A salient point of interest in The Owl and the Nightingale is the amount of knowledge, expressed or implied in the poem, concerning animal life which is correct and possibly due to direct personal observation. Master Nicholas of Guildford, whom, here as elsewhere, I assume to be the author, was not writing a scientific treatise, and is at no particular pains to avoid the acceptance of popular delusion. For example, from a literary point of view, the long account of how the hooting of the owl portends disaster is one of the most effective passages in the whole poem. Such scientific interest as the poem possesses is a byproduct of his purpose to enter into bird-life and set it before the reader. Indeed, had he purposed to write a scientific treatise it is quite conceivable that he would have busied himself collecting misinformation, whether from books or from word of mouth, and would have thought his own personal observations of too little moment to be worth recording. And we should have been tempted to regard him as a man of almost no observation at all, very much as the reader is apt to regard Alexander Neckam, or would regard Neckam but for that writer's remarks about the magnetic needle. Art is older than science, and was highly developed when science was still in its infancy. Master Nicholas, our poet, writing as an artist, was sometimes contented to tell us what he had himself seen and heard. Whether he was or was not a man of uncommon observation cannot, perhaps, be determined. What is incontestably true is that in an age when writers of natural history were blind leaders of the blind, he did some justice to such powers of observation as he possessed.


The argument in this paper is that, while privatization creates difficulties for traditional forms of unionism, it also opens up the possibility of union renewal. Drawing on detailed case study evidence from telecommunications, gas and water, three related issues are examined. Managerial decentralisation and devolution have created opportunities for managements to pursue policies aimed at achieving more direct forms of control over their workforces, specifically through the individualisation of work relations, thereby threatening the continued operation of unions in these industries. With these developments it has become clear that the traditional forms of unionism no longer suffice, precipitating debates within these unions as to how best to deal with these changes. In the face of these developments, local unions have attempted to either maintain past forms of organisation and activity to accommodate this process of restructuring or they have begun a process of union renewal, broadening their bases of union concern and activity. Thus, the paradox of privatization is that some unions may be able to take the opportunity provided by this restructuring to reorganise and lay the foundations for their renewal in more participative and active ways.


This experiment was designed to study the influence of ultraviolet(UV) radiation on immune and antioxidant function in broilers.A total of 144 one-day-old AA broilers were randomly allocated to 3 light treatments with 4 replicates in each treatment.Three light treatments were respectively supplemented cumulatively with 0(control group),2 and 4 h of artificial UV radiation on the basis of ordinary light per day.The experimental period was 42 days and blood samples were got on 21 days and 42 days.The results showed that UV had no significant effect on Newcastle disease antibody titers,serum immunoglobulin A,immunoglobulin M,immunoglobulin G,sCD4,SOD,CAT and GSH-Px in broilers on 21 days(P0.05).But the contents of sCD8 in 4 h-UV treatment was significantly lower than those in the other two treatments(P 0.05).However,on 42 days,the UV treatments significantly improved the Newcastle disease antibody titers of broilers compared to the control( P0.05),while the contents of immunoglobulin A and sCD8 were significantly lower than those of the control(P 0.05).The serum GSH-Px content of 2 h-UV treatment was significantly higher(P0.05),while its serum SOD content was significantly lower(P0.01) than that of the control.The serum immunoglobulin G level of 4 h-UV treatment was significantly higher than the control and 2 hUV treatment(P 0.05).The results of the study suggested that a certain degree of UV radiation could affect the immune and antioxidant function in broilers.


We present a novel technique for drying surface micromachined microstructures after their wet chemical etch/release. This technique has been proven especially effective in release/drying devices with large surface contact areas (e.g. larger than 1/spl times/1 mm/sup 2/). Here, magnetic force is used to actively levitate (deflect) released micro structures out of the substrate plane during the drying process, thereby preventing stiction and obtaining a high yield (100%). Without the active levitation, fewer than 10% microstructures are freed.


This paper describes an interview I conducted in late 2015 with two Australian Hazara post- settlement refugees living in Dandenong. The paper explores themes of the stories they tell, from the trauma of their journeys to Australia to locating themselves as successful migrants
in Dandenong. The paper also explores the embodied context of the interview itself, looking at the ways in which identities were constructed in the physical sphere of the interview, through objects, dress, behaviour and gestures. This attention to embodiment provides a reminder of the immediacy of the stories being told, which attempts to remove the fallacy
of the invisible, omnipotent interviewer.


The present invention relates to a controlled-release niacin formulation. In particular, the present invention relates to a controlled-release niacin formulation, comprising niacin; hydroxypropyl methylcellulose; and a carboxyvinyl polymer, in which the carboxyvinyl polymer and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose are contained in a predetermined weight ratio, and to a preparation method thereof. The controlled-release niacin formulation according to the present invention maintains its matrix shape until completion of release, and maintains its release pattern without fluctuation for a desired time period, unlike a commercial formulation. In particular, since niacin formulations are used for long-term treatment of hyperlipidemia, the controlled-release niacin formulation of the present invention, capable of maintaining effective blood concentration and high stability for a long period of time, is very useful.


A new code aimed at the solution of three-dimensional internal laminar and turbulent compressible flows is presented. The solution procedure is based on the scalar form of the approximate factorization method. The Navier-Stokes equations in mass-averaged form are iterated in time until a steady solution is reached. Evidence is given to the implicit treatment of diffusive terms that proved able to speed up convergence and enhance the algorithm robustness. Turbulence effects are accounted for by the Baldwin-Lomax turbulence model and the q - ω two-equation model. For the first, an investigation on the model behavior in case of multiple boundaries is performed. The numerical code is validated by computing the flow in the Stanitz 90-deg turning elbow. Finally the code is applied to the computation of the flow in the VKI LS-82 three-dimensional linear cascade.


This chapter describes the consumption patterns, in classical Greece, which were affected by regional productive capacities, inter-regional distribution, and several social and geographical biases, as well as ideology and taste. It gives some quantitative assessment of standards of living in comparison to earlier and later periods. Since markets and exchange supplied only a certain amount of domestic consumption, the chapter explores under what conditions consumption turned into demand that affected the economy more generally. Basic information about ancient nutrition can be gained from the remains of human bones. Average height changed little from the Bronze Age to the classical period, and possibly increased slightly for men thereafter. The discrepancy between Mycenae and Lerna may indicate a class difference. The need for imported grain varied from year to year with periods of extraordinary demand at times of food crisis. The seasonality of demand put high pressure on administration and planning, and could not be satisfied by regular markets.


Using anisotropic Ginzburg-Landau (GL) equations based upon a tensor effective-mass approximation, we study the vortex lattice geometry near the upper critical field {ital H}{sub {ital c}2}. We employ a scaling technique to reduce the first GL equation to isotropic form. This permits simple evaluation of the angular dependence of the upper critical field for arbitrary mass anisotropy. Although the mass tensor cannot be scaled out of the second GL equation, the two equations may be solved and the free energy evaluated. In the high-{kappa} limit appropriate, e.g., to the new high-temperature superconductors, the geometry of the fluxoid lattice is found to be hexagonal in scaled coordinates but with a preferred orientation relative to the underlying crystallographic axes. The internal magnetic fields both parallel and perpendicular to the vortex axis are determined for the special case of uniaxial anisotropy.


The changes of climatic factors were analyzed,and the climate feasibility indexes(CFI) were estimated for Xuchang from 2001 to 2008.The comparability analysis of climate conditions under different transplanting dates between Xuchang and tobacco-growing areas overseas was conducted.The results indicated that,the mean temperature from 2001 to 2008 increased during the field growing periods;the rainfall from April to May declined and the rainfall from June to July increased.The hours of sunshine were obviously reduced and the relative humidity was appropriate during the field growing periods.When flue-cured tobacco was transplanted from April 15 to May 5,the climate feasibility indexes(CFI) changed from 0.841 to 0.856,which were relatively high.The comparability analysis of climate conditions under different transplanting dates between Xuchang and tobacco-growing areas overseas showed high similarity.The euclidean distance from April 15 to April 30 was relatively small for Zimbabwe and Brazil.Considering migration of aphids,the date before May 15 could be better for transplanting.


In order to achieve easy alignment and low-temperature bonding for electronic packaging, cross-aligned strip solder bumps are thermosonically soldered using longitudinal vibration. The viscoplastic behavior and temperature distribution of the solder bump are calculated numerically, and the predicted results show good agreement with experimental results of fluxless thermosonic soldering of the lead-free solder (Sn–3%Ag–0.5%Cu). Melting of solder bumps occurs within 3 s with a perheating temperature of 85 °C, and growth of the intermetallic compound is limited due to the short bonding time. The effects of the bonding time and pressure on the bond quality are analyzed through SEM and bond strength measurement to determine the proper bonding condition of thermosonic soldering.


To 137 white and 110 Negro veterans, of comparable age level but differing significantly in education, the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale (WBII) was given. The Negro veterans scored lower on all subtests but scored significantly higher than the whites on the Digit Span which requires a good memory and attention. It is interesting to note that the Negroes, despite their lower educational levels, scored higher (contrary to expectations) on the Verbal than the Performance parts of the scale. Negro (and white) Ss also showed larger differences on Performance than on Verbal scales. Negro Ss exhibited greater difficulties on Information which is "white oriented" and requires more schooling. The Negro Ss also experienced difficulties with pictorial perception. The influence of culture and environment upon intelligence measured by such tests as this is great. Comparisons of racial groups based solely on intelligence tests scores should be treated with caution.


The Mercosur case study represents a theoretical challenge for academics in the field of political science. After all, how can one make sense of the regional project that is characterized by institutional and implementational looseness? Elaborations on this distinct regional project will benefit studies in the field of theorizing regional integration, a field of study that should not rely for a great part on the European experience. The point that is intended to bring to light is that a multitude of variables are operating at different levels in a process such as regional cooperation. When analyzing regional cooperation beyond the European experience, the importance of including both rationalism and constructivism into a single theoretical framework becomes apparent.


Self-repair behaviour is a recurrent phenomenon in everyday language production. People are constantly monitoring what they are saying, or planning to say, which results in different forms of self-repair behaviour. Self-repair data are relevant for theories of speech production and language acquisition. Information about the way in which people control and correct their speech tells us something about the process of speech production and gives insight into the workings of the monitor. Studies of self-repairs produced by adult native speakers have provided evidence for the existence of both pre- and post-articulatory monitoring. In the field of language acquisition child self-repair research has shown a relationship between self-repair behaviour and age, which was reflected in a shift from simple repairs produced by very young children, to more complex repairs in the speech of older children.So far, most self-repair research has been carried out in the field of L1 production. L2 self-repair studies are still rather few, and while L1 research is firmly based in theory, most L2 studies are not. This may partially explain why existing models of speech production are based on L1 data only and do not account for bilingual speech. To fill this gap a large-scale research project has been started at the Interfaculty Research Unit for Language and Speech at the University of Nijmegen. This four-year project studies the L and L2 self-repair behaviour of Dutch learners of English at three different levels of L2 proficiency.


No children were eliminated from this study despite the severity of their brain injuries. These children were brain-injured to the extent that the prevailing medical opinion was that it was unlikely that they would regain signifi cant motor function. The children were neurologically evaluated before and after 2 years of therapy with the Institutes' program. The outcome was remarkable. There was marked functional improvement in all indices of performance, both physical and mental. The results far exceeded those that would be expected of a traditional medical approach focused on treating the individual symptoms. This result is a "proof of concept" of the model described by Gesell in the 1940s to use an enriched environment that allows a child to use and exploit uninjured regions of the brain. 3


Objective To detect the causes of common bile duct (CBD) dilation by endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS). Methods Thirty-two cases were included in the study. These patients had been undergone the examinations for common bile duct dilation firstly by B-mode ultrasonography then by endoscopic ultrasonography, computed tomography (CT), endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), endoscopic sphicterotomy(EST), magnetic resonance cholangiography(MRCP) The causes of CBD dilation in these patients were determined by surgery and/or pathologic histology (the stones in CB D were diagnosed by ERCP/EST). Results The average diameters of CBD were 1.04 ± 0.41 cm and 0.97 ± 0.36 cm respectively as detected by abdominal B-mode ultrasonography (US) (32 cases) and EUS (29 cases) (P>0.05). The positive rate of diagnosis for the causes of CBD dilation were 90. 6% (29/32) by EUS , which was superior to 59. 4% (19/32) by US(P<0.01) and 65.6% (21/32) by abdominal CT(P<0.01) and close to 96.9% (31/32) by ERCP/ES (P>0.05) and 81.3% (13/16) by MRCP ( P>0.05). Conclusion Endoscopic ultrasonography is one of the best methods for diagnosis of common bile duct dilation.


In the recent years, the Web has been rapidly "deepened" with the prevalence of databases online. On this deep Web, many sources are structured by providing structured query interfaces and results. Organizing such structured sources into a domain hierarchy is one of the critical steps toward the integration of heterogeneous Web sources. We observe that, for structured Web sources, query schemas ie, attributes in query interfaces) are discriminative representatives of the sources and thus can be exploited for source characterization. In particular, by viewing query schemas as a type of categorical data, we abstract the problem of source organization into the clustering of categorical data. Our approach hypothesizes that "homogeneous sources" are characterized by the same hidden generative models for their schemas. To find clusters governed by such statistical distributions, we propose a new objective function, model-differentiation, which employs principled hypothesis testing to maximize statistical heterogeneity among clusters. Our evaluation over hundreds of real sources indicates that (1) the schema-based clustering accurately organizes sources by object domains eg, Books, Movies), and (2) on clustering Web query schemas, the model-differentiation function outperforms existing ones, such as likelihood, entropy, and context linkages, with the hierarchical agglomerative clustering algorithm.


Received Feb 10, 2022 Revised Jul 12, 2022 Accepted Aug 8, 2022 The most critical parameters that indicate the Wi-Fi network are throughput, delay, latency, and packet loss since they provide significant benefits, especially to the end-user. This research aims to investigate Wi-Fi performance in an indoor environment for light-of-sight (LOS) and nonlight-of-sight (NLOS) conditions. The effect of the surrounding obstacles and distance has also been reported in the paper. The parameters measured are packet loss, the packet sent, the packet received, throughput, and latency. Site measurement is done to obtain real-time and optimum results. The measured parameters are then validated using the EMCO ping monitor 8 software. The comparison results between the measurement and the simulation are well presented in this paper. Additionally, the measurement distance is done up to 30 meters and the results are reported in the paper as well. The results indicate that the throughput value decreases with an increasing distance, where the lowest throughput value is 24.64 Mbps and the highest throughput value is 70.83 Mbps. Next, the maximum latency value from the measurement is 79 ms, while the lowest latency value is 56.09 ms. Finally, this research verified that obstacles and distances are among the contributing factors affecting the throughput and latency performance of the Wi-Fi network.


Information for vaporizing UO/sub 2/ at temperatures and vaporization rates appropriate to fast reactor safety analysis is now becoming available from several different types of experiments. These data are summarized and compared to models used in reactor safety analysis. It has been commonly assumed in fast reactor analysis that the vaporization of fuels at high temperatures can be described by an equation of state for material in chemical and thermal equilibrium. However, the comparisons of dynamic experiments in oxide material to equilibrium measurements produce contradicting results. These observations can be resolved by a rate dependent effect in the high temperature oxide.


Empirical analysis of dispute resolution terms in commercial contracts provides information about theoretical issues in contract law. These clauses are adopted at a time when the parties share an interest in maximizing the value of the contract. The analyst can examine the pattern of contracting behavior and infer that the choices made by sophisticated parties will tend to represent efficient arrangements.


The measures for preventing short circuit fault of transformer were introduced,and three kinds of detection method for transformer winding deformation were given,such as frequency response short circuit impedance of low voltage and capacity measuring.At the same time,the decision adopted in condition-based maintenance and determination of overhaul items as well as repair scheme after transformer short circuit were put forward.


The importance of host defense against candidiasis and role of cell mediated immunity in host defense has been the subject of many studies. Increased expression of virulence factors in candida isolates from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seropositive patients with oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC) has also been reported. We conducted an experiment to study the difference in T helper type 2 (Th2) and T helper type 1 (Th1) responses and neutrophil respiratory burst responses, of naive peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC's) and neutrophils respectively, by using Candida isolates from study and control groups as stimulus. Thirty HIV seropositive patients with clinical evidence of OPC and thirty healthy volunteers were studied. IL-10 release was uniformly low at all concentrations of Candida albicans antigen isolated from healthy controls as compared to when C. albicans isolated from HIV seropositive patients was used as antigenic stimulus. Mean IFN-ᵧ concentration was highest when C.albicans, isolated from healthy carriers was used as antigenic stimulus for PBMCs. The observations highlight a significant IL-10 dominance, which may be an indicator of the fine tuning of host immune system towards a chronic progressive disease condition, indicating the pathogenic potential of select Candida strains.


The given work is devoted to theoretical investigation of optical radiation absorption by non-spherical shapes ice particles. For oriented crystals it is shown that the change of absorption coefficient in the greater degree is connected to volumes of crystals, and the spectral behavior in the infrared follows the features of the spectrum of absorption index of ice. Application of "vector-parametrical method" essentially simplifies consideration of the numerous tasks concerning changes of polarized characteristics of light beam passing through anisotropic environments. There is considered an absorption coefficient vector. Variations of physical parameters such as, sizes, shapes, refractive index, and orientation of crystals and also length of wave of incident radiation support the changes of elements of extinction matrix and phase matrix for oriented particles which determine the absorption coefficient vector. Thereupon IR range from optical spectrum of wavelength is more preferential to study the optical characteristic of ice clouds.


This research aimed to evaluate Kuwait's current construction and demolition waste (C&D waste) situation by focusing on C&D waste generation and management issues. This work also investigated the causes and factors affecting C&D waste to understand the actual waste management activities and proposed strategies to minimize the waste generated at the local level. This study estimated C&D waste generation rates based on data collected from five construction projects and two demolition projects in Kuwait. In addition, a questionnaire survey was conducted to evaluate the causes of C&D waste generation. The results showed that the average C&D waste quantities generated by construction activities were 49.5 kg/m2 for public/commercial building projects and 35 kg/m2 for residential projects. At the same time, public/commercial construction, residential construction, and demolition works generated 1.480 ton/m2, 0.0495 ton/m2, and 0.035 ton/m2, respectively. The average composition of C&D waste from the construction sector was 35.4% concrete waste, followed by 19.2% tiles/blocks, and 14.2% metals, with the remainder being other materials. Meanwhile, the demolition waste was composed of 70% concrete and cement waste and 20% metals. The results showed that 54% of the projects disposed of their C&D waste directly in the landfills. The leading causes of C&D waste generation were reworks due to changes in specifications, poor material quality, improper material handling, and improper site management. Strategic C&D waste management practices are necessary for sustainable natural resource management and conservation of the environment.


Hong Kong gay men have always been subordinated under heterosexism and the disciplinary notion of hegemonic masculinity in the straight world and hegemonic cult gay masculinity in the gay world. Dominance, however, is not securely held, but must constantly be won. Under the postcolonial administration, Hong Kong gay men are not enthusiastic about the political sphere of life; rather, they have tended to shift from institutional politics to cultural politics. Cultural space has become the primary location for the production of texts that disrupt the norm of hegemonic heterosexuality under the commodity logic of capitalism. Moreover, using their own forms of embodied cultural capital, Hong Kong gay men tend to take the path of micro-resistance in combating societal domination. This can be seen from their engagement in public sex and in their involvement in the commercial gay scene. Based on the 'voices' of 34 Hong Kong gay men, this article argues that Hong Kong gay men negotiate a gay identity that is sensitive and flexible to different institutional arenas; this allows them to strive for sexual freedom and create their own space for social interaction and sexual desire.


1480nm InGaAsP large optical cavity broad-area laser diodes were developed and optimized for pulsed operation showing optical output power of >18W at 20°C. Furthermore the μs pulse duration regime was investigated with respect to power saturation and self-heating at elevated operating currents.


The technologic research and numerical simulation of spinning of cylinders with inner ribs are experimented. Ac- cording to the dimensions and deformation information of the realistic work-piece, boundary, contact, friction, spatial trajec- tory information is taken into account. To analyze the formingprinciple of the inner ribs due to different stresses, strains, and spinning forces with different ratio of thinning and feeding, the 3D FEM mathematical model is established. The technology of estimating and preliminarily analyzing the possibility of crackle and surface-coming-off problems can improve the work efficiency; Meanwhile the developing cost can be reduced. This simulation method is established for further studying of mechanism and features of general spinning of cylinders with inner ribs, and it provides optimization of processing parameters with effective methods and reliable support.


! Be your own boss, make your own decisions (and mistakes!). ! Your effort benefits YOU directly. ! Potentially high growth and high earnings. ! Excitement and satisfaction. ! Must be a self-starter. ! Must be decisive. ! Must be willing to take some risks and uncertainty. ! Will family and other personal obligations allow for 18+ hour days? ! Can you fund the startup phase? ! Do you plan and organize well? ! Do you have the stomach for sales, marketing, competition, ...?


A new route is developed to prepare the Ta2O5 nanostructures without using any solvents. From the XRD pattern, phase change of hexagonal to orthorhombic of Ta2O5 is observed. The surface morphology is characterized using SEM and FE-SEM. From the optical analysis, the band energy is found to be 3.7 eV and 3.75 eV. The photocatalytic activity is evaluated by measuring the degradation of MO dye under UV irradiation. Ta2O5 in orthorhombic phase shows higher photocatalytic activity than that of hexagonal phase.


This issue of Etica & Politica / Ethics & Politics is devoted to the topic of legal interpretation and legal reasoning. We believe that the legal field constitutes a privileged perspective from which to observe interpretative practice. As Stephen Toulmin points out, "lawsuits are just a special kind of rational dispute, for which the procedures and rules of argument have hardened into institutions." (1) This point is also stressed by Neil MacCormick, who observes that legal interpretation "is perhaps a uniquely public and published form of reasoning, and therefore a resource of great potential interest to philosophers." (2) This very fact, i.e. that legal interpretation is often public and published, facilitates the identification of interpretation's rules and techniques as well as the singling out of philosophical questions concerning the practice of interpreting. The papers collected here meet some – the most central – of these questions. This introduction aims briefly to show the philosophical relevance of legal interpretation and to distinguish the main perspectives of legal interpretation in the contemporary debate.


from disfavored taxpayers or they had to try to separate themselves from the distortive Federal measures. With future Federal policies so uncertain, the choice tended to be forestalled by ad hoc actions. To make matters worse, States were simultaneously being challenged by the cuts, caps, curbs, and swaps of a "new federalism." Moreover, they were hit by the second of two narrowly-separated recessions. Although the threat of "tax revolt" has not subsided and budgetary surpluses have returned, the fluidity of Federal tax and expenditure policies remains. But, today States do not react as before. They have become outspoken and highly emotional about a wide range of intergovernmental issues. Certainly States are no longer inclined to acquiesce when overhaul of the Federal income tax system is on the horizon.


Coping skills cover an important area in rehabilitation counseling field. Bipolarity of coping skills as being adaptive or not adaptive has been prevalent throughout the literature. On the other hand, influence of contextual factors on coping skills has been underemphasized.  Recent researches indicate that contextual factors play major role in coping skills. This paper examines importance of contextual factors on coping skills particularly in relation to assessment issues in rehabilitation counseling area. After presentation of literature review regarding the topic, implications and recommendations for rehabilitation counselors were provided.


Because of the importance, from the engineering point of view of evaluating brittleness, a study was undertaken on critical stress (Pf) and critical strain (df) in the relation between load (stress) and the size of the pyramidal hole (strain) under microplastic deformation of brittle Ni-S alloys. Deformation energy (Ef) on fracture was also evaluated. Brittle Ni-S alloys were prepared by electroplating on Cu sheet (current density=60A/m2, distance between electrodes=40mm, pH=6.0, bath temperature=303K). The concentration of the water solutions were 100g/L for NiSO4(NH4)2SO4·6H2O, 15g/L for Na3C6H5O7·2H2O, and 1∼30g/L for Na2S2O3·5H2O. Ni-S alloy composition was varied by controlling the concentration of Na2S2O3. Precise evaluations of fractures were preformed with a Vickers microhardness tester. The addition of sulfur was found to decrease resistance to microplastic deformation (Po), however the higher the sulfer concentration, the lower were the values of Ef, df, and Pf become. Comparing values of Ef, the brittleness of Ni-S alloys was found to approximate the values obtained for Al2O3 and slide glasses.


To overcome the disadvantage of conventional neutral network which is training only offline, an improved neutral network based on genetic algorithm is proposed. Starting from the performance index of self-tuning PI controllers, principle of recurrent neutral network and speed control system model of induction motor are elaborated. Then, the feasibility of by genetic algorithm to seak optimal constants of extended kalman filter is explained. Finally, modeling and simulation are performed by MATLAB/Simulink with control system of induction motors as platform. The results show that the PI parameters obtained by the proposed improved neutral network based on genetic algorithm can reduce the overshoot of system effectively and the system has good dynamic and static performance.


This study was related to development of economically viable method of extraction of lignin from saw dust in order to produce lignin modified phenolic resin and ecofriendly adhesives (bio-based resin). This study cover to improve the mechanical properties by modification of phenol formaldehyde resole resin using some additives such as boric acid, sulfuric acid and lignin biomass. The synthesis and metal adsorption capacity of resin derived from lignin biomass were explored. Lignin sample was extracted from sawdust of Acacia sp. collected from Batticaloa region by alkali extraction method called delignification process. Qualitative tests were carried out on the extracted alkali lignin and it was used to prepare modified resin. Resin synthesized by using lignin substitution phenol and allowed to condensation reaction in the presence of sodium hydroxide. Boron-modified phenol formaldehyde resin was prepared by using boric acid with formalim method.  The above reaction was performed for four hours by refluxing with toluene. Which was produced a high viscous massive resin with 90% yield. The absorbtion peak of B-O bond at 1362cm-1  was observed at IR spectra. Rise in solid mass content leads to produce smooth resin surface without causing cracks and bubbling.  Phenol formaldehyde resin was modified into their sulfonated forms to increase their ion exchange capacity, since the ion exchange capacity of virgin resin was found to be zero. Conductivity property shown by sulfonated resin(121mS/cm). The synthesized Lignin based PF resin was used to study the metal adsorption capacity of Cd2+ in aqueous solution. The adsorption capacity of heavy metal Cd2+ ion shown by lignin modified resin (55%) and lignin (86%).  In this study sawdust lignin could be best substitution for phenol in synthesis of Phenol-Formaldehyde resin.  It's better due to their sustainability, environmental control, low production cost and their ability to adsorb heavy metals.  Phenolic resin was modified with boric acid to improve thermal resistance property and to get smooth resin surface.


The problem of the estimation of the size of an immigrant population is very important in many countries as well as in Italy. Center sampling theory has been recently proposed and it is based on the hypothesis that all the individuals use to frequent centers of aggregation. Two approaches to center sampling are developed in literature. In the first people are drawn through simple random sampling without replacement from all the availables centers. In the second one centers are drawn through the same scheme and all the individuals in the sample centers are considered. In this paper the second approach is followed and generalized to a different sampling scheme according to the situation in which all centers has not the same importance: i.e. a big center could have a higher selection probability than a little center. So an unequal selection probablilities scheme is presented.


Introduction: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) affects up to 14% of pregnancies in the U.S. and is associated with a sevenfold increased lifetime risk for type 2 diabetes (T2D). Clinical guidelines recommend postpartum glucose screening 4-12 weeks after a GDM pregnancy, and re-screening every 1-3 years thereafter. However, an inadequate proportion of persons with GDM actually receive these screenings. Racial/ethnic differences in risk of developing T2D following GDM may partially be driven by differential receipt of screening services. The aim of this study was to examine racial/ethnic differences in subsequent development of T2D, receipt of screening services, and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in a nationally representative sample of women with a GDM history. Methods: We analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES, 2007-2014). Race/ethnicity, GDM and diabetes diagnosis, and receipt of diabetes screening tests were determined by self-report; HbA1c was measured using st...


In the paper, the specifics of training future information security specialists, who are needed to have a formed competency for neutralization of internal and external information security threats are being analyzed. According to the authors, all kinds of corporate information and personal data leaks arising from the actions of so-called "internal intruders" or insiders represent a particular danger, against which the Data Loss Prevention software class (DLP systems) is the most effective remedy. InfoWatch Traffic Monitor 6.11 is a Russian software product certified in Russia FSTEC system and considered as one of the world leaders in this class of software. Based on the license obtained from InfoWatch, in the virtual laboratory of Omsk State Technical University a specialized stand was created, which gives an opportunity to develop one of the most important and modern digital competencies "Corporate protection from internal threats to information security". Using it as a basis, students gain skills to configure and verify the DLP system, determine security policies, ensure control of information flows in the company and analyze incidents that have been identified. For this purpose, an algorithm for introducing a DLP system into the educational process have been developed, where students could define information security objects and develop appropriate policies to prevent data leakage and identify possible incidents, intercepts confidential information through controlled communication channels.


Objective To investigate the significance of the levels of creatine kinase(CK),creatine kinase isoenzyme MB(CK-MB),α-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase(HBDH),and the positive rate of cardiac troponin I(cTnI),myoglobin(Myo)in electro-burned patients.Methods The levels of CK,CK-MB,HBDH and the positive rate of cTnI,Myo in electro-burned patients(the electric shock damage and the electric arc damage) were determined and compared with acute coronary syndrome(ACS) patients and healthy control.Results The levels of CK,CK-MB,HBDH and the positive rate of cTnI and Myo in electro-burned patients were higher than those in healthy controls(P0.05).The levels of CK and CK-MB and the positive rate of Myo were higher than those in ACS patients(P0.01).There was no significant difference between HBDH level in electro-burned patients and ACS patients(P0.05).The positive rate of cTnI in electro-burned patients was lower than that in ACS patients.The positive rate of Myo in electric shock damage patient was higher than that in electric arc damage patient(P0.01).Conclusions The muscle damage resulted from electric stock might lead to increase of the levels of CK,CK-MB,HBDH and the positive rate of Myo.It is not necessarily related to heart injury.When the electric stock damage patient has heart injury,it can be diagnosed by cTnI determination.


The paper analyzed motive of selecting the medical profession,the satisfaction degree of their profession after entrance,learning interest and intention after graduation for medical students in Pe-king University.The results showed that part of the mescal students were not familiar with the medical pro-fession when they applied for school,and their notion applying for school influenced greatly by directions from their teachers and parents with many factors considered,part of mescal students lacked enough satis-faction and interest in learning the courses,this will affect their development in the professional field,We suggest that the interest on the profession should be pay much attention on,and take effective measures to improve the current situation.

Key words:
Medical students; Select volunteer majoring in professional; Survey; Analysis


The First World War caused a major propaganda battle in Ireland between, on the one hand, the constitutional Nationalist Party, led by John Redmond, and the British authorities who were both in favour of the war and voluntary recruitment, and on the other hand, Sinn Fein, opposition nationalists and also a few Catholic clergymen who were against the British war effort in the country, deeming that the home rule crisis had not been dealt with in a satisfactory way. This article aims at shedding light on the confrontation between the two sides. It seems that the British authorities were rather disorganised in their various propaganda campaigns, while Sinn Fein pursued an energetic and sometimes vitriolic anti-war campaign. One of the themes used by the latter was France's pre-war anti-clerical policy. This article will consider the extent to which propaganda and "counter-propaganda" influenced voluntary recruitment in Ireland where conscription was not imposed.


The aim of this paper is to show how, during the 15th and the 16th Centuries, the institutional life in the most important cities of the Venetian mainland was not exclusively subject to the prerogatives of knights and jurists. Although these two poles have been an active role in organizing the political life of a city like Brescia, the specific object of this work, it should not be forgotten that law and the profession of arms were not the only ways to increase the political education. Recent archival discoveries, in fact, show that both knights and doctors in law from Brescia were not strangers to the practice of trade, through which it was possible to integrate the preparation for the res publica.


Forecasting, observation and database are the three major components of the Marine Meteorology Center (MMC), Taipei, Taiwan, that was established in 1933. The main directions in upgrading forecast techniques for the MMC are model development and verification. The developments of large scale and coast models and the study of the physical properties are the main goals, such as the regional tidal characteristics and its related tidal current, the regional wave and storm surge characteristics, and their interaction. For model verifications, it is necessary that observed data from deep sea to coastal water should be included in order to improve model performance. In the future, the remote sensing observations, encompassing the wide range image processing ability, will be cultivated to incorporate the wind fields, waves and surface currents, and also be furnished to initialize and verify ocean numerical models. For data quality control, the emphasis will be on the imminent data quality control and the research of the climatological data quality control.


Runs of homozygosity (ROH) are contiguous stretches of homozygous genotypes which likely reflect transmission from common ancestors and can be used to track the inheritance of haplotypes of interest. In this paper, ROH were extracted from 50 K SNPs and used to detect genomic regions associated with susceptibility to diseases in 468 Holstein-Friesian cows. Diagnosed diseases were categorised as infectious, metabolic, reproductive, locomotive diseases and mastitis. ROH associated with infectious and locomotive diseases and mastitis were found on BTA 12. A region of homozygosity linked with reproductive diseases was detected on BTA 15. ROH associated with infectious, metabolic and reproductive diseases, and mastitis were observed on chromosomes 3, 5, 7, 13 and 18. Previous studies reported QTLs for milk production traits on these regions, thus substantiating the known negative relationship between selection for milk production and health in dairy cattle.


The corrosion failure of cathode in electrostatic precipitator was analyzed using optical microscopy and scan electronic microscope,it showed that uniform corrosion happened on 304 stainless steel cathode,the major reason was that sulfur trioxide and water steam react into sulfuric acid,which resulted in passive film of 304 stainless steel cathode surface dissolving at high temperature.


A new parametric approach for detecting defects in analog integrated circuits using the feed forward neural network trained by back-propagation method is presented. The neural network is used for classification of tested circuits by sensing differences observed in dynamic supply current of fault free and faulty circuits. The identification is performed in time and frequency domain, followed by a comparison of results achieved in both domains. It was shown that neural networks might be very efficient and versatile approach for identification of defective analog circuits as it offers also monitoring of other circuit's parameters. Moreover, optimized architecture of the proper neural network was proposed using VHDL for FPGA realization and a possible off-chip hardware implementation of this approach is discussed as well.


Incinerated waste fly ash is a toxic solid, which can cause serious harm to the environment. CO2-cured incinerated waste fly ash may be useful in decreasing the toxicity of waste fly ash and improving the corresponding mechanical properties of cement-based material with incinerated waste fly ash. Meanwhile, this technology can play a certain role in reducing the content of CO2 in the atmosphere. In this study, the influence of CO2-cured incinerated waste fly ash on the rheological parameters (the slump flow and plastic viscosity) and the setting time of fresh reactive powder cement concrete (RPC) is investigated. The flexural and compressive strengths of hardened RPC standard cured for 1 day, 3 days, and 28 days are measured. The leached amounts of Cr and Zn immersed in water for 6 months are measured. The scanning electron microscope photos, thermogravimetric analysis curves, and mercury intrusion curves are obtained. Our results show that the slump flow, the setting time, and the flexural and compressive strengths increased, and the plastic viscosity decreased by adding the waste fly ash with the maximum varying rates of 12.1%, 41.7%, 41.3%, and 61.2%, respectively. CO2 curing on the waste fly ash can increase the setting time and the flexural and compressive strengths with the maximum varying rates of 19.2%, 13.1%, and 14.2%. The effect of CO2-cured waste fly ash on the mechanical strengths of RPC is quite limited.


Abstract The purpose of this paper is to examine librarians' perceptions of knowledge management, including its concept, potential applications, benefits and major challenges of its applications in Indian academic libraries. A structured questionnaire, containing both open and close-ended questions, was sent by postal mail to 30 librarians of academic libraries in India of which 15 questionnaires were returned. Respondents were asked to define knowledge management and answer questions on its potential applications, benefits and major challenges of implementation in academic libraries. Respondents were also allowed to specify their own views on the subject. The findings of the study show that the levels of understanding of KM concepts among librarians are varied and most of them view KM as the management of information resources, services and systems using technology or specific processes for the capture and use of explicit knowledge, rather sharing and using tacit knowledge. They have positive attitudes towards the applications of knowledge management into academic library practice, and not only because this can bring academic libraries closer to their parent organization, but also because it may help them to survive in an increasingly challenging environment. Although, librarians in the present study acknowledged that they are involved in the practices of knowledge management but these were perceived as basic information management activities. Lack of understanding of knowledge management concepts and its benefits, knowledge sharing culture, top management commitment, incentives and rewards, financial resources and information technology infrastructure are perceived as the major barriers for incorporating knowledge management into academic library practice.


Dispensing valve for dispensing a liquid to a tank of a motor vehicle, with a main valve (5), characterized in that a safety valve downstream of the main valve (5) is arranged (7), by a opening movement directed upstream direction, it can be brought from a closed position to an open position, and because a security system (11) having an active association with the safety valve (7) which is configured is provided for detecting the introduction of the distribution valve in a reservoir provided for the corresponding liquid, and causes a movement of the safety valve closed position to the open position as an introduction of the dispensing valve is detected a tank provided for the corresponding liquid.


Dynamics of the latitudinal profiles penetrating into magnetosphere solar protons is studied using particle spectrometers data on board of the low latitude satellite CORONAS-F with orbit inclination ∼83o. Formations of several different types of the profiles during magnetic storms are considered.


The bacterium Listeria monocytogenes can cause the disease listeriosis in both humans and animals. For the epidemiological investigation of listeriosis detection and characterisation of the organis ...


The development of the municipal sector leads to the emergence of a wide range of waste. In such conditions, an important place is occupied by the problems of environmental safety and sustainable development. The article contains a multivariate analysis of the relationship between various social aspects and the process of utilization of municipal solid waste (MSW). The influence of economic, cultural, legislative and environmental factors on these relations has been presented. Methods of utilization of MSW in the countries of the European Union (EU) have been studied. As a result, a significant amount of information on solving the MSW problem in the EU countries has been revealed. Also groups of indicators have been identified and presented, which provide a comprehensive assessment of the state of the MSW management sector. It is concluded that the main hierarchy of MSW management methods is determined by the principles of sustainable development. The waste management system implies an integrated system of various aspects, namely social, economic, regulatory, managerial and technical. A promising area is the use of chemometric analysis for the development and interpretation of selected development scenarios for the MSW management sector.


Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating disease that at,tacks the cent,ral nervous system. Much research has been conducted to investigate the efficacy of various treatments in reducing the number of active brain lesions in patients, an indicat,or of disease activit.y. However, there has been little research regarding the time series nat,ure of these lesion counts. This project focuses on sample size reconiniendat,ions for Phase I1 MS/MRI clinical trials using a l~ngit~udind model. We explore design recommendations based on two estimators. A One is based on summary statistics, while the other, TML, uses the time series nature of A lesion counts. TML was found t,o provide robust sample size recommendations and, over sample size ranges found commonly in current Phase I1 MS/MRI clinical trials, was a substantial improvement over Fpos~ in terms of sen~itivit~y We further demonstrated that A hypot,hesis tests based on TML are very powerful even for modest sample sizes. To m y pops. Thanks for everything you, have given of you.rself for me. "Ninety percent o f all statistics are made up on the spot. " The ignorant or unbelieving masses


products, with the commodification of many elements of the Vietnamese history, and as a lens through which we can renew our understanding of economic and monetary relationships. Playing successively on these two elements in different chapters probably complicates the reading of the book. These critical remarks are only here to set out pathways to extend Gillen's innovative work. Bridging approaches and disciplines—cultural geography, economy, and anthropology—offers indubitably pathbreaking ways of deciphering the fast changing Vietnamese social, economic, and political context.


Nonparametric variance models with fixed design and martingale difference errors were considered in this paper.Based on polynomial spline method,consistent results for the estimator of variance function were discussed.Optimal global rate of convergence and uniform rate of convergence were obtained.Also,the feasibility of the spline estimation was illustrated by a simulation example.The results shows that the spline method outperforms the local linear method on the behavior of fitness and unbiased estimate under certain circumstances.


One of the longstanding questions in the field of linguistics is what factors shape bilingual speech. In an effort to satisfy this question, a number of external and internal factors have been identified. While previous research has catapulted our knowledge on this topic, additional work is still needed. Of special interest to our project is a proposal put forth and refined throughout the last decade, the Interface Hypothesis (IH, Sorace & Filiaci 2006), which states that language contact effects are restricted to syntax interfaces with other modules, and not the core or narrow syntax. Although initially designed to test L2 learners (Sorace 2011), Montrul & Polinsky (2011) have recently argued for the extension of its applicability to test Heritage Speakers (HSs). The benefits of testing HSs are manifold: not only is it an understudied community if compared to L2 learners, but conducting experimental studies that target HS is of extreme importance within diachronic linguistics, sociolinguistics, L1 attrition, adult language acquisition, formal syntactic (Rothman 2009: 162). Within this formalist approach, the architecture of the grammar includes different modules (phonology, syntax, morphology, semantics, and the external component, pragmatics) that interact in what is referred to as interfaces. Most of the studies focus on phenomena that lie at the syntax interfaces with the lexico-semantic and discourse-pragmatic modules. For instance, several authors have examined the L2 acquisition of the null vs. overt subject alternation in Spanish, reporting difficulty in integrating syntactic and pragmatic information in L2 and HS production (Montrul 2004, Montrul & Rodriguez-Louro 2006, Perez-Leroux & Glass 1999, Rothman 2007, Sorace & Filiaci 2006). A refinement of this theory is instantiated in the much debated revised Interface Hypothesis (IH), which states that the discourse-pragmatic interface with syntax is more vulnerable to interlingual influence than the lexico-semantic interface (Tsimpli & Sorace 2006). Subject position in Spanish constitutes an interesting testing ground for this latter hypothesis as it is controlled both by the argumental structure of the predicate (unergative and unaccusative predicates select different subject positions), which lies at the lexico-semantic interface with syntax, and by the discourse contexts, in particular, the focus structure, which lies at the discourse-pragmatic interface with syntax. The revised IH makes the prediction that bilinguals should differ more from monolinguals in the subject position preferences that are regulated by focus structure (i.e., in narrow subject focus) than by the lexical properties of the intransitive predicate. Interestingly, numerous studies have examined Spanish subject position in L2ers and some in HSs (Dominguez & Arche 2008, Hertel 2003, Lozano 2006, Montrul 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, Zapata et. al 2005). These studies report subject position preferences that diverge from monolingual preferences. However, these results are not discussed in light of the predictions made by the IH. In addition, proficiency has not always been taken into account in HSs. Thus, this project expands and improves on previous research by examining (i) subject position preferences with intransitive predicates across informational contexts in HS Spanish,


In this paper, a class of improved finance chaotic systems is constructed, which is more in line with actual economic activities. The dynamic behaviors of the new systems are analyzed by bifurcation diagrams, Lyapunov exponent spectrum and system phase diagrams. In addition, both theory and simulation prove that only one adaptive controller can realize control and synchronization of the new systems when the parameters are unknown. Furthermore, composite controllers combining adaptive control and linear feedback control are proposed, which realize control and synchronization of the new class of finance chaotic systems quickly. Finally, simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.


The still growing use of nanoparticles (NPs) and nanomaterials in scientific and commercial applications leads to an increasing release and accumulation of NPs in the environment. An additional source of human exposure to NPs is the development of NP based formulations for drug-delivery and diagnostic applications which is a fast growing area of contemporary research. These, intended and unintended, scenarios of human exposure to NPs have sparked a substantial interest in understanding the interactions of NPs with biological systems.


Quality Cementation across production sections consisting of depleted/weaker formations is the main challenge in Kuwait. Usage of conventional cement slurry over 15.8 ppg will lead to losses and poor zonal isolation. Newly designed 12.5 ppg enhanced compressive strength cement slurry was proposed to achieve desired zonal isolation and well integrity while avoiding losses and unnecessary remedial jobs.
 Strategy was formulated to minimize exposure of weaker formations for higher ECDs during cementation. Conventional 15.8PPG tail slurry was replaced with 12.5PPG Ultra high compressive strength (4000psi) cement slurry. New slurry design helped to carry out cementation job without any losses while achieving rapid compressive strength and excellent cement bond across production casing. The technology is based on three radical changes in the conventional way of designing cement Slurry of Substitution of part of the cement volume with inert agents of low specific weight, High packing density using solids of different sizes, and Reduction of water volume required.
 The job was performed safely and successfully, no losses was observed during and after the cementing job while getting pure cement returns at surface during both stages of cement job. CBL/VDL was performed 24 hrs after the cement job; and the results were excellent. The main advantages of this technology are: Ø High resistance to compression: Once the slurry has set, it is capable of developing compressive strength values similar to heavier conventional slurry. Ø Low reactivity: Most of the elements used are chemically inert, this facilitates the design of the slurry by reducing adverse chemical reactions. Ø Low Shrinkage of Cement: Due to the reduction of the volume of the Portland cement in the slurry, the shrinkage of the set cement is reduced, which allows a better adherence of this to the formation and to the Casing. Ø Mix-ability: Does not require special equipment for its preparation, as if foamed cements require it.
 Three case histories will be presented with all data and evidence, showing design phase, planning phase, execution phase and results obtained with all logs were showing the excellent results were achieved. This technology has several applications in the industry, which can be executed satisfactorily.


Previous literatures made researches on the relationship between market focus and performance of subsidiaries of multinational enterprises in China mostly from the transaction costs which were caused by the R D investment,technology transfer,intellectual property protection.This paper makes research from the difference of the foreign-invested enterprises' function assuming,resource requirements,market opportunities,risk exposure and cost savings caused by different motives.Relative to export-oriented foreign-funded enterprises,the foreign-funded enterprises of domestic market pioneering assume more functions,invest more resources,face more opportunities,take less risk of the market and make greater cost savings in the value creation.These factors make it's performance better than that of export-oriented foreign-funded enterprises,which is supported by empirical research with data from 4026 foreign-funded enterprises in manufature from 2003 to 2007 in Suzhou Zone of Jiangsu Province.It also finds that entry mode moderates the relationship between market focus and performace.Joint ventures with domestic market focus outperformce wholly foreign-funded enterprises with international market focus.We also put forward with management implications and policy suggestion.


Peptide-and protein-based hydrogels are an important class of biomaterials and have received intense research interest in recent decades.The gelation occurs either through the supramolecular assembly or the controlled reaction between reactive residues.The synergy between physical and chemical crosslinking often leads to dramatic improvement of the performance of these hydrogel materials.The unique biological role of peptides and proteins,their structural diversity and functional plasticity have promised numerous opportunities for biomaterials.This review is a brief introduction to the design principles,a summary of the recent progresses,and a perspective on its future direction.


In our age of high speeds, the human body receives a very heavy load on the organs of vision, thereby increasing the likelihood of deterioration in their work. As a result, people lose their vision, they distinguish simple and complex objects worse, spend more time recognizing signs, symbols, letters that they previously saw and distinguished much faster and easier. For most professions, this circumstance is not critical, but there are a number of areas of human activity where the visual factor is of paramount importance. First of all, this applies to the work on monitoring equipment that dispatchers, operators and controllers are associated with. Working under constant visual stress requires a high motor activity of the oculomotor system, visual acuity and high cognitive abilities. Thus, an important task is to identify and constantly monitor visual reflexes of dispatchers operating in conditions of high visual and information load. There are many different methods and means that are aimed at determining the acuity of a person's vision. But most of them are presented in the form of paper diagrams and pictures, which does not allow for a comprehensive assessment of the state of visual acuity. Thus, the aim of the study is to develop a technology for analyzing the correspondence of information processes and the operation of the visual system among specialists with a high professional information load. To determine information components of the operator's work cycle, the information field was represented in the form of a matrix of elements in which each element is assigned its own weight, which determines the importance of the information process located at a given point in the operator's information field. To accurately determine visual acuity, a test object and a corresponding table for visometry were selected. A study of the conformity between information processes and vision of specialists in systems with a high professional information load was carried out using the developed specialized software. The developed software is based on scaling and measuring the response time to changes in the position of the diagnostic test object. The software allows you to store and edit data, perform their statistical analysis and sorting. The program has several research modes, namely determining the location of a small circle of the optotype and reducing it, as well as recording the response time of the subject to changes in the position and size of the optotype. Thus, we get an accurate picture of the space-time abilities of the visual system of the dispatcher in accordance with information processes in his professional activity. The developed specialized software is synchronized with the matrix of importance of information processes, allows monitoring the state of the visual system of specialists with a high professional information load and creating an information space that is the most optimal and adapted to the visual apparatus of dispatchers and operators. Experimental studies of the developed technique were carried out. The developed method will significantly reduce the risk of errors and inaccuracies in the work of dispatchers and operators, which is of significant importance for the country's economy, since any error can affect a huge number of people and production processes. In addition, the software allows you to keep statistics of data and indicators and enter them into a single information base, which will facilitate the examination in the future and provide an opportunity to track the dynamics of pathologies. The results obtained during the study can be widely used in various areas of production with a high information load.


High concentrations of low‐density lipoproteins (LDL) in the blood can lead to coronary heart disease, the primary cause of death in the Western hemisphere. A new treatment to reduce LDL levels is now being tested on rabbits, which are model animals for hypercholesteremia. The treatment involves using an immobilized enzyme within a bioreactor that is incorporated in an extracorporeal circuit. The enzyme modifies LDL to a form that is much more rapidly removed from the circulation. A mathematical model to describe LDL metabolism in the presence of the bioreactor was developed to give a better understanding of the biodistribution of modified LDL during and following treatment. A four‐compartment model was developed on the basis of previous studies on human lipid metabolism, with the specific values of the constants taken from the experimental data on rabbits. A Macintosh II computer with a Stella II modeling program was used to simulate the treatment and to predict LDL levels over time given different values for initial enzyme activity, length of treatment, rate of enzyme denaturation, and other relevant parameters. The model provided a close fit with the experimental results for the change in total cholesterol. It confirmed the observed delay in the plasma cholesterol rebound level after the end of the extracorporeal treatment. One conclusion derived from both the experimental data and the model is that during the first 1.5 h, the limiting step for LDL removal is the rate at which modified LDL is taken up by the liver. However, bioreactor cessation becomes the limiting step in maintaining low LDL levels for an extended term. The study suggests that continuous modification of LDL, possibly using an implantable device, is required to maintain low levels of plasma LDL.


The invention provides a kit for measuring adiponectin by a nano latex enhanced immune turbidimetry. The kit comprises reagent R1, reagent R2 and adiponectin antigen calibration material solution, wherein the reagent R1 comprises electrolyte, a stabilizer, a surface active agent, a preservative and buffer solution; the reagent R2 comprises latex particles coated by anti-human adiponectin polyclonal antibody, electrolyte, a stabilizer, a surface active agent, a preservative and buffer solution; the latex particles are copolymer formed by styrene and acrylic acid; the adiponectin antigen calibration material solution comprises adiponectin and a stabilizer; the surfaces of the latex particles in the reagent R2 have carboxyl groups, and the particle size range of the latex particles is 80-100nm. The kit is simple to operate, rapid and accurate in measurement, high in sensitivity and specificity, and low in detection cost.


With the rapid increase of high-speed communications, the frequency range of integrated circuits enters the field of millimeter wave, and the size of devices has become smaller and smaller. In the measurement of microwave devices, the probe cannot contact the device directly. The actual device under test (DUT) is surrounded by metal traces called leads, which provide the interface between the probing pads on the wafer and the DUT itself. The probes are pressed on the pads at both ends of the DUT. The parasitic effect of pads and transmission lines is significant at high frequency. The established technique such as Short-Open-Load-Thru (SOLT) and Line-Reflect-Reflect-Match (LRRM) move the reference plane up to the tip of the probes by means of Cascade Microtech impedance standard substrate (ISS). To obtain accurate parameters of DUT, a deembedding method must be implemented to eliminate the influence of pads and interconnect transmission lines.


to achieve universal health coverage and access to quality essential health care services (www.un.org/sustainable development/health/). A key part of this goal is access to emergency and essential surgery of which safe access to cesarean section is paramount (www.who.int/surgery/en/). In order to plan health system infrastructure to ensure access to hospital services, it is important to understand the surgical needs of the community. Molina and colleagues in JAMA report the global relationship between cesarean section rates and maternal and neonatal mortality and aim to determine the optimal cesarean section rate with respect to these 2 variables. They conclude that a national cesarean section rate of approximately 19%, rather than the WHO target of 10% to 15%, is associated with the lowest maternal and neonatal mortality.1 There are 2 major points that need to be made regarding maternal and neonatal mortality and cesarean section rates. The first is that as leaders in the provision of safe maternity care for women and safe birth for babies, we should be moving away from focusing exclusively on overall cesarean section rates and instead be reporting category-specific cesarean section rates. The classification system for cesarean section advocated by the WHO is based on The Robson 10-group classification system. This system divides women into 10 mutually exclusive categories [taking into account parity, gestational age, labor onset (spontaneous, induced), previous surgery (cesarean section), fetal number, lie and presentation] that can be prospectively applied when a women is admitted for delivery. It can enable benchmarking between hospitals and countries and can enable observations to be made about cesarean section rates over time. These issues are discussed in a recent systematic review using the Robson classification summarizing the cesarean section trends in 21 countries.2 The second point is that underreporting or absence of reporting of maternal mortality, neonatal morality and cesarean section rates continues to be a major problem. Health systems in countries that currently do not report these key indicators require significant strengthening. Important improvements in outcomes for pregnant women and babies are unlikely to be made without first understanding the extent and nature of the problem.


We revisit a debate initiated some 15 years ago by Ray Elugardo and Robert Stainton about the domain of arguments. Our main result is that arguments are not exclusively sets of linguistic expressions. Instead, as we put it, some non-linguistic items have 'logical form'. The crucial examples are arguments, both deductive and inductive, made with unembedded words and phrases.

… subsentential expressions such as singular terms and predicates… cannot serve as premises or conclusions in inferences (R. Brandom, 2000, p. 40).


A cross-sectional study was conducted from December, 2014 to April, 2015 to estimate the prevalence of hydatid cyst, investigate associated risk factors, and evaluate organ level distribution of the cysts in cattle slaughtered at Nekemte Municipal abattoir, Western Ethiopia. A total of 525 samples were collected and processed. The study animals were selected by systematic random sampling technique. Potential risk factors were assessed through antemortem examination. Postmortem examination was done, which included primary examination (visual inspection and palpation of lung, liver, heart, spleen and kidney) and secondary examination, which involved further incision into each organ if single or more hydatid cyst(s) was found. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the prevalence of bovine hydatidosis and Chi-square (X2) test was applied to compare the infection status with regard to the hypothesized risk factors and (P<0.05) was set for statistical significance. The overall prevalence of hydatid cyst was 18.29 % (95%:14.97-21.60). Out of the 96-cattle harboring hydatid cyst, 63 (65.6%) animals were infected only in single organ whereas the remaining 33 (34.4%) infected animals had multiple organs involvement. From the total 96 hydatid cyst infected cattle, 34 (35.4%) of hydatid cyst were in the lungs, 29 (30.2%) in livers and 33 (34.4%) in multiple organs. The statistical analysis revealed that there was no statistical association (P>0.05) between the prevalence of bovine hydatidosis and animal sex or body condition, although there was a significant association (P<0.05) with age and origin of the animals. In conclusion, the disease is widespread in cattle slaughtered and is major cause of organ condemnation at Nekemte Municipal abattoir and efficient meat inspection service and safe disposal of condemned organs should be practiced.


By Jonathan W. Gould, MD, and David A. Martindale, MD. New York: Guilford Press, 2007. 450 pp. $40.00.

Mental health professionals who perform child custody evaluations may be familiar with the publications of Drs. Gould and Martindale. These scholars collaborated to author The Art and Science of


On 28 March 2002, the first decision under the Equal Remuneration Principle (re Equal Remuneration Principle (2000) 97 IR 177) was made by the NSW Industrial Relations Commission. Applications were made by three parties, the Public Service Association of NSW (PSA) for a new Crown Employees (Library and Archives Workers All Departments and Administrative Units Award), the Public Employment Office (PEO) with two separate applications, one for a new Crown Employees (Library and Information Workers Award) and one for Crown Employees (Archivists) Award and the fourth application by the Department of Education and Training (DET) for a new Crown Employees (Learning Resource Officers in TAFE Award).


I INTRODUCTION Revolutions that result in sudden and radical change to a society's essential attributes are rare occurrences. Rather, from biology to social policy, the present is the result of an evolutionary progression of interrelated phenomena. The forces that prompt a period of rapid evolution are often not apparent, except in hindsight. The evolutionary process, once begun, is difficult to orchestrate, and the results hard to predict. The evolution of the managed care industry is a case in point. Initiatives by the private sector and government to make medical care accessible to a larger percentage of the population exacerbated, rather than ameliorated, the costs of health care services. The market-based reforms that followed were intended to provide consumers with information and financial incentives to make wise economical choices, but instead gave rise to a clamor of consumer complaints, while posting only temporary gains in controlling health care costs. The nation is once again faced with calls for reform of its patchwork system of health care delivery and financing. This article provides an overview of the interrelated events that led to the present-day managed care system. We begin with the stimuli for change to the longstanding medical model status quo. A paradigmatic shift from a physician-dominated professional model to a market-based system characterized the revolutionary period that followed. Before that shift could occur, however, Congress had to abandon its regulatory zeal to create a political climate in which policy-makers perceived market-based reform as a viable alternative to both regulatory fiat and professional control. Equally important to legislative willingness was the elimination of systemic impediments to market reforms, principally the organized resistance of the professionals who controlled the system. These events opened the way for suggestions about the direction that market-driven evolution should follow and the translation of scholarly insight into political reality. In this article, we revisit these events, describe the system that evolved, and conclude with some suggestions for future directions. II THE PAST AS PRELUDE The story of the pre-managed care era is one of miscues and well-intentioned missteps. Although the stirrings of the health care revolution became readily apparent shortly after the enactment of the Medicare and Medicaid programs, both the events that gave rise to the need for change and the form that change took had much earlier origins. The years that preceded the managed care era were remarkable for the juxtaposition of the relative stability and lack of diversity among the organizational arrangements for the delivery and financing of health care services, and the rapid changes in society and medical science. As third-party financing grew and physicians expanded their sphere of influence to include payment mechanisms as well as health care delivery, attempts to expand access to health care services without fundamentally changing highly prized practice patterns led to unsustainable levels of health care spending. The health care delivery system had long been static. Most physicians were self-employed, predominantly in solo practice, and the ratio between capital and labor in the typical practice was low. (1) Vertical integration of individual and institutional providers was rare. The result was a non-system of independent small business bereft of any means to coordinate the delivery of medical services to ensure their continuity, quality, or cost-effectiveness. The efforts to finance health care services exhibited only slightly more variation. In the early years of the twentieth century, medical services were a market good. As with all market goods, an individual's access to health care services was based primarily on her ability to buy them. …


Summary. Testes from guinea-pig and chinchilla were studied with the electron microscope after vascular perfusion of glutaraldehyde or acrolein. The improved preservation achieved by this method of fixation permitted the demonstration of an extensive system of very thin-walled lymphatic sinusoids in the interstitial tissue. The lymphatic endothelium is closely applied to the lamina propria of the seminiferous tubules on the one side and to the clusters of interstitial cells on the other. It is suggested that these lymphatics may have an important function in the distribution of androgens within the testis, in addition to their role in returning to the general circulation the large amount of serum protein that escapes from the highly permeable blood capillaries of the interstitium.


A density estimation model for molten silicate slags has been proposed. The molar volume of molten silicate slags was calculated from molar volume of pure component and mixing molar volume, whereas the mixing molar volume was estimated from Gibbs free energy of mixing, which can be calculated by ToopSamis model. Optical basicity was also used to calculate the equilibrium constant for three types of oxygen. The present model enables us to reproduce the experimental values for silicate slags with a deviation within 3%. The optical basicity was found to work well for estimating the density of molten silicate slags.


This article analyzed and compared the genetic diversity in main characters of 1 225 landraces,which were from northern Shaanxi,Guanzhong,Southern Shaanxi area.The results show that there are abundant genetic diversity in seven morphologic characters,three agronomic characters and two disease traits of Shaanxi wheat landraces.There are higher genetic diversity indexes(H′) in plant height,1000-grain weight and glume colour in Londraces from Northern Shaanxi;higher genetic diversity indexes(H′)in kernel number,kernel color,ear type,and scab in landraces from Guanzhong,and higher genetic diversity indexes(H′)in winter and spring,mature date,awn length, grain hardivss,stripe rust in landraces from Sourthern Shaanxi.These are the improtant characteristics in genetic diversity of Shaanxi wheat landraces.


Abstract Interactions between feedstuff characteristics, animal characteristics, and quality of animal management determine potential for productive benefits to increased frequency of feeding or changes in the sequence of offer of individual feedstuffs to dairy cows. Productive benefits can be exhibited as improved milk yield, increased milk component yield, or improved maintenance of body condition. There are many reported research studies on the influence of feeding frequency that report improvement in one of these areas, particularly if infrequent feeding caused diurnal variations in rumen metabolite concentrations. However, benefits are often relatively small in relation to the importance placed upon multiple, or sequenced, daily feeding by commercial producers. The apparent dichotomy between field observations and research results is examined, and reasons for benefits under some conditions, but not others, are addressed with particular reference to the importance of rumen microbial yield, passage of particles from the rumen, as well as potential affects of end products of rumen microbial fermentation on fermentative efficiency. Design and interpretation of studies of feeding frequency, due to problems of nonsteady state conditions, continue to cause difficulties and are an obstacle to progress in this area.


The algorithmic approach based on the methods of adaptive intelligent technology for monitoring the state of objects of computer systems is considered. The approach is focused on the detection of changes in the state of controlled unmanned vehicle resources: communication channel, processor, memory. An adaptive model using the Bayesian classifier for assessing changes in the state of unmanned vehicle resources is presented. The model is based on a probabilistic automaton with adaptive self-tuning. The approach proposed in the article is focused on solving problems of detecting moments in time of changes in the state of controlled unmanned vehicle objects, which are resources: communication channel, processor, memory.


Traditional dance as a traditional art emerges and grows in the community, where this dance contains many cultural values whose substance refers to the values of goodness and noble values. The research objective is to analyze traditional dance education in cultural phenomena. This research uses qualitative research methods with a phenomenological approach. The research subjects were 3rd semester students taking traditional dance education courses. Collecting data using several complementary techniques, namely: in-depth interviews, observation, documentation and field notes. Data analysis through 3 activity streams, namely data reduction, data presentation, and verification withdrawal. The results showed that traditional dance applies cultural values about 1. Habitual values, 2. Self-control values, 3. Responsible values, 4. Creative and innovative values, 5. The values instilling solidarity, 6. The values instilling a sense of love and affection. towards others, 7. Value Collaborating with others, 8. Value brings certain impressions, experiences and thoughts, 9. Value A sense of beauty. By understanding traditional dance more deeply, it is hoped that it can familiarize cultural values to shape characterized behavior. Keywords: traditional dance, values, culture


With Indian Gaming, profit is not necessarily the "goal of the firm" as with privately or publicly held "commercial" gaming hospitality facilities. Rather, gaming is often used as a means to an end to ensure the fulfillment of continued, cohesive sovereignty as a tribe for future generations of tribal members (i.e., the 7 th generation ideal). The "7 th Generation" paradigm is based on not only maintaining, but also improving community welfare and leveraging positive externalities from the gaming industry. Since Indian gaming is, at its root, a business and, through various social science studies, a link has been established between education and business success, the purpose of this study is to examine is whether this linkage holds true for general and industry education and relative success of tribal entities involved in development, management or operation of Indian Gaming. Numerous "commercial" gaming and hospitality endeavors have strengthened their service core (and subsequent success key performance indicators) by investing in personnel with internal and external training (e.g., seminars, certifications) and formal secondary education (i.e., pursuit of degrees).


Powder feeder is used widely for laser surface treatment such as cladding and alloying. The stability of powder feeding is directly affecting the processing quality. This paper investigates the use of a pressure sensor for the continuous monitoring of powder flowrate and the incorporation of closed loop servo-control system for the on-line feedback control of powder flowrate. The stability of the powder feeding has been found much improved by the new feeding system especially during warm up period (about 30 minutes). The measurement of of powder particle velocity and establishment of a dynamic model of the powder feeding process are also presented.Powder feeder is used widely for laser surface treatment such as cladding and alloying. The stability of powder feeding is directly affecting the processing quality. This paper investigates the use of a pressure sensor for the continuous monitoring of powder flowrate and the incorporation of closed loop servo-control system for the on-line feedback control of powder flowrate. The stability of the powder feeding has been found much improved by the new feeding system especially during warm up period (about 30 minutes). The measurement of of powder particle velocity and establishment of a dynamic model of the powder feeding process are also presented.


Globally, allergic responses to medications is a growing concern (1), can result in adverse outcomes of differing levels of severity for patients and if undetected at point of prescription, increase patient risk and potentially increase hospital workload (2). With clinical decision support systems becoming more common as hospitals modernise data management structures to improve overall efficiency and safety, there is an increased ability to carry out drug-allergy interaction monitoring. The alert warnings generated by such clinical decision support systems are based on standard protocols which may not be applicable to all patients.

 To quantify the types of allergy and intolerance alerts contained in an EHR system at an academic, tertiary care hospital. The objectives were to undertake an analysis of alert appropriateness and the factors associated with warning overrides at point of prescribing.

 Retrospective analysis of allergy data alerts extracted from an EHR system over an 11-month period between June 2019 and March 2021, comprising data on prescriber actions, prescription description and frequency of allergic response and patient intolerance (i.e., adverse reactions/drug intolerances) to various prescriptions. Variables included provider type, provider speciality, description, context, drug-allergy reactions, drug-allergy contraindication group, importance level, severity, along-with the patients' sex and age. Descriptive analysis was conducted, as well as unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression analysis with results presented as odds ratios (OR), 95% confidence intervals and p-values.

 In the total dataset (n=53,057), females represented 68.53% (n=36,361) and males represented 31.4% (n=16,696). Overrides made up 61.3% (n=32,520) and heeded/actioned made up 20% (n=10,599) of the total alerts. Prescriber overrides were significantly associated with provider type, provider speciality, description, context, drug-allergy reactions, drug-allergy contraindication group, importance level, severity, along-with the patients' sex and age. Allergies (adjusted-OR 0.88 [0.82-0.94], p<0.001) were 12% less likely to be overridden than 'adverse reactions/drug intolerances', while 'drug class match' (adjusted-OR 0.50 [0.35-0.72], p<0.001) and 'ingredient match' (adjusted-OR 0.26 [0.18-0.37], p<0.001) were less likely to be associated with an override as compared to cross-sensitive matches. The most frequently recorded reason for overrides was 'benefit outweighs risk' (n=12,331; 23.2%), followed by 'does not apply to patient' (16.6%) and 'inaccurate warning' (4.6%).
 The key strength of the study is the volume of alerts that allowed an analysis of the factors that were associated with warning overrides. Limitations include the lack of information about actual prescribing decision, patient outcome following the alert action and potential influence of the pandemic. The study adds further evidence to the burden of alerts in EHR systems and identifies factors that may be utilised to improve the design and sensitivity of warnings.

 A high level of alert overrides was seen, with allergies relating to antibiotics least likely to be overridden. Override reasons indicated that prescribers considered the warning to be either inappropriate or inaccurate in one in five cases.

 1. Légat, L., Van Laere, S., Nyssen, M., Steurbaut, S., Dupont, A.G., Cornu, P., 2018. Clinical Decision Support Systems for Drug Allergy Checking: Systematic Review. J Med Internet Res 20. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.8206
 2. K Goss, F.R., Zhou, L., Plasek, J.M., Broverman, C., Robinson, G., Middleton, B., Rocha, R.A., 2013. Evaluating standard terminologies for encoding allergy information. J Am Med Inform Assoc 20, 969–979. https://doi.org/10.1136/amiajnl-2012-000816


It is frequently argued that significant productivity increases require a strong and expanding manufacturing sector, and that the rapid growth of the services sector has been a drag on productivity. It is argued here that in an increasingly information-oriented economy, producer services-whether performed within manufacturing firms or by independent, specialized enterprises-play a pivotal role in expanding the division of labor, which in turn generates greater productivity and increasing incomes. The study utilizes data from the 1987 economic censuses. The results confirm and reinforce earlier evidence that the density of metropolitan producer services has a highly significant and positive association with per capita metropolitan income (as well as per capita metropolitan earnings), even when the relationship is controlled for level of education and for metropolitan population size, each of which also makes a positive and significant contribution.


This paper makes a thorough investigation of the managers' personal quality and the current management situation of Countryside Tourism in Huzhou.On the basis of analyzing the managers' perception of the core attraction of the products of Countryside Tourism,the paper puts forward the corresponding measures that should be taken from the perspective of sustainable development.


This is the sixth part of a series of publications about the history of goldsmith's art in Hungary based on archival sources, registrars, citizens' registers, guild documents, tax registers processed by cities and regions. The goldsmiths and silversmiths revealed by the above documents by name are compared with the old research literature to rectify its data on the one hand, and on the other, goldsmith's marks and objects are attributed to the particular artists. The present publication reviews the history of goldsmith's art in Nagyszombat (today Trnava, Slovakia), the first part of which – the 15–17th century – was released in Műveszettorteneti Ertesitő 2009/1. Now the equally rich output of the 18–19th centuries is taken stock of, together with the names of several artists. Some published art works are known from public collections, others from private owners or art dealers.


Objective:To observe the restrain and apoptosis effects of Gantai decoction(GTJJ) medicated serum on Bel-7402 cell line.Methods:Applied MTT method to detect restrain ratio;applied invert microscope,fluorescence microscope,laser microscope etc to observe cell morphology;and applied PI single stain method,AnnexinV-PI double stains method,flow cytometry method to observe influence on cell cycle and degree of apoptosis.Results:GTJJ drug serum had restrain effect on growth of Bel-7402 cell line and it also could induce apoptosis,the inhibition rate of 20% equivalent dose group was 50.09%(P0.01);Typical apoptosis morphology changes could be observed under the fluorescence microscope and laser confocal microscopy;the G0/G1 block and typical apoptosis peak could be observed by flow cytometer;earlier-term medium / late-term apoptosis were also detected by AnnexinV-PI double stains method.Conclusion:GTJJ drug serum had restrain effect on growth of Bel-7402 cell line and it also could induce apoptosis.


This study investigates the impact of organizational culture types on the relationship between early childhood teachers' problems and turnover inten- tion. A sample of 435 teachers working in early childhood settings in Korea participated in this study. Questionnaire method is used for gathering data. The findings show that the teachers' problems are positively related to their turnover intention. Besides, it is found that adhocracy and market culture play moderat- ing role on the relationship between the problems and turnover intention.


The goal of this study is to use plant modeling for the visualization of landscape changes between 1981 and 2000 in urban fringes area near Bangkok. Because urban fringes are changing very fast, it is very important to be able to map the changes of the landscape and to understand the farmers behaviors. The first part of the work is classical in remote sensing and geographic information system: a visual interpretation is done on aerial photographies and maps are created for 3 different years. Then this 2D information layers are brought into AMAP, a 3D visualization environment. Images are computed for different important strategic locations and for each date, in order to show the impact on the landscape of new policies and new farmers behaviors. We show that the main change is turning from paddy field to fish pond with mango trees and palm trees on the border. Visualization and simulation tools are a key issue for planners in these peri-urban agriculture areas with a lot of economic, social and development pressures. (Resume d'auteur)


The B-phase pull rod of HGIS circuit breaker operating mechanism in a 220kV substation was broken at the root. The broken pull rod was analyzed by macro examination, metallographic examination, chemical composition analysis, fracture morphology analysis and impact test to find out the reason for the fracture. The results showed that: 1. Due to the improper heat treatment in the manufacturing process, the metallographic structure of B-phase pull rod appeared network ferrite and widmanstatten structure, which made the material brittle and impact toughness lower than the standard requirements; 2. The content of alloy elements Cr, Ni and Ni were significantly higher than the standard requirements, which reduced the plasticity and toughness of the material; 3. The low temperature of substation environment led to the decrease of material toughness and the viscosity of the lubricant decreased, causing the transmission parts to jam. The joint action of three factors led to cleavage fracture of B-phase pull rod in the stress concentration area.


Peral Vega explores the importance of Pierrot as a symbol of failure in matters of love in García Lorca's imagery and his literary and personal life.


Experiments with a two-stroke-cycle, crank case scavenging engine. Effect of systematic variation of the height of the scavenge and exhaust ports on the scavenging, as determined by gas analysis. The best results were obtained under conditions differing from the usual ones.


In recognition of the need to place additional emphasis on the restoration, protection, and management of the surface water resources of the state, the Florida Legislature, through the Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) Act of 1987, directed the state's water management districts to "design and implement plans and programs for the improvement and management of surface water" (Section 373.451, Florida Statutes [FS]). The SWIM legislation requires the water management districts to protect the ecological, aesthetic, recreational, and economic value of the state's surface water bodies, keeping in mind that water quality degradation is frequently caused by point and nonpoint source pollution and that degraded water quality can cause both direct and indirect losses of aquatic habitats.
This 2002 update is the second update of the Indian River Lagoon SWIM Plan. This 2002 plan update includes a status report on the state of the Lagoon, a summary of progress on projects undertaken since the last update, and recommendations for future projects and other actions over the next 5 years. (262pp.)


In this paper,the author firstly analyzed the safe operation PQ5000 spiral CT through grounding.Then the concepts of grounding protection and grounding resistance were introduced.Finally,a practical grounding program was put forward.