The egg destruction depended on the type of the detergent and concentration of the solution b) A solution of lg% detergent at 50-55 0C results in %100 egg destruction by exploding the egg's shell in 30-45 minutes. Method "a' is suitable for traditional washing at room temperature, while method "b" can only be used in cases where a washing machine equipped with a temperature regulating system is available at home.


Abstract Rainfall data collected by radar in the vicinity of Darwin, Australia, have been analysed in terms of their mean, variance, autocorrelation of area-averaged rain rate, and diurnal variation. It is found that, when compared with the well-studied GATE (Global Atmospheric Research Program Atlantic Tropical Experiment) data, Darwin rainfall has larger coefficient of variation (CV), faster reduction of CV with increasing area size, weaker temporal correlation, and a strong diurnal cycle and intermittence. The coefficient of variation for Darwin rainfall has larger magnitude and exhibits larger spatial variability over the sea portion than over the land portion within the area of radar coverage. Stationary and nonstationary models have been used to study the sampling errors associated with space-based rainfall measurement. The nonstationary model shows that the sampling error is sensitive to the starting sampling time for some sampling frequencies, due to the diurnal cycle of rain, but not for others. ...


The Republic of Adygea is one of the southern entities located in the northwestern part of the North Caucasus. The northern part of the republic stretches across the Kuban lowlands and the southern part along the slopes of the Greater Caucasus. Climatic conditions are favourable for the growth of heat-loving woody and shrub vegetation. The area covered by forests is 285.7 thousand hectares, including 278.4 thousand hectares covered by forests. The forests of the republic are distributed unevenly; most of the forests are concentrated in the piedmont and mountainous areas. The main forest-forming species are oriental beech and English oak. The forests of the Republic have an important water and soil protection function. The area of forests is insignificant, more widespread are forest shelter belts and boles scattered among the fields, often confined to river valleys, reservoirs, and low-lying places. Plantings include English oak, common ash, Caucasian hornbeam, field maple, poplar, willow, grey alder and black alder. Plantations located in forest shelter belts perform water protection, water protection, sanitary-hygienic, and aesthetic functions [1]. The work provides a comparative analysis of plantations of natural and artificial origin of the same age, growing in the same forest and vegetation conditions.


A detailed description of the status of the design, fabrication, and testing of the Selenide Isotope Generator for the Galileo program is presented. (WHK)


INTRODUCTION: The number of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is gradually increasing in developing countries such as Rwanda. Barriers to the management of CKD from nurses' perspectives is not an area that has been well explored. This study aimed to assess the perceived barriers to CKD management from the perspective of nurses working at the referral hospitals in Rwanda.METHODS: The study used a cross-sectional research design. The study setting was selected referral hospitals in Kigali. A convenience sample of 55 nurses was obtained and data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Analyses were done using descriptive and inferential statistics in the SPSS application.RESULTS: Respondents identified the most barriers to management of CKD as: limited knowledge of CKD (96%) and its risk factor of glomerulonephritis (93%), limited information of dialysis (98%) and fluid restriction (95%) treatment as well as a lack of further training on nephrology nursing (93%). Shortage of nephrologists and nurses (98%) and a multidisciplinary care team (95%) were resource barriers. Other barriers were limited knowledge of CKD risk factors: hypertension (78%) and HIV/AIDS (80%), limited in-service training (69%), and non-adherence (86%). The experience of respondents was associated with limited knowledge of CKD risk factors: hypertension (P =0.001), diabetes (P=0.001) and HIV/AIDS (P=0.040). The level of nursing obtained by the respondents was associated with a lack of further special training (p=0. 001), limited in-service training (P=0.028) and non-adherence of CKD patients (P=0.017).CONCLUSION: Barriers to CKD management in Rwanda are evident. There is a need for in-service training for nurses in order to improve the proper treatment of the CKD population.


The article discusses modern ideas about the role of mechanical revascularization and anti-ischemic therapy in the treatment of patients with stable coronary heart disease (CAD). Modern data on the comparative effectiveness of anti-ischemic drugs are presented, which became the basis for the development of "diamond approach" in the treatment of stable CAD. It is proposed instead of standard tactics using a hierarchical approach to the choice of anti-ischemic drugs. The features of the anti-ischemic drugs use in certain clinical situations, in patients with the most common comorbidities or complications of CAD, as well as in CAD variants, in the development of which specific pathophysiological elements play a role, are considered. Conflicts of


Six ternary complexes of Y(Ⅲ) and Yb(Ⅲ) are synthesized with o(m,p)-chlorobenzoic acid as the first ligand,and 1,10-phenanthroline as the second ligand.They are characterized by EDTA titration,elemental analysis and IR methods.The preliminary biological tests show that these complexes performed excellent antibacterial activities against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.The higher the concentration of the complexes are,the stronger the antibacterial activity they exhibit.The complexes show better efficiencies against Escherichia coli than Staphylococcus aureus.


Even sophisticated seismic data processing does not usually result in an unambiguous geologic picture: we need to interpret seismic data because information of exploration interest (such as horizon depth, lithological type and saturant) is not readily available. So, given seismic data, their limitations, plus available well and subsurface control, the goal is to determine what lithologies and saturants are represented. This type of inference or inverse problem usually works at the limits of seismic resolution, thus ambiguities and nonuniqueness arise. Vertical seismic profiling (VSP) can provide a direct relationship between surface seismic data and well information. This relationship may help remove ambiguities in the interpretation and nonuniqueness in the inverse process. The VSP is also expected to give additional and complementary seismic values to be used in data processing (e.g., interval velocity, zero‐phase reflectivity).


We evaluate the co-orbital corotation torque on a planet on a fixed circular orbit embedded in a viscous protoplanetary disk for the case of a steady flow in the planet frame. This torque can be evaluated just from the flow properties at the separatrix between the librating (horseshoe) and circulating streamlines. A stationary solution is searched for the flow in the librating region. When used to evaluate the torque exerted by the circulating material of the outer and inner disk on the trapped material of the librating region, this solution leads to an expression of the co-orbital corotation torque in agreement with previous estimates. An analytical expression is given for the corotation torque as a function of viscosity. Last, we show that additional terms in the torque expression can play a crucial role. In particular, they introduce a coupling with the disk density profile perturbation (the "dip" that surrounds the planet) and add to the corotation torque a small, positive fraction of the one-sided Lindblad torque. As a consequence, the migration could well be directed outward in very thin disks (aspect ratio smaller than a few percent). This two-dimensional analysis is especially relevant for mildly embedded protoplanets (sub-Saturn-sized objects).


Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT) has developed a novel method for the detection of nucleic acid sequences in a complex sample that has improved specificity and decreased background compared to traditional approaches. The method employs a variant of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) that uses 3'-end blocked primers which cannot prime DNA synthesis. A cleavable RNA linkage is positioned near the 3' end of the primer. Following hybridization to a complementary sequence, the terminal blocking group is removed by action of a thermostable RNase H2 enzyme. Importantly, the RNase H2 enzyme, which is simply added as a component of the PCR master mix, functions in real time during PCR. The unblocking reaction is exquisitely sensitive to correct base pairing and requires that the primer be in duplex form. The unblocking step is inhibited by the presence of a base mismatch in the vicinity of the cleavage site. Through this mechanism, the blocked primers provide improved specificity when compared to unmodified primers, resulting in reduced mispriming and eliminating primer-dimer formation. This allows for a greater number of PCR cycles to be run, giving the potential for increased sensitivity. The method is called RNase H–dependent PCR (rhPCR) [1]. rhPCR can be performed in both end-point and real-time modes. The assay can be run using a fluorescent intercalating detection method such as SYBR® Green I, or as a 5' nuclease (aka "TaqMan" or "PrimeTime") fluorescent probe assay. The basic reaction scheme is outlined in Figure 1.


BACKGROUND
Repositioning patients is a frequent task for healthcare workers causing substantial stress to the low back. Patient handling methodologies that reduce low back load should be used. Some studies have observed the effect of bed height on back forces using a limited range of heights. This study details a wider range.

OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to discover an optimal bed height for reducing low back force when boosting a patient.

METHODS
11 university students and local residents participated by completing a series of boosts with a 91.6 kg research assistant acting as dependent. The bed was adjusted 3% of participant height and 3 boosts were completed at each height which resulted in 8-10 different bed heights depending on the height of the participant. Motion and force data were collected to estimate low back forces via 3DSSPP. Pearson's R was performed to observe the correlation between percent caregiver height and low back forces.

RESULTS
There were significant negative correlations between bed height and low back compression force at L4-L5 (r = -0.676, p = <0.001) and L5-S1 (r = -0.704, p = <0.001). There were not significant correlations with any shear forces.

CONCLUSION
The highest bed height led to decreased low back compression forces regardless of participant height, but there was not a significant difference in shear forces. Thus, healthcare workers may experience less low back stress with the bed at a higher height. There may be a force tradeoff between the low back and other parts of the body that needs further exploration. Healthcare workers need to be made aware of the implications of adjusting the environment when performing patient handling tasks.